Sponsored Nightmare Night at Fluttershy's Cottage

[NeoExlucky]

"Fluttershy?" Aselia said as she jumped at the changlings. Her horn lit up and picked up her rod, which was attached to the side of her costume. She lifted it up in the air in an attack position. This couldn't end well. How was Time Spinner doing? What if Changlings had taken over all of ponyville. Aselia guessed that not all Changlings were like the one she worked with in the Rosalia Brigade. What happened to ponyville? Was anypony safe? Maybe Aselia should just run back to Trottingham...

[QueenChrysalis747]

Moonlite saw the changlings and paniced, accidently shooting out a spell at one of them, "Oh sorry," she said, not wanting to hurt any of them, there had to be a reason and hurting them wouldn't help.

[Bellosh]

“5! 4! 3! 2! 1!”

Oh NO! CHANGELIIIINGSSS!!! Fluttershy… had been one of those nasty bug-like thingies all along, and it brought several of its confounded friends with it too! For all her sleuthing around earlier, Derpy Hooves never managed to notice all those open cages lying near the stage… or the stage itself for that matter, but that was Derpy for you. At least this time, she got a chance to scream and shrivel away in fear at a more convincing threat than a Carpet Monster.

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"Thisss one isss bothersssome! Ssshe nearly ruined the entire thing! Take that ssstupid thing off!"

Taking that costume off? Were they CRAZY? Derpy spent an entire day working on that wrapped chocolate bar outfit! Much blood, sweat, and tears went into it… well, maybe not the blood so much, but the scatterbrained mare suffered many an injury to get the costume just right, so close enough. Either way, she wasn’t going to take it off just so she could fit inside a nasty cage!

“Uhhh,” stammered the extremely frightened mare; “I’m not sure if I should take it off.” A moment later, Miss Hooves remember what the bunny-costumed changeling said about her getup, and a sudden anger overcame Derpy; “And don’t call my costume stupid! How would you like it if somepony called your thing stupid.....?”

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[Corsair]

The bunny-suited changeling snarled at the pegasus in front of her as the mare tried to delay the inevitable. "Remove the cossstume or I will remove it myssself!" The creature hissed. In truth, the changeling couldn't even tell how the pony had gotten into the costume. There were no visible buttons or zippers and... was that tape holding it in place?? As the changing pondered this, the pegasus' attitude abruptly changed.

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“And don’t call my costume stupid! How would you like it if somepony called your thing stupid.....?”

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Taken aback, the changeling snapped "You take that back! Thisss cossstume wasss perfect for the character I wasss playing! It was hoof ssstitched! It even looks like Flutterssshy's pet! And another thing...!"

The changeling was cut off, however, as a drone slammed into the ground next to her. Looking up, she saw that the strange mare in the business dress was airborne, and looked ready for a fight. She hadn't considered a pony dressed as she was to be much of a threat, but this pegasus seemed to know how to use her hooves in a fight. There was nothing in the intelligence reports about a mare named 'Pathfinder.' She could be a problem...

The changeling glanced around quickly; The unicorn colt in the wizard costume was looked resigned to his fate. The unicorn in the jester costume seemed to be trying to fight back with some prop from her costume, but she was surrounded by drones. The unicorn in the carpet monster costume was foolishly trying to threaten them, but she was securely locked up. It appeared that all of the ponies were contained, with the exception of the two pegusii mares. Hissing in annoyance, the changeling turned back to Derpy. "You ssstay right where you are! I'll deal with you sssoon."

The changeling took a moment to feel the emotions of the ponies around her. There was fear, of course, but fear would not give her what she needed. There... the green mare in the carpets was thinking of a loved one. The changeling drew on that love, gaining strength from it. If this one had been used by The Queen before, she could be used again...

With a buzz of her insectoid wings, the changeling took to the air, putting herself into a position to confront the flying white pegasus. Several other drones were also hovering around the mare, waiting for her to make a move. She faced the mare, her pupil-less eyes locked on the pony's. "Sssurender at once!" she snarled. "We have you sssurounded, there'sss nowhere to go!"

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[Mojo]

Gold Standard continued to quietly observe what all was going on around him. One thing he did notice about the faux Fluttershy was that it seemed to share some of the same attributes of the real Fluttershy's personality. Now an idea formed in his young unicorn colt mind.

"I may not have powerful magic yet, and there's no chance i nor any of the others here could overpower these invaders. But I have learned how to perform illusion spells. If I can create some very scary illusions, perhaps the false Fluttershy changling will panic, maybe even run away. Why not try it? What have I got to lose?"

Turning in the direction of the false Fluttershy, Gold Standard's horn glowed. Instantly, illusions of ugly, scary monsters started to appear, looking fierce and slowly closing in on the imposter.

[Bellosh]

"Remove the cossstume or I will remove it myssself!"

Why was the bunny changeling looking at Derpy all funny like that? She… or it… or she, wasn’t secretly interested in the tape the googly-eyed mare used for her costume, was she? Miss Hooves couldn’t imagine why a changeling would be interested in tape; it was a regular ole’ brand Derpy purchased from Rich’s Barnyard Bargains the other day. Maybe they didn’t have tape in the Changeling Kingdom? If so, that would be kind of sad, actually.

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"You take that back! Thisss cossstume wasss perfect for the character I wasss playing! It was hoof ssstitched! It even looks like Flutterssshy's pet! And another thing......... You ssstay right where you are! I'll deal with you sssoon."

Geez, no need for the bunny changeling to get defensive about her costume. Derpy Hooves didn’t actually say the creepy gal’s outfit was stupid; it looked rather nice, actually. For someone who belonged to a tape-less society, the changeling knew how to stitch very well. But Derpy couldn’t admire that costume for long, for other unruly ponies required her captor’s attention.

For a few seconds after the changeling requested Derpy to stay put, the pegasus blankly stared at the changeling. But then a chirpy expression revealed itself on the captive’s face; “Okie dokie, I’ll wait here then.....!”

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[SteelEagle]

Now these changelings were playing the MOST DAAAAAAAANGEROUS GAME! Not the one she played every time she visited Snowfall in her private condo. Or the one where the griffons attached poison collars to their prisoners and then hunted them in dark, deep caverns. Not even the one where the Equestrian court sent you a few dozen telegrams ordering you to court for one reason another. All dangerous games in their own right, tonight these Changelings had decided on inviting themselves into the Pathfinderdome, where the game of Pathfinder was played by the best Pathfinder professionals in the whole world. They faced the ten time MVP of the Pathfinding League, Path "Pathfinding" Finder. And today, they were going to get a MASTER LESSON in how to play the game!

But before she could school them in the ol' one-two-three, a changeling came up and threatened her. Pssh, surrounding her? She was always surrounded. BY debt, by engulfing happy hugs, by the thrill of adventure, court dates, endless possibilities for fanfiction, hooficuffs and sometimes by angry spirits. Surrounded wasn't anything to be worried about, surrounded was what she chose to be!

"Ha, if you think the greatest adventurer of all time that isn't the intellectual property of Polo House is going to go quietly, then I don't think you know the name Pathfinder!" She smirked, her voice full of the confidence that came with being the greatest adventurer of all time that wasn't the intellectual property of Polo House.

Then, the first changeling attacked from behind, giving her a big ol' hug as more approached from every angle. Pathfinder twirled, using the Changeling's hanging on body as a weapon and smacking two incoming changelings. The impact sent those two to the ground quickly, dropping out of the air like flies. The one on her back loosened and then fell off as well, but as it fell it barely missed a changeling come up from below. It was struck instead by Pathfinder's back hooves, which sent it plummeting right into the cage that Lyra was in. A changeling came from above and Pathfinder uppercut it, which sent it in an arc which ended up with it in a tree. All was going well.

"Haha! Just you wait until I use my handy dandy SMOKE BOMBS!" Pathfinder began, reaching on top of her back...and finding nothing. Usually she had her saddlebag of infinite utility sitting handy on there. But today, all she had was her copy of Daring Do and the Cove of Candles taped to her inner thigh for emergency Daring Do injection. She couldn't wear her saddlebag because all Snowfall had was her amazing good lucks and stunning voice! Drats and darnit!

"Darn!"

And then the changelings started landing blows, up and above, down and below, side to side. She was surprised by a kick, then a punch, and then was held by half a dozen changelings who started fluttering to the ground to put the annoying pegasus away.

[RarityDash]

Lyra wasn't really sure what to do now. She was locked in a changeling cage and she wasn't really sure if it was even possible for her to get out. She had to get out though. Bon Bon needed her. Every moment that passed was a moment that something awful could happen. She really needed to think of something and do it quick.

She wondered for a moment what the real Lurking Horror would do. The answer was probably eat a bunch of partying teenagers and other unsuspecting village ponies then end up cornered by dozens of REA unicorns who would fire upon her with magic blast after blast to no effect, then lob a single explosive at her and kill her instantly for some inexplicable reason--but not before she was able to send her invasion data back to the home world. Sweet Celestia that story was awful. Lyra gavea resigned sigh and quickly decided the inspiration she came was not going to come from some alien slug monster.

Inside her cage, Lyra gave a forcible push, shedding all the carpets and rubber of her costume in one go. She gave a respectful nod as she looked down at the carpety husk of the Lurking Horror. Then it hit her. She could still use this! She laughed at her genius as she lit up her horn and lifted the costume upward magically. She levitated it toward the cage bars and then, as it fell back into the familiar slugy, carpety shape, she flattened it and slipped it down and then, after having to force the rubber head through the bard by hoof, her Lurking horror emerged on the other side!

"GRAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" she gave a roar from her cell, just as the hollow costume hovered toward the Fluttershy changeling. Then, all of a sudden, she just threw it at her, covering the changeling in the stuffy, heavy carpet folds.

While her the changeling was fighting off her lurking horror, Lyra tried to think fast. She needed out and she needed out now. She was, of course, not bad at magic by any means, but it's not like she had ever mastered teleporting or anything that advanced. She could maybe create a blast or spark, but that might not work and if it bounced back at her it could hurt. "Hmmmmm.... ha!" she started as she finally made note of something she had thought was insignificant. Derpy, by way of her ridiculous costume, had been spared capture! She was still on the outside.

"Derpy, now! While she's blinded by the carpet. Open this cage and free me," she called out to the strange gray pegasus. She had had her problems with Derpy in the past, but she needed her now. She needed a way out of this. "Do it and I might be able to start overlooking what's happened between us before!"

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[Corsair]

The white pegasus gave her rather... unusual battle cry, and the swarm moved in on her. Whoever this Pathfinder was, she was good. She took down 4 drones in a matter of seconds. But then, the mare reached toward her back, saying something about smoke bombs. Only, she wasn't wearing any bags, just that dress.. The swarm took advantage of her distraction, and the pegasus was quickly on the ground.

A cruel smile broke over the bunny-suited changeling's face. She dropped down closer to the ground, hovering within sight of the cages. "There! You sssee?" she taunted the ponies. "You sstand no chanssse againssst usss! Sssoon you will all belong to our Queen!"

In the midst of her taunts, the changeling remembered the second pegasus. In her haste, she'd left Derpy alone, and uncaged. She turned to find the pony... right where she'd left her. To the changeling's surprise, the grey pegasus was standing there happily, just... waiting. The changeling's smile grew. If these ponies were all that foolish, it would be hatchling-play to control them. But still, the pegasus needed to be contained, before she changed her mind.

The changeling advanced on on Derpy. Suddenly, the air around her was filled with images of of monsters, all closing in on her! The changeling's head whipped around, looking for an opening. "What isss thisss?" the creature hissed. "Where did these thingsss come from?" In her moment of distraction, she didn't notice the carpets being flung at her.

The heavy rugs fouled the changeling's wings and brought her down to the ground. The creature got the wind knocked out of her by the fall, and was now covered head to tail in the carpet. A shot of panic went through the insectoid and she shouted, "Ahh! Get it off! Get it off of meeee!"

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[Mojo]

Gold Standard couldn't believe his eyes! The scary illusions that his unicorn magic had created were frightening the fake Fluttershy! Happy with the results, Gold Standard continued manipulating his magical illusions and added even more 'monsters' to the mix.

"I can't believe this is actually working!" Gold said to himself as he remained focused on the task at hoof. Hopefully, by keeping the leader of this changling group occupied would allow all of the other ponies in the house time to fight back and with some luck, drive the invaders out of Fluttershy's cottage.

Gold Standard learned a valuable lesson today. When your friends are in trouble, come to their aide. Whatever help you can give, even if it's not much, CAN make a difference. He would be sure to share this discovery with Celestia, when he returned to PCSGU.

(Last Post)

[Bellosh]

"Derpy, now! While she's blinded by the carpet. Open this cage and free me. Do it and I might be able to start overlooking what's happened between us before!"

Derpy Hooves was almost too busy watching the spectacle of one pegasus hopelessly fighting a horde of changelings to pay notice to Lyra’s desperate plea. Fortunately, the carpet costume the unicorn hurled at the bunny changeling ensured that Derpy was looking in her direction, making Lyra the currently distracting presence. Even though the googly-eyed pegasus promised to stay put, she also couldn’t tolerate her other fellow ponies to be locked up in cages. Derpy knew that she wouldn’t like the experience, that’s for sure.

“Uhhh, sure thing!” Derpy responded in a hurry, scrambling to find how the thing opened. Yet to her utter dismay, not a single keyhole could be found; “Oh no… I can’t see how this door unlocks! Just hold on…” Totally unhinged now, the gray pegasus pounded on every part of the cage that she could see. When bashing the bars didn’t work, she tried pushing that latch-looking thing-

“Oh,” commented the embarrassed Candy Bar mare, seeing that Lyra’s cage door easily opened just by pushing that latch up; “...I thought you needed a key to open this thing. Silly me!” Come to think of it, couldn’t Lyra have opened the door with her simple levitation magic? Alas; that mystery would have to be answered another time.....

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[NeoExlucky]

"This certainly is interesting..." Aselia said tensely as she looked around her. She was trained in combat when she joined the Rosalia Brigade but she mostly stayed in the back throwing her potions to help her allies. She had a few potions on her mind you, but they weren't for combat, they were meant for Aselia to drink so she could show off her talents. Changing her voice, causing her fur to glow, and faux fire breathing...actually some of her potions did look real, and could look like they were real. Aselia's rod, which was her actual weapon of combat in battle, could only do so much and was meant for one on one combat, nothing like this. She slipped one of her small vials into her hoof. "You know you should be careful. In Trottingham they call me the dragon-mare." She said devilishly. She put her rod away and wiped her hoof with her mouth, as she did so she pulled the corkscrew between her teeth and kept moving her hoof, causing the spicy liquid to flow into her mouth, which she swallowed. In one great flash she spat the corkscrew out, threw the now empty vial at the changeling in front of her, opened her mouth and sent the orange flames out of her mouth and into a fauw breath of fire. The illusion generated heat and made it seem like fire, but it did not light anything on fire. She spun around, sending the flames around so that all the changelings around her would see the fire. Hopefully they would be scared and run away, the potion didn't last very long.

[RarityDash]

Perfect success! Changelingshy was completely blinded by the lurking horror's noble struggles. Meanwhile, Derpy had pulled through and undone the latch on her cage... which seeing it now, Lyra could have probably undone on her own if she had just noticed it. As it turned out, these animal cages were hardly made for trapping unicorns. She gave a laugh as she ran out of her cage and made her way behind Changelingshy. She gave a hard push with her back legs, kicking the carpet ensnared changeling right into her cage, which she slammed shut behind her.

"Ha! Now you're the one in the cage, Failshy!" she started with a bold laugh. "How's it feel?" she added for extra zing. Of course, the changeling knew where the latch was and would likely be able to get out before long. They needed to hurry up and act.

Changelingshy seemed to be the leader, but there were still lots of other changelings fighting around. Lyra immediately went to work opening the other cages nearby before looking to Derpy, Pathfinder and the others. "C'mon, everypony! I say we put these cages to good use!" she started, ready to fight.

"Let's bag us some changelings!" she called out, know she had this. She'd be back at Bonnie's side before she even knew it.

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[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder was hammered by several changelings at once, not unlike Daring Do and the Dragon's Fire when Daring Do was surrounded and beaten by the Dragon Cult. Of course, the difference was that Bravado intervened and saved Daring Do, and together they topped the Idol of Aklabah and it's power over the brainwashed masses was curtailed by their efforts. No such luck this time, despite what she assumed was the best efforts of her fellow ponies. Scary illusions momentarily scared a few of them, but the ones dragging Pathfinder kicking but not screaming were not at all bemused by the ongoing shenanigans. In a few moments, she was trussed up and locked in the cage.

Well, phoeey for them! DIDN'T THEY KNOW SHE WAS A LEVEL TWENTY THIEF IN OUBLIETTES AND OGRES? Foals! but then again she didn't have any of her normal lock picking tools. That and they rarely ever allowed her to play with their gaming groups because they complained about her character being overpowered and using stuff from outside her class. And that she was level twenty off of the bat. But how could she be blamed for making the game more realistic to the life and times of Pathfinder and Daring Do? Without her escape tools, Pathfinder could only gnaw on the bars in an attempt to escape. In the battle between herbivore tendencies and teeth and steel bars, teeth always won. ALWAYS WON.

Luckily it didn't get that far. The carpet slug monster trapped the changeling leader in her cage and went about trying to free the other ponies. Not a bad effort, but she was just a simple carpet slug monster so the locks didn't come off really easily. After Pathfinder found another Orb of Holding maybe she'd capture a friendly slug monster like this one and they'd go on adventures. Or maybe just get booked on kidnapping charges again, considering the adorable pony underneath the disguise. Pathfinder could help with the locks of course. She still had beautiful hooves!

"Alright Sluggo, stand back and LET ME RIP!" Pathfinder then bucked the locked cage door where the lock and mechanism met, once, twice, third time the charm. She then tumbled out and took flight.

"Ha! Your HIDE THE SMOKE BOMBS gambit worked to perfection, but Sluggo and I have half a mind to turn you inside out!"

[Corsair]

This was not going to plan at all! First, that chocolate bar pegasus and her stupid, badly made costume. Then, the utterly mad pegasus that had managed to take down a half dozen drones before she was felled. Now, the changeling that had been in charge of this whole operation found herself locked in one of the cages!

She struggled out of the carpets that had been wrapped around her, and pressed her face up against the bars. This was terrible! All the ponies were getting free! Several of the drones were still fighting back, but the fight with Pathfinder had winded many of them. The changeling could now tell that the monsters that had surrounded her were nothing but illusions, but they were enough to distract the drones. Then off to one side, she saw the mare in the harlequin outfit breathing fire! How was that even possible?!

To top it all off, Pathfinder, whom had finally been caged, somehow broke her way out! The mad mare was just yelling threats, but she was more dangerous that could have been anticipated. The changeling had to try and salvage this situation! She began calling out orders to the other drones, trying to get them to regroup. The black carapaced creatures pulls together for a final assault, when disaster stuck. Golden armored pegusii dropped down out of the sky! The soldier ponies moved into a position to protect the former captives, while others advanced on the assembled drones. It was then that the order came down. Retreat! The queen was pulling her forces out!

The changelings all took to the air, buzzing away as fast as their wings could carry them. But the changeling in the bunny suit was still in the cage! "Wait, you idiotsss!" she screamed. "Get me out of here!" The fleeing changelings paid her no heed as they flew into the night. Soon, then changeling in the cage found herself faced with many angry ponies. She looked out and them, and asked in an unsteady voice, "Um, I don't sssuppossse any pony wantsss sssome help with their cossstumesss?"

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