15 - And Those You Fought Beside
The land beyond the Frozen North
The transition had been incredible.
One minute they were deep within the raging blizzard that consumes the vast majority of the Frozen North on a day-by-day basis, the snow, ice and high winds battering against the enchantments desperately holding their convoy of three together. The next moment the severe weather had suddenly given way to blue skies, Celestia’s sun shining through the fluffy white clouds. For a moment they had thought they’d gotten turned around in the storm and had inadvertently ended up back in the Crystal Empire where the Crystal Heart’s barrier cast the storm aside. This theory was disproved by the terrain far below, where ice and snow still existed, and yet was thinning drastically every mile they travelled. Soon, the ice gave way to bare rock for miles around, culminating in distant mountains and volcanoes that would be an obvious home for any dragon. With the Crystal Empire, the Frozen North and its frosty mountains left far behind, their journey was rapidly coming to its conclusion within the mountains ahead. They were where the hive of Queen Draco was nestled safely away from the rest of the world.
“No recorded Equestrian has ever set hoof here before,” Twilight noted, the slight excitement in her voice being all too obvious. “We’re discovering new lands.”
“Well, technically we’re not discovering anything,” Scorpion pointed out. “Since changelings have lived here for such a long time already.”
Twilight pouted. “Please don’t ruin the moment, Captain. Besides, I could technically be counted as an Equestrian, I never lost my citizenship.”
“I’m not a changeling, so it counts for me,” Spike said smugly.
“Dragons live here too, Spike,” Twilight reminded him mirthfully, much to the dragon’s irritation.
“Speaking of dragons…” Scorpion trailed off, turning his attention to the pony piloting the helicopter. “Are the skies clear, pilot?”
“Perfectly,” the pilot responded. “Not a storm cloud, or raging dragon, in sight. Not a lot of anything here in fact, the terrain is all rock.”
“The area is volcanic so it’s not too surprising, but there’s no vegetation at all?” Queen Twilight enquired.
“Well…” the pilot continued, peering into the distance. “I think I spot something over there. Yes… there’s a forest in the distance, spanning all the way up until the first mountain.
“A forest?” Shining Armor spoke up, the first words he had spoken since the verbal lashing he had received from his sister earlier on.
Twilight moved herself to just next to the pilot’s seat, peering out of the front windows into the distance. Sure enough a treeline was coming into view, one or two trees amidst the rocks gradually building up into a large forest comparable in size to the Everfree Forest bordering Ponyville. It spread out quite far, reaching up to the base of the mountains as the pilot described, a few trees having grown a little ways up said mountains before stopping altogether.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Draco used the forest as the hives main source of wood, and possibly even for hunting wildlife for food. Actually, that’s undoubtedly what they did,” Twilight noted. “I do recall her mentioning a forest at some point in the past close to her hive.”
“Did she mention whether it’s dangerous or not?” Scorpion asked.
“Well, there’s always the odd wildlife to contend with,” Twilight stated. “But it’s nothing like the rampant magic of the Everfree Forest, a large heavily armed group like ours would never be approached by any natural predator.”
“Not to mention we’re high in the air,” Spike added in.
“Exactly. Draco never mentioned anything dangerous that can fly, and any dragon would be further in; not that they would have a reason to attack us anyway.”
“Well, I know from experience that not all dragons are the nicest, unlike myself,” Spike said. “Garble is one example. And remember Niadhogr?”
“How could I forget?” Twilight groaned in response. “How could I forget anything about that day?”
“So what kind of predators do live there, my Queen?” Scorpion asked, changing the subject away from that of the fall of the Badlands Hive, and the death of Queen Chrysalis.
“She never gave any details like that, and I honestly never asked,” Twilight said. “But in her mentions of the forest she never suggested it was that dangerous, so I imagine the usual bears and such.”
“I’m pretty sure we could handle a bear,” Spike claimed, flexing jokingly.
“A bear versus a dragon, such a fair fight,” Shining sarcastically commented.
Scorpion laughed. “Well, if a bear grows wings and is thus able to reach us up here, let me know.”
“Oh I’m glad Discord isn’t here to hear you say that,” Spike stated. “He’d take it as a challenge. Or just an opportunity to be a pain in the ass.”
“Agreed,” Twilight said, shuddering. “Remember that time when he claimed seaponies REALLY like explosions, and we didn’t believe him?”
Spike hummed in recollection. “Applejack still won’t look at fish that same way.”
“I don’t want to ask,” Scorpion deadpanned.
Shining Armor smirked. “You can add it to the list.” Twilight shot her brother a glare, but didn’t offer a response.
The three helicopters continued on course, the occupants within them waiting patiently for their arrival at Queen Draco’s Hive. As they continued onwards the forest got closer and closer, and soon enough the first of the outlaying trees passed by below the convoy; it wouldn’t be long before they were over the main body of the forest.
“We should get ready,” Scorpion stated. “It won’t be long now.”
“Thirty minutes at most,” Twilight stated factually. “Pilot, tell Captains Broad Sword and Vladimir to ready their ponies.”
“On it, your majesty,” the pilot reported, quickly moving to use the radio.
“That goes for the lot of you too,” Scorpion said commandingly to the five changelings with them. “I want you prepared, alert and ready to defend the Queen with your lives the moment we step off this thing. There is no telling what may await us; it may be nothing, or we may be facing a horde of afflicted changelings. Either way, we will be ready!”
“Yes sir!” they shouted in unison, the Royal Guard all saluting and proceeding to run final checks on their armour and make sure their armaments were secure and ready to go.
“Queen Twilight,” the pilot shouted back from the cockpit. “The others have replied in the affirmative, they’re preparing.”
Twilight nodded. “Good, I want this to be-”
“What in Tartarus?” the pilot suddenly interrupted, catching the attention of all those within the cabin behind.
The Pilot was peering intently out the front windscreen, trying to get a good look at something. Just to the left out of the windscreen they could all see the helicopter carrying Vladimir and the Lunar Guard pulling ahead of the other two ever so slightly.
“What do you see?” Twilight enquired.
“I’m not sure,” the pilot responded. “I thought I saw something, but there’s no sign now.”
“Something?” Scorpion asked impatiently. “What do you mean ‘something’?”
“It was like-”
They all jumped backwards as some kind of winged creature latched onto the windscreen, cracking it. Its form was bony, it’s body and wings covered in a semi-transparent leathery skin with pulsating veins clearly visible through it. Its long beak was filled with sharp fangs as its draconic eyes hungrily piercing into the cabin, looking between all those within.
“What the hay is that?!” Twilight shouted in shock and surprise.
The creature reared its head back and struck forwards with its beak, shattering a portion of the windscreen as it began to force its head in.
Captain Scorpion reacted immediately, charging his horn and letting a green bolt of magic collide with the creature, causing it to be knocked from the front of the helicopter and fall down out of control to its doom below.
Its absence only revealed a direr scene, however, as without the creature blocking their view they could see that a swarm of the creatures were already around them. They circled the three helicopters and rapidly began to close in. Not only that, but to their growing horror they saw that the helicopter on point, Vladimir’s, already had a dozen of the creatures tearing into the hull.
“Vladimir!” Shining Armor shouted in a panic as his friend’s transport was thrashed about. “Pilot, fire on those creatures!”
“Yes sir!”
The helicopter tilted to the side, two small glowing barrels extending outwards that fired precision shots of blue magic into the creatures.
The other two did the same, all opening fire into the horde. However, while the helicopters containing the Solar Guard and the changelings were managing to shake the majority of the incoming creatures, the Lunar Guards were still getting swamped. Despite the others’ efforts to assist, when one was knocked off two more seemed to take its place. Several of them converged onto the vehicle’s two weapons, latching onto them and quickly dismantling them into useless shards of metal and scattering the magical components within.
“We have to get out there!” Twilight urgently ordered.
“Twilight, we open those doors and the creatures will get inside, this thing won’t survive that!” Shining Armor stated. “I want to help too, but we must be careful!”
“I agree!” Scorpion added his opinion. “We open those doors and we won’t be able to help ourselves, let alone the Lunar Guard!”
Twilight growled. “Alright, then I’ll teleport outside, I can-”
“Your majesty!” the pilot shouted, pointing to Vladimir’s helicopter. “Look!”
Within the stricken machine, Vladimir was knocked to the floor as the whole structure shook violently to one side.
“What was that?!” Vladimir shouted.
“Sir, they’re getting in!” one of his guards replied urgently, pointing towards one of the cabin doors which was being pulled apart.
Vladimir drew his blade, striking it forwards into the first creature trying to gain entrance. His sword entered its eye socket, the creature going limp and tumbling out into the open sky as the thestral retracted his weapon. Vladimir could have sworn he saw a brief green flash from the creature as it fell, but ignored it as he had more pressing concerns.
“Pilot, what’s out status?”
“Weapons are gone, and our internal working are getting shredded!” he responded in panic. “The levitation enchantments assisting the rotor are at risk of failing, we’ll drop like a stone!”
A scream caught Vladimir’s attention, and he was just in time to witness one of his guard being yanked out of the helicopter and out of sight, undoubtedly being torn apart by the swarm who now had hold of him.
“We need to set her down, we’re not going to hold!” the pilot shouted, and it was the last thing the pilot ever said.
One of the creatures charged directly into the windscreen, smashing through the already battered glass and skewering the pony with its beak, then proceeding to fly back out of the windscreen with the unfortunate soul still attached.
A small explosion of magic signified all magical systems aboard the vehicle finally dispelling, Vladimir being knocked back onto the floor as the helicopter dropped.
Queen Twilight Sparkle could only watch with wide eyes as the Lunar Guard’s transport dropped out of the sky rapidly, the creatures quickly vacating it as it drew close to the forest that was now directly below them. The helicopter smashed into the tops of the trees within an area where they were particularly thick, the machine being torn apart as a red and orange mushroom cloud of fire shot into the sky.
“They’re gone,” Scorpion stated in disbelief, gaping at the large explosion shooting upwards into the air.
There was no more time to take it in however, as the sound of metal tearing and the entire structure suddenly beginning to spin rapidly required their immediate focus.
“We’ve lost the tail!” the pilot shouted, the helicopter’s tail being visible briefly flying out in a separate direction to the rest of the vehicle. “We’re going down!”
Twilight’s horn lit up with a bright and fiery lavender, the entire cabin beginning to glow as a levitation spell took hold. The spinning was quickly brought under control, but the descent was still rapid.
Sweat poured down Twilight’s brow as she struggled against the helicopter’s own defiance and the constant beating it was taking from the creatures.
“Pilot, I need you to help me set this thing down!” Twilight shouted. “Is there a clearing?”
“Y-yes, I can get us there!” the pilot shouted back, wrestling with the controls.
A slight green hue joined the lavender, Twilight glancing to the side to see Scorpion’s horn was also alight.
“I’m with you, Twilight! Now and always!”
Then, a pink hued was also added into the mix.
“As am I!” Shining Armor shouted, putting all his magical power into the spell.
Despite everything, Twilight was able to smile. The smile widened as the green hue grew stronger, the other changelings adding their own strength to the spell. Some of the creatures tried to use the changelings’ distraction to gain entrance, only to be met with a torrent of flames from a defensive dragon. Spike would continue to play defence to buy the others time to guide them down.
Broad Sword and his Solar Guard could only watch as the Queen’s transport slammed down hard into a clearing in the forest, the cabin rolling several times from the impact before coming to a stop, thankfully being seemingly intact.
The Captain surveyed the situation; one of the cabin doors was torn open and three his his ponies had been taken by the creatures, but he and the remaining two had managed to drive off the rest, leaving them temporarily in the clear.
“Bring us down to the clearing, we need to protect the Queen!” Broad Sword ordered.
The single remaining helicopter descended down towards the clearing, firing at several of the creatures that tried to get close. They broke through the swarm as they came to the clearing, the creatures disengaging. As they came to a hover just above the wreckage most of the creatures seemed to have been driven off, none of them having ever come close to the clearing, and not even one of their corpses could be seen there, all of their dead having fallen away into the thicker treeline.
“I think we’re in the clear,” the pilot reported. “Shall I set her down?”
“Yes, at once.”
The pilot complied, moving to the other side of the clearing and descending down towards the ground. All this control was for nought, however, when a beam of green magic to tore into the cockpit and sent the helicopter crashing down where it impacted the ground with a hard bump; the impact sent the three members of the Solar Guard remaining from their hooves and to the floor, but aside from a few bumps and bruises the short fall had fortunately done little else to harm them.
The same couldn’t be said for the pilot, however, as the beam of magic had burnt away the entire cockpit leaving nothing living behind.
“Pilot’s gone,” Broad Sword chocked out as his got to his hooves. “Report!”
“We’re alright,” one of the other guards responded, helping his other fellow guard up. “What hit us?”
“Magic,” Broad Sword responded. “Definitely not from those… things.”
“Sir,” one of the guards addressed the Captain. “The Queen…”
On board the changeling’s downed transport, Twilight groaned painfully as the world came into focus.
“Twilight! Are you alright!” a seemingly distant voice asked in worry.
Twilight quickly became aware that somepony was shaking her, and as her eyes adjusted she saw the face of her brother staring back.
“Oh thank Celestia you’re awake, you hit your head in the crash,” Shining Armor explained.
The Changeling Queen slowly managed to get herself into a sitting position, and a quick examination of herself showed that she was uninjured, except for a sore spot on her head. While Shining Armor was fussing over her, three of her changelings and Spike were surrounding Captain Scorpion, who was leant up against a wall with a piece of shrapnel in his gut.
“Scorpion?” Twilight called out, quickly moving to his side.
“I’m fine,” he responded. “We can see to this once we get off this thing.”
“The creatures haven’t followed us down,” Shining stated. “But we lost two of your changelings and the pilot in the crash. I think Broad Sword’s helicopter also crashed just across the clearing.”
Twilight was saddened by the loss of life, but that would still have to wait. She had to focus on preserving who was left.
The Queen turned to the twisted cabin door, grabbing it with her magic and tearing it from its position, tossing it to one side while leaving the exit wide open. She then gently took hold of the injured Scorpion and deposited him onto her back.
The changeling in question gave a pained chuckled. “I never thought I would get a piggyback ride from you.”
“Oh shush,” she responded. “Making jokes will only make it hurt more.”
“Totally worth it, my Queen,” he retorted.
“Alright, let’s get off this thing,” Shining Armor stated, urging the others forward.
They all vacated the downed flying machine, and much to their relief they saw Broad Sword and two of his guard sprinting across the clearing towards them.
“Your highness!” Broad Sword shouted as he reached the group. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she responded. “My pilot and two of my guards are dead, Scorpion is hurt.”
Broad Sword nodded. “I lost my pilot and three of my own, but I’m glad you’re all alright.”
“What of Vladimir?” Shining Armor asked.
Broad Sword shook his head. “No sign, I don’t know if any of them got out before their helicopter exploded. It looked bad.”
A rough cough from the changeling Royal Guard Captain caught their attention, some blood coming up from the mouth of the injured stallion.
“He’s hurt, badly,” Twilight stated.
“Pass him to me,” Shining said. “I’ll see what I can do while you all check out the other crash site.”
Twilight nodded, gently levitating Scorpion off of her and onto a patch of soft grass.
“You lot are with me,” Shining addressed the three changeling guards, who looked to Twilight for approval. Once they got it, they rushed to Shining Armor’s side to assist with Scorpion.
“Alright, Broad Sword, you and your guards are with me then. We will look for survivors at the other crash site,” Twilight commanded, looking up past their own transport and at the black smoke rising up in the distance.
“Your highness!” Broad Sword shouted, drawing his weapon as he and his guards converged on the treeline where a group of bushes were rustling and being pushed aside by something that was slowly approaching.
Twilight quickly joined the three ponies and charged her horn, all of them expecting that some of the creatures had landed and were trying to get the drop on them.
What they got, however, was a bloodied thestral limping out of the foliage.
“Hey guys,” Vladimir said weakly, his laboured breaths showing his fatigue.
Then, there was the fact that a stump existed where one of his leathery wings should have been.
“By Faust, Vladimir!” Broad Sword ran towards his friend, quickly having the thestral lean on him, the Pegasus supporting most of the injured Captain’s weight. “Your wing!”
Vladimir looked confused. “What about it?”
“W-what do you mean? It’s gone!”
Vladimir looked to where they were all staring with wide eyes, his own expression being one of tired annoyance on seeing the sight.
“Shit.”
“That’s it?!” Broad Sword shouted incredulously. “You lost a limb!”
“I’m far too tired to feel it,” Vladimir muttered. “Besides, now I can get one of those awesome metal wings.”
“A limb actuator,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. “One second.”
Twilight crouched down next to the thestral and lit her horn, sending a small torrent of lavender flames onto the stump.
“GAH!” Vladimir shouted, definitely feeling that one.
“Sorry,” Twilight said apologetically. “I cauterised the wound, its amazing you got here at all like this.”
“Vlad has always been a stubborn bat,” Broad Sword commented.
“But what about the others?” Twilight asked. “Your guards?”
“All gone,” Vladimir spat. “Every last one of them. When we went down I ordered them all to bail, but the shrapnel given out by the explosion caught us in mid-air. I fell down to the ground, and when I recovered all the others were dead, the shrapnel having torn them to pieces. Now that I think about it that was probably when I lost the wing, one of the pieces must have caught me too.”
“So how many of us are left?” one of the other guards asked, taking in the information.
Twilight sighed. “It leaves five ponies, five changelings and one dragon. Eleven.”
“There had been twenty four of us,” Broad Sword muttered. “More than half perished.” He shook his head in disbelief. “What were those things?”
“Nothing that I’ve ever seen,” Twilight said. “Queen Draco never mentioned such creatures.”
“Queen Twilight, there’s something else you should know,” Broad Sword stated. “They didn’t take us down, a beam of magic did. Green magic.”
“Green?” Twilight enquired. “Changeling magic? Then, could those creatures have been…”
“Twilight,” Spike called out. “Could your come over here please?”
Twilight looked back towards the others, she and those with her quickly made their way back to them. As she approached, Shining Armor, who was no longer at Scorpion’s side, gave her a look of sympathy. Then, without a word, he went to check on Vladimir and help Broad Sword see to their friend’s own serious injuries.
On the patch of grass where she had placed Scorpion, the changeling remained unmoving with his subordinates standing respectfully over their commanding officer, Spike being ready to greet Twilight.
“W-what happened?” Twilight asked shakily.
“His injuries were more severe than what they appeared to be outwardly,” Spike said sadly. “They were on the inside, he just passed away.”
Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. She looked down on the body of her friend of eight years, he had been at her side ever since her Royal Guard had been formed, since the first days of the Equestrian Hive. He had been a symbol of unity between the changelings of the deceased Queen Crudelis and those of the deceased Queen Chrysalis, but more importantly than that he had been a close friend.
He was on his back, his hooves placed into his chest and his eyes gently closed. The shrapnel had been removed and they had even cleaned off the blood, so he appeared peaceful in death.
“We need to bury him,” Twilight said, the weight of the sheer loss of life finally crashing down atop of her. “We need to bury all of them. Or at least, the ones we can bury.”
She got no argument, and thus that was exactly what they did. Before long, they all stood before several graves dug via magic, Twilight having even crafted chunks of a nearby boulder into several basic tombstones. There was even an extra graves for the ones they couldn’t bury, the names of all of them carved into that grave’s own tombstone.
And so they stood for several minutes, paying their respects. However, much as the Changeling Queen would have liked to stay longer, unfortunately they could not. So with a heavy heart she called her allies away; they had to continue on towards the hive.
Twilight left first, followed by her three remaining changelings and the two of the remaining Solar Guard, all ready to do their part to see the mission done and that the sacrifices had not been made in vain. This left Spike, Vladimir, Broad Sword and Shining Armor as the last ones left by the graves.
Vladimir crouched down by Scorpion’s grave. He had cleaned the blood off himself and his injuries were bandaged, and while he was still fatigued he would still be able to continue on for a little while longer. What would have been the final leg of the trip would now take much more time, and they would spend that night in the wilderness, but Vladimir could wait until that night to rest.
He couldn’t rest now even if he wanted to, not after what happened.
“Hey Scorpion,” he spoke. “Look up a guy named Longshot while you’re there, first drinks are on him. And keep some seats ready, however long it takes.”
And thus the others left the graves behind and joined the Queen, gathered what they needed from the wreckage, and then continued on with their mission.
Out of the twenty four who set out, only ten remained.
The group were on the move, and two of the creatures watched on in the branches of a tree, a safe distance away as to avoid detection. Their leathery wings twitched as they continued to watch the group, and they continued to watch them until they fell out of sight. Ten of them, bruised, and yet more dangerous than ever.
The creatures dropped from tree and to the forest floor, green flames consuming them as the horrific visage of the creature was replaced with that of changelings. Changelings with glowing red eyes.
“So only ten remain,” a third changeling stated, coming in to land next to the two drones. “A respectable result, though the changeling deaths are unfortunate. We must eliminate the ponies, but the Empress demands that Queen Twilight, and all those under her, join us.”
Queen Draco stood up tall, her own eyes glowing with the same red hue as the other changelings. However, what stood out was the black regalia that was latched onto her chest, the centre emerald twinkling in the fractured sunlight poking in between the trees.
“The attack was costly for us,” one of the drones stated, the former archmage of Queen Draco before their enlightenment.
“We lost many drones,” the other, the former Captain of the Royal Guard, added in. “We must regroup before we continue.”
“I agree,” Draco stated. “We must be patient, they will be at the hive soon. That is where we shall strike.”
“I will gather the changelings necessary,” the former captain proclaimed. “The will of Immortalis shall be done.”
“See that it is,” Draco warned, the voice in her ear making it clear that failure wasn’t an option, and any rebellious thoughts were forcibly crushed once again. “The return of our Empress is coming soon, and none can be allowed to interfere. If Twilight Sparkle cannot be enlightened, then she must be eliminated.”
So Scorpion is dead, Vladimir is maimed and only ten of the twenty four who departed for the mission remain in the world of the living.
And this is just the beginning.
Chapter 19. Chapter 24.
On a sillier note, that joke about seaponies and explosions came about from the Author's Chat on friday, some interesting conversations were had that day...
A cookie to those who know what fic that is from. 
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Your trying to make me cry, aren't you?!
7942009 it Isn't my fault the universe in general loves to kill the stupid people or in this case ponies
You really know how to make a heart sink don't ya. Get us connected with the characters and then BOOM dead. Great Chapter by the way.
I hadn't even realized the sequel to Change had started already (and quite a while ago at that).
I already didn't like the tonal shift in Change though, and judging from the comments and tags its even worse in the sequel. I am curious, but I doubt I can bring myself to read it :P I guess I'm a wimp when it comes to fanfiction, heh.
Well, everything just went to heck in a handbasket. And I believe that the seaponies and explosions come from Georg's 'Drifting down the lazy river or the one who got away.
Also, why! Why must all these good soldier die! Why must you rip out mine heart with such cruelty!
Scorpion....
You won't be forgotten....
Oh dear
and its only started
I don't know where it was originally from, but it's been referenced in the MLP Loops anthologies soooo many times. It came from somewhere else though, it wasn't originally from there.
Right, despite the death of Scorpion, and the blatant two deaths on the way in chapters... 19 and 24, was it? Vladimir is right-wing actuators sound cool.
For next chapter
7942099 I'm upset as well my money was on broadsword or Shining
Is it just me or when ever there is a aircraft crash in a book, movie, or video game the pilot seems to almost always die no matter how few if any of the passengers die?
So. Who else will not make it out alive? I'm expecting Broad Sword to be one of them. Maybe Shining Armor as well. Now I am almost sure that Draco will die before this is all over.
7942099 In the words of one wise stallion:
7942565
Twilight having so much confidence is making me feel she got hit with a stupid stick recently. She knows she will be the target of something unknown and didn't bring anyone along that has the power to stop her if she were to lose control of herself. And if she goes, the likelihood of all the changelings going as well is high. So then the party loses its leaders and 1/3rd of its strength. Seems like a big oversight.
"convoy"
So much for seat belts, pilots will be tossed around like rag dolls if there is ever a crash now.
Now if Twilight turns it will be 1/2 the surviving force. They just threw caution to the wind here. They knew there are mysterious changelings about and that it all started with Draco, they are just flying blind with no intel.
Wasn't there 8 guard per chopper? That leaves 2 that evaporated.
Yes Twilight, bury them right after being attacked and still in hostile territory, that is a brilliant idea.
When 50% of your force dies in an expeditionary mission, it is no longer about completing the objective, it is about survival.
Ok, so some quick math. There were 24 (not counting the pilots if I remember right). They wanted to load the helicopters evenly, so that is 8 per copter (Twilight's gets plus 1 cause of Shining. Now 25 total). 7 bats are shredded, 3 Solar Guard are ripped into space, and 3 changelings (counting Scorpion). That should leave Twilight, Shining, Spike, Vlad, 5 solar, and 3 changeling, which is 12. What happened to 2 solar guards?
7942664
The seat belt got torn by the strike.
The whole point of this is to figure out exactly wtf is going on and find a way to stop it.
There are five guards per chopper, plus a captain each, and then the changeling one also had Twilight and Spike (plus Shining Armor). 5+5+5=15+3=18+2=20 and then there were the three pilots so +3=23, which was the original count. Adding Shining Armor made it 24. Three Solar Guards got killed, all five nameless Lunar Guards, the three pilots and three changelings (that's including Scorpion) 24-3=21-5=16-3=13-3=10. There are ten left.
I'm not sure where you got the eight from.
Depends on the people in that situation, and how they take it. There is too much potentially riding on the mission for them to simply say 'fuck it' and go home now. Despite the risks.
7942495 Yeah, Broad Sword and Shining Armor will probably die because Tom is a family killing monster!
7942575 Although I must say I wasn't expecting Scorpion, I guess I underestimated the character a little bit but he didn't seem as important as Twilight's thoughts said he was.
Also I'm really curious just how Spike's going to fair through this story, I'm really unsure if you're going to kill him or not because you're not paying too much attention to him...
Though the encounter with Queen Draco is much anticipated in my mind even though I'm pretty sure it'll be a long boring dialog of Twilight being like
Why? and Queen Draco like I can't control my mind! Run! Then Twilight being like what's going on and to the point where Twilight figures out it's the Regalia and tries to find a way to destroy it but get's like thought visited from her distant ancestor Queen Crepuscule and she's like it can't be destroyed! The only way to defeat her is to kill Queen Draco. Then Twilight's like What!? No! Finds another way and only the ponies that actually survived live happily ever after...
7943006
That was one time! Well, there was Of Love and Loss but... Actually, I'll give you that one.
Well, it's Spike so he does seem to get forgotten often...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No.
7942741
I have no clue where I got 8 from either now. Thought it was from a past chapter but I went back to look and I am incorrect.
I must have been thinking in binary too much as of recent.
7942664
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nazaire_Raid
Not always.
Anyway, time may not be on the good guys' side. It might seem foolish to go on with less than half their original contingent, but maybe part of Immortalis' plan is to try to lure an opposing army to Draco's hive and eliminate it. I'm saying that it is, but it could be, so going back to Canterlot and raising a bigger force (which seems to be the logical idea, if they went back, and survived the journey) might be unintentionally falling into the red Changelings' plans, as well as giving Immortalis more time to assimilate the other changeling hives and add to her already formidable numbers. Time is a commodity that cannot be replaced, least of all in war, which this is rapidly becoming, if it isn't already.
Anyway, enjoying this, and glad to be talking to someone who is enjoying it too.
May God go with you all
again and again i cannot comprehend nor really get into the idea of making modern shit a thing in mlp. this is a land of magic dude. maybe make parrallels to them maybe, but something of a fantasy nature. all it does is create increasingly cheap deaths.
7943339 I only add what exists within canon already. I always try to stay close to said canon.
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/a/aa/Cherry_Berry_in_the_Rainbow_Helicopter_S4E21.png/revision/latest?cb=20140407155732
Besides, they even require magic to function! Their weapons are magic based too.
And how the hell does the mere existence of them make his death cheap!? They could have been in a zeppelin, another canon MLP thing, and I still would have killed him off. It makes no difference.
Just because it's a land of magic doesn't mean technological development simply will not happen. It WILL happen, just with magic being an integral part of those designs.
I'm not changing it.
7943363 iiiii actualy never said anything about changing it. Just saying it feels out of place. Also powered by magic i would imagine owuld be rather........ Different.
Also dat is an earth pony operating that helicopter.
7943663
You've just commented the same thing before, you don't need to do so over and over.
It's the same thing just built differently
They were left without description deliberately, they're whatever you imagine them to be.
7943017
lol, and, you haven't gotten these many comments in forever!
Edit: Never mind you get tons of comments all the time, I think I meant to say it's been awhile since you've gotten so many so quickly
just kill me now. before i stop being high on sugar and start feeling pain.
The seapony joke made me think of the sidestory about that changeling from My Little Libraian (Twiny).
Welp, you kill Scorpion, a very new character, I. Shall. Never. Be. The. Same.
CUPCAKES!
OK, I really want some plot, instead of dieing, please tell me that dieing is not gonna be happening much except to redcoats.
7943934 I could never kill someone with such an adorable profile picture!
7944081
He was literally born to die. I knew his fate the moment I created his character.
Also, try and use the spoiler blocker when using names in such a way.
Come on, you've had plot for the last 14 chapters, it was high time something happened. There aren't many more deaths in Act 1 anyway, but I would watch out for Chapter 19.
7942575
You son of a-
7944723
7944669 Sorry, I just forgot to add the spoiler is all.
Also, I know that I've got to get used to it, but I still hate it when an author kills off such a close character, you made me quite upset when you killed Chrysalis, especially since you even brought her back from near death once.
Why do I still read it then?
Because I like the main idea, and your wonderful spelling grammar, and plot.
P.S. Seems I mis-spelled grammar the first time.
7947013
This has been called the Game of Thrones of MLP by some people, but the funny thing is to date I've only killed of three characters (villains not included). Then again, I suppose it's three characters people really liked (Longshot was my favourite character too!
) Chrysalis was the hardest to write though.
And then I suppose it's mixed in with the close near-death scares like the one with Twilight and Carduus in the first one and Vladimir in this one.
That was Twilight, not Chrysalis.
I do my best!
In terms of grammar though, you obviously weren't around when it first began in 2015! I've had to go back and re-edit my old fics to update their grammar as well as the previous chapters of Change, I still know some mistakes in the first Change in chapters 40-50 I need to... well, Change.
The irony!
well this just turned in to a cluster fuck.
Winter is coming....
prepare for war.
7947623 Whoops, I meant you saved Chyrssie from almost dieing when they went and found Broadsword.
After saving a character like that, you don't go and kill him/her.
I do
Aww come on! I shipped Twilight and Scorpion so hard...
I'm still loving this.
And To be honest... I knew that was going to happen to Scorpion as soon as he started talking how he did since the Crystal Empire.
R.I.P. Scorpion, I really enjoyed him a lot since the 1st story, his character development was done well.
Damnit Discord
Surprise!
Damn it I didn't get to hear Scorpion say GET OVER HERE! But alas it was not meant to be R.I.P buddy you will be missed.
These helicopters cant perform a no power landing? There's no autorotation to slow the decent of the craft?
10022743
Firstly, the rotors aren't powerful enough to control the craft without levitation enchantments as the text indicated. These aren't exactly modern human designed aircraft.
Secondly, they might have had a slightly less explosive landing if they hadn't hit a dense section of trees that bounced it around, ripped the blades off, and ultimately caused its detonation as fuel ignited.
God fucking damn it... even knowing coming into this whole re-read who would die, that shit STILL catches me off guard...
That wasn't who I expected to die, honestly. I assumed he didn't have enough character development yet to warrant killing. It seems I was mistaken
Dear Princess Celestia,
I crashed the car. Moooooom, can I have a ride?