Celestia sighed, and placed her teacup on a small table in front of her. Ever since the capture of the northern end of town, she felt stressed about actually capturing this large city. It was about the size of Manehatten if not more. The guards send her news after a recon group scouted the area in hopes of news.
A knock rang on the door. “Come in,” she replied.
“Hello your Highness,” A guard said, bowing.
“What is it?” She said taking a sip from her tea.
“I come bearing news that the team is taking over the next plot of land. But that was as of an hour ago.” He said.
“Which section of the city?”
“That would be the north half of downtown.”
She contemplated, “That part is filled with the middle class. If we could capture that section, then we could probably ask some of the markets to spare some food for the evacuated.” The guard cleared his throat. “Anything else you wanted to say?”
“We uh…” He faltered his words. “We didn’t exactly reach the city in time of the invasion. By the time we had entered the city, many had been captured by the changeling and some luckily escaped. We’re still finding families lost within the area we had claimed and some stragglers are still appearing to us.”
“…How could this happen so quickly? I thought we had guards in the city!” Celestia’s temper rose.
“About that,” the guard started. “Once we had reached the station, the guards that were on duty were slain. Many of my squad had to get out of the room before analyzing what happened.”
“Dammit!” Celestia yelled, startling the pony. “That bitch will pay,” She paused. “Sorry about that, but I’m assigning you to recon duty along with the new medic Flash in Stalliongrad. I think he’ll be a great asset to your team. You go and pack you things for your trip. Now if you don’t have anything else to mention, I’ll be going to my private study.”
“Actually,” the alicorn’s eyebrows rose at the guard. “We do have one thing to report.”
“Is it about Nightmare Moon?” She asked.
“No,” he replied. “It about Chrysalis… She has turned into what the Lunar Team calls a Mecha. She’s no longer her own. She now has a body of metal and is also breeding changelings similar to herself.”
“How?” She uttered.
“I was told that from Recon Team Noble 4, that it was the engineer that has done this; the one similar to our own.” He finished.
“... May my father help us all,” Celestia trailed off.
(……..)
“Yo guys!” Richard yelled. “There’s a mini-sentry by the point!”
“I think we get it already!” Twilight yelled back. “I’ll take care of it!”
The lavender alicorn ran around the corner, and swung her Tribalman’s Shiv at an oncoming Changeling Engineer. He yelped, and swung his golden wrench directly at her face. Twilight recoiled and placed a hoof right where he hit her. The changeling tried to stop the bleeding, but was finished with a spy backstabbing him in the back. He fell, revealing Rarity cleaning her knife on the creature’s clothing.
“You know, I never really liked their green blood,” Rarity said with disgust. “It just doesn’t look right.”
“Me too,” Twilight replied. “Also, can you help me with the mini-sentry nearby the capture point? I was told by Richard to take it out.”
“Oh darling I’ve already done that,” The unicorn replied. “This guy right here was looking for me once I had turned invisible.”
“It’s called cloaking,” the alicorn replied. “I already know how all the classes work. But we should go and capture the middle point. This is King of The Hill after all.”
“Congratulations Solar Team!” A nearby speaker said. “You’ve successfully defended the main point! Now please head back to the spawning rooms for your next round!”
Twilight waved her hoof at Nick once he had walked by. “Do you remember what this place was named after?”
“It was named after one of our areas called King,” he replied. “It was a newer place we had found back where I believe was China. Or was it Thailand? I really don’t know.”
“Oh, but what did the announcer call it? It was something like Northern Pass right?” She said. “Or was it Passing?”
“You got it wrong,” he said, motioning for the girls to walk with him. “The announcer said that this place is named Lockdown after a protest incident forced the guards to shut down this section of the city.”
“I remember about that incident,” Twilight muttered. “It was about having an independent government not ruled by Celestia. One of the pegasi in the crowd got drunk and threw a cocktail Molotov at a couple of patrolling guards. After that, according to reporters, it was a blurry and violet night. I think they were talking about the neon lights.”
“Twilight,” Rarity said. “The paper said it was bloody and violent night. I don’t know where you got those other two words.”
“I was really sleepy that morning,” she blushed. “By the way Nick, don’t you ever think that doing this job is maybe just a bit bad, even for your moral?”
“Yea I do,” The Australian said. “But it was decent pay and I made some good friends in the business, so there. Besides, I was a crocodile hunter and a koala keeper, which by the way are the most dangerous and deadliest animals out there!”
“That’s a load of bull!” Richard appeared next to Rarity. “Don’t listen to Nick; he’s just a big liar. Koalas are like small bears that only eat gum leaves.”
“Not only that,” Nick countered. “They also leave the meanest bite you can ever get and it could kill you!”
“Of course they’ll bite if you try and take a leaf right out of their mouth!” Richard jabbed his head with four fingers. “You’re such a dumb-nut, why did you even do that?”
“I- uhh,” He paused.
“That’s what I thought,” Richard finished. “Next time, don’t mess with an innocent animal unless you know what you’re doing.” He opened the door to the spawn room, revealing the rest of the team sitting on the benches.
“So do you know what you're doing?” Twilight asked.
“Of course I do!” The Bostonian said. “I always do, there’s no denying that! And if you question me just one bit, then you’re going have a bad time.”
“Hey Richard,” Jennifer yelled. “What’d I say about memes being your quotes?”
“Yea, yea, I know,” Richard waved a dismissive hand.
“So Richard, are you ready for round seven?” the pyro said. “It’s going to be the last one, from what I’ve heard from the other team.”
Rainbow Dash yawned, “It better be; I still got at least an hour of sleep left in me.”
“Of course I’m always ready!” Richard declared. “Just got to grab a couple of things first then I’ll be moving like a blur!” He started to mutter a song and did a small dance, leaving Nick and the rest of the group inside to wonder what.
“By the way Nick,” Fluttershy said from a bench. “Is that back plate you have actual crocodile skin?” The sentence ended in little more than just a whisper.
Nick chuckled as he placed the Danger Shield on his back. “It’s only as real as you make it.” He then grabbed a regular sniper rifle. “But that doesn’t mean it’s always what you want it to be.”
“So it’s, real?” she squeaked.
He placed a hat with a shining aura on his head and sat down on a bench. “Of course it is. Either that or this thing wouldn’t even protect me.”
Fluttershy’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, and fell backwards. Her friends rushed to the scene, and tried to get her to wake up.
“Why did you tell her it was a real crocodile’s hide?” Twilight scolded. “She’s an environmentalist!”
“Bah!” The soldier commented. “The hippy can just deal with it.”
The pegasus’ eyes slowly opened several minutes later. “I just had a nightmare; it was about somepony wearing another animal’s hide.”
Twilight bit her lip, “It’s okay. It was nothing, just a nightmare.”
“But it felt so real!” She exclaimed.
“Oh Fluttershy,” Arvin said. “Dreams can be real. Now get ready for the next match, as soon as you done.”
“Okay…” she trailed off.
Nick watched the scene, and decided that it was better not to mention it was real. He started to polish his gun and waited for the next announcement.
Richard placed his back to the wall, closed his eyes for a moment, and started to daydream. He walked in the dream, on a lush and vast plain with an occasional tree here and there. The Bostonian looked to his left, and saw his home; a two-story building in the Boston suburbs. With a sigh, he started to walked to the building, and slowly the lush grass transformed into a road and concrete. The area in front also started to turn, but it had changed into a cul de sac. The trees morphed into buildings next to his house and suddenly, he was back in the neighborhood.
A child’s laugh right behind him startled him and Richard turned. He found a small boy running away from another child holding a small bat. Richard smiled, and recognized the boy in front. It was one of his friends from way back and instantly remembered that day. He was seven, and his friend Charles was starting to pack their items to leave the place. Richard wiped a tear from his eye, and blinked.
Suddenly, he was back in his living room. As if nothing ever happened, Richard jumped to the couch and reclined his feet on the coffee stand. There was a knock on the door and he had ignored it.
Another knock at the door and Richard grunted while flipping channels on the TV. Another knock and a grunt later did he realize that something on the TV wasn’t right. He stopped on CNN and tried to read the date. He dropped his jaw and read the year again.
It was fifteen years after he had signed the contract. Richard stood up, went to the door, and opened it. He jumped back with a yelp, and found Rainbow Dash standing there with a smile on her face.
“You ready to go?” She said.
“Ready to go where?” He replied, scooting back slightly.
She giggled. “You know where. Let’s go! I’m pretty sure everyone else is missing you by now.” She stepped closer with every word.
The Bostonian fell to the ground on his back. “I-I… I’m out!” He opened his eyes, and instantly hit his head on the real Rainbow Dash’s head.
“Oww!” She said while rubbed her forehead. “Next time, warn me when you do that!”
“What were you doing,” he yelled looking around the room to no-one there. “And where is everybody?”
“They’ve already gone ahead and started the match; I was left here to protect you from nothing really.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Richard asked while grabbing some ammo. “We could’ve already captured the point!”
“Actually,” she lowered her head. “They’ve already captured the point, and are now trying to defend the point.”
“So why didn’t you wake me?” He said.
“Because you were looking so peaceful sleeping,” Dash chuckled. “If anything, you were sleeping like a foal! Besides, you were also twitching a bit while sleeping, so I decided to watch you and wake you up in case of a Nightmare Moon attack.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“It’s where the corruption of darkness,” The pegasus put a hoof on her chin. “Attacks you in your dream and gives you nightmares. Eventually, it'll find out what you desire and then corrupts you. Well, that how Nightmare Moon started.”
“You’re sure?” The scout asked. “It sounds dangerous.”
“Yea well, there’s a ton of dangerous things that could happen. If you add magic, then who knows what happens. Ask Twilight, she knows more about it than I do.”
“Sounds like she’s really smart,” Richard walked to the door. “By the way, we need to leave, the point needs defending.”
“I’m on it!” Dash ran out of the room with a Force-Of-Nature. “Smell you later!”
“Not today Skittles,” Richard yelled while in pursuit.
(….)
Spike pulled out his shovel, and landed on top of an enemy Scout. He started to swing at the top of the human’s head, and successfully killed him. He grunted a puff of smoke from his nostrils. He then pulled out his homemade Beggar’s Bazooka and launched himself away. The dragon glided with perfect air control and landed on top of an enemy sniper on the other side of the point. The changeling panicked, and tried to pull out his regular Kukri. He was too slow, and was rewarded with an iron shovel on top of the head. The creature fell limp, and Spike once again rocket-jumped himself away to another enemy. He glided, and found his next prey. Before he could hit the ground, the dragon gave himself another boost and launched himself directly at a Demoman.
But this time, the Demoman had seen the little dragon, and reacted. He launched a grenade, and pulled out his Eyelander. Spike launched another rocket, and it directly hit the Demoman. But he felt a small pain on his feet, and found that he was missing his left foot. “Medic!” He yelled.
Arvin looked back, and shot a bolt from his Crusader’s Crossbow. The bolt hit Spike on his temple, and his foot instantly regenerated. “Thanks!” He yelled.
“No problem!” Arvin replied.
Spike then launched himself again, and glided himself back towards the spawn room. He landed and entered the room and saw that Twilight was placing Nick’s hat on her head.
“You know Twilight,” He started. “Stealing is bad and you should leave that alone.”
“Quiet!” She hissed. “I’m just going to use it for ten minutes.”
“You should just leave it alone,” Spike replied. “Even I know better.”
“Fine! I’ll use it just this once! Just don’t tell Nick about it,” the alicorn pleaded. “I’ll be sure to give you more gems next time if you don’t.”
Spike grinned, taking advantage of the situation. “If you give me some Refined Metal, then it’s a deal.”
Twilight cocked her head to the side. “What’s a Refined Metal? But anyways, it’s a deal!” She stuck out her hoof.
Spike shook it. “And I want it when we’re on break tomorrow.”
“Fine,” she replied.
“Nice to see that y’all are making deals whenever I’m not around.” A southern accent said.
“Don’t worry about it Applejack,” Twilight said. “I have it all under control!”
“Ya sure?” the farm pony replied. “Last time you said that, it turned out worse than it could’ve been.” She glared.
Twilight felt a bead of sweat run down her neck. “Oh don’t worry; I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to be as bad.” She had put on her best poker face.
Applejack chuckled. “I’m joshing’ ya. Besides, I need to place a teleporter right on the outside.”
The earth pony left the room with trot, leaving the two alone. “Alright Twilight, you keep your end of the deal and we’re good.” Spike said, leaving the spawn room.
“Oh I will,” She replied and pulled out her Mildly Menacing Killstreak Huntsman. Twilight walked out of the spawn room, and was met with a changeling pyro spewing fire directly at her. Twilight then used her magic to grab an arrow and stab the creature. It lodged into the abdomen, and the pyro clutched his stomach. Gunfire from behind the changeling ended his life quickly. The creature fell, revealing Richard on the other side, holding a Backscatter.
“Just thought you needed help,” Richard said. “Also, nice hat.”
“Thanks,” Twilight replied, and ran across a walkway. “Come on Richard, let’s go and defend this point!”
“Okay,” He followed the pony. “Also, be careful of spies, whenever you reach the other side. It feels like there is a lot of them this round.”
“Alright, thanks again,” She turned to the right, and got blood on her face just as when Spike exploded in front of her. She drew her bow, and aimed at whoever was on the other side. Just as she found out who it was, a screaming changeling Demoman charged at her with a broadsword. She released the arrow, and it hit the changeling in the center of its head. He fell, and then Twilight kept walking the way she was heading.
Richard jumped over her, and started to dash towards the point. He looked around— seeing no one, he started to dance on the point. Twilight walked up to him and watched the entrances. Rainbow Dash appeared, and saw nobody as well.
“It’s a little too quite here,” The alicorn stated. “It seems like nobody’s here.”
“That’s true,” Dash replied. “But I’m gonna go ahead and dance with Richard.” She stood on her hind legs and used the human as support.
A loud tone came from the speakers signaling the finish of the round. “Congratulations Solar Team!” Speaker Box yelled. “You’ve captured the point! We’ll be moving to the next area after our break!”
“I guess it’s about that time anyways,” Richard said. “Let’s go.”
(….)
Zecora placed a leaf into her miniature cauldron, and said some incantations. She stopped, and watched as her brew took a different colour; lime green, swirling with neon purple. The zebra chuckled, and then took the small pot and poured it into a large flask. Once filling it to the brim, she poured the rest onto the grass and placed a cap on the flask. Zecora then placed a label on the flask named ‘magic’. She finally placed the flask in her saddlebag and started to disassemble her small brewing set.
The zebra stood, and looked where she had poured the leftovers to. The grass had grown twice of its size and was adorned with multicoloured flowers. She frowned at a pale-blue flower, and decided to pick it. “No need to have a Poison Joke here,” she mumbled through her teeth. “It would ruin such a paradise in such good care.”
“You know, that could’ve been an idea to just leave it there,” Discord said. “I would’ve made great pranks with that flower.”
She pulled out a lighter borrowed from Jacques, and lit the flower. “Yea, but I’d rather burn these. They make great hallucinogens, mainly on the mind where it makes you relaxed.”
“Ooh!” he exclaimed. “You’re such a devil! I ought to do that sometimes.” Discord walked up to her, and placed another Poison Joke on the ground. “How about burning one,” another grew beside it. “Or maybe two more?”
“One is okay; two is enough for a group; and three? Discord, you’re talking about chaos. But then again, it should be fun doing this. We should get Chrysalis to join our park.” Zecora insisted.
“Me and Chrysalis go back a few decades,” the chimera said. “But it would be nice to talk to her again. Last I heard of her, she was being a cyborg.”
“I cannot confirm that this is true,” Zecora turned to look at the Solar Team, who was mingled with the Lunar Team. “But the two teams that are opponents happen to be such great friends.”
Discord sighed, “I thought these two really hated each other to the death, given the way how they fight on the field,” Discord watched as Richard did a backflip off a changeling.
“But these two teams just seem too happy.”
“Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law?” Zecora said, covering her face with a gas mask and handed another to the chimera. Discord nodded. “Well, we’re going to do only one part of the things that can go wrong.”
“And the other parts, what are we going to do with them?” Discord’s asked with his voice muffled by the filter on the gas mask. “I’m pretty sure you have a plan for those.”
“Oh no,” Zecora shook her head. “One part of Murphy’s Law here will end in a battle like the field.”
“Should I still get Chrysalis?” Discord asked.
“Yep, we want as much fun as we want!”
“So, are you ever going to use that flask of magic?” The chimera asked scratching the zebra between the ears.
“Tomorrow, we need to talk about how we’re going to scare the teams.” Zecora said, “According to Tavish, tomorrow would be Halloween; similar to our Nightmare Moon celebration.”
“You mean…” He trailed off. “You mean I can give my best scare?”
“No Discord… You will be the best scare!” Zecora chuckled. “Now, what I want you to do is to place this burning flower nearby the group, but not close enough for them to notice what’s going on. Got it?”
Discord covered his ‘mouth’ to suppress his giggles. “Yep, this will be the greatest prank!”
“Of course it is!” a bubbly voice said. “What are we doing?”
“Pinkie!” Zecora said. “W-what are you doing here?”
“I heard something about pranks and I wanted to hear more!” The pink pony giggled.
“Well, don’t tell anyone else,” Discord scolded. “We want this to be the greatest surprise.”
“By the way, why are you guys wearing gas masks?” Pinkie asked. “Should I put mine on?”
“You should,” Zecora said and motioned her head towards the mass of people and ponies alike. “Commence Operation Bigfoot.”
Discord snapped his fingers, and appeared underneath a very close by table, and placed the burning flower there. He then teleported himself underneath another table, and placed on there. And finally, he placed the last unlit flower on Jane’s Burning Team Captain hat.
The soldier reacted, and tried to push the chimera to his side. Jane then placed an arm around Discord and did a pose. “This private here, is someone you should pay attention to!” He exclaimed and sniffed the air. “It smells really good! Who’s up for barbeque? And just for the hippy ponies, you’ll get veggie burgers!”
“We’re in!” the two human heavies yelled.
“Alright,” one of the Lunar pyro started. “But I get to start the fire.” The human drew out a ball of fire in his hand.
“Not on my watch!” Jennifer said. “I get to start the fire!”
“Hehe, in your dreams silly girl,” he chuckled.
“All of the scouts are in!” a changeling said. “That makes four of us!”
Soldier looked around, “Anyone else? Taking requests,” He nudged Dell. “Hey, can you program one of your dispensers to become a grill for me?”
“Yea I can,” the Texan grunted. “Just give me a minute.”
The engineer placed a toolbox down and it constructed itself into a Morgan Hale’s Cooking Grill—“There’s nothing better; maybe a George Foreman, but this will guarantee perfect BBQs always!” Dell placed another toolbox but it turned into a cooler instead. “Alright Applejack, if you have any cider or any Fizzy –plode it would be helpful to place in here.” Dell said.
“Okie Dokie!” Pinkie playfully saluted and reached into her saddlebag. She conjured up two six-pack bottles and placed them down. She then grabbed another two and kept going
until there were eleven packs. “There are extras in case everyone wants two!” The pony’s teeth gleamed in her grin.
“Thanks,” Jacques grabbed one straight from the pack. “But I don’t like mine cold, they’re better room temperature.”
“That’s disgusting!” the lunar human Scout said. “They’re better cold! Aren’t they Pyro?”
“It’s okay,” He replied. “I really don’t mind if it’s warm or cold. But I can say that I like my beer warm.”
“See!” François pointed at the male pyro. “I’m not the only one that like my ales warm Tavish!”
“I uhh….” He slurred. “I d’really ‘on’t care… you, you… person!” The Scotsman’s face fell to the table, snoring.
“And he’s out for the count!” Dash announced. “Looks like his bottle wins again,” She giggled. “I’m really hungry guys, anyone else?”
“Yea,” Fluttershy muttered. “But I think we should really thank Dell for doing this. Right Dell…” She trailed off.
“Eeyup!” Dell said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be the one cooking Solly! Not anyone else! This will be the best Texan meal you’ll ever have in a long time!”
“At least it’s American,” he shrugged.
A flash nearby caught everyone attention, except for Dell and a couple others, and in its place was Queen Chrysalis, softly shining against the sun in her new formed body. A glossy look covered the cyborg, as though she had just gone through a fresh wax. Slivers of green metal hung from the top of her head, where a sheet of metal rested. Where the holes where located on her legs now comprised of small wires and tubing. The only thing left that was still visibly organic was the queen’s eyes and her middle abdomen. It’s a miracle that she is still operating her organic parts.
She coughed—fortunately a luxury to keep her original voice— and looked around. She gasped and saw the mass of people. Chrysalis grew an angry glare, but was softened when she found a couple of her team safely conversing with the Solar Team. She lifted her chin in dignity and walked towards the group.
She reached the table, completely unaware of the ponies, and sat down. “It appears that we made a truce, am I correct?” Chrysalis asked. “Or is this just a heated argument?”
“Nah,” Dell spoke from behind the grill. “It’s just a cook-out. If you want something to eat, then ask. We have enough drinks and food to feed another mouth.”
“Very well, so what bring us…” She pointed across the table. “You!” She growled. “What brings you here you damned pony?”
Twilight Sparkle stood from her seat. “Well, I’m actually a part of the Solar Team. And I was just enjoying my day, until you came.” She replied sternly. “I should just fight you here and now!” She jumped from her seat across the table and was about to punch the mecha, until Mikhail grabbed her and tightly held her in his arms. She struggled to get out, but gave up trying after it was made clear she wasn’t escaping the heavy weapons guy.
“You’re becoming like us too quick,” Nick commented. “Why can’t we just make you two become friends? Or something, then it’ll be easier.”
“I can’t!” the alicorn nearly shrieked. “She almost made me betray me best friends just for her. She almost made me kill them!” She struggled more, leaving the queen with a sinister grin.
“Let me at her!” Dash yelled from Richard’s arms. “I’ll be sure she can taste my fist!”
“I forgive you…” Fluttershy whispered. “But only the first time you tried to do this.”
“Guys,” Applejack spoke. “It’s in the past, but even I can’t forgive you partner.” She nodded at the changeling queen.
“So that settles it then,” Queen Chrysalis muttered. “I can’t be accepted by anyone pony. So how about it humans, what do you think of me?”
They looked at each other and shrugged. Dell handed her a bottle Fizzy, and popped the lid for her. “We really don’t care much about you, evil or not. But if you just happen to mess with us, then prepare to either team with the ponies, or apologize quickly.” Dell sneered. “But make yourself comfortable here; we humans aren’t going to kick you out just because of your past. But if the ponies have a problem, they can just deal with it. So are you vegetarian or carnivore?”
“I-uh,” she said shockingly, never being accepted like this without fuss. “I’ll take some meat if you will.”
“Suit yourself,” Dell shrugged, and placed a few small slabs of meat on the sizzling grate of the grill. “The first ones will be done in about a minute or two. Everybody will be served around the same time, so no one is discriminated because species.”
Richard opened a can of Crit-a-Cola and took a sip. “Yea, well I don’t want to end up having a vegetarian burger just because Skittles here can’t stomach it.”
“I can too!” She replied, giving a slug to his arm. “In fact, instead of a hay-burger, I’ll take a hamburger! So yea, deal with it humans!”
Nick laughed. “I hope that Discord guy can provide an outhouse just in case.”
“Gotcha covered,” the chimera said behind the Dell with a mask on. With a look to make sure the coast was clear, we flew towards Zecora and whispered. “Why isn’t the flower smoke working on these people?”
“I have no idea,” she whispered back. “But as you can already tell, I have my gas mask off but close by just in case it actually starts affecting these people.”
“I don’t know, but shouldn’t the ponies start hallucinating?”
“The effects should’ve happened once Chrysalis appeared. Maybe the air is just too clean for this prank. Let’s do this once we get back to Ponyville just in case it actually works.” The zebra explained.
Zecora trotted up next to Jane and sat next to him. With a grunt, the soldier scooted over a bit to give her room. Without a pause, Zecora reached into his saddlebags and pulled a very large book. Jane watched as she pulled it out, and started to drink his cola more frantically. She opened it, and turned it to a random page. With a hoof following her words as she read, Zecora spoke aloud and a small puff of smoke came from the grill once she finished.
Jane Doe wiped his forehead, pretended to ignore what was happening. He tried not to panic, but his endurance failed him. With a yell at the top his lungs, he pointed to Zecora, “She’s got a book! It’s a magic book!”
Just like instinct, all of the human mercenaries suddenly jumped from their seats and scrambled to get away from the zebra. With confused looks, the ponies watched as they pulled out a weapon and cowered behind each other, trying the push the heavies up front. Dell cowered behind his grill and took a peek towards her.
The zebra placed the enchantment book back into her saddlebag and apologized. “Sorry guys, I forgot it was so close to Allhallows Eve. By the way, I have cursed metal if anyone wants to trade.”
Like moths to a light, the mercenaries swarmed around the zebra, all making trade offers and bearing their unusual hats. Zecora felt overwhelmed and decided that this was a worse idea than the book itself. “I was just kidding! I really don’t want to trade. So please, leave me alone.” The humans groaned and the left the zebra to her business.
Chrysalis stared at her bottle, and watched as the bubbles went to the top in her orange drink. “What is this sorcery?” she asked.
“It’s called carbonation,” Twilight replied. Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak, but she raised her hoof. “I’m sorry, I judged you too quickly. Is it possible that could be friends? If not, then I understand.”
The changeling stared at her, and put a hoof to her chin. “I don’t what to say, but if you could back to me, then I’ll come up with an answer.”
“Really?” Twilight’s eyes twinkled. “Because I really want to know what exactly you guys are and there isn’t a book in my library that talks about your species at all!”
“Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t want to be recorded?” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.
“I uh,” the lever alicorn pursed her lips. “I never did actually. I should bring my notebook next time we meet up. Would you mind if I wrote down things?”
“I’ll think about it,” she muttered. “I that Solar engineer is trying to tell us something.”
“…And the cheese is going to be on the table. Now, if I could everyone to stand in a line, this could get done easier. Applejack? Could you help me?” Dell announced with an opened Gibus hat as a megaphone.
“Sure thing partner!” The farm pony said and grabbed a plate with a burger on it. “Hey Dash! No cutting in line!”
“But I was just trying to tell Richard that cutting wasn’t right!” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Ah’m the element of Honesty, don’t lie to me,” Applejack said. “Now go to the back of the line and wait your turn.”
“It’s not fair that I get caught but not him. Applejack you dummy,” Dash muttered.
“What was that?”
“N-nothing!” Dash sped to the back and stood behind Tavish, who was still drunk.
(…..)
“Oh Celestia!” Spike moaned. “My stomach hurts!” He placed his sixth unfinished burger on his stomach, rising and falling with his breathing.
“Spike!” Twilight said, placing the burger on a nearby plate. “What’d I tell you about eating too much; you’ll end up being sick!”
“It was totally worth it!” He raised his fist to Richard and bumped it against his sleeping head. “Richard here thinks so!”
“Mom?” the scout moaned. “I told you I can do it! I told you I can eat those fifteen burgers! Look at me now!” he raised his arms into the air.
Twilight sighed and walked towards Chrysalis, who was lying on the grass holding her only organic bulging stomach. The queen barely moved when the pony reached her, and made a moan in acknowledgement.
“So, have you made your decision?” Twilight asked. “We only have ten minutes before we have to leave back home to prepare for tomorrow.”
Chrysalis let out a long sigh. “I guess,” she moaned. “I guess that I could be your friend. But on one condition!” Twilight nodded. “I get to have all of the ice cream you buy. It’s my new favorite.”
“That’s such a strange request, but I can agree to it.” Twilight stretched out her hoof. “So is it a deal?”
“Deal,” the queen took the hoof, and shook with what little energy she had. Instantly, Twilight felt a shock run though her body. She gasped, and Chrysalis laughed. “That’s the joke button I had installed in this new body. This cyborg-thingy business is fantastic!”
“How…” she trailed off. “How did you survive such a procedure?”
“Well, ask the Lunar Engineer,” Chrysalis rolled to her legs and stood, despite her moans of a full stomach. “He knows how to keep a supposed to be dead guy alive for at least fifteen years. The procedure lasted only ten minutes!”
“Really?” Twilight started. “I should look-“
“Everyone! Say your goodbyes and be ready to head back to your hotels! Leaving in one minute,” Discord announced. “Also, there’s a special treat for everyone tomorrow!”
“Twilight,” Chrysalis started.
“Yes?”
“I think we could make a fantastic friendship, me and you. We should get to know each other better.” The changeling said.
“Thanks! I’d like to know you better too! Well, see you later. Sweet dreams!” The alicorn waved her hoof and vanished in a soft light.
“See you later too,” Chrysalis muttered. “When you become mine to own you purple fool; Oh yes, you’ll become my greatest tool and you’ll never even know it.” She laughed loudly. The mercenaries turned around at the laughing changeling. She paused, and cleared her throat “Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh so loud. Just a joke I made up.”
“So what’s the joke?” François asked.
“It’s an okay joke, but here it goes,” The changeling lets out a deep sigh. “Ever wondered why the moon is round?”
“Sometimes,” he said. “Why?”
“Because It’s just the moon being fat, nothing special,” She replied. “Okay, it was funnier it my head. Besides, I was thinking more about your client.”
The spy chuckled. “I see what you mean,” He walked off, leaving the changeling by herself.
Chrysalis sighed and grinned. “That was a close one, now it’s time to start making a decent plan, starting with Twilight’s friends….”