//------------------------------//
// Showdown in a laundry room 
// Story: The Triumvirate 
// by Fedora71 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 14

Specs finally made it outside the prison, after she found a cart carrying out several wounded guards. She faked an injury and hopped aboard, hoping that her brother had made it out too. Her hopes of an easy escape were shattered when she saw what was waiting outside the prison. To Specs it looked like the entire hammer of Celestia was coming down upon the prison. After what typically happens when the praetorians show, Specs would’ve expected some action. This, however, was much more than she was expecting. The sheer numbers of the guards was mind-boggling, but there were enough to easily fill the prison’s external courtyard, and even more were filing in. The numbers weren’t what was worrying her. It was the level of security that was being put into ponies going in and out. Multiple checkpoints had been set up, with pegasi patrolling both inside and outside the shield. There was no way out.
She became very worried for her brother’s safety.
“And you have every right to be,” a voice from nowhere spoke directly into her head; she almost jumped upon hearing, before she remembered her training. “He’s gotten himself into quite the predicament.” There were several seconds in which she thought the voice had gone away. “Aw clever, you’re not going to answer a voice that you hear in your head. Well then, let me show you something you may find interesting.” Her vision faded until she was in the prison laundry room, a changeling praetorian in the center, a griffin and unicorn standing in front of him, and two other changelings. One standing off to his side, she recognized as Ancro, and the other changeling was…
The vision faded back to normal, and she was looking up towards the shield spell that encircled the prison.
“In case you didn’t know, that was the praetorian’s commander.” Shift’s pulse quickened, she had to do something, but nothing came to mind that didn’t compromise her. Given the emotions she was getting from the ponies, they would attack first and ask questions later, if at all. She took a deep breath and casually rolled off the cart, drawing no attention to herself. She picked cool colors for all her facades, just to make them harder to notice.

Ancro was glad to see his friends again. He just wished it was under better circumstances. He jumped to avoid one of the fireballs that changeling was casting. The changeling was another thing that was getting to him. While he was more than glad that he was being courteous and not killing them, the act of playing with them was just degrading.
“So Stigs, how ya been?” Ancro asked almost cheerfully, as he ducked behind cover next to his unicorn friend, feeling a bit of strength flow into him.
“Been bett-whoa!” Ancro suddenly pushed Stigandr to the side as the changeling’s spell tore through their cover.
Scott was trapped in the air. He barely avoided the latest fireballs in an attempt to get to some cover. The fireballs the changeling was firing kept him bracketed to small section of the room. He saw a crystal, and he could’ve sworn he saw something eating popcorn inside it. A blast demolished the crystal, the heat and force scorched his face and left his ears ringing. He was fighting to stay in control as gravity grabbed hold of him.
“Stigs, I’ll keep him happy,” Ancro said, feeling what happened to Scott, and seeing the reflection in his friend’s abnormally large pony eyes. Ancro went for the ceiling, dodging the fireballs that were coming at him with ease. He didn’t have a lot of energy, but he had enough for this. He rapidly dived on the changeling, and a green flame engulfed the air around him. He stared unblinkingly through the flames as the distance closed and he stopped, feeling himself become weightless a foot away from the commander’s face.
“Well, this is awkward,” Ancro said, and barely registered the blur of the back hand knocking him to the far wall. He saw a blurry black figure looking down on him, and he slurred out something along the lines of ‘Ow, that really hurt.’

“Stay down and he may not kill you,” Shift said, pulling Ancro behind the linen basket that he had hid behind. Ancro looked at him with blank eyes, while the words bounced around his head. One of the fun things about a concussion is that you don’t really know what’s going on when it happens. You may keep doing the thing you were doing, and not have a firm grasp of why you should stop. In this case, Ancro was getting up shakily and trying to grasp why his eyes wouldn’t stay focused on the big changeling.

Stigandr just managed to slow Scott’s descent, and pulled him to cover just as another fireball was about to hit him dead on.
“Anyone get the number of that bus?” He said, dazed, as Stigandr jerked him behind an industrial sized washer as their cover was destroyed. Stigandr’s special talent was that he could adapt and overcome to situations and attacks. He’d seen that fireball attack often enough to know how it worked, and maybe even counter it. “Sit tight, Scott. I have a plan.” He gestured towards the ceiling, and the griffin nodded in agreement.
Stigandr popped around the corner and blasted him with some of his magic. The pressure wave did nothing to the changeling, it only presented himself as a target. Both horns lit up and a fireball went flying towards the unicorn. 
The fireball raced towards him, and his horn lit up. With too much effort, he deflected it towards a dryer on beside him. The changeling commander saw this, and smiled to himself. He hadn’t ever seen a pony deflect his spell before. That may make all the effort for transforming fun. He charged his horns, and instead of a fireball, it shot out a stream of flames. Stigandr’s horn lit up in time to catch the flames and turn them away from him. Stigandr focused with all his willpower to keep the fire directed away from him. The changeling then started stepping forward, like there was no effort behind the spell. With each step the changeling took, Stigandr felt the heat and intensity of the fire skyrocket, and he fought with every ounce of strength to not be pushed back.
“So was this your plan,” the changeling asked as he continued to step forward, “to hold out until I ran dry?”
A stalactite hit the changeling on the back of the head, momentarily breaking his concentration. He looked up and saw the griffin hovering, with at least a dozen of the smaller ones in his arms. Stigandr used his magic and tore the hose off one of the washers, and began dousing the changeling’s head.
Ancro was happily learning that his accelerated healing affected every part of his body, being close to his friends and having a steady supply of love was wonderful. He was already getting ready to head back into the fray. He looked, saw Scott and Stigandr keeping the changeling occupied, and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy that they didn’t wait for him to get better.
“Do you want to help out?” Ancro asked, blinking his eyes to focus.
“He’ll kill me.” Ancro rolled his eyes at the changeling’s flawed logic.
“You’re dead if you don’t, and we may beat him if you do,” Ancro said, trying desperately not to slap sense into the changeling. “Personally, going out swinging is the best way to go.”
Ancro felt resolve form inside the changeling. Shift was still scared to death, but he was going to at least help them.
“If you want to help out, go to the dryers and gather up the lint. I have a plan,” Ancro said as the basic idea for a plan formulated into his concussed head.

The water was making it difficult for the changeling to cast the fire spells, but he still had telekinesis and two horns. With one of his horns, he captured the water coming from the hose and used it to trap the unicorn’s head in an ever expanding bubble. With his other horn, he captured the stalactites that were thrown at him and prepared to send them back, with interest. That was his plan until the gnat returned and kicked him upside the head, followed by a blast point blank into his eye. Reflexively, he covered the wound with one of his claws while he grew an armored patch to let it heal. Ancro charged at the opportunity.
With his free claw, he grabbed the pest and slammed the smaller changeling’s head into the ground, keeping it pinned there. However, once again, the momentary lapse in concentration was all it took to lead to another nuisance. The unicorn had decided to hit him with the same tactic. It would’ve worked if he wasn’t able to grow gills. He looked over to the soggy unicorn, who was still gasping for air as the levitated water continued to hold its form. Just as he was about to make the water evaporate, a beak protruded inside the bubble, and the most awfully high-pitched shriek assaulted his ears. This time, he was able to power through the pain, and grabbed the griffin around the neck. With a flash from his horn, the water that engulfed his head turned to steam and the hose wrapped around Stigandr’s neck.
“Ancro,” Scott rasped, “tell me you got a plan.”
“…maybe.” Ancro replied with a whisper, hoping he would live to regret doing something this stupid. He also had major doubts that it would work… He was running on fumes as is, and every attack brought him that much closer to a crippling migraine. As a result, his fireballs were little more than bottle rockets. ‘Hmm…so this is how Jubilee feels?’ He thought, as he lit up his horn.
An explosion went off under the changeling’s claw, forcing him to jerk it back. Ancro had survived, although a good portion of his face was burnt and his ears were ringing. He had caught the changeling completely by surprise, by doing the last thing he was expecting to happen. Ancro began firing blindly in the changeling’s general direction, hoping he didn’t hit his friend.
The commander assessed the changeling as it began to fire wildly at him. He didn’t even bother to dodge, the blasts were so pitiful. Even the one that made him let go was weak. He just hadn’t been expecting anything to be so stupid as to blast his own face off! He rushed the blind changeling, and grabbed him by the side of his head. He applied pressure onto his horn with his newly armored claw. The attack may not have done much, but it was painful enough for him to be careful.
Ancro still kicked, and growled and swore while he struggled under the commander’s claw. Every now and then, he’d feel a spell charge up inside him and the commander would apply more pressure to the horn. As tempted as he was, breaking the horn may be going a step too far. Yes, it would eventually grow back, but his queen had given him specific instructions not to do anything extremely harmful.
The commander turned to look at the unicorn, and was utterly shocked to see him missing from the hose. He had cut his way out with one of the crystals. ‘Resourceful’, the commander thought, as he roamed around looking for the unicorn. He took in a deep breath from the air around him, and then exhaled just as deeply before moving along the scent trail. Apex was more than just muscle and magic; it heightened all his senses. He could taste the unicorn, and feel that he was in control of his emotions, which made pinpointing him a lot harder. Still there was one thing he couldn’t hide, and that was his scent, which went back to the supply closet. He had lost what respect he had for the unicorn. Hiding in the closet is such an infantile thing to do. He felt the surge of magic as he approached the door. ‘What’s he going to do?’ He thought confidently, ‘hit me with a can of Lysol?’ He opened the door, and a new meaning of pain stung the unarmored parts of his face as several gallons of bleach were dumped onto his head. He screamed and released the other two, and Ancro smiled evilly as the smell of bleach reached his nostrils. He grabbed a yellow bottle with his magic, tore it open with his mouth, and felt satisfied at the sour taste. The one-liner could wait, he thought as he doused the acidic contents onto the face of the changeling, and watched as the commander’s pain doubled.
“We may need to take a few steps back,” Ancro warned.
“Why?” Scott asked, as they slowly backed away.
“Mix bleach with a stronger enough acid, and you get something akin to mustard gas,” Ancro said, before face palming. 
“How do you know that?” Scott asked, slightly terrified.
“Chemistry in the…11th grade, I think?” Ancro said, and Scott half expected him to mention a lab experiment he had botched. “It was mentioned in a paragraph in the chapter that talked about acids and bases.”
“Seriously, the school text book told you how to make mustard gas?”
“Yeah, I was oddly the only one who noticed it,” Ancro answered with a shrug, as they turned away from the screaming changeling.
“I’m going to kill you!” The changeling commander roared, as the mask peeled off his face, revealing the awful damage that had been.
“Scatter!” Stigandr shouted, as the changeling charged. It became clear that the fight wasn’t over yet.

“Sir, the changelings have been cornered,” A guard said to Shining Armor.
“Where?” He said, his voice low and in control.
“Outside the laundry room. The ceiling caved in,” He continued, while Shining Armor levitated his helmet onto his head, “They are trying to dig their way through the rock.”
“Signal the guards outside the prison,” Shining Armor ordered with a slow, deliberate, and at the same time, terrifying tone. “Tell them we’re going in.”
“Yes, sir.” The guard saluted before galloping out of the caverns, almost bumping into a light blue stallion as he passed.

Specs was doing as little as she could to draw attention to herself. Something all changelings naturally excel at. The one thought that was on her mind, and that kept her going, was how she hoped her brother wasn’t dead and how hard she was going to beat him if he made it.
A bat’s head looked out of the top of Fluttershy’s mane as a guard slowly and deliberately walked through the ponies that were forming up into their ranks. This one, however, didn’t go to any of the squads. Instead he just walked straight for the prison. The bat pulled on the pink mane to get Fluttershy’s attention.
“What is it, Bruce?” Fluttershy asked, and the bat pointed one wing towards the light blue pony. “Oh him? What about him?”
The bat pointed to his nose then shook his head.
“He doesn’t smell good?” The bat shook his head no. Then he waved his right wing. “Oh! He doesn’t smell right!”
Bruce nodded. Fluttershy felt a bit of confidence; she was finally getting the hang of charades. Angel bunny would be so proud.
“Who doesn’t smell rahght?” Applejack asked, coming up behind and startling Fluttershy. The Pegasus knocked Bruce out of his soft perch in her mane.
“Bruce said something’s off about the guard that just went into the prison.” Fluttershy murmured. “Do you think we should tell Shining Armor?”
“Ah reckon so.” She replied, “Twi’s gone missin’ too, so he would want to know everything.”

Specs felt hostility focused on her as she ran through the halls. She knew this feeling, she was found out. She didn’t know how or whom, but somepony knew and they had told. She needed to find a new disguise fast, and a partner. The ponies were working in pairs and trios; she had already seen them grab the ones who were by themselves and take them back for examination. She needed to find her brother before they found her. She dove behind a corner to avoid a patrol, only to find another walking down the hall.
“Through here.” A shadow on the wall pointed to a laundry chute. She dove headfirst down the chute, really hoping the commander was still tied up with those three idiots.

It was now painfully clear that playtime was over with the commander, and he was now going for keeps. Ancro was learning what it felt like to have bones break, set, and then break again before they could fully heal. Stigandr realized just how much of the changeling’s magic was being held back. Scott was doing what he could, but the changeling wasn’t allowing him to get close. Thanks to the bleach and the other chemicals, it was taking a while for him to actually heal. Which meant he was still blind, deaf, and without smell. Scott started writing this off as a good thing. The griffin forgot that the commander still had AOE attacks.
“How ya holding up, Ancro?”Stigs asked, obviously getting tired.
“Still got one more step in me than you,” Ancro answered, deciding to reply with his usual ‘I’ll one up you’ response, even though he was getting tired himself. This taunt gave Stigandr some semblance of a second wind and he straightened up, refusing to let Ancro one up him.
“We need a plan,” Scott said, landing beside them to catch his breath. “Ancro, do you know of any chinks or holes or weaknesses?”
“Yeah, he has a two meter wide thermal exhaust port. I only learned that was possible maybe an hour ago!” Ancro replied, a little short on patience.
“Well…” Scott said, “Can you do it?”
“Yes Scott, I’ve been hiding my ability to transform into that for our entire time here,” Ancro loved sarcasm. “Don’t worry though, I’ve got a plan, all we have to do is keep him happy for a while longer.”
“…okay” Stigandr spoke up worriedly, “What is your plan?”
“You guys remember that one Farmers insurance commercial with the flamethrower?” He said with a smile, and gestured to Shift, who was busy cleaning out the last of the lint from the dryer filters. The amount the changeling had gathered was enough to fill up one of the linen baskets.
“What we need to do is tie up his magic,” Stigandr said with a nod. Scott face palmed at the Rube Goldberg-like insanity associated with the plan. 
After they had come with something that resembled a plan to keep him occupied. Just before they split up, Scott stopped them. “Guys, before we do this one thing,” he held out one of his eagle-taloned legs in the shape of a fist. “Triumvirate” The others smile and follow suit. Once the knuckle bumping ritual was completed, Scott went in for an awkward impromptu hug. “Now Let’s Do This!” Scott shouted. “Roll Tide!”
“Is it wrong of me to expect him to say War Eagle instead?” Ancro murmured before he zipped off for his role in the plan, deciding not to wait for an answer. The hug was a bit of a boost for him, and gave him the speed he would need to keep up with the commander and play the nuisance. He always loved being the target.
After he had left, Stigandr couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation. Trapped in a laundry room in Equestria, fighting a changeling beast thing that is beating the tar out of them, and their only hope was a plan inspired from a TV commercial. At least he was in good company.

The tunnel collapsed behind Specs, something she hoped wasn’t bad tunneling. “Sorry, no turning back now.” The voice said as she continued downwards. “I’ve quite a bit invested into this.”
“What do you mean?” She asked, feeling crazy for talking to a shadow.
“Oh, you’ll find out.”
She slid down and landed on top a pile of lint. She lifted her head out and saw Ancro, Stigandr, and Scott fighting the praetorian commander and unbelievably holding their own. She blinked to be sure she wasn’t hallucinating. No she wasn’t, those three were holding their own with a praetorian. A pile of lint landed on her head and she looked down and saw her brother going through dryer filters for the stuff like his life depended on it.
“Shift!” Specs leapt from the basket to hug her shocked brother.
“Sp-Specs?” He stuttered as she got off him, and then punched him in the fore leg. “What was that for?”
“What are you doing here, we have to go!”
“I’m sorry,” said the voice that had been following her, and her brother looked around for it. Specs let out a sigh of relief that she wasn’t going crazy by imagining it in the first place. Dust and rocks came from all the laundry chutes “But I have a lot riding on the outcome of this fight. I can’t let you two escape and go and ruin my fun.” 
“You bastard, you tricked me!” Specs shouted accusingly. “You said that you were going to help me!”
“I never said that,” the voice said, as a shadow of…something appeared behind them and the voice chose to originate from there. “I said that your brother was in trouble, and showed you where he was. You merely followed my instructions, and it isn’t my fault if you don’t like the outcome.”
“Who are you?” Shift asked the shadow as it paced along the wall.
“Nopony of any importance,” he replied “Now you two be good and help out in any way they need it, I have some more strings to pull, ta-ta.”
“And if we don’t?” Specs retorted, and the shadow stopped and chuckled.
“Then when the praetorian is healed all the way and those three can’t stall him anymore,” he made the slit throat gesture along his neck, along with the appropriate sound effects. “I’m afraid it’ll be curtains for you.” The shadow completely faded away, laughing the entire time. 
Specs sighed and hung her head in defeat. “What did they have you doing?”

Discord had sealed all but one of the laundry chutes. He kept the one closest to Twilight Sparkle and company opened, hoping they would take the bait and follow down it. He would need Cadence, and Cadence alone if his gamble was to work. Otherwise, he would be stuck with the miniscule dregs those three were able to create, and they would either find a way back home or die trying. Most likely the latter. Still, they knew how to put on a show.
Princess Cadence walked down the tunnel next to Twilight in silence. It wasn’t from her sister-in-law’s or her friend’s lack of effort. She felt powerless, like she was unable to take care of herself.This was twice they had captured her, and this time she was rescued by one. Ancro’s motivation or lack thereof for saving her was driving her insane, was he expecting some kind of snack? Maybe a pardon? Why would he go through the effort though, since he was about to be rescued? All these questions and more bounced around her head. The only answer that made any sense was that he didn’t have any self-interests in it, was only doing it because it was the right thing to do.
She passed by a laundry chute. There were noises coming from it. Barely audible over the parasprites that still fluttered around them, but it sounded like…fighting.
“Cadence, is everything alright?” Twilight asked as she looked down the laundry chute and heard the noises too. “What’s going on down there?”
“A fight.” Cadence said, as she silently measured the laundry chute with her eyes. She could fit, but barely. 
“C’mon, we better hurry and find my brother,” Twilight answered. Cadence just stood there, mesmerized by the laundry chute. “Umm Cadence, are you alright?”
That managed to snap her out of her trance, and she shook her head clear of the thoughts of rushing down the laundry chute. She would have to ask Ancro why he had rescued her, after they had recaptured him.
Discord grumbled as they ran by, his plan failed. Well at least one part had, what kind of god of chaos would he be without a contingency or two? He needed Cadence and would have to rest before he had any power again. So sad that creating cave-ins and minor acts of defying physics were his limits. He would have to wait for his next opportunity to present itself. He decided to watch the rest of the show while he waited, and pulled up a lawn chair. Shining Armor was soon to make a scene, he was assured. After all, his wife was in danger.

“Almost through,” Una said, as one another praetorian reverted to his base form from exhaustion. The Apex form was never supposed to be used for long term. Thirty minutes at the max, it wasn’t natural like a pony or a griffin, and thus far more energy than both. That being said, its pluses were incredible.
“No, you are through,” said a voice from behind. She turned around, hoping she was wrong, and that it wasn’t the voice she thought she heard. A pink wall rushed her faster then she could react. It immobilized her against the rocky wall. Just as quick as she had been hit, she reverted to her normal form. She stared in equal parts shock and horror at the ponies that filled the tunnel.
“Get to work on this tunnel!” Shining armor shouted, and several guards started taking the rocks out immediately after he issued the order. He turned to Una. “I have only one question for you. Where is my wife?”

The commander had taken another shot to the face. Already, he was regretting getting rid of his mask, though a necessity, in order to heal. The chemicals had gotten in, and were destroying his lungs. He needed all the air he could get to heal. His eyes were doing better, blurs with the occasional stinging green flash were always better than blackness. He heard a buzzing noise and took a swipe, feeling minor contact.
Ancro barely made it out that time. The changeling was speeding up, and was healing a lot faster than he liked. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep swooping in and taking potshots, and being successful. Ancro came at him from behind this time, and he saw the changeling’s ears twitch just in time to move from the slash. Still, the feeling of the claws touching him at all sent shivers down his spine. Granted, with the ears healing, that made it a bit easier for him to be a target. So, he tried to take it as a blessing in disguise. He knew he was probably going to regret this.
“Hey!” Ancro shouted, and the commander’s scarred head looked in his direction. “I’m curious, now that your whole face is scarred up, will it heal right? I noticed your scar e-“ Ancro darted off as the commander’s wings started buzzing to chase him down.
Scott was waiting nearby with several sheets to tie up his horns. He took several deep breaths. He looked as Ancro flew around the room with the commander in hot pursuit. Scott would only get one shot at this the rate. The changeling was gaining on his friend. Finally, when Ancro had lured the commander close enough, the griffin pounced and wrapped the changelings head and face with the sheets, paying special mind to get the horns. Ancro took this time and grabbed hold of the changeling’s wings and proceeded to fire his horn and the nub where the wings met the body, being careful not to hit his friend.
Scott felt like he was riding a mechanical bull, but one thousand times more terrifying. He counted down the seconds until Stigandr would be in position, then counted them down again. His leg was seared from being too close to Ancro’s attacks, and the spikes on the changeling’s armor made him wish he was riding a real bull instead. Finally, the changeling had a massive drop in altitude as three of its wings were finally torn off. It spun wildly into the ground, landing face first.
“Stigs, now!” Ancro yelled, and the unicorn used his telekinesis to pin the commander down while Ancro doused him with anything flammable he could grab before doing the same. “Scott, grab the lint!” His message was more of urgency than an order, since the griffin was already grabbing the massive roll around basket and dumping it on the changeling.
Ancro, Stigandr, and Scott were all suddenly sent flying back, covered in the sticky green goop that flew out from his horn before Ancro could ignite the mixture. The changeling grew a third horn and charged a spell, and Ancro immediately knew there would be more than enough power to kill them. The commander was just being thorough.
Specs shot a fireball, and it connected with the changeling commander, setting him ablaze. He let out a horrified shriek as the flames burned through his chitin-like armor and started burning away his insides faster than he could heal. Specs and Shift ran over and started getting them out of the gunk.
The caved-in entrance blew open, and in ran Shining Armor and numerous other guard ponies. Taking the laundry room by storm and quickly subduing everypony that wasn’t on fire. The commander had reverted to his base form in a desperate attempt to put out the flames. He saw this, and knew he would rather die by suicide than be taken alive. With one final flash of his horn, he detonated the floor and everyone fell into the rushing sewers below. Even the ones that were able to fly were pulled under by the colossal splash when the rubble hit the water.

(Wow got this done a lot sooner than I expected. Sorry if any of you were expecting some more story telling I couldn’t hold off on the fight scene any longer…didn’t expect it to be that big though. Big thanks to my editor/artist Sara for making sure my grammar is checked and good. Big thanks to my friends who inspired the other two members of the Triumvirate. Thanks for reading feedback is always appreciated and desired along with other ways I can make this a better story. Also my prayers go out to those who lost so much during hurricane Sandy and if it’s within your budget donate to reputable charity. Thanks for reading.)