//------------------------------// // Frying pans, Impalement, emergency surgery // Story: The Triumvirate // by Fedora71 //------------------------------// Chapter 32         Stigandr blindly galloped through the halls, either hoping to accidentally run into his friends or stumble across somepony who could. “Take the next left,” Discord advised. Stigandr followed his advice just dodging a stray blast tearing through the hallway behind him. “Out of curiosity, how competent would you rate Scott in a fight? Against a praetorian if you want reference,” Discord asked nonchalantly. Scott had only been second on Stigandr's worry list. The question knocked him to a tie with Ancro. “Where is he?”         “Quick and to the point. Well it just so happens that he ran into a changeling corpse and his line of thought reasoned it to be Ancro,” Discord's flippant tone was already getting on Stigandr's nerves. “Not that is actually was Ancro, it was Specs, she'll be sorely missed. I've already wrote her eulogy. Would like to hear it? It's sure to soften even the hardest of hearts.”.     “Discord, I if you don't tell me where they are you’ll spend the rest of your days in stone,” Stigandr said through grit teeth. “Regardless of what you do to me.”     There was a pause. Long enough to make Stigandr think the draconequus was gone. “No need to be so rude,” Discord smiled. “Manners, what is it with you all and that? I swear, Ancro is the only gentlemen amongst you three. Scott is currently in the middle of a heated battle with a very frustrated praetorian. West wing of the palace. He's doing relatively well. Meaning that he isn't dead...yet.” .      Stigandr dug deep into his personal reserves and ran while the voice of Discord fell silent in his head. The unicorn noticed the guards were starting to get more organized. That was good, the princesses were busy with the changelings outside. From the looks of it they needed all the help they could get.         ---                  Shift sat in the center of his cell, staring at the door and waiting for his end. He noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere and the realization hit him. Changelings were waiting for him. They could've been from the restaurant to keep him silent or they could've been praetorians sent to kill a deserter. He didn’t recognize any of them and was sharing a block with praetorians, he was betting the latter. He hoped it would be quick. Granted, they were praetorians; no matter how quick they’d fill his last moment with agony. “You are taking this whole imminent death thing much better than I would.” Immediately Shift recognized the voice, it was the same one that he heard in the laundry room. “I mean, look at you. Such dignified, silent acceptance of the inevitable. It truly is admirable.”     “There's a ring on my horn, I'm starving, and those are probably praetorians. I couldn't do anything to them.” Shift swallowed feeling as though a rope had been tightened around his neck. A sense of helplessness that he had been managing to stave off had hit him. If he wasn't being watched, he'd curl in the corner and cry.     “Yes, but you are not alone,” the voice replied, “for I am here to help.” “I remember the last time you helped me,” Shift said in disdain. “I don't know who you are, but I know enough to know you are a manipulator, and nothing is free from you.”         “Isn't that the way the world works?” The voice smirked, “you can't get something for nothing, especially if your life is on the line.”     “I know, but it's what you want in exchange,” Shift responded. The changeling's eyes darted to his cell's door. The praetorians were taking their time. Did they want to savor his fear?     “You haven't even heard what I was offering in exchange for saving your life,” the voice said.     “I'm finding that more terrifying than what the praetorians will do to me,” the changeling said..     “You need to be more like your sister, shed some positive light on the situation,” the voice said. “Put a smile on. Given the whole situation, I have a feeling you'll be pardoned or paroled at the very least.”     “The ponies are just going to let me walk around!” Shift shouted, the anger and fear he had reigned in so skillfully started to boil over. “In case you didn't notice, I'm not on their favorite species list.”     “No need to be angry with me. It was your sister's dying wish for me to save you, but if you won't agree to an unknown stipulation then I'll leave you to your fate.” The voice changed to a more flippant tone and Shift saw the shadow walking away.         “How?”         “A praetorian at the palace,” he replied, turning around and facing the changeling. “She was worried about you until the end.”         The tears the changeling had been holding back started to pour.         “Is that a yes? You want me to save you?” the voice asked.         Shift only nodded. There was an audible pop of knuckles and the voice said something about how this may hurt a bit. The door creaked open and two changelings walked in. They fired, Shift felt himself fall apart as. ---     Stigandr heard what could only be described as an eagle's roar. Once more digging into reserves he hadn't used since Parris Island, he came to a blown-out section of wall perched a hundred yards from the changeling. From his vantage point he saw the source. It was far, but Stigandr could easily make out who was winning. Scott's wings were limp as well as his foreleg. Yet even in his sorry state, the griffon was trying to press on.     Seeing his friend's desperate plight and rage, he took a deep breath while charging his horn. Not caring that he had never fired from this distance, he remembered his training from boot camp. The United States Marine Corps has three ranks for shooters. The lowest is Marksman, next is Sharpshooter, with Expert the highest. Stigandr had scored three points below Expert.     His horn glowed brown as Stigandr focused on the single praetorian. Scott had hit the ground and wasn't moving. A brown bolt of magic fired and hit the changeling squarely in the neck. It did little more than tickle his target, but it prevented him from doing any further harm to Scott.       Stigandr started firing relentlessly into the hall. Soon the praetorian gathered enough of his senses to return fire, forcing Stigandr to seek cover. For a while, they seemed evenly matched, then the praetorian started to fire larger blasts, closer together. They consistently destroyed whatever cover the unicorn could find. Eventually it caught him out in the open. Stigandr's horn flared brightly and deflected the large fireballs around himself, firing back whenever he could.         After a momentary lapse in fire, Stigandr thought he had won, and none too soon. His ears were ringing and he felt like his horn was about to melt off. Granted, before the ring he wouldn't have been able to keep the pace he had going. He'd have to thank Celestia after this was over and see if they come in higher constraints of power. By the time he was done, Stigandr wanted to be able to lift the moon.         An enormous green fireball tore out of the hall. Immediately Stigandr fired a bolt only to see the ball roll to avoid it. Stigandr realized the changeling had engulfed itself in fire and was now trying to tackle him. The unicorn's horn flared brighter than it had ever been as he tried to desperately redirect the changeling. Now even more thankful for that ring around his horn, his telekinesis seized the praetorian. Not only could he stop the changeling though, this time he was actually pushing it back. In his few months in Equestria and time he spent sparring with Ancro, and even with his fight in the prison, he had never put such strain on his horn and his own magical reserves..         The flames that engulfed the changeling were snuffed out as the creature struggled to move itself from the unicorn's power. In frustration, the praetorian grew several extra wings, only managing to slow the pace Fighting every inch of the way, the changeling's body swapped to a position where its chest faced Stigandr. The irate preatorian was confused about his new spread position until a chance glance backwards. A wooden beam stood out as a casualty from the fight with the unicorn, sharpened to a fierce point by a fluke of the grain. The changeling roared in desperation as its sensitive wing muscles started to be pierced by the sharp timber. Stigandr felt the resistance from the timber and pressed onward with even more force. ---         Duo's eyes adjusted for the low light of the prison hospital. He immediately questioned what the praetorians considered to be stealth. The hospital of the prison was a mess of broken glass, cracked walls, and various bits of anatomy. The crystals that had been moved to decorate as well as light the halls had, for the most part, been destroyed. The few holdouts only let out a small trickle of light for his own eyes to amplify.         The stumbling block they had run into was an extremely stubborn griffin and some pony guards. They had put up a much harder fight than the praetorians had anticipated. It was mostly done by the time Duo got there. The commander most likely relocated him to keep him out of his fins.         They reached the only occupied room in the ICU. Playtime was still in the bed, heavily sedated hooked up to several machines monitoring the psychotic pegasus' vitals. If the charts or memos indicated anything, he was going to be seeing several therapists over the course of the next few weeks. Duo had to laugh at how stupidly optimistic the ponies were. Several of his long time therapists thought that the 'progress' that was made with him was jeopardized by the changeling's attack on the pegasus. He tried not to break down laughing when he read that they wanted the pony and the changeling to approach each other for an 'apology'. Una would've loved to see this.         It became evident that Playtime was sedated to keep him under control, not to deal with any pain. The ponies had proven competent in this regard at least. The only thing that remained were the scars. A quick glance revealed that injuries were there to cause more pain, than anything else, consistent with a changeling letting themselves get a bit drunk on fear and suffering. Levitating the limp body onto his back, Duo wished that the deserter had been disciplined enough to kill the pegasus. Not for any distaste to psychopathic pony or wishing to save the ponies some effort and ease their day to day lives. He just didn't want to carry the sedated bastard. ---         Ancro trudged into the pitch black kitchen that his senses told him Fluttershy was cowering inside. If finding one had made it to where he could barely walk, he had no idea how he was going to get the rest of the Mane Six together. He hoped Spike had made it Twilight without any trouble. If anything it would mean he'd be getting the cavalry sooner rather than later.         Once more, Ancro made another promise to never let this happen again. It was much worse than the last time. The changeling felt the battle outside was best blamed. The fear that filled the room helped a little bit. It was a bit like the fog from taking a painkiller; not killing the pain, just making him apathetic towards it, if also a bit dizzy and uneven when he walked.         What happened next was hard to place in any order. He couldn't remember if he hit the ground and then the clang happened and his head felt even worse, or if the clang came first. Regardless, his head hurt and he was on the ground and it was still dark. Reaching up, he felt a sore spot on the back of his head. Squinting his eyes in hopes of focusing a bit better, he looked to see if he had run into anything. His eyes had been known to get worse with migraines, often times losing other things than his already questionable depth perception. Four yellow legs and a pink tail greeted him before closing his eyes again in a long blink.         “Why'd you do that?” Ancro whimpered, realization hitting him like the blunt object Fluttershy had used.         “Ancro?” Fluttershy said dropping an extremely loud metal object feet from his head.         The changeling managed a small nod through the pain.         “Oh, I'm so sorry,” she whispered, then continued in a voice getting more high pitched by the second, “I-I heard the explosions and when I checked outside I saw the changelings attacking. I didn't know what was happening and I didn't know where to go.”         “Please stop talking,” Ancro said between tears. “Get the elements.”         Fluttershy asked the question he hoped he wouldn't hear. “What about you?”         “I'm fine,” Ancro said trying to stand. Fluttershy wasn't going to leave him unless she had some assurance he was okay. “Honestly, I've been worse.”         “No, you are not fine,” she said, coming next to him and supporting the changeling on her wing. He felt her intoxicating fear turn to worry. “I don't think I've ever seen anyone more far from fine than you are.”         “Burnt myself out,” he confessed, “everything hurts.”         “What do you mean you burnt yourself out?” she said. He felt her worry turn to care and concern, and soon enough little snippets of love started to get in. Not enough to do much. He was burning through it almost as quickly as he was getting it. It did, however, make the pain somewhat bearable.         “Spike and I were ambushed,” Ancro said. “burnt myself out buying him time to get away.” Suddenly, the tower shook from its base to the top. It was hopefully Ancro's migraine, but everything seemed to develop a slight lean.         “Burnt out or not, I'm not abandoning you,” Fluttershy stomped, much to Ancro's pain. She wrapped a wing around him and started to lead him towards the door. “I read some of Twilight's notes, and changelings get more love from being in close proximity to the source.”         Fluttershy was hugging him. Secretly, in the back of Ancro's mind, he marked that off his list. ---         Beneath the cover of a cloud, three praetorians had taken stock and were observing the battle. From their vantage point, they saw the princesses steadily gain control while the pony guards organized for what was their inevitable counter-attack. The palace had been mostly evacuated. This was obvious by the princesses’ more aggressive movements and use of more destructive spells. They could taste the acceptance of their comrades sacrificing everything for their queen.         “The commander is obviously irate,” one of them joked, licking the air. Even from this distance they could taste the bitterness of his frustration.         “And the princesses are not happy, either,” another said, looking at the blue and white dots that were now steadily out-matching their comrades.         “And here we thought we wouldn't get a chance to see that traitor's resourcefulness,” the third smiled. A sudden awareness ran through the changelings' senses. Looking back, they saw five streaks of thunderclouds coming from the direction of Cloudsdale.         “Ire, I know you are itching for a fight, but if you go that far off you are on your own.”         “Wasn't thinking of it,” Ire replied. “I was thinking we go down there, kill the traitor, and leave.”         “Sounds like a plan,” the third one said. “hopefully he’s dead and we get to leave.”         With a nod the three changelings dived onto the palace. A quick survey revealed that for the most part it was evacuated, with the exception of the infirmary, and a few pockets of trapped and injured ponies.         “Well, looks like someling had a bad day,” Ire chuckled, looking at their fellow praetorian. They couldn't tell if he was dead or in too much shock from having a large piece of wood rammed from his back to his chest. It didn't help that he had gone from apex to regular with said piece of wood lodged in his chest cavity. “Any chance of him not being dead?”         “If he's not already, he will be when the timber comes out,” another said sniffing some blood from the floor. “Idiot, he never could heal worth a damn.”         “Wouldn't be the only one,” another one said, buzzing over the large trail of blood. “I'd say he had a few fights lined up.”         “Yeah, but look what he bagged,” the third said, moving some of the rubble, then effortlessly levitating the charred remains of a changeling. “The great hunter caught his prey.”         “That's a relief,” Ire said. “Now we just need to find the commander and evac.”         The palace shook as they felt another of their comrades die. Celestia had turned the tide and her rage was terrifying. It was proving to be too bitter for even Ire's taste.         “Given the circumstances, I think it'd be for the best if we left for the best teleportation spot and go.”         The other two agreed and headed for the top of the mountain. ----         “I need the operating room prepped now!” the doctor shouted after the purple glare had left his eyes. With practiced precision, the doctor's horn ran over the body of the dying griffin. The pony who had teleported him in was still cleaning a green wax-like substance off her horn..         “He has severe second- and third-degree burns, deep lacerations across his chest, rear legs, wings, and forelegs. Several compound fractures in the wings and left foreleg, the left foreleg is dislocated at the shoulder,” Twilight said, getting the rest of the accursed slime from her horn. Meanwhile, the doctor and a nurse had levitated Scott onto a gurney.         “Left out the broken ribs and shattered wrist, but all things considered, decent triage,” the doctor said as his horn glowed with what Twilight recognized as a sterilization spell. “If you have no further business, do you mind showing yourself out?”         “I'm sorry,” Twilight's horn was already glowing and in a flash of purple she was gone.         “Cross, you're in charge until I'm done in operating.” The doctor then braced himself as the palace quivered once again. “Is anypony well enough to form a shield spell? I'd rather not be digging anymore debris out of this griffin than necessary.”.         A few hooves from bandaged guards went up.         “Then what in the name of Tarterus are you all waiting for? Cast one around the hospital wing. Engineering isn't my strong suit but that should help with the blessed shaking.” The doctor swore under his breath as he walked into the operating room. “You ever operate on a griffin before?”         “No sir,” the new nurse said. All things considered, she was taking this amazingly well. still extremely nervous, no matter how well she hid it.         “This'll be a learning experience for both of us.” His horn glowed to completely sedate the griffin. ---         Spike had finally made it to the bridge that led to the tower. Words couldn't express how deeply he wished to grow right now. A few inches would be nice. It would certainly make getting over the rubble much easier. Not that this section of the palace was in bad shape, especially compared to the throne room and Luna's tower. He had been able to make them out on his way over.         Seeing the shining structures he had been around his entire life reduced to rubble struck a chord with the dragon. If he ever got a hold of one of those changelings, he'd teach them a thing or two. Speaking of changelings, he needed to find Ancro as soon as possible as well. He still believed the changelings were after the Elements of Harmony. He didn't know how much danger he was in.         Ancro struck him as the type who wasn't unfamiliar with danger. If Twilight was right and the Triumvirate were mercenaries under some kind of spell it couldn't be that far from the truth. He tried to stop worrying about the changeling. If he was some kind of grizzled mercenary veteran, this was probably just another day of work for him, anyways. He probably took care of the changeling from the hall and was now on his way to help the princesses. He did say that they hired him, right?         “Yeah, he did say that. What's a changeling expert supposed to do when changelings attack?” Spike said aloud. “I wonder what he's getting paid in. I hope it's gems. If it's gems he may let me taste some of them for his own curiosity.”         The little dragon entertained this train of thought. Imagining himself sitting back and eating gemstones while Ancro tasted them through him. It originally struck him as kinda weird, but changelings were, after all, a different species. Maybe he was part of the norm.         Spike continued to entertain the idea. It helped to distract him from how dangerous everything was. It also distracted Spike from everything else around. Him he didn't even notice how close he was to the tower until the familiar shape of a changeling emerged from behind the corner.         Closing his eyes and turning his head away, he slashed blindly at the changeling.         “Spike!” The familiar voice of Fluttershy reached his ears. Spike opened his eyes to see Ancro and Fluttershy staring at him.         “I told you to go get Twilight!” Ancro growled, as they made a hasty trot across the walkway..         “I did! She was with Scott, and he said they were after you!”          ---         Luna tucked her wings and half-corkscrewed through an arch of a bridge. The dark alicorn's horn flared and let loose a devastating torrent of magic upon the first changeling to clear the obstacle. The creature was left a black spec against the bridge's surface, and as Luna finished her corkscrew. She had removed one of the changelings from the fray. The creature's demise had bought Luna an instant to glance at her sister's plight.         The changelings had kept the palace between themselves and the sun princess, opting for a less aggressive approach, using the ponies as shields to prevent Celestia from attacking in full force. Meanwhile, they fired on her with near impunity. Their plan wasn't going to work forever. Eventually, they had to know that the palace would be evacuated.         Luna artfully dodged a changeling's swipe and managed kick it along the armored head. She should've capitalized on the moment, but her head was trying to figure out their goals. Luna wouldn't rate pointless destruction as an appropriate use of their queen's resources. She continued to ponder this while fighting the changelings.         The attack was too well planned to be some frivolous harassment. It was obviously a distraction. An attempt on their lives would need to be far more powerful and Luna genuinely doubted the changelings would put killing the princesses at the top of their list. Even then, it would have to part of a larger scheme. A simultaneous attack on Equestria would be far too much, especially with this as the distraction. She could already see the guards organizing a counter-attack. It looked a bit sloppy, almost like the guard was leaderless.         Both Luna's eyes and horn flared with the realization, her spell finding the nearest changeling and turning it to a pile of ash. How could she had been so stupid? If the look Celestia gave her was any indication, she just realized it too. With the ponies evacuated from this part of the palace, the sisters were free to fight without restraining themselves. ----         Shining Armor hadn’t been able to find out where they were going. Westwards from the smoking debris of the palace was his best guess. Exhausted he tried to ignite his horn desperate to form a shield to encompass himself and his wife. In the brief glimpses he had gotten of her cocoon she was in a similar predicament. No worse, she’d been through this before she never spoke of it. There was no way Shining Armor was going to let her go through that again. He needed to find a way out, and as his horn brushed against the wall of his cocoon a plan came to mind.         (Yes I’m back, been busy and dealing with writers block cause by personal things. Let’s get some of them out of the way. For starters if you haven’t read my blog Scott is now at Parris Island South Carolina. That’s right, he’s realizing his dream of becoming a Marine. After living on my own (with three/two other people (Scott technically didn’t spend a lot of time here most of it was at his girlfriend’s which kinda removed his right to complain about things like the thermostat but that’s beside the point) I’m going to be moving back into my parents when my lease is up on my apartment. It fits better with my plans since a 6 month lease is kind of pointless. (If my plans come to fruition which I’ll find out more on the 20th of this month). I quite my airport job which means I’ll be going back to only subway so stories will be written by a less apethetically tired me. That’s all for now big thanks to my new editor Double Zebra I’m always looking for more and please remember you can message me. It doesn’t bother me and helps keep me focused.)