"Bloom."
Sweetie Belle's voice filled the chamber as the air grew tense immediately after. Apple Bloom tilted her head to the side, unsure of what was going on. The filly immediately knew the danger they were in, but before anypony could act next, Spike jumped up and went straight for Scootaloo's neck, biting down as hard as he could. The pegasus let out a loud scream that echoed throughout the entire labyrinth of caverns they were trapped in.
As Scootaloo, one-third of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and best friend of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, fell to the ground motionless, the purple dragon on top of her transformed into a black beast. A changeling. "S-Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle whimpered in the hope that her friend was still alive. But alas, the pool of blood that emerged from the pegasus's neck confirmed it. Their friend was gone, and there was nothing Sweetie Belle could do about it. It didn't take her much to cry out "RUN!"
The two remaining fillies turned tail and ran as fast as they could away from the scene. "Don't look back," Apple Bloom cried out, tears rolling down her cheeks. The pair kept running, not caring which direction they went. The cavern grew darker and steeper as they delved deeper into the compound. At one point, the rocky road gave out from beneath the two as they tumbled together down into the abyss.
Sweetie Belle woke up to the sound of crying. To her left was Apple Bloom, huddled in a corner of the dark chasm they found themselves in, not dissimilar to the ravine they were trapped in before.
"Apple Bloom?"
"...Ah'm sorry," Apple Bloom said softly. Sweetie Belle couldn't see a thing but knew that her friend's face was wrought with tears. "It's mah fault. It's mah fault..."
"Don't blame yourself," Sweetie Belle held back her own tears. "Scootaloo knew the dangers of coming out here, but she did it to save you. If we die here too, then it will be for nothing," She waved her hooves around to find her friend.
After a moment of silence, Apple Bloom's voice pushed through the darkness.
"Ah haven't been too honest with mahself recently...When Applejack died, ah wanted nothin' but to get rid of these changelings. They took mah sister from me, and now they took mah friend."
"But, there's nothin' ah could do about it. Ah am not strong like Applejack, or Big Mac, or Twilight and the others..."
"We got this far," Sweetie Belle said, finally finding Apple Bloom in the darkness. The unicorn dropped down and hugged her friend tightly. Nopony - not even the army of changelings - could separate them in that moment.
"It's okay," Sweetie Belle said. "I felt the same way after Rarity...she was right in my hooves, Apple Boom..." The unicorn couldn't hold the tears back long enough as she began trailing off in a sob. The lonely chasm was filled with nothing but the sounds of crying.
The unicorn finally mustered enough willpower to continue. "We will make it out of here, Apple Bloom," She said, pushing through all of the tears. "Cutie Mark Crusaders never give up."
Apple Bloom said nothing as she got up and walked to the end of the chasm. The place they had fallen into was a natural cut into the earth, but the ground on the end of the chasm could be used as a ramp to get back up to the main path. "We just have to climb back up here and we can get out!" Apple Bloom called back to her friend.
The two struggled to climb back up. While the ramp was not steep enough to slide down, the displaced gravel and stones caused them to keep falling back down with each hoofstep. Apple Bloom led the charge as Sweetie Belle supported her from behind. The two groaned with each hard hoofstep, eventually making it up the chasm and back to where they were.
The above room was quite spacious, with holes in the walls leading up the tall walls that led to other paths. There were five holes on their own level that they could reach on hoof, including the one they had emerged from. "Which way do we go?" Apple Bloom asked. With nothing to go on, Sweetie Belle looked at the path farthest from them and pointed with her hoof.
Sweetie Belle led the way through the cavern she selected. It was an upward-sloping path, which was a good sign. The two were light on their hooves as they trotted along in case any more changelings got in their way. However, Sweetie Belle didn't know how much more she could keep going; she had never been so tired before in her life - including her journey after the end of the world.
After coming around a corner in the cave, Sweetie Belle ran into somepony and jumped back immediately. Her gaze was fixed on the figure in front of her - Spike!
As soon as the unicorn opened her mouth to speak the code word, Spike spoke first.
"Apple."
"Bloom." Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom spoke in unison before rushing to hug their friend, more tears streaming from their eyes.
"Glad you girls are okay," Spike said. "...Where's Scootaloo? Is she still missing?"
The fillies grew silent, giving Spike all he needed to know.
"I found the way to the Queen's chambers," Spike continued.
"Why would we want to go there?" all Sweetie Belle wanted was to get out and return to the Desert Ponies' side, within the safety of Princess Stellae's chambers.
"Because from there we might have a straight shot at leaving the lair. Queen Chrysalis might be fighting out on the battlefield right now." Spike replied. The fillies looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
The three dashed up the path, through a few more intersections, and over a rocky bridge before finally reaching the central chambers. The room had a single chair at one end. Many paths looked as if they fed into the chamber; any one of those could be a direct exit. The chamber was also, as Spike guessed, empty - giving them a little bit of time to figure out the way.
Sweetie Belle saw light coming from one of the entrances and immediately dashed towards it. "This way!" She called out, but before she even reached the entrance she felt something tackle her to the ground. Apple Bloom and Spike yelled out in response as the chamber filled with more Changelings. They poured in from the other entrances, seemingly on their way out to the battlefield to join their kin. The unicorn kicked the changeling off of her and doubled back to join her friends. The changelings circled around them, about 20 in total.
"Is this it?" Sweetie Belle was short of breath and could not go on much longer. Their journey got them this far, but it wasn't enough to get to safety, to see the horizon. With Scootaloo already gone, the realization hit the unicorn harder than that changeling did to her.
"Not yet," Apple Bloom walked forward towards one of the changelings. "Ah still have mah score to settle with them." Before it could respond, Apple Bloom threw her hooves around it and embraced the changeling in a hug.
"Ah forgive you." The words surprised both Sweetie Belle and Spike, as well as the changeling caught in Apple Bloom's grasp.
"What are you doing!?" Sweetie Belle yelled out, unsure if the fatigue or the depression had finally gotten to her friend.
"Ah've made my peace - Applejack, Big Mac, Rarity, Scootaloo...They wouldn't want us to continue livin' with hatred, even though these changelings have done some evil things. Because we're not like them."
"Ah'd rather die good than live on with hatred in my heart." As the earth pony spoke, the gem around her neck began to glow, bathing both her and the changeling in a warm aura. The other changelings around them looked on in confusion and wonder. Soon, a bright flash of light filled the room. When the light cleared, Sweetie Belle saw the colors of the rainbow emerge from Apple Bloom's clutches. The changeling in her hooves was no more - it now took on a different form. The being stepped back, surprised at its own metamorphosis.
Apple Bloom looked over at Sweetie Belle and smiled. "Ah'd rather die good than live on with hatred in my heart." she repeated. Sweetie Belle began to cry again before standing tall in her own hooves. "We are the elements of harmony," She said. "We are the beacons for hope in the world, and that world includes the changelings too."
Both gems began glowing as the entire chamber filled with the same warm aura. Sweetie Belle felt the positive energy in the air; something about that energy must have caused a change in the changeling when Apple Bloom's element responded to her pureness. With another bright light filling up the room, the trio soon found themselves surrounded by 20 majestic beings. Their wings were as beautiful as a butterfly's. The dark energy that surrounded them before was now replaced by kindness.
The changeling that Apple Bloom hugged finally spoke. "I...I've never felt this way before! The hunger...it's gone!"
"We need to spread this to your brothers and sisters," Apple Bloom said, looking back at her friends. "Not in vain." she said as an image of Scootaloo appeared in Sweetie Belle's head.
***
"Fire!"
Princess Stellae stood at the forefront of the battlefield with her army as the changelings continued to pressure them from all sides. Explosions littered the field left and right as the princess charged her way through, eager to find the Queen of the hive. After scouting the field, the princess found her target - Queen Chrysalis stood in the center of the field, calling out orders to her children, as mother and commander.
"Time to settle this," Stellae rushed forward and flew over the battlefield before getting a magical beam shot down at the queen. Chrysalis rolled to one side and fired back with her own magic. The greenish tint of the beam flashed right in front of Stellae as she veered to her left and swooped down to engage with the changeling leader.
The princess and queen fired shots back and forth to each other, each either missing or deflected. The power of the two were somewhat equal, but Stellae's fatigue soon began to set in.
Queen Chrysalis laughed. "Poor child," She taunted. "The time of the ponies is no more!" The queen began to draw more power into her jagged horn as she began to charge up her finishing blow.
An explosion from the Changeling lair caused the queen to turn her head in confusion. A bright light shot up into the air from the top of the lair, followed by a wave of rainbow light as several beings flew out of the lair and into the sky. They were beings that Princess Stellae had never seen before, but felt an overwhelming positive energy emerge from them as they flew over the battlefield.
Queen Chrysalis groaned and flew up to meet them in the air. "What are you doing!?" She yelled out before stopping mid-flight. "Wha-?"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stood on the backs of two of the reformed changelings, their gems glowing intensely.
"Your reign is over," Apple Bloom said directly to the queen's face, who turned red with rage.
"Nopony can stop my power while I'm still alive!" She called out, drawing more power into her horn. However, the fillies looked at each other before looking at their new changeling friends, as a bright light took over the center of the battlefield. Changelings all around stopped and stared as their bodies became filled with the same positive aura. Even the ponies stopped and looked on in wonder.
One by one, each changeling on the battlefield changed and became another majestic being, each one just as beautiful as the last. Their own positive energy gave way for more to evolve, and soon the entire field surrounding the Changeling Lair, a dark and dreary outpost, became enveloped in an intense light. The lair itself began to crack, much like the shell of an egg, and soon the lair was reduced to nothing more than a ruin.
Each remaining changeling, overwhelmed with the positive energy coursing through their bodies, turned to look at their queen. The one who had guided them on the dark journey they had taken since the world ended - and even before then.
Apple Bloom called out to the defeated queen once again. "It's not too late for you either." She said, reaching out a hoof to the being who murdered her sister, a being that she should have hated and despised. Instead, Apple Bloom took the high road and offered peace within the darkness.
Instead, Queen Chrysalis turned away. "This is not the end," She said before flying away as quickly as she could. A few of the ponies attempted to follow her, but Princess Stellae told them to stop.
"Let her go." She said. "We have won."
***
A delegation of ponies led by Princess Stellae and the Cutie Mark Crusaders met a delegation from the newly-reformed changelings. Regardless of the recent events, there were still casualties on both sides that could never be replaced.
One of the changelings stepped forward and bowed. "We do appreciate all that you have done to help us see the light, young pony." He said. "While it can never take away the evil that we have committed against ponies, we offer a truce."
Stellae looked on at the changelings, beings who have broken free from the hive mind, as their own hive lay in ruin. "In the interest of facing a common enemy, the Sleipnir - a being whose evil can lead to the end of our kind, I accept your truce. And I ask that you help the ponies in return for the new life you have all been given, to help us drive away the threat on Equestria, so that our future days can be filled with harmony."
The changelings all looked at each other and discussed the terms among themselves. Their leader turned back and faced the ponies. He began to bow before looking directly at the fillies.
"We owe our lives to these two. We will accept your request and come to your aid against the Sleipnir."
The ponies cheered on as both sides came to an agreement. An unlikely ally, one that was trying to eat them all just the day prior, was now their most important friend.
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders," Princess Stellae turned to face the two fillies. "Perhaps you should call yourselves the 'Crusaders of Harmony'," She said, looking at the two gems hanging from their necks.
Sweetie Belle placed a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder. "Applejack would have been proud," she said.
Apple Bloom shook her head. "We're not done yet," She placed a hoof on the element of honesty. "As long as we carry these elements, we have a job to do."
The sun sat in the sky above the battlefield, shining down on both pony and changeling. However, the warmth came not from the sky, but from the new friendships forged in the name of hope.
"Do you think the Sleipnir can change as well, just like the changelings did?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"If the changelings can change, then anything can happen. Even if it's just one, that might be enough to help," the yellow pony looked at her friend, and the two hugged. Now knowing their roles moving forward, the crusaders were ready to risk it all and help the remaining elements of harmony to save the world.