• Published 27th Jul 2013
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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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22-Rendezvous Bravo

Chapter 22

“Ironclaw” paced again.

The Pendragon was getting closer, he could feel it.

He couldn’t face him...not after last time…

But could the swarm stop him? Could the Pendragon be brought to his knees by the combined might of griffon and changeling?

At first, he had been sure. Now...now, however…

A changeling entered the room. “Your majesty?” it spoke.

“Speak, drone,” Ironclaw mumbled.

“The...the um…”

“Out with it!” Ironclaw yelled.

“The prisoners have escaped.”

“What!?” the usurper shrieked. “What!?” he cried again, now hovering over the changeling.

The changeling did its best not to squeak as it stared up into the eyes of the stressed griffon. “S-someone’s let all of the lionesses out, your highness...the...the griffon guards are starting to turn against us…”

Ironclaw blinked.

That…that genius! Of course! How could he not have foreseen this?

Ironclaw turned away from the changeling, choosing instead to stare out the window as he meditated.

If the Pendragon succeeded in separating the two forces, it’d be over.

Ironclaw looked at the two griffon guards to the throne room.

How long before they…

“Get out of here! Leave me!” he yelled.

“Sir,” the first one said, reassuringly, “we will not betray you.”

“Like how you did not betray your last king?” Ironclaw spat. “Get out!” he roared.

The griffons looked at each other, and then, rather hesitantly, left.

Ironclaw smiled, his left eye twitching as he did so.

Yes…yes...now he was safer. The griffons couldn’t betray him now. All the Pendragon’s plans would be for naught.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, Pendragon,” the fake king said with a laugh. “I’ll stop you, yes...yes I will.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright, everyone!” Applejack said as she began to lead the small army of lionesses and “deserter” guards up the fortress. “Let’s move! Guards up front, young lions next, then the mothers and the young.”

They lined up as ordered, with the exception of a few lioness coming up to the front anyway.

Silver was sorely tempted to argue, but let them be. Besides, he had heard of the imperial shieldmaiden, and figured his chances weren't good if he wanted to talk one out of fighting.

To be fair though, he did serve under six female generals, so he couldn’t really say much.

“Ready?” Silver asked the gathered griffons.

One of the guards, who had taken up the role of spokesman answered the affirmative.

“Alright, then we march!” Silver declared, holding Dustmaker over his head before dropping it into his teeth.

Applejack ran up next to him as the small army of prisoners walked forward. “Whelp,” she said. “this has certainly been an interesting turn o’ events.”

“Wha? Te hole fightin’ wif griffins thing?”

“Eeyup,” she said simply.

“Whatether worfks,” Silver said with a shrug.

They made their way through the hallways, their fighting force coming up behind them, armed with spears, swords, and their own claws.

As soon as Applejack and Silver had been freed, their small band of griffons had marched forward, only to quickly be found by a patrol of griffon guards and changelings. The guards, seeing their freed wives and children didn’t even need so much as a word before turning on their changeling handlers.

The same happened with the next patrol, and the next.

Before long, they had a force so large that other griffons joined simply because they had the larger force.

They even had a couple of scouts working for them now, running ahead in the dark hallways while other guards pointed the way.

Silver smirked. Yeah, we’re kinda a big deal.

A griffon suddenly approached them, one of their scouts.

“General Applejack!” the young lion reported, saluting.

“What is it?” she asked him.

“There’s...well...another group of prisoners coming our way.”

Applejack blinked. “‘scuse me?”

“There’s another large pride of griffons heading our way, made almost entirely of lionesses and youth,” the scout repeated.

Applejack and Silver blinked.

They looked at each other.

Blinked again.

“Welth...leth go mee them,” Silver said.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thomas Aquillas led them, moving quickly and quietly through the halls.

“This way, stay quiet,” he ordered. “We’ll try to get through this as fast as possible.”

He kept ahead of the group, leading them forward as he scouted.

He turned a corner, checking it for anything that could get in his way, before turning another.

He stopped.

Blinked.

What…?

There...there was just no way.

His pride of lionesses caught up and now stood staring across the hall to the much larger pride being led by two ponies.

No way.

“Howdy, there!” the mare called. “See y’all had the same idea we did.”

Thomas blinked again, staring at the two ponies. “H-how?”

“Well, we just up and opened some cells, what about you?” Applejack asked.

“It-it was General Fluttershy’s idea…” Thomas muttered.

Both ponies perked at that. “Fluttershy? Where is she?”

Thomas blinked, before mentally slapping himself. Why are you just standing there?! Go help Miss Fluttershy! “She’s this way! Come on!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Consarn it, Mac!” Applejack said, staring down at her brother as he kissed Fluttershy. “You couldn’t wait a week!?”

Silver smiled, “Two years, five months and three weeks, AJ. Last I checked my math, that’s closer to one than five.”

“Yeah, yeah. Stuff it,” she said, tossing a bag his way.

Big Mac stood, hoping his coat hid the blush on his face.

Fluttershy did not have such a luxury, and was blushing a shade of red so deep that she quickly began to imitate a glowing tomato.

Or would have if she hadn’t lost so much blood.

A few of the lionesses standing in the doorway smiled and cooed.

“You two alright?” Applejack asked.

“Well,” Big Mac started. “Ah’m alright, what about you?” he asked, looking down at Fluttershy.

She mumbled something.

“What now?”

She mumbled slightly louder.

“She said she’s not sure she can do much moving. She kinda took a hit.”

“Is she alright?” Silver asked.

“Well...uh...yeah?”

“Then what’s the problem?” Applejack asked as she got closer.

“Well, um…”

“We…” Fluttershy began. “I was hurt...I...I’m not actually sure what happened.”

“Ah can’t say I’m sure either…” Big Mac said. “She...she got hit, an’ lost a lot of blood, and then the next second her wound was just gone.”

“That...that don’t just happen…” Applejack said, while Silver helped Fluttershy get up.

She staggered to her hooves, and quickly fell into Silver. “Don’t change the fact that it happened,” Mac said.

“Mac,” Silver said, trying to support the pegasus, “quit arguing with yer sister and come get your marefriend.”

Big Mac blushed again, but nevertheless stepped forward as Silver laid Fluttershy across his back. “Look,” Silver said, as he struggled to get her high enough to get on top of the draft pony’s back. “The point is, she was hurt, she’s not now. But she can’t really move on her own. That’s all that’s important.”

“Fair ‘nough,” Applejack said, before she grabbed Fluttershy’s legs and pulled from the other side.

Once she was secure on Big Mac’s back, the other ponies led him back towards the large pride.

“Good to see you two are okay,” Thomas said as the ponies came up.

“Mostly okay,” Silver corrected.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.

“Alright, everyone, here’s the deal!” Applejack said. “We’re heading up to the throne room! So far, every patrol we’ve run into has joined up, so we’ve haven’t seen that much fighting! That doesn’t mean we won’t see any, though! So, those who want to fight, up front! Those too young and those that want to stay out of it in the back! Once we meet up with the rest of our friends, you’re free to go! This will help you but letting you find as many of your friends and family as possible! Just remember to stay together! No one needs to get caught!”

The griffons quickly shifted, forming ranks even while Applejack was speaking.

“Ready?” she asked.

There was a vague cry of the affirmative.

“Alright, let’s go!”

As the force began to move forward, the ponies quickly took the lead, Silver on the left, Applejack on the right, and Big Mac on the center.

Fluttershy rode on Big Mac’s back, bouncing slightly as the armored stallion moved beneath her. Carefully she leaned over, and whispered to the farmer. “I’m sorry you lost your bet, Applejack.”

“Ah, shoot, don’t worry ‘bout it, Fluttershy. ‘Sides, you and Big Mac needed it more than I needed the bits.”

Both ponies blushed at that.

“Oh, don’t feel too bad,” a lioness said, catching up to the equines from the back. “After all, those two just confessed their undying love for each other minutes before their own death.”

Silver suddenly took interest in the nearby wall.

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, before cooing, “Aw, Applejack, that’s so cute.”

The farmer quickly took interest in the opposite wall.

Big Mac was just happy somepony else was blushing for a change.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Harek Redmist! Just what do you think you are doing?!”

The griffon blinked, as he and his patrol stared down the large pride.

Harek was a young griffon, having just entered adulthood, and quickly getting a spot in the guard thanks to a friend of the family’s.

He had thought things had gone bad once Ironclaw had taken over...but this...

“I raised you better than that, young man!”

There was no hell worse than this.

A lioness stood across the way, and he, having just threatened her, now found himself under the all-too-familiar glare that only his mother could give him.

The others griffons gave him a wide berth. None of them wanted to be under that glare.

“Is this all the thanks I get after raising you for eighteen years?”

Gjok...she was using all the tricks in the book now, wasn’t she?

Next she was going to mention the time he threw up on a lioness behind them at a tavern when he was four.

Yup, there it was.

Not even the changelings said anything. They simply stood by, caught somewhere between too stunned to say anything, and too scared to try.

“I am so disappointed in you, Harek.”

There it was. The final stab. The ultimate in the parent’s arsenal of pain.

With a sigh and a hung head, Harek walked forward, crossing the space between the two prides.

No one stopped him. Not even the changelings.

His mother glared at him as he came across, before her eyes came back to the patrol. “Vidgrip Kinghowl, is that you?”

Another griffon paled.

“Oh, just you wait until your mother hears about this!”

Kinghowl shot across to the other side, yelling a “Sorry guys!” to the griffons behind him.

The remaining griffons looked between themselves, and nodded.

Nothing was worth having their mothers find out.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright, we’ll take a short rest here,” Applejack ordered.

The younger hatchlings groaned in relief, their feet throbbing even as their mothers took them in their arms.

The ponies sat, Big Mac carefully laying down to allow Fluttershy to drag herself off his back.

“Ya feelin’ better?” Big Mac asked.

“A little,” Fluttershy admitted. “I’m afraid I won’t be much help though.”

Big Mac nodded.

There was silence for a second or two.

“Um...Big Mac?”

“Eeyup?”

“I...oh...nevermind…”

“What is it?”

“N-nothing...forget it.”

Big Mac gave a long-suffering sigh. “Fluttershy, just tell me, please?”

She hesitated. “Y-your armor is a little uncomfortable…” she said finally in defeat. “But you need it more than I need to be comfortable.”

Big Mac smirked. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Big Mac, please don’t take your armor off. You’re getting hit too much as it is.”

“Eeyup. Have been. But Ah Don’t think it’s gonna be much of a problem.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Ah don’t think Ah’m going to be doing much more fighting. Ah can stay in the back for a bit.”

“But, Big Mac—”

“‘Sides,” the stallion continued, shaking off her fears, “it’s not like the stupid thing’s done me much good. At some point its just better to get out of the way.”

“Ma-Mac, don’t—”

“If Ah can say one more thing…” Big Mac asked.

Fluttershy went silent.

Big Mac stared at the far wall, a thousand-mile-stare in his eyes.

“Ah…” he began. “Ah felt something out there, Fluttershy, and it wasn’t something Ah’d like to admit to…”

There was silence between them, even as the pride bubbled around them.

It stretched on, almost uncomfortably so, and Fluttershy was about to start.

Big Mac took a deep breath. “Ah’m a farmer, Fluttershy, an’ a farmer can’t call himself a proper farmer unless he respects life. An apple seed ain’t nothing to laugh at. It may be small at the time, but give it time, and it’ll be stronger than any pony around. Now, a warrior, he don’t respect life as much. Sure, they know what death means to them, and that makes their lives more precious, but it don’t mean that they’ll respect it the same way a farmer would.”

He hesitated a second, and Fluttershy waited patiently.

“So…Ah had to stop being a farmer...I had to be a warrior today. Had to go out there and kill.”

Fluttershy listened.

“Call it a revelation, or whatever it is that those philosophers have, but...but when I was out there, I realized a couple of things. First, Ah realized that I liked...killing things…”

She stayed quiet.

“That...that’s not a good feeling, Fluttershy. It’s not a nice thing to discover about yourself.”

She nodded.

“But...but the thing is there was a part of me that knew better. A part of me that kept telling me to calm down. A part that was telling me to stop. But then...then Ah saw you fall…”

Another pause.

“Then, then the part of me that liked killing went quiet, and all Ah could hear was ‘save her.’”

He looked at her. “And then Ah learned the other thing about myself. There is a balance, a way Ah can be both a farmer and a warrior. Ah had to protect. Ah to be a guardian of life. Like...like Ah did with yours…”

She smiled.

“And, now maybe Ah’m not thinking straight, but an idea popped in my head that said I shouldn’t wear all this stuff anyway. It ain’t fitting for a farmer like me, it’s more fitting of a fighter, and Ah ain’t a fighter. Ah’m a...a protector.”

Fluttershy smiled.

“Alright, everyone!” Applejack yelled. “Time to pony up and move out! Let’s go!”

As the pride began to move, the hustle and bustle quickly distracted the party.

No one noticed the pile of dented armor they left behind.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The ponies led the pride onward, watching it continue to grow as yet more patrols gave themselves up.

It was kinda hilarious actually, if only it weren’t so pathetic.

Applejack sighed, this was getting too easy, and that was bothering her.

Any second now, things were going to go wrong.

One moment, everything’s fine, the next, SNAFU.

It was SNAFU, right? She’d only heard Alan say that once.

She wasn’t even really sure what SNAFU meant…

But, point being, things weren’t going to stay nice.

“You worrieth about somthinth?” Silver asked.

“Ah’m worried our luck’ll run out,” she answered, checking the hallways in front of her for any sign of their scouts.

She hadn’t heard a report lately, and that only compounded on her worry.

“Where are those scouts? They should’ve been back by now,” she mumbled.

Silver glanced at her. “Jus calm dow, Applehack.”

Admittedly, she did try to calm down.

It just wasn’t working.

Suddenly, a griffon turned the corner, his paws and talons almost screeching across the floor as he ran, limping. “General Applejack! General Applejack!”

As he got closer, it became obvious that the griffon was wounded, the blood seeping from shoulder being the most obvious clue.

“Alrek!” one of the lionesses cried, before leaping over the pride, and rushing to the scout’s side.

The scout ran, pushing past her, as he tried to get to the Earth pony mare. “There’s a large force of changelings ahead! No griffons! They’ve set up a kinda of shield wall!”

Applejack’s mind went straight to the other scouts. “What about the others? Are they alright?”

The scout hesitated. “I...the changelings found us first.”

Silence echoed across the pride.

And then came the screams.

A handful of lionesses across the pride suddenly unleashed a wail of wrathful pain.

They shrieked, their cry echoing off the walls of the hallway, before they shot forward, blood in their eyes.

“After them!” Applejack yelled, “We need to stop them before they do somethin they regret!”

The pride charged forward, trying to catch up with the berserking lionesses, with Applejack, Silver, and Big Mac at the lead.

The howling of the lionesses soon gave way to the din of natural claws against natural armor.

“Hurry!” Applejack yelled.

They turned the corner, and quickly found the shield wall the scout described.

The changelings had sealed the hallway almost completely with their green goo, leaving only a choke point as wide as a single griffon in the middle of the passage. The goo had been solidified to act like rocks, and it hardly moved as the waiting lionesses tried to claw at it. The other newly widowed griffons were now trying to shove their way through, and straight into the waiting changelings.

“Pull them back!” Applejack ordered. “They’re only gonna die if they try and push through!”

Big Mac ran forward, Fluttershy still on his back.

He moved quickly, and his jaw quickly bit down on one of the lionesses tails. He yanked back, pulling the griffon away even as she clawed forward, eager for revenge.

She roared and screeched, her talons ripping up stone as she was pulled backwards. She roared again, and turned on the Earth pony, intent on slashing his face to let her go, only to be stopped by a pair of teal eyes.

“He’s just trying to help you,” Fluttershy said, her voice punctuated by The Stare.

The lionesses winced before breaking into tears.

“Come on, get them away from there! The Changelings hold the advantage!” Applejack roared. “Silver, try breaking through that!”

Silver smirked as Dustmaker’s gem began to glow brighter.

He rushed forward, and brought the massive hammer around.

A beam of changeling magic shot him down.

“Silver!” Applejack cried as the stallion went down.

He hopped back up again. “I’m alright!” he yelled back before grabbing his hammer and charging again.

The remaining widows were pulled away, and Applejack couldn’t help but notice that all but three of them were alive.

She tried to block out the cries of the young hatchling who now found themselves orphans.

“Stay away from the choke point! Attack the barricade!” She ordered.

Silver slammed into the green wall, Dustmaker’s enchantment breaking through with relative ease, only to be blasted again by the changelings on the other side.

As he flew backwards, three changelings quickly began patching the hole in the wall.

Silver got up again, the concussive beam doing little damage. “They’re repairing the wall!” he yelled back.

“We need to get through!” Applejack reaffirmed.

The griffons collected themselves again to make another charge.

Only to be stopped by a noise.

The wail of an electric guitar, turned up to several notches above eleven ripped through the enemy lines from behind. The sheer power of the power cord tearing the shield wall of green mass apart as though it were tissue paper.

And then it transformed into absolute shredding.

The guitar riffs shifted faster than should technically be possible. The wail and whine transformed as the notes went higher and higher into the scale.

And then it ended with another power cord, and the changeling forces were scattered by the sonic attack.

“What in the hay…?” Applejack asked as both forces tried to recover.

“Silly Applejack, don’t you remember?” A new voice said, emanating from a lone figure standing atop an amplifier. In her hooves was slung an electric guitar, the head of which was shaped into a massive axe head. Her pink mane was straight and a wicked grin adorned her face. “I was born on a rock farm!”

Applejack blinked.

Silver blinked.

Big Mac and Fluttershy blinked.

The griffons blinked.

The changelings blinked.

“How the heck do you farm rocks?” asked a griffon.

Pinkie smiled. “You roll them.”

Applejack groaned and facehoofed.

Pinkie, however, took that as a sign to perform an encore.

She began to play again, hitting notes far faster than she should have been able to with hooves.

She quickly finished another riff, and as she did, another figure shot forward.

Soarin’s wingblades and claws dug into soft, changeling flesh as he deftly flew forward, angling his wings for maximum damage against the armored foes.

Pinkie ended her song before swinging the guitar around like the axe it looked like, attempting to crush rather than slice the changelings.

Silver leapt forward, swinging his hammer in time to Pinkie’s axe, and the griffons charged the changelings through the now broken barricade. Applejack smirked as she gripped her chain whip in her mouth.

Sounds like it’s time for a rodeo.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“And then,” Pinkie explained as the pride stepped over the remains of the changelings, “after dealing with meany Peryton pants, we heard the sound of ponies, griffons, and changelings fighting, so Soary and I came to the rescue!”

Applejack nodded and smiled.

Typical Pinkie Pie.

“Wellth,” Silver said, Dustmaker lighting the way again, “I do hafta edmit that you know how to mak an entranse.”

“Comes from being show ponies,” Soarin explained as he walked between the two stallions. “Heck if Rainbow Dash had been with us, we might have tried the light show, too.”

“So you haven’t met up with anypony else yet?” Applejack asked.

“Nopers!” Pinkie exclaimed bouncing next to her. “You guys are the first friendly faces we’ve seen all day!”

“It doesn’t seem like you have any troubles finding anypony, though,” Soarin said with a smirk.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.

Silver smirked.

Applejack smiled. “Well let’s see if our luck holds out.”

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

And there you have it folks.

“Where have you been!?”

Ah! Pinkie! Don’t scare me like that!

“Scare you?! You scared me! You were gone for so long! What happened?”

Well, between the massive paper I had to write, the chores outside and the general lifeness going around, I didn’t have much time to write. I’ve also been working on writing up a dragon language for my book, and while that has been going well, I still am dedicating a lot time to that.

Still, I know I took my time with this chapter, so I’m not going to delay it further by waiting until it’s edited before posting, and I’m going to give you guys a little Omake treat.

“Alright, I’ll let you get away with it, but I am watching you.”

Forever?

“Foreeeeeeever.”

Noted. Next time, a little more Sprarity, and a lot more dragons.

Because dragons.

See you all next time.

“Bye!”

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

Omake: The Day Alan met Maud

In a far away world, a mirror universe. Alan Goldenhoof, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the other members of the Mane Six and Stallion Seven met Pinkie’s older sister, Maud.

“I like rocks.” she said simply.

The close group of friends all looked on at the grey, deadpanning mare that Pinkie introduced as her older sister.

Maud Pie stood, her face impassive, and her personality appearing as bland as her coat.

Pinkie stood next to her, expectantly smiling as she waited for something, anything, for her friends that would give some sort of indication as to what they thought of her beloved sister.

There was silence for a moment or two.

Alan spoke up first. “I like her!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Should...should we help?” Thunderlane asked as the mane six struggled to make conversation.

Twilight looked at her husband, her eyes pleading with him.

“Nope,” Alan said, “just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

As Pinkie and Maud walked away, the latter having just punched her way through a boulder to save the former’s life, Alan quickly ran forward. “Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

Both mares stopped as Alan stepped in front of her.

Maud stared at him, expectantly.

“Pinkie, did you know she could do that?”

“Do what?”

“Punch through rock like that!”

“Well, yeah!”

“And you didn’t recruit her for the army?”

“I’m a pacifist,” Maud explained.

Alan blinked, and sighed. “It’s like wasting a french maid on a gay man…”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“So,” Twilight began as the two walked home, “what did you think of her?”

“Well, I said I liked her, didn’t I?” Alan answered.

“Well, yeah, but what did you think about her?”

“Oh. Well…” Alan said, a mana-hand rubbing his chin. “She’s quiet, reserved, nice girl in general.”

Twilight nodded.

“Of course, I kept thinking she’d say ‘Azerath Metrion Zinthos,’ but we all know that’s your line.”

“Wait, what?”