Chapter 18

General Talon walked into his barracks, various gryphons of different shades sat around a circular map of Equestria. Vix was polishing his mask as he looked down at the positions of the gryphon forces. The room itself was a hollowed out tree, the seats were small clouds that the gryphons sat on

“Alright” The general pointed to the badlands on the map “I want these pathetic roaches on my dinner plate by tonight” he groaned as Bishop Ruffles stood up “What is it Bishop?”

“Have you ever tried coming to a peaceful resolution?” The bishop looked around at the other gryphons “All violence does is cause problems which bring more problems” he removed his hat as he held it over his heart “Unless we try to make ourselves better then what hope is there for the future and our children?”

The gryphons that had not fallen asleep were yawning as they struggled to pay attention. Talon shook himself awake “All in favour of Bishop Ruffles being slapped raise a talon” he thrust his talon up along with every other gryphon in the room, including Ruffles

Ruffles shrugged to the gryphon next to him “I’m weak to peer pressure” he sighed as Vix slapped him to the floor before he returned to polishing his mask

Talon nodded to Vix “Now that all our normal business is attended to we should press on with more important matters” he shuffled into a more comfortable position as the gryphons began to study the map “If we fly in a basic formation where we reinforce any gryphons that are getting outnumbered then we can…”

The general paused as the table shook, the air filled with a faint buzzing. The gryphons looked around the large room as paintings vibrated off the wall and crashed onto the floor. Elite Vix dropped his cleaning cloth as he rushed to the window and poked his head out

“General we have a proble…” Vix could not finish his sentence as a pair of changelings dragged him out the window and threw him to a group of waiting changelings. They waited by the window as the gryphons inside leapt to cover and began nervous muttering

General Talon roared as he jumped onto the table “Changeling cowards! Come in and fight us like real warriors!” he smirked as the changelings disappeared from view. His smile disappeared as a large claw filled the window and tore the wall away

“Morning gentlemen” Odio smiled as the changelings swarmed in and outnumbered the gryphons. General Talon managed to claw two changelings away before flying out the new exit, his eyes widened as he saw the rest of his forces beneath a sea of red and black

“H-how could this happen?” Talon gasped, his face froze in horror as he felt a breath along his neck “What do you want?” he swallowed his fear as he turned to face Odio

“First off, stop the war with the changelings, this happened with the minimal of planning and effort” He held up a black claw and the buzzing from the changeling swarm stopped “Princess Larva has come up with a solution that can satisfy both sides”

General Talon let out a sigh as he looked down at his trapped army “I have no choice, but I congratulate your victory, I should have seen something like this happen” he extended a talon and shook Odio’s claw “So you managed to win a war in a day, what will you do now?”

Odio looked over the forest village in the direction of Canterlot “Rescue a damsel in distress and…” he frowned as he let out a small growl “Princess Celestia has something that belongs to me”

Meanwhile…

Dave stepped into the dungeon, the cells all empty apart from one that housed the changeling queen. His face tightened as he saw her waiting for him, her eyes instantly met his as he stopped at the cell door

“So…” Dave put his hands in his pockets as he looked around the stone cell that the queen was kept in “You came to Canterlot to atone for your sins” Dave chuckled before his eyes returned to the changeling “I suppose I am as ready as I’ll ever be for the rest of your reasons”

Chrysalis stepped forwards so her horn poked out of the cell “I came to show you that I can take responsibility for what I have done” she sighed as her head rested against the cell door “If I came for your love to power my army then I would still be faced against an entire city”

“I thought you said my love was more potent” Dave folded his arms as he stared at the queen “I heard that you managed to defeat Celestia when you had Shining Armour powering you up”

“I… know what I did” Chrysalis sighed “My action were for the good of my changelings, they needed to feed otherwise they would have died” she stood on her hind legs as she put her front hooves on the bars “I came alone so I could offer my love to you”

Dave leaned against the wall as he stared at his feet “You will most likely be banished or imprisoned” Dave scratched his head “Depends if Celestia finds out that you tried to sleep with me”

“I don’t care” Chrysalis growled “If I am banished and kept away from you then that would be torture enough” she reached out with a hoof “Come with me and we can go anywhere”

Dave stood up straight “Anywhere?” he hummed “anywhere we want?”

“Yes!” Chrysalis smiled “We can go back to the hive or anywhere we want, I can take on a new form and find a way to provide for us or we could live in a remote place and live off the land”

“Ok here is the plan” He moved closer as Chrysalis’ smile grew “I am going to live here with Celestia and my SON” Dave smiled as he poked Chrysalis “And you can bugger off and leave me alone”

Chrysalis tried to grab Dave but missed as he hopped back, she dropped to the floor of her cell as she put her hooves over her eyes. Dave began to walk away until he heard sniffing coming from the jail cell, he groaned as his conscious made him walk back

Dave knelt down next to the cell but Chrysalis had moved to the far corner of the room, her sniffs managed to fill the dungeon as Dave sat in silence. He groaned as he marched out of the dungeon and looked for the jailor

He spotted him by one of the desks, his hoof around a mug of cider as he snored heavily. Dave walked over and pretended to whisper in his ear as he plucked the cell keys from the jailor’s pocket. He nodded to a few guards as he walked back into the dungeon

“Alright, I’m a nice guy so I am only going to offer this once” Dave shook the keys at Chrysalis “I’ll let you go, you can scurry back to your hive and look after your swarm”

Chrysalis stopped sobbing to look at Dave, she walked over to the cell door as Dave opened the door and stood aside. She looked back at her cell before looking at Dave

“Will you come with me?” She sighed as Dave shook his head “Well I appreciate the gesture” Chrysalis stepped back into her cell and closed the door behind her “I would prefer to stay like this”

Dave growled as he stormed out of the dungeon, he threw the keys back at the jailor, causing him to bolt awake. The angry human marched around the castle as he tried to clear his head, his thoughts bouncing between Celestia, Chrysalis, Strong Shield and Nox

“Why does it have to be me that has to make everypony happy?” Dave sighed as he stepped into Celestia’s quarters, he searched the rooms before he gave up and collapsed onto the bed

Meanwhile…

Celestia, Cadence and Nox all landed outside Carousel Boutique, Cadence quickly locked the door and closed the blinds behind the group as they hurried inside. They heard Rarity calling out as she hurried downstairs, her normal introduction stopped as she saw the three royals

Rarity went straight into a deep bow “Your highnesses, how could I ever be of service to you?” she held her pose until Celestia beckoned for her to rise

“Is Sweetie Belle around?” Nox smiled as Rarity pointed upstairs, they grey colt eagerly rushing up the steps to find the filly that had been playing on his mind

“I hope he remembers that advice I told him” Cadence sighed, her eyes moved back to the puzzled unicorn “Oh forgive me, Nox has a crush on your sister”

Rarity nodded understandingly until her eyes shot open “A prince has fallen for my little sister?” her eye twitched as Celestia and Cadence nodded

“But there is another reason we are here” Cadence moved over to Rarity and began to whisper very quietly “Princess Celestia needs some clothes made”

Rarity shook off the initial shock before she smiled “Well you came to the right place Princess Celestia” she bowed again “What would you like? A gown? A dress? Maybe some scarves?”

“I would like some um…” She blushed as she tried to remember what Cadence had told her “silk garments”

Rarity nodded “Ok, I will start right away” she levitated over a notepad and pen “what kind of events are you going to be wearing this garment to?”

Cadence placed a hoof on the notepad “These particular garments are for Dave’s eyes only” she rose a suggestive eyebrow as Rarity frowned in confusion “They will be worn for… private use”

“I’m afraid that I don’t follow” Rarity laughed nervously as Cadence took her notepad and wrote down a few notes before passing it back to the white unicorn “Oh… revealing, sexy…” she gasped as she finally caught on “Y-you want me to make these?”

“I could think of nopony better qualified” Celestia smiled before she rethought her sentence “For making dresses, not experience with… sex clothes”

Cadence giggled “So long as they aren't edible I’m sure it will be fine” she smiled until she noticed the confused looks “well Shining Armour put on a bit of weight when I used to wear them” she scoffed until Rarity began taking measurements of Princess Celestia

“Well I hope Dave likes them” She gave a hopeful smile to Cadence before her expression was switched with fear “What if he doesn't? What if he thinks I am going crazy?”

Cadence held up her hoof to silence the other princess “Dave will love them because they will be worn on your sexy flank” she smiled reassuringly

“Thank you, I suppose that…” Celestia exchanged a confused look with Rarity before they both slowly looked at Cadence “D-did you just say I had a sexy flank?”

“Well yeah” Cadence smiled “it has a nice shape and Dave can certainly put his hands to some use” she frowned at the awkward looks “I can have opinions you know”

Rarity smiled nervously “Well of course you can but…” The alabaster unicorn tapped her chin “I never would have guessed that you thought Princess Celestia’s flank was… sexy”

“I find yours reasonably nice to look at but that doesn't mean I am going to try and kiss it” Cadence sighed, “I have self control and I have a husband to play with, do I need anything else?” she hopped on the spot as her face lit up “that reminds me, do you make furry hoofcuffs?”