A Care Package, Bandaid!
The Affection of Princess Nightmare Moon
Part 13: A Care Package, Bandaid!
“Now what?” mumbled Bandaid weakly as he was led outside by his chain like somepony’s pet. The three guards and his handler took him to the usual outcropping balcony above the construction of the city. It had been perhaps a week since the river had been released, and just now he was getting to see it. “Oh wow,” he admitted, looking down with interest. The blue, clear, flowing water was rushing through like it had always been there. Changelings were playing on the shores, dashing about and dive-bombing the waters to splash each other. “Huh. Beach party. Sort of,” Bandaid said, watching them.
The same group of larva ran about with their mud-ball. When it splashed into the river it was washed off, revealing some sort of strange, stitched together white ball with ‘Neighson’ written on the side. They retrieved it, staring at it in horror. Thoroughly upset, they dashed away to find their caretaker so they could rub it in mud and paint it again the way it was supposed to be.
More onion-shaped buildings were popping up every which way. Many of them cool colors like dark blue, dark green and such. Most of them were still mud-brown, but those were the larger ones. The ones clearly meant to be dwellings had cute, tiny little chimneys sticking out of the holes at their tops, and the drones that had claimed them were crawling all over them to make designs. Bandaid saw celtish knots, stitching, barb-wire, landscapes… it looked like everyling had their own idea about what made a dwelling beautiful, now that they had ones of their own. Bandaid wondered if maybe they were all emulating things they’d seen when out and about in the world. He spotted one changeling trying to sand his onion-shaped house into a more angular shape. Perhaps he’d been to the Crystal Empire at one point?
The same massive, many legged changeling was still pulling the sledge, helping to make what was undoubtedly the main road. When the latest titanic slab of stone slid into place, he did the same happy dance he always did when he’d done something good, drum-drum-drumming his countless appendages.
Scaffolding was going up around what would undoubtedly be the hive-palace. Bandaid had been kept in a similar structure underground, but somehow this one seemed bigger. More bulbous and official. Changelings buzzed about it, adding bricks and mud and thick mortar. Hardening powders were being mixed in, along with reflective things like iron dust and glitters. It gave the whole thing a subtle and otherworldly glow. The brown stallion watched them work with fervor, looking back and forth. “Never knew they were like this…” he mumbled.
“Like what? Like a real civilization?” Chrysalis had appeared to check on her prisoner. He flinched to one side so she could stand at the railing, falling silent. He’d quickly learned not to question, not to quip, and not to rise to her insults. It only ever ended in pain. He had enough bruises already. “Are you surprised that the changeling hive isn’t full of mindless monsters that just want to eat, consume and destroy?”
“Mm…” said Bandaid carefully.
“You lose a lot of assumptions about right and wrong and stealing and survival when you’re starving, stallion,” Chrysalis said. He looked at her more closely. She seemed a bit bigger. More filled in than before. Not fat, just… she was proportioned a bit closer to what Celestia was shaped like, and less like the skeletal monster she usually came across as. “Now that my hive is set for life, we may prosper and be happy. No thanks to my siblings in the north.” She gestured towards Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Bandaid noted the direction, wildly wondering if he might just run across the wastes to get away when chance gave him. “Don’t bother,” she seemed to read his mind. “It’s a bit too far, even as the crow flies, to the northern border.” His ears splayed and he hung his head. “Good boy.” She tutted, watching the activity below. A few Changelings stopped to wave at her, which she regally returned with a fang-filled smile and open wings.
“What… will you do now?” Bandaid chose his words carefully, as not to be beaten again.
She turned to look at him, pushing her mane out of her eyes. “Now that Equestria has rerouted the river from the Neigh Hoover dam and opened its gates, the reservoir will no doubt drain in a number of months. Water will not strain as a resource, given that the icy mountains border Equestria’s north and they can physically control the weather,” she paused for breath. “However, I will wait to see what shift in priorities will make themselves apparent.”
“L-like what?” Bandaid braved.
“Celestia will no doubt expect a full-frontal assault,” Chrysalis said, tapping her hoof and then leaning on an elbow with her hoof. “What would you think of that, huhm nurse? A nice bloody war, after I just turned immortal and started my city building?” she smiled at him nastily.
Bandaid opened his mouth to shout at her, but all his bruises and her glittering green eyes made him think better of it. She smiled wider when he checked himself. He sighed, taking a deep breath, then looked down at the teeming masses below. “That sounds… counter-productive,” He decided softly.
“Very good,” she nodded. “The last thing I intend to build back up is my own reputation. But damn them all, I don’t care what they think of me. I have all my children to think of first.” Chrysalis drew herself up again. “Equestria gave me the river I asked for, they’ve only one task to fulfill before I send you home again.”
“Home?” Bandaid blurted, surprised. “I’m being traded?”
“Yes. I didn’t take you just to twist my mustache at my two immortal sisters. Idiot,” Chrysalis turned and left him on the balcony. “Take our pet for a walk, show him the river and the palace construction site.” She told one of the four guards. (Bandaid noted one of them could speak in the pony tongue, for he repeated the orders in the changeling language) With that the queen was away… then she paused. “Ah, I almost forgot.” She turned back to him, then to one of her waiting servants. “Fetch my picto-box.” She told him. He scree-chirruped at her. She looked annoyed at him. “Yes, the flashy box thing,” she said flatly. Bandaid smirked but quickly squashed the expression when she turned to look at him. The drone came back with a positively archaic-looking camera after a time. “I’d like to assure Nightie that you’re still alive and well. Smile.” She said, standing next to him. The drone fiddled with the camera like it was a puzzle box. “It’s the top one.” She told him, gesturing. The drone turned the box over, then remembered to take the lens-cap off. Bandaid’s lips tugged upward a little. “Top button,” the Queen said again, getting annoyed. One would’ve thought the poor drone was defusing a bomb, the way he was pushing the sliders back and forth, hunting for the proper button. He lifted the viewer to his eyes. Bandaid lowered his head a little, submissive when Chrysalis glared at him. The drone chirruped again, tilting its head. “I don’t care if it looks like a prison photo! Take the picture!” Chrysalis shouted. Bandaid giggle-snorted despite all risks, a genuine smile crossing his lips.
KWACK-FWOOSH!
The magnesium went off and it slowly spat out a pictograph. Chrysalis snatched it, grumbling and sending the drone on his way. Bandaid managed a painful giggle that hurt his ribs.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
“’Wish you were here?’ That pompus bitch!” Nightmare Moon shouted, turning the photograph over. In it, Chrysalis looked like she was shouting angrily at somepony, and Bandaid looked like he was laughing. Though the picture was in black and white, it didn’t hide the crusted blood on his nose, nor the bruises on his barrel. Nightmare seethed. Looking in the background, she saw the out-of-focus scene of what must’ve been a massive above-ground project. Was she building something? What? She turned the picture over to re-read the line. It was written by Bandaid’s hoof, but she wasn’t about to trust the words if Chrysalis had sent it. The attached letter was a bit better:
To My Sisters Princess Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia,
Thank you for being so quick to fulfill my demands about the river. The Changeling Empire will benefit vastly from the influx of water and mud for our building purposes. Concrete and such has to be mixed, after all! I eagerly await your envoy bearing written agreement that all of your little ponies will stay away from the Badlands, under pain of death by my hoof. (Your envoy will, of course, be allowed in and out. I promise not to kill that particular pony for trespassing.)
In the meanwhile, as you can see by the photograph I’ve enclosed your stallion Bandaid is still my prisoner. His health is not perfect, as the Badlands are quite harsh on the average pony. I would move as quickly as you can if you plan on receiving him back in a healthy manner.
I have no doubt you suspect on oncoming assault of some description, so let me be perfectly clear: Leave us be. You shan’t visit me, and I shan’t visit you, and we shall all get along better than before. (Except on holidays, of course, mother might be displeased if we didn’t at least see each other for Hearths Warming Day or some such.)In My Own Hoof,
Queen Chrysalis Cosmos Equiness of the Changeling Empire
“’Except on holidays or some such,’ she says!” Nightmare snarled, crumpling the letter and throwing it.
Noble Cause turned to pick it up, pushing her mane out of her eyes. “Jeez, her mood is all over the map,” she commented as she scanned the letter down. “She’s not stable, is she?”
“Under such an influx of power, being insane enough to steal my beloved twice, and now building her nation the way she’s always wanted it. No, no she is not stable.” Nightmare grumped, returning to sit on the throne once more. She glanced over, for the changeling messenger was still sitting in the same spot he’d been in six days ago. He merely stared listlessly about, occasionally pawing at the ground with a hoof. He didn’t seem hungry or bored, merely at attention. The second messenger went and sat next to him. They looked each other, exchanged greeting, then went back to doing exactly nothing.
“Erm, perhaps you could send something back with them, for Bandaid?” Noble Cause offered.
Nightmare touched her chin, “That’s actually not a bad idea.” She smiled slowly, then stood. Feeling a little less helpless now that she had a mission, she went to the massive double doors and gestured to the two waiting messengers. “Come!” she said. They cocked their heads. She tap-tapped her foreleg with a hoof. They started forward, and she led them away. “It seems they were not so foolish as to feed on him, I shall have to make sure we receive him back by normal means.” Noble cause winced at the idea, but nodded and followed her. “Come, I know just the shop to visit first!” Nightmare trotted out to find her chariot and pulling team.
=-=-=-=-=
“What do you mean they sent him a care package?!” Chrysalis said, for a three foot cube of wood had arrived with Bandaid’s name on it, carried by two positively exhausted drones. “Paw through it and see if there’s anything suspicious inside.” She commanded. Crowbars were fetched and the lid was pried open. The drones peered inside, turning things over and inspecting every little item they found. After a long time, they’d found nothing that seemed threatening and shrugged to their queen. “Well, put it in his chamber I suppose,” Chrysalis finally decided, rolling her eyes. “Probably full of muffins and joy,” she grumbled. “I would burn it, but I still need that missive from the Equestrian envoy.”
Bandaid was shocked when the massive wooden thing was wheeled in and given to him. He was in the middle of eating. The changelings had soon decided that ponies needed pony food so they’d been bringing him rather exotic flavors of hay, water, and other things they’d managed to steal from farmsteads near the border. “Wassat?” he said, favoring one leg as he went and stuck his head in.
Inside was a collection of books, several blankets, a few boxes of sweets, a first aid kit, a tied bunch of celery, five loose muffins, a fruit basket, and a few reading scrolls. Pulling the first scroll, he opened it and blanched. Nightmare Moon shaking her ass at the camera. ‘Wish you were here’, it said, with a little heart next to it. Bandaid grinned and laughed despite how much it hurt to do so. The scroll said the envoy would be arriving soon, and that he would be able to come home. The rest of the letter got racier and far more explicit. Bandaid’s brow rose at words he knew she hadn’t learned from him or Twilight Sparkle’s modernizing training. Red touched his cheeks. “Oh jeez…” he mumbled. He then very carefully put the photo among the blankets of his little nest in the corner. Unfolding all the blankets, he made a grander, softer structure for himself. Overjoyed at the food, he dug into that instead of the hay he’d been given. Sighing when his belly was full, he turned to the first aid kit. Patching himself up and taking a couple of the pills for head injury headaches, he sat among all his prizes for a time. Unable to help it, he reached for the first stack of little books he’d been sent.
Sandstorm, Surviving Ponies and Castles Games in the Desert
“Gee thanks Nightie,” Bandaid rolled his eyes a little.
The Pony Sutra: A Lover’s Guide
One of the pages was dog-eared. When he checked it, his face went scarlet and he quickly put it to one side. “I’mma hafta talk to her about all this,” he snickered a little nervously.
How to Build and Care for Your Ant Farm
“Ha ha ha,” Bandaid said flatly, throwing that one back in the crate.
In the corner, the same guard licked his chops a little. Bandaid’s plush rump wiggled back and forth in the air as he dug through the massive box. It was decided, right then. That drone was dig his teeth into that rump. That rump right there. He could practically hang a picture of that delicious backside on a wall. The Queen had said no, buuuuut… w-well, he was right there! And they’d been guarding him all this time. Pulling rank here and there might leave the two of them alone at some point. Perhaps if he told the other three to take a break in a few days… it would just be himself and the prisoner. His mouth watered, and his fangs dripped at the idea. The drone betted he was extra, extra tasty if the Queen had brought him home with a stealth snatch-and-grab unit. Those were the elite of the hive! Second only to the two personal guards that accompanied the Queen when she went to other nations. He wondered what Bandaid’s love energy would taste like. His tummy rumbled. He just had to wait, wait until the proper moment. Then he could feast.
“Oooh!” Bandaid said, emerging from the crate with a yo-yo. “Neat! Oh hey this is from the Dice and Dragons shop! Nightie went to my game store!” he smiled wide, his spirits lifting. “I bet Deck Cut is wondering where I am by now, I’ve been gone like three weeks…” He looped it on his foreleg, then let it fly—then it yoyo’d back into his nose. “AUGH! Faust-damn-it!” he fell into the crate with a yelp. All four drones tilted their heads, watching him with bald curiosity. Ponies were silly creatures.
=-=-=-=-=-=
It was Noble Casue herself that arrived less than a week later bearing a very, very carefully worded missive from her Majesties of Equestria. Chrysalis scanned it over. Closing one’s borders was very important business, after all. The Badlands were not for tourists, treasure-seekers or spies. The mare stood there nervously, looking back and forth at all the glittering changeling eyes that watched her. Suddenly, she felt like a bug in a jar. Touching her neck to make sure her messenger’s cape was still tied there, she looked up when the Queen cleared her throat.
“Very well,” she said, turning to a waiting drone. “Make note of the day and time, drone. We’ve closed our borders to Equestria and the City-State of the Crystal Empire to the north.” The drone obeyed, scribbling on parchment. “Anypony caught in our lands henceforth will meet a swift and bloody end!” she stomped a hoof on the dais. Noble Cause looked side to side as cheering went up all around her. Chrysalis coughed twice, leaning and signing the rather threatening treaty. Flipping the page, she signed her copy as well. She levitated them both down for the messenger to see. “One for me, and one for Equestria.” She told her. Noble Cause nodded when she saw everything had been signed properly. One rolled itself up and flew to Chrysalis, and she took the other. She watched her put her own in a scroll tube, then stuffed hers away in a waiting saddlebag.
“What of the prisoner? Nurse Bandaid?” Noble Cause asked, leaning forward. “Princess Nightmare Moon will want to know how you plan to deliver him to her.”
“Oh?” Queen Chrysalis, putting down her nectar goblet.
“Yes, that was the deal.” Noble slowly reached and put her helmet on, for some of the changelings present were eyeing her hungrily.
Queen Chrysalis leaned forward, grinning with all her fangs. The pumpkin-maned mare leaned back a little, lifting her hoof. Then the queen laughed. “Oh yes, of course. Take him! Take him home with you, just get out.” She gestured with a floppy hoof. Noble Cause sighed in relief. Chrysalis assigned a drone to take the Pegasus mare to the holding chambers where Bandaid was kept.
=-=-=-=-=-=
The room was still when Noble Cause arrived, the door sitting open. Half of the glowing mushrooms that lit the place were on the floor among glass shards. “Bandaid? Nurse Bandaid, are you here?!” she called. Nopony answered. “I’m Noble Cause! I’m here to take you home to Canterlot!” she told the half-lit room. She saw the crate she’d helped send against the wall. Leaning, she peered into it. A good portion of the food had been eaten, the books ruffled through. Looking around warily, she saw the musty pile of blankets where he must’ve been sleeping. “Bandaid?” she said softly, touching the lumpy form. It didn’t stir. She looked at the drone who’d escorted her there. They both reached and pulled the blanket back.
A dead drone lay beneath, sending them both back with a cry of shock. His blood was pooling in the make-shift nest. His neck was broken, for his head lay oddly. His fangs and feelers were extended, though. He’d been… feeding, when he died? “Oh no…” the drone said in the pony tongue, touching his fellow to shut his eyes.
Noble Cause pulled her helmet tight over herself, closing the clasps to protect her neck. She swallowed, slowly turning the body over. The damage was catastrophic. The carapace was covered with crushing blows, hoof-shaped marks and other deadly sins. The wings had been ripped out, hidden in the folds of the many blankets, and two of the four legs had been twisted until the armored hide had broken. “Oh no… he’s loose,” She mare had read the field reports about what happened last time Bandaid had been fed on by a changeling. Noble Cause heard hoof-steps behind her, and she froze. Her changeling company whirled about, then started backing away, terrified. Swallowing, she turned and looked.
A dark shape had closed the door, shutting out even more light. A shadow moved among shadows, followed by heavy breathing. The drip-drip-drip of blood followed it around, along with a husk of exertion. Noble Cause felt herself backing away too as it came closer. Emerging near one of the glowing mushrooms, she could make out a little.
He was covered in gore, his mane blasted to one side over his face. The wicked, teeth-clenching glare was vibrating his cheeks. The twin holes in his flank didn’t bleed, but they dribbled with changeling saliva. His coat was disheveled, matted with blood and sweat and grime. His nostrils snorted steam as he came close. His lips moved slowly, whispering three words.
“Want…
To…
Die…?”
“N-no!” Noble Cause said, backing up until her flank touched the wall beyond the nest of bloody blankets.
“TOO BAD!”
Noble struck the wall so hard, so fast her wings broke. She limpened against the stony surface, helmet sliding down over her face, unmoving. The changeling tried to run, but he wasn’t fast enough to make the door before Bandaid caught him.
END OF PART 13
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Man, those Changelings messed up. Nightmare' letter to Bandaid was funny.
Stick-in-the-mud. I thought it was pretty funny.
Well-deserved violence! Yay!
Oh come on, not Noble Cause
On the other hand... turns out blood shows when the bandaid goes loose. Yay
Awwwww heeellll Bandaid is on a rampage now, stupid changeling you have unleashed a berserker into your hive. Still the care package bit made me snerk, and frankly if it wasn't for the fact that poor Noble Cause got hurt. I'd be happy as can be to watch Bandaid go wild, Chrysalis deserves to get some karma thrown her way. I mean she KNEW that dragging Bandaid along was a horrific accident waiting to happen.
6317616
Ha!
And once again our little ball of joyous anger has gotten loose, does anyone know where we left his lead?
Ouch, this has potential to end in war.
Imagine: Diplomat under banner of peace killed. Bandaid killed. That really wouldn't end well.
(I kind of doubt that happens, but jeez).
Demons run when a good man goes to war..
Hehehehe...
I don't think that's for bandaid, that's for him to give to Chrysalis to drive her even more completely spare.
Oh i do so hope he will repay Chrysalis for her lovley treatment towards him, smashing her face in, breaking a couple of ribs, small things like that.
*SIgh* i just hope Noble Cause will be alright.
And soon on the Changeling announcement channel:
"Enemy killing spree!"
"An enemy is Godlike!"
"An enemy is Legendary!"
Oh, that letter...
Also, Hulk smash.
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111015151905/mlp/images/archive/e/e4/20130223114016!Applejack_putting_helmet_on_S02E03.png
Another one!
Three?! Three chapters in one week Bandaid! I love you Aegis, don't ever leave us again.
6318460 Making up for lost time, Bandaid!
all Hail Bandaid Godbreaker
Bandaid:
your realy pumping these out now can i expect the next amazing chapter in less than 30 hours?
6318710 prolly so
6318757
Looks like I picked the perfect time to read this, then. By the way, I'm a bit curious what you thought about my comment about the situational irony of that whole "the main character developing emotional depth is literally the sign that the world is ending" thing. I do kind of wonder whether that was intentional or not. Even if it wasn't, it's a pretty neat bit of absurdism. I've read authors who were intentionally aiming for that kind of thing and still didn't manage a setup that perfect.
Bandaid: Neighson! What are we going to do to survive? Neighson!
6318559
Haha, so much this.
New chapters!!!!
*fires multiple confetti cannons*
OH COME ON
now i have to wait
6318559 YEEEUP that's him all right
Bandaid has gone berserker.
The sun's rising from the west.
Attila is at the gates.
6317677 That's what happens when the RAGE takes over; Bandaid lashes out at any one or anything unthinking, uncaring of who or what he hurts. Beware little Changelings; the good Doctor Bandaid isn't home anymore. Mr. Bonesaw has come out to play...
"What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"I... I only fed on him a little..."
"You... you worthless sack of chitin-rust! He's destroying everythi--GHHHHRRRGGHK!"
...........
"Here, Chrissy, Chrissy, Chrissy..."
And thus the changeling empire was destroyed.
That got dark fast...
6318559 truer words have never been spoken
Poor Noble... this... this won't be pretty, will it?
Well Chrysalis, good luck explaining THAT.
At least she won't have to punish the one responsible as he's already dead.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand we'll need this again:
[youtube=gQiULtemngA]
and play the second out of synch
[youtube=gQiULtemngA]
And yet another negative mark for Chrysalis the cunt.
6317910 enemy has become darth Vader status.
Oh no! I really really really liked noble cause!
She was thencuyest, loyalist, and most conversion guard I have ever seen in this story.
This is why having loyal minions is important. They follow directions! Oh well, at least you don't have to worry about making an example of him.
Shut up Chrysalis, you have absolutely no right to talk.
Seriously, she could have traded, signed treaties, or even asked nicely. She was literally shown her purpose by Faust, and told her time would come. She had infinite food for her children, and was at peace with Equestria.
... Then decided to kidnap Bandaid AGAIN and demand stuff from her divine sisters.
BUCK you Chrysalis, your a hypocrite and an imbecile.
8880672
Well no. Not really....
The changelings didnt have anything to bargin with. Also, her demands were water and to be left alone. Which is not only reasonable but fits perfectly with her destiny. She knows her time will come and shes playing the long game.
Also, she has shown to know that Celestia honestly thinks with every fiber of her being that Crysalis will march an army across the world to take it over. She belives and fears it so much she killed her sister to prevent it from happening. So it stands that they wouldnt have given them anything even if they had just asked nicely.
Its also implied that Celestia and Nightmare has never lifted a hoof to help Chysalis or the changelings as a whole in the past, and even Twilight pointed out how racist they were being towards changelings.
All in all, this is a pretty decent power move from Chysalis, considering that she COULD have just marched an army across Equestia, something Celestia herself said they wouldnt be able to stop. Instead she just wants to be left alone.
6318890
The desaster a idiot can cause to a entire queendom