With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

ch405_5p34r · 2025-10-14T15:47:08+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Enjoy Daxam. Hopefully we'll never see each other again."

Oh, Paul. Don't you know that saying this out loud basically guarantees that you will?

Prince Charon · 2025-10-15T04:35:35+0100

ch405_5p34r said:
Oh, Paul. Don't you know that saying this out loud basically guarantees that you will?

... and now I'm wondering what situation could be so bad that she would deliberately contact Paul for help. Because I can believe that Zoat could come up with something, but I'm not sure what.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-15T06:15:30+0100

28th July 2013
12:47 GMT

"Hm." Sunset Shimmer trots out onto the frozen lake shore, tracking spell shimmering just above her head in the form of a burning compass. "It should be right around…" She frowns at the needle as it spins, glaring at the frozen water as if it's concealing a changeling hive.

I pick her up and turn her around.

"Oh." She dismisses the spell. "Right."

And there's the hive, concealed partly by snow and by magic that wasn't quite good enough to block the Alicorn of Magic but was enough to block ring scans and Mother Box.

Ping.

No, it's just an observation. I don't expect you to be able to do literally everything.

Ping.

"Oh." Pharynx stares up at the foreign hive as its defenders begin to swarm in response to our intrusion. "I had no idea this place existed."

I smile. "Well, they probably didn't know that you existed, so in that sense you're even." I stride forwards, heading towards the outer wall. "Come along."

Sunset breathes in-. Then sort of cough-laughs and conjures up a glowing flame shield around us as she strides forward. "For a moment there I was a little worried. Then I remembered I'm an alicorn."

"Ah." Pharynx is hanging back a little. "Princess Sunset? This hive almost certainly has the same magic nullification stone as-"

Sunset's shield goes out.

"-my hive."

"Okay, that's interesting, because I can feel the magic crystals in the ground here like they have in the Crystal Cit-." She glares at me. "Empire."

"You know it's a stupid name too."

She rolls her eyes, then tries experimentally flapping her wings. She gets some lift, but nothing like enough to actually fly.

"It's got to be selective. Changelings aren't any more aerodynamic than ponies are."

Pharynx thinks for a moment, then his horn sort of pulses before fizzling out. Then he tries flapping his wings and all he gets is a buzz.

"Confirmed. It's strange being on this side of it." He looks up at the swarm which has reached critical mass and is now heading for us. "Um. Does your teleportation tube still work?"

"But it's a rock, which means…"

"Princess Sunset?"

Sunset presses her hooves into the rocky ground, causing the earth to rumble for a moment. The wall erupts from the bedrock, just in time for the changeling swarm to ram into it face first.

Pharynx looks at the concussed changelings littering the ground before us. "Nice to know it's not just us." He trots forwards towards one changeling who's struggling to rise. "Hey, we're just here to talk to your queen. Assuming that you have one."

Poof!

A large grey-chitined changeling teleported onto the top of Sunset's barricade, glaring down imperiously at us. Her mane and tail are blonde, as are her diaphanous wings. Her peytral is armoured, and studied with… Glowing crystals, interesting.

"Who dares intrude upon the lands of Hive Soryth?!"

I grin. "Twenty-seven."

She glares at me. "What are you babbling about?"

"I'm sorry." I shrug. "It's just that I've heard so many of these speeches that I've made a hobby of keeping count of how often certain common phrases come up."

"You will rue the day you mocked me!"

"Fifty three. And I won't."

"I've never had the chance to dissect an alicorn before-"

"Ooh, eleven."

"-and-. And-. I'll make a violin from your intestine!" She glares, leaning forwards. "Hah!"

I grin. "Four."

Sunset's thaumokinetic aura surrounds me and pulls me backwards as she steps forwards. "Hi! I'm Sunset Shimmer and I'm… Sorry about him."

"How-?" She stares at Sunset's horn. "How are you doing that?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm the Alicorn of Magic. I worked out how your anti-magic rocks work, bypassed them, and then started casting spells normally."

"Im-possible."

"Nineteen."

Sunset glances back at me. "Grayven!"

"Ninety eight."

The changeling queen blinks. "Alicorn of.. Magic? How is that possible?"

I go to open my mouth, and Sunset uses her thaumokinesis to hold it shut.

"I worked out how to transform a regular pony into an alicorn. And then I did it on myself. So, listen-."

The changeling queen suddenly looks more interested. "Your thaumic science is that advanced?"

"I didn't become Alicorn of Magic by being bad at magic." I raise my left eyebrow. "I mean, I had some help, but I did the work."

"And why are you here?"

"Well, Grayven-" She glances back at me for a moment. "-dealt with the changeling hive nearest to Equestria by cutting its queen's head off. Which means that we've got a load of changelings with no way to reproduce, and since Queen Chrysalis didn't tell anyone anything-."

"Queen Chrysalis is dead?"

I nod emphatically. Pharynx nods less enthusiastically besides me.

The changeling queen look perturbed, but not shocked. "And what do you want from me?"

"Dialogue, an exchange of ideas-. I can feel the magic in those crystals but I don't recognise what you're doing with it."

"I see that you're using a similar system to feed your pet changeling."

"Yes, but we have to use a giant magic siphon to fuel the system. Yours isn't fuelled by love magic."

"A siphon? No, we've learned to draw on the world's thaumic power indirectly. It can't sustain us, but we can shape it into spells."

"Huh." Sunset thinks for a moment. "Yeah, I can kind of see how you could-. Would you mind showing me your work? I might have a few ideas."

"I am… Not wholly hostile to an exchange of ideas and knowledge."

"Great! So, can we come in?"

The queen looks around as her people pull themselves upright, and nods cautiously. "You may. I am Queen Yaria. Welcome to my home."

BR549 · 2025-10-15T06:16:13+0100

Prince Charon said:
... and now I'm wondering what situation could be so bad that she would deliberately contact Paul for help. Because I can believe that Zoat could come up with something, but I'm not sure what.

Earth-12 Brainiac appears and starts a new collection with Daxam?

GigaVanguard · 2025-10-15T06:23:46+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"I'm sorry." I shrug. "It's just that I've heard so many of these speeches that I've made a hobby of keeping count of how often certain common phrases come up."

Lord ~~Frieza~~ Grayven I kneel

Duke Long · 2025-10-15T06:46:58+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Hm." Sunset Shimmer trot out onto the frozen lake shore, tracking spell shimmering just above her head in the form of a burning compass. "It should be right around…" She frowns at the needle spins, glaring at the frozen water as if it's concealing a changeling hive.

'trots'
'as'

Mr Zoat said:
"Oh." Pharynx stares up and the foreign hive as its defenders begin to swarm in response to our intrusion. "I had no idea this place existed."

'at'

Mr Zoat said:
A large grey-chitined changeling teleported into the top of Sunset's barricade, glaring down imperiously at us. Her mane and tail are blonde, as are her diaphanous wings. Her peytral is armoured, and studied with… Glowing crystals, interesting.

"Who dares intrude upon the lands of Hive Soryth?!"

I grin. "Twenty-seven."

She glares at me. "What are you babbling about?"

"I'm sorry." I shrug. "It's just that I've heard so many of these speeches that I've made a hobby of keeping count of how often certain common phrases come up."

"You will rue the day you mocked me!"

"Fifty three. And I won't."

"I've never had the chance to dissect an alicorn before-"

"Ooh, eleven."

"-and-. And-. I'll make a violin from your intestine!" She glares, leaning forwards. "Hah!"

I grin. "Four."

'onto'? I feel the description would be a tad more gruesome if she teleported into it.

It's a good bit, though made a little less funny by the fact that I'm pretty sure Grayven is lying about how many times he's heard at least some of these. Or is he not?

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-10-15T07:05:22+0100

Mr Zoat said:
28th July 2013
12:47 GMT

"Hm." Sunset Shimmer trots out onto the frozen lake shore, tracking spell shimmering just above her head in the form of a burning compass. "It should be right around…" She frowns as the needle spins, glaring at the frozen water as if it's concealing a changeling hive.

I pick her up and turn her around.

So focused on a leaf she missed the forest for the trees. As for a hive underwater... It should be a possible concept, especially if they can shapeshift gills. Would such a hive prey on Sea Ponies, I wonder?

"Oh." She dismisses the spell. "Right."

And there's the hive, concealed partly by snow and by magic that wasn't quite good enough to block the Alicorn of Magic but was enough to block ring scans and Mother Box.

Ping.

"Are you insinuating something about my capabilities, Grayven?" I'm guessing these folks are accustomed to their privacy.

No, it's just an observation. I don't expect you to be able to do literally everything.

Ping.

"g-Good. It's not like your opinion matters to me anyway." Aw, trying not to hurt her feelings... BEsides, if she can't do something, one of his rings might.

"Oh." Pharynx stares up at the foreign hive as its defenders begin to swarm in response to our intrusion. "I had no idea this place existed."

I smile. "Well, they probably didn't know that you existed, so in that sense you're even." I stride forwards, heading towards the outer wall. "Come along."

Which says a lot about the organisation of Changeling hives and the 'community' of their Queens, I suppose.

Sunset breathes in-. Then sort of cough-laughs and conjures up a glowing flame shield around us as she strides forward. "For a moment there I was a little worried. Then I remembered I'm an alicorn."

"Ah." Pharynx is hanging back a little. "Princess Sunset? This hive almost certainly has the same magic nullification stone as-"

A large presence of unfamiliar Changelings definitely warrant a measure of caution.

Sunset's shield goes out.

"-my hive."

...Goddammit. I suppose they'd be prepared for ponies.

"Okay, that's interesting, because I can feel the magic crystals in the ground here like they have in the Crystal Cit-." She glares at me. "Empire."

"You know it's a stupid name too."

Well, it used to be an empire, before Sombra ruined everything.

She rolls her eyes, then tries experimentally flapping her wings. She gets some lift, but nothing like enough to actually fly.

"It's got to be selective. Changelings aren't any more aerodynamic than ponies are."

I certainly doubt they're as adept in the air as some insects. Those wings don't exactly seem like gliders either, whereas Pegasi could at least manage that.

Pharynx thinks for a moment, then his horn sort of pulses before fizzling out. Then he tries flapping his wings and all he gets is a buzz.

"Confirmed. It's strange being on this side of it." He looks up at the swarm which has reached critical mass and is now heading for us. "Um. Does your teleportation tube still work?"

Tuned to allow only those of the Hive to use magic, with not even visiting Changelings allowed? Logical, since two hives in close proximity would be competitors for the same resources.

"But it's a rock, which means…"

"Princess Sunset?"

Ah, she's already working it out, is she?

Sunset presses her hooves into the rocky ground, causing the earth to rumble for a moment. The wall erupts from the bedrock, just in time for the changeling swarm to ram into it face first.

Pharynx looks at the concussed changelings littering the ground before us. "Nice to know it's not just us." He trots forwards towards one changeling who's struggling to rise. "Hey, we're just here to talk to your queen. Assuming that you have one."

Well-timed, certainly. I figure there's no real protocols for Changeling diplomacy, then...

Poof!

A large grey-chitined changeling teleported onto the top of Sunset's barricade, glaring down imperiously at us. Her mane and tail are blonde, as are her diaphanous wings. Her peytral is armoured, and studied with… Glowing crystals, interesting.

...As long as she doesn't start posing like a magical girl, we're fine.

"Who dares intrude upon the lands of Hive Soryth?!"

I grin. "Twenty-seven."

Eh? I guess he'd have heard that a lot in the Sheeda era when he conquered the world.

She glares at me. "What are you babbling about?"

"I'm sorry." I shrug. "It's just that I've heard so many of these speeches that I've made a hobby of keeping count of how often certain common phrases come up."

An easy way to deflate and frustrate egomaniacal warlords before the fighting, I guess.

"You will rue the day you mocked me!"

"Fifty three. And I won't."

A, that's a popular one! It's like all these villains work from the same script.

"I've never had the chance to dissect an alicorn before-"

"Ooh, eleven."

...Sheeda era, of course. I suppose vivisection and dissection was a common hobby for the Dark Eldar wannabes.

"-and-. And-. I'll make a violin from your intestine!" She glares, leaning forwards. "Hah!"

I grin. "Four."

Well, arts and crafts is probably a lost art in a declining era.

Sunset's thaumokinetic aura surrounds me and pulls me backwards as she steps forwards. "Hi! I'm Sunset Shimmer and I'm… Sorry about him."

"How-?" She stares at Sunset's horn. "How are you doing that?"

Huh, she got around the magic-blocking fast. Analysed the signatures of the locals?

"Hm? Oh, I'm the Alicorn of Magic. I worked out how your anti-magic rocks work, bypassed them, and then started casting spells normally."

"Im-possible."

"Nineteen."

That few? I'm shocked. Still, no surprise Sunset did that so easily.

Sunset glances back at me. "Grayven!"

"Ninety eight."

Okay, that's more believable.

The changeling queen blinks. "Alicorn of.. Magic? How is that possible?"

I go to open my mouth, and Sunset uses her thaumokinesis to hold it shut.

She can talk for herself, Renegade. And explain it better than 'she's really clever.'

"I worked out how to transform a regular pony into an alicorn. And then I did it on myself. So, listen-."

The changeling queen suddenly looks more interested. "Your thaumic science is that advanced?"

Oh-ho? Do we have a nascent scientist here?

"I didn't become Alicorn of Magic by being bad at magic." I raise my left eyebrow. "I mean, I had some help, but I did the work."

"And why are you here?"

The inspiration of the Atlantean coursework probably helped her there. Her notation systems alone...

"Well, Grayven-" She glances back at me for a moment. "-dealt with the changeling hive nearest to Equestria by cutting its queen's head off. Which means that we've got a load of changelings with no way to reproduce, and since Queen Chrysalis didn't tell anyone anything-."

The old mushroom treatment.

"Queen Chrysalis is dead?"

I nod emphatically. Pharynx nods less enthusiastically besides me.

No grin? Then again, that'd probably hint you were eager to repeat the feat.

The changeling queen look perturbed, but not shocked. "And what do you want from me."

"Dialogue, an exchange of ideas-. I can feel the magic in those crystals but I don't recognise what you're doing with it."

Curious, eh? I'm sure you'll be able to create wondrous new things by collaborating.

"I see that you're using a similar system to feed your pet changeling."

"Yes, but we have to use a giant magic siphon to fuel the system. Yours isn't fuelled by love magic."

Oh, very impressive! Identifying that on sight with a casual look? The lady has some talent.

"A siphon? No, we've learned to draw on the world's thaumic power indirectly. It can't sustain us, but we can shape it into spells."

"Huh." Sunset thinks for a moment. "Yeah, I can kind of see how you could-. Would you mind showing me your work? I might have a few ideas."

I'm betting some manner of large-scale energy generation. Which Harmony might not appreciate.

"I am… Not wholly hostile to an exchange of ideas and knowledge."

"Great! So, can we come in?"

The queen looks around as her people pull themselves upright, and nods cautiously. "You may. I am Queen Yaria. Welcome to my home."

Though I expect there'll be a lot of guards watching them very carefully.

Well, that was surprisingly successful. And no bloodshed needed. A few sore heads among the swarm, but they're probably used to that. I imagine these two clever-clogs are going to get up to some spectacular Science! between them... And hopefully the Chrysalis Hive can get some basic education about the essentials of Changeling nature.

hkim · 2025-10-15T07:13:35+0100

Duke Long said:
I'm pretty sure Grayven is lying about how many times he's heard at least some of these. Or is he not?

He's using the same numbers from DBZ because he knows nobody can actually check and accuracy isn't the point anyway.

Coltsguy · 2025-10-15T07:48:53+0100

Geez, this chapter prompted me to log back into Fimfiction for the first time in a long while and I had 23k notices. Yikes.

ForeverShogo · 2025-10-15T07:57:10+0100

A little amusing because some updated art for the other Hive Queens was shown off recently.

Edit: Trying a direct link because for some reason the image refuses to share.

https://imgur.com/D3Ur2TS

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-15T08:31:19+0100

Duke Long said:
'trots'
'as'
'at'
'onto'? I feel the description would be a tad more gruesome if she teleported into it.

Thank you, corrected.

It's a good bit, though made a little less funny by the fact that I'm pretty sure Grayven is lying about how many times he's heard at least some of these. Or is he not?

He's just trolling.

Me said:
"And what do you want from me."

?

ForeverShogo said:
A little amusing because some updated art for the other Hive Queens was shown off recently.

Edit: Trying a direct link because for some reason the image refuses to share.

https://i.imgur.com/0wiIDhp.jpg

Hm. If the reason I can't see that imagine is the folly of a particular political figure in my country, does it break Rule 8 to call them a miserable souless empty vessel of a man?

NightmareWarden · 2025-10-15T08:36:03+0100

Alright, which foe from Grayven's history could play Bardock for this Frieza skit? Couldn't be Mordred. Couldn't be the general with the eye of Zoltec and the fear elemental. Not the sheeda queen. Not Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard.

...Supergirl? Or Larfleeze?

ForeverShogo · 2025-10-15T08:56:50+0100

I genuinely don't know what the hell is going on. Like, when I go to insert an image I see the image just fine. If I go to edit the post I see the image just fine.

But the image itself just refuses to load as a completed post. So I'll also just direct link from the Discord server, though the image will die after a day or so.

WereDragon · 2025-10-15T10:08:52+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Sunset glances back at me. "Grayven!"

"Ninety eight."

I don't believe any of the numbers are accurate, but this is the only one that sounds too low rather than too high.

"Dialogue, an exchange of ideas-.

If this was the case you wouldn't have lead with the guy who's defining traits are 'belligerent' and 'arsehole'.

I am Queen Yaria.

Wonder if they will track down Queen Gytha as well.

Candlewick105 · 2025-10-15T10:28:06+0100

ForeverShogo said:
I genuinely don't know what the hell is going on. Like, when I go to insert an image I see the image just fine. If I go to edit the post I see the image just fine.

But the image itself just refuses to load as a completed post. So I'll also just direct link from the Discord server, though the image will die after a day or so.

Could be Imgur fucking around. They banned the UK from seeing it to dodge the UKs age verification law, and then banned VPNs for good measure because fuck you or something. Idk why that'd matter if you're not UK based but idk a lot of things.

The only real solution is to repost your image on a different site. Imgchest, BSky, twitter, tumblr, anything as long as it's not Imgur.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-15T10:29:49+0100

WereDragon said:
If this was the case you wouldn't have lead with the guy who's defining traits are 'belligerent' and 'arsehole'.

If he were belligerent, he'd have said 'I only need the queen alive' and opened fire with construct anti-air.

Wonder if they will track down Queen Gytha as well.

Mentioned tomorrow.

PDV · 2025-10-15T21:13:41+0100

Mr Zoat said:
He's just trolling.

Forty-five.

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Getting some practice in, huh?

Just zis guy, you know?

Dedicated ragequitter

This is filth! FILTH!!

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Glomerulus

Veteran Lurker

Know what you're doing yet?

Colts fan. Anime fan. Breast and back fan.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Dedicated ragequitter

Versed in the lewd.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Bookwyrm

Know what you're doing yet?

Dedicated ragequitter

Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

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