CHAPTER XVI:
ATTACK ON THE CHANGELINGS
Chocolate, in her changeling form, took a sip from her mug of hot chocolate she had just made as she sat on the couch, listening to Blazing's favourite song by The Piano Colts. Blazing was out of town helping Spark with some trouble involving some high class criminals in Canterlot. Chocolate sat up in the couch, placed her mug on the coffee table and reached for a book when she felt magic ingulf her.
She stood alone in the same abyss Chrysalis brought her to the last time she came to her, the myst was thick and the whole void was dark apart from a faint green light in the distance. "What do you want, mother?" She called to the dark void. Just then she felt Chrysalis' presence, she looked back and saw Chrysalis standing there looking tired and frightened. "Mother?"
"I need your help, my child." Chrysalis said.
"Oh, no!" Chocolate spat. "You're not going to trick me that easily. I'm not going back."
"This is no trick, it is truth." Chrysalis huffed. "In my weekened condition I can not protect our subjects and they can not last much longer against the griffons."
"Griffons?" Chocolate asked coldy. "This is a new low, even for you, mother."
"I am not lying, my daughter. Remember when we slipped into griffon territory five years ago?" Chocolate's thoughts flew back to that day. They snuck in as griffons to feed off love and when they got caught the griffons did not take it well. Ever since then griffons have been hunting changelings down to show them they ment buisness when it came to the ones they loved, and many of them still held that grudge.
"You are the only one who can help us now, seeing as how you have been well loved by your stallion friend." Chrysalis said weekly.
"You leave my fianceé out of this!" Chocolate spat, this earned a raised brow from Chrysalis. "Yes, he and I are getting married and there's no way I am going back to the life I had before he saved me."
"I don't have time for this, you must come to our aid, my child, or we will die. You'll find us in a cave on the mountain side in the Everfree Forest. Please, my child. Save us." Chocolate began to speek when Chrysalis faded into the dark myst then she felt the myst surround her and pull her away from her place.
Chocolate blinked, gasping for air as she found herself once again in her home on the couch. She looked up from the coffee table to one of the pictures on the shelf to her right, she and Blazing standing side by side as she wore her necklace proudly to show her engagement to Blazing. If it were Blazing in her position right now he would at the very least check to see if anything was realy happening.
She got to her hooves and transformed into her pony form as she trotted out the front door, closing it behind her and taking off over the Everfree. She flew for a few minutes over the trees until she came up to the mountain, she shifted her eyes so she could see better and sure enough there were griffons flying around the side of the mountain, swooping down at a cave opening.
"She wasn't lying." She told herself. She then shifted her form to Princess Celestia and flew in toward the attackers. The griffons never noticed her while she charged, she flapped her wings once to kick her hind legs forward and bucked an unsuspecting griffon in the back sending him falling toward the ground.
Two griffons turned at the sound of one of their comrades being attack, she punched one in the face then bucked the other in the gut. By now she had gathered the attention of the others, who charged at her only to have blasts of green magical energy collide with them. After her initial attack most of the griffons flew away from the 'princess' while only a few were domb enough to stay and fight.
The lead griffon charged the 'princess' as he screeched, his claws out stretched toward his target. She ducked under him only to be scratched by another griffon that came in from the side. She let out a scream of pain at the battle scar but quickly regained herself and struck the second with an energy blast. After that comeback he retreated with the rest leaving only the lead.
He dared to smirk at her, his eyes saying 'this'll be fun' as she took an aggressive pose in the air. "Don't be a fool." She said. "Fly away with your comrades and no more harm will come from this." The griffon just snorted and charged at the 'princess' and swung a claw at her wings. She folded her wings to her side letting herself drop a few feet before opening them again and blasting green magic at the griffons belly as she flew back up.
The blast to his gut was the last one, he fell to the forest through the trees and out of sight. Chocolate watched as her defeated opponent fell limp into the Everfree. She then looked up to the cave the griffons were attacking, changelings were staring at her from the cave as she hovered in place. Knowing full well they knew who she was she flew off back toward Ponyville.
When she got a safe distance from the mountai she reverted back to her pony form before reaching the edge of the forest and heading back to the house. She opened the door and trotted inside and used a portion of her magic on the house to help protect it from changelings. It was not much, but it would help.
~~~
Chocolate lay in the king sized bed Blazing bought for them shortly after he proposed, reading a book in her solitude. The sound of the front door opening and closing drew her attention from the book. "Sweetheart, I'm home!" She closed the book, set it on the nightstand and bolted out of the room, down the stairs and jumped onto Blazing, wrapping her forelegs around his neck as she locked their lips in a long, sweet, passionate kiss.
"You're late." she stated flatly after pulling away from him.
"I missed you, too." He replied. "Anything happen while I was gone?"
"I saved my mother and her subjects from an attack by griffons." Blazing blinked.
She told him everything that happened two days ago as they trotted over to the kitchen, from the message she got from Chrysalis to the point where she flew back to Ponyville. When she was finished Blazing just stared at her in awe as she sat a kettle up to make some hot chocolate, she looked up at him with a smile on her face.
"What?" She asked.
"You went and saved the others from a griffon attack?" He asked.
"Yes?" She replied. There was silence in the air for a minute before Blazing walked up and pulled her into a loving hug, tears escaping his eyes.
"I am so proud of you." He said in her ear.
"What for? All I did was stop those griffons from killing my kind." She said.
"Exactly." He said. "You told me the last time you were contacted by Chrysalis you told her you would never go back to her. And now they get attacked by griffons and you go to save them." She smiled at him and pulled him into another kiss.
"I love you." She said.
"I love you, too, my beautiful changeling."
~~~
Chrysalis lay deep in the cave alone as she had sent her subjects off, even the more wounded ones, to go and feed off love. She turned at the sound of fluttering wings and one of them land on the ground next to her, appearing recharged and ready for action.
"Is everything ready?" She asked.
"Not quiet yet, my queen." He replied. "The heavily wounded are still regaining their strength, but many are ready for your command."
"Good." She replied. "As soon as the others are ready, proceed with the plan." She got to her hooves and walked toward the cave opening.
"If I may, my Queen, where are you going?" He asked.
"To find a new hiding place. My daughter knows where we are and we can not risck some other pony finding out." She replied. She looked back at him with a stern look, he bowed his head to her. "Go and finish your mission." She hissed.
"Yes, my queen." He replied and flew off from the cave into the distance. Chrysalis watched her subject as he vanished into the dark of the night then flew off herself into the Everfree Forest.