Seeking A Quiet Afternoon

by Tired Old Man

Ch. 2-6: Persistent Pests

Mender ran down the hallway where he heard Celestia's scream. He heard a blast of magical energy go off, and he picked up the pace.

He had entered the throne room and saw Celestia flying around escaping a large swarm of changelings following closely behind her. She couldn't shake them, and they were slowly gaining as she devoted what little strength she had into flying.

A stupid, stupid idea formed in his head. He didn't have a better one as he pulled out Celle from the leather holster, and focused its shape into a gladius short sword.

"Hey, bug brains! Why don't you pick on something your own size?!" Mender taunted.

That worked a little too well. Half the swarm broke off from pursuing Celestia and dived towards him instantly.

Mender did the only sensible thing at the time. He fled back down the hallway he came from.

"Shit shit shit shit shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Mender had to gallop hard to outpace the swarm, but came up with an idea as one of the changelings had broken off from the pack to reach him first.

As soon as he heard the buzzing wings of the individual changeling come close enough, he stopped for an instant to turn around and slash at the offender making the noise. His slash struck one of the wings and sliced it clean off, causing the changeling to crash immediately. Mender smiled, the idea worked wonderfully. However, he had to keep running, taking down just one changeling wouldn't get rid of an entire swarm.

It was a simple tactic that Mender would repeat as he ran. Take on the swarm one at a time to reduce the chances of getting beaten to a bloody pulp by the group. He had taken down two more using this method, cutting for the wings to quickly disable their pursuit.

The tactic had to stop being used as soon as he hit the fork in the hallway. He chose left, toward the room he came from, but he stopped as soon as he rounded the corner.

There was another swarm of changelings there, and they sure as buck noticed him, as they now began to charge at him. Mender doubled back and chose the other path instead, barely avoiding the first swarm as they almost overwhelmed him. Unfortunately, both swarms decided to merge into a ridiculously large cluster of changelings before beginning their pursuit of Mender.

Dammit dammit! Where did all these changelings even come from?! Now there were way too many in the newly fused swarm to even consider taking down one at a time. He would tire out long before he could deal with them all...not like he was being tired out as is already just running from them.

Everything was made exponentially worse when he tripped on a bump on the carpet covering the hallway. If he had any slim chance of escaping, that vanished as he fell head-first to the ground.

The buzzing swarm came upon him in an instant...only for it to suddenly be silenced. Mender turned around to see the swarm struggling against a large piece of cloth tied up into a bag. A faint white violet glow surrounded the bag.

"Mender, are you alright?" Rarity asked. She was behind him, her horn glowing the same color as the aura around the cloth bag.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Remind me to tell the Princess to straighten out the carpets in this place."

Rarity smiled, then winced as the changelings struggled against the large cloth bag.

Mender noticed, and realized they didn't have much time. "Rarity, we need to move, now!"

"Darling, you don't have to tell me twice." Rarity dropped the bag, and both ran down the hallway as fast as they could. As they rounded the next corner, the sound of tearing fabric echoed through the hallway to their ears. Time was running out, but safety was within sight as they spotted a door. Mender opened it and ushered Rarity inside before closing it.

Mender had to take a moment to breathe. Rarity was clearly tired out, too. She was breathing as hard if not more than he was.

"So...I take it that cloth...came from one of your bags?" Mender asked mid-breathing

"Yes...darling. Why...do you ask?" She inquired back.

"Nothing...I'll just never...question your baggage...ever again." Mender chuckled. Rarity seemed to enjoy the humor since she smiled at his statement.

Both of them finally returned to breathing normally. It was then that Rarity's eyes fell upon his sword. Her eyes lit up in an instant.

"Mender, where did you get that gorgeous sword?"

Mender blinked, and realized he was still holding onto Celle in its gladius form.

"Oh, uh...it was a gift. From a very close confidant of mine."

"Confidant, am I? I feel honored."

"Is there a better word to describe this relationship, or am I missing something?"

"No, it's perfect...but you DID remind me that you still owe me for that blade, you know."

"Can you bug me about that at a later time? Kinda dealing with changelings at the moment."

"Can do...and will do."

"Oh, that must be quite the gift! It's so...brutish, yet elegant!" Rarity's eyes were practically glimmering as she continued to stare at his sword.

Mender shook his head in confusion. "I didn't peg you as a fan of swords, Rarity."

"Only the beautiful looking ones. Sometimes I walk by the local blacksmith's in Ponyville and I just marvel at the sheen of his blades. They're almost as stunning as my gems, dear."

So that's where she gets her fascination. It compares to the beauty of her gems. Makes sense...in an odd way. Shiny things are shiny things are shiny things, he guessed.

There was little time left to talk, however as they heard buzzing outside the door. Both of their voices turned quiet as they began to whisper.

"So, uh...any ideas on how to take on a giant swarm like that?" Rarity asked.

"Well, we could use that door as a choke-point to filter them all in. You happen to have anything to use as projectiles?" Mender asked.

"Projectiles? Hmm..." Rarity rubbed her chin before her eyes opened as an idea came to her.

"Mender, I did bring a collection of gems with me! Though...I do hate using them against such brutish creatures like changelings..."

Mender narrowed his eyes. "Would you rather have said creatures draining you of your love?"

Rarity sighed. "No...I wouldn't."

"Alright then...so where are the gems?"

"They're in the room right next to this one." Rarity had pointed to the wall to the left of the door they came through.

Mender still heard buzzing in the hallway past the closed door, somewhat in that same direction as where she had pointed.

"...So we have to go through the swarm...in order to get projectiles to fend off the swarm?" Mender sighed.

"Yes...that does sound like a bad idea, doesn't it?"

"All ideas can sound terrible to some degree, Rarity. It just takes the right ponies to see them as good ideas...and great ponies to make them better ideas." Mender smiled as an idea came to him.

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

Mender had no idea why he said that weird inspirational phrase. By his own admission, this was still a terrible idea he came up with.

He ran out the door and whistled to grab the attention of the swarm. As soon as they gave chase, Rarity would run off in the opposite direction to get her gems weaponized in the room next door. That was the idea in its entirety, Mender had no way of going back outside of cutting through the swarm, and that would be suicide...or at least to him, it was.

Then everything changed when he spotted Twilight as he rounded the corner.

"Twilight!" She turned toward Mender's call as he ran up to her with a panicked but appreciative look on his face. "Oh, thank goodness you're fi-"

'Twilight' responded with an evil smile and punched him hard in the cheek, sending him into the wall.

Mender nursed his cheek for a moment before looking back towards 'Twilight', who was still holding that evil look on her face.

"Okay, I probably deserve that, but not from you." Mender responded with a dash and a quick slash to the horn with Celle, cutting it clean off. The disguise faded as the changeling grasped at its stump in pain. He followed up with an uppercut to the chin, knocking it out instantly.

"I'll take the next hit from the REAL Twilight, thank you very much." Mender snidely remarked.

He then remembered that there was still a swarm on his tail, so he ran off back toward the main throne room. He was certain the opposite pathway at the fork still had some changelings patrolling there, and he didn't feel like getting cornered again.

Unsurprisingly, his previous idea to distract the changelings chasing Celestia seemed to work. She was standing over a mass of changeling bodies, panting heavily. She had suffered a few cuts and scrapes from her scuffle, her coat of fur only slightly stained with her own blood.

"Hope you're ready for round two, Tia!" Mender shouted.

Celestia nodded amid her breathing as she charged her horn. Mender knew that was a good time to hit the deck.

The concussive spell shot out from her horn and impacted the swarm as it tried to enter the throne room. They were all slammed against the walls, floor, or roof from the explosion, safe a few lucky ones in the back who were simply sent back down the hallway. Mender got up and rounded himself as he began to take on the stunned changelings recovering on the ground.

Learning from his first successful assaults, Mender went for attacks that disabled either their wings or their horns. Preferably both, if he could manage. As much as he felt like killing these bastards for making tonight even worse for him, Mender had always made a point of trying to kill as few of his foes as possible. Being a medic, he swore to preserve as much life as he could manage, even if they were pesky bugs like these.

By his count, he had severed at least twenty wings and fifteen horns, all on different changelings, before some began to rise up and bare their fangs at him. Mender winced slightly as the memory of a timberwolf sinking their wooden fangs into him entered his mind. He didn't want a repeat performance of that, even if their mouths were significantly smaller.

By this point however, Celestia had decided to join in the fight once again. Just as two more were beginning to rise, she had firmly planted her forehooves on both, pinning them to the ground and knocking them out cold. As she did so, she shot another concussive blast out at seven changelings, scattering them against the walls and disabled them all at once.

Mender responded with a nervous grin before running off to slice at more changelings. It was at that moment that he knew he shouldn't cross her...ever. Not that he had any reason to before...he just had even less of a reason to now.

A few minutes passed as Mender and Celestia took on the remaining changelings. Sounds of pained changeling screams filled the throne room and echoed down the hallway. No reinforcements came after those screams, and Mender was thankful for that. As soon as he cut the last changeling's horn off, he had to lean on Celle and catch his breath. Celestia, already being tired, took a few more deep breaths, yet kept her balance better than Mender did.

"Thanks...Princess."

Celestia said nothing. Instead, she went and hit Mender in the cheek. Not as strong as the changeling that copied Twilight's look, but it still hurt.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"For doing something stupid to save me!" Celestia barked.

"Hey now, stupid things work. You're still alive and kicking, and we took out maybe two swarms of changelings! How do I deserve a hit for that?!" Mender shot back.

Celestia thought about it for a moment, and smiled for the first time tonight. "I guess...you didn't deserve that, Mender. I am sorry."

"I hope I don't deserve any more from you, Tia. That hurt, you know," Mender grumbled as he nursed his now slightly blue cheek, having taken two good hits to it tonight.

Celestia shook her head before asking, "Where are the others, Mender?"

"Rarity's down here on the first floor gathering her gems for projectile weaponry. I don't know where the rest are, though I would imagine they're all back down that same hallway somewhere."

She nodded. "Then we should find them before any more trouble befalls them tonight."

"Gee, and I thought we ought to make a break for the front door and flee while we can." This earned him a hard glare from Celestia. He had no idea how he shrugged that off, but he did. "What? I was kidding!"

Celestia just shook her head and flapped her wings as she took to the air. Mender galloped to take the lead as they reentered the hallway he came from.

He took a right at the fork in the path, intent on checking to see how Rarity was doing. He had heard no noise as he rounded the next corner, which was either a good thing or a really, really bad thing.

He stopped at the second door he saw, and knocked on it.

"Rarity? Are you in there? It's me, Mender!"

Mender barely had enough time to get out of the way before gems of all colors shot through the door. Celestia observed the scene with a small look of shock.

"GET AWAY, YOU RUFFIANS! AWAY WITH YOU!" Rarity screamed as more gems tore what was left of the door into nothing but splinters.

"RARITY, CALM DOWN! IT'S ACTUALLY ME!" Mender yelled.

The shots stopped, but Mender sensed she still had her gems trained on the doorway as he slowly poked his head around.

"How...how do I know it's you?" She asked.

Mender narrowed his eyes. "You have yet to give me my uniform back...and I have Princess Celestia with me."

Celestia walked in front of the doorway to help confirm this, and Rarity released the telekinetic grasp she had on her gems.

"Oh, thank goodness the both of you are alright!"

"I almost wasn't, but thanks for the sentiment," Mender bitterly remarked.

"Do you know where the others are, Rarity?" Celestia asked.

"Fluttershy went into a room farther down this hallway. I don't remember how far, though."

A collection of screams pierced their ears, echoing down through the hallway and through the open doorway. Without any hesitation, Mender, Rarity, and Celestia all ran out of the room toward the sound.

A slam was heard as three changelings were gathered in front of a door, trying to break it down by tackling it. Mender had tried to close the gap, but three gems sailed past him and scored a hit on the changelings, all of them headshots. They all fell down, knocked out cold as Rarity had pulled the gems back toward her and stuffed them into a satchel he didn't notice her carrying before.

"Damn Rarity, you're a good shot," Mender commented.

Rarity blushed slightly. "Oh, it's nothing really."

"Keep your guard up, though. I've had just about enough of changelings for tonight, and I know it's not over yet."

Mender approached the door, and knocked on it. "Fluttershy, are you in there?"

No response, though he thought he heard whispers coming from inside. "Is anypony in there? Please come out. The changelings are gone."

"No...you're still mad at me." She finally responded through the door.

Mender sighed. "What, about the whole Mama Mender thing? I've gotten over it, okay? Now please, come out. I promise I won't hurt you."

He heard shuffling noises on the other side. Fluttershy must have stacked furniture against the door, he thought.

"Mama Mender?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.

Mender winced as he turned his head to acknowledge her question. "Long story, Tia. Please don't ask me about it right now."

Finally, Fluttershy unlocked the door latch and opened it. She had a fearful look on her face which was unsurprising, considering changelings tried to break the door down.

What WAS surprising were three fillies charging out and tackling Mender to the floor. "MENDER!" They all screamed, causing his ears to ring for a minute.

"OW! I mean...uh, glad you three are safe."

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity had pulled her sister off of Mender and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

Mender managed to speak some words of gratitude now that he only had two fillies on top of him. "Thanks for...keeping them safe, Fluttershy."

"Oh Mender, it was no problem at all. I've taken care of them many times before, you know."

Mender blinked. "How?"

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh...well, I have this...Stare of mine that I use sometimes. It keeps all the animals under my care under control when I need to calm them down."

"It's also really scary!" Scootaloo added.

So THAT was the chilly feeling he got when he first met Fluttershy. Mender was happy to know this information should he somehow anger Fluttershy. In a moment of clarity, Mender nodded before he ushered the fillies off of him so that he could stand. He walked over to Princess Celestia while Fluttershy and Rarity kept an eye on the Crusaders.

"Alright. Changelings are probably still patrolling this castle, and now we've got three more to escort to safety. What's the plan, then?"

Celestia thought for a moment before coming to an answer. "I need to find Luna. These changelings had to have come in through her barrier, and I need to find out if she's alright."

"Understood, Princess. You sure you don't need me to come along so I can bail you out again?" Mender asked with a small grin.

Celestia scoffed. "I'll be fine, Mender. You just need to worry about getting those fillies to safety."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Stay safe, Tia."

"You too, Mendy." This time Celestia grinned, while Mender scowled slightly.

Celestia flared her wings, and took off down the hallway toward Luna's tower.

Rarity noticed and spoke up first. "Mender, where's Princess Celestia going?"

"To find Luna. Meanwhile, we have to get the Crusaders to a safer location."

"What about our friends?" Fluttershy asked.

Mender thought about that for a moment. He acknowledged that they could be in danger as well, but safety of the fillies was top priority for him. Hmm...

"In that case, Fluttershy and Rarity, you two go off and find your friends. I can get these fillies out of the castle through the main entrance. Celestia and I already cleared that path out, so there should be no problems escaping that way."

Fluttershy nodded in response, but Rarity had to think it over. She knew that Fluttershy was a capable caretaker for the fillies, but Mender?

He noticed her uneasiness, and made another statement. "Rarity, you and Fluttershy know this castle better than I do. If you're going to suggest that Fluttershy take them to safety again like I had her do before, this time I disagree. Changelings are about, and you need somepony that can fight to protect the fillies during their escape. That's either you, or me...no offense, Fluttershy."

"None taken." She quietly responded.

"That said, you would also know where your friends would most likely be here, which is either in their rooms or at some gathering spot that I'm unaware of. I don't imagine Fluttershy to be my best tour guide while these buzzing bugs are around. Thus, you go with her to find your friends, I get the fillies out on a path I'm familiar with already."

Rarity tried to find a fault in his argument...but couldn't find one. "I understand. That really is the best plan, then."

"Military tact at work, miss Rarity. Now then, let's not waste any more time discussing this."

Silent nods were made all around. Rarity and Fluttershy ran down the same direction Celestia went. Meanwhile, Mender began to guide the fillies back towards the main entrance, laying down a few ground rules as they walked.

"Alright you three, it's time for a field trip. I have three very specific, very important rules for you to follow. One, don't leave my sight...ever. Two, don't touch anything. Three, if changelings find us, hide while I take care of them, and come when I call you as soon as they're gone. Nod if you understand everything I just told you."

The Crusaders nodded as they tried to put on a brave face, but Scootaloo asked a rather simple question.

"What if we have to go to the little fillies' room?"

Mender sighed. Buck me. Just...buck me.

Author's Note:

Hiya folks! Old Man here.

So, I just finished my reinforced barricade in preparation for the inevitable intermission. Only now do I realize I need to reinforce it further.

Why? Well, the next chapter ought to explain that. At least, I hope it will. What happens in there I wouldn't even wish on anypony.

Nah, scratch that. I can think of a few that deserve it, including me. That won't happen, though. Not if I can help it.