The Stick of Truth: The Equestrian Chronicles
Chapter Seven: Down the Rabbit Hole (Part One)
Location: Ponyville, Equestria
Fluttershy’s cottage had to one of the strangest homes that the New Kid had ever seen. He briefly wondered if Fluttershy was a hobbit but remembered that hobbit homes were usually not covered in barricades and didn’t have ‘do not enter’ signs. He had to admit that it did remind him a lot of Kim Kardashian’s new home, despite the fact that Kanye West was still persisting that his wife wasn’t a hobbit.
“Um... Fluttershy isn’t usually this shy,” said Sweetie Belle, “I wonder why has these things set up.”
“Let’s just get this over with.” said Scootaloo as she knocked on the cottage door.
“Go away!” squealed a soft voice. “It’s not safe! Beware, be bewared, the dragons are coming!” Upon hearing about the dragons, the New Kid pondered yet again about Fluttershy being part hobbit.
“Fluttershy, calm down.” said Sweetie Belle in a reassuring voice, “There are no dragons.”
“There are no dragons yet!” Fluttershy squeaked. “I’m staying here where it’s safe and dragon free.”
Apple Bloom kept knocking on the door as Sweetie Belle tried to persuade Fluttershy to come out and Scootaloo went around the cottage checking for an entrance before returning to the group. “It’s no use,” she said in defeat. “She’s locked herself good. I checked every door and window, but they’re sealed.”
“So what do we do now?” said Apple Bloom.
QUEST PROGRESS
“Furry Little Problems”
New Objective:
Convince Fluttershy to come outside
-or-
Deal with the bunnies yourself
They sat around in front of Fluttershy’s hobbit home thinking about what option they should choose. The New Kid preferred the option of dealing with the bunnies themselves. Looking at the face that Scootaloo was making, he could tell that she also was thinking the same. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle however were inclined for the other option.
“Okay how ‘bout we take a vote?” suggested Apple Bloom
“Well that sounds like a good idea,” said Sweetie Belle. “All those in favor of convincing Fluttershy to come outside raise you hoof.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both raised their right hoof. “Well that’s two votes in favor.”
“And all those that think we should teach those bunnies a lesson they’ll never forget, raise your hoof.” said Scootaloo. The New Kid and Scootaloo both responded in favor.
“And that’s two votes for one option and two votes for the other...” said Apple Bloom dejectedly. “You know when we take votes it usually doesn’t end up in a tie.”
“Well usually there are three of us,” deadpanned Scootaloo. “Perhaps that had to do something about it?”
“So how do we figure this out?” asked Sweetie Belle in frustration, “Any ideas?”
“I dunno, maybe flip a coin or something?” suggested Apple Bloom.
“Well it’s better than just sitting here and doing nothing,” said Scootaloo, “So who has a coin?”
The New Kid pulled out of coin from his money bag then tossed it to Scootaloo. The most peculiar thing happened when Scootaloo caught the coin, the Star of David on her skullcap glowed for a brief moment. Suddenly there were two coins on Scootaloo’s hoof.
“Only need one,” said Scootaloo as she pocketed away the second coin. “Okay; heads, we talk to Fluttershy, and tails, we go after the bunnies.” She tossed the coin and it landed on the ground. It landed on heads. “OH COME ON!” she screamed.
Before Scootaloo could finish her sentence, a large rock soared past her, barely missing Sweetie Belle by a few inches. Standing down the path leading to the cottage was a group of the bunny gang from earlier. They were blowing raspberries at the crusaders.
“This is exactly why I chose the second option.” said Scootaloo as she picked the rock. There was a note attached to it. Written in very crude handwriting was the following.
Yellow One
We has you preshious held hostelge. If yous wants to see him alife den yous will dos wat we says. Bring your body or anada worthie bicktem for da sacrifice. Our hedkarters is located at Sun penal Hill.
- Blood Bunny Brodahood
When Sweetie Belle had finished reading the note, it burst into flames with her magic. “HOW DARE THEM!” she screamed in rage. “Douchebag, Apple Bloom, and Jew, I change my vote. Let us go teach those bunnies a lesson they’ll never forget. I shall make sure that this debauchery of poor spelling and grammar does not go unpunished!”
They left Fluttershy’s cottage with a fuming Sweetie Belle who kept muttering and complaining about the poor quality of the note. They arrived at Sunpetal Hill which was not far from Fluttershy’s cottage. It didn’t take long to find the entrance to the burrow that acted at the headquarters from the bunnies.
It didn’t take much effort at all since their signs located outside of the entrance marking the spot. Some of signs had crudely drawn skull and crossbones others had poorly written warnings for passersby to stay away. Right over the entrance of the burrow was a sign that read “Blood Bunny Brotherhood HQ” and had a large red arrow pointing down.
“I have a feeling that this is the right place,” deadpanned Scootaloo. She peered at the entrance of the small burrow. It was too small for them to fit in. Scootaloo stuck her hoof inside and immediately pulled out as she yelped in pain. “Why those-- I think one of them bit me!”
Apple Bloom peered into the entrance and her face was pelted by dirt. “Yuk” she said spitting out dirt. “Well the bunnies are down there and we are up here, so how are we going to get to them?”
“Maybe we can make the hole bigger.” suggested Scootaloo.
“I don’t think so,” said Sweetie Belle, “We accidentally dig at the wrong spot we might cause the burrow to collapse.”
“Well what are we going to do then?” said Apple Bloom irritably, “It’s not like we can shrink down to the size of a bunny.”
“Yeah!” agreed Scootaloo, “It’s not like one of us has the ability to shrink at will.”
The crusaders stared at the distance as if there were some monitor their telling them how to proceed. They heard some rustling and turned to see that the New Kid was digging through his pockets. He pulled out a small pouch.
During the New Kid’s second night in South Park, he was visited by the Underpants Gnomes. At the end of the ordeal, their warlock gave him pouch of magic gnome dust that gave him and his buddies to shrink down to the size of a gnome.
The New Kid sprinkled the dust around him and the crusaders. The crusaders gave gasps of surprise and confusion as they saw the world around them began to grow in size.
“I didn’t know that you could do that.” said Sweetie Belle with great interest at the New Kid. “Twilight told me that changing a pony’s size and appearance was very advance magic.”
“Really?” said Apple Bloom in disbelief. “Applejack shrunk down like this when stepped on poison joke. Well now I know how she felt.” She then glared the New Kid, “This isn’t poison joke, is it?”
“Well whatever it is, are you able to return us back our normal size?” asked Scootaloo. The New Kid shook his head to indicate yes and that seemed to satisfy her. “Well that’s good enough for me; let’s teach those bunnies some lessons!”
♕----------♕
Location: Changeling Hive, Badlands
“Well the Dynaste Project was a complete failure,” Queen Chrysalis announced bitterly. “I saw with my own eyes how one of them was easily electrocuted by a wizard pig.” She slammed her hoof down the table, “Do any of you know how much resources we wasted on this!”
The Dynaste’s quick defeat by the Grand Wizard left a bitter taste in the queen’s mouth. She herself had made sure that the Dynaste were specially bred to take down an entire platoon of Royal Guards. Unfortunately unknown to her, due to the incompetence of the current Royal Guard, it wasn’t much of achievement to take down an entire squad.
“Well?” the queen asked impatiently. None of the changelings in the dark conference room could answer. Queen Chrysalis gave a look of contempt to each changeling sitting around the long polished ebony conference table. “How much do we have left in our food reserves?” she asked after a period of since.
A portly changeling shuffled around in his chair. “Not much, our supplies are very low,” he responded in a formal tone.
“How much?” asked Queen Chrysalis with force.
“Well uh, well, you see,” the changeling began stuttered as he shifted around nervously in his chair. “We uh, only have enough supplies for, uh, we only have enough food to feed the Hive for uh six days.”
An intense silence filled the room and each changeling gave a glance at each other. “Well do you have any solutions?” asked Queen Chrysalis. She glared at the portly changeling, “Well, do you have any idea how we are going to solve our food crisis?”
“Well…my Queen, I-I have no idea...” stuttered the changing.
“Is that so, Fat Grub?” asked the queen calmly. She began to walk around the portly changeling watching him like a hawk watches its prey. “Well then Fat Grub, do you care tell the rest of us about your secret stash? Did you take in account the fact that you have been stealing from our reserves for years in your calculations?”
“Well that would explain how he got so fat.” muttered a changeling bitterly. A ruckus of laughter broke out.
“What? My-my Queen,” Fat Grub began to protest.
“DO NOT LIE TO ME!” screamed the Queen. She grabbed the portly changeling by the head and began ramming his head into the table. “Don’t you dare lie to me, your queen, you filthy scum!” She tossed Fat Grub across the conference room and he collided against the cold stone wall. Fat Grub gave a cry of pain as blood began to pour out of his head.
“You two,” she ordered two guards in the room. “I want you two to take him to the holding cells—no wait, yes.”-A wide gleeful smirk filled her face-“On second thought, I want you to take him to the Dynaste chamber instead.”
Fat Grub screamed in horror, “No! Don’t take me to those freaks! Not them, anything but them!”
“Get him out of here.” said the queen coldly and the guards obeyed. Fat Grub’s screams could be heard as he was dragged away. Eventually they faded away and Queen Chrysalis turned to face the rest changelings in a calm tone. “That’s one less mouth to feed. Okay, so what’s the next topic on the list?”
♕----------♕
Location: Ponyville, Equestria
The burrows were surprising well excavated and felt more like a cave. The tunnel the New Kid and the crusaders were traveling was very spacious with plenty of overhead room. Their path was lit with miniature glowing gems scattered all around. New Kid pondered on how a bunch of bunnies could make such a complex system of burrows.
“So which way do we go?” asked Apple Bloom. They had stopped because they had arrived in a section of the burrow where there were three tunnels ahead of them.
“Maybe we should split up?” suggested Scootaloo.
“No, that would be a stupid idea.” said Sweetie Belle. “I mean what if some of these tunnels are traps?”
Apple Bloom laughed at the comment. “Oh stop being silly, Sweetie Belle. There’s no way that a bunch of little bunnies are capable of such of a thing.”
The New Kid reached into his bag and pulled out an apple. He tossed it to one of the tunnels. They stood still for a few seconds but nothing happened. Apple Bloom was about to take a step forward before the New Kid grabbed her. A giant rock fell down and smashed the apple into bits. Dust flew everywhere and clouded the burrow as sounds of coughs and wheezes filled the air. Once the dust settled down and the New Kid and Crusaders were able to see once again, they saw that the tunnel where he threw the apple at had collapsed was filled in.
“Well that’s one tunnel down,” said Scootaloo as she glanced at the two remaining tunnels to choose from.
“What’s that noise?” asked Sweetie Belle. The group became silent as they began to hear a rustling noise approaching. The New Kid saw shadowy figures in one of the tunnels that were approaching them. Without a second thought he reached into his pockets and flung apples at them. The chatters of pain were a sign that he was on target.
Four bunnies came stuttering out of the tunnel, they were wearing jackets and wielding celery and carrots sticks like clubs. Seeing that they were still dazed and confused from being hit with apples the New Kid took initiative and attacked first.
He swung his sword fiercely at a bunny wielding a carrot stick and managed to hit him three times with the scabbard of his sword. Since the New Kid didn’t want to kill the bunnies, he was forced to have the sheath on his katana when fighting. While it wasn’t all cool as fighting with the blade exposed, it still hurt like hell to be hit with a blow of his sheathed sword. The bunny was snapped out of his daze and hissed and shook his paw at the new kid. He ran straight at the New Kid and swung wildly with his carrot stick. The New Kid managed to block most of the hits but was flung across the tunnel when the bunny used a cheap tactic and threw dirt as his face and gave him a strong kick.
“Oh that’s just plain dirty,” screamed Scootaloo as she ran at the bunny. She used her staff to launch herself at the bunny and managed to knock it out. There was the sound of audience applauding as sparks of light formed on top of Scootaloo formed ‘6.4 gnome feet’.
“Where did that come from?” asked Apple Bloom who was standing in rear as backup.
Sweetie Belle attacked one of the three remaining bunnies with her wand and managed to hit it twice. It barely did any damage.
“Sweetie Belle!” roared Scootaloo, “Use your magic attacks, your physical attack are weak!”
“I’m not weak!” screamed Sweetie Belle who was now getting rather irritated.
A bunny ran swiftly and swung a carrot stick at Scootaloo but Scootaloo was agile and managed to avoid the attacks. She ducked when the bunny tried to throw dirt at her face and countered with a strong buck at the gut. The bunny hissed and stepped back.
Another bunny in a large jacket and sunglasses ran forward and swung his paws at the New Kid. The New Kid blocked the attacks and swung his sword in a counter attack, but the greaser bunny caught the sword with it’s paws and countered his counter with a strong upwards kick. The New Kid was sure that he was now bleeding as he felt something wet on his forehead.
He quickly drank a bottle of water and the bleeding stopped. The greaser bunny watched the New Kid disappear with a puff a smoke. Before the bunny could realized was happening he felt a sharp pain. The greaser bunny turned around to see who had shivved him but was too late; the New Kid was already in his fighting place next to Scootaloo.
The fourth bunny was wielding a celery stick. He ran forward in such a speed that all Scootaloo could see was a blur. The sound of a celery stick smacking Scootaloo could be heard through the tunnel. Scootaloo was dazed and was unable to attack next turn.
Sweetie Belle tried to attack the greaser bunny with her wand but her swings were slow and the greaser bunny was easily able to block them. The greaser bunny managed to counter with a fierce strike with his paw.
“Sweetie Belle!” screamed an angry Apple Bloom, “Your normal attacks are no use and are too weak! Use your magic! That’s what makes you strong!”
“Fine!” Sweetie Belle screamed out of frustration. She took a bundle of firecrackers and lit a match with her magic. “I’ll use my magic!” she muttered as she levitated the lit fireworks and held it above the bunnies. “There, are you happy now?” she roared as she dumped the shower of sparks. The bunnies danced around as they tried to avoid the sparks. The greaser bunny and the bunny holding the carrot stick were lit on fire and began running around in panic.
The greaser bunny collapsed and was knocked out from the combining bleeding and fire damage. Now only two bunnies were remaining. The bunny with the carrot stick gave another speedy charge and swung his carrot stick as hard as he could at Sweetie Belle before passing out due to the flames. Sweetie Bell’s frustration made her unable to block and was dazed from the blow.
There was only one bunny left. The New Kid decided to use his own kind of ‘magic’ to boost his attack. His fart enabled to jump at a higher distance and knock out the remaining bunny with final swing of his sword. The last bunny was flung across the chamber and out cold.
The Crusaders gave a quick cheer on their victory.
“I think it’s best if Fluttershy doesn’t find out about this,” said Apple Bloom as decided to check on the bunnies. “They’re okay,” she said with a breath of relief. “They’ll be fine in no time. New Kid, you have to see this!” The New Kid approached Apple Bloom, who was now examining the greaser bunny. “There’s something wrong with this fella’. See, look at his eyes.” she said.
The greaser bunny had an empty expression on his face. The bunny’s eyes were staring forward but not paying any attention to the Crusaders or giving any sight that he had just been beaten. The New Kid noticed that there was pale blue-green unnatural tint to the bunny’s irises. Apple Bloom decided to check on other the other bunnies while the New Kid looted the sunglasses from the greaser bunny. There was no point in letting a good pair of sunglasses go to waste.
“All the other bunnies got it too. They all got them strange eyes.” Apple Bloom confirmed.
“So?” snorted Scootaloo, “Why does that matter?”
“It matters,” said Sweetie Belle, “Because I think these bunnies are being possessed. Remember back during that wedding and how ponies were being possessed then? Somepony is controlling these bunnies, but we don’t know who or why.”
♕----------♕
Location: Sun Mining Village, Frozen North
Stan stepped outside the carriage and onto solid ground. During his descent, he noticed that the ropeways were more sophisticated than he initial thought. The ropeway consisted of two lanes that were constantly moving. Most of the carts traveling along the ropes were filled with resources and goods. Occasionally their was split on the lane Stan was traveling on, but somehow, the carriage he was on knew which lane to take.
As he exited the carriage, he saw that the carts filled with goods landed further ahead of him much closer to the train station. That’s when he noticed that not only were there minotaurs, but also griffons, pegasi, and even honest to God, unicorns. He saw a stiff unicorn with a levitating clipboard next to him inspecting the contents of the carts before marking them on his list.
Upon asking one of the workers, Stan found out that the train did not leave until another hour. Stan grumbled to himself as the explored the settlement. Sun Village was larger than Greybeard’s small village. There were more permanent buildings and the air reeked of tobacco smoke. Contrary to its name, Sun Village was rather dull, plain and grey. The only source of color was the coats of the ponies that Stan had to admit, were pretty gay. He noticed a large crowd that was gathering at the center of the village.
A black and grey griffon dressed in a ragged coat stepped up a platform looking over the crowd and began to speak in booming voice, “My fellow miner and companions, as you can see, the first flakes of snow have fallen and the temperatures are getting colder. Our days are growing shorter and the short sun rays of autumn shall not last long.” he took a dramatic pause before continuing, “That’s right. Prepare yourself for winter is coming.”
Stan groaned inwardly but none the less half paid attention to what the griffon was saying. “We all know what winter’s arrival brings. And so soon shall our days grow shorter and our land shall turn grey. It is time for us to gather our cloaks, our tools, and all our belongings. For once winter comes, we’ll be on our way.”
Some of the younger members of the crowd glanced at each other and some muttering filled the air. The griffon waited until the chatter died out before continuing, “Yes that’s right, mining season is almost over. As winter comes, conditions will become unsuitable for us to continue mining here. Tomorrow, mining activity will cease throughout the different camps and settlements for the winter and won’t start again until spring. But I’m doing things differently, today is our last day and we are going to close a day early. Now there’s only one thing for us to do,” their brief pause as the griffon glanced over the crowd to. With a grin on his face the griffon proudly proclaimed, “That’s right, we fucking party until tomorrow! Open the bars, it’s happy hour all day today and, if there’s any left, all day tomorrow!”
The crowd roared and cheered and then dispersed. Stan glanced around as mugs and shots were being passed all around and some of the minotaurs started an improvised game of beer pong. Bonfires were lit and some of the older miners sat around and began sharing tales and gossip. Within a few minutes there was an improvised band on the platform playing jaunty tunes to the miners.
Stan felt a headache coming on strongly. Today was going to be one of those days. He had to admit that this wasn’t the strangest thing that has happened to him, but that didn’t mean that he was fond of these things. At first he thought that the minotaurs were nothing but strange cultists. It would have been better that way. He would have even preferred it that way.
Stan was used to weird shit but this, whatever the hell it was, was something completely different. He glanced at a nearby clock and saw that there were forty minutes left until the train departed. There was some time to spare. Stan entered a nearby bar for a sorely needed shot of whiskey.
♕----------♕
Location: Ponyville, Equestria
The New Kid and the crusaders made what could be considerable progress, it was hard to be sure of these things since they had no idea how much further the burrows extended. They had fought a couple of more bunnies, but the battles got gradually easier as the crusaders got more experienced. Yet the crusaders were impulsive and rushed into battles when they could be avoided by using the environment to their advantage. It was a pain in the ass to fight battles that could be avoided and resolved quicker using other methods.
They entered a large chamber at the end of a tunnel. The cylindrical chamber had a wooden spiraling ramp descending further underground. There were many tunnel entrances within the chamber; some of them had makeshift doors blocking the entrance.
“So which one do we take?” asked Sweetie Belle.
The New Kid pointed down. There at the very bottom was a large door made from an old apple crate that was being guarded by five bunnies. Three of them were regular thugs armed with carrots, two greasers, and a strange one they hadn’t encountered yet that was wearing a straw rice hat and was wielding a staff like a warrior monk.
“These guys are not that bright, are they?” muttered Scootaloo.
The New Kid had to admit that Scootaloo had a point. He glanced at the bunnies below and noticed they were standing below a lit lantern. If he could just get close enough, he could smash the lantern and with cast a quick cup-a-spell to knock out the bunnies.
“CHARGE!”
The scream echoed throughout the chamber and the bunnies guarding the door all looked up to see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo falling down towards them. The New Kid groaned internally; while the crusaders were indeed an improvement from Butters, he found it hard to keep them under control.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo landed with thud as they knocked out two of the thugs out. The New Kid leapt from the ramp and landed on top of the third thug. He quickly got in formation along Apple Bloom and Scootaloo as he glanced at the remaining three bunnies.
The two greasers glared menacingly as they got in a fighting stance. The monk remained stoic and did not move. The New Kid, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were locked in stalemate with the bunnies. Neither side wanted to make the first move. The New Kid knew that the greasers were good with counters and did not know the monk’s firing style.
The New Kid clutched his sheathed katana, ready to strike. The monk quickly responded with a riposte stance and taunted the New Kid with a gesture that he understood to mean “Bring it, if you dare.”
Before the New Kid could respond, Scootaloo roared out loud as she began to charge at the monk. The monk moved swiftly and managed to make Scootaloo lose her balance with a quick strike with his staff. Scootaloo went tumbling and groaned in pain and humiliation. The two greasers mocked Scootaloo with wide smirks on their faces as she nursed the bruise on her left cheek. The monk made another gesture that the New Kid understood as, “Come on, show me what you got!”
It didn’t take much to realize that his was going to be a challenging battle. The ‘greasers’ were experts at countering melee attacks and the monk was no push over. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo only had melee attacks which meant they had to use their abilities. Now this wouldn’t be a problem since Scootaloo already knew how to use two of her abilities. The problem was with Apple Bloom who has not yet been able to perform her first ability properly.
Crash!
Apple Bloom had attempted to swing her wooden sword at the monk but was met instead with a fierce blow that sent her flying across the chamber into one of the doors. The impact had cracked open the door and Apple Bloom was groaning. “No fair!” she complained, “That was cheating!”
So this was one of those fights that the New Kid had to carry by himself. He checked his inventory to check on his supplies, how the hell so many things could fit inside including an assortment of weapons and costumes was beyond him. He was well stocked in heath, PP, and cure potions. He was a bit low on mana and speed potions. A quick count indicated that he only had three speed potions left. He hopped that the others quickly caught on and he wasn’t forced to use them.
The trio of bunnies found themselves being pelted by some of a most foul smelling substance. The New Kid has unleashed a barrage of rotten eggs upon them and just finished emptying the rest of the contents of the box over them. He watched with a satisfied grin as the two greasers threw up the contents of their stomachs.
“EWWW!” complained Sweetie Belle who turned her head away in disgust “Is that really necessary?” Sweetie Belle was watching the battle below from a safe distance on the spiral ramp.
The New Kid’s smile faded as he saw the monk began to meditate. An aura of golden light engulfed him and New Kid felt his power increased. The New Kid hated enemies that could heal themselves. He didn’t have much time to contemplate this as the two pissed off greasers charged straight at him swinging wildly.
The New Kid managed to block and dodge some of the punches but others hit their target. He received a few kidney punches that knocked the wind out of him. He fell down and nursed the spot where he was hit. It hurt like a bitch, kidney punches were one of the few moves that were banned under the rules of combat followed by the Grand Wizard and High Elf. In fact, only three moves were banned: kidney punches, punching someone in the balls (kicking them was fine), and farting on someone’s balls.
Scootaloo winced in sympathy; nevertheless she followed the New Kid’s example and decided to use one of her abilities. A beam of light shone upon her as an old beat up scooter appeared in front of her. She hopped on the scooter and used her wings and pegasus magic to give it momentum. Scootaloo leapt off the scooter and sent it on a crash course into one of the greasers. While she was in mid air, Scootaloo quickly pulled out a frilly sock and stone from her skull cap began swirling her makeshift sling.
There was a loud crash as the scooter rammed one of the greasers, knocking him down. Just as the greaser bunny began to recover from the blow, Scootaloo flung the stone straight at him and it was enough to knock him out cold. “Now that’s how you do it.” said Scootaloo calmly as she landed softly and readjusted her glasses. “Apple Bloom, your turn.”
“But I can’t perform my Applebuck correctly,” complained Apple Bloom. “I always keep missing the apples!”
“OH COME ON!” screamed Sweetie Belle from above. “Apple Bloom, just do it! If you are too chicken, then just let me take your place!”
“Wow,” said the astonished Scootaloo. “Sweetie Belle, I didn’t know that you had it in you.”
“Well I wouldn’t be as grumpy is I wasn’t up here watching you get your flanks kicked,” replied Sweetie Belle.
“We are not getting our flanks kicked!” roared Apple Bloom.
“Then why is Douchebag nursing the area where he got punched, or why does Scootaloo have a bruise on her face, or why are you too afraid to use your Applebuck skill?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Sweetie Belle has a point,” said Scootaloo. “Why are you too chicken to buck a couple of apples?”
“Well that’s rich,” retorted Apple Bloom, “You of all ponies calling me a chicken.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean!?” roared Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo! Scoot Scoot-a-loo!” Apple called out loud.
The bunnies glanced at each other in confusion. The standing greaser turned to face the monk who gave him shrug. Even the defeated greaser bunny who had regained his consciousness gave his gave his two buddies a look of bewilderment. The three bunnies that were knocked out before the fight were now sitting on a bench, watching the events occurring in front of them. One of them even had a small bag of popcorn.
The New Kid groaned internally, he had a feeling that this was going to be a common occurrence and wasn’t looking forward to it. He placed his hand on Apple Bloom’s shoulder and wasn’t surprised to see the filly quickly spin around and glare at him.
Apple Bloom saw the New Kid pull out and apple and tossed it at her. “Fine! I’ll buck the apples already!” she growled as the caught the apple. She then quickly tossed in the air and spun around to deliver a powerful kick. Her kick struck its target and never had the New Kid seen a piece of fruit other than Butters fly that fast in the air. It was like a speeding bullet, the apple was a red blur.
Before the remaining greaser bunny could recognize what was happening, his face was met with the full force of the apple. He spun around and almost tripped from the hit. The greaser clenched his paws and glared at Apple Bloom.
SMACK!
The second apple struck him straight at the chest; the bunny stepped back and was stumbling. Apple Bloom sent the third apple zooming. It collided right at the greaser’s head and without giving any struggles he fell down unconscious.
“There, are you happy now!?” Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle who now had a smug grin on her face. “I’m terrible at bucking apples, are you happy now that I just… I just…” Apple Bloom lost her voice as realization came over her. “I did it, didn’t I? I actually did it!” She began to hop in joy, “I actually did it. I actually managed to buck three apples and defeated a baddie with it!”
“Well don’t be celebrating now,” said Scootaloo who was still bitter from the previous insult. “We still have an enemy left.”
They turned to face the monk, who wide smirk was now gone. He didn’t appear as cheeky and confident like earlier. The New Kid knew that the monk was pretty much fucked now with his buddies knocked out. Apparently the monk knew so too and was hesitant to make a fighting pose. The New Kid and the monk both knew that the fight was over. However the monk would not go down like a without making his last stand. He defiantly charged at Scootaloo and but his final attack wasn’t enough to bring her down.
With a quick work of his dagger skills, the monk was brought down. The monk laid alone in the chamber as the remaining bunnies including the greasers had fled the scene. The New Kid stood next to the defeated foe and took the staff that he clenched fiercely. The monk would not let go of the staff. The New Kid struggled to take the staff and it wasn’t until he fiercely poked the monk with his sword that he let go.
The New Kid gave Scootaloo the staff and with the other crusaders proceeded to travel down the tunnel that the bunnies were so keen to guard.
♕----------♕
Location: Changeling Hive, Badlands
Queen Chrysalis’ mood worsened as the meeting went on. So far the meeting had been a complete waste of time. No progress had been made other than sending Fat Grub to face his doom with the Dynaste.
Of course this was only one small source of Queen Chrysalis’ irritation. The biggest source of her irritation was the one changeling that was currently speaking. She had the nerve to bring up that peace treaty the Celestia had offered during this meeting. “You dare!” she hissed at the changeling, “How dare you bring up that treaty or that wretched Snow Mare in my presence Punani!”
Putukate swore inside as the queen once again forgot her name but kept a calm composer, “My Queen, we are at a food shortage and low on other resources as well. The Snow Mare has extended an olive branch and is willing to send aid to our needs.”
“We have no needs!” roared a tall changeling sitting across from Putukate, “We changelings are a proud race, and we shall not bring ourselves down to the status of beggar!”
Murmurs of agreement filled the chamber and Putukate felt as everyone in the room glared at her. However she did not back down and continue to press her point, “Have you not listened at all?! The Hive is at the verge of a crisis and if we do not take any action then in a few weeks time our Hive shall suffer from famine and the misfortune it brings!”
“We shall not let our kin starve,” said stubborn official, “We are not foolish enough to trust the lies that Snow Mare gives us. The Hive shall survive without relying on her treachery. Why, we have our top intellectuals working on way to mass produce love.”
“You can’t create love!” shouted Putukate, “We can’t just get bunch of chemicals and somehow create love via alchemy! We tried goodness we tried for years! All we ended up creating was Oxycontin.”
“You’re being a pessimistic worm,” growled another changeling.
“I’m being realistic!” roared Putukate, “This is not about me or you, this is about the future of the Hive. What will it take for your stubborn brains to understand that?!”
“Do not insult my intelligence!” the changeling shouted back.
“Well then you should act like you have brains then!” Putukate retorted.
An argument broke out yet again during the meeting. Queen Chrysalis used all her willpower to keep her from strangling the changelings in front of her. She felt a headache forming and began to massage her head. “QUIET!” she boomed in such a loud voice that it even shook the meeting table, “QUIET ALL OF YOU!”
Queen Chrysalis glared around the room with extra pauses at Putukate. “For the sake of your argument,” she continued once order was established, “You are all complete idiots.” The changeling queen took a deep breath and sat back down. “Now I know why I don’t hold many of these meetings, they accomplish nothing.”
A loud noise filled the room so suddenly that some of the changelings jumped from their seats. A loud knocking was coming from the heavy doors. The queen wondered why someone would be as foolish or brave to interrupt her meetings but since nothing was being accomplished; she’ll let it slide this time. “Enter,” she said with a voice of authority.
Two gruff changelings entered the room, one was short and the other tall. Putukate buried her face into her hooves as she saw the state of their appearance. Nothing was wrong with the way they looked, but rather the expression of their faces gave her a foreboding feeling.
“Éntomo and Insetto, what news do you bring to me that you are willing to interrupt such an important meeting?” asked the queen coldly. Secretly she was glad about them interrupting the pointless meeting.
“Well, our Queen,” said Insetto nervously, “We have some…concerns about our new prisoner. The-uh Grand Wizard.”
Queen Chrysalis face revealed nothing but her body froze. Putukate was fuming quietly but that could have also been attributed to the Queen calling the two interrupters by their names. “She knows the FNG’s names right but can’t remember mine?” she kept muttering under her breath.
“Well you two, what’s the problem with our prisoner?” the queen asked.
“We placed the prisoner in The Pit and that’s when things got complicated.” answered Insetto.
“Yeah, the Grand Wizard quickly became the new Lord of the Pit,” added Éntomo. “That means that all the other changelings in the Pit follow his orders. And well... the changelings there have taken a form that the new Pit Lord finds pleasant and are… and well – they are feeding off him.”
“ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THAT THING IS CAPABLE OF EMITTING LOVE?” screamed Queen Chrysalis in shock.
“Well not love,” Insetto quickly responded, “It’s more like admiration, but the point is that the prisoners in the Pitt are feeding of him and are gaining strength. If this keeps going on, in a few days we won’t be able to restrain them anymore.”
After hearing the bad news, the changeling queen stood still for a few seconds. Then suddenly Queen Chrysalis let out a mighty roar that shook the entire conference room and scared half of the changelings there. All of her anger, all of her frustration burst out at that moment as she slammed her two front hooves down the ebony table and managed to smash it in half. “Does the Universe hate me?!” she screamed wildly, “What have I done to deserve this?!”
“Well you did try to take over Canterlot.” answered a changeling official.
“And there also the whole revenge plot that involved kidnapping those foals.” answered another changeling.
“It was a rhetorical question,” Queen Chrysalis coldly, “And the next smartass to speak out of place gets fed to the Dynaste.” The changeling queen was about to dismiss the meeting in order to deal Grand Wizard. She had to get rid of him quick before he became too much of a problem. If only she could get rid of the fools in front of her as well.
If there was a way to get rid of the Grand Wizard and the counsel at the same time—then like a flash of lightning, an idea came to the changeling queen.
Loud wild laughter filled the room. It wasn’t a laugh of amusement, joy or even a cruel laugh; it was a laugh of madness. The changelings gathered around the broken table each stared at their queen as she just lost her mind.
After a few minutes, Queen Chrysalis composed herself and returned back to her cushioned seat. She calmly turned to the two guards and in a soft voice said, “Bring me the Grand Wizard if you don’t mind. Bring him here and please be quick.”
She watched with a cheerful smile as the two guards did as they world told and even chuckled as she overheard one of them complain about the Grand Wizard weighing at least half a ton. Once the guards were out of sight and could not be heard, Queen Chrysalis’ smile vanished. Instead it was replaced with a wild, evil and malicious smirk as she broke out onto another round of mad laughter.
It was later reported by the cleaning crew that some of the chairs in the conference room had brown stains and pieces of brick on them.