Twilight wiggled herself to wake up from the comforting slumber she had. Her eyes shifted over to the sleeping human next to her. He had chestnut brown hair, a bit of a stubble for a beard (though she didn’t mind it), and slept in a white wife beater with gray boxers. She nuzzled him and smiled.
“Morning, Marley.” She talked to him. Marley stirred awake before smiling and petting Twilight’s messy bedhead.
“Morning, Twily…” He said. Twilight just softly giggled.
“We talked about this, Marley. Only by brother can call me that.” She then placed her hoof over Marley’s chest. Marley held Twilight’s hoof.
“I know, but you’re so cute that I have to call you that.” Marley then proceeded to wake up, putting on a pair of frameless glasses, merely just two blocks of glass held together by a single steel wire. As he put it on his face, he looked over to see Spike running towards Twilight, scroll in hand.
“Twilight! Princess Celestia has confirmed the end of Chrysalis’ empire! We won!” Spike exclaimed. Twilight grinned.
“That’s great! We can finally live in peace!” Twilight held Marley. She couldn’t believe that the war with Chrysalis, beginning all the way back during the wedding of her brother and Princess Cadance, was over. Twilight turned Marley’s head and proceeded to kiss him on the lips. Marley’s eyes opened wide as Twilight pulled away. “How’s that for a wakeup call?” Twilight smirked.
“Woah… That’s… something.” Marley said.
“There’s more where that came from.” Twilight’s eyelids closed halfway, almost seductively.
“… Spike’s right here. Besides, I have a meeting to get to.” Marley got off the bed and began to stretch.
“Again? This is the third time this month! I never thought a human would strike Celestia’s fancy.” She said.
“It’s… Well, she’s interested in something about me.” Marley took off his clothes before putting on what was basically a brown military officer’s uniform.
“Hmm… You mean something-”
“No. It’s not like that.” Marley said. After putting the finishing touches on his tie, he put a brown cap on his head with a golden insignia mirroring Celestia’s Cutie Mark. “Celestia’s relation with me is purely business.” With that, Marley went over to Twilight and kissed her on the horn. “I’ll be back by sunset, honey.” With that, Marley walked out of Twilight’s bedroom. Spike took some time to get onto the bed.
“You’re really hitting it off with this Marley guy, huh?” Spike asked.
“It’s weird, I know! It’s only been a year since I met him. Poor guy was scared in the forest before Fluttershy took him in.” Twilight proceeded to get up. “We never did find out how those trees managed to fall down.”
“Not that it mattered anyways. It’s the Everfree Forest. It always grows back.” Spike said.
“But that’s the thing. The damage to the forest was catastrophic. It was as if a dragon had been let loose in the forest and just stomped all around, but literally nothing I know explained the situation. Not even Zecora figured it out.” Twilight said.
“Why are you so stressed about something that happened a year ago?” Spike laid down on the bed, staying close to Twilight.
“It’s just… I’ve been hearing rumors. Spike, read the scroll for me.” Twilight said. Spike gulped and read the scroll.
“Dear Twilight, it seemed that another of Chrysalis’ forts have been destroyed overnight without any intervening from me. I’m rather blessed to see that karma has finally caught up to her. While news of a giant being sighted near the area is worrying me, it’s far away from the majority of Equestria that I doubt it’ll set its sights on us.” Spike then eyes the words again. “A giant?”
“Same as the last few reports Celestia gave me.” Twilight frowned.
A few minutes passed as Twilight laid down onto the bed, her head sunk deep into the pillow she had underneath. She bit her lip and got up. “… I’m going to investigate something, Spike.” Twilight got off the bed and left her room. Spike just looked up and raised an eyebrow.
Twilight flew as fast as she could to Canterlot, stopping only a moment short to see that Marley had gotten onto a chariot. She wasn’t sure what hurt her more. The fact that Marley’s being escorted to what will appear to be another battle or that Marley had a very angry look on his face. Twilight couldn’t go any further though. She didn’t wanted to be spotted by Celestia’s guards, especially the two who would operate the chariot. Instead, Twilight just stayed quiet and, when the chariot flew off, began to shadow them.
She followed them across the desert. The sweltering heat caused her to pant heavily, her wings being weighed down. She had to resort to a spell that Starlight taught her, the spell that allowed her to telekinetically fly during the time she tried to stop the Rainboom. With that, she flew through no problem, though her magic would drain. Twilight began to do a combination of wings followed by magic.
Though Twilight had slowed down considerably, to the point where the chariot became nothing more than a dot in the hot horizon… But Twilight could not give up. She had to continue. She had to push onwards. She could remember something all the way back to when she first met Marley.
“Twilight, thank you for coming. I need your help in identifying this creature.” Fluttershy allowed Twilight to come into her house. Twilight looked around, mouth agape as she wondered what new animal Fluttershy has brought to her. Her eyes wandered past the human who was in his under- Wait, what?
She turned to see the human, in his underwear. A human, exactly like the kinds she saw in the other world. But what was it doing here? If it were to pass through the mirror, it would have to turn into a pony. So what was the deal?
“Fluttershy, that’s a human.” With that, Marley smiled.
“Thank you!” Marley exclaimed.
“Oh my!” Fluttershy muttered. Twilight got up and flew all around Marley, her beaming eyes glistened as she looked at him.
“This is a very important discovery! I gotta tell Celestia about this!” Twilight said.
Throughout the following days, Celestia paid close attention to Marley. Mostly to ensure that he can be trusted and to figure out how he managed to come to this world unaltered. Eventually, he got an all clear from Celestia, though only on the condition that he’d report to her every so often, no less than once a month.
Throughout the year, though, talk of Celestia investing in a powerful weapon had been heard in Canterlot. Twilight never noticed until she was out on a friendship date with Moondancer and overheard her friends talking about the rumor. The rumor was, due to how hot the place was, that Celestia would allow the sun to blast the hive. Her friends referred to this as the MOAB, or Mother of all Bombs, since, well, the sun is a pretty powerful bomb if it can be used to do strikes like that.
She laughed it off, but as the days went by and reports of Chrysalis’ forces dwindling down came flooding in, Twilight can’t help but wonder what was going on.
The real kicker was last night.
Last night, she overheard Marley shouting to an unknown person. A person. A human, just like Marley. Twilight went to the map room to see what the two were yelling about, or rather, who the man was. The man had a cowboy hat on with a leather jacket that seemed to have a unicorn’s head in a shield.
“I just want to live in peace, alright!?” Marley said.
“Alright, alright. I apologize for offering to set you free of your pact with Celestia. I just wanted to treat you special, since you are my first.” The man sighed as he pulled out what appeared to be a scanner with a large green bulb on it and a nob below it. After twisting the knob, he pointed a nearby wall and pulled the trigger.
A blob of green shot out of the gun and stuck itself onto the wall, expanding until it was five times bigger. The blob became what appeared to be a perfect circle, shades of green swirling around as it jiggled like some sort of jelly. The man simply looked to Twilight, tipped his hat, and jumped through the jelly like it was a portal. The jelly bounced a bit before shrinking into nothingness. Twilight noticed Marley looking at her.
In the awkward explanation, Marley said that the man was a business partner. A man he once bought from and one he personally thanked for being in Equestria in the first place. Twilight never asked what the man meant by severing the pact, but with this investigation, she didn’t need to.
She’d find out herself.
She finally made it to where the chariot was last seen… And that’s when she noticed it. Standing by the entryway of a cave formed from the crack made against the mountain.
It was a large, furry monstrosity, almost as big as Spike when he let his greed consume him. It looked to be an ape or even a gorilla, but massive in size. Its body was covered in nothing but fur. Twilight’s body shook as she saw the two Pegasus guards standing by their chariot meters away from the giant Sasquatch looking monster.
Worst was that the monster held Queen Chrysalis in its hands, moving the Changeling Queen closer and closer to its mouth.
ZAP!
Twilight fired a blast at the back of its head, the magical burning searing the back of its head. It turned around. Twilight noticed just how monkey-like it was. The beast then spoke.
“Twilight?”
It knew her name.
It.
Knew.
Her.
Name.
Twilight growled and let off a flurry of blasts at the monster. The Pegasus guards flew towards Twilight, but she teleported out of the way and fired several more blasts at the monster, plastering it with magical blast after magical blast. Soon, patches of brown fur were burnt off. Twilight noticed Queen Chrysalis flew away.
“No! Twilight! Wait!” The monster roared. Twilight wasn’t having any of it. This monster knew her name. Of course it did. It was under Celestia’s payroll. The MOAB was real, but it wasn’t the mother of all bombs.
It was the mother of all beasts.
Twilight grit her teeth. She would have words with Celestia on using a monster of all things to fight her battles. On using it to eradicate the Changelings. Rage filled her entire body as she fired one huge blast right to its head. The beast fell over, prompting the Pegasi to fly out of the way as it toppled down to the ground, creating a loud slam.
Twilight flew down as the beast began to dissolve into what appeared to be steam. As she landed, she noticed the monster shrank in size. That’s when she realized something.
Marley. Marley was with them. She looked around. Marley was missing.
“Your highness! What is the meaning of-”
“WHERE IS HE!?” Twilight began to tear up.
“What?”
“WHERE IS MARLEY!? YOU LET HIM GET EATEN BY THAT MONSTER, DIDN’T YOU?!” Twilight shouted right at the guard’s face as tears flew out of her face.
“T-twilight…” Twilight calmed down as she heard Marley’s voice. She turned around and saw him, groaning and…
In the same place the beast was.
“… No… No… Please… Tell me this isn’t real…” Twilight ran to Marley and cried into his arms. Marley simply trembled before holding her. Marley frowned. He had to tell Twilight at some point. But he didn’t realize that some point was now.
Marley stood in front of Celestia as she walked to him.
“Scouts have found Chrysalis’s hideout somewhere in the mountains. I think it’s pretty clear what has to happen.” Celestia smirked.
“… How many? How many more must die?” Marley asked.
“Just one.”
“And then? Who else? The dragons should they piss you off? The yaks should they make true of their declaration of war?” Marley glared.
“Whoever stands in the way of us and harmony.” Celestia glared right back. “Chrysalis was moments, moments, away from taking over all of Equestria. Many times this happened before.” Celestia sighed. “It was a blessing you came to us with that power.”
“It’s a curse. Every part of it.” He said.
“But it’s a blessing. You being — What’s the word? Oh right, — displaced helped us plenty. That power of yours helped turn the tide of battle and wipe out all of Chrysalis’s armies. And you got a meal out of it.” Celestia chuckled.
“I don’t eat them.” Marley growled.
“Well, the end result managed to scare any Changelings who say Thorax is an unfit ruler to think otherwise.” Celestia smiled. “But you know what the best part of this power is?”
“What?”
“You managed to go over time and space, land in Equestria, and fall in love with one of the most beautiful ponies in all of Equestria. You have to count your blessings… and make sure they don’t get destroyed.” Celestia ended her sentence with a scowl on her face. “The Changelings managed to hurt us once, twice, even a third time. Any other day, I would not use you like some cheap exterminator, but after the torment that Chrysalis put my subjects through, I’d rather not let her have a comeback. Kill her. Make an example out of those who would try to take over Equestria. And if not, you run the risk of her taking away everything you love.” With that, Celestia to her throne and smirked, allowing Marley to go back to the entrance where his chariot awaited.
Marley began to cry and hugged Twilight.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner!” Marley shouted. “I’m a monster! I’m a freaking monster!” His sobs echoed throughout the desert. This would be a dark day in his life. The day his lover found out that he was Celestia’s weapon of mass destruction. That he was, as nicknamed by the ponies who heard of his exploits, the Mother of all Beasts.
