Impending Doom
Scootaloo stared fearfully into the heart of the hive she had just entered. The changelings of the core flew in a synchronized circle around the dome, like a tornado of black hornets. She knew it was only a matter of time before one of them were to spot her. There were cocooned ponies hung all across the ceiling, and there was an opening to the outside at the very top, just as she remembered it, like the mouth of a volcano. The clouds were still thick and green, like smog, and no sun nor moon could shine through.
The nervous pegasus opened her saddlebags, and looked inside to see what she had to work with. Five potions, and Queen Chrysalis’ crown.
She didn’t have much of a chance in her position. All she had was faith. Looking back up at the swarm, she wasn’t sure what she could do, but all that was at stake was resting in her hooves alone, and she had to do something to save her kind.
Suddenly the changelings’ flight patterns changed, and they made a curve in their path, and began trailing down after her. She gasped and froze—they had spotted her. Rushing down after her like angry bees, she had to act fast. The question rushed through her mind, “What do I do…?”
She could run… She could fight… Either way, her options were mute. It didn’t seem to matter; she had walked into her impending fate.
“No…” she whispered to herself, refusing to believe this was the end. Standing tall, she pressed forward, and faced the incoming swarm. Taking in a deep breath, she took the only action she could against them—by speaking to them.
“By now I would imagine you all know who I am!” she chanted to them out loud. “I am the pony who had escaped your hive! I’ve eaten insects and dried up, decade old food to survive, and traveled across Equestria to get away from you! Well I’m tired of running; I’m tired of hiding!” Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she raised her voice, and she stood taller, proud of how far she’s gone. All of what she had just said was enough to say to herself, that she at least tried. “You want me so bad that you had to risk the lives of your own blood to retrieve me?! For one pony?? Well, here I am!!”
What she was chanting to the changelings seemed to aggravate them more, understandably. But after she spoke to the heart of their hive this way, her fear had toned down into almost nothing. She’s gone too far to fail—there was no way she possibly could now. She had faith in that, and she wasn’t about to turn around. Reaching into her saddlebag, she wasn’t sure if what she had in mind would work to her advantage, but she didn’t have many other options. Scootaloo had to act now, or everything she has worked for up until this point will be for nothing. From her saddlebag, she pulled out Chrysalis’ crown, and she held it in two hooves in front of her, showing it to the mob of changelings in the neon light from the deathly clouds.
In response to the exposure of their Queen’s crown, their flight pattern changed. They seemed to slow down, and rather than one massive swarm hurtling toward her, they spread apart, as if they were being repelled by a forbidding shield. Scootaloo kept the crown held high, and she gnashed her teeth defensively. She stood her ground—in sweat and tears—unafraid.
Something then happened that the pegasus could not fathom. There she was, all alone against the entirety of Chrysalis’ minions, and the swarm against her stopped. The entire hive—they froze in motion.
Their eyes were wide, as if they were frightened of her. They kept a distance away from her in a spherical formation surrounding her, hovering in sudden silence.
Scootaloo wasn’t sure how to react at this point. She could see the look of uncertainty in all of their eyes, and she kept turning her glance to witness every single one of them. They had her full attention—it was now her chance to speak.
The pegasus slowly lowered Chrysalis’ crown, and held it closer to her chest. Her ears curved back, and she expressed to them her sympathy for the loss of their Queen.
“I have not come back for vengeance. I have come back to make peace.”
The changelings seemed to react in many odd ways. Risen brows and exchanged glances with one another, Scootaloo could see that they were dumbfounded by her daring request in this depth of the hive while wielding their Queen’s crown.
“You have felt your Queen die,” she sympathized. “I saw it happen before my eyes… I was there when she withered away into dust. I tried saving her life, but there was nothing left I could do…”
“What makes you think we should believe you?” asked a changeling amongst the swarm. “How do we know it wasn’t you who killed her?”
Scootaloo sighed, nodding and folding her ears back. The accusation was understandable, and with this many changelings to convince otherwise, there was not much she could do or say—she could only pray. “There are thousands of you, and I am alone,” she said to them in a nervous voice. “Why would I come back to the heart of your hive if I did such a thing to your Queen?”
The changelings exchanged looks with one another. It was in their blood instinct to want to capture her and put her with the rest of the ponies, but none of them seemed to be retaliating.
After some time in silence, one of the changelings came hovering down from above her. He landed a couple meters before her, and looked to her with uncertainty.
“I will admit, coming here was very unwise,” he declared with squinting eyes. “What is it you want, pony? Why did you come back?”
She nibbled her bottom lip, uncertain how she could explain herself without them taking it the wrong way. She was in hot water, and anything she was about to say could change the fate of Equestria, if even just one changeling were to attack.
Taking in a breath, she explained herself. “I have come to tell you of the Great Changeling King…”
Eyes were wide, and glances were exchanged. Chatter among the thousands echoed throughout the dome, and Scootaloo’s nervousness escalated. When their chatter quieted down for her to speak again, she continued.
“He is reborn… and he is in your hive. But, he is not who you might remember him to be… He will try to convert you into monsters like him.”
“Monsters?” one of them questioned her. “We are already monsters!”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “A monster is a creature whose actions go against the elements of harmony. You are not monsters. You are all doing what you were meant to do.” She looked up at all the cocoons with entrapped ponies, and her ears sank to her sides. “And for all you’ve done… for taking a decade out of all of our lives… I forgive you. Because you were only doing what you had to, for your survival…”
The changeling standing before seemed to be lost for words. He stepped up to her, confused. “Wait… what? You’re not… mad?”
“I saw the grave of ponies. I saw what my world had become.” Her eyes expressed sadness, and she nodded. “But… none of this was your fault. It took me a long time to see it that way, and for awhile, yeah, I was mad. But… I’m not any more. I don’t hate any of you for your way of life. Just as the rabbit eats the carrot, the hawk must eat the rabbit...”
He squinted at her, trying to learn exactly what it was she wanted. “So you came all this way… to protect us?”
She nodded slowly, feeling relieved that they were beginning to understand. “Chrysalis herself pleaded me to come here and let you know. The king is coming, and he won’t spare anyone that gets in his way… Chrysalis tried to defend me and my friends against him, because she really hoped that we could save her hive. And in doing this, she was killed...”
“Your friends?”
Scootaloo nibbled her bottom lip and nodded. “You are all in danger, and time is short. I don’t know what I can do being here… But I had to try. I had to at least warn you. I had to do ‘something’…”
The changelings looked to each other with mixed expressions. She could tell it was not easy to convince them of her intentions.
“If all your pony friends weren’t in captivity, would you have still come?”
“Huh?” the pegasus murmured.
The changeling who questioned her rephrased himself, “Did you come here for us?” He looked up at the ceiling of cocoons. “Or them?” Looking back at her, he expressed uncertainty of her trust. “If those ponies were not in captivity, would you still have come here?”
The question was valid and understandable. Scootaloo, however, didn’t hesitate to answer. “I know that if I was in the heart of an impending disaster, I would wish somepony would come and help me, too.”
They had a moment to gather each other’s understandings, when there was a sound echoing through the dome. It sounded like silent thunder, and as it gradually grew louder, the ground and walls began to vibrate. The changelings were all spinning in their idle positions, turning their necks to see where it was coming from; after what they had been told, they were acting very paranoid.
Scootaloo gnashed her teeth, and her ears fell back. She was just as concerned, and looking down at her hooves, small pebbles were bouncing on the shaking ground. She felt her heart drop into her stomach, acknowledging that the king was about to make his entrance.
The ground cracked and shifted, and from right beneath her formed a web shaped split in the rock that grew across the floor in a wide radius. The changelings all fled the scene in a panic, and Scootaloo was too petrified to move from her spot. She was shaking at her knees, and her head turned to see that she was right in the middle of it—he was right beneath her.
The ground began to lift in chunks, and the entire cave was shaking vigorously. Then in an enormous explosion of debris, Scootaloo flailed skyward, shrieking. She caught wind and hovered at a safe distance above, as she watched the horror beneath her.
Razor sharp legs like a giant spider rose up from the holes created by the monster below, and they came back down to the ground to pull himself out of the abyss. Then in the frightening silence, out climbed the Changeling King. The razor fins on his spine trailed all the way down his back, his enormous bat wings strongly curved from his shoulders, and his four limbs stood out like a spider’s legs. He stood powerfully in the middle of the room, taking up a fifth of the overall size of the dome. He turned where he stood, acknowledging all the frightened changelings hiding from him against the walls, chuckling in his deep, deathly voice. Then he turned to Scootaloo, who was in flight only a few meters from his face. Her eyes were wide, and she was trembling from the sight of him, and her fear only escalated when she made eye contact with the blood-eyed monster.
“Daring Do…” his voice echoed through the caves. He showed his razor teeth in a disturbing grin.
Scootaloo’s heart raced, and she turned her neck to all the changelings watching. She was too scared to flee, and too afraid to fight. She could hardly move, not knowing what to do.
“How fitting to see you here,” he growled and glared at her.
The pegasus was trembling beyond control. She gulped from immense fear, staring into the horrifying crimson eyes of the gigantic monster. She couldn’t react—her frozen mental state wouldn’t let her. Nervous sweat rolled down from her forehead, and her eyes were dilated.
“I can smell your fear. It reaks…” the monster growled with his thunderous voice. He then disregarded the pegasus, seeing she was no threat to him, and he turned to the changelings who had fled to the furthest edges of the dome to avoid him. “Join me, my children,” he spoke out to them, “The cocoons… Feed off the rest of the love from the ponies, and rid their existence. Become strong like me, and we can become unstoppable.” He grinned, and the changelings exchanged looks with one another. “Equestria is nothing but a wasteland now; but we can turn it into a home far greater than we could ever imagine.”
Scootaloo was in a moment of trance. Her shivers died down hearing his chanting to the changelings, and something inside her snapped. She was indeed afraid beyond anything she has felt facing against this enormous creature, but she had to do something… say something… anything. Building her courage, she gnashed her teeth and squinted furiously at him, and a sudden roar escaped from her throat. “HEY!!!”
The ears of the giant changeling perked at the sound of her hoarse shriek, and he turned back to face her, grinning pitifully at her.
Scootaloo was twitching now, and her trembles of fear turned into shivers of anger. “If you’re so bold, finish what you started—with me!!”
Briefly, the changeling monster turned to see that the others were watching him being tested by this mere pony. “Hmh…” He turned back to her, cringing at her. “What an unwise specimen you’ve proven yourself to be, Daring Do.”
She twitched again, and she hovered up another meter to elevate herself. “My name is Scootaloo!” she shrieked loudly for all to hear. “How do you know me?! Who are you?!”
He squinted at her, breathing fiercely from his nostrils. “You humiliated me, putting a bad name to my role. A mere pony… defeating me with nothing but her wits.”
Scootaloo raised a brow, confused.
“I was ashamed to return to the hive as I was after what you’ve done to me. And I knew, if I were to show my face again, I had to redeem myself of the burdens you’ve caused me.”
The pegasus seemed to understand what he was implying. “So to redeem your role, you stole the ancient relic that the Queen hid so long ago to never be tampered with again.” She pointed a hoof at him in disgust. “And look what it made you become.”
“A monster?” he chuckled. “It made me grow strong! And with it, I was able to absorb so much love from the ponies in the hive that I’ve become so powerful, no force in Equestria can stand in my way!” He turned to the other changelings and spoke to them. “Chrysalis lied to us all about the Element of Love!” He addressed the glowing pink gem strapped to his chest. “She said it would corrupt us. But look at me!” His voice echoed through the dome. “I am now the most powerful creature to ever roam our world!”
“Hey!!” Scootaloo interrupted his speech to the changelings once more. He twitched in response and turned back to her, furiously. “Answer my question!! Who are you?!”
The deathly voice of the gigantic beast breathed through his teeth. “Heh… You still do not understand? You don’t remember… what you did to me?!” he screamed out loud. “You buried me, in a grave in which I rightfully should have remained. But I couldn’t let myself go—not like that—I could not rest in peace without knowing I’ve had my vengeance on you and your kind!”
Scootaloo squinted at first, trying to put it together. She thought back to the beginning… who could he be? What did he mean that she buried him? Then it suddenly hit her, and it all made sense. Her eyes widened, and she floated back at the realization. “You’re… you’re that changeling who cornered me in Ponyville. I… I killed you! I crashed you through the floor! The ceiling in Sugarcube Corner collapsed on you and buried you in its debris! You should be dead!”
The monstrous changeling grinned that she finally remembered. “I am Plague!”
A sudden lunge forward, he raised his giant limb, and went to attack her. Slashing his single-clawed hoof at her with a horizontal swipe, Scootaloo was quick to react, and she dove downward. She could feel his attack brush the end of her tail as she barely dodged his strike. Flying straight down, Scootaloo swerved and tilted to regain her balance, and after doing a few airborne barrel rolls, she maneuvered a new angle, and now leveled out, she began flying back up toward him.
“I’ll end you, pony!” Plague made the attempt to strike again as she came charging toward him, and he swiped his claw at her vertically. Scootaloo swerved quickly to the side, and his heavy attack missed once again, though the gust of wind from the attack got caught in the folds of her wings. Wide-eyed and stunned, Scootaloo flipped backwards several meters in the air from the brush of wind, shrieking and gasping. Capturing her balance once again after some dizzying spinning, she leveled out and found herself facing towards the monster once again. In that moment, he had a red glowing horn, pointing straight at her.
He was about to fire a spell, and she had barely enough time to react and serve to the side once again. From his crooked horn, a horrendously wide beam of blood-red magic ripped past her, burning the end of her tail, and the trailed beam of magic tore straight through the stone wall behind her. She flipped to the left, and the changeling king charged up yet another spell, and after building energy, he fired again. In a panic, Scootaloo reacted by swerving the other way, flipping sideways to dodge this attack as well, and it, too, vaporized through the walls behind her, exposing the empty wasteland of Equestria beyond it through a circular window of melted rock.
Scootaloo was gasping for air, frightened by the impossible fight she had found herself involved in. Plague was charging another red spell on his horn; she knew she couldn’t hold those attacks off for much longer. Though, there were not many options for her—he was fully mindset on eliminating her. Just as he fired his beam, she went for another nose dive, soaring straight down. His wide beam burst past her once more, missing her by the end of her tail.
As she soared downward, the changeling king watched her movements with his bright red eyes. She made her way absolutely vertically; it merely looked as though she was going to crash into the ground. Then just as she was about to come in contact with the floor of the hive’s core, she pulled up ninety degrees, and she flew level with the ground, dodging fallen debris that had formed from his entrance with zigzagging maneuvers.
Heading straight for Plague, Scootaloo flew right beneath him, and then pulled upward. Up close, she could determine that he was undoubtedly well over a hundred times her size at this point of his growing cycle. Being this close sent chills down her spine. The monster sidesteps, making the cave rumble with each impact to the ground with his hooves. The brave pegasus flew up from behind him, and she head straight up, past his total height, and kept going skyward. Plague spun around, trying to locate her; her movements were quick, and confusing like a fly.
Spotting her in the air, he swung his limb up at her, attempting to strike her out of the air with his single clawed hoof. Scootaloo could sense his attack coming as if it were instinct, and she naturally swerved to the side. His claw ripped past her again, though it clipped the tips of her feathers. “AH!” His strike caused her to wobbled in the air. Regaining her balance once again, she kept flying higher, with the large opening overhead that exposed the smog in the sky.
Once she gained a satisfying height, she furrowed her eyes and looked back, down at the giant monster below. Gnashing her teeth, she stopped flapping her wings, and curved to fly back down after him. She put one hoof out in front of her, and clenched her teeth as tears came from the corners of her eyes while increasing speed.
The changelings all watched the pony return fire, heading back down after the changeling king. They were awestruck that this mere pegasus was battling such a giant monster, and yet without any magical abilities of her own. All she had was her wings and her wits.
“Fool!” he roared at her from below, charging his horn again. Scootaloo braced herself for the attack he was preparing. Then with a full forced blast of red magic, his beam shot straight up at her. She was prepared for this attack, and managed to dodge to the side in time to not take the hit, while maintaining her increasing velocity.
“AAAAAH!!!” shrieking at the monster below, Scootaloo reached a velocity that sent chills down all the changelings’ spines.
Gnashing his teeth, Plague instinctively waved his hoof up in the air in the attempt to swat the airborne pegasus, but she was proven too quick for him, and before he had a chance to strike, she crashed straight into his skull between his eyes, hoof first. Her impact sent a loud crackling sound through the air, and she ricocheted off his head to the side, and his head bobbed as he made a slight sidestepping stumble from her strike.
Scootaloo had lost a lot of balance from her own attack, not used to the intense speed she had reached, and she found herself hurtling through the air. Plague regained his idle stature, and he charged up another spell, aiming at the out of control pegasus. “I’ll make you wish you’ve never gotten out of your cocoon!” An explosion from his horn, he fired another beam of crimson energy at her. The beam ripping toward the flailing pony struck just past her head; she could feel the heat emanating from the magic attack, and in that instant, the left half of her mane burnt into dust and smoke.
She gasped and panicked, and unable to regain her balance, she collapsed into the ground into a hard roll, and she tumbled across the floor. During her stumbling roll, she made her best effort to maneuver the roll back onto her hooves, which she managed to do so in an awkward gallop. Wasting no time, from her galloping state, she kicked off the ground, and flew back up in the air with powerful wings.
Returning skyward, she angled her flight to spin counterclockwise around the gigantic beast, while keeping her glaring eyes on his. He gnashed his teeth in response once more, and he charged up his horn. Then a rapidfire of smaller, yet still dangerous bullets of magic came flinging at her like a machinegun. Scootaloo saw them coming fast, and going wide-eyed, she swerved and zigzagged as they ripped past her at multiple angles around her. She could feel the brush of heat swish by her, each bullet feeling far too close for comfort. Swerving up, down, left and right, she barrel rolled and flipped out of harm’s way.
Enraged that her flying skills outdid his aim, he stopped his rapid fire attack, and formed a giant sword of blood-red fire that hovered before him. Scootaloo’s jaw hung open at the size of the weapon produced from pure magic; it was at least ten times her size. Holding a hoof forward like a command, the ablaze blade sliced through the air at Scootaloo at an angle. In that one quick swipe that she was not prepared for, it sliced off half her tail in smoke and flames.
Piece by piece, he was destroying her; she had to do something against his attacks. How could she compete with such unmatchable power? As hard as it was to see this positive, she had to try fighting back; she obviously couldn’t run. Plague repositioned his hovering weapon, and he struck at her again downward. Scootaloo saw the attack ahead of her; he was attempting to strike vertically in a position where she was heading. That acknowledged, she hit the brakes, and watched the bright crimson blade flare before her eyes just past her at a very unfriendly speed. Maneuvering up and over the weapon, she made a hard left turn, straight back at the monster.
Seeing that she was coming for him again, his sword vanished in a cloud of smoke so he could concentrate on a different spell. Flaring up his horn again, he began firing more rapid darts of magic. She was far too close for him to concentrate on properly aiming, and each dart of magic ripped past her.
Fearlessly flying through the crackling fires of Red Death, she soared closer and closer to the beast. The rapid fire came to a halt, and he tilted his head back with gnashing teeth to charge one of his large blasts again. Just before he fired, Scootaloo dove downward, and he fired with a complete miss. When his beam of concentrated magic depleted, from beneath the monster, up came the angry pegasus, and she flew straight up into the side of his horn.
“AAH” shrieked the Requiem of Equestria as Scootaloo ricocheted off of him again, and he sidestepped from her impact. The cave rumbled with his giant steps, and he regained balance, turning to glare at the pegasus who was now flying the other way about to perform a U-turn. When she turned around to face him, she hovered up at a safe distance, keeping herself still.
They had a standoff moment, glaring furious eyes at each other from afar. Plague was about to make the next move, when a sound echoed from in the cave… a sound that wide-eyed the king, and made Scootaloo confused. She looked around from where she hovered, and found that the changelings all watching… were cheering her on.
“Come on, Scootaloo!” one of them called out to her.
Plague turned his neck at all his backstabbing children, and from the bottom of his lungs, he roared furiously. “How dare you!!!” he shrieked, “I am your King!!!”
Scootaloo spun around, feeling their chanting as a warm welcome. It inspired her, and made her feel right inside.
“Leave the pegasus alone, she’s trying to help us!” another voice called out to him.
“Queen Chrysalis sent her!”
Plague began feeling the harsh, cold defeat in his plans. Cringing, he yelled at them once more, “You have no Queen, for she is DEAD!!!”
Cringing furiously, he turned back to Scootaloo with an illuminating horn. She flinched when he targeted her, and he flared up his spell before launching it. Just as he released his explosive magic, a changeling from above rammed into his head, resulting in his attack missing by a few meters.
“YOU!” he swat his giant hoof up at the attacking changeling, striking him in the shoulder. The changeling flipped a few meters away, and regaining his balance, he hovered at a safe distance. Then another changeling came down after him, striking him in the back of his neck. “What is this?!” he roared at them, and found that the changelings were all coming down after him one after the other. Scootaloo watched in awe as they struck him one by one, and the attacking swarm increased in numbers.
“AAAAAAAAH!!” He flailed his limbs in the air, trying to strike at them. Angrily, his giant hooves bat several of them out of the air. The wounded changelings fell out of the sky and collapsed into the ground. But for each changeling that he knocked out of the air, a dozen more took its place. “Get off of me!!” shrieked the giant monster, and his horn glowed a deathly red.
Scootaloo saw this, and she payed attention to where he was aiming. She couldn’t let him attack the changelings with Red Death; she had to do something. Acting quickly, she flew at him to join in the battle. “Hey!!” He looked at her with his furious eyes, giving her his full attention. Plague furrowed his eyes and threw a few more changelings off of him, then focused his aim on her. With her in his targeted sights, he furiously charged up his spell once again.
Wide-eyed, Scootaloo gave her best efforts to prepare for the impending attack in hopes she could dodge this one, too. The small changeling attacks were clearly doing nothing to the monster; they were just annoying him. With her in his focus to attack, he had blocked out the other changelings, completely ignoring them.
“Time to end this,” he coldly muttered, his horn illuminating brightly.
Just as he was to fire, a loud, terrifying shriek echoed through the dome. Scootaloo, as well as the changelings, recognized this. It sent chills down their spines, and they all looked up to where it had come from. Plague looked up, too, and there above them was a phoenix.
“AAGH!!” Plague furiously yelled at it, switching his target to the phoenix instead of Scootaloo, and he fired his beam at it. The phoenix swerved around the attack, and it raced towards him.
“Philomena!!” another familiar voice yelled out from above, “Stop that monstrosity!”
From above, they could see Princess Celestia in all her glory, hovering down from the clouds with her large wings. She was frowning, determined to end what had begun. As she descent, the thick smog above her separated, exposing a cerulean sky through the opening of the top of the dome, and the beautiful, warm rays of the sun.
“How is she free?!” Plague snapped. Then the golden bird of flames crashed down into his muzzle, and it began pelting him with repeated attacks. The other changelings backed off when the phoenix arrived, frightened of the flaming bird. The king flailed his head in the attempts to shake off the legendary bird. “AAGH!” He swat his hoof at the phoenix, striking it out of the air. Philomena screeched loudly when he hit her, and fell to the ground with a hard thud.
He cringed at the bird, and Philomena dissolved into ashes. Then, looking up, he had realized the phoenix was a distraction, and he was now surrounded by six ponies. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack were hovering weightlessly around him in an orbital motion. Glowing with a spectrum of colours, they prepared to strike the king with their elements.
Scootaloo watched in awe as they illuminated brighter.
“Now, ponies!!” screamed Celestia.
Preparing their final stages of their attack, a beam of light cast from each pony and into the monster. Plague flinched and grunt, and he felt immobilized.
“Send him to Tartarus!” the sun princess instructed the ponies.
Plague squinted and grit his teeth. “So, you freed Celestia with these powers you bestow?” he cackled at them, and looked up to Celestia with a wide grin. “This is your defense to protect Equestria? Oh, my dear princess, you wouldn’t know power if it hit you in the face.”
His horn flared a crimson glow, and despite their magic holding him down, he managed to move regardless. An explosion erupted from his horn, and a radius of magic flared from him and struck all six ponies at once.
They repelled backwards, shrieking, and the magical connection from their elements of harmony were disrupted. Each of them collapsed into the ground, and the king stood strong.
Celestia nibbled her bottom lip, feeling the turmoil of the situation. Scootaloo gasped to see her friends being struck down like that. Frowning and gnashing her teeth, she looked to Plague with hating eyes, having had enough of him. “AAAH!!”
Launching herself toward the monster, Plague focused on her. He prepared for her attack, and simply grinned. Celestia was in awe that Scootaloo still wanted to fight after seeing what happened to the Elements of Harmony against him.
“Come on!!” she carelessly screamed at him.
Plague growled and his horn began to illuminate with black electrical static emanating from it. She didn’t allow this to phase her, and she kept coming at him. As she came closer, he watched her flight pattern, and aimed where he predicted she would try to fly to in an attempt to dodge. “Dodge this, pegasus!!” From his horn, a black, shadowy sphere of pulsating energy came hurtling toward her. Scootaloo’s eyes widened; he hasn’t cast this attack yet, and didn’t know how to act.
“Scootaloo!!” A familiar voice from above her screamed out to her, “NO!!”
She could tell it was Flake who called her name. Briefly looking skyward, she saw the green changeling in the skylight, flying as hard as he could toward her. Everything felt like time had slowed down, and looking back to the bullet that Plague had fired at her, she knew there was no use on dodging; it was coming too fast. She gave it an effort by swerving to the side, but to no avail; it hit her dead on, and an explosion of energy echoed through the dome. Celestia and the six grounded ponies gasped at the sight of Scootaloo being shot out of the sky by this attack, and she came falling out of the air with a trail of black smoke behind her.
She crashed into the ground and bounced a few times as the trail of smoke from the dark magic followed her behind. After a few bounces, she skid across the ground to a complete stop, and the dark magic that emanated from her still body slowly depleted.
Flake flew down to her and landed next to her, gasping. “Scootaloo?” he whimpered, kneeling to his haunches to check on her. “Scootaloo, no. No, come on. Celestia didn’t heal me so I can come this far to watch you die. Now get up.”
A loud, crackling noise echoed through the dome, which was determined to be Plague’s laughter. Flake began to panic, shaking her by the shoulders. “Come on, get up!”
Though he tried, he couldn’t awaken the pegasus. “Scootaloo, please get up!” In tears, he lowered his head over her, and he embraced her.
The six grounded ponies watched from where they were, dumbfounded and distraught. Celestia had a look on her face of disbelief. The changelings among the dome were silent, and they watched with their observing turquoise eyes. Her act of heroism had captured their attention; she knew she didn’t stand a chance against the king, and yet, she risked everything for them regardless. And in the end, took the fall for everypony else. And to top it all off, they felt something they’ve never understood before when they witnessed Flake embracing her, crying over her.
Changelings exchanged looks with one another. They were confused by what they felt, but witnessing Scootaloo fall for their sake and seeing how much Flake cared, opened their eyes, and opened something forgotten deep within their hearts.
“Face it, fool,” Plague’s booming voice growled, and the silence of the cave was once again consumed with his sadistic laughter. “She’s gone.”
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......... and the resounding boom of my facepalm.
seriously dude, you are just gonna make the elements of harmoyn, which cast aside discord and nightmare moon, somehow not work on Him? that is.......... sighs.
the elements of harmony are far too powerful to be defeated by the likes of this guy. beings far beyond him have fallen. idea he could just shrug them off is just contrived.
And now again we stand before challenge of waiting months for next chapter :D
6006277
You seem to attempt to pick out all the errors huh. There would be explanations next chapter. Its a fiction, it isn't canon afterall. Lol.
The only thing I wonder about is what is going to happen to Chrysalis.
The other changelings might get off with not knowing any better, but Chrysalis knew full well that she was attempting the genocide of the entire pony race.
Let's not forget the river of corpses...
The changeling king only accelerated what the changelings were going to do anyway.
There needs to be a consequence for the changelings actions...
subjects.
Like that's not corny at all. Eh... I'd prefer if you kinda changed it.
I'd prefer not to hear Dawrinistic bs but we can't really say changelings have much of a civilization left in them.
never to be*
her*
his mind was set*
sedestepped* don't change tenses now.
his hooves made on the ground*
*headed
you had*
What?
Ripping towards the flailing pony, the beam grazed just past her head.
This is a suggestion but eh...
with her*
How does she even know what a machinegun is?
that made Scootaloo and the king open their eyes wide in confusion.
This makes no sense.
You mean reeled?
hadn't cast this attack before.
add by the voice after tell.
describe it. Show don't tell.
in*
remove observing.
6006277 I think they were simply disrupted before they could cast their spell.
6007070 By the time the changelings come it is apparent that they are similar to the Huns or Barbaric hordes. You say this, yet you ignore that their mentalities are vastly different after the corruption of the element of love. They have lost their idea of morality and the last scene is them showing the attempt to regain that.
Again if you paid attention you would see that the river of corpses, burials, e.t.c. these things were alien to the changelings at this point. So there is no standard with which to judge the changelings and propose consequences for their actions. Your claim about "justice" and all is mute point because I can't judge the way tribes in the amazon treat each other every time they raid them. Yes I know it's wrong, but what does it matter if that definition of right and wrong is subjective and based on the society "I" live in?
There's no point in judging the changelings just as there would be no point in judging Chrysalis. You know why? Because Chrysalis is the sovereign leader of another nation, and unless that nation is conquered by Equestrians there's no justice to be served. Why do you think the Americans sent reinforcements to the rebels in Africa about a year ago? We were all listening how they didn't want to go on foot and impose their own justice... It's because if they did that they would be in the wrong because they would be judging the tyrant Gadaffi by their own rules and not that of their own nation.
You can't just up and impose your highly biased societal justice on nations that simply don't abide by it. Especially on creatures that are vastly alien to your mentalities.
6009238 pretty sure that would not be how it works. i mean look at what happened when tirek tried to disrupt a harmony attack. they simply defended themseves.
6009457 Well that wasnt the Elements now was it?
Also... They just woke up. Elements of Harmony have been seen to be affected by their users states.
Also dont forget the King has the Element of Love which pretty much is equal to the elements.
6009238 The changelings are a different society with a whole different set of morals...however they have imposed their morals on a different nation.
What the changelings have done is no different than if a cannibal broke into your house ate half your family and maimed the other so they could not get away.
Your great at looking at things from a first world point if view, but not the point of view of the ponies that have been trapped, fed upon, and have lost family.
I mean really....the changelings can't be punished because they knew no better?...they were corrupted at the time so they get a pass on genocide?...
I wonder what you would do in the situation I mentioned earlier...would you punish the poor cannibal who knew no better than to eat your family...or would you make nice with him after he got done passing your kin?
6010274
Tough shit brah that's what happens when you "occupy" another nation. There's no UN here either.
It doesn't matter that they got corrupted. Their civilization degraded so much that you can't exactly judge them. It's like trying to judge that cannibal for the crimes they did. The only true justice you're gonna get is killing them. You can't exactly put them in court.
I would just kill him. Or imprison him if he was one guy.
Seriously dude wtf do you expect for all changelings to be incarcerated? Re-educated in some kind of equestrian civilization propoganda? You can't punish someone here because you're only going to get hated for oppressing them. What you can hope to do is change them.
6010346 Wow calm down my friend.
Getting angry and spouting profanity does nothing to make your position stronger.
Really though there are many ways to punish without being as cruel or vindictive as the ones you punish.
Here's a thought: The punishment being they help repair what was destroyed.
A kind of community service. They learn how to be better while working to rebuild the nation they destroyed.
That at least will be a step in the right direction.
I do agree that oppression will cause bad blood, but so too will sweeping everything under the carpet.
6010606 The profanity came naturally. I am not angry at you.
Yes they can repair it. But it will mean nothing if they just come back later to eat and they face the same problem. *shrug*
The changelings now are pretty much in dissaray. If I were to make a similar situation it would be like they have lost their Princess Celestia.
Do you think it's actually nice of you to start beating them when they are down? Metaphorically speaking.
Just... let it go for now. It doesn't help anyone. They aren't gonna free them if they feel threatened or their future threatened. They have no reason to follow Celestia or the rest from the moment that they opposed them for so many years.
This needs time to be thought out. Time and space.
I would really despise it if the two nations came under Celestia's rule. I really despise picturing Equestria like America and this would contribute to it.
6010648 I understand where you are coming from, and I do agree to a certain extent.
The problem is that what the changelings did was so horrible that to let them walk away with nothing but an "oops that didn't work" would cause a great deal of anger and hatred in the ponies that survived.
I agree that realistically there is no punishment that can even come close to what the changelings did and nothing can ever truly make it right.
However if what happened is just brushed aside I cannot imagine the survivors taking that all too well.
A peaceful coexistence based on the premise of full out forgiving the mass murder and theft of the pony race is doomed from the start.
No matter what they do it will not be enough...there will always be hurt feelings there...but a token gesture of some kind of compensation would go a long way to soothing some of the hate that will no doubt erupt from this heinous act.
Side note: it seems likely that the changelings will be put in equestria, and I agree I find it odd when some bronys try to make Equestria more like America...
6010984
Here;s the problem however... without them the ponies can't rebuild their homes. So punishing them right now is like cutting their own heads off.
There won't be any survivors or any quality of life of the survivors if the changelings are too busy getting punished and not rebuilding.
Nobody said full out forgiving them. But biased justice is worse than no justice at all. Trust me. If you do something DO IT RIGHT.
How about you go think why trials of murders e.t.c. occur some months after the events so we can have the spirits die down? Your problem right here lies in that you're trying to judge an entire nation. Your common trial fails, your even more common re-education can stray to propaganda. What you can do is go step by step and make the perpetrator think it out.
Justice through empathy.
Go tell that to Luna when she turned NMM. She almost forced the entire world into starvation and darkness. And she got scott free. But I don't see anyone going against her and demanding her incarceration. They just say "she was possessed" and ooops we're done with it.
Similarly here. Ooops we're too different. I once had a twisted sickfuck pm me on that matter. I am glad our conversation ended up with a mutual block. This twisted sense of justice is something i despise immensely.
On that matter I think Celestia and Luna as Princesses are figureheads/incompetent assholes((leaving the fight of Discord to the elements to go have cake is not what I had in mind)). Jesus... great now I'm reminded of things that get me mad. Adios.
Put in Equestria? I don't understand what you mean. TBH they need to become their own nation. Or maybe be like the Crystal Empire. I'm sick and tired of the ponies having all the artifacts/land being Big Boss and all. bleh...
6011045 Sigh...in all likelihood we will just have to agree to disagree.
With NMM in canon she never got a chance to do much damage...other than the castle of course.
I also agree that you cannot charge a whole nation like you can a single person.
One of the problems is we do not know how many of either the ponies or changelings are left.
Not to mention what has happened to the rest of the world at large.
There are a lot of variables that we simply do not have that can affect the out come.
Your argument seems to be based more on logic than emotion which is good...until you realize that people (and most likely ponies) are not machines...they are creatures that are still largely ruled by emotions.
You can tell someone all you want how they need to mourn and move on, and have all kinds of charts and graphs as to why that is the right choice...however it is still not going to change how that person feels.
Feelings can be very illogical as well as irrational.
You are going to have a lot of ponies waking up to dead family... 10 years lost... mass graves... a destroyed nation... and no matter the logic of working together to rebuild what was lost you will undoubtedly have ponies that are inconsolable, unstable, and with nothing left to lose...
If no one addresses their pain then bad things will happen.
It is too late for the ponies to be put back into their cocoons now that the most powerful ponies are free.
The changelings will need to make the change over that some of the others have made, or they may just starve end up starving anyway.
6011681
There's the issue of threat and feeling threatened. Blackmails get punished. Insubordination/treason is also no simple issue.
Until however you realize that the justice you seek is a mob going all around and going all "Eye for an Eye" to the changelings.
There's a reason why doctors don't operate loved ones.
There's a reason why bonds of blood or friendships are considered compromising in judgements.
Emotional bias may and CAN be disastrous in the process of being impartial and fair. The justice you seek isn't justice... it's vindication. It's revenge. There's a reason why we call lawyers monsters, why we say justice is blind, and why when it comes to fair judgement emotion has ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE. When it comes to justice emotion IS BAD.
There's truly nothing that can be done about it other than provide psychological support and general aid. Justice's job is not to satisfy the emotions that one has but rather it is to deliver proportional punishment to the deed done so as to teach cause and consequence, and the good/evil of the society this evil has been commited upon.
You need to remember, Equestria needs to remember... incarceration in prisons is to actually help people. There's a reason why we are angry with prisons... they were meant to be reform institutes ((as is the legal term they are referred with sometimes)) and NOT cages to shackle people down. If we listened to the emotions of the people every time a drug addict went out of jail or someone who had killed before got free legally then aren't we the ones to blame for not giving them a chance to re-integrate with society?
Your plan has one major flaw if you ask me... You do not account for the fact that currently and until changelings get better they need to be close to ponies to feed. They are essential to them... imperative even. If you take them away/exile them/imprison them you have the trouble of killing them. You also have the problem that if the changelings feel they are being cheated, no matter how strong Celestia or the Elements are they will overpower them and reconquer Equestria.
And it may never be sated as well. I mentioned the problems above. Eye for an eye justice, imporportional punishment, hate that sometimes never wanes...
The only thing that can speak right now is actions. Actions speak louder than words. The only thing the changelings can do to change is... do things. Good things that is. That's going to be their way of attonement and nothing else.
The element of love is still there. They can be imprisoned back, they can just retreat to fight another day. They certainly did so before... And trust me... not even the elements of harmony can stop a whole army. Don't let the show fool you into thinking otherwise.
They certainly will starve automatically if they release the ponies and they start instant hating them.
All I can tell you right now is to calm down about the future. You're focusing too much on this.
6011681 You might be interested in this. http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/483026/queen-chrysaliss-judgement
6012314
I have never once mentioned eye for an eye, or even suggested it.
Again you are putting words in my mouth. I have never mentioned the words justice, vindication, or revenge. You however have used the word justice no less than 6 times in this post alone. In fact all I have asked for was a consequence for their actions, and have even suggested the idea of and I quote: "The punishment being they help repair what was destroyed".
This action would keep the changelings around to learn from the ponies as well as give them a possible source of food.
Again what plan?
whose posts have you been reading?
The only course I have ever suggested was as mentioned above "The punishment being they help repair what was destroyed". That's it.
As far as reconquering...that requires data such as how many changelings are there...can they function well as a unit without their queen...how much love did the King steal, and did it affect the other changelings...how many ponies are left...how much strength have the princesses recovered...We simply do not have that data, so it is unclear who would come out on top.
Again we do not have enough data to definitively say who will or will not come out on top. The only thing I will say is that if the changelings did decide to run and come back at a later date I highly doubt they would be as successful in reconquering Equestria. The equestrians would have learned from their mistake, and most likely would have developed several counter measures by the time the changelings came back to try again.
6012334 That actually is an interesting article.
Thank you for sharing it!
6012410
No but the justice that satisfies the emotions of the people is the "Eye for an Eye" logic or generally improportional judgement.
Maybe I simply thought you had thought this out.
But that's what satisfies the justice of the emotions. That's what I'm trying to make you understand. The way emotional justice works is with these words.
You tell me about the consequence for their actions. That's judgement. Judgement includes justice. Fair punishment comes from justice. You can circle around it all you want but in this case justice CANNOT be avoided. Consequence is a form of justice.
With the weight of the emotions you are suggesting? Unlikely.
This plan.
i334.photobucket.com/albums/m411/mondokane/LegionMotiv1.jpg~original
They already succeeded once after failing once. Case in point.
6012417 Anytime.
6012456 Considering how much space we are taking up here in the comments we should probably just agree to disagree and table this debate for another time.
Happy reading!
6012502 Knowing the author somewhat I think he would appreciate our brainstorming on this matter. There's always the choice of taking this to a pm if you're up for it.
Regardless I think you would appreciate my thinking out of the previous article i posted elaborated.
http://www.fimfiction.net/group/629/queen-chrysaliss-changeling-swarm/thread/175868/chrysaliss-judgement