Chapter XLI
Chapter XLI
Shining Armor watched Edmund's crystal orb carefully, his experienced eyes tracking enemy movement and placement with almost machine-like precision. The bugs were still scattered all over his beloved homeland, but their numbers were thinning by the second, and they were being met at every turn by Equestria and her allies. Even with their distracting attacks on his cities, the krin's true objectives had not gone unnoticed, and each attempt to steal away Equestria's citizens had been met through the combination of the changeling beacon teleports and their new human allies’ devastating firepower.
The humans had been so effective, in fact, that Shining Armor had even sent some over the sea to the Griffon Empire and the Isles of Minos, hoping to relieve Equestria's allies of their burdens as well. The initial reports were promising, especially since the enemy had apparently stopped sending reinforcements, but this did not ease Shining’s worries. If anything, it amplified them, as the prince knew full well that the alien menace had the capacity to bombard the Equestrians into extinction.
“Why haven’t they used their trump card yet?” Shining Armor muttered as he continued to monitor the enemy activity.
“It probably do this,” Colonel Conners said as he pointed towards the secondary globe, which revealed an empty desert; The desert would probably have been unremarkable, if it weren’t for the enemy ships that were entering it, then disappearing.
Shining Armor gave the human a searching look, still not quite believing that he was even here. 'Conners' was an odd sounding name for the unicorn, made even odder by the fact that it had originally translated as ‘hound lover.’ Alex had been there to introduce them, though, so Shining had been able to quickly learn the human’s name in his own tongue. The person behind the name, however, was another matter entirely.
Shining found the human leader a strange enigma. He usually had a smile on his face, even when talking about the horrors of the battlefield, yet his grin wasn’t one of malice or sadistic pleasure. Rather, Shining had the impression that the smile was a mask the human wore, which seemed to hide something far deeper about the grinning maniac’s character. Whatever the human was hiding, though, he couldn’t seem to cover the fact that he was pragmatic to a fault, and seemed uniquely unsurprised by whatever the Equestrians threw at him.
The Omniscope itself, for example, was one of the greatest inventions of ponykind. It implemented not only the designs of Starswirl the Bearded, but also the combined efforts of the griffon and minotaur races, the pony’s learning of the fifteenth century, the computer knowledge of Alexander Cunningham, and the soul-forging techniques of the mysterious quzin. It was a marvel beyond compare, and yet, when Colonel Conners first set his eyes on the thing, and was introduced to Edmund in his own tongue, his first words were: “Good, real time intelligence computer. We gotting that, at least.”
Shining Armor knew that something had been lost in translation, so it was likely that the human had said something more astonished-sounding, but Shining didn't think so. The Omniscope was a marvel beyond anything that ponykind had ever seen, and the human's most extreme response had been one of mild relief.
Even now, as the human watched alien ships disappear into an empty, barren desert, he reacted only with a slight smile, and a calculating look in his eyes, as if this were merely a fun puzzle for the unreadable human. “Think they find juice target. More juice than us. At least being easier swallow.”
“Yes, but why not destroy us then?” Shining asked pointedly. “If they found a target that’s far more important, then why not… ‘nuke’ us?” Shining asked, using the unfamiliar word the human had taught him.
“That, can no tell. Just know what I be knowing,” Colonel Conners said with a shrug. “However, am knowing we want know what they doing. Whatever being, can’t good. Should stop, if can.”
Shining Armor shook his head at that. “We would if we could, but it would take days to get out there. I already asked our changeling liaison, and apparently the closest beacon is here,” he said, before highlighting the area in question on the map behind him. It was a little town called Dodge Junction, and it was at least a four-day’s march from the edge of the anomaly that kept Edmund blind.
“But if use enemy ships, can be now,” Conners countered. “Not know how fast is being, but-”
“Can you fight out of those?” Shining argued back. “For all we know, they could be dug in, and they’ll knock you out of the sky before you could tell us what’s happened.”
“And they watch above,” Conners agreed. “If they noticing us using their downed ships, they fire immediately. Have wait on Alex either being. Need know if ready, can disguise. Aside, more want actual plan anyway. ”
Both commanders were silent after that, their thoughts running a mile a minute. “Well…” Shining Armor started, but he didn’t know how to begin, as he had no real plan of action. As much aid as the humans were giving, and as much as Edmund was a boon to the intelligence of the battlefield, the aliens still held all the cards. They were walking a fine line at the moment, and if the aliens grew tired of the charade, they could call down the fire at any time.
They needed a way to level the playing field, and fast.
As the two mulled over what they could possibly do, a Solar Sentinel entered the room and saluted to his commander. “Sir, urgent news!”
Prince Shining Armor returned the salute, a wary look in his eyes. “I don’t think I could handle any more, Sergeant. My plate's pretty full already.”
“Then let me lighten your load, sir. We’ve captured one of Chrysalis’ changelings!”
Shining Armor immediately perked up at this. “Really? That’s fantastic!”
Colonel Conners gave both stallions a searching look. “What is being goodening news?”
Shining Armor held up a single hoof in a ‘wait’ gesture, choosing to keep his attention on the sergeant. "What was it disguised as when you found it?"
"It wasn't disguised, sir," the sergeant said with a frown. “In fact, ‘capture’ would probably be the wrong word. More like, it surrendered to us.”
“...That’s not like them. What is it planning? Has it said anything, yet?”
“I do not know, sir. I was not privy to most of the interrogation, and Lieutenant Hieremias didn’t give me much before sending me to summon you. I do know it wasn't acting like any of Chrysalis’s changelings we’ve seen so far. It’s… it’s odd, to say the least. Especially considering how we captured it.”
“Why? What happened?” Shining Armor asked.
“...It gave itself up to Spike, sir.”
Shining Armor felt himself freeze in fear, before he heard a roaring sound in his ears as his blood begin to boil. “What? Did he-”
“As far as we can tell, the changeling did nothing to the small drake,” the sergeant said, trying to head off his superior’s anger. “In fact, he’s been as docile and compliant as a newborn puppy. It’s weird, sir. Even Lieutenant Hieremias thinks so, and he’s one of them. In fact, he seemed… rather spooked, to be honest. Told me to come get you, and fast, so…”
“Where is he now?” Shining Armor asked as he moved to the door.
“The changeling is currently being held in Blueblood’s office. It was the closest, and the coward isn’t even in the castle, so-”
“That’s fine. Lieutenant Hieremias will have sent word to his queen, so I need you to head to Providence’s beacon, to await her arrival,” Shining Armor said, causing the sergeant to salute before he dashed off to follow his prince’s orders. Before he had even left, though, Shining Armor turned to Colonel Conners, a worried frown on his face. “Come with me, we may know what’s happening behind that field sooner than we thought.”
“What? How? How is being said that?” Conners asked as he quickly moved to join the pony commander.
“I’ll explain on the way. Captain Nightfall, I leave Edmund to you. Work with him to keep us safe,” Shining Armor said, nodding to the other officer in the room.
“As you order, my prince,” Captain Nightfall said with a salute.
“Come on, Colonel Conners. There's a lot we got to cover, and not much time to do it...” Shining Armor said as he lead the way out into the castle proper.
* * *
Thorax nervously twiddled his hooves, his eyes dancing back and forth between the guards by the door, and the pink-eyed changeling sitting across from him. The enemy changeling had been relentless in his questions at first, but his demeanor had rapidly changed as time wore on. Now he seemed… oddly friendly. In fact, he had even offered to fetch him something from the kitchens to tide him over. It was a far cry from the distrust and anger that had started this whole ordeal, but he had still declined, even though his stomach growled at him in protest.
Changelings might require the love of other races to survive, but even they still had certain dietary requirements that needed to be met, though they usually were far less than that of the average pony. However, even with Thorax’s belly rumbling like it was, he was far too nervous to even think about eating anything he was offered. He was still deep in enemy territory, at the mercy of a nation that had more reason than not to see him hang, all while purposely disobeying his queen’s direct order.
Even with the future so uncertain, though, he couldn’t help but feel hopeful about the whole situation. Maybe it was the fact that, with the baby dragon’s willing gift of the love of a friend, he didn’t feel like he was starving to death anymore. In fact, even with the rumbling in his belly, he still felt more satisfied, and far better, than he had had in his entire life. At that point, even if the equestrians chose to torture and execute him, he would have died in peace, finally free from the throbbing headache and the gnawing, all-consuming hunger that had been his constant companion since his birth.
“So, Thorax, how do you feel?” the enemy changeling asked, his voice almost cheerful.
Thorax wasn't sure where the enemy was going with this, but it was an innocent enough question, so he decided to answer truthfully. “I… I feel fine, thank you.”
“No headaches? How’s your hunger? We have more than enough love to spare,” the enemy asked, his tone similar to how Thorax had sometimes heard ponies speak to one another when they wanted to show sympathy.
Thorax shook his head, still on his guard, despite the friendly attitude. “N...no… I have enough to last me a little longer.”
“Well, how about-” the enemy changeling started, but stopped when the door behind him opened, revealing the hallway behind him, as well as a pony that Thorax had had nightmares about since the failed coup. “Ah, captain, a moment, if you would?” the enemy changeling asked, before he stood and ushered the captain back out of the room.
I’m dead! I’m so dead! I thought I might have a chance, but now, there’s no way I’m going to come out of this still breathing! He’s going to gut me like a fish, and mount me on a pike before parading me through the streets! I’m… I’m… Thorax thought to himself, his thought process rapidly devolving, until he briefly caught the sight of a small, scaly, child-like smile right before the door closed again.
In that moment, contained in that waifish smile, was all the unbridled hope and concern of an innocent child who was worried for his friend, yet knew that things would turn out okay. It was like sitting in front of an open furnace, the raw emotion so potent that it filled Thorax’s every thought, washing away his fear and anxiety, and covering his tongue with a flavor far beyond anything he had tasted back in the hive. It was intoxicating, and Thorax nearly fainted from the sensory overload alone.
However, all things must eventually end, and before Thorax could fully savor the flavor invading his senses, it was suddenly tainted with the awful, metallic taste of anger. It wasn’t overpowering, nor was it strong enough to reach full blown hatred, but it was still enough to bring Thorax back to his senses.
Thorax looked up to see Captain Armor had not only entered again, but had closed the door and taken the seat opposite to the captured changeling, his face completely unreadable. Somehow, even with the Captain’s deadly history and stony stare, Thorax felt a lot calmer about this whole thing. Maybe it won’t be so bad… Maybe Spike was right, and I’ll live through this…
“Were you the one who attacked my sister?” Captain Armor asked, completely shattering the fantasy that Thorax had begun building for himself.
“I… I uh…” Thorax stuttered, not sure how he should answer that one. Unfortunately for him, his stuttering, unwillingness to answer the question answered it for him.
“I thought so,” Shining said, a frown gracing his lips. “I owe Dark Seeker fifty bits.”
The captain’s easy-going attitude in the face of someone who inflicted bodily harm on his family completely floored Thorax. “Ex… excuse me?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, just a little bet between soldiers earlier,” Shining Armor said, casually brushing off Thorax’s concerns.
“Oh… uh, I just thought you’d be… angrier…” Thorax muttered, as he briefly met the captain’s gaze, before instantly regretting it.
While the rest of the captain’s face remained as stony and impassive as any other guard, his eyes were like staring into the very pits of the abyss, and Thorax felt the hatred in the room spike, nearly causing him to vomit. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I would like nothing more than to make you hurt for what you did to my baby sister. But you are a helpless prisoner of war, and our doctrine is very strict about this sort of thing. Not only that, but I am the Captain of the Guard. I must hold myself to a higher standard than the others, to set an example.”
“I… I understand… I’m sorry, I was just-” Before Thorax could finish his apology, the bitter taste filling his mouth abated, and he felt himself nearly collapse in relief. “I was just following orders… I…”
“I know. That’s why you’re being treated as an enemy agent, and not a traitor to the nation. On that note, I would like to thank you for turning yourself in, and not hurting my little brother, Spike. He means a lot to me, as does the rest of my family.”
While Shining Armor’s voice was perfectly level, Thorax couldn’t help but pick up on the implicit threat the captain was making with those words. He didn’t trust himself to open his mouth with how nervous he was, so he just nodded his head, to show the captain that he understood exactly what he meant.
If Shining Armor noticed his discomfort, though, he did not show it. Instead, he adopted a business-like attitude as he brought his hooves together in front of him on the table. “Now, as an agent of an enemy nation we are currently at war with, you’ll be confined to the dungeons until a cease-fire has been called, and a treaty signed. You will be interrogated, of course, and how that develops is entirely up to you. If you cooperate, you may earn yourself better accommodations and food. If you don't, then-"
"No! No, I'll cooperate!” Thorax said, holding out his hooves before looking down at the table, a little shame-faced. “I… I actually need your help. I was thinking of turning myself in before Spike even found me, but… my queen specifically ordered me not to. She told me to stay here, and keep an eye on you, but… but...”
“But you were running out of love,” Shining Armor finished for him. “And with both the castle on high alert, and Providence having revealed the way to tell a changeling from an equestrian, you couldn’t replace someone else to feed off of them.”
“Yes… well, no… That’s really only half of it, I suppose…” Thorax said meekly as he sunk deeper into his seat. “I… A… Well… A-A few hours ago, I got a message from the queen. Well, it wasn’t from the queen at first… it was from one of my podmates, but…”
“Just spit it out,” Shining Armor said, clearly not amused.
Thorax took in a deep breath to steady himself, well aware that he was committing treason. “I think my queen has gone insane,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “She… I was contacted by my podmate. He was begging for help, telling me that these alien bug-things were there, that they were rounding up everyone, and loading them onto their sky-ships… And Queen Chrysalis was helping them. She ordered everyone on board, but… but…”
“Some of your hive didn’t like how this was going. Even under the effects of locust warfare, they still knew something wasn’t quite right…” Shining muttered, barely loud enough for Thorax to overhear.
“W… What’s locust warfare?” Thorax asked, a little lost.
Shining shook his head. “That doesn’t matter right now. As much as I hate your queen, and as much as she deserves exactly what’s coming to her, this isn’t something we can let happen. Once they have your people aboard, they won’t need the rest of us-” Shining said, before he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind him.
Shining Armor and Thorax both looked to see Lieutenant Hieremias at the door, an apology on his face as he saluted. “Sir, she’s here. Also, I have word from Captain Nightfall, you’re going to want to hear this.”
Shining Armor stood up from the table, a frown on his face. “Well, we’ll have to finish this later, then. I will leave you with Queen Titania, since she’ll have a few questions for you, and it would be best if you answered her truthfully. You have nothing to gain from lying.”
Thorax felt as if his insides had been turned to ice. “But… But…” he stuttered, but could do little else as he helplessly watched Shining Armor leave, only to be replaced by his queen’s sworn enemy, The Queen of Providence herself, Titania the Seventeenth.
She was oddly calm for one staring face to face with a sworn enemy. In fact, she looked oddly inquisitive, as if he were a specimen underneath a microscope, rather than an enemy agent. She leaned forward, her horn glowing a light pink, causing Thorax to back into his chair in alarm, his eyes screwed shut, sure that she was about to kill him on the spot. A minute passed, then another, after which Thorax finally peaked an eye open in an effort to figure out why he wasn’t dead yet.
She hadn’t moved. In fact, the glow had disappeared entirely, leaving just the two of them staring at each other, him in fear, and her in wonder. “Tell me, young Thorax. How did you survive the consumption?”
“The… the what?”
Queen Titania sighed in frustration. “I knew your queen kept you in the dark, but I didn’t think it would be this bad,” she muttered to herself. Thorax was about to ask her to elaborate, but she beat him to the punch before he could begin forming the words. “The consumption is what happens to changelings who run out of pilfered love during locust warfare. Locust warfare is what we call the actions your queen has taken to spread her hive: Conquering nations, taking love by force, instead of stealing it, so much so that you actually begin feeding off the souls of everything around your hive, until all that's left is a blasted wasteland. Those that practice locust warfare eventually run out, and die when their poor decisions finally catch up to them."
"But... we haven't... we didn't..." Thorax tried to argue, to deny her accusations, but he couldn't. Deep in his heart, he knew what she was saying was true, and as he fell silent, a need to know more slowly began to grow in his heart. "...W-What happens when we run out of love?"
She looked like she almost pitied him, but Thorax was sure that that was just a trick of his imagination. "It's not pretty. Because of how locust warfare is waged, the whole soul of the victims are stolen, to feed the hive. This has several benefits, obviously. Stronger changelings, more robust reproduction for the hive, that sort of thing, but it comes at a terrible cost. Love isn't all that's extracted, the whole soul is, and while it may be a temporary boon to the hive, there is no known way to remove the fear and hatred from the soul. In fact, such a bounty can, and will, poison a hive's entire supply if introduced to the Patriarch's stores. The effects aren't apparent at first, but they eventually show, especially during the mid-to-late stages of locust warfare. In fact, signs start showing long before they ever run out. Their bones eat themselves from the inside out, and their minds slowly rot away as the love tainted with fear and hatred exacts its toll upon the hive so foolish to not heed the wisdom of the ancients. When they finally do run out, only the hatred and fear remains, a poison with no love to counteract, which usually kills them soon afterwards."
"That... that can't be right!" Thorax blurted out, before he grew silent again. He couldn't deny it, especially since he had lived with those same symptoms his whole life. "It... Why... I-Isn't... Isn't there a way to reverse it? To save a hive that... that..."
His question died in his throat when Queen Titania shook her head. "Of all the changeling hives, Providence has the best records, and our memory stretches far further into the past than anyone else alive. No hive that engaged in locust warfare has ever survived, its members all eventually die off with the land they so foolishly devour. Your hive is on borrowed time as it is, and it is only a matter of time before they all suffer for their sins. You too, or at least, I would say as much, if you carried even a trace of the poison still inside you." Titania then tilted her head to the side, her expression curious. "So, I ask you again, young drone, how did you survive?”
The two just sat there for the longest time, the queen patiently waiting, while Thorax hyperventilated under her piercing glare, the implications of what she told him slowly sinking into his brain. After several minutes of this, Thorax opened his mouth, his voice barely louder than that of a mouse. “I… I don’t know.”
Queen Titania continued to stare at him for a while, before she leaned forward, a hard, calculating look in her eyes.. “...In a moment, Shining Armor will come back here to interrogate you about your hive, the same hive that has betrayed and lied to you for your entire life. From what I heard, they left you here with barely enough love to hold out for a few days, and expected you to continue spying for them. They expected loyalty from you, while abandoning you to the worst death possible for a changeling.”
Thorax opened his mouth to argue the point, but no words came out. He wanted to deny her accusation, but it rang too true, and any argument he thought up quickly wilted underneath her cold, hard logic. Finally, without a word, his jaw snapped shut, and he stared at the table before him, tears in his eyes. Mother… why would she…?
“On the other side of this equation, you have the Equestrians, our prey, who have hated us and hunted us for as long as we have existed, and with good reason. We replaced them, fed on them, ponynapped their friends and loved ones for thousands of years. Yet, despite this burning enmity between us, they have already shown leniency towards my hive, have gone out of their way to help their bitter foe, and have even gone so far as to be the first to stretch out a hoof in friendship,” Titania said, talking over Thorax’s tearful inner musings. “I do not know why you were spared. By all accounts, you should be dead by now, your very corpse collapsing in on itself, before it burns away into nothing as the anger and fear of your victims finally devours you. However, be it by the spirits of harmony, or the gods of the prometheans, you have been spared and given a second chance.” She then leaned forward, her eyes burning with fire as she stared into the younger changeling’s eyes, as if daring him to make a wrong move. “Do. Not. Waste. It.”
Then, without another word, Queen Titania rose from her seat, and exited the room, leaving a broken changeling in her wake. A changeling that, hopefully, would take the hoof that was currently being extended to him.
* * *
“So, what’s so important that…” Shining Armor started to ask, before he trailed off as he realized that, not only was Lieutenant Pleasant Springs here, presumably with Captain Nightfall’s report, but Captain Hazalk was here, too. Inside his head, Captain Armor knew that the alien bug captain was on his side. He was a valuable ally who had already proven his sincerity and trustworthiness in battle several times over, but that knowledge did very little to stop Shining Armor from reflexively building a spellform in his mind to blast the alien captain into a smooth, grey paste.
He managed to stop himself in time, but Captain Hazalk would never know just how close to death he had been in that instant.
“Captain Hazalk, to what do I owe this honor?” Shining Armor asked, hoping that his last application of the translation spell hadn’t worn off.
It was still quite active, apparently, because the bug alien immediately turned to Shining Armor at the sound of his voice, his antenna both standing straight up, the meaning of such an expression completely lost on the equine. “Ah, Shimmering Protector, not know why here. Was called, told you know?” he asked, his voice sounding confused, but helpful.
“Pleasant Springs, why is the captain here?” Shining Armor asked, his eyes still locked on the bug’s face.
“That being my fault,” Colonel Conners said, beating Pleasant Springs to the punch. “I hearing what Waters said, thought being need bug. Very important.”
Shining Armor nodded once at the human, before pointedly staring at the lieutenant. “Lieutenant? What do you have to report?”
“Sir, the enemy ships are leaving the badlands. Whatever they were looking for, it’s apparent they got it. We’re also receiving word all over Equestria, and beyond: The enemy is falling back. The Omniscope has already picked up multiple ships entering the atmosphere, headed for cities where krin activity is the strongest; looks like they’re trying to pull out their troops, sir.”
Conners gave out a low whistle, while Captain Hazalk gave out a low, angry-sounding trilling noise. Even though Captain Armor didn’t understand what either of them meant by those sounds, he could easily guess that neither of them were happy about the situation, and he had to agree. “Lieutenant, send word to Celestia and Luna, tell them everything you told me,” Captain Armor ordered, before he turned back to Colonel Conners, his face deadly serious, even as a bitter tear of defeat began to form in the corner of his eye. “I know this is presumptuous of me to ask, but may we find shelter on your world, before the enemy begins to purge our planet?”
“I not thinking having time, Shimmering Protector. Lot people, lot space cover. Hole too small, other planet too small, take everyone,” Colonel Conners said, his voice just as somber.
“Please… it doesn’t have to be the whole planet. A hoofful of our citizens, the children at least, to preserve our race, and the races of our allies,” Shining Armor said as he desperately pleaded for the future of his people. “Please, your people may even take them as slaves, anything to preserve our people for the future… please-”
“Woah, woah, no slaves!” Conners said as he shook his head, his eyes filled with horror at the thought. “I not authority, but am thinking that can at least get some through. Few people, few survivors. Not think you being abandon planet, though. Think you being too hasty.”
Shining Armor looked up at the human, his gaze filled with despair. “What would you have us do? We could barely hold out for a day, and they are already retreating! They have what they came for, and all we could do was spit in their eye! We’ve lost!”
“We haven’t being lost until fat female singing is,” Conners said as a cocky grin appeared on his face. “Just waiting, we having trick played still. Can still pulling something.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” Shining Armor said, as he hung his head low.
“Agreeing with Shimmering Armor, how is being not lost?” Captain Hazalk asked as he turned a critical eye towards the grinning human.
“Telling me, how good is being krin computers?” Conners asked as he turned towards the alien bug. “How good is being firewall? Can defend against infection?”
The krin captain looked a little confused at that. “Computer combative is not being new. We have defenses, measuring counters. Empire using old tech, but won’t easily succumb. Need access… wait...” the krin captain said, before he stopped short, as if he only just now realized what the human was getting at.
“From what I hearing, we needing more time, yes? What if we kill their computers?” Conners said as his smile grew wider. “Know Alex said only have significant clearance, not total significant clearance, but significant clearance being enough. Damage enough. Yes being?”
“...If he can being infect whole fleet, it could being possible. They being stuck fighting their own computers. Even opening to counter attacking! But flaw is being, need write instructions for infection. Know you human, probably having infections already, but would not working. Different system, needing be different instructions.”
“Well, we not knowing until we be trying…” Conners said as he pulled his communication device off of his belt. “We have not being lost, yet.”
Shining Armor felt his heart leap in hope, but he tried to temper his expectations. From what he understood of the conversation between the two alien leaders, It was still incredibly likely that they would have to begin evacuation, and any plan they might come up with would be like throwing a snowball into the dragon lands. It was almost agonizing listening to the one-sided conversation Conners was having with the device in his hand, the words coming out of the device still in the human’s native tongue, as the device, and most-likely the person at the other end, did not have a translation spell placed upon them.
However, after only a few minutes, and some very excited unintelligible chatter from the other side, Conners’ smile grew wider and wider, until it made the human look as if he were completely insane. “Well… we being in lucky! Telling me, Hazalk, am knowing someone by name of-” Conners then said a word that the translation spell didn’t alter, most likely because it was a word not in the human’s native tongue. However, it was still a word that Shining Armor easily recognized, it being the name of a certain krin traitor that the equestrians still had on a slab in their basement.
“Yes, he a traitor. Infected my… no…” Hazalk said, as his antenna began to wiggle in an excited fashion.
“Oh, exactly is being. About time we be giving them a tasting of own medicine, yes?” Conners said, before he began to laugh, further solidifying in Shining Armor’s mind that the human wasn’t quite sane, and making him question whether it was wise for Equestria to ally themselves with such an unhinged race.
“Spirits of Harmony, protect us all…” Shining Armor muttered as he shook his head in despair.
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,044 users online
1,765,112 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
10000194 Nice. Btw, did you notice something... LIKE A NEW CHAPTER?
*HYPE*
I legit thought this was going to be the last book!
10007442 Nope! Not a trilogy. I mean, it was probably headed for that initially, but the story has mutated past that, I think.
Yeah, the bugs won't know what hit em.
Proof is in the Pudding
If my guess is correct and you're following something at least inspired by the mechanisms of canon, then by doing something conceptually similar to "It's possible to re-integrate a horcrux and heal its maker's soul... but it requires them to feel remorse."
Loving this so far again.^^
Woot!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
things are going to go full iboy in the next chapter
EDIT: for those who don't know iboy was a movie about a teenager who had his cellphone blown into his head by a gunshot and was able to hack pretty much anything. he used this power to go after the local drug gang by interrogating members by hacking into cars/phones and having them go haywire and explode/catch fire. basically a cyber john wick
I feel like we're about to see some shadows of Independence Day here.
awesome chapter, marry Christmas
10007583 The difference is that, here, it was heavily telegraphed.
Something is lightly off with the bolded/underlined part. =P
Don't worry Shining, you will learn to love discord.
... wait a minute. 
Random thought: Why is the planet called Equis if there are "Earth" ponies? Just dawned on me when I realized that so many stories use that name.
Was wondering if this would have 3 or 4 chapters of post war to sort out Alex's life (or his funeral)
Apparently not, because another story. Hoping for humans causing the snakes to question everything they know about what life can do while the humans question everything they know about reality.
You may want to edit the story description though, as it says trilogy
1}lollollollol
2}1
3}2
Now the computer system is ded
So... they gave it a cold, huh?
Course, you need a cross compiler and toolchain to get any Earth worms working to any satisfaction, but something can be cooked up.
If they've effectively stolen what is essentially necrotized changelings, they could very well have a potent store of darker magic just waiting to explode, but more importantly slaves to study magic with and incorporate. Danger!
Wonder if they're taking that throne, it sounded like they weren't but that would be yet another unfortunate event.
Keep going! ;)
10007716
Earth isn't just the name of the planet you know...
Beating bug buggers with a bug made by their bug to infect bug systems. Brilliant.
I am not sorry.
You should play stellaris PC or console don't matter is all same continuity
WHAT WAS, WILL BE! WHAT WILL BE, WAS!
Instructions in a virus? What are we, savages? Nah just tell it to repeatedly duplicate itself and spread all the while changing its signature.
10007768 Except they don't have to. They have a ready-made, krin-made virus that only needs a little tweaking in order to be used.
10007716 I call it Equis because last time someone brought this up, and I changed the name to something else, a lot more people complained about it, stating that it was confusing as heck. It's named that to avoid confusion, so you can just imagine that it's named something else.
10007652 Fixed! Thank you!
alright!!!! here we gooooo!
Love this. Speaking of which.
Thorax, I think it is the difference between love taken, and love freely given.
Can't wait to see the bad bugs intruder defenses turned against them. Maybe Hazalk can give some pointers on what they did to stop it, to make it more effective.
10007639
Will Chryssy be repurposed into a minion/boss, or is she just spare parts by now?
10008409
10008412
After that nice chat with Thorax, I'm pretty sure the bugs don't realize what they got were not resources but poison pills. Tick tock goes the bomb...
10008453
So, I can assume that EVERY one of the violent paranoid emperor's ships is equipped with the same traitor kill switch as Hazalk's ship? Oh the irony if Alex could make the emperor's own defences fail to recognize their master.
10008823 That was less 'traitor kill switch' and more 'screw up the computer's IFF recognition software, then put it in high alert because of a virus.'
A virus that Alex now has.
I will let you do the math.
I'll read and buy as many books as you want to write in this story-verse.
Also, after chapters like this it's hard to not read comments like 10007450 as "Evidence is being in gelatinous goo."
10007889
Dont you dare kill your future self.
people die when they are killed
Oh boy, time to bust out the hacker music....
10008829
So, the Emperor now has a bunch of specimens of one magical race. Is he going to ignore the potential of the other races, including ALICORNS, that he will lose if his army bombs the planet?
10009413 Not necessarily. After all, what do changelings do?
10009417
They mimic other races, not become them.
10009433 And? They become other races, but what would happen if the person they're imitating suddenly walks in? Wouldn't it be horrible for the changeling? I seem to recall they did something pretty specific to stop that from happening...
10009447
Ah. They don't just have the Changelings, they have all the people Chrysalis' hive replaced with them and podded as well. Oh dear.
10009498 No more hints...
10009703
Finally someone who understands that you don't need romance to make a story.
10008014
Yeah I get the not wanting to confuse people with the "Equis" thing. Don't remember what the story was called but I read one somewhere on here where the planet was called "Mythus" and "Equis" was the name of the continent that "Equestria" the nation is on and it was all the comment section would talk about. Geopolitical infrastructure is weird yo.
Yeah, this definitely needs at least another book. This one is obviously going to end after they repel this invasion, but there's still the action at Earth to deal with as well as resolving the general situation with the krin emperor.
As for this bridging chapter, I can't really say anything with confidence right now, but from a story pacing standpoint it's generally a good idea to give the reader a chance to breath during an extended action sequence like this so the inclusion of this slower bridge will probably wind up being a good thing overall.
10007889
Ugh, that quest line. I triggered it on the first black hole I ever scanned and it wound up fucking up everything. I was trying to play a fairly standard, relatively peaceful game to get a feel for things since it was my first game ever, and then I blindly followed that quest with no idea what it would do to my civilization.
10008829
Messing up their IFF won't do much since the bad bugs' ships are the only ships in the system and their weapons should only fire if given the command to shoot.
What you want to do to mess them up would be to have every door and hatch on each of their ships open up and lock open. EVERY door and hatch--including their exterior docking ports.
10012407
Thing is, is that the airlocks are hardlocked not to do that. They wont open period if certain other doors are. As for the IFF, it will do something, when you consider each krin inside the ship have their own IFF tags, and the ship is loaded with guns to protect the inhabatants against boarders...
aaaaaaaaaahhhhhggg
I am so happy yet sad that I'm finally caught up
I gotta say, this is an INCREDIBLE series. Props to you for taking charge and putting your imagination to paper for all of us to enjoy! thank you very much!
Do you know what would be better than a regular computer virus?
A Trojan Horse Virus.
10018623 WITH REAL HORSES!