Pony POV Wedding Pt 11 Explanations And Escapes

It made no sense when the Hooviets arrived on top of our hive grounds.

This was absurd, our swarm's hive was no zebra's land: legally labeled as 'bad lands' with nothing farmers, business zebra, tourists, or armies could want (admittedly the one of the few things that fat slug was able to do right). It was like Everfree in Equestria, it was quite literally the last place in the world you would want to do anything even as a dumping ground. Our puppet governments and front companies made sure that it STAYED that way.

First we tried to do the most intelligent things we could do: do nothing and let them just do their thing and simply leave. Often trying to cover something up just made something more obvious.

Then they started digging, then they started started exploring the cave. At least they were ignoring the 'giant termite funnels' for now.

Then they brought in heavy equipment, some of my subjects began to complain about the noise.

"What in the world could have brought those filth here?" I asked to no one.

"They must have come for the leylines," Pitcher Plant said like she was reading a script.

"What are you babbling about dear?"

Pitcher Planet showed me a map of the planet's leylines she just happened to have with her.

The leylines map was not the same from last time I check, I know leylines changed slowly over time, like stars, but they had changed completely!

We needed information.

So we plucked one away when it was their sleeping period (or close as the 24 hour operation seemed to get to sleep).

The results were disappointing.

Even for a no face grunt his mind couldn't have been more empty. He had no idea why he had been sent there. He had no idea what he was doing there. He knew he was working for 'Father Deer' and 'The Greater Good' and somecattle named Captain-Commander Blue Crow or something, but nothing SOLID, he didn't even know what the equipment was for and what it was even doing or was supposed to be doing. If this was just a faceless guard I could understand, but this was a technician he didn't even know or understand the equipment he had been working on, like he had been an actor in a play.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty! I do not know!" He apologized profusely in his native tongue. Blech. We couldn't exactly keep him, I know the Hooviets cared nothing for their expendable fodder, but him vanishing might still get somecattle's attention (even if we were in the middle of nowhere and wild animals abounded). Memory erasure spells can never be trusted, but a mental suggestion that this was all a bad dream to somecattle with all the strength of will as a wet noodle who WANTED this all to be a bad dream and dumping him back in bed worked well enough.

And the Hooviets were snooping and digging deeper, it was time for them all to mysterious vanish and spread rumors about 'ghosts' and 'alien abductions' again. Yes yes, we didn't want to risk exposing ourselves, but they were getting too close.

Lines of communication cut. Defenses sabotaged. Changelings in position. Of course I remembered the old saying 'if you want something done right, do it yourself' and was going to take part.

The most garish music imaginable suddenly blared from everywhere (I promised to find the composer and turn him into a husk for the sake of good taste). A giant gold cube in the sky blinked into existence. None of the staff or guards at the site we were supposed to be making cease to exist even looked around or stopped what they were doing at the noise. Was this a trap? I threw it off as paranoia, even if someone had a clue I existed, there were far more simpler and intelligent ways to draw me out.

Then a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder, and in a spray of colored sparkles a mix of unicorn and deer teleported in, wearing a garish uniform weighed down by too many medals. If I had ever been made to perform in a play with such a costume I'd have demanded it burned. Twice.

"MOTHER DEER! Outdated goddess! Did you blindly think that I would not notice one of my men's thoughts no longer being pure in their devoted to the Greater Good?! Your arrogance shall...Huh? Who are you? I don't remember making up-meeting you before." He was shouting in Roedian (I've expanded my language base since becoming Queen).

The Tartarus? He was looking straight at me! This illusion spell was supposed to keep me and the rest of the swarm hidden until we moved! I was going to have a lovely talk with our tactical mage later.

I noticed many of my changelings looking at him like he was a god.

I tilted my head and asked reactively in Zebrafirican at the confusing sight, "Who, what, are you supposed to be? A clown?"

He stared at me like I had spoken in a language he didn't understand, then began to tremble to and sputter like he was about to explode. "Y-you, y-you don't KNOW WHO I AM?! What joke is this?! Everyone should automatically know who I am laying eyes upon me! This insult can not go unpunished!"

I rolled my eyes. "I heard the Hooviet Empire was full of criminally incompetent idiots who had their position because they knew how to say yes to everything they were told, but I never imagined that they suffered from in-breeding as well."

"HOW DARE YOU?! MY PARENTS WERE BOTH GREAT DEER!"

I asked dully and pointed. "Then how in Tartarus do you have a unicorn horn and...blech, is that supposed to be a cutie mark?"

"ENOUGH! I am Grand Marshal Admiral-General Solomon Azure Raven Makarov! Second to only father deer himself! For your impudence creature, you will pay!"

"You're second only to an imaginary leader? Whose your second in command, the tooth-breezie?"

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I considered getting a love-sandwich during his battle cry but I wanted this stupidity over with.

He moved as fast as lightning, I don't think he even really galloped, his hooves simply 'skidded' across the ground towards me, horns lowered. I blocked with my forelegs in time and tried to hold him back with my magic, he just kept coming! His horn fit through through two of the holes already in my legs and inched closer to my eye as I skidded across the landscape as an absurd speed, the pressure would force his horn through my head or make my legs' carapace break first. I lifted up my back legs, spread out my wings, and spun, flinging him off me. He landed flawlessly on four hooves.

"You are as powerful as I though Queen Chrysalis Avalon, or is that Kifuko?"

He's not leaving here alive. "How did you learn that name?"

"Ha! My spy network is infinitely superior to yours!"

"You're lying. You were dumbfounded by us. You had no clue who or what I was when you saw me."

"I was clearly luring you into a false sense of security!"

"I'm an actress, I know that trick, and you weren't doing it."

"Well watch this trick, for it is the last one you will ever see!"

He drew two swords I knew he didn't have before, large golden jewel encrusted hilts of bright white broadsword.

He magically spun them both like drills, then spun them MORE on another axis like they were fan blades, then spun himself like he was a top. How was he not getting motion sick?

"One Azure Raven Two Sword Triple Spin Final Finale Finisher!"

He spun like a dust devil towards me, I tried to dodge but against the laws of physics his course adjusted into intercept me! And I tripped on a stick and fell on the ground. What? I was going to be cut to ribbons by a powered up idiot. Wait...the trees aren't nearby!

I did the only thing I could think of, and threw the stick I had tripped on towards his spinning hooves, he lost control of his swords that STILL managed to both fly straight towards me in a huge arc. I rolled to one side as they stuck in the ground, a sword still cutting a line through the edge of one of my wings. Agh! Could I still fly with that?

Makarov got up, he did not look happy. "You stupid grub! Can't you even die properly?!"

"You're the not first one I refused to die for when they thought I should."

"Yes..." He hissed, getting crazy a look in his eyes. "Yes. Yes! How many have died for you!? How many have died because of you? How many shall die of you?" He seemed to be getting larger. His eyes bore into me. I couldn't move as he stalked closer. What's going on?! I don't get scared easy! "You killed your parents, you killed your only friend, you killed your entire home town, you killed an innocent guest to our universe, you killed the stallion who loved you, you kill your queen, you killed your queen's protectors, you killed an innocent changeling who had already been experimented on so cruelly. Being selfish and killing is all you're good at. You're stupid, your incompetent, you're dumb, you're ugly, you're cowardly, you're weak, you're foolish, you're immature, you're petty, you're childish, you're small minded, you're petty, you're worthless, you're useless, you're just a stain upon MY world that needs to be cleaned up! Everything you've done-"

I head butted him.

"-I've done to survive! I have no regrets! And your voice is so annoying!" I snarled.

Makarov looked at me dumbfounded and shocked, I kicked him between the rear legs, he gasped in surprise and stumbled backwards.

"Yes, I've manipulated and killed! All at breakfast! By the rules of nature, I'll do what I need to to live! What does a brat like you know?!"

"You know I think I'll take your Pitcher Plant and make her my apprentice."

"...I'd say I'd kill you, but I'd already decided to. You're just making noise now."

"Well! Let's see if the noise they make holds your interest! Ancient Zebra Voodoo Zombie Resurrection Vengeance Reaver Black Shadow Death Doom Despair Night Midnight Void Spirit Dance!" Makarov began dancing around nonsensically like somepony who hadn't seen zebra dance magic except from plays.

I realized we were surrounded by grave stones. That was impossible. There were no above ground graveyards near the hive, and I knew we hadn't teleported! The names on the gravestones, were the names of...my family.

Zebra, changeling, and parasprite corpses began to rise out of the ground, along with a big fat bloated changeling corpse that had to drag itself around. There were...many of them.

"You killed us! You killed us! Vengeance! Die! Die! Die!"

"THIS IS ABSURD!" I screamed. "Most of their bodies were never anywhere near here! Or didn't leave bodies!"

"I obviously had all the bodies dug up and reburied before you arrived."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Does it matter? Tell me! Do you regret NOW you stupid grub?"

I regretted I was facing a zombie horde. I considered my tactical options. I could try to simply phase through the zombie horde and attack Makarov directly. But that would leave me exposed to the horde behind me, and he seemed the type to have another surprise up his flank. And the zombies were getting closer. So I made the best choice I could think of.

I screamed like a nymph and flew for my life. "HELP ME YOU IDIOTS!" I screamed for my changelings. My flying with my damaged wing wasn't as good as I had hoped.

Whatever had been keeping them from coming to their queen's aid now seemed to be broken as Hercules Beetle flew past me in a blur smashing the head in of the lead zebra corpse, our troops flying right behind in a blur.

The zombies didn't even seem to notice them as they kept mindlessly following after me. You could say they were so focused on vengeance for me nothing else mattered, but if you asked me, Makarov had simply made their programming so simple that they didn't know how to defend themselves.

The zombie horde didn't last long against Hercules Beetle and his troops. Again the Hooviet instillation didn't even seem to react to what was going on plain sight of it. Except for cheering like brain dead idiots for the big brain dead idiot.

"Forgive us former Queen," a drone said as they broke apart the big fat zombie. The rest of the horde didn't last long.

"?!..." Makarov stomped his hoof. "Your cries for help are not supposed to have anyone actually COME to help you!!!"

"Clop you," I said.

"That is it!" He pulled out a nondescript remote with a ball ended antenna and a single big red button he pressed with impertinence. A stock sound beeping filled the air.

All my changelings stopped what they were doing and stood at attention and spoke as one. "We live but to obey the greater good of the Hooviet Empire."

My eye twitched. "The Tartarus?"

"I've had this remote with me this whole time! With it I can control the changeling horde!"

"Then why didn't it affect me bozo?"

"Because you are clearly too stupid for it to work on!"

"How can you even HAVE a remote to control MY changelings?"

"Isn't it obvious? I created changelings species! You all exist to serve me!"

"You didn't have a clue what we were when you saw me or that we'd be here! And I promise that I'm older than you!"

"I was clearly lying."

"It contradicts everything we know about ourselves!"

"Clearly I invented that past for you."

"THAT'S THE BIGGEST BUCKING LOAD OF BUCKING HORSEAPPLES I HAVE HEARD IN MY BUCKING LIFE!!!"

"Whatever. Time for your final moment as it was meant to be, destroy her."

I saw my changelings come at me as one like they were a bunch of robots. Why couldn't they be this obedient with me? I retreated again, and I didn't have a third army to come to my rescue.

They followed me like a second tail, not even trying to second guess my movements or cut me off. Makarov just stood there looking smug. I fled from my own army as they closed in, I managed to make a huge circle and get closer to Makarov. I grabbed the remote with my magic and pressed the button again and crushed the remote.

"HEY! You're not supposed to do that!"

My changelings stopped what they were doing and blinked confused before falling on her knees begging for my forgiveness.

"Formation!" I snapped and they obeyed.

My hive and I swarmed together, buzzing about him randomly every which way.

"ROYAL RING!" I hissed as we swarmed, transformed, then landed in a circle around the idiot.

Makarov found himself surrounded by a horde of myself. "Now try to guess if you can," we said together as I had had Hercules Beetle drill into them.

"HA! You think this could possibly fool me?!" His eyes got this glowing color look to them. He struck one of the changelings in the circle, who fell down from the powerful force of the blow, enough to crack their carapace.

"B-but!" Said myself on the opposite side of the ring. "but, there's no way you should have been able to tell us apart!"

"Pst! Not to one who has awakened and enlightened their sense of magic it is not! You are all just ignorant and blind to true magic!" He said self-righteously.

Then the changeling he struck flashed green and revealed a normal changeling drone.

Makarov's jaw dropped. His eyes twitched. "B-b-b-but, t-t-that's n-n-not, i-i-i-it, it CAN'T!" He death glared at myself, who had been the one speaking.

The other changelings on myself's right and right burst into flames revealing normal changelings until only myself remained, who looked left, and right, then took a step back, gulping.

Makarov screamed incoherently. Makarov's mane turned gold, his eyes turned blue, and his coat becomes lens glare purple, all surrounded by a faming aura of power. He practically flew at me, fore hoof raised, "MAKAROV.... PUNCH!"

He struck myself square in the fact, smashing me into the ground so hard it created a small earthquake.

Makarov looked rather pleased with himself and breathed in and out as his colors returned to normal.

Then the broken queen he had struck burst into flames and became a drone (who'd I infused with my power, having figured there had to be a reason I seemed to be the only one aware of all this insanity).

Makarov momentarily lost the ability to speak.

I changed back into my true queenly form and got up, and fired a beam at full power straight at his exposed back. The impact somehow created a giant cloud of dust. A giant robotic suit of armor that looked like it could change into a something else flew out of the dust clouds right at me with two blazing thrusters on its back.

"AAAAAAGGGGHHH!" Makarov screamed from inside the cockpit, eyes pin pricks.

I shape shifted to a zebra, and did a forward flip over the super weapon (I had gotten used to the unexpected from him at this point, though my wounds were beginning to pile up and made it difficult) and changed into an Earth Pony as I landed giving one thruster a hard kick that sent it flying off and exploded for seemingly no reason a moment later. I was thrown off and landed hard as the mecha suit began spinning out of control and crash landed creating another explosive cloud.

Makarov leapt out of the explosion much farther than a deer should have been able to leap and landed without any seeming damage to himself. I wish I could say the same, my exoskeleton was cracked in several places and I think my ribs were bruised.

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU AND YOUR STUPID TAROT OF HUNGER LETTING YOU DEFY ME! YOU'RE STUPID! YOUR SPECIES IS STUPID! U R STUPID! STUPED! Super-ultra-mega-power-ninja-samurai-captain-angel-demon-" he began making swift random poses as a power ball built up between his horns. "-heaven-hell-vampire-werewolf-light-dark-creation-destruction-erasure-big-bang-final-finish-ending-the-last-sunset-sunrise-bug-smasher-giga-cowboy-robo-" I buzzed towards him as he continued posing and punched him hard in the face. He lost balance and fell over, the twisting purple-red-whatever ball of power among his horns hit the ground, and exploded. It knocked me back, a lot back, along with my changelings.

I managed to stop myself from crashing into anything, I worry about my changelings later. the column of power went as high as the sky and deeper than Tartarus. The wind died down and the pillar of magic slowly shivered up and flickered out. Makarov dragged himself along, now he actually looked hurt. His uniform was a mess, but not vaporized like it should have been, and he should have been for that matter. You think he'd have at least blown his own head off with that one.

"PERISH DOG!"

Horseapples!

I barely put up a barrier as a horncannon bigger than his own head appeared out of nowhere and fired. And it still went through my barrier, only stopped enough to pierce my hide and send me flying a good ways away before I managed to recover instead of going straight through me. I had to dodge it a few more times before I barely managed to shoot it out of his grip. I think that the round that hit me fractured a rib on top of the fact I now had a gunshot wound. Wait, I have an exoskeleton, why do I even have ribs?

He yelled another overly long name, producing Rosedust knows how many swords. I just barely managed to dodge a trust that would've pierced my heart if I hadn't moved (the fact it cut through my hide like butter and left a wound assured me I needed to move, and quickly).

By the time I managed to send out a shockwave and blast them out of his hooves, I'm not sure how much uncompromised exoskeleton I had left!

He charged up a horn beam and fired it with another overly long name I couldn't hear over the drum of it powering up and I countered with one of my own. His overpowered mine and I had half my mane blown off before I could dodge!

His blows could crack Changeling armor, his weapons could pierce it. He'd overpowered me physically. I realized that taking him head on would be the biggest problem. I'd have to outsmart him and out think him to have a hope of winning this.

He spoke instead of screamed, "I, had enough of you, this is your-"

"Oh shut up!"

= "Endless Possibilities Instrumental" - Sonic Unleashed =

I buzzed towards him, randomly zig-zagging as I went, going below the grass as I did so like a lion would.

"Ultra-Raid-Omi-Bug-spray-canon-" He whipped out a backpack with a flame thrower like nozzle. I changed into a pegasus and dove into the sky burning through magic to heal my wing and landed on the back of the device, spilling it contents all over him, making him red eyed and his body began to involuntarily spasm as it seeped into his skin.

"Changeling poison is deer poison?!" He exclaimed as he took out another giant sword holding it in his HOOVES somehow, "The Pegasus-Slayer of King Ididntmakeup-" I landed and turned into a unicorn and stabbed him with the sword using my telekinesis. He touched a button on a belt he hadn't been wearing before. "Anti-unicorn magic shield-" A shape change into an earth pony later I kicked him in the gut sending him flying backwards. He touched a dime store looking amulet he was now wearing, "The stone of protection from all ponies, usable only on this night every hundred years, you can not-" I introduced him to zebra style kick-boxing and knocked that amulet off which dissolved into thin air like all his toys were. I didn't know what the buck he was. I didn't care. He wasn't going to win. "HA! Now you will see the ancient sacred deer technique of anti-equine jutsu, that no equine, pony or otherwise, can possibly-" Jaguar claws sliced into his pretty face, "AAGH!" I changed into zebra again, saddled his neck, applied pressure in the just the right way, and one of his antlers broke clean off at the base and kicked him in the face and he landed on the ground.

"Help us."

"Kill him."

"Please! I want to die! Kill us!"

I heard a chorus of voices that seemed to be coming from INSIDE his head.

Oh well, might as well oblige them.

I shifted to my royal form, and stabbed him in the chest with my horn and sucked the flank-hole dry. Wait. What?

He had no love to suck! No! It was like I was trying to bleed blood from a stone. But that insane! A deer as narcissistic as him had to have a gigantic amount of self-love! It would taste like sucking raw lemons and be unfilling, but it would still be there! This was not possible! Everything sapient creature had some trace of love in them!

Wait! What?! A robot?! That's even more possible! This had not been a robot a nano-second before!!! I swear it! The robot exploded in my face and knocked me to the ground, giving me third degree burns! I got back up and I was stabbed in the side by a red coated deer that I KNEW hadn't been there a nano-second before either.

I saw Makarov several dozen yards away, looking not harmed in the least and with both antlers. "I'm through with you, Tarot of Hunger!" he yelled. And I admit it, he'd suddenly sounded intimidating. "Activate the anti-transformation emitters! Good thing I have been working on these for years!"

"But that makes no-" I heard myself exclaim for all the good it did as tesla coils I knew hadn't been there before in a large circle activated creating a red magic dome.

"But sir, wasn't this supposed to be your death dome emit-" The red coated deer asked.

"It's my anti-transformation emitters! I am my death dome emitter!"

"Yes sir."

Makarov looked at me with hatred, absolutely pure hatred, but I didn't feel any from him, like he was just going through the motions of what he thought hate was. Or maybe I was too distracted from having an explosion in my face, being stabbed, and the shock of feeling my magic suddenly not working. Or the fact that his teeth were now sharp and his eyes slitted like a dragon's.

I groaned from the shock of having my energy short out. "What the Tartarus are you?!" I asked, a horrible fact finally occurring to me. I'd assumed I'd been dealing with a mortal. And I was wrong.

"CONCEPT OF HUNGER! THAT FLAWED STATUS MAY HAVE PROTECTED YOU FROM ME SOME, BUT NOW THE LAST THING YOU'LL SEE IS MY TRUE POWER!"

This wasn't like his previous boasts. His voice had changed into something not of this world and a bright, unholy light was coming from his throat. It sounded less like a child boasting and more like a video game stating a concrete fact.

Makarov then pointed at me with one hoof, which seemed to pulsate with countless things under his skin, and screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice now sounding like a legion, "YOU, SISTER, AND ALL YOUR KIND WERE GASSED TO DEATH!"

-

I'd rather not describe what happened next thank you. Just know that even I consider it too cruel a fate to bestow, maybe, and believe me, that's saying something. Suffice to say, there were no corpses. It was like myself and my changelings had simply become ghosts. There wasn't any proof of any gas had been used besides every creature we drew near mention it even if it made no sense for them TO speak about it.

If Makarov could still sense us, he didn't show it. Since we were technically 'dead' according to Makarov's fiction, at least we weren't going to starve to death.

Our livestock was even more confused, knowing we had 'been gassed to death' but had no idea why they were still alive since they'd have logically been gassed too if that was what happened. I didn't bother to see what the Hooviets did with them.

I slowly managed to piece together what Makarov was, or at least how he functioned, and what he was not. Of course I tried to kill him, several times, but being a intangible made that annoyingly hard.

My changelings, loyal to the end, continued to gather information, it actually proved easier with them and myself now being basically living ghosts. Unfortunately, since that maniac had twisted existence nine thousand different ways, a great deal of it turned out to be worthless after Shining did us the favor of erasing him from existence. I won't lie, as the Blank Wolf tore that psycho's existence to pieces and sent him to Oblivion, I cheered for Shining.

When time and space repaired themselves, I was the only one in my swarm who even remembered our time as living ghosts, let alone that fool had ever existed, or his Empire.

And there were those empty shades...can we please not talk about them please? I can still feel their hooves in my nightmares.

But we weren't really dead. Because those events hadn't really happened, but Makarov twisted fate to insist we were. So it created a paradox in reality. Fate hates paradoxes.

But it came with a surprise gift, none of my changelings could do it, and it took a while for me to realize why I could and they couldn't (and also why Makarov's powers hadn't affected me).

In this faux state between life and death, I began to learn, no, I began to remember my larger self.

Being disconnected from the world, I began to see things my changelings couldn't, I began to move in directions my changelings couldn't. They thought I was going mad, I thought I was going mad (considering our situation, it was a reasonable assumption). But I wasn't breaking, I was growing.

I saw possibilities, and I began to be able to travel up and down events, I was still a 'ghost' unable to change anything, but I could see and hear anything if I knew where to look for it. And I traveled up and down the lines of possibilities too.

I saw myself, I saw a path where Makarov, where the Hooviets themselves had never even existed, where deer had taken on the path of the viking warriors instead of 'greater good' imperialists. And I saw myself fail, utterly, twice, in my quest to take Equestria, and to exact my revenge on the ones who had stolen my victory and ruined my beautiful plans, worthless bridesmaids.

Mind numbingly oblivious ponies, going from terrified of a changeling about to clobber them to casually trotting along their day in moments as my changelings were scattered and splattered on Canterlot's walls! Seriously, how did we lose to these idiots?

Wretched talking Pinkie Pie costume.

In the alternate worlds, I saw myself making Twilight Sparkle the new changeling queen as I died and she made all Ponyville her hive. I saw myself turned into an earth pony for Celestia's sense of 'justice' in a world where my changelings were mindless beasts. A world where I was the FIRST changeling, the Princess of Hearts and Hooves Day. A world where I had been one of Commander Hurricane's officers who had objected to the new peace she embraced, and was turned into a monster by that filth Discord and turned to stone with him. And a LOT of worlds where I ended up heavily injured, and nursed back to health and learned to 'love' from their kindness...There was also this odd world where Cadence and I had a truce of sorts (us both being legally married to Shining) and I had moved in with Shining Armor and her as we both put up with his idiosyncrasies. Oh, and many worlds where I had a daughter, Pupa, born brain damaged and deformed, loved me more than life itself. THEN that world I was de-powered (but still a changeling queen) and put under house arrest in Twilight Sparkle's library and made, blech, FRIENDS with a retarded puffy pink pony who made Pinkie Pie look smart. Sure she had enough love to taste from the void, but me? Makes friends with such a brain-dead thing? Pathetic!

I saw a world where Maua somehow took my 'condition' upon herself while I became a normal Zebra. She killed Cocoon to took over the hive out of kindness for the Changelings she saw suffering and gradually went insane and she launched her own attack on Canterlot in a twisted attempt to fulfill my foalhood dream for me and I tried to save her from herself with the help of PONIES. Do I wish I lived there? Pst. Sorry to disappoint you but 'Kifuko' can KEEP her Zebrahood if she wants it so badly. What's the point of anything if you don't win it for yourself?

...Y-Yes. That...that's the only reason...Maua.

And I finally remembered my life from before I was born. Who I had been, what I had lost. but why didn't I feel anything? I vowed to repay Pandora for this existence in full.

And, a world where a much more mundane and unexceptional version of myself was given memories of my actions within the heart world, and broke down crying saying 'I'm a monster who didn't deserve to live!'

Disgusting. Weak-willed crybaby!

If all it took was some memories for a version of myself to abandon my ambitions, then I could not allow myself to risk becoming weak! A wild beast doesn't need a conscience.

Surprised? Expect me to fall on my knees and regret everything I've done? I'm the same ling who sang a song with the lyrics 'no I do not love the groom, in my heart there is no room.'

One of the best pieces of advice that anyling can be given for life is 'no regrets' and I embrace it full-hearted. Concepts cannot feel regret, predators cannot feel remorse, and I devour love, but I don't let myself be controlled by it. I'm a savage! Wild and free!

'Monster who didn't deserve to live?' My whining self said? I haven't begun! Blood would boil and souls freeze before I'm done!

Ahem.

Yes. After much self-contemplation following these revelation, I came to the realization I had set my ambition FAR TOO LOW before. And thankfully, I now had the knowledge to make my new ambitions a reality.

+

A tiny star flew into the wedding hall, then exploded in a blinding white flash of light magic.

"PRINCESS RUN!" Twinkle Shine's voice cried out.

Total chaos only began to describe the bedlam that followed.

Even not counting the guests being bullied by Chrysalis' soldiers, there were over two dozen ponies present who found themselves smacked by the light spell, and some guests tried to make a break for it, for changelings to try and catch them, heroes and villains alike caught off guard by the random surprise.

Confusion and disorder filled the wedding hall like a flood, no pony had a clue or a chance to coordinate with anypony else. To call it complete insanity would be an understatement.

Ponies and changelings alike crashed into each other, many reduced to following the sounds of their companion's shouting and hoping they weren't following a changeling. Hercules tried to bring order to 'his' troops, but someone crashed into him, he didn't know who, but to be fair, they didn't know who they crashed into either.

"ESCAPE MY LITTLE PONIES! ELEMENTS-" Celesia's Royal Canterlot Voice shouted, undoing what regeneration the magic parts of her brain had done, and fell truly unconscious.

This gave the chaos the tinniest sense of direction. Ponies struggled to obey the command of their Princess, clogging the exit with their bodies, the pegasi guests blindly took the windows already opened for them by the changeling guards who shifted back to their pegasi guard form and flew after them.

This chaos wouldn't last, as the guards themselves struggled to subdue or restrain the ponies (not harm them of course, they were valuable livestock). All changelings knew mental magic to some degree to make victims and livestock behave, but it was close range, and soldiers were the least adept.

The groomstallions, loyal to the end, tried to grab their captain and run for it, but found him 'safely' in the wings of the queen. Sweetie Belle grinning triumphantly between the queen's legs like she was in a pillow fort. She held the less responsive Spike like he was a teddy bear.

"The Princess just gave an order, follow it through!" Cherry Coke (birth name Cherry Fizzy) ordered the others, Caramel and Note Worthy carrying Banjo, Caramel hoping he'd see his girlfriend in Ponyville again.

Prince Blueblood was wondering WHY he hadn't abandoned his cousin and just fled with Arcane Spell on his back. Instead he was helping and pulling his fellow nobles and not-noble ponies through the doorway before the changelings could finish cowing them all, helping more get away and uncorking the double doors. Arcane Spell lay on her side out of the way of the stampede, having a hornache in her whole body from her barrier being on the business end of the queen's magic, slipping in and out of consciousness.

Moonshine Sparkle didn't want to move his wife through this melee with all four of her legs in pieces, but he didn't want them to have their love eaten out of them or whatever these monsters would to them if they stayed here. Did he abandon his children without a second thought? Never. But he knew better than most just how powerful his foals really were. If this monster had enslaved them...He still felt like filth leaving them, and hoped they'd forgive him. He wondered if this made him cowardly fleeing with his wife while his children were under mind control right in front of him after his bride had been crippled by the wicked witch. 'If we stay, we'll end up enscrolled like our Shiny and Twiley, if I try to fight, I'll end up broken like Starlight, kids, please forgive me.'

Chrysalis wanted to order Shining Armor to put up force fields to prevent the cattle from escaping their pen, but one glance showed casting that spell on the spot all on his own had not left him in the best of shape, and she couldn't afford to have her prime battery permanently damaged. She considered trying to deal with things herself, but found her vision too blurry from the light spell practically exploding in her face to focus and she herself was still recovering from her battles and forcing the spell. She didn't want to risk accidentally damaging her property while they still had a job to do.

Lyra let out a blast of high frequency sound magic at the changelings who tried to simply fly over the crowd, it was nowhere as strong or as effective as magic from Cadence, but it bought them time. 'Seven of us, couldn't one of us have been a pegasus?'

"Applejack, help get the cattle herd under control."

"Ya bet yer Madjesty! Ah'll do mah best! Yee-haaa!" AJ, still wearing her dress but putting on her hat, grabbed a piece of decorative cloth and used it as a make-shift rope, and began to lasso and hog-tie guests so the guards could use their rudimentary mind magic to convince the guests that running away would only get them more hurt, but was thankfully somewhat hindered by her eyesight being blurred from the light blast.

Two blurs in the space of a blink of an eye came next to Cadence, showing to be,

"Minny! Twinkle!"

"Don't ask me ever to do that again!" Minuette said looking none too good and her horn dim.

"Cadence! You have to get out of here!"

"NOT WITHOUT SHINING! LET ME GO!"

"Minuette!"

"What?"

The mass of changeling guards leapt to tackle them from all sides.

"DO IT AGAIN!"

Burning through mana she didn't even know she had, Minuette distorted time for three mares just long to squeeze through the doors, and blacked out from the exertion and pretty sure she had micro-fractures in her horn. She regretted ever researching this spell.

"Twinkle Shine! Let me go! That's an order!" Cadence looked ready to break Twinkle Shine in two.

"Princess Celestia out-ranks you! I don't think Canterlot needs a THIRD princess being put out of commission in five minutes!" Twinkle Shine snapped back at her princess.

"I don't care! Shining! Twilight!"

"Aren't going to be saved if you get taken out too!" Twinkle Shine couldn't believe they were debating when they should be running. Minuette picked a fine time for a nap just for doing a near impossible spell twice in a row. "These ponies need Princess Cadenza right now!"

"HEY! Put me down!"

"You don't sign my paychecks yet princess!" Lyra said, her and Twinkle's 'noise wall' of light and sound wasn't going to keep the changelings away for long as Lyra helped carry the princess.

"GET BACK HERE!" General Hercules Beetle declared plowing his way through (unwitting creating a nice wake path behind him). "What in the name of Rosedust?!" In all his life, he never thought he'd end up sumo-wrestling a giant walking lemon.

"Keep'em there!" Lemon Hearts ordered.

The Angry Mommy Lemon grunted obediently as Bon-Bon and Moth carried the princess away to relative safety.

"By the way Princess, it was the REAL you who approved me being your bridesmaid right?"

"You're Lyra Heartstrings?"

"Reporting for duty as soon as soon we're away from the big ugly bugs!"

Moth flinched at the words.

Moondancer wished she could do more, but if these changelings guards or the queen saw her here and now, her use as a bluff was over. She was stuck much further down the hall playing 'look out' and 'decoy' telling 'guards' who came to 'help' that Her Majesty didn't want them bothering her and she could handle this one on her own.

The Flutters threw off a Changeling who made a grab for them thanks to Fluttercruel's self-defense training, using him to knock down another group of them to open a path so she could try tried to simply grab Twilight and run, forcing her into a melee!

"Oh you want to try to kidnap me?! This is perfect! I've always wanted to do a 'from the inside out petrification' spell with my eyes closed before!"

'Okay, on second thought, maybe fighting the most powerful unicorn alive one-on-one isn't very bright!' In particular with that the butterfly was back in Ponyville. The Flutters back off and made a dive for Applejack.

+
'A moment later I was reminded that while Rainbow ranked # 2, White # 3, and Pink was all over the scale, Orange was pat down the physically strongest of us. My offensive style didn't leave much space for defense. 'Kicks McGee' introduced itself to our stomach and we went flying out of the wedding hall doors.
+

At the same time, I magically drew every jewel nearby towards me, I was ashamed and ill at damaging my dresses (and probably those of several of Canterlot's nobles), but Sweetie Belle was being held by that witch that had destroyed the wedding dress I had made! She was damaged from fighting Celestia and the other mare, and weakened from the spell that repelled Luna and her army, maybe she was vulnerable!

"Now now big sister, be good," My Sweetie Belle said. No I hadn't stopped caring about her!

I kept one eye on her as I fired every beautiful projectile right at the openings in the Queen's carapace. Sweetie Belle looked at me smugly, and her eyes glowed greener. The witch's wounds from before all healed she caught my jewels in her own magic, she seemed to admire that I'd been aiming directly for the open wound.

Sweetie's eyes glowed brighter as she wobbled, and the Queen's magic sent my beautiful jewels back at me. A pink blur grabbed me out of the way and began going in the WRONG direction!

"Pinkie Pie! Let me go! I have to save Sweetie Belle!"

"I hate being the pragmatic one!" My friend cried out as we continued to go the wrong way. I stopped her rear legs with my magic but she just began bouncing on her other front legs. This couldn't be happening! She was right in front of me!

+

AJ may have been stronger than me, but there was no way in Equestria that she was faster than this blue pegasus!

+

Total chaos. Well. That's what everypony says we Cutie Mark Crusaders cause anyway, so let's get to it and show Dash I can-WAIT WHAT! Silver Tongue! Let us go!

Silver Spoon wailed, "Sweetie Belle!"

Applebloom shouted, "Applejack!"

"Spike!" I cried out for our friends. Sweetie Belle. Spike. Applebloom's big sister. We all struggled against the adult's grip as he ran away with us! Run away? RUN AWAY?! NEVER AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN!

There was no telling what that witch was gonna do to her! I could help this time! I had to help this time!

"Applejack! Come with us! Ya can fight 'er!"

Applejack looked at Applebloom, sadly, "Ah'm sorry, Ah can't."

I slipped out of Silver Tongue's grip and made a mad dash for Sweetie Belle.

"If you wanted to join your friend, all you had to do was ask." The Queen said, her eyes and horn beginning glow, she held me in place with her magic and forced me to look in her eyes. H-her e-eyes, so, beuti- Rainbow Dash did a perfect square turn from Applejack and grabbed me out of the Queen's grip and flew out the door. "Rainbow Dash!" I yelled after shaking my head as I felt that witch's talons get ripped out of my brain. It'd felt like she was trying to force my brain open.

"What did I teach you about picking your battles?" Rainbow Dash said as she held me close. She sounded really upset.

+

As much as I HATED to admit it...I didn't know how to save Applejack YET. Even if I DID grab her and knock her out, I had no idea what to do to save her right then...But I DID know what I could do to save Scootaloo right then. Who am I kidding? There wasn't any planning, I'd saved the squirt before I knew what I was doing.

Yeah. I choose to save Scootaloo instead of trying to grab AJ. No. I wasn't scared of getting another taste of truth, I'd endure that if it meant saving a friend. But my body reacted on its own. I saved Scootaloo before I even knew I was doing it. It wasn't the logical choice to make. A brainwashed filly compared to Applejack was a reasonable trade right? It was the best move for Equestria...But it wasn't for me. My body had just moved.

+

A lot of ponies got away. Shame that filly got away, it would have made Sweetie so happy to have her. Eh, not like I had time to give the orange filly the quick and dirty enchantment like I did my now broken little pawn.

Tee-hee! But what did it matter? Hehehe. The city was mine! Canterlot was mine! And Equestria would be soon to follow! There was nothing any of them could do! The city was enclosed in a giant shield I controlled! there was no escape!

I rolled on the carpet like it was soft grass. I could do whatever I wanted! I was queen! HEHEHEHEHHEH!!!

LALALALA! A winner is me! They lose. I win. End of story. HA!

I barely remembered to have Celestia cocooned right there in the wedding hall until I could set myself up in the throne room and have her there with me as the cocoon did its job. I'd need a changeling to raise and lower the sun and moon after all.

Finally Equestria's former ruler came around. I told her what I had planned for her, and Equestria, nothing detailed of course, just what destiny she could look forward to, and her ponies that now would belong to me.

"Your scheme is full of holes. You think Canterlot is the only city in Equestria? You think all of the royal guards are in Canterlot? You treat this like a foal's game! Surrender, no harm will come to your people, it has been centuries, medical magic has advanced greatly, we could cure your people of their sickness."

"You actually thought I'd take that offer?"

"No. Ponies like you never do. But for the sake of those who think you'll give them a bright future, I had to ask." The cocoon was doing a good job of keeping her motions and magic numbed, it annoyed me how she somehow managed to speak through the cocoon, maybe I'd lock her in a closet somewhere if she got annoying.

"Do you think I just impersonated Cadence? And planned to play 'queen of the mountain'? YOUR royal guards are busy. You have no idea how many years I've been planning, in detail, how to undermine your kingdom for this day! I've been having Spike sending messages to your guards to make we aren't disturbed. You know Long Haul? He's a Changeling, named Digger Wasp, I think it'll be more fun if I let you twist that healing brain of yours trying to figure out if there ever was a real Long Haul or not. Hehe. He's presently captured your communications room and sending an all clear signal twenty four seven?"

"Your plan is still insane. You think none in Ponyville will notice your swarm buzzing around it, or what occurred with my sister?"

"Funny you should say that."

+

"And remember not to panic, Her Majesty is just shooting an action movie in Canterlot at the same time as the wedding," said the 'royal guard' to the Ponyville ponies, "So please, do not panic, and do not wastes your guards' time with false alarms."

This was a GREAT RELIEF to the Ponyville ponies, they had been certain it was 'Doom To Ponyville part 4' after they had seen  Luna and the guard flying overhead.

+

"They WANT IT to be the answer!" Chrysalis declared as she spread her wings dramatically. "They WANT there to be nothing wrong! They WANT THERE to be nothing to worry around for ONCE! They WANT IT to be okay! They WANT IT to be just a grand performance by Princess Luna! You think I just threw an army together and came here?! I have prepared for EVERYTHING damn you! Your back-up and contingency plans are in the dust now!"

'And my little glance at the Heart World had certainly helped,' the queen thought.

"And you don't fear Equestria's allies? You are arrogant."

Chrysalis shifted into Celestia. "Don't you mean -my- allies? -HA!-" She said in Celestia's voice.

"You're insane to think you can maintain such a farce indefinitely."

"Who said ANYTHING about it being indefinite? I just need it to last long enough for me to-Oh you sly mare, you almost got me saying something important."

"I try."

"NOT AS HARD AS I HAVE!!!" Chrysalis hissed. "Your armies and operatives will be wondering like headless snakes long enough!"

-

"Do you think it weird that Princess Celestia last week before the wedding in Canterlot told us to reinforce Equestria's boarders and to hold communication silence until contacted? When pretty much every one of our neighbors is an ally?" Asked one guard pony to another.

"Meh. The Princess is weird."

Unknown to them, the rest of Equestria's reserve army was at other parts of the boarder wondering much the same.

-
Meanwhile in Neighpon, Columbia, and other nations. Senior members of the Equestria secret service were undercover spying on an individual as instruction by their Princess, except these subjects were OTHER spies from the Equestria secret service. As per their top secret mission given by Celestia in person.

-

"Of course, some are smarter than others, others have been bred to be more dangerous than others."

"I don't bred my ponies like they were dogs."

"All the same, some were too dangerous to keep around."

"If you've-"

-

Baseplate and his men sighed as they hung upside down in the big green pods like meat in a giant freezer. Along with several other 'special ops' guards. They had been sent with need to know instructions from the Princess herself, then ambushed from all sides, including within.

"Sir, it really is a pleasure serving under you," said one of the bug ponies who turned out to be an infiltrator in his unit. "Maybe Her Majesty can be made to see you'd serve the swarm a lot better as a warrior rather than just cattle. With all this love to spare after we conquer Equestria, I KNOW Her Majesty will be more lax about how many cattle we can upgrade into people! I'll love to continue to serve under you sir. Our unit has many traits Her Majesty admires."

"Shut up Lady Bug, I never want to speak to you again, traitor."

The female changeling shrunk back. "D-Don't worry! I'm sure you'll come around! Our Majesty's special policy: waste not, want not."

-

"I hate to waste good stock like you Princess, the amount of love you'd give the swarm would rival my little song bird." Sweetie stood with pride. "But my Equestria will still need to have the sun and moon raised. You'll be happy to comply once you've gone through some modifications. Do you think I was keeping you around just so we could chat?"

"Wow Princess! You get to be all mutated and stuff! Just like a super hero!"

"Yes Sweetie Belle how...nice." Celestia sighed.

"Can I be upgraded too Your Majesty? Please please please? I'll be a good changeling!"

"Later my dear. I don't know if you'll be as good a song bird as you are now if you were to be uplifted since changelings can't feed off their own love. We'll iron out the details afterwards."

"Okay! I'll do my best!" Sweetie Belle saluted.

"Go have some cake."

"Whoopie!"

"You're filth for violating the mind of a foal."

"Oh please. I haven't hurt her at all. The brain is a machine that can be programmed like any other. From atomic particles to DNA, to flesh, to a cluster of nerves to chemical encoding and some electrical sparks. There's nothing sacred or magical about it. Free will is an illusion. It's all just programming. Programming I can hack.

"The brain is nothing but a mass of chemical and electrical reactions. All you need to do is understand it well enough. Know when to just manipulate it, other times to smash it and rebuild from the ground up, other times to hot wire it, and other times, other times...when it just needs the slightest adjustment to do what you want. Sometimes, all you need to do is rearrange their priorities. Personality, memories, beliefs, emotions, all can stay exactly the same."

+

I wanted to tell her 'you dare speak like that to somepony who SAW life evolve?' That there was so much more to my little ponies than that. That the brain was only a computer being controlled by the REAL thing. By their soul that comes from My Mother. That THAT was the seat of free will and everything that made them them, not the mass of flesh in their skull. I wanted to laugh in her face at her being so intelligent and yet so naive to the TRUE nature of things...but in that moment I realized there was a weakness the Queen had left for my little ponies to exploit. One weakness that no matter how intelligent she seemed, she just proved she hadn't yet grasped she even had. Even if I was sure she wouldn't listen, I had no intention of giving up one of the only trump cards we had left on purpose or on accident. I wasn't about to tell my enemy how to fortify herself further.

+

"I've spent most of my life building Equestria. Teaching my ponies and raising them above the level of the beasts! You will not destroy it, nor how it exists in the hearts of my ponies."

Chrysalis glared and spoke in High Equestrian. "Just because I need you doesn't mean you're unexpendable. I'd rather not rule a land half-frozen and half-scorched. But accidents do happen, that I can tell my changelings, and my changelings will enjoy the sky even if it's a perpetual twilight safe between the extremes."

Celestia's eyes widened.

"You've spent you entire life building this domain Celestia? I've spent my whole life preparing for this day. I will neither hunger nor bow to anyone ever again. And I promise Princess Celestia," A crimson x-shaped glare reflected off one of Chrysalis' eyes, "That I will break what you've built, and these animals you think are people, Piece! By! Piece! Until they're reduced to the wandering herd animals you found them as."

+

I was horrified as I realized truly what kind of monster I was facing.

+

"OR MAYBE!" Chrysalis grinned insanely. "Killing you is what you WANT! Maybe I SHOULD do it! Just to show I'm not all bad!" She grinned wider, still speaking in High Equestrian. "You'd get to see your family again freed of your prison of flesh! Maybe you could even do some fate horseapples and create some chosen one to try and ruin my changelings' future."

'Mother. Father. She knows! But how? What is she?!'

Chrysalis was almost frothing at the mouth. "And just think! All it would cost you is leaving your sister all alone, broken ,or blinded by revenge, and crush your subjects' hearts into dust! YES! YES! MAYBE I SHOULD DO IT!!!" The Changeling Queen halted, her body stilled in a predatory stance, blinked, wiped her face, breathed in deep, and seemed to calm herself. "Well, we'll see how things go."

"You've certainly given this more thought than most like you."

"There are none like me. I'm alone."

Celestia gave her a sad, but furious look. "There are always ponies like you."

"I'm no pony. And I'm getting sick of hearing you trying to get a rise out of me. You think I couldn't tell? It seems to be my fate to be surrounded by arrogant swine who think me a lucky amateur, no matter what I accomplish!" Chrysalis nearly went into a fit as she said the last line, and kicked Celestia through the cocoon, not breaking it but, the Princess feeling the impact. "Morons!"

"My queen?"

Chrysalis took a deep breath. "I wondered when you'd get here Kabuto."

"May I examine the unicorn filly?"

"Ask that again and I'll cut out your tongue."

"Yes My Queen."

A very energetic looking Changeling drone flew into the room and fluttered around Applejack and Twilight as the two brainwashed ponies stood silent, examining them with a magnifying glass attached to an armature that seemed grafted to his skull. "Fascinating, so these are two of the Bearers? Which ones?"

"Honesty and Magic," his Queen replied.

"I see, quite interesting. Mind if I take a closer look at them?" he asked, a gleam in his eye akin to Twilight Sparkle's when she was about to perform an experiment, but his smile was more akin to the Smartypants Incident.

"No, Kabuto. I still have use for them, even if this one has little use at the moment," the queen said, putting a hoof on Applejack's chin.

"What a shame, I had this delightful little experiment planned involving electrical shocks for Honesty here. And she's an Earth Pony, about the only type of experiments the worthless things are good for. It wouldn't be lethal..."

"What kind of experiment?" asked Twilight, looking disturbingly interested.

"Well, Magic, it's seeing how powerful Honesty's natural tendencies to tell the truth will last against electrical conditioning."

"You're right it's good she's an Earth Pony, otherwise you'd kill her long before that happened," the purple bearer replied, though her eyes seemed sad in a sharp contrast to the rest of her face. "May I suggest dissecting my horn to analyze how it differs from a normal unicorn's?"

"Hmm, interesting idea, Magic."

"Her name's Twilight, mine's Applejack," recited Applejack.

"Noling cares, Honesty."

"Our parents did."

"Well I don't."

"At least yah are honest about it..."

"Knowing you, you'd find a way to kill her somehow. Your lab is being set up, be a good little scientist and do your job and just maybe you can have one of the Bearers once I'm done with them."

"Oh! Could it be Kindness? I think you'll find the experiments I planned most entertaining. They involve Irukandi Jellyfish."

"Oh, that will be interesting! Pegasi stings are really rare!" Twilight said.

"I know! And most of my test subjects are husks by the time they get to me, so I'll be able to record the emotional responses this time! I do wonder how much pain it'll take for her to begin hating the creature!"

"You might need some scanning spells to gauge that correctly."

"Hmm...I'll need a sedated unicorn for that..."

"I could do it, unless you want to dissect my horn first."

Chrysalis tapped her chin. She gave a chuckle at the look on Celestia's face hearing her prized pupil reduced to this. "Sounds quite tempting, but we'll have see."

"As you wish my Queen, I'll let you know when I'm about to begin particularly fun experiments!" he said, looking around the captured ponies like a kid in a candy store.

Chrysalis sighed. "You'll have time for games later Kabuto. Unless you had some meaning to have come here for besides to try and get your hooves on new toys, I suggest you get back to work. Now."

"N-no, of course not! I mean, I merely wish to congratulate you on our smashing victory!"

"Thank you. Now go."

Kabuto scurried out.

Chrysalis looked at her slaves. "If he does anything to you without my permission, pull his wings off."

"Yes Your Majesty," her property echoed.

+

Captain Pipsqueak, -really Rear-Admiral but captain sounded cooler, was sailing the high grass sea with his crew on their mighty ship the Moonbeam (that's what they agreed to call it this week).

Endlessly searching for unknown lands and unknown ponies, with his trusty crew, his first mate Moonlight and...whatever they needed to be at the time: Miss Dinky Hooves, Miss Ruby Pinch, Miss Orange Top...he sure hung out with a lot of girls.

He was also going to hang out with more now, since Tootsie Flute, the foal looked after by both Bon Bon and Lyra Heartstrings, was now going to become the fifth member of his crew...did he count as part of the crew? Would that make her the sixth shipmate?

His new crewmate kneeled on her rear hooves with her front hooves forward on the ship with herself blind folded.

"I, Tootsie Flute, in the presence of the great goddess of the night," she took off the blindfold, "But Pipsqueak it's daytime?"

"Do not question the oath neophyte!" Moonlight boomed.

"R-right." She put the blindfold back on,"Herby Pinkie Promise most solemnly and sincerely that I shall serve my captain, my ship, my crew, my princess, and her kingdom, most faithfully and loyally. To Her Nightesty's will and her protection, if it's within my power, I shall work towards most readily. And hinder those who work against them.

"All these points I solemnly Pinkie Promise to observe without exception, under no less penalty than my mane shaved bald, my cutie marks scrubbed away, my tail dipped in glue, and fed to Card-Sharks in the deepest great ocean, so help me Her Nighesty."

She took off the blind fold and stood up. "So you guys wanna try the voice changing candies I borrowed from Bon Bon's cupboard? The CMC wanted them to be cutie mark crusader voice artists, but Scootaloo was saying that if they had to cheat then it couldn't be their special talent. They're really good!"

"Uh...did you mix those into those cookies you brought?" Ruby Pinch asked suddenly nervous."

"Naw, Lyra copied down a recipe that was supposed to open a gate to the world of humans from a shop that was only in town for a day, but she copied down one for chocolate chip cookies by mistake."

-

Meanwhile at Sugarcube Corner!

"Honey, is Pinkie Pie back from Canterlot yet?" Carrot Cake asked his wife.

"No dear I don't believe so."

"I was afraid of that," he signed as his foals played pattycake with some bald monkey versions of themselves on the other side of a trans-dimensional portal that had popped out of the oven.

-

"Wow these are good!" Said Dinky chewing on one.

"Well we suppose we could try-" Moonlight cried out in pain, and fell to the floor of the wooden toy ship.

"Moonlight! What's wrong? Where does it hurt?" Pipsqueak asked his best friend.

"I..." She looked scared and worried, "I was just...that's..." She looked at all the foals around her. "You don't need to worry about it. It's not anything you need to fret over. I promise, I'm alright, everything will turn out okay." She slowly got up. "Can I please try some of those cookie now?"

+

Hello! We Happy Cat Tribe! We wuv you! We believe wuv is for everyone everywhere! Nice to meet you! Would you like some cake? It's so delicious and moist! Of course we're not fibbing! Who'd lie about cake isn't nice person at all and needs lots and lots and LOTS of wuv!

We hear funny whistling noise. Wow! New friends fall right out of the sky! Looks like part of the sky fell out of the sky to be our friend, all the pretty stars. She's brought lots and lots of friends too and kept them close to her! Some look like cute-bat! Some are dressed up like the soft yellow rocks we have in the castle basement! Others are wearing purple, purple is bestest color!...Besides pink! the color of our potential goddess!

The big one's horn glowed and so did the other ponies! Oh! And suddenly there was lots and lots of snow for her and her friends to land in! How nice! We almost never get snow here!

Oh my. New friends are hurt! They have BIIIIIIG boo-boo! We help them! We get Happy Cat Tribe Doctor! We give first aid and love! Bandages and love! And of course...iodine. They makes everyone want to get better much faster after we put some on.

Piece of Sky have really good vocal cords, ears won't stop ringing.

One of the Birdie Ponies looks sad, we give him hugs, maybe he not know we like him? He has brilliant gamboge for coat, and pretty blue eyes and for tail, hair, and eyes. He looked at the piece of the sky as we continue to patch them up. They see they need to go in a hurry. Too bad. Maybe they come back with more friends to love!

"Princess Luna...do you know what it's like to try to protect someone, to be a hero, but never being able to?" Ask Orange Birdie Pony With Blue Mane.

Wait, Princess Luna? Didn't the potential goddess say something about her? Something really important?

"Trust us our little pony, ye art better off NOT being a hero, it's a terrible burden indeed."

+

Do we feel guilty that we tried to kill the Queen? No. Keep in mind, before our greatest folly, the Griffin Kingdoms were at war with us for a long time before we finally claimed peace. We do not blame our sister for hating the taking of a life, she IS the Sun, the life giver. It's in her very nature to value life and not want to take it. It's her nature to give second chances.

We, on the other hoof, AM the night, the moon, cold, ice. We love life, don't get us wrong, we learned our lesson that life is a special thing long ago. But we also are not as merciful as our sister because of OUR nature. Whereas Celestia learned from our Paradise Estate family that many villains can be reformed, we learned that some must be destroyed. That true monsters DO exist and must be stopped. Chrysalis had attacked our sister, brainwashed several good ponies, and was currently launching an invasion of our capital. And if we engaged Chrysalis in an honorable face to face fight, our ponies could have been hurt or killed.

Our sister Justitia once said there are many forms of her. Saving a soul or sending it to Havoc to prevent more lives from being lost are both forms of justice.

We tried to decapitate the snake. Our sister's mercy reigns us in many times, but we're able to act decisively when she isn't. We balanced each other. We assumed because my sister had already fallen, her way had failed and we could only try to do things our way. If we'd succeeded, Chrysalis would have been the only one in that room that our attack killed. Our sister is not a precision attacker, we are. Fitting, isn't it? The sister who's powers could decimate a city in seconds has her powers tempered by compassion and mercy, while the sibling who's equally strong powers are more focused and precision has the use of those powers enabled by pragmatism and a willingness to kill one to save a thousand.

No, we don't feel guilt for trying to slay the queen. We feel guilt that we was not five seconds sooner so our little ponies wouldn't have had to suffer.