The Pony Dreadfuls

by No one is home

Chapter 31 - Devils and Details

9 Hours Earlier
-=-=-=-=-

“Come on! Let’s play Pinkie Pie!” A Cheshire Smile danced happily in front of Diane. “We haven’t Played Pinkie Pie in SO long! Split tried to play Pinkie Pie with me, but she’s no good at Pinkie Pie. She does Dash. And we can play SUPER fun Dash and Pinkie Pranking, but that’s not the same. And you know, since you’re back…”

“Midnight Shift, untie me. I have to go kill our father.” Diane spoke in measured tones. “We’ll play Pinkie Pie when I get back.”

“Okay, have fun killing him, okay? I wanted to, I really did.” Diane’s bonds fell away in a flurry of magic. “Night Shift said you didn’t care about us anymore. She said if you cared about us then Switch… I mean Z-978… she said if you had cared then she wouldn’t be dead. And we were really mad at you about that, but she's back now, so it's okay I guess. But you really are going to kill him, right? And can my name be Pinkie Pie #13?”

“Your name can be whatever you want it to be Thirteen.” Diane couldn’t fight the black and greasy moisture oozing from eyes. “We are the spawn of the living nightmare. After tonight, no one in this world will ever name us again. They won’t dare.”

“Midnight!” The panicked voice of Twilight Sparkle erupted from the bloated form of Night shift as she scuttled across the wall on eight hole pocked hooves. “What the hell? Don’t untie her!”

“She said she needed to go kill dad?” The smile wavered for only a moment.

“Do you remember what happened to Day Shift?” The larger changeling protested.

“What did happen to Day Shift? Where IS your sister, Night? I haven’t seen Twilight number one yet.” Diane arched an eyebrow.

“She disappeared and then…” For a split second a winged worm flickered into view in the place of the cheshire smile. “She never came back…”

“Like you even care! Like you ever really cared! I did what I had to do to! If we didn’t serve him we’d have ended up just like...” Night Shift reared up on haunches in defeat even as Diane gripped the leader caste changeling in her jaws and hurled her into the waiting wall.

“You coward! You delivered them to him! Our own sisters! When I get back we WILL have a lot to talk about. Or you will run, And they will find you in pieces like they will him!” Diane turned to leave only to be face to face with a familiar unicorn.

“Nurse Zillia.” Diane gasped and took a step back, how did Samantha know… “If you’re going to end him, you’ll need this. I do not understand it’s significance, but it was given to me by what Prince Silver refers to as the Text.”

“His card.” Diane’s permanent smile took a cruel edge. “His deal with goat is still in play. It’s HIS fault that Train Wreck disappeared. Pinkie-13! See to any of our sisters who have been sedated and escort Doctor Samantha to to the exit. NICE escort!”

-=-=-=-=-

Present Time

-=-=-=-=-

“While I’m glad to see the threat has been eliminated, we are going to have a talk about you methods when this is over.” Samantha’s voice rang out in Diane’s head like a silver bell, snapping her out of her hate-induced trance. She took a brief moment to absorb the totality of what she’d done, and what she had become before her friend’s voice continued. “You're going to need a disguise. Not Princess Celestia this time. My monitors are showing at least two Celestia’s on the grounds already. It’s safe to say you are not the only changeling infiltrating the castle at this point.”

“Damn it,” In a flash of pink flames, the mutated queen was a soldier-drone from Chrysalis hive. “Well at least I have a scape goat.”

“Is it just me, or was Celestia acting… I dunno… off?” The guard on the left made wary conversation to pass the time.

“Who can blame her? I mean, think about what that bug did! Just think about it for a minute. We’re actually going to have to bring back capital punishment. It’s been how many hundred years since anypony did anything to warrant execution?” The other guard shot back.

“Witness how Queen Chrysalis deals with traitors!” A changeling soldier burst from the cell and shouted before speeding down the stone hallway

“What the heck?!?!” The first guard blinked in confusion before running off in pursuit. “Changelings in the castle! Changelings in the castle!”

“That’s odd,” The second guard disappeared in a wash of green flame. “I thought I was supposed to be taking care of… by the egg…”

The changeling backpedalled from the horrific scene within the cell. “Well… I… guess... mission accomplished? Damn, but that was one sick assassin bug.”

-=-=-=-=-
Sometime Later
-=-=-=-=-

It’s official Sister.” Luna scowled angrily. “We have been infiltrated.”

“I believe that was the Nopony’s goal from the beginning.” Celestia nodded. “His perverted circus, that show he put on in my court. Even the bombs in Baltimore. He sought to drive a wedge between our ponies and their best defense against changeling invasion.”

“If you mean Princess Fast Change’s hive, then he has succeeded, sister.” Luna nodded thoughtfully. “She has called all of her changelings back into the hive for their own safety. In addition, a number of ponies have taken refuge there with their changeling friends and loved ones. At any rate the invasion is under way in earnest. I’ve placed one of my most trusted guards under Prince Silver’s command. We will unravel this tangled web of betrayal and murder, even as we weather this coming storm. Have you been in contact with Discord? Is there any chance that he intends to make himself useful during this crisis?”

“I have sent him a summons, and his answer was… less than hopeful.” Celestia passed a note, sloppily written in grey crayon.

“I gave you a perfectly good alicorn who was super-good with changelings and you just let him vanish. Honestly, who loses a whole alicorn? It’s your problem, Princess Sunny Flanks. You deal with it.”

“I should have suspected. If there is any good news at all it’s that Queen Chrysalis has saved us the burden of a public execution. I know how distasteful you found the idea, But nopony will mourn neither the Nopony, nor MAdame Butterfly.” Luna’s shook her head sadly. “I only pray that the daughter of the unspoken prince is well. We should have sent a legion of our guards to…”

“Impossible sister, we both know our guard is compromised. And we both know what Chrysalis would do if we handed her a juvenile changeling queen. There is a prophecy in play, and many paths are closed to us now.” Celestia bowed her head. “We must trust our kingdom to destiny and to Gaea’s Shield. We must pray that the changeling race can rise above the hate that the Nopony has infected them with. Changeling evolution must begin with love, or we are all doomed.”

-=-=-=-=-

“Pinkie-13,” Diane swished her new scorpion tail aggressively, “What’s our status?”

“Well, Z is locked up with Princess bug butt at the stinky hive, and I don’t think Night shift is gonna be useful for a while.” The cheshire grin bobbed thoughtfully. “I think you might have went too far. I’m pretty sure she learned her lesson after the first two broken legs.”

“She’ll be fine.” Diane’s voice echoed coldly. “She still has five good legs. She just has to sit this game out is all. Gather the shifts. We’re going to play Canterlot Wedding. We’re the Elements of Corruption, and any changeling who’s not us is an evil invader.”

“Do I get to… can I be…” The disembodied smile stammered hopefully.

“Yes, Thirteen,” Diane rolled her eyes, before changing into the spitting image of Twilight Sparkle. “You can be Pinkie Pie, and yes, I’ll let you do ‘the thing’ Now gather our sisters and meet me at the entrance. The Bitch Queen can have the castle, but Decanter is OURS.”

“You’re the best sis!” Pinkie Pie appeared in a flash of changeling fire and bounced happily down the hallway.

Author's Note:

And now we are completely caught up to Silver Shield! Yay!

Comments

[No one is home]

7793295 I WILL get to these typos, I swear. Slammed at work and it's getting into my writing time.

[Not so New Brony]

leader castle

caste

to to exit

the

prophesy in play

prophecy

Might have missed a couple of typos but I'll leave them up for the others to hunt.

Also, Diane seems to have gained Iam's propensity for breaking legs.

[No one is home]

7798153 The Typos were last seen playing with Pinkie-13. She says they went home after that...

Diane has indeed stepped on a very dark path. She's lost both her moral compass (Surprise) and her main source of moral support and love (Train Wreck). Moreover, she's learned that she can feed on hate, and Iam Noone has left her with no lack of ponies who hate changelings. Additionally, the shift sisters have always been morally ambiguous at best, with the exception of Z-978, and it's hard to imagine that they will be any kind of good influence.

[Boulder]

ch 31

and I don’t think Night shift is gonna be useful for a while.”

Shift

Gather the shifts. We’re going to play Canterlot Wedding.

Shifts

7796641 Take it easy, have petrified typos with rock powers, they ain't going anywhere.
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