• Published 27th Jul 2013
  • 16,899 Views, 1,266 Comments

A Changeling Queen Under the Griffon's Crown - DungeonMiner



Alan Goldenhoof, Pendragon of Equestria, finds himself caught in the middle of a civil war between the griffon Royal Family and the combined forces of Chrysalis and a rebel faction.

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2-Catapults and Card Games

Chapter 2

“Alright, girls!” Scootaloo said, as she looked over the plans. “This is going to be awesome!”

“Girls and guy...” Pipsqueak corrected halfheartedly.

“You know what she meant,” Applebloom said, comforting the only male member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Pip grumbled.

The four fillies and annoyed colt all stood around a simple catapult. The sun was high in the sky as they worked quickly on this sunny Sunday. Ponyville’s usual hustle and bustle was just within earshot of their worksite. A copse of trees stood to one side, creating just enough cover to hide their little project from those who would try to ruin the fun. Read: adults.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Live Ammunition! Yay!” the three core members yelled.

“You do know that’s not what ‘live ammunition’ means, right?” Silver Spoon said.

“Hush, Newbie,” Scootaloo said, strapping her helmet to her head triumphantly. “Definitions change for Awesome.”

“No, no, they don’t,” Spoon deadpanned, even though she knew it wouldn’t matter. As she’d learned over the past two years of working with the Crusaders, whenever Scootaloo made any reference to “Awesome” it was set in stone.

Sure enough, Scootaloo ignored the jab and hopped into the cup of the siege engine. “This is it!” she called, triumphantly, her wings spreading in excitement.

“This is what?” an new voice said, and the foals quickly turned.

The five young ponies all looked up at the stallion that had silently approached the catapult.

“Mis-Mister Goldenhoof!” Silver Spoon began. “We uh...we weren’t—”

“We weren’t using a catapult like Applejack told us not to!” Sweetie Belle blurted.

“And we definitely weren’t going to shoot Scootaloo at the lake like Rarity said we shouldn’t!” Pip added.

“And we definitely weren’t doing it without adult supervision!” Scootaloo finished, still sitting in the catapult.

Alan looked between the four foals before calling to the last. “Applebloom...”

The filly with the pink bow ducked behind the siege weapon. “We were doin’ all those things,” she admitted.

“Darn it, Bloom!” Scoots cried.

“Ah can’t help it!” the filly answered. “You try livin’ with the Bearer of the Elemen’ of Honesty!”

Scootaloo sighed.

“Now, Applebloom,” Alan said. “Your sister wouldn’t be happy with you if she knew you were lying.”

She cocked her head at him. “B-but I wasn’t lying!”

“You were,” Alan said, walking up to the catapult with a smile on his face. “After all, I’m an adult. I’m supervising.”

Scootaloo's eyes went wide. “Yes!” she cried triumphantly, “You are the most awesome adult ever!” she said, before quickly adding, “...Next to Rainbow Dash.”

“Now,” Alan said, sitting down next to the catapult. “Let’s see what we have here.”

His eyes quickly scanned over the mechanism, and his eyebrows furrowed. “Have you tested it out yet?” he asked.

The deafening silence coming from the foals was not reassuring.

Alan sighed. “Scoots, get down.”

“But—”

“Get down; we’ll test it first, then we’ll shoot you into the lake.”

“Aw...” she moaned, stepping out of the cup.

Silver Spoon smirked. “Told you we should have tested it first.”

“Sweetie, could you find me a rock, please?” Alan asked.

“Yes, sir!” she said with a smile, before bounding away in search of a boulder.

Alan smiled and shook his head before calling to another Crusader. “Applebloom, come here.”

The young filly walked up to him. “What is it, Mister Goldenhoof?”

“Just Alan, for right now,” the unicorn corrected before pointing at the winch. “Does that look right to you?”

She looked at it. “Why? Is there something wrong with it?”

“You tell me,” Alan said, simply.

Applebloom looked up at him, confused, before turning her attention back to the winch. “Well...” she began. “Ah...Ah think it’s alright.”

“You sure?” Alan asked.

The little filly bit her lip. “Ah...Ah...Yes?” she said, her affirmation more of a question.

“Alright,” Alan said.

His non-committal answer did nothing to ease the filly’s uncertainty. She bit her lip again, her eyes darting between the stallion and the mechanism. “Do...do you think there’s something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Alan said. “I didn’t build it.”

Silver Spoon spoke up “I think it—”

A magical hand shushed her. “I asked Applebloom,” Alan said, his tone stern, yet somehow comforting to the young mare.

The farm girl looked up at the stallion. He was testing her. But why?

“Well, Applebloom,” Alan said. “Is there a problem or not?”

She turned back to the winch.

Was there a problem?

She turned back to Alan.

“Wh-why can’t you just tell me?”

“Because I want you to figure it out.”

“Why?”

Alan merely looked down at the winch. “So is there a problem? If I were you, I try to find out quickly. Because if there is a problem, you or your friends could get hurt.”

Applebloom’s eye twitched. She didn’t like being tested like this.

Grumbling, she pushed herself forward into machine.

She slowly released the winch as she muttered darkly. Dumb adults. Always thought they knew something we don’t. Always trying to teach us a lesson.

She removed three different gears, numbering them One, Two, and Three respectively.

She untied the rope from the winch, coiling it up to keep it out of the way.

Her hooves worked quickly and efficiently, taking the machine apart and double checking each part of it as she went.

How many little construction projects had she been a part of now? Forty? Fifty? There were a lot. Either with her friends, and many times even on the farm, there was almost always something that needed to be built. She pretty much grew up around tools, now that she thought about it. And, now that she really thought about it, why was she always the one that was doing most of the work?

Then again, she never really complained, did she? She kinda enjoyed it in a way. Everything just fit together so nicely. Gear one here was just the right size to fit with gear two. It was like a giant puzzle. A giant puzzle that would launch one of her friends here in a second.

It...building things...it was...fun...

It cleared her head. She wasn’t as mad when she was working with wood and things like that. It helped her think. It was a nice little way of organizing her thoughts.

This gear was this, that gear was that. That lever acted like this.

She removed the winch, and after checking it over, felt her eye twitch.

Really? How did she miss that?

The rope anchor to the winch was loose.

Now more than a little annoyed, she attached the anchor properly, replaced the winch, and mentally bit her tongue to keep her from spewing a long string of farm-based obscenities.

She really should have checked that better. If the anchor had come loose, then the rope could have unraveled, and they could have had a premature launch.

Which, considering her friends were the payload, was not cool.

She tied the rope in, choosing the square knot her brother had taught her to attach them, and quickly coiled the slack around the barrel of the mechanism.

The gears, three, two and one slipped into place, and she climbed out of the catapult.

“Thanks, Mister Alan,” she said, “that could have gone badly for us.”

Alan nodded. “Glad to know it’s safer.”

“But...Mister Alan...” she began, vaguely aware of her friends behind her.

“Yes?”

“What was the point? Why didn’t you just tell me? What was the test?”

“A-Applebloom...” Pipsqueak’s voice said behind her.

“What?” she asked.

Scootaloo was staring at her with wide eyes.

Sweetie Belle had returned with a rock, and her face matched Scootaloo’s.

Silver Spoon had a smirk on her face.

Pipsqueak looked stunned, but nonetheless continued. “You...you...uh...”

She blinked.

“What?”

Silver Spoon pointed at her flank.

Applebloom’s eye began to widen, and she quickly checked her own flank. There, rather than the blank, yellow canvas she was used to, was an apple, with three gears set into in.

“Ah...Ah...”she began before trailing off.

“You passed your test, Applebloom. Congratulations,” Alan said with a smirk.

She turned to him, her mouth hanging open. “Ah...Ah...”

Alan stood, ruffling her mane. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to pick up your brother for cards.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

It was six PM when the stallions had finally been gathered. Spike, Silver Pauldrons, Big Mac, Thunderlane, Soarin, Alan and even Shining Armor, all were glaring at it each other from over their cards.

A pile of cards sat in the middle of the table, face down.

“Glad you could make it, Shining,” Alan said, laying down two cards. “Two tens.”

“Thank you,” Shining said, “and you are a dirty, rotten liar.”

The two cards Alan just placed down flipped, revealing two tens. “Crap!” Shining muttered, before taking the whole pile.

“One Jack,” Spike said, next in line.

“Nope,” Big Mac replied.

Spike grumbled and took his card back.

“You boys want drinks?” Twilight called from the kitchen.

Silence for a second. “I think we’re good, Honey!”

“Alright! Just let me know if you need anything!”

Alan smiled, his cards held in a mana hand that floated up and above him out of sight of the rest of the players, as he leaned back in his chair. “So how’s it been going in Canterlot, Shining?”

“Been going good,” he said. “The Canterlot Military has been shaping up real good, and Cadence has been good to me, a lot of Bitalian cooking. You been reading that book she sent you?”

“Certo! Si ha veramente aiutato la mia lingua,” Alan replied.

Shining blinked. “Which means...”

Alan rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’ve been reading it. It’s been helping.”

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, you know I don’t speak Bitalian.”

“Three Jacks,” Big Mac mumbled.

“B!S!” Silver called.

“Nope!” Big Mac said with a smile, and flipped the cards over.

“By Luna’s Starry Sky!” Silver grumbled, picking up the cards.

“What about you?” Shining asked.

“Been doing alright; I helped Applebloom get her Cutie Mark today.”

Total silence filled the room as every set of eyes turned to him.

Alan blinked. He looked up at his friends, and nervously checked the looks on their faces. “What?” he asked tentatively.

“You told her?” Big Mac asked, a slight twitch in his eye.

“No! No, no, no, no, no! I gave her a little nudge, but I let her figure it out on her own.”

“That’s kind of a grey area, Al,” Shining said.

“She’s been waiting for at least five years! She’s eleven, for crying out loud, I figured she needed a break.”

“Al,” the draft pony said, getting total silence from the table as he spoke. He glared down at the unicorn, his mouth twisted into a slight scowl. His eyes closed and he took a deep breath. “Yer mah friend. Ya meant well, but if Ah hear ‘bout you doing that again. Ah will beat you into the ground. Get me?”

Alan nodded. “Sorry, I, uh...didn’t know better I guess.”

“So...” Shining said, fishing for a subject that wasn’t breaking cultural taboos, “anything else you’ve been doing?”

Alan smirked. “Other than pleasing your sister?”

Shining glared. “Yes. Other than that.”

Alan chuckled. “Cool it, bro.”

“Bro-in-law,” Shining corrected.

“One King,” Soarin said, laying a card down.

“Two Aces,” Thunderlane said.

“Not much,” Alan said. “Mostly getting groceries and stuff like that, you know, mundane stuff.”

“Wait, wait. Is Twi sending you out for all the grocery runs?”

“Yeah. Your point?”

Shining smiled. “Nothing. It’s just it sounds like somepony here is cropped.”

“Ooh...” the stallions called.

Alan smiled evilly. “What we do in the bedroom is none of your business,” he said.

Shining looked over at him, confused, before a sudden image of his baby sister in rather tight leather holding a riding crop flashed across his vision.

“AH!” Shining screamed, his hooves flying to his eyes. “Brain! Why!?”

“She looks surprisingly good in black leather,” Alan commented.

“GAH!”

That’s when everypony at the table took a second to leisurely glance at the cards Shining had left face up on the table.

“She likes it real tight too.”

“My eyes! They burn!” he screamed, falling backwards onto the floor.

Alan quickly flipped Shining’s cards, it was the decent thing to do, of course. “You done down there?”

“Bleach! I need Mind Bleach!”

“Doesn’t exist on Earth, and sure as Tartarus doesn’t exist here,” Alan said with a smirk.

Shining moaned, sitting back up in at the table. The second he was back up, his head slammed into the table. “Never mention that again,” he muttered.

“Lay off the cropped comments,” Alan said. “Two twos.”

“Fair enough,” Shining muttered as he picked himself, and his cards up. “One three,” he said.

“Liar!” Spike said.

“Darn it!”

Spike won that round.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The boys were dealing another hand, while Twilight sat in her room, reading a book.

Alan had decided a while back that he and the guys needed to get a little closer, after all, she had her friends; Alan needed his.

He had mentioned something about the estrogen/testosterone ratio, but she was fairly certain that was him just being silly.

A knock sounded on her door, and she was surprised to see her brother in the doorway. “Shining? What is it?”

“Oh, uh...it’s nothing Twiley...I just...uh...” he fumbled with his words for a moment. “Look, Alan said something about you, and...I can’t get it out of my head. No matter how hard I try...Anyway...I just need you to tell me that it’s not true. Because, there is no way you’re into that.”

“Into what?” Twilight asked.

“Into...well...into...” he said, struggling with his words. “Into...bondage...” he finally muttered quietly.

Twilight looked at her brother for a long time. “What?”

“I said that Alan was cropped because you keep sending him out for the groceries, and he told me that you liked that, and it was just mentally scarring. So please, just tell me you don’t do that, and I can get on with my life.”

Twilight blinked.

Now, Twilight loved her brother, dearly. Always had loved him, and always will love him. When they were young, they hardly ever fought.

She wanted to tell him the truth.

She wanted to tell him Alan was kidding.

But...then again...this was just too good.

“No, Shining. We don’t use crops.”

Shining sighed. “That is great to hear.”

“They’re too visible, they leave marks. No, we normally stick to nipple clamps and stuff like that.”

Shining’s face went from relieved to horrified in record time.

Twilight fought to keep from laughing. “There was that one time when we used a ring gag...”

Shining screamed.

Twilight laughed.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“So you wound up telling him?” Alan said, as they took the covers off the bed.

“Yes, I mean, it was fun and all, but I don’t want to scar him for life.”

“You sure? It’s fun.”

Twilight sent him a slightly amused look. “Fun, yes...but morally questionable.”

The iPod suddenly lit up.

“That's all they really want

Some fun

When the working day is done

Girls - they want to have fun

Oh girls just want to have fun!”

Alan looked down at the machine. “I don’t even have that song on there.”

It shut up.

Alan blinked, before shaking his head. “Anyway...personally I can’t believe Shining bought that. I mean really, you into bondage?”

“Me? You wouldn’t touch a riding crop with a ten-hoof pole.”

“I know, right? I mean seriously? Pain? What kind of a fetish is that?” Alan said, laying down on the bed.

“Exactly! Pain is not pleasurable. That’s why it’s pain!” Twilight said as she snuggled up against her husband.

Alan wrapped his forelegs around her, kissing her neck as purple aura brought the blanket up and tucked them in.

“Right. Goodnight, Honey,” Alan said, kissing her again as a mana hand formed behind him.

“Goodnight, Dear,” she said, getting closer to her husband.

Alan smiled, and the mana hand extinguished the light.

There was total silence in the bedroom for a few long seconds.

“It was still incredibly funny."

"You are so bad."

--------------------------------

Sorry about the short chap guys, Writer’s block hit hard.

“It happens to the best of us Miner!”

Thank you Pinkie.

Good news, by the by, I think I finally have the proper rewrite of chapter 34 from A Novice Swordsman, and I am much happier with this result.

I’ll keep it “under revision” for now, so I can get more feedback from it, but if it’s mostly positive, I’ll keep it.

Thank you guys for the opportunity to entertain, and I hope we will see you next time.

“Be sure to comment, like, and favorite! Ah, who am I kidding!? If you got this far you probably already have!”

Pinkie!

“What?”

Don’t say things like that, you’ll make them think I have a bloated ego or something. “Oh, look at him, thinking he’s such hot stuff that we must have faved him already!”

"But Miner, almost all of the ponies reading this came from the last story, and if they faved that one, they must have faved this one.”

I know, but still, Pinkie.

“Ok...Can I try again?”

Yes...yes you can, Pinkie.

“Be sure to comment, like, and favorite! Miner would really appreciate it!”

And see you next time.

Bye!