Universe 10328

“Oh! It’s coming!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, witnessing the sand beneath their hooves slowly shifting.

“Indeed, it looks like it’ll come out of the sand in a few seconds,” Twilight confirmed while looking at one of her claws, which displayed a holo-screen depicting the drone’s position. “It took it two whole minutes to retrieve that stone, so it must have been buried deep. Either that or it’s big and hard to carry,”

“Oh, no worries! It’s not big at all! If it’s anything like the one I’ve seen, anyway!” Pinkie 1 reassured them just as the drone finally burst out of the sand.

It looked slightly bigger than a pony’s head, and its top was shaped like a drill. The lower end had spider legs-like claws, which held a white, and shiny stone. Pinkie 1 immediately widened her eyes in joy, excited at the sight of the familiar artifact. Yes! It was exactly what she was looking for!

“This is it! This is it!” She bounced up and down excitedly, which was quite impressive considering they were standing on dunes.

“So, this contains… Magic?” Twilight arched an eyebrow as one of her tentacles grabbed the stone from the drone before Pinkie 1 had the chance to take it. “Magic, or most likely, science you can’t explain yet,” She clarified before examining the stone closer. She adjusted her glasses while her eyes changed color, taking a green hue. The original Pinkie couldn’t tell what she was doing, but she seemed focused on it. The others were pretty relaxed too. Should she try to take it by surprise and run? Or should she trust them, and wait for Twilight to return it?

“It is even shinier than expected! Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have a jewel like this!” Rarity commented, making Applejack raise her eyebrows.

The orange pony quickly looked to her right, where Fluttershy’s drone stood and leaned toward her.

“You absolutely gotta remind me to buy her a diamond later,” She whispered to her hurriedly. “As… As a platonic gift of course,” She quickly added with a flushed expression.

“Oh, for… Everyone knows you’re dating! You literally announced it years ago,” Fluttershy grumbled in annoyance.

Before Applejack could say anything in her defense, Twiligh’s voice suddenly cut in.

“Incredible… I have never seen anything like it,” She whispered in awe, her eyes burning with passion. “The energy it emits is off the charts. Even my scanners aren’t strong enough to detect its limits, I’d need to use the ones in my lab to check its full potential,” She revealed, turning the stone around to see all its sides.

“Your scanners aren’t strong enough?! But that means that little thing alone has more power than a power plant!” Rainbow Dash shouted in shock. Pinkie 1 still didn’t know what a power plant was, but it was probably a lot of energy if it got that kind of reaction from the pegasus!

“Uhm, well, before you do that! Don’t you guys forget that I have to go home! Just let me borrow the stone for a second, and I’ll be out of your mane in a doozy! I’m sure my friends are already holding theirs and waiting for me! Bet they’re getting bored of waiting!” The original Pinkie interjected before they could do anything with the stone or leave. They could study it all they wanted for all she cared, as long as she got to go home first.

Twilight’s eyes turned to her. Just as the lavender pony was about to answer, she paused the second she opened her mouth. The mare suddenly narrowed her eyes in suspicion, as did everyone else except for the original party pony.

“What’s with all the buzzing?” Rainbow Dash uttered in confusion. Everyone was frozen in silence, their eyes darting in every direction.

A deep, throbbing drone pierced the silence, increasing in intensity until it filled the air like a foreboding wave. It wasn't long until the noise intensified into a distinct, rhythmic buzz, similar to the approach of hundreds of flying insects. The tremor seemed to travel across the dunes, causing the sand to move.

“Wow! Look at those black clouds! A huge storm must be coming!” Pinkie 2 suddenly exclaimed as she turned to look at the horizon.

Indeed, the sky was blackened with a buzzing darkness, which was quickly approaching them. However…

“Those aren’t clouds,” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, lowering her stance as if she were about to rush at the approaching threat.

“Girls… Prepare for battle,” Twilight ordered, swiftly gaining a more serious tone compared to earlier.

“Those are…” Pinkie 1 uttered, recognizing the creatures from a distance. Despite their differences with the ones from her universe, she could still tell those were…

“Changelings,” Fluttershy grumbled in annoyance.

“A lot of them. My scanners picked up thousands of them, and that’s only a small part. Why would they launch a full assault now?” Twilight wondered out loud, a small smirk gracing her lips while the vast army was quickly approaching them. “Good! This may be more entertaining than Rarity and Applejack’s little one-on-one sessions, at least,” She declared before adjusting her glasses.

“Wait what?! Are you spying on us?” Rarity exclaimed in shock.

“Uhm, girls? They’re getting closer,” Pinkie 1 warned them nervously, gesturing at the approaching army.

“Not you specifically! I’m spying on everyone! Makes for good study for my research on psychology and behavior,” Twilight answered casually.

“We should really get ready!” Pinkie 1 added, sweating profusely now.

“Yeah, I’m not even surprised. Why do you think I always check for cameras before I take a shower?” Fluttershy scoffed.

“But… We’re always naked anyway,” Applejack arched an eyebrow in confusion.

“GIRLS!” Pinkie 1 shouted, only to be ignored again… Until Rainbow Dash suddenly shot forward, soaring through the air with incredible speed. “What the…” She uttered in surprise, not expecting the abrupt attack.

A flurry of bullets tore through the sky from behind her, following Rainbow Dash’s target as they struck the flying changelings, making them fall like flies. Pinkie Pie turned around to see that the girls had stopped bickering and launched a counter-assault. Twilight was firing hundreds of bullets rapidly from her mechanical tentacles, helped by the party pony’s counterpart whose armor seemed to hold the same firearms. Fluttershy, on the other hand, had flown up to join Rainbow Dash in the sky.

The cyan pegasus used her wing blades to fly through the swarm of enemies and slice them apart while Fluttershy fired missiles from her back. She didn’t even need to be accurate because of how piled up their enemies were. A single explosion took out more than a dozen of them.

You’d think the changelings would stop their charge and attempt to take out the two pegasi first; however, many of them ignore the two ponies to soar toward the ones on the ground instead.

“They’re coming!” Pinkie 2 announced as she left Twilight’s side to charge forward. A tentacle with a canon at its tip came out of her side, before firing a large laser beam that cut through multiple changelings at once. Unfortunately, many of them were able to dodge it as they slammed their bodies into the party pony.

“Stone!”

“Get stone!”

“Stone for mother!”

The changelings chanted while trying to tear Pinkie 2 apart, only for the mare to be surrounded by light, which turned into a powerful blast that vaporized every one of them holding onto her.

Nevertheless, their shouts didn’t go unnoticed by the leader of Equestria’s protectors.

“The stone? They’re after it too? How did they even learn about it?” Twilight questioned in surprise as her tentacles ran through every single changeling attempting to reach her without her even needing to glance at them.

The fact they knew what the stone was, was worrying. However, the lavender mare wasn’t worried. They would never be able to harness its power with their bug brains. Nevertheless, she couldn’t allow them to take it. The claw that held the stone buried itself in the sand, hiding away from their gazes as the changelings began raining on them. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy weren’t enough to prevent them from getting to the ground.

“Oh, well, that makes it even more fun for us,” Twilight commented as she was suddenly surrounded by dozens of changelings, all snarling at her.

All of them pounced on her at once, baring their claws and fangs to tear her apart. However, before they could even get close, her tentacles spun wildly around her like the blades of a blender as she tore her enemies to pieces. Those who came too close were either sliced apart with the blades coming out of her mechanical arms, or crushed to death. As for the rest, she let her bullets and beams of light do the job. Even though they were astronomically outnumbered, changelings mainly fought up close, which made them much easier to kill as the ponies didn’t need to worry about projectiles.

“HAHAHA! How do you like that, filthy bugs?!” Twilight laughed hysterically as she slaughtered them one after another.

“Glad one of us is enjoying themselves…” Applejack grumbled in annoyance as she punched forward, emitting a strong shockwave from her hoof. The air pressure alone crushed the changelings in front of her as they were flung back, crashing into their brethren before they could even reach the orange mare.

“I’ve got the perfect weapon for you, uncivilized fellows!” Rarity shouted, back to back with Applejack, shooting a torrent of flames from her hooves every time she waved them. The changelings that weren’t burned to a crisp had their wings set ablaze, causing them to drop like flies. They would have been fine, in the soft dunes, if it weren’t for Applejack’s powerful blows destroying everything in their path.

All of them were in the same situation, whether it was on the ground or in the sky, they were attacked from all sides by the changeling army. Just like a swarm, they had surrounded them with no plan of giving them any break. Despite that, the ponies fought without worry, as if their lives weren’t in danger. None of their expressions bore a sense of fear. They had a crazed smile, or an excited grin, or even a stoic face, but no fear at all.

Even in the heat of battle, Rarity and Applejack used their respective blasts all around them, yet not once did they accidentally hurt one another amid battle. Rarity slammed her hooves in the dune, expelling a wall of fire in front of her, which consumed the first layer of approaching changelings. Instead of following up with another attack, she leaned down, allowing Applejack to roll across her back and stand in front of her before blasting the second layer of changelings off with a shockwave. On the other side, Rarity burned the enemies Applejack had left until they were scorching.

“Actually, Rarity, they are cold-blooded! So your usual element should be perfect against them!” Twilight pointed out as one of her blades cut off a nearby changeling’s head.

“Oh, is that so?” Rarity perked up with a small grin. She clapped her hooves together, a wave of cold bursting out of her armor and enveloping everyone around her. Even if Applejack wasn’t already cold-resistant thanks to the armor she was wearing, it would have only been chilly air for her. However, for the changelings? The closest ones to them were slowed down to a crawl, shivering with that single attack. “Now, you’re done for!” Rarity exclaimed before punching the one closest to her, sending a wave of ice at the same time and freezing him completely, only for her blow to tear off his head.

Of course, there was one pony who didn’t partake in their idea of entertainment. Sure, Pinkie had thrown punches and kicks here and there, but since she didn’t want to go on a killing spree, none of her hits were lethal. Thus, the changelings always came back for more, which led to the situation she was currently in.

The original party pony was curled up on herself, protecting her head with her forelegs as she was swarmed with changelings, all trying to claw their way into her armor and into her flesh.

“S-Stop! Just… Just hear me out!” She shouted her pleas, which were promptly ignored, or perhaps drowned in the sea of snarls surrounding her. This was much scarier than the diamond dogs, who at least talked, swore, and insulted them… Or even mocked her when they saw her as the weak link. The changelings, though, attacked her like mindless beasts, driven by hunger. Yes, she could see it. The way they clawed at her, the way they bit on her armor, they wanted to eat her! “Stop! I-I know you aren’t bad guys deep down! I bet Ocellus is there, right? Or… Or maybe Thorax!” Pinkie released a nervous laugh, eyes brimming with tears. They were there! They had to be! And if they were there, then… Fighting back would mean she’d kill them… They’d die without… Without ever being given a chance to be better…

Pinkie’s pleading slowly ceased as she closed her eyes, unable to make a decision. If she didn’t want to fight, then what other option was there? What other option than… Give up? What about her friends? If she died here… She would condemn them, wherever they were. They could be in as much danger as she was. They could… They could die because of her…

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she finally conceded.

“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry,” She apologized before thrusting one of her forelegs forward so hard it ran through one of the changelings’ chests. She yelped, throwing the corpse off her foreleg before shooting a wave of bullets all around her, followed by a beam of light slicing through the ones who weren’t hit by the firearms on her sides. “I’m sorry!” She repeated before blasting away several changelings with an explosion coming from her hooves.

She did her best to ignore the green blood, gore, and ripped-apart corpses surrounding her. But everywhere she looked, she was met with the sight of war and death. The party pony looked down at her hooves to see them covered in green blood. Her breath was caught in her throat while she resisted the urge to vomit. Her whole body felt foreign to her, shivers running through her being. This… What was she doing here?

“Deja vu much?” Fluttershy suddenly charged out of nowhere, slicing apart the changelings that were about to pounce on Pinkie Pie again. “That’s the second time I’m saving your ass! What are you doing? Are you just gonna stand there and die?!” The pegasus snarled at the shaking mare.

“They… They tried to eat me…” Pinkie mumbled while Fluttershy continued to slaughter the enemies around them, having no other choice since they didn’t stop coming.

“Of course, they did! They eat meat! We told you that! They won’t even leave your bones if they get you!” The pegasus admonished her until she suddenly paused once she laid her eyes on Pinkie’s armor. There were… Visible cracks and scratches. “Hey… Where did those cracks come from? This is supposed to be the toughest metal in Equestria! Don’t tell me…” She whispered, only for the pony drone to receive an alert for an oncoming attack. She quickly turned around, barely avoiding a long tail with a spike at the end of it. Unfortunately, it did manage to pierce her shoulder, pulling circuits out of Fluttershy’s drone. “Damn it… This is a breeder!” She exclaimed.

The changeling in front of her had a slightly bigger abdomen than the normal ones. However, its most striking attribute was the long and sharp piercing tail it had. Unfortunately, it wasn’t alone. Several other breeders joined it, landing right by the first one’s side.

“Are you gonna fight or not?” Fluttershy glanced at Pinkie 1 from over her shoulder. The party pony sniffled, but ultimately quietly got back to her hooves. “Good. I’m not worried since I’m just controlling a drone, but if I were you… I would avoid those tails. Seriously, you don’t wanna know what happens if they stab you with them,” She warned her before looking back at the breeder changelings again. “The fact that they can go through armor is worrisome…”

Twilight stabbed a changeling through the gut before firing two lasers from her eyes, and lobotomizing two other bugs from a distance. She dodged one of their blows by leaning back, then opened her mouth to reveal the barrel of a gun, shooting a bullet so powerful it tore right through the changeling’s skull.

“Twilight. We may have a problem,” Fluttershy’s voice suddenly made itself known in her ears. “I don’t know how, but those guys somehow developed strong enough claws to go through our armor,” She notified, much to the scientist’s shock.

“That’s impossible! They were made to handle bullets!” Twilight retorted before turning her head to look at one of her mechanical tentacles, which had impaled a live changeling. The creature clawed at her claw to pull itself out, though it didn’t need to as the lavender mare pulled it out herself, tearing its insides out at the same time. She looked down at her tentacle and noticed clear claw marks. “That’s… troublesome…” She mumbled before immediately activating her communicator. “Girls! Looks like we’ll have to be more careful, otherwise, these bugs will actually tear through our armor and get to us!” She warned them.

Whatever answers they were going to give were immediately cut off by the sound of a loud rumble. The swarm of changelings buzzed with delight as if they were cheering, making the ponies pause. Their worries only grew as their gazes fell upon the reason for the changelings’ celebration. It was a giant monster whose shadow would have likely covered the whole battlefield if the swarm hadn’t already hidden the sun. It was the queen, with a body even more grotesque than they imagined.

“Oh, they brought the big guns… The queen is here…” Twilight murmured, a little more worried than earlier this time. “Perhaps a retreat should be in order…” She added, only to be swarmed by changelings again. “If I could even see anything!”

Rainbow Dash flew through dozens or maybe hundreds of changelings, either by slicing them with her bladed wings or by blasting them away with her other weapons. Seeing Chrysalis’ giant body, she descended toward her, firing multiple missiles into the queen’s head. It didn’t even dodge them as they hit their mark, making her scream in pain as she jerked her head back. Nevertheless, it didn’t seem it did much damage, only leaving light scorch marks behind. With acid dripping out of her mouth, Chrysalis outstretched multiple tendrils in the pegasus’ direction, which she dodged one by one, some even by a hair as they skewered the changelings behind.

“She’s got a tough shell!” Rainbow Dash notified everyone, ready to soar in Chrysalis’ direction. Just as she was about to propel herself forward with her wings, a hulking changeling slammed into her, driving the wind out of her lungs. A blade, burning with volcanic heat, slid out of her hoof before she stabbed the changeling with it. It screamed in pain but didn’t let go of her. The pegasus widened her eyes as another changeling wrapped its legs around her, snarling at her face. “Get… Off me!” She screamed as more and more of them grabbed onto her, all weighing her down. The mare began glowing as one of them raised its claw, aiming it at her face. Just as it thrust it forward, Rainbow Dash expelled a powerful blast out of her body, nearly vaporizing them all.

“Dashie! Are you alright?!” Twilight inquired worriedly the moment she had witnessed the explosion.

“Fuck! Fuck! I let my guard down and look what happens?!” Rainbow Dash yelled while holding a hoof over one of her bleeding eyes. “They took out my real eye, for God’s sake!” She clenched her teeth.

“What?! I let you keep one because I didn’t want to lose that vibrant color of your iris! They’ll pay for this!” Twilight screamed while her tentacles did all the work in suppressing the enemies surrounding her. The lavender pony glanced at the rest of the team to see how they were doing.

Applejack and Rarity were still fighting, stepping on countless corpses and ice statues while they slaughtered multiple enemies at once with single attacks However, that didn’t mean they were doing very well either. Both of them were panting, getting increasingly tired against the constant stream of changelings.

“We gotta do somethin’! At this rate, Ah reckon we’ll be toast!” Applejack warned the other ponies as another shockwave made the air ripple and blasted changelings away. “There’s no end to them!”

“We’re literally walking on bodies!” Rarity added, freezing at least ten other bugs in the air. They crashed into their dead comrades, shattering to pieces as they did. She paused, taking a breath while her sore forelegs throbbed painfully. A changeling with a long tail suddenly snarled, noticing her moment of weakness.

“Look out!” Applejack notified her, punching the changeling in the face, and sending him flying before he could hurt the white earth pony.

On another part of the battlefield, Fluttershy growled.

“Hey! Pinkie’s counterpart! What. The. Fuck… Are you doing?! Help already!” She screamed as her limbs were held by several hulking changelings, slowly pulling her apart.

Pinkie 1, on the other hand, blasted away every enemy in her way while she swiftly began running away from the pegasus, leaving her to face that predicament alone.

“I’m sorry! I really am! I can’t!” Pinkie shouted as she killed someone else, her eyes wide in horror at the sight of her own massacre. She couldn’t even look back as she left Fluttershy’s drone behind.

“You little bit-” Fluttershy couldn’t finish her sentence as the tail of a breeder impaled her stomach, shredding her circuits apart while the bigger changelings tore her limb from limb, starting with her head. The pony drone was broken to pieces, its internal workings spilling over the sand as the changelings tried to devour what they assumed were its organs.

Very far from the battlefield, in Ponyville… Fluttershy stared forward in shock, her mouth agape as her screen displayed a large “GAME OVER!” She had thrown the helmet connecting her to the drone the moment it was destroyed, disbelieving this even happened.

“Did she seriously abandon me?! What the fuck?! I know I didn’t technically risk my life for her, but it’s the thought that counts!” She slammed her hoof on her desk, spilling the bowl of chips she brought. “Well, screw them! They’re all gonna die without me!” She crossed her forelegs, scowling at her hooves.

“Would you like a ‘Get Well Soon’ cake?” A small robot asked while holding a silver platter.

“Shut up, Angel,” Fluttershy muttered.

“Alright, time to get the big guns,” Twilight crawled as fast as she could toward the plane they landed in. While she used two of her claws to crawl to it, the rest disposed of every changeling getting too close to her.

As if sensing the pony was preparing something nefarious, or perhaps because her swarm told her the stone was in the mare’s grasp, Chrysalis began pulling herself toward Twilight, spilling acidic spit everywhere she passed. The others, too occupied with many other changelings, couldn’t move a hoof to stop her. That was until an explosion erupted on the queen’s head.

Chrysalis screamed, making her swarm weep with every hit she received as many more explosions occurred all over her body.

“Too. Much. Pain! Pain! Ponies. Pay! Will… Will. Pay!” Chrysalis roared, flailing wildly like a savage beast. A pink blur flew off her gigantic body to avoid being thrown off, flying into the sky with the thrusters on her hooves.

It was Pinkie 2! Smiling wide as she watched the changeling mother wail in pain. At the same time, Twilight managed to reach the plane and go in, quickly shoving most of her tentacles in holes around the control panel.

“That’s for Dashie’s eye!” Pinkie 2 shouted gleefully as her hoof turned into a large cannon, shooting a beam of light right into Chrysalis’ left eye, blowing it up with a fiery blast.

“GRAAAH! Cursed. Ponies!” Chrysalis clicked her tongue, shaking her head as her blood streamed down like a waterfall.

“Come on! Give me a smile!” The party pony laughed as she propelled herself forward with her thrusters. Two long blades came out of her forehooves, which were ready to be stabbed into the queen’s skull.

“Fuck her up, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash shouted while decapitating one of the bigger changelings.

The party pony soared without pausing, fully intending to end this in one blow. Of course, those weren’t regular blades. The moment she would stab Chrysalis with them, they’d flow right out of her hooves and plunge into the queen’s brain before blowing themselves up.

So close. She was so close that she could almost smell the creature’s breath… Until she felt nothing at all. Chrysalis suddenly opened her mouth wide and bit into the pink mare with fangs powerful enough to dig their way through the armor and reach her body. The changeling queen shook her head in every direction until Pinkie Pie’s lower body was sawed and thrown off into the air. Several changelings rushed to pick apart the body, quickly digging into its flesh while Chrysalis threw her head back in a swallowing motion.

“Sweet. Pony. Flesh. Sweet. Sweet. S-Sweet!” She reveled in it, licking her lips with joy.

The ponies could only watch in terror as their friend’s corpse was mercilessly defiled.

“What? N-No way… This… You… YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!” Rainbow Dash screamed, her body glowing brighter and brighter. She spread her wings wide as hundreds of small luminescent orbs were conjured across them. Without any further warning, they were all shot out into concentrated beams all around her, easily piercing any obstacle they came across before ultimately exploding in a colorful and shining blast.

With every hit, she would make another orb to replace the one that was shot, taking down more and more enemies. Naturally, most of these beams’ target was Chrysalis herself until she was covered in it as if an entire battlefield was present on her body.

“Protect Mother!”
“Protect Mother!”
“Protect Mother!”

The whole swarm chanted as they made a wall to protect her, only to be quickly slaughtered with Rainbow’s attack. However, soon after their formation, the pegasus’ blasts stopped. The light around the cyan mare faded, leaving her looking exhausted. She desperately tried to catch her breath, but with no power in her wings left, she could do nothing but let herself plummet. Right before her body would take up speed due to her freefall, a massive metallic hand caught her in its palm.

“Ow,” Rainbow yelped as she landed in it, but allowed herself to smile nonetheless. “Thanks for the save, egghead…” She breathed out, looking up. “Avenge Pinkie, got it?”

The plane was nowhere in sight anymore. Of course, since it had transformed into a real weapon of mass destruction. A gigantic mech, one that didn’t quite rival Chrysalis’ side, but was still massive for creatures as small as ponies. Once a sleek, high-speed plane, the machine now bore the unmistakable silhouette of a humanoid titan. Its wings had shifted into broad, angular shoulders, the tips folding inward to form weaponized gauntlets bristling with missile launchers, energy cannons, and likely even more.

The cockpit, only visible through a small window of reinforced glass, housed Twilight. The mare’s tentacles were plugged into various spots of the cockpit’s insides, except for two of her claws, one of which still held the Hexstone.

“Oh, don’t worry, my little feather. Pinkie will be avenged, but don’t think I’ll let any of you die so easily. All I need is to grab her brain before it’s digested, and I will be able to preserve her conscience,” Twilight assured the pony in her hand before gently dropping her between Applejack and Rarity. “Protect her, you two,”

Pinkie Pie, the original and living one, gulped as Twilight’s mech suddenly bathed the swarm with a sea of flame from one of her arms. The torrent of fire lasted for about a minute before the lavender earth pony switched to firing multiple missiles bigger than a pony, bursting at their first impact.

Everything in their path was blown to bits, allowing Twilight to finally have Chrysalis in her sights. The mech trotted to the massive creature and delivered a powerful punch in her jaw, busting gigantic fangs out of her mouth.

“Protect Mother!” The changelings chanted again while crawling all over the immense robot, attempting to claw their way in even if they had to break their limbs to do it.

From inside the cockpit, one of Twiligh’s tentacles twisted on itself inside the hole it was plugged it. Immediately after, an arc of electricity pulsed throughout the entire structure, frying the changelings on it like mosquitoes.

“My. Swarm!” Chrysalis screamed, slamming her body into the plane-turned-robot, nearly making its legs buckle as it had to hold her weight. Her body began shifting, growing more ferocious as her claws sharpened and began digging into the mech, with numerous more tendrils coming out of her back.

Twilight grunted as two sleek canons sprung on the mech’s shoulders, a blue hue traveled through the barrel as if it was charging, energy slowly building up at their tip. Finally, just as one of Chrysalis’ claws managed to breach the mech’s defenses, the canons shot a precise blue ray of energy which sliced her tendrils along with one of her forelegs like butter.

“GRAAAAH!” Chrysalis wailed, crawling back with agonizing cries. “Give. Magic. Stone! GiVe! GIve! GIVE!” She ordered desperately.

Twilight glared as a giant blade sprouted out of her mech’s right fist. With a battle cry, she began punching Chrysalis with her left fist.

“Magic. Doesn’t. Exist!” She shouted with every punch before stabbing the mother of all changelings in the neck. Without giving her any respite, she plunged it deeper and deeper, only to slide it up, successfully decapitating Chrysalis.

The queen’s head dropped to the ground, her body following soon after in a pool of green blood. The remnants of the swarm screamed in unison as if they had been cut down as well.

“Mother perished!”

“Mother!”

“Mother!”

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The changelings chanted, quickly fleeing from the battlefield as quickly as their wings could carry them. It was no surprise. After all, if the queen were to perish, their duty was to use all of the resources they could to ensure the next one would be born. It was an extremely arduous process since a queen was only supposed to be born once every millennium. Their priority shifted to preserving as many changelings as possible now, something they couldn’t do if they faced off these ponies.

Twilight didn’t even attempt to stop them as they fled, knowing it would only cause even more trouble.

“Good riddance,” She spat, looking down at Chrysalis’ corpse. Once she was sure, the changelings were gone, she slowly changed the robot back into a plane.

“Huff… Huff… That was a close one…” Applejack muttered as she collapsed on the pile of bodies they were standing on.

“Close one? Pinkie is dead!” Rainbow Dash punched the sand, trying to stand up again, only to collapse on herself. “And I lost an eye to boot too!” She mumbled with her eye socket still bleeding.

“And Fluttershy’s drone was destroyed… If only somebody was here to help…” Rarity grumbled, visibly fuming as she glanced at the original Pinkie Pie. The pink mare was still shaking, staring off into the distance. “Seriously, to flee like a coward in such a-” She began admonishing her, only for Twilight to cut in suddenly.

“Spike, send a drone as fast as possible and find Pinkie’s upper body!” Twilight ordered while crawling toward them.

“Master, if I may point out… Pinkie Pie has already been in the queen’s stomach for a few minutes. By my estimations, it isn’t very likely that her brain was preserved enough for…” The little robotic assistant’s voice spoke from one of Twilight’s tentacles, making the mare groan in annoyance.

“Just do it! Don’t you know what an order is?! I probably could restore her even with a single piece of brain left!” She snapped back at her tentacle as she adjusted her glasses with another one. “I can’t believe this! How could we fall so low?!”

“We’ve never had to fight an entire army by ourselves before, dear,” Rarity uttered while turning on the armor’s massage feature.

“These guys didn’t even fear death,” Applejack added. “I don’t even know how we managed to survive,”

“Speak of yourself! Pinkie’s dead ‘cause you two were busy fighting small fries! It’s the queen we should have attacked!” Rainbow Dash admonished the two mares.

“You mean the queen who had literally thousands of soldiers backin’ her up?! Are ya insane?! Some of us had to do crowd control!” Applejack retorted, springing to her hooves while the pegasus glared at her with shaking legs.

Pinkie noted they must have been exhausted. All of them. She was too, but considering she tried to avoid fighting as much as possible… She also had a better physique than them because of her earth pony magic.

“Will you stop your senseless bickering? Pinkie will be fine! There’ll be more battles and more wars, even greater than what we just fought. Those were mere bugs! Next time, it could be Griffons, and they will be armed with the most advanced weaponry available!” Twilight interjected with a glare as the claw that was holding the Hexstone tightened its hold over it. “You said these animals didn’t fear death, right?” She asked Applejack. “Then stop fearing it as well. As long as I am alive, consider yourselves immortal. Even if you’re blown to pieces, I’ll put you back together. As many times as it takes. Forever and ever. End of discussion. Pinkie. Will. Be. Fine. Got that?” The lavender mare clenched her teeth. “Now… For the OTHER Pinkie. The one who got luckier than ours,” She spun her head to look at the party pony whose face didn’t reflect any joy or fun. So, so unusual to see someone who wore Pinkie Pie’s face look so miserable, Twilight mused. Ultimately, these two weren’t the same, were they? The Pinkie they knew would have been quite entertained by this massacre.

“I’m sorry for your loss. Anyway, give me the stone now, so I can go home,” Pinkie spoke quickly before attempting to swipe the stone out of the mechanical arm’s hold, only for Twilight to pull it back at the last second.

“Now wait just a second! You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” The other mare hummed, her brows furrowed.

“W-We had a deal!” Pinkie protested with clenched teeth. Of course! She knew it! She knew they were bad news! They slaughtered without a care in the world. They held no remorse for the lives they took, so of course they lied to her to boot too! Still, she hoped she would be wrong, at least…

“The deal’s off,” Twilight shook her head. “I’m not about to let go of such a wonderful specimen when I can study and learn so much more from you. Don’t you understand? You are a wonder of this world. Your body must hold so much knowledge, and so many secrets waiting to be discovered. My scientific mind simply cannot pass up such an opportunity. Of course, you have proven to be quite a coward back there. I can’t let that go,” She grinned, her claws digging into the sand and lifting her up. “Most of all, if Pinkie’s brain is… Missing some parts, then I’m sure you’ll be kind enough to donate some of yours,” One of her claws adjusted her glasses.

“Please… Just… I’m tired. I just want to go home,” Pinkie’s legs buckled. She didn’t want to fight anymore. She couldn’t. There was so much death already. So much death… Because of her. Because she got them on this quest to help her. Oh, Celestia, she killed other creatures! She was a murderer! The changelings’ blood was still on her hooves! How could she even face the others back home after that?! How would they… How would they look at her when she would tell them what she had done?! “Please…” She choked on her spit as small tears ran down her cheeks.

Twilight and the others looked at her in silence, their expressions unreadable. They showed little emotion. Ultimately, the lavender earth pony sighed.

“Girls, don’t hurt her too much. I need her body to be intact. It is a priceless piece of research,” She finally spoke in a neutral tone.

Author's Note

Yo! New chapter! Finished it later than anticipated, but it was because I wasn't satisfied with the battle. Honestly, I'm still not. It's not exactly how I envisioned it (The climax of each universe is something I had in mind since I started this story), and I've always had more affinity with magic than technology. Nevertheless, I hope it wasn't too disappointing.

Now next chapter will be focused on Twilight's universe... And I will be writing something else I don't have a huge affinity with I'll try to write a song (again). I don't know why I'm subjecting myself to this lol