(Revised) Episode 68: ...The More Exhausted You Are When It Catches Up To You
As you run through the forest towards where you think your baby is, you somehow don't notice the low hanging branch at the level of your horn and-*thwack*.
Pains shoots through your body as you clutch your head in pain, as the new anger coursing through your veins causes you to lash out.
"Would you kindly BURN!" you shout causing a small spurt of flames to pathetically leak out of your Power Glove, barely singing the branch.
You're still on low you fool.
"Shut up!" you growl. as you turn the Power Glove over and check the dial. Sure enough, the dial is still set to [Low]. You grab the dial and sharply turn it back to [High] (almost breaking the dial in the process) before shouting,
"Would you kindly BURN!"
The tree instantly transforms into a blazing inferno and the fire spreads, setting the entire forest around you on fire.
Annnnd now you've set the forest on fire. Congratulations.
"Just shut up!" you scream at your shadow, "I don't need to-"
*Crack*
You look up to see one on the trees has weakened from the flames and has started tipping over. You quickly leap out of the ring of fire and start following the signal from Nightshade, leaving the fire behind you. As you run towards where you feel Nightshade's presence, you don't notice your scarf fall onto the ground as it slowly begins to be consumed by the raging fire...
SOMETIME LATER
You chase after the bugs into the forest, and you are absolutely bucking furious.
“When we catch them, squash them into paste!” Selena growls.
“If they harm her, they’ll get worse!” you reply
As you get closer to Nightshade's presence you yell,
“When I catch them, I will squash them into paste!”
If they harm a single hair on her mane, they’ll get worse! Selena growls.
Suddenly, three changelings swoop down on you, trying to take you by surprise; the first seems especially keen on taking you down as she charges at you with a flying kick, but in your volatile state, you simply grab her by the leg and swing her like a flail to smash away the others.
"Would you kindly BURN MOTHERBUCKERS!" you scream as you point the Power Glove at the two other changelings and activate the "Incinerate!" plasmid, but seeing how they were still in the air due to you hitting them, you miss and ignite a tree instead. Sensing that they're outmatched, the other two retreat into the forest as soon as they reorient themselves.
"Wait! Don't leave me behind!" the one you've still got a grip on calls after them.
You smack her upside the head, "Quiet! You're going to take me to them now, and you're goin- HEY! What are you doing?!"
She seems to be concentrating really hard for some reason, her eyes glowing blue. You realize she's probably trying to contact the others telepathically, so you slap her horn to break her concentration.
"Calling for help won't work." You tell her, "Even if they did come back to save you I'll just squish them anyway. So you might as well take a message. Kay?!"
She nods meekly and so you clear your voice and prepare to quote one of your favorite movie monologues ever, courtesy of certified badflank Liam Knees-em;
"I don't know who you are and I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I only make 40 Bits a day. But what I do have are a particular set of powers; powers that I have collected over a crazy and at times painful life. Powers that would make Nightmare Moon look like a Breezie." You take a pause for dramatic effect, "If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not hunt you down." You then fix the changeling with a glowing orange-eyed glare, "But if you don't let her go, I will look for you, I will find you, I will tear through whatever petty defenses you put up, and I will make you wish I'd kill you."
"That... was actually pretty cool." the changeling in your hoof comments with maybe a hint of snark.
"Really?" you ask "Cause I was kind of improvising since I haven't seen that movie in a long ti-"
"Yeah, in fact it was almost as cool as THIS!" she says before spitting a wad of changeling slime in your face while you're distracted and dashes off while you remove the slime from your face.
As soon as you got the slime off, you spot an ancient looking cave. You feel Nightshade's presence radiating from within it so you blindly charge in while roaring,
"GAHHHHHHHHH-"
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After you run into the cave, eventually you round a bend and are blindsided and dogpiled by 4 changelings; 3 males, and a female with a blonde mane. After a brief struggle, you find two of them holding your front limbs while the other 2 (the female and the big one) are standing in front of you.
“Well well well, if it isn't Mr. Lucky-” says one of the males holding your arms.
“The Luckiest Changeling in the world,” says the other changeling on your left who sounds a lot like the one on your right.
You grit your teeth as you growl in anger at this as "Mr. Lucky" was one of the cruel nicknames you were given in the hive because of your terrible luck.
“Calm down there Gingy, or else we’ll have to loosen your jaw for you.” says the big male in front of you.
“Let me go and give me back my daughter or I swear I’m gonna-” you threaten
“You’re gonna what groundwalker?” taunts the Female in front of you.
That nickname in particular holds bad memories for you since you can’t fly.
“Yeah Flyboy, you’re in no position to be demanding anything!” says the larger-than-the-rest male, “We decide if you get your portable love supply back or not."
*SNAP*
“What the buck did you just say!” you roar in anger with glowing orange eyes as the two changelings tighten their grip on your limbs.* “GIVE ME MY DAUGHTER BACK OR I WILL BURN EVERY LAST ON-*crack*” you shout before the bigger one punches you in the face.
“Hey he did warn you,” say the two changelings holding your arms at the same time as they snicker cruelly.
You spit out some blood, before glaring at him with orange eyes.
“Shut your mouth you little maggot, you obey us now. So you best learn the pecking ord-”
“WHAT THE BUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” shouts a female voice.
All of you look over to see the Pink Maned changeling from Fillydelphia, and she looks angry... and scared?
“We got him Sin, now we can-” replies the big one before she interrupts
“I ordered you all to lure him here, not jump him!”
“But he was being dific-”
“LET HIM GO YOU BUCKING IDIOT!” she shouts.
“But we-”
“DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!”
“Oh please, this is the clumsy unlucky worthless maggot runt of the hive, what is he gonna *CRACK* do?” The big one finishes.
“This."
The large changeling turns in confusion only to be greeted with a flame-covered hoof smashing into his face (while they were distracted, you violently slammed together the heads of the two changelings holding your arms).
"FALCON PUNCH!” you cry as your hoof briefly caves in his face and sends him violently smashing into a wall at high speed, leaving a dent. You then turn your glowing eyes to the Blonde maned one and ready a "Psycho Crusher", but the Pink Maned one steps in front of her.
“That's enough! I told you he was stronger now,” she authoritatively says to the others.
“Where is she?” you growl.
“She is safe 9001, do not fret, there is no further need for your power.” she says trying to calm you down. Then that conniving smile returns to her face and her voice then takes on a softer tone as she starts praising you...
"9001," the pink-maned changeling greets. "How are you doing on this lovely day?"
"I don't answer to that name," you growl. "Now, listen to me and listen well, because you only get one chance. Give me back my daughter and I won't squish you beneath my hooves like a cockroach."
"Well, 9001, you sure seem to have grown," the changeling sweetly crows. "I remember when you were such a little thing, the worst in class, the laughing stock of everyone. I suppose you took up pranks to turn the tables, make us the laughed-at instead. But now... the changeling before me is so different." She says as she slinks closer to inspect you.
"A skilled fighter, with powers beyond any drone in recorded history. No longer the fragile joke you were." She continues as she circles you,
"Which I suppose brings me to my point. My little squad and I would like you to-"
Is she seriously trying to sweet talk me after all that? you wonder.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU BUCKING IDIOT?!!! Selena screams in your head, Just squash these imbeciles and retrieve our child!!!
"Oh, yeah." you say before pouncing forward and grabbing the female changeling by the throat. The two changeling twins (who have just recovered from that head-slam) rush at you, but you quickly slam the pink maned changeling into the ground by her throat as you whip out the Power Glove with your free arm and yell,
"Would you kindly BUZZ OFF!!"
As you direct the Insect Swarm plasmid at the charging bugs, but instead of a swarm of hornets being unleashed on the bugs, instead they suddenly hesitate and you can feel their minds, not under full control but definitely influenced.
Huh, Insect Plasmid can control changelings. Neat. you mentally comment before you turn back to the pink-maned one beneath your hooves and growl,
"Give me my daughter or I swear I am going to make these cockroaches tear each others limbs off."
Surprisingly, the changeling gives a hearty laugh even while under your hoof,
"You really have changed, 9001," she coos. "But if you have control over the others, why don't you make them get your daughter?"
"Uh..." you say before thinking,
Why don't I just get the others to get Nightshade?
I DON'T KNOW OR CARE YOU DUMBFLANK! JUST GET OUR DAUGHTER BACK!!!
"I'll assume from your silence that you can't quite give me a reason," the changeling coos before gesturing to the blonde-maned changeling which causes her to rush off...
A few moments later, the Blonde one returns with a scowl as she carries Nightshade.
“Set her down, gently, and back the buck up...” you growl at her as you point the Power Glove at her and ready the "Electro Bolt" plasmid, sparks flying off the glove's fingers.
She looks at you before turning her head to the Pink Maned one still pinned to the ground with your other hoof on her throat.
“Do it,” she commands.
The changeling sets Nightshade’s sleeping body down gently and backs away. You then rush forward and cradle her in your arms before letting out a sigh of relief at her seeming alright. You then notice the big male start to stir and he doesn't look happy, so you protectively hold Nightshade close with one arm as you read your Power Glove in the other while backing up a bit. Suddenly the Pink one orders,
“Stand down you moron, you've already made enough of a mess today...”
“But Lieutenant Sin, he-” starts the big one before the female changeling interrupts.
“That’s an order Corporal Mongo!”
“Yes ma’am” he says as he reluctantly backs down. The pink-maned female changeling (who is apparently named "Sin") then starts verbally tearing into them,
"I have told you all repeatedly of his power and still you idiots insist on underestimating him! You two idiots should especially haven known better (*points/glares at the twins*) seeing how the 3 of us saw what he can do firsthoof at Fillydelphia! You’re all lucky you’re not all green smears on the ground!”
She then turns to you and apologizes,
“Forgive my comrades, circumstances have made them overzealous.”
“Stupid jerks might be a better word for it,” you growl.
“Whatever you term it is besides the point. We wish to speak with you.”
“Oh, so you just wanted a chat? Oh how stupid of me, guess I didn't think of that when you were, I don't know... FOALNAPPING MY DAUGHTER!!!”
The others scowl at you as Sin winces, but she continues,
“Be that as it may, you are here now, and we have much to discuss. You are going to help us 9001.”
“Oh really...” your eyes glow orange as you continue, “and what makes you think I’m going to help the bugs who just foalnapped my Daughter and jumped me?”
She backs up when she sees your eyes,
“Calm yourself, we only did that so that we could get you out here, and these four misinterpreted my orders.”
You glare at her as you think in a disbelieving tone,
Misinterpret my flank, you told them to jump me on purpose. Whatever... might as well try to find out more about their plans before I tear off their limbs and drag them back to Ponyville...
With that thought your glare intensifies as you ask,
"What, you couldn't have visited me when I was alone like I told you to?” you snark.
“You have never been alone, you were always surrounded by either one of the Elements of Harmony, that Royal Guard with a pathetic concept of 'infiltration', a mare lusting after you-"
"Which makes for a tasty snack." the blonde-maned one quips before being silenced by an aside glare from Sin before continuing,
"Or this filly, and we cannot risk being seen period. Not to mention you were always oblivious to most things even when they were right in front of your fangs the before-mentioned lustful mares for example...”
“Plus we're losing patience.” Mongo says.
“Whatever, come on Nightshade, wake up, it’s time to go.” you say, but Nightshade continues to sleep.
“Okay, Wakey wakey... Nightshade?”
She continues to sleep even as you gently shake her.
“Oh great, this again,” you mutter “I thought you had grown out of your power sleeps.”
“She is currently sedated,” says one of the twins causing you and Selena to shout,
“WHAT?!”
“Sedated,” the other twin says.
“Tranquilized,” the other continues.
“Drugged,”
“Pacified,”
“Taking it easy,”
“Chasing the Purple Dragon,” they both say at the end. Your eye twitches in annoyance at their twin speak as you shout,
“I KNOW WHAT THE BUCK IT MEANS! WHY THE BUCK IS SHE DRUGGED?!”
“Do not fear, it was only a precaution. The filly has the strength to stun a Hydra or knock down a Cerberus, and we needed her to get you out here,” Sin says.
I am going to check on her, Selena says, When I get back, I will stamp out their hearts with my heels and before making a quagmire of their mingled brains!
With that, she presumably enters Nightshade’s dreamscape.
“No harm has come to her, you may take her home once we're done talking,” says Sin.
“So what 'oh so important thing' do I need to help you with?” you snark.
Sin sighs in annoyance before she steps up to you and says....
"We need your help."
"...And?" you ask as you gently put your slumbering daughter back into The Inventory.
"We are just five changelings," Sin explains, gesturing to herself and the four others, "And we've lost the hive. It's so far from us now that we can't even track it. All we can do is survive and hope that we'll find them soon, but we're behind enemy lines and five changelings can only do so much against the might of the Equestrian Empire. We need someling with power to help us return to the hive. Someling like you!" She finishes, pointing at you.
"What? Why the buck would I help you?" you ask, "Aside from the fact that you FOALNAPPED MY DAUGHTER, I have no obligation to you. I didn't know you existed until Fillydelphia. Why would I, a changeling with a stable life and family, uproot myself to go help five strangers I've never met before then? And why would I ever want to go back to that slimy hole you all call a hive it's bad enough that I'm already doing that for a time-traveling alien?" you mutter the last part
You see several changelings scowl at you after your description of the hive, but Sin shows no visible reaction. "9001. Think! Think of the possibilities! We'd arrive triumphantly at the hive, everyling wondering where we'd been. But then they'd cheer as you'd reveal your true strength and the hive's imagination would bloom at the prospect of the superweapon they'd just gained. We'd be heroes, all of us, and you could be the key to finally conquering those accursed ponies!"
"Um, yeah, no," You counter, "Look, you can go be as megalomaniacal as you want, but I think I like it better when every pony in Equestria isn't breathing down my neck with a spear."
"As if they aren't doing that already," SIn growls, "But think of the reactions! You could be summoned by the Queen herself, and she'd name you as a General, maybe even a Marshal and-"
"No!" you cry, "I'm not going back there just to blindly serve some arrogant, cruel, tyrant who thinks herself a queen."
"What did you say about Chrysalis?" Mongo asks threateningly through clenched teeth.
"I said that she'd an idiot!" you explode, "She tried to imitate a bucking alicorn and all it did was cause the problems you five have now! Buck that 'queen'! You know what, down with Chrysalis! Down with the Hive Queen!"
"How dare you!" the blonde changeling cries, "Just because you didn't have the best experience, you feel the need to condemn everything that our kind has worked for! Most of us miss the hive! Some of us just can't even fathom what we could do without it!"
"Well I can," you spit, "I'm completely satisfied with the life I have, and if you can't be than that's your problem, not mine!"
Sin sighs as she says,
"Listen, we've all remained in hiding doing whatever it took to survive while also meeting the minimum guidelines for 'Contingency Plan; GORILLA'. You are going to help u-"
"Continental villa?" you ask/interrupt her in confusion.
Sin sighs at your confusion as she says
"I forgot, you dodged that class. Contingency Plan: GORILLA calls for all changelings trapped behind enemy lines and separated from the Hive to stay hidden and return to the Hive as soon as possible, but also to strike at the enemy whenever an opportunity arises whether it be using our disguise spells to frame ponies or even deliberate acts of sabotage."
"Yeah, like I broke up a few families with my seductive disguises. One of whom was a prestigious noble family that funds most of Equestria's airships." Vicky says.
"Well I took down the water supply of Hollow Shades for six days." Mongo brags, "Those softies were whining about dry throats and headaches for almost a week!"
"Well we caused a Hoofball riot in Trottingham." Tannen points out.
"I thought those ponies were already rioting anyway and we were just going to take cre-" Biff says before Tannen elbows him.
You glare at them in shock as you indignantly say,
"You bucking lunatics did what!? If I was even thinking of helping you before, which I wasn't, I"m defiantly not helping now!
As the other changelings look like there about to charge at you in rage, Sin holds her hoof up as she shouts,
"HALT!"
The other changelings look at her in confusion, but you just continue to glare at her as you think,
What are you up to?
Sin sighs again as she says,
"Fine, if you will not help us find the Hive, then you will help us find someling who can. We've been looking for him for awhile, but we've had no luck finding him. But with you with us we might have a chance..."
Your glare lightens slightly as you ask in confusion,
"And how am I supposed to find this bug if you guys couldn't?"
Sin sighs, again, as she says...
BrownDog77 comment
"Because you are the grandson of Specialist 117,” she says, shocking you.
“Grandbuggy? What does...”
“As one of the Supreme Atlas Specialists (*), he has classified knowledge of safe-houses and contingency plans that the rank-and-file have no knowledge of. Fall-back spots and the locations of secret arsenal. He knows this info, and we have to find him.”
“He was banished, remember? Your precious Queen sent him away and left me alone! You know, because you all thought he was a ‘horny old bug of a fool?’”
“A horny fool he may be, but he has vital information and he wasn't blasted during the invasion. He is still out there, which means he’s the only chance we have of finding the others who are in hiding or even fighting back against the ponies in effective gorilla-style warfare.”
“I... don’t know where he is...” you lament/lie as you suppress a flashback.
“But you know him better than anyling else, surely there must be spots that you two loved. Places from your past he might be? Or may have left clues?” she says in that cooing voice again.
You think back on all the good times you had with Grandbuggy. There ere so many places. You never even thought of visiting those spots because of the hurt it would cause you. But what if he left clues for you? What if he’s waiting right now for you to visit these nostalgic parts?
“I…he…”
“Please,” Sin says as she walks towards you, “Please... this is our only hope of returning home...”
You look into her eyes as you think,
She's actually asking, not demanding this time. She seems sincere...
Then you start to remember all the times you were utterly alone and picked on in the hive because Grandbuggy was banished. because the hive sent your family away...
“No.” you say bluntly.
“Wh-what? Why Not?” she says in shock.
“Because I don’t feel like it right now.”
She looks speechless as you continue,
“If I find Grandbuggy, it will be because I wish to reunite with him, not to find the Hive... besides, my job here isn't done yet...” you say thinking about your debt to The Doctor.
“But we need the Hive! What if they are all injured, or imprisoned. Dying from lack of love?”
“That’s not my problem. The Hive was never my home.”
“And amongst these ponies is? These beings who have done nothing but hate and fear you?”
“Yeah, it says something when I’d rather live with them than my own kind doesn’t it,” you punctuate with a glare.
“But...”
“I said No. But hey, if I ever do find something, maybe, just maybe I’ll let you guys know.”
“Really?” she asks.
“Yeah, maybe in a few years, maybe never.” you say vindictively.
The others scowl and growl, and she looks upset as well.
“But I might change my mind if you answer me one thing.” you say.
“What is it?” she asks with a bit of hope.
“How did you know who I was?” you ask.
“I have been watching you ever since your failed reign as the King of the Diamond Dogs,” she says.
“You have?” you ask flabbergasted.
“Yes, I was blasted into the Everfree as well. The nearest outpost we were instructed to go to was abandoned, so I began searching for other stragglers, and I only found you; Donning a cloak and trying to lead those mongrels against Celestia and the Elements head-on.”
That seems like a lifetime ago. you think to yourself.
With your life, I it’s not surprising... why aren't these insects squished yet? says the returned Selena.
Hang on, getting plot details. you mentally reply as Sin continues,
“Since that time, I have kept tabs on you, from Appleloosa, to Canterlot, and Fillydelphia which is where I found privates Biff and Tannen here.” she says pointing to the twins.
You look at the, now named, brothers as Sin continues,
“They had been there since the invasion, and I only ran into them by chance when looking for you,” she says, “Until then, I had begun to think you and I were the only ones left... again.”
"Wait, again?" you ask.
"Because I followed you to Appleloosa, I missed the Queen's return assault on Ponyville... and the Hive was banished once more to Faust knows where..."
"Really? There was another invasion? How the hay didn't I hear about that?"
"Because Ponies seem to have short-term memory problems. You can understand my frustration after I found out," she answers
“Uh-huh..." you say in agreement "so why did you help me at the riots?”
“To protect our food,” chips in Biff.
“Huh?”
“Dead ponies means no love,” continues Tannen.
“No love, equals dead Changelings, I’m sure you can figure out the rest,” says Sin.
“How very noble of you,” you say sarcastically.
“There is no nobility in survival. After the riots, we laid even lower and in making our way out of the city, we found Corporal Mongo and Private Vicky. We are lucky to even have this many in our group after that incident with the increased crackdown on the Horde and changelings alike.” she comments.
“So you've known since way back when who and what I was? If you've knew who I was, why haven’t you ever contacted me until now?”
“Because you are always at the center of attention wherever you go and whenever you put that hood on there has never been a chance to speak, and recently it has been hard to even find who your alias was in town.”
“Huh?”
“Something about your Tennant alias made me doubt it was you... I can’t explain it,” she says.
Oh yeah, my perception filter. you think.
“So we caused some 'accidents' around your Tennant persona and the town in general, hoping that my hunch was right and to inflict some sabotage on the Element's home turf in the meantime."
"Catching two ponies with one slimeball." Mongo says.
"But every time we did, that rainbow-maned butch or that other Vigilante would get in the way.” says Vicky.
“Then how...” you question before being interrupted.
“When I saw 'Baker Sylvester Tennant' making the 'Naco', that is how I truly knew,” says Sin.
“It did look...” says Biff
“Pretty good.” Tannen finishes.
“I’d take a bite,” says Mongo.
“Me too,” says Vicky.
“You used to make them all the time whenever you were anywhere near a taco location, Private 9001.”
“Stop calling me that! I have a name you know!” you growl.
“Fine, Private %$#@^&” she says your real name causing your eyes to widen,
“Tha-that’s not my name anymore. It’s Bugze now... just Bugze."
“Fine, whatever! Bugze! Will you help us now?” she says exasperated.
“OK, just who are you?! How do you know so much about me?” you demand.
A strange look comes across her face, “You really don’t remember who I am? Do you?” she asks with... fear in her voice?
“No... there’s kind of this haze in my mind when it comes to my memories before the Canterlot Invasion being blasted point blank from your queen and being revived bucks with a bug's memories...” you explain as you mutter the last part, “I don’t think I know a Sin, but there is something familiar about you...”
She sighs, “There’s another reason I never contacted you until now... I feared the power you gained... that you would use it on us...”
“Why would you...”
“We were educated together, and we were assigned to the same regiment for years. I am Drone Lieutenant 9077, Pony Alias: Cinnamon "Sin" Sugar.”
Once she says that name, your head hurts a bit as some of the fog in your mind is cut. You remember seeing her around. She was always in the crowd that made fun of you, one of the ring leaders that made your life hell. One of the ones from the Dance...
*SNAP*
“YOU... Would you kindly FREEZE!”
You use your "Winter Blast" on Sin, turning her into a bug-sicle, but before you can do anything elsee, you feel a muscly mass of changeling slam hard into you and send you flying back into the night-ness of the forest through a couple of trees. Mongo smiles cruelly at his hoofywork as he walks over to the frozen Sin and begins to break the ice while saying,
"Huh, I knew that runt was still nothing but a weak larva. I told you that you were worried for no re-*slap*"
Mongo is stopped mid sentence when he gets slapped by Sin! The other changelings gasp in shock as Mongo holds his cheek in pain as he asks,
"Lieutenant, what the buck?!"
Sin just glares at him as she shouts,
"ARE YOU A BUCKING IDIOT, CORPORAL?! YOU JUST SEALED ALL OUR FATES!"
Mongo looks at her in confusion as he asks,
"Right, what's that sweets-munching klutz gonna d-ack!"
Mongo is interrupted as a midnight-colored misty/smoky fox tail whips out of the darkness of the forest, wraps around his neck, and drags him out of the cave.
Sin and the changelings gasp in shock as they run out of the cave and out into a open field. What they see terrifies them as they see the midnight fox tail dangling the large Mongo into the air by his neck. Sin, knowing what the tail means, begins to back away in fear while the other changelings can only gape in shock at what they're seeing.
"This..."
You growl demonically as the burning tree illuminates your form. The changelings eyes widen as they now see you in covered in the Nightmare Cloak, orange glowing eyes blazing with rage. They also realize that the midnight colored fox tail holding their comrade in the air is also from you as you bring him down to face you as you say...
"Is what I'm going to do."
With that you violently smash his face into the cave wall hard enough to leave cracks in the rock before you roar,
"I remember you now... I REMEMBER ALL OF YOU NOW!"
As you feel a mental flash of pain as memories flood your mind... as you remember each changeling before you... and the memories aren't pleasant...
FLASHBACK
It's your first week in the Changeling army, and you're already the laughing stock of the squad. You suck at fighting, you can't fly, your disguise spell stinks, you're a klutz, and your terrible luck is just the rotten cherry on the awful sundae. You're just sitting in your barrack feeling useless. Suddenly, there's a knock on your door so you quickly open it to see twin changelings standing at your door- Biff and Tannen. Their expressions are grim.
"What's the matter?" you ask.
"We've got trouble," Biff replies. "The magic reactor at the center of the hive has been compromised."
"You're the only one who can crawl through the ventilation ducts to shut it down!" Tannen explains, pointing to a vent down the hall.
You put on a stoic expression and march over to the vent, but mentally you're squeeing,
Finally! A chance for me to be the hero instead of a screw-up! All those hours of ducking school and training to watch action flicks are finally gonna pay off!
You duck inside the vent and manage to wriggle about half your body in before-
"Uh, guys?" you say. "I think I'm stuck!" Your only response is a chorus of cruel laughter as you struggle futilely to escape.
FLASHBACK OVER
You point a hoof accusingly at Biff and Tannen.
"You guys left me in that vent all day! You charged everyling who came by two bits apiece so they could give me a swift kick in the rear! I couldn't sit down for half-a-week!"
"Private, that was when we were hatchings!" Biff pleads.
"We-we didn't mean it, it was just us being immature!" Tannen begs.
"Although it was pretty hilario-" Biff says before his brother slaps him on the back of the head.
"Would you kindly STOP MAKING EXCUSES!" You cry as you direct the "Insect Swarm" Plasmid on them. With a cruel smirk, you administer a telepathic wave of pain. causing the two changelings to keel to the ground holding their heads in agony. Your smile grows as you lash out your nightmare to grab Tannen before using him to violently pound on Biff, increasing intensity with each slam. Eventually, the frenzy ends when you lash out a second nightmare tail, grab Biff, and whip the twins around you repeatedly at high speed before sending them violently smashing into a sturdy tree. Before they can even recover, you call out,
"PSYCHO CRUSHER!" And spin-smash the twins through several trees. You then pick up their battered forms and chuck them back near the cave entrance. As you turn your glare towards the shaking Vicky, you don't notice Sin back away even more in fear as she whispers,
"Tw...two tails! Oh no this is not good. One more and he'll..."
You don't hear her panicked whispering as you shout at Vicky,
"And you!"
FLASHBACK PART 2
Vicky, the blond changeling before you, smiles shyly at you. These past few days, she's been the only changeling to act kindly towards you and, needless to say, you've developed crush. Now it's just the two of you alone in your barracks, smiling warmly at each other...
"Hey," Vicky coos, "I thought I heard something outside. Would you kindly go check on it?"
"Sure," you reply, too lovesick to care. You amble out the door and glance around to see... nothing except rain clouds starting to gather. You shrug and turn around to see the door slam in your face.
FLASHBACK OVER
"By the time I got the others to pry open the door (and the less said about how you begged someling to help you, the better) to get out of the storm, you'd filled all my pillows with rotten whipped cream, swapped all my violent videogames with peaceful CDs, and swapped all my peaceful CDs with violent videogames! And the worse part was I liked you! I thought you were my only friend! Maybe even more!!!" you yell.
"It was a joke!" she cries back. "I thought it would be funny. I didn't think you'd be so-"
Vicky stops mid sentence as your body begins to shake. She begins to back away in fear, as does Sin as you begin to mutter,
"Just a joke... Just, a joke? Bwa... bwah... BWAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHA!"
Your head suddenly whips back as you begin to laugh insanely with a look of pure insanity in your eyes as your Nightmare Cloak begins to become more unstable,
"BWAHAHAHAHAHBWAHAHAHAHAHAHBWAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
As your laughter dies down, you look back at Vicky insanely as you yell in the Royal Canterlot Voice,
"YOUR RIGHT, THAT WAS A AWESOME JOKE! SURE YOU BROKE MY ALREADY-DAMAGED HEART, BUT HA-HA IT WAS FUNNY!"
Vicky can only wince, frozen in utter terror as you continue,
"NOW LET ME TELL YOU THE PUNCHLINE OF MINE!"
With that you...
"Shoryuken!" you cry as you catch the changeling in the chin with a vicious uppercut. She flies up and knocks her head against a high branch, before landing hard back on the ground.
Rush forward in a blink of an eye and and send a Shoryuken smashing into her chest (right where her heart should be... if she had one) with enough force to send her streaking into the air, but you quickly lash out your Nightmare Tails, grab her by her blonde-mane, and violently pull her down, the momentum and your tails causing a violent ricochet effect that smashes her into the ground. You then pull her back up by her blonde mane causing her to whimper in pain before you call out,
"FALCON B^%$#-PUNCH!" as your flame-covered hoof smashes into her treacherous face at a slightly downward angle, sending her skidding and rolling along the ground.
As some of your sanity returns, you look over to Mongo who doesn't seem that inured as he pries himself off the cave wall. You can't help but chuckle insanely, before you roar,
"And ESPECIALLY you!"
ITALICIZED TEXT, WE ALL KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS...
It's now been about a month since you joined the army, and you're getting better! You can do five push-ups now! FIVE! So when Screech (probably the worst changeling besides you) asks if you'd like to spar, you eagerly agree. Maybe defeating Screech can improve your reputation!
"OK," Screech replies to your agreement, "Get him, Mongo!"
You turn to see Mongo, the enormous changeling, barreling towards you. After that... pain.
DITTO...
"I woke up in the infirmary. Three Days later!" You growl.
"I was trying to toughen you up you ungrateful wimp! I wasn't even trying to hurt you. Err, too much."
"And that was just ONE of the many beatings you gave me yo-" you continue before Mongo interrupts,
"Oh shut up! Words are wasted on the weak!" he declares as he charges at you.
"Agreed, so would you kindly EAT ICE!"
With that, you launch a dark-blue ice crystal that Mongo easily obliterates with a headbutt, but unfortunately for him that was just a distraction as through the shards you yell, "PSYCHO CRUSHER" and spin-smash into him into the cracked cave wall (again) before following it up with "No Shadow Kick!" as you hit him in the face with a flurry of midair kicks and finally as soon as you land, you finish the combo with "FALCON PUNCH!" as your flame-encased hoof smashes into his face with enough force to smash the humongous changeling through the weakened cave wall.
As the Corporal lays there with bees fluttering around his head, you walk right up to him as you insanely say,
"Ya know, a great clown once said that you should never start with the head as the victim gets all fuzzy so he can't feel the next blow. Let's test that theory shall we?"
With that you grab his pelvic region with the Power Glove in a crushing vise-grip that causes him to give out a weak cry of pain as you say,
"Now would you kindly LIGHT UP!"
With that, nightmarish purple and blue lightning shoots out of the Power Glove and electrocutes him point-blank in the nards sending him into a screaming and twitching frenzy of agony. You laugh in sadistic delight at Mongo's pain, but you soon hear a twig snap and a whimper from behind you. You let go of Mongo (who's still twitching) and turn around to see the quivering form of Sin trying to make a stealthy get-away. When she notices that your eyes are focused on her, she attempts to fly away in fear, but you chuckle darkly at this as you say,
"Would you kindly OH NO YOU DON'T PINK HAIR!"
With that you aim your Power Gloved hoof at her and she suddenly just stops in midair as she starts grabbing at her neck as she begins to gasp for air,
"What... ack... is happening... ack! It feels like... gag... I'm being... ack... choked!"
You can't help but chuckle at this as you lift her over to you and quote,
"I find your lack of Star War's knowledge disturbing..."
When you bring Sin before you, you stare at her choking face, your rage begins to bubble as the memories flow back and you say,
"You helped them scar me for life!" you scream, "You're the reason that Hearts and Hooves Day throws me into an unrelenting rage! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAME UP WITH THE WHOLE BUCKING IDEA!"
As you roar, your force choke increases in intensity alongside your rage causing her to turn a shade of blue under her black changeling shell.
"I was small!" She pleads as she struggles in your grip, "Just a small and immature hatchling! I didn't know what effect my bullying would have. None of us did! We never tried to hurt you permanently. We were just immature kids having our fun."
You shoot her a furious glare as your grip tightens in your rage. You continue to tighten your grip till you hear Selena say
That is what happens when you mess with my daughter! Now Bugze why don't yo-Bugze?
What? you mentally snap, Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?
Obviously, but what you are doing.. this isn't like you. Selena says.
What do you mean? These jerks, especially this jerk, made my early life a living Tartarus. I don't owe them anything. In fact, they're lucky I haven't given them even more of a pounding then I already have!
Don't get me wrong, they deserve this. But if you don't stop now she's going to-
Didn't you hear me?! I owe them nothing! I'm just a normal changeling trying to live a normal life.
But you weren't always. I remember a time when you were more than a bystander. When you aimed to be a savior, a hope for those who had none. A hero. Even ignoring all the times I tried to make you rip that accursed false goddess and her Element bearing pawns to shreds! Also, I'd advise you loosen your grip, least you want her to die of lack of oxygen.
Her comment makes you freeze in contemplation, and your eyes widen in horror as you realize that your slowly choking Sin to death. You quickly stop your force grip, which drops Sin gasping for breath in between her changeling comrades. As Sin looks at you in shock as she regains her breath she asks
"W...why did you stop? You could have killed me then, but you stopped. Why?"
You rub your hoof behind your head awkwardly as you say
"Look, I think maybe I was a bit too harsh. Okay, I was too harsh, I was about to force choke you for Luna's sake! I'm...sorry about that, but I'm still not going to help you back to the hive, that's just never going to happen. But... maybe I'll put in a good word for you back in Ponyville and let them deal with you."
Now that's the idiot I know.
As you extend your hoof to her, she just stares at it in shock as if it was some foreign object from space. Suddenly she does something surprising; She smiles as she accepts your hoof before saying,
Sin says "Bugze, You're right. We've gone two years without the hive why can't we go more years without it."
"900-I mean Bugze, You're right. We've... we've gone two years without the hive. Wh... why can't we go a few more years without it?"
You smile as she says this, and are about to say something when you are suddenly tackled! You grunt in pain before you "Shoryuken!" Mongo off of you. Sin looks at him in shock as she asks,
"What are you doing Corporal! We could have left peacefully!"
Mongo just glares at you as he says,
"Looks like those newspapers Vicky read were right, you can control minds!"
You stare at him for a few seconds before you facehoof and yell,
"For the love of Luna, I DO NOT HAVE MIND CONTROL POWERS!"
"Yeah, there's no way you can have mind control powers. You would have to have a mind in the first place to even have them!"
You growl at this as Vicky says,
"Yeah, he's got no brains. This idiot did all of this for some food factory!"
You growl even more as you glare at Vicky in hatred as you say,
"The buck did you say!?"
The twins nod there heads as they say one after another,
"He called her your love dispenser..."
"Your reverse love sponge..."
"The fridge, or kitche-"
You growl as you yell,
"SHUT UP! SHE'S MY DAUGHTER YOU BUCKING IDIOTS! STOP CALLING HER MY FOOD TAKE OR I'M GONNA-"
"If she's your daughter, then she's got to have your tiny brain." Biff taunts
"Yeah, all we'd need to do is wear an orange wig and all her love is ours to drain" Tannen adds.
You being to shake in anger as Mongo taunts,
"You gonna cry to your mommy and daddy, or wait. You can't because they left you when they realized how much of a failure you are!"
*crack SNAP*
Suddenly, Nightmare cloak particles begin to fly off of you look down at the ground and you begin mutter,
"Don't...don't you ever...
Mongo snickers as he says,
"What? I'm only speaking the truth. Your parent vanished when you were a grub! They probably knew you were a failure before you even hatched!"
As you begin to shake in uncontrollable rage at what these maggots are saying, Sin seems the realize how dumb of a idea mocking the crazy super powerful monster that just beat them down into a pulp as she gets a fearful look as she says,
"GUYS! SHUT UP NOW OR-"
She's interrupted as Mongon says
"Oh, is the little flightless bug getting mad? Maybe your parents made you flightless on purposes to laugh at ya!"
The other changelings begin to laugh at this, which cause your eyes to glow in a blazing orange as the Nightmare cloak rapidly forms around you completely with two fox tails as you roar with the RCV,
"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT MY PARENTS LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!"
With a mighty sweep of your nightmare tails, you knock the changelings and send them all flying into the cave and smashing into the various rocks. You glare at them and see that they're still dazed from your attack. You snort in anger as you turn around to leave, but as you do you hear Sin call out...
“No... *cough cough*, wait, you have to help us!”
“I don’t have to do squat!” you yell as you turn around.
“PLEASE!” she begs, “We NEED your help...” she cries no longer being demanding.
“You should have thought about that before you drugged and kidnapped my daughter.” You then start to turn around, but then you turn back to them and say,
“And for one last tip: Don’t reveal to the guy with immense powers that you want help from that you were one of the jerks that used to make his life a living Tartarus!”
“I’M SORRY!!!” she shouts causing you to pause, “I’m sorry.... for all the stuff the others and I did. I’m sorry I didn't apologize sooner... I’m sorry about what happened at the dance... please... please help us.”
You glare at her as you see she looks desperate and actually sorry. Still, your heart is now absolutely hardened towards your bullies,
“Apology not accepted, It’s too late... FIFTEEN YEARS too late.",” you say vindictively causing her to look crestfallen, “Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get going now as I got work in the morning. maybe you all should get an honest job instead of skulking about like cockroaches. And if you try anything again to me, my daughter, or any of the ponies in Ponyville, *snap* I won't be so nice next time.”
You notice a tear slip out of her eye as she puts her head down in defeat which brings you both vindictive satisfaction... and regret?
“And here’s some food for thought, maybe you all should really question why you need the Hive. Because it doesn't look like it needs you!”
With that you turn around to leave, when you hear Vicky shout...
Kersey475 comment
"Dragons!"
You turn around and see a small group of teenage Dragons coming across the beaten forms of the Changelings.
"Well, well, well... What do we have here?"
"I don't remember Bug tasting all that good, dude." says the purple dragon.
"Who cares, let's play Smash the Bug!" says the Red one before proceeding to punt Sin across the cave. She goes flying till she comes to a sliding halt at your hooves. She looks up at you with desperation and tears in her eyes as she cries,
"Please... Help Us!"
You just look down at her beaten form before you turn around and walk away, leaving them to their fate. Suddenly Sin grabs on to you and pleads,
"Please Bugze! I'm begging you. Save us! You would be killing us if you left now!"
Your heart still hardened by rage and hate, you coldly and darkly say,
As you walk out the entrance to the cave, you turn around to get one last look at the changelings as the dragons get closer. You see Vicky is desperately trying to get up as one of the dragons advances on her, Mongo is up and fighting a dragon already, the twins are flying near the ceiling of the cave in an attempt to create distance, and Sin appears to be fumbling with some items. You just stare at them for a few more seconds, before you give a heavy sigh, turn around, and walk away....
After a couple of steps, you hear Selena say in concern,
Bugze... Those Slimy pests deserved the beating they received, but there's only a 50/50 chance that they'll live.
Don't care, Not my problem. you say bluntly.
They will either die, or they can escape and come after us again. she counters.
So what, I'll just beat them into the ground again like I did this time. Besides, it's what they get for trying to hurt Nightshade.
While I do agree, and while I know you can, how do they say it, "throttle" them again, they would just come back. What then? she says.
You stop walking at Selena's question to think for a moment, before you think
Then I"ll drag them to Sunbutt herself and leave them to rot in her dungeon. No second chances. I'm that sort of a bug now. Besides like you said, their fates are in the hooves of Lady Luck now. Anyway, how's Nightshade? you ask in an attempt to change the subject.
She dreams comfortably. Something involving Ducks Swimming in the Water, but she is unharmed. Selena answers.
“Good... good- whoa!”
Suddenly a big black vine sprouts out of the ground and sprays gas in your face, on reflex you go,
"Would you kindly burn!"
And incinerate the offending vine, but you're beginning to feel woozy...
"Selena... a bit of help?" you ask.
This drug is powerful. I can't-
And that's all you hear from her as you pass out on the forest floor with your final thought being...
Why do I keep...getting...druged...
WHEN YOU WAKE UP
When you come to, you notice that it's now morning. You were knocked out all night!
"Luna... What the buck happened last night?"
With that, you yawn and stretch as you begin to recall yesterday's events. As you begin to stretch you begin to recall the events that led to this,
"Let's see... I went out to the comic store to buy a new issue of The Dark Offender only to unintentionally give Sparkle Butt the idea of being a vigilante. Next I disbanded the Horde for their own safety, then I got dragged to the spa, got into a all-out melee (again), got attacked by a stallion on steroids, and finally I met the tormentors of my larvaehood again, beat them like eggs, and left them with a fifty-fifty percent of surviving a couple of teenage dragons. Knowing my luck they probably escaped and are plotting their revenge on me, which I guess is good in the sense that their not dead..."
As the events of the past couple of days finally catch up to you, you can't help but facehoof as you mutter into your hoof,
"Ugh...why can't you give me a day off Lady Luck, I'll stop mocking you if ya do...for that day at least."
You look back over to the direction of the cave you left your old bullies at, and you can't help but think guilty
I hope they made it out. I may hate them with a burning passion and they may be the biggest jerks in the whole universe (next to Lady Luck at least), but that doesn't mean they deserve to die. Sigh, oh well. Like I said their fates up to Lady Luck's mood, which must be high considering how much torture I've been through the last couple of days
With another sigh you say out loud
"Also, gotta remember to buy some of those anger management books back at town, Luna knows after today I'm gonna need to learn to keep my anger down. Cause for some strange reason I feel like if this was another universe I would have sealed off that cave and left them to their doom..."
You burst out laughing at this as you say
"Bwahahahahaha! Like that'll ever happen!"
As you calm down from your laughter, you begin to walk back towards where you think Ponyville is, when you realize something...
You then realize you are totally lost and have no idea which direction the town is in. You wander around for a few hours before you suddenly spot a Purple Dragon in the distance with a hobo stick.
“Wait, is that Spike? What’s he doing out here on his own?”
What Do?
You're deep in this forest... again. You can't help but throw your hooves in the air and yell at the top of your lungs,
"BUCK THIS MOTEHRBUCKING FOREST! I WISH IT WILL BURN IN THE PITS OF TARTURUS!"
As you breath in deeply, you start to calm down as you sigh,
"Oh well... time to go in a random direction to see if I can find my way back. Eenie, meenie, miney, you."
With that you go in the direction you pointed at and set off to hopefully find Ponyville...
6 HOURS LATER
You've been walking through this Luna forsaken forest for the past 6 hours, and you've yet to find a way out. Your pretty sure Lady Luck is covering every exit outta here. As you have been walking through the Everfree, you notice some items are missing from your Potion Sash. You Decided that it was probably nothing. Anyway, you sigh for the billionth time, you see something coming your way. Still tired out from the trekking, the slight guilt, and lots of shouting about how stupid this forest is you hide from whatever's coming since you don't think you can (or even want to) fight it in your current state. When the beast get's closer, you recognize what it is as you whisper,
“Wait, is that Spike? What the hay is he doing out here on his own with a hobo stick?”
What do you do?
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Despite what just happened, part of me hopes this isn't the last we'll see of those five...
I'm not sure how to feel about all of this...And about that sealing the cave and let them die...I don't have that much of a problem with the other...But, Sin is actually trying to get on his good side...And seem to actually regret about what she did, especially since he is so powerful now. I actually feel somewhat bad for Sin... <= This is for the previous version of this chapter.
I don't really have anything for the progress of the story except for Bugze need to train himself in control and fighting and a bit on acting...Make himself stronger in all meaning...
So i gotta revise/edit this now? screw y'all! xD i wont agree to the system!! instead ill just do this; fgfsdjklghlsdjkghklsjgjksgljsdlgjksghklsfnjknsdfopiguhserouisgnklargargoiwoeuighjkrlsenkjlbioasgklasjbftraweuilrfhsadfjklahsgkljasuiobeibfeklasjbfoiaurhjiakrlgahklgjhwefuiawf The end, herpaderpkerp
I agree with these guys, I hope we see them again.
It would be awesome for them to resolve their differences.
Grandbuggys hat has a diamond brim? reminds me of a certain bond villain.
You know what they say, no body, no bounty.
I'm thinking they survived. After all, I'm sure the dragons sort of noticed after a moment SOMEONE sealed that cave. And being teen dragons who were just out to be teen idiots, the moment they realize they'd been locked in with their play things, the fight stops.
Garble: Hey guys! Hold up! Someone just blocked the cave!
That being said, logical progression would say that Sin and Co are pissed now. And since they know Bugze and his Alias, they're going to blow his cover, just to be vindictive. It has been a long run for Baker Sylvester Tenant, but I think it's time that alias ended. Not right away since it seems the writing is leading towards some Bro-Time with spike on the great dragon migration, but Bugze just burned some bridges and set things up to make EVEN MORE enemies.
There are some fun things to do with that too. Revealing to half the mares lusting after him that it's been their so-called 'worst enemy' the entire time. And then the mental and moral impasse as a result of seeing his character and behavior day-to-day when he hasn't donned his 'evil alias'.
And this could lead up to a good season climax. The five-changeling miniboss squad led by Sin, a dozen angry adult and adolescent dragons descending on Ponyville, The elements, The guard, and top it off with the princesses getting involved. All with Bugze caught in the middle having a massive mental breakdown.
Bugze: *Thrashing and trashing everyone and everything that gets near him or nightshade while screaming at the top of his lungs, devolving into screaming sobs*: I JUST WANTED TO BE THE GOOD GUY! ALL I EVER WANTED TO DO WAS HELP! BUT YOU WOULDN'T LET ME! NOBODY WOULD LET ME! NOT YOU! NOT MY OWN KIND! NOT LADY LUCK OR DISCORD! EVEN MY OWN FANS! ..And so on with a huge long woe-is-me rant that gets the mane six in the gut about as well as his falcon punches and psycho crushers. Tearjerker points for referencing every unfair accusation and borderline racist cruelty he's undergone in the story.
And as he screams and howls his entire life's woes out, the fight slowly grinds to a halt around his massive temper tantrum.
And then the Nightmare Comes. And it takes all his enemies coming together, plus the elements to stop his dark half from ruining everything.
Whatever fun method it takes, from Element Deus Ex to the power of an entire town that just wants him to stop hurting (Even Sin and Co feeling remorseful for being dicks), to his daughter as 'The One Voice that Tames the Savage Beast', it leaves him in a sizzling crater, curled up in a ball, crying.
A nice, gut-wrenching contrast to put an exclamation point on the exciting climax.
And then I can see several directions to take this after that point.
About the question, I could say a good moment was when she appeared first time in front of Bugzee, or when she tried to make him breakfast
--------------
Spike is walking with a hobo stick around the forest, and meanwhile Bugzee is looking hiden.
"Congratulations with those bugs, you take your revenge with those stupid bugs and killed them, you are becoming better... Who is going to be the next? Maybe Sunbutt? Or you could try with her student, she could be easy or that stupid farm pony" Say the voice of shadow in your head
Bugzee groan as he try to ignore the words
"I did not kill them, only make them pay" Say Bugzee
"Of course not... You only let weak changelings after you beat them so that those teenage dragons could destroy them, maybe you don't remember after too many times in Ponyville with the purple lizard but dragons are carnivore"
A image of Sugar and the others being eated by the dragons appear in Bugzee head, but he shock the head and try to let the image go away
"It's not sure they are dead, maybe they go away..." Say Bugzee as he hope that happened
"Ohh... Come on, little offender is sad? You know they deserved it, after everything they did to you, why are you not happy?" Comment Shadow again in your head
Bugzee can only watch and try to ignore the voice of the shadow, even when he knows that is true. If it was a couple of hours ago he could be very happy to let them die, but now he was full of regret.
"Oh, but don't you feel bad, they are only changelings that laughed at you, even when they asked for your help, is not like they are ponies, right? And let's continue, what about that Zebra in the forest and those rhymes? After all she is also not a pony, or is only that you hate the changelings?" Commented the Shadow as Bugzee feelt like if a cold dagger was just pound in his chest.
"I'm not Xenophobic, I am friend of Spike after all, and they deserved that" Groan Bugzee
"Are you going to kill every changeling you see? That could help your lovely Luna and Sunbutt, let's even search for the foals, after all they are also changelings" Say Shadow as just then Bugzee begin to imagine him destroying a great quantity of eggs and killings changellings foals like nothing.
"He is not like that, shut up!" Say Selena
"Oh, come on... You know is true, he know is true, both of you wanted it, if you remember, both of you wanted that, you did not try to stop him of hurting them, or insisted on returning to the cave and helping them, now they are dead thanks to you, not to say the others changelings that have been forced to obey a stupid queen and are now half dead without love" Say Shadow
Bugzee was feeling like if suddenly he was wearing a ten tons suit, the worst of all that was that he could not say anything because all of that was the truth.
After that he looked to Nightshade.
"What did I do? Bucking Doctor... I'm sure he know this was going to happen" Groaned Bugzee and put his hoof in the mouth looking to Spike
Maybe by luck, Spike seemed to not notice that he was begin followed. Bugzee was still not sure if follow him in secret or try to help him, but for now he wanted to be alone with his toughts.
"Oh, yes... What did you do Bugzee, and what are you going to tell Nightshade? Sorry but daddy meet his cousins that kidnapped you because they are desesperate to help the other cousins and after beating them he left them with a couple of teenage dragons that maybe make a changeling barbecue with them? Oh and even if they survived, they are angry with your daddy and also with you so they could try to kidnap you again?" Commented the shadow and Bugzee could imagine him with a smile of triumph
I would be first if it hadn't been for classes...
For the question: It would be when she attempts to kick the "Balls Of Steel". Flipping hilarious.
--Less likely plot--
You can try to go along with spike, if he was headed towards the dragons, you might be able to see that the other changelings aren't dead.
Like 5890219 thought. Nice idea dude.
(Facepalm.) (Facedesk.) (Facefloor.)
Its GUERILLA!
%$#@^& is a very unusual name. Maybe he's related to qbert?
huge missed opportunity for a "Too late... FIFTEEN YEARS too late."
Also... those bugs kinda did deserve to die. I for one hope they don't show up again.
5891275
You forgot it was on fire.
Because everything is worse when it's on fire.
fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/104/d/8/i_see_what_you_did_there_by_deadwoodpete83-d4w6of0.jpg
You decide to see what Spike is up to. Maybe he finally had enough of Twilight and ran away from home.
You know how much it hurts for a family to break apart, so you don’t want the same thing to happen to him.
You try to call out to him, but the foliage and trees muffle your cries.
As you make your way towards him, you see him come across the shore of a river, where there is a shack set up.
Apparently it’s a rafting business run by a donkey.
You see Spike talking to the Donkey, so you sneak in to eavesdrop.
“You doing a bit of traveling there young one?” asks the donkey.
“Yep, I’m on a journey to find myself,” answers Spike.
“Out here in the forest?”
“No, I’m trying to find where the Dragon Migration headed.”
“Dragon Migration?” you think to yourself. “How the heck did I miss that?”
“Ah, got some family amongst them?” the donkey continues.
“No…not that I know of anyway. I’ve been raised by ponies my whole life. I don’t know the first thing about being a dragon. I’m hoping I can figure it out by learning from my kind.”
That line hits you right in the heart. Poor Spike, being the only dragon amongst ponies. The little guy just wants to know who he is. You can relate to that on a personal level.
“Are you sure a little guy like you should be out here on your lonesome?” asks the donkey.
“Hey, I’m tough! I’m a dragon after all!” says Spike before composing himself. “So, uh, do you think you can take me down the river?”
“Sure thing young’un, that’ll be 150 Bits,”
“150?” you and Spike say at the steep price.
“Well sure, I’ll be taking ya into dragon territory, mighty dangerous for us non dragons.”
“Will an Emerald do?” Spike says as he takes out a hoof sized emerald.
“Ayuh, that’ll work, hop on sir.”
As you see Spike get on the raft and float down the river, a wave of worry passes over you as you begin to debate with yourself.
“Oh, Poor Spike. I should bring him back home. Twilight, McStabFlank and the others must be devastated that he ran away.”
“But on the other hoof, this is a journey of self discovery, who am I to interrupt that?” you counter to yourself
“But what if he gets hurt? He’s a dragon yeah, but he’s still just a kid!”
“But this is his choice! He’s growing up, he’d have to join his kind one day!”
“But he’s leaving behind his family, it will eat at both of them to the end of their days!”
“Follow him from the shadows!” Selena interrupts.
“Huh?”
“If you cannot make up your mind, then do both. Ensure his safety in secret while he journeys to discover himself.”
“That’s….actually a great idea, wait, why do you care about Spike?” you ask.
“This whelp has shown his devotion and support to you and our daughter over and over again. It would be a shame to lose such an ally.”
“Good point, also Twilight, McStabFlank, and Nightshade wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t do something, so yeah, let’s follow him.”
You then follow Spike along the shoreline, keeping the raft within sight.
“So how is Nightshade doing? I’m surprised she’s still asleep.”
“The sedative still courses through her veins, she may be out for some time. But do not worry, I have comforted her. She was still a bit shaken from her kidnapping, but she sleeps calmly now knowing we are with her.”
You sigh in relief at that.
“And Bugze…about what happened at the cave…” she starts.
You seize up with guilt for what you did.
“Don’t…I…I can’t think about that right now,” you stutter.
Selena sighs, "Very well then, when you decide to talk, I will be waiting, but all I will say is this. Inaction is not a reprieve from guilt."
“Selena I…”
“No, I have said my piece, speak when you are ready, I will be with our daughter. In the meantime, protect the Dragon. Nightshade cares for him greatly, I would not see him hurt…”
“I will, but Selena…Selena? Hey!”
She does not answer you because she is with Nightshade now.
“Great…just great,” you mutter to yourself. You now feel even worse because you actually may have broken your promise to her if the changelings died.
Fear suddenly courses through you as you realize it was a Pinkie Promise you two made.
Back in Ponyville
Pinkie Pie hands out some cake to a group of crying mares. Applejack tenses up when she sees Pinkie with a strange far away blank expression on her face and holding something.
“Pinkie, (Sniff) what in tarnation you doin with that axe?”
“I don’t know Applejack, for some reason I kind of felt I needed to take it for a walk. Like something was maybe broken and might need to be broken even more. It''s better if I have it, just in case...” she says cryptically and in monotone.
AJ, Fluttershy, and the other crying mares seem creeped out by this and rightfully so.
"That, uh...sounds very normal..." stutters AJ.
"You think so?" Pinkie asks.
"No!"
Pinkie then starts laughing creepily, unnerving everypony even more
"Pinkie, can you please stop? Now's not the time for that..." says a saddened Fluttershy.
"Yes please, this is a mournful time Ms. Pie," says Octavia.
Pinkie uncrazies and her hair deflates a bit, "Oh, right...sorry, I can't help when my Pinkie sense hits...here girls, enjoy the cake..."
"I don't know if we can...but we'll try Sugarcube...we'll try," says AJ with tears in her eyes.
Back with you.
“OH NO! The Pink Psycho is going to kill me!” you scream aloud.
You see Spike turn his head in your direction, but you duck down behind a bush before he sees you.
"Did you hear that?" asks Spike.
"Meh, probably just some random hungry beast....or the wind."
He just shrugs, guessing he was hearing things.
You poke your head back up from the bushes and sigh, then you try to calm yourself.
“OK, I’ll worry about that later. If I don’t keep an eye on Spike, she won’t be the only one trying to kill me…well more so than usual.”
As you follow Spike, you realize it is really really hot and humid, so you decide to take off your BST outfit. You're out in the middle of the woods, so you feel confident being in your own skin. And wow has it been a long time since you've taken it off. You actually are a little paler than usual. You then realize your awesome scarf is gone.
"What? When? Where!" you shout as you look around frantically. You realize you could've lost it at any moment in the woods. It is gone.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" you scream to the heavens, and when Spike and the Donkey look in your direction again you duck.
"OK Seriously, you've had to have heard something that time?" Spike says to the donkey.
"Kid, when you do this job as long as I have, you learn to block out the disembodied cries of anguish. If you don't then that's when you go missing and become one with them," says the Donkey matter of factly, causing Spike to shiver in dread.
Oh hey, you should sing this ironic lullaby to nightshade in the future!
You decide to talk to Spike and ask what he's up to (Bugze obviously does not know about MLP, and therefore has no knowledge of what happened in that episode). After all, he was part of the Horde and he liked the comic featuring you.
Nightshade is usually most adorable when she's eating or hugging someone.
After reading what Kersey475 had to say, I've calmed down a bit, but Bugze's temper is still out of control, and he's already killed someone because of it. It could get a lot worse if he doesn't take some anger management classes or something like that very soon. Also, regardless of whether someone is, has been, or will remain a bully, I think killing them sends the wrong message, especially when Sin (ironic given her name, considering how much she wanted Bugze to forgive them) was begging him not to kill them, or at least not leave them to die. Unforgiveness is a problem that is all too real in society, one that stretches to the most ridiculous things (people killing others in real life over a video game, or calling the cops on a fellow gamer because of the same). Ultimately, nothing but a poisoned spirit and a worn out mind can result from it, as well as endless pain, mentally, spiritually, and physically.
I understand that the other Changelings were committing hostile acts against Equestria. But leaving these guys to be roasted alive in a sealed cave...
nightshade is most adorable when she speaks neighponese (you know when her pupils turn into stars and she starts squishing her face together) and most badass when she isn't badass, which is never.
she has her aunts features
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Man the angst in this story is just getting way too prevalent. Bugze just killed five changelings and his response was to eat cereal, like a complete psychopath. We also have word of more shadow Bugze which means even more ANGST and chapters filled with nothing but both Bugzes competing to see who can be more grim and edgy.
Can I kindly request that if we are going to kill someone that we just kill them? All this pointless SO DURK AND EDGEY Blatant torture Bugze is doing lately is getting old. I also love how we justified leaving 5 changelings to be bullied to death by basically going:
Like I said, Bugze is a by-the-book budding psychopath.
but hey, as long as we get to protect Precious daughteru Nightshade, who cares how many villages have to burn?
But I can see why killing these characters would be a plus, considering how one dimensional their personalities were.
"Hurp Durp I got my bug butt handed to me, better not change emotion or develop as a character, I know I'll call him more petty insults!"
TL;DR version: I can't wait till bugze the walking atom bomb accidentalies another village of innocents and then responds to his ruining of lives by crying about how it sucks to be him and then eating a bowl of cereal, after which he will promptly forget it ever happened.
You couldn't resist, could you?
I'd say that Nightshade's most bad@$$ moment was when she kicked her dad's flank on Nightmare Night
Nightshade's greatest moment is when she finally showed some of her Alicorn Powers and beat up Bugze on Nightmare Night. That was when we found out that Bugze wasn't the only one you shouldn't make angry. If you do, you have to deal with a pissed off child who hasn't even begun to fully realize her true potential.
5892593 Somehow I doubt we've seen the last of them. At least, I hope.
5893302 that was earth bending, not alicorn power.
5894726 Ya, which she can only do when she went full on White Glowing eyes like how Luna does. She tapped into her powers a bit to fuel it
I don't get some of the people posting.
This is a comment driven story, which pretty much goes whichever way people want it to go. And it seems like the changelings, while not 'nice', aren't going to be dead. And like I posted: 'No body, no bounty'. If you don't SEE it die in fiction, chances are, it's NOT dead.
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ATTENTION HIVE MIND
The latter half of Episode 68: ...The More Exhausted You Are When It Catches Up To You has been revised. Please go back and revise/redo/edit your comments accordingly.
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In response to the video you posted:
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In this TLOAWC-verse, Gorillas were the pioneers of guerrilla warfare tactics. And whomever says it's too late for that line...
In the meantime, do ANY of you have any ideas/comments for the "Dragon Quest" arc?
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Hey guys, DWC here too tell you all that the revision of the chapter is done! Please come on over and check out the new ending!
Omitted sealing the cave eh?
Well, I still expect a breakdown out of Bugze eventually. He's past due for one thanks to the rising stress load and the universe just making problems for him one after another.
Anywho, dragon quest calls for some hilarity of a lighter sort.
Here's a loose idea in the form of a sequence of events spanning the entire arc here.
1: Bugze follows spike, and tries the whole 'protect him from the shadows' bit. For about five minutes, then decides Spike's actually pretty good without his help and quickly switches to following and observing from a greater distance.
2: Bugze accidentally runs into Twilight n Co following spike.
3: Bugze starts hypocritical argument that they don't need to be following him and making sure he's safe. (Even though that's both what Bugze is doing himself, and would do for his own Daughter.)
4: Well... Really, he's just trying to get them to go away because the last thing he needs on this little jaunt through the woods is the potential to have their trouble-magnet tendencies team up with his and blow his cover.
5: The girls manage to rope bugze into their plans to watch spike more... closely. Revealing unexpectedly (to them) that he "Baker Sylvester Tennant", has surprisingly good knowledge of how to disguise and blend in with others using conventional methods. (He's only been doing it for months to a year or two now.)
6: The foolish five** (as I shall now dub Sin and Co...) try to 'discreetly' blow Bugze's cover to either the girls or to the dragons... But fail in a Team Rocket fashion over and over. Completely undetected by the girls, Bugze, or the dragons. (Still makes an odd mess that confuses pony and dragon alike.) They get blasted off again for now.
7: On spike's side, the trouble with Garble starts up and reaches the king of the hoard segment, which turns into a power lunch.
8: The sound of munching and crunching wakes the until now sleeping Nightshade, who immediately pops out of the bag with a yawn, walks right out of cover unaware of the 'danger' she's in, spots Spike, and decides to ask him if gems are actually any good.
9: Garble spots her almost immediately, and instead of taunting spike for being penpals with a pony princess, taunts spike for being friends with a little runt of a pony.
10: Nightshade smears Garble with a Falcon Kick to the nads. (Conveniently at striking height for her too). No boy is safe from her nut-cracker ways. All the teen dragons wisely back off for the moment.
11: Nightshade tries a gem from the hoard. Everyone, pony, dragon, changeling and so on expect her to break her teeth on it.
12: Nightshade bites the gem in half and crunches on it, then spits it out. Gems taste terrible. (But *GASP!* she has the biting power of a dragon.)
13: Nightshade then calls out her father asking if he's got anything good to eat in the inventory. And like that Bugze's cover is blown to the dragons.
14: Garble is back up and angry, tries to attack Nightshade, Bugze reacts and Psycho-crusher's Garble into a wall.
15: The attack on Garble gets the attention of the adults. Bugze realizes too late that this is not a good thing.
16: Cue the running, and the screaming, and twilight blowing the girl's cover to grab them all for a teleport.
17: Twilight forgot Spike because he wasn't the center of attention this time. Bugze realizes this and realizes his 'bro' is now back at the volcano, is known to be associated with what just happened, and is pretty much un-defended.
18: Bugze makes a quick excuse to have Twilight watch Nightshade, and then slips away.
19: Bugze gets Selena to assist him in going in to the dragon's nest hooded and cloaked with his tails, and shows up in time to witness spike helplessly being defiant to Garble and his cronies.
20: Bugze, tailed and cloaked, makes as grand an entrance as he can and gives a Kamina-style speech to Spike, which gets him an Academy Award outside the fic, before faux attacking the dragons to distract them from spike so the little guy can escape.
21: Bugze actually ends up kicking some serious teen dragon ass, but the adults get riled up again and he decides to use his tried and true escape technique of 'LOOK! A DISTRACTION!' to escape rather than try to take on HUNDREDS of agitated adult dragons.
22: Selena is impressed that one of Bugze's plans actually worked for once.
23: Spike catches Bugze talking out-loud to
Selenahimself and asks him why, he quickly covers it up with a shoddy (but strangely believable) excuse.24: Reunite with twilight and Nightshade, and return to ponyville to start whatever sequence of events will be overlapping with the latter half of the Dragon Quest arc.
**Also, Biff and Tannon. Back to the Future refs there. And Vicky from Fairly Odd Parents. Mongo could be from any number of sources...
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You don't know long it has been. Hours could've just been minutes, or minutes could've been hours. Judging by the sun... Well, the sun doesn't usually move unless it is time for the Princesses to change it to night time. Just your luck, too! You have no idea how long you've been gone and your landlord/secret cousin may have some... revelations to your sudden absence.
Once she hears the word "changling" as part of the cause, well...
You fight back a sigh in case of detection, stifling your tired body and mind to force yourself into moving forwards. You don't know how Spike could do it, but his determination leads him from hill to hill, terrain to terrain, and so on forth.
Of course, traveling in foreign lands can attract wild animals. So, being the bro you are, you kick plot for the sake of his safety. It is easy. A few punches, a flaming hoof, and a threatening swarm of bees later, you wonder if you would be a decent body guard. You know, for job options. The cycle repeats until you both ended up in a hot, sweltering cesspool of a rocky jungle, with a few stinking volcanoes and mountains to show for it a fair distance away.
The spawns of dangers has lessen. Although, with the growing closeness of mother bucking dragons, you couldn't blame it. Unless Lady Luck decides to see you to a rabbit hole somewhere along the road.
Seriously, you've both been walking nonstop for so darn long that your hooves start to ache like bullspit. Props to Spike for being bipedal and STILL not get tired. Geez. Maybe it had to do with the hobo stick and the fake beard he had on. Must've been enchanted by Sparklebutt, giving him infinite endurance. Wait a minute...
"...When did Spike grow a beard?!" you suddenly thought. Then, you began to panic. "Did years actually pass?!"
Idiot. It's just a fake, Selena said.
"Oh."
You see smoke coming off of the mountains, which is where the trail of dragons ended. Get any closer and you'll become much closer to barbecue than usual. Thankfully, you're not wearing your scarf, otherwise you'd be a sweating mess!
...
Wait, where the buck is your scarf?!
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After you stop nerd raging over your loss of a one-of-a-kind Doctor Who item (it was the real bucking thing for buck sakes!), you near the end of the long journey.
When Spike got excited as the goal is in sight, he rip the fake beard out of his face and toss it away, convieniently landing onto your exposed muzzle. Annoyed, you intend to tear it out, but when you pass by a stream, the reflection gave you pause.
"...The buck?"
Looking at it, you kinda look like your Grandbuggy, maybe a spitting image of him!
"...I never thought I would see this face again..."
When Selena imitated the sound of clearing her throat, you realize that she is telling you to move on. You kept the beard on. You don't know why you need to, but there is just something about having your mouth covered by a beard that makes you feel comfortable. It's kinda like when your Grandbuggy watches over you.
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You arrive at the top with a gasp, out of breathe and aching from horn to tail. Climbing was bucking Tartarus! You almost stumbled and fell! Several times. Thank Luna for parkour skills... And who the buck builds a rabbit hole in the middle of a rocky PATH?!
Spike is ahead of you, and you didn't like the way the other dragons looks at the kid. You stay put. After all, you barely survived ONE your first time! You rather not place your chances against hundreds, if not thousands, of them all at once. So, you do the next best thing: Scouting.
With the awesome powers of eagle sight that is "ZOOM", you scan the entire mountain top, keeping in mind of Spike's general position.
Hold up, were those Changlings piled up in the distance? With your Bug Swarm Plasmid, you checked for life signs. They're all still alive!
"Yes! Now I don't have to feel too bad again!"
Bugze... Selena uttered sternly in your mind.
"Okay, okay, no excitement when I left for them for dead on purpose... But what am I going to do?" you wonder. "On one hoof, I still have Spike to watch over, but on the other, I don't want to have more "Burned Flag" baggage to deal with..."
It was then suddenly that the rocks beneath crumbled and sent you tumbling forwards, and into the Dragon's den. Every dragon looks at you. Spike is suddenly found to be nowhere in sight.
"Uh... Hi?"
"Ooh! Tasty bug!" salvated a dragon.
"I was kinda hungry for a snack..." said another.
"Let's get 'em!" one of them said lastly.
Selena took the the time to call you a an imbecile along with a gong.
You groaned. "Oh, Buck you Lady Luck!"
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Remember Nightshade's first days of school? Ah, good times. She wrecked Diamond Tiara good, that one...
You follow Spike through a forest after he gets off his raft.
Selena? Are you back yet?
...
I should take that as a no, huh?
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Nightshade creeps along the ground, getting closer and closer to the sheep in front of her. She slowly reaches out a hoof to touch its soft wool...
Zap!
She shrieks in laughter and runs away from the lightning bolts fired at her by the rest of the herd.
Selena sits to the side, shaking her head. "Why do you dream of these creatures?"
"They're fun! Want to play with me?"
"Perhaps another time."
Nightshade sits next to her. "What about Daddy? Do you think he'd want to play with me tonight?"
"I... don't believe so." She sighs as she watches a sheep discharge more electricity into the air. "Your father has a lot on his mind right now."
"Why? Did something happen?"
"It did. I will let him explain it to you, when he is ready. Suffice to say he had a crisis of conscience."
Nightshade chews her lip. "Did... did he make the right choice?"
Selena pauses for a long moment. "Bugze is a complicated being. I feel there are more sides to him than even he knows. If he made the right choice..." She shakes her head. "Time only knows."
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You hold back a sneeze.
They're talking about me in there. I just know it.
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I've always loved Nightshade in this chapter of season 1. The most adorable part was probably this:
Decide that since you're following Spike to a HORDE OF DRAGONS, you decide to check The Inventory and keep the "Big Daddy/Subject Delta armor" on standby in case you need it (or even wear it over or under your fireproof Hooded Offender cloak).
If you put on the armor, more messages boot up on it telling you more details about the suit (like how the whole "overpowers and ignores magic" thing only works if you're wearing the Power Glove WITH the armor and how the drill can now be used in a disorienting ground slam attack).
Come across a field of badgers dancing around mushrooms and the occasional snake... much to you and Spike's utter confusion (must resist... urge to burn...)
After your encounter with the changelings and seeing how you're going up against dragons, you realize you're lacking in anti-air abilities so read the "Kung-Fu For Dummies" book and learn an anti-air grapple which can be either:
-Spinning Piledriver
-Izuna Drop
-Stalliongrad Blizzard
Get a strange feeling that you're not the only one following Spike...
Best Nightshade moment was glomping the Cerberus (viewing the giant gatekeeper of the monsters of Tartarus as little more than a "GIANT PUPPY!")
5903929 I don't think the whole "Overpowers Magic" thing with only the armor works since Bugze has used it already back in Fillydelphia to get through magic with just the glove. So yeah, that wouldn't make much sense. Also, Plasmids and Vigors rewrite your DNA so that the powers literally come from inside Bugze, which is why he has reactions when drinking them, the Glove is like a channel/focal point for all that energy. Bugze isn't really disciplined enough to use it without the glove, and would probably shock himself without a focal point. Like how a Wizard uses a staff or wand to focus their power. So yeah, Bugze's "Sciency" DNA powers are what is getting past one's magic, so it wouldn't make sense for it only to work with just the armor since it's in his blood.
Y'know if I wasn't late to the party I'd suggest he start putting fake healing potions in his potions sack. Pure distilled hatred and malice born of marolina reapers, ghost peppers, and ruby reapers imported from the Crystal Empire (once that becomes a 'thing') suspended in an elixer of liquid rainbow. Then clearly label it as 'Totally not the real healing potion. Really.'
... Of course being Bugze he'd either mistake it for a real one... or ruin the illusion by putting it on his taco.
Welp time to bring Halo into mlp.