A Different Kind of Love: The Lost Chapters
Chapter 19: "Just a Stroll"
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The following takes place after "Special Delivery" and before "Marital Troubles."
There will be some mildly violent or dark themes in this chapter. Nothing TOO out there, but you've been warned.
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Lily blinked in the bright sunlight, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the lancing glare that hit her eyes. Honestly, She thought. How Celestia stands that bright light is beyond me... Typically, this time of night, Lily would be in Maggie's, either resting from the work week or casting lusty looks across the lounge at a potential customer. Instead, she had taken a departure from the ordinary, and on her day off had decided to take a nice stroll through Canterlot. Time had gotten away from her, and she found herself a good distance away from home, and the night was rapidly approaching.
She could have flown, it was hardly two miles. But the steadily cooling air felt pleasant and the streets were already coming alive with nightlife. She had some money. Deciding to make a night of it, she would stop off and grab a late dinner, maybe a few drinks, enjoy the nightlife. Spying what looked like a neat little dive, she crossed the street and asked for a table for one. They played hip music from trending artists, the simple beats and soulful, if whimsical, lyrics were enjoyable. She had a burger. That and two beers later, Lily was feeling warm and happy. She sat in the corner, watching everyone else talk, laugh, and enjoy themselves.
There was a side to living Lily hadn't seen with her own eyes, even close to two years after she had assimilated into Equestrian culture. That was public interaction. How regular humans went about regular lives. It was just over a year since she had opened Maggie's, and with the flurry of work and adjusting to a new lifestyle, Lily had had little time to enjoy Canterlot as she saw fit. Now, sipping at her third beer, stomach full of greasy and delicious hamburger, Lily got to see first-hand how others spent time together. At least, when it wasn't in the bedroom...
Humans talked about their work lives, how business affairs were being handled. Canterlot was mainly business and government jobs, so the mix of people milling about the nearby bar were the weekend warrior pencil pushers. Cutting loose and relaxing, they drank, chatted, laughed, and generally just unwound. Lily watched as two friends greeted eachother with a back-thumping hug before ordering a shot and laughing at some inside joke. It was rather nice. Across the way, a group of six avian women, whom Lily could only guess were on the local weather team, all leaned in to listen to a song one of them was playing on her phone.
Closer still, the magi bartender was busy levitating a mix of five bottles, pouring a rainbow-colored stream of liquid into shot glasses all in a row. Finished, he lifted them in air with a glimmering aura of neon green magic and sent them each on their way. What appeared to be a group of business men and women on some sort of vacation lifted them in time and downed each. The distinct clatter of empty shot glasses hitting the bar wood rang out even over the din of conversation, music, and plates clattering. Lily couldn't make out any conversations, couldn't hear one word over another, and most certainly couldn't hear herself think...
It was nice.
A quick glance out of the window, however, betrayed that it was past the time she needed to be going home. She tipped heavily, smiling at the cute waiter that had served her, and left the bar, feeling a little fuzzy-headed. The clear night air helped burn through some of the alcoholic fog, but didn't dull her warm, fuzzy feeling... The long winter, her first in Canterlot, had quickly given way to an early warm spring, with a few scattered showers. Lily found she enjoyed the rain, the few times it had rained, that is... Sadly enough, the night was clear and only a little cool, the occasional chill breeze making her pick up her pace. Slipping down the street and turning onto a side-road, Lily soon was in a rather quiet part of the business district, closed stores and buildings looming overhead in the darkness.
"Okay, seriously..." She muttered to no-one in particular. "Would it kill them to put in some street lamps?" The business district wasn't very well-lit at night. She guessed the city planners had skimped on lightpost costs since many of the stores closed before six most evenings... The downside being the area around her home and business was dark this late at night... What time was it, even? Checking her watch, she groaned when she saw it was almost ten. The street names were unfamiliar, and to be completely honest, she didn't know where she was now. Another two blocks, and it was even worse. Finally, lost at an intersection Lily did not recognize, she came to a halt.
The cool breeze lifted the hem of her skirt around her knees, made her shiver just a bit. The warmth of the alcohol was with her still, and she wasn't entirely conviced it was another source that was making her feel cold just then... Tentatively, she scanned the streets around her, looking for something, anything that was familiar. Nothing. Not a shop, a street name, or even a landmark... Lily didn't know where she was... What was worse, the alcohol seemed to have an effect on her mind... She most certainly couldn't trust herself to fly right then... Let alone shift into anything that could. Only one thing left to do. She had to backtrack to somewhere familiar. Turning down the street she had just came from, Lily walked fast to warm her muscles.
Then came the headlights. They shined directly into her eyes as the car turned a corner. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the glare, using her other to wave at whoever was driving. Thank Celestia... A driver... Maybe I can get some directions. Maybe a lift, even... The glare slid away and off her eyes as the car pulled up beside her, the passenger side window lowering with an audible electric hum. Soft rock music played from within. She smiled as a younger-looking man leaned out, his arm resting over the window frame.
"You look lost." He said, smiling at her.
"And you are a mind reader." Lily chuckled along with him, rubbing her arm, half out of embarrassment, half because she just realized the car was full, all five seats, with nothing but men...
"Where are you heading to, then? I'm afraid we're full up, but I can at least point you in the right direction." Lily was loathe to admit she was going to a whorehouse, and almost certainly didn't want to tell five men she worked there... Still, she WAS lost and in no shape to fly home. Swallowing her doubt, Lily spoke.
"Do you know where Maggie's is?" A moment's pause, before someone in the back spoke up.
"Hey, yeah, I know the place. Off of Decatur and Market, right?"
"That's the one." Lily was glad he didn't-
"The whorehouse with that changeling chick. I heard Celestia herself visits there." Spill the beans... Cursing silently, Lily flushed as all five eyes turned to her in a new capacity.
"You don't say... Now what, pray tell, would a pretty thing like you have to do in a nasty place like that?" The passenger said again, a little more quietly. Lily could feel five pairs of eyes undressing her right then and there... Swallowing again, Lily took a step away and nodded slowly.
"I... It's next to my apartment..." She said softly, hoping they'd believe her bluff. The engine to the car shut off. No luck.
"I doubt that. There aren't any apartments in the business district." The passenger opened the door and exited, almost at the same time as one of the men from the back seat did the same. "Try again." Hoping they'd let her go if she told the truth, Lily stepped back once more and looked as another man exited from the back seat. They were forming a semi-circle around her. Her heart began beating even faster.
"Okay, you got me. I work there..." She said softly, looking everywhere but the piercing eyes of the first man... "I was out, I've had a bit to drink, and I got a little lost... Please, just..."
"Just what?" She was cut off now, all four passengers now surrounding her. Lily was against the brick wall of the building behind her.
"Let me go?" They laughed.
Laughed at her.
With bold strides, the passenger, who had to have been the leader of this group, gang, whatever they were, advanced and snatched her wrist. She cried out as he wrenched it up, pain flashing up her arm firmly. Her mouth opened in a strained cry, eyes wide and fearful as she looked up at the man. Those eyes... She'd seen them before. That cold, heartless, merciless glare of green vomit. The name left her lips before she could stop herself.
"Ajax..."
"Hmm?" Lily's heart skipped as the man leaned over, grinning at her. "What'd you just say?"
"N-nothing. AAH!" He twisted her arm, made her cry out again as he turned his eyes to the other three gathered around him.
"Didja hear that? She knew Ajax. Guys, I think we've found her." Terror, cold and firm, ripped through Lily as she watched the four men around her disappear in a flash of green magic. Instead, four changelings stood there now, the one closest to her still gripping her wrist. She froze, eyes wide and breath shaking as they turned vicious, cold-eyed gazes on her. The insectoid sound of fluttering wings made her knees feeze in place.
"I was there, you know..." The leader said. "When you killed our Lieutenant. I watched him die, and I chased you through the forest. Nearly died from that spell you had on you. I see it isn't active anymore..." He leaned closer, the scent of changeling wafting past Lily's nose. In their pure form, changelings reeked... Like burnt insect shells. The smell crashed through her, almost made her gag. That is, if she could bring her muscles to move at all. The four changelings all chuckled in time, looking her up and down. "Well, Liliana. Looks like we're going to get revenge for Ajax... A whole year of searching, and we found you. Half-drunk and lost." He leaned close, his voice washing over her ear. She shivered as he spoke. "What luck."
Too frightened to shift, too scared to resist, Lily just went rigid as the four changelings descended on her. She felt her arms wrenched behind her back, held in place by one of the larger drones, and she was unceremoniously dragged into the back seat. Stretched out on the laps of the three, Lily felt the car roar to life once more and pull away. They all shifted back to normal forms, and Lily was thankful she didn't have to smell their awful scent any longer. Still, the implications of this new development made Lily fear for her life... She was in the hands of five changelings, all of them former soldiers of the only changeling she feared... This was a very dangerous situation. Face buried in the lap of one, hands held by the second, and legs firmly clamped by the third, Lily couldn't do anything for herself. She couldn't even see out of the window as they drove.
"Come on." Lily felt the car rock to a stop, the engine shut off. It had been ten, maybe fifteen minutes... It had felt like hours. Doors opened and she was unceremoniously dragged from the car by her hair. Mouth open as if to scream, she found she couldn't, just fell to her rump from the seat of the car. She managed to return feeling to her legs, woodenly scrambling to her feet on the crunchy gravel as one of the changelings led her along by her curly, red hair. She was swung around and shoved, stumbling a little before righting herself.
"Walk." The gruff voice commanded. Lily looked around and noticed they were now in some industrial portion of Canterlot. Most likely the factory that was five short miles south of Maggie's... Lily recognized one of the nearby smokestacks as one she could see from her window... So close to home, yet so far... Walking slowly, her feet shifting on the loose gravel, Lily left the ticking car behind and walked towards the dark doorway before her. This warehouse, she guessed, was where the five of them had been hiding... Cold, dark, wet... It was ideal for changelings. One man strode ahead of her, jingling keys as he unlocked the front doors. Kicking them open with a loud bang and a screech of rusted hinges, Lily watched him disappear into the interior. Another rough shove urged her up three short steps after him.
"Keep moving." She clutched her arms to her middle, fighting the roiling in her stomach. Alcohol or terror, Lily wasn't sure which it was... She felt like she needed to vomit. She couldn't since the muscles in her throat were currently trying to curl in upon themselves. Feet stumbling over every crack in the concrete floor, Lily followed after the changeling ahead of her, losing him around corners, half-expecting to see the one man of her nightmares greet her when she turned the corner to follow him. Instead, it was just another corridor, or a stairwell, leading her deeper into the heart of the seemingly abandoned office building. All the while, the soft whisper of feet followed her, reminding her the opposition just a few feet at her back. The way she was locked up, Lily knew she couldn't do anything for herself in that moment...
"In here." In the dark, shadowy interior of the abandoned building, Lily was guided into a dimly-lit room, the sort that made her squint in the sudden harsh light. A single exposed lightbulb lit the room. Compared to the rest of the building, though, this room was actually furnished. Three bunk beds were pushed against three of the four walls, and inbetween them were desks and dressers. A wide, circular rug in the middle of the room softened the gray concrete, and Lily was directed to stop in the middle of the rug. The light flickered slightly, making everything go dark for a second. She felt her head swim even more.
Behind her, the door shut.
Then the nightmare began for real. Lily hardly had a moment to think before one of her changeling captors wheeled about and planted a firm smack right across her cheek. The blow snapped her head to the side, made her cry out for a brief, clipped moment as she fell to the floor.
"Aah!"
"SHUT UP!" The supposed leader, who had taken her arm the first time, pulled her roughly to her feet by her hair. Whimpering loudly, Lily felt tears well up in her eyes as her feet scrambled for a moment. Finally, she found her footing, scalp tingling as he released her hair. Another smack. This time, she held her footing and her tongue, but still stumbled backwards. Cheeks on fire with pain, Lily looked up just as the changeling's hand whipped around again. This time, Lily saw stars. Her head made a sickening sound as it hit the concrete floor, making her vision swim and her body feel even weaker. She hardly even reacted as she was pulled up by her hair yet again.
"I plan on making you pay, Liliana. I plan on making you pay dearly. Believe you me, I'll take the price for Ajax's death out on your very soul before handing out off to Chrysalis, an empty shell of who you used to be." He stood up fully, and Lily fell onto her back with a grunt.
"Come on, boys." Another said, pulling his shirt off. Lily watched him in a haze as his hands started unbuckling his belt. "Let's make Chrysalis proud." She watched, a dull sort of dread aching through her breast, as the man stripped himself bare. Already, his member was swollen and eager, the veins almost throbbing visibly. She swallowed thickly, wondering what they had planned. Scratch that, she knew exactly what they had planned. The nude changeling, disguised as a human, advanced towards Lily with a devious grin on his face. "Open." He said roughly, his member throbbing lewdly infront of Lily's face. As if in defiance, her lips pressed tighter. Grabbing her hair, the man yanked roughly, the scalp where she had hit her head flaring in pain.
"Aah- GLRK!" Her mouth had opened to cry out in pain, but he quickly stuffed his cock inside, not giving her a second chance to close. She tried to bite down, but another tug dissuaded her. His taste assaulted her, made her cringe as he started woodenly moving his hips.
"There's a good girl." He teased, effectively-mouth fucking Lily. Her, the highest-ranking lieutenant of the entire changeling army, was now being mouth-fucked by nothing more than drones...
Oh how the times change.
"Gack!" She forced him out with a twist of her head, gasping for breath as saliva and nausea made their way up her mouth. She fought down the latter, but felt the long strands of spit fall to her blouse. Which was unceremoniously being ripped off of her chest by another changeling. She heard the ripping of fabric, felt the cool brush of air on her bare skin.
"Oh shit! Lookit that core! Bitch probably works out. Or maybe she just uses her changeling magic to APPEAR sexy, huhn?!" A sharp slap to the skin of her breasts made her cry out again. Which meant her mouth was invaded once more. This time by fingers. She tried to bite down again, but the combination of terror and mind-numbing mouth fucking made her jaw not want to cooperate. She was only vaguely aware that the other changelings, all shifted into rather well-endowed men, were stripped bare and advancing towards her now. Mouth open, she swallowed hard, making a sick choking noise against the fingers that probed her mouth. Her bra ripped off suddenly, leaving her bare-chested on the cold floor, even as more hands started tugging at her skirt. Thankfully, the zipper was concealed, and the changlings in their lustful haze were unable to locate it.
"Fukkit."
Not that it mattered. The fabric ripped with a rough tug, tearing it and her panties off. "There we go!" Tossing her clothes aside, the changelings set in on her, pawing at her, arguing for who got the first go.
"All of you, shut the fuck up!" The leader, whoever it was, spoke up suddenly. Lily gulped as he rose above the others. "I'll fuck her first! Then you, you, you, and you can have her!" He pointed to each in turn, who all bowed their heads willingly as he went to settle inbetween her legs. "I wanna see this bitch's face when I put it in. And I can gaurantee you, I'm not the first one who'll have you, either. Queen Chrysalis has hordes of drones eager to pay you back for what you did."
"You're wrong."
"What?"
"You're wrong... There are free changelings in Equestria now... Chrysalis' horde is done for." Lily wasn't sure if it was her or another that was speaking. Nevertheless, there was a pause before a low growl came from the leader, and he smacked her again. Almost as if she was resigned to it, Lily let her head snap to the side, rolling across the gray concrete. She almost didn't feel it when he pushed into her.
"You shut your mouth! Better yet, one of you fill it for her!" And so they did. Lily's hair was pulled, though she didn't feel the pain. Instead, she let her weak jaw just open, feeling the head of another shifted changeling cock push it's way inside. Her vision was filled with nothing but the sight of the changeling's midsection, so she closed her eyes, trying to block what was happening from her mind and her sight.
It didn't work.
All over her body, there were hands... Hands everywhere. They fondled her breasts, toying with her nipples as she choked and gagged on a penis. They toyed with the entrance to her asshole, grabbed her firm ass... One of them, whoever it was, wanted to touch her feet and legs, would constantly run his hands up and down them. She was only vaguely aware of being rolled over at some point...
Things snapped back into focus as she felt another head press against her rear. She flexed for a moment, but wether she wanted it to or not, it was going in. Rather than get hurt, Lily opened herself, let the invasion happen. She'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt. But not physically. This was a different kind of hurt. This was the kind of pain that only Ajax could make her feel. And now, as her hands were roughly forced to curl around two more penises, the one in her mouth moving of it's own accord, she was completely used up. The only appendage or hole she wasn't using was her feet.
Lily relaxed. She let it happen. Cold terror still gripped her heart, made her fear for the pain and agony that was in store for her, but as far as what she was feeling physically, she was dead to it. She had learned that with Ajax. To just let it happen. Nothing you could do against it, nothing you could do to stop it. Just let it go. Whimpering a little now and then, Lily essentially became a ragdoll. She lost track of how much cum was pumped inside of her. She didn't know how many times her breasts, stomach, back, or face were the target for one orgasm or another... All she knew is there was no pleasure in it for her. This was solely for them.
"Take it, already!" The first words she had heard in what had to have been a half an hour came to her mind. She was on her back, being taken by one, while the other hovered his hands over her cum-flecked, jiggling chest.
"I'm trying! Keep going!" She blinked and glanced down, saw something she had never expected to see.
"What..."
"Did she just talk?"
"Don't matter. Keep going. I want to hand Chrysalis her Essence myself." The changeling with his hands above her chest was trying to feed on her. To take her essence.
Hers.
The one who had discovered how to remove the essence of love that changelings feed off of.
Was about to be a victim of her own technique.
"N-no..." She whimpered.
"She did talk! Shut it, bitch!" She was smacked, but that didn't stop the panic welling in her heart. She looked down again, her cheek stinging from the blow. There. She saw it. The faintest wisp of-
"Damnit!" Panting, lathered in sweat like he had just run seventeen miles in the sun, the changeling trying to feed collapsed, his chest heaving as if from great effort.
"Aw fuck! Come on, man! Get back to it!"
"C-cant... Too much!"
"Fuck!" Pulling out of her, making Lily gasp as her walls were suddenly void of phallus, the changeling went to take the other's place. His hands glowed faintly as he tried to pull at it. Lily, in a final act of defiance, crossed her arms across her chest, keeping him from feeding.
"Damnit, you're right. I couldn't get it if I tried. Don't you worry, though." He stood, grinning lewdly down at Lily on the floor, covered in various bits of cum, quivering slightly. "I'll get it out of you before we hand you off to the queen. Believe me, Liliana. It'll happen." Kicking his useless friend in the side, the leader left, slamming the door behind him. Lily was left on the cold concrete floor, close to one of the bunk beds. Across the room, two more changelings slumbered, nude, and obvoiusly spent from violating Lily. The third, the one who had been trying to feed, had passed out on his back in the middle of the rug, snoring slightly. Lily felt terror and depression build up in her breast, tighten it's grip until she could hardly breathe. Struggling to find her breath, it finally came in a choked sob.
"'Ey..." One of the changelings grunted. "Shut it over there. Or I'll give yeh somethin' to cry about..." He rolled over and went back to sleep, leaving Lily to try to fight her sobs. She bit her lip until she tasted blood. The chest-shaking sobs threatened to break out, and she had to let them go in shaky breaths. She felt wetness on her cheeks. Not the sticky, warm sort of wetness from cum... A different sort... She raised a hand to her cheek, pulled it away with glistening water.
Tears.
She was crying.
Lily didn't sleep that night.
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"Ready for round two?" The words came through another haze of waterlogged eyes and sore muscles. She looked up at the gathered changelings with bleary eyes, saw them grinning lewdly down at her. Her lip curled into her mouth as she watched them strip bare, clothes tossed aside haphazardly. They were already aroused, throbbing and oozing precum. "I promise you, Liliana-"
"My name..." Lily groaned, sitting up. She watched their brows draw downwards, confused as she slowly rose to her feet. "Is Lily."
"Listen, you-"
His head hit the wall with a sort of sickening thud, the kind that would make a lesser person cringe. Or possibly vomit. Lily, her arm shifted halfway between a human's and... Something else... Opened her mouth in a primal scream of rage and anger. The force of her shout made dust fall from the ceiling. Still unaware, the second changeling had just opened his mouth as Lily split him in half. Black, viscous blood sprayed into the air as the remaining three started to turn, to run. Lily set on them mercilessly. Not that she was aware. Lily, in her mind, was off and someplace else. Some place dark. Dark like the blood on the walls, on the ceiling, pooling on the floor...
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"Holy shit." Shining Armor said for what had to have been the fourth time. Celestia just glanced at him before turning her sight back to the scene laid out before them. "I mean, really, holy shit."
"Okay, I get it." Celestia said softly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This shit is holy. Point established. Can you give me your opinion now?"
"S-sorry, princess..." Shining Armor conceeded, blushing a little. He set his face in stone, the type of face only a Captain of the Guard could get. Not the type of face he wanted his beautiful wife to see. "Give me a few."
"Take your time." Celestia crossed her arms, her own face one to mirror Shining Armor's. She had been first on the scene, having felt a somewhat disturbing ripple of magic coming from this area. Thankfully, she had arrived in time to shield the area from any other curious magi who might want to check out the mysterious pulse of arcane power. Factory shielded and protected against any outside interference, save for Shining Armor, whom she had called for and specifically tailored her shield to allow him to pass. She followed the streams of powerful magic to their source, and found the things nightmares were made of.
She now stood in a dark, broken room of an abandoned factory. Why they hadn't torn this building down and built it into housing or maybe a trendy shopping mall, Celestia would never know... Damn building commissions. That mattered little at the moment, however, as she carefully scanned what could easily have been called the fourteenth most grusome thing she had ever laid eyes upon. For a princess that was thousands of years old, that was saying quite a bit.
"These claw marks..." Shining Armor's voice made Celestia look up at him as he ran his fingers over a series of three evenly-spaced scores in the concrete wall. "I can't place them. Not with any species one would normally encounter... Even a Canis or Ursa couldn't make these..." He rubbed his fingers together, brow furrowing at the fine black powder that coated his fingertips. "And the residue is certainly a new development."
"Changeling Prime."
"Princess?"
"The species. It's Changeling Prime. Remind me to let you look at my personal restricted library when we return to the castle." Celestia said softly, frowning slightly. Hers was a face that wasn't supposed to frown. For Shining Armor to see it was something very few people had seen over the long millenia of her life. The last person who had seen Celestia frown had died hundreds of years ago. Back to the moment at hand, Celestia had no intention of ever letting Shining Armor see her private library. There were books in there that could fell kingdoms. She had a plan in place. For now, Shining Armor turned his attention to the eviscerated bodies strewn about the floor.
"The force of the blows would have been enough to kill these men, let alone the lacerations... Which were enough to shear them clean in half..." He leaned in closer. "The cuts were clean. Much like the ones on the wall. And they appear to have the same residue as the marks from the wall. Razor-sharp doesn't begin to describe it. Is this really the product of that... Changeling Prime? Whatever that is?" Celestia nodded and stepped next to him, looking down at one such body that was split cleanly in half. Entrails stretched between the two halves in a pool of goopy, black blood.
"Pardon me for saying again, but Holy Shit. This thing isn't still lose, is it?" Celestia shook her head and looked back at the one body that was still whole. Lily, covered with a pure white sheet, lay on her back, eyes closed and breathing even.
"Not in the sense you think, Shining." Celestia said softly, watching Lily breathe through the thin fabric covering her to her neck. Her captain connected the dots, glancing between the ravaged bodies and Lily on the floor.
"Wait... Are you saying Lily did this?"
"Indeed she did, captain."
"How?"
"Again, remind me to let you see that book." She looked around the room and sighed. "This is... This is gonna take some doing."
"What is, princess?" Shining Armor said, looking at her quizically. She turned a melancholy gaze upon him, lifting a glowing hand.
"Cleaning up." He blinked once before the memory wipe spell hit him.
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"Ngh..." Lily came to consciousness feeling groggy and admittedly fatigued. Blinking unevenly at the fuzzy light, she began to slowly take inventory. Broken bones? No. Clothes? She was wearing pajamas. Location? Her eyes focused, and she saw the familiar sight of her own bedroom. Home. Cool. Last night? Uuuuumm...
"Uuuuumm..." She groaned, sitting up. "What happened last night?" Her words fell on no one's ears as she held a fuzzy head with hands. A slight headache, but nothing terribly bad... Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, everything was in working order... She padded into her bathroom and took a much-needed, eye-opening shower, thankful for the hot water and a cleansing scrub. Feeling much better, Lily dressed and exited her apartment, running into none other than Maggie in the hall.
"Holy shit, sleeping beauty lives." She said with a teasing smile, hugging Lily softly. Lily returned the hug with a soft smile of her own. "Feeling better?"
"Hmm? Uuh, I guess... What... What happened last night?"
"You mean yesterday afternoon?"
"... I guess..."
"You walked in, stumbling a little, said you'd been out at a bar with some cute little fella. You let him take ya home, and he screwed your brains out. Still drunk and limping a little, you went to your room. You've been asleep, or so I guessed, for like... Sixteen hours." Lily blinked as Maggie explained the previous night's events, trying to remember any of it.
"Shit, I don't remember any of that." She said, blushing from embarrassment.
"Aah, don't worry about it. You probably had too much to drink." She remembered taking a stroll through Canterlot, finding a bar... She had a hamburger... Then she ordered a shot... Then it was a blur. "Paper?" Maggie snapped her out of her reverie as they descended the carpeted stairs to the lounge. She looked at the folded paper Maggie held out to her, gently taking it. Flicking the front page open, Lily took a seat in the lounge and scanned the headlines.
"Woah." She said softly.
"Hmm?" Maggie sat opposite her, cocking her head to the side. Lily pointed to the paper with her chin and started reading.
"Mysterious blaze burns on in Canterlot industrial district, no victims, blaze controlled but unable to be fought conventionally." Maggie cut her off then.
"Oh yeah, I read that article. You could see the fire from here yesterday. Apparently some young magi broke into that abandoned factory down there and set some kind of magical fire. Here, I think you can still see it..." Maggie stood and padded to a nearby window, looking out intensely. "Yeah, there... See, you could normally see that one smokestack, there, between the building with the pointed roof and the tower... It burned down some time this morning. You could hear the crash from here." Lily followed her, and saw that the skyline towards southern Canterlot was, indeed, different... The tall, industrial grey smokestack was missing entirely, and a thick plume of smoke still rose into the sky...
"Huh." Lily said. "Wonder why I didn't hear about it..."
"Probably because you've been asleep for almost a whole day." Maggie teased, leading Lily back to their seats. "I didn't read anything else in the paper... Anything interesting?" Lily sat down and unfolded the paper once again.
"Uuh... Apparently the Captain of the Guard is sick..."
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Not too far away, on the balcony of the Canterlot palace, Celestia and Luna looked out over the city, at the magical fire, at the lights of Maggie's, discernable by their gifted eyes. Celestia sighed, and Luna glanced at her.
"Is it true, then?" She asked gently.
"Indeed... Drones have the ability to extract essences. They tried on her. It's all a vague magic I've yet to study in depth, but I can tell when one person's been fed on or not... They certainly tried on Lily."
"And the..." Luna began, but was cut off as Celestia began speaking once more.
"I subdued her, brought her back to her normal form. Changeling Prime's havent existed since before Chrysalis began her reign... What text we do have is very vague, but it suggests they manifest when the queen begins losing control of the hive. When her magic begins to wane. We may now know why she attacked Canterlot. With all the love in Equestria, she probably could have reigned longer... Thanks to Shining Armor and Cadence, though, she's beginning to lose control over her horde. Lily may very well have been the first product of this. Ugh, I'm thinking this over too fast, too much..." Celestia held the bridge of her nose again, trying to still her racing thoughts.
"So Changeling Primes..." Luna led her on, back on the original thought.
"Are candidates to become the next queen or king..." Celeastia continued. "However many there are, they fight, and the winner is crowned. I think. I'll have to double-check Starswirl's texts... He was the last to do any research on them. Needless to say, you and I were young when the last Changeling Prime won... That would have been Chrysalis. She became queen, and ruled the changelings you and I know now..."
"Huh." Luna said softly.
"Pure conjecture, of course... The text is old, many parts of it missing or damaged... I may not be correct."
"But Lily... How will she cope with this?"
"I had to wipe her memory and Shining Armor's... I set the blaze spell and took them both away." Luna turned her midnight-blue gaze back towards the plume of black smoke raising from the ruins of the factory.
"Was wiping their memories really necessary?" She asked.
"No one should have to live through that. Worse that she did, I wouldn't want her to remember it. You know the memory majora spell, right?"
"Aah. Yes, I see... Almost like it never happened..."
"Emotionally, spiritually, even physically, Lily is the same as she was before she met them that night."
"And Shining?"
"The same. Also the reason I set the magical blaze myself. I don't want anyone knowing what transpired at that factory. That place was a nightmare. Worse, even, than that one time you brought that injured avian-"
"You said we wouldn't talk about that anymore." Luna whimpered. Celestia chuckled.
"My wardrobe will never be the same."
"Oh shut up, sis." Luna groaned, covering her face with her hand. "Still, though... Lily... Able to change into a Changeling Prime... I knew she was powerful, but to that extent?" She said softly... "I'm glad she doesn't pay her loyalty to Chrysalis any longer..."
"As am I, sister..." Celestia groaned. She looked halfway across the city at the lights in Lily's room, her keen gaze able to focus on the pinpricks of light specifically. Lily was practicing violin. Celestia sighed and stood up, many things going through her mind. "As am I..."
---------------- Notes from the Author ----------------
Haha! Loyal comes back with a gem!
I feel really good about this chapter. I'd apologize for the short clop portion, but I really don't feel the need. It opened up a WHOLE new branch to the story, and helped me immensely. Thanks to Danielpie12 for the interesting request.
Honestly, though, I started out struggling quite a bit with this chapter. Like, a lot, actually... When I set in on the clop, though, it all clicked. Not the clop, as is apparent, but the story for this chapter. Next thing I know, I've written out a WHOLE bunch of shit, and what's more, it all clicked. I'm excited to continue the story, and I'll be starting the next chapter tonight.
There are some fairly major changes to the chapter list, though. I'm passing on writing the original content with the CMC's grown up. Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo can remain at least PARTIALLY innocent, and the Fluttershy/Liam/Applejack threesome wouldn't have worked out with the story anyways. (In chapter 7 of ADKoL, the dialogue between Applejack and Fluttershy suggests the two have never had previous knowlege of the other's sexual encounter with Liam.)
In short, I'll just be finishing out all the request chapters, saving all the original content for the final 3-5 chapters of the story. In those final chapters, we'll learn more about Changeling Primes, Lily, Twilight, and the future of A Different Kind of Love in general. In addition, it'll open it up for A Different Kind of Love: Melody's Tale, and will also serve as the starting point for A Different Kind of Love: The Untold Chapters. The former being... Well, you'll just have to find out... The latter is Ajax's, Maggie's, and Twilight's own personal story.
This is like, the fourth time I've posted that bit >.> Keep your eyes peeled for a blog entry updating you on my progress.
Hope you enjoyed the read ^.^
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