“Why in the world are they attacking a second time?” shouted Rarity. “I thought enchantments had been placed on the city to stop them from ever stealing our love again!”
“It doesn’t make any sense to me, either,” said Twilight, “But now I know why Princess Luna didn’t come back to fix Applejack, and why Princess Celestia didn’t answer my letter.”
“Well what are we waitin’ for?” demanded Applejack. She downshifted and shot forward. In the back seat, Fluutershy began frantically searching for a way out. Lyra looked on sympathetically. It was difficult to unlock the doors with hooves.
The truck barreled through the streets of Canterlot. It was a good thing that most ponies had shut themselves indoors. Unlike the last Changeling invasion, the attack was primarily centered around the castle, leaving the rest of the city mostly untouched.
The front entrance of the castle was open, the heavy gates hanging askew. The gap was slightly larger than truck-size and Applejack managed to squeeze through. She slid to a halt in surprise. The entire courtyard was filled with changelings.
Rainbow nervously hit the switches to roll up the windows. A lone Changeling stepped forward, seemingly confused by the machine filled with ponies. He squinted and his body went tense. Several second passed, but nothing happened. The creature gasped, its exertion for nothing.
From the radio, Applejack chuckled. It seemed that turning into vehicles was outside Changeling capability. “Buckle up, y’all. There are about to be some bug splats on the bumper.”
With a squeal of tires on cobblestone, Applejack leaped forward directly into the crowd of Changelings. They scattered everywhere, some taking to the air to escape. The six ponies inside the truck watched the scene with amusement from the comfort of their leather seats and air conditioning.
The more vicious-looking enemies were clustered around the entrance to the Great Hall. It was where the previous attack, a wedding crashed by Changelings, had occurred. The castle was set apart from the courtyard by a few wide staircases that encircled the building. Applejack engaged four wheel drive and shot up the stairs, catching air and crashing through one of the large stained glass windows.
She slid to a halt in the Hall. “Whooee, is everypony all right? I think my mirrors mighta gotten knocked a little out of whack.”
A bright green glow suddenly surrounded the truck and its occupants. A Changeling they all thought they’d never see again, Queen Chrysalis, came walking forward.
“What do we have here? Some little ponies who’ve come to try and stop me again?” Chrysalis yanked the doors open with magic and flung everypony out. She stuck them tight to the floor with green goo and stood leering at them.
Applejack, still held firmly with magic, watched helplessly as her friends were interrogated. Chrysalis cast a truth spell, ensuring that she would get the information she wanted.
“I came for the High Energy Matter Integrator,” said Chrysalis. “I understand that it can be used to travel to other worlds. Since Shining Armor and Princess Cadance have gone away to the Crystal Empire, Canterlot was practically unguarded and it was a perfect time to come in and take what I wanted.”
“Why don’t you ask the Princesses? They know where it is.” Twilight’s eyes widened. She hadn’t meant to say that. It must be the truth spell acting on her.
“They cast sleeping enchantments on themselves so they couldn't talk.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “They must have known I would be looking for the High Energy Matter Integrator. No matter. My spell makes you unable to refuse a direct question. Twilight Sparkle, where is the HEMI?”
Twilight tried her hardest to keep her mouth from moving, but she had to answer. At the last second, she managed to divert the question with something she remembered from the owner’s manual. “Applejack has one.”
Chrysalis glanced at the truck. “Yes, I heard that using such a device could have side effects involving strange transformations. How very helpful.”
The Queen of the Changelings walked forward, slipping her body into the driver’s seat. After settling in, she looked around at the truck’s interior. “Now, how do I—”
Applejack’s airbag went off, smacking the unprepared Changeling’s nose. Her doors slammed shut and locked, music cranking up to maximum.
Behind the soundproofed windows, Chrysalis slammed her hooves against her ears in an attempt to block out the sound. She gnashed her teeth and shuddered involuntarily, practically having a seizure. With her contained, a few Royal Guards that had been in hiding from a previously unstoppable Changeling force began to show themselves.
With a little help, Applejack used her rope to pull the stuck ponies free of the goo. By the time the sleeping Princesses were located and woken, Chrysalis had been reduced to a sobbing mess. She tumbled out of the truck when the door was opened.
“On the road again…Just can't wait to get on the road again…” Chrysalis whimpered.
“Got to be careful,” said Applejack. “This Willie Nelson stuff is a pretty powerful psycho weapon.”
“Psychological,” Twilight said automatically, although after looking at Chrysalis she wondered if Applejack’s version was more correct.
The Princesses were happy to see that the day had been saved again by the six mares, even if one of them was decidedly more metallic than usual.
“Let’s get you changed back to your normal self, Applejack,” said Princess Luna. “I’m sorry to have trapped you for so long in that form.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” said Applejack. “Heck, if we had to, I could do this for a while.”
Luna thought for a moment. “Are you sure? I suppose we could use the High Energy Matter Integrator again. To keep the natives from getting suspicious of vehicles operating by themselves, however, we would need drivers.”
Lyra quickly raised a hoof, eagerly volunteering.
“Well then,” said Luna. “Let’s get started.”
Chrysalis awoke, finding herself in a dungeon beneath the castle. She was never without her lockpicking set, however, because what kind of evil genius would she be without it? After cracking the cell door, she quietly made her way through the dark underground passages.
She came upon one of her minions that had been captured. After freeing him, they made their way to the Royal Science Laboratory. Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed as she saw Luna and her entourage powering up the High Energy Matter Integrator.
Quickly putting together a plan, Chrysalis determined her priorities. Task one was defeating them all and taking the device for herself.
Task two was neutralizing Willie Nelson.
Chrysalis burst from her hiding place, just as the device was turned on.