Chapter 6: Grievous' Public Appearance
~~~LZ, Equestria, 1 day and 23 hours after the Ambush at US-01~~~
Gore's eyes slowly opened as he pulled himself out of his restful sleep. He stretched his arms over his exposed head, and heaved a relaxed sigh as he returned them atop his chest plate. A noise sounded from outside the gunship, and he raised his head in an attempt to see what it was. To his relief, it was only Viktor messing with some of the camp's electronics and Shy descending from atop the mesa. Satisfied that he could relax in his hammock for a couple more minutes, he lowered his head and turned his gaze to the figure adjacent to him that appeared to be sleeping comfortably.
Across the camp, Viktor noticed some stirring from inside the gunship, which turned out to be Gore waking up. He turned to R8, who was standing patiently next to him. “Get them out of bed, would you?” he asked R8, who complied and began the short trek to the gunship.
The sound of the resident astromech approaching brought Gore out of his private musings. Figuring that the droid was his wake up call, Gore swung his legs out of the hammock and stood, stretching again as he did. R8 had almost made it to the gunship once Gore was finished waking. “I'll get him up,” Gore said to the droid. Upon hearing this, R8 spun around and headed back to Viktor who was now conversing with Shy.
Why does Shy not talk to Spy and I?, he wondered. Gore turned to Spy. Then again, who'd really want to talk to Spy? That was justification enough for him to drop the issue and put his mind to the important task at hand: waking up Spy in the most humiliating and painful way that Gore could think of. Undoing the knots in his hammock again was out of the question; Spy had thoroughly secured those after yesterday's little prank. Struggling to think of something creative to get the job done, Gore decided to go with good old physical violence. He swung his leg back and prepared a powerful kick, which made contact with Spy's hammock underneath his butt.
“Feir'fek!” Spy exclaimed at the unexpected contact, almost falling out of his hammock as he did so.
“That was for yesterday,” muttered Gore as he picked his helmet off of the gunship floor.
Rubbing the armor over where he had been kicked in a feeble attempt to rid his rear of soreness, Spy said, “So you like it that way, huh?”
Gore blanched. “You're not insinuating anything, are you?” He placed his helmet back on after finishing his statement.
“Actually, I was asking you if you were insinuating something. After all, you were the one to touch my butt first,” Spy replied.
“Maybe a swift kick in the butt is what you needed to finally start making yourself useful,” Gore retorted.
“That was actually a decent comeback,” Spy said after a moment of thought.
The two clones made their way out of the gunship and into the light of the low-lying sun. Viktor had apparently finished his discussion with Shy, and was now staring at the screen of a holopad. Shy had gone ahead and began eating his breakfast ration for the day. Eating sounded like an agreeable course of action to Gore, so he made his way to the crate containing their rations and got his breakfast while Spy made his way over to Viktor to bother him. After claiming his food, Gore strode over to where Shy was sitting and made himself comfortable next to him.
“Hello, Shy,” Gore greeted. Shy grunted in response.
“So you've been awfully silent towards Spy and I since we've met. Avoiding talking to Spy, I can understand, but there's no reason why you need to be so silent to me,” he said, hoping to get words out of Shy this time.
“I'm-I'm sorry if my silence bothers you,” Shy responded, quiet enough to the point where Gore had to strain himself to hear. “It's just in my nature to be quiet. I'll talk business, but other than that, I prefer to say nothing.”
“Ugh, I can see that,” Gore said. He resigned himself to the fact that he and Shy had no business to discuss. “If it's part of your nature, I guess I can't blame you for it, and I can respect that. Still, if you ever feel like chatting about something non-business and don't want to be constantly interrupted with stupid jokes, I'd be willing to listen.”
Shy nodded in thanks for Gore's understanding, and the two resumed their breakfasts in silence.
“So, boss, what'cha doin'?”
“Ugh, not right now Spy. Go get breakfast and we'll brief in a few minutes.”
“So we got a lead?”
“No, Shy and I have determined a course of action. 'Lead' implies that an investigation of sorts is being conducted.”
After a second of thought, Spy asked, “Isn't that our whole purpose here?”
“...I...I guess it is. Whatever, leave me alone while I get a couple of small details finalized.”
“What if I want to-”
“R8, get him out of here please.”
“Oh, so you don't want me around, huh? Well, fine...R8, put the taser away, there's no need for that kind of violence here.”
Spy's protests went unheeded as R8 zapped the gap in his armor plates near his crotch.
“Ow!” he yelled, cradling his sensitive area. “I was just leaving...” he moaned.
“That's what I like to hear.”
Across the camp, Gore erupted into hysterical laughter.
Spy hung his head in shame and waddled over to the crate of rations, holding his crotch all the while. Even Shy had to snicker at the pathetic sight before him.
“Squad, pay attention, and don't interrupt with pointless comments. Spy, that means you,” Viktor said, addressing his squad. “So I've spent the last hour or so going over some of the data we collected yesterday trying to determine where to go from here. Before I do that, I'm going to give you a brief overview of what we've discovered, just so that we're all on the same page. We've determined that the atmosphere is breathable for humans, and that the area we are in is inhabited by at least two species, one of which appears to be either a large wild animal or a nomadic intelligent civilization. The other species we found appears to be a somewhat modern civilization, though none were present when we investigated their town. Each species shows signs of being equine in structure and short compared to us in stature. We can assume that the second species I noted is the dominant one in the area.”
“Moving on to geographical information, we've collected two maps of the region, which goes by the name of Equestria. The map does not provide information about the name of the planet as a whole, however, so we will continue to call it US-01. It also does not tell us whether Equestria is a country, region, province, or some other politically divided area. I'm going to go ahead and refer to it as a country, based on the observations Shy and I have made about the map, but again, this is just an educated guess and is subject to being proven wrong.”
“We know this, can we get to the point?” Spy interjected.
“I was just about to,” Viktor growled.
“Oh, sorry. Carry on, then.”
“So as I was saying, Shy and I have looked at the map and determined that there are two possible settlements that we are near, but we haven't determined which one it is. The two places in question are Appleloosa and Dodge City. We need to clear this discrepancy before we can move on to other places. According to the map, Appleloosa has some sort of field of trees outside of its borders. As such, our first objective for the day is to head to the town we located earlier and scout for trees. It shouldn't be too hard to find them if they are in fact there. If we find no trees in the vicinity, then we can say quite assuredly that we are in the area of Dodge City.”
“Makes sense,” Gore said.
“Shy and I both personally believe that we are near Appleloosa, not Dodge City, but we aren't ready to eliminate that possibility.”
“When do we make to leave?” Gore asked.
“As soon as I'm finished with the briefing,” Viktor replied. “I'm almost done.”
“Good; you're boring me,” Spy moaned.
“Shut up or I'll have you do all of the preparations by yourself,” threatened Viktor.
“You have my silence,” Spy said, quickly halting his ramblings.
“Once we arrive at the settlement, we'll spend at most an hour and a half looking for signs of trees within a mile or so radius. We'll make our guess as to where we are based on what we find. After we're done searching, we're going to return and prepare everything we've discovered for transmission to Sergeant Moon,” Viktor continued.
“And after that?” asked Gore.
“Not important for you to know yet, and it will change based on where we actually are,” Viktor answered.
“One last thing,” he started. “Last night, I got a visual of three Separatist shuttles heading to...based on the map, I'm going to say it was Canterlot or Ponyville. Point is, we've got clankers on the surface with us, so there is a chance that we'll have to engage them. Until we get a clue as to why they're here, we're best off avoiding contact with them, as well as any civvys that may have returned over the course of the night.”
“Is there anything else that should be addressed?” Viktor asked Shy. Nodding his head no, Viktor dismissed the clones so that they could prepare for their venture.
~~~LZ, Outskirts of Appleloosa, 2 days and 2 hours after the Ambush at US-01~~~
Upon returning to the LZ, Viktor was pleased with being able to add another successful outing to Victor squad's record. They had gone to the town, now identified to be Appleloosa, and found it to still be abandoned. This fact made their search for trees to go along without hampering, and within ten minutes of arriving, they had found an expansive apple orchard near the outer edges of the North part of the town. Apples...Appleloosa...should've seen that one coming. Unimaginative names aside, they had successfully pinpointed their location, and Shy had been brave enough to take a couple apples off of one of the trees for scientific study. “One for determining chemical composition, and one for edibility testing afterward, should the chemical composition be safe for consumption,” Shy had said to justify his actions.
Viktor really couldn't blame Shy for his complex excuse to take some apples; they did look very enticing, and rations got bland quick.
Now that their objective had been completed, the next phase of their mission was a waiting game; for how long was yet to be seen. Fortunately, they had gathered a generous amount of data relative to the amount of time they had spent on the planet, and each of them save for Viktor had something productive to do in the down time; Shy had apples to test before compiling their report and Spy was helping Gore with his hand-to-hand combat skills.
Viktor could only hope that the Loyalty wasn't too far away from the system at this point. He wanted to make sure that the data they had collected by now got into Republic hands before it could be lost somehow. Then again, they did have a very good camp location. There was no way that they could be discovered unless someone was actively searching for them. So far, no one had. So there is nothing to worry about. Right?
~~~Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, 1 day and 20 hours after the Ambush at EGP-01~~~
Shining Armor drowsily removed his aching head from his pillow. He tried to rub the tiredness out of his eyes, only to find that it stubbornly refused to leave. It wasn't surprising, he supposed; he had hardly managed more than an hour of sleep, for he found himself anxious for the day's big event.
Big event was an understatement. This event would likely be the most monumental in the lives of all of the ponies who had gathered to Canterlot per the Princess' request, save perhaps his sister and her friends.
Finding that returning to a state of slumber was a futile endeavor, Shining Armor rose from his bed, grunting as he stretched his sore muscles. Princess Cadence stirred where she had been lying, but remained asleep. Shining Armor cast her an envious look before getting himself ready for the long day ahead. He stepped out onto the balcony that was a part of his and Cadence's room and looked to the early morning sky. It was still dark, and Luna's moon still prevailed over the sun. The hour was one at which most were still asleep, and Shining Armor wished that he was one of them. But, he had his duties.
Within the hour, Shining Armor had taken care of all of his hygienic needs, donned his armor, equipped his sword, and was now headed to the barracks. He reached the room and pushed open the door, hinges speaking loudly as the door gave way to the force of Captain Armor's hoof. “Alright troops, get your flanks up and moving, outside in half an hour! We've got a big day, we can't afford to disappoint!” he yelled, waking the light sleepers in the room while some of the heavy sleepers remained unfazed.
The troops slowly aroused themselves from sleep, taking care of their simple hygienic needs before heading to the armory to gather their armor and spears. The atmosphere was almost overwhelmingly apprehensive, as most of the guards were aware that the public might not take to Grievous well.
In a timely manner, the first team of thirty or so guards had arranged themselves in a block in the castle courtyard, awaiting orders from their Captain.
“Alright troops, remember the instructions from yesterday. Block off the alleyways long enough for Grievous and I to get his droids in position, after which we'll have the other teams take their positions. Await further orders once you've finished your task. Due to the time, I doubt that you'll have to deal with any citizens, so this shouldn't take long,” he told them.
The ponies remained in a rigid attention, waiting to be dismissed by their Captain. He was about to do so when he remembered that he had news to share with them. “Before I let you go, I want to give you all a warning. I don't know whether you're aware of this or not, but there have been reports of increased changeling activity near the Macintosh Hills. My guess is that they're preparing another invasion, though one much less subtle than their previous one. And while I doubt they'd be stupid enough to attack us soon, it's still a possibility. Thus, remain alert and watchful of suspicious activity, and report any you see to a superior. That is all, dismissed.”
The guards took their leave and dispersed to fulfill their orders. A clanking and whirring sound sounded to the side of Shining Armor, and he turned to see none other than General Grievous approaching him. “Well, I suppose I should thank you for sparing me the trouble of finding you,” he said to Grievous.
“I doubt that doing that would have been an issue due to my stature, Captain,” Grievous replied.
“Yeah, well, it'd still be a waste of time, just like this chat is,” Shining Armor muttered. “Are your droids ready to go?”
“Yes, they are,” Grievous assured. “You mentioned 'changelings' and labeled them a threat. It would be wise for you to share you knowledge of them with me.”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Shining Armor said. “Let's see...as their name implies, they can change form. Their normal look is all black pony shape with insect-like wings, short pointed horn, large blue eyes with no pupils, and holes in their legs. They can change their appearance to be, as far as I know, any living thing. I don't know about inanimate objects...anyways, and they're led by their queen, Queen Chrysalis. The only differences in appearance between her and other changelings is that she's taller, has a larger horn, long cerulean hair, and her eyes look similar to...yours, I guess, except that the iris is green and her eyes have whites.”
Grievous let Shining Armor think for a few seconds more before pressing for more information. “Anything else?” he asked.
“Um, sorry, no. Twilight should know more if you're really interested; I heard that she began studying them after our last incident with them,” he said.
Before Grievous could bash Shining Armor for neglecting to make more notes about their potential enemy, a pegasus guard landed next to the Captain and interrupted. “We've ensured that the public has no entry to the main road.”
“Very good, soldier,” Shining Armor said to the guard. “Go ahead and get a division of pegusi to cover the sky while Grievous and I get the droids and other troops into formation.”
~~~Canterlot Square, Canterlot, 2 days and 3 hours after the Ambush at EGP-01~~~
The guards were in position and a crowd had started in the square, awaiting Princess Celestia's address. Many of them were warily looking around at the tall...things that stood by their country's guard. The things stood completely still, almost as if they were statues, not responding to any external stimuli. More and more ponies were escorted into the square, most of them giving concerned looks to the things while a few eyed the Royal Guards mischievously. Every once in a while, some of the foals in the crowd would make a game of trying to get the towering things to respond, which they could never win. For the most part, the crowd was accepting of the newcomers; despite their intimidating appearance, they didn't seem hostile and were apparently friendly, as indicated by their proximity to the Royal Guards.
Shining Armor approached the next group of ponies to be brought into the square, and the last one that was his responsibility to escort. He couldn't say that he recognized any of the hundred or so ponies in the group, but there were three of them that stood out. The first was a very tall and bulky red stallion with emerald green eyes and a large green apple as a cutie mark. Twilight had mentioned a pony that matched this one in one of letters that she occasionally sent to him, mostly describing her adventures. There was no doubt that this pony was Big Macintosh Apple. On his back rested a pale yellow filly with a pink bow in her mane, which was a dark shade of pink. This was obviously Apple Bloom, who was also mentioned a couple of times by Twilight. Together, they stood next to another pony that was staring ominously at Shining Armor.
This pony was a mare, much smaller than 'Big Mac', as Twilight had referred to him as in her letters. Her coat was dark green and her mane was long, straight, and cerulean in color. She stared intensely at Shining Armor, eyes reflecting pure anger and hatred. Her cutie mark consisted of a skull and crossbones over a black leminscate.
Shining Armor beckoned the group forward. Big Mac was the first to respond to the Captain's beckoning, following a couple of steps behind Shining Armor, while the mysterious mare kept pace with Big Mac. They reached the interior of the square, which at this point was nearly half full of ponies. Shining Armor estimated around two thousand ponies in the square. The group was placed near the center of the square, and once they reached it, Shining Armor made a motion to another guard in the distance, who then began to take up the Captain's previous role of escorting ponies in.
Shining Armor glanced around to make sure that everything was in order. As he turned his gaze, he found that Big Mac was standing to his right, the mysterious mare to his left, and that several ponies in the crowd around him and even a couple of his guards were watching her with anticipation.
It was a little odd that his guards were doing that, but he guessed that they were simply looking for suspicious activity, which can be dreadfully difficult when staring directly in front of you the whole time like guards were supposed to do. Finally satisfied that nothing too peculiar was going on, he turned to Big Mac.
“So, you're Big Macintosh Apple, right?” he asked.
“Eeyup.”
“Twilight's mentioned you a couple of times in her letters to me,” he said.
Big Mac gave no indication of having heard him.
“She says you're a good pony; nice, hardworking, caring, strong...actually, I think she may have a thing for you,” Shining Armor continued.
“Ah ain't meanin' ta be rude, Captain, but Ah'm a might uncomfortable with this topic. And ya shouldn't be spreadin' rumors like that with uh filly 'round,” Big Mac said.
“Sorry, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, or to spread rumors. I was thinking aloud for a second,” he apologized.
“'S alright 'long as ya didn't mean it.”
“Actually, I was meaning to ask you if you've ever considered joining the guard. From what Twilight says about you, you've got skills that we could use,” said Shining Armor.
“That would be so cool!” Apple Bloom said excitedly. “If ya joined, I'd be able to introduce mahself as 'Apple Bloom, sister of the Element of Honesty and brother to the best Royal Guard in Equestria'! I'd be the envy of mah school, despite bein' a blank flank!”
Big Mac chuckled at that. “Ah 'preciate the offer Captain, but Ah gotta stay on th' farm an' work. Ain't nopony else 'round strong enough ta pull the plow.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I'll respect your decision,” Shining Armor conceded, ending the conversation. Glancing around again, he found that the mysterious mare was still staring at him, and had even inched closer to him while he had been talking with Big Mac. It was a little unnerving, but not too unbearable. After all, the situation could get worse.
Grievous stood in the throne room, arms crossed and talons impatiently tapping against the marble floor. It was almost time for him to be introduced to the public. He was anxious, not because he cared what the public thought of him, but because he'd be able to set his plans in motion after this silly waste of time. Near him, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were all preparing for their own public appearance, making sure they looked presentable. That was one advantage to not having a biological body; making himself presentable was a very quick process. Twilight Sparkle, her friends, and a couple of Royal Guards, one of which was stirring nervously, were also in the throne room. Aside from Rarity, who was wearing an overly flashy and dreadful looking dress, the others had not made any special changes for the event.
Grievous looked around the room out of boredom. It wasn't until he looked up to the ceiling that he noticed something off. In one of the corners was a small black camera-like device. He immediately recognized it as one of his probes, which he had never ordered to be disabled. Chuckling at his mistake, he made his way across the room to the spot underneath the probe. The sudden motion caught the attention of the Element bearers, who had gotten good at ignoring his presence.
“Something wrong, Grievous?” asked Twilight. “Why are you staring at the wall?”
Looking up to where Grievous was staring, the group of them saw a small black thing nestled in the corner of the room.
“What is that?” she asked, while Rainbow flew up to investigate.
Rainbow approached it cautiously. “It looks like some sort of techy thing. It's probably Grievous's,” she guessed.
“And you are right,” he said. The probe dislodged itself from the corner and flew down to Grievous's level, startling Rainbow in the process.
“What is that thing?” Rainbow asked, flying down to Grievous's level to get a better look at it. She stared at it, watching it hover in place in front of Grievous without wings.
Ignoring Rainbow, Grievous addressed the probe. “Cancel probe operations. Store all data and clear each probe's memories. Set them all to self-destruct, except this one.”
In space, the crew of the Superior received the command, and all of the probes except for the one near Grievous self-destructed.
“I asked you what that thing is,” Rainbow almost yelled at Grievous, angry at being ignored.
However, Grievous continued to ignore her. He set his hand under the probe. “Disable operation,” he commanded of it. It complied, completely disabling itself and falling into Grievous's outstretched hand. “It's nothing that you would understand,” he said, finally answering Rainbow's query.
“What did you do to it?” Twilight asked.
“Is it...dead?” asked Fluttershy.
“It's a droid; it was never alive to begin with,” Grievous said. “And I disabled it, since it has no further use.”
Grievous tossed the disabled probe towards Twilight, and she caught it using her magic. “Keep it,” he said. “Consider it my first contribution to your society.”
As Twilight held the droid in her hooves, the door to the throne room opened in a yellowish aura. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence stepped through the threshold all looking...exactly the same as they had before. What a magnificent waste of time, thought Grievous. Celestia gave Grievous a warm and reassuring smile as she stepped past him and towards the balcony overlooking the overpopulated square. Luna followed, giving him a still friendly but much less enthusiastic smile. Cadence gave Grievous no acknowledgment as she stepped by. His gaze followed the three of them as they stepped out onto the balcony, receiving an almost overwhelming chorus of praise from the several thousand ponies that has somehow squeezed into the tight space of the square. Grievous was no stranger to the inexplicable; being a Jedi hunter, he had his experience with such things. The two guards followed them and set up a position on either side of the group, one maintaining the typical stoic expression while the other eyed everyone warily.
Grievous stayed concealed inside the room with Twilight and her friends, waiting for Celestia to finally mention him so that he could step forward.
After several minutes, the yells of the crowd began to die down, and Celestia cleared her throat as she prepared to deliver her short speech.
“My little ponies,” Celestia started, amplifying her voice magically, "I have gathered you here to deliver unto you some bittersweet news. For the duration of our history, we have existed on this world by the power of magic and our own physical strength. As a society, we have become dependent on the qualities of ourselves. And we have come think ourselves as alone in this universe. But as of today, we will open our relations beyond that of our own society. As of today, several new worlds of possibilities will open to us!”
“Now, I'm certain that you are all wondering what the tall beings standing with our Guard are and why they are here. Let me tell you that they are our first step towards these new worlds that I have mentioned...literally.”
The crowd gasped and looked frantically at the droids surrounding them.
“They are aliens. They are not from Equus. And they are our friends. Please allow me to introduce you to a most important visitor, General Grievous.”
At the mention of his name, Grievous strode out onto the balcony, looking over the vast array of colors that lay before him. Those in the crowd that could see him gasped or released other fearful sounds. Only a few alien enthusiasts in the crowd gave Grievous some form of positive reception.
“Grievous comes to us from the planet Kalee, in a galaxy that is distant from our own. The planets of his galaxy are technologically advanced, and have many things that our society, and the other societies of Equus, could benefit from. And Grievous can make these things happen for us, and thus, Luna and I have decided to ally ourselves with him and his organization, the Confederacy of Independent Systems.”
Surprisingly, the crowd began to cheer, though comparing the amount of cheering that Grievous was receiving to the amount of cheering Celestia had received was like comparing the size of a cupcake to a wedding cake. Regardless, it was another step in the right direction, and allowed for a delicious simile.
The ponies were surprisingly accepting of him. He had never felt nor actually been so welcome since being separated from his people.
“Unfortunately, there is one stipulation that we must fulfill before this new era of Equestrian history can begin. Grievous's organization, which goes by 'CIS', is at war with another evil organization from his galaxy, called the Republic. If we allow the Republic any influence on our planet, Equestria and the other societies of the world will fall to ruin and corruption. The Republic must be stopped.”
The light cheering of the crowd died down immediately.
“Grievous has informed me that the Republic has found our planet. His forces have intercepted the Republic forces once already, and Grievous has generously offered to assist us in protecting ourselves from the Republic. He has selflessly asked nothing of you in return for his services. As such, I expect that he and his forces be treated respectfully across our lands.”
“For now, we are safe, and we should take this opportunity to try to understand the great new times we are in. And I hope that our interactions now will lead to the betterment of both of our societies.”
With the Princess' speech concluded, the crowd erupted into ecstatic celebration. Celestia turned away from the crowd and waited for Cadence and Luna to file back into the room, the guards accompanying them turning to follow Celestia.
Behind Celestia, the previously fidgety guard raised his spear and prepared to lunge while she was unaware. The guard thrust his spear towards her neck, tip skewering her neck completely through.
Or at least that was the intent. For some reason, the guard found his spear moving the opposite direction of where he was thrusting, pulling him away from the Princess. He stumbled off of his rear hooves, but before he could reach the ground, a massive white and gray clamp secured itself around his neck. The clamp, which turned out to be Grievous's hand, lifted the guard effortlessly off of the ground, forcing him to face the General's deathly, rage saturated yellow eyes. The guard trembled in his grip, dropping his spear to try to pry the hand away from his throat, an impressive feat considering the force put into Grievous's grip. The spear's clanking got the attention of the three princesses, the six mares still inside the room, and the other guard, all of whom gasped at the sight of Grievous strangling the guard.
“That will be the last mistake of your pathetic life,” Grievous taunted.
“Grievous!” Celestia yelled.
“Unhand our guard,” Luna threatened, preparing a strong offensive spell to counter the General's murderous actions.
Without acknowledging them, Grievous smashed the guard's head into the rail of the balcony, cracking the marble and the guard's skull.
Green blood dribbled out of the massive wound in the guard's head, falling many feet to the road below where the crowd had reeled in shock and disgust at the scene.
Green blood? the princesses and Twilight collectively thought.
As if confirming their suspicions, the pony in Grievous's grip combusted into a torrent of temperature-less green flame, leaving Grievous holding the bloody, probably dead form of a changeling.
“Changelings?” Celestia asked nopony in particular.
“So these are the changelings that Shining Armor warned me about?” Grievous asked, shaking the body in his grip for emphasis. “Awfully weak.”
Without a second thought, Grievous tossed the body off of the balcony to have it plummet to the street below. The barely alive but unconscious changeling was lucky that ponies were merciful; a couple of pegusi flew to save the changeling from its lethal fall.
Beside Shining Armor, the mysterious mare watched, staring up disdainfully at the General who had almost murdered the changeling. “Excuse me, ma'am,” Shining Armor said, addressing the mysterious mare, now confident that her identity wasn't as mysterious as he had first thought.
She glared at him contemptuously before turning and bucking him in the chest. Hard. The wind was knocked out of him and he would have collapsed if not for the sturdy body of Big Macintosh next to him keeping him on his hooves. The mare ran off, heading to the back of the crowd, the ponies that had seen her buck the Captain giving her space.
“Get her!” he yelled when breath had returned to his lungs, and two guards near him broke formation to give chase. All the while, the droids stood resolute and unmoving. Screams sounded throughout the crowd and several more scattered bouts of fire flashed, revealing changelings where ponies had just been.
“Guards, get the civilians out of here!” Shining Armor ordered, seeing the direness of the situation. Around him, civilians panicked as the changelings pounced on them, the guards trying their best to keep the invaders at bay. A terribly hard impact sounded behind him, and he turned to see the collapsed form of a changeling being stood over by Big Mac, Apple Bloom shaking fearfully at his hooves. “Thanks,” the Captain said, receiving a nod in return from the hardy stallion. Drawing his sword, Shining Armor rushed into the crowd in an attempt to protect the civilians as they retreated.
The tension in the room was high. The ponies in the room were restless, some taking the violence they had just witnessed more intensely than others. Celestia paced around the throne room. “How did I not see something like this coming? What was I thinking, bringing everypony here? This invasion could have been avoided so easily if only I-”
“Silence yourself,” Grievous demanded from the balcony, which he now observed the situation from.
“Thou dost not address my sister like an inferior!” yelled Luna in Celestia's defense.
Ignoring Luna, Grievous continued his statement. “Despite appearances, this is actually a convenient occurrence.”
“What!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “How is this possibly convenient?”
“I get to observe how your guard functions in a crisis. If I'm to improve them, I need to know how good they are,” he reasoned.
“I'll not let this situation become a costly experiment. Involve yourself, show me that you intend to keep you promise to protect us,” Celestia said, slightly irritated.
“Of course. I've already commanded my droids to eliminate any changeling that appears to be ready to make a kill,” he said.
“And how are we supposed to believe that?” criticized Rainbow. “You haven't moved from that spot since this started.”
“I can remotely communicate with my troops,” he stated simply.
“Oh, so you're psychopathic?” asked Pinkie, seemingly unfazed from the events that were transpiring.
“Pinkie, that's so rude! Grievous is not a psychopath. I think you're looking for tele-” Twilight said. However, she was interrupted by Pinkie.
“Oh, wait, no, I didn't mean psychopathic, I meant telephonic,” Pinkie corrected.
At this point, Grievous was staring confusedly at Pinkie, completely lost as to what she was trying to say. Luckily for her, Grievous was not offended at her 'psychopath' comment.
“Pinkie, you mean telepathic,” Twilight finished for her. “Are you telepathic, Grievous?” she asked.
“No. I'd explain how it works, but now is not the time,” he responded, annoyed. He returned his attention to the battle. The changelings had done an extraordinarily good job placing themselves around the city. Though he couldn't make out many of the details, he could see that the Royal Guard's ground forces were a disorganized mess, and they were having significant trouble. There were consistent green flashes, and he saw many more droids in action than he would have liked. Fortunately, the aerial conflict was going well; the changelings were being dominated. From what he could tell, the bug-like wings of the changelings provided vastly inferior speed, power, and agility while in flight.
“How's it lookin'?” Applejack asked the General concernedly, breaking the silence that was several minutes in the making.
“The aerial forces are doing predictably well; the changelings' frail wings make them ill prepared for aerial combat. The ground forces are performing disappointingly poorly.”
“No, that ain't good,” she said, distressed. “Big Mac and Apple Bloom're down there. What if the changelings get 'em?”
“AJ, Big Mac is a strong pony; it'll take far more than a few changelings to get him down, especially if he's fighting to protect Apple Bloom,” assured Twilight.
“Ah...Ah guess that's true,” said Applejack. “Guess Ah was gettin' worked up over nothin'.”
“If the forces are in peril, then our help is required,” stated Luna. Celestia turned to tell her to stay put, but was too late. She had already flown off the balcony to the streets below by the time Celestia was ready to speak.
“Good luck, then, sister,” she said to the floor. Cadence came over and placed a reassuring hoof over her shoulder.
How the changelings had managed to set up such an invasion as this was beyond Shining Armor's comprehension. Unlike their previous engagement (he mentally laughed at the irony behind those words), the changelings were making good use of their ability to change appearance. Many civilians were still panicking about him and Big Mac; the streets were simply too crowded, causing almost all of the ways out of the square to get jammed with traffic and fighting.
Despite the chaos, the guards had done well in protecting the civilians. So far, Shining Armor had seen no civilian casualties. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for his guards. He and Big Mac had seen around ten dead guard, and they had been unfortunate enough to have seen a couple get ambushed by other changelings posing as guards and civilians. However, their casualties were nothing compared to the number of dead changelings littering the ground. Some dropped out of the sky, knocked unconscious from some impact sustained from the raging battle overhead, only for them to fall to their deaths; others had been stabbed by the guards' spears, and Shining Armor had sliced up a couple himself.
Off to their side, they saw a guard who had been cornered trying to protect a blue pony with a purple mane behind him. The guard swung his spear in wide arcs, forcing the changelings back, only to be pounced on by the pony, now a changeling, that he had been trying to protect.
The only redeeming quality of the Royal Guard's performance was the support they received from the droids. The droids had been milling about the square casually, using their weird magic beam shooting devices to take out changelings that were about to obtain a kill. Shining Armor inferred that the droids could have easily handled the changelings by themselves, but that Grievous was restricting their actions.
Grievous is testing us.
It was a cruel game, but Shining Armor could see the logic behind his choice. Now, all he had to do was not disappoint.
A changeling dived towards them at full speed, which wasn't very fast, all things considered. Shining Armor and Big Mac easily sidestepped. The Captain brought his sword up as the changeling passed, removing the tip of the changeling’s wing. It fell to the ground in front of Big Mac, writhing in agony, before Big Mac mercifully stamped its head with his hoof, rendering the changeling unconscious. Shining Armor took a second to observe the downed changeling. It was really thin. Looking around, he noticed that all of the changelings were thin. In fact, they looked gaunt; as if they had been deprived of food for an extended period of time.
A glimmer of hope sparked in the Captain's mind as a connection was made. The changelings are hungry! If we can find a way to get them a consistent supply of food, we could stop these conflicts altogether!
“Big Mac!” he yelled, though the stallion was right next to him. His loud voice stirred the frightful filly resting on his back, clamping her hooves tightly around his neck.
“Eeyup?” replied Big Mac as he looked around for any oncoming changelings.
“We need to get to the princess; care to come with?”
“Sure thing,” agreed Big Mac, and they slowly made their way towards the castle.
Overhead, Princess Luna opened her wings and pulled out of her steep dive. She glided above the crowd of struggling ponies, blasting changelings with her magic whenever she could get a clear shot. A changeling tried to dive-bomb her, but she twisted before she could be hit, kicking the changeling unconscious before returning to her original flight path.
Grievous was correct with the assessment of the ground battle; the Guard was outnumbered and was being outsmarted. Her appearance seemed to provide a massive morale boost to the troops that saw her aiding them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Luna saw a small orange, purple maned pegasus filly cowering in a corner as two changelings surrounded her. Luna dived towards them, impaling the closest one with her horn, catching the other changeling off-guard. Taking advantage of the diversion, she reared up and bucked the distracted changeling's face, metal shod hooves rendering its face nearly unidentifiable as one. Needless to say, it was dead. Luna withdrew he horn from the side of the previously impaled changeling, and it fell limply to the ground.
The princess turned her gore-splattered face to the filly that she had just saved, and recognized her as Scootaloo from one of her earlier dreamscape explorations.
The filly looked up to her savior. “Prin-Princess Luna?” she asked with disbelief.
“Come with us, Scootaloo, and we shall bring you to safety,” Luna replied.
“Why don't you let me help you?” Scootaloo asked.
“Because you are a filly and it is dangerous. Now come quickly.”
“But I want to help; it's the least I could do,” Scootaloo whined, giving Luna the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster under the circumstances. Unwilling to delay any longer, the Princess agreed. Once Scootaloo was on her back, Luna took off away from the square to continue the battle.
As the fight raged on in the square, the number of civilians present had declined drastically; most had made it out of the square, though at this point, the entire city was infested with changelings anyways. Grievous's droids had been efficient with removing the pests in the square, and were now spreading out throughout Canterlot to continue their jobs, as commanded by the General from the throne room.
And while the other civilians still left in the square were either running or fighting, a red mare with a long, cerulean mane sat in the center of the action, resting on her haunches, watching as Princess Luna jumped down from the balcony and began her own personal assault on the changelings. From the civilian's perspective, she could watch as Captain Armor and his buff companion slowly fought through an onslaught of changelings. Many of them were mercifully spared from death as the Captain dodged their attacks and delivered glancing blows, leaving them open for a devastating hit from his red friend.
The mare grinned at the sight of the Captain's slow progress. She stood up and started on a path to the castle's main entrance, which was stupidly guarded by only two unicorn guards. As the mare progressed, several guards began to flank her and trot with her. Fifteen guards surrounded the mare as she progressed, and once the formation was complete, green flames consumed the mare, leaving the form of Shining Armor in her place.
“Guards!” the Captain yelled as he and his small troop ran up to the door. “Let us in, I have an urgent report for Princess Celestia.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison, using their magic to open the door for their Captain.
As the Captain went by the unicorn guards, he provided them with a warning. “I expect that the changelings will try to impersonate me to get into the castle. Don't let anypony else get in; you won't know who to trust.”
“Yes, sir,” they said again before closing the doors behind Shining Armor.
Once a good distance from the door, Shining Armor gave a maniacal laugh, combusting into flames as he did so. Once the light show was over, an evilly grinning Princess Luna stood in his place.
“Guards!” the Captain yelled as he and his small troop, consisting of himself, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and their recent additions of Braeburn, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed, ran up to the door. “Let us in, I have an urgent report for Princess Celestia.”
“Our orders are to let none in,” one of the guards said. “Be gone, imposter!” The two guards raised their weapons.
“Wha...?” Shining Armor asked, confused. Oh, buck, he thought as he realized what had transpired. “I'm sorry about this,” he said with a sigh. Turning to Big Macintosh, he nodded, and as one, the two of them spun, reared, and kicked, rendering the two guards unconscious.
Using his magic to hold the door open, Shining Armor ushered his group in before slamming the door behind him.
Princess Luna and her escort slowly made their way through the familiar, winding corridors of Canterlot Castle. Her guards walked with her, covering her from all sides, each wearing a malicious smile.
Soon enough, their target, the throne room was within view. It was now or never. The time for vengeance had arrived.
As the battle waged underneath him, Grievous stood ever so diligently in his spot on the balcony overlooking the square. By now, the conflict had spread citywide, and had moved to the ground once the changelings were wise enough to realize that they were hopeless in the sky. On the ground, Grievous could make out a few of his droids, each surrounded by civilians savoring the safety that the droids' superior combat skills provided. Overall, Grievous was extremely disappointed at how the Royal Guard had fared during the battle.
He had not had a visual of Princess Luna for several minutes, which wasn't surprising since she had flown to a different part of Canterlot that Grievous couldn't see. Her arrival on the scene was the pivotal moment of the battle; not only was her powerful magic a blessing for the troops, but her appearance sparked something in them, and they slowly began gaining the upper hand.
The road beneath him was littered with corpses, most of them changeling, a fortunate revelation for Grievous.
As he continued to survey the battlefield, the door to the throne room opened. Grievous payed it no heed until a very familiar voice rang through the room.
“Sister, we beseech thee for assistance,” Luna yelled frantically.
Grievous turned to see...a perfectly uninjured Luna surrounded by several guards, each of which appeared to be looking around the room, and sizing him, Celestia, Cadence, and the others up. The sight was certainly unexpected. If Luna is in need of help, she should at least look like it. And why would she bring so many guards out of the fight?
The scene was suspicious. Furthermore, Grievous caught her using 'I' as she explained the situation to her sister. That doesn't match her speech patterns.
As Celestia and Luna conversed, Grievous reached to his waist for his pistol and one of his many lightsabers. His actions were undetected by all but Twilight, who observed the General's motions with increasing worry. She could tell that he had just drawn weapons, though having not witnessed any of the fighting outside, she had no idea what to expect from his tools of war.
“Someone get me a visual confirmation of Princess Luna,” Grievous commanded remotely.
The talking between Celestia and Luna had gotten rather heated; they were yelling, though Grievous was too busy monitoring the chatter from his droids to pay attention to what was being argued over. However, he noticed that the two remained distant, Luna never leaving her circle of guards.
“Unit 3TY7, visual acquired of requested entity: Princess Luna; visual confirmed of requested entity engaging enemy entity: changelings,” a droid reported.
The evidence was overwhelming; time to take action.
Celestia argued with Luna, trying to convince her to stay in the throne room where it was safe and let the guards do their job. Apparently, the room was not as safe as she had thought.
To her right, Grievous had equipped a small gray device, and had it raised and pointed to one of the guards around her sister. Celestia knew not what the device did, but she could assume that it was a weapon of some kind.
The device sounded, making a sound unlike anything that Celestia had heard before. It propelled a red beam, similar to a blast of magic, at the guard that Grievous had aimed at. The beam struck the guard's armor, leaving it slightly melted where the blast had hit, and charring the area around it. The guard grunted in pain, falling to its knees, breathing becoming more and more difficult.
Admittedly, Grievous thought that the guard would have died after one shot; perhaps he should have gone for a head shot after all. Before he could fire again, a yellow aura surrounded the weapon and ripped it from Grievous's grip. He turned to Celestia, who held his pistol in the air next to her.
“How dare you assault another one of my guards!” she yelled, making use of the Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time in years. To her surprise, Grievous remained unfazed.
“And what happened with the last one I assaulted?” Grievous asked smugly.
“It turned out to be a...oh no.”
The guard finally fell to the ground, dead, and the corpse erupted into green flames, leaving the scorched body of a changeling.
Celestia looked back to the group of guards, catching a glimpse of a snarling Luna, horn encased in a green glow as a spell of some kind was being prepared. Queen Chrysalis yelled in rage, dropping her disguise and releasing the pent up spell. The projectile went straight towards Celestia, and before she could react, Grievous had stepped in the way, the orange blade of Poh Drüne's lightsaber deflecting it up. Large cracks formed where the missile had hit the ceiling.
Around the changeling queen, the guards had also transformed, and were now charging Grievous and Celestia.
As the first changeling reached Grievous, he snapped his talon over its face, the creature's momentum carrying its body forward, cracking its neck with a loud and disgusting pop. He pelted the limp changeling towards the others, hitting two and slowing their progress. Another changeling assaulted him from the front, only for its throat to meet Grievous's metal fist. The impact destroyed the changeling's windpipe, and it fell to the ground at Grievous's feet, slowly dying of asphyxiation.
Two more changelings rushed at him, one from his left and another from the front. Grievous grabbed the changeling coming from his left and propelled it into the one going straight for him, causing the thrown changeling's horn to pierce its companion. The two crashed to the ground, and the uninjured one struggled to get its curved horn out of its brethren. The General approached the struggling changeling, bringing his blade through its neck and cleanly removing the head.
Another beam of magic sailed his way, courtesy of Chrysalis, and he swiftly deflected the shot into a changeling hovering adjacent to her.
The changelings stopped their assault for a moment, and Grievous took the opportunity to glance over to the ponies that were now his responsibility to protect. Fluttershy, predictably, was cowering behind Applejack. The other five basically shared the same expression of shock and bewilderment, each of them wanting to look away from the horror before them, but just seeming unable to. Celestia's expression was unreadable.
The conflict resumed, this time five of the changelings charging from several different directions. Grievous swung his lightsaber downward at the first one to approach him, cleaving its body in two. Carrying on with the momentum of his powerful swing, Grievous stepped forward, spun, and delivered a roundhouse kick to the next changeling to foolishly challenge him. The impact sent the changeling across the room at a speed rivaling Rainbow's. It hit the wall, all bones in its body shattering. As gravity slowly peeled the corpse off of the wall, a deep imprint remained embedded in the wall.
Grievous turned to face the next changeling. It arrived sooner than he had expected, and the changeling barreled into Grievous's shoulder with its own. The force was enough to cause Grievous to stumble back a step, but the unfortunate consequence of such force being exerted on a solid metal surface was a destroyed limb. The changeling attempted to limp away, dragging its annihilated hoof across the floor, but Grievous scooped it up in his talon and thrust it back into the ground, crushing its ribcage and causing some of its innards to splatter over several feet.
The second to last changeling to have charged him learned from the mistakes of its brethren. It stopped charging just out of the range of Grievous's weapon and launched a weak shot of magic at the behemoth. Grievous reflected the shot, returning it to the tip of the changeling's horn, and it fell to the ground unconscious.
The final changeling of the wave deviated away from Grievous completely. It propelled itself high towards the ceiling, before turning to face Grievous. Once it turned, a thin blue stick of light came spinning in its direction, too fast for it to be able to avoid the blade. The lightsaber embedded itself into a high part of the wall while the two changeling halves plopped unceremoniously to the floor.
Chrysalis was left with five changelings and herself. Somehow, the monster before her had seen though her ploy and took out two thirds of her top troops with ease. And upon noticing that several more of the silver cylinders that resembled the one that it was holding now around its waist, she determined that this thing was just going easy on her. It was toying with her. And she was helpless to stop it.
In a final effort to take town this thing, the last five changelings rushed it. A swift uppercut severed one of them down the middle while the other four moved around Grievous, and in a surprising turn of events, the General tossed his weapon high into the air. In an even more surprising turn of events, Grievous leaned forward onto one of his hands, catching his falling weapon with his right talon, using his other arm to keep his balance. A changeling charged from Grievous's left and one from his right. He adjusted the position of his legs to counter each of them, and each one shot out in a quick, almost spring-loaded kick. Neither kick was lethal, however, and his lightsaber had missed the changeling on his right.
Another changeling charged Grievous from the front, only to have its extended foreleg removed as the General brought his lightsaber down upon it and corrected himself into a standing position. Aside from Chrysalis and the two changelings that were still recovering from being kicked, there was one changeling remaining. It panicked, and out of instinct, fired a shot of magic at Grievous. Grievous flung his lightsaber back into the air using his talon and caught it before reflecting the shot back into the changeling's eye.
The two changelings had recovered from their injury, but stupidly attacked in the same fashion as before. Wanting to end the skirmish, Grievous removed another lightsaber from his waist and activated its green blade. He stared intensely at Chrysalis, spinning his wrists rapidly, effectively forming a shield on either side of him as he did so. The charging changelings had too much momentum, and were too late to prevent themselves from flying into Grievous's rapidly spinning lightsabers. Slices of changeling littered the ground at Grievous's feet.
“You are Queen Chrysalis, I presume,” Grievous said, taking a step towards the changeling queen.
She took a step back, wanting to get away from the murderous beast that stalked towards her.
The General deactivated his lightsabers and put the green one back on his waist. Chrysalis continued to retreat, but Grievous would not allow this aggressor to flee easily...or at all. Raising his arm at the Queen, he shot his grappling hook. The projectile moved incredibly fast, sailing through a large hole in Chrysalis' leg and embedding itself into the marble floor beneath them.
The changeling tried desperately to dislodge the hook, but its grip was too strong. In a final attempt to remove the grapple, she prepared to grab it telekinetically. Her horn glowed dark green as the spell was cast, and the cable became slack; though not due to her efforts.
Grievous was within grabbing range of the immobile changeling. He released the grapple hook, causing the cable to fall on the ground. He brought his hand under the changeling's head and brought it up, gripping tightly around her neck.
Panicking, Chrysalis began casting a teleport spell, but a hard punch to her chest foiled her concentration. Grievous clenched his hand tighter around her neck.
“Why have you attacked us?” Celestia asked the incapacitated changeling queen, startling everyone in the room except for Grievous. She looked at Grievous's helpless victim, and she was shocked to see the emaciated state the Queen's body appeared to be in.
“We are starving to death,” she attempted to explain through her restricted breathing, trying to look at Celestia. “We need your love. And no, you can't just give it to us. We must steal it through impersonation or take it by force. And since the first, more peaceful way failed, it was time to employ the second method.” Chrysalis turned her head and glared at Grievous, saying, “But then you went and found this monster, dooming us to extinction. Oh, but we'll not go down easily. We will cause as much misery as we can to you pathetic ponies, though it can only be a fraction of the suffering you've forced upon us!”
Fully enraged, Chrysalis swung both of her rear hooves back before thrusting them towards Grievous's crotch. A loud crack resounded from the impact. Grievous laughed sinisterly as a pained expression flashed across the changeling's face; one or both of her hooves must have fractured from the force of the impact.
“You attacked without provocation,” Grievous scolded. “You could have very well found a diplomatic solution to your issue. But, since you so foolishly chose to fight, you will face the consequences of your actions.”
With that, Grievous placed the hilt of his lightsaber to the Queen's chest and activated it. The orange blade pierced the changeling cleanly, instantly killing her. He withdrew his blade from the corpse and roughly dropped it at his feet.
“Eliminate all of the changelings.”
Shining Armor and his crew rushed through the hallways of Canterlot Castle. Outside, the sounds of battle had diminished quite substantially. A civilian's occasional scream of horror could be heard as they had been no doubt ambushed by a changeling, only for a zapping sound to follow it, no doubt one of the weapons carried by Grievous's droids. The droids had been ridiculously efficient with protecting Equestria's civilians and guards, giving Shining Armor a strange sense of safety and unease.
The throne room was in sight, and using a final burst of speed, he rocketed to the doors. He was weary, and thus his magic was slow, but he managed to get the doors open by the time the rest of his group had caught up.
They looked into the room just in time to watch Grievous drop the lifeless body of the former Queen Chrysalis. Grievous was holding one of the small silver cylinders that he had noticed surrounding his waist before. Protruding from it was a long orange light, roughly the same diameter as the hole that went through Chrysalis' body.
Shining Armor and his group stepped into the room, allowing the Captain to shut the door behind them. Outside, the sounds of the droids' weapons increased in frequency. Obviously, Grievous was taking the battle into his own hands.
Beside him, the stallions that had joined him warily eyed the General, and the fillies hid their faces from the gore-ridden floor.
Grievous walked over to Celestia and grabbed his pistol from the air, her magic releasing its grip as the weapon was claimed.
“Shining Armor, you have something to report?” Celestia asked her Captain.
Glancing around to the dead changelings around him, he could only sigh and respond with, “Not anymore, your highness.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I figured that we could reason with Chrysalis and reach a peaceful compromise; looks like it is too late for that.” He raised his head as he finished his statement. The Kaleesh warlord was giving him the most vile and unnerving look that Shining Armor had ever seen.
A light tapping sound came from the balcony outside. Princess Luna with Scootaloo on her back gracefully landed and strode into the throne room, utterly dumbstruck at the scene. “What...what happened here?”
“Some changelings infiltrated the castle and made to ambush me, disguised as you. Grievous here...dispatched them, to put it lightly,” explained Celestia.
“Princess Cadence,” she said, directing her attention to the pink alicorn, “would you mind leading everypony out of the room except for Grievous and your husband? I believe we need to discuss something with him privately, and the fillies should not be in this environment.”
“Of course,” replied Cadence.
Eventually, the room was vacated except for Celestia, her sister, Grievous, and Shining Armor. Outside, the blaster fire could still be heard.
“Grievous,” Celestia started after some time had passed in silence, “I would like to thank you for your assistance in helping us deal with this issue. However, I am disappointed that you killed Chrysalis. She did not need to die, and we could have reached some sort of agreement with her, as you said.”
“Before you berate me for my actions, let me inform you that she had considered the diplomatic approach to her dilemma, but she chose to lead an attack instead. And she would have killed many of your subjects. She had her chance to make peace, and she has paid the fully justifiable price for not doing so.”
“Sadly, this is true,” Celestia said with a sigh.
“Were the changelings the only threat to your country? Or are there other things I should be wary of,” Grievous inquired.
“Only the changelings have given us trouble on this scale. Aside from Discord, who had been dealt with,” answered Celestia.
“Good, then the Republic is our next concern.”
“How can thee disregard the current circumstances so easily? There are still changelings to worry about,” Luna asked.
“My droids are ending the rest of them as we speak. They will finish what your Guard had barely started.” Grievous's second sentence was directed at Shining Armor.
“Are you hinting at something?” he asked the General.
“Yes, I am. Your troops are pitiful excuses for warriors. I would not be surprised if one Republic clone were capable of killing the entire Guard, single-handedly. It seems as if I have a lot of work to do before you can even think of considering the Guards a respectable fighting force. And until then, you'll have none of my respect.”
“Your degrading talk sours our mood,” Luna growled.
“Then I shall refrain from talking.”
“Enough,” Celestia commanded. “Grievous, we will discuss your opinions of our Guard at a more convenient time. As for now, help us clean your mess, and we will find a proper way to thank you for your services.”
The door creaked behind them, and each of them turned to find Applejack slowly walking towards them. The doors, surrounded in a purple aura, closed behind her.
“Cap'in Armor; General Grievous,” she said as she continued walking forward. “Ah-Ah just wanna thank y'all fer helpin' ta save mah friends an' family. Ah don't think Ah'd've been able to manage had I lost Big Mac 'r Apple Bloom in that there battle.” Walking up to the Captain, she embraced him in a strong and unexpected hug. “Thank ya fer protectin' mah family,” she said as she squeezed him tightly.
She let go and walked over to the General. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, completely indifferent to the thanks that he was receiving. She stood for a few seconds, looking confusedly at his leg. Eventually, she thought of a way to give the General the hug that he deserved. She stretched onto her hind hooves and wrapped her forelegs around his waist. Sure it was awkward, but it was the least she could do for the one that potentially saved the life of her and her friends.
“Thank ya fer savin' mah friends; they're like family ta me.” She maintained her embrace, finding the sensation of the General's cold metal body on her coat...oddly satisfying.
Grievous couldn't say that he was affected at all by Applejack's actions, but as long as it didn't hurt him, he'd let her have her moment. And after her moment, she made to leave.
“Shining Armor, you are dismissed. Leave us; get the Guard to begin cleaning the streets, and make sure we collect our dead so they can have their respects given,” commanded Celestia. The Captain saluted and left the room with Applejack.
Once Grievous and the alicorn sisters were alone, Luna spoke her mind. “I would not have expected such affection form one such as Applejack.”
“She loves her family and friends very dearly, and anypony willing to risk themselves for the sake of her family and friends get very good standing with her,” Celestia elaborated. “Though, it should be more than just her thanking you. You kept countless families from having to lose their loved ones, including Luna...twice. While it is unfortunate that the changelings had to be dealt with the way that they have been, it was better than the alternative. I doubt we'd have survived on our own. Equestria as a while owes you an debt we cannot repay, though we will try our best.”
“You owe me nothing,” Grievous said, starting to get annoyed from all of the praise.
“Oh, Grievous, you are so noble and selfless,” she complimented, smiling at him. His eyes caught hers for a moment before finding something else to look at, but her eyes seemed to sparkle affectionately for that moment.
He turned his head towards the corpses that littered the room. “Let's get to work,” he said, hoping to avoid more conversation.
~~~LZ, Outskirts of Appleloosa, 2 days, 7 hours and 20 minutes after the Ambush at US-01~~~
“Sir, we've got contact with Moon!” Shy yelled excitedly. He looked around to his squad all startled at his outburst. “Sorry,” he said, resuming his nearly inaudible volume.
“Great,” Viktor responded, walking over to the transmitter that Shy had been laboring over for the past few hours.
“He's sent us a transmission; the machine is decrypting it now.”
After several seconds, the transmission was decoded, and a small hologram of Sergeant Moon's helmet appeared over the transmitter.
“Victor squad, this is Sergeant Moon,” the hologram said. “I'm contacting you to report that the Loyalty has made it to the system. All of the data that you've accumulated needs to be sent to me as soon as possible. Moon out.”
“The report's been compiled; all that's left is for you to give him a quick acknowledgment,” Shy told Viktor.
After recording a quick, “Transmission received, data report inbound,” the information was encrypted and sent to Moons terminal aboard the Loyalty.
~~~Throne Room, Canterlot, 2 days, 7 hours and 21 minutes after the Ambush at Equus~~~
“Unit 5H-A1, Superior, unauthorized encrypted transmission intercepted; entity: Republic Cruiser confirmed in system; relative coordinates of entity: Republic Cruiser confirmed.”
“Good. Let's give the Republic their little toy back.”
~~~Republic Cruiser Valiance, Strategic location away from Equus, 2 days, 7 hours and 25 minutes after the Ambush at Equus~~~
“Unit 5H-A1, Superior, request acknowledgment from entity: Valiance.”
“Unit F9 120, entity: Valiance, acknowledging.”
“Coordinates of entity: Republic Cruiser currently in transmission. Prepare hyperspace jump to coordinates.”
“Roger, roger.”
~~~Throne Room, Canterlot, 2 days, 7 hours and 35 minutes after the Ambush at Equus~~~
As before, Grievous stood on the balcony that overlooked the square where an intense battle had taken place not four hours before. His stance was his standard hands-behind-his-back, and his gaze was directed at the bright afternoon sky. Behind him, the Princesses, Element bearers, and the ponies that had been with Shining Armor all chatted with each other, recalling the day's events and considering themselves lucky.
For the most part, they had all gotten over the violence that they had just witnessed, seeing it as necessary for their own preservation. The Element bearers had also thanked Grievous for protecting them, though Applejack had by far been the most expressive of her thanks.
Grievous tuned them all out, though. He had other things to think about; more specifically, a very precise ambush to monitor. In reality, though, he was helpless to change how anything up there went. The entire process was dependent on his droids, and Grievous lacked confidence that the droids would pull the operation off without complications.
“Grievous? Y'alright?” Grievous turned to see that the mare with the hat had come to his side. “Y'all've been standing here starin' at the sky for several minutes now. Somethin' wrong?”
“Leave me alone, I'm busy.”
“Busy doin' what?” she asked.
“None of your concern,” Grievous replied. Before Applejack had a chance to speak again, Grievous reached for her hat and threw it across the room. Predictably, Applejack made to retrieve it, and left him alone once she had.
Several minutes passed, and Grievous continued to stare upon the uneventful sky. That's not right, there should have been something, Grievous thought. As if sensing his distress, Princess Celestia had made her way to Grievous's side.
“What are you looking for, Grievous?” she asked.
“I've made arrangements for some fireworks, but they've been delayed,” he monotonously said.
“Unit 5H-A1, Superior, contact with entity: Republic Cruiser made; destruction imminent.”
Two bright flashes appeared over the skies of Equestria. It was done, then. The Republic had been rerouted again, and another threat had been removed from Equestria.
The flashes lingered, and soon caught the attention of the throne room's other occupants, as well as many of the civilians that had been braving the streets.
“It's gorgeous,” Celestia admired. “Thank you.”
Grievous remained stagnant, even as the Princess lightly nuzzled the cool metal of his side.
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Does Celestia have a little crush...?
Oh Celestia you are so easy to betray...The CIS is going to expoit Equestria and the Ponies are going to die...Thats what is going to happen^^
2194849 Umm...yes.
2195045 Yes, it is sad that the kind and loving ponies are capable of allowing their excessive trust of others to potentially lead to the utter destruction of their civilization.
2097209 A Grievous nutshot has been implimented
...though maybe not in the most humorous of context, but it's there nonetheless!
2195048
Not likely.
I’m late
Yet another great chapter. I can’t wait for the chaos that the clone’s appearance will cause.
No matter who wins, unless Equestria can hide themselves they will still fall to the Sith. I just hope for Celestia’s (and everypony else’s) sake that the damage can be kept minimal.
2223156 Isn't it wierd knowing that the clones are good guys but they're the ones causing chaos?
Why this sin't on the featured page, I do not know
2224408 I'm flattered that you think that
, but I must say that I'm certianly not skilled enough for a honor like that. But, if you could help spread the word about this story, publicity is always appreciated! And stay tuned, Chapter 7 is coming out soon!
“None of your concern,” Grievous replied. Before Applejack had a chance to speak again, Grievous reached for her hat and threw it across the room. Predictably, Applejack made to retrieve it, and left him alone once she had.
Reaction:
2195048
Wait...Whut?
images.wikia.com/vampirediaries/images/2/24/Cereal_Guy_2.png
2195048
Celestia, it will never work...
Oh Celestia, you!
Oh Grievous you BASTARD!!!!
All aboard the Celestious ship! All aboard the Grievia ship! XD