33: Third time's the harm.
“Uhhghh...” I moan, trying to ignore the thumping outside. Is someone mining something in the castle or what?
*Thump!*
*Thump!*
*Thump!*
*Bzzzzzt!*
“Eight-” rolling around on the bed reveals that neither my muscular pillow, nor my warming bottle alias Three are there.
Any news in the hive mind? Huh, no panic, nothing extra, relaxed attitude all around. Love levels? Other than mine, alright. What about time? It seems that I’ve slept for some three days straight.
Fiiine, I’ll get up too.
First, though, I think I’ll kick whoever is making all that noise outside in the plot.
As I leave the royal suite, I almost swallow my tongue. Considering I’m a changeling, that’s a lot of tongue.
I’m facing a huge, equine-like mechanical construction filling the entire hall from bottom to top. It takes one final heavy step, and it stops. I know it’s looking at me… somehow. Is it some dwarven machine?
“Uhh… hello?” I try to look unthreatening, which isn’t too difficult right now.
“Morning, boss!” a small, helmeted, black head peeks out over the top of the looming machine.
“Three? What is this?” I tap the machine’s leg.
“That’s my friend Stompy! The miners finally widened the secret tunnel enough so that Stompy could fit. I wanted to take him for a walk. Look, boss, he can talk! Hey, Stompy, this is the boss. He’s the best.”
“Greetings to you, changeling leader,” says the machine in a droning, a little distorted, but rather friendly tone.
“Hello, Stompy,” I’m not about to dispute Three’s ability to befriend an inanimate object by now, “Say, I don’t think I recall you being around before I got poisoned.”
“Operator Three reactivated me five days ago,” replies Stompy.
“We found Stompy while we were looking for the poison samples back down in the dark priest enclave. Wait, didn’t we tell you that?” Three tilts his head.
I wave my foreleg.
“Maybe, I don’t know. I’m still groggy. What’s the time?”
“Ten twenty-three in the local timezone,” reports Stompy.
“I dunno what that means, but it’s morning,” agrees Three, “Mister Granite just sent me away after the morning council meeting, saying that he wanted some peace and quiet for a moment, so we came to guard you instead.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him to go ride his new friend somewhere else, preferably far away so that I could go to sleep again. I guess it’s time to get back into the leadership horseshoes, and see what went wrong while I was out.
Heh, good to know that the dwarf guards around aren’t used to Stompy either, judging by their incredulous stares. The king’s suite isn’t far from the council room, and as I enter, I hear a loud sigh from the only dwarf inside.
“Come on, Three. I told you that I can’t think with Stompy aro-”
“Busy morning, Granite?” I interrupt him.
“YOUR MAJESTY!” he jumps up from his chair, rushes over, and stops in front of me, “You look much better now, but that’s not difficult considering you looked like crumpled grey paper when I saw you last time.”
“I’m glad to see you too,” I smile, and sit down at the council table, “So, how are things? Dark priests, unrest, everything. My changelings told me that things weren’t the best around here.”
“We’re all together again, so everything is great!” Three has finally managed to untangle himself from the operator seat atop Stompy, and is now lying on the large table, forelegs crossed under his chin.
“Well… I’d take Three’s report with a grain of salt,” Granite chuckles, “I’ll start with the basics - Brauheim is safe, for now. The good part is that the Twisted haven’t breached any part of the city. The bad part is that they found a way past the flooding seals, and our patrols have faced few skirmishes.”
Twisted… Twisted… spindlies, right. I really need to reconnect to the others properly.
“Any infected?” I ask.
“Luckily, no. We’ve armed everyone with so much firepower that the first barrages must have scared the solitary Twisted away. We had to seal off more mines, though, which is slowly endangering our ability to stick to the minotaur trade agreements. Of course, in the long term it will hinder our ability to craft ammunition and explosives.”
”Eight, come here, will you?”
”Sure, give me a minute, boss. Just checking up on something personal.”
”Oooh, my curiosity knows no bounds.”
”You’ll have to wait, it’s a surprise.”
Link by link, I slowly reconnect to everyone, and a flood of memories makes my head ache for a short while.
“Are you okay, king?” asks Granite when I wince and clutch my head.
“Just give me a moment to adjust...” I grunt.
I take deep breaths until the pain subsides, hoping that my head will make sense of all the gained information at the right time. After all, a LOT has happened.
When I open my eyes again, Eight is already in the room.
For the next few hours, I listen to Granite and Eight’s report of everything that has happened, this time in a lot more detail.
“I can’t but appreciate the irony that your today’s dark priests are just descendants of criminals who got lucky to survive in this… Silversmith prison,” I chuckle, “That really should be general knowledge.”
“Would certainly make your religion a lot healthier,” sneers Eight.
Granite just sighs.
“And about those experiments,” I continue, “The energy weapons we found. Are those significant?”
“Hey, Stompy!” yells Three, “Did you hear the boss?”
The door to the council room opens, and the mech sticks his head inside.
“Yes, I did, acting high-general Three. Revealing classified information to rank - boss. New rank assigned higher value than high-general,” drones Stompy, “Limited project Living End info available. Ask away.”
“What was the laboratory under the prison for?” asks Eight.
Silence.
“You can consider their questions to be mine, Stompy,” I say.
“Alright,” the mech nods, “The laboratory served as a hub of information for two of the three branches of the Living End project. One of those research paths is marked as completed, one as failed, and one as untested.”
“Can you summarize what those research branches were?” asks Granite.
“Path one - ascension. The original Living End goal is unknown to me,” Stompy takes a brief pause, “I wonder why. However, it was successfully finished a long time before the other branches. Path two - adaptive nanopoison. A nanomachine based destructive substance made to overcome the adaptability of the Twisted. Proved ineffective due to the ability of Twisted to separate the affected area and regrow new body parts from stolen biomass.”
“The brass spike venom!” Granite breathes out.
“But it does work, right?” I ask, “In theory.”
“Yes, in theory it is the most cost-effective solution to the Twisted problem,” agrees Stompy, and continues, “Path three - weapon of mass destruction, the Big F-”
“Friendship!” yells guess who.
“-Gun,” Stompy doesn’t seem fazed by Three at all, “Launcher of temporarily stabilized fusion cores. Data of the first prototype test by Three - tracer rays proved extremely effective at dealing with the Twisted.”
“So the ancestors did have effective weapons,” says Granite, “Why did they seal the Twisted off instead of wiping them out? Why didn’t they USE the friendship gun?”
“I don’t know,” says Stompy, “My knowledge is limited to combat strategies and methods to effectively fight the Twisted and other, mostly insignificant in comparison, underground threats.”
“I’ve got a theory,” Eight taps her hoof against the table, “Stompy, do you know anything about the Vigil? Some cult, supposedly.”
“No direct information or any relevant links available.”
Eight nods.
“Yeah, I thought so. This is just a theory, but if the Vigil wanted to unleash the Twisted, and he is unbelievably more powerful than probably all of the Twisted combined, then they might be some… simpler version of him, and if they are, then Granite’s ancestors caught onto their adaptive capabilities. They tried the poison which worked wonders, but they couldn’t make it stick inside the Twisted, so they made a weapon which they saved for some final battle, maybe there was someone leading the Twisted, or they needed them all in one place. Wait, if the venom worked well, then our adaptability as changelings is much greater than theirs,” Eight stops suddenly, thinking very hard.
“Or they finished it too late,” I shrug, “Or the researchers were secret, and when the only safe place that remained was a prison, they couldn’t get it out because of a riot or something. All theories, but in the end they don’t matter. The real point is what do we do now? Can WE use the BFG?”
Granite shakes his head.
“Unless Stompy here has a way to power the weapon, we’ve run out of ammo.”
“There was this glowy green thing in the back,” adds Three.
“A specialized plasma cell,” says Stompy, “Luckily for you, the ammunition creation process for the BFG is part of the Living End project. Unfortunately, it requires devices that judging by the state of your dwarven technology you don’t possess.”
“Guards!” yells Granite, and two heads peek inside by Stompy’s shins.
“Yes, loremaster?”
“Get Hard Reset here! Tell him to find the best guys he can.”
“And take Six to watch!” I add.
“King-” Granite opens his mouth to probably object.
“Lalalalala- not listening!” I shake my head, “Six is observing. My last word.”
“Alright, what I said stands,” Granite finishes his orders, “And let Six observe. He’s the small changeling who DOESN’T glow and wear a helmet.”
Both guards rush off.
Silence spreads, and I can sense Eight’s curiosity.
“What’s on your mind, Eight?” I ask straight up.
“Is it possible that we might find a way to become immune to the Twisted infection, since you survived the venom with Gem’s help? One might have enough self-control to do that.”
“I’m not sure,” I frown, “One is a demon now. The way she works must be different. And… I’ve examined the state of the hive mind from when Two got infected. The onset was almost instant. I’m not saying we couldn’t do it with the help of stasis magic and Gem’s alchemy, but...”
“Last option?”
“Yeah,” I nod, “Anyway, Granite. You said your patrols clashed with the Twisted. From the memories of everyone, I can see that the BFG ruined their spindly day.”
The loremaster shrugs.
“I did send few guards to scout the vicinity of Brauheim with the help of miss Gem and her potions. The results are… mixed,” he sighs, “The Twisted are spreading out very slowly, but my best estimate is that there can’t be more than three or four hundred of them, which is still more than enough. They seem to be devouring underground animals to gain biomass which forms more of them, but it’s a slow process. We set up ultrasound drones deeper into the mines which drive underground species away, so the Twisted growth isn’t overwhelming.”
“Considering that the infection is the biggest problem, and we have a very smart machine here from the times of ancient battles. How did those fighting the Twisted deal with the problem?” asks Eight.
“Who says they did?” I pout.
Stompy thinks about it for a moment.
“The energy shield covering the operator seat on my back is one of the pre-Living End project methods. Unfortunately, it has severe drawbacks. The energy drain is massive for your technology. The shielded area also slowly runs out of oxygen, so extended deployment is inadvisable. The final big thing I see is that prolonged exposure to the shield field does adversely affect living organisms.”
“That makes no sense,” Granite shakes his head, “How did the ancestors deal with all that?”
“All links lead to the original branch of the Living End project, which I know nothing about,” says Stompy.
“Damn it!” Granite punches the table, “We need to deal with this before the Twisted find their way to the surface. We might have months, or it could be weeks, but we can’t allow a single one to get outside. Animals are everywhere, and minotaurs aren’t too big on long-range combat, so any contact will only spread the infection.”
“The air vents will be the biggest problems,” I say, “Those are big enough for then to walk through. How about you set up barricades not around Brauheim, but in the access paths up? Radios, ammo, everything.”
“I will, but that won’t be enough,” Granite taps his hoof against the table, “I hate to say it, but we’ll need to examine Stompy, and by examine… I mean disassemble. It’s a heinous sacrilege and crime for ‘lesser’ dwarves to study ancestor technology, but we don’t have a choice.”
“I can provide my internal blueprints for maintenance and reassembly,” the mech agrees.
“Umm… do we have to make Stompy into parts?” asks Three, his ears splayed back, “You know, they might make a mistake when they put you back together, and you’d have your legs on your head and you’d have to keep jumping around. Can’t we just keep Stompy around to defend the city?”
I pat Three’s head.
“That won’t be enough. Stompy alone can’t save everyone, but if everyone has Stompy’s shield or energy weapons, then we have a chance. Don’t worry. You’ll be able to visit him any time, and Six will be keeping an eye on all the research. He learns technical stuff really fast.”
Three sighs.
“Alright, boss...”
As a group of engineers led by Hard Reset practically pee themselves when told they’ll get to examine a real Silversmith living mech, and lead Stompy away along with Granite while arguing like crazy, Three just mumbles.
“Bye, Stompy...”
“AHEM!” I glare at Three.
“Umm… boss?”
“Didn’t I tell you to go grab Six and supervise the engineers?”
“Oh.. OH! You DID, boss!” he cheers up instantly, and dashes off with a renewed smile.
***
Finally left alone with Eight in the council room, I realize something.
“You know, I could really go for some light exercise and stretching with Battlecry.”
“No can do, boss. She’s busy right now,” Eight hops onto the table, sits down in front of me, and nuzzles my nose, “But we can do all the stretching and light exercise we need right here.”
“You mean here… on the council table? What if someone walks in on us?”
”Someone already has, but I like watching almost as much as I like joining in,” Scream is suddenly sitting in the corner armchair, giving us her usual smoldering look, ”My business can wait few minutes, and I can always give you some pointers.”
“Mmmpph-!” I find myself in a long kiss with Eight into which I ease myself and do my best to requite it until she breaks it.
“I needed this,” she says, nuzzling my nose again.
“I missed you so much,” I hug her, and enjoy the warmth of her chitin until reality trickles back into my soft and pleasant world.
“So, how about we deal with the voyeur back there, and then take a day or two of some examining and disassembling of our own?” Eight whispers in my ear.
“And that is why you’re my queen,” I chuckle and look at Scream while Eight lies down on the table like Three did previously, “So, Scream, what do you need?”
“After watching you two, an insulin syringe,” she stands up, slowly walking towards us, “Now, let’s move the conversation into a more comfortable place.”
In the next instant, I find myself drawn into the hive mind. Quickly after, all other changelings appear, including Ten.
“You’re sun bug,” Scream points sideways at him without paying him any more attention, “Now, everyone. I’ve been helping you all this time mostly for my own amusement. However, by complete accident you’ve gotten into a position to help me, and this is one debt I won’t leave unpaid.”
That doesn’t sound good. Still, there’s no reason to be antagonistic without any information.
“Let’s hear it. We do owe you a lot, but-”
“There is no but!” she stomps the black floor, sending out ripples of gold fire, “You WILL do this. I’m just going to tell you why so that you don’t feel bad,” her expression turns into a deadly serious one, “As punch bug knows from experience, facing the Cult of the Watcher, or the Vigil as they’re called, isn’t fun, and it takes some careful planning if you don’t want to screw yourself over later. Well, my friends and I have faced them repeatedly, and we’ve discovered their goal. Unfortunately… there are issues.”
“How about you just tell us everything, Scream?” I close my eyes and breathe out.
“The cultists are trying to bring back a long-banished god. The Silversmiths had a prophecy about it that was drawn on the door behind which the Twisted were sealed. I know what the place where they need to call the god is, but if we are to stand a chance, we need the event to happen at the right time. You see, the cult is gaining members, but it takes time and power to turn them into monsters like that one elder Vigil down here. Right now, they are spreading, but still beatable. The problem is that the god they want to come is far. If we wait for the Vigil to gain enough members so that they start bringing the god back here openly, they’ll grow into numbers and power which will steamroll us. What I want to do is to get the god here much faster, and I need your help with that.”
“You mean god… like you alicorns?” I ask.
“No, most of us are tiny fragments of divinity in comparison to the gods. Only select few pose a direct threat in terms of raw power, and I’m certainly not one of them. However, that’s not your business. What I need from you are blueprints for a certain architectural feature hidden on the walls of the Silversmith underground.”
“The pillars and the pyramid!” Six suddenly calls out, then clamps his hooves over his mouth, “Sorry.”
“Exactly,” Scream nods, “I’ve located the place where the pyramid is, and it became clear to me that it had to be the place for final battle. Reality is weakened there, probably from some ancient summoning rituals, but it’s still strong enough to withstand the god coming here without help. The pillars and the crystals on them are a clue, I think. I need to know exactly what those are and how to build them.”
“And how do we fit into it?” I ask, “I mean, I understand, but we can’t search the whole underground for some blueprints, not to mention the Twisted swarming down there.”
“If I didn’t have a plan, I wouldn’t be bothering you. I learned this from our last visits to the prison and some translation work afterwards,” Scream frowns, “While the Silversmiths did carve their knowledge into walls mostly at random, the vicinity of all blueprints is covered by aspects related to those or by links to other places. Something so important they spent a whole door just CARVING A FREAKING PICTURE about it will have blueprints for everything involved nearby. I’m sure of it. I’m going to need hard copies of everything to the last detail.”
“Okay, I understand,” I say, “But we need time. Dwarves have to craft some protection against the infection. We could try sneaking, but we can’t operate the gear needed to see such tiny writing and-”
“TIME IS LITERALLY THE ONLY THING WE DON’T HAVE!” Scream yells in my face, “Grab a dwarf, use invisibility, I DON’T CARE! Just get me the blueprints. I’ll be there too to identify what I need. You’re going down there tomorrow.”
“No,” I face the alicorn, “It’s too dangerous. Give us a week, maybe a month and we can do it. I’m not risking my hive for this.”
“Do I need to remind you of something?” she nods towards Three who suddenly feels woozy as the runes on his body flicker.
“I will keep him safe in the hive mind, and we will find a way to bring him back. One knows everything about those matters.”
“You mean MY succubus?” Scream flicks her horn, and One keels over on the floor, choking and pawing at the ground, “She’s not enough of a changeling anymore to survive me taking her divinity away,” she leans closer to my face, and growls, “I can be a VERY vindictive alicorn.”
Again.
AGAIN. ALWAYS! It’s always the same.
I can’t protect them. No matter what I do I can’t protect them.
“...alright...” I breathe out, and One is allowed to stand back up, gasping for breath, “But I won’t be forcing or even asking anyone to come with me. I will have to take dwarves with me to operate the scanning equipment anyway-”
“Six - you’re staying with Granite as communication. Screw radios,” Eight interrupts me, “Ten, you’ll do the same with minotaurs. Someone will have to get a message out to the surface if we fail. The rest of you are coming.”
“Eight, I don’t want to-”
“The hive stands and falls with their king. I know what you tried to make out of us, that you wanted us to become our own individuals. And you succeeded, congratulations! I love you, I would die for you, I will live only for you if fate allows it, and it’s not because you are the king, it’s because I’m in love. Three is your best friend who has a big gun and can drive a tank. He likes making friends and listening to stories-”
“And crayons!” Three cheers.
“-and drawing, of course. He came far from a common hive drone under Chrysalis. Four and Ten, I don’t have to say anything about them. They have their own lives. They ARE the dream you’ve always wanted to see. Five likes guns and Six. Six likes engineering and Five. Once he learns how to make ammo for her, their relationship will last forever. Seven is a grump who studies magic. Everyone is far more than what we used to be in the old hive. We used to be only what our assignment, our mission needed. We’re so much more, we have our free will, and that’s why we will disobey if you tell us to stay here for no reason. Of course, thanks to whatever little remains of my own free will, I will punch whoever refuses in the face. We are still CHANGELINGS, we are one HIVE! Understood?”
I lower my head.
“I just want you to be safe and happy, that’s all. No suicide missions.”
“Perfect, once we kick the ass of the spindly fucks and return from a suicide mission, we’ll be safe and happy,” Eight sits down and crosses her forelegs on her chest.
There’s no use arguing, is there? They would just disobey and trail me anyway if I went alone. I sure know Eight would.
“Alright, we’re leaving tomorrow, but after that, Scream… we’re done.”
The alicorn raises her hoof.
“I solemnly swear that if you do your job well, I will never bother you again.”
Breaking the hive mind meeting, I return to the real world with Eight by my side.
”Three, you’re with Hard Reset and Granite. Tell them to get us some makeshift protective gear. One, you know everything about biology. How do we prevent infections in general?”
”Generally, these things spread through mucus membranes or pores. They get inside either through the air or by direct contact. Pores are not an issue for us, cuts and wounds will be worse. My best idea for a protective gear is a bodysuit, and we’ll need a helmet for the more direct contact. Obviously, that won’t make us safe by any stretch of the imagination, but we might avoid some glancing splashes. I’ll find someone who knows how to make proper clothes and persuade them to work overnight,” answers the body control specialist.
”Five, you know firepower. I need anything we can use from FAR away but which doesn’t need any too limited ammo. Pick something for everyone. Gem, potions. Make few of the invisibility ones in case we just have to drop all gear and flee. Otherwise, make anything that will allow us to keep anyone away. We should have enough damage potential thanks to what Five picks.”
”Sure thing, dad.”
”And the most important thing. When you’re done with your tasks or if you don’t have any, go out and gather love. I’m not doing this hungry.”
”Can I just summon another succubus?” asks Seven, apprehensive.
”No, you’re learning whether you want or not. You can’t be an infiltrator like that. Scream?”
”Yeeees?” the alicorn has been listening after all.
”Help Seven get laid properly.”
No objections. I guess she IS serious this time.
Well, it’s time to repay our debt.
***
Aside from Six and Ten as planned, we’re all now sneaking down a long, roundabout way to the prophecy door so that we don’t have to ruin any more flood seals. So far, our trip has been quiet.
Only metaphorically, of course.
The five dwarves Granite sent with us, while supposedly excellent warriors, are not used to sneaking by any measure despite me making them wear leather armor instead of full plate mails. To our changeling ears, they sound like an avalanche of dropped kitchenware, but so far it hasn’t caused any problems.
”Stop!” One, scouting ahead, raises her tail and starts waving it around. It’s a signal for the dwarves who obviously can’t hear us talk via hive links. They understand and freeze immediately. That, or One’s now fully visible backside is just so captivating, ”Got contact. Only a single Twisted, but I can sense more around, none in the immediate vicinity, though.”
”Eight?”
”Armed and ready,” she reports, checking her set of weapons.
Eight had an excellent idea while getting ready for this mission. Instead of taking loud, projectile weapons or yet another flamethrower like the dwarves, she instead opted for a set of hoof-fitted bolt launchers based on the one she got from the griffon Imperial Guard, which means that in addition to her stretchy bodysuit and a riot helmet with plastic visor, her whole barrel is covered by thick, sharp, iron nails neatly stacked in belts. Very similar to how Gem stores her combat-ready vials, actually.
”Waaaaait! Give me a second,” speaking of Gem, our little alchemist daughter stops Eight from charging ahead and ruining someone’s day. I feel a faint mental pressure, but I can’t identify what it did. Afterwards, Gem says, ”Alright, go!”
Eight rushes ahead, and from her eyes I can see her quickly passing a faint cloud of lust invisible to naked eye which is One. The Twisted which looks like a pony-turned-squid opens its six eyes and a mouth to scream right as the top of its head disappears when Eight’s heavy bolt makes its whole body twitch. The second bolt from Eight’s other hoof launcher only serves impale the creature’s barrel to the floor. One, right behind Eight, spits corrosive goo at the creature, very obviously preventing its resurrection.
Five seconds, and the only noise was the clanking of the two bolts, a pair of hisses from Eight’s pneumatic launchers, and a single spit.
”Do you hear anything?” I tap my ear, and the dwarves shake their heads. My changelings reply that there’s no movement anywhere around at all, ”Well done. Gem, what was that beforehoof?”
”I cut the Twisted off from their hive mind. That way there was no chance that they would react en masse. I think I can keep doing it if we meet even two or three at once.”
”Excellent thinking. Okay, let’s keep moving,” with a wave of my hoof, our group resumes the slow progress of moving towards ‘the door’.
Scream identified the prophecy carving as a place where we should start. With luck, it should be our only stop. Unfortunately, it’s the place from where Twisted poured out, so I’m sure our good fortune of meeting only a solitary one can’t last.
Strangely enough, it does, and all we face are two singular Twisted, and one pair, which Eight, Gem, and One dispatch with deadly effectiveness. The only bad part is that One’s destruction of the bodies removes the option for Eight to recover her ammo. No big deal, though. One of the dwarves is carrying a whole bag of sharp metal.
So, we’ve reached the desired door, and after listening and combing through the hive mind we’ve decided that we’re as safe as we’ll ever be.
Scream is rushing around, examining all the walls. Three, trying to be helpful, points out the sections in which Scream finds interest to the dwarves who have assembled some strange equipment and are pointing it the right way.
It takes time. The way I understand it, which is through Six’s knowledge, they need to heat up the wall and then make a picture from the heat reflections. It’s nowhere as good as Scream’s ability to just see the writing, but we don’t have anything better.
As minutes pass, I watch Three walk around. Strangely enough, he’s armed. Not with a real weapon, no, but he’s got some building foam launcher - a tank on his back and a nozzle on his foreleg connected to it. It’s substance for quick repairs which hardens almost immediately. Three didn’t want to hurt anyone, but when this ‘weapon’ presented itself, he jumped on it, saying it was like shooting hugs at ponies. I should have dwarves make him a bola launcher, he’d love it.
Gem is reaching for the potions around her chest, and practicing the throwing motion, increasing chances that she’ll be able to do it under pressure if everything goes wrong. Most of her vials are filled with black substance which I have no idea what it does.
One is sitting with her back against the wall, eyes closed and listening or possibly checking any mental connections around just like Gem is doing. As for weapons, she opted for dual hoof pistols - small cannons which launch what dwarves call bullets. They look like bracelets with hoof-long size barrels on the perimeter, each being good for nine shots before reloading. I’m not sure how good precise weapons like those would be in face of the black tide, but I assume One knows what she’s doing. She probably dug more information from the minds of my changelings than I did by now.
I opted for the flamethrower, just like all the dwarves who joined us. It’s a short range weapon, but one with massive area of effect destructive potential. In dire need, it can also just launch the whole tank for a huuuge explosion, or so I was told. Eight, of course, has her nail guns.
Five is having fun despite the gravity of our mission, I can feel it from her. She got her grenade launcher, a whole lot of ammo, and after some examination by the dwarves she was allowed to keep her mobile laser gatling turret. Six promised he’d learn how to maintain it later. That was the first time I saw heart eyes in real life.
”Alright, we’re done here,” says Scream, ”The images are of good enough quality, so if the shortstacks print those properly, I’ll be able to make something from them. The bad part is that the information is far from complete, the good part is that just as I thought, we know where we need to go next. Hug bug explained my directions to the dwarves, and they know where the place is.”
Nothing can be easy, can it?
”Everyone, if we’re ready, let’s go.”
After some discussion over the dwarven map, we quickly catch on where we’re supposed to go, and invisible One takes the lead again.
By now, we’re more than ready for small encounters, and the few Twisted we have to face don’t prove a threat. The twenty-minute trip leads us to a rough cavern which at some point hosted ten tunnel mouths. Now, however, those are blocked by smooth Silversmith walls. With a victorious smile, Scream flies ahead to examine those.
”Be a dear and get rid of all the nuisances,” says the alicorn, nodding at the group of some twenty-or-so Twisted oblivious of her.
Still invisible One just shrugs,
”Hey, Gem, can the two of us block this many Twisted from communicating?” she asks.
”I can help!” adds Seven, ”I mean… I know I’m no good, but if I can block at least one of them, it would be easier for you.”
”I think I can safely do six now that I’ve gotten used to it,” says Gem, ”We can show Seven how to do that.”
”The rest is up to me then,” One shrugs, ”Seven, catch!”
Standing behind me, the changeling groans quietly as he’s assaulted by a headache caused by bundled up information and skills coming through the hive mind. It takes him about a minute before he nods and says:
”I… I think I can do that.”
”Good. Pick one, and we’ll do the rest. Gem, let’s do this. Everyone else, get ready to deal with them. We’re just blocking outside communication so that we’re not facing with hundreds more, we’re not making them weaker.”
I take point, and wait for One’s signal.
”Now!” transmits One with a strained voice.
I jump out from behind a bend in the tunnel, and rush forward. All the Twisted turn to face me, and instantly charge at us.
*Click.*
Of course I push the wrong button in panic, and my full canister of fuel lands amidst the attacking group.
The blast knocks me backwards, scattering shattered and burning Twisted everywhere.
”Who’s supposed to read this now?!” yells Scream, pointing at her section of wall now covered in Twisted mess.
A horrible burning abomination lurches out of the hellfire to me still dazed and on the floor. It opens its mouth to screech or puke, and I have no doubt both will have catastrophic results.
*Psssshhhh!*
The mouth is suddenly filled with thick, brown foam. Within the span of a second, the head is more brown ball than anything else, and a moment later the smoldering Twisted keels over, obviously choked out.
“Get hugged!” squeaks Three in a high-pitched voice, three legs trembling as he’s standing on them while the nozzle of his foam launcher is still stuck pointing at where the Twisted’s head used to be, “You leave boss alone, spindly!”
When I grab Three, I start shaking too, realizing how close I was to becoming one of the monsters.
”You’re my hero,” I pull him into an embrace with his back against my barrel, ”Don’t forget that.”
With the dwarves rushing in behind us and incinerating the remains of Twisted dazed or downright wrecked by my accidental discharge, I wait until my breathing slows down again before standing back up.
”Boss, we’ve got a problem,” says Gem, ”I can feel more Twisted approaching.”
”I thought you blocked any contact?”
”Well yeah, we did, but they aren’t deaf!”
Great… I tried to protect them all, and now I might have screwed everyone over. Okay, think, think, think!
”Are they coming?”
”Yep, I sense another group like this,” One butts in, ”and we won’t be able to lock them off again. MY head is still spinning.”
”Agreed,” Gem nods, gritting her teeth.
”Seven?”
“Hnngh...” the changeling in question is lying on the floor, groaning, ”I’ll be… just give me… a second...”
”Five, drag Seven inside,” I order, and switch to real voice, “Dwarves, get rid of the remains so that we can fight, then follow Scream’s instructions.”
“Who is Scream?” asks the nearest soldier.
“Three, go be an interpreter again!” I nod at the drone who waves at the scanning dwarf and rushes to Scream’s wall, “Everyone else, make a bottleneck here. There’s only one access path here, so hopefully we won’t draw everything to us.”
Gem bolts a short distance away into the tunnel, puts two vials on the floor, and runs back to us.
”This should keep them from moving too much.”
”They can walk on the walls and ceiling. Just saying,” I add one tiny insignificant detail.
”Come on, dad. I’m not stupid.”
”Yeah, don’t diss Walter White here,” Scream pats Gem’s head, which of course ends with her hoof going through the changeling, ”Now, I’ve got good news and bad news.”
”Good first. I need some good news right now.”
”This wall contains the accurate measurements of the reality breaking pillars and the logic behind their construction, which means I can scale them up or down as much as I want.”
”Aaand the bad news?”
”There’s one more section we need to see, which should be about the crystals atop the pillars. The good part is that I know where it is.”
”The bad par-”
She points into the tunnel.
”The spookies are coming! Try to be a bit quieter next time.”
First Twisted charge from behind the tunnel bend we used before to surprise the local group, and keep running without a moment of hesitation.
I’m having some trouble understanding what happens next, when clusters of shiny black tentacles sprout from the floor and start binding Twisted, slowing them down or making them stumble.
A dwarf shoves a fresh flamethrower fuel canister into my weapon, and this time I press the right button. I can feel the heat from the lance of fire on my face, and have to shut off my nose to avoid throwing up.
Point.
Click.
Hold against minor recoil.
Repeat.
NOTHING will make me back off. Information keeps coming via the hive mind. Targets, decisions which will be made in the next millisecond, who is targeting whom, everything that makes changelings the best coordinated fighting force in existence.
Silence.
Okay, maybe running out of enemies will make me stop.
”It’s okay,” a hoof lands on my back, making me finally stop spewing fire into the now empty tunnel, ”No one else is there. It’s okay.”
They were everywhere…
Teeth, tentacles everywhere…
”Shhh… it’s okay,” whispers the soothing voice again, ”It’s always a shock the first time.”
To my surprise, it’s One who is by my side, speaking the calming message.
Under her ministrations, I lower my foreleg, and breathe out.
“Better?” she asks, and when I nod she smiles, immediately walking over to Five who is shaking, but at least in control. In the back, Gem is in the back by Seven’s side who is lying on the floor with his head in his hooves.
Three is just sitting by the wall, staring at it while pressing the trigger of his clearly empty foam gun repeatedly, only letting out weak farting noises. His mind is in complete chaos of fear, quick reactions, fear, images of Twisted lunging at him, and more fear.
We dealt with the paladins and the princesses, but this… was something else. There was no chance to talk, no chance to negotiate, no room for error as well. A single contact and your life might be over. Just thinking about it makes me start shaking again, but there’s a soul which needs me, and I’m the boss.
I don’t have time to be scared.
Gritting my teeth, I grab Three. He bites my foreleg. That finally makes him snap out of it, and he looks at me in pure horror.
“That’s okay, buddy,” I put him on my back where he hugs my neck, “We’ve dealt with worse than few snot ponies,” turning around, I point at a mass of building foam covering the side of the entrance, narrowing it significantly, “Great thinking with that bottleneck.”
“I- I- I- I just wanted-” he stutters.
“You did great. Keep it up, and you just might dethrone One from her own rank,” I chuckle.
Oh great… why did I have to say that right as she’s passing by?
One pats Three’s head, and nuzzles his neck.
“I’m not giving up that easily,” she just smiles and keeps going.
Who are you and what did you do with real One?
“You, ammo dwarf?” I call out.
“Bronze Plate, your Majesty,” he- no, she waves her foreleg and salutes.
“Help Three load another foam canister. I doubt Granite was dumb enough to send us out with only one charge, even if it was for Three,” I nod towards the ground, “Three, can you stand?”
He whimpers, but hops off of me. At first, he recoils when the dwarf reaches out to him, but then he realizes what he’s doing, and accepts the fresh canister and assistance.
”Do we have what we need?”
”Yes,” answers Scream, ”The second image is accurate enough. We need to haul ass, though. While you, nerd bug, and hug bug were having your mental breakdown, One told me that Twisted are moving, and this time it will be more than twenty. However, they’re confused about what happened, so we’ve got a chance to get out.”
”Look, I’ve never been-”
”In a real battle for your life? With no one fighting instead of you? In position to shove a foal into war? Yeah, congratulations, now get growing up fast! We don’t have time. If it helps, if any of us screw up, what will happen to everyone everywhere will be much worse than some slime changelings with tentacles coming out of their assholes prowling the underground.”
Getting angry won’t help anything.
”Everyone, do we know where to go?”
A chorus of agreements is the answer I get, and I realize that we really DO know the place, although it is long trek. It’s near the castle. Namely, just by the mouth of the tunnel which Eight collapsed to stop Twisted from potentially reaching Stompy.
So, right past the enclave, through the tunnels, and up by the ravine stairs.
All that while Eight bolts alarmed Twisted in the head, and the dwarves scare more and more off. By the time the dwarves have climbed up the ravine stairs, we’re flying around and shooting Twisted off of the sheer rock walls.
The real question is - how do we get out AFTER we have the images? We don’t know if there’s another route around, and the way to the castle is blocked off.
Screw it, images first, escape later.
As I tap my hoof against the floor after I land by the cave in, I look over the cliff edge, and grin.
”Eight, to me!”
She lands by my side two seconds later. I spit on the floor.
”Stomp here. Properly. The edge should break off,” I back away and warn others, ”We’re dropping the cliff on the bastards, get closer to the wall.”
“How’s the scanning going?” I yell out loud.
“We need ten minutes. We’ve just started!”
Ten minutes it is then.
*Boom!*
My ears pop as Eight hits the marked spot with both forelegs joined together.
Another hit.
Nothing happens.
”Not budging, boss!” she reports.
”Umm, can I say something, boss?” squeaks Three.
”Yeah?”
”The vertical break is about three hooves to the left from your spot,” he says, ”Sorry.”
”Eight, you heard him.”
As she raises herself on her hind legs to slam down again, the first Twisted arrive, pouncing from under the edge.
*Boom!*
This time I can feel the ground tremble under my hooves, and Eight jumps backwards. Cracks spread almost instantly, and our platform becomes about a pony length shorter as a plate of the whole cliff crumbles down into the depths, the shower of rocks taking dozens of crawling Twisted straight into magma deep down.
Of course, the Twisted climbing some distance away are already leaping over the edge, and eating first bullets from One’s dual pistols. One would be deadly against any living opponent who values their brain in one piece, but her precise headshots aren’t the best way to deal with enemies who need to be destroyed completely.
One picks another target currently climbing up, and with its head exploding it keels over backwards. A vial explodes in front of her, making black tentacles sprout from the rocky floor, grab the Twisted too close to One to be shot down, and throw it into the ravine.
”Thanks, honey!” One calls out at Gem, and with her immediate vicinity clear, she returns to sniping Twisted back down from the edge.
Eight unloads bolt after bolt, the kinetic force of her projectiles being enough to shoot down a Twisted no matter the place hit unlike One’s pistols. The problem is that the ravine is long, and we can’t cover the area of Twisted getting up on the platform.
We’ve formed a circle around the scanning dwarves, trying to defend ourselves in hope that we’ll find a way to get the information to Scream afterwards somehow.
Three screaming and burning skulls fly from behind me and explode with mad laughter, scattering Twisted everywhere.
For clarification, the laughter is coming both from Seven AND his magic skulls.
Huh, Seven and the screaming skulls sounds like a great music band name.
Grinning to myself at the thought, I fry Twisted in a sweeping arc on the left side of our half-circle. The trigger suddenly clicks, the pilot light flares, but nothing happens. I reflexively smack the alternative fire button which launches the empty fuel canister straight into an approaching Twisted’s face.
The face which suddenly takes on some stony features as Three envelopes the Twisted in building foam. A dwarf by my side buys me time as another one tosses me a fresh canister.
”Shit!” I hear Eight, but her cursing isn’t her problem, as I immediately receive an image of One under a waterfall of black worms,
“NO!” I scream, but what can I do? I can’t start toasting her. She’s on the other side of the circle anyway.
A burst of pink fire evaporates the Twisted, revealing succubus form of One enveloped in an aura of flames.
“STOP PUKING ON PONIES!” she screams, letting out a blast of energy from her foreleg which disintegrates half of a Twisted’s body.
She’s fine.
Thank holes.
Now, if we find a way to transform everyone into demons, we’ll be okay.
A Twisted’s leg lengthens and impales the dwarf next to me, dragging him towards the incoming group who swarm around him. There’s no way he can get out of this, so I launch my half-empty canister into the feeding frenzy. The fuel ignites and takes with it the soldier’s own supply, resulting in a small mushroom cloud clearing our side completely for few seconds.
Eight has run out of bolts, and is now cleaving through the enemies with the griffon Emperor’s sword. By all means, with this close contact she should be transforming already-
Ohhhh…!
Specks of fire evaporate Twisted blood and bits before they can touch her suit or helmet, and I recognize a flow of information between Seven and her, as the changeling mage summons fire shields where Eight’s hypersensitive reactions point out any potential contact.
”WE’RE DONE!” yells Scream suddenly, ”BUT IT WILL ALL BE FOR NOTHING IF YOU CAN’T GET THE PLANS TO ME! I NEED ONE AND NERD BUG!”
”You heard the alicorn!” I order, ”Eight, back off a bit. No shields for you for now. One, Seven, do what Scream tells you!”
”Nerd bug, get the banishment ritual ready. That will send One as well as everything she’s got straight back to me. I’ll send her back as soon as I can!” says Scream as One obliterates multiple Twisted with one shot, ”You, stop messing around and get the papers the dwarf is printing.”
Three, who has been running around and relaying Scream’s orders to the dwarves as well as helping everywhere else and serving as love source, throws his empty foam gun at a Twisted who lunges at him.
A barrage of red beams shreds the creature to steaming pieces, and more laughter, this time female, pierces the air.
“EAT MY GIANT LASER COCK!” Five, having run out of grenades to launch, has finally prepared her gatling turret, and is currently clearing the area with an arc of bright crimson death.
Disappearance of One’s link in a burst of flames signal Seven’s banishment ritual being successful.
”Boss bug, no one will know how much you helped save this world,” I hear Scream’s voice through growing haze of exhaustion, ”Heck, no one will know about MY role in things too.”
Another dwarf falls, and I grab his flamethrower. Everything feels slow now, and I can’t even feel the heat from the weapon anymore.
”You see, there’s one thing I didn’t tell you,” Scream continues as I empty another fuel tank, and don’t get a new one this time. My love blade slashes a Twisted in half, his blood splattering the visor of my helmet, ”I know the future. I will bring the god here, and I will die. Rather painfully. That’s how it usually goes, though. No one will thank us, no one will remember us. The only thing I’ll miss will be hug bug’s massages. That guy has real talent. Goodbye, little king.”
When did they surround me?
Eight, with her leg already transformed into a tentacle, sweeps Twisted away. Three has curled up behind the dwarven scanning device with his head under his forelegs.
I can sense Seven’s panic as he realizes that the dwarves are gone, and that he’s the last line of defense protecting Gem and Three.
This is our last stand.
With my many freshly open eyes covering the side of my barrel I see Eight using her hind legs and a fresh tentacle tail as a tripod while she’s slashing her sword in wide arcs, cleaving Twisted into pieces which reconstruct into more enemies.
“EiGHt! KiLl thEm aLl! TaKe AlL tHe fUcKS doWn With US!” I gurgle after biting another Twisted’s head off and spinning around with my dual love chainsaws grinding the skulls of enemies around.
I know Eight will fight as long as her self-control lasts. I know for damn sure I will.
But at this point it isn’t our last stand. We’re too far gone. I give one final glance to Gem running out of potions, Seven exhausted from the banishment ritual, Five firing her cannon like crazy, and Three curled up behind them.
It’s theirs.
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Apologies for the salt.
You know, first Celestia screws them over by making them changelings, then she screws them over again by pinning her war crimes on 'lings. After that we have ancestral circlejerk with Old Rulers and basically changeling culture and society being thrown back into hardcore dark ages. Then boss comes into the picture and there is hope for them to settle, learn from the dwarves, you can even say it could have been a Renaissance era for them. And now Scream ends his hive before it could even properly begin,for a good cause ,maybe, but still. Some individual 'lings may survive, but the hive looks done for, unless Four decides to continue her father's legacy. Is she still a drone, or is she Queen tier?
Never make a deal with a dragon, and never trust an Alicorn.
So only changeling faction left now is Chrysalis?
WHHAAAAAAAAT??!!
Dude, not cool.
But...but...Eight! Nooooo!
...
...
...
woa is the song of the unsung heroes. may they forever exist in the shadows, protecting us from evil, but never for praise. they do not do what they do because they seek fame or fortune. they do not do it because it is easy for them. they do it because it is right. and though the history books may not remember the lives, the struggles, or the sacrifices of these unsung heroes. they will forever be remembered by those of us who watch. The halls of Valhalla will sing their glory... even if the land of the living will not...
i have many a sad now... many, many sad... there is a wetness on my cheek and a pain in my chest...
you have reminded my that i have a heart... by making it hurt.
tho i cant help but wonder if the mention of a changeling being able to adapt to the twisted is not foreshadowing something...
Keep in mind, insecure bug may have landed on that cold island and been magically preserved alongside the legion guy. They will be freed, struggle against each other, and learn the power of friendship which will help them to cure the corruption and live happily ever after.
Scream will lose her divinity. Void will as well. As a lost soul there will be no place else for Scream to hide from the people she has hurt so. No place left to run from what she has done.
9657001
I really don't know how to answer without spoiling stuff. It all hinges on whether or not you at this point believe Scream's story, or whether you think she was really just playing them all the time. Considering Scream's history (without reading "Dawn of the Silver Sun"), there are good arguments for both.
Now, without spoilers - Gem gets out (obviously since she's in "Legacy of Light"). Right now she's an infiltrator, but eventually gets so powerful she can be considered queen-tier.
9657003
Rest.
9657163
In.
9657287
Pepperoni.
9657437
True heroes fight in shadows so that others don't even know there was a threat.
9657553
And shoot rainbow lasers out of their ears too!
9657556
And new alicorns of Death and Lust will rise to end the fight Scream and Void led for eons, thanks to the foundations the original two built.
9657769
It is less about Scream and more about how every time Changelings try to be something other than soul devouring monsters it backfires horribly(In the beginning by Celestia,twice.Then paladins,then Scream,probably there is more,but i dont know).
9657809
Diamonds are made under pressure.
9657827
yes. but more diamonds are shattered under the very same pressure that makes them then survive to be harvested.
If destiny brings you to the one who will take your life... make that fucker earn it.
your changelings aren't getting the short end of the stick, they are getting beaten with the stick...
9657886
Chitin is mightier than a stick. Maybe.
I knew everything will goes to hell!
But now we have happy twisted family, yay
9659128
Three will now have tentacles for hugging.
And I got an instant downvote with that chapter.
9659496
Well, people doesn't like when shit happens with their favorite characters.
And can also Three be infected? Since, you know, kinda magical body and everything...
9659502
Oh yes, he can. If it was a divine body made by Scream, he would be in similar shape to One and probably immune, but then they would just kill him. Since boss made the body from his own chitin plus some mess he found around, 3's basically just a slightly tougher changeling.
Going to be funny when it turns out that Boss' hive mind strength is enough to dominate the twisted and take over the organic hegemony. Given the way they seem to be built, they're a hive mind, likely made of leftover ancient changelings, with no real leadership, set to 'Eat! Grow! Expand!' mode until given further orders. Kind of like a rampant version of the Masu from Tenchi Muyo*. Just... Not powered by antimatter in the core of their bodies.
And Boss is a KING. His Lordship needs to assert domination of the Mas- er, twisted.
And with no clues outside this story, I want to say the twisted are the result of a nanomachine accident from the first branch of Project Living End. Things kind of get messed up fast when you cross advanced nanotech with dealing with dark gods. One wrong move and you Grey Goo yourself trying to make a nanotech bioweapon.
*The Masu are relatively docile, jelly-like collective organisms made of matter, neutral matter, and anti-matter. They have primitive mental capability and moderate psychic ability, and tend to latch on to any strong wills/emotions they encounter and adopt that will's purpose. However, when the collective mind of a Masu cluster feels threatened, it responds by channeling some of it's antimatter to create what is effectively an overpowered annihilation blast at the psychic signature of the thing that threatens it. In layman's terms: Scare the Masu, it blows you up with nuclear projectiles. If you can get past that, and have enough psychic strength combined with an adaptable morphology, you can fuse with a Masu collective and it will become an extension of your body.
9659619
An interesting theory, both on the Twisted origin and boss' capabilities. Sadly, the spread of Twisted is more akin to an infection than conscious effort, so it's either immune system or nothing. One, being a divine creature now, could control few, but not the entire single-minded mass. Strictly because the "will" or "the purpose" behind Twisted is something… beyond understanding.
I don't have enough popcorn for this clusterbuck of a cliffhanger!
9659998
BUY MORE POPCORN!
*popcorn companies, I'm waiting for sponsorship.*
9659661
Grow. Expand! EXPLODE!
Seems pretty straight forward to me.
wait now i'm so confused! are we getting a permanent protagonist shift? ngl i kinda felt like the boss was gonna get a double whammy. and damn did he get wombo combo'd. along with his wifey, at least they go out together tho.
rip boss and eight, may they join Two and rest in tentacle henta- i mean in the void in peace together.
or who knows, maybe they come back from popular demand????? eh? ehh????????? (worth a try at least)
either way thanks for the update!!
9660411
You'll just have to wait. Both for the epilogue of doom and the world being lost, and the eventual "After Dark" tentacle edition.
Or maybe Three hugs everyone to get better.
Or maybe One gets back in time to save at least someone.
Or Three becomes the next boss, and escapes the underground with Seven and Five, helping evacuate Brauheim to Rift or the Crystal Empire, and a great war is coming for the next book.
Or maybe something completely different.
9660441
Wow that is a lot of different outcomes of which many do and don't spark joy.
But yeah guess I'll just have to find out on the next episode of DRAGO-uhh Changeling King Z????
?????????????????????????
9664680
Boss has been charging his spirit bomb for the past 17 episodes, will it finally be ready, or will there be random filler?
RIP
9665298
Recuperate In Potatoes.
Well...
That escalated quickly.
Dangit! I don't think I can take Three getting killed again. I don't really care about boss bug and eight; I'm more worried about my happy huggy bug!
Yeah, the mission was going way too smoothly for it to end in any way successfully.
You know just once I want a story where when a threat like this comes up the main character calls the threat maker’s bluff because Scream would know that if she went through with her threats she would lose any sway she had over Boss and would make an enemy out of him. In this situation Scream can do nothing about being told no because she would lose her perceived leverage
11217523
You're forgetting that Scream can also "probably" make Three's body stop working and THAT is the real threat.