Throne Room.

[Astral Midnight]

Astral's mind came to before his body had. He couldn't hear, see, feel, smell, nor taste anything. The only thing he had was his thoughts. Am I dead? He spoke out loud in his mind, while his body remained totally still.

[Deleted]

Slithering forward and turning into s puff of smoke, Nightmare reappears looking down at Astral.

"Hmmm... Perhaps you are correct. I have come here for a greater purpose than to simply torment you ponies."

[Strong Defense]

    Bowing again Strong said "Of course your majesty. I would expect nothing less from you." 

    Well, this was going better than Strong originally had hoped. Strong was not sure why that guard had taken Astral's cloak of all things but, he should probably get it back for him before this was over. 

[Astral Midnight]

Astral began to panic. I can't be dead! I won't let myself die! Not like this! He screamed in his mind as he struggled to wake himself back up.

After struggling for what felt like an hour, Astral's senses slowly came back to him. He could smell the very distinct aroma of the room. His hearing very slowly came back to him, though the noises that he heard sounded nothing like speech to him. As he continued his struggle, his legs began to twitch.

[Basilisk Nova (R.I.P)]

Nova eyed the pony on the ground twitching, he stepped back and (easily) readied his magic. Nova cursed himself for not bringing his sword with him today. The one day he 's off duty and this happens. You see no magical aura on Nova's horn instead if you were close to him you could feel the cold metal tip on his horn slightly heating up.

[Astral Midnight]

Astral's eyes opened, as the rest of his senses came around as well. He blinked a few times, and started to stand up. He made it completely up, looked around, and froze in shock of the ponies surrounding him. He reached for his hood, but was shocked to find that it wasn't there. He said nothing, and turned to stare in the direction of Nightmare Moon, hoping nothing would happen to him.

[Deleted]

Nightmare didn't give the pathetic pony in the ground another look. He didn't deserve to be directly confronted by the mare of darkness.

"Indeed, I have come to you all today with a mission in mind... A mission of great importance to me, a mission in which all three of you will be sent on. "

[Strong Defense]

    Ok then, not what I came here for but, whatever. Strong saluted to the Queen before speaking. 

    "Yes, your Majesty I would be happy to help, but I do have some questions. Am I correct in assuming for this mission I am still holding my rank of captain? Also what and when do you need use to do for you? I am in need of some medical attention and my equipment is in need of some repair so, if possible I would like to see to that first. Lastly Astral and I first come to get ourselves registered so if you could have some pony see to that it would be appreciated your Majesty." 

[Basilisk Nova (R.I.P)]

Nova raised an brow, not knowing fully who Nightmare is clearly talking too. He looked to the gray fur pony and back down to the whimpering fool. "She can't be placing me with these two right? I have no problem with the gray one but the idiot on the ground is what concerns me..". Something snapped into Nova's mind, looking around he spots the group of changeling, including the one that was trotting to Nova. "That bug is also converning me as well.."  Nova turns back to the Queen, awaiting further instructions.

[Astral Midnight]

Astral stood almost perfectly still, still trying to figure out what the Queen had just said. He glanced over to Strong, and relaxed slightly after seeing how calm Strong was right now. Astral thought for a second and then said, "I hope you don't mind me asking, your Majesty, but why would you choose three ponies who haven't even met until pretty much just now?" He looked at Nightmare Moon inquisitively.

[Deleted]

Closing the distance between herself and Astral, Nightmare Moon giggles softly. To an onlooker, her eyes seemed complacent... Though if you were to look into them, nothing but malice would gaze back at you.

A small tenticle of smoke trickles out of her mane and wraps around Astral's muzzle. Though this would appear to merely be smoke, it was clearly magical in nature.

"Oh, you foolish peasant... I do not recall asking for your input. "

The magical substance tightens around Astral's muzzle, forcing his mouth shut. It continues to tighten and tighten, until the skin breaks and blood trickles down his nose.

"However since you asked, I shall regale you. I could, for arguments sake, send a battalion of soldiers. This would not do... You see, my prophet, my creation is being held captive in a desolate waste of a town, simply known as Ourtown. If the residents suspect anything, they will simply see to it that he is never found. His prison is magical in nature you see..."

She releases Astral, as the smoke disappears. A blood red gash would be left on his shout, in a ring all around his muzzle. Nightmare casually trots away from Astral.

"This is why I'm sending you three, to avoid suspicion."

The dark Alicorn glances over at Strong.

"Strong Defense... Your rank means nothing to me on this mission. You are civilians, nothing more. Your registration means even less to me... Also, take off that armor, before I put out your eyes and flay you." The last bit of her sentence sounded much more threatening, as her voice deepened and her face seemed slightly more demonic.

She glances at Basilisk.

"And you, change your appearance. You will never blend in if you look like a rotting corpse. "

Nightmare quickly disappears in a gust of smoke, though her voice remains.

"You will do this for me, or all three of you will experience a torment far worse than anything fathomable by mortals..."

[Exit Nightmare Moon]

[Astral Midnight]

Astral sat, rubbing his snout. He decided to not say anything in order to not hurt himself anymore. Once Nightmare Moon left, Astral turned and looked at Strong, "So.. What do we do now?" He winced at the pain of talking, nearly cutting his sentence short.

[Joxer]

[Enter Joxer and Queen Chrysalis]

With a soft flash of blue magic, both Joxer and the Queen are in the throne room, standing beside the thrones. Joxer eyes the three standing there and quietly stares.

[Strong Defense]

    Strong looked at the new arrivals, seeing that it was a Unicorn and the Queen of the changelings. Giving the Queen a small bow before turning to Astral, watching the two with his magic just to be safe. Strong smiles at Astral before saying. 

    "Well, the Queen did give us a job to do. So, we will need to get that done but, we still need to be registered. Also if I don't have time for proper medical treatment, then I would at least still like to get my equipment repaired." 

    Turning to Nova, Strong introduced himself. "Hello, there my name is Strong Defense and it would look like we are going to be working together. This is Astral and if you don't mind returning his cloak to him, he seems to be rather attached to it."

[Queen Chrysalis]

Stepping to her throne and glancing at each and every new face that surrounded her chair with curiosity. This was sure to be an interesting thing for her and Nightmare to discuss. Shooting a smirk to the stallion with a red lined muzzle and dark face, it seemed there were dark intentions at hoof here. Sitting down in silence, the tense air from around the room had begun to settle as she took it all in. Compared to Nightmare Moon, she was a blessing. Compared to the mare of darkness, she was the only hope this nation had at peace from within. Next to her, her assistant and well favored soldier had been rather quiet as she noticed his well secluded presence. He was unlike alot of ponies, silent and observing, yet muscular for a fight if needed. Enjoying the air flow as it became more at ease, Queen Chrysalis looked to them all.

"Welcome. While I hope Queen Nightmare has been able to help you ponies, those in need of register, please step forward and fill out this small paper with your details before you leave. All of you. In any event, I do hope you three can learn to work as a team, any questions?"

((Hey guys. To make sure no-one gets erased, we should all post once before revolving back to the beginning. Thank you all for your understanding.))

[Basilisk Nova (R.I.P)]

Nova left eye slightly twitched, Being insulted from the queen that he was supposed to be protecting...rotten...ROTTEN. Nova took a deep breath and speak "My Queen. I have yet to address why I am here in the first place. I was brought here under the orders of this paper." He levitated the letter that was mentioned before Queen bugface had to leave suddenly. "I wasn't informed that I was going to be joining a rag tag team of ponies.." He said, ignoring strong for the moment.

[Orange Glow]

[Enter Orange and Plush from the kitchen]

Orange walked into the throne room and looked around at all the faces there. She mentally sighed seeing that she had no friends here outside of the Queen. She sat near the back hopeful not to attract to much attention and harden her expression. This was not the time for her to be soft and kind. Instead she wanted to show anypony that bother her that she was far from a push over and her will was her own, well outside the Queens. She choose not to speak up at the moment content with watching.

[Plush Ramen]

Entering inside and following Orange Glow to the back of the room, an orange pegasus had sat besides the changeling in silence. Not particularly wishing to glance around, her dark raven black mane had been rather unkempt as her fur itself had seen better days. Stuck in a prison for so long with out a shower, she was certain she smelled like a few rotten things. Keeping her head down to avoid any eye contact, the off key mare was not your average run of the mill pony. In fact, judging from the way she held herself to the muscular tone her body had been under, to an intelligent eye, she was at least once an experienced fighter.

Despite her appearance being less then perfect in its sloppy and uncombed condition, Plush Ramen was not the type of mare most citizens wished to get close to. She was awkward, she was emotionally unstable, and above all, she had just never fit in. Shifting her blue sapphire orbs to Orange and aiming to avoid the Queen's gaze, a slight glimpse of Joxer from afar had the mare's attention. What was he doing up there beside the Queen of changelings? Unsure she knew anything about him anymore, the mare continued to remain silent, hoping this would all be over soon. 'I just hate a crowd full of ponies.. leave.. just leave already..'

[Strong Defense]

    As the two new arrivals enter Strong's awareness, Strong walk forward to fill out his registered forms he discreetly looked at the two, note all that he could about them. Strong made a gesture for Astral to come fill out his forms as well. After fill out the forms Strong bow to the Queen again before speaking.

    "Your Majesty, you might want to file these alongside my military records. Also I do have quite a few questions if you don't mind, but my new associate has been waiting here much longer, so feel free to answer him first before I have my say." Strong gesture to Nova.

[Astral Midnight]

Astral stood and walked to the Queen, inspecting the other ponies that had also just arrived as he did so. He silently read the forms, then filled out the information needed, before putting the pen down and nodding to Chrysalis. Astral began to slowly walk away, back towards where he just was. Please don't try and talk to me. Please don't try and talk to me. It hurts, and I could get somepony killed. He thought to himself as he walked away

[Queen Chrysalis]

Listening to the soldier of Nightmare Moon first, it was almost immediately obvious why he was still around. The mare of darkness had to be using him for her own twisted game. Amused by this along with his vocal tone, she knew exactly why he was here. And his was the perfect opportunity to see just how much longer he can prove to work as a team. Pointing to the surrounding area, Chrysalis could only smile further through her fangs as she gazed down upon him.

"Basilisk, consider this a test of your skills. Unlike my partner, I do not permit my soldiers to work alone. And do you know why? Teamwork is the only way one can learn to become the best they can be. Sounds like crap, but i believe this will be your rag team of ponies. Prove you can be more then a one stallion army, and I will look over your papers when you get back. Fail, and you can kiss your promotion goodbye. Fair? I think so."

The Queen turned to the ex soldier of the room, her eyes glowing ever so slightly as she observed his body armor. Within seconds, the stallions armor had begun to glow a bright red before melting off of his body, completely unharming him. Any weapons he might have had in it were fallen to the ground. Grinning in satisfaction, Chrysalis felt that was needed before further plans were discussed. Levitating the papers from him and Astral, she merely nodded at his request to ask questions.

"Do speak now."

Shifting to the dark colored stallion, she had not spoken a word, she did however mentally speak with her assistant for a small request. 'Joxer, collars.' Noting her daughters entry with the traitor, she prepared herself to deal with them afterwards. Unable to stop herself, her eyes darted back to Astral after reading his sheet.

"Well well, aren't you a useless one? Until now. Astral, you will learn to obey and do everything I say. Do you understand? You will nolonger be homeless, but well fed and educated on the matters of war. If you decline, you'll turn out to be like our traitor here, isnt that right miss Plush Ramen."

[Joxer]

(harshin the mellow bruh *radical*)

Joxer hums softly to himself, watching everypony in the room with a close eye, his heart jumping a little as Plush and the changeling enter. He watches her for a moment before continuing to watch the three ponies in front of the queen. He was glad things seemed better than they were, but there is always a downside, so he just waited to here what that was.

His ears flick towards the Queen as she sends her request, he nods slightly and his horn lights up with his magic, staring at the repulsive looking one before teleporting away. After a few more moments he comes back, his bag around his neck and filled with three collars, which aren't seen at the moment.

[Basilisk Nova (R.I.P)]

"As wish my queen." Basilisk simply said, now understanding what this whole ordeal is about now. He looks to Strong and Astral, frowning in his mind he can tell this was going to be one LONG mission indeed... Nova stood aside, waiting for the other two to be addressed. He looked at the newcomers as well and scoffed. "More changelings..."  he groaned, now looking away from orange glow and what appears to be her slave.

[Strong Defense]

    Looking down at the ruined remains of his armor Strong's emotions wavered for a split second, before returning to their normally calm state. Ok, yeah so my armor had been pretty damaged and it would be easier to just replace it at this point, but was that really necessary? I have treated them with nothing but respect and this is what she does to one of the only things I have left. At this point Strong was done with the Queen, he had nothing more to say to her. 

    With a sigh Strong said, "Thank you for your time today your Majesty, but I have pressing matters to attend to now. So, I will bid you ado and wish you a pleasant day."

    Strong gave Astral a look that cleanly said that they were leaving. His guard was now a 100 percent up, with his Spell all the way up He would know if a flea on some ponies coat so much as blinked. his shields were already half formed at this point, still not detectable, but ready to stop anything that tried to impede Astral and his departure, magical or mundane. Strong was not going to let anything happen to him or Astral as they make their leave. 


[Exit Strong Defense to Palace Entrance Door/Hallway]

[Astral Midnight]

Astral froze when the Queen addressed him. Her words made him stop and think. A home? And a job, perhaps? This was the opportunity of a lifetime to him. He stared blankly at the floor, thinking about this. He heard Strong finish speaking, and turned to face the Queen. His words faltered, whether it be from his wound, or his amazement at this deal. "I-I-I just don't know -ow- what to say, your -ow- Majesty. I just... Can I hold off on -ow- answering this until I -ow- get back?" He gently rubbed his snout. He attempted a smile towards Chrysalis, a sincere, genuine smile.

Meeting Strong's suddenly very mad look, Astral looked back up at the Queen. He powered through the pain, as they were apparently in a hurry to get out. "Nevermind on my question, your Majesty. I guess I'll just," he winced in pain, cutting his sentence a bit short, but he continued, "accept your offer now." He glanced back to Strong walking away, and then turned back to the Queen. He eagerly awaited her response.

[Plush Ramen]

Lowering her head to the sound of her name being called out to the public, Plush Ramen's ears had whiffed back just the same. Turning away from the Queen's direct eye gaze, the awkward and now embarrassed mare wasnt certain she knew what to say. Was this to be a rhetorical question? Or would she simply have to answer the dreaded and obvious response with actual words? Sighing mentally and nodding to her words, Plush could merely offer a soft yet noticeable sound as she felt her entire body wishing she were dead right now.

"Yes.. That's right..."

[Queen Chrysalis]

Allowing everyone to speak first, the emotion rising from everyone in the room was indeed a delight to her normal boring standards. Hearing nothing but absolute obedience from Basilisk, Chrysalis had levitated a collar with an odd small button attached to its makings to the green stallion with a respectable smile. As she held it in her magic, the unique device had begun to change its color to the coat of his fur. Levitating one over to Astral, it managed to do the same, allowing it to be seemingly hard to notice to the naked eye unless fairly close.

"Thank you both for staying to hear me out. It seems your partner was not so decent with manners. In any event, I have a band for him as well. These collars will not only help you find each other if you get separated, but it will also help you all to communicate. Like a walkie talky, the transmitter will be low enough for only your ears to hear. It will help for devising plans and working well as a team. Do be careful however, these are extremely expensive, and magic proof. That is, unless you are a changeling. It does NOT mean you, yourself is magic proof, but the collar that hangs around your neck. Any questions?"

Shifting to Astral, she could feel the warmth and confusion both swirling through his emotional frame as it leaked off in non controlled waves. Smiling and glad to make one pony happy out of this bunch, Chrysalis hoped this would help spread the word of the new age and equality attempting to be brought on. Sure she was no saint, but to a lot, it was obvious that the Queen of the Changelings was trying.

"Hold as you wish. It will be available for you when you return young one. You two are given permission to leave. And if you see your partner, tell him, first impressions are everything to me. Do not fail us, Queen Nightmare put her trust in you three, I would hate to see anything happen to you ponies if she were to get mad. Be careful out there, and good luck!"

[Correctional Forces]

Stepping into the throne room and bowing before his queen, a Changeling guard addresses her.

"My Queen, It seems that you have an... Unexpected guest at the palace gates. "

[Astral Midnight]

Astral brought his emotions back in check, and looked back up at the Queen. "Well then, I'll leave you to your new guest, your Majesty. I've got a job to attend to." He managed to say without his new wound hurting enough to stop him. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign, but he choose to see it as a good one. He turned and walked towards the door where Strong had left, hoping he hadn't gotten too far. Just before leaving, Astral looked back at the Queen with a smile on his face. He contined out of the room.

[Exit: Astral Midnight to Palace Entrance Door/Hallway]

[Basilisk Nova (R.I.P)]

"I will not fail you my Queen" Nova bowed, trotting to the palace entrance, he stops by the changeling correctional forces. He had enough, this one changeling looked at him funny and he demanded answers. "You." He turned toward the changeling that was simply looking at him and then trotting to him before. "Answer me this, Changeling. Why were you looking at me the whole time when I entered the throne room." he narrowed his eyes.