//------------------------------// // Saving Friends // Story: OC, Oh Crap! // by SmokeShadow95 //------------------------------// Chrysalis paced anxiously around outside the hospital. She was asked to leave when Ben needed some procedure done. She needed the air anyway. She had talked with Celestia and the Princess had agreed to get Cadence here as soon as she could. Chrysalis knew from experience that when properly motivated a princess could move pretty fast. She just hoped it was fast enough. “My Queen.” Chrysalis turned around, stopping only to acknowledge her title being spoken. “Yes, Silk. What is it?” “Please, forgive me if I overstep my boundaries, but I wish to know what your plans are for the human. The one you call Ben.” “Hm,” Chrysalis said. “You have always been one of my best Changelings, Silk. I suppose there is no harm in telling you. I plan on fixing him. I plan on healing him. I plan on making him whole once again. That is my plan.” “But, my Queen, how are going to do that?” “With help, Silk. This is not something that I can do alone.” Chrysalis said. As she spoke to her Changeling a shadow came from overhead. They both looked up to see a winged, pink form gliding down from the sky. Instantly, they both knew who it was. “My Queen, you can't-” “Can't what?!” Chrysalis hissed at Silk. “I will do what I must to save him, Silk. Have you not figured that out yet? She has what I need to save him. Now get back to the hive, and do not question me again.” Silk just stood there for a moment, in shock. Her Queen had snapped at her yet again. What was she doing wrong? Why was this happening? “Yes, my Queen,” Was all the response she could muster. She bowed her head one last time to her Queen before lifting off the ground and heading out for the Changeling hive. Cadence landed and walked up to Chrysalis as she was flying away. “Cadence,” Chrysalis said plainly. “I am glad you came so quickly.” “I heard this was about Ben,” Cadence said. “I probably wouldn't have come at all otherwise.” “I understand. Our history is quite far from friendly, to say the least,” Chrysalis replied. “But I do need your help, as I hope Celestia told you.” “Yes, she did,” Cadence said. “But I still don't understand how I can help you save Ben.” “Ben lost his arm in the collapse,” Chrysalis stated. “Together, we are going to fix that. We are going to give him a new arm.” “That's impossible,” Cadence said back. “Cadence, I know you have been working on giving your crystal pony subjects prosthetic limbs made from crystals. You have had ponies researching it for months now.” “How could you possibly know that?” “I have a total of thirteen Changelings disguised among various positions in your Crystal Empire. Three of them are in the medical and scientific fields. I hear things.” “What?!” Cadence blurted out. “Thirteen? You have thirteen spies in my city? How dare you! Who are they? Where are they?” “My dear Cadence,” Chrysalis said, “You help me, and I will help you.” “Very well,” Cadence said, keeping her rising anger in check. “Let's go.” === Zecora ran. She ran from Ponyville, from her friends, from everything she had ever known for many years. All of it was gone now. She closed her eyes and ran off at the fastest pace she had ever run. She was sorry. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to move on, but she had to. It was for the best. It was the only way she knew how to protect the ponies. “You cannot escape me, sister!” What?! No! How did he get here? So fast, so quiet, how did she not sense him coming at all? Now, when Zecora looked back all she saw was the impending shadow of her brother, her captor, her doom. She couldn't push herself to run any longer. Zecora slowed and came to a slow walk. She only moved a few paces before stopping completely. She could hear the hooffalls behind her come to a stop behind her. “Brother,” She said. “I tire of running from you. I don't want to run, but what else can I do?” “Be silent, first of all,” Zakir said with a sneer. “Do not call me 'Brother'. You lost the right to call me family when you left. You have only one option left to you. Surrender!” “Why?” Zecora pleaded. “Why are you doing this? Were we not family once before? Just leave me be, please, with the friends I adore.” “Enough of your rhymes, witch!” Zakir shouted. “This will be your end. I will take your hide back to our home. Yours will be the final grave of the restless, and the damned.” “No, it won't.” Zakir's head slowly turned around. Tessla was standing about ten feet away. His differently colored eyes both focused on the large Zebrican Warchief with an intense glare. The air around him shimmered and shifted. It was as if the entirety of reality was warping around Tessla's body. Everything was possible, and nothing was out of the question. “Human,” Zakir said as he turned. “Why are you here?” “I am here for Zecora,” Tessla said, a rising anger growing within him. “Leave her alone, now.” “You are a joke,” Zakir said. “You are the joke among the humans. You do nothing, and know even less.” “I usually leave the fighting to Austin. He's better at it,” Tessla said. “And I don't need to know everything to know that you want to hurt her. I won't let that happen.” “You are too late, human,” Zakir said with a nasty smile that hid an even darker secret. His eyes narrowed to wicked slits and he twisted around with shocking speed. Three small darts, needles sharp and thin, shot forth from Zakir's outstretched hoof. Zecora's fear paralyzed her. All she could do was watch as the needles came closer, and pierced her chest. “NO, Zecora!” Tessla worriedly exclaimed. Zecora's eyes stared as they turned blank. Her lifeless stare extending out to Tessla. Her legs gave out from under her. She fell to the ground. Tessla watched as the dirt and dust clung to the beautiful black and white coat. “Zecora!” Tessla stepped forward as a portal opened in front of him. He appeared a flash of light behind Zakir, standing over Zecora. His body trembled as a combination of worry and fear, compassion and anger. Tessla knelt down over the body of his fallen friend. “No, Zecora. I never got to tell you.” “Tell her what? You're feelings?” Zakir said, provokingly. “Come now, human. What did you really think was going to happen? You'd tell her how you feel and then you two would live happily ever after in that wretched Forest she calls a home.” “Shut up!” Tessla shouted furiously. He rose from Zecora's side and turned to face her brother. “You are going to pay for this, you bastard!” “And just what are you going to do?” Tessla's angered, raging eyes focused on Zakir. He raised his hands to the sky. With a roar of power Tessla's chaos poured forth. All around them, the reality changed. Where they stood before, a wonderfully green plain with grass and flowers. Ponyvlille sat off in the distance, a gleaming reminder of where home was. “Trust me, zebra,” Tessla said, “I may not show it much, but I can be plenty dangerous in my own way.” Clouds rolled in to darken the clear skies. Where the sun shone down just moments before now only shadows remained, illuminated only by arcs of lightning. The world itself seemed to roar as the lightning came down with a ferocious intensity. True to the chaotic powers of Tessla, the area where lightning struck erupted with ice. The ice spread out from every point where the lightning hit. Warchief Zakir watched as he came to be surrounded by several ever expanding sheets of ice. The air chilled as a frosted wind blew threw Zakir's mane. He worried as the ice came closer and closer, his worry only relieving when the ice poured under his hooves and cracked underneath them. “Merely a trick,” Zakir said to Tessla. Standing firm against the cold, Zakir spoke to Tessla. “Tell me, why is it you fight for her? Why do you risk your life for this zebra? You barely know her.” “That doesn't matter,” Tessla said. “She is my friend. I would do anything for her, even fight for her now.” “Then enough with the tricks, human,” Zakir said with a hiss. He charged forward against the chilled winds, the ice barely slowing him down. He came at Tessla, pulling out a small yet long knife that was hidden within the layers of his cloak. He gripped the blade tightly in his jaws as he slashed at the human. Tessla's hands shot up and across his chest in an attempt to block the blade coming for him. He tried to put out some form of shield or barrier, but the zebra was simply too fast. The blade he wielded slashed deeply between Tessla's arms. Zakir stared up at him, as light poured from the wound. Tessla looked shocked as his eyes traveled from his wound to Zakir's face. Zakir couldn't help but let a smile creep across his face. It immediately disappeared once Tessla bore one of his own. “What is the meaning of this,” Zakir spat out with the blade. “Just a mere trick,” Tessla said with his own sly smirk. Cracks and fissures spread out from his slashing wound until Tessla himself quite literally fell to pieces. He exploded into glowing, shimmering dust that got absorbed into the ice. “What is this? Where are you?” Zakir asked aloud to the ice and cold air. The light from Tessla's apparent death coalesced into a single image. A single Tessla. Within the ice he appeared, a moving picture in the frozen land. “Just a little fun,” Tessla said. “It's the best way to show you just what I can do, and how I do it.” With that, Tessla did what he did. His image in the ice floated around the quickly angering Zebra. He followed the images as they danced from side to side. One image turned into two, and two turned into four. They made silly faces and spat insults up through the ice. One of them even went so far as to say Zakir's mother was a hamster. Zakir always prided himself on being a zebra of composure, able to stay calm even under the most dire of circumstances. And yet, there was something about this damn human that was driving him to the edge. And now his ridiculous tricks were quickly forcing him over that edge. “Arghh!” Zakir roared. “ENOUGH!!” A very large draft blew across the Warchief's path. There in an instant and gone just as soon. Tessla stood behind it. He still had that glow around him that he did in the ice, but this was no image. Zakir learned this firsthoof as his Tessla's fist came slamming into the right side of his face. Zakir caught a fistful of power from Tessla's hand. The impact of the hit sent his head spinning for a few seconds. . “Whoa. I landed a hit,” Tessla said. He almost couldn't believe it himself. “The last one you will ever get,” Zakir said. He turned his head back to face Tessla. A small cut above his eye was bleeding. The crimson substance stained the white of his coat, and turned the black to an even darker, vile color. “Oops,” Tessla said. A hoofblade from Zakir whizzed by Tessla's face as he said it. He was violently and viciously stabbing and slashing at Tessla. Somewhere along the line of attack the Zakir had picked up the same small blade he had before. He used it to get in a small surprising cut at Tessla's face. The blade stopped only a few inches away from Tessla's eyes. “Whoa,” Tessla said. “That was a close one.” “Yeah,” Another Tessla said. This one had his hands around Zakir's leg. “Don't even want to imagine what would have happened if I hadn't caught it.” A third Tessla had only a single hand on Zakir. “Would've been one hell of a haircut.” “Okay, now that was bad,” Said the second Tessla. “Even for you.” “Hey. I am you,” Said Third Tessla. “Technically, you are both me,” Said the original Tessla. He was still looking at that blade that was much to close for comfort, but he was a bit less nervous now. He had good company at least. “Enough games,” Zakir angrily yelled. He deftly twisted his body underneath the grip of the Tessla trio. Using the skills he had learned in his training, he tore himself free of their hands. This human may have had the numbers, but he held the experience. He had the many years of battle behind him. HE carried with him the skills that he had honed over a hundred battlefields. He had seen the world stained red before, and this day was to be no different. “I think we pissed him off,” Said the second Tessla. Zakir was on him almost before the sentence was away from his lips. He had a fury in his eyes as he slashed away at Tessla. He sliced the air in front of Tessla's eyes just before sending his hoofblade right towards his belly. It was all Tessla could do to evade the oncoming attacks. Zakir was as fast as he was big. And more intelligent than both put together. He was a dangerous opponent. Each move of his hooves, his head, his body. It was expertly done. Each step he took flowed into the next attack, and each attack let him closer and closer to his prey. “He needs help,” Third Tessla stated the obvious. “I need help,” Tessla said. He ran forward at the attacking Zebra. Zakir sensed his coming presence. He assaulted the second Tessla with a very quick and deadly attacks. Three wide slices going for the abdomen. Tessla leaped back and Zakir jumped left. He used the ice covered field to his advantage, sliding back and around the original Tessla that was charging him. He drove the tips of his hoofblade into the ice to steer himself closer. Tessla could barely react as Zakir came in with a powerful kick aimed at his chest. “Ouch,” Tessla said with a groan after he slid to a stop along the ice. “That hurt. Hey, me three. Call in reinforcements. We need some more.” “On it,” Third Tessla shouted back. He turned to make a call, but Zakir was focused on him now. Zakir threw out his hooves. A wave of needles flew out at Third Tessla. He hit a button on the device in his hands. A great tremor shook the fields before an even greater green object erupted forth from beneath the ice. The needles bounced harmlessly off the green object and landed on the ice. Some stuck out of the ice after piercing into it and some rolled farther away. Zakir held in a growl of contempt as he looked up at this green object. This large, round, green, pipe. “It's a me, Tessla!” A head shot up from the top of the pipe. This onehad a red hat on and ridiculous looking mustache. “That was more Brooklyn than Italian,” Third Tessla said up to Mario Tessla. “Shuddup,” Mario Tessla replied. “And don't worry about backup. I brought a friend with me.” Mario Tessla jumped down from the pipe and whistled up to the opening. Zakir didn't like to waste time so he went back to attacking. He knew he had to get rid of a few of these Tessla's or he would be in trouble. Zakir threw another wave of needles out at the Tessla's. It was more like a shower. Needles rained down from skies as Zakir moved in closer. He needed to get closer to his prey, he was closing in for the kill. === “Are you sure you want to do this?” “Yes, I am.” “Then let's do this.” Cadence stared at Chrysalis for a another second. What had happened to her? This was the Queen of the Changelings. At one time she had sworn to destroy her and all her hive. Now she stood less than two feet apart from the mare. They were in the same room. She was staring into her eyes, and yet she could find no wrong. All she could sense was something new, something. . . “We have to leave,” Came a voice from the hall. “Please, everypony, stay calm and remain in orderly fashion while we exit the building.” The voice was faint but it was definitely clear. Something was happening. Both Chrysalis and Cadence turned their attentions to the door of Ben's room. The voice had come from beyond the wood and the glass. It came from the other side of that simple barrier. It had gone now, but why was it their to begin with? The answers came when a nurse opened the door. “Oh my, I didn't realize there was anyone in here still,” She said a bit shyly. “What is going on out there?” The nurse nodded her head to reply, but her words failed her in that second. She let out only a mumbled squeak as the lights came to focus on the form of Chrysalis. She was absorbed in the image of the Changeling Queen before her. A commanding presence. Chrysalis loomed over her and her eyes cast an unintended, yet intimidating glare down at the nurse. “Please, tell us what is happening,” Cadence said. “It's the zebras,” Said the nurse in a hushed tone. “They have come to Ponyville in force. Nopony knows why. We all have to leave, now, for our own safety.” “Leave if you wish, but we have work to do,” Chrysalis said as she turned her attentions back to Ben. “You can't honestly think we can still do this?” Cadence asked, “Not now, with all this going on.” “I expect you to honor your agreement, Princess,” Chrysalis hissed. “Or I shall never reveal where any of my Changelings are in your kingdom. You will be left to wonder, constantly suspicious of each and every one of your subjects. You will never again be able to trust what you see with those eyes of yours.” Cadence stared intently at the Changeling Queen for a moment. She closed the distance between them with a just a few paces. She stood a near eye level with her. “Do not threaten me, bug queen,” She whispered. “I have many projects going in the Crystal Empire. I can promise you that at least four of them involve eradicating your kind from Equestria.” “Help me save Ben, an maybe we can avoid all of this. . .” Chrysalis said just above a whisper's tone. “. . . unpleasantness.” “I always keep my word.” === Zakir leaped back from an attack. The Mario Tessla hurled a bouncing ball of fire that he narrowly avoided. He quickly glanced over the icy field where he was fighting. His opponent had turned from one to many. This human was unlike anything he had ever faced before. The original stood before him. On either side of him stood his first two copies. Those things had numbers brightly colored onto their shirts. A blue one and two on the red shirts they wore. The Mario Tessla stood to his right with another ball of fire in his hand. “What are you waiting for? Just hit him already,” Called out the latest of the copies. This one had bright, blazing yellow hair that was longer than any of the others as well as strange devices on his wrists. “Too late, I got him.” This Tessla lunged at Zakir with unnatural speed. He was barely able to dodge to the side. He was glad he did though, as the spot where he stood just seconds ago exploded into a fine icy mist. From the mist came another furious lunge. This one missed Zakir by mere inches as he moved his head to one side just in time. From this angle he watched as the device on this Yellow Tessla's wrist spat out an explosive blast of fire and metal. The shock made him stumble as he tried and failed to shake the ringing from his ears and head. Yellow Tessla took this opportunity to strike one last time, the explosive blast sending Zakir farther away and driving him into the ice. “What are you,” He stammered the words out as he struggled to get back on all four hooves again. “Just what the hell are you supposed to be?” The Yellow Tessla looked around from side to side. “Are you talking to me specifically, or me in general?” “If it's me in general then the answer is simple,” Said the Second Tessla. “Yes, take a spin at this slot machine,” Third Tessla said as he very whimsically revealed a slot machine from under a large red cloth cover. “You get one free spin. Let's see what you get!” Third Tessla reaches his hand up and yanks down on the handle of the machine. Zakir wasn't interested in seeing this. He did not care about this machine or what it was doing. He instead brought a hoof up to his neck line and unclasped his cloak from his shoulders. The garments fell into a slump on the slick ground and Zakir stood there in his full Zebrican pride. A belt across his body had several small bags attached to it. Zakir tore off three of these bags and hurled them into the middle of the mass of Tessla copies. He waited for the right time, the very opportune moment. At that time he threw out several of his needles. The needles ruptured the bags and a fine dust like powder shimmered as it covered them all. “Even your strange magic is susceptible to this powder,” Zakir said as he threw more needles. The original Tessla stood there and glared at Zakir. The needles sank into his many copies. One by one, they all became akin to pin cushions. Second and Third Tessla were the first two to go, each of them taking a small cluster of needles to the chest. Mario Tessla took a line of needles up his arm and finally one sank deep into his neck. The Yellow Tessla took more than any other as a small hail of needles rained down over his body. Tessla watched as his copies dropped on at a time. He glared at Zakir, and he was smiling. === “Are you ready?” “Begin.” Ben's body surged with pain. His body lurched upwards in response as he let out an anguised wail. His painful cries echoed down the halls of the now empty hospital. The nurse decided to stay with the two in Ben's room. Chrysalis still frightened her, but what they were doing was just too fascinating. It captivated her as she watched the two of them work. Chrysalis started off this strange procedure. With a deep breath she put her magic to the forefront of her being. Her twisted horn glowed with a green magic that Cadence was all too familiar with. This frightened the nurse a little, but she couldn't take her eyes away. With another deep breath she poured forth her magic into the area of Ben's lost arm. He screamed in pain as the very flesh of his body began to change forever. === “What? Why?” Zakir screamed, “Why are you smiling?!” Tessla grinned like the madman he was, “You really don't get it, bitch,” He said with a chuckle, “My power is chaos, a little gift from Discord himself, the Lord of Chaos. I'd like to welcome you to my little sandbox of fun.” “Magic or no, chaos or not, I will spill your human blood.” Zakir sneered at him, his naked anger rolling from his striped body. “You know, you talk to much,” Tessla said. Quickly, before another breath passed between them Tessla threw his hands up above his head. HE slammed his hands together in a mighty clap that shook the heavens. Literally. Zakir eyes glanced upward to see the stormy skies intensify even more. His sweaty coat nearly frosted over as the chilled breeze that once blew across the plains grew into a piercing, biting wind that tore its way across the land. Zakir stood his ground against the cold. “If this is all yo-” “Oh, I'm not done yet!” Through a blizzard of ice and snow Tessla's voice rang out, but it was coming from everywhere. Every place Zakir turned there was nothing but the cold, white nothingness that was the battlefield. The icy winds blew across his coat like a blanket of nails. He could barely focus on anything more than keeping his own body warm, and yet he was able to find more in the white than just the cold. Zakir's ears perked up as he shuddered in the cold of the snowstorm. He closed his eyes and honed in on the small noises all around him. This whistling of the winds as they burned his cheeks red surrounded him. But there were other sounds other than that, hidden beneath the ambient noise. Al he had to was focus for a second. Zakir forced himself to contain his anger and annoyance with this human. He forced himself to be calm and to listen to the world. He turned just in time, thrusting out with a hoofblade. HE felt it. HE felt the impact, the sharp edges of his blade sinking into the body of another. Slowly, Zakir opened his eyes. Among the white whirling around him, he was finally seeing red. Tessla stood right before him, blood poured forth from a wound in his side. Zakir smiled and slowly pulled out the hoofblade. “No more light in you, human,” He said, “No more tricks and illusions. You have lost.” “Hehe,” Tessla snickered. “I just wanted to get closer to you.” Tessla looked up at Zakir with a strange look about his eyes. No more were they filled with the playful, joking side of him that he normally portrayed. No more were his eyes two different colors, which normally gave way to his powers being of Discord. No, not this time. This time Tessla's eyes were filled with a rage all his own. “What?!” Tessla sprang up despite the pain throbbing in his side. He pushed Zakir back with all the force of a freight train. Zakir skid across the ice, rolling and cursing before slowing to a complete stop a few dozen feet away. By the time Zakir lifted his head off the snow the storm was clearing. Tessla called the snow and the ice back into the sky. The storm winds and the clouds above all swirled as the eye of the great storm passed overhead. “You will pay for what you did to Zecora,” Tessla stated flatly. “She was my friend, and you killed her.” Zakir mouth opened but sound was absent from him. Everything around him had died down. The harsh, chilled winds that pierced his coat were now barely even gentle breezes. The white snow and crystal ice that once clouded his vision had all but dispersed, giving him a clarity once again. He glanced around. He saw the body of Zecora off to the side as if she was untouched by all the things that Tessla had done. He saw Ponyville behind her. Ponies ran about, scurrying to get out of town as he saw the light of Austin's power pulsing over the edges of the buildings. Zakir looked up into the sky. The eye of the storm was overhead. He stared up into it. Everything else around here had died down. Was he next? “You. Will. Die!!” Tessla roared. A sudden flash of light arced across the sky. A torrent of lightning flooded the clouds above before streaming down. An immense and powerful pillar of raw electrical fury came down upon Tessla. Zakir threw himself to the other side as to avoid being blinded by the flash of light. When he looked back he could barely believe what he saw. Tessla stood tall and strong from the midst of the blast. His eyes glowed with the power of lightning. It seemed to be at his beck and call. On a whim he held out a hand and the lightning that surrounded his being split behind him. Tessla walked forward with the lightning tailing behind him like the many tails of wild beast, and he his eyes on only Zakir. “I will rip you apart,” He stated as fact. Zakir was inclined to agree with him. He was nothing like the other human, Austin. Tessla took a step and was there on Zakir in an instant, crossing the distance between them in less time than it takes to blink. Zakir was determined to face his death with his head held high. His chest out and his pride intact. But it was a great challenge as the horror before him raised a hand to the skies as it seemed even the heavens itself looked to strike him down. “Tessla. . .” Zakir's eyes stared on in shock as Tessla's hand hovered just an inch or so from his face. He had stopped, but why? What had happened? “. . . stop this. . .” “What?” Tessla said. “What is that?” “Tessla, don't. . .” Tessla moved his hand away from Zakir's face. He immediately looked over towards Ponyville. He saw it then. The subtle movements that let him know she wasn't dead. “Zecora?!” Tessla said with a breath. He started walking over to her. “Zecora,” He said again but louder this time. His walk quickened to a faster pace. “Tessla,” She said weakly. “I'm coming Zecora,” Tessla said as he broke into a full sprint over to where she lay in the grass. He knelt down by her side. She looked up at him with her eyes watering from tears. Tessla couldn't believe it, but she was alive. He could not help but smile as he lifted her up into his arms. He wanted to keep her there forever, safe and away from her crazy brother. Only her cries of pain persuaded Tessla to lay her down again. Carefully he removed the needles from her chest. Thankfully, none of them were barbed or hooked or anything else that could have been nasty. Zecora gasped and groaned as the last needle was removed. “Is he alive? How is my brother,” She asked looking into the eyes of Tessla. “Or has his he met his end by the hands of another?” “He's alive,” Tessla said quietly. “But I don't know why.”