_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >AJ
“Various”
~~~~~~~~
 
Sp?r???e?a???d?.??
 
It was quiet now, mostly. Only humming at her, no longer clawing at the corners of her mind. It no longer screeched orders in loud, booming pain, instead merely nudging.
 
And she found, with every passing second, she found it harder to fight against that nudging.
 
“Come on Applejack!”
 
The voices had not gone away, not in the least, but they had changed.
 
“We're all waitin' for ya', cuz!”
 
“But take yer' time, we ain't in a rush.”
 
They were now upbeat, encouraging, supportive, just like they had always been.
 
They would not go away... just like the visions.
 
“Don't worry none, it ain't gonna hurt us, see?”
 
A macabre sight of her granny strutted up, holding a gigantic jagged knife above her head. With a single strike, she swung down before Applejack could stop her, telekinetic magic doing noting to stop the blow.
 
Her hoof fell away with a wet plop, falling wiggling to the floor. No blood poured from it, as if it was a broken piece of a toy rather than a limb.
 
There was a beat, a flash of fire, and then the bloodless wound was closed, and no longer was her family's matron missing any such limbs.
 
“See? Don't matter what comes our way, we're fixed in a flash! Ain't it grand!? This here feller's lookin' out fer' us, yessiree!”
 
She danced around the room in jerky, unnatural looking motions, her bad hip not so much as slowing her pace, not a hint of pain upon her.
 
“C'mon, sis! Ya' said ya' wanted ta' protect me, right? Ain't getting' any better than never gettin' hurt again in my life!”
 
>Yeah...
 
“Ain't gotta worry bout me throwin' mah' back out no more either.”
 
She nodded, a bit of a listless smile on her face. She had always been worried about that with her big brother. One bad slip and he was gone, one bad event would be all it took. Just one little slip up... not that she had ever told him, of course, no need to worry him with...
 
>Wait...
 
“And Ah' don't gotta worry bout sunburns or dehydration neither!”
 
Another fear alleviated. She worried about Brea more than most, knowing full well how deadly that desert could be. Not that she said that to his face, he knew...
 
>Huh...
 
“We can come back, dear.”
 
Her heart seized as two more stepped forwards, emerging from the plants surrounding them.
 
“All things can be healed.”
 
“Even us.”
 
“But it isn't ready yet.”
 
“You have to help it.”
 
“You can help it bring us back.”
 
“You need to help it, Applejack.”
 
“Help it with the Sp??r??é?a????.???”
 
“Help it, Applejack.”
 
“Help it...”
 
Slowly, they began to walk backwards, being consumed once more.
 
“Or we can't come back.”
 
>MA! PA!
 
Her hoof shot up, reaching out to them in tune with magic flaring upon her horn to grab hold of them and bring them back to her, but she could not. She gripped nothing but air.
 
“Help it, Applejack.”
 
Tears streamed from her eyes as she stumbled off her desk, stumbling to the ground as she made a mad dash for the pair that vanished more and more with every second. Her hat flung free as she raced towards them, desperation coursing through her viens.
 
>COME BACK! AH' DON'T WANNA LOSE YOU AGAIN!
 
“Help the Spr??e?a??d.? Applejack.”
 
“The Sp?r?éàd???.”
 
In unison they sang.
 
“S??r???e??a???d??.?? S??p???r????a??d???.???S?p??r??e???a?d???.”
 
>DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!
 
S????P????R???É???A?D???!?????
 
In the blink of an eye, they were gone.
 
Her cheek met wall hard as she failed to stop herself in time, the fungus that had once covered the wall totally gone. Sobs wracked her body as she leaned against it, shaking legs no longer able to support her body.
 
>G-give 'em back... give 'em back...
 
But the voice in her head merely hummed away.
 
?pre?ad
 
“Come on, Applejack, we're all waiting on you here.”
 
She turned, and there they were. Twilight, Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, all of them together again, the Elements of Harmony.
 
“Really, Darling, what did take you so long?”
 
“Yeah! Come on, now we're all connected! Now it's like a great big happy super party!”
 
“No more animals having to eat each other, no more fighting.”
 
“And with these new powers, I can go SO FAST and never get hurt!”
 
“It's amazing, Applejack. But we need you.”
 
“Yeah, we can't do it alone! With your power, nothing could stop us! Nothing!”
 
“So, ready to finally join together on one last adventure?”
 
And at last, she couldn't deny them any longer.
 
>...Ah...
 
She felt her resistance just fall away, breaking down before her like glass.
 
>...Ah'll...
 
Slowly, step by step, she moved to join them, moved to take her place amongst the others. Her friends, her family, all of them. They could be together again. Now, forever, they could be together.
 
>...Ah'll help the S???p???-
 
~GRRAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!~
 
The roar reverberated right to her very core, freezing her dead in her tracks. That sound was not one she had heard in a very, very long time. But no matter how many years passed by, no matter how many decades or centuries she lived, she knew she would never, ever, forget that sound.
 
The light, happy feeling that had been building burned away, set aflame by something... else.
 
“Applejack? Aren't you going to help?”
 
>What did you do to mah' dragon.
 
The rest of them hesitated, losing that happy, light air as she glared right at them.
 
“We helped him. Just like we helped you. He's happy now.”
 
>What. Did you do. To. Mah. Dragon.
 
As one, the room began to distort, as if her vision was a steady pond that someone had tossed a rock into.
 
“Don't you want to help him too? Don't you want to-”
 
>WHAT DID YOU DO!?
 
Her magic positively blazed upon her head. Untrained, unfocused power lashed out, shooting right through the illusions of her friends, clean past them, and out to the wall beyond.
 
The wall beyond her desk was blasted away, windows and other barricades shattering beneath her power. In the blink of an eye, where had once been wall now tasted open air.
 
And at last, she could see it all.
 
>N-no...
 
S?????????????A????D?????!?????
 
Her insides began to burn as she felt it spread, reaching into her very core with every second, her magic just barely holding it off as she looked out on all the creatures tearing the place apart, all the twisted monsters that had once been her soldiers and citizens, all of the pain..
 
>W-what did Ah' do...
 
S?????R??????????D??!??
 
She stumbled down, falling onto her chest as the breath was taken from her, no more able to move under the pressure.
 
>Did... Did Ah' bring it here...
 
S?P???R?????E?????A?????!??
 
>What did Ah' do..
 
????????R???È??A??D???!?????
 
At last... she stood up again, and looked right out into the world beyond.
 
>...WHAT DID YOU DO!?
 
He was several blocks away, but she could see him just as clear as day. That towering body, those stark violet scales, his earthy green spines, those razor sharp claws. The distance between them may as well have been an inch. Even from here, she could see right into his cold, empty, dead eyes.
 
Covered from eyelid to eyelid in red.
 
>WHAT DID YOU DO!?
 
S?P???R????A????????!??
 
Her chest throbbed painfully again, but she remained standing, fighting against it with everything she had.
 
>This... this ain't helpin' anythin'! This is just makin' it like you want it! This ain't livin! This ain't even existing! You... I'm not gonna let you win!
 
Resolutely, she lifted her hat from where it had been cast aside, placing it right back atop her head.
 
>YOU AIN'T GONNA WIN!
 
She took to the air, hooves shaking as they lifted from the ground. For a single beat of time, she felt the air on her wings, and the rush of wind in her hair. Her focus laser like, aimed squarely on the dragon beyond as she cleared high above the castle and prepared to dive at him. In that moment, she knew her mission.
 
In the next, it ceased to matter.
 
A blur of ebony crashed hard into her, knocking her back with the speed of a fright train as she and her attacker ripped shingles from the top of Canterlot castle on landing. Her wings burned as they scraped against the top of the castle, twisting and bending painfully before she rolled to a stop, the weight above her jumping off just before she could collide with one of the many towers.
 
“So sorry.”
 
The orange princess hacked painfully as she nursed her bruised chest, eyes blurry as she tried to look upon the one who assaulted her, only making the vague outline of a face. Still, what she saw was enough to tell her what species she now faced.
 
>What're ya doin' ya dang idiot! Ya' need ta get back in the ballroom!
 
“So... They're in the ballroom.”
 
Confused, dazed eyes cleared at last, and finally she could look upon the changeling that brushed past her without a care.
 
The heavily infected, red stained changeling.
 
>Who... who are you?
 
“Nobody.”
 
Her world was thrown for a loop when she realized she had not been subjected to another illusion as thought, but did indeed stare upon an infected changeling... who could talk.
 
She was infected through and through, but she could speak.
 
The time to confront Spike would come, Applejack decided, but now was the time for answers.
 
>Don't give me that! Ya' ain't one of the critters in that ballroom, so who are you!? Why can ya' still talk!?
 
The changeling stopped at the edge of the castle's roof, looking out over the city with a calm eye.
 
“I'm nobody... just like you.”
 
Like her brother had just bucked her right in the face, it hit her.
 
>You can hear it too, can't ya'? It talks ta' you like it does ta' me.
 
Even now, she would not turn to her, eyes still glazed over as she looked out over the city.
 
“It's a nice city. White, shining... it will look so different when it's done.”
 
Resolutely, the orange mare stomped down, holding her head high.
 
>That ain't gonna happen, we're gonna stop it!
 
“You can't.”
 
No emotion. A simple statement of fact, nothing else.
 
>Oh yes we can! We're gonna rip you right out of this city! Iffin' it ain't gonna listen ta' me, then you tell this hunk o' plant we're gonna turn this whole mess upside down and send it packin'! We're gonna stop it!
 
“Then why haven't you yet?”
 
The infection in her chest throbbed painfully as she hesitated.
 
>Twi...She just needs a bit more time, that's all!
 
At last, the changeling turned to her, the barest sparks of interest in her eyes.
 
“How much? An hour?”
 
>Sure!
 
“Its been five. Longer if you want to count when I arrived in Manehatten.”
 
Mentally filing away that information, she continued on.
 
>Well... then she just needs a bit more!
 
“And if she doesn't in an hour, will you say she needs more?”
 
>However long it takes, A'm willin' ta wait!
 
“Will you wait a day? A night? A year?”
 
>As long as it takes, Ah'lll keep fightin!
 
“Will you wait forever?”
 
>Right till the end of time! And another day ta' be sure!
 
“What about them? Will they wait too?”
 
She gestured back, towards where screams of chaos and the pain of the attacked filled air, where even now so many fled in terror from the easy pace of the dragon that stood tall in their streets, where even now one by one fangs and claw ended the resistance even as they fought for their lives.
 
>...Yeah, they'll keep fighting. They won't stop! NEVER! Not Twi, not Dash, not Celestia, not Shining Armor, none of them! Iffin it's just us left, we'll fight till the end! Till the last second ticks off that big ol' clock of time! We won't stop! We'll never stop!
 
Her courage started to bubble in her chest, burn with a passion that shrank the infection within her ever further down. Proudly, she looked right into those empty, soulless eyes, and she smirked.
 
>And ya' know what? It ain't just us! Ah'm willin' ta' bet bits ta' barters that ya' ain't managed ta' take over everywhere yet, have ya'? How many are still standin'? How many are fightin' ya' off, hidin' from ya', still outta your reach? Ya' ain't brought this world ta' fall inta' step with you yet, and ya' never will! We'll find some way ta' fight you back, every time! We'll keep fightin' till the sky itself splits open and we all go ta' the big apple orchard in the sky! You ain't never gonna win like this! You ain't never gonna spread like this! You won't, no matter how much you want it! Yer' done!
 
Silence between the two hung heavy, drowned out by the screams and carnage down below.
 
To Applejack's surprise, the changeling was the first to look away.
 
“She's right... it will take too long to spread.”
 
The orange princess prepared to continue with her speech, but found she could not. A sudden, powerful ringing exploded in her ears. Not a voice, but... a feeling, like she was seeing gestures with eyes closed, nothing directly said, but everything understood.
 
“I can't do that for you.”
 
More of it wracked her body, a sound akin to a loud screech of a banshee wailing in her head.
 
“I can't.”
 
The hurricane in her head grew, almost bulging her skull out with pained shoves against her temple.
 
“...Maybe.”
 
She suddenly saw flashes. Images within her mind, ones she could not explain. Bombs. She saw an endless streams of bombs in her skull.
 
“...That might work.”
 
In an instant, the pain went away, leaving the orange princess gasping on the ground.
 
>W-why...
 
Finally, the changeling's attention returned.
 
>Why does it need us... ones like us that it don't want to directly control? Iffin' it can do anything... why not do everything...
 
She regarded her thoughtfully, her chitinous head tilting ever so slightly to the side.
 
“Because it wouldn't understand.”
 
>Understand... what?
 
“Why when I said they were in the ballroom... your eyes looked over there.”
 
Her blood ran cold as her head turned up, wide eyes goggling at the outstretched hoof on the changeling.
 
The one pointing right to the ballroom.
 
“That b-... changeling is smart. She is trying to stop the ???pr??e???a???d??... but she can't stop this.”
 
Her head swiveled around unnaturally, eyes wide as they looked back into the city, her mouth hanging open with a wordless gape.
 
Across the city of Canterlot, the great beast paused... and turned.
 
Right.
Towards.
The castle.
 
>N-no... NO! You can't! Those are your kin! That's yer' family!
 
The changeling showed no emotion as she took to the sky, attention gone from the princess below.
 
“No... it's not. That was her hive... and she died."
 
More flashes crossed the pony's vision as she kept her eyes locked onto the departing changeling. Dirt, plants, seeds, she saw so many seeds. Things that made no sense, held no context to what had happened, but played on and on until she at last looked away.
 
A part of Applejack wanted to give chase, to beat her for information, to rip out every detail she could from the departing changeling
 
But she couldn't.
 
She knew she couldn't.
 
There was only one thing to do.
 
She turned, and she ran.
 
And she prayed with everything she had she could make it there before Spike.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >SA
"Celestia"
'Spitfire'
~~~~~
 
The two royals knew what it was like to have the whole world stop. They'd both felt it at some point, a time when the whole wide world just ceased to be, when the globe stopped spinning and nothing else mattered.
 
For Celestia, it was when she first looked upon the twisted new form of her sister.
 
For Shining Armor, it was when he had seen his daughter gripped by a giant monster.
 
But now, in this moment, they were graced with the fact they could both share this feeling, this sinking horrifying feeling.
 
'Are you both okay?'
 
They were not.
 
The white alicorn instinctively pressed to the side against her returned captain of the guard for support, her hoof shooting up and covering her mouth.
 
Beside her, the prince only strained his eyes and clenched his teeth, nostrils flaring out as he took a deep breath and stood strong.
 
"No..."
 
The beast ignored them as he stomped through the city, smoke billowing out from his spore-ridden nostrils and wafting in the wind. He was determined, they could all see that, heading for something...
 
The castle.
 
"No... no, not him..."
 
Sadly, the white unicorn nodded, his heart crushed as he watched it go.
 
>...We have to stop him. Just long enough for Twi to...
 
He felt her intake a breath sharply against his side, the implications already setting in.
 
'You guys know him?'
 
They shared a look, a heartfelt, understanding look.
 
>Yeah.
 
The two royals strode past the bewildered pegasus, a harsh look in their eyes.
 
They stood tall as they looked upon the dragons form, and readied to charge.
 
>...He's family...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >Arana
*Reggie*
~~~~~
 
Reggie the Cockroach does not know exactly when it gained the capacity to actually feel shame. But a large part of it felt it nonetheless as it looked at the changeling stuffed in the corner of the A-teams meeting room, a newspaper over her head and shaking like a leaf.
 
She had only caught a glimpse of the dragon stomping towards the castle currently, but that had been plenty.
 
*Chitter*
 
>It will so work! If he can't see me, he won't come at me!
 
He did not have the capacity to sigh. It was simply biologically impossible.
 
But he really, really wished he could.
 
*Chitter?*
 
She, on the other hand, could sigh, a sad, defeated one to boot.
 
>...I know, I just don't know what else to do. You know?
 
Pathetically, she pulled the newspaper off her head, tossing it to the ground before her.
 
>When it... when it happened to Momma, I just hid, and hid, and waited for it all to stop...
 
All eight of her legs curled inward, shuddering as she hugged herself.
 
>It didn't stop, did it? It just waited till later, then it came back.
 
Tears started to dot the corner of her vision as she looked to the tiny bug, cheek straining as she started to choke.
 
>Is... is this my fault? Did I do this? When I came out, was... was something there with me? Was I supposed to just stay down in there? Did I... did I let it out?
 
He had no answer for her, of course. For this, or what she said next.
 
>Should... should I go back? It didn't get me while I was down there, maybe I should just...
 
Wide, tear strained eyes looked out the window again.
 
>It was the scariest thing ever. Momma was always scary, everyone else said, but they don't know what really scary stuff is. Really scary stuff is the stuff you can't stop. You could stop Momma, if you really tried. Couple of times... she almost died, even. You could beat her, no matter how scary she was.
 
She closed her eyes, choking again.
 
>But this stuff... momma couldn't beat it. She was smart. She was really smart, no matter what everyone else said, she could figure out all kinds of stuff, do some cool things with her powers, but this beat her. She couldn't...
 
She leaned forwards, her head tapping on the glass.
 
>And now, it's gonna happen again.
 
Her companion could only watch, unable to move, unable to go and help, unable to do anything really.
 
>I don't... wanna go hide again. I wanna stay up here, with everyone... I don't want to go down and then when I come out later they're all dead... again. Not like that, not again.
 
A hoof reached out, tapping the glass as she stared at what approached her, a beast beyond the capabilities of most ponies... or even changeling Queens, for that matter.
 
>I want to help them stop him. I'm not a fighter, but I can't just watch. Cause I know it does stuff to you, changes you, makes you different. He doesn't want to do it, but he's gonna. He needs to be stopped before he really hurts someone. But... I'm scared. How can they fight that? How can anybody? Dragons are super, super strong. He's so big. He's so... so... there's nothing anyone could...
 
The near silent noise of 'tap tap tap' somehow made it over the thundering steps. A sound of tiny feet on tiny paper.
 
She just barely managed to pry her eyes from the massive creature, towards the small little insect jumping up and down in front of her.
 
No doubt, right now, that cockroach was giving what it thought was a stirring, motivational *Chitter* to get her back on track and fighting again. To fill her with courage and get her fighting.
 
Perhaps it would have... if every single drop of her attention had not been grabbed hold of by the paper upon which the little bug stood upon.
 
She roughly picked it up, sending the poor thing tumbling off, and looked upon it with wide, wondrous eyes.
 
And then, she screamed.
 
>...APPLEJAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKKKKKKK!
 
Then she ran.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >Dash
"Pinkie"
'Rarity'
[Vekir]
{Fluttershy}
~~~
 
The regret they all felt for letting their friend get like this was palpable, all four of them sinking with the thought they could have prevented this if only they had the stomach for it.
 
They weren't going to make that mistake again.
 
>Okay, team Dash is Awesome, PLANS!
 
"We call ourselves something else! Like, Team Stop Spike! Or Team Dragon Attacks! Team Dia isn't as cool as TSS or TDAAAA!... There's only one A, but I drew it out so you got the point."
 
>Vetoed! Next plan!
 
'We could try and trip him up and tie him down?'
 
>Pretty sure those spikes could cut through anything, next plan!
 
[We stab his eyes and chew off his legs!
 
>...
 
[...Oh! And not kill him, that is muchly important!]
 
>...
 
[What?]
 
'Darling, I'm fairly sure that One, that would kill him regardless, and two, we would be chewing on infected dragon scales.'
 
[Oh... Vekir sees your point! Instead we stab in thinking part in head!]
 
"The brain would kill him."
 
[Not if you are careful!]
 
"Yeah, it would."
 
[...Vekir has been misinformed in life...]
 
>Come on, team! Real answers!
 
'Darling, we all want to stop him, but to be frank he's a little out of our league right now. We couldn't stop him when we still had the ability to actually touch him without instantly going down, we're hardly in a position to be taking him on in this state.'
 
She roared in frustration, turning on the white alicorn.
 
>Don't give me that! You've got all these powers, right!? You got this big boost that turned you into a freaking immortal super being!? DO SOMETHING! Use your alicorn powers and just... do something! Throw a meteor at him! Turn him into a toy! Make him into a dress, whatever! You're the one who got those stupid wings and magical powers instead of us! You never do anything with all this stupid power! Do something freaking useful with them for ONCE!
 
Silence hung heave between the two for a long, long beat. Dash's hoof had pressed firmly into her horrified, gaping mouth, sadly long since past the point where it could have prevented the hurt on the others face. A deep, pained hurt that caused her to choke, and look away in shame.
 
>Ah... ah, dang, Rar, I didn't mean it like... it's just a bad...
 
She simply nodded in response, too unsure of herself to open her mouth to speak.
 
>I didn't mean you're useless, come on, you're still... you're Rarity! You've done lots of good things-
 
'Like what!?'
 
Her voice was shrill, harsh and morose at the same time.
 
>Well, like... like all that charity stuff!... Not the gun thing, the like... charity charity. You did good there. And I mean, you saved the world, like, a bunch of times! And helped cheer ponies up in the Empire, and hey, we all saved Fluttershy, right? That was good. You've done lots of good...
 
'I meant with these stupid powers.'
 
She flinched at her own words being so mockingly thrown back at her, a bit pained at the thought.
 
More so when she realized she couldn't really think of anything.
 
>...Come on, not now, Rarity. We can just... uh... help me out here, guys?
 
Pinkie shrugged, equally unsure.
 
'Face it... this was a joke. I'm just a stupid... useless... I'm a joke.'
 
The earth pony walked up to her, helpfully throwing her foreleg around the white princess.
 
"H-heyyyy, it's okay! Don't get so down on yourself Rarity! You've got these things cause you deserved them! Elements of Harmony saving the day and getting rewarded, right?"
 
'Unless it's you two.'
 
They both flinched hard at that.
 
>Yeah... well, I mean, I don't want those stupid powers anyway.
 
"I'd probably go crazy with them."
 
>Heh, could you imagine? "Princess Pinkie's first decree, PARTY FOREVER!"
 
"And this is my counsel, lord Gummy!"
 
>Mr and Mrs Cake are now the head of state!
 
"Nahhhh, I'd get thrown out long before that on corruption charges, I can't say no to daddy! If mommy came up with some cookies, I'd probably sign over Canterlot Castle!"
 
>See? We're better off not having these powers, trust me. If nothing else, I mean, you haven't done anything too terrible with them.
 
"Step up from Lu-... nobody tell her I said that."
 
She just nodded sadly, angrily brushing at her wings and only sort of listening to them.
 
>...Fluttershy, back us up here, tell her that-... Fluttershy?
 
Three heads shot up, suddenly looking around in a panic.
 
"Fluttershy? Where'd you-"
 
[AH HA! Vekir has located her!]
 
Helpfully, the morlock pointed up.
 
And up.
 
And up.
 
>...Rainbooms...
 
Right to the former-pegasus hanging in the sky.
 
Directly in front of the dragon.
 
None had seen, but she had left right when Dash had gone off on her rant, every word spoken to Rarity cutting into her just as deeply, if not more so. More than the others, she felt like a burden sometimes, useless, all this chaos power... and nothing to show for it.
 
That was going to change.
 
She had tried her stare first, of course. Tried to glare him back into submission and sending him off without any violence. This, sadly, was as effective as a puft of wind.
 
So, with a stern resolution, she decided she was finally going to have something to show for it.
 
{...Huh...}
 
There was a weird feeling in her right now. A strange desire she was not accustomed to.
 
For once, she did not wish her friends to come to her aid, she did not wish for help from Discord, she didn't want anyone else beside her.
 
...Except, strangely-
 
{I kind of wish Chrysalis was here.}
 
She cast that feeling aside, knowing it would do no good, and instead delved deep, deep into her powers. Into that energy that had bubbled away inside of her for what seemed like forever. Always there, but never did she wish to touch.
 
{Stop.}
 
He did not, stomping forward with that same unstoppable, unbeatable determination.
 
{I... said...}
 
Her hoof cocked back.
 
{STOP!}
 
And from the sky, a massive stop sign the size of a small house shot from the sky, burning with power as it entered the atmosphere and honed in on him like a missile.
 
It collided, strong and true.
 
And then shattered into a million pieces before vanishing, the dragon having not even slowed enough to acknowledge it happened.
 
{...STOP!}
 
She swung again, this time an entire flock of candy canes with giant cotton candy wings dashing in from the sky in perfect file, tiny little drills on the tips of their hooks spinning away as they all charged.
 
Again, they landed, and shattered into nothing.
 
{STOP!}
 
From every shadow they rose, animals made of candy and confetti and treats and all sorts of things. Living licorice lions, bountiful blueberry bears, swinging silver sliding snakes, even a crusted cake crocodile or two. They all charged at her whim, attacking like the call of the wild had been sounded immediately following an explosion at a candy factory. As one, they attacked.
 
And all shattered away.
 
{STOOOOOOOOOOP!}
 
From the very earth itself, it rose. A gigantic pony, a facsimile of the one who had called it, made entirely of, strangely, rock candy. With a delicate squeak, the giant faux-Fluttershy swung her hoof.
 
And shattered.
 
{...S-stop?}
 
Nothing else came. No more creatures to her whims, no more creations of the sky, nothing.
 
{...Please?}
 
He would not.
 
{...W-wait...}
 
That's when she noticed the tiny particles flying.
 
Towards him... inside of him.
 
And the spores grew.
 
{...oh... OH! OH MY GOODNESS!}
 
To the horror of those down below, she sounded... excited.
 
{That's why he didn't come! He's not running away! He's not leaving me! This stuff figured out how to... oh my goodness! I feel so silly! I can't believe I thought he'd just ignore me like this! He didn't abandon me! He didn't-}
 
>FLUTTERSHY LOOK OUT!
 
She froze, just in time to notice the dragon staring right at her, mere feet away.
 
{...Oh dear.}
 
Her words were cut off under the backhand of the dragon, the building she was flung into shattering under her weight.
 
"FLUTTERSHY!"
 
No response.
 
'SPEAK TO US! FLUTTERSHY!?'
 
Still nothing.
 
>...F-fluttershy?...
 
...
 
{SCREEEEEEEE!}
 
>NOOO!
 
Their twisted friend broke out from the rubble, red spores all over her body and her eyes glazed over. Below, her friends could only look on in horror, unable to tear their eyes away even as the dragon above them walked past, uncaring to them.
 
"F-Fluttershy..."
 
Her pink maned head turned to them, those eyes still dead and empty.
 
And then, she jumped.
 
[VEKIR THINKS WE SHOULD BE RUNNING NOW!]
 
They didn't have time to argue, not really.
 
They just turned, and ran.
 
Fluttershy right in their heels.
 
Above them, the dragon continued on, unabated.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >Screwloose
“12”
‘Roller’
______
 
“So….”
 
>Hm?
 
“Not dead yet, I’m seeing.”
 
>You’re implying I haven’t already replaced my mortal heart with a cybernetically enhanced solar battery, perv.
 
“…”
 
‘She hasn’t. Immorality would bore a mare like her. I mean, not being able to die during a chemical explosion? Not being able to slip off the plane of life after a genetically altered mutant goes rampant and tears her limb from limb? Ha, no. She’d consider a permanent badge of honor on her memory.’
 
>Still so knowledgable of me even after such a long separation, I’m flattered….
 
“…”
 
Betwixt the squelching sounds of a hoof being dissected and the popping of the spores threatening to encase 12’s entire leg, 12 couldn’t help but glance from High Roller- Snake Eyes, whoever the fuck- to Screwloose, his mind a sea of static mixed with garbled monotones of something wanting him to “spread”….
 
He ignored it. There were other pressing matters.
 
“Old friend, I take it?”
 
>Annoyance. Pest. Snake. Acquaintance. He has so many lovely labels, perv.
 
For a mare struggling to keep conscious, Screwloose possessed a shockingly elegant touch with her scalpel, using it to peel back infected layers of her severed hoof before transferring the shavings to a nearby microscope.
 
>Feel free to pick from the above, or use ‘em all.
 
“…Okay.”
 
Without glancing back or leaving his position just outside the door, High Roller called out.
 
‘Hey, perv.’
 
Why did hearing someone else call him that cause 12 to cringe internally…?
 
“Um, my name is-”
 
‘Unimportant. Listen. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Screwloose isn’t exactly your average mare. She’s crazy-’
 
>Insane.
 
‘Crazy insane. Anyway, I’m not sure how long you’ve been invested with her but the fact that you’re on an operating table and STILL breathing is a sign she favors you to some degree. So, as the fellow who’s about two minutes from risking his life to buy the two of you more time, care to do me a solid?’
 
12 was confused.
 
Risk his life… to buy more time?
 
‘I’ll take your silence as a ‘yes’. Do your best to convince the bird to fly this coop, would you? She has wings, she’s meant to fly, far and away from here. That, and I value a semi-perfect track record for missions. But that’s neither here nor there. Think you can do it?’
 
The confusion only amplified for the infected Changeling and, perhaps sensing this, Screwloose gave a fatigued chuckle.
 
Beyond her titter, another sound was beginning to reach them….
 
‘Pervert! I asked you a question!’
 
It was an odd yet terribly recognizable sound….
 
‘Can you. Do it?’
 
The sound of frayed hooves scrapping against the ground, of ragged breathing and agonized snarls….
 
>Well, pervert? Can you? Think you can convince me?
 
And then he saw them, a tightly knit pack of spore-covered infected emerging from far down the hallway, stumbling and lurching blindly towards the one living organism not yet given their gift.
 
“I... I can do it!”
 
He didn’t know what had caused him to not only agree but yell it out but 12 snapped his head at Screwloose.
 
“You need to fucking go back to wherever that guy wants you to go!”
 
There was a fair bit of amusement in High Roller’s grin as he shook his legs, limbering up to welcome their oncoming guests.
 
Screwloose, however, glanced up for a moment or two in thought.
 
>M’kay, a decent start sure. Now tell me why I should, really sell it for me.
 
Nothing was ever easy in High Roller’s line of work.
 
Each task handed down never failed to either make his head hurt or make him ponder other equally lucrative ventures….
 
But, every so often, he got one that made the effort worth it.
 
And 12’s comedically brain-addled attempts at persuading a one-hoofed, anemic Screwloose while he himself prepared to fight to buy her time made the whole thing more than worth it.
 
‘Well, that and the big fat bonus for a job well done. Time to earn that pay....’
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >Applejack
"???"
'???'
"'Various"'
[???]
{???}
~~~~
 
Run.
 
Run.
 
Run with everything she had.
 
That was all she thought, that was all she knew. Running, running and running.
 
Running down the hall.
 
Past the creatures who paid her no mind.
 
Past the guards and staff who even now fought for their lives.
 
Past the depictions of her accomplishments in the stained glass
 
Past the throne room that still stood proud.
 
Down, down, down the hall...
 
Until, finally, she arrived.
 
There were no infected banging on the door, to her surprise. Not so much as a scratch on the door to indicate they had been there at all.
 
She choose not to question this, her mind too full with the sound of thundering feet against stone streets. She knew it would be locked, never questioned it for a second it would be barricaded, but knew full well this would be pointless in the face of such power.
 
As such, there was little else she could do but use her own power, and blast the doors right off their hinges, the barricades behind them broken away in the blink of an eye, and the ballroom at last exposed to her.
 
It was only pure, reflexive instinct that she jumped to the side just before the hellfire of green lasers shot past.
 
>STOP SHOOTIN' FER LAND SAKES STOP SHOOTIN'!
 
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"
 
The energy blasts died down, just long enough for her to peak around the corner and see a single file line of the changelings, still poised and ready to unleash hell once more, backups right behind that line and ready to step forwards in case the front line ran low on power.
 
It was a pretty bitter pill to swallow when she realized they were way more organized and skilled then her own guard.
 
She stepped out into the center of the door way, careful not to step over the threshold and into the ballroom beyond. Several of the changelings gasped when they saw the small infection upon her chest and prepared to fire again, but a stern hoof in the air ceased that.
 
>Ah' know, it ain't lookin' good, but Ah'm holdin' it back fer' now. But that ain't important. Right now, ya'll need ta' git' goin' like yer' tails on fire.
 
Not a one of them moved.
 
>Didn't ya' hear me!? GET! Ya' need ta' get outta this room, now!
 
Again, they remained in place, not a single one moving.
 
>Don't ya' hear those steps!? That ain't a dang earthquake, a dragon is on its was right now, and it's gonna come straight here and tear this place apart!
 
They looked to each other, murmurs of curiosity and a touch of fear spreading out through the ranks, but still none moved.
 
>Ain't you got a lick o' sense!? Why ain't ya' runnin'!?
 
'Our Queen told us to stay put.'
 
The others nodded in agreement with the changeling who had spoken, one who nervously stepped forth from the clean file.
 
Applejack's jaw dropped as she openly stared at him, flabbergasted.
 
>Ya... ya' can't be serious! Didn't ya' hear me!? A DRAGON is comin' this way! It's gonna be here any second!
 
'But... she told us to stay put.'
 
Another resounding agreement.
 
>YOU ALL CAN'T BE SERIOUS!
 
'We are.'
 
She started to feel the heat boil up inside her, her horn flickering with untested magic just itching to get out.
 
'...You better talk to her.'
 
The changelings parted in locked unison, peeling away to reveal a distinctly white, timid looking pony. He was shoved forwards without regard, pushed right to the front of the line and next to the changeling who had spoken.
 
"...Uh..."
 
She blinked awkwardly, goggling openly at the pony before her. He nervously shuffled his hooves, too intimidated to look her right in the eye.
 
>...Actarius?
 
"Oh, hey, you remember me. That's cool."
 
>Why the heck are you in the ballroom?
 
"Me? Oh, I uh... I've been staying here for a while. Not supposed to be permanent, just... you know, till I get another job."
 
She just continued to stare, wide eyed and gobsmacked.
 
>In here? You've been livin' in here?
 
"Right."
 
>...Secretly?
 
He blinked, finally looking her in the face.
 
"What? No, JJ asked and Queen Chrysalis said I could live here."
 
Her hooves waved in time with her gaping, fish like flapping of her mouth, information not quite processed yet.
 
>And...she's okay with it?
 
"They all are. Right guys?"
 
A strange mixtures of nods and uncaring shrugs filled the room.
 
"See? Not a big deal."
 
>Kinda is...
 
Her head rocked from side to side, her eyes refocusing with laser like intent.
 
>Well, then you tell them they gotta run! Iffin' they listen ta' you, you gotta get them outta here!
 
Suddenly, the wall beside her looked very interesting.
 
"...Well, I mean, they don't listen to me, I just kind of... stay here."
 
>That don't matter, you gotta-
 
"And that aside... maybe we should stay?"
 
Her jaw dropped yet again, pupils dilating in rage.
 
"I'm just saying, if their Queen told them to stay here, well, maybe she's got a pretty good reason?"
 
Her orange hoof nearly broke her own nose.
 
"I'm just saying! She probably planned-"
 
>What!? Ya' think she planned for a gal danged DRAGON!?
 
"...Maybe?"
 
She took a long, deep calming breath, unconsciously pushing back the infection throbbing against her chest. Harshly, she looked right into the ex-soldiers eyes, unwavering as she stared him down, but still careful not to pass the threshold and enter the ballroom.
 
>Now you listen here you gad danged idiot. She ain't planned fer jack squat. How much time you think she had ta' pull anythin' off, eh? How much time, really, do you think she could give ta' learnin' bout these things in order ta' prepare? And a dragon? You think, in yer' fuzzy empty head, that she planned fer' a DRAGON in the course o' what, an hour? Less? How smart do you think she is!?
 
 
Nervously, he fidgeted, wavering under her glare.
 
"She... she had to have figured out something in case they got in, right? She wouldn't just tell Eighteen to tell us to stay put and then not do anything."
 
>OF COURSE SHE WOULD!
 
The princess stomped, steam practically pouring from her nostrils.
 
>Of course she would do somethin' that blockheaded! None o' her plans make any sense, and they never work out! She's got the plannin' skill of Applebloom on bender! She's got the foresight of someone with a six second memory! She ain't got a single well thought out plan in her whole head! Iffin' Ah' had ta' choose between her and a drunk Rarity, I'd pick the dang dress horse everytime!
 
She looked away from him, towards the stunned group beyond.
 
>And that goes fer' all of you! Ferget what she's said, ya' ain't gonna make it if ya' stay here! She's only tellin' ya' to because she wants ta' look like she's in control! She wants ya' ta' think she's this big master planner! Well, how's about these apples, can ya' name ONE time her plans actually worked and didn't almost get her killed!?
 
They all looked to each other again, suddenly much, much less sure than they had been a bit ago.
 
>Ya' can't, and that's why yer' in MAH ballroom. Not yer' own home, not a castle YOU control, it's a ballroom ah' stuck you in because Ah' didn't have enough rooms in the dungeon! And why're ya' here? Because yer' hair brained Queen nearly got ya'll turned ta' lolipops or whatever when she managed ta' tick off DISCORD! Now, Ah'm gonna tell you again, and this time you better listen... GET! OUT! AND! RUN!
 
There was a long, empty beat, punctuated by the sound of thunderous thumping, before several shuffled back, towards the rear exit. Slowly, the others started to join them, until most were nearly touching he back wall.
 
'No.'
 
Only the changeling who had been silent next to Actarius this whole time did not.
 
'NO!'
 
He stepped forwards, between the two ponies and dangerously close to Applejack.
 
'NO NO NO! My Queen did NOT just leave us here without a plan! She wouldn't just leave us here to get taken over! No! You're wrong! You're just wrong!'
 
"JJ..."
 
He let out a 'HURPMH!', turning his back on the orange princess.
 
'You all can run, but I'm not going anywhere! I believe in her! She's... She's a good Queen, we just need to trust her! We just need to trust her...'
 
His ears drooped in sadness when none of them stepped away from the back of the ballroom.
 
"...Yeah."
 
A white hoof slung over his shoulders, smiling down at him.
 
"She's probably got a plan."
 
He threw back a smile to the orange pony, who even now looked at them with a mix of incredulousness and pity.
 
"Sorry, princess, but he's right. I don't know a whole lot about her, but I know she does care about these guys, and would never leave them like you said. I believe in her. Sorry, but we're staying right-"
 
The sound of wood cracking was their first warning.
 
The sound of stone splitting told them they were under attack.
 
The sight of the very top of the ballroom being lifted up told them from whence it came.
 
The growl of the lavender, infected dragon told them they were out of time.
 
>RUN!
 
At the sight of all of them stock frozen, not a one so much as twitching, was too much for her. There was no thought to the power that coursed through her horn, there was no regard for safety or control with the magic it brought up, there was nothing on her mind but to get them out alive.
 
In the next moment, many things happened.
 
The dragon's claw reached forth.
 
The magic atop her head lashed out.
 
The moment that claw passed the threshold into the room, a strange chime went off.
 
That chime was drowned out by the the sound wind rushing through the ears of every single changeling, and single pony, mixed in with cracking of furniture, breaking pots and shattering of whatever item had been within the room as they were forcibly shoved back through the air.
 
All along the corners of the ballroom, lights started to go off, over two hundred of them dotting it in a perfect circle and glowing with a powerful brightness.
 
Those airborne saw not a one, their vision too clouded by the spinning of the world around them as they tumbled through the wall, and out into the garden behind the ballroom, their possessions raining painfully upon them as they landed hard on the grass
 
The ballroom, now completely empty, suddenly exploded. A perfect ring of fire lighting up and blinding all around with an intense power that singed the very fur on Applejack's chest as the flames licked at her face, the flames just barely beyond the reach of the dragon's claw.
 
In the next moment, everything was quiet. Changeling and pony stared in shock at what remained, an all encompassing scorch mark covering a perfectly smooth, empty room. Not even a scrap that had fallen from the ceiling to remain. They shakily stood up, eyes still locked in the room they had been, minds frozen.
 
"'...W-w... was that a fireflight!?"'
 
'"THAT WAS A FIREFLIGHT!"'
 
"'She rigged the room to teleport us!?''
 
"'HOW!? How did she do one that big!? NOBODY CAN DO ONE THAT BIG!'"
 
The white former soldier stepped forwards, mouth dropped open in shock.
 
"...Why didn't she just SAY THAT!? No, I get it, time is of the essence, but this seems like super vital information! I mean, unless you... oh..."
 
His mind wracked, but the only explanations as to why she didn't want anyone else to know she had a way out of the castle were... quite cold, to say the least.
 
'It would have worked...'
 
Bitterly, the changeling glared at the orange princess.
 
'If SOMEONE had just listened to-'
 
>LOOK OUUUUUUUTTT!
 
Her magic was already unsteady after that outburst, barely functioning enough to keep the infection in place, but still, she tried, and found none.
 
None to cast the shield she knew she didn't know how to make.
 
None to even push them further away. Away from the flames she saw licking at the corner of his maw.
 
Nothing in her powers could help as it rushed forwards, and prepared to consume them all.
 
"'OH SHIT!"'
 
BLOOP!
 
"'...What the-"'
 
The flames crashed against a shield that had appeared by magic, parting around the hive and charring the garden into flames. Only after it stopped did they understand what had happened.
 
Through the magenta shield that surrounded them, the group could see two flashes of white land hard in front of them, one hanging tight others back the whole time.
 
The two royals raised their heads high before the stunned, shielded ones behind them, proudly flaring magic upon their horn.
 
[If you wish to face a real threat.]
 
{You are looking at the wrong species.}
 
The dragon growled, angry that his spread had been impeded yet again. Within it, the infection faced a rare case of turbulence. The original had said the beast was required to spread to the others of its kind. But they were small, weak, it should not take so much.
 
However, the two before it had fought it off, defeated its many limbs as they reached for them. They were far, far more resistant to the spread.
 
[If you want us-]
 
{Come get it!}
 
They took to the air, his gaze following the whole way.
 
[RUN!]
 
Down below, as the shield fell away, more than a few of the massive group stared in sadness at the charred, burned remains.
 
"'Our stuff..."'
 
{HE SAID RUN!}
 
"...Come on, guys!"
 
Taking charge, the white stallion stepped forth, waving frantically in the other direction of the two flying.
 
"We've got to get out of here before it notices us! BOOK IT!"
 
Reluctantly, they did so.
 
Just as reluctantly, the dragon let them.
 
Angrily, it roared, and charged the royal duo. Without hesitation, they flew off, the dragon in hot pursuit.
 
In the span of under a minute, nothing was left in the ballroom, or the burned garden beyond.
 
Nothing... but a heartbroken, saddened princess, who's efforts bucking the side of the dragons leg to draw it away had not been noticed by either it, or the others. It could not have cared less about her.
 
>...D-dang it...
 
Sadly, she drew her hat over her head.
 
>Dang it...
 
She stumbled forth, the throbbing in her chest intensifying, and more voices ringing in her head.
 
>S-shut up...
 
She slumped down, tired, drained from both the magic and everything else.
 
>Just... shut up.
 
The roar moved away from her. Further, and further away... uncaring about her at all.
 
>Just shut up...
 
Forgotten.
 
>You ain't gonna win.
 
Alone.
 
>...You ain't gonna win...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >AJ
“??”
'??'
[??]
{??}
(??)
~??~
-??-
~~~~
 
She didn't know what to do.
 
Every time she got up, every time she attempted to help, it just got worse. Everything got worse.
 
She couldn't help stop the spread from getting inside the city.
 
She couldn't save any of those attacked.
 
She lead them right to the changelings.
 
Its her fault they aren't safe.
 
It might be her fault the spread is here...
 
S?p?read
 
>Heard ya' the first time.
 
A bright flash of light went off in the sky above. Even from here, she could see the magic lashing out, beams of light arching through the sky and landing square on the monster beyond.
 
Not a single thing stopped it.
 
She didn't know why, but every second she saw him, she felt an indescribable pain. A part of her prayed that Spike was not like her, still conscious in there, able to see it all, able to watch as his body was used against the ones he thought of as family. The thought his own power could be used so horribly...
 
>Ya' ain't gonna win.
 
Even now, she had to chant this to herself. The mark on her chest had grown again, slightly larger than it had before. No doubt, her taxation on her powers was costing her. At this rate, it may make its way back into her mind again, it m actually...
 
>Ya'... ain't gonna...
 
Every word was getting harder and harder to get out. Every flash of light in the distance and roar of terror too much for her to handle. They were losing. Slowly but surely, they were losing.
 
She couldn't look anymore, had to close her eyes, couldn't watch him while he...
 
“Applejack...”
 
More voices. A tiny, tiny whisper of a voice. Is it her father or mother once more? Applebloom? Big Mac?
 
“Applejack...”
 
Who, she asked, was she to be tormented with this time, who could...
 
“Applejack...”
 
It was getting louder, loud enough she knew it was female. Who was it?
 
“Applejack!”
 
...Wait...
 
“APPPLLEJAAAAAAACCCKKKK!”
 
There was the sound of hooves screeching to a halt just before something smacked her in the face, hard.
 
“LOOKLOOKLOOKLOOKLOOKLOOKLOOK!”
 
She would have liked to, but the paper pressed firmly against her nose and eyes prevented that.
 
On the positive side, she could at last hear who was talking to her
 
>Arphoma?
 
“LOOOOOOOOOOK!”
 
Frantically, she shoved the offending object away, the spiderling instinctively pulling her extended arachnid legs back just as she did so to prevent accidental touching.
 
After a brief glare at the little thing, her attention traveled downwards, towards the paper in her hooves that even now the changeling happily pointed at.
 
A paper that she was very, very familiar with.
 
“IT'S HER! SHE DID IT! SHE HELD IT UP! HER HER HER HER HER!”
 
A bit annoyed, she tossed the paper aside, the blurry picture of Chitania holding up Partyland still prominent when it landed.
 
>Arana... it's probably a trap, and Ah' don't know iffin' ya' noticed? Kind of pointless right now. We don't know why she did it, and Ah'm not in the mood ta' discuss-
 
“BUT I KNOW WHY!”
 
Groaning, she mashed a hoof to her muzzle, having a fairly good idea what was going to come next.
 
>Fine. Why?
 
“CAUSE I CALLED HER!”
 
...And it turns out, like most things today, she was utterly wrong.
 
>...What?
 
“I CALLED HER! I DID IT I DID IT! I DID IT AND SHE CAME BACK AND SHE SAVED US JUST LIKE SHE USED TO! SHE'S STILL AUNTIE CHITANIA AFTER ALL!”
 
She couldn't contain herself, literally bouncing up and down atop spider legs.
 
>W-wha... what!?
 
“I DID IT! A-AND... I'm gonna do it again! I'm gonna call her, and she's gonna come back and she can stop that big old dragon and and and-”
 
It took everything she had not to reach out and grab hold of her, possibly throttle her.
 
>You... Arana, are you sure?
 
“YES!”
 
>So... why ain't ya' done it?
 
That, at last, made her slow. She did not stop, but she did slow in her jittering,
 
“I can't! She's far away, I think, and I'm not like momma, I don't have FWOOOM level power, so I need your help! I need you to supercharge me and I'll call her and this'll all come out okay! She'll be there this time! She will!”
 
Her face was so full of hope, so excited, so sure of every word she spoke.
 
It broke her heart that she was probably entirely wrong about everything.
 
>Sugar cube... Ah' don't think she'll-
 
She felt a wave of hot, powerful air rush past. Behind her, she could see a plume of fire shoot up into the sky, completely consuming the dragon.
 
Alas, the flames went away, and not so much as a scorch mark remained.
 
>...Gad dang fireproof dragons...
 
She let out a sad, bitter breath as she turned back to the excited changeling, who even now still bounced away.
 
There was nothing she could do to stop Spike.
 
Nothing she could do to protect the others.
 
And Arana seemed so sure...
 
...What else could she do?
 
>...Alright, Sug', give it a whirl.
 
Her smile nearly split her face and the magic rushed into the changeling's much smaller horn, and she all but squealed in delight as a bright, shining magic overtook that very horn.
 
At last, she felt her mind reach far, far into the distance...
 
~~~~~~
 
[Would you mind getting that one?]
 
Across the lands and waters, the titanic beast within the castle of the gryphon family scoffed. She paid no mind to the lightning fast creature that ran past her without attacking, instead choosing to fight only those that attacked her personally, as she had since their agreement.
 
The prince regretfully had to swing his massive broadsword himself, and take care of the tiny creature in one swipe before tossing it away. When it healed in an instant, it made the fatal mistake of turning it's attention back to the Titan, and was sent flying into the distance with but a flick.
 
{Could have just done that in the first place.}
 
The elder hurriedly hushed his sister, placing a placating claw on her shoulder.
 
[Be silent, Hilda. We should be thankful she has stayed this long at all, it is doubtful we would have lasted this many hours.]
 
(Ah yes, because trusting out lives to monster is far better.)
 
He rolled his eyes, once more ignoring his mother's bitter words.
 
(Surely it is better to die beneath the paws of a murderer.)
 
[Actually, mother, ponies have hooves... and I suppose changelings do as well?]
 
The Titan just shrugged, uncaring.
 
-It doesn't matter. He's right, much as I am loath to speak it. She's a damn fine guard dog.-
 
Again, the prince made a shushing noise, hurriedly waving his claws in an attempt to quiet his father.
 
~Way to go, papa, just tick off the giant monster! No, great, this is all great. Love this. Gonna tick her off and then fight her and zombies.~
 
The king growled, idly backhanding the youngest son.
 
-At least I wasn't thinking of sleeping with her before she dropped her disguise because I don't care for background checks.~
 
~Before? I-~
 
(My earlier threat stands, child.)
 
~...I was just saying that before is when I didn't know, obviously, and would never wish to demean myself with the likes of her.~
 
His brother glared, ignoring the massive snort of derision that filled the room.
 
{And yet, you stare.}
 
~I could be looking at anything! She's HUGE!~
 
{At least pretend to look at her front half.}
 
~Are you trying to get me exiled!?~
 
{Sometimes.}
 
(Will you both be quiet! If I wished to spend the apocalypse with a bunch of whining teenagers, I would go back to my study group!)
 
~Your study group is probably a bunch of-~
 
He positively withered under her look.
 
-Your mother is correct. Stop this right now, or...-
 
As one, every head save Chitania's looked up, to the Titan's horn.
 
Which was flickering.
 
[...Why is it doing that?]
 
The flickering intensified, despite the fact that the changeling below was trying very, very hard to remain stone faced.
 
{Hello? Why is your horn acting like that?}
 
'I have no idea what you mean.'
 
She continued to focus directly ahead, trying her best not to look at anything but the infected she swatted away.
 
(It is clearly something, what are you doing?)
 
-I am starting to worry.-
 
(I told you this was a trap! She is likely preparing to attack us!)
 
~Wow, no offense, but I've been with unicorns, and normally that means they're-~
 
'WHAAAAAAAAAT!?'
 
The room went silent beneath her massive, powerful roar. So powerful, it actually scattered the horde that had been trying to get in.
 
~...playing with themselves, is what I was going to-~
 
'YES! Who else would it be!?'
 
The room went quiet again.
 
[...Oh dear, I think she's gone mad.]
 
{This day just gets better and better.}
 
But what the gryphons could not see, or rather hear, was that the Titan was no longer alone. Mentally, at least.
 
“AUNTIE CHITANIA! IT IS YOU! IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED I CALLED YOU I CALLED YOOOU!”
 
'Yes! Fine! You did! Congratulations! Now what did you want!?'
 
“Okay, oooookay, okay, okay... okay-”
 
'SPIT IT OUT ARANA!'
 
“...EEEE! YOU REMEMBER MEEE! YOU REMEMBERED YOU REMEMBERED!”
 
'I will hang up on you!'
 
“O-Okay... okay... help!”
 
'…'
 
“...”
 
'...That's it?'
 
“Help... please?”
 
She growled dangerously, pointedly punching one of the infected to calm herself.
 
'I meant, help you with what!?'
 
“...Oh, uh, where are you right now?”
 
'Near some mountains, why?'
 
“That's it?”
 
'Uh... there's some trees... a waterfall off in the distance... and birds, there are lots of birds.'
 
-Did she really just call us birds?-
 
[Please do not provoke the obviously crazy monster.]
 
(When we die, child, I am blaming you.)
 
Unable to hear them just as she could not be heard, Arana continued on.
 
“Um, well, do you know what's happening?”
 
'You mean the red things?'
 
“YES! Yes, those! Have you seen them?”
 
'Been flicking them to the sky for hours now, why?'
 
“HELP!”
 
'...Oh, you too?'
 
“YES! YES YES YES! PLEASE COME TO CANTERLOT AND-”
 
'No.'
 
Miles and miles and miles away, the small Spider-ling felt the onset of being emotionally devastated.
 
“W-what?”
 
'I said no.'
 
“B-b-b-b-but... but why!?”
 
'I'm trying to get something here, I can't leave yet.'
 
“B-B-BUT AUNTIE CHITANIA!”
 
'Don't you Auntie anything to me. I am Queen Chitania, the Titan, address me as such.'
 
“B-B-B-B-BUT YOU HELPED ME BEFORE!”
 
She flinched, dismissively waving her hoof.
 
'I... I was simply testing my might. When else would I get the chance to hold up an entire island? That is all.'
 
“But... but you...”
 
In Canterlot, the spiderling dropped to her knees.
 
“You always helped Momma..”
 
'...Yeah, look how well that turned out.'
 
“A-auntie Chitania... please... there's... there's a dragon here, a big one, and he's infected like the others, and we can't stop him. He's gonna crush us... we can't stop him, but you can. You could, if you wanted. Please... h-help...”
 
She hesitated, her head tilting downward just a bit.
 
'...I can't go back to Canterlot to fight a dragon. The alicorns are there, they will attack me. Even if I win, and of course I would, I would be wounded, and will have gained nothing but running back to continue my quest. They will try to kill me.'
 
“N-NO THEY WON'T!”
 
'Yes, they will. Ponies will turn on you when the time suits them, they always have, and always will. Right after a fight with a dragon would be the perfect time to finally... pfft, 'make their move', as ineffectual as it would be. You offer me nothing in return for giving up a step forward in my journey, and risking myself. You and I both know you can hide from a dragon, we both know who you really want me to save. I hold nothing to them, and never shall.'
 
The mental connection went quiet, save for the subtle sound of someone struggling to breath across the world.
 
'If it makes you feel any better, I would have considered it if you had not been there.'
 
“I-it... it doesn't.”
 
She scoffed, looking to the side.
 
'It's the best I can do. Use your mother's eye weaves and find a small place. After I have finished here, I will think about coming to get you.'
 
“...N-no! I can't!”
 
'Can't what?'
 
“You'll make her mad!”
 
Confusion wracked her face as she stood up, looking from side to side as if it offered any answers.
 
'What? I'm already mad, it's been a bad day, what're you-'
 
“N-NO! No you can't! You'll... I still wanna talk to her!”
 
'You are talking to me, speak!'
 
“...O-okay.. okay...”
 
'What are you-'
 
>Hello?
 
The Titan froze, her eyes going wide.
 
'...Who the fuck are you!?'
 
{Ah, and now another voice has joined her head, glorious.}
 
'WHAT DID YOU TO DO HER!?'
 
>Arana? She's right here, it's how Ah'm talkin' ta' ya', after all.
 
'...Who are you!?'
 
>Names Applejack, Princess Applejack iffin' we're usin' mah full title.
 
Slowly, her eyes went cross as her brain fired on all pistons trying to figure out who that was, but coming up empty.
 
'...Who?'
 
>Just told ya', Applejack. Princess O' Equestria.
 
'...I thought those were all alicorns?'
 
>Ah' am.
 
'...Who the fuck are you!?'
 
>Ain't gonna repeat mahself.
 
'I meant when did you show up!?'
 
>Before you got outta the ice, quite a spell actually.
 
'Oh... where were you when I arrived?'
 
>Ah' was watchin' the dignitaries.
 
'So, hiding.'
 
>AH' WASN'T HIDIN!
 
'Hiding, right, got you.'
 
>...Now you listen here, Chitania-
 
'QUEEN Chitania, thank you.'
 
>Ah' don't care. Now, you listen here-
 
'Well, if you don't care I'm just going to stop talking to you.'
 
>LISTEN HERE!
 
'I CAN YELL LOUDER!'
 
~MY EARS!~
 
After the ringing had passed in the ears of the various royals, at last Chitania went quiet.
 
>...Ya' done?
 
'Are you asking if I'm going to stop this? Sure, I can do that.'
 
>Ah' meant if yer' ready ta' listen. Ah've got an offer for ya'.
 
'You have nothing I want.'
 
>No... Ah' think Ah' do.
 
'Please don't try to go to a hostage situation, I will not barter for the little one. I'm not even sure if I'll save her from the creatures later.'
 
In Canterlot, Applejack's head, and chest, throbbed. Her mouth went dry as she prepared to speak, sweat already beading on her brow.
 
>Can ya' really stop dragons?
 
'Easily.'
 
>Without killin' them?
 
'...A touch more difficult, but hardly beyond my capabilities. In fact, it might be a bit fun.'
 
>What about civilians?
 
'Throwing collateral damage into the mix? You're asking for quite a lot.'
 
>Just answer.
 
'...Yes, I could, in fact, defeat a dragon without killing it, or crushing any underhoof in our battle.'
 
More pain, intensifying to the point of a migraine, but still she continued.
 
>If.. if he accidentally kills someone a'fore this thing gets stopped, if he breaks someone or nearly kills them, he ain't never gonna get better. He's always so scared of what he might do... he won't never trust himself ever again.
 
'Am I supposed to be moved?'
 
>...What Ah'm about to say to you hurts, Chitania. It hurts every danged piece of me. It hurts me so much Ah' wanna hurl. But... Ah've seen what you can do. Ah've seen how strong ya' are. And iffin' Arana says you can do it... iffin' ya' think ya' can... Ah'll offer you one thing. This here's a once in a lifetime chance, take it or leave it. Ah' don't know where ya' are or what yer' after right now, but Ah'm bettin' it ain't gonna match this, so... here goes. Chitania, usin' the powers vested in me as a Princess of Equestria, ah' am makin' an executive decision with emergency wartime power. In exchange fer' the pacification of Spike the dragon in a non-lethal and non-permanently damaging way, coupled with the no collateral damage includin' crippling, serious wounds and beyond, Ah' offer to you...
 
Her eyes flung open as wide as saucers, jaw dropping slightly as her breath stopped.
 
>What do ya' say?
 
Breathlessly, she cleared her throat
 
'...Give me a second.'
 
She turned at last to the still surprised royals, who had been watching her entire conversation with fear and trepidation.
 
'Do you want me to protect you?'
 
The gryphons blinked owlishly, completely taken off guard.
 
[W-what?]
 
'I'm not protecting you right now, if they come through that wall behind you, I'd let them devour you.'
 
As if to accent her point, the walls beyond bowed in slightly.
 
'Our agreement is I stay around and attack those that come at me in exchange for the poison. Not much in the way of protection to you save casual circumstance. However... I will consider protecting you fully, from all threats, until this has passed.'
 
The prince shook a bit, keeping his head high and proud as he stepped forward, past his awe stricken family, and in front of the Titan.
 
[And... what do you ask for in exchange for this?]
 
'A full pardon.'
 
The entire room let out a stunned gasp. All save the eldest prince, who merely widened his eyes in shock, and stood firm.
 
'You heard me. All crimes, everything I did, every house smashed, every soldier who got in my way, stricken from the record. You all declare me as free as a bird, with no extradition possible. In exchange, I will crush everything that tries to attack you, and not a one of you will be infected.'
 
His beak went dry, tongue licking at the corners in an attempt to speak clearly in the face of it all.
 
[And... if one of us should fall?]
 
She growled, annoyingly rolling her eyes.
 
'You know, you should just be happy any of you lived, but fine. If even one of you should die, deals off.'
 
The youngest prince's mind races at a million miles an hour. So many implications, so many consequences to this. He could fuel his people's distrust... but he might yet save his entire family. She would have no reason to turn on them when the deal was finished, no reason to backstab them now....
 
His mind suddenly sparked with inspiration. Perhaps, just perhaps, he could turn this deal to his favor. He could rush out to help his subjects, forcing her through their bargain to save them by proxy. If he put his life on the line for them, she would have no choice to intervene in order to keep her victory. Her pride would likely not let her fail when a deal is made, she certainly seemed the sort. If she had to save every still living subject for her freedom, she likely would...
 
His people might hate him, but this could... save them.
 
'Do you accept?'
 
He felt his breath grow short as he opened his beaks, his talon shakily starting to reach out.
 
[I...I a-]
 
And then he felt a blow to the side of his head, and the world started spinning.
 
{ZEPHYRIOUS!}
 
His sister rushed to his side, cradling him softly as he struggled to see the world again.
 
(Y-you...)
 
His mother stomped forwards, a fleck of torn feathers sticking to the blood on her talon from where she had struck him. Her eyes positively burned with rage as she looked upon him, hot breath hissing out of her mouth as she advanced.
 
Instinctively, Hilda covered him, her wings folding over him and her talon gripping one of her knives.
 
[M-mother, I-]
 
(You COWARD!)
 
Her wings flared out, reaching high into the sky as she reared back on her hind legs, left talon gripping her mace so hard her knuckles shown through.
 
(You would dare, would DARE seek her for protection!? In my presence!? You would DARE look to that... MONSTER! She crushed your subject's homes! She ended those soldiers lives! And yo have the audacity to even consider this, in my presence!? In exchange for your pathetic life!? You... you disgust me!)
 
Though he could only barely see, he knew the glimmer of his sister's knife when he saw it.
 
{Mother, he's right, we're going to fall if-}
 
(THEN LET US FALL! We are the royals of this land! We are it's leaders! And yet, she offers not to save them, but us! We are pointless next to their lives! Without our subjects, we are but Kings and Queens of rocks and shiny things! If this land should burn, it is our duty to burn with it! I will not be saved by her, I will not be beheld to this thing!)
 
She turned to the Titan, talon pointing threateningly at her while she held her mace in the air.
 
(I will honor my son's foolish agreement with you, but no more! When this is settled, everything I have shall be cast to bringing you to justice! You will not take the life of one more of my kingdom, not while I live! You get little more than some poison, and a headstart! And that is my final word!)
 
There was a pregnant pause following her words, broken only by the heaving of her chest as air returned to her lungs, and the sound of carnage beyond.
 
The King strode up next to her, standing right beside her and matching her hateful glare at the gargantuan changeling.
 
-You heard the Queen-
 
At last, the Titan shrugged, and turned away.
 
'And here I thought I was being generous.'
 
-You ask for far too much.-
 
A deep, feral grin crossed her face.
 
'Apparently not... just thought I would give you the same offer.'
 
The mace held above the Queen's head waved.
 
(Same?...)
 
Her wings began to hum, and her hooves slowly lifted off the ground.
 
Sense finally returning to him, Zephyrious shot upright.
 
[W-wait! What about our agreement!?]
 
'Yeah, funny thing about that, an agreement normally needs some indication I've agreed to it. Me not running off is circumstantial, you really should have at least gotten a verbal agreement. I never said I'd stick around, I just did.'
 
A shaking mace lowered as they watched her rise up, and up, and up, smashing an even larger hole than the one she had made before before rising clear out of the building.
 
No longer impeding the infected that now tried to rush through the doors.
 
'If it makes you feel any better, I really would have protected you. But sorry... this is just too good to pass up.'
 
She smirked as she took to the skies, and left them behind.
 
[...Well, thank goodness.]
 
His voice was low, dark, and just a touch sarcastic.
 
[Thank goodness you saved me from making a horrible mistake.]
 
He rose, wings flaring out as he stared hard at the infected rushing towards him, not so much as a glance to his mother.
 
[This is far better.]
 
At last, he turned to her, and his father, jerking his head towards the horde while hefting his blade.
 
[Well, shall we at least die a family?]
 
Confidently, Hilda joined him. Wearily, Siegfried did as well. Reluctantly, his father added to the number.
 
And finally, painfully, his mother stood with them as well, as far from her eldest son as she could.
 
[Well then...]
 
{If we are to die here...}
 
~Then at least...~
 
All of their weapons were out, poised and ready.
 
-Let us show them the might of the Gryphon Kings and Queens!-
 
There was much left to be said between them all, they knew. Feelings, alliances, maybe even some terrible things yet to come. So much would change, if they should live to see the dawn.
 
But it didn't matter. Not now, in this exact second. All that mattered right now, was that they stood together.
 
And they were family.
 
In the air far, far above, Chitania ignored their unison battle cry, a smirk on her face.
 
'Princess Applejack... you have a deal.'
 
Her horn hummed to life once more, glowing atop her head.
 
>How soon can ya' be here?
 
'My record for this distance is an hour.'
 
>...Break it.
 
'Oh ho ho, well, Applejack, I think you'll find out...'
 
Her fangs shone in the light as she smiled, dark and feral.
 
'I'm very good at breaking things.'
 
With the most power she had ever fueled into her wings, she shot forwards, and she was off.
 
Onwards to Canterlot...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >Cadence
“???”
~~~~~~
 
>I want to go home... I want to go home... I want to go hone...
 
She could barely move at this point. Her magic had not returned to her, no matter how long she waited. She could not figure out why. Surely, she would have regenerated by this point? Surely her magic should have come back enough she at least function properly? Stand, if nothing else?
 
But she just felt so drained, so broken, as if the very life had been sapped out of her, as if her power had gone away, and would not return.
 
Wistfully, she began to wonder if this is what Shining Armor felt like during the wedding, when he too had been drained of his love. She began to wonder if this was what he felt like every day...
 
She missed him, right now. Even knowing that he was out facing the evils that threatened both of their homes, she wished him here, right here, with her. She wished him to come in, her shining knight, and carry her home without a care. She wished with everything she had, damning the thought of how selfish it was.
 
But he wouldn't come.
 
For the best, she knew. She knew he was more useful, out there, saving the world. Being useful, unlike her.
 
But still, she wished.
 
“CADENCE!”
 
Her eyes fluttered open at the voice, heart breaking when she realized it was not his. All the same, powerful forelegs wrapped themselves around her, softly cradling her.
 
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay!? Cadence! Speak to me!”
 
At last her vision returned enough she could see... hair.
 
Her hair, specifically.
 
>Eighteen...
 
“Don't worry, I've got you! Don't you worry!”
 
>I... I...
 
It was her..
 
The... 'other'.
 
The one she had told her husband he could pursue, if he so wished.
 
And now, here she was, cradling her like a shaking child, being careful not to jostle her.
 
“Where... where's Forty Two?”
 
The changeling felt that wracked sob that shot through her right there, she knew too well. From the sudden tightening against her, she understood fully what it meant.
 
“N-no... no no no... NO! Not her! S-s-she can't... she can't be...”
 
Pitifully, Cadence nodded against her shoulder, doing her best to ignore the drops of water falling on her.
 
Shortly after, she felt herself being dragged towards the portal.
 
“...We...well, then I'll just have to take you home myself! We're... We are going home right now! Just y-you and... you and me... and we're going to go get our whole army! Every one! And we're going to stomp our way right back here and we're going to show these things what for! We're taking back Canterlot! Just you wait and... and...”
 
The grip upon her suddenly felt very, very tight.
 
“O-oh... oh shit...”
 
Softly, her head rolled up, just enough to see the changeling's head staring gawking in front of her, horror plain upon her face.
 
She followed her wide eyed, terrified gaze, and suddenly it all became clear.
 
Explained to her as plain as day... by a gigantic eyeball staring at them through the window.
 
“OH SHIT!”
 
The princess found herself being protectively covered as the wall suddenly exploded inwards, a claw coming through, right towards them.
 
“NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOO! SHIIIIINNNNNYYYYYYYYY!”
 
Another, even louder explosion filled their ears.
 
They felt rubble touch upon their backs, the force of wind and dust flying past them from behind as both walls front and back collapsed.
 
A white blur skidded before them, horn still ablaze as his forward momentum dragged him on.
 
The figure before them let out a animalistic roar and threw up both his hooves, stretching them out wide as a magical field covered the entire room, stopping the claw right in his tracks.
 
His scream continued as the claw pressed forward, tiny cracks appearing in his shield. His magic flickered, and his legs wobbled, but he held strong.
 
“SHINY!”
 
He dared not look back, dared not take his eyes off them for even a second.
 
'G-GET BAAAAACK!'
 
A golden blur suddenly rocketed overhead of both of the prone mares, crashing headlong into the shield at a breakneck pace. The claw was shoved out, just in time.
 
Unfortunately, with neither it or the opposite wall in place, the room suddenly became a lot more unstable.
 
'RUN!'
 
He did not need to tell them twice. Eighteen, perhaps a touch roughly, dragged her out the broken wall.
 
>S-Shiny...
 
She reached out, breathless and barely conscious. All she could see was him. All she wanted right now was to run up to him. All she could think about was how very hotly the desire to be in his grasp again was.
 
But he just went further and further away.
 
>Shiny...
 
And the moment the golden blur came back around, he jumped off, back atop the eldest princess and back into the fray.
 
>...Come back...
 
But he would not.
 
He had a world to save.
 
And she... all she could do was be carried away...
 
>I want to go home.
 
The room behind her collapsed, and with it, any hope of returning.
 
>I want to go home...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >SA
“Celestia”
'???'
~~~~
 
How long they had been fighting, they had no idea.
 
So many techniques an spells tried, so many plans made up on the fly, so many new attacks made.
 
Their past versions of themselves would be proud, really. The two white royals had worked in perfect tandem, combining fire spells into shields for bombs, using blinding lights just before a barrage of explosives, hugging close together as they soared through the air and dodged claw and flame, and guessed the other's moves without a word spoken. They were as one while they fought the twisted remains of their old loved one.
 
But it wasn't enough.
 
Whatever pitiful damage they managed to inflict on his dragon scales was little more than superficial. They had been happy when they had managed just a scratch, just a tiny piece of him broken. But, sadly, that was all they had managed.
 
Her spells, no matter how hot, were useless against him. He could dance on the surface of the sun if he so wished.
 
Likewise, powerful claws meant to cut through diamond made short work of any attempt to seal him in a shield, burrowing his way out or simply carving his way through in seconds.
 
And even though it all...
 
>We're holding back.
 
The celestial princess he rode upon nodded sadly, knowing it was true.
 
Even now, as they looked upon the dragons, red growths upon his skin, spines of crimson dotting his emerald scales, they couldn't see a monster.
 
They saw the short, wide eyed little thing they had known for so long, they saw the Spike who would never hurt an innocent fly if he could. They saw Spike... and little else.
 
“He will be devastated when he awakens.”
 
He nodded as well, never questioning that he would. Twilight would fix him, he believed with all his heart. With every fibre of his being. He knew she would pull through.
 
>But... we can't keep holding back.
 
“He wouldn't want us to.”
 
>Yeah... he wouldn't...
 
'THEN I SHALL NOT!'
 
A screech of power wailed in their ears. A flash of a starry blue wash of power was their only warning before it crashed against the dragons back like a tidal wave, an eruption the color of the night landing square upon his spine.
 
He shrieked in pain as he shot forwards, through several sections of the castle beyond, before coming to a painful, crunching stop.
 
The two white royals looked on in shock, and a touch of horror, as a dark shape rose from the broken form, clear damage to the dragon visible and smoking in her wake.
 
'...I am sorry, sister, I know you care for the dragon, but we must protect our subjects whatever the cost!'
 
Sadly, Celestia nodded, knowing Luna's words spoke true.
 
'That should keep him down, and if not, I shall simply have to batter him again. I will not hold back as you do, Celestia, I will-'
 
There was a flash of green fire, and everyone went silent.
 
“LOOK OUT!”
 
Save for Celestia.
 
Golden magic gabbed hold of the midnight alicorn, desperate to toss her aside, but she was not fast enough.
 
A massive claw encircled the other alicorn, gripping her tightly in a single snap of movement.
 
>He can heal...
 
Shining Armor's awestricken words did not register, not even close, in the wake of what Celestia saw.
 
“NOOOOOOOOOO!”
 
Luna threw her head back and screamed as they started to pour over her, red spores filtering in from every angle, reaching deeply into her very skin. Her magic ignited, a combination striking out and attempting to knock away the dragons claw, and more still trying to force it back, trying to heal her body and prevent the infection from spreading.
 
Lances of pure light lashed out at the dragon, cutting off swaths of spores from his scales, but he paid it no mind. Maliciously, the dragon squeezed harder, causing her to let out another pained, wailing scream. The spores wasted no time, racing down her throat, pouring into her like liquid.
 
Her magic let off one more, apocalyptic blast, so bright and powerful it shone as luminous as the sun and lit the very darkness in every corner of Canterlot for a brief moment.
 
No sound could pierce their ears as all waited for them to pop, for the hearing to at last come back and the after effects to leave their eyes and let them see again.
 
When it finally did, they wished it had not.
 
Where had once been claw was now nothing but wrecked and twisted fingers bent in every direction and torn skin. No blood poured from the wounds, red spores seeing to that, but all the same, it was useless.
 
But only for a moment.
 
It was slow to heal, painfully slow to realign the various fingers and knit together skin, but it healed.
 
But that, of all things, was not what brought them terror.
 
'SCREEEE!'
 
“No... NO! NOOO! NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!”
 
Tears poured from Celestia's eyes as she looked upon her sister. The spores had given her not an inch of skin left, nothing for her magic to fight the infection off with. She was now pure, twisted monster.
 
Again.
 
“NOT AGAIN!”
 
>Even her... even you guys...
 
Powerful forelegs gripped her neck, holding her surprisingly tender for their circumstances.
 
>We'll get her back. We'll get them all back, just calm down, you can do this, we can do this.
 
She choked, heart still burning at what she looked upon.
 
>We just need to-LOOK OUT!
 
His shield came up just in the nick of time, blocking a malicious backhand from the dragons good claw.
 
They tumbled through the buildings of Canterlot, shattering them beneath his shield as they just barely kept hold. Still, they felt the force all the same as they came to a painful stop in one of castles many towers, a broken wall their only cushioning as the shield gave up the ghost and broke away.
 
>...Ow...
 
They both stumbled upwards, rising to shaky, uncertain hooves. They could no longer directly see the dragon who had battered them, but they felt it... they felt it.
 
>I'm so sorry.
 
She nodded, rubbing tear stains from her cheeks.
 
>...We can fix this, we just...
 
Even as he spoke it, his voice grew less confident, less sure.
 
>...This is bad.
 
He didn't have to say it, but he could't stop himself.
 
>Spike can heal like the others.
 
“Which means he will not be hurt when this is fixed.”
 
>No, it means we can't stop him. He'll fix whatever we do, no matter how drastic.
 
“We weren't hurting him before.”
 
>...I know...
 
They looked to the other again, everything that needed to be said of that as clear as day on their faces.
 
Slowly, Shining Armor moved beside her, providing support when it looked like her left leg was about to give out.
 
“I am fine.”
 
>No... you're not.
 
“At least... we saved Cadence.”
 
>Yeah... both her and Eighteen...
 
Another harsh pain shot through both of their chests.
 
>They won't be here much longer, and... maybe you shouldn't either.
 
“What?”
 
>You know what I mean.
 
“I really don't.”
 
He sighed, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a tiny, circular device.
 
>You might have to use yours, Celestia.
 
“...Don't you think suicide is a bit much?”
 
He laughed, a pained, forced laugh, but a laugh all the same.
 
>We both know she wouldn't kill us, come on.
 
Wearily, she pulled out her own.
 
“...So, what does it do?”
 
>Teleport, I think she said, was kind of rushed and sounded like 'gonnagetyououtofhereusethis!'
 
“...I heard 'usethisboomandyou'regone'.”
 
>I see the confusion.
 
They both looked at the devices, a blank look upon their faces.
 
“If Twilight is going to fix this... us fighting will not matter.”
 
>You'd only be putting yourself at risk.
 
“And if she cannot...”
 
>Your subjects will need their princess, now more than ever.
 
“Someone has to continue on and keep fighting.”
 
>Yeah... and you'd know something about that.
 
She stared long and hard at the device, determined, thoughtful.
 
And then shot it with a tiny bolt of magic, and it went up in smoke.
 
>Was hoping you wouldn't do that.
 
She turned to him, taking a few steps back and staring right at his own device.
 
“Use yours.”
 
>Celestia, I'm not-
 
“So long as it is there, you will be tempted to use it on me. I cannot allow that. I must fight with my kingdom till the bitter end. I know you only wish me safe, but this will cloud your judgement, this will make you use it on me in dire times. Use it on yourself now, go to your wife, live on, fight on, in my absence. I will continue fighting and holding out until Twilight is finished. You served under me for years faithfully, Shining Armor, let this be my final command to you. Use it on yourself, now.”
 
He looked right into her eyes, unblinking, warring within himself every second as his muscles tensed. The clock ticked away, and slowly, he brought the device to his chest.
 
And with one blast, it was nothing but smoke.
 
“SHINING ARMOR!”
 
He smiled at her shocked, horrified face, nothing but a casual shrug in response.
 
>Hey, you were right, so long as it was here, I would be tempted. But... I can't leave you here, Celestia. Not to face this, not alone.
 
“You... you shouldn't have done that, you have responsibilities. You are more than just my guard, Shiny...”
 
His hoof reached out, touching her own golden covered one.
 
>Yeah, I am... and you're more than just my princess, Celestia.
 
There was a warmth in the room. Pleasant, familiar, just like old times.
 
>We're sticking together. And either we're going to save the day, or die trying.
 
“What about Cadence?”
 
He flinched, just a little.
 
>My wife, for all her faults... is a princess. She will understand why I did this. She won't like it, but this is my duty, not just to my home, but to the world. She'll understand, and fight on. She's stronger than most know, far stronger than even she knows. She'll live on, and if we cannot stop this today, she will find a way. I believe in her... and us. We can do this, Celestia, we can do this.
 
She smiled again for the first time in what felt like an eternity. A real smile. A strong smile.
 
A smile that vanished the instant she heard something whizzing through the air, and tackled him out of the way.
 
She was just barely in time before the strange looking blade whizzed overhead.
 
>What the-
 
~You shouldn't have dodged.~
 
Both of their attentions snapped over, now focused entirely on the third figure that had entered the room.
 
She hovered in the air, nearly ethereal in appearance. A changeling with spores in the shape of a fiery red mane, a creature just like any of the others.
 
Except...
 
“You can speak.”
 
The changeling tilted her head to the side.
 
And then threw another blade.
 
A shield blocked it, but she looked unbothered.
 
>That isn't one from the ballroom...
 
“What?...Who are you!?”
 
~Nobody.~
 
They both winced at her voice. So unnatural, so dead sounding, it hurt their ears simply to hear it.
 
“Why are you after us?”
 
She looked at them again, idly flicking another blade that was just as easily blocked.
 
~I'm not. You are here. This place is important.~
 
“What?”
 
She looked around the tower, not recalling anything special hidden in this room.
 
“What is special about this place?”
 
~It is the only place stable enough.~
 
>Stable enough? For what?
 
Softly, she began to hover higher into the air.
 
~I wanted to infect you quickly, before it happened. But it doesn't matter. If you die slow or fast, it doesn't matter in the end. The end is the end... and there is no stopping the s?p?rea?d.?~
 
>What are you talking about!?.
 
She turned abruptly, now totally facing the tower. Sickeningly, her entire head snapped backwards, jaw splitting at the cheeks, and...
 
There was no sound from her mouth, not so much as a whisper, but they felt it. They felt it right to their very bones, right down to the beat of their hearts. She was calling something, she was commanding something.
 
As one, they answered.
 
The infected all over froze, and began to shake. They rocked from side to side in a smooth, easy motion, calm and serene in their movements. As they began to shift, tiny spores started to shake free, and float off.
 
From even beyond Canterlot, the two royals could see. A mass of red from every direction hovered in, floating like a fog rolling in on the shores. It moved as if it had a mind of its own, twisting, slinking and slithering around the city before rising into the air, tendrils of red seeking the sky. As one, the spores from beyond and those shaken free from the infected of the great city at last met.
 
The spores coalesced, a mist colored red and as thick as liquid floating through the air like living smog. Then, like a storm brewing, it gathered in the sky. Clouds of the crimson substance coming together in a perfect storm up above, a gathering so large it encompassed the entire city from corner to corner, the sun blotted out as if it had never been.
 
“What... what is that?”
 
Something formed in the very center, directly above the tower they now stood within. Like rain, it poured. But it was not the dribbling of droplets that rained down. No, the scarlet crashed upon the earth in long, rope like strands, digging into the ground below like hellish pikes. They bundled together as the downpour continued, single spears of red tying together like cloth woven, the mass throbbing as it joined until it resembled beating, raw and exposed muscle.
 
They dodged the onslaught as it grew, and grew, bulging out in like a tree's lifecycle played in fast motion, the stalks fusing together until they resembled that of a tree. Up above, the cloud began to thicken, becoming less opaque and airy with every passing second until at last it resembled a cloud no more. In its place...
 
There was no emotion on her face as the changeling looked upon the new structure. Nothing. Not a hint of happiness, not a touch of awe, not a twinge of concern for those that raced around in a frenzy, not even a flicker of sadness. Nothing as she looked straight up at the giant cap to the plant that now stood tall above the entire city. The stalk of red and wide as the castle itself hefting above it a huge head as smooth as river stone, spores now gripped tightly to its towering frame.
 
>What is that.... WHAT IS THAT!?
 
Through their frantic racing and dodging for their lives, they only barely caught a glimpse of its majesty. Where once had been naught but sky had its sun blighted away, covered by the head of a giant mushroom.
 
The changeling did not so much fly into the air as float, as if a stray wind had picked her up and carried her off into the sky like a discarded leaf. She was drawn to the structure like a moth to flame, eyes wide and empty as she looked upon it.
 
~Isn't it obvious?~
 
The infected cast but a single glance back to him, to the both of them. She held no emotion as one last strand shot down and utterly consumed them both, the final piece to the gigantic stalk that now stood tall and strong. She began to rise, still held aloft on unmoving wings as if held by the invisible hand of a god. With a dead, hollow voice, she spoke one last time before she was carried away.
 
~The end.~
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >Chrysalis
“Twilight”
~~~~~
 
To put it simply, the Queen of all Changelings did not like the look upon the Princess's face.
 
They say you can tell an entire story with the look on someone's face. That subtle movements and hints of creases can tell you everything you need to know in with just a look.
 
Even if she was not highly trained in these areas, Chrysalis would have been able to read the ex-librarian like a book, ironically.
 
>I take it you are not coming up with anything?
 
Moisture started to prickle at the corners of Twilight's vision as she stared blankly at the petri dish before her, completely lost what to do.
 
Everything she had tried, a failure. Every experiment, negative. Every hope, dashed away. No matter what she used, no matter how creative she got, it found a way around her. It found a way through her.
 
>Come now, you've still got more ideas, right? You're just letting fear overcome you, you just need to calm down, get up, and-
 
“I CAN'T!”
 
She shrieked with horror at the top of her lungs, slamming her head hard on the table before her.
 
“I-I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING! Don't you get it!? I'm completely out of EVERYTHING! Every chemical in my library! Every spell I've ever known! My fix-everything spell, acid to melt it off, containment with cold, burning it off, everything I've known in all of my years! USELESS!”
 
A stern, powerful hoof gripped her shoulder, holding her firmly in place as a dark muzzle lowered next to her ear.
 
>Calm, down. You can do this, you just need to-
 
“I SAID I CAN'T!”
 
A blast of lavender magic sent the Queen flying, painfully crashing into a wall of supplies.
 
Horrified at what she had done, Twilight leapt from her chair, racing over to the downed, growling Queen.
 
“I-I'M SO SORRY! I didn't mean to-”
 
A stern hoof shot up, cutting her off.
 
>...We are going about this the wrong way.
 
Smoothly, she rose to four chitinous hooves, regally brushing her hair straight once more.
 
>You are looking at this like a pony. Soft, gentle, doing your best not to hurt anyone. Perhaps instead, you need to look at this like... a changeling.
 
Trepidation shot through the smaller occupant as the Queen began to pace, a feral grin on her face.
 
>We are looking at this for a total cure, but perhaps we merely need to... tear it out.
 
“M-most... most wouldn't survive that.”
 
>Oh, to be sure, there will be casualties. But in a some or nothing situation, some beats nothing every time.
 
She felt vomit bubble in her throat, only barely forcing it back down.
 
“I-I... I can't do that.”
 
>You must.
 
“I can't.”
 
>Everyone will die.
 
“I CAN'T!”
 
>...Then you lose, simple as that.
 
Her eyes burned as she looked upon the changeling, one who even now remained uncaring, aloof.
 
“How can you say that... how can you be like this!?”
 
She sighed dramatically, waving her hoof in an almost dismissive fashion.
 
>I don't want to, really. To be honest I'm actually quite regretful it ended like this, so much more... but my hive is safe, and that is hopefully enough.
 
“How can you...”
 
She sighed, idly calling up a screen that showed her ballroom. Her empty, plain ballroom.
 
>Why, a series of fireflight bombs, of course. Meant to trigger the instant an infected came inside a set barrier limit. After all, didn't want to appear we were abandoning you until the last minute.
 
A wicked smirk crossed Chrysalis's face when she saw the look the princess gave her.
 
>Oh, don't give me that, it's fine! I promised you I had plans for your friends, did I not? Well, not to worry, the last one for them went off... oh, an hour ago? They've been out of danger this whole time!
 
She felt just a touch of relief, just a bit.
 
>But Twilight, you have to understand, it's gotten bad out there. Look here...
 
She summoned up one of the screens, and a massive shape filled it from corner to corner. Twilight let out a stunned, horrified gasp when she realized what she saw.
 
>Yes, I'm afraid the infection has spread to dragons as well... look at this one, how old do you think he is? Ten centuries? Twenty? And yet he too is under the control of this thing. He's been tearing apart all attempts to stop him for so long now. Shiny and Celestia are facing him, but they will not last forever. A monster, nothing more.
 
She heard teeth grinding. That's how hard Twilight did so, she heard the teeth mashing together.
 
>I know. But, you see, that's why we have to look at a more... permanent solution. Fluttershy, Rarity, Dash, Spike, they're all fine, and Celestia and Shiny will be joining them soon, but for now we must think in terms of how many we can save, not if we can save any at all. It might be best if we move from this lab to the holding area, and start looking at the... long term.
 
“You say my friends are fine, right?”
 
>Totally fine.
 
“Got them to safety?”
 
>Plans gone off for every one, my helpful little clipboard showed it all.
 
“Well then... who is that?”
 
>Who is...
 
She turned to one of the screens, just in time to see what looked like Rarity rush past.
 
>...What...
 
And then Dash, and Pinkie, and the morlock.
 
And finally...
 
>FLUTTERSHY!
 
Her jaw dropped as she watched her go, head spinning as she realized what she had just seen.
 
>S-she's.... she's...
 
“Infected.”
 
That single word had more ice than the entire frozen north.
 
>Impossible... IMPOSSIBLE! Her plan went off hours ago! She should have been long, long gone!... That means... t-that means...
 
All pretense thrown to the wind, she summoned up every single one of her viewscreens, every one displayed openly for Twilight to see.
 
>...No...
 
She saw her hive, running for their lives, not safe, not free.
 
She saw carnage outside of her ballroom, all of their possessions gone.
 
She saw so may who should have been long since sent away. So many who remained when they should have been sent off.
 
“By the way, that dragon? It's... It's Spike.”
 
She looked upon the beast once more, barely able to see his color scheme amidst all he red and spines.
 
>N-no... no! Seven got him out! He was free! He was the first to go! Just like-NOOOO!
 
Her hooves snapped out, grabbing another of the screens right out of the air and bringing it frighteningly close to her nose.
 
>NO! CADDY! WHY ISN'T SHE BACK!? She should be at the Empire! The portal has a full charge! I made sure it has a full charge! Why is she still here!? WHY IS EIGHTEEN THERE!? WHERE'S FORTY TWO!? WHERE'D SHE GO!?
 
“To your... end point? Too bad we can't see in there.”
 
Magic burned from Chrysalis's horn. Before her, Twilight watched as she formed... something. It was flat, nearly invisible and only the size of a picture frame, but she could just barely make it out.
 
Behind the changeling, Twilight could see another screen form, showing the inside of the lab as it was now.
 
In a flash of fireflight, it left, and the view on the screen changed, to the inside of some cave-like structure somewhere, with all sorts of machinery and assortment of other supplies within. But, as they both saw, that was hardly the only thing. They saw the rest of the rooms occupants.
 
Following this... Chrysalis started screaming.
 
>Oh fuck! Seven! What happened to you!? No no no... Forty One! Why aren't you... who the fuck is he!? Who is that guy!? Where's... OH FUCK! FORTY TWO! NO! FUCK! OH FUCK FUCK FUCK NO! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!? FORTY TWO! I-is... is she moving!? Is she still... THERE'S LOVE HARNESSES OVER THERE! OVER THERE YOU MORONS! GET ONE ON HER! HELP HER! FUCKING HELP HER ALREADY! DAMN IT, FORTY ONE! GET OVER THERE! TAKE... WHOEVER THE FUCK THAT IS! JUST HELP HER!
 
She kept screaming, seemingly oblivious to the fact none could hear her.
 
“His name is Suckerpunch.”
 
The Queen just barely pried herself away from the screen she frantically shook.
 
>WHAT!?
 
“I said, his name is Suckerpunch. They're very close, you know, they've been hanging out with each other for a while now.”
 
>...W-who...
 
“They've been fighting, living, having fun... I think they even went to Partyland with each other. I guess they're closer than I thought. Looks like he got in trouble and she saved him.”
 
>W-why... she... she's loyal, she wouldn't...
 
“Seven has several bullet wounds on him, most likely caused by Charity. If I had to guess, I'd say Spike deducted that he was being followed and opened fire in order to interrogate information from Seven. From the looks of things, your subject 'inferred' he wasn't supposed to talk a little above and beyond. He looks like he took quite a lot resisting talking.”
 
>B-but I didn't... I didn't tell him not to...
 
“Well, he didn't. And Forty Two... looks like she took a lot of damage, but for some reason left Cadence behind. My guess? You didn't tell her exactly what that bomb did, did you?”
 
>I... I said to use it on her and Cadence if things got bad...
 
“Well, from her severe burns, either something went wrong with your teleportation, or she misunderstood what that meant, and attributed it to some sort of suicide bomb.”
 
>I... I didn't...
 
“And Eighteen? Well, of course she wasn't going to listen to you, she hasn't done so in a long, long while.”
 
>But... she at least would...
 
“Not now, I guess. She was off after Shiny, most likely, and stumbled across Cadence. Now, why wouldn't Eighteen use one of the stones?”
 
>I... I didn't have enough. Any less and it wouldn't work in the ballroom. I needed her to stay in the ballroom so she would be teleported off.
 
“Oh, hm... and you didn't tell her, because of course you didn't, you just assumed she wouldn't directly oppose your orders so publicly, because that would mean you would have to discipline her in front of the others to make an example.”
 
>I wrote a note...
 
“But nothing detailing why, did you?”
 
>...
 
“...Because you didn't want Eighteen to know.”
 
>She would have told the ponies.
 
“Yes, she would have, and she would have crammed as many as she could in there.”
 
>They would have fought for more room.
 
“Now, see, maybe I'm just optimistic, but I'd like to think they wouldn't force your subjects out-”
 
>HAH!
 
“...I see you do not share my optimism. So, what has that got you?”
 
>...I don't understand... it shouldn't have gone off unless there was a changeling in the ballroom when it happened, it would have triggered the instant an infected came in proximity. They... they would have to have jumped out just as it was occurring.
 
“Oh, like, say, running away from an infected in close 'proximity'?”
 
>...I told them to stay put.
 
“Well... they didn't.”
 
Her wide, empty eyes looked up at all of the screens, watching as every plan she had made fell away before her eyes. None had been saved... not really.
 
“So now we have a situation, Chrysalis. Your agents have all failed, your plans have all fizzled out, and you now have a hive out and exposed with no means to get them to safety, two badly wounded loyal subjects, friends infected and turned to monsters, and now nowhere to run. Oh, and one more thing?”
 
She pointed to another one of the screens, just in time to see Celestia discard her bomb, and Shining Armor as well.
 
“Shiny would never, ever leave. Even if it looked like he was going to die, he'd... he'd...”
 
Confusion overtook them both as they watched the pair start yelling at someone, someone just out of sight.
 
“Who are they talking to?”
 
Wordlessly, Chrysalis gestured with her hoof, and the viewscreen swung around.
 
“A changeling?”
 
>WHO THE FUCK IS THAT!?
 
“This says a lot about you.”
 
>No, you don't understand! That's not one of my hive!
 
“It very clearly is.”
 
>No, it isn't! I know every female in my hive! Every one! And that is not one of them! That's not one of mine!
 
“Well, then who is she!?”
 
>What part of 'who the fuck is that' is not sinking into your head-... is... is she...
 
“...She's talking...”
 
>How is she talking?
 
“I...”
 
>...Where is she going?
 
She moved just beyond the viewscreens sight, too far for them to follow the gaze of the two royals.
 
“Can you tilt it more?”
 
Sadly, she gave a negative.
 
They could only watch, baffled as the pair looked on in horror at... something. As the gasped, screamed, and then it came.
 
They dodged the first stream of red.
 
And the next.
 
And the next.
 
But then...
 
The veins in both of them filled with ice water as they watched a river of those strands pour over them, completely consuming them before their very eyes.
 
A beat passed, and nothing moved.
 
Nothing.
 
>...no...
 
“S-Shiny?!”
 
Her breath hitched as she watched, hooves gripping both sides of the screen in horror.
 
>...No....
 
“Shiny! Princess Celestia!? No! No you couldn't... not like this!
 
>No... no... no...
 
Tears started to form in the lavender pony's eyes as she stumbled back, bile rising up in her throat.
 
“Y-you can't be... you can't...”
 
>No... no.... no.... no no no...
 
The voice behind her grew louder, just enough to pull the alicorn out of her stupor.
 
“Chrysalis?”
 
>No... no... no no... no no no...
 
“C-Chrysalis, are you-”'
 
An eruption of power consumed the Queen, green fire covering every corner of her.
 
>NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO! NONONONONONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOOOOO!
 
“Chrysalis stop! You're going to-”
 
There was an explosion of green light.
 
Then, there was darkness.
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 “We aren't going to win, are we?”
 
The orange princess truly, truly wished she could hug the changeling, to provide comfort for her and stability. But she couldn't even approach her, couldn't even near her.
 
They both knew why, and it only made the spiderlings words ring more true.
 
They had watched as the princess of the night had been infected, had watched as the sky turn red, and a shadow was cast over all of Canterlot. Above them all, they could now see the head of the giant fungus that had grown, the cap a shade to place them all in darkness. The world, and their hope, had grown cold in the shadow.
 
Underneath its oppressing weight, they only barely noticed as Spike approached them with casual, easy strides. They could not outrun him, they both knew. His long legs would allow him to easily outpace them and catch them. They could not fight him. Even if Applejack had a firmer grasp on her power, the thing in her chest would sap her dry at every turn. She couldn't run, it would see them if they tried to hide, there was nothing they could do.
 
Why he had decided now to attack, they did not know. In all likelyhood, the corruption of Luna had emboldened it, made it decide that it no longer needed her mental state to be in tact. It was coming to finish her off, to finally take full control, and all they could do is stand, and wait for it to happen.
 
“Is... is it gonna hurt?”
 
A painful throbbing deep in her chest prevented her from answering. The pained look on her face, however, said it all.
 
“I'm sorry, Applejack... I should've run faster.”
 
He was nearly upon them now. So close, they could hear a strange hum emanating from him, a strange vibration in the very air itself.
 
“I should've seen it sooner.”
 
His claw reached out before him, and they watched as it slowly gathered spores atop it.
 
“Applejack? You know the funny thing?... I'm still happy I came out of the caves. I'm... I'm just so happy I got to meet you all, and we got to have fun, and go to Partyland, and we all got to be friends... this was better than the caves. Yeah...”
 
Reluctantly, Applejack reached out, just the tip of her hoof touching the spiderlings shoulders.
 
“Sorry, sugar cube. Kinda wish ya' didn't have ta' come up fer' this.”
 
Tears openly fell from Arana's eyes as she watched the claw near them both, so little fear in them.
 
“...This was way better.”
 
The humming grew as they both closed their eyes, so loud it felt their ears would pop at any moment. But that didn't matter in the face of it all. Their fate accepted, their time finally at an end.
 
Their ears at last popped.
 
By the massive sound of bone, skin and stone being crushed.
 
The rush of wind from behind nearly flung them flat on their faces, a sonic boom of massive proportions just barely weathered amidst the sound of buildings being effortlessly crushed beneath a giant mass.
 
The sound of four colossal pillars smashing into the ground next to them explained in full what had happened before they even opened their eyes and saw the dragon on his back several dozen feet away, buried in the rubble of what had once been a house.
 
“So, to double check, this was the dragon you wished defeated?”
 
The orange princess below glared hatefully at the Titan's smirking face, a stark contrast to the wide eyed, excited smile of the changeling next to her. In response, the Queen simply laughed.
 
“Just wished to make sure, I had to break three on my way here. To think, I worried you might find some way to beat me to the punch and steal my thunder. Well, seems I need not have.”
 
The glare, impossibly, seemed to intensify.
 
“Do not be angry, dragons are powerful beasts...in comparison to your kind, I mean.”
 
Her grin grew feral as he rose from the rubble, shrieking at the top of his lungs.
 
“Our agreement don't cover anyone you hurt here. Iffin' ya' stomp someone gettin' too rough, yer' right back ta' square one.”
 
The titan chuckles, idly rolling her neck as he prepared to charge.
 
“Making it interesting? Very well. Personally, I would have recommended tying a leg behind my back, but if this is how you want to go about it.”
 
“Just stop him, and don't you even think o' cripplin' him or nothin'! Yer' gonna knock him out, and Ah' swear Ah' will come after you iffin' he's got permanent damage after this!”
 
“Please stop whining, I've had enough today.”
 
Applejack was given no time to respond. With a bellowing screech, the dragon charged towards the unbothered, unmoved Titan. He dove at her like a wild animal, teeth and claws bared.
 
He did not even come close before he was uppercutted away, his skull fracturing beneath her blow.
 
“Whoops.”
 
She need not have even faked the worry. In the next second, a wash of flames overtook him, and he charged again.
 
She all but sang with laughter as she easily batted him aside again, catching him as soon as he was off his feet and smacking him back down with a stomp to his side.
 
That dark mixture of roar and elation continued as her hoof rained down again and again, driving him into the ground further with every strike against his scaled hide. A strange joy shot through her as she reared back, both hooves now furiously slamming down over and over against him, the blows more than capable of sending ripples past his armor-like hide and right into the muscles below.
 
He tried in desperation to point his maw to her, to sink those which could easily crush diamond into her limbs, but a swift blow to the cheek ended that.
 
“Do you think this the first time I have bested a dragon? HA! This is child's play!”
 
He lashed out again, this time with his fierce earth rending claws. All too easily, she caught him by the elbow, and forced his arm backwards.
 
In entirely the wrong direction.
 
“Hey! Ah' said-”
 
“He'll live.”
 
She growled again as her hoof mashed into the side of his head, smashing him into the pavement below snout-first. Another cackle of glee reverberated through the air as she reared back.
 
“Now, stay down!”
 
And sunk him several feet into the ground with one all powerful strike.
 
The dust kicked up with the backlash slowly faded. His tail, the only part still above the crater formed from the blow, twitched for a brief second more... and he was still.
 
“Good dragon.”
 
She positively hummed to herself as she stepped off the dragons neck, a quick check proving that indeed he still did breathe. With a skip in her step, she turned and left the felled reptile behind, and started trotting to the edge of Canterlot.
 
“And with that, our agreement is met, my... heh, 'crimes' are stricken and all is as it should be. Goodbye.”
 
In a frenzy, the orange princess raced before her, pointing frantically in the opposite direction to the one Chitania was walking.
 
“Where do you think yer' goin'!? The tower's over there!”
 
She spared a glance back, following the mushroom's stem all the way up to its massive head, before shrugging and casually stepping over the princess.
 
“Yeah, have fun with that. Looks like it'll be quite the chore for you guys.”
 
“US!?”
 
“Yes, you. Not me, who is walking this way.”
 
“WHAT!?”
 
“What? The job you called me over for is done. Our agreement holds, and I am free to go.”
 
“What're ya' talkin' about!? Get yer' big tail over there and start tearin' that thing up!”
 
She scoffed, continuing to walk away.
 
“No thanks.”
 
“NO THANKS!? Do ya' have any idea what's happenin'!? That things gonna take out the whole world! It's gonna consume everyone! Even yer' stupid hide!”
 
She laughed, an honest and full laugh.
 
“Nope, doesn't affect me. Just rolls right off my chitin. No idea why, to be honest, and being more honest I don't care. But the problem is, that thing looks dangerous, poisonous even. If it is as deadly as it looks, regardless of the fact I would obviously win, I'd be at your mercy. Needless to say, being at my weakest in a time when killing me would benefit you most is not something I am willing to risk. If you win and turn the tide, fantastic, I am free of all crimes and shall walk as openly as I please. If you fall, then there is nothing this thing could do to me, and I will still dance in the sun. You are nothing to my plans. If you live or die makes no difference in the long run. Who knows, perhaps if this world should fall, those above will finally stop hiding like the cowards they are and descend, and I will be there.”
 
“You're... crazy. You're crazy! All yer' thinkin' about is some stupid game!? The world is ending, you idiot!”
 
“Then let it end, and I shall forge a new one in its place. I admit, perhaps I would consider if I had not been granted such an amazing proposition as the one you offered, but now? Any scenario for me is a win.”
 
She couldn't breath, couldn't think, couldn't imagine someone, anyone, would walk away from this, from the very world itself coming to an end.
 
But there she was going. Further, and further away.
 
She wondered if she would have watched the changeling completely leave, if a sudden distinct screeching roar had not stopped the Titan in her tracks.
 
Behind them, rubble poured away from the scales of the monstrous dragon as he rose from his crater, all wounds now long gone from his frame.
 
“...Well, that's embarrassing. It just delayed how long it took to fix it.”
 
“Ain't ya' got work ta' do?”
 
Her voice was bitter, terribly sarcastic as well. Even still, the Titan conceded. In fact, she seemed almost excited.
 
“Very well. If that last beating took this long for him to fix, I shall simply have to increase this one ten fold.”
 
“Iffin' he dies-”
 
“Have no worries, death is one of the easiest ways to blow ones cover. I have trained my entire life to keep them breathing beneath my massive power... though, I admit, they did not all breath easily.”
 
“Jus' stop him a'fore he does somethin' we'll all regret.”
 
“Very well.”
 
She strode purposefully towards the scaled beast once more, a feral grin upon her face.
 
“You were a fool to rise again, now, I shall make you suffer.”
 
But the creature heard not a word. Inside of the body of the drake, the puppeteer that pulled his invisible strings stirred.
 
It questioned itself in it's own little way. Idly, it tried to comprehend what had happened. It had fought, but it had not won. Its tactics thus far had been without fail, and yet here it was. There was something before it, something that prevented the spread. It could not understand just what it was missing.
 
Was something more required to spread?
There was an obstacle here.
It could not get around the obstacle.
What was it supposed to do.
Perhaps... it had the answer.
The original.
 
Across a network of minds far beyond any comprehension of those higher beings, it sought her out. The original, the carrier. Her memories had so many answers.
 
But not this one.
 
Inside her memories, there was no indication on how to get past this obstacle. The thing that stopped the spread fought differently than she knew.
 
But... she was but one.
 
If she did not know how to fight this threat, then....
 
“Now, be a good little drake and hold still.”
 
As if obeying her, the lavender scaled goliath stilled, locked in position as she neared it, and cocked back her hoof to strike.
 
“You are wise to accept your fate against me. You could not hope to match me, in battle or in mind. I am the Titan, I am that which towers above all, whom even the gods flee in fear.”
 
She let out malicious cackle, and struck forward.
 
“I am CHITAN-”
 
Her words continued no more.
 
How could they, really, when a very large fist pushed them right back from whence they came.
 
His speed was not natural, too quick to possibly be from the same beast she had fought not a minute ago. Worse still, she had precious little time to examine this newfound speed before his claws closed around her head, and the chitinous skull was pulled forwards just as his knee shot upwards.
 
With an impossible skill, he landed swiftly on one foot after landing the blow under her chin, using it as a brace just in time to deliver an elbow right to the side of her head. Like a mountain broken down, she flung into one of the buildings of Canterlot, smashing through it and tumbling through the streets.
 
She snapped up back to all four hooves mid-roll, stopping her forward motion right in its tracks. Wide, stunned eyes goggled at him openly as he almost poetically rolled from one foot to the other, arms waving through the air in impossibly complex, intricate motions. Memories not his own danced through his mind through the connection the thing within him afforded, skills gleaned from a lifetime learned telling the thing that moved his muscles exactly how to act or react. Spike's own mind supplied nothing, skills beyond his age already at the beck and call of the thing that searched the minds of others. At this moment, he was nothing but a puppet.
 
And that was all he needed to be.
 
He masterfully snaked from side to side as he neared her, taking an almost featherlight approach with every step as he flowed like water through the streets.
 
“W-what? What is this, how are you-”
 
The moment he was close enough, one arm shot upwards. So focused on that limb, she could not see as his other palm lashed out, a quick tap upwards while his other claw swung low, catching her by the foreleg and taking her off her hooves straight up, directly into his forwards strike.
 
He did not miss a beat the moment she was reared back into the air, keeping his momentum going and spinning on his feet, the force of his turn fueling into his tail as it lanced across her side, sending her rolling with it's power.
 
Without a moment of hesitation, he reacted when she hit the ground, curling his left leg into a new stance and balancing atop the balls of his other foot. He rocked forwards, striking downwards with his full body weight, the added bulk proving more than enough to crater the ground beneath her as he struck down, balled fists ramming hard into the chitin upon her side. The air briefly left her, but he gave no respite, his fists becoming blurs as they resumed with quick blows against her back.
 
She roared in defiance, legs rolling as she struggled to stand up against the blows. He switched tactics on a dime, kicking his foot upwards so that it caught beneath her belly, lifting her again into the air and in perfect range for a forwards palm strike that sent even her massive frame rocketing to the side, trampling a trail of houses in her path and carving a deep trench within the ground.
 
Beyond the battle, others stared in awe as the titan struggled to stand again, watching as their possessed friend once more switched to an entirely new stance.
 
“That's... that's not Spike... he can't fight like that...”
 
The dragon pressed forward, twin strands of that red substance shooting out and latching into the ground, growing taut like rubber before snapping forward and propelling the drake on and turning what would already be a powerful kick into a flying battering ram.
 
She swore she felt the chitin just beneath the surface crack as both feet landed on their mark. She had rolled with the blow in a vain attempt to stifle even a little of the damage, but it proved inefficient to reduce enough of that power.
 
Once again she was as unto a rolling rock, tumbling head over hoof over and over as she rolled down the streets, only coming to a violent stop when she reached the end of the city, right where it connected to the mountain behind it. Pained, she slumped back against the rock, her breath returning to her in ragged gasps.
 
“You... you aren't fighting like a dragon.”
 
As if to prove her point, his arm lashed forward and another stream of that red substance rocketed forwards, blunted at the end like a battering ram and aiming right for her face.
 
She just barely managed to move her head to the side in time.
 
“FIGHT LIKE A DRAGON!”
 
Rage fueled her as another roar blared out from her lips. She tore off like lightning, shooting forward onto all four hooves and charging like a maddened bull, the streets torn apart by her racing mass and deadly horn poised right for his chest.
 
Like liquid, his body seemed to wiggle around the sharpened point, letting it effortlessly slide past him as he rolled to the side, the Titan passing by him without so much as a graze. His retaliation, on the other hand, was not as kind.
 
A stunning blow right to the side of her head in the form of a red mace-like structure balled up on his fist, enough to send her spiraling down as her limbs tangled in one another and sent her nose first into the ground once more. Just as she had before, she did not stay down for long.
 
“ENOUGH!”
 
The thus-far forgotten wings on her back hummed to life, and with a single push upwards she launched herself into the air, more by the force of her legs than anything else. Still, the transparent limbs upon her back proved more than enough to keep her aloft in the air, staring down at the grounded dragon below.
 
“Now, you suffer.”
 
Her horn blazed with power, power she was all too happy to rain down upon the dragon below. Emerald magic casting upon him with an almost bitter fury.
 
His head snapped up amidst the blows, maw opening wide as his own green magical flame lashed forth, carving through the air like a blade of heat. Almost casually, she dodged, flying up beyond his range and easily outmaneuvering the stream of fire that chased her.
 
A mocking cackle left her lips as she switched to fireballs, spheres that hailed down and battered the dragons hide as any meteor would. But it could not burn him. It seemed that even with the augmentations, he was as fireproof as ever. Nonetheless, the force did it's work, and he was feeling it, just slowly.
 
“No matter... I have all the time in the world.”
 
Again and again she launched her might upon him, unskilled in magic she may be, but as with all things what she lacked in precision she made up for in power. The body below would be broken soon. The puppetmaster behind the dragon, as well, knew this.
 
But it could not reach her, it pondered. She was too high. It could not catch her with a jump, it could not bring her down, it needed to...
 
Of course.
 
Whether this was intended from his biology or no, the thing controlling him had not a single care. It moulded the dragons body against his will, where had once been nothing but scales above his back resurfacing, muscles beneath changing, twisting, twin strands of red jutting from his back like an unholy birth.
 
And from there, they only grew, blooming like any flower would, a sickly substance that resembled red raw skin weaving from nothing like an unholy tapestry. It wove, and spun outward, until at last the Titan above, and all around, could see the new unnatural growths it displayed.
 
“W-wings...”
 
The thing moving him held no pride, nor did it understand such a concept. Nonetheless, any who watched would swear those appendages flared out proudly, mockingly perhaps, stretching out far wider than he was tall.
 
With a single beat of power, he was lifted.
 
It did not take Chitania long to realize he was far, far faster than she.
 
He arced through the air with the skill of a wonderbolt, dodging cast fireballs, lances of fires and moving too quickly to be focused long enough to be gripped telekinetically. She barely had time to even register the speed before he crashed headlong into her side, a sonic boom rolling out in every direction as she was rocketed straight upwards as if his fists contained the eruptive force of a volcano.
 
She had precious little time to come to terms with her new height. In a speed she could not comprehend, he was above her, and with two fists balled together and marked with blunt red protrusions all over he sent her back to earth like a meteor cast from space, a plume of dust and rubble casting out in every direction akin to a bomb as big as the titan herself going off.
 
She tried to stand when the vibrations stopped rolling through her, of course she did. She could not stay low for long, he would be there soon.
 
Too soon.
 
He buzzed past so quickly her ears popped from the pressure, a feeling masked by the explosion of pain in her side as he connected with her when he flew over her, sending her off her hooves once more.
 
Again, she tried to stand.
 
Again, she was struck down.
 
Again.
 
And again.
 
And again.
 
With one final, titanic blow against her side that shattered the ground beneath her like cracker when she fell upon it. For a moment, she was still.
 
He poised in the air, massive wings beating as he hovered there, waiting. Down below, in the wreckage left by its actions, others stared at the battered Titan.
 
“No way...”
 
“A-Applejack... how are we... how are we s'posed to stop him?”
 
She held no answer for the changeling, or herself. In fear, she looked up to the monster in flight, a stark realization that it might really be unstoppable in this form taking hold of her mind.
 
Above her, not a shred of its attention was spared for those below, none but the still unmoving beast it had felled.
 
“I-i-is, that the best you've g-...got?”
 
Yet again, this monster before it brought uncertainty, confusion. It would not stay down, no matter how the thing it controlled battered it. This makes no sense, it thought. It was supposed to stay down. The spread should have at last finished. But it would not. It was not acting like it was supposed to.
 
“B-because... because it will take so much more than that to defeat me!”
 
She was wobbly, unsteady, but she was not defeated.
 
“I am the Titan! Y-you... y-...you're just a hunk of plant! I don't care what skin you wear, you are a plant! Nothing more!”
 
She kept yelling as well...
 
Again, he turned to the original, prowling though her memories for an answer to this world it did not understand. One by one it leafed through the cells within her cranium like it was flickering though a photo album, flickers of neuron impulses lighting up through her skull like stars glimmering in the sky.
 
Anger.
 
That's what she called it, the original. That's how its host's mind described the feelings of the thing before it. That is what drove her, kept her fighting long past the time when she should have felled. This was unacceptable.
 
But how to counter it...
 
Like the flash of lightning striking upon the ground, what could only be described as an archaic version of 'inspiration' shot through the many cells one could call its 'mind'.
 
The answer was so simple, it realize. The host does not need to be tethered, it does not need to be fully overtaken. It does not do this because it does not fight. The host does not fight because of how it felt.
 
That feeling the original called 'despair'.
 
Even it's basic mind had made the connection. It simply needed to replace her anger with something else, and the beast would stop fighting, and finally it could spread.
 
But this beast it currently pulled could not do such an act, of course not. As with much of it's spread, it turned... to the original.
 
“I will not be defeated by you! My conquest shall not be halted by-”
 
In a single snapping movement of his arm, her head was forcibly shoved against the cliff that backed the city, and his claw clenched around her horn.
 
In the next, her mind was on fire.
 
“OH NO!”
 
From down below, the little spiderling watched as a strange magic flowed into the Titan's horn. The Queen thrashed and roared as she struggled against the grip, hooves battering ineffectively at the arm holding her firmly in place. From behind massive eyes, lights flickered as magic raced through her body and into the flesh within her skull. It was an odd magic, but one that Arana knew of all too well.
 
“He's tryin' to mind control her! We gotta stop him!”
 
Disregarding Applejack's attempt to grab her and stop her, spider legs skittered as fast as she could towards the pair, latching onto the cliff beyond and crawling all along it just like the creature she so resembled. In no time at all, she was next to them, directly behind the struggling Titan. With one spring of all eight legs, she closed the distance between them, and encircled the claw that clung to the monolithic horn.
 
“Let gooo!”
 
No matter how she pulled, or gnawed upon his finger, she could not even get it to react.
 
“ARANA!”
 
Unsteady wings carried the princess to the spiderling, orange forelegs clenching around her waistline and jerking back as hard as she could. Surprisingly, the changeling held it's grip.
 
“Leggo ya' dang idiot!”
 
“No! If we don't get him off, she can't stop him! If she can't, nobody can!”
 
“Ya' ain't helpin'! Get off! Let her go-”
 
The orange princess froze, eyes trailing down to her own chest.
 
Where the growth had just started to pulsate.
 
“That ain't go-”
 
As one, they all felt it. A burst of magic surging through both the claw and her horn... and at last breaking through Chitania's mental defenses.
 
The world slowed down, and as one they screamed.
 
??????
 
“A new record!”
 
Titanic lips curled upwards in a smirk as she hefted herself up, rising high above the far smaller changeling before her as she ascended the side of a cliff.
 
As soon as she crested the outcropping, she spared a single look back, to the valley down below she had emerged from. It was positively massive, far larger than any city, and surrounded on all sides by an absolutely gargantuan cliff line that encircled it as if it were a humongous cage. And, coincidentally, a cage is the best way to describe it as well.
 
Below, even from this colossal height, they could see the towering trees below shifting and moving as creatures walked beneath it. Monsters all, each one monumental in scale. Adult Dragons, elder Hydras, wizened Ursa Majors, serpents as long as cities, timber wolves that could crush a house with one paw, spiked rolling beasts that tumbled through the trees, moths wider in size than the most vast of airships, mammoth leviathans, thundering behemoths, the grandest of creatures gathered below in a mash of the greatest collection of goliath beasts ever to walk the earth. This land and it's magic was the only place on earth they could be comfortably sustained.
 
And it was quite the training ground as well.
 
“One hour, fifty two minutes!”
 
The Titan chuckled low as she tiredly rolled her shoulders, allowing the flames of her magic to wash over her and return her to a more manageable size. Her magic already went to work healing her many cuts and scrapes, and even knitting together the cracked bone that dotted her side. With one last look back, she strode away from the forest, long legs still powerful in their stride despite the obvious damage.
 
“Blast, seems I pulled out too early, I was going for a solid two hours.”
 
Behind her, the smaller than average changeling rushing to keep up with her frowned, looking nervous.
 
“D-don't push yourself too much, you might not be able to get out...”
 
A loud, cackling laugh rang out through the trees.
 
“A wise concern! But those things down there could never hope to end me. I am the Titan, not some stupid beast like those below.”
 
“...W-what are they like? The monsters, I mean... What kinds are there...”
 
Subconsciously, her eyes rolled as the one trailing after her struggled, already starting to look winded.
 
“And spoil the surprise? I think not!”
 
The changeling beside her stumbled, tumbling head over hooves in shock. Never once did Chitania pause her stride.
 
She did, however, slow ever so imperceptibly to allow the other to catch up to her.
 
“Y-you're not gonna make me go down there, are you!?”
 
Another loud, explosive cackle.
 
“Of course! It is a tradition!”
 
At the wide, horrified look she felt just a touch of disgust.
 
“Do not look to me like that, child. When you achieve your Titan form, you shall descend in there just as I did, and my mother before me, and her mother before that.”
 
When the look did not leave, she grew just a bit more irritated.
 
“It is matter of pride. When you rise to your true size, you will need to prove you have earned it.”
 
Still more, that terrified stare remained.
 
“...I suppose I would understand if you could not match my record.”
 
“H-h-how long?”
 
“My first time? I lasted... only ten minutes and six seconds before I was so battered that a single opponent more would have likely been my end.”
 
“T-TEN MINUTES!?”
 
“My pride just would not let me leave until I surpassed my mother's record of eight, and by then I was locked in battle with a one eyed fowl with hooks for arms and a sawblade upon it's chest. After that one, I knew I was done. Mother called me a quitter for that, said I was pathetic for not making it to fifteen... I suppose I would be a touch more lenient if you only made it to seven. No less! If you are to lead, then they should not be forced to live under one who could only manage six.”
 
“I... I...”
 
She came to a dead stop, no longer looking back to the changeling trailing her. Subtly, a snarl began to form on her lips.
 
“...what if I can't reach it?”
 
“You will.”
 
“I mean, would it be so bad if...”
 
“You will continue your training and achieve Titan form, end of story.”
 
“You're just so experienced, you know? And the other Queen's like you. Even Sciderella likes you, I think! And she doesn't like anyone!”
 
“They will come to look to you just as they looked to me. You will continue your training, and you will achieve your Titan form, and after I believe you to have sufficient control you will-”
 
“I can't!”
 
A massive neck curled, turning red, angry eyes upon the shaking changeling.
 
“I can't, okay!? I'm never going to master it, I'm never going to be able to do what you do! I can't punch mountains, or beat up dragons bare hoofed, or look at a volcano and go 'yeah, I can take that'! I can't do any of that!”
 
The snarl intensified as she slowly turned to face her, peering down her nose at the heavy breathing, tear streaked face.
 
“Child, it would be wise to stop speaking now.”
 
“Why do you want me to take over so much!? Nobody does! Not our hive, that's for sure! And if you weren't so ashamed of me that you hid the fact I'm alive from the other Queen's, they'd hate me too!”
 
A low growl joined the snarl.
 
“I'm not a leader, I've never been a leader! I'm not strong, not like you! I can't be like you! I don't care how much you want it! You're wrong, mother! YOU'RE WRON-”
 
She would regret what she did at that moment someday, she knew. But it was completely on muscle memory, done without a single thought put forth to it. Not a single one given...
 
When she swung her hoof out, and batted the smaller changeling in her side, sending her crashing rib-first into a tree.
 
She watched as her daughter struggled to regain her breath, to taste sweet air again and refill the lungs that had been so forcibly evacuated. She whimpered as she involuntarily rolled away from her injured side, a dark and ugly visible bruise already forming where chitin had met chitin. Hooves could no longer support her as they rattled right to the very bone, pain flooding her every sense as she laid at the base of the tree, broken from what had been nothing more than a casual blow.
 
“Pathetic.”
 
Memories of her own childhood sprang forth. Many a time she remembered being in that exact position, in even more pain than what the young one before her felt. Her own mother had not held the same kindness.
 
...And perhaps it was not her who was wrong.
 
“Look at you, crying like a grub. Oh, were you hurt? Was that too rough for the little one?... Good. You deserve no less. Perhaps I'll beat the weakness out of you... but then again, maybe there will be nothing left after that. Not that anyone would miss you at this rate. Do you want me to just crush you now? I'll save us both the time.”
 
She turned away from her stricken child, wordlessly motioning to one of her hive that remained ever hidden in the trees beyond to collect her.
 
“Your training resumes tomorrow at dawn. If nothing else, I shall bring you to a level where you no longer bore me. You shall bleed, be barely able to stand, but maybe, just maybe, you shall one day reach a level of... adequacy.”
 
Respectfully keeping its eye off of the Queen, the soldier in her army picked up the changeling, being careful not to exaggerate her obvious bruising and wounds.
 
“Get some sleep... it is the last easy one you will ever have.”
 
Every word she had spoke echoed with her, to a different point in time when the tables were turned, and it was her lying broken on the ground, seething with rage and wishing nothing more than to tear her own mother's head clean off. Judging by the clenched teeth and red eyes with her own daughter at this moment, perhaps her mother had not been too far off... perhaps she had been wiser than previously thought.
 
“Get out of my sight.”
 
She did not remember much about that night,
 
She remembered a fitful, restless sleep. Filled with tossing, turning, tumbling and mumbling. She remembered her headache all through the night, the dry feeling in her mouth, the phantom pains in her limbs. She remembered seeing her over and over, lying there on the ground, broken, in pain, hurting... and it was because of her. A ethereal pain tugged at her chest, right beneath her rib cage, pulling at her all through the night. Her legs kicked as if to walk to a destination she did not know where, her eyes moved beneath closed lids as if to look for something that was not there, her mouth opened as if to speak but none were near for her to share. Flashes of images plagued her until the sun rose upon a groggy, irritated face.
 
That's when her subject shakily ran up to her, and her world stopped.
 
“Y-your majesty... she's gone!”
 
The next few hours were a blur. Roars into the faces of those who were supposed to be watching her, panic as she searched the immediate area to see if a beast had snatched her in the night, desperation sinking in when she finally found tracks and followed them.
 
And sheer, unrestrained terror when her trail lead right off the cliff, and into the valley of monsters.
 
It was not even a second later that she dove off the cliff, Titan magic already consuming her, and into the jungle she went, following the faint trail all the while.
 
Eventually, she lost even that.
 
In desperation, she bellowed.
 
“Come back you idiot!”
 
Her calls attracted unwelcome attention of the monstrous kind, but she was in no mood.
 
“I command you, as your Queen! I command you to come forth! Return to me you pathetic wretch! Return or I shall make you suffer!”
 
She kept calling even as she broke limbs, arms, spines even, beneath her hooves, racing through the forest in a blind sprint.
 
“Do you wish a quick death? Is that it!? You flee in the hopes your suffering will be brief? Fool! I will find you! We both know I shall! I have tracked far smarter than you across continents to pull them from their own stupidity before you, and you merely prolong your punishment with this foolishness! With every second you force me to spend out here, I shall take from you a hundred fold! Return! I COMMAND IT!”
 
So caught up in her search, she did not even realize it as the sun reached its apex overhead.
 
“Even now, your flee your Queen!? Speak, Child! At least have the decency to attempt to justify your stupidity!”
 
Worry shot through her with every moment. Any surviving more than a few minutes in this place was a dream to most. To one as weak and sickly as her...
 
“What reason could you hold? Did you merely wish to see me battle these things? Is that it? Perhaps I was wrong, perhaps you are using this as an attempt on my life... ha ha! I see now! Luring me down into this place, this dangerous abode, and force me to face off against beasts until I am worn and weary before your strike? HA! I see now! Not my style, not at all, but I suppose a child must forge her own path in life! But it has failed, you see. I have caught on too quickly for these things to be of use. Come forth, at last. I shall forgive you just this once, merely for how well played this deception was! Even I can appreciate a clever ploy. Come forth.”
 
She barely kept the madness from her voice when no reply came.
 
“Did you not hear me? Come forth!”
 
Eyes darted around, looking for any shift of leaves, any rustle of grass.
 
“Or perhaps... yes! I see now! You came down here to prove me wrong, to attempt to force your Titan form to the surface through need for survival! HAHA! I admire your moxie, I am proud you would attempt this to show me up, for even I did not come down here outside of my Titan form! But that is not how the magic works, child! It must be mastered, not forced! Still, a simple mistake, I understand, and I will be lenient on you today, no doubt you tired yourself doing this. Come forth.”
 
The discomfort in her chest became unbearable as she looked around, the weight of the danger of this forsaken land choking her with every passing moment.
 
“Are you stuck? Did you believe yourself stronger than you are and fell prey to a trap? Foolish, but I have done the same myself, I will admit. Call out, I shall free you.”
 
Her eyes went cross as she looked to her horn, hoping at any moment it would light.
 
“...Call to me!”
 
It never did.
 
“You and I both know you do not need to speak with words, call to me!”
 
No matter how long she waited.
 
“Are you still avoiding me!? Even now!? Enough of this foolishness! Call to me!”
 
It never came.
 
“Even the other Queen's know better! Call to me!”
 
Slowly, her eyes left her horn, and trailed to the ground.
 
“...You fool.”
 
In the next, her muzzle was pointed to the sky.
 
“YOU MORONIC! IDIOTIC! BRAINDEAD FOOL!”
 
Her reverberating roar attracted yet more monsters still, but they only proved to be an outlet for her rage.
 
“I AM GLAD YOU ARE GONE! GOOD! YOU WERE WORTHLESS ANYWAY! YOU NEVER LISTENED TO A WORD I SPOKE! YOU NEVER TRAINED AS I TOLD YOU TOO! YOU NEVER HAD THE DRIVE! YOU NEVER HAD THE FIRE TO LEAD OUR HIVE!”
 
In every way she could break them, she did. Leaving bodies as far as the eye could see from any who dared to approach her in this moment.
 
“STAY GONE! STAY IN THIS HIVE FORSAKEN LAND! SKITTER FOR YOUR LIFE EVERYDAY! I SHALL CAST YOU IN MY SHADOW NO LONGER! NO LONGER SHALL I PROTECT YOU! THE OTHER QUEENS SHALL HAVE YOUR HEAD! LIVE IN FEAR! LIVE IN THE DARKNESS AS I LAUGH AT YOUR MEMORY, LITTLE MORE THAN A JOKE THE GODS PLAYED UPON THIS WORLD!”
 
Against her rage, the other beasts paused, and in this brief respite she called once more to the heavens.
 
“ONE CHANCE! I GIVE YOU BUT ONE FINAL CHANCE TO CALL TO ME! YOUR QUEEN! YOUR MOTHER! I GIVE YOU ONE LAST CHANCE! A CHANCE YOU DO NOT DESERVE AND I AM A FOOL TO CONSIDER, BUT IN MY MERCY GIVE TO YOU! ONE LAST CHANCE, CHILD!”
 
Nothing but the groan of the beaten answered her.
 
“CALL TO ME!”
 
Soon, even they too went quiet.
 
“...CALL TO ME!”
 
With one final roar, she let her head sink low, orbs wide with realization sinking in every second.
 
“...Call...”
 
Her voice was hoarse from the roars, throat burning as her head curled downward lower still.
 
“... I'll... I'll stop... You don't have to master the Titan power, I understand, it's not your fault. It's not your fault you cannot. It's m-... just call to me. It is not safe out here, and I cannot fight forever.”
 
The aches in her body at last made themselves apparent, and her words rang true.
 
“There is so much...”
 
Despondent eyes looked around the forest once more. At the devastation, the wreckage, and the broken bodies.
 
“You must be alive.”
 
But not a single sign of her.
 
“You cannot be gone like this.”
 
Not a twig snapping, not a leaf shifting.
 
“...Not like this...”
 
Slowly, the sun set behind her, and at last she could delude herself no more.
 
“...Call to me...”
 
She was gone.
 
“...call to me....”
 
There it was.
 
That moment.
 
That moment where she sat in the middle of that dense forest, surrounded on all sides by the battered and broken forms of a hundred different monsters and creatures of every kind. Cuts and breaks in her chitin, gouges on her skin and face, burning muscles and hot, ragged breaths leaving her dry, cracked lips. All of that...
 
It couldn't even begin to compare to what she felt when she threw her head back, and let out a earth shattering roar to the sky.
 
The moment that at last sapped the fight from her, that left her weak and breathless as she fell forwards, stumbling as her titanic mass shrunk away, unable to see straight any longer with the haze that had formed a thick sheen over her gaze. A crushing devastation pushed down upon her as she drunkenly moved towards the edge of the forest, stepping over the shattered limbs of gargantuan beasts as she did so.
 
The memory grew hazy here, but it mattered not. In the material world, the final blow had been dealt, the power taken from her.She shrank away before it's host, tiny in comparison to the scaled mass, dangling pathetically from his claws by her horn. With one blow, the claws of a dragon could crush her, and leave her but smears to be spread across. At last, she would no longer stand in the way of the spread. She would be...
 
That is when it realized that something was wrong.
 
A bolt of magic electrocuted across his grip, sinking into the two it only now noticed had been clinging to it this whole time, both sent flying in a burst of magic as... something happened with the once tall beast it still held firm in its grip. They both hit the ground hard, magic dancing across their forms, but neither unconscious. It would have turned its attention to them, to deal with them immediately, if the thing in its grasp had not taken all of it with what came next.
 
From within her mind, it watched as another memory flared up. A recollection not of this time, but another. This... it made no sense, it 'thought' in the only way it could. Having no true understanding of memories, the concept of another so far away reconciling with this one was impossible.
 
There it went again, another flare. Another strike across her mind as the impression of a time beyond this reached out, as if to connect itself to this moment, this flicker in time.
 
It did. Like a puzzle piece effortlessly falling into place, that cognizance connected with this, as if it filled a gap none had known was there, connecting like they were always meant to be. It should bloat this memory, yet it felt like it always belonged.
 
In an instant, everything changed. The despair, the sapping weight that had leeched the fight from her changed. It was not gone, no. It was still there, as easily as its mind's eye could see, but it was different now. It was no longer cold and damp like the bowels of the cave from whence the thing had once called home, no...
 
It was hot.
 
The second that memory connected, past and time yet to be becoming one, everything had changed.
 
She had changed.
 
The world of her mind fell away, torn from its grasp as easily as a flower could be torn from the ground. In the instant before their connection had been so violently severed, it had caught a glimpse. A mere peek into the mind it was leaving behind. No more was there a concentrated, plotting mind. It was gone now, that thinking, that planning. No more did she look for weaknesses. There was no thought.
 
It had no place next to that molten fire that burned within her.
 
Pure rage.
 
It fueled her as a burst of flaming magic engulfed her once more, her horn ripping free from his grip as a new power raced through her very veins, burning as hotly as the lava she had once had poured upon her back so very long ago.
 
Her vision blurred into nothing as she pressed forwards against the stunned dragon, limbs flailing about in a unfocused, incomprehensible manner. So sporadic were her movements, the thing that pulled the lavender dragon's strings could not react, could not counter properly against the onslaught. In desperation, it lashed out, striking her upon her head once more to have even a chance to stifle the blows. It landed, powerful and true.
 
But the pain was nothing to her.
 
Her rage had completely blinded her at this point, her eyes little more than white, red veined orbs. Mouth hanging open in a snarling gape with foam bubbling around the corner of her mouth, incoherent mixtures of growls and roars spilling out as her hooves became a blur. It could heal every devastating blow, but the beast before it did not slow. Even when she ferally sank her fangs into his arm and jerked back and forth like a rabid dog, taking him temporarily off his feet before he was tossed aside.
 
He was smooth in his landing, already maneuvering back into a combative stance and striking right for her skull once more. Just as before, he felt it land.
 
And just as before, she ignored the pain, and pressed forwards, switching to merely rearing back and trying to trample him like a wild horse.
 
The thing controlling Spike frantically searched again as the flurry of hooves battered him in a sloppy, random pattern, seeking something to counteract this particular form of conflict, a new tactic to switch to just as it had before. In the mind of the ponies and other equine species, it found none. But when it looked to the mind of the very one it controlled so precisely at this moment...
 
Licks of fire raced out from between the diamond crushing fangs, a fury of emerald emerging and pushing her back at last, the force and heat of the flames finally enough to cast the beast back.
 
If only for a moment.
 
She stomped forward against the flames once more, still incomprehensible in her rage and roars as it rolled off her in waves and melted the street below into slag. He could see her chitin cracking beneath the onslaught, the fire slowly but surely working it's way through her armor. Soon, her muscles would burn, and no matter how enraged she became it would be for naught, her body would simply not be able to move. The thing did not understand the minds of the sentient, not really, but it understood bodies.
 
As it paused to fill the breath in the dragons lungs, it prepared to prove this fact.
 
She reached him before it could finish his inhalation, but it was no matter. Even as she grabbed hold of the drakes head in her chitinous, blackened hooves, it felt no worry. She would only make what was to come easier with the shortened distance. It felt no concern as she pressed so close to the dragon's face, so very close.
 
At last, the lungs were full, and fangs split apart as it prepared to end this in fire.
 
Flame spilled from a maw once more, and once more it consumed.
 
But this time... it did not come from the dragon.
 
From between ebony lips, it poured. Blue, sickly looking flames rushing outwards, making the leap from her mouth to his quicker than it had been able to unleash it's own. It flowed like liquid, a river of heat and power sliding down into his gullet, filling him with it's searing touch. Eyes clouded by infection went wide, desperate claws raking out as best they could to drag the iron like grip from his head, but in vain. She held firm as it rushed down into him, hair whipping into the sky and taking a magical flare in a sapphire color reminiscent of the power that now bled from her lips, not so much as a single lick of flame missing its mark in this deadly kiss.
 
A dragon's throat is made to resist flame, of course it is. The fires of lava from the very core of the planet itself would be useless against it. But it was not the heat that gave it pause, not the searing scorch that took the strength from it's arms, no. Fire could not hurt it, not physically.
 
However, in the grand scheme of this world, there is one other vital element that fire is more than capable of harming.
 
Air.
 
He positively withered as the flames reduced the very breath in his lungs to nothing, sapping the fire from his fight as well his body. He weakened further, and further, futilely banging against the chitin that held him down. Claws no longer able to so much as scratch the armor like hide it had so easily rent before. Like broken tree trunks, they fell to his side, limp.
 
Within the mind of the grand dragon, the infection who holds no name stirred in what a basic animal might register as anger. It could repair any damage, any wound a simplicity in itself to rebuild from next to nothing.
 
But it could not create air.
 
Had it the ability to comprehend irony, it would find humor in that fact, that a plant such as itself could do nothing to create that which is most standard in this world for its fellow kind, but even if it had it would have no time to ponder it.
 
For, as one, the others were falling.
 
Just as when it had been wounded atop that building not so very long ago, the damage resonated throughout all of them. But rather than a missing body part, chunks of meat it could compensate for in an instant, this was something it could not stop. As one, they were suffocating. Every single one of them, their cells growing weak, withering, their bodies no longer capable of carrying out it's mission, the singular drive that defined it's very life.
 
It could no longer s?p?r?ea?d?
 
But this was but a single limb, it realized. A single tendril on the many parts of it that spread throughout the world. Even if it immobile, it has already been spread to, its body taken. It is but one part. When a limb of a tree grows weak, one does not save the branch.
 
It is severed to save the tree.
 
Like a puppet with it's strings cut free, the dragon slumped over, eyes wide and dead as the fire dwindled and stopped. The chitinous hooves released him at last, and with a grand crash he fell back and crushed the earth beneath his mass.
 
It was not like last time, the others noticed. He did not shrink instantaneously. Instead, he slowly dwindled, like a balloon slowly letting out it's air. Smaller and smaller and smaller, until only the tiny, instantly recognizable shape remained. The spores lived on in the body of the dragon, but they no longer moved, they no longer grew. He was nothing but a pile of spores, as far as the thing that had controlled him was concerned, he would not even grant him a mind, just so it would not be like the one who had resisted it. As far as the thing cared, Spike the dragon was a brick it had spread to.
 
The Titan threw her head back, mouth snapping open wide as if to let out a victorious roar. But none left her. Instead, a gurgle, a bubbling of blackened and charred skin escaped in it's place.
 
The haze of her rage left her eyes quickly, irises reappearing as if by magic as something else replaced that feeling that had consumed her so not a moment ago. Her hooves closed around her own throat, fear apparent in her wide eyes as she realized just what it was she had done, at last free from the all consuming memories that had driven her, but too late to put a stop to decisions made in this rage.
 
She stumbled about in her massive form, smashing whatever poor structure happened to be in her path, hoof pressed against her burned larynx and vision blurry from the tears streaming from her eyes. She did not know what to do, how to fix this, who to call. This had spelled death for the last Queen to use it, and now history seemed to repeat again.
 
At last her own breathless chest could hold her up no longer, and down she fell, pawing desperately against the ground in a vain attempt to stand. The burning intensified, not even giving her the brief relief of a rush of blood to cool it, the flames having cauterized any wound shut, and simply leaving her with a ruined, clogged airpipe as the skin inflamed and the charred remains bundled together.
 
She was dying...
 
That's when 'she' arrived.
 
The one that had brought her here, the one that had called her to what she had not known to be her doom. The one she had so foolishly obeyed, protected.
 
This was all her fault.
 
Her end was near, and it was all that pony's fault.
 
She tried to roar, to give a final testament to the Titan that she had been before, just one last thing to remind them in who's presence they now stood.
 
She couldn't even manage a squeak.
 
Again, she fell forwards, chin landing hard against the ground and eyes nearly rolling back in her head from pain. Against it all, she could not hope to keep her power held.
 
Like waves rolling off of a melting pile of ice, her fire rolled off her back, leaving not the Titan, but a crumpled mess who could not even lift her chin from the ground. Her eyes filled with hate as she looked up to the pony staring down at her, regarding her.
 
“He still alive?”
 
Her voice was full of badly hidden fear, and just a touch of barely restrained rage as well.
 
There was a pause as she waited for an answer, one that never came. She jerked her head back, looking over to the changeling whom had served as her messenger, the child of Sciderella...
 
“Arana?”
 
The spiderling shuddered, clenching her head in her hooves.
 
“H-h-how could she do t-that... h-how could anyone... she's... she's a mon-.”
 
“ARANA!”
 
The ebony head shot up, darting left and right as she looked about in a daze, confusion marring her face for a brief moment.
 
“Go make sure Spike's okay!”
 
She brushed the tears streaking from her eyes and nodded before she rushed past the pair, to the other of the fallen once-goliaths, quick to tepidly look him over, careful to keep back should he spring back to life.
 
“He's breathing!”
 
Relief, unmistakeable relief crossed the pony's face.
 
“So... ya' did yer' job. Even managed not ta' crush anyone while ya'll were getting beaten this way and that. Ah'm impressed, Ah' guess.”
 
Had anything the ability to pass through it, hate would have bubbled up her throat.
 
“Ah' could leave you now, ya' get that, right? Our agreement says Ah've gotta let ya' go fer' all you did, but it don't say nothin' bout savin' you. S'what ya' tried ta' do ta' us, so it ain't like ya' don't deserve it. Ya' were just gonna leave us all here ta' die and trot on yer' merry way. Well...”
 
She brushed past her, just out of the felled Queen's line of sight.
 
“That's what that feels like, in case ya' were wonderin'. Ain't a great feelin', is it?”
 
She heard the pony trotting away from her, further, and further. She was really going to leave her there...
 
With one last frenzied gathering of her magic, her horn ignited once more.
 
“A-a deeeealll...”
 
Even in her mind, she could not keep the slurring from occurring. Her mind was growing hazy from the diminishing air, leaving her barely able to connect with the smaller changeling and speak through her.
 
Beyond her sight, Applejack scoffed.
 
“Ya'll ain't got nothin' Ah' want.”
 
“F-fiiiiighhtt...”
 
She tried to hack, but her throat would not allow even that. Applejack casually trotted back to her, looking down her nose at the felled Queen.
 
Her horn flickered out before she could answer, leaving her desperately nodding her head instead.
 
Even now, Applejack would not reach out, would not help her.
 
“Y-eee.....fffff....”
 
Bitterly, Applejack scoffed, looking away from her.
 
“Ain't surprised, fightin's all you seem ta' be able ta' do.”
 
An uneasy breath left her.
 
“Ah' wish Ah' could trust you'd keep yer' word. Wish that ya'll had offered ta' help earlier. Would probably have fixed ya' already if ya' had. By all accounts, Ah' should rightly leave ya' here ta' suffer. Would be the smart thing ta' do. Certainly what ya' would do ta' me, ain't no point in denyin' that.”
 
Harsh, unforgiving eyes met ones that grew blurrier with every passing second.
 
“Ya' deserve ta' be locked up fer' the rest o' time. Ya' deserve ta' be punished. Ya' might even deserve ta' get taken out, just like this... but there's somethin' bigger goin' on than you, or me, or what you did or what yer' gonna do. This ain't about a city bein' smashed, not even 'bout a hundred of 'em. This is about the whole world possibly dancin' ta' the tune of a danged mushroom fer' the rest o' time.”
 
Her muzzle drew in close, almost to the point where their noses touched.
 
“And now ya' know it ain't gonna just pass you over neither. Ya' ain't stupid, Ah'm at least sure o' that, so Ah'll ask ya' again. You gonna help out? Iffin' ya' ain't gonna work with me, this is pointless, and Ah'll save ya' the trouble o' relivin' that memory all over again the next time that thing gets a hold o' you. Death, a never ending nightmare, or you listen ta' what Ah' say, and we go beat the tar out of this thing. Yer' choice.”
 
White had already begun to creep over her vision, a buzzing noise growing louder in her ears as the burning of her lungs begging for oxygen reached unbearable levels. At last, the darkness started to claim her.
 
And then...
 
Like she had dived nose first into a pool of water after running through hell itself, an indescribable sensation washed over her, burying into every pore, every fiber in her muscles, practically dancing upon the very blood cells as they flowed through her veins. This was not love magic, no, this was something else, something... amazing.
 
“Ah' might not be able ta' put any o' this stuff ta' use, but Ah'm bettin' ya' know how ta' use power, real power, don't ya'?”
 
Her throat bubbled with a sickly gurgling noise as the remains of her mistake were forced free, exploding outwards and scattering in tune with the gasp of air that extinguished the inferno in her chest. Darkness peppering her vision gradually bled away, and at last she could see again.
 
More than that...
 
The fire erupted like a volcano from her, consuming her in an all encompassing burst of magical power so very familiar to that on which she normally fed, but so different as well. The wave of green flame was cast aside as a bellow akin to a hurricane escaped her lips, and her roar of victory, of her celebration of life, rang though all of Canterlot.
 
At last, the Titan stood tall.
 
Her mind took longer to collect itself and reconnect with the current time, to shake off the clawing death that had been pulling her away. It was only after several heaving, deep breaths that she at last calmed herself, working her tongue along dried lips before she turned back to the once earth pony standing still, waiting.
 
A mammoth neck craned downwards, allowing massive orbs every bit as tall as Applejack herself was to peer directly at her. There was a long, tense moment between them, many things shared in that single look. Many things said, without a single word.
 
“I will require more power. Are you coming or not?”
 
Applejack's eyes narrowed, dangerous.
 
Chitania's narrowed right back.
 
Finally, one of them made a move.
 
And Chitania tried to stifle her indignity as Applejack leapt atop her head.
 
“I meant to give it to me as you flew along side.”
 
As the Titan's head rose to it's full height, Applejack could not help but smirk.
 
“Ah' like the view.”
 
Her lips curled into a frown as she looked down to the Titan's irritated eyes, a touch of emotion in her own.
 
“Ah'm sorry fer' what happened ta' yer' kid. Nobody deserved that, and ya' didn't deserve...”
 
She growled, eyes angrily pointing straight ahead.
 
“The past is in the past, leave it buried with the dead.”
 
She nodded, knowing there was really nothing else to be said. She turned to Arana, who even now still waited beside the unconscious dragon.
 
“Keep an eye on him, iffin' he wakes up, do what ya' gotta ta' put him back ta' sleep before he gets ta' that size again. Iffin' ya' can't, run.”
 
She nodded, dutifully taking a seat next to him and covering him with a cloth woven of her webbing.
 
“Now... you ready?”
 
A booming grunt left her, and her legs locked into place.
 
“Then...”
 
“Don't you say it.”
 
Again, she smirked, and transferred her magic, the twin whips that flowed looking like reigns as they connected into her horn, infusing the monstrous beast with the magic of an Alicorn.
 
“LET'S RIDE!”
 
With a fierce roar, Chitania charged, racing through the streets at full tilt towards the towering structure, hooves booming with every thunderous step and hair whipping into the wind.
 
She didn't know what was going to come as the tower in the distance grew near. Didn't know if she would even hold on long enough to make use of it.
 
That said...
 
She may be being taken over by a force she couldn't understand.
 
She may be living on borrowed time.
 
...But she'll be damned if this wasn't a thrill.
 
“YEE HAW!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 OMAKE!
>77
"32"
~~~
 
>Brother, it was good we finally got to engage in our grand battle at last.
 
"It was a long time coming, but well worth it in the end."
 
>I'll say... but I do feel bad.
 
"Oh?"
 
>Yes, we kind of topped out the thread when we did that, really, what could possibly surpass our battle in terms of-
 
*THOOM THOOM THOOMFUCKINGAJONADINOSAURTHOOM THOOM THOOM*
 
>...
"...I have the weirdest boner right now..."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 NCOMAKE!
~~~~~
 
"What about Cadence?"
 
>Oh, Celly Celly Celly...
 
*Shiny suddenly grows a huge mustache*
 
*Porno music starts playing*
 
>Cadence isn't around right now, is she?
 
"O-oh myyyy!"
 
>You're more than just my princess, Celestia... now let me show you what I mean...
 
~~~~
 
'Oh, and by the way? Shiny would never run... away...'
 
[...Are they...]
 
'EEP! OH MY GOSH! SHINY!? CELESTIA!'
 
[Oh wow, look at him go!]
 
'TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!'
 
[Fuck you, this is hot!]
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 NCOMAKE!
>88
"Cordyceps"
~~~
 
>You know, for none of this mattering, you sure are pulling out all the stops.
 
"SCREEEE!"
 
>I'm just saying, you just beat up a giant bug monster with a kung fu dragon. This is a little beyond just spreading.
 
"SCREEEEE!"
 
>Fine, be like that, whatever.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 >Pinkie
~~~~
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFjqlx8eSfQ
 
>WOWZEE WOWZERS PONIES! So much to say, so little time! Ponies getting infected left and right! Friends dropping, plans burning, despairies despairing!
 
>AND THEN APPLEJACK RODE BUGZILLA INTO THE NIGHT!
 
>Next time, Applejack and Chitania double team that giant mushroom and they aren't going to be gentle! Are Shiny and Celly down for the count, or are they still kicking in there? Chrysalis breaks down, but does Twilight have the glue to put her back together? Is Arana going to try to cop a feel while Spike's unconcious? Will 41 and Suckerpunch have to repopulate the entire planet by themselves? Find out all of this and more, next thread! Thread 53, Bug Riders in Zombieland!
 
>And plenty of despair-free fanservice!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________