Author's Note

Hey y'all

We're coming to the last few chapters of our story and the beginning of our final arc. Hope you all like it

As for updates, it's probably going to be once or twice a month now, just cause classes this semester require a lot more of my attention than before.

Leave a comment if you liked or disliked this. Criticism is always welcome

Ch. 22:

Ch.22: A New War

It was unusually quiet for a beautiful June evening. A little too quiet in James' opinion, his nerves subconsciously on the lookout for an ambush, but that's what you get when you've lived through a war.

It was a calm night, that usual warm mountain breeze hitting his cheeks softly as he strode up the path to his home. The full moon shone fiercely tonight as it did the last week and a few days before that. Luna gave him the excuse that it was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of her niece.

"I didn't know you could just rearrange the cosmos for a couple of lovers. Is the moon gonna blind everyone the first night I touch your pussy?" he'd gotten a firm slap on the wrist for that one. He had shot a mocking, evil cackle at her, playfully rubbing his hands together like one of those super villains in those comic books, which had gotten her to chuckle heartily. He did love those joyful moments with her.

Ah yes, truly a gorgeous night. The only thing that would make it better would be the removal of that pink eyesore surrounding the city. He'd heard from Luna that there was a possible threat to the wedding, probably made by some upstart looking for fame in his opinion, but nevertheless, they had to take it seriously. After all, it WAS a royal wedding. Who knew what some people would do for whatever beliefs or personal gripes they held? It had cut into his time with Corona, who pulled the graveyard shift a few times much to her dismay, but otherwise, it sounded like nothing was going to come of the threat.

That pink shield ruined his view, but whatever. He can deal with it for another two days. For now, the only thing he was worried about was finishing some work and enjoying a cup of tea and a novel before bed.

He closed his door behind him, the metal hinges creaking a little. After taking off his jacket and hat and hanging them on his coat rack, he slowly made his way up to his room, letting out a big yawn as he rounded the top banister.

"Gosh, maybe I should forget the tea and just hit the sack..."

His inner monologue paused as he passed over his room's threshold. Standing to the right of his wooden vanity was Luna, whose eyes looked visibly panicked at the sight of him. She flinched for but a millisecond as she noticed his arrival, but this was soon replaced with a warm smile.

"Oh! Hey honey. I didn't hear you come in!" Luna's smile got a little wider, which he thought unsettling, but he chose to say nothing. Best to pick your battles with your woman, as Dad would say.

"Hey sweetpea. Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, but what are you doing in my home?" he queried. Actually, he never recalled giving Luna a key. Maybe Celly had a backup at the castle for emergencies he didn't know about? He wouldn't be surprised. Tia could be quite the worrier over, to be quite frank, non-issues in his eyes. Regardless of Tia's tendencies towards trepidation, he stepped up to his girlfriend and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"I left my, uh, moon penchant here when we last saw each other. I thought I left it in your living room, but I can't find it anywhere," she frowned.

He looked down at the floor, "Oh well, in that case, I'll help you find it. Do you think it might have fallen on th- GOOD Lord! What happened to your leg?" He pointed down at her lacerated, bleeding leg with great concern.

She, surprised and confused, looked down at her leg to see three long lacerations along her leg, which were bleeding slowly and steadily down her fur, "OH! I'm sorry. I fell and cut myself on some fallen tree bark on the way here."

"Don't be sorry. Well why didn't you get yourself cleaned up first before you went looking around for your necklace in my house? Come here and sit. Let me have a look," he sat down on his bed, patting the spot next to him, which Luna obliged.

Her face was an odd mixture of uneasiness and anxiety, like a child caught in a lie way over their heads. An odd expression to have, but he'd ask her about it after she isn't bleeding on his carpet.

"Oh my, that's a deep cut. It's almost like you've been stepping through.... glass," he trailed off at the last word.

"Dear?" Luna scrunched her brows in confusion.

"Its, it's nothing, Lu. Let's get you patched up. Just hang tight and I'll go get you some gauze and disinfectant," he put on a reassuring, caring smile.

"Are you sure? I can come with you to the closet to-"

"Stay here, sweetheart. I got it," he asserted more sternly and got up to walk into his closet.

He had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't telling him something. Hell, he wasn't even sure that was Luna back there, perhaps just a really, really good doppelganger. After all, how did she get into his house and why did she have a glass cut on her foot? But then again, what thief could perfectly copy both lifelike wings and a startlingly real-looking alicorn horn? Maybe magic? He didn't really understand it well enough to know of its capabilities. Maybe this pony was a very, VERY good illusionist. If that was the case, he had to take precautions.

He got into his closet and reached for his .45, gently opening the slide and locking it, and loaded a filled magazine in gingerly, not wanting to alert the possible thief.

"So Luna, how's your sister doing?" he asked, gently grabbing the slide and letting it slide a round into the chamber.

"Celestia's doing wonderfully! Still eating too much cake though."

Luna doesn't call her sister by her full name.

"Is that so? Well, I'm sure you can ask her about her diet from the castle prison then," he nudged the slide lock down with his thumb, the heavy metal sliding forward with a SHINK!

"Now," he snarled, aiming the silvery pistol at her, "Who are you really and what are you doing in my house?"

Her pearly whites got big real quick, her hands thrown up in a defensive, perhaps pleading gesture. She eyed the gun fearfully, "James! What are you doing with that? It's me! Luna!"

"Oh really? Then what's the name of the man who gave me this watch?" he held up his left hand, Arles' watch strapped comfortably around his wrist.

Luna was silent for a few seconds, eyes darting around for a few moments, and then scowled.

"GET HIM!"

She tried to lunge forward, reaching for the pistol in his hand. His ears picked up swift movement from behind him and he realized he'd been strung along until this thief's buddies could spring an ambush. He needed to act fast.

BLAM!

The .45 ACP evacuated her skull of its contents quickly, the doppelganger's corpse falling flat on its back. A bright green flash enveloped her body, revealing a black, chitinous bug woman laid dead.

No sooner had James shot the woman dead did he rotate around with his pistol, ready to fire at whoever was behind him. He didn't get the chance to, as in his quickness to catch the attacking intruder, James accidentally pistol whipped him in his face, sending him crashing into the door.

Someone grabbed his right arm, while another grabbed his left, intending to throw him down to the ground, but James resisted well enough to only be forced to a kneel. He wrestled with them, knocking them into the walls, kicking them, grabbing at their throats, scratching them even, but their grips remained firm. The one on the right tried to wrestle away his control of the pistol by grabbing the barrel, but he had made a painful mistake. James fired again and missed his target entirely. However, the concussive blast that roared out of the end of the handgun slammed into the attacker's fingers, causing him to hiss in pain and release his hold on the weapon.

James aimed to press his advantage, whipping the gun to the bug's head, and fired.

But the insect man was able to knock James' hand just a hair away from his face before he fired and the bullet instead sliced through its shoulders.

"Hurry brother! He is strong and iron-willed! Neutralize him!" he heard the one on the left scream.

He realized that in the commotion, the now bruised man he had pistol whipped had gotten up and had a spell charged on its horn.

"Sleep!" he heard the horn blast and something dense slam into his face.

And soon, the warrior's hands went limp and he saw only blackness.

Slek was not having a good day.

His broodsister lay dead bleeding all over the carpet 4 feet to his left and his two Changeling brothers lay beaten, bloodied, and bruised, with a few scratch marks near their faces.

"For such an ugly, hairless minotaur, he fought with the ferocity of a bugbear," one of his brothers scowled, nursing a sickly, deep green bruise on his hardened black skin.

"Tarsa was right. He would've been a problem. It is good our queen was wise enough to remove this threat before our invasion," his other brother frowned, "If only she had bandaged that wound. Could've saved us the trouble if she'd listened to our advice. I was told that she was one of our best infiltrators. Now I'm not so sure."

"Still your tongue, Bolith, before I cut it out. Tarsa, though she was foolish tonight, was still my broodsister and I shall not tolerate you scorning her," Slek shook his head and sighed as he gazed upon her body, "Well, I suppose we've got what we came for. Bolith, grab the gun and the man. Loik, grab Tarsa's body. Let's get back to the hive. This will all be worth it when we achieve glorious victory tomorrow."

Something was pulsing in James' head and it was becoming really uncomfortable. Did he pour a little too much whiskey last night?

His eyes opened crustily, weakly squinting as the very dim light in the room flooded into his pupils. He groaned, the headache somehow becoming even worse than before, and tried to sit up. His joints and spine crinkled and cracked sickeningly, their whines making the man fear the worst.

"Uhhhhfff," he put his face into his hands and groaned, "Where am I?"

"You're under Canterlot. Is that you, James?" a weak feminine voice spoke out of the darkness.

The speaking of his name returned some of James' mental acuity and it caused him to swiftly look around for whoever had spoken to him. His memory of the assault flooded back all at once and his adrenaline started to spike once more in anticipation for another attack or interrogation.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" he challenged.

Weakly, he heard the shuffle of hooves on the hard rock, the steps sounding soft and delicate. Out stepped the bride to be, Cadence, adorned in nothing but dirty, ripped clothes and dull, bronze horseshoes. Her hair looked a mess, the pinks and purples ripped and torn with frayed ends. She'd been beaten and a few bruises were visible on her cheeks and arms. Her beautiful, full wings were tied behind her, unable to move or flex themselves. The ropes that bound her glowed with a soft, green luminesence, with some sort of magic surrounding them. To him, it looked incredibly uncomfortable. His anger softened at the sight of a friendly face, but his guard remained up.

"How do I know you're not one of those bug... pony things?"

"We celebrated a human holiday called Thanksgiving and my first words to you were about your height," she quickly replied, coming to a stop and sitting down next to him.

"Alright, I guess you're the real Cadence. What's happening? Do you know what's going on?" he rubbed his eyes and looked around their makeshift prison cell groggily.

"We've been foalnapped by Changelings and imprisoned here for Celestia knows how long," she frowned, folding her hands in her lap.

"Changelings? You mean those bug things?"

"Yes, those bug things," she replied.

He sat up properly now, "What are they? And is there any light around here? I can barely see you."

"Sorry, here. Let me just," she lit her horn with a luminosity spell, the dim pink light properly illuminating her slim, petite form, "There we go. To put it simply, they're parasites. They feed off love you have for others and it gives them power."

"Well, what do they want with me? I can't imagine why they'd----. Ohhhh," the sudden realization hit him like a Jeep.

"You're the coltfriend to one of the most powerful alicorns in our nation," she snorted, "I would have been surprised if they didn't try to get you."

She sighed and frowned, "But, regardless of that, I am sorry that you're down here."

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault, Cadence," he stood up, stretching his arms out and rolling his neck. He looked down at her face, "My God, Cadence. You look positively parched."

The corners of her mouth weakly turned upwards in an attempt of a smile, "They've barely kept me alive, only occasionally dropping food or water down here."

Her eyes grew sad and the perpetual frown she had been wearing before returned, "Some wedding day I've been having. I can't imagine what that... that bitch is doing to my Shining."

"Who? Who are you talking about?" James puzzled, walking over to a boulder and laying his back against it.

"Queen Chrysalis. She's in charge of the Changeling hive and is the one who had us foalnapped," they heard a muffled shaking above them, "And she's responsible for that invasion that's going on topside."

"Invasion?" he scratched his chin, "What does she want with Equestria?"

"I don't know, but I do know that my wedding has provided the perfect opportunity for her to try to take over."

"Maybe so. I can't imagine she'll get past Celestia or Luna though. I ain't ever seen them lose a fight, but then again, I ain't seen them really in a fight, so make of that what you will," he offered.

"Your faith in Celestia and Luna's magical and fighting skills are well-placed. I only hope that they will be able to find us soon," her stomach grumbled grossly and her eyes scrunched up in anguish, "This day was supposed to be perfect. How could it have gone like this? It isn't fair."

He softly scooted over to her side and placed a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Cadence. You're right. It isn't fair at all," he chuckled half-heartedly, "Well, in my line of work, you just come to accept that fact."

She wiped her eyes of a few tears that were threatening to fall, "Sounds like you speak from experience."

He paused for a moment, "Yes. Yes, you could say that, Cadence."

She sniffled, "What do we do now?"

James stood up, rolling up his sleeves and looking towards the walls of their prison, "Now, we find a way to get out of here. If what you say is true, Canterlot's gonna need all the help it can get to repel this invasion. We can't sit this one out."

"I've tried everyway I can to leave James, but there's no way out. The only opening is the hole they dropped us through and they've got that sealed off right now."

He looked to her wings, "Well, they've gotta open it back up eventually. Here, let me get those restraints off of you. Maybe you can fly up there and get us out of here."

He reached for the ropes to pull them off, but they proved to be a struggle. Whoever had tied them clearly knew what they were doing, "God, this is worse than that fucking Gordian knot." Whatever magic that had been enchanted onto them wasn't making it much easier, as to him, there was some kind of force that was resisting his movements, similar to a strong wind on bridge.

But, with much cursing and effort, he finally was able to untie the ropes, discarding them on the ground inelegantly to his left.

A genuine smile, quite a pretty one in James' opinion, spread across Cadence's face as she flexed her wings for the first time in a long while, "Ah, that feels so much better. Thank you James."

"You are most welcome, Miss Cadence," he looked up to the ceiling of the cave, trying to find the exit/entrance Cadence spoke of, "Well, looks like we're in for a wait. Unless you can blow a hole through a cave system."

"Perhaps if I was outside this chamber, but the enchantments in the walls of the cave will nullify any magic I throw at them," she replied.

"Well then," he sat down against the cave wall, Cadence following his example and sitting down next to him, "Now we wait."

It had been many hours. James couldn't really tell how many, but it had been awhile. Cadence had taken to telling him her story, her life and how she got where she is now and the such. It had helped to pass the monotony of being imprisoned by evil bug pony things, which James had never in a million years imagined he would think he'd find himself butting heads with.

He was thirsty and hungry, two things he'd hoped he would never deal with again after the war. His stomach made quiet, muffled growls and rumbles which were starting to feel painful to him. He hoped that Cadence didn't hear them. She seemed the type to worry, especially in the condition she was in at this present moment.

"And that's when he proposed. And now we're here," she gestured to the cave.

"Hmm," he grunted in response, lost in thought. Cadence trailed off at the end, seeing that the conversation had reached its comfortable end, and folded her hands over her stomach as she laid back against the cool cave walls.

The two of them were silent for a few awkward moments. James still seemed lost in his own thoughts and Cadence was looking nervously off to her side, her thumbs idly fumbling with each other.

But soon, she spoke again, "Do you ever think we'll get out of here?"

"What do you mean?" he pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned towards her.

"I just," she brushed an idle strand of her hair out of her eye, "I'm just worried we'll never make it out of here. I mean, if I even make out of this cave, there's got to be many Changelings guarding the exit. I'd barely be able to take one of them right now, much less a swarm of them."

He sighed, seeing the wisdom in her words, "I know, Cadence. But it's the only option we have right now."

"What if we never get out of here? What if we die in this hole?" she whimpered.

"Then we die," he flatly grunted. Cadence flinched at his coarseness.

"You sound so disinterested in your own demise," she reckoned.

"When you've faced your own death as much as I have in my life, its sting becomes less of a terrifying possibility and more of an everyday part of life."

"You don't even sound scared," she divulged with a small, somewhat reassured smile on her face.

"HAH," he fake laughed, "Of course I'm scared. God, I'm terrified of what these things could do to me. But the way I see it, and the way I saw it when I was in the military, it's best to not worry about things that you can't change. You're just giving yourself anxiety over something you can't control. And if it's my time to die, and I sure hope that it isn't, then it's my time."

"That's a very mature, if a little morbid, way of looking at life," she remarked to him.

"Thank you," he warmly replied.

BOOOM!

The cave walls exploded inwards, scattering singed, heated rock everywhere. Cadence was quick enough to cast a shield in front of them, the jagged shards of death bouncing harmlessly off the pink wall and landing gracelessly on the floor.

The both of them coughed heavily as the dust settled. Standing in that train sized hole that was just created stood Twilight.

"Oh Twilight! Thank Celestia you're here!" Cadence shouted with relief.

Her eyes widened as she realized Twilight was charging a nasty looking spell on her horn, rage and murder filling her purple eyes.

"WAIT! DON'T SHOOT! WE'RE FRIENDLY!" James shouted to Twilight, who whipped towards him.

"NO! I won't let you trick me again, Changelings!"

"Twilight, get that fucking horn out of my face or so help me God, I will rip it off your skull and shove it up your ass so hard, it's gonna take a major operation to get my arm out," his voice boomed with authority, faltering the young unicorn's resolve a little.

She stared at him for a few moments before she finally let up on her spell, the magic dispersing like a vapor.

"Thank you," he relaxed, letting his arms fall back to their sides, "Boy am I glad to see you, Twilight. I thought nobody would ever find us."

Cadence took a step forward, but Twilight quickly lit her horn again, "Uh uh uh. I may know he's real, but I'm not so sure about you. Prove to me that you're the real Cadence."

"Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hands and do a little shake," the pink alicorn sang in a melodic, yet silly voice. This placated Twilight's fury immediately as James watched her fling herself into Cadence's arms in a huge hug.

"Oh Cadence! I'm so glad I found you!" Twilight grinned, nestling herself deeper into the hug.

"So am I. I thought I might never leave here, but that smart little filly I foalsat has proved me wrong," Cadence smiled eagerly back down at her.

"If you two are done catching up, let's get moving. We're busting out of here," James nodded to the 'opening' Twilight had created.

Twilight broke the hug, "We have to get out of here. We have to stop that... fake Cadence!"

"Chrysalis, you mean," James added. Twilight raised a brow, "We'll explain on the way. For now, you're right."

He stepped through the hole and turned back to them, "We've got a wedding to crash, ladies."