As One
Fog…
That’s all she could see.
Her trembling voice echoed in the dark void. “S-so… c-cold…” she whimpered to herself in a frightened tone.
“I’ve failed…” said the whimpering mare, sensing that she was drifting weightlessly through the silent darkness of despair. As her vision finally returned to her, she could see that she was in the dream world, where she met Mercy. She curled in a ball while afloat in the gleaming starlight of this open void. She whimpered to herself, feeling agony in her heart. “What did I do wrong…? You said have faith…”
“It takes faith to dive straight into the eyes of death, Scootaloo,” said a deep, comforting voice resounding in the empty space.
Scootaloo gasped and uncurled, looking up. Suddenly standing on a weightless cloud of mist, she looked up to the King of Equestria. “Mercy…” she whimpered, and uncontrollably started crying. “Why is this so damn hard?! I’ve come so far… I did everything you told me to!”
“I have told you to do nothing, other than to move forward with faith. This is your story, not mine; only you can write your history.”
Scootaloo lowered her head, weeping. “A-am I dead? Is that why I’m here…?”
Mercy remained silent. His silence made Scootaloo feel nervous, and her eyes widened. “I cannot answer that,” he finally said.
“W-what do you mean, why not?” Her words seemed to shuffle. “What would it matter if I was dead? Why wouldn’t you be able to answer that? If I was dead, I wouldn’t be able to go back, and you wouldn’t have a reason to keep being so friggin mysterious!!”
Mercy raised a brow. “And?”
“And—” She let out a grunt. “—What the hell! Would you stop that?!”
“Stop what?”
“Being so mysterious all the time!”
Mercy just quietly chuckled. “I’m just doing my role. Perhaps you should continue doing yours.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she mumbled. “Am I dead or not?!”
“Well, isn’t that for you to decide, Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo blinked a few times, lifting her head higher in question. “Well… If I’m not dead… then what the heck am I? Did you see that huge spell that Plague shot at me?! How could I survive that?! What even was that?!”
“Yes, I saw it. Shadow Globe, is what it’s called; one of the most difficult spells to cast, and nopony has ever survived its guaranteed instant death before. So, are you dead, or not, then?”
Scootaloo’s hoof swiftly made its way to her forehead, and she let out a grunt. She sat on her flank and lowered her head, sighing.
“It’s not a trick question,” said the king.
A weeping sound emanated from the pegasus. The way he described the spell made her heart sink; there was no way she could be alive if that was the case. “Even if I did return… what could a pony like me do, now, anyway? That monster defeated the Elements of Harmony…”
“Hmh. Did he?”
Scootaloo looked up in question. “Well, yeah…”
“The Elements of Harmony cancel each other out when they are attacking each other,” he declared. “An Element bearer can not be defeated by another Element of Harmony.”
Scootaloo’s eyes wandered a bit, trying to put together what he had explained. “But… the Element of Love isn’t one of the Elements of Harmony, is it?” She looked back to him. “It’s an element on its own, is it not?”
“Perhaps,” he replied solemnly. “However, does love not have a representation of Harmony in itself?”
Scootaloo tilted her head, and she squinted at him. “Hold on… what are you implying?”
Mercy didn’t say anything. He only nodded as Scootaloo’s eyes widened. She began to catch on.
“Wait…” she paused briefly, trying to put it together. “You… you’re saying… the Changeling King…” Her eyes widened, and she stood up tall. “The Element of Love… That gem on his chest is what’s protecting him—that’s why the Elements failed to stop him! It canceled their spell out!”
Mercy nodded again. “You know, if you weren’t dead, you’d be able to do something about that now, wouldn’t you?”
Scootaloo’s eyes wandered, and she looked back up to him with hopeful eyes. “W-what’re you…”
“But as I said,” he continued, “An Element of Harmony can not defeat another Element of Harmony.” He gestured to Scootaloo as he made that declaration.
Scootaloo paused for a moment to try and understand, until she stepped back. “W-what? I’m…”
“You are the Element of Faith, Scootaloo.” He leaned closer. “Or did you not know this already?”
“W-what?!” Scootaloo put that deep into thought. That statement felt like it had hit her far too fast. It took her a moment, but after she let it sink in, she felt a sudden burst of inspiration. Everything Mercy had hinted to her made sense to her. Everything coincided exactly as it should have. The Changeling King was not yet defeated, because by fate, he was not meant to be.
“Everything happens for a reason, Scootaloo.” She nodded slowly in response to Mercy’s exclamation. “So, what now?”
A rush of destiny flowed through her veins. Determined to the core, she furrowed her eyes, and nodded. “I’m going back.”
“Oh?” He looked to her with a grin. “But, you are dead. Are you not?”
“Not this pegasus,” she boldly decided, and suddenly the entire dream world buckled beneath her hooves. The stars escaped the open void, and a flash of light consumed her vision.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Violet eyes jolt open. Looking up, she found herself lying on her side, with a crying Flake resting his head upon her. Plague’s laughter filled the changeling hive’s dome ominously. A gentle smile, and the pegasus rest her hoof upon Flake.
“H...huh?” Flake lifted his head, and looked into her eyes, in pouring tears. “H-h...how…? You’re…”
“I’m not going anywhere,” said a solemn Scootaloo. She gnashed her teeth, and pushed herself to her haunches. Flake stepped back, giving her space. His eyes were wide; he was completely astonished that she had gotten up after what had happened to her.
“This… this doesn’t make any sense!”
Standing to her hooves, Scootaloo leaned into Flake, and embraced him. “My time has not come,” she quietly said as she pulled away from the embrace. Resting her hooves upon his shoulders, she nodded. “My role is not yet complete. I have a destiny to fulfill.”
Flake looked back at her with stunned eyes, but after a few moments, he expressed a determined grin, and he nodded. There were still evident tears in his eyes, but he remained strong for her.
“Come with me,” she solemnly said, “Let’s do this together. We can finish this.”
Flake nodded, still tearing a little. “I believe in you, Scootaloo. I have faith in you.” He stepped back and spread his wings. “As one?”
Scootaloo nodded, spreading out her wings as well. “As one!”
Plague turned his glance to Scootaloo and Flake, and his eyes shot open at the sight of them standing together. “It can’t be!” Then in a powerful burst off the ground, they thrust into the air together, flying in a mesmerizing pattern together, as if they were dancing. They hovered up to eye level with the monster, and each glared at him.
“So, plan?” Flake asked.
“Get that gem,” she exclaimed, gesturing to the Element of Love upon Plague’s chest.
Plague gnashed his teeth and lit up his horn, posturing for battle.
“Split up!” Flake shouted, and upon command, Scootaloo and Flake both flew in opposite directions.
Down below, the six ponies pointed out the flying duo. “Hey look!” Rainbow Dash shouted out. Celestia was astonished to now see the pegasus airborne again, let alone the fact a pony and a changeling were fighting together. The changelings around the dome watched as well, all in awe, and they began chanting amongst each other, and cheered them on.
Plague turned to focus his aim on Scootaloo, furious that she survived. He was so angry that the magic on his horn was pulsating to a boiling point, bright as ever.
“Hey!!” Flake shouted out to the monster. “C’mon!!”
Plague growled and turned around, changing his target to focus on Flake.
“Your power is a joke!” Scootaloo yelled, “You want to know what true power is?!”
Plague was growing impatient, and he spun around to fire his attack at her. Releasing a large amount of magic, he launched his spell at her. She flipped sideways, and the beam ripped past her. Leveling herself out after his embarrassing miss, she pointed her hoof to her chest. “It comes from in here!! In all of us!! You can’t defeat us, Plague, we won’t let you!!”
Sudden pelts of magic were striking him from the back of his neck. Plague cringed and turned around. Flake was launching mesh spells at him from afar. He squinted at the olive changeling; his tiny attacks were nudging him with enough force to be annoying, though they were not dealing damage.
“Stop it!” he shrieked at the changeling. Flake ignored him and continued firing, bullet after bullet of green changeling mesh. “I said stop!!” He kept firing, disregarding the building anger in the giant monster. Plague gnashed his teeth and stepped toward him, his hooves shaking the cave with each step. “Enough!!” More darts of magic from Flake were pelting him, and Flake simply would not cease fire. He flew sideways, avoiding the beast from a distance while he continued shooting his impossible to miss target.
“You are making a fool out of me!!” Plague’s horn lit up brightly, and he aimed for Flake in the distance.
“Come on, Plague,” Scootaloo taunted, “Show me your power!”
“As you wish, pegasus!!!” He spun and fired his attack at her again. As if she had predicted what he was going to do, she had dodged long ahead of time, and he missed. Scootaloo just furrowed her eyes at him from afar, glaring at him.
“I shall not fail,” she exclaimed. “This hive and my friends, they all need me. You can throw anything you want at me, Plague, but I won’t stop!! And you will not win!!”
“Silence!!!” He lunged toward her, his horn glowing as if it were as furious as he was. He angrily swat at her, and she gnashed her teeth, swiftly dodging out of harm’s way.
More pelting magic was being cast from Flake, hitting him in the back. He frowned, but he tried to ignore his attacks; he wanted Scootaloo dead before he went after him. However, the attacks against his back were suddenly growing heavier. Different attacks, different patterns, and suddenly his entire body was being fired at.
“What is this?!” He spun around, to see a wall of changelings, all firing from their horns at him together. His eyes widened at the sight of the entire hive retaliating. Their attacks were strong enough to nudge him back a little.
“We will not stand by any longer! We’ve had enough!” a changeling among the attacking swarm shouted.
“If you’re so powerful and bold, then come at us!!” another changeling taunted.
While they were distracting him, Scootaloo made her move. She rushed into him, and flew around his massive body to go for the Element of Love on his chest before he could notice. Locating it, she made her way into it, and reached out with open hooves. Up close, the tiny speck of a gem appeared to be half the size of her head.
Reaching for the gemstone, she grasped it in two hooves. “G—AAAGH!!” The energy from the stone warped through her, and it repelled her hard. She flipped through the air backwards, but managed to level out. Her eyes were wide—how was she supposed to retrieve it with a powerful forcefield like that?
Plague was so distracted by the swarm of changelings firing their magic at him that he didn’t even notice. “STOP IT, YOU FOOLS!!!”
Flake trusted that the changelings would continue on their own, and he flew after Scootaloo. Joining up with her once again, he checked her to see if she was okay. “You hurt?”
“I’m alright,” said the pegasus, brushing herself off.
“Let’s try again,” Flake suggested, pointed to the Element of Love that was wide open with Plague being so distracted. “Before he realizes what we’re doing. Let’s do this together.”
Scootaloo nodded, and with that, she and Flake rushed toward the pink gem on Plague’s chest.
“ENOUGH!!” Plague yelled at the changelings, and he began firing bullets at them. Scootaloo turned back, acknowledging this. Her eyes were wide at the sight of the changelings all dropping from his missiles of magic one by one.
“No,” she murmured. “The changelings!”
Celestia ascent from below after aiding the other six ponies, who were still exhausted and grounded from their last attack. She pointed a hoof to Scootaloo’s destination. “Scootaloo, go!” Flake and Scootaloo both paid attention to her, hearing out her wishes. “I’ll distract the monster. Whatever it takes—get that gem!”
“You can do it, Scootaloo!!” Rainbow Dash cheered.
Celestia flew up to confront Plague, and aided the other changelings. By releasing a large forcefield of her magic, she repelled Plague’s spells, and the changelings kept firing their own magic back at him.
“GAAAH!!” Plague charged up another powerful attack, and he fired a large beam at her. It struck the face of her shield, and made her flinch and sweat. She gnashed her teeth, resisting as hard as she could to protect the changelings. His magic was strong, but she managed to hold him off enough to keep him from harming more changelings.
Scootaloo and Flake approached the gem on his chest once more. They exchanged looks with each other, and nodded.
“On three,” Flake initiated a countdown to act.
Scootaloo nodding and turning to the gem with wide open arms. “Two.”
“One!”
Simultaneously, Scootaloo and Flake reached out for the gem and grabbed it. The energy from within the gemstone was felt casting through their bodies. It was as if the gemstone was trying its hardest to push them away, but with the two of them taking on this task together, they were able to hang on.
“KEEP… GOING!” Flake called out to her, flinching from the incredible power flowing through him.
Scootaloo gnashed her teeth and groaned from the intense energy. “PULL!”
Together, they attempted to pull the Element of Love free from where it was attached to the giant changeling. In that moment, Plague noticed what they were doing, and he looked down to the tiny pony and changeling several meters beneath him. “NO—”
Too late. In their final efforts, they ripped the stone from his chest, and they each fell with it still in their arms. The moment the stone left his chest, Plague began howling in agony.
“NO!!! AAAAGH!!” He flailed in pain, and swat his limbs in the air. He could feel himself growing weaker now that it was gone. “MY POWER!!”
Scootaloo and Flake were at a hovering state. They slowly ascent after releasing the gemstone from his chest, and in doing so, it split in half, and each half merged with their chests. They could each feel an immense amount of power surging through them both. Scared, they held onto each other, as sparks of powerful energy rippled away from their bodies.
Celestia held up a hoof and turned to the changelings. “Hold your fire, changelings!!” she ordered, and they obeyed and stopped. She looked down to Twilight and the others.
“Again!!” she called out to them. “Use your Elements of Harmony!!”
“Right!” Twilight replied, and she and her friends galloped together. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie met up together, and they joined hooves.
“Now, listen,” Twilight spoke to them, “This is it. It’s now or never. We can end this once and for all. The only thing stopping him from his defeat was that stone—now let’s take him down!!”
“You can not stop me!!!” Plague hacked away at them with his muttering words.
They then lifted off into the air with grace, each levitating toward him. Twilight and the others began orbiting around him once again, and he attempted to swat at them with his giant hooves. “Back off!!!” he muttered at them. “I mean it!!”
“Ready, girls?!” the princess of friendship asked out loud.
“Ready!!” they exclaimed with determined faces. With their second attempt on its way, their bodies glowed with a spectrum of colours. Plague spun around where he stood, watching the six ponies rotate around him weightlessly.
“Stop this, now!!” he demanded.
Off to the side, still in an embrace, Scootaloo and Flake were getting used to their newfound powers surging through their bodies. They released each other and floated back a little. They looked to each other with bright, gleaming eyes, in awe with one another’s glowing appearances. Scootaloo’s burnt up mane and tail had reformed anew, and were swaying gracefully with the wind. The Element of Love had fused with them, choosing them as its new host for control.
“I will not be defeated!! I am immortal!!” Plague screamed as sparks of magic emanated from his body while the Elements of Harmony cast their magic upon him.
Flake reached out and held Scootaloo’s hooves. “Let’s help them.”
Scootaloo, feeling energized and renewed, nodded. “Let’s save Equestria.”
In a hurry, Scootaloo and Flake flew to their orbiting circle around Plague. Hovering from above, they looked to each other and nodded to reassure each other. Concentrating the magic within them, joined with the Elements of Harmony, and a beam of magic cast from them as well, striking Plague in the chest where the Element of Love was last held in his possession.
“AAAAAA!!!” Plague’s shrieking was hoarse and agonizing, and he began shrinking. “NO, NO, NOOOO!!!” He collapsed to his haunches and cowered, holding his hooves upon his head.
Sparks of magic glowed from his shrinking body. All the ponies kept the magic of their elements focused on him, and he could only flail around, unable to stop them. A glow emanated from his horn, and it exploded clean off his head. Sparks of electrical magic cast in all directions from the hollow spot where his horn was.
“AAAH!! NO!!” his voice was becoming more and more hoarse, to the extent of a panic. Several moments had past, and Plague had shrunken down to the size of his former changeling self. Cowering there with his hands upon his head, a funnel of magic began forming beneath him from the power of the elements. In that final moment, Plague dropped inside its vortex. “NOOOO—!!” And in a blink, the portal closed up with an immense flash of light that lit up the entirety of the dome, and the magic being cast from the Elements of Harmony depleted.
Absolute silence…
Flake and the seven ponies descent safely to the ground. The glow surrounding Flake and Scootaloo had faded, returning them to their normal states, remaining hoof in hoof as they were when conjuring their magic alongside the other six ponies.
Acknowledging all the silence, Flake and Scootaloo released each other and took a step back to observe their surroundings. The six ponies were, too, examining the dome around them. The changelings were all spread out, watching them from afar.
“You had rid Plague of his magic,” Celestia exclaimed, approaching from off to the side. Flake and the ponies all looked to her. “The Elements of Harmony have sent him to Tartarus.” She then looked up at what the others were watching. The changelings didn’t seem to be moving; they remained a great distance from them. They were hiding it seemed, keeping silent and still—and their frightened eyes were on Scootaloo.
“So… what do we do now?” Twilight asked, quietly. She and the others looked up to the ceiling, where all the remaining ponies remained hanging within their cocoons. The cold intensified as sadness overtook them, and they exchanged looks with one another. Their ears fell back, and they remained still, uncertain what could happen next.
Then among their silence, Scootaloo stepped forward. She trotted past Flake and the other ponies, and they looked to her in question.
“Scootaloo?” Fluttershy whispered to her.
“What are you doing…?” Rainbow Dash asked.
She trotted silently to the center of the floor in the dome. Then looking around, she cleared her throat.
“Don’t be afraid,” she called out to the changelings, her voice echoing among the massive hive. After witnessing her and the others defeat such a monster with unfathomable power like that, they seemed to find it difficult to want to approach her. “It’s okay,” she said reassuringly. “I mean you no harm.”
The changelings exchanged looks with one another. Hushed whispers of uncertainty were communicated between them. Until one changeling finally left their crevice, and with buzzing wings, descended down to her. He was descending with hesitance, and he made his landing several meters away from her, his expressive, uneasy eyes looking suspiciously at hers. He stood from a distance, just looking eye to eye with the pegasus, but he remained unmoved.
“The dome General…” Flake whispered to Scootaloo.
After a long, quiet glance between one another, the changeling finally said something. “We… we don’t… know what to do.”
Scootaloo slowly nodded. “I understand.”
“Ten years, we’ve imprisoned your kind… and… many perished in the time we had consumed their love.” He sat on his flank, cowering slightly. “We didn’t know how to love… the only way we could ever live was to take it.” Lowering his head, his ears fell back. “Even our Queen could not learn another way to survive. And ponies would never simply just… let us take love from them. Chrysalis did all this, because she feared for our extinction. But she never wanted it to result in slowly killing off ponies. It just… happened along with what we did.”
A pause. Scootaloo just listened, feeling the apologetic words coming from this changeling, who was explaining on behalf of the entirety of the hive.
“We just…” An evident tear trickled from his eye. “We don’t know what to do… We don’t want to keep living like this. But… we don’t know another way. We don’t know what it means to love and be loved...”
Scootaloo slowly exhaled from her nostrils. “You said that your Queen did this for the sake of your kind to live on, yes?”
“I…”
“That,” she exclaimed, “is love.”
“...Huh?” He looked up with glistening turquoise eyes.
“Your Queen loved you, so much that she did everything that she knew she could to save you. She knew that what she was doing to the ponies was not the path of Harmony. But she, like you, did not know another way. But she wanted to be strong for you, and did everything in her power to sustain your lives with as much love as she could supply you with.”
“What…?” The changeling whimpered. “So… what do we do?”
She tilted her head. “You’re asking me?”
The changeling nodded, desperately. “What do we do?” he asked again.
“That depends…” said Scootaloo, “Do you trust me?”
“Huh…?”
“Do you trust me?” she repeated, this time more gentle.
“I…”
A silent pause. Scootaloo only smiled, and she approached the changeling. At first, the changeling took a step back, cowering a little. Flake and the other ponies watched curiously at what she was doing, and the changelings around the dome were all watching as well.
“Love cannot be taken,” Scootaloo said while calmly approaching the changeling, trying to express as little intimidation as she could. “It can only be shared—given and received. There are many ways of expressing it. Through generosity, you give. With kindness, we care. Sometimes, even when the truth is hard, honesty can do so much, for the right reasons. And to be loyal, we may sometimes have to put down what we want, for the ponies who we need. Through laughter and through faith in each other, in the end, love is no different than the Elements of Harmony.”
She had reached the changeling, face to face, and she extended her hoof to help him up from his cowering position. The changeling was frozen; he didn’t know how to respond, how to act, or what to think. After some time in silence, he accepted her helping hoof, and she assisted him in standing.
“You asked me what to do…” Scootaloo solemnly said, looking up to the cocooned ponies. “For starters, you can free all of the ponies.”
“What?” he muffled. “B-but… I…”
Scootaloo looked to him in question.
“What… what will we do? What if we can’t survive without them?” He slowly looked away. “And… when we free them, what will they think of us? They’ll fear us. Like they always have.”
The pegasus slowly nodded, understanding their concerns. “Trust me,” she replied with a warm smile. “Free them all, and you will see.” He looked back to her with worrisome eyes. “They may certainly think different of you after what your kind had done. But time changes all things, and heals all wounds. We all live in this world together. We may as well share it, in harmony, and with love.”
“How could these ponies ever forgive us, though?”
“It may take some time…” Scootaloo admitted to that concern. “But sometimes, we have to live through our mistakes, and allow time to make amends. You are afraid that the ponies will fear you… However, that is a fear of your own. You are just as afraid of us, as we are to you.”
Lowering his head, he tried to understand, nodding. He looked back up, turning his neck to all the changelings. They were all watching on his behalf, feeling the same sorrows as he was.
“I know you’re scared,” sympathized Scootaloo. He looked back to her, and she leaned into him. Wrapping her hooves around his shoulders, she hugged him. His eyes widened at her gesture, and it threw him off guard. “But you could be so much more… Trust me. I can save your kind.”
It took him a moment to process her gesture. The changelings watching had to lean in for a better look. What was happening? What was Scootaloo doing?
Then in response to her embrace, the changeling in her arms returned the gesture, putting his hooves around her. His eyes were wide, and they wandered. It was new; it was warm. And deep inside, he felt his burdens burn up, and he burst into tears. Then his coat began to change. His limbs of holes slowly sealed up, and his black coat began fading into a bright turquoise.
Watching this, the other changelings were in awe. Mystified beyond anything they’ve ever known, they kept silent.
“Free them,” she said once more. “Make them feel safe, make them feel your comfort. Show them love, and they will love back. And you will never go hungry again.”
She pulled away from the embrace, and keeping her hooves upon his shoulders, she smiled, looking into his new, sapphire irises. He was in calming tears, as if he was at peace.
Taking a step back, he respectfully nodded to her, and he took off to the air. From below, Scootaloo watched.
“Help me!” said the renewed changeling to his kind. They exchanged looks with one another, and they nodded. Then from all throughout the dome, they flew out from hiding, and ascent to the ceiling, where all the ponies were held.
One by one, they began plucking cocoons off the ceiling. Scootaloo, Flake and the other ponies watched in awe. It was too good to be true.
“In all my years, I…” Celestia began, feeling warm in her chest. A gentle hint of crying, she gazed upon the beauty—they were one at a time, releasing her subjects. “I’ve never… seen anything like this…”
Changelings brought them safely to the ground, and opened the cocoons with their magic. The sleeping ponies inside were colourless; grey like Scootaloo was when she first escaped. At first, they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t want the ponies to feel afraid. So, they did what Scootaloo did.
Before the ponies would wake up, the changelings gently held them in their arms, to wake them in an embrace. At first, it was evident that they didn’t really know what they were doing. But after sensing that warm touch of harmony, they were quick to catch on, and they held the ponies with loving, caring embraces. Changelings not having done so were catching on as well, imitating one another, until the entire hive was freeing, and hugging ponies.
It was an unbelievable sight. They seemed desperate; they wanted to understand. And slowly, the ponies in their arms woke from their decade slumber.
Upon their awakenings, the room surrounded by a spectrum of mystifying colours. Both the changelings and the grayscaled ponies were regaining their colour, through the changelings’ simple acts of harmony. The ponies seemed unaware of their surroundings, and completely numb of what was happening, but they didn’t seem to panic. Being awoken in arms of comfort calmed them.
Thousands of changelings and ponies lit up the dome with their magnificent colours, and soon the hive didn’t seem so dark. Then among all that was happening, a few changelings approached Scootaloo again, in their own full bright colours.
Scootaloo waited patiently for what they had to say. Until finally one of them made the approach, and set something on the ground before her.
It was Chrysalis’ crown. Scootaloo looked at the crown, then back into the gleaming eyes of the changeling. She wasn’t sure what to think of the gesture.
“We want you to be our new Queen,” said the changeling before her. Scootaloo’s eyes widened to the enormous request.
“Huh?” She blinked a few times, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden attention she was being given. “Me? But, I’m not a changeling…”
“Perhaps… that is exactly why we need you,” he exclaimed in a hopeful tone.
Scootaloo nibbled the bottom of her lip, nervously. She didn’t know how to approach the situation, and she turned her neck to look back at her friends. They seemed to want to stay out of it, as it was her decision to make, but they were certainly surprised.
Turning back to the changelings confronting her, she stared at the crown at her hooves. She hesitated to even pick it up. “I… don’t know.”
“Maybe we need a pony to lead us…” one of the changelings quietly murmured. “To teach us. You know so much about love and harmony…”
Scootaloo put that deep into thought as she stared deeply into the gems of Chrysalis’ crown. She knelt down, and she picked it up to hold it closer to her, to have a closer, more personal look at it. ‘Scootaloo, Queen of the Changelings’, she thought to herself. Was that really a title she wanted to carry?
“Please,” said the changeling who presented her with the crown. “We wouldn’t rather have any other pony, nor changeling, to lead us.”
Scootaloo’s ears perked to that, and she looked up to them again.
“You alone stood up for us against that giant monster, and while we as a hive were afraid, you fought for us,” another changeling exclaimed.
“Despite how impossible the fight was, you didn’t give up.”
“We’ve never seen a more faithful leader.”
There was a pause. A long pause. All eyes were on her; it was frightening. She looked around at the changelings and the ponies. The ponies seemed startled beyond comprehension, considering everything—their location, their age, the situation—and it was evident that the changelings were trying their hardest to improve. Comforting the ponies, welcoming them back into their world. This would undoubtedly never have happened if not for her.
Taking another look at the crown in her possession, she took deep consideration toward all that had happened from the moment she escaped her cocoon, up until this point. She couldn’t explain the emotions she was experiencing to anypony else, but she felt a great sense of responsibility resting in her hooves. One minute, she was still learning who she was, discovering her cutie mark, and still trying to fly. And the very next, after a long, ten year sleep, she has a crown in her hooves.
The tension was high, and everypony was still waiting on Scootaloo’s decision. But after her long moment to think for herself, she lifted the crown above her head, and placed it upon her brow. The moment it nestled in her mane, the crown seemed to give off a glow in the light exposed from above. The dark, gloomy colours of the crown faded into a bright, sunlight orange, and the gems crystallized into a dazzling pink that matched her mane and tail.
Scootaloo blinked a few times, processing the situation, and she watched them respectfully acknowledge her as Queen. The changelings all bowed before her, row after row. Her eyes wandered among the crowd. The free, confused ponies also within the crowd, turned their necks to look around and process what was happening. They didn’t know what had all happened, but they could see what had become of the changelings through the circumstances, was a good thing. It was clear that the ponies did not know who she was, and did not know whether they should bow, until Celestia and the other six ponies did as well. When they saw their sun goddess bow before Scootaloo, they took initiative and did the same.
A gentle caress on her left shoulder. Scootaloo blinked and looked to see Flake standing beside her with his hoof placed upon her.
“You did it,” he whispered proudly to her. “You brought changelings and ponies together, just like you said you would.”
Scootaloo blushed and shyly tilting her head away. “Well… I couldn’t have done it without you.” She turned back to him, presenting a sincere smile. “I’m happy to be able to share this moment with you.”
Flake silently chuckled and nodded, then he gestured to the crowd bowing to her. “Well… shouldn’t you be saying something, my Queen?”
Being addressed as Queen in that way gave her an unfamiliar shiver. It was a powerful word, but she took it to heart and grinned. Nodding to him, she stepped forward to the crowd of changelings and newly awoken ponies.
“Changelings and ponies, rise now!” she called out to them with authority. Celestia stood back up, and she grinned and nodded proudly, intrigued by the way she spoke so strongly to them. In response to her order, the changelings and ponies all stood. She took a moment to gather her words together. She turned back to look to Celestia for reassurance, who in turn nodded with trusting eyes. Taking in a deep breath, Scootaloo nodded back to her and turned back to the crowd of changelings and ponies.
“This is rather sudden…” she confessed to everyone, nervously. “Most of you do not know who I am. My name is Scootaloo. I am the Element of Faith… and the new Queen of the Changelings.”
“Wait…” a pony among the crowd called out to her in question. “Scootaloo?”
The proclaimed Changeling Queen looked into the crowd to see who had called her name. She recognized the pony—it was Cherilee, her old school teacher.
“Yes,” Scootaloo revealed to her with a nod. “It’s me.”
“But…” Cheerilee looked around with widened eyes, then returned her glance to Scootaloo. “But you’re… older!”
Scootaloo sighed very slowly through her nostrils. Her facial expression went sour, and she nodded to her former teacher. “You have all been asleep for some time… A decade had passed, and much has changed.” The ponies exchanged looks with one another, appearing to be in shock by the length of time that had been taken from their lives. It was no wonder Cheerilee was so in shock to see her grown.
“A ‘Pony’ Queen of the Changelings?” she heard somepony question the situation from somewhere in the crowd.
“That doesn’t make any sense!” another shouted.
“Ten years?!” further voiced concerns emanated in the echoes.
“Why should we listen to this pony? Why should we associate with the changelings?!”
Chatter arose in the dome, and Scootaloo’s ears fell back. She didn’t know what to do; a panic seemed to arise. “E-everypony, wait,” she tried to calm them, and rose her hoof to capture their attention. But their chatter escalated, and soon it was too difficult for Scootaloo to even hear herself.
“PONIES!!” They were quick to hush, and they looked with worrisome eyes to who had called out to them so loudly. Where they had looked to, a few ponies had just made an entrance from another cave.
It was Princess Luna who had called out to them, and alongside with her was the Princess of Love herself, Cadence, with her husband, Shining Armor. Following along with them was Dozer, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.
After the echoing voices of the dome died down, Luna stepped forward to speak up with sincerity to the ponies and changelings. “Sometimes, for great things to happen, we must first fall into the dark. Sometimes, for a very long time.”
Cadence nodded to back her statement, and she addressed them to Scootaloo with a hoof. “Changelings and ponies… Please, listen to what Scootaloo has to say. For her words are important.”
When Luna and Cadence spoke to reassure them, the cave seemed to silence. Although the ponies still seemed uncertain whether or not they could trust the new ‘Pony Queen of Changelings’.
Scootaloo turned to Luna and Cadence, nodding respectfully. “Thank you…”
Celestia trot up to her and gave her a nudge and a reassuring grin. “Now it’s your turn.”
Taking in a deep breath, she turned back to the changelings and ponies all waiting for her to say something. For a moment, she lost what she wanted to say, being so nervous. But after a few moments to recollect herself, she build enough courage to say something.
“Before I can speak, you must all see the outside world. Our world, Equestria, is currently a lifeless wasteland. And for a decade, we ponies have been absent from it, unable to perform our roles to keep its balance.”
The ponies responded with sickened expressions. The changelings cowered a little with their ears to their sides, feeling the sorrow. Flake took initiative towards Scootaloo’s exclamation, and he flew up and over the crowd. The ponies and changelings watched him, and he illuminated his horn. To present to them what Scootaloo needed to show to them, he fired a spell into the exterior wall of the dome. A blast of magic echoed through the cave along with a flash of light. Ponies shielded their eyes as dust and debris rippled away from the hole he had shot into the wall.
When the dust had cleared, the big hole in the wall revealed to them all what Equestria now looked like. Gasps of trauma and voices of horror were echoing from the ponies witnessing it for the first time. The Ponies of Harmony were equally as shocked, not having seen it yet themselves. The crowd was now facing the hole in the wall, with Scootaloo behind them. She gnashed her teeth at the sight of the ponies all horrified to see their world like this. The skeleton trees; the smoggy clouds; the lack of plant life… It was awful. Lifting off the ground, she flew up and over the crowd to join Flake.
She looked down upon them at an angle to which they could see her, and she continued to speak.
“I know, the sight is sickening…” said the sympathetic Queen of the Changelings. “But… all is not lost.”
“How could this happen…?” a pony cried out. “There’s nothing out there!”
“Our world is uninhabitable!” another traumatized voice shrieked.
Scootaloo’s ears fell back, and she nodded slowly, understanding the aching ponies. “A long time ago… changelings and ponies lived among one another. We formed what we knew as Equestria. But, we did it together.” She addressed the changelings, who had gained colour from their act of Harmony when freeing them from their cocoons. “While ponies are the essence of friendship… changelings, believe it or not, are the essence of love.”
Ponies exchanged looks with one another. Many different expressions were seen among them—doubt; confusion; uncertainty; lacking hope… It was evident they weren’t prepared for this sudden change any more than she was.
“Good things take time…” Scootaloo solemnly said. “Great things… happen all at once.”
She received many different looks after she said that.
“I know Equestria is not the same home as it was ten years ago. It feels as though only yesterday we were sitting under the warm sunlight in the grass, enjoying one another’s company.” Their eyes were solely fixed on the wasteland. They could hear her voice echoing in the dome, with little to say in response. “Some of us were still even discovering our cutie marks…”
They looked up to her, getting the hint that she didn’t have her cutie mark before the changelings took Equestria for their own ten years ago.
“The only thing keeping Equestria from returning to its true glory, is us. I have seen the Elements of Harmony do great things. And many believe it lies within just the six ponies who protect our world. But the truth is, it lies within all of us. We are their essence.” She gestured her hooves to the wasteland, and they looked out into the land of devastation. “Do you know why Equestria was once so beautiful?” she solemnly asked them. They took a moment to look to her, waiting for some kind of hopeful response. “Equestria is a world that relies solely on magic. It lives and breathes magic. And all that magic comes from us.” She trailed her eyes among the crowd watching. “All of us; changelings and ponies. Without us or our magic, Equestria would never have come to be. In the beginning, we built our world the way it was from the ground up. Changelings and ponies once lived together, in Harmony. And at the time we did, our friendships and efforts to work together breathed our world life.” She smiled to express herself. “Ponies, we are the creatures of friendship. And changelings, you are the creatures of love... For the longest time, our world was missing a great chunk of its essential magic, because we had forgotten.”
The room went quiet and calm. The silence was almost tangible.
“Harmony is not only the symbolism of friendship, but love as well,” declared their new Queen of Changelings. “Through love and friendship, we can create Harmony. We can bring back Equestria the way it once was, and together, we shall live among it in all its glory...”
She could finally begin to see some smiles in the crowd watching her. Her speech brought calm whispers among the crowd; they were very moved by her. Nopony was arguing at this point, and nopony wanted to turn tail and disregard her. They were all standing strong, listening to her words.
“Everypony… Not all hope is lost.” She placed her hooves upon her chest and spoke louder. “Please, join me; let us create a world we can all call home. This is not something we can do alone; we need each other! Together, we can be so much greater!”
She paused her speech. Though she was not well known among the ponies and changelings, they could only sense good in her intentions. Through this crisis, she stood tall and inspired, giving them hope.
“Like all those years ago, let’s breathe life into Equestria.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was a long climb down the mountain. The view of Equestria’s wasteland was heavy on their hearts. Still, they followed Scootaloo. With nowhere to go, or nopony else to trust, they put all their hope in her. Scootaloo walked along side the ponies of Harmony, with Flake on her left side, as well as with Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom who were following along.
Scootaloo turned to Flake, and he looked back at her. They gently smiled, and she nudged into him as they continued walking. He grinned and nudged her back. Her friends watching from behind her could only playfully smile at their loving behaviours toward each other.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It took at least half an hour to reach the bottom on hoof. Stepping into the fog of emptiness, the skeleton tree forest remained as dark and lifeless as it did from the start. The ponies and changelings were all silent and devastated. Scootaloo, though, kept her head up high, and she looked skyward with a determined expression.
“What now, Scootaloo?” asked Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo looked to her, being reminded that she had an unfinished situation with her new subjects. She stepped back, and then turned around to face the crowd of ponies and changelings who followed her all the way down the mountain. They awaited another speech of inspiration, and many seemed doubtful that there was much left for them. They stood beneath the green smog and skeleton trees, all eyes on her.
It was quiet for awhile, until a pony from the crowd spoke up.
“Here we stand, after a decade of being trapped inside cocoons, and we owe it to a simple pegasus,” said a stallion among the ponies.
“We are all scared…” a mare said to her. “But we owe you our trust.”
“Scootaloo, my Queen…” said the changeling who had spoken to her back in the dome. She looked to him in question, listening to what he had to say. “We thank you,” he humbly said to her.
Scootaloo felt warmth in her heart when they opened up to her this way. She smiled and nodded to them.
“What got you to come this far?” the first stallion asked.
The question seemed sudden. She had to put it to thought for a brief moment, but she knew the answer. “All of you did,” she replied. “Ponies and changelings, I came back, for you…” She trailed her eyes among the inspired crowd. “And it took an enormous amount of faith… But still I believed. It was a long journey, but that journey ends today.”
“So… what do we do now?” the question came up again from another changeling.
There was a quiet moment in silence. Scootaloo didn’t know how to answer immediately, but she felt that whatever was to happen from here could only get better.
Something caught her eye, and she looked beneath her. It was a white and blue flower, growing in the midst of all the fog. Those who were up close to see it gasped at the sight of its beauty. Scootaloo knelt down to the plant, and she examined it with awe.
“We breathe love into our world,” she calmly said in response to the changeling’s question, and they watched her carefully inspect the flower she found. “All life grows with love. We continue to share, to laugh, to be kind, loyal and true to one another. And this magical place will flourish, just as we do.”
A gentle ray of light cast down from the sky. Looking up, the ponies and changelings could see the sun trying to break through the smog. The ponies and changelings were in awe. Among all the deathly landscapes, seeing the sunlight shine down upon them through the crevices of the clouds was the most beautiful sight they could have asked for.
“Just like us, Equestria is finally now waking up,” said a solemn Scootaloo as she grinned peacefully. “Just like when a storm passes, the darkness leaves behind something beautiful… Life doesn’t end… It only sleeps, and awakens a dawn for something brand new.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thanks to Nioniosbbbb
for proofreading and editing!
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I loved this fic. so god damned much, i am upset that it finished. but god damn am i happy at how it turned out
6231632 Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it!
Gotta say, that was a beautiful ending. Sad to see that it has ended, but it was a wonderful ride. Congrats with this story and good luck with any future works.
C&Cs:
“Ready, girls?!” the princess of friendship asked out loud.
> Capitalize ‘princess’ and ‘friendship’, since ‘Princess of Friendship’ is a title.
“The dome General…” Flake whispered to Scootaloo.
> I think this is a case of possessive (“The dome’s General...”).
She recognized the pony—it was Cherilee, her old school teacher.
> Correction: ‘Cheerilee’.
Thanks for sticking it through to the end. It's been a long time finishing this one!
6233763
6241410 Boy I can tell you this last chapter... biggest thing ever.
6231632 The nostalgia is there. To me too trust me.
Good show.
This fic was started before the end of Season 3, diverged before Tirek, and completed before Season 6, and yet, it's one of few fics with ascended changelings.
Was Spike cocooned too or did he avoid it?