My Little Pony: One as a Family. "Trials of Friendship"

by SaburoDaimando

Arc 24-3: Gold Banks' Victory

Gold Banks’ Victory

Coldnelius Snap, who was still in his Windigo form, fired among the Debt Collectors with his Windigo allies following suit. The impact of the ice shattered the cannons and knocked the Debt Collector Grunts aside. Some of them were knocked out of commission. Others lost their fur and mane color before their cosmic cores shot out of their bodies and into the air.

“NO MERCY TO THOSE WHO DARE DEFILE OUR WAY OF LIFE!” Coldnelius Snap shouted.

But as the Windigos held nothing back, Gold Banks looked down at her Amulet, twirling it with her magic and staring at the jewel embedded in it.

“Guess it’s about time I put this to good use,” Gold Banks said. “But just to bring more heat to the Windigo’s Guild and the Changelings.”

Gold Banks turned towards a nearby cannon, observing her troops loading another Fire Nag pod into the barrel. She walked up to the cannon and placed her hoof on it, turning it red hot.

“Perfect,” Gold Banks said. “Now it’s time to show the Windigos who’s really in charge of Equestria.”

As Gold Banks took a few steps back from the giant cannon, she signaled to the troops, who aimed the cannon right at the two Windigo allies of Coldnelius Snap.

“Now!” Gold Banks shouted. “Roast them.”

With one press of the button from a grunt, the cannon fired off a powerful shot right at the Windigos. Before they could react, the supercharged Fire Nag pod hit them directly, detonating and covering them in a more potent Fire Nag Miasma. Coldnelius Snap turned to the Windigos and gasped in horror.

“NO!” Coldnelius Snap shouted.

Coldnelius Snap charged up magic within his mouth and was about to fire at the miasma when he was hit from behind by another shot from the Fire Nag pod. The impact covered him in the Miasma for a moment before he fell towards the ground.

As Snap hit the ground hard, he transformed back into his alicorn form. Then he looked up helplessly at the Windigos, who screamed in agony over the Fire Nag Miasma. They lost their consciousness and fell downward into the ground before collapsing. Coldnelius Snap slowly got up and ran towards the Windigos, who hit the ground with a loud thud.

“THE WINDIGOS ARE FINISHED!” Gold Banks yelled. “TEAR THAT HIVE APART!”

More cannons fired right into the Changeling Hive as Coldnelius Snap ran up to the fallen Windigos. He was helpless to watch as these ghostly-like ponies lost all of their color and their cosmic cores ejected from their astral form.

“NOOOOO!” Coldnelius Snap yelled.

As Snap ran up to the fallen Windigos, pieces of the Changeling Hive fell towards the ground. One landed in front of him, forcing Coldnelius Snap to come to a stop. He looked up and saw more pieces of the hive fall towards him before jumping out of the way. Once he landed, he watched as the hive was slowly being torn apart by the Fire Nag pods.

“First Winteris and now the Changeling hive,” Coldnelius Snap said. “We have lost our homes.”

Coldnelius Snap transformed back into a Windigo and flew away from the collapsing Changeling Hive. Every cannon came to a stop as the hive fell down onto the remains of the Windigos before it hit the ground, creating a giant dust cloud that covered the vicinity.

Nearby, Coldnelius Snap flew as far as possible from the ruins of the Changeling Hive and landed nearby in the forest, away from the Debt Collectors. He looked out at what was left of the Changeling Hive before hanging his head in shame.

“I failed to save Winteris, and I failed to save the Changeling’s Kingdom,” Coldnelius Snap said. “Are we doomed to extinction?”

Coldnelius Snap turned his head and ran off in another direction.

Nearby, as the dust cloud cleared up, the Changeling Hive laid down on its side, shattered to pieces. Gold Banks looked down at the remnants of the hive before turning towards her troops.

“The kingdom of the Changelings is ours,” Gold Banks shouted. “Come. Let us reap the rewards of battle.”

Meanwhile, the remaining cultists and changelings emerged from a secret exit outside of the vicinity of the Changeling Hive. Their eyes were directed to where the hive stood. Queen Chrysalis reached out helplessly at what was left of her home.

“It’s all gone,” Queen Chrysalis said. “First I lose my mother Queen Pailionoidea and the original kingdom. And now this.”

“Mother,” Princess Chrysalis II said, setting the corpse of the fallen changeling aside. “What’s going to happen to us now?”

“I don’t know,” Queen Chrysalis said as a tear fell from her eye. “For the first time since this Hydia took our livelihood, I don’t really know.”

Inferno walked up onto a nearby rock and stood on it, looking down at the remnants of the Hive.

“Our colony is gone,” Inferno said in a weak voice. “Everything we’ve worked so hard to show our superiority was taken away by that monster Gold Banks. We are broken as a species.”

Immediately, Waspinator and Quickstrike walked up to Inferno before standing on the same rock as he was.

“Don’t you worry, brother,” Quickstrike said. “We’ll pay back those varmints for what they did, we’ll get our land back, and we’ll rebuild our colony bigger than ever. And once we do, we’ll drink all the fire water until our bellies burst.”

“Waspinator agree with Quickstrike,” Waspinator said. “Waspinator won’t forgive Gold Banks and her butt-kissers for what she did. Waspinator out for revenge.”

But Inferno ignored the words of his brothers. His eyes focused on the ruins of the Changeling Hive, Inferno walked away from his brothers and continued to look down at what’s left of their home.

“Poor big brother,” Quickstrike said. “It’s going to take some time for him to recover from the loss.”

“What can Waspinator do to cheer him up?” Waspinator asked. “Waspinator feel sorry for Inferno.”

“It will take some time to motivate big brother into becoming his former self again,” Quickstrike said. “For now, we should let him mope for a bit.”

“Waspinator hope Inferno can come around and become stronger than ever,” Waspinator said. “After all, Waspinator still have motivation left.”

“And that is something that should be rewarded.” Waspinator turned around to see Queen Chrysalis walk up to him with the very medal he gave her.

“Queen Chrysalis?” Waspinator said. “What are you doing with medal? Waspinator not deserve something like that.”

“Far more than you ever imagined,” Queen Chrysalis said as she placed the medal on Waspinator’s chest. “Long ago, you earned this medal for protecting the Man’s Cub from Gold Banks. Today, you’ve earned it even more for saving my daughter’s life. For that, I am grateful for your actions.”

As Queen Chrysalis stepped back with a small smile on her face, Waspinator looked down at his reclaimed medal, and cried a few tears.

“Waspinator vow not to fail Queen Chrysalis,” Waspinator said. “Waspinator accepts this medal with great honor.”

Suddenly, Coldnelius Snap flew in as a Windigo and landed nearby as he transformed back into his alicorn form. Crystal Snow ran up to her father and gave her a big hug.

“You’re alright,” Crystal Snow said. “I feared that you were killed by Gold Banks.”

“I’m not,” Coldnelius Snap said. “I don’t die that easily.”

As Snap held onto Crystal Snow, Queen Chrysalis walked up to the leader of the Windigo’s Guild with Princess Chrysalis II by her side.

“Before we leave the hollowed grounds of what was once our hive, I believe there are some unfinished business that needs to be tended to,” Queen Chrysalis explained.

“Such as paying our respects to the dead?” Coldnelius Snap asked.

“Indeed,” Queen Chrysalis replied.

Later that night, the corpse of the fallen changeling was placed atop a wooden pyre that stood on some stones. Princess Chrysalis II stood over the fallen changeling while holding a bottle of fire water. Queen Chrysalis stood on a makeshift altar, addressing the Changelings and Cultists. Coldnelius Snap sat next to his daughter Crystal Snow, holding hooves together in mourning. Locust, Quickstrike and Waspinator looked up at their fallen comrade, while Inferno hung his head down in shame.

“Today, so many lives of the Changelings and the Winterians have been lost to Gold Banks,” Chrysalis spoke. “One life that was taken was that of one changeling who was tortured to death in front of our eyes, done in by Fire Nag Miasma. A reflection of what happened to our ancestors when Hydia the Alicorn took the life of our previous queen and my mother: Pailionoidea.”

The changelings and the cultists bow their heads down in respect as Queen Chrysalis wiped a tear from her eye.

“But make no mistake,” Queen Chrysalis spoke. “What happened tonight should not be the end of our kind, be it Changeling or Winterian. We will rise up against the monster who took the lives of our kind. We will come back stronger than ever, and we will show the entire world that nothing will keep us down. But never forget those who were slain by this monster’s actions. Especially the one victim who didn’t deserve it.”

Queen Chrysalis turned her attention to Princess Chrysalis II and nodded to her. The princess of the changelings downed a bottle of fire water before breathing the flames at the fallen changeling’s corpse that laid on the pyre. The remains of the poor soul was lit ablaze along with the very pyre. Everyone turned their attention towards the funeral pyre.

“Poor fellow member of the hive,” Inferno said. “He didn’t deserve it.”

“What was his name?” Quickstrike asked.

“Dragonfly,” Queen Chrysalis replied. “His name….was Dragonfly.”

Every changeling thrusted their hoof in their, chanting “DRAGONFLY! DRAGONFLY! DRAGONFLY! DRAGONFLY! DRAGONFLY!” As the changelings chanted, the remains of the changeling slowly disintegrated into the fire as his ashes rose into the air and became flower petals, flying off in the distance.

“Father,” Crystal Snow cried. “What will we do now?”

“Come dawn, we will make our way to the north west and conquer Mount Aris,” Coldnelius Snap said. “Only then will we have a new home, and a new meaning to our cause.”

The changelings continued to chant “DRAGONFLY” as the night went on. As the pyre burned into the night, Dragonfly’s name embedded itself on the stone.

The next morning, not a single sign of changeling nor cultist was in the presence around the remnants of the hive. The Debt Collectors walked up to what’s left of the building with Gold Banks and Grand Philosopher leading the entire army.

“The magic is yours to collect, Lady Banks,” Grand Philosopher said. “But what should we do about what’s left of the Changeling’s hove?”

“We will rebuild it into a palace of our own,” Gold Banks explained. “And we will make it in a way that mocks their legacy.”

“A very interesting approach,” Grand Philosopher said. “How about I take care of it right away?”

Gold Banks came to a stop and said “And deprive the peons of their job?”

“Time is money, my dear,” Grand Philosopher said. “After all, you are also due for your invasion of the Hippogriffs on Mount Aris and Seaquestria.”

“So we’re going to top the Storm King when it comes to conquering those bird brains,” Gold Banks said. “Very well. Do what must be done.”

Grand Philosopher held his hooves out as the remnants of the Changeling Hive levitated into the air and swirled around into a vortex. In a flash of light, a palace formed in front of everyone, shining like jade in the sun. Statues of Gold Banks lined the outer walls of the new castle.

“It’s magnificent,” Gold Banks laughed. “To turn their own kingdom into a monument to me. How ironically delicious.”

“Come with me, Lady Banks,” Grand Philosopher said. “It’s time I led you to the sacred land that contains the magic of the changelings.”

Grand Philosopher walked towards the entrance of the newly-formed palace with Gold Banks following from behind. The Debt Collectors took up point and surrounded the new castle, keeping their eyes out on any intruders.

Inside, Gold Banks and Grand Philosopher walked down the halls of the newly formed palace. There were paintings of Gold Banks that lined the walls, each showcasing her in all her pride.

“This place is amazing,” Gold Banks said. “And it will do for a new location now that I can’t return to Canterlot nor Manehattan.”

“Once you’ve powered up through your new Alicorn Amulet, every part of this world will belong to you,” Grand Philosopher stated. “It will be as if it were your new sandbox, and you were declared its empress.”

“I do say, empress has a better ring to it than queen,” Gold Banks said before she pulled out your amulet. “And you’re right. The power of this amulet will grow one day, once we acquire more power to amplify it.”

“And you’re in luck,” Grand Philosopher said. “When I built this palace with the power of alchemy, I was able to build a path that leads straight to the sacred land. One that houses the magic of the changelings. Observe.”

Grand Philosopher came to a stop as he tapped the floor of the palace’s grand foyer. The ground lifted up, revealing an elevator-like platform.

“After you, my lady,” Grand Philosopher said, presenting Gold Banks with the elevator.

“A new palace with service,” Gold Banks said. “Now this is style.”

Gold Banks stepped onto the platform with Grand Philosopher stepping on afterwards. Grand Philosopher tapped the platform with his hoof, causing it to descend downwards. As the platform made its way down through the ground, Gold Banks turned to Grand Philosopher.

“You went through all that trouble just to get us down to our final goal, Grand Philosopher,” Gold Banks asked.

“It was all for you, future ruler of all of Equestria,” Grand Philosopher said. “But to do so, you must possess every magic across this world and become the most powerful being ever. Maybe to ascend to a goddess, or a titan.”

“A goddess or even a titan,” Gold Banks said. “I like that.”

It didn’t take long for the platform to arrive in a new land, which looked as barren as the former kingdom of the Changelings. A castle stood near them, where magic poured out in a stream.

“What a disgusting place,” Gold Banks said. “But I would say the same thing if it were covered in flowers and trees.”

As the platform came to a stop at the bottom, Grand Philosopher and Gold Banks stepped off and walked towards the castle.

“Come this way,” Grand Philosopher said. “The magic of the changelings awaits.”

The two ponies made their way across the badlands towards the castle, where the magic poured out. Grand Philosopher used his magic to open the front doors before he and Gold Banks stepped inside.

Inside, the castle resembled the former changeling hive. But in the middle of the Grand Foyer of the hidden castle, the stream of magic poured out into the air.

“Go, my lady,” Grand Philosopher said. “The magic of the Changelings awaits you.”

Gold Banks walked up to the stream of magic and held out her amulet. With a flash of light, the amulet siphoned the magic of the changelings into the jewel encrusted on it. After a short moment, Gold Banks pulled the amulet back and looked down as the jewel glowed green.

“And so my journey to capture the changeling’s magic has been completed,” Gold Banks said. “And not only that, but I have a new palace to call my own.”

“But your work is not done yet,” Grand Philosopher said, walking up to Gold Banks. “There is another source of magic that is ripe for the taking: The magic of the Hippogriff kingdom.”

“Mount Aris,” Gold Banks said. “To think, they once had a powerful kingdom atop, long before this Hydia attacked them and slayed King Neptune and Queen Athena. Now their daughter Queen Novo is what’s left of the original royal family. Oh I still remember her talking about how our deal was done during the Grand Gallopin Gala.”

“And I take it you wish to send Queen Novo to an early grave,” Grand Philosopher asked.

“More than that,” Gold Banks said. “I wish to wipe out the hippogriffs and the sea ponies from existence before I take their magic. After all, they are nothing more than mere gnats compared to the future Empress.”

“Then we make for Mount Aris,” Grand Philosopher stated. “The sooner we acquire their magic, the sooner you will be able to begin your conquest.”

“Very well,” Gold Banks said with a laugh. “It won’t be long until we have enough to overthrow Princess Celestia and take my rightful place as Empress of the world.”

To Be Continued in…

Arc 25: The Demon’s Grasp

A New Tale in Vanhoover

Author's Note:

Don't expect this to be the last time we see the Changelings and the Windigo's Guild. I already have plans on them returning in Showdown at Mount Aris. Same goes with Gold Banks and her Debt Collectors.

As for Dragonfly's funeral, it was a bit of a nod to Dinobot's funeral in Beast Wars, Yondu's funeral in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Qui Gon Jinn's funeral in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

The next arc is a break from the action before Showdown at Mount Aris.