Chapter 31

Celestia smiled.

Before her was a happy couple. Before her was the beginning of a new life for each of them. Shining Armor, the strong, brave stallion that had become something of a nephew to her, and Cadence, the beautiful, kind mare who was related to her in all but blood.

She couldn’t help but remember Death as she watched them.

The bridesmaids all stood in a line, each one standing as prim and proper as they could be.

The groomsmen stood proud, their weapons out of sight, but not far away.

The crowd stood, bustling with excitement.

The only missing spots were those of the best mare, and the lead stallion.

Celestia had no doubt that Alan was comforting the mare, but she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in her student.

Twilight had jumped to conclusions, and it had cost her a dear friend.

It hurt to see her fail like that.

Was all that time in Ponyville for nothing?

Did she learn anything?

Celestia hid her sigh behind a smile. Now was not the time to think about this. Now was the time to perform the ceremony.

She cleared her throat and the entire room fell silent. “Dear friends and family,” she began, “today we are here to witness and celebrate the union between Captain Shining Armor, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza...”

“This is Karma!” Alan moaned.

“It is not,” Twilight deadpanned.

“It is! This is what I get for forcing my players to fight against so many Gelatinous Cubes!”

Before them, a nearly transparent mass of ooze squelched against the floor. It was shaped like a perfect cube, and had the skeletons of a few stray rats floating inside of it.

Next to the first cube lay the numerous split halves of a dozen others.

Twilight sliced another in half with a hard-mana sword. “They’re not that bad, Al.”

“Not yet!” Alan said as his eyes darted across the room. “But then he’ll get the Black Puddings! And then the Black Pudding Swarms! And then they’ll be coming out of the walls! The walls!”

Cadence stood next to Twilight as Alan hyperventilated. “Is he always like this?”

“Only every now and then,” Twilight answered as she watched Alan pet his own tail fervently.

“Match made in Heaven,” Cadence mumbled.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Cadence said before stepping over to Alan and giving him a good smack across the jaw. “Calmati! Si stanno manifestando un pazzo davanti a Twilight!”

Alan shook his head, before blinking at the pink pony princess that had just smacked him down. “Right. Right, you’re right. I mean sure, I got a TPK with twenty-five of them, but we should be alright.”

“TPK?” Cadence asked, only to be answered with a shrug from Twilight.

“We’re fine!” Alan said, comforting himself. “This isn’t a Grimstooth Dungeon. We’ll be fine!”

“Alan...” Twilight began.

“We’re fine!” he shouted.

The mares stared at him in silence.

Alan looked at them, eyes wild.

And then he slapped himself.

He shook his head, the mad gleam in his eye disappearing. “Sorry, D&D flashbacks.”

“D&D?” Cadence asked again.

Twilight sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Right!” Alan said before slowly moving forward. “Moving on! Onward, girls!”

Cadence gave Twilight a look. “You have a very interesting taste in stallions.”

“Says the mare marrying my brother,” Twilight said with a smirk.

Cadence laughed. “Got me there.”

“He’s actually very sweet when you get to know him. Now’s just kind of a bad time.”

Alan led the two mares forward, his eyes going over every wall, ceiling, corner, and natural shelf while the girl caught up behind him. “Do you have a way to protect yourself, Princess?”

The sudden question caught her off guard. “What?”

“If there are changelings out there, then they may have somepony in the guard. If that’s the case, we may need to fight our way to the chapel. Do you have something you can fight with?”

“Um...” she began. “I don’t really see a weapon anywhere...”

Alan’s eyes glanced over at a crystal that jutted outward across their path, and with the grasp of a few magick hands, and a loud snap, broke off a foot-long piece. “Here,” he said, his voice calming down from his previous panic. “This’ll do.”

The Princess took the large chunk of crystal with an apprehensive look on her face.

“Speaking of,” Twilight began, “what are we going to do when we do get out?”

Alan turned his head toward her, looking over his shoulder. “We follow the rules of the universe,” he said, before flashing her a smile. “We do things dramatically.”

Celestia smiled as she performed the ceremony.

“If there are any present who have a reason for these two to not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace,” she recited.

A moment of tense silence hung over the crowd.

Ponies looked about, hoping that nopony would speak up.

Celestia waited a second longer, and then smiled.

“By the pow—”

Wham!

The large, jewel-encrusted doors slammed open, and a white stallion with a torn tux stepped forward. “I object!” he yelled.

Cadence blinked.

“That’s not the Princess!” Twilight said, hot on Alan’s heels.

All eyes went to Cadence.

She blinked again before bursting into tears. “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you ruining my wedding day?”

“You mean my wedding day,” a new voice said before the pink Princess appeared behind the two unicorns, carrying a large club of crystal.

The crowd’s eyes collectively widened.

The tears on 'Cadence’s' face dried instantly.

“Next time you throw somepony in a dungeon, be sure to split them up,” Alan said as he leveled Judgement at the imposter.

“That pony is a changeling!” Cadence said, wielding her club.

'Cadence' glared down at them. “Even when I get you out of the way, you continue to thwart me, Pendragon.”

Before another word could be said, the 'Princess' burst into green flames.

Panic erupted amongst the crowd, and ponies scurried for the exit, running for their lives.

Only a few of them saw what happened next.

From the acidic flames a creature formed. Pink fur burned away to reveal black chitin, feathers turned to ash leaving only transparent insect-like wings. The figure grew, now as tall as Celestia herself. A jagged horn, at least a foot and a half long, jutted from her forehead like a gnarled branch from an old tree. Holes appeared in the creature’s long, slender legs, and a mess of a blue mane flowed down around her head. A pair of ivory fangs stuck out from a black snout, and two green eyes looked down at the Pendragon in contempt.

Atop her head sat an almost comical crown, made of black material, and capped with three small emeralds.

She spoke, her voice sounding like a multitude of flies all speaking at once. “As Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects, and what better meal than that of Equestria? With all of its food I can feed my children for a long time.” She frowned. “And yet you always stand in my way.”

Alan looked up at the Queen. “Man, you guys are uglier than the D&D version.”

“You’ll never have the chance to take Equestria!” Cadence yelled, swinging her club. “Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep the likes of you away.”

The Queen chuckled. “Oh, I very much doubt that. Isn’t that right, Dear?” she said as her horn gave a soft shine.

Shining stood frozen on the spot, his eyes glazed over in an emerald haze. “Yes...” he moaned.

Cadence’s eyes narrowed as she raised her club.

“Oh, you’re going to hurt me, are you?” the changeling laughed. “I’m sure even these nitwits can see that thing shake from where they stand,” she said, motion to the ponies that had been too frozen from fear to move. “I’m sure three days without food leaves you with plenty of strength.”

“She doesn’t need it,” Alan said as he stepped between the two. “I’ve got plenty.”

“And I’m sure you’d love a trip back to the caves, wouldn’t you?”

Alan grit his teeth.

The queen laughed again. “As we speak, your precious Shining Armor grows weaker, and while his will to keep you safe is still strong, his spell will break. Before long, it will be broken, and then my Hive will take over Canterlot, and then all of Equestria!”

“No,” said a voice behind the changeling.

Everyone turned to see Celestia standing there, only a few hooves away.

She looked very unamused.

“You won’t.”

Celestia looked down on the little bug that dared come across her kingdom.

This insignificant gnat.

This dust mite of a creature.

She would hardly need a tenth of her power to crush this miserable excuse for royalty.

As her beam of pure magick bore down on the changeling, Celestia was preparing to call the janitors to clean up the mess.

That’s when she noticed something.

The self-named queen hadn’t been splattered across the floor yet.

And then her beam started to come back on her.

Celestia’s eyes widened.

This...this wasn’t just magic.

There was love in there.

Shining’s love for Cadence.

She...she wasn’t prepared for love.

Love was, ultimately the source of all magic, and this love in particular was incredibly strong.

There was nothing to worry about, though. Celestia had plenty of love of her own. Her love for her subjects, and Death as well would be more than enough to—

And that was a far as she got before she was sent down to the floor.

Celestia’s crown clanged against the cold, hard ground, and was quickly followed by the Princess herself.

The Queen blinked, her jaw hanging open in disbelief.

“I...I did it...” she mumbled. “I did it,” she repeated as her mouth slowly twisted into a smile. “I did it! Ha ha! I, Chrysalis, have absorbed so much love that not even Celestia is a match for—”

Crack!

Chrysalis was interrupted as an oaken spear haft slammed into her jaw in a vicious uppercut.

“Girls! We need the E.O.H. here A.S.A.P.!” Alan barked.

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Elements of Harmony! Now!” Twilight explained before the bridesmaids made a quick exit.

As Chrysalis picked herself off the floor, rubbing her jaw from the hit, her eyes took in the five stallions and single drake before her.

Thunderlane and Soarin had a spear each, while Silver had picked up an actual war hammer from the armory.

Spike flexed his claws, and bared his teeth.

Big Mac simply removed his yoke and cracked his neck.

Alan stood forward, Judgement gleaming. “Alright Cheeselegs, you’re under arrest for assault of the royal persons. Please don’t come quietly.”

The Queen glared at the Pendragon.

Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass filled the air, and a quick look outside revealed large shards of magic falling to the ground as Shining’s spell faded.

Chrysalis smiled as she stood. “I won’t have to.”

Before another move could be made, a changeling, much smaller than the queen with large, blue, irisless eyes smashed through one of the stained glass windows, landing like a meteorite.

Six more followed.

Ten more.

Twenty more.

Suddenly, a wave of green magic exploded from the Queen, pushing the six fighters away from the insectoid ruler. “Attack them, my children. Attack them and feed!”

The changelings quickly swarmed Alan and company, eager to sink their fangs into a new source of love.

It was a shame for them that they never knew a pony could hit that hard.

Big Mac’s massive hooves slammed against two charging changelings and sent them airborne. Silver was quick to follow up, and smashed his hammer into a third.

Spike was already up, slashing at anything that got close, his claws digging through chitin and carapace as though they were sand. If anyone was looking, they would have noticed something burning in his eyes.

Thunderlane leapt forward, spinning the spear like a quarterstaff. For every changeling he hit with his hooves, he cracked two across the head with the spear.

Soarin was not doing as well as the others; he was not used to this kind of combat. He was used to open dogfights, and now he was on the ground, surrounded. But he was a soldier, and his training forced him to stab outward with his spear.

This was when an interesting discovery was made.

Soarin’s sharpened spear head bounced off the carapace of a changeling as though it were a wall of stone.

“They're armored!” Soarin yelled.

Alan came to the same conclusion as he beat a changeling with his sword, the chitin impossible to cut, even with Judgement’s blessed blade. “Big Mac! Keep crushing them!”

“Eeyup!” the massive pony answered as he gave one changeling a powerful buck, sending him skipping across the floor like a rock on a pond.

“Thunderlane! Forget the spearhead! Just knock some sense into them!”

“Sir! Yes, sir!” Thunderlane answered as he slammed a hoof into another face.

“Spike!” Alan called.

Spike roared in answer, slashing through the metal-like exoskeletons with ease.

“Spike! Roast them on three,” he ordered, running up next to the dragon.

“One! Two!” Alan called out, as both he a Spike took a deep breath.

“Vistes!” Alan called, as both he and the dragon unleashed a jet of flame each. The flames engulfed the changelings, and when the air cleared, revealed the dead carcasses of ten of them.

“Fire is still super effective against bug types,” Alan said with a smile before coughing.

The flames gave the soldiers a brief respite, but it was short lived as the changelings swarmed in a second wave.

Alan welcomed them, sheathing Judgement in favor of a short mana-blade. “Aim for the joints!” he yelled as the blade flew through the air, eagerly seeking the spaces between the plates of natural armor.

They would not last long.

They began to cover Spike, even as he was cutting them down with every swipe and slash. Within seconds Spike was a writhing mass of changelings that broke into vibrant flashes of purple scales and ruby flame.

Alan had practically lost sight of him, and was now focusing on plunging his knife into the chinks of the natural armor.

A Changeling rushed him, and with a quick dive to the side, Alan pushed the attacker’s head to one side, revealing the joint between the back and neck plates. The Pendragon plunged his magical dagger into soft flesh between the chitin, and was rewarded with a shower of clear blood.

Big Mac was next to go down as they slowly engulfed the stallion. His thunderous hooves sending enemies flying even as they swallowed him whole.

Alan had yet again entered the third stage, and while he thanked it for its timing, he really wished he could do it himself. As the battlefield slowed, Alan began to move with better accuracy; he was able to grab more changelings, but they were squirming, and it was much harder to get exposed flesh.

Thunderlane managed to keep the swarm at bay with his spear for a bit, but he too was completely surrounded.

Alan’s blade was now a spinning silver whirlwind as his hooves moved to force open the joints of his attackers. A hoof smashed into his side, and for a second his rhythm was broken. He grabbed the hoof and brought the offender in for another kill. It was only his eighth.

Soarin was quick to go down.

Alan’s mind scrambled to try and find another target, and his hooves quickly found another carapace. The blade hardly even nicked the armor.

Silver managed to crush a changeling head under his hammer before he was swallowed.

Alan’s blade bounced off exoskeletons as he frantically searched for an opening. Hooves began to pound on his back. His mind raced.

Changelings were everywhere.

He couldn’t even see the room for all of the chitin.

Everywhere he looked was either blackness or the pale blue of those eyes.

Alan closed his eyes, even as he was being beat on.

He needed some room.

Chrysalis watched from the raised dais as her swarm overwhelmed the would be heroes. Even the mighty Pendragon fell to her underlings.

Even now, he was probably being glued to the floor under the writhing mass of her children.

“Fastali!”

The changelings exploded outward, flying in every direction imaginable as they were sent airborne by Alan’s shout.

Alan stood, his eyes glaring daggers at the queen.

How amusing.

Alan charged, the dagger flying before him.

“Shining...” the Queen said with a smile.

Alan roared, ready to bring his dagger down on the insectoid invader, only for a purple swath of magic to get in the way.

Alan’s eyes glanced over at Shining Armor, who now stood crouched, his horn crackling with power.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Chrysalis said.

Alan glanced over at the Queen.

“No matter what I do, or what I say, all he sees is his beloved Cadence,” she taunted.

The changelings regrouped, all looking down at Alan with contempt.

Chrysalis waved, and they quickly formed a ring around the two unicorns.

“Let’s see how far he’s willing to go to defend her, shall we?”

Shining moved, throwing a punch at Alan, who blocked with a hoof of his own.

Alan’s mind was still racing, and as he felt the blow, he could tell that Shining didn’t have much strength left.

That’s all he got to tell before a shield slammed into his face.

Another came up into his gut, and then his side, both already tender spots from his previous beating.

He moved to react when yet another hit him.

A glance at the unicorn’s face told Alan all he needed to know.

Shining was furious.

Another shield came down on Alan’s head, and sent him to the floor.

Then everything went black.

“Wake up, my little pony, wake up.”

Alan’s vision swam as he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Celestia dangling from the ceiling, encased in what looked like a cocoon with a small window.

Spike, Big Mac, Thunderlane, Soarin, and Silver all lay pinned against the floor by some sort of green goo, Spike even had a glob of in surrounding his mouth to keep his mouth shut and his dangerous breath behind bars. As he watched, he saw changelings slowly move about them, vomiting up more of the goo and slowly shaping it into more cocoons.

Then he noticed that everything looked purple.

Shining Armor stood next to the queen, his horn alive with the magic that was keeping Alan caught in a bubble shield.

“Hello again, Pendragon,” Chrysalis hissed from the other side of the shield.

“Hello, ugly,” Alan answered.

The Queen frowned. “Incredible,” she muttered. “Even now, you find ways to annoy me.”

Alan looked up at her. “What are you talking about? We met only a few days ago.”

“And it seems you have no gift for insight, either,” she sneered.

“Easy for you to say, Snake,” Alan shot back.

“Original,” the Queen snapped.

“It’s a gift.”

“One of your best I’m sure,” she said before lifting her head to regard the Pendragon from a new position. She waited a moment, before giving a shrug. “I am feeling generous today, and since you asked, I may as well tell you.”

“Cliched villains,” Alan muttered.

“What?” Chrysalis asked.

“How nice of you.”

She eyed him.

Alan glared back.

“My kingdom was starving,” she began. “Changelings, unlike your pitiful race, must consume love to properly function, and, well, a simple glance at our true from would keep you monsters from even getting close to us. So we needed a source of food, we needed love to eat and feed from. There was nothing in my own lands, and the few gatherers I had were slow, and brought too little back," she frowned. "If we were going to survive, we needed more love. So I had my scouts search all across the world for an answer.” She faced him again. “And we found the Promised Land.

“Equestria was perfect, overflowing with love, harmony, and peace. It was a low-hanging fruit, ripe for the picking, but I would be a fool to not see the danger of it. Canterlot was like a rose bush, ten thorns for every rose, and ten secrets for every pony.”

Chrysalis turned to face Celestia, who was slowly recovering in her cocoon. “So, I had to think carefully, I had to plan expertly. I needed very powerful soldiers on the inside of your perfect palace. This caused a problem. How was I going to get changelings in so that not only would they be able to feed uninterruptedly but gain a massive amount of power?

"The first thought that came to mind was to have a select few would-be shock troopers create whole new identities for themselves. It would have worked, too, given enough time.

“But that was the issue. Time. Time I did not have, nor my Hive. No, I needed established victims, those who already had families.

"There were issues to this too. A simple replacement was too risky; restraining them would only work for so long before they would be discovered, and we could not move them without drawing attention to ourselves. Killing them also risked discovery, as just the smell of blood could send suspicions through the air.

“It seemed that I had no choice. I had no way of getting rid of the identities, and I was about to abandon the idea altogether...” she paused, lifting a hoof to her face. “Until I made a very interesting discovery...” There was a spark of green flame on her leg, and Alan watched in sick fascination as the fire licked at her chitin, transforming it into bare skin.

It reached her hoof, and the fire spread in the air, and five growths spread from the base.

Alan was staring at a hand.

His hand.

“It was a new idea. Wasteful, yes, but the love it would give in return would make up for it.”

Alan stared at the hand.

“Can you imagine the love that a family would feel for a loved one they thought was lost?”

Alan’s eyes narrowed.

“Can you imagine the number of Changelings I...” her voice trailed off into a meaningless drone as Alan glared.

This was it then.

She did this.

She brought this death.

She killed them.

She killed all of them!

Alan’s eyes flashed neon green.

It’s her fault!

Smoke began to rise off his form.

She killed them!

His irises turned red.

She killed Thundersight!

Alan felt it, a burning in his very soul. Anger. Rage.

Hatred.

And he let it consume him.

“Well, well, well...” a voice hissed in the darkness.

Red and green eyes looked off to the south, seeing things nopony else could see.

“Interesting...”

“And yet it failed,” Chrysalis continued. “For all my planning, for all of my cunning, I had failed to count on you, Pendragon. You with your lists and your plans. Those that died were too few for me to truly work, and were too well documented, and so I was left with no choice but...to...” her words faltered as she turned to see the bubble of magic that her quarry was caught in.

Something was wrong.

The bubble was completely obscured, as though a thick, black fog had moved in.

It was impossible to see through, and she could no longer see the pony that had been caught.

Shining groaned, lifting a hoof to his head.

Chrysalis noticed.

The unicorn shuddered.

Crack!

The Queen jumped as a fracture suddenly opened in the shield, black smoke leaking from it.

Shining went down to his knees as another crack broke through.

Chrysalis took a step back.

And then Hell broke loose.

The shield shattered, throwing Shining into unconsciousness while the force from the blow actually sent him sprawling to the side. And from the magical rubble a form leapt at the Queen from the darkness.

It was not a pony’s face.

It was the face of a monster.

Two inch fangs protruding from an open, blood red mouth. Neon green eyes, with red irises. A sharp horn that seemed to glow red and black. A mane made from black smoke, and grey fur covering his body.

The only thing that really marked him as Alan were the golden hooves.

The Monster roared, diving at the queen from the broken shield, and the terror on her face spoke volumes.

She missed meeting her end by an inch.

The Monster shot by her, slamming into the stairs of the dais, turning them to rubble. The Monster, upon impact, seemed to collapse on itself, transforming into a trail of dark mist that shot across the floor at an alarming speed.

“Changelings!” Chrysalis barked, more out of habit than anything. “Protect your Queen!”

They quickly grouped together, facing outwards with their horns blazing and teeth bared.

They never stood a chance.

The torpedo of mist flew forward, and, finding a single target, leapt off the floor, transforming mid air into a creature that was half mist, half monster. Fangs bit through the exoskeleton with ease, and with a snap of its jaws, the Monster crushed the changeling’s neck.

The Monster dropped back into the floor, turning to mist as it did.

The mist slid across the ground, finding another target. It sped foward, moving at a speed that the invaders were not prepared for. Within seconds it leapt off the ground again, swinging a blade of red and black magick. There was a slice, a flash of light, and then a poof as the Monster dived back into the floor like a shark.

The changeling stood still for a second, before his front half fell forward, and his rump and tail fell backwards.

The wound hissed like acid, trailing a green smoke in the air.

The Monster launched itself forward at a group of five of them, and with snapping jaws and spinning blades, left them in piles on the floor.

Down he went, and then up again, a disc of a thousand blades hovering inches from his hoof. He gave it a toss, and it flew forward, ripping a swath of destruction and death across the chapel.

Again, the Monster turned to smoke, and again he hugged the ground. A single changeling attacked, firing a bolt of acidic green magic at the trail of shadow. The shadow opened, letting the bolt pass through harmlessly.

The Monster rebutted by stabbing the attacker through the eye.

Another dive, another jump, and five more changelings fell.

Judgement frowned.

There had always been fear and hatred in his bearers, but this...

This was a blind rage of pure malice.

It had even tried to fight his own power.

He had to stop this as soon as possible.

The Monster was fast, and efficient.

Within a minute, there were only two changelings left and a mess of sticky clear blood painting the floor.

One was huddled in the corner, eyes wide with terror. He cradled a broken leg, the exoskeleton shattered, barely hanging onto the flesh underneath.

Before him stood the Monster.

Now still, the creature seemed fully flesh. Grey fur covered his entire body, while his mane and tail appeared to be wisps of smoke. Purple smoke drifted from his red and green eyes, and he was tall, impossibly tall, almost as tall as the Queen. His cutie mark had even changed, now a red blade against a shattered shield.

The changeling shuddered under the Monster’s gaze. “M-mercy...”

The Monster cocked his head to one side.

“Me-mercy, please...” the changeling begged.

The Monster took a step forward.

“Please! Please, This One begs—”

And that was a far as he got before another red blade stabbed him through the throat, leaving the changeling to die a slow, painful death.

The Monster turned to face the other changeling in the room. The Queen.

It spoke, its voice a terrible hiss. “Where is your love now?” it taunted.

Chrysalis blinked, too afraid to move.

She blinked again, and suddenly the Monster was inches from her snout.

Screaming, she tried to step back, and tripped over the stairs of the dias. Fear pushed her back, forcing her to crawl on her back, her eyes unable to leave his form. “Wha-what are you?”

Suddenly, four blades slammed into the ground, straight through the holes in her legs, pinning her where she lay.

“A Nightmare,” was the Monster’s answer.

Judgement was pulled from its sheath, the perfectly white blade now murky, and its point hovered over Chrysalis’ eyes.

“Stop, Alan,” a voice called.

Alan's eyes quickly searched for the source of the voice, and quickly found the face of Judgement staring at him from the inside of the blade.

"Why?" he asked in his mind

“Calm yourself. Control.”

“He needs not control himself,” a new voice said. “This is justice, is it not?”

Yes. Justice. She deserved this.

“Justice is not given by cloudy judgement.”

“Is there a better time? No. Of course not. Now your anger burns bright, now is the perfect time. Now she will feel all the pain and suffering she caused. Give in to your hatred, and show her the meaning of pain.”

She deserved so much pain.

“‘A man who controls his emotions, controls his blade. One who cannot control his emotions, is not a man at all.’ Arthur said these words, and his heir should follow them.”

But she deserves this!

“Maybe, maybe not. But if this was about justice, then would you have executed the last one?”

Alan didn’t reply.

"I don't think Twilight would approve."

The blade hung over the Queen's face for a long moment. The Monster glared at the shaking queen with its red and green eyes, a sneer on its face.

And then, the Monster began to shrink. His mane returned to its normal shape and texture, his eyes changed to their brown color. His coat turned white and his cutie mark reformed. His mana morphed to its natural, silver color, and Judgement returned to it normal luster.

Before her eyes, the Monster disappeared, leaving only the Pendragon in its wake.

“Justice will be served,” Alan said simply.

“Alan,” he heard a familiar voice call from behind him.

The voice stopped him, and he turned to see who spoke.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

There were the girls, all six of them, caught and captured. Changelings surrounded them, and one held a knife blade to Twilight’s throat.

“Hurt the Queen, and your friend dies,” the changeling hissed.

Alan looked down at the changeling.

“If you used my power, you could kill him before he raised a hoof against her.”

“And how would you explain this power to her, hm? ‘This? Oh don’t worry, it’s just the power of my rage and hatred.’”

Alan’s eyes drifted to the corner of the room, where he had executed the one changeling.

Judgement drifted away from Chrysalis’ face, and the blade slid home. “Just not yet,” he whispered to the Queen.

The changeling that held Twilight smirked.

Alan raised an eyebrow. “Well...is that it? Or are you going to make any more demands?”

The changeling blinked. “Uh...”

Alan resisted the urge to facehoof, and instead settled for rolling his eyes. As they rolled, however, his vision caught something.

Cadence, the Princess, sat next to Shining Armor, and was slowly shaking him awake.

Had...had she been in the room the entire time?

Alan turned back to the changeling.

He...he needed to stall.

“Are you new at this?”

The Changeling blinked again. “Well...This One does not give commands very often.”

Alan briefly wondered why it spoke like a Khajiit, but ignored it to press his advantage. “Oh, yes, yes, I understand completely,” he said, “it’s very hard giving orders.”

Twilight cocked her head, confused.

“It is!” the changeling said, grinning, “her Highness makes it seem so simple.”

“Well, I could help you if you want.”

Now she looked even more confused.

“Really?” the changeling asked, before its face screwed into an incredulous scowl. “Why?”

“Well, here, have a first lesson free,” he said, “You are in a room, and I have what you want, and you have what I want. So to truly take control of the situation, you need to be holding all the cards, so, you need to get me to give you what you want.”

Now Twilight’s eyes boggled, as though she were somewhere between too confused to understand what was going on, and absolutely furious.

The changeling cocked its head. “Um...release her Highness.”

“There you go!” Alan said, before the blades that had the queen pinned came loose.

The queen stood, jumping up to her hooves, fear still evident in her eyes, before collecting herself. This was a pony, nothing more, she thought to herself, before shoving Alan to the ground. “You Fool!” she laughed. “What kind of an idiot helps his enemies?”

Alan smirked. “One that has a back up plan.”

And then there was a giant flash of light.

A massive wall of magic and love ripped through Canterlot.

Anything it touched, it set right.

Changelings were sent flying even as they fought with the guard.

Cocoons and bonds of goo were broken and disintegrated.

Within seconds, every trace of the insectoid invaders was wiped out, and not a one remained.

As she was sent flying through the air, the Queen could only scream in mental anguish.

“I will get you for this, Pendragon!

“I will have my revenge!”

“By the power enthroned in me, by the power of Faust,” Celestia said, standing now before the real bride and groom, with both Alan and Twilight in their spots, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

The kiss was short and sweet.

Celestia smiled again. “Fillies and gentlecolts, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Armor.”

The crowd applauded before Alan stood forward. “Take this, Shining, and protect your household,” he said, handing the unicorn the pattern welded blade.

Shining smirked. “This would have been so useful earlier.”

As the bride and groom left, heading to the reception downstairs, the crowd applauded, waiting the customary ten minutes for the two to get situated.

“Hey, Alan,” Twilight said, as the crowd began to mumble. “Before we head down to the reception, there are a couple of ponies I want you to meet.”

“I figured,” Alan said.

“Don’t stray too far, either Alan,” Celestia said, “my sister and I would like to have a couple of talks with you.”

“Am I in trouble?” Alan asked, lifting an eyebrow in the direction of the solar pony.

Celestia gave him a smile. “There’s been enough trouble for today, don’t worry.”

Ten minutes passed quickly, and then the doors opened. As ponies began to file out, Twilight quickly pulled Alan away, leading him into the mass.

Celestia smiled as she watched.

The crowd passed by in a blur as Twilight led Alan forward, and Alan briefly marveled at her ability to maneuver through large crowds.

“Alan,” Twilight said as she brought him before two unicorns. “I would like to introduce you to my parents, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet.”

The mare, Twilight Velvet, Alan assumed, had a light grey coat, almost white, and a white and purple mane.

The stallion, who, if his guess was right, had to be Night Light, was a cool blue color with slate hair.

“Mom, Dad,” Twilight said, “this is Alan, my special somepony.”

Twilight the elder smiled. “Oh, it is so good to meet you!” she said, before hugging Alan. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that Twilight finally found a stallion!”

“Mom,” Twilight the younger whined.

“I thought for sure that she would die alone.”

“Mom,”

“She was always more into books than stallions when she was younger,”

“Mom!” Sparkle yelled.

“I just don’t know where she gets it! I mean, genetically speaking, she takes after her father most of the time, but he wasn’t incredibly studious in his day. In fact, he needed a lot of help during his college days.”

“Mom! You don’t tell him that stuff!” her daughter rebutted.

“What? About your father?”

“No, about me! It’s embarrassing.”

“But, I’m your mother meeting your coltfriend for the first time, I have to reveal all of the embarrassing stuff that I can. Every romance novel says so.”

As the two quickly got into a debate about proper protocol about first meeting any new relation, Night Light approached.

“Tell me you aren’t as blind as my wife.”

“I see where your daughter gets it,” was Alan’s reply.

“Good to hear I’m not insane,” Night Light said. “And as for my daughter, I do have to inform you that if you break her heart, I will have to kill you.”

Alan sighed. “Right behind Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, your son, and your daughter’s five close friends. With all due respect, sir, the only way I’m living through any sort of breakup is if she calls it.”

Night Light looked at the Pendragon. “It’s nice stallions like you that take the fun out of scaring coltfriends.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Please do.”

The dance floor at the reception thundered with music. Ponies danced and celebrated, the sun setting and giving way to the night as lights flashed and basses shook.

Alan watched Twilight as she paraded around the dance floor, shaking her body in a way that definitely could not be described as dancing. The Pendragon himself stood on a balcony overlooking the gardens where the reception was being held. Next to him sat Celestia and Luna, the former face’s slightly grim. “It is a dangerous magic, Alan. One I myself would not dare use.”

Alan nodded.

“You seem to have a great control over it now,” Celestia continued, “so perhaps you can do something with it, but I would not use it unless the need was dire.”

“I understand,” Alan said.

Celestia nodded, before looking down at the reception. “I would also let her know.”

Alan looked up at the Princess.

She smiled. “Take it from an expert on dysfunctional relationships, the last thing you want is a secret that could ruin what you have.”

Alan blinked, before nodding. “Makes sense.”

“Are you going to be alright?” Celestia asked.

Alan nodded. “Yeah, yeah...I mean, I just found out I’m a practitioner of Dark Magic is all...”

Celestia sighed, before giving the Pendragon a reassuring nuzzle. “Such is the curse of those with power, Alan. You’ll be alright.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

Celestia gave him a sad smile before leaving, leaving the Pendragon with Luna alone.

The younger Princess approached, before sitting herself next to the unicorn. “I know your sleep is troubled,” she said simply.

Alan did not answer.

“As Dreamwarden, it is my duty to keep the nights of my subjects peaceful. You, however, are a special case.”

Alan looked up at her.

“Though you inhabit a pony’s body, you are not a pony in your mind. My magic is an ancient magic, and as such, it is...legalistic. Therefore, to remedy this situation, I must ask for your permission to take you under my protection.”

Alan looked over at her.

Luna gave him a sad smile. “It’s not your fault, Alan.”

He nodded. “I know. It just feels like it.”

Luna nodded.

“Well, if you think you can help, I’m not going to stop you,” Alan said.

“Consider it done,” Luna said before standing. She looked down over the rails, and onto the reception. “Now I think it best you go, Twilight could certainly use some aid in her dance.”

Alan smirked. “She always does,” he said standing.

Luna smiled. “By the way, if ever the need arises to woo her, I would suggest a box of chocolate or two and a few piles of books.”

The dance floor was alive with ponies as they moved to the sound of music.

Twilight was jumping around, and enjoying herself rather immensely when the song ended.

The ponies applauded, as it ended, and a few ponies changed positions, some moving onto the dance floor while others got off.

Twilight was about to leave herself when a very familiar bass guitar started to play.

“So why don’t you come with me?

Take a trip to the other side.

Where you, you and I, we can sing, we can fly

We can dance as the stars go by.”

She turned, and there was Alan, standing opposite an empty space in the floor.

“And if the heavens should open up

With a vision inside Jah love

The earth and the moon and the sun will align

With the voice from the sky above, one love.”

He held out an empty hoof, and there was a smile on his face.

Twilight smiled back.

“So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

So come on and shine with me

Shine with me.”

The two began to dance, standing like humans, as the song played. Spotlights hit them from above, as they slowly twirled and spun.

Shining Armor noticed.

“In his dreams,” he muttered angrily.

“What?” Cadence asked.

“I am not going to get out-romanced on my wedding day! Come on, Cadence, we’re dancing!”

As Shining dragged his wife down to the dance floor, Cadence merely rolled her eyes.

“Boys...”

And there we go, guys. Man, I’ll tell you what, is this a special chapter!

“I know right?”

Firstly, this is the last chapter before the one-year anniversary of A Novice Swordsman!

“Whoo! Story Birthday Party!”

Secondly, this is where I laugh at all those people who blamed Discord for the war. Ha ha! It was Chryssy all along! All those “chaos” comments you guys made only made you look like idiots...well...to me...and only me...because I was the only one who knew any...better...

Yeah, ok, I can see where you got that. But still, it made for a pretty good

Thirdly, and I feel, most importantly, I have also broken the 1k favorites barrier.

This is quite the achievement for me, and I just want to take a moment here and thank you all for it. All 1032 of you. Thank you, ANSitCC would be nothing without you.

Seriously, thanks. I can be proud of a piece of fan fiction, like legitimately proud. I can go and tell my non-brony friends about this.

So thank you, all of you.

Next time, more Slice-o-life, complete with—

“Shipping?”

...Well I wasn’t going to say—

“Aye, aye, Admiral!”

Oh, hush you.

“Be sure to comment, thumbs up, and fave if you haven’t already! And see you next time!”

Bye!