_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>41
"Variolus"
 
>Oh fuck it, CHAAAAAAARGE!
 
...tink.
 
"Heheh, that tickled."
 
>LOVE FUCKING DAMN IT!
 
"Titania is rolling her grave."
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
~~~~
 
That was fast.
 
She was used to fast reaction times from soldiers, but even she had to admire a bit when the Empire's forces had assembled so quickly, and fired upon her even faster. She was used to trained militia, but these ones were particularly impressive.
 
Too bad they were also about as useful as as water balloon filled with laughter.
 
Variolus gave no mind to the ponies down below fleeing in terror, gave no pause or quarter to the ones blasting their little toys into her skin. She had promised that she would try to hold no casualties... but she had also just ripped up a chunk of a building and hurled it at the castle.
 
Needless to say, even the once fallen Queen had no idea why Sunset believed her for a second at this point. She had been quite lucky 'intelligence' extended only to book smarts with this one.
 
But no matter, she would continue her destruction unabated, lure the Titan here for their final confrontation at last, and then her plan would be fulfilled. This was to be the end, at long, long last. Her mark would be left on the world, at last.
 
And what a mark it would be.
 
It would be a mark of-
 
BLOOP!
 
That sound would have been comical, had it not been the precursor to a sphere rocketing towards her position and detonating right in her face.
 
Well, she should clarify. The sphere had not detonated, the ball of explosives as big as a house had detonated.
 
Right in her face.
 
She gasped a bit in pain, though it was nothing more than a light sting at this point. Following it, however, she found she was bereft.
 
Bereft of air, she should again clarify.
 
Her hooves closed around her throat as the air was taken by the ball of fire, leaving none in the sphere around her she had not even noticed until right this second. The shield did a two-fold of protecting the Empire and sealing her away all in one, quite a clever tactic.
 
"Yeah, this actually worked out pretty well last time too."
 
There they stood, at the very peak where the Heart was. Regal, powerful and glaring upon her with the fury of a thousand suns.
 
"Only this time, I think I'll forgo the whole reaching out for a hoofshake, if you don't mind."
 
She looked to them with fury, hacking and wheezing as the air became too thin to breath.
 
"Now, Shining, we should give her the chance to surrender."
 
"Actually, that's probably a bad idea. Let's just say that if that name is right, she's not exactly someone you give a chance to."
 
"Everyone deserves a chance, don't they?"
 
"...Fair enough. Any chance you will surrender and save us all a bunch of heartache?"
 
"We'd be willing to give concessions to you, if you did. Perhaps even leniency for all the damage you did to our castle."
 
"Call off your little... whatevers, and we'll talk."
 
"Speaking of, I really hope you didn't think that just because those looked like changelings we'd change our opinion on the matter and make us hate the species or something."
 
"Seriously, we're not stupid here, and neither is our Empire. We can tell those are fake."
 
She actually hadn't been planning anything of the sort with them, but she could see that, indeed, nobody was buying the idea they had been turned on by the changelings.
 
It actually insulted her they thought that was her plan, if she had wanted that, she would have simply laid the crystals within the stadium to give the illusion of them coming from there. They were out in the open when they popped up, who were they going to fool?
 
"So, one last chance before we let you just choke out. Surrender, or I don't pop this thing until you stop moving. Choose."
 
She hacked.
She gagged.
She wheezed.
...And then she smiled.
 
"No thank you, I'm actually quite fine without air. Or your offer, for that matter."
 
They had no time to react, not even a gasp of shock, before she swung her hoof and broke right through the shield.
 
Had Cadence not thrown up a shield of her own when her husband stumbled down, it's very likely that hoof would have broken them permanently when it kept going, and crashed into them.
 
It was likely they would survive the fall as they arced through the air...
 
Likely.
 
With the prince and princess cast away, the giant being turned her attention back to what she was doing. So wrapped up in her own mirth, she missed the subtle blink of green off in the distance...
 
Oh well.
 
Back to the smashing.
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
~~~~~
 
Telekinesis, to yank a piece of war machinery up hard and let the hail of crystal that would have hit the soldiers otherwise impact upon it.
 
Sadly, that meant she had just disabled part of the Empire's firepower.
 
Shield, encasing the couple of ponies that would have been jumped by the crystal Changeling golems otherwise.
 
Pointless, as four Changeling marked with a distinctive symbol upon their armor descended upon them, smashing them to pieces. The golems reassembled, and a fight broke out.
 
Featherfall on the princess and princess of the Empire. The sound of Variolus hoof against their bodies made her wince.
 
It wouldn't alleviate the pain of the initial impact.
 
Sunset Shimmer was fulfilling a pointless role, in a pointless battle. She couldn't cast any greater spells that would take time, as that would mean diverting her attention from the potential harm to those around her.
 
Not to mention that she was pissed off beyond belief due to the nature of the Titan magic. It was like trying to crack eggs while having a screaming fit.
 
The Gem was filled to the brim with love, and despite such a Titanic form logically using up a lot of power, Variolus seemed to household what they had efficiently. It didn't even matter, as they were now tethered to the Crystal Heart.
 
While she could, she focused onto shifting the link between the Changeling Queen and her golems, making her expend far more power than necessary into them. As far she could tell, they were just a handy distraction to disperse the firepower with how they seemed to just CHASE the citizens of the Emprie around, always keeping some distance, never truly catching up.
 
And with the petulance of a spoiler child denied their favorite toy, she focused on Transmutation, channeled it through all of Variolus' body and made gave it a boost in duration.
 
The titanic form of Variolus began to emit the smell of sweetest lavender seconds later, a cloud of the scent following her everywhere.
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>AJ
"Rarity"
'Robot'
~~
 
>Did we get stronger, or are these things just really weak?
 
With one swipe, three of them went down.
 
"Whichever one makes us sound better, darling."
 
Her kicks, normally nowhere near as strong as Applejack's own, easily crushed them as well.
 
'EXTERMINATE INTRUDERS! EXTERMINATE INTRUDERS!'
 
>No thanks.
 
Like an eggshell, they crumbled.
 
"...I think we overprepared for this."
 
>Ya'll know the sayin'. Ain't no such thing as overkill, there's just smashin', or it's still moving.
 
"Fair enough."
 
'EX-TER-MIN-ATE!'
 
"Oh be quiet."
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>Applejack
“Rarity”
'Security'
~~~~~
 
'Wait, WAIT! Hold fire!'
 
The rattling impact of gel rounds against the doorframe Applejack had used as cover stopped, her ears still ringing from the noise.
 
'Damn, I think that's Princess Applejack.'
 
'Bull. Command said Changelings have infiltrated. That one probably just changed to look like her.'
 
'Yeah, well, what if it *IS* her, you dumbass?'
 
'Then we subdue her? What else. That's what we are being paid for.'
 
A third voice piped up.
 
'Screw that! I am not going to accidentally end up killing one of the Elements of Harmony!'
 
'Well, you go ahead and phone Command, see what they say!'
 
Applejack finally dared peek around the edge of her cover, hooves raised as the Security raised its weapons at her nervously.
 
>A'ight, listen here, fellas. Ah know yer jus' doin' yer dang job here. Y'all prolly dun even know what's goin' on wit' the research and stuff. Ah understand. We're jus' here ta save someone who's been abducted, and if y'all jus' lay down yer weapons and talk, no one will blame ya fer misinformed 'bout the situation.
 
It was a gamble, but Applejack knew gambling. She could see the uncertain looks the stallions and mares in security armor exchanged. Bless her heart, they were actually reasonable folks as she had hoped.
 
Slowly, they lowered their weapons.
 
'Damn, that really does sound like the princess.'
 
'DAMMIT! I knew something was off when they didn't let us see the security feed for tactical reasons!'
 
'Sorry for shooting at you, princess.'
 
>S'alrite, now let's just calm down and talk things-
 
*CLANG!*
 
*SMASH!*
 
“Hiiiiyaaaa, take that you ruffians!”
 
'URKH!'
'AAAH!'
'ERK!'
 
Before any of the ponies had time to react, one of the heavy wall panels finally rocketed from its place and slammed into them, sending them into the land of dreams, bruises and broken bones.
 
And with an air of grandiose superiority, Rarity popped into view, smiling to herself.
 
“Saved you just in time, didn't I Darling?”
 
Applejack groaned and facehoofed.
 
“Sorry, can't hear you! I put in ear wax earlier so those awful guns wouldn't damage my precious hearing! Would you repeat those words of gratitude a little louder, please?”
 
>Consarnit, Rares...
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>7
"12"
'SL'
~~~
 
>FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK-
 
"Okay, so, positives. You are clearly more bulletproof than the average changeling."
 
'Negatives, you're being a little bitch about it. You're not even bleeding.'
 
>FUCK YOU! I feel ghost-bullets inside of me wit this shit!
 
'There might be actual bullet fragments you know. Want me to cut you open to check?'
 
>NO!
 
'Pfft. Like I need your permission.'
 
"Thanks for taking the shots, by the way. Preeettty sure they're trying to execute Screws."
 
'They are pretty clearly aiming for me.'
 
>IT HURTS SO MUCH!
 
'If you think being a little bitch is going to keep me from experimenting on you, you're pretty badly mistaken.'
 
>FUCK YOU!
 
'Get in line behind pervert.'
 
"...Ew..."
 
'Oh sure, my hooves you love, but threesomes? Ick.'
 
>I WANT NO PART OF THAT!
 
'I wasn't serious, dumbass.'
 
"Oh... phew."
 
>WHY ARE YOU PHEWING I AM BEING SHOT!
 
"There could be worse things going into your body, man."
 
>I HATE MY JOB!
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>Chitania
~~~~
 
>...You're being stupid.
 
She hated it when she talked to herself. She never talked to herself, talking to herself was stupid.
 
>And you're being stupid.
 
She knew this was stupid. She knew it.
 
Even as she narrowed closer and closer to that border, she knew it was stupid.
 
>You know they're just playing you, you're not this stupid.
 
Normally, anyway.
 
But today she was being stupid.
 
>Think about it, it makes no sense. She's dead. She has to be dead. There is no way she could have survived down there, and even if she had whoever Variolus sent after her would make damn sure she didn't make it out alive. You know Variolus is dead, you felt the bone snap and ligaments tear as you ripped her head from her neck. You spat in that vacant, empty skull. You made damn sure there was no coming back. That thing is dead. Your heir is dead. That they spoke to you is so obviously you being played there is no excuse for this, not a one.
 
She even knew who was playing her.
 
>You humiliated her, broke her jaw, hit her square where it hurts and you got to laugh in her face. You made a mockery of her. And oh, of course, this just so happens to happen after that damned pony showed her when that bitch let my... let her jump. Let her go to her doom and flew away as that bigger bitch sent off someone to go kill her... are you stupid? This could not be more obvious. You could not be more played right now. She's goading you on.
 
She froze.
 
In mid air, coming to a stop on a dime, she froze. Just outside of it, just outside of the border that lead to the Empire. They couldn't do anything to her now if she turned back. She could just leave them, let that trap go off as it was, unsprung. Let them think they've won, and then turn around and leave them in despair that she was smarter than they thought.
 
>...That would be the smart thing to do, wouldn't it?
 
It would've, she knew.
 
 
>Who cares what voice was there? You are smarter than this, you are stronger than this. You do not need to run to them like some puppy dog chasing a bone. You do not need to let yourself be lead around by memories. You put both of them in the past, where they belong. She ran away because she could not stand you. The other one is dead by your hooves. What more must you prove, to them or to yourself? Why dig up the graves of those buried, just to look at the bones? You are Chitania, the Titan. You do not need to see to know. You lived it, and no bitch manipulating your memories can ever change that. So why are you even here?
 
The smart thing. Turn around, go home, pretend this whole thing never happened. That was the smart thing to do.
 
>...Because it felt real.
 
But she was being stupid.
 
That voice had felt so real. That was her voice. It felt so real, so perfectly crafted that even now she struggled to find a single fault in it, a single sign it was not her.
 
That tingle in her mind was special, it was special in a way only she could make her feel. Only when she had spoken to her through their link. She was special. That tingle should have been long dead, but the fact she felt it even now...
 
>I'm being stupid.
 
There was no chance this was going to end any other way. She was throwing her life away, all her work, and falling into the most blatant and obvious trap in the whole wide world. She was throwing away everything.
 
"Why did you stop?"
 
That voice...
 
It made her want to kill again.
 
>So... this was a trap.
 
She turned, expecting to find an alabaster face screwed in rage, or at least disappointment. But the look on the alicorn's face was nothing of the sort. Instead, one of pure curiosity.
 
"What was?"
 
She snarled, edging ever so slowly away from that border.
 
>Do not play dumb.
 
But her response was so sincere.
 
"I'm not. What caused you to leave like that? I thought you were attacking something."
 
>...I may yet.
 
The princess grew tense, adopting a more rigid stance.
 
"If you are thinking of attacking that Empire, do not dare turn your back to me. I am not a underhoofed mare, but I will strike you with all I have. If your intentions are to harm a single one of them, then face me now, and make damn sure I am broken on the ground before you move one inch closer."
 
She snarled back, a fire inside of her relishing at the challenge. But she did not move to attack, not yet.
 
>Your words ring hollow when you would use her voice in my head.
 
"I speak nothing but the truth, I do not know what you speak of."
 
Such honesty, such sincerity. It pained her to admit it, but she was starting to believe it the truth.
 
>...I heard her calling out to me.
 
"Who?"
 
The silence that hung heavy in the air said it all.
 
"...but... you said that was impossible."
 
>It is... as is the voice that followed, calling to me and telling me if I did not go, she would split her skull open and feast on her mind... just as she did before.
 
The princess reeled back as if struck, a loud gasp spilling from her lips.
 
"Impossible. You-"
 
>I know of what I did, alicorn. You do not need to speak of it.
 
"...who would do this..."
 
Be it through candor or an acting skilled unrivaled in all the world, the disgust on her face would have swayed any.
 
>That is what I had been intending to find out.
 
"But... you thought the better of it?"
 
Her gaze moved of it's own accord, turning towards that shining beacon of hope in a desolate wasteland of snow.
 
"...I see..."
 
>I am being stupid.
 
"Yes, you are."
 
Blunt, forceful, so unlike how she normally spoke.
 
"But I understand it."
 
No matter how much her instincts tried to move her back, she could not move her gaze away from that spot.
 
>...What it would be worth if I could see her just one final time...
 
 
"Chitania... I hold no love for you for all you've done, but I could not in good conscious let you do this. They are manipulating you, they are using the pain of what has been and trying to bring you low with a memory. It is wrong that they, whoever they may be, would do this. It sickens me to my stomach to think that any would be... so cold. Nothing you have done, nothing, is deserving of having this dangled before you and used against you. It is disgusting to the idea of justice, it is disgusting to the memory of a changeling who gave so much, it is disgusting, pure and simple. Do not throw your life away to their evil."
 
She would, she knew. Her goals, her plan, her stake in her current position, her gains through the recent times, all cast away in one breath. Gone with but a few meters more from where she was.
 
>...I have never forgotten that day, you know.
 
"Never did I image you could."
 
>I never forgot the day that I was there, broken, bleeding and tired, tore and ripped, exhausted and barely standing... but more than that, I never forgot the day afterwards, when I woke up sore and aching, when I looked around, at nothing at all... when I asked myself... "Why did you stop?"
 
"You will not find her over there."
 
>It's true. This is a trap, this is so obviously a trap... but something is telling me to keep going. Something... here.
 
She did not motion to where it was.
 
She did not need to.
 
"If you go past there, I cannot protect you, I cannot pardon you. Do not do this."
 
She smiled.
 
She truly smiled.
 
>One way or another, I shall reach my end goal, I shall be a god among gods. It is inevitable, as inevitable as time passing itself. It would be a shame to put myself so far back... but it will not stop me from achieving my goal. In time, it shall happen.
 
"But what about before then?"
 
>Before then?.... I thiiink.
 
And then the smile changed.
 
>I think I'm going to RIP THE MOTHERFUCKING SKULL OFF WHOEVER IS USING THEIR VOICES! YOU WANT TO SOUND LIKE VARIOLUS!? I SHALL SHOW YOU WHAT BECAME OF VARIOLUS! FUCK YOUR LAWS, YOUR WORLD AND YOUR PETTY BORDERS! I AM CHITANIA THE TITAN, AND I GO WHERE I PLEASE!
 
She flew forwards. The border broken, the declaration made, and the final time passed.
 
Truly, honestly, Celestia felt remorse in her heart.
 
"...I understand..."
 
And understand she did, of the need to bring back a loved one thought forever lost. Of looking up to the moon and eternally holding the reminder in your heart. She knew what it was like to have that love used against her.
 
She could not stop her. Sh could do nothing but follow her. She would try to keep the damage low, deal with her if she went to far, and end this quickly as best she could.
 
She could only follow, and be there... for whatever followed.
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>DT
„77“
~~~
 
>Freeze Round!
 
*KRRSH*
 
'Wh-who-whoaaaa!'
 
*CRASH*
 
>Shock Round!
 
*Brrrrrrrztttt*
 
'A-A-A-AGH-GH-GH!'
 
>Impact Round!
 
*FHWUMP-SMACK*
 
'URGL!'
 
>That's it, bow down before the might of TBDRLIATU, you peasants!
 
„Easy, poppet. Remember what Princess said.“
 
>Yes, yes, zero tolerance for casualties, I know. Pfht!
 
“Just how many types of rounds can you store in there?”
 
>TBDRLIATU has more than the number clown they could toss at us thanks to Sparkle's help. Don't you worry.
 
A sudden clang of metal against metal drew both their attention. One of the security detail approached them slowly with a large, insulated riot shield that neatly covered him and the trupe of four cowering behind him.
 
Both the filly and the grizzled Changeling narrowed their eyes and slowly turned, readying a stance.
 
>...Impact Round.
 
The Security smirked behind the viewing window of his Riot Shield and started to dash forwards. The rubber-like balls the filly had used to knock the others unconscious was no hindrance to his shield.
 
With a bang, the round exploded from the rocket launcher. Much to the shock of the stallion, the round split open upon impact, weighted wires bursting out and whipping around the group, tying them together.
 
After that Seventy-Seven was swift to dispatch of them. He didn't say anything, just giving her a curious glance after he was done.
 
“I thought you said Impact Round? That was clearly the Bola Round.”
 
>What? Did you think he needed something as common as voice commands to know what I want? Our bond goes deeper than just words!
 
“Heh. Never a dull moment with you, poppet.”
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>88
"Guard"
~~
 
She couldn't see what was tearing the world down, obviously. Couldn't personally watch the destruction and devastation all around her.
 
"...damn..."
 
But she didn't need to.
 
"...how... how did you... I thought you were blind?"
 
Ruthlessly, she pulled her make-shift knife, a chunk of crystal, from the golems head, and hurled it just past the guard's shoulder, getting another one right in the eye.
 
>I'm blind, not disabled.
 
There was a clunk as his armor fell to the ground, the strap cut by the close call.
 
>...i meant to do that.
 
"MY ARM! OW!"
 
>Meant to do that too!
 
"Look out behind you!"
 
She spun around, and felt her hoof connect.
 
...with a crystal pony face.
 
"...I was talking to him."
 
>I KNEW THAT!
 
"Do you even know where we are?"
 
>....Kitchen?
 
"..."
 
>...bedroom?
 
"..."
 
>...Are... are we even in the castle?
 
"We are not, that thing's got a case of the giant monster punches."
 
>Ah. Then those knives I tossed-
 
"Couple nicked the bystanders, yeah."
 
>...
 
"..."
 
>...I MEANT TO DO THAT!
 
"Stop."
 
>I know...
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>DT
"77"
'42'
[Spike]
~~~
 
>And here we have the punchus buggus, preparing her most sacred ritual.
 
"Notice how she balls it up, carefully and deliberately."
 
42 held up her 'ball', tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she angled herself.
 
>The important thing is to keep the back straight.
 
"Very vital."
 
>And here comes the roll...
 
Hopping on her hind-hooves tips, she dances forwards before rolling shoulder and rolling the 'ball' down the hall, right into a group of security.
 
>And here it come...
 
"The suspense is real."
 
Just after it went into the group, the 'ball suddenly popped out into a dragon, bullets flying into the head of ever robot and the leg of every not-a-robot.
 
In a second, they were all down.
 
>STRIKE! IT'S A STRIKE!
 
"Truly a great day for dragon bowling."
 
'...You okay, Spike?'
 
[L-lets not do that again...]
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
NC, OoCO
>Sunset
~~~~~
 
>Phew. That was.... something else. Glad I made it out alive. Now that this is over, I can turn back to my studies!
 
"Uh, hello? Someone left the door open to your mind. My name is Sciderella, and I kinda want to hug my still-living daughter, if that would be okay with you?"
 
>N-noooo...
 
"Also, I have the strangest urge to rampage."
 
>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
NC
>Chitania
 
>...SERIOUSLY!? Seriously! I failed to kill YOU!? HOW!? HOW THE FUCK... do I just suck at this!? Am I secretly terrible of actually doing lasting damage to anyone, and everyone is just too nice to tell me!? Did those gryphons secretly walk it off or something? HOW AM I SO INEFFECTIVE AT PUTTING THINGS DOWN!?
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
Non-Canon
>Pinkie
"RD"
~~~~~
>Welcome to Not Late Night /pa/ with your host Pinkie Pie! It's during this time that content does matter, but I'd give my show not for honor but for you! Now for our main guest...RAINBOW DASH!!!
 
"Aw yeah."
 
>Do you realize that Fluttershy can be used as a weapon of mass chaos?
 
"Duh, that's why I took her."
 
>If you set her to kill she'll probably shoot flowers.
 
"That's why I'm going for a medium high setting."
 
>Make sure to turn her on.
 
"...wait literally or sexually?"
 
>That's our show for tonight! Have fun Dash!
Dash disappears.
 
>...Maybe I shouldn't do this in real storytime. They might realize that some of these episodes aren't in the dream world.
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
>Pinkie
"Twilight"
'???'
~~~~
 
>Booooring~
 
Twilight didn't even look up from the terminal in the server room she was accessing.
 
"Yes, Pinkie, for the hundredth time, it is quite unexciting to safeguard the survival of our friends while trying to figure out what they were doing down here. Why, it would be even more unexciting if security burst in here while you fail to guard the door!"
 
Silence.
 
“Pinkie?”
 
'Ahem.'
 
Twilight turns around, looking into the stoic faces of six stallion in heavy Milspec exoskeletons, pointing their heavy weaponry at her.
 
“...I am the new intern?”
 
'Unlikely.'
 
“Soooo, the hard way, huh?
 
'Yep.'
 
“...please try not to hit your own servers.”
 
~~~
 
>She'll be fiiine, just fiiiine! No need for lil' ol' me! Now, who next to abduct for my improvised 'Late Night' show! Heeeeeere, Changeling, Changeling, Changeling, Changeling! Coooome to Momma Pinkie!
 
~~~
 
Amidst blaring lights, sprinkler spewing out water and the smoking remnants of the exoskeletons she tore apart with her magic, Twilight sheds a couple of lonely tears for the burning remnants of the servers and papers from the formerly non-exploded vault.
 
“W-whyyyyy...”
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
CD
>PD
"Assistant"
 
"Ma'am, shouldn't we enact Protocol 82 or at least activate F.E.A.R. to burn all traces back to us?"
 
Pennydrop watched the holographic screen that displayed the status of every single part of the complex, with every single detail enhanceable or able to be viewed by remote camera.
 
>Hmm, not yet. Way it seems, they are starting to create enough structural damage that the whole roof will come crashing down on them eventually.
 
"And if it doesn't?"
 
The eart pony businessmare just smirked ferally.
 
>Then we will give it a little helping nudge.
 
~~~~
 
Many miles away, above the compound Pennydrop was remotely viewing, the now unpiloted magi-core powered Highwind began slowly drifting towards the main building.
 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________