Back with Twilight, Lightning Dust and the foals, they were all preparing as The Changelings surrounded them. Twilight's main focus was keeping the foals safe, though Lightning Dust just seemed eager for a challenge.
"Remember to stay near me, I'll keep you safe," Twilight said, the foals standing behind her.
Lightning chuckled a bit, "If you're that worried, then let me handle this Princess Twilight." She walked towards them, "I wanna show these foals just how awesome I can be."
"This isn't the time to show off your skills Lightning Dust!" Twilight shouted. "We need to get these foals somewhere safe!"
"How? If we try to fly away, they'll come after us, if we take them down now we won't have to worry about that," Lightning said, then stretched a bit. "Besides it's kinda fun beating up these Changelings."
Dinky shook her head, "She's more arrogant than Trixie."
Scootaloo turned to Twilight with a hushed tone, "Let's just leave her and fly off by ourselves."
"I can't do that, as a Princess I need to make sure all ponies are safe," Twilight said, furrowing her brow a bit. "Even if they are pains,"
Lightning got into a stance, just waiting for the Changelings to attack. "Come on already, what don't think you can take me? Know that you'll lose?"
"How dare you mock us!" a Changeling said and turned to his allies. "Attack!"
The Changelings rushed to attack her, but she quickly flew around kicking each Changeling in the head or on their back, knocking them all around. Some Changelings she punched really hard, knocking them dizzy.
"Don't you have more of a challenge for me? I'm barely starting to sweat," Lightning taunted.
More went to attack her, but she flew around with quick kicks to each of them, her speed being too much for the Changelings to keep up with.
"Wow, she's really tough," Rumble said. "I wonder if I could ever be that good."
"I'm not surprised, Rainbow Dash says that Lightning Dust is probably the only Pegasus aside from The Wonderbolts that can give her a challenge," Twilight said, then sighed a bit. "But she's also very arrogant and reckless, which can cause trouble."
After a while, all the Changelings were down with Lightning flying over Twilight and the foals. "They weren't so tough after all."
"That's great Lightning Dust," Twilight said in a non-caring tone. "Now if you're done having fun, let's get these foals to The Dragons."
"Yeah, sure thing Princess," Lightning Dust said, casually trotting to the foals. "So, how are we doing this? Are we gonna carry them?"
"We might have to, I can carry two of them at least, I'm not sure if you can carry three," Twilight said.
"Why would I need to carry three? If you have two non-Pegasus ponies then so would I," Lightning Dust said.
Scootaloo looked down in shame, "Thing is, I can't fly that well..."
"Huh? How fast can you go?" Lightning asked.
"Not fast at all, I can't stay in the air," Scootaloo said.
"What!? Didn't anypony teach you how to fly!? Like your parents!? Or are you the daughter of non-Pegasus ponies?" Lightning asked.
Scootaloo lightly kicked her hooves, "I just can't fly well, Rainbow Dash has been trying to teach me but-"
"Rainbow Dash? There's your problem right there, she's not the best pony to be a teacher," Lightning Dust said.
Scootaloo glared at the older Pegasus, "Don't say that about Rainbow Dash! She's a great teacher and like an older sister to me!"
"Sure, for now. Try not to be too much better than her, or she'll get jealous and ruin your chance at success," Lightning Dust complained.
Twilight groaned, "Lightning Dust, that's enough please. Scootaloo isn't talented at flying right now but she's gonna get there. For now she's gonna need some assistance."
"Um, Twilight?" Rumble said.
"What is it Rumble?" Twilight asked.
"Just curious, how far away are the dragons?" Rumble asked.
"Not too far, any reason you want to know?" Twilight asked.
"I can help by carrying Sweetie Belle, if it's not too far I should be able to fly faster much longer while carrying somepony," Rumble turned to Sweetie Belle. "Granted she's very light to hold so it won't be too much trouble."
"That's great, thanks for offering Rumble," Twilight said. "Alright, two of you can climb on my back, who's it gonna-"
"I wanna ride with Twilight!" Tender Taps shouted and jumped on top of her, surprising the Princess.
"Whoa, easy there Tender Taps," Twilight said while nervously laughing. "Alright that's one, anypony else?"
Apple Bloom shook her head again, "I'll ride with you as well Twilight."
"Wait, then I'm stuck with this mare!?" Dinky shouted, then turned to Rumble. "Hey, how about Sweetie Belle goes with Scootaloo and you carry me instead!?"
"Hey, why should you get to ride on his back!? I'm his marefriend!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Rumble used to let me ride on his back before you. He was my best friend before you became his marefriend," Dinky said.
Twilight groaned, "Now's not the time to argue! Dinky, it's not a long trip, you can handle it, and Lightning Dust, please don't upset either of them."
Dinky sighed, "Fine, I'll deal with it then."
As Apple Bloom also got on Twilight's back, Lightning allowed both Scootaloo and Dinky on hers while Rumble helped Sweetie Belle on his.
"Let's hurry, it looks like the Changelings are about to get up again," Tender Taps said.
"I could just attack them one more time," Lightning Dust suggested.
"No! Let's just go now," Twilight said and flew off with the others.
With Rainbow Dash, the other Pegasus Ponies and Starlight still riding on Cloud Chaser's back, the group trying to fly towards the Changeling Kingdom, also looking to see if they find the foals.
"I'm getting worried," Starlight said. "I haven't seen the foals anywhere."
"We'll find them, how long has it been anyway since all this happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Too long for me," Starlight said.
"Same, I'm really worried about them, I know I say that a lot but it's how I've been constantly feeling," Derpy said.
Thunderlane looked ahead, "Is that the Changeling Place? It looks pretty big."
Rainbow Dash also looked ahead, "Yeah, that's it, let's go!"
The ponies kept flying until they noticed some ponies on the ground below.
"I see Fluttershy! And Pinkie Pie as well!" Starlight said.
"Rarity and Applejack are down there too!" Rainbow Dash said.
Cloudchaser looked around, "Where's Twilight? As well as my sister?"
"Maybe she's with Thorax, let's meet with them, come on," Rainbow Dash said.
The ponies landed and greeted their friends.
"Rainbow Dash, we're so happy you're back," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, it's getting pretty tough in there, my mane is starting to get dirty," Rarity said, brushing her mane a bit.
"Don't worry, we have The Wonderbolts, they'll clear away the Changelings, then we can go find those foals," Rainbow Dash said.
Starlight got off Cloudchaser and approached the others, "Where's Twilight?"
"Over there, come on quickly!" Rarity said, gesturing for the others to follow.
"Let's go!" Rainbow Dash said, leading the others as they followed Rarity further into The Hive.
In moments, they arrived more in the middle while looking around for any fighting. Though they hasn't seen Twilight or anypony else.
"Where is everypony? Did the fighting stop?" Starlight asked.
Suddenly Chrysalis appeared from the air, landing before the others, surprising each pony. "Yes, and I won."
Rainbow Dash glared, "Not for long, I'll take you down myself!"
"Easy Rainbow Dash," Spitfire said. "You're not doing anything by yourself."
Starlight marched toward Chrysalis, "You tell me what you've done with the others! Where's Twilight!? And Trixie!?"
"And my sister!?" Cloud Chaser shouted.
"I cannot speak for Twilight Sparkle, but the others are taking a small rest, in my special cocoons," Chrysalis said.
"Those things again?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Really hated them last time, but we'll break them out and beat you again." Rainbow Dash turned to the other Elements behind her, "Right girls?"
To her surprise, they began laughing quite sinisterly. Then they began to transform and revealed themselves to be Changelings as well.
"Those weren't the real ones!?" Cloudchaser asked.
Starlight groaned, "Of course, they're Changelings. We didn't think about the others possibly losing!"
Rainbow Dash glared at Chrysalis, "So you captured my friends too? Well we've got the power to take you down ourselves!"
"Come try to then," Chrysalis encouraged.
Rainbow Dash flew in to attack, but Chrysalis put up a strong enough barrier to block Rainbow Dash and knock her back toward her friends.
The Pegasus all went to help but more Changelings came to fight them, leaving all of them focused on defeating the nearby Changelings.
Rainbow Dash went to attack Chrysalis again, but the Changeling Queen had blocked a lot of her attacks, then sent a magic blast to knock Rainbow Dash back.
Starlight rushed over to zap Chrysalis, but that too was blocked by the barrier. Fortunately Starlight was able to at least dodge her attacks quite well.
This did leave Chrysalis distracted, allowing Rainbow Dash to fly in with a kick to her head, knocking the Changeling Queen a bit dizzy. Rainbow Dash continued throwing hard strikes to Chrysalis and then knocked her to the ground.
Starlight charged up some magic and blasted Chrysalis towards a wall, then sent another blast to knock her through the wall and one more just to cause a little extra damage.
Rainbow Dash flew to Starlight's side, "Wow, that's some power you got there."
Starlight nodded and smiled a bit, "I have to keep up my strength should something like this happen. I haven't just been learning Friendship Lessons from Twilight."
"Speaking of Twilight, it sounds like she wasn't here, where do you think she went?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I'm not sure, maybe she left to find help as well," Starlight said.
Rainbow Dash looked ahead, "Looks like she's done, let's rescue the others."
Starlight shook her head, "There's no way that was enough. It was too easy."
Suddenly Chrysalis emerged from where she was blasted, shaking off some dust. "How dare you! I'm going to destroy you both for that!"
Starlight tried blasting her again, but Chrysalis dodged and appeared beside Starlight to blast her back. Rainbow Dash attempted to punch Chrysalis, but the attack was blocked with a barrier and Rainbow Dash got hit with a strong blast.
Starlight stood back up, though was unaware of a Changeling that was about to attack her until it was right near her. Fortunately Thunderlane was quick in stopping it, knocking it away with a strong kick.
"Wow, thanks Thunderlane, you really helped me," Starlight said.
"No problem, let's hurry up so we can-" Thunderlane then got blasted by Chrysalis, getting Starlight's attention.
"That wasn't polite!" Starlight shouted.
"Just took an opportunity, that's all," Chrysalis said with a grin.
Starlight went to attack, but Chrysalis blocked with her magic and knocked her further back. As Rainbow Dash went to attack again, Chrysalis hit a beam strong enough to go through her hind leg, causing Rainbow Dash incredible pain.
"Ah! My leg!" Rainbow Dash shouted, holding the injury.
"Rainbow Dash!" Starlight shouted, then took a strong blast that completely took her over and caused a lot of damage.
Chrysalis did a sinister laugh as she flew up and started absorbing some nearby love from the Thorax Changelings she captured. "Now to defeat the rest of you. Don't worry, I won't destroy any of you, not yet at least." She attacked each Pegasus with a strong blast to knock them out, allowing the Changelings to capture them and take them away. "Good, now all that's left to do is find Princess Twilight and defeat her along with Celestia and Luna. I should finally have Equestria under my control."
Back with Twilight and the others, they had arrived to where the Dragons lived, Twilight was talking with Princess Ember.
"So The Changelings are attacking again?" Ember asked.
"Yeah, there aren't as many but they're still pretty tough. I can handle them, I just need to make sure these foals are safe, they're very important to me," Twilight said.
Ember nodded, "Alright, I'll keep watch over them."
Twilight nodded, "Thank you. I hope this isn't too much trouble for you."
"Not at all, besides you're not the first to ask me a favor like this. Not too long ago some guards from the Crystal Empire came by to leave a foal for me to watch over, along with some other pony" Ember said.
"From The Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure you might know who this foal is," Ember said, gesturing towards a young Alicorn foal riding on the back of a Wizard Pony.
"Sunburst?" Twilight said, and grinned at the sight of the young Alicorn, "And Flurry Heart!"
Flurry waved at Twilight, giggling a little as the older Princess rushed to greet her niece.
"Hello there Princess Twilight, I'd ask how you were but I think I can guess," Sunburst said.
"You're not wrong there, um may I see my niece a moment?" Twilight asked.
"Of course, she looks happy to see you," Sunburst said, giving a very happy Flurry Heart to Twilight.
Lightning Dust scratched her head as she turned to Ember, "So...since when are you friends with the ponies at The Crystal Empire?"
"We're not exactly, this was just the only place they could leave their baby. The only reason they're fine with us is because I know Spike, plus that Sunburst pony is here too, so that helps," Ember said.
"Right, sounds good I guess," Lightning said, then turned to the foals. "Guess you're all staying with The Dragons while me and Twilight go fight some Changelings."
Sweetie Belle looked around, feeling a bit unsure. "This place makes me feel a bit nervous."
"I think it's kinda cool looking," Scootaloo said.
Twilight trotted over with Flurry on her back. "Alright, so I can trust you with the foals?"
"Yes, should any Changeling come I'll fend them off," Ember said.
"I really appreciate this, thanks Ember," Twilight said.
"It's no trouble. I owe a lot to you and Spike for helping me become Dragon Lord, plus this relieves some boredom," Ember said.
Twilight placed Flurry down in front of the foals, "Please help watch over my niece, it would mean a lot to me if you could. Protect each other, and keep each other safe."
Rumble was the first to speak up, "Don't worry Twilight, I'll make sure Princess Flurry Heart stays safe."
Twilight giggled as she gestured Flurry towards Rumble, "I figured you'd be the first to be willing."
Flurry nuzzled against Rumble, getting a small chuckle from the colt. "She's so cute and adorable, it's easy to wanna care for and protect her."
Lightning rolled her eyes, "Sappy foal."
Twilight glared, "You better not be talking about my niece Lightning Dust!"
"I'm actually talking about the colt," Lightning said, the looked at Rumble. "Um, that is a colt right?"
Rumble glared up at Lightning Dust, "Yes! I'm a colt!"
"Sorry, hard to tell, anyway let's go," Lightning said and flew off.
Twilight shook her head, then looked to Rumble. "Ignore her, just please make sure Flurry stays safe."
Rumble sighed a bit angrily, but nodded for Twilight. "I'll watch over her, just be careful Twilight."
"I will, unfortunately I'll be more busy making sure Lightning Dust stays safe," Twilight said, then rubbed Flurry's mane. "Be safe Flurry, not just for me, but for your mommy and daddy."
Twilight herself flew off as Rumble kept Flurry Heart close to him, hoping to honor Twilight's request to keep her safe. Flurry hugged close to Rumble, watching her aunt fly off.
Ember stood near Rumble, watching as Twilight flew off into the distance. "I'm sure she'll be fine, she's handled tough challenges before."
"I think she'll be fine too, but I'll still worry a bit until she returns," Rumble said, hoping to see her return safely.