Madness Unleashed
The Pegasus made it to Zarris without much trouble, having stayed well above the forest. The jungles were quiet, most of the animals having taken off at the sounds of combat for safer areas. She landed at the entrance of the town, having been intercepted by a large squad of Talon griffons. She was checked for weapons, disarmed, and brought in through the front gate. The guards brought her to an bustling town square, a familiar dragon and an older gryphon shouting orders and receiving reports as citizens moved about the town, clearing rubble and moving the injured to a large white tent that was marked as a field hospital.
The dragon was much less jovial than she'd last seen, not drinking next to father, but shouting orders, spitting curses, and making demands, several burnt patches on his previously clean scales. It didn't take much thought to realize he'd likely been subject to several explosions, one even leaving a scale-free patch that looked red and raw.
The dragon stomped a single claw into the dirt in frustration, barking a few more orders before turning his gaze to the guards, causing the mare's heart to thunder in her chest. Still, she had to be strong. She was tasked with this job, and she'd see it through. Mother had personally asked this of her.
"T-the Temple is looking for news on Zarris' condition," Blur yelled, covering her mouth with her hooves in embarrassment afterwards.
'Oh, I hope he doesn't get mad, I didn't mean to do that, I'm just so nervous I could-'
"So you and yours all made it through?" the dragon, Sah Kest rumbled, giving her a fanged grin. He unleashed a rumbling chuckle when she recoiled from his smile, shaking his head. "Ah, for one so easily frightened, you certainly are willing to travel far by yourself."
"I, Mother asked me to do this, and I can't let her down," the little yellow Pegasus explained, finding a bit more courage in her words. "Is, is there anything you need? We have about ten spare changeling pods for those who are critically injured if it's needed, but it may take time to move them here. If you can get them to the Temple though, we can get them treated quickly. Otherwise we, we have spare poultices and bandages, and we can always send a few changelings to quickly patch buildings in the event of a storm."
The blue-scaled dragon nodded.
"You can tell Pandinus I appreciate the offer, but I think we'll live. If we do end up needing to use the pods, I'll drop the injured off by tonight. We experienced a few losses, but otherwise the bastards were all put down. The runner was very much appreciated, as we were able to scramble the entirety of our forces well before the drones were in view of the port. If Shadowtalon needs a place to repair their ship, or supplies to do so, well, we lost two trade-ships in the attack. Plenty of ship-grade wood and other things to salvage. There's also a few locals looking for a fishing boat to use. They'll be heading to Shadowtalon later on to hopefully help in the fishing, earning a bit to bring back. After all, one of the ships that was sunk was a fishing trawler."
Before the Pegasus could leave and return home, the griffon called for her attention.
"Once more, the Talons have Cimmerian and his followers to thank. I actually received a report that he hit something important to the Mad Queen. Whatever it was, she's lost it. Ponies are leaving the country in droves, fleeing ahead of swarms of drones and even her own guard. It's worrying, but from what I've heard, the arrays still work. As such, we have Talons slipping any who are captured amulets with the runes and moving them to safety. The message has been passed to the Minotaurs as well. Whether they will allow the ponies to flee through their own country, I don't know. Whatever the case, pass it on to Queen Pandinus that her husband has once more earned a boon from our people, and we'd be happy to help him."
The griffon laughed, slapping the pegasus' back.
"If he can use a boon from our forces to screw up that much for the Mad Queen, I'm all for giving him another! Go with the grace of the Sky Lord, miss. And tell Lady Pandinus that she's earned the respect of the Talons, no matter what happens after this point."
Blur nodded quickly, taking off and flying back to the Temple as quickly as her wings could carry her. She knew it wasn't right, and that Father would likely be disappointed, but she couldn't stand dragons. Luckily, there weren't any at the Temple.
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Zelus purred contentedly, the sleeping nymph and her eggs contained inside the shell by her sides. The alicorn was providing warmth, as well as a small flow of affection, while the drone/pony in her forelegs was also warm, leaving the queen content in the darkness of the shelter. The annoying yellow one with the weird eyes had attempted to rouse the alicorn, but the changeling had dealt with her, knowing not to meet her eyes and giving her a quick nip. The venom left the pony mumbling apologies into the floor even as Zelus used the sleeping form of Sapphire to move the mare back to a bed. Sapphire would likely whine about such an unauthorized use of her body, but between that and having the yellow mare laying on the floor next to them, forcing Zelus to wake up every few minutes to an hour to reapply the venom, the shape shifter was certain it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
The queen shifted under the wing of her sister's mate, a hint of lingering worry running through her mind as she reached out across the world. The link had become frantic a while ago, but there was nothing she could do, even with all of her strength. Thus she'd waited, worrying until a single tone reached her, the one the two queens had agreed upon as an all-clear. She'd slumped in relief as the tone reached her, finally letting sleep claim her. Cimmerian left her alone, but with his current state she wasn't certain he wanted any company in the dreamscape. He really was a silly thing, radiating embarrassment when she'd laid her latest clutch. Her drone had been angered, but not too put off by the event. The stallion was mating with Pandinus, what did he expect a queen to do?
The memory of Pandinus bearing the stallions foals in an alien way floated back to her, and she giggled. Okay, maybe it was reasonable that he'd be a bit put out by such a thing, especially if Din was right about him being very self-conscious. A yawn split her muzzle, and the queen shifted out from under the wing, pushing her drone closer the alicorn in her place. She walked over to the entryway and bumped the dozing griffon, earning a burst of relief and gratitude as he made his way over to the beds and mats. The queen sat before the door, feeling her clutch under her shell and the sleeping form of the proto queen as the hatchling recovered from her ordeals. Zelus would need to bring the nymph to the drake when he woke up, as Heart was quite attached to him. Perhaps he was attached to her as well; perhaps the two would find the same connection Din and Cimmer shared.
She buzzed her wings a bit, stretching as she reached out her senses, keeping watch of the outside world in a way that the gryphon could not. She'd know of an approaching creature well before they reached the door.
The queen blinked, coming out of her meditation as a single presence approached the door. She tensed, ready to rip the intruder apart if it should dare to enter when she managed to taste the emotions; hope, fear, excitement, regret. Zel blinked, moving out of the sight of the doorway, watching from the shadows as the presence opened the door, even more curious as only Talons should know of it. The changeling smiled as she recognized the mare walking down the stairs even with the hood.
"Scootaloo, correct?" the queen asked, walking out of the shadows and causing the pegasus to squawk in fear.
"You're that queen, Din? No, Zelus. What are you doing in here, how did you find this bunker?" Scootaloo asked, throwing back her head and allowing the hood of her cloak to fall off.
"We came across a pair of ponies while leaving the forest," the queen answered, resuming her post in front of the door. "Zecora left us as we left the forest, but we, convinced the pair to lead us to a safe house. They're in the other room, if you wish to speak to them."
"Did you, did you guys manage to-"
The queen lit up her horn, floating a single green orb of light over to the sleeping area. The orange mare watched it for a moment, confused, until the light revealed a rainbow mane among the bodies resting on the beds. With a sound that was somewhere between a squeal and a sob, the mercenary bolted, rushing over to the bed and ripping the blue Pegasus right out of the bed, swinging her confused and mumbling captive about like a doll. Zelus chuckled, tasting the overwhelming joy radiating from the pony, soon being matched by the blue mare as she realized who was jerking her about. The two began talking in hushed tones, their excitement at being reunited barely restrained by the early hour and those sleeping around them. The two descended into mumbling for a bit, before the orange mare pranced back to the entryway.
"Thank you so much," Scootaloo whispered, reaching into her bags. "I don't know what you guys did, but before I get to bed, I wanted to give you these. It's the information Cimmerian was asking for. Also, Ruby should have flipped the rock outside. it's a symbol of danger and that the shelter is occupied, and warns the others who may try to use this place that the ones inside may be a bit jumpy. If you hear someone knocking, let me know and I'll clear them."
With that the mare trotted back over to the sleeping area, kicking off her cloak and armor and hopping onto the rainbow-maned mare's bed, the two curling up with each other as they dozed off. The queen chuckled before her gaze came across a pink coated mare, the pony currently comatose and dead to the world.
Zelus knew that something had happened, and after calming down had reviewed Sapphire's memories of the event. She still didn't know how the mare had entered them, nor how she had occupied the chamber without the queen knowing. The queen shifted, feeling the eggs pressing against the soft skin of the pouch, while the proto-queen nuzzled into her from the other side. Any occupant should have given a similar sensation, yet she could recall nothing of the sort during the journey. Tartarus, she didn't even taste the mare's emotions.
'At least Cimmerian distracted me. With how agitated I was already, it would have been, less than productive if I attacked the pink bearer in my weakened state.'
The queen drifted off once more for a few hours, allowing her senses to warn her of the few individuals she sensed going past the shelter. She frowned, noticing there seemed to be a lot of traffic on the road just south of the hidden entrance. There was no one coming close to the entryway, though, so she ignored them. Then one did come close. Several ones, actually. She stalked over the sleeping area, waking the orange mare and motioning for silence as she pointed to the door.
Scootaloo nodded, grabbing a blade and slinging it over her back before gliding over to the door, marveling at the queen's silent movement on the hard floor by the entrance. The door rattled with a strange serious of knocks, followed by a silence, then a second series of knocks. Scootaloo returned a few knocks of her own, nodding to the queen with a reassuring smile.
"It's a Talon group. I'm going up to check, keep Dash safe."
"Scootaloo? Your a Talon?" a voice asked in curiosity, causing the orange Pegasus to blink in confusion as her eyes adjusted. She looked around, seeing several ponies scattered around the entryway, though only one of them bore Talon armor. The speaker was an old friend of hers, Featherweight. The stallion smiled carefully, waving a hoof in greeting as she carefully took in the gathered ponies.
"The safe-house is kinda full right now, guys. What's wrong, Silver?" Scootaloo asked, turning to her one-time tormentor.
"Di ordered a general evacuation," Silver Spoon responded, shifting her light armor in discomfort. "Something's happened, something big. Everyone wants out. Tartarus, even the bucking guards are fleeing. They're running, and they're telling everyone they see to do the same. She's finally lost it. Twilight's gone absolutely insane."
"What do you mean, even the-" the words died on her lips, noticing the gold armor on one of the ponies nearby. The stallion was shaking, a manic look in his eyes as he looked into the trees, whispering to himself and chuckling. The Pegasus was about to ask what he was doing there when she saw it.
"By the Fields, she's trying to do that to everyone?" Scootaloo asked in fear, trotting over to the guard. She grabbed his head with her hooves, forcing him to stare right at her. "Do you hear anything? Are you in control?"
The stallion, an array burned into his cheek, giggled at her questions.
"Tried to catch me, tried to make me listen to the rocks, but I didn't let them, nope nope nope, hehehe. Burned me, but I got out, got out before my own magic activated it, got far enough. Not others though. Some were still asleep, I was asleep, but I ran, ran and flew. I can hear it, but I don't listen. It's mad, so mad and I'm happy, so very happy. Because it can't catch me. No, the rock won't catch me, not like the others, and it never will."
"The guards with the arrays and tons of changelings are moving all over the countryside, grabbing anypony they can find," Silver supplied. "Some can get away, but others...they're not themselves. The population is fleeing, Scoots, and we have no idea where we'd go. They can't go east, as the minotaurs are launching a counter attack, the griffon lands to the north-west are filled with raiders, and the jungles..."
"The jungles are where I'm headed. I have some friends, not just Talons, but someone else. You remember the array, the one that let us hit the drones without them seeing us? He's actually here, the guy who gave it to us, and he's headed back. We're headed to his home, and you guys, I'm sure your friends would be welcome. It won't be easy, but you do what ya gotta do, right?" Scootaloo looked back to the soldier, still worried.
"We need to get him linked though. Any caravans bring an array this way, and it will grab him and then they'll know we're here."
The stallion backed up a step.
"More, more talking rocks? No, no no no, gotta hide, gotta get away. She knows though..." rushing up to Scootaloo he grabbed her roughly, a terror born of desperation in his eyes. "How do I hide!?!"
Scootaloo attempted to dislodge the stallion, shoving at him but his grip was superequine, fueled by fear and adrenaline.
"There's a stallion, he masks the link. He's got a hive working for him, and they don't feel the arrays pulling at them. The queens to the hive he protects are undetectable, so are the changelings with him. You're gonna have to trust her though, she'll help you if you trust her."
"Trust who?!?" The stallion shouted, drawing several shushes from the group, some looking back to the road and hoping they weren't heard.
"Me"
The ponies whipped around, the stallion nearly screaming at the sight of a changeling queen. If not for the powerful aura wrapped around his muzzle, he likely would have. He was pulled from the orange mare and floated to the queen, Zelus looking over the array with a scowl even as the stallion's flailing ceased, devolving into muffled, blubbering pleas for mercy.
"S-scoots, that's-"
"That's Zelus, she's part of a hive that the Mad Queen can't detect," the orange merc explained. "She's also part of the group that is using the safe-house right now. I'll explain it all, but trust me, she's on our side."
Zelus looked from the array to the ponies gathered around the entrance.
"The array isn't actively transmitting, so we can move this inside. I suggest we do so. The longer we are in the open, the longer we invite misfortune upon ourselves."
With that the changeling turned around, floating the still-sobbing stallion into the safe house after her. Scootaloo began herding the others inside when she saw another group making their way to the safe house while sticking to the cover of the trees.
"Scoots? What are you doing here?" the approaching Talon whispered to her.
She sighed, preparing to explain the situation a second time. It was going to be long day; maybe she could get someone to carry her while she caught up on her sleep.
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A racket at the door had woken Cimmerian from his slumber. The stallion hadn't even done any dream walking the nigh before, just allowed himself to recover. Between the damage he'd suffered and the leaking of Luna's memories, he spent a good three hours plugging holes opened up by wild magic before settling down to sleep, allowing his body to heal itself. Now he was still achy but it was much less intense, allowing him to try and remember what his goals were and what had been accomplished.
"Elements are in the beds, Tia's right next to me, there's the drake, and...where's Zelus?" he muttered, blinking as she came back down the open hatch from the outside, a Pegasus in gold armor flailing weakly in her magical grip. He rose, stretching and attempting to remove the kinks from his body as the queen was soon followed by several scared looking ponies, including a grey mare in a minimal suit of Talon armor. Trixie got up, the mare's eyes still closed as she walked over to Zelus.
"You may want to wake her up while she's laying down, Zel. She may fall otherwise," Cimmerian called to the queen, drawing the attention of all the ponies. One, a Pegasus stallion with a brown mane and cream coat, made a few skittering steps back at seeing him.
"The, the-the-the Nightmare!" he squeaked. "I never forget a face, that's- Wait, Nightmare was female. Are you some sort of lost son of Nightmare Moon?" his fear turned to confusion, leaving Cimmerian to laugh at the stallion's confusion, as well as the confusion of those around him.
"I'm no nightmare, just a, stallion who looks a bit creepy to ponies. What's going on, Z?"
"Twilight's lost it at the success we experienced, and she's going all out. The stallion here has been marked as Sapphire was, and the nightmare is apparently attempting to burn the array onto the entire equestrian population," The queen answered, moving the guards cheek enough for the alicorn to see it. "I'd like to link with him, but it's going to take focus, and I don't need him striking me in the face while I'm trying to help him."
"Link with him?" the grey mare said, backing away along with the others. They gasped and took a few more steps back, finally noticing the sleeping blue unicorn now being poked by the queen.
"Trixie needs her beauty sleep." the mare muttered, popping open an eye. She blinked a few times at the crowd as well as her new location before scowling at Zelus. "Next time just wake me up instead of moving me. It's weird."
"I need you to talk to him. Tell him I'm not going to overwrite him like he seems to think," Zelus said, ignoring the unicorn's complaints and gesturing to the shaking guard in her aura.
Trixie took a look at him, saw the ponies staring at her chitin grafts, and threw back her cloak, showing off the grafts to the group while giving a nasty grin.
"Do you like my new look?" she asked in faux curiosity. "Trixie has Sparkle to thank for this. Grafted it on while I watched from a mirror, even got to watch as she burned this into my cheek, watch as my body started wandering around on its own, doing whatever she told me to do. It was even more fun when she had me spying on the thestrals, sending her reports through a communication gem that was hidden in the city."
"While there is much about the situation that frustrates T-me, including the fact that I find myself less inclined to speak in third person, as is Trixie's prerogative, I find this situation much more agreeable to being stuck anchored to an array. I'll make this simple for you, colt. You either allow the queen to anchor you to her hive, or the first array crystal that wanders into range will snatch you up like a hungry manticore. So, would you rather put up with an annoying queen and keep your freedom, or try to run and end up a slave as Trixie was. For I'd guess was about fifteen years. Not pleasant at all, Trixie didn't get to shower properly, or eat anything nice, or sleep in. It was just constant orders, constantly doing things I'd rather not do, constant-" the mare cut off with a squeak, the queen giving her an irritated look.
"And if Zelus wants you to shut up, she asks. Twilight doesn't ask, you just don't get the choice to speak."
"You're not the only one in this situation," Cimmerian consoled, drawing the stallions eyes. "Trixie is in this situation, as is Cadance. If you'd like, I'm sure you can speak with Cadance about this later. Otherwise, I ask that you listen to Zelus. She'll take care of you, and let you keep your hold on your own body."
"Unless she needs something while your asleep," Trixie grumbled, sticking her tongue out at the shape shifter. The unicorn then slapped herself, growling before launching herself at the giggiling queen. Zelus caught her in a hug despite the mare's fury, giving her a loving nuzzle even as Trixie swore to end her.
"That's your choice. Be bound to either a queen who will take care of you, or to an array," Cimmerian said. Turning to the queen, he smiled and asked her to release the guard.
The stallion was still shaking, but he was looking from the queen to the unicorn, as if he didn't believe them.
"She'll, she'll make the voices go away? I won't have to hear them anymore?"
"She will," Trixie said, putting a hoof over the queen's muzzle to cut off her objection. "The constant buzzing in your ear, the screaming and shouting will stop. All you'll hear will be normal conversation, mostly me as I yell at the queen a lot. It's interesting, being able to talk even if you're not next to each other. Trixie would be happy to teach you."
The stallion looked over them one more time, closing his eyes and taking off his helmet before lying on the ground. He put a hoof over his eyes, leaving the array exposed.
"D-do it, do it before it lose my nerve. I don't want to be one of those, I can't."
Cimmerian tugged at the rest of the ponies around the entrance, pulling them away form the queen and her charges and into the safe-house.
"We're going to be moving on, but I'm afraid we had to raid the supplies. You're welcome to join us on our journey. We're heading back home now, and we could always use extra help."
"We're actually going to a small Talon base farther along the way," the grey mare supplied. "There's supposed to be a few airships moving there to pick up the ponies who are evacuating. Even if the Talons are griffons and have something against the ponies, they're not going to just let this go. Besides, every drone and pony that's grabbed is something they'll end up fighting later. I don't know if the minotaurs and the other griffons realize what's going on, but Talons don't hurt civilians. It should be our best bet. I'm sure you'd be able to get a ride there if you needed."
"Awesome," the alicorn said with a grin. "We're heading to Zarris. Herrick's a neighbor, you see. I actually heard there was an attack headed to the area, so I'd like to get there as soon as possible."
"So Scoot's said that you..." the mare's words were cut off as she took a look around the room, seeing ponies that had been missing for years. Her stuttering search for words cut off a moment later, every eye on the mare currently giving a gentle poke to a sleeping Pinkie.
"P-princess..."
The white alicorn's ears twitched and she turned to the doorway, looking at the ponies that were staring at her in shock. Celestia blushed at the attention, smiling warmly at the ponies.
"It, it is wonderful to see you all again. Please excuse me if I if I don't walk over there and, and greet you properly. It's been strange, walking about again."
"Celestia, if you don't mind I think Zelus would appreciate your help with one of your own. He's by the front door," Cimmerian called over to her, moving about the room and rousing the occupants of the sleeping chambers. He saw Crescent moving to the alicorn's side, a wing holding the white mare close as the thestral helped the alicorn walk to the entryway.
'Well, that should help solidify the stallion's opinion of who we are. Or not, I don't know, maybe the guy doesn't like her.'
Cimmerian finally came to a bed sporting a pink tuft of hare sticking out, the rest of the pony wrapped in blankets in a way that made him want to question if she was sleeping or posing all night. With a shrug, he poked the blankets, receiving a grumble in return.
"Pinkie? Pinks, we're going to be moving out."
"I know I don't work today, Mr. Cake," the mare grouched. "I'm sleeping in. Wake me in about four years."
"Come on, every other one of these mares are already, oh, that's right. She was holding them all," he muttered. "She's probably a bit worse off." A commotion across the room drew his attention, the ponies attempting to shout down the dragon as he began to thrash around, growling and swiping his claws at anyone who came near him.
"Spikey, please, it's us!" the white unicorn, Rarity if he remembered correctly tried to soothe. Dash was being held back by Scootaloo, the cyan mare flailing and demanding to be allowed to teach the drake a lesson in manners. A small form trotted past the alicorn, a small proto queen walking up to the raging drake with no fear. Just as Cimmerian was about to move to pull her back, she began humming, the drake tensing up and turning his head towards the nymph. He laid down on the floor again, waiting cautiously as the hatchling approached him.
"I, I'm here, my guardian. Your Heart still lives," the proto queen said softly, nuzzling the drake. That seemed to be the key as suddenly the purple drake gave her a lick, earning a giggle from the hatchling and a confused stare from the rest of the room.
"Good, she was right. The drake does recognize her."
Cimmerian turned around to see Zelus walking into the room, Celestia perched on her back. Trixie was speaking softly to the gold-armored stallion with an array on his cheek, while the stallion was still nervously looking about, waiting for the other hoof to drop.
"Thanks, Zel. When did you pick her up?" the dark alicorn asked. "I don't remember seeing the proto queen last night."
"She was in my other egg-pouch," The shape shifter explained. "I found her in the Castle, when I destroyed the crystal that was the source of the array in the area. It, it freed her, and I couldn't leave her there. She had laid an egg containing a proto queen a while ago, but it wasn't fed properly, and the hatchling went into a stasis, eventually fading away from lack of food. She switched to the empty proto queen, and I destroyed her old body. Her presence isn't a problem, is it?"
The stallion blinked, seeing the nervousness of the queen.
"No, no! Of course not, Zel. I was just curious. No, we won't turn her away. I trust you to have checked her, and if you think she can be trusted, well, you're the one who can hear what she's thinking."
Zelus nodded in understanding. "Okay, I was just, worried is all. Unlike Amare, Heart will likely be able force a few molts, moving to a full queen fairly quickly. It should help clear her mind, and she'll get her crown back."
"Wait, what do you mean 'back'?
The mare shuddered.
"The nightmare removed her crown. I saw the scar, Cimmerian. She removed it from the other queen's head, likely by force."
Cimmerian sighed. That, that was nasty, even by the standards the nightmare had already set. At least the 'ling was free of that though, even if she was somewhat reduced in stature. And traumatized, and mentally broken. Okay, so it wasn't as much as he'd like. It was something at least.
"We need to get everyone ready. I'll carry Pinkie if I'm not needed for anyone else, otherwise I'll carry a heavy body."
"I think the drake is moving again, so he'll likely be able to walk. Are you not going to offer to carry me?" the queen asked, a mischievous grin splitting her muzzle.
Cimmerian returned the smile with one of his own. "Sure, I'll carry you. But you're going to have to carry Pinkie. I'm sure she'd love to go back into any spare compartments you have handy."
As the large mare's grin faded into a glare, the door opened up again, Scootaloo running down the stairs with a smile.
"Guys, we're gonna have to leave like, now. But it's okay. I found us some help," she explained, gesturing to the pony who followed her down the stairs.
The alicorn grinned at the new pony before rushing over to a bed, snagging a mare still struggling to get out from the covers and carrying her to the doorway, offering her like some sort of prize while laughing like an idiot.
"Does this make up for our bad first encounter? Are we good now?"
The large red stallion looked over the pony being offered to him, listening to the orange mare complain as she attempted to wipe the sleep from her eyes. A faint smile came over his face, and he reached out and pulled the offered pony into a crushing hug.
"Eeyup."
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The party loaded up the farmers cart with the beings incapable of moving freely, which at this point included Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy(despite her protests), and Spike. The proto queen had managed to get the drake to listen, and he was loaded into the cart, still wearing the bandages over his eyes and snout. Celestia was riding Cimmerian's back, chattering happily as they traveled, moving down the path and passing several groups of ponies that just stopped and stared at the passing group. Celestia waved weakly, ecstatic to be seeing and speaking with ponies again even under these circumstances. When Zelus asked her about it, her response was short and simple.
"I've not had a country for several decades now, Zelus. I've mourned the loss of my kingdom, the loss of everything I had. The ponies are what I need. I don't need the gold or the marble, or the pretty throne room. Each pony I see on the path is another that escaped, another pony that will survive to see another day. At this point, it's all I have, and it's all I really want."
"Well, we'll be heading back home soon, and you'll be free to spend your time smothering ponies with your affection as much as you like," Cimmerian called over his shoulder, earning a giggle from the white mare. The giggle spread through out the group and soon all the freed ponies were giggling, relishing their newfound freedom. Rainbow was already trying to fly, though her wings seemed to be giving her trouble. It left her landing every few minutes for a rest, though she refused to use the cart. Applejack was trotting beside her brother for a while, but was soon relegated to the cart. Once he caught her, Cimmerian added the blue Pegasus to the cart as well, threatening to tie down her wings if she ended up hurting herself.
"There it is!" Scootaloo shouted, hopping along next to the wagon with glee. "Freeside, we can grab an airship here!"
"That would be great if we didn't leave most of our shit in the forest, you know. Anyone got any cash on them?" Cimmerian asked, looking at the group. He chuckled as Celestia hopped off of his back, beginning to pat down Zelus.
"What the hell are you doing?" the queen asked him, only to have his grin grow wider.
"You've got all these extra chambers in your chitin, right? Did you stick your wallet into one?"
"Look, if nothing else, I can talk them into letting us on one as a Talon. It may cost me a month or two of pay, but to get you guys clear of Equestria, it's worth it," Scootaloo offered, trotting up to meet the approaching griffon patrol.
"The alicorn and the changeling," one of the griffons asked, not even waiting for her to speak. "Is that Cimmerian and Pandinus?"
Scootaloo blinked in confusion, not expecting the party to be recognized
"Uh, close. It's Cimmerian and Zelus. Pandinus is another changeling queen. We're trying to get back to Zarris. I know it sometimes causes problems with the treasury, but-"
"Done," the griffon said, cutting her off. "The commanders have ordered any aid requested to be given to the alicorn, within reason. He's apparently been causing a lot of trouble for the Mad Queen, and the bosses want him to keep doing it. There's a ship leaving in that direction in a few hours. You'll be on your way to Tealder by evening meal. The galley should have a bit of food if you need it. I'll send word that you're here."
The griffins began to move when one sputtered in shock, pointing over to the cart. The sergeant followed the claw, his own jaw dropping before he burst into laughter.
"He found Celestia? Most of the world was certain she was dead. Holy hang-time, no wonder the bosses are talking about this guy. Yea, I'll definitely give the galley a heads up. It will be great to hear how this goes. She gave the Talons a lot of manure about our profession when she was in charge, oh this is hilarious. Princess Celestia accepting Talon hospitality."
The orange pegasus trotted back to the group, a slightly confused expression on her face. Still it meant they were good to go at this point.
"So it turns out Herrick and the rest of the Talon brothers got a kick out of what you've done, and offered to help you if you needed. Thus, we've got access to the galley, and an airship later on tonight. We'll hop from that one to another once we reach Tealder. After that it should be a straight shot to Zarris, and a two hour flight to the Temple from there."
The dark alicorn nodded thankfully.
"Awesome, come on guys lets go get something to eat."
Leaning in to the smiling white mare, Cimmerian chuckled, whispering the magic words.
"I'm sure they'll have cake there."
The stallion blinked as a second later he found himself watching two slowly dissipating dust clouds, soon registering the fact that the pink mare was gone from the cart as well.
"For a bunch of crippled mares, they move awfully fast when sweets are mentioned."
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Okay, so. This is moving along quite quickly with all the updates now.
6874440 I had today off.
On one hand, you caused me to lose sleep, on the other this chapter had me smiling almost the whole way through. All in all you only get a 18/10. Can't wait for more.
Oh look, I finally remembered to add this to my favorites. God I feel stupid when I do that. Kept forgetting since chapter 4 or so. Now I just feel like a putz. >///<
Thank you!
I was not expecting another chapter so soon, so this is a pleasant surprise.
So is Lulu going to end up with a queens link like cadance or do you have something horrible in mind?
Also that ending
I think this is one of the best chapters so far.
Double update! WOOOOOOOOOOOH!
Moving in toward the conclusion here!
Especially now that the parasite is no longer siphoning power from the Elements of harmony...
Man this isngreat, but I'm all super worried about Luna now. I get this really bad feeling she's gonna have an array burned on her and Ted is going to have to fight her.
6874452
presumably once Twiggy is defeated and the arrays destroyed, no one will need a link any more.
Lets just hope she doesn't realize she could stop Ted in his tracks by threatening to order every marked pony to commit suicide.
Gonna be awkward when Luna shows up with an array carved on her trying to kill them.
Yay.....wait, that update was quick!
Wow, another chapter already? You are on a roll!
6874468
Given the amount of Weight she has probably lost from her imprisonment, she's got four or five hundred pounds of cake to eat through before that is a worry again.
I pitty the fool who says the cake is a lie.
6874481
Nah, to a Nightmare that would be equivalent to threatening to cut their own hands off. Nightmare's think simplistically, in an overlord fashion. Doing the dirty work themselves is unfathomable, except when their host is in full puppet mode.
I have another thought. It's possible that when all else fails, and the Nightmare is backed against the wall, she might decide that if she's going down, she's taking Twilight with her, killing both of them. Now THAT would be a downer(I do hope I didn't just give the author ideas...).
6874481 She's certainly insane enough to try that: threatening all the Equestrian ponies to make a big threat back down.
Putting arrays on ponies? 
Cadance was barely able to stand it! Non-alicorns ... oh dear. 
6874463 Yes, Luna's bound to show up soon ... poor Luna.
I'm willing to bet that she will have done something like that to her, just to spite Celestia (knowing how close the two sisters are). 
Holy hell, another chapter already? Rey, if you didn't have a restraining order your pants-legs would be beyond sticky right now.
6874441
But the days not over yet, so will there be another?
I feel like that safe house could have been the set of a comedy, with new people constantly pouring in haha. Nice chapter, as always.
i.imgur.com/t0Ch9tp.png
Is that a willy wonka and the chocolate factory reference? :)
Things have quietened down after the raid, but now comes the withdrawal and escape. Just hope teh waiting time while eating and resting isnt the time taken for the array changeling swarm to catch up.
Getting hit by exploding changelings in a fortified base is one thing. Getting hit in an airship loaded with injured ground pounders is something totally different.
The first three sentences of the chapter all use passive voice in the perfect participle tense. Normally I'm not a huge stickler on passive voice, but it really jumps out with the repetition, and being right at the start of the chapter.
that end bit, i can see it now...
lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8Xj63f_ThTU/VCvtwnLgn-I/AAAAAAAAADk/v2G1k0uvSPs/w575-h540/428798__safe_pinkie%252Bpie_princess%252Bcelestia_animated_eating_a%252Bbird%252Bin%252Bthe%252Bhoof.gif
Yeah I could see the Nightmare loosing her shit and mass slaving everypony she could get her hoofs on after loosing both the bearers and Celestia.
Nice chapter, good work.
I'm a bit confused- is Luna back, as well? Or- Or- is Cimmerian going to have to give up his body so Luna can come back?
Plenty of potential for trouble now. Let's see how thing unfold from here.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
6874463
Why bother with an array when she could very well force one of those parasites into her, reverting Luna to Nightmare Moon? And there's still Discord stewing in that decaying pile of wards and runes, I'm sure that mess goes critical like a nuclear bomb and bucks up the magic for miles with chaos splattered everywhere. And since the parasite is apparently done playing pretty princess pony, she could have also turned Twilight into a mana bomb too. A trap to take out Cimmerian (and anyone else nearby) if he tries to fight her personally.
All the ponies being grabbed and branded with the controlling runes, reminds me a lot of that segment during the Time Crisis episode when Sombra was making zombie soldiers out of the crystal ponies.
Head-canon firing in three.
Two.
One.
...
Silhouette, the temple-city capital of the Shadow Nation.
6874830
Luna decided it would be wise to sacrifice herself trying to give the team extra time by fighting NegaLight solo after being weakened for so long.
It was not wise.
Wow that was a good chapter and you made it in such little time. Keep up the good work.
Dragonfox
Huh, I'm guessing that Luna's probably received the graft like everyone else the queen captured . . . . Meh, I think she'she'll be fine. She's as tough as a fossilized cookie, which I think sounds pretty damn tough.
What if the ponies end up wearing the link? If after Cimmerian beats Nightmare Books, The adults who are marked now get so comfortable with the fact that they can communicate with each other that they burn the link into their children to bring them into it.
Something like this is a culture changing scale event. Either way, keep up the good work.
Lazy, lazy? You're a glorious person and post more often than most any other author I'm following. Something along the lines of 2:1. some times I worry about you. How do you afford to eat, how do you keep a roof over your head, and clothes on your back. Cause you can't have a job and write this much. Most authors agree work takes "all" the time, but you just keep pumping chapter after chapter. Don't you ever stop. If the world ends I need you to keep writing.
Remember two chapters back when people said Heart was going to be a useless asset?
Chekov's gun guys. You don't mention anything in a story like this unless it is going to be used.
People have to start trusting the author more.
These arrays are pretty much screaming 'Strike here!' at this point.
Nightmare Books has a setup that's beginning to parallel Gulf War Iraq. A military that is otherwise incompetent if the command and control assets are knocked out.
Between the effect Cimm has on unnatural control arrays, and the fragility of the array crystals, I see two counter-assault options opening up.
1: Focused strikes on Array crystals.
2: Jamming fields that neutralize array crystal effects.
Obviously, the arrays are going to give off a distinct 'energy' since it's an active transmitter. Which means that as soon as they regroup at the Temple, they need to figure out a way to detect and home in on those arrays. Research into Cimm's array disrupting effect could go a long way towards creating field 'jammers' that can disrupt the effects of an array before the team makes a direct strike on a control crystal.
Once the appropriate measures are developed, anti-array work becomes S.A.D. operations. Even better if they can develop magical or physical bombs to hit the array caravans with.
So you know what to do...
img.photobucket.com/albums/v430/admiraltigerclaw/Mothership.jpg
BEGIN ANTI-ARRAY MAGICAL RESEARCH IMMEDIATELY.
EDIT: I should also mention to those posting and worried about some 'escape chase' that if it hasn't happened by now, it's not going to. Typically, in your average adventure story against some evil overlord with absolute control of the land, this is where you'd have the desperate escape. But as has been shown, Nightmare Books does not have the absolute control She/It thinks she has. Multiple nations are mounting successful strikes and her 'special weapons' have critical flaws that the others now know about and are capitalizing on. She literally does not have the resources to dedicate to capturing and killing the plucky heroes.
And after this latest hit, she's lost an army-maker and over half her magical power sources. Despite her abilities as a direct threat in single combat, NB's power base is crumbling. The nation is only loyal to her at this point via fear or mind control. And now that her hold is proven to be weaker than any could realize, those loyal through fear are defecting/fleeing, and it's only a matter of time before the mind control is worthless. Being an entity that feeds on misery, death, and strife does not mesh well with inspiring true loyalty amongst a population of followers.
And if she manages to array Luna into being a 'Darth Vader' to her 'Tarkin' or 'Palpatine', all Cimm has to do is TOUCH the array to disrupt it. Like he did with the ship.
So this is screaming off the deep end is like? Nightmare Twilight has lost whatever it was she had.
6874441 I know it's probably rude to say, but "Have more days off."
6874588 Twilight meant for Cadance to stay in control. She didn't do much other than add the array and attach Amare to her.
For the other ponies I'd believe it'll be something like mind control.
6874923 I had not considered this. That is actually genuinely scary. Well, she is kinda nerfed right now so it won't be toooooooooooooo there are some serious possibilities because she is so weak right now...
Cake is a mare's best friend.
I wonder if somponies will ellect to keep their link when all is over. You know might actualy enjoy having the mental conversations and what not.
6875052
Motion seconded.
Great to see you running a wonderful balance of good things happening and bad things happening without making one side too powerful within the confines of the world you have created. Looking forward to the next one.
I don't know any words that would tell you exactly how much I love this story. My vocabulary just doesn't have expressions strong enough for it but maybe the following will give some level of estimation of my current feelings:
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T LIKE THIS? I ALREADY DID? WHY CAN'T I LIKE THIS AGAIN?"
6874905 Oh dear
6874441 This is great! Sad to see that it's at the midway point.
Why must it be at the midway point?
6874934 or at least develop a nicer way to link someone up. like, say, a removable amulet.
6875299
I do not believe she even lasted a paragraph before being pasted by NegaLight. Now she will be introduced to the hive a lot more forcefully, and most are expecting a fight now with posessed!Luna.