//------------------------------// // Chapter 69 – The Return of Ponyville // Story: Pokémon Eclipse // by moviemaster8510 //------------------------------// Along with the changelings surrounding Twilight’s castle, three more-heavily armored commanders hugging spears in their left arms waited outside the front door, ready to lead the siege the very instant the barrier protecting it went away. Behind and around them, the changelings were like a choppy sea as they impatiently anticipated their attack orders. “Come on, already!” one changeling hissed. “We can probably blast though that barrier now!” “You’re more than welcome to try it yourself!” the center commander bellowed, not bothering to turn toward them. Suddenly, the loud clunk of the door brought the commanders to their full attention. With the soldiers behind them now standing still, the rest behind them suddenly came to attention in a quick-moving wave. Starswirl stepped outside, the changelings instinctively crouching and ready to pounce. Reading his slow and unthreatening body language, the commanders stood back up straight, uncertain of what he was doing. “What is this?” the right commander queried. “Are you surrendering or something?” Starswirl picked his head up, his fearful façade perfectly masking the anxiety over the plan. “As a matter of fact… we are.” The three commanders began to murmur amongst themselves, leading to further chatter spreading along the ranks of the soldiers. “We can only hope that with our full compliance,” he continued, “we shall seek mercy from your queen and be able to freely discuss what she has in store for us.” The three changelings, now excited by this unexpected outcome, approached him as close to the gate as possible. “If you wish to discuss anything,” the left commander spoke, “then you will need to take down your barrier.” “Only if I have your word that you will not ambush us en masse upon my doing so. Ours may be a losing battle, but it’s a battle we’ll still fight if it must come to that. So please, spare us and your changelings any needless violence.” The center commander looked to his confidants on either side of him, each one nodding in agreement. “Very well.” He then turned to face as many of the changelings behind him. “Soldiers, at ease!” At once, every changeling around the castle stood up and to attention, neither in a position to attack. Starswirl nodded, glad to see his request honored. Charging his horn, the barrier began to recede back into his horn, the aura appearing like a fragile cloth that was entirely removed around the tree. Once it had all disappeared, Starswirl took a step back, inviting the three commanders to step forward onto the ground once protected by his barrier. “This way, then.” Starswirl led them inside. Entering through the main corridor to the massive foyer further inside, the changelings marveled at the entirely crystalline infrastructure of the palace. They were already several paces inside before they noticed Fizzlepop and Grubber standing in the middle of the foyer between two large winding staircases to the wider second level. “Hold on!” Putting his hoof up, the center commander put his hoof out to restrict the other two’s entry. “Where are the others? We know there’s more of you here!” “They’re all waiting in Twilight’s throne room,” Fizzlepop explained. “If you wish, I can bring them all down.” “No, please stay…” The changeling settled his hoof down. “We’ll send for a small squadron to bring them down and escort them out once we’ve finished our… discussions.” The three commanders then walked further inside and entered the foyer. Celaeno, Sam, and Alice leaned over the banister that overlooked the tense scene below and behind them. As Sam gripped the railing, Fizzlepop shot a quick, imperceptible glance upward to ensure her friends’ readiness. Starswirl walked around the commanders and stood by Fizzlepop’s side. “I assume we’ll be joining the other Ponyville residents?” Alice opened her mouth wide as her nervous breathing came in and out as slow and as silently as possible. “Yes,” the right commander answered. “They’re being kept inside the town hall as we speak. Thankfully, you and the others won’t be staying there long.” “Then what?” Fizzlepop asked, a bit more forcefully than Starswirl would have hoped. “What do you plan to do to us after that?” “You and your friends are among the last protection Equestria has against threats like us. Now that you’ve willingly surrendered, we will take you to the town hall and begin the process of… relaxed servitude.” “Relaxed servitude?” “The citizens of Ponyville will continue living their lives as they have normally;” the center commander explained. “Bakers will remain bakers, shopkeepers will remain shopkeepers. However, we shall feed off some of their love daily; most should survive, perhaps thrive even.” Grubber pondered this as he held to his chin. “Oh wow, that doesn’t sound too bad–” Starswirl lightly kicked him in the rear, making him silent. “And yet some will not, I presume.” “Mostly the elderly and perhaps some foals. It was the most compassionate thing our queen could possibly do. You should consider yourselves so lucky. Had Queen Chrysalis had her way, she would have no second thoughts about trapping every pony in Equestria inside of a cocoon and draining your love dry until you become a lifeless husk.” Celaeno grimaced nauseously, the dystopia they described sending chills up her spine. The left changeling came forward. “Now, if there’s nothing else to discuss, you may go and get the others. The ponies eagerly await their new freedom, I trust.” Starswirl frowned. “Just one last thing that’s been sitting heavy on the back of my mind for a while.” The changelings stood silent for him, awaiting his inquiry. “When we visited Celestia this afternoon, she had told us that Queen Chrysalis had disguised herself as one of Shining Armor’s guards in an attempt to ambush her and her sister when they were here yesterday. The only reason I could think of as to why she’d do something so risky is that the changelings were already here in Ponyville since then and attacked it!” Fizzlepop and Grubber stood on edge, feeling the precipice of their attack beginning to take shape. Sam and Alice, feeling the pressure fill the room, reached for one of their Poké Balls, Alice gripping her folded up staff. “Yes,” the right changeling stated, “you are correct in your assumptions. We had overtaken this town yesterday morning, but Celestia had managed to escape us. I’m not fully certain what concerns you about this!” “On the contrary, I’m most certain that you do! If Celestia knew that Equestria was already under attack by changelings once again, she would have had much stronger protection for Canterlot than the few guards outside the castle walls! And do you expect me to believe that Celestia, once she realized that changelings had infiltrated the home of her student Twilight Sparkle, would just abandon it and its citizens to their own devices?!” “You’re not seriously implying–” “Now, the question: What have you done with Princess Celestia?” “Guys!” Celaeno whispered, slowly pulling her sword out from its sash. “Yep!” Alice and Sam both detached their balls, neither of the three changelings hearing them unclasp from their belts. The three changelings took a step back, feeling cornered by Starswirl’s tangible anger. They were quick to stand their ground again as they faced the two unicorns and the hedgehog. “If you knew about Celestia this whole time,” the center commander hissed, “why didn’t you act on it sooner?” “Don’t be daft! I wouldn’t willingly lead my friends and comrades to their certain capture unless I was certain I had the numbers and the strength to ensure such a thing wouldn’t happen!” “And now you’re going to be captured anyway! So much for the legendary Starswirl the Bearded!” As the changelings began to walk at Starswirl, Grubber hid behind FIzzlepop, who held their ground with Starswirl. “Allow me to repeat myself!” he shouted. “I never lead my friends to their certain capture!” Charging his horn, an arcane circle appeared beneath Starswirl and spread out beneath it, continuing to stretch out to the corners of the walls before it rose, phasing through the floors beneath Sam, Alice, and Celaeno and rising through them too as it continued upwards into the next floor. “That’s the signal!” Celaeno shouted raising her sword. “Attack!” Swinging over the banister, Alice and Sam lobbed their balls up as they followed her off, going down just as their Pokémon emerged. With the sound of the balls bursting open, the three changeling commanders looked up with great bewilderment as Celaeno, Sam, Alice as well as Aegislash and Raichu descended down on them. They couldn’t notice as Starswirl and Fizzlepop charged their horns to make an attack themselves. Inside the throne room, Starswirl’s spell rose up through the floor, putting Dexio, his Alakazam, and everyone else inside the room at attention. “That’s your cue, guys! Ready yourselves!” Celaeno’s crew briskly walked up to the door, followed by Capper, Skystar, Rockhoof, and Flash Magnus right behind them. Somnambula, Mistmane, Mage Meadowbrook, and Stygian stood close to Dexio as Alakazam lit up both of his spoons, the energy radiating off of them getting stronger as it concentrated further. Outside, the changelings began to hear the muffled clangs and bangs of their commanders’ weapons defending themselves behind the closed doors, alarming them. “They’re getting attacked in there!” a soldier cried out. “They tricked us! Changelings, storm the pal–” He, along with the other nearby changelings, were all startled by the sudden sight of bright shapes of magenta light appear around the castle, floating in particular before the windows and doors. “No way!” another soldier shouted. “Is that unicorn really trying to protect them again?” exclaimed another. A changeling pointed up at one of the shapes flying in to seal a balcony doorway. “I don’t think that’s his doing! Look! The aura’s a different color!” Several more of the barriers shielded the palace’s weak spots, leading a few of the changelings to fly up near the throne room balcony door. Charging their horns, they blasted at the barriers, only to find that not one of their beams appeared to physically alter them in any way. “What kind of magic is that all of a sudden?!” a soldier nervously warbled. “Out of my way!” Another soldier flew at the barrier, tucking its shoulder in to bash through it, only for his body to bounce off and plummet to the ground. Several changelings caught him and put him down on the ground, watching as he walked about dizzily, much to their worry. “What happened to him?” one of them gasped. “My head!” Even the charging changeling’s speech was slurred and tired. “My head feels all screwed up!” The changeling soldiers waiting out side watched as the last of Alakazam’s barriers sealed the doors and windows, completely unsure what new power they faced. Inside the palace foyer, Sam whipped the left commander’s spear out from its grasp with Aegislash, sending it too far away for it to reach. With its blade glowing purple, Sam swung Aegislash down across the commander’s chest, throwing it hard to the ground and knocking it unconscious. Alice and the right commander continued trading quick blows with the ends of their long weapons, Alice nimbly dodging any lunges made at her with the spear’s bladed end. With one particular swing, Alice ducked beneath the changeling’s spear, allowing Fizzlepop to leap over her head and kick the commander in the face, sending it backward to collide into the electrified bottom of Raichu’s tail, zapping it and sending it to the floor. Raichu flew back to Alice and Fizzlepop, the three of them slapping their hand, hoof, and paw together in commendation of their teamwork. Starswirl held the center commander down as it struggled to break free. Looking back, the changeling was hurt and betrayed to not see a single changeling come in through the doors to save it. “Are you idiots deaf?” it bellowed. “Get in here and–” Celaeno swung her sword into his helmet hard enough to knock him unconscious. However, half of her blade snapped off and clattered near her feet, much to her instant horror. “Ugh, darn!” Celaeno closely and mournfully examined her blade as she picked it up off the ground. “I loved this sword too!” “Celaeno!” The parrot turned around to see Alice tossing the right commander’s spear to her, Celaeno quick to drop her broken weapon and obtain her new one. As Celaeno spun her replacement weapon, getting a feel for its weight, the right commander stirred awake. “My spear,” the commander coughed at both Alice and Celaeno. “You’d really steal my spear?” “You’re trying to steal their home, so, I mean, sure?” Alice responded with an uncaring shrug. “Besides…” Celaeno twirled the spear again, already growing fond of it, “I’m a pirate. It’s sort of what I do.” “Alright, guys, good work!” Sam approached his sister and the four Equestrians. “Let’s put these guys someplace safe and get ready for the first wave.” Starswirl picked up the unconscious center changeling commander as Alice and Celaeno dragged the limp and exhausted right commander’s body, the three of them carrying them to the back left corner of the foyer. Sam carried the left changeling over his shoulder, something that impressed both Fizzlepop and Grubber as they followed closely behind, ensuring that he wouldn’t drop it. In the throne room, Dexio looked out the window that his Alakazam’s powers patched over before looking to the Equestrians standing by the door, eager to raise hell below. “You guys ready?” A cacophony of agreements and affirmations from the next two lines of defense allowed Dexio to face his Alakazam. “Alright, Alakazam, time to let them in. Everyone else, have a ball!” Throwing the doors open, Celaeno’s crew spilled out and shouted for their impending glory, followed by Capper, Skystar, Rockhoof, and Flash Magnus. As Somnambula and Mistmane stood guard of the door as Mage Meadowbrook and Stygian stood by Dexio to wait for the others. Alakazam drew a deep breath and let it out slowly as the light around his spoons dimmed. Outside, the changelings eyes were suddenly attracted to the light covering the front doors as it began to flicker weakly before it completely disappearing from existence. A couple of soldiers trotted to the doors, putting their hooves on it tentatively before realizing that their enemy’s protection had now been compromised. “Everyone!” the soldier facing the right door shouted, prompting excited chatter among the ranks. “The barrier’s gone! Now they’ve got nowhere to escape!” “Let’s get them!” As the left and right soldiers pulled the doors open, the changelings cheered loudly as they began to converge to the door. A couple dozen galloped inside first with their spears held in their magic while the two that opened the door flew in above them. Seeing the presumably empty foyer only quickened their charge. However, Raichu swung out in front of them with its body glowing with magenta, forcing the soldiers to grind to a halt, pushing back against the floors to slow themselves further. “What in the world is that thing?!” a soldier shouted. “I’ve never seen anything like it!” Before more soldiers could audibly question Raichu’s existence, it blasted a wave of psychic energy from its tail that blew across the entrance hallway and through the changelings standing there. Though they were physically unharmed, the clattering of their spears hitting the floor alarmed them enough to notice that their horns refused to hold a magical charge. One soldier in particular struggled to even pick up the end of his spear an inch or so off the ground before giving up. “My magic! That rat did something to us!” Raichu cupped its paw around the side of its mouth and looked to its right where Sam, Alice, and the others were hiding behind the wall, shouting incomprehensibilities at them to tell them they were safe to attack again. Sam, Alice, and Celaeno ran around the corner first, holding their individual weapons up as they let out a rousing battle cry. Starswirl, Fizzlepop, and Grubber came in close behind, the latter holding one of the commander’s spears like a lance as he rode his friend into battle. “What are those things now?!” A soldier screamed, his eyes on Sam and Alice in particular. “Guys!” One of the changelings scooped up his spear in his teeth. “Pichk yer shpears bachk uph! We cahn’t lit thim win!” Immediately upon reequipping themselves, the first several changelings charged out to meet Sam and Alice as they beat Celaeno to their front lines. Sam easily knocked the spear of the changeling in front of him out of its mouth with his Aegislash. Alice blocked a swing from another’s spear as Celaeno slashed down on it with hers, bisecting it into a small staff. As the two of them continued working, Starswirl and Fizzlepop blasted several changelings with their magic as Grubber managed to swing his spear into the side of the head of a soldier that got through, knocking it over and sending it crashing to the floor. Grubber couldn’t help but laugh. “I got one, Fizz! I got–” Fizzlepop ducked and brought Grubber down with her, allowing a spear to whiz over his hair before she picked herself and him back up. “Be sure you get them too!” Starswirl chided, blasting two more soldiers with his magic. As their comrades were systematically and effortlessly stricken down by Sam, Alice, and their friends, three changelings retreated back outside the palace where the other changelings condensed in to watch. “What’s going on in there?” one of the changelings amongst the group asked. “We don’t know!” One of the retreated soldiers panted. “Three new creatures just showed up somehow and they’re decimating us! They even managed to defeat all three commanders and disabled our magic!” “You think they’re the ones that created those new barrier spells?” “It doesn’t matter! If we attack them all at once, we might be able to beat them! Hurry, before they take out the ones already inside! Come on!” The three changelings galloped back inside, dozens more of the nearby soldiers moved enough to follow them in, some running while others flew. As more and more converged in through the entrance, there was no longer any space for the changelings behind them to see inside. As Sam, Celaeno, and Fizzlepop defeated the last few changelings of the first wave, they looked back out to see the almost-literal wall of changelings shoving its way in. Undeterred, Sam widened his stance and held Aegislash’s hilt with both hands as Alice and Celaeno aimed the ends of their weapons at the first changelings they’d face. As Starswirl and Fizzlepop charged their horns back up, Capper and the four parrots of Celaeno’s crew landed down from the second level balcony and lined up behind the others. “And here comes the cavalry,” Alice hummed under her breath. Skystar and Flash Magnus carried Rockhoof down to the floor before they flew back up to ceiling-level to face the airborne changelings barreling at them, Raichu zipping in between them to join in. Raichu attacked first, hitting the first line of flying changelings with an electric pulse that paralyzed their wings and sent them hitting the ground hard. Flash Magnus punched his shield into an approaching changeling as Skystar clawed her talons at two coming at her before bucking a third in the head, all four of them going unconscious and falling to the floor. Sam fell two lines of changelings with a strong Shadow Claw attack while knocking the ground line back. As two of the flying changelings dove down on him, Aegislash threw its shield at one of them, where it pinballed off it and into the other before bouncing back into its cloth hand. With the wide reach of their spears, Alice and Celaeno were able to keep back the changelings in front of them while getting most of the ones that tried to pass them on their left and right. With the exception of three or four galloping soliders, the only ones that got past the first line were the ones that flew above them, who were quickly taken out by the aerial efforts of Raichu, Skystar, and Flash Magnus as well as Starswirl and Fizzlepop on the ground. Those that evaded them went in to attack Celaeno’s crew first. Mullet pushed back against the shoulders of one changeling that flew at him. As it snapped at Mullet’s head, hoping to reach it, Boyle quickly grabbed the soldier by its webby tail and flung it at a flying changeling soldier, sending both down. Squabble tossed his life raft up where a changeling flew in through it, getting it caught around its stomach and holding its wings in, restricting its flight. As it fell, Spittle turned around and pointed its barbed tail prosthetic at its face. With a slight shriek, the changeling tucked its head in and let the point bounce off the forehead of its helmet before it collided with the ground, but not before Squabble caught his raft and let the changeling squeeze through. As the changeling tumbled further back, Capper kicked it in the exposed side of his snout and sent it over to Rockhoof, who swatted it over to the corner where its commanders were laid out. Rockhoof held up his hood to Capper, who tapped the knuckle of his balled-up paw against the bottom, the two of them grinning. Just then, two changelings passed over Mullet and Spittle as they kept dealing with more of them on their side, prompting them to get serious once again. As more changelings poured in, they began to see the scene a lot clearer. Though none of the humans, Pokémon, or Equestrians showed any signs of tiring out, dozens upon dozens of their allies’ unconscious bodies were littered along the ground. Those that foolishly continued to stay on the ground found it difficult to walk over and balance upon their fallen companions, making them easy targets for Sam, Alice, and Celaeno. Those that chose to fly were easily felled by Raichu’s wide-spanning Thunderbolts and Skystar and Flash Magnus’s melee attacks. Every other changeling that managed to avoid them were then assaulted by Celaeno’s crew or Capper and Rockhoof. Several of the changelings, seeing the desperate situation they were running into, turned around and formed a magic barrier that barred the entry of any more changelings trying to get in. While some crashed into the barrier, most of them slid to a halt. Before they could question their fellow soldiers about what they were doing, they too began to clearly see what they were up against. “My gosh!” One changeling muttered. “And to think we had them cornered just a while ago!” “Don’t you get it?” One of the changelings maintaining the barrier shouted. “They’re funneling us in so they don’t have to take on more of us at once!” “Let’s head into town and force them to come out!” Another soldier loudly mentioned. “We must be extra protective of the town square! Quickly, before they take out more of us!” The changelings took their barrier down as they all began turning to leave. Even the remainder of the changelings challenging Sam and Alice also hopped back and joined the others in the mass retreat. As the distance between Sam, Alice, the Equestrians, and the changelings grew, Sam leapt into a run, hopping on the parts of the floor where an unconscious changeling wasn’t lying. “Flash!” Sam called from behind, “tell the others to come down! We’re heading to the town hall!” “You got it!” Flash Sentry flew up and away from Skystar and Raichu toward the third floor. The two looked down and saw as Alice, Celaeno, and the remainders of the three groups ran to quickly follow him. Dipping down, Skystar and Raichu flew over Sam and Alice as they prepared to exit the castle. Sam flicked his arm up and sent Aegislash off his arm, freeing his hand to take out a Poké Ball. “Sorry, bud,” he panted, “but I need you to be my back set of eyes! Can you do that for me?” Without question, Aegislash swung around and floated closely behind Sam’s head, his one eye keeping an eye on his allies behind him. Sam then tossed his Poké Ball out, the energy inside bursting outside the doorway. “Let’s go, Absol!” Sam’s black and white feline creature, who now wore a silver necklace with a grey-and-blue marble inside the pendant and the chain covered in its fur, broke into a run the moment its paws hit the ground, conscious of Sam’s speed behind it. As Sam and Aegislash spilled out with him, the changelings looked back to see his friends all close behind, frightened by their purely confident faces. “They’re chasing us now?!” A changeling wailed. Another soldier smacked the back of its helmet. “Shut up! Now we have them in the open! Changelings, charge!” Several changelings descended down on Sam and Alice’s group from every side as they approached the town. Sam kept his eyes on two changelings coming down right at him, smirking at their recklessness. “Absol,” Sam commanded, “Psycho Cut!” With the horn on its head charging up with magenta energy, Absol whipped its head out and slung two bows of light that struck both changelings in the head. Both the attacks hit, and the disorientation sent them crashing and tumbling into the ground. As Skystar passed over them, she looked back to Absol with intrigue and amazement. “Oooh,” she muttered, “so that’s what Psycho Cut looks like!” Raichu glanced back to see two more changelings charge their horns and blast two beams at Starswirl and Fizzlepop. Swinging around, Raichu angled the bottom of its tail toward the oncoming attacks, banking perfectly so that both beams hit the center of its tail, where they were neutralized. It then spun to face them and held its arms out, casting them and the two changelings in psychic energy. Clapping its paws together, the two changelings collided with one another and veered away. As they came to the first streets of the town, several changelings perched themselves along the roofs of the buildings while even more of them lined the streets, all but blocking their way forward. A flash of light appeared beside Alice, and from it, Mistmane, Stygian, and Mage Meadowbrook galloped beside her while Somnambula flew close. “We have to get through that street!” she told Alice. “I don’t suppose you have a Pokémon that can help clear our path?” “I got you covered.” Alice detached a Poké Ball from her belt and threw it forward. “Lycanroc, Accelerock through the street!” Alice’s wolf leapt from its belt and right as its paws hit the ground, it zipped away fast enough to appear as though it vanished. It then appeared and disappeared down the road, blasting bits of rock about that threw the changelings against the walls or high up into the air. Those that survived well enough were kept in Somnambula’s sights and with a pick-up in speed, she zoomed through, kicking and punching every changeling she came across, clearing the way for Sam and Alice’s group to pass through. The changelings on the roofs charged their horns to attack from high above, but Alice smiled in preparedness. “Raichu, above!” Going up higher with its cheeks sparking up, it rose above the rooftops and rained down beams of lightning on every changeling around them. The ones not caught within Raichu’s radius took a fearful step back as their electrocuted comrades fell over and tumbled off the roofs, only to scream and fly away as Raichu turned to face them as well. “Ha, nice!” Sam then looked over to Mistmane and Stygian to find that someone was missing. “Hey, where’s Dexio?” “He stayed behind to ensure the changelings still in the palace don’t wake up and wreck the place,” Stygian answered. “He said he’s confident that we’ll be fine without him.” Sam faced forward again and nodded. “And he’d be right.” Before exiting the street where they would enter a large plaza with a fountain and sculpture in its center, Somnambula and Lycanroc came to a stop to wait for the others, who were not too far behind. More changelings flew down and formed a tight group at the exit, ready to jump the others once they got out. Somnambula and Lycanroc took a fearful step back, only for the footsteps of their friends coming up close. “Somnambula, get back!” Alice barked. “Lycanroc, use Stone Edge!” “And then hit it with Sacred Sword, Aegislash!” Sam added. Somnambula took to the air and went backwards as Lycanroc put all of its weight on its front paws before throwing them both up toward the sky. To the pegasus’s amazement, a massive tower of rock jutted from the ground in the middle of the group, breaking it apart in a blast of changeling bodies that threw them all in every direction. Aegislash then whooshed beneath Somnambula and past Lycanroc with its entire blade a bright blue. With an upward swing at the tower, Aegislash exploded the rock out forward, sending the pieces, both large and small, into the changelings standing or flying anywhere within the vicinity of the plaza, injuring a great deal of them. Sam reached out, prompting his Aegislash to return back and wrap its arm around his and let him wield it. “Alright guys, spread out and let’s clean this town up!” Absol and Lycanroc ran out into the plaza first, parting left and right. Sam and Alice then followed their Pokémon to attack the changelings still able to stand. As the Equestrians all spilled out, they formed a loose wall that swept through the plaza. Changelings on the opposite side stood along the rooftops, watching as Celaeno knocked a changeling aside with her spear or Rockhoof clearing a row of soldiers with his shovel like a farmer would cut grain with a scythe. With the others making equally short work of their forces, the changelings retreated further into the town. “This is impossible!” one soldier cried to another. “They’re giving us no time to mobilize!” “We need to protect the town hall at all costs now!” the other replied. “We can’t let them take our love banks away!” Soaring down into the streets, they broke into the fastest gallops of their lives as they hoped to reach the center of town and create a formation to better fight the Pillars and their newest allies. Reaching the open area where a tall, circular building stood, they were relieved to find many of their remaining forces gathered before it, only to find that they were facing it and not the direction of where Sam, Alice, and the others were coming from. “What gives?” One of the two soldiers flew itself up to get a better look at what his fellow changelings were looking at. “The enemy’s behind–” A small but incredibly fast fireball whizzed past its head and forced it to land beside its companion. Looking up at where it could feel the fireball come from, they both then fully understood what they were facing. A line of dragons of various sizes and lengths, all of whom were coated in sleek, metal armor and carried some kind of spear, axe, or sword, hovered above the ground in a line beside and above the town hall. Peering over the other changelings in front of them, they saw another row of armed dragons blocking them on the ground. The excited roars of Sam, Alice, and their friends and Pokémon grew loud from behind as they poured through the streets and came to into the open area. As they lined up and boxed the changelings in on the other side, Sam and Alice couldn’t help but feel uneasy as to why the changelings chose to stand their ground, yet looked so frightened and unwilling to fight. At that moment, a feminine shout rang out above them, prompting the two to look up and see a gold-and-brown-leather armored dragon with a blue body lunge down on them, their purple crystal staff holding a brilliant red stone ready to jab at Sam. Sam angled the broad side of his Pokémon at the dragon, whose weapon’s tip bounced off before they tried to swing it at him again, Sam pushing against Aegislash’s blade on the other side to push against their force. Sam couldn’t help but be drawn to the dragon’s fearsome amber eyes through the eyeholes of their golden mask, but Sam refused to let up. “What… are you?” The dragon’s spear flared up several times with an intense fiery magic, the heat traveling through the blade and making Sam gasp as it soon began to prickle against his hand. “Answer me, monster!” The dragon was then tackled by Absol, who let out a vicious snarl as it took her to the ground. Moving with the roll, the dragon kicked the yelping Absol off and away before refocusing on Sam. Suddenly, Starswirl’s magic kept Sam and the dragon separate before he jumped in between them. “Princess Ember, do not attack them! They are allies of ours!” “Starswirl!” The dragon he referred to as Ember took her helmet off and held it under her arm, revealing a slender-snouted face with four darker-blue spikes on her head and two horns that curled back and then pointed forwards on the sides of her head. “What are you all doing here? Who in the heck are these guys?” “They’re friends of ours,” Flash Magnus claimed flying up to her and bumping his hoof to her fist. “It’s kind of a long story, but you can trust these two.” Running around the corralled changelings was a zebra pony with a short Mohawk mane and covered in colorful tribal paint wielding a misshapen wooden staff. “Stop, Ember. Please, I pray! I can’t let a trap take you today. How are we to know that we can trust these things? For all we know, they just might be changelings!” “Hey, seriously?” Sam shrugged. “We just spent the last few minutes hacking-and-slashing these bastards, and now you’re going to accuse us–” “Zecora makes a good point.” Ember dropped her helmet and pointed the tip of her staff at Sam and Alice once again. “How do we know you’re not trying to trick us so we lower our defenses?” “I’ve got an idea, but you may need to stand back a little.” On Alice’s reasonable, calm-as-can-possibly-be voice, Ember backed away from her and held her spear up to let her defend herself. “I’m going to need one of the changelings to prove this, so…” “Alright creature, it shall be done.” Zecora wacked one of the two changelings away from their group on the butt, herding it toward her. “I hope your test will be sufficient with this one.” “Hey,” the soldier whined, rubbing the sting from the zebra’s staff, “why do I have to–” “You!” Alice pointed to the changeling. “Stand next to Starswirl and turn into him.” “I, uh…” Doing as it was told, the changeling stood beside the bearded unicorn and with a green fire shooting up around him, he now bore an exact appearance to Starswirl. “Nice. Alright, Raichu, Psychic on them both, but not too stong.” “Hold on,” Starswirl protested, “what are you doing?” Ember and Zecora looked up as Raichu floated before the two Starswirl’s, reaching out and covering their bodies in its psychic glow. To Ember and Zecora’s amazement, Starswirl maintained his form as he grunted through his pain, while the changelings façade began to flicker until it lost the magic to continue holding it up, reverting it to its original form. “Okay, get out of here!” The changeling, the tension now exploding off its body, ran back to the safety of the gathered changelings before him. “Amazing!” Ember gasped. “How did you do that? What kind of magic is that?” “It’s not magic at all,” Starswirl groaned, his horn shorting with power. “That creature apparently possesses Psychic abilities which completely disable any kind of magic, including my own. Alice, why would you do that to me?” “Don’t worry, I also have a way to restore it back. Now, Raichu, use that same level of Psychic on all of us!” Going up higher, Raichu spread its arms out as its Psychic energy covered Sam, Alice, Aegislash, Absol, Lycanroc, the Pillars, as well as Fizzlepop, Grubber, Celaeno, her crew, Capper, and Skystar. While Absol didn’t appear the least bit bothered, everyone else panted as the psychic pressure weighed down on them, Fizzlepop, Mistmane, and Stygian especially. With mouths slightly open, Ember and Zecora could clearly see that neither of them had a disguise to lose. “Alright, stop!” Raichu relinquished her magic on Ember’s command, Fizzlepop, Mistmane, and Stygian swooning as they tried getting their bearings. “So you’re not changelings. If that’s the case…” She then pointed at Sam and Alice. “…what are you?” “We can explain more in a bit,” Sam answered, “but me and my sister are called humans. We come from the world that Twilight and her friends landed on, and we were thrown out of our world and ended up here while trying to help them!” “Did you say, Twilight?” Zecora chanted. “You know where they are? I know they’ve been missing, but to be out that far… You must tell us, are they alright? Their disappearances have kept me up each night!” “And what about Spike?” Ember clutched her spear, her first show of genuine concern. “Is he okay too?” “I, uh…” Sam was still off-put by Zecora’s natural rhyming abilities than anything. “As far as we know, yes, but we need to get back to our world as soon as possible. If we don’t, Twilight and her friends will be anything but alright.” “Yo, Ember!” A male dragon called from the top of the town hall building. “What are we supposed to do with these changelings?” Ember nodded to Sam, acknowledging a promise to continue helping him and Alice before looking to the gathered changelings. “We were pushing them back, but thanks to you guys, we have them surrounded. So tell me, changelings, do you surrender to our combined forces?” The changelings glanced to one another, uncertain of who among them should make the call, much to Ember’s intense ire. “HAVE YOU SURRENDERED?!” Cowering their heads down, they mustered the strength to all nod and shout their confirming answers to her. With the matter settled, Ember relaxed herself as she twirled her staff around her hand, an accomplished sigh leaving her mouth. “Alright, dragons!” she shouted to her army. “Let’s begin moving the ponies out and putting the changelings in!” She then turned to Sam and Alice and spoke to them quieter, but just as forcefully. “We could use your help as well, make sure these guys don’t have anything funny planned.” “Absolutely.” Alice looked toward her group. “Hey, Rockhoof!” The earth stallion rose his hoof up so that she could see him “Yes?!” “Go get Dexio and help him carry the changelings out of the palace. And be sure that you guys get our bags too. We have something in there that will help the unicorns.” “Very good!” As Rockhoof ran back north, the rest of Sam and Alice’s friends, as well as their Pokémon, followed Ember and Zecora around the changelings as they awaited to be escorted inside the town hall by the dragons, who all came down to the ground to do Ember’s bidding. With the threat of danger over for now, Alice pressed the button on her staff so that folded it in while Sam let Aegislash off his arm to float beside him. “So,” Ember said with a casual smile, “you guys seemed to hold your own pretty well.” “Thanks,” Alice answered. “You sure saved us a lot of blood, sweat, and tears by being here.” “The Dragon Lands are a friend to Equestria, and when Zecora told us it was under attack, we just had to come and help.” “I apologize to you for my suspicion,” Zecora humbly spoke, “it truly fills me with great contrition. If you can forgive me all the same, I’d like to know both of your names.” “Uh, yeah, don’t sweat it. I’m Sam.” “And I’m his sister, Alice. It’s good to meet you both, really.” “Whoa!” Ember pointed to Alice’s folded staff. “And you went charging at the changlings with just that?” “I also had my Pokémon with me…” “I’m guessing that’s what your rat and wolf things are?” “Mmhm. I know we’ll have to fill you in on some things while we get the ponies out, and there is a lot to talk about.” Finally, the dragon, zebra, and two humans walked up the steps where two dragons reached over to grab the door’s handles. “And we should have plenty of time for that. In the meantime…” The two dragons pulled the handles open, each head of the miserable ponies inside turning toward the opening doors, watching with stunned amazement as Ember and Zecora walked in with Sam and Alice, staring at the latter two in particular. Sam and Alice offered them comforting smiles that they could entrust their lives with.