GMposts, and source of some extra characters.)

A little over a year ago as of this posting, I started up a role play on Spacebattles. The game was going to be a restart of 'Equestria Needs Stallions', which had died due to the previous GM getting buried by life.

Unfortunately, this Roleplay did not last long, as this was right in the lead up to my calculus and research methods classes. The roleplay died then.

Originally under the previous GM, ENS was going to go along the lines of romantic comedy with some action in it. I don't know what was originally planned for the bigger story, but when I restarted it and gathered the players, I started working right at the beginning of the changeling invasion, and was going to twist the game into the players leading a changeling civil war at the direction of Chrysalis' daughter, Princess Mayfly. (A changeling proto-queen)

The starting premise, was that five pony mares got together to commission Zecora for a ritual spell to find their perfect special someponies. (Because each character had circumstances that made it hard for them to find a good stallion.) What they got were the player characters. Part of the early plot was that Mayfly was the actual reason Canterlot was even on alert, having slipped the rumor about her mother's invasion scheme in during her own investigations into the love energy Equestria had. She discovered the ritual being planned and was interested in this potential source of infinite love, and accidentally almost caused disaster.

The roleplay is the source of several of my additional background ponies, such as Nora and Crystal, seen in the full story version of 'Change is Good'. The events depicted here can be said to be partially canon with that story.

The characters that show up:...

Mares Visual Image

Crystal Clear:
Unicorn, and Daughter of Jet Set and Upper Crust.
Commissioned Zecora for the ritual both to find her own colt friend, and to take a stab at her parents. She's a good soul with a distaste of her parent's 'stuck-up upper-class' behaviors. Essentially, the reverse of Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich. Smart, well liked, and quite friendly when she's not being too vocal. Her special ability is a mimic of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Lady Nora Stonewall
('Nora' added in Change Is Good.)
Earth Pony; Executive administrator of the Canterlot city services department. (IE: Utilities, trash handling, etc...) She works a position that requires a utilitarian personality to keep it running, but has to deal with a city full of nobles who'd sooner like to forget such essential services have to exist, and that SONEPONY has to be around to do it. She is often scoffed at by many nobles, but not openly disrespected, and she certainly isn't trifled with. (Unless the nobles like having their refuse build up around their estates.) She was present for this ritual because finding a suitable stallion for her in Canterlot was... Well, Earth Pony administrator in canterlot who'd sooner sock a noble than date one...
Just imagine Mayor Mare, turn down the flakiness by more than half, turn up the 'irritated' knob to about nine point five, and add a degree in project management.

Canterlot is HER city. (And she WILL ensure it keeps running.)

Lace Curtain:
Unicorn; A struggling Canterlot shopkeeper who's curtain shop is only still in business thanks to her best friend Crystal Clear. She's the group fluttershy and hasn't had too much personality added to her.

Storm Crow:
Pegasus
A Wonderbolt, but just a rank-and-file one. Her skills are sharp, but par for a typical Bolt. Average speed, average maneuverability, a bit of a disregard for authority and a lack of major aspirations. She's enough of a 'fighter-jock' to get herself into trouble from time to time, but not so bad as to get drummed out of the bolts for misconduct. (Unlike Lightning Dust) Stormcrow has one unique ability. She can wrap storm clouds on her forelegs and arc electricity across them to launch lightning bolts. This skill allows her to completely rewrite pegasus air combat in her presence. Too bad Spitfire doesn't see any merit in the method. Storm Crow ducked a mandatory formation to attend the ritual. She wanted a colt friend who wouldn't be after her because she was a Bolt.

Northwind:
Pegasus; A sleepy weather pony and courier from up north near the location of the Crystal Empire. Spends a lot of her time indoors just staying out of the way of snowstorms. Attended the ritual to find her own little snuggle colt... since her post was rather lonely and quiet.

Princess Mayfly
Changeling Protoqueen

Daughter of Chrysalis, and well on her way to being groomed as the next queen, Mayfly was the first to scout Canterlot and discover Equestria's abundant love. However, unlike her mother, she has some empathy still and thought an invasion was silly. So she tried to tip the Equestrians off. It's just her mother happened to be moving her plans forward at a faster timetable. She despises 'stupidity', having had nothing but her mother's 'yes-changeling' lackeys around her most her life. She would risk getting killed to have a massive argument with Celestia and Luna just for a taste of intelligent conversation. She investigated the Ritual because there seemed potential in it for some kind of infinite food supply for changelings. She was hoping that if she could learn how, she could cut her mother's plans off at the last second and avoid a potential conflict.

It should be mentioned that some of the concepts for the RP were pulled from Those who Hunt Elves.... You'll see shortly.
For control purposes, due to trying to play this on a web forum with odd hours, the RP was going to be played in rounds. GM post, followed by the players in no particular order, but only one post per round.

What follows are a few of my saved GM posts. Mainly an introductory round, and the big opening event that was supposed to set the tone of the rest of the game. Mainly they're useful for getting some character templates from, and large enough to warrant mention here in my scrap box.

But, now that I've talked your eyes out, let's have at them.

ROUND 001: First you learn to walk...
------------------------------------------------

Somewhere in Canterlot...

“Are you sure this is a good idea Crystal?”

“Lacy, for the last time. Yes, I'm sure. We've been planning this for weeks now. Don't tell me you're getting cold hooves about it.”

Two ponies round a corner, stepping off one of Canterlot's main thoroughfares and taking a deserted side street. One, a cream colored unicorn with a gray mane, and what appears to be her friend, a sky blue unicorn with a pink and blue striped mane. The cream colored one can be seen frowning at her worried partner as they trot along.

“It's not that,” the sky-blue unicorn replies after a moment. “It's just that... Today, of all days? Why now?”

“I told you Lacy,” the cream colored unicorn begins. “With just about everypony either attending the wedding or parties celebrating the wedding, now is the perfect time to do this. Besides... This is the only time I could get away from my dad without making him suspicious. He and mom will be too busy burying their noses in royal flanks to even notice I'm not there. You saw him. The moment Fancy Pants appeared, it's like I ceased to exist.”

“But what about the guard?” the unicorn apparently called 'Lacy' continues to question. “Aren't they on high alert for this 'threat' we've been hearing about? What if something happens and they think we're the threat?”

“Cheh!” The cream-colored unicorn named 'Crystal' scoffs. “Did you even look out the window of your shop yesterday? Princess Celestia was up on the tower ALL DAY staring through her telescope. Every guard in the city is either guarding the wedding chapel, or posted at the checkpoints. Trust me Lacy... All eyes are aimed OUT.”

“I still don't know,” Lacy purses her lips for a moment. “It just seems like a bad idea to play around with powerful spells like this when security is this tight. If it causes a false alarm, I have the feeling we'll get more than just a stern talking-to about safe magical practice.”

“Like I said,” Crystal replies. “All eyes are pointed out. I doubt the guard would even notice anything going on in the city until it was too late. Hay, if this so-called 'threat' knew this would happen, it's probably already got somepony in the city somewhere waiting like we a-”

BANG!

“-ARE!”

Both unicorns jump when a wooden board, dislodged by a gust of wind, noisly smacks into the ground. For several long seconds they stare at the rogue plank before laughing a little.

“All this talk of guards and threats is making me jumpy,” Crystal smirks at her friend.

“Yeah,” Lacy replies. “Just a little...”

“Well,” Crystal sucks up a deep breath and puts on her best war face. (Which for her comes off as utterly adorable rather than abominable.) “Let's hurry up and get there already, summon our perfect coltfriends, and hit the parties. I want to see the look on Mom's face when I walk in with a stallion to rival Fancy Pants.”

“Somehow I don't think you get the point of this spell,” Lacy comments with a sidelong glance. “The way you talk, it sounds more like you're after an ornament rather than the stallion of your dreams...”

“Hey!” Crystal pouts at her friend. “He'll definitely be the stallion of my dreams. It just happens that rubbing perfection my parents could never achieve in their faces is one of those dreams.”

Crystal then turns her eyes away, muttering not-quite-silently under her breath.

“Self-centered, stuck-up, brown-nosing twits...”

The two unicorns reach a small building near the back end of the city, practically built into the cliff face of the mountain Canterlot rests on. Crystal trots up to the a small wooden door and quickly knocks.

'Tap ta-ta-tap tap... Tap Tap.'

“What's that mean anyway?” Lacy asks.

“Shave and a haircut: two bits,” Crystal shruggs back. “Don't ask me why. I'VE never gotten a two-bit haircut...”

Suddenly, a small slot in the middle of the door opens. A pair of pink eyes glance out at the two before a gruff voice, or rather, a voice attempting to sound gruff and failing spectacularly due to being unable to hide how refined it is, asks:

“What's the password?”

“Ms. Stonewall,” Crystal rolls her eyes. “It's us...”

“Sorry,” the voice on the other side replies after a moment. “No password, no entry.”

“Seriously?” Crystal rolls her eyes.

“The password?” the faux gruff-mare on the other side asks more insistently.

Crystal and Lacy glance at each other with glum looks before turning to recite in unison.

“We solemnly swear that we're up to no good.”

Silence reigns for several seconds before the slot shuts with a snap. After a few more seconds, the sound of nearly a dozen deadbolts and chains can be heard being undone. The door then swings open with a teeth-grinding creak, allowing the two unicorns entry.

They enter, the room before them dark save for the eerie green glow of a runic circle in front of them and the light of the door behind. Sitting in the center of the runes is the dark form of a Zebra shaman, balanced precariously on the end of a stick, seemingly in a trance.

“It's about time you arrived,” the gruffness is gone from the voice behind them, replaced with a cultured accent more befitting the capital of Equestria. “An hour behind to an appointment YOU scheduled.”

“Sorry,” Crystal lets her ears droop just a little as she turns to see a pink earth pony in spectacles quickly closing the door behind them. “I had to wait until mom and dad were in full form before I could sneak away.”

The pink pony glances between the two newcomers, reaching up to adjust her spectacles in the process.

“Indeed,” she calmly recites. “I suppose it can't be helped. Getting away from THOSE TWO when they don't want to be gotten rid of has proven problematic even for the likes of Prince Blueblood. Not that he'd TRY to get away from a couple of yes-pony lackeys... No offense dear.”

“None taken...” Crystal shrugs. “So how'd you get away from your job, 'Lady' Stonewall? I can't say the department of city services expected a slow down during one of the biggest events of the season.”

“Please...” 'Lady' Stonewall makes a mock dignified wave of her hoof. “I had a vacation day planned for today ever since the announcement of the wedding. First-come first-serve and all. As for those two...”

Lady Stonewall turns towards a pair pegasi, all but invisible in the dark if they hadn't been pointed out.

“Ms. Northwind of course doesn't have any time sensitive obligations this time of year,” Stonewall continues. “However, I can't say the same about LIUTENANT Stormcrow...”

Upon hearing the emphasis of the rank, one of the Pegasi's ears kicks up, followed quickly by her eyes, and then the rest of her. The light colored pegasus quickly stands and stretches before half-trotting, half-gliding over to the three chatting mares.

“Yeah yeah,” the pegasus complains. “I'm technically supposed to be in formation right now, but instead I'm supposedly laid up in bed with the feather flu. So if anypony asks, ESPECIALLY Sorin or Spitfire, you never saw me.”

“Really,” Lady Stonewall rolls her eyes. “I don't know why you just didn't take a vacation day like me. At least then you wouldn't be risking getting into trouble for this... More than we already are.”

“I told you,” Stormcrow frowns at the earth pony. “Wonderbolts don't get the luxury of 'vacation days' the way you civilians do. We have to give at least three months notice. I'd be lucky to be in the same city if it wasn't for the wedding. I was in Las Pegasus for six weeks doing air shows daily before word got out.”

Lady Stonewall adjusts her spectacles once more, a silent but implied 'indeed' on her face. Stormcrow takes that as the end of the conversation and turns to the remaining slumbering pegasus, shaking her from her sleep.

“Hey,” she snaps. “Rise and shine ice-pick. We're about ready to get started.”
The final pegasus lets out a long, cat-like yawn before slowly standing and continuing with several equally cat-like stretches. A few satisfyingly loud cracks later she joins the group.

“Morning...”

“Afternoon actually, Northwind...” Stormcrow corrects.

“Oh,” Northwind blinks. “Okay. That too...”

“Ah...”

All five mares jump in fright from the sound of the nearly forgotten zebra shaman sitting in the center of the room.

“I see you are all here,” the shaman continues. “It took some time, but your schedules, now clear.”

Several long seconds are taken for the five mares to collect themselves. After a decent number of exchanged glances, Lacy finally speaks quietly to Crystal.

“Where did you find this piece of work anyway?”

“Ponyville,” Crystal whispers back. “I was down there ordering a dress from this cute little shop. I don't know where mom and dad found out about it. You wouldn't catch them dead in such a place. But she caught me ogling this really hunky stallion plowing a field when I was done. We had a chat over lunch and here we are.”

“Are you sure she can be trusted?” Lacy gives the zebra an unsure eye, who simply gives her a placid stare in return. “I mean, she seems a bit... you know, creepy.”

“The locals trust her,” Crystal shrugs. “Plus she knew this really quaint place to eat. Really good cupcakes. But I suggest avoiding the crazy pink one that works there. A little too hyperactive for me.”

“What's her name anyway?” Stormcrow interjects. “I couldn't get her to so much as say three words the entire time.”

“Zecora,” Crystal provides.

“Zecora eh?” Stormcrow turns to the zebra. “I like that name.”

“As do I,” Zecora comments idly from atop her stick. “Much as you like to fly.”

“Well,” Lady Stonewall interrupts. “No sense in wasting any more time, let's get this thing over with. I want to meet my ideal stallion already.”

The other mares nod their agreement.

“Fan out in a circle and be quick,” Zecora commands. “For this spell is fickle, and is no mean trick.”

The mares fan out around the circle, each being careful not to stop on the drawings. As they do so, the building creaks slightly, causing a little bit of dust from the rafters to fall on Zecora's nose.

“This place is falling apart,” she shakes her head after snorting the offending grit away. “Not the ideal place to examine one's heart.”

Zecora then turns and examines the group.

“Stand on the points of the star if you would,” she commands. “Only then will this spell work as it should.”

A little more shuffling and the mares are in place. Zecora quickly moves off to the side to a smaller mark in the ground and gently settles into a squat, laying her stick in front of her and opening a tome.

“And now we start,” she instructs. “The spell that finds one's heart. No matter what you must move not from your place; nor should you open your face. Fail this, and you will be forever lost in the abyss.”

Zecora is met by a series of gulps and silent nods. The Zebra casts one last gaze across the group before her eyes focus on the book before her. With but this glance, the tome seems to read her very thoughts and bursts open, pages flying on their own before stopping suddenly, a harsh glow lighting the shaman's face.

“I begin,” Zecora states without her usual flair, instead her eyes begin to glow an unsettling golden hue.

“Thou who art lost and alone, free thyselves of your bonds...”

“Ashita. No kaze. Fuku goro ni.”
“Waratte yo. Namaikina mama. De Ite.”
“Akireru. Hodo.”

The runic circle begins to glow brighter, the eerie green seeming to reach out around the five mares, almost as if to outline the area and divide it from the rest of the universe. The sounds of the building around them quiet to the point of silence. All that can be heard aside from Zecora's voice is the sound of five mares breathing.

“Mokoi kaze. Fuku asa mo.”
“Waratte yo. Tsuki mo. Itsuka.”
“Muite. Kuru. Sukoshi kori”
“Na yatsu ga. Kimi rashii.”

The sound of breathing is now joined by the hum of powerful magics. The wall of magic separating the five now appears almost solid. Zecora glances up from her reading for just a moment as it generates a stray arc, but continues without missing a beat. Her voice now seems to echo in space.

“Kono. Machi de.”
“Don chu. Su renda.”
“An chelbloo!”

Completing her chant, Zecora looks up once more. There is a pulse of magic and the intensity of the spell continues to grow. The sound it makes rises in pitch like a giant tea kettle, the green of the light fading to the purest white imaginable. More arcs of stray magic lance out, one of which strikes a boarded up window, shattering it like matchsticks.

Zecora's eyes narrow. The spell is not supposed to-

“No!” the Zebra's eyes widen. “Something is wrong... The flow of magic is all oblong!”

Zecora quickly scans the group. Everypony is where they should be. The runes are right.

“Wha-” Crystal begins to open her mouth.

“DO NOT SPEAK!” Zecora commands an other-worldly authority. “This spell I can still tweak!”

The ground beings to vibrate as the pulses of magic continue to increase in their intensity. The room is now lit as bright as if it were exposed to full daylight from above.

ABOVE!

Zecora's eyes dart up, examining the rafters.

“YOU FOOL!” She snaps out of the blue at something that couldn't be seen before. “YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO! THIS MAGIC CAN KILL US ALL! EVEN ME, AND YOU!”

Something above them makes to dart into the shadows.

“NO!” Zecora yells over the growing din, halting the shadow. “IT IS TOO LATE! YOU ARE PART OF IT NOW! THE WALL YOU MUSTN'T BREAK! TO THE CENTER YOU MUST GO! SEMMETRY MUST EXIST FOR MAGIC FLOW! GO NOW! BE FAST! OR WE ALL DIE IN A FIREY BLAST!”

The shadow seems to hesitate for a few more moments. The din rises to almost painful levels.

“GO!” Zecora shouts, dropping her rhymes. “GO NOW! HURRY!”

The shadow spins and scrambles over towards the center of the glowing collumn of light. The light and noise becoming desensitizing, vibrations becoming painful to everypony's skulls. Dust begins to rain from the rafters; a few loose items fall over. The pressure and light reaches an apex.

And then the noise suddenly drops to dead silence, the light fading to nothing.
Everypony stands still in surprise. After a few seconds, Crystal turns her head towards Zecora, who's looking to each side leerily.

“Who were you-”

The sound was like metal striking metal, ringing on forever as the world went pure white.

The column of supernatural energy passed through the roof without incident, screaming skyward seemingly into forever. Windows in every direction for several blocks blew in and the thunderous concussion could be heard from just about anywhere in the city.

After ten solid seconds of dazzling light, the beacon began to fade, normal daylight returning to the city.

Back inside the building, Crystal Clear stood frozen, her mouth parted in mid sentence as the room plunged into pitch darkness. After a noment to realize she was still alive, and that she could hear over the ringing in her ears, she shut her mouth, then spoke up again, her question changed.

“Do you think anypony saw that?”

Maybe? There was some activity for round 2 before round 3 introduced my... slightly cinematic overkill game opening.

Also yes, the 'incantation' to the spell was simply the lyrics to Angel Blue.

ENS Round 003: 'Now, RUN!'

Crystal clear almost jumps as Vanathor's character manages to croak out a question. She then quickly shifts to using some TK to try and gently lift him to his hooves, her light spell dimming slightly in the process.

“Shshshsh...” she comments gently. “You're safe. That summoning spell was a bit much.”

Simultaneously, Stormcrow performs a similar action with Asmodius, though not with as much tact.

“Come on,” she smirks, trying to shrug it off. “Don't tell me you've never seen a wonderbolt before.”

She then pauses and takes to the air, using all four legs to try and haul Asmodius up. It fails when he stumbles and returns to a lying position.

“Hey, you alright? You're alright... right?”

These responses make Lady Stonewall hesitate as she tries to help Leon89 stand up. When he in turn asks the same thing as the others, she pauses and steps back.

“Something's not right,” she announces officiously.

“Yeah,” Northwind announces from Artemis' spot. “They're all hurt...”

“Not what I mean Ms. Wind,” the Earth pony corrects. “What I mean to say is...”

She pauses, trying not to mince words before looking down at what she considers to be a rather good looking stallion in front of her.

“How does a summoning spell WORK?”

Crystal Clear unceremoniously drops Vanathor from her TK. He stumbles, but is the first to manage standing, though he still appears dazed.

“What?” she asks. She then looks at Vanathor again and back to Stonewall. “A summoning does exactly what it-”

She pauses and glances at Vanathor again.

“It takes something from somewhere else and brings it-”

“-ZECORAAAA!!!!”

Crystal Clear's voice rises an octave and amplifies to an explosive volume that literally matches Princess Luna's Royal Canterlot dialect. Everyone cringes and covers their ears in pain. Restless Coyote is particularly affected as if he'd been physically struck.

“CRYSTAL!” Lacy whines. “We're right here!”

“Yes my dear...” Zecora frowns at her. “Your voice is fittingly, Crystal Clear. What is the matter?”

Crystal Clear is now breathing very fast, borderline hyperventilating.

“Please...” she begins, glancing back and forth between Lady Stonewall and Vanathor. “Please tell me that spell didn't...”

She pauses, taking a long, slow breath. Her lighting spell continues to waver in brightness.

“Tell me we didn't just foalnap six stallions from across Equestria... ”

Zecora blinks for a moment before her eyes narrow.

“I thought I had explained it well,” she begins. “The mechanics of this summoning spell.”

“Ms. Zecora...” Lady Stonewall steps forward. “Please elaborate. I hold a very precarious position in my line of work. And the last thing I need is the crime of foalnapping stallions ruining my career. If this is true, then we have to return them IMMEDIATELY!”

“Huh?” Lace Curtain blinks back at Stonewall. “But... They just got here? And this one's cute!”

The other four mares blanch.

“If that's her idea of cute,” Stormcrow rolls her eyes but leaves the rest of her comment unspoken as Zecora interrupts.

“Be at ease and relax,” she begans. “I would never permit magic this crude. Those are the facts.”

After a moment of silence, Zecora notes the stallions are starting to pay more attention and straightens her posture.

“The spell I invoked,” she continued. “Must first be provoked. It searches your heart and uses that as a start. Searching far and wide, it calls beyond the sun and the tide. Only when it finds a willing match will it return to you with it's catch.”

“They certainly don't look WILLING,” Crystal cuts in, her voice only barely contained.

“It is not the mind but the soul,” Zecora points out. “A true link is the perfect goal.”

Zecora then trots over, noting how nopony else had yet to check on Questiondecca, though he was slowly getting on his own fours himself.

“Equestrian Stallions it did not take,” she continues, helping Questiondecca steady himself politely. “For that would leave chaos in its wake. Ponies now they might be, but only because the forms agree. Minutes ago, this one had a life. But deep in his soul, he desires a wife. This magic knows this, it senses the void. If agreement is made, he becomes equinoid. Though his mind may deny it and he never once decided, his soul signed the contract, his new life provided.”
Silence before Crystal speaks up.

“What?”

“Duh...” Stormcrow voices. “It means the spell searched the universe for lonely souls to match us with. Found six aliens, and brought them here for us while turning them into stallions. What's so hard about that?”

Everypony stares at Stormcrow in surprise.

“What?” She asks. “Am I not allowed to be smart? I'm a wonderbolt, not an idiot.”

“Well...” Lady Stonewall sighs. “That's good news. So long as this is more like a really REALLY strange intervention, and not outright foalnapping someone, I think I can live with it if they're not too upset. But I have to ask... Who wanted TWO? There's six of them, remember?”

“Yeah,” Crystal turns to Zecora. “It didn't pull one for you did it?”

“No.” Zecora states without skipping a beat. “I was outside the spell looking in. Only those inside would be subject to its whim.”

“Then who...?” Crystal begins to ask.

“As I have said, this is tricky magic,” Zecora continued. “But our unexpected guest was fast, so the end was not tragic.”

The zebra points up to one of the rafters, the girls turn to look, but at that exact moment there's a loud crash from the door.

The deadbolts are pulled right out of their anchors and the hinges snap as it is knocked in. The silhouette of a large pony blocks the entrance as natural daylight floods the room!

“ROYAL GUARD!” he announces in a loud angry tone. “NOPONY MOVE!”

Four guards file into the room around him. Two unicorns who immediately light the room far better better than before, and two pegasi who fan out to each side. The girls immediately back away as he enters. Almost immediately he recognizes Lady Stonewall.

“Madam Stonewall,” the stallion snaps in irritation. “What's going on? We saw a beam of light from the checkpoint.”

“Commander Hammer...” Stonewall says with a mixture of both shock and irritation, but she quickly masks it. “It's nothing that concerns you commander.”

“Nothing my flank,” Hammer trots into the room and looks around. “What have you been doing in here with-”

The guard officer pauses as he glances at Restless Coyote.

“What are you doing in here?!” he snaps. “Aren't you supposed to be on duty with the others!?”

Hammer advances on Coyote but doesn't get far before Lace Curtain steps in front of him.

“He's not a guard!” she snaps, but immediately blanches as the larger stallion glares. “He's not...”

“Madam Stonewall!” the officer glares over his shoulder. “EXPLAIN. NOW.”

Lady Stonewall sighs, making a slight adjustment to her glasses once more.

“We were using a ritual summoning spell for personal reasons,” she stated in a none-to-gentle tone. “And it's not catagorized as dangerous as far as I know.”

“Not cat- Dangerous?” Hammer stutters. “HAVE YOU LOOKED OUTSIDE?! That thing damaged every building on the block! That beam went right through Commander Armor's shield! Our defenses might be comrpomised because of you!”

Hammer then pauses to collect himself before.

“I'm sorry Lady Stonewall, but I'm going to have to put you AND all of your associates here under arrest-”

Stonewall turns his head and appears to be taking a head count as he talks. He stops on Stormcrow.

“What the-” He stops, sighs and just facehoofs. “And a Wonderbolt. Just great...”

“Uh oh...” Stormcrow mutters... “There goes leave for the year.”

“Oh you're in far bigger trouble...” Hammer practically growls as he trots toward her. “You're supposed to be in formation with the other Wonderbolts as per Spitfire's orders as part of the security detail for Canterlot.”

Stormcrow begins backing up from the advancing officer. Hammer continues his tirade, his temper slowly getting the best of him.

“Unless you're sick, and in bed. And you Leiutenant, don't look very ill to me, or in bed. When Spitfire gets done with you, you'll be lucky if you're still a Bolt ! Not only did you blow off a mandatory formation with your squadron, you blew off a formation critical to the safety of EQUESTRIA AND YOU PARTICIPATED IN AN ACTIVITY THAT MAY HAVE FURTHER COMPROMISED ITS SAFETY!”

Hammer backs Stormcrow into a wooden post where she shuffles up against it to continue receiving her verbal abuse. Just as Hammer reaches his crescendo, he's interrupted by a tearing snap, followed by a vibration in the floor, and dust raining down. The entire room freezes.

“Out...” Hammer mouths, his anger completely abandoned, then suddenly he spins into action, . “OUT NOW! EVERYPONY OUT! LET'S GO!”

Another snap is heard and a rafter slams noisily to the ground behind Stormcrow. She yelps and takes to the air. Hammer effortlessly scoops up Asmodius as he passes, hauling him towards the door. More snaps can be heard around and above.

“IT'S COMING DOWN!” Hammer repeats once more. “OUT OF THE BUILDING! NOW!”

The girls, with the assistance of the other guards, quickly begin shoving their still-dazed, but at least stumbling new guests towards the entrance. Wood, dust, and straw rain down as everypony piles out the door as fast as they can.

Zecora and Questiondecca are the last to the door, the Zebra almost takes a four-inch beam to her head when Q10 inexplicably shoves her out of the way. There's a crack and a ragged scream as it strikes him instead. A second later, the rest of the roof caves in on the building, burying him in rubble right at the door.

“STALLION DOWN!” Hammer snaps to one of the pegasi. “Get a medic over here, NOW!”

“SIR!” The pegasus takes off without wasting time on formalities.

“Captain Armor's going to kill me if somepony dies on his wedding day...” he mutters as he dashes over and starts pulling at the debris.

Suddenly the rubble begins to glow with an aquamarine TK field before it rises and shifts. Hammer and the two Unicorn guards quickly provide assistance, pulling the debris away and freeing Questiondecca. But not only Questiondecca.

“What-...” Hammer blinks. “What ARE you?”

Perched protectively over Qdecca is... something. It's pony-like, but instead of soft fur, it's covered in a black, exoskeleton-like material that shines in the sunlight. Her, for she is definitely feminine, her hair a dirty green color, with a curved horn protruding from it. On her back, a pair of insect-like wings can also been seen.

She appears nervous as she stares up at Hammer with slit aquamarine eyes. He continues to return the stare in pure confusion before a shifting of the debris brings him back to business.

“Get them out of there,” he orders. “Make sure... she's okay. And check him.”

“I-I'm fine,” the creature states in a strange, resonating voice. It's like listening to three people all say the same thing at the same time.

However, the female creature is lifted by the two guards and set aside while they finish pulling Questiondecca out of the wreckage.

“Whoa...” Crystal clear trots up to the newcomer. “What race of pony are YOU? Some kind of Bug Pony? What's your name?”

The 'bug pony' glances around nervously again as if expecting something. She laughs unsteadily before answering.

“M- Mayfly.”

“Mayfly?” Crystal tilts her head to the side. “Neato. You must have been the intruder Zecora was talking about.”

“I- I really have to get going,” Mayfly announces. She seems REALLY skittish for some strange reason.

“You stay RIGHT THERE,” Hammer orders. “You may have just saved that stallion's life. I'm sure he'd like to thank you personally.”

Hammer then turns back to the other guards.

“How is he?”

“Broken wing sir,” one of the unicorns states. “A few scrapes and bruises as well, but nothing looks worse than that.”

“Oh good,” Hammer sighs in relief. “You hear that strange miss? Thanks to you, he'll be alright.”

Mayfly just can't seem to quit with being extremely nervous, she keeps eyeing the guards as if expecting to get jumped any second.

“Something wrong?” Hammer asks.

“SIR!”

Suddenly a pegasus guard (the same one from earlier? A different one? They all look alike...) lands and skids to a halt, looking exhausted and horrified.

“Jetstream!” Hammer snaps. “What's the problem?”

“They-” the newcomer coughs. “They've taken out Princess Celestia!”

One could hear a pin drop in the silence. Lady Stonewall is the first to recover.

“They- They did WHAT?” she asks. “WHO!? WHAT ABOUT SHINING?”

“Shining's been compromised,” Jetstream huffs. “I don't know... some kind... Some kind of shape shifting bug pon-”

Jetstream stops as he finally notices Mayfly. His eyes almost seem to bug out as he begins to backpedal.

“Holy Faust on High THERE'S TWO OF THEM!!!!”

“WHAT?!” Hammer rounds on Mayfly, his form a good head taller than her.

Mayfly jumps back as Hammer trots angrily towards her.
“EXPLAIN!” he orders.

“I- NO! I'm not with-” Mayfly stutters. “I mean, I didn't... Mother... and-”

CRACK!

The sound's like a glacier calving. The twisting, whipping sound of a giant chunk of ice splitting away echoes across all over Canterlot. Hammer slowly looks up, everyone else follows. And high above, the top of Shining Armor's shield can be seen, fracturing. But just beyond that, a mass of dark... No, lots of little black things. It's hard to tell from the ground, but they appear to be pulsating against the shield.

“No...” Hammer mouths and looks back down. “Just what are-”

He blinks. Mayfly is nowhere in sight.

CRACK!

“This is bad...” Jetstream voices. “This is VERY BAD.”

“How many do you think there are?” One of the unicorn guards asks worriedly. “Four... five thousand?”

Hammer looks down at him before his glance looks around at the mares around him, then at the stallions who had yet to speak much for themselves. He grits his teeth and turns to Lady Stonewall.

“If this turns out to be your fault...” he hisses, then quickly turns to Jetstream.

“WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!” He snaps the pegasus out of his shock. “RAISE THE ALARM! GATHER EVERYPONY FROM THE SOUTH GATE AND PREPARE FOR AIR AND GROUND COMBAT!”

“YESSIR!”

“The rest of you!” he snaps at both the guards and the mares. “We have to get to the shelter!”

A final crack above dissolves into a tinkling as if a thousand windows were smashed on the ground. Pink shards of Shining Armor's shield can be seen falling even as they dissolve into harmless sparkles.

“Time's up!” Hammer snaps and turns. “Let's go!”

The group quickly organizes themselves as Hammer begins trotting at a hurried canter towards a main street. In the distance, hundreds of black creatures can be seen descending on Canterlot Castle like a swarm of bees.

“Stay close to the buildings,” Hammer instructs, glancing over his shoulder. The longer they don't see us, the longer they- Where's Stormcrow?”
'WHAM!'

Something green and on fire lands in front of Hammer as he hesitates, punching a hole in the overhang above him. The creature looks like a smaller, less-unique version of that bug-pony Mayfly. It glances around for a moment then grins through its fangs, and hisses.

Hammer simply frowns and rises to his full height.

“Can I HELP you?” he asks menacingly.

The little creature balks a little, backing up. Then it grins and bursts into flames. A moment later, an exact copy of Hammer is standing in its place.

“WHAT THE?!” Hammer retreats a step.

“Can I help you?” the dopplegenger mocks.

Several more crashes announce the arrival of more of the creatures. They each burst into flame and more duplicates of Hammer emerge, each sporting a hideous sneer.

“Can we help you?” they all mock in unison.

“I- IMPOSSIBLE!” Hammer seems too shocked to move. Suddenly Leon89 manages to find his voice and croaks out in shock.

“Ch- CHANGELINGS!”

Everyone looks at him at once, both pony and changeling alike. The latter mentioned shape-shifters seem surprised the ponies even recognized what they were.

“Stop gawking like an idiot!” Lady Stonewall announces suddenly. “They're obviously not here to give us a hug!”

Broken from his shock, Hammer turns to the changeling copy in front of him.

“Copy me will you...”

Hammer rounds, planting his front legs and giving a mighty heave with his back pair. His hooves connect and the copy slams into a storm water barrel some feet away.

“RUN!” he snaps into the opening. Aside from some stumbling from the stallions now clustered in the middle of the group, that's exactly what happens.

Hammer leads ahead, breaking out of the narrow alley onto one of Canterlot's main thoroughfares, a battle already raging at full intensity as dozens of panicked upper-class ponies run in terror this way and that.

“Faust almighty!” Hammer swears as he dodges around a changeling cratering the road in front of him. “WHERE'S AIR SUPPORT?!”

“Aether-net's down!” One of the unicorn guards snaps. “I can't reach anypony! And- BLAST!”

The guard goes down, his hoof caught in some kind of green goop. Northwind and Twitchy Artemis stop in concern. A moment later, a changeling lands and gives a menacing hiss, this time to much more intimidating effect when about six of its associates join.

“Oh-” Northwind stumbles back. “Horsea-”

Then every hair on her body begins to prickle, a sensation felt by everypony in the group.

*BOOM!*

A blinding flash of light and a clap of thunder later and the seven changelings that had been clustered together collapse in a smoldering heap. There's a blur overhead that resolves into Stormcrow pulling up and away. Several black blurs follow her a second later in chase.

“HAH!” her voice can be heard over the roar of her passing. “That's why I'm a WONDERBOLT, NAGS! Name's not STORMCROW for nothing!”

Stormcrow continues to climb in an arc towards the sun before gracefully rolling vertical, then she drops back into a dive. Several reports of thunder sound from above and the changelings that had been chasing her go down in flames. She comes down and half-flies, half canters on her hind legs into the group, her fore hooves covered half way up to her shoulders with cloud. A burst of lightning arcs between her hooves and a full-fledged bolt lances out right past Hammer as another changeling tries to get the drop on him.

“Don't let them push you around!” she snaps as she takes flight again. “There's a lot of them, but they're WIMPS!”

“We're going to have to take them,” Stonewall announces to the group.

“Madam Stonewall,” Hammer turns. “You can't be serious.”

“We don't exactly have a choice,” the earth mare points out. “We'll never make it to safety like this.”

“You can't possibly think we can fight this many,” Hammer argues.

“I am, and we are,” Stonewall declares. “Now are you a Guardspony or a coward?”

“Eh-” Hammer blinks and then shakes his head. “We are so going to lose...”

“Don't count me out just yet,” Stonewall smirks. “This is MY city... And I didn't get my position as head of city services by rolling over every time somepony tried to make my job hard. ...Crystal!”

“Yes ma'am?” Crystal Clear asks.

“Take the left flank,” Stonewall instructs. “Lace, take the right flank. Grab anything that isn't bolted down.”
“Hunter, Seeker,” Hammer catches on. “Front and back. Stormcrow, you're on air support. Make up for that formation you missed and depending on how things go I may forget I saw you today.”

“Roger!” Stormcrow cracks a vicious grin as she looks at other approaching changelings. “My Sky.”

The mares and guardsponies form a loose circle around their newly summoned stallions. The changeling army, now fully terrorizing the capital takes note of the formation and turns almost as one. Several dozen charge in, almost immediately half of them fall to to a crazy branching bolt of lightning that grounds itself on a nearby flagpole. The ones who don't get struck drop low and charge in, immediately receiving a magic bolt to the face from one of the unicorn guards.

Seeing this, the swarm begins amassing for a real fight. Hissing menacingly as they do so. On the street below, a brown stallion with an hour glass cutie mark goes running by being chased by his own group of attackers.

The swarm breaks, dodging around as they try to break through Stormcrow's vicious lightning magic.

About two dozen prepare to jump the group at once.

“Crystal?” Lady Stonewall glances at the younger unicorn. “Be a dear and give these brutes a Princess Luna Special.”

“With pleasure,” Crystal Clear smirks and calmly clears her throat.

Several changelings stop right in front of her and grin to each other before they all burst into flame and come out exact copies of her. Crystal pauses and swipes a hoof through her mane.

“Wow, do I really look like that? I need to have my mane done. That summoning spell made it all... frazzed.”

Her copies just blink in confusion.

“Oh and-”

“HUZZAH!”

All the changelings directly in front of her and then some are blown over by the wall of sound so solid it hits like a ton of bricks. Behind her, Restless Coyote drops to the ground, cringing in pain.

“Was that-” Hammer looks at Crystal in shock. “Was that the Royal-”

“YES,” Stonewall interrupts. “She's been working on it ever since the princess returned. Now, places everypony, I don't think they're going to leave us alone just yet...”

As if on cue, several changelings land, this time keeping a more cautious distance. More start backing them up, followed by a third group landing on the other side of the group.

---
The next few minutes would go down in history as one of the strangest battles Canterlot had ever seen. Over five-hundred changelings attacking a group numbering fewer than twenty ponies, and the swarm of attacking insects falling to bolts of lightning from a lone Wonderbolt, concussive walls of sound and bolts of magic and thrown items from unicorns, and finally any that got through being physically smacked around by a couple of angry earth ponies. However, quantity has a quality all its own, and nopony can keep up their defenses forever.
---

“HUZZAH!” Crystal Clear coughs after having projected her voice at phenominal volume over six-dozen times. “Anypony got some water?”

“There's too many of them!” Hammer growls to Lady Stonewall. “We can't hold out like this, we have to make a break for it!”

“We can't!” Northwind interrupts. “We've got an injured pegasus with us!”

“I can't keep this up forever!” Lace Curtain pulls a piece of gutter off the side of a building and uses it to smack a changeling away from her. “Forty-seven by the way...”

“Keep trying,” Lady Stonewall instructs. “If they want to get at us, we're going to make them earn every step!”

“Not to be rude Ma'am” one of the unicorn guards interrupts. “But we're trained for this kind of thing, and honestly, we're bucked.”

Stormcrow rockets overhead, weaving in and out as green changeling magic nip past her. She turns hard, trying her best to take more shots, but the numbers dogging her have reached critical levels. She does... something, that somehow manages to corkscrew her behind her assailants before hitting the group with lightning. Immediately after, she breaks away and lands in the middle of the group.

“It's no good,” she gasps for air. “I zap one, two more take its place! There's just no end to these things!”

“We've got to fall back!” Hammer insists.

“There's nowhere to fall back TO,” Stonewall argues.

“We can't stand in the open!” Hammer retorts.

“We can't fight them off if they trap us either!” Stonewall abandons her fight to argue with the guardspony.

“We can't make a last stand lik-” Hammer begins but is suddenly interrupted.

“ENOUGH!”

To everypony's surprise, this doesn't just stop the argument, but every changeling still attacking freezes stock still before quickly jumping back. After a few seconds of scurrying, they all line up along the roads. The immediate area goes deathly quiet though the sounds of battle still echo in the distance. The reason becomes clear after a moment as Mayfly comes trotting calmly up the street. Every changeling she passes bows slightly as she walks up to the group and stops. After a few moments to look the group over, she turns to address one of the seemingly random bug-ponies nearby.

“TK421,” she begins commandingly. “What's this?”

The 'random' changeling she'd been looking at glances back and forth for a moment before answering.

“Just a small pocket of resistance we're taking care of,” it answers. “Nothing you need be concerned over.”

Mayfly glances back up at the group, then looks around at the number of dazed and unconscious changelings that had already been felled by a token set of guards and some mares.

“Some resistance,” she states with just a hint of sarcasm, then sighs. “How many are down?”

“Only a couple hundred,” the drone replies. “Light injuries at most. We've been holding back to try and wear them down.”

“Good,” Mayfly nods. “Seems you're not a total idiot.”

The changeling then waves a hoof dismissively.

“Take the number four battalion and move to reinforce mother's personal guard,” she commands. “Feed if you must, but don't gorge yourselves like a bunch of grubs.”

“What about these ponies?” the drone asks in confusion.

“I'll handle them,” Mayfly comments flippantly.

“What?” the drone blinks. “But... Lady Mayfly, they just took down over 400 of our troops. Surely you don't think-”

“I think a LOT more than you do TK421,” Mayfly glares at the drone next to her. “Now grab your unit and GO. That's an ORDER.”

The drone glances back at the group, then at Mayfly. Some form of unspoken command sets those of the swarm that can move into motion and they all take to the air at once.

Mayfly continues to stand there, a seemingly smug look on her face even as something in the distance behind her suddenly flashes.

“What was that?” one of the changelings asks.

Mayfly turns to look even as an expanding bubble of pink glowing light comes bursting out of one of the towers. The changeling freezes in terror as do the other changelings as it comes racing towards them at incredible speed.

Within' seconds it's upon the group. The changelings find themselves being forcefully ejected from the city at nearly the speed of sound. As the wave passes over the group, you guys feel as if you'd been struck by a truck, but the feeling subsides almost immediately and you're only knocked on your haunches.

Surprisingly, Mayfly fares about the same. She's knocked across the street by the force of the magic, but it quickly drops her after a moment, depositing her roughly into a water collection barrel below a gutter drain.

Silence falls once the screaming of changelings fades into the distance. It is broken after about a minute by Hammer as he looks around at the now nearly empty street.

“What just happened?”

And that was the two largest GM posts. We made it to round 10 and I was in the process of writing round 11 when Calculus destroyed me. But that's more or less the source of at least Nora and Crystal Clear. Built to be high-interaction characters for this RP.

Author's Note:

As an aside, I was actually naming rounds to an extent.

001: First you learn to walk.
002: Then you learn to talk.
003: Now RUN!

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