At the same moment the circling royals leapt at eachother, a cry rang up from the Praetorian lines, and the soldiers in front raised their shields, staring down the scattered line of mares.

“Advance!” A cry rang out.

“HOO! HOO!” The chant went up, the shield wall advancing on the pitiful line. The commanders in their ranks grinned. A Praetorian shield wall was one of the most effective battle techniques in the modern world. It had scattered whole armies before. Surely, this battle was already decided now that…

“Artillery! FIRE!” The purple mare shrieked, raising a hoof and leveling it upon the advancing wall. The Praetorians in the front had just long enough to wonder if she had simply lost her mind when the massive robot leveled a pair of cannons on them, and scattered their ranks with a twin set of explosions. Confetti rained down as the lead Praetorians buckled under the thunderous roar of a hundred noisemakers. Changelings in full armor went flying with startled screams. “Corporal Wilhelm!” Someone shouted.

They had little time to recover, as the whole hallway filled with ponies, stallions seemingly materializing from nowhere, all glaring, all holding up a variety of bar peanuts, stools, and broken drink glasses, all glaring with the drive of true believers, all headed by a single ivory mare.

The ivory mare lowered her hoof. “CHARGE!” She shrieked, and amazingly, that’s just what they did. The stallions and mares crashed into the frontlines, screaming like demons from hell. The robot scooped up the purple one in two massive arms, cramming her down into a cannon-arm with a loud squeak. A moment later, it fired her, causing a tremendous lilac explosion where she’d been aimed. Not surprisingly, the larger traitorous stallion dove into the fray, descending upon the scattered soldiers with laughter and fury. Very surprisingly, just as a Praetorian had been about to sneak up behind him with a dagger, the white mare practically materialized between them, sending him flying with a hoof-punch and a scream of “You stay away from my friend’s coltfriend you brute!”

The blue and orange mares crashed in beside her, blue side-stepping changelings and throwing them at orange, who promptly turned and bucked them with her hind hooves hard enough to send them against the ceiling. And still, the party cannons roared, the giant mech stepping into the fray to pick up the observing Praetorian and throw him against a wa-OOF!

...

Mama?

Bu I don’ wanna go t’school today…

Watching their latest defeat trail along the walls, AJ ducked a Praetorian spear in time to give Dash the opening she needed to send the offending ‘ling flying.

“Where did you mares learn to fight like this!?” Switch shouted, physically throwing a Praetorian overhead, where the barkeep smashed a glass against his skull.

“Element Bearers isn’t just a title, y’know! We have had t’fight before!” Dash shouted, sailing right over a Praetorian charge and bucking them in the back of their heads. They collapsed like a couple of toy soldiers onto the tile. “Or didja forget Canterlot?”

Switch allowed himself a small chuckle even as he knocked some skulls together. Around him, spears sang as they bounced off of shield spells, stallions screamed in pain, and confetti wafted in the air like rose petals in a slow-motion scene, probably in one of those cheesy action movies he loved so much. He couldn’t help a strange mixture of triumph and disappointment at watching the most elite troops of the Swarm being picked apart by a bunch of mares and some stallions with bar debris.

Of course, he no sooner thought that when he had to duck a slashing spear. Then, an old, familiar habit took over.

Duck, rip spear out of hoof, riposte. Turn. Two advancing. Charge. Attackers’ spears out. Grin. Minor illusion spell. Watch attackers’ confusion as spears charge air. Watch their fear as he appears a foot on the left. Time for a quip. “Are you ever not gonna fall for that?” Knock skulls together, gripping from behind to hit on the weak part of standard Praetorian helmet. Scoop them up. Throw them. Knock over a couple more guys coming from behind. Seriously, come up with something better than coming from behind, guys.

Two charging with spears. One on each side. Better. Flit into the air. Watch them skewer themselves. No time to cringe, moving on…

Switch grinned, looking up. He knew they’d gone through a ton of Praetorians by now, surely this battle was almost won…

But in the heat of the moment, it struck him that he only had the advantage now because the narrow hallway just allowed a few Praetorians to advance at a time. A veritable flood of them remained. “Damn,” he growled. “This is gonna take up the rest of my day.”

“Holy cow dude, that was so cheesy.” Dash chuckled, strutting up beside him. “Wheredja read that one?”

Cringing, Switch sighed. “Daring Do and the Battle of the Five Armies.”

She turned to him, eyes widening even as she subconsciously raised a hoof and clotheslined a charging Praetorian. “Dude, when this is over, you and I are gonna have a nice, long talk.” She said before swooping back into battle.

“Hmph, how uncouth,” Rarity said, trotting right behind her friend. “Moving in on her friend’s colt like that, now really, Rainbow Dash.”

Pausing just long enough to pick his jaw up off the floor, Switch followed the mares right into battle, chased by a rapid-fire series of confetti bursts. “Huh...” he muttered. “And here, I was afraid life would get less interestin’ once I found a mare.”

Just outside the hallway, Chrysalis’s eyes slowly slid open.

“Okay, now stay awake this time, okay?” The yellow pegasus whimpered. “Um...your highness.”

Chuckling, Chrysalis’s eyes slid shut. “Believe me, I am trying.”

“No you’re not...” the pegasus whimpered, even as she pressed another washcloth from the closet to the Queen’s forehead.

Chrysalis sighed, settling back. Truth was, she knew there was no way she would be getting out of this hallway alive. Chickit had said it himself: the Praetorians had been doing this for centuries, their curses made to perfection. At this point, all she could do was admit defeat, let her breath grow shallower and shallower against the ever-growing tightness in her chest. Let her head roll to one side…

“...CHRYSALIS...”

“Ugh...”

There it was again. That incorrigible princess, shouting her back into consciousness. Her eyes slowly ground open, watching the blue blur fly out the hallway, chased by a black one. Honestly now, what was Luna hoping to accomplish? She had to just cut her losses and let Chrysalis go, focus on her battle with Chickit. Maybe if Chrysalis died sooner, that would get Luna to focus, yes…

Luna…

Causing a pony of great power…great amount of pain. Who that pony might be…or even nature of that pain…I do not know...

Chrysalis’s eyes darted open again. Her chest wheezed as she let out a chortle. Of course. Her dream, the one that had haunted her most of her life, the one that had only started ramping up in the weeks leading to this invasion. Of course, it had all been about the end of her life. Of course. She managed a few more dry chortles before a coughing jag took over her body again.

So that all meant Luna really cared for her. That her talks hadn’t been some acting combined with Alicorn magic tricks.

Damn.

Ah well, if she could love a monster, maybe she’d make a better ruler for the Swarm.

Chrysalis fell back against the wall, her chest aching even more. Knowing that she had felt actual love before had helped ease the pain, at least a little.

Despite it all, knowing she was dying, she gazed out one of the high windows. “I did it after all, mother,” she mumbled, eyes sliding shut. “I found somepony...too bad it was too late.”

Her mother…her mother would have been so proud...

Culling it whenever possible..

Her mother...had gotten so sick so suddenly. She had descended so quickly, so soon after...after Chickit had taken power...

He had...no, the Praetorians, they must have…

Her eyes bolted open. An angry snarl consumed her face. The yellow one, the pegasus she had captured all that time ago, backed away with a startled squeak. “Q-Queen Chrysalis? Umm, I really don’t think you should be--”

“Murderer.” Chrysalis hissed, glaring hatefully into the fray, at the high general battling his way to the sidelines with Luna. “Murder…hrk...”

She groaned, reeled, and sat again. The pegasus was at her side once more. She could have raged against the Maker and all his Creation just then, but she didn’t have the strength for even that. Hay, she couldn’t even join in the battle for her own crown. She was helpless, there was nothing she could do. Nothing! She had nothing at her command except a pegasus afraid of her own shadow and a few captives that…

…

Uggghhhhh...desperate times truly called for desperate measures.

“Stay here, care for the wounded.” She slurred as she rose to her hooves again. “I’m going to get help.”

“Wh-what?” Fluttershy stammered. She tried to press a weak butter hoof to Chrysalis’s chest, but was rebuffed. “Y-you can’t go anywhere right now, you’re--”

“I know I’m dying, you nitwit!” Chrysalis snarled, then paused, took a breath. “Pardon me...but I know I’m dying. I’m going to get help that might change the tides, though.”

The pegasus held up a hoof. “W-wait, are you t-talking about Celestia? Y-you wouldn’t make it to the walls before...um, before...”

Chrysalis only scoffed in her face, which came out as a wet, wheezing cough. “Celestia!? You think I’m going to the worthless white one!?” She would have laughed if she’d had the strength for it. “No...I’m going to someone much worse.”

“O-oh...I can come--”

“Don’t be ridiculous, your friends need you.” Chrysalis stood, and began a slow, slightly-askew trot down the hallway. As if on cue, a stallion came sailing from the fray, slamming into the far wall and sliding to the ground with a series of groans and loud squeaks. “I can do this on my own. For my people. For my mother. For--”

She had started to say Luna. No use tricking herself in that. Her tongue was up to form the ‘L.’ Thank the Maker she managed to stop herself. “--Just tend to the wounded. I’ll be right back.”

Damnation, Luna had really been banking on Chickit being all talk. He had been so boisterous, so egotistical, it really would have been satisfying to simply pound his muzzle down his throat and be done with it. But despite drawing first blood, she had been rebuffed in the initial strike and even countered with a hoof to the stomach that had knocked the air from her lungs.

Snarling in eachother’s faces, the pair rained blow after blow down on one another. Luna found every hit against her enemy solid, every blow meeting with the same hard wall of chitin, and at the same time, every kick and hit she received chipped at her energy.

A cough sounded from her side, and she bucked the General to gain a few precious inches of space. “Chrysalis!” She cried, turning to see the changeling’s eyes whip open. Luna allowed herself a moment of relief before darting back just outside the reach of a roundhouse aimed at her jaw.

The General growled, his hooves fizzling with green, arcane energy. He lunged, but Luna ducked, slamming a buck into his gut that felt like she was hitting a brick wall. He sailed overhead, landed back on his monstrous hooves with practiced ease, even as Luna swooped towards him.

Out the corner of her eye, she noted a distinct lack of changeling queen in the hallway. She almost spared a double-take, only to have to dodge a snapping set of jaws aimed at her throat, as deadly as ever despite the missing fang. No time to wonder now. Had to act. Had to move. Had to dodge, riposte, attack.

Her horn ignited, sending a wave of midnight-blue energy against the General, only to watch him weather it like a rock in a flood, the wave shooting out and cascading in two directions around him. The air instantly filled with shrieks of terror from the mares carrying on the fight in the hallway. Luna had to once again fight the temptation to turn and make sure everypony was alright, as Chickit replied to her power with a cascade of emerald energy.

Falling back a pace, Luna realized her fight with the General was only going to cause more collateral in the battle raging behind them. She had to get them out, into the open, get them some distance. Screaming, she spread her wings, instantly flying back with the General’s energy, sailing right towards the far wall, only to twist at the last second and send herself crashing through the window, spraying glass. She had a moment to drink in her sister’s sun before Chickit was upon her, raining blow after blow down on her back and between her wings before she managed to buck him back.

Wait...the sun...her sister! If she could just reach Celestia…

That thought ended short as Chickit tackled her like a hoofball player, and the pair fell in a tangled mess of feathers, elytra, and battling limbs to the ground, They slammed into a crystalline causeway hard enough to earn a few cracks in its surface. She somersaulted, darted to her hooves, and narrowly dodged a magically-infused jab as it singed a line along her barrel. Using her new closeness to Chickit, she slammed an uppercut into his throat.

Where most opponents would be on the ground at this point, trying to breathe around their Adam’s Apple suddenly intruding on their windpipe, Chickit only swore, his hooves joining Luna’s in a series of blocks, jabs, counters, and hits, both barely aware of the town center looming behind them.

The rhythm had become second-nature now. Move. Dodge. Strike. Move. Strike-strike.

The mares had, thankfully, proven they could more than hold their own against the waves of bad guys, and with the party cannon providing support, he found he just had to focus on a few Praetorians at a time. Problem was, every time he got a few down, a few more replaced them before he could finish any off, and by the time he dealt with those, the first few were back on their hooves and ready for revenge.

Headbutt. Jab. Grab a fetlock and twist. Kick. Repeat.

It was taking too much time to even make a dent in the onslaught of armored changelings, and more just kept coming. Too much, it was going to be too much, they were going to die in here, oh dammit…

“S-Switch?” A quiet voice asked as a gentle wing tapped him on the shoulder.

“Fluttershy!?” He gasped, whirling around in time to knock a couple of skulls together and keep a pair of Praetorians from draping a net over her head like the bad guys in a Saturday morning cartoon. “What’re you doing out here!? You should be watching the Queen!”

“Eep! I-I know...” she stammered, watching the last couple Praetorians go sailing overhead in a single toss. “But she left a-and I got the other stallions stabilized and I saw you here and...and I didn’t know what to do!”

“She left!?” He gasped, twisted, nailed another jerkoff with a closed hoof, turned back. “What the hay did she do that for!?”

“I dunno!”

Grabbing her hoof, he whipped her around. She flew out of the way of a diving Praetorian. Then pulling her in close, Switch kick-flipped off another Praetorian’s chest. “No time to figure out...here’s hopin’ she didn’t just go completely delirious and stumble off.”

“Y-yeah,” she muttered, her face covered in a blush as he set her down, only to drag her back into a hug to guard against another flying Praetorian before Applejack bucked him in the face.

“Will y’all quit makin’ out an’ get back in th’ fight!?” She shouted indignantly before backflipping into the melee around them.

“I wasn’t...ugh!” Switch growled as he set a now red-tinged Flutters down. “Either way, you really need to be more—GAH YOU BASTARD!”

He screamed in pain as a dagger slipped into his back, right above the right elytra. He kicked out, a Praetorian flying back, but the damage was done. He hissed, falling back with Fluttershy as he wrenched the dagger out with a hoof and flung it aside. He pressed a hoof to his back, and cursed as ichor dribbled out through the holes in his hoof.

“Sw-Switch...” Fluttershy gasped. “Y-you’re hurt.”

“Yeah, b-but it’s just a scratch,” he replied with a smile that looked more like a pained wince.

Immediately, she set to work, pulling a roll of gauze out from under her wing and wrapping it around the wound. She had just finished the initial dressing when Switch shoved her back, ducking under a whizzing club and bucking the offender in the stomach. “Fluttershy! Get back!” He screamed. “Get behind the line ag--”

“You hurt my Switchy!” She gasped. He turned, and had the presence of mind to shield his eyes at the bright-blue shimmer that met him. Fluttershy advanced, stomping forward with a presence he’d never known from her before. He could only drop to the side, cowering as she advanced. A moment later, the familiar sounds of the Stare filled the air:

“Mama...I’m sorry...”

“Jeff man, I know you were my friend...I just wanted that promotion so bad...”

“Dad, it was me, not the dog...it was me...”

“Choctal, I’m sorry...you were the only mare for me...”

CRACK!

He looked up in time to see a gloved hoof slam into her face. She went down, blood trailing from her nose, a surprised yelp caught in her throat. He let out a breath, sucked it back in. “Fluttershy!” He screamed, bounding towards her, unaware of the little flames racing all over his body. The Praetorian standing over her smirked at his latest victory, then his expression turned to shock, then to dread. Switch bounded towards him like a rabid dog, unaware of his growing shadow and the way the marked and scarred crystalline floor got just a little further away.

By the time he reached the Praetorian, Switch was able to reach out with a chitinous talon and scoop him up with a sinewy black arm. “You leave mah Flutters alone!” He screamed with a mouth that had grown to the size of a punch bowl before football-pitching the fully-grown stallion out of the way.

“Oh...S-Switch?” A familiar, angelic voice asked behind him.

Without looking, he scooped up his Flutters and nestled her in against his chest plate, now barely covering new, bulging muscles. “You stay there. You can come out when it’s safe, okay?”

“Oh...” she said, suddenly finding herself hugging tight to a pec the size of her torso with a deepening blush. “O-okay...”

Bait gazed back out the robot’s hatch with a concerned gaze. What was taking the princess so long? They were running low on ammo to keep the cannons going, and already a whole host of stallions had been taken down and dragged off to the throne room, most of them kicking and screaming, one shouting in the third-pony for them to “LET STU GO!”

“Last confetti bomb going out!” He announced, loading up the shell.

“Confetti ready and...fire...” Pinkie said, and it was obviously hard to keep the concerned waver out of her voice. Even as the last bomb exploded and sent Praetorians flying and the captured stallion’s voice rang out with a “STU IS FREE!”, waves of bugs still poured in against the frontlines, crashing against Twilight’s shields as she worked with the others to hold back the tide of black, armored bodies.

“That’s it then...” he whispered, falling back where he laid. “Party Cannons are dry...we’re empty.”

“Heh...can’t be as dry as I...I mean as wet as I...” she waved a hoof. “Something sexual, you know what I mean.”

Bait’s eyebrow-chitin furrowed in concern. He twisted to reach up a hoof to her. “Yeah...I do.” He said as she took his hoof and squeezed.

“Baity, we’re in a real pickle here, I mean a really real pickle,” Pinkie whispered. “My friends and I have been in bad jams before, but...I keep thinking something’s gonna happen to save the day and it just doesn’t.”

“I know.” He said back, his grip squeezing against hers. “Believe me, I know.”

She sighed, looking up. Another black body slammed against the lavender barricade. Another crack formed in their defense. “Bait, I...”

“Pinkie, I’m so glad I got to know you,” he said suddenly. She gazed down at him, wide-eyed, but he continued unabated. “You have no idea how happy I am I got to meet a mare like you out here, really. I didn’t think anyone like you existed, much less a pony, and I...I want you to know that I...if things were different...”

She smiled, raised a hoof to his lips, and he quieted down. “...If things were the same, if you were still a changeling and I was a pony, but we weren’t fighting for our lives? I’d be your marefriend, absolutely Bait. You make me feel funny, but a good funny. The same kinda funny I feel with my friends now, but even more? Except I’ve known you for even less time. And it’s more than how I feel with my friends, I think...if things were different...”

Their hooves clasped within the robot, and Bait leaned up to press his forehead to hers. “I love you.” Bait whispered.

Pinkie snickered. “Well, that’s just your problem now, isn’t it?”

“Pinkie!”

“Alright!” She squealed, and her voice wavered, choked up. “I’m sorry, it’s just that if I say it, it’ll make things final, and I don’t want this to end.” The grip on his hoof squeezed as the tears rained down. “I don’t want things to end so soon after meeting the stallion of my dreams.”

He blinked at that. He had been expecting a confession. But not...that. Not that he was the stallion of her dreams. He sat up. “Oh, hell no.” He said. “Hell to the no.”

“Baity?”

“She finally said it! She finally confirmed!” He mumbled, jamming his hooves down into the controls. “I’m not letting shit end here! Screw that! I need to take her out on a date! A proper one! And then a few dozen more! Then marry her and squeeze out some kids that fart sprinkles and have weird bug eyes!”

“Bait, that sounds amazing, but what’re you--”

She trailed off as the robot suddenly lifted itself off the crystal floor. “I won’t say goodbye! Not now! Not ever!” He screamed, his horn sparking as the robot picked itself up, suddenly moving with a dexterity it had never known before.

“Bait! How’re you doing this!?” Pinkie giggled as the robot jerked into motion, striding towards the enemy lines.

“Get the hell out of my way, you bastards!” Bait screamed, vaulting the shield wall and landing amidst the Praetorians. In the chaos of the robot jerking about, Pinkie landed in his grip, one hoof piloting the mech while the other somehow worked the controls that had required two ponies working together just moments before. His eyes glinted, a sheen traveling from one corner to the other. Somehow, the cannons started to swivel on their axes, spinning faster and faster on the robot’s wrists. “Who the hell do you think I am!?” He shouted.

Making it out of the hallway without simply falling over had been a Herculean task Chrysalis hoped would be remembered for decades. Heading down the stairs without falling had consisted more of sliding and trying to keep from breaking a limb. By the time she reached the bottom, just keeping her eyes open was taking all her focus.

“The hell did I tell...that yellow pegasus...to stay behind for!?” She growled, her voice less than a whisper. Well, too late for that now. Getting down the stairs while the poison burned through her system had been bad enough, going back up them would be impossible. She’d just have to finish this as she was--

She took two steps, trembled, crashed against the crystalline wall, and slumped to the floor. She tried to summon the strength to move her hooves to pick her up, but it felt like hot metal had been pumped into her veins, forcing her legs to her sides. She let out a cry of agony, adding to the pain as the curse squeezed out every bit of air from her lungs, and fell back against the wall. Sunlight fell on her face from a window.

“It’s too hard...too much...oh mother, I’m sorry...I’m sorry...” she moaned, her head lolling to one side. She gasped, laying there, fangs exposed. Another trickle of the black fluid dribbled from the corner of her mouth. Agony. This was agony. It was too much. Really, this whole thing had been a fool’s errand, hadn’t it? Done in the spur of the moment during the worst heat of her anger with Chickit. Sparkle and her little gang were always going to handle this, that’s what they’d done back in their home. And her? What was she doing down here? Did she really think she had it in her to make a difference?

Really, Chrysalis just needed to lay there until the end came. Things were going to sort themselves out once Twilight and her friends got involved, simple as that. Chrysalis should have just stayed up top and let the butter-pony keep her comfy until the end came. At least here, she got a bit of sun to keep her warm…

Sun interrupted by some weird pulses of light…

She opened her eyes, scowling. Couldn’t a mare die in peace!? Was that seriously too much to ask!? She boosted herself up enough where, craning her neck backwards, she could just peer over the window sill. Whatever was going on, was it really so important it had to interrupt her final…

“L-Luna...”

She moaned the name as she watched the Alicorn princess crash into the pavement far below, spraying glass and cracking crystal. Chickit held her in their ongoing battle, going back and forth, blow for blow. Their battle moved on to the town center as Chrysalis watched, her jaw working like a fish out of water as Luna was scooped up and physically thrown in the general’s magic.

He’s a match, she realized. For all of Luna’s raw power, Chickit was a match for her, maybe even more with the Empire’s full love focused on him. And he was only going to get stronger. It was obvious by the way he beat on her, the way he lunged with no regard for any of the crystal ponies diving for cover, that if he won this day he would...would…

“Lu...NAAAA…” Chrysalis snarled, suddenly yanking herself to her hooves, heart racing, the dribble of black bile now an unending fountain from her sneering maw. “Not her too...you’re not taking her too you evil bastard...” she growled, marching forward. Suddenly, the end of the hallway didn’t seem so far. She was coming. She was coming to…

Oh wait...one thing...she wasn’t going to be too happy to see the queen of the changelings, was she?

But that meant Chrysalis would have to…

This was going to hurt.

Chrysalis looked down at her hole-filled hoof. She funneled a bit of transformation magic into it, and the green flame singed her chitin like an actual gout of fire, forcing her to bite back a scream. She held the hoof up, and after bracing herself for a moment, transformed it.

When she was a little filly, her father had taken her to a forge to see how armor and swords were made. At some point, she had seen molten metal poured into a cast to give a sword its basic shape. Seeing that glowing liquid that blazed with heat, she’d been tempted to touch it, but even then had been smart enough to know that would likely end in her loosing a hoof more than anything. Still, she had wondered for some time after what it might feel like to touch that stuff, even in just that second before the heat burned her nerve endings off.

After feeling what the curse did to her when she transformed, she thought she no longer had to wonder.

She screamed as a soft, pony leg emerged from the flames, eyes rolling back, digging her fangs into her cheek to stay conscious. Oh, her cheek...that was going to be simply awful. She nearly collapsed from the pain, swooning under it, praying to keep herself even as black spots darted into her vision. She let the leg hit the floor, and a violent jet of black bile shot out of her mouth from the agony, splattering against the crystal floor. She dry-heaved for a second, regained her bearings, and stood. Thankfully, the pain was brief, but her leg ached just from the sheer, burning memory of it now scarred into her synapses.

As she regained her faculties, she looked down at herself, and at the one leg now fully-transformed. “One down,” she counted, her stomach twisting. “Three to go...”