Operation Fat Man
“Buffalo?!” Alex shouted, sitting up straight within the Leviathan’s cockpit. “What the fuck do you mean they kidnapped buffalo?”
“She means they got the buffalo,” Applejack answered. “We got some on our end, too. Looks like most of the herd.”
“Looks like there’s also a decent amount of them over here,” Twilight replied. “I think they probably foalnapped the entire herd.”
“Wait, seriously?” Dash blurted, just as disbelieving.
Alex rubbed some fingers into his forehead. “Hyde, please confirm.”
“Well, the Novas are reporting that they’re bigger, hairier, not ponies, and seem to fit the definition,” said Hyde. “So yeah, I’d say they’re buffalo.”
Alex expelled a breath. “Alright fine; good to know, but we only came here for the Appleoosans. Nothing else.”
“Whoa whoa whoa, hold up,” Dash interrupted. “We can’t just leave them! They’re friends! They probably have Little Strong Heart, too!”
“Who?” Alex blurted.
“A friend, ya dummy,” Applejack retorted.
“Dash is right,” said Twilight. “We can’t just leave the buffalo herd, not when we have a chance to save them! They may not be ponies, but they still live with the Appleoosans. They’d never forgive us if we left them behind!”
“Neither would Ah,” Applejack declared.
Alex allowed his weight to drop him back in his chair, where he hung his head, lightly rubbing his shaven scalp. The Ravens’ rounds between the mountain and Ponyville had been planned out around the Appleoosans and only the Appleoosans. With the Leviathan having taken priority in the vehicle foundry since news of the changeling attack on the town broke, Rose had barely been able to produce two extra Ravens, bringing the fleet total to five. To top it off, a natural consequence of them being the largest aircraft in the corps meant longer production times.
Although five Ravens would have been more than enough to bring all the Appleoosans back in a single trip. In fact, that was the plan: a quick extraction that wouldn’t give the changelings enough time to react. If buffalo were involved too, and a whole herd of them at that…
“God fucking dammit!” Alex swore before standing up straight and returning to his controls. “Rose!”
“You sound less than pleased,” the AI replied.
“That’s because I am,” he muttered through grit teeth. “Listen, the changelings didn’t just kidnap the Appleoosans: they also snagged a local buffalo herd.”
“I take it these buffalo are sapient as well?”
“Looks like it.”
“How large is the herd?”
Alex waved his arms across the holographic control panel. “Nothing definite, but it’s looking like it could be up to a hundred individuals. Probably more.”
“And you’d like to extract them as well?”
“Doesn’t look like we have a choice.”
“This is going to complicate things. I’ll do what I can to employ a solution, but don’t expect it to be elegant.”
“If it’s stupid and it works, then it isn’t stupid.” Alex switched channels. “Alright, we’re extracting the buffalo too. We don’t have enough Ravens to extract everyone in one go, but Rose says she’s working on a solution. For the time being, just focus on getting everyone out of there.”
“We’d have done that anyway, Sugarcube,” Applejack grunted as she punctured a cocoon with a straight blow of her hoof.
“Alright, I think that’s everypony,” Twilight announced as she scanned over the crowd of ponies and buffalo. Despite the fact that some of the buffalo were doing what they could to put on a brave face, Twilight could still see the twinge of uncertainty—or perhaps fear—in everyone. The Liandri presence clearly didn’t do too much to help either, considering they were just another unknown. At the end of it all, they only really had each other for solace.
“Good,” Alex replied. “Let’s get everyone moving. The Novas will show you the way out, but I need you to help direct the others. Think you can do that?”
Twilight nodded—more to herself than anyone else. “You can count on me!” A waypoint appeared on her HUD in the middle of the hole in the wall the Novas made, with a translucent arrow pointing out. Little more direction was needed, and she trotted over to the waypoint.
“Alright, everypony!” Twilight announced as she waved a hoof high over her head. “It’s time to get you all out of here! The Liandri and I will lead you out, but I need you all to remember something important: This place is really weird. The walls open and close on their own. If you get separated, stay calm. The Liandri are expert protectors and I can guarantee they will keep you safe so long as you don’t panic. Okay? Let’s go, everypony!” Twilight lowered her voice and looked to the nearest Novas. “You guys lead the way.”
The Novas nodded and trickled out, ushering groups of buffalo and ponies with them. Twilight stayed behind, offering words of encouragement to the rescuees as they passed by her. As much as she shivered at the idea, Twilight made the decision of being the last one out so that everypony could at least see a somewhat familiar, albeit still friendly face before leaving through the hole in the wall.
In truth, part of her hoped to see someone whose name she actually knew, like sheriff Silverstar, chief Thunderhooves, Little Strong Heart, or even Braeburn, though it looked like they were all on Applejack’s side of the hive. Unfamiliar with them as she was, they all still managed to give her thanks as they passed by. As the last of the foalnapped ponies and buffalo vacated their prison, Twilight did too, staying just a little further ahead than the far rear. Despite being the one pony forced to put on and keep a brave face, she couldn’t deny that the very idea of being separated from the Novas in that moment shook her to the bone. Without her magic, she had no idea what to do if that were to happen.
Minutes passed by without so much as an incident. The hive continued to change on its own around them, though the Novas were quick to demolish the walls that dared to slow the rescue. Much to Twilight’s surprise, and regardless of all the noise the Liandri were making with impact hammers and explosive charges, not a single changeling appeared to challenge their escape. Not that she would complain about such a thing. The fewer changelings to deal with, the better. Though there does come a point where no resistance at all becomes suspicious…
“Alright, everypony, we’re almost out of here!” Twilight called out as she trotted alongside them. “Just a little bit more to go and we’ll all be—YAGH!” The unicorn yelped as her entire front leg suddenly fell through air rather than land on hard floor. Stars danced around her eyes as her chin met the floor her hoof expected, and she unconsciously thrashed her limbs in confusion.
Before she could register what was happening, the hole she found her leg stuck in grew, and she slipped head first under the floor, landing somewhere in the abyss in a crumpled heap. Impact warnings in the corner of her HUD flashed her armor’s distaste at landing on anything other than her hooves, though in her state of sudden panic, none of that inhibited her from scrambling to look up and see just what the hay exactly happened. Just like the walls, a hole had opened up in the floor directly where Twilight had been walking; a hole just large enough for Twilight to slip through.
A hole that was now already beginning to close itself.
A panicked yelp escaped her lips and she immediately began to channel adrenalin-fueled magic to teleport herself up again. Though no matter how many times she tried, her years worth of built-up instinct did nothing for her. Having witnessed what had happened, a nearby Nova leapt into the hole without hesitation, though the hole had shrunk enough that the Liandri’s broad torso barely managed to get wedged before it could fall completely through.
The blockage didn’t inhibit the hole, however, and the ductile stone continued to constrict the Nova around the waist, squeezing its titanium chassis until it was crushed entirely. Twilight screamed and scrambled out of the way as the Nova’s legs and hip fell down after her, crashing unceremoniously into the ground, bleeding sparks and fluids of various colors and viscosity through what was essentially its severed spine.
Twilight gaped at the sight, her heart pounding harder than ever. That is, until the sound of buzzing drew her attention elsewhere: to the multitude of eyes staring at her out of the darkness of the room she now found herself in.
A pit fell in her stomach.
A long silence echoed through the Leviathan’s cockpit.
Alex stared at the various images displayed for him, reviewed the data, and weighed his options. Had everything gone perfectly? No. Nothing ever goes perfectly. But between the changelings still having substantial numbers, behemoths disguised as natural outcrops, lethal subspecies, a self-modifying hive, and kidnapping the buffalo… Surely, things could have gone smoother, especially for the powerhouse that is the Liandri Corps.
And then they went and pulled this stunt.
Alex’s cheek twitched. “Applejack. What’s your status?” he asked, monotone.
“Just got everypony out,” she responded. “Ah’ll try to get them as far away from here as possible. But, uh… How’re we gonna get them all outa here?”
“Leave that to me.” He switched channels. “Rose. ETA on evac?”
“Two minutes.”
“Hyde, have a unit give me a visual.”
One of Alex’s holographic displays flashed, and his eyes swerved to look without moving his head. Although the sight before him forced the action anyway. “Rose, what the fuck am I looking at?”
“I warned you it wouldn’t be elegant,” Rose replied. “It’s what I was able to manage with the time I had. Even this is a miracle.”
Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. Rose’s “solution” to the space problem had been to assemble large cages that the Ravens could pick up and fly around. Unfortunately, those cages looked like they had been hastily welded together with scrap metal and whatever frames The Pits could mold the quickest, and in all likelihood, probably were. But if Rose had even some confidence in them…
“Alright,” Alex sighed, “they’ll have to do.” He switched channels again. “Evac’s coming in hot, AJ. It looks like shit, but trust me, it’ll have to do. We’ve got another problem to deal with.”
“We’ve got another problem?” asked Dash. “What kind of other problem could there be? We got everypony out and all the changelings just ran back into their hive. I’d say we’re good to go home.”
“We would be,” Alex grumbled, “except for the reason why the changelings retreated: Twilight’s still in there. The hive cut her off from her party and she got nabbed.”
“What?!” both ponies shouted simultaneously over the radio.
“How?” cried Dash. “Doesn’t she have that cool magic thing that’s supposed to make her super powerful?”
“Something nearby is preventing her from using magic,” Alex answered. “We don’t know what, but until we can figure it out, she’s pretty helpless right now.”
“Helpless mah flank,” said Applejack. “We’re gonna get her out, right Rainbow?”
“Like it’s even a question!” Dash cheered.
“Just focus on getting the Appleoosans and buffalo off the ground first,” Alex interrupted. “I’ll let you know what happens then. In the meantime, I’m going to try to establish contact with her.”
Alex returned to his console after muting that particular channel and began his work. Outside the Leviathan, the communications tower began to move of its own accord, repositioning signal dishes such that more of them were aimed at the hive itself. A quick few minutes of coding later, and he opened a separate channel.
“Twilight, it’s Alex. Can you hear me?”
The response wasn’t silence, but near silent, incomprehensible garbage.
“Fuck…” Alex mumbled to himself as his hands returned to his controls. “Okay, let’s try… repositioning transmitters one and three… to configurations, uh… alpha and delta… Divert more power through three, and… open comms. Twilight, it’s Alex. Can you hear me now?”
“Yes…” Her voice was distorted and quiet, as if she were whispering or mumbling, but it came through clearly enough to be understood.
At least this is working… “Good. Listen, we’re going to get you out one way or another, but right now I need information. Is there anything you can tell me? Like what’s in the room with you or how many changelings are there or have you seen Chrysalis?”
“A lot, a lot, and yes…” Twilight whispered back.
“Are you whispering because you’re afraid they’ll overhear you?”
“Evie told me they can’t hear me… but I know they could still see my lips move…”
Alex nodded in understanding. Twilight’s armor was the only model that left her face visible. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your wits yet. Are you being watched right now? Are you bound in any way?”
“Not closely, but I am being watched,” Twilight replied. “They tried putting me in a cocoon, but they couldn’t put me to sleep, so they stuck me to the ground with this really sticky goo instead.”
“What’s in the room with you? Can you describe it?”
“It’s really big… Lots of changelings… A couple of behemoths—big ones, like the one in Ponyville. Chrysalis is sitting on her throne, giving them all orders. It sounds like they’re setting a trap. I’m not a hundred percent sure, but it sounds like what she really wants is you.”
Alex interlocked his fingers as he parsed the information. If behemoths were present, that means she had to be somewhere accessible to them. A big room, with behemoths present, and Chrysalis’ throne…
“Do you see what looks like a really big tunnel?” Alex asked.
After a moment’s pause, Twilight answered: “Yes, opposite the room from Chrysalis.”
Bingo, Alex concluded. She’s at some end of the behemoth access tunnel. There's no way in hell they're going to leave the hive now, and if Twilight is right—that Chrysalis is really setting up a trap just for me—then that means she somehow knows I’m calling the shots from inside the Leviathan. She wants me to go in where they have the home field advantage; drive into an enclosed space with behemoths where I can’t use the ion cannon... And she’s using Twilight as a lure.
Alex leaned back in his chair, glancing at the mountain of information being flooded onto his interface. He ignored it in favor of hatching a plan to get Twilight out without too many complications.
Whatever changelings that remained were called back to the hive. The atrium that Twilight was being held in was heavily populated, housed at least two behemoths, and even Chrysalis herself. On top of this, Twilight was bound and being watched. Any covert approach would result in chaos.
Chaos…
A crazy thought wormed its way into his mind, and Alex glanced at the signal strength between the communications tower and Twilight. It wasn’t ideal, but with the current setup, it was still decent enough. A plan began to formulate in his mind, and a smirk grew on his face, though it dissipated as Alex remembered that magic failed to function in the region.
“Hmmm… Twilight, did you ever manage to figure out why you can’t use your magic?” he asked.
“Not yet, no…” she responded.
Alex grit his teeth. “Dammit… Alright, Twilight, lemme get back to you.” He switched channels. “Hyde, evac status?”
“It was a tight fit, but four Ravens successfully extracted all the Appleoosans and buffalo,” Hyde answered.
“So we still have one Raven on standby?”
“Yes, Commander.”
He paused for a moment. “Okay, Hyde, I’m initiating Operation Fat Man, but I’m modifying the procedure. We know magic still has an atmospheric presence here, but something is acting as an antenna and diverting it away from casters like Twilight. I want to find out what that is, and pronto. You are to remain on site until we find it. Organize the scouting drones and aircraft as you see fit. AJ, Dash, get back to me and sit tight until we figure out what to do next.”
Twilight sighed as she casually tugged at the sticky green goo keeping her hooves pinned to the floor. Thankfully it wasn’t caustic, since the biomech armor probably would have complained about that if it were the case. That and it would have eventually eaten away at her hooves. Or maybe it was caustic and it just wasn’t enough to eat through the metal? She gave it another tug. No, it probably wasn’t. Still, it was impressive that changelings could produce such a substance anyway.
“Um… e-e-excuse me?”
The hesitant voice caught Twilight’s attention and drew her gaze upwards. It was a changeling drone, identical to the others in every way except for how it acted. While the other changelings held themselves up with some measure of confidence, this one kept its head lower and expressed an air of nervousness; taking slow, careful steps while cautiously eying her. It was almost as if it were the changeling equivalent of Fluttershy.
“Y-you’re one of the ponies that was at the wedding, r-right?” the changeling asked when Twilight just silently stared back after its initial greeting. “I-in Canterlot?”
After glancing around to see if other nearby changelings might be listening in, she nodded. In truth, he had never personally heard any changeling besides Chrysalis speak. She half expected it to speak in some sort of hissing voice, yet it sounded just like a perfectly normal stallion. “Yes. I was there.”
“With five other ponies, right? A-and that big machine?”
“That’s right, yes.”
Spurred on by some sudden boost in confidence, the changeling gradually approached her—an invisible sparkle in his eye. “Those ponies! You’re all friends, right?”
Twilight raised a brow. “Yes. Yes we are.”
The changeling took an eager step forward, a smile exploding to his face; though when Twilight began to lean further away from him, he caught himself, suddenly looking away in embarrassment. “Sorry… I-I didn’t mean to… um… Wh… What’s it like?”
Twilight squinted in confusion. “Um… What’s what like?”
The changeling looked back up at her. “Having friends?”
The unicorn’s confusion never faded, though it did take on a new tack. “You don’t have any friends?”
The drone hung his head, shaking it. “Changelings don’t really make friends with each other… Or anypony for that matter…”
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “It’s just the way we are, I guess. I wish it wasn’t though. I’ve always wanted a friend—ever since I cracked my egg in the nursery hive. When I saw your friendship in Canterlot, I… I couldn’t just steal it and feed on its love. I want to share it.” The changeling glanced up at her for a brief moment before taking a quick look around himself. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he added. “Could you… could you take me with you? When the machines come to get you?”
Conflicting thoughts whirled through Twilight’s mind. On one hoof, changelings were evil, love-stealing parasites who foalnap ponies and buffalo and try to take over Equestria. On the other hoof, this changeling seemed genuine about what it was saying. “I… I don’t know…”
“Please?” the drone insisted. “I-I promise I won’t be any trouble! If I could make a friend, then the love we shared would help sustain me, I’m sure of it!”
Twilight bit her lip. As much as her scientific and compassionate sides would love the opportunity to let a changeling live among ponies to see if they could live without having to resort to stealing love… “That’s… not really my decision to make.”
“Oh…” The changeling lowered its head dejectedly, its ear-like protrusions falling limp. “The machines are the ones that make the decisions like that, aren’t they? It’s okay. I get it. The changelings attacked Equestria, but they’re the ones we picked a fight with.”
“Well…” Twilight hesitated. “Not necessarily. The machines are just following orders. Their inventor is the one making decisions.” After brief moment of thought, she added: “Maybe I could talk to him; see what he thinks?”
The drone looked back up at her. “But how are you going to do that? I can’t get you out.” His eyes glanced around. “Not with all these other changelings everywhere.”
Twilight flashed a smirk and gently shook her head. “Just give me a second.” She turned her head away and whispered. “Evie, I need to talk to Alex.”
“I’ll request a direct channel,” the VI responded.
Several seconds later, Alex’s voice came through her radio. “Hey, Twilight. What’s going on?”
“Hey, Alex. Something… weird is happening. A changeling is talking to me, but he seems different from the others. He says he doesn’t want to stay with the changelings anymore and that he wants to come back to Ponyville with us. He thinks that if he could make a friend, he could feed on the love they share instead of stealing it.”
“I see…” Alex drawled. After several moments of silence, he continued. “Ask him if he knows anything about what’s blocking your magic, first.”
“Okay…” She looked back up at the changeling. “Hey, I have a question for you.”
The changeling hastily nodded. “Sure! I’ll answer whatever you want!”
“I’m not able to cast any spells around here. Do you know why?” Twilight asked.
The changeling beamed before answering in a whisper. “Oh, that’s easy! It’s Chrysalis’ throne.” He pointed a hoof towards Chrysalis and her large, alarmingly spiked throne. “It’s carved from an ancient darkstone that soaks up outside magic the same way changelings soak up love. It’s one of the ways Chrysalis protects the hive. If you could destroy it, you’d get your magic back.”
“A darkstone?” Twilight hummed to herself as she spied Chrysalis giving more and more changelings orders. The more she examined the throne itself, the more she noticed that it was a distinctly different color than the rest of the hive stone around it. “I think I read about those before… Thanks, uh… Sorry, do you have a name?”
“Thorax,” the changeling replied with a growing smile and a nod. “My name is Thorax.”
Twilight smiled in return. “Thank you, Thorax. I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
Just as Thorax’s face lit up with hope, Twilight looked away and began to whisper again. “Alex? Are you there?”
“I’m here,” Alex replied. “Did he have something for us?”
“Yes, he did. He says that Chrysalis’ throne is absorbing magic the same way changelings absorb love. According to him, if we destroy it, I’ll be able to use magic again.”
“And he told you all this without asking for anything in return?”
“Yes, although I did promise I would do what I could to help him. Alex, I think bringing him back with us would be an excellent opportunity to learn more about changelings as a whole. If he’s right, then there’s a chance that ponies and changelings will be able to coexist peacefully in the future!”
Alex paused before responding. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. I’ll make some arrangements to bring him with us.”
Twilight blinked repeatedly in an attempt to comprehend what she heard. “Wait, really? I thought you’d try to argue against this.”
“Twilight, I’ve seen countless idiots reject better research proposals with more compelling arguments for dumber reasons,” said Alex. “Simply put, I’m trusting you on this as a scientist. Besides…” he paused to give a quiet laugh. “After today, I don’t think the changelings are going to be any kind of threat anymore. So, does this changeling have a name?”
“He does. It’s Thorax.”
“Right…” Another pause. “Well tell Thorax that I don’t completely trust him yet. Tell him that he needs to stay next to you from here on out. No talking with anyone else. Now the Liandri will still see him as a target, so when I give you the word, Twilight, you will tell him to change into Rainbow Dash and follow you. I’ll configure the Liandri to hold their fire on that one Rainbow Dash not wearing armor and that one Rainbow Dash only. Until then, only tell him that he’ll have to change into either you, AJ, or Dash at the precise moment you tell him to. Oh, and please emphasize this: My priority is you. I guarantee him nothing. If he wants to make it out of there in one piece, the onus will be on him, so he’d better be paying attention and follow what you say to the letter.”
Twilight pursed her lips, but nodded in understanding. “Alright, I’ll let him know.”
As more time passed, the human cooked up contingencies. With the source of the magic nullifier known, creating a distraction to get Twilight out of the hive would become a simple affair. In the event that the changeling referred to as “Thorax” was lying, a sufficient contingent of Liandri would follow them into the hive to serve as a minimally sufficient distraction. Granted, this minimally sufficient distraction would still consist of well over three hundred units.
Per the protocol of Operation Fat Man, Hyde was ordered to extract with the remaining Raven dropship and three quarters of the deployed air force. A majority of ground units were also ordered to return to Ponyville via the infantry portals, leaving a bare bones operation. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been ordered to return to Ponyville as well, but true to themselves, they refused to leave without Twilight. Rather than fight with them, Alex allowed them to stay, but emphasized that they needed to listen to his every word from that point on.
The only thing left to do was to wait for a Raven to return.
Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration. “How much longer do we have to keep waiting out here? Twilight needs us now!”
“I already told you,” Alex answered, glancing between displays. “We’re waiting for a Raven. We need to time it so we go into the hive as soon as possible and then get picked up as soon as we leave and not a second later. When I get the green light from Rose, then we’ll move in.”
“But it’s been almost an hour!” Dash complained, banging a hoof atop the Leviathan’s cockpit.
“It’s okay, Dash, I’m still fine,” came Twilight’s voice. “The changelings are antsy, but they’re mostly ignoring me. I think they’re more worried about what you guys are going to do next. That and the fact that you’re still here but haven’t done anything yet.”
Applejack hummed. “Gettin’ a little antsy myself, but if we need one of those Ravens, then Ah’m okay with waitin’—so long as Twilight ain’t in any danger. Just wish Ah knew why we needed it.”
Alex sighed. “Everything besides us four is expendable. The main goal here is not just to get Twilight out, but all of us at the same time. After that—”
“Raven is en route,” Rose interrupted, though speaking only to him. “You’re good to move in now.”
“What? Oh shit!” Alex suddenly sat up straight in his seat. “Guys, we just got the green light. It’s time to go.”
“Finally!” Rainbow shouted skyward.
“Alright you two: stick with the Liandri on the ground. We’re going in.”
At Alex’s words, the entire Leviathan shuddered, sending Rainbow Dash into the air like a startled pigeon. The ion cannon folded inward once more before swinging itself upside down and resuming its place as the vehicle’s spine. The port and starboard supports that kept the super tank stable, as well as the front shields, uprooted themselves and locked back into position. As a final step, the pilot’s cannon backtracked along its rails to return to its proper place just behind the cockpit.
A deep, yet loud hum announced the mobility of the Leviathan as its gigantic wheels eased forward once more. Despite the rough and uneven terrain between the Liandri foothold and the changeling hive, the vehicle’s sheer massivity made short work of any obstacles in its way. Drained trees were mulched and boulders were crushed under its titanic weight, barely slowing the Leviathan in its unstoppable crawl.
The remaining Liandri and ponies ran along beside or behind it, the latter of whom still oblivious to the plan to rescue their friend.
“So just how exactly are we gonna get Twilight out?” asked Applejack. “What’s yer plan?”
“According to Twilight, Chrysalis is most likely using her as bait to get to me,” Alex explained. “Now as much as I’d like to say she is, I don’t think she’s dumb. She’s keeping Twilight in an atrium surrounded by a lot of changelings and even a couple of behemoths—an atrium, mind you, with a big enough access tunnel that I could squeeze the Leviathan through. She didn’t do that by accident.”
“So you’re saying she wants you to bring the big death machine in there?” asked Dash. “That still seems really stupid to me.”
“Except it’s not,” Alex corrected her. “The Leviathan has a lot of firepower, sure, but it’s not effective in an enclosed space; and you can just forget about maneuverability. She’s probably expecting me to get cocky and not care about that fact. Makes it easier to corner me.”
“So what’re we gonna do?” asked AJ.
“Simple: we’re gonna give her what she wants. Doesn’t mean I don’t have an ace up my sleeve, though. Also, just to bring you guys up to speed: there’s a changeling that wants to abandon the hive. His name is Thorax. He thinks that if he makes a friend in Ponyville, he can feed off shared love as opposed to stealing it. We’re going to try bringing him back with us, but he’s not a priority.”
“Okay, now you went and confused me,” said Rainbow Dash. “We spent all this time fighting the changelings and now you’re talking about bringing one back to Ponyville so he can live there? What gives?”
“Twilight seems to trust him. She also thinks it’s a good opportunity to see if changelings can peacefully coexist with ponies. Prevent future conflict and all that. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just rewarding him for letting us know what was causing the magical blackout in the region. Unless he’s lying, that is. Even then, we’ll be fine, so don’t worry about that.”
Eventually, the Leviathan made its way to the mouth of the behemoth tunnel and ground to a halt. As Alex expected, the tunnel was big enough to comfortably allow a behemoth to pass through, and from the looks of things, barely so for the super tank. The turrets on the upper deck would have to be retracted, but that just meant reducing their firing angles.
Alex cleared his throat and repositioned himself in his seat, leaning on one elbow. “Hello, Chrysalis,” his voice boomed out from the vehicle, echoing down the passage and throughout the hive. “It seems you’ve taken one last thing that doesn’t belong to you. I would like her back. Unlike the others, which I have taken by force, I am willing to have a discussion this time around. Face to face. Consider it an olive branch that I don’t feel like annihilating you for what you’ve done.”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a look, Rose’s words returning to each of them: “... once the Appleloosans have been extracted, the mission parameters change from search and rescue to search and destroy. This means the total annihilation of the changelings. Their eradication.”
After Alex finished his address, the Leviathan’s flood lights flared to life, bathing the tunnel in blinding illumination. “Alright, I’m going in,” Alex told the ponies. “You guys stay behind the Leviathan. That way you have a clear exit in case something happens or goes wrong.”
“Question,” Applejack blurted. “Just what exactly can go wrong right now?”
“Any number of things, really. Let’s just hope that if and when things go wrong, they go wrong the way that we want them to. Just remember: when I tell you to run, you get the hell out of there. No matter what, don’t slow down. ”
Slowly but surely, the Leviathan crawled into the changeling hive, its massive front forming an impassable wall that continued to crush and flatten everything in its path. The titanic vehicle took its time squeezing through the tunnel, occasionally scraping against the wall or ceiling.
Applejack noticed just how tight a fit it was for the hulking machine, though her observations only posed questions. How would the Leviathan be able to get back out? According to Alex, bringing it in was a bad idea in the first place because it wouldn’t be able to fight if it needed to, and if going in forward was such a slow process, then bringing it out reverse would be even tougher. So either Alex was expecting everything to go peacefully, or… or…
...Or he wasn’t planning on bringing the Leviathan back out in the first place…
A knot formed in Applejack’s stomach at the thought of that last possibility, and just what exactly that would entail.
After what felt like forever, the Leviathan freed itself from the tunnel and into a gigantic atrium. The ponies’ hearts raced as their eyes drew upwards, staring at all the changelings that hung from the walls and ceilings to glare back. Misshapen columns and bridges filled the void of the room, moving and reshaping themselves to some unseen will. As the Leviathan slowed to a halt near the center of the room, the ponies began the long trek around it and spotted Chrysalis sitting on a considerably spiked throne. Despite everything, her face remained focused; neither angry nor fearful.
A short distance away, flanked by several changelings, was Twilight—green goo fixing her to the ground by her hooves, though with her armor still intact. Titanic behemoths covered in thick onyx plates grumbled in the corners of the room, their ashen eyes fixed upon the new arrivals. The giants heaved themselves onto their feet as Liandri both big and small poured out of the tunnel and flanked the Leviathan.
“So I’m assuming you wanted to have a conversation,” Alex’s voice projected from his armored transport. “Well, here I am.”
“I want more than a conversation,” Chrysalis declared before hopping off of her throne and landing with weightless grace. She took slow, calculated steps forward. “I want a resolution to this conflict of ours. I am prepared to allow the pony to go free.”
“If all you wanted was to surrender, I hardly think kidnapping said pony was the way to go about doing it.”
“I’m not talking about surrender,” Chrysalis proclaimed, standing tall. “I’m talking about ending this. You and me. No one else. On my word, the pony goes free regardless of the outcome.”
Alex didn’t respond. All eyes remained on the Leviathan for several moments until a sharp but brief hiss echoed throughout the atrium, coupled with the whirring of locks undoing themselves. A hatch in the top of the super tank’s cockpit popped up, swinging wide open. A second later, a humanoid figure clad in green power armor leapt out, landing carefully atop the front of the vehicle.
“However much your word is actually worth,” Alex spoke in a mechanized voice. “So it’s a duel you want, is it? A battle between leaders? To the death, I assume?”
Chrysalis hesitated a moment, as if thinking over her options, though eventually grit her teeth and forced a scowl. “That’s exactly it.”
A warning message appeared across the HUDs of the ponies, making their hearts skip a beat.
“I see…” Alex drawled, glancing at the changelings throughout the room. Only he could feel the silent vibration building within the Leviathan. “In that instance, let me make myself clear: this is not a scenario you are going to win. I’m young—Only twenty eight years old. I don’t know how old you are, and I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me because you don’t know what I know. I’ve learned many things that I’ve engrained into my very being, but one such things I’ve only learned recently; and in those twenty eight years of mine, it has become one of the greatest truths I’ve ever discovered. It is that truth that dictates my victory and your death.”
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at him. “And just what sort of truth is that?” she demanded.
Alex went silent for a moment, and then his gaze met her’s.
“That flesh is a design flaw.”
In that instant, Chrysalis’ gaze shattered, like a brick had been thrown through glass. It was as if the green of Alex’s visor had suddenly become the most frightening thing the changeling queen had ever envisioned, striking terror directly into her very core. As Chrysalis stumbled back in some unknown revelation, a commando stepped forward and aimed a shoulder-mounted AVRiL at the queen’s throne, wasting no time in letting loose its payload. The anti-vehicle rocket slammed into the throne completely unobstructed, obliterating it into a cloud of dust and rubble in an instant.
“Twilight, now!” Alex called out over the radio.
A powerful buzzer suddenly blasted out from the Leviathan, echoing into the atrium four times in only four seconds. Before the changelings could rally their senses on the situation, the entire room became enveloped in a flash of blinding lightning and deafening thunder.
Finally! Got this one out! Been spending the past two hours going over this chapter since the formatting got completely screwed when I transferred it from the google doc. None of the paragraphs were indented, the space between paragraphs was replaced with a bunch of formatting garbage that I never put in... Had to fix the entire thing manually and then go over it again just to make sure I got everything. Hopefully that doesn't happen again.
In any event, I had actually finished this chapter a long time ago, but something wasn't quite working, so I ended up rewriting a good portion of it. Part of that rewrite involves bringing Thorax into the mix. I think it turned out fairly well! In other news, the next chapter is actually already done; it just needs to go through editing. Keep an eye open for that. 
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Awesome.
Well, this is not going to go well in terms of reaffirming Celestia paranoia, as awesome as it was.
Absolutely brilliant (as always)!
The one issue I saw was this:
You probably meant to say "bring", but besides that this chapter was excellent!
now to re-read this book, because my brain decided to completely forget what led up to this
Given most of this is plain text, use Wordpad or other bottom end free word processor, save as txt, then copy in. Or select, copy paste.
Assume GDocs is designed like Windows to be non standard so you use only their sites and resources.
If Chrysalis ran the last time, did she realise that it was a 5 second countdown and teleport herself? Because given the size of the Leviathan It would glass teh crater out to the very edge of the badlands, but the resulting blast would be multiple times as far as well. Unless the yield was tweaked so teh plasma was only teh size of the mountain and the distance to the edge of the crater dissapated the blast enough that Twilight porting there can keep teh shield up.
Really hope Chrysalis doesnt override Thorax. A nice MRI scan would pick up the differeing thought patterns?
nice chapter and great buildup. I just really hope you don't kill of Chryssi in the next chapter. I'd really like for Alex to be reformed by Twilight and to learn about the 'Overseer' from Chryssi rather than Celly.
I don't know if its been said before
I Think xan is taking control of alex via his prosthetics and other tech and using him as a puppet do do what he wants, while fooling any of the ponies but that's just my two cents.
Story reminds me of this:
NEED MOAR TECHNICALITIES!!!!
That is all.