Time To Feed The Trolls...
“Okay... not gonna lie... that felt nice...” Jason said with a sigh, pulling his shoes on. After their merciless beatdown by Surt, the three battered royals had decided a trip to the spa was in order.
“It’s always nice when a stallion comes in!” Aloe chirped, currently filing Celestia’s hooves.
“I don’t know why not, you girls do excellent work.” He pulled out a sack of bits, placing it on one of the massage tables.
“That's quite a lot of bits,” Lotus piped up, currently massaging Twilight’s back, the alicorn cooing in delight.
“And you earned every one,” he smiled, getting up and cracking his back. “I should get going, girls. Zed, let's go girl.” He whistled to the Baskurr, who had been patiently waiting at the door for her master to finish.
“Come again soon!” Aloe called out, only to shield her eyes as the two vanished in a burst of green light.
"Always, always when I'm relaxing..." Jason grumbled, running a hand through his long, messy hair. Before him were two very strange looking creatures that he had no reference for.
Serket blinked. "He doesn't look like an army."
Nitram shushed her. "Appearances and ce1l1ngs, M1ndfang!" He stepped toward the strange man. "Welcome to Equestr1a's Moon! How can you be of service?"
"Well, what did you summon me for?" the man replied, looking at the two with a critical eye.
Serket raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "We were advertised a one man army. What do you THINK we summoned you for?"
Nitram rolled his eyes. "To put 1t less rudely, OUR FR1ENDS H8VE 8EEN SWALLOWED UP 8Y AN 1NVAS1ON AND WE'D REALLY ENJOY SOME ASS1STANCE!" He paused to inhale. "Sorry, th8t was actually ruder."
"You need an army? Well, I sorta am," he said, holding his arm up and gesturing to the watch-like device around it. "Know what this is?"
Serket sighed. "No, I don't, and unless this is a superweapon, I don't particu--MMPH!"
Nitram, still holding a hand on her mouth, nodded. "Sure. An Omn1tr1x, but 1'm not sure how much help 1t would be what with the ten-m1--OW!" He pulled his hand back, as if it were bitten. (Wait, what am I even narrating. Of COURSE it was bitten. Even a complete moron could figure that out. Where was I?) He glared at his matesprite. "That wasn't necessary!" He nodded at the man. "Cont1nue."
"Hodgepodge says hi, Discord!" Jason shouted. (Do excuse you, and get back to your story. I have stuff to do, things to narrate, and Pinkie isn't here.)
Serket and Nitram exchanged glances. "eR," "You DO realize that there IS no Discord here?"
He just smiled. "That's what you think."
"Um... Okay then. What's your name, anyway?"
"My name is Jason Hughes and this is Zed, and we're everything you need."
Serket blinked. "Riiiiiiiight. Follow me, then. I think I may have gotten a viewport working at some point." ("You mean Captor left 1t open." "Shut it.")
She led Jason, and the Canisaur (It's a canine dinosaur, what am I supposed to call it?), to a transportalizer, whooshing off first. Nitram shrugged. "Off we go, then."
"What's that?" Jason asked, looking at the platform with a raised eyebrow.
Nitram shrugged. "Just a transportal1zer. Hop on, and 1t'll take you to the computer la8. Well," he added as an afterthought, "there's also a corr1dor 1n 8etween, but yeah. 1nstant transport." He rolled his eyes. "Come on then!"
"Alright then, let's go for it." Jason said cracking his neck and getting onto the platform, Zed behind him. With a surprisingly strong push, Nitram ushered them onto the transportalizer, before using it himself. He let them see a dark corridor for a second, before ushering them onto another transportalizer.
They materialized in the computer lab, where Serket was already waiting. "Look what the cat dragged in. What took you so long?"
With another eyeroll, Nitram plopped himself onto a convenient chair. "T8ct, M1ndfang. They've never seen a transportal1zer 8efore."
"Keep that up and I'll just go home," Jason glared, crossing his arms.
Nitram's eyes widened. "nONONONO!" He composed himself. "1 mean, you can't!" he glared at Serket. "Show them!"
Wide-eyed, Serket nodded. She clicked around for a moment, before opening the viewport. "8ehold. The Canterlot Invasion."
And surely, it was indeed a sight to behold. Several massive flying battleships clouding the Canterlot skies, smaller but more agile dropships interspersed around, gigantic mechas crushing buildings beneath them... and between them, thousands, nay, tens of thousands of little dots swarming between.
"Changel1ngs," supplied Nitram dryly. "When 1t was just a couple of hundred, we could t8ke them. 8ut th1s?" He snorted. "1'll just repeat my quest1on. How can you 8e of serv1ce?"
Jason just stared before a smirk slowly grew across his face. "Well, well, well, today is in fact a good day to die." ("Better not be Heroic," Nitram snarked. Ironically.) He pulled a sword out of his pocket, giving it a flick, extending it to its full length. "This is going to get messy."
The trolls exchanged glances, then grinned.
"This..."
"Oughta..."
"8e..."
"Fun."
-----
With another *whoosh,* the trolls and Jason (and his dog[?], I guess,) materialized in mid-Canterlot. Around them, changelings flew through the streets in a frenzy, blotting out the sky and surrounding any ponies still lucky enough to be uncaptured. Jason glanced back and forth at the sheer chaos around him. "So, did you have a plan here, or are we basically just going to fight until one of us dies?"
"Err- you provide a distraction," Serket offered. "Nitram and I will try to find our friends, and get them free. After that... fight until they're all dead, I guess."
"Zed, hunt." Jason ordered. The Baskurr let out a happy growl before running off, shifting into a large crab like creature and dozing through a nearby clump of changelings. Jason reached out, the Omnitrix passing a yellow light over Nitram. "Might as well scan one of you trolls, just in case. Omnitrix, Splice." There was a bright green flash and Jason was transformed into a car sized komodo dragon with an electric blue mane. He let out a bloodcurdling roar, quickly scaling a building and leaping onto a passing drop ship.
"Well. He doesn't mess around," Serket noted. Turning back to Nitram, she gestured down the street. "Come on. Let's find our friends."
-----
The moment Jason climbed aboard the battleship, he found himself face to face with a legion of changelings streaming from the ship's interior. He gave a toothy grin as he leapt towards the swarm of insects, tearing through the bugs. Several of the changelings took to the air above him, concentrating their blasts of magic at the great creature. At first, the magic actually seemed to have an effect, tearing into the beast's flesh... that is until it adapted. Its wounds healed almost instantly, the magic now having no effect whatsoever.
"Come to me!" he roared, racing through the ship's corridors, ripping apart any changeling that came at him, reveling in the bloodshed. He burst through the doors to the bridge, letting out another roar, acid dripping from his maw. The changelings opperating the ship's controls let out screams of terror as Jason leapt towards them, tearing them apart.
The battleship, absent of its recently deceased commanders, succumbed to the force of gravity as it careened towards the ground. In a ferocious crash, the ship dug into the Canterlot streets, twisting metal and sending debris flying before it slowly ground to a halt. Jason rose from the smoking wreckage.
"Weaklings," he snorted, tapping the Omnitrix and reverting to normal. He held his arm out and fired off a multicolored orb of swirling energy at another battleship, which exploded with a massive boom. Zed burst through a nearby building before her Nemetrix timed out. She growled acknowledgement to Jason, who gave a confident grin as changelings started to surround them. "You guys sure you want to do this?" he asked, drawing his sword. When the changelings made no move to retreat, he gave a shrug. "Suit yourselves." And then metal flashed through the air and green coated the road.
-----
With a jolt, Maryam returned to consciousness. Stirring, she glanced around her. The walls were rock, with bright crystals protruding from within the stone. The low ceiling gave off an air of confinement. She glanced around, and saw many of her friends already up and glancing around at their new prison. Maryam quickly got to her feet, drawing attention.
"Oh. You're awake," Captor noted.
"Yes, I Am," Maryam replied. "I Don't Suppose You Know Where We Are."
"II diidn't," Captor explained. "But 2omehow Makara wa2 able two 2hed 2ome liight on the topiic. Apparently, we're trapped iin the abandoned cry2tal miine2 under Canterlot."
"I... See," Maryam said. "And Why Can't We Simply Escape. Blast Our Way Out With Your Psionics. Or Ampora's Magic. Or Zahhak's Strength."
"1t's no us3," Pyrope interrupted. "Th1s whol3 pl4c3 1s l4c3d w1th so m4ny m4g1c4l ch4rms 4nd 3nch4ntm3nts, 1t's lock3d up t1ght3r th4n 4 Boondoll4r hor4d3r's s3cr3t st4sh. Noth1ng w3'v3 tr13d so f4r h4s 3v3n scr3tch3d th3s3 w4lls. W3'r3 not g3tt1ng out 4ny t1m3 soon."
"Hey!" Vantas called. Maryam turned to see him leaning closely to one of the cavern's walls. "Would you shut up for a second?"
"4nd who 4r3 you to t3ll us off?" Pyrope cried. "Do you r3m3mb3r how you w3r3 th3 f1rst to go? W41t to s3t 4n 3x4mpl3, oh w1s3 4nd pow3rful l34d3r!"
"No, seriously," Vantas insisted. "Shut the fuck up and listen."
A sound, like the whistling of wind, was reverberating through the caves. And it was getting closer.
-----
Elsewhere...
Nitram ran full tilt into an alleyway, cursing in the back of his mind. He'd noticed a small swarm of 'lings chasing some ponies there and had followed. Only now, however, had he noticed that the changelings outnumbered both him and the ponies, which he noted consisted of several families.
"All r1ght," he growled, "Step away from the pon1es." Entirely unsurprisingly, his statement was received with unanimous amusement from the 'lings. At the sound of the insects' chuckles, Nitram gave a grimace, before hefting his lance and charging into the swarm.
"Nitram!" Serket called from the other side of the alley. "Stop running off like that. W8 up!" She took to the air, zooming towards her comrade, until a blast of magic struck her back and she crashed into the ground. Turning back, she saw another huge cloud of changelings hovering above her. "Oh shit," she muttered as she gave the fluorite octet a roll.
Get Equipped!
With a flash of blue, a sword appeared in Serket's hand. She gave a glance back at Nitram, before she turned to the changelings before her. "Alright, let's m8ke this quick."
As Serket flew head first into her attackers, Nitram found himself quickly being overtaken. Between stabbing any bugs who came too close, and rolling out of the way of magic blasts, the troll could barely keep himself from being killed. A changeling rushed towards him, but Nitram swung his lance, knocking the bug away with its blunt side.
The changeling recovered, and leapt back towards the troll. This time, Nitram simply shoved his lance through the insect, impaling it like a marshmallow on a stick. A black marshmallow that was green on the inside, impaled on a very, very pointy stick.
A jet of green flew past Nitram's ear. The troll glanced back, spotting the changeling who'd attacked him. He put a hand to his forehead, and the insect went limp at Nitram's Communion. The changeling straightened itself, and under Nitram's influence, turned and rapid-fired blasts of magic into the swarm of changelings still alive. Several of the bugs took the hits and fell away, before another insect tackled the Controller's buggy puppet, and quickly ended him with a bite to the neck.
Nitram grimaced, before he caught the new changeling in his telepathic snare. The changeling's eyes went blank; then, it hurled itself towards Nitram, making no attempts to resist as the troll stabbed through the bug.
The remaining changelings organized themselves, forming a line as they all rushed Nitram simultaneously. Nitram's expression became more and more panicked as he raised his lance against the bugs. Frantically, he stabbed every changeling within reach, and occasionally took a step back as he found his efforts to hold the great changeling line at bay to be quite futile.
His back found the hard brick of a wall, and as he thrust his lance forwards, spearing one last bug on its tip, finally a changeling broke through his offense. The changeling's insectile face filled Nitram's vision as his lance clattered to the ground, the insect hissing as its mouth opened, revealing the razor fangs tucked away within. Nitram did what he could to shy away from the creature pinning him to the building wall, and waited for the pain.
A noise like the crushing of steel reverberated through the streets. Nitram glanced up, and saw the changeling's attention locked on a point farther along the street. It froze for a second or so, before it took to the air, zooming away from Nitram with a strange panic. Confused, Nitram glanced towards the spot the changeling had been looking at.
Up the road, stood an Arch Deconstructor, like a hulking black knight the size of a skyscraper, balanced on its three tripod legs. Its arm cannon was trained on Nitram and the group on ponies he'd been protecting, and glowed green as it was obviously charging some great magical blast. Nitram glanced at the ponies, cowering in fear, and then at the hulking mech. And he knew what he had to do.
As Nitram bent over and retrieved his lance, hidden mechanisms in his metal legs whirred into action, opening vents, aligning circuits. At Nitram's command, the rocket jets fired and he was propelled through the sky, towards the enormous tripod and its massive cannon. Nitram readied his lance as the energies building up in the cannon swirled and crackled with power, clearly almost charged.
Just as the weapon was ready to fire, Nitram streaked into the cannon, and struck like an arrow at the center's opening. The cannon exploded with a great green explosion, a ball of surging balefire– and Nitram was caught in the center. The Deconstructor stumbled backwards from the force of the blast and toppled, broken, to the street, crushing the road beneath it. But the rising smoke, and that fiery blaze from which it streamed, was all that filled Serket's tearing eyes.
"Nitram!" Serket shrieked as she caught sight of her matesprit's burning demise. A changeling sprung at her from behind, but with a blur of orange it was sliced in two; Serket blasted into the air, jetting towards the cloud of smoke that remained of Nitram's funeral pyre.
She caught sight of an object, enveloped in smoke, dropping swiftly from the cloud, and she dove towards it. Arms outstretched, she caught Nitram as he streaked towards the ground. Slowly, horrified, she lowered herself to the road and gingerly placed Nitram's body on the ground. His eyes were closed, his mouth barely open. His skin was streaked with charred burns, and the metal of his legs still glowed faintly with a blazing heat. His clothing was tattered, and one of his horns had snapped away from his head. He was, without a doubt, completely and utterly dead.
"N-Nitram?" Serket stammered futilely. "P-Please. Say something. Anything!" Nitram remained unresponsive, as droplets of water fell from Serket's reddening eyes. Her face curled into a snarl of rage. "Nitr8m you idiot! H8w could you 8e so STUP8D!? H8w could y8u do s8mething so 8one-headed!? Nitr8m, you f8cking f8ck! H8w could you do this!?"
She slammed her fist into the ground, denting the asphalt in her rage. Slowly, her fingers uncurled, and her voice shook as she spoke. "D-d-don't do this. Don't... l-l-leave........" And she leaned over the Page of Breath's body and the living's lips locked with the dead's.
Serket sprung back as suddenly Nitram's body lit with a golden glow. The light shone through the streets, a light of brilliant yellow as with a jolt Serket spotted the wavy golden lines of the Breath symbol hovering above Nitram, and beneath it, a single word, in font of gold. Heroic.
The winds circling through Canterlot picked up speed, their shrill voices merging into an eerie, yet almost calming, choir. The text above Nitram faded away, leaving only the golden symbol of Breath as its hue slowly darkened, changing from brilliant gold to a cooler shade of blue. Nitram's body was encircled with the blue glow, as the freed light became harsher and harsher, more and more intense.
His body slowly pulsed with radiance, as the wind became faster still. Around his corpse, a blue spirograph faded into existence, a swirling pattern of circles. More of these circles appeared, each bigger than the last as they extended into the sky. The wind reached destructive levels, almost like a raging hurricane as the sky swirled with clouds of blue and gray.
Suddenly, the wind stopped, as the world lay still, caught in the eye of the storm. The brilliant glow of blue spread throughout Canterlot, a radiance matching the sun in glory. Nitram's body, in the center of it all, became completely invisible against the harsh blue, a shining spark in the middle of a glimmering fire.
Slowly, the spark rose into the air, as spirographs swirled around it and stray sparks danced in the cool blue light. Nitram was a shining beacon, and through all the light came the symbol of Breath, the cool blue lines shrinking slowly into the dazzling spark as the blue light faded away. The symbol took its place, the sky in the ocean of Nitram's shirt, the deep blue of his cape and his pointed hood, the gold band around his scanty shorts, and the brown of his fairy-like wings.
Nitram floated, high in the sky, and looked down upon himself. "1...1 can fly..."
That's as far as he got before Serket slammed into him midair, tackling him against a building as she gave the resurrected troll a frantic, but no less passionate kiss. Nitram's eyes went wide as Serket's arms wrapped around him, embracing him like a well loved stuffed animal.
Abruptly, she stopped and pulled away, giving Nitram a glare filled with a terrifying fury. "Don't y8u EVER DO TH8T AGAIN!!!" she shrieked at the confused, but no less horrified troll. Then, with another loving squeeze, she kissed him again.
"What... what happened?" Nitram asked when Serket finally broke away.
"Isn't it o8vious? You went God Tier!" Serket proclaimed with joy. She gave a glance downwards. "Though, you might want to put on some shorts 8efore your friends see you like that."
Nitram nodded in agreement. "Yeah. My... fr1ends." He glanced away from Serket for a moment, staring off at something she couldn't understand. "My... my fr1ends." And with those words, Nitram dissolved into a gust of wind and blew away, off to spread the freedom of the breeze.
-----
Vantas took a flying leap back as the rocky wall closest to him lit with a faint blue glow. "What the fuck is that?" The other trolls echoed his expression of shock and awe as the luminescent wall shone brighter, it's glow intensifying. With a gust of air, the rock dissolved away, a scattered wind flowing away through the mines, and the trolls' shock swelled as they spotted the floating figure behind the vanished wall.
"Nitram?" Vantas asked incredulously.
"The one and only," Nitram grinned back from beneath his hood, in his snug blue pajamas. "N1ce to see you all aga1n."
"Y0u went G0d Tier?" Megido cried. "That's amazing! H0w'd y0u d0 it?"
"Well..." Nitram rubbed the back of his head. "Err- 1n h1nds1ght, 1t's k1nd of a b1t awkward to talk about."
"Forget that, what the hell are you wearing!?" Vantas shrieked. "Would it kill you to put some gog-damned shorts on?"
"Y3s. Pl34s3, N1tr4m," Pyrope added, clamping a hand around her nose. "Oh gog th4t 1mag3 w1ll n3v3r l34v3."
"Ugh. Forget that," Nitram ordered. "Come on. We've st1ll got an 1nvas1on to stop!"
"And how are we goiing two do that?" Captor asked. "The la2t tiime we triied that, we got our a22e2 handed to u2 on a 2iilver, blood2taiined platter."
"Serket and 1 called 1n some 8ackup," Nitram grinned. "And that's not all. Guess who else 1 found." Before any guesses could be announced, Vantas spotted the group trotting in beneath Nitram: a coterie of familiar ponies, and a ragged, pink alicorn behind them.
-----
"You all fought well," Jason said as he took a seat against a ruined building. All around him were dead changelings, killed in so many different ways: some were burned, crushed, frozen, vaporized, electrocuted, torn apart, shot full of diamond shards and many other imaginative ways. "May whatever deity you pray to reward you for your efforts and bravery."
Zed let out a short growl, trotting through the carnage, passing crashed ships and mechs. Entire blocks were full of bodies and wreckage. She moved over to him and licked his hand.
"Hey girl," he said softly, petting her head. He let out a sigh, looking around, "You know... only a few months ago, killing was a big thing but now..."
Zed tilted her head, letting out a growl.
"But it's not really about the killing, it's about the battle itself, testing yourself against your enemies, to see who they are and how strong their convictions are."
Zed just stared at him.
"Don't give me that look, Gilgamesh isn't here and you understand this better than anyone."
Zed snorted, licking her lips.
Jason rolled his eyes, tossing her a price of meat, which she snapped up eagerly. He looked down at his torn clothes, sighing. "Rarity is going to be pissed..."
"Hey! Monster 8oy!" Jason glanced over to see Serket, flying over to meet him.
"Jeeeeeeeez," the troll said as she alighted next to the human. "You've 8een 8usy."
"What can I say?" Jason replied. "I get shit done."
"No kidding," Serket said, still a bit in awe. "I think Nitram sort of just freed pretty much everyone, so we'll have some 8ackup soon enough."
"It's good to hear that," Jason said, relief evident in his voice. "I can only deal with so many giant chess mechs and changeling battleships at a time, you know?"
"Hey!" The two turned to see Nitram swirl into the street on the breeze. "There you two are. We've 8een look1ng everywhere for you."
"Dude, what happened to you?" Jason asked, catching sight of Nitram's new outfit. "And- err, would you please put on some shorts or something?"
"Ugh. Aga1n with the shorts?!" Nitram moaned. "Look, can we may8e try to stay on-top1c? 1 was com1ng to tell you that 1 found the others."
"Gr8! Where are they?" Serket asked.
Nitram gave a grin. "They're already here."
A flash of blue and a huge group of fighters appeared in the street. The trolls, weapons deployed and ready for battle, the Elements of Harmony, looking a bit nervous at the sight of the trolls but more than prepared to help out, and Cadance, looking haggard but determined. Jason gave a smile.
"Alright. Now that's what I call backup."
A crunching sound brought their attention back up the street. A siege titan ripped through a building, turning its attention towards the group. A deconstructor blasted through another building, intending to aid its mechanical counterpart. Several battleships appeared in the above airspace, raining changeling troops on the party below.
And with a smash, Queen Chrysalis landed in the midst of the road, smiling deviously at the amalgam of opponents before her. "Hmph. These are the heroes that are giving my forces such a hard time? This is Equestria's last hope? Pathetic."
"Let's see you say that with your face shoved into the ground, Chrysalis," Rainbow Dash shot back.
"You aren't getting the drop on us this time," Serket grinned.
Vantas couldn't help himself. He gave a smirk. "Hey, everybody. Get them."
Chrysalis raised her hoof, a command to her troops to attack. On cue, the changelings engulfed themselves in green magic and sent themselves spiraling like meteors towards the ground. Rainbow Dash took to the sky, smashing into one of the diving insects and sending it spiraling away. She darted towards another one, giving it a powerful kick. Zahhak and Serket followed swiftly after her, knocking away any incoming changelings. Megido raised her hand, telekinetically flinging clumps of the changelings into the ground.
Despite attempts, large groups of changelings made it, crashing into the ground and shaking rubble off of their shells before dashing towards the trolls and the ponies, but met heavy resistance.
Vantas and Twilight led the charge as insects locked in combat with their opponents. Applejack sent Changelings flying with her powerful kicks, as Twilight and Rarity provided magical assistance.
In a flash of green, Jason shifted form, becoming a red manta-like creature. Taking to the air, Jason fired green lasers from his eyes and tail, blasting changelings left and right.
Makara and Pinkie flung pies and related pastries into the enemy's midst, as Captor and Ampora peppered the forces with beams of energy. Nitram and Peixes ran enemies through with their respective weapons, as Maryam and Leijon sliced changelings apart with both claw and saw.
Vantas made a rapid sprint towards Chrysalis. Dual-wielding sickles, he swung the weapons as if they were mere appendages, slicing through changelings like tissue paper. His trail of blood had almost reached the queen when he found himself in the shadow of something massive. Glancing up, he spotted the massive arm of a siege titan, threatening to crush him beneath its bulk. With a burst of agility, he leapt backwards, just avoiding the arm as it smashed into the road.
Vantas turned, and leapt onto the arm, before running along its length towards the shoulder. He stuck a sickle into the metal, dragging its tip along as he ran, making a long cut along the machine. Atop the titan's castle-like head, changeling mages glanced over the edges, firing spells down at the Threshecutioner. One jet of green caught him in the shoulder, and sent him barreling over the edge of the limb. He crashed into the ground, but soon returned to his feet and leapt away to avoid more of the mages' attacks.
A smaller drop ship hovered just above the battle, packed to the brim with changeling reinforcements. Pyrope glanced towards the drop ship, before equipping her jet pack. With a blast of flame, she took to the air, soaring towards the ship. Its doors slid open, revealing the squad of changelings inside, and revealing to the squad the maniacal troll waiting for them.
Pyrope zipped into the ship, and seconds later its floor was soaked with green. The troll gave a grin, before dashing to the ship's controls. She quickly input a series of commands, before turning and leaping from the drop ship's doors. The vehicle blasted off as she allowed her rocket pack to slowly lower herself to the ground. Her gaze turned to the sky, as the dropship blasted off towards one of the larger battleships, and collided into it with a huge explosion.
Nitram dashed forwards, spearing through a line of changelings. Applejack, galloping in the troll's wake, turned and gave a buck to an insect as it leapt towards her. The unfortunate bug was sent flying into its friends, who in turn crashed into the ones behind them. Applejack turned, retrieving her lasso as another changeling pounced towards her. She knocked the bug away before, twirling her rope, she lassoed him in midair. Giving the rope a tug, she slammed him into the ground, before flinging him into another group of his allies.
Applejack turned towards Chrysalis, still standing cocky as her army and the trolls clashed. Sprinting at the queen and whirling her lasso above her head, Applejack tossed the rope at her.
Chrysalis just gave a smirk as a changeling dove from the air, towards the lasso. Grabbing the rope in its mouth, the changeling dragged Applejack off the ground and into the air as she desperately tried to retrieve her lasso. The earth pony gave several vicious tugs on the rope as her legs flailed for ground, but the changeling held fast. Another changeling, soaring through the air, rammed into Applejack, before the two of them crashed into the ground.
The earth pony slowly rose to her hooves, brushing off a bit of dirt. "Yer gonna need more'n that t' stop me," she muttered.
Jason zipped through the air and blasted a group of changelings tailing Rainbow Dash out of the sky. Rainbow turned towards the Displaced. "Hey, thanks," she said. "Who're you again?"
"Jason Hughes. You don't know me," Jason replied. He glanced down towards Chrysalis, who was surrounded by a team of changelings. "There's too many of these guys to take out individually. We've gotta get Chrysalis."
"Heh. Leave it to me," Rainbow replied, giving a grin. "Just blast a hole in their forces, and I'll fly through it."
"If you think you can handle Chrysalis, go ahead," Jason said. Turning his attention back to the Queen, he readied a blast of energy. Releasing a great green laser beam, Jason attacked the buzzing swarm. The group predictably solidified into a wall of insect, protecting their queen. The laser blast obliterated the clump of bugs, and Rainbow dove down through the resulting gap in the wall.
She streaked towards Chrysalis at such speeds that a cone of air began forming around her, and her eyes narrowed as she struggled to press against the drag. Chrysalis smirked before turning. Rainbow's eyes flew wide, and she furiously attempted to stop herself as she zoomed towards the Queen. Chrysalis gave Rainbow a powerful, double-legged kick, sending her flying yet again and crashing into another building.
"I warned her," Jason said as he fired and zoomed towards another group of changelings.
The changelings pressed their attack, putting pressure on the ponies and the trolls. Maryam sawed through insects by the dozens, spilling green ichor through the streets. Pyrope stabbed through any changelings within reach as Peixes tossed her trident at another dropship.
Several archers peered over the top of a building, firing arrows down at Zahhak. The troll, taking notice, zoomed towards the archers, their arrows simply bouncing off his well-muscled body. In a flash, Zahhak disappeared, only to reappear behind the archers. He gave the archers a tap, and they faded away into nonexistence.
The siege titan raised an arm, preparing to slam it down on the trolls below. Jason flew beneath its arm, before in another flash he became a tall, hulking dinosaur-like creature. He gave a grin as he caught the arm on its downwards swing. "Not gonna happen, buddy."
One of the battleships fired a scorching red ray of energy down towards the trolls. Captor, floating into the air, removed his glasses. As energy bubbled up in his eyes, he released a blast of psionics, countering the battleship's attack and resulting in a huge explosion where the beams met.
The deconstructor stepped towards the group. Its arm cannon lit with a green glow, and it released another beam of energy. Twilight stepped up, her horn aglow with lavender. A great pink shield bubble appeared around the trolls and ponies. The beam blasted into Twilight's shield. The barrier held for several seconds, then cracks spread across the bubble's surface, before it shattered with a bang. The unicorn stumbled back and fell to the ground.
Cadance gave Twilight a concerned look, before Twilight began to get to her hooves. The alicorn spread her wings and took to the air.
The Princess of Love soared through the sky, her horn charging with energy as she aimed for one of the battleships. Immediately, a dozen squads of changelings zipped towards her, preparing to attack the princess.
Nitram gave a grin as his hand shone with blue. A gust of wind yanked the changelings in one direction, then blasted them in another. Before long, they found themselves trapped in a flurry of air currents, rapidly changing direction to keep them from making any progress. Serket, catching sight of the huge clump of changelings, gave a grin before giving the fluorite octet a roll.
Holmes's Fury
An enormous magnifying glass appeared, floating above the group of insects. The sun's light, magnified eightfold through the glass, flash fried the clump of changelings, who quickly dropped out of the air.
Serket turned and gave Cadance a thumbs up. The princess gave an appreciative nod back, before she turned back towards the battleship. With a grunt, she released an enormous blast of magic at the carrier. The battleship exploded as Cadance's attack hit it, the princess smiling gleefully at her success.
The deconstructor released another blast of green at the ponies and trolls. Twilight fired a blast of her own magic at the beam, hoping to counter it; it did little more than slow it down. Rarity stepped up next to Twilight, and fired her own beam. The beam slowed a bit more, but still continued to press towards the group, and all of the two's struggles would do nothing to stop it.
"Cadance!" The princess glanced down towards the source of the cry, and spotted the unicorns' plight. Cadance alighted behind them and fired a her own blast of magic, joining with Twilight and Rarity. The two beams, both the ponies' and the deconstructor's, rammed into each other. Slowly, and ever so gradually, the ponies' beam broke through the deconstructor's and impacted into it with a huge explosion, knocking it into a building behind it.
Amazingly, the deconstructor began to stand back up– that is, until Zed, again in the form of the rocky crab thing, rammed into the giant mech, crushing it beneath its bulk.
"Hey. Jason!" Jason, struggling to hold back the siege titan's attack, turned to the source of the voice and found Nitram floating next to his head. "Can you hold that th1ng st1ll for a moment?"
"Depends. What'd ya have planned?" Jason asked.
"Oh, you'll see," Nitram replied before darting away. Jason turned back to the siege titan, before slamming a hand on the Omnitrix. With a flash of green, he became a towering creature with a great fin poking from his head. Now equal in size to the titan, Jason wrapped the mech in a great bear hug, pinning its arms against its sides.
Nitram, meanwhile, hovered down next to Leijon as she clawed through another squad of Changelings. "Hey, Le1jon," he said. "1 need you for a sec."
":33< Ooh! What're we doing?" Leijon asked.
Nitram gave a snap of his fingers. Leijon was encircled with a blue aura, before she found herself floating into the air on a gust of wind. Leijon's face filled with delight as Nitram pointed to the siege titan. "You see that 81g mech over there? T8ke 1t down."
With a squeal of joy, Leijon took to the sky, zooming through the air at the siege titan. Her claws deployed, she soared towards one of the pinned limbs, before slicing right through it. The arm fell to the ground as she zipped over, cutting off the next one... and the next one... and the next one. When all four of its arms had been severed, Leijon floated up to Jason. ":33< You can let it go now," she grinned. ":33< Though, once you do, you may want to run."
"Great. This thing struggles like all hell," Jason grunted back. A flash of green and Jason had returned to his human form. He quickly turned and sprinted out of the way as Leijon turned and rocketed towards the mech's legs. With a flick of her claws, she slashed through the mech's legs, leaving its de-limbed torso to fall unsupported to the ground.
Pinkie Pie, tugging vainly at the green resin sticking her to the ground, noticed a shadow slowly darkening around her. She glanced up, and her eyes went wide as she saw the body of the siege titan toppling towards her. She let out a scream of fright as she tugged even more desperately at the goo binding her to the road.
Suddenly, with a rush of wind and a blur of colors, Pinkie was in Makara's arms as he raced through the streets. The titan crashed into the ground harmlessly behind them as Pinkie glanced around wildly. "What? How? Where did...? Huh?"
"Shh," Makara said, patting Pinkie on the head. "It's OK now, sis. Everything's OK now."
"Aww, thanks for saving me, Maky," Pinkie grinned. "Come here!"
Vantas turned his head away from the sight of Pinkie and Makara hugging it out, and towards Chrysalis. He gave a grin when he noticed Chrysalis no longer looked too confident.
-----
Vinyl smiled at the changelings in her path. "Really, guys. That's not a good idea. I could hurt you." Her statement was met with grins and leers. She shrugged. "Your choice. I prefer not to blow up the audience, but you've made your stance quite clear to me."
With a flash of her horn, all the changelings in her path collapsed, their corpses occasionally sparking in green lightning. The pure white unicorn shrugged and trotted off at a steady pace. She still had work to do.
-----
The Hive Lord lowered his binoculars angrily. "Damn it. We're being slaughtered up here." He glanced at the Drone Director. "Where in Tartarus did they manage to pull THAT guy from?"
DD shrugged. "Don't know, boss. I suspect shenanigans."
Noir growled. "It's always the bloody shenanigans. The Queen's gonna chew my head off if this goes on like this. I think I need to step in."
DD shook his head. "Not sure that's a good idea boss. What can one changeling do, even if he is a hive lord?"
"They're about to find out what I can do," Noir replied, spreading his wings. "Besides, the Queen'll be happy that I'm 'taking initiative' or whatever daft thing she'll say. Anyways, I better get over there now." With a leap, Noir was gliding off towards the battle, leaving DD alone on the rooftop.
"Why am I always the one getting left alone?" DD asked.
-----
As tremors shook the area, Celestia regained consciousness, and peered around her. Everything was distorted, and a green filter obscured most of her vision. It took her several minutes to realize what had happened– after she'd been defeated, the changelings had sealed her up in a cocoon. Even so, she did what she could to observe her surroundings.
She couldn't see much, but down the street she observed flashes of light, and figures moving about. What was going on? A couple shouts pierced through her slimy prison, and with a jolt, she recognized the voice of Twilight Sparkle.
She had escaped? And those taller figures next to her– were the Doomed Gods in Canterlot?
Her horn lit up as she slowly begun melting her way out of her cocoon. Whatever was going on, she'd figure out soon enough. And if the trolls were attacking Twilight... then they'd need Faust herself to save them from her wrath.
-----
Ampora and Peixes, having broken through the Queen's defenses, attacked Chrysalis with all their might, though to little effect. The changeling queen blocked Ampora's blasts with her shield bubbles and moved too quickly for Peixes to land a solid hit. She took a flying leap over the sea-dweller's trident and landed behind Peixes, before firing off a bolt of green magic. Peixes raised her trident to block the beam, but was sent flying back regardless.
Chrysalis turned, and fired another blast of magic at Ampora, who countered with a jolt from his wand. The beams of green and white met, and quickly, Chrysalis began to overtake her opponent. The changeling queen grinned, until she sensed motion behind her. Dodging to the side, she evaded another jab of Peixes's trident. "Hmm," she mused. "You recovered so quickly? Impressive."
"You'll find t)(at I am very resilient," Peixes replied. Dashing forwards, she stabbed her trident into the ground, before vaulting through the air and landing a solid kick to Chrysalis's face. The Queen stumbled back as Peixes turned to her teammate. "Now, Ampora!" she cried.
Ampora swung his wand, ready to release a blast of white, but a glob of green slime landed on the weapon's tip. Ampora groaned, before turning to see who spat the disgusting resin. His eyes widened, and he leapt backwards to avoid a deadly knife swing. Instead of cutting skin, it only sliced the tip off his scarf.
"Hey, Chrysalis," Hive Lord Noir said. "Am I late?"
"You better believe you are, Noir," Chrysalis replied as she sent Peixes flying away. "Now, help me kill these idiots, or you're going to be wearing one of those silly hats you force your subordinates into."
"Sweet Tartarus, I hate you," Noir growled.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Chrysalis smiled.
And from across the battlefield, Vantas spotted his enemies and his eyes shot wide. "Hey! Serket, Nitram!" he called. As the two flew over, Vantas narrowed his eyes. "Noir's joined the battlefield. Come on. Let's go."
"Alright, hold on a second." Vantas turned to see a purple unicorn standing to his left, and giving him a glare. "You don't honsetly expect to take on both Chrysalis and this Noir guy without some pony assistance, do you?"
"I'll be joining in too," Cadance said, landing nearby. "I have a score to settle with these insects."
"Fine, then," Vantas said. "The more the merrier, I guess. Now, how're we going to get to her?"
Nitram's hand, covered in a blue aura, released a huge burst of wind and punched a hole through the cloud of changelings surrounding the Queen. Vantas gave a whistle. "Wow. OK then. Let's go!"
The Threshecutioner lead the charge, dashing through the gap in the changelings' defences before it could close again. Serket and Nitram flew alongside him, and Cadance and Twilight followed afterwards, blasting away any insects who came too close. As Peixes rolled to dodge one of Noir's blasts, and Ampora countered one of Chrysalis's, Vantas finally reached his opponents. "Peixes, Ampora! Tag out!" Vantas commanded. The two trolls glanced back at Vantas, then at each other. Then, they turned and fled.
"Hmph. Well, if it ain't the Threshecutioner and his little friends," Noir taunted. "I suppose I should've known you wouldn't just stay locked away. You didn't before."
"You know me, Noir," Vantas grinned. "I may be the leader, but I'm not tied down by it."
Cadance took a step forwards. "Changeling Queen Chrysalis and Hive Lord Noir," she said, with a very authoritative tone. "For crimes against Equestria, you are hereby placed under arrest. Now, will you surrender, or are we going to have to incapacitate you?"
"I believe you already know the answer to that, Cadance," Chrysalis replied.
"You're correct there," Cadance grinned. "And I am so happy about your decision."
Cadance leapt from her standing position, charging at the Queen. Chrysalis quickly dodged out of the way, and fired a blast of green magic. Cadance countered, with a blue beam of her own, the two attacks colliding and resulting in a huge explosion.
The princess took the initiative, flying forwards through the smoke. Her eyes widened, though, when she saw Chrysalis's feet soaring towards her face. The princess was sent flying away by a massive buck and crashed into a building.
"Hmph. Pathetic," Chrysalis grinned. Gazing at the spot where Cadance had hit the wall, she was blindsided when Twilight sent a blast of magic into her side, knocking her to her feet. Chrysalis glared back towards Twilight, but stopped when Twilight enveloped her in a purple aura and telekinetically slammed her into the ground.
The Changeling Queen groaned as she rose to her feet. "Hmm," she said, a bit wearily. "Maybe this will be interesting after all..."
Over with Noir, Vantas was finding it difficult to land more than a glancing blow on the Hive Lord. Noir was fast, and his knife flew like a bullet, reflecting every one of Vantas's sickle swings. Vantas growled as he sped up his pace, attacking with greater and greater frequency, and was only more frustrated to see Noir do the same. The space between them was so occupied with flashing metal and sharp edges that a flea could not make it through uncut.
Serket, flying in from the side, gave her fluorite octet a roll, the dice landing by Noir's hooves.
Geyser!
Noir leapt back to avoid the fountain of boiling water as it blasted from the street, spraying scalding liquid into the air. Put off guard by the bizarre attack, Noir was caught again when Vantas pounced upon him. The Threshecutioner, swiping with his sickle, slashed Noir across his chest, opening a bleeding cut. The changeling growled in anger and pain, raising his knife to counterattack.
Vantas swung his sickle again, catching Noir's knife inside the circle of the scythe's blade. With another flick of his wrist, Vantas tore the knife from Noir's grip. The weapon clattered away, useless, as Vantas made another slash. Noir leapt away from the attack, and a familiar horse-shaped bludgeon appeared in Noir's hooves. Vantas charged again, but Noir raised the cast iron horse hitcher, and knocked Vantas away. The troll clattered to the street, before slowly beginning to return to his feet.
Meanwhile, Chrysalis and her enemies were slinging spells at each other, each trying their best to defeat the other. Chrysalis dodged a blast that turned a streetlamp into an orange, and another that made a newspaper stand behind her explode in a burst of feathers. She retaliated with a beam of her own.
Twilight put up a shield to block Chrysalis's enormous laser, though when cracks began to appear, Cadance landed beside her, reinforcing the spell with some magic of her own. Chrysalis grinned at her opponents' troubles. "Transformative magic? Destructive magic? Hmph. Nothing I haven't dealt with from your princess, and I disposed of her long ago."
Cadance grinned. "Oh Chrysalis, I'm quite sure you never had to deal with magic like this." Cadance charged up a spell before releasing a bolt of magic. The spell struck the ground below Chrysalis, and suddenly, a giant block of pink crystal burst from the street, catching Chrysalis below the jaw and knocking her away. Chrysalis groaned, and returned to her hooves, only to find them encased with crystal and stuck to the ground.
The queen turned to see Cadance, her own front hooves enveloped in spiky gems as she threateningly smacked the crystal knuckles against each other. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," Cadance grinned before she charged towards Chrysalis, eager to give the Queen a well-deserved beating.
-----
Serket swooped down from the air and grabbed Noir around the middle. She turned away, carrying him up into the sky as the changeling struggled to escape. Tossing him into the air, Serket turned towards Nitram and nodded. The Page gave a nod in reply, then with the gesture of a hand, sent Noir slamming into the ground with a blast of wind.
The Hive Lord moaned before, amazingly, he began to stand. Serket, intent on fixing that as quickly as possible, zoomed down at Noir again, but was caught off guard as the Hive Lord fired a bolt of magic into her face. The Thief was blasted away by the attack, toppling to the ground. She rose quickly and assumed a fighting stance as the scarred changeling approached her.
Noir, holding another of his countless knives in his hooves, swung the blade like a baseball bat, and Serket barely dodged the attack. She wound back for a punch when the cast iron horse hitcher, suspended in Noir's telekinesis, whacked her from the side. Slamming into her head, Serket was sent flying by the weapon. She crashed into the ground, and struggled to get to her feet as the changeling began to approach.
"Oh f8ck no!" Nitram screamed as he appeared before Noir in a gust of wind. With the flick of a hand, the troll sent Noir riding an updraft into the sky. Nitram appeared before the floating Hive Lord in a flash, and punched him across the jaw. Before Noir could respond, Nitram was behind him, giving him another powerful hit.
Then, the Page was at Noir's side, slamming his fist into the changeling's stomach. With a gale-force blast, Noir was flung into one building, and then another, before another updraft sent him even higher into the sky. Nitram appeared above him, and before the changeling could react, the Page's lance pierced through the Hive Lord's chest. He grimaced in pain as Nitram sent him shooting towards the ground, which he hit at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.
Noir groaned, beginning to get to his hooves. He spat a glob of resin onto a hoof, and then began rubbing it over the gaping hole in his chest, trying to contain the blood. Big mistake.
Nitram turned his attention to Vantas, who had returned to his feet. With a snap of his fingers, a blue breeze lifted Vantas into the air. Another snap and he went streaking towards Noir like a furious arrow.
Chrysalis spotted what was going on, and gave a roar of rage. With a swing of her horn, she blasted both Cadance and Twilight away with a magical shockwave. Then, she charged towards Noir, intending to stop what was about to happen.
"Nope!" Jason said, as in a flash of green he became a multicolored, Lego-esque creature. The alien expanded himself, surrounding Chrysalis like a great wall, before he built up and over to trap the Changeling Queen in a dome. "You're not getting out of here," Jason told the Queen. Chrysalis just growled, and began shooting the most powerful blasts she could muster at the dome confining her.
But it was too late. Noir glanced up and spotted Vantas, like an arrow soaring towards its insectile target. Noir made to dodge, but it was still far too late. With a swing of his sickle, Vantas sliced through his carapace and Noir's severed right leg toppled to the ground.
"Ah! Fuck! Fuck again!" Noir screamed as he cradled the painful stump that was all that remained of his leg, desperately trying to keep his blood from spilling over the streets.
As Chrysalis finally smashed through Jason's self-construct, Noir took a glance around. The streets were littered with the corpses of changelings, and those who remained were obviously quite tired. They could summon in a couple mechs or battleships, but the trolls had made it quite clear that those were only a minor nuisance. No... as much as he hated to admit it, there were many ways that this could end, and none ended with the changelings winning.
"Sorry, Chryssie," Noir said. "Invasion's off." And then he disappeared in a flash.
"Noir? What are you doing!?" Chrysalis cried as her kismesis teleported away. She glanced angrily at the spot where the Hive Lord had previously stood, but in doing so failed to spot the incoming Page.
"Yaa!" Nitram cried as he flew towards the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis barely noticed in time, and sidestepped the incoming lance. Cadance stepped up, and with a fierce bolt of magic, the alicorn blasted Chrysalis into the air. The Queen involuntarily somersaulted away before she spread her wings, straightening herself out.
Nitram stretched out his hand, engulfed in a blue aura. Chrysalis, hovering midair, found herself suddenly assaulted with a furious gust of wind, flinging her into one of the many buildings lining the street. The queen disappeared in the dust as she slammed into the third floor of the building, before her wings gave out and she fell hard to the ground. She began struggling to her hooves when she caught sight of the eight dice as they rolled to a stop before her.
A Swift Boot to the Rear!
"Wha-?" Chrysalis barely had time to process the scene when an invisible force gave her posterior a firm kick, sending her flying through the air towards Applejack and Zahhak.
"Together?" Applejack asked.
"D --> Together," Zahhak replied, as he took an offensive stance.
Applejack turned and readied her legs as the Changeling Queen soared towards her. With a grin, she delivered a two-legged buck to Chrysalis's face, just as Zahhak swung his fist and caught her in the barrel. The Queen changed trajectory yet again, Applejack and Zahhak's dual strike knocking her down the street. She crashed into the road, sliding along the pavement before she ground to a stop in the middle of the street.
Chrysalis groaned. Slowly, she began to rise to her hooves. She opened her eyes, and found Twilight standing before her, her horn aglow and pointed at the Queen's heart. Behind Twilight, Vantas stood by, his sickle poised to attack should Chrysalis move. Twilight spoke up. "I'd advise you to surrender, Chrysalis, before we have to make you."
The queen's face curled into a hate-filled scowl. Unbeknownst to Twilight, magic was gathering in the base of Chrysalis' horn, preparing a teleport. But as she readied her exit, a thought flashed through her mind. She took a glance at Nitram, hovering on the slight breeze, and his insectile wings. Her gaze shifted to Vantas, standing behind Twilight. She smiled.
"Mmm. I'm sorry, Twily," Chrysalis replied, lying through her teeth, "But my partners and I have other plans." As she finished her sentence, the Changeling Queen reached out through the vast mental plane of the Dreamscape, seeking the mind of the troll closest to Twilight and pouring every ounce of her dominant, insectile influence into the Threshecutioner's psyche.
Vantas gave a small cry and his free hand flew to his head. He released a groan, before he glanced towards Twilight, his eyes faintly glowing green, and the grip on his sickle tightened. With a war cry, Vantas leapt towards Twilight, whose eyes went wide as she spotted the weapon zooming towards her head.
"Twilight!" A beam of gold hit Vantas in the chest, and sent him flying into a building. As the troll slumped over, unconscious, Celestia soared into the street. "Are you OK, my student?" she asked the frazzled librarian.
"What– how– why– what is going on!?" Twilight cried. Celestia ignored her, turning towards the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis grinned, before she disappeared in a flash of green. Celestia gave a growl of annoyance, before she turned again to the rest of the trolls, as well as Jason.
"I should've known," Celestia proclaimed. "It was all an elaborate setup all along. There were unanswered questions– How did you know the capabilities of the changeling's machines? And why did you speak to Chrysalis and her lackeys with such a tone of similarity? The answer to both questions is the same: you were allies all along!"
The ponies gasped, and backed quickly away from their troll partners. The trolls gave expressions of shock and objection. Nitram shook his head in a gesture of denial, as Jason spoke up. "Now, hold it. You've got to be mistaken here-"
"How could you?" Twilight cried. "I thought we were allies! I trusted you!"
"You're lucky I got here when I did," Celestia told her student. "Otherwise, I'm quite sure you'd all be dead by now."
"n-n-n-nO!" Nitram objected. "nO, yOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG! wE WERE NEVER ALLIED WITH THE CHANGELINGS. yOU'RE BEING TRICKED!"
"Quit your lies, heathen!" Celestia screamed, slamming her hooves down and lighting her horn.
"Oh no you don't!" Jason shouted back, slamming his hand over the Omnitrix. In a flash of light, he became a green plant-creature. At his command, vines sprung from the ground, wrapping themselves around Celestia's body, her legs, and her horn. As the princess struggled in Jason's grip, the Displaced turned to the trolls. "I've got her. Get us out of here!" he cried.
"R0ger that," Megido replied as she outstretched her arm. In a flash, a transportalizer platform appeared in the middle of the street. Seizing the trolls with her telekinesis, making sure to drag the unconscious Vantas from his slumber by the building, Megido dumped the lot onto the platform, where they vanished with a *whoosh.* Megido turned and nodded to Jason. The Displaced nodded back, and, releasing Celestia, he leapt towards the transportalizer and he too disappeared. *Whoosh.* Megido turned and gave a glance at the ponies, still reeling in shock. Then she, too stepped onto the platform, and the both of them disappeared. *Whoosh.*
The ponies were left alone, glancing awkwardly at each other, struck dumb by shock and confusion. They stood like that for a while, until Celestia broke the silence. "My little ponies, you should know that I am very proud of you. Even if you were taken with the trolls' farce, you helped to stop a catastrophic invasion of Canterlot, and for that we are all in your debt."
As the Elements of Harmony seemed to brighten at this, Celestia continued with the positive talk. "Besides," she said, glancing towards the exhausted Cadance, "We've still got a wedding to celebrate!"
-----
With a *whoosh,* the trolls materialized in the Moon Lab. Megido quickly laid Vantas's unconscious body over a table. Maryam appeared by his side, checking his vitals, laying her hands on his forehead, and his arms. Finally, she spoke. "He's going to be fine," she said. "He just needs a bit of rest. Celestia wasn't aiming to kill. However..."
The trolls all fell silent as they remembered the disastrous series of events that had landed them in this situation. ":33< Was... was Vantas really trying to attack Twilight?" Leijon asked.
"No. He wa2n't," Captor spoke up. "Ju2t before he attacked her, II 2en2ed a 2piike of p2ychiic actiiviity. II think Chry2alii2 maniipulated hiim."
"But- )(ow did s)(e do it?" Peixes asked.
"Trolls 4r3 4n 1ns3ct1l3 r4c3," Pyrope offered. "S331ng 4s Chrys4l1s w4s 4bl3 to control th3 Ch4ng3l1ngs– 4lso 4n 1ns3ct1l3 r4c3– m4yb3 sh3 h4s som3 sort of 1nflu3nc3 on us."
Another bit of silence followed, before Leijon spoke up again. ":33< So... what do we do now?"
"Alright. With Vantas out of commission, looks like I'm stepping up," Serket announced. "As for what we do– simple! We lay low for a while, keep quiet until we find an opportunity to prove Celestia wrong."
"1 second that plan," Nitram said. "Celest1a st1ll th1nks that we're a threat. 8ut 81g d1sasters are a d1me a dozen 1n Equestr1a. The next t1me someth1ng 8ad happens, we'll just 1ntervene and redeem ourselves."
The rest of the trolls either nodded in agreement, or, like Pyrope and Ampora, simply remained silent. Jason chose this time to speak up.
"Hey, Zed and I ought to start heading back," he announced. "Time works weirdly between worlds. I've stayed here maybe half a day. A week could've passed back home, or a minute. In any case, I don't wanna risk missing something important back home." He put a hand behind his head, a bit guilty. "I really hate to leave you all like this, but..."
"It's not a pro8lem," Serket said. "We can do this ourselves."
"OK," Jason replied. "But if you ever need some help, give me a call." Several moments later, a large green portal had opened up in the lab. Jason strode towards it, before he froze, and glanced back at the trolls. "Hey. Thanks for calling me over. It was a good fight. And thanks for the troll scan." Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the portal, leaving the lab silent in his wake.
Vantas stirred, before slowly he sat up. Opening his eyes, he glanced around. "What the fuck just happened?"
-----
"...Stallion and Mare! You may now kiss the bride." The occupants crowded into the Canterlot Palace Hall rose to their feet in cheer as Cadance and Shining Armor kissed with a passion that comes only from almost losing the one you love. Celestia gave a warm smile as Shining's parents gave whoops of celebration and the Elements of Harmony joined in. And in the back of the hall, Vinyl Scratch leaned against the wall, smiling to herself.
"Vinyl!" The unicorn turned to see Octavia trotting up to her. "There you are. How was I?"
"Excellent as always, Octavia," Vinyl replied. "You and the quartet were magnificent."
"Thank you," Octavia said. "Err- You probably ought to head up to your booth now, right? The after party will start soon." Vinyl nodded in response. "Great. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are a couple hors d'oeuvres I'm anxious to try." Octavia almost galloped off in the direction of the buffet, Vinyl turned and left the hall.
Her booth sat out in the Palace Ballroom. She took a step up into it and felt the familiar touch of her turntables and speakers. She gave a smile. For just a second, her glasses slid down her muzzle, revealing the bare, shiny white surface beneath. And as the first guests began pouring into the party room, her hooves touched her turntable and the records crackled with the slightest bit of green energy.
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Aw, hell. This is NOT gonna be pretty.
Holy crap timing. I just read this on the troll story. Are you sure you aren't secretly spying on me psychically?
umm... I think you left some writer-talk in the middle of the story;
I found these near the beginning
6428854 no thats Discord narrating.
Another amazing chapter, as usual.:D
Dun dun dun...?
Hmmm.
Damn, I was rooting for the changelings and Chryssie all the way through. I hope at least a similar number of ponies died in the invasion.
Oooh, is Vinyl a spy?