Chapter 15 A: Venom within Her Smile.
"I had my doubts about you, but I see that you're the only candidate for the job. That and your father including Dark Fire speak highly about you. I am giving you the position to be in command over my changeling army; they are masters of disguise and stealth. They will get the job done as long as you do your part and that is being a fearless leader and putting the safety of the swarm before yourself. Do this and you shall succeed where I have failed before. Your father said you're a princess; I want you to be a queen. Do you accept these responsibilities?"
"By all means, Chrysalis, I shall return back here with not one scratch on your changelings."
"Then be off, Maneful, you have a job to do."
Turning around, she overlooked the view of the army of Changelings in perfect formation lined up. As her wings flared out, all the changelings followed in mimicry and begin to buzz their own wings.
"Maneful, I've been sent to give you this message from your father, King Sombra!" A messenger called running towards her.
"What does my father want now?!" She asked becoming frustrated.
"He says that you're not ready for something like this and commanded that you let somepony else lead the attack." The messenger said.
Maneful's eyes started to twitch before turning into an angry expression. It was soon diminished and replaced with a fake smile.
"Chrysalis, tell my father that daddy's little girl isn't so little anymore, AND THAT HE SHOULD MIND HIS OWN BUCKEN BUSINESS," she shouts before she abruptly launched herself into the air. "LET'S MAKE THESE PONIES PAY FOR EVERYTHING THAT THEY EVER DONE TO US!"
As she flew off, the Changeling army took flight and followed her, completely blocking out the full moon and sky causing a dark shadow to hover above the kingdom. Chrysalis stayed in her place until the last changeling left her sight.
"Don't let me down," she mutters before disappearing in the darkness of the night.
"LAND HERE, BEFORE WE'RE SPOTTED!" Maneful commanded, diving into the trees below.
As the Changelings obeyed, Maneful found a clear spot that allowed her an overlooking view of the targeted city.
"There it is fellow changelings, Manehatten; one of the biggest and most developed city of Equestria. It's practically named after me." She said rubbing her hooves together excitingly.
"Maneful, there appears to be a magical barrier around the city." One of her soldiers said.
Maneful took a closer look at the city and just as the changeling said; there was a huge pink colored dome around the city.
"Everypony or changeling, stay put, I'll investigate this. You there, what's your name?" She asked, pointing her right hoof to the changeling to her left.
"Imago, ma'am." He responded, standing at attention.
"You have some manners, alright, you'll do. Follow me." She ordered.
Maneful took flight and flew low to the ground. Looking back, the changeling, Imago, had caught up with her and stood to her right. Within a few seconds, they finally reached the magical barrier.
"With all due respect, ma'am, why am I accompanying you again?" Imago asked.
"I wanted somepony or changeling, whatever term you prefer, to talk to." She answered looking at him.
"Ummm, ok." He answered rubbing his forelegs confused. He eventually shrugged his shoulders.
As they looked into the barrier, they spotted the city from a distant.
"I'd guess we're about 2,000 feet away from the first building. I highly doubt we've been spotted." Imago informed.
"Tell me, have you ever encountered these barriers before?" She asked curious.
"Once, during the Canterlot Wedding, it's what gave us changelings a bad name in the first place. Have you?" He asked.
"They tried in the Crystal Empire, it failed though. My dad was always good at breaking things."
Looking down at where the barrier met the ground, she noticed that the grass was almost burnt. Glancing to her left, she saw Imago reaching out with his hoof, about to touch it.
"Regardless, if you hit the field hard it should-"
"WAIT," she shouts, grabbing his hoof and pulls him back.
She then found a nearby rock and kicked it into the field. To Imago's shock, the rock completely vaporized and turned to ashes.
"That could have been your hoof, will you please be more careful?" She suggested almost motherly.
"Who would use such lethal methods?"
"They must be taking everything to a whole new level in tactics, this is one of their last cities after all and they'll do anything to protect it."
"How do we get through though, last time we had Chrysalis on the inside to-"
"Here's an order from me…do what's natural to you."
"What?"
"You heard me, I do what I want and you do what you want. Be comfortable in your own fighting style, as in do what Chrysalis would normally have you do. I'll take care of this magical field and distract them."
"But it disintegrates anything!" He complained.
"My father taught me many things…but he didn't have to teach me how to do this!" She said, taking flight.
Imago watched as Maneful started to scale around the dome of magic before realizing what he had to do. He then flew back as fast as he could to inform his fellow changelings the news. Meanwhile, Maneful continued to scale the barrier until it leveled out on the top. Seeing where the magic dispersed out on the dome, she launched upwards into the cloud layer. Looking downward at the city, she took a deep breath before her wings light up bright purple. Putting her hooves to her sides, two huge balls of yellow magic formed before she dived towards the barrier. Before she collided into the dome, she extended her hooves forward, slamming the two yellow balls into it with a loud scream. From the outside, the changelings watched in awe as a huge ripple was sent downward on the barrier before it shattered like broken glass. By this time, Imago had returned.
"The barrier is down, what are your orders?!" A changeling commander shouted.
"Swarm." Imago replied darkly.
Maneful landed in what looked like a park, but it didn't take long for multiple guards to suddenly start surrounding her.
"Time to prove you wrong dad." She whispered.
The guards had no idea how to react when their armor was suddenly blown off. She used this to her advantage as she darted into the crowd of guards and got to work. Maneful preferred pressure points rather than brutal beatings. She wouldn't block either; she used evasion techniques such as flips and twirls as a defensive procedure. After just a minute, fifty guards lied paralyzed around her.
"Wow, I forgot I could even do that." She said with impressed.
She took flight to get out of the park and abruptly landed in the middle of a cobblestone street nearby. Looking around, she saw multiple unicorns set up on the ceilings with their horns glowing.
"It's an Element of Disharmony! Quick, sound the alarm and fall back!"
Maneful was confused when she saw dozens of guards practically running away from her. However, she did see a stallion running to what looked like a giant siren. Using her magic, she teleported right in front of the guard just before he hit the button and picked him up by the neck.
"You're way too slow…let me help you." She said, bringing her free hoof up to his face.
Maneful cocked back her elbow, hitting the button before punching the guard's muzzle. As he slid across the ground, the sirens went off.
"Now everypony will know you're here…" The guard said, smirking.
"What, you think I did that on accident? Ha, that was quite funny."
"You think that's funny…you should look up." He said before falling back unconscious.
"What do you…?"
Maneful gasped and quickly leaped away before fifteen magical blasts hit the ground decimating where she once was. Landing on a building, multiple pegasi landed next to her and attacked her. She smirked before ducking a few hooves that swung over her head before moving out of the circle and over their heads. She shut her eyes and started to fly around the guards hitting their pressure points before stopping to the side with a strong skid. Dust blew off the ground when her hooves came to a stop. More guards started come from the sky as the others fell. But every time she defeated a pony one by one, three more would take their place. It was starting to overwhelm her as she force herself out of this prostration, she teleports to the building's rooftop across from the previous one.
"Hey guys, I'm over here!" She said, making faces at them with the help of her hooves.
Out of anger, the pegasi leaped over towards her. What they didn't expect was that she teleported back to the building she previously was on. In the mist of confusion, Maneful grabbed one of the unicorn snipers and pointed his horn towards the group of pegasi.
"How'd it go again? Oh yeah, SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!" She yelled, yanking the unicorn's tail as hard as she could.
The unicorn yelped as a magical blast erupted from his horn. The blast was powerful enough to blow up the entire house but weak enough to knock out the pegasi. Turning around with her new, "cannon" she blasted the other unicorns nearby until there was nothing left.
"Well, that sure blew them away…I sound really weird." She said as her ears plopped down on her head.
"You don't say!?" The unicorn she was holding shouted.
She gave no second thought as she then football kicked the unicorn off the building. However, as the sirens continued, more guards came to fight. Pegasi flew above her like vultures while earth ponies occupied the streets while unicorns were stationed on buildings' rooftops. Maneful turned around to see three pegasi charging dead at her. Dashing forward, she grabbed one of the pegasi by the fore-leg and slammed him into the other. As the third approached, Maneful elbowed him in the face and then jabbed his neck. Letting go of his leg she turned towards another building ahead of her.
She then leaped to another building, encountering three more pegasi with two unicorns on separated buildings. As the two unicorns fired their magical blasts, she jumped over the first Pegasus and grabbed the third to use him as a meat shield. Multiple bolts of magic hit the poor Pegasus before Maneful dropped him. The second Pegasus charged her to avenge his friend, but she ducked under and jabbed the guard in the stomach. As he fell, the unicorns fired once again, but this time Maneful deflected the two blasts back at them.
The first unicorn was hit, but the second lunched out of the way and recovered. While being distracted, the Pegasus grabbed Maneful from behind and locked her in place. The unicorn took the opportunity to charge to full power before firing a huge beam of magic. Maneful quickly took control and she quickly flipped over the Pegasus, causing him to get hit. When this happened, Maneful returned fire by firing a light purple ball at the unicorn, causing a massive explosion. She then jumped off the roof onto another where even more guards awaited her.
Maneful's wings shot out from her back, creating a huge flare of light that blinded everypony watching her. She then made a mad dash towards the center of the city, quickly being followed by Pegasus guards. Free running from roof to roof, Maneful outran the pegasi while dodging magical bolt from nearby unicorns. Attempting to thin the numbers, Maneful spun around and shot multiple ball of magic that hit some of the pursuing guards. She did this several times before most of the guards caught up to her.
Jumping off another roof, two pegasi dived at her from both sides while five unicorns fired some sort of heat seaking beam at her. Reacting quickly, she unfurled her wings and launched straight upwards at a 90 degree angle, making the two pegasi crash into each other. Much to her discontent, the magical beams were only locked onto her and her only. Nearby unicorns adding their own magical beams to the mix didn't help the situation either, forcing Maneful to take an abrupt landing on another rooftop. Running in a zigzag pattern, Maneful evaded the beams that exploded all around her, leaving a trail of craters and smoke where she traveled.
With time square finally in sight, she dashed forward and took flight with the beams only mere inches from her tail. Approaching the last building before her objective, ten unicorns lined up in a firing squad and fired similar beams to the ones chasing her. Not backing down, she burst forward in a ball of light, and rolled under the squad before landing on top of a decorative fountain. Maneful watched as the blasts that the unicorns fired suddenly collided with the previous ones, creating dozens of semi large explosions that knocked the unicorns off the roof, but it wasn't over yet. Multiple pegasi and earth ponies rapidly started to surround the fountain while unicorns took positions from all sides on roof tops.
"Give up, Maneful, there's no point in fighting anymore!" A pony in a black and white tuxedo shouted through a speaker.
"Who are you suppose to be?"
"I am the senator of this beloved city and because of the war, ponies look to me for guidance. So I will say this kindly only once, leave my city while you still can before we are forced to take you prisoner."
"But I was getting used to the scenery, it's such a beautiful city at night, could I please stay a bit longer."
"You may act innocent, but your deadly."
"And you senators act honest but are really deceitful."
"This war has brought out the lowest out of all of us…but I can't allow you to destroy everything we have worked for!"
"It is ours now and there's nowhere else to run, out forces have pushed you to the very borders of Equestria itself! There's nowhere else to go or hide so I should be asking you to give up."
"You will have to make us, because we will never give up!"
"Very well senator but let me be the first to say..." She said, standing on her hind-hooves and putting her hooves in the air. "WELCOME TO YOUR END!"
Suddenly, everypony in the area started to feel vibrations in the air as a large buzzing noise approached the area. Looking up in amazement, everypony saw thousands of changling practically blocking out the full moon as they flew across the sky.
"ARREST THAT MARE, EVERYPONY ELSE, FALL BACK!" The senator shouted, making a break for it.
Maneful smirked as twenty pegasi charged at her, quickly followed by fifteen unicorns blasting barrages of magic towards the fountain she stood on. Maneful smirked evilly as she slid down the fountains base and landed in one of the three bowls on the fountain. She put her left hoof on the fountain and quickly spun around the base, rapidly kicking the Pegasus guards across their muzzles and deflecting the blasts. The result was a colorful blur of purple, red and green quickly knocking out each guard and diverting each blast of magic into the surrounding buildings. With the guards taken care of, Maneful rocketed into the air and flared out her wings.
Putting her hooves in an X shape while her wings covered her hooves, bright purple magic enveloped the mare. With the unicorns awe struck, Maneful let out an ear piercing scream as she let all the built up magic explode out of her in one burst. Creating a magical repulse that blew away any nearby buildings and created a large crater where fountain was. Slowly descending into the newly made creator, changelings gathered around, taking care of any guards and making sure the area was secured.
"You sure like to make pretty light shows." Imago smirked.
"I guess I do…sorry." Maneful said, rubbing the back of her head embarrassed.
"So what's the situation?"
"There's this senator pony that ran off with most of the guards, I'd imagine he's the guy to capture to make everypony surrender."
"Seems easy enough, what are the others to do."
"Attempt to leave the civilians unharmed, but if they get in the way take them out."
"Commander Maneful, we have most of the resistance corned in what looks to be a town hall." A changeling with distinct armor informed.
"That was fast…tell the others to watch the rooftops, these unicorns can be a pain if they're not dealt with properly."
"Groups four, nine, and twenty five, search the rooftops for any stragglers. The rest of you are with us." Imago informed.
The changelings nodded before launching into the air in a flash.
"Let's make this senator cry for his mother." Maneful said evilly.
"You said the force field would work!
"I wasn't expecting a Dis-element to break through the shield, senator."
"You had one job, and that was to make sure the shield would hold, Shrill Shot!"
"No…my job is to make sure harmony is not corrupted by evil."
"Look out that window, do you think you're doing your job!"
"Senator, with all due respect, I'm just a simple unicorn, I have no power of what happens out there."
"You're a commander, COMMAND THOSE PONIES TO SAVE US!"
"Ummm…can you guys stop fighting…if that's okay with you that is?" A timid voice asked from a corner.
"Fluttershy, will you please get back to safety? It's not safe here." Shrill Shot said with concern.
"Nowhere is safe anymore, commander." The senator commented. "And she's right, fighting will get us nowhere…it's time to evacuate."
"There's nowhere else to go, though." A mare said, cutting in the conversation.
"I know that the situation here is urgent, but this is my wife." The senator said with pride.
The commander bowed his head while Fluttershy hid behind her mane.
"So what is your name, my lady." Shrill Shot asked with respect.
"It doesn't matter at the moment." She said with aggression "The Changelings will be upon us soon and then there will be nothing left to do. We should devise an escape plan while we still can. So I'd say we take the underground route."
"Hold on…what do you know of escape plans?" Shrill Shot asked, a bit suspicious.
"I know plenty enough, tell him honey."
"Actually, I might have to agree with the commander here on this one." The senator said.
The mare was taken aback before she turned to the door.
"I need to talk to you…alone." She said before disappearing behind the door.
"I sorry guys…my wife is usually not like this." The senator said, following his wife.
A brief moment passed before Shrill Shot grabbed Fluttershy's hoof abruptly and pulled her to the side.
"I don't know what's going on her Fluttershy, but there's something really messed up about the senator's wife right now."
"H-how could you possibly know?"
"I…I don't know, It's something to due with those green eyes of hers, but you have to get out of here."
"B-b-but-
Shrill Shot silenced her with his hoof before opening the window.
"Use the darkness of night to escape, I'll create a flare to blind any nearby changelings to help, but don't break for it until I do so. Once that happens, get into the cloud layer and use them for cover. Got it?"
Fluttershy nodded rapidly, obviously being overwhelmed by fear and unsecurity.
"W-what about you?"
"Don't mind me, I'll be fine. Now wait for the signal on the top of the town hall."
As Fluttershy flew out the window, the senator came out of the door shortly after his wife.
"I change my mind, we shall take the underground route." The senator said with a dazed look.
"As your commander I would advise-
"He's already decided." The mare said, cutting him off.
"Very well, but I shall take a different path."
"And what of Fluttershy, is she not coming with us?" The mare asked.
"I'll take care of her, she's my responsibility."
The mare showed signs of annoyance before returning back to her smile.
"Very well, I wish you the best of luck…you're going to need it." She chuckled before the senator pulled a torch.
A secret passage was soon revealed, leading down into the dark. As the two ponies entered into the dark with a dozen guards, the mare pulled the switch inside, closing the door behind them.
"Shrill Shot there trying to break through!"
Five minutes earlier
Maneful waited outside along with her army of changelings that completely surrounded the building. Around the entrance of the town hall was a fortification of about one hundred and fifty earth ponies in full armor.
"WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! GIVE YOURSELVES UP!" Imago shouted.
"Don't try to reason with stallions, there a bunch of stubborn block heads." Maneful said with annoyance
"Then what are we to do?" Imago asked.
"We have to break their will to fight…or at least confuse them." Maneful said with an evil grin.
She whispered the plan into Imago's ear which he in turn smirked profusely. Four minutes passed before she then walked right up to the fortification and started the guard's captain dead in the face.
"Tell me captain, how well do you know your friends." She said almost seductively.
"Unlike you, I would give up my life for any of my brothers on the field." The captain said with courage.
"How brave of you, but have you ever heard of the phrase keep your friends close…"
All the changelings surrounding the building suddenly took the forms of those that were guarding the town hall, resulting in the guards to become frightened.
-and your enemies closer?"
The captain backed up in fear before Maneful tackled him to the ground.
"Take them."
The Changelings suddenly jumped over the fortification and got to work, knocking out every guard in sight. Meanwhile, Maneful slowly walked up the stairs to the huge doors leading inside the building.
"Remember my friends, we fight for what is right, for what is just!"
Formed behind Shrill Shot were fifty unicorns, ready to open fire on any intruders. Off to the two corners of the town hall were fifty earth ponies behind some sandbags. In the air were only thirty pegasi due to the loss of so many just hours before.
"Theses jerks have turned our friends into slaves for their cause, for their purpose!"
The earth ponies picked up their shields and lined them up according to their brethren.
"They have turned our beloved land into a war zone for their selfish gain, made our families suffer for their mistakes!
The pegasi started to bash their hooves together, making a huge ratchet.
"We fight for our freedom! For our brothers and sisters! Our family and our land! For our loved ones AND FOR EQUESTRIA!"
The doors shined bright purple before they exploded and fell over. Out of the smoke came a small filly that looked confused and scared.
"Mommy, I can't find my mommy! WHERE'S MY MOMMY!"
"What the…" Shrill Shot said in confusion.
Against his instinct and training, he approached the filly slowly.
"It's ok little one, I'll find your mother, but where on earth could she be."
"Right here."
Out of the smoke, Maneful slid into the surprised commander and applied her hooves into his chest. Before he could react, Maneful blasted a large magical ball into the commander, making him crash through the firing squad of unicorns and exploding. The blast made multiple unicorns fly into different directions, but the commander wasn't so lucky. He was sent straight through a huge stain glass window before he managed to catch himself on the railing. The remaining guards glared angrily at Maneful as she flipped her hair to the side.
"ATTACK!"
The pegasi swoop down while the earth ponies leaped out from their fortification to attack the mare. Maneful leaped over the crowd and landed in the center of the hall.
"Come and get me!"
As the remaining unicorns attempted to recover, multiple earth ponies and pegasi attacked without holding back. Maneful almost chuckled at their attempts to even hit her once as she constantly swayed and flipped out of the way. Losing interest, she infused her hooves with magic and started to brutally fight the guards. Each punch and buck would send guards and armor in all sorts of directions. Having to act fast, the unicorns joined in and started to free fire, hoping to make a difference.
It proved futile when Maneful would redirect it into another guard, absorb it with her wings, or simply slap it back at them. It soon came down to five unicorns, four pegasi, and two earth ponies.
"This was really fun, but all your players are eliminated. Hahahahahahaha!"
"SHUT UP!" An angry Pegasus shouted, charging at her.
Maneful fell on her back as the Pegasus attempted to punch her. She then scrunched up into a ball before bucking the pony into the ceiling. With her guard down, the other pegasi guards dashed towards her to avenge their friend, but they only punched through an image. They looked down the hall to see Maneful flipping away from the scene. When she landed on her hind hooves, the two earth ponies slammed into her from both side.
Maneful panicked and blocked their attacks with her hooves. The five unicorns quickly fired five large yellow beams from all sides, making the entire room shine brightly. Maneful's eyes dilated in shock before the blasts hit her, creating a ridiculously large smoke cloud and explosion.
"Did…did we get her?"
"I'd suggest you look up boys!"
Looking up, they say Maneful standing on the ceiling on her hind-hooves as if gravity was reversed.
"You almost got me, to think a common soldier almost got me." Maneful said out of amazement, folding her hooves. "It's too bad for the earth ponies though, they fought to the very end."
As the smoke cleared, it revealed the two guards blackened from the explosion.
"Don't worry, they should be fine, after all you were only trying to capture me right?" Maneful smirked. "Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter, here's your going away present!"
Maneful's wings flung open from her back, causing multiple feathers to fly out of her wings. As the feathers made contact with the ground they exploded in bright balls of purple magic. It was as if someone lit a thousand firecrackers at once. Maneful kicked off the ceiling and softly landed back on the floor before the filly approached her.
"Very impressive Maneful, and not a single changeling harmed." The filly said, reverting back into his original form.
"And I'm impressed that changelings can change into eight year old fillies and pull it off. You sure you haven't done that before Imago?"
"Eh, I try."
"There's just one thing left, the rest of you search the area for the senator."
As the changelings searched the area, Maneful made a slow approach to the now broken window to see Shrill Shot hanging on with only a hoof.
"I see still hanging around. Are you enjoying the view commander?"
She could tell that he was losing strength as he struggled to hang on. Looking over the edge, she saw the rest of the city just from her view.
"Well, I'll say that's a good five-hundred foot fall and I don't suppose you're good at flying either."
She then extended her hoof
"Take it…it's not worth wasting your life."
Reaching his hoof to hers, he then pointed it to her face and shot a bright ball of yellow magic, only for her to deflect it out the window.
"Fruitless…"
"Not exactly" He smirked.
The ball abruptly flew upwards before it flared brightly like the sun and disappeared.
"And what was that suppose to do?"
"Give us hope…"
The unicorn smiled before he willingly let go of the edge. Maneful looked at the falling unicorn in shock until he suddenly disappeared in a bright lavender flash.
"That was a long ranged teleportation spell…but nopony has that kind of magical potential except…Twilight…"
The moonlight fell upon her as some of the clouds cleared. She had won...but it felt off to her, like her cause had no meaning.
"We're reaching the exit, senator."
"Good, I hope the others are okay."
As he, his wife, and the ten guards stepped out of the tunnel. A black pony stepped out from a nearby tree.
"Hello senator, I hope your night is well?"
"Dark Fire?!"
The guards ran up to attack, but were suddenly ambushed by Ammisive, Stritin, Castigate, and Eccentric. The Senator looked to his wife before Desolent slammed him into the dirt.
"RUN DARLING, RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"
The senator's wife glared at him before she took her place next to Dark Fire.
"Just like senators deceive others, so have you. Show him." Dark Fire said, smirking.
The mare's eyes glowed green before she burst into her previous form.
"I assume you got enough love for yourself Chrysalis."
"Where is she…WHERE IS SHE?!" The senator said in tears.
"Dark Fire, this pony is already corrupted." Desolent said wickedly, pulling on his mane. "Why don't we just end his pathetic existence."
"No, that won't be necessary…we've already won, and soon the war will be over." Dark Fire said, turning the senator around to the city. "Look upon your city one last time, it's the least I can do."
As the senator sobbed, Dark Fire gesture Castigate over to him.
"Do it."
A bright light was seen on the outskirts of the city, signaling the battle had been won. Now only one city remained…Los Pegasus.