The next few weeks consisted mostly of establishing a new status quo, and trying to create a semblance of a normal life. Twilight, Luna, and Chrysalis (in her disguise) spent most of their time in the derelict castle, trying to piece together where everypony would go from where they were presently. Ricochet and his crew had managed, in a surprisingly short period of time, to turn the relatively barren area surrounding the Castle of the Two Sisters into a primitive but bustling village. Ponies were beginning to smile again when they talked with each other. Their chores and jobs had become much more laborious than they'd been in Canterlot, which was a particularly hard pill for some of the more affluent refugees to swallow, but everypony was doing their part to the best of their abilities.
Today was a phenomenally important day though. At the crack of dawn, Ricochet buzzed over the village and knocked on Mrs. Velvet and Night Light's door. The former answered, obviously still half asleep.
"Hey, is Scootaloo ready?" He asked excitedly.
"Wh... what are you talking about, Ricochet?"
"I talked to Echo. It's today!"
"Oh... Oh!" She smiled weakly. "I'll get her up."
"All right. I'm gonna go grab her mother, okay? I'll meet you outside the hospital?"
"Sounds good, Ricochet."
He bade her farewell and took off like a rocket toward the castle. He flew high and entered through part of the collapsed ceiling. His crew was just arriving to work for the day. The castle was the next item on their schedule now that the majority of the town itself had been constructed. The goal was to restore the Princesses' castle as quickly as possible, and while he was excited at the prospect of getting to work on an architectural project that didn't necessitate mud and sticks as principle building materials, today's event was more important. He landed in the formerly abandoned throne room, which was beginning to once again look like an occupied one. Luna and Chrysalis were bickering next to a tapestry that hung on the wall to the east of the thrones while Twilight looked on in exasperation.
"I don't care what you think," Chrysalis shouted, "Dark purple and gold is an atrocious color scheme!"
"It has worked well for more than a thousand years. I see no purpose in changing it now!"
"Honestly, have you never considered green? Green's a great color."
"Again with this, Chrysalis?"
"Hey, if I'm going to be your co-ruler, shouldn't I get a say?"
Ricochet cleared his throat, and the oligarchs turned to face him.
"What is it, Ricochet?" Luna asked gently.
"Begging your pardon, but I'm actually here for Chrysalis and Twilight, Luna. Echo says today's the day."
Twilight gasped and immediately turned toward a desk in the corner of the room, grabbing a quill and ream of parchment before trotting over to join Ricochet.
Chrysalis, meanwhile, cocked her head. Slowly, realization dawned on her. Her eyes widened and her pupils constricted. "Oh. I'm on my way." She nodded and buzzed her wings, taking to the air along side Ricochet and Twilight, and the trio left with a hurried farewell to Luna.
"How long has it been since we got here? A month?" Ricochet asked.
"Three weeks." Chrysalis affirmed.
"You've made remarkable progress in that time, Ricochet."
"It's just my job." He shrugged as they turned toward the hospital, which was still the largest building in the village save for the castle itself.
"Still, I count twenty residential buildings? An average of two bedrooms each? Sure, the conditions are crowded, but nopony is out in the cold anymore, or having to sleep in the castle. It's impressive."
"I just wish they didn't have to sleep in mud huts."
"You know, for the materials you have, those buildings look very sophisticated."
"My, my, Sparkle. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to hit on him."
"That is absurd, Chrysalis!" Twilight stared daggers at the Queen.
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."
"Don't let her get to you, Twi." Ricochet smiled. "She just wants a reaction."
"You're right..." She growled. Her anger was quickly assuaged when she saw a small orange filly below them waving upward. Her parents were there too, and she smiled brightly as they touched down.
"Twily, dear!" Mrs. Velvet smiled as she and her husband hugged their daughter.
"Hi Gramma, hi Ricky." Scootaloo hugged each of them in turn. "So it's today?"
"Yep," Ricochet smiled. "She's finally ready to molt into a new, undamaged exoskeleton today. By the end of the day, she should be able to walk unassisted again."
"She still won't be able to fly though?"
"No, child," Chrysalis sighed ruefully, "she will not. However, aside from her lack of wings, you shouldn't notice much of a difference. She's still going to be the same Echo you remember."
"Well, maybe a bit shinier." Ricochet snickered.
"I'm just happy she agreed to let me observe the process," Twilight beamed, "nopony has ever seen a changeling molt before."
"Consider yourself lucky," Ricochet chuckled, "she doesn't want any of the rest of us in the same room with her at the time."
"It's a very vulnerable time for a changeling. We typically molt in complete solitude." Chrysalis shrugged. "I'm surprised she agreed to let you observe, honestly."
"I won't let it go to waste." Twilight grinned. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"I'm sure." Chrysalis deadpanned as she knocked on the door to the hospital. It opened and one of the doctors smiled gently. "Good morning, everyone." Blue Shield smiled and ushered everyone inside. Everyone who had been injured in the invasion had since recovered, and so the only remaining patient at the moment was Echo. The interior of the building was lit with a few orbs of magic which gave off a faint green glow not much brighter than a lantern, all courtesy of Echo's magic. She had fallen back to sleep in her bed at the end of the building, near one of the underground fireplaces that Ricochet had set up. The heat was helpful in speeding up her healing.
The group walked over, and Chrysalis gently touched Echo's shoulder. "Echo, we're here."
Echo's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled gently. "Hey everyone."
"How are you?" Ricochet stepped forward slowly.
"Itchy. Ready to get out of this old exo."
"I can't wait, Mom." Scootaloo beamed, running over and nuzzling Echo.
"Neither can I, feather-duster..." She nuzzled her daughter back.
As Echo and Scootaloo had their moment, Twilight pulled over a chair and small desk that the doctors used to take notes. She set her parchment, quill, and ink down, and waited with a patient smile on her face.
"I... think Twilight's even more eager than I am." Echo chuckled. "Well... would you guys mind giving me a little privacy?"
"Sure, Mom."
"You've got it, Echo." Ricochet agreed with Scootaloo.
Everyone wished her well, and stepped out of the building.
"So, how does this work, Echo?" Twilight held her quill above the parchment.
"Well..." She breathed in sharply and puffed out her chest as quickly as she could. There was a faint snapping sound, and a hairline crack appeared along her side. She winced a little.
"Does it hurt?" Twilight scribbled with her magic as she watched intently.
"Not exactly. It's kind of like... You know that feeling when there's something in your eye, but it doesn't quite hurt? It's just annoying and itchy?"
"That doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun."
"I didn't say this was fun, did I?" She chuckled a little before she brought a hoof up to her neck. She pushed into a few spots on either side. Each time she pressed, there was another snap. It sounded like somepony biting into a potato crisp. This continued until she got up to her jaw. This time when she pressed, a similar crack to the one along her side moved from the corners of her mouth, along the sides of her neck, and down to her chest.
"That really doesn't hurt?"
"Like I said, hurt isn't the right word. The hooves are the hardest part because of all these holes, though." She winced. "Hey, so... I might need your help for this part. Usually we can still stand on our own when we do this part, but with the injuries, I don't know if --"
"I've got it. It's okay." She set down the quill and moved to the side of the bed to help support Echo as she got to her hooves.
"Thanks, Twi. Just... if I start to fall, catch me? I need to use some weight for this." She took another breath and began to hammer her hooves against the ground. One by one, the hooves started to make snapping sounds, until cracks like the others on her body showed up.
"Back to the bed?"
"Back to the bed..." Echo huffed as Twilight helped her up. "I need to lay down for this next part and would prefer a soft bed to the hard ground."
"You know," Twilight picked the quill back up, "I've seen you take harder hits than any of this before, and your chitin didn't crack. How does this work?"
"When we're ready to molt, we actually create a new exoskeleton right under the old one. Once it's formed, there's an enzyme that it secretes between itself and our old exoskeleton. It degrades the chitin and makes it thinner and more brittle. It's also why it itches so dang much." Her shoulders rolled as she struggled. The crack between her back and her belly widened, showing a glistening white body underneath. Echo then shook her head, and the chitin on the underside of her chin and neck fell to the ground. She threw her head back, and the top half came off as well. Her headfin went with it. Another one was under the old chitin, and slowly began to fold upward. She sighed loudly.
The parts where she had shed were as white as a ghost, aside from her eyes. Twilight noted that the top half of her head and neck chitin still had colored lens caps where her eyes had been.
"Whoa, you shed your eyes too?"
"Well, not our whole eyes. It's just a transparent shell over them to keep too much dirt or debris from getting in." She shrugged. "It does make it a bit less easy to see when you're close to molting time though."
Echo rolled onto her side and gave each hoof a sharp kick out into the air. The chitin fell from those as well with little effort. The shifting had also dislodged the plate from her back, and another quick shift of her position separated her belly chitin as well. After just a few minutes, Echo was free from her old skin, now laying on her side in a completely white shell. Her headfin had now spread out to its full height.
"So, what now?" Twilight asked, examining a piece of her chitin.
"Now, I wait." She smiled, tucking her legs and laying down in a slightly more dignified pose. "I'm pretty much defenseless during this part. My chitin has to harden up before it's really safe for me to move anywhere." She looked over her shoulders and her smile faded when she remembered that her wings were gone. "I'm happy to be rid of that old exuvia. Don't get me wrong, those patches the doctors used saved my life, but they didn't restore enough structural integrity to let me do much of anything. Still, even though I knew they were gone, some part of me had hoped..."
Twilight stood quietly, walking up beside Echo. "I'm sorry."
Echo paused, looking up toward Twilight for a moment before her smile returned, a bit weaker than before. "Hey, it's not like it's your fault. You don't have anything to be sorry for."
"I know, but still... I imagine it's hard."
Echo paused again. "Well, it's not like it's the end of my life. Unicorns get along fine without wings, after all. Hey, maybe my magic will get stronger, like how a ponies' sense of hearing sometimes gets stronger if they lose their sight."
Twilight's ears perked and she smiled. "Do I detect a hypothesis?"
"I think you do, Twilight." Echo smiled again. Her chitin was beginning to turn to a dull brown color.
"Whoa. So how long will it take for your new chitin to harden?"
"Another 20 minutes until it's good enough for me to be able to walk and stuff like that, but probably a week before it's 100%."
"Ah. Well... what should we do for the next 20 minutes?"
"I actually had an idea about that. As long as we have a little privacy, I was wondering if I could talk to you about Ricochet?"
* * *
Ricochet held out a hoofball he had created from his magic, and tossed it to the stallion playing center. "It's really not that hard to do, Luna." His team moved off to huddle.
"We are uncertain about this choice..." She looked around herself at the group of ponies who had decided to join in the impromptu game of hoofball. She was playing as the 'weakside linebacker'. She had very little idea what she was doing.
"It's not that big of a deal, I promise. Just go join your huddle." He turned around.
Luna trotted over to her team and bent low.
Sawdust was playing the role of 'middle linebacker', and seemed to be in charge of the team. He was giving orders to the different ponies, most of which went over Luna's head. Eventually, he got to her.
"Your highness... your role is the most important part of this play though, okay? It's easy. This is all you have to do..." He leaned over closer and whispered into her ear.
She listened to what he had to say and nodded. "If you are certain."
"You've got this, Princess! BREAK!"
"Huh? We have not even begun to play yet, why are we taking a break?" She watched her team take their positions.
Sawdust chuckled a little. "It's okay. It means take your place. Right there, beside and just a little bit behind Night Light. Perfect." He turned back toward the offensive line.
Luna wondered at the spectacle. Suddenly, the opposing 'quarterback', a hefty stallion named Steel Gaze, shouted loudly. The 'center' tossed the glowing green hoofball to him, and the lines clashed together. Luna remembered what Sawdust had told her, and she plowed her way forward as quickly as she could manage. Nopony was quick enough to get in her way. She charged straight for Steel, and the adrenaline hit. She let out a roar and tackled him to the ground.
He hit with a loud 'oof', and the play stopped. Luna stood and began to panic, putting a hoof over her mouth. "Oh no, we did not hurt you, did we, Steel?"
The stallion on the ground shook his head to clear the fog, and began to laugh. "Ha! Not at all! That was a heck of a tackle, your Highness!"
The rest of the teams began to laugh as well, and even Luna joined in as she extended a hoof to help Steel up.
As they were preparing for the 'second down', the hospital door opened, and Twilight called out. "Here she is!"
Twilight stepped aside, and a very shiny and deep black colored Echo wobbled out the door, finally able to stand under her own power again. She smiled brightly, in a way she hadn't done since they had arrived here.
"Sorry to keep you guys waiting!"