I opened my eyes to see something red around me. I stood up off of the ground to see that there was a red bubble of magic surrounding me, and holding me just above the ground. I glanced down at my crystal, which was glowing bright red, and gently tapped it with my hoof, causing the bubble to vanish. I then tucked my crystal back in my mane.
Well, at least I know that the barrier worked on the other Changelings, I thought, Now, where am I?
Glancing around, I saw sand, some cacti, and a couple of rocks here and there.
The desert. Of course.
I buzzed my wings to fly into the air to get a good look, but I barely started to gain height when I became too tired.
My magic must be nullified from the spell that Shining and Princess Cadence used, which is really annoying! How does a spell of love repel Changelings anyways? Shouldn't we just absorb all the love instead?
I shook my head in frustration.
That's not what I need to focus on, right now. I need to get back to my friends! They're probably looking for me, already!
I looked around again, chose a direction, and began to walk. This was eerily familiar to when I was kicked out of the Hive, but I knew that I had plenty of love and my friends were looking for me. I had just walked over a dune when I saw another Changeling lying in the sand, unconscious.
He must have been who I crashed into midair. Is he okay?
I carefully approached him, but he didn't stir. He seemed fine for the most part, except for medium-sized chip in one of his wings. This wasn't anything too major, as it was the Changeling equivalent to a pegasus injuring their wing. I started to walk away, but hesitated.
I can't just leave him here. That... would be wrong. But what do I do?
I walked back to the other Changeling, and gently placed him across my back. I carefully stretched out his chipped wing to make sure it stayed straight, and then continued walking. It felt a bit odd to be helping out someone who had just help in an attack against Canterlot, but I would have felt awful if I had just left him laying in the sand.
Maybe if I'm lucky, he'll be nice. Like that one ling I was hatched with. What was his name, again? I can't remember.
I wasn't sure how long or far I had walked, as everything I could see was sand, sand, and more sand. The sun continued to blaze brightly in the cloudless sky, and was very hot on my dark-colored chitin.
"Ouch..." muttered the Changeling I was carrying, causing me to freeze.
In an instant, I had pushed him off my back and had pinned him down. He stared up at me in surprise.
"You-" I started before he spoke.
"Crystal?"
I blinked in surprise, a name popping into my head.
"Thorax?"
"Crystal, it is you! I thought Queen Chrysalis got rid of you!"
"She did."
"Then how are you here?"
"The spell that repelled the army blasted me out, too," my eyes narrowed, and I glared at Thorax, "The army that you were a part of!"
"No! I didn't hurt anyone! I promise!"
"How am I supposed to believe you?"
"Because... you're my... friend."
"Then why didn't you say yes?"
"Huh?"
"When Queen Chrysalis said she was going to get rid of me, she asked if anyling had any objections! You didn't say anything! I know that you were there!"
"But, I-"
"You just stood there! You say you're my friend, but you couldn't even stand with me!" a single tear dripped down from my eye, "You- You probably wanted me gone!"
"I didn't want you gone!"
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I was scared!"
"Scared of what? That you would be kicked out, too?"
"I was scared of what was going to happen to you!"
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"I was too scared to even say anything because I thought Queen Chrysalis was going to..."
All traces of anger I had left in an instant.
"You thought that she was... Going to get rid of me. As in, get rid of me."
Thorax nodded nervously.
"When she walked you away to the throne room and then you vanished... I thought..."
"So... You've just been... Living in fear?"
"I thought that... If she got rid of you, she could easily get rid of me, too."
"Thorax... I'm sorry. Of course I should believe my best friend when he tells me something."
I quickly unpinned Thorax and helped him up. He slightly winced when stepping on one of his hooves.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine!" he said, unconvincingly, "No pain, no injuries!"
"What about the chip in your wing?"
Thorax glanced back at his wing with the chip in it, and then turned back to me.
"Okay, maybe I have a slight injury."
"You're limping and you're not even moving."
"Fiiiiiiine, I guess that maybe I'm hurt."
"No kidding."
Thorax rolled his eyes, before looking concerned.
"Do... Do I go back to the Hive now?" he asked.
"Of course not!" I said, "You can come back with me!"
"Back to where?"
"Ponyville, Canterlot, it doesn't matter! You don't have to go back to the Hive!"
"But... Ponies would never accept a Changeling. Especially not after what we did."
"They accepted me!"
"What?!?"
"Plus, you're my friend! And friendship is magic!"
"What kind of magic?"
"Friendship magic. Duh."
"That's a thing?"
"If love magic is a thing, then friendship magic is also a thing."
"I guess that makes sense..."
"Now, do you have any idea of where we are?"
"Uh..." Thorax glanced around quickly, "In the middle of a desert?"
"That's what I was afraid you were going to say! So, should we just walk in one direction and hope it's correct?"
"Are you sure that's the best idea?"
"Do you have any better ones?"
"Walking in one direction it is!"
We continued walking the direction I had chosen, but Thorax kept limping on one of his hooves. I eventually managed to convince him to let me carry him, as I had been doing that before.
"Why didn't you just leave me?" he asked at one point.
"It would have felt wrong. Plus, it's a good thing I didn't leave you! Who would have thought that I found the only Changeling in the Hive who was my friend?"
We both laughed, and I continued walking. After what felt like an eternity, I finally decided to switch to flying.
"I thought you told me that our magic was weakened!" said Thorax after I told him.
"I still have magic I can use!" I said.
"What magic?"
I pulled my crystal out my mane and held I up to him.
"Plenty of love to use." I said.
"Is this a collecting crystal?" he asked.
"Yep."
"Why did Queen Chrysalis give you this?"
"I have no idea, but I bet that she regrets it!"
I held my crystal in my hoof and concentrated on it. It soon began to glow red, and my wings also glowed red.
"Hold on!" I said, flying up into the air.
"Did I mention that I don't like heights?" asked Thorax.
"Well too bad for you!"
Soon, I was buzzing across the desert, but still didn't see anything besides desert.
"Ugh, how large is this desert?" I groaned.
"Hey, Crystal?" asked Thorax as I scanned the ground, "What's the name of those things that are made up of colors that pegasi make?"
"Rainbows. Why do you ask?"
"Because I think there's one coming towards us."
I quickly glanced up to see a rainbow blast coming towards us.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I said, "Who even came up with this idea?"
"Are you dodge it?" asked Thorax nervously.
"Nope, so hold on tight."
"Wait, why not?"
"Because my friends are idiot geniuses, and I love them for that."
The Sonic Rainboom came blasting through me and Thorax, and I went spiraling out of control. Thorax was desperately holding on to me, but I wasn't worried in the slightest. There was a flash of light, and I suddenly found myself lying down on a marble surface.
"CRYSTAL!" cried all of my friends (besides Rainbow, of course), running over to me.
"Hey, guys," I said, felling rather dizzy, "Did you miss me or something?"
"Crystal, watch out behind you!" cried Twilight, as they all screeched to a halt, "There's one of the Changelings that attacked Canterlot!"
I glanced behind me to see Thorax standing still in fear. I quickly got up and stood in front of him as Twilight's horn lit up.
"Don't hurt him!" I yelled.
"I'll get him!" yelled Rainbow from outside, as she came zooming in.
My crystal blazed bright red, again, and my horn lit up red. I quickly threw up a shield in front of Thorax, causing Rainbow to crash into it.
"Hey!" she said, "What gives?"
"I said don't hurt him!" I said as the shield vanished and my horn and crystal stopped glowing, "He's my friend!"
"What?!?" asked everypony in the room (being my friends, the three Princesses, and Spike).
"Everypony," I said, throwing my hoof around Thorax, "This is my friend Thorax. And no, he didn't attack any ponies during the invasion."
"Um... Hi?" said Thorax nervously.
"Hang on," said Princess Cadence, "How can we be sure that you're actually Crystal?"
"Changelings can't turn into other Changelings." said me and Thorax simultaneously.
"You still have to prove that yer Crystal so we can believe ya!" said Applejack.
"I guess that makes sense," I said, "Okay," I turned towards Rainbow, "I told you not to hit me so hard the next time you did a Sonic Rainboom."
"Okay, you're Crystal!" said Rainbow.
"How do you know that he didn't attack any ponies?" asked Princess Cadence instantly, pointing a hoof at Thorax.
"He told me!" I said.
"What if he's lying?"
"Thorax is my friend," I said firmly, "And I believe him. Can't you believe in me?"
"I believe you." said Twilight, walking up and standing beside me.
"Us, too!" said Rainbow, my friends joining me.
We all turned towards Princess Celestia, who looked happy.
"I guess that we now have two friendly Changelings," she said before turning towards Princess Cadence, "Do you agree?"
"I most certainly do." she said, now sounding very friendly.
"Now, I think that it's time to do this wedding over, again."
The wedding went off without a hitch. We were all still the bridesmaids (Princess Luna had gone down into the caves and found the original ones, but they were too scared to be the bridesmaids, again), and Twilight was still the best mare. Thorax actually got to be a part of it, and he and Spike held the rings (after I had to help him smooth a few things out with Shining Armour).
The party after the reception that Pinkie had planned was a ton of fun. We danced, ate food, and had tons of fun. The best part was when Twilight sang a song that we all danced to. Eventually, Shining and Princess Cadence both rolled away in a carriage with horseshoes's tied to the back of it.
"Catch!" called Princess Cadence as she threw her bouquet back.
"Mine!" yelled Rarity, pushing everypony out of the way to grab it.
I playful flew into the air and grabbed it before she could, much to Rarity's surprise. After staring at me for a moment, we both burst into laughter.
"Now this was a great wedding." said Twilight happily.
"Oh yeah?" said Spike, "Wait until you see the bachelor party I have planned!"
We all laughed at this, much to Spike's confusion. As fireworks began going off, I found Thorax standing in the edge of the crowd.
"Here," I said, giving him the flowers, "Thanks."
"What did I do?" he asked.
"Be my friend."
We both watched as a firework exploded into the shape of a heart. Everything was always great after a wedding.