Chapter fifty one

The thrashing of chain against the cold hard ground resonates in the room while Twilight has tirelessly been using what strength she can muster to try and break the locks that entrap her, seeing as a spell won’t do her any good right now as her horn remains useless after Sombra’s meddling. Even if she may not be able to use her magic, after a few more thoughts on the matter. She could still try and put up some sort of fight with her own four hooves. Though after every single strike, she grows more and more exhausted while the binding remains intact.

The changeling that was sent in here to bandage her a bit did their job, though the mare that came remained silent and took no ill note on the princess’s predicament, so it seems unlikely that Twi would be able to get any of the queen’s brood on her side. Bringing her bound fore hooves above her head for one last go, the weight over throws her own as the princess tumbles backwards and lays there staring up at a stone ceiling.

A slight sigh passes between her lips while her mane gets ruffled, “Well, I can’t say I didn’t try?” Twi tries to gratify herself, before hearing a slight snicker off in the corner.

“And try your best, you did…” Sombra steps out of the shadows, and his perfect view of the mare failing attempts, “…I will give you an eight for effort, though as for success… you only deserve a one.”

“Your sarcasm is duly noted, King,” Twilight rolls her eyes at him. Sitting down on her rump and tensing a few muscles just in case of another beating.

“As is yours, Princess,” Sombra surprisingly doesn’t deliver a hit of any kind.

Only taking a seat across from Twilight, and the two end up sitting there silently, not even saying a word to one another. Sombra quietly leaning his head back with his eyes closed for just a moment, knowing full well that no matter how much she may struggle, there is nothing Twilight can do to him. Twilight sits there watching the king tentatively, though as the minutes tick by, not even a word comes from his mouth.

“Are you going to say anything? Make some gesture on how we will all burn? That fighting against it is pointless?” Twilight gets impatient with him for a moment.

“I will have you know that even with all the power I hold at my command,” he doesn’t even give her the grace of looking at her in the eyes while his own remain closed, “I still like to take a nap at some point or another, besides… having a mare like Chrysalis can leave one… winded,” the king chuckles, bringing up a subject that Twilight is learning to hate more and more.

He is surely a tricky one and isn’t afraid of hitting a defenseless mare… her previous bruises would attest to that one. On top of that, as well trained as the alicorn may have thought she was with a sword or magic for that matter, Sombra has been doing this sort of thing sense before Twilight was even a thought in her parent’s mind. Though there is one thing she knows that he probably hasn’t put together yet, due to the very armor he wears that recharges him.

“She’s using you, you know?” she whispers under her breath.

A single eye cracks open as he sizes her up for what the mare just said, “Like a sex doll…” Sombra grins deviously at her.

“No, like food,” Twilight tries to call out the queen on her original plan. Even if she may really have started to feel something for the tyrant, her first hopes were to only use him to her own advantage. That may have changed now, from what she heard the queen talk about… but he doesn’t need to know that, “She’s a changeling, the queen of them after all… she feeds off of love, it’s what Chrysalis does.”

“Of course it’s what her kind does? Among other sources of food, changelings require love as much as you require water,” Sombra states the obvious fact about them that any scholar reading a book would find out, “Though at the same time, the queen couldn’t feed off of me… not even if the feeling is mutual,” He admits to the young princess as the words of Twilight bounce off him, “I would have noticed. Wouldn’t I be weaker now if she was?”

Twilight sits there for a second, it’s been reasoned that he is still here because the crystals on his armor keep him strong. Though he either hasn’t thought that far, or is blinded to it all together, and refuses to believe it from the start. “Your armor is the only thing that keeps you upright, when have you taken it off after all?”

“When going to bed with her…”

‘Probably should have guessed that…’ Twilight regrets the image in her head now of the two monarchs with one another, “and don’t you feel weaker as a result? But when you put it back on, you’re just fine once again.”

Now it’s the kings turn for some thought. He pauses not even saying a word as he mulls this over in his mind. He has felt weaker getting out of bed with her, ‘though that’s just from being exhausted after we do what we do,’ Sombra reasons. On top of this he does feel much better when he puts on the suit, ‘but that’s why I have it? It’s where I draw my power from to begin with,’ he starts to shake his head at the mare. Twilight sits there for a moment as the words sink in to some degree and get under his skin, just like she wanted them too.

“Go ahead…” she taunts, “…tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re wrong!” he snaps back at her, the breaths venting through his nostrils at a record pace as Twi finds the king mere inches from her face now, feeling the hot air passing by her cheeks, “I’ve been dead for quite some time now, Twilight Sparkle… it’s needless to say that I would feel a little under the weather yet still. And as for my suit giving me a nice little kick start, that is what it’s for after all,” he steps off away from her. Even heading towards the door and ready to leave Twilight all together, “You should enjoy yourself here, while you can…” he opens the door and slams it with his magic in a dark crimson aura.

The princess surely struck a nerve with that one, just like she intended on doing in the first place. She may not be able to take him on in a fight for long where he has the upper hoof in skill… though she can play the background and plant the seeds of disorder in his mind. Something that she picked up on from a certain Dragonoci prince over their time working with one another.

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Sombra stumbles out and around the halls of the once great castle, all to himself for now as the changelings around take up their own tasks and go about their duties. Though with him to himself now, he does have time to think. ‘She’s evil… I know that much, but she needed me as much as I need her,’ the king considers to himself as the topic jumps around in his head, ‘I mean she is a changeling, so she does feed on love… though, Chrysalis hasn’t gotten stronger sense I’ve been around, has she?’ Sombra asks himself while he heads down a stair well, past a few of the other guards to the queen, each of them leaning off to the side to avoid bumping in to him.

Already they learned to steer clear of the dark unicorn, knowing full well that he has a short temper to begin with, and there for, any sort of contact could be met with an ill-tempered armored hoof to the face. At this point however, he could care less as he searches for an explanation to his own questions, ‘Changelings feed off a range of emotions, love being the primary…’ Sombra goes over what he knows of the species, which sadly isn’t all that much, but enough to give him a possible justification, ‘perhaps with the looming victory, she has bolstered her followers, and as a result, is gaining strength from their own admiration. Also, perhaps a little amount of it flowing from me,’ he allows a small smile to make its way on to his face, rather pleased that he can do so without others around here, as the queen grows more on his cold heart with every passing day.

The king takes his time now after putting that thought at ease, to tend to other ones that fly about. They already have their own troops mustered up for when the Elements are corrupted to their fullest and the spell is complete. Leaving them with nothing standing between them and Canterlot, the capital, and the place first to fall.

Though as suddenly as that thought enters his mind, it leaves upon hearing the blast created from a full brigade of ponies, landing out in the perimeter of the ruins. The tell tail glow of the teleportation spell being their break to the element of surprise as the Sombra looks out the already shattered window to see more little flashes of light as the stragglers make their way to the fray.

“Well this is a little ill timed…” he clenches his jaw, as a soldier runs up to him.

“King,” he salutes the royalty while wearing changeling armor, “Several of the patrols have returned with news of Equestrians closing in to the ruins now, what are our orders?”

“Lay back, let them take us, give in and surrender… what do you think your orders are?!” he barks back at the sheer stupidity of the question.

“Understood,” the changeling trots off while the soldiers that were mustered start to file out of the broken castle in and around the grounds. Taking up whatever position they can find and waiting for the forces to fully close the gap. All the while the king gallops off through hall after hall, hoping and succeeding to find one mare in particular.

“Chrysalis!” Sombra yells out to her, while the queen stands idly in the throne room, still with the elements by her side, “Seems like the royal family didn’t take to kindly to your latest display of affection towards them…”

“That sound was from them landing outside wasn’t it?” she asks, recalling the boom from the unicorns spell.

He nods furiously, “Well I wouldn’t have taken too kindly to losing a child, or a hoof for that matter.”

“You don’t even have kids…” she deadpans.

“That’s not the point!” he shouts back at her still playful nature, even with this little turn of events.

“Fine, disregard my comment…” The queen tuts back at him, feeling a little hurt he didn’t play along. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what to do?” she watches the crazed red irises roll about in his skull.

“Unlike some of your guards, no…” he grins at her, cracking his neck and readying for some blood lust for the time being to sooth his hunger.

“Good…” she uses some magic to draw him in closer and plants a heartfelt kiss on her tyrant of a lovers lips, while catching the slight gasp that still seems to escape her lips after every contact with his. Setting him down now gently, so he can do his duty. “Keep them away from me, my love… I can feel them now…” Chrysalis motions to the magical relics with an obvious lost luster to them, “…soon it will all be complete,” the king bows to her and runs out the door to give her the time she needs to get their little trump card up and running.

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On the outer area of the castle, the two sides have already met one another and in the seconds that have passed, the battle is in the full swing of things. Both changelings and the Equestrian unicorns being fully adapted to both blade and magic alike, make for a very interesting combination as the pairs clash with one another. The initial impact being the worse as red and green blood start to soak around the ground making almost pools of it here and there.

A royal guard picks up a changeling over top of his head and brings him down to the ground, cracking his back over a rock before quickly turning around and thrusting a blade in the open mouth of another ready to strike. Never seeing the other changeling sneak up from behind him, and make an attempt to swipe a sword across his back. It would have worked too, if not for the cannon full of grape shot to the chest. As Pinkie stands proudly off to the side with her cannon and an eager trigger finger.

“And there’s more where that came from, bub!” she loads up another shot and fires in to the crowd of hideous attackers, tearing them to pieces with every round that’s unloaded, as she lets more and more go at a lightning, and rather disturbing, pace. The guards around her that witness, rather grateful to have the overzealous mare on their side, and not staring down the barrel of her cannon.

Applejack joins in to the fray, years of apple bucking have honed her hind legs to being nearly as solid as the tree trunks she kicks. And having metal bracers on them, only add to the impact as she sends her powerful legs in to the jaws, face, neck and side of whatever changeling gets in her way. Having been tackled by another though, the cowgirl is brought down for but a moment while swinging a vicious right hook in to the temple of the unfortunate creature and even draws some blood on her hoof as she holds him at bay. Thankfully she doesn’t have to for long, as the changeling is hurtled off of her by a single spell being cast by a guard.

“Thank ya kindly!” she shouts out, getting back to back with the colt.

“Don’t mention it, just doing…” he starts to answer while bringing up a sword, and nearly cleaves another in two down the middle, “…my job.”

AJ brings out her lasso rope from under the plates and twirls it above her head, grabbing the weapon from the magical grasp of another opponent and hurtling it off to the side before bringing him in closer so she can head but him with her thick skull. “And that’s for kidnappin’ the princess!” Applejack roars, landing one more hit in, before calling him down for the count.

“Princess Twilight a friend of yours?” the same guard puts together, all while targeting a couple of them and lighting them on fire with a gout from his horn.

“One of the closest…I’ve…Got!” she clocks a changeling between every word, as she goes to town on those that remain around her. Mule kicking another in the throat as he tried to raise up an axe, now falling short, while the weapon drops from his grasp and the mare sends it hurtling in to the side of another.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Not somewhere ya wanta be,” she jokes finally with him in the heat of combat, as a sword from a changeling puts a gash along her leg and draws blood from the surface, forcing her down to a knee. “Ugh!” AJ groans at sight of blood trickling down. Watching as the changeling rears up for a second go at the fallen mare. Until the guard with her leaps over top and puts his weapon right in to the creature’s trachea.

“Need some help, ma’am,” he puts a hoof down, and lifts the mare to her hooves.

“Much obliged,” AJ nods to him, while passing only a glance up towards the sky, as the reinforcements join them.

Having flown the trip on their own, it’s needless to say it took the group a little longer than would have been hoped for, as the soldiers fall out from the sky in to a dive bomb, some managing even to land atop those that they intend on fighting. Rainbow Dash streaks down towards a changeling and brings him down with one go from her hoof, taking him out of the fight.

Landing right next to her country friend, “So did you miss us?”

“Oh get over yourself now, Rainbow,” they take turns going back and forth, throwing out punches here, there, and everywhere. AJ even tossing a changeling her way, as Rainbow uses her wings to box the creature’s ears, finishing off with a wicked upper cut to the jaw as she has the same armor on that her friend does, “Nice one RD.”

“Thanks to you…” she grins while they latch on to one another’s fore hooves and the orange mare flings her in to another changeling, using her head as a battering ram to the chest, hearing the audible crack of ribs against her skull.

“Well now we both know who’s the real hard head.”

“Still you…” Rainbow comments as she leaps across AJ’s back and thunder punches another in to submission, giving a little extra boost from her wings. Applejack quickly grabbing hold of the changeling and kicking him in to a group of them, “Where are the others?”

“Rarity is around ‘ere somewhere, Fluttershy is lordy knows where, and Pie has been goin’ ham with her cannon…” the sound of a loud bang fills the air as the latter lets off another go from her toy. Leaving the two to look off in to that direction, seeing only a large group of the creatures going up in to the air in every which direction, “that girls not one to be trifled with right now.”

“Are any of us?”

Rarity may be opposed to such violence on any other occasion, though having a friend in such a predicament like Twilight is now, can give some change to heart in that matter. Even more so as she breaks out some of the more potent magic that she holds close to horn for a time like this. Using a magical bolt to pierce the very skin of an enemy, the fashionista does her best to stay out of harm’s way as she rolls on to the ground without a care to her coat, to avoid an axe.

Soon afterwards a changeling dives up out of a tree to try and bring down the mare. Though with a cast of her horn, Rarity teleports a short distance away and watches him land straight in to the ground. “Serves you right you little ruffian,” she adds insult to injury. Not liking that with a vicious snarl, he gets up and charges headlong in at her, “Oh dear…” she mutters.

Though a powerful claw swing takes the changeling off kilter as he tumbles from the impact to his fore hooves. The mare turning about to see Spike standing there rather smug of himself at the moment.

“How many times do I have to save you, darling?” he tease her. The most gorgeous mare he’s ever seen, knowing full well that he would do it a million times over if he had to.

“I don’t see you complaining in the slightest, my little Spiky-wiky,” she coos, launching a spell over his shoulder to clip the changeling rising up with a dagger to quite literally stab him in the back. “Though the day is still young, shall we continue?”

“I’d thought you’d never ask…” he grins, picking her up in his claws and taking off in to the sky with a steady beating of his wings.

Giving her a better view of the field, they drop in next to a familiar face now. Pinkie having run dry of her cannon, somehow manages to pull out a sledgehammer for a carnival bell game, and proceeds to bash heads in with alarming enthusiasm. “She probably is enjoying this too much…” Spike says, rather worried now after seeing how big the smile is on her face.

“I heard that!” the pink mare tosses another in the air before clocking it on the rump and sending him in to a tree, “besides, no pony messes with, Pinkie!” she exclaims before dropping it again on another changelings back. The eerie sound of vertebra cracking underneath sending chills up Rarity’s own spine.

“Duly noted, deary…” the unicorn slaps a changeling that gets a little to close in the face for her liking before sending him back towards the hammer wielding mare with her magic.

Taking all too much enjoyment out of this whole thing to begin with, Pinkie happily obliges her friends wishes and in one go, pounds the changeling down in the ground like a nail. Though as this starts to get more and more physical. Rarity finds herself drawing rather low on energy to use with her magic, as Spike takes up his position in front to protect his mare.

“Don’t give out on me yet…” he calls back to her before using his tail to swipe one across the face as he follows up with a head butt.

“Not even in the slightest dear… just a little out of it at the mom-oomph!” she squeaks after feeling Pinkie grab hold of her chest with one hoof and tail with the other. Aiming towards a group of changelings like a firing squad of one.

“Don’t worry, Rarity,” she starts to beam wildly as her eyes seem to change colors almost at the rush of endorphins, “I’ve done this before…” Pinkie cranks her tail up and down, shooting bolt after bolt of magic in to the oncoming enemy with alarming speed as they get launched back and put out of the fight from the force alone.

Even Spike is rather impressed by Pinkie and Rarity’s actions, though more a part of the former as the magic is forced from her with little to no real energy drain at all. Setting her back down finally as the last one around them drops to the ground, Pie blows across her smoking horn.

“See, all better now…” the mare picks up her hammer and dives in to another group without the slightest hesitation. Both the dragon and the white mare look while changelings fly left and right from her antics and every swing.

“There’s something very odd about that one…” Spike bluntly says.

“If you’re just now figuring this out Spike, then I think we should get your head looked at as well...”

Pinkie meanwhile goes to town on them for what she can muster. It isn’t that she is happy to hurt another pony, or even gets the slightest enjoyment out of it. The simple fact that her friend is in danger and needs her help is enough to send the mare in to a crazed rampage on her end. Plus the fact that she had about two dozen cupcakes of the special kind this morning gives her a little pep in her step, as she stares down several of them closing in on her. “Stop!!!” she yells out with such a roar that it freezes the changelings there in place, just as she cocks back her hammer, “…It’s Pinkie time.”

In one go she spins the hammer around her, crashing it in to all those that surround the mare in a timely manner. It’s a powerful attack, probably taken straight out of a video game, though the mare isn’t invincible. That fact being driven home as with every swing, the hammer getting heavier as she starts to slow down from her storm of pink hooves of fury.

“How…how many… are there?” Pinkie starts to drop her hammer after a swing, catching only at the feet of another creature as one of his comrades smacks her in the side with a heavy mace. The vibrant mare skips across the ground with a bruise starting already to show from the hit as the crack from her ribs fills her ears. The mare attempts to get back to her feet, only to fall once again finally while devious eyes of those the spawn of Chrysalis grow closer and closer…

Until…

“Don’t you dare hurt my friend!” a Pegasus yells out, as Fluttershy jumps out from her initial hiding place.

Leaping between Pinkie and those that mean her harm, the Pegasus puts what fears she has aside and faces them all like she did a dragon for her friends all those years ago. Grabbing the first one by the throat she hurtles it in a second one as the ticked off mare manages to use her own hind hooves to kick in the ribs of two more before placing her hooves on the side of another’s head and slamming the face in to the ground, soon afterwards using her helmet as a hammer and cracking it against the back of his skull. A few tears fall down her face now, mostly out of pure anger after it remains bottled up and now being released against them. The final one there tries to make a swipe with his sword at them, though getting a hoof between the hind legs stops that assault as he crumples over from the assault on the jewels.

Fluttershy turns around to help up the pink mare, as the pain in her face is obvious, “Are you okay,” she says barely audible to Pinkie in her hushed tone.

“Thanks to you,” Pinkie leans on the handle of her mallet along with Fluttershy as a new breath of war fills her lungs. Her face changes back to that which she had when this all started, forgetting about the pain in her side and the swelling as well. “Now let’s go!” Pinkie yells, pulling the Pegasus in to the fray once again.

Luna trudges through the ranks of those that cling on and make an attempt to attack her. The changelings that are here to defend and fight are more than trained to do so. Having been brought up in the hive to serve only one purpose as other workers take care of the basic necessities like an ant colony. Many guards that came with the Equestrians, have fallen so far at the hooves, spells and weapons of the changelings by just the skill they have in combat.

Although none of them have faced an alicorn before, and they have not a clue what has hit them when she breaks out both swords and magic upon them. Hurtling a blade in to the fore head of an enemy, she draws it out in time to slice across the neck of another, not even hearing the gurgles of blood coming as she kicks him over in to one trying to get the drop on her from behind.

“Oh come now, I know you all have more of than that in you,” Luna tuts, watching as several draw closer. Fully intending to take her up on that offer, as she wields both swords in hoof, not even bothering to use magic at the moment… giving them a fighting chance at least. Spinning about decapitates two right off the bat, as the others try to make the jump on top of her, but instead are met with both handle of sword and hoof of leg to gut as they fall flat on their faces.

A few of them stumbling up and drawing out their blades as they clash against the princess’s own in combat. Breaking their parry, she sends one of hers through the hoof of the wielding changeling and causes the limb to fall to the ground. The latter not even getting a chance to cry out in pain as he gets met with the thrown off attack from his comrade that knocks him back in to the ground. One of Luna’s blades pinning them both, as they stick to the ground now like a BBQ skewer.

Breaking out a small dagger tucked between the armor plates, the princess hurtles it in to the throat of another and brings it downwards with an overhead kick to the hilt, performing an emergency tracheostomy in the field. Blood splatters across her face now as she feels it start drip on her coat underneath, past memories of wars and fights she has been in, flood through her mind as she reminisces for a second at the blood lust going through her and giving her war vision, “Oh I have missed this!” Luna yells out in pride.

“Sociopath!…” she catches a rather smug Discord making his own path of destruction in their ranks as he draws forth with nothing more than his armor at first at his disposal. Using the spines along it to his advantage, as he stabs and shanks them, left and right.

“You’re one to talk!”

The chaotic prince brings back his goat hoof and curb stomps a head open as he closes the distance between both he and his sister in law. Grabbing a few in his magical grasp, he brings them flying in to himself and pierces them with his back spikes on the suit. Now shaking them off as the lime blood runs down him. Giving it almost a new shade to it all as he repeats the move left and right, even using the spikes on his bracers to stab in to a few as he lifts them up like boxing gloves. The added weight not making the blows any better as they get harder and harder with every punch from the adrenaline running through his system now.

Clapping his hands together though, Discord brings them apart to bring out a full broad sword. Similar to the war hammer, as it almost looks like the armor he wears with having horns and spikes running up the sides giving it a serrated edge. “Now duck would you!” he yells out, Luna not even questioning him as she hits the dirt.

Breaking in to a wide sweep, the blades length increases as he spins while it cuts in to the bodies of changelings, leaving some missing heads or limbs, but all not walking away uninjured. Luna gets back up to her feet after he brings the blade down to its original length. Standing there soaked now from blood as she was sprayed with the parts as they flew about from his actions like a lawn mower.

“Okay…” she shakes a bit to get the excess off, “now I need a shower later.”

“What?” he raises an eye brow, “you weren’t going to take one anyway? That’s just unsanitary Lulu…” Discord responds, halting a changeling in a blanket of ice as he starts to freeze him solid, braking the cube and the occupant inside in one go.

“You love that move don’t you?” she raises her own brow, before doubling over his back and ripping off a spike with her magic to thrust it in to the temple of a changeling behind him.

“And you just love to break my stuff.”

“Oh you can fix it…” she rolls her eyes at him.

“See this is why we can’t have nice things…” he sends his fist down a enemy’s throat, reaching all the way inside of him as the changeling starts to gag from the odd intrusion as Discord pulls out what seems to be a lung along with part of his liver. The changeling falling over in an instant after that.

“Seriously?! How am I the twisted one here?” Luna asks as she feels a sharp strike to the back plating of her armor. Wistfully turning around after the harmless impact and snaps the neck of the creature responsible.

“Well seeing as you didn’t even flinch from something like that…” Discord tries to make his own point while lifting several weapons from fallen friends and foes, now causing them to dance about as they are plunged in to the number of changelings to do their own work. “…It would stand to say that you are used to killing.”

“And you are used to causing all sorts of messes where ever you go.”

“Well hey, my messes out here are probably nothing in compare, to the one’s that Shining and Flash have gotten themselves in to…” he points a thumb to the ruins as they draw closer and closer to the gates and the slaughter, as Discords wife put it, that will follow.