Development Notes

List of characters, locations, and information.

CRYSTAL PONIES
Swift Quill (F) = earth pony, light blue fur with a pale green mane and tail / Mark = scroll and quill.
Enchanted Gem (M)= white furred unicorn male with a light blue mane and tail / Mark = diamond with a blue glow around it.
Empress Amore (F)= Ruler of the crystal empire and mother to Cadence.
Princess Cadenza (F) (aka Cadence) = Princess of the crystal empire and daughter of Amore.
Crystal Blade (M)= dark grey crystal unicorn stallion with a short deep purple mane and tail with green eyes. has a crossing crystal sword and hammer for a mark.

Heart Shine (F)= pale pink mare with a powder blue mane and tail, green eyes, and a mark of a red heart with a golden glow around it.

EQUESTRIAN PONIES
Princess Celesita = Co-Ruler of Equestria.
Princess Luna = Co-Ruler of Equestria.

Gale Strike = Pegasus stallion, light grey fur, light blue hair, light violet eyes, spear in a tornado mark
Spectrum Bolt = Pegasus mare, white fur , rainbow hair, red eyes. cloud with rainbow trail mark.
Stormy = Pegasus filly, pale blue whitish fur, rainbow hair, pink eyes. Twin \/, blank flank.
Cloudy = Pegasus filly, pale blue whitish fur, rainbow hair, pink eyes. Twin /\, blank flank.

Blockade = Earth pony stallion, Forest green fur, light brown mane and tail, amber eyes. Mark is a crystal shield.

Starlight Sparkle = Light purple unicorn stallion with a short blue mane and tail with a white highlight. His mark is a white six pointed star with a silver light around it.

CHANGELINGS
Chrysalis (F)= Jade Hive Queen. Nickname = Chryssi.
Sheldon (M)= Gardener.
Vespula (F)= Chrysalis' mother. (dead)
Peachy (F)= Changeling version of Pinkie Pie basically.
Yu (female) and Seth (male) = Apprentice smiths.
Chameleon (M)= one of Chrysalis' personal guard.
Tank (M)= One of the armoured guards of the jade hive.
Mirage (F)= female changeling who mostly works at the mess hall of the jade hive.
Night Stalker (M) = Captain of Chrysalis' soldiers.

Gillia (F)= blue hive Queen (dead).

Dragana (F)= Queen of the Crimson Hive.
Jinx (F)= Apprentice smith of the Crimson Hive.

Metamorpha (F)= Queen of the Violet Hive.

Shyla (F)= Queen of the Honey Hive / Basically Fluttershy.
Sweet Song (F)= Honey Hive changeling.

Changeling Locations:
Badlands = Home land of the changelings.
Khepria = Changeling main city in the Badlands.
SEGMENTS:
Centre = Jade Hive.
North =
North East = Farmland.
East =
South East = Honey Hive.
South =
South West = Embassies for other races
Embassies:
.................[] || []..................
.................[] || [Minotaurs]
.....[Zebras] || []..................
.................[]|E|[]..................
West = Crimson Hive.
North West =

North of Khepria is Equestria with the Crystal Kingdom beyond it.
West is Minos, homeland of the Minotaurs, large open plains and hill areas.
South East is the elk homelands of forests

INFO:
Queens carry eggs for 2 weeks before laying them. They take 2 to 3 months to hatch into nymphs.

ZEBRAS
Banawey (M)= A High shaman of Zebrica.
Onaka (M)= Banawey's best warrior.
Elder Jintawa (M)= leader of the first village Carl meets.
Mianya (F)= A High Shaman of Zebrica.
Kiana = (F)High-Shaman of Zebrica.
Manata (M)= High-Shaman of Zebrica.
Onabi (F)= Caretaker of the High-Shaman Elders.

Morgulla = Goddess of the underworld.
Livaitus = God of life.

Zebra Locations:
Zebrica = homeland of the zebras.
Wanori = Main Zebra City.
Lake Yoguna = main source of water for Zebrica.

West from the Crystal Empire over the Forlorn Sea is Zebrica, the zebras savanna like homeland.

MINOTAURS (kagogres) to the Unari
Tahway Stronghorn (M)= Dead.
Gareth Stronghorn (M)= Leader of Stronghorn Village. Biggest one in his village in thicker hide armour with bones attached. He has deep brown fur with a few patches of lighter brown, his horns are black and about a foot and a half long. His eyes are green and he has a small bone through his nose.

Whisper Wind (F)= snow white fur and wearing a robe of hide and pouches on her hips. Her hair is a long light brown colour and goes down to the middle of her back. Her body looks different than the other minotaurs, smoother, curvy, and more slender than the others muscular bodies.

Grand Magai Jurai (M)= He has deep brown fur and one right green eye, the other is a milky white and blinded. His horns are a light grey and he wears a long robe made of manitcore hide.

Magai Tide Song = Female with pale golden fur, green eyes, and pale creamy horns. Water attuned.

Magai Stonehoof = Male with grey fur, brown eyes, and white horns. Earth attuned.

Magai Flameheart = Female with brown fur, blue eyes, and black horns. Fire attuned.

Stonehide = He has deep brown fur with a lighter shade on his chest and face. He has a crack going through his left horn and his eyes are a sharp blue. He's holding a large stone hammer with tribal carvings in it, and it appears to have seen many battles with the dried blood stains, chips, and slight cracks on the head. For armour he is wearing wolf skull pauldrons on his shoulders, bones linked together across his chest and back. A loin cloth covering his modesty, bones linked together for thigh guards, and the same for his forearms.

Swift Hoof = Male with light grey fur and blonde hair. Has blue eyes and white horns. Air attuned

Horn Point AKA Mr Shady, Grand Magai Jurai's son = He has dark grey almost black fur, his horns are smaller than most of the others but look pristine and well cared for. He has a long tuft of fur coming off his chin like a beard, and he's wearing wolf hide armour with a bone spear in his right hand. His eyes are a deep brown with a cruel, sharp calculating mind behind them.

Minotaur Locations:
West of Khepria is Minos, homeland of the Minotaurs, large open plains and hill areas.
Hornhiem = Capital of Minos.
Stronghorn Village

GODS
Lavian, the god of fire
Aeris, the goddess of wind
Aquaria, The goddess of water
Geodus, the god of earth

ELEMENTALS

Elemental locations:
Volcanica = home of the fire elementals.

DRAGONS

Dragon Locations:
Draconis

UNARI (Jormund snake) to minotaurs.
Black scales, shape that resembles an anaconda, has dark grey fur running down the middle of its back and has slanted eyes instead of round ones.

Severa = young girl snake saved by Pantheon
Hevaan = young boy snake saved by Pantheo
Usara = Killed by a minotaur hunter
She'an = Saved by Pantheon
Avir'ra = Elder of the Unari
Ni'ka = Young female Unari
Li'kan = Wounded male Unari was held by the Minotuars.
Javar = His black scales have a slight dark blue sheen to them and a scar a metre long on the left side of his body.
Rin'tiv = She has dark grey coloured scales and the dark grey fur down her back has a light grey line and inch long from the roots from head to tail.

Chapter 1: The offer

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Chapter 1: The offer

I yawn as I lean back in my chair after winning my latest match of Smite, playing my favourite god Tyr, mainly due to the heavy plate armour and massive sword he has. I always play the heavy plate, two-handed sword wielding warrior classes in games.

"Damn, that was harder than it should have been, damn jungler kept dropping the damn kill in my lane," I say and take a drink of my soda.

"That was alright," my friend sam says over discord. "At least the duo lane dominated their opponents."

"Yeah, that Cernunnos really owned that Artemis," I reply with a grin. Every time she used her boar ult, he replied with an aegis to block the damage and ride through the stun, then once her CC immunity faded he would ult her back and turn her into a boar... was very amusing.

"Alright then. I think I'll be calling it a night, see you later," he tells me.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," I reply and disconnect from the chat.

With a sigh I get up and head into the kitchen for a snack. I get a BLT sandwich from the fridge and close the door. I then look at myself in the small mirror on the door and take a bite out of my sandwich.

My hair is light brown and about an inch long. I have slightly chubby cheeks due to gaming more than exercising and a short goatee.

I was about to take another bite when I hear laughing coming from my gaming room. I frown and pick up a kitchen knife from the counter top. I'm the only one living here right now, so no one should be here with me.

I sneak upstairs and look into my room. I go wide eyed at what is sitting at my computer starting a match of Smite. This thing ain't human with its serpent like dark brown furred torso, a tan right arm with a paw, a golden coloured left arm with a bird's talon, a green scaled right leg that looks like a lizard's, a light brown left leg that looks like a goat's or a horse's. A grey head of a goat complete with a long white goatee and two long eyebrows.

it also has two mismatched horns, one light blue and looks distorted, and the other an ivory antler. Its wings don't match either, one is a light blue feathered wing and the other is a dark blue bat like wing.

"Oh this game looks so intriguing! Who would've thought to pit gods against gods in a competition of battle?" it says in a deep male voice.

I frown and push open the door startling him. "What the fuck are you and what are you doing in my house!?" I demand with the knife at the ready.

He yelps and turns around to see me, his eyes are yellow with red irises. "I say! That was rather rude of you, Sir!" he says in a posh English tone before looking at the knife in my right hand. "And that is really uncalled for," he then says and snaps the fingers on his left hand.

I stare as the blade of my knife droops and I bring it up to my face where it flops to the side and doesn't look sharp at all anymore. I look back to the thing and glare at it as it just turns around and continues to play the game again.

After a few seconds, I cautiously walk over to him and look at the monitor to see he's playing as Discordia, Goddess of Strife.

"Who are you?" I ask him, but keep a good two feet distance from him.

"Why, I am Discord! Spirit of Chaos!" he replies and looks at me while he's waiting for the creeps to spawn. "Would you mind showing me how to play this?" he asks me in a chummy tone.

"And why would I do that? You've somehow got into my house uninvited, and you look like a child ripped apart a few toys and botched them back up together," I reply with narrowed eyes.

He gasps and puts his right paw hand on his chest in mock indignation. "Well I never! I don't go insulting you for being a bald monkey now do I?" he tells me and looks back at the game.

I glare at him before sighing. "So what do you do then? And why are you here?" I ask him, still not sure if whatever was in that sandwich is messing with my head.

"I make sure that the chaos on Equus is balanced out with argh... harmony. While harmony is all well and good, it slows or even stops a race's progress. leaving them to stagnate or die out completely as they'll have no drive to better themselves due to their contentment, which I've seen happen before. I make sure to keep chaos flowing to make them advance in both knowledge and their civilisations. Make them think to overcome the new problem, like you humans. Though I know of a few individuals who would disagree with me," he tells me and looks at the item store in the game.

"I see, but you didn't answer my second question," I tell him.

"Oh, I got the feeling I'll be in a spot of trouble in the near future, so I need someone else to carry on making chaos on Equus while I'm indisposed. So, what are these items and what do they do?" he replies and asks me.

Not really understanding what he's talking about, I sigh and get closer. "You'll want Vampiric Shroud first for damage defence and slight healing, along with tier one boots, along with some potions," I tell him pointing out the starter items.

He purchases both and grins. "So what does this goddess do? I picked her due to being called Discordia, very similar to my name," he asks with a chuckle.

"She can fire a ball of magic to a location marked in front of you, damaging enemies hit before it drops to the ground and sends little balls of magic around it, her second creates a rectangle area that causes enemy gods hit inside to fight each other for a second or rooting them it there's only one. Her third ability makes her leap forward a short distance and you turn invisible in a small area, the longer you stay inside the quicker the cooldown of your one and two abilities. And your forth is coincidentally called the apple of discord, you launch your golden apple forward and it gets stuck on the first god hit, after two seconds it detonates and any other enemy gods in the blast take damage as well as a smaller apple spawn on them for another blast that doesn't spread. Since you picked a mage type god, you'll be playing in the mid-lane," I tell him and explain the rules and objectives of the conquest game mode.

Five minutes in and he already has three kills, one on the jungler, one on the mid lane, and the third on the adc as he rotated to the mid lane. He's also rotating pretty well, but the enemy Thanatos ults, taking to the air and lands on him which stuns him. And before Discord could leap away, Thanatos silences him, followed by his death scythe ability which kills him.

"Oh, that seemed unfair," Discord says with a frown.

"Well he is the god of death for a reason," I say with a grin. Despite him breaking into my house, playing on my computer, and looking like modern art, he seems to be an okay guy.

The match continues on and eventually ends with his team winning, he ended up with forty-four thousand damage and twenty-one kills.

"That was rather delightful!" he says and stretches his arms, the match lasted for thirty-seven minutes. I had to get another chair before my legs started to ache.

"You picked this up quickly," I tell him.

"Well, when you've been around as long as I have, you learn to pick things up quickly," he replies with a sigh. "Well then. Now to get to why I'm here," he says and swivels his chair around to face me.

"I told you how I'll be indisposed for awhile and I need someone to keep making chaos to make the world go round. I came here since your world is as chaotic as they get, and look how far a harmless looking species like yours managed to get on top with such marvellous technology without the aid of magic!" he says and chuckles.

I raise an eyebrow at his explanation. "I got that, but why are you in my house specifically?" I ask.

"Just a random choice to be honest. I'm going to offer you a deal, it's up to you if you accept it or not. Should you refuse, I'll erase your memory of ever meeting me like the last thirteen who refused and find another to offer this deal to," he replies. "You are also the first not to scream or even pass out at the sight of me! So there's that as well," he then says.

I frown and tilt my head slightly. "And what is this deal?" I ask cautiously.

"Along with no longer ageing, I'll give you any power or abilities you want, not invincibility of course, where's the fun in being able to beat anything without worry or fear for your own safety?"

"And what's the catch?" I then ask, there's always a catch.

"Just that you keep the races of Equus on their toes and make them keep moving forward," he tells me.

"And how would I do that?"

"However you want! Attack a nation, help a nation, force them into situations that they have to think differently. Do whatever comes to mind, just your presence and being different will cause chaos," he replies and conjures a glass of what appears to be chocolate milk and turns back to the computer.

I think his offer over, any abilities I want? And I just got to do anything I want? I look to my monitor where Discord is looking at the list of gods available.

A smile works its way onto my face. "Could I have the ability to be all of the gods from Smite and change between them at will?" I ask him.

He hums in thought for a few seconds and slowly nodded his head. "Should be simple enough, I'll just have to put your power into something you have to wear though," he says and conjures a golden bracer with the Smite logo engraved on the top. "Once you change into a god, you can never be you again willingly," he says and looks back to the monitor and holds the bracer to it.

My eyes widen as the god icons on the screen get sucked out and into the bracer. After a minute, the icons are gone from my screen and the game crashes.

"And here it is, with just a mere thought, you'll become any god or goddess from the game, even those through future updates. Though I'm afraid the items or relics won't transfer over and your abilities may function differently. But I'll let you discover that out for yourself... So? Will you take the offer?" he asks holding the bracer out to me. "Or go back to pretending you are these gods?" he then says nodding to the monitor.

I look at the bracer and then back to him. "And how would I survive there? How will I find food? Shelter? I don't have any survival training," I ask. As much as this offer sounds enticing, I have no guarantees that I'll even survive a day there.

"Well, as for food. That fat god in the bed sheet with the meaty drumstick for a weapon would keep you fed. I made it so the meat regrows over time when you take a bite. For water? There's a river god here so he could make water," he tells me. "And shelter? You could just be that rock god and sit outside all night without getting cold. What would want to eat a rock?"

He brings up good points... I'm not doing anything productive with my life right now, and if I'm to be honest, it's boring. I don’t have much contact with my father or mother in the last two years, I’m an only child, and my friends are just people I met over the internet. I look back to him and grin.

"You got yourself a deal. But what will you do when you become... Indisposed?" I ask him with curiosity.

"I'll bide my time and get some rest, I've been at this gig for over ten thousand years. I think I could do with a few hundred years of sleep," he tells me.

"Will I be able to contact you anytime?" I ask.

"Nope! You'll have to figure this all out yourself," he replies and tosses me the bracer. I catch it and feel the weight, it barely weighs more than my Nintendo 3DS. "The moment you put that on, our deal begins and you'll be randomly transported to a planet called Equus sometime into the future from now, sending other lifeforms over VERY long distances takes awhile, so you'll be in a sort of suspended animation until you arrive. And just so you know, there is no going back, until I'm back out that is," he tells me.

I look at the bracer one more time and grin. Who would give up the ability to be multiple gods? I open the bracer and latch it onto my left forearm.

Once closed, it locks onto my arm. Discord grins and claps his hands as the bracer starts glowing. "Right then! Good luck, and with any more luck, we'll meet again one day!" he says as my vision goes white.

Chapter 2: A city of crystal

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Chapter 2: A city of crystal

My vision returns and all I see is white, and it's fucking cold! I look around and see snow as far as I can see in all directions. My teeth start chattering as a strong breeze blows past me making me shiver.

"Well, this turned out to be a mistake!" I yell out and rub my arms.

I then get a blank expression and facepalm. I should be able to turn into gods now with just a mere thought! I think of Ymir, father of the frost giants. I feel my body painlessly morph and after a couple of seconds, I'm now bigger and made of ice with a large metal club with a few chunks of ice attached to it in my right hand.

"Well, what do you know? It worked!" I say in the deep slow voice of Ymir.

I flex my large left hand and I seem to be just a little taller than I was before. I'm wearing only a rope like belt with a loincloth and a few circular plates attached, I even have a large beard made of ice. I don't even feel the cold anymore.

Looking around again, I just pick a random direction and start trudging forward.

First week on Equus

For a week I've been walking around looking for anything remotely civilised. But all I've found so far is snow, ice, and a few mountains in the distance which I travelled to. It took me three days of constant walking to get there and I've discovered I can eat snow and ice as Ymir to survive, but they have no flavour at all.

Once I reached the mountains, I started practising with Ymir's ability to manipulate ice to carve out a large cavern into the mountain over the next four days, complete with crude furniture made of ice. It's cosy and made a decent shelter when a blizzard rolled in on the sixth night.

I've also tried turning into Bacchus, the God of Wine. A very chubby guy with short curly hair and beard, wearing a toga with a few grape vines hanging on it, complete with ripe grapes to eat something other than snow, and the meat joint he calls his weapon is the best damn thing I've tasted in my life, along with his jug of wine to wash it down with.

I spent most of the afternoons just relaxing after carving more ice stuff and getting used to Ymir's powers.

I've also discovered during my first night here that my dreams look just like the jungle practice map in the game where I've been practising with different gods. I've only used male gods for now as I don't think I'm ready to know what being a woman feels like just yet...

Second week on Equus

I've been exploring the area around the mountains for the next seven days, and so far no signs of civilised life anywhere, I've found a few caves with some interesting looking crystal formations in them, as well as crystal flowers I've picked and brought back to my house to decorate it with. And I've come across a few ten foot tall yeti like beasts that attacked me on sight. The first three I ran from, but the next one I decided to try fighting.

The large white furred yeti roars at me and slams its fists into its chest like a gorilla. The chest and stomach area are hairless with light blue coloured skin. It has a face similar to a gorilla but with longer teeth and larger eyes.

"Alright, Snowflake. You want a fight? I'll give you one," I tell it as Ymir and tap the top of my club on my left hand's palm a few times.

It scowls at me and snorts before roaring again. It then slams its fists onto the snow covered ground and charges at me.

I narrow my eyes and pull back my club and wait for it to get closer. Once in range, I swing and clobber the beast in the side of the head, making it stumble to the side slightly before swinging its own club like forearm and bowling ball fist into my own head, along with an angry sounding roar in my face, making me stumble slightly and my vision to blur.

I shake my head and raise my left hand and will a large ice wall to form under the yeti, I feel the energy within me answer as the quickly formed wall sends it soaring into the air. I then wind up and swing my club into its back as it comes back down and into the wall which cracks on impact.

I look at the Yeti to see it's still breathing, I smirk and just walk back towards my cave but then a frown forms on my face. I'm starting to think Discord has fucked me over and dumped me on a frozen planet for fun, I'm already starting to get homesick and questioning my decision of accepting this deal.

God-damn I already miss my computer and snack food... Fast food... Even the few online gaming buddies I barely know. It's a slap to the face once you realise what you took for granted when it's no longer available.

I would try to use a flying god to look around, but I don't trust myself to not fall and kill myself trying to learn yet, and I don't want to risk finding out if my wings would freeze over.

During the afternoons, I turn into Sun Wukong, the monkey king, a tall muscular guy with short wavy orangish-blonde hair and beard without the moustache. He also has baggy red trousers with a blue sash for a belt, blue cloth forearm wrappings, and a golden left pauldron.

I use a clone of myself to play chess with a chess set made of ice just to entertain myself. It's also strange having a prehensile tail.

And after our chess game, we have a sparring match so I have something to do until he poofs away into clouds, where I then either practice with another god, or learn to use Wukong's different animal forms.

Week four on Equus

It's the same routine for the next eleven days, explore further out or have more fighting matches with the yeti around here as different gods and when I get back, do something to entertain myself or practise some more with Ymir's powers which I've gotten very good with as I made some crude ice statutes of different gods out the front of my house. I've also practised with a few more warrior class gods.

Mostly Tyr, the Lawgiver. A Norse god who wears thick plate armour with pelt and fur lining it as well as Norse style engravings on it, wields a large two-handed sword with just one hand, mainly due to missing his right hand. He also has a short brown mullet like haircut and a short trimmed goatee.

As Tyr, the feeling of not having my right hand was very unnerving.

I'm out trying a different direction this time after three days of searching and just when I was about to surrender myself to this frozen wasteland thinking that I'll find no one or even a single friendly creature, I see something tall and shining from the sun's light in the distance.

"Well, it's better than wandering aimlessly..." I tell myself and make my way over to the object. I've developed a mild case of talking to myself after a month by my lonesome. And having conversations with my Wukong clone didn't help either.

It takes me seven hours of slow trudging, but I arrive at the object, only to find it's a City made of what appears to be multiple colours of crystal. The only difference is instead of humans or anything human shaped living here, some small three foot tall horses that appear to also be different colours are walking in the streets. Though all of the ones I can see look terrified and constantly look round every corner they pass.

I slowly make my way through the border and one of the small horses spots me before they panic and scream, which shocks me that they actually screamed and not neighed or whinnied.

"It's one of Sombra's crystal monsters! Run!" a female sounding horse yells and bolts into a crystal house.

Other horses nearby begin bolting into homes and other buildings while I just stand there wide eyed. Did she just speak English and call me a crystal monster? And who the hell is this Sombra? I look up to the large tower like building in the centre of this City. Who in their right mind would build a city in the middle of a frozen wasteland?...

One of the horses even throws a smaller pink furred horse with a silvery coloured mane and tail in front of me. "Ow!" it yelps in a young girlie voice as she rolls to a stop at my feet. I think they threw her at me as a sacrifice to save themselves which gets me to frown at the one who threw her at me. They don't even look back as they go down an alley between two houses.

She slowly sits up and rubs her head while sniffling, she stops and looks at my large icy feet, then she starts to look up and goes wide eyed while staring at me in the eyes.

I just cough nervously to clear my throat and wave at the little kid horse. "Hi," I mumble out deeply to her.

She just shakes and appears to piss herself while trembling and whimpering, too terrified to move or speak as tears start to leak from her eyes. The sight alone makes me feel like I've done something unforgivable to cause it.

"Do not fear little horse, I'm not going to hurt you," I tell her. I then lean down and gently pat her on the head with a single large finger.

She just stares at me in wide eyed confusion as I roll my neck getting a few creaks from it and start plodding my way to the central tower. If anyone can help me here it would be whoever runs this place, as long as they don't react the same way those horses did at least, or attack me.

Along the way, I see some damage to the buildings like; cracks, shattered windows or doors, and a few bloodstains. Whatever happened here, it certainly wasn't a party. There are also large black crystal spikes protruding out from the ground like spears, they're even giving off faint dark purple like mist. Some wooden and crystal stalls look broken and some of their produce or product scattered around on the ground.

I also hear the sounds of glass or crystal shattering around the city along with faint screams. The hell is going on here?

After passing more horses who avoid me or stare at me through windows, I finally get to the tower and there seems to be two large black featureless rough cut crystal like bipedal creatures blocking the stairway up into the tower. There's also an empty pedestal in the middle near the stairs leading up into the tower.

The crystal creatures turn to look at me and get into what appears to be a combat stance. I walk over to them and then speak up. "I come seeking the one in charge here," I tell them.

Without warning, they swing their large arms at me and I notice that they have no hands but club like ends to them. Being made of ice isn't the most agile or speedy build I could have, so I fail to dodge as I'm clobbered in the chest and sent stumbling back a few steps.

"Ow!" I yelp as chips of ice break off my chest which slowly start to regrow. After fighting the yeti for so long, I'm no stranger to a fight, so I take a deep breath before exhaling with the intent to spray a mist of ice. It works and both crystal creatures are encased in a thick layer of ice and unable to move. I wait for a few seconds and the ice seems to start cracking. I quickly pull back my club and swing it at the right one first.

The large cylindrical club connects with the creature and shatters its head clean off its body. The other breaks free of its icy prison making me move back a few feet. I then slam my club on the ground in front of me to do Ymir's glacial strike ability, only instead of a small bed of ice spikes, large two metre long spires rise up at different angles towards the second creature and pierce through it several times, leaving cracks all over it's body from the entry and exit holes.

I frown at the now two motionless crystal creatures and grunt, of course this wouldn't be simple. I decide to switch to a god that's more suited to smashing things.

With a thought, I switch to Hercules. I can just feel the power in my muscles and the weight of the large spiked mace almost as big as I am in my right hand that seems built to demolish and crush my foes. I'm also wearing Roman style armour with sandals, shin guards, a large bracer on my right forearm and a gauntlet on my left, and a lion's head on my left shoulder as well as a metal pauldron on my right.

I run my left hand over my head feeling the very short cut of my hair brush past my fingers.

I smile and flex my left arm and just feel my biceps bulge with raw power. Now ready, I start climbing the stairs making my way into the tower. Hopefully it's warmer inside as now I can feel the cold in the air.

I reach the top and see a large lobby leading off into two hallways to the left and right while a pair of large double doors is ahead of me with a single door just to its right. Another one of the crystal creatures seems to be guarding the doors, so I start the fight by running over to it and use my driving strike to ram into it, slamming it into the crystal wall next to the doors. The creature's torso cracks all over and the wall now has a crater in it.

The creature then raises its left arm and slams it onto my head. I barely flinch from the blow but it still hurt. I frown and step back before swinging my mace into the creature, deepening the crater and shattering said creature into pieces.

Two more crystal creatures arrive down the right hallway and I use my Earth Breaker skill where I slam the pommel of my mace into the floor, sending a tremor tearing up the crystal floor until it reaches one of the creatures, sending up a large portion of the floor while pushing the creature towards me. As its about to reach me, I grab it by its ankle with my left hand and swing it into the other creature with my colossal strength, shattering both of them upon impact.

I grin widely as I continue towards the double doors, but I hear whimpering behind the single door on my right. So I open it up to see what appears to be one of the little horses wearing a maid outfit, though not the kinky short skirt kind. It's long and reaches down to her ankles, and actually barely shows any of her fur, only showing the light creamy coloured fur of her forelegs.

The room looks like an office with a wooden desk, crystal filing cabinet, wooden bookshelf, a nice light blue rug, and a small white couch which the little horse is cowering behind.

She's staring at me with wide eyes and shivering, but then her gaze moves behind me and I feel something hit me in the back. I tumble forward and topple over the desk which is destroyed and splintered under my weight.

"Mother fucker!" I yell as my head fortunately hits the cushion on the floor behind the desk. Unfortunately, it doesn't smell like its been washed for a while.

I get up and leap over the ruined desk where I then use another driving strike and ram the creature out of the room where it flies into the wall. I then rip one of the double doors off its hinges easily and with a mighty roar, I throw it into the creature, breaking it and the crystal door upon impact.

Another creature tries to impale me in the back with a spike instead of a club, but my armour or sheer muscle mass prevented it piercing me. Still fucking hurt though.

“Come ‘ere,” I say and grab its head with my left hand and crush it with the force of my grip. I then toss what’s left of the body through the remaining door where its hinges break off as the door and crystal creature slide to a stop in the middle of the room.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" a deep and hateful sounding male voice yells out from within the room.

I look around and see a few of the little horses in crystal chains along the left wall behind two thrones, seven of those black crystal creatures watching them. Sitting on the left throne, is what I can only describe as a very dark grey unicorn with a large swept back black mane wearing a royal red cape with a thick white fur like trim, crystal horse boots, crystal plate armour around his neck and chest, and a grey coloured crown with two little red like fangs in the middle pointing up. He also has a long red curved back horn, as well as red eyes where the whites are green and purple mist is seeping out the sides.

If I know anything about playing enough RPG games, is that this bugger is SO evil.

To the right are a few shrivelled up and unmoving bodies of the little horses, like they've had all the moisture sucked right out of them before being tossed aside like a chewing gum wrapper.

Between the two thrones is a chained up and blood covered female looking horse with a horn and a pair of wings. Her white and light pink dress is torn and tattered and a crystal ring is on her horn. She has a light red coloured coat and her mane and tail are a light pale pink. She looks injured and weak if the shallow breathing and unfocused eyes are any indication.

"What in Tartarus are you supposed to be, creature!?" the dark grey unicorn demands with a heated glare.

I frown and look back to the terrified horses in chains, I even spot a couple that look like children at only one to two feet tall.

Turning my attention back to the clearly tyrannical horse, I glare at him. "Now that's not very hospitable, I'm lost and came here to ask for help, only to be assaulted by gaudy black chunks of rock," I reply and place my mace over my right shoulder with a bored expression.

"Hospitality isn't one of my strong suits," he says and eyes me over. "Though you will make a marvellous slave and soldier," he then tells me with a wicked grin.

I huff and give him the middle finger. "Yeah, fat chance with that cock sucker," I reply with a frown. Though it appears he either doesn't understand my insult or just doesn't care.

"Oh? We shall see about that. Get him!" he says and then yells at the crystal creatures.

The black crystal creatures all turn to me before charging at me.

I just grin.

The first to reach me gets a face full of mace, shattering its head and cracking most of its torso as it sails through a window to the left, which is now shattered into pieces. The next raises its right club arm to swing down on me, I lift my left hand up and grip its club before spinning around, lifting it off its legs and slamming it into another crystal creature, shattering both.

I toss the arm I'm holding away and I get tackled by the last four. They repeatedly try stabbing and bludgeoning me. I feel a few of the spikes or blades pierce and stab me a little but with a roar, I push the two In front of me away and headbutt the one to my right, cracking its head but not breaking it.

The left one jabs me in the side of my ribs making me wince as I swing my mace and launch it out of the entrance in pieces.

The one I headbutted recovers and bashes me in the head with its club, to which I reply in kind, hitting it with a downward swing shattering its head and upper torso.

The last two get back up and rush me, I pick up the door that is still intact on the floor and toss it at them, breaking them both in half as well as the door.

"That it? I didn't even work up a sweat," I taunt the unicorn with a grin as I look back to him, ignoring the slight headache and stinging I'm feeling.

The unicorn growls angrily and his horn glows the same purple as the mist coming out of his eyes. My eyes widen as I have this feeling of dread, so I use my driving strike to barely dodge the two black crystal spikes that come out of the floor beneath me. I scowl at the tosser and change to a hunter class god called Anhur, slayer of enemies, an Egyptian bipedal lion who throws javelins. I also have a dagger on my left hip as well as an armband on my right biceps.

Draped over my left shoulder down to the middle of my back and chest, is a sash or something that looks like a golden wing with a red gem on my shoulder.

I quickly use my impale skill to throw my javelin with great force. As the javelin is about to hit, the unicorn turns into a mist of darkness or shadow to avoid it. The javelin continues through his mist and pierces the throne and sticks it to the wall behind him as a new javelin rapidly forms from grains of sand in my right hand.

So, I might need to use a mage class god for this then. If he's made of shadow, maybe the light of the sun would be effective against him? I quickly switch god again, this time the Egyptian god of the sun, Ra.

I'm wearing an orange, purple, and blue Egyptian style headdress like hood with a gold symbol on my forehead, shoulder pads that connect to a large yellow disk on my chest, a kilt or skirt like bottom, and a slightly curved staff with an Egyptian eye on the end. My skin also has an orange tone to it now.

"What on Equus are you!?" the unicorn demands again in shock at my shape changing.

I just smirk at him. "A god," I reply and raise my staff up to fire a Celestial Beam at him. I can actually feel the sun in the sky and the power flowing into me from it. I then feel the sun fire a beam of superheated sunlight at the unicorn's location, but the tower shakes making the chained up horses scream and I see chunks of crystal rubble fall past one of the windows. 'Oh, right... I need a direct line of sight between my target and the sun for that move...' I think to myself and facepalm.

The unicorn looks at me with wide confused eyes, but then shakes off his confusion and sends shards of black crystals at me.

I actually squawk like a parrot in panic and dash to the right just avoiding the shards. I then use my searing pain ability and feel the sun pouring energy into me which I use to charge up a massive amount of energy into the disk on my chest. After a second of building it up, I unleash the blisteringly hot beam at the unicorn. His eyes widen and he screams in pain as the beam barely hits his mist like body.

The beam goes through the mist and out the side of the tower leaving melted and deformed crystal around the hole, no doubt others would see the beam of sunlight blasting over the City. The floor from me to him is even scorched black and slightly melted from the heat of the beam.

He reverts back into a physical form where half of his left foreleg is missing and the stump wound covered in burnt skin. "HOW DARE YOU INJURE ME! I AM KING SOMBRA OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! YOU WILL KNEEL BEFORE ME WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH YOU, INSECT!" he yells furiously at me as the mist coming from his eyes grows longer.

I chuckle at him making him even madder. "You're no King. A king looks out for the well being of their subjects. You? You're just a tyrant enslaving others just to stroke your ego and power complex," I reply and feel the sun wanting to aid me, like it's alive as it quickly moves outside the window so it’s in view. 'The sun moved? I'll think about that later, now I have a direct line of sight, nice,' I think to myself with a shit eating grin. Who knew a beak could bend like that?

I raise my staff again for another Celestial Beam, which blasts through the window and hits the distracted unicorn directly in the back, blowing a large hole right through his chest and burning the wound so no blood could escape. The beam also melted the floor on impact leaving a puddle of melted crystal.

He stares at me for a few seconds in disbelief before his eyes glaze over and roll up as he collapses onto the floor, the purple mist and green colour no longer present in his eyes.

"Phew," I mutter to myself and decide to switch back to Hercules.

Once again I'm the Roman muscle man. I then walk over to the dead unicorn and poke him with my mace a couple of times, his right hind-leg twitches making me yelp and without thinking, I slam my spiked mace right onto his head, crushing it into a bloody paste, splattering blood and gore a good two metres as well as cracking the crystal floor.

I cringe at the gore covering my mace and my feet, after getting my breathing under control again, I look around and notice the chained up horses staring at me wide eyed with a mixture of hope and fear.

"Erm... hello?" I say suddenly feeling nervous.

Chapter 3: Introductions?

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Godly
Chapter 3: Introductions?

A couple of the horses faint on the spot while the others look fearful.

I sigh and walk over to a light blue one with a pale green mane and tail. She has a picture on her hip of a scroll and quill.

"Are you alright?" I ask her gently. At least I think it's a girl, if the long eyelashes, smaller muzzle, and curvier body than the unicorn means anything.

She nodded dumbly at me. "Y-Yes," she replies quietly, fear still within her tone.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you," I tell her and gently rip off the crystal collar around her neck which makes her flinch.

After a few seconds she speaks up. "W-Who are you?" she asks.

I smile and make my way to the next horse. "My name's Carl. What's yours?" I reply and ask in turn.

"S-Swift Quill..." she tells me.

I break another collar and move onto the next.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Quill," I say and after a couple of minutes, I've removed all twenty of the horses collars.

I walk up to the female horse in the tattered dress where she weakly looks up at me.

"Are you alright?" I ask her getting a weak nod and cough in reply.

"Quickly! Get water and the healers here now!" a white furred male with a light blue mane and tail orders to some of the more healthier looking horses who run out of the room. "W-What are you?" he then turns to me and asks.

I smile and stand up straight. "I'm a god," I reply making them stare at me in a mixture of fear and awe.

Whilst the other horses tend to the injured mare, I hear footsteps rushing towards us from behind me, so I turn to see little horses in battered and broken light purple crystal armour with crystal spears burst into the room and surround me.

"You! Creature! Where is Chancellor Sombra!?" the one in front wearing more decorated armour than the others asks me. All of them look like they've been in a fight and didn't come out pretty if the cracked armour, bruises, cuts, and shards of black crystal lodged in some of them mean anything.

"Sombra? Oh the evil dark grey unicorn?" I reply and ask, not intimidated by them at all.

They're all frowning at me but the lead horse nodded at me. I just point behind them near the window.

They all turn and look pale as they see the mangled and charred corpse of the unicorn.

"B-But... no pony was able to even get near him when he attacked... who did this?" one of the other armoured horses asks in disbelief.

"I did it. The damn bugger tried to kill me, so I killed him first," I reply and lean on my mace.

They then look at me with judging eyes. "And what will you do now?" the lead horse asks me sternly.

"To be honest? I have no idea," I simply reply confusing them all. "I just literally got here after roaming the area for a month... I'm just lost and saw this place, so I came here. Wasn't expecting tiny horses and an evil dictator though."

"So... you're not here to take over?" one of them asks slowly.

I shake my head in reply. "No... just looking for shelter and a hot meal really. Eating snow and ice for three days straight gets bland quickly."

Before they could speak two larger horses burst in and look around. The first is white with a mane and tail like an aurora, she's wearing golden crystal armour with a large crystal halberd floating next to her. The other is midnight blue with a mane and tail that look like the night sky, she's wearing silver coloured crystal armour and has a pair of sharp looking crystal swords floating next to her. I wonder how they get their hair to wave about like that?

They quickly look around and spot me. "Are thee the one who took control of our sun!?" the white one demands.

"Err..." I reply dumbly as I notice they both have longer horns than the unicorn did and also large wings on their sides. Then I frown at what she said. "Your sun?" I ask her.

"Verily, we art the Princess of the sun! We raise and lower the sun every day and we felt some other power manipulating our sun!" she tells me sternly.

"Erm..." Well, this just got awkward. How do I tell her I can turn into around four different gods of the sun without sounding like an idiot?

"Speak quickly, creature, or we shall have thy head," the dark blue horse threatens me.

"Whoa whoa whoa. First, calm your tits. Second, I had to to kill Mr Evil over there or he would have killed me," I reply pointing again to Sombra's corpse.

The blue one looks and goes wide eyed at the body, then looks at the white horse.

"Sister, is that not Chancellor Sombra?" dark blue horse asks the other.

The white horse then looks and goes wide eyed as well. "Tis indeed," she says and looks back at me. "So thou hast just murdered a member of the empire's council," she tells me with a glare. "Where is Empress Amore and Princess Cadenza?" she then asks me while looking at the throne which is still impaled to the back wall.

I frown in confusion and look back to Swift Quill. "Who's Empress Amore and Princess Cadenza?" I ask her.

"W-We art here, Tia..." the injured mare speaks softly from behind the little horses trying to help her.

"Amore!" the large white mare yells and rushes over to this Amore person. "Tell us all that which hast transpired," she asks in a soft and worried tone.

While they talk, the dark blue one walks over to me with her swords at the ready. "And what of thee? Who and what art thou? Didst thou harm our friend!?" she asks me angrily.

I glance at both of her black coloured crystal bladed swords before looking back at her. "My name is Carl, and I'm a god," I reply making her frown turn to surprise. "And no I did not, she was in that condition when I arrived," I tell her.

"If thou art a god, then what realm dost thou rule over?" she asks me skeptically.

"Quite a few actually, including the sun and moon," I reply.

She glares at me before raising her blades. "We art the goddess of the moon. No other canst connect to the moon as we can," she tells me sternly.

I just stare at her with a frown of my own. "Want a demonstration?" I ask her.

Seems she took that the wrong way. "Thou dare to threaten us!?" she yells and gets right in my face, though she has to lean up to do so. But for a second, there seemed to be some kind of hesitation in her eyes.

"I merely suggested a demonstration, I said nothing about a threat," I tell her making her narrow her eyes and back off slightly.

"Very well, show us thy power over our moon," she says sarcastically.

I grin and change to Awilix, Mayan goddess of the moon without thinking it through first. If I thought being Ra was an odd feeling with his beak, this feels even stranger. I can feel the weight of a pair of breasts on my chest as well as the missing weight of my junk between my legs, not to mention the thicker thighs, wider hips, and slimmer waist. Though I for now ignore it to save face.

A portal then briefly opens beside me and a black jaguar jumps through before it closes. 'This must be Suku, Awilix's jaguar partner,' I think to myself and start scratching behind the jaguar's ears.

The horses yelp and back away from the big cat. I guess they think he might attack and eat them.

"I am now the Mayan goddess of the moon, Awilix," I tell the dark blue horse. I then feel a connection just over the horizon opposite of the sun and with just a thought, I feel the moon rise up above us making the dark blue horse's eyes bug out. I also ignoring the feminine tone that my voice now has. "What shall I call you?"

She stares at both Suku and I for a while more before answering. "We art Princess Luna of Equestria," she replies while the white one walks back over to Princess Luna.

"And we art her sister, Princess Celestia," white horse introduces herself eyeing me carefully.

"As I told your sister, my name is Carl, and I have the ability to transform into many different gods or goddesses," I tell them.

Everyone looks stunned at my declaration. Though Celestia looks unconvinced, but Luna is now looking out the window, no doubt sensing the moon’s location I think. "Okay... and what is thy purpose here?" Celestia asks me.

I debate whether or not to tell them the truth or make something up. After a few seconds of internal debate, I decide to make my own background up. This is my new life, and I'll decide where to go from here. I also feel like I can’t trust these two for some reason.

"I'm just lost actually, I've travelled from another world to find a new place to call home," I reply.

They look at each other then back to me. "And why didst thou decide to find a new home?" Celestia asks as more little horses rush through the doorless entrance carrying jugs of water along with bags of plants and other items.

I sigh and try to look upset. "My people didn't want me anymore. They feared what I'm capable of doing or becoming," I tell them.

"And what art thou capable of?" Luna asks me.

I open my mouth to reply but my stomach rumbles making me chuckle in embarrassment. "Shall we continue this over some lunch? I haven't eaten much in the last three days," I suggest and turn back into Hercules, feeling much more comfortable in a male body. The two princesses look shocked at my transformation again as Suku fades away.

"Firstly," Celestia speaks up. "We must find Princess Cadenza, then we'll discuss what to do with you," she tells me with distrust clear in her tone.

I sigh and shake my head. "Alright, I'll just wait here while you go look for her," I reply and walk over to Swift Quill and plop down on my ass next to her with my mace in front of me now clean of the brain matter from Sombra.

Celestia and Luna start giving orders like taking out the shrivelled horses on the floor as well as disposing of Sombra's body. Amore is getting a green paste like ointment or something slathered onto her cuts before a piece of cloth or dressing is placed over it.

"Are you r-really a god?" Swift Quill asks me nervously.

I look at her making her even more nervous while I think for a few seconds. "Yeah," I simply reply and my stomach rumbles in hunger, making me rub it with a wince.

I'm tempted to turn into Bacchus and eat some succulent meat, but I don't think these horses would like that very much.

Though something sweet would be nice right now. I think of the god Ganesha, the Hindu god of success. A second pair of arms grow out just behind my shoulders and my skin turns a purplish blue. My nose grows longer into a trunk and the rest of my head into that of an elephant. A large blue and golden hat or crown rests atop my head with pale green beads around the rim. My belly also grows rounder and chubby as well.

Next my four wrists are covered with different types of bracelets with the colours of gold, blue, and red. I'm also barefoot with a pair of baggy orange pants and a golden belt with blue stones along it.

In my front right hand is a large exotic dagger with a hook like blade next to the hand guard. In my left is my small broken right tusk. In my back right hand is some kind of lotus flower I think, and in my back left hand is what I'm looking for, a blue and gold bowl full of plum flavoured hard boiled looking sweets.

The horses around me just stare in fascination and once more I get glares from the two larger horses who are currently talking to some more armoured horses. I ignore them as I'm lifted off the floor by a soft and comfy cloud which I use to lay back on. I use my trunk to pluck a sweet out of the bowl and put it in my mouth.

Humming in content, I just let it slowly melt on my tongue as I relax. I glance at Swift Quill who's staring wide eyed at my new body, I just smile at her while holding the bowl out to her.

"Would you like one?" I ask her in a deep but relaxed and polite tone.

"W-What are they?" she asks back.

"Plum flavoured sweets," I tell her.

She hesitates for a few seconds before taking one from the bowl with her hoof, how do they hold things with just a hoof? I also notice everyone is staring at her waiting to see what happens next.

She tentatively licks it first, but then her eyes shoot wide open and she stuffs it into her mouth hungrily.

"Oh my... thish ish the besht shweet I've ever had!" she says just sucking on the candy happily.

I just chuckle and look to the others still here. "Would anyone else like one?" I offer them all.

They look between me and Quill for a bit, then some start walking over. One by one they take a sweet, and the one I'm still eating isn't even halfway gone yet, they last for quite a while.

Luna then huffs and walks over. "We dost nary see what all the fuss is about..." she says and eyes the bowl of sweets. Her horn glows with a blue aura around it and a single sweet floats up and then towards her.

She eyes the piece of candy for a few seconds and sniffs it. Her right brow rises and she then pops it into her mouth with a frown.

I can't help but laugh as her eyes cross and her legs wobble slightly as she hums and her eyes slowly close as I can see her moving the candy around her mouth.

"That good huh?" I say making her eyes shoot open and glare at me. "What?" I ask her.

She snorts and walks off back to her sister, but a small smile is back on her face.

Celestia then floats one over to herself, with an expression of curiosity. She gracefully eats it and her eyes slightly widen, but not by much.

"Tis not bad," she comments and then turns back to the soldiers she was talking to. Her reaction was rather disappointing.

"What will you do now?" Swift Quill asks me with more confidence after a moment of silence.

"As I told Celestia, I have no idea. I'm new here and I would most likely have to learn how things work before deciding anything," I reply and close my eyes. I will never sleep on a bed again as this cloud is better than any bed could be.

"I see, will you be staying here or go back to Equestria with the Princesses?" she then asks me.

"To be honest? I'd rather stay here, those two have shown they either just don't like me or distrust me. Why would I go with someone who hates me?" I reply and pick up another piece of candy with my trunk.

"I guess so, but they're really nice once you get to know them. I think they're just being cautious," she tells me.

I simply shrug. "Whatever the case may be, I'm not going with them," I say and just relax while munching on my sweet. It's been about twenty minutes as they continue to search for Princess Cadenza. Amore looks more like a mummy now wrapped in so many bandages, but the pained expression on her face is gone and she's breathing more clearly now as she talks to the ponies around her.

I yawn and before I know it, I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 4: Crossing a line

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Godly
Chapter 4: Crossing a line

My eyes open to a familiar place, as the jungle practice map from the game greets me. I'm standing in the fountain area which is a large Greek or Roman style dome with eight archways leading to small areas, each with different enemies or practice areas. It's here that I've been practising with some gods over the last month, especially the warrior class ones along with a few mages and hunters.

I guess I dozed off on my cloud waiting for that Cadenza person to show up. I shrug and change into a new god I haven't tried yet.

My body morphs into Fenrir the Unbound, son of Loki. Dark blue fur grows all over my body as I shift into a half feral half bipedal form along with a tail. Red glowing lines run up from my paws and claws to halfway up each limb, which give off small embers now and then. Molten saliva is coming out of my mouth and fire from my eyes but I don't feel any pain nor heat from them.

Chains are wrapped around my waist and chest as well as my left thigh, forearm, and tail. I then flex my fingers and smirk at the sharp looking five inch long claws that look like they can tear steel to ribbons.

I begin moving about like I do with any new god I try just to get used to the new limb structure. While my arms feel the same, my now multi-jointed legs will take some getting used to, but I've had some practice due to Anhur's legs being the same.

Once used to my new body, I walk over to the archway that leads to a red themed camp of three cyclops, two little ones and a big one. These are armed with battleaxes and thick leather armour. In the game this would be the damage buff camp. But here, they're just strong melee based monsters to fight.

They glare at me like usual and I smirk as I bend down ready to pounce, but before I could, I feel something different nearby that doesn't belong here. I look behind me back at the fountain and see Princess Luna standing there with a confused expression and looking around.

I growl deeply getting her attention and I slowly walk on all fours towards her.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her in a deep, rough, and gravelly voice.

Her eyes fly wide open and she starts to back away. "What on Equus art thee!? Where is Carl!?" she shouts in shock.

"You're looking at him," I reply with a frown. "Why are you here!?" I demand, not happy in the slightest that she's in my head right now.

"Our sister hast asked we check thy memories to see if thou art speaking the truth. But we did not expect thee to be lucid," she replies and then her horn glows.

It feels like she's trying to rummage through my head with tweezers or pliers, but with a snarl I push back.

"I'm warning you, leave now or I will make you leave," I tell her, now angry at her and her sister.

She grunts and her horn glows brighter, making the pushing sensation stronger.

I clench my teeth and glare at her. "Have it your way then," I say and pounce at her with a snarl.

She yelps as I land on her back making her stumble and her horn stop glowing. She tries to buck me off but she screams as I dig my claws deeply into her sides.

"Release us, monster!" she demands and tries rolling over to crush me.

When I'm on my back with her above me, I kick her away from me with my powerful legs, sending her into the fire giant practice area and rolling on the ground a few metres.

"You dare to come into my mind, try to rape my memories, and then call me a monster for defending myself!?" I shout at her now enraged as the lines and runes on my body are glowing brightly. The fire in my eyes and mouth getting hotter and brighter as my anger rises.

She stares at me as I unleash Fenrir's Ragnarok ultimate skill. My body triples in size and my teeth and claws get even sharper as well as my strength and senses increasing.

I howl loudly making the very ground rumble and the sky to turn red. I then run towards her making her scream in fright as her horn glows and she disappears. I skid to a halt and look around, but I don't feel her here anymore. With her gone, I then force myself to wake up.

I frown as I open my eyes to see a panting and shivering Luna staring at me. I'm still Ganesha as my cloud tilts forward and I stand up.

"You better have a damn good explanation for that intrusion," I warn them coldly, the smaller horses looking confused and or afraid.

Celestia is now giving me a death glare while Luna is hiding behind her still shivering.

"We want to know what kind of being thou are and why thou art truly here. For now we only see a possible very powerful threat to our ponies,” she replies.

I narrow my eyes and point my dagger towards her. "And you thought invading my mind without consent was a good way to do it instead of just asking?" I ask with a snort out of my trunk. "You're walking on thin ice now, Celestia," I then tell her.

She bares her teeth and her horn starts glowing before a female voice shouts out.

"STOP!" I glance behind Celestia towards the doorway and see a horse with pink fur and a three toned mane and tail of creamy yellow, hot pink, and deep purple. She has a mark of a blue crystal heart with a gold flourish like pattern on each side of it, and she has a pair of wings and a horn as well. She also seems to have been crying heavily if the matted fur on her cheeks is any indicator.

"Cadenza!" Celestia says happy to see the girl.

"We hast heard Sombra hast been defeated, who is responsible for doing so?" she asks the tall white horse.

Celestia then turns and glares at me again. "That would be this creature," she says coldly.

Cadenza frowns and looks at me. I simply cross all four arms and continue to glare at Celestia.

"And why art thou angry with him?" she asks Celestia.

I speak up before Celestia could. "She and her sister just tried to invade my mind to see my past, I didn't take too kindly to that. I think if you didn't just show up, a fight might have broken out," I reply making the white horse's glare harden.

"Again!? Auntie, what have we told thee about that!?" Cadenza says making Celestia's glare soften.

"Cadenza, he proclaims himself to be a god! He even took control of our sun from us!" she replies.

"Only to kill that damn Sombra jerk," I comment making her glare at me again.

Cadenza glances at me and then back to Celestia. "Be that as it may, he did stop Sombra from killing our mother and anypony else. Has he shown hostility to others prior to thy attempt?" she tells the white horse and then asks.

"Nay, he hast not," Celestia says and sighs before walking over to me, but I remain on guard. "We art warning thee, would thou harm anypony, we shall bring the full wrath of the sun down upon thee," she threatens me.

I narrow my eyes and change back into Ra. I feel the sun respond to me and I make it brighter for a few seconds making her go wide eyed. "Do not make threats you can't back up, or I'll show you what a real god of the sun can do," I tell her making her back away and look out the window to the setting sun.

I change back into Hercules making the sun return to normal and start making my way to the door.

"Where art thou going!?" Celestia demands angrily.

I stop and look at her. "I'm clearly not welcome here, so I'm leaving. Why would I stay in a place ruled by a paranoid and hostile ruler? I'll just find somewhere else to call home, surely you aren't the only nation in this world," I tell her and start walking again.

"Please wait," I hear Amore say as she struggles to stand and limps over towards me, ignoring the pleas of her doctors to lay back down. I stop and turn around to face her. "Thou art welcome here. We still need to thank thee for saving our Empire," she tells me with a slight bow of her head making Celestia gasp.

Cadenza quickly makes her way over to her and nuzzles the mare. "Mother, are thou alright?" she asks with concern.

"We art fine, my dear. Carl here saved us and our ponies," Amore replies and returns the nuzzle gently.

I look from her to Celestia and then back to her. "Thank you, but until Miss Hothead and her sister are gone, I will be waiting outside of the City. I shall return within a few days, maybe by then these two will have calmed down," I reply, making Celestia glare at me for the nickname I just gave her.

Cadenza frowns at Celestia and Luna for a few seconds. "Very well, we shall await for thy return," Amore then tells me.

With that said and done, I exit the way I came in with a couple of the crystal armoured ponies escorting me. I see it's lightly snowing now and a lot of the little horses coming out of their homes. I walk past them as they keep their distance with wary expressions but I spot that horse who threw the little child at me to save himself. I frown and walk over to him making him back up against a building and I lightly bop him on the head with my left hand, though it was still enough to knock him onto the ground face first.

"Don't throw a child in harms way again or next time I'll use my mace!" I threaten him but it seems I knocked him out. I look to the terrified horse next to him that looks female. "Make sure to tell him what I just said," I tell her getting her to rapidly nod in reply. I then make my way back to the edge of the city.

Once I arrive at the edge, I switch back to Ymir and trudge my way about a mile out, leaving the stunned guards behind. I then create a large chunk of ice in the shape of a dome and start carving it out into a makeshift house or igloo, I want to be able to keep an eye out on the Crystal City in case the psychotic white horse decides to attack me when I least expect it.

I carve up more ice to make basic looking furniture; a table, two chairs, a bed, a cabinet, and just for fun, a potted cactus plant with icicles for its needles.

The whole process takes me a couple of hours and a bright light momentarily distracts me. I look back to the City to see a large pink dome encase the City and the snow seems to melt or evaporate on contact with it and within it.

I quickly make a crude lawn chair out in front of my equally crude house and just sit back and watch the shimmering dome around the City. Just to entertain myself, I then create a large palm tree made of ice to my left along with a large umbrella over me as well as turning the area into a beach looking setting, though the sea area is just frozen looking waves... oh well, looks pleasant nonetheless.

After a couple of hours I spot winged horses flying around the dome and after a few minutes some of them break away and start heading towards me.

'They got some good eyesight,' I think to myself and I raise an eyebrow as they finally land in front of me. Instead of fur, they now look like they're made of crystal.

"You are the one named Carl correct?" the one in front of the others asks me warily while the others look at the setting I made with confusion.

"Yeah, that's me," I reply in the slow deep tone of Ymir.

"Empress Amore and Princess Cadenza has invited you to join her for dinner in three days to allow us time to get the Empire back up and running. She has also told us to inform you that Princess Celestia and Luna will be reluctantly returning to Equestria tomorrow morning," he tells me.

"Alright, I'll just relax here until then. Thanks for the update," I reply and yawn while scratching my icy belly.

"Very well. Personally, we guards thank you for putting an end to Chancellor Sombra's treachery... one of the ponies Sombra killed in the throne room was my sister..." he tells me and flies off with the others.

I watch them head back into the City and I pick up a chunk of ice and carve it into the shape of an apple and slowly munch on it. Shame I can't make different flavours with the ice, would make eating ice more bearable.

Three days later

I've just been lounging around or exploring the area for the last three days waiting for the dinner Amore and Cadenza have invited me to. I also watched as the Princesses flew off over the horizon with a bunch of winged ponies and haven't returned, yet. I know it's just a matter of time before they come back.

Luna hasn't tried getting in my head again, but I've started practising with Janus in my sleep as I want to see how his portals will work since I'm not tied to game mechanics or logic. Though I kept my guard up as I wasn't just going to let her get the drop on me again.

I yawn as I'm back on my lawn chair as Ymir with a mug made of ice filled with wine from Bacchus' wine jug. I just chill and take sips from the mug enjoying the light gentle snow falling around me. It's actually rather relaxing here if you're immune to the cold.

For the next ten or so minutes I just relax and finish off my cold drink. I then spot something flying from the City towards me and I suspect it's the flying ponies again.

They arrive and again land in front of me, but this time less wary and actually smiling.

"Greetings, Sir Carl. The Empress is awaiting your arrival to dinner," the lead pony tells me.

The thought of a properly cooked meal, even a vegetarian one makes my stomach rumble and I chuckle deeply.

"I've been looking forward to it," I reply and stand up. I chug down the rest of my wine and toss the mug away. It’s not like it can be counted as littering.

"Then if you would, please follow us," the leader says and starts walking away.

"Actually, I want to try something," I say getting a raised brow from him.

I change to Janus, god of portals and transitions, and after a second, I'm hovering above the snow by half a foot. My body despite being made of metal and gears feels cold. I have grey plate like roman style armour with golden trimming along the edges. I also have two faces, one looking like a wizened old man with a metallic goatee, and the other on the back on my head much younger looking.

My torso is connected to my pelvis by six chains. And on my left hip is a gold and grey key like sceptre magnetically attached to me.

"Now then, I'll just make a portal to the Throne Room and we'll be there in a jiffy," I say in Janus' metallic, polite, and refined voice.

"Portal?" one of the ponies asks confused.

I float over to to an empty area and gather energy within my hands, just as I practised over the last three days in my sleep. Once I have enough, I weave a portal into the air and imagine the exit in the Throne Room behind the throne. The portal clears up and the Throne Room is in view.

I give a slight bow and gesture to the portal. "After you," I say making them look stunned.

It takes them a few seconds to recover but one by one they enter and once all six are through, I follow in behind them.

Once in, I collapse the portal and the energy dissipates into the air.

"That's rather useful, saves us the cold walk back," a female guard says with a giggle.

I smile and politely cough into my left hand and change into Hercules. "I believe I have a dinner to attend to?" I ask them making the leader get serious again.

"Right. Please follow me to the Dining Hall, Sir Carl," he tells me and starts walking towards the now fixed doorway.

I follow behind him with my mace just resting on my shoulder lazily. We pass by maids and other guards who either try to ignore me or thank me for saving them.

"Why are you calling me Sir Carl?" I ask the lead guard.

"We all appreciate what you did for us, I especially thank you for avenging my sister. It was Empress Amore that started calling you that shortly after the Equestrian Princesses left back for Equestria, and we just followed her example," he replies.

"Huh... Whilst I am a god, I do hope you don't start worshipping me like one," I say getting a chuckle out of him.

"Our Empress and Princess also don't like to be worshipped as such as well. Though the Equestrian Princesses believe themselves to be goddesses due to their ability to move the sun and moon and their defeat of Discord who was also said to be a god," he tells me with a frown at the mention of the Princesses.

"Well don't expect me demanding tribute or rubbish like that, right now I'm just looking for a place to call home," I say with a sigh.

We reach a pair of doors and he opens them up for me. "Announcing the arrival of, Sir Carl!" the guard shouts out getting both Amore's and Cadenza's attention from the maid they're talking to. They're both sitting at the end of the rectangular crystal table and look much better than they did days ago. Clean coats, brushed manes and tails, and straight feathers. They both also look like they're made of crystal.

"Ah, Sir Carl! We thank thee for attending. Please sit wherever thou wishes," Amore tells me and gestures with a hoof to the cushions around the table.

I sit down at the table next to her right side and across from Cadenza. I then notice something off as the table is way too short for me and even sitting cross legged, the edge of the table is just above my knees.

"Oh, we didn't think about thine size..." she says in realisation.

I chuckle and change to another god, Ratatoskr, the Sly Messenger of the Norse gods. I look like a large squirrel and I'm now just a few inches shorter than her when I stand up. I have light brown fur over my body with light brownish white fur on my chest, stomach, and lower front of my face. I also have three stripes of light blue going from the top of my head, down my back, and to the tip of my tail.

I'm also wearing a pair of small shoulder pads and a necklace with some leather attached to it. On my left hip is a small bag slung around my shoulder. I also don't feel that off balance as he's got a similar feel to Fenrir's body. Though I'm going to have to be careful with my now sharp claws on both my hands and feet.

Cadenza just stares at me for a few seconds before squealing and her horn lights up. I yelp as I'm lifted off the cushion, pulled towards her, and wrapped up in her forelegs as she hugs me while rocking back and forth.

"Oh my gosh! Thou art thee most cutest thing we hast ever seen!" she says and squeezes me tightly.

Fortunately the right side of my face is mashed against her surprisingly fluffy chest so I can still breath, though it feels like she's trying to snap my spine.

She eventually loosens her grip and I give her a raised brow in reply to her sudden hug. She blushes and giggles nervously as she sets me back on my cushion.

"We apologise, Sir Carl... But we couldn't restrain ourselves," she tells me sheepishly.

"It's fine, no harm done. And besides my spine nearly breaking, it felt nice. Haven't had a hug for a long time," I reply with a smile. My voice sounds younger and higher in pitch now.

Amore then goes wide eyed as if remembering something. "We forgot to mention that Princesses Celestia and Luna shall be attending as well shortly..." she tells me with an apologetic smile.

"What?" I ask with a frown at the thought of them both.

Before she could answer, the door opens up and in walks Celestia and Luna, each with a small escort of guards wearing different coloured crystal armour and with normal fur, not crystallised. It’s like they have the timing down to a T.

Luna looks at me before going wide eyed and also squealing like Cadenza did at the sight of me before she rushes over.

If she thinks she's going to get a hug from me then she can think twice.

I quickly change to Fenrir and howl loudly, making her scream in fright again, as well as the others as she trips over before scrambling back onto her hooves and running behind Celestia.

I frown at both of them and return back to Ratatoskr, then I sit back on my cushion while maintaining my frown. I can already feel my appetite fading at their presence.

"Was that necessary?" Celestia asks with a glare while Luna is cowering behind her.

"If your sister thought she'd get a hug from me, then she thought wrong. I'm still quite angry at what you tried to do before," I reply trying to sound intimidating, but it's not very effective looking and sounding like this.

She doesn't reply but instead she and Luna sit at the opposite end of the table. I turn my stare to the table and my mood is completely ruined.

"We asked them both to come and hopefully start afresh," Amore tells me and I glance at her unhappily.

"They tried to violate my privacy as well as my memories and expect to give nothing in return," I tell her and look back at the two sisters. "If I wanted to see everything you've done in the past, would you let me? I'm sure you've both done things you're not proud of, or done without others knowing it was you under the pretence of the greater good," I tell them both.

I notice Luna looks sadder at that while Celestia barely winces. Yeah, that's what I thought.

"So unless you're willing to let me rummage through your heads, you stay out of mine. I won't be so kind next time I find either one of you in there," I say the last part specifically to Luna who looks away.

I can see Celestia getting angrier before seeming to snap.

"Enough of this farce! We knoweth that thou hast come into contact with Discord as we can sense his magic within thee!" she shouts at me.

My eyes widen at that. His magic is lingering within me?

"It seems thee dost know Discord," she then says and before I could reply, six different coloured perfectly cut gems each with a different colour of the rainbow appear around her head in a flash of light and they start spinning around her horn as it and they start to glow.

I don't know how, but I can just feel power radiating from them and her as it builds up quickly.

"AUNTY!? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Cadenza yells angrily and her horn lights up as well which is making the gems slow down slightly but not stopping them.

"We shall seal him away just as we did to Discord! We shalt not let one of his puppets roam free to continue his reign of terror and chaos!" she replies to Cadenza.

I quickly change back to Janus and make a portal below me just in time as a prismatic beam of energy blasts right at me. I fall through the portal and come out right above Celestia with anger in my eyes as I fall on top of her, knocking the wind out of her due to my heavy metallic ass landing on her back. She falls to the floor and the gems clatter around us as I roll off her to her left.

Her beam of light hits the wall and blows a hole right through it. Seal me away huh? More like blow me to bits.

I quickly change again to Geb, Egyptian God of the Earth. I'm made out of stone with a floating torso with two floating rocks as my upper arms with a carved stone obelisk on each one and more stones make up my legs. I hold my left rocky hand out, which is now a solid piece of floating stone with six chunks of stone acting as two fingers and a thumb, and the gems being a mineral react and fly over to me. I grab them and try to use them myself, but eyes widen as they slowly sink into my arm as I can feel power flooding me.

The six gems then appear on my floating left forearm kinda like a bracelet and start glowing.

"WHAT HAST THOU DONE!?" Celestia demands very angrily.

"I don't know what these are, but if you thought I'd let you use them on me, then you're just stupid," I reply slowly and deeply similarly to Ymir.

"Return those immediately!" she tells me and I frown at her.

"I correct my statement... you are stupid. If you think I'll give these back just so you can use them against me again, then you must think I'm dumber than you," I say and the gems detach and start spinning around my arm.

I grin and feel the power building up making Celestia's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Impossible! Only those with pure intentions may wield the elements!" she yells in confusion.

"Is that so?" I reply and release the energy. I intentionally miss her by inches and hit the wall where the energy just dissipates on contact, doing no damage at all.

I huff and release the gems and they clatter to the floor for a second time. Seems these are only strong if the wielder is willing to use them offensively. At least I think so since I didn't want to kill her, so they just released the energy as light I think... Then again I could be completely wrong.

With a frown I start making my way to the door getting Celestia to snap out of her stupor.

"Where art thou going!?" she demands and I growl in a gravelly tone.

"Away from your insane ass! I came here expecting a nice meal and maybe someone to talk to! Instead I get attacked by a psychotic horse who thinks she knows what's best for everyone and can judge anyone she meets straight away!" I roar back at her enraged.

Her eyes widen as I stomp over to her and get into her face. "I'm new to this world. Yes, Discord helped me get here! But right now I'm just trying to find a place to fit in! And it appears that it isn't here!" I tell her and without warning, I grab her horn and pull her head into mine making her yelp in pain and my stone eyes glare into her surprised ones.

"I'm only going to warn you this one time, Princess. Leave me alone or I'll snap off your horn, shove it up your ass, and pluck all of your feathers and use them for a pillow!" I threaten her and push her away making her trip over.

With my piece said, I look over to Amore. "You shouldn't have invited them... then maybe we could have had a civilised conversation," I tell her sadly.

She also looks ashamed at what happened.

"Yes, perhaps we expected too much from them," she replies and bows to me. "Please, allow us to at least thank thee for saving our Empire from Sombra. Thou art welcome here whenever thou wishes to visit," she tells me with a bow.

I smile at her as Celestia stands back up and levitates one of the gems in front of her with a look of thought on her face. Luna though is hiding behind her guards who look on edge and seemingly ready to attack me. But the crystal guards look angry at both of the Princesses more than at me.

"I may do that, but not any time soon I think," I reply and change into Mercury, the Roman messenger of the Gods.

I'm now a nimble but still fit looking guy wearing roman style leather armour and golden trim. My helmet covers my cheeks but leaves my chin exposed, it also has two metal wings, one on each side near my ears. My sandals have a small white feathered wing on the side that flutter a couple of times before just lazily moving about.

Cadenza quickly gets up and flies over the table to me, rears up on her hind legs, and surprises me as she wraps me in a hug with her forelegs and wings.

"We thank thee for saving our mother and empire... We thought we lost her and our home," she tells me and sniffles a little.

I smile slightly and pat her on the back. "You're welcome, I do hope to see you and your mother again someday. But for now, I think I'll go and explore for a bit," I reply and she lets go after one more squeeze.

Before anyone could say anything else, I run out the Crystal Castle and back to my igloo in just under five seconds. The world felt like it slowed down as I passed the little crystal ponies in the streets. I even spotted one who looked like she was about to trip so I placed a large pillow I found outside what looked like a cafe so she would land on it.

I then facepalm realising that I don't have any proper possessions to take with me.

I exit my igloo and look around, apart from the City there's nothing. After a shiver from the cold, I decide to pick a random direction and start running whilst yelling. "Gotta go fast! DUU DU DUU DU DUU!"

Chapter 5: So... Are you a bug or a horse?

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Godly
Chapter 5: So... Are you a bug or a horse?

I've been running for about ten minutes now where I think I've travelled for miles lost in thought, I'll definitely visit Amore and Cadenza again, they seemed nice enough compared to the Princesses of Equestria. I finally reach the border of the snowy lands and I mentally berate myself for not thinking of using Merc sooner to explore.

I shrug it off and frown at the odd sight before me. Where the snow ends, a hot rocky land takes its place. I look behind me to go wide eyed at the green lush land behind me with a few mountains in the far distance. I can also see a village nearby and not a flake of snow in sight.

Did I run so far without realising it or what I even passed by? 'Damn, must have been more distracted than I thought...' I think to myself and quickly run towards the village, which is made up of small wooden and straw huts mostly with some merchant stalls, and after a quick peek I decide to move on. I'm not in the mood to deal with more little ponies, perhaps this is the Princesses lands?

I head back to the rocky terrain and just leisurely jog across it while occupying myself by jumping over rocks and dead trees that have fallen, but the heat is starting to get to me so I change back into Ra and just hover along the ground where the heat no longer hinders me.

This is kinda like an RPG or MMO where I get to just free roam the overworld until I find something of interest. I occasionally just fire off basic attacks from my staff that look like little fireballs at rocks or trees to practice my aim as I move along.

I yawn and my gut starts rumbling. That's right, I didn't get to eat dinner at the crystal city... never even got to find out the place's name...

I switch to Geb again and use his connection to the earth to fashion a basic little one room house with stone furniture similarly to how I did with Ymir. Once done, I block off the doorway leaving little holes for light and air to come through.

Once everything is set up. I change to a new god I've only tested a few times in my sleep. He Bo, the Chinese god of the yellow river. I flex my spiky and solid water hands and smile, though the lack of legs or my junk still creeps me out. I can feel the column of water that replaced my legs swirl around me.

My hair is long and a grey colour with two stripes of white, one above each eyebrow going back over my head. I have a top knot tied to the top-back of my head and a ponytail on the middle-back of my head. I'm wearing a brown tunic like top with blue pauldrons engraved with whirlpool patterns. And attached to the tunic on my chest, are two long ice-blue strips of cloth with a zig-zagging line going down them with a curly circle at the end.

Around my waist is a large belt with a pattern on a circle in the middle-top of the belt, and in a semi-circle below it are five smaller circles, each with their own little designs on them.

Attached to the belt are four long stripes of cloth, one on the front, back, and the sides of my waist, each with detailed drawings of a flowing river going down them.

And lastly, on my back is a large scroll as big as my torso with large blueish ornate ends to the rollers of the scroll.

I hold my hands out to the large smooth stone bowl I made and with some effort, I create fresh water from my hands and fill the bowl to the brim. Once done, I switch to Bacchus and just lounge in the hard armchair while taking a large bite out of the boar meat.

At least I think it's boar as it tastes like pork.

I let out a loud belch which is followed by a swig of the wine in my jug before munching on the pork again. I need to find some fruit or vegetables, maybe cook up a stew or something...

After eating and drinking a mix of wine and water, I just fall asleep now that I'm fed and it's starting to get late.

I'm awoken to the sound of something crumbling and before I can comprehend what's happening, I feel something bite me on the arm making me yelp in pain and roll out of my chair. I quickly get up and grab my now dirty meat stick and clobber the intruder.

Now that I'm wide awake, it looks like one of those little ponies but with an insect like appearance. But it's hard to tell any real details as it's dark with only moonlight to see.

My vision starts to blur and I wobble on my feet as my body starts to go numb. My wine jug slips from my hand and with a quiet burp, I fall face first into the hard floor as I pass out.

I groan in discomfort as I come too. I blink my eyes open and all I see is a green fleshy like wall wrapped around me... kind of like I'm in an egg.

"What do you mean we can't feed from it!?" a frustrated two toned female voice says.

I look at the green wall with a bit more focus and notice I can barely see through it. There's a few of those small bug ponies and a bigger one two to three times their size.

I give the wall a slight poke with my right hand and it stretches slightly.

"My Queen, it's awake," one of the smaller ones tells the bigger one with surprise in its tone.

"That's odd, it shouldn't be with the amount of venom we gave it..." she says and leans down to where I can clearly see her face now. She has slitted pupils in her eyes and a long jagged horn on her forehead. I see a pair of fangs in her mouth along with a strange looking crown on her head and long flat hair.

I frown at her as my legs are starting to get pins and needles from the awkward position I'm in and the weight I have on them.

"Would you please let me out? I haven't had a good day yesterday and this isn't helping my mood any," I tell her making her flinch back in surprise.

"You can talk?" she asks warily.

"Yes I can, now please let me out or I'll break myself out and slap you," I warn her feeling more and more agitated.

She frowns at me with a snort. "I can't do that, you're the first creature we've been able to capture in a long while and while I don't know why we can't feed off you, I will find a way. I will not allow my changelings to starve to death," she tells me.

"What do you eat? I don't plan on becoming some bug's lunch," I tell her getting a snarl from her.

"WE ARE NOT BUGS!" she yells at me and I yelp as electricity courses from her horn and into the pod thing I'm in.

"THAT'S IT!" I yell back and change god. I pick the Egyptian God Khepri, the Dawn Bringer. I grow in size as my limbs change into legs with two more growing out of my midsection, each leg has golden and white coloured armour on the front and top sides of the limbs. The chitin underneath is a light brown colour. The new horn on my forehead ruptures through the pod and I extend my two front legs and rip the rest away. Two more larger horns are on the back of my head and curve forward.

My underbelly is also a golden colour but whether or not its metal or chitin I'm not sure.

I step out making them back away as I now tower over the smaller ones by a good three or four feet.

The room is bathed in a luminescent light from what looks like glowing moss along the ceiling. The walls are a black or dark grey colour and look like organic rock, and there's a few other pods with some of those ponies in them, though they look like they're asleep and smiling.

The plates on my back open up and my wings flutter a few times before retracting and the plates close again.

I pick off the remains of the pod from my back and head with my two foremost legs. "Now then, I apologise for my comment, but as I said, I'm not in a good mood right now," I tell her with a very deep voice with an echo like after tone similar to hers. And now that I'm out, I take in her appearance.

She's a good five feet tall not including her horn. Her hair and tail are a teal green or blue with a few holes in them and laying straight flat. Instead of fur, she has chitin like I do now but it's pitch black but has a dull green and blueish shell on her stomach and back with two tattered dragonfly like wings laying on her back. I then notice she has lots of holes in her legs and she looks unhealthily thin.

They just stare dumbly at me with wide eyes. "What are you?" she finally asks me after a moment of silence.

"My name is Carl, and I'm a god," I reply with a polite bow of my head.

"So you're just like those damned pony alicorns, thinking you're a god," she says and then snarls at me.

"I don't think I am, I know I am. I have the ability to transform into over eighty different gods and goddesses from my old home. And what is an alicorn?" I tell her and then ask.

She's still frowning but no longer looks like she's about to rip my head off. "Alicorns are what those xenophobic Princesses Celestia and Luna are," she tells me with hatred in her tone.

"Celestia and Luna?" I ask with a frown of my own.

Seems she picked up on the anger in my tone as well. "You know them?" she asks intrigued.

"They tried to either kill me or seal me away like they did to Discord. I not only took control of their gems Celestia called the elements, I took control of the sun away from her and threatened her after subduing her. They're the reason I'm in a foul mood. Although the smaller pink one named Cadenza and her mother Amore were nice enough. Now then, I've introduced myself already, who are you?" I reply and calmly lay down on my six legs.

She's silent again for a minute before her horn glows and a green mossy looking pillow floats over and she lays down on it. "I am Queen Chrysalis of the Jade Hive. We are changelings that can take on the appearance of another, similarly to you it seems," she replies now sounding much more polite but still wary.

"So if you wanted to, you could turn into what I am now?" I ask intrigued.

"Maybe a smaller version as we cannot just add more mass to ourselves, but we barely have enough energy left to survive, let alone change appearance," she tells me sadly.

"Why? Why are you starving? I understand you would have trouble growing anything here, if I assume we're still in the rocky terrain, but surely you could go to that nearby land with vegetation," I ask her.

She snorts and glares at me. "Do you know nothing of our race!?" she demands angrily.

"Nope," I simply reply making her stutter and lose her glare.

"All races know of us... how do you not?" she asks me.

"I'm from another world, I've been here for about five weeks. I know nothing about this world or its people and customs," I tell her making her go wide eyed.

"You're from another world?" she asks dumbly.

Unlike with the Princesses, I feel like I can be truthful with her. "Yes. Discord brought me here to help keep a balance," I reply making her frown again.

"Discord? That mad being brought you here?" she asks now on guard.

"Why is everyone so upset when his name is mentioned? The short time I knew him he was rather nice and polite," I reply confused.

"He's been more of a pain in the flank than anything else. Mostly towards the ponies who believe in perfect harmony and hate change. One of the many other reasons they seem to hate us," she tells me.

"I see. Oh, before I forget, I asked what do you eat before you zapped me," I say getting her to blush slightly.

"Right, and I apologise for that, but we don't take kindly to being called bugs or insects. To us it's degrading and insulting. Yes, we are insectoid in nature, but we are not a race that needs to be stepped on," she tells me and sighs.

"As to your question, we feed on the emotions of others, specifically love. It's a rich and very nourishing energy we can absorb to sustain ourselves. But with the propaganda those alicorns are spreading, all of the other races have shunned us as they now believe we suck their love out until they're either angry all the time or a shrivelled up husk. I haven’t heard from another hive in decades and I believe we’re the last hive in the world, and there's no more than just over a thousand of us left... I also believe I'm the last changeling Queen in the world..." she then tells me sadly.

I just stare at her in confusion. "I've never heard of something eating emotions before... even in fiction," I say and rub the long protrusion on my chin with my left foreleg. "So you mostly eat love?" I ask her.

"It's the most nourishing and most pleasing emotion to feed on," she replies.

"Then I might have a temporary solution for you," I tell her getting her attention.

"And what could you do for us? We cannot feed off of you," she tells me.

"I said I can turn into many gods and goddesses. There's one who is known as the god of love," I reply and change into Cupid, the Roman god of Love. I'm now smaller than her by two feet and my head is bigger than my torso, I have short curly brown hair with a golden laurel on my head, and large light blue eyes. I have a small golden bow and an arrow with a heart shaped tip in my left hand. I also have two white feathered wings that are big compared to my chibi looking size.

Lastly I'm wearing a small white toga with golden trim along the edges.

"I can create little hearts that can heal those who touch them, but if they contain actual love, then you might be able to feed off them instead," I reply in a high pitched childlike voice.

She's just staring at me in confusion. "Where did all your mass go?" she asks.

I just shrug as I really don't know. I then gather my energy and create three little hearts using Cupid's share the love ability in my right hand and throw them to the ground where they grow in size and just hover there while spinning. Each heart is also emitting a faint red light and warmth as well.

Chrysalis just stares at the closest one nearest to her and tentatively reaches out a hoof and pokes it. She gasps and hums as the heart glows brighter and turns into red energy before flowing into her hoof.

"I don't believe it..." she says and I notice a couple of the holes on her legs close up.

"Huh, it worked," I comment and smile, still shocked at watching her just absorb it.

One of the smaller changelings with her pokes another heart and I notice their holes close up a bit more, maybe they don't need as much as Chrysalis does?

"Will... Will you stay with us?" Chrysalis then asks me desperately with wide pleading eyes.

Should I stay? Whilst they did kidnap me, they haven't been outright hostile like the Princesses were. And I do need a place to stay and some company would be nice.

"I guess so. I don't have anywhere else to go right now," I reply getting the first smile I've seen from her.

"Thank you. Can you please make more of those hearts? My hive is starving and in urgent need of food," she begs me.

"Errr, sure. But I'll need to take some breaks now and then, I can't just keep making these repeatedly," I tell her getting a nod from her.

"I understand, if you would please follow me," she replies and says.

"Wait, what about them?" I ask and gesture to the ponies in the pods.

"They shall be released near Equestria's border tomorrow morning," she tells me.

With that I follow her out into a hallway and to the left.

"So, what happens if you feed too much from someone?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Nothing, they just get tired and fall asleep. We don't directly feed off anyone, but the love they emit. We have to take on the appearance of someone they love or care for and feed off the love they have for them. At least we used to a few years ago, now we have to resort to just taking any race we come across to barely feed at all with what little energy we have left," she replies and I can just hear the regret in her tone.

She sighs and just looks tired now. "We didn't ask for any of this, but ever since those damnable ponies ascended, they've been trying their hardest to get rid of anything that threatens their perfect view of harmony," she then says with anger now.

"Cadenza or Amore didn't seem like that to me," I tell her making her huff.

"She and her mother are different as they're crystal ponies with different morals and culture, they value all life, even ours. But because she's weaker and gentler compared to the Princesses, they were forced to cut ties with our kind... that was about a hundred years ago," she replies.

"Hmm, I've been invited to visit her whenever I want. Maybe I can try to see if I can set up a meeting or something later?" I tell her making her stop and look at me.

"Her Empire is halfway across the world, It would take months of travelling and we would have to go through Equestria to get there which those Princesses wouldn't allow," she replies.

"I could just create a portal to Amore's Throne Room," I tell her like it was nothing.

"You can do that?" she asks skeptically.

"Possibly, I did apparently just run half way around the world in a few minutes," I reply making her gawk at me.

She shakes her head and continues walking down the hallway. "If it weren't for what I've just seen you do, I'd be calling you a liar," she tells me.

We arrive to a large room that kind of looks like a school cafeteria. Changelings are lining up along the counter with mugs made of the same black stuff the walls are made from which are filled with a pink gel like liquid, and I notice the portions are barely enough for a few sips.

"So I just make a bunch of hearts here then?" I ask Chrysalis.

"Yes, I shall inform the rest of the Hive. If there is anything you want in return for doing this for us, just ask and I'll see if we can grant it," she replies and tells me.

"Alright, I have a few things in mind," I say and awkwardly flap my wings and jump up onto a table.

"My children, we have come across a being who has agreed to help feed our Hive. Please line up and one by one, take a heart each," she tells the currently gathered changelings.

I just sit on the edge of the table and ping my bow's string as I wait for them to line up.

It takes a few minutes and lots of confused expressions from the changelings, which are mostly directed at me where more are arriving as the line goes out of the room. Chrysalis gives me the okay and I pop out the first three hearts surprising the changelings at the front.

Tentatively the first changeling pokes a heart like Chrysalis did. With a feminine yelp, it glows and flows into her hoof before she lets out girlish burp.

"Excuse me..." she says, but she has a big smile on her face, I also notice half her holes are gone as well.

"What?"

"It can create love?"

"Oh they look tasty..."

Are just some of the things I hear the changelings still in line comment making me chuckle and create another three hearts.

It takes an hour to feed about five-hundred of them before I get tired. The ones I couldn't feed were disappointed but I told them I just need to rest for a bit.

Chrysalis is sitting beside me with a thoughtful expression.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I ask her.

"What's a penny?" she asks back.

"It's a copper coin from my world. I was just saying what's on your mind," I reply.

She sighs and looks at the changelings who are talking to each other excitedly. "You're the first being who's shown us kindness in a long while, despite our less than hospitable actions when we found you," she tells me.

"Hey, you do what you must to protect those you care for. While not happy about it, I can't fault you for doing what you had to. I'm just glad it worked out in the end and I can help," I reply and feel my energy slowly returning, must be the Mp5 mechanic of the game recharging my energy.

She smiles and after a few minutes I feel good enough to continue.

Chapter 6: Settling in

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Godly
Chapter 6: Settling in

After feeding every changeling here, which took three more hours, Chrysalis then escorts me to an empty room with just a moss bed in it. I've also noticed there's no doors to any of the rooms here.

"This shall be your room from now on. If you would like anything for it, just ask and we shall make it for you," she tells me happily as she also now looks well fed and no longer in the malnourished state she was in.

"Thanks. I might want to have some furniture made later, but right now it's fine," I reply still as Cupid and turn to her. "So, what do you do for fun around here?" I ask her with a smile.

"We don't really have anything to entertain ourselves with, our time and resources are spent just surviving and not wasting energy... now that you're here helping us, I'm not sure what to do now..." she replies.

"Maybe I can tell you a few things from my world and you could replicate them here? Wouldn't hurt to try at least," I tell her and yawn.

"Alright, I am interested in what your world and people are like. But for now rest, you have already done so much for my Hive and I would prefer you get some rest before we plan or do anything," she replies and tells me.

I smile and nodded. "Okay, I could use a nap. That took more outta me than I thought," I say and head into the room and onto the mossy bed where Chrysalis then takes her leave.

After a few minutes just thinking what life would be like here, I wrap my wings around me like a blanket and drift off to sleep.

I wake up with a yawn after spending the night practising with more gods during my sleep, and fortunately still no sign of Luna trying to get in.

I sit up and stretch my little arms and blink my eyes open. Only to see a little changeling staring at me from the foot of my mossy bed.

"Can I help you?" I ask it.

"The Queen has tasked me with taking you to her once you awoke. When you are ready, I will lead you to her," he tells me in a deep tone.

"Alright, just give me a couple of minutes to fully wake up," I reply and yawn again.

After a minute or two to fully wake up, I change into Bacchus and start munching on some pork and a tiny bit of wine to wash it down with. I really need to find something else to eat, while this is damn tasty, it's getting boring eating the same thing over and over again... I really miss chocolate, fish and chips, and other things.

The changeling just stares at me in surprise. "You eat meat?" he asks me.

"Meat, fruit, veg, and other things. Is it that surprising?" I reply and ask as I change back into Cupid.

"Well most races are herbivores, only three I know of can eat meat," he replies.

I walk over to him and smile. "Well, I'm good to go now," I tell him getting a nod from him.

"Then please follow me," he replies and heads out the open doorway.

"Is it possible to get a door for my room?" I ask as we head into the dark tunnels.

"A door? Why would you need a door?" he asks confused.

"For privacy? It's a bit creepy that others can just watch me sleep as they pass by," I reply.

"Very well, you can ask the Queen when we meet her," he says and I just look at everything that we pass.

The place looks nice with the glowing plants lighting up most areas, but there's hardly anything here in terms of crafted decor. Just little beds in most chambers, some still with curled up changelings snoozing on them.

After a long walk through the tunnels, we arrive at a room with a smooth black makeshift looking desk that I can barely look over with instead of paper, it has thin black rectangle plates with strange writing carved into them. To the left is what seems to be slots in the wall with more plates sticking out of them like a bookshelf. To the right is a couple of black bottles on a small table.

Other than those nothing else is in here.

Behind the desk sits Chrysalis with a faint smile on her face as she looks over the thin black plates.

"Hello, Carl. I hope you are rested enough to continue making more of those hearts for us?" she asks and looks up at me.

"More? How often do you need to eat love?" I ask her.

"Not often, we do if we use our shape shifting and magic as that burns off our energy. But we can also convert excess into a gel that we can store for later," she tells me.

"Oh so you want me to help you stockpile extra love just in case I can't make some hearts at the time?" I ask and flap my wings awkwardly to jump onto the desk.

"Yes, while we only need a little to survive, we'll need more if we wish to use our magic frequently again, and with your help, we can do so," she replies.

"Alright, so how do you make this gel stuff?" I ask as I sit down and swing my legs off the side of her desk.

"Any changeling can make it by absorbing love and then convert it into gel within a sac next to our stomach. We then regurgitate it into a pod for later use," she tells me.

I scrunch up my face at the thought of barfing it up. "Okay... So when do you want to do this?" I ask her.

"Whenever you are ready, I must remain here to sort out my scouts latest reports," she replies and I watch as she chisels some more of those strange letters onto the plate in front of her.

"What does that say? I can't read it..." I ask her while looking at the strange lettering.

"I'm not surprised, not many other races can remember our language," she tells me.

"Can you teach me later?" I ask and jump off the desk.

"Certainly, but for now I must sort out a potential problem we have," she replies and continues to chisel away.

"Fair enough, so where do I need to go?" I ask her.

"Sheldon here will escort you," she tells me.

"Please follow me and we can get started," the changeling who brought me here tells me.

He leaves the room and I follow behind him. "See ya later, Chrysalis!" I call back to her getting a hum in acknowledgement.

It's been two weeks now since I was taken into the Jade Hive, and with my help, all one-thousand and twenty-seven changelings are fully fed and have no holes in their legs, they also don't look thin anymore. I've even filled a large cavern they dug out with water using He Bo's power so we got both drinking and bathing water.

The ponies they had captive have been released near the closest village with some water. Chrysalis has also made sure they won't remember anything about us with her magic.

Chrysalis has also taken a liking to my ability to turn into so many different beings and has tried changing into them as well, while she was able to get their appearance (although at different sizes due to that she can't add or remove her mass) she can't use any of their godly powers. I found it strange that they can essentially change gender whenever they want, but only Chrysalis can reproduce due to her being a Queen. Kinda like the Queens of ants and bees.

I've been talking to her when I'm not making hearts for the Hive, which is now overflowing with love that they had to make a bigger storage room just to stockpile the gel like liquid they make in excess. She's told me much about how the changelings used to walk among the other races without disguises, that's until Celestia and Luna ascended and spread rumours that they will eventually suck the love out of them.

That caused the other races to get paranoid as well and in their fear, chased off the changelings. Cadenza and Chrysalis were actually friends decades ago until she and her mother were chased away by the Princesses. Unfortunately, Chrysalis' mother Vespula died of starvation after they set up this hive about ninety years ago.

And I've been told that starving to death as a changeling is horrifying. They don't just die, they shrivel up into a withered husk and break apart after a few hours. I find it ironic that what the Princesses said about the changelings turning others into husks is a lie when it's the other way around that's true. Just makes me want to slap Celestia if I ever see her again.

I've also been staying as Khepri most of the time as Chrysalis said I actually look good as him. Though I do turn into human gods when I need the use of hands.

I've also been telling Chrysalis over the two weeks about my home and people, she's fascinated by our technology and games, as well as our culture and architecture. Kinda makes me wish I brought my Nintendo 3DS with me. She's also started teaching me how to read the changeling language, and I've found out I need to learn the pony's written language as well.

The changelings, now at full strength since they're fully fed, have been sneaking into pony towns and villages to take some fruits and vegetables for me. I used the power of Terra, the earth mother, a woman who has a large build and has pale coloured skin with purple coloured rock like armour with green trimmings covering her forearms like gauntlets and thick boots up to her knees. But her thighs are bare along with her abdomen, and her upper arms have small stone plates of armour on them. The small bikini like stone chestplate also shows a lot of cleavage but has pauldrons on her shoulders as well.

She also has long hair that flows down to her ass while the colours are purple and greens. And to finish it off, she has vines going down the sides of her thighs and waist which has a cyan coloured belt with a green to yellow loincloth on the front.

With her power, I made some land above the Hive fertile with rich soil to plant seeds, then using He Bo to water them. So now I have a vegetable garden to eat from, and the changelings are taking turns to cultivate them. But until they grow, I have to settle from what they take from the ponies.

Chrysalis has also told me of that problem she has after a couple of days, turns out there are bore worms in the area, a large three metre long and three feet wide worm that can tunnel through rock and dirt. So far none have attacked us, but she's worried they might soon find the Hive.

I'm currently Vulcan, the Roman Smith of the Gods. A bald bronze coloured skin man with a dark ginger beard and moustache wearing a fancy black and gold apron, and a one legged pair of dark grey trousers and black right boot as my left leg is golden-bronze coloured and mechanical all the way up to my hip. My right forearm is also the same colour and mechanical.

I have a furnace with two chimney like stacks on my back and my weapon is a large golden bronze hammer with a thick leather grip on the bottom half of the pole.

I'm in a new room they dug out since I wanted to try making a forge. The changelings have a lot of metal and gems due to all the tunnels and rooms they dig out, and it's all just sitting in a dirty pile on the surface unused as they and no other race seems to have any need for the metal. No race has yet to discover blacksmithing on this world that the changelings here know of since the ponies make everything out of crystal as they can mould it with their magic while the other races use wood, stone, plant based cloth, crudely woven rope, and even bones to fashion their tools, equipment, or buildings.

Then again the last time Chrysalis has heard from the other races has been a good fifty or more years.

As Vulcan, I have an in-depth knowledge of blacksmithing and how a forge works. I've been building my new forge over the last four days, while refusing to tell Chrysalis what its for until it's done, and so far I have a basic furnace to smelt metals and for now a stone anvil that Chrysalis used her magic and resin on to make it more durable. But the first thing I make will be a proper forge and anvil.

I stand by the small furnace as the first three ingots are being made in rather nicely cut stone moulds, also reinforced by Chrysalis' magic.

"Will you now tell me what is the purpose of this forge?" Chrysalis asks me with a hint of frustration.

I smile and finally tell her. "For metalworking to forge things like weapons, armour, like the ones you've seen on my other gods, tools like my hammer here, utensils, and appliances. Though that last one might take a long while to get going. Here I'll make some armour and weapons for your guards and soldiers, and I can use my godly power to even give them certain traits," I explain in a gruff voice. I'm gonna look forward to making swords and spears with elemental traits to them. I wonder if I can replicate Zeus' lightning bolts? But for now I'll just make some basic stuff.

"I noticed in the Crystal Empire that everything was made from either crystal or wood with magic, not a single bit of metal to be found anywhere. So if no one else really knows how to use a forge or metalwork, then you'll be the first on this world to have forged metal. Once I get this forge fully built, I'll have changelings learn how to smith for themselves," I then tell her.

"What need do we have for weapons? Our magic is strong and our venom potent. As for armour, we have our chitin to protect us," she tells me confused.

"You told me the walls are similar to your chitin correct?" I ask her and walk over to the back wall.

"Yes, it's even harder than our chitin," she tells me.

I raise my hammer and with all my might, I swing it into the wall causing a deep crater where cracks form along the whole wall as chunks of the black rock fall off.

She gawks at the wall in both fear and awe.

"I can make armour that could withstand that to an extent, much better than your chitin ever could... no offence of course. I can also make weapons that could slice through your chitin like butter," I say and walk back over to the forge. Hmmm, still needs a few minutes.

After pumping the makeshift bellows for a few seconds to keep the temperature up, I look back to see her still gawking at the damage.

"Sorry about that, I guess I wasn't thinking properly..." I apologise for the damage sheepishly.

"Again I thank you for not retaliating when we first met..." she says emotionlessly.

"Ah, that's all water under the bridge remember, Chryssi?" I tell her with the nickname I gave her.

She huffs and keeps her distance as the heat of the forge makes her uncomfortable.

"So what do you plan to make first?" she asks me coming out of her stupor.

"First, I have to sort through the ore and make a stockpile of ingots. Then I plan to make a few suits of armour and some swords and spears just to start with," I reply and grin as the ingots are ready to be cooled.

Chrysalis just watches as I grab the very hot moulds with my metallic hand and start processing them. I'm looking forward to start forging, feels like a profession system in an RPG or MMO.

"This will probably take me a few days to make enough ingots to get started, would you be kind enough as to bring me something to eat? A salad sounds good right now," I ask her politely.

"Very well, would you like some water as well?" she asks me.

"That would be nice thank you," I reply and start filling the next set of moulds with iron ore.

One week later.

I've spent all my time over the last week just making ingots and made about ten practise swords which the three-hundred soldiers and guards of the Hive have begun practising with, they're dull and blunt but leave a nasty sting or minor crack in their chitin when hit.

I grin as I hammer the heated iron of the first spear head I'm making, sparks fly off with each strike as a couple of changelings named Yu and Seth watch with rapt attention.

They both suddenly go wide eyed and Yu runs over to me.

"Carl! Scouts have just reported that there're bore worms heading for the Hive!" she tells me with slight panic.

I stop hammering and cool off the half finished spear head.

"What? How long until they get here?" I ask, only for the ground to start trembling and screams echo throughout the tunnels.

"Oh they're here now!" she replies as Seth runs out into the tunnels.

I change god to Khepri and follow him out, after a minute the wall to the left collapses as a large tan coloured worm with razor sharp looking teeth rams straight into Seth who screams as the teeth pierce his chitin and the worm starts grinding said teeth to tear into him.

I growl and use my strong legs to launch myself into the worm and ram my three large horns into its side, it lets Seth go and screeches as it tries to dislodge me.

I wrap my front legs around it and start twisting my head in every direction, making my horns dig deeper and its orange coloured blood to spill onto my head. But I don't care as I yank my head up and tear out a good chunk of its side and it collapses onto the tunnel floor.

I shake my head to get rid of most of the gore on me before changing into Cupid and making some hearts. Yu quickly absorbs them and before I could say anything, she kisses Seth and I barely see pink gel coming out of her mouth and into his.

I look at his wounds to see his right wing has been torn off and a few chunks of his chitin around the joint is missing. Green blood is oozing out of the wound which is slowly closing as the healing infused love he was just force fed kicks in and does its thing.

"Take him somewhere safe so he can recover, I'm going hunting," I tell Yu who nodded and levitates Seth onto her back and heads off down the tunnel.

Another tremor reverberates through the Hive and more screams echo throughout the tunnels.

I change back into Khepri and head down to the main social chamber area to find two worms chasing some changelings while a third is eating the lower half of a changeling while the other half is on the ground with a frozen expression of fear and pain.

I fly over to the two chasing the changelings and land on one, impaling it with my back and middle legs while my front two lunge out and impale the other one.

They both screech and struggle to try and get me off, but with a roar, I tear the one on my front legs in half while the one on my back legs has its left side gouged out and its innards spill out.

I quickly fly over to the third one and tackle it onto its back. It spits out the chewed up lower half and tries to bite my face off, only for my forehead horn to pierce through its mouth and out the back of its head.

After I make sure its not moving, I pull my head out of its mouth and then proceed to tear the worm apart.

Once done, I don't feel anymore tremors, and after making sure no one else was hurt or killed, Chrysalis flies in dragging another dead worm with her magic, which is covered in holes and scorch marks.

"WHERE ARE THEY!?" she screams in rage and spots me and the dead worms, along with the ripped in half changeling.

Her eyes widen and she flies over and collapses next to the front half of the body.

"Not again..." she quietly says and starts crying while cradling the body.

I frown as there's nothing I can do to cheer her up. If I knew how to use one of the underworld gods to let her just say goodbye to their soul, I would. But I don't know how their powers work yet and I'm not going to risk trying right now.

It takes Chrysalis a good half hour to calm down enough to do damage assessment, four changelings died in the worms attack, and another three including Seth were wounded.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to track the worms tunnels back to their nest to wipe them out. Before the changelings could only flee or try to remain hidden due to their weakened state, but now with their magic back to full strength, they were able to kill the other seven that attacked along with the four I killed.

I watched as Chrysalis did a changeling burial for the four dead changelings by cocooning them in pods and draining the love and energy they still had until they shrivelled up and turned to dust. She then took the cocoons to the surface and released the dust to the wind, all the while tears streamed down her face.

She really cares for each and every changeling in the Hive, which is reasonable as they're all either siblings, or her own children.

Once the burial was over, I promised to get the weapons and armour made asap and try to find the worms nest somehow.

Three months and one week later.

Time just flies by as I get more and more comfortable living here. Hard to believe it's been four months since I arrived in the Hive.

I've learnt to fly on the surface using Thanatos, the hand of death and Cupid, even as the goddess Jing Wei, the oath keeper. Though I have crashed a good amount of times while learning. I've even learnt nearly the basics of all of the gods and goddesses I have access to, even a couple of new gods that weren't playable before I left Earth. Though I'm still not comfortable testing out the power of the underworld gods just yet.

I now have a proper anvil and forge so I've gotten fifty swords and spears made as well as ten suits of plate armour made. I decided to go with the old English knights style for the weapons and armour. So now Chrysalis' personal guard are outfitted with the new gear and they love it, I've got some changelings asking me already to teach them how to smith.

I've been spending more and more time with Chrysalis whenever I get the chance. She's fun to hangout with once you get past her short temper. She's told me some things she knows about this world and the other races which include; Gryphons, Minotaurs, Diamond Dogs, Dragons, Zebras, Breezies, Demons, Elk, and Centaurs, who look more like they have a bulkier horse like body compared to ponies, a minotaur torso and a goat head with varying horn styles than the human hybrids I know.

I now understand most of the changeling written language as well as some more of the pony written language thanks to her tutelage.

The Hive is more alive than it ever has been according to Chrysalis. I've introduced; board games, darts, pool tables -crudely made ones though-, cards, and many other games and activities from my world that nobody's bored anymore, game night is a hell of a lot of fun now that we have a proper currency we've been making from the gold we dig up. I've decided to call the coins Gil, like from the final fantasy games. I was very happy to show them as they looked so dull and lifeless just trying to survive before.

Right now I'm Khepri and laying on my legs in the small garden I've had grown with a few flowers and bushes planted around, I come here when I need to relax or vent off some stress after having an argument with Chrysalis or some other changeling.

Chrysalis is laying right next to me looking up at the moon like she's been doing for the last two weeks, ever since she found out I've been doing this she tried it and found it so relaxing she just joins me whenever she can. We just chat and discuss what can be done for the future of the Hive.

"Carl?" she says getting my attention.

"Hmm?" I mumble in reply as I just bask in the silence, cold night air, and friendly company.

"In these past few months, you've done so much for my Hive and asked for so little in return... if it wasn't for you, we may not have survived much longer. Thank you, for everything," she tells me and I notice tears forming in her eyes.

It's very rare I see her cry, this will be the fourth time now. The first was when the worms attacked. Second was when she learned that a few changelings were chased from a pony town after being discovered, only to be mauled by manticores when they weren't paying attention to their surroundings on the way back.

The third time is when I made a portal back to the Crystal Empire to see if I could make one at this distance, which I can. She cried when she saw Cadenza who also blubbered like a baby as they hugged each other for what felt like hours. The crystal guards weren't that worried and thankfully, the Princesses weren't there either.

Flashback: Two months ago.

After finishing the fifth set of armour, I decide to take a break from blacksmithing and change into Khepri before heading out to the cafeteria for some lunch. After eating a mixed salad and some water, I head out to find Chrysalis.

I ask a few changelings where I could find her and after a few minutes of following their directions, I find her in her room just laying on her bed with her eyes closed. She told me once that she's not sleeping, but going through a lot of information her drones and scouts send her and she relays what needs to be done in return to them.

"Hello, Carl," she says without moving to look at me.

"Good afternoon, Chryssi. How's everything going?" I ask her and lay down next to her bed.

"Everything is going perfectly. Our stores of love are full, everyling is fed, and the new games you introduced are keeping everyling happy and entertained. I honestly think we're as well as we can be for now," she replies and opens her right eye to glance at me. "So what brings you here?" she asks me.

"Just finished the fifth suit of armour and I'm taking a break. Although if you want, we can see if I can make a portal to the Crystal Empire now," I reply making her perk up.

"Yes, I am eager to see Cadence again," she replies smiling widely.

"Alright, but don't get your hopes up if the distance is just too great," I tell her and change into Janus.

After a few minutes weaving the portal and trying to connect to Amore's Throne Room, I make the connection and open the portal. I poke my head through and notice I'm behind the throne where Amore is sitting on it and talking to a pony.

I step through where Chrysalis hesitantly follows behind me.

"Hello, Amore," I greet the light red mare making her yelp cutely and turn around and look behind her throne while her guards tense up and point their crystal spears at me and Chrysalis.

"Sir Carl!?" she asks in confusion before smiling. "We thought we would nary see thou again," she replies and gets up as the guards relax.

"Yeah, sorry about that. But I've been preoccupied these last couple of months," I reply.

She walks up to me and gives me a quick hug which I carefully return. Once she lets go, she looks at Chrysalis. "And who is this? We have not seen a changeling in decades... thou look familiar..." Amore says looking Chrysalis over.

"It's good to see you again, Amore. It's me, Chrysalis," the changeling Queen replies with a smile.

"Chrysalis!? Oh we thought we would never see thee again! Look at thee, all grown up," Amore replies and gives her a big hug which Chrysalis happily returns. "Where is thine mother? How is she?" Amore asks eagerly, but her smile fades at Chrysalis' sombre expression.

"She died a few years after we were exiled... she knew we couldn't sustain two queens without a stable source of love, so she gave me what little she had left and died to prevent the rest of us from starving..." Chrysalis replies sadly.

"What?..." Amore asks stunned and saddened as well.

Chrysalis spends the next ten or so minutes explaining what happened after their exile and then how they found me.

"We see... It is fortuitous that Sir Carl found thee, or that thou found him. We art so sorry for not standing up for thee and thy mother so long ago... please forgive us," Amore says sadly as tears threaten to fall from her eyes.

"It wasn't your fault, it was Celestia and Luna who drove us away," Chrysalis replies and hugs Amore who returns it.

The Throne Room doors open up and Cadenza walks in and looks confused at what's going on before her eyes widen and she gasps. "CHRYSALIS!" she yells after recognising her and flies over and tackles both Chrysalis and Amore to the floor joining in on the hug.

"Cadence!" Chrysalis replies and hugs her back. They both start sobbing and just hug each other as I just float beside them awkwardly.

After a while they let go and stand back up.

"How did thou get here!?" Cadenza demands happily as she smiles at Chrysalis.

"Carl here opened a portal from my Hive," she replies and wipes her eyes.

"Sir Carl?" she says and looks at me and smiles wider. "Sir Carl! Oh we art glad to see thou art well. We were worried when thou did not visit in the last months, we thought thou hast forgotten us," she says and rears up to hug me which I return.

"As I told your mother, I've been busy lately," I reply.

She let's go and grins at us. "Come, we wish to know all that hast transpired since we last saw thee!" she says and starts pulling me and Chrysalis with her magic, making Amore giggle as we leave the Throne Room.

Cadenza, who told me to call her Cadence instead as that's what her friends call her, showed us to her chambers so I could make a portal there instead from now on, just in case I do make one in the Throne Room and the Princesses are there. Not that I would mind as I still owe Celestia a hard slap to the face.

Since then I've made portals in the afternoon every few days to let Cadence and Chrysalis catch up and do girly things. I only tagged along to play the part of bodyguard for Chrysalis or to talk to Amore who still thanks me for saving her and her empire and even offered to make a statue of me, which I declined. Although Cadence is now very angry at the Princesses for what they've put Chrysalis through all these years, but she's very happy that I've helped her childhood friend recover and prosper.

I watch Chrysalis shed a few tears, to which I raise my right foremost leg and gently wipe her tears away.

"As I said many times, I'm happy to help. You gave me a home, a place I can just relax and have fun. You're my friend as well as the others in the Hive, I'll do anything I can to make sure you all are safe and happy," I reply making her tears spill faster.

She lunges at me, making me roll over onto my back as my six legs wrap around her to stop her from falling off.

"Despite how strange and infuriating you can be sometimes... You've been the best thing to ever happen to us... to me," she tells me and without warning, gently kisses me.

My eyes widen as I remain frozen. She pulls back after a few seconds and looks into my stunned eyes.

"Would you do me the honour of being my mate?" she asks me with hopeful eyes.

I know she's teased me in the past, but I had no idea she actually liked me like this...

Flashback: Two weeks and four days ago.

I yawn as I walk towards the bath house, where everyone goes to relax in a nice warm bath. I've developed a boiler over the course of two weeks using Vulcan's knowledge that heats all ten baths around it to a comfortable temperature, fuelled by wood taken from the forest near the Equestrian border or coal we dig up where the smoke is vented out by a chimney that goes up to the surface. Although the water needs to be changed manually as there's no plumbing just yet.

I check the baths only to find all of them are taken and the last one has Chrysalis in it.

I raise an eyebrow at the sight of her, her hair is plastered to the left side of her face covering her eye. She's using a bucket made of resin to levitate water over herself to wash her hair. I just stare dumbly as a strange thought comes to mind. 'Why do I find that attractive?'

She sighs and shakes her head spraying water everywhere, she then spots me by the door as her eyes light up and she smiles at me.

"Carl, what a pleasant surprise. Are you here to bathe as well?" she asks me and levitates a mossy sponge over to polish her chitin, starting with her right foreleg.

"I was, but it seems all the baths are taken at the moment," I reply and chuckle. "Guess I'll wait for one to be free," I say and start heading back.

"Wait!" she yells getting my attention again. "You can just share mine, I could use a hoof scrubbing my back," she tells me and I give her a deadpan look.

"You know you can reach your back just fine," I tell her making her groan and then sigh.

"Just get your flank in here now, your Queen demands it," she tells me playfully.

I've lost my shyness of being naked around the changelings as they just don't care being naked themselves all the time, and I've come to realise I'm always naked as Khepri. I've checked my goods as Khepri as well and I gotta say, my junk is both creepy and cool.

I sigh and walk in, all the doorways have been widened to allow me to go anywhere as Khepri without having to keep changing gods.

I slowly lower myself into the bath and sigh as the hot water rises up and seeps into my carapace, relaxing my muscles. Chrysalis walks over and before I can say anything, she starts rubbing the mossy sponge over my shell with her hoof and not her magic.

'Damn this feels nice...' I think to myself as the sponge glides over me. I can feel it get between the plates clearing out any dirt stuck there.

"I'm actually jealous of your colourisation, makes you appear less threatening and more regal. I've never seen any being with gold engraved into their flesh or shell," she says and rinses out the sponge before continuing.

"I think black and green suits you, it's a nice colour combination and the oily affect your green shell has is appealing," I tell her and shudder as she prise open the right plate on my back with her magic to wash my abdomen underneath.

I shiver from the pleasing contact and sigh, now completely limp and relaxed.

She spends the next ten minutes scrubbing me down and once I'm squeaky clean, she gets me to change into Hercules (Which I'm still squeaky clean) and strip out of my clothes before using my hands to scrub her down. Her chitin isn't that hard, as it gives under my touch. But she can harden it before a fight to make herself more durable. I avoided her privates and wings, but the rest of her is now shiny enough that I can see my reflection on her chitin.

"Thank you, Carl,” she says and nuzzles my chest for a second before stepping out of the bath and uses her magic to dry herself off. I follow her out and change into Sol, Norse goddess of the Sun. With my body now the very flames of a sun, and long flaming hair, the water on me evaporates entirely and I change back to Khepri.

Chrysalis smiles at me and nodded towards the door. "Let's go. I don't want to miss poker night. Sheldon still owes me fifty Gil from last time," she tells me making me chuckle as I follow her out.

End Flashback

I guess nuzzling meant more than I thought as she's done that a lot lately. I lower my right front leg and caress her cheek making her nuzzle it gently. "We've only known each other for four months, are you sure you want me? You haven't even bought me dinner or taken me out on a date yet," I reply with a chuckle.

If I'm being honest with myself, I've been having conflicting feelings for her for the last month. And her not being human at first made me very confused with myself, but over time, I saw less of what she is and more of who she is. She's given me anything I asked for if she could provide it, she's kept me company everyday when she wasn't busy running the Hive, she listened to any problems I had as I did for her. She's kind and compassionate to those she cares for...

I realise now that I've had a crush on her for a while, and she has just admitted to loving me in return.

"What does buying you food have to do with taking you as my mate? And what does the date have to do with it?" she asks genuinely confused.

I chuckle and rub my horn with hers softly. "I'll explain human dating later. But for now, I would be honoured to be your mate," I tell her and she smiles widely and snuggles into my golden underbelly where I keep my legs hugging her to me as a makeshift blanket.

"Thank you," she says and slowly falls asleep, still with her smile. It doesn't take long for me to join her.

"Wake up!" I hear Chrysalis yell at me as she thumps my chest.

"Hmm?" I mumble as I wake up.

"GET UP! The equestrians are coming!" she tells me and my eyes shoot open.

Now wide awake, I let go of her and she flies off me as I roll over back onto my legs.

"Where!?" I ask and look around and notice changeling guards surrounding us wearing the armour sets I made.

She points over towards Equestria where I barely see small dots slowly coming towards us on the horizon.

"What are they doing here?" I wonder out loud and frown.

"I've just been told by our scouts watching the nearest pony town that they heard rumours among the ponies of vegetation growing with ponies living here along with smoke, most likely from your forge," she tells me.

So, they're either sending an investigating unit, or an armed force.

"Get back into the Hive and quench the forge, I'll relight it later. I'll stay here and see what they're here for," I tell her and then change into the Roman god called Sylvanus, Keeper of the wild.

I turn into an old man wearing a leafy toga with large deer like antlers attached to the sides of a circlet around my head and the ground beneath me rumbles before a sapling emerges and grows into a large tree underneath me named Grover with a humanoid shape. His eyes open as I sit atop him and a few unintelligible grunts come from him, which to others don't sound like words, but to me, I understand him completely.

"Hmmm?" he asks waiting for my reply.

"Grover! Stand still and act like a tree, I want to listen in on the ponies about to arrive," I tell him getting him to nod in reply.

"Mmmookkeeyy," he says slowly and strands more upright with his arms next to his sides just touching the ground, looking like a thick trunk.

I hide in the leafy bush on his left shoulder as Chrysalis and her guards head down into the Hive and disguise the entrance with magic. I see the forge's vent stop smoking and the hole disappearing as well.

Grover and I wait for a good half hour before six pegasi ponies arrive wearing thin light blue crystal armour with bits of cloth underneath, likely to let them fly without weight restricting their speed.

"I don't believe it... there really are plants growing here..." one of them says and looks at the flower bed next to him.

One of them looks at Grover with a frown and a grimace. "Is it me or does that tree have a face?" he asks his companions.

They all look and one of them shrugs. "Looks like it, but it's just a tree. Probably looks weird due to growing out here," he says and continues to look around.

Grover barely contains a growl and I pat him on the shoulder.

"There's a small crop field over there," one of them says pointing to my vegetable garden. "Where are the ponies living here though?" he then asks confused.

"There are hoof tracks so somepony was here recently," the smallest of them says and examines the hoof prints in the grass. "Wait... these aren't pony hooves..." he says and then goes wide eyed. "These are changeling hoof prints!" he says and looks back to the others.

"We need to report back to the Princesses immediately!" the one with the more decorated armour says but before they could fly away, I get Grover to act.

"STOP THEM, GROVER!" I order him.

The ponies all turn to us and Grover roars out as he throws out his right hand which is attached to vines.

Chapter 7: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 1

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Chapter 7: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 1

Grover's right hand latches onto the leader and pulls him towards us, but unlike the game where he would let go, he stuffs the pony into his chest cavity using it like a cage.

He then throws a large seed from his left hand which explodes on contact at the hooves of two of the ponies. Vines grow out and ensnare them in place, making them unable to move.

The other three spread their wings to take off but Grover releases green wisps of energy that fly into and affect all six of them, sapping their strength making them too tired and weak to fly.

I emerge from his leaves and toss a large seed as well, ensnaring two of them leaving the last one to try and run, only to trip over.

Chrysalis emerges and uses her magic to levitate the pony into the air and then looks at me with confusion.

"Carl? What is going on?" she asks me.

"They were going to report to the Princesses after discovering changeling tracks on the ground. I can't let them do that as it'll bring Celestia here with a possible army," I reply and pat Grover getting a pleased chuckle from him. "But thanks to Grover, we have some time to prepare."

"But what will we do? There's around five-thousand Equestrians in their guard... We only have five-hundred that can fight at best," she says getting worried for the safety of her Hive.

I smirk as I think of an idea. "Then I'll make an army," I reply getting her to look confused again. "First, let's get these guys into a holding cell, I'd like to have a word with this one," I tell her and pat the front of Grover's chest where the struggling pony is.

I change back into Khepri where Chrysalis takes the leader in her magic and Grover turns into a normal tree. We take all the ponies down below and place all but the leader into pods and place them into an induced dreamless sleep. I asked why dreamless and Chrysalis told me it's to prevent Luna from finding them, which makes sense.

We have the leader glued down to a chair with some changeling resin, the same stuff they cover their walls with, and I sit in front of him on my legs. Chrysalis is glaring at the pony while the pony is glaring right back.

"So... what brings you to this neck of the woods?" I ask him in a calm and friendly tone. He remains silent and hardens his glare. "Do you think that you're being defiant right now? I could literally look around in your head and just find the information myself... but that tends to leave the individual a vegetable incapable of coherent thought again," I tell him.

I dunno if I can actually do that, but he doesn't know.

That cracks his stoic mask, but remains silent. I decide to add nightmare fuel to the interrogation as fear can be a powerful self preservation instinct.

I change to the Hindu god, Bakasura, Devourer of Souls. I've only tried this god once in my sleep and I hate how my torso feels like a giant mouth with a bottomless pit inside and an insatiable hunger that can never be satisfied. The red tattered clothing I'm wearing is also made from the skin of humans which makes me VERY uncomfortable. My skin is a light blue and bone spikes are coming out of my shoulders.

His eyes widen in fear at my grotesque form as the teeth on my torso twitch and I hold the bone blade above my right wrist under his chin, the pointy tip piercing his skin slightly.

"I could always use a snack once you're brain dead," I tell him in a gravelly tone that sounds like I'm already chewing on something.

"What in Tartarus are you!?" he yells and tries to back away, only to find the chair won't even move.

Is that his herbivore instincts trying to get him to flee? I chuckle and let my mouth torso open and he gets a good look at the dripping cavity within. He can't help but dry-heave as he tries not to throw up.

"Me? Celestia already knows of me when she tried to kill me back at the Crystal Empire unprovoked," I tell him and to add to the creepy factor, my bottom jaw splits in the middle and my long tongue slithers out and I lick him from his jaw then across his cheek. "Hmmm, you need some seasoning before I even think of cooking you," I tell him and lick my lips. Though he actually tasted nasty with dried sweat and I'm sure I got fur in my mouth now.

I hear liquid spilling and I look down to see he pissed himself.

I quickly turn back into Khepri and sit back down in front of him.

"Though that doesn't have to happen. All you need to do is just tell us why you're here and what you were ordered to do," I tell him calmly like I didn't just scar him for life.

"W-W-We were told to i-investigate p-possible sightings of p-p-ponies living in the b-b-badlands and escort them to E-Equestria for t-their safety! N-N-Nothing should be able t-to grow or live out h-here!" he replies quickly in panic. "P-P-Please don't eat me! I have foals waiting back home!" he then says and breaks down crying.

Every changeling in the room just stares at the bawling pony and now I feel like shit scaring the crap out of him like I did.

I sigh and tap his thigh gently with a leg making him jump and look at me. "I'm not going to eat you, and I apologise for scaring you like I did. I just wanted to know what you would do to my home and friends living here. We'll let you go within a few days. You'll be asleep for the entire time and we'll even feed you a nice big meal before letting you go," I tell him making him go from a panicked mess to confused.

"What?" he asks dumbly.

"I had no intention of harming you. I just don't want your Princesses laying siege to my home, and letting you escape would most likely lead to that. I honestly should just keep you all here to protect my home, but your Princesses would get suspicious if you don't return. So as a show of good faith, we'll let you go home once my preparations are complete," I reply.

He still looks confused but before he can reply, a changeling sneaks up behind him and bites his neck lightly and injects him with venom. He yelps but then slurs as he passes out cold.

"Well, at least we have some information," I say getting Chrysalis to look at me.

"Never use that form again. I don't think I'm going to sleep well tonight after seeing that..." she tells me.

"Don't worry, even I hate being Bakasura. Just feels wrong and I'm constantly hungry as him," I reply and shiver at the memory.

She nodded in reply and looks to another changeling who looks greener than usual. "Take him to a pod and keep him sedated and nourished for three days along with the others," she tells him and he bows as he levitates the pony out of the room.

"Now then," I say getting their attention. "I need to make a keep and an army," I say and head back up to the surface.

Chrysalis and her guards follow me back up and I switch to Geb. I stomp forward and place my hands on the ground and focus my energy into the earth below me.

With a grunt I start shifting the stone below around the Hive's diameter and raise the stone up making a ten foot tall and three foot thick wall around the area while leaving four archways in each direction to build gates at. It takes about eight minutes to raise and nearly all of my energy to do.

"Start adding your resin to the wall to increase it's durability, if we get around six-hundred changelings on it it should be done within a day or two," I tell Chrysalis and sit down and rest to regain my energy. Raising that wall took more out of me than I thought.

"Alright..." she replies looking at the large area enclosed within the wall. I think we got at least a mile within the wall to build a keep and possibly a small town later.

Chrysalis heads back down and within a few minutes, changelings swarm out and get to work turning the wall black with their resin. After an hour with Chrysalis laying next to me as we discuss what the Keep is for, I feel better and start getting to work on building the keep.

'I can't just form a solid stone building like I did with the wall and the small hovel I made due to the Hive being right below us. I'll need to build it up piece by piece...' I change god to Janus and look to Chrysalis. "I will have to find a large source of stone and make a portal from there to here. We'll need to bring a lot of it back and turn them into bricks. We can then use more resin as mortar to bind the bricks together and build a keep," I say and I estimate it will take about four days to build a small basic keep with bare necessities.

"Why are you doing all this? We can just find a new place to live," she tells me with worry.

"And abandon all we've accomplished here? No, this is our home, your changelings live here and I've come to love this place and I won't surrender it to a paranoid, xenophobic horse who doesn't like anyone different!" I reply and create a portal in front of me to a point high above us in the sky.

I poke my head through and I have a nice view of the landscape. I spot what looks like a nice place at the base of a small mountain further into the Badlands and I pull my head back through. I close the portal and make a new one to the base of the mountain and float through.

Looking around, I see some nice looking grey stone along the side of the mountain and I call the changelings through.

It takes a few minutes to get one-hundred of them through and they begin cutting chunks out with their magic and levitating them through the large portal I'm keeping open, so I can't help with gathering or carrying it myself.

It takes about four hours to bring what I guess to be forty tons of stone through, even Chrysalis helped carry it through.

We take a break to get something to eat. Me from my veggie garden and the changelings from their love storage.

Once fed and rested, I change to Hercules and start laying the large heavy stone bricks into a square shape once the changelings roughly cut them to how I want them. I then start to stack the stone bricks into tidy groups since we won't be able to resin them today as the wall takes priority for now.

All in all, it takes the rest of the day carving up the stone into large bricks and the outline of the keep is completed. The entrance to the Hive will be in the back of the keep as we don't want any Equestrians getting inside. There will be a thick walled room for weapons and armour as well as a room for liquid love storage since the gel can also accelerate a changeling's natural healing due to it coming from Cupid's hearts.

The day draws to a close and the wall is about eighty percent covered in resin. I change back into Khepri and we all head down into the Hive to sleep, though some changelings remain up top as lookouts.

I'm about to open my room's door but Chrysalis uses her magic to close it.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asks me with a smile.

"To bed, we got a lot of work to do tomorrow," I reply.

"That we do, but you're coming to bed with me. You are my mate now are you not?" she tells me with an innocent smile.

I chuckle and rub the back of my head with my left front leg. "I guess so. I'm going to have to get used to that, been awhile since I last had a girlfriend," I reply. My last girlfriend was a gamer like me five years ago, but due to circumstances she had to move away with her parents and we had to break up. Damn near broke my heart, never could find another fun gamer girl to date after that. We kept in touch now and then but it just wasn't the same and we've slowly been talking less and less.

"Is your bed big enough to fit us both?" I ask her and gesture to my large body.

Her face goes blank telling me she forgot that little detail. I open my door and usher her inside. "Then we'll be using my bed," I tell her. Since I've become accustomed to being Khepri most of the time, I've had a bed of moss made big enough for me to lay on comfortably.

I yelp as Chrysalis levitates me easily and puts me down on my back on the bed. She flutters up and lays on top of me and carefully nuzzles my left cheek, making sure to avoid my spiky chin.

"Am I just your cuddle bug now?" I ask her, getting her to give me a mock glare.

"You know I hate that word," she tells me.

"And I used it in a non derogatory way. Back home, a cuddle bug is a way of saying someone who loves to cuddle," I reply and she huffs before leaning forward and gives me a timid kiss. Shame I can't manipulate my lips very well as Khepri.

"Well, I still don't like the word," she says and rests her head on my chest. I wrap my legs around her again getting her to smile and snuggle into me more. "It's been so long since I've had a willing mate," she says tiredly.

"Willing?" I ask in confusion.

"Only I can lay more changelings as my children have no reproductive organs. And since my mother died I had to keep our Hive alive, there's no 'male' changeling that can fertilise my eggs, I must lay with another race to reproduce. I can alter my eggs to accept their sperm and thus breed. My last willing mate was a crystal pony named Gem Cutter before we were chased away, he came with us and died of old age forty-eight years ago... He was the last one to breed with me and that's why there aren't any nymphs in the Hive," she tells me sadly.

"And if I wanted to breed now, I would have to snatch a male from somewhere and essentially force them to breed with me... and I hate the thought of doing so," she then says and goes quiet.

"I guess that doesn't matter anymore now does it?" I tell her and gently lift her head to look at me. "I might not be ready now, but let's give us some time to settle in together as a couple before thinking of... well... reproducing," I tell her getting a giggle from her.

"I can live with that for now. As long as you remain with us, I feel like we can get through anything," she says and sighs as she lays her head back down.

"Goodnight, Chryssi," I say as I gently massage her back with my legs getting a hum of content from her.

"Goodnight, my King," she replies.

The next day

I'm Hercules again as Chrysalis and I lift large bricks into place as changelings cough up their resin onto the bricks to glue them together. So far we're halfway done with the main outer wall, and soon we'll need wooden support beams and planks to get the flooring and ceiling made to get the second floor started.

"How many bricks we got left!?" I shout out as I place a brick into place.

"Twelve left!" a changeling replies.

"Guess we'll need to go get more. I need volunteers to bring back more stone!" I yell out and within seconds a hundred or so changelings gather around me.

I change into Janus again and open a portal to our new quarry and we all head through. Once they cut out more stone, I enlarge the portal and they start sending it through.

Once done, they cut the stone again into bricks and I begin my next task of making our army. I change god to Nu Wa, the Guardian of Heaven. I have long red hair and a jade coloured necklace. Instead of skin on my shoulders and hips, there are white reptilian scales, and on my forearms, chest, and abdomen, are white line patterns that resemble clouds.

Across my breasts is a long golden length of silk fabric leaving the underside of my breasts bare, it then wraps once across my stomach and then around my waist like a belt. On the belt part are four threads with blue and amber beads that attach to a jade plate on my left hip, which has a jade bottle connected to it by a bronze coloured strap.

On each upper arm I also have a length of golden silk wrapped around my biceps and drapes off for about a metre.

I shiver at the feeling of my legs merging into a white-silvery scaled snake tail with light grey under-scales and many fins along the spine of my tail. Five gems of amber, purple, yellow, blue, and green float around my left hand, each with a small swirl of energy in them.

"What are you doing?" Chrysalis asks me.

"Making our army," I reply and gather my energy and I raise my right hand. Three stone arms burst from the ground, followed by another three as three Chinese clay soldiers pull themselves out of the ground and stand in front of me.

Chrysalis gawks at them as they draw their stone swords and hold them to their chests. I smirk and order them to wait outside the wall. They march out and I begin making more, unlike the game these don't crumble after time passes but I've just found out I have a limit to how many I can create...

Standing outside the walls are exactly one-thousand clay soldiers standing vigil around the wall. Not as many as I was hoping I could make as when the one-thousandth was made I couldn't summon anymore. I even had to go far out of the area to make them and march them back as I was creating a large hole in the ground near the keep making them.

But at least when I changed back into Hercules, they remained animated, but they don't follow my orders and just stand there. So if we are attacked, I'll have to be Nu Wa, issue an order, then switch god.

"Even with your soldiers it won't be enough to match the Equestrians," Chrysalis says dejected.

"There are people who could help us," I tell her with hope.

"Who?" she asks me.

"Cadence and Amore. They wouldn't just sit by and let the Princesses attack us," I reply and change into Janus. "Stay here and help the others building the keep. I'll go have a word with Amore," I tell her, getting her to nod in reply and flutter off to help with the construction.

I look up and guess it's about six in the evening, so it must be early morning for the Empire right now. I then open a portal on the wall to Cadence's room and look inside. No one is here so I close the portal and open another on the Throne Room’s ceiling. I go wide eyed as both Equestrian Princesses are there talking to Amore while Cadence is talking to some maids. I grin and pick up a small rock and drop it on Celestia's head... hopefully, I had to close the portal before she could look up.

Looks like I'll have to wait a few hours for Cadence to go to her chambers. So I tell Chrysalis what happened and what I did making her giggle. For the next four hours I help with the keep and now it's ready for the second floor to be built, which means tomorrow I'm going to have to find a forest to cut down.

We head back down to my room and I try opening another portal to Cadence's room. I smile seeing her on her bed reading a book.

"Good afternoon, Cadence," I greet her making her yelp.

"Carl! How many times dost we have to tell thee not to do that!" she scolds me but smiles nonetheless.

"Sorry, my dear. But we actually have something important to discuss with you," I reply and let Chrysalis through first.

She walks up to Cadence and they both share a hug while I close the portal and change into Khepri before sitting beside the bed.

"Chryssi! Tis so good to see thee again. Now what's this important thing thou wishes to discuss?" she asks.

"The Princesses sent scouts to investigate rumours of ponies living in the Badlands... turns out someone mistook our Hive's forge smoke and the gardens as ponies settling down. We've detained the scouts but we'll eventually release them. In the meantime, we're building a keep above the hive. I've already got a ten foot tall wall up and we're almost halfway done with the keep. Our issue is that we don't have the forces to fight the Equestrians should they attack," I tell her with a sigh.

"I've made one thousand clay soldiers to defend us and we have about five-hundred drones, some armed with my new weapons and armour added to that... We were hoping that when the time comes, I can open a portal to hopefully get you and your mother to talk the Princesses down, or to help defend us if they refuse," I then add.

Cadence is just gawking at us with disbelief. "Our aunts wouldn't do such a thing... They've never attacked another nation without provocation, and even then they try to negotiate first," she replies.

"And you forget that it was them that chased us off. I wouldn't put it past them to attack us just to be rid of us," Chrysalis says with a frown.

"I hope we can settle this peacefully, because if I have to, I will use the sun to bombard their forces with solar flares, preventing Celestia from doing the same to us," I then say getting a worried look from Cadence.

"What if we just talk to them now? They're staying the night after our monthly get together," she says making me go wide eyed.

"They're still here!?" I ask her and get up quickly.

"Y-Yes, but they should be in bed now," she replies even more worried at my sudden movement.

"I want nothing to do with those alicorns," I tell her and calm myself down.

"My love, please settle down," Chrysalis says making Cadence gasp.

"Love?" she asks looking between us.

"I have taken Carl as my mate a few nights ago. But he insists on taking things slow for now," Chrysalis replies with a smile.

Cadence squeals and tackles Chrysalis in a hug which almost chokes her.

"Oh we art so happy thou hast found a mate again!" she continues to gush and smother Chrysalis.

My smile drops as I hear noise behind the bedroom door and I move myself in between the mares and the door.

The door is torn off its hinges as an angry looking Celestia and Luna glare inside and spot me. Amore is with them but looks both happy to see us and worried about the other alicorns. I just frown at them and spread my legs, ready to retaliate the moment they attack.

"Aunties!" Cadence yelps and lets go of Chrysalis.

"What is going on here!?" Celestia demands glaring at me and Chrysalis. "Why is there a changeling and... a beetle in here!?"

"At least you were polite about it. And I'm a scarab beetle to be specific," I mutter thinking she would just use insults.

"They're our friends, auntie," Cadence replies while using herself to shield Chrysalis.

"Friends? Thou art allowing a changeling to possibly drain thee?" Celestia asks her shocked.

"You know nothing about changelings do you?" I ask her in return.

She glares at me and I glare back. "Who or what art thou," she demands.

"Forgotten me already?" I ask and change to Hercules. "Is your hamster running yet?"

She goes wide eyed and Luna yelps before hiding behind Celestia.

"Seems you do remember me. Do you remember my name at least?" I ask and lean on my mace.

"Carl," Celestia says calmly. "What art thou doing with the changelings?" she asks me.

"Why do you care? You exiled them due to once again your paranoia. Did you even think of trying to learn about them?" I reply with a question of my own.

"We've learnt enough. We've seen one of their kind draining a pony till they died. I know they're a threat to our ponies if left unchecked," she tells me.

"Oh? I've been living with them for over four months, and I'm perfectly healthy and fine. I've even fed all of them without harm to myself," I tell her and Chrysalis walks beside me and glares at Celestia.

"Thou look familiar," Celestia says to Chrysalis.

"I would hope so. You injured my mother and chased us from the Crystal Empire, where my mother then died of starvation a few years later..." she replies with anger building in her tone and tears start forming in her eyes. "Do you know what it's like to have your mother dying in your hooves as she gives you the last of her energy before shrivelling into dust?" She then bares her fangs and her horn starts glowing.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE IN FEAR OF OTHERS FOR WHAT THEY MAY DO TO US BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPIDITY!?" she yells breathing heavily and barely containing her rage.

"We do not regret our actions, changeling. We will not allow thine kind to prey on our ponies again like the parasites thou are," Celestia says to her with a frown.

Chrysalis' left eye twitches before she snaps and fires a powerful blast of green magic at Celestia which surprisingly blasts her through the crystal wall behind her and knocking Luna away as Celestia hit her.

"FOR A HUNDRED YEARS WE'VE BARELY SURVIVED AND I HAD TO WATCH MY SIBLINGS AND CHILDREN DIE OVER AND OVER AGAIN!" She then screams in rage and fires another blast through the hole in the wall getting a scream of pain from Celestia as she's sent through another wall.

I quickly change to Janus and grab Chrysalis around her barrel before opening a portal below us to above my bed. We drop through and land on the bed as I close the portal where Chrysalis struggles against me.

"RELEASE ME! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" she yells still enraged.

I change to Khepri and clamp all six legs around her to hold her still, she continues to struggle but eventually breaks down into tears and sobs on my chest.

"Damn that *sob* alicorn to Tartarus!" she yells and weakly thumps on my chest with her hooves.

I let her vent her anger and after a few minutes she's just laying on me quietly.

"It'll be fine, you gave her a good thrashing. But I feel we'll have to pick up our pace tomorrow," I tell her making her sigh and look into my eyes.

"Thank you... for stopping me. I know I wouldn't have stopped until I killed her..." she says and lightly nuzzles me.

"Any time, Chryssi," I reply and return her nuzzle. "Let's get some sleep," I tell her making her nod in reply.

She snuggles deeper into my chest and fitfully goes to sleep. I just stare at her sadly, I haven’t seen her lose her cool like that before.

After carefully wiping her tears away, I just hold her firmly and go to sleep myself.

Chapter 8: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 2

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Godly
Chapter 8: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 2

I open my eyes to my training area and frown in thought. Celestia is hopefully quite injured, giving us a few more days to prepare.

I walk over to the fountain Ra usually sat at and just sit in front of the flowing water as my mind wanders. What else can I do to protect my home? To protect Chrysalis?

After a few hours my thoughts are interrupted as I can feel someone trying to enter my mind, and the only one I know capable of such a thing is Luna.

I allow her in and she appears ten feet away from me. "What do you want?" I ask her coldly, making her wince.

"We... we hast come to ask thou if... if thou would allow us to stay with thee for a while..." she asks me nervously.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "And why would I even allow you or your sister anywhere near me or my home?" I ask her in return.

"Our sister hast... nary been herself as of late. She's quick to anger, quick to accuse somepony of something mundane like mixing up her tea by accident. We... We no longer feel safe in her presence and feel we should leave before we become the target of her anger..." she tells me sadly. I'm mostly keeping an eye on her horn and she's not even attempting to use magic.

"And do you know why your sister is acting the way she is?" I ask.

"Ever since her ascension and the defeat of Discord, she's had this idea of perfect harmony and believes we both are the key to it. We personally don't agree with her view but fear her wrath should we say so... she's much more powerful than us and we wouldst nary stand a chance," she replies and sits down with her head hung low.

"We have only been able to contact thee right now due to our sister being unconscious, allowing us to speak with thee without her discovering our spell," she then tells me.

I frown at her and think. If we have her back at the Hive, that would be one less alicorn to worry about.

"And you aren't afraid of the changelings?" I ask her next.

"We would be lying if we said no... we art not sure what to think anymore... Our sister says she found a pony killed by a changeling and we had no reason to disbelieve her... but now..." she replies and looks depressed. "Thou hast lived with them for months, and thou art unharmed, thriving even," she then says with uncertainty.

"Would you believe me if I said it was the changelings that shrivel up into husks and not the ones they feed from?" I tell her making her look shocked. "Should a changeling not feed, their body starts cannibalising itself, that's why the holes form. And if there's no energy left to burn, their body dries out and then turn to dust, it's also extremely painful. I've only seen this process during a burial I witnessed once," I tell her.

"Then how hast thou been feeding them?" she asks confused.

"If you wish to know then come alone to the edge of the Badlands, I'll meet you there where we'll take a portal to the Hive," I tell her. "I would get going before your sister regains her senses."

She goes wide eyed before smiling faintly. "We thank thee," she says and fades away.

I just stare at where she was for a few minutes before sighing and force myself to wake up.

Chrysalis is still asleep on my chest but at least she looks better now. I gently shake her awake and she grumbles in annoyance.

"What?" she asks and nuzzles into my neck.

"Luna is coming," I tell her bluntly which wakes her up better than coffee ever could. I'm getting the feeling of Déjà vu

"WHAT!?" she yells making my hidden ears ring.

"She wishes to get away from her sister. I'll tell you everything on the way," I reply and let her get off me.

Along the way to the surface, with ten guards armed with my weapons and armour, I tell her what Luna told me making Chrysalis sceptical of her intentions.

"She could just be trying to find our location," she tells me with a frown.

"Possibly, do you have anything or a spell that can neutralise her magic?" I ask her.

"Our resin when placed on a unicorn's horn can stop them from casting spells, but I don't know if it will work on an alicorn," she tells me unsure.

"We'll just have to see," I say and change into Thanatos.

I morph back into a human shape and four large black raven wings grow from my shoulder blades. I'm covered head to toe in black armour with silver trimmings. My head is covered by a hood and my face obscured with a silver mask of a human face.

A scythe appears in my right hand with a lethal looking black, silver, and purple blade. Kind of looks like a bat wing to me.

On my pauldrons is a face on each with curved back ram like horns on them, as well as another face on my chest, each face giving off a purple mist of energy.

I stretch my four wings as Chrysalis flutters hers for flight. I take off as she and the guards follow behind me. Unlike in the game, I can also sense strong sources of life as well as those near death. We fly along the border for a few hours as the moon is now high in the sky before I sense a strong life force heading our way.

After a few minutes we barely see Luna land alone a good thirty feet from the border and look around for something. I decide to have a little fun and land silently right behind her.

"Hello, Luna," I say in a sickly sweet tone making her yelp and trip as she stumbles to turn around quickly.

I chuckle making her scramble away from me in panic. "C-C-Carl?" she asks terrified and breathing heavily.

I change into Janus and politely bow. "Yes, it's me. Sorry about the scare, but I couldn't resist," I tell her and hold a hand out.

She gingerly places her right forehoof on my hand and I gently help her up.

"So," Chrysalis says getting our attention as she lands with her guards. "You wish to hide from your sister?" she asks Luna with clear distrust in her tone.

"V-Verily. We believe she has let her power go to her head and nothing we say seems to dissuade her from doing what she believes to be right. We... we wish to stay away for some time as we are ashamed to admit we dost nary feel safe near her anymore," Luna replies looking both intrigued and terrified at the changelings steel weapons and armour.

"So you wouldn't have any objection if we block your magic for awhile?" I ask Luna making her look worried.

"But we need to raise and lower the moon," she replies.

"I can do that as Awilix. We just want to make sure you don't try anything or alert your sister to our location," I tell her.

"We've known thy location for months already. We were able to sense where thou was sleeping, but we didst not know thou were with the changelings..." she replies making me go wide eyed.

"And you never told Celestia?" I ask.

"Nay. She wouldst send a detachment of guards along with herself to hunt thee. Since thou managed to wrest control of the Elements and the sun from her, she's seen thee as a threat to all life. If we told her of thine location, innocent blood would've been spilt," she tells me.

"So, she's been trying to find me since I left the Empire?" I ask getting a nod in return.

"She believes thou art still in the north somewhere and we hast told her we could not sense thy dreams," she replies.

"I see. Well, back to why you're here. Are you willing to have your magic blocked for now? You'll be treated fairly and we have fresh drinking water and food growing as well," I tell her, making her sigh and look down.

"Very well. We surrender our magic for now if it will help us be on good terms," she says in a defeated tone.

"Don't think of this as a punishment, but as a sign of trust. Until we're sure you won't try something, you'll just have to live without your magic for a week or two," I tell her and nod to Chrysalis.

She coughs up some resin without any nasty regurgitating sounds and applies it to Luna's horn with her magic. Luna grimaces after seeing where it came from but looks upset as I'm guessing it has taken effect.

"It can only be removed by me, so don't try to do so yourself or you may just damage your horn," Chrysalis tells her getting a small nod in reply.

"Alright then," I say getting everyone's attention. "Please step through the portal, I'd like to get back to sleep," I tell them and open a portal to the Hive's Throne Room.

They all step through, though Luna hesitates for a few seconds, and I close the portal behind us.

"We art starting to have second thoughts..." Luna says getting very nervous.

"What happened to the Luna who got all in my face when we first met?" I ask her as I change back into Khepri.

"Our sister tells us to be more regal and imposing as to not be seen as weak... if we art to be honest, we have always hated violence and preferred to talk matters through," she replies.

"Explains why you backed down quickly and didn't really fight back when you tried reading my memories," I say and notice a few changelings staring at Luna.

"So... now what?" Chrysalis asks awkwardly.

"Now? We give Luna a room along with a couple of guards and let her experience life like a changeling," I reply and start walking out the Throne Room.

The others follow behind me and Luna speaks up. "What dost thou mean?" she asks me.

I glance at her before looking forward again. "Firstly, you really need to lose that way of speaking, makes you sound like you think you're better than everyone else. Secondly, you'll be allowed to roam about the Hive, except for off limit areas, your guards will notify you about them later. I'd like you to see what your sister is too paranoid and blind to see."

She looks speechless as she follows me. She takes in the large cavern we enter with homes built into the walls and ceiling. In the centre is a small artificial lake with a tiny island in the middle with a special tree where its drooping leaves give off a pale blue light, giving the water a nice calming glow.

Chrysalis said it's called a moonlight willow tree due to the light it gives off.

"Beautiful..." Luna comments and walks up to the water to see white fish swimming in the small artificial lake.

She then looks to the left to see a couple of changelings just chatting by the shoreline with two bottles of liquid love. Looking up she spots the large flower I helped grow just dangling from the middle of the ceiling that's giving off light which is illuminating the cavern.

"Not at all what you expected is it?" I ask her getting her to shake her head gently. "Come on, let's find you a room," I tell her making her tear her eyes away from the sight and follow us again.

We navigate the tunnels until we reach our bedrooms. "Hold on, I want to transfer some of my possessions to your room so Luna can have mine," she says and giggles. "It's not like I'll be needing it anymore," she then tells me suggestively making Luna look confused.

So for the next five minutes changelings carry whatever items Chrysalis wants to keep to my room and Luna is ushered into the now much barer room.

"You'll be living here for now, but don't mistake our hospitality as letting our guard down. You'll be watched at all times and anything that even seems hostile or any attempt to remove the resin will result in you being restrained in a pod. So please behave and we won't have to resort to that okay?" I tell and ask her.

"We... I understand... it has been awhile since we." She takes a deep breath and sighs slowly. "Since I have spoken normally. So please forgive me if I slip now and then," she replies and looks around the room. Chrysalis has left her mirror desk -which is polished frozen ice with a preservation spell placed on it to stop it melting, though it does need replacing now and then-, her bed, and a few pieces of furniture behind but her personal stuff is all gone.

"Now then, I'm going back to bed," I say and without warning, I pick up Chrysalis in my front legs making her giggle and place her on my back while avoiding my three large horns.

I carry her back to my room where we both go back to sleep.

I'm awoken by a guard telling me that I need to lower the moon and if the sun doesn't rise, I have to do that too. But I'm going to cheat and put both on a stable orbit so they move on their damn own. Why these two alicorns thought it would be a good idea to move them themselves is just stupid. If one or both of them died, then the planet and everyone living on it would be royally fucked.

I get up and carry a still sleepy Chrysalis on my back up to the surface where the early risers of the Hive are just starting work on the inner walls of the keep.

Luna arrives behind us and Chrysalis gets off me. I change to Awilix and I can feel the moon above me as Suku comes through a portal. I smile as I scratch him behind his ears making him purr and reach my left hand up and set the moon onto its own path so it won't need guiding again.

"What hast thou done!?" Luna asks with wide eyes.

"I've set the moon on its own orbit, it won't need to be guided anymore," I tell her making her gasp.

"But tis our... My job, my destiny to guide the moon!" she yells at me like I've taken something from her.

"Oh? Then tell me, what would happen should you and or your sister die? Would the moon and sun just stay still forever? Freeze one side of the planet while scorching the other? What you've done is put the whole planet in danger by altering its natural orbit!" I tell her making her flinch at the harsh tone I used.

"My home world's moon orbited our planet on its own, while our planet orbited the sun. While we had gods and goddesses of the sun and moon, they never threw off the balance in fear of destroying the world," I then say. To be honest I have no idea if my world had or has real gods, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have done what these two alicorns have.

Once done, I change to Ra and after a few minutes of waiting to see if Celestia will move the sun, which she hasn't yet. I raise the sun, (which I think is a lot smaller than Earth's since it is orbiting the planet) into a stable orbit and sigh as I leave the two celestial bodies to do what they've been doing for what I assume is millennia before the Princesses took control.

It also felt like the sun and moon were relieved that they're back into their own orbit, like they were prisoners before.

"There, now you don't have to worry about the sun and moon again. The only time you should intervene with their orbit is if something or someone else tries to alter them. Then you stabilise them again," I tell Luna getting a sad look from her.

"I understand..." she says quietly, and now I feel like I kicked a puppy for some reason.

"Why are you upset? Now you can sleep in or do something else instead," I tell her getting her to look up at me.

"The moon and night is my calling, it's my talent and I am their keeper and guardian. Now that you've done what you have I feel... like a piece of our... my soul has been cut out," she says holding back tears.

I glance to Chrysalis, only for her to shrug at me. "Look, Luna. I'm sorry I did that, but would you prefer keeping the world and all life on it in danger, or truly be its guardian by keeping an eye on the moon instead of constantly having to care for it when you could be helping your people instead," I tell her.

She frowns in thought and I get another idea. "You can still enter other people's dreams can't you?" She looks at me and nodded. "Then perhaps you can make better use of your time helping those having nightmares or life problems... you could be a dream therapist," I tell her with a smile, sounds like a fun idea actually. I wonder if I can dreamwalk as Nox? Perhaps Kumbhakarna can?

She looks at her cutie-mark and after a few seconds she looks like she has just discovered something. "Perhaps that is what our... my destiny is. Not the moon or stars... but dreams... I have always felt more comfortable in the Dreamrealm than being awake," she says.

"For now don't worry about it, think of this as a vacation from being a Princess? Now you are just Luna," I tell her and she then looks around and gasps.

"Where didst this wall come from?" she asks confused.

"I raised it and the changelings reinforced it, we're preparing for when your sister decides to attack us," I reply. "Which reminds me, we need wood for the support beams and flooring for the keep," I say and change to Janus to once again make a portal in the air to the forest where we get our wood for the forges and boilers. "I need volunteers to start chopping trees!" I call out over the changelings working.

Instantly a good seventy flutter over and head through the portal. Makes me wish I could use their hive mind as well, such wonderful organisation and quick responses.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours, why don't you show Luna around, Chryssi?" I ask Chrysalis.

"I suppose I could. Come, Luna, you need a bath... you're starting to smell," she replies and tells Luna.

Luna sniffs herself and grimaces. "During all that hast... has happened yesterday, I did not notice..." Luna says and follows Chrysalis back into the hive.

I smile and head through the portal. If I can get Amore, Cadence, and Luna on my side, Celestia may just back off. But if what Luna said is true and Celestia is getting more unstable, she may very well attack them all as well thinking them as traitors.

"Alright you lot! I want about three-hundred trees brought through! We'll use any branches cut off as extra fuel for the forges and the baths boiler!" I order them getting affirmatives in reply.

I then notice the sun getting brighter for a second before going back to normal. 'Looks like Celestia is awake and not happy it seems,' I think to myself with a smirk and continue to watch over the changelings.

It takes a total of five hours give or take ten minutes to get all the wood we need through. I can only imagine how fast we humans could have got work done if we had magic.

"Honey I'm hooooome~" I say in a sing song voice as I change into Hercules.

Chrysalis looks from the work being done on the inner keep walls to me and smiles. "Took you long enough," she tells me and nuzzles my chest.

"Well there was a lot of wood to move, but now we can start processing it into timber for the floorboards and supports," I reply and rub her ears.

She hums and then pulls back. "Good timing as the main floor is ready to be done," she tells me and I look to see the ground has been flattened and ready for floorboards to be placed.

"Great, I'm going to get something to eat. How'd Luna like the tour?" I ask her.

"Pretty well actually. She had a few frights when some changelings flew past in the darker hallways, but other than that she was quite impressed with what we have, and how you made all the love we now feed from. She even asked about our weapons and armour, but I told her she'd have to ask you first," she replies and looks back to the keep. "I'll keep an eye out here. You go and have lunch," she tells me and without warning, slaps me on my ass with her tail.

I chuckle and when she's not looking, I lightly slap her ass making her yelp and leave a faint impression of my hand in her chitin, which is already returning to normal.

She shakes her head with a smile and I head down into the Hive to the cafeteria for a nice salad, perhaps I'll add some pork from Bacchus' meat joint to it as well… Mmmmm.

I enter and spot Luna sitting at one of the many tables just staring at the fresh salad in front of her.

I quickly get a bowl of my own from the servers behind the counter and I sit next to Luna making her jump.

"Got something on your mind?" I ask her.

"Our sis... My sister has always told me that the other races are too dangerous or savage to truly get along with... The gryphons are predators and hunters and would not think twice to hunt us for sport or game. The minotaurs are barbaric tribes whose traditions revolve around fighting, blood, and honour. The dragons and diamond dogs are nothing but greedy and bloodthirsty beasts. The zebras and demons commune with the dead and practice dark arts. She called the changelings parasites, says the elks and breezies are in league with the spiteful woodland spirits, and the centaurs use dark magic," she tells me and frowns.

"We... I just don't know what to believe anymore..." she then says sadly.

"I see. Then once this is all over, why not go and visit the other races and get to know them better? Maybe I'll join you as it can't hurt to have the locations memorised for my portals," I tell her.

"Thou... you would do that with me?" she asks surprised.

"Sure, I'd like to know the other races as well as I'll be living on the same world as them. I'd rather not get on their bad sides as well," I reply.

"I would like that," she tells me and smiles faintly.

I stand up and change to Bacchus and using a knife that my apprentices made during their blacksmith training, cut off strips of meat from my pork joint. I notice Luna looks a bit uncomfortable.

"Don't feel too put off. If you plan to visit the other races, you'll have to get use to seeing meat being served and eaten. Mainly by the gryphons, diamond dogs, and dragons I would guess," I tell her getting a nod in reply from her.

"I understand, it's just that I'm uncomfortable seeing something that used to be alive cooked and eaten," she tells me.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think this was ever alive," I reply and smile. I head over to the food counter and ask for two cups which Mirage, who is working today's shift, gives me. I walk back over to Luna and fill a cup with some wine from my jug. "Try some of this," I tell her and set the cup down.

"What is it?" she asks and sniffs at it.

"Grape wine," I reply as I pour myself some and then change back into Hercules before sitting back down.

She picks the cup up carefully with her hooves and takes a sip. Her eyes shoot wide open and she takes a bigger sip.

"Tis delicious!" she says and takes another sip.

"What did you expect? It is a wine of the gods," I tell her and take a drink of my own.

"How did you become a god?" she asks me.

Errr, shit... Well, she did allow us to block her magic as a sign of trust. Guess I can tell her the truth. "To be honest? Discord gave me the ability to be any god from my world," I tell her.

She spits out some wine she was drinking and coughs a few times. "Discord made thee a god!?" she yells in surprise, making changelings look at her oddly.

I decide to tell her what Discord wanted and that he knew he would be defeated soon, so he picked me at random to continue his work.

"So... thou... you are the new god of chaos?" she asks nervously.

"No. I think Discord is more like a god of balance. We humans were never satisfied with what we had, we had to go beyond what we knew and make advancements in science, medicine, war, and many other things, and we still do. Discord said he just tried to make the races advance and not stagnate like the ponies seem to be. Said Celestia and you didn't want to change your way of life and were happy to keep things as they are. If we humans were like that, we may have died out long ago," I reply and chuckle. "As for me? I think I'm just a godly being now. Or as Chryssi once said. I'm the god of the Changelings due to my ability to change into different gods," I finish my speech.

"I... see. Is that where your guards weapons and armour come from? Your race's knowledge?" she then asks me.

"Blacksmithing or metalwork we call it. Once you've earned our trust, I might show you how we do it," I tell her with a smirk.

She sighs and stuffs her face into her salad bowl.

"Life was much simpler before our ascension," she mumbles and then sits back up with a mouthful of greens.

"How did you ascend?" I ask curiously.

She swallows her mouthful and looks at me. "Our... my sister, Empress Amore, and I found a crystalline tree deep down in a ravine within the Everfree Forest. We were looking for a power source to defeat Discord and our search lead us there. We found the Elements of Harmony embedded in a crystalline tree and when we took them, we ascended into alicorns," she tells me.

"How did Cadence ascend?" I then ask.

"She was born an alicorn. Her father, a unicorn named Emperor Diamond Blade, died of old age a good seventy years ago," she replies.

"Huh... Well then. I need to finish this and head back up to help continue construction," I tell her and then get an Idea. "Would you like me to bring Cadence over for you to talk to?" I ask her.

"I would like that very much," she replies now with a big smile.

I stand up and change to Janus. I create a portal on the wall to Cadence's room and find no one there. I then create a new portal to above the Throne Room and find Amore and Cadence on their thrones and no Celestia in sight.

I step through and float down to Cadence making her and others in the room yelp once I enter their vision.

"Carl! We told thee not to do that!" she scolds me but as usual has her smile.

"I apologise, Cadence. But if you have some time, Luna would like to speak with you for a few hours," I tell her with a polite bow.

"Auntie Luna? She disappeared yesterday and we've been looking for her since then," she replies and trots over to me. "Thou knows where she is?" she then asks me.

"She's back at the Hive. It was her decision and I'm sure she'll tell you why herself," I reply.

"Very well," she says and looks to Amore. "Mother, we shall return in a few hours, we shall talk to our aunt," she says to her mother who smiles warmly and nodded to her. Cadence then looks back at me. "We also need to continue our discussion before auntie Tia interrupted us," she tells me.

"Alright then," I say and open another portal back to the Hive's cafeteria. "Where is Celestia by the way?" I ask her.

"She returned to Equestria in a foul mood saying the sun wouldn't listen to her... didst thou have anything to do with that?" she replies and asks me.

"Maybe," I simply say with a smug smile and step through the portal.

She sighs and follows behind me.

Chapter 9: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 3

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Chapter 9: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 3

"Cadence!" Luna says and pulls the pink alicorn into a hug.

"Auntie!" Cadence yells and hugs her back. "What art thou doing here!?" she then demands.

"Thou hast... you have seen my sister getting more aggressive lately correct?" Luna replies with her own question.

"Yes. She was very upset this morning and stormed off back to Equestria after trying to move the sun," Cadence replies. "Was that due to what Carl hast done?" she then asks.

"Verily. Carl hast... has put the sun and moon back the way they were before my sister and I ascended," Luna tells her with a sigh.

"What?" she asks confused.

"I made the sun and moon orbit the planet on their own again," I tell her and finish off my salad.

"Why?" she asks still confused.

I explain the dangers of having two individuals in constant control of them could have if they died or even used them to threaten other nations or races.

"Also, this will hopefully show Celestia she can't use the sun against me," I finish explaining and take my cup and bowl to the counter. "Now then. I have to help finish the keep so I'll be on the surface if you need to find me to send you home," I tell Cadence.

"Very well, we've been looking forward to seeing Chrysalis' Hive for a while now anyway," she replies and starts talking to Luna.

I make my way back topside and see Chrysalis has already started laying freshly cut floorboards on the ground.

"Looking good, Chryssi," I say getting her to look at me.

"Carl. You ready to get back to work?" she asks me with a smile.

"You bet. Oh, also Cadence is here. She's talking with Luna and will only be here for a few hours before I send her back," I reply and tell her.

"Cadence is here!?" she asks and gallops off into the Hive.

I chuckle as do a few of the other changelings. I help with placing the boards while the changelings process the trees into more boards and sending the remains to the forges for fuel. I'm going to need to start making nails out of iron soon as I don't know how effective the changeling resin will hold the boards together or for how long.

After what felt like an hour or two, the changelings suddenly stop working and stare out to the west. I frown and after looking at a few of them, follow their gaze to see a changeling flying towards us, except this one has a red coloured shell and eyes.

Chrysalis' changelings get defensive and Chrysalis with her armed guards come out ready to fight.

"What's going on?" I ask her confused. I thought Chrysalis' Hive was the last one?

"I'm not sure, but if there's other changelings then that means we aren't the only ones left," she replies.

"That's a good thing right?" I ask her.

"Not necessarily. The Queen of another hive might take over another to claim their stores of love and or drones while killing the Queen," she tells me.

"Jeez. Why would changelings do that when there's not many of you left?" I ask her with worry. I got enough to worry about with Celestia and the Equestrians right now to start worrying about other possible threats.

"It's because of what Celestia has done to us that we've resorted to such desperate actions. The last hive I know of were Queen Gillia's to the east. But when they attacked us, I retaliated and killed her. Her Hive then died out after that," she tells me. "But what has me worried is why only one changeling was sent here..."

I change into Khepri and stay beside Chrysalis. The changeling finally arrives and lands a good twenty feet away.

"My Queen has sent me here to find the Love Maker," the changeling demands in a female tone.

I couldn't help but do a double take and choke on a lungful of air. "*Cough cough* The who?" I ask confused. I know nearly all the changelings here and none are named Love Maker...

"I think she means you," Chrysalis tells me.

"Me?" I say in confusion, I then turn to the changeling. "Why do you want to speak with me?" I ask her.

"Our Hive is dying and our scouts reported an impossibly large source of love here. Even now I can sense it below us," she replies getting Chrysalis' changelings to hiss at her aggressively.

"Hmmm. Would she be willing to come here?" I ask her getting a shocked gasp from Chrysalis.

"What are you thinking!?" she says angrily.

"We may be able to help each other out. If they're willing to help defend us, then I'll supply them with a large amount of liquid love for them as payment," I say as the gears in my head start turning.

Maybe I can get other Hives to come here and build up our numbers. I'll have to keep an eye on the Queens as I don't want them fighting one another, but I think we can rebuild the changelings from the ground up into its own kingdom or nation.

The real question is can I feed that many by myself... The amount I make for Chrysalis' Hive right now is enough to give them three months of surplus in storage and that's for around a thousand changelings to live on. I know I wouldn't be able to feed more than ten-thousand, and that's making more hearts non-stop.

"No. You will be coming back with me, or we'll just attack this Hive and take all the love it has," the changeling demands with a frown.

I glare at the changeling and walk up to her. I tower over her and she flinches back slightly but holds her ground.

"You are in no position to demand anything," I tell her and get right in her face, my two large blue gem like eyes boring into hers. "Either your Queen comes to me to discuss a trade, or your Hive can starve. And before you think you can attack us, I can and will destroy any force you bring, then I'll kill your Queen for ordering the attack. I put Princess Celestia in her place when she tried to kill me, what do you think you can do to me?" I tell her coldly.

She looks shocked but then glances at Chrysalis before looking back at me.

"We don't make deals with other Hives... it's been that way for a hundred years," she tells me sternly.

"Times change. What's more important? A poor, sad excuse of a way of life that was forced upon you, or a chance to rise up and become a united people again? There is strength in numbers, especially when you have a god watching over you," I reply with my own stern tone.

"What god?" she asks with a confused frown.

"That would be my mate here," Chrysalis tells her and stands beside me.

"You? A god?" she says in a disbelieving tone.

I change into Ra and grin. "Everyone stand back please," I tell our changelings and they back up leaving the red changeling looking worried.

I raise my staff and cast my Celestial Beam ability, the sun eagerly responds and fires a beam of sunlight in front of the changeling making her yelp and try to run backwards. I make the beam go around her and she stops running, to which I cancel the beam, leaving a trail of scorched earth.

"Yes, a god," I then tell her and change back into Khepri and get in her face again. "Still want to threaten me and my home?" I ask her.

She quickly shakes her head.

"Good. Now tell your Queen that if she wants anything from me, she should come here herself. And she has my word she won't be harmed as long as she is civil and respectful," I tell her.

"I-I'll tell my Queen," she replies and quickly flies away.

"Are you sure this is a good idea... ever since we were fractured, no Queen has gotten along with another. Too much distrust and worry of the other betraying you," Chrysalis tells me.

"If she tries anything, then I'll just restrain her. If I can't, then I'll have to kill her. I won't let her or anyone else hurt you or the Hive," I reply as I watch the changeling fly out of sight.

I hope in her panic she took a direct line back to her hive. That way I have an idea in which way to go should I need to retaliate.

"Why is it that everything has gotten so much more complicated since we found you?" Chrysalis asks me with a mock frown.

I just shrug my two front legs. "Maybe that's just what happens when a balance of power changes. It causes a ripple that could either be good, like your Hive thriving again. Or bad that others begin to notice and want what you got," I reply and sigh. "Let's get the first floor of the keep done so when this Queen does or if she arrives, it'll be secure," I say and change back into Hercules.

Chrysalis also sighs and helps get to work setting the floorboards into place.

It doesn't take long for Cadence and Luna to come out of the Hive's entrance and the little pink alicorn gawks at the half built keep.

"Thou weren't joking about preparing for a battle..." she says and frowns sadly. "We hope our aunt dost not attack thee. But if she does, the Crystal Empire shall aid thee in thy defence," the pink alicorn tells us resolutely.

"Thank you. I hope she's smart enough to leave us alone as well, but if she finds out Luna is here, then she may think we abducted her... I didn't think that one through," I reply and facepalm with my left hand.

"Oh... right," Luna says as she also didn't think about that it seems.

"We recommend writing Celestia a letter, maybe a gem recording stating thou art okay and not to worry about thee. We can send them to her with our magic," Cadence says and then glares at me. "We art not amused thou hast blocked auntie Luna's magic, Carl," she then tells me.

"It is just a precaution, Miss Grumpy. Once she's earned our trust, we'll remove the resin," I reply. "I take it you're ready to go back now?" I ask her.

She huffs but nodded. "Verily. We hast stayed long enough to know the situation from both aunt Luna and Chrysalis," she tells me.

"Alrighty then," I say and change into Janus. I open a portal on the side of the Keep to her Throne Room. "I hope your day goes well, Cadence," I tell her.

"We thank thee. We wish thee all a good day as well," she says and quickly gives Chrysalis and Luna a final hug. "Please stay safe," she tells them.

"We will, Cadence," Chrysalis replies and with that, Cadence returns to her Empire.

"Well now," I say getting everyone's attention. "Let's get the first floor done before sundown."

The changelings cheer and pick up their pace.

Sundown slowly approaches like it naturally should as Chrysalis and I lay in our little garden. I'm Khepri again and I can't help but smile seeing Grover still standing there as a normal tree. I wonder, will he reform again like he did when I first changed to Sylvanus, or will he reanimate here? Personally I hope it's the former.

"What's going to happen to us?" Chrysalis asks with uncertainty.

"That depends. If Celestia attacks us, I will do everything in my power to push her back with a thorough spanking and decimate her forces so she can't attack again. With this new Queen? I'm hoping I can get all the changelings together under one banner. A changeling kingdom so to speak to rival any race," I reply and barely smirk as my lips are hard to move.

"You really believe you can get the other Queens to work together?" she asks me, clearly suggesting it won't happen.

"Some might not want to. But surely there are a few out there that would see the benefits of such a thing," I tell her.

"Maybe... We'll just have to wait and see how this new Queen will react," she says and leans against me.

I look towards the setting sun and frown. I can only hope everything works out in the end.

The next morning.

We're up early and the first floor of the keep is done. We've added a gate in front of the Hive's entrance as well as two armed and armoured guards now constantly guarding it.

There's a crude table and mossy cushions around it in the left room which will be the armoury later, but for now it'll do for what we'll need it for. I've had a few pods of liquid love brought up and placed into the small storage room not only to show we have it, but should we need it if a fight breaks out, it's within close proximity.

Looking at the cushions, I wonder if I can make silk ones using Arachne's webbing? Problem is, I don't know how to spin silk... Oh well, I guess we can find someone in the Empire to do that for us or teach some changelings.

"Now we wait," I say as we stand outside looking to the west.

"I'm still against this," Chrysalis tells me.

"And if she decides to attack, you can say you told me so and rip her apart if you want. With all the love you've got, you'll be much stronger right?" She nodded in reply. "But for now, I'd rather increase our numbers and our military strength," I say and look at what we've done so far.

The wall is completed and covered in resin. The gates are being constructed with the spare trees we have left over and I see the first gate is actually completed and covered in resin as well. Ten changelings use their magic to levitate it off the ground slowly and carefully carry it over to the northern archway.

Turning my gaze to the keep, changelings have started to apply resin to the outer walls. Still needs to have the double doors made and put in though.

Chrysalis looks to the west and frowns. "They're here," she tells me and I look over the horizon.

I see about thirty changelings coming and I frown as well. It can't be an attack force, too few to really fight us. Is she that cautious that she needs so many guards? Or perhaps just meat shields so she can escape if things go south?

"Let's prepare for our guests shall we?" I say and check myself over. My chitin is shiny and polished as well as the gold adorning my body.

"The moment she tries to harm any of my changelings, I will kill her," Chrysalis tells me seriously.

"By all means, do so if she does try to hurt anyone," I reply.

It takes the red changelings about tens minutes to arrive as a few fly around our wall first before the rest came in.

I look at the Queen as she touches down and compare her to Chrysalis. Her hair and tail look more... fuller, is all I can think of as it looks thicker and shorter than Chrysalis' flatter and longer hair.

She also looks like Chrysalis when I first met her, holes in her legs and ribs showing through her chitin. She also has a three slash scar across the left side of her barrel, looks like something with claws had a go at her.

"Welcome. My name is Carl, may I have yours?" I introduce myself and ask her.

She looks me over for a few seconds and narrows her eyes. "What are you?" she asks and slowly inches closer but stays wary.

"You'll have to be more specific. Are you asking what I am as a species? Or are you asking what I am as a being?" I reply.

She growls quietly and glares at me. "Are you making a fool of me?" she warns me and her changelings tense up.

"He's the god of the changelings," Chrysalis tells her still with her frown.

"My drone told me he called himself a god, and I don't believe a word of it. The alicorns arrogantly call themselves goddesses. Discord is the only being I would call a god as he could bend reality itself to his whim, and the alicorns needed colourful stones to defeat him. I heard they keep his petrified body as a trophy at their castle," she replies sternly before looking more angry.

"So, if you think just because you have these fools believing you to be a god and calling yourself one, that you are one?" she asks me while getting more and more aggressive. Chrysalis hisses at her for the comment made at her Hive and changelings.

"I don't need you to believe me or not. I know what I can do, and what I have done is help bring this Hive back from the poor condition it was in. If you haven't noticed, Chrysalis is no longer in your current condition and her Hive is thriving without resorting to kidnapping others to feed anymore. Now then, you wanted to talk to me? Then tell me your name and say what you wanted to say," I reply a bit more pissed off than I should have.

She huffs and glares at me defiantly. "I am Queen Dragana of the Crimson Hive. We have recently discovered you have a large supply of love stockpiled and I'm here to demand you give us all of it," she tells me seriously.

I just stare at her before laughing right in her face making her snarl angrily. "Haaahahahaa! Surely you're joking? You haven't brought enough soldiers to even take a cupful from us. What makes you think we'd just give you what we worked hard for months to make because you told us to?" I tell her now perfectly serious myself.

"I have two-thousand of my changelings waiting for my order to assault this hive," she replies with a smirk.

My eyes widen and, with a speed that belies my size, I dash forward and grip her neck in the single small pincer on my left front leg.

She gasps and her changelings move to attack me, but our changelings and Chrysalis use their magic to quickly restrain them to the ground.

"Choose your next words carefully, Dragana. For they may be your last," I tell her and pull her face in front of mine. "You may have a large force of hungry and weakened changelings, who by the way, wouldn't get here in time to save you. While we have a small force of well armed and fully fed changelings and a fully fed Queen, not to mention myself as well," I say and glare at her. "So tell me, what made you think you were in any position to demand anything? Surely the changeling you sent yesterday told you what I could do with the sun correct?" I ask her and lessen my grip to let her speak.

She gasps and struggles to break free, but I don't budge an inch. "Even if I die, my drones will wipe you all out," she says angrily.

"Then a demonstration is in order," I tell her and spread my wings.

I hover a good fifty feet into the air. I then look around and barely spot a few red changelings hiding behind some dunes and large rocks out in the badlands. Nowhere near as many as she said there was, barely over a hundred.

Just as Ra can use the sun, so too can Khepri. He's not called The Dawn Bringer for nothing. I channel my energy and connect with the sun and with sheer willpower, I fire a solar flare next to some of the changelings while making Dragana watch.

The intense beam of sunlight impacts the large rock within a second and instead of just a flash of light like in the game, the rock explodes and sends the hiding changelings in all directions. She gasps and struggles in my grip making me look at her.

'She either wants to flee now, or she actually cares about her changelings,' I think to myself and wrap my back and middle legs around her barrel and legs while my pincer grips her horn.

"Now then, are you willing to be civil, or continue being an arrogant tyrant? You're starting to remind me of Celestia a little with your attitude," I tell her making her cease struggling.

"Fine! Just stop attacking my children!" she yells and I can see tears starting to form.

"Very well, I'm going to let you go now. Don't fly away and return to our keep. You have ten minutes to check on your changelings, and if any are injured, we can give them some liquid love to help heal them," I tell her and let her go.

She quickly bolts off towards her changelings and I remain in the air to watch her. She goes around checking each one that was blown away and it seems three are hurt. I did try to only blow them back, but not all plans work how you want them to I guess.

After eight or nine minutes, she flies back towards us and I lower myself to the ground. She lands in front of me with a frown on her face.

"So what will you have of me?" she asks me, holding back her anger.

"Are you willing to discuss a possible trade and offer that will benefit both of us?" I ask her back.

She glares at me and then speaks up. "You mean the trade of our aid against Celestia in return for love?"

"That, and the offer of living here and becoming part of a new rising kingdom of changelings. No need to scrounge for love anymore, no need to take others to feed anymore, no need to hide in fear anymore, and no need to fight each other anymore," I reply.

"And what of a mate? I still need a male to breed with," she tells me, her frown still on her face but it's slowly fading.

"Carl is mine and mine alone, don't even think of claiming him," Chrysalis tells Dragana coldly.

Dragana narrows her eyes at Chrysalis before looking back at me.

"How have you been breeding so far then?" I ask.

"I have a minotaur bull sedated in my Hive, and I take his seed when I'm ready to lay my next clutch," she replies.

"So I take it he's not a willing mate?" I then ask.

"Of course not. Not since Celestia's propaganda has any male of another race taken interest in a changeling Queen in fear of being drained of all their emotions. Besides, he and his group tried to destroy our Hive, so we took them for feeding and breeding," she tells me with a scoff.

Hmmm. If they tried to destroy them, then they brought their fate upon themselves. "Fine, but anyone else you have you will have to release," I tell her making her go wide eyed.

"You want me to release our only source of love we have!?" she yells angrily.

I just groan and roll my eyes. "Did you forget that I can feed you all already?" I tell her with a deadpan stare.

Her frown completely fades and she sighs and looks down in thought. "To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact I can feel all that love nearby, I would be calling you a liar..." she tells me and looks up at me with a tired expression. "I can barely remember the time before the exile. My siblings and my mother walking among the minotaurs freely without any need to disguise ourselves as them...

"My father was a bull named Wildheart Longhorn. He and my mother were together for thirty years before he died in a battle with another tribe... it was five years after that when Celestia spread her lies and made the minotaurs second guess us and chased many of us away... while killing the rest," she tells me.

Chrysalis' glare softens a little, I guess from having similar circumstances.

"It's been a very long time since then and I've done what I had to to ensure the survival of my Hive," she then says.

"Then you can see my offer is the best bet you have to ensure your Hive's survival right?" I ask her.

She frowns and looks at Chrysalis. "And which Queen will rule the Hive? I will not bow to another Queen," she replies.

"None. Every Queen shall be equal and all will have a say in what happens. But I will reject any ideas that will harm the kingdom in any way without question," I tell her.

"So really, you'll be the one with the last word," she says unhappily.

"I guess so. I am the one working to help build this kingdom with ideas not yet seen before from my world. I am the one using my energy to make the love you'll all feed from. I provide fresh clean water for drinking and bathing in. Right now, I'm the one keeping Chrysalis' Hive alive," I tell her and sigh. "You're free to go back to your Hive and continue living the way you have, but if you do so, you will leave us alone or you'll have me to deal with."

She looks down in thought again and frowns.

"Here, see for yourself what we have to offer," I say and look to the changeling guard next to me. "Chameleon, go get a cup of liquid love for Dragana here please," I ask him.

"Alright," he replies and walks off into the keep. So much for using the room we set up...

Dragana looks at me with narrowed eyes. "So you want to entice us with promises and free love for servitude?" she asks me angrily.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want to enslave or control you, I just want to bring the changelings back together. Being under the same banner and helping each other, we could be even greater than the Equestrians someday," I reply getting annoyed at her constant accusations.

"And how do I have any guarantees that you'll keep your word?" she asks me.

"You don't. But when Chrysalis here abducted me months ago, I could have killed her and destroyed her Hive when I broke free. But instead, I gave them a chance and in return, they gave me a home. And now months later, I have a mate who loves me as I do her, and I do all I can to help her and her Hive not just survive, but grow and thrive," I reply getting Chrysalis to happily lean against me.

I glance at Chrysalis and see her smiling at me. "It's true. He could have killed us and left, but he showed us something we've been denied of for a century. Compassion and kindness," Chrysalis tells her. "And while I personally don't like having another Queen near us... I will trust my mate for now, he has done nothing but help us and I will help him in turn. Besides, I want our kind to rise up and show Celestia how wrong she is,"

I smile as much as my lips will allow me to and raise my right front and middle legs up and around her in a quick hug.

Dragana looks between us a few times and Chameleon returns with the cup of liquid love. He levitates it in front of Dragana who takes it with her magic and eyes it with both a look of thirst and hesitation.

After a few seconds, her stomach rumbling is enough to make her close her eyes and gulp down the drink quickly. I have to resist the urge to yell chug chug chug so badly.

Her eyes snap open and glow slightly as her legs give out and she drops the now empty cup. I smirk a little as a few holes in her legs close up.

"So? What do you say to my offer?" I ask her and she looks up at me with a crazed look.

"More..." she says and I raise an eyebrow at her. Chrysalis wasn't like this when she had her first drink of liquid love.

"And you'll get more. But first, what is your answer?" I ask her.

"Fine! We'll join this kingdom of yours! Just feed my Hive and I'll do anything!" she replies making me shocked at her sudden change in attitude.

"Are you alright?" I ask her worriedly.

She closes her eyes and calms herself down. "Yes... It's just, that one cup was what I get in a month... and if you can provide more for my Hive and myself... then I would be blind to turn down such an offer..." she replies and shakily stands back up.

"Alright then. Go back to your Hive and bring back anything you wish to take with you. Just release anyone you have captive, but you can keep the minotaur that tried to kill you as long as you don't sedate him anymore. I'd also like to talk to him," I tell her making her frown.

"Remember, you won't need to take others to feed anymore. I'm letting you keep the minotaur because he tried to kill you, think of it as imprisonment for attempted murder," I then say making her sigh.

"Fine, they'll be released near their homeland with some water," she replies and turns around.

Before she takes off, I speak up. "Before you go, take two pods of liquid love back to your Hive as a show of good faith. It'll also help your changelings in getting here in better condition," I tell her and turn to some of our changelings. "Please bring two pods out," I tell them.

"Yes, my King," they both reply and I shake my head. I know Chrysalis just told them to call me that in front of Dragana with her hive mind, I know it.

It takes only a couple of minutes to carry out two large pods filled with life giving fluid. I chuckle as I see Dragana drool a little at the sight of them.

"I... am not sure what to say..." Dragana says and levitates both of the pods in her magic.

"Thank you would be a start," I say cheerfully. This has turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

"I have not said that to anyone outside my Hive for decades... but, thank you," she replies and bows slightly to me which I return.

With that, she takes off with her changelings and I turn to Chrysalis.

"Well, I say that went well. Now let's continue with the keep. I'll go down to the forge and see how the apprentices are doing, hopefully we can get more blades made at least for the possible battle ahead," I tell her getting a nuzzle in reply.

"Okay. I'll see you in a few hours then," she says and I head into the Hive.

Chapter 10: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 4

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Chapter 10: Rise of the changeling kingdom Part 4

After checking in with the forge and my five apprentices, we have a total of two-hundred and seven spears, one-hundred and twelve swords, three-hundred and sixteen daggers, forty-four tower shields that are held up by a changeling's magic, and only the ten suits of armour I made. Though the swords, daggers, and spears made by my apprentices are usable at best, they're still sharp and can possibly beat the crystal weaponry of the ponies.

I've also forged twenty basic looking warhammers with slightly pointed heads. These will shatter the Equestrian's crystal armour pretty good, I think.

I make my way to the liquid love storage next and check on our supply.

"Peachy," I greet the changeling at the doorway.

"Oh! Carl! What can I do for you?" she asks me happily with a big grin.

I smile at her energy. She's always been so happy and cheerful even before I arrived. "Just checking on our supply of love. How much do we have left?" I ask her.

"We have two months and twenty-four days worth if rationed normally. That's excluding the batch taken up to the keep," she replies.

"Hmmm, I might need to make more. Get the team together before sundown and I'll make more hearts," I tell her getting a silly salute in reply.

"Okie dokie lokie!" she replies and hops away like her legs were springs.

No matter the situation, she's always there to make you crack a grin. She's also taken a liking to the party games I introduced to the hive the most. Though her venture into party planning still needs some work.

My next stop is to check on the pony scouts we caught. I walk down the tunnels and arrive at the still functional pod room. We're mainly keeping it as a prison for now in case someone tries to attack us so we have somewhere to put them until we decide what to do with them.

I walk in and see the six ponies all sleeping soundly in their pods. I guess we'll release them tomorrow. I also see Luna with her two guards here as well.

"Luna? What brings you here?" I ask her making her turn to look at me.

"I was curious as to how the changelings kept their... captives. I'm happy to see they're somewhat well kept and safe," she replies.

"I see. I've been in one of those pods myself, but I was not in a comfortable position like them," I tell her and chuckle.

"What was it like?" she asks curiously.

"Green, very green. The temperature was comfortable at least," I reply and give the ponies a once over again before turning around.

"Carl?" Luna says making me look back at her. "What was all the commotion about? No pony has told us... me anything," she asks me.

"Oh... another changeling queen showed up and at first was aggressive, but I think we've managed to work out a beneficial deal together in the end. She'll be returning later today or tomorrow... though I don't think she will be happy to see you here. She blames you and your sister for ruining her life with the minotaurs," I tell her making her ears go flat against her head.

"I see... Then I will have to do my best to make amends," she replies and heads for the door with a sad expression.

I sigh and walk out as well. I head back up to the surface while Luna goes down the tunnel to the lake.

I walk out the Hive and notice the floorboards are already done and they've started on the ceiling.

"Looking good," I say making Chrysalis look at me.

"Yes. Progress is going reasonably well," she replies and walks over to me.

"I was talking about you," I tell her making her roll her eyes but smile nonetheless.

"So how's our weapon situation?" she asks.

"Not as good as I'd like, but with how inexperienced my apprentices are, it's better than nothing. We have a decent amount of weapons made and I think our magic will be strong enough for ranged combat. I'll need to look into making bows and arrows later," I reply and sigh as I look to the clouds. "Also we'll be releasing the ponies like I promised tomorrow and then we'll see how things go. I could tell them that if they tell Celestia we're here, and she brings her forces, I will kill all of them to protect my home. Maybe that will convince them to keep silent about us," I then tell her with a hopeful tone.

"I could just block their memories of what they saw here," she tells me.

"No. If they should remember then they'll tell Celestia, or Celestia might detect the magic. I'm going to give them the option of not telling, and hopefully they'll see it as saving their friends and family from marching to a pointless war. Maybe even Luna could convince them," I reply getting a thoughtful frown from her.

"I guess that would be the better option. It'll also make us out to be more peaceful than Celestia told them and her as the dangerous one," she says with a raised brow and grin.

"Now there's some positive thinking," I tell her and look to the changelings buzzing about levitating freshly cut floorboards and supports.

We spend the day setting up the framework for the second floor and begin setting the floorboards. We also have all four gates up and installed so now the wall is completed.

The sun is starting to set and I start making my way down to the love storage to make more hearts for Peachy and her team to convert into liquid love. I arrive to find them already gathered and ready to go.

"I see you're all here," I say and change into Cupid.

"Uh-huh. We're ready when you are, Carl!" Peachy replies and I start making hearts.

I watch as they absorb them and then move over to a pod and carefully regurgitate the now liquidated love into it. It would be much more disturbing if they made squelching or retching sounds but the only noise is from the liquid hitting the bottom of the pod.

We all keep this up for two hours and I feel tired.

"That'll do for today, how much did we make?" I ask and turn into Khepri.

"Two weeks worth I think, not bad for two hours. I think you're making the hearts filled with more love every time you do it," Peachy replies and tells me.

Are my gods levelling up as I use them? Na, I doubt it. Probably just getting so used to it that I'm just more efficient at it now.

"Well then, I'm off to bed. I got a Queen to cuddle," I say and walk off.

"Is game night still on tomorrow!?" Peachy asks me.

"Yes, and Luna will be joining us as well!" I yell back, making her giggle and go back into the storage room.

I walk into my bedroom to see Chrysalis on my bed brushing her hair with a black brush.

"Ah, I've been waiting for you," she tells me and smiles.

"Yeah, well... I just topped up the love storage with another two weeks supply to make up what we gave to Dragana," I reply and climb up on top of the bed making her yelp as I gently lower myself onto her.

"CARL! I need to finish brushing my mane!" she tells me and I grin as I change to Hercules, sit beside her, and snatch the brush from her.

"Tough, because I want to do it," I tell her and pull her onto my lap.

She giggles and just rests her head on my lap as I run the brush through her hair, which is surprisingly a relaxing task. She hums happily and nuzzles my stomach.

It takes me five minutes to finish and I then effortlessly pick her up and hug her gently with her back to my chest.

"This is nice," she says and wiggles herself deeper into me.

I caress her chest softly and bury my face into her hair and neck. "You know? I'm actually thankful Celestia is a jerk," I say getting her to glance at me with her large right green cat like eye.

"What would you be thankful to that old nag for?" she asks me confused.

"If she wasn't such a hostile cunt, I wouldn't have left the Crystal Empire and found you," I tell her. As cheesy as it sounded, I meant it.

She giggles and rubs her cheek to mine. "I guess so. So next time I blast her, I'll thank her as well," she replies and I lay back on the bed as she rolls over and lays on top of me on her stomach.

I wrap my arms around her lower back and lean up for a kiss. She leans forward and meets me mid way as her hooves go behind my head.

Her tongue slips out and pushes past my lips, which I welcome with my own caressing her much larger one. She sighs and pulls back for breath.

"Now let's get some sleep. We have more work to do tomorrow," she tells me.

"Do you want me to stay like this, or be Khepri again?" I ask her.

"Khepri if you don't mind, your golden undershell is soft and comfortable," she replies.

I change to Khepri and I wrap all six legs around her. "Goodnight, Chryssi," I tell her.

"Goodnight, my love."

After a night of practising with various gods in my dream for the possible upcoming battle we might have, I wake up to find Chrysalis gone. I yawn and scratch my belly with a couple of legs before rolling over onto the floor. I make my way to the door and push it open and head down to the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Good morning, Sir," a changeling guard says as I pass by.

"Morning. Do you know where Chrysalis is?" I ask him.

"She's on the surface overseeing the keep's roof construction, Sir," he replies.

"Alright. Send her a message that I'll be up once I've eaten breakfast," I tell him getting a nod in reply.

After that, I go to get myself breakfast where I see Luna and her guards leaving the cafeteria. "Good morning, Luna," I greet her making her yelp at me.

"Carl! We, I am still unused to your size and form... but good morning," she replies and sighs.

"So what will you be doing today?" I ask her.

"I have decided to talk with some changelings about their history today, Even before... we got them exiled, we barely and still do not know much about them," she replies and smiles.

"And how have you liked your stay so far?" I then ask her.

"So far it has been surprisingly pleasant. The changelings have been nice and have told me what they could when I ask them questions," she tells me.

"Well then, I'm hungry and need a nice cold bowl of carrots and lettuce. Also, remember that another changeling Queen named Dragana will be coming today or tomorrow to move her Hive in with ours, and that she also has a high dislike for your sister and yourself, so don't get upset if she gets hostile. I'll make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," I warn her.

"Ah yes... I'll just have to see how that turns out when she arrives. Thank you for warning me, have a good day," she replies and walks off.

"Wait," I say getting her attention. "Before you do that, please go to the prison and wait there. I'm going to release the ponies once I've checked in with Chrysalis," I tell her.

"Very well. I shall await for thine... your arrival there," she replies and continues on.

Once I've had a quick breakfast, I head up to the surface and see the roof has been started. The wooden frame work is in place and the changelings have started to place wooden boards across them.

"Looking good so far," I comment getting Chrysalis' attention.

"Yes it is, but I think this will be the best we can do for now before the Equestrians arrive," she replies.

"Most likely. But I'd like some changelings to set up a small outpost near the Equestrian border after we release the pony scouts as an early warning system. Which I guess I should do now then," I say getting a sigh from her.

"Alright," she replies and looks back to the construction.

I head back down to the prison room and see Luna looking at the pods.

"Let's get this over with," I say and look to one of the caretakers. "Release them," I order her and she nodded.

She and the other three caretakers cut open the pods and after a few minutes, the ponies start to wake up.

"I had the worst bucking dream..." one of them mumbles and yawns.

"Swift Wing? What you doing in my bed?" a mare asks the one that spoke.

"I'm not... am I?" he replies sounding hopeful about it and looks around groggily.

"No, you're not," I tell them and he snaps awake.

"Awww, buck... it's real," he says and faceplants the floor with a groan.

"Relax my ponies, all is well," Luna tries to assure them calmly.

"Princess Luna!?" the mare yelps and gets on her hooves with a salute that smacks her hoof into her head. "Ow..." she mutters and then tips onto her side and groans as she holds her head.

They all finally wake up enough to look confused at us. "I assume that we are being released?" the leader of the ponies asks me.

"Correct, just like I promised, along with a big meal before you go," I reply and turn to the door. "If you would follow me to the cafeteria, we'll get you something," I tell them and walk out.

"Princess? Why are you here?" I hear the leader ask her.

"We shall inform thee... I mean I shall tell you on the way," she replies.

They follow me out and we head to the Cafeteria where Luna explains why she's here and asks them to keep her location a secret from Celestia.

"We're... not sure we can, Princess... Princess Celestia would want to know you're here..." the leader replies conflicted.

"Think of it this way," I say getting their attention. "I don't want the Equestrians and Celestia attacking my home. I take it you don't want to march to war either correct?" I ask him.

"No I don't," he replies.

"And even though Equestria has more soldiers than us, I can and will wipe out well over half of your forces myself while our changelings and my stone warriors will finish off the rest. And if I have to, I will kill Celestia to protect my home and those living here," I tell him.

"But she moves the sun! Without her there will be no sunrise and sunset!" he tells me in anger.

"No she doesn't. I've set the sun back into its natural orbit along with the moon. The Princesses don't need to move them anymore," I reply.

His silence tells me he's shocked at what I've just said.

"I believe Celestia took control of the sun as a means of making herself appear like a goddess. If I can just take control of the sun from her, then that just tells me she isn't one," I say and we arrive at the cafeteria. "Now then, order whatever you'd like. I even have some grape wine stored in a couple of kegs if you'd like some," I tell them and turn to the changeling guards. "Bring them to the surface once they've finished."

"Yes, Sir," they reply and they all head in.

I head back up to the surface and take a deep breath of air and sigh.

"You seem stressed," Chrysalis tells me and walks over.

I look towards her and smile faintly. "I haven't even been here for half a year and I could already be in a war. I'm also helping an entire race recover from extinction which will surely have its bumps along the way. So yeah, I guess all this has me stressed out. I was just an overweight gamer before coming here, pretending to be a god or hero in fictional games. Now I have the power of multiple gods, over a thousand people to look after, and an insane magical horse who wants me dead," I reply and stretch my limbs and neck, getting a few pops from them.

"Well, maybe tonight I can help relieve some of that stress. But for now, my scouts have informed me that Queen Dragana will be arriving soon," she tells me and nuzzles my cheek.

I return her affection and wonder what she meant about that as I sigh again. "Alright, where will we put them? Is there enough room in the Hive for them?" I ask her.

"Not really. We'll have to expand the Hive to accommodate them," she replies.

I look around the area and then get an Idea. The image of the Imperial City from the game The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion comes to mind with its districts. Maybe we can build a city similar to it and have the different districts as places for each Queen's Hive?

The centre being us the Jade Hive, and the outer ones being the other Queens Hives... It could work...

"I have an idea, but we'll have to discuss it when she gets here," I tell her getting a raised brow from her. "For now though, the ponies are eating and the guards will bring them up. I hope Luna can convince them to remain silent about us," I say and head over to my little garden next to the keep.

"I hope so too. As much as I would love to put Celestia in her place again, I don't want to put my changelings into harm's way if I can avoid it," she tells me and looks worriedly towards Equestria.

We settle down in the Garden and just enjoy each other's company for a good forty minutes. The ponies come up and gawk at what we've built so far.

"How long were we down there..." one of them asks completely confused.

"Two days," I tell him and get up.

"What? But how did you build this so fast?" the leader asks flabbergasted.

"With the help of a god, magic, and very good coordination skills," Chrysalis gloats and nuzzles my leg.

"So. What will you tell Celestia?" I ask him.

He looks around at the changelings who've stopped their work to watch. He then looks back to Luna who smiles sadly at him.

"We have to report our findings... we're under oath to never lie to the Princesses... But we shall inform her that the changelings here aren't a threat and treated us fairly... Princess Luna has also given me a letter to give to Princess Celestia," he replies. "I would rather say we found nothing, but I have a family to support and I can't afford to lose my job. I'm sorry," he tells me with conviction.

"Alright. I'm a man of my word and you're free to leave," I tell him and he frowns in thought.

"From what Princess Luna has told us and what we've seen... I personally don't think these changelings are dangerous..." he tells me and spreads his wings, as do the other ponies.

"That's good to hear, I hope you manage to convince Celestia as well and to leave us be," I reply and nod to him.

"So do I," he replies.

They take off back towards Equestria and I sigh in disappointment. Guess we'll just have to prepare as best as we can and hope for the best.

"So what was in your letter to your sister?" I ask Luna.

"That I am well and in pleasant company. I have also asked her not to do anything rash and if she wishes to come here, that it be in a civil manner," she replies.

"I see. We'll just have to see what happens. If she does bring an army, I meant what I said about crushing them, and putting Celestia down," I tell her making her wince.

"And I hope it will not come to that," she says and looks back to the Hive. "Now I have some questions I would like to ask the changelings. I shall meet you later for supper, Carl, Chrysalis," she replies and nodded before heading back down into the Hive.

Chrysalis and I head back to the garden and just watch the changelings resume their work on the roof. I look to the back of the keep and see changelings starting to carve stones into tiles for the roofing, which will be held together with resin.

Chrysalis flies above me and lands on my back where she rubs her hooves across my shell.

"I can't feel that you know," I tell her making her giggle.

"Maybe, but it feels nice to me," she replies and rests her head on me.

I smile and look up to the sky, it shouldn't be long before Dragana arrives I think. I guess I can start on planning out the districts for the other Hives.

"Chrysalis, how many Hives do you remember there being before Celestia scattered them?" I ask her.

"Twelve if I recall correctly, including ours," she replies.

"And you told me of the one you had to destroy... so that just leaves ten others left, and one is confirmed," I say and roll my neck a bit.

Chrysalis perks up and looks to the west, I look there as well and see Dragana and her Hive flying over to us in the distance. I think there's around about one-thousand of them coming.

I stand up and Chrysalis flutters down beside me. Dragana arrives and lands in front of me looking much better than before she left, she must have had more liquid love from the pods.

"I see you're looking better, Dragana," I say to her making her stare at me.

"Thank you... I have brought my Hive as well as my breeder," she replies and I notice the pod with a large brown furred sleeping minotaur in it, and he's completely naked.

"And the others?" I ask her.

"Released where they quickly ran off to their homeland," she tells me.

"Alright then. Now I have plans for where the other Hives will be that will join us by adding districts or segments to the City. This current one is for the Jade Hive and the keep here will be the gathering place for all the Queens and the main storage of liquid love that the Queens can take to their districts. There will be districts of equal size around this one for each Queen and her changelings to reside in," I tell her making her hum in thought.

"That sounds reasonable. And when will these districts be constructed?" she asks me as our changelings gather around and greet Dragana's. Peachy is hopping around greeting as many as she can.

"Once I'm positive Celestia won't try to destroy us anymore, I'll start raising the next wall and segments between them. But for now you'll have to stay with us. We should have enough space for everyone," I reply.

"This still feels wrong... but I'm willing to give this a chance," she replies and sighs.

"Oh, also, we have the Equestrian Princess Luna residing here for now. So please don't start any fights with her," I tell her making her go wide eyed.

"YOU WHAT!?" she yells angrily and I sigh.

"She fears her sister right now and has come seeking asylum. She also has resin on her horn until she's earned our trust. For now, she's experiencing life as a changeling to show her how we live here. So far she's impressed and has even shown her support in case Celestia does attack, along with the aid of Empress Amore and her daughter Cadenza of the Crystal Empire as well," I inform her.

She goes from angry to shocked. "She just let you put resin on her horn?" she asks dumbly.

"Correct. She's actually rather friendly and polite compared to her sister. So I recommend trying to befriend her as well," I reply.

She frowns and huffs. "I make no promises. But for the sake of my Hive's survival, I shall tolerate her presence," she says unhappily and looks around.

"Well then. Let's find your changelings places to stay while I plan out the districts," I tell her.

"Very well," she replies and we lead her inside.

It takes six or seven hours to find places to house the changelings, and some new rooms had to be dug out to fit them all, but we got them all in. I'm just glad Dragana's Hive is smaller than ours or we'd really have trouble fitting them all in.

We bumped into Luna while we were finding places for the crimson changelings and Dragana almost snapped but composed herself, and even as Luna greeted her, the new Queen ignored her. I just told Luna to give her some space and try to talk to her over time.

Dragana chose a room across from mine and the minotaur she brought is in the prison room. I'll have a talk with him tomorrow once everything calms down.

Chrysalis' changelings are on edge with Dragana's here with them, but so far they're being friendly to each other.

Chrysalis, Dragana, and I are in the cafeteria where I enjoy a late lunch and the two queens are drinking a small glass of liquid love each. I'm currently the Egyptian god Thoth, Arbiter of the Damned. I'm similar to Ra but with a blueish-green feathered hummingbird's head and human body, though I'm missing a finger on each hand and my feet feel weird.

I'm wearing green, brown, and blue Egyptian clothing and headdress with gold trimming. On my Pauldrons are oval shaped sapphires as well as on the front of my belt as the pupil of the eye decorating it. On the centre of my chest is an ankh with a sapphire in the top circle of the ankh.

With a few pieces of parchment or most likely papyrus I created with my energy, -I found out he could make them and scrolls since he writes stuff-, I start doodling designs of what I had in mind for the City.

"So here's what I have planned for the City design," I say and scribble a circle with the tip of my right index finger. The circle's line glows as I drag my finger over the papyrus before dulling into a black circle. "This is the current wall. From what Chrysalis told me, there were twelve hives in total before Celestia's tantrum. We currently know of two; the Jade Hive and the Crimson Hive. Chrysalis has told me of the one she destroyed in self defence so that makes eleven left," I say and look at Dragana.

"Do you have any news or had any run ins with other Hives?" I ask her.

"I've ran into one before, she called herself Metamorpha of the Violet Hive. She attacked my Hive only to be repelled and I retaliated. She got away and I haven't seen her since, that was seven years ago," she replies and I look back to the parchment.

"Alright, so here's what I have in mind," I say and draw a second circle around the first. "I'll raise another wall and then put segments with gates between them for each Hive to reside," I tell them and draw lines from the first circle to the second. making eight segments in total. "I think eight areas will be enough as we don't know how many Hives are out there still, and if there's less than we thought, the other areas could be used for industry or storage, maybe even embassies for other races."

"You've put a lot of thought into this, Carl," Chrysalis says looking at the papyrus.

"As I said before, I want the changelings to get back to how they were and even surpass the other races. That and I want to rub it in Celestia's racist face that she's wrong about you," I say with a smirk.

"You are an intriguing creature, Carl. Not only have you defied the alicorns, but you bring three of them to your side and have brought hope to our kind... I'm still thinking you might have ulterior motives for your kindness, but I just don't see how," Dragana says with a slight frown.

"My motives are to make my mate's Hive better and just live happily here. I have no other wants than that for now," I tell her and look back to the sheet of papyrus. "We'll also place towers around the secondary wall as lookouts. I'll even make more of the area fertile and one day, we can change the name of the Badlands. I'll let you Queens think of a name for the changeling kingdom."

"Sounds good. So I take it tomorrow we'll be checking the area for the second wall?" Chrysalis asks me.

"Yeah, but I'll have to raise it in segments as raising our current wall took everything I had, so I know I won't be able to lift the whole secondary wall in one go. That means we can get Dragana's area built first so she can begin building her Hive," I reply and look to Dragana. "Any particular segment you want?" I ask her.

She looks at the eight segments and points to the western most one. "I'll have this one. Should we get back on good terms with the minotaurs, I'd like to have the one facing their homeland," she replies.

"Alright then. Now that that's settled, I'm going to see if I can add more love to the stores, I want to make sure we have enough to sustain everyone," I tell them getting Dragana to perk up.

"I wish to see how you do this as I'm intrigued on how one being can feed so many changelings and more," she tells me and I shrug.

"Sure, just follow me," I reply and get up.

With that sorted out, I head to the storage area with Dragana and Chrysalis behind me.

Chapter 11: The calm before the storm

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Godly
Chapter 11: The calm before the storm

After showing Dragana how I make the love that she and her Hive will feed from, she was surprised that I make the love come from hearts and she even touched one which flowed into her making her gasp in shock.

I spent four hours making another four weeks worth. I guess two weeks worth since we doubled our numbers. Which is added to the storage. It's a good thing liquid love doesn't go off or spoil, and as long as a changeling doesn't waste their magic, they don't burn off their energy as fast.

'I'm going to have to find another way to generate love if we're going to get more changelings living here,' I think to myself and then raise an eyebrow. 'I need to ask Amore how the Crystal Heart in the Empire works... Maybe I can fuse Cupid's love hearts with a replica of the Crystal Heart to generate its own love energy instead of absorbing it like hers does... We could have our own dome of love energy over the city where changelings can just feed whenever they want.'

"I am truly starting to believe you are a god as you claim to be..." Dragana tells me.

I smirk at her and change back into Khepri. "As I told you before, I don't care if others believe I'm a god or not. I know I am and that's all that matters to me. Besides, I'm perfectly happy right here," I reply and then my stomach rumbles. "Seems now's a good time for dinner... I could go for some pork with steamed vegetables and a cup of wine," I say and start walking to the cafeteria.

"You have wine?" she asks me in surprise.

"I have an unlimited supply of wine actually. Why? Would you like some?" I ask her.

Whilst changelings feed on emotions primarily, they can eat solid food for taste and to make more resin in their stomach. They just don't benefit from it as I do.

"I can't remember the last time I had wine," she replies with a smile.

"Alright. After dinner will be game night, would you like to join in?" I ask her.

"Game night?" she asks confused.

"You'll see," I reply and head down the tunnels.

After dinner where Dragana enjoyed her wine and partook of some pork and vegetables as well, we're now in a room filled with different games where Chrysalis, Peachy, Luna, Dragana, and I are sitting around a table and I'm now Hercules as I'll need my hands.

Dragana is giving Luna the stink eye but is being civil at least.

"Tonight's game is Blackjack! For the two newcomers, I'll explain the rules," I say and tell Luna and Dragana the rules and the values of the cards.

"So the winner is the one whose cards are the closest to twenty-one without going over. I will be the dealer today so let's begin," I say and hand both Luna and Dragana one-hundred Gil each.

"What are these?" Dragana asks as she levitates a coin in front of her face.

"The changelings' new currency called Gil made from a metal called gold. The size and number on the coins indicates their value," I reply and shuffle the deck.

"Similar to our bits, but ours are made from an uncommon crystal and each one is the same value," Luna tells me.

"Huh, I'll have to see if Cadence will give me a few to see. So each player puts up four Gil and the winner gets to claim their opponents' bets. If you're unsure and think you can't win, you can pass and get back two Gil," I say as I shuffle the deck and then deal out two cards face down to each of them.

The three changelings levitate their coins while Luna struggles to lift hers with her hooves. I cringe at the admittedly pathetic attempts where she groans in frustration.

"Chryssi, can you remove the resin from her horn for now so she can at least play?" I ask her.

"Alright," she replies hesitantly and her horn glows.

The resin on Luna's horn goes soft and after a few seconds its pulled off making Luna sigh in relief.

"You have no idea how good it feels to have my magic back..." Luna says and her horn glows as she levitates her four, one Gil coins to the middle pile.

"Right then, we'll go from left to right," I say and flip Chrysalis' cards.

"Eleven. What will you do?" I ask her.

"Hit me," she says.

I put another card down and it's the four of spades. "Fifteen," I say making her hum.

"Hit me," she says again.

Another card is placed and it's the five of clubs. "Twenty."

"Stay," she says and smiles smugly.

"Alright. Peachy, your turn," I say and flip her cards. "Seventeen."

"Hit me!" she says cheerfully.

I put down a card and it's the two of hearts. "Nineteen."

She frowns in determination. "Hit me!" she says again and I put her next card down. King of spades. "DOH!" she says and grins.

"Twenty-nine. Peachy is out. Dragana's turn," I say and flip her cards. "Four."

"Hit me," she says and winces as she says it.

I put a card down and it's a queen of diamonds. "Fourteen,"

"Hit me."

Again a card is placed and it's a three of spades. "Seventeen."

"Hit me," she says with a glare at the cards.

It's the ace of clubs. "Eighteen."

She glares harder and sighs. "I know when to fallback, so I'll pass," she says and I give her two of her coins back.

I look to Luna who looks very interested in the game so far. I flip her cards and she has six.

"Hit us... er, me," she says and I put down a five of diamonds.

"Eleven."

"Hit me," she says with a smile.

It's the jack of hearts. "Twenty-one. Luna wins," I say making Luna grin happily.

Chrysalis pouts and I hand all the Gil in the pile to Luna.

The game goes on for an hour or two and by the end of it, Luna has three-hundred and seven Gil in her pile.

"This game is most enjoyable!" Luna exclaims and the others look grumpy.

"Damn alicorn's luck..." Dragana mumbles and yawns.

"I guess we should call it a night," I say and put the cards away and change back into Khepri.

"Okay! I'll see you next week!" Peachy says and hops out the room with what little Gil she had left.

"Carl? What do I do with these?" Luna asks me and points to her pile of Gil.

"I'll take back the hundred I gave you, but you can keep the rest since you won it. Use it to buy things from the changelings. Some have started making things like figurines and furniture out of gems or any spare wood we bring back. Perhaps you can find something to put in your room?" I suggest to her.

She hums and her horn glows as a small linen or cotton looking dark blue bag appears and she puts the coins in it. She's smiling and looks like she had a good time tonight.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and let you keep your magic, Luna. Don't make me regret it okay?" I tell her in a serious tone. She's behaved well enough so far and besides, I'll use this as a test to see if she'll try anything.

"Really?" she asks with a bigger smile.

"Yes," I reply making Chrysalis and Dragana look worried.

"Thank you, Carl. I promise not to betray your trust," she tells me and gets up. "Goodnight, everypony," she says and walks out the room along with her two guards.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Chrysalis asks me.

"To be honest, I don't know. But I'll use this as a test to see if she'll try anything. She still has the guards we assigned watching her who will immediately tell you if she does something," I reply.

"Alright, but if she tries anything I'm stuffing her into a pod," Chrysalis tells me.

"And I agree. Let's just hope she keeps to her word," I reply.

"I will bid you both goodnight. I have a lot to do in the morning to plan for my new Hive," Dragana says and I smile at her.

"True. I have to raise your segment's walls and then you can start digging or even build on the surface. I just ask that any gold, metal, or gems you find you bring here. We'll convert the gold you find into Gil for you as the metal and gems will be used for more weapons and armour," I tell her.

"I noticed your weapons are different to what the ponies use. I would like to know how you made such things," she replies.

"Once I've raised the walls, I can show you our forge where we make them. Perhaps some of your changelings would like to become my apprentices?" I say and walk to the doorway.

"Then I shall see you tomorrow," Dragana says and walks past me and down the tunnel to her room.

"Things are certainly looking better for our future," Chrysalis tells me and flies up onto my back.

I chuckle and gently walk down the tunnel to my room. "For now at least. But the future holds many secrets and twists that could just as well bring disaster as well as good fortune," I reply and reach my room.

I open the door and roll over onto the bed on my back. Chrysalis flutters down and rests on my underbelly.

"I guess so, then let's hope the disasters are much further down the line than the good fortune is shall we?" she tells me with a kiss and rests her head on my chest.

I smile at her and hug her with my six legs. "We won't need to hope. As long as I'm here, I'll make sure good fortune always comes. Besides, I have someone who's the very god of good fortune and success," I tell her, making her smile and giggle.

"Now then, time for that promise," she says making me raise an eyebrow at her.

"What promise?" I ask.

"To help you relieve some stress..." she tells me with a smirk.

"I thought we were going to go slowly with our relationship?" I ask her.

"I wouldn't mind a good rutting, but I was referring to a massage," she tells me.

"Oh... I guess so," I reply and change to Hercules and strip down to just my underwear.

She hums happily and surprises me by changing the shape of her body to that of a human's. She still looks like a changeling, same head shape and face with black chitin skin and the green shell on her stomach and back, but is completely naked, her breasts are modereate in size and B-cup I think and her nipples are green like her shell. She flexes her fingers before starting to rub my chest with her hands.

I close my eyes to stop staring at her body and just relax. Damn that feels nice. I'll have to ask her when she was able to do that later.

She spends an hour massaging my body and once done I return the favour, we then cuddle up with her still in her human shape and go to sleep.

We both awaken and get around to starting our day. I need to find a way to make a toothbrush and some kind of toothpaste... gargling water and using a bit of cloth taken from the ponies to wash my teeth every morning is still a bit weird, despite how long I've been doing it now. I just hope my teeth no longer decay, but so far no tooth aches!

We have our breakfast and all of us are on the surface. Luna smiles as she takes a quick flight with her guards around the wall while I head to the westernmost side where the gate is.

"This will be your gate, at least on the surface to the Jade Hive segment," I tell Dragana.

"I suppose there will be a tunnel connecting us below as well?" she asks.

"Correct. If we come under attack, this way we can move changelings or visitors of other races to safety without those attacking us knowing," I reply and change into Geb.

I flex my floating fingers and roll my floating head a couple of times. I place both of my hands on the ground and feel the earth all around me.

I map out the area I wish to raise and after a few minutes finding all the rock, stone, and dirt I need to move, I raise the two main dividing walls before lifting the outer wall segment. I then fuse them together and release my hold on them.

"Done..." I say slowly and sit down.

Chrysalis levitates a cup of water in front of me and I change into Hercules before accepting the cool water and gulping it down.

"Amazing..." Dragana says wide eyed.

"Now you can have your changelings cover the walls with their resin and start digging your Hive. As well as making a gate in the outer wall if you want," I tell her still short on breath.

She looks around at the large empty area I walled off and smiles. "This is truly more than anyone has done for us before," she tells me and walks ahead.

Luna lands beside us and just gawks at me. No doubt watching the walls rise from above. "Not even we... I or my sister can do such a thing with our magic..." she says in awe.

I feel a bit better now and decide to show off a bit more. I then change into Terra and walk over to a large empty area in the left most corner.

"Then watch this!" I say and stomp on the ground with my right foot and the hard rocky terrain around me begins to turn into fertile soil as grass and flowers begin to grow. Small bushes then sprout and after a few minutes, a small garden is now grown.

Luna and Dragana walk over to the garden and examine the flowers and grass. "They're alive and real..." Luna says and sniffs at a rosebush.

"Dragana, if you want to keep this Garden, you'll have to keep it watered. But I can make it rain later if I need to. I plan to turn this whole area into a lush plains with wildlife everywhere. But this is just the start for now, we have much to do before then," I tell her, making her just lie down on the grass and sigh.

"This is all too much to take in..." she mumbles and I chuckle.

I change back to Khepri and walk over to Chrysalis.

"So what's next?" she asks me.

"I think we should gather Dragana's changelings that want to be soldiers and have them training with ours, get them used to using weapons before Celestia might arrive," I reply.

"But what about us?" she then asks.

"I'm going to rest to recover the energy I just used, then make more hearts for Peachy and her team to make more liquid love. Could get some of Dragana's changelings to join so they can start storing some for themselves. As for you, I wouldn't mind my Queen tagging along," I reply.

She smiles as I walk over to Dragana. "Can you call five of your changelings up here who would like to be your hive's liquid love converters?" I ask her.

She looks up from her spot in the grass and closes her eyes. After a few seconds she opens them again. "I've called the ones who want to up. They should be here in a minute or two," she replies and then gets up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Hive to build," she tells me and after a few minutes, her changelings swarm out of the keep and start digging into the ground in the centre of the area.

Five of them land in front of us and I smile at them. "I take it you're going to be the Crimson Hive's love converters?" I ask them.

"Yes, we are," a male replies.

"Alright then. I need to rest for a while so just relax until I'm ready to go," I tell them and settle down on the grass.

Chrysalis lays next to me while Luna goes back to the rosebushes and starts munching on some of the roses petals.

After a couple hours of resting and watching Dragana's changelings I get up and stretch my legs. "Please follow me to the love storage and we'll get started making some liquid love for your Hive," I tell the changelings and take off towards the keep.

They follow behind us as does Chrysalis and Luna. We make it to the Storage area where Peachy is talking to her team.

"Carl! Oh you brought some friends!" she says and hops over to us.

"They're going to be the Crimson Hive's team. So I'd like you to provide some pods for them to fill," I ask her.

"Okie Dokie!" she replies and goes to get five pods.

I change into Cupid making the red changelings stare at me now that I'm shorter than them.

"Alright you five. I'm going to make hearts filled with love, your job is to absorb them and then fill the pods with liquid love till they're full. Then you'll take five pods of love to Dragana and make your own storage area," I tell them.

"Okay..." one of them says still staring at me.

I notice one of the females biting her lower lip and shuffling on her hooves.

"You want a hug don't you..." I ask her making her nod quickly. She's not the first to ask me such a thing.

I flutter over to her and give her a quick hug making her squeal and hug me back.

"YOU'RE SO CUTE!" she yells and then blushes before letting go.

"Smooth..." the other female says and rolls her eyes.

Peachy returns with five pods and I turn to the red changelings. "So let's get started!" I say and make three hearts.

After a couple of hours, they've filled their five pods and after thanking me, carried the pods up to the surface. Peachy and her team also filled another ten pods themselves. Luna though looks a little green watching them regurgitate the liquid love into the pods.

With that sorted, I change back into Khepri and I get Dragana to send her three-hundred changelings who can fight down to our training grounds where our just as small force is training with their weapons.

"Night Stalker!" I call out getting Chrysalis' guard captain to walk over.

"Yes, Sir?" he asks with a salute.

"I want you to start giving Dragana's changelings a crash course in using the weapons. We have about a day or two before Celestia could arrive," I tell him getting him to frown.

"Of course, Sir," he replies and looks to the red changelings. "Alright you lot, who's your swarm leader?" he asks them.

"I am," a larger red female changeling replies.

"Alright. I've been told we'll be working together until told otherwise. I'll be showing you how to use each weapon and then you'll teach your changelings," Night Stalker tells him.

I leave them to it and make my way up to the surface and walk over to my garden with Chrysalis beside me. I lay down on my legs and she leans against me.

We can hear Dragana's changelings digging up their area and I just sigh and enjoy Chrysalis' company.

There's not much we can do now as we wait for Celestia to possibly attack.

Two days pass and Dragana's walls are covered in resin along with a gate. She's dug out a lot of dirt and stone and has a basic Hive set up but it's still being dug out more.

Her changelings have started to get used to using swords and spears, but I don't think it'll be enough to let them use them in a battle yet, so they'll play more as ranged units with their now fully restored magic for now.

Chrysalis and Dragana have been talking to each other and making plans on how to expand their Hives. I've been making more liquid love with both hive's converters most of the time now to stock up.

Luna has been trying to get on Dragana's good side but the Queen is still avoiding her if she can. Though Luna has kept to her word and hasn't done anything to harm us with her magic. She's still asking the changelings questions and making friends with some of them though.

I asked Chrysalis about her humanoid form and she told me that she was just intrigued at the shape when I turned into goddesses and wanted to see if she could mimic the shape. She was also curious as to why human female breasts were so high up and large.

I've spoken to the minotaur Dragana brought and he's a right piece of work. Bugger says he's from a prominent clan named Stronghorn and was sent to kill Dragana to bring more honour to said clan. Told me his name is Tahway Stronghorn and demanded I release him so he can finish what he started.

I told him that won't be happening and for his attempt at murdering Dragana and her Hive, he'll remain a prisoner for now. But he'll remain conscious and well fed as long as he behaves himself. But twice he had to be sedated for trying to break free from his pod.

It's going to be a long time before we can get him to be civil enough to talk to.

The changelings we sent to build a small outpost at the Equestrian border has come back and reported that the Equestrians are marching this way with about three-thousand ponies armed with crystal weapons and armour. They'll arrive within six hours.

So I used Geb's power to make lengths of rock covered in changeling resin between our City and Equestria as cover for our ranged magic units. This should help to prevent getting too many casualties.

"I knew she wouldn't miss the opportunity to try and get rid of us," Chrysalis says angrily while Luna looks upset.

"I'm going to ask Amore for her help. You gather our forces and get them ready," I tell Chrysalis and Dragana.

They agree and head off while I change to Janus and open a portal to Amore's Throne Room.

"Why is my sister doing this? She was never this aggressive or hostile before..." Luna says looking horrified.

"Time changes people. Perhaps she believes this perfect harmony of hers so much that she'll now do anything to see it through, or maybe being seen as a goddess all these years has gone to her head. I guess I'll have to avoid doing the same myself," I reply and head through to see Cadence on her throne but no Amore. Luna comes through behind me as well.

"Carl? Auntie? Is something the matter?" she asks after seeing the serious expression on my metal face.

"Celestia is coming with an army of about three-thousand to attack us. They'll be here in six hours or less. I've come to ask the Crystal Empire to aid in the defence of my home and its people," I ask her as seriously as possible.

She looks shocked at the news but then frowns. "What the buck does she think she's doing!?" she yells completely out of character making some of the crystal ponies look at her in surprise.

"I'm hoping you can ask her that, but I'd like to see if you, your mother, and Luna can convince her to turn back and spare everyone from needless bloodshed. Or I will use everything within my power to make sure none of my friends and home come to harm," I ask and tell her.

"Oh we'll do more than that! We shall give her an ear full! Spouting harmony and love when she would not think twice on attacking somepony else!" she replies angrily and looks to one of her guards. "Inform our mother and gather the army! We shall aid our changeling allies in the defence of their home!" she orders him resolutely getting a salute from him before he runs off.

"Thank you, Cadence. Are you sure you want to do this? It could damage your relations with Equestria," I tell her.

"This isn't the Celestia we grew up knowing. We would rather risk our relations with Equestria than sit by as she lays siege to dear friends of ours," she replies and squads of ponies in purple crystal armour pour into the Throne Room along with Amore.

"Sir, Carl. We've been told that thy home will come under siege from Celestia soon?" she asks me.

"Yes, and I've come asking for your help," I reply.

"After saving our Empire and ourself from Sombra's treachery, thou hast earned our support," she tells me and smiles.

"Okay. I'll make a portal to the Hive's keep," I say and open a new larger portal to the side of the keep.

"Guards! Head through the portal and form up once through! If it comes down to it, we will fight the Equestrians to protect our allies!" Amore tells them getting cheers in return as the guards march through the portal.

It takes an hour to get one-thousand and five-hundred crystal guards through while the other one-thousand Amore has remained behind to protect the Empire until they both return.

"So, how many ponies do we have?" Cadence asks wearing a new set of pink tinted crystal armour as well as her mother who is wearing a light red tinted set.

"Your one-thousand five-hundred guards, my one-thousand stone warriors, and about eight-hundred changelings," I reply.

"So we just match their numbers," she says and looks towards Equestria.

"If I order my warriors to attack I won't be able to stop them unless I'm Nu Wa again," I say making Cadence look uncomfortable. "So if you can't get Celestia to go back, I will not hesitate to order them to kill or restrain every last Equestrian soldier still breathing," I tell her.

"We hope it shall not come to that," she says as all of our forces are in front of the wall facing Equestria.

I change into Nu Wa and order my warriors to line up as the front line of defence and to kill any Equestrian that tries to get past them, but not to attack first unless I say so.

All we can do now is wait for Celestia and her army to get here.

Chapter 12: The wrath of a God

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Godly
Chapter 12: The wrath of a God

Hours later, the army of ponies approaches just a mile out from the wall. Amore has a spyglass made of wood with crystal lenses and looks through it.

"Tis Celestia alright," she says and sighs. "She's coming with just two of her guards... we think she wants to talk," she then says.

I change back to Khepri and look to Amore. "I want you, Luna, Dragana, and Chrysalis to come with me to meet her," I tell them. “Cadence and the rest of you stay behind the stone warriors, only attack if the Equestrians attack you first,” I then order the changelings getting affirmatives in reply.

"Okay," Chrysalis says angrily while Dragana glares hatefully at the white alicorn walking towards us.

The two alicorns nodded to me while Cadence pouts as I take off towards Celestia, followed by the others.

We land in the middle between our forces and wait for Celestia to arrive. After a few minutes she's now ten feet from us. She's wearing the same armour she wore when I first met her at the Empire.

"We've come to take our sister back and to punish Chrysalis for her attack upon us, and why art thou here, Amore?" she asks calmly but I'm pretty sure I heard a bit of anger behind it.

"We art here to defend our friends and allies. We shall not allow thee to harm anypony here," Amore replies with a frown.

"Thou would turn on us for these parasites!?" Celestia asks stunned. Getting the Queens and Amore to look at her angrily.

"We regret letting thee talk us into exiling the changelings from our Empire a century ago. We should have stood up to thee back then, and the changelings here are welcome back within MY City," Amore replies with an icy tone.

I growl at Celestia getting her attention.

"I wouldn't refer to my friends and mate as such again unless you want a repeat of when you tried using the elements on me," I tell her coldly. "I don't want to fight, so I'd rather you return to your lands and leave us alone. The changelings here no longer need to feed from your ponies or anyone else as I provide all the love they need. I'm giving you two options here, Celestia. One, you go back and leave us alone peacefully, and in return we leave you alone. Or two, you start a war that will result in me using the very sun you took prisoner to not only wipe out your forces here, but I will go to your home and threaten your people just like you are mine," I tell her making her glare at me.

"Don't think we don't know what you've done to our sun. Thou will return control of it to us this instant," she replies and orders.

"The sun doesn't belong to you, nor does it to me. All I've done is put it back to where it belongs along with the moon, just to let you know, they felt relieved to be back on their own orbits, like they're alive and have their own feelings before you caged them. Now go back to Equestria and don't come back," I tell her as my anger keeps rising.

"Please, sister. I've been living with the changelings willingly for the last five days, and they're peaceful and friendly. They didn't harm our scouts and released them with a large meal as well. Please return home, don't start a war that can be avoided altogether," Luna begs Celestia.

"And what possessed thee to come here? What were thou thinking? And why art thou not speaking in the royal we?" Celestia asks her sister.

"I've hated using the royal we for decades! And If you must know, I'm afraid of you!" Luna replies making Celestia stare at her wide eyed.

"What? Why would thou be afraid of us?" she asks sounding hurt.

"Ever since we defeated Discord, you've been getting more and more arrogant. It wasn't until the ponies started calling us goddesses that it got worse! Praising you and the day constantly, then you had this idea for perfect harmony by removing anything that went against your view of a perfect world! And then you started getting paranoid that the other races were scheming against us! I don't want to live like that anymore and I'm afraid if I disagreed with you that you would do something to me!" Luna replies, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Luna then wipes her tears away and continues. "What happened to my sister before we ascended? I wish we never found those accursed elements if it meant you would still be the same kind and caring Tia I knew back then!" Luna then starts crying where Amore nuzzles her.

Celestia stares at her for a while before looking at me angrily. "This is all thine fault! Ever since thou showed up, thou hast turned our sister against us! Our friend and niece! Even aided a race of foalnappers and killers!" she yells at me making me glare at her harder.

"You're bloody insane... Fuck off now or I will make you eat the dirt you're standing on and leave you worse off than when Chrysalis blasted you," I tell her standing up a bit higher to make myself appear bigger.

"Yes. We haven't forgotten what she did to us at the Empire, and we will have justice done," she replies and to everyone's surprise, she fires off a powerful blast of golden coloured magic without warning at Chrysalis who screams in pain as she's blown all the way back to the wall which cracks with her impact.

My eyes widen and my anger peaks as without warning as well, I lunge forward and grasp Celestia in my front legs and squeeze her tightly, getting a few cracks from her armour.

"YOU HAVE JUST MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE!" I roar angrily bearing my sharp teeth, making her gasp in shock as I fly up twenty feet into the air quickly before diving back down in just a couple of seconds and slamming her head first into the ground making a small crater.

She yelps at the impact and appears dazed as I grab her right hind leg with my left front leg's pincer and slam her into the ground repeatedly like a rag doll, deepening the cracks in her armour and the rocky ground bit by bit.

Celestia's two guards who came with her rush over with crystal swords drawn to attack me, but Dragana blasts both of them away with her magic, scorching their armour and burning the exposed parts of their legs and neck.

"YOU WANT TO DIE THAT BADLY!? THEN LET ME ASSIST YOU, BITCH! I'LL GIVE YOU THE BLOODSHED YOU SO BADLY WANT!" I yell at Celestia and toss her into the air before connecting to the sun.

The sun responds instantly to my request, I fire a solar flare and the beam of sunlight hits Celestia before exploding sending her back into the dirt hard.

I look back to where Chrysalis hit the wall and yell at the changelings there. "GET HER INTO A POD OF LIQUID LOVE NOW!" I order them making them quickly levitate the very injured Queen into the keep. From what I can see, her chitin is cracked and she's bleeding badly.

I turn my attention back to Celestia and stomp my way over to her as she shakily gets up and glares at me. "We won't let thee or those parasites threaten the world!" she tells me and her horn glows as the elements appear and float around her.

"DID YOU NOT LEARN THE FIRST TIME!? THOSE DON'T WORK ON ME!" I tell her and change to Geb and once again take control of the elements from her.

She snarls at me as the gems fuse with my right forearm. I then curl up into a ball and bulldoze my way over to her, making the very ground shake from my increasing momentum and size as rocks attach to me as I travel towards her. She takes flight just in time to avoid me and I slide to a halt where all the gathered rocks break off. I glare up at her as I change into Thanatos.

"I WILL TAKE YOUR HEARTLESS SOUL!" I yell at her and take off to chase her.

Her eyes widen as she fires blast after blast of magic at me. I use my scythe to deflect her bolts, some even going into her own soldiers injuring some of them which makes her gasp and stop shooting. Her horn glows and her crystal halberd appears and as I reach her, we swing our weapons at each other which give off sparks upon contact.

After trading blows for a good five minutes, each of us landing hits on the other's armour, she backs away and speaks up. "We shall show thee that thou art no god!" she tells me and quickly blasts me on the left side of my face with her magic.

I flip a few times with a grunt before bouncing off the ground heavily. I recover feeling sore on my left shoulder from the impact and a burning sensation on my masked face before taking off again where I pull my scythe back ready to swing at her. Her horn glows and before I reach her, she disappears and I get blasted on my back.

Flapping my wings, I recover from the fall and glare at her. I use Thanatos' Scent of Death ability, increasing my speed and my scythe's blade glows a dark purple. I dash for her and my increased speed makes her yelp, and before she could teleport again, I swing my scythe into her armour, piercing the crystal and sinking two inches of the blade into the side of her chest.

She gasps in pain and blasts me away, making my scythe rip out of her a bit and I slam into the ground. She flaps wildly as she descends to the ground with an expression of pain and blood slowly dripping from her side.

I get up and shake my head as my ears are ringing. After a few seconds to re-orientate myself I change to Chiron, The great Teacher. I'm now a centaur who I personally think sounds a bit like Sean Connery. I'm wearing greenish-blue armour with a single pauldron on my right shoulder for my human half while my horse half has armour along its back and rump, a satchel of medicinal herbs rest against my human torso's right hip. My long white hair is tied back into a ponytail and I also have a decent beard and moustache. My horse half has grey fur and my tail's colour matches my ponytail as well.

In my left hand I hold an ivory bow that looks like it has antlers on it with a greenish-blue grip.

I draw an arrow from my quiver and aim at Celestia who is still kneeling down in pain.

"Protect the Princess!" I hear a pony yell and the others all cheer before charging towards me.

I glare at them and aim my bow at them instead.

"Thine fight is with us!" Celestia suddenly yells and fires another blast of magic at me.

I gallop out of the way and aim at her again. I fire off a shot and hit her crystal armour where the arrow chips it a bit and bounces off, I then use Chiron's Masterful Shot ability to fire an arrow straight up which arcs towards Celestia to the point where my last shot hit her, she tries to fly away from it but it follows her relentlessly.

The ponies have now started to fire bolts of magic at our forces who are using the resin covered barriers and my stone warriors as cover and firing their own bolts of magic back. A few of the ponies' magic bolts hit me as well which don't do that much to my armour, though they do sting and singe my fur a little.

Luna and Amore have erected magical shields around themselves to deflect the magical bolts whizzing past them, they also have conflicted expressions as if they're unsure what they should do.

While Celestia is distracted, I turn into Sol and use her ultimate ability called Supernova. Just as I said I would, I use the sun to fire eight intense beams of flame that hit in a line along the front of the Equestrians. They blow out deep scorched craters and reducing the ponies hit at the front into ash.

The ponies behind them cower back and retreat away from me.

"YOU ALL STAY OUT OF THIS IF YOU WANT TO KEEP BREATHING!" I order them and turn back to Celestia to see her swat the arrow away with her halberd since it lost its homing ability when I changed.

I change back to Chiron and keep taking shots at her, every time I tag her with an arrow I follow it up with a homing one to make her either deflect it or dodge it. She takes a few shots at me with her magic as well each time she avoids or deflects an arrow which I easily step aside to avoid. I start to get frustrated and use my ultimate ability called Centaurus.

I rear up on my hind legs as my body glows with a light blue aura and I become transparent as it looks like my skeleton is a constellation. Celestia's eyes widen as what I can only describe as cosmic power is flowing through me and time seems to slow down.

After taking my time to carefully aim, I fire the first shot that soars at Celestia faster than normal, the arrow is surrounded by energy and it hits her chest, the energy wrapping around her while also cracking her armour and sending her back from the impact. The second shot misses as she barely dodges, but the third shot hits the same spot as the first and shatters the chestplate of her armour, making her yelp and flip out of control from the force of the impact again.

I return to normal and fire another homing arrow which strikes her in her exposed chest making her gasp and fall out of the sky. She hits the ground hard and curls up into a ball gasping for breath with the arrow protruding out of her.

I change back into Khepri and charge right for her while ignoring the pain I'm in due to my blind rage. But Luna lands in front of me with pleading eyes and a fearful expression.

"Get out of my way, Luna," I tell her in a cold and calm tone which makes her shiver.

"Carl, p-please stop. You've won. Let me take her b-back to Equestria... please," she begs me as I glare at her.

"After what she just did to Chrysalis? You expect me to let her leave after attacking my girl and invading my home where she could try to do it again!?" I yell at her making her cower back.

"I know w-what she did was wrong... but p-please don't kill her... despite her terrible attitude, she's s-still my sister," she replies and I pace in front of her while not tearing my eyes away from hers.

I look between her, then Celestia who's looking at me with and mixture of fear and anger, and then to the ponies who look terrified at what's going on as I just now notice that all the fighting has stopped.

"RrrrRRAAAGH!" I yell in rage and rip out a chunk of rock from the ground with my front legs and toss it a good twenty-six metres away before firing a solar flare from the sun, blasting the rock into dust. I stop and breath heavily as I stare at the crater the rock was at. The ponies back away slightly as I then turn back to Luna.

"Get her out of my sight before I rip her limb from limb!" I yell at her angrily. She yelps, levitates her sister, and flies off towards Equestria.

"F-Fall back!" she tells the Equestrians who don't argue and run off after her, carrying any injured from my attack and the two Dragana blasted with them.

Dragana flies over to me with a worried expression. "Carl? Are you alright?" she asks me warily. She has a few burn marks on her legs and neck, but they slowly seem to be healing.

I growl in anger and flutter my wings and look at her, making her flinch. "No... No I'm not..." I reply and fly off to check on Chrysalis. Along the way I see a good four-hundred of my stone warriors are destroyed, damaged, and or missing limbs along with a few injured changelings and crystal ponies.

I enter the storeroom in the keep where I see Chrysalis submerged in a pod of liquid love as her cracked and burned chitin is slowly mending. I collapse in front of her as I'm more exhausted than I thought with a worried expression as Chrysalis has a pained one on her face. A few other changelings and crystal ponies are in here as well with some magical burns from the Equestrians attacks. Even five of them dead from magical blast wounds to their heads.

I hear hooves walk up behind me and Cadence speaks up.

"Carl? Will thou be okay?" she asks and I sigh.

"Thank you for coming, Cadence. I'll be fine, once I'm sure Chryssi is okay," I reply and just keep looking at Chrysalis who looks like she's in agony. I feel some pain from the three blasts Celestia hit me with and the impacts with the ground so I think I got a couple of burns as well. The left side of my face feels burnt, as well as the middle of my back under my wing plates.

"What shall thee do now?" she asks me as Amore walks over and stands beside her daughter.

"Equestria is now an enemy of the Changelings. Should Celestia return, I will kill her. I gave her the chance to leave us alone, and she spat in our face," I tell her emotionlessly as I continue to take in the all the wounds Chrysalis has. I think she has a broken foreleg as well.

"Please don't judge all the ponies due to Celestia's actions..." Cadence says, making me frown. "Thou art just angry right now... Take time to calm down and look after Chrysalis, we and aunt Luna shall deal with Celestia. When thou art ready, thou canst send us and our guards back to the Empire," she tells me and gives me a gentle nuzzle.

After a moment of silence I speak up. "Alright. Just, give me a minute," I reply and take a deep breath.

I regret letting my anger get the better of me. I killed ponies who were just doing what they were told. Now their friends and family will have to deal with losing them and I'm the reason for it. I didn't feel bad for killing Sombra, fucker had it coming to him. But these were just guards doing what their insane Princess ordered them to do... and their families will never see them again, and I feel that will come to haunt me in the days ahead...

"Carl? What happened to the Elements of Harmony?" Amore then asks with confusion.

I change to Geb and look at my right forearm and see the elements still attached to me. I don't want nor need these blasted things, so I make them detach and they clatter to the floor.

"Take them with you, give them back to Luna, or keep hold of them yourself, I don't want them," I tell her and she levitates them over to herself.

"Okay. While we are angry at Celestia for what she hast done, just know we thank thee for not killing her. We are sure that with time, we can return her to her old self once more. Hopefully this was a wake up call for her," she tells me and I huff in reply, I'll believe it when I see it. Even if she does, Celestia won't be allowed to set one hoof on changeling land for a long time to come.

I get up and change into Janus. I then head outside and open a large portal on the side of the keep for Cadence and Amore to return to their Empire.

"If thou ever need anything or somepony to talk to, thou canst always come to us," Cadence tells me and I smile as I gently hug her.

"Thank you," I reply and she pats my back with a hoof. I can't help but chuckle quietly with each metallic tink sound her crystal horseshoe makes.

It takes a while to get her guards through, but once they are she and her mother go through as well and wave goodbye which I return before closing the portal.

"Now that Celestia is gone, what will you do?" Dragana asks me, and I notice she's keeping her distance from me.

"Now? I'm thinking about making a wall to cut off Equestria from our lands, but that’s just stupid and childish. Still, I want nothing to do with that psychotic horse anymore," I reply and look to Night Stalker who's standing nearby. "I want any Equestrian that wanders onto our lands sent back to Equestria, and if they try to get back in, I want them brought here," I tell him making him salute.

He then looks to some other changelings. "Send scout team two to patrol the border with the King's orders and make sure they have a month's worth of liquid love with them!" he tells them and they quickly head back into the Hive.

I change back into Khepri and make my way back to the pod Chrysalis is in. For the next six hours I just sit there staring at her, my wounds have healed on their own and I wonder if that's the game's Hp5 mechanic giving me slow natural regenerative healing.

Most of the liquid love is gone in the pod as all her wounds have healed and the expression of agony is no longer on her face, but I still failed in my promise to protect her from anything...

I perk up as her eyes flutter open and upon the sight of me, she smiles and places her right forehoof against the pod. I raise my left front leg and press it against her hoof.

"I'm sorry," I tell her making her frown sadly.

She pierces the pod with her horn and slowly climbs out of the tear.

"Sorry for what?" she asks me.

"For not keeping you safe like I promised..." I reply making her place her left forehoof on my cheek.

"That's not true. I'm still alive, our changelings are still alive, our Hive is still standing, all because you fought to protect us from that accursed alicorn," she tells me and gently kisses me.

I return it as best as I can as I wrap my front legs around her and hold her gently.

"What kind of god am I if I can't even protect the one I love from harm? We even lost some changelings in the battle..." I say weakly as she nuzzles me.

Chrysalis looks very upset at the news of more of her children dying, but then smiles sadly at me. "And it's from your love that I'm now healed. I know that no matter what, you'll be there for us... for me. Without you, that would have ended a lot worse," she replies and kisses me again.

For an hour or two we just stay there hugging each other as I feel like if I let go she’ll fade away. She eventually speaks up. "So, how badly did you throw around Celestia?" she asks me.

I recount the battle for her making her giggle at the part I was slamming her into the ground like a rag doll.

"I doubt we'll be hearing from her any time soon. This will hopefully give us more time to find the other Hives and convince them in joining us to increase our numbers. Maybe even get the other races on our side," I tell her.

She smiles at the state I left Celestia in and looks me in the eyes. "I'm glad you put her in the same condition she left me in. But it's getting late and I just want to cuddle now. Besides, I know of another way we can increase our numbers..." she tells me suggestively and I let her go.

Before I could reply, she walks off with a sway in her hips and I follow behind her. We head down into the Hive and back to my room where along the way changelings thank me for protecting the Hive from Celestia.

We enter my room where Chrysalis levitates me onto the bed on my back and flutters up onto my chest.

"Carl, I know you said you would rather wait, but I can't. I love you and I want you to make love to me. I'm ready to start laying eggs again, I want to hear the little hooves of nymphs running around again... it’s been so long… Please, will you give that to me?" she asks me with hopeful eyes.

I could have lost her today... I don't know if it's my emotions being all over the place or not, but I want nothing more than to love her more than anything right now.

"Okay," I reply getting a wide smile from her and she kisses me passionately.

Chapter 12.5: Expanding the Hive (Clop)

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Godly
Chapter 12.5: Expanding the Hive (Clop)

As Chrysalis' tongue invades my mouth, she runs it along the sharp teeth I have getting a shiver from her. Her hooves caress the soft shell of my chest as my legs wrap around her and massage her back and flanks.

She moans into my lips and gasps as I knead the chitin on her rump.

"Can... can you be that centaur you were when you fought Celestia? Chiron I think you said he was called..." she asks me and I change into Chiron.

She smiles and her horn glows as my armour, quiver, and bow are removed and placed to the side of the room leaving me completely naked before her.

She giggles as she wiggles her rear over my sheath and balls making me groan as the flare of my cock starts to come out.

My equine half is the same size as her body, but I still have to lean down just so I can reach her lips with mine due to my human torso. I kiss her as she continues to grind on me and I cup her cheeks with my hands and wrap my forelegs around her shoulders.

She gasps and her blush deepens as my member extends between us and rubs against her belly. I can feel a small amount of moisture coating my testicles and I groan at the feeling of the soft shell on her stomach against my dick.

I watch her face as she bites her lower lip and moves forward until the tip of my one foot and a half long cock is pressing against her moist lips.

"Breed me, fertilise my eggs. Give me your love," she tells me and slowly pushes back and the flare of my cock struggles to spread her lips.

But after a few seconds, her pussy spreads open and my flare pops right in making me jolt from the pleasure. She gasps and lets out a loud moan as inches start to sink inside her the more she pushes back. My flare feels every bump and ridge inside her making my spine tingle with how good she feels.

Her fore-hooves are resting on my equine half's chest as her eyes are wide open and mouth agape, small gasps leave her lips with each inch that slowly sinks in. I take this opportunity to lunge forward and suck her tongue into my mouth where I start caressing it with my own.

Her eyes flutter shut and she pushes back into the kiss as a few inches of my cock leaves her pussy. I try to thrust my equine hips up but I don't have the leverage to do so, but Chrysalis pushes back onto my cock herself sinking a whole foot of my dick back into her.

"I-I-I've forgotten how g-g-good this feels... Mmmmm," she says and licks my cheek.

I rub her ears with my hands getting another loud moan from her as she begins to rock back and forth, sinking more and more of my cock into her each time. The medial ring on my dick makes my pleasure spike every time it goes in and out, rubbing and tugging against the wet and tightly gripping lips of her pussy.

"Fuck..." I groan and shiver as her inner walls massage my member.

It isn't long before she's stuffed my whole cock into her and screams. I feel fluid splash on my groin as her pussy is clenching erratically.

"OoooOOooohh," she moans out as she rides through her orgasm. I cup her cheeks and bring her limp head up for a kiss.

She weakly returns it before I pull her off my cock making her moan. I gently place her next to me and roll over so I'm standing off the bed.

"W-What are you d-doing?" she asks panting.

I don't answer and just drag her dripping backside to the edge of the bed where I kneel down and bring my face right to her pussy.

It looks nothing like a human's as it's tear drop shaped and complete with winking clit, she's slightly spread open and I see her slightly glowing pale green juices slowly dripping out. I raise an eyebrow at the twitching green inner flesh but shrug it off and curiosity kicks in as I lick from her clit to the top of her lips. She tastes sweet, kinda like sugared water.

She gasps and pushes her rump into my face, making my nose get wedged between her labia and my lips to stroke her clitoris. She moans as she secretes more fluids that I'm more than happy to just lap up.

Bringing my tongue closer, I spread her pussy wide open with my thumbs before shoving my mouth right against her. My tongue lunges into her and licks all over her walls messily to get as much of the tasty fluids I can get. Chrysalis shivers and bucks her hips back as if trying to fit my head into her, so I wrap my arms around her thighs and spread her legs wider.

"Ohhhh, more... Mmmmm, give m-me more..." she begs in a tone that turns me on even more.

So I pull out and without warning, I suck on her clit the next time it winks making her shudder and scream as her cum squirts on my face. Her scent floods my sense of smell and I groan as I drink her nectar greedily.

"T-T-That felt sooOOooo good~" she says and then looks back at me. "Now m-mount me... breed your Q-Queen," she demands and I smirk.

I stand back on my hooves and then rear up to mount her. She gasps as my cock prods her right flank and I wiggle around trying to find my mark. She giggles from the constant poking but then moans deeply as I find her pussy and as wet as it is, slide right to the hilt with a deep squelch of juices.

She screams from the sudden penetration and trembles as I start thrusting.

"Oh, C-Carl! Rut me! Please rut me!" she begs and screams as I pick up my pace.

She's nothing more than a drooling mess as my pleasure builds and the dual tone of her voice moaning and screaming sounds so damn hot. I clamp my forelegs around her shoulders and to her chest as I start ramming myself harder into her. She wraps her fore-hooves around mine as I look down to her drooling green flushed face, her expression of bliss with her eyes rolled up and tongue hanging limp is making me more aroused.

I have no doubts the whole Hive can hear us but right now I don't care, all I care about is pleasing my girl and giving her what she wants.

For a blissful twenty minutes I fuck my Queen, making her moan, scream, and cum repeatedly as I hold her to my equine chest lovingly. She keeps encouraging me to fill her up, to fertilise her eggs, to give life to our children. The thought of being a father to our children turns me on and I feel my peak approaching.

"I-I'm close!" I tell her and my thrusting get's erratic.

"Y-YES! Flood m-my womb! Make me bare your n-nymphs! AAAAHHH!" she screams at me and after a few more long hard thrusts, I push in balls deep as my tip presses right up to her cervix. I cry out as I feel my balls churn, my flare expands sealing my cock inside her, and a large amount of cum travels down my dick and blasts into her womb.

Chrysalis shivers and screams under me as a massive orgasm rocks her body making her hold my forehooves tightly, her pussy is milking me hard and sucking my cock like a straw. I pant as each throb of my cock squirts another load of cum into her, and after a few seconds, I gently pull myself out and get off her back.

She's lying limp on the bed as I see a small amount of my cum drip from her slowly closing lips. I change back into Khepri and Chiron's armour and weapon fade away from the side of the room. Though I still have a softening erection.

I climb onto the bed and pull Chrysalis up until she's laying next to me. She snuggles into my side and nuzzles me weakly before drifting off to sleep.

I smile at her and after a few minutes just looking at her peacefully sleeping form, I fall asleep as well.

Chapter 13: The next Hive

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Chapter 13: The next Hive

I awaken from my sleep feeling better. I still feel guilty for killing those ponies, but in the end I tell myself that it all comes down to one simple question.

Them or us.

I decide not to dwell on it anymore as what's done is done. I Look to my right and see Chrysalis cuddled up next to me with a smile of her face. I remember last night and smile at the thought of being a father... I then grin at the prospect of proposing to her. If she's going to have my kids, then it's only right to make her my wife. I could even make her a gold necklace or bracelet.

Does anyone in this world even practice marriage? I'll have to find out. I wonder if Cadence would like to wed us? I bet she would jump at the chance to be the official and conduct the wedding.

But I'm getting ahead of myself as we still have a lot to do for now. Marriage and babies are still a long while away and I still have to find a way to track down the other Hives, if any more are even out there.

I hear Chrysalis yawn and slowly wake up. She looks around and then to me with a big smile.

"Thank you for last night, my love. I've never felt so relaxed in years," she tells me and nuzzles my cheek.

I smile back at her and return the affection. "You're welcome. But we still have a lot to do, and as such I need to get up. You're welcome to just stay in bed," I reply and get up off the bed.

"I think I'll do just that. You really tired me out last night," she says with a giggle and snuggles into where I was, inhaling deeply with a sigh.

I chuckle and say goodbye as I leave my room. I take a bath and then eat a large breakfast before heading up to the surface to see Dragana overseeing her Hive's construction. Looks like she's started building her own keep above her Hive's entrance as well using the stone they dig out from below.

"Good morning, Dragana," I tell her making her look at me uneasily.

"Good morning, Carl. I do hope you are feeling better today," she replies.

"Much, and I'm sorry if my anger yesterday upset you. I need to learn to control my temper, I don't want to be anything like Celestia," I say.

"I understand. Your mate was attacked and you retaliated," she says.

"Speaking of mates, what are you going to do with Tahway? He's bloody stubborn and hell bent on killing you for honour," I ask her. "If I were you, I'd go to the Crystal Empire and see if one of the crystal ponies would be willing to be your mate. We're on friendly terms with them," I then tell her.

She hums in thought and glances at me. "That would be a good idea, but I have no guarantees any of them would be willing," she replies and I just shrug.

"I can always make a portal for you to go there and at least ask," I say and get ready to take off. I need to get the next segment's walls raised.

"I will consider it," she simply replies and I fly over the wall and change to Geb.

Two weeks and three days later

I have all the walls of the segments raised which got easier and easier the more I did it. So if I want to be stronger, I'll just have to practise with different gods more often. The changelings of both Hives are working together to coat the walls in resin, so far they've got half of it done. I've also used Terra to make each segment's interior have fertile soil with grass growing in them, I also use Chaac, the god of rain to make it rain over the growing City, keeping the new vegetation alive.

Chaac has pauldrons coloured green and yellow connected together by a chain and green necklace but has no chestplate, he also has a tall green helmet with yellow and a circular ruby above the forehead area.

On his left forearm is a small yellow and green round buckler with sections of pink and another circular ruby in the centre.

His weapon is a large green, yellow, with some brown axe bigger than himself, the head of the axe has a square designed snake with an open mouth on it and a massive curved axe blade in front of it.

Luna has sent a letter to Cadence which we received when we went to see her for a visit. Celestia is still hospitalised and recovering from our fight, she's also apologised for Celestia's attack and wishes to visit again once Celestia is well enough to at least sit on her throne again.

To be honest I hope she's bedridden for months to come. I've also given a letter to Cadence to send to Luna apologising for my yelling at her and telling her that she's welcome to come visit when she can. Chrysalis also added to the letter detailing that until further notice, Celestia is exiled and banned from coming back into the badlands. I think she took some delight doing to Celestia what she did to her.

Speaking of Cadence, I told her of my plan to propose to Chrysalis soon and asked her to be the one to wed us. I have never heard her squeal so loudly before, but she agreed and I told her to keep it a secret for now. She also congratulated Chrysalis on getting pregnant and is looking forward to seeing the nymphs when they hatch. I've also asked Amore if it's possible to make me a replica of the Crystal Heart so I can experiment with it with the help of either changeling magic or crystal pony magic to see if I can make it emit love energy instead of absorbing it.

As for Chrysalis, her stomach has expanded with twenty eggs. Queens usually lay around five to ten at a time, but being in that pod of liquid love super charged her reserves and while we mated her reproductive organs worked overtime burning the excess love and made more eggs. She'll be ready to lay them in the next four days where they'll continue to grow on their own. I've also had sex with her a couple more times as Chiron again at her request, as she's used to mating with a pony more than anything so it's familiar to her and it's helping both of us to relieve the stress we built up from all the worry and preparing we did about Celestia. She's been more happy and carefree now that she's released the pent up frustration she built up over the years.

When I heard about the number of eggs she'll be laying, I did faint at the news that I'll be the father of so many at once. But Chrysalis said that other changelings will be raising the nymphs while she lays more eggs and that this could work for us to expand our numbers faster. Even Queen Dragana is intrigued at the method to laying more eggs.

Dragana now has her Hive dug out and covered in resin, along with her own lake she had me fill up, complete with giant glowing flower on the ceiling and a moonlight willow tree in the middle of the lake just like ours. She's given me all the metal and gems she's found and in return, all the gold she found has been turned into Gil and given to her to spread within her Hive. Her Hive has also been enjoying all the games Chrysalis' Hive has and they're loving their new life, and I've also promised to install her own boiler for a bath house later, but for now they're using the Jade Hive's bath house. If we find any other Hives, it will be easier to convince them to join us with Dragana's help.

She's also tested out the new way to make more eggs by staying in a pod of liquid love for six hours and then mating with Tahway who had to be sedated first as he still wants to kill her. Turn's out it worked and she's carrying eighteen eggs.

We've sent out ten changelings with a month's worth of liquid love for a single changeling each as well as a weapon to defend themselves and heavily trained to search for the other Hives. They have two weeks to search as far as they can go then using the next two weeks to return before they run out of liquid love.

I'm Vulcan again as I'm teaching four of Dragana's changelings how to forge with metal and make weapons. We now have three forges and five iron anvils next to each forge as well as a store room next to the forges with hundreds of ingots of different metals, alloys, and boxes of different gems.

Right now I'm making a suit of armour for Chrysalis as I don't want to ever see her get hurt again, and it will also give her an edge should Celestia decide she wants a rematch. Let's see how Celestia's glass armour will fair against equipment forged by a god!

I've been using a new metal alloy I've made from steel fused with liquid love during its smelting phase that I've named loveorium. It can absorb love energy from liquid love poured onto it and the wearer is able to siphon that energy from the armour to feed themselves, close wounds, and strengthen their magic.

"Sir? How is this?" one of Dragana's female changelings named Jinx asks me.

I put down the plate I'm working on and take the dagger blade she made from her magic. I look the blade over and notice it's slightly warped, but other than that it's pretty solid.

"You warped the blade slightly, but you're getting better. Melt the blade down and try again," I tell her encouragingly making her sigh and nod. But with my gruff tone it doesn't really sound like it.

"Yes, Sir," she replies and takes the blade back.

I pick up the pauldron plate I was working on and continue hammering for a few seconds before putting it back into the forge to heat up again.

After a few more minutes the forge’s door opens up. "My King! One of the scouts has returned with news of another Hive near the elk territories! The Hive's colouration is yellow and the Hive is only around three-hundred and seventeen strong," he tells me.

"I see, how long would it take to get there?" I ask him.

"Three days travel, my King," he replies.

"Alright, get a squad together with two pods of liquid love to take with us ready in front of the keep, along with the scout who found the Hive!" I order him getting a salute before he heads out. I then look to the others in the room. "Keep practising, we have plenty of metal to use so don't worry about wasting it," I tell them getting affirmatives in reply.

I cool off the pauldron plate and change into Khepri and head up to the surface where my Pregnant Queen along with Dragana is waiting for us.

"Good evening, ladies," I greet them getting a happy nuzzle from Chrysalis.

"Hello, my love. I take it you're ready to go?" she asks me. I look at her stomach which looks twice as wide than normal and hangs a good foot lower.

"I am, let's just hope nothing happens while I'm gone," I reply. Since we set up patrols at the border, no Equestrians have been sighted nearby. But both Dragana and Chrysalis have a canteen each that they carry with them at all times now, filled with a new concentrated form of liquid love they themselves produced, which will once consumed, give them a short power spike as each canteen is a whole normal pod's worth of love. This should help them to deal with any threats on their own.

Two pods are next to the Queens and I walk over to them before cradling both of them with my six legs. Makes me feel kinda like a Chinook helicopter about to airlift something.

All ten changelings coming with me, five from both Hives, are armed with swords or spears and have their bottles which will last them a month, so these two pods are for the new Hive we're going to meet.

"Good luck, Carl," Chrysalis tells me and I smile with a nod.

"Take care of yourselves," I reply.

Fluttering my wings, I take off and follow the scout who found the Hive to the south east.

Three days later

I'm already missing Chrysalis after the first night away, but after a few more days of uneventful travel the terrain changed from rocky to a grassy plain with a forest further ahead. We finally reach our destination and I touch down just outside the entrance of the Hive which is dug out in the side of a hill to see yellow coloured changelings eyeing me warily.

"Hello! My name is Carl and I've come to see your Queen," I greet them making one of them walk forward.

"W-What are you? W-Why are y-you here?" a female changeling asks me clearly frightened.

"I am the god of the changelings and have come to offer you a better life," I reply and gently place the two pods in front of me.

I see a couple of them drool and I notice the poor condition they're in. Just like Chrysalis and Dragana's Hives when I first met them they've got holes in their legs and look skinny, just in even worst condition.

"As a show of good intention, I have brought two pods of liquid love for your Queen and Hive," I tell her making her turn to the others.

"G-G-Get the Queen quickly!" the female changeling orders the others urgently and they rush back in.

"What's wrong?" I ask her with confusion as she looks back at me.

"Ever since the elks found our old Hive and killed most of us, the few of us left escaped with our Queen and we had to build a new Hive here, but now their magic can detect us before we even get near them to gather any love... We've been giving what we can spare to our Queen, even at the cost of our lives to keep her alive... but she's now refusing to take any from us and she's nearly withered away," she tells me sadly.

I frown and look towards the forest. "Then get her up here quickly," I reply and keep an eye on my surroundings.

It takes the yellow changelings five minutes and I see them pulling a mossy like blanket with a larger yellow changeling who looks very ill and barely breathing on it. Her chitin is cracked and dull as well as her colours fading. Her mane and tail are a light pink colour that's long and flowing which I guess would make her look very elegant if she was healthy.

"Quickly, place her into one of the pods," I tell them and the yellow changelings don't argue as they carefully place their Queen into one of the pods which is sealed shut once she's in. "The rest of you, drink from the other pod and get your strength back, I'll carry your Queen back to our City and we'll help her recover there," I tell them making them nervous.

"A-Are you sure you won't harm our Queen or us?" one of them asks.

"I promise, you are safe with me. I'm bringing the changelings together so they don't have to hide or struggle to survive anymore," I reply getting them to murmur to each other. "Once everyone here is ready and you have everything you need, I'll open a portal to our City," I tell them as one by one they walk over to the second pod and begin to drink some love from it.

"What is your name as well as your Hive and your Queen?" I ask the female changeling who so far seems to be in charge.

"My name is Sweet Song and we're the Honey Hive. Our Queen's name is Shyla," she replies looking much better as the holes in her legs are closing and her ribs aren't showing as badly anymore.

I look back to their Queen in the pod and she's already absorbed a good tenth of the liquid in it as her cracked chitin is slowly mending.

"It's nice to meet you. Let's take your Queen back inside and let her recover some more before we move her. I'd rather she be more healthy when we leave," I tell Sweet Song getting her to nod.

"Okay, I'm already feeling better than I have in years," she tells me with a smile.

After carefully moving the Queen back into the small Hive, I have my escorts set up a perimeter around the entrance to keep a lookout for anything or anyone who might show up.

After three or four hours, Shyla looks much better than before and she's absorbed about a fifth of the liquid love in her pod, and her three-hundred changelings have drained the second pod dry.

I still think she needs another hour before we move her but one of our changelings comes down. "Carl! An elk patrol is heading this way!" he tells me.

'Of course there is,' I think to myself and make my way out of the small Hive.

I look to the east and see thirty elk, all male I think with brown fur on their legs, sides, back, and head while the fur from their chin down to their chest and stomach is a paler brown. They're wearing armour that appears to be made from the bones of dead animals or their own dead woven together with plant matter and they're all very muscular. They cautiously head our way with what appears to be bone spears floating next to them and their antlers are glowing a faint white. Are they similar to unicorns?

I walk over to them making them stop and point their spears at me.

"What is that?" one of them asks another.

"I've never seen anything like it before,"

"Perhaps it's a new kind of changeling?"

I get bored of them calling me an 'it' and cough politely getting their attention.

"Excuse me, but I ask that you don't do anything hostile whilst I'm here," I ask them politely making them look confused.

"Who or what are you?" the tallest of them asks. He's wearing heavier looking armour compared to the others and is half a foot taller than them as well.

"My name is Carl, and I am the god of the changelings. I'm here to take this Hive back with me to our City," I reply making most of them look surprised, while the big one narrows his eyes.

"A god you say? I've never heard of the changelings having a god before," he tells me with suspicion.

"I've been with the changelings for over five months now. I'm helping to bring them a better way of life after what Celestia had done to them a century ago," I reply and stand my ground.

"Celestia? She witnessed the changelings killing a pony it was feeding from... Why would we doubt the one who ended Discord's madness?" he asks getting more aggressive.

"You're free to believe what you want. But that damn alicorn attacked my City just under three weeks ago and I had to send her home nearly dead to protect my people!" I tell him and walk up to him making the others step back but he doesn't move.

"You injured the sun alicorn?" he asks disbelievingly.

"I did, and I took away her precious Elements and her control of the sun," I reply making his eyes widen slightly. "So, you'll leave us alone and I'll take these changelings away from your lands, this way no one has to die in a pointless fight. And make no mistake that I can and will take you all on by myself should you decide to fight," I tell him. My ten changelings also have weapons out and at the ready should said fight break out.

He narrows his eyes and just stares at me.

We just glare at each other for a few minutes and he finally snorts. "Very well. Take them and don't return, or we'll bring our entire army to bare down on you," he tells me.

"Fair enough. Though one day, I will return to meet your leaders for a friendly visit. But for now I have a race to help recover," I tell him and turn back to the Hive where the honey changelings are looking nervous.

"We're leaving now," I tell them and head inside to pick up the Queen.

Once I have her secure in my legs, I take off towards the badlands. I really need to discuss a new name for it as well as a name for our City with the others. I look back to the elk to see them watching us before moving towards the now abandoned Hive, at least they were more reasonable than Celestia was.

We fly for a couple of hours with a few breaks to let the honey changelings take a breather and just to make sure the Elk aren't somehow following us before stopping, along the way Sweet Song has told me some history of her Hive and that due to their Queen's kind and timid nature, she could never force a male to mate with her, nor would she kidnap others to feed, which explains their low numbers.

Queen Shyla also has a liking for wildlife and that's why she set up her Hive near the elks as the wildlife there are plentiful and rather friendly.

In return, I've told her what to expect once we reach the City and what I have planed for it.

I ate from Bacchus' pork joint and water from a clean river we passed by on our way back, but I can't wait to get back and eat some steamed vegetables. I’m going to have to find cows for milk and chickens for eggs someday. Maybe a lake on the surface for proper fishing as well.

Once I think we're safe from anything that could be hostile, I change into Janus and open a portal to the side of the keep back at the city and let my changelings through first followed by the honey changelings and their queen and myself. The City wall segments look nearly covered in resin with just one segment left to go. There's also two new buildings next to the Keep, one looks like a warehouse but I'm not sure what the other is for. I walk around to the front of our Keep and Chrysalis no longer has her pregnant belly meaning she laid her eggs.

"Carl!" she says as she runs over and hugs me.

I return the hug with my right front leg. "I'm home, and we've brought the Queen and her Hive, though she's still in bad condition. I need another pod of love prepared for her," I tell her making her look at the still malnourished Queen with shock.

Despite absorbing the whole pod of it's love, she's still thin and has plenty of holes in her legs. But she now has her colour back and the cracks in her chitin are gone. I'm guessing most of the love energy went to healing her, and since it was from Cupid's hearts, it healed her faster.

"While you were gone, we've decided to build our own hospital next to the keep in case anyone gets injured on the surface again, along with a storehouse for holding our supplies and construction materials," she replies and I smile at her.

"Then let's get her inside," I say and change to Hercules. I place my mace against the hospital's wall and carefully lift Shyla's pod to carry her into the new building.

I look around and see six rooms, three on the left and right, and a desk in the middle made of wood and covered in resin. I walk over to the first room on the left and walk in to see four pods in each corner of the room, two filled with liquid love. A table is in the centre with a few bottles of liquid love on it as well, and two changelings wearing little nurse hats made from moss on their heads are looking at us.

"We'll need you to make more hearts to fill these, but it's a start," Chrysalis tells me and I smile at the progress she's making.

"It's great. Now let's get Shyla in a pod," I reply and carefully rip open the pod she's in before lifting her out and gently placing her into the new pod. A changeling nurse then seals the pod shut and all we can do now is wait.

I change back into Khepri and we leave the hospital to see the honey changelings waiting outside nervously looking at our changelings.

"Welcome to our growing City. Until your Queen awakens, you'll be living with us in our Hive. Please be respectful to other changelings and don't start any fights. You're free to wander around for now," I tell them and look to Chrysalis.

"This lovely changeling is my mate and Queen of the Jade Hive. We also have another Queen named Dragana of the Crimson Hive living in the western segment," I tell them getting them to look around.

"We don't know what to say... thank you, for saving us and our Queen," Sweet Song says as tears start to form in her golden yellow eyes.

"You're welcome. Come, let's get you settled in," I reply and lead them into the Hive.

Four days Later

The honey changelings have adapted well to their new home and their Queen is improving greatly. Her holes are gone and her ribs are no longer showing, but she's still out cold. The changelings have spent their time exploring and quickly liking what we have here.

Chrysalis has shown me to the Nursery where it's finally being used again. In the walls are around one-hundred holes that look like bird nests, and in twenty of them are her eggs laying in small pools of liquid love to keep them alive which are being tended to by three of what I call changeling nannies. The eggs are green and oval in shape and no bigger than my fist as Hercules, but transparent enough to see inside them. The changeling nymphs inside kind of remind me of tadpoles as at the moment they have a tiny head, a little torso, and no limbs.

These are the first Jade Hive changelings to be laid in decades and as such, Chrysalis has ordered four armed and armoured guards to be posted to protect them until they hatch. My lovely Queen has also told me she'll be ready to make more eggs in a few days. I asked if laying the eggs hurt but she surprised me by telling me it actually feels rather pleasant, so as to make a Queen want to lay more eggs.

Dragana's stomach has gotten bigger due to the amount she's carrying and has opted to remain in her Hive until she's laid them.

Cadence and Amore have visited via Portal and Cadence hopped around like she drank too much coffee saying how cute the eggs were when Chrysalis showed them to her. Amore also invited us to dinner at the Empire in three days which we accepted, and she said Celestia won’t be coming to ruin it this time.

I've continued with Chrysalis' armour and so far the pauldrons, helmet, and chestplate are done, but I still need to make the leggings, boots, lower back and flank plates.

I also have plans on making her a large greatsword like Tyr's as I find the imagery I've had of her wielding it very appealing.

I'm now working on the first boot and sigh as I finish hammering the first front plate. I think it's time for a break and change into Khepri before heading out to the cafeteria for lunch. The new apprentices are also improving with their metalworking skills as well.

But before I can even enter, a changeling walks up to me and bows. "My King, Queen Shyla has awoken," he tells me and I smile. Finally she's awake!

"Thank you, tell Chrysalis that I'm on my way," I reply getting a bow from him before he closes his eyes.

He then looks at me with a smile. "She's waiting for you in the hospital right now," he tells me.

I chuckle and shake my head. "I'm still jealous you can do that and I can't," I say getting a chuckle from him as well.

I say goodbye and make my way to the surface, lunch can wait until we get Queen Shyla settled in.

Walking up to the hospital which is crowded by the honey changelings, I carefully make my way past them and enter. I then enter the room Shyla is in and see her now out of the pod with a confused and fearful expression. Her body is now just as healthy looking as Chrysalis is.

"I see you're finally awake," I say getting hers and Chrysalis' attention. Shyla looks up at me with wide eyes and she looks about ready to faint.

"Y-Yes... and m-my children have t-told me what's g-g-going on... but why are you h-helping us?" she asks in the most adorably timid way I've ever seen as her mane is covering the right half of her face, and it makes me just want to hug her.

Seeing her terrified is actually depressing and I remember Sweet Song telling me of her love for animals, so I change god to Ratatoskr.

She stares at me for a few seconds before gasping and with her magic, levitates me to her and hugs me.

"Oh my gosh! You're so adorable!" she says losing her stutter as she nuzzles my head, and I notice Chrysalis glaring at Shyla a bit.

"So..." I say getting her to pull back and look at me but not letting go. "I take it Chrysalis has told you that you can stay here correct?" I ask her.

"Erm, yes... she said I can build a new Hive here... but w-why are you gathering different Hives in one place?" she asks me. I just stare at her visible eye which is a beautiful golden yellow colour.

"After what I heard Celestia had done to the changelings, and the fact that Chrysalis took me in and I didn't really know what to do when I first got here, I decided to help bring the changelings back together and make them a great nation of their own. And since the Badlands is one of the only places no other race wants, I can eventually terraform it into a habitable land as our own kingdom," I reply getting a shocked expression from her.

"Okay, and are you really a g-god like my children have told me?" she then asks.

"Yes, I can turn into different gods or goddesses as you've just seen me do. So it's kind of fitting that I ended up being the god of the changelings," I reply.

Her lower lip quivers slightly before she starts crying and hugs me again. "Thank you... for saving me and my children. I really thought that no one would help us and we were doomed," she tells me and I wrap my little arms around her neck to return the hug.

"You're welcome... can you put me down now please?" I ask her, getting an adorable eep from her as she sets me down.

"S-Sorry..." she says and rubs her left foreleg.

"No problem. But now we need to discuss what segment of the City you want to take for your Hive," I tell her and she looks a bit more nervous now.

Chapter 14: Dinner at the Empire

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Chapter 14: Dinner at the Empire

Three days later

Queen Shyla has taken the south eastern most segment and after telling her I grew the grass here, she asked me to grow a small forest so she could find and bring animals to live in it.

I saw no harm in it so half of her segment is now a small woodland area. She's also very happy with how nice everyone is being with her and her changelings as she admitted she was terrified we would somehow attack her when she least expected it.

Chrysalis and Dragana have sent some of their changelings to help Shyla dig out her new Hive while the Queens got together and discussed what to name our City.

They decided on Khepria City, in honour of me bringing them hope and a place they can live without fear of being hunted or starving, and due to it's the form I take most of the time. It touched me and while Dragana isn't the touchy feely type, I still gave her and the other Queens a hug. But I told them they have to come up with a name for their new nation without using anything about me as a reference.

I've also spent the last two days mostly making more and more hearts to be converted into liquid love, even the honey changelings have a team to make some for their Hive now.

So at the end of the second day, I've managed to make enough hearts for three months for everyone to feed from, so I don't have to make anymore for a while.

Tahway managed to break free from his pod and started killing any changeling in his way barehanded. The armed and armoured guards managed to bring him to his knees after wounding him, but after what he did, Chrysalis was so enraged to the point she blew a foot wide hole through his chest and killed him on sight without warning. While Dragana wasn't happy about it, she understood that it's what had to be done.

Damn minotaur killed the four caretaker or jailer changelings as I liked to call them before he was put down. Chrysalis cried herself to sleep after she performed another changeling burial for them. I just hope she'll feel better before we have to go to the Empire for that dinner date with Cadence. Just means from now on minotaur prisoners will have to be bound with resin.

It's now the day that we head to the Empire and Chrysalis, while still glum, is well enough to go. So while we waited we decided to start building houses up on the surface. I used Janus to make portals to both the quarry and the forest to get more timber and stone, I've learnt I can make more than one portal at a time but it's more stressful on me the more I make and the size of each one, so I'll need to practice a lot more. At least the storehouse is getting used as the spare materials are stored inside.

Now it's late in the evening and Dragana wants to come as well to find a willing mate among the crystal ponies since Tahway is now dead.

"Shyla? Would you like to come as well?" I ask the timid Queen.

"Um... I don't know... W-What if they don't like me?" she asks me.

"Amore and Cadence are the nicest ponies you'll ever meet, this will also give you the chance to possibly find a mate as well," I tell her making her blush yellow. I find it amusing that the colour of a changeling's blush is the same colour as their shell.

"I-I-I'm not sure I'm r-ready for a m-mate again yet," she replies and stutters.

"Then just come along and meet Amore and Cadence. They'll adore you," I say making her look to her three changelings who are nodding at her.

"Oh... Okay then..." she says and I raise an eyebrow. I'm surprised she survived as long as she did being this timid and easy to convince.

"Great. Let's get going then, it's almost time," I tell her and we take off towards the central segment.

Shyla smiles as we fly past her woodland area as birds have begun to show up and started building nests in the trees.

We land in front of the Jade Hive Keep and see Chrysalis and Dragana who has come out of her Hive just for this dinner. She's got a swollen belly just like Chrysalis had and has two of her changelings with her.

"So, you ladies ready to go?" I ask them.

"Of course. I'm looking forward to talking with Cadence," Chrysalis replies.

"Yes, well. I'm just going to find a mate," Dragana says bluntly making me chuckle.

"Okay then. Let's go," I say and change to Janus and open a Portal to the Empire's Throne Room.

I look in to see Amore and Cadence on their thrones talking to an elderly looking zebra stallion. I step through getting a surprised look from the zebra who then glares at the Queens behind me.

"Empress Amore, why are there changelings here in your Empire?" he asks her with thick accent.

"They art our friends and allies, High-Shaman Banawey. And we ask thee to show respect," she replies calmly as Cadence gets up off her throne before walking over and giving Chrysalis a hug, as well as me.

"Tis good to see thee both. And congratulations Dragana, we hope thou art well? We were not expecting thee to come along, especially in thine condition," she says and then asks the red Queen.

"I'm fine. Though I require a new mate and have come looking for one," she bluntly says making Cadence blush slightly and raise an eyebrow at her.

"Oh... Well we hope thou shall find somepony who would like to court thee," Cadence replies before looking at Shyla who is nervously hiding behind her mane. "And who is this? We don't remember seeing her last time we visited," she asks with confusion.

"This is Queen Shyla. We found her Hive in poor condition and brought her back to our City where we helped her recover," I reply getting a big smile from Cadence.

"Thou art a blessing, Sir Carl. We hope thou find more Hives and help them as well," the pink alicorn says and walks up to Shyla who nervously looks back at her.

"Greetings, Queen Shyla. We art princess Cadenza, but thou may just call us Cadence. We hope that thee shall enjoy thine time in the Crystal Empire," Cadence tells her getting a small smile in return.

"Erm... T-Thank you," Shyla replies.

"Now then. Let us head for the dining hall, ye all arrived early so we still hast half an hour before dinner is served," Amore tells us and looks to the zebra who looks uncomfortable. "High-Shaman. Thou art welcome to join us if thou wishes, we would like to introduce thee to our friends," she tells him, getting a slight frown from him.

"Very well, Empress. We still have much to discuss," he replies and we all follow her to the dining hall, though the zebra keeps his distance from us.

We arrive and I remember the table being too small for me to sit at properly, so I change into Ratatoskr and sit on a cushion next to Chrysalis and Shyla who looks like she wants to glomp me. Though that only lasted for a few seconds before Cadence pulls me with her magic for a hug.

"Oh we hoped thou would change into this form again!" she tells me and I wheeze slightly as she tightens her hug.

I glance at Chrysalis who has wide eyes and a small smile forming on her face. Is she finding my predicament amusing?

"Cadence, I would like you to let my mate breath as we still need him," Chrysalis tells her.

I gasp as Cadence blushes in embarrassment and lets me go where I cough a few times. "I saw my life flash before my eyes!" I say dramatically and slump onto my back on the table.

I hear Dragana giggling as Chrysalis levitates me back to my cushion where I just lay there.

"Now then, Empress. As I was saying before your... guests arrived, our land has come under a drought that is starting to effect our crops. I've been sent to ask you to send some of your pegasi to provide some rain. In return we are willing to compensate you with herbs, extracts, or silk that you can't find here," the Zebra says to Cadence.

"What kind of herbs and Extracts?" I ask getting a narrow eyed look from him.

"That is none of your concern changeling," he tells me in a hostile tone getting me to frown.

"Okay, one, I'm not a changeling. Two, I might be able to help you with your rain problem. And three, keep up that attitude and you can expect no help from me. While you are a guest of Empress Amore, I won't tolerate you insulting my mate or her race," I tell him sternly, which is ruined by my high pitched tone and cute appearance.

"We too ask not to insult our friends, High-Shaman Banawey," Cadence says making the zebra's frown lessen. "Now, Carl. What is this idea thou hast for the High-Shaman's problem?" she asks me.

"I can just be Chaac the rain god and make it rain over his lands," I reply getting a raised brow from the zebra.

"A rain god? You speak as if you are a divine," he says disbelievingly.

I groan as I'm getting tired of explaining myself every time. "Yes, I can become over eighty different gods and goddesses from my old world. One of them being a god named Chaac who can summon rain," I tell him and change into said god.

I stand up and rest my massive axe's pommel on the floor while holding it up. "If you want a demonstration then just look out the window," I reply with my own slight accent and raise my axe above my head and focus my energy.

Clouds begin to gather above the Crystal Palace and thunder roars around us as after a minute or two, rain begins to descend and hit the clear crystal windows.

The zebra gawks outside and quickly makes his way over to the window and watches the rain fall from the clouds above. Cadence gives me an unamused expression.

"Please stop it, Sir Carl. We don't want the rain to freeze over on everything," she tells me and I disperse the clouds making the rain stop.

The zebra looks back at me with wide eyes and after a few seconds of hesitation, walks over to me.

"You have gained my interest. If you are not a changeling, but truly a god, why are you with the changelings?" he asks me with curiosity.

I change back into Ratatoskr and sit back down at the table. I then tell him of when I first arrived and killed Sombra and saved Amore, then of Celestia trying to kill or seal me as for some insane reason she only saw me as a threat, which got a surprised reaction from him. Next of how the changelings found me and in return for taking me in, I decided to help them recover. Then finally of Celestia's attack on our barely started City where I sent her back to Equestria wounded.

"So I'm gathering any Hive willing to work together. So far we have three Hives, one confirmed dead, and another that could possibly still be out there. You wouldn't happen to know of any Hives near your lands would you?" I ask him.

"Not that we know of," he replies and hums in thought. "If you can bring rain to our lands, then the shaman council is willing to listen to anything you would like in return within reason," he tells me.

"One thing I would like is to have your nation as friends and allies to the changelings of the Badlands, which will be renamed once we think of a good name for it," I reply making him raise an eyebrow.

"That's all?" he asks surprised.

"We already have everything we need to prosper, but anything new and useful would be welcome. Does your nation have some form of currency?" I ask him.

"We trade food and resources with other races for what we need, if you are referring to the crystal coins the ponies use, then no, we do not," he replies.

"I see. I would be interested in seeds for different herbs, or fruit and vegetables that we can grow ourselves," I tell him.

"That can be easily arranged," he says and returns to the table. "After our meal, I would like to discuss what you would like exactly in exchange for you providing us with rain," he tells me.

"I can do more than that, I can even make a few lakes if you want," I reply and before he can speak, the doors open and crystal carts are pushed in with crystal plates covered with different fruits, vegetables, and cooked vegetarian dishes.

"What are these?" I ask as a plate with what look like light blue berries made of crystal or ice is placed down.

"Oh, those are crystal berries, tis one of our main exports," Amore replies.

I have to lean over the table just to reach them and gather a few before putting them on my plate. I take a bite of one and chew slowly. It's tangy and it's like a combination of strawberry and watermelon.

"Not bad, I may have to buy some from you later... Speaking of buying things, how much would that crystal heart replica cost?" I ask Amore.

"Oh, don't worry about that. If it helps our friends and her race thrive, then we art happy to provide it," she replies.

I smile at her generosity and then get an idea. "Then perhaps you would like to build an embassy within our City? This way you can send messages to and from Khepria without waiting for me to open a portal," I offer her.

"Thou would allow us to?" she asks with a smile.

"Sure, just gather whatever you want to build it with and I'll open a portal to where you can build it," I reply and take another bite of the berries.

"We thank thee, Sir Carl for thine generous offer. We shall have what we need for the building within a week's time. In return, the changelings of the Badlands may build their own embassy here in the Empire," she tells me.

"Thank you, Amore," I reply and I don't know why but I get the urge to stuff my face with more berries and without thinking, I start shovelling berry after berry into my cheeks which quickly expand.

I stop to see everyone staring at me while Chrysalis is trying not to laugh.

"Whapf?" I ask making my Queen burst into laughter.

"Squirrels do that to carry food back to their burrows for winter," Shyla then says with a smile on her face.

I frown and quickly swallow the berries one by one. Once done, I cross my little arms and pout at Chrysalis.

"Oh stop being a party pooper, Carl. It was funny," she tells me and I sigh before taking a piece of lettuce and just nibble on it. At least she's feeling better now.

Dinner goes by quickly and Dragana excuses herself to begin her search for a mate.

Banawey and I talked about what he wants me to do in Zebrica. He wants me to make it rain at each major plantation, and fill a few lakes so they can have enough water for drinking and to continue watering their crops until the drought has ended. Simple enough.

In return, I wanted seeds for different fruits and vegetables that only grow there, along with some seeds of medicinal herbs as well. I also asked for a meeting with his leaders to meet the Queens, which he tells me is made up of a council of elders from different tribes as they don't have royalty.

I plan to help them see that the changelings are not dangerous and that what Celestia told them was a lie.

While not happy about letting changelings near their land, he agreed to it if I can really do as I said I can.

I asked how he got here and he tells me he came here with a group of ten warriors from his tribe, which took two weeks of constant travel.

"So we'll be walking back?" I ask him.

"Correct. Zebrica is quite far and we'll also need to take our boat across the sea. Normally we wouldn't take such a long journey unless it was important, but our crops dying is such a time," he replies.

"Hmmm. What if I say I could fly us there quicker? Your warriors would have to travel back on foot... er, hoof while I carry you," I tell him making him raise an eyebrow.

"You can fly?" he asks surprised.

I change into Khepri making him back up a few steps due to my size. I then open the shell on my back and flutter my wings a bit.

"I can carry you with my legs while you give me directions," I reply and close my shell.

"I...see," he says and frowns.

"You did say time is short, I believe I can get you back within a few days instead of weeks," I tell him making him hesitant. "You have my word that no harm will come to you."

"Very well... I will have to inform my warriors first," he says.

"If it makes you feel better, I can carry one of your warriors as well. I shall wait for you outside the palace," I tell him and look to Chrysalis. "Once I've done my end of the deal, I'll open a portal to the Hive so you and the others can come through to talk to this council. Hopefully we can make friends with the zebras as well," I tell my Queen.

"Very well, we'll need to wait for Dragana to return so you can send us back to Khepria," she replies with a smile.

"Alright. I doubt she'll find a mate today anyway," I say and turn back to Banawey as Chrysalis and Shyla leave the Dining Hall with a couple of crystal guards escorting them. "Alright then. So how much land am I expected to cover?" I ask him.

"Whilst not as large as Equestria, we have a City and a good number of villages around. While hard to grow crops in the arid landscape, we manage to grow what we need. It's just we've never seen a drought this long and bad before, and we barely have enough water left to drink," he replies.

"Hmmm. Well, I'll do the best I can to help. Though I will need to take some breaks now and then and this may take me a few days to finish," I tell him.

"That is acceptable. I shall go inform my warriors and wait for you beneath the Palace," he tells me and gets up from the table.

"Okay. I need to send the Queens back to Khepria first before we go," I reply and change into Janus before turning to Amore and Cadence. "Thank you for the delightful meal, my dears. I'll be sure to buy some of those crystal berries from you when I get back," I tell her.

"Thou art welcome, Sir Carl. And we look forward to thy return," Amore replies and stands up. "But now we must return to our duties, we hope that thee canst solve High-Shaman Banawey's plight."

With a nod we all head out our own ways. I arrive at the base of the Palace and see Chrysalis and Shyla there.

"I take it Dragana is still somewhere else?" I ask them.

"Oh... yes, but w-we've only been waiting for a f-few minutes," Shyla replies still looking adorable and I just want to hug her.

"Well, Banawey will meet up with us here and after I send you all back, I'll take him to Zebrica and try to help them out. I'll visit now and then as well since I can just portal back instantly," I say.

"Very well, my love. I'll hold you to that as you need to fertilise my eggs again soon," Chrysalis tells me making Shyla blush slightly.

I chuckle and just chat with them until Dragana returns.

Chapter 15: Release the Kraken!

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Chapter 15: Release the Kraken!

After waiting for about thirty or so minutes, Banawey arrives with another zebra who is a good half foot taller than him. He's big and muscular while wearing some headdress made from plants and feathers as well as a necklace with long fangs tied to a piece of string. His hooves are also covered in what looks like a large cat's claws which are strapped on making him look meaner.

"I take it this is the warrior we'll be taking with us?" I ask Banawey.

"Correct. This is my strongest warrior Onaka," the Shaman replies. I don't doubt it just by looking at him.

"It is nice to meet you, Onaka," I greet him getting a glare in return.

"God or not, I will be your end should any harm come to Elder Banawey," he tells me calmly, but I see his mass of muscles tense up.

"I wish to be friends with Zebrica, and allowing him or even you to be harmed on the way there would be counterproductive. I'll make sure you both come to no harm while I carry you," I reply.

He doesn't reply and just narrows his eyes.

"Don't take his words to heart. He is just very protective and diligent to his duty," Banawey tells me.

"That's good. Means he's loyal and will do what he must to fulfil his oath or duty," I reply with a nod.

Onaka snorts but his glare lessens slightly.

After a good eight or more minutes of idle chatter, Dragana returns with a young unicorn crystal pony stallion with a light brown coat and a messy navy blue mane and tail floating beside her in her magic. He has the mark of a glowing white crystal on his flank.

"Dragana? What are you doing?" I ask her with a raised brow.

"I have found a suitable mate and shall take him back with me," she replies and I notice the pony is looking terrified, yet with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Did you even ask him first?" I then ask her.

The pony quickly shakes his head in a 'no' gesture. I also notice he looks a bit drunk if the rosy coloured nose and cheeks mean anything.

"I went to their inn and asked who would want to be my mate. All but this one remained in the building so I took that as consent," she replies in her usual blunt tone.

I sigh and walk over to the pony floating in the air. "So what do you say? You interested in being Dragana's mate?" I ask him.

He looks at Dragana who glances back at him, then looks back to me.

"Gotta admit... the offer is tempting," he replies nervously.

"Are you single?" I then ask.

"Errr... yeah?" he replies looking confused.

"You willing to move to our city to live with Dragana?" I then ask him.

"Move?" he asks in reply with a confused expression.

"Yes, we live past Equestria and in the Badlands. You'll have to move there if you want to be with Dragana," I tell him.

"Erm... I don't know..." he replies with a slight hiccup.

I sigh and shake my head. "Dragana, put him down. He's obviously too drunk to think straight right now. Let him have some time to sober up and then ask him again later when he can put together a coherent thought," I tell her making her groan unhappily before placing him on the ground.

"Go home and get some sleep, let Amore or Cadenza know when you have your answer, that is if you even remember this," I tell him making him nod slowly.

"Sure... I need to use the *hic* restroom anyway," he replies and stumbles away.

"You are insufferable sometimes, you know this right?" Dragana asks me unamused.

"Chryssi has told me this many times before, and I shall continue to be so. Now that you're here, I can send you all back to Khepria and I can begin helping Banawey," I tell her and open a portal to the side of our Keep. I think I'll need to have a room built specifically for my portals, don't want to open one inside someone by accident... though that does seem like an overpowered way of killing an opponent.

Once the portal is open, I gesture the Queens to go through. "I'll see you in two or three days, my dears," I say and Chrysalis gives me a farewell nuzzle.

"I would kiss you goodbye, but you know I don't like kissing you when you're made of metal," she tells me and walks through as I chuckle.

Dragana and Shyla follow behind her with their own goodbyes and before I close the portal I can't help but tease them.

"Now behave yourselves ladies and I might bring home some souvenirs," I say getting an eye roll from Dragana and a head shake from Chrysalis.

I close the portal and then change back into Khepri before looking at Banawey.

"So, are you ready to go or do you need anything else?" I ask them.

"We are ready to leave when you are," Banawey replies while Onaka glares at me again. I guess due to changing my form.

I tuck my legs under me to form a carriage of sorts. I raise an eyebrow as Banawey and Onaka then start placing a large blanket and some cushions on my legs and I can't help but chuckle.

"Flying first class are we?" I comment making them look at me confused. "Nevermind... Which way do we need to go from here?" I ask them.

Banawey points a hoof to the west. "To the west is the Forlorn Sea, which we will need to cross to reach the coasts of Zebrica," he replies.

"Alright then, hop aboard and we can get going. We may have to camp at the seashore before crossing so we can rest up. I don't know how long I will need to fly for so I want to be as rested as I can," I say as they climb onto my blanket covered legs.

"Agreed. We would hate for you to drop into the sea due to exhaustion," Banawey replies.

I just stare forward for moment while I start having second thoughts.

"You know what? Let's just take your boat back... I'm not feeling so confident now about how long I can fly carrying you both..." I say making Banawey start laughing.

"And I honestly would have to agree with you. Come, we shall inform my other warriors and set off for the boat," he says and starts walking off with Onaka.

I look down and notice they left their blanket and cushions on my legs. I sigh and take flight to follow them while carrying their stuff.

We arrive to find nine other zebra stallions preparing to leave by the magical dome of the city, along with some crystal pony guards watching them.

"My warriors! Our guest has had a change of heart and we shall be taking the boat back together," he informs them.

They nod in reply and eye me with mixed expressions.

"Hello," I greet them getting a few in return before we start walking out into the snow. I shiver at the freezing temperature and change into Ymir.

The others watch with awe as I shake my limbs and sigh happily that the cold doesn't bother me anymore.

"Are you sure you are not a changeling?" Banawey asks me with a raised brow.

"Yes, as I have a limited amount of forms I can be but can add or remove mass which a changeling can't do," I reply.

With no further questions, we head west. It takes a day and a half to reach our destination and the warriors were very amused as I used myself as Sol to be a makeshift campfire while the zebras sat around me to stay warm. We told stories and a bit of history together until they all retired into their tents for the night.

I just changed into Ymir, made a bed of ice and snow and watched the clam night sky till I fell asleep.

We arrive at the shore where some chunks of ice float in the calm sea and quickly board the surprisingly well made long ship that strangely has no sails and six other zebras are keeping the ship safe. It's made from long thin logs held together by some kind of sap or adhesive, along with rope, whether or not they're made from spun cloth or plant fibre, I can't tell.

It also appears to have a cargo hold or living area underneath the deck.

"Where are the sails?" I ask Banawey as I see no mast at all..

"Our warriors use oars to row us across. It not only keeps them fit, but saves on using cloth on sails that in a heavy wind or storm, would capsize us," he replies.

I look over the side and see twelve oar heads poking out the side of the hull, makes sense I guess, then again I know nothing about making or designing a boat.

I change into Ratatoskr so I'm small to stay out of the way, and light so I don't weight the boat down. My fur is at least keeping me warm enough.

Once everyone is aboard, I watch as the zebras start pulling and pushing the oars, making us head out onto the sea proper. I lean over the side as my tail wraps around the seat I'm sitting on to stop me from going overboard, I see some small fish swim away and shells in the shallow water before it becomes too dark and murky to see anymore.

I then look up to the blue sky with clouds dotted here and there, I can smell the salty air as I take a deep breath. I haven't been on a boat before, and despite the crude one I'm on now, I'm excited to know what a voyage at sea is like.

My excitement quickly wears off as I get bored fast after just two hours at sea. I lean on the side on the boat and yawn as said boat rocks gently over the waves. The grunts and huffs of the zebras pulling and pushing the oars accompany the splashing of the waves against the boat.

I groan in frustration and look up at the clouds. Hey, one that looks like a sword... and another that looks like a tree... and I'm bored again...

With a yawn, I look to the pouch on my hip and get curious if anything is in it. I pull it onto my lap and unbuckle it, I peer inside as I open it and frown as nothing is inside it.

I close the bag and just look grumpy. Might as well start a conversation. "So, what can you tell me about Zebrica?" I ask Banawey.

He looks to me with a slight smile. "It is a usually hot land with long open plains and large jungles, our City's main source of water is a stream that stems from a large lake further inland. But before we left, it completely stopped, and when we sent some warriors to check on it thinking the drought was worse than we thought, a few loud roars echoed over the plains and our warriors didn't return," he tells me with a frown now on his face.

"Loud roars? Some kind of large beast or monster?" I ask.

"That's what we think, but we're hesitant to send more of our warriors to their possible deaths without learning what is out there first. But if we don't get more water soon, we may have no choice in the matter," he replies.

"I could check it out once I've finished your water problem if you want," I tell him.

"You would? That would be very helpful," he replies with a slight bow of his head.

We talk for a few more hours about the main city called Zebabway. It's bigger than our hive and has about ten-thousand zebras living within the main walls alone while another three-thousand live spread on farmlands around it. The buildings are mostly made of dried clay or mud bricks with large leaves for roofing.

It has a small trade area where zebras from other tribes or villages come to exchange food or goods for other items, no currency whatsoever.

Once he finishes telling me about the city I notice it's starting to get dark, with a yawn I watch as the zebras pull the oars back on board and tie them down. They then head to the back of the boat where they head down some stairs.

"I take it we're going to sleep now?" I ask Banawey.

"Yes, our warriors must rest to continue our journey, though we will be sending up someone to watch the sea. There are more than just fish in these waters," he replies and heads down himself.

A single zebra remains on the deck keeping an eye on our surroundings. I yawn again before changing into Thoth and conjure a piece of papyrus and start writing a letter to Chrysalis in the changeling language just stating that were on our way and on the sea right now.

Once done, I change to Janus and open a small portal big enough to drop the letter in onto our bed and then close it. With that complete, I change back to Ratatoskr and find a comfy spot to lay on while using my tail as a pillow and go to sleep.

I awaken the next morning and eat some pork and grapes as Bacchus, even giving the zebras some grapes to snack on before turning into He Bo and refill our water supply with fresh water.

The trip is silent for a few hours before a large wave seems to be heading right for us.

"Any idea what that is?" I ask Banawey who looks out and goes wide eyed.

"Sea serpent!" he replies and the zebras pull the oars aboard and then head below deck.

They return with crude spears with bone or stone tips and get ready to fight for their lives.

Banawey then starts mumbling in another language which almost sounds like praying. But the wave gets closer and closer until a large deep blue scaled serpent burst out of the water and hisses down at us. It looks to be about fifty feet long as it waves its head back and forth looking at us.

"It would seem we shall not be returning to Zebrica," Banawey says grimly and appears to be resigned to his fate.

"I wouldn't count us out just yet," I say and change to Poseidon, God of the Oceans. I'm a muscular man with long bushy white hair and beard and a silver crown with an aquamarine gem in the centre on my head.

My legs are covered in blue fish scale pants with a large blue belt wrapped around my waist with cloth hanging from the front trimmed with silver. and piece of cloth goes front the left side of the belt up to my right shoulder where its attached to a sea creature like head shaped pauldron. I also have something similar to a tailcoat attached to the back of my belt.

Both of my forearms are covered in arm guards, both blue and silver trimmed.

In my right hand I hold a blue and silver trident with two glowing aquamarine gems on it, one just under the middle bladed tip, and one at the bottom of the haft.

I glare at the serpent as I jump off the boat startling the zebras until they see me standing on the water like it was solid.

The serpent stares at me and hisses before lunging at me. I swing my trident at it and a wave of water raises up and slams into the serpent, pushing it back a few metres.

This keeps up for a few minutes before the serpent tries something new and dives under the water where it tries to get me from below.

I activate my Trident ability making the trident glow slightly and hum. The ability makes me faster and able to control the water even better for a limited time, I avoid the serpent and use a gentle wave to push the boat away and get ready to use my ultimate ability.

Once the boat is a safe distance away from us, I raise my trident above me. "Release the Kraken!" I yell and the glow of a portal opens up deep below us. A faint roar that gets louder and louder can be heard until it finally reaches the surface as a large greenish-blue sea monster with sharp teeth, two long arms with webbed fingers, and four octopus tentacles on its back bursts out of the water and latches onto the serpent.

The serpent struggles as the Kraken drags it underwater where they go down to the deep and out of sight.

The zebras are all staring wide eyed at me as I smirk and glide over the water to them. I feel the Kraken leave back through the portal as I hop back on board the boat.

"So, shall we keep going?" I ask them.

"Never before have we seen such power as to control the very seas themselves..." Banawey replies stunned.

"I can control a lot of things, Banaway, but right now we should resume our trip?" I ask him and smile.

"Right... Warriors! Row!" he says and snaps himself and the others from their daze.

"Wait a minute, I want to try something," I say and jump overboard again and move next to the boat.

I raise my trident and a small wave forms behind the boat and I push it against the hull where the boat starts moving forward faster than they could by rowing.

I glide across the sea next to the boat as the zebras look stunned once again. Nothing is said for a good seven hours before I get tired and I don't feel so good. I make my way back onto the boat where I glow slightly and feel myself change against my will.

Once done, I look stunned at my hands, slightly chubby stomach, and clothes... I'm me again, the golden bracer with the Smite logo on my left forearm.

"I need to take a break," I quickly say to the zebras who after a few seconds, get to work and get back to rowing.

I frown at the bracer and look it all over, I raise an eyebrow at the little battery like image on the back that has a red blinking bar indicating it's empty. A small pulsing lightning bolt on the side of the battery indicating that its re-charging.

Feeling exhausted and tired, I head below deck and find a nice little corner and promptly fall asleep.

I yawn as I wake up and groan at the soreness in my back, sleeping on wood is not very comfortable... I scratch the stubble on my chin and then remember what happened. I look at my bracer and see the battery icon is full again so I will myself to change and I become Ratatoskr again.

'So I can run out of power, mana, or energy?' I wonder to myself. If that's true, then I can't just keep using my powers non-stop... I'll have to be careful when selecting gods or how often I use their power.

I notice that only a couple of zebras are in the hammocks down here so I head up and see most of them rowing again.

"Hello, how long was I out for?" I ask Banawey.

"Two days, you must've been very tired to sleep so long, none of us could rouse you from your slumber," he replies.

"I see..." I say and wince as my stomach rumbles and my lips feel dry. I change to Bacchus to eat some pork and grapes, and a small amount of wine to wash it down before turning back into Ratatoskr and getting a gourd of fresh water to drink from.

The others wait for me to finish before Banawey speaks up. "You'll be happy to know that Zebrica is just within sight," he tells me and I smile.

I run on all fours up to the front of the boat and look out across the horizon, to see a wide landscape as far as the eye can see. On the left are some barely visible mountains while the right looks like plains or a savanna.

With a grin now plastered on my face, I can't wait to make a portal back home and tell Chrysalis that we've made it there.

Chapter 16: Making it rain

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Chapter 16: Making it rain

I continue to grin as we approach Zebrica, the sandy beach with a few more empty boats coming into view with my sharper sight. Beyond the sand is short yellowish grass and dried out bushes along with a few thin, pale, and tall trees. Further inland I can see a small village but can't make out any details. To the left a few miles away is a large rainforest that seems to be doing better than the plants of the plains.

It takes us an hour before we hit land and I jump off onto the sand, I feel the grains through my toes as I wiggle them and grin. It's been a long time since I went to a beach and I think I'll have to bring anyone that wants to from the Hive here someday for a day out.

"How far is it to your City from here?" I ask Banawey.

He disembarks from the boat while the others pull it in and anchor it down on the beach.

"Five day's travel from here. But first we shall pass two villages along the way to restock ourselves while you provide the rain you promised," he replies.

"Alright, so shall we head out?" I ask and change into Chiron. With a horse like body, I should be able to travel for a long while without tiring too soon.

"Yes, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can help my people," he replies as the warriors are carrying packs and crude spears.

Banawey starts walking west towards the village along with Onaka and the warriors. I follow behind them and just take in the scenery.

They weren't joking about the drought, the heat is almost unbearable and the air feels dry. There's no pools or even ponds of water anywhere.

The journey is made in silence and in just a few hours we reach the village. The zebras here all look thirsty and look at us tiredly. I look at the crops just outside the village and most of it looks dried up and or dead. There's a river bed near it that's barely got some water trickling along the bottom, nowhere near enough for the village and crops to live on.

As Banawey talks with whom I assume is the village elder, I spot a zebra who collapses in the centre of the village.

I make my way over to her and change into He Bo, getting gasps and whispers from the other nearby zebras who also look worried for the downed mare. I wince as the harsh sunlight is making my watery body parts start to heat up and slowly evaporate.

Leaning down I gently lift the mare's head up and hold my right hand to her mouth. "Open your mouth and drink," I tell her making her frown in confusion.

I make a few drops of water drip from my finger tips, which hit her muzzle and make her eyes widen as she eagerly opens her mouth. Her lips are cracked and there's barely any saliva in her mouth.

I turn the drips into a small flow of water which she drinks ravenously. After a few seconds, I stop and then gently drip water over her head and neck. She hums in relief and smiles at me.

"Thank you..." she tells me in a hoarse tone. I carefully pick her up in my arms, avoiding all the spikes on them, which makes her yelp in surprise.

"You are very welcome, where do you live? I'll carry you there so you can rest," I ask her and she points to the south at a mud or clay brick hut with long leaves that seem to be pasted down to the roof.

I glide over the dusty ground leaving a wet trail behind me as I make my way to her hut. Zebras are following us and speaking to each other in awe at what they just witnessed.

Reaching the hut which looks like it has one room and big enough to fit five zebras comfortably. I set her down and get another thank you from her as she heads inside with the help of an older mare who also thanks me.

The village elder walks up to me and looks me over before speaking. "I am Elder Jintawa. High Shaman Banawey tells me you will be helping us with our water problem?" he asks me with a hopeful expression.

"My name is Carl, and I am. I will make it rain and then make a lake for you to continue to draw water from until this drought subsides," I reply and lean down to his height.

"Then please begin right away, our crops won't last much longer," he begs and bows to me.

I place my right hand on his shoulder making him look up at me. "No need to bow, sir. I'm glad I can help," I tell him and stand back up. I change into Chaac and look over all the gathered zebras. "You might want to bring out jugs, bowls, pots, or buckets to collect as much rain water as you can," I tell him and get ready to make it rain.

"Of course," the elder replies. "Gather as many containers as you can find!" he yells over the increasingly energetic zebras who rush off to find what they can.

After a few minutes, containers of all sorts are laid out in the open and I begin. Raising my axe above my head, I gather my mana and after a few seconds, dark grey rain sodden clouds form above me and start to spread out over the village and the surrounding fields.

After a minute more, the first drops of rain begin to fall and the foals of the village start laughing and jump around in the rain as it comes down faster. Every zebra is now enjoying the refreshing rain and drinking from the containers now and then.

The elder just stands there, eyes closed and a smile on his face as the rain falls on him. "It has been so long since I have felt this again," he says.

I smile as I watch the foals chasing each other in the rain, giggling and happy as they play.

The elder turns to me with a happy wrinkled expression. "You have my gratitude stranger, if there is anyway we can repay you, please don't hesitate to ask," he tells me with another bow.

I chuckle and shake my head. "I have already worked out a deal with Banawey. Your thanks is more than enough," I reply and change into Geb. "Now then, I'll begin on the lake, so where do you want it? And this may take me some time to finish," I tell him slowly.

"Near the crop fields just beyond the river, we can use the bridge over it to collect the water," he replies with a smile.

With that sorted, I stomp my way around the crop fields with a bunch of foals following behind me giggling and commenting about my body.

I stop at the basic looking log bridge tied together with plant fibre rope or vines and I don't know if it'll be able to hold my weight. So I do a quick change to Ratatoskr and before I could cross, I'm swarmed by a few squealing fillies who pile on top of me and hug me.

I just stare with a deadpan expression into the chest of the filly latched onto my face with two more on my sides and the other on my back. It takes the adults a few minutes to pry the fillies off me with pouts on their muzzles, and I thank them as I continue over the log bridge and change back into Geb.

With a roll of my neck while shaking my floating hands and fingers, I place my hands on the ground and start compacting dirt and the stone underneath the surface into a large one mile wide and fifty feet deep bowl shape.

The process takes me a few minutes and once done I take a short break and just sit by the bowl's edge while basking in the rain, feeling it roll down my stone body and even pooling in the miniature lake on my back just behind my head.

A thought comes to mind as to why this drought is happening. It couldn't be the sun otherwise other areas would be feeling it, but I can change to Ra and see if it is.

I'm brought out of my thoughts as a young and high pitched voice speaks to me. "What are you?" one of the foals asks me as they all sit around me, each with wide eyes and curious expressions.

"I am a God," I reply and change into Ratatoskr again. In this form, I'm just slightly bigger than them.

The fillies squeal again and I'm tackled onto my back as I'm glomped yet again. This time I let them hug me and stroke the fur on my head and chest. After a few minutes, they finally get off and I sit up, but they won't stop stroking my now wet and dirty fur.

They keep asking me questions of where I come from, who I am, and what else can I do. They especially liked it when I changed to Terra and made a bunch of flowers and healthy grass grow around them where they all started playing in it or eating it.

Once I feel refreshed and ready, I change to He Bo and with the cloud cover blocking the sun and the rain reducing the heat, I feel better and no longer evaporating. I begin to pour water from my hands into the bowl where the foals and adults have gathered around watching in awe as I fill the lake up slowly, making sure to keep a eye out for my mana amount so I don't run out again.

After an hour of filling, I take another break where the elder of the village invites me to a meal in honour of my actions. My stomach rumbles in hunger and I agree before changing back into Ratatoskr and follow him back into the village. The foals again follow along but are pulled away by their parents. They 'aww' in sadness but comply.

We enter a larger hut with two more rooms, one on each side with cloth curtains for doors. In the centre of the main room is a fire pit with rock or clay slabs around it acting as little tables with either cloth or silk cushions next to them.

Jintawa, Onaka, and Banawey all sit on a cushion and the village elder gestures to an empty one. I sit down on it and look to Jintawa while some mares are preparing food on a stone counter behind me.

"Thank you again for helping us in our time of need, it's so good to see the little ones happy again," he tells me with a sigh as the pitter patter of the rain hits the leafy roofing of the hut.

"As I said before, I'm glad I can help. I'm actually here to establish friendly relations between the zebras and the changelings," I tell him making him go wide eyed.

"The changelings?" he asks surprised.

"That's right. I've been living with them for about six months now, and I've been helping them recover after what Celestia did to them," I tell him with a frown at Celestia's name.

I tell him the story of how I arrived, saved the Crystal Empire, Celestia's attempt to either imprison or kill me, my quick travel to the badlands where the changelings found me, how I've been helping them, and of Celestia's attack on our growing city not too long ago.

Through the whole thing he and the other villagers listening are shocked at Celestia's attack on us, but stunned silent at the part I sent her back to Equestria wounded.

"So for now, she and Equestria are banned from entering our lands without permission," I finish telling them as the zebra mares place the food on the little stone tables in front of us.

"I apologise, but it is hard to believe one so kind and caring would do such a thing," Jintawa says in disbelief. "She was the one who found changelings killing ponies," he then says with a frown.

I think I'll refrain from telling him what Luna told me about what Celestia really thinks of the other races, as much as I would love to see Celestia get the hate she has for other races given back to her, I won't put the ponies who've done nothing to deserve that hate in the crossfire.

"Perhaps, or maybe it was an excuse to exile the changelings, A changeling Queen named Chrysalis told me the accused changeling wasn't even given a chance to explain herself before Celestia struck her down and began chasing off the rest. She even started the rumours that changelings will turn you into husks if they feed from you," I reply look at my food.

Boiled vegetables, some dried grass, a few dried berries. Not much here but considering the condition of their crops, I'm not surprised. A thought then comes to me, I can just make a portal back to the Hive and have some of my crops brought here.

"Jintawa, would it be alright if I bring my mate here to join us? Along with some, no offence, fresher food?" I ask him with a smile.

"Your mate?" he asks wide eyed.

Banawey speaks up before I could. "He has taken a changeling queen as his mate, Jintawa. I have met her and two other queens at the Crystal Empire. They were nothing like the stories or the Equestrian Princess depicted them as. One even looked like she could be afraid of her own shadow," he tells him.

The elder looks down in thought and then looks back to me. "Very well. You have helped us and so I will trust you," he replies making me smile wider.

I change to Janus and open a portal behind me to the keep where I see one of the armoured guards with one of the large tower shields leaning against him by the entrance.

"Carl!" he says and bows slightly before looking back at me. He then goes wide eyes seeing the zebras behind me.

"Hello, Tank. Where is Chrysalis?" I ask him making him close his eyes.

After a few seconds he opens them again. "She's in the bath house with the other Queens," he tells me.

"I see, let her know I need to see her in our room as soon as possible," I tell him, getting a nod in return.

I close the portal and open a new one in my room and just wait. I even spot my letter I sent to Chrysalis on her vanity desk.

"You can make a portal that far away?" Jintawa asks in awe.

"As long as I've been to that place then yes. I can't open a portal if I don't know what the place looks like or its position on or in the world," I reply and I hear my room's door burst open and before I could react, Chrysalis barrels through the portal and knocks me onto the floor while peppering my metallic face with kisses. The surprise was enough for me to lose focus and the portal closes.

"I missed you so much," she says and hugs me tightly despite it being uncomfortable. Without thinking I change to Khepri and my size forces the mares out of the way as I hug my queen to my chest.

"And I missed you as well," I reply and return her kiss.

After a few seconds she flutters off me and I change back to Janus and reopen the portal.

"Chrissi, can you ask the garden caretakers to bring some food over? Enough for ten ponies at least, and a keg of wine as well," I ask her and her eyes close. After a few minutes, changelings arrive at the portal carrying freshly picked veggies and fruit, along with a large keg of Bacchus' wine.

Chrysalis levitates it all through and places it on the stone counter with the keg next to it.

"Thank you very much, Let Dragana and Shyla know to keep the place safe and running until we return," I say to the changelings who happily smile and head off to deliver my message and do other things.

I close the portal and change back to Ratatoskr before looking at the zebra mares who prepared the food.

"I'm sorry for asking, but could you prepare another meal with the new ingredients?" I ask them politely. That and I crushed the meal made for me when Chrysalis tackled me.

They both nod with a smile and begin preparing another meal.

Jintawa is eyeing Chrysalis warily as she sits beside me, until she decides to pick me up with her magic and place me between her forelegs and then hugs me to her barrel.

I can't help but smile and lean back into the soft shell of her belly, I missed her so much the last few days. Her presence alone is enough to ease my stress and worries and her scent just helps me relax as she holds me.

"So, how's the Hive doing?" I ask her getting a sigh from her.

"Remember those scouts we detained and released?" she asks me and I nod in reply. "The leader returned two days ago, without his armour along with his mate and two foals, carrying nothing but a pair of crystal wing blades for protection, camping equipment, and food and water. The border scouts tried to turn them back, but he begged we let them through," she says and frowns. "We Queens met with them and it turns out he and his mate have lost faith in Celestia and after almost dying during the battle from one of your blasts that gave him some burn scars, he made a decision. He said he signed up to protect Equestria and the Princesses from invaders, not to become an invader himself. So he resigned and before his superiors could punish him, he fled with his family and his first thought was the Hive," she tells me. "He also has told us that Celestia seems to be different, she's not talking to Luna, she's distant, spacing out, even lashing out at anyone who doesn't leave her alone. Luna even sent a message saying Celestia isn't okay and is acting completely out of character which is frightening her,"

I just stare at her wide eyed. He was in that battle? And I nearly killed him... yet he wanted to take refuge in Khepria to get away from Celestia who sounds like she's very depressed or going bat shit crazy?

I frown and think. Celestia sounds like she's going to snap and might even hurt her own people in her rage... "Send some scouts to keep an eye on Celestia, if she goes mad or down right evil, we'll need to help Luna evacuate the ponies to somewhere safe, perhaps guide them to the Crystal Empire or at least in the empty segments of Khepria," I reply and sigh.

I don't like the feeling I'm getting bout this.

Chapter 17: To Wanori City

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Chapter 17: To Wanori City

With this bad feeling now gnawing at the back of my mind, I just sigh and wait for the mares to finish preparing the new meal while Chrysalis picks up a few wooden cups from some crude looking shelves and carefully fills five cups with wine from the keg. She then levitates three of them over to the three zebra stallions across from us and one to me while levitating the last in front of her face.

"What is this?" Jintawa asks eyeing the dark purple liquid.

"Wine made from grapes, I guarantee you won't find better wine anywhere else," I tell him and take a sip from my cup. I don't know if I can get drunk quicker than normal with such a smaller body than I would with a human sized one, but I'm not going to get drunk as I still have a job to do here.

"What do you plan to do once you have helped the changelings?" the elder asks me with a raised brow.

"Stay with them, it's my home where my friends and family live. I have no reason nor want to leave them," I reply. Chrysalis happily hums and leans down to nuzzle my head with her chin.

The next hour is just idle chit chat as our new fresher food is served and eaten. Jintawa also tells me of a story passed down about a supposed old god sealed deep within the tallest mountain in Zebrica by Discord himself. Legend states that the old god came outta nowhere and started devouring anything living to grow stronger, and Discord fought it tooth and claw until finally, Discord managed to contain and bury it deep under the ground and dropped that mountain on top of it.

Just to be sure, I'm going to leave it alone as I do not want to fight something that gave Discord himself a run for his money.

I leave the hut with the others following behind me back to the lake in progress, the rain has stopped and the clouds dispersed a good twenty or so minutes ago, so now the heat is bearing down on us again.

Arriving at the lake, along with the foals now back and watching, I change to He Bo and resume filling the lake.

"Where are you getting the water from?" Jintawa asks in awe.

"I believe it's my mana being converted into water, which is why I need breaks to replenish the mana I use," I reply and wince as the heat is starting to make me, well, heat up again.

I remember that I wanted to check if it was the sun so I stop and change to Ra, confusing the others. But hey, the heat is no longer bothering me.

"What are you doing now?" Chrysalis asks me with a raised brow.

"I thought earlier if the sun was truly responsible for this heat, so I thought I'd use a sun god and, kind of ask the sun if it is," I reply making the zebras even more confused.

"Ask the sun?" Jintawa says in disbelief.

"I can become gods and goddesses of the sun, and in doing so connect with the sun. Same with the moon as well," I reply and look straight at the sun.

I can just feel the sun focus on me, as if its looking down right at me from orbit. I've no doubt the sun and moon have souls or minds of their own, whether or not they're intelligent and sapient will have to be seen.

'Are you the cause of this drought?' I ask it in my head.

And surprisingly, it feels like the sun is shaking its metaphorical head for no. A few seconds later, a soft ray of light shines down farther to the west as if pointing.

'Thank you,' I tell the sun making it shine brighter for a second before turning its gaze elsewhere. "Banawey? What's over there?" I ask him looking at where the light is pointing.

"Errr... That would be Lake Yoguna, our main source of water. Why?" he replies and asks.

"The sun says its not responsible for the drought, but whatever is over there is causing it," I reply and change back to He Bo to finish filling the lake.

Banawey frowns and looks back to the light as it slowly fades away. "Could the roars we heard before be the cause?" he mutters to himself.

"Most likely, and once I've done my part of our deal, I'll go see what's over there and try to either fix it, or remove the problem," I tell him and focus back on making water.

The foals keep their distance from Chrysalis until she uses her magic and changes into a slightly taller zebra, complete with Mohawk. I smile in amusement as she sits beside me and the foals slowly approach her.

"Are you really a changeling?" one of the colts asks her.

"I am," she replies and leans her head over to him.

"Can you turn into a lion!?" one of the fillies asks her.

Chrysalis just smiles and with a flash of green fire, she's now a large lioness just staring at the foals who back away a few steps before the filly that asked her walks up and pokes her flank with a hoof.

Once she realises that she's fine, she rears back and places her fore-hooves onto Chrysalis' back and giggles as she hugs the furry feline changeling queen. Said queen's tail is now softly whipping side to side just like a house cat's does.

The other foals now amused and no longer afraid all get close and touch her as well, asking her questions and asking her to try other forms.

While that's going on I can't stop smiling as this is helping us show that changelings aren't monsters, parasites, or evil as the foals play with Chrysalis.

"She's good with foals," Jintawa says watching them.

"She's had hundreds of siblings and young of her own for decades, I would think she's learnt a thing or two about caring for them," I reply and sigh as I need to take a break, so I change into Khepri making the foals gasp at my size and surround me to get a better look. The lake is now half-way filled and shouldn't take more than two or three more hours to fill fully.

I get an idea while letting my mana recover and look to the foals. "Who would like to see what it's like to fly?" I ask them making the parents nervous.

One little filly gasps and raises her hoof. "Me! I have always dreamt of flying!" she yells in excitement.

I chuckle and look at the others. "Anyone else?" I ask but they all shake their heads. Looking back to the filly, I smile and wave her over. "Then let us take to the sky," I say making her giggle and run over.

I carefully cradle her on my front legs and once I'm sure she's secure, I turn to Chrysalis. "Chryssi, could you fly alongside me and catch her if she falls?" I ask her making her change back into her normal form.

"Of course," she replies and with that, I slowly open my back plates as my wings extend and gently take off from the ground getting 'Ooos' and 'Ahhs' from the others.

The filly gasps and I barely see the massive smile on her face as we do a few laps over the village where she just looks around the landscape. I've had to tell her to settle down a few times but it was a gentle flight all in all. Chrysalis stayed close by just in case the filly got too excited and slipped off.

Now that I feel my mana has recharged, I head back to the lake and softly land before letting the filly down where she ran up to a very relieved mare and was jumping around her.

"Mother! I was flying, I was flying!" the filly says and then goes still and wide eyed as the adrenaline finally wears off. "I was flying..." she says and with a massive smile falls face first on the grass gently.

Others laugh while her mother sighs and carries the over excited filly back to the village on her back.

I change back to He Bo and continue with the water.

At the end of the day, the lake is full and this should last them a good while until I can sort out the cause of the drought. After I finished with the lake, I spent the rest of the afternoon just playing with the foals with games like tag as Ratatoskr and hide and seek. I even created a playground using Geb's earth shaping to make play houses and with some old wood and logs, some swing sets, those small merry-go-round things, and see-saws.

"Thank you for all this, The foals have never been this happy before," the elder tells me as we head back to his hut.

"It's alright, Jintawa. I love kids and I had fun as well," I reply as we reach his hut still as Ratatoskr.

"Please rest for the night before heading out to the next village, the guest room is to the right," he offers us and I nod.

"Sure, I'm tired and a good night's sleep sounds good," I reply and enter the hut with an equally tired Chrysalis next to me.

Jintawa and the two mares who made us meals today go through the left curtained door while Banawey and Onaka go through the right, I guess the other warriors are bunking elsewhere tonight. I hum and smile as an idea pops into my head.

I change to Ganesha and place the objects in my hands on the stone table to the right side of the room next to the doorway before leaning back in the middle of the room where my cloud forms and I relax on it. Chrysalis flutters up and lands softly on my belly where she snuggles into me and rests her head to the right of my neck.

My trunk and four arms wrap around her back and I smile as she sighs. "Goodnight, Carl," she tells me.

"Goodnight, Chryssi," I reply and we both eventually fall asleep.

After getting up and having breakfast from my own food and water, and making some of Cupid's hearts for Chrysalis, we head outside where the sun is barely rising. Natural sunrises and sunsets look so much better than what Celestia was forcing it to do, moving so fast there was no time to just enjoy it.

In my boredom, I use Terra to create a small garden with flowers and rose bushes behind the elder's hut where I change to Khepri and wait with Chrysalis for the others to awaken.

"I've been thinking," she says making me turn from the sun to look at her.

"Sounds painful," I reply getting a giggle and a light smack from her.

"If you're going to be a god the whole world will know, perhaps you should have a more godly name? Celestia and Luna's names are not their birth names. I remember Amore telling me their real names were Sunflower and Moonbeam before they changed them after ascending, and that hers was Heartsong," she tells me.

I frown in thought, she's right. Carl isn't exactly a godly name...

She smiles as she nudges me out of my thoughts. "Careful, you looked like you were hurting yourself," she tells me teasingly. I chuckle as she looks at the rising sun. "How about, Pantheon? You did tell me that you were basically a bunch of different pantheons in one, so it fits perfectly," she suggests.

"Huh, I guess it does. But you can still call me Carl when we're alone," I tell her and carefully rub my cheek against hers.

She returns the nuzzle as the village begins to awaken. After about half an hour Banawey and his warriors find us and look ready to go.

"I take it we're leaving already?" I ask him as I stand up.

"Yes, the faster we get there the faster we can solve the problem at Lake Yoguna," he replies.

"Then I shall do as I offered before, I shall carry you and Onaka there myself. At least there is no ocean in the way this time," I tell him with a chuckle.

"Very well," he says and turns to his warriors. "Head for Wanori, we shall meet you there," he tells them getting bows from them as they turn and start running.

"Do you want me to send you back, Chrysalis?" I ask her making her hum in thought.

"No, I haven't travelled in decades, and this is a good opportunity to do so," she replies and smiles.

I return the smile and look to Banawey. "Also, I've decided to take a new name for myself. From now on, call me Pantheon," I tell him making him raise an eyebrow.

"Is there a reason for changing your name?" he asks confused.

"It just sounds more godlike and serious than Carl," I reply and cradle my legs under me. "Set up some blankets and cushions then we can head out," I tell them and they both start piling their blankets and cushions on my legs.

Once done, they get on and make themselves comfortable. I then open my wings and slowly take off and pick up speed while Chrysalis follows beside me, fluttering her own wings.

We fly over the running warriors who briefly look up at us before looking forward again. From up here, I can see everything around us. The largest mountain said to be holding an old god under it. The long stretch of the dried up river bed, more bowls and craters that looked like they held water now bone dry.

Tall trees mostly looking withered and dying, very few animals out and about like antelope, lions, even hyenas.

To our left is the Rainforest in the distance, and even that is beginning to look like its dying. For hours we fly at a fast speed as the land below blurs by. I use my head as a windshield for my passengers so they're not blasted in the face by the strong and blisteringly hot wind.

We finally arrive at the next village around midday where most of the residents go into hiding at the sight of Chrysalis and I coming in for a landing. Zebra warriors surround us with bone or stone spears pointed at us.

I let Banawey and Onaka off where the warriors now look confused but still point at us.

Banawey explains what's going on to them and the village elder while I change to Chaac so I can repeat the same as I did for the last village. I made it rain and then began creating their new lake as He Bo.

Once finished, we spend the night in the village and then make our way to the capital of Zebrica.

The flight is made in silence as I can see a very large city coming up. It looks like a good five or six mile radius wide with a log spiked and mud/clay brick wall around it. It's nowhere near as intimidating as our wall, but it keeps the wild beasts out at least.

Around the wall is a lot of farmland with small villages around them with moving dots I can only assume are zebras working the fields, trying to keep their crops alive.

The river still looks dried up even past the City and off into the distance to where the sunlight shone down upon.

The buildings within the wall don’t look very big, some two-story structures and a large warehouse looking building are near the middle, but the rest look like the same as those from the villages we stopped at.

I do see the trading area Banawey told me about just north from the centre of the city.

A little while longer and we land in front of the City's wall at one of its four gates. The zebra warriors once again surround us with spears while I let my passengers off.

"High-Shaman Banawey!" one of the warriors bows in respect to him.

I change to Chaac and look at Banawey. "I'll go around the wall and make it rain on your fields then meet you back here," I tell him and he nodded in reply.

"High-Shaman, what is that creature and why is a changeling here!?" one of the warriors asks him as I get ready to make the first batch of rain clouds.

While he explains yet again, I start making dark clouds appear which quickly cover the area making everyone here go silent as the first drops fall.

Chrysalis hums as the water cascades over her chitin relieving her from the heat before she flutters up behind me and wraps her forelegs under my arms and picks me up. She flies along the wall to the next area not covered in clouds where I repeat the process over and over. It takes me an hour or two to go around the whole wall and the fields, but once done, we find Banawey and other elderly zebras waiting for us at the gate.

"This is the god you told us of?" an elderly mare wearing ceremonial looking robes with bones and herbs attached asks Banawey.

"He is, Mianya. With everything I've seen him do, I doubt it no longer," he replies to her question while the rain is pouring down around us.

Mianya walks up to me eyeing me harshly while glancing at Chrysalis now and then. The other robed and elderly looking zebras remain silent while this mare examines us.

"Banawey tells us you wish to form a friendship between us and the changelings. Why should we interact with those who were exiled for murdering another they called friends?" she asks me harshly.

I frown at her and get right in her face which surprises her.

"One: Celestia only saw a changeling standing over a pony. She never gave the changeling a chance to explain and just killed them where they stood before chasing the rest away from the Crystal Empire, a territory she doesn’t rule over. Which, by the way, Empress Amore regrets letting Celestia exile the changelings from her empire. So we'll never know what really happened to that pony,"

"Two: The changelings under my care no longer need to take others just to survive anymore as I provide enough love for them to survive comfortably from now on. And for the last seven months I've been with them, they haven't hurt or killed anyone."

"And three: Don't insult or even think about harming Chrysalis or any changeling in my presence or I will retaliate," I threaten her. "I came here in hopes of making friends with those we share the world with. I offered to help your people with your water problem and find the source of the drought, but if you wish to be hostile and judge my mate and her race because what one insane mare said a hundred years ago, I will just leave and let you figure out what to do yourselves," I finish my rant making her back up a few steps as I grip my axe tightly.

I feel Chrysalis rear up and wrap her forelegs over my shoulders and her hooves rest on my chest.

"Calm down, you can't expect to change the views of everyone straight away, so don't let her grouchy attitude get to you. You promised to help them. Remember the first village? How the foals were so happy, the villagers thankful, they are the ones that matter, not this grumpy old nag," she tells me right next to my ear making Mianya glare at her angrily.

"Still your tongue, Monster!" the elderly mare says to Chrysalis with venom in her tone.

My expression looks calm but my eyes are burning into the mare for insulting my girl. "Banawey, if you want my help still, you'll escort this mare away from us before I do something I might regret," I tell him, my knuckles turn white as I grip my axe even tighter.

"Mianya, do not insult our guests again. I asked him to come here and while I do still have some doubts about the changelings, Empress Amore and Princess Cadenza trusts them and so far they have not show any hostility. Return to the Communal Hut and wait for us there," he tells her making her look insulted.

"You trust these monsters not to harm any of our people? A Changeling Queen here is bad enough, but now they have a physical living god helping them! How do we know he won't turn on us later!" she demands making my right eye twitch.

It seems Banawey noticed my anger building and nods to a few warriors who carefully pull the senile mare away.

"How dare you treat a High-Shaman like this!" she says and continues to curse and shout as she's gently escorted away.

"My apologies for her behaviour, she supports Princess Celestia and Luna's actions about the changelings," he tells me with a sigh.

I huff out my nose and change to Mercury. "Just keep her away from us until we head back home, I'm not in the mood to deal with someone who's about to lose her marbles at her old age." I sigh and shake my head. "Instead of making a lake right now, I'd rather find out what the problem your main lake is having. Which direction is it?" I ask him making him point north-west.

"Just follow the river north-west for about five hours, you cannot miss it," he tells me.

"Alright," I say and turn to Chrysalis. "Wait here, I'll run over there in just a few minutes and open a portal for you okay? Unless you want to stay here and look around?" I tell her and ask.

"I'd rather go with you, I just don't trust some of these zebras after the nag's outburst," she replies eyeing the zebras, all of which have a variety of expressions.

"Fair enough, call you in a sec," I reply and before anyone could speak, I've already shot off along the river bed while leaving a dust trail in my wake.

It takes me a minute to arrive at the lake and what I see makes me go wide eyed. In the centre of the dried up lake is a large five foot tall and three foot wide ruby like gem or crystal floating a foot off the lake bed as it rotates clockwise slowly. Its giving off tremendous heat, greater than even the badlands or back at the zebra city.

I then spot what seems to be a few burnt and old crispy corpses of zebras near the crystal, where the ground is also burnt black around the crystal.

I change into Sol and slowly fly down towards it. I won't bring Chrysalis here as I don't think she can withstand the heat, especially if she doesn't even like being near our forges.

When I get just ten feet from it, a large amount of flames bursts out from the crystal and spins around it. It slowly gathers above it until the shape of a large dragon about eighteen feet tall forms and roars at me. It has four horns pointing backwards and two large wings on its back. It has no lower body as it floats above the crystal.

"What are you doing here?" I ask as Chrysalis told me what little she knew about dragons, mainly that they are intelligent and can speak what’s known as common.

"That is not your concern, Elemental. Return to Volcanica," it replies.

Elemental? Volcanica? These are questions I want answers to.

"I'm not an elemental, I am a god, and you will answer me, dragon," I reply and connect to the sun, who instantly focuses on me.

"Not an elemental but a god you say? There is only one true god of this world, and neither you, Discord, or those alicorns are it," he replies and takes a deep breath before exhaling a large amount of flames at me.

I just deadpan at him as the flames envelop me, so I absorb them making the flaming dragon look surprised.

"Then I'll show you what makes me a god!" I tell him and gather mana in my hands for a Stellar Burst attack.

I throw my right hand out like I would throwing a baseball. The little ball of fire soars at the crystal while the dragon also seems unamused and does nothing to stop it.

As soon the ball hits the crystal, it explodes where a ring of super hot fire expands making the crystal crack just a little bit and the land to shake mildly, shocking the dragon and before he could react, the ring implodes back into the crystal cracking it further.

"INSOLENT ELEMENTAL! YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED FOR YOUR BETRAYAL!" he roars out and this time fires a beam of fire that rivals that of my body. I fly out of the way and the lake bed where I was is glassed. I start throwing more Stellar Bursts at the crystal where the dragon takes the defensive and detonates them with his own fireballs before they reach.

"Alright, Asshole. Let's see you stop this!" I say and use Sol's ultimate, Supernova.

The sun gets brighter and responds by firing eight consecutive beams of fire at the crystal.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" the dragon yells as he watches the beams coming down at him rapidly. He quickly uses himself as a shield to cover the crystal where the first five hits are blocked by his body, but the sixth beam blasts through him and cracks the crystal again.

"NOOOOOO! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS TREACHERY LOWLY ELEMENTAL!" he yells at me before getting extinguished as the last two beams shatter the crystal and the heat slowly dies down.

I sigh and stretch my limbs with a smile, while not getting the answers I wanted, I have something to do now while helping the changelings grow.

With that sorted I take a piece of the crystal for Chrysalis to look at and change to Janus where I make a portal back to the zebra city.

Chapter 18: Returning Home

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Godly
Chapter 18: Returning Home

I step through my portal and spot Chrysalis talking to Banawey and the other elders. She looks over at me and smiles before looking confused as the portal closes.

"Ca... I mean, Pantheon? Why did you close your portal?" she asks confused.

"I found the source of the drought and it was hotter than even my forges, I don't think you would have liked to stand near that when you don't even like being near the forges," I reply and hold out the crystal shard to her. "I found a large floating red crystal that was generating the heat of this drought, it also contained half a dragon made of flame that tried to kill me. Those warriors you sent to scout the lake Banawey? I found them as crispy corpses near it. The lake is bone dry so later when the heat dies down, I'll refill it over the next few days," I tell them as Chrysalis takes the shard from my hand with her magic.

"Interesting..." she mutters as she rotates it and frowns in thought as she looks it over. "This is attuned to primordial fire, it's enchanted to give off heat and slowly expand outward. Without the whole crystal though, I don't know what its full purpose was as there's only a fragment of the spellweave in this shard to work from..." she tells me and continues to examine the shard. "But this was definitely part of something powerful, possibly as or even more powerful than my magic when I drink some concentrated love. Whoever made this and enchanted it knew what they were doing," she finishes and floats the shard back to me.

I gently push it back to her. "Keep hold of it, you might find something else out while we wait for the heat to disperse," I tell her. She nods and returns to examining it.

Banawey steps forward and smiles at me. "We no longer have to worry about the drought?" he asks with hope as the rain starts to die down.

"I think so, but I'll stay for a few days just to make sure, do you have wells in the City? I can fill those up for now until the Lake is safe again," I reply and ask.

"Yes, we have several throughout the city and they're almost empty. Come, follow me and I'll show them to you, then we can hold a feast in your honour!" he replies and starts walking into the city with the other elders.

I change into Chiron before Chrysalis and I follow behind him where I watch zebras living here stop and stare at us, some even flee back into huts and watch from the doorways.

"The feast isn't necessary, Banawey. Save your food for your people," I tell him as some zebras follow us in curiosity.

The huts of the City are spread about and not uniform like human city blocks are designed, as if they're just constructed wherever they thought was good enough.

We reach the first well which is a clay brick circle a foot tall with a thick stick going across the centre and a bucket attached to a long coil of rope next to it. The well has only a tiny amount of water left in it and I change to He Bo where I start to fill it with water, making the zebras watching gasp and gather around.

Once filled and nearly overflowing, zebras start rushing around gathering clay pots and jugs before filling them from the well while thanking me repeatedly. I just watch amused as after just thirty or so minutes, the well is half empty already. I chuckle as I refill it again before Banawey leads me to the others.

The process to fill and refill twenty wells around the city takes me a good four hours and some minutes but once done, I change back into Chiron and we're led to what they call the Communal Hut where village elders and civilians come to get advice and guidance from the high-shamans. While wary of Chrysalis, zebras all over thanked me for the water and I nodded to them in reply along our way.

I spot Mianya glaring at us from a corner where she's mixing some herbs in a mortar and pestle before returning her attention to it. A filly is laying next to her panting on a straw bed with a flushed face and unfocused eyes. There's a large dried leaf on her side with some kind of paste seeping out the sides of it.

In the middle is a similar set up to the other villages elder huts with a fire pit but more cushions around it. In the back is a stairway leading up to the next floor while to the left is another doorway. Hung around the place are tribal like masks and I wonder how they would react to the god Ah Puch and his mask?

"What's wrong with the foal?" I ask the elders but the old grouchy elderly mare answers.

"That's none of your concern!" she replies harshly and goes back to work.

"She got an infection five days ago out in the fields when a lone lioness stealthily approached and attacked her without warning. Our warriors managed to save the young filly, but she received a terrible wound from the beast before it was slain," one of other elders replies sadly and looks at the filly.

I notice Mianya now glaring at him which I ignore.

I smile and change to Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty. My eyes are a sapphire blue and I'm barely wearing much clothing as I'm showing off a lot of my curvy, voluptuous, flawless, and smooth pale skin. My large breasts are barely contained within the small light blue like vest with gold trim and white frills on the bottom showing a lot of cleavage and half of each breast. I have light blue silk sleeves going from just above my elbows to my wrists with golden bracelets at the ends.

I have a thin golden belt that accentuates my wide hips and has a loincloth of light blue that fades to white at the end with a deeper blue trim on the front showing off my thighs while I have a skirt like back with the same colours covering my curvy backside and half my hips. There's also small threads of gold attached to the hip parts of the belt that arch down over my hips as well.

My golden blonde hair goes down past my ass with a length of white silk with pink flowers attached wrapped around it like a coil keeping it from going everywhere, with two smaller braids going over each of my shoulders and next to each breast.

On my head is a small golden tiara with a heart shaped ruby on the front, around my neck is a small golden necklace with a ruby in the centre, and in my right hand is a golden staff with a large circular amethyst gem on the end with three protrusions of gold curved up above it.

Lastly, the sounds of soft chimes and bells can be faintly heard around me.

All the males suddenly go wide eyed with open mouths while staring at me, and I notice even Onaka has a slight blush on his face as he tries to look away.

I float half a foot off the ground and make my way over to the foal where Mianya gets up and in my way.

"Stay back, monster. You will not harm this foal," she warns me and I just giggle at her. I don't care that it was feminine as fuck, I look gorgeous and feel so feminine that I smile down at her as I flick a strand of blonde silken hair away from my face.

"Unless you want that filly to suffer longer, you'll let me help," I tell her with a smooth and angelic voice.

"I won't let your vile magic touch her," she replies defiantly and reaches for some kind of talisman attached to her robe.

I huff and look back at Chrysalis who seems to be drooling at me. "Chryssi dear? Can you lift this mare out of my way please," I ask her and flutter my eyes at her. I'm having more fun with this than I should be. I've discovered with the help of the Hive and Chrysalis mostly that as Aphrodite, I have an ability to just charm and, I guess seduce others much more easily since I'm the goddess of beauty. I wonder how I would affect a minotaur as they're supposed to be half-human?

I've also discovered while practising that some of my powers are different than that to the game. I can create doves made of pink energy and control them with a mere thought to attack my foes, and heal others slowly with a simple mana infused touch. I can still use the kiss ability to make a connection to the one I kiss -which I have to physically kiss their body and not blow a kiss to form a connection- and heal and shield them from a distance through the link which can break if the distance is too great or they're out of line of sight.

Though the Back Off ability still works the same as the game, blasting out a dome of pink energy around me and my linked target a short distance.

Chrysalis nodded and her horn glows as Mianya yelps and is lifted out my way while yelling curses at us. I carefully place my left hand on the filly's back and let my energy flow into her, making her grunt in pain at first before calming down and relaxing.

The flush on her face fades away slowly and her breathing becomes stable as I pull the leaf away with my staff and watch the nasty and pusy infection on her side slowly close and heal. I grab a rag from next to her and wipe away the pus that's left on her fur and smile at the now healed filly. Not even a scar or missing fur is left.

The process takes five minutes, but she opens her eyes tiredly and gasps at me. "You have a pretty mane..." she says weakly and I giggle again.

"Thank you, do you feel better now?" I ask her making her look at her side and smile with a nod.

"I don't hurt anymore... what happened?" she asks confused.

"I healed you. Just rest now little one, rest and dream of happy things," I tell her as she yawns and curls up into a ball and starts snoozing.

"Onabi!" one of the elders calls out and a young looking mare with a tied up mane walks in from the side room.

"Yes High-Shaman?" she asks with a bow.

"Please inform Lianma that her daughter is safe now," the elder tells her and she bows again before heading out.

Mianya is still cursing and even speaking in zebrican now as she flails in Chrysalis' magical grip, still holding the talisman in her hoof.

"Chryssi, please put her to sleep before she wakes up the foal," I ask her and change back to Chiron.

Chrysalis smirks and brings the angry mare closer to her and lightly nips her neck where the mare yelps but then slurs before passing out.

"What did you do!?" Onaka demands and points his spear at Chrysalis.

"I only knocked her out. My venom can put those bitten into a forced sleep, I gave her enough to sleep for about two hours," she replies and gently places the mare on a second bed.

"Be at peace, Onaka. She brought it upon herself for her unsightly behaviour," Banawey tells the warrior who grumbles and lowers his spear.

"Now then, is there anything else I can do to help you here while we wait for the heat to cool down?" I ask the elders.

They look at each other and mumble before turning back to me.

"Thank you, but we have nothing else that requires aid with. But for now, let us gather the seeds you requested as payment for your aid," Banawey says and I nod in reply.

The other elders stay in the hut while Chrysalis, Onaka, and I follow Banawey to a larger brick building. Inside are crude wooden and bone shelves with many dried plants, seeds, pelts, bones, cloth, and wood gathered and stored. Onaka collects the seeds I asked for and puts them in small bags before placing those into a larger one.

"Here are the seeds as promised," he says and hands them to me. I smile and attach the bag to my right side human hip next to my herb satchel.

"Thank you. Do you have a spare hut we can use to stay in while we wait? I think I could use a nap after all this," I ask him getting a smile and nod.

"Yes, we have many spare huts just in case we have visitors or travellers from other villages. Please follow me and we'll find you one," he tells me and we follow behind him.

The zebras are looking much better and happier now they have more water and the heat is slowly dying down.

We're led to a hut behind the Communal Hut and Banawey looks inside. "This one is free," he says and moves aside and we enter.

It looks big enough to fit just me and Chrysalis comfortably since this was made for zebras and not people our size. In the middle is a small fire pit and four cushions. Some masks hang from the walls and a stone table in the back with two straw beds, one on each side of the hut.

I close the curtain like door and take off the seed pouch where I place it on the stone table, then change to Ganesha and place his stuff on the table as well. I make another cloud and lay back on it with a sigh, where Chrysalis flutters up and cuddles me again as we just listen to the hustle of the zebras running around getting work done.

"So how long do you think it will take you to fill that lake?" Chrysalis asks me.

"I'm thinking maybe six hours a day for four days, it's much larger than the small ones I made for those villages," I reply and yawn as my eyes feel heavy.

My Queen giggles as she kisses my trunk as its blocking my mouth. "Then rest, my love. The sooner you fill that lake the sooner we can go home and you can meet the pony family there," she tells me and snuggles into my neck.

I smile as two of my arms hold her to my chest while the other two stroke her upper back and mane. She sighs and licks my neck before her breathing slows as she falls asleep.

After a few minutes, I join her.

Five Days Later

Over the last five days, I've been making trips to and from the lake slowly filling it up, but before that, I collected the remaining shards of the crystal and brought them back to the Communal Hut. Chrysalis has been examining it over and over during our time here, and she's discovered that it was a soul cage, the fire dragon was actually the soul of a dragon sealed into the crystal as a guardian and my shattering of the crystal released it, basically I killed the dragon.

The soul was also powering the crystal making the heat coming from it and expanding over the land for miles. Speaking of the heat, it's returned to normal and is a bit cooler than the badlands so hopefully, the land will return to normal and the plants and animals recover as well.

The mother of the filly I healed thanked me and offered me one of their masks that means thank you. It is a simple round face with happy looking eyes and a smile with tribal patterns around the eyes.

I accepted it and sent it back along with the seeds through a portal to the Hive where it's in my room.

Mianya has been keeping her distance from us and I'm thankful for it, her constant hostile attitude was grating on my nerves.

Chrysalis though while not examining the crystal got a lot of visitors and questions about changelings from the younger zebras and she was more than happy to tell them about herself and her hive.

So nothing really interesting happened during the five days as I finished my end of the deal and now we're ready to go.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us, it is comforting to know a divine is still willing to help us mortals," High-Shaman Kiana tells me with a slight bow.

"Do you have any gods you worship or believe in?" I ask her in reply.

"There is two we believe in, Morgulla, Goddess of the Underworld, and Livaitus, God of life," she tells me.

"I see, and have you ever seen or heard from them before?" I ask with intrigue, I would like to meet other gods if they exist here. Discord and that old god he fought can't be the only ones.

"Many claim to have heard their voices, but none have seen them for centuries. Beside Discord and the alicorns, you are the first new god we have ever seen," she replies and smiles.

"I see. Well then, Chrysalis and I shall take our leave. We'll take the shards with us and see if we can find anything else out about them and I'll keep in contact with you weekly with any news about it or trades we might have to offer," I tell them getting thank yous and smiles from the elders.

With that done, I change to Janus and open a portal to our home and let Chrysalis through first where she places the shards on a table in our room. I follow behind her and sigh at the familiar sight of our bedroom where I change to Hercules, drop my chunk of metal I call a weapon, and just grab Chrysalis from behind before falling on my back on the bed.

She yelps but then giggles as I hold her to my chest as she wiggles to turn around and face me.

"So, my King. What do you plan to do next?" she asks me and I just kiss her lips making her moan slightly and push against mine.

I pull back and smile at her. "Well first, I need to check on my apprentices at the forge and then see about planting those seeds. Perhaps we could convert one of the City segments purely into farmland for food and herbs until the land around the city is terraformed. My garden is good enough for just me and a few others, but if we're going to have other races visiting, we'll need a more stable food source for them. Then I will meet with those ponies who were so adamant to come here," I reply and smirk back at her, leaning up to her left ear. "Besides, I remember you saying that when I came back, you needed help with a certain something?" I tell her in a husky whisper.

She bites her lower lip and smirks back with half-lidded eyes as a green flame of her magic covers her and once gone, I stare wide eyed at the naked and bipedal form of Chrysalis sitting on my lap.

"Oh yes, and I wanted to try something new," she tells me with a giggle before leaning down and kissing me again.

Chapter 18.5 Bipedal fun (Clop)

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Chapter 18.5 Bipedal fun (Clop)

Chrysalis smirks as she rocks back and forth on my lap with her hands on my chest before starting to unclasp my armour.

She giggles as she peels each piece off and tosses them into the corner of the room. I smirk back at her as I thrust my hips up making her yelp as she bounces and lands back on my groin, moaning as my raging bulge under my armoured leather kilt pushes against her mound.

It seems that triggered her and she starts using her magic to take my armour off quickly before leaning down and kissing me roughly as her hands cup my face, her tail wagging back and forth spreading her scent around the room.

I wrap my arms around her and grope her ass tightly making her groan into my mouth as our tongues dance together, saliva mixing and wetting our lips. She forces her muscle to the back of my throat making me gag slightly as I start sucking on it before she pulls back making me slurp on her neon green tongue as it withdraws.

She places her hands on my chest and rubs her groin against my now free dick, her eyes flutter shut as my glans rub against her clit with each thrust of her hips. She quickly goes wide eyed and levitates her bottle of concentrated love over before taking three big gulps of it, making her eyes glow bright green and her to moan deeply.

With my hands still on her hips and her distracted, I lift her body up and line my erection up with her dripping black lips and slowly pull her down, my tip spreading her pussy open revealing the inner green flesh and gliding over the head of my cock.

"Oh! Yeeesssss..." she moans as she tries to slam herself down, but I hold her firmly as I torturously slip into her wet, tight, and hot depths.

I can't help the groan leaving my lips as the bumps of her inner walls rubs the glans and sides of my cock, squeezing and pulling as her muscles contract and spasm.

After a good few long seconds, she sits on my lap and pants as my cock throbs in desire nestled up to her deepest barrier and craving the embrace of the queen I love.

Her fingernails try to dig into my chest as her hands grip me, but they don't even leave a scratch as I lift her up and slam her back down getting a cry of pleasure from her as her eyes continue to glow.

"Oh, Carl! Rut me, give me your seed, fertilise our eggs again!" she tells me and grinds her hips in circles on my lap, making us both moan in need.

I lift her again and thrust up as I pull her down, meeting in the middle for a wet meaty slap as I repeat the motion again and again.

"Yes! Rut me! F-Fuck me more!" she tells me and I smirk at her use of human words I've taught her.

She sits up and leans back with her hands on my knees as I get a glorious view of her black chitinous body on full display, her large breasts with green nipples jiggling as she starts bouncing herself on my lap, her smooth green oily shell on her stomach which reflects the mossy light of our room beautifully.

I grope her thighs and feel the soft chitin in my palms, rubbing my hands up and down as I watch her pussy drool over my thick cock and her moans of wanton lust excite me further as her emerald eyes bore into mine.

I can't take it anymore as I sit up and wrap my arms around her back, my face in her chest and her wings buzzing in arousal as I latch onto one of her breasts and begin suckling. Her arms wrap around my head as her own arches back as she grinds furiously on my lap.

It isn't long before she cries out and cums on my groin, fluids splashing out and coating my balls with her passion.

I switch breasts and grope her ass tightly as she resumes her bouncing, moaning and begging me to keep touching her.

"Don't s-stop! Squeeze m-my rump! Suckle my teats, give m-me your love!" she demands and her pace picks up. I groan as the constant contractions and heat is breaking my endurance and she pulls my face between her breasts which rub my cheeks as they bounce along with her.

I groan as I can no longer hold it in and grunt as my cum floods her pussy. She tenses up and squeals as she's filled, grinding relentlessly as she accepts every drop.

I growl as I finish and pull her off me before dropping her on her back and grasp her hooves, spreading her legs, and scoot forward until my dick pokes her dribbling flower.

Her eyes widen as I thrust forward, making her scream in orgasm again as I start thrusting, the sounds of wet sloshing as I pound her cunt into the bed and her constant moaning is all that is heard within our room. Her hands gripping the headboard tightly as the bed rocks from my thrusts.

"Fuck fuck FUCK! K-Keep pounding me! Keep stuffing my pussy! Don't STOP!" she yells and cums a fourth time.

I let go of her hooves and lean down as I wrap my arms around her back, pulling her into a kiss as I continue my ravenous thrusting into her body. Her legs wrap around my waist as she pulls me into her with every thrust.

She groans, moans, and squeals into my mouth as she surrenders herself to my will. Her grip on the headboard is released as she goes limp in her mind numbing pleasure, breathing heavily through her nose as she goes stiff and another flood of cum squirts out.

We continue for another twelve minutes before I can't take it anymore and blow a second time within her core, holding her tight through our euphoric high.

"Yeeeesss.. More! Fill me more!" she demands as I pull out and roll her over and lift her ass into the air.

She giggles and gasps as I squeeze and rub her flanks, appreciating the perfect body before me before lining up again and thrusting to the hilt.

She yelps and groans as my sensitive dick is throbbing and begging for more of her. I pull back and watch as her ass jiggles on impact, her anus tensing with each thrust into her body.

I lean over her back and wrap my arms around her torso, grabbing palm fulls of tit and squeezing gently, pinching her nipples between my fingers.

I see tears in the corner of her eyes and a large dopey grin on her face. I hug her to my chest as I keep pumping her, mixed fluids sliding down her inner-thighs as her dual toned moaning voice still turning me on just like the first time I heard it.

Her legs slip out from under me and lay straight on the soaked bed, forcing me balls deep into her and laying on top of her beautiful and soft body. I kiss and nibble on her neck making her gasp and lean her head away to give me better access.

She wiggles her hips and glances at me. "Fuck me now, fill me again! I feel so full but I want more!" she demands and I grin as I lick her neck and along her jawline.

My Queen shivers in delight as I pull back and thrust down into her quivering pussy, feeling it pulse and ripple while she moans deeply as I poke her cervix gently.

"Yesss. Keep going, give me your seed, AAAAHH~!" she says and cums, strangling my cock with her inner-muscles.

I can't take it anymore and with my dick as sensitive as it is, I blow one last time into her trembling body.

"Hmmmmmm, so good~," she says blissfully and goes limp.

I carefully pull out and lay beside her, ignoring the mixture of fluids on the bed as I spoon her. She smiles and wiggles her body against mine where she sighs happily, my arms wrapped around her stomach.

"I think I'll stay like this for a while, see what it's like being a biped for longer than a day," she tells me and I kiss her cheek.

"If you want to, I certainly won't stop you," I reply and just rest my face in her neck.

She giggles and after a few minutes just basking in each others embrace, we drift off into a comfortable sleep.

Chapter 19: New residents!

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Chapter 19: New residents!

After impregnating Chrysalis again, she decided to stay as a biped for a while just to see what it would be like.

While I don't mind, it's going to be distracting to know she's going to be walking around naked as a humanoid changeling. Maybe I can ask the zebras to make some kind of toga for her in exchange for something?

We both got up and she teleported us both to the bathhouse where we scrubbed each other clean. Chrysalis thoroughly enjoyed using her hands to wash me off while I couldn't keep mine off her either.

But once washed and dried, I change to Khepri and make my way to the forges while trying to ignore Chrysalis' swaying hips as she heads off to her office.

I watch her backside until she rounds a corner out of my sight and I sigh happy to be home again. I head off nodding to changelings who smile back and let my big frame pass them.

A few minutes later and I walk into our smithy to see lots of blades, spears and even a few pieces of crude armour in a neat pile in the back corner.

"I see you've all been busy," I say and change to Vulcan.

Seth turns from his work and nods at me. "We've been practising until you returned, Sir," he replies and goes back to hammering what appears to be another plate for some armour.

"So you're trying to make armour now, Seth?" I ask him as I walk over to him. Since the worm attack months ago and losing a wing, he's taken a keen interest in blacksmithing and is my best apprentice here.

"I'm using the sets you've made as a base and tried to replicate them. While not showing the same level of detail nor as sturdy, I think they turned out better than I thought," he replies and I look to the two sets he's already made.

I head over to them and pick up a helmet. It's not as heavy or dense as my armour sets, but its still decent and well made. This would be better for scouts or light infantry type soldiers.

"Very good, Seth. I'd like you to make at least twenty sets of these as I still need to finish Chrysalis' armour and her weapon," I tell him and put the helmet back down and move onto the weapons. Swords, spears, a few that look like cannonballs on a stick, more brick shaped hammers, plenty of knives and daggers, and a few small round shields.

Some look a tiny bit warped, but all in all, not bad.

"Right then, I'll leave you all to continue and good job so far. I need to go and see these ponies now living here," I tell them getting affirmatives in reply before changing to Khepri and heading out.

I stop a changeling in the hall and ask him where I can find the ponies.

"They're in their new house on the surface, Sir," he replies and I thank him as I head up.

I exit the keep and look around with a raised brow. There's five small two floor houses in a pony style but changeling appearance with both a front and back yard just further out with a few more houses in mid construction behind them. At least Chrysalis took my advice for housing blocks and a grid based road system.

I spot the stallion that Grover stuffed into his chest talking to a changeling who is giving him some food. He has nasty burn scars on the right side of his face as well as his right foreleg. I never paid attention when we first captured him, but his fur is a light grey colour and his mane is a light blue colour with a white stripe through the middle, his eyes are a light violet colour. Lastly, his mark is a crystal spear with a tornado around it.

Sighing in slight regret at being the cause of his wounds, I walk over to them and he spots me.

He looks a bit nervous but stays where he is. "I see you've returned from Zebrica," he says to me making me raise an eyebrow as the changeling leaves.

"And how did you know I was there?" I ask him.

"The changeling queens told us, and we're thankful they've allowed us to stay here," he replies and smiles.

"I see. And will you tell me exactly why you came here of all places?" I then ask him.

"Of course, please come in. My name is Gale Strike," he says and opens the door to his new home. I change to Ratatoskr and follow him in and look around. Simple looking furniture of changeling design fill the room from a table in the middle with mossy cushions around it, and a bookcase to the right wall. In the back is a doorway leading to a kitchen and to the left next to the front door is a set of stairs leading up.

"Nice and cosy place, and call me Pantheon," I say and sit on one of the cushions as he sits across from me.

"Despite the dark and dull colours, it really is a nice house. Certainly stronger and more stable than our last one. Now as to why we came here-," he starts but is cut off from two loud squeals as two pegasi pony fillies with the most colourful hair I've ever seen runs down the stairs. They both have pale blue almost white fur, rainbow coloured hair, pink eyes, and no marks on their flanks, they're identical to each other and sound the same.

I go wide eyed as they both don't stop and tackle me onto my back.

"Daddy! What is it? It's adorable!" one of them asks the stallion who now looks terrified.

"Is it a pet!? Can we keep it!?" the other asks just as excited.

"Stormy, Cloudy. Please for the love of the sun and moon, get off of our guest," he calmly asks them but I can see the panic in his eyes.

I chuckle making them all look at me. "It's fine, they're not the first foals who've tackled me before, and I doubt they'll be the last," I tell him and the two fillies look shocked that I spoke.

"It can talk!?" the left filly says in surprise.

"Yes he can, he's the god who fought Celestia, so please let him up," he tells them making them gasp and run around the table to hide behind the stallion.

"H-He's the one who h-h-hurt you daddy?" the right filly asks him nervously.

"Well... yes, but he did it to protect his home. I would have done the same to protect you and your mother," he tells her.

"I am sorry about the wounds I gave you, but I did warn you when we let you go that I would do that. If anyone is to blame, it would be Celestia for ordering you all to come here. But still, it was me that killed them and injured many others..." I tell him and sigh as I sit back on the cushion.

"You’re right, while you did cause these wounds, Celestia is the one who ordered us here, this isn't the Princess Celestia I joined the guard for... She was kind and caring, she never attacked anypony else unless for a good reason which as far as I know was only once with the gryphons who wanted some of our land and attacked some villages along the border. Her reason for attacking you was that you foalnapped Princess Luna and attacked her in the Crystal Empire, that you were a threat to Equestria and the world," he tells me with a frown.

I frown as well. "As Luna told you, she came to us on her own, and Chrysalis blasted Celestia at the Empire because her mother's death was Celestia's fault and her anger got the better of her. And I'm only a threat to those who threaten me, my home, and those I care for. I have no dreams of world domination or to conquer nations," I reply.

"And that's why we came here. You care about those you rule over, you want what's best for your people from what I saw while down there... and my mate agreed about leaving. Celestia didn't care about us when she attacked you, she did nothing to stop you from killing our front line, she didn't even acknowledge their deaths when we returned to Equestria under Luna's guidance... We also couldn't stay in Equestria after deserting my position in the guard. My mate was a member before she had our foals, and was the one to convince us to leave," he then says with a sigh.

I look at him and his foals in thought. "If you want to stay here then that's okay. But you'll have to pull your weight around here if you want any luxuries. We'll give you plenty of food and water to feed yourselves, but if you want anything else, you work for it, agreed?" I tell him making him smile and nod.

"Agreed, I'm still recovering from the wounds I received, but once well enough, I can be a scout if you want me to," he tells me.

"Alright, but I may be able to quicken your recovery," I tell him and change into Aphrodite.

His eyes widen as they roam over my body, the two fillies also look stunned and slowly walk around the table towards me.

"Woooow, your mane is soooo long!" the left one says and stares at my hair.

I smile and lean down and pull my hair forward and hold it in front of her. She lifts a hoof and strokes my golden hair and spots one of the pink flowers on the silk thread, she puts her muzzle next to it and sniffs the flower.

"That smells nice," she says and I smirk as I carefully pluck two flowers off and give her one and the other to her sister.

They gasp and giggle as they both smell them and then put them in their manes.

"Now then," I say and move next to Gale Strike, I then sit beside him making his nostrils flare and sweat begins to form on his forehead.

I place my left hand on his scared cheek and let my mana flow into him. He gasps as the skin heals and returns to normal slowly where fur begins to grow in its place as well as the little bit of missing mane behind his ear. Next, I place my left hand on his right foreleg and heal that as well.

I hear something clatter to the floor so I look up and spot a white pegasus mare with rainbow hair just like the fillies, except shorter and more ruffled looking. Her eyes are a deep red and her mark looks like a cloud with a rainbow trail coming out of it making it look like its speeding away.

"Who, or what is that!? Get away from my husband!" she yells and frowns at me as her wings spread in a threatening manner.

I just blink at her before continuing to heal Gale's leg.

"Honey, this is Pantheon... the changeling god..." he tells her making her scrunch up her muzzle with wide eyes.

Her wings snap shut and she quickly bows before me. "I'm so sorry, your majesty!" she says nervously and I sigh.

"It's fine, I don't expect you to bow to me like most royals, and besides, I prefer to be treated as a friend than a ruler," I tell her and smile.

"I thought you were male?" she then asks as she picks up the black resin bucket that was filled with water. She looks around herself and sighs. "Oh horse apples..." she says and walks over to us.

I giggle and look back to Gale's leg which is only half way healed so far. "I was born male, but I can switch between genders," I reply to her question.

"What are you doing to Gale?" she asks and then gasps as she looks at his healed face.

"Fixing the damage I caused," I tell her and she just plops her backside down next to us.

"Look mommy! The pretty lady give us flowers!" one of the fillies tells her mother and shows her the flower in her hair.

"Oh? Did you thank her for it?" she asks the filly.

"Oh... Thank you, Miss Pantheon!" she and her sister both say at the same time to me.

I smile again at them both. "You're welcome," I reply to them and look to the mare. "What's your name?" I ask her.

"Oh! My name is Spectrum Bolt," she replies.

"And what will you do now?" I ask her as I'm almost done with Gale's leg.

"Well, I was a member of the Wingblades, a group of pegasi who wielded crystal wingblades and used hit and run tactics. But I retired when I had my little fillies and then helped with the weather team in Canterlot... Until we came here of course," she tells me.

"I see, well, your husband offered to join our scouts, and your more than welcome to focus on raising your fillies. Gale will be paid for his service of course," I tell her and stand back up now that Gale's leg is now healed.

Said stallion just stares at his healed leg in surprise and a faint smile.

"Thank you for healing me, Pantheon," he says and bows to me.

I roll my eyes and shake my head. "I said you don't need to bow to me. Now then, I need to go and discuss things with the queens, just get settled in for now and we'll talk about you scouting later," I say to them and make my way out of the house.

They follow me to the door with smiles.

"Thank you for allowing my family to live here, I promise you won't regret it. Oh! Before I forget, the other scouts and some of the guard were also thinking of leaving before something bad happened, they may also decide to come here if the other scouts tell them about it," Gale says and warns me.

I change to Khepri making the fillies yelp at my large size and hide behind their parents.

"Thanks for the heads up, now I must be off, have a good day," I reply and start walking to the keep.

"Now I need to get more water..." I hear Spectrum say in annoyance before I leave ear shot.

I head down the Hive and ask where the queens are, they're all in Chrysalis' office so I make my way there.

I knock on the door getting a come in from Chrysalis so I open it but freeze at what I see. Sitting on her cushion cross legged is my queen still in her bipedal form, but what I didn't expect was Dragana and Shyla both in a bipedal form as well, and both naked.

I can't help but stare at them all but manage to shake my head and look away.

"Any reason you're all bipedal?" I ask as I close the door behind me and sit down in front of Chrysalis' desk.

"They were curious as to why I was in this form and wished to try it themselves. I will admit it's easier and uses less energy to hold things with hands than our magic," Chrysalis replies.

"You were not joking when you said this form flusters him so," Dragana says and giggles deeply.

"Y-You mean he finds this a-a-attractive?" Shyla asks in embarrassment before changing back into a quadruped with a bright yellow blush on her face and hiding behind her mane.

"So!" I say getting their attention. "What do you all think we should focus on? Locating more hives? Increasing our relations with other races? Or focus on building up our city and populace?" I ask them.

Dragana changes back into a quadruped and sits down on a mossy cushion. "I think we should focus on fortifying our city and building more within it. Right now we're just a bunch of walls with barely anything in it," she says with a frown.

"I-I agree," Shyla says.

"Chryssi?" I ask my queen who nods her head.

"As much as improving our reputation with the other races would be nice, we need to show that we are not pushovers or easy targets for said races. I would like to see a moat dug out around the wall and filled with water with bridges connecting the segments to the other side. This will create choke points in case there is another invasion," she replies getting nods from the other queens.

"Alright then, gather together the changelings that want to dig, and I fill it in once it's done," I say and get up.

They all close their eyes and after a few minutes, they look at me.

"They've been sent. I need to go over the reports of the last week, so I'll be here if you need me," Chrysalis says and I smile.

"Alright, I've already spoken to the pony family, so I'll get started on turning the north eastern segment into fertile farmland," I say and head for the door.

"Okay, have fun," she replies and I head out, trying to get the image of the three queens bipedal forms out of my head.

One Week Later

Over the last week, the changelings have dug out a ten foot deep moat around the wall and Shyla wanted most of the dirt to make dens or burrows for animals in her segment, the rest was sent through a portal to a location twenty miles away from the city. I then spent two days filling the moat with water.

The north eastern segment is now a fertile area ready to be tilled and seeded. The honey changelings have offered to maintain it and I agreed so now one-hundred changelings at a time are keeping the freshly planted seeds watered and pest free.

Gale is now down in the Hive's training area with the rest of the changeling scouts and warriors, learning how to use and maintain a steel spear and a light suit of steel armour made by Seth, who's made another three sets.

Speaking of armour, I've completed Chrysalis' and have started on her massive sword which I think would take me a month to make as I plan to make it discharge lightning when it strikes something.

Spectrum has just been looking after her fillies in her house, who are bored and lonely as they're the only foals here. So I made them a playground like I did in Zebrica, they love it but it doesn't mean much without others to play with. Although, I did take an hour a day to play with them as Ratatoskr which they thanked me for.

Chrysalis panicked when she discovered she couldn't change her form back to a quadruped, the queens got together and theorised that it might be due to her pregnancy, as her first batch of eggs she laid are starting to show a centaur body structure as they continue to grow. So we think these ones will be bipedal in shape.

While not happy she can't shape-shift, she agrees that what's happening to her eggs is interesting and suggested that we try with Khepri next.

She and Dragana have been examining the crystal shards in more depth and they've found out that the magic within is a mixture of draconic and surprisingly, unicorn magic. Whether or not Celestia is involved or either rogue or captive unicorns are working for who ever made the crystal, we just don't know.

None of the queens know anything about elementals or a place called Volcanica, nor does Gale and his wife. So I'll be asking Amore, Cadence, and Luna next time I see them.

So the week has been peaceful and nothing life threatening is happening, which is a nice change of pace.

I yawn as I wake up as Hercules since Chrysalis has been enjoying our snuggles at night. I smile as I gently stroke her large stomach that has eighteen eggs in it.

She hums contently and opens her eyes. "Good morning," she says and rolls onto her back.

"Good morning," I reply and just enjoy our cuddling.

Alas, twas not meant to be as Chrysalis frowns with her eyes close.

"What's wrong?" I ask her.

"More ponies have been spotted coming from Equestria, twenty of them," she replies and I raise an eyebrow.

"Gale did say more might come, have the border scouts question them if they're friendly. If not, get them to come back and we'll get a squad together to push the ponies back," I say as I get up and start putting my armour back on.

"I've already got a squad ready along with Gale to go if needed, perhaps he can defuse any hostilities," she says and groans. "It's so much harder to carry eggs on two legs than four... my back is killing me," she says and I chuckle.

"Then stay in bed, you can keep watch through your hive-mind, I'll go," I tell her and make my way out the room as she gets back on the bed with a sigh.

I head up to the surface while changing to Khepri where a group of sixty changelings with weapons and some light armour have gathered, along with a geared up Gale.

"You all ready to go!?" I call out to the gathered group.

They all nod or say yes, so with that, I spread my wings and take off for the border.

Chapter 20: To the Crystal Empire!

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Chapter 20: To the Crystal Empire!

It takes us about an hour of constant flight, but we reach the border and land to see the group of ponies arguing with the changeling border guards.

"And I'm telling you that you need to wait!" one of the changelings yells at the forest green earth pony stallion with a light brown mane and tail and two pouches strapped to his flanks who is glaring at him.

They keep arguing and I turn to Gale who looks surprised at the ponies here. "Gale? I want you to keep quiet and out of sight until things get out of hand, I want to see how they react to us first," I tell him getting a slow nod as he hides behind the gathered changelings.

Before anything else is said, I step forward. "What's going on here?" I ask with my deep dual tone voice.

The ponies all look at me wide eyed and some back away.

The changeling that was arguing with him turns to look at me. "I've told them they had to wait here until you arrived, but this stallion keeps insisting that we just let them through," he tells me in an annoyed tone.

"We've been travelling for days, our foals are tired and I'd rather put this place behind us," the stallion says gruffly.

"And you are?" I ask him as I look at the ponies here.

There's three stallions, six mares, three colts, and eight fillies. all with varying colours and marks, but some of the foals don't have marks.

"I am Blockade, I was a charger in the Equestrian army," he replies in a militaristic monotone way.

"I'm sorry, but what is a charger?" I ask him confused.

He huffs and frowns at me. "My role was to charge into enemy formations along with other chargers in heavily enchanted and full crystal armour to cause havoc and make them focus on us while our pegasi and unicorns could focus on targets and their spells," he tells me. "Now can we go or are you here to force us back?" he asks me.

"That depends. What I want to know is why you came here," I ask him and sit down on my legs.

He sighs and sits down in front of me. "I've seen plenty of battles, mostly against wild beasts threatening villages, but I've fought a few gryphon, minotaur, and even pony bandits. I've seen fresh recruits after their first battle breakdown in the middle or after a fight. The look they have as they're about to snap under the stress or guilt of taking a life," he starts telling me and then narrows his eyes at me.

"Then I saw Princess Celestia's eyes when she was brought back after attacking your City, the defeated and fearful expression while having a hole in her chest... then as the days went by, that look went from defeated, to cold and uncaring, then to... something dark. I've tried to warn Princess Luna, but she says she's looking after Princess Celestia and not to worry. But I've seen that look in some bandits before putting them down, the look of somepony who has nothing left to lose and will do whatever they can to either get what they want, to get away, or revenge," he says and look back at the ponies waiting and staring at us.

"I will not wait for a damaged and powerful ruler to snap and put my herd and family into harm's way, and two others I would call brothers agreed with me. Gale told most of the guard about your City, how Princess Luna says you're friendly and your god is kind, yet will not hesitate to use his power to protect his charges..." he then tells me.

I smirk as he doesn't realise that I'm the god he just mentioned, I guess he just thinks I'm a strange changeling.

"And what makes you think our god would allow the race that attacked us to live amongst us?" I ask him, still with my smirk.

"Gale left saying he would head here with his family, swore your god would help them. I trust Gale with my life, and he wouldn't lead anypony to their deaths if he could help it," he replies a bit angrily.

"I see. And what do you have to offer in return for residence?" I ask him, curious to his answer.

"I'm not a smart pony, I just hit things and take hits. And when not on duty, I carry heavy things from place to place. But right now, my only concern is my family, so you tell your god that we wish for sanctuary in his City, or I'll force my way there if I have to," he tells me with resolve, making the other ponies nervous.

I smile at him and then laugh, making him glare at me. I settle down and look at him. "Alright, I'll give you a chance like I have for Gale. But break our trust, and you'll be thrown out back into Equestria," I tell him sternly as I stand up.

"You'll give us a chance? I thought your god made the decisions?" he asks confused until one of the mares walks up to him and starts trembling.

"Dear... I think that is their god..." she whispers to him, making the stallion look from her to me with his brow raised.

"I am," I say and change to Janus. "You can live in our City, but you betray our trust even once, and I'll send you back to Equestria myself," I warn them and open a portal to Khepria.

Blockade stares at me before looking at the other ponies. "Come on, let's go," he tells them and they all start walking through.

While they go through, I look to the border guards. "Keep an eye out for more ponies that might come this way," I tell them.

"Yes, Sir," they reply and head back into the little outpost tower.

Once the ponies are through, the changelings that came with me go through next, followed lastly by myself. I close the portal and turn to Blockade.

"Quick question, why did you decide to come here instead of another pony village or even the Crystal Empire?" I ask him.

He snorts before speaking. "My mate wanted to go to the Empire, but we don't have the supplies or equipment for a long journey like that. And staying in any village in Equestria is impossible as some of us are now branded deserters. We only came here because Gale told us about you, so it was our only choice," he replies and looks around.

"I see. Well then, we have four other houses built so far. Pick one each for your families and get settled in. We'll provide you with food and water for now, but as I told Gale, you'll have to earn luxuries," I tell him making him take off the pouch strapped to his right flank.

"Would this get us anything?" he asks and holds the pouch out to me.

Still as Janus, I take the pouch with my metallic hands and open it to see lots of crystal coins in it. "Perhaps, our currency is different from yours, but I should be able to use these at the Empire. Keep hold of them for now until we can figure out a good exchange rate," I tell him and hand the pouch back to him.

He grunts and takes the pouch back. "Thank you. If you don't mind, I want to get my family settled before doing anything else," he says and I smile.

"Of course, the houses are over there," I tell him and point to the houses not that far from us. "Gale! Help them to get settled and what to expect!" I order him making him step forward and getting a surprised look from Blockade.

"Yes, Sir," he replies and smiles at the earth pony stallion.

"Gale? You were there the whole time?" Blockade asks him getting a chuckle from the pegasus.

"Pantheon wanted me to keep quiet to see what you would do. But we can talk about that later, lets get you guys moved in and then we can talk," Gale replies and escorts the ponies to the houses.

Once they're at the houses, I change back to Khepri and look at the changelings still here. "I want ten changelings keeping watch on them at all times, make sure they don't do anything suspicious," I tell them getting ten salutes as they take off into the air and perch on the keep, hospital, and warehouse. "The rest of you are dismissed," I say making the rest disperse.

I head back into the Hive and after asking for Chrysalis' location, I make my way down to her office, where I find her chipping away at one of her black slates.

"I take it you already know about the ponies?" I ask her making her look up at me with a smile.

"Yes, though I'm not really sure how I feel about ponies living here after all they've done to us, but I suppose the more that live here means the more we don't look like the monsters every race sees us as," she replies and returns to chiselling.

"I guess so, maybe we should see if any of the zebras want to live here? Probably would too after the help we gave them," I say and sit down on my legs in front of her.

"What I'm worried about is what Blockade said about Celestia. If she's really as unstable as he says she is, I fear she may try to attack us again, with or without her forces," she tells me and I chuckle.

"And she'd be stupid to even think of trying that, I beat her once and I'll do it again, and this time you'll be ready and have your armour with you," I tell her.

"Yes, and as much as I would love to try it on, I can't until I've laid my eggs, which means I'm vulnerable and helpless right now," she replies and places the slate into an alcove in the wall with her magic.

"True, but we still have Dragana, and maybe Shyla will help defend. While she's the most timid person I've ever met, she can get very protective of her children and animals," I say and chuckle.

I remember the time she went out to look for animals that would like to live in her segment, only to find a black bear attacking a brown bear over territory. She scolded both of them and offered both of them a home in her segment, the brown bear accepted but the black bear refused and tried to swipe at her, only for him to be pinned to the ground by her magic and lectured about being a bully before being let go.

So now Shyla has a brown bear named Yogi in her segment after I accidentally called him that as a joke when I first met the bear, he apparently liked the name and decided to keep it. He lives in an artificial cave made for him and just wanders around the segment helping out and keeping Shyla company. He also gets his food from a pond with fish in it that Shyla got her changelings to get and maintain.

"Well then, I'm going to head to the Crystal Empire to ask Amore and Cadence about the elementals and Volcanica, and if they've been getting ponies from Equestria moving in," I tell her making her look at me.

"I'd like to go myself, but I can barely walk around as it is," she tells me and I chuckle.

"Just a week left to go then you can change back," I tell her and get up.

"It's not that I dislike this form, it's just I prefer being a quadruped while carrying my eggs," she says making me chuckle as I change to Janus and make a portal to the Empire's Throne Room ceiling.

I step through and slowly float down to the middle of the room in front of the thrones. Many crystal ponies yelp and one even faints in fright.

"Carl! Will thou ever stop doing that!?" Cadence tells me in annoyance but the smile on her face says otherwise.

"Only when it no longer gets a reaction, my dear," I reply with a chuckle.

"So what brings thou here?" Amore asks me while everyone else is silent.

"I need to talk to you two in private, it's about something I discovered in Zebrica," I tell them in a neutral tone.

"Very well, can thou wait for an hour so we may wrap up court?" Amore asks me and I smile.

"Sure, I've been meaning to have a look around the Empire for a while now," I reply and change to Mercury so I can see the whole city in time. "See you in an hour!"

I lightly jog out of the Palace where crystal ponies all look at me oddly or recognise me from Sombra's attack.

I run through the streets looking for something interesting and come across a weapons store, which only took about three or four seconds. I enter the store and see a bunch of crystal weaponry in crystal displays and on the walls.

There's barely any swords or daggers as I guess only a unicorn or changeling would be able to use them efficiently. There's also wing blades, spears and hammers with either crystal or wooden shafts, but no ranged weapons like bows or even throwing knives are here.

All in all, a very limited selection. "Greetings and wel... come..." a dark grey crystal unicorn stallion with a short deep purple mane and tail with green eyes says but trails off as he spots me.

I walk over to a light blue crystal sword and pick it up. It has a one-foot long blade and the hand... I guess hoof or mouth guard is curved like a crescent moon and appears to be designed to ensnare the opponent's blade in it to either snap or disarm. The grip is wrapped in a soft but sturdy cloth and the pommel looks like a replica of the crystal heart.

"How durable are these?" I ask him and flick the blade in the middle, getting a twang similar to a bell that continues for a few seconds before dying out.

He snaps out of his confusion and replies. "Strongest blades in the Empire, Sir. It would take the strongest of minotaurs to snap one of my un-enchanted blades," he says proudly.

I hum and change to Janus before opening a portal to my forge and call for Seth. "Seth! I need you to fetch one of the swords I made and bring it here!" I tell him making him and a few others jump from my sudden appearance.

"Errr, yes Sir," he replies and runs over to the storage room where I keep a few of my crafted weapons for the others to examine. He returns and levitates the one-metre long blade through. "Here you go, Sir," he says and I take it from him.

"Thank you, continue what you were doing, Seth," I tell him getting an okay before closing the portal. I then turn back to the unicorn. "I'd like to run a test," I say and hold my sword out. "I want to see what's tougher, my steel blade or your crystal one," I tell him and gently toss him the crystal sword.

He catches it with his magic but is staring at my sword. "What is that!? What material is it made from!?" he asks and runs over to me and looks over my blade.

"A forged and tempered metal called steel. Now then, I want you to swing your sword and try to chip or damage mine," I tell him.

He frowns and smirks before raising his blade and hitting mine with it. Sparks fly off as they collide, neither blade chipping or even scratching.

He looks shocked that my blade is still in one piece. "Not a scratch?" he mutters before swinging again. More sparks fly and he gasps as a tiny little fragment of crystal breaks off his blade in the middle.

Stunned, he slowly brings his blade to his eyes, staring at the tiny chip in disbelief. He frowns and looks at me. "Stay right there, I have something special for something like this," he says with a confident smirk before heading to a back room in the store.

I hum a tune and wait for him to return. I look around at the other weapons on display more closely, they all look dull and nothing special. Perhaps none of these are enchanted?

After a few minutes and the sounds of rummaging fades, he returns with a similar sword but this one has a shiny red sheen to it.

"This sword is enchanted to make the edge even sharper and more durable. Not even a minotaur would be able to break this," he says proudly.

I hold my sword out again and gesture him to try again. He raises his sword and brings it down, and to my surprise, cuts just a millimetre into my blade while his is unharmed.

"Hmmm, that's pretty good," I say and grip the blade of my sword and hold the hilt out to him. "Would it be possible to add those enchantments to a steel sword, or are they only usable on crystal?" I ask him.

He takes my blade and places his on the counter. He hums as his horn glows brighter while looking over the blade closely.

"Maybe, it's just I've never seen a material like this before... Metal you said it was right?" he says and asks me.

"Yes, raw iron forged into steel," I tell him.

After a few seconds his horn dims down and he sighs. "Unfortunately, this steel is resisting my magic. It might be possible if you inlaid crystal or certain gems as runes to channel and empower the enchantments, but as this is right now? I don't think so," he tells me and holds the blade back out to me.

I take it and sigh. "I suppose that's something I'll be looking into later then. Thank you for entertaining my requests, though I'm afraid I don't have any crystal coins to pay you for the damage done to your sword," I tell him as I open a portal back to the forge.

He looks at my blade as I hand it back over to Seth. "Well... I won't lie and say I'm not curious as to how you made such a durable weapon without any enchantments..." he tells me as his eyes go wide seeing the forges and the noise coming from them, as well as the changelings working them.

I look at him, and then back to the forges. "Hmm... How about a trade?" I ask him getting him to look at me. "I teach you how to forge with metal, and you teach some changelings about enchantments?" I ask him.

While changelings do have some forms of enchantments, they're not good for weapons or armour, and they need constant reapplying when they start to run out, like Chrysalis' ice mirror in our room.

"You would show me how to make blades like that?" he asks intrigued.

"If you can teach us how to improve ours with runes and enchantments, then sure," I reply.

He looks back at the forges where some changelings are now looking at him. "Agreed! Oh this is exciting! I haven't had a challenge like this in years!" he says giddily and prances on the spot before blushing a bit and coughs as he stops. "I mean, I accept these terms," he tells me more calmly.

"Alright then. Are you ready to go now or do you need to close up shop first?" I ask him.

"I need to lock up first and gather my tools!" he replies eagerly.

"Very well. I'm going to look around the City for another forty or so minutes, then I'll head back to the Palace to speak with Amore and Cadenza. Go there when you're ready and ask to see Pantheon," I tell him making him gasp and shake his head.

"Where are my manners? I am Crystal Blade, and I look forward to learning this forging! Now I must get everything together!" he says and rushes off into the back room where I hear him yelp as something crashes.

I chuckle as I leave the store and explore the rest of the city. I find a couple of tailor stores, some food stops like cafes, and even a fancy restaurant. I found a Park with lots of flowers and grass, benches and some refreshment stands.

I stopped and asked the ponies about the history of the City, it only came to be when the ponies here eight-hundred years ago got separated from the others migrating to Equestria and took refuge in a cave where they found the berries, their main export currently to this day, to survive along with walls upon walls of crystals.

So while the Pegasi kept the weather at bay, the earth ponies cared for the berries and mined the crystal while the unicorns used their magic to reform it and slowly over a few decades, built the Crystal Empire. It grew out from there and a unicorn mare by the name of Heart Shine tried casting an enchantment on a heart shaped crystal she made to project a dome over the Empire to protect it from the weather or hostile threats.

While it did what she wanted it to do she died in the process, no one can tell if it took her soul into the crystal or it just took her life, but popular belief is that she's still in the crystal, watching over and protecting the Empire.

I make note to see if there is a soul in the crystal heart as Thanatos when I reach the Palace. So after I'm done looking around the City, I decide it's time to head back to talk to Amore and Cadence.

Chapter 21: The heart of the Empire

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Chapter 21: The heart of the Empire

In just a matter of seconds, I'm back at the Palace and walk up to the Crystal Heart floating above a pedestal, slowly spinning and emitting a faint light blue aura. Two mare guards stand beside it and eye me warily.

"Morning, Ladies. Don't be alarmed by what I'm about to do, I've heard that the heart might have the soul of the one who made it trapped inside. I'm just going to check if it's true," I tell them both.

They look at each other and then back at me. "And how do you plan to do that, Sir?" the left one asks, a light blue mare with some tufts of white from her mane poking out from her helmet.

"I have the power to sense souls near me as Thanatos. So I'm going to use that to see if there really is a soul in the heart," I reply and change to Thanatos.

The two yelp at my intimidating appearance as well as the large scythe in my right hand. "Right then, let's see if the story is true shall we?" I say in an eerily smooth and spine tingling tone.

They both watch me intensely as I place my left hand in front of the heart and focus on it. After a minute of looking, I can't seem to find anything, I sigh and just as I pull my hand away, I hear someone yelp and yell "Look out!" followed by a clattering of objects before something slams into me from behind, making my hand touch the heart.

I go wide eyed as I can now not only sense, but feel a soul within the heart focus on me. The image of a transparent pale pink mare with a powder blue mane and tail, green eyes, and a mark of a red heart with a golden glow around it appears behind the Crystal Heart.

She's looking at me with equally as wide eyes as I stare at her. Her mouth moves but I hear nothing coming from her.

I pull my hand away and she fades from my sight. I frown as I put my hand back on the heart only for her to reappear again.

She tries talking but again, no sound. "Can you hear me?" I ask her making the ponies next to me look at me oddly.

The transparent pony smiles eagerly and nods at me.

"Okay, so you can hear me but I can't hear you. Are you Heart Shine? The mare who made this Crystal Heart?" I ask her.

She nodded again.

"I take it that you weren't supposed to get stuck in there, right?" I ask her making her shake her head sadly.

"Sir? Is she really in there?" one of the mares asks me.

I glance at the mare. "Yes, but I can't hear her, though she can hear me," I reply and turn back to Heart Shine.

"Is there anyway of freeing you without damaging the Crystal Heart?" I ask her.

Tears begin to fall from her face as she shakes her head again.

"I see..." I say sadly. "Perhaps Amore will know something, I'll ask her when I see her. I'm sorry to leave already, I know I'm probably the first person you've interacted with in a long while, but please just wait a bit longer, we'll figure something out," I tell her, making her look at me pleadingly.

She shakes her head and holds a hoof out to me, her eyes begging me to stay.

"I'll visit again, I promise. But the sooner I go the sooner we can help you, okay?" I tell her making her shut her eyes as her tears flow, but she eventually nodded at me.

"Okay, see you in a few hours," I tell her and let go of the heart where I see her breakdown and weep openly before fading.

I stare at it for a few seconds and turn to the mares. "Keep that heart safe, don't let anyone near it," I tell them and change to Janus.

"Yes, Sir!" they both reply and salute.

I nod to them and look behind me to see Crystal Blade picking up tools and supplies that scattered on impact with me. I ignore him for now and make a portal to the Palace Throne Room where I see Amore and Cadence still talking to some ponies. I walk through and cough to get their attention.

"My dears, I've just discovered something VERY important and need to speak with you both now, court or no court," I tell them seriously.

Amore frowns in confusion while Cadence looks worried.

"What is the matter, Sir Carl?" Amore asks.

"I won't say in public but it's urgent, please can we go?" I reply and ask them again.

Amore sighs and looks to the ponies here. "We art sorry, but we must see to our guest. So for now, court is adjourned till the evening," she tells them getting bows from the ponies before they file out.

Amore and Cadence stand up from their thrones and walk over to me. "Follow us, Sir Carl. We have a private room for matters of importance," Amore tells me and I nod in reply.

I follow both of them to a side room where the door is locked and their horns glow, which encases the room.

"There, nopony shall hear us or enter. What is so important that we must end court?" Amore asks a bit irritated.

"There's a soul trapped in the Crystal Heart," I tell them making them both look shocked.

"What?" Cadence asks dumbly.

"The pony named Heart Shine who made the heart has been trapped inside it since its creation, and she's not doing so well. While I couldn't hear her, I saw her and she could hear me. After asking her a few questions, I told her I'll talk to you two but she begged me to stay for fear of being alone again. I promised to return after speaking with you two," I tell them.

"We thought that was a legend..." Amore says with disbelief.

"It's no legend, a pony has been stuck in that heart for over eight-hundred years alone," I tell her which makes Cadence looks upset. "I think the only thing keeping her sane is the fact she's responsible for keeping the Empire safe."

Cadence has tears slowly leaking from her eyes while Amore appears to be in thought.

"Heart Shine confirmed that she can't be removed from the heart without destroying it, or at least its effect," I then tell them.

"There must be something we could do?" Cadence says quietly.

I frown in thought myself as I think of ways that might work... After a few minutes of silence I get an idea.

"Amore, can you make golems like Sombra did out of crystal? Except not black, evil, or an eyesore and is it possible to merge the Crystal Heart with said golem that Heart Shine can control? But also keep the power of the heart functioning?" I ask her.

"It may be possible... We recovered Sombra's research notes and we've carefully been looking through them to destroy anything harmful. He did record how the golems were made and that they held the souls of bound elementals to power them," she replies.

"Elementals? That's what the dragon in the gem from Zebrica called my Sol form... So if these golems can contain the souls of an elemental, could it work for Heart Shine?" I say and ask.

"A dragon in a gem? We think that thou art jesting with us," Cadence says with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm not. We have the shards left from the gem or crystal and Chrysalis already confirmed it had soul magic in it," I reply.

"Speaking of Zebrica, how did it go?" Amore asks.

I recount everything that happened to both of them over the next hour or two.

"That is disturbing... why would the dragons want to wipe out the zebras?" Cadence asks with worry.

"I don't know, but do you know where Volcanica is?" I ask them.

"We art not sure, but we believe it to be near Draconis, homeland of the dragons to the far east. Tis the only place with the most active volcanoes on the world," Amore answers.

"I'll head over there later sometime. But as for a golem body for Heart Shine, do you think it's possible?" I ask her.

"Mayhap, but we would have to fuse the Crystal Heart with the body as to not destroy its enchantment," she replies with a frown.

"Alright then. Lastly, have you heard anything about Celestia's declining behaviour? We received a group of ponies who fled from Equestria and have taken residence at our City. Have you received any refugees from Equestria?" I ask them both.

Cadence nods with a sad frown. "We have. Most were part of the attack on thine City, but after telling us of aunt Celestia's unstable emotions, they decided to flee here, they did mention a Blockade and his herd went to you due to lack of supplies," she tells me.

"I see. Ask Luna to keep a really close eye on her sister, I'm going to head to Equestria just so I can get a portal location in case Luna needs help," I reply and head to the door. "But now I need to tell Heart Shine what could happen," I tell them and open the door.

"Thank you for letting us know, we'll get our best mages and crystal moulders on this project," Amore says as they follow me out.

They head off back to the Throne Room while I head back to the Crystal Heart. I spot Crystal Blade in the lobby along the way with several packs of crystals and tools and stop in front of him.

"I need to see the Crystal Heart one more time then we can go, alright?" I tell him getting a nod in reply.

"No problem, I'll just wait here for you," he replies.

I nod and head out back down to the heart. The two guardsmares are still there and they nod to me. I change into Thanatos again and place my hand on the heart where Heart Shine fades in again.

She smiles at me and I would return it if not for my mask.

"I have spoken to both Amore and Cadenza, they believe they could construct a crystal body for the Crystal Heart to be placed in so you can walk around again," I tell her making her ears shoot up and her smile to widen. "Don't get too excited, I said they could make one. It is unsure how long it will take or if it is even possible," I say making her deflate a bit.

"As I promised, I'll come visit you now and then. I'll even tell you about the places I've been to and what their people are like, okay?" I tell her. She looks saddened but nodded in reply. "Okay, I need to go now as I have plenty to do still, I'll visit in a couple of days alright?" She nodded again and I let go, making her fade away.

I then turn to the guards. "Protect her with your lives," I tell them making them nod again.

With that sorted, I change to Janus and head back to the lobby where I make a portal back to the Hive. Crystal Blade walks through excitedly making me chuckle.

One week and two days later

Chrysalis has laid her new eggs while the first clutch is just under two weeks from hatching, they look even more like centaur changelings now. She can also shapeshift again now that she isn't pregnant, but says she wants to try something new in bed soon making me both worried and excited at what she has planned.

Life at the Hive is still going smoothly. Blockade and the other two ex-Equestrian guards have decided to join our defensive team, whose role is patrolling the outer wall and defending the City. They even joined us for the next game night where they shared a bit about themselves. Blockade though has one of the best damn poker faces I've ever seen, bugger showed no twitches or emotions when we played poker that night, only hums and quiet grunts were the only indications he made.

I've even been playing with the pony foals still as Ratatoskr a few times at the playground I made. Makes me feel like a little kid again and reminds me of the days I went to the park as a child.

Crystal Blade is having the time of his life right now and is working with Seth to learn metalwork while teaching Seth about his enchantments. The two of them are getting along well so far and I wouldn’t be surprised if they became good friends soon.

Back in the Empire, I've spoken to Heart Shine twice and told her about Zebrica, the changelings, and a bit about my world. She soaked up every word, listening to me intently, and when it was time to go, she would look sad but still had a smile on her face.

As for the golem body, its construction was simple enough. From my description of Heart Shine, they made a pale pink crystal body with doll like ball joints in the legs and neck. Using silk, they made a powder blue mane and tail in the style I drew out for them and painted her mark on the golem's flanks. On the back of the golem is a deep slot that looks like it's where the Heart will be inserted and removed if necessary.

The problem is trying to enchant it to allow Heart Shine to control it. While Sombra bound the elementals souls to his golems and magic, Heart Shine is bound to the Crystal Heart already, so they need to make the golem an extension to the Crystal Heart which hasn't ever been done before. It will take time which I've told Heart Shine and she understands, but she is looking forward to walking around on her own again.

As for Celestia, no news has arrived from Luna yet, or any letters at all after Amore sent one to her. So I'm going to head to Equestria and talk to Luna myself.

I'm standing at the outer wall gate facing Equestria where I have a few of my stone warriors constantly guarding this one and the others. I am currently Mercury and I have a pack on my back with a lunch and some crudely made but still good fruit flavoured water in it.

I start jogging on the spot as I can never seem to just stand still as Mercury, I need to be constantly moving as Chrysalis now back in her quadruped form looks worriedly at me.

"Do you really need to go?" she asks me.

"Even Amore and Cadence are worried something has happened, I'm just going to have a look, talk to Luna for a bit, and then portal home," I tell her.

She walks up to me and kisses me softly before pulling back. "Okay, just be careful," she tells me.

I smile and boop her on the nose, making her scrunch it up a bit. "I'll be fine, but if Celestia has lost it, I might need to either fight her again or evacuate Luna and any others in danger," I reply and face towards Equestria.

"We'll be ready for them should that be the case," she tells me and flies off back into the centre of the City.

I clap my hands to my cheeks lightly a couple of times and make sure I'm stretched and limber before running off towards the Equestrian capital.

Chapter 22: To Equestria

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Chapter 22: To Equestria

I run across the badlands and up to the small outpost on the border to Equestria where I stop to talk to the changelings there.

"Hey fellas! Any more sightings of ponies heading this way?" I ask them.

"Not yet, we've felt some faint traces of emotions further in near the forest, but other than that no sightings yet," the leader of the team replies.

"I see... can you feel them now? I can have a look as I go through the forest," I say making them look towards said forest in the distance.

"Barely, but there's also something else out there. It's very faint, but we think it's another Hive, though we're not positive," he tells me.

"Hmmm, keep an eye on the forest then, I'm heading to Equestria to speak to Luna," I reply, getting a nod from him.

With that I take off towards the forest and start zipping about looking for any signs of ponies or changelings. After a few minutes I find a camp of ponies who are cowering against some trees. Three mares and a stallion, along with two foals.

The light purple unicorn stallion with a short blue mane and tail with a white highlight through it is heaving heavily with many cuts and bruises on his body. His mark is a white six pointed star with a silver light around it.

While badly injured and looking ragged, he's still standing strong with an expression of determination on his face as he stares down a changeling with a violet coloured mane, tail, eyes, and shell.

I stare wide eyed as this isn't a drone, but a queen and from what Dragana told us of the violet hive, this must be Metamorpha or a daughter of hers. What I find disturbing though is her behaviour, she's snarling and hissing like a feral animal, pacing back and forth in front of the ponies with drool dripping from her chin. She's also almost skeletal in structure, her chitin hanging off like ill-fitting armour and her skin between them taut and dry with a few burn marks on the chitin, most likely from the unicorn. Her mane and tail is dry and unkempt, and she's also missing her horn which seems to be snapped off at the base, her wings also seem to have been removed as well.

She leans down and takes a pouncing form before hissing loudly and leaping.

The unicorn's horn glows but sputters and fails, making his eyes widen and fear to show on the ponies faces. I quickly bolt out using my speed to punch the queen in the jaw mid leap. She hisses angrily as she tumbles and quickly gets up to glare at me with intense focus.

"Are you Metamorpha?" I ask her.

She growls and hisses like an animal again, making me frown and roll my neck and arms to limber up.

"Not in the mood to talk? Fine by me, I'll just pacify you and send you back to Khepria. Maybe the other queens can help you," I say more to myself than her.

She hisses and charges at me again. I just sigh and once she's close enough, I easily dodge at the last second and knee her in the chin as she goes by. She yelps as her head snaps back, making her tumble into a tree hard.

She groans as she shakily tries to get back on her hooves. I just change to Hercules and sit on her back, pinning her to the ground and making her struggle angrily.

I frown as I really take in her condition, scars and scratches all over her chitin, hair missing in places on her scalp, ticks attached in between her chitin plates. I can even see a few maggots wiggling in an open wound she has on the back of her neck.

I cringe at the sight and quickly smack her in the back of the head, knocking her out and quickly getting off her.

The unicorn slowly walks up to me warily. "Erm, we thank you for saving us from the monster..." he says cautiously.

I turn to look at him and smile. "You're welcome, but she's no monster," I reply and grimace as I look back at the feral queen.

"Not a monster? It attacked us without provocation! Injured me and tried to harm my family!" he replies stunned at my words.

"She's desperate, starving, and possibly alone. Perhaps for a long time now," I tell him and sigh as I change to Aphrodite.

They all gawk at me as I float over to the stunned looking stallion.

"Now hold still while I'll heal those wounds of yours," I tell him and place my left hand on his head.

He gasps as my hand glows with a pink light and seeps into him. The cuts and bruises slowly closing and fading. The mares and foals walk over in awe as they watch.

Once finished he looks himself over and then looks back to me. "Thank you again... who and what are you?" he asks stunned.

"I am Pantheon, God of the changelings. And you are?" I reply and ask.

"Y-You're the changelings god?" he asks shocked as the mares eyes widen. "Erm... my name is Starlight Sparkle..." he then says.

"I am, and it's nice to meet you. Tell me, what are you doing out here by yourselves?" I ask him with a raised brow.

"W-We were heading to your city when this... mare attacked us... I was a teacher of spells and enchantments at the school in Canterlot. But since Princess Celestia threw her sister into the dungeons and changed some laws, Canterlot has been a place of fear and cruelty... I teleported my family out of the City Wall at night with the use of an invisibility spell and we made our way here," he tells me making my eyes widen.

"She did what!?" I ask angrily making them flinch.

"She attacked Princess Luna and shattered her horn before imprisoning her... she then cast a spell making all the guards act strangely before ordering them to seal the City..." one of the mares reply.

My left eye twitches before I change to Janus and open a portal to Khepria.

"TANK!" I yell getting the armoured changeling's attention in front of the keep. It also makes the ponies yelp and flinch.

"Pantheon sir!" he replies and nods to me.

"Gather the queens and tell them to meet me at the Hospital, I've found a severely starved queen alone out here and a group of Equestrian refugees on my way to Equestria who have disturbing news," I order him making him look stunned before closing his eyes.

"Done, Sir. They'll meet you at the Hospital," he replies.

"Alright, you lot go in and get settled in the last house we have available, the other ponies there will help you get settled in. I need to take this queen to get treatment," I tell them making them nervous before Starlight guides his family through after picking up their belongings. Once done, I pick up the queen and I'm glad I can't smell her or worry about the pests on her affecting me.

I carry her unconscious body through and take her to the Hospital where the mixed hive nurses cringe at the state the queen is in.

"Remove the parasites from her and then put her in a pod, But make sure you resin her hooves together, she was acting feral when I found her and she might lash out," I tell them getting them to levitate the queen from me.

"Yes, sir..." one of the honey changelings replies and looks a little ill at the sight of the maggots on the queen's neck.

It takes a few minutes as I watch them carefully remove the ticks and maggots and then burning them alive, but the other queens enter and Dragana instantly hisses at the sight of the starving queen.

"Metamorpha!" she yells and her horn glows.

I stand in front of her and glare at Dragana which makes her flinch. "You will not harm her whilst she is here, Dragana. She'll be given a chance just like you were. If you think she deserves to be punished for her attack on you, then just look at her. She's alone, starving, and has possibly gone insane. We'll just have to see how she'll react when she wakes up, I'd say she's suffered enough," I warn her.

Dragana frowns and then glances back at the violet changeling. She sighs and looks away. "Fine, but if she attacks us then I will put her down," she replies.

"If she's beyond saving, then it may be a mercy to just end her suffering. But until then, she's a guest here," I tell her making her narrow her eyes. She then just huffs and leaves the building.

I sigh and look back as the nurses are still pulling parasites off the queen, but at least they applied the resin restraints.

"Keep an eye on her, I need to go and free Luna from the Canterlot dungeons. Celestia has finally lost it and has imprisoned Luna along with shattering her horn," I tell Chrysalis and Shyla.

"She did what?" Chrysalis asks horrified.

"Yeah... She's also put her City on lockdown and it appears she's now mind-controlling her guards," I tell her with a frown of my own.

"How will you reach Luna?" my jade queen asks me with worry.

"I have a god who's all about stealth and trickery. I'm sure I can slip in undetected and portal Luna and any other ponies I find out of there," I reply and open a portal back to the forest I found the ponies at.

"Please be careful," Chrysalis tells me and hugs me tightly.

I return the hug. "Just get teams ready to receive Luna and any other injured ponies I find," I tell her, getting a nod before I make my way through the portal. Once through, I change back into Mercury and bolt for the Equestrian City of Canterlot.

It takes me a good six minutes to find it, but once I do, I change to Loki, the trickster god and just camp in a tree overlooking the City.

I'm wearing Nordic style light armour that's a light blue tunic with green trim, studded leather armour covering my chest, with silver coloured kite shield shaped plates on either side of my pectorals trimmed with gold and an emerald in the centre of each. Connected to them are wide stripes of brown leather with black Nordic designs on them going over my shoulders before arcing towards the centre of my back where a third kite-shield shaped plate is attached. Hanging on the back is a brown leather tail coat with thin fur lining the edges.

My belt has a similar kite-shield plate but slightly bigger with a length of light blue cloth and green trim hanging from it.

On my shoulders are steel pauldrons with gold trim and a lining of one inch long fur along the edge. On my head is a light blue cowl with a golden forehead guard that thins out over and down the back of my head. Attached to the forehead guard is an emerald in the centre and two large horns that curl back and the up slightly at the ends, with two smaller ones in front of those.

My face has black markings over my eyes, and my eyes are glowing an emerald green. On my legs are leather trousers with golden thigh guards, along with golden shin guards, and steel knee caps with a spike on the front. My forearms are covered by a pair of leather gloves which also have a matching pair of golden guards as well.

My weapons are a pair of long daggers with slightly curved blades and golden snake themed hilts.

I stretch my limbs and sigh as my vision appears sharper and I can see things in much greater detail. I look at the City of Canterlot which is on the edge of a dense forest, there's pegasi guards flying all over the place with plenty of unicorn and earth pony guards manning the walls.

It's five times larger than our city and seems they used marble in most of the buildings construction near the castle with basic stone, wood, and thatch for the more common homes further out.

I frown as I watch and wait for night fall, memorising the patrol patterns and seeing if there's a gap I can exploit. It takes hours before the sun begins to set, and I frown as my vision remains clear but with a green tint, like night vision goggles.

Once dark enough, I use my Vanish skill and turn invisible. I make my way over to the wall and wait a minute until the guards change over. Once the guards above me leave, I use my daggers to scale the wall by placing them in between the bricks.

Once over, I scale back down the other side and make my way through the city. It's depressing watching ponies cower in their homes and barely peeking out their windows as the lifeless looking guards sweep the streets with golden glowing eyes.

I watch as a guard glares at a mare who rushes into a building before following her in and apparently starts beating her if the sounds of struggling and screaming is anything to go by. I can't help and risk exposing myself, so with a soft "I'm sorry" muttered, I pick up my pace to the castle.

I keep hearing more cries of pain along the way, pleas for help and even the cries of foals. It takes all my willpower just to not change god and knock some sense into these guards, but my priority right now is Luna, then we can think of a way to help the others.

After an agonising twenty minutes of sneaking through the streets listening to the pain and horror around me, I arrive at the castle and wait for the gate to open. I watch as the guards are unmoving, like statues and the only thing that makes them even seem alive is their chests inflating with each breath they take.

The castle is made of marble and appears to have four floors with a couple of towers on each side of the castle and many windows with either glass or crystal panes in them. Certainly makes our keep look like a hovel in comparison.

After five or so minutes the gate opens and I sneak in, just barely missing a guard coming out. Once in, I start randomly exploring the ground floor, looking for any door leading down. The maids I pass look terrified, giving the guards a wide berth and some of the decor of banners and furniture look scorched along with a trail of hoof marks... that are imprinted into the stone which looks like its slightly melted.

I find nothing to the right side of the castle but guest rooms, so I head back to the entrance to go to the left, but I stop and hide in a side room as I spot who I think is Celestia.

She's an alicorn that's for sure, but her mane and tail are literal fire, her eyes are black with fire orange irises which are slitted like Chrysalis'. She's wearing what appears to be polished molten rock instead of her crystal regalia. I see what looks like fangs in her mouth and a permanent scowl on her face.

My eyes widen as I hear sizzling under her hooves and I watch as new hoof marks are left in her wake.

I stop breathing as she stops and slowly turns to look in my general direction, she narrows her eyes before huffing and moving on down the hallway.

Letting out a breath of relief, I make my way back to the entrance and head down the left hallway and after another seven or so minutes of frustration, I come across a guarded reinforced door near the back of the castle. The door opens and a guard comes out, but during that, I can hear whimpers and cries coming from the stairwell heading down.

I wait until the guard is gone before moving up to the two remaining guards and quickly bash them both on the back of their heads with the pommels of my daggers knocking both out. My invisibility deactivates since I technically attacked, but I quickly switch to Janus and open a portal under both the guards and dump them in front of the keep in Khepria.

"Tank, secure these two and bind their hooves," I tell the changeling.

He quickly nods and coughs up some resin binding their hooves together as I close the portals and change back into Loki. I reapply my Vanish skill and make my way through the door then down the long stairwell.

I see another guard alone just staring into a cell, so I sneak over and look inside to see Luna curled up in a corner with her back to me, quietly whimpering, and she's not looking too good. Her fur is matted with dried blood and dirt, she has cuts that are starting to look infected all over her body, her wings look broken and her mane and tail are no longer flowing, but a solid powder blue.

I frown at her state before turning to the guard and bashing her head in, knocking her out as well. The noise makes Luna yelp and curl into herself.

"No more, pwease no more..." she quietly begs with a slur and sobs. "Why are you doing this siphter?"

"Luna it's me, Carl," I tell her making her gasp and slowly turn to look at me. I cringe at the swollen left eye and fat lower lip, and the jagged looking remains of her horn.

"Luna, I'm getting you outta here," I ensure her as I change to Hercules and just rip the whole section of the iron bars out of the cell.

"How didph you get in here?" she asks me and tries to get up, only to slip and fall on her face.

"Don't move, I'll get you to Khepria and get you fixed up, just stay still. Is there anyone else here that needs to be evacuated?" I ask her as I place the bars to the side and change to Janus.

"Take the phonies down here witph us," she tells me and I nod.

"Alright, just relax and take it easy," I tell her and open a portal to the Hospital.

Chrysalis and Shyla look at us and their eyes widen. "Oh my..." Shyla says as her horn lights up making Luna levitate gently through.

"Patch her up as best as you can. I'm sending the rest of the ponies down here through next," I tell them getting a nod from Chrysalis as she levitates the knocked out guard through and Luna is placed in another room.

I close the portal and look to the other cells, the ponies are at their bars now staring at me with hope in their eyes. They all look dirty, ragged, and half starved, but nowhere near as bad as Luna is.

"Are you here to free us?" a stallion asks me.

"Yes, step away from the bars!" I order them and they all back up.

For the next five cells, I open a portal by the bars and they all make their way through. Once the last pony is evacuated, I go through myself and close the portal.

A total of fifty-two ponies are trembling as they look around at the changelings who are rushing about giving small amounts of food and water to them while Gale and our other resident ponies try to calm them down.

I make my way to the Hospital and frown as I enter the room Luna is in and see the nurses cleaning her wounds.

"She's not doing too good, Carl..." Chrysalis tells me and I quickly change to Aphrodite.

"Keep cleaning her wounds, I'll fix the rest," I tell the nurses who agree.

I float over to Luna's side and she barely smiles at me. "Phank you for helphing me," she mumbles.

"Shhh, just rest. You're our friend, and we'll take care of you," I tell her and place my left hand on her side as she quietly sobs again.

For the next few hours, I do my best to fix the damage Luna has suffered.

Chapter 23: Gathering allies Part 1

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Chapter 23: Gathering allies Part 1

I've healed Luna as best as I can, but I'm nearly out of mana and need to rest. I've closed her cuts, healed her bruises, and repaired most of her fractures, but her wings are still broken along with her left hind-leg.

Although there's nothing I can do to repair or regrow her horn. Unless I can make a new one with a specific alloy or material that'll react to her magic as Vulcan, she'll never cast a spell again.

Luna is currently sleeping with the aid of a little changeling venom to numb her pain.

"I knew Celestia was arrogant, but this is a new low for her," Chrysalis says as I change to Khepri and sigh.

"I don't know... She didn't have the look of a mad mare in her eyes when I looked at her. She seems... like a different person altogether now," I reply and sit down in the lobby of the Hospital.

"Different? How so?" she asks me confused.

"She looked calm but with a constant hatred bubbling beneath, This certainly isn't the Celestia we know," I tell her.

"So how will we deal with this? It sounds like she's now stronger than she was before," Chrysalis asks as she paces around the lobby.

I'm about to reply, but my eyes widen as I feel the moon trying to contact me. I change to Awilix and head outside as Suku jumps through the portal that opens behind me and follows.

I look up to the moon that's directly over head now, I didn't move it and Luna's in no condition to either. The moon glows brightly which lights up the land around us as a soft feminine voice speaks to me within my head.

"Help her, use this," she tells me as a bright pulse flashes from the moon. I then see something is hurtling down from it towards us.

"TAKE COVER!" I yell getting the ponies and changelings around us to head down into the hive.

After a few minutes, the object slams into the badlands about five miles out and causing a mild quake. We all wait for a few seconds while the moon's light returns to normal before moving back to its original orbit.

I look to the moon and try talking to it. "What was that?" I ask but I get no reply and the connection seems to be gone.

With a frown I sigh and change to Khepri before taking off with Chrysalis and Dragana who came out to see what was going on follow behind me.

It's takes us a while but we land on the edge of the crater caused by the hot chunk of rock smoking in the centre.

"What is it?" Chrysalis asks with worry.

"Not sure, but the moon said to use it to help her. I can only guess she meant Luna," I reply and just rest to still recover my mana before we do anything.

"How would a chunk of rock help Luna?" Chrysalis asks me sceptically.

"I don't know. Maybe regrow her horn? Make her a new horn with it? Or something else altogether," I reply and frown as I stare at the cooling rock.

Said rock being no bigger than a changeling.

We wait for a few hours as the rock cools off and the red glow dies down. During that time, Chrysalis, Dragana, and I discussed what to do next.

While the changelings will continue to build the city with more housing for the pony refugees, I'll be going out to the other races and gaining their alliance to counter Celestia's forces. No doubt she'll en-thrall more guards across her lands, perhaps even the other races if she can.

Once the rock is cool enough, I flutter down and grab it with my six legs, then heft it up and carry it back to the City.

I place it on the ground in front of the keep and take a good look at it, I see a crack in the stone with white light coming out of it. I change to Hercules and with my mace, tap it lightly enough to chip away at the rock until a small chunk of glowing stone is revealed.

"It's beautiful," Shyla says as she looks down at it.

"And how is a glowing rock supposed to help Luna?" Dragana asks frowning at the rock.

"As I said, I don't know. I'll have to experiment with it, maybe Luna will know what to do with it?" I reply and pick up the glowing rock with my left hand and bring it down to my room for safe keeping.

Now that everything is calmed down, we all head to bed and Chrysalis informs me that Metamorpha is now in a love pod recovering.

The next morning I head to the Hospital while most of the changelings from each hive get started on new housing, while some of the earth ponies who were farmers agree to help grow our crops. I walk into Luna's room to find her looking depressed as she lays still on the mossy bed.

"Morning, Luna. Feeling better?" I ask her.

"A bit... My leg and wings still hurt, but other than that, I'll live..." she replies glumly.

"Well... while you were sleeping, the moon sent us a gift to help you with," I tell her and change to Janus to open a portal to my room and retrieve the chuck of glowing rock.

Luna's eyes widen as she lifts her head up.

"It's a piece of moonstone!" she says. "The moon gave you this? To help me?" she asks with tears forming in her eyes.

"Yes, despite you controlling her, the moon wants to help you," I reply and set the moonstone next to her. "So, do you know how I can use this to repair your horn?" I ask her.

"There has been a case where a pony lost her horn when a spell backfired, but she got a crystal moulder to make her a new horn which she connected to the remains on her head and she was able to cast basic spells again... Maybe you could make a horn from this?" she replies with hope in her tone.

"I'll ask Crystal Blade if he knows how to make a horn. Might be able to help me with it," I say and send the moonstone back to my room. "But for now, I need to contact the other races and warn them of your sister. First though, let's finish healing you," I tell her and change to Aphrodite.

After an hour fixing her wings and leg, I change back to Janus and open a portal to Zebrica since I already have the location.

"Alright, just rest and relax, I'll get started on working with the moonstone when I return," I tell Luna making her nod and just rest on her bed.

I step through the portal next to the Communal Hut of Wanori. I change to He Bo as that is the god the zebras saw me the most as.

I move to the entrance to the hut and pull the cloth door aside. "Hello?" I say into the hut.

"Hmmm?" I hear an elderly stallion mutter before looking at me. "Oh, Pantheon. It is a pleasure to see you again," he says to me and waves me in with a hoof.

"Same, Elder Manata. But I come with bad news," I reply and enter the hut and lower my upper body closer to the ground.

"Bad news? Should I inform the other Elders?" he asks worried.

"Yes, as this will affect the world," I reply making his eyes widen.

I wait as he sends out others to find the elders. Meanwhile, I tell him about building a possible embassy in our city where they can send and store trade goods they wish to trade with not only us, but other races once I meet with them while waiting for me to open a portal for them, as well as gathering any news from other races.

He said he'd discuss it with the others first, but likes the idea.

The other elders arrive, even Mianya who still dislikes me. Once settled, I tell them about Celestia, Luna's condition, and what I saw in Canterlot. To say they were sceptical was an understatement, Mianya refused to believe Celestia would turn evil or cruel, so I changed to Janus and opened a portal to our Hospital to let Luna tell them herself.

I help Luna through as she's still feeling weak without her horn. Once through, I help her settle down on one of the cushions.

"It is true, Elders. My sister has lost herself to her anger and I may have died if Carl-" Luna explains but I lightly poke her to get her attention.

"I go by the name Pantheon now, Luna. You can call me Carl in a private setting," I whisper to her.

"Oh... If Pantheon did not rescue me and heal my wounds as best he could. Our guards are being controlled, and our subjects are being ruled with fear," she tells them sadly.

"I plan to get the help of all the races in subduing Celestia and her mind-controlled forces," I tell the elders. "Will you help us?" I ask them.

Mianya is staring at Luna in disbelief, or more precisely, her missing horn.

"This is grave news indeed... And what are we supposed to do against an alicorn gone mad?" Manata asks me.

"I, the Queens, Amore, Cadence, and Luna once we figure out how to repair her horn will face Celestia when it comes to it. We will just need help subduing her guards or civilians so we can focus on Celestia," I reply.

They all talk amongst themselves for a good ten minutes while I change to Ratatoskr and open my arms wide for Luna. I remember she wanted to hug me when she first saw me like this, I hope it will cheer her up just a little.

She faintly smiles and pulls me into a hug with her forehooves, gently nuzzling the top of my head with her chin.

The elders finally stop talking and turn to us, Mianya looking even more grumpy. "You have our support. If not for your help, we may have had to abandon our homeland. We can spare about eight-hundred of our warriors," Manata tells us.

"Thank you, we'll let you know when we're ready to subdue Celestia. Until then, get what you need for an embassy together and let us know when you want to build it next time I open a portal," I reply as Luna lets me go.

I step away from Luna and change to Janus, I then open a portal back to the Hospital to let Luna through so she can rest again.

"I'll open another portal within a week, goodbye," I say to the elders getting farewells in return. Even Mianya mutters a goodbye, most likely to Luna.

Once through, Luna lays on her bed again and I head out as Khepri to find information on the next closest race, probably the elks.

I find Chrysalis in her office along with Dragana and Shyla. "Well, the zebras will lend us eight-hundred warriors for when we attack," I tell them as I sit down in front of her desk.

"That's good, before you go to the next race, you should let Amore and Cadence know what has happened," she replies making me face-leg.

"Right, I forgot about that," I say and change back into Janus.

"Also let Cadence talk to Luna. I'm sure Luna could use the company," Chrysalis tells me and I nod as I make a portal to the Empire's throne room.

I float through making some ponies yelp at my appearance. "CARL! Willst thou stop doing tha!-" Cadence yells at me with a smile, but noticing my expression quickly wipes it off her face.

"Private room, now," I tell them and head to their private lounge.

The alicorns glance at each other before telling the ponies they'll be right back.

Once the room is locked and soundproofed, I speak up. "Luna is at Khepria and is badly hurt. I've healed all her wounds but I can't heal or regrow her shattered horn," I tell them making them gasp.

"What? Who harmed our aunt?" Cadence asks me.

"Celestia did," I reply making their eyes widen more.

"She wouldn't..." Amore says.

"She's different now. Mane and tail look like fire, molten rock regalia, black and orange slitted eyes, deathly calm yet behind her eyes untold anger. She beat Luna to near death and dumped her in the dungeons. I snuck in and portal'd her and over fifty ponies out to Khepria," I tell them.

"She... she gave in to a nightmare?" Amore asks shocked.

"What's a nightmare?" I ask her.

"Tis a being of the void plain. They sweet talk and make promises to their victims in exchange for something. We... We almost fell to one after our husband passed away, promising us a way to bring him back. But our dear Cadence kept us from falling to it," she tells me sadly.

"So she's no longer in control of her own body?" I ask with a frown.

"No, if she's really taken by a nightmare, then she's no longer in control of her actions," Amore replies with a frown of her own.

"I see. I already have the zebras support to subdue Celestia and her mind-controlled guards. I don't even have to ask for yours right?" I ask them.

"Of course not. We shall be there to free our aunt," Cadence replies firmly.

"Good. Now Cadence, please come with me and keep Luna company for a while, she's still weak and not very happy," I tell her making her look upset.

"I shall. Mayhap we canst mould a crystal horn for her," she replies, making me point my right index finger at her.

"Oh, the moon herself sent a piece of moonstone to help Luna with. Maybe we can turn that into a horn?" I ask them both.

"Well, depends if it will react to moulding like crystals do," Amore replies.

"Cadence can have a look at it later with Crystal Blade, but right now Luna is resting in our Hospital," I say and open a portal to Luna's Hospital room.

Cadence winces at the sight of Luna looking depressed on the bed. She walks through getting sad smile from Luna and I close the portal behind Cadence.

"Amore... Is it possible to free Celestia from this nightmare?" I ask her.

"Yes, with the help of the elements it should separate them, but the nightmare will still be dangerous as it could flee or try to possess another," she replies.

"Then we just trap or kill it before it can get away. Can anything harm a nightmare?" I then ask her.

"Well, positive emotions and thoughts can prevent it from possessing you. But I've never known one to be killed or physically harmed," she replies.

I raise an eyebrow as I ask her my next question. "If positive emotion can prevent them from taking you, what would a physical form of positive emotion do to them?"

"Thou art talking about the liquid love the changelings make?" she asks me and I nod in reply. "We art not sure, it could be toxic to them, or just a repellent," she tells me with a sigh.

"I'll send you a pod of liquid love, maybe you can infuse the love into some of your crystal weapons," I tell her and open a portal back to Khepria.

"We shall try, we thank thee for informing us of this... To think she gave in," Amore says sadly.

"We'll get her back, I still owe her a slap to the face for what she put the changelings through. The beating I gave her didn't count," I say and head through the portal.

I come out in Chrysalis' office to find the queens still here. "Cadence is with Luna to help her cheer up. So now we need to decide who to make contact with next," I say to the three of them as I sit down on thin air.

"I would like to see you bring the minotaurs to our side," Dragana says glancing at me.

"Does everyone agree?" I ask the other two.

"Having the strong minotaurs aid us would be a boon," Chrysalis says while Shyla merely nodded.

"Alright then. Dragana, I need you to point me in the direction of Minos," I tell her making her nod.

"Very well," she replies and we head up after Chrysalis bids me farewell with a kiss. "Minos is over there directly, just go straight and you'll reach it," Dragana tells me.

I change to Mercury and stretch my limbs. "Okay, Once I've got their trust, do you want me to make a portal for you to talk to them?" I ask her.

She frowns and shakes her head. "Not yet. The Stronghorn clan will most likely want my head once they find out about Tahway," she replies.

"Fair enough, but he brought it upon himself. Well then, wish me luck!" I say and before she could reply, I bolt off in the direction she pointed at.

To my eyes, I seem to have been running for hours, but to any other, it was mere minutes as I pass out of the badlands and into a flourishing plains with hills dotted about. Trees are spread out on the plains and bushes with and without berries beside them. I spot a couple of ponds and a lake before I make it to a village.

I keep my distance at first just to scope out the minotaurs. I see many of different sizes and colours, of mostly brown, grey, black, and white. Some even with patches of different colours.

They're wearing loincloths and bikini fur clothing, or nothing at all sometimes. Some are armed with spears and others with stone mauls or axes.

Their faces don't look exactly like a cow or bull, but similar to the ponies with their shorter muzzles, bigger eyes, and almost human like lips.

What surprises me the most, is that they have what seems to be tamed wolves following them around loyally. I spot troughs filled with various meats, most likely for the wolves.

A growl from behind me makes me turn my head around slowly to see three wolves snarling at me. Damn these guys are silent when they want to be.

"Erm... hi?" I say lamely making the middle one leap at me.

I quickly move out the way easily and sigh. "Come on fellas, I'm just here to talk with the minotaurs. Can't we be friends?" I ask them.

I'm shocked that they stop and look at each other before the middle one barks at the right who then bolts off to the village.

"You understand me?" I ask the apparent leader who narrows its eyes at me. "Huh, wasn't expecting that. Then again, Shyla's bear seems to be pretty smart," I say to myself and look to the village to see ten armed minotaur guys heading my way.

They arrive in a few minutes and glare at me. "What are you and what are you doing here?" the biggest one in thicker hide armour with bones attached asks me, well, more like demanded. He has deep brown fur with a few patches of lighter brown, his horns are black and about a foot and a half long. His eyes are green and he has a small bone through his nose.

"I am the god of the changelings and have come to warn you about Celestia and request your aid," I reply.

"A god? A tiny thing like you?" he says and snorts.

I frown and change to Hercules. Making the minotaurs get into a combative stance.

"Yes a god! Now then, I've come to help make the changelings and minotaurs friends and allies, even open trade between us," I reply and hold my mace over my shoulder. The minotaurs are only half a foot taller than me now.

"What is that thing he's holding made of?" one of the other males asks another.

"Not sure, it looks like really polished stone..." was his reply.

"And why should we trust the changelings? They take our people and steal their energy, you think we would allow them near our homes and loved ones! They have already taken my brother!" the leader tells me in a deep threatening tone.

"They only do that because of the lie Celestia spread about them. They have no choice, the other option is starvation. Would you allow your people to starve to death or take what you need from others to make sure they stay alive?" I ask him calmly.

"Celestia saw a changeling killing one of her ponies, and since then the changelings constantly attacked us," he tells me angrily.

"All Celestia saw was a changeling standing over a pony, we'll never know what happened to the pony as Celestia blasted the changeling without letting them explain what happened. Besides, I have three hives living together in a City we built. I provide all the love they feed from so they don't need to take others anymore. We even have ponies living in our City now as they fled from Celestia, who by the way, has been possessed by a nightmare," I reply a bit angrily as well.

"The sun alicorn has been possessed?" he asks with a snort. "I've heard enough of your lies. Leave now, and do not return!" he threatens me and readies his stone hammer.

I groan and change to Janus which puts the minotaurs on edge. "Fine, I'll prove it to you," I tell him and open a portal to the Hospital.

Luna and Cadence yelp at the portal's sudden appearance. "By the stars, you will give me a heart attack one day," Luna says looking better than the last time I saw her.

"Sorry, Luna. But I need you to help me convince these minotaurs that your sister has been possessed," I ask her making the minotaurs look at the alicorns in surprise. I didn't notice more of the villagers had come over to see what was going on.

"What magic is this?" a female with snow white fur and wearing a robe of hide and pouches on her hips asks while walking over to the portal and starts circling it. Her hair is a long light brown colour and goes down to the middle of her back. Her body looks different than the other minotaurs, smoother, curvy, and slender than the others muscular bodies.

"Whisper, stand back!" the leader I was talking to tells her.

She ignores his demand and walks right up to me and leans down to face me. I couldn't help but stare at the large pair of clothed breasts hanging in front of my face, they make Aphrodite's look like A or B cups in comparison.

I shake my head and look up into her golden brown eyes. "It is a portal allowing any who pass through it to travel instantly to another part of the world I have been to," I reply to her question.

"Can you teach this spell to others?" she asks me eagerly.

"I'm afraid not, as this is not a spell, but an ability only to the form I am now," I reply making her wilt slightly. "You can use magic?" I ask her with interest.

"Yes, I am one of the few who can harness mag-" she replies but is cut off by the Leader again.

"Whisper Wind! That thing is an enemy! Get away from it!" he tells her and forcefully pulls her away by her arm.

She glares at him and her small horns glow the same colour as her eyes, where the leader is lifted off the ground with an un-amused expression. "You know I hate it when you touch me!" she warns him angrily.

"Whisper, go back to the village now," he tells her in a stern and calm tone, but the frown on his face says he's angry.

"No! I'm tired of you telling me what to do, I am not yours to do with as you please!" she replies and narrows her eyes as sweat starts to form on her brow.

"Perhaps we should speak to them later..." Luna says looking uncomfortable on her hospital bed.

"We are to be bonded, Whisper! As your future mate, I'm telling you to go back!" the leader orders her.

She gasps as her horns glow flutters out and the Leader drops to the ground on his hooves. He then starts stomping over to her making her yelp and run behind me.

"I refuse to be your mate! How many times must I tell you!" she says to him.

"It's not your decision! The elders have chosen me to be your mate, now do as you're told!" he tells her making me frown.

"NO!" she says and then looks down at me with a thoughtful expression. "I claim this male as my mate!" she then says and picks me up into a hug, making me look surprised at her outburst. The others all gasp and the Leader is fuming mad now.

He snorts and glares at me before scuffing his hooves on the dirt. He then roars out and charges right at us making Whisper drop me in fright.

I change back to Hercules making my portal collapse. I drop my mace which sinks into the dirt a bit with a loud thud due to its weight and get ready to grab Mr Leader by the horns.

As soon as he reaches me, I grip both of his horns and slide back from the force of his run. I grunt as I dig my feet into the ground until we both finally stop after a good six metres.

"Alright, I've had enough," I tell him and with a roar of my own, I lift him off the ground and flip him over my head, I continue the momentum as I lean back and he slams back first into the ground.

He grunts from the impact as I let go and quickly stand back up.

"He bested Gareth," one of the minotaurs says in shock as everything goes silent.

I hear a roar behind me as Gareth gets back up. "I, Gareth Stronghorn! Will not accept this! I challenge you to Kargeth!" he yells at me enraged.

I look to Whisper who's standing nervously next to me. "What is Kargeth?" I ask her.

"It's a fight to the death..." she tells me sadly.

"Oh. Wait, did he say his name is Stronghorn?" I say and ask her in surprise.

"Yes, he's the leader of the Stronghorn Clan," she tells me.

"Aw, fuck me..." I say as I look at the fuming bull.

Chapter 24: Gathering allies Part 2

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Godly
Chapter 24: Gathering allies Part 2

"Aw, fuck me..." I mutter as I look at the enraged bull. Of course he's Tahway's brother. "And if I refuse to accept his challenge?" I ask Whisper.

"Then you'll be branded with the mark of the coward and exiled," she tells me.

I sigh and shake my head. "I see. And if I fight and win, but don't kill him, what happens?" I then ask her which is making Gareth angrier.

"You would dishonour the entire clan who would then challenge you as well," she tells me with worry.

"Dammit... So I have no choice but to kill him?" I ask in resignation.

"Yes... " she replies.

"Well, I could just knock him out and then knock out every other challenger until there are none left to challenge me... Fine, he issued the challenge and I don't want to know if a branding will stay on my body even if I change god. So, how is this done?" I say and look to Whisper.

"You will both enter the Kargeth pit where you'll fight till one is left alive. No weapons are allowed but your fists," she tells me. "I'm sorry I got you into this..." she says apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. He was going to be pissed once he found out his brother is dead," I reply making her gasp.

"Tahway is dead?" she asks stunned.

"Yeah. He and some others attacked Dragana's hive and were taken prisoner for trying to kill her. I take it the ones with him returned safely correct?" I reply and ask her.

"Yes," she says.

"While we kept him for trying to murder her, he broke free from his bindings and killed four of our changelings. So he had a hole blown out of his chest by an angry queen," I tell her and look to Gareth who's eyes look bloodshot with how angry he looks.

"YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!?" Gareth yells heaving angrily as he trembles slightly in restrained rage.

"He brought it upon himself when he killed four of our people and attacked Dragana. If some of your own were killed by someone attacking you, wouldn't you put them down to stop them from killing more?" I ask him with a raised brow.

"I CARE NOT FOR YOUR INSECT RACE, MONSTER!" he yells, making me frown at him.

I walk over to my mace where I find one of the minotaurs trying to lift it up and only getting it a foot and a half off the ground.

"Excuse me, but that would be mine," I tell him unamused, he grins sheepishly before letting it go and scuttling away.

I effortlessly pick up my mace and heft it over my right shoulder.

"Now then. I came here to make friends with the minotaurs, but I'm obviously not welcome here any longer. So I'll just move on to the next village to ask," I say and start walking off to go around the village and further inland.

"Wait!" I hear Whisper yell at me and run over.

"Yes?" I ask her as I turn around.

"Take me with you, please. I can't stand it here anymore," she tells me pleadingly.

"ENOUGH!" Gareth yells as he raises his hammer and roars out before charging at me.

I sigh as I raise my own weapon and wait for him to get closer before we both swing. My mace meets his hammer which shatters the stone head easily. The vibration of the impact makes him release the branch it was attached to with a mild grunt of pain.

He then balls his fists and throws a punch at me which I return with one of my own. Our fists collide making him stumble back while my arm flinched back as well.

I drop my mace and roll my neck. "You want a fist fight? Then bring it," I say and pull back my right hand and thrust forward right into his gut, winding him for a few seconds before he uppercuts me with his left fist.

I stumble back from the unexpected blow and shake my head. I frown as I walk back up to him where we start trading blows. While not hitting as hard as I am, he’s still leaving slight patches of bruising on me.

After a good three minutes of punching, he gets a solid hit on my cheek making me lean to the right and stumble slightly. With a growl I then use my driving strike to ram him in the chest, sending him onto his back a few metres away.

He slowly stands back up coughing while I stand still and wait. "You got that out of your system yet?" I ask him only getting an angry glare in return.

With a sigh, I ready myself as he charges at me again. I dodge his charge and grab his left arm as he passes me, I then tug hard dislocating his arm and forcing him to the ground.

"Last chance to walk away, or I'll make it so you can't walk at all," I warn him.

"I will not stop until I avenge my brother's death, Monster," he says with conviction.

"Very well, but remember, you chose this," I tell him and pick up my mace and wait for his next move.

With a final roar, he charges with his horns pointed at me. I pull my mace back and once he reaches me, I swing at his legs and with a loud crack, breaking both legs with the hit.

He roars out in pain as he tumbles away and this time stays down.

"Now then, I'll be on my way," I say and start walking off again as the other minotaurs glare at me and their wolves snarl.

I glance back to see Whisper looking between me and Gareth before running off after me.

"So, why do you want to follow me?" I ask her making her yelp at the sudden question.

"W-Well... Since I was born, I've always been told what to do, where to go, what I can and can't do... I want to travel, see new things, meet the other races, learn more about magic!" she tells me with a smile which then fades. "I've always been weaker than the other Magai when it came to using magic, and I don't have the physical strength for a warrior... but when they told me I was to be bonded to Gareth, that's when I decided I wanted to leave," she replies.

"So what was stopping you from just leaving before I arrived?" I ask her while I see a couple of white furred minotaurs, a tall female and a young male, running up to us from behind. So I stop and turn to face them.

"Whisper!" the female minotaur yells getting her attention.

"Mother!?" Whisper says in surprise as she looks back at them both.

"What are you doing?" Whisper's mother asks her.

"I... I can't stand it anymore, mother... I don't want to be bonded with Gareth, I don't like him and he's too aggressive," Whisper says quietly while looking down at the ground while on the verge of tears.

"I know, my dear. But the elder has foretold that you will be bonded to the strongest male, and Gareth is our strongest warrior," her mother replies.

"Foretold? As in they saw the future?" I ask getting their attention.

"Well... she is an old heifer. Her magic is not what it once was. So it's more like getting a glimpse into the future... A very blurred glimpse..." she tells me.

"Ah," I say and Whisper then slowly looks up and at me.

"The elder did not say who I was to be bonded with or what race they would be, only that it would be a strong male... and I've never seen anybull or male stronger than Gareth other than you... maybe, you're the one I am to be bonded with," she says making me go wide eyed.

"Woah now, I already have a girl back home and we just met. What makes you think I'm the one?" I ask her as I take a couple steps back.

"It may not be you, but I can still travel if I follow you!" she says with a smile.

I've lost count of how many times I've sighed today. "If your mother is okay with it then I don't mind, I could use a guide through Minos anyway," I reply and look to her mother.

Whisper also looks at her with pleading eyes.

"I don't know. We know nothing about this bull..." her mother replies and looks at me.

"Perfectly understandable. But should you allow her, I'll do everything within my power to keep her safe," I tell her and lean on my mace.

Whisper and her mother share a look before looking back at me, her then mother sighs. "Okay. Whisper? Please be careful," she says and gives her slimmer daughter a hug.

"I will, mother..." Whisper replies.

"Oh, don't worry about getting homesick. I can just make a portal back here whenever you want from wherever we are," I tell Whisper making her eyes widen.

"You mean you can make a portal to go anywhere?" she asks in excitement.

"If I've been there before then yes," I reply.

"I wish I could do that... What are we waiting for? Let's go!" she says and grabs my left hand and pulls me along with her.

For saying she's not as strong as the other minotaurs she sure can pull when she wants to.

I chuckle and let her pull me." Don't you need to pack anything for the trip? Like food or camping gear?" I ask her making her stop as her face flushes a bit.

"I forgot about that..." she says and runs back over to her mother.

"I'll wait here for you," I tell her.

"Okay!" she yells back before talking excitedly with her mother and I'm guessing little brother.

I glance back over to Gareth who is still glaring at me as the others are tending to his legs.

I shake my head at him but I can't exactly blame him for his aggression, his brother is dead and he's going to be pissed about it. But at the same time his brother attacked Dragana for no reason other than honour and murdered four of Chrysalis' changelings.

The minotaurs keep their distance from me while I wait for Whisper to return. I yawn as I sit down and look up to the clear sky.

So far this hasn't been a very good start to minotaur relations and I'm starting to wonder why I'm even doing this.

The Changelings in Khepria are now self sufficient with my help and we're friends with the Crystal Empire and Zebrica. I'm pretty sure the queens, Amore, and Cadence along with myself are enough to subdue Celestia. All I’d really need to do is portal into her castle and then portal her and myself to a barren area where we can then slap the shit outta her... Or maybe dump some liquid love onto her and see how that'll effect the nightmare possessing her.

I'm broken out of my thoughts as I see Whisper lean over me with a worried expression.

"Are you okay?" she asks me.

I didn't realise I was frowning, so I change it for a smile. "Yeah, just thinking," I reply and stand up. I notice she has a wicker basket with a strap over her right shoulder which goes between her breasts and down over her left hip to hold it against her back. "What do you have in there?" I ask her as the basket is bigger than her torso.

"A week's worth of food, water, and a sleeping bag," she replies with a smile now on her face.

"I see. Well then, will you lead the way to the capital of Minos?" I ask her and hold my left hand out towards the open plains.

"Okay, I've only been to Hornhiem three times when I was sent to magai gatherings over the last ten years," she says and starts walking north-west.

I change to Chiron which makes her stare at me wide eyed. "So you're one of the centaur race?" she asks me.

"No, This is just one of my many godly forms I can change into," I reply and trot over to her.

"Godly? You're a god!?" she asks and backs away slightly looking a bit fearful now.

"Yes, but why are you afraid now?" I ask her.

"The gods have not been known to be merciful. Lavian, the god of fire erupts volcanoes and destroys villages. Aeris, the goddess of wind causes tornadoes to tear up the land. Aquaria, The goddess of water sends floods, ruining crops and killing wildlife. Geodus, the god of earth who makes the ground tremble with earthquakes. And Discord, the bringer of chaos who warps the lands around him," she tells me still looking fearful.

"Have you or others seen or met these gods besides Discord before?" I ask her.

"No, they think we're not worthy to be in their presence," she replies.

Sounds kinda like earth gods, we have so many of them yet not a single one has shown themselves to anyone in the modern world.

"So they may or may not be real? Sounds to me like you're just giving natural disasters a personification," I tell her making her look confused.

"Personification?" she asks slowly as if unused to the word.

"It means giving something a personality, making it seem alive. Volcanoes erupt due to the pressure of magma build up deep underground which escapes through weak points in the planet's crust. Tornadoes are formed by warm, moist air meeting with cool, dry air which then force the two types to swirl around each other. Floods are just overflows of water from heavy rains or a damn bursting, even by a massive wave from the ocean called a tsunami slamming into land. And earthquakes are caused by plates of rock along a fault line underground breaking and rubbing against each other, causing seismic waves that make the ground shake," I explain to her. At least that's what I think I remember from my science classes.

She just stares at me with a blank expression.

"Didn't understand a thing did you?" I ask her making her shake her head. I chuckle and shake my head. "Don't worry about it. Just know that you're gods may not exist and all the natural disasters that happen are just that, natural," I say making her gasp.

"They are not real?" she asks warily as I start walking again. After a few seconds of staring at me walking away, she hesitantly follows.

"Possibly. So until they show themselves, I say they don't exist," I reply and yawn as I look up. It's starting to get late and I think we have about three hours till sunset.

Whisper has gone silent and I lightly whistle at her, making her yelp and look at me.

"listen, I'm not going to hurt you. You've done nothing to anger me or upset me unlike Gareth. So relax, enjoy the trip, and know that I'll protect you should someone or something tries to harm us," I ensure her, getting her to calm down a bit.

"Sorry... You're the first god I've met and well, I'm not sure what I should be doing. Do I bow to you? Do I need to offer you tribute?" she asks me.

I stare at her for a few seconds before losing it in a fit of chuckles. "No, you don't need to do any of those," I reply as my chuckles die down.

"Oh... Okay," she says as she adjusts her basket and speed walks to keep up.

"So what kind of magic do you like the most?" I ask her to start up a conversation.

"Well, I like water based magic. With the right amount of mana, water can be infused with it to help speed up healing or clean out injuries to prevent infections. But last I knew, there are only twenty-two magai among the minotaurs, me included," she replies.

"Water magic? Okay, try using this water then," I say and change to He Bo making her go wide eyed again.

I hold out my right hand and create a gentle flow of water from my palm to the ground where Whisper steps up and stares in wonder at the water.

"Where is it coming from?" she asks me with awe in her tone.

"I'm turning my mana into physical water. Since this is already mana turned water, maybe it'll be more effective with your water magic?" I suggest, making her put her left hand through the water. I only now notice they have only three fingers and a thumb instead of four.

She giggles before her horns glow with a golden brown aura as she levitates a bubble of water as big as her head. She places her hands on each side of it and I watch as the aura from her horns spreads into the water which now has a slight golden colour to it.

"This is amazing! The spell is three times more effective than with normal water!" she says with excitement as she quickly takes off her basket and dumps out a waterskin of water before carefully placing the golden water into it.

"So... Wasn't that your drinking water?" I ask her with a smirk. She inhales sharply before face palming herself.

"I'm always doing things without thinking first..." she says and sighs.

"Don't worry about it, the water I make is safe and drinkable," I tell her and hold my hand out to her. "Cup your hands together," I tell her and she does so.

I make some more water in her hands and only stop once they’re full, she then slowly brings the water to her lips. She takes a small sip and gasps before guzzling down the rest.

she wipes her hands on her robe and smiles at me. "I can feel my mana increasing! The mana in your water is helping to replenish mine!" she says and grabs me by my shoulders. "This means I can practice my magic more often without passing out! I can show those arrogant old magai that I'm not wasting my time!" she says and then brings her face an inch from mine. "You can't tell anyone about this! This is the only way I can catch up to those old wrinkled jerks and show them I can be just as good with magic as them!" she then tells me, her tone nearing manic levels.

I grin as I hold my hand over her head and without warning, drench her head with water. She sputters and lets go of me as she backs away.

"Why did you do that!?" she asks me angrily.

"One, you need to calm down. Two, I'm glad my water can help you practice your magic. Three, you really can't expect me to not give someone water if they need it. And four, I'm not going to be here for very long, so I won't be able to keep supplying you with my water," I tell her making her slowly wilt as she realises.

"Oh, right," she says sadly.

"You’re welcome to come to Khepria if you want to, I can always make a portal back to your home when you want. Plus, you can tell me more about Minos and minotaur history," I offer her. Even if the minotaurs come to hate me due to Gareth, at least Whisper will give me a good word and possibly convince others to give me and the changelings a chance. "Oh, which reminds me," I say and change to Janus.

I open a portal back to Luna's Hospital room and cough politely to get their attention. "What dost thou know? He's learning," Cadence says with a giggle.

"Ha ha. Just letting you know, that minotaur who charged me is Tahway's brother, the minotaur who broke free of his pod and who Chrysalis killed. And I kinda broke his legs as he wouldn't stop attacking me. On a happier note, Whisper Wind here has agreed to show me to Hornhiem," I tell them.

"Tahway's brother? That is unfortunate..." Luna says as I notice Cadence has the chunk of moonstone and is examining it.

Whisper leans over my shoulder and looks nervous.

"So this minotaur is Whisper then?" Luna asks making Whisper yelp and try to hide behind me, as much as a minotaur slightly bigger than me can hide.

"Y-Yes. Are you the alicorn of the m-moon?" she asks nervously.

"I, was. Although the moon moves on its own now, I shall use my magic to aid those having nightmares," Luna replies with a sad smile. "As soon as I can get a new horn that is..."

"How's that going by the way, Cadence?" I ask the pink alicorn.

"Tis not going well. This moonstone dost nary wish to form how we require it, and as such may need thine metal forging skills to mould it," she replies with a frown.

"I see. Well keep at it, I'll come back after I'm done with the minotaurs and see what I can do as Vulcan. Perhaps as Geb as it seems to be a type of stone," I tell her.

"We shall, but we dost not think we can do anything with it," she says as her horn glows brighter.

"Alright then, we'll be off. Do let Chrysalis know I'll contact her tonight," I tell them getting an okay in return before I close the portal.

"Okay, Whisper. Lead the way," I say and change back into Chiron.

"Erm, sure," she replies and starts walking off where I follow behind her.

Chapter 25: Gathering allies Part 3

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Godly
Chapter 25: Gathering allies Part 3

I've been following Whisper for an hour now as we walk along the open plains. She's not said another word but occasionally glances at me now and then while adjusting the pack on her back.

I sigh as I scratch the back of my head. "Soooo," I say trying to start a conversation. "What can you tell me about Hornhiem?" I ask her.

"Oh! Errrm, w-well... It's the largest city in Minos a-and home to about one-hundred thousand minotaurs..." she says nervously.

"I see. And relax, no need to be so tense around me. I'm not going to hurt you," I tell her with a forced smile.

"I k-know... but still, you're the first god I-I've met...it's a little intimidating..." she replies quietly and takes a deep breath.

"You'll get used to it eventually. So, anything else I need to know? Laws, rules, important people?" I say and ask her with a more friendly tone.

"Erm... Well for laws, challenges for claims of property or land are settled in a horn duel where the victor gets rights to the items in question... Theft is harshly punished with losing a hand, and if you have no hands left, you're exiled. Killing another outside of a Kargeth challenge will get you the death sentence. Clans may not start a blood feud unless they get the magai's blessing as witnesses," she tells me.

There are also other laws about status and deeds that don't interest or affect me.

"As for important people, the Grand Magai Jurai runs the council of magai. He decides who joins the council... stubborn old bull says I'm too weak or young to be a full magai... I'll show him I can surpass them all!" she says with a growl at the end while gripping her pack's strap tightly.

I chuckle lightly making her blush before coughing. "The others you want to avoid insulting are the clan leaders. They'll most likely challenge you to preserve their honour," she then warns me.

"Well, if they're as strong as Gareth, then I don't think I have to worry about challenges. But I'll do my best to avoid conflicts," I reply and think. I'll have to be careful about what I say here.

"Please do, unlike Gareth, you'll be expected to kill the clan leader that challenged you. The only reason you could have left Gareth alive is due to that was his village and no official magai was present. If you're challenged in Hornhiem, one must die and the magai make sure the defeated falls," she then tells me.

"Harsh," I say with a frown. "Do you have a form of currency?" I then ask her.

"What is currency?" she asks confused.

"Err, its used to trade for things, like food, supplies, land, or as payment for hiring someone..." I reply and change god to Ratatoskr. I then open my small pack and pull out a few different value Gil coins and hold them up to her. I've discovered that I can store practically anything that can fit into the bag and leave it there until I need it again.

She leans down with sightly wide eyes looking at me as I slide the coins into the palm of her large hand. "These are Gil made from a soft metal called gold, and its the changelings new currency. As I said, we'll be using them to trade supplies or for the services of others. They in turn can then use them to buy things they need from others, or pay their own workers," I tell her as she looks them over.

"Oh... I've never heard of gold before, its so shiny," she replies and holds a single coin up and moves it to reflect the sunlight.

"So how do minotaurs trade things? Like the zebras where they trade supplies and food for other supplies and food?" I ask her.

"Well, some of a clan's harvest is given as tribute to the magai along with pelts and crafted items. In return, the magai protect Hornhiem while going out to settle clan feuds, heal the sick or injured, or removing threats. But mostly it is as you said, we trade materials or food for what we need the most," she tells me and giggles as she jingles the coins in her cupped hands.

"That's good, I wouldn't of thought well of them if they just took the stuff and gave nothing back. At least they help those around them," I reply with a smile. "And it's good to see you more relaxed now," I tell her with a light grin.

She blushes slightly and looks away. "Well... I figured if you wanted to hurt me you would have done it already... And I was mostly nervous as this is my first time leaving the village without my mother or any of the hunters with me..." she replies shyly.

"I see, how old are you then? I want to say twenty-four," I ask her and guess.

She blushes a bit harder and looks down. "I'm nineteen..." she tells me quietly.

"Oh, well... I suppose we should keep moving," I reply and change back into Chiron.

"R-Right!" she says and holds out the coins to me.

"Keep them, think of them as a gift. Perhaps I'll give you more as payment for guiding me," I tell her, making her smile and look back at the coins.

"Thanks," she says and places the coins in a pouch on her left hip.

Over the next four hours of travel, she tells me about how minotaur magic works. They gather the mana from within themselves and can infuse it to an element that their souls are attuned to. Whisper is attuned to water, though she swears she managed to conjure a tiny flame one time when she was younger, but hasn't managed to since.

The day passes by slowly and it's now sunset. "I have a question," Whisper asks me as she gets out her bedroll made from animal pelts. I'm now Geb, just sitting out in the open near the still burning campfire.

"And what would that be?" I reply slowly.

"Since you are a god, do you know why the sun and moon are moving so strangely recently?" she asks looking at the setting sun while holding her bedroll.

"Oh that? Yeah, I put them back into their natural orbits. The alicorns don't move them anymore as that was too dangerous to keep doing," I reply and yawn as the sun is halfway down the horizon.

"You... You took the sun and moon away from the alicorns?" she asks stunned and drops the bedroll in her hands.

"Oh, would you prefer the alicorns to keep controlling them? I'm sure nothing bad would have happened should they die or use them in anger," I reply with my own question and a smile.

"Errr..." she replies dumbly and slowly leans down to pick up her bedroll. "That would be bad..." she then says as she unrolls her bedroll and lays it flat on the grass.

I chuckle and look back to the setting sun. "Yes, yes it would," I say and yawn.

Whisper lies down on her bedroll and pulls what looks like a thick handmade woven blanket made out of some rough looking cloth or linen. "I must ask... what happened to the moon alicorn's horn?" she asks me with a frown on her face.

I turn my head to look at her and sigh. "Celestia has lost her marbles and we think she's been possessed by a nightmare, which is some kind of energy, ethereal, or magical parasite. She attacked Luna, broke her horn along with beating her to a pulp. I'm debating whether or not to just subdue Celestia now while she's still trying to build her forces, or to continue to get the aid of the other races first," I tell her and look back to the sunset.

"She... She attacked her sister?" Whisper asks sadly.

"Yup, and I think I might be the one who angered her enough to let a nightmare get her..." I reply and grumble a bit. Not my fault she's a paranoid, xenophobic, and hostile bitch. "Now then, get some sleep. Hopefully the next village will be more hospitable," I tell her and close my eyes. I could use some training in the practice dream.

I open my eyes and look around and smile at the sight of the practice area.

"New Gods added," a female sounding voice with a slight echo I haven't heard before says aloud making me jump.

"Who's there!?" I demand and look around.

I look up to see three floating panels with faces above my head and names under them.

King Arthur. A middle aged looking man with short blonde hair and a trimmed beard wearing a crown.

Merlin. Slightly older looking than Arthur but with slightly longer brown hair with a white streak through it and longer beard. He also has a small claw mark over his right eye which appears to be glowing blue.

Jormungandr, the world serpent. A large looking purple snake with fins on the sides of his head, large teeth, and glowing purple eyes.

I stare wide eyed at them for a few minutes before the icons fade away. I slowly start to grin as I think of being King Arthur. My body changes and I'm now in ornate plate armour with gold trimming. On top is a red coat going down the right side of my torso and down to my shins.

In my right hand is one of the best damn swords I've ever seen, Excalibur! It has a red grip with a gold band swirling around it, the pommel and hand guard are golden coloured with detailed engravings and the blade is a large lightly glowing blue piece of steel. Not as big as Tyr's sword, but its not that far off.

I roll my shoulders and neck, the armour is comfortable and the sword not too heavy. A screen of sorts pops up in front of me showing the skills and stats of the god and I blink a few times. He has eight skills instead of four... dashes, AOEs, a slow, a stun, a silence, and what appears to be a version of Cloud's Omnislash from Final Fantasy seven as his secondary alt.

This guy looks insane! I head over to the buff camp area and frown, the place looks different. I see icons on the floor with the colours of the different buff camps.

I walk over and step on the red icon, and in the circled area ahead of me, spawns three manticores. They glare at me but don't leave the circle.

A grin spreads across my face as I ready my sword and feel energy flow through me. I swing my sword as blue energy flows out of the blade as a vertical slash of energy travels towards the manticores.

Three hours and seven minutes later.

I continue to practice for hours and start to feel fatigued. I've moved to another new area that allows me to summon any gods I want to duel with and I'm currently fighting Sun Wukong. With a final rush, I run towards him and he humphs with a smirk as he swings his staff horizontally at me which extends to fifteen feet.

I duck under the attack and feel a burst of energy as I use King Arthur's secondary ultimate skill, Excalibur's Wrath! I dash towards Wukong and uppercut him with a powerful blow, sending him into the air where I jump up after him.

We both float in the air as I then rapidly slash him six times leaving deep looking gashes across his torso before finally hitting him one final time with an over head swing, sending him slamming into the ground below. He struggles on the floor for a bit but collapses and fades away.

I land on the ground and pant for breath. Now this is the kind of warrior I can get behind!

The world around me fades away as the feeling of something shaking me gets my attention. I blink my eyes open as I see it's still night time but the sounds of growling gets my attention.

I feel someone huddled up behind me while I look at a few wolves stalking their way towards me. I frown and yawn as I slowly stand up still as Geb.

"Okay, now I'm cranky," I mumble and roll my neck.

"What are you going to do?" Whisper asks from behind me.

"Scare them off hopefully. If not, then I'll have to kill them," I reply and stomp over to the approaching wolves. "Alright pups, bugger off or we'll see what's harder, my fist, or your heads," I say to the wolves. I wonder if they're as smart as the ones from Whisper's village.

They growl louder and they eye whisper hungrily while ignoring me, makes sense as I'm currently made of stone.

"Hey now, none of that," I say and raise both my arms above my head before slamming them onto the ground.

A shockwave followed by a tremor sends dirt and bits of rock into the air as it spreads out towards the wolves. They yelp as they're sent into the air and away from us.

The shockwave tapers out and ends just as the wolves hit the ground. They quickly get up and run off towards a small woodland area off in the distance to the south.

"Wow..." Whisper says as she slowly walks back to her bedroll.

"Right then. Get some more sleep, I'll keep watch," I tell her and sit my ass back down while watching the wolves run off.

"O-Okay..." she replies and lies back down on her bedroll.

Perhaps I should have made a giant stone tent to protect us... I'll keep that in mind for the next night out.

The wolves are now out of sight as they run through the trees, I yawn again as I start making my floating fingers spin around my large stone forearms.

After about an hour of making my fingers do tricks, I hear howls sound out from the forest as a large pack of fifteen wolves run out and straight towards us.

I frown and quickly get up and turn to Whisper who bolts upright after hearing the howls and she looks terrified. "Stay still," I tell her and place my hands on the ground.

With a burst of energy, I raise stone up in the shape of a tent around her with the front and back also sealed.

"AHHH!" she yelps as she's closed in. I leave a gap at the top of the front stone for air though.

"Stay there and wait while I deal with this," I tell her and change god to Fenrir.

"Okay..." she replies and I can see her trying to look through the gap in the stone.

I turn back to the still oncoming wolves and roll my neck. I then lean back and raise my head with a long and loud howl of my own.

With that done I look to the wolves and see they've stopped and start to surround me but keep their distance.

I look to the biggest wolf who is behind a couple of others in front of me. I stand up and flex my fingers where my long sharp claws rub against each other.

"So, instead of leaving, you went and got your buddies huh? Well then, if it's bloodshed you want, I'll be happy to spill yours," I say and growl deeply. My body heats up as I feel anger and rage building within me, my runes glowing brighter by the second.

"What are you..." the pack leader asks warily making me shocked.

"I errr..." I mumble in confusion, can I understand them now because I'm a wolf now? "I am a God, my name is Pantheon. Who are you," I reply and ask with narrowed eyes.

"I am known as Stormfang, the Alpha of this pack. Members of my pack told me you interfered with their hunt, why do you protect that prey. Have you also thrown your pride aside to do their bidding?" he asks with a growl at the end.

"I'm protecting her as she's guiding me to where I need to go. And I interfered because I won't just stand aside and let you harm her," I reply and bare my teeth where molten drool drips out. "Just so you know, your little pack isn't enough to bring me down, but try if you must. Their deaths will be due to that 'pride' you mentioned," I warm him and get down on all fours ready to leap at him.

There is no pride or honour in a battle of life and death, no code of conduct or unspoken rules, just the victor and the fallen. The method in which you win doesn't matter as long as you stand on top and the threat has been dealt with.

Stormfang narrows his eyes and glares at me. "Watch yourself pup, we have you outnumbered. What can you alone do against a pack," he threatens me angrily.

I grin maliciously at him with a chuckle. "Attack and find out, but remember, their deaths will be your fault," I reply and dig my claws into the dirt, muscles tense and ready to charge as the fur on my neck and back stand on end. Though I plan to ignore the others for now and go straight for him.

Some of the wolves back off and whimper while Stormfang growls angrily. After a tense moment, he makes his move. "KILL!" he yells in a loud bark like manner making most of the pack charge at me, only four backed off with their tails between their legs.

I ignore the pack and release the tension in my legs as I leap straight into the air toward Stormfang who looks surprised at the height and distance I get.

He leaps to the side as I land next to him, but without warning I use my Brutalise skill and perform a quick shorter leap with my arms and claws raised. He fails to react in time as I swing down and tear into him, eight deep gashes line his back and left side, but I'm far from finished.

I perform three more short leaps, this time leaping over his body upside down as my claws rip into him, blood and fur flying off as I continue to jump and slash. Once over, he's no longer breathing and he's covered in at least twenty or so deep cuts, blood pooling quickly under him and staining the grass.

I turn back to the pack to see them keeping their distance and whimpering.

"Well? Are you not going to follow your alpha's order?" I ask them and shake most of the blood off my claws.

They look to each other while one of them is glaring at me.

"No? Then bugger off back to the forest and don't come back, or I'll tear you all up as well," I tell them and start walking my way to them.

All but one whimper and run off to the forest. The last one who is the one still glaring at me slowly walks around me before growling and runs off.

I huff as I change back to Geb and walk over to the stone tent.

"Are you okay?" Whisper asks me timidly.

"I'm fine, just get some more sleep, I'll leave the stone up until morning," I reply and plop my ass down in front of the stone tent.

"Okay, thanks for protecting me," she says and I hear her shuffling about and go quiet.

"You're welcome," I reply and just watch the forest.

A few hours later.

The sun has risen and the wolves haven't returned since the fight. I yawn as I place my hands on the ground and push the front of the stone tent back into the ground. I then stand up and turn to see Whisper yawn and rub her eyes, waking up most likely due to the slight rumble of the shifting earth.

"Morning," I say and step back to allow her out.

She yawns again and rummages about in her basket backpack. "Morning..." she replies and pulls out her water skin she used to put my water into and drinks a few mouthfuls of it, followed by eating what looks like a loaf of bread.

She then shuffles out of the stone tent while pulling her basket and bedroll with her.

"Right then, get packed up and lets get going," I tell her and yawn again, I'm still feeling a bit tired from less sleep.

"Don't you need to get some more sleep?" she asks with worry.

I was about to reply but I get an Idea. "Then you can carry me for a bit so I can get some shut eye," I reply and change to Ratatoskr.

She stares at me as she stuffs her bedroll into her basket. "Oh, sure. I guess so," she says and straps her basket pack onto her back.

I walk over to her and she carefully picks me up and I blush a bit as she holds me to her chest like a newborn.

"Wake me up if something attacks or happens," I tell her and just close my eyes and let her warmth lull me to sleep.

Chapter 26: Hornhiem: Arrival

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Godly
Chapter 26: Hornhiem: Arrival

After practising some more with King Arthur in my sleep, I yawn as I slowly wake up. I scratch my chin as I look to my left, and what greets me is snow white fur and my face in Whisper's cleavage.

I halt mid scratch and gulp slightly, as the bosom I'm using as a bed right now is jiggling gently like a water bed. Whisper is just humming a tune while she continues to walk across the plains with me in her arms.

After a mental reboot, I cough lightly and get her attention.

"Oh, you're finally awake! You must've been tired, you've been asleep for six hours, or was it seven..." she says with a smile.

"I see, how far are we to Hornhiem?" I ask her and notice she's not letting me down. If anything, it feels like she's holding me tighter.

"Not much longer, another day or two," she replies and goes back to humming her tune.

I glance back at her cleavage and debate whether or not to go back to sleep, but I shake my head and look at her face.

"You can put me down now, nature is calling," I tell her getting a confused look from her before she looks around us. I sigh and facepalm. "I need to take a piss," I then tell her.

"What's a... piss?" she asks with a frown.

"Errrr..." I mumble out and sigh again. "Nevermind, I need to relieve myself. So please put me down," I ask her and she does so.

I run off to the closest bush I can find and after a few seconds to empty my bladder, I sigh and then pull out a water bottle from my bag and use it to rinse my hands off. Once cleaned up, I pack the bottle away and make my way back to Whisper.

"Right then if you need to go, I'll wait here for you," I tell her and sit down on the grass.

"Oh, okay," she replies and runs off to another bush. I yawn again as I look around the plains. The mountains are closer and with my sharp vision, I can barely see a settlement far into the distance, just can't make out any details.

After a few minutes, Whisper comes back flicking her hands off from the water on them.

"Ready to go?" I ask her getting a smile and a nod.

"Can I hold you again? You're so cute and soft," she asks me with a bigger smile.

I stare at her chest again and shake my head. "Sorry, but I need to get the blood pumping again," I tell her and change to Bacchus and take a bite out of the pork joint making Whisper look surprised. I then wash it down with a tiny bit of wine before changing into Chiron.

"Right then, let us continue," I say and start walking.

Whisper jogs to catch up to me. "What are the changelings really like? From all the stories told by our grandparents, they're like leeches who suck the love right out of you till you're nothing but a dried up husk..." she asks me warily.

"That's a complete lie for one. They can't suck out a person's love, but feed off the love they emit. Love is radiated from people and the Changelings fed on it. They're also very quick learners and are masters at imitation. While their magic is not as diverse as the ponies, they're still strong and powerful spell casters, and now that we have a unicorn spell teacher with us, I'm hoping he can teach the changelings new spells," I reply with a smile.

"They're also the kindest people I've met so far, due to the fact they can sense others emotions and react accordingly. Though that kindness has regressed mostly to their own hives as the world was turned against them... But I'm doing my best to help them," I finish with a sigh.

"I see... so, Celestia really made up that a changeling killed a pony by draining them?" she asks sadly.

"Who really knows? There's no records about it, no other witnesses, the changeling wasn't given a chance to explain. As far as I know, Celestia is either covering something up, or just hates changelings that much to frame them," I reply with a frown.

"Well... I would like to meet the changelings," she tells me with a smile on her face.

"Well if you still want to once I'm done here, I can take you to our city so you can see for yourself," I tell her and draw an arrow from my quiver.

"What is that?" she asks pointing at my bow.

"This? It is a weapon called a bow, it launches these arrows great distances for either hunting or attacking enemies," I reply and notch the arrow before aiming ahead of us and drawing the string back. The bow creaks a little under the strain before I release the arrow.

Whisper watches the arrow soar through the air for a good few seconds before it lodges itself into the dirt.

"And with a group of these you could rain down arrows on an area, very intimidating watching them come towards you on the receiving end," I tell her as I draw another arrow and continue walking.

"Amazing, it's so simple yet effective," she says and walks beside me to get a closer look.

I smirk as I stop walking before holding the bow and arrow out to her. "Here, have a try for yourself," I tell her and she looks at it wide eyed.

"Really?" she asks with a smile while taking off her basket backpack.

"Sure, just be careful and don't point it at me," I reply and walk around her as I hold the bow up in front of her. "Now hold it where my hand is," I tell her and she does so.

I place my hand on top of hers making her tense up a bit. "N-Now what?" she asks trying not to look at me.

I wrap my right arm around her and hold the arrow up. "Take this arrow and place the small groove on the bottom against the string with the shaft resting on your left hand," I instruct her, making her carefully take the arrow and placing it where I told her to.

"Now, slowly pull the string back to get used to the tension of the bow. Once you feel comfortable enough, pull back and then let go of the string," I tell her and let go of her hand and step back.

She frowns as she tests the string before pulling it back and aiming up. She looks adorable with her tongue poking out and narrowed eyes.

After a few seconds, she lets go and frowns as the string twangs and the arrow fumbles off the string to flail in the air three metres away from her.

She glares at the arrow and goes to pick it up. Once retrieved, she notches it again and aims up again. With a huff she releases only for the same to happen again.

"Why isn't it working!?" she asks in frustration.

I chuckle and walk back over to her. "Here, like this," I say and draw another arrow.

She tenses up again as I wrap my right arm around her and place my left hand on hers holding the grip. I help her notch it and aim the bow up. "Okay now you need to pull both fingers away when you release or the arrow will come loose again," I tell her and she does as I tell her.

The string springs back into place as the arrow flies away from us.

"There we go!" I tell her and smile as she watches the arrow with wide eyes. "Want to try again on your own?" I ask her getting nod in reply.

I hand her another arrow where she notches it and aims. After a few seconds she lets go and the arrow soars off.

"Nice," I say making her giggle. "Maybe when we go to Khepria, I'll make you a bow and some arrows for you," I tell her making her look at me.

"Really!?" she asks happily.

"Sure, but first we need to meet your Magai and see if we can be allies as well as if they'll help with subduing Celestia. Though now that I'm really thinking about it, I doubt they will. Why risk your peoples lives on something that doesn't involve you? And I've been thinking of ways to restrain Celestia with who and what we already have. Might be best to act sooner while she's possibly not at full strength," I say and sigh as she hands me back my bow.

"Well... I don't know if the Magai are strong enough to fight either of the alicorns... I mean they moved the sun and moon... and you took that from them and have so many spells, skills, weapons, and forms that make our best warriors look like calves..." she replies nervously.

"When you say it like that, it does make it sound like I would be stronger... But Celestia is now possessed by a nightmare, I don't know how much stronger that will make Celestia and I have no idea what new spells or abilities it can do with an alicorn host..." I tell her and sigh with a frown. "I also don't know how many of her guards she has enthralled, does she have a limit to how often and far she can teleport, or even if I can force her through one of my portals to isolate her. There's many factors to take in and I'm not sure what I should be focusing on first," I finish with a groan.

She looks to the ground for a few seconds and then back up to me. "Well... H-Have you thought of a way to change her back?" she asks me quietly.

"Possibly. But that includes surprising her by dropping her into a portal over a pool of liquid love that will hopefully poison or force the nightmare to flee her body," I reply.

"I see... Maybe those magical stones they used on Discord could work?" she suggests with a hopeful tone.

"Maybe, but then they could also turn her into stone as well. And I can't slap her in the face if she's stone now can I?" I reply with a chuckle.

"I suppose not," she says as I pick up the arrows we fired along the way.

For the next few hours, she asks me about the Hive and what life is like with the changelings. I smile as I tell her about our baths, the lake and its giant glowing flower, as well as the many other games and crafts we got.

She soaks it all in and tells me of the few games they have like the classic tag, hide and seek, and the hard wolf-skin balls they throw and kick about.

It takes us hours of talking and walking, along with a few bouts of jogging to get closer to the City. We're now a good twenty or so miles from the city and it's now dark out and Whisper is tired.

"We'll set up camp here tonight. I'll go find some firewood after I've set up your tent," I tell her and change to Geb.

"Okay, will you be gone long?" she replies and asks as I make her stone tent.

"Not even ten seconds," I reply and change to Mercury.

Before she can say a thing, I dash off to the nearest woodland not too far away and gather a bunch of branches and dry grass. Satisfied with the amount gathered, I run off back to Whisper making her yelp at my sudden appearance and the gust of wind I trailed behind me blows into her.

"Told you, not even ten seconds!" I boast and smirk as I change back into Geb and sit in front of her tent as she calms down from her mild panic attack.

"That wasn't funny!" she yells at me angrily as she places her bedding and huffs before laying down with her back to me.

I chuckle slowly as I use my body to plug up the tent's entrance. "Goodnight," I say and yawn as I get comfortable.

"Goodnight," she replies a bit tersely.

After another night of god practice, this time with Merlin, which I've discovered is a master of fire, ice, and arcane magic. He can also infuse his basic attacks with electricity as well but I've found out he's not limited to what the game's skills are. He can also use full on lightning attacks that aren't in the game and I'm pretty sure he could learn other spells.

His mana control and magical potential is insane, his only flaw is he's not very physically strong and hasn't got much in terms of protection, a true squishy glass cannon character.

I awaken to see a white wolf silently sitting in front of me, head down submissively.

I stare at it for a few seconds making it whine and flinch back. I get up and change to Fenrir, making the wolf lay down on its belly.

"What do you want," I ask it, I think I recognise it as one from the pack that attacked us.

"You defeated alpha... So I wish to follow you," it replies in a male tone.

"Oh? And what insurances do I have that you'll stay loyal to me?" I ask and walk up to him, two inches away from my nose to his.

"W-When alpha is defeated, pack must follow new alpha," he replies and stays perfectly still.

I glare at him for a few seconds and then grin. "So no matter what form I'm in, you'll do as I say?" I ask him.

"Y-Yes, Alpha," he replies.

I lean back from him, letting him sit up again. "Alright, but any attempt to harm either of us and I'll tear you apart just like your old alpha. I'll also feed you daily, when was the last time you ate?" I tell and ask him.

"Two moons ago, Alpha," he replies and by some comedic timing, a quiet gurgle rumbles from his stomach.

"Do you understand the common language?" I ask him making him shake his head.

"Alright then, I'll change into another form and give you some meat. After that we'll be heading towards the minotaur city over there," I tell him and point to said city in the distance. "You are not to attack anyone unless I tell you to, understood?" I tell him firmly.

"Yes, Alpha," he replies and his tail starts wagging back and forth.

"Now before I feed you, why did only you wish to follow me?" I ask him.

"Old alpha's son took place as alpha of pack, but you are stronger and more agile, you are a better alpha than him. The others did not share my view so I left alone," he replies.

"Alright then, I'll train you to respond to certain words in common later. But for now, just follow and stay passive, no one will harm you while you're with us," I tell him and change to Bacchus.

He looks at the pork joint and pants at it. I toss it to him and he eagerly tears into it.

With that done, I pick a few grapes off the vines on my toga and snack on them. I hear a shuffling from behind me followed by a yelp as Whisper looks at the wolf eating the pork ravenously.

"Morning, Whisper. Looks like we have a new travelling companion. Apparently I'm his new alpha, so he's going to follow us. Here, have some of these," I tell her and pull off a whole bunch of grapes and gently toss them to her.

She catches them and looks at them oddly. "What are these?" she asks and sniffs them.

"Grapes, they're a fruit. They're great on their own but can be used to make a lot of different food and drinks, wine like the one in this jug. Just be careful of the seeds in the middle of them," I reply and gently slosh the wine around in said jug in my left hand.

She picks a grape off and puts it in her mouth. She then carefully chews and her eyes widen as she tastes the flavour.

"This is good," she replies and swallows it before eating another.

This continues until we're all fed and ready to go.

"Okay, now to see if I can start training him... Err, I didn't ask if he had a name," I say and change to Fenrir again. "What's your name?" I ask the wolf.

"Name?" he asks back in confusion.

"Yes, what did your pack call you? My name is Pantheon," I ask and tell him.

"We do not have names, only the alpha of the pack has one," he replies with a tilt of his head.

"I see, would you like a name?" I ask him.

"If you wish for me to have a name, Alpha, then I shall accept," he says with a wagging tail.

"Alright... Let's see... Silverfang? No, overused... Orion? Yeah sounds good. Alright, would you like the name Orion?" I ask him.

He bows his head at me. "I shall accept this name, Alpha," he replies and his tail wags faster.

"Alright then, remember no attacking anyone unless I say so," I tell him and change back.

"What did you say? All I heard was growling and barking," Whisper asks me.

Really? I sound like that when talking to wolves? "His name is Orion, and I just reminded him what to do for now. So let's get going!" I reply and change into Chiron.

For the next four hours we walk and finally we reach our destination. The City is quite large, three or four times bigger than our city, at least in width, we probably would be the same if we count the underground sections as well.

A long wooden log palisade surrounds the city, held together by plant fibre twine. The main gate is a giant wooden sliding style door with big crude wheels on the bottom. I can see four minotaurs exert themselves pushing the gate open to allow a group of hunters carrying something about five metres long with black scales that resembles an anaconda, but has dark grey fur running down the middle of its back and has slanted eyes instead of round ones.

It also appears to be dead if the crushed neck is anything to go by.

Patchwork looking farmland is around the walls with what looks like wheat and corn growing mostly, but I can see some carrots and I think cabbage patches.

From what I can see inside the gate, the buildings look similar to Whisper's village. Large pelt covered tents with a hexagon shape, and further in mud brick houses with thatch roofing is all I can see.

Some of the farming minotaurs see us and start mumbling amongst themselves while we walk up to the gate.

A group of ten minotaurs gathers by the gate, warriors by the looks of their stone hammers and bone armour.

"Announce yourselves!" one of them demands as they all look at me.

I smile as I stop a good ten feet away, time to make a better first impression.

Chapter 27: Confrontation

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Chapter 27: Confrontation

"Announce yourselves!" one of them demands as they all look at me.

I smile as I stop a good ten feet away, time to make a better first impression. "Greetings! I am Pantheon, God of the Changelings! I am here to meet your leaders to discuss matters of importance," I reply as they slowly advance towards me with their weapons at the ready and each with a wolf beside them.

"God of the Changelings?" one of them says to another confused.

"I thought the tales said they didn't believe in gods..." another says while the eight foot tall minotaur in front is eyeing me carefully.

He has deep brown fur with a lighter shade on his chest and face. He has a crack going through his left horn and his eyes are a sharp blue as they gaze into mine.

He's holding a large stone hammer with tribal carvings in it, and it appears to have seen many battles with the dried blood stains, chips, and slight cracks on the head.

For armour he is wearing what appears to be large snake skull pauldrons on his shoulders, bones linked together with plant fiber bindings across his chest and back. An animal skin loincloth covering his modesty, bones linked together for thigh guards, and the same for his forearms.

On his back looks like a cape made of the same fur that was on that snake those other hunters took into the city.

"I am Stonehide of Hornhiem, son of chieftain Wolfheart! So you call yourself a god?" he asks me not with malice or distrust, but with curiosity. A large black wolf sits beside him with a scar on its left cheek and I notice its glaring at Orion who lies down and whimpers slightly.

"I do. I can change into many forms, each with their own strengths and abilities. But I have come to warn your leaders about Celestia and hopefully bring the minotaurs and changelings together as friends and allies," I reply and bow my head respectfully to him.

"Celestia? What is so dire that you must warn us of the sun alicorn?" he asks me as I notice that he's eyeing Whisper and Orion now and then. Whisper though is looking down and keeping quiet.

"She has been possessed by a nightmare and we believe she will soon target other races once she has subjugated her own ponies. She has already enthralled her own guards and locked down her city," I tell him and explain what happened with Luna after that.

He hums in thought as another minotaur walks over to him. He looks like the shady sort, the kind to stab you in the back if something doesn't go his way.

He has dark grey almost black fur, his horns are smaller than most of the others but look pristine and well cared for. He has a long tuft of fur coming off his chin like a beard, and he's wearing wolf hide armour with a bone spear in his right hand.

But it's his eyes that disturb me, a deep brown with a cruel, sharp calculating mind behind them.

He leans up to Stonehide and whispers in his ear, but I can faintly hear what he's saying. "I don't believe him. I believe this is some trick of the centaurs to get to your father," he tells him while leering at me.

Stonehide hums in thought as I sigh. "Can centaurs change their form?" I ask Stonehide who raises a brow at me.

"Not that I am aware of," he replies.

I change god to Cabrakan, Destroyer of Mountains. I grow to ten feet tall, I'm now taller than Stonehide by a solid two feet. My skin turns green with thick hard dark green scales growing from my shoulders to the tips of my fingers, as well as my thighs, shins, and feet.

I'm now wearing a rope necklace with a greenish cyan aztec themed pendant with a large ruby in the centre. My only clothing is a yellow kilt like skirt with orange trim held up by a thick rope with a buckle similar to my pendant.

My hair is now long and two thick strands lay across my chest tied at the ends with greenish cyan like bracelets while the rest of my hair goes down to the small of my back with two tick bands tying it in place.

On my head rests a aztec themed headdress the same colour as the pendant with gold attached to it. The skin of my chin appears split open with a solid bone or rock look in its place.

Lastly, my eyes glow a light purple with flowing energy in them.

The minotaurs look surprised as I smile down at them and Whisper gasps as she looks up at me. "Now that I've shown I am indeed not a centaur. May I be granted an audience with your leaders?" I tell them and then ask with a deep rumbling tone.

Stonehide looks more impressed than surprised. "You will prove yourself to me first by joining us on a hunt! Only once you've proven yourself as a hunter may I allow you entrance to Hornhiem!" he replies boisterously.

I'm starting to like this guy. "Alright, but first I need to know how you conduct your hunts," I ask him.

"We were about to head into the forest to hunt Jormund Snakes. Although, judging as you are now, I doubt they'll be much of a challenge," he says with a hearty laugh afterwards while the shady minotaur frowns at me. "All you must do is bring the beast down with your bare hands and you will be recognised as a hunter of Hornhiem," he tells me with a smirk.

Jormund Snakes? Why does that remind me of that world serpent god I got named Jormungandr... now I'm getting a sneaking feeling something isn't right here.

I shake my head and smile at him. "Very well, the sooner we set out the sooner I can talk to your leaders," I reply and crack my knuckles.

"Splendid! Then let us be off!" Stonehide says and starts walking off towards the forest in the distance.

I follow him and turn to look at Whisper with a nod towards Stonehide. "Come on, unless you want to stay here," I tell her and she blinks a few times before her eyes widen and she runs to catch up. Orion is by my side instantly.

"So, I must say, you seem interesting for a God. I would have suspected you to be more... arrogant," Stonehide says to me while the other eight young minotaurs follow behind him and Mr Shady.

"Arrogance doesn't earn trust or respect, it makes others just loathe you. So I prefer a more civilised approach to building relations," I reply as each step I take makes the ground tremor ever so slightly.

"Hmmm, I can respect that, though most minotaurs would rather talk things out with their horns," he tells me with a huff.

"I see, so why do you hunt these Jormund Snakes?" I ask him with a raised eyebrow.

"While their scales are too hard to use for anything other than collectables, their bones are strong and sturdy, my armour is made from them, and not once have they broke on me. Their fur is also soft and when woven together make wonderful blankets. Our wolves also like their meat, so we feed it to them," he replies and then snorts. "They are also powerful and make a prey worthy for our fledgling hunters to test themselves against," he then says.

I hum in thought as the rest of the trip was made in silence for me while the younger minotaur hunters are excitedly talking about who can bag the biggest snake.

Once again that feeling of something wrong going on is stabbing at my gut. I frown and before I knew it, we arrive at the forest.

"Right then, hunters! Today you take your first steps into bullhood! We also have a prize for the one who kills the biggest snake they can find!" Stonehide says and the others cheer. "Now go, you have until sundown to complete this hunt!" he tells them and they all charge into the forest with their wolves beside them. This leaves only Stonehide, his wolf, me, Whisper, Orion, and the shady minotaur and his grey wolf.

Stonehide smirks at them before looking at me. "Now let us find you your own prey," he tells me and heads off into the forest as well.

I frown more as the feeling of dread hangs over me and seems to be thick in the air. I follow behind him as Whisper, Orion, and Mr Shady follow behind me.

After a tense forty or so minutes, we find a four and a half metre long black snake eating what looks like a badger a good thirty feet away from us.

"Now then, show us your strength, Pantheon," Stonehide whispers to me.

I stare at the snake and I notice something, it doesn't move like a snake from Earth would behave. It is actively looking around its surroundings with what seems like an expression of worry on its face as it then looks to our right into the forest.

I crouch down as best as I can and I think the only reason it hasn't seen me yet is that my green skin and scales blends in with the bush I'm using for cover. A loud high pitched hiss echoes throughout the forest making our target raise its head higher with wide eyes.

Another snake, this one only three metres long slithers through the bushes and spots the other snake. It makes its way to it and starts hissing at the other. The expression of absolute fear on its face as the other looks at where the smaller one came from with a frown.

I now know why I'm getting that feeling of dread, these snakes are intelligent and sapient judging by how they're interacting with each other. And if I think I'm right, these two are just children.

One of the minotaur hunters charges out of the treeline with his spear pointed forward ready to pierce one of them.

I growl and make a choice that might come back to bite me in the ass. I dig my hands into the ground and the stone beneath forms into two large rectangle shields on rotatable hand grips. I pull them out with a roar, each adorned with gold and a large red ruby in the centre.

This gets the attention of the hunter and the snakes as I charge forward, the small snake yelps and in panic, curls up on itself trembling and whining. The other snake hisses angrily at me but flinches and wraps itself over the other snake.

They tighten themselves against each other as I slide to a stop in front of them and hold my shields up in time for the minotaur to slam into them. I grunt from the force and lean back to soften the blow, I then thrust forward, sending the hunter onto his ass a good ten feet away.

I hear the two snakes whimper from the noise and I look back to them to see them shaking in fear, no doubt waiting for death to claim them.

"Pantheon! What is the meaning of this!" Stonehide says angrily as he comes out, stomping his way over to me, his wolf beside him growling at me.

"Stopping a tragedy from happening. Did you know these Jormud Snakes are sapient!?" I reply just as angrily, stepping in between him and the snakes.

That makes him stop in his tracks just five feet away from me with a shocked expression.

Whisper looks terrified while Orion stands beside her, no longer looking timid but frowning at Stonehide. Mr Shady's eyes are wide and alert, but not an expression of shock like surprised, but shocked like I just revealed something he didn't want anyone else to know.

"They're what?" Stonehide asks slowly, his shock turning to a frown.

I point to the two snakes still quivering on the ground behind me. "Does that look like the reaction of a wild beast? They're terrified right now. I saw how they interacted with each other, and that wasn't how a mindless beast would behave. A beast's first reaction would have been to flee while ignoring the other for self preservation, but the smaller one seemed to beg the other for help who tried to stand up for it," I tell him and walk up to him, making him back up a couple of steps.

I lean into his face with a neutral expression. "Pull your hunters out of the forest and cease hunting these snakes," I tell him.

He scowls at me and pushes his forehead against mine, while his horns go past the sides of my head.

"We have been hunting these beasts for decades! You expect me to believe they have intelligence and never retaliated against us for hunting them after all this time!? Just because you say so," he says with gritted teeth, trying to push against me but is having little success in moving me.

"Perhaps they have a custom or belief that wouldn't allow them to retaliate! Until we learn more about them and find a method of communication, I won't allow you to hunt them any further!" I reply and push back, making him yelp as he falls onto his back.

I notice the other hunter is looking conflicted as he looks between us and the snakes, so I turn to look at him. "Don't even think of attacking them," I warn him and hold my shields up at the ready.

Four of the other hunters arrive from the treeline, two of them carrying a dead snake each. One is five metres long while the other is a little over six. I frown at them while they look confused.

"Hunters! It would appear our 'friend' has decided to disgrace our tradition and has turned on us!" Mr Shady tells them with cruel glare at me. "Ready your weapons and prepare for battle!" he then tells them and holds his spear up.

The hunters glare at me and drop their kills as their wolves growl and stalk towards me.

"I knew this would come back to bite me, but I won't allow these two to be harmed," I tell them and look back to see the two snakes looking at me through their coiled up bodies.

I look back at the hunters and frown. "You still want to hunt snakes? Let's see how you handle this one," I say and change god to Jormungandr, the world serpent.

A portal opens below me and I fall through into an endless void like space that feels like thick water as my body morphs into a VERY long and large reptilian purple snake. Bone spikes line the sides of my body with a straight line of fins going down the centre of my back, with more bone spikes to each side of the fins.

I have two horns on the back of my head pointing backwards. I have two large fins on the sides of my jaws with bone spikes lining my jaw down to my chin. My teeth are large and sharp with a large powerful forked tongue behind them.

My eyes glow purple while a blue energy glows in between the scales along my whole body.

With a roar, I swim through the void and out of the portal, my body rising out over the tree line as I bend my body and head back down. My head alone is now twice the size of Stonehide as I glare down at him and the hunters who now back away from me with fear in their eyes.

Whisper is staring at me jaw agape along with Orion.

"Still want this fight?" I ask them in a loud deep voice that causes the very air to rumble.

Mr Shady just stares at me wide eyed. "Monster... Retreat! Back to Hornhiem! We must warn the magai!" he then tells the hunters who turn tail and run. I notice two of them try to grab their kills but I inhale and gather saliva in my mouth before spitting it out ahead of them. It splashes down onto the ground in a puddle of dark purple toxic sludge that melts the flora that touches it. Fumes coming off of it as the sound of sizzling fills the air.

"Leave them behind or the next shot will be on you," I warn them coldly.

They wisely drop the bodies and run away after Mr Shady.

I look back down to Stonehide who hasn't moved an inch and is glaring at me.

"You still wish to fight? I have no intention of killing or even hurting you, but I will if you intend to harm these two," I tell him and lean down right in his face.

He glances to the two snakes who are now uncoiled and staring at me with wide unbelieving eyes.

While he seems to be debating with himself, I turn to look at Whisper. "If you wish to return to your village, I will understand. After this, I doubt I'll be welcome here again," I tell her, making Stonehide cringe at how close to my loud rumbling voice he is. "I have no regrets protecting children from being killed, even if it means severing any chance of friendly relations with the minotaurs."

"I-I-I..." she stutters in bewilderment, but Stonehide speaks up.

"You really believe these snakes to be intelligent?" he asks me dead serious.

"I do, just because they don't speak our languages, doesn't mean they don't have one of their own. This may be my first time seeing them, but even I noticed the expression of fear on their faces," I reply and lean away from him. "Fear is not an emotion a feral beast expresses, but these two expressed it plenty enough for me."

"W-Who is he?" I hear a quiet young female voice say behind me.

"I don't know... but get ready to slither away when I tell you to!" the voice of a young boy replies to her and I look back to see the two snakes huddled together staring at me.

"H-He's looking at us!" the smaller female says with worry.

I lean over to them making them flinch back. "Fear not little ones, I will not harm you, nor allow any harm to befall you," I tell them as quietly as I can making Stonehide and Whisper gasp.

"What was that!?" Stonehide says in surprise, making me turn back to him.

"H-He's speaking to them! Just like he did with the wolves!" Whisper replies in awe.

"Stonehide," I speak up getting his attention. "It appears they can talk with their own language, so will you leave them all alone from now on, or will I have to protect them myself," I ask him in a serious tone.

He frowns at me and looks to the two frightened snakes for a few seconds before looking back at me. "Very well, I will try to halt further hunts for now, but I alone may not halt them for long. You and I will have a long and lengthy talk about all this later," he replies and turns to leave.

I watch as he leaves the forest leaving Whisper, Orion, the two snakes, and myself.

I turn to the snakes and lean back down to them. "Alright then, you two are safe now. Do you both have names?" I ask them both gently.

The girl snake gulps and speaks up. "Severa" she tells me nervously.

The boy snake narrows his eyes at me and flicks his tongue out. "Hevaan" he tells me next with suspicion in his tone.

I'm barely able to smile with my facial structure. "I am Pantheon, God of the changelings. I came here to make friends with the minotaurs, but it seems I may be making friends with your people first now," I introduce myself and explain to them what I'm doing here.

"Min-na-taurs?" Hevaan asks unsure of the word.

"The creatures that were chasing you are called minotaurs," I reply making him frown.

"We call them kagogres, they've been preying on us for many many cycles now..." he tells me with a frown on his face.

"And what do you call yourselves?" I then ask him.

"We are the Unari..." he says while Severa has her head plunged into my portal.

"SEVERA!" Hevaan yells and wraps his head around her midsection before yanking her head out.

"He's HUGE!" she instantly tells him with excitement. It would appear now that she knows I won't harm her she's acting more like a curious child.

I chuckle but stop as Severa yelps and hides behind Hevaan as she's noticed Whisper and Orion looking at them.

"It's okay, she's with me and she's not like the others. She's friendly and won't harm you, her name is Whisper Wind, and the wolf next to her is Orion," I tell them.

Severa leans to the side to look at them while Hevaan is glaring at Whisper who is nervously standing there.

This is going to be a long day...

Chapter 28: New friends

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Chapter 28: New friends

I sigh internally as I'm not sure if I should send Whisper back to her village or not. "Do you have a village or community?" I ask both Hevaan and Sereva.

Hevaan looks between us before groaning. "I'm taking Severa back home. I'd be thankful if you brought Usara and She'an back with us," he replies and looks to the two corpses the hunters brought.

I smile sadly at him. "I can do that. Once I change form, I won't be able to understand you again. So I'll just follow you to your home," I reply and change god to Hercules.

They look at me in surprise as I walk over to the corpses. I lean down to pick up the first but my eyes widen as its not dead but breathing very lightly and raggedly with unfocused eyes. It looks like its neck is broken but I should be able to heal it.

I change god again to Aphrodite and quickly place my left hand on its neck and pour my energy into it. I can feel and sense the bones realigning while the crushed and torn muscles are mended.

After a tense couple of minutes, the snake gasps and starts coughing violently. I give a tiny bit more energy to soothe their throat as they just lay there breathing heavily. I move to check on the other snake but unfortunately, this one is dead. I really need to learn how the underworld gods work and see if there is a way of bringing back at least recently deceased people...

I change back to Hercules and pick up the still living snake and wrap it carefully around my shoulders like a scarf, then pick up the dead snake with my left hand.

Once ready, I look towards Whisper. "Now then choose, I send you home or you can come along. I'll protect you should they decide to attack you," I tell her making her frown in thought. Orion though instantly moves to sit beside me.

"I want to come. This is big, for decades we thought they were just wild beasts, but you just proved they're more than that. I want to see the real them," she replies with an expression of determination.

"Alright then. Stay close to me in case they decide to attack you," I tell her, making her quickly run over to me. She now looks nervous as she fiddles with her pack's strap.

I turn to the two young Unari and smile at them with a nod. Severa looks at me in awe while Hevaan looks shocked at the snake around my neck who seems to have fallen asleep if the hissing like snoring is any indicator.

Hevaan shakes his head and hisses lightly at me before turning and slithering away with Severa close behind him. I jog along after them where Whisper yelps before following. Orion easily keeps up beside me as he trots along.

I have to jump over some bushes and fallen trees now and then as the two young Unari easily navigate the forest. Although Whisper seems to be lagging behind, never having had to traverse a forest at this speed most likely.

After a good half an hour through the forest, we come across a waterfall flowing into a small lake which has a river running out from it. Flowers and other beautiful plants populate the edges of the lake as the rays of the sun shine off the water's surface.

Hevaan Stops to look back at me and hisses before he and Severa slither to and through the waterfall. I just grumble that I'm going to get wet before Whisper jogs past me and uses her water magic to split the waterfall, allowing us to pass through dry.

"Thank you," I tell her getting a strained smile in return.

I quickly pass through where Whisper and Orion follow me in. Whisper then gasps as she stops casting and the water flows naturally again.

"You okay?" I ask her.

"Y-Yeah... Constantly moving that much fast flowing water is a bit stressful on my magic..." she replies as she pants for breath.

I notice both of the young Unari waiting for us and staring at Whisper warily.

After a few minutes she recovers and starts walking over to me. I turn back to the two Unari and nod to them. They start heading into the dark cave and we follow behind where a faint light at the end of the tunnel can be seen. I almost trip a few times on some unseen rocks but once we get to the end of the tunnel, I have to blink to readjust to the bright sunlight.

I look around and notice the whole area is enclosed in a large crater like bowl, I think this is a very old meteorite crash site. Nature has long since reclaimed this place, but I still see rock spires and many small crevasses around. A small woodland area sits in the centre with a strange faint blue glow within it.

I spot more Unari to our left near what looks like burrows in the rocky walls where Hevaan and Severa head over to them quickly while three rather large ten metre long Unari surround us with mild frowns on their faces. The middle one has a scar across his left eye and the eye itself looks blind with a milky white cloudy look to it.

"Hi..." I say dumbly as I look up at him. I'm guessing either they're waiting for us to do something or they're not attacking due to the two Unari I'm currently carrying.

After a tense few minutes, Hevaan and Severa come back over with an old looking seven metre long Unari with grey scales and white fur going down its back. It hisses at me a few times but I have no idea what it said. So I carefully put down both the dead and still living Unari where two of the ten metre long Unari gently clasp their mouths over their necks and carefully pull them away.

I use this chance to change into Jormungandr, once again falling into the portal that opens below me, morphing into the giant world serpent. But this time, I come out slowly and calmly as to not startle them. Though that still doesn't stop most of them from flinching back at my shear size.

From my vantage point in the sky, I see the whole crater and that its thriving with the Unari all over it. Dens or homes litter the wall’s rim all the way around and I can see the glow in the centre more clearly now. It appears to be coming from the meteorite that must have crashed here ages ago.

Birds flee the area around us from my sudden appearance as I lean back down to the Unari staring at me.

"Told you he was HUGE!" Severa tells the others with a giggle.

"Greetings, I am Pantheon, God of the Changelings," I introduce myself to them.

The elderly Unari then slithers closer with wide eyes and leans up as close to my face as it could, staring into my eyes and replies in a female tone. "I do not know what a god is, but you have my gratitude for saving my hatch-lings offspring and She'an, as well as returning Usara's body to us. I am Avir'ra, and welcome to our home," she replies and bows her head to me. Though she looks towards Whisper and Orion with worry.

"I am glad I was able to help. And do not fear Whisper Wind and Orion, they are with me and will do no harm to any of you. I came here to build relations with the Minotaurs, or the Kagogres as you call them. That was before I learned of your people and decided to help Hevaan and Severa instead," I reply.

"So you are friends with those savages." The Unari with the scar doesn't ask, but states coldly.

"No, I went to make friends with them, but it would appear I am now considered a monster or enemy by most of them now for protecting Hevaan and Severa. Whisper Wind behind me is the only one I have managed to befriend and she too would like to befriend your people," I reply to him neutrally.

"Friends with a murderous savage!? I would rather have my scales removed and my fangs torn out!" he replies before shooting Whisper a cold glare, making the poor Minotaur flinch.

His glare turns to me as I lower myself more to block his view of her. "To harm her is to harm me, and I will protect her, remember that before you do something we will all regret," I warn him, making him hiss aggressively before slithering away.

I sigh and turn back to Avir'ra who speaks up. "I apologise for his attitude, but the Kagogres are the ones who killed his sisters when he was younger... and he blames himself for not being able to protect them, its where he got his scar from," she informs me with a sigh of her own.

"I see. That would make anyone hateful towards the ones responsible," I say and frown. "Let me see if I can take a more convenient form, as I don't think I'll be able to move around in this form without destroying something," I tell her and think of another serpentine god.

I think of Kukulkan, Serpent of the nine winds.

My body shrinks down to about eight metres long and two pairs of orange-ish red feathered wings sprout from my body, the top pair being two metres long while the pair under them being just over one metre.

My scales turn dark green while my under scales are a paler green. In between my "chest" scales orange-ish red energy glows and pulses with each breath I take. My eyes glow with the same colour and energy while a Mayan themed golden headdress sits upon my head with orange-ish red feathers coming out the back of it.

I immediately start flapping my wings to prevent myself face-planting the ground and the Unari around me look in awe at my new form.

"There, this should be better for getting around, I hope you can still understand me," I say and ask Avir'ra.

"We can... never before in my many cycles of the seasons have I met a being as interesting as you," she replies and looks me all over.

"I don't suppose you know who Discord is then would you?" I ask with a chuckle.

"If it is a name of a being from the other races, then no. It is not like we could have learnt their tongues being confined here," she replies sadly.

"I see... but now that I am here, perhaps one day I can teach you the common language of the other races," I tell her as I gently land on the ground and fold my wings to my sides. "Now then, since my plan for befriending the Minotaurs has been sidetracked, I suppose I should start with yours. Would you mind giving us a tour of your home?" I ask her kindly.

"I would be honoured, it is the least I can do for what you have done for me," she replies and starts slithering away.

"Whisper, Avir'ra will now give us a tour of her home and the area. Stay close to me," I tell my companion who meekly walks over to me and gulps as some of the Unari are still staring at her. Orion is instantly beside me as we follow Avir'ra.

There's not much around as Avir'ra guides us. I guess having no means to manipulate objects would be a handicap to advance or progress.

The burrows in the crater's walls are just dug out holes with enough room for four ten metre long Unari to fit comfortably. There are also nests or beds made from large leaves and moss inside each burrow.

"What is the blue glow coming from the woodland area?" I ask Avir'ra.

She turns to me with an expression of thought. "It is a sacred stone that we believe keeps the Kagogres from finding our home," she tells me.

Perhaps it is radiating some kind of magic? "I see. How long have your people been here?" I ask then her.

"For many seasons. I am of the seventh generation since we've been here," she replies as Severa slithers over and coils around Avir'ra's body until she reaches her head and rests her chin on top.

"I'm of the ninth generation!" Severa tells me with a giggle.

I can only smile at her carefree attitude despite nearly dying today. "And how many seasons do you live for?" I ask Avir'ra.

"Hmmm, about two-hundred at most. I am one-hundred and seventy-three seasons old myself," she replies.

"That's a long time. Have you ever thought of venturing out beyond the forests around this crater?" I ask her.

She sighs and shakes her head. "Many have tried to see the world beyond, but they all fell to the Kagogres. If any made it past them, they have never returned to tell the tale," she replies with a sad tone.

"I have the ability to make portals to other locations I have been to before. If any of you want to see other locations, I'd be happy to help you see them," I tell her making her frown.

"We have lived here for a long time now, I'm not sure if we'll ever leave this place," she replies while looking at a few young Unari playing together.

I smile as one of the young Unari tackles another while laughing. "It's something to think about at least," I say and turn to her.

"For now we are content with our lives, but thank you for the offer," she tells me and coughs lightly with a pained expression.

"Are you okay?" I ask her with worry.

"I fear I may not have much longer to live, I have contracted an illness two seasons ago that will someday take my life," she replies making Severa look sad.

I frown at her and then smirk, while Aphrodite can heal physical wounds very well, she's not great with illnesses and diseases. Though I have another healer goddess named Hel who is great at cleansing illnesses and negative magical effects.

She also affects my personality depending on which stance I'm in. In light stance, I'm kind and bubbly and don't feel like hurting anyone. But in dark stance, I'm aggressive, easy to anger, and rather vulgar.

"I may be able to help you with that," I reply and smile at her. "I will change form and will be unable to understand you, but I believe I may be able to remove your illness," I tell her.

Her eyes widen and she stares at me. "You can?" she asks in surprise.

I nod and change god to Hel, Goddess of the Underworld. I change form to a woman with pale skin and long golden hair, My eyes glow with a golden energy my clothes are a pure white shoulderless robe with thick white fur lining revealing a lot of cleavage and exposing my hips. I have thigh long light grey stockings with golden rings around my ankles and shins.

On my head is a large white hood also with a white fur lining with gold trimming behind it.

Around my waist is a golden belt with a golden wolf head in the middle and a bigger wolf head on each hip. Around my neck is a golden necklace with a ruby or garnet in inlaid.

Lastly, I have two bicep long fur lined gloves with golden bracers over the top.

I hold both my hands out and use Hel's Cleanse ability, a golden spell circle with Norse runes forms and starts spinning under Avir'ra.

All the Unari around us and Whisper stare as the circle glows brighter before flashing and fading. Avir'ra's body glows with a golden light and she sighs as her body relaxes. I then cast Restoration, throwing a golden orb from my right hand at her which moulds around her body, healing her a little bit in case the illness did any internal damage before jumping back to me which I absorb.

Once over, I change back to Kukulkan and slither up to Avir'ra. "So how do you feel?" I ask her.

She takes a deep breath and sighs. "I... I feel better than I have in many seasons..." she replies contently. Her eyes are closed and a smile on her face as her tongue flickers out for a second.

"Good to hear. Now then, I need to head back to the Minotaurs city to see if I can get them to stop attacking you. Stonehide has agreed to halt any further hunts for now but we don't know how long that will last. You can use this time to gather anything you need from the forest outside, and I recommend you keep to groups of at least five at all times. The Minotaurs seem to pick you off if you're alone so staying in a group will hopefully deter them," I tell her and look to Whisper who nervously looks at Heevan who is next to her and is looking back at her with narrowed eyes.

"You would convince them to cease hunting us?" she asks in surprise.

I look back to her and smile. "Of course, you are a young and still growing race, and I want to help you grow even further," I reply and turn back to Whisper who is now leaning away from Heevan who has his head next to hers with still narrowed eyes.

"Thank you, I shall pray to the winds that you are successful," Avir'ra says and bows her head to me.

"I shall return when I have any good news. I can make portals that allow me to travel to wherever I have been to before, so I will use that now to leave so you can see what they look like and not to worry when you see one open again. I shall open it near the entrance of the waterfall when I return okay?" I tell her.

"Very well, we look forward to your success," she replies and looks back up at me.

I nod and change to Janus, then hover over to Whisper. "Are you ready to go, Whisper?" I ask her getting her to nod quickly while Heevan just hisses lightly and backs away from her.

I chuckle and open a portal to the crude road heading into Hornhiem. I gesture for her to go first and she quickly goes through with Orion close behind her. I turn to Avir'ra and politely bow to her getting a deep nod back.

With a smile I head through and close the portal.

"S-So how did it go?" Whisper finally speaks up.

"Better than I could have hoped. Now we just need to convince Hornhiem to stop hunting them. Something I think will take a miracle to do," I reply and sigh.

"Well... if we tell the magai what we discovered, I'm sure they'll listen and... stop?" she says with uncertainty.

"Perhaps, but we won't find out unless we talk with them first," I tell her and look towards the city. Already Minotaurs are gathering at the gate with weapons in hand. "But first we need to talk with them..." I say in annoyance. I notice Stonehide at the front and he seems to be waiting for me.

"If things go south and they attack us both, I'll make a portal back to my city so we can escape without fighting, okay? After that you can decide to stay with us for a while or I send you back to your village," I tell her seriously.

"O-Okay... though if I had to choose and stay with you, I ask you to bring my family as well. If I'm declared a betrayer, they'll punish my family as betrayers as well," she replies. She's scared and shaking slightly.

"Very well, stay behind me and don't say anything about the Unari," I tell her and start hovering over to the gate.

She keeps up behind me and Orion stays beside her. We keep a good twenty feet from the gate and Stonehide frowns a bit before walking over to us.

"So you've returned," he says to me and stops right in front of me so we're face to face. The other Minotaurs look on edge and ready to fight.

"Yes, and after spending some time with the Unari, I am perfectly certain they are an intelligent, sapient race just like us," I reply.

"Unari?" he asks confused.

"It's what they call themselves, and they call you Minotaurs Kagogres," I reply.

He hums in thought and looks down for a couple of seconds. "I see... And how do you propose to stop a tradition we've held for centuries?" he asks me.

"I hope to speak with your magai and convince them to leave the Unari alone," I reply.

"And if they refuse?" he asks with a raised brow.

"I won't fight you if that's what you're wondering. But I will relocate all of the Unari so you can't hunt them any more," I tell him sternly. "What I want from this is everyone getting along, though the Unari will take many years to forgive you for killing their friends and families. One of them hates Minotaurs so much because they killed his sisters," I tell him.

"Then unfortunately for you, Horn Point informed the magai before I returned and has convinced them you are some evil god and the snakes are now your servants," he tells me with a huff.

I look at him surprised. "And they just believed him?" I ask.

"When he's the son of the grand magai, he'll listen to his own blood over just the chieftain's son," he replies with a frown.

Great... This is going to be tough. "Can you at least get them to hear me out?" I ask him with a frown.

"I can certainly try. But it might just be best to take the... Unari right?" he asks and I nod. "Take them somewhere else. This is a very old tradition and I doubt they'd just stop it just because we've learnt the snakes are smarter than we thought," he tells me with a groan at then end.

"If it comes down to it, I will. I also have to ask, will Whisper be seen as a betrayer just because she followed me? All she's done so far was guide me here," I ask him with worry.

He looks at Whisper who whimpers quietly. "Most likely. If you have to leave take her with you, otherwise she'll have her horns removed and exiled to the wastes," he tells me and looks behind him towards the gate.

I now notice Mr Shady there glaring at us.

"I will stay in this form so if we need to flee, I can just portal out with Whisper and Orion. Now let's go see if we can convince them," I say and gesture towards the gate with my right hand.

He snorts and rolls his shoulders. "That's if the hunters don't attack you first," he replies and walks off to the gate.

I turn to whisper and nod towards the city. "Come on and stay close," I tell her.

I keep Khepria in my thoughts just in case I need to portal out fast as we move to the gate.

Chapter 29: Meeting the Magai

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Godly
Chapter 29: Meeting the Magai

Whisper, Orion, and I follow Stonehide to the gate where the other minotaurs tense up.

"Move aside! Our... visitor is here to meet with the magai," Stonehide tells the Minotaurs blocking the gate.

"We can't do that, Stonehide. The magai have ordered us to not allow this monster into the city," a light grey furred minotaur bull with light brown hair says. He's wearing armour similar to Stonehide, only with smaller skull pauldrons.

Mr Shady is to the side glaring at me with restrained malice but I ignore him for now.

"Perhaps, Hammerhorn. But he has returned from the Unari's home with some enlightening information," Stonehide replies.

I glance at Mr Shady again and a chill goes up my spine. His expression has changed from anger to something that says I'll be seeing you soon with a creepy grin as he sneakily steps back and through the gate without anyone noticing.

"Oh and what would that be?" Hammerhorn asks Stonehide.

"That they're not wild beasts and just as intelligent as we are," Stonehide replies.

Hammerhorn looks surprised at that and glances at me before looking back to Stonehide. "Hmmmm, and you believe him?"

"He did make some convincing points when he protected two of the young snakes. So I believe he is telling the truth," Stonehide replies without any doubt in his voice.

I then walk forward next to Stonehind and speak up. "I've had a nice conversation with one of their elders, a very kind old Unari. To them, you are the monsters. They fear for their lives every time they have to go out hunting for food worrying about when you would attack them unprovoked," I tell the gathered Minotaurs.

"Then why haven't they tried to communicate?" Hammerhorn asks me with a frown.

"I think either their vocal cords just can't produce the sounds needed to speak our languages, or that they fear you too much to try themselves," I reply. "Also, please don't go back in there to hunt them again. I have told them to stay in groups if they need to find food, and they have some pretty big fellas among them. So please for yours and their safety, stay away from them," I ask not just him but all the minotaurs gathered.

Some of them argue that I'm lying so I can hunt them all for myself, while others start asking what they're actually like.

For a good ten or so minutes they talk and argue with Stonehide and myself until the large gate slowly opens and four elderly minotaurs start making their way to us.

"Whisper, stay close just in case we need to get away," I quietly tell my companion who huddles up behind me with her hands on my shoulders. Orion sees her move and he moves closer next to me, and I can feel Whisper's hands slightly shaking.

The four elders stop a good ten feet from us while being surrounded by armed Minotaurs.

"So you are the monster who interrupted the hunt?" the second to the left elder asks me with a frown.

Just as Whisper described him to me, He has deep brown fur with grey hair and beard. His right eye is a deep green while the other is a milky white and blinded. His horns are light grey and polished to a shine with small bone charms or decorations hanging from them by plant fibre bindings. He's wearing a long robe made of Manticore and Unari hides with small gourd bottles hanging from his waist by a plant fibre belt. Lastly, in his right hand is an old but well cared for walking cane.

There's one more male with grey fur, brown eyes, and white horns, and the other two elders are females, one with pale golden fur, green eyes, and pale creamy horns, while the other has dark brown fur, blue eyes, and black horns. all there of them are wearing similar robes to Jurai but with less decorations and charms.

I frown slightly back at him. "I am no monster. I am Pantheon, God of the Changelings. I came here in hope that the minotaurs and changelings can be friends and open trade together, as well as to warn you of Celestia. But while on that hunt, I discovered the Unari you hunt are intelligent. They are a young race, and I have decided to help them," I tell him, making him narrow his eyes at me.

But I continue before he could reply. "And this means that if you refuse to cease hunting them, I will relocate them, and if I can't find a new location, then they'll be welcome in our City until I do find a place for them."

The old bull snorts. "And you expect us to believe they are intelligent? Just because some strange unknown being claiming to be a god comes and says so? That same being who attacked our hunters during their first hunt?" he asks with a frown. I notice Mr. Shady behind him smirking slightly.

Looking back to Jurai, I raise an eyebrow at him. "Attacked? I blocked the spear of a hunter from killing two young Unari, then spat some venom to chase off your hunters. Not once did I harm any of them. Stonehide can confirm this," I reply with my own frown.

Stonehide steps up beside me. "It is true Grand Magai, not once did he lash out at our hunters. All he did was protect the snakes from harm," he tells him firmly.

Jurai glances at Stonehide with a frown. A few seconds pass before the old bull replies. "Oh?" he mumbles and looks back at Mr. Shady. "Didn't you tell me that he got aggressive first?" he asks unamused.

"Father! You would believe them over your own blood!? There has been no evidence of the snakes expressing any form of intelligence in the past, and this monstrous being shows up and just claims they have intelligence? It then got aggressive and interfered in our sacred tradition!" Mr. Shady replies to his father in indignation.

I smirk and look back to Jurai. "If it means anything to you, I can ask one of them to come here to talk while I can translate for you both," I reply, but I keep my guard up, ready to portal away on a moment's notice.

Jurai closes his eyes and strokes his beard in thought. "You can't be considering that father!? He could bring a swarm of them here to attack us!" Mr. Shady warns his father with a glare.

"Hold your tongue, calf. We will have a long talk after all this is sorted," Jurai demands without looking at him. Mr. Shady frowns but backs down. "How are you able to talk to them? For decades we've hunted them and they've never attempted to communicate, and you've just come here and spoke to them straight away?" he asks me with a raised brow.

"I have the ability to understand others if I'm in the form of a similar species. For instance, as the god Fenrir, I can talk to wolves. I have a few serpentine gods I can turn into and so I can communicate with the Unari," I reply.

He hums in thought while glancing towards Whisper. "And why is young Whisper Wind with you?" he asks me, making Whisper whimper quietly behind me.

"I needed a guide to Hornhiem, and she offered to guide me here," I simply reply. "And if you plan to harm her for that, I will take her and her family to my City to protect them."

Jurai just stares at me for a good twenty or so seconds before huffing. "Very well, I will entertain this notion that these Unari have some intelligence and will speak to one of them. Pull any tricks or treachery, and you will be dealt with. You aren't the first so-called god we've had to battle with," he tells me and turns towards the gate as the other elders follow him.

"I think that went well!" I say in a cheerful tone and look to Stonehide. "Do I follow them or wait here?" I ask him in confusion as Jurai said nothing.

"We follow, and I'm trusting you not to start anything whilst inside. I may not be a threat to you, but the magai are quite powerful," he replies and walks off. I spot Mr. Shady scowling at me before he hurries off somewhere beyond the gate.

I'm getting that bad feeling again...

I follow Stonehide while Orion and Whisper follow me. We pass by the first buildings that are simple pelt covered tents, where the occupants all stare at me or pull their young inside as I follow Stonehide and the elders.

I hear mumbling all around us as we make our way through to a large twelve foot tall and about thirty foot diameter pelt tent with two small mud brick buildings attached to the sides. The elders lead us in while Minotaurs huddle around the entrance.

The centre reminds me of the High Shamans hut in Wanori, a fire pit in the middle surrounded by pelt or linen pillows. I thought I saw Flax in the fields so that explains it and some of the clothing of the other minotaurs. Around the pillows are many logs set up for seating for I guess people to come and listen or talk to the magai.

The elders all take a seat on the cushions while Whisper and I stand by the log benches.

Jurai snorts and gestures to the cushion across from him. "Come sit, we would have you tell us of what you know of these Unari," he tells me. "But first, introductions. I am Grand-Magai Jurai," he introduces himself.

I look back to whisper with a smile. "Take a seat on one of the logs, this shouldn't take too long," I gently tell her as she's still shaking slightly.

She nods and sits down with Orion next to her while I hover over to the cushion and decide to show off by crossing my legs and float about three inches above the cushion, getting the female elders to slightly raise their brows in surprise.

The other male elder speaks up, getting my attention. "I am Magai Stonehoof," he tells me in a deep gruff voice.

Next is the female with the pale golden fur. "I am Magai Tide Song," she says in a calm and gentle voice.

Finally, the other female narrows her eyes and is not exactly glaring, but obviously not trusting me. "I am Magai Flameheart," she introduces herself a bit sternly and looks back to Jurai as he speaks again.

"There are three other Magai, but they are out helping the clans right now," Jurai tells me.

I smile as I nod politely to them. "It is nice to meet you all, I am Pantheon, God of the Changelings," I reply.

"So, about the snakes," Flameheart says with a raised brow. I get the impression she's impatient.

"Well... I can tell you they are friendly and have a close community. They're not as advanced as us as they have no means to build or craft things, the lack of hands or magic is quite a handicap," I tell them, getting a hum from Jurai.

"Other than that they just look out for each other and live their lives. Though they're afraid to go out hunting for food in fear of running into your hunters, but have no choice as they need to eat," I finish and place my hands on my thighs.

They mumble to each other in discussion before looking back at me.

"You said you could bring one of them here and translate for us, correct?" Jurai asks me, making Flameheart narrow her eyes at me again.

"Yes, I can go and ask one of them to come and then change form to translate for you. But be warned, if I bring one of them here and you harm them in any way, I will do everything within my power to protect them and make sure you regret your actions," I tell them, now getting a harsh glare from Flameheart.

"Are you threatening us?" she asks in a low tone.

"No, it's a promise. I'd like to resolve this in a civilised manner without further bloodshed on either side. Not to mention the threat of Celestia right now, which is also why I came here. She has been possessed by a nightmare, and it is using her to build an army out of her ponies to then possibly invade the other races," I reply and warn them about the mad alicorn.

Jurai hums in thought and nods his head. "I too would like to settle this peacefully and while I'm willing to accept that the Unari may be intelligent, but the sun alicorn possessed? That is far harder to accept," Jurai says, getting affirmatives from the other three.

"I figured you would say that. We currently have Princess Luna recovering from her attack from Celestia in our City. I can open a portal and let her tell you her side of the story herself if you want proof," I say as I look between them.

They talk to each other again for a few minutes and look back at me. "Then we ask you to invite the night alicorn here and hear her story," Jurai asks me and I nod in reply.

I float up and turn around to the open area behind me, with a wave of my hands, a portal opens up in the hospital once again spooking both Luna and Cadence. I also spot Chrysalis to the side also recovering from being startled.

"By the stars cease doing that!" Luna demands with a hoof to her chest. Cadence then picks up the moonstone she dropped from being startled.

"Sorry, but I need you to once again explain about your sister's current condition," I ask her and gesture to her to come through.

She sighs and steps through, Cadence puts the moonstone down and steps through next followed by Chrysalis.

I notice Flameheart and Stonehoof narrow their eyes at Chrysalis as the three mares each take a seat at a cushion, though Chrysalis gave me a nuzzle as she passed by. But Tide Song and Jurai are looking at Luna's shattered horn in disbelief.

So for the next half an hour or so, Luna explains what happened to her and Celestia. Then I explain what's going on with the Minotaurs and the Unari.

"So you have discovered a new race?" Chrysalis asks me with intrigue.

"Yes, and I would like to see them and the Minotaurs coexist, but that will take time as most of the Unari resent the minotaurs for killing their people unprovoked," I reply, hovering over a cushion cross-legged again.

Jurai sighs and looks up to the ceiling of the tent. "That may not be possible... We have hunted them for over four-hundred years... they've become a stable part of our culture and their furs and bones comprise most of our blankets and tools... To suddenly stop would deny us of our main resource," he says, making me frown in thought.

I look between the elders and then get an idea. "Do you know anything about metal?" I ask them getting confused expressions in return.

"Meh-tal?" Stonehoof says, his first time saying the word.

"It is what my body is currently made out of," I tell him and open a small portal in front of me to the forges, the sound of hammering metal and pumping bellows followed by the heat of the forges flows through. "Seth!" I call out, getting his attention. He's currently working on another set of armour, while Crystal Blade is behind him examining a steel sword with a bunch of gems on a table next to him. "Would you please get me a bar of iron?" I ask him getting a nod in reply before he walks off to the ingot storage room. After a minute or two, he returns with a solid bar of iron.

"Here you go, Sir," he says and floats it through the portal.

I grab it out of the air and smile. "Thank you, you can go back to your work now," I say, getting a nod from him before I close the portal.

I float over to Stonehoof and hold the bar out to him. He hesitantly takes it and runs his other hand over it.

"What is it?" he asks as he passes it to Jurai.

"It's a metal found underground where we then use high temperatures and forging techniques to mould into a strong and durable form, ranging from construction parts, tools, weapons, or armour," I reply as Jurai stares at the bar in his hands.

"Iron..." he mumbles as he holds it up. The bar shines in the sunlight coming from a window like hole in the tent's side.

"I'd be willing to teach you how to mine, forge, and shape metal in return for leaving the Unari alone," I offer the Magai.

Jurai's eyes narrow as he stares at the faint reflection of his face on the bar.

After a few seconds of silence Jurai speaks up. "Call one of these Unari here so we may discuss peace amongst us," he says. Making the other Magai look at him.

"Alright. While I go ask one of them to come, I ask you discuss with Luna and the others on how you can help us restrain Celestia's mind-controlled forces while I, the Changeling Queens, Luna, Cadence, and Amore figure out a way to turn Celestia back to her old self," I ask the Magai as I stand up.

Before anything is said, a loud crash comes from the left brick building attached to the tent. A scream shouts out as the crude wooden door held together by plant fibre bindings splinters as an Unari bursts through it. It's about six metres long and has scars all over its body. Its eyes unnerve me as they have a blank feral look to them.

It looks around and hisses at us before lunging very quickly at Flameheart who brings up her arms in defence. I act quickly and open a portal in front of her and the Unari soars right in. Another portal opens in front and above me where the Unari falls through and slams face first into the ground.

While it's disorientated, I change god to Chronos, Keeper of time.

My skin turns blue and long silvery-white hair grows from my head. A golden eye-patch covers my left eye while golden gears and cogs replace the chains within my torso. Bronze coloured armour and gold trim covers my chest and the middle of my stomach while my waist shows the ticking and spinning gears inside me.

My legs and forearms are completely covered in bronze coloured armour and gold trim with gears and cogs at the joints and in front of my thighs.

A kilt of dark brownish-red cloth with blue trim hangs from my golden belt as well as my shoulders, upper back, and biceps held on by the collar of my chestplate.

On my back are two wing-like limbs where the "feathers" are three clock hands that twitch every second perfectly. Little bolts of static electricity sparking from one hand to another.

Lastly, in my left hand is a staff taller than I am with a hand-guard on the grip and a crescent moon shape on the top with a saw-tooth like gear with clock hands on it along with a stopwatch floats perfectly in the middle of the crescent moon.

I quickly flick my staff forward and use my Stop Time ability. A large orb with multiple rings orbiting a clock in the middle where the hands spin quickly launches forward. As the orb hits the Unari, the hands slow down till they stop completely, along with the Unari.

We all stare at the Unari before they all look towards me. "Don't look at me, I didn't bring them here..." I say in a deeper voice. "Chrysi? Can you hold them down while I try something? I think something is wrong with this Unari. I didn't see one this badly scarred at their home and this one didn't act like the others," I ask her, still holding the Unari in a time frozen state.

Unlike the game, I can hold a person or object frozen in time for as long as I want but it consumes mana constantly to hold them. The more targets I hold, the greater the mana drain.

Chrysalis' horn glows and her magic covers the Unari. She gives me a nod and I let go of my hold, which the Unari instantly begins thrashing to break free. Cadence then joins in with her magic, helping to restrain it.

With it held down I change god again and swap to Nox, Goddess of Night.

My skin changes to a pale and flawless creamy colour and my hair is a short neck long white with a purple oily sheen to it, though there are two long thick strands of hair that flow down to the ground and wave gently in an unseen breeze. I'm now wearing a black dress with gold trim and golden eyes along it and pale purple lace. The lower half looks like it's made of feathers with glowing white jewels like stars in the night sky.

Small deep purple pauldrons rest on my shoulders each with a figure of a raven with spread wings sitting on them. A black necklace with five pale blue teardrop shaped stones hanging from it while black gloves adorn my hands that get more transparent up to just below my elbow.

On my head rests a dark purple headdress that covers my eyes and the bridge of my nose with black lace on the bottom of it. On the back are long dark purple like feathers that fan out.

Lastly, in my left hand is a large purple candlestick holder holding a large candle with three smaller candles orbiting the big one.

With the snake restrained, I lean down and sit beside its head as Luna stares at me with wide eyes. Its eyes fix on me as it hisses. I gently place my right hand on its head and its eyes widen as the candles on my candlestick holder light with a mild light purple flame.

"What are you doing?" Tide Song asks as everyone watches.

"I'm going to put them to sleep and use my power to view their memories as a dream to see how they got here and in this condition," I reply and my hand is engulfed in black and dark purple energy. I turn to Chrysalis and Cadence with a frown. "This will leave me vulnerable while I do this, so I need you to watch over me while I watch their dream," I tell them, getting a nod from Cadence and a worried one from Chrysalis.

The eyes of the Unari grow heavy until it goes limp. I close my eyes and with a pulse of mana, I dive into its dream.

Chapter 30: Didn't see that coming

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Godly
Chapter 30: Didn't see that coming.

My vision returns to see a dark void, the only light emanating from my candles. A low hiss to my right makes me hold my candles out to see the light reflecting off the Unari's eyes.

It rears back for a few seconds before lunging towards me where I use my Shadow Step ability to turn into a cloud of shadow and dash away to the left. Once I'm at a safe distance I reform and then use my Shadow Lock ability, sending out a raven made of shadow from my right hand that's attached to my shadow by a tendril.

The raven explodes on contact and wraps around and constricts the Unari forcing it to the ground and pinned. Unlike the game I can hold them down at the cost of a continuous mana drain.

It struggles and I then use my mana to make the area take on its memory, but nothing happens. I get an idea since it wouldn't be possible anyway as memories would only show what the individual would naturally see, you can't recall something you don't have line of sight on to remember.

I think of an ethereal widescreen TV and it appears with two speakers next to it. I then conjure a sofa behind me and take a seat while cursing this dress' design. I sigh as I just imagine myself in a more comfortable and casual set of clothes. Now wearing a pair of skin tight dark blue jeans and a dark purple sweater I smile in comfort as I look to the screen

Another Idea pops into my head and I conjure a remote and open the TV menu to what looks like a list of channels but are actually memories with dates of when they were formed.

With a glare I select the latest one and the screen comes alive with a first person view from the Unari's perspective of a dirt cave, or more accurately a crudely dug out cellar with wooden support beams set up around the area. I see large thick bone cage bars in front of the Unari.

From what I can see there are also crude tools made from sharpened bones and stone with dried blood on them on a table to the left with some of the Unari's scales next to them. To the right is another cage with a smaller three metre long Unari in better condition but still has a few scars over its hide.

A light appears from a door opening straight ahead and a minotaur steps down a set of mud brick stairs, but I can't make out any defining details as the light is blinding the Unari slightly and the light is over shadowing the minotaur.

"So, my father is going to side with you beasts is he?" the minotaur says and I recognise that voice.

So Mr. Shady is either responsible or at least a part of something bigger. My thoughts are broken as another minotaur comes down the stairs and this one seems female, but again the light is preventing me from seeing any features.

"What do you plan to do?" she asks him in a worried tone.

"To prove that these beasts are the mindless savage threat we always knew they were," he replies and grabs the front of the cage and leans down to the Unari. "Perform the spell, and we'll then release it in the Magai's hut. I don't have to worry about my Father, he can handle himself just fine, but this will hopefully convince him to see things our way," he says and kicks the cage in anger before turning back to the female minotaur. "I won't let what happened to our sisters repeat itself ever again," he finishes as the female steps up to the Unari.

"I hope you know what you're doing..." she says as the Unari starts to thrash in its cage once they spot the gourd of water in her left hand.

She floats some of the water out and covers the Unari's head in it, making it thrash hard and cry out in pain, but after a few seconds the screen tints to a greener colour and the Unari calms down, but its vision is sharper and it seems to be docile.

"There... it's ready," she says and steps back as Shady's horns glow with a brown aura. I see stone form around the Unari's peripheral and around its neck, before being dragged out of the cage and to a wall which splits open revealing a tunnel.

I watch as the Unari is dragged without resistance, making me wonder what the hell that female did to it with the water. Shady then looks through a small hole at the end of the tunnel and is satisfied as he opens the wall with his magic.

The Unari is dragged to the middle of another cellar with stacks of fur and pelts stored before the Unari's vision is covered with water again, this time, the screen tints red and the Unari hisses and thrashes as it just spots the wall sealing again before looking up the stairs and bolting up, leading it to where it attacked us.

The screen fades to black and I look at the still struggling Unari, I huff as I can't change god to Kukulkan to talk to it in here.

I look back to the screen and then down to the remote. 'So, Shady and this female minotaur lost their sisters to the Unari? I wonder to myself. It does explain Shady's negative reaction to the idea of cohabitation with the Unari...

I look through the "channels" and see one dated three days ago and its coloured red. I frown and select it and my eyes bug out as what I'm looking at is nothing else but torture.

The Unari is held down by something and I hear sickening rips and squelches as I see Shady off to the side barely in view. The Unari is crying out in pain as the smaller Unari in the other cage is cowering back in with terror filled eyes.

Mr. Shady steps into view holding a crude flint dagger and a handful of scales, dripping in blood.

"Close the wound, we don't want it dying just yet," he tells that female minotaur who sighs and floats some water over the Unari who is whimpering and hissing in discomfort. "I know these things are monsters, but even this feels like we're no better than them..." she tells him.

He looks back at her with a scowl making her flinch. "These beasts are the reason our sisters are dead! I will not stop until they're all wiped out!" he says in a calm but angry tone. "There's no turning back, we're in this till the end," he says before cleaning his tools and looks at the smaller Unari.

The bigger one sees this and hisses threateningly at Shady who glares back at them. "They'll all get what's coming to them in the end," he says before leaving.

The screen fades to black again. I frown in disgust as I look back to the Unari and take in all the scars and missing patches of fur on its body.

I look back the to screen and over an hour I watch different torture sessions and ramblings from Shady and the female minotaur now named Hallia.

I even saw how they were caught, Shady used his wolf as a distraction and when the Unari was looking away, he used his earth magic to restrain and then knock it out. The smaller Unari was already in the cage by the time it woke up.

I shake my head and use my power to exit the Unari's head.

Opening my eyes, I'm greeted with everyone looking at me. "Well... that was an experience..." I say and notice I'm back in my fancy dress. Doesn't seem like an hour has passed outside of the dream.

"What did you see?" Chrissi asks me with a frown.

I look to Jurai with a frown of my own. "It seems your son is the one who brought this Unari here, as well as a female minotaur named Hallia. They wanted to show you all that the Unari are just savage mindless beasts. He tortured this one and used some strange water to make the Unari's aggressive. He still has a younger Unari in a cage," I tell him, making him glare at me.

"This better not be some joke or scheme, Pantheon," he warns me in a threatening tone while gripping his cane tightly, getting the other Magai to tense up.

"It's no joke, he has made a large tunnel network under this city with his earth magic to bring them in here. Now, I'm going to find the other Unari and you're welcome to join me, but I suggest you send someone to find your son before he does something drastic," I say and stand up before heading over to the splintered door.

I hear multiple hooves following behind me as I change god to Fenrir. A few of them gasp while Orion instantly comes to my side.

"What is happening, Alpha?" he asks me with a quiet whine.

"A couple of the Minotaurs are trying to cause trouble and sent the Unari at us, we're going to rescue the other one they have captive before they can do anything else," I reply. "Keep close to Whisper and protect her if she's attacked," I order him. He barks before walking over to Whisper and stands beside her.

"What was that?" Tide Song asks confused.

I wave my left claw dismissively. "Just telling Orion to protect Whisper if needed," I reply and head through the door.

Looks like a sleeping area with thick hide sleeping beds along with a few linen sacks. To my left is the dug out opening leading down into the cellar which I make my way to. I sniff the air picking up a scent that doesn't belong to anyone here, could be Shady or Hallia.

I walk over to the wall I saw them come through and look back to the Magai. "The tunnel is behind this wall, I take it Stonehoof can use earth magic if his name means anything?" I ask as I pat the wall.

"Indeed I do," he replies and holds his hands out as his horns glow. He then spreads them apart and the wall splits in two, revealing the tunnel.

I peer inside and the glow of my eyes and mouth lights up the tunnel for a few feet. "Chryssi, would you kindly light up the way?" I ask her with a smile, but as I am now I doubt it's anything but terrifying.

"Of course," she replies and a ball of light forms on the tip of her horn before flying off down the tunnel, leaving a light trail in its path.

With the tunnel now lit up, we head down as I recall the path, but it's just as easy to follow the trail the Unari's body left as they dragged it through. It doesn't take more than eight minutes to reach the end and I hold my left claw out to stop the group as I hear faint mumbling on the other side, so I turn to look at them and hold a single claw to my lips.

I then turn back to the wall and place my ear against it.

It's faint, but I can make out what's being said. "-pid idea! What if they find out it was us!?" I hear Hallia yell angrily.

"They won't! I made sure to cover our tracks! Now we just have to finish removing all evidence of being here and fill the tunnels! Now help me with this beast so we can set it loose within Hornheim!" Mr. Shady replies just as angrily.

My eyes widen as I realise they're about to drug that young Unari, so I look back to Stonehoof. "Break down this wall now!" I tell him, making him frown.

He quickly repeats his spell and the wall splits apart, I look inside to see Shady holding the struggling Unari down with stone shackles while Hallia has a floating glob of water in front of the cage between her hands.

I growl menacingly as the fire in my eyes and mouth start heating up. "Step away from the Unari or I'll make you!" I tell them and Hallia starts shaking as she stares at me, the water now forgotten as it splashes onto the ground.

I glare at Shady and chuckle. "You know, when I first arrived I had a funny feeling the moment I laid eyes on you. But I didn't think it went this far that'd you'd be willing to risk your father's life just to prove a jaded point," I tell him and step forward slowly on all fours.

Hallia quickly gets up and goes behind Shady as I make my way over to the cage. The Unari looks up at me shivering in fear as I look back down to it. I quickly change to Kukulkan and carefully land without falling.

"Do not fear me little one, I'm here to take you back to your people," I tell them as their eyes widen.

"W-Who are you?" they ask in a young feminine tone.

"I am Pantheon, just relax and rest easy, no one else will harm you," I tell her and look back to Shady. "Do you have any other Unari captive or is she the only one left?" I demand as I rear up and spread my wings to be intimidating along with the four reddish-orange ridges on my chest, the end of my tail, and feathers glowing brightly.

"I'll say nothing to a monster," he replies calmly while Hallia is looking more and more terrified.

"Oh? So you don't even regret torturing the Unari? Even if one of them is just a child?" I ask as I glare at him.

"They are mere beasts and I regret nothing, they will pay for what they did to my sister!" he yells back angrily.

My eyes narrow as I fold my wings back. "Funny, some of them think the exact same thing. That you are the monsters and attacked them unprovoked. Let me guess, your sister died to the Unari she was trying to kill during a hunt? I think that's called self-defence." His response to this is a snort.

"They are prey! And we shall continue to hunt them!" he angrily replies as he grabs the bone spear leaning on the wall next to him.

Jurai seems to have had enough as he slams his cane down, causing a minor quake. "So this is the reason you've been asking to go on more hunts? Not for bringing back resources, but revenge?" he asks in an unnervingly calm tone.

"You may have accepted Lua's death! But I won't! I won't stop till every last snake is caged or dead!" he yells at his father before looking toward the caged Unari with his horns aglow.

I quickly inhale and use my Zephyr ability, blowing a blast of air from my lungs like a cannonball, which slams into Shady's chest, sending him into the cave wall and knocking Hallia away who screams in fright.

I hear a hiss of pain behind me and see a stone spike impaled in the young Unari's mid section. My eyes widen as I destroy the cage and stone shackles, then change to Aphrodite before quickly pulling her off the spike and begin healing her.

"DON'T YOU DARE HELP THAT BEAST!" Shady yells as he's back up and goes to attack me from behind. But he's silenced as Jurai and Stonehoof restrain him with rock all over his body, before Tide Song splashes his face with water from one of her gourds.

Shady slurs his insults and resists but it's pointless as he passes out.

My attention is back on the Unari as the hole through her body is closing slowly while she hisses in what sounds like crying, tears flowing down her eyes as she shivers on the ground.

I put my staff down and use my left hand to gently stroke her head, hoping it will at least calm her down a bit. It takes a few minutes as healing internal injuries takes longer than external ones but it's done. I calmly pull her onto my lap and continue to stroke her head and along the fur of her back.

She looks up to me with a fearful expression, but I just smile warmly at her. Hallia is also restrained but it seems she's not going to resist at all.

I look to the others and speak up. "I'm going to send this one home as well as the other. Then I'll ask one of them to come and talk with you, Jurai," I say to them, getting a sigh from the old Grand-Magai.

"Very well... Today has had enough surprises. I would like to get this over with so I may deal with my son," he says and starts heading back down the tunnel, dragging Shady out by the rocks around him while Stonehoof pulls Hallia who whimpers.

Once they're gone I carefully pick up the Unari who wraps her tail around my waist to hold on while looking up at me.

I continue to smile at her and pick up my staff before following the others back to the main building. The little Unari is shivering against me and huddles as close to me as she can while still giving off her hissing cries.

We make it back to the seating area where the Unari I knocked out is still snoozing, though with stone restraints around it.

"Well then, let's get them back home. They've been through enough," I say and place the Unari down beside the other.

I change to Janus and open a portal to the waterfall entrance and carefully pick up the girl and the out cold Unari once he's released from the bindings.

"I'll be back in a bit," I say, getting affirmatives from everyone before floating through.

Chapter 31: Back to Khepria

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Chapter 31: Back to Khepria

I pass through the portal and come face to face with a large Unari about eight metres long. I gently place the young Unrai down where she slithers ahead a bit and then looks back to me. I then change to Hercules, making the portal close shut and carry the still out-cold Unari in my left arm towards the larger Unari.

I bow my head to them, getting a hesitant one in return before they turn around and slither down the tunnel. The little girl Unari slithers over to me and surprises me by coiling around my right leg, climbing up, and settles around my shoulders and neck.

I can't help but smile as I start walking down the tunnel, following the larger Unari to the exit where a few Unari including Avir'ra are waiting for us.

I gently place the out-cold Unari down and then change to Kukulkan. The little Unari gasps as she slides down my neck a bit until she's stopped by my upper wing joints.

"I have returned with two Unari who've been held prisoner," I say and look down the out-cold one. "This one has been drugged with something to make them aggressive. I suggest taking them to a secure location and restrain them should they still be aggressive when they awaken," I warn and recommend.

Avir'ra looks sadly at the scars and wounds on them before turning to a large Unari.

"Please take Li'kan to his mother and keep watch over him," she asks them, getting a nod in return before they take Li'kan and slither away. Avir'ra then turns to me with a smile. "Thank you for returning them home, we thought they were victims to the Kagogres," she then says to me.

"I am happy to have helped them come home, but now I must return and need one of you to come with me to talk to the Minotaurs to discuss peaceful co-habitation," I reply as the little Unari around my neck decides to slither up the back of my neck and rests her head on the top of mine, parting the feathers in doing so.

Avir'ra slithers over to me and gently takes the little Unari off my head and places her on the ground. "Go home, Ni'ka. Your mother has been distraught since you've been missing," she tells the little girl who nods and looks at me.

"Thank you for saving us," she says softly, bows, and quickly slithers away towards the caves further back.

I smile and look to Avir'ra who speaks up. "I shall go with you, I wish to see for myself the elders of the Kagogres," she tells me.

"Okay, then please pick two others to go with you as guards, while some others and I will defend you should something go wrong, I would feel better if you had others to protect you as well," I suggest to her, making her hum in thought.

"Very well," she says and turns to two of the biggest Unari here, each a massive ten metres long and at least three feet wide. "Javar, Rin'tiv, you two shall accompany and protect us should the worst happen," she tells them.

They both slither closer and bow to her. "We shall do so, Den-Mother," Javar replies. His black scales have a slight dark blue sheen to them and a scar a metre long on the left side of his body.

Rin'tiv has dark grey coloured scales and the dark grey fur down her back has a light grey line an inch long from the roots from head to tail.

"Alright then, I'll open a portal, we'll go through, then once we're all there, I'll change back into Kukulkan," I tell them, getting nods from them.

So I change to Janus and open a portal back to the Magai's Hut. I then float through the portal and see the others standing to the right side. Turning back to the portal I gesture to Avir'ra and the others to come through. With a bit of hesitation, Avir'ra comes through first, followed by Rin'tiv and Javar.

Once through, I change back to Kukulkan as the Unari carefully look around the hut. They all instantly stop the moment they spot the Magai. A tense moment passes by as they just stare at each other for a good ten seconds before Jurai speaks up.

"We are ready to talk and negotiate with the Unari," he says as he and the other three Magai slowly step forward and take seats on the cushions at the centre.

Chrysalis, Cadence, and Luna all have surprised expressions at the sheer size of the Unari present. While they're getting over that, I turn to the Unrai. "The Minotaurs are ready to begin negotiations, please take a spot near the fire pit," I tell them.

I watch as Avir'ra warily coils up near the pit while her two guards stand ready behind her. I sit between them all and look to each of them. "Jurai, this is Avir'ra, representative of the Unari," I tell him and look to Avir'ra. "Avir'ra, this is Grand Magai Jurai, representative of the Minotaurs."

They look at each other before nodding. "Who would like to speak first?" I ask both of them.

Over the next hour I translate for them, the Unari demand the Minotaurs cease hunting them, and in return, when an Unari dies, their body will be given to the Minotaurs. I also add the offer of teaching some Minotaurs how to smith and dig for metal so they wouldn't need as many bones for tools or armour.

The Magai discussed this for a good thirty minutes before agreeing. So with that settled, word has spread throughout Hornhiem that hunting Unari is now forbidden. A lot of the hunters were upset or angry about this, but after the Magai explained why with Avir'ra, Rin'tiv, and Javar next to them, most were satisfied, but not all of them liked it.

Once that was sorted, I made my case about Celestia with Luna's help and the Magai have agreed to aid in restraining her and her mind-controlled forces.

"I am glad we have come to an agreement, Jurai. Now I must return to Kephria and either start plans of capturing Celestia, or finding more allies for when we do... But I think the longer we wait the worse it'll be when we do," I say and sigh as we're all sitting in the Magai's Hut again.

Jurai drums his fingers on his knee in thought. "I would prefer we sort this out as soon as possible. There's no telling what she could do to anyone with the sun under her control," he says with worry as the other Magai frown.

I chuckle getting raised brows from them. "I have taken away her control of the sun, but I don't know if she'll be able to retake control if her power grows any more than it already is," I reply.

Jurai frowns at me with a huff. "Then I would like to act as soon as we can. The sooner we stop this nightmare, the sooner the threat is removed," he tells me and stands up.

The other Magai stand as I inform Avir'ra what's happening.

"So we are all in danger?" she asks me.

"Yes, but we'll find a way to stop her and prevent any unnecessary deaths," I reply and look at the Magai talking to each other.

"Then may I offer some of our strongest Unari to aid you in this matter?" she says with conviction.

I look back to her with a raised brow. "Are you sure? Our goal is to not kill or harm anyone and release Celestia from the nightmare possessing her. I have no doubt if a large fight broke out, there will be casualties."

She nods her head. "I understand, but if what you have described is true, then we won't be spared her wrath should this Celestia find us. And you have helped us with the Kagogres, so we shall help you in turn," she replies with a slight smile.

I return the smile with one of my own. "Then I accept your offer, I will make a portal to your home when we are ready to face Celestia. For now, I will check in on you and the Minotaurs from time to time to make sure you both keep to your agreements and no one violates it. Are you ready to go home?"

Her smile widens and she nods. "I and every Unari thank you for helping us today, and yes, we are ready to return home," she replies.

I change to Janus and open a portal back to the waterfall. All three Unrai bow to me and the others before slithering through and down the tunnel. I close the portal and look to the others.

"If we are done here, I would like you to gather four to six Minotaurs who would be interested in learning how to smith, as well as about ten to learn proper mining and possibly an earth Magai to learn how to make sturdy and safe mineshafts," I say to the Minotaurs.

Stonehoof steps forward. "I will learn about these Mineshafts you spoke of, and teach other magai how to make them as well," he says resolutely.

"Alright, then gather any you think would fit the roles I mentioned and then we can get started," I reply and turn to Luna, Cadence, and Chrysalis. "Shall I send you back now, or wait for the Minotaurs?" I ask them.

They look at each other before Chrysalis speaks up. "We'll stay, I'd like to talk to Jurai about trading some of our surplus of iron for some wolf pups for our own forces that Shyla can raise, perhaps your wolf there can be the alpha of them," she says, making me frown.

I look at Orion to see him panting happily as he's getting petted by Whisper. "And how would we feed them? I can't make enough meat to feed them all constantly," I reply.

She smiles with a knowing expression. "The forest that borders Equestria and the Badlands is home to an abundance of wildlife. It'll be good to let them hunt for themselves and good combat practice against other predators. Besides, A pack of fifty should be enough," she says and walks over to Jurai who regards her with caution.

So we wait for a good twenty or so minutes as Stonehoof left to gather any Minotaur he could find, said Minotaurs slowly coming into the hut with packs and camping supplies. In total, a group of seventeen Minotaurs are sitting down on the logs around us and look at us with mixed expressions.

During the wait, Luna, Cadence, Chrysalis, and I discussed what to do when we get back. I will be trying to make Luna a new horn with the moonstone while Chrysalis and some changelings will make an embassy for the Minotaurs in a section of one of the empty city segments. We will also make areas for other races if they want to build an embassy as well.

Stonehoof walks up to me with the other Minotaurs behind him. "We are ready to leave when you are," he says.

"Great, I'll open a portal to an empty segment of our city where you can set up camp and we'll build a wall around it for you," I reply and open a portal to the south western segment. "Please go through and wait until I can set your area up," I inform Stonehoof who nods in reply.

He then turns to the other Minotaurs. "Head through and wait until told otherwise," he orders them. They all pick up their packs and supplies along with enough hide and logs to set up about three large tents.

Next I let a grumbling Chrysalis who seems to have failed getting wolf pups from Jurai, a giggling Luna and Cadence through then turn to Whisper. "Do you want to stay here, or would you prefer I send you back to your village?" I ask her.

She rubs her hands together and walks up to me. "I would like to see your city, and ask if you can supply me with more of your water so I can practice my magic more often," she asks shyly. Orion walks over to us and I scratch his ears.

"If you want to, you can stay with the other Minotaurs or if you'd like, your own personal room in the hive, or perhaps you're own small house?" I reply and look to Orion and point to the portal.

He looks at my hand and then to the portal before looking back to me, barks once and walks through the portal.

I turn back to Whisper as she replies. "My own house? You'd really build me one?" she asks, surprised.

I smile at her shocked expression. "Why not? Could be a larger house if you want to bring your family as well," I tell her as I see Flameheart walk over to us.

"I am sending two fire Magai with you as protectors for our people, this is not for negotiation," she tells me sternly as two red robbed Minotaurs stand behind her. I notice Jurai sigh and shake his head as if he saw this coming.

I chuckle making her frown at me. "Fair enough, as long as they don't cause trouble than they're welcome," I reply and gesture to the still open portal.

Flameheart huffs and nods to the two Magai who bow to her and walk through.

I look back to the young Minotaur and smile. "Well then, Whisper, you ready?" I ask her.

She quickly checks her pack and nods. "Is it okay if I can have that large house so my family can come too?" she asks me.

"Sure, but any luxuries will have to be earned through work," I reply and hold my hand out to the portal.

She looks at it and her smile widens as excitement shines in her eyes, she takes a deep breath before walking through the portal.

With everything sorted, I say goodbye to Jurai and the others before heading through myself.

Once through and the portal is closed, I change to Geb and sigh feeling the familiar earth and stone around me, I look around and estimate how many segments I can make for embassies, looks like a good eight can be made.

Placing both hands onto the ground I feel for all the stone needed to raise an eight foot tall, one foot thick wall and lift it from deep underground. Once raised, I make gateways for each area and stand back up. Each area has enough space for eight large buildings and an open area for gathering in.

"Done. Stonehoof, you may pick any one of these areas and begin setting up your embassy, just don't build any higher than the main wall. If you require any food or water, let a changeling know and you will be provided with what we can spare. If you require a portal back to Hornhiem, also ask a changeling to find me," I explain to the Earth Magai before changing into Khepri.

"Very well, I thank you for your hospitality and look forward to a better future for all of us. For now, we will set up camp before we get to this blacksmithing and mining training," he replies and bows before heading into the third walled area to the right with the other Minotaurs right behind him. The two fire Magai are standing guard at the entrance to the area.

I ask four changelings to stay and keep an eye on them and or if the Minotaurs need anything. They salute and four fly off onto the main wall near the entrance to the segment. With everything settled, I head back into the central segment and notice there's more ponies here now, at least thirty more of them.

"Where did they come from?" I ask a nearby changeling guard.

"They arrived just a few hours ago, they're the only ones to escape Celestia's forces when their village was assaulted and the rest was taken by her brainwashed guards," he replies.

I frown and look back to the refugees, it would seem we'll need to deal with her as soon as we can. But first, I need to see about fixing Luna's horn.

"Alright, get a few more blocks of houses built for them, as well as a house for a family of about four minotaurs," I ask him.

He closes his eyes as he relays what I asked to the hive mind. "Done, my King," he says and opens his eyes.

I nod to him and look to Luna as Chrysalis walks past me. "I will go check on my eggs before heading to my office," she tells me, ending with a kiss to my left cheek.

That puts a smile on my face as I look back to her. "Alright, I'll be heading to the forge to see what I can do with that moonstone for Luna," I reply before she walks off.

Turning back to Luna, I gesture her to follow me. "Come on, Luna, Cadence. Let's see what we can do," I tell them, getting a smile from Luna.

"What about me?" Whisper asks nervously.

I turn around to face her as she walks over to us. "You can come with us or ask a Changeling to find you a room until your house is built," I suggest to her.

She thinks for a bit and adjusts her pack. "I think I should find a room so I can put my pack down..." she replies.

"Alright," I say and turn to a nearby Changeling, who happens to be Peachy. "Peachy, can you find Whisper Wind here an empty room in the hive please?" I ask her, making her bounce over to us.

"Hi, Carl! Sure, I can find her a room! Come on, Whisper!" she says and bounces up to a wary Whisper who hesitantly follows the still bouncing Changeling.

I chuckle and follow them down into the hive with Luna, Cadence, and Orion behind me.

Chapter 32: Of horns and new-borns

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Chapter 32: Of horns and new-borns

We head down the hive towards the forge while a Changeling flies up to us with the moonstone in her hooves. I thank her as Cadence takes it with her magic and continues on to our destination the sounds of metal on metal ringing louder the closer we get.

Once there, the smiths stop hammering and turn to look at us. "Good day everyone!" I greet them all as we walk in, Orion whines and decides to stay out of the room due to the noise. "Just letting you know that later a few minotaurs will be coming down here to learn how to forge with metal, so be prepared for that," I then warn them as I head over to my own personal anvil and change to Vulcan.

I take a seat on my basic looking chair and hold my hand out to Cadence. "The moonstone please, Cadence," I ask her. She floats it over to my hand where I hold it to my eyes and examine it.

It's more stone than metal but there is a very small amount in it. With a huff I put it down on the anvil and lightly tap it with my hammer, it chips a little but not by much, so I don't think I can smelt this. So I change to Geb and yelp as the chair no longer can hold my weight and shatters under me.

The others giggle or laugh as I can hear Seth laughing his bug butt off at the other side of the room. Out of principle, I refuse to stand up and remain seated on the crushed chair as I float the moonstone over and place my rocky fingers on it.

I close my eyes and feel throughout the stone, I can feel the power and energy flowing through it like a calm flowing river. I open my eyes and start thinking on how I will reshape the stone into a basic looking horn while taking glances at Cadence's as a reference.

"Luna, can you point your forehead at me please?" I ask her politely.

She frowns slightly but walks over to me. "Okay," she warily replies as she tips her head down.

Starting with the base, I carefully mould it to fit where the cracks and jagged pieces remain. This process takes a good hour as this moonstone is very hard to reshape and Cadence is giving me advice and warns me if I start making mistakes on the shape, but at the end it now fits onto the stump of her horn.

I pull it away carefully and smile at Luna, who is rolling her neck and groaning.

"That was quite uncomfortable," she complains as a quiet crack sounds from her neck.

I chuckle as I look towards her. "Well now with Cadence's help, I'll be able to shape it into a horn. But I have no Idea as to how to attach it. How do you attach crystal horns?" I ask as I look to Cadence.

"Oh, we mould the crystal into a horn, then we make sure it connects to the unicorn's magical core via the base of the horn and brain. Once the connection is made, we use magic to fuse the crystal horn to the remains of their horn and wait for a day or two to let it adjust, then we place a crystal brace around the fused area to protect it from possible damage," she replies.

"Hmm, so I'll make the horn and you'll be the one to attach it along with a brace?" I ask as I slowly begin moulding the rest of the moonstone.

"Well, we hast no experience ourselves with such a procedure, although we can bring a doctor from the Empire to do so for us," she replies as she watches the moonstone slowly change shape.

"Fair enough, Cadence and I will stay here, so you can go relax if you want Luna. Or perhaps talk with the Minotaurs some more," I say as I keep my focus on the stone.

Luna hums in thought for a second. "Perhaps we... I will do so. I've been interested in seeing if a Minotaur mage can learn other spells besides elemental and levitation," she replies and starts walking off.

"See if Whisper would like to learn!" I shout out to her as she reaches the door.

Time flies by as Cadence helps me shape the moonstone and it's been a good four hours before we decide to take a break. As I leave the forge with Cadence, Crystal Blade cheers in triumph as he levitates a steel sword up with a cleanly cut topaz socketed to act as the pommel.

I turn to watch as he pours magic into the gem and the blade sparks to life with electricity arcing along the metal.

"I've done it! Finally!" he says and turns to me. "It would seem out of all the elements only lightning and wind are compatible with your steel as fire warps the metal, and ice makes it too brittle. But it channels lightning much more easily than my crystal blades can!" he explains and levitates the sword over to me. I notice a warped sword with a ruby in the pommel and a shattered one with a sapphire in the pommel on the table to the side.

I change to Vulcan and grip the sword with my right metallic hand. The grip and handguard has been covered in a thin layer of changeling resin which insulates it from the electricity. The amount of voltage I can feel would be at least three times more powerful than a hand taser. And I've been zapped by one of those before for a dare once, very unpleasant.

I look it over some more and grin. "Very good, how many of these can you get made within two weeks?" I ask him as I hold the sword back out to him.

He takes it back with his magic and puts it on the resin covered table. "Two weeks? Errrm... I think I can have about twenty made? The hardest part is cutting the gems to the perfect shape and then engraving the runes into it to feed the magic through the steel," he replies with a frown.

"So most of that time is going to the cutting and engraving? What if Changelings did the cutting and fitting while you focused on the engraving?" I ask him.

He frowns in thought and looks down. "If they can cut them perfectly... then I could get about fifty or so done," he replies and looks back up.

"Then get to it. We can use them to subdue Celestia's mind controlled forces for when we confront her. We're not going to wait for her to come and attack us first," I tell him, getting a nod as a bunch of the more experienced smiths head over to Crystal Blade as he starts explaining how the topazes need to be cut.

Cadence and I head to the cafeteria and get a quick meal while we discuss the moonstone and I ask her if she'd conduct Chryssi and I's wedding when I propose to her after we've dealt with Celestia. She was more than happy to do so and couldn't wait.

So once we finished our meal, we headed back to the forge and spent the rest of the day moulding the moonstone. By the end of the day, and a couple of visits from both Chrysalis and Whisper, I place the half finished stone horn into a secure container in the forge and bid good night to Cadence who heads off to a guest room.

I arrive at my room and find Chrysalis lounging on the bed in her bipedal form with a few slabs of resin she's holding and levitating around her while looking over the one in her hands.

"Something the matter?" I ask her as I change to Hercules, remove my armour leaving only the under garments, and lay down beside her.

"These are the latest reports that I received from our scouts near Canterlot. The Nightmare has managed to enslave half of Equestria's settlements while also nabbing a few gryphons along the borders," she replies with a frown.

I hum in thought while looking at the slab. "Crystal Blade has made an enchantment for our steel swords that'll conduct an electrical current that we can use to subdue the Nightmare's forces. But, we'll only have about fifty of them in two weeks time..." I tell her with a frown of my own on my face. "We may have to start gathering all we can to keep her forces busy while we focus on the Nightmare once I portal her to a secluded location."

She closes her eyes in silence for a few seconds before looking back at me. "Luna and we Queens have been discussing ways of restraining or containing her, and we believe a small dug out cavern filled with a pool of liquid love to dump her in would be our best option. And while she's in the pool, Luna, Cadence, and I will use lightning magic to paralyze her long enough for the liquid love to force the nightmare out of Celestia. Although, I won't deny not taking pleasure in Celestia's' pain and agony while doing so," she informs me with an almost evil looking grin.

I chuckle and snake my right arm around her and pull her into my side. "After all she's done to you and your hive, I'm not gonna complain. But the plan itself sounds good, I could sneak into Canterlot as Loki, find Celestia, and then change to Janus quickly before porting her into the cavern where you can zap her. Question is, what do we do if the liquid love does nothing?" I ask her.

She sighs and levitates all her slabs to the floor next to the bed before cuddling up to me. "From what Luna has told me, nightmares are a parasitical entity from a dark realm that feeds on the magic and anger of its host. And only four known cases of possession have been recorded and it took the fourth to discover that positive emotions harm them as the previous three were put down. Other than that, not much is known about them."

I hum in thought for a few seconds before looking back at her. "I would like to capture this nightmare for study and research into countermeasures or spells, but we don't know how to keep it contained. We'll just have to see what we can do and if I have any gods that could contain or harm it," I reply and sigh. "Let's just get some sleep and we'll discuss this tomorrow with the others," I say and kiss her cheek.

She giggles and wraps her arm around me until sleep takes us.

I open my eyes to my practice area and that female voice speaks up again. "New Gods and Goddesses added."

Six icons appear before me depicting new gods and goddesses to choose from.

Horus, The Rightful Heir. An Egyptian warrior type god.

Set, The Usurper. An Egyptian assassin type god.

Olorun, Ruler of the Heavens. An Yoruba mage type god.

Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. A Greek mage type goddess.

Yemoja, Goddess of Rivers. An Yoruba guardian type goddess.

and lastly, Heimdallr, The vigilant. A Norse hunter type god.

I look between the gods and smile, its always nice to have a new selection of gods to choose from, and I'm going to be having fun figuring out how these ones work and perform.

So I change to Heimdallr and read up on his abilities. Huh, I thought he was a warrior with his axe but apparently he's a hunter as he throws it, kind of reminds me of that god of war leviathan axe. Not only does he have a large axe, he has a sword named Hofud he can summon to reveal enemy god locations near him, but I wonder how that would work here? And he can then launch it a long distance from himself like a missile.

He has a horn called Gjallarhorn on his back that deals damage over time to targets in front of him as he blows it which ends in an AoE burst around him dealing damage and knocking up enemies. He can also call forth the power of the Bifrost to travel long distances from one point to another, again, not sure how that would work here.

Lastly, he can dash forward, smack someone with his axe homerun style through the bifrost into Muspelheim and Niflheim dealing damage before coming back and slamming into the ground ahead of where he sent them. Makes me wonder if I can open gateways to these realms... perhaps I can make a gateway back home to Earth? Or Midgard as the Norse lore called it.

I summon my sword which appears before me in a flash, then flies up into the air a good thirty feet and just rotates while hovering and emitting rainbow coloured light.

I feel my mana slowly being drained but I can... I don't know how to describe it, but I can 'see' the location of everything in the area, the Gold Fury, the Fire Giant, the lane minions. I can feel where they are in relation to me. So as a test, I command Hofud to launch at the Gold Fury, it responds and flies off and hits it's target as I hear the Gold Fury screech.

I look at the axe in my hand, not as heavy as I thought it would be, but I wind back and throw it as hard as I can forward. blue light trails off the axe head as it spins before vanishing in a glow of rainbow light. It then reappears near my hand and I quickly grasp it by the grip.

So for the next hour I just have fun throwing the axe at god bots and npcs, practicing my aim with both the axe and sword.

I spend the rest on the night trying out his other abilities before waking up.

With a yawn, I open my eyes to find Chrysalis gone. I sit up and scratch my neck as I get a thought. 'Do ponies or any other race farm or harvest honey?' I would like some as I liked honey back on earth.

Though I facepalm as I forgot I have a bee god, so maybe I can set up some of his hives and hopefully they can generate honey, although he can shoot a large trail of honey, I don't know if that would be edible and it'll be annoying having to change all the time for refills.

With that in mind, I stand up off the bed and change god to Ah Muzen Cab, the God of Bees.

I look myself over and shudder as I can feel something moving in my right forearm which looks like a beehive. I wince as a few bees fly out of it before re-entering through different holes.

I wiggle my fingers to get used to the sensation, but the sound of voices distracts me.

'The Sparkle family are asking for more crystals to help teach their foals magic.'

'I need more iron!'

'The Scarlet hive have arrived for their next supply of liquid love, get the pods ready!'

'My Queen, your first clutch is preparing to hatch!' I hear an excited female say followed by the gasp of one I know very well.

'Prepare the nursery! I'm on my way!' I hear Chrysalis reply before it's drowned out by more voices.

'Xenion! Where are those logs for the boiler!' I hear someone ask but the reply is lost to other voices.

I clutch my head as more and more voices join in, slowly blending in to just blabbering at this point, getting louder and louder until even my own thoughts are drowned out. I can't take it anymore and yell out in my head.

'SHUT THE HELL UP!' I scream. Lots of startled and panicked yelps or gasps speak as one before it's all quite.

After a few seconds of silence, Chrysalis speaks up. 'Who is this!? How did you get into the hivemind!?' she demands angrily.

'Chryssi, clam down, it's me Carl,' I reply and rub my temples, while being mindful of the big stinger on my left forearm.

'Carl? How did you get into the hive mind?' she asks. 'Never mind that for now, our eggs are hatching! Come to the Nursery now!' she tells me, making my eyes widen and I start running out the room then flying down the tunnels.

It feels strange as I can feel the locations of the changelings of all three hives around me, so locating and finding Chrysalis was simple as I entered the Nursery.

Chrysalis looks me over with intrigue before waving her hoof in gesture to go to her. I walk over to her side and watch the eggs in the wall slowly cracking as the centaur shaped changelings inside use their horns to poke and push until the shell breaks off and the fluid inside spills out and the cries of the new-borns fill the Nursery.

The nannies use their magic to levitate them down and carefully place them into prepared cribs at the back of the room, small little boxes with soft moss bedding. I walk over and look down to the closest one to see my new-born daughter. Her lower half looks just like a normal changeling, but the upper half looks like a human's torso while her head has a more flatter looking face.

The biggest difference though is they have dull green coloured hair and tail instead of fins on their head and tail, while their eyes when they're open look just like Chrysalis' eyes.

I smile but frown as the voices start up again, so I quickly change to Hercules and put my mace against the wall. Carefully, I reach into a crib and pull out my child cradling her in my left arm while gently stroking her short hair.

Chrysalis walks over and looks up at me. "How do you feel?" she asks me with her own smile.

I look at her and hold back tears. "Despite what we have to do soon, I'm happier than I've ever been," I reply and lean down to kiss her softly.

We leave the nymphs to the nannies who clean them up and feed them small amounts of liquid love, while Cadence hears about the new borns and decides to help out. Chrysalis and I head up to the Minotaurs embassy where we find Luna talking with Stonehoof.

"Good morning," I greet them both.

"Pantheon, greetings. The Princess and I were just trading stories from our homelands," Stonehoof replies with a nod.

"Good morning. Did something happen? A short while ago every changeling suddenly yelped and stood still..." Luna asks with a bit of worry.

I chuckle at the thought of a thousand or so changelings suddenly springing into the air in fright. "I found a way to access the hivemind using a bee god, but I have no control over it yet as I could hear every changeling talking at once. So I yelled into the hivemind and startled them all," I reply with another chuckle.

"I see... So what brought you and Chrysalis here?" Luna asks me.

"Just informing you both that we'll have a meeting in three days with the Minotaurs, the Zebra, the Unari, the Crystal Empire, along with the Changelings and I to discuss how best to deal with Celestia," I reply looking between the two.

Stonehoof scratches his chin in thought. "That is acceptable, we're still settling in and I'd rather have our encampment ready for the other Magai when they arrive," he says looking back to the others still setting up large tents.

"Fair enough, this'll also give me time to bring the Zebras here with their own set up for an embassy and finish Luna's new horn," I tell him and then look to Chrysalis. "Would you be so kind as to inform the other Queens about the meeting?" I ask her.

"Very well, I shall see you later tonight, I still have to go over some reports from the scouts," she replies and walks off.

I turn to Luna and smile. "Right then," I say and clap my hands together. "I'm going to go talk to the Zebras and then continue your horn once they get settled in," I tell her as I change to Janus.

"We shall wait here for you then, I still want to know how Stonehoof's mother convinced his father to join her clan," she replies and turns to the Minotaur.

I chuckle and open a portal to the elders hut in Wanori, then step through.

Chapter 33: A Goddess is born

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Godly
Chapter 33: A Goddess is born

I pass through the portal and close it behind me, making a few zebras around me jump or yelp at my sudden arrival. I change to He bo and pull the drape covering the doorway to the elders hut aside.

"Hello?" I call out and see two of the elders, Kiana and Manata sitting around the fire pit along with the mare I remember named Onabi preparing a meal at the back on a table.

"Pantheon? To what do we owe this surprise?" Kiana asks me in surprise as I glide over to them.

I lower myself down on my swirling water half to appear sitting. "Oh not much... I've got the Minotaurs to help with Celestia, but they want to deal with Celestia as soon as possible, so I'm here to ask you to gather any who wish to help set up an embassy within Khepria, as well as one of your forces officers to help coordinate with the Minotaurs and Changelings subduing Celestia's forces while the alicorns, Queens, and I deal with Celestia," I reply. I also inform them of the Unari who will also aid us in the battle.

"So a new race has risen?" Manata asks more to himself by the sound of his tone. Onabi presents two meals to the elders while I decline when she asks me if I would like one. She bows to us and then leaves the room through the left side doorway.

"Yes, and they're a relatively young race still. But they are a very kind and protective race from what I've seen of them so far. But we're running out of time now and I would like you to gather all who wish to operate this embassy along with supplies to run it, although we can offer food and water if needed," I tell them as I get back up.

They agree and after around an hour of gathering zebras, supplies, and ready to build tents. They're ready to head back to Khepria. They have fifteen Zebras, ten warriors including one of their officers, and four servants to keep the place clean and running, and lastly Kiana will run the whole embassy.

"Are we ready to go?" I ask them all, getting affirmatives in reply.

I change to Janus and open a portal to the back of the embassy section of the city. As they pass through I turn back to Manata.

"I will open a portal when we're ready for the battle, or Kiana needs something from here. Until next time, farewell," I say getting a goodbye in return before heading through.

I close the portal and float over to the Minotaurs section. Stonehoof and Luna notice us as we head over to them.

"Welcome back, I see the Zebras have agreed," Luna says and nods to Kiana who returns it.

"Yup, so," I say and turn to Kiana. "Which of these sections would you like?" I ask her and gesture to the empty sections.

She looks around and points to the second to the left. "We shall have that one," she says.

.................[] || []..................
.................[] || [Minotaurs]
.....[Zebras] || []..................
.................[]|E|[]..................

"Then head on in and get set up, I still need to go to the Crystal Empire and bring over their embassy set up," I reply and open a portal to the Empire.

I frown as I don't see the throne room, but the barrier outside the Empire. No matter how much I try, I just can't make a connection past the barrier. I pass through the portal and press my hand on the barrier and surprisingly, it's solid.

I hum in thought as I float higher and higher and look to my right. Nothing of interest there, to the left and behind, also nothing. I scowl as I go all the way up and my eyes bug out as I see over the barrier a large force of about ten-thousand or so about two miles from the Empire.

I open a portal near the army and look though before quickly closing it and head towards the main entrance to the Empire. The army is made up of equestrian Ponies both young and old, seems there's civilians mixed in with the guards along with some Gryphons as well, I also noticed Celestia was leading them all at the front.

My eyes widen as Celestia and a bunch of Unicorns launch balls of magic at the barrier, on impact a massive explosion shakes the ground as flames disperse off the barrier. Seems Celestia is besieging the Empire.

I get to the entrance where I see some guards tense up before sighing and relaxing. The barrier then opens a small hole big enough to let me in. Floating though, the guards walk over and one in more decorated armour speaks up as the hole closes.

"Sir, Carl! I mean... Pantheon, are we happy to see you. As you've no doubt noticed, the Nightmare has decided to invade us," he says and looks out towards the incoming forces.

"What provoked her?" I ask as we start heading towards the Palace.

"One of our scouting Pegasi was spotted near Canterlot and the Nightmare just gathered her forces and led a march on us. She's been blasting the barrier for two days now," he replies as the civilians look nervously at us.

"Strange... then why didn't she attack Khepria while I was away?" I wonder to myself aloud.

We make our way to the base of the palace where I see the Crystal Heart is spinning rapidly while energy or magic flows from it and up into the palace which is then amplified into the barrier from the tip. But the heart is slowly getting dimmer.

Another explosion sounds out and the heart brightens for a second, expelling more magic before dimming.

We head inside and the guards open the doors to the throne room where I see Amore sitting on her throne surrounded by high ranking officers. She looks up from a piece of parchment and looks at me with surprise.

"Carl! Oh we art happy to see thou here! We see thou received our message!" she tells me and quickly walks over to me.

"We received no messenger, I didn't even know this was happening. I just came by to see if you wanted to set up an embassy and discuss with the others on how to deal with the Nightmare," I reply as she hugs me briefly.

"That will have to wait until we either evacuate, or manage to deter the Nightmare," she says with a sigh.

"Well bad news, she's using civilians in her forces now. I saw young and elderly marching in that army, along with Gryphons, I don't know if I'll be able to gather the Zebras, Minotaurs, Unari, and Changelings in time before the barrier falls..." I reply with a snarl.

She frowns and then sighs deeply. "Then we hast no choice but to evacuate the Empire..." she tells me sadly.

"But what about the Crystal Heart? Can it be moved and keep this barrier up?" I ask her as another series of explosions ring out. I look out the window to see the barrier flicker slightly before stabilising.

"We may have to leave her here, if we remove her the barrier will fall and the Nightmare will be free to strike the City," she replies with regret in her tone.

I feel a pulse of magic pass through me and it seems the others felt it as well.

Amore looks down, then up at me. "Heart Shine... She's calling to us..." she says in surprise.

We all head out down to the Heart and see it's getting even dimmer and not spinning as fast. I change to Thanatos and think on how to touch it while it's spinning, so I carefully extend my left index finger upside down under the heart and gently let it spin on my finger.

I see Heart Shine appear, looking ragged and wincing. She looks at me and from what I can see from her lips, I think she's saying 'help'.

"What do I need to do?" I ask her as another explosion rocks the barrier. Heart Shine's form flickers as does the barrier, before stabilising again. her colour looks dimmer again.

Her lips move again and I frown. She repeats it a few times until I think I understand.

"More magic?" I ask and she nods with a wince.

"Carl!? What is going on?" Amore asks me as she walks up to my left side.

"Heart Shine needs more magic, she's not going to last much longer," I reply and change god to Merlin. I take a deep breath and channel arcane magic into my hands. "You and your guards get everyone ready to evacuate. Once I've given Heart Shine some magic, I'll open a portal to Khepria and you get everyone through. I'll go in last with the Heart!" I tell her as I turn back to the Heart.

Amore starts giving orders and ponies run off to gather everyone.

I hold my hands on either side of the heart and begin pouring my magic into it. My purple magic mixes with the pink of the heart which then changes into a rose coloured hue. The Heart then glows brighter and spins faster as I continue to pour magic into it.

The Palace then changes to the same rose colour followed by the barrier. What happens next shocks me as I can see Heart Shine's form appear and it seems the others can see her too as her face scrunches up before she releases a spectral sounding scream, followed by her eyes opening with pure white magic flowing through them.

"MORE! I NEED MORE!" she tells me with an echo in her voice as the ground starts shaking.

"Amore! Help me with your magic!" I call out to Amore as I begin to pour even more magic out. I see pink magic flow from my left and into the Heart, the Heart and Heart Shine start to glow brighter and the Heart is now a spinning blur.

The sound of glass shattering above us gets our attention as the Elements of Harmony fly down from the hole they made in the Palace and start spinning around the heart, pouring their magic into it as well.

My jaw drops as two ethereal wings spread out from Heart Shine as she screams out again, her form growing larger similar to Luna's shape. I almost trip as the ground shakes violently before it feels like we're rising.

"DON'T STOP!" Heart Shine tells us as I look to my right and out of the City to see the City itself rising into the air.

I fall to a knee while most of the others trip onto their sides as we suddenly soar up into the sky past the clouds and to everyone's surprise, we stop in orbit above the planet. The barrier is still up and appears to be more powerful than before as the Heart slows down to a gentle spin.

I pant heavily as my mana feels nearly dried up. I try to stand but my legs give out and I fall, but something catches me and I see it's Heart Shine. She's now rose coloured and looks like a solid form of pure magic, her eyes are a constant white and her mane and tail are flowing gently on their own. The Elements of Harmony are slowly spinning around the middle of her now longer horn.

I gently pull myself up using her shoulder for support as she smiles at me.

"This is certainly unexpected," I comment with a chuckle.

She giggles with an echo in her tone. "Yes, I was contacted by the Elements and they had a way to save the Empire and all within it, but I couldn't speak to anypony and didn't have enough magic to begin the spell, so I called out to you," she says and nuzzles me.

Amore is back on her hooves and walks over while the other ponies just stare slack jawed at Heart Shine or the Planet on the horizon. I raise an eyebrow as I see a foal float by while spinning gently.

"Weeeeee!" she yells and giggles as a mare tries to run after her but is having trouble with the lower gravity.

I can't help but grin at the sight as Amore speaks up. "Heart Shine? But... how?" she asks the new Alicorn in confusion.

Heart Shine looks to Amore and smiles. "The Elements were only meant to allow me to move the Empire elsewhere, but Pantheon's, the Element's, and your magic fused with mine, altering it and ascending me. But I am not an Alicorn, I am now a being of pure magic, or so the Element's tell me," she replies and looks up to the Element's spinning around her horn.

I can feel the magic coming from her, it's three or four times more powerful than Celestia when she attacked us. If I had to guess, I think Heart Shine is now a Goddess in her own right.

"So... Now what? You can't go back or the Nightmare will try to attack again, and I don't know if you can stay up here for long," I ask and explain.

Heart Shine looks at me still with her smile. "I will need a moment to recover, but I should be able to move the Empire to a new location. Would you allow me to place it near your City?" she replies and asks me.

I look from her to Amore. "What do you think?" I ask her.

"We think it would be best, as we would be able to defend one another should the Nightmare assault us again," she replies.

I nod and look back to Heart Shine. "Alright then, there you have it. Heart Shine, do you think you could allow me to make my portals go through the barrier?" I ask her.

"I believe so, please try to form a portal," she tells me and stands back.

I try to change god, but I can't. "No good, my mana is too low to change, seems I need to recover as well..." I reply and sit down with my back against the Heart's pillar. "Quick question, are you now free from the Heart, or is this something else?" I ask and gesture to her new form.

"I am still in the Heart, this is more of a projected construct, and I am bound only to the interior of the Barrier," she replies as she looks out towards the planet.

"Damn, so we can't bring you to help with the Nightmare... Well then, let's get some rest first then we can think about getting this hunk of floating rock back down to earth," I say and yawn.

"Yes, I need to recover my magic before I can bring the Empire back down," Heart Shine replies and looks to the Crystal Heart.

I follow her gaze and stiffen at what I see... There's a long deep crack on one side of the Heart.

"That's not good," I comment as I stand up and look closer. The crack looks about an inch deep and four inches long, but the Heart itself looks okay.

Heart Shine sighs. "It's not as bad as it looks, but it will take me a long while to repair the damage done to me. Now go rest, I'll find you when I'm ready to move the Empire,"

With everything calming down, Heart Shine's form morphs into a cloud of raw magic and flows into the Crystal Heart, which softly glows and floats on the spot.

Amore then guides me into the Palace and gives me an empty guest room to rest in before walking off to make sure her subjects are all safe. I lay down on the rather small bed and stare at the ceiling for a good ten minutes as my mana recovers.

Seems we'll have to really accelerate plans when we return if the Nightmare is starting to attack other nations. With that thought in mind, I close my eyes, fall asleep, and start training with my new gods.

Chapter 34: Making plans

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Chapter 34: Making plans

After practicing with Horus' abilities, I wake up with a yawn and roll off the small and short bed face first lightly into the crystal floor.

"Thank god for the low gravity at the moment..." I mumble and slowly get up while rubbing my face.

I shuffle my way to the restroom connected to the left of the room and get my needs out of the way. They have functioning plumbing here, I'm gonna have to ask how they did it so I can get a system similar installed into the hive. Taking a shit into a resin bucket and dumping it out via a portal is not exactly pleasant. Though I can't blame the changelings for having no plumping as they don't need to use a toilet.

After I've done all I need to, I exit the room and into the hallway where I greet the guards and maids, who are still trying to get used to the low gravity. I feel my magic is back to full and head to the throne room while having a bit of fun with the gravity and jump down the stairs and slowly float down to the bottom.

Once I arrive, the guards nod to me and open the doors.

"Thanks," I say to them and walk in.

Amore is on her throne with Heart Shine standing next to her, along with the same officers and other important looking ponies. I also see Swift Quill to the side using a quill and inkwell to write something on a piece of parchment.

"Morning!" I call out, getting all of their attention.

"Ah, Carl! Good morning. Art thou feeling better now?" Amore asks me as I walk over to her.

"Much better, my magic is back to full and I'm ready to head back down. We need to find out where the Nightmare is right now and come up with a plan to contain and remove it from Celestia," I reply.

Amore nods and speaks up. "Yes, we have been speaking with Heart Shine and she is ready to return the Empire to Equus. We were just waiting for thou actually. Then we canst begin plans of freeing Celestia from the Nightmare," she says and gets up off her throne before turning to her guards. "Inform the populace that we art preparing to return to Equus!'' She commands them, getting salutes before they run off to do as ordered.

I clap my hands, getting their attention again, then change to Janus. "So then, let's see if I can get a portal working shall we?" I say to Heart Shine. "By the way, where are the elements?" I ask her as they're not spinning around her horn now.

She smiles and walks over to me. "They are currently helping to repair the damage done to me, and I am ready when you are," she tells me.

I start weaving a portal to Khepria in front of me but it's not getting out of the barrier. Heart Shine's horn glows and her magic reaches out to my portal and envelopes it. After a few seconds Khepria's keep comes into view.

"There, your portals are now attuned to the barrier's signature, allowing your portals to get through now," Heart Shine tells me and looks through the portal. "So this is your city you told me about?" she asks and giggles at the Changeling staring at her with wide eyes.

"Yup, now if you'll excuse me, I'll go through and warn everyone about the Empire coming down from the sky so they don't freak out... Not sure how Cadence will take that," I reply and float through the portal.

"Alright, I'll move the Empire over the Badlands and then slowly bring it down, should take about ten minutes to get there," Heart Shine says before I close the portal.

"Welcome back, Carl!" I hear Peachy call out as she hops past me with four pods of liquid love following her held by her magic.

"Good to be back!" I reply and change god to Ah Muzen Cab.

I frown as I can hear all of the Changelings voices and I concentrate on filtering out all but Chrysalis'. The longer I look the more I notice that there's a... signal or signature that's different to the majority of them all.

I can feel four different signals out of the thousands of others, so these must be the Queens. I also notice that I can't hear the drones anymore.

'Chryssi?' I call out to all four of the queens as I don't know and can't tell which is which yet.

'Carl!? Where have you been!? I have been worried all night when you didn't return!" Chrysalis yells at me, making me wince as it sounds like it's coming from every direction in my head.

'The Nightmare was sieging the Empire when I got there and I had to use up all of my mana just to help get them get away,' I reply and groan as rubbing my ears doesn't help reduce the mild ringing I can now hear.

'The Empire was attacked!?' she replies as I hear Shyla gasp and Dragana to growl angrily.

'They're safe now and on their way here, please find Luna and Cadence and send word out to not panic as the empire is coming down from the sky to land nearby,' I inform the Queens.

I hear Dragana choke as if she was drinking at the time before sputtering. 'The whole empire will fall from the sky!?' She asks in a shocked tone.

'I'll explain when we meet up,' I reply and head down into the Hive where I can feel the Queen’s location. Feels like they're in the Cafeteria.

After flying through the tunnels, I arrive at the Cafeteria and head inside to find Chrysalis, Shyla, Dragana, Luna, and Cadence all gathered around a table.

Chrysalis smiles at me and flies over the table and slams into me, almost knocking me over as she wraps all four of her legs around me.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" I say and I swing my arms around to keep my balance. But it was not to be and I fall onto my back. I cringe as my wings get trapped between me and the floor while Chrysalis nuzzles me.

I carefully sit up and sigh in relief. "I'm happy to see you too, but that hurt," I complain and flutter my wings.

She huffs and looks away. "Well if you didn't make me worry like that, then I wouldn't have to punish you," she replies before flying off me and back to her seat.

I roll my eyes and stand up before walking over and taking a seat next to Luna. "So, got a few things to tell you all..." I say and explain everything that happened at the Empire and that it's about to come back down any minute now.

So once all is said and done, we head up and watch the sky for the Empire with everyone else, including the Minotaurs and Zebras.

"I don't see anything..." Dragana says in a bored tone after three minutes of looking around.

I frown and was about to change to Janus just to make sure everything was alright before Shyla speaks up. "Is that it?" she asks and points up to our right.

We all turn to look and a bright rose coloured light is getting closer and closer until we could make out the shape of the Empire's dome. It's coming down south of Khepria a good twenty or so miles away.

"Brace for a possible quake!" I yell out and change to Geb, ready to reinforce the ground to prevent cave ins in the hives if need be.

Fortunately, the Empire slows down and gently lands with barely a tremor. Although, there's no way to reach the entrance as the rim looks a good seventy-ish feet above the ground.

"Well... That was, gentler than I thought it would be..." Chrysalis comments as Cadence decides to blast off towards the Empire from zero to sixty instantly.

I look to the others and sigh. "Well... Let's go see if they're all okay?" I suggest, as I change to Khepri and fly off up to the empire. Luna, and the Queens following behind me.

We fly through the barrier, making our way to the rose coloured crystal palace and land at the base. We see Cadence hugging her mother, trying not to cry.

Before we can say anything, she turns and hugs Heart Shine's construct. "Thank you... Thank you for protecting everypony!" she says as tears start flowing.

Heart Shine smiles as she hugs her back. "It's alright, and I didn't do it alone. If Pantheon didn't show up, then we would all be at the Nightmare's mercy," she replies.

Cadence sniffles and looks over to me, before quickly walking over and awkwardly hugging my head while avoiding my horns and spiky chin.

"Not once but twice thou hast saved our empire... Thank you," she tells me and sobs gently.

I lift my right front leg and gently pat her on the back. "It's alright, Cadence, everyone is safe. Now would be a good time to discuss what to do about the Nightmare while she's still in the north," I say and step back from her.

She sniffles one last time and wipes her eyes with a foreleg. "Thou art right... we need to stop her before she attacks anypony else..." she says with a frown and turns around, walks to Amore and stands beside her.

"I'll open a portal to let the Zebra's, Unari, and Minotaurs join us in the discussion. The Nightmare has put us in a very good spot as I can just portal back to the north and abduct her while her army is so far away... Let me check what she's doing quickly," I say and change to Janus.

I open a portal above where the Empire used to sit, and I spot the Nightmare still here and it looks like she's getting her army to dig up large amounts of crystals and ravage the crop fields left behind to feed her army.

"What is she doing?" I ask the others as they look through and Amore frowns.

"She’s stealing crystals from our mines to outfit her growing army," she says angrily as she watches the crop fields get scorched after they're harvested for everything growing on them.

"Hmm... Heart Shine, will the barrier weaken the Nightmare if she's inside it?" I ask her.

Heart Shine looks down to the Nightmare who is glaring at her army as she watches them haul crystal after crystal into wagons. Even ignoring those who collapse into the snow unmoving.

"It will take me a week to fully recover and repair the Heart, but I believe the barrier could weaken her power, though whether or not she stays in the barrier is another matter. I could prevent her from teleporting, but she could attack the heart in an attempt to destroy me and the barrier," she replies and snorts as we see the Nightmare whip a pony with a whip made of flames.

"So do we wait for Heart Shine to recover and use the barrier to weaken her, or go with the plan to dump her into a pool of liquid love to see if that harms her?" I ask everyone around me.

"Bringing her here would be too much of a risk," Amore says. "And by the time Heart Shine has recovered, the Nightmare would have returned from the north and start outfitting her army with the stolen crystals."

"So we should act now while her army is too far to attack us?" I ask, getting nods from everyone. "Okay, I'll get the leaders of our allies together and we'll quickly come up with a plan," I say and close the portal before opening another portal.

It takes a good hour but I manage to bring the High-Shamans of the Zebras, including grumpy Mianya.
Five of the Magai including Jurai of the Minotaurs as well as a new bull I've yet to meet named Swift Hoof who has light grey fur and blonde hair, white horns and blue eyes, he's also an air magai, and Stonehide is here as well.
And lastly Avir'ra and two of the other elders of the Unari.

We all stand in a circle with the Unari behind me where the Zebras are looking at them warily and I've changed to Kukulkan to translate for the Unari.

"How do you plan to attack this Nightmare?" Jurai asks, leaning on his cane as everyone looks at me.

I look at him and reply. "Our original plan was to portal her away from her army and dump her into a pool of liquid love to see if the Nightmare would be harmed to the point of fleeing Celestia's body. And if that doesn't work, to beat her into submission where we'll use the Elements of Harmony to try and forcefully remove the Nightmare from her."

"What if neither of those work?" High-Shaman Manata asks.

I frown and sigh as Luna won't like this. "Then the only thing I can think of is to make a portal into space and dump her ass up there. I don't think she'll have the magic or power to teleport back to the planet or even survive re-entry."

Luna glares at me for that suggestion. "Thou mean.. You mean to isolate my sister in the vast reaches of the stars without a way back!?" she says angrily.

"Unless anyone here has a better idea?" I ask.

They all frown but then Luna gasps. "Discord! His body is still in Canterlot! We can retrieve him and release him from his stone prison with the Elements! He can restrain or remove the Nightmare from Celestia!" Luna says with hope in her voice.

"That could work... Then here's what we’ll do. I'll open a portal to Canterlot where Everyone will siege it, restrain any mind controlled guards or civilians she left behind and bring them back here to see if we can free them of their mind control. While everyone does that, Luna, Cadence, Amore and I will find Discord and use the elements to free him. Once freed and everyone evacuated to Khepria or the Empire, we'll begin setting up our little arena to face the Nightmare in," I say, looking to all gathered.

They all start talking to each other while I translate for the Unari.

Jurai steps forward along with Banawey. "We agree to this plan, Pantheon." Jurai says as Banawey nods.

"Okay then. I'll make portals for your warriors to come through, we have to do this quickly as we don't know how long it'll take the Nightmare to mine those crystals and return to Canterlot," I say and after telling the Unari, change to Janus and open a portal to Wanori first.

After a long three to four hour process, over a thousand Zebra warriors armed with blunted spears, two-thousand Minotaur warriors with crude shields and stone hammers or wooden clubs, fifty Unari of various sizes, and over one-thousand changelings are all lined up in front of Khepria.

The Magai, High-Shamans, Unari Elders, the Changeling Queens minus Shyla, the Alicorns, and myself stand before all gathered.

"Do you all understand what we must do!?" Jurai yells out, his voice amplified thanks to Amore's magic.

A series of shouts and cheers call out from everyone as I translate for the Unari.

Cadence then speaks up, voice amplified. "Then we march to free the Equestrians and any other races that have fallen victim to the Nightmare that threatens us all!" she says as I tell Avir'ra what's about to happen and to get ready to move out.

I change to Janus and focus and concentrate as I'll need to make a massive portal to get everyone through.

"Minotaurs will go first! Set up a perimeter around the portal and get ready to defend it while everyone goes through! I'll be opening the portal right in the middle of Canterlot so expect resistance the moment we step through!" I call out and spread my arms wide.

The portal flares open a good five metres tall and wide, the Minotaurs give a war cry before holding up their shields and bulldozing their way through. Already the controlled ponies and gryphons on the other side attack, only to be knocked out and carefully put to the side near buildings as our forces continue to flood into the City.

Chapter 35: The liberation of Canterlot

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Chapter 35: The liberation of Canterlot

I keep the portal open as our forces flood into Canterlot, the minotaurs finally all make it through as they swarm the streets. Next the Zebras make their way through, followed by the Changelings and Unari.

It takes over thirty minutes for them all to go and I've lost about half of my mana keeping a portal this big open for so long.

"Luna, Cadence, Amore, head on through and I'll follow you. Chryssi, Dragana, and Shyla, and the rest of you defend our home," I say to the others.

Once agreements are made, the others head through followed by me where I close the portal behind me.

I change god to Horus where two large white wings grow from my back, my metallic body becomes a fit, well built flesh and blood one with white and grey feathers all over. My head morphs into a falcon's. I have Egyptian themed golden armour, and unlike the game I have a bladed polearm weapon.

"Luna, Cadence, Amore with me!" I call out and they gather around me. "Luna, where is discord kept?" I ask her.

"He's in the statue garden behind the castle, in the middle of the hedge maze," she replies and I look toward the castle.

"Alright, stand around me and I'll take us all there," I tell them and activate Horus's ultimate ability, to the skies.

While I channel the ability, A circle of light forms around me and an astral projection of myself soars into the sky giving me a bird's eye view of the area. I look behind the castle and spot Discord's stone form with his arms wide open and a smile on his face in the middle of the aforementioned hedge maze. I focus on a small clearing in front of Discord and release the ability.

My body flaps its wings and the others scream as we're all shot into the air where my body and projection combine and we then go down and slam harmlessly back onto the ground in front of Discord.

"You're up Cadence," I tell her as she tries not to throw up. I start to hear some footsteps and shouting approaching us from the maze. "Luna, Amore, protect Cadence. I'll hold them off," I tell them and spin my polearm around before heading to the opening in the maze.

Cadence gets the elements out and starts channelling her magic into them. I wait and hear the footsteps get closer and closer while Pegasi and Gryphons fly over the hedge and dive down at Cadence.

Amore uses her magic to place most of them asleep and gently place them on the ground while Luna resorts to using hoof to hoof combat and using her superior strength and speed, knocks them out when they get too close.

I turn back to the entrance and see Unicorns and Earth ponies charging at me. Stretching my wings out behind me as I wait for when the earth ponies are close enough, once in range I flap forward, sending a gust of air into them, knocking them back and into the unicorns.

A good ten are knocked out as I then launch myself into the fray and using the side of my polearm, I smack five ponies in rapid succession knocking them out. Unicorns fire blasts of magic at me which I parry most of them with my polearm, though I do take a few hits to my legs and arms before focusing on them and knocking them out.

A bright rainbow light flashes behind me and I hear a deep yawn, followed by a snap of fingers. The ponies and gryphons all fall to the ground out cold.

"What's going on here?" Discord asks and pulls out a pocket watch. "One-hundred years? I was hoping for at least five-hundred..." he grumbles and looks around. "Hmmm? Carl? What's going on?" he asks me and I sigh.

"Celestia has been possessed by a nightmare and we need your help in freeing her from it," I reply and change to Janus.

"I see you've gotten used to your new powers, so how long have you been on Equus for so far?" he asks me and hops down from the stone platform he was standing on, then begins stretching his body in unnatural ways getting pops and groans from him.

"I think about six or eight months so far. So, can you help us with Celestia?" I reply and ask as I walk over and hold my hand out to him.

He looks at my hand and grins as he grasps it and shakes. "Well, I've only recovered about twenty percent of my magic after giving you ninety percent of it. But I believe I could be of some assistance!" he replies and lets go of my hand. Cadence, Amore, and Luna all looking at Discord warily.

"Better than nothing. So here's what's happening right now. We're sieging Canterlot to free you, objective complete, and we're taking all of the Nightmare's mind controlled forces here from her while she's up in the north, objective pending. Then we plan to dump her into a pool of liquid love to see if it'll harm her," I tell him.

He hums and strokes his white chin beard. "Nightmares are notorious for being extremely difficult to get out of someone once they're possessed. But, I've fought many of them before, and Chaos magic just happens to be one of their weaknesses. While I can't rip it out of ol' Sunbutt myself, I can make it easier to do so. And you've got the right idea with the liquid love stuff, Once she's inside it, I can apply my magic and make it more effective! Ooooh I can't wait to rub it in Celly's cake stuffing face when we free her of the Nightmare. She'll have to thank ME of all beings for saving her!" he says and literally laughs his ass off.

Each round cheek sprouts a pair of legs as they pop off and run around Discord before they then jump back onto his rear, each leg absorbed back into him.

He finally calms down and smirks. "Right then, I'll help to remove the mind control magic on the Ponies and Gryphons while you bring them to me," he says as a doctor's coat appears on him and snaps his fingers. The Ponies and Gryphons around us groan in pain as they slowly get back up.

"What was I doing?" one of the Unicorn guards asks as he sits up.

"Ow my head..." a Gryphon complains as she rubs her bruised head.

They all eventually get up and look at each other confused before the Gryphons panic and fly off. But one yelps in pain as her wing seems to be broken. Her body's fur and wing feathers are a light tan colour while her head is covered in white feathers with light blue tips, her eyes are a lovely shade of sapphire blue.

"Wait! Don't leave me here!" she calls out to them but they're already out of hearing range.

I walk over to her, making her panic and she tries to claw me with her talons, but her claws scrape harmlessly over my metallic chest.

"Calm down, we're not going to hurt you," I tell her as I gently hold her talons, but she starts hyperventilating.

She looks hysterical and tries to pull her arms away. "Let me go!" she screams and tries pecking my face. Only to yelp and whine as it hurt her more than it did me.

"Stop! You're just going to hurt yourself more! Now if you'll relax, I can heal you so you can follow the others, okay?" I tell her and she just stares at me before closing her eyes and starts getting her breathing under control.

After a good five minutes, she's breathing steadily while Cadence, Amore, and Luna help the other Ponies and explain what's going on. "Feeling better?" I ask her.

She opens her eyes and nervously nods.

"Okay, I'm going to change my appearance, then heal your wing, then you can either stay and help us, or fly off to the other Gryphons, okay?" I ask her.

She nods again and I change to Aphrodite, she just stares at me as I gently place my left hand on her broken wing. She gasps as the bone snaps back into place and mends while the muscle and skin heal up. It takes a minute but her wing is now fully healed.

"And that's it, you can fly off now if you want," I tell her and back away.

She looks at her wing and gives it a few flaps before looking back at me. "Erm, thank you," she says and quickly takes off in the direction the other Gryphons did.

I turn back to the others and look to see them all staring at me. "So, does anyone else need healing before we move on?" I ask them.

A few Ponies have some injuries that I quickly heal before changing back into Janus.

"Right then, I'll open a portal back to the plaza so we can help the others in subduing the mind controlled people," I say and open a portal.

Discord walks over and grins as he cracks his knuckles. "Let's get this over with, I still need to take a looooooong nap to recover my magic," he says and walks through.

"We art having second thoughts about this," Amore says with a grimace as she follows him through.

Everyone else follows and I go in last, once through, I close the portal and notice Ponies and Gryphons laying next to each other out cold or tied up. There's also a few of our own forces injured and getting treatment as the sound of fighting echoes throughout the city.

Discord floats over to the bound mind controlled people and starts freeing them from the spell. "This'll take me a few minutes, just keep them coming!" he says and starts snapping his fingers.

I turn to the others and change back into Aphrodite. "You lot help in subduing the others, I'll start helping our wounded," I tell them getting affirmatives in reply as they run off to help.

Floating over to the injured, I giggle at a few of the Minotaurs who can't help stare at me as I begin healing them, then sending them back out to do their jobs.

As I heal the wounded, I watch the others bringing the controlled people back, either bound or knocked out. A large Unari has a Pony in their mouth where they gently place them next to Discord who unsurprisingly starts hissing at the Unari who nods in reply before slithering off for another target.

More injured pour in and I do my best to heal them to get them back into the fight. It disturbs me that the mind-controlled forces just throw themselves at us without any care for their own well being, even the children and elderly.

The siege lasted about four hours and I've had to heal a good five-hundred people from wounds, but we've subdued the whole city and Discord has freed them all from their mind control. Next, I ordered everyone, both our forces and the freed to loot the city of anything useful to deprive the Nightmare of any more resources in case she gets back faster than we anticipated.

Crystal coins, weapons, armour, food, cloth, artefacts from the castle's vault, even furniture is transported back to Khepria, along with everyone that decided to stay, out of all the four-hundred Gryphons that fled only twenty-two decided to stay and help us.

My mana is low due to all the healing and keeping the portal open for so long. But the changelings have begun the mass building of homes for the five-thousand Ponies that we freed from Canterlot. They only came with us due to Luna, Amore, and Cadence vouching for us.

I'm currently laying in my bed breathing heavily as Hercules, letting my mana recover while Discord said he'll build the trap to dump the Nightmare into. The leaders of the other races are also helping out and are just waiting for me to recover before we begin the next stage of our plan.

I hear the door open and hoof steps approaching the bed. "Still tired?" I hear Chrysalis ask me before she climbs onto the bed and cuddles up beside me.

"I've used up a lot of mana and it'll take me a good hour or two to recover, so how are the ponies and gryphons we saved doing?" I ask her as she giggles and kisses my cheek.

"They're scared, but the ponies that were here before them are helping to settle them in. Since we can't use your portals to gather resources right now and Discord is busy with making the trap for Celestia, teams of ponies and changelings are heading to the forest to gather wood and bring it back for building more homes." she tells me and sighs.

"We'll also need you to fertilise the land outside the city to make more farmland and or towns to feed and house all these ponies as well... our little farm segment won't be enough to sustain all of them." she says and buries her muzzle into my neck.

"Hmmm... I see. We'll have to wait until we've dealt with the Nightmare before we think of expanding. Once we free Celestia, a lot of the ponies can go back to their homes unless they want to stay," I reply.

"True, but the Gryphons that stayed have asked for residence here since you're the one who freed them from their captivity and not their King," she says and then yawns adorably.

I chuckle and wrap my arm around her and hold her close. "Looks like I'm not the only one that's tired," I mumble as my exhaustion is catching up to me.

She giggles and kisses my neck before we both fall asleep to rest for the upcoming battle with the Nightmare.

Chapter 36: A true Nightmare

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Chapter 36: A true Nightmare

My vision returns and the disembodied voice of the woman announcing I have new gods available speaks up.

"New gods and goddesses available!" she says and three god icons appear.

Mulan: The ascended warrior.

A Chinese warrior of both legend and an old cartoon I watched as a child, though she looks far more impressive here than the cartoon portrayed.

Red clothing with gold ornate Chinese trimming. Dark steel armour also with ornate gold trim and jade stones along the belt and edges of the pauldrons. Black hair tied up into a ponytail with a golden hair piece and a long pin through it. Her weapons are a longsword, a spear, and a shortbow. She uses her martial skills to move around the battlefield and her skills grow stronger the more damage she deals with them, but how that'll work here I'll have to see.

Baba Yaga: Witch of the woods.

An old Slavic witch wearing a tattered dress or robe of multiple colours and golden jewellery. She wields a cauldron she rides on and a decorated staff that looks like a large pestle to crush herbs and stone with. The cauldron has skulls and herbs decorating it along with golden ornaments. She uses witchcraft and brews to deal damage as well as summoning her house to attack from a long distance and safety.

I don't know how much I'll use her as being an old crone with sagging breasts would make me cringe, but her knowledge of witchcraft and alchemy might come in handy.

The last god makes me stare wide eyed and I fear what might happen should I ever use him.

Cthulhu: The great dreamer.

The eldritch god himself, the lord of insanity, all of his abilities induce insanity and his ultimate makes him a gigantic being. His skin is purple with green chitinous plates protecting him. His head is green with a squid or octopus like appearance, bone protrusions from his large right forearm and shoulders. His eyes glow a fiery orange and violet glowing runes or markings cover his body. Two large webbed wings frame his body.

I stare at his icon and a bad idea starts forming in my head. If we can't find this nightmare or remove it from Celestia, perhaps using something truly nightmarish would work? I'd have to tell the others to leave so it's just me and Celestia alone so they don't get affected by Cthulhu's madness... but it might be enough to subdue the Nightmare...

I think of becoming the eldritch god, and my body grows twice the size of Khepri and I go cross-eyed as I can feel and move the tentacles hanging from my face. I flex my limbs and wings and feel powerful, breathing deeply, I head over to the buff camps to see how his power works.

I step on the blue buff icon and summon the Cyclops mage, who glares at me but doesn't seem to be going insane. I bring up the detail panel for Cthulhu and read his skills. Seems he inflicts insanity upon successfully landing attacks and can consume an enemies insanity to bolster or strengthen himself.

He can summon a pool of eldritch sludge called the mire, so I try to cast it at the Cyclops. A portal opens above him and the sludge pours out and covers the Cyclops and spreads out around him, filling the area with the tar like substance.

I go wide eyed as the Cyclops doesn't go insane, but instead gets corrupted as their skin turns purple, tentacles burst out from their shoulders and their left arm turns into a long tentacle. His eye turns slitted and green with glowing orange veins, bones protrude from his right forearm and elbow. Wings grow out his back and once the transformation is complete, he walks over to me and kneels.

The sludge slowly starts to shrink until it's all gone, so good thing it doesn't stay to corrupt the ground or others. I have no idea on what to think about this... minion I've created... but I guess I can use it for practice.

I spend a couple hours exploring what I can do, and I've discovered I can make orbs of eldritch energy and launch them at targets. I can also make tentacles of eldritch energy sprout out of the ground to slap away or grab enemies to slam into said ground.

Next I take a deep breath and use his ultimate, Descend into Madness. My body grows in size. my legs are gone and a swirling vortex appears around my waist as if I'm submerged within that sludge, my height reaches up to fifty feet towering over the building in the centre of the area.

I can feel my mana draining so I can't maintain this form indefinitely, the view is nice though.

Flexing my fingers, I create a large orb of eldritch energy that fits in the palm of my right hand. I rear back and throw it as far as I can. It flies a good mile away before detonating in a massive explosion of purple energy. No doubt anyone hit would either go insane, or corrupted...

I cancel my ult and shrink back down. This god will have to be a last resort kind of god, and let's hope I won't have to resort to using him.

I spent the rest of my sleep just practising and making more corrupted buff camp monsters as I tried on a god bot and nothing happened. So that might mean strong or powerful opponents could resist the corruption.

I can feel myself waking up and my vision goes black, with a yawn I look to my left and see Chrysalis cuddling up to me. Orion is asleep in a dog bed by Chrysalis' vanity mirror, not sure where that came from.

With a smile I turn to look to the right and go wide-eyed and freeze... Discord is sleeping on his back, thankfully, a good foot away from me... I notice dark bags under his eyes and sigh. Poor bugger must have done an all nighter to get the 'arena' ready for the Nightmare.

So with that in mind I decide to just cuddle up with Chrysi and ignore him... until he rolls towards me and wraps his right arm around both Chrysi and I, and starts snoring loudly as Chrysalis screams and clings to me.

I cringe as it's right in my ear and as Hercules, I elbow him right in the gut, launching him off the bed and into the wall of our room.

The sound of a goose honking fills the room on impact, but no damage to the wall is present. "Oooohhh... that actually hurt..." Discord says and slowly stands up off the floor.

Chrysi is glaring at Discord while three armoured Changelings are staring at Discord from the door.

"You mind explaining what you were doing in our bed?" I ask him as my Queen and I get off of said bed.

Discord dusts himself off and pouts. "Well, it's not like you gave me a room to stay in or anything. So instead of taking someone else's bed, I just shared yours," he says and then smirks as his body changes shape into a slender female... a naked female with rather large breasts and wide hips, thick thighs, and a plump ass, with soft white hair just going past her jawline. Her large bushy eyebrows shrink down and frame her now symmetrical eyes while her goatee is just gone. "Would you have preferred if I looked like this?" Discord poses and asks in the exact same voice as Discordia's. Chrysalis is now scowling at Discord.

I can't help but stare until I shake my head and sigh. "So why couldn't you just make yourself a bed?" I ask him... her... whatever.

S/he giggles and checks her/his talon's claws. "I ran out of magic from both helping at Canterlot and building the arena. I was spent by the time I was done and had to wait. I'm nowhere near as powerful as I was when we first met, so I had to wait and recover," s/he says and changes back into his normal form.

"Right... Well, let's get breakfast and then we can gather the others to come up with a game plan to fight the Nightmare," I say and stretch my arms and back with a few satisfying pops.

I see Discord's stomach visibly gurgle and he grins. "I couldn't agree more! Also, once I've recovered enough magic, I'll make my own home somewhere around here, so don't bother giving me a room," he replies and whistles as he walks out of the room, the guards parting to allow him to pass.

Chrysi just watches and then sighs. "I'm already getting a headache..." she comments and heads to her mirror to brush her hair.

Once we're ready, we head out to the cafeteria and get our meals. Discord asks for some pork and wine which I give him.

After we're fed, I change to Khepri and we head up where we see a few more houses built, even the Minotaurs, Zebras, Unari, and Ponies are helping the Changelings with the construction. Makes me smile seeing everyone working together.

I spot Jurai and Banaway talking to each other while Avir'ra and two large Unari are just coiled to the side, watching everyone going about their business.

Jurai spots us from the corner of his eye and smiles. "Pantheon, are you feeling better?" he asks me.

I smile as best as I can and nod as we approach. "I am, we're just about to gather everyone together to discuss how to fight the Nightmare. I'll bring Amore, Cadence, and Luna here then we can begin. To be honest, I'm not sure how the Unari will be able to help us," I reply and look towards them. It seems Avir'ra has nodded off.

Banaway nods his head. "We'll wait here for your return. I've been learning a lot from the Changelings I've conversed with and wish to continue learning," he replies.

I chuckle and change to Janus. "Alright, be right back!" I say and open a portal to the Crystal Empire.

Once through I find myself in the throne room with Amore on her throne.

"Ah, Sir Pantheon. We art pleased to see thou up and energetic once more." she says to me, getting up off her throne and walking over.

"Yup. I'm here to get you, Cadence, and Luna for the meeting on how to fight the Nightmare," I reply and float over to her.

We meet in the middle and before either of us can speak, Heart Shine forms her body nearby and smiles at us.

"I thought I felt your magic in here, Pantheon." she says and walks over.

"Hello, Heart Shine. How are you doing now? Is the crack in the heart fixed yet or not?" I reply and ask.

She shakes her head and sighs. "That will take time, but it is healing..." she replies.

"I see. Perhaps I should bring the others here so you can join the meeting as well?" I suggest, while I make a portal back to Khepria.

Again she shakes her head. "No need as I will not be of any help while I recover. I would prefer to not draw any attention to myself in my weakened state," she replies.

I nod in understanding. "Fair enough, so where are Cadence and Luna right now?" I ask them both.

"Our daughter is keeping Luna company in her chambers. We do believe thou knoweth the way," Amore replies.

I smile and quickly make a portal to Cadence's room, spotting both her and Luna sitting on her bed and just chatting. Though that quickly stops as they both yelp at the sight of the portal.

"CARL! Wilt thou cease scaring us!" Cadence yells and sighs with a hoof to her chest. Though Luna hides a giggle behind a hoof.

"Hey! At least I didn't make it behind or above you this time!" I reply with a chuckle. I hear Amore and Heart Shine giggle as well.

Cadence shakes her head as both she and Luna get up off the bed and walk over to the portal.

"So, are thou ready to discuss plans to battle the Nightmare?" the pink alicorn asks me as she and Luna step through the portal.

"Yup, we're heading back to Khepria to go over ideas for either pulling the nightmare out, or restraining her until we can. Hopefully, Discord has some ideas as he mentioned that chaos magic is effective," I reply and make a new portal to the throne room.

Once we're all together, I make a portal to Khepria and we all gather in the keep for our meeting.

With everyone here, I look toward the Draconequus. "So Discord, what is the arena you made like?" I ask him.

He snaps his fingers and creates a 3D hologram of a sealed cavern with glowing lights fused to the ceiling. At the bottom is a pool of liquid love about four feet deep and twelve feet in diameter. Along the upper walls are four platforms big enough for a single person to stand on.

"So here's what I was thinking. Pantheon will portal the Nightmare into the pool of liquid love, then I'll use my chaos magic to make her more vulnerable to the positive energy and leave Celestia's body. Only problem is, We'll need its same kind of magic to even deal any permanent damage to it." Discord says as I have a cup of apple juice from the table of refreshments the Changelings prepared for us.

Jurai then speaks up. "What kind of magic is required?" he asks.

"The magic that created the Nightmares in the first place, forbidden magic of the old gods, like the one I sealed away. Eldritch magic," he replies with a frown.

I can't help but choke on my drink and cough my lungs out. "Love, are you alright?" Chrysalis asks me as I hammer my chest.

Once my coughing fit is gone I stare at him in surprise. Discord asks me with worry. "Do you know about Eldritch magic?" he asks.

"Well... I have a god that's an old god... Cthulhu: The great dreamer..." I reply, getting shocked and terrified expressions.

Banawey speaks after a long pause. "You mean to tell us... You have the magic of the old gods?"

"This god is capable of causing insanity to those he hits with his attacks, and can corrupt and mutate living things into eldritch abominations. But the lore of my world says any mortal that looks upon him goes insane... and I don't want to test if that's true here or not," I reply.

Discord shakes his head. "Well then, I suppose we should see if it's the same magic we need. I'll teleport both myself and Pantheon to a deserted area and I'll see if it's what we need," he says and snaps his fingers.

I blink my eyes and feel a bit light headed, but it seems we're in a large desert with nothing but sand around us.

"Alrighty then, change into the old god and we'll see if you have an insanity aura or at least the magic we need," he asks me.

I wince hoping I don't make him go mad. "Okay, here we go," I reply and change to Cthulhu.

Once changed, I'm taller than discord by four feet and he goes wide eyed at me.

He starts circling me and poking me in different places. "Well, it's safe to say you can't make people go mad just looking at you, but touching them with your hands can, so be careful with that. And yes you have the magic we need to hurt or even kill the Nightmare. Funny that this god is called the Great Dreamer, as the old god that made the nightmares is a god of the dream realm as well," he says and claps his hands.

"Okay, show me some attacks you can do, that will help me see how to restrain the Nightmare and let you deal as much damage as possible to them," he tells me. So I performed all the attacks I learnt last night.

"How's that?" I ask him.

"Hmmmm, I see... Well good news is once the liquid love purges the Nightmare out of Celestia, I'll teleport her out of the pool and you use that mire sludge to corrupt the entire pool, thus either killing or turning it into your minion!" he replies.

I frown in thought for a few seconds before looking at him. "But I have no idea if the Nightmare will stay my minion or revert back. Remember, a real old god made them, I'm just a bootleg version of one," I tell him with a gravelly sigh.

"Then once you dump your mire on them we'll all just hold it down and you beat it to death, simple!" he replies with a grin.

"Welp, the only thing to do is put it into practice," I say and change back into Khepri.

"Let's get started then!" Discord says and snaps his fingers. We're back to where we were and the others either jump or yelp.

Discord claps his hands and whistles. "Good news, is that it's the magic we need! Bad news, there is none. So Let's start filling the trap with the love honey and then Pantheon will go track the Nightmare and pull her into it. Then we'll hold the Nightmare down while he beats the stuffing out of it," he tells everyone.

Jurai then speaks up. "What will the rest of us do?" he asks.

The Draconequus slithers through the air and lands next to the old Minotaur, putting his arm around Jurai's back. "There is a possibility that it could summon or create shadow creatures to help defend it. While we deal with the pest itself, you and your forces will protect us from anything it could bring to the fight," he replies and pats Jurai's shoulder.

Jurai hums in thought and then nods. "Very well, we'll prepare for anything hostile," he says and stands up.

Once everyone agrees with the plan, pods of liquid love are moved to the arena where the base is covered in resin before filled with the love laden fluid.

It takes an hour to fill and carve anti magic runes around the walls to prevent the Nightmare from simply teleporting out. We also tested if my portals work through it and fortunately they do, as it's not magic but a spatial type ability.

The plan is that when I locate the Nightmare, I will freefall as Janus and just as I'm about to land on her, I'll open a portal under her and body slam her into the pool of liquid love, not giving her any time to counter or prepare.

The Zebra, Minotaur, Changelings, Crystal Ponies, and Unari have set up units around the outside of the arena just in case of an enemy attack.

"Are we ready?" I ask Cadence, Amore, and Discord. Unfortunately, due to Luna's horn, she'll be helping in the defence.

"We are ready, Sir Pantheon," Amore replies, with nods from the others.

"Right then, let's go hunt a Nightmare," I say and create a portal over the crater that was once the Crystal Empire's homeland.