Starlight Glimmer opened her eyes and shot out of bed. “Ow!” She clutched her aching head and groaned. “Ugh. What happened?” She rapidly blinked her eyes several times as the room spun around her. “Why do I feel dizzy?”
“Morning sunshine.”
“AAH!” Starlight screamed as she spotted the filly, lying in her bed with a big, creepy grin. “Can’t I get a moment's rest from you anymore?!”
“Sorry Starry, you’re thinking about the early chapters of our little journey. Story’s wrapping up soon and we’re approaching the finale.” The filly licked her lips. “Ooh, the anticipation has been driving us ALL insane, hasn’t it?”
“Get out of my bed!” Starlight shouted.
“Oh very well. I’ll just grab this on my way out.” The filly’s grin widened as she waved a photo in Starlight’s face.
Starlight’s eyes widened and she ripped her bed covers off to see that her flank had been splashed with water while she had been sleeping. Her cutie mark was on full display.
“You…” Starlight glared at the filly. “How long have you known?”
“Since the very beginning, Starry. Funny story actually…”
“Give me that!” Starlight growled as she levitated the incriminating photo out of the filly’s hooves and ripped in apart. “You’re not going to tell anypony about what you saw! Do you hear me, you freak of nature?!”
“Oh you think you can tell me what to do. That’s cute,” the filly chuckled. “Speaking of which, you might want to get this one too.”
The filly held up another photo of Starlight’s cutie mark and giggled as it was ripped apart. “Adorable! Now who’s got room for thirds?”
Starlight’s teeth grit together as the filly pulled up another photo. “How many pictures did you take of my…you know what?!” she cried, her voice a mixture of unforgiving rage towards the filly and an overwhelming sense of fear as to who she might have told and who might be eavesdropping on her.
“Oh, don’t waste all your screams before the sun’s even risen, dearie. Compared to me, you’re a tremendously heavy sleeper. Now for the next photo I took of your cutesy-wootsy mark, I’ve got a fun little hunt planned for today!” She pointed at the torn remains of all the ripped photos. “Now if you put all these pieces together, there should be a map that leads to the first clue…”
“You’re not serious, are you?!” Starlight said, paling at the idea of having to spend all day hunting down the filly’s blackmail.
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.” The filly grinned at her. “You have no way of knowing. For that matter, you have no way of hiding your little secret anymore. You can cover your flank with as much makeup as you want, but I’m going to keep pulling these little tricks.” The filly’s smile relaxed into something chillingly calm. “You realize there’s no escape, don’t you? That you can’t control me, even if you managed to paint an equal sign on my flank.”
Starlight glared at her enemy. “Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?”
“You’re a hypocrite, a tyrant, a bully, and a selfish thief.” The filly shrugged. “Words that I’m sure are sailing right over you head. Actually, I’m curious about how much you understand of what is happening. Has the room stopped spinning for you yet?”
Starlight winced as she felt another headache hit her, but did her best to hide her pain from the filly.
“You’re going to get wrinkles, frowning so much. Smile a little more, sunshine! Breakfast will be waiting for you downstairs,” the filly giggled as she leapt off the bed. She grinned and added, “And so is the rest of the day. Cheer up, Starry! Today is the first day of the rest of your long life.”
Starlight shuddered as the filly left the room laughing. Paranoid thoughts were furiously buzzing around in her head. It sounded like the filly hadn’t told anypony yet about Starlight’s cutie mark, but that she was looking forward to doing so. Starlight was running out of time faster than she could imagine. If the filly told the ponies of Equestria that Starlight still had her cutie mark, it could ruin all of Starlight’s plans. Starlight gulped as a solution sprung to her mind; a solution that she was reluctant to try out. She needed her magic to remove cutie marks and to protect Ponyville from the various monsters that still lurked in the Everfree forest. But there was only one monster she was afraid of at the moment.
She used her magic to lock the doors and shut the curtains in her room before levitating a full body mirror out from her closet. Staring at her reflection, Starlight took a deep breath before she fired a beam of magic at the mirror. Her magic bounced off the mirror’s surface and struck Starlight. She grit her teeth at the surprising amount of pain. After several seconds, she let go of the spell and nearly collapsed back onto her bed, panting in exhaustion. Her brow furrowing with rage, she levitated an empty jar from one of the shelves before casting her spell on her reflection once more.
As the pain got even more intense, Starlight levitated one of the pillows off her bed and held it over her mouth, hoping to muffle her screams so that nopony in the castle would come to investigate. Why was it hurting so much? For some reason, it felt more like she was ripping off one of her legs instead of her cutie mark. But with a final tug, she ripped off her cutie mark and stuffed it into the jar. She twisted the lid onto the jar and stuffed it under her bed before she fell into the soft embrace of her covers. She had done it. The filly wouldn’t be able to blackmail her anymore. If she had anymore photos, well those could be faked, couldn’t they? Without any real evidence, the filly didn’t hold any…
Starlight groaned as her train of thought was pushed off the tracks by a giggling pink dragon. Even without the threat of revealing Starlight’s lies, the filly still had too much power in Ponyville. What was even worse was that without her magic, Starlight couldn’t remove anypony’s cutie mark. But that could be fixed. All she had to do was wait a few days for the filly to make her move. When that failed, she could reclaim her cutie mark and get back to work.
Starlight smirked confidently and left her room, ready to face whatever the filly could throw at her.
…Or so she thought.
Starlight yawned and shuffled over to the castle’s kitchen table. She blinked her tired eyes a few times in confusion as she saw that Twilight wasn’t the only pony at the table. “Girls? What are you doing here?”
“It’s Thursday. You said Sleepover Thursdays were a good way to strengthen our friendship and understanding of equality,” Applejack answered. She looked up from her tasteless muffin and did a double take when she saw Starlight. “Whoa nelly. You alright there Starlight? You look paler than a…than a…” She frowned as the equal sign on her flank pulsed again. “Dang it.”
Rarity cleared her throat. “I think what Applejack is trying to say is you…how do I put this delicately? Well you look just a little-”
“Exhausted?” Fluttershy timidly suggested.
“Gray?” Pinkie said.
“Like a zombie?” Rainbow Dash mumbled, loud enough for them all to hear.
“Um, yes. I mean no! I mean…what Pinkie and Fluttershy said, not Rainbow Dash. You look rather pale Starlight. Have you been getting enough sun?” Rarity asked.
“Thank you for your concern girls, but I’m feeling much better today,” Starlight said confidently.
“Today? Why do you say that? Were you feeling icky yesterday?” Pinkie asked.
“It’s not important. Now then, what’s for breakfast? Muffins?” Starlight smiled pleasantly. Her smile faded as she noticed the rest of the ponies looking pretty disappointed.
“Yeah. Cardboard muffins, same as always,” Pinkie grumbled.
Fluttershy smiled. “Don’t worry Pinkie. Even if breakfast is pretty boring today, the filly said she has a surprise for us when we’re finished.”
Starlight’s eyes widened as she felt a shiver go down her spine. “What kind of surprise?”
Pinkie giggled. “Silly Starry! It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if she told us what it was!”
Starlight frowned. “Where is she?”
Twilight sighed. “Starlight, can’t you just leave her alone for a day? She’s really not as bad as you think she is. She’s been a good friend to us and she’s been rather patient with you, despite your-”
“Shut. Up,” Starlight growled in the princess’ face. “Where is she?”
The other ponies edged away from the mad unicorn, but for some reason Fluttershy didn’t even register her anger. “She’s getting some stuff set up in a room in the castle. Just go down the hall, turn left, down that hall, turn left again, and it should be the fourth door on your right.”
Applejack nervously raised her hoof. “Now hold on there sugarcube. Don’t you think maybe you-”
But Starlight wasn’t paying any more attention. Following Fluttershy’s directions, she raced down the halls until she came to the door the filly was hiding behind. Whether the filly was planning on showing them photos of her cutie mark or if she had some other trick waiting for her, Starlight would get there first. She held her head high with confidence that she was prepared to face the filly. No more holding back. She pushed the door open and marched inside…and promptly wished for her mommy to rock her to sleep and make the mean pink monster go away.
The filly gave her such an innocent smile. It seemed so out of place to Starlight. Everything in the room seemed out of place. The freshly pressed suit the filly was wearing, even though it was clearly meant for a colt to wear. The dozens of flickering candles that were lighting the otherwise dark room. The chalk circle on the floor that wouldn’t look out of place in a book of magical rituals, even though she had never seen those runes before. But most of all, the corpse in the filly’s hooves.
Oh yes, Starlight’s eyes were sad to inform her horrified mind. The filly was holding a dead pony in her hooves. An adult unicorn mare, whose fur was peeling away and whose flesh had turned a rotten green with decay. The beautiful dress and the makeup the mare was wearing did nothing to mask the fact that this was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen. Starlight almost felt like throwing up when she spotted the maggots crawling around on the mare’s flesh. She was completely paralyzed with fear even as her mind tried to make a decision between fainting, fleeing, screaming, and vomiting in pure disgust and horror.
“Well would ya look at that? We appear to have an audience, my dear! Hopefully you don’t get stage fright, sweetheart.” The filly held up the corpse and gave her a bow. “May I have this dance?”
The corpse’s head flopped downwards.
“Thank you, my dear. I promise you, this’ll be a night you won’t forget.” The filly held the pony’s body a bit higher and began to dance with it, singing a little tune as she danced.
“Hello my baby, hello my honey
Hello my ragtime gal
Send me a kiss by wire.”
The filly grinned at Starlight as she dipped the dead body. She then punched her hoof right into the corpse’s chest. With a little struggle she ripped out the pony’s heart.”
“Baby, my heart's on fire!”
As she held up the heart for Starlight to see, somehow it burst into flames. Starlight screamed and backed up against the wall, before once more freezing with fear.
“If you refuse me, honey, you’ll lose me
And you'll be left alone, oh baby
Telephone, and tell me I'm your own.”
With that, the filly did one more spin with the dead pony before she took a bow. “Ta-da!” she cheered, right before the corpse’s head flopped down. The pony’s decayed neck snapped, and her head rolled onto the floor.
“TWILIGHT!” Starlight screamed as her fight-or-flight instincts finally kicked in. Her horn charged with magic, ready to blast the filly or to teleport as far away as possible, she couldn’t say. A pulse on her flank reminded her of what she had done. Realizing just how utterly screwed she was, Starlight ran back to the kitchen as fast as her legs could carry her. “TWILIGHT!” Starlight was so terrified she didn’t even notice when she tripped over a rug and ended up smashing into the kitchen table. She was too hysterical to even question the flash of light she had seen or care about the ringing in her ears.
Her friend all stared at her in concern. “Starlight? What happened? Are you-”
“FILLY!” Starlight babbled, interrupting Fluttershy. “Filly, dance, suit, p-pony, dress, song, dance, p-pony, pony! Pony!”
Applejack held up her hooves. “Sugarcube, you’re not making a lick of sense. What-”
“DEAD BODY!” Starlight screamed. “D-d-dead pa-pa-pony!”
All the ponies winced, the look of horror on Starlight’s face spreading to each of them. “What?” Fluttershy asked, sounding terribly heartbroken.
“T-t-that way!” Starlight shakily pointed with her hoof. “Ha-ha-h…HURRY!” The ponies all raced down the halls, following Starlight as she lead them back to the room the filly had danced in. Still feeling overwhelmed with fear, Starlight stepped away from the room as the other ponies hurried in, not wanting to risk seeing such a horrible, unnatural…
“Starlight? Really? If this is some kind of prank, it’s not funny at all!” Starlight opened her eyes to see an extremely annoyed Twilight Sparkle glaring back at her.
“H…huh?” Starlight asked.
“Twilight’s right. That was really uncool,” Rainbow said, snorting in disgust.
Starlight cautiously poked her head back into the room. There was the filly, smiling innocently. All the candles that had been lit before were out and safely stored in a box. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows; curtains folded neatly to let the light in. The filly wasn’t wearing a colt’s suit, but rather a light pink dress with seafoam green frills. Most importantly, there was no corpse. The filly wasn’t dancing with a dead pony, but rather with a pony sized doll. It kind of looked like Smarty Pants, but a lot cleaner.
“Hey everybody. What’s with all the ruckus?” the filly asked. “Did you come to see my performance early? You’ve kinda spoiled my surprise, but I can still make this into a real showstopper!”
Fluttershy giggled as the filly danced around with the doll. “Aww! You’re so cute! I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to spoil your surprise.” She glared at Starlight and said, “A big meanie just decided to lose her head and scare us all over nothing.”
“I’m with Fluttershy. Starlight, you have serious problems. How do you confuse a doll with a…you know what,” Pinkie said, wrinkling her muzzle in disgust.
“Ba-ba. Da…da. B-but there was a dead pony! I saw it with my own eyes!” Starlight stammered.
“A dead pony? Goodness, how dreadful!” The filly said. “Starry darling, it’s a little early for Nightmare Night pranks, don’t you think?”
“T-Twilight! F-Fluttershy!” Starlight cried. “Girls, you gotta believe me! She was dancing with a corpse! She was! I…I’m not crazy!”
Twilight sighed. “Starlight…do we need to take you to a hospital? You look like you’re about to faint and you’re clearly hallucinating.”
“Come on Twilight, you don’t need to be so harsh. There, there, Starlight,” Fluttershy spoke softly as she patted Starlight’s back. “We just want what’s best for you.”
“N-no! NO!” Starlight threw off Fluttershy’s foreleg. “D-don’t you try to trick me again! I’m not crazy. Imma…Imma smart pony! I am!” She snarled and pointed an accusing hoof at the filly. “She’s the crazy one! Making me see things! But I’m onto her.”
“Oh dear. Little Starlight has snapped, hasn’t she?” the filly said, looking at her doll as if she expected it to answer.
“Don’t ignore me!” Starlight growled as she poked the filly in the muzzle. “I’ll expose you for who you are! You and your little doll too!”
As she poked the doll’s face, the doll lifted its head and blinked its button eyes at her. “Hey now missy. Don’t hold it against us.”
Starlight’s eyes widened. “…Don’t say anything. I’m not crazy. Don’t say anything. I am NOT crazy,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Hey, am I crazy, or did that doll just talk?” Rainbow asked.
Starlight’s jaw dropped. “You heard that too?”
“You can hear him too?” the filly asked.
The doll shook its head. “If you’re confused, don’t blame me. You have no idea what we’ve been through.”
As the other ponies stared at the doll with dropped jaws, the filly giggled. “Wow. Chatty little fella, aren’t ya? Is there a string back here or…?”
The ponies jumped back as green fire consumed the doll, replacing it was a changeling. “Hi there,” he said, waving a hole-filled hoof.
“CHANGELING!” the other ponies screamed.
“Swiss cheese!” the filly cheered randomly.
The changeling frowned. “Well hey, there’s no need to be rude. Just thought I should warn you all that you should really pay more attention to your SURROUNDINGS!” At sudden shout, the changeling’s horn glowed green and he fired a blast of magic at the window, shattering the glass.
He buzzed his wings and flew outside. “For example, now might be a good time to look up. Hope you all enjoy the show!”
The ponies all stared out the window to see the sky above them. Dozens of pegasus ponies were being replaced with changelings as the sky lit up with flashes of green. Soon, the great swarming, buzzing cloud of changelings descended onto Ponyville and the screaming began.
“Come on girls!” Twilight shouted. The rest of her friends hurried after the princess, with a confused and frightened Starlight doing her best to keep up.
As the frantic ponies left her alone, the filly laughed out loud. “Nyeh, heh, he, he! Did you see the look on her face?”
The candles stored away in the box floated up; sticking together and transforming into a very impressed Discord. “I did indeed. Your manipulative mind continues to astonish us, my dear.”
“Oh you’re so sweet!” the filly said, smiling at the praise. “And how’s everyone else doing?”
Discord snapped his fingers and with a flash of light, Spike, Trixie, and another changeling appeared in the room.
The changeling saluted the filly. “Everything is in place.”
The filly grinned. “Excellent work, my boy. I think I see a celebration cake in your future!”
“The last one you baked was rather delicious,” Discord admitted.
Trixie nodded in agreement. “Could Trixie ask you for the recipe?”
“Ask Pinkie Pie. She’s the one I stole it from,” the filly giggled. “And speaking of…how’d you do Spike?”
Spike held up the jar containing Starlight Glimmer’s cutie mark. “Right here.”
The filly’s grin widened. “Spikey, my boy, I could kiss you!” She paused for a second and shrugged. “Oh, what the heck.” She grabbed Spike’s face and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “There ya go big boy! I avoided your lips, because hey, here’s hoping for Rarispike, am I right?”
Spike blushed. “Um…uh…”
“Ooh, look at mister charmer here. Still infatuated with Miss Rarity. Would it help if I told you that the lips that just kissed you, also kissed her?”
Discord’s and Spike’s eyes bulged out. “What?!”
The filly happily shrugged. “Oh yeah. Not on the lips with her either though. It might have woken her up.”
“You kissed Rarity while she was sleeping?!” Spike asked.
“I do a lot of things to people when they’re sleeping,” the filly said with a wicked grin.
Spike shuddered. “That’s really creepy! You are really creepy”
“Oh, quit your bellyaching dragon boy. I was just joking…probably!” the filly giggled.
“Well there’s such thing as taking a joke too far,” Spike said as he stared out the window. “Among other things. Don’t you think this is a bit much?”
“As the Ingenious and Insane Filly told us, think of it as a fireworks show,” Trixie said. “This is something we can’t hold back on.”
“See? Trixie’s got the right idea. Cheer up Spikey,” the filly patted his shoulder. “Think of it this way: we’re all doing this to help your friends. Isn’t this worth it? To wake up next to Twilight and see her with a gleeful and genuine grin on her face. Isn’t that worth the cost?”
Spike sighed. “I…guess. But how is a changeling invasion going to make things better?”
“All good things come to those who are patient, dearie. See if you can help Zecora. I’ll let you know when you’re up again. Oh, and before I forget.” She pointed at the changeling. “Spike, this is Thorax. Thorax, Spike. When this is all over, you two should hang out. I have a feeling you guys would get along great.”
The filly strolled past her allies and stared out the window. Discord floated over to watch the chaos unfold. “Before we move on to the next scene of this delightful little play you’ve put on for these pony folk, I do have one question,” he said. “Why did you ask me to modify Starlight’s memories if you were just going to tell her you knew her secret the very next day?”
“To mess with her head on as many levels as possible,” the filly chuckled. Discord opened his mouth to respond, but faltered as she gave him a rather disturbing smile. “While we’re on the subject…did it ever occur to you that Starlight’s head is not the only head I’m messing with?”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “Who else?”
“Who else indeed,” the filly giggled as she leapt out the window and gracefully rolled onto the ground below. “Come along gang, we’ve waited long enough. Time to join the party.”
“How could this happen?” Starlight muttered under her breath as she followed the former Elements out of the castle.
“What’s the plan Twilight?” Applejack asked.
Twilight gulped. “I don’t know. We don’t have the Elements and we can’t use our magic without our cutie marks.”
“So we’ll fight them without magic!” Rainbow declared. “We beat these changelings before and we’ll do it again!”
“Oh, but this isn’t like before, now is it?” a smug voice hissed as the ponies ran outside and into a wall of changelings.
The ponies all took a nervous step back at the sight. They were completely surrounded by what had to have been eighty changelings. Beyond the swarm, they could see smoking holes in the buildings and numerous ponies restrained by thick changeling cocoons in the streets. Towering over them all was Queen Chrysalis, gazing at the ponies with a hungry look in her eyes.
“You,” Twilight growled.
Chrysalis smirked at her. “Me.”
“Alright you bug eyed creeps, you asked for it!” Rainbow shouted. She flew at the changeling queen and kicked her in the chest as hard as she could.
Only for the queen to laugh in her face. “Pathetic. A newly hatched could hit harder than that,” she sneered. Before any of Twilight’s friends could retaliate, Chrysalis’ horn blazed with magic power and blasted them all back with tremendous force. The attack knocked them all up against the castle walls. Before they could even gasp out in pain, seven changeling flew over to them and kept them pinned up against the wall with their hole-filled hooves.
“Hey! Let us go so we can kick your flanks!” Rainbow shouted as she punched the changeling restraining her, only for her foe to snicker at her struggles.
“Not this time. You ponies have had your fun,” Chrysalis sneered. “You may have defeated my swarm in the past but the times they are a changin.”
“Whatever it is you’re planning, you won’t get away with it!” Twilight cried.
“Oh, Twilight Sparkle,” Chrysalis chuckled as she edged closer to them. “I have been waiting for far too long to take my revenge on you.” She licked her fangs as she brushed a hoof through Twilight’s mane. “But there is one matter of business I must take care of first.” Starlight gulped as the changeling queen brought her gaze down onto her. “So you must be Starlight Glimmer. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Starlight’s horn glowed with magic, only for the equal sign on her flank to pulse and cancel out her spell. She was trapped. Unable to defend her village from a power hungry army of monsters. And all because she was afraid of what one filly could do to her. “Whatever you want from me, just take it! You don’t need to do this!” she cried. She squeezed her eyes tight as the changelings all laughed at her. “Please! What do you even want with me?”
“Isn’t it obvious, dear?” Chrysalis gave her an evil grin. “We want to thank you.”
The ponies all froze in disbelief. “What?”
“You were the one who stole all the cutie marks; all the magic and special talents of everypony in Equestria. Oh, I’m sure in your ‘perfect’ little town, you’re all as…equally weak as each other. But with all your strength stolen, well we practically conquered this village as soon as our hooves touched the ground. Everypony fought my changelings with such bravery, but without an ounce of strength to their blows. You’re all so pathetic, it’s laughable.” Chrysalis’ grin widened. “Indeed, once I’m finished taking my revenge out on Twilight Sparkle, I should have no trouble at all with her precious princely brother and his pink eyesore of a princess. I might even swing by Canterlot for a bite to eat. And once I’m done there I imagine Equestria will fall within hours. Really Starlight Glimmer, we couldn’t have done this without you.”
Starlight rapidly shook her head as she felt the eyes of every pony and every changeling on her. “No…no…”
“However…there is the matter of your protection spell. My changelings couldn’t break through any of those invisible barriers you placed around your cities to keep us non-ponies out,” Chrysalis hummed thoughtfully.
“Barriers? What barriers?” Pinkie asked.
“You might as well tell them, Miss Glimmer,” a changeling among the crowd hissed. “You won’t get another chance.”
“I…I placed invisible shields around Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehattan…around every city that accepted our philosophy,” Starlight admitted. “And I didn’t tell any of you because…because I wanted you to believe that if we were all equal, it would put an end to all conflict.”
“How?! The staff can only remove cutie marks from ponies. You shouldn’t have the kind of magic required to maintain, or even create these shields!” Twilight cried.
Queen Chrysalis yawned. “Well I’m sure you can all puzzle out the lies this mare has fed you once you are in my dungeons but I grow bored of listening to you ponies talk. So Starlight, while I am thankful that you magically crippled the entire pony race, I am still quite upset that you couldn’t welcome me into your town sooner.” Her horn began to glow a very vibrant green. “Plus there is my end of the deal to consider. I dislike the idea of being indebted to anyone, but she did bring us this far and the price for her help is quite manageable.” She lowered her horn and pressed it against Starlight’s flesh. “Watch closely now ponies.”
“What are you-” Starlight gasped out before a very violent blast of magic sent pain spiraling throughout her entire body. Starlight screamed as she felt the curse slice her like an invisible dagger. The other ponies begged for Chrysalis to stop as deep wounds were magically inflicted upon Starlight’s chest, forelegs, and throat.
Chrysalis smirked as she watched Starlight’s blood begin to ooze out of the open wounds. “Don’t worry, you’re not going to die. The curse is designed to seal up your wounds before you lose too much blood. But until my curse has taken its toll, your pain will be excruciating.”
“You monster,” Twilight growled.
“Perhaps,” Chrysalis chuckled. “But if I’m a monster, I can only imagine what sort of creature asked for this price. Now then…” Her evil grin widened as she aimed her horn at Twilight. “It’s finally time to claim what I rightfully deserve.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth, queenie!” an energetic voice shouted as Chrysalis felt a pink and white blur kick her in the side. The force of the blow threw Chrysalis’ aim off and sent her spell sailing overhead, missing Twilight completely.
“Who dares?!” Chrysalis growled, only to receive a vicious left hook to the face. The ponies and changelings all gasped in shock as the filly leapt over the dazed queen and grinned.
“Madness that felt good.” The filly grinned at the stunned ponies. “Howdy folks, what’d I miss? Ooh, ouchies.” She winced at the sight of Starlight. “I see one little pony did a terrible job shaving. Hold on a second.” Spotting a ruined curtain that had most likely been ripped out of another pony’s home, the filly picked it up off the ground and tore it into strips.
“How dare you betray me?!” Chrysalis snarled. “We had a d-”
“In a second, cheese legs,” the filly interrupted. Pushing the changeling restraining Starlight aside, she took the strips of cloth and wrapped them around Starlight’s bleeding wounds. “Sorry Starry, but it’s the best I can do for you on such short notice.”
“What?” Starlight asked, feeling confused, scared, and dizzy from blood loss all at once.
“Don’t worry sweethearts,” the filly said, flashing Twilight and her friends a smile. “I’ll get rid of Queen Meanie.” She turned to face the changeling swarm and grinned. “Hey guys. How’s your health plan?”
“Traitor! Get her!” Chrysalis roared.
“Ooh! Apparently it’s great!” the filly giggled as ten changelings swarmed towards her. Displaying the speed and agility most ponies would only recognize from Pinkie Pie, the filly dipped, ducked, and dodged every hoof that came flying toward her. She threw a few punches and kicks herself before she made it past Chrysalis’ swarm. “Boy, you guys are terrible at this!”
“You traitorous, backstabbing brat!” Chrysalis snarled. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but this day belongs to me! I will not let some pony upstage me!”
“Oh ho! Funny you should mention upstaging folks!” The filly stood up on her back legs and made a grand gesture as a large cloud of smoke began to form behind her. “Because there’s someone I’d love to introduce you to!”
“Rejoice Ponyville, for a hero has returned! Sing your praises and marvel at the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“Trixie?!” Twilight’s friends exclaimed as the boastful magician appeared out of the cloud of smoke.
“Yes ponies, it is I! And whilst Trixie knows we have had our disagreements in the past, know that the Great and Apologetic Trixie is here to help! With the might of Trixie’s magic, she will banish these changelings from Ponyville and restore freedom to all of Equestria!” Trixie declared as magical fireworks shot off into the air around her.
“Well would you look at this. Miss Glimmer, you appear to have missed a cutie mark!” Chrysalis sneered at the sight of Trixie. “But it doesn’t matter. You are but one pony. What can one pony do against my army?!” She cackled as the changelings hovered menacingly around Trixie.
“One pony can do many things, foolish bug queen. Why, one pony can be her own army!” Trixie declared. With a flash of light from her horn and a puff of smoke, another Trixie appeared next to her.
Chrysalis’ jaw dropped. “What?!”
“Ah, but two of Trixie won’t be enough for this act. Another! And another! And another!” Trixie declared as two more Trixie clones and then five more Trixie clones appeared in puffs of smoke. “How do you like your odds now, silly villain? Trixie knows of the battle at Canterlot. She knows that a vast majority of your army fell to a mere six ponies before Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor finally banished you. You might have an army of changelings, but Trixie has tricks for days!” With another flash of light and several clouds of smoke, another fifty Trixie clones appeared.
“I don’t care if you summon a hundred or even a thousand ponies!” Chrysalis snarled. “You can’t defeat me!”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie admires your confidence, misplaced though it may be. Indeed, perhaps my army of magicians is too much for you. Very well, watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie makes TWO entire armies disappear!” Trixie charged up her horn with a powerful spell and fired it at one of her clones. The Trixie disappeared in a puff of smoke, even as the spell seemed to bounce off of her and hit another clone. Soon, the magical blast was bouncing and ricocheting off of every Trixie clone AND every changeling it came into contact with. Chrysalis screamed in outrage as all her changelings were knocked out in what was technically only one blow.
“And for my grand finale, the Great and Powerful Trixie sends you back from where you came!” She fired another blast of magic up in the air. With a flash of light, a swirling portal appeared in the sky. The changelings all hissed in protest as they felt themselves get sucked into the magical black hole.
“NOOO!” Chrysalis cried as she was dragged into the air and banished with the rest of her changelings.
With the threat neutralized, Trixie walked towards Twilight and her friends with a confident swagger in her every step. “There is no need to thank Trixie, Twilight Sparkle. She knows you would have done the same for her. Are you all okay?”
“No, we’re not.” Twilight’s eyes fell on Starlight, who felt like she was going to faint at any second. “Queen Chrysalis cast some kind of curse on Starlight! We need to get her to a hospital.”
Trixie snorted in disgust. “Oh. Her. Trixie despises what Starlight Glimmer has done to you all, but I suppose I do not wish to see her die. Help this fool get her strength back if you must. Trixie must go and free the poor ponies stuck in those slimy green cocoons.”
As Trixie walked away from them, as Rainbow and Fluttershy struggled to pick up Starlight and lift her in the air. “Dang it, I wish I still had my cutie mark,” Rainbow grumbled. “Coulda beaten those stupid changelings. Could pick Starlight up without help.”
“Rainbow Dash, now’s not the time. It’s okay Starlight, we’re going to get you to a hospital.”
Starlight Glimmer had mostly remained quiet since the curse was cast on her, terrified of how much bigger the wound on her throat would get if she tried to speak. But as her eyes frantically scanned the area around her, she coughed out a question. “The filly…where is the filly…”
Twilight might have responded to her question, but she couldn’t hear her. She shuddered and coughed up a little blood. She could hear a faint echo of another pony’s voice but at this point her body just couldn’t hold on any longer. All she could do was slip into unconsciousness and pray that she would wake up soon.