A Full Moon Wedding Nightmare
The minute she raised the sun from behind the horizon, Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, just knew it was going to be a long day. Not only did she have a wedding to perform but for some reason she could just feel a sense of foreboding. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door. She opened it to see her sister Luna with very tired look on her face.
“Sister?” Celestia asked, instantly worried, “What’s wrong?”
Luna sighed before saying, “We may have a problem sister. Last night there was what we believe to be sabotage on the wedding.”
“What?!” Celestia cried, her fears now proving true, “What happened? Show me.”
Luna nodded before hurrying in the direction of the throne room with Celestia right behind her. As they neared the tall doors that stood slightly opened, Celestia began to notice how cold it felt in the halls and she had an eerie feeling like someone was watching her. As they stopped in front of the doors, she took the time to look back to see if anyone was following her but she saw nothing but shadows. She turned away still feeling uneasy and just missed one of the shadows snake away down the hall towards the kitchens with an evil cackle.
Celestia looked to the doors as Luna slowly pushed them open the rest of the way and gasped. Before the hall had been decorated with many a flag and banner and ribbon with tables set out for drinks and food with fine silk cloth laid over them and the tapestry had been strung in a glorious manner along the top of the stained glass windows. But now it was like a tornado had torn through the entire place. The windows were busted and the ribbons were torn and the banners were ripped and scattered along the floor and the flags were nowhere to be seen. The tables were broken with their cloths ripped to shreds and the tall candle holders were bent and knocked over and the rug was torn as well.
“Oh my…” Celestia said quietly, “Who did all this?”
“I do not know.” Luna said, “We found everything like this just a few moments ago.”
“How did no one witness this act?” Celestia asked confused.
“Again, I do not know.” Luna repeated.
Celestia looked around at the carnage before remembering something, “What about the Elements? They put all this up.”
Luna just pointed to a corner of the room where Celestia could see a group of ponies huddled together. As she came closer she noticed that the ponies were Twilight, her student, her friends Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy along with two guards. Twilight and Rainbow seemed uneasy and Fluttershy was attending to another pony.
“Twilight? Is everything okay?” Celestia asked as she approached.
Twilight looked up at her mentor and said, “Its Rarity, your highness. She’s not saying anything.”
Celestia looked pass her student to the white mare Fluttershy was helping and gasped. Rarity’s beautiful white fur was now pale and looked gray and she was sitting down with her head tilted upwards with her mouth hanging open in a silent scream and her eyes were pinpricks in a wide space of white. She looked like she had been scared to near death. Almost like…….she had seen a ghost.
“Oh my….” Celestia said in shock, “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know,” Fluttershy answered, “I can’t get her to respond. It’s like she’s paralyzed.”
“Maybe I can help?” Luna said before pointing her horn at Rarity.
A soft, blue aura of smoke slowly curled around Rarity and after a moment, her eyes rolled back as she collapsed onto the floor.
“What did you do?” Twilight asked.
“I have put her in a deep sleep. When she wakes up it should all just appear as a dream to her. We should avoid talking about it when she wakes up though.” Luna explained.
“Thank you sister.” Celestia said.
While the ponies where tending to their friend, a certain spirit was creeping in the kitchen. His target was taller than him and covered in frosting. What better way to postpone a wedding then to destroy the cake? He crept along the ceiling as he watched the staff run about making all sorts of treats but two ponies in particular were tending to the cake itself. A pink mare with a crazy mane was putting the finishing touches on the frosting at the top of a tall step ladder. Below her, steading the ladder was an orange pony with her hair tied back.
“Careful Pinkie, we don’t want this here cake fallin’ over!” The orange pony said.
The ghost smiled before crawling over to the ovens where several dishes were being baked. He manipulated the temperatures to near nuclear levels on several before turning to the cake. It was sitting on a stand with wheels in the bottom to help roll it around. And this just made it easier for the mischievous spirit to do his work. He slithered across the ground, invisible to the ponies and carefully began to turn a screw in one of the wheels; stopping right at the point where it would come out the minute they started rolling it down the hall.
As he finished, the pink pony came sliding down the ladder and cried out, “It’s ready!”
“Great, let’s git it down to the throne room”
Together the two began to push the cake along but only got so far as two steps before the loosened screw gave out and the wheel shot out from beneath the stand and the entire tower of sweetness came toppling down. No one had time to react as the collision with the floor caused the cake to explode, covering the entire room with frosting and bits of cake innards. Both Pinkie and Applejack just stared with frozen expressions at the destroyed cake trying to understand what just happened. Everyone in the room was covered from head to hoof and a few looked to be near tears.
It wasn’t long before the door burst opened and the princesses came in along with Twilight, Fluttershy, and a few guards. Upon seeing the destroyed cake everyone gasped and their faces fell.
“Oh no…” Twilight said.
“As if this day couldn’t get any worse.” Celestia thought.
“What happened?!” Luna asked.
“Ah…..Ah don’t know….” Applejack said, still in shock, “It just…fell over.”
Fluttershy went over to comfort a sobbing Pinkie whose hair had turned straight and dull. The rest of the staff was groaning about the whole ordeal when one of them smelled smoke and something burning.
“THE OVENS!” he cried as he ran over to the ovens and began to turn every one of them off.
The others ran to help him and soon the damage became clear: over half of the items prepared were ruined. Everyone in the room became depressed as they realized the wedding would have to be postponed in order to fix everything.
“We need to talk to Cadance.” Celestia said, “We have to tell her the wedding must be postponed until later tonight.”
“WHAT IS THIS?!” A voice suddenly yelled from behind them.
Everyone turned to see a pink alicorn standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She looked both shocked and ready to murder someone.
Excuse me, somePONY.
“Cadance,” Celestia began carefully, “I know it all seems bad but I promise you the wedding is still on. We just have to postpone it until later tonight. We’ll have a full moon wedding. It’ll be wonderful I promise. Does that sound okay?”
Cadance, or Chrysallis in disguise, appeared to be panicking a little as she looked back and forth between the cake and Celestia. She then suddenly went very still and her eyes glazed over almost like she was in a trance. Actually, she was communicating with her generals in charge of the invasion. After quickly explaining what had happened, her generals assured her that they could still pull off the invasion at night.
“In fact,” one general added, “It might make things easier to take control of the city.”
Chrysallis agreed and returned to the scene of the kitchen and said in Cadance’s voice with a heavy sigh, “Alright I guess…..it’s just a little saddening that I have to wait even longer now…”
Celestia trotted over and placed a wing around the alicorn’s shoulder and said in a soothing tone, “I know. I’m so sorry. We will do everything to make sure this will be the greatest full moon wedding anyone has ever seen.”
Up in the ceiling, Zack gave a triumphant fist pump as his mission became accomplished. He zoomed through the ceiling until he reached the outside world and checked on the location of the sun. It was just past noon so he would have to wait a little longer to wake everyone else up. So, in the meantime, he decided to have a little fun and spy on some unsuspecting ponies………
A FEW HOURS LATER……
"Wake up!"
"Mmmmmmmmm...."
"Wake up!"
"No"
"WAKE THE FUCK UP!"
*WHAM!*
Zack was never subtle when waking up the guys. They were immortal so they couldn't get hurt but they were also undead so it was hell trying to wake them up. Luckily he found that dropping their coffins from the ceiling was a pretty effective way to wake them up. Assuming he kept out of arm’s length.
"ZACK YOU ASSHOLE!"
You would think after all these years they would learn or get used to it.
"Hey you told me to wake you up at dusk and its dusk. In fact, it's pretty late so you guys have to hurry."
After checking to make sure he didn't have a knot forming in the back of his head, Dom marched over to the clock on the wall and checked the time. Sure enough it was almost nine.
"So you did it?" He asked Zack as he helped Michael out of his coffin.
"Yes I did!" Zack said proudly, "It all went off perfectly and they have rescheduled the wedding to take place an hour from now. So get ready guys!"
He zoomed into the ceiling and left the two dazed vampires to pull themselves together. Right away they pulled open a cooler and took out two bags of blood and sunk their teeth into the plastic. Several minutes later, they threw the empty bags into the trash can.
Michael took a look into the cooler, "Man we could not have picked a more perfect time to do this. We only have four bags left."
"We'll get more after this is over." Dom said as he stepped into the bathroom.
Michael heard the sound of running water and took the time to fix his hair and brush his fangs. He had taken a shower last night so all he had to do was get dressed.
Michael had just finished putting on his boots as Dom stepped out of the bathroom.
"At least we won't smell of cave or blood when we introduce ourselves." He said as he opened his wardrobe.
After both brothers were fully clothed, they stepped out into the hallway and made their way to the main cavern. The entire cave system was a maze but all they had to do was smell their way thanks to the enticing aroma of coffee.
Hey even the undead love a good cup of joe ok?
The two entered the spacious area to see Henry and Mark already up. Mark was chugging a strange liquid and upon seeing the two, Henry quickly walked over and gave them both two large pills and mugs filled with black coffee.
"Take these they will negate the venom in you fangs. We don't want to spread our curses to the ponies. No telling what that might cause."
"Ah great." Dom said before sticking the pill into his throat and swallowing hard to get it down.
Michael had a little more trouble but managed to swallow his too. Henry also took a pill before donning his top hat which completed his ensemble of a black dress coat with tails and a buttoned up white shirt with a bow-tie. He was also wearing black slacks and shoes.
Dom raised an eyebrow when he saw what Henry was wearing.
"Don't you think that's overdoing it?"
Henry huffed and said, "I believe in making a good first impression and someone has to look good due to the fact that you all wear the same clothes every blasted day."
"Point taken." Michael said, "You look good."
"Hey I hate to break up this heartfelt moment!" A voice cried.
Everyone looked up to the ceiling to see Zack poking his head out of the stone, "But the wedding bells are ringing so let’s go people it's show time!"
"Very well. I will meet you at the gate Zackary!" Henry called.
Zack nodded and disappeared.
"Let's go bro! We got some climbing to do." Dom said before both he and his brother leapt up the wall and into a tunnel at the top of the cave.
Henry then approached Mark, "Good luck old friend."
Mark nodded confidently before running through a tunnel leading beneath the city. Henry looked around to make sure everything was in check before exiting the cave whistling all the way.
A few moments later, a bush rustled alongside a barely used gravel road in the mountain. It was suddenly brushed away by Henry and he stepped out onto the road and brushed at his clothes. He took a deep breath of night air and saw that the sun was gone and the moon was gleaming behind some clouds. He could already feel his blood begin to boil. He looked ahead with his enhanced vision to see the back of the huge city just a few meters from him. The gates could be seen as well. They were a set of iron doors with watchtowers on either side built into the wall. Luckily, no one was manning them as they didn't expect anyone to just waltz up to the back entrance. But that is exactly what Henry did.
As he walked with cane in hand, he heard the sound of rustling fabric and looked up to see two black shapes leap across the gap between the mountain and the castle. One landed on a spire just to the side of the throne room. The other landed on one on the other side. They carefully slide down the shingled roofs and alighted on two gargoyles.
Henry turned on his communicator, "Michael, Dom, I can see you both. Can you see into the throne room?"
He saw Michael wave in his direction before his voice answered him through the mic in his ear, "Yea, it looks like they're preparing for the bride now. It shouldn't be too long. Better get inside."
Henry then called to another person, "Zack are you there?"
"Heyo!" A voice answered loud enough for him to cringe.
"Not so loud Zackary. Are you in position?"
"Almost. I'm checking on the number of Changelings in the city."
"How many are there?" It was Dom who asked that question.
"A lot. Probably more than a hundred. Way more than when I was in the city last time. Most are outside of the castle but there are a few inside with the procession."
"What about outside the city?" Henry asked.
"Hang on."
There was a pause for a moment before they all heard Zack let out a small gasp.
"Zack?" Henry asked feeling worried.
"It's like a huge black ring around the mountains." He said, his voice resonating shock, "It's like the entire hive has emptied out."
"Ah hell..." It was Mark, "Dat ain't gud."
"It's a goddamned swarm." Dom said, "Maybe we should call this off."
"No!" Henry yelled into the receiver, "We have waited long enough. I don't care what happens tonight we are not hiding anymore!"
Everyone went silent as his words resonated in their ear pieces. After a few moments Michael spoke, "I agree with Henry. We've come too far to go back. We have to help or the entire city will be overrun."
Dom sighed which sounded like static through the transmitters, "Fine but be careful."
"I think it is the Changelings who should be careful." Henry said as he stopped in front of the gate, "Zack I am at the gates now."
"Knock first please."
Henry rolled his eyes but knocked anyway, deciding to have a little fun. After a moment, the doors opened up and two guards stepped out with spears. At the sight of Henry, they froze and stared at the strange creature in front of them.
Henry smiled and took his hat off and bowed before coming back up and addressing the stunned guards, "Gentlemen! I hope I am not late for the party?"
The guards never had a chance to answer as Henry watched two spectral arms appear behind them and with a fluid movement, grabbed their heads and bashed them together, knocking them out cold.
The rest of Zack appeared and motioned inward with a bow, "Right this way sir."
Henry stepped over the sleeping guards with a nod, "Thank you Zack. Now if you will be so kind as to show me to the castle gates?"
"Right away!" Zack said as he flew down the street with Henry following right behind him.
"Well this is it," Henry thought, "We have made first contact and we knocked it unconscious. And now we're running through the city waiting for hell to break loose. This is going to be a gas."
Smiling, he ran down the empty streets after his specter friend.
In the throne room of the castle, Celestia and Luna were standing at the throne, waiting to call in the bride. Shining Armor was standing to the side with an extremely tired look on his face. Both princesses were still stressed out but just glad to be getting it all over with. Still, both were bothered by the same thing.
"Have you seen Twilight anywhere?" Luna asked her sister, knowing full well what happened.
"No," Celestia said, "I had hoped to find her and talk about what she had said to Cadance but I can't find her anywhere."
Suddenly, music sounded as the doors slowly opened to allow the bride through.
"It's too late now sister," Luna said as they watch Cadance slowly walk down the aisle, "I'm sure she's fine."
Elsewhere, a doughnut shop was seeing very little business. The colt stuck behind the counter was feeling very unhappy about not going to the wedding when his boss and friends were. The only customers he had was one old pony who thought the wedding wasn't that important, a couple who decided to spend time together while all the shops weren't so crowded, and the last customer actually kept him from just quitting right there.
"So why aren't you at the wedding Spike?" Joe asked the purple dragon.
"Eh, weddings aren't really my thing plus there wasn't really anything I could have done to help." The dragon responded.
"Yea I hear ya." Joe said, thankful for the conversation.
Mark was also in the store but no one could see him. He lay just below the tile floor as he waited for the signal to emerge. He could smell every single doughnut in the store and was trying to identify the different types to pass the time. Henry and Zack were already on the move but it was Dom who would call when to strike.
Suddenly his communicator sounded, "Dom, Zack and I are in position near the square."
Mark waited for Dom to respond but all he heard was silence. He reached up to turn on his mic and said very quietly, "Hey. Eryting OK?"
Then Michael responded, "We have a problem."
High upon the castle towers, the scene unfolding in front of Michael in the throne room was anything but what they had expected to happen. Out of nowhere, a purple unicorn mail burst through the doors with the REAL Cadence in tow and exposed Chrysallis before the ceremony could even start.
"Oh crap..."
Realizing she had been found out, the Queen of the Changelings turned into her true form in a flash of green light.
This signaled the other Changelings in the room to change as well begin rounding up everyone in the room. Then something else unexpected happened. Both the princesses began to fight the queen and looked like they might actually win. But then Chrysallis suddenly began to show a lot more strength and the amount of magic in the room erupted, shattering the glass windows and shaking the city as the entire throne room was flooded with light.
Underneath the doughnut shop, Mark had to steady himself as the foundation shook violently. Everyone in the shop looked around to try and figure out what happened.
“What was that?” Spike asked.
Mark was wondering the same thing when he heard screaming and a sound like a thousand buzzing insects. Outside Dom heard it too and looked down to see Changelings attacking ponies in the streets. Then he heard the buzzing noise and looked up.
And one by one, the stars were blacked out by the huge swarm of the Changeling invasion. He knew there was a force field but there was no way in hell that it was going to hold. They had to act now.
That’s when he yelled into his mic to everyone, “GO NOW!”
At that order, Henry calmly stepped out of the shadows and into the town square. He stopped behind a group of Changelings herding a crowd of ponies into a corner. The ponies all gasped and some even screamed when they saw him. The Changelings, wondering what was scaring them besides themselves, turned to look behind them and they too gasped in surprise.
Henry just smiled as he took off his hat and coat, “Greetings ladies and gentle…..ponies?” he said in a tone like he was announcing the next act at a circus, “My name is Henry Woodlock and I am here to rid you of your pests.”
The Changelings growled as they realized he was talking about them. But Henry just put on a very eerie smile as he watched the moonlight slowly creep up the street towards him. He didn’t know how long it would be until it got to him or how long it would stay on him with the swarm in the air. He just knew it had to be long enough.
With a creepy smile and a gleam in his eye he asked the crowd, “Would you like to see a magic trick?”
Everypony in the square just stared and then gasped again as he put the hat in the air and it started to float. He did the same with his cane and jacket and they stayed in the air as well. Finally, he took off his shoes, bow-tie, glasses, and shirt leaving only his pants and his bare, pale chest. From beneath the floating hat a gruesome smile appeared and then a pair of eyes as another creature materialized before the scared ponies only this one was floating and transparent.
The ghost put the clothes on a trash can as Henry spoke once again, “And now for my next trick!”
And that’s when the moonlight shone down on him. He looked up and felt the change begin. His eyes turned yellow and he hunched over as a searing pain grasped at him. He fought through it as hair suddenly began to cover him. Dark fur formed over his skin as he grew in height and his muscles began to bulge. There was a cracking sound as the bones in his legs morphed to resemble canine legs. His arms elongated and claws grew from his fingers. His mouth became longer as his jaw turned into a hideous maw of sharp teeth and his ears grew longer and all the while the hair grew longer and his muscles became larger. Finally, he stopped growing and looked up at the ponies, his canine eyes piercing their souls. The changelings were frozen with fear and backed away from the monster. It just snarled before letting out a howl that echoed through the night. Deep and long, it was soon joined by other howling as timber-wolves howled with it in unison. The whole ordeal shocked every pony and changeling to their core and then the werewolf and poltergeist charged into battle.
Mark heard the howl and took it as the symbol to begin. In the doughnut shop, everyone was shaking with fear from the howling when another horror emerged. The tiles began to bulge out as something started knocking against them. Suddenly they burst out as an arm appeared, greenish and rotten; it knocked several tables away and caused everyone to scream. It clawed at the floor as it pulled the rest of itself out of the hole. Finally, Mark stood up in the middle of the shop and looked around at every single terrorized face. He stopped at Spike and tipped his hat before barreling into the street, knocking the glass doors apart and taking two changelings down in the process. Other changelings noticed the sudden appearance of the creature and ready to face it. Mark just gave a wheezing laugh as he charged at them with a roar.
Dom and Michael both knew they would have to deal with that swarm but first they had to clear the throne room. It looked like six mares, including the purple one, were trying to escape.
“Okay Michael let’s do this.” Dom said.
Michael nodded, “Right, in and out.”
“That’s right. Try not to be seen too much.”
In the throne room, the six mares were backing away from the Changelings to the wall near the door. They had no idea what they were going to do when one of them just suddenly was thrown out the window. It looked like a shadow had picked him up and thrown him. Suddenly, every single changeling was being thrown into the walls and out the window by shadows that blazed by so fast that no one could see what it was. Chrysallis was thrown into a rage at the sight of it all.
“No! NO!” she cried.
The six mares took their chance to run to the door but Chrysallis saw them and teleported herself in front of them.
“YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE?!” she yelled as she brought her horn down.
But she never casted a spell as something grabbed her horn. The queen and the elements gasped as they saw the tall and dark figure of Michael standing there.
“That’s not very nice,” he said as he threw Chrysallis across the room into the throne before turning to the six in front of him, “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast. We can’t hold them off forever.”
He walked over to the window and saw Dom already taking on the swarm.
“What are you?” a voice asked.
Michael turned and saw that it was the purple one, “My name is Michael and I’m a vampire.”
He then leapt out of the window and into the swarm. He grabbed changeling after changeling and threw and bit and swiped and punched as he fought back the seemingly endless wave of the insects. At first, the changelings were caught off guard but came back to their senses as they begin to fight back. They got a few lucky hits in and some managed to get past but the brothers were taking a huge chunk out of the swarm together.
Down below, Henry was demolishing the army of changelings. He bowled over entire squads and hurled chunks of destroyed houses at the scurrying insects. All the while he made sure to get the civilians out of the square as he made his way to the gates. Zack was using his powers to levitate objects and hurl them at his foes. He was taking note of how many headshots he was getting. He was currently up to twenty-two and counting. He knew there was no killing but they didn’t say anything about major headaches. The duo was joined by Mark when he came running out of an alley with a huge amount of changelings grasped onto him by their teeth but this barely slowed him down as he grabbed each one and rammed them into the ground. He threw punch after punch and sent the insects flying with his supernatural state. Suddenly one changeling flew up and came down hard with a kick to Mark’s head causing it to fall back. It was holding on by a thread of skin but Mark just grabbed it and placed back where it was originally as the bones in his neck awkwardly reconnected. He growled at the changeling and the smart fellow flew away in fear.
The trio managed to bust down the gates and started engaging the changelings in the courtyard. The guards already fighting were startle by the sudden appearance of the monsters and tried to attack them but Zack grabbed their weapons and immobilized them.
“We’re on your side!” he said as he let them go before picking up a statue and knocking a group of changelings aside with it like a bat.
The guards decided to listen and together with their monster allies pushed the changelings back to the castle. Henry took the time to look up and see there were still changelings coming down but for the most part, Dom and Michael were taking care of the majority of them. He rushed a group of changelings and threw them aside into a fountain as he reached the steps. Mark and Zack were moving through at a slow pace but Henry just walked over the insects. He reached the doors and began to bash against it and on the third try, managed to knock it open. Inside he saw six mares getting captured and ran after them as he grabbed the changelings from behind and started to pummel them one by one. The six screamed when they saw their savior but Henry managed to calm them down with a gesture. Zack and Mark appeared in the door and caught up to Henry.
“There are more of you?” Twilight asked.
“So I take it you met the brothers?” Zack asked.
“Brothers?” Rainbow said.
“Well yeah,” Zack said, “We have two vampires. What are you six doing getting captured?”
Twilight just shook herself and got straight to the point, knowing that they could use all the help they could get, “We need the Elements of Harmony to defeat the Queen.”
“Tha wat now?” Mark asked.
“The Elements of Harmony!” Twilight said, enunciating each word, “There the only thing that can stop the queen.”
“Well I’m sorry honey but you’re not gonna be able to get them out there.” Zack said pointing behind him to the still raging battle, “You got a plan B?”
The other five looked to Twilight as she thought for a moment, “Maybe if we can get the real Cadance to Shining Armor, she can heal him and get the magical barrier back up. That would send the changelings out of the city!”
She got a triumphant look on her face as she realized her plan just might work.
“Alrighty then,” Zack said, “Henry and Mark will escort you there. I’m gonna go get the bros.”
Zack took off through the ceiling as the main six followed the werewolf and zombie to the throne room. He came out through the roof and quickly spotted Dom and Michael. He tried to reach them on their communicators.
“Dom! Michael!”
“A little busy Zack!” Dom replied.
“Hey listen! We have a plan. We need you both to meet us in the throne room. These six ponies say we might be able to get rid of all of these insects plus the queen if we get the real Cadance to Shining Armor!”
There was a pause before Dom answered, “Okay we’re on our way.”
Zack went back through the ceiling and took off for the throne room. In said room, Chrysallis was busy restraining the princesses and Cadance to the floor with a strange glue like substance while Shining just continued to stand at the altar in a trance. More changelings had arrived and were herding the crowd into the back of the room.
“I don’t know what kind of warriors you summoned, Celestia,” Chrysallis said to the bound sun goddess, “But they are no match to my full army bearing down upon the city.”
She walked back over to the throne and placed a hoof on Shining Armor’s heard, “Soon, this fool will be dead and all of Equestria will be mine!”
Cadance almost began to cry as Celestia and Luna just glared at the queen, unable to do any form of magic due to the substances covering their horns and Cadance was too exhausted from her time in the caves.
Suddenly a voice rang out, “STOP!”
Chrysallis looked to see the Elements standing in the doorway with a blanket of fog to their back.
“Well, well, well……if it isn’t the Elements of Harmony come back to save the day.” She said as she calmly walked down the steps from the altar with her changelings right behind her, “But you seemed to be missing you pieces of jewelry that you need to defeat me, too bad for you.”
The six ponies then smiled confidently causing Chrysallis to frown.
“We have something better than that.” Twilight said.
And out of the fog stepped five figures, two tall and dark men in cloaks with black hair and red eyes, fangs bared in gruesome snarls. One was massive and covered in fur with a canine face and a monstrous build; it snarled and barked at the changelings. One was rotten and missing pieces of its body but stood tall and shambled forward with a moan. Finally, one was floating in the air with a spectral glow and appeared transparent and gave a ghostly and creepy smile.
Chrysallis stared in horror at the group of monsters and stumbled with her words, “W-w-what are those things?! Destroy them my army!”
The changelings all charged the group and Dom said quickly to Twilight, “Get to the princess quickly!” before jumping and grappling with a big changeling.
Henry and Mark both tore through the ranks and put changeling after changeling on the floor. Michael appeared to fly through the air as he fought his way through the swarm, leaping from point to point. Zack used tables and chair and silverware to beat the changelings who just passed through him harmlessly.
Dom subdued his foe and turned to the queen, “You and me, bitch! Let’s go!”
Chrysallis let out a cry of rage as she sent a bolt of magic at Dom. It collided with him and dug his feet into the tile as he fought back the beam of energy. While the fight was raging, Twilight and her friends dug at the glue and managed to free Cadance. They still had to get her to Shining and they couldn’t do that with the Queen in their way. Dom saw this and slowly but deliberately made his way to her. Step after step he drew closer to her and she put everything into her spell. But it wasn’t enough as Dom grabbed her and flung them both away from the altar.
“NOW!” Dom cried to the ponies.
Cadance raced to Shining Armor and when she reached him and embraced her husband, a bright light shone from them both. Everyone covered their eyes and looked to see that both wife and husband were together, touching horns and smiling at each other as they rose into the air and waves of magic began to form around them.
Dom released Chrysallis and went over to his friends who were backing away from the sight.
“No….” Chrysallis said incredulously, “NOOOOO!”
With that shout, the two lovers released their love and Chrysallis and her minions went sailing out of the room as every single changeling was picked up and sent along with them. The entire swarm and their queen disappeared over the horizon as Chrysallis cried in despair the whole way. The magic finally dimmed and the town was revealed whole and undamaged thanks to it.
As the dust settled in the throne room, the five friends took a sigh of relief as they realized that it was all over. Then they turned to the ponies in the room as all of them were giving them looks of fear and apprehension. Dom decided to speak when the doors burst open again and a full battalion of guards rushed in and surrounded the humans. Soon they found themselves with almost a hundred spears pointed at their faces. They each raised their hands in a show of good will and Zack took the moment to speak.
“Trick or Treat?”
Author's Note
I wanted to put this one out on Halloween as a special gift. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you all have a wonderful and scary Halloween night.
Let me know what you think.
Next up will be the return of an old face, The Writer, as I finally finish the next chapters in my first story: Wrath of the Broken Crown.
Chapter One: The Forsaken Ones and Their Glorious Plan
It was a beautiful night and the weather was nice and cooling. A breeze brushed through the tall figures long black hair and caressed his young face; well at least it looked young. The figure was standing on a cliff in the side of a tall mountain overlooking a huge and sparkling city that was built into the side of the adjourning mountain. He was wearing a long, black, thick coat with a high collar and was clad almost entirely in black, from his boots to his shirt to his gloves. The only thing that wasn’t black was the white cross that hung from his neck on a silver chain. His face was young with black stubble along his cheeks and chin. His eyes were round and large and were colored a deep maroon. His long hair fell back on his shoulders and two small braids were strung along both sides of his head to keep it out of his eyes.
He smiled contently revealing white teeth that would seem normal were it not for the fact that his canines were razor sharp and longer than the others. He loved to come out of his hole and look over the city with all its lights and beautiful architecture. It was truly amazing how far these creatures had come since the dark days. He had seen them grow from the first steps they took to now. They had created wonderful places and inventions. It was like watching the growth of the human race again from the beginning, except the human race was no more. It was just him and his four friends and the only reason they were still here is because neither Death nor Time would come anywhere near them for they were monsters. Cursed beings whose existence was only to cause fear and destruction; well that’s what the regular people wanted you to think.
On the contrary, he and his friends wanted the opposite: to be accepted for what they were and to find a real home amongst these creatures and start a good life. The figure stared down at the city, his incredible eyesight allowing him to view the city streets and the creatures that walked down them. They were small ponies with big eyes and heads and ranged in a multitude of colors, they each had distinct manes and symbols on their flanks. He wondered what it would be like if he went down and just tried to introduce himself….
*beepbeepbeep*
The young man started as a beeping from his wristwatch startled him out of his thoughts. The communicator was picking up a call; he had no doubt as to who was using it. He clicked the pick-up button and put his finger to his ear which held the small receiver to block out other sounds and a gruff voice greeted him with a rather cheerful, “Where the fuck are you!?”
Ok, that last part wasn’t true; it was a rather frustrated voice which belonged to the young man’s older brother.
“Calm down Dominic I’m just outside on the porch.”
“What?! What are you doing out there? Do you want to get seen or something?”
“Dom seriously, no one’s gonna see me from this far. I’m pretty much invisible and its night out by the way.”
“It is? Could’ve sworn it was midday…. Well listen I can’t find Zack and I’m getting worried he’s up to no good somewhere he shouldn’t be.”
“You mean like all the damn time? I’m sure he’s off sneaking around and stuff but he did swear not to reveal himself though so I wouldn’t worry too much. How’s Henry doing?”
“Still in his lab doing his chemical shit.”
“And Mark?”
“Asleep….. I think.”
“Wouldn’t bother checking his pulse bro.”
The line went silent for a moment as the young man waited for a response from his brother. After a while of nothing he began to wonder what was up.
“Dom, you alright?”
“Huh what? Oh yeah, yeah I was just……..Michael I think we need to talk about-“
But his younger brother interrupted him, “If this is regarding what we’ve been talking about for the past few years than you can come outside and we can talk face to face. Seriously Dom when was the last you stepped outside?”
“…………I can’t remember” replied his older brother shamefully.
“Then get your vampiric ass out here man for Christ sakes. I swear you get any paler I’ll be able to see your insides.”
“Alright, alright jeez Mike I’m coming out….shit….”
The man waited a few moments before he heard the sound of shifting stone and he turned to see a boulder move aside to reveal a cave in the side of the mountain just big enough for a guy his size to easily duck through. Same couldn’t be said for his brother though.
Dom was hunched down as he came out of the hole in the mountain and when he cleared the threshold he stood to his full height and stretched his limbs. The resounding cracks echoed over the trees. He walked next to his shorter brother and took in the view. He was a lot more muscular than his brother and wore the same style of clothing but had three gold necklaces and a few rings on his fingers. His head was shaved with a small Mohawk down the middle of his head with tribal tattoos on the exposed skin of his head. His face was a little older with a few scars and was dominated by a full beard and had the same color of eyes as his brother.
He narrowed his red eyes at the great city, “By the stars. It sure has gotten bigger than the last time I saw it.”
“The last time you saw it, the king and queen were still alive.”
“Really? They died?” Dom asked as he quirked an eyebrow.
“More like sacrificed themselves to stop an invasion a couple thousand years ago.”
“Where was I?”
“Drunk, somewhere in the polar ice fields.” Mike said as he sat down on the ledge of the cliff.
“Oh” his brother said as he sat down next to him. They sat there and listened to the wind and watched the movement of life in the city below. They did not worry about time passing by, they had all eternity to sit and watch the world change. That was there blessing and curse and they shared it in mutual silence. Time for them meant nothing and felt like nothing. A thousand years to them felt like just a few mere moments but that was only because of how out of touch they were with the world. They longed to find a better place to watch time pass at a slower and happier tempo.
“Want to go for a jog?” Michael asked his older brother.
“Now? Won’t we be seen?” Dom asked worried.
“Man you need to stop worrying all the damn time. No one will see us at night if we stick to the abandon routes.” Michael said as he stood up and began to stretch his legs.
“Alright fine but don’t expect me to show mercy to anyone who spots us.”
Dom stood and stretched his back out resulting in a symphony of cracks and pops. The two stood side by side and waited for the wind to die down.
“Three…” Michael began to count.
The wind picked up and whistled through the air.
“Two…”
The wind then became silent….
And they vanished, leaving nothing but imprints in the grass on the cliff. If one was to look close with super powerful vision they could see two black lines moving swiftly across the mountains and plains. They appeared to be nothing but blurs as the two brothers raced across the surface of the world. Their long strides barely touching the ground as their supernatural powers gave them the ability to run at speeds quicker than the normal eye can see.
Michael was surprised as always by his brother’s speed, the older vampire able to keep just in front of him and he knew that Dom wasn’t even using his full strength. But he was happy to be out and running and he could tell Dom was enjoying himself as a small smile appeared behind his beard. They raced across the oceans and jungles and savannahs until they reached the exact same spot on the cliff where they started, Dom just barely beating his brother.
“Why do you always have to tease me like that?” Michael asked his older brother while playfully slugging him in the shoulder which to a mortal would have been a one-hit kill. Neither vampires were winded and Dom just showed a toothy smile.
“Because I can little bro.” Dom said as he ruffled his brother’s hair in response which again would have taken off the head of any normal person.
Their fun times were interrupted by a cackle that sounded like it was coming from underwater. They both knew whose laugh that was and turned to see a shadow peel itself off the rock face and began to glow and become solid. The figure was a human male somewhere in his late teens and was wearing a grey hoodie with baggy sweatpants and Adidas sneakers. His hair was red and unkempt and his shallow face was one of a trickster. But that was where the normality ended as this figure was surrounded by a green ethereal field with pale glowing eyes and was floating off the ground. You could also partially see through him.
“There you are Zack!” Dom yelled as he grabbed the ghost’s neck which he was allowed to do thanks to his undead status.
“URK! Nice to see you too Dom heheheh.” Zack said in his eerie voice that echoed and faded in a whisper.
“Where the hell have you been?!” Dom shouted in anger.
Michael then laid a hand on Dom’s outstretched hand and made his older brother loosen his grip.
“Start talking Zack.” Michael ordered.
“Well if you must know…” Zack began with a creepy smile, “I was spying on those little ponies down there and I might have eavesdropped on some very juicy information regarding a wedding and a Changeling invasion of the city.”
“WHAT!?!” both brothers cried.
“Yep heheheh” Zack laughed, “Apparently Shining Armor is getting hitched to Princess Cadance but is in for a nasty surprise because the first phase of the invasion is already finished since a number of Changelings have already snuck inside the city disguised as regular citizens but I could easily see through their pitiful disguises. And that’s when I saw the Queen! Hahahahah!”
“The Queen of the Changelings?” asked Michael. Dom had let go of Zack and was radioing Henry, “What is she doing there?”
“Chrysalis is the one who started it. She’s disguised as Cadance and plans to overthrow the princesses in the middle of the wedding and commence a full scale invasion of Canterlot hahahah. And you two said I was useless.” Zack said with a smile as he floated around spinning in odd angles.
“We have to do something!” Michael said.
Dom then placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “We will. Henry is gathering what he can and told us to meet him downstairs. Let’s go. Zack, inside now.”
“Alright sheesh” the specter replied as all three of them headed down the hole in the mountain.
Soon the tunnel became wider and opened to reveal a tall and spacious cave with a smooth floor. There was a table with five chairs in the middle and a fully stocked kitchen on one side of the wall. The other side had a large fireplace with several chairs sitting on a big rug. One chair was occupied: an old, creaky, wooden rocking chair was holding what appeared to be a sleeping human. But no breath came from him….
The three hurried over to the table where a tall and lanky man with brown curly hair and circular glasses with a lab coat was laying out several maps.
Dom came up beside him and said, “Henry, what do you have?”
The scientist looked up and revealed his golden eyes behind his lenses and adjusted his glasses as he set out several pieces of paper.
"Well," Henry said as he finished smoothing out the final map, "According to these maps that Zack and I have made, if we are to lend a hand in protecting the city and finally reveal our existence to the world, then there are several points where we could hold a strong defense and with our powers it shouldn't be that hard to hold off the invasion. But before I tell you what they are I would like to ask Zack a few questions."
He then looked up to where the poltergeist was floating above the table with a smile, "Zackary are you sure there is an actual Changeling invasion of the city taking place?"
Zack didn't answer him, instead slowly turning himself upside down to bring his head next to Henry's. Then he moved his head inside of his scientist friend who patiently waited for the merge. He had done this before and was no stranger to the abilities of Zack's ghost powers one of which was mind sharing through possession.
As the last part of Zack's head disappeared into Henry's, his golden eyes turned a pale green as Henry saw all of what Zack saw in his time in the city. He saw ponies walking along the cobblestone streets but several were not who they appeared to be. Beneath an outline of a very convincing disguise was a changeling with a dark exoskeleton and green eyes walking amongst the ponies. Henry saw a great number already in the city and watched as the vision turned to two changelings talking in an alleyway.
"Do you remember the plan?"
"Of course I remember! The minute she says "I do," the queen will shut off the magical shield and our main force will attack from above while we ambush the guards. The queen will take out the princesses and so long as we take out the Elements then we will take control of this city in minutes."
As the two changelings laughed at their plan, the view turned away and towards the castle. Henry then saw though Zack's eyes, a couple standing on a balcony overlooking the city. One was a muscular stallion, proud and happy with white fur and blue hair in his mane and tail wearing a very regal set of clothes. Henry had seen him before and knew his name was Shining Armor, captain of the Canterlot Guard. But he seemed sick....with huge bags under his eyes which were tinged with green and sweat was falling down his face. His horn was constantly glowing as Henry noticed how he was maintaining a shield over the entire city. But the captain stilled smiled as he pulled his lover close, a pink mare alicorn with long hair with pink and purple highlights that curled at the end with a kind smile but Henry could see a very different creature under that visage. With holes in her legs and bug like wings and hair that fell in ugly waves with a long and jagged horn, he had no doubt that this was Queen Chrysalis and she was indeed planning a takeover of the city. He then witnessed her horn lighting up and sapping Shining's power and he realized what was making him so sick.
Then the vision ended as Zack pulled his head out of Henry's and the scientist became very worried.
"Oh dear..." he said as he put both hands on the table and stared intently at the map in front of him.
Dom leaned forward, "It's that bad?"
Henry nodded, "Bad enough it's going to need our intervention to save the city and everyone in it. But there's a problem..."
"What problem?" Dom asked.
Henry looked up at Zack again and asked, "Zack what time is the wedding tomorrow?"
At that question, Zack's smile suddenly fell and he began to twiddle his ghostly thumbs nervously.
"Um...." he began slowly.
"Oh don't tell me!" Dom shouted.
Zack finally hung his head and said quietly, "The ceremony starts at high noon and will be over by five...."
Dom just face-tabled with a growl and Michael cursed under his breath while Henry just sighed.
"Well that's just great!" Dom shouted again, "Our one chance and the sun stops us!"
"Ah quit yer whinin'!" A voice yelled suddenly.
Everyone turned to see the once still body in the chair standing up in the middle of the living space with the fire to his back. Then the figure started to walk, or more appropriately, shamble forward on two crooked legs in worn rodeo jeans and dirty boots. As he stepped into the light they could see his red flannel shirt and pale skin that was the color of decomposing green with sores and spots where the muscle and bone were showing. Then his face finally came into the light and it was a face that would make anyone's mother scream in horror. He had no lips and a few teeth were missing, his nose was halfway rotted, his right eye was missing the upper eyelid and his left was glazed over and stuck looking to the left, his left ear was gone and his right had a bite mark at the top, his hair was gray and had only a few strands left tucked under a trucker cap and his chin was hidden by a goatee that was still falling out.
He shuffled over to the table and laid two gross looking hands on it with fingernails that were either jagged or broken off and the only finger he was missing was his right index and he was wearing a rusting wedding band.
"It's alive!" Zack screamed dramatically.
The rotting figure known as Mark began to talk which was garbled and broken thanks to his missing lips and he whistled every time there was an s, "Shit uh Zack. Naow, iv ya'll arr eally anting ta sssave tha chity hen hhy don'tcha just git tem ta ostone tha edding?"
Everyone looked to Henry for translation since he was the best at figuring out what Mark the zombie just said.
"Well first he told Zack to shut up and then he said that if we really want to save the city then why don't we get them to.....postpone the wedding? Hmm....that might just work." he finished thoughtfully.
Dom just stared in confusion, "How do we get them to postpone a wedding all the way to nightfall?"
Mark just reached up and thonked him on the head before pointing at Zack.
"Ow! What did..." then he saw where Mark was pointing, "Oh no....no no no no no it's too dangerous."
But Zack was overjoyed and literally glowing brighter as his grin came back with force, "Really Mark? I can do that! Let me do it!"
"Zack is the best at causing huge amounts of mischief?" Michael said, actually agreeing with the plan of sending Zack to cause damage in the city.
"Did you not hear how many times I said no?" Dom said in shock that everyone was agreeing to this, "It's too risky. If Zack gets too involved he could be caught!"
"How in the hell would they catch him?" Mike asked, "None of them know how to catch a poltergeist of Zack's caliber. He'll be fine."
"Dom this could be the only way to ensure we get our chance at helping?" Henry stated while Mark just grunted in approval.
Zack looked at Dom with puppy dog eyes and the vampire just stared at him for several minutes before finally sighing in defeat and saying in a commanding tone, "Do not let yourself get seen and do not hurt anyone understand?"
Zack just began to laugh as he flew around the room chanting, "I get to cause some mayhem, I get to cause some mayhem!"
Dom just face-palmed while Michael patted him on the back and walked over to the kitchen. Henry went back to looking over the map of Canterlot with Mark. After a minute, Michael came back with two red solo cups filled with a dark, thick red liquid that Dom accepted graciously. Then Henry called everyone's attention as he went over the plan:
"There are three entrances into the city: the train station in the south area and the main entrance next to it. There is also a third entrance to the east that is connected to a road that winds up the mountain. This road is seldom used and one of our entrances opens near the gate. I will come out there and Zack will open the gate for me. Dom and Michael will jump from the top of the mountain to the two main spires on the castle here where they will be able to attack the changelings attacking from above."
The brothers nodded as they took in the plan.
"Mark, how's your digging skills?" Henry asked the zombie.
"Like a nole on ssstehoids!"
Everyone, again, looked to Henry for translation.
"He said, like a mole on steroids."
Everyone nodded then in understanding.
Henry began to explain Mark's part of the plan, "You are going to dig your way under the city streets and ambush from below. There are a number of catacombs underneath the city so you'll have to be careful to stay just under the ground. Try not to draw too much attention by damaging gardens."
Mark laughed then stopped when Zack came down and pointed to a small store in the middle of the city, "Stop when you get here. It's a doughnut shop so you'll be able to smell your way there. And you can always order some doughnuts for us?"
Mark laughed again and nodded.
"I'll send the signal once I've reached my position. Take out as many as you can and save as many as you can then make your way to the queen. Once she's taken care of then the invasion should stop. We'll use our communicators to keep in touch. Clear?"
"Yep!"
"Sure."
"Let's hope everything goes according to plan."
"Lesh doh it!"
With their plan finished, everyone decided to retire except for Zack who never slept. As Dom and Michael made their way to the tunnels leading to their rooms, Dom turned back, "Hey Zack! Wake us up at sundown. We should all get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow."
Zack nodded and flew into the ceiling with a cackle.
"I can't believe we're doing this finally," Michael said to Dom as they walked, "Will we cause a panic when we reveal ourselves?"
"Of course we will." Dom said, "Somewhat. I'm not sure how they'll react to us exactly. But if we just save the princesses then they'll take of it right?"
"Yea. Yea you're right. They'll take care of us."
Dom put an arm over his brother, "We'll be just fine bro."
Back in the main area, Henry was putting away the maps and conversing with Mark, "I'll make sure to make another brew for you in the morning. Just to be safe."
Mark grunted sleepily as he slowly turned back to his chair. As he sat back down, Henry came up to him.
"Mark, do you think this will work?"
"Yea. It hasss ta."
"Will they actually postpone the wedding all the way to nightfall?"
"Course. Ehery girl loves a full moon whedding."
The he laughed a little before his eyes glazed over and he became still and silent as the grave...
DOCTOR MAGNUM PRESENTS!
HIS BRAND SPANKING NEW STORY!
PROJECT: FORSAKEN
Author's Note
Hello boys! I'm baaaaaaaaack!
Welcome to my new story starring the oddest bunch of characters ever! Two non sparkling vampires, a real life werewolf, a poltergeist, and a talking zombie!
Get ready for some mayhem!
