//------------------------------// // Chapter 54 // Story: Hostile History // by Jest //------------------------------// “And this is an oven. Though I don't know why it's called that when you of in the cold food of out hot eat the food,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Is she having a stroke?” Chrysalis asked. Sunset Shimmer sighed. “No. I think it's some sort of weird internet humor popular before I came here, but I stopped trying to keep track of that when they all started playing terrible eighties pop every Thursday.” “Hey, out of touch is a classic!” Pinkie Pie retorted. “Why don't you go see what the others are up to while Chrysalis and I chat for a bit here,” Sunset offered. “Okay, dokie!” Pinkie Pie replied. The pink-haired girl gave Sunset a salute before bouncing off. “Is there something you wish to discuss with me?” Chrysalis asked. Sunset Shimmer walked over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Chrysalis followed in her example, slipping into the seat across from her. “I’m just wondering how you are holding up,” Sunset Shimmer offered. “You’ve been distant, and standoffish ever since we were able to sneak back to the penthouse.” Chrysalis sighed and looked down at the table. The room was silent save only for the distant sound of the television coming from the living room or the even more muted music emanating from further in. The penthouse seemed normal for lack of a better word, as if those who lived there hadn't just fought the most desperate battle of their lives. Even there were small things out of place that were visible to those who were particularly observant or who knew the seven girls well. Pizza boxes had begun to pile up while the food in the fridge remained relatively untouched. Bottles of beer and wine were slowly attempting to reach the height and magnitude of the greasy cardboard next to them. It wasn't to the point of being worried, but it was clear that no one who lived there was quite as carefree as they had been only a few days earlier. “No. I’m not doing well at all,” Chrysalis muttered. “This is the most devastating blow my species has ever taken, and I genuinely worry that this may mean the end for us.” “I’m sure you can bounce back. You do need only one member right?” Sunset offered rather awkwardly. “If that is indeed the case it will be very, very difficult,” Chrysalis admitted, her gaze becoming distant, and unfocused, as if she were looking at something that wasn't really there. “We’ve survived more attempts at genocide than most but I fear this may very well be it.” The changeling sighed. “From squalor to success. From empire, to ruin, we never have long before someone is attempting to annihilate us,” Chrysalis murmured. “You know my children, they wanted peace?” Chrysalis chuckled darkly. “I tried to tell them that I had sought peace before, that our people had walked that road more than once, but they wouldn't listen,” Chrysalis continued, her face growing dark. “We inevitably become the scapegoats for whatever society decides to take us in. Economic instability? Changeling meddling. War? Changeling instigators. No matter how preposterous the excuse, they believe it.” Sunset Shimmer winced, and though she wanted to speak up, to say something, she could only stare. Her gaze fell inevitably on Chrysalis, the thin, almost emaciated changeling that now appeared mostly human. Her emergency backup clothes had been changed out for a dress far more regal than the featureless hoodie and baggie pants. She remembered Rarity’s excitement at being given the chance to make something for royalty. The fashionista hadn't heard Chrysalis’ quietly asking what royalty meant if she had no subjects. That was hardly blame worthy though, Rarity had needed a distraction, and Chrysalis had indeed smiled after receiving the garment. A luxurious mix of dark greens and greys, the dress would have fit in perfectly in an eighteenth-century ballroom. Despite its clearly dated inspiration, it wasn't as grand as those from the time period, and fit like something more modern. Hiding the more obvious marks that starvation had wrought on the gaunt figure’s slim, slender figure. “Everything alright in here?” Twilight offered. “No. I’m afraid I’ve done a terrible job consoling our visiting royal,” Sunset Shimmer remarked. “You’ve at least listened, which is at least pleasant,” Chrysalis added. “We really are terribly sorry about what happened to you and your family,” Twilight exclaimed. “I can't imagine how that feels, so I won't pretend to. Just know that if it's positive emotion, or someone to talk to we’re all here for you, and we’re all rooting for you.” “You have our support,” Sunset Shimmer added. “Be it a place to stay, a solid meal, or a guide in this strange world, we’ll do whatever we can to help.” “Charity, like pity, makes for a bitter meal,” Chrysalis murmured. “Though one I will happily devour if it means I may one day get my revenge.” “Though no one quite feels as strongly about it as you, I think we all want a bit of payback,” Sunset Shimmer offered. Twilight nodded. “No kidding. Things would have turned out much, much worse if we hadn't been there and I shudder to think what new horror she will drop on us next time.” “There has to be some way to close the barrier between worlds. To keep Celestia from using this world like a dumping ground for the problems she doesn't feel like dealing with herself,” Sunset Shimmer offered. “I can't imagine doing so would be easy,” Chrysalis remarked. “Simply destroying whatever enchanted surface she uses to transport individuals from Equestria to here would be a short-term solution at best.” “Maybe that would give us time to discover some way to harden or reinforce the wall that keeps interdimensional interlopers out,” Twilight added, only to wince. “No offense.” “None taken,” Sunset Shimmer replied with a chuckle. “Such considerations are for another time. I don't plan on returning to Equestria until I’ve increased our numbers and have at my back the largest army ever assembled,” Chrysalis declared, her fist tightening to the point that her knuckles went white. “Well hey in the meantime let's all just be happy that Perfect Tempo and his little group have managed to keep a lid on this whole thing,” Twilight offered. “I mean if word got out that magic, other dimensions, and non-human sentiences were out there, people would go crazy.” “They don't know this already? But I walked amongst them undisguised just the other day,” Chrysalis offered. “They just thought you were dressed up as a character or were just weird,” Sunset replied with a shrug. “You’d be surprised at how often humans do stuff like that.” “What about all those images of monsters and aliens that appear on the tee vee?” Chrysalis pressed. “Those aren't actually real, remember?” Twilight prompted. “Don't tell me Applejack and Rainbow Dash have been gaslighting you again.” “I do not know what that phrase means but I am quite confident that those images were real. How else could they be so detailed?” Chrysalis asked. “Why the pictures on Pinkie Pie’s hand-held crystalarium even depicted a fully anatomically correct changeling ovipositor.” “Pinkie Pie is just… weird,” Sunset Shimmer muttered. “That image was a drawing, probably.” “Yeah, best to never talk about that ever again,” Twilight added. “I do not understand,” Chrysalis stated. “Don't… don't worry about it,” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed. “So Sunset!” Twilight quickly declared. “Has Perfect Tempo gotten back to you about how everything is going on their end?” “No,” Sunset Shimmer answered. “The last time he texted he just said things were quote ‘dicey’ and that he wouldn't have answers until today sometime.” “Perfect Tempo? That name sounds so… familiar,” Chrysalis muttered. “Hey guys! You might want to check this out!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the other room. “Best go see what's up,” Sunset Shimmer offered. The woman rose from her chair and hastily left the room. Twilight was quick to join her partner while Chrysalis followed after them, the changeling still wearing a confused expression on her face. The group entered the living room where the rest of Sunset’s friends were already waiting, each one facing the television. Rarity had one arm around Fluttershy’s shoulder while the other gripped one of the shy girl’s own hands. While they sat off to the right, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat in the middle, a shaking Pinkie Pie held between them. The television was dark, though through its speakers whispered mutterings could be heard but not not discerned. “What is this-” Sunset began. “Shhh,” Rainbow Dash hissed. Sunset shared a shrug with Twilight and made her way over to the left couch. She was joined by her partner, and a slightly confused Chrysalis a moment later. As they got settled, the screen shook and the sound of distant gunfire could be heard. “Approaching target area,” whispered the voice of the individual presumably filming this encounter. “Charlie squad stack up.” Several hurried, booted feet ran up behind him. The person filming then raised an assault rifle, flicked off the safety, checked his magazine, and shouldered it. Though his weapon hung slightly loose and was pointed down, the stance was clear, he was ready for trouble. “Let's move. Remember, the mission is to ascertain the status of the scouts while performing light recon. We are not to engage the hostiles under any circumstance,” the filmer declared. “But what if they engage us?” asked a voice from nearby. The filmer turned to reveal a slightly young, and visibly queasy twenty-year-old outfitted in army gear. “Then you are to defend yourself accordingly while performing a retreat. We got a whole goddamn company rolling in behind us, plus however many government spooks. They’ve got enough firepower to invade a small country. No need for us to stick our necks out,” the filmer declared in a gruff, slightly southern accent. “R-right, sarge. Err, sir,” stuttered the younger man. “Just don't shoot me in the back, private,” muttered the filmer. He then turned back and started to creep through the forest, his squad following behind him in a loose v formation. Ahead of them, the sounds of gunfire faded, but the background noise had not faded entirely, as the sound of inhuman cries and the thump of something enormous could still be heard. Each time the titanic crash shook the ground a roar not unlike some horrible mixture of bear, and insect was picked up. The leader of the group soon reached the edge of the forest where he paused and crouched low to the ground. Looking out over the small field that lay between them and a now mostly destroyed wall that had previously surrounded the quarry beyond. That wasn't what interested the soldier, however, rather it was the pack of strange alien creatures that drew his attention. “Hostiles, dead ahead,” he whispered. “Do not engage.” “But boss, they got one of ours,” one of them pointed out. The filmer leaned forward, peering closely as the three mutated quadrupeds took turns chewing on a small group of soldiers. “Unknown unit markings and non-standard equipment,” the filmer remarked. “Whoever they are, they aren't one of ours.” “Ya think the spooks already got here?” Asked a voice. “Unlikely. Either way, they ain't who we’re after. Now follow that ditch and stay low,” the filmer ordered. The squad leader lingered for a moment, watching as the strange many limbed insectoid creatures ate. Occasionally one would stop and croak not unlike an enormous frog mixed with a cricket. This call was soon answered by a similar noise coming from somewhere far to the right, at which point the original creature would go back to eating the dead human. “I better get a fucking promotion for this,” he muttered before tromping off along with his squad. The camera glitched out for a second, turning to static before seemingly skipping ahead several minutes. When it returned to functionality, the squad was crouched low in a cluster of buildings that Sunset Shimmer immediately recognized. From the look of things it must have only been an hour or so after they had retreated as not much had changed. The changelings were few and far between, with most milling about aimlessly, their expressions distant. Mindless, and unguided they sat in small groups, utterly silent while those few who moved with purpose striding amongst them. Those who walked with purpose ignored their empty kin and looked around as if searching for something. The point of view soldier gestured to the left after the last of these smart shapeshifters passed them by. As one, the small unit kept moving, hastily moving from the small boulders they were using as cover to one of the buildings. There they waited, with the leader taking point once more and sprinting to the next structure after a moment to pause. There he paused mid-step as if frozen. Ahead of him, lying half buried under a mound of rubble was what looked to be their queen. Easily two stories tall with varied kinds of limbs too numerous to count, the monster looked like a horrific amalgam of nearly every creature both real and mythical. Trapped beneath what looked to be an enormous stone arm, the creature was attempting to escape but could not do so. A dozen of its smaller kin were trying to dig it out but had yet to succeed. This was all happening while what looked like an armless golem of titanic proportions contorted itself. Its movements resembled someone attempting to free themselves from the sand after being buried up to the chest. Despite each of its movements shaking the earth it didn't seem to be making any progress in freeing itself. “Look, there,” whispered a voice. The filmer turned to look to where several soldiers dressed in similar garb to them sat on the ground near the trapped queen. Surrounded on all sides by the monstrous creatures, the group had been stripped of their equipment. They also appeared visibly injured, with several of them missing limbs or being covered in bright red blood. “Recon completed, retreat back the way we came,” ordered the leader. “But they’re right there. We could save them,” whispered another of the soldiers. The filmer turned to them suddenly. “That is not our mission. Now unless you want to get left behind you best turn your ass around and start marching.” “Uh, sarge. You might wanna look up,” someone else offered. The leader turned his head skyward. What he saw must have shocked him considerably as he fell backward, giving the audience a view of what he had seen. A large green square had appeared in the sky, through it came dozens of seemingly injured and unmutated versions of the creatures they had seen already. “They’re coming from the sky,” another soldier muttered. “By god. What the hell is going on here?” muttered the leader. “Looks like that agitated them, we’ve been spotted,” shouted a voice. The squad leader stood up suddenly, and by the time he had shouldered his rifle, was being charged. A large heavily twisted shapeshifter was sprinting right at them, screaming an incomprehensible mix between a roar and a yell in some other language. The squad reacted almost instantly, dumping their clip into the attacking creature and tearing it to shreds. Large hunks of flesh and twisted muscle were cut off the monster, though the killing blow was dealt when a lucky shot pierced its right eye. The thing fell and skidded to a stop only a few short feet away, body twitching occasionally as it succumbed to death. “Contact, six o'clock,” someone shouted. The leader turned and began to fire, but his squad quickly burned through their remaining ammo without landing a killing blow. The monster, though clearly injured and having lost the use of one of its legs, was able to bite the head off one of the soldiers. It attempted to continue its assault but by then the rest of the squad had reloaded, and the combined firepower of the survivors brought it down. “More, right behind us!” Another soldier shouted. “Grenade out,” the leader yelled, pin in one hand, grenade in the other. Before he had a chance to throw the thing one of his underlings was sent flying directly into him. They collided in a tangle of limbs, the grenade disappearing from sight. There were a few frantic seconds of searching before the leader found the green, football-shaped object and tried to throw it. Though successful it exploded mid-air, cutting off the feed and leaving behind only static. The suddenness of it all left the room eerily quiet for several long seconds before suddenly a transition crossed the screen. A middle-aged man wearing a cheap dark blue suit sat at a desk at the center of what was clearly a newsroom. “As you can see, the footage we’ve shown is graphic but necessary,” he began, his voice slightly shaky but growing more steady as he spoke. “And before you ask, yes we’ve had every expert you can shake a stick at inspect this footage. They’ve found no signs of tampering, use of green screens, or the like. What you’ve seen is one hundred percent real, and from what we’ve gathered, filmed only a few short days ago.” The man paused and shifted a stack of papers on his desk before turning back to the camera. “What the government claimed to be a tunnel collapse at the old quarry on i96 was actually the sight of some sort of conflict,” he continued. “Some manner of non-government militia met with and engaged these otherworldly creatures and were seemingly defeated. After that, the military intervened and-” The screen suddenly cut out, turning the television into an oversized mirror reflecting the horror on everyone’s faces back at them. “What the heck?” Applejack shouted. “I thought Perfect Tempo had that whole thing under control?” “He said he was trying. That was all!” Sunset Shimmer retorted. “Well, that sure doesn't look like trying,” Applejack retorted. “Darling, please. Let's think about this,” Rarity urged. “I am thinkin' about this, and I’m thinkin' we’re boned!” Applejack exclaimed. “This can't be that bad, right? Maybe Perfect Tempo got it in time,” Pinkie Pie offered, her voice weak, and her hair painfully straight. Rainbow Dash shook her head. “There ain't no way that didn't get out. You know how people record everything these days. We got like, two minutes before this is all over the internet, probably less.” “Oh no. This is terrible,” Fluttershy muttered. “Wait, if they found out about Perfect Tempo’s men then that could lead straight back to us!” Twilight exclaimed. “But we’re not affiliated with them. I mean, not officially anyway,” Pinkie Pie retorted. “It doesn't even matter if we are,” Twilight blubbered, words spilling out of her mouth faster than she could think. “We’re known locally for being magical, and the only reason we got away with it was because Perfect Tempo was secretly paying off the people in power!” “And without them, we’re gonna have government people crawling down our throats in no time,” Applejack murmured. “No way! We can't give up!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed. “There's gotta be some way to fix this. Maybe if we go to the TV station and explain everything!” “Oh come on Dash. Ain't no way they’d take our word for it. Local heroes or not this is bigger than anything we were used to dealin with,” Applejack retorted. “Well, I don't see you offering any alternative solutions,” Rainbow Dash spat. “It kept going,” Pinkie Pie murmured, the girl staring down at her phone. “What do you mean darling?” Rarity asked. “They only cut it locally, the show kept going,” Pinkie Pie explained. “They are saying they have more footage. What we saw was discovered by some farmer nearly two miles away but ever since it came out they’ve been flooded with more leaks.” “Oh no, this can't be happening,” Fluttershy murmured, tears building at the edges of her eyes. Rainbow Dash leaped off the couch and began pacing in front of the TV. “Alright, so we have to skip town. That much is obvious right, but where would we go?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Perhaps we could go down south,” Applejack offered. “I got family down there.” “No. They’d check family connections first plus we are too conspicuous moving as a group. What we really need to do is pull as much cash as we can out of the ATM,” Twilight offered, the girl chewing her nails even as she spoke. “They’ll disable our bank accounts first, we have to get money if we expect to survive.” “What then? We just split up? Scatter to the winds?” Applejack asked. “I know we gotta leave to protect the ones we love but we can't just all go our own ways. Not after what we’ve been through.” “It's the most logical course of action,” Twilight replied. “I am not leaving you girls!” Pinkie Pie proclaimed. “I-” Twilight began. “He was apologizing,” Chrysalis muttered. The room fell silent, and everyone turned to the changeling queen. “He had just enough of his mind left to know what he was doing was wrong and the last thing he ever did was say he was sorry for attacking them,” Chrysalis continued. The shapeshifter sat motionless for several seconds, too in shock to react. Then a tear budded and fell down her cheek, quickly being joined by more. Sunset Shimmer wrapped her arms around the larger woman, followed closely by Twilight. Soon everyone had joined the group hug, surrounding the changeling queen from all sides. “No, get off me you… You…” Chrysalis muttered. Her attempts to push the girls off her started weak and only grew more feeble until she finally gave up completely. Sitting there, defeated she reluctantly let her head fall into Sunset’s shoulder, tears spilling down her face. For several long minutes, they remained that way, each of the seven girls no longer quite so concerned with their own safety. The visitor amongst them had lost so much and suffered so greatly that their concerns, though significant, didn't feel quite so bad. They each poured as much sympathy as they could towards the changeling, hoping against hope that it would help somehow. “Okay,” Chrysalis whispered in a low tone. “I need space, please.” The group departed, with the seven girls all taking a step away. “Woah, you look…” Applejack began. “Not emaciated,” Rainbow Dash added. “That was a big word, Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie Pie teased. “Hey, I know stuff!” Rainbow Dash retorted. It was true, the changeling queen no longer looked painfully thin, or like she was ready to keel over at any moment. Her form had filled out, her cheeks were no longer sunken, and her eyes shone with a life no one present had seen before. She didn't give her newfound companions long before walking away, walking deeper into the penthouse and vanishing into the bathroom. “We should probably give her some space,” Rarity offered. “Y-yeah,” Fluttershy agreed. “So what do we do now?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Let's just sit tight for today at least. Perfect Tempo promised he’d give us a heads up today,” Sunset Shimmer warned. A buzz emanated from her pocket. “That might be him,” Twilight offered. Sunset Shimmer pulled out her phone. “Do you have a moment?” Sunset Shimmer muttered. “Uh, yeah?” Rainbow Dash replied. “No, that's what he sent,” Sunset Shimmer explained. “Well tell him you do,” Twilight offered. Sunset Shimmer hastily tapped out her response before sending it off. “There, sent, now-” Sunset began, only to be cut off by the rap of a knuckle against a door. “That was the front door,” Pinkie Pie pointed out. As one, the group all scrambled towards the entrance, with Rainbow Dash being the first to reach it. The moment she did so, she threw it open to reveal the familiar face of Perfect Tempo. Though familiar, the expression she saw on his face was not one anyone present had glimpsed before. He was exhausted, deep black rings were visibly beneath his eyes, and his usually-ever correct appearance was a mess. His hair was all over the place, his suit was crinkled, and he had a haunted expression on his face. “We need to talk,” he proclaimed.