Universe 10328
Now back in their plane, Twilight used the resources on board to complete the scanner she was making. It only needed a bit of tinkering as well as adding one of the gems she had just collected from these low-life gangsters.
“Almost… There…” The lavender mare muttered, looking over her tentacles’ work.
Pinkie Pie 1 stared at it expectantly, hoping and praying to whatever deity existed that this would work. She was so close to finding that stone and returning to her friends. It filled her with joy. However, she couldn’t deny the rising fear in her gut. Because of the previous events, she lost much of her trust in her friends’ counterparts.
The party pony still believed in the goodness of their heart, but that belief was wavering by the second. She began doubting they would keep their word and give her the stone when she needed it. The pink mare may have been usually optimistic, but even she couldn’t be sure that any kind of redemption was possible for them. Yes, they were the heroes of Equestria, and she understood that this world abided by different rules, but she couldn’t condone murder! This was insane! She had never seen so many corpses in her whole life! She hadn’t even ever seen one before today!
“Is it done yet?” Rainbow Dash asked, boredom dripping from her tone while she leaned on one of her hooves. One of Twilight’s tentacles waved dismissively her way.
“Please, Dashie, you must understand that the delicate intricacies of technology require patience and a strong will. You can’t simply rush to the completion of a new invention. After all, I am the first pony ever to build something capable of detecting the energy Pinkie 1 displays, and I am also the first to discover it in the first place. Something like takes time and consideration,” Twilight spoke with confidence, puffing up her chest with pride. “You must treat your technological babies like you would treat women,” She added, making Pinkie 1 raise an eyebrow in confusion.
“With care, finesse, passion and love?” Rarity suggested apprehensively.
“Something like that,” Twilight retorted, glancing sheepishly at the white earth pony before focusing on her radar again. Suddenly, she slammed it on the plane’s control panel a few times. “Come on! Work, you stupid thing! What’s the issue, now?!” She yelled at the contraption, still hitting it until it beeped, calming the lavender mare instantly. “Oh! There we go!” She exclaimed in relief. Pinkie didn’t know much about finesse and passion, but she doubted Twilight did either… “Now to link it with the plane…” Twilight mumbled while placing the radar on one of the open slots of the control panel. She connected a couple of wires to it, which turned the machine on and projected the radar screen on the control panel. “Voila! That’s what I call a superb job!”
“That looks cool,” Rainbow Dash remarked, nodding towards the control panel. It was sleek black with multiple concentric green circles, gradually increasing in size, and straight green lines emanating from the center of the screen to its edges. There was a small arrow in the middle and a blinking sphere at the edge of the upper-right side of the radar.
Pinkie 1 had to say it did look cool. She also figured they were supposed to be the arrow while the sphere represented the stone. A technology like that didn’t exist in Equestria, so she couldn’t help but marvel at it. However, from everything she had already seen until now, nothing would surprise her anymore.
“I specifically designed it to look cool because I know you like it!” Scientist Twilight declared with pride, giving her the exact desired result.
“You know me so well, Twi!” Rainbow Dash side-hugged her, giving her a dumb grin. Rarity rolled her eyes.
“Rainbow Dash like cool things?!” Pinkie 1 whispered to Fluttershy’s drone, only for the machine to reply with crunching sounds. It looked like the pegasus was still eating chips on the other end of the line.
“Not to interrupt your cuddling session, but is the thing we are looking for far from here?” Rarity inquired, pushing the pegasus and earth pony away from one another.
“Rarity, dear, did you forget where we are?” Twilight used her claws to gesture to the plane they were sitting in. “It could be on the other side of the planet and we would still get there in no time! Strap in, girls! It shouldn’t take us too long! My little baby already pinpointed that stone’s location. Quite accurately if I do say so myself,” She added before putting on her seatbelt. Obediently, the others did the same.
Pinkie 1 sighed as the plane slowly took off. The pink pony glanced one last time at the place they just left, the caves the diamond dogs used as a lair. Pretending she was fine wasn’t difficult when the ponies around didn’t care at all about you. She wondered if she could pretend to be fine or if there was any point in doing this once she came back home. How would the others even help or talk to her? They didn’t see what she saw.
There was blood everywhere… There was even some on her armor! She was pretty sure she had to remove pieces of brains from her armor after exiting the caves! The mare had to swallow back her own vomit several times since they came out because she didn’t want to puke in front of the others too many times. What if they didn’t see her as an ally anymore because she wasn’t… Like them?
She never thought she would ever be scared of her friends one day, but here she was. Her hooves were trembling at the sight of them. Obviously, she knew these weren’t her real friends, simply alternate selves. However, they still wore their faces, so it was disturbing that they would instill such fear in her.
Pinkie wanted to laugh and forget that fear, but it was easier said than done. She wasn’t facing scary trees this time! Those were bloodthirsty maniacs who spilled guts everywhere a few minutes ago! The worst part about it was that she helped them, and assisted in their killings. How could she go to sleep after that? If only she could at least cry, but even doing that could potentially be too dangerous. How she wished to see her real friends again…
The moment they found that stone, she would jump and tear it off their hooves. She would run off with it until it activates and brings her home. She wasn’t willing to waste more time nor to take the risk of being betrayed. Distrusting her friends was scary and shameful in her opinion, but she couldn’t consider those ponies her friends. Never.
From what she had seen, those six still cared about each other to some degree, so there shouldn’t be a reason for Pinkie to doubt that they would keep their word about the stone if that care also extended to her since she was one of their counterparts. However, she couldn’t deny they were horribly cruel to their enemies. Even if she never went against them or threatened them in any way, they were still a danger to her.
What she needed was to form a plan! Right now, they were flying toward the stone. Once there… What should she do? She tried to imagine one of the others holding it. Maybe she could snatch it out of their hooves? If the girls were already all holding the stone, then it would turn on instantly and she would be sent back home! Oh, yes! That would work! She was a genius!
Wait… What if the others didn’t get a hold of their stone yet? Perhaps she could make a run for it? She was a pretty good runner, especially if she had some sugar beforehand. No, wait, they had super armors that would likely catch up to her. Their Rainbow Dash was probably quick, too. Nothing like the one she was familiar with, of course! But still…
Pinkie Pie tapped her chin, frowning undecisively. She was already out of ideas. Planning was such a bore! Where was Twilight when you needed her?! Oh, right… Maybe she could bake them a pie? Let’s see… How would that go?
Step 1: Bake a pie
Step 2: ?
Step 3: You have the stone
Step 4: Go back home
The party pony nodded with consideration. That didn’t sound too bad! This was something that could get her home! Although she felt like something was missing… Dang it! She didn’t have the ingredients! She cursed her own hubris for already celebrating! How could she be so confident as to not go on a voyage without the necessary ingredients to bake a pie?
Maybe she could ask Twilight’s counterpart for a plan? She was certain that she could twist it enough that the lavender mare wouldn’t even notice she was helping a potential enemy!
“Hey, Twilight!” Pinkie 1 called out from her seat, prompting the lavender earth pony to turn her head her way.
“What is it?” Twilight inquired, taking off her eyes the radar so uncaringly that she even let go of the plane’s controls. At her side, Rainbow Dash stiffened in panic before grabbing them and keeping the plane from rocketing down.
“I have a question for you! About a hypothetical situation that has nothing to do with ours!” She stated cheerfully.
“Oooh! I do love hypothetical scenarios! It is one of the fundamentals of science!” The other mare exclaimed while rubbing two of her mechanical arms together.
“It is?” Applejack turned to ask her girlfriend, who simply shrugged in response. She didn’t know much about science, either.
“Great! So let’s say you’re looking for something,” Pinkie 1 started describing the context, to which Twilight nodded for her to continue. “That something happens to be in the hooves of ponies you know. They may or may not be your enemies, but they act friendly, but they’re also scary, but they do think you’re their friends, but you don’t think so. You think they’re bad, okay?” Pinkie rambled, which was enough for everyone other than Twilight to tune her out already.
“Yes, yes, go on,” Twilight encouraged her to continue her story.
“How would you take it back from them and get away with it?” Pinkie asked.
“Oh, that’s easy!” The lavender mare snorted, waving one of her tentacles in dismissal.
“It is?” Pinkie 1 arched an eyebrow.
“Of course! For me, anyway! I am a genius, after all,” Twilight proudly declared with a mechanical arm on her chest. “How many of them are there?”
“6,” Pinkie plainly responded while Twilight put a claw on her chin.
“I see… Are they fighters? Are they strong?” The mare inquired, making Pinkie nod.
“Yup! They’re pretty strong! Like, really, strong. And smart, too!”
“Smart? How much?” Twilight leaned forward.
“Eh, I’d say genius-level smart,” Pinkie replied, shrugging.
“Oh, this is mighty interesting…” Twilight hummed while stroking her chin. “I suppose I could play the long game. I would gain their trust, make them believe I am their closest friend, and once they have their guard down, I take them out. The easiest way would be while they sleep or by poisoning unless they have immunity to poison. But then maybe you wouldn’t want to wait or perhaps do not have time to waste,”
Pinkie frowned as the other mare began listing all the ways and plans she could use to get the item she was looking for. Sure, this was what she asked for, but all of these schemes involved murder! How was it so hard for them to understand that she didn’t wish to kill anyone?! Seriously, why were they all okay with this?! Yes, Twilight already explained it. However, Pinkie Pie refused her explanation. There was no justification for cold-blooded murder! None!
Unfortunately, Twilight didn’t stop even after Pinkie stopped listening. It was as if the mare loved hearing herself talk. She certainly loved boasting about her intelligence. Nevertheless, she didn’t look like she was going to stop anytime soon. Pinkie’s plan worked too well! Because of that, it even bothered Rainbow Dash since the cyborg was forced to fly the plane in Twilight’s stead.
“So… Why do you keep making weird faces since we entered the plane?” Fluttershy’s drone questioned the pink pony sitting at her side. “Our Pinkie usually does that when she’s out of juice. Ya need some?”
“Do you have some on you,” Pinkie 1 asked excitedly.
“No. I was just asking to be polite,” Fluttershy shrugged, making Pinkie’s ears fall.
“Oh. Thanks for asking, I guess,” Pinkie thanked her with little to no enthusiasm. “Do you want to know why I was making weird faces? Are you worried about me?” She asked hopefully. Maybe they weren’t so bad, after all.
“No, I don’t care,” Fluttershy dismissed coldly.
“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately,” Pinkie looked down.
“And you’re telling me anyway,” Fluttershy sighed. She couldn’t wait to arrive at their destination. Oh, no, this wasn’t the first time she had to deal with one of her friends complaining to her about something. Admittedly, this Pinkie Pie wasn’t a friend, though.
“Have you ever missed your friends?” The pink mare inquired.
“Not really. These bastards won’t leave me alone,” Fluttershy replied with a groan.
“It’s not like I miss my friends, ya know? It’s mostly cause I’m worried about them. My Twilight seemed to be in trouble, so I was wondering if the others were, too,” Pinkie explained. Of course, she wasn’t going to talk about how she was worried that the ones on the plane would betray her.
“Why would they be? You ended up in our universe where you’re perfectly fine, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t have the same luck,” Fluttershy shrugged. Pinkie Pie grimaced, not sure about this one, but kept the remark to herself. Even SHE couldn’t believe it! She kept a comment to herself for once.
“I can’t know that for sure! Besides, I’m the element of laughter! They could be both in danger and bored out of their mind ‘cause they can’t enjoy their adventure! Can you imagine?” Pinkie gasped. Finally, she realized the other implications that came from being separated from her friends! Maybe they were with her counterparts, but considering the psychos she was traveling with, she doubted the Pinkie Pies they were with were much fun. Oh, no, what would Twilight do without Pinkie to keep her brain from going overly Twilighting? Who would entertain her and alleviate her worries if not her?!
“The element of what?” The pony on the other end sounded confused even if her drone showed no expression. It seemed that she could choose whether or not her robot showed emotions or not. “Never mind that…” She shook her head, figuring this was just Pinkie being Pinkie. “You don’t trust them?” Fluttershy asked.
“Huh? ‘Course, I do!” Pinkie retorted, almost sounding offended. Scratch that, she was offended! You couldn’t simply accuse her of distrusting her friends!
“Then why the heck are you worried? Personally, I’d be pretty confident,” Fluttershy shrugged before glancing at the other ponies in the plane, her friends. “I know these bastards won’t die easily. They’re tough to the point I doubt anyone would even bring them down,”
Pinke had to admit the show of trust was kind of cute. She still didn’t trust them, but she could imagine they cared for each other, at least. She may have misjudged them slightly since she wasn’t even sure their bonds were real. However, she began asking herself one thing about this version of Fluttershy.
“Why are you so cranky, anyways?” She asked, confused. While the others were mad and psychotic, they were jolly and mostly in a good mood.
“I’m not cranky,” Fluttershy denied the mare’s claim. “I just want to be left alone. This whole ordeal is boring as hell,” She explained with crossed forelegs. Pinkie Pie didn’t feel offended. Not at all.
“Didn’t you have fun earlier?” Pinkie questioned, surprised. The others certainly didn’t hide their enjoyment while mercilessly slaughtering their enemies, so the party mare assumed Fluttershy had fun, too.
“Fun? Ha! Now that’s a good joke. Don’t I exist in your universe? You should know me already. Nothing I do with someone else is fun. The only fun I can have is when I’m alone,” The not-so-shy pegasus muttered.
“Yes, you do, but you kinda love spending time with us! We’re super duper friends!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her forelegs in the air. Fluttershy had the opposite reaction as the party pony thought she would have. Her drone had a horrified and disgusted expression, and she could just tell that Fluttershy’s actual body wanted to barf.
“Oh, God... What life does she live?” She gasped, feeling sorry for her counterpart.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a great one!” Pinkie grinned.
“This was a rhetorical question. I know it must be miserable,” Fluttershy deadpanned.
“Your Pinkie really does a bad job turning that frown upside down…” Pinkie 1 mumbled quietly enough that Fluttershy didn’t hear it.
However, her counterpart, who was sitting in the seat in front of her, suddenly turned her head around to look at them.
“Did someone say my name?” Pinkie 2 asked with her grin reaching her ears.
“No one did,” Fluttershy grumbled dismissively.
“You sure?” Pinkie 2 asked again as she slipped her head between the seats and leaned close to Fluttershy’s face.
“Yes, I’m sure, now get out of my face,” The pegasus ordered. Pinkie 2 just giggled but didn’t move from where she was. In fact, she only got closer.
A shiver went down Pinkie 1’s spine while she witnessed the display. Her counterpart was pretty scary, too. It wasn’t her mannerisms’ fault, but more so the aura she was giving off. She felt as twisted as the others. The multiversal traveler could probably give up on having a celebration party with them once this was all over. That ship had sailed an hour ago, at least.
“Girls! Pay attention! Looks like we’re finally here!” Twilight announced as her tentacles took back the command of the plane as soon as she noticed they arrived. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash breathed in relief, wiping off the sweat that amassed on her forehead. The pegasus had no issues flying on her own, but flying a plane was another matter entirely.
The original Pinkie Pie looked out the window to check where they were and was surprised to see a massive desert extending to the horizon, leaving only the occasional rocks and small mountains in sight. Was the stone really there? Did the radar get the location wrong?
“Hey, what’s the deal Twi? It’s boring here! There’s literally nothing apart from rocks and stupid sand,” Rainbow Dash remarked while her girlfriend focused on safely landing the ship on one of the dunes.
“Don’t be like that, Dashie! You can have a lot of fun with sand, you know?!” Pinkie 2 commented cheerfully. “Personally, I love swimming in it!”
Pinkie 1, on the other hand, had some bad memories with sand. Mostly due to when they had to travel through the desert to reach Hippogriffia. She prayed to Celestia that they wouldn’t have to do that again. Although there would be no reason to considering they had a plane, right? That thing still fascinated her. She wished there could be a way to replicate it back home because the potential for fun was overwhelming.
“The stone is likely buried under the sand, my Little Feather,” Twilight responded with her tongue out and her mouth closed, still handling the controls to land safely. Before any of them could respond, the bottom of the plane rammed into one of the dunes, making all the ponies that weren’t wearing seatbelts fall off their seats. Luckily, Pinkie 1 respected the safety instructions… Unlike Fluttershy’s drone which just hit its head on the back of Pinkie 2’s seat. “Oops! Well, at least, we landed!” Twilight chuckled before ripping the radar out of the control panel with one of her tentacles. “Let’s go! I should have exactly what it takes to find the stone. We won’t even have to dig ourselves!” She stated while the plane ramp touched the ground, letting them get off.
While Twilight was the first one to come out, the others followed shortly after her, each one of them taking in their surroundings. Just as expected, apart from sand and rocks, there was nothing else in sight. There weren’t even vultures, which Pinkie was certain were a must for a desert. Because of the way her vision looked distorted when looking at the horizon, the party mare supposed it must have been a hot environment, which again wouldn’t have surprised her since it wasn’t her first time in a desert. However, she wasn’t affected by any heat. Actually, she was even cool. It must have been the properties of the armor she was wearing.
“The desert?” Applejack muttered nervously from behind Rarity. “Are we sure we’re still in Equestria? Don’t wanna go to war with the buffalos…” She gulped while her eyes darted around.
“The buffalos are extinct, AJ,” Fluttershy rolled her eyes.
“What? But ma parents said we made peace with them!” Applejack gasped in shock.
“And you believed them?” Rainbow Dash snorted in mockery, shaking her head as she kept a steady pace beside her girlfriend.
Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment anything. What the heck happened to the buffalos?! She wasn’t even sure she wanted the answer… She was kind of afraid of the answer, to be honest.
Thankfully, she didn’t need to ponder the question for long since Twilight suddenly stopped after only walking a few feet.
“The stone we’re looking for should be… here,” She pointed at the sand. As predicted, the artifact was likely buried. One of the lavender mare’s tentacles came in front of her face. “Spike, get me the retrieval drone from the plane,” She spoke to the tentacle.
“As you wish,” It responded to her. Pinkie widened her eyes in surprise! Apparently, she could also communicate with those things! She didn’t know which was cooler; that or sending letters through a magical fire!
“Now we wait,” Twilight stated while looking at her radar.
Several minutes earlier…
Deep within the Changelings' nest, the Queen clicked her tongue in satisfaction. The scent... Ah, the sweet aroma of flesh, a precursor to the grand feast awaiting them. As the Queen and Mother of the swarm, their thoughts, emotions, and senses were all shared with her. The children she sent were on the ponies’ tails. While she couldn’t read their thoughts accurately because of the distance, she could still make out what they were telling her. They were near the source of power they needed to win.
Chrysalis growled with hunger. A stream of green and fuming ooze escaped her mouth and the other holes in her massive body, covering the eggs below with her acidic spit. The unborns died. A pity, but she did not care. The hunger clouded her mind and judgment completely.
“Time. Has. Come,” The Mother spoke with her raspy voice, releasing a putrid breath. Every single Child in the nest crawled out of their cells, their claws sinking into the walls while their wings buzzed louder than a gigantic swarm of mosquitoes. Chrysalis knew not to underestimate the ponies. Even if they were only six, she called for all her forces. The sentinels left the nest unprotected, abandoning their posts. The Keepers and Feeders hurried to the exit first, followed by the Donors. Her strongest children, the Warriors which were larger than the regular Changelings, were the last in line. “Must. Take. Magic. Stone. We. Feast. On pony… Flesh,” She licked her lips, revealing a purple tongue covered with blisters.
Abruptly, the entire nest trembled as if gripped by a powerful earthquake. The last remaining Changelings scattered hastily toward the exits as their mother finally stirred. Chrysalis growled in agony as colossal claws slammed into the floor below. Slowly, she peeled herself from the ceiling, leaving her resting place for the first time in centuries. The Queen disregarded the acidic bodily fluids she spilled along the way, smashing through the exit. Due to her size, she could only rupture the walls to reach the outside world.
Outside the Hive, the swarm that had managed to escape in time waited anxiously for their Mother as she finally tore her way out into the sunlight. Now fully visible to the world, Chrysalis unfurled her wide, transparent, perforated wings. Her disfigured face, previously stuck to the rest of her body, was now free as she extended her neck. Her forelegs were long with paws as large as a house, sporting fangs sharper than blades. Her hindlegs, comparatively tiny, struggled to support her weight, forcing the Mother of Changelings to rely on her wings to avoid tumbling down the mountain where their hive resided. Her tail, used for laying eggs, lazily hung behind her. As for her body, it was bloated like a balloon on the brink of bursting, with several holes oozing her mysterious bodily fluids.
She was an abomination; an affront to nature itself. She was the Queen and Mother of Changelings: Chrysalis.
“Children…” She wheezed as she barely managed to remain in the sky, batting her wings so hard that even some of her own were swept away by the wind she generated. “Attack,”