Six Months Later

Anon sat on the front porch of Javelin's house with a bottle of beer in one hand and the newspaper in the other. As the sun slowly creeped up to its highest point in the sky, Anon squinted slightly from the increased incoming light. He read the newspaper headline with hardly a visible expression on his face, although his brow did furrow ever so slightly.

Canterlot Wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza to take place today at noon. Ponies from all over the country have gathered en masse, despite the security concerns and barrier upheld by the husband to be, Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard. Still no word from the crown with regards to the nature of the threat the barrier has been set up to protect against, but regardless, the entire city is bustling with ponies from all walks of life to see the first royal wedding in a millennia.

Anon read silently, the frown on his face deepening even further as he continued on to the next paragraph.

Still no word, however, on the expectant wedding date of Princesses Celestia and Luna to their consort Anonymous. Despite the statement issued from the princesses several months ago that Anonymous needed more time to prepare for his role as a prince after the marriage, no ponies from this news team were able to get any answers out of him as of yet. Multiple ponies have reported seeing the human in the middle district, living in housing with his private guard, leading many to speculate that Anonymous's tastes might be more in line with the same sex, and the princesses are simply saving face by prolonging their engagement as long as possible.

Anon set the paper down and let out a long sigh before bringing the bottle to his lips and downing the rest of his drink. Once it was completely gone, he threw the bottle at the trash can just at the bottom of the steps leading to the porch, hitting the inside of the bin. He opted to rest his elbows on his knees and hold his hands together as he stared out into the street, his expression blank.

A few minutes passed, before Javelin opened the door from behind and stepped out onto the porch with Anon. The stallion wore his armor and helmet, along with a pair of saddlebags on his barrel as he closed the door behind him. Upon turning around, he immediately noticed Anon blocking the stairs and frowned as his eyes saw the paper.

"They still talking about you in the news?" Javelin inquired, taking a few steps toward Anon.

"Not until the second paragraph this time. Guess Cadence's wedding took priority over me for the day." Anon replied, keeping his eyes forward as Javelin sat down on his haunches beside him.

"Yeah, it kinda blindsided them when the princesses postponed your wedding. How long do you think before nobles start demanding that they pick another stallion to replace you?" Javelin asked, casting Anon a sideways glance.

"From what I can tell, they already have. Multiple times. Celestia and Luna just keep shutting them down. Don't know why they bother. They're just delaying the inevitable." Anon shrugged.

"You know the answer to that one, dude." Javelin shook his head.

Anon nodded, "I guess so."

Javelin stared at Anon for a long time before sighing heavily and hanging his head low, "Are you still angry at them?" He asked.

Now it was Anon's turn to sigh heavily, "No... no I'm not. I just wish things had played out differently. I wish they had been honest, and I wish that I had handled it better. I don't think I was wrong to be as angry as I was, but... I don't know. Just gotta move on, right?" Anon asked, finally turning to look Javelin in the eyes.

"That's the spirit," Javelin punched Anon's shoulder, "How was the dating scene last night?"

Anon chuckled, "Same as it always is. They were either too confused by what I am, or thought that I was still in a relationship with the princesses and were too scared to commit to that," He shook his head with a snort, "Honestly, I'm surprised the reporters haven't interviewed any of them, but then again, I guess asking drunk mares at bars at three AM wouldn't exactly be considered a reliable source."

They both chuckled before Javelin looked over in the direction of the castle.

"You got the time?" He asked.

Anon looked down at his wristwatch, "It's about eleven thirty. You heading over there now?" He asked, already aware of the answer.

Javelin nodded, "Yep, duty calls. My shift starts at noon and doesn't end until... well pretty much tomorrow. Good thing about that, is that I get a three day weekend, so we can chill and go out for the next three days." He explained.

Anon nodded, absentmindedly touching the watch on his wrist, "Alright, sounds good. I'll see you later, bro."

Javelin started to leave, but paused mid step to look over his wither at Anon once more, "Hey, Anon... are you sure you don't want to come? I mean... I know it'd be awkward if you ran into them, but I really think you'd have a good time. This wedding is gonna be the biggest party Canterlot's seen in forever." He offered.

Anon half smiled, "I appreciate it, dude. Still, I think I'd rather just stay away from the castle for a bit longer... not really sure what I'd say if I ran into them again, you know?" He replied.

Javelin nodded, "I get you. Well, if you change your mind, you know where to go. It's pretty much open invitation, so as long as you're already inside the bubble, you're fine to come to the party."

"I'll think about it. You'd better get going, bro. Don't want to be late to an event like this." Anon replied, with a smirk.

"Right you are. I'll see you later, dude." Javelin responded, before trotting off down the stairs and toward the castle.

Anon watched as Javelin left, his hand still absently touching the watch on his wrist, before he slowly looked down at the gift and frowned once more.

"Dammit..." He mumbled, tracing his thumb over the face of the watch.

Anon slowly pushed himself to his feet and made his way back into the house. He found the couch in the living room once more and promptly plopped down onto his back, his arm and leg dangling down and laying on the floor. He stared up at the ceiling for a while as his thoughts drifted off to the princesses and the castle.

Was what they did really so bad? Yeah they lied, but... it was still technically them, right? No, no... stop thinking like that. You're just down because you're alone right now... once you find a good mare, things will get better. They have to... right?

Anon breathed out another deep sigh as he closed his eyes and tried to take a nap. For almost an hour, he laid on the bed, trying to rest, but sleep eluded him, prompting a frustrated groan as he attempted to roll onto his side. Within a few more minutes, he felt himself dozing off.

Just as Anon felt the siren call of sleep reach out to him, a thunderous *crack* akin to the sound of shattering glass shocked him out of the couch and down to the floor. Anon landed on his face, the sleep knocked clean out of him as he quickly pushed himself to his feet, only to hit the floor once more as the sound of ear-splitting explosions and buzzing blared all around him. One such explosion hit just outside of the window, shattering the glass and sending shards flying in all directions.

Anon covered his face with his arms as glass ricocheted all around him. The sounds of yelling mixed in with the explosions and a terrible buzzing that felt like it was emanating from right inside of his ear. Anon crawled toward the window as quickly as he could, carefully avoiding the glass along the way, and eventually finding himself at his destination. Once there, he pushed himself to his feet and looked out through the broken glass to find a hauntingly creepy looking bug-horse.

"What the almighty fuck?" Anon whispered, his brow furrowing in disbelief.

The insectoid-pony didn't appear to hear him, instead opting to look around its surroundings for a few moments, before turning toward the castle and unfurling its wings. They instantly buzzed to life as the creature flew away, toward the sound of all the chaos and fighting. Anon watched as it went, a mix of concern and shock on his face, before he noticed the now shattered dome as it continued to collapse all around Canterlot.

"Holy shit..." Anon swallowed, nervously, "It's a fucking invasion."

Anon turned and rushed over to the front door and opened it, revealing a sight of pure destruction and horror as thousands of the bug-horses ravaged the city in the distance. Even on his street, dozens of the insectoids buzzed from house to house, some of them already dragging the occupants out and immobilizing them by vomiting green slime all over their limbs.

"That's just fucking gross..." Anon's face morphed into one of disgust, before quickly turning to one of terror as a bug-horse looked directly at him.

Anon instantly slammed the door shut and rushed to the kitchen. Almost immediately, the sound of buzzing raked at his ears and the front door exploded into a frenzy of splinters. The black form of the creature darted into the living room and after him, forcing an unmanly squeal out of Anon as he reached the stove.

Anon heard the bug closing in fast and grabbed the first thing he could find; a frying pan. Just as the monster entered the kitchen and lunged at him, he turned around, swinging wildly with his newfound weapon. A deafening *clang* echoed through the kitchen as the pan slammed into the side of the insect's head, knocking it off course and sending it careening into the pantry door. The wood splintered as the black blur crashed inside, its chitin cracking so many times that even Anon winced at the creature's poor fortune.

"Damn... fucking mosquitos are huge here." Anon shook his head in disbelief, before looking at his frying pan, "God, I'm glad we upgraded to the stainless steel. This shit ain't dented at all." Anon commented, before turning to leave.

"We're... not... mosquitos... you... cretin." A voice, distorted as it was, spoke out from the pantry.

Anon froze mid step, before turning on his heels and holding the frying pan up like a baseball bat.

"Oh yeah? Then what the hell are you?" He asked, taking a cautious step forward.

"We... are... changelings... We... are legion... We... will take Equestria..." The creature spat from the pantry, its voice strained as it attempted to walk.

Anon reached the pantry door and finally saw the creature properly. It's head was noticeably cracked, and a small measure of green blood dripped from the cracks lining its temple. A small, jagged horn sat atop its head, just above two deep blue compound eyes. A forked tongue quickly poked out between two fangs as the changeling watched Anon approach. Anon felt his gaze pulled to its legs, and the dozens of holes in all four limbs, as if parts of the creature were physically missing.

"You're one ugly son of a bitch." Anon commented, his grip tightening on his pan.

The changeling hissed as it thrust itself forward toward Anon, but just before it could get within hoof's reach, he slammed the frying pan down on top of its head once more, knocking the bug-horse out cold.

Anon looked down at the unconscious changeling before lightly kicking it with his foot. Once he was sure it wasn't getting back up, he turned back toward the front door.

"You'll take Equestria, huh?" Anon quietly questioned, his brow furrowing as he thought of the princesses, Raven, and Javelin, "Maybe... but not while I'm still here."

Anon quickly made his way to the front door, frying pan in hand as he reached the outside world. Immediately, he saw the rest of the changelings surrounding the ponies they'd captured. A mare, who he recognized as Star Blazer, two stallions, and even a couple crying fillies were bound by the strange green goo, prompting a deep frown of concern on Anon's face. He watched for a few moments, before the majority of the bugs shared a nod of approval and buzzed off toward the castle. Anon quickly ducked back inside as they flew past him, his heart racing.

Once they were gone, Anon peeked out once more to see that only two changelings were left to guard the ponies. He took a deep breath before sneaking out the front door and down the steps. He darted behind a bush just before one of the changelings turned to look in his direction, narrowly avoiding detection.

Meanwhile, the other changeling guard was focused on hissing and drooling at the sight of its captives, earning a snarl from the mare in response. Just before the changeling could snap back, Anon rushed out from the bush and whacked the first guard in the head with his frying pan, instantly knocking it unconscious. The second guard turned around to see Anon, a small measure of green blood splattered onto his face and clothes, as he stood over its unconscious comrade.

Anon stepped forward to deal with the second guard, but just as he moved, the creature erupted into a ball of green fire, making him jump back.

"Woahwhatthefuck!?" Anon yelped as the green fire singed at his arm hair.

Once the flames were gone, an exact copy of Anon stood in the changelings place, all the way down to the small scar on his chin from the bar fight half a year ago. Anon stepped back in shock at the new development, before the shouting mare stuck in goo wretched his attention away with her voice.

"They're changelings! They can take the form of almost anything!" Star cried, straining once more against her bonds.

Anon nodded before turning to once again face himself. He looked the copy over quickly, and noticed something missing.

"Looks like you can't copy everything." Anon smirked.

"What?" The other Anon asked, looking down to his appearance, only to be swiftly knocked out by Anon's frying pan. A quick burst of green flame erupted around the creature, returning it to its normal, bug-horse state, as it hit the ground like a brick.

"Did you forget I had this? Because I didn't." Anon chuckled, flipping his frying pan in his hands, before turning to the captured ponies.

"You did it!" Star cheered, followed quickly by cheers of excitement from the stallions and fillies.

"Yeah. Yeah I did... huh? How about that?" Anon smiled, looking down at himself, "Here, let me see if I can get you guys out of there." He offered, stepping toward the goo.

"If you can shatter that bright glowing part with your frying pan, I might be able to use my magic to break us free." Star responded, nodding toward a glowing green crystal of sorts, sticking out of the goo.

"Alright, I'll get it." Anon replied, before lining up pan and smacking the crystal with all his might.

Green shards of crystal instantly fractured and dispersed all over the ground, changing the color of the goo from a radioactive green, to a dull black. The mare quickly charged up a spell and blasted the goo with yellow energy, quickly melting it and freeing all of the trapped ponies. Immediately, both stallions and fillies rushed to Anon and hugged him.

"Thank you so much!" The first stallion cheered.

"You saved us!" The fillies cried in unison, tears still spilling from their eyes.

"Thank you. I can't tell you how much it means to all of us that you came to help us. I wasn't sure what they were gonna do to us." Star added, smiling up at Anon.

"Let's not dwell on that. We need to get you guys somewhere safe." Anon replied, petting both fillies and stallions as they clung to his thighs.

"We'll head to the lower district. It looks like less of them landed down there. You should come with us." The mare offered.

Anon grimaced as he looked over the ponies before him, "I appreciate the offer, but I need to-" He started, before an explosion in the castle rippled through the air.

All eyes turned toward the source of the sound to find beams of light blasting into the sky and all over the castle walls. Anon frowned as he gripped his weapon tighter. He looked down to the formerly captive ponies with his jaw set, and a determined look in his eyes.

"I'm gonna go up there and try to help out however I can. Do you think you guys will be okay getting to the middle district by yourselves?" He asked.

Star frowned as she looked back up to Anon, "You can't be serious! That's where the majority of the changelings are! They'll eat you alive!" She exclaimed, gaining several nods and words of agreement from the stallions and fillies.

"My friends are up there. I have to go." Anon replied, without missing a beat.

"Anon... I thought you and the Princesses weren't even speaking anymore? I haven't seen you at the castle in months." Star protested.

"It's a long story. I'll explain everything once this is over, but for now, can you escort these four down to the lower district?" Anon pressed, prying his legs free from the ponies still hugging and nuzzling him.

"I... I can. Yeah, I can do that." Star replied, nodding firmly.

"Thanks. Alright, you guys heard the mare. Follow her down to the lower district. I'm gonna go solve this clusterfuck." Anon beamed, giving a thumbs up to the two fillies.

"What's a clusterfuck?" One of the fillies asked.

"Nevermind that, Honeydrop. Let's get you all out of here." Star spoke up, using her magic to throw each filly onto each stallion's back, "Let's go, ponies!" She ordered, trotting ahead and prompting the stallions to hurry after her.

Anon watched as the fleeing ponies reached the end of the cul-de-sac and galloped out of sight. Once he was sure they were clear, he turned his attention to the castle once more, only to find that the frequency of magic bolts, explosions, and screams was only growing by the second. He broke into a cautious jog down the street and toward the castle.

Anon immediately found himself in the middle of an all out war between the ponies and changelings. Upon reaching the main street leading toward the castle, he found no fewer than five dozen royal guards locked in a firefight with hundreds of changelings. Green, blue, red, purple, and every other color of the rainbow flashed through the air as bolts of magic and fire tore through the air, punching holes in buildings, and destroying houses all along the street. Anon quickly ducked into a shop just before a royal guard was thrown through the front window, shattering the glass into thousands of tiny shards.

"Shit!" Anon cried as he hit the deck just in time for the mare to fly over his head and crash into the wall beside him.

She crumpled to the ground next to him, blood trickling out of her muzzle and several new cuts all over her coat. Anon swiftly crawled to her side and grabbed the mare to check on her, only to find two hate filled, violet irises looking back at him.

"Lieutenant Valorant!?" Anon exclaimed.

Lieutenant Valorant spat out a small measure of blood before wiping her muzzle with her hoof and nodding, "Anonymous? Where have you been the past six months? What the hay are you doing here? You should be down in the lower district with all the civilians." She replied, looking at him, curiously.

"I've been living with Javelin. His house got hit by those changelings and I had to crack some skulls with my frying pan here to save the rest of the neighborhood. We can talk about that later though, what's the situation?" Anon replied, looking out the shattered window at the warzone outside.

"Bad. The changeling queen has captured Princess Celestia and Cadence. Captain Shining Armor is under her control and unable to command, and we're outnumbered ten to one at the very least," Lieutenant Valorant replied, peeking through the window with Anon just as a bolt of green light shot into the store and burned a hole into a wall above her head, "Buck!" She cried, as she ducked down.

Anon ducked with her and fixed the unicorn with a worried look, "Who's in charge then? You?" He questioned.

"No. Princess Luna is mounting an assault on the castle, but we're being hit from all angles. My unit was en route to be her support by fire, but we've been cut off. They've got us pinned and until I can get us through to the rest of our forces, we're sitting ducks here." Lieutenant Valorant explained.

Anon looked out to the sight of carnage outside and frowned, heavily.

"Do you know where Javelin is?" He asked.

"Last I heard, he was guarding the wedding. As far as I'm aware, he's either been captured along with the rest of the guards there, or he made it to Princess Luna's resistance." She answered.

Anon nodded, "Alright. I need to get to him and Luna then. Is there any way you can help me get there?"

Lieutenant Valorant looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, "What part of 'pinned down' didn't you hear? I can't get my unit out of here right now, and even if I could get you over there, what are you even going to do? No offense, but you've not exactly packing much in terms of firepower from what I know about your species." She shot back.

Anon looked down to his frying pan and frowned, "Hurtful, but true. I have... something of a plan." He offered.

Lieutenant Valorant raised an eyebrow, "What's your plan?"

"Raven told me that the griffons lost to ponies because once their king was dead, they had no leadership anymore. I know these bug horses didn't evolve past that stage of planning since they still have a single queen, and don't use helmets yet, so if I can take out the queen, they should be pretty much beat, right?"

Lieutenant Valorant frowned, "While taking out the queen is the right way to deal with the changelings, I don't think you realize how much more powerful she is than you. She beat Princess Celestia. Any mare capable of that is going to absolutely annihilate you if you come at her with a frying pan." She responded.

Before Anon could respond, another guard rushed into the store, "Lieutenant! We've punched a hole in their line! We can get a couple of guards through to get help!" The guard shouted.

Anon looked at the new guard, and then to Lieutenant Valorant, "Val, listen to me. I need to get over there. I know I'm not the most useful fighter here, and I know that things are really screwy right now... but I need you to give me this chance."

Lieutenant Valorant stared at Anon for a few moments. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused and bit her lip. She took only one more second to decide, before looking up to Anon and nodding.

"I don't know how much good you'll be over there... but as long as you can get my unit the support it needs to get to the castle... then go." She ordered, firmly.

"I won't let you down. I'll even do you one better. I'll make sure we kick that queen's ass all the way back to whatever shithole she climbed out of." Anon declared, smiling with determination.

Lieutenant Valorant looked at the other guard, "Go! Take him with you and get us reinforcements!" She barked, before turning to Anon one more time just as he got up to run with the guard, "-And Anon. Be careful out there, okay?"

Anon smiled, "You got it, Val."

With that, Anon turned and ran after the other guard into the chaos.

Author's Note

Now I know this chapter must come as quite a shock after where we left off last chapter. Sorry if it's a bit too jarring for some of you, but I couldn't really think of any good filler between that chapter and this one, so here you go. I'm sure the ending of the story is now incredibly obvious to you guys now, but hey, I didn't write this story with the intent of being completely original in every way.

I just hope you enjoy the ride there. We've got a few chapters of this arc to cover, and they're gonna be great. I really like them, and as you've seen already, there's a lot of stupid comedy injected in there for laughs. It'll only get better from here.