“I want to know all of your opinions on this matter.” Twilight ordered. She looked over each of their faces, “This is a huge decision, and I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
“Ah don’t think we should do this.” Applejack stated bluntly.
Dash rolled her eyes, “You don’t think we should do anything. If everything depended on your decision, we’d probably be living on some makeshift farm somewhere near where Apploosa used to be.”
Applejack shot her a glare, “An' if everything was left up ta ya, we’d probably all be sitting around tinkerin’ with yer stupid lil’ toys!”
Fluttershy started to raise a hoof, “Um, excuse me-”
“My ‘toys’ are high quality weaponry to fight off the Hellions! You’re just mad because I can make weapons and tech gear out of anything!”
Fluttershy’s ears pinned down to her head from the yelling, “Please stop figh-”
“Yeah, Ah’m sure ya can make powerful weapons. Too bad Twilight an’ ya decided ta make weapons out of ponies!”
Twilight slammed her hooves on the table, “THAT’S ENOUGH!!!”
Both ponies sighed heavily and crossed their forelegs. Twilight glared at Applejack,
“Applejack, I’m getting tired of your low blows when it comes to CBS-01. So please…knock it off.”
Applejack returned the glare, “Ya want me ta just keep my trap shut an’ my opinions ta mahself because they hurt ya feelin’s?” she rose to her hooves, “Ah’m still the Element of Honesty, and yer still just a Unicorn. Ya can’t tell me what ta do.”
Twilight growled and her horn started to spark with magic, “You and these low blows...I’m really getting sick of them.”
Applejack chuckled bitterly, “Oh, yer angry? What, ya gonna kill me off an’ turn me intah some twisted experiment of yers?”
The magic burned brighter from her horn, “Keep it up…I dare you.”
Applejack's eyes started to faintly glow green, “Well then, Ah’m just getting’ started-”
“STOP THIS!!!”
All of the ponies in the room froze, as all eyes focused on Sparks.
“What are you doing? I’ve heard stories of your legendary friendship, and how it has defeated the mightiest of monsters. Is this it?” the young Unicorn looked at the older mares, “Is this really all it is? Just a bunch of mares bickering but staying around each other just because it happens to work to their advantage?” her eyes dropped to the ground, “If this is it…well…I can’t believe I spent half of my life looking for you all.”
The Fallen looked at one another. Twilight’s magic dissipated and she sat back down,
“Perhaps I have let myself get too emotional…” she looked over at Applejack, “I’m sorry for snapping at you, my friend.”
Applejack tilted her hat down and covered her eyes, “Mah apologies as well, pardner.”
Sparks nodded and sat back down. Rarity looked over at Twilight,
“I don’t see a more fitting time for the Apprentices to take charge. Let them decide if we make an alliance with the Changeling Hive.”
“Aren’t they a lil’ bit young ta be makin’ a…” Applejack lazily waved her hoof in the air in search of the words, “Massive sized decision?”
Twilight nodded, “I agree with Rarity…they all seem very capable.” She looked over at the others, “Let’s get out of here.”
Pinkie arched an eyebrow, “Where are we going?”
“Were going to let them be in charge.” Twilight replied. “And whatever decision they come up with, we will follow it.”
The older mares nodded and rose to their hooves. One by one, they left the conference room. The Apprentices looked at one another. Haze smacked a hoof on Sparks’ back,
“Woah dude…that was fucking awesome!!” he wheezed out in amazement, “You just put them in their place!”
“I wasn’t ‘putting them in their place’. I just wanted them to stop fighting.” She looked at the others, “Well…I guess we better get started.”
“I think we should join up with them.” Haze stated. “If the Hell King is starting to get all riled up, then we’ll need all the help we can get.”
‘Keep in mind that she was able to literally suck the life outta that one Hellion.’ Skye pointed out. ‘And to think she wants to share that power with us, well, who wouldn’t want HER on their side?’
“It’s because their kind can do that, that we shouldn’t allow it.” Dee pointed out. Patch arched an eyebrow,
“Dee, you’re no different.” Patch threw a foreleg over Dee’s shoulder, “Yer nothin’ but a life suckin’ vermin yerself!!”
Dee elbowed him in the gut. He wheezed out, but still gave her a smile. The vampony rubbed her temples, “As much as I can’t stand when you say shit like that…I guess you’re right.”
Sparks grinned, “So we’re all in agreement of making her an ally?”
The others nodded. She clacked her hooves together, “Okay, so here’s how we’re going to do this.”
~MLP~
“Only three Fallen, and three Apprentices will go to the hive?” Twilight repeated the plan told to her. “And why have you made this your decision?”
“Three Fallen should be more than enough if something bad were to go down at the hive. And with the Apprentices being there as well, it’ll be more than enough security.” Sparks started. “The other three Fallen and Apprentices can stay back here, keeping this base secured, and keeping an eye on us with a simple monitoring spell. If something happens, whichever ponies go to the hive will more than likely be able to handle their own until reinforcements arrive, though I doubt they’re going to try anything.”
Twilight smirked, “I’m impressed by you. All of you, actually. My friends have done well in picking their Apprentices. Perhaps we’ll let you conduct more missions very soon.”
Sparks smiled back, “Thank you, Miss Twilight.”
“So who are the three Fallen you guys picked?” Pinkie questioned.
“We believed there should be one of each breed, ta keep things balanced.” Patch replied. “So for the Unicorn, we decided it should be Miss Twilight, since she’s the figure head fer the Fallen.”
“For the Earth Pony, we chose Master Pinkie Pie.” Haze stated. “I hate to admit this, Miss Applejack, but we’re kinda scared that you might…” he slammed his hooves together, “Beat the fuck out of some Changelings for no reason.”
Applejack snorted angrily, “Ya sayin’ Ah got a nasty temper, Purple Haze?!”
Haze shook his head while wearing a lop sided grin, “No ma’am-I-uh-”
“Oh hush, Applejack. You know that you and Rainbow Dash are the two most hot headed mares in all of Equis.” Rarity teased. She looked back over at Sparks, “Speaking of Rainbow Dash, which Pegasus did you choose, her or Fluttershy?”
‘We chose Miss Rainbow Dash.’ Skye answered her. ‘While she does share some similar ‘traits’ with Master Applejack-'
Dash raised a brow, “What the hell, Skye? Whose side are ya on?!”
Skye giggled at her irritated mentor, ‘I’m sorry, Master Applejack, I didn’t mean to offend you.’ She looked over at Dash, ‘There’s another reason we chose her. She’s the best mechanic that we have. If they have any security systems, she’ll be able to break through them in a heartbeat.’ She then looked over at Pinkie, ‘And we also chose Miss Pinkie Pie because she’s our master Medical and Bioengineering Scientist. If the Changelings try anything, she’ll be able to rip them apart.’
Pinkie nodded, “I’ve actually got a few potions that can melt Changeling chitin in a matter of seconds,” a dark grin appeared on her face, “And it would expose their tender, pulpy flesh, making them easy prey…”
Everypony gave Pinkie a weird stare before looking back at the Apprentices.
“So if you chose one of each breed from the Fallen, what about yourselves?” Fluttershy questioned.
“We’ve already taken that into account, Master Fluttershy.” Dee responded. “Sparks will be the Unicorn to represent us, Skye will be going because she hasn’t been on any missions in a while, and I know she wanted to go, and of course…since Haze is the only Earth Pony that we have, he’ll be going on the mission as well.”
“Well, it seems like you all have everything in order.” Rarity stated. “I’ll go ahead and fetch Locust Charm from the interrogation room.” She turned and trotted out of the meeting room. A few minutes later, she returned with a shackled Locust surrounded by four Unicorns. Sparks looked at the Unicorns,
“Remove the shackles please. They won’t want to be our allies if we show up with their princess chained up like a prisoner.”
One of the Unicorns nodded, “Yes, Fallen Apprentice.”
They quickly removed the shackles. Locust rubbed her wrists,
“Thank you, Sparks.” she shook the Unicorn’s hoof, “It feels nice to get those things off of me.”
“No problem, my friend. However, you would be doing me a great favor by telling Miss Twilight where the hive is, so that we can teleport there.”
Locust shook her head, “I can’t do that...not yet...but, don’t let my looks fool you. I’m a very powerful hybrid. I’m more than capable of taking us there.”
Her horn glowed a bright magenta hue. The other ponies were surrounded in a matching aura. They were surrounded by a flash of light, and a few moments later, stood before massive cliff wall. In a few seconds, Changelings surrounded the small group. Everypony except Locust got into fighting stances,
“Relax, they aren’t here to hurt you.” Locust pointed out.
They all relaxed when the Changelings started to bow to their princess. A bearded, dark grey Changeling slowly walked up to them. He bowed before her,
“It is an honor to know you have safely returned, Princess.”
Locust smiled, “Had you no faith in my return, Priest?”
Priest shook his head, “Of course I did, Princess. I was just stating the emotions of the hive.” His horn started to glow a bright lime green, along with the rest of group that had been waiting for them. The cliff wall glowed bright, then suddenly burst into particle dust. A massive entry way was revealed to the group. Locust started to slowly walk inside. The others looked at one another before they slowly started to follow her. As they traveled deeper into the tunnel, they noticed that the tunnel was lit up by giant lightning bugs that were hovering around inside. There were a few Changelings here and there, chattering amongst themselves and throwing a few glances as the group walked by.
“It’s Twilight Sparkle…”
“Is that Rainbow Dash?”
“That’s Pinkie Pie. I read about her in the scrolls.”
“Who are the ponies with them?”
"I think those are their apprentices."
The whispers continued as they traveled further and further into the tunnel.
“This tunnel seems to go some ways down.” Dash pointed out, “How much more do we have to walk, hybrid?”
“Not much further, Fallen One.” Locust politely replied.
They continued to walk until the tunnel started to get brighter. They finally reached the end of the tunnel,
“Whoa…” Pinkie and Dash stated in unison. Locust turned and smiled at them,
“Welcome to my home.”
The tunnel had opened up into a massive cave with a small open ceiling. There were granite buildings that were etched into the cave walls. Changelings and ponies of all breeds were walking around on various levels throughout the carved buildings. Everypony looked happy, and at peace with each other. As the group walked through the city, both Changelings and Ponies bowed to Locust. A couple foals galloped up to them. They gave her a quick bow and started to bounce in front of her.
“Hi, Princess Charm!” the Changeling colt shouted excitedly, “Are these the ponies that will be able to stop the Hell King?”
“Will they be the ones that bring back the Sun and Moon from the scrolls?” the Pegasus filly asked as she hovered above the colt.
Locust scooped up the colt, and the filly landed on her back, “Yes they are. Hopefully, they’ll be our friends and you all will be able to see other ponies outside of the colony.”
“There really are other ponies out there?” the filly asked. “Other Pegasi, an-and Unicorns, and Earth Ponies?”
Locust nodded and smiled warmly at them, “That's right.”
Locust put the colt down. He trotted up to Twilight, and wrapped his forelegs around one of Twilight’s,
“Thanks so much for coming, Miss Unicorn.”
The filly wrapped herself around Twilight’s other foreleg, “Yeah, thanks! I’ve always wanted to see Eventide! I’ve seen it in scrolls and stuff, but I always wanted to see it for real.”
Twilight couldn’t help but give the two a small smile, “My friends and I will see what we can do.”
The two foals let go of her legs and took off down on one of the makeshift streets. Locust’s smile disappeared,
“Tis quite a shame...those poor foals....being born into such a despairing, violent world. A new generation should not be coming into a world like this...”
“it is a sad truth indeed.” Twilight stated. “I don't wan't to delay this any further. Please, take us to your parents.”
Locust nodded and continued walking. As they made their way to a massive castle at the back of the cave, more ponies and Changelings greeted them. They finally made their way inside, and were greeted by a very large throne room. Six of the guards surrounded the group and followed them as they got closer to the throne. In one of the massive chairs, a Changeling sat tall and proud. Her chitin was a glistening black, her mane was bright, shimmering white, with a tinge of light blue in it. Her compound pale blue eyes settled on them and she gave them a soft smile.
“I see you’ve returned with the Fallen. I’m very proud of you.”
Locust gave a curt bow, “I wouldn’t return to you in failure, Mother.”
The queen rose from her throne and gracefully made her way down the small steps. She stopped in front of Twilight,
“Princess Twilight Sparkle, it’s an honor to meet you.”
Twilight remained stone-faced, “I’m not a princess anymore. I’m just Twilight Sparkle. I’m assuming you’re the queen of this hive.”
The queen’s smile faltered a little bit. “That, I am. I am Queen Sylphina, co-ruler of this colony, along with my husband, King Scarab.”
“King Scarab?” Dash repeated. She looked over at Locust, “That sounds like a Changeling name. I thought one of your parents was a pony.”
“I am a pony.” A strong male voice responded. The group all turned to the direction of the voice. A large, powerful looking Unicorn stood behind them. His coat was a deep, royal blue, and his mane and tail were a bright, flaming red. A rusted red and grey beard covered his maw. He was covered in bronze armor plates that clanked as he slowly walked towards them,
“That is the name I chose when I married into the colony.” He gave Twilight a curt bow, “It is an honor to be graced by your presence, your Highness.”
Changelings and ponies alike in the throne room began to whisper at the action. An irritated expression began to form on Twilight’s face,
“I’m not a princess anymore, so please, do not bow.”
“You’ll always be the princess that I served long ago…” Scarab replied.
Twilight squinted at him for a few seconds. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and a small smile appeared on her face,
“Comet Streak?” she took a couple steps closer, “Is it really you?”
Scarab smiled and nodded, “Yes, your Highness…”
The others looked on in shock as Twilight wrapped her forelegs around his neck. Guards started stepping forward to break the contact, but Scarab held a hoof up to stop them.
“I can’t believe you’re still alive!”
Dash's brow furrowed, “I can’t even get a smile out of you that often, but you’re gonna hug him? What the hell!!”
She started to stomp towards them. Feeling the change of mood from the Pegasus' anger, the Changeling and pony guards in the room pulled out their pistols. Pinkie was standing beside Locust, with a needle to her neck,
“Anypony shoots, and I’m ramming this poisonous needle into her jugular.”
Twilight’s horn sparked dangerously, “Comet, I don’t know what this is, but tell them to put their weapons back in their holsters.”
“They are already uneasy with strangers being here. Sudden movements are bound to trigger their protectiveness of the royal family.”
“They need to get it together, because they didn’t act this aggressive when Twilight hugged you.” Pinkie pointed out.
Scarab, “Yes ma’am. I understand that.” He looked around the room, “Put your weapons away! They mean no harm!”
The Changelings and ponies quickly put away their guns, but still maintained rigidity in their postures. Sparks looked around the room at the guards,
'They’re still uneasy.' she thought to herself as she eyed the guards. 'I can practically hear the blood pumping through their veins...'
“We should get this over with.” Twilight stated. “This is just a reminder that we don’t belong here.”
Scarab nodded turned and started to walk to another room, with his wife right beside him. The group followed them inside, as they were led into a large meeting room. The walls were lined with guards of both Changelings, and all pony breeds. The quickly pulled out chairs for the royal family, and started to pull out chairs for the group. Dash held up a hoof,
“I can pull out my own chair, thanks.”
They all pulled out their chairs and took a seat. Twilight was the one to start the conversation,
“So, from what your daughter has told us, you wish to make an alliance with our military. Why is that?”
“What makes you think we even want to?” Dash questioned. “Your guards were about to shoot us.”
“I doubt that you would have even came here if you didn’t at least take it into consideration.” Scarab pointed out. “We could be a great ally to you, and I feel like you all know that.”
“Who’s to say that you won’t try to kill us and feed on our love?” Pinkie questioned.
“I understand that that would be a huge concern for you, and I do apologize on my mother’s behalf.” Sylphina apologized. “Changelings will always follow their queen, doing whatever she commands. It is in their nature. Chrysalis took advantage of that and made them do terrible things, including attacking your brother and sister-in-law's kingdom. I saw the flaws of my mother’s tyranny when I was but a foal. I knew that I wouldn’t be that way when I took control of the hive.” Her expression darkened. “But then...she feasted on one of her own.”
Dash leaned forward, “No way…she ate another Changeling?”
Sylphina nodded, “Yes…the love that each Changeling has for the queen is equal to the love that ponies have when they have an unrequited love. After you all defeated her, the hive had a hard time getting back on it’s hooves. She got desperate, and started eating members of the hive. At first, she was doing it in secret. If anypony had found out about that, things would’ve spiraled out of control. They may not have even retaliated, but they would’ve hated her, and she would’ve starved to death. I looked on in horror, as my mother continued to devour her subjects. Eventually…she ate my best friend…and I could take it no more. I killed her in her sleep, and let the colony know of her treachery.” Her eyes drifted to the table, “I stepped up to the throne and became its queen, and nopony questioned my authority.” A small smile appeared on her face as she looked over at Scarab, “Some years into my ruling, I met Scarab, and the band of ponies he was traveling with. They needed the help of my hive, and they received it.” she smiled and rubbed on of her hooves of Scarab’s chest, “And by taking him in, my entire life changed for the better. He helped me get my life together, and with his help, I was able to change the hive’s mindset. The comraderie that flows through this hive is more than enough to sustain us. My hive has not eaten a pony’s love in over 25 years.”
Pinkie tapped the table with her hoof, “Okay...but surely you guys don't stay in here every single day. What about when you're away from the hive?"
"Then we simply feast on Hellions." Slyphina replied.
Dash leaned in, “How though? Those things don't feel love."
"True. What they do have however, is unwavering loyalty to the Hell King."
"But...that's still not love." Sparks pointed out. "Ponies can love other ponies over and over again. Love replenishes itself throughout the lifespan of that pony. so that means your food source is pretty limited.”
“You think that Hellions are few and far between?” Sylphina pointed out. “The Hell King’s vile grasp reaches far and wide throughout the surface of Equis, his armies stretching out to the far corners of the planet. They are everywhere. For now, food is in abundance.”
“And what about you?” Twilight pointed at Scarab. “Sure, the Hellions may be feeding your wife and the Changelings, but what about the ponykind within the colony?”
“Our species does well here.” Scarab calmly replied. "There is a section of this cave where the soil is extremely fertile. I had scouts of Changelings go out into the world, and bring back the seeds of as many vegetables as they could find. We have planted the seeds and made a massive vegetable garden, from which we always have a bountiful harvest. We have done so well, that we still have thousands upon thousands of pounds of food and seeds from various vegetables, in the slim chance something were to go wrong with the garden.”
Twilight tapped her chin, “So you both have managed to bring two major species together so that they coexist in complete harmony. You’ve managed to find a food source for both of those said species, and for the most part, there seems to be nothing wrong with the hybrids running around.” She looked between the two, “Your colony seems perfectly content living in this peaceful ecosystem that you two have made for it, so why do you need help from us?”
“The food for the Changelings has been getting easier and easier to find.” Scarab started. “That means Hellions have been getting closer and closer to our home. It won’t be long before they find our colony and report back to the Hell King. Stories far and wide have been told of your numerous fights, and the victories that have come with them.” He leaned forward a little bit, “This place is our home…we will fight to the death to keep this place safe. But with your help, we can not only keep this place, but we can survive to see it.”
“That’s great and all, but that benefits you guys, not us.” Dash pointed out bluntly. “If this is an alliance, we’re going to need something from this too.”
“We understand that perfectly, Miss Rainbow Dash.” Sylphina calmly replied. “We know that your purpose is to simply end the Hell King’s reign. We’ve heard that your army is one million ponies and griffins strong. Is that true?”
“Well, give or take a few thousands ponies and griffins, yeah.”
“Imagine how much stronger your army will be with the help of our colony?”
“How much training do these soldiers have?” Pinkie questioned, “I mean, I just held their princess hostage in a room full of them.”
“I will admit that our fighting style is not the greatest.” Scarab stated solemnly. “After all, I was trained to fight with dignity and grace, as all of the Canterlot Royal Guard was taught.”
“This is a world where you have to play dirty to win.” Pinkie replied darkly. “You wanna win a fight, you’re going to have to stab backs, and slit throats, and gouge eyeballs out…”
Dash looked over at her, “Pinks, only AJ and I understand that sick, twisted humor of yours. Knock it off for now, alright?”
“Who said I was kidding?”
“Enough.” Twilight ordered. She turned back to Scarab and Sylphina, “Rainbow does have a point though. What do we get by joining with your colony?”
“As stated before, you’d have extra ponies and Changelings, making whatever goals you may have in the future far more obtainable.” Scarab replied. “We will also welcome your troops into our home, where they will have access to fresh food, water, and very comfortable living conditions.”
Twilight tapped her hoof on the table for a few moments. She looked over at Dash and Pinkie, “What do you girls think?”
“I think we should do it.” Dash responded. “We could set up the head base here, and have a few bases surrounding the area to beef up security.”
“It would be nice to have someplace to really get into my alchemy and bioengineering.” Pinkie agreed. “And if there’s any place for Jackie to do even just a small amount of farm work, then I know she’ll be on board for it.”
“We could help teach their soldiers how to fight.” Sparks pointed out. “Each Apprentice can take on a small portion of their fighters, and whatever we learn from our mentors, we can pass on to the soldiers.”
‘That would help us expand various fighting styles, and make us all the more deadly to the Hellions.’ Skye stated.
The others turned to Haze to hear his opinion. He shrugged his shoulders,
“Hey, I just go with the flow.”
Twilight turned back to Scarab and Sylphina, “Very well then, we will accept your offer and form this alliance.” She stuck her hoof out for a shake. Scarab smiled and took it into his own,
“It will be a pleasure to stand by your side once more, your Highn-I mean...Twilight Sparkle."
The group rose from the table. “Will we be able to start moving our gear and some of our forces in here by next week?”
“We’ll have a quadrant of unused space opened up for you, and begin construction of expanding the cave as soon as you start heading back to pack your things.”
The Fallen and their Apprentices turned and took their leave. As they left the cave, Twilight’s horn sparked. Her eyes went wide as the others turned to look at her.
‘Is something wrong, Miss Twilight?’ Skye asked.
“I just got an emergency shock from Rarity. Something happened.”
“So what the hell are we waiting on?! Let’s go!” Dash shouted impatiently, “Hurry up! Teleport us immediately!!”
Twilight’s horn burned bright, as she used her magic and teleported them back to the base. When they got back, horror covered their faces,
“My Gods…” Pinkie whispered out.
The base had been destroyed. Bodies were strewn about the base’s grounds. Blood was splattered on the walls that had remained. Papers and gear were thrown all over the place, and fires burned everywhere. The other Fallen and Apprentices were standing not too far from them, and none of them were doing well. Dee was standing over a battered and bloodied Fluttershy, snarling and growling to defend her. Patch was passed out on the ground, his cybernetic limbs ripped from his body, oozing blood and oil. The metal portion of his face was torn to pieces, the metal eye laying on the ground not too far from his head. The left half of Rarity's face was bloodied and covered in massive gashes, and her left foreleg was hanging onto her body by only a tendon. She leaned up against a badly bleeding Applejack for support. The group galloped over to them.
“What happened?!” Twilight questioned as she stood in front of the beaten ponies, ready to protect them.
“They came outta nowhere, an’ we weren’t prepared…” Applejack replied before spitting up a bit of blood. Pinkie rushed to her side to support her. Twilight caught Rarity in her forelegs,
“Gods, Rarity, how did this happen?”
Even though she couldn't see, Rarity tilted her head up towards Twilight's face, “S-spike...he brought back somepony else…”
“Who did he bring back?”
“Twas I that he brought back! The Great and Powerful Trixie!!!”