Session 33
Session 33.0 Zaku789
"Back off, I don't play that.... crud!" Apple Jack swore as he realized he couldn't say that phrase without it being misinterpreted due to his unique circumstance.
"Err... can I ask you for a favor...." Elusive asked the diamond wolf.
"Urrgh.... fine," Alexei sighed as he pulled out a Elusive costume.
"Hahaha! This is getting better," Rainbow cackled.
"Yeah.... too bad we're going to experience it ourselves soon enough," Pinkie laughed.
"Yeah... wait what?" At that Discord snapped his fingers turning Pinkie and Rainbow into there guys selves. Rainbow Blitz take a look at himself in the mirror. "By Celestia, I'm handsome!"
"Ooh," Sweetcream Scoop said as she left Apple Jack and Elusive to admire Rainbow Blitz.
".... I'm both relieve, yet strangely enough insulted that she ditch me for Rainbow Dash," Apple Jack said.
"Indeed," Elusive said. "Plus she obviously doesn't understand how hot we are as dudes, I mean look at me," Elusive pointed to the disguised Alexei.
"I'm really hoping the girls night isn't going to be as weird as this," Spike sighed.
Session 33.1 Alex Warlorn
As Apple Jack, 'Elusive', Berry Pie, Rainbow Blitz, and Dusk Shine, all dealt with Sweetcream Scoop (and talks about restraining orders), Berry Punch and Cloud Kicker played checkers across from the Friendship Castle (hearing Flim and Flam's cries of 'agony' from the 'Friendship Dungeon.').
"Sucks to be stuck with a single stereotype isn't it?" Berry Punch said as she moved a piece.
Kicker took a piece. "You can say that again. But looks like Sweetcream Scoop had finally 'de-throned' me as 'most perverted mare' in Ponyville... hopefully those foal protection services will stop listening to those stupid rumors and let me keep Alula now."
Berry took three. "Crown me. Good luck. Ponies still think all I do is get drunk off my flank. I'm lucky that I still have Ruby Pinch, I think they just haven't managed to find her father... At least there's Cheerilee is something goes wrong."
Kicker moved a piece. "It's almost like they're being given false leads to ignore the ACTUALLY neglective parents around here."
(In Another Universe)
Spike was certain of one thing at least. Crystal Hoof was no NPC. He dialogue was unfocused. He never repeated anything. Except whenever Spike brought up the subject, he instantly began talking in repetitive out of context sentences that only made it more obvious. Spike wanted to ask what was wrong, but then again, he was a talking dog on a computer. Maybe Crystal Hoof was an NPC who had gained self awareness and didn't want to be deleted? Well, if that was the case, his secret was safe with Spike's.
And with the others now focused on saving Rainbow Dash from her bad grades, he had to game outside of his normal group anyway. Heh-heh, he was going to be so far ahead of the rest of them when they got back to the game!
(Across Town)
"Agh! I can't believe this!" Rainbow Dash explained. "My dad actually paid the game company more than my subscription to keep me off the game until my grades go up!"
"They can do that?" Fluttershy asked shocked.
"Anything to make an extra-buck." Applejack snorted.
"Well... before ... Twilight went crazy and Spike closed the portal... " (It felt like it was going to take months to fix, but knew that it would turn out to be only a few days maybe on Equestria's side). "She did have an idea on how she helped HER Rainbow Dash study... But I was kinda hesitant about it."
As pony-uped Rainbow Dash flew over the various texts and basic facts engraved into the ground below her, her unconscious mind assimilating the knowledge, Applejack looked uneasy.
"Shouldn't we be worried about this?" Applejack asked. "What if someone uses this to make her join a cult or something?"
Princess Twilight smiled. "Oh some ponies already tried that, it turns out that just because Rainbow Dash assimilates the knowledge of a certain point of view, doesn't mean she automatically agrees with it. Turns out there's this little something called 'free will.'"
"Oh... okay then," Applejack said.
(Back in Equestria)
There was a knock on the cottage door, Fluttershy opened it. "OH!... Hello...uh, Thorax..." Fluttershy said hesitantly and tried to hide her fear.
"Hello, you're Fluttershy right? Spike talked about you."
"Hey Thorax! We're in here!" Spike waved a claw.
The animals all gave Thorax a wide berth.
"So, uh, how did you get to Ponyville?" Fluttershy asked awkwardly.
"I mailed myself as a Hearthwarming's Eve Tree, it was cheaper than buying a train ticket."
Fluttershy then gave a paranoid look at the fir tree outside her window.
Then Thorax saw Starlight Glimmer, and asked awkwardly. "Uh... are you Starlight Glimmer?"
Starlight wondered what sin she'd done to somepony Thorax cared for. "... Yes."
"Great Equalizer!" Thorax fell to his knees. "It's an honor to meet you! When I met sisters Buttons, Roseluck, Daisy, and Lilly, and told me you were here, I could barely believe it!"
"Uh, what?"
"When the changelings you helped see the light came to the hives, I listened to everything they said.. before Chrysalis stuck them in cocoons for daring to suggest she be equal to us. I want you to know that I fully support your vision of a world where changelings and ponies are all equal to each other instead of predator and prey! I've already joined the Ponyville chapter of our social movement!"
Starlight just stared. Big Mac said nothing.
"Oooooh! Awkward!" Discord quipped.
"AAAAH! Discord! The Curser!" Thorax shrieked seeing Discord at last.
Session 33.2 sonicandmario826
Discord rolled his eyes. "How come I get the screaming treatment and she doesn't."
Spike flatly replied. "Because you tortured ponies for fun, while she tried to make the world a better place."
"Oh..."
Session 33.3 Alex Warlorn
Starlight Glimmer said, "Uh, Discord's... no longer goes around cursing ponies, uh, maliciously... but we met already, remember, the Crystal Empire?"
"Yes, but my brothers never described what you looked like, I always assumed you were an Alicorn."
Starlight blushed more.
Session 33.4 Ardashir
"Yeesh, Elusive, do ya make Alisa wear Rarity-suits when you're, er, yourself?" Apple Jack said. Behind him, Rainbow Blitz was desperately trying to pry Sweetcream Scoops off of themselves.
"Leggo, ya stallion-crazy mare! I'm not really male, I'm a mare!"
"You think you're a mare?" Sweetcream giggled. "Okay, I like guys that are hot and dumb!"
"Hmmph, Apple Jack," Elusive tossed their head, the image of wounded dignity. "I am not THAT vain. Though sometimes it does help to have a full-size model of moi around when styling a new outfit.
Behind them Sweetcream was yanked away from Blitz by Dusk's magic. The pegasus stallion collapsed panting in relief as Sweetcream was firmly but gently set out the door. As it was closed and barred behind her her voice rang out, "I'm free later when you want to play other games, boys!"
Dusk turned back to his friends and Discord.
"Can we please get to the game already?" He nodded at Spike. "What adventure were you going to be using this time?"
"Er, well..." Spike winced and held up a cover showing stallions being carted off by lovely Amazon-esque mares and reading, Escape from the Lost City of Snu-Snu.
A moment later a shrieking dragon hatchling was fleeing down the corridor from six angry stallions and one peeved Diamond Wolf.
Session 33.5 sonicandmario826
Discord laughed as he watched the show, "I do hope girls night is as entertaining as this." He then began chewing on some popcorn he materialized.
"Should we go and help him?" Big Mac asked worried for the fearful dragon.
"Oh, I'm sure they won't hurt him." the pony and draconequus winced when they heard a scream. "At least... not too bad... I think."
Session 33.6 Grogar-the-oneser
A few days later on Thorax third visit, Starlight decided to set things straight with Thorax. she told him her extremism past, how the changeling that Thorax meet were probably the ones she caught in Our Town and were forcefully give a equal cutie mark (Something she admitted was contradictory to her no-good cutie mark philosophy since changeling don't have them in their real form) and how the branch run by Ponyville was run by a split personality from a mare who suffer from that and was given a body of her own.
Thorax was silent for a moment as he process all this "Do you feel guilty about it?"
"...Yes, I could have handle my philosophy in several different ways but went extremist due to my own prejudices guiding my choices too much and refuse to see the cracks that were forming from such decisions," Starlight admitted.
"Then you are a good person," Thorax said. "I have never known my queen to feel guilt about her actions, whether it's spreading that myth about all changelings being evil born creatures or the extermination of an entire race."
"... Thank you," Starlight said.
"You're welcome equalizer!"
"Okay can we drop that?" Starlight asked. "I can understand if you want the peaceful methods and still want to stay in the Ponyville branch, but I much prefer Starlight then equalizer."
"Okay e-Starlight," Thorax stated.
"Thank you. Now come on, I heard Trixie is the DM this time, I want to see what she has planned for this game."
-
"Ooh... Not only did your attack fail to connect, but the grimly weird reflected your attack and hit you straight on, almost taking your party out completely." Trixie cackled.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Twilight asked.
"Considering the last time you were DM, do you honestly have to ask?" Trixie said.
"Not really no." Twilight sighed, honestly she should've seen it coming when it was Trixie's turn to be DM.
Session 33.7 BrutalityInc
"Hey Shining! How’s your sister and her friends doing with that ‘March of the Giants’ campaign module?" Gaffer asked, walking into Shining’s room.
The prince-regent was busy scrutinizing a letter from Twilight. "No making much progress, it seemed." Shining answered with a sigh, dropping the letter on a desk. "They’ve reached the dragon, but are having trouble dealing with it. They suggested that we nerf it a bit to make it less of a challenge for characters at their levels."
"Really, huh?" Gaffer muttered incredulously, before taking notes. "I’ve have a read of her recommendations on that letter, and then I’ll discuss it with 8-Bit. Not sure if there’s any way to cut down without losing the challenging feel that dragon is supposed to bring to the players."
"We’ll find a way..." Shining Armor noted. "Then again, if you’re a giant in real life, like that Queen Supia from Neighpon, even a dragon wouldn’t actually be that much of a challenge, wouldn’t it?"
"True..." Gaffer concurred, "Makes you wonder if they play these games themselves, just for the sake of a fun challenge."
"Bah, what are the odds...?" Shining Armor said dismissively.
= = =
"Your magical Kopis sword bounces from the tower shield of the black knight. He swings his massive Warhammer in your direction." Queen Supia, the GM, declared, loud enough that her voice echoed through the valley the group of giants royalty from around the world had secreted themselves in. "Roll for defence!"
The cyclops king Occulus, ruler of the Taurus Peninsula city-state of Arges (A semi-autonomous region of the Taurus Republic, along with two sister city-states, Brontes and Strepes), narrowed his single eye as his curved horn, then tossed the dices in a carefully mediated burst of orange magic. The dices, each size of a house, landed in resounding on the ground, digging craters with their corners as it rolled across the abandoned fields, before coming to a halt crashing into an abandoned barn and farmhouse, respectively.
"Seven. Is this good?" The cyclops king asked, his voice belying a practiced regal tone, befitting a monarch.
"Just barely." Queen Supia confirmed, "You blocked the blow with your hoplon shield, but it knocks you back against the pillar. Your Hexblade warrior suffers damage from knockback and concussion."
"Figures. I knew I should had dodged instead..." King Occulus said, rather disappointed. "Then again, we never felt the need to."
"This is getting tiresome!" Tyrannoi Seismos, warlord of one of the biggest tribes of Gigantes in the giant lands of Taurus Peninsula, slammed his gauntlet hoof into the ground in vexation. True to his title, he wore resplendent hoplite armour, fit to his massive size, in contrast to the impeccably groomed and toga-dressed cyclops king he towered over. And true to his name, when his hoof connected with the earth, an earthquake rumbled through the valley, shaking everything but the giants themselves. "We had spent 20 minutes trying to get through just three of them, let alone a hundred! How tough are those ‘black knights’, really? I bet I could had easily prowled through them in real life, like any of those tinies’ stronghold walls!"
"Easy for YOU to say." Chief Cawr, ruler of a clan of cloud giant from Cassiterdes, retorted. Despite being the smallest of all the giants, the giant pegasi would still had stood over Ponyville gazebo. "How long has it been, if ever, since you fought anyone who is at least as big as you are? I bet most of the time, you can just flatten whole formations and swallow them by the hundreds!"
"Well, I can’t help it if we Gigantes are the biggest, most powerful of all giants in this land!" Seismos boasted proudly, then paused, "Present company excluded, of course." He added at the annoyed looks from the others, "When even the largest hydra doesn’t clear our knees, how can you expect any fight we get into to be fair? That’s why we always preferred wars with other tribes then raids into the tinies’ lands in the Peninsula..." He leaned towards Cawr and grinned sardonically, showing his rows of enormous teeth. "And for the record, hoplite armies are more filling than you think. They go well with a few lakes of wine and a forest of olive trees."
Cawr cringed back from the maw that had devoured armies and monsters, but remained defiant, "We cloud-giants back in Cassiterdes don’t get that luxury. True, only the local wyrms are larger than us, but we know better than to think our larger sizes makes us invincible. Ancestor knows how many foolish among us went raiding, only to flee back up the great beanstalks with their flanks punctured with swords and lances..."
"Contrary to popular myths among the ponies and minotaurs, we don’t DO fighting." King Occulus interjected, "We are proud artisans and smiths, dedicating our efforts to works of arts, crafts and sorcery. The ones who inspired that chapter in the Journey of Metis are exiles who rejected our ways, and so we rejected them in turn. We are never pony-eating monsters that everypony imagine us to be; it’s just so uncivilized."
Seismos snorted, "Well THAT explains why you lot weren’t around during the Gigantomachy..."
"The closest I’ve come to fighting an equal would be that giant orochi that threatened my hive centuries back," Queen Supia added. An itch caused her to snap her tail, and a cliff-side came crumbling down from the force of the blow. "Though a mere pony – or was it a han-kami? – somehow managed to beat me to it, slaying that mountain-sized seven-headed cretin with only a samurai sword of all things. Then there was my wicked sister Queen Chrysalis when she temporarily usurped the power of the Idol of Astra to become giant-sized, but we settled it with a game of Changeling Go, along with Gerulf-kun and Ojo Twilight-san."
"That reminds me, I must have that new helmet Grand Griffon Gerulf had commissioned ready for next Saturday..." King Occulus noted.
"Still, Chief Cawr has a point; who here among us had regularly faced foes of equal size and strength on a regular basis?" Queen Supia asked.
"I did. As had my father and his father before him."
All present turned to the young Jotunn prince in their midst. Despite the youngest player amongst them by a few centuries, the giant deer still towered over even Seismos and Queen Supia by a considerable margin.
"Really now, young prince Geri? What manner of foe do your people face?" Seismos asked, curious.
"Well, we have two." Geri rumbled like a tuba, his voice deep for his age, "First, the Nidhoggs, the largest of all wyverns in the world. In grim Jotunheim, we must regularly fight against them over the scarce food and riches that could be found there." He paused to scrape an entire forest from a hill side with his antler’s magical telekinesis, before nonchalantly munching on them as one would a bag of chips. "The attire I dressed in, I’m proud to say, belongs to the first Nidhogg I slayed in my first battle, remade as armour that I now wore as a badge of honour." He said, pawing the hide for emphasis.
"And the other one?" Chief Cawr asked.
At this, Prince Geri’s eyes narrowed, "There are many races of Jotunn, also called Risars, though hardly any of us get along very well. We Bergrisar, or mountain-Jotunns, are rivals with the Leirjötnar, or earth-Jotunns. The Hrímþursar, or ice-Jotunns, and the Vindþursar, the wind-Jotunns, mutually despised each other. The Sjórisar disliked us land-dwellers in general. But EVERY Jotunn are united in their revulsion of the Eldjötnar, the fire-Jotunns."
"Really, now? What made the fire-Jotunns so hated?" Queen Supia asked, warily.
"Imagine, if you will, giants like myself, but can wield fire as their innate gift, and dwell in the fiery volcanic lands in Jotunheim. Imagine a whole culture of cut-throat, bloodthirsty warriors who knew nothing of honour or mercy, whose only desire are carnage and slaughter. Now imagine that the most strong, most ruthless and most insane of them all, King Surtr, wishes only to see the Jotunheim burn, just so he could rule over the ashes that remain." Prince Geri gritted his teeth, "Every few centuries, the Eldjötnar hordes would march forth to conquer, with Surtr at its head, wielding a flaming sword that could cut through mountain tops in a single-swipe. It takes the entirety of Jotunn-kind setting aside their differences just to push them back to their homeland; and there, Surtr would bid his time once more, waiting for his people to recover, until they are ready to try again."
He sighed, "There is a prophecy, saying that when the time came that the other Jotunns failed to hold back Surtr, the world will end. I’m starting to believe that it just might be true."
Every other giant in the group shuddered.
"Maybe we should be thankful that we don’t always have to deal with our equals in size and power." Queen Supia said, a conclusion that had all others nodding in concurrence. "Perhaps... instead of playing as characters and story campaigns of the smaller races, we should play as our own kind! I’ve heard that there is a campaign called ‘March of the Giants’ that is currently in beta-testing. Let us try that for our next O&O session, once I procure a copy from Equestria!"
There was a general chorus of agreements and enthusiasm.
"Really now?" "That should be interesting!" "I look forward to it." "I wonder if they had written us correctly..."
= = =
"Hey, Gaffer, why do I have a bad feeling we’ll be changing a lot more than the dragon battle?" Shining Armour muttered.
Session 33.8 Mtangalion
As a princess of Equestria, Luna believed that she and her sister worked very hard on behalf of their little ponies, and as such, they were absolutely entitled to certain perks and eccentricities.
One of these occupied a table in her private study: a "personal computer" brought over from another world, one of fewer than ten in all of Equestria. (Yakyakistan was another story.) A second one sat beside the first, an ingenious crystal matrix which supplied both power and communications to the alien device, designed by none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Currently, Luna was using this marvel of magic and technology... to make her griffon paladin alt fly laps round and round Griffonstone. Round, and round, and round...
Luna sighed. "We are *bored*. Bored of farming the Discord raid, bored of performing menial daily tasks for reputation and gold. Why can the new expansion not be *released* already?!"
She pushed her chair back from the desk and turned her head aside peevishly... yes, peevishly! "To think that such a marvelous world could come to this. Or that magic-impaired humans could create it in the first place. So many minds joined, all creating this fantasy together every day. Why, 'tis almost like..." She blinked. "A shared dream!"
The Princess of the Night sat up straight, considering. "Could I? Should I?"
She lit her horn and closed her eyes, reaching out along the connection, and with surprising ease, a door opened... just like the door to the dream world, only more... pixelated? Was that the proper term?
Luna grinned. "Night court is done, and the dawn is many hours off. What harm could there be in exploring?"
When Luna became lucid, her surroundings were dark and eerie, to say the least. Heavy armor weighed her down... why was she wearing that in a drawing room built from black crystal with purple velvet drapes, lit only by flicking blue candles. Unless...
A glance in a nearby mirror confirmed it. "I've done it!" Luna exclaimed. "I'm inside the World of Horsecraft, and I seem to be in control of this representation of Nightmare Moon from that raid!" Reminding herself firmly that this *was* just a dream, one that she could end at any time, she posed in front of the mirror, grinning with fangs gleaming. "Ha, ha-ha... MWA-HA-HA! 'Tis like mine own private Nightmare Night festival!"
Soft, mysterious organ music started playing, making her ears prick up. "I remember that tune! Could it be... adventurers have come to challenge Nightmare Moon, right at this moment?" She tapped her chin with a hoof. "I was not aware that anypony still ran that raid. Still, it could be fun!"
Luna turned herself into inky-black mists which swarmed into the throne room, following the script. "You still believe that you can defeat me? You little FOALS! You will never see your princess or your precious... sun?"
There was no raid waiting to face her, just one bored-looking unicorn, dressed in epic hunter's mail. "Blah, blah," he said. "I hate it when old bosses won't shut up and fight already."
Luna raised a brow, and almost mocked the poor foal for coming here alone, but that wasn't in the game's script. "Shadowbolt captains, to me! Your Princess commands you!"
The lone unicorn whipped his bow out and fired a barrage that immediately took half her health off.
"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" said Nightmare Moon automatically, while Luna reeled in shock. As the hunter picked off the elite Shadowbolts with one shot each, she suddenly realized what was going on. Nightmare Moon was a level 50 raid boss, the game's original level cap. The unicorn was a level *70* hunter.
"Enough of these games, deal with... hey, I wasn't finished..." The script lurched again, trying to keep up with her plummeting health bar. "ENOUGH! I am Nightmare Moon. I AM THE..."
The hunter blew all the dark spirits away with one volley of magic arrows, and rainbows blasted Nightmare Moon before she could even finish her speech. The hunter made a face, rummaging through her loot chest. "Dang it, she didn't drop the Chariot of Tirek! Oh well, maybe next week." Then he teleported out with his hearthstone while the Celestia and Luna cutscene was still playing.
Luna found herself right back in the sitting room. "What?" she stammered. "What was that... you can't just..." Then the organ music started playing again, making her twitch.
The second adventurer did much the same as the first. And the third, and the fourth... After being summarily executed for her loot ten times in fifteen minutes, Luna had had ENOUGH.
The next adventurer, an earth pony monk, was surprised to find the throne room blocked off by a shimmering dark barrier before he could charge in. Nightmare Moon began to laugh ominously. "Do you really think it's fair that you've gained twenty levels, while the villains have not?" she crooned. The level number on her health bar ticked from 50 up to 51, then 52, 53...
She seemed to loom, towering over the poor pony. "Do you not know that levels are a gameplay mechanic, not an absolute indicator of relative power? Does it even remotely make sense that a mere adventurer should grow more powerful than the dreaded Nightmare Moon, simply by way of questing through the latest expansion pack?" Her level grew all the way to 70, her fang-toothed grin even wider. "I think not!!"
A squadron of *seven* level 70 Shadowbolts proceeded to beat the paladin unconscious in ten seconds flat.
Luna enjoyed her just retribution for nearly an hour before the inevitable happened. Word had spread, and someone had put together a full raid of level 70s to challenge her. Luna considered this, and decided that a little dream theater improvisation was called for.
"Welcome to my Nightmare Realm!" declared Nightmare Moon. "Behold, a realm of Night Eternal, where my reign never ended, and I rule supreme and unchallenged! Do you think you have even the slightest chance of defeating me here?" She flared her wings. "Face me, if you dare!!"
President Sombra slammed a fist on his conference table. "And if I ever find out who implemented this Nightmare difficulty mode without my authorization, they're fired."
Discord slouched in his chair, *wishing* he'd thought of it. "I'll take it out of the game right away, sir!"
Sombra blinked. "Are you kidding? It's a huge hit with the players, and it's way cheaper than developing new content! Go make Nightmare versions of lots more bosses. Well? What are you still sitting around here for? Go, chop chop!"
Session 33.9 Grogar-the-oneser
"You sure?" Discord questioned. "We don't know what changed changed the Nightmare Moon raid will affect the servers."
"Bah, as long as it's making us money I don't care if it crashes our freaking servers," Sombra said.
"Alright." Discord shrugged, but inwardly, he had a gut feeling that whoever did it, was probably from that place that other Discord was.
(AN: read a few chapter back where Discord messed with the ending of the Discorded Route and human Discord messed with him in return.)
"Well hacker, whoever you are, hope you don't like to be trolled, cause I do so LOVE messing with hackers," Discord cackled.
+++
"Why are we doing the Nightmare Moon run?" Indigo Zap moaned. "She's so a last season boss."
"I told you, they totally amped her up for this update," Lemon Zest said "Plus we need to up our level, the crystal empire expansion is coming and we need to be on top of our game."
"Alright, but this better be a very interesting fight." Indigo moaned.
Session 33.10 Ardashir
While all this was going on with World of Horsecraft, Chrysalis was having her own civil and respectful discussion with the programmers. Behind her, a screen showed 'Nightmare Moon' taking down yet another high-powered raiding party.
"Listen to me, you miserable insects!" She hissed the words out as they trembled before her. "You say none of you put this new and improved Nightmare Moon into the game? And that the programming records confirm it? Okay then, WHERE DID SHE COME FROM?"
"Uh, well, Ma'am," one trembling programmer said. "There's nothing to indicate where she came from. It's like she came out of nowhere."
"That's impossible! Next you'll be telling me it's real magic and she's a REAL magic horse. That ugly old nag."
"Don't say that, ma'am!" One of the other programmers hurriedly said. She scowled at him as he said, "Some of us have tried removing her, but she comes right back in the game, and," he gulped, "and we have horrible nightmares afterwards! Almost as though Nightmare Moon was angry and wanted revenge!"
"Idiots." Chrysalis glared at them and walked away, shaking her head. "Idiots! Incompetents! Scared of a cheesy fantasy character!" She walked past the screen, not noticing how Nightmare Moon seemingly glared at her as she said, "Hell, even if she did exist, I wouldn't be afraid of her! I'd tell her as much to her ugly face!"
Later that night, Chrysalis ran shrieking through a dream-version of the Nightmare's castle. For some reason she was in the form of the Changeling Queen from the as yet unreleased expansion. Spellbolts exploded around her as she ran.
"AHHH! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Chrysalis barely dodged another blast. "I didn't mean to call you an ugly old nag!"
"Old Nag, am I?" Nightmare Moon, supported by her Shadowbolts, flew after her in a rage. In her magic she held both a giant flyswatter and a can of Raid. "Cheesy fantasy villain, am I?!? TAKE THY RIGHTFUL PUNISHMENT, KNAVE!"
Session 33.11 Grogar-the-oneser
"Aha! There the unique 'codes'," Discord said as he worked on his computer. Unlike Chrysalis' mixed army of intern/employees, he knows better then just deleting it, and incurring whoever-it-was' wrath as they just re-add that code. "To defeat ones enemy, You have to one up them." He then noticed a team of players heading to fight nightmare moon "And I know just how to do it while giving players a unique gaming experience." Discord grinned as he cracked his fingers before typing rapidly into his computer.
+
"Hmm.... ever get the feeling you were about to help a troll stop a hacker unwittingly?" Sunny Flare asked.
"No dearies i'm afraid not," Sour Sweet said kindly before changing tone. "Now stop talking stupid, were getting close to the boss."
Session 33.12 Alex Warlorn
Like animatronics, a set of zombified zebra marched forward mechanically playing instruments with a thousand yard stare as they marched forward. The ponies of Appleloosa were obviously very disturbed. As were the visiting buffaloo. They were carrying white flags. But also a banner, 'Changelings Roxs! Celestia Sucks!' Three changelings in vests marched behind them, and behind them, was Chrysalis herself, also carrying a white flag.
The visiting Ponyville Buckball team faced the changeling queen, along with the Sheriff and Braeburn.
'Gaming truce' or not, everypony knew it was just a matter of time before Chrysalis broke it. But ponies being ponies, unlike many nations, weren't about to break it first.
Fluttershy hide behind the frowning Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash stood ready.
"What are you doing here Chrysalis?!" Applejack hissed.
"Isn't it obvious. The Changeling Kingdom is here to challenge Appleloosa to a buckball game. We have our racial superiority to prove after all." The three changelings in green vests nodded.
Braeburn stood in awe at the words for a few seconds before shouting. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! That makes no sense! The rules say ya need a pegasus, a earth pony, and a unicorn! Ya ain't any of those!"
The changelings looked at each other.
One turned into a dark gray pegasus mare with a green mane with a sniper's crosshairs cutie mark.
The next turned into a similar colored unicorn with a cutie mark of spider web with a fly trapped in it.
The last one turned into an earth pony with a skull and crossbones cutie ark.
"Now hold on! They ain't really those! They're still changelings!"
"We deal with shape shifting, not illusions." Chrysalis said.
"That answer is still no!" Braeburn said. "Ah organized Appleloosa's Buckball chapter and what Ah say ain't so, ain't so!"
Chrysalis grinned. "That's not what my lawyer says." Chrysalis pulled out a sheet of paper with her magic. "Unless you want your team and Appleloosa banned from every major buckball circuits, I suggest you let my team have a go at it."
Rainbow Dash grabbed a nearby storm cloud and struck the piece of paper with lightning, and it reflected right off it and hit Pinkie Pie.
"Ooowie." She said with a frazzled mane.
"Sorry Pinkie!"
"It's okay."
Queen Chrysalis snorted a laugh. "Didn't anyling ever tell you? You can't brute force break a legal document!"
"You're holding them zebra as SLAVES! No way anypony in Equestria is gonna say Ah'm wrong for still tellin' ya no!"
Chrysalis pulled out another piece of paper. "It's totally within their contract. It says right here 'I undersigned agree to be brainwashed during work hours at any time and be used as a love-battery by the contractor and their associates.'"
"Why would ANYPONY agree to that?!" Applejack demanded.
"The free dental."
"Ugh!"
"If you have any other problems I suggest you talk to my lawyer."
"So what circle of Hades did you summon him from?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"What a stereotype, my lawyer's from the Outer-Realm, completely different plane of existence. I pay him in freshly baked cookies."
Braeburn grunted. "Fine! But we're still gonna beat your keesters!"
"Go ahead and try!" Snorted the pegasus mare.
"We were literally born for this!" Boasted the Earth pony with a Stallengrad accent.
"Just default now to avoid humiliation!" Said the unicorn matter of fact.
"So what are your names?" Pinkie Pie asked, of course.
"We're Genetic Experiment Gen-4 23-B, C, and D." The unicorn gestured at the pegasus, himself, and the Earth Pony.
"What happened to Genetic Experiment Gen-4 23-A?"
"The nurses take good care of her," 23-B said.
Applejack couldn't believe this. "You BRED Buckball players?!"
Chrysalis clapped her hooves. "We changelings have a saying, 'Everything is genetic.' Insanity, intelligence, health, talent, place in society, it's all predetermined by DNA."
"Hey!" A trio of griffin flew down upon the town. "What's going on here!"
"Hey! Don't I know you from someplace?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Forgot me already?" The griffin pulled out a bronze medal as did her teammates. "Name's Giselle. Remember? We represented Griffinstone at the last games! We heard about your new sport, and we have to rebuild Griffinstone's reputation... what are bug ponies doing here?"
The changelings present did not like the term 'bug pony.'
"Hi." Snails waved at the queen with a smile on his face.
Chrysalis' raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you scared of me?"
"Should I be?" Snails asked simply.
Session 33.13 Grogar-the-oneser
"Uggh.... your one of those," Chrysalis groaned. She hated ponies and their 'always trying to be friends with things.' If he starts singing about friendship, she was going to break someone's leg. meanwhile with the griffins.
"Now before you point out the earth/unicorn/pegasus thing, hear me out. what if I try making a variation of the game, you know as a way to promote both buckball and the new game. Got any suggestions?"
"Have you try adding skates for offensive players?" Pinkie suggested.
"why would we do that?" Giselle said.
"For fun," Pinkie said.
"... We'll put that on the maybe list," Giselle stated.
"Cool!"
+
"I can't believe Rosedust was okay with you breeding buckball players," Applejack said.
"Well she was... annoyed with it to say the least, but she said at least its better then me always planning on conquering things 'when will you stop this conquering phase'. It's not a phase dangit!" Chrysalis snapped.
"... okay that's a bit too much information for my liking," Applejack said.
"Whatever," Chysalis said with a role of her eyes. "I'm going to kick your cousin's butt omto next week."
"Doubt it, he nearly defeated our Ponyville team, and we ain't pushovers."
Chrysalis took a look to Pinkie suggesting random idea for the spin-off. Fluttershy feeding a desert lizard and Snail muttering something about showing some pony name Snip his first place medal. "I'm quivering in fear," Chrysalis said deadpanned.
Session 33.14 Kendell2 (with a brief addition by me)
"So...everything's genetic?" Rainbow Dash asked Chrysalis.
"Of course! How else would we get three super buck ball players?" Chrysalis asked.
"Well then you shouldn't be bragging," the rainbow maned pegasus replied.
"What?" the Changeling Queen asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rainbow Dash simply pointed a hoof to Chrysalis' heirs. One of which seemed to just be staring blankly at the going on while drooling, another tubby one which had tackled the pony passing out snacks and stole his tray of snacks (looking like they considered the tray to be a snack), and the last of which was presently taking aim at her mother's head with a crossbow.
Chrysalis' eye twitched. "..." She didn't even change expression as she caught the bolt and threw it back, hitting her daughter with the tail in the head and getting a small 'OW!'
Then Chrysalis looked at Rainbow Dash in the eye as the queen petted the head of her disabled daughter. "Don't ever insult my little princess again, or else."
"Or else what?"
"... Or else you'll learn how wrathful I can actually be."
"I dislike to say it Rainbow Dash... but you saying that was pretty mean." Fluttershy admitted offering the disabled changeling princess a cookie.
Rainbow Dash sighed.
"Uh, Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah, Snails?" Rainbow asked.
"This Changeling is freaking me out," the little colt replied, a Changeling next to him that was completely zoned out to the point of being completely unresponsive.
"What happened?" Applejack asked.
"I think he tried to get in my head and this happened..." Snails said. "I think he got lost..."
"...Okay, so apparently Snails can clear his mind so well that he can make brainwashing backfire," Rainbow Dash said, blinking. "...Who knew?"
Session 33.15 Alex Warlorn
As the Doctor and Derpy played 3-D chess, Derpy couldn't help but ask, "So how did you get that black eye?"
"An honest mistake really."
"You went on an adventure without me?"
"It's not like we're joined at the hip, dear."
Derpy's eyes narrowed. "Did you go on an adventure with Roseluck?" Derpy asked with venom in her voice.
"No! I promise! ... I forgot myself for a minute. After you constant... encouragement that I should socialize locally more..."
"You are already! With me Octavia, Vinyl, Bon Bon, Lyra."
"I thought I'd expand the circle a little, go outside my comfort zone... so II was at dear Applejack's farm and she was talking about the long history of Apple Family traditions.... all of them... and this also happens to be one of the six days of the week that a monster doesn't randomly wander into Ponyville and our 'retired secret agent' ... "
"So what do you do to starve off the self harm?"
"Next thing I knew, I knew how an apple tree feels."
Meanwhile in the human world
Sunset Shimmer let out a grateful sigh of relief, finding out (and some careful observation with a remote control drone sent through the portal) that Twilight and her friends had been cured and were back to their normal selves and were no longer evil.
'Sunset... I... I know what it's like to be in your horseshoes.' Twilight wrote. 'Knowing you're the smartest, and that that entitles you to everything. Not caring who you have to step on to 'get what you deserve. It's a dark place isn't it? Thinking that 'you' is all you need. .. That attitude may sound brave and standing on your own four hooves... but it leads to some ugly places.'
Sunset merely hugged the journal. At least Gilda's 'boyfriend' could go home now. And she didn't have to try to break into Equestria to save the world from a Twilight Sparkle having gone mad with power... again.
She did wonder what Luna had said... if the mane six's friendship hadn't been undone by the curse... they'd have been unstoppable.. that was creepy.
*meanwhile in the mirror universe*
"I trust you're all back to normal?" Spike groaned.
"Yes we're back to normal handbag!" Fluttershy snapped.
"We've got the Elements of Chaos working again." Twilight Sparkle said with a scary grin. "Whose a 'zero' now mom?! Ha ha!"
Session 33.16 Ardashir
"Also, if they sign on to become hive servants, when we feed on them they can choose who we become to drain their love," Chrysalis said.
"Y'all do what now?" Applejack blinked.
Chrysalis grinned and pointed first at one Changeling and then at one mindlessly staring zebra. The changeling cackled and flew over to him, vanished in green flame, and reappeared as Rarity. Applejack gagged as 'Rariling' kissed the zebra, draining enough of his love to make the shriveled equine pass out.
"Oh, he'll be fine later," Chrysalis smirked.
"Ah'll be fine as soon as Ah throw up." Applejack looked around for a bucket.
Session 33.17 Mtanglion
Meanwhile, at a video arcade in the human world city of Griffonstone, Gilda and Gerold were in the nook behind the Dance Battle Insurrection machine, kissing.
Gilda came up for air first. "Dang... Jeez..." She smirked and traced a finger along his jaw. "So much for not gettin' serious."
Gerold had that insufferably smug grin that she loved. "Your phone is buzzing."
Gilda glanced at the cell phone briefly. "Eh, it's just a text from good old 'buzzkill' Twilight. I'll read it later."
Gerold chuckled. "Want to get out of here, or... play a few more rounds?"
Gilda flicked his nose with a fingertip. "Don't you get all wink wink nudge nudge on me, dweeb! You're cooped up in my apartment too much as it is. I'll get us some more tokens."
Gilda slipped back into the evening arcade crowd, making her way towards the token dispensers, and while she was digging for her wallet, because it's not like she would be caught dead carrying a purse, she nearly bumped right into... Gerold? Gerold, wearing a completely different outfit with a Griffonstone letter jacket, with Giselle by his side, glaring at her. Gilda gulped.
"There you are!" shouted Gerold. "Look, Gilda! Whatever kinda prank you're playing, these lame rumors need to stop right now. Now tell Giselle that we are *not* dating before I get in any more... trouble?"
The other Gerold, Gilda's Gerold, the Equestrian griffon who'd been stuck as a human for months, had heard her shout and rushed to her defense, and now both Gerolds were glaring, sizing each other up.
Gilda rolled her eyes. "Jeez..."
Giselle frowned, hands on hips. "Gerold? Whoa, I didn't know you had a twin."
"Neither did I!" said the human Gerold. He blinked. "But there, you see? I have *not* been going out with Gilda behind your back! Heh, I could probably beat this lame carbon copy at any game in here."
The griffon Gerold bristled. Luckily, he'd restrained himself from "griffoning up" and bristling literally. "Oh, is that a fact?"
Giselle slipped over to Gilda's side, covering a giggle with a slim hand. "Boys. What is it with them?"
Gilda couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, like girls around here are any better. Hey, uh... 'Karl'! Why don't I get you those tokens so you can show Gerold who's boss?"
Gilda's phone had five more texts from Twilight by the end of the night, but she was having too fun much to care.
Session 33.18 BrutalityInc
The door slammed open, and Queen Chrysalis stormed through it, her face snarling in rage and... Apprehension? "Gah!"
"What's wrong, my dear?" Empress Blackrose asked kindly, turning from her game of dominoes with several of her daughters. For their part, the other Changeling Queens glared at Chrysalis. "Did something awful happened?"
"The worst." Queen Chrysalis hissed, closing the door - and the unfortunate Changeling praetorian guard who was standing behind it fell on the floor with a thump, knocked unconscious. "I was at Appleloosa, playing that stupid Buckball game with those damn pony yokels over there. I held all the cards - selectively-bred players, my infallible magic behind the scenes, and I even bribed the referee!"
She ripped off her team shirt with a violent bout of telekinesis and threw it on the floor. "AND I STILL LOST! Can you imagine that?!"
"Why yes, dear sister, we can imagine that." The other Changeling Queens snickered, barely holding their mirth. The schadenfreude is simply too exquisite.
Empress Blackrose wiggled a hoof at Chrysalis' siblings, then turned to comfort the still seething Chrysalis. "There, there, my dear, it's just a game..."
"Just a game... Bah!" Chrysalis scoffed, even as she took a seat and grabbed a bottle of Changeling saki (Hive Supia brand) to drink. "It was more than just some silly game! It was part of my stratagem, and a chance to humiliate those do-gooder ponies at their own game! I nearly won too!"
"Then what happened?" Empress Blackrose asked. At Chrysalis' hesitance, she added "Don't be shy about it, just tell me everything..."
"Yes, sister, tell us more of your humiliation." Another one of her sisters asked, gloating. More snickering.
Queen Chrysalis glared at them. Normally, revealing fallibility in the Changeling royal society is considered a sign of weakness, an opening which other Queens would exploit to bring you down, but Chrysalis is simply too mad to care by this point.
"I was winning 5-2! One more point, and my victory would be completed!" Queen Chrysalis continued, "Of course, from the premium seats, I naturally gave my condolences and admiration of the other team's efforts." Which meant she gloated and mocked them to rub salt on the wound. "The crowd was showering my team with wild cheers." She remembered fondly of the utter shock felt by the ponies in the crowd and the angry stares by that Applejack.
"And then..." Chrysalis said hesitantly, still unable to understand what happened, "Right after a..." Cruel, condescending "Friendly laugh," At his expense, "He just gave this... look, this angry look at me... He yelled a few things to his goons behind him. The team rallied, and next thing you know, the Appleloosan team made a complete turnaround and trounced us, 5-6, in less than ten minutes flat!"
The other queens burst into laughter at the table, much to the consternation of both Blackrose and Chrysalis.
"Lose a winning streak in ten minutes flat? That's got to be a new record since Canterlot!" One of them muttered, brushing a mirthful tear aside.
"Easy for you to say! They bucking cheated!" Queen Chrysalis retorted with a shout of indignation. "Not that any of those stupid little ponies listened when I complained!"
"And why do you think they would do that?" Empress Blackrose asked, confused, "From what I know of the Apple clan, any form of cheating or dishonesty is more or less anathema to them."
"Then what else could explain my sudden loss, mother? It was that yellow-hided sack of bravado, Braeburn. I don’t know what he did, but right after he gave that look, all my changelings in Appleloosa abandoned their team, abandoned ME!" Queen Chrysalis said, utterly incredulous, "And my team just lost their nerve and couldn’t even score a decent shot, or block one! It’s like he casted a hex that caused all of them to freak out!"
Empress Blackrose’s eyes widened when she heard this.
"And did you freaked out too?" One of Chrysalis’ Queen sisters asked again, grinning. "Is the mighty Queen Chrysalis, near-conqueror of Equestria, scared of a little earth-pony with a little scowl?"
"I am not!" Chrysalis exclaimed, "I fear nothing, you – !"
"My dears," Blackrose said suddenly, "I would like all present in this chamber except Chrysalis to leave. And stay at least a corridor away until I say otherwise."
"Mother, what’s wrong?" One of the Queens asked, confused.
"Please do as I ask," The Changeling Empress ordered calmly. "I would rather not repeat myself."
None of them dared to disobey their mother. Soon, they left, followed by the praetorian guards.
At last, when Empress Blackrose and her daughter Queen Chrysalis was alone, Blackrose turned to Chrysalis and asked, "My dear... can you share your memories of that game. Here, with me. I want to see it for myself."
"Mother, I..." Queen Chrysalis began, reluctant. The outrage and wound in her pride from her defeat was still too fresh. That, and a lot of antics that she want to hide from Blackrose. "I don’t know if I should. It’s still just recent, and -"
"If you could, maybe I can find out who or what it was that may had costed you your game," Blackrose explained.
Chrysalis, eager for somepony to blame for her failure, agreed without hesitation. And so, one magical screen casting later, they watched together, as mother and daughter would a tape recording of holiday memories on television.
Both teams played with consummate skills as they bucked, threw and deflected the ball, each aiming to score as much as they could. Braeburn’s team more so, considering that they didn’t have the advantage of biological enhancement Chrysalis’ team had.
But in the end, skills and determination could only do so much. They lost points, and kept losing them, and Braeburn's team found themselves exhausted, demoralized and desperate, much worse off than when they played against Ponyville’s team.
They reached the point when Braeburn’s team was about to turn around and start winning. Empress Blackrose found herself shaking her head at Chrysalis’ cruel taunts. So typical of her.
But she found Braeburn’s response as described by Chrysalis an understatement to what it truly was, considering it was one that conveyed... such absolute hatred, for Chrysalis’ being, it was palpable through her empathetic senses. Blackrose wondered if Chrysalis had somehow pushed him too far with that mocking laugh. What awful, suppressed memory had been raised to the surface, driving Braeburn to such berserk fury?
Suddenly, Braeburn’s hateful snarl twisted further as he winced, shaking his head, nearly losing balance and stumbling, as if in pain.
Then, Blackrose felt it, as Chrysalis and the other changelings did. Only changelings could; ponies, griffons, dragons and other races all lacked the senses for it, let alone explain it, or even conceive it.
Menace, dread, terror; one could subscribe to these terms when describing how the Changelings would had felt, but those were just words; none of it would had done justice to the true horror of what they perceive.
It lasted merely a moment, radiating from Braeburn, as if a flash of lightning. But it was more than enough.
Ponies looked around them, surprised and spooked, as Chrysalis’ minions amongst the crowd started screaming hysterically, clawing at their eyes or heads, before taking flight and fleeing in all directions, most of them straight into the deserts. Chrysalis’ players in the field, so smug, confident and arrogant mere moments before, found their haughtiness broken instantly, replaced with fear; the one holding the score bucket nearly dropped it, the others took steps back, staring back at Braeburn, as if he was some ancient, otherworldly horror.
Even Chrysalis herself was affected, never would she admit; Blackrose felt the rapid pulse of Chrysalis’ racing insectoid heart, the chill through her carapace, the dread and apprehension gnawing in the depths of her mind, and a primal part of Chrysalis’ sub-consciousness screeching for her to run, even as she remained in her seat and shouted at her changelings to get a hold of themselves.
Empress Blackrose’s eyes narrowed; she recognized that scent. She knew it only too well.
Only those who had been ‘touched’ by Him, or those Others who carried His mark and blood, would carry his scent.
Blackrose suddenly realized she had to keep this quiet. If Chrysalis or any of her daughter got into this...
So for Chrysalis, Blackrose did the one thing that many condemned the changelings to be masters of.
"He has hidden it well, Chryssie. He almost had me fooled, too." Blackrose began cautiously, digging upon her vast millennia worth of experience to make her explanation as convincing as possible, "But judging from the scent, I would say that this bears the mark of the serpent."
Queen Chrysalis gaped in shock, "You mean... Discord?!"
Empress Blackrose nodded her head, "Before you ask, no, he was not wearing mister Braeburn as his guise. Braeburn was his pawn. I believed that through him, he had imparted just enough of his essence, and a spell that would release it at the right moment, so that when changelings present felt it, they would lose their nerve, thinking that the Curser is in the vicinity, and with it, their ability to win the game of Buckball."
"But why would he sabotage me like that? Humiliate me in a game?" Queen Chrysalis asked aloud. Then she face-hoofed, "Oh who am I kidding. Of COURSE he would! It’s practically in his nature!"
"Did you do something that would cause him to do that to you?" Empress Blackrose asked, just so to make sure Queen Chrysalis bought it, hook, line and sinker.
"It must had been for that ‘Butterflies on Ice’ performance I forced him to sit through with that meek yellow pegasus he calls friend!" That she did so in revenge for Discord’s own prank was left unsaid, "I swear, when I get my hooves on him, my next revenge for this humiliation would be much worse!"
With that, she angrily stormed out of the chamber, slamming the door on the way out, leaving Empress Blackrose alone to ponder the implications of what really happened, and the real culprit behind it.
So, He was in Appleloosa. Empress Blackrose thought with a grimace. But why was he there? What game was He up to, this time? And what did he do to one of the Apple clan... Or rather, what did he do to elicit His attention?
Whatever it was, Blackrose thought, one could only hope it was not painful. He never cared much about mortals, even from his own branch, or for the other immortals and gods. Tartarus, Blackrose didn’t think he cares much for anything beyond his own inscrutable motives these days, and those whom he found himself amused or impressed by.
In any case, she needed to get to the bottom of this.
But first...
= = =
Discord was having a nice relaxing cup of tea – well, the cup, not the tea itself – in Fluttershy’s house (She was in the kitchen) when a surprising telepathic call made him spit out all the ceramic on the floor, which reformed into a teacup.
Discord. Answer me.
"Hey! Rosey, mon petit chou-fleur..." He muttered nervously, looking around to make sure no-pony is eavesdropping, especially not that stupid rabbit. "Rather abrupt of you, calling me like that at this time. Scares moi somewhat, not just because of the homicidal surface thoughts you have for me that I could hear as well ..."
Chrysalis believes that you are responsible for making her lose the Buckball game in Appleloosa. Blackrose continued, through her long-range mind-voice. I want you to make sure she keeps thinking that.
"Oh yeah, I heard about that!" Discord said, in an happy tone, trying to ease tension, both him and Blackrose. "So it was sabotage that caused Chryssie’s team to lose in the last 10 minutes! I wish I could had thought about that. I should remember to thank whoever set her up – ACK!"
Discord cringed as a jolt of pure pain went through his body from his mind. It was enough to kill a full-grown dragon from circulatory shock, but for Discord, it was just a very painful headache.
"Take a joke, why don’t you! And why should I take the fall for something that for once isn’t my fault?"
If you don’t do as I ask. Blackrose warned, I’m coming for you.
Discord gulped in fear.
"Fair enough, I’ll do it. Won’t be the first, though I always hope it’ll be the last." Discord replied "You better tell me the reason why, once Chryssie’s inevitable petty revenge comes into play."
Blackrose didn’t deign to give him a response on that, Don’t tell anyone about this. She finally replied, And remember, always, that I will be watching. So behave.
Fluttershy came out of the kitchen to find Discord coiled upon himself, still shuddering long after the call was done.
"Geeze, what a mare..." Discord muttered, "Just what’s the bur under her saddle this time?"
= = =
"Hooey, that was a tough match. Much tougher than the one with us Ponyville." Applejack remarked, "But you sure showed Chrysalis and her team of bronco-upped cheaters how true Buckball is done in the end! That was quite a comeback you and your team pulled!"
"Thanks, cousin." Braeburn replied, "Guess we fellas managed to get into our A-game near the end. Still wondering what I did to scare’em changelings off like that."
"Well, you got yourself really worked up in the last ten minutes." Applejack commented, "That Queen Chrysalis was insulting you something fierce with every other breath. I swear, you looked like you were ready to murder her right there and then!"
"Yeah, she really is one nasty piece of work." Braeburn concurred, still smarting from her taunts, gloats and insults, "I think that was the whole point, trying to knock us off-balance like we did theirs in the end. From the way she was laughing at me and my fellows I didn’t think I ever got that angry since... since..."
Braeburn heard Him laugh – a cruel, amused laughter from an ancient, regal voice – even as he laid bound and helpless before Him ...
Pain shot through his head, and he grunted.
"Cousin, you don’t look so good." Applejack noted.
"It-It’s just a headache." He said, shaking his head, "Been getting them lately. Had one just before the win, too. Must had been from the pressure, between work and the Buckball games."
"In that case, I think you need to take some time to relax." Applejack recommended, and, seeing a bunch of Appleloosan colts and fillies barbecuing marshmallows, suggested, "Maybe you ought to meet Strongheart out there and had a night out with her, camping, singing under the stars with music from your guitar, all before a fire, you know what I’m saying?"
"I think I know where you’re..." He trailed off as he saw the fire from the barbecue.
He saw two pillars of flame, burning away the darkness of the night. One green of a darker hue, the other blue and far brighter in brilliance.
And in their wake. He beheld two horrors. Tall, dark, majestic and terrible, one more than the other...
Braeburn gritted his teeth as a sharper pain gripped his brain. He lost his footing, and crashed into a bundle of hay, toppling it and himself over it.
"Braeburn! Are you alright?!" Applejack hurried to Braeburn’s side, helping him up. "It’s getting worse, isn’t it?"
Shaking his head, he found himself staring into his cousin’s worried green eyes...
His green eyes – like staring into a bottomless abyss...
With a yelp, he untangled himself from the bundle and backed off from Applejack. He was panting now, sweating profusely, and his head was pounding. He looked at Applejack, fright evident upon his face.
"What just happened? What did I do?!" Applejack exclaimed, "Braeburn, you’re really scaring me!"
Braeburn sat on his haunches as he tried to steady himself, "I don’t know." He said between ragged breaths, in full crux of a panic attack, "I just – for a moment, I thought I saw... I don’t know what’s wrong with - !"
He stopped as something reasserted itself, in the back of his mind.
"... Nothing’s wrong." He said suddenly, "I’m feeling better now..." His face softened as he calmed down, and his eyes became somewhat unfocused. "It’s all fine now." He said evenly, his face twisting into a disconcerting smile. "Yes. Everything is going to be just fine." He repeated, now with a dreamy expression.
He stayed that way for a few moments.
"Anyways!" He began, in his normal voice. Almost as quickly, he was seemingly back to his normal self, as if nothing had happened, "I’ll have a think about that, cous. But that’ll have to wait; next match is with the griffons, and I’m going to need to get my team back to top shape, for Aaaappleloosa! See you later!"
With that, he galloped off, leaving a wide-eyed and gaping Applejack behind.
"Hey, AJ!" Pinkie Pie broke in, bouncing besides Applejack, "You feeling alright?"
AJ closed her gaping mouth. Then, she narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
"No, Pinkie. I’m not feeling alright." AJ said, "Nothing about this feels right. And I’m going to get to the bottom of this."
Session 33.19 Alex Warlorn
Blackrose knew love was a very powerful force, as a changeling, it was her very nature to understand how powerful love was... even if poor Chrysalis only understood it the way a leech did blood. Even she knew all flavors and tones and their sublimities, she had a great deal of experience, much like her mother.
Thus, she was genuinely shocked and stunned when Discord teleported into her chambers. This was tantamount to suicide some would think on Discord's part... except... the fury that radiated from Discord... it was underlined with the one thing Blackrose would have never expected from him... love for somepony else.
This shocked all her most basic and simply desires to deliver bloody and dismembering justice about this supposed reformed monster out of her system. Because... Discord wasn't smiling. And it wasn't his immature 'my game is RUINED!!!!' snarl she's seen on some precious few occasions. This was the rage for another as only a changeling queen could tell!
"I hope you're happy insect." Discord said, no humor in his voice, that was so wrong to hear. He displayed an indestructible piece of paper in front of her that would have driven most ponies mad.
"I just got a restraining order from the Ponythulu and Dra-Gon law firm. With a visit from Ponythulu and Dra-Gon themselves!"
Blackrose could say nothing, when she saw in Chrysalis' memories that she'd hired lawyers from the Spheres Beyonds, she assumed her daughter had been joking. She should have known better.
"I'm now forbidden to interfere with, to OR HELP THOSE who are interfering in her schemes, or have any of my schemes interfere with hers, nor meddle with those who are meddling with her schemes or those who are parts of her schemes or those who are interacting with those who are part of her schemes! I can't protect Fluttershy AT ALL from that witch now! We both know she's a time bomb waiting for the chance to destroy Equestria again! And now, insect for me being your stalking horse, I can't protect HER from your brat you should have put down ages ago! I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HAPPY!" Discord grew to the size of a Pony Grande looking down at Blackrose with wraith the likes of which can only exist in those who had known to care for somepony other than themselves.
-
There was a knock on Braeburn's door, having arranged the game time for the Griffinstone team for the Buckball match. The griffins felt they had their pride as a species on the line, unlike Chrysalis who had been showing off, the griffins wanted to be recognized as equals again on the world stage.
Braeburn looked up and up... at a giant green pony with tentacles for a face and large wings. Wearing a business suit and carrying a suitcase. He handed a card written in plain ordinary not-madness-inducing Equestrian (that had been a precise point with the advertising department).
"Hello Sir, are you Braeburn Apple? I am Ponythulu of Ponythulu and Dra-Gon. I believe good sir you are eligible for a damage suit by a Eldar or Above, Out or Grander Planes Entity or Entities. I would be happy to represent you in seeking compensation... Do you have any cookies?"
"Uh, yeah..."
"Good to hear. You'll find my rates very reasonable, we do NOT charge by souls, sanity points, or existential states, this sets up apart from those Infernal lawyers, we do accept baked goods however."
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7543336
Not sure what you mean. But thanks!
The creepy thing is, Sweetcream Scoops has a detective agency in some stories, so she's a professional stalker.
I was sure they'd be cutting to Twilight reading 12 books in a row while Spike cooks dinner or something.
You did it! Awesome.
I love this idea. Probably won't work for a cult, but I bet if you stuck to obscure trivia facts rather than beliefs, Rainbow Dash might unwittingly take them in. Could be some pranking opportunities in there, especially if someone prints off a horizontal billboard that says "heavy rain scheduled above Town Hall at 4 AM."
Always good to see more of that. Now I think of Starlight as this guy: imfdb.org/images/thumb/5/52/Equal14.jpg/405px-Equal14.jpg
A shame, I would have loved to have seen the Man 6 playing this. Maybe for ladies night?
I like the entire scene with the giants. The greater abilities you have to fight, the less tactical acumen you pick up.
I like President Sombra, I imagine him as not that different from the Pointy-haired boss from Dilbert. Thinking about things, I do wonder if Cinch might be Rabia's human double.
I kind of felt like Braeburn invented the entire sport just recently, but I could see it spreading to other circuits rapidly.
I always wondered why Chrysalis didn't just let ponies get a mail-order changling bride that took just enough love to keep their pony spouse going and sent the rest back to the hive.
Awww, that's sweet, looks like somehen has a nesting instinct!
Weird. I like the idea of Discord taking the fall for other deities if they bribe him, but it's hard to imagine him that scared of Blackrose, when he could just snap his fingers and banish her horn if she threatens him.
HA! Lawyers even Discord has to respect, I got a kick out of the idea. camo.derpicdn.net/59626dd280a6ca37bdafa5356acca5f3bbc26b59?url=http%3A%2F%2Fayay.co.uk%2Fbackgrounds%2Fhumour%2Fwork%2FCthulhu-Office-Space.jpg
Good to see more World of Horsecraft. I do hope we get to see Teenage Aliens from Outer Space again.
Polite Cthulhu. The best kind. Mostly because you'd expect this Eldritch Abomination to be this horrific monster, but he's worse. A lawyer.
7544697
Perish the thought. He's not hopelessly stupid, and not in charge for arbitrary reasons, and if civilization fell, he could get a job OTHER than court jester!
7544849
Sorry this part was such a flop for you.
7544764
Seems a lot saying that.
7544871
It wasn't. I just didn't want to do a play by play.
7544697
I love that picture of Cthulhu as the office boss. Then again he may be an improvement on some of the ones I've heard about.
7544849 For a story about RPGs we seem to have had a lot of lawyers show up in it.
Blackrose you fubar beyon anything.
If Fluttershy is hurt or worst killed by her daughter in any way, Discord will destroy them all, if IF they are lucky.
7548915
I think things will cool down once the truth comes out.
7549383
Hope so, Discord is often thought as a Silly villain or a villain who a major Prankster, and yes he is.
BUT he that way as it's boring to be anymore then a joker, if he got serious.....
There nothing he couldn't do, and no pony could stop him.
Not even BlackRose, Discord loses Fluttershy he loses everything that holds him back and nothing scarier then a Dracgonus who has nothing left to lose.
7563734 Unfortunately not, I wish it was real.
I'm dying.
Science rhymes with compliance. You know what doesn't rhyme with compliance? Neurotoxin
"Er, well..." Spike winced and held up a cover showing stallions being carted off by lovely Amazon-esque mares and reading, Escape from the Lost City of Snu-Snu.
Futurama reference
i thought the pony was a monk not a paladin...
9620797
Continuity flub.