9 - The End of the Longest Hour
Night ran along the walls, wing beating to keep gravity away as she performed the crazy acrobatics to avoid the sudden swarm of changelings that were quite focused on catching her. She glanced over her shoulder to see the angry black cloud and quickly returned her attention forward. She had to focus on moving and nothing else.
"Creatures of deceit, begone!" boomed out Luna. She had risen to her hooves and stood fully with her horn held high. Bright magic flared and began to knock changelings aside in rapid blasts, sending them crashing to the ground with little thuds on the unsympathetic stone.
She was doing well, but Night feared it may not be enough. "Spirits," whispered Night harshly as she ran. "Spirits! Help me... Help me to protect the city."
"You'll owe me, little apprentice." Appearing from nowhere came the spectral form of a jackal, a grin across her face. "But thank you for the chance. I'm itching to battle." Her face deformed into a grotesque display of teeth as she charged at the changeling horde. Even fascinated with Night, they scattered with sudden fright, as many crashing into the wall as being torn into by the battle-lustful spirit.
Luna shook her head at Night. "Tell me that one is allied to us."
Night slowed her retreat, turning to see changelings being tossed to and fro with wild abandon. Teeth and claws pierced chitin with frightening ease. That spirit was hurting them, badly. Some of them could even die from the very un-ponylike slaughtering that was being dispensed. "Enough!" shouted Night. "Enough! We want them subdued, not murdered!"
Shield brought down a hoof that thudded against the guard. With a flicker of green, the guard became a changeling, quite unconscious. He turned to Silver, nodding. "That's the last of them. Excellent fighting, sir."
Silver folded his wings back in and nodded. "If that worked according to plan..."
Shield nodded in kind. "The courtroom should be--" He reached with a wing and drew open the door to see the court was well in hoof. "All according to plan."
Silver smiled, seeing Nefertari and Samantha dealing with the nobles and changelings both smoothly. "Then we did our part, keeping the worst of their defense away." He turned to look towards the window. "Has the sun moved?"
Shield turned quickly to face the same window, then trotted up to it. He leaned out to peer into the sky. "Hard to be sure, but... maybe? Does that mean Celestia is free?"
Celestia perked her ears. Something had changed. She could feel it deep in her bones. It was time to act. She threw her wings wide, bits of metal that held her being dashed against the walls to all sides. She let out a little breath as she rose up to her hooves. Not acting... "It's almost as hard as acting." She shook her head, then launched herself free of the window. She had a place to be, and she felt the urging to get there as quickly as possible.
Luna could feel the same urging. She was in the wrong place. It did not come as surely as it did for her sister, but she obeyed it. "Handle it," she bid Night, then jumped out the nearest window into the sky. Rapidly gaining altitude, she was joined by another, her sister. "Is it time now?"
Celestia nodded at her, and they flew swift and straight. Just as a deafening explosion shattered the mountain they were approaching and sent changeling slime flying, they landed.
It was time to greet a new species, it seemed.
Night shook her head at where Luna once stood before she refocused her mental power on the spirit. "Enough! You're done!"
The jackal spun on her, claws bared. "You finally give me leave to battle to call it off before all are dead before me?"
"Death is not the goal." Night clopped a hoof. "They're routed and defeated. You've completed your favor, now begone!"
"Hmmph. I call in my favor right now then." She floated up to Night, face a terrifying grin of malice. "Select one I can kill. Select one who's blood will calm me."
Night staggered back a step, unable to even fully grasp the magnitude of what had been asked of her. "Don't kill any of them! Damn you straight to Tartarus, leave them alone!"
"You brought me here. You owe me a favor." The spirit sneered. "Pay up, shaman."
Night felt strength fleeing her, then her own grandfather popped free of her.
"Leave her alone!" he commanded, his spectral form flaring with anger. "She's trying to do good. She asked for help protecting, not killing."
Samantha put a hoof on the portly changeling's shoulder. "You realize, you don't have to work for Chrysalis."
"W-what?"
"We have a queen in this city. She's very kind to all the changelings and cares for them all. If you say you're sorry and promise to follow the rules, you could live here."
He blinked with wide eyes. "After I... did that?" He glanced back at the throne. "You..."
Nefer patted the changeling on the head. "Take her offer, the other ponies look a lot less willing to forgive and forget, but she has no less than three royalty that'll back her up."
"Oh! Um... I accept! What are the rules?"
"Glad you asked!" A book appeared beside Samantha. "Let's start going over them."
Celestia and Luna witnessed the new changelings, and found out quickly how they came to be.
Celestia smiled. "Now we can have true peace." Her words were largely missed and ignored, but she had an important bit of information. She turned to Luna. "We must hurry this information to Canterlot. Fast Change doesn't need to be a changeling anymore, not this kind. Her hive can be liberated at last."
Luna inclined an ear, but did not immediately reply. It did not settle with her as easily, but she followed as those taken by the changelings were escorted back to the train line at least, so they could all get rides home safely.
Things were looking up.
Fast Change rose to her hooves as a strange tremble ran through her. Something had happened...
"Queen!" One of the guards rushed in. "I mean Princess! Princess! The other changelings are dispersing."
Fast broke into a relieved smile, a tired laugh escaping her lips. "Finally! What drove them off?"
"We don't know, your highness, but their entire hive seems to have been turned upside down. They're fleeing in all directions." He dipped his head low. "I wish I knew more, but they're leaving, all of them."
Fast took a slow suck of air. "Any word on... the rogues?"
"About that..."
Silver stepped into the courtroom. "You've all been through a lot, but it's over. The changelings are fleeing or surrendering."
Shield walked alongside him. "The guard is resuming its duties as we speak. You can all go now. Court will be resumed shortly."
"Where's the princess?!" shouted out one noble, mane frazzled.
Silver pointed to a window. "As surely as the sun now moves, she is free and able. She will return to us soon, but I know she is safe." He didn't entirely know, but he felt pretty sure about it.
Samantha pointed to the pile of sleeping changelings. "What should we do with those?"
Shield stepped up towards the pile. "They're under arrest. They can either reform, or rot for quite a long time. Changeling or not, they have broken the law, many of them."
Nefertari clucked her tongue. "And how will you mete out this punishment? I would like to see pony law in action, hmm. Will you sunder their hooves perhaps, break their bones, cut their tongues? So many ways to make it clear that crimes will not be tolerated."
Silver shook his head, repulsed at the ideas. "None of that, I freaking hope. Shield, take them away."
Shield saluted sharply and got to moving them with Samantha's help.
Silver looked to Nefertari. "You know ponies aren't like that. Imprisonment is all the physical punishment required."
"It amazes me your country is not overrun by bandits and thugs, if all they have to fear is prison. You probably feed them well and keep their cells nice and clean and dry, pheh." Nefer rolled her eyes. "One punishment is a clear warning to all others considering the same." She swept a paw out at the nobles, most of which were leaving. "Though I suppose these are the laws they like. And you too, warrior of peace?"
Silver shuffled on his hooves lightly. "I don't believe in kicking a man while he's down."
"Then you have only yourself to blame when he stands up and kicks you instead." Nefertari gave a little chuckle as she raised her paws to cup Silver's cheeks. "And yet I can see the fire. You would take that kick, rather than surrender your values. That is a strength of sorts."
"She made the deal." The spirit brimmed with building fury. "She is bound to it. Her desperation at the time is no excuse now. Select who dies."
Night glanced off to the changelings. The ones that were awake were staggering to escape. Others were helping one another get away. Some flew slowly away. There wasn't a single changeling left that wasn't hurt.
She ran the numbers. The spirit had a favor owed to it, that gave it unreasonable leverage against her. It had named its terms and even gave her some allowance. She was too tired to outright banish it. If she fled, the spirit would simply murder all it wished until it was sated.
Her grandfather was a smaller spirit, both in age and experience, and was just as tired. The odds did not favor that direction.
If she selected a changeling, any changeling, she would be forever tainted. She would be a killer. Her grandfather would know. Silver would learn. Both would never completely forgive her for not fighting harder and longer, no matter how useless.
There was only one clean exit...
Night hung her head. "Kill me."
The spirit started. "What? Did you misspeak?"
"Go on!" Night stepped towards the jackal. "Take your kill! Leave the rest of them alone!"
"You are your husband's mate..." The jackal swept in close, claws and teeth felt all over Night in a dangerous caress. "Are you ready to die?"
"No! Leave her alone!" Her grandfather's spirit dashed himself against the jackal, to no real effect.
"I will not order their death," muttered Night with conviction. "Do it."
"You don't order me, pup." The jackal flicked Night across the nose before laughing manically as she faded away, leaving Night there, shivering.
Slowly, she sank to the ground. She couldn't even feel as her spirit hugged her, and soon she passed out, overcome.
The day had been won, but the war had not. One conflict led into the next. Canterlot would not yet know peace.
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First wave, clear. Lets see if Second wave is similar, for attrition, or what variations it brings.
The filter is going to need an awfully large white list, but its still vastly smaller than the equally specific black list.
Yeah sometimes desperation can come back to bite, and hard. Luckily Night's conviction seemed to have appeased the spirit just enough.
Would that merely transforming would be the proper resolution to the changeling issues...
Keep going! ;)
now this is a interesting turn / twist. but than I should have saw this coming.
Night hung her head. "Kill me."
Should that be just favor, or favored one or something else?
If only one changeling had turned to fight and attack it may have given justification but that's walking a very fine line.
7908168 Fix'd!
explosing - explosion
say your sorry - say you're sorry
Nefer pat the - Nefer patted the
Is this the end? It feels like an end... but there are so many questions and plot threads left dangling!
Is Night off the hook or will the ancestral spirit come to claim her at some point of her choosing?
Thank you, as always for sharing your work with us!
7914011 It's certainly an ending.
Guess some lessons have to be learned the hard way. I can imagine Nefertari giving Night a lecture about her recklessness.
Upside down?
8162368 Thank you for doing your part against the typo menace.