Sweet Apple Massacre

"You think this will work?" Chrysalis asked as she stared into the bubbling cauldron that the mad mage had been brewing in.

"I know making magical brews is generally a witch's thing, but you have to give me some credit. I did manage to make myself as powerful as this with my experiments!" Discord said as he added a vial of blood into the mixture.

Chrysalis frowned as she watched the bubbling brew change form a sickly yellow color to a vile green one. Discord then plunged a small crystal vial into the cauldron and quickly popped a cork in to seal it. He scrutinized the mixture for a moment before smiling to himself and tucking it away into a pocket in his multi-colored robe. He then motioned for one of Chrysalis's Changelings to step forward. The black chitinous humanoid glanced at Chrysalis who nodded her consent, and with the approval of its queen, the Changeling stepped forward.

"Now, this is going to burn on the way down... And you are going to feel a bit of a pinch... Oh, and you may or may not start seeing colors you did not know existed before." Discord said with a mad grin as he put a hand reassuringly on the Changeling's shoulder.

The Changeling merely blinked, and leaned over to glance inside of the cauldron at the substance that looked strangely close to its own blood in color. The creature then turned its attention to its Queen as if asking for its orders before Discord grabbed it by the back of the head and forced its face into the boiling contents.

"Drink up, and you will grow big and strong like me!" Discord cackled maniacally.

"This had better work, I don't like you treating my children like this." Chrysalis said with a hard glare fixed on the mad mage.

"Worry not, worry not. See? He already is showing signs that it is working..." Discord said, one eye shrinking into a pinprick as he stared at the Changeling while the other drifted off lazily.

The Changeling meanwhile was screaming in agony into the boiling mixture as its body was wracked with pain. It had magically altered itself before, it was a Changeling's nature to do so. But this was different. The change it was undergoing now was real, not just some illusion. It experienced thing's it had never felt before as the green mixture made its way down its throat as it choked for air. Thoughts and emotions filled its mind, something that was completely alien to the once hive-minded creature. It felt fear of death should it drown in this cauldron, it felt betrayal that his queen was allowing this. But most of all, it felt free. As the magical concoction sent surges of power through its body, the Changeling felt as if the world was beginning to grow around it, like walls that were once there to keep it in place were now gone.

"This will be a little different than my last modification however I must warn." Discord said a small look of concern forming on his face,

"You bring this up now?" Chrysalis asked in disbelief.

"Well, there may be a teensy little issue with him having an existential crisis when he is ready. But hey, most parents have to deal with their children going through puberty anyways so its about time you did as well." Discord said with a smug grin as he pulled the Changeling's face out of the cauldron and took a look at him.

Discord smiled at what he saw, "Yes, that is it. Just a few more goes at it and we will be done with this one."

The Changeling screamed in horror at this, but was quickly silenced as Discord shoved its head back into the cauldron.

"Who was it?" Gath asked again, more firmly this time.

"T-Twilight was the only one with you at the time." Fluttershy stuttered under the intensity of Gath's voice.

"Is something wrong?" Gilda asked, a look of concern etched on her face.

Gath turned his gaze to Gilda, "Where did she go?"

"Hey hold on a moment. You can tell me whats going on." Gilda replied.

Gath grunted and moved to step past her, only to be cut off by the winged girl. Gath frowned at her but she stood her ground, and even matched his glare with her own.

"I will not be ignored." She firmly stated.

Gath kept up on their staring contest for a moment longer before letting out a deep and rumbling sigh, "I will at least show respect to your courage. But we talk as we travel. This is important."

Gilda grinned at this and followed closely behind the giant of a man, casting her eyes back at Fluttershy who had hidden her face behind her hair when the two began glaring at one another, "Sorry Fluttershy, I am going to have to cancel on you for now. Maybe another time!"

The pink haired girl merely nodded, glancing out from behind her long hair as she waved them off.

"So what is so important about her taking off your helmet?" Gilda asked as she turned her attention back to Gath.

"No one should be able to, only one person was ever capable of taking the helmet off." Gath said with a resolute look as he scanned his eyes over the townsfolk, looking for the familiar young sorceress.

"What, you think she knows a spell or something? Didn't think you liked magic." Gilda said with a thoughtful hum.

"She doesn't and I don't." He merely responded as he made for the library.

As the two of them approached the large hollowed out tree that served as the town's library, Gath did not even bother knocking on the door before he stormed in through the unlocked door. He looked around the darkened interior, frowning as he could not see any signs that anyone was home. He sniffed the air and raised an eyebrow, something smelled familiar. He moved to make his way deeper into the library but was stopped by a hand laying on his shoulder.

"It doesn't look like she is home. My bet would be she headed over to one of her friend's places. She looked a little flustered when I saw her leaving." Gilda explained, "If it's as important as you say we shouldn't waste time intruding on her vacant house."

"The door was unlocked." Gath pointed out.

"Who knows, maybe her little assistant is home and is taking a nap somewhere. He is still kind of young." Gilda pointed out.

Gath merely grunted in consent to her explanation and followed her out of the library.

As the door closed, a woman's head peered out of the kitchen. She stared at the door for a moment before letting out the breath she had been holding. She then turned her reptilian gaze to the fearful eyes of Spike. She knelt down to be at eye level with him, and gazed into his emerald eyes that shook with terror as she held one hand over his mouth, and the other pressing him firmly against the wall.

"Now where were we cutie? Ah yes, you were going to tell me everything about this, Twilight." Cobra said the young sorceress' name venomously.

Gath and Gilda made their way towards Sweet Apple Acres, the closest place to where Twilight would have been when she ran off. As they picked their way through the rows of apple trees towards the barn, choosing to avoid the more populated streets to avoid garnering any more attention, they neared the farmhouse where Applejack lived.

Gath stopped and gazed down the rows of trees, and spotted the form of Big Macintosh picking apples not far off. The two made their way towards the farmer, who in turn upon noticing them wiped his brow with a rag he kept in his back pocket and came to greet them.

"Howdy." Big Macintosh said with a nod.

"Hey big guy, seen Twilight come running this way? She looked flustered and stormed off a bit ago." Gilda asked the farmer.

"Eenope." The red haired man replied, giving Gath a lingering look before meeting Gilda's eyes, "Reckon she woulda' went off to Rarities were that the case."

"Damnit, we were just by there." Gilda swore.

"I am unfamiliar with where she lives." Gath said with a frown.

"Big building, fanciest in town. Dresses and suits in the windows." Gilda explained, motioning with her hands as she went on, "Hard to miss, you know the one I'm talking about?"

"Oh... That one." Gath said curling his upper lip.

Big Macintosh laughed at the exchange, "I find it tacky myself, but to each their own."

Big Macintosh then noticed something move behind the two of them, and frowned as he leaned to look past them. If his eyes weren't playing tricks on him something had just moved between the rows, but it was hard to make out. Big Mac was about to open his mouth to ask if they had anyone with them when he saw the air distort near Gath's side. The giant of a man saw the look on the farmer's face and his head whipped down to look at the Horned Helmet he had strapped to his side with a strip of leather.

Gath saw a distortion in the air next to him, reaching out for the helmet. He grabbed for the distortion and wrapped his hand around something hard and cold. He squeezed as hard as he could, and was rewarded with a cracking sound, and small spray of green ooze. The Changeling next to him then cried out in pain as it's camouflage dropped and it was rendered visible, clutching at its crushed arm after Gath released it from his grip.

"Attack!" A raspy voice that seemed to be filled with many others roared.

Gath snarled as he drew his axe, but found no time to retrieve his shield from his back. He struck at the shimmering air, cleaving a Changeling's head in two, from one ear to the next. He grabbed another by the neck the moment it appeared before him, and crushed its windpipe before moving on to the next. As he landed a kick to the armored gut of one sending it sprawling from the impact, he turned to face another one that was advancing when he noticed a massive Changeling that stood around a head taller than he slowly and calmly advancing towards him.

Gath grunted as a black sword struck him in the back, but the blade was not strong enough to slash through the black metal his armor was made of. Spinning on his heel, Gath sundered the creature in twain. As he turned once more to the massive Changeling, he found himself staring into the thick chitin of the creature chest. He looked up and met its eyes that glowed every color of the rainbow, shifting from one to the next. He raised his eyebrow at this, and was caught off guard as a black fist connected with his jaw.

As Gath was sent flying into a tree, Gilda had her hands full as she circled with two Changelings. She twirled a dagger in her left hand as she flourished a sword she had pilfered not long ago in her right. She flared her wings threateningly, but the Changelings did not back off. She parried the blow of one with her sword, and as she sidestepped the thrust of the other she buried the dagger hilt deep into its skull. Now with only one opponent and one weapon she focused more on attacking than defending. Letting loose a flurry of glancing blows, she slowly forced the creature back.

The farmer in the meantime had turned to run so as to check on his kin, only to be blocked by a Changeling. He kicked with all of his might into the chest of the creature, which was sent up against the trunk of a tree. Big Mac then pulled his right arm back and thrust his fist right into the chitinous face of the Changeling. The creature's head caved in, but not before it broke a few of the farmer's fingers. Big Mac hissed in pain as he nursed his hand and continued to run off to check on his sisters and grandmother.

"Your eyes have a bad look to them..." Gath muttered as he moved to get up, only to be pulled back to the ground as the Changeling he had kicked earlier wrapped its arms around his throat from behind.

"You will die here Death Dealer. And My queen shall have the helmet." The massive Changeling said as it stared down at him.

Gath struggled to take a breath, but found the grip of the Changeling to be too strong to loosen. He instead reached back behind himself with a hand and pressed his thumb into the eye socket of the insect-like Changeling. His thumb sank in easily, and the Creature immediately released him as it howled in pain and reached for its eyes. Gath then threw and elbow into its chest, cracking several ribs as he used the momentum to stand up.

Gath reached for his shield off of his back and got it in front of him in time to block the great sword the giant Changeling swung at him. Held between his two hands, it easily stopped the blow, the force of which caused the blade to snap in half. The mighty creature growled as it drew two smaller blades from its hip and pressed on in its attack.

The ancient man glanced down at his axe that lay on the ground not far away, but he knew he was not going to get to it before the Changeling could attack him in the back if he made for it. He instead grabbed the top of the shield with both hands and swung it, twisting his body to put all of his might into the shield. The shield struck the Changeling on the back of a hand as it swung its sword, crushing the appendage with a sickening crack.

"Grah! I will have that helmet!" It roared as it swung with its other blade.

Gath swooped down and grabbed the dropped sword and abruptly arced it up to block the descent of its twin. He then pressed forward, pitting his strength against the monstrous creatures. The Changeling moved back slightly, before catching itself and bearing its full weight down on Gath, gaining ground with its effort.

The ancient barbarian grunted as he reached for the helmet on his hip, "You want the helmet so bad..."

Gath tore the helmet from his hip, snapping the leather strap that kept it there. He then jammed one of the helmet's horns into the eye of the Changeling, "Have it!"

As the creature reeled back in shock and pain, it raised its good hand towards Gath, and fired a magical beam at him. Gath quickly brought up his shield and the magical attack was deflected back at the creature, tearing a hole straight through its own chest. The Changeling stared down in horror with its now only eye, and coughed up some of the green ichor that was its blood before collapsing.

Gath retrieved his helmet from the corpse of the Changeling, and glanced over to where Gilda was wiping her sword clean of the green blood of the Changeling she had just finished with. Looking up and catching Gath's gaze she smiled brightly.

"Wasn't that fun?" She asked as she returned the blade to its sheath.

"Twilight dear calm down." Rarity said as she pured a cup of tea for her friend.

"I just... Can't help myself around him!" Twilight yelled in frustration.

"That is the way love is darling." Rarity said dreamily as she thought of the many romance novels she had read.

"Who said I was in love?!" Twilight yelled back.

"Why you did, just now with that outburst." Rarity teased.

The two girls were interrupted as a knock sounded on the front door.

"Sorry, were closed right now!" Rarity called at the door.

"No Rarity, its alright. Don't let me get in the way of your business." Twilight said shaking her head.

The knocking sounded again at the door, causing Rarity's words to dry up before she could respond to Twilight who motioned for her to go ahead and get the door.

"Oh alright, but you will fill me in on the rest when I'm done taking this order." Rarity said pointing an accusing finger at the young sorceress.

Rarity strode over to the door and opened it with a large and elegant smile, "Welcome to Carousal Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique!"

The woman who stood before Rarity was gorgeous, long raven hair down below her shoulder, and a mysterious air to her. The dress she wore seemed to be made of scales and shifted color as the light caught them. Rarity gasped at the design, and thought of the many ways she could implement it in her own works.

"Is there anything I can do to help one as fashionable as yourself?" Rarity asked with a dazzling smile.

"I need to have a word with Twilight." The woman returned in a suave voice, giving her own charming smile.

Author's Note

Finally got around to updating this one. Been a long time since the last one, but I'm finally gonna take this story off hiatus since I find myself with a little more time recently to work on writing. With luck my schedule remains free and I can keep working on new chapters as well.