Chrysalis' Story Chapter 12x: A Bastion in Ponyville
“I’ll get it.” Bastion heard a young male voice say somewhere within the library. With a click the door opened revealing a small purple dragon. “Um, Twilight, I think it’s for you.” Spike said looking wide eyed at Bastion and the three guards behind him.
“Oh that must be the royal guards, you can come in sirs I was just- Armored Bastion!” Twilight exclaimed as Bastion and the guards entered.
Inside the library, all heads turned to the newcomers. A large blast of noise and confetti knocked Bastion’s helmet off and caused the other guards to stand at the ready for the attack. The tactician’s vision was then blocked as a blur of pink glomped his face.
“HiMr.Mark’steacher!CanIcallyouBassy?YoucanjustcallmePinkie!Howareyou?Whydidn’tyousayyouwerecoming?Whattooktheauthorsolongtoaddmebackin?Ifeltsooutoftheloop!DidIsurpriseyouwithmypartycannon?DidI?Huh?DidI?” the pink party pony said with excitement and her usual hyperactive cheeriness as she continued to cling to Bastion’s neck.
“Hello Ms.Pie. I see your behavior is as I’ve heard.” Bastion said in a muffled but calm voice.
“PINKIE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OFF OF HIM!!” Twilight shouted in a panicked tone as she wrapped Pinkie in a purple aura and tried desperately to pry her off of the burgundy pony.
Pinkie seemed to have other plans though, as she held firmly onto Bastion’s head dragging him along. “Twilight! I’m saying hi!”
“You can say hi like a normal pony now please, LET GO!” The purple unicorn exclaimed as she continued her attempts at pulling Pinkie off of the stallion, now, physically grabbing her as well as magically.
“Okie dokie lokey.” Pinkie said letting go and sending her and Twilight rolling across the floor. “Woooo, that made my head all wobbly.” She laughed with a happy smile.
Picking herself back up and dusting herself off, Twilight shuffled back up to Bastion, “I’m so sorry. Please don’t be angry with her, she just gets excited when there’s new ponies in town.”
Bastion took the opportunity to recompose himself and survey the room as he slicked his mane back into it’s usual style. In the middle of the room were the other element bearers, looking between him and Pinkie with mixed expressions of confusion and amusement. Except for a yellow pegasus who was currently hiding behind the cyan one. There was no sign of Mark.
“It’s fine Ms. Sparkle, I’ve had worse surprises before and this one was made with good intentions.” He said looking up at the banner that had ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ written on it as well as his name and the names of the guards behind him.
How Pinkie knew before they arrived was a mystery.
“In fact, it is pleasant to finally meet you all while I’m off-duty.” He finished with a bow of his head.
“Oh my! What a gentlecolt.” Rarity chimed, fluttering her eyelashes and fanning herself with her hoof.
Applejack tilted her hat, “Howdy. Most guards ah’ve met just stand there looking serious all the time like the fellas behind yah.”
“Wait, your off-duty? Then why are you fully equipped with your armor and weapon?” Twilight asked.
“I’m officially off-duty since I’m not on any royal, or military business yet, these guards only accompanied me from Canterlot to secure and protect Ponyville, and I like to be prepared, hence the armor.” Bastion replied in a matter of fact tone.
Rainbow scratched her head as she looked between him and the other guards. Other than the golden armor, he looked like a normal, well-built, middle-aged stallion. Nothing special about this guard at all. “Um, Twi, what's this guy's story? You don’t have another brother we've never heard about, do you?”
“Rainbow dear, don’t you remember? Armored Bastion’s the name of Mark’s teacher.” Rarity said in a loud whisper.
The cyan pegasus zoomed around Bastion, lifting his hooves and examining him as if he were a curious object from space before flying back to her spot where Fluttershy once again hid behind her. “Really? I thought he’d look cooler than that.”
Bastion couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “I assume Mark’s talked about me then.”
“Yah, he told us you were the best of the best.” Rainbow said with a shrug of her shoulders before taking a relaxed position.
“Oh, oh, he also said you were a controlling, neat-freak who can’t cook to the point it makes even the trash die.” Pinkie added cheerfully causing the room to go silent except for two of the usually stoic guards behind Bastion trying to contain their laughter.
Twilight glared at her friend hoping she’d understand to stop talking. Pinkie, seeing Twilight’s look, nodded in understanding and gave her a salute before turning back to Bastion. “I think Twilight wants to be a guard too. Oh, did you know that her brother Shining Armor’s the Captain? That means that he’s your boss doesn’t it? You should totally put her in the guard. Oh, since she’s going, can I join too?”
Twilight facehoofed, Pinkie didn’t understand, but at least the conversation had taken a change in direction. “Of course he knows Shining, Pinkie. Bastion was the one who recommended him as captain, refusing the position himself.”
“He was the best out of the potential candidates I found. Simple as that.” The burgundy pony stated, a hint of pride in his voice.
Rainbow did a hoof-pump, “So add another check on your brother’s cool meter for beating the competition. That’s awesome.”
Bastion heard one of the guards shift their hooves from standing and doing nothing. Ironically, that’s what they were going to do, just not here.“Ms.Sparkle I believe these guards need to know where the changelings are being held.” Bastion said, in an authoritative tone.
“Their not g-gonna hurt them are they?” Fluttershy asked nervously peaking out from behind Rainbow Dash.
Bastion smiled almost unnoticeably, at the pegasus' kindness. “No, they’re only guarding them. I’m planning on asking them a few simple questions and then we’ll be moving them to Canterlot for further questioning.”
Relief washed over Fluttershy features, “Oh. Ok. Um, also it's nice to see you again.”
The royal tactician hid his surprise. It had been hard but he definitely heard her and began filing through his memory for how she knew him. Fluttershy's attention was currently directed at one of the pony's behind him and she suddenly ducked again, hiding behind Rainbow. That jogged his memory of his time in Cloudsdale when she did the same thing as a filly except it was behind her father.
Twilight stepped forward, getting Bastion’s attention, “Applejack tied the changelings up and we left at their barn.” She paused for a moment, turning a little green, “The ones that died we wrapped and buried on a hill.”
With a subtle hoofsign he signaled the guards behind him who saluted and filed out of the tree to do what they came here for. “I’m sorry that you all had to go through that. If there were guards posted in town, none of you would have needed to risk yourselves.” Bastion said, taking special note now of some of the band-aids on Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
“It’s fine partner. It just shook us up is all, ah mean we ain’t like you military types who are used tah fighting all the time after all.” Applejack said, rubbing her forelegs together. If she could help it, she’d rather not think about having to kill something. Even if it was in self-defense.
Rainbow shifted uncomfortably, “Well... I risk myself all the time with my tricks and stunts and those bozos were trying to hurt my friends. I’m not gonna stand for that so they got what was coming to them.”
Bastion noticed both pony's unease and sighed inwardly. Despite their adventures, these girls were civilians, of course they wouldn't be used to having to kill. But despite that, they are quickly trying to move on. “I’m glad Mark has friends like you. I know he can come off as a childish lout sometimes, but I’m truly happy that he’s making friends again. I'm glad that sending Mark to Ponyville had done some good.” He said sincerely.
Applejack chuckled before responding, “Well, ah can’t say there weren’t a few bumps in the road, but he’s an alright guy and ah’m not surprised about some of those uptight Canterlot folk not wanting to do anything with him. Their all about judging appearances and all that hoopla.”
Rarity huffed remembering her friends, Fancy Pants and Fleur. “Well not ALL Canterlot ponies are like that Applejack.”
Bastion frowned. It’s true not all Canterlot ponies were uptight, however, the majority tended to stay in cliques. It didn’t help that they were also afraid of Blueblood getting angry at them if they became Mark’s friend. “There is that, but he’d have likely stayed cooped in the castle playing pranks on ponies if I hadn’t sent him here to Ponyville.”
“Say Twi, maybe you would have ended up like him.” Rainbow teased poking the unicorn in the side.
“That’s unlikely.” Bastion dismissed. “He was always mischievous but that is so he could keep his mind busy when he wasn’t studying and training.”
Twilight swatted Rainbow’s hoof away, “He should have done something more constructive, like read a book or go for a walk in the gardens. In fact he seems to like to go out and hang out with all of us, so other than him oversleeping, I have a hard time seeing him staying somewhere for a long period of time.”
“It was also one of his ways of coping.” Bastion said automatically.
Spike tilted his head in confusion. He was listening to the conversation but decided not to interject since he didn’t have anything to say, until now. “Coping? From what?”
Bastion cleared his throat. He didn’t want to talk about something so personal to Mark unless his student was there. “It’s not my place to say and it’s not something he likes discussing.”
Fluttershy peaked around Rainbow Dash, “Was it...Was it really bad?” She asked curious and scared of what the answer would be.
“Yes. I can tell you more later if you like, but I first want to see him.” Bastion said looking around one more time to make sure that Mark wasn’t hiding to pull of one of his pranks. “I’m not surprised that he’s not here if he’s still retained his old sleeping habits. I’ll go and get him.”
“Maybe I should go with you. I want to check on the pegasus staying with him.” Twilight winced as she realized that Bastion didn’t know yet. “Also, he accidentally walked through some poison joke a couple of days ago so his current appearance might be...... a shock.”
Bastion looked to Twilight questionably, he was aware of poison joke's affect on appearance sometimes but this was the first he heard of a pegasus staying with him. When did Mark get a roommate?
Bastion pushed the thought aside. Mark was a relatively good judge of character, if he trusted somepony to stay with him then they likely earned his trust one way or another. “He’s put me through a lot of things. I’m sure I can handle whatever he’s gotten himself into this time as well. As for the poison joke, I learned a recipe a long time ago to fix things involving that plant. Given, I can get the ingredients in town.” He said, as he began running through a mental list of the necessary ingredients.
“Oh wait! Before you do that!” Rarity said, her horn glowing as she opened her saddlebag and pulled out something green. “Could you please give this to Mark for me? I want to see what he looks like wearing it.”
The stallion creased his eyebrows in confusion as he looked at what Rarity pulled out. “I’m sorry Ms.Rarity, but can you explain why my student needs to wear a tight fitting dress?”
===An Awkward Walk Later===
“I’ve never seen you laugh like that.” Twilight said, breaking the long silence as she and Bastion arrived in front of the door to Mark’s apartment.
The stallion blushed again. After learning about his student’s ‘condition’ he had laughed uncontrollably for a good five minutes.
Though it felt good to laugh, it was embarrassing and unprofessional. Especially when Pinkie joined in.
Twilight giggled when she saw the older stallion's blush, “I laughed too the first time I saw Mark after the poison joke. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” she said as she started to knock on the door. Bastion however, just turned the unlocked doorknob and pushed the door open, entering unannounced.
Inside the apartment was almost as surprising as finding out his student had become gender-swapped. Everything seemed to be cleaned and organized except for a couple of things lying around and some dirty dishes in the sink. Mark however, was still nowhere in sight.
Bastion’s eye twitched slightly as he looked through all the rooms, “I knew it and this proves it.”
“What does what prove?” Twilight asked, confused.
“It proves that he leaves his room in Canterlot a disorganized mess just to annoy me.” Bastion said looking around again. Making Mark wear that dress wasn’t sounding like such a bad idea. “Do you know where Mark’s roommate is? He might know where Mark ran off to.”
“Crystal actually stayed close to Mark according to AJ. That is until the changeling attack anyways.”
Bastion tensed up before turning to Twilight, “Crystal? Was it just Crystal or was her name longer?” He asked, steeling himself for the answer.
Twilight looked to Bastion nervous at how his behavior changed when he heard that name. Just like Mark. “Mark asked something similar before. Her name is Crystal Orchid but why is it a big deal for both of you?”
Bastion cursed as he let out an exasperated sigh, “She was Mark’s first love and heartbreak. She suddenly left when Mark needed somepony to rely on. I didn’t know if he would ever be the same after both those events happened......
===Five years ago===
Bastion knocked on the door receiving no answer. He knocked again, still no answer.
“Marked, I know you’re in there. Please answer.” He waited for a reply, a noise, a yell, anything. He received none. “I’m coming in.” Bastion said turning the doorknob and slowly opening the door.
He looked into the dark room. It would be in complete darkness had the moonlight not been sinking through the windows. Sitting on the floor of the balcony was the silhouette of a small colt looking up at the night time sky.
Marked made no attempt to acknowledge Bastion as he walked up and wrapped a blanket around the colt.
“Marked....please talk.” Bastion pleaded. He still received no answer. Cursing to himself, Bastion ran a hoof through his mane. He was never any good with children.
The stallion let out a sigh. It had been two weeks since the incident. At first Marked had been going through tearful breakdowns, but now it was as if all the life was taken from the once lively youngster. The colt was barely eating and judging from the heavy bags under his eyes, barely sleeping, if at all. When asked to speak, he would only answer with yes and no or he wouldn’t even make a sound.
Bastion berated himself. Leaving the colt alone to cope had been a mistake. Especially after recently finding out that Marked’s best friend had left, leaving nopony that Bastion knew of for him to rely on anymore.
Bastion sat next to Marked and began looking up to the stars as well. They were like every other night, the stars glistening and the moon out, casting an eerie light on anything underneath it while the mare on the moon watched.
“I may not act like it anymore, but I understand what you’re going through.” Bastion said softly still gazing at the nighttime sky. “Being left alone after losing the ones you love for whatever reason.” Bastion paused for a moment to think about his next words, “Marked...I know how hard this is for you. How you need somepony there for you right now...If you want, you can quit training now and I’ll escort you back to Manehatten. I’ll find a good and loving foster family to take care of you. No one should ever be alone.” Bastion finished with a quote he heard one of his recruits say before.
Bastion let out a sigh and turned to the young pony. To his surprise, Marked was looking directly back at him tears going down his face but with a glimmer of the colt that used to be there. "D-Don't leave me too. Please...You're the only other pony that believed in me..."
The tactician didn't know how to respond. The only answers he could think of would be the truth. "I'm not suited to take care of you Marked. I've done so many things I'm not proud of, you'll end up just like me if I'm the one taking care of you."
"YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE A NICE PONY!" Mark shouted before gritting his teeth. "You...You hate me for what happened. Don't you? That's why you want to get rid of me!"
"No. Of course I don't." Bastion responded, horrified that it was the conclusion Marked came to.
“YOU SHOULD! It-it’s all my fault...” Marked said, lowering to a whisper, his voice cracking and weak. “If I hadn’t been there those ponies wouldn’t have died...Gambit wouldn’t have-”
Marked's eyes widened and he began hyperventilating as the events in the Everfree started to replay in his head again.
Bastion quickly wrapped the colt in a warm hug to calm him down.“I heard what happened from the other two guards Marked. The ones that made it out too. They said that if you hadn’t been there, everypony would have died. You only barely made it out with your life and-” Bastion stopped himself as he felt the colt starting to shake again. Bastion tightened the hug, “Marked, my point is that it’s not your fault. I’m here for you.”
Marked’s reply was shaky as the colt struggled in a futile attempt against his tears, “Y-you promise? Promise you won’t leave me alone. Promise you won’t die too. Please. Please. Please. I don’t want to be alone anymore...”
Bastion had a strict policy for himself. He’d never make a promise he couldn’t keep, but at the same time he knew that nopony else would be able to help this colt without understanding what he’s been through. It was time to make a choice here and now.
“Marked Defiance. I promise you, I won’t leave you on your own.” Bastion said with a conviction he hadn't felt since entering the royal guard.
“Mark...it’s just...Mark.” the colt mumble lightly, relaxing and nuzzling into the older pony. Looking down, he found that Mark had managed to finally fall asleep in his hold. A small but warm smile on his tired and tear-stained face.
“Good night Mark.” Bastion whispered before looking towards the night sky again reminded of who he lost a long time ago.
'Is this what you meant that day Wishes?'
==Present Day==
“That’s awful! I had no idea.” Twilight said, shocked at the revelation about Crystal’s past with Mark. “What did you mean by ‘both’ though? If Crystal leaving was just one thing, then what was the other?”
Bastion looked Twilight in the eye, “You remember what I said earlier, correct?”
“That it’s not your place to say...” Twilight replied, disheartened.
“I can tell you a few things but it isn’t much to go on.” Bastion sighed after seeing her expression.
Twilight’s ears perked up in response as she listened intently. “The other incident happened before Crystal left, Mark wanted to impress one of the recruits so he tagged along on a field investigation without anypony finding out until he was there. During the investigation, something happened that left only three survivors. One of them being Mark.”
Twilight looked horrified, “Wh-What were they investigating? Why would he go so far to impress a recruit? Were they one of his friends too?”
“No. The recruit’s name was Penned Gambit.” Bastion said with a solemn expression. “Though not by blood, he was Mark’s older brother.”
A cold shiver went down Twilight’s spine when she heard that. Her thoughts then went to her BBBFF. Where would she be without Shining? If Mark and Gambit were as close as it sounded...she couldn't even imagine what she must have gone through.
She opened her mouth to ask another question but Bastion spoke first. “Right now, I’m afraid of what Crystal being back in the picture might do to him. He wasn’t acting...unlike himself, was he?”
Twilight shook her head, “He was acting normally as far as I could tell.”
“What about Crystal? Do you know why she’s back? Or if she knew that Mark was here in Ponyville?” He asked.
“I don’t know. A friend named Zecora found her wounded in the Everfree.” Twilight said apologetically. “She had trouble in her home country, so she asked Fluttershy and I to take Crystal to Ponyville General. Crystal only got out of there recently.”
Bastion’s eyebrows creased, “She was hurt? What happened?”
“I haven’t asked her yet. Mark might know since she was staying with him.” Twilight said as Bastion began pacing the room in thought.
‘Mark should know better than getting involved with her. He couldn’t still be harboring feelings for Crystal, could he? And the circumstances of her arrival before a changeling attack... It’s too close and strange to be a coincidence. Whatever was going on with the changelings, Crystal’s involved somehow.’
Bastion stopped and rubbed his temple. There were too many things going on at once than he’d like along with too many unanswered questions. Maybe he could get answers out of the captured changelings while he waited for Mark to show up somewhere.
“Ms.Sparkle, you said the changelings were being held in the Apple family’s barn, correct?” He asked, turning back to Twilight.
“Yes. But aren’t we going to go and find Mark?” Twilight asked in confusion.
“There’s some things I want to confirm and we’ll likely see Mark in town if he’s out and causing trouble. I wouldn’t be surprised if he caused a commotion or did something else foolish. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he tried to interrogate the changelings himself....”
Bastion and Twilight facehoofed as they realized just how likely that last part was.“We’d better hurry before he does something stupid.”
===The Apple Barn===
“So none of you are going to talk then.” Bastion said as a statement rather than a question. Every changeling but one glared at him.
After arriving at the barn where the seven changelings were being held, hurt, hog tied, and angry, he began a minor interrogation, leaving Twilight waiting outside with the guards. No threats or anything tortuous. Just basic questions as he sat on his haunches, calmly drinking a cinnamon tea. So far, he only received hate filled glares and some of them cursing at him until they ran out of things to say. Nothing he hadn’t handled before.
“To put this simply, we’re moving you to Canterlot tomorrow. You can answer my questions here and now and I can promise you relatively comfortable cells in Canterlot. Or, you can continue your idiocy and rot in the dungeon for all that I care.” The burgundy pony said without malice, causing mixed expressions of hatred and fear among the changelings.
“We’ll rot and die either way you damn pony! At least we’ll die in service of the hive!” Merse yelled.
Bastion nodded, “Dying blindly for your duty...foolish but I can respect that in a soldier He said, taking another sip of his tea. “It still doesn’t answer why you would openly attack a defenseless country town.”
“This town is as defenseless as a fort!” Brix seethed, wincing in pain due to the injury Big Mac gave him. “Those ponies were disguised or off-duty soldiers, I’m sure of it.”
Sledge nodded in agreement, “And it’s all that yellow mare’s fault. If it wasn’t for her, commander Vrynne would still be alive and she’d be dead.”
Inwardly, Bastion was both happy and angry. Happy because he was getting somewhere now, but angry because the ‘She’ was likely referring to Mark. “She? You wouldn’t happen to be talking about my dear student would you?” He asked calmly, giving Sledge a deadly stare.
The large changeling froze when he made eye contact with the stallion.
Sledge had only received that look once before from his own king. A look that the changeling would be mercilessly killed, easily and without hesitation if he answered incorrectly. The fact he was currently tied up did nothing to ease his doubts either.
“N-N-No the other one! It’s the other mare! Not your student!” Sledge answered, eyes wide with fear.
Bastion’s relaxed, taking another sip from his tea. They were here to assassinate somepony with Mark and others just happening to get involved. It still left him without the most important detail though, who was the target.
He closed his eyes in thought, if he could figure out who the target was, it might be a clue as to what was going on with the changelings. “So who was the other mare then?” he asked, his voice still disturbingly calm.
“Don’t you dare say anything else!” Brix said with a scowl before turning his head back to the burgundy pony. “As soon as we get out of here I’ll gut you myself pony!”
If Bastion had his eyes open he would have rolled them.
“And then your dear student, and then every pony who gets in our way until I get to her royal highness!” Brix continued.
Had Bastion been as impulsive as his student, he would have beaten the changeling into a bloody pulp then and there. On the other hoof he also had a feeling that the changeling wasn’t talking about either of his princesses. “Her royal highness?”
“Stop telling him everything.” Merse shouted.
Brix looked to his compatriot, “I’m not!”
“Yes you are.” Bastion said simply. Knowing that further antagonizing might cause a slip.
Mimzy looked back and forth between his two superiors before adding, “Um, you kinda were-”
“Shut up Mimzy!” Both changelings shouted.
Looking at the small changeling Bastion remembered one of the things that bugged him about this particular group of changelings. “That brings up another question I’ve had for awhile. Why did you bring a civilian? I noticed that ‘Mimzy’s’ behavior is that of somepony who’s never fought a day in his life, and the rest of you seem to have at least a little bit of training. And though I’m not an expert on changelings, he seems too young as well.”
Mimzy looked pitifully at the stallion, “I-I was-”
“ I said shut-” Merse didn’t finish as a strong kick in the head knocked him unconscious.
Bastion turned back to the small changeling. “Please continue.”
“I-I was a drone a-and it was almost time for my rite. But then King Morphos wanted soldiers, so he ordered a whole bunch of us to fight or else. T-then we were ordered to capture a mare dead or alive." Mimzy whimpered.
Bastion processed this new information. ‘If this new ‘king’ was currently leading them, then what about the one who led the attack at the royal wedding? His mate? No. Both of them would have been involved then. It was likely a violent change in leadership if they’re now after their former queen. Which meant there was now another and dangerous changeling wandering the town unless she ran away.’ Bastion thought to himself.
“Great. Now I have another problem to deal with.” The burgundy pony mumbled in an annoyed tone before taking another sip of tea. Not only was his work beginning to pile up again because of the changelings, but there was still no sign of Mark.
‘Assuming the queen was still in town then she'd likely take a disguise within an unlucky couple or a new pony in town. Luckily the only pony that was officially reported new in town was ‘Deviance’, but that’s just Mark. The only other pony new is Crystal but she-’ Bastion froze and his breath caught as the pieces fell into place.
He needed to find Mark. Now.
_________________________________________________________________________________
“Dammit all to hell! That bastard is just as bad as that yellow bitch!” Brix screamed as he struggled against his bindings to get the hot tea off his face.
After mumbling to himself and getting lost in thought, the stallion from earlier had a look of realization before he sprinted out of the barn, tossing his tea into the air and said tea landing conveniently on Brix’ face.
“D-do you think he knows everything? It looked like he had everything figured out.” said one of the changelings.
“Maybe. When we get out of here we’ll kill him just in case. Then we’ll return to the hive and blame commander Vrynne for incompetence so we’re not killed.”
Sledge looked to his ally, “The commander was good but that mare was smarter. ”
“I’ll deal with her personally. Ugh, I HATE cinnamon.” Brix said, as he tried rubbing his face long the ground to help dry the tea and block out the smell. He was having an unsuccessful time however.
“Let me help.” Mimzy said as he slipped a hoof out of the rope and started rubbing Brix’ face.
Unfortunately it did nothing but piss the other changeling off further smearing the tea and getting a little up the changelings nose. “Mimzy stop your fucking bullshit and- WHEN THE HELL DID YOU GET OUT OF YOUR ROPE!!!”
Merse glared at Brix, “Ssshhhh! Do you want the guards outside to hear you? Mimzy how did you get out of the rope?”
“When that orange mare, Applestack, tied me up she accidentally forgot to tie the last knot. I tried to fix the mistake with my fangs, but then all it did was make it loose enough to get my hooves out.”
Brix’ eye twitched increasingly often. “And you didn’t do this earlier because?!”
Mimzy blushed slightly in embarrassment, “I-I was afraid you’d be mad at me for not being tied up like you guys since it was unfair.”
Every changeling in the barn groaned. One of them going so far as to slam their head against the ground.
“I will not kill the idiot. I will not kill the idiot. I will not kill the idiot.” Brix chanted quietly to himself.
“What did you say?” Mimzy asked
“Get us the hell out of these ropes!”
===Thirty Minutes Later===
“Thank you ma'am.” Bastion said as the panic stricken pony shakily set the tea down before scrambling away to hide.
“DON’T IGNORE US!” commanded, Merse pointing the stolen steel lance at Bastion.
After scouring the town for Mark and more specifically Crystal but finding no sign of either, Bastion was planning a more thorough and more physical interrogation as to the whereabouts and origin of Crystal Orchid.
What he found instead when he returned to the barn, was the guards that accompanied him dead and their weapons gone. They were taken by surprise with only the small changeling named Mimzy remaining, bound and gagged by his own allies. He sent Twilight to gather her friends and stay safe while he took care of matters.
Then it was all a matter of waiting since since they'd be after him. He knew too much and he was their closest link to Mark and thus Crystal. It only took ten minutes of sitting at a cafe for them to find him.
“I’m not ignoring you.” Bastion replied calmly, blowing on his tea before taking a sip, “But if I don’t drink some tea to calm my nerves, I’m afraid I won’t be able to restrain myself for the guards you murdered.”
The changelings shared a laugh at that, “There’s no way you can take us all by yourself pony. Now tell us where your student is and we’ll make your death nice and quick.”
“I was actually going to ask you a similar question since the one you're after isn’t really my student, but the pegasus. Let me reiterate, if I don’t finish my tea, you won’t live to regret it.” Bastion stated coldly, watching the ripples in his drink as he balanced the cup carefully on his hoof.
“Enough of this!” Brix growled as he lunged, sword already in motion to take the burgundy pony’s head. Instead, he received steaming hot tea and broken ceramic shards, as Bastion smashed the cup into the changelings face, hard enough to knock him aside but not out.
“I’m sorry, however I did warn you all.” Bastion said simply, unsheathing the brave sword at his side. "And despite the few broken tables, I really liked this cafe."
“Get him!” Merse and Sledge ordered as they all charged.
Stats
Page generated in 0.045 seconds
Total duration
1,215 users online
1,915,184 hits today, 2,364,530 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
a level 14 hero...Bare minimum level total is 24...something tells me his is 34.
By that, i mean he hit level 20 before he upgraded his class..
3333937
Yes. It's a fair assumption he did. And he's well armed.
3334718 Let me guess...Silver Axe, Silver Sword..?
3337076
Close, but not quite.
3362351
Why thank you.
I hope my future chapters continue to entertain and don't be afraid to give me any input to improve.
3362727 Well..... So far, there are only a few grammatical errors (nothing too bad)... But other than that.... HILARIOUS!! I'm not joking when I say how funny everything is! Between Brain, Sain, and all the bull that Mark has to put up with. It is too funny!
Also, just a quick question, will Canas be in the second adventure in Elibe?
3371863
Of course!
Why have one scholar(Twilight) when you can have two.
Plus Dark Magic kicks all kinds of ass (when it's not used against you).
Level capped Merc classed with a Brave Sword? Man, even I wouldn't try that with my team. Not unless I had a General to lure and a Swordmaster as a backup.
Changelings be screwed.
3373292
Yes. Yes they they are.
(Strategy wise: I'd do somethings similar to what you suggested, except probably weaken the hell out of him with mages and/or triangle attack, then finish with another hard hitting unit.)
3373887 Eh, I never used any of the falcoknights except for Florina. As for magic users though... Canas and Nino! :D
3373907
Well I try to balance out levels a bit (usually just enough to promote). It's challenging but also gives the opportunity for more support conversations. (Also I totally agree with your magic user choices, especially when you increase their speed)
)
3372618
!! Also, I agree.
awesome
3337350 Three questions. One. Any other weapons on him? Two. Is the sword forged? And Three. Does he have any skills?
10 EXP
10 EXP
I'm totally seeing the Pony Emblem game giving flat EXP gain for throwing random crap.