Lying Around
"Alright... Let's dance." These were Pennington's final words before utter chaos ensued. "Another day... another dungeon."
The next few minutes flew by for Twilight, but every stroke seemed to etch itself into her mind with perfect clarity.
First, the building itself seemed to explode as the changelings removed it piece by piece, leaving them wide open and revealing what was happening outside: they were surrounded. A ring of warriors had formed around them, all standing only a few yards off. The ring itself was at least ten changelings thick at every point, each row standing behind the previous one. A few of their horns were glowing as they used magic to force her and Pennington into the open. Before the task was even finished, though, some of the more eager ones rushed forward, pouncing upon their prey.
Twilight saw Pennington grab one by the leg in mid-air and throw it onto its back. Twilight didn't have much time to stand around and watch him, though, as another opponent began to rush towards her.
It was at this unfortunate moment what Twilight remembered: I don't know anything about hoof-to-hoof combat.
Twilight panicked, throwing up her hooves to defend herself. As she did, the hooks on her braces caught themselves in the holes of the changeling's legs. For a brief moment, the changeling's expression shifted to one of complete surprise as Twilight lifted it up and over herself, throwing it into the mob behind her like a bowling ball.
To Twilight, all of this happened in a second, and she quickly realized what exactly she had done. Shaking herself out of the shock, she began to use her magic to ward off the attackers, propelling most of them away with small magical blasts from her horn. Despite her efforts, though, she could only defend herself. It seemed like, for every one that she knocked down, two more jumped up.
Pennington, however, didn't seem to need the help that she couldn't give. On occasion, Twilight would glance over at him between shots. On her first glimpse, Pennington had two changelings hooked onto his armor and was swinging them around to knock away at least five more. When she looked back again, he had a scimitar holding back one changeling, a small magical shield holding back three more, and was hoof-to-hoof with yet another. Finally, on her last glance, she saw Pennington, buried in what seemed to be a dog-pile of changelings. It was obvious that they were trying to pin him down or even crush him. There was a spark, a light shone out from underneath the changelings, and bodies were sent flying everywhere as Pennington exploded.
That, unfortunately, was one of the last things that Twilight saw in the battle, because one of the changelings flew towards her in the explosion, knocking her to the ground. A few seconds later, another changeling, giving her a fanged grin, blasted her with its horn, knocking her unconscious.
"There isn't much time, Twilight."
This was not Twilight's idea way of waking up, but on the bright side, she did wake up. Her head was pounding, and when she opened her eyes, she could see Pennington doing his best to pace while in a set of shackles. As she stood, Twilight realized that she was clasped in irons, as well. Then, when she tried using a quick spell to free herself, she felt an immense pressure on the front of her skull that only made her headache worse.
"It's no good, they used inhibitor rings." Pennington bent his own head for her to notice the black ring around the base of his horn. "Blocks any and all flow of magical energy. We're on our own." He grinned as he looked around their small cell. "Hold on tight, Twi. Things are about to get fun..."
"I think that I've had enough of your 'fun...'" Twilight groaned.
"Well, just follow my lead. From now on, as far as you know, everything that I say is the gospel truth, told to you by Celestia herself, got it? I'm going to get you out of here." Pennington's tone was quick and to the point, and Twilight quickly saw why: a changeling was already walking towards the cell with a set of keys.
"The assembly has gathered. Your trial awaits." With a shuddering of the barred cell door, the changeling took up the end of the chain that connected their shackles and gave it a gentle tug. "You two are lucky, you actually get a lawyer. Most trials these days are only in favor of the prosecution... King Entropy always enjoys a good sentencing." As Twilight stood, she could hear something akin to pity in the changeling's tone. They had hardly even exited the cell before they were greeted by another changeling. This one was not built as heavily as any of the others that they had seen, but seemed to make up for his lack of physical strength with intelligence, even to the point of wearing a pair of spectacles that Twilight could tell were unnecessary by the fact that he was constantly glancing over them.
"Hello, there! Well, I must say that we haven't had any ponies here in a long time! I'm going to be your defendant in this case, and hopefully, we'll avoid any kind of painful punishment!" The changeling spoke quickly and with an optimism that betrayed the hopelessness of the situation.
He seemed more excited than nervous, and Twilight looked over to Pennington for confirmation that everything was going according to... I would hate to call whatever strange machinations are going on in his head a "plan."
When she looked, however, Twilight was both entertained and terrified at his priceless expression. His jaw was slightly dropped, and he tried for a moment to bring his hoof to his forehead, forgetting that his shackles prevented him from doing so.
"That's nice of you, but we really don't need a lawyer, we can represent ourselves perfectly well! This is all just a big misunderstanding."
Pennington seemed less confident than normal though, when the changeling suddenly lunged towards him, and took an according step backwards. The changeling fixed his glasses on his face and began to examine Pennington with his eyes, inspecting him from head to toe.
"Unicorn, strong build, smarter than he looks, but not as smart as he thinks he is, and a cutie mark in... Navigation?" he pointed towards Pennington's flank with a mix of curiosity and the matter-of-fact tone that had dominated most of his speech,
"Message delivery. I'm a courier." Pennington replied, relaxing a small amount as the inquisitive changeling backed away again. "I came here with an important message for your leaders."
Twilight wasn't even surprised at the ease with which Pennington lied. He's pretty good at getting through and around other ponies... I guess that, for a recluse, he has some good social skills.
The changeling, however, was casting a skeptical glance towards Pennington. "Do you know what happened to the last pony who tried to act in their own defense? They didn't give him a chance. The prosecution spoke, and he was sentenced. He didn't get a word in edgewise. And he was a lawyer, too! He chose to try and represent himself, but changelings don't want to listen to ponies."
"What... happened to him?" Twilight spoke for the first time since they had left the cell.
"Well, he was sentenced to conversion... He got turned into a changeling." He shrugged. "Or, at least, that's what they tell me. The process wipes your memory, so I don't really remember what happened to me before I woke up."
Twilight felt all of the blood drain from her face in fear, and her knees suddenly felt weak. "That was you?"
With a curt nod, the bespectacled changeling gave a quick bow. "Ace, at your service!" With this gesture, they all began to walk out of the small hallway and through a series of rooms that Twilight had never seen before.
"So, let me guess... You're an 'Ace attorney?'" When she looked back up at the stallion, he seemed to be calm in his stride, but color was quickly draining from his face, as well. For some reason, that scared Twilight even more. Pennington had always remained not only calm in the face of danger, but he seemed to enjoy it. Seeing him afraid of what was to come made Twilight afraid to her core.
He told me that everything that he says is going to be the truth, and then he started lying to Ace... Does that mean that he wants me to lie, as well?
"Yes, the best defense attorney that you can get in the hive!" Ace grinned. "And you're going to need me!"
"Didn't you lose your own case?" Pennington muttered. If Ace heard, he pretended not to.
"So, I'm going to know everything that you can tell me. We can't prove you innocent of invading the hive, that would be hopeless! We just need to prove that the invasion of two operatives from a country widely considered to be our greatest foe into one of our deepest and most essential strongholds is legitimized in the beliefs and interests of the entire changeling race as a whole!" When he had completed his rambling, Ace stopped short, a rather surprised expression on his face. "Oh. Right."
Pennington shook his head. "You like the hopeless cases, don't you?"
"Well, they are the most fun!" Ace grinned again and trotted to catch up.
"Well, if you can get them to listen to my message, then it won't be so hopeless." Pennington winked. "My testimony will win them over completely."
"Well, what's your message?" Ace asked, leaning in to whisper. "If you're carrying messages, then you must have one for someone in here!"
"It's meant to be told only to your leaders, but..." Pennington looked from side to side, as if expecting somepony to stop him from whispering. "The entire hive is in danger. I can't tell any more, but there needs to be an evacuation as soon as possible..."
Ace's eyes grew wide, and he seemed to be arguing inwardly as to whether or not he needed to ask for more information. "Well, I'll do my best to get you their ears... But if you refuse to tell me, you're limiting yourself. I can't help you as much if you don't tell me."
Twilight was watching this entire exchange from behind, and for a split second, she could have sworn that she saw the familiar smugness flashing in Pennington's eyes, and a small amount of color returning to his face.
"Don't worry, you'll hear me and my message. And so will the entire changeling race..."
If Twilight thought that the outside of the hive looked intimidating, the "courtroom" was even worse. The courtroom, she discovered, was a colosseum, with the jury filling countless rows of seats.
The two lawyers stood in a small platform beneath the Royalty Box, both pacing and preparing themselves for the battle of words and wits about to ensue. The Changelings' king, "King Entropy," as Ace had called him, sat above, in a walled-in platform that separated him from the masses of the jury. He was far taller than any of the changelings that Twilight had seen on their way in, and was built like a tank: with a massive chest, legs like tree trunks, and a sinewed, thick neck leading up to a head covered in an imposing-looking silver helmet. The holes in his body were covered up by a set of emerald-colored armor, making look as if he were ready for battle at any moment.
The place that she and Pennington were meant to stand was actually in the very center, for all to see. It was a simple sand-covered circular floor about sixty yards in diameter, surrounded on all sides by a tall wall with no hoofholds. We're not getting out of here unless they let us out... Twilight thought as she tried to ignore the feeling of a million pairs of eyes focusing themselves on her back. I haven't been this nervous since my first entry exam... Ace had told them a variety of things on their way to the trial, some more helpful than others. One less-than-useful fact was that, aside from converting their pony captives into new changelings, King Entropy enjoyed putting them to the test in tournament-style gladiatorial battles until they died of exhaustion or lost to some kind of deadly creature.
Pennington seemed to be expressing his nerves in his own strange manner, first pacing the circumference of their new prison, then walking in seemingly aimless directions, dragging one of his back legs behind him awkwardly in the sand.
"All hail King Entropy! Ruler of the Changeling Empire!" A voice cried out above the others, calling all of the chattering audience to silence.
"HAIL!"
Right away, Twilight noticed that the cry, rather than being united in respect for their leader, there was much dissent in the disjointed cry, with some simply continuing to chatter more quietly.
"Hm... Dissension in the ranks." Pennington mumbled over her shoulder, apparently done relieving his stress. "That could help us..."
"His honor, King Entropy, will be reigning over the proceedings himself as judge!" The same voice called out. Twilight hardly struggled to see the sadistic grin on the changeling's face beneath his helmet, and she could only imagine what type of horrible fate that he had planned for them. Fearfully, she shrunk back, but found herself pressed against Pennington. Without any kind of request from her, the stallion put leaned down, draping his head over her shoulder in a comforting manner. Twilight smiled as she felt him softly kiss her cheek, and a small amount of comfort slowed her racing pulse.
"Let the trial begin!" The King's voice boomed throughout the "courtroom," rumbling like thunder.
"Your majesty, this is an open-and-shut case!" A slightly older-looking changeling snapped, looking at Ace with derision, "These ponies have invaded our hive through espionage! Their intent can only be malicious, probably here to spy on us for the preparation of an attack!" The prosecutor spat his words as if disgusted to even be talking about the case. "I propose that they be dealt with in a way that shows the absolute superiority of changelings over ponies! Make an example of what will happen to their entire pitiful kingdom if they try to attack us! A message must be sent that will shake their puny little princesses to the core! Send them back... Without their heads!" As he raised a hoof into the air, the changelings in the arena all began to shout in response, favoring a bloodthirsty mob mentality.
"You want a message? I'll give you a message!" Pennington shouted. Twilight felt him beginning to tense again as he stepped away, shouting towards the deafening noise. "If you would all just LISTEN TO ME! You have to LISTEN!" No one seemed to hear his words, though, as the cheering only grew louder. Pennington suddenly seemed to lose his energy, sinking down to one knee. The hopelessness of the situation seemed to have finally sunk in at this point. Twilight felt as if her heart had stopped beating, and her chest was about to implode upon itself.
I-I'm going to die.... The thought was all that Twilight could think of, and for once, there was only one thought in her mind. Usually, there were a thousand different things on her mind, but Twilight only had one now.
"OBJECTION!"
Ace's voice cut through the fog of cries and brought total silence in the arena in only a matter of seconds. As silence fell, King Entropy lowered his hoof, which he had raised to finalize the decision. Ace cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself. After a few seconds, he began to speak again. His voice carried well, and seemed to grow deeper as he grew louder.
"You've never heard of the expression, 'don't shoot the messenger,' have you?" Ace began to pace back and forth, keeping a steely gaze on the other attorney. "This is a courtroom, not a nest of prejudice!" He flung a hoof down towards Twilight and Pennington. "These ponies did come here with a purpose, but one that is meant to aid us! The defense will call our first witness: Pennington Inkwell!"
A notable murmur went through the crowd, but it quickly died away again as the king raised his armored hoof. "At least one witness must be called. Proceed."
"Thank you, your highness!" Ace turned back around, looking down on Pennington and Twilight with a nod. "Mister Inkwell, state your occupation for the court!"
Pennington had risen again, his eyes fixated on the lawyer's area. With a smile, he nodded his head in a hoofless salute.
"Gladly!" Pennington looked around at the literal thousands of eyes staring down on him. "I am a message courier!"
"And you informed me that you were carrying a message for our leaders!" Ace made a wide motion with his hooves. "You now stand before the entire decision-making body and majority of the population of the changeling hive, not to mention our illustrious king! Would you now be permitted to share this message with us?"
Pennington smiled again, and Twilight saw him pull back in shoulders in confidence again.
"I can, indeed!" Pennington grinned again, and his knees stopped shaking as badly. "If I may have permission from the court to speak with assurance not to be interrupted?"
"Permission... granted." The king seemed to hesitate, but nodded his affirmation.
"Thank you..." Pennington looked to be thanking both the king and Ace.
"My dear changelings, it is true that our countries have had tension, even war in the past." Pennington began to walk around the arena again, keeping his pace slow and methodical, in pace with his words. "But, I came here under only the most benign and good-willed intentions! The message that I carry comes with all of the greatest and most genuine intent and respect that Princess Celestia has given to me to pass on to you!"
At this point, Pennington took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "The entire hive is in danger!" He took a moment to let the words sink in, and they seemed to send ripples throughout the hive's population. "Equestria has been keeping close track of their borders, most of all to the East, near the Plains of Lore. Unfortunately, we've noticed a disturbing trend: fewer and fewer of the monstrous creatures known as 'dune worms' have been appearing at our borders. After communicating with other ponies across the entire Plains, something was discovered! The dune worms have all been migrating in one direction: towards your hive!" Once again, Pennington paused for effect again, letting the information sink in.
"I've seen these creatures before, and I barely escaped with my life. I've drawn in this sand a sketch of about the same size as one of these creatures!" He swept his hoof to indicate the lines that he had drawn while "stressing out" at the beginning of the trial. "Only one of these are enough to devastate an entire town. In large numbers, they can create a hurricane of destruction and death!"
"This is pointless, your majesty!" The prosecutor shouted, rolling his eyes. "We all know here that dune worms have never posed a threat to changelings! They only feed on their kind, the unicorns and ponies!"
"This is true." The King raised the tip of his nose disdainfully, looking down on the ponies. "And ponies are liars to begin with. If we leave the hive, we will be weak and open to attack."
"And if you don't, you'll be in danger of dying!" Pennington cried, pleading not only to the king, but to the multitudes watching him with intent eyes. "Just as you, the changelings, have adapted to feed on emotions, the dune worms have adapted to feeding on you!"
"Typical pony lies, meant only to destroy us." The king raised his hoof, then brought it back down again decisively. "We shall stay, and you shall be decapitated!"
"You're all going to die!" Pennington screamed at the top of his lungs, causing even more murmuring and mumbling.
"Entropy!" A new voice screamed out from the masses. "These ponies are extending a hoof of good will, and you'll have them executed?" The indignant voice quickly singled itself out as belonging to a female changeling, who had stood up out of her seat. She seemed different from the others: taller and slightly lankier, and even her horn seemed slightly longer than others. She looked to have a similar build to Princess Luna, and was standing tall and proud. "And the entire hive is in danger, and you choose to ignore it because of your own personal grudges against ponies!" She stamped her hoof forcefully as her anger mounted. "Our hive has been deteriorating as you pull more and more changelings out of its maintenance for your own personal chambers to become more extravagant! Now, even a simple pair of unicorns could invade our defenses and trot their way into the deepest machinations of our hive! They were found only a few rooms away from the hatchlings! If this is a simple message courier, imagine what a trained assassin could do!"
"You overstep your bounds, Chrysalis." The king growled, giving her the same glare that he had given to Pennington and Twilight. If she felt his hate, though, she paid it no heed, or even grew stronger from it.
"You overstep yours, my king..." The changeling, apparently named "Chrysalis" growled with equal force. "You sit high and mighty nursing your own grudges, your subjects are starving! Hatchlings are starving from birth, and the ranks are quickly thinning amidst our warriors! Not only are we starving to death, but you are doing nothing about it!"
"Chrysalis is right!" Another voice cried out.
"I'll bet that the dune worms are already taking some of us, and he didn't even notice it!"
"King Entropy has been ignoring us!" Chrysalis cried, floating up into the air on a pair of humming wings. When she had flown out over the arena, she stopped flapping and dropped to the ground. There was a burst of magical energy, and Twilight and Pennington's shackles shattered.
"This is treason, Chrysalis!" The king roared, jumping up into the air and swooping down towards them in a fury of emerald flames.
Chrysalis's twisted horn began to glow, as well. The two changelings were ready to collide when a blue scimitar sliced at him, cutting through the ruler's horn. The king reached up, screaming in pain and grasping at the small stub left of his horn. "Gaah! You! How did you-"
Both changelings looked to the only pony who matched the hue of the sword. Pennington was standing, horn glowing brightly, with the black inhibitor ring firmly grasped in his hoof. He had already formed his own set of armor, and was staring down the king with an ambitious glare
"Fun fact. When a unicorn is stopped from using magic by an inhibitor ring, they experience a temporary boost in energy." He smiled and looked around. Changelings were dropping from left and right, some behind Chrysalis, some behind Entropy. The sides had been taken, and a battle seemed ready to erupt as the tension mounted to an unmistakable end: war.
"It seems that things are getting out of hoof, sir. Was there a problem before we came here? If so, I may have chosen my words a bit more carefully..."
Stats
Page generated in 0.031 seconds
Total duration
1,015 users online
7,794 hits today, 2,004,447 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.®
1985065 cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/26735447.jpg Everything moved a lot faster than I expected in this chapter. I may go back and edit it to lengthen the courtroom trial and give Chrysalis a more inspiring speech...
Can't wait for more adventure to come!
What about her friends back at Ponyville? Would they be worried?
Especially Rainbow Dash, I have to wonder what happens when she learns that 'Penny' is the author of Daring Do and based on ACTUAL adventuring he does.
SOOOOOooooooo good!
P.S- this just made it into my ever expanding list of good/favorite fanfics on my page.
And added this story to right groups, hopefully gaining you some more readers that you deserve!
2046574 Thank you!
I'm glad that you enjoy it so much, that's my goal! 
I really appreciate the publicity, I definitely need it.
As for her friends in Ponyville, don't worry, there is DEFINITELY a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes that are going to be coming to light soon!
They're almost out of the hive, so Twilight's going home soon...
Can't be so sure about Pennington.
iseekthegrail.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/spoilers.png
Hang on tight, my friend... This is gonna be a tricky one.
2047002 it is within my hopes that Pennington goes home with her at the end and probably ending up having a 'adventure' of having Twilight's friends being pissed at her while Rainbow Dash would be starstuck or something haha.
But I cannot tell you what direction this story should take since it yours, can't wait for next chapter!
OBJECTION! LUNA IS ALWAYS HAWT!
*Has a muttered conversation with his lawyer*
What do you MEAN that wasn't the question?! IT'S STILL RELEVANT! Luna is always hawt, period! Finito! End of discussion! Cut, check the gate, moving right along!
Twi: Hi, Chrissy!
Chrissy: Don't call me that, Twilight...
Penny: Wait, you know her?!
Twi: Used the Elements to protect Shiny, Cadence and all of Canterlot and possibly Equestria from her attack.
Penny: I see...
Why do I sense that this takes place before "A Canterlot Wedding" and sets up not only Chrysalis' rise to power but her reasons for invading Equestria in the first place.