Pandora's Box

Matthew’s lips peeled back over his teeth in a snarl.
“Ira, get out.”

The voice used Noire’s mouth to speak. “But we’re so close, my love. So close to being together in the BEST way. You and me, together, the wielders of the cleansing fire in the age of darkness. Let me love you the way I have always loved you but never been able to show you properly...”

Matthew’s eyes blazed. “IRA! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! GET OUT OF HER OR I WILL MAKE YOU!”

A feeling not too dissimilar to an orgasm flooded Noire’s entire frame. “Oh yes...” her mouth hissed in ecstasy. “Make me, baby. Make me give in. Get angry. GET ANGRY!” she screamed in Matthew’s face. “SHOW ME YOUR LOVE, YOU BEAST!”

“RRRAAAAAGH!” Matthew roared and sank his teeth into Noire’s throat, dragging her to the ground and stamping on her head in a sudden shocking burst of savagery. “I! SAID! GET! OUT!” Blood oozed from her torn throat. “GET! OUT! OF! HER!”

To Noire it felt like her throat was on fire but the rest of her was squealing in pleasure. “He loves me! He really loves me!” the voice sang in her mind.

 

Anthony's jaw dropped and he let out a gasp at what was happening in front of him.
"MATT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
He rushed over to them, almost tripping as he dashed in a panic. He grabbed Matt from behind and tried desperately to drag him away from Noire.
"STOP IT, YOU'RE HURTING HER!! Please, Matt...you've got to get ahold of yourself! Look at what you're doing, you're gonna kill her!!"
At this point, he had lost all composure and in sheer desperation he kept yelling at the top of his lungs for Matt to stop. Some of the things he shouted sounded like strange words and phrases that even he didn't know the meaning of, but they felt like the right thing to say.

The mysterious voice picked up on it immediately and thought to himself so the others couldn't hear.
"That sounds like...Khalani. This is quite unexpected. He must have learned more from our synchronization than I had imagined."
He was ready to intervene at a moment's notice, though he was unsure if he should or if these sorts of events had to play out to their conclusion, whatever that may be.

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King Somber and Cadence were appropriately shocked to see that not only were their defenses breached, but the intruders had been among them undetected for so long. Somber spoke loudly, almost shouting.
"What is the meaning of this?! How did the Changelings get in here? Where are my guards?"
He glared at the black stallion again.
"What have you done to my soldiers?"

"I merely incapacitated them. They will be returned to you unharmed once negotiations are complete, naturally. After all, I would not dare risk provoking a potential ally by murdering his royal guard. Such unnecessary acts of violence would put a damper in negotiations on many worlds and I imagine the same is true here."
Despite the king's harsh tone and fierce glare, the Prophet spoke quite casually, both showing no signs of aggression himself and taking Somber's aggression in stride. In fact, the way he spoke almost made him sound like a father explaining something rather simple to his curious child. This casual attitude only served to anger King Somber even more.

Cadence spoke up, still clearly shocked to see intruders in the castle.
"I don't understand...how did you make it through the barrier? Surely the Changelings haven't found a way to disable it...?"

"They have not. However, such a task is a trifling thing before the power given to me by my masters. It may seem inconceivable to you now but you will understand in good time."
The way the Prophet spoke was unsettling to say the least. His tone shifted from condescending superiority to a completely neutral, empty-sounding voice from time to time. When he showed emotion, it always seemed as though he was acting out a part; as if he was playing a role given to him that he never completely understood himself, but played along with nonetheless. But every once in a while his true nature would show through and that nature was...nothing. Complete emptiness. To the point where it seemed that he had completely forgotten what a sense of "self" even means.

Despite her best efforts to remain calm, Cadence felt extremely anxious around this creature, not only because his forces had her and her husband surrounded, it was something more than that. She could clearly tell that this was no ordinary Changeling in front of her. In fact, no creature in Equestria or anywhere else in the world gave off the aura that came from this...monstrosity. Even though her throat was quickly drying up, she kept her composure and spoke up again.
"But aren't you a Changeling? Who are these masters you're talking about? Don't you serve Queen Ontogeny?"

The Prophet shook his head.
"No. Although her assistance has been valuable in my efforts, her feeble mind could not even begin to understand the greater scheme of things."
There was a flash in his cold green eyes. For the briefest moment it reflected his true desire. The one and only thing that he wanted after thousands of years.
"No, no, no...I am a servant of a far greater power. A power that has slept for countless ages."
Behind his calm, detached tone he sounded almost ecstatic now.
"They are coming...they will return soon to claim their rightful place among the cosmos. When they do, there will be nothing standing in their way. I will make sure of that."

 

Noire made a gurgling noise of pleasure. Her body had dropped limply to the ground as Matt tore at her. Sudden fear of realization had frozen inside of her. It rivaled the pleasure of the moment that Ira kept feeding her.
This is love? It seemed odd to Noire. Killing those you love because it felt good rending flesh. Did that mean love was murder?

The Changeling disguise seeped away revealing the new, true appearance of Noire the Changeling Queen. Her black coat now had the fuzzy appearance of a tarantula.

"Matt, stop!" Violet cried in distress.

 

Matthew’s eyes were frenzied, the beast unleashed, his face twisted with hate. He felt Anthony tug at him –

WHAM!

Anthony hit the wall and dropped ten feet to the floor. A tiny trail of blood trickled from his jaw, and he felt like someone had just slugged him with a wound-up baseball bat right in the mouth. Matthew whirled back to face Noire, whose voice was not her own. “Please... don’t stop...” she begged through a mouth filled with her life fluids, dripping away. “Either love me or let me love you, you know what happ-happens if you choose to love me... either way... you - *BLURGH*” Crimson gunk splattered the floor as Noire’s body regurgitated the swallowed blood. “...I... I love you...”

Matthew was visibly seething. He looked like a monster. His hooves were bloody, gore ran down his chin, his body was tense and ready and his mouth was open in a fierce growl that never stopped. He drew back a hoof, aiming it straight at Noire’s head, aiming to pulverise it into paste.
“Last. Chance. Leave Noire. Right. Now.”
To Noire the sensations pulsing through her were the oddest mixture of peace and passion. Her injuries didn’t hurt, the voice kissed away the pain and sang away the need to tend to them. At the same time her heart was beating a thousand miles a second and she wanted nothing more than... more.
The voice issuing from her sounded awed, like a child looking up at a dream come to life. “You’re... you’re so... beautiful...”

 

Anthony held his head, moaning in agony as blood from his mouth slowly dripped down to the floor. The force of the impact left his whole body in pain, but fortunately he wasn't severely injured thanks to his new body. The thought crossed his mind that it probably would have been much worse if he were in his human form without powers. For once he was actually thankful that he became a pony, even though he wouldn't admit it out loud.

He slowly got back on his hooves, all the while groaning and trying to focus his blurry vision.
"Matt...stop..."
His speech was slurred and his voice was practically a whisper, but it sounded as desperate as ever. He took a few steps forward, his vision now clear and his voice becoming louder with every word.
"You don't want to do this, Matt. This isn't like you! You're letting that...thing get to you; can't you see what she's making you do?!"

"He is beyond words now. Please keep your distance, or he may very well lash out at you once again."
The mysterious voice spoke up, this time to everyone present.

"You know, you might have a point there. I guess he's not gonna listen to reason."
His eyes narrowed and he hunch down slightly.
"I guess somepony's gonna have to beat a little sense into him. Hey, what are friends for, right? Come on, Matt! If you wanna go for round 2, I'm right here!"
Even though he spoke in a joking manner, he was completely serious. If he had to fight Matt to bring him back to his senses, that's exactly what he was going to do. He had to do something.
"As far as I'm concerned, I've got two friends on the line right now. Noire could die if he keeps going...and I know if he goes through with this, he'd regret it for the rest of his life. I've gotta save both of them. Even if it means getting knocked across the room a few more times."

The voice spoke again, this time much darker but with a tone of regret.
"Please understand. I cannot allow that to happen."
Just after he finished speaking, a large light blue field surrounded Anthony, preventing him from escaping.
"This is a Stasis Field. It will do you no harm; it is only there to ensure that you do not attempt any reckless actions."

Anthony pushed his right hoof against the field a few times and sure enough, it didn't look like it was going anywhere.
"Cool trick. Now TAKE IT DOWN!"
He tried punching it, but the only result was a dull thud and a slight humming noise from the field.
"Let me out of here...I thought you were trying to help us!"

"I am. I have come to ensure that no harm comes to you and your companion Matthew. As of now, the greatest risk comes from your confrontation with him. He may very well attack you again and if he does, he might cause greater damage than you anticipated. If there is even the slightest chance that your life is in danger, such a thing must not be allowed to come to pass."

"Even if it ends with Noire dying?"

"That would be nothing short of a tragedy, to be certain. I make no excuse for nor would I even try to justify such an outcome...however, I do only what I deem necessary. Even if her innocent blood stains my hands for all eternity, I will do what must be done to ensure the safety of all creation. I beg you...try to understand."

Anthony shaken to the core by this response. He was trembling slightly, his eyes were blurred from the tears forming in his eyes and his weak, timid voice could hardly even be heard. But even through all of this, his determination could still be felt.
"Actually...I do understand. Really, I do. But that's not gonna stop me."
He gave the field another punch, with another hum coming from it in response.
"If I can't even save someone who's suffering right in front of me...did I really deserve to have those powers in the first place?"
He hit it again with the same result.
"If I'm only brave enough to fight when I have those powers, is that really bravery?"
He attacked it again, and again, and again. The result was the same each time, except for the hum becoming slightly louder after being hit a few times in a row. Tears of frustration streamed down Anthony's face.
"I can't do anything...I can't change anything...I'm completely helpless without Hope's blessing. Is that what I'm supposed to believe?! Screw that! If I really am nothing without my powers, I still won't be anything once I get them back!"
His face turned fierce, a bright fire now burning in his eyes from within.
"I'll prove it...I can still save them, even without some godlike power backing me up! I have to! I have to at least try, no matter what! I hope YOU can understand that."

There was silence in the room for a few moments before the voice spoke up again.
"I do. Indeed, your conviction is a magnificent sight to behold. Though it is not my place, I dare say that even Adun himself would be pleased with your unmatched strength of heart."

This compliment brought a slight smirk to Anthony's face.
"Thanks. If those bits and pieces of knowledge I got from our link is anything to go by, that's some pretty high praise."
His expression quickly turned serious again as he glared intensely at the same spot he'd been attacking this entire time. He took a deep breath and focused every last bit of strength he had left in him.
"Noire...Matt...Violet. I won't give up on you. Not until I've given it everything I have. Just watch me."
He raised his front hooves.
"Watch me...TASSADAR!!"
In a fury, he struck the Stasis Field again and again, rapidly delivering powerful punches one after the other. The field hummed loudly, now with a slight static-like noise and began to flicker ever so slightly.
"HaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"
Shouting at the top of his lungs, he attacked relentlessly, his hooves pounding away at the field which slowly began to waver. Its reaction to each blow now sounded like a shotgun blast and Anthony was throwing punches as fast as his limbs could manage. Finally, the field seemed to be distorting somewhat, looking as though it was on the verge of collapse.
"NOW!"
He put everything he had into one final attack. One last punch that, against all odds, finally broke through the field. Anthony was free now...unfortunately, he was far too exhausted to do anything with his newfound freedom. He quickly collapsed to the floor, gasping for air and sweating profusely. He reached towards Matt and weakly called out to him between breaths, even though he knew it probably wouldn't help.
"Matt...don't...kill her...please."

Tassadar sighed, something that apparently could be heard telepathically. His voice was deeply melancholic.
"This is not your battle to fight, Anthony. Matthew must fight alone; we can only hope that he comes to his senses before it is too late. I pray that no more blood is shed on this day. May Adun watch over you."

 

Despite the pleasure that still flowed throughout her, Noire was beginning to become concerned. She felt herself weakening. Her body shutting down as hypovolemia sent her body into shock. As Matt planted a kick in her direction, Noire used some of the last of her energy to roll her body out of the way and bite deeply into Matt's leg with her fangs.

Meanwhile Violet had dropped her snare spells and began the advanced formulaic preparations for casting multiple mind-boggling spells. Up first, she switched off her emotions, her feelings. Drawing upon the experiences from the war drew her quickly into a state of pure cold logic. Matt would protect his friends. Above all else. Drawing him into a stalemate then...
"Matt," Violet said suddenly from all around the room as her doppelgangers filled it and she teleported randomly. "Stop now."
The Bound Spell flowed through her as the armor covered herself. It was reminiscent of some medieval knight's garb but twisted with what could only be considered daemonic influence.
She held a brutal looking sword in on hoof, the blade resting across her back. Her horn was aglow with the constant teleportation and the the built up magic for the dimensional travel spell. As her eyesight took on the crackling glow of insanely powerful magic, Violet grinned with the beautiful fullness of it.
Behind her grin was the horrible reality of a mega detonation spell that would fill untold areas with terrible balefire, killing all that it touches.

"If you kill Noire," said the Violets in unison, "I will go to your planet. It will only take a second. And I will kill every person on its surface before destroying the core."
She stared at Matt coolly from a hundred pairs of eyes. Despite the bright glow, there was the cold reality of her words reflected back at all who held eye contact.
"You could try to kill me here and now, but at your slightest move I will go and enact my genocide. Simply stand still, stop attacking my younger sister, I don't give a buck if you're angry. Tell me that you surrender!"

"You have five seconds before I destroy your world anyway."

-------------------------------------

Gaelix looked up in alarm as his monitors began beeping a warning.
"Violet Sky, you fool. What are you doing."

 

Anthony looked on in horror, too terrified to even breath as his heart sank into the depths of his stomach.
"Mother of God...she's really gonna do it, isn't she?"
He was shaking and sweat was pouring down his face. Certainly an understandable reaction to hearing that your entire race might be about to go extinct.
"Violet...come on, let's talk this out--"

"Put your faith in me once again."

He heard an all too familiar voice in his head once again and without any hesitation, let it take over. But it felt different this time. Now it seemed that Tassadar was joined with others of his own kind, a handful of other Protoss who were lending him their power. This was necessary in order to dispel the high-level spell that Violet was casting while using Anthony as a conduit. But he didn't seem to mind the extra company. In fact, he was enraptured in the feeling of having so much power flowing freely throughout his being, almost as if Psionic energy was running through his veins. He felt the comforting presence of the other beings who were sharing his mind-- he never lost any of his sense of self, but rather his "self" felt a deep connection to the Protoss he was joined with. But there was no time at all to fully experience this feeling.

His eyes shined a deep blue so brightly that the glow obscured his irises, making it look as though his eyes were entirely blue. His body was surrounded by a faint blue aura as he got up and walked into the middle of the room. When he stopped, his horn began to glow brightly and a blue, translucent sphere formed around it, a clear sign that he was using his newfound Psionic power.

Without warning, a wave of force hit the real Violet as she was teleporting around. She had been hit by an advanced version of the Protoss' Feedback ability, which drained Violet of her energy and forced it to turn on itself, causing her spells to destabilize. This created a chain reaction that spread to all of her clones, destroying them quickly in a burst of energy. Thanks to the skill of the Protoss, however, Violet herself was momentarily dazed but unharmed. Her clones absorbed any damage that might have been done.

With the crisis averted for now, Anthony's eyes returned to normal as the Psionic link was severed.
"Whew...that was really something."
He was breathing heavily, but still standing.
"So...what now? I mean, we've still got a pretty bad situation here."

Tassadar spoke to everyone.
"There can be no doubt of that. If Matthew does not regain his senses momentarily, I shall bring you aboard the Gantrithor where we will see to it personally that no further harm comes to Noire. Though I hesitate to do so, as it was our hope that you would not yet be fully exposed to our technology, the situation may very well call for such an action."
He then spoke to the crew members on his ship.
"Prepare to Recall the Terrans and Equestrians here. Wait for my signal."

 

Matthew looked away from Noire, his eyes on Violet’s in the split second before Anthony intervened to shut her down, and a new look appeared on his face. It wasn’t the rage of a kill interrupted. It was the thrill of finding someone, a worthy opponent, to fight – powerless as he was, as powerful as she was, the prospect of fighting someone who could wipe out a planet while he couldn’t even zap a rock was too enticing to pass up.
But when Anthony moved against her, and blasted her down, a look of confusion struck the pony’s face. This... this wasn’t, this wasn’t RIGHT. Something very difficult to shrug off jabbed at his sense of order, of righteousness.
My friends are not my enemies.
This tiny, calm rational thought was almost unheard beneath the howling of the gate in his mind. “KILL THEM!” It screeched. “KILL THEM ALL! FIND MORE PREY, KILL IT – FIND MORE – FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN KILL YOU – THEN TEAR THEM TO PIECES!”
He looked down. Physically, he saw Noire’s tooth lodged in his leg, but mentally he saw himself with half a foot bathed in the fires of his own hatred and wrath, and instinctively he stepped back in horror. His eyes cleared a little. His face was still twisted with anger, but now he had regained enough control to turn around and walk away from the unguarded portal in his head.
If I’d still had my powers... The thought was too horrible to contemplate.
He looked down at the pony biting into his foreleg. “Ira.” His voice was quieter, now. “Please. Leave her.”

The pleasure in Noire’s mind curdled like milk, and a bitterness stronger than vinegar burned her veins. Make him angry, the voice begged her. Love him, Noire. Make him beautiful again, make him whole – he wants to be perfect, tell him it’s alright!
The injuries Noire had sustained knitted themselves shut, and suddenly the world seemed – lighter. Less... there. More like a dream-world, so easily breakable.
Break the heart. Open the gate. I love you.

 

"Enough of this. I have no interest in your masters, your schemes or the Changelings that you've manipulated into doing your bidding," said Somber boldly, as he took a few steps forward in a clearly aggressive stance. "Why should any of this concern me? At the moment, my only concern is a group of very unwelcome guests that have somehow infiltrated my castle."
He glared at the Prophet and as he did, a dark shadow traveled along the floor towards him. It stopped right in front of the Prophet, circled around him and spawned five dark pillars that surrounded him in a pentagonal shape.

The Prophet had a look of complete apathy towards this new development.
"You still do not understand. Such a feeble attempt at resistance is mere child's play to me."
A green wave of force came out from him, shattering the pillars effortlessly. He continued on nonchalantly, dismissing the interruption as a minor inconvenience.
"As I was saying, I have a proposition that you will find most intriguing, your highness."

Somber growled under his breath, his anger and frustration growing steadily towards the creature standing before him. Even so, it was obvious that this "Prophet" wields a great deal of power, especially if he was telling the truth when he said that bypassing their defenses was a "trifling thing." After taking a moment to calm down, his sense of reason won out and he decided to listen to what the Prophet had to say, to buy time for himself and Cadence if nothing else.
"Very well...you have my attention. I will listen to this proposition of yours."

"I have heard tales of you, your majesty. They say that you are a harsh king who seeks power above all else."
He stared directly into the king's eyes, a sliver of dark intent showing through in his own.
"What if I told you that I could grant you power beyond reckoning?"

 

The blue light took Violet by surprise as Anthony charged into the middle of the room. The doppelgangers she had brought into existence by teleporting so quickly ceased to exist as a metaphorical wall plopped down right in front of her. Though it was more of an anti magic field than a wall. It felt like she had just charged straight into an icy lake, a lake that tore all of the built up magical energy from her body. Emerging on the other side Violet took a few stumbling steps and looked around in a daze.

Her entire body was shaking and a cold emptiness was filling her. Looking around in confusion, Violet tried to puzzle out what had happened. She saw Matt stepping away from Noire, a good thing although she was no longer in any state to make threats if he was preparing for another attack. Her rear legs gave out first, dropping her flank to the floor with a solid plop. Her front legs didn't hold out much longer and she lay on her stomach with forelegs extended like a dog's. Her teeth ached slightly from the impact of her head slamming down as gently as she could make it in her state.

"Mmmmmnnngg..." was the mumbled groan that escaped her as she closed her eyes. Just a little rest. Keep my eyes closed for a few moments til my head clears... She thought to herself before blacking out.

----------------------------

Noire felt her body repairing itself as the entity within her healed her. The regal mask of her old form was back in place as the purple fire finished covering her black body. The only alteration to the beige coat was a horizontal scar across her throat where Matt had bitten her. Standing up she flared out her wings with a coy smile on her lips.
"That's better," she cooed in a slightly raspy voice.
Locking eyes with Matt she stared at him for a long time without speaking. During this short silence she fought hard to clamp down on the erratic feelings that this Ira being was flooding into her system. It was only marginally effective as she took a few steps closer to him that she wasn't fully in control of.

They stood a foot or so apart, eyes still locked with one another until Noire bowed her head, the hidden horn just resting slightly on Matt's mane.
"Break the heart," she said as though she were chanting. "Open the gate. Endure the pain. Cast out weakness. I hate you."

Noire felt the words roll out of her mouth as a hushed prayer to the universe. Ira writhed inside of her as Noire fought the alien consciousness into one corner of her mind. She could contain the thing for moments before it would rush out and grab control again. How did one exorcise unwanted passengers in one's own body? Although there had been parts of Equestrian society enraptured with daemons and vengeful spirits Noire had always been the slightly mocking disbeliever. They were things to scare foals with or items that made somewhat interesting horror stories. But faced with this possession now, she wished she'd have paid somewhat more attention, at least enough to know a couple of things to attempt to cast spirits from your body. Alas she knew no tactics for this, leaving her in a position of desperation. A few thoughts came to mind, but she doubted an incorporeal being could be peed, pooped or vomited out.

"Get. It. Out," she growled through gritted teeth as Ira began surging through the cracks in her imperfect psychic shield. The nauseating feeling of pleasurable love started filling her again, getting parts of her physiology working that at the moment would be best if they would stop nagging at her and shut up about sex, thank you.

If this thing couldn't be forced out of her... well there was always the immolation spell that high level unicorns had been forced to learn during the wars to prevent classified intel from being leaked under torture. Noire thought she could hammer the details together with the detonation spell she knew. The results would certainly be interesting, though the Crystal Empire would be left with a gaping crater where the castle had been. Plus the radiation would kill scores of Crystal Ponies and the King's own kind. The area would be uninhabitable for a generation or two.

Noire felt a smile, a true smile, play across her face. Who gives a damn about them. Send 'em all to the moon.

 

Matthew raised his hoof and placed it on Noire’s shoulder. His eyes... looked sad. “I’m sorry,” he said gently.

Suddenly, Noire was somewhere else. She was standing in a dark, musky room. Neon lights flared and female ponies twirled on poles. A reflection of herself with cold blue eyes sat on a nearby couch, smiling at her. “Hello,” it said with the voice of the strange being inside her. “Are you going to send me away?”
Matthew appeared next to her, still in pony form, and walked up to the creature showing no fear. “It’s time to come home, Ira. It’s time to come back to me.”
“It hurts...” Ira pleaded. “It sings in there. It SINGS.”
“I can drown it out.” Matthew sat next to her.
“The gate... it wants to be opened...”
“We can close it.”
“I want to be free!” she screamed in his face. “I want to be alive! We want to love you!”
“Ira...” Matthew stroked her cheek with his hoof and the Noire-that-wasn’t froze, staring at him. “Y-yes...?”
“I have always loved you,” Matthew said softly. “I need you more than you could possibly ever know. You are the part of me that I have always been too scared to feel... and now I’m telling you outright. Come back to me, Ira. Come home.”
The fake Noire burst into tears and Matthew hugged her tightly. “You – you want me?!” she gasped through her weeping. “Yes...” Matthew said firmly. “I want you inside me. I love you. You need to show me your love... please.” She rested her head against him.
“Tell me what I am...”
“You’re that part of me that is the invitation to anger. The smooth oiled slope to rage, the delicious surrender of evil. And I have always loved the way you tasted in my mouth.”

Suddenly Noire was back in her own body, and Matthew was looking at her in the eyes. Something had passed between them, something intimate. Matthew cocked his head.
“To have that inside you... I’m sorry you had to endure that, Noire.”

 

Noire stared blankly at Matt for a while as she grew accustomed to the silence within her mind. It felt good to have a thought echo around in one's skull without another being trying to drown it out. Although the downside set in almost immediately. She was alone once again in that most intimate part of one's psyche. The one place where she could never know for sure if she fit in anywhere or was simply being tolerated. Her own mind was waiting to eat her alive.

Breaking the stare, Noire let out a small sigh and went back to life as normal. Although her new body stayed as it was. She admired herself in the reflection from a busted monitor, the low light making it hard to see details. She saw the mask she had crafted for herself and for the world around her. It was attractive enough and held the regal allure that the princesses and certain high class ponies of lucky genetics had. All it required was for her to become a full blown Changeling - a Queen no less - to become one of the most attractive Mares in Equestrian standards. Life would be bizarre for a while. That was certain.

"I should apologise," she said in a meek voice. Opening her mouth to continue, everything she had planned to say suddenly sounded empty to her. She couldn't exactly be sorry for things her half dead mind hadn't known at the time. Instead she remained quiet.

A thought came to her and she looked to Anthony. "Who is this that speaks through you?"

 

Anthony rubbed his head, chuckling softly to himself.
"Boy, that's an interesting story. Uh..."
He gambled on the idea that a certain someone might still be listening.
"Tassadar, you wanna take this one?"

After a short delay, Tassadar spoke up for everyone in the room to hear.
"Were there time for such a thing, I would gladly explain in full. However, we have learned much from this encounter, matters that must be investigated with all haste. The Zerg presence in this world poses a grave threat to you all; they must be eliminated the very moment we discover where they are hidden. Furthermore, I have asked my Templar brethren to uncover any and all knowledge we have on both this world and your own. Though I have no particular reason to assume so, I believe we may yet find something of use."

"So, you're going off a hunch, basically?"

"Pardon?"

"Uh...Earth expression, don't worry about it."

"I see. In the meantime, I believe you may have learned enough from our Psionic link to explain at least the most basic details to your comrades. I will leave the issue solely to your discretion. En taro Adun, son of Terra."

Anthony closed his eyes and sighed.
"En taro Adun, Executor."
He then looked back at Noire and everyone else.
"Okay, so I didn't really get the full story and what I did learn is kind of hazy, but I'll tell you what I've got. To answer your question, the one who linked with me, that voice you heard? His name is Tassadar and he's the highest-ranked officer of an alien fleet. That fleet belongs to a race called the Protoss and let me tell you, these guys play hardball."
He thought back to the mysterious black pony that they saw in the virtual world.
"Oh yeah, you remember that Kelp pony? His masters are the sworn enemies of the Protoss. Well...actually, it's more like they're everyone's enemy and the Protoss are the only ones who can actually fight back against them."
He looked over to Matt with a serious expression.
"There's something else...they want you and me to help, Matt. I don't really get how or why, but apparently they've been expecting us for a long time and we're a big part of their plan to stop Kelp's masters. That's why they want to keep us alive and Kelp wants us out of the way."
He figured there might be more questions, so he was trying his best to remember every little detail he could gather.

 

The first thing Matthew did was walk straight up to Anthony and rest his head against Anthony’s shoulder as a gesture of apology. “I’m sorry for hitting you,” he said sadly. Then he walked up to Violet and in a strangely instinctive way he nuzzled her. It wasn’t the same as last time, forceful and demanding - instead it was gentle and sweet, a more romantic way of apologizing. “Bit forceful last time,” he murmured. “I didn’t have the defences up last time... consider this a do-over.” He then seemed to mentally shake himself, and suddenly the vulnerability was past and he was himself again.
“Noire, come over here please,” he said calmly. “It’s time we got our acts together and figured out what the ragamuffin we do next.”

 

"Hmm..."
With a wry smile, Anthony casually walked up to Matt and, as a savage act of revenge for what happened before...lightly bopped him on the head.
"Payback. How's it taste?"
He chuckled and looked around the room at everyone.
"Well, it seems pretty obvious to me what our next move is. We've got to get ready for a fight! Let's see...I guess we could learn how to use our new unicorn magic, or maybe we can convince whoever's in charge that we need our powers back. Or maybe both."
He gave Noire a curious look.
"What'd you say they were using all that power for? Something called the Elements of Har...mo...ny?"

He started to trail off as he was suddenly overcome with an intense wave of dizziness that nearly made him keel over.
"Huh...I guess having all that psionic energy flowing right through me took a bigger toll than I thought. How about that?"
He smiled and tried not to let it show, but his body was giving off signs that were too obvious to ignore. Everything that happened left him completely exhausted, both mentally and physically.
"On second thought, maybe having a nice place to sit down for a few minutes would be nice."

With a weary sigh, he sat down and took a moment to catch his breath. He then looked back up to Noire and upon realizing something, tilted his head slightly.
"Come to think of it, you look different than before. You look a little...taller and...I can't really place my hoof on what else it is, but you definitely look different from what I remember in the virtual world."
He slowly got back up and walked over to Noire, looking closely at her.
"Hmmmm..."
Without any warning, he gave her another one of his epic glomps, giggling like a schoolgirl with a wide smile on his face.
"Yep, you're definitely the same Noire I remember! Hee hee hee!"
He backed away, expecting some kind of swift retribution. "Totally worth it," he thought to himself as he braced for impact.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somber looked intrigued, but entirely suspicious.
"Is that so? That does sound quite enticing but I have to wonder...if you wield such great power, why not simply wield it yourself?"

"I'm afraid the situation is not quite that simple. Naturally, the thought occurred to me to simply invade this world with the vast army I have at my beck and call. However, were I to brazenly infest this world and take it as my own, it would surely garner a great deal of...unwanted attention. That is why I decided to employ the queen of Changelings as my proxy."
The Prophet started to pace around the room.
"Think back to the Changeling War. Did you not think it strange that the Changelings came as close to victory as they did, even when Equestria had the Elements of Harmony at their disposal? Ancient artifacts aside, the Equestrian military had a definitive advantage in training, versatility and magical firepower. Any war between the two should have been over in a matter of days, yet the Changelings nearly brought Equestria to its knees. Why do you think that is?"

Somber thought it over for a while before replying.
"I do not know. It is a mystery that I have pondered many times and never found a suitable answer for."

The Prophet had a slight gleam in his eyes.
"The answer is simple. Though I never gave her any forces for direct combat, Queen Ontogeny did make use of Zerg technology in her campaign. Nydus worms moved her troops around the battlefield at an unbelievable pace. Overlords kept watch for Equestrian attacks from a distance. Meanwhile, the queen herself greatly increased her magical prowess using a powerful artifact that I now offer to you."
A light blue crystal-- vaguely shaped like a unicorn's horn, ironically enough, but about three times bigger-- appeared and hovered in front of the Prophet. Nothing looked particularly spectacular about it, but its immense power could immediately be felt by everyone in the room.
"This is the Khalis. With it, you will achieve levels of power far beyond what you previously thought possible."

 

Violet made a soft mewling sound as she opened her eyes. They were still heavy with exhaustion but her body had recuperated enough for her to function.
"Matt?" She questioned as she saw him pulling away. Her mind was working to burn away the haze in her mind as she stared in some confusion at everything around her for a few moments.

As her mind raced through the last saved memories she slowly started to put things together. Matt about to kill Nono, Violet pulling almost all of the magic in her body to deliver a single ultimatum to stop the death of her sister, the blue light that tore all of her magic from her and knocking her out. Rubbing her eyes with her hooves she stretched her body and stood up again, blinking as the cotton in her brain transformed slowly into a magic induced headache.

Looking around with clarity Violet felt the tension that had been in the room when she was last awake all but gone. Noire bristled but other than that everything was fine.
"Nono, are you... okay?"

-------------------------------------

"I'm fine, Vie," Noire said without taking her gaze off of Anthony. Her look was cold as she sized him up. A small smile played on her lips as she reached out with her magic and covered him with it. Levitation, the easiest of unicorn magic; Noire lifted Anthony into the air slowly then began to crush him with her force.

She launched herself into the air and tackled him to the ground and licked his flank.

Spoiler

-----------------------------------------

Suddenly a ball of light appeared in one corner of the room and broke with the crack of thunder. Twilight Sparkle stood there, her eyes losign the glow from her magic as she looked at the assembled ponies in the room.

"What happened here," she asked accusingly as she met each of their gazes in turn. She took in Noire's altered form last, scrutinizing the young pegasus intently.

 

Matthew looked around at the absolute devastation and carnage they stood in, the stench of the dead and the dying filling the air, the place a wrecked ruin.
“Sorry,” he said somewhat casually. “I got mad.”
He cocked his head. “I take it from the very confident and relaxed air about you, that you aren’t surprised to see us. That means, in turn, that you must have been a part of the deception designed to kill us. Fortunately, all that is now in the past. I mean, you guys set something up that was borderline fatal for my companion and I, I lost my temper and accidentally released a supercharged psychopathic shard of my psyche that wants to turn existence into a charred blackened paradise... nobody’s perfect.”
He extended a hoof as way of greeting. “Matthew. The pony you don’t know is Anthony. May I know your name?”

 

"Auntie," Noire said uncertainly. She stepped away from Anthony and looked at the young princess. "What's... uh... What's up?"
Noire kept casting sheepish glances at Twilight and looking away. She had never felt entirely comfortable with the royal family, even though she was technically a member. Twilight's cold stare had always followed Noire through the crystalline halls of the castle. The princess of friendship was cordial, but that was about it. Noire never figured out why the princess disliked her.

Suddenly Violet was there, the glow around her horn had taken on a flickering quality reminiscent of a flame. The unicorn stood between Twilight and Noire, a large piece of concrete held above her head outline by the glow of her magic. Rage seethed off of her as she prepared for the kill.
"What do you want," she spat.

"I was simply checking on my granddaughters and this facility. After all, this is the most important operation on all of Equis."

"I made it clear that I wanted none of you here," Violet growled, the small boulder levitated higher with threat.

"We, the princesses, can't simply abandon this facility because you threw a fit."

"Your Celestia," Violet said the name with as much venom as she could muster, "Was killing my sister."

"Your sister was corrupted by the Changelings," Twilight said plainly. "And now look at her. A full fledged Queen. This is exactly what we were worried about."

Violet began circling the small chunk of concrete menacingly in the air. With a sigh of exasperation, Twilight blasted it harmlessly into a corner of the room. Violet dropped an unstable section of the ceiling on top of Twilight. Creating a luminous pink bubble, the rubble fell without causing any damage whatsoever.
Violet's mane began to crackle as it took on an ethereal look, dancing like flame. Rage boiled from her gaze as she stalked towards her grandmare. Then Noire stepped forward. Placing a leg out to bare Violet's path she stared down at her violent Violet.
"No," she said simply with a small shake of her head. Locking eyes with the bored looking princess she spoke again.
"There's no need for this Auntie Twilight."
What appeared to be the azure slash marks of some large clawed beast, Twilight's shield vanished into nothing. The horn atop Noire's head revealed itself. It began as a regular horn, however about halfway up it curved backwards then forward again to give the impression of a sickle.
"The facility is lost and our true enemy has revealed themselves. It's purpose is done."

 

Matthew watched the altercation between Violet and Twilight with only slightly tensed muscles. When Noire stepped forwards to end it, he also moved between the two, looking from one to the other – the subtle inference being that if either of them wished to restart their tussle, he’d have to be their first opponent.
“So... what say we all put our differences aside and we focus on handling a genuine alien invasion?” he said brightly. “I am thoroughly looking forward to doing whatever it takes to get me punching things that actually can: a, hit back, and b, don’t give me issues about cutting loose on.” He directed a specific look at Twilight as he said this. “Ladies first?”

 

"He's got the right idea, you know."
Anthony spoke up as he walked between the other ponies and stood next to Matt.
"Those enemies you're talking about? I'd be willing to bet that they want us to fight each other. They know we won't stand a chance if we do."
He looked over to the pony known as Twilight Sparkle.
"Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about the whole "Changeling Queen" deal. You're gonna have to trust me when I say that we've got much bigger things to worry about right now. You've never even seen an Ultralisk before. Now THOSE guys are something to worry about, especially if you run into a group of them. Well...I haven't seen one in person either, but we can talk about that later."

He turned back to the hallway and raised a hoof towards it.
"Have some of your people--or, you know, ponies-- check down that hall. You're gonna find the charred remains of some creatures called Zerglings; study up on them while you can 'cause there's gonna be a pop quiz real soon."
He then turned back to Twilight, looking lost in his thoughts as he closed his eyes and tried to remember as much as he could.
"From what I understand, they're a smaller breed of Zerg. They're kinda like...the scouts and foot soldiers of the Zerg army, pretty much. They have a lot of different "strands" to work with, too. Meaning some of them have improved adrenal glands, some of them can burrow underground and some of them grow wings to improve their mobility. And apparently, they're allergic to lemon juice. Kinda random, but it might come in handy."

He slouched and let out a small sigh, looking a little worn-out after the effort it took to pick out that one piece of information from the flood of knowledge that entered his mind after the link. He was lucky to have taken away that much, as he only gained a small fraction of what the Templars really knew. He looked back up to Twilight, looking more than a little wary about her but still expecting that she would cooperate. Hopefully.
"So, there you go. And that's just scratching the surface. Here's the deal...I'm not exactly thrilled to be working with someone who tried to give me a death sentence a few hours ago and I'm sure you're not too excited about working with us, either. But we don't have to like each other, we just have to play nice until we get things sorted out. How about it?"