Chapter Nine
Queen of Blades
Chapter Nine
The sound of a scooter racing through the streets of Ponyville was all the town’s inhabitants needed to confirm the return of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the only urging they needed to get off the streets as soon as possible. The peaceful ponies had long since discovered that the presence of this particular trio of fillies often brought with it quite a heap of trouble, and none of them were interested in getting involved in whatever the Crusaders were up to.
Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo zoomed down the road towards Sugarcube Corner, their speedy approach kicking up a gratuitous amount of dust, before they finally came to a screeching halt near a small gathering of market stands. The orange pegasus scratched the side of her helmet with a hoof for a moment, then looked back at her two puzzled friends in the attached wagon. They still hadn’t made it to their destination after all.
“Why are we stopping, Scootaloo? Sugarcube Corner is right there, so you can’t be lost.” Sweetie Belle noted with a hoof pointing at the bakery in question.
“Yeah, what gives?” Applebloom inquired, an eyebrow raised in question.
“So, why are we going crusading there again?” The orange filly asked, confusion showing clearly on her features, “Didn’t we get banned from baking stuff after... well, you know?”
The resulting giggle from Apple Bloom and Sweetie’s embarrassed blush made it quite clear that they remembered that particular incident. To this day, even Pinkie Pie couldn’t explain how the young unicorn had managed to set bread dough on fire. Without using an actual oven.
“I just don’t know what went wrong! I did it exactly like the recipe said!” A flushed Sweetie Belle managed to utter, her embarrassment quickly turning into annoyance, “Besides, it was Apple Bloom who said we should go to Sugarcube Corner, I have no idea what we’re supposed to do there.”
Two pairs of questioning eyes were directed at the earth pony filly, who simply stared back. “What?”
Scootaloo sighed. “Why are we going to Sugarcube Corner?”
Blink. “Dunno, I figured you two would think of something.”
A couple of groans later, Scootaloo turned a deadpan look at Apple Bloom. “So you had us drive all the way from our treehouse, into Ponyville, without any idea of what we were supposed to be doing once we got here?”
“...yes.”
“Bloom!” Scootaloo threw her hooves in the air in exasperation.
“Well I’m sorry, but there’s pretty much nothing interesting to do at the farm!”
Before Scootaloo could start yelling, Sweetie spoke up with a pondering hoof under her chin. “She’s right though, since the wedding everything else just seems dull in comparison. I know it’s only been a day, but everything has been really quiet.”
“Ugh, tell me about it,” The orange filly complained, “Listening to Rainbow Dash tell the story of how they fought the changelings was pretty awesome though, she made it sound really exciting.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom chimed in, “...I bet Kerrigan would love to hear about it.”
A gasp of realisation made Scootaloo and Apple Bloom look to the third crusader, who at the time had her eyes open wide. “That’s it! We should tell miss Kerrigan about what happened at the wedding!”
Wide grins spread on their muzzles as the trio looked to each other.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS STORY TELLERS! YAY!”
“...so uh, do you two remember how we got there?”
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
In another part of Ponyville, a certain young dragon was easily having a worse day than the CMC, once more the unfortunate victim of one of his friend and caretaker’s academic ‘pursuits’. Which more or less amounted to him running around the library, trying to maintain some measure of order and organization as Twilight kept pulling down more and more books she didn’t really need anyway.
“Spike! Where’s the copy of Ivory Quill’s Mystical Mythical Monstrosities!?”
A tired sigh escaped the dragon in question, going entirely unheard by the frantic unicorn. “It’s right here, Twil-...ugh!” No sooner had he muttered the words before the book was ripped from his claws, causing him to fall from the stepladder he had been balancing on.
“Good, now where’s the quill and paper? Spike! I need more paper!” A flurry of magic launched another pair of books through the room, narrowly missing a still dizzy Spike. The young dragon gently caressed the side of his head, fighting back an approaching headache.
They had been at it for hours, Spike running around trying to contain the chaos, all the while having to fetch books, quills, parchment, or whatever else the studious unicorn required. No matter how many times in the past he’d had to go through this, it had never gotten any easier.
The annoyed snort of a unicorn brought Spike back to his senses, knowing full well that they’d likely continue this far into the night if Twilight had anything to say about it. “Ugh, where is it!?” A mass of books and quills passed above Spike’s head, enveloped in a purple aura. “Spike! Paper!”
“On it!” Spike replied, quickly making his way across the messy library floor to a pair of drawers, opening one of them to reveal a stack of blank paper, “Here it is.” He had barely brought the paper out before it was promptly seized by a telekinetic grasp.
Another sigh, “Twilight, why are we even looking for information about the changelings? The princess said not to worry about it, remember?”
The moment those words had left him, Spike realised it had probably been the wrong thing to say in that particular moment.
Twilight’s voice suddenly raised in volume, “Why!? I’ll tell you why,” the unicorn turned to look at her assistant, violet eyes narrowed, “Because no matter what the princess might have said, I was still the only one who knew something was wrong with the fake Cadance, and I didn’t even know she was a changeling!” Another book was torn from a nearby shelf. “And if she’d been a better actress, I probably wouldn’t have suspected anything before it was too late! You’ve seen what the changelings can do, and I’m not going to rest until I’ve discovered a spell that can look through their disguises!”
Spike was about to speak up when Twilight turned back to her work, “Now, get me a copy of Professor Safari’s Beastial Biology!”
Another book was quickly found and delivered.
“I need more ink!”
“Okay!”
“Where did you leave the paper on emotuvores?”
“Here!”
“Did you categorize my notes?”
“On it!”
“Get me another reference to Badlands Geography!”
“I brought two!”
“Where’d that green dragon live in the Everfree?
“Path from Zecora, cross the river to the east.”
“I need another quill!”
“Gotcha!”
“Could you make more coffee, please?”
“Already on it!”
They kept at it for a few more minutes, Spike fetching things and putting books back on the shelves, and eventually Twilight calmed down enough to take a short coffee break, allowing Spike to take another breather. He was just about to munch down on a sapphire when something hit him.
“...wait, what does the dragon have to do with changelings?”
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
“I still don’t see what you’d want with those...dogs,” the changeling queen cast a glance towards the small group of mutated diamond dogs, shifting slightly in her position on the creep covered ‘chair’, “Though I’ll admit that the process was fascinating to watch at least, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such rapid evolution in a living thing before.”
The Queen of Blades, sitting across from the changeling, couldn’t help but give a self-satisfied smirk as she observed her new minions. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, and only one of them perished before I adapted the infestation successfully. Their genetic structure is surprisingly similar to the humans and dogs I’ve worked on before,” emotionless yellow eyes turned back to look at Chrysalis, “Make no mistake however, infestation such as this is nothing compared to full inclusion into the Zerg, this is just a partial assimilation.”
“Indeed,” the changeling queen looked to her host, “the changes do seem minimal compared to your other... strains.” She smiled slightly before a serious expression came over her. “Now, are we in agreement then?”
“We are,” the Zerg queen answered, looking to a pair of black carapaced changelings that had managed to find their way back to their queen, “you’ll allow me to use your changelings as scouts, to find any mineral deposits or other dragon lairs nearby, and as infiltrators and information gatherers on pony activity. I’m also free to do whatever I want with any dead changelings I find that were killed because of the blast.”
The two changelings buzzed lightly, still clearly not at ease with the Queen of Blades’ presence. Chrysalis simply glanced in their direction, conveying silent commands through the telepathic link. “Yes, and in return you’ll aid me in locating and gathering my children that were scattered after the Canterlot incident. You’ll also assist me should we ever find ourselves at a negotiation table with Equestria.”
“I still don’t see the point of that, from what I’ve gathered it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to talk peacefully with the Equestrians,” the Queen of Blades made a dismissive gesture with her hand, “In my experience any creature is more likely to wage war against those that are different from themselves.”
“I like being prepared,” Chrysalis said with a smirk, “you never know what those ponies might do, they’ve surprised me once before already.”
The Queen of Blades inclined her head at that. “Very well, you’ve certainly interacted more with them than I have, but if they’re anything like the humans I’m familiar with... well, I won’t hold my breath.” She was just about to continue when a message was relayed through the Hive mind. “Hmm, I’m afraid we’re going to have to cut this meeting short, I’ve got some visitors coming.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, but didn’t poke further into it. “I suppose I had best be off then, I’m going to need to establish a temporary hive as a gathering place for my changelings anyway.” The changeling queen rose from her seat, stretching her holed legs and fluttering her wings. “I’ll be in touch... oh, and I suggest you hide away your minions, I’m not sure if your ‘visitors’ will really appreciate them as I do.”
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
Not far from the Zerg hive, a group of ponies and a single baby dragon were trotting through the Everfree Forest. They were all clearly tense, keeping a watchful eye out for any dangers they might encounter. Or in the case of a particular butter yellow pegasus, doing their best to wish themselves as far away as possible.
“I still can’t believe you just told them that, Spike!” A very agitated Twilight Sparkle said for the umpteenth time, glaring back at her assistant.
“How was I supposed to know they’d just show up and throw in a question like that? It was pretty much just you telling me to do stuff!” Spike exclaimed from her back, throwing his arms in the air, “I got confused, okay!?”
Before Twilight could get further upset with him, an orange hoof was placed on her shoulder and drew her attention to the farm mare trotting next to her. “Calm down, Twilight. It was an honest mistake I’m sure.”
The purple unicorn was just about to open her mouth when she was cut off by another member of their group. “I don’t see how you can remain so calm, Applejack. Both our sisters are currently on their way to a dragon’s cave!” Rarity bemoaned, placing a hoof to her head in a dramatic fashion, “What if they’re hurt!? I can’t believe they’d just go off like that without telling us!”
“Oh I’m seething alright, Rarity, and I’m gonna give Apple Bloom a real talking to once we catch up to those fillies, but there’s no use getting angry with anypony until we’re sure everything’s fine.”
The fashionable unicorn didn’t respond, instead directing a worried gaze towards their destination, which according to Twilight was getting closer and closer. The atmosphere was as oppressive as it had always been in the Everfree Forest, the crooked trees reaching down with pointy branches, not a sound heard from the forest itself, and every member of the party couldn’t help but feel the tang of fear in their guts.
All but one, of course.
“Oh! I know! We should totally throw that big dragon a party! That way he’ll be our friend, and then we’ll have two dragon friends, and having two dragon friends is like twice as good as having just one dragon friend! Not that you’re not a good friend Spike, but can you just imagine having a huge, adult, fire breathing, dragon as a friend!? We could go for rides on his back all the time!”
“Uh, Pinkie Pie?” An airborne Rainbow Dash ventured with the uncertainty common to all dealings with the pink pony, “You do remember what happened when you tried that with the last dragon we met, right?”
The pink party pony simply bounced on, oblivious to her friend’s obviously ungrounded fears. “Don’t worry bout a thing, Dashie! Even if the dragon turns out to be another Grumpy McMeaniepants we can just get Fluttershy to scold him like she did the other one! Easy peasy!”
The resulting ‘eep’ from that statement went entirely unnoticed by Pinkie Pie, though Rainbow Dash cast a slightly worried glance towards the already terrified Fluttershy. Somehow she had managed to curl herself up even more, while still keeping up with the rest of the group. The chromatic flier sighed in exasperation, disappointed in herself for not being able to support her old friend when she needed it. She could only hope that Fluttershy would find the strength in the moment like she had before.
Her attention was drawn to Applejack when the farm pony looked to her from under the brim of her hat. “I’m just glad Rainbow Dash saw them entering the forest when she did, otherwise who knows when we would have discovered them gone?”
“Yeah, I’m just awesome like that,” the pegasus said with a smug smile, “trust me, Applejack, we’ll get those three back easily enough. That dragon won’t even know what hit it!”
A collective eye roll was had at that statement, all of them quite clearly remembering the last time the boastful pegasus had tried taking on a dragon. For a moment it even seemed like Fluttershy had gathered enough courage to tell her to be careful, but all hopes of that happening was soon squashed when they came out into a clearing. Right in front of a large cave entrance.
“Well everypony, we’re here,” Twilight said as she took the lead, trotting closer to their goal, “this is the dragon’s cave, do any of you see the gi-...”
“What in the hay is that!?” Applejack exclaimed, cutting off Twilight’s question before she could finish it. Spreading out from the cave was a strange purplish substance, almost like a growth of some sort. It didn’t take long for the rest of the ponies to notice it as well, causing a variety of reactions.
Rainbow Dash looked unworried, keeping to the air and looking around for any immediate danger to her friends. Applejack looked both surprised and perplexed. Pinkie Pie was poking it with a hoof, giggling all the while. Twilight was bending down to study it. Fluttershy was keeping as far away as possible, and Rarity quickly scrunched up her muzzle in disgust.
“Eeeww! What is that supposed to be?” She cast a quick glance around the others, coming to a stop on the only pony who seemed interested in figuring it out. “Twilight? Do you know what this is?”
The purple unicorn hummed to herself as she pondered the substance, it looked biological in nature, yet like nothing she had ever seen before. A careful telekinetic prodding caused the mass to writhe and squirm, almost like a living organism.
This caused an even stronger reaction from Rarity, prompting her to pull further back from the revulsive creep. “Ew! Ew! Ew! There’s no way I’m setting a single hoof on that! It’s absolutely disgusting!”
The giggling from Pinkie Pie had turned into a full out laughter, and Rarity almost fainted as she noticed the earth pony bouncing about on the creep with a wide grin. “Weee! You should try this, Rarity! It’s like the ground is all bouncy and soft!”
The fashionista quickly averted her gaze with a very un-ladylike gagging sound, trying to erase the mental picture of herself frollicking on what might as well have been the innards of some giant animal.
“Pinkie!” Twilight called in annoyance, “Don’t touch it until I’ve figured out what it is, we don’t even know if it’s dangerous!”
“Well it hasn’t tried eating me yet,” Pinkie Pie stated as she continued whatever it was she was doing, “and my Pinkie Sense isn’t going off, so it can’t be dangerous!”
Hoof swiftly met face as Twilight sighed in exasperation, trying to apply any sort of logic to Pinkie Pie was a lost cause from the get-go. She was just about to share some very choice words with the pink pony, when suddenly a loud scream resounded from inside the cave.
Instantly all heads whipped towards the cave entrance, and before any of the others could even react Rarity had already rushed ahead, ignoring any protest her mind might have made about the creep. “Sweetie Belle!”
The others weren’t far behind, and with speed born from fear and desperation they galloped through the gloomy tunnel, hearing the yelling of fillies from the inside, before finally exiting out into a large open chamber covered in creep and lit only by dim crystals.
“Girls! Are you oka-...” The group almost exclaimed in unison, though they were quickly cut off by the sight in front of them. No sooner had their eyes gotten used to the new environment before the yelling was replaced by laughter.
“And then they were like, POW! BANG!” Scootaloo shouted, kicking at invisible enemies with her hooves, or quickly fluttering to the side to evade some imaginary foe. Next to her Apple Bloom was apparently re-enacting a similar fight scene, accompanying every kick and thrust with a suitable sound.
Nearby, Sweetie Belle was poking at some sort of tumor-like pod with her hoof, apparently finding a sort of bizarre curiosity in its existence and the way it pulsed under her touch. None of the fillies even seemed aware of their presence at the time, happily playing as they were.
“Sweetie Belle!”
“Apple Bloom!”
“Scootaloo!”
A chorus of relieved yells erupted from the group, causing the trio to look up at the newly arrived ponies with surprise. The would-be rescuers all stepped further into the cave, but instantly froze when they noticed the other presence in the chamber.
Sitting on a creep covered rock, apparently having watched the fillies play, was the most frightening and alien creature the girls had ever seen. It looked at them with glowing yellow eyes, no surprise evident in its gaze. Then it spoke in a smooth, feminine voice.
“I’ve been expecting you,” an almost feral smile spread across her lips, “please join us, we have much to discuss.”
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
The late afternoon sun cast a comfortable blanket of red across Canterlot, its waning rays accompanying the ponies on the streets as they all headed for their homes. All had been peaceful since the wedding, and many of the city’s inhabitants were still jovial and uplifted following the festivities.
In a more secluded part of the city a lone guard wandered the empty halls of the Canterlot Museum, known wide and far for its collection of valuable artifacts, art, as well as unique gemstones. Truly those halls were populated when the museum opened its doors, yet at this time those same corridors were empty and silent. The guard, a grey unicorn with a teal mane and a flashlight held steadily in his magical grip, had always prefered the quiet work of a night guard. There was a certain serenity to the empty museum, being surrounded by such priceless works of art was both humbling and a gift.
The humming of a simple tune and clopping of his hooves on the marble floor was all the sound that could be heard, truly there was little more peaceful to this guard than the job he had been blessed with.
For a second he halted, his ears pivoting to pick up what sounded like scratching, as soon as he thought he’d heard it however, it was gone. Shrugging he continued on his way, yet again resuming the happy tune of his humming. From time to time he directed the beam of his flashlight into a darkened room, its flare reflected in the surface of mirrors, metallic objects, or the multitude of beautiful gems inside many of the display cases.
Once more he stopped, the scratching sound from earlier returned, this time a bit louder. With a scowl the guard backed up, returning to the gem exhibit he had just passed. The scratching sound grew stronger, it was almost like glass being forced against stone. Carefully he stepped inside, the flashlight’s beam directed to every dark corner of the room.
Eventually the sound reached a crescendo, then it suddenly stopped and all was silent, the guard barely dared breathe as the silence almost became deafening. Outside, the last rays of the sun passed below the building’s windows, casting an eerie glow into its interior. He could hear his heart beating, the only sound evident to him.
Then the scratching resumed, louder than ever before and resounding all around him, he felt the marble floor beneath him vibrate and in a moment of clarity he leapt backwards, just in time to see part of the gem exhibit’s floor collapse into itself. Dust and rock was blown in all directions, causing the guard to cough and cover his eyes to avoid being blinded.
He quickly recovered, directing his flashlight to shine through the dust. “Who goes there!?” he yelled out, trying desperately to find the cause of the sudden intrusion, though unable to perceive much through the smoke other than a few tiny bursts of light, dimmed by the dust in the air. The only thing he heard was that constant sound of scratching, and the screeching sound of something edged being rubbed against a hard surface.
With an effort of concentration he gathered power into his horn, the flashlight falling to the floor as he directed his magic in a new direction. The magic swept out from him, dispersing dust to the sides and casting a teal glow across the room.
For just a moment he saw the light of his magic reflected in a crystalline surface; the sound of skittering appendages, like tapping needles on a floor, and the familiar scratching accompanying whatever it was. Then it was gone, and as the dust settled he gasped in shock.
Left in the room were only broken display cases, glass from their destruction spread across the floor, not a single gem in sight, and in the floor were large holes, dug straight through several feet of magically enchanted marble, and however much solid rock lay beneath it.
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So this took way too long to get out, hopefully I'll be able to really get to writing again now.
Anyway, today you get both a cliffhanger AND foreshadowing! Lucky you guys
I'm rather proud of this new threat, because I'm fairly certain it's completely original. Feel free to tell me what I'm inadvertently stealing from once they're revealed.
I don't care I I care about right now that there was a update thank you
I hope you keep the queen evil like she is suppose to be. Not all lovy and dovy. She is suppose to kill people earn well pony in this case I'm not telling you have to run your story just saying is all
1806834
No worries there, she's not going to talk to the ponies and make a complete 180. But seriously, she is one manipulative bitch. Do recall that in Brood War, she convinced the guy who ordered her death to help her retake the Swarm from the renegade cerebrates and the infant Overmind, and manipulated the Protoss in numerous ways. Also remember that she showed the CMC the mutating body of the dragon, just to see how dialed back she'd have to be to maintain civil relations with the group that is in possession of the artifacts that she arrived through, and then quickly wiped those tests from their memories.
So yeah, I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that the Queen of Blades isn't going to be changing her attitude anytime soon.
oh dear, this is gonna get ugly....
FOR KERIGAN!
did I mention I hate the Zerg?
Yay!
BURROWING IS A WONDERFUL THING!
You know how it works don't you? All ground-based Zerg can vibrate their muscles so fast and so violently that it will crumble anything there are touching, even metal.
Also, WHY HAS THIS NOT BEEN FEATURED YET?!
Also remember that this QOB has been toned down a bit by the elements of harmony.
That all I can say.
natural zerg burrowing capability+Diamond dog burrowing capability... nothing can stand in their way
1806766
It's just nice to see you updated. How long until we can expect another one?
1810186
Hopefully some time this week, before christmas at least.
1806766 Perhaps you can have Kerry develop a Zerg unit based off of Unicorns that sucks the magic out of everypony around it and can temporarily control them like a thaumatic puppet master.
1806991 ohhohooo you're wrong! Kerrigan will infest Equestria, kill the Princesses, and Twilight, and it will be epic as fuck! Or something like that. XD
1816035 Until the Protoss detect Zerg hive spores infesting the populace.
KILL IT WITH FIRE! they will say.
And so it shall be.
1816099 And then Equestria will crack. To a planet cracker.
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1819972 By far the most bad-as thing ever built ever.
istarcraft.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/img4dd317bf96f78.jpg
1822333 I agree with you. And the in-game the voice is epic too. "Justice, has come."
let me play you the song of my people
static1.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/Delivered+_96c4ceacb8acb71c4dd120ab7c9d0dfa.gif
p.s MOER
1845608
I'm very glad to hear that, thank you. Hopefully I'll be able to keep you entertained and not disappoint
1845649 oh no need to worry there i can assure you
All chapters up to this one have just been as skillfully written and staying true to all characters personalities and just bean over all very entertaining to read.
i don't know exactly why but just the mental picture of Kerrigan Chrysalis Celestia and Luna sitting at an negotiation table (and the conversation that is bound to follow) I find quite humorous, I hope that scenario will be brought into the story some how.
Next chapter will surely be fun, the first meeting between Twilight Applejack Rainbow dash Rarity Fluttershy spike and Sarah..
there's a lot of ways to write that encounter and it will be interesting to read how you decided to handle it.
And negotiation eh?
Kerrigan reading up on 'how to make a good impression with your Zerg hive' ..? She has the little fillies frolicking in the creep. That's adorable. Clearly this creepy lady isn't evil.. right?
wait i thought Kerrigan removed her location from the minds of the CMC not just how to get there? I'm enjoying this regardless!
LOL!!!
drones vs Minerals
:>
i am cutely reminded of STARCRAFTS episode now