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       #Post#: 2221--------------------------------------------------
       Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Striker Date: April 17, 2014, 9:55 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Note: This RP takes place slightly in the past, during the
       events of “A Canterlot Wedding.” Since this is the What-If
       board, feel free to bring in any of your characters, even if the
       event doesn’t fit their backstory exactly.
       
       Striker steadied the bowl of mild explosives in front of him,
       preparing to cast a spell. Finally, he had the house to himself,
       which meant a chance to work on his new firework formula in
       peace and quiet. Or at least peace and quiet until he set one of
       the fireworks off. His parents and twin sister were attending
       the royal wedding at the Canterlot Palace that the family had
       been formally invited to attend. Fortunately, Striker had
       managed to convince his mother that it would be better if stayed
       home and avoided making a fool of himself, which he tended to do
       at these fancy events. Those stuffy elite ponies were so easily
       offended! Striker was considering sneaking into the reception
       bit, since he had heard rumors that his favorite celebrity, DJ
       P0N-3, would be performing, but that would depend on how well
       the firework spell turned out. Striker concentrated and summoned
       a blue glow of magic to the tip of his horn.
       
       CRASH! Striker jumped at the sound of something shattering.
       Seconds later, a greenish fireball plummeted into the alley
       outside his window. Could his spell have caused something to
       fall? No, Striker decided. He hadn’t even cast the spell yet;
       the chemicals in front of him were shaken, but otherwise
       unchanged. Besides, it had been years since his aim was that
       bad. But where had the fiery object come from? He’d have thought
       the protection spell around Canterlot would deflect something
       like a small meteorite. Striker trotted downstairs and out the
       front door to investigate.
       
       The ground in the alley was slightly charred, and in the crater
       lay… a pony? Striker leaned closer as the dark form stood up,
       but recoiled when a bright green flash nearly blinded him. When
       his vision cleared, he caught sight of a pony with familiar
       yellow coat running down the alley. Kindle Wick? But his twin
       sister should still be at the wedding!
       “Hey!” Striker shouted, teleporting himself to the end of the
       alley in a flash of blue magic. “Kindle, is that you?” The pony
       kept running, but Striker could see that it was headed towards a
       dead end. He galloped after it until it was forced to stop in
       front of a high brick wall.
       “Gotcha!” Striker grinned triumphantly. “What are you doing
       here, Kindle?” Striker’s smile faded as the pony turned around.
       Despite having the same coloring as his twin sister, this pony
       wasn’t Kindle. In fact, it wasn’t even a mare; it was a
       stallion. And he looked identical to Striker: the same color
       coat, same color mane and tail, even the same cutie mark!
       “What in all of Equestria is going on?” Striker exclaimed.
       “What in all of Equestria is going on?” his doppelganger
       parroted, mimicking Striker’s pose.
       Had one of his friends mastered some kind of disguise spell? And
       what were all those loud noises he could hear in the distance?
       Was that the sound of somepony screaming? Striker finally looked
       up and realized that the protection spell that had surrounded
       Canterlot was broken. Whatever was happening, it couldn’t be
       good.
       #Post#: 2256--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Foxtrot Date: April 20, 2014, 8:03 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       'Stupid wedding. Stupid Royal Guard increasing their stupid
       patrols. Ugh I haven't been able to get a full six hours sleep
       without them hassling me. "Oh we're on patrol because there's
       been a threat." Yea it's obviously the pony with a guitar.' The
       smells of fresh flowers, cakes, and other aromas fill the town
       as everyone prepares for the big day. Foxtrot begrudgingly trots
       along the Canterlot streets, grumbling to himself as he passes
       anypony talking about the ceremony. It's already been a month
       since he's arrived in the city, and it hasn't gone well.
       Attempts to find work with the Royal Guard has failed, his
       occupation with The 26 is considered 'unnecessary'. The sound of
       metallic hooves trotting nearby from the Royal Guard pass
       Foxtrot, making the unicorn turn away as the officers walk past
       him. In the short time he's been in Canterlot the guards have
       been either polite or complete jerks, "vagrancy" seems to be
       their favorite term to throw around when any of them find him on
       the streets. Now with the wedding today, nearly every guard he's
       come into contact with ends up questioning him about his
       motives. Foxtrot looks up, the magical barrier covering the city
       gives the sky a colorful tint. Today though, the unicorn's heart
       drops as something terribly wrong happens. The magical barrier
       shatters, green balls of fire fall from the sky and crash all
       over the city. Screams and panic ensuing as Foxtrot sighs and
       facehoofs, 'Changelings. It had to be changelings. Of all things
       in this world, of ALL the things that had to show up, it had to
       be CHANGELINGS! A ball of fire crashes near the unicorn, who
       walks over to the crater with an aggravated sigh. As expected he
       finds a changeling in the crater, the creature looking up and
       staring right at him. Like reciting a monologue, Foxtrot begins
       counting, "3... 2... 1." At the last count the changeling is
       engulfed in a green flame, emerging as Foxtrot when the fires
       subside. "Oh no." the real unicorn says in mock monotone fear,
       "It's a changeling. Like the other hundreds I've seen before."
       "Oh no." the copycat repeats in the same monotone voice and
       expression. "It's a cha-ACK!" The changeling is cut off as
       Foxtrot lunges forward and tightly grips its neck.
       "Do not repeat me." Foxtrot sternly orders, his irritation
       showing little signs of subsiding. The unicorn tightens his grip
       around the changeling's neck. "Change back now." Almost
       instantly the imitation reverts back to its original form. "Good
       boy." With that Foxtrot hurls the changeling into a pile of
       trash and continues walking, a small smirk appearing on his
       face, "Well at least I can cut loose a bit today." Another
       glowing fireball flies overhead, landing just a short distance
       away. Wasting no time Foxtrot dashes past the madness and
       follows the trail. Rounding the corner, he stops at an alleyway,
       at the very end are two ponies who look exactly alike, "Well,
       damn. Alright, one way to sort this out." Making his way towards
       the two he places his hoof on the handle of his katana, "Hey you
       two! Don't move! Royal Guard!" Foxtrot was of course
       impersonating an officer again, but this time there was a good
       reason to.
       #Post#: 2265--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Striker Date: April 20, 2014, 11:20 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Striker looks back and forth between the pony declaring himself
       a royal guard and the one imitating him in panic. Obviously, the
       fake him is some kind of criminal or other threat that the
       Canterlot Royal Guard needs to deal with, but how can Striker
       convince the guard he is the original? As far as he can tell,
       there's no difference in the appearance of him and the other
       pony; even his twin sister wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
       For once, Striker wishes that he had gone to the stuffy event at
       the palace along with the rest of his family instead of staying
       home alone.
       "I haven't done anything!" Striker says, knowing the guard has
       no reason other than his word to believe him. "He's the fake!"
       Striker points to the pony across the alleyway.
       "He's the fake," his doppelgänger insists, pointing back at him.
       Well, that didn't help anything, Striker thinks. "Look, I'm
       obviously the real one, he's just repeating what I'm saying."
       Striker tries to keep his voice calm, wary of the weapon in the
       guard's hand. He doesn't want the pony to decide that the
       situation needs violence to resolve. At least, not violence
       towards himself. His imitation, on the other hand, is becoming
       irritating enough to warrant a physical attack.
       "I'm obviously the real one," the fake begins to say, but
       Striker cuts him off.
       "Shut up! I don't know why you're trying to act like me, but
       it's not going to help you at all. The only thing it's going to
       do is get us both arrested, which I would like to avoid, so just
       give it up already!"
       Striker sees the fake take a breath to repeat his words. That
       was the final straw. He couldn't take it anymore! Guard or no
       guard, Striker decides to take matters into his own hoof. He
       summons a light anti-magic orb, enough to get rid of an
       enchantment, and hurls it towards the imposter. The orb bursts
       into a flash of blue light as it hits the other pony, stripping
       it of its disguise.
       The revealed pony is black, with a twisted horn, strange green
       wings, gleaming fangs, and... were those holes through its legs?
       The creature hisses, and Striker scrambles backwards as far away
       from it as the small space in the alleyway will allow. "W-what
       is that thing?" he stammers to the guard.
       #Post#: 2272--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Golden Gear Date: April 21, 2014, 9:23 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "Let me go?!" Angry voice of a mare echoed from a shady looking
       pawnshop at the edge of the city. "You can't dump me now! We- We
       had a deal, a contract!"
       "I'm sorry, but these times call for... Desperate, actions" A
       big, grumpy looking stallion answered with calm and mocking
       voice, while he was inspecting a pile of jewels for their
       authenticity. "Your... Contribution to my humble business is
       appreciated, but i have to feed my kids and after all-"
       "You don't have any kids..." The brown mare answered, making it
       clear with her tone that she wasn't amused. "You're not even
       married..."
       "Details, details dear Golden." The owner of the shop pushed a
       small pouch towards Golden. "Now take it and scram. You are no
       longer needed, nor welcome here."
       "But i.. I-"
       "OUT!"
       Golden Gear took the pouch containing her last payment from the
       pawnshop's owner, and turned to leave. On her way out, Golden
       kicked a large porcelain vase, shattering it into pieces and
       causing what looked like marbles, spread all around the floor.
       The stallion behind the counter jumped up, but Golden didn't
       turn back to see what he was about to do, she didn't care. If he
       wanted to duke it out, she was ready to beat that ungrateful-
       As she stepped out from the building, Golden Gear blinked few
       times at the sight before her. There was exactly similar looking
       mare standing there, staring back at her, with goggles and
       everything. Golden blinked few more time before looking back
       towards the pawnshop, but there were no movement to be seen
       there. Thinking that this was some kind of trick to either get
       her back to work there, or maybe to get her there to pay for
       that vase, Golden turned her head back towards her doppelganger
       while saying. "Okay, i don't know what your deal is, but i'm not
       coming back to- *Umpf!* " Golden felt a sharp punch connect to
       her jaw and it sent her down to the ground. "What the HAY!
       *grunt* If that's how you want to handle this..." Golden took
       her turn and punched her duplicate as hard as she could, sending
       it flying back in a green flash and leaving Golden shaking her
       hoof, silently repeating "Ow... Ow... Ow..."
       Golden Gear looked at the "thing" she had just hit. "What the
       hay is that..." She gave it few pokes, just to see if it was
       dead, but judging from it's twitching it was still alive, just
       unconscious. Golden kept looking at the prone changeling and
       didn't hear the two green "meteorites" heading her way. It was
       barely before their impact when she actually heard them and
       managed to dive out of the way. After her roll, Golden realized
       that the shield around the city had disappeared, and the sky
       over Canterlot was filled with green lights speeding towards the
       city. "Wow wow wow... I didn't sign for this..." From the crater
       of the "meteorites" rose two more look-a-likes and both of them
       charged towards her. Golden quickly tripped one of them and
       tossed it aside towards an alley with her magic. She then took
       out her wrench, unfolded it and delivered an unhealthy hit to
       the other doppelganger, causing it to fly through the air and
       landing near the first changeling. "You started this..." She
       said before she turned around and started running away towards
       the center of Canterlot.
       "Not my fault!"
       #Post#: 2276--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Foxtrot Date: April 21, 2014, 10:48 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "That my friend..." Foxtrot says as he approaches the
       changeling, pulling out his weapon in the process. "Is a
       changeling." The creature hisses and points its horn a the
       unicorn and fires a magical blast. Foxtrot stops and focuses on
       the blast speeding towards him, just as the ball of energy gets
       within range, the unicorn bats the projectile to the side of the
       building. The sound of a splash with an after hissing noise can
       be heard from the burn mark on its wall. To close to fire again,
       the changeling charges forward, fangs bared out to unleash a
       hiss at its target. Foxtrot gets up on his back hoofs and
       readies his katana, already knowing that a simple lunge to the
       chest will be an easy ill considering the creature's straight
       trajectory. However as the changeling draws near the unicorn
       simply side steps, tilting his sword over his left shoulder,
       allowing the tip to lightly slash at the assailant's side. A
       feint sizzle could be heard from the pained cry of the
       changeling as it loses its balance and falls to the floor. It
       looks up to blast his opponent once more but is knocked out as
       Foxtrot gives it a swift kick to the jaw.
       With the changeling knocked out the unicorn falls back to his
       four, well three because his one hoof is still holding the
       sword, hoofs and looks back to the pony still on the ground,
       "You alright? Actually, before you answer I need to give you a
       test." Foxtrot calmly walks over, despite the ensuing panic
       heard from the streets. Once he get's close enough the sword
       wielding pony lowers his weapon and taps the side of cold steel
       against the yellow unicorn's hoof. After a slight pause Foxtrot
       checks the hoof for a moment, with no burn signs found he
       sheathes his weapon and takes a step back, "Well, you're not a
       changeling either, good. Are you alright?"
       #Post#: 2290--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Striker Date: April 21, 2014, 11:51 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Striker watched in awe as the guard expertly dispatched the
       changeling. He was about to clamber to his hooves when the
       unicorn walked towards him with his weapon drawn, saying
       something about a "test." Was he about to challenge him to a
       duel or something? Striker was not a fighter, at least not one
       with anything nearing the level of skill he had seen the other
       pony demonstrate while fighting the changeling. Striker flinched
       slightly when the guard's blade touched his coat, but the metal
       was unexpectedly cool - he could have sworn he saw the weapon
       burn the changeling a few seconds ago. Whatever the test was,
       Striker appeared to have passed it, because the guard put away
       his weapon.
       Striker pushed himself to his hooves, shaking out his legs.
       Nothing seemed broken, although he'd probably have some bruises
       where he had fallen down. "Yeah, I'm alright," he replied to the
       guard. "My name's Striker. Thanks for taking care of that
       changeling. Where are they all coming from?" Striker saw dozens
       green streaks falling from the sky into Canterlot, which he
       assumed were even more changelings. One landed at the far end of
       the alleyway, towards the entrance. The changeling was behind
       the guard, out of his sight, but this time Striker was ready to
       hit first and ask questions later. Before the creature could
       mimic anypony's looks, he summoned a blast spell he had been
       practicing for his work on fireworks and fired at the
       changeling. The force hurled the creature to the other side of
       the street, where it lay unconscious.
       Striker shook his head to clear it the ringing noise the blast
       had caused. That spell was not intended for use in close
       quarters. When he could focus again, he turned back to the
       guard. "Why didn't you kill that thing?" he asked, pointing to
       the knocked-out changeling next to them. Striker had noticed the
       guard purposefully avoid using his weapon lethally. Not that
       Striker would have preferred violence, in fact, he was glad that
       he hadn't witnessed the changeling's death, but he was curious
       that a Royal Guard would be so cautious about an extreme threat
       to Canterlot's safety. "Are they actually cursed ponies or
       something?" Striker said, just blurting out the first
       explanation that came to his head, although he doubted it could
       be the real reason.
       Before the guard could respond, a clatter of hoofbeats caught
       Striker's attention. A brown mare ran down the street that the
       alleyway connected to, pursued closely by a few
       identical-looking ponies, or rather, changelings. "She looks
       like she might need help," Striker said, and began galloping
       towards the street.
       #Post#: 2295--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Golden Gear Date: April 22, 2014, 5:05 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chaos. It was pure chaos. Faint screams could be heard all
       around Canterlot, but Golden had trouble trying to locate them.
       Oh, how she wished to run into somepony who new what the hay was
       going on. She had seen few instances of ponies running away from
       those insectoid ponies, and royal guards trying to fight them
       off, but with poor results. Golden's train of thought got
       abruptly stopped when she saw three changelings sending others
       of their kind to carry trapped ponies away. To where, she didn't
       know, nor was she sure if she wanted to find out. She was still
       in full gallop when the changelings turned towards her and with
       green flash they took her form, just like the ones from before.
       Golden didn't want to try her luck against three of them at the
       same time. With mighty leap she managed to jump over the group
       and continue her "Escape", still in full gallop and now with
       three pursuers. "Dang it... Should have thought this out before
       hoof..." She thought when she realized they went after her.
       "What do you creeps want from me!" She shouted back, receiving a
       hiss back from one of the changelings.
       Golden barely heard a sound of explosion from somewhere nearby,
       but didn't pay it any mind, it could have been anything in all
       this chaos. She passed countless alleyways and was starting to
       run out of breath, but before she could think of her next move,
       Golden was tackled down by a changeling that leaped from one of
       the alleyways. They rolled for small distance before Golden
       kicked the changeling off of her and quickly scrambled herself
       up from the ground to face the other three shapeshifters. First
       one was easy enough when it charged her alone. Golden delivered
       a hit to it's head with her wrench, knocking it out cold. She
       turned to face the other two, but the changeling that had
       tackled her earlier, jumped on her back and held her as a target
       for the other two who were now charging a spell of some kind.
       Golden tried to struggle herself free, but was too fatigued to
       overpower her captor. Golden did the next most logical thing and
       jerked her head forward, before throwing it back with as much
       power she could muster. She could swear she broke something in
       that changelings muzzle, and her surprise attack caused the
       changeling to release her, to which Golden reacted quickly by
       smacking it to it's chest with her wrench, sending one more of
       those insects down.
       Golden Gear turned to the two others again, and was waiting for
       them to fire their spells already, but they stood there waiting,
       waiting for somethi- Golden felt another sharp punch connect to
       her muzzle, this time from a larger sized changeling who was
       glad in armor. She managed to stand her ground and tried to
       counter her attacker, only to receive another punch, this time
       to her chest. Before she had any chance to react, the changeling
       spun her around and held her as a target for the two changelings
       again, but this time the changeling holding her made sure she
       couldn't move her head.
       #Post#: 2302--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Foxtrot Date: April 22, 2014, 1:22 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Foxtrot looks over at the changeling, then back to Striker as he
       introduces himself and asks his question. He opens his mouth to
       answer but is cut off by the sudden blast that Striker shoots
       past him. Looking over his shoulder he finds the stallion hit
       his target, the new arrival flung right across the street.
       Foxtrot nods, rather impressed at the force implied with said
       blast. Looking back to Striker, Foxtrot is given another
       question, however once again he's interrupted, this time by the
       pony himself as he offers a suggestion as to what the creatures
       really were. Foxtrot shakes his head, opening his mouth thrice
       to tell the stallion what changelings actually are, he's cut off
       by the brown mare and her perusing copycats. In the blink of eye
       Striker has already began his chase, leaving Foxtrot to simply
       roll his eyes and follow as well.
       Entering the streets the scenes of an all out assault surrounds
       the two unicorns. Screaming and explosions echo all around them
       as the smell of smoke and fire inhibit the air and fill parts of
       the sky above Canterlot. Foxtrot speeds up and catches up to
       Striker, when he does he begins speaking quickly, remembering
       the questions the yellow pony had for him in the alley. "My
       name's Foxtrot. You're welcome. I don't know where they're
       coming from but I'm sure the castle might have some answers,
       plus that's where the Royal Guard would most likely rally."
       Looking forward Foxtrot sees the mare already knocking a
       changeling out, but a few more on her tail urges haste. Scanning
       the street, the unicorn finds a partially filled cart on the
       pavement. An idea popping up in his head just as the larger
       changeling appears, holding the mare for an easy attack.
       "Striker! I'll take out the big guy, you blast the other two; oh
       and try not to peg me too while you're doing that." Foxtrot
       speeds up to a near sprint, using his momentum to ram his
       shoulder right against the back of the cart, sending it rolling
       at a considerable speed towards the changelings and the pony
       armed with a wrench. As the cart's wheels spin down the street,
       the unicorn climbs up and begins riding it towards the larger
       changeling. He stands up on his hind hooves, gripping the handle
       of his katana and clipping the sheathe loose, 'This will have to
       be close if I want to hit him. Then again he is a large target,
       I'm sure I- oh crap I'm going faster than expected!' Focusing on
       the large brute, Foxtrot swings his sword across as hard as he
       can, the sheathe of the katana flying off of the steel and
       bolting through the air. With a loud clack the tip of the
       sheathe slams into the changeling's helmet, the resulting sound
       and impact causing the armored insect to let go of the mare's
       head and grab his own as the ringing in his ears makes him step
       away just enough to proceed with part two of the former guard's
       plan. After a simple adjustment of the direction of the speeding
       cart, Foxtrot gets up and stands on the side of the cart,
       targeting the brown mare up ahead; as soon as he's within range,
       Foxtrot jumps.
       The armored changeling turns to see cart just as it collides
       right into it, sending both it and the cart crashing into the
       side of a nearby building with a loud bang and clanging of
       armor. The unicorn's katana slips from the unicorn's grip and
       clanks to the floor, too far from its owner to be used at all.
       Foxtrot himself tackles the mare to the ground, perhaps a bit
       harder than expected he concludes as he lands on his chest,
       knocking the wind right out of his lungs. "Get down!' He
       struggles to shout as he covers his head and the mares and prays
       that Striker hits the last two changelings in front of them.
       #Post#: 2317--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Striker Date: April 22, 2014, 6:19 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       The castle - Foxtrot was right, that was where they should try
       to reach. Hopefully he could find his parents and sister there
       and make sure that they were safe. Striker tried to keep his
       worries about his family at the back of his mind, he needed to
       focus on the immediate danger of the attacking changelings.
       Striker hung back at the entrance to the alleyway, waiting for
       Foxtrot to take the armored changeling out of the fight. The
       unicorn's tactic with the cart was successful, but left both the
       guard and the mare defenseless against a counterattack by the
       two smaller changelings. Striker would have to take them both
       out, quickly.
       "Hey, over here!" he called, drawing the changelings' attention
       away from the ponies lying on the ground. They turned around
       and, in a flash of green light, changed their appearance to
       match Striker's. His head spun, trying to take in the sudden
       materialization of not one, but two ponies identical to him. Now
       is not the time to get confused, Striker thought. Just focus and
       get yourself out of this mess. The changelings were moving too
       quickly for him to have time to make two shots - he'd have to
       take both of them out at once. And it would have to be a big
       blast, given how far apart they were.
       Striker planted his hooves against the ground and summoned up
       the strongest blast spell he knew. He let the crackling orb of
       blue magic grow on his horn. He could already feel the
       beginnings of a headache; Striker wasn't used to putting so much
       raw power behind a spell. He squinted past the light of the
       magic to follow the changelings' paths and time his shot. When
       the changelings were nearly on him, he aimed the spell at the
       ground between them and dove for cover. Striker felt a shockwave
       pass through him, and the noise of the enormous explosion
       thundered down the street. When the dust cleared, Striker saw
       the two changelings lying on opposite sides of the street,
       twitching jerkily. The stones in the middle of the street were
       covered by a large burn mark. He'd probably overdone it, just a
       little.
       "Are you guys okay?" Striker called to the ponies at the other
       end of the street, hoping that they hadn't been harmed by the
       blast.
       #Post#: 2328--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Canterlot in Chaos
       By: Golden Gear Date: April 23, 2014, 10:37 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Golden tried to struggle free, but was unable to do so.
       Realizing how much power those changelings were gathering,
       Golden concluded that they weren't gonna capture her like they
       had some other ponies, but instead "remove" her out of the
       picture. From her struggling Golden didn't notice The two
       stallions closing in, not before Foxtrot delivered a hit to the
       her captor's head, which caused it to release her from it's
       grip. She didn't have time to gather her surroundings before she
       saw the cart coming back. Golden was tackled down by Foxtrot as
       the bigger changeling crashed against a building with the cart.
       She tried to get up, but was pulled back down By Foxtrot, just
       before something blew up.
       Golden faintly heard Striker call out something, asking about
       someone being okay, did he mean her or the other pony on the
       ground, maybe them both? "If you could send me to tropical
       resort in Las Pegasus, i would really appreciate that." She
       shouted back. "You alright, Hot head?" Golden asked from Foxtrot
       while wiping some blood away from her muzzle.
       *****************************************************
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