The Alliance of Chaos

Chapter 7

Vine stood straight up. Now that she had been freed of her internal corruption, her true cutie mark was fully visible. A blooming tiger lily, with dewdrops on it. Her front left leg had a curling tattoo of a vine, yellow flowers sprouting from it. The opposite hoof had faint marking on it, that looked like teeth.

“You know, you are just lucky I can grow this back.” Said Turquoise, pointing at his horn.

“Apologies, old friend. I... was not myself. But when I’m done with you, you’ll be a proper pony again.”

“I would very much like that. But remember, if you go back on your word, then my being a changeling has not changed my special talent.” He said, making a thorn out of frost, holding it in the air. He forced it down, causing it to shatter, but the tip was still there, stuck straight up in the wood.

Vine gasped.

“Don’t do that!” She said, horrified. Turquoise melted the ice, and sent it back into the air as vapor. “You know how I feel about plants!”

“Wait, Turquoise, I don’t understand. These ponies are from the distant past, how did you know them? You were a changeling before Chrysalis even came about, but Chrysalis is at least seventy!”

“How do you know how old she is?”

“Changelings weren’t always an evil race. Look, that’s beside the point. When did you go back in time?”

“My god, that is a ton of insanity. A story for another time.”

“Why not now?”

“Discord will take over the world before I finish.”

“Oh.”

“I will tell you it was shortly after I opened my sculpture store. I was nineteen at the time. It’s a great yarn, but not now.”

“Time travel was considered a classified spell group.” Said Celestia. “You are about twenty-five right now. If you were nineteen, then it was illegal at the time.”

“Oh... yeah, I’m a pony of many talents, one of them espionage, so I got involved in some shady details.”

“Why do I not know of this?”

“Well, you do know about the organization, but there are restrictions on the information.”

He whispered in her ear, and she nodded.

“Okay. Vine, we need your knowledge of plants and organisms on this mission. You were the Prime Ecologist of the board before the incident. Turning changeling matter into pony matter is proof of your experience. We need to know about these things if we want to go into the Badlands. I am familiar with some of the research you have carried out on foreign soil, for terraforming and colonizing. If you can turn Badlands soil into fertile loam, and make a lily grow without water, than you can do this. Your freedom is at stake, remember.”

“Yes, Princess. Are my laboratories still functioning?”

“You’ve been out for a while. We’ve saved some of your research, but all your experiments expired quite a while ago. Most of them were highly toxic anyways. We burned some of the more dangerous ones.”

“Wait, you burned them? Please don’t tell me you burned the one in the yellow pot.”

“Yellow pot?”

“That was Ironseed. Until they germinate, those seeds are practically invincible. Even if you burned them, then they are still alive.”

“Umm... recently, crimson flowers have been blooming in the waste management facility. They have-”

“Six golden pistils, thorns, and nine curved petals?”

“Yes.”

“That Ironseed was a genetically altered strain. Those pistils produce acidic pollen, which if inhaled, will burn the inner tissues. We need to clear out the waste facility immediately.”

“Celestia, teleport to Canterlot immediately. Lock down the facility, and bring in Hazardous Material squads. Tell them to bring masks. They won’t burn the coat, but if they get in...” She drew her hoof across her throat. “The fume vents will let them out. Close them up. Any way for air to get out, close it. The pollen is not as tough as the seeds, but it’s not weak either. The fumes from the waste will kill of a lot of it, but there’s more than one vent without fumes. Those pollen won’t grow new flowers, but they an reproduce in the facility. These plants are genetically unstable. They’ve probably changed a lot, and I won’t know everything. The were unfinished. I was working on spreading seeds in the wind... to spread pollen over Equestria... and... kill everypony.”

Celestia disappeared in a flash. Shortly after, a carriage arrived for the eight ponies and baby dragon. It was a large carriage. Vine was given strange looks by the guards. Vine, twilight, and the other ponies discussed plans in low voices. Suddenly, Twilight noticed that both the guard’s ears were angled sharply backward, listening into their conversation.

“Hey! Twilight said. She went to the front of the carriage, causing the airborne carriage to wobble in the air. When she looked toward Canterlot, it was far on her left. They were heading South. Towards the Badlands. “What are you doing?” She demanded of the four guards.

“Well, time to bail!” Each of the guards flashed in green fire, and were revealed to be changelings. One leaned there head back, causing the whole thing to tilt. He leered at them, and fired bolts at Fluttershy and Rainbow, tying their wings together. They all pulled back, and the carriage was turned over. They all fell into space. Turquoise went into changeling form, and his wings began buzzing. His horn glowed, and each one of the ponies was held in the air. He struggled to hold them up, his magic flickering. He closed his eyes in concentration. His eyelids screwed up tight, and his wings beat furiously. His magic began to fail. Vine fired a bolt of magic downward. A tree began to twist and spiral. She fired up her horn, holding up all the other ponies. Twilight did the same, and Rarity joined in. They floated in limbo, auras mixing together.The tree below them grew to meet them, and a large plateau of leaves held them up. They all sat atop it. Twilight grasped the carriage in her magic, and it was drawn toward them. Pinkie Pie had pulled a full teacup with a saucer out of absolutely nowhere.

“We’re getting near a thousand hundred words. This chapter is going to end soon.” Twilight looked at her, baffled.

The changelings all floated, struggling to get out of Twilight’s grasp.

“You have been caught in the act. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Also, there will be cupcakes.” Pinkie took a sip of tea. The teacup was drained instead of the liquid. She threw it over her shoulder. The tea exploded.

“Familiar, anypony?” said Pinkie. She stood on her hindhoofs. Suddenly, a bridle appeared around her mouth, and Discord stood beside her. He tugged the rope off her muzzle, and she slumped down.

“SURPRISE!” Discord said. He cackled.