Pandinus Discovers Pranks and Cimmerian Embraces His Feminine Side
"You're certain you have it?" Luna asked the larger alicorn for the sixth time. "If something were to happen to me during this attempt, Cimmerian, it could take you years to learn it yourself. The texts are in the vault in Canterlot, you will not find them elsewhere, at least not legally."
Cimmerian chuckled at the small mare's constant need for reassurance.
"I think the legality of the method through which I learn the spells is of lesser importance than my knowing them in the first place, Luna. Besides, I have the arrays tucked away in my mental drawer, I've practiced it for half an hour, I'll try it a few times before we head out, and I'll double check everything before I do it. If I have to, I'll levitate the girls out myself so I can cast the anti-petrification spell in peace."
"Very well. We're all trusting you with this Cimmerian. I can guarantee that if you pull this off, this nightmare will be less than pleased. She will likely begin to act out even more. I would say use caution, but you sometimes act more paranoid than I do. You're certain you don't want me to tell anyone?" Luna asked him, looking over to the now mixed group of ponies talking in somber tones about the changes that had occurred since the disappearance of the five mares.
"I am. If something happens and I can't reach them, I may need to try again later. You have a direct line to me, but they don't. They can't ask me or my guards our progress, or when the next attempt will be. Their biggest enemy right now is time, time spent thinking about this," the stallion's gaze wandered towards the doorway momentarily. "Discord's going to help Pinkie out so she won't be hurting herself trying to keep everyone sane, but I don't want them counting down the days till the next attempt, especially from the first shot."
Luna sighed in defeat.
"It makes sense, and my sister isn't doing very well either. She's living for these moments right now, you know. She needs her ponies more than they need her sometimes. At the end of the day, if my sister and I were to disappear off the face of Equestria, unicorns can move the sun and the moon. When we're separated from our ponies though; well, you know firsthoof what happened to me."
"We'll be taking off later on. Apple Bloom will have the antidotes after breakfast, or so she tells me. After that we'll head back into the Everfree. We'll take them once we reach the source, I think it's our-sorry, your old castle. The rabbits at Shy's house mentioned something guarding her, so I know they're not being held too far," Cimmerian explained, his face lighting up with an idea. "Worst case, I could even ask if one of those rabbits could take us to where they're being held."
The smaller alicorn nodded, a crashing sound drawing their attention to the television as once more, a changeling queen was dragged into a fight with Rainbow Dash. The two trotted over, each grabbing a tail and separating the participants.
"I think we're going to be heading out, Luna. I'll see you later. I'm going to relax a bit."
With that, he walked out the door, Zelus following shortly after swearing vengeance on the polychromatic pegasus.
Catching her sister's attention, Luna made her own departure apparent.
"Tia, I'm going to be visiting Pandinus. Is there anything you'd like me to pass to Cadance?"
"Just my love and my hope that I see her before too long, sister," the white mare responded. "I think I'm going to stay here for as long as I can."
With a flicker of her limited power, Luna left the dream, moving across the dream realm with practiced ease and slipping into the changeling queen's meditation dreamscape. She watched for a few moments, allowing the larger mare to notice her on her own so as to not spook her. Luna had made that mistake once, and it had been less than pleasant.
The queen opened her eyes, looking in Luna' direction without her stony expression changing.
"Luna. I was hoping to see you. Things are happening. Just this morning before the sun even rose my hive detected another hive approaching from the sea."
"The nightmare's forces?" Luna asked with worry.
Pandinus nodded. "I'm going to assume so. We're already preparing, but they'll be within flying range in about a day or two, depending on the weather. I have the pegasi working to send harsh winds against them, and we're fortifying everything we can in preparation for the assault. I even sent word to Cimmerian's friend Sahkest. I don't know how he feels about changelings at the moment or what he expects from Equestrian forces, but my drones say he's currently preparing for the worst. The Talons are also making preparations, setting up both fortifications and ambush points fully stocked with both rations and the wards. They've started inscribing those wards into the buildings to see if that helps, but I don't know if it will. We'll have to see.
"In the meantime, we're moving those that won't be able to fight into the tunnels. Cadance has basically demanded that I stay down here as well, but I don't know if I can. Your niece has volunteered to hold the shield should things go badly at Shadowtalon. If that happens, we're going to need Cimmerian to destroy the array. If they push us that far, I've no doubt they'll make landfall. He should have no issue finding their boat and destroying the array."
"He's approaching the area where the Elements of Harmony are being held. We also believe the nightmare is keeping Tia and I nearby, so the power isn't being piped too far. If he's correct, and we're in the old castle in the Everfree, they could be there by dawn your time."
Luna frowned, searching the room for her niece.
"Where's Cadance?"
"Finishing up her practice with Amare, then she'll be reviewing shield spells. I have them spending at least an hour each day swapping with each other, and they can only stop if they spend at least half an hour of that time without a non-changeling realizing they've switched places. It's excellent practice, and it teaches Cadance misdirection and coming to a friends aid by either distracting the suspicious party, or by solidifying the other's cover story," Din said with a grin. "After all, Cadance's speech is much more practiced than Amare's, so there's a big difference if you listen to them for extended periods."
"Thus Cadance learns to keep her charge moving, or distracting those who may question why she's not speaking," Luna nodded in understanding. "She's okay with learning this?"
"With the array etched into her cheek, she's accepted that she may never be rid of the link, so she asked to learn about us. I'm, flattered really, but there isn't much to teach besides our infiltration techniques, so that is what I'm giving her. All of it, including the things my mother told me. It puts her into the proper mindset, allows her to understand us better I think. If she were a changeling, she'd make a proto queen I'd be proud to raise."
The alicorn winced at the statement.
"I don't know how Tia would feel about that, but Cadance is aware enough of her situation to make her own decisions, I suppose."
"If Cimmerian manages to make his move without causing too much of a stir, ask him to go back and agitate the nightmare. At the very least, there's a chance she'll recall her forces to attempt to deal with him," the shape shifter explained. "He's moving fast though, so he should be fine."
"Possibly, but the Element Bearers may be weak after their imprisonment," Luna countered. "I know my sister and I will be, and we're alicorns. The process will not be pleasant no matter what comes of these engagements."
"Yes, well we'll deal with it as it comes," the queen said, waving a hoof almost dismissively before blinking. "Now he's got me doing it. Speaking of him, I would like to talk to Cimmerian and warn him of the coming troubles. Could you take me to him? I'm already in my chambers for the night."
"Yes, though he said he was retiring for the night. I don't know why, but sometimes he just lays about in the dream realm. It's not like he can sleep in dreams," Luna muttered with a huff. "Let's go, I wish to ask him why he does that now."
<-(0)->
Pandinus found the stallion in his usual location, an alien beach before an alien sunset, the gentle sound of alien waves drawing her eyes to an alien ocean. The differences were enough to give her pause though. Instead of just reclining in the sand as he had the first few times, Cimmerian seemed to have created a comfortable beach blanket to relax on, dozing peacefully. Second was a bit more, well worrying wasn't the word she was thinking of, it was just odd considering his earlier objections.
"Don't say a word," Zelus muttered, the stallion currently wrapped around her barrel, his muzzle in her neck. Din giggled, knowing that the alicorn tended to find himself in the same position he was actually sleeping in if he wasn't paying attention. She'd woken from these dreams several times to find the two of them in the exact same position she'd seen before waking up, and knew that Cimmerian likely had just as good a grip on Zelus in the real world as he did here.
"Why, whatever do you mean Zelly?" Din asked, her fanged grin leaving her intentions clear.
"He keeps getting closer to me every time I push him away; I think it has to do with body heat," Zelus explained with a scowl. "I know I did it when I was the changeling so, so I stopped pushing him away. I argued for being able to keep warm, so I'm not going to leave him cold. Wasn't that the whole thing with you and your 'golden rule'? He won't be able to push me away now, not after he does the same blasted thing."
"I actually came here to warn you that something's approaching the hive. It's about a day out, give or take the bad weather we've been sending its way to keep it busy. I suppose you'll have to give him the information when he wakes. It's about that time anyway, isn't it Luna? Yes, just about morning over there. I know just how to wake up Cimmerian, as well," Din said while circling the two like a shark. Zelus shifted uncomfortably, trying to keep the other queen in her sight. "He tends to take the same position in the waking world when he dozes like this, you know. So he's likely wrapped just as tightly around your currently warm body as he is here."
Coming up behind the stallion with a giggle, she whispered over him to her hive-sister.
"And you know what? He feels things the same here as well." She said, giving a nip just under the stallions jaw before trailing a line of nips down his neck.
"Din? Din, what are you doing?" Zelus asked, her voice tinted with confusion and worry.
"Just something to wake him up," the ashen queen replied, moving on to nibble lightly on her mate's wing. Before Zelus could demand her hive-sister stop the stallion shifted, nibbling on her own neck and drawing a squeak from the blue-striped changeling. Cimmerian began shifting more as Pandinus continued to play with his wings, eventually beginning to trail his own nips and kisses up his captives neck. With one last squeak of confusion, Zelus found herself the target of a powerful kiss, just as Cimmerian opened his eyes.
The desire in his eyes quickly shifted to confusion as he found himself staring not into the orbs of his wife, but the very confused eyes of the other changeling queen. His confusion quickly shifted over to shock, the dream shattering as the two shoved away from each other, leaving the echoing cackles of Luna and Pandinus ringing in their ears.
The two large equines were tripping over each other, attempting to untangle themselves in a hurry. Zelus was no help either, her new alicorn wings splayed in shock and refusing to heed her commands. Eventually the two separated, just as the griffons and thestrals were waking up to see what the commotion was about. The guards quickly left though, all bearing red faces once they saw the condition of the part of the barn Zelus and Cimmerian were using.
"Oh, I'm going to have words with her," Cimmerian muttered, walking awkwardly after his wife's ministrations. "You okay, Zelus?"
"I, I think so," the mare replied awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably. "You're the one who knows how ponies work, right? Is there, is there any way to uh, to turn it off?"
The stallion frowned, looking over to the alicorn.
"Turn what off?"
<-(0)->
An hour and two cold showers later, the group was eating breakfast with the apples. Cimmerian was nibbling on a pancake, muttering darkly about not being able to fully enjoy it, while Zelus was still staring off into space as she mechanically filled her own gut. The sensations that had filled her earlier were confusing to say the least. She'd been with males before, but her current body seemed to have different rules for its functions. For one, she knew it wasn't ready to lay- no, it was a pony body, so it would be a pregnancy. She knew it wasn't ready for that, so its desire for male contact was pointless.
The stallions instructions of 'Don't think about sex' were both frustrating and effective. The moment she tried recalling previous times she'd stolen love or seed, her body heated up once more, even during her plunge into a nearby river as suggested by Apple Bloom (the Apple family's shower just couldn't produce a temperature low enough to effect her). Even worse, just thinking about these oddities seemed to cause her to warm up, her cheeks flushing and her heart speeding up if she spent too long pondering such things.
'I miss my control. I never had this issue as a queen,' the mare lamented. She had been avoiding looking at any of the males in the room for the entirety of the meal, leaving several confused as to why.
"Luna brought Pandinus, my wife, to my dream last night. I feel better if I zone out for an hour or two each night, let my mind process what's been happening, so I didn't notice them. I forgot to let Zelus leave my dream though, so I curled up with her because she's warm. Din messed with me, and let nature do the rest."
'Messed with, yes, that's a good way to describe what happened last night, as I was laying in bed, wrapped in the hooves of-'
"Excuse me," Zelus stated, jumping up and rushing out the door. For the sixth time that morning, she cursed her sister's prank. The second the yellow farm mare finished those antidotes, she was taking one. For now, though, she had a date with a half-frozen river.
"What's wrong with Zelus?" Scootaloo asked as the queen shot out the door.
"She's trying to understand a weird body that works differently. It's the same kind of issue that means that I can't just start scarfing down pancakes. I'll have to hack this stuff up later, if what she told me is correct. I've been feeling kind of bloated since I was changed, and Zelus said the next time we're in the forest, I'm going to have to puke out everything I've eaten so far. I can't digest it properly, just turn it into that gel that changelings use," Cimmerian explained, looking at his plate with a forlorn expression. "I like food too much to be a changeling. The not being hungry thing is cool, but I think that's because I have such a following in both Silver City and the Temple. I can almost feel it from here, and I'm not really that hungry as a result.
"This sucks, it smells delicious. I'm probably going to gorge when I get back home."
"The potion will be done settlin' in about twenty minutes. Ya could save some pancakes till then," Apple Bloom offered with a smile.
"I don't think it would be a good idea to change back while feeling so bloated like this. I don't know how the rules work, but I want to do that on an empty stomach," the changeling explained, before gaining a curious smile. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to know how to projectile vomit, I wonder how accurate I can get."
"Do you mind? I'm trying to eat," Crescent shouted from across the table, her grey fur looking slightly green.
"No, not at all," Cimmerian responded quickly, earning a few groans of irritation.
"Ya could use the sink or the bathroom, spit it out there." Big Mac offered with a cautious smile.
The large farmer's mood had done a complete 180 from the previous night, and Cimmerian had even caught him whistling a few times. Still, Cimmerian had no desire to ruin his mood like that.
"I don't think that would be a good idea. Changelings can get a lot of force behind their, uh, spit. Seeing as I've never done this before, I don't want to end up shattering your sink or toilet. Bad manners, destroying your hosts bathroom, ya know?"
Big Mac's eyes widened at the thought, giving the changeling a thankful nod for thinking about such things. The rest of the group soon finished, the thestrals and griffons all giving the Apples well deserved praise. Scootaloo merely belched loudly, rubbing her stomach with a hoof and congratulating her friend on doing the one thing the other two of their group had never been good at; cooking.
"You shoulda seen it, Cimmerian. Rarity's sis, Sweetie Belle, could burn anything. I think she burned orange juice once. I don't know how, considering all she had to do was pour it from a container," Scootaloo told him, the two friends cracking up at their friends lack of culinary skill.
"Ah swear, Ah used to think she'd grow outa it. She even married a chef, an Ah thought he'd be able to teach her how ta do better. Last Ah heard, she wasn't allowed inta the kitchen anymore on account o' her meltin' four of his favorite pots," Apple Bloom said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Ah remember tryin' ta teach her a few things, an' Ah just ended up throwin' mah hooves up in frustration. She just don't pay no attention when food's involved."
The table was cleared soon afterwards, and Apple Bloom left to retrieve her potions from her personal alchemy lab. The group gathered their things, Big Mac even offering Cimmerian a few pancakes to take on the road for once he returned to his original form. After refusing about four times, he grudgingly accepted the gift and tucked it away. Trixie, despite his objections, immediately consumed her antidote, returning to her hybrid form and resulting in a gasp of shock from the red-coated farmer. Zelus grabbed one as soon as she saw it from her place in the doorway, chugging the potion and wincing as her fur all fell out, leaving a slowly dissipating pile of fur all around her. Not being as put out by his transformation as the others, Cimmerian winced as the queen and the mare began chattering through the link, their voices ringing inside his head even though their lips never moved. Holding a hoof to his temple, the stallion took the last potion, drinking it while pointedly ignoring the put upon expression of Apple Bloom.
"Ah thought ya said it didn't bother ya that much, and that ya were gonna use 'em when ya got to the Castle," the farmer asked, gathering the empty flasks for cleaning and reuse.
"That was before I had two other voices rattling around in my head," the once again alicorn said as he massaged his temple with a hoof. "My ego takes up quite enough space in my head, I don't have room for anyone else."
Pulling off the last piece of chitin, he inspected his once more warm-blooded form. Nothing seemed out of place, no second or third right foreleg or extra horn jutting out of a random place on his back or sides. He sighed in relief, turning back to Apple Bloom.
"Thanks. Sorry about-hurk!"
Cimmerian rushed out the door, barely clearing the porch before he exploded a large stream of green changeling goo all over the front lawn.
<-(0)->
A strange gurgling noise once more echoed through the group, Zelus wincing as her insides churned.
"You sure you're okay Zelly?" Cimmerian asked, watching the queen hobble slightly as she curled around her aching insides. She stepped into the bushes once more, making unpleasant hacking noises as she attempted to empty her body of the stray bits of food that had become trapped when she returned to her birth-form.
"Zelus says she will be fine once she vacates the remainders of the accursed pancakes that she had enjoyed an hour ago," Trixie answered from the alicorn's back. "She will likely be finished soon, as she can only feel two or three more bits hiding amongst her innards."
"Ah didn't realize it would cause the two of ya so much discomfort. Ah'm awful sorry 'bout that."
A weak looking queen soon exited the bushes, waving a dismissive hoof in the mare's direction before returning to her place in the line.
"Zelus does not hold you accountable, she merely has found even more reason to hate that cursed blue flower," the blue unicorn translated once more. "She also is thankful for the wonderful job Trixie does of relaying her messages with Trixie's much more commanding voice."
"We're all thankful for that, but if Trixie keeps shouting in my ear, she's going to find Cimmerian forgetting to properly secure her to his back, possibly resulting in her face getting dragged through the muck," the alicorn countered, turning to face her. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"
"You wouldn't!" the blue unicorn shouted in shock.
"Uh oh, I think something's wrong with the rope. Gosh darn it Apple Bloom, I thought you said this stuff was the good, sturdy type of rope." Cimmerian said as his horn glowed. The unicorn on his back began slowly listing to the right before slipping off, only held by the ropes. She continued to drift closer and closer to the ground until her muzzle was being tickled by the grass.
"Trixie yields, she yields!" The mare shouted, hooves flailing and attempting to keep her face out of the mud.
The glow around the ropes intensified, this time including the mare and pulling her back to her original position, the ropes tying themselves tightly around her barrel once more. The blue mare huffed but otherwise remained silent, though judging by the low chuckling from Zelus she was far from silent in the link.
"So what was that thing ya asked Scoots ta take care of?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I asked her to check on some missing person notices. I've got four ki-foals in the Temple. Rose mentions her dad every now and again, but otherwise the others don't really talk about their families, even to Cadance. I want to know what's up with them, if they have family looking for them, that kind of thing. Shadow Weaver mentioned the expedition being less than a year ago, but I don't know how long they had the kids. I can't bring the kids back to Equestria just yet, not with how much they've seen and how much they know about the Temple; they'd be a tempting target for the Royal Army, not to mention how dangerous it would be to get them through the borders," Cimmerian explained, slowing down as the group approached a whispering river.
"Oh. Ah, Ah didn't realize ya had some foals over there." the farmer responded softly.
"It's not just the one's the cultists found or took, though," Crescent responded, looking back to the yellow mare. "I've heard several of the herds are expecting foals soon, and some of the griffons are looking to settle down and start their own families. Even Queen Pandinus was beginning to show before we left, so the changeling's numbers were set to increase a bit before we left as well. Really, the only things we don't have at the Temple is minotaurs and dragons."
Just before the group could move to clear the river, Cimmerian moving to pick up Apple Bloom and carry her as well, a pair of eyes were spotted looking at them from the river.
"What's this about dragons?"
The residents of the Temple all tensed up, the griffons reaching for their weapons, but Apple Bloom trotted over to the river and happily waved to the eyes.
"Mornin' mister Magnet. We're just talkin' about the place these folks were livin' at. Said the only thing they don't have at the Temple would be dahmond dogs, minotaurs and dragons."
"Oh, how nice!" the eyes responded, rising out of the river and revealing a purple scaled and, oddly enough, orange haired and mustached serpentine being. The creature then proceeded to laugh daintily while waving an arm at the mare.
"Oh it's just been years since I saw you and your friends! How are Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle doing?" the river serpent asked, leaning on the bank.
"We're doin' pretty well, Steven. Scoots is taken care o' somethin' in town for Cimmerian there, and Sweetie is in Manehatten," The farm mare informed him.
Motioning for the group to cross the river, Cimmerian approached the two, keeping a cautious eye on the large purple serpent. He slowed beside the farmer, allowing the mare to introduce him on her own time.
Seeing him out of the corner of her eye, the famer obliged.
"This here is Mister Cimmerian, Ah, sorry Cimmerian, Ah can't remember yer full name," Apple Bloom said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.
"It's fine, Bloom," he said with a chuckle before turning to the serpent. "I'm Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, though I've been going by Cimmerian lately. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'd hate to interrupt your reunion, but we do have somewhere to be. Pandinus has passed on information that the Temple may be in danger later, and I may need to control the armor to help them fight off an attack. I'd like to finish this as quickly as possible."
"Yea, we're goin' ta try and free mah sister and her friends. Cimmerian says they're probly in the old Castle," Apple Bloom said, waving farewell to Steven.
"Well, don't let me stop your journey, friends. If you ever find yourselves in the area, give me a call. I'd be absolutely delighted to help you out in any capacity," the purple dragon said, diving elegantly back into the river.
Wrapping a single fetlock around the mare, Cimmerian cleared the river in a few flaps of his wings, landing lightly and releasing Apple Bloom on the other side.
"T'was an odd fellow."
"Your doing it again, alicorn," Trixie called out, chuckling.
Cimmerian growled at the mare's mirth.
"We are aware at the moment, but I'm going to have to press on despite the adversity we find bearing down upon us."
After passing through a section of the forest with strange trees and over a canyon whose bridge had collapsed due to disrepair, the group finally caught sight of their destination.
"We're almost there, keep your eyes peeled for the guardian the rabbits spoke of," Raymond whispered, jerking in shock as Cimmerian walked right past them all.
The alicorn led the way, pushing past his guards and throwing the doors open with a burst of magic. Zelus stopped the thestrals and griffons from approaching him, instead opting to carefully take Trixie off of his back. The stallion looked around the decayed hallways, tears forming in his eyes.
"What has befallen our home?" he whispered, his voice having an odd, almost feminine tone. "Do our subjects not care for us anymore? Where is our sister? We can not feel her presence either. We-"
The alicorn jumped, almost as if seeing them for the first time.
"Wha- no, we-I know them, we're, we need to move on, need to find the Array," he muttered, shaking his head and tapping his forehead with a hoof.
Zelus cautiously approached him, keeping in his sight and keeping her head low to appear unthreatening.
"Cimmerian, if you need, we can scout the area while you rest. I'd be happy to help you reinforce those, those things Luna was checking last night."
"No, we-I need to keep moving. The longer I'm here the worse it will get. It's the magic of the Everfree playing with my head. We will move forward and free the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony before the next fall of our sister's sun. We need to move before the nightmare knows of our presence," he said, casting a few quick spells at the thestrals and griffons, their armor taking on a blue and silver tone. The changeling queen soon noticed a crescent moon glowing on her barrel, marking her as one of Luna's guard as well.
"There, that should help. No matter how I speak, follow my commands. When you're in that armor, she'll see you as allies as well. Worst case scenario, just, just remind me every now and then why we're here. We must continue."
The group walked through the courtyard, the stallion stopping every few steps to mourn another destroyed statue or to replace a knocked over table with a tender care that left the guards slightly unnerved. He seemed almost alien to what they knew of him, constantly falling back into the old Equish and muttering about days long forgotten. After finally approaching the throne room, they were stopped dead.
In the middle of the chamber was a glowing array, five statues surrounding a crown. Each statue bore a glowing amulet bearing a resemblance to the marks on the statues flanks. To either side of the array were two glowing rooms, the walls of the prisons newer than anything in the castle besides the statues. The stallion approached them, then proceeded to walk right past them, stopping before the dilapidated throne and shedding a few more tears of loss.
"F-focus, this is what we're here for. Zelus, prepare the anchor in the previous room. We, I am going to use the teleport once we are prepared," Cimmerian shouted, his voice echoing across the empty throne room.
A sound answered his echo in the distance, and the guards all went for their weapons. The alicorn wasn't having it though. With a flash of his magic, he was encased in a silver and sapphire armor, the stallion shifting and molding the armor to fit his form with pure will. With a second flash, a glowing silver longbow appeared floating in his aura, accompanied by two ornate obsidian daggers spinning around his form.
With another blast of his aura, he turned to the sound, shouting, "Thou dare trespass in our domain? Reveal thyself, cur, that we may remove thee from this plane!"
The rumbling continued to increase in volume, the beast drawing closer. It finally arrived, moving through the doorway from behind the group. The guardian lumbered into the chamber, feeling nothing but hatred for those who dared to trespass in the area he was commanded to guard. It towered over them, easily five times as tall as the alicorn and changeling queen; it's thick purple scales likely being impervious to their weapons and it's rippling muscles only wishing to aid in their deaths. The Guardian bellowed in rage, before shouting at the group.
"Mine! Not steal!"
Apple Bloom stared in horrified fascination at the creature.
"Oh stars above, it's Spike," the farmer muttered.
Stats
Page generated in 0.039 seconds
Total duration
997 users online
1,481,897 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
...crrrraaaaappppppp!
NOOOO NOT SPIKE!!!
i really hope you save spike
Best dragon better be saved!
Bribe him with a trio of diamonds, he'll totally go for it.
And there goes any hope that it might have been Cerberus guarding them. This makes a lot more sense though. Much more in the nightmare's style.
Alright Ted, let's see how well you do with this wrinkle. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Roll for initiative and get your mercy bar ready!
EDIT:
[youtube=1kxY5uu-dwg]
6847974
NO! Undying rarely ends well! ESPECIALLY WHEN IT HAS TO DO WITH DETERMINATION!
Exhibit A: i.ytimg.com/vi/yH2SaW29kfo/hqdefault.jpg
6850132 Best dragon? But Crackles wasn't mentioned anywhere.
6850127
6850127 So Zzecora couold concievably ascend?
NOOOOO! NOT SPIKE!
Luna is the best bad influence.
https://www.derpibooru.org/770517?scope=scpe649599d84188e8108aeec24b4e713271a233e0ba
Nightmare Dragon!
Let's be honest... Spike sucks... But even he doesnt deserve that
Oh god you have to impliment the old speech more often. So funny.
If nothing else we can be thankful that at least Steven is the same, a well mannered Sea Serpent.
LIIIEEEEESSSSSS!!!!
...
I should probably actually read the chapter before yelling... Nah!
Post Read Edit:
Oh, ok, it's just the seals leaking again. I was worried for a minute there that Ted lost his balls.
Dragon for dinner!
So... Who else wants to see the Nightmare suffer now?
Sigh. I'm already clicking to check if there is a new chapter an hour after reading this :)
Most excellent, but decidely moreish.
well...he DID say that they needed a dragon...
SPIKE?! No, no, no, no. Poor Spike. Another victim of the parasite's cruelty. I really hope that they free him too. As for him being the guard, it was pretty clever in my opinion: his instincts to protect his friends and his hoard might have been used. The next problem is getting the prisoners out of the arrays without triggering them. Earlier on, I think that I read that if the bearers' arrays were triggered, they would destroy those ponies. She probably has something similiar for Celestia and Luna.
Dis gon be GUD! BOSS BATTLE TIME!
6850121 Kill it! Kill it with Fire! No wait, it's immune to Fire! Kill it with Bullets!
i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii21/Buitre_Vulture/19827620-20animated20artist-peteflavey20cadance20Cadence20gun20GUNS20more_dakka20shining_armor.gif
Welp.
6850286 You should probably change that to "I" seeing as most people like Spike.
6850357 I for one, hate our pony overlord.
6850511
...
...
...
You have seen the spike episodes right?
Think it as a dragon from dark souls not from skyrim. All you have to do is landing 100 well placed butt pokes and Tuna should be fine.
Yep. Spike "wandered off."
What better torture then being "forced" to guard the stone corpses of your best friends for your insane older sister.
Nightmare Books got Spike to guard them and drove him feral.
Doesn't even matter if he is enslaved or if Nightmare Books "accidently" let him know where they were and he ran off to watch them.
Given the brief descriptions I would bet Spike is feral from isolation and self induced psychosis of some type.
Which likely means he can be reasoned with once properly subdued.
Unless he is Enslaved... in which case everything is FUBAR.
...So, Why did they cure Trixie? Her being tiny but mobile was infinitely better than full size and dead weight...
Endgame has begun.
5 to free.
2 to release.
An Invasion to avert.
A castle to storm.
And a Nightmare to Slay.
Spike, what has come of you...
The nightmare will pay.
Please don't kill him...
Sadly there are people who never had a proper childhood.
6850357
Who doesn't at this point?
And DON'T say evil people, or I will falcon punch your soul so hard that it'll shatter like a Clannad to the heart!
They just go through talking about how the temple doesn't have Dragons, Minotaurs, or Diamond Dogs and look who they find. Looks like they can cross one of those off the list in a few chapters...
Is it bad if I'd completely forgotten about him during this entire story?
Also, no idea if you'll ever get around to including Diamond Dogs into the world you've built, but if Cimmerian does go to their capital or something close to it, just think about making them like this...
I think it would fit them pretty well.
You're.
That's literally the first sentence.
I think that comma meant to be an "e"
Changelings'
Are.
Also Apple Bloom later tells Steven that they don't have diamond dogs as well, while they weren't even mentioned in the entire chapter.
constantly
There are probably more typos that I didn't find, but I'm too lazy to read the chapter again just for them.
well.
SHITE.
i mean we could see it coming a mile away, but still.
6850560
People who are wrong in the head.
...What? I didn't say evil people!
I believe Spike thinks elements as a part of his hoard.
Theres something I find confusing about this chapter. Im sure Ive mixed up putting speech to names, but is Trixie speaking here, where she was linked with Zelus, because due to Trixies trauma, she couldnt speka in the previous chapter and Zelous was speaking for her, but in this chapter, after the antidote, the positions are reversed? trixie speaking for Zelus?
At least the attacking horde is getting a faceful of combat weather, which should help to weaken the overall force.
Five statues in an active array with a guardian? The only way this could possibly be any better for being a totally unavoidable hero trap, is if each statue isnt the actual item, but an intermediate link to where the seperated, induvidually secured items are stored.
Hes big, hes green, and hes angry.
Theyre Screwed.
If Cimmer was poison joked with this leak in his mind would he turn into a changeling queen? That would be quite the talk with Pandinus.
At this point they should probably work on tearing out Luna's memories, maybe put them in a crystal somewhere if he really needs to peruse them from time to time, because they aren't post redemption Luna's memories they are heavily depressed and moody immeditaly pre-NMM memories. Not exactly the best alter ego to completely consume your mind the moment the seals get fiddled with even a little. If Nightmare Books ever figured that out it would be easy to fudge the seals then try to posses the emotionally fragile Tuna.
6850515 Just because his episodes don't do well doesn't mean he is a bad character. The issue is that he doesn't standout alone. He shines best when he is helping Twilight to excel or acting as her voice of reason. He judt isn't someone that does well as the main focus.
The excrement is about to make contact with an oscillating air current distribution device...
6850928 Heh. Tuna...
Theodore-luna?
6850595 It honestly does, doesn't it?
It'd be funny as hell too if Tuna started singing that song when he got down there.
They should totally have kept Discord's coin just so they could bribe Spike with it. Spike then eats it and hacks up a Discord.
"Now, that's random! And I told you, Sparky, you couldn't hold me!"
Celestia manages to facehoof inside her prison.
(Yes, that's metagaming, but who cares?)
Well, that escalated quickly. Let's hope Cimmerian doesn't sink too deeply into Luna's old memories or he might try to kill Spike. which would be... less than optimal.
I wonder how badly the Nightmare has distorted Spike. He doesn't seem to be in his right mind, kind of like when he went Greedzilla.
6850959 To be honest, Spike is one of the character's I have been most excited to see how the Nightmare screwed him over and how he deals with the betrayal... you know, once his proper mind is restored.