//------------------------------// // Chapter B27: Fighting for Her Heart // Story: Fiddling with Her Heart // by Kevinltk //------------------------------// How did everything go so wrong? Octavia forlornly looked out a window from her hiding place high up in one of Canterlot’s tall buildings. Down below, the streets of the majestic capital of Equestria had erupted into chaos as ponies ran away or fought against the invaders. What was supposed to have been a joyous occasion had rapidly degraded into a nightmare. Just as Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were about to get married, Twilight and what was the real Princess Cadance burst into the ceremony hall and exposed the imposter bride as Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the changelings. And yet it was still too late. Chrysalis already had Shining Armor under her control. The shield around Canterlot was shattered, and an entire army of changelings descended into the city. With Princess Celestia beaten and Princess Luna fending off even more changelings somewhere outside of Canterlot, the only hope left were the Elements of Harmony. But they too had fallen. Octavia had managed to hide away in an apartment complex that just happened to have a view of the tower where the Elements were held. She watched as her friends did their best to try and get inside, but they eventually succumbed as wave after wave of changelings kept on going after them. As the changelings hauled off the unconscious forms of her friends, Octavia’s focus was only on Applejack, the one pony she had grown so close to. Like a spark igniting a flame, something awakened within Octavia. No longer did she want to hide or run away as newfound strength and determination filled her body. Anger and passion flooded her senses until only one thing was left on her mind and that was to save Applejack. She suddenly heard sounds come from the other side of the door. Quickly looking outside through the peephole, she saw two changelings outside, one of them poised to ram into the door. Octavia backed away right before the door was burst open by the changeling. She promptly met the invader with a hoof to its face, sending her opponent flying out of the room and making a changeling-sized hole in the door on the opposite side of the hall. A second changeling filled in for its comrade and leapt straight at Octavia, only to fly past her as she dodged to the side. Octavia spun around to deliver a hoof to another face, but the changeling had already turned around as well, ready to block her attack. The changeling parried her strike, knocking her hoof to the side, before following up with a retaliation of its own. Octavia easily evaded the counter, but the changeling continued leaping and swinging its hooves at her. Under the relentless attacks, she was forced on the defensive as she dodged every blow, waiting for an opening. That opportunity came when the changeling lunged at her throat with its mouth. Octavia reared back onto her hind legs, narrowly escaping the sharp fangs that wanted to sink into her, before colliding her head into her opponent’s. The changeling was only able to stagger back a few steps before Octavia was upon it, getting up on her hind hooves and lifting the changeling over her head. All the changeling could do was flail its hooves and yelp before being thrown out the door. As the changeling slowly and shakily got back on its hooves, Octavia charged right at her opponent, and when she was close enough, she leaped into the air. She somersaulted in the air lashed out with her hind legs, landing a perfect dropkick on the dazed changeling. The first changeling had groggily gotten up during the skirmish, only to be returned to unconsciousness when its fellow invader crashed into it. Octavia cautiously went over to inspect the damage she caused, satisfied to see that there were now two unconscious changelings. Her joy was cut short when she heard the sounds of insect wings to her side. Reacting more on instinct, she immediately dove to the floor and felt a rush of air streak above her a second later. Scrambling back onto her hooves, Octavia saw that a third changeling had just flown past her and was quickly coming back right at her, its jagged horn pointed straight at her and ready to give her a few holes of her own. Although Octavia had no trouble evading every charge, the changeling would already be out of range before she could retaliate. She grew more and more annoyed as she futilely tried to catch the flying target. She had to get moving and catch up to Applejack. Formulating a plan in her head, she stood up on her hind legs. Years of cello playing giving her the training she needed to move just as well as moving around on four legs. With a cocky grin on her face, she egged the changeling to come at her, waving a hoof in a come hither motion. As expected, the changeling came right at her, but instead of dodging the attack, Octavia stood her ground. Right before being gored, she clamped her hooves on the changeling’s horn, stopping it mere centimeters away from her face. Her foe’s momentum pushed her backwards along the floor before she let out a bloodcurdling roar and swung the changeling up. Her victim screamed the entire way as Octavia continued their trip backwards and slamming it into the floor in a vicious suplex. To finish off the changeling and to also show her displeasure for wasting her valuable time, Octavia jumped into the air and elbow dropped right into the changeling’s stomach, causing its four limbs to shoot straight into the air before flopping back to the ground. Sensing no other changelings coming at her, Octavia took a moment to go over what she had just done. She had just fought off three changelings by herself and won. Her first thought was to be thankful about her guilty pleasure of watching various martial art and wrestling matches. Her second thought was that the thrill of the fight had really gotten her blood pumping. And she liked it. She felt like she could do anything and could take life by the throat and choke slam it into submission until she got what she wanted, and what she wanted now was to save Applejack. With no time to lord over her victories, she started making her way back towards the ceremony hall. Given the importance of Applejack and her friends, she was positive that they would be taken to their queen. Relying on stealth, the trip through through the streets and alleyways of Canterlot was a quick one. Any changelings that she could not sneak around were quietly dispatched with either a swift punch to the head, a sleeper hold, or extremely creative use of trash cans. Eventually, the walls of Canterlot Castle came into view, and Octavia’s attention was drawn to a small group of changelings a block away from the gate. They were dumping various objects into a giant pile, no doubt collecting the spoils of their invasion. Gems, bits, paintings, lingerie, statues, and other items of value were being collected, but what caught her eye, on the very top of the pile, was none other than her cello. She had to retrieve her precious instrument. There was nothing like it. Seeing no way to get to her cello without being seen, Octavia did the only thing she could think of: Run headfirst into danger. The changelings quickly noticed her charging right at them and formed a defensive line in front of their spoils, waiting to fend her off. Instead of trying to charge through the blockade, Octavia opted to go over it instead. When she got close enough she leapt high into the air, using her momentum to propel herself up and over the changelings. A few changelings tried to jump and grab her out of the air, but in an impressive display of twists and spins, they could not even lay a single hoof on her. She landed back on the ground with a heavy thud before immediately bolting up the pile, grabbing her cello, and faced her oncoming opponents, brandishing her instrument like a club. One of the changelings broke away from the pack to charge at her, and when it lunged for her, Octavia winded up an attack and unleashed it in a mighty swing that would make any baseball player jealous. The changeling was sent on an unwilling flight in the opposite direction until it crashed through a window. A window that was a whole block away. The remaining changelings had skidded to a halt when they saw their companion was sent flying. Their attention turned back to a grinning Octavia, showing off her cello which had no sign of damage. In one of the far corners of Equestria, there was a forest where the famous Ironbark trees grew. True to its name, the wood of the Ironbark tree was as hard as metal and it took years of training just to be able to harvest and work the precious material. Octavia’s cello just so happened to be made of the same Ironbark. She needed a sturdy instrument to withstand her music heavy lifestyle, and it was one of the most worthwhile purchases she had ever made. She also had a coupon for it. As Octavia awaited with her musical weapon ready, she was caught by surprise at the changelings’ next move. They ran away. Octavia blinked, staring at the changelings fleeing for the gate, before yelling, “Come back here!”, and chased after her prey with her cello raised above her head. As they all entered the courtyard, Octavia picked out one of the stragglers in the pack, jumped into the air, and flattened her target, like a flyswatter to a bug. The buzzing in the air grew, prompting Octavia to look around. To any other pony, they would have seen at least several hundred or so changelings snarling at them. To Octavia, she saw an opportunity to play her newfound favorite game of whack-a-bug. With a bloodcurdling roar, she dived into the fray, swinging her cello around with wild abaddon. One swing sent one foe hurtling across the courtyard, scattering any of its friends that were unfortunate enough to be in its trajectory. Another changeling was popped into the air by a huge underswing before being batted away like a toy by another swing. While there were a lot of them, the changelings were big pushovers, little more than punching bags to the angry musician. If Octavia was able to say anything more at the moment than roars and very graphical threats, she would admit that she was actually enjoying this more than she should have. She had never felt so alive. No changeling was safe from her whirlwind of musical destruction as the ground was riddled with broken fangs, chitin, blood, and bodies. Eventually, Octavia’s supply of heads to smash ran out. With a sigh that almost sounded like disappointment, she marched through the battlefield towards where the ceremony hall was, making sure to stomp heavily as she stepped on any bodies along the way. When she was faced with a giant set of double doors, she politely knocked on them. She waited one full second before then bucking them clean off the hinges and strode inside. The lobby floor was empty save for two changelings on the opposite side of the room, blocking the way to the ceremony hall. Unlike all the others she had encountered, these two were equipped with armor that covered every part of their body save their wings and horn. They glared at her through the slits in their helmets. On top of that, the armored behemoths rivaled the size of Big Mac. When Octavia approached them, they hunkered down, ready to pounce on her. Beside the obvious size and armament difference, the way these guards acted made it obvious they were a cut above the rabble she had easily swatted away. Standing with her cello ready, she engaged in one of the most intense staring contests in her life. Time passed as a stalemate fell over them, both sides waiting for the other to make the first move. Unfortunately for Octavia, she did not have the luxury of time on her side. She slowly inched herself closer to the changelings before lunging forth and lashed out with her cello. To her surprise, the two guards nimbly dodged her attack, moving as though their heavy armor weighed nothing. One of them started throwing a rapid series of jabs at her. She was hard pressed to do anything more than blocking and dodging the fast flying punches as she was slowly forced to move backwards. Suddenly, the guard winded up for an even fiercer punch, and Octavia barely had time to bring up her cello to intercept the attack. Although her cello took the brunt of the blow, Octavia was sent skidding backwards. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the second changeling using its wings to propel itself along the ground on a collision course with her. She was able to shield herself with her cello again, right before the changeling rammed into her, but since she was off balance from the first changeling, she and her cello were sent flying through the air. Octavia hit the floor with a grunt, watching her cello sail over her head and smashing through a window, landing somewhere outside. Letting out a huff, she got back on her hooves and charged right back in. With her cello gone, it was time to go back to a good old fashioned beatdown. This time, Octavia opened up with her own set of punches on one of the guards. No longer holding her cello, she was able to move and attack quicker as she tried to hammer away at the guard’s defenses. Although she was unable to land any punches, the guard was unable to retaliate as well. Switching tactics, she feinted a hoof at the guard’s face, but when it tried to block it in anticipation, Octavia shot out her other hoof in a quick uppercut to its chest. To her dismay, the changeling barely budged, its armor absorbing the force of her attack. Unable to get away in time, the changeling grabbed her hoof and swung her around several times before letting go and allowing momentum to carry her through the air. Octavia groaned when she hit the floor again. Looking up, her eyes bulged open when she saw the other guard wreathed in green energy and dive bombing right at her. She was able to roll to the side, narrowly evading the crash landing and being flung a few feet away by the impact. Before the second changeling could climb out of the small crater it created, Octavia tried to formulate a plan. Without her cello, she did not have the power to inflict any real damage on the guards. She needed a new weapon. Quickly scanning the lobby, she noticed a few pieces of rubble were lying between her and the crater. She made a dash for a big chunk of rock before spinning around and aiming at the guard climbing out of the hole. She only had one shot. With a fearsome buck, she sent the piece of debris straight towards the guard and scoring a hit on the changeling’s head. Although it did not incapacitate the guard, the projectile dazed it enough for Octavia to continue towards it and throw her entire body at the dizzy changeling’s head, sending the both of them crashing to the floor. With its companion down, Octavia saw the other guard rushing towards its aid. When it was almost upon her, she used her new weapon. Grabbing one of the fallen changeling’s hind legs, she swung the changeling right into the oncoming one. Two grunts of pain were heard as metal met metal. The first guard was caught completely by surprise, not expecting its companion to be turned into an impromptu weapon. Another forced meeting with its fellow guard knocked it down to the floor before Octavia continued her assault, beating a changeling with another changeling. Again and again Octavia slammed her two opponents into each other, their cries of pain ringing through the lobby, until she felt her makeshift weapon go limp and the one on the ground was no longer writhing in pain. For good measure, she swung the guard into its companion as hard as she could one last time before kicking the two battered bodies away. Panting heavily, she slowly continued down the now clear passage, catching her breath and preparing herself for what was likely going to be an even tougher fight. When she came upon the doors leading into the ceremony hall, she took a deep breath and bucked them open. Octavia’s eyes immediately honed in on her goal. Her friends were covered in goo off to the side, all struggling to escape their sticky prison. Princess Cadance was also trapped with them, and up on the ceiling hung a large green cocoon with Princess Celestia inside. Shining Armor was just standing at the altar, still under a stupor. “Octavia? Is… is that really you?” Applejack asked, gaping at her sudden appearance. “Hold on, I’ll get you all out of there,” Octavia replied as she rushed over. “Well, well, well, you actually made it here,” a sinister voice rumbled. Octavia quickly turned to see Chrysalis slink out from behind a pillar. “I must say,” Chrysalis said, making her way back up to Shining Armor. “It was quite entertaining watching you fight off all my minions on the courtyard—” “Wait, she did what?” several of her friends blurted out. “And now that you have gotten past my elite guards,” Chrysalis continued. “I’m quite impressed. So tell me, why has one little pony went through so much trouble to see me?” “I’m not here for you. I’m here to save my friends,” Octavia stated as she changed into a battle stance. “Now, we both know you’re not going to just let me do that, so let’s cut to the chase and fight already.” “Straight to the point, a bit boring, but you are right. I have so many other things to do today.” Chrysalis’s horn started glowing a menacing green. Octavia charged at Chrysalis but was forced to jump back as a torrent of energy bolts flew her way. She dived behind a pillar as another salvo was sent her way, grimacing when she saw each missile blew a big chunk off the stonework. “Don’t think you can just hide,” Octavia heard Chrysalis mock before the hum of her magic filled the room. She instinctively evacuated her hiding place a few seconds before the pillar was cut clean in two by a laser beam. Seeing a few chunks of rubble lying on the ground, Octavia attempted to repeat her success with the guards, bucking a piece of stone at Chrysalis and pursuing it. Chrysalis blasted the stone projectile into smithereens and easily flew over Octavia’s attempt to tackle her. “Fine then, if you want to throw things, let’s throw things.” The changeling queen picked up the remains of a pillar that was bigger than Octavia in her magic before lobbing right at her. Octavia was able to leap over the lumbering projectile, all the while cursing Chrysalis’s magic that was making it almost impossible to do anything to the changeling. “Go for her horn!” Twilight yelled out. “If she’s anything like unicorns, hitting her horn should at least disable her magic for some time!” “Quiet!” Chrysalis demanded. Her horn glowed even brighter as two nearby pillars were wreathed in her magic, and with a growl, she ripped both of them out of the foundations and sent them spinning towards Octavia. Seeing that each pillar was thrown at a different height, Octavia saw that it was going to be impossible to dodge one without getting hit by the other, that is, if she only tried to go in one direction. Taking a deep breath, she ran right for the oncoming slabs of stone and slid along the ground, feeling the first pillar brush past her mane. In the split second before the second, low-flying one collided into her, she pushed herself off the ground and over the projectile, only to feel one of her hind legs being clipped by the stone. Letting out a yelp, she was forcibly spun in the air, losing her bearings and sending her tumbling across the floor. Groaning, she heard the sounds of her friends shouting something and looked up to see Chrysalis looming over with a devilish grin and another pillar floating over her. “You lasted longer than I thought,” Chrysalis sneered, “but I have places to conquer, so I must bring things to an end.” With no time to run away, Octavia saw only one way of surviving the attack and that was to go right through it. As Chrysalis swung the massive rock down at her, Octavia flipped onto her forelegs and drawing deep from the inherent strength of earth ponies, bucked harder than she ever had before. Chrysalis cried out in surprise when her weapon was split in two by Octavia’s attack, covering her in a cloud of dust. Seeing the glow of the changeling queen’s horn through the dust, Octavia jumped up and mustered as much as she could into a right hook at it. She was rewarded by a shriek when she felt her hoof finally connect. As the dust cleared, Chrysalis staggered a few steps as her horn fizzled out. “You…” she snarled, glaring venomously at Octavia. “You are starting to get on my nerves.” “I intend to get on more than just your nerves, especially now that you can’t hide behind your magic,” Octavia taunted. “Don’t think that just because I can’t use my magic now that I am a pushover,” Chrysalis warned as the two of them start slowly pacing around the room in a circle, glaring at each other, before charging at the same time. Octavia went for a straight punch towards Chrysalis’s face, but the changeling queen moved to the side as she continued her forward momentum and rammed into Octavia, knocking her to the floor. She quickly rolled to the side when Chrysalis reared up on her hind legs, as a stomp landed down at where she had been just a second ago, cracks forming on the tiled floor from the impact. Still lying on the floor, Octavia kicked out at Chrysalis’s side with her hind legs. She was thankful when her opponent grunted in pain and was pushed back. While Chrysalis was also an adept fighter, she was not equipped with any additional armor like her guards. No magic. No equipment. It was a straight out hoof fight from here on out. When Octavia got back on her hooves and Chrysalis recovered, they ran straight at each other again. Octavia used quick jabs and hooks as she attempted to dodge Chrysalis’s expanded arsenal, adding her own hooves with her horn and fangs. Both fighters kept on throwing attacks at each other but neither could score more than the occasional glancing blow. Chrysalis let out a yell, charging forward with her hoof reared back for a mighty punch. Not wanting to back down, Octavia did the same thing. The sounds of their two hooves colliding with each other echoed through the ceremony hall before sending the both of them skidding backwards across the floor. “I know why you’re really here,” Chrysalis remarked as they caught their breaths. “I already said I’m here for my friends,” Octavia replied. Judging by the sounds of her friends cheering her on, they were not aware of the conversation she was having. “That may be, but I can sense it. You’re mostly concerned about that orange one, aren’t you?” Octavia’s eyes narrowed into the slits as she silently glowered. Chrysalis chuckled. “You can’t hide it from me. You like that one. How about this? If you leave quietly, I’ll give you my word that I won’t harm a single hair on your precious pony.” “Too bad that your word means nothing,” Octavia spat back. “Even then, I would not just abandon the rest of my friends to you.” “Pity, I gave you an offer, and you just refused it without a second thought.” A sadistic grin appeared on Chrysalis’s face. “That just means I need to teach you a lesson, and when I’m done with you, I’ll move on to your friends, starting with the orange one.” “Don’t you dare lay a hoof on her.” “Oh, it will be delightful,” Chrysalis continued. “Maybe if I’m feeling generous enough, I’ll let you watch as I torment her.” Octavia let out a roar as she charged straight at Chrysalis, her eyes burning in a haze of rage. Chrysalis smirked as she sidestepped the reckless attack and slugged Octavia across the face, but instead of being sent sprawling to the ground, Octavia rolled with the punch, negating just enough force to allow her to stay on her hooves before driving her hoof into Chrysalis’s chest, eliciting a gasp from her opponent. It was immediately followed up with a second punch into, pushing the changeling back from the force of the blow. Chrysalis spat out a glob of blood on the ground before rushing for Octavia with another punch, hitting her square in the chest. Again, Octavia powered through Chrysalis’s attack and delivered an uppercut to Chrysalis’s chin before quickly spinning around and delivering a powerful back kick. The fight raged fiercely as both fighters landed vicious strikes on each other. A few cracks had appeared in Chrysalis’s chitinous body and even one of her fangs had snapped off by a particularly strong punch to her face. Octavia did not look too much better, sporting bruises all over her body as well as a few cuts from the couple of times she had narrowly evaded Chrysalis’s attempts stab her with her jagged horn. Octavia had forgone dodging many attacks in favor of just simply trading blows. She was not going to back down, and as long as she did more damage than she received, she was sure she would come out the victor. Chrysalis landed another hit on Octavia, only to receive another punch to her chest for the umpteenth time, but by taking a page out of Octavia’s strategy, she withstood the attack and slammed her hoof down on Octavia’s back, driving her to the ground. Octavia gasped as she felt the changeling’s hoof dig into her back, pinning her to the floor. She tried to slip out of Chrysalis’s grasp, but her resistance only made her opponent push down harder. Eyes darting around for an escape, she saw a large chunk of rock within hoof’s reach. Grunting in pain, she slowly crept her hoof closer to the rock, careful not to draw attention to what she was doing. When she was close enough, she grabbed it and swung it at the foreleg in front of her. Chrysalis shrieked out as her leg buckled, losing her hold on Octavia and sinking to her knees. Ignoring her body’s protests, Octavia got back up and now that Chrysalis’s head was closer to her height, she proceeded to thrash her opponent’s face with a neverending combo of hooks. Left, right, left, right went her hooves over and over again across her opponent’s face, and when she felt her energy started to wane, Octavia spun around and delivered a buck that sent the changeling queen crashing through a pillar. Octavia could barely hear the sounds of her friends’ cheering as she breathed heavily, warily eyeing the small pile of debris Chrysalis was buried under. “Enough!” Chrysalis yelled, bursting out of the rocks and shooting Octavia a scowl. “You are more trouble than you are worth, and I had wasted too much time with you. I will just have to deal with you later after I finish taking over Canterlot.” With her announcement over, she hurried over to the balcony. “Stop her!” Princess Cadance yelled. “If she escapes, we’ll never drive the changelings out, and she’ll just come back stronger than ever.” Octavia pursued Chrysalis outside and was just in time to see her starting to fly off. Sparing no time to think of a more saner plan, Octavia leapt from the balcony. Chrysalis yelped and dipped in the air as Octavia landed on her back. “What are you doing?!” “Finishing our fight!” Octavia yelled back, locking her forehooves around Chrysalis’s neck. “Get off!” Chrysalis demanded as she started flying erratically in an attempt to throw Octavia off. Octavia grunted as she was swung about. She hung on as tight as she could, the alternative being a one way trip to the ground far below them. Eventually, she started to feel her ride’s movements get a bit sluggish. Seeing her opportunity, she unlocked one of her forehooves and used it to start pummeling the back of Chrysalis’s head. Each hit caused Chrysalis to cry out in pain until she started shouting, “Stop! Stop! Stop! If I go down, you’ll go down with me!” “Not a problem for me!” Octavia shouted as she continued whaling away. “I just have to make sure you hit the ground first!” Octavia continued her relentless assault as Chrysalis renewed her efforts to throw her off until one of her punches sent the changeling queen reeling, and they began to fall out of the air. In an act of uncanny agility and precision, Octavia reversed her position so that she could grab Chrysalis’s hind legs and wrapped her own hind legs around Chrysalis’s barrel, making sure her body blocked the changeling’s wings from flapping correctly. “Wait! What are you doing?! Let go!” Chrysalis screamed when she saw that Octavia had flipped them over so now that her face was descending towards the rapidly approaching ground, locked into what was going to be Equestria’s biggest piledriver. Octavia and Chrysalis’s screams echoed through the air as they rocketed towards the ground before crashing into the ground. Soon after Chrysalis fled the ceremony hall, her hold on Shining Armor was broken, and after regaining his senses, freed everypony else in the room. They then rushed outside and were just in time to see Chrysalis and Octavia crash land somewhere in the middle of Canterlot, sending up a huge plume of dust into the air. As they raced through the streets of Canterlot, they saw many changelings taking to the air and fleeing the city. While it confirmed Chrysalis was no longer able to command the invaders, the gray pony’s fate was still unknown. When they finally reached the crash site, they were relieved to see Octavia climbing out of a massive crater. “Octavia! You’re alright!” Applejack cried out as she ran over to her friend. “Ah was so worried about—Mmphf!” Applejack was quickly cut off when Octavia grabbed her by the neck and pulled her in for a very passionate kiss. The wings of two pegasi and two alicorns popped open as Octavia continued her lively lip lock with Applejack. The sounds of their moans and Pinkie munching on popcorn filled the air. After a few minutes, Applejack was finally released from Octavia’s gasp who then instantly crumpled to the floor. “Whoa…” was all Applejack could say as she laid sprawled on the ground. Octavia grabbed Applejack’s tail in her mouth and started moving. “Uh, where are we going?” Applejack asked as she was being dragged away. “You. Me. Bed.” Octavia grunted out. Applejack’s eyes shot wide open. “W-what? Now hold on, don’t you think we’re movin’ a bit—” “You. Me. Bed. Now! “Yes, ma’m.” Everypony else just stood there in silent awe, even after the supposed couple had disappeared from view. Eventually, Celestia broke the silence by clearing her throat. “Well, my faithful student, I hope you have learned a valuable lesson today.” “Oh, um, is it that love can overcome anything?” Twilight asked. “No,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “The lesson here is that some ponies are just scary crazy.”