Shining tumbled from Buzz's back, his only thought was to cushion Cadance as she tumbled after him. Catching his wife, he hugged her to his belly as he landed. "Gotcha, Cady." The pressure of catching an alicorn left Shining's back twinging in pain, but he ignored it with the dedication of a loving husband protecting his wife.
With their cargo safely off their back, Buzz felt his energy wane at last, and fell to the ground. The impact wasn't what was hurting them, but the nearly complete emptiness inside.
"Princess Twilight!" Extra Sharp raced through the lines of their army, less-formal now all the enemy were milling around. "Princess Twilight! Please come quickly!" She buzzed her wings in panic. "Prince Shining and Princess Cadance are barely moving."
All of Twilight's attention locked on the changeling. "Where—" She didn't get any further, cut off as Extra turned and buzzed their wings to fly over the army's line. In a mad dash, Twilight dove into the chitinous mass, weaving through until she reached the center. "BBBFF!" Hooves didn't carry her to her brother's side, her magic did. "Shining?"
"Ugh…" A voice was calling his name, but Shining didn't want to respond. "Ten more minutes, I don't want to go to school…" He knew he was incoherent, but didn't really care. "I am alive." He gave a gentle squeeze around Cadance, feeling her chest push back as she took a breath, but she didn't whimper in pain. "Check on Buzz."
Twilight didn't budge at first, her brother was hurt and that was more important than everything, but then she heard words, chittered by nervous and worried changelings:
"Are they going to be okay?"
"All their reserves are drained, I can't believe they stood against him like that."
"We won't let them die in vain."
The last words she heard, snapped Twilight out of her fixation on her brother. "What is going on? Who is dying?" She spotted the big form of Buzz, slumped on their side. "What can we do?" She marched over to the underling and reached a hoof out to the changeling.
"Nothing." Soft Clack looked up at Twilight. "They gave themselves for the Prince and Princess. It was what we all promise mother we will do." She leaned down and nuzzled the larger changeling.
Something hardened in Twilight, the stupid war, with a stupid stallion, over something as stupid as power, had her burning in anger. She wanted to stop this, stop everything. She wanted to wind back the clock and get here early so she could drive Sombra away.
"Stop."
The single word cut into Twilight's thoughts because of the pony it came from. "Luna?" She turned and looked at Princess Luna for maybe a second, before rushing up to her. "You were right, Queen Chrysalis was right, this is… they shouldn't need to do this!" Dark wings folded around her, pulling her into a hug.
"Nightmare Moon was born from this thinking. I had all the power, and I saw ponies harmed by what I thought were bad decisions…" Luna squeezed Twilight tightly. "There was a reason why I let you try friendship first."
Twilight pulled her head back a little, tears staining her cheeks. "What? So… so they," she pointed a hoof at Buzz, "could be hurt?"
"Ponies will always be hurt, whether we charge in and blast, or offer a hoof in friendship. But remember, once we blast an enemy they can never become a friend." Luna felt a sense of completion, a feeling of connection that had everything to do with helping the pony that had helped her. "Now, do you have any of that honey?" Twilight was distracted a little, but nodded. "Then give it to him." She pointed to the fading underling.
"Of course!" Twilight used her magic to flip open her saddlebag and pull out one of the jars, safely packed. "Um, Buzz?" She neared the big changeling, laying down in front of Buzz. "This might help, something really special." She smiled and opened the jar. Holding the jar close, she realized Buzz didn't seem able to even lick the substance. Her thoughts raced, all the ways she could feed it to him using magic. A calm descended and Twilight turned the jar upside down, taking a huge mouthful of the stuff herself. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to Buzz's.
Just as Buzz's eyes fluttered, their life-force the last thing trying to depart, they felt soft lips at their own, and then something sweet flood their mouth. It was honey, but not just regular changeling honey. More was pushed in, and it became quickly apparent that it was very special honey indeed. Buzz chittered their wings a little, looking up at the princess that was feeding them.
Twilight's heart soared at seeing the changeling look more aware, her renewed feelings helped feed Buzz even further. "Are you okay?" Her mouth took some work to clear of honey, and she swallowed a bit. Holding up the jar with her magic, she offered the rest of it to Buzz.
"Princess Luna?" Shining Armor looked long enough to recognize her, then closed his eyes again. "I don't suppose you know how to get crystals out of a horn?" The throbbing in his horn seemed to not let up, and working magic only made it worse.
Luna watched Twilight's friends make it through and to her side, but her main attention was on Shining Armor. "That spell is particularly annoying." Luna leaned down and inspected the small crystals protruding from Shining's horn. "The magic to remove them is beyond me, you need somepony who can work similar magic to Sombra."
"And just who can do that? Isn't… wait, Princess Celestia!" Shining lifted his head up, opened his eyes, and regretted doing both. "Ow…"
"We have a pony with us who can do it." Luna wanted to offer comfort to Shining, but it wasn't her place to. "Twilight?"
Twilight's ears twitched and turned, then her head followed them. "Princess Luna?" She drew back from the tight hug with her friends. "Hold on a minute." She gave her friends another squeeze. "Fluttershy, can you make sure they drink another full jar?"
Fluttershy caught the second jar of honey as Twilight floated it to her. "Of course, he was so brave!" Her voice was barely a whisper, though she put effort into making herself as loud as she could.
Turning back to Princess Luna, Twilight walked closer to where she stood beside Twilight's brother. "What can I help with?" Her eyes drifted to her brother, and she saw the sharp little spikes of crystal protruding from his horn.
"I think you can see already." Luna gestured with a hoof to Shining's horn. "When my sister showed everypony the crystal, and what would happen if Sombra won," Luna closed her eyes a moment, "you resonated with that dark magic." She held up a hoof, anticipating Twilight's protest. "It isn't bad in and of itself. There are two ways to gain mastery over shadow-magic. The first involves being very bad, letting the power go to your head. The second, is study and careful focus." Luna looked into the young mare's eyes. "I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't think you were capable of resisting its lure."
Twilight took in the words, her mind straying back to the meeting where Princess Celestia had turned the throne room into a demonstration of the importance of the Crystal Empire. The tingle of pleasure that had rushed through her when the dark magic lit her mentor's eyes with green and red, the purple smoke pouring off them. It came to her, it rushed to her touch. "What do I have to do?" It felt good, it felt warm, it wanted her to do things.
"You have to pull the taint from Shining's horn. Be slow, gentle." Luna knew how much Twilight Sparkle loved her brother, it was the main reason why she asked this of her. "Feel the crystals and gently make them go away."
The power wanted to rush, it wanted to form a storm of magic that would bathe all of Equestria in darkness. It raged and railed inside her, begging her, tempting her. Twilight gulped and spun a single tiny thread of it. Working the shadow into a useful spell was hard, it was like trying to grab smoke out of the air. I promise, I will learn to use you. She tried again and whether by her promise, or because of a placebo effect, it worked. The tiny thread worked first into a spell, a way of seeing what was really there.
Luna had to fight the urge to step back from Twilight, she fought hard enough to spread her wing over the mare's back. She watched as purple streamers of magic flowed around the young mare's eyes, and if she took a bet she would guess that her eyes were green with burning red pupils.
Just a little more, I need another thread. Twilight drew another thread of the shadow-magic out, ran it into her horn and started working it into the standard-fare telekinetic grip any unicorn could do. She saw into Shining's horn, the moment her spell touched it. Twilight reached in with the darkness, felt the crystal as a blot of pure magic, and sucked it away. "Ugh, that is horrible!"
"Darling, you can do it." Rarity had no conception of the magic her friend was using, but she watched as another of the crystals in Shining's horn seemed to fade away.
"Rarity, you know how you can feel the magic when you let it out?" Twilight pulled the magic out of Shining's horn, while part of her explored just how it was likely done.
Rarity tried to hide in her mane. "Sometimes. You know I am not the—"
"It is like that, but imagine you get a mouth full of dirt every time you do it. Sombra's magic is… eugh." Even Twilight had to smile at how horrible she managed to make it sound. "Last one… and…" The last of Sombra's crystalline magic was removed. "Gotcha!"
The pain eased, and Shining looked up at his sister with a kind of awe. "Thanks, Twily." He looked to his side, where Cadance lay. "But you need to help Cady too. If I can help…"
"Just when I am getting good at it?" Twilight grinned down. "Don't worry, BBBFF. I will have Cadance's horn free in just a moment." Again she drew up her magic, the shadow-magic. It was easier to work, it obeyed her desires without shoving, and without trying to slip away. Each time she pulled out a shard of magic it made her gag, and by the time she was done she was actually feeling nauseous. "Princess Cadance?"
Cadance's mind was cleared of the constant pain in her horn. She lifted her head for the first time since crashing and saw a chilling sight. Twilight Sparkle stood over her, eyes burning with the same effect as King Sombra's had had. "T-Twilight?"
It was impossible for Twilight to miss the brief look of terror on Cadance's face, but it faded once she banished the shadow-magic completely. "I think you have somepony to thank." Twilight pointed with a hoof. "Buzz didn't do so well, but I think he is going to live."
Rainbow Dash, not knowing when was the wrong time to make a comment, had to defend her fellow flier—even if they were a changeling. "If it weren't for his awesome flying, you both would be—" She stopped when a dark-blue wing poked her in the side.
"Buzz?" Shining Armor struggled to his hooves. "Oh sweet Celestia, Buzz!" Cadance was at his side—if a bit wobbly—as they made their way to the underling. "You really are the best. You stood up against Sombra on your own, and didn't let us drop!"
Buzz chirped, licking the bottom of a jar of royal honey clean. Looking up and seeing Shining and Cadance, they struggled to get to their hooves; a pair of gentle yellow hooves made movement impossible.
"Mr. Buzz, you aren't well enough to stand yet." Fluttershy's grip wasn't immensely strong, but nopony and no animal would ever risk incurring the softly-spoken mare's wrath.
"Better do what she says, Buzz." Shining dropped down low to hug the changeling. "You kept Cady safe, thanks buddy." It wasn't exactly the "stallion" thing to do, but Buzz had been about as brave as anypony could be, and that meant he could bend the "guy-code" a little.
Cadance leaned down next, fighting the minor headache that her horn insisted she have, and kissed Buzz on the cheek. "Thank you for keeping both of us safe." She felt the tingle, the sure sign that the simple changeling was feeding on her, and Cadance was glad. "You will be well for the next fight?"
Buzz chirped loudly, their wings trembling in delight.