Chapter 90 - Coming together
There was a loud knock on the castle door, as Twilight had enchanted it so she could hear it no matter where she was inside the building. She groaned as she rolled out of bed, her mane sticking out all over the place and her wings could use a serious preening.
She stumbled to the door, taking a second to rub her eyes before she opened it and yawned.
“...What?” she said sleepily, before blinking at the sunlight reflecting off of the unicorn mare’s silver coat.
“I realize you have a harder time of it than I do, dear, and I probably am catching you first thing in the morning, but one would think you would put a little care into your appearance,” the mare said in a familiar voice.
“Bwha?” Twilight blinked and rubbed her eyes again as she looked at the gathering of ponies out front of her home. When she recognised whom it was, her coat turned several shade whiter and her horn flared, her teleport substitution causing her to vanish and leave a really bucking confused Ledger in her place.
“...Mom?” he asked. “And who’s this?”
“Ah, permit me to introduce Devoted Cause,” the unicorn said as she pointed at a blue pegasus. “Lucky Bastard,” this time, she pointed at a yellow pegasus. “And A.K. Yearling, the center of their little group.”
“Heya!” Yearling nodded as she adjusted her glasses and large hat. “Also, if you don’t mind Madame, I’d rather not have my name spoken aloud so readily. Not unless you want a mob of fans following us everywhere.”
“I very much doubt you won’t find a fan of your work in here,” the Madame chuckled. “And I really don’t think I need to introduce your own father, Ledger.”
“I would hope not,” Wishful said with a cheeky smile.
“That would require more alcohol than I drank last night,” the drone deadpanned. “Well, come on in and make yourselves comfortable, I’ll go see about waking the dead.”
“Not literally, I hope,” the Madame replied as she strode in first.
“Ah, so this is the Red Hive all over again huh Ledger?” Yearling winked, making it clear on the pony Twilight had given his notes to. And the pony that had gone to the Lands and returned.
“Yeah, but all I need to do to wake these ponies up is make a simple pot of coffee...or three,” the drone replied. “Much less than instilling them with a sense of duty that lasts beyond death.”
With that, the drone disappeared into the hallways, looking for the kitchen so he could make that sweet ambrosia of the morning.
As soon as the Madame crossed the threshold, her vision was filled with pink as Amy and Pinkie greeted the mare chipperly.
“Hiya!” they chirped together, the power of pink now coming to her in stereo surround sound.
“Oh dear,” the Madame replied. “Double the pink.”
“It’s like Joyful, but all grown up,” Wishful noted.
“Oh they have the potential to be sooo much worse,” Ace chuckled as he walked past the group towards the kitchen. “Thanks for distracting them long enough for me to get food.”
“I’ve never met a Pink,” Lucky whispered to Yearling.
“Me either,” Devoted added.
“You haven’!?” Pinkie and Amy chirped again as they all but materialised in front of them.
“Why Miss Pinkie. Should we educate them?”
“I believe so Miss Amy. Let’s teach them!”
They grabbed the drones and music started up from… somewhere.
:Pinkie:
In this wide wide world, you never did see~
A pony like you~
:Amy:
A pony like me?
:Pinkie:
To spread happiness and cheer to all we can~
You know a Pink’s here when the fun hits the fan!
:Amy:
Some sugar, spice and just a little flair,
To find somepony like us, to you I dare~
Through and through, we’re Pink to the core.
Just a little taste will leave you wanting more~
:Pinkie and Amy:
To spread happiness and cheer, that’s why a Pink is here!
We’ll confuse you and amuse you, make you laugh and smile.
Wanna come with us and party for a while?
At some point, the two had pulled out an impossible number of instruments and started playing all of them. At the same time!
:Amy and Pinkie:
So in short, what you want, is some reasonable information.
But we Pink’s are ones that defy explanation.
But just remember, we’re here all the same. Because we’re ponies like you.
And you’re ponies like me~
“For the love of the stars, shut the hell up!!” Scope yelled as she came downstairs. “I’m feeling really stabby right now, just FYI.”
“Okay~!” Pinkie and Amy giggled as the instruments vanished and they smiled brightly.
“I now know more than I ever wanted to know about Pinks,” Lucky said with a thousand-yard stare.
“Can somepony help me forget the past five minutes?” Devoted asked. Meanwhile, the Madame had taken notice of Scope…
“Oh buck me!” Scope swore as she saw who it was and turned to bolt as fast as she could…
It was too late. With a soft glow of her horn, the silver unicorn grabbed ahold of the nymph and pulled her into a cuddle.
“Gawddammit!” Scope pouted. Resistance was futile after all.
And that was when the Madame caught sight of Critical running down the stairs, giggling as a stallion chased her with a grin of his own, nipping at her flank and causing her to squeal in delight.
“Ah, young love,” the Madame sighed. “Well, half-young at any rate.”
Scope teleported from her grip during the distraction and re-appeared a few feet away. She groaned and wobbled before pitching over and holding her head.
Mental note. Teleporting while suffering from a hangover was not recommended.
“So, why did we come here again?” Devoted asked Yearling. “I mean, I know why they’re here. They didn’t shut up about it.”
“Because the wedding is in a few days and I was invited,” Yearling replied and bumped his hip. “Besides, I wanted to show you two Equestria, and get to know you a little more.”
“I can work with that,” Lucky said as he bumped her hip with his own.
Palette paused and coughed. “Oh, uh… hello lady Gossip,” he replied, poking at his marefriend. “Honey? Seems we have guests…”
“Indeed,” the Madame said with a vicious smile. “Now, a little bird told me the pair of you are engaged?”
“How did she find out?” Critical hissed to Palette.
“How would I know?” he whispered back. “Can she read minds or something?”
That was also when Critical recalled that Miss Yearling had been staying with her mother in the Lands...she shot a glare over to the author. She...she wouldn’t, would she?
Yearling blinked and she realised what she did. She offered the nymph a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her head, looking away awkwardly.
“Aheh...yeah, well,” Critical said. “He asked me. How could I say no to him?”
“And you?” the Madame asked, now turning to Palette.
“I love Critical with all my heart,” Palette nodded. “You know a little of my past and you know that proposing to her is something I did not do lightly, or on a whim. If you do think that, then we’re going to have problems.” He gave the intimidating mare a hard stare right back. He wasn’t buckling under her gaze in the slightest. “So my to you question is this. Do we have a problem?”
“Of course we don’t!” Wishful said as he walked up to the stallion and gave him a manly hug. “We admire a stallion that can stand up to her for what they love. Don’t we, dear?”
There was silence for a moment before the silver unicorn mare sighed. “You know that’s unfair. I wanted to be intimidating to him for a little bit longer.”
“No intimidating the future children in law,” the violet stallion said simply. “You’ve done enough of that for one life.”
“I blame Ledger for getting involved with so many mares,” the Madame muttered.
“Your family is crazy,” Palette sighed to Critical and hugged her. It was also then that a new guest entered the hall, searching for her mare and griffonfriend.
“Dammit all, why didn’t they wake me?” Chrysalis muttered as she bumped into Madame Gossip. “Hey! Watch where you’re…” Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. “Aww fuck…”
“Hello there dear,” the Madame said with a wicked smile. “I’ve only looked forward to meeting one other nymph as much as you~”
“Yeah, no,” Chrysalis said and turned to walk away. It was too early and she was not caffeinated enough to deal with this.
“Aww, come back,” the Madame pouted. “I only want to dismember you a little~”
“Find a cactus, and insert it where the sun doesn’t shine!” Chrysalis said. “Besides, you don’t stand a chance against me anyway!”
“You say that like you don’t know who I am~” the Madame said, before saying her name in Changeish.
“I know damn well who you are you silver slut,” Chrysalis barked back in their tongue. “And I’ll have you know that picking a fight with me means picking a fight with the most powerful Pink I have ever seen, and a Griffon that exploded a Black in close-quarters combat!”
“You just watch yourself, little upstart,” the Madame replied. “Because there might come a day when nobody is around to protect you, and I’ll pay you back for that little insult. Before I just wanted to talk to you. Now I actually want to dismember you. And they still don’t know how many nymphs I evaporated that day I freed my husbands.”
“Oh, you wanna fight then!” Chrysalis roared, her horn flaring with emerald energy. “Sorry Ledger, but I’m going to leave you with one less parent—” She suddenly yelped when a talon gripped her horn and gave the tip a hard flick. She shouted as the pain caused her magic to peeter out as Ace stared down at her.
“Chrysalis! We do not fight with friends and family. Not out of hatred or spite!”
“B-But—”
“No buts!’ Ace said as he released her horn and kissed her cheek. “Come now. Apologise and we shall start anew.”
“I will not—”
"Chrysalis…” Ace warned her.
The nymph paused, looked at the griffon and then sighed before mumbling something under her breath.
“Louder,” the griffon instructed.
Said mumbling increased by a single octave.
“Louder Chryssie.”
“Urrgghhhh! FINE! I’m sorry alright!”
Ace shrugged and looked at the Madame. “That might be the best you’ll get out of her for now.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” the Madame said with a wave of her hoof. “I can always tell her grandfather on her.”
“The hell you will!” Chrysalis shouted as Twilight returned, looking like her normal self, but still had a wary expression around the Silver nymph.
“Chrysalis, be good or I’ll send you to the blasted moon,” she sighed and teleported the nymph to the kitchen, where Amy was waiting with coffee and scones. “Right, so this morning is a total write-off. How may we help you Madame Gossip. Wishful-Heart?”
“I heard there was to be a wedding and took some time off from home to see if I was required,” the silver mare said. “As well, I wish to attend it. The first of my children is getting married. Ideally I would like to attend all my children’s weddings…” here her eyes flicked over to Critical and Palette. “But that would require some of them even telling me they were getting married in the first place.”
“I totally was going to,” Critical replied. “When there was less time for you to object to it.” The mare frowned and looked at Yearling. “Then Daring Dope here went and blabbed.”
“I didn’t know it was a secret,” she said. “Besides, don’t you have that Changeling-telepathy-thing?”
“Not all of us are as gifted as little Scope,” Critical deadpanned. “Talking across countries is nearly unheard of.”
“Fuck my life…” Scope groaned from the corner. Her head was still killing her.
“Of course you can attend the wedding,” Ledger said, arriving with coffee for everypony. “Why wouldn’t we let you?”
“This wedding is gonna be so totallysuperfatabulousfunneriffic!” Pinkie declared and gasped. “Oh my gosh! I totally have to start preparing for that!” She gave Ace and Amy a kiss on the cheek and then blurred out of the room. They heard a shout from Chrysalis, followed by the sound of somepony making out, before Pinkie ran back in and looked at the Changelings that had just arrived.
“Also gotta have a ‘Welcome to Ponyville and thanks for not murdering my nymphfriend party’!” she nodded and then bolted from the castle.
“So...do you feel like taking Pinkie out to dinner, maybe getting to know her a little bit?” Amy giggled as she hugged Ace.
“I’m so confused,” Ace sighed. “I seem to be amassing a collection.”
“Too. Much. Pink,” Chrysalis groaned as she stumbled back into the hall with a slightly bloated stomach and lip marks all over her face. “Bleh.” She fell to the floor and fainted.
“Aww, I think Cryssy needs some mouth-to-mouth,” Amy said before hopping over. “I volunteer to be the one to resuscitate her!”
“Be my guest,” Twilight sighed and waved a hoof. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting you all until tomorrow. And…” she paused and looked at Yearling, then at the two drones she had next to her.
“Well, what do we have here~?”
“N-Nothing!” Yearling blushed and moved away from them. They responded by giving her hurt looks, like her moving away had actually pained them. Yearling sighed and stepped closer to them.
“They’re my coltfriends,” she murmured quietly, just enough for Twilight to hear.
Unfortunately, Ledger’s hearing was also pretty sharp…
“Ah, I see you’re taking on some of the fine traditions of our homeland,” the drone chuckled as he passed them all a mug of coffee.
“Oh shove it,” Yearling pouted. “I blame the Violet Hive. That stupid place is a bad influence!”
“Agreed,” Ledger said, causing Wishful to pout.
“Are you saying I’m a bad influence?” the violet unicorn asked.
“Yes,” the Madame said without missing a beat.
“Ohh, another Violet?” a mare purred in a velvety tone as she draped herself over Wishful. “Hello dear. Would you and your gorgeous wife here want to come play with me and mine~?”
“Sorry, happily married,” the stallion said without looking at her.
“And I’ve no intention to share any of my husbands,” the silver unicorn replied.
“Aww, but you’re hogging all the cute ones~” Sugar pouted. “Come on Gossy! Be a pal.”
“Sugar, quit pestering the ponies,” Moondancer said irritably as she lifted the Violet noble with her magic. “Or do I have to put you in a corner?”
“You’re off by a bit, dear,” Gossip said as she showed off her briefly slitted silver eyes, before changing them back to normal.
“Silver… so you’re related to Ledger then,” Moondancer nodded. “I am Moondancer, wife to this mischievous one here. A pleasure to meet you.”
“I am Madame Gossip, the second most important Silver Changeling in the Lands,” the disguised nymph said with a tilt of her head. “And unless I miss my guess, she is related to the current ruling body of the Violet Hive.”
“Daughter of the Queen was it?” Moondancer asked her wife. “I can’t quite remember.”
“Niece, actually. Current heir apparent because of my work, though,” Sugar replied.
“How interesting,” the Madame said with a slight smile. By this point in time, Amy was doing her best to revive Chryssy. With copious making out involved.
Chrysalis groaned and pushed the enthusiastic nymph off of her. “You sure you’re a Pink, and not a Violet in disguise?” the Green noble deadpanned as she stood up, floating the smaller mare next to her.
“Pretty sure!” Amy chirped, doing her best to try and hug her silly Chryssy from the hold she had her in.
“Well, I’m not convinced,” the nymph sighed and shot the Madame a wary look before retreating upstairs for cuddles.
“This wedding is going to be… interesting,” Moondancer said idly and Twilight nodded in agreement.
“It’s a good thing we aren’t publicising it more, otherwise we’d probably run out of room for everypony to sit,” Ledger said as he finished giving coffee to everypony and sipping on a mug himself.
“There’s still Cider’s family,” Scope replied, having recovered somewhat. The two Changelings accompanying Yearling had some tasty Loyalty. And Rainbow Buffet was still around here somewhere…
“Like I said, it’s a good thing we aren’t publicising it more,” Ledger replied with a smile.
Twilight nodded and then with a flash of her horn, she teleported every living being in the castle into the living room.
“Right,” she said, ignoring some of the looks she was getting. “First and foremost, I want everyone to promise they’ll at least be civil until the wedding is over.” That statement was pretty much directed at Chrysalis and everypony that still had a problem with her. And the ones she had a problem with in return.
“I swear I won’t lay a hoof on her,” Madame Gossip said with a hoof held to her chest.
“I guess I can put up with the other Nobles for now,” Chrysalis said flatly. She sighed and looked at the stare that Amy was giving her before looking at the Madame. “And I’m sorry for insulting you. Please accept my apologies.”
“You’re forgiven,” the silver unicorn said with a smile. “And Ledger hasn’t throttled you yet, so clearly you’ve made up for your past as well. That or he’s been discouraged from doing so.”
“Six of one, half dozen of the other,” Ledger said as he sipped his coffee. “Twi, there’s more pots of the stuff in the kitchen, I didn’t know when your friends would be down to drink it…”
Twilight nodded and the coffee pots appeared in the living room, along with a pile of mugs and teacups, and a few jars.
What? She’d never thought she’d entertain so many guests.
“Well that’s good,” Chrysalis nodded and then draped herself over Shining Armor. “So Ex-Husband. You wanna join in on the forgiving game? Everypony wins at it!”
“I’m still getting over the influx of changeling workers we seem to have acquired for our mines,” Shining replied dryly.
“Ah, so Daddy’s been helping then?” Midnight replied, having just woken up and yawned. “Whoa! That’s a lotta ponies.”
“Morning love,” Twilight giggled.
Midnight looked at Shining, then at Chrysalis and finally at the Madame. “Chryssie’s still breathing? Huh, who knew?”
“Unfortunately, so are you,” the green Noble retorted.
Midnight poked out her tongue in return and looked at Wishful. “Oh, heya Purple Pops!”
“Hello again,” Wishful said with a tilt of his head before resuming his morning coffee.
“Might I propose a second order of business?” Ledger said with a hoof raised.
“Mr. Ledger has the floor,” Twilight nodded , taking a step back.
“I would like to propose that if the Apple mares in the room feel up to it, that breakfast be made by them. Because it would be delicious.”
“Well Cider? Fritter?” Applejack asked. “What do y’all say to this?”
“Well for one, flattery can only get you so far,” Cider nodded and looked at her fiance. “But then, who here hasn’t had a meal prepared by us?”
“You all could open a restaurant that would give Fredrick a run for his bits,” the disguised drone replied. “Plus I’m sure Twilight’s friends would be appreciative at the very least, as well as my parents.”
“Well, ah guess we could blow away yer tatse buds,” Fritter nodded and looked at her sister and cousin. “Fritter Feast?”
“Hmm, ah reckon so,” Applejack nodded.
“We’ll have ‘em happier than rabbits in mating season,” Cider agreed.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy blushed and Rainbow Dash suddenly took an interest in the ceiling, both refusing to meet the gaze of Sugar Darling. The nymph just chuckled and sipped her coffee. She could guess how last night went~
“Well, let’s get ‘er done then,” Cider nodded as Applejack led the three mares to the kitchen, Apple Leaves also got up and went to assist.
“So, is there a reason you did that?” Twilight Velvet asked.
“I figured if we were going to have a big, semi-official meeting here, the least we could be is well fed,” Ledger replied. “Leads to happier ponies overall.”
“They’re that good of a cook?” Velvet asked and Twilight, Scope, Midnight and Ledger all shivered in delight. All food was forever ruined after an Apple feast.
“Look,” Twilight said as she calmed down. “I just want this wedding to go off without a hitch—”
“So no invading this one Chryssie,” Cadence called out with a cheeky smile.
“Fuck you Cadenza!” the nymph shot back.
“Ohh, can we Shiny?”
Twilight and Shining Armor just groaned and facehooved. Urge to vapourise all living things, rising.
“So help me,” Ledger said calmly. “If you all don’t make some effort to get along, I will turn into a dragon and hold you all down until you’re worn out.”
“Ohh, your son is offering kinky things again~” Chrysalis called out to the Madame. “Tell him not to make promises he can’t keep~”
Ledger snorted and then flashed silver, turning into an adolescent dragon that was glaring at Chrysalis. “Seriously, last warning,” he said. “Calm down, or I’ll calm you down for you.”
“I have an Amy and I’m not afraid to use her,” Chrysalis countered.
“You are being kinda snippy, lovebug,” Amy said.
“Nrrgh,” Chrysalis just sat down and folded her arms. “Well excuse me for being nervous about sitting a room full of ponies that wanted to kill me at one point or another.”
“You’ve got Acey to protect you, what are you nervous about?” Amy asked her.
“Because I doubt Ace could beat Miss Gossip over there,” she replied. “She’s a changeling, she cheats.”
“That I do,” the mare said with a nod.
“We good?” Ledger asked, still a dragon and still drinking his coffee.
“Ledger, turn back before you hurt yourself,” Scope said, poking him. “Being a dragon is my thing. Quit copying.”
Telling a Changeling… to quit copying?
She couldn’t help it, Twilight burst into uproarious laughter. Ledger snorted a few laughs himself before turning back to his unicorn self.
“Okay, so should we address what we did last night with each other yet or no?” the disguised drone asked of the room as a whole.
“Ohh, do I get to tell you what I did~?” Sugar purred, the Lust just oozing from her. “I had a lot of fun~”
“I was more asking if Midnight was going to attempt to kill me again,” Ledger asked, causing the Madame and Wishful to stop drinking and slowly look at the batpony.
“Well maybe if somebuggy would stop getting drunk and flirting with mares,” the thestral defended herself and looked at the pair. “I wonder Ledgie? Have you told them that they’re gonna be grandparents yet?”
The silence was such that you could drop a pin and hear it hit the floor.
“Mmm, guess not,” Midnight mused. Checkmate Level Ledger. Now he was the one getting the stares from his parents.
“Iiiii was going to bring it up later?” Ledger offered.
“How much later?” the Madame said icily.
“‘Oh look, we’re back from our honeymoon’ later?” the drone asked more than said.
“That makes sense, but once it happened, you should have told us,” Wishful said. “Honestly, I thought your mares were helping you to be better. Yet you still pull something like this?”
“Because we know how you are!” Ledger and Critical said at the same time. Then looked at each other and chuckled, for once glad that they agreed.
“You might want to clarify that they’re only getting one from your brother… for now,” Palette said as he saw the Silver mare’s gaze drifted towards him.
“Yeah, but I can still say that for not telling them I was getting married right away,” Critical said, directing a quick glare to Yearling and her drones.
“Oh come on,” Yearling pouted. “I said I was sorry. But perhaps I should rescind the offer I had for you, since you’re so mad at me.”
“Fine, fine,” the Madame said. “If it helps any, I promise to try and control myself in reaction to this news.”
Ledger and Critical audibly sighed in relief. The nightmare was past now.
“Oh come on,” Rainbow Dash said. “She doesn’t look that scary. Bunch of pansies.”
The mare smiled at the chromatic pegasus and assumed her true form in a flash of silver fire. Rainbow blinked and shrugged. She’d seen so many that a changeling didn’t surprise her anymore.
“Point still stands,” Rainbow nodded. “Still, when you’re as awesome as me, I guess it’s hard to compare.”
“Knowledge is power,” the nymph said. “That is the creed of the Silver line. We know as much as we can, we learn everything we can get our hooves on. There’s probably more books in the royal vault that we’ve forgotten about than anywhere else. And I know so very much magic, dear. I once melted an intersection with a single blast. And rescued my husbands to be with that same blast.”
“Eh, I suppose that’s kinda cool,” Rainbow said and rubbed a hoof against her chest. “I went up against Nightmare Moon, and entire swarm of you guys, Sombra, Tirek, Cerberus, Discord… twice. Hmm, what else…?”
“I could have been High Queen of the Changeling Lands,” the nymph countered with. “I chose not to be, so that my brother could live the equality our parents preached. Then I orchestrated the Red, Yellow, and Blue Hives shifting from having Queens ruling them to Kings. It was almost too easy.”
“I possess the Rainbow Power, a magical force stronger that the Elements of Harmony,” Rainbow said back. “Oh, and let’s not forget I’m the only pony in Equestria that can do a Sonic Rainboom.”
“I’m certain I could dig up an artifact or three in the vaults if I cared to that might add to my already considerable might,” the Madame said with a smile. “And all the line of Noble Silver ‘lings get access to the Flames of Knowledge, a semi-sentient spell that obey us and us alone.”
“We have a magical castle that can point out friendship problems and tell us exactly who needs to go and solve it. Oh, and our Cutie Mark’s glow.”
“For the love of…” Twilight growled as she surrounded the two with a silence bubble. “Does anypony have anything relevant to add to this meeting?”
“Yeah, why did you wake a thestral before moonrise?” Grissom muttered, having finally woken up and leaned sleepily against his wife.
“Such is life Pops,” Midnight shrugged. Ledger just waved a mug of his coffee under Grissom’s nose, wondering if it would help his future father-in-law.
“Ahhh, I knew I liked you for a reason,” Grissom sighed and took the mug, drinking deeply from it.
“Ledgie is just that helpful,” Midnight pointed out. “So what did you boys get up to last night?”
“Drinking,” Ledger supplied. “And bowling. Beyond what I already told you, my memories are hazy, but I know we did that.”
“We went out and got food, then went to a gentlestallions club and drank while watching strippers,” Flash Sentry spoke up, being the group’s official record keeper. “Discord showed up and the night got more interesting.” Twilight removed the silence bubbles around the two mares just as Flash finished.
“Then we went bowling for giant cocks.”
“I’m...sorry?” the Madame said.
“Oh, so that explains that dream last night,” Ledger muttered.
“Discord turned the bowling pins into giant penises,” Flash said without any sense of regret. “We just… rolled with it after that.”
“Still explains why I saw-” Ledger shut his mouth before finishing and shaking his head.
“Saw what?” Midnight purred, draping herself over him. “Care to share with the class Levvy~?”
“Nothing doing,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “That is one memory I do not need to share.”
“Oh you can bet you’ll tell me later,” Midnight said. “Trust me, I can make you talk… or moan, or whatever noise I like really~” She giggled and poked his nose. “Even chirp~” Then her eyes widened and she looked at the Madame. “I wonder…”
“So, ah,” Ledger asked. “After that?”
“After that,” Flash continued. “You flirted with a cute unicorn, because she said things that could be taken into a certain context. Shining stopped you from boinking the mare right there in the alley and we came back here.”
“And I’m glad he did, otherwise I very much doubt I would be alive right now,” Ledger said, subtly edging away from Midnight.
Said thestral gripped him just a little tighter.
“So what about you ladies?” Grissom asked. “Get up to much mischief?”
“Well,” Twilight paused and thought. “We went out to eat at Fredricks, and Sugar and Midnight teased those poor colts endlessly.”
Midnight’s grip softened as she edged away a little...only to be caught in Ledger’s hug now. “Do go on,” Ledger said with a wide smile.
“Well, after that, Sugar Darling took us to a place with… ehem! Some strippers… and we all got gifts.”
“Ohh, you mean like the kinky boardgames, flavoured condoms and the giant rubber dong?” Midnight said.
Her words had the desired effect of making Twilight blush and hide under her wings. A rather nice imitation of Fluttershy.
And yet, Fluttershy was standing strong… even as her legs trembled like leaves in a wind storm.
“I may want to examine these gifts later,” Ledger said. “They sound...interesting.”
“Oh! What about the collars we got?” Midnight grinned maliciously.
“Collars?” Ledger asked with a tilted head. “I don’t have a pet. Much less multiple.”
“How long do you think it’ll take him to figure it out?” Sugar whispered to Wishful.
“Right up until they slip them on in front of him,” Wishful whispered back.
“I feel sorry for those mares,” Sugar sighed. “They got four collars Ledger dear. Do the math!”
“Sugar!” Twilight said with a furious blush adorning her face. One that Ledger matched.
“Um,” he said, before looking at Midnight. “Are...are you...okay with that?”
“Maybe… I dunno,” Midnight said, as most ponies in the room had a look of confusion, save for Scope, Cider and her parents. “Maybe… not right away. Sorry…”
“That’s fine by me,” Ledger affirmed with a nod. “I wasn’t even expecting that. So of course I’ll listen to you when you say you don’t want to wear one.”
“Is… there something wrong?” Fluttershy asked. “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten them. Ohh, what was I thinking?”
“She just has a bad history with collars,” Ledger said. “You couldn’t have known.” And then he winked at Midnight. “Besides, something tells me that she won’t be wearing it right away.”
“I could make you wear it,” she smirked and trailed her hoof along his flank. “Such a bad bug. You need to be punished~”
“Aaaand I’m sure my mother needed to hear all about that,” the drone deadpanned.
Midnight blinked and looked around. “Oh, you’re all still here?”
“Yes, yes we are Midnight,” Twilight sighed. “Aaanyway. After that, Sugar Darling here retrieved some drinks from her club and we came back here and played a few games. Nothing more.”
“A game you’re quite familiar with,” Midnight purred, nibbling Ledger’s ear.
“I thought I had to be here for you all to play that game,” Ledger returned.
“Sorry Ledgie,” Midnight replied. “We can play our version later. After all, you still gotta play with Scopey and TwiTwi~”
“We’re right here you know?” Shining, Twilight’s parents and Scope all shouted.
“It’s kind of hard to forget about any of you when you’re yelling,” the drone said as he used a hoof to clean out one ear.
“So that’s that,” Twilight replied. “As for the wedding. It’s going to be held here in the castle in three days.” She looked at the Madame and her entourage. “Do you have a place to stay? Or will we be housing you all here for the duration?”
“I’m sure I can find somewhere to stay,” the Madame said.
“That’s a ‘no, we don’t have anywhere to stay’,” Wishful spoke up.
“Then I’m more than happy to have you here,” Twilight smiled. “It’s not like I don’t have the room.”
“Charge them rent, you could make a killing,” Discord said as he reclined on the Madame’s back. He munched a carrot and smiled. “Eh, what’s up Bug?”
“Just getting acquainted with everyone aiding in my son’s wedding,” the Madame replied.
“Ohh, that will be fun!” Discord chuckled. He was looking forward to it. “And remember Chryssie…”
“I will murder you in your sleep!” Chrysalis growled. “Actually, you know what. Forget it. I don’t care anymore because I’m not getting married!” And with that, she blasted from the room with an explosive teleport.
“I fear I have err’d,” Discord said and stroked his goatee. Amy sniffed and started sobbing quietly, even as her colors began to dull…
The doors flew open and Chrysalis came running back in the second she realised her error and what might happen.
“Ohcrapohcrapohcrap!” She bowled Twilight and the Madame over as she scooped up the little Pink. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it! I was just so mad and… I’m really sorry Amy. I’m still going to marry you and Acey. Please oh please cheer up!”
“You mean it?” Amy said, her discoloration halting but not reversing.
Chrysalis gulped. She looked at the crowd and the look in her eyes said that she would eviscerate anypony who said anything about this. She nodded and sat on her rump.
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she said, going through the motions. “I uh… I was waiting for a better time but…” She pulled out a box and opened it, revealing a black ring with a stunning green emerald. The gem shimmered and Amy saw it was no emerald, but a crystalised piece of her magic.
The pink nymph’s breath hitched. “For...for me?” she asked softly.
“No, it’s for Ace,” Chrysalis deadpanned. “Yes you little pink doof. It’s yours. A little piece of myself, so you’ll never, ever be alone.”
Amy’s colors rapidly brightened back to normal before she started vibrating in place. Then she was hugging and kissing Chrysalis like no tomorrow, saying only one word over and over. “Yes!” she said between kisses. “Yes yes yes!”
“Well, guess she only likes it a little,” Chrysalis smiled. A genuine one as she held the little pink mare. “And I don’t have to say what will happen to the next idiot to make an invasion joke.” She turned her head and glared at the crowd. “Do I!”
“Nope,” Amy said as she kept hugging Chryssie. “Cause the next pony to even think about making one will get me. I’ll deal with them for you Chryssy~”
“Nope!” Shining said and got shakily to his hooves. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.” Each step punctuated by that word until he left the room.
“Shiny?” Cadence blinked. “What the…?”
“Maybe you should go after him,” Ledger urged the pink alicorn. “See what that was all about.”
“Oh that?” Chrysalis chuckled, revelling in the love that Amy was giving her. “My little Creamy just scarred him for life for trying to arrest me is all. He’ll be alright… one day.”
“Oh dear,” Cadence sighed, walking from the room to find and console her husband.
“Well, I apologise,” Discord said, actually genuine about it too. “This friendship thing is… difficult to master.”
“The important part is you try,” Ledger said. “And learn from your mistakes, that’s another big one.”
“Says the pot to the kettle,” Discord said to him. “Oh Madame dear. Are we expecting some royal visitors from your end? This is the first official wedding between a pony and Changeling after all.”
“My brother wishes he could attend,” the nymph replied. “But sadly, affairs of state are keeping him busy at the moment, and likely will until long after the wedding is over..”
“A pity, I was so hoping to meet that delightful Violet mare again,” Discord said and licked his lips. “Oh well~”
Yearling visibly shuddered at the thought of that terrifying mare. She wasn’t wearing her amulet, so her fear was easy to read by the changelings present. Devoted was on one side of her, Lucky took up her other side, and both of them were trying to comfort her with a hug.
“That mare… scares me,” Yearling said. “Something about her…”
“She was a good help in pointing me to the right sort of changelings I would need to help change the regimes of half the Hives,” the Madame said.
“Speaking of,” Yearling wanted to switch topics. “Can we speak privately later?”
“Of course, after breakfast,” the silver nymph said.
Speaking of… Ledger and his mares heard a familiar sound, and caught some familiar scents.
“SOUP’S ON!” they heard Cider hollar from the dining hall. Ledger smiled before getting the door and opening it wide for the ponies. The filed through and several of them gasped when they saw the literal feast laid out for them.
“Whoa…” Night Light said and looked at Ledger. “And… you eat like this… all the time?”
“Not like this, but with Cider, the restaurants of Las Pegasus, and their abundant love, I’m never hungry,” Ledger replied before taking a seat.
“I’m… kinda jealous bro,” Flash said as he sat down. His voice lowered to a hushed whisper. “You remember those mares right, from that one time?” He didn’t exactly want to spill an major details with Twilight in the room.
“Vaguely,” Ledger replied.
“Three mares bro. Three! And not a single one of them can cook to save their lives…”
“You just got unlucky,” Ledger replied as he put some food on both his and Flash’s plate. “Try the fritters, they’re delicious.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” he said as he took one. One of his eyes wandered to the pony of the same name.
“Amy… can we move in with them?” Chrysalis said with huge puppy eyes. This food was… indescribable~
“I think they have enough ponies in their life as it is,” Amy snickered. “Though this food is giving me all sorts of delicious ideas~”
“I still stand by my statement that you’re secretly a Violet,” the older nymph sighed and looked away, blushing. “Well, whatever, your ice-cream is a million times tastier…”
“Mmm, nope, it’s a tie,” the pink nymph said. “My stuff is for dessert or a snack, this is the tastiest breakfast I’ve ever had. I can admit defeat gracefully too, y’know.”
“Can’t seem to take a compliment though,” the changeling muttered into her Prench toast.
“Ah reckon yer skills have gotten way better though,” Applejack complimented her cousins. “Heck, ah still remember when you two could do little more than burn water…”
“Ahh, don’t tell them that!” Cider and Fritter said together in perfect unison.
“Not saying it,” Ledger said simply, tempted to but knowing better than to bring up Midnight’s lack of expertise. Maybe one day he’d help her get better.
“Not saying what?” Scope said. “That Midnight totally sucks at cooking. That kitchens spontaneously combust at the mere thought of her walking into them. That the demons of Tartarus fear her cooking more that the light of Celestia?”
“There’s this thing called tact,” Ledger dryly replied. “I was trying to practice it.”
“Meh, pull no punches and take no prisoners,” Scope nodded. “Such is life.”
“You’re soooo meannnn~” Midnight pouted and folded her forelegs. “No hugs and kisses for any of you now!”
“Told you so,” Ledger said as he blew a kiss at Midnight. “And for the record, I believe that with the right teacher, you can learn to cook, Middy.”
“Doubt it,” Midnight pouted.
“Believe me, I’ve tried,” Moon Song sighed. “It’s a lost cause.”
“So was I when I started out,” Ledger said.
“It’s true,” Critical pitched in. “He couldn’t even make toast without it turning into charcoal.”
“Ooh, do we have any more embarrassing stories about Ledger?” Scope chuckled. “Picking on him is always fun.”
“He was the reason we had to eat out as often as we did,” Critical pitched in. “Using up ingredients in his ‘experiments’ in cooking.”
“In my defense, those should have worked,” the drone defended himself.
“And then he learned how to read a recipe properly.”
“Still burned my fair share of things, but I got better over time,” Ledger grumbled.
“Your first casserole was charcoal,” the green nymph deadpanned. “I don’t know how you forgot about it as long as you did. You’d think the smoke would have been a clue!”
“That’s generally a good sign,” Shining chuckled. “You should see Twilight’s attempts at cooking. Heh, and you all think Tirek was a threat to the world.”
“Shut up,” Twilight mimicked Midnight’s pout.
“I realize I might have a slight advantage over a pony in learning how to cook,” Ledger said between bites. “But I still think it’s worth the effort of teaching her.”
“If you survive the ordeal that is,” Scope giggled. Her teasing was relentless.
Midnight just hissed at them and cuddled up to Twilight. “You’re the only one that understands me,” she said to the princess. “We should leave these boors and run away together.”
“I did say I would teach you,” Ledger pointed out. “Plus it’d be novel to teach a princess something new.”
“You say that like you haven’t already~” Twilight said and gave him a half-lidded gaze. Quite the opposite to the glare he was getting from her parents and brother.
“Something you can use outside of the bedroom,” the drone replied dryly.
“Ahh, and now this is the perfect breakfast,” Sugar Darling hummed.
“I can’t take you anywhere, can I?” Moondancer sighed.
“You say that like you could take me anywhere to begin with,” the nymph countered.
“I give up,” Moondancer sighed. “You changelings are impossible.”
“That we are,” Chrysalis nodded. “Pink’s especially so…” Her eyes wandered to the two drones that had accompanied that yellow pegasus mare. “So who are these delicious little morsels?”
“My drones,” Yearling replied absently. She was too engrossed in this tasty food to really think about her answers. “So bugger off.”
“Your’s huh?” Chrysalis smirked and looked at the drones. “So, has she used the Right of Claiming yet?”
“Not yet, but I’m a free agent,” Lucky said as he ate some of this delicious food. “So I go where I please, and it pleases me to stay by her. She doesn’t need to do something like that for me.”
Devoted, however, was oddly quiet…
“Ohh, so only one of you is eager huh?” Chrysalis pressed him. “A Blue named Devoted… yes, I’d say King and Hive come first for you hmm?”
“I...want to stay by her, but I am loyal to my king,” Devoted Cause said quietly. “When our time together is over…when she is done exploring the Lands...”
Chrysalis stared at him then looked at the pegasus mare. She felt sorry for her. Blues could be… problematic to court, for that exact reason.
And yet, Yearling just looked at her drone, then glanced over at the Madame.
“So whut’s the plan after breakfast?” Applejack asked.
“Actually, I’d like all the brides and bridesmaids to come back to my shop,” Rarity said. “I’d like to do a final fitting for the dresses and make any necessary adjustments.”
“Ledger,” Wishful spoke up. “Don’t you have that order to check up on?”
“Yup, and I have a suit to obtain as well,” Ledger said with a nod. “I’d rather not give miss Rarity here another task to do today if at all avoidable, so the tailors of Las Pegasus will have to do.”
“You know that I am quite popular in certain circles of the industry,” Rarity nodded. “Why don’t you take a little day trip to Canterlot? I know a boutique that would suit you to a T.” She giggled at her little pun.
“Mmm, fine, but Twilight will have to show me how to work her portal device,” the drone said. “I really need to head back to Las Pegasus today and pick up that order.”
“It’s simple enough, even Chrysalis could figure it out,” the alicorn giggled.
“I feel like I should be insulted,” Chrysalis pouted and looked at Amy. “Should I be insulted.”
“You can be insulted later,” Amy said as she beeped Chryssy’s nose. “Today you have a fitting! You’re gonna look so pretty~”
“Oh hells,” Chrysalis frowned at the thought of Rarity using her as one of her ponnequins. “This is going to suck…”
“I promise you it’ll be fine,” Amy said. “I got a fitting done and it wasn’t that bad.”
“So many designs to work with, I can’t wait~” Rarity squealed in delight.
“That just leaves us old ponies to our day,” Grissom chuckled. “I’ll admit I’m quite lost to what I’ll do when I’m not working.”
“We could just explore Ponyville,” Wishful said.
“That sounds like a nice way to spend the day,” the Madame mused. “It would give me time to get used to this place before the wedding.”
“This poor town will never know what hit it,” Moon Song giggled. “Three unicorns, two changelings and a thestral walk into Ponyville… now all we need is the punchline.”
“We can work on that while we’re out there,” the silver nymph said with a smile. “I must admit I am eager to spend time with you all as well~”
“Does that line fill you with dread?” Scope whispered to Ledger. “I don’t like it when your Mom smiles… reminds me of a dragon that’s about to eat somepony.”
“Mom, be nice out there,” Ledger said. “We don’t need the ponies here afraid of another changeling invasion.”
“I could take this town over in a week, if not for the mares right here,” the mare said before gesturing at the former Bearers.
“Trixie did that in a half hour,” Rainbow nodded as Twilight groaned and facehooved.
“Let’s not bring that up again.”
“And me in even less time,” Discord said. “Really now, Ponyville isn’t exactly… challenging. It’s like the tutorial level or something.”
“The trick seems to be holding onto it,” the Madame mused. “I could work something out with a day in the archives, if I felt like it. And I always have wanted a summer home in Equestria…”
“Mr. Wishful?” Twilight said with an exasperated sigh. “Could you please ask your wife not to invade Ponyville. It wouldn’t end well.”
“Honey, it would sort of violate that whole ‘no invading’ rule for our son’s wedding,” Wishful said.
“Oh fie,” the nymph sighed. “Very well, another day then.”
“Just remember that we’re here,” Midnight pointed out. “That said, fighting you would be fun~ I’d love to see what kinds of tricks you’d pull out.”
“Unfair ones,” the Madame smiled. “But that’s another day.”
“Fair enough,” the bat nodded. “I’mma borrow your room to exercise for a bit,” she said to Twilight and kissed her cheek. “Catch you later~” She moved and gave three of the Apple mares a kiss as well, leaving Applejack a little flustered as she went to fly from the room…
Before Rarity’s blue aura snagged her as the unicorn sighed. “And where do you think you’re going?”
“Um… exercise?”
“As admirable as your devotion to your physical health and physique is, we have a fitting to go to.”
“Nnnnuuuuuu…” Midnight cried out as she was carried from the room, the rest of the mares involved follow them. “Ledggeerrrr! Save meeeeee!”
“I’ll take my punishment for leaving you to your fate when you’re all prettied up,” Ledger said as he continued to eat.
“You suuuuuck,” her voice called out before they left altogether.
“So, what did you guys wanna do?” Yearling asked her entourage. “Any place you’d like to visit.”
“We’ve never been out of the Lands,” Lucky pointed out. “You’d have a better idea of what’s going on than us.”
“Well, let’s… um…” Yearling frowned and tapped her chin. What could she do here?
“Oh Yearling,” Velvet sung and the mare froze. Oh sweet Tartarus, she forgot that she was here. “How’s that book coming? You know, the one I was supposed to have a draft for already?”
“Heey, you know what? Let’s just go,” she said and flew from the nearest open window. Hopefully those two would follow her.
Lucky and Devoted took the chance to finish off what they were eating before darting after the mare. Food this delicious should be eaten! Then the pair of them flew out the same window she did.
“Well how do you like that?” Velvet sighed. “Honestly, if she wasn’t such an amazing writer I’d…”
“Be bored out of your skull I’d wager,” Night Light said with a chuckle. “So, shall we finish up here and head out together?”
“Sounds good,” Wishful hummed. “Once Ledger actually starts up the portal and is off, we’re free.”
“And with that, I’m suddenly all out of confidence that I will be able to,” the drone sighed. “Oh well. How hard could it be?”
“Gee, if only there was somepony here who lived with Twilight most of her life, and knows almost as much about magic as she does,” Shining Armor said with no small amount of snark.
“Play nice Shiny,” Cadence chided him. “Go with Ledger and see if you boys can figure out Twilight’s little device.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Shining replied and chuckled. “Come on bug, let’s go and start thinking with portals.”
“I should probably learn it, if only to see if I can replicate it for my own business,” Ledger said. “Two heads are better than one, though. And I can already imagine the applications you’d have for it.”
“And us,” the Madame pitched in.
“You can have it when you can hold the peace and not declare war for every slight,” Ledger shot back as he led Shining out of the dining hall.
“That was one time!” she replied.
“My, my. Everypony certainly seems spirited this morning,” Moon Song giggled.
“Ah, are we talking about that Yellow nymph?” Ace asked. “My student mentioned her to me one time.”
“Yes,” the silver mare said before taking a sip of coffee. “I was merely returning insult for insult. I would have stopped with her head for what she did to my son.”
“Violence begets violence,” Ace nodded. “You seek revenge, and then hers would have sought revenge in kind. A never ending escalation, a battle that no-one wins.” He nodded and gave her a small smile. “Perhaps… there are other ways?”
“I am not going to forgive her for what she did,” the Madame replied bitterly. “An insult like that, what she did to my son...he’s too kind, too forgiving. She should pay for what she did.”
“No one is perfect and anyone can make a mistake,” Ace nodded. “I know not what this individual did to incur such fury. That particular detail was left out, as it was not my place to know. I simply wished to know why my student had almost killed somepony out of anger.”
“It’s not my place to say, really,” the Madame said simply. “But there are very, very few things that would make a mother want to behead somepony for what they did to their child. Take a guess, I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
“Any ideas that are coming to mind are one’s I’d rather not voice,” Ace said. “And very few things rile up Midnight to that point. Still, I hear that this Yellow mare is attempting to make amends. To… minute degrees of success.”
“My brother and I are trying to come up with appropriate punishments for what nymphs like her did to drones because they could,” the Madame rejoined. “I’d be glad to have a case one to impart our punishments onto when we come up with them.”
“As long as death isn’t the first choice,” Ace said. “Anyone can change. Take Discord and Chrysalis, one once ruled this world and the other tried. And yet, you just shared a friendly breakfast with them.”
“...I dislike logic being applied to this situation,” the Madame frowned.
“You have to admit, he has a point,” Wishful replied. “Granted, I still want that nymph to be punished as well, but you can’t let your emotions cloud your judgement.”
Ace nodded. “Emotions are a powerful thing, something your kind should know better than anyone. Perhaps she had her own reasons? Details can be lost in the heat of the moment, even to those that were involved. Just, keep that advice in mind hmm?”
The silver nymph sighed. “Fine. Have it your way. I promise to try to reign in my murderous urges the next time I see her. Try.”
“I mean no disrespect,” Ace said as he got up. “All I ask that you keep your options open. Regret is something that is difficult to amend.” He gave the couple a polite bow and left the room.
“Wow…” Apple Leaves and Twilight Velvet said.
“Like I’d regret putting that nymph in her place,” the silver nymph muttered to herself.
“Dear,” Wishful said.
“Fine, I’ll stop trying to find the damn nymph that-” she cut herself off before finishing, shaking her head.
Wishful shook his head and placed a hoof around her. “What do you supposed he meant by her trying to make amends?”
“I suppose we’ll find out one day, like she actually can make amends for what she did,” the nymph muttered.
“It’s not easy, letting go of anger like that,” Moon Song said as she sipped her tea. Her expression was unreadable, and even her emotions felt masked somehow. “But you can do it. I did after all…”
“That’s...yes, I recall,” the Madame sighed. “Ledger wrote about that. Very well. I’ll...work on it. Eventually.”
“Okay,” Velvet clapped her hooves together. “What say we go out and paint the town red…” She smirked and looked at the Madame. “Not literally of course~”
“I can do that, but first,” the Madame replied as she gathered up the empty plates. “I’ll just take care of these for you all, then put my make-up on and join you.”
Velvet’s horn shone and the dishes disappeared into the kitchen to be washed later. “Allow me,” she smiled.
“Handy,” the nymph said with her usual smile, before her horn shone again and her usual unicorn disguise was in place once more.
“Handy,” Velvet and Moon echoed, watching her apply the disguise so easily. “No wrinkles or grey hairs…”
“Not that you could tell,” Wishful said with a smirk. “She’s always silver in color.” That remark earned him a quick punch from his wife.
That earned a round of chuckles and giggles.
“You two are such a cute couple,” Velvet said as they left for their walk around town. Apple Leaves was reading a letter she got just as they left and she squealed happily, hugging the parchment.
“Good news I take it?” Moon giggled and nudged the earth mare.
“Mhmm, we have to swing by the train station around noon if that’s alright,” she nodded happily.
“I think we can squeeze it into our vast clear schedule,” Wishful replied.
“Thank yew kindly,” she replied, her accent slipping. “Ah reckon this is gonna be a real fine day~”
“Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored,” Midnight chanted as she stood perfectly still. Rarity’s eye gave a slight twitch as she adjusted a seam.
“You have to look perfect on the day,” she said calmly, though she grit her teeth to keep that tone calm. “And we’re almost done so if you don’t mind…” she looped the needle through and pricked her flank, causing Midnight to yelp.
“OW! Okay, I get it… yeesh,” she looked over at Scope, who was, surprise surprise, discussing Daring Do with Rainbow Dash.
“Hey Scopey, you wanna add Fangirl Dash to the herd as well huh?” she called out.
“Hey, any fan of Daring is good by me,” Scope replied. “Plus she’s a useful buffet. She just never runs out of Loyalty.”
“I am not joining your pervy herd,” Dash said and poked out her tongue. She shot a glance to Sugar Darling and blushed. That nymph had better keep her mouth shut about last night…
“So?” Moondancer said as she leaned against her wife. “You were gone for quite a while last night. Everything alright?”
“Let’s just say all they needed was a little push. One that I was happy to provide,” Sugar hummed.
“You slept with two of the Elements of Harmony?” Moondancer said in a hushed tone. “I’m surprised you’re not preening more.”
“Not personally, no, but I did give miss Dash there a little push towards her friend,” Sugar hummed.
“Oh? You didn’t stay and instruct them?” Moondancer replied with a light titter. “It’s what I would have done~”
“It was hard enough getting Miss Shy to agree to try, I didn’t want to push my luck,” the nymph said. “Though I will say that the lust they gave off afterwards was so great I could taste it.”
“Aww, I’m happy for ‘em,” Moondancer giggled. “It’s too bad you missed out on the show back in our room. I think I learned a few new things from watching though. Including a few for changelings~”
“I could feel that too~” the nymph purred. “I think I won’t go hungry our entire stay in Ponyville~”
Moondancer giggled and leaned in closer, her lips against her ear. “A male Chrysalis in one end, Ace in the other. And wanna guess what I learned~?” she giggled as she took one of the mare’s hooves and kissed it, as her tongue brushed the rim of one of her leg holes. “Guess who learned an erogenous zone~”
“Oooh, you’re good~” the nymph replied. “Still, let’s try to avoid making a scene in Rarity’s place of business?”
“Like you’d object to me taking you while they all watched,” Moondancer said and smiled. “Still, fun times will have to wait. Best of luck my love.” Sugar was about to ask what she meant by that, before she caught sight of Rarity stalking towards her in the corner of her peripheral vision.
“I take it it is my turn next?” the noble Violet asked.
“Indeed darling,” Rarity nodded. “Though, what form shall you be taking for the event?”
“Myself of course,” the nymph replied.
“So your changeling form then?” Rarity tapped her chin and nodded. “Yes, I believe I can work with this.” She floated over a few bolts of fabric, namely the divine one she'd invented a while ago, the one Suri had blatantly stolen.
It would look simply perfect to highlight the bridesmaids dresses.
“Now hold still darling.” Rarity smiled and nodded. “Let's get fabulous!”
“Hey! That’s my line!” Amy pouted.
The chilled wind blew over Las Pegasus as Level Ledger headed for his destination. A little jewelry store. One he’d been to before, to place his order for multiple wedding bands. He just hoped the owner had been up to the task.
The door let out a little chime thanks to the bell over it when he walked in. “Hello?” he said.
There was a crash from out back, before the stallion stumbled out of his backroom, looking a little dusty. “Ah, I’ve been expecting you colt. Welcome!”
“And a good day to you,” Ledger said with a smile. “Do you have that which I ordered?”
“Ah, about that, there’s… a small problem,” he said as he took out four small boxes.
“What is it?” Ledger asked as he braced himself.
“Well, you see. They turned out much better than I expected them to,” he said as he opened the boxes, revealing four immensely beautiful rings. “I almost don’t want to give them up now.”
“I see,” the disguised drone replied. “I can imagine the price tag on them will be quite high, then.”
“Hmm, they were a joy to make, and given the nature, I doubt I’ll ever reproduce them,” the stallion said. “Still, I’d like to think I got a little better at my craft thanks to these. So I’ll abide by our agreed upon contract.” He held up the boxes and smiled. “Just take care of the ones these rings are destined for.”
“My thanks,” Ledger said as he pulled out a checkbook and wrote out a check for the agreed upon amount. Yeah, this was going to sting. But he’d been saving up for this day, so he could take it.
He wouldn’t be making any expensive purchases for a while, though…
“And my thanks as well,” the jeweler nodded as he wrapped the boxes and placed them into a bag. “And be careful on your way home. A group of muggers have been rather active of late.”
“They should know better than to mess with me,” Ledger said with a cocky grin. “Besides, I have an appointment in Canterlot to attend to. I’ll let nothing stop me on my way.”
“Well, best of luck. And have a wonderful life with those mares,” the stallion grinned. “Feel free to call back should the bands need adjusting.”
“I’ll let them know where to go,” the brown unicorn said with a nod, carefully packing the bag away in his saddlebags and giving a bow to the stallion. “Take care.”
The older stallion waved him off as he left. All he had to do was head to Canterlot, get a suit… then… get married…
No, bad Ledger. No panicking. This was Midnight, Cider, and Twilight. They’d never hurt you. Scope might if she was in a bad mood, but she likely wouldn’t either. And they’d be supremely disappointed if you failed to show up for your own wedding.
Thus having reassured himself, Ledger whistled a tune as he went on to the train station. Hmm...would it be faster to go from here or Ponyville, he wondered.
“Hey guy…” a voice said as he entered one alley. “Whatcha got in the bag?” Another half dozen ponies joined him, sealing off both ends of the alleyway.
“Stallions,” Ledger said. “You don’t want to do this.” Already he was calling up his magic.
“Oh really?” one said as his own horn shone. “The way I see it, you just came from that jewelry store with a nice, big bag. So why don’t you hoof it over and you won’t get hurt.”
The rest of the group chuckled, several brandishing lead pipes or chains. One pegasus even had some wing blades.
Scare tactics. Then neutralize first threat. With that in mind, Ledger dropped his disguise and screeched, before sending a blast of his magic at the unicorn’s horn. With luck, he’d be able to follow it up with a stun spell. He did this smoothly and quickly, like his step-fathers had trained him to.
“Aw shit, it’s a friggen bug!” one of them yelled.
“Good, means no-one’ll miss ‘im,” another said as the unicorn went down. “Feckin’ idiot!”
The pegasus launched at him, his wings blades drawn…
Ledger held up a hoof and willed his carapace to be harder, it almost gleaming and drawing his leg back down. Scare tactics. Neutralize second threat.
The blade scraped against the rock-hard chitin, sparks erupting from the glancing blow as Ledger’s hoof came down on one of his wings with a sickening crack. The pegasus yelled and tumbled away, clutching his broken wing.
“Would it kill you idiots to fecking kill him?!” the apparent leader yelled. Two earth ponies ran forward, swinging down with heavy lead pipes. Ledger used his magic to yank them out of their grips at the height of their swing, then returned the favor they had been about to impart on him. Upside their heads.
The first received a direct blow, knocking him out cold as the second back-stepped out of pure reflex, avoiding that fate. In less than a minute, Ledger had already wiped out nearly half of them.
Some were starting to have second thoughts.
“Celestia-damned-fecking-morons!” the leader snapped and pulled something from his coat. An experimental weapon developed by the griffons. It was a tube-shaped device that fired a small projectile with a tiny, controlled explosion. Essentially a miniature cannon.
He never got to fire it though. A glow surrounded his body as he was flipped upside down, two sets of hoofcuffs had him trussed up in less than a second.
“And what a bucking surprise, you’re here,” Narrow Gaze frowned as she locked eyes with Ledger. “Doing a little bounty hunting on the side now?”
“Not really, but if there is a bounty on them, I totally claim dibs,” Ledger said cheekily. “I was just on my way to the train station when these morons decided to jump me. I’d just been about to educate that bucker in pain when you came swooping in to save him.”
“My feckin’ ‘ero!” the guy drolled before an errant kick from Narrow knocked him out.
“Whoops, he’s unconscious now. I hear that’s quite contagious actually…” Her horn shone and she blurred, crossing the distance between herself and Ledger almost instantly, uppercutting the stallion Ledger’s last counter missed. “See what I mean?”
Ledger turned and looked at the remaining muggers with a smile that had way too many pointed teeth. “So, the way I see it, you have three options,” the drone said idly. “Come quietly, get knocked out by the captain here...or face me.”
The three remaining colts looked at each other and chose option four. Get the ever-loving buck out of here! They turned to bolt and Narrow smiled and looked at Ledger.
“I love it when they try to run~”
“Me too~” Ledger said as he let loose a minor stun spell, aiming for their legs.
Narrow aimed a concussive blast just under their newly stunned hind hooves, causing them to flip several times in the air and land face first onto the cobblestone pavement.
“You have the right to remain unconscious,” Narrow said.
“Anything you groan can and will be brought up to embarrass you in court,” Ledger said with a cheeky grin.
“Well, thanks for the assist,” Narrow said, not wanting to admit how fun that was. “Glad you took it easy on these ones.”
“You just got here in time,” Ledger said. “I was fully prepared to educate that stallion in pain. Maybe you can use that to get him to understand just what a bucking mistake trying to mug me was?”
“It was on purpose,” she said. “Remember that guy that stole your shipment? These bottom-feeders are his lackeys.”
“...Narrow, I’m getting married soon,” Ledger said calmly. “If that pony isn’t behind bars when I come back, he’ll wish he was when I do.”
“I’m working on it,” she sighed as she cuffed the rest of them, some more guards filtering into the alley to haul them off. “He’s a slippery sonofasnake though. And it looks like he’s not in the city right now.”
“He’d better not be in Ponyville,” Ledger growled. “I won’t have anything ruining our day.”
“No, we have reports saying he’s in Trottingham. Making some kind of deal there. I’m heading out in a few hours. See if I can’t get two scumbags for the price of one.”
“See you later then, Captain,” Ledger said, waiting for everypony to leave before he even considered throwing his disguise back on.
She nodded and turned. “I’ll… try to make it back in time for the wedding okay?” Her tone seemed to lack confidence though.
“Don’t worry if you can’t,” Ledger said. “I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures. I can understand that your job is important.”
“Yeah,” she nodded and turned around. “The bounty on these guys was about five-hundred bits. Swing by the station to pick it up.”
“I’ll make a note of it, but it might not happen until after my wedding day, depending on how long the wait is for a train,” the changeling said. Once the last guard had gone besides Narrow, he shifted back to his normal disguise and cracked his neck.
“There’s one in fifteen if you hurry,” she said. “Good luck Ledger.”
“And you as well,” the now-disguised drone said. “Keep those bits ready for me, I’ll be back in a few days to pick them up. I’m gonna need them, what with four rings and a suit to obtain for my day.”
“Noted,” the mare replied and the two parted ways, the changeling soon seated on a train and heading towards Canterlot. Just a few more days...
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I planned on reading this back before i lost internet in august, looking at it now, it's terrifying to think it grew so quickly. How did you two write this much, in such a relatively short time? Well, time to get started.
Aw,, nothing forced Ledger to stay behind so he'd be late, if not missing, during his wedding?
That's a bit sad!
7237616 That's easy to answer and a question I have seen pop up on more then one occasion and will probably see again. The authors of this awesome story apparently have it all written out already and are posting one chapter nearly every day. And on days they don't update this story they update, Shifting Melodies - The Lost Stanzas. Which is the side story to this which well involves lots and lots of sex.
The build up is exciting.
Ah, idiot muggers. You'd think they'd have learned years ago. Oh well- always fun target practice, at least.
Every. Bit. Of. This. Is. GLORIOUS.
not bad
Welp, what a brain trust these muggers were.
I'm surprised Twilight's Castle hasn't exploded yet.
Oooooh, so Chryssie was actually planning on marrying them. Nice.
Pinkie and Amy are perfect working together.
... I just realised what might happen once Joyful grows up.
Its Happy Families time. Fortunately, noone wants to play That game, as Discord always cheats.
As for a lackey having a minature explosive projectile weapon of some considerable cost, Id be Very intrested in that Trottingham deal, as it sounds like it might be Family buisiness.
Inside joke.
Im trying to remember where I saw that modified spell that worked on the ratio of kinetic energy to momentum of an object, and caused an exponential feedback loop within the field volume, not just surface. the faster something is hitting it, the faster the field cndenses around it, absorbing the energy from the object to form the local field. the sort of self targeting feedback that Ledgers Sort Spell uses.
Very useful for the portals to prevent velocity mismatches.
You're thinking of a decibel. Decibels are volume, octaves are pitch (A, B, C, D, E, F, G = one octave).
I smell troubles...
I just love this story in so many ways.
fun
exultant action
romance
slice of life
and the quotes are super good.
“You have the right to remain unconscious,” Narrow said.
“Anything you groan can and will be brought up to embarrass you in court,”
and did I say exultant action.
some how I don't think ponyville will ever be the same agene.
So, do I understand it correctly that Pinkie is now a part of Ace's group? That's 3 mares. He's getting there. Slowly, but surely. :D
Have some typos:
7237616
It's a regularly updating fic that gets 10k+ chapters. It's an anomaly, deal with it. :P
7237616
7237660
I wonder if the wedding will happen before we hit 1,000,000 word count? Currently at 920,000 after chapter 90.
7238714 First off why reply to these two posts? and further more ask that question to us?
As to your second question well It's suppose to be like three days way in story time. And each chapter is on average 10,000 words long(Give or take 1,500-2,000 words) so that's a good solid 7-8 chapters. That would be a lot to cover just three days unless the Sh*t hits the fan like next chapter. Honestly I have no idea probably not but who knows? This wonderful story throws us surprises every now and again.
3-2-1... 3 unicorns walk around town and see 2 changelings drunk on lust, and 1 thestral that causes the town to explode....
...
...
...
i need to do an orbital drop onto mt. rushmore.... hope your all fine with the crater my head will cause.
i have a rocket to hijack...
well hello yoda
Oh boy, muggings!
7237683
Muggers are the evil red-shirts of the fic world. They exist almost solely to be beaten and massacred, and nobody misses them afterwards.
I'd put them in a bar with actual red-shirts, but they would all die trying to settle their moral differences.
So, I'm 90 chapters in and haven't left a comment yet (maybe I did, too lazy to go wading through thousands of comments to find it) so I might as well offer my two cents.
Firstly, love your world-building and your settings. Any story not set in Ponyville is a step up in my books. There are so many more interesting locales to visit in Equestria, yet few stories take advantage of that. Secondly, I really like your character interactions, especially among the minor characters. They're quirky and funny and you tell drama in an entertaining way. It's light and fun.
I do have one bone to pick with you, though. It's Level Ledger. I'm not a fan of his. Now, this is just personal opinion but he seems too good at basically everything. He insists that he had to learn a lot as he grew up, which is great and all, but I can't help but feel like he was made a little too strong right off the bat. Again, this is just my take on it and I don't mean to disparage your work but I can't help what I feel. In fact, I generally enjoy reading about the others far more because they feel more real and relate-able. Ledger just seems too perfect and teeters on the edge of becoming a full-on Gary Stu. His inherent attractiveness (and larger-than-average dong as the cherry on top), even though he's not particularly charismatic (and openly admits it on several occasions), makes him very difficult to take seriously. It plays out like one of those cornball animes featuring a milquetoast protagonist that inexplicably finds himself in a harem. Which is basically what happened.
Okay, now that that's out of the way, I will say that I'm enjoying the story and will continue to do so even if I'm not your protagonist's biggest fan. Take care now and keep the chapters coming.
7237616 if memory serves, most of these chapters have been written months in advance.
I really hope the changeling trio of brothers meet the CMC. It smells of a shipping opportunity drenched with chaos.
Kudos for Portal refference.,just as Mario referrence in last chapter
7242151
reminds me of a silly discussion about whether a group of Redshirts could beat a group of Stormtroopers. (Star Wars)
9094367
Ya. Ive heard that joke. Something like "a group of red shirts get into a fight with a group of storm troopers. Each group fires their weapons. No one gets hit. Everyone dies."
oh, this reminded me of a crazy x-rated cartoon where Chrysalis, Cadence, and Shiny had a threesome...to make things sillier, Chrysalis transformed to look like Twilight!
if i remember it's called "the royal exchange" by Kanashipanda.
I see what you did there!
Then my dear Flash, what you need to do, is master art
Carapace so tough with the right angle it get deflected with sparks... Very nice
Why would a stun spell be designed in such a way that it would require aiming at the smallest, fastest, and most erratically moving part of a person's body? Why wouldn't it be designed to be aimed center of mass, at the largest, slowest, and most stable part of the body? It's also only a minor spell, and I would imagine it would be designed such that risk of death or permanent injury would be minimal.
I feel like this idea stems from the "why not just shoot him in the leg?" mindset.
If you don't mind me going off on a bit of a tangent, I can explain why. The reason officers and citizens shouldn't aim for the legs is one of safety, both for themselves, and the people around them. It's generally inadvisable to aim at the legs due to the fact that they're such a small target, and moving so quickly, increasing the likelihood of a miss. Sure, it sucks to take a life, but would it be worse to kill a violent attacker, or an innocent bystander? Furthermore any time you're in a stressful situation, your heart rate quickens, your pupils dilate, and you begin breathing more heavily, the degree of these is strongly correlated with the level of stress you're under, and deadly force encounters are usually among the most stressful experiences. All of the effects of adrenaline have a negative impact on a person's ability to use a weapon, and accuracy suffers as a result. These considered, center mass shots are significantly less likely to miss the intended target.
Modern weapons are also designed such that they're most effective when hitting center mass. There are exceptions, but modern weapons are designed to stop a threat. Disabling the threat is the easiest way to do that, and deadly force is often times the only viable solution. Stun guns are pain compliance tools that require direct contact with the person you're trying to get away from, and aren't very effective against a sufficiently determined attacker. My friends have hit me with them a few times. While not fun, if I really wanted to hurt someone, it wouldn't stop me. OC spray, sometimes called pepper spray or Mace, is a better tool, but isn't effective against every threat. Beyond about twenty feet, it stops being effective, and shouldn't be employed in heavy wind or rain, for reasons that should be obvious. It also demands your attacker be facing you, which isn't always guaranteed. It can also be ignored by a sufficiently determined, or drugged up individual. Tasers are more effective, but don't work if you're too close or too far away. There is a small range where it is useful, because it requires two prongs to penetrate the skin deep enough to touch muscle tissue, and far enough apart so that the electric current activates enough muscle groups to disrupt the assailant's current action. They lose effectiveness against people who are severely overweight, or even just wearing thick clothing. They're excellent tools when they can be properly utilized, but they're unreliable enough that they can't be relied on exclusively.
If you don't have any other options, aim for center mass and shoot. Any time a gun is used in an altercation, regardless of where the bullet lands, it is deadly force, and will be treated as such. Even shots to the extremities are deadly force. They are not merely considered deadly force for legal reasons, mind, but are legitimately deadly force. First of all, deflection is a thing. It's possible that a bullet can turn into something vital. They fragment and yaw and do unexpected things. While no, a .22 won't play pinball in your chest cavity, like a shockingly high number of people believe, they can do unpredictable things inside of a body. For arm shots, that bullet will likely go through the arm and possibly into a vital area. Quite possibly lethal in many circumstances, but still less lethal than leg shots.
Yes, leg shots have the potential to be just as deadly as center mass shots, just less immediately so. The largest blood vessel in the body is called the femoral artery, and is on the inner thigh, running parallel with the femur. Arteries and veins are the two largest types of blood vessels, but there is a difference. Arteries are high pressure systems that carry oxygenated blood to organs, while veins are low pressure systems that carry deoxygenated blood from organs back to the lungs. If the femoral artery is ruptured, and bleeding is not immediately stymied by a tourniquet, or some other method, the subject is very likely to bleed out in less than a minute.
So basically, hope you never have to shoot, but if you do, aim for center mass.
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Bloody fine chapter, criminal violence driven scum well dealt with ♡
Great chapter overall. To bad the story nears its end...