//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Invasion // Story: The Hunter's Heart // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 16 Invasion Twilight and the others found themselves outside Fluttershy’s cottage. Tears formed in their eyes as they saw houses on fire, ash falling from the sky like snow and ponies running in the streets. Fluttershy’s eyes snapped open to find herself on Applejacks back. “Cross!” She yelled out. She stumbled as she got to her hooves, her orange friend caught her as a large shadow appeared before them. They relaxed as Ace stopped in front of them. “Ace! Where are the others?” Rainbow asked. “We had to run to Sweet Apple Acres. They’re in the cider cellar, I was looking for more survivors when I caught your scent. Where’s Cross?” The mares looked down in shame. “He stayed behind.” Rainbow said in a low tone. “I see.” He raised his snout and his eyes shrank at a familiar smell. The ponies looked at one another as he approached the sobbing yellow mare. Fluttershy reached inside her dress, to her surprise she pulled out the dagger Cross had given her. “He gave that to you?” “Y-yes. He said it was some sort of key and-” “Hold on, he’s contacting me.” Ace, are the others there? “Yes, they’re pissed but all right.” I expected as much. “Why did you give your dagger to her you’ll need it if-” No, I won’t. Protect them! You hear me Protect them! “With my life.” Good and Ace, one more thing. “What?” Collar restrictions are at level zero, you’ll need it. The wolf was stunned at the information. See you on the other side. The link was severed and the wolf looked back at the mares. Suddenly black lines began to form over the wolfs fur. The lines began to expand as did the wolfs size. The ponies looked in horror as the white six foot wolf grew into a jet black eight foot monster. The wolf looked to it’s left and let out a massive howl that cut through the smoke to reveal four Changelings staring in fear at the creature. Ace leapt forward and crushed two of the creatures with his paws. The third attempted to attack the mares but was stopped by a beam of purple aura. Ace cornered the last one and crushed it between his teeth. He looked back at the frightened mares who were taking long breaths. “We need to find more survivors!” He yelled. “I’ll see if I can see anything from the sky.” Rainbow said as she ripped off her clothes and took flight. “Ah want to see if mah sister is okay.” Applejack said. “As do I.” Rarity said. "Same here!" Pinkie added. “Fine, you three climb on and bring her too.” He said as he pointed his snout at the petrified Fluttershy. Rarity levitated the mare onto the wolfs back. “I’ll get the elements.” Twilight said as she and Spike vanished from sight. Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity climbed on the wolfs back and held onto the wolfs fur. “Hang on!” Ace said as he rocketed towards the farm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cross had leapt down from the balcony and began fighting his way through the horde of Changelings, while Jeeves remained inside and cleared out the few that had made their way inside the mansion. The stallion looked up to see that Karathax had returned to his original size and began burning everything in sight. The stallions right hoof had become a claw and began slashing his way through the insects. He had cleared the first twenty easy, the second was causing him some irritation. He opened his mouth and shot massive black flames burned a line through the Changeling ranks. He turned around to see a Changeling about to impale him with his horn, the insect was then killed by Karathax’s spiked tail. “That’s eighteen for me!” “I’m on twenty-nine.” Cross said as he crushed another’s back under his hooves. The dragon shrank his size and stood back to back to the grey stallion and smiled. “Remember the last time we did this?” “Yeah, I lost my eye.” He said with a laugh. “So did I. Ready?” “Ready.” The grey stallion sprouted his wings and the two erupted a vortex of black and blue flames that engulfed the enemies surrounding them. The ground became scorsched and the insects began to dry out and turn to ash. As Cross closed his mouth and his wings retracted the dragon returned to full size and smashed five of the insects with his right hand. Cross withdrew the blade he had taken from the teenage dragons and carved his way through the mass of insects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inside the mansion The White Lance had impaled three Changelings to the ceiling and focused on the three surrounding him. His horn flared and five lances launched from the stallions magical aura. Three of them impaled one of the creatures while the other two hit their targets. “I’m getting too old for this.” He said as he caught his breath. He continued down the hallway to find fifteen Changelings filling the halls. The creatures stood aside and the floors began to tremble, Jeeves looked in horror as a mutated manticore was held by chains. The beast’s eyes were light green and was twice as large as a normal manticore. The creature had three scorpion tails that had three massive barbs sticking out of each of them. “By Celestia.” The beast swung it’s arms at the stallion who avoided the blow and threw two lances at the manticores stomach. The lances hit their target but the beast kept coming. The white stallion looked behind him to see that three Changelings had gone on the offensive, he quickly dodged them and planted his hooves on the ground in front of the beast. “Okay, my turn.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the mares got inside the cellar of Sweet Apple Acres Applejack and Rarity wrapped their sisters in a teary hug, while Ace remained on watch. Fluttershy sat in the corner looking at the dagger Cross had given her. She held it close and began to cry. The room became illuminated as Twilight teleported inside the shelter wearing her crown. “Here are the elements, hurry!” She levitated the elements over to the mares who eagerly put them around their necks. Ace tilted his ears towards the cyan mare who landed in front of the barn. “Rainbow over-” Twilight was cut off as Ace ripped the Pegasus’s head off to reveal the Changelings' green blood and jet black body. “Hey! Up here!” Dash said as she landed in front of the wolf. The Wolf sniffed her and gave her a nod. “Oh good. Here’s your element.” Twilight said as she levitated the necklace over to her. “Thanks Twi, looks like most of the Changeling have moved towards Canterlot.” “Then that’s where we’re going too.” She said as she levitated a book in front of her. “How?” “Celestia gave me this spell in case of an emergency. I’d say this qualifies.” She looked at the frightened ponies huddling together in the cellar. “Every-pony stay here and don’t open the door for any-pony, not even us!” The ponies nodded as Big Mac stepped towards the lavender mare. “Y’all be careful now Twi.” He said with tears in his eyes. “I will.” She said as she gave him a small kiss. Applejacks eye twitched at the motion while Rainbow threw on a smug grin. “You didn’t know that Mac got Twilight’s tag? Priceless!” She yelled in a fit of laughter. Mac turned to his sister with fear present in his eyes. “Sorry sis we-” He was cut off by the orange mare raising a hoof. “We’ll talk about this later mister!” She said as she glared at the red stallion. “Looking forward to it.” He said as he gave his sister a hug. Twilight turned to Ace with a sad look in her eye. “Sorry Ace, Teleporting six mares is tricky but an eight foot wolf is too much.” “It’s fine. I move faster on my own anyway. I’ll see you in canterlot.” He said as he turned and ran towards the town at an unnatural speed. Rarity gave Sweetie Belle a tear filled hug, she soon joined her friends as Twilight’s horn began to flare and the six mares vanished in a flash of light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celestia stepped through the portal to see the main hall in ruins. She took to the skies to see Luna and Shining armor commanding what was left of the guards. She flew down to her younger sister and the guard captain. “Sister!” Luna said as she trotted up to her sister. “They attacked so quickly and-” “It’s all right I should have foreseen this.” She walked over to the guard captain who gave her a salute. “How many wounded?” “We’ve got ten dead and at least thirty wounded. I’ve called support from the Crystal Empire but they won’t make it in time.” He said as he fired another spell at another group of Changelings. “I see.” “Looks like we’re on our own.” “Not just yet Captain, look.” She said as she pointed a hoof at the six mares appearing before them. “Twiley!” Shining said as he hugged his sister. Twilight shot out a bolt colliding with a Changelings head knocking it out. “The reunion will have to wait I’m afraid.” Celestia said as she approached the mares. “What do you need us to do Princess?” Rainbow asked. “Stay safe until-” She was cut off as a massive green bolt struck between the group. The ponies looked up to see to see an all too familiar dark silhouette and a wicked voice laughing in delight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jeeves was dodging left and right from the manticores swipes and tails. The stallion jumped out of the way of another swipe from the beast. He was getting tired quickly and the manticore didn’t seem to be losing any energy. Jeeves rounded a corner and sat down next to a wounded Changeling trying to catch his breath. “That thing’s got some serious stamina.” “Well, he had a big snack before we came here.” The Changeling said as he coughed up blood. “Really? What are you feeding him? Wolves?” He asked in an annoyed tone “No, foals.” The butlers eyes bore a hole through dying insect. “What?” “We found a group of ponies just on the outskirts of the estate, a few foals and a few adults.” Jeeves was shaking with rage as he imagined the monster consuming his friends. “He seemed to like them, good they’re were plenty to go around.” The insect said with a laugh. The white stallion summoned a lance and rammed the weapon through the insects brain. He let out a sigh and shed a small tear for the deceased staff. If Cross hears about this he’ll go ballistic. The stallion looked to his right to see the massive beast glaring at him from the dark hallway. Jeeves gave a final sigh and turned to face the monster. “HAVE AT YOU!” The beast leaped at the stallion who quickly dodged the swipes, he felt his left hoof give out. He looked up to see the creatures three tails converge on him. He closed his eyes and let out a final sigh. Sorry sir, I guess this is the end. The stallion let out a cry of pain as the beasts three tails stabbed him through his chest. Jeeves could feel his strength failing as the poison coursed through his system. The beast started to retract it’s tails when he felt a tug on the appendages. It looked back in shock to see the white stallion holding the tails. “NO! YOU AND EVERY DAMN CHANGELING DIE RIGHT NOW!” The stallions eyes began to glow and the ground began to shake. Cross stopped fighting as he felt tremors flow through the ground. No. Jeeves you fool! The ground underneath the Changeling horde turned into a sea of lances, there was no where to run as every inset was impaled in an instant. Cross stood at the center of the sea of lances. Karathax watched in amazement as lances sprang from the ground and quickly stabbed the fleeing Changelings. Cross raced back into the mansion to find broken suits of armor and dead Changelings filling the halls. He rushed towards a massive corpse that looked like a manticore being impaled by ten lances.Cross looked to the side to see the white butler half dead. “I’m sorry sir.” He said as he looked up at the grey stallion. “Stop talking, save your strength.” He said as he rushed to his side. “I won’t need it. Can you do one thing for me sir? A last request.” The grey stallion nodded with tears in his eyes. “Don’t be afraid of your power.” Cross’s eyes shrank at the stallions words. “What if I can’t control it?” “You can, you’re not your father.” He coughed up more blood as he talked. “You’re going to need this.” The white stallion said as he pointed to his chest. “Remember I’m....always.......with.......you.” The stallion’s head went limp and closed his eyes with a smile on his face. The last thing that went through the butler’s mind was a memory of a small grey unicorn colt laughing and grinning at him. Cross cried out in agony and held his friends body in his hooves. A small white ball rose from the stallions chest, Cross put the white stallions hooves on his chest and put a lance between his hooves. Cross let the small white ball sink into his chest, the grey stallion was lifted off the ground as the air around him crackled with power. He wiped the tears from his eyes and turned back to see Karathax in his smaller size staring at him with a sad look on his face. “He died like a true knight. He will be remembered.” He said as he walked over to the stallion. Cross began to walk through the ruins of his home until he reached the balcony. He looked out at the endless sea of lances and let out a single tear. “Karathax, I need a favor.” “Anything.” The dragon said as he returned to his full size. “I can’t use that portal spell, I’ve used too much magic. Can you give me a lift to Canterlot?” “Of course, what do you plan to do?” He asked as the stallion climbed onto his back. “What do you think?” He said in a stern tone. The dragon took flight and made it’s way towards Canterlot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight’s eyes snapped open to find herself trapped in a green cocoon. She began to thrash violently until she felt a sharp pain strike her back. She looked around to see other pods shaking violently as well. Soon she heard a snap and had a falling sensation, her pod cracked as he pod cracked open she saw the dark figure of the Changeling Queen. “Ah you’re finally awake Twilight.” She said as she levitated the mare in front of her. “Just in time too, I’m about to be crowned Queen of Equestria and it would be such a shame if you and your friends missed my coronation. We were almost in laws once.” She mocked. Twilight’s eyes burned as she looked at the massive insect. Twilight raised her hoof to feel that her element was gone. “Looking for these?” She said as she levitated the six pieces of jewelry into a locked chest. Chrysalis shot Twilight back against a green sticky substance that was connected to the far wall. The Queen lifted five other mares and repeated the action. “You better hope I don’t get free!” Rainbow yelled as she struggled in the substance. “I’m so scared, yet you amuse me. Perhaps I’ll keep you as a pet. My other one could use the company, although he isn’t in the mood for playing right now.” The Queen pointed with her hoof to the large black wolf that was bleeding and whimpering heavily in the corner. “The stupid dog tried to rescue you, how sweet.” She mocked. “Shut up! What did you do with the Princess?” “Oh yes that reminds me, my coronation.” She said as she moved to the side to reveal a battered Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, their wings were pointed in other directions and their horns were broken in half. Chrysalis’ horn glowed and a large jagged blade was raised over the Princess’s necks. “Who says a girl can’t have it-” Her eyes shrank and the sword vanished and she started to cringe back in fear at an unknown force. “NO! NOT HIM NOT AGAIN!” She yelled as a dark object smashed through the roof. "OF ALL THE WRETCHED BEINGS THAT WALK THIS WORLD IT HAD TO BE YOU DIDN'T IT?" The ponies looked in surprise at a battered and bloodied grey stallion with a blue dragon eye. “CHRYSALIS!” He bellowed. “YOU DIE HERE!” He yelled as his horn flared.