A sister's responsibility
Chapter 31
“Oh please don't struggle Captain,” one of the changelings mocked as they wrapped him in a cocoon. “Your rage is very distracting. We don’t want to hurt your wife, not yet anyway.”
The changeling's threat only further riled up Shining Armor as he continued to helplessly struggle inside the green cocoon.
“Honestly you should feel honored,” he chuckled. “Our queen personally requested you once she heard you were having marriage problems. Who knows, maybe she'll help you get rid of your violent tendencies towards mares.” The changeling patiently waited as Shining Armor let out a muffled scream and series of swears inside the cocoon.
“Most changeling's can't stand rage, tastes extremely bitter, but I've developed a fondness for it.. And I'll have you know, it tastes delicious coming from you. Especially when it mixes with your wife's fear. We didn't even come for her. It was you we wanted, but she's a good bonus.”
“Enough,” another praetorian said evenly, “we need to get to a place we can teleport.”
“Fine,” the changeling folded his forelegs and levitating Shining Armor's squirming cocoon into the air. “All that fighting, we'll have to leave the palace grounds.”
“Up the mountain it is,” declared the leader.
“As you command.” the praetorian laughed, taking off with the cocoon.
---
“We have to be going now,” the pegasus guard said halfway through the doorway. “Sorry we don't have the change for a tip but if we are ever in the neighborhood again we'll be sure to come back.”
“I give the desert a five out of five,” the Unicorn said, smiling as he finished driving the last post in the ground. “We'll be sure to let everypony else know how exquisite it all tasted.”
“Although I do have one complaint to make,” he said, looking back at their work and smiling. The natural healing would keep the deserters alive long enough for the actual fun to begin. The praetorians lamented not being able to stay for it. “The food was a bit undercooked, but we'll fix that.”
A small green spark emitted from the Unicorn's horn and immediately set alight the spilled cooking oil. With one last look back the praetorians shut the door.
“I really would've liked to have drug that on,” the earth pony lamented as they started at a trot towards the disaster that had become the palace. Smoke rose from various towers and the ponies on the street could just make out the magical crossfire.
“We all would've,” the unicorn chuckled, trying to keep composure after the sweet fear they had ingested. It was substantial enough to give him a good high. Not enough to mess with his higher functions though. Had time not cut into their fun he was doubtful if he'd be able to walk back. It's not every day you get to destroy an entire nest of deserters.
“We need to pick up the pace,” The pegasus said. After the others nodded they all turned into their changeling forms, albeit with larger wings, and flew towards the palace.
---
Stigandr stood in the remains of the door that once opened to the throne room. The once regal room had been devastated by the attack. Immediately he rushed to help ponies trapped under the rubble that had been left behind from the fight. He worked from pony to pony until he saw a wing sticking out of one of the rocks. It was too large to belong to a pegasus. Rushing over he started to lift levitate the rock off the wing. The unicorn paused when he realized it wasn't Scott.
“Don't just stand there, help me!” The beaten griffin pleaded.
“Sorry,” Stigandr said, effortlessly levitating the rest of the debris. “Have you seen another griffin around?”
“No, I have not,” The griffin said, moving to help some of the trapped ponies. He stopped when he realized that: One, he was in no shape to move anything; and two, the unicorn that helped him was already taking care of it. He spared a glance out the hole in the wall. Princess Luna flew by with five of the large insects close behind her, were gnashing their teeth and shooting blasts of green fire.
“So, those are changelings?” The griffin asked, cradling his injured wing.
“Yup,” Stigandr said, lifting more rubble off grateful ponies. Several guards showed up to help. They began carrying the ponies too injured to walk out of the ruined throne room. Several looked in shock as they witnessed their princesses' fight.
“We need to help them,” a pegasus guard said, spreading his wings preparing to fly.
“The princesses can handle themselves,” a voice spoke Stigandr turned and saw an officer, “Our first priority is to help the ponies trapped in the palace. First evacuate then attack.”
“But,” the young pegasus said before his superior silenced him with a look that reminded Stigandr of one of his Marine DI's.
The ponies got the message and did the best they could to pay the fight no mind, as difficult as it was for them.
“You,” the officer said toward Stigandr. Almost out of instinct the unicorn went to rigid attention. “Get your changeling and griffin friend out of here.”
---
Scott bolted through the halls yelling for his friend with both his chosen name and the NATO designation the griffin had picked for him. The guards he ran past didn't pay him much mind, too busy evacuating ponies or organizing a defense to aid the princesses in the dogfight.
“Whiskey Bravo!” Scott shouted at the top of his lungs. If that didn't get the changelings attention he was sure what would.
“Scott, where are Spike and Ancro?” Twilight said running up behind him.
“I'm trying to find him,” Scott said, continuing his run through the halls. “Who is Spike?”
“The dragon.”
“Don't know don't care.” Scott said between breaths, “Shouldn't he be in Ponytown!”
“He arrived today,” Twilight said, trying to keep up with the griffin's bounds. She flattened her ears every time he took a deep breath. Sweet Celestia his voice is loud.
“Why are they attacking?” the southern sounding one asked. Applejack, if Scott remembered correctly.
“Short version, he probably pissed them off and now they are trying to kill him,” the griffin said, making a left down a corridor.
“All this over one changeling!” Applejack gasped. “Seems a bit drastic.”
“Ancro!” Scott shouted, ignoring the observation. The griffin cranked his head around and looked at Twilight. “Can't you teleport us to him?”
“No,” Twilight said, “I need to know where he is.”
“Don't you have some sort of tracking spell?” Scott pleaded. If this pony was all she cracked up to be she needed to have at least something that could help them.
“Yes and it was on the ring he had on his horn,” Twilight said.
“Why didn't you put it on him?” Scott replied, nearly tripping over some debris as the palace shook again. Only his wings kept him from face-planting.
“Tracking living things is extremely difficult,” Twilight said.
“Twilight!” Spike came running up to the unicorn. “We need to get out of here! Ancro said you and the other elements are in danger!”
“You saw him! Where is he?” Scott demanded, in his panic pouncing the dragon pinning both his shoulders to the ground.
“He said he was going to stall the changeling that was attacked us,” Spike said. “He was in the west wing.”
“That idiot!” Scott shouted, taking off in the direction the dragon had directed him to.
“Spike, Applejack, find everypony else and get them to the hall of the elements,” Twilight ordered.
“What about you?” Spike and Applejack asked simultaneously.
“I'll catch up when I'm done helping Scott,” she said then called back to them, “don't worry, I'll be fine.”
“Alright partner, here's the plan,” Applejack said. “I need you to be brave and go get Fluttershy from the west tower. I'm gonna nab Pinkie Pie and Rarity. If you see Rainbow Dash, let her know the plan. Hopefully before she gets involved in that.” Applejack pointed her hoof out the window as Celestia fired a large beam of light narrowly missing one of the changelings.
“You don't know where she is?” Spike asked, “What if we can't find her, I don't have to be her again, do I?”
“No sugar cube you won't have to be the element of loyalty again,” Applejack replied. Spike nodded, noticeably relieved. He then took a deep breath and started to run down the hall toward the tower.
---
Ancro was trying to formulate a plan. The changeling that took a shot at Spike was long behind him and now he had to save the Mane Six. His head was pounding so bad he couldn't keep thoughts straight speaking a plan out loud seemed like it may work. “Find Mane Six, get them to safe spot of palace. The place where they store the Elements may be a good idea. Get the box to open and have them fix whole mess.”
Ancro squinted to cut down on the pain his eyes were putting out. He wished he could get his ears taken out too. So much for never burning himself out again. Having verbally formed a plan he continued walking onwards. He tried to run but it felt like his brain was bouncing around in his skull and the last thing he needed was to be on the ground vomiting.
“Discord,” Ancro mumbled. “Where are the mane six?”
“Well Twilight is with Scott heading towards the west wing of the palace. Rarity and Pinkie are trying to get ponies evacuated. Rainbow Dash is napping on a cloud and Fluttershy is hiding in the kitchen of that tower.” Discord's shadow pointed to the tower nearest Ancro, at least it looked like the closest one. He couldn't tell anymore between no depth perception, exhaustion, and the migraine. A bright green flash forced the changeling to his head as all of his senses were assaulted. He looked again and now there was a chunk missing from part of the tower. Luna was banking around firing whatever shots that she could.
“Is there anyling I need to be worried about over there?” Ancro asked. Discord was being helpful without asking for something. This made the changeling worried.
“No there isn't.”
“Bully,” Ancro responded, forcing a smile on his face and walking towards the tower. He focused on the only thing that was going to drive him forward. Ancro imagined Stigandr being a few feet in front of him, his constant need to one up his friend would drive him forward. Even if he was only imaginary.
---
“Firecracker get your flank back in bed this instant.” The doctor noticed the pegasus trying to sneak out of the ward while everypony was distracted by new patients coming in.
“I am an officer in the royal guard,” Firecracker replied, “I have responsibilities that do not include waiting in the infirmary.”
“And as a doctor of the royal guard's infirmary I have every authority to say you are not allowed to get yourself killed!” the doctor snapped back, clearly out of patience. The infirmary was starting to get full from the casualties of the battle. Thankfully most of them weren't serious. “If you want to do something help with Triage, otherwise I will sedate you so heavily that you won't wake up til the damn Summer Sun Celebration!” Firecracker made a move to open her mouth but saw a vial levitate in the unicorn's magical aura. He then looked her dead in the eyes and spoke very evenly, “Be grateful I'm giving you the option.”
And Hoplon said she was scary when her buttons got pushed. She took a deep breath and looked at the strained nurses and doctors busy over freshly arriving patients. “Who's first.”
“Excellent choice,” the doctor replied smiling.
---
The praetorian watched his prey lurch towards the tower. The idiot had burnt himself out in their brief firefight and now he was beginning to suffer for it. It was entertaining to sit there and watch the traitor suffer. The praetorain charged his horn not wishing to drag this debacle of a mission on further. Taking a deep breath the spells charged between his horns. The long sharp claws dug into floor inpreparation. In his mind he planned out how it would go. Three fireballs ready glowed between his horn. First one would blast through the stone protecting the changeling cover, the second one would clear any debris that may have fell and kill if not stun his target. The third was for if the somehow the changeling was still alive after the second shot. It was long and narrow, more closely resembling a toothpick than a fireball. It would pierce even a praetorian’s armor. He should know it's how he won his place.
The second he fired a ball of green fire connected with his face. All three fireballs went way off target and hit somewhere at the base of the tower his prey was heading to. Before he could fully recover from the fireball the praetorian was knocked against a wall. He immediately recognized the emotional frequency of a changeling’s fireball, but he could adjust his body to deal with close combat. A sword glanced off his chitin armor and knocked his head into the wall again. He regained his senses in and was able to block the next swing and knock out the levitated sword.
Letting out a vicious roar the changeling lunged at his aggressor, narrowly dodging the next fireball she sent to greet him. The commander was supposed to deal with this one. How she had managed to get away was beyond him. Why she was attacking when running was the better option was an even further befuddlement. It didn't matter though, he was praetorian, and she was nothing more than a nuisance.
---
After waking up with a headache Blueblood stumbled through the halls, steadily making his way in the direction he thought was the infirmary. His head really hurt and he felt so confused. The palace kept shaking and he couldn't remember what he had been doing. He remembered fighting, his room exploding, then he was looking for Ancro. Oh now bits were coming back to him. He came across Scott and the he dared to spit in the face of a prince. In the moment he had been distracted the griffin beat on him as if he were a punching bag.
A green flash came from the hallway and a truly monstrous creature flew around the corner. Blueblood braced himself for the attack but the giant bug completely ignored him. Blueblood found this an insult and took off down the hall after the creature. Maybe it was that treacherous Ancro after all trying to mock him in his weakened state. That changeling was going to learn. Sore or not he was still Prince Blueblood!
---
The praetorian’s claw narrowly missed its mark. Specs countered by blasting rubble into her opponents unprotected eyes. His style and how she had been able to sneak up on him told her that this changeling was extremely deadly at long range. He most likely made his eyes better over the other senses. Take away the one he relied on the most and he'd be less deadly. The praetorian could still probably eviscerate her but she was ready to die if it meant her brother and the rest of the deserters would be safe.
The praetorian continued its attack blindly. Specs ducked but the claws stopped short and hit the ground. The praetorian then turned on his wrist and hit Specs with a buck from his catlike rear legs. She managed to recover as he followed up with an overhead slash. The blow cleaved through her chitin head armor. Thankfully it didn't penetrate deeply and only cost her an eye. She fired a shot that went wide as the changeling dodged and and hit her with a vicious shoulder tackle that shattered a bust behind her. Immediately Specs gave her mouth rows of sharp teeth and bit down on the changeling's neck, soliciting a pained howl from the praetorian as she crunched through the armor and sank her teeth into the neck of the changeling.
She felt the magical spike and immediately let go. A fireball hit where the front of her head would've been. She brought her armor up just in time to get hit by the sweeping claw. They stabbed through her armor and gave her assailant ample leverage to fling her against the wall. Her armor quickly dissipated as her energy finally ran out. She had used most of it to stall the praetorian in the lab.
She barely dodged the gnashing teeth that were meant to crack her skull open. Luckily the former recon changeling managed to only lose her dorsal fin in the crocodile like bite. However her back peddle down the hall left her wide open to the changeling’s magic. All she saw green, and all she felt was heat. Through the pain Specs smiled, her brother and the changeling in the restaurant were saved.
All the memories of her and her brother flashed before her eyes. His reckless and poorly planned desertion. Her tracking him to the Everfree and finding him half starved and lost. The fight they had when she tried to talk him into coming back. Her agreeing to help him and follow him. She did her job and protected her Shift until her dying breath.
---
“I'll give you two minutes.” the commander whispered in Duo's ear as he passed. Immediately the rookie detected a change in the changeling guards behaviors. Duo wasn't stupid, he knew it was a taunt, not a kindness. Regardless, he was relieved he'd be able to say goodbye to Una. He hoped she would be proud. The heavy doors to the cell opened with a reluctant creak as the changelings dispatched the few ponies that had been there.
“Hello Una,” Duo said as the door closed behind him. If he didn't hear the snicker he could certainly taste it.
“Duo, I'm so glad I get to see you one last time,” she said from behind the bars, the magic ring standing out against the black sheen on her horn. “I'm so proud that you made it. Did Fect make it?”
“The commander gave us two minutes,” he said. “And no, in the last trial we ended up sharing a bracket.”
“I see.” She asked somewhat crestfallen, “Before or during the match?”
“During,” Duo said. “He was my friend and if I was going to kill him-”
“Oh silly little brother,” she smiled. “How do you think I made it to the finals? The only real fight I had was the final round. He hadn't been nearly as stupid as the others and knew I was coming for him.”
“Picked off your roster before any real competition.”
“Yes,” she said. “A praetorian must be willing to do whatever it takes and risk all the consequences. They ordered everyling to win, but only one would make it.”
“Una,” Duo shook his head remembering how well his sister liked the loopholes in rules. Whether intentional or not she'd dive head first through them.
“You were always the special changeling,” she joked. “Duo, it's been great catching up but you have a job to do.”
Duo took a deep breath and grew a second horn. He charged a ball between them and looked at his sister's nonchalant face. “Don't hesitate,” she advised. “They'll smell it and give you hell.”
Una glared at her brother, “What are you waiting for?” Still Duo held his shot. “Do it already!”
“I'm so sorry,” he said, choking back a tear.
“Don't apologize!” She said trying to hold back her own tears. If that idiot had just done she wouldn't be feeling this. Why did he have to hesitate. “Just kill me!”
Duo tried to force the magic to start yet nothing would happen. “I’m sorry.”
“Please, it'll be alright,” she said calming herself. “You can be so stupid sometimes.”
“I’m so useless,” He stomped cracking the stone beneath him.
“Damn it Duo!” Una’s voice rang out trying to reach her brother, “I failed, you have to kill me. That doesn’t mean you have to die. Kill the bastard changeling that made you do it.”
He let the fireball hit her. There was more energy in it than he thought he put in there. The bars of her cell were warped by the heat and force of the blast. He felt the tears on his face and immediately removed the source of the problem. Taking a deep breath and clearing the emotions from his head and body he stepped out into the hall.
“You blinked,” the commander said as he walked out of the door. “Help the squad that was supposed to get Playtime. They ran into a stumbling block.”
---
Scott heard the blast down the hallway. He heard a scream and saw the dust and smoke. Instantly Twilight's horn glowed.
The next thing he knew was he had been engulfed in purple light and was a few yards from a charred body; it had been propelled down the hallway on a fireball. The holes in its legs gave it away as a changeling. It wasn't moving and it wasn't healing. A closer inspection showed that it wasn't going to start. The smell of burnt flesh reached his nostrils and Scott clenched his talons.
A quick glance down the hallway revealed a praetorian. Its back was turned, focused on something out the window. Fireballs were charging between its horns. Scott hoped that he could make them explode on the changeling's head. Somewhere during his charge down the hall he grabbed a sword.
One of his best friends had died. Scott's mind was wrapping around that, Ancro was dead. He had died in Equestria, a place his friend had always wanted to go. That changeling had turned one of the best experiences of his friend's life and killed him during it. The more the griffin thought about it the more his blood boiled. The changeling hadn't noticed him. Scott let out his rage in the form of a war cry as he brought the sword down on the changeling's neck.
The sword cracked one of the horns and the fireballs dissipated. The praetorian screeched in shock from another individual sneaking up on him and rage that some griffin could've been that stupid. If he hadn't seen him at the last second then the spell could've gone off right there and killed them both.
Although with the blind rage coming from the sword swinging griffin the praetorian doubted he cared. His claw came up to hit his opponents exposed neck and end this fight quickly. However a sudden spike in magic had his foreleg covered in a purple aura while the griffin brought the sword down on his forehead. Immediately he looked down the hallway and found the source of the magic. Not having the time for a fireball he launched a ball of green goo at her face. She managed to duck away just in time to avoid it hitting her face and only getting her horn.
The praetorian was actually mildly curious as to why this griffin was so blindly angry at him. Though not enough for him to interrogate him. The sword came down again but this time the praetorian was prepared and took it to his armored foreleg. The impact was enough to lift the griffin off the ground. The praetorian dodged the strong wing coming around to hit him and countered by using his free claw to grab the other wing. The sharp claws pierced the flesh like it wasn’t there and when he found the ever so fragile bone that made up the wings he crushed it.
He expected the griffin to go down from such a hit and it was true… for a moment. After that moment was up the griffin let out a scream and kept charging.
(Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter more than I did. Not sure if it was because I was battling writer's block through it or if any of the other factors added up to mess with it. Thanks to my editors for not tracking me down and killing me for my butchery of the English language in this one. Also sorry for the delay in posting, with moving out and job hunting nothing seems to be working right. If you fave it like it!)
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And so...the next chapter
I will read this and I will enjoy it
R.I.P. Specs
I can't really say I enjoyed it much but I doubt the most disliked parts were negotiable. These sorts of "kill sympathetic characters to make the reader hate the antagonists" twists never work on me anymore. I always end up disliking the author instead.
I suppose, on some level, that just means I'm terrible at getting into stories unless they're VERY good (Days of Wasp and Spider-level good) but, on the other hand, I think it might also have something to do with the facet of my emotional armor that follows the principle embodied in that old meme: Hate not the playa; Hate the game.
...
Graf Eisen.
[GIGANT FORM!]
img.photobucket.com/albums/v430/admiraltigerclaw/VitaHammer1.jpg
Let's squish some bugs.
Erm,So,Scot pulled a true beserk avenging angel?........Welp,Ive been saving this pun for a while now with his name and beserk tendency,so, FRRRRREEEEEEEDOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!
“I give the desert a five out of five,” I think you meant dessert (Like a candy)
But other wise good chapter
P.s.s You can't kill specs she has double immortality
imageshack.us/a/img33/5764/likethischapter.jpg
3708646 That desert was awesome. I mean it had cacti and everything!
Um, did the chapter get cut off or something? I mean, seriously man, you have GOT to work on your scenes cutting off without any real ending, you know? Your breakpoints are random and confusing.
3711670 Yeah believe it or not that was the best point to end the chapter without extending it another 2k words. This chapter was a pain to write.
Hello! Thank you for producing such an entertaining and conceptually sound story. However there are some sentences that do not make sense.
For example:
Umm... I don't understand what this is saying.
Just thought I would let you know.
No... Specs...
It is turning pretty dark.
I hope they all will be alright...
Please do not kill Specs
r.i.p. in pieces
3727080 sorry dude, she's pretty dam well dead
.....This is an epic peace of literature. I don't know who you are or what your doing; but I do know that it's a waste to leave this tale unfinished. If your listening I hope you'll update this epic story again someday. Until then, I wish you good luck on whatever your up to.
4711763 It's being left unfinished but I am being a bit of perfectionist. I'm planning on sending the next few chapters to my editors next week.
4723885
Cool, when a story reaches the climax of a scene, plot line, etc, I get somewhat pulled into the story more. So when a story stops updating at such a point, I guess I become emotionally drawn to wanting to see it continue. Its incredibly maddening reading a story, only to be left wondering what's going to happen next, and never given the answer.
Aww sh*t! Stuff is gettin good (er)
Berserker, Cool