//------------------------------//
// Impact 
// Story: Love at Ground Zero 
// by My Little Scribbler 
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Love at Ground Zero
Chapter 7: Impact


Knowing that she cannot weasel her way out of it, Twilight tried to teleport away, but as she charged up her spell, a green magical aura surrounded her. Forgery must have noticed what she was trying to do, she assumed, since he telekinetically held her off the ground, preventing her from teleporting away.
“Show her who you really are, Facsimile,” said Forgery, “if that is your real name.”
Twilight reluctantly undid her transformation spell, changing back into her original form. Knowing she cannot escape, she decided to try persuasion. “Queen Chrysalis, I know your people are starving. I know how desperate you are to find food for your people. But you don’t have to resort to murder.”
“Why should I believe you?” shouted Chrysalis. “For generations, we’ve been feared and ostracized for our abilities. Do you really think that the world would just willingly let us feed off of them if we just asked them to?”
“Well, if you just attempt a diplomatic solution as opposed to violence, you might be greeted with a more sympathetic reception.”
“Umph, there can never be peace,” shouted Chrysalis.
“Just give it a try,” insisted Twilight. “If I go to Princess Celestia and bring her here, I’m sure she’ll be willing to negotiate.”
“No!” shouted Chrysalis. “There’s no other way.”
A voice rang out from the crowd like a knight coming to Twilight’s aid. “I wouldn’t say that.” From out of the crowd emerged a lone changeling, pushing the stunned soldiers aside as he came out into the open.
“Who are you?” asked Chrysalis, irritably.
There was a flash of purple magical energy as the transformation spell was undone, revealing himself to be Shining Armor, alarming the changelings. All eyes were on him, but he stood his ground like any heroic prince facing an army. As he spoke, his voice was firm and calm. “I can’t say that I’m happy that you impersonated my wife on our wedding day and I certainly can’t say I approve of our methods, but I too would rather earn your trust than fight and I will prove it.”
The changelings nervously fidgeted where they stood, not sure whether to attack or to hear what Shining Armor had to say.
“And what can you do to earn our trust?” asked Chrysalis.
Before answering, Shining Armor glanced at Twilight and inconspicuously winked at her. “I’m going to give you all my love to feed off of.”
“And what’s that supposed to prove?” asked Chrysalis with a laugh. “Furthermore, what’s suppose to keep us from just taking you and your sister captive?”
Shining Armor once again gave a brief glance at Twilight. “I think my generosity will convince you.”
Twilight just looked at him in shock. Shining, what are you doing? You’ll just make them stronger and they’ll capture us both.
His horn glowed as he channeled his energies. From the tip of his horn, his love flowed out as wisps of energy that floated off toward every changeling’s horn. The malnourished changelings let out sighs of joy as they gorged on Shining Armor’s love. Even Chrysalis swayed with giddy joy as she was fed. The energy easily flowed passed Twilight toward Forgery who was so intoxicated by Shining Armor’s love that his hold on Twilight weakened slightly, but not enough to enable her to escape.
As she looked on with worry for her brother, Twilight could feel a growing heat under her wing as something began to react. She realized the heat was coming from the mandrake under her wing and all of a sudden, she understood what her brother was doing: He was trying to ignite the mandrake with his magic just like he saw her do earlier. With her hooves able to move more freely, she pulled out the cloth and stuffed both pieces into each ear. She tried to lean over to the side while still suspended in the air, inching her mandrake closer to the magical energy. Shining Armor’s magic was so strong, the mandrake began to vibrate as it slowly built up to explosion. She covered her ears with her hooves just as the mandrake burst under her wing and let out a deafening wail.
Once again, the changelings shook with pain as their bodies were assaulted with the sonic energy. With a collective moan, they all collapsed to the ground at the same time, including Shining Armor.
Once Forgery toppled over unconscious, Twilight was freed from his telekinetic hold. She flew off, telekinetically scooping up Shining Armor and raced off out of the caves. She flew up through the tunnels and out of the open cave mouth without any resistance.
“Come on, Shining Armor, wake up,” said Twilight as she ascended even higher into the night air.
Shining Armor opened his eyes to see himself dangling high off the ground. He cried out with surprise and panic, kicking his legs as if trying to escape the ground below.
“Next time, wake me up on the ground.
“Sorry,” said Twilight as she flung him onto her back. “We have to get to Princess Celestia...” A flash of light in the distance caught her eye. At the outskirts of Appleloosa, she could see two figures fighting in the distance. One of which was discharging lightning bolts through the air. “Is that Mirror?”
“I think so,” said Shining Armor. “She must have encountered a changeling along the way.
Twilight accelerated toward Mirror with a beat of her wings, nearly knocking Shining Armor off her back as he clasped his hooves around her neck to stop himself from flying off. She flew as fast as she could, diving toward the dueling changelings. By the time she was close enough, she could see the changeling trap Mirror inside a cocoon, and even from a distance, she could see the glow of electricity as the changeling charged up for a fatal shot. Hitting a target with a spell from a distance while flying was not an easy feat, but Twilight had a lot of practice when it came to spell precision. As she dive-bombed toward the changeling, she lowered her horn and fired her spell. The spell flew through the air, crackling and sizzling with power, and it struck the changeling from the side, paralyzing him. The changeling toppled over, landing with a soft thud against the dirt. With another blast from her horn, Twilight fired a spell upon the cocoon, shattering it and freeing Mirror from her prison.
Twilight landed onto the ground next to Mirror as she shook off the last of the cocoon residue.
“Thanks for the save,” said Mirror, trembling from the excitement. “One more second late and I would have been toast.”
“Well, that’s what friends do,” said Twilight. She glanced up at the sky and could see that the meteor was almost as big as the moon at this point. “The meteor will hit the atmosphere any minute. We need to warn the princesses.”
The three of them galloped toward the town, and they reached the top of the hill where Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and their guards were sitting at its foot.
“How am I going to alert the princesses?” asked Mirror. “Even if I get passed the guards, they’ll hear every word I say.”
“I don’t think we have the time for subtly,” said Twilight. “Isn’t there some way you can lure them away from the princesses?”
Mirror let out a huff in thought. “I have a crazy idea. I’m going to go down there and distract the guards while you two can just paralyze them while they’re not looking.”
Twilight and Shining Armor curiously eyed her, wondering what Mirror had in mind. Since neither of them had ever heard of a changeling transforming into an inanimate object before, they were startled to see Mirror’s body radiate with green magic as it harden into a round boulder. Mirror rocked her new stone body back and forth to allow herself to roll down the hill toward the princesses.
Twilight and Shining Armor ducked behind a bush, and watched through the brambles as Mirror rolled down the hill. As expected, the princesses saw the boulder rolling toward them and after taking a stunned second to process what was happening, the two opened their wings and lifted off into the air. The guard hopped to the side as the boulder rolled passed them. Once they were distracted, Twilight and Shining Armor leaped out from behind their cover and fired their spells upon two of the guards, paralyzing them instantly. Before they had a chance to take out the others, Mirror changed back into her original form, and fired a blast at the remaining guards, paralyzing them. With the danger averted, Twilight and Shining Armor galloped down the hill to join the princesses.
Upon seeing Mirror, the princesses gawked with astonishment, looking between Mirror and Twilight, unable to distinguish what was happening.
Princess Luna hovered over the changelings, examining them as if they were specimens on the ground. “What are changelings doing here?” She looked at her sister as if expecting an answer, but Princess Celestia looked as flabbergasted as her.
“Twilight!” shouted Princess Celestia. “What’s going on here?”
“I think you need to see this,” said Twilight. With a burst of her magic, she forced one of the guards out of his disguise, revealing his true form to the princess.

After explaining what had happened, Twilight teleported Princess Celestia into the caves. She led the princess down into the chamber where she had left behind Chrysalis and her changelings. All of them appeared drowsy and unstable, indicating that they had just woken up from the mandrake. When the changelings noticed Princess Celestia and Twilight, they all gathered in front of Chrysalis and with a hive-mind exactness, they gathered into even rows forming a solid wall between the two princesses and the changeling queen.
Chrysalis eyed Twilight with an angry scowl. “How dare you bring her here.”
“Queen Chrysalis,” said Princess Celestia, keeping her tone calm and formal, “Twilight told me about your plans and why you’re doing this. I’m here to call a truce.”
There was a stunned silence among the changelings. They kept their horns lowered, prepared for a fight, but their heads and legs fidgeted nervously rather than strong and sturdy.
“And why should we trust you?” demanded Chrysalis. “We don’t need you.”
Princess Celestia continued to talk, keeping her voice firm but friendly. “I know my people haven’t been able to get along with your people, but that’s only because we haven’t had a chance to know your people. I understand why you keep yourselves hidden from others, but in doing so, you’ve become nothing more than a menace and a mystery for us to fear and shun. Give us a chance, and I’m sure we can help you. There are plenty of ponies who are willing to donate their love to your people. I don’t expect you to forgive us right away, just be willing to accept our help and our friendship.”
There was an uncomfortable pause as both sides were at a stand still, giving time for the weight of Princess Celestia’s words to settle. The changelings were now visibility fidgeting, indecisive of what to do.
Chrysalis bared her fangs in an angry scowl as hate welled up in her heart. “Do you really think anything can change between us? There can never be peace and we don’t need you. Soldiers, attack Princess Celestia and—”
“Stop!”
There was a collective gasp of surprise among the soldiers as they looked about their ranks, wondering where the voice came from.
From out of the crowd came a meek little voice. “Please listen to her, Your Excellency.” The crowd parted to reveal a single soldier looking up at Chrysalis with large blue eyes.
“Doppelganger?” said Chrysalis in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“Please listen to the princess,” said Doppelganger. “I have three hatchlings back home who are starving and my fellow soldiers are all tired of the fighting. We’re tired of all the espionage and the violence. We all support and love you, but we’ve hidden our feelings from you because we’re desperate for food. But now that a chance for peace is open to you, I beg of you to take it...for all our sakes.”
“Do you all feel this way?” asked Chrysalis, her tone now somber.
Emboldened by Doppelganger’s courage, there was a gradual murmur of agreement among the soldiers. One by one, they all turned toward Chrysalis, looking up at her not out of defiance, but out of pleading like unhappy children turning to a parent.
For the first time, Twilight saw Chrysalis’s face soften. Her look of greed and hatred became one of remorse and sadness.
With an exacerbated sigh, Chrysalis turned toward one of the changelings to her far right. “Mock-Up!”
A changeling named Mock-Up came out of the crowd. “Yes, Your Excellency.”
“Go to Appleloosa and tell the workers that the mission has been cancelled and they are to come home.”
Without a single word to Princess Celestia or Twilight, the changelings all turned around and disappeared into the tunnels.
With their mission complete, Princess Celestia and Twilight returned to Appleloosa. The other changelings were already retreating back to their colony by the time Twilight arrived, just as the ponies gathered around to draw the meteor down.

As the ice meteor drew close to the atmosphere, several singularities magically appeared, their gravity gently controlling its decent to earth like invisible strings. It silently hit the atmosphere and burned upon reentry in a cloud of mist and fire. The ice quickly melted into water with pieces of rock and ice still inside of it. With the meteor quickly becoming more liquid than solid, the singularities could no longer control the mass of melted water as it came hurtling down to earth. That was the job for the pegasi as they all gathered around the meteor and used an air funnel to siphon the water out. With the wind funnel pulling the water from one direction and the singularities extracting any stray bits of rock and ice out the opposite direction, both the water and the rocks were separated apart mid fall. The wind funnel easily lowered the water down into the reservoir, filling it up like an invisible facet pouring water into a cup until it overflowed over the sides, soaking the ground and any of the ponies who were standing there. With the collective mesh of gravitational singularities, the unicorns gently lowered the ice and rocks down to the ground. With just one collective singularity and with the direction of Twilight, the unicorns gently lowered the meteorites to the outskirts of Appleloosa and gently set them down to be categorized and sold later.
With the reservoir full of water and the meteor successfully brought down, the Appleloosians and the volunteers all cheered with excitement and joy. Lanterns lit up the small town as every pony both young and old were out on the streets, dancing, playing games, getting drunk on apple cider, and singing songs as if it was a New Year’s celebration. Even the princesses stayed behind to enjoy the party, Princess Celestia in particularly scarfing down an entire apple pie by herself, much to the annoyance of Princess Luna.
All the while, Twilight and Shining Armor were sitting next to the snack table, eating apple crisps, enjoying each other’s company and catching up on old times. As they talked, a little earth pony mare approached Twilight and Shining Armor from out of the crowd.
“Twilight,” said the pony with a smile on her face. “I just want to say thanks.”
“Uh, who are you?” asked Twilight.
The mare let out a laugh. “It’s me, Mirror.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, feeling embarrassed, “well I should be thanking you for helping us.”
“We couldn’t have done it without your help,” said Shining Armor. “Do you think things will work out between Queen Chrysalis and Princess Celestia?”
“I’m sure it will be fine. I don’t think the Queen will change over night, but I think the princess and Twilight had left an impression on her.”
“Why don’t you party with us?” asked Twilight.
“Thanks, but I must decline. This is the first time I’ve ever had to mingle outside my own kind, and frankly,” she gave them a sly smirk, “I only like to stay at parties for the food.” She trotted off toward a large and handsome stallion near a cider trough, looking a little loopy from too much cider.
“Well, hello there, handsome,” said Mirror, swaying her flank and batting her eyes in a seductive way. “Want to dance with me tonight?”
The stallion ogled her. “Oh my, you’re pretty.”
Mirror beckoned him to come along with a sway of her head, and the stallion gladly followed, hopelessly love struck.
Twilight watched the whole thing and laughed. “I think that stallion is going to get more than a hangover in the morning.”


The End