Sam, Alice, and Dexio stood next to Ember and Zecora as they oversaw the ponies being escorted outside the town-hall by several dragons as well as Mage Meadowbrook and Somnambula, many of the Ponyville citizens shaking their hooves or giving them indebted hugs for their rescue. As the line of rescued ponies left the building, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, and several more dragons brought the captured changelings in to replace them. Despite the triumphant sight, Ember and Zecora looked troubled with the information the three humans had shared with them.
“So this Necrozma thing,” Ember recounted, “it’s coming here to Equestria?”
Sam reluctantly bobbed his head, almost nodding. “We’re hoping to get back to our home before Burnet can completely restore it, but with the changelings having invaded Equestria’s capital, that’s only going to delay us further.”
Dexio stepped between Sam and Ember so that he could speak. “Our friends still at home are likely doing everything in their power to try and stop Burnet and Necrozma from getting any further, but with how much of Necrozma’s power she now possesses, I’m nervous that she’s unstoppable at this point.”
“If we defeated it before, we can defeat it again,” Zecora spoke. “And now we have help from all our new friends.”
“I guess,” Sam reasoned, “but from the way Luna described it, it attacked Equestria by itself the first time around and was defeated with a combination of its own power as well as her and Celestia’s magic. Not only does Burnet have both of these things now, she also has an army of followers and their Pokémon to try and stop us.”
“And we now have one of their strongest trainers standing by our sides!” Alice reminded bluntly. “Plus, if they get all the trial captains and the Kahunas to pitch in, Team Prism won’t be a match for us!!”
Dexio sighed, unable to shake off the unease he felt about their current situation. “But still, while we’re here, we’re of no help to them.”
“You guys sure have been a real help to us,” Ember said. “All things considered, you guys came to Equestria right when it needed you.”
“It’s ironic.” Dexio crossed his arms, looking at the miserable changelings with a slight amount of sympathy. “If only they knew what they were really up against, they’d be fighting with the ponies to protect their world than trying to take it for themselves.”
“And we can’t convince them because…?”
“There’s no time. Perhaps when their common enemy’s already at their door, they’ll learn to put aside their differences and protect the one world they both call home, but right now, we need to get back to our world so that we can prevent such a thing from needing to happen in the first place.”
“Are you certain this is the correct path?” Zecora questioned. “These ponies are still subject to the changelings’ wrath. If you return home and stop Prism, our worlds will be saved, but what of these creatures most depraved?”
“The whole reason they’re on Equestrian soil in the first place is because Twilight and her friends weren’t here to stop them,” Sam spoke up. “Once we defeat Prism and return everyone who’s supposed to be in Equestria back to Equestria, the changelings will have no reason to try and invade again.”
Alice massaged her arms in a reluctant tic. “Yeah, I’m with Dexio and Sam on this one. I’d rather these changelings keep hating you ponies if it means your world is safe rather than them being forced to get along to fight an enemy that can easily destroy it… and ours for that matter, my god.”
Zecora sighed in defeat. “Very well, your judgment is sound. This world would stay safe with Twilight and her friends around. I just ask that before you go, I must tell you something you and the Pillars should know.”
“What is it?” Dexio wondered.
“Sam, Alice, Dexio!” The five of them looked over the banister to see Starswirl and Stygian entering through the front, looking up at them. “Our train is almost ready. Please come down as soon as possible!”
“Perfect timing,” Alice said with a shrug.
The three humans walked toward one of the stairways to the main level with Zecora, Ember staying behind.
Sam stopped and turned to face her, the others standing by to wait. “You’re not coming with?”
“That’s okay,” she responded with a dismissing flick of the wrist, “I know what she’s going to tell you. It’s the reason why me and my army are all here. Besides, I’m going to get something for you guys before you all head out.”
“Fair enough.” Sam walked around the group and briskly went down the stairs, Alice, Dexio, and Zecora catching up.
With the humans and zebra approaching, Flash Magnus and Mistmane stepped away from the dragons to join Starswirl and Stygian’s sides. “You guys can handle the rest?”
“Pfft!” A bulky, gray dragon snorted. “We would have been just fine without your help! Now go on, you and the Pillars got a capital to re-conquer!”
Flash Magnus worked up a smile and hearty laugh and patted the dragon on the shoulder, glad to hear his confident remark. “Thanks. It was good to see you again, Shale Tail”
“Any time, Flash!” With a sly two-clawed salute to his erstwhile companion, the dragon went right back to work seeing to the ponies leave the building.
With the humans arriving, Starswirl and Stygian turned back and led them and the other three ponies away from the town hall and further south. “The station is this way,” Starswirl said. “We mustn’t delay.”
“Hey,” Alice lightly jeered, “I think rhyming’s Zecora’s thing!”
“Certainly glad you can be so jesting in these trying times,” he breathed out.
“It’s quite alright, Starswirl,” Zecora giggled, “I take no offense. Now, let us go so your battle can commence.”
Sam took one last look at the ponies gathered outside the town hall, many of whom were hugging friends and loved ones as they were safe and reunited. With a drawn-out breath, Sam could only hope that they would not have to experience any more trouble that night.
Arriving at a small train station near the southern end of the town, Starswirl and Stygian walked the others onto the platform where a four-car train was awaiting them, the engine’s smokestack already pluming with steam as it was priming to leave. Boyle was already hard at work in the engine’s cabin feeding coal and wood into the chimney to give it fuel and warm it up, while Rockhoof, Mullet, Capper, and Fizzlepop assisted Spittle, Squabble, Skystar, Somnambula, and Mage Meadowbrook with loading a few more crates into the boxcars connected to the train.
Sam examined the set up, seeing three small boxcars forming the tail with only a single passenger’s car between them and the engine and coal tender. As the others resumed their work, a few muscular earth ponies oversaw the loading process or checked on the couplings between the cars.
Starswirl examined the inside of the first boxcar, the crates inside all placed along the sides and leaving an open space in the center. “And this is what you could get from the ship?”
“I figured it’s all we’d actually need,” Mage Meadowbrook reasoned. “It shouldn't take very long to get to Canterlot, and we’ll all need to get inside these boxcars if we get attacked at any point in time en route.”
“Not all of us,” Sam reasoned. “A few of us can man the roofs if we’re short on space.”
“You know I’m all up for that!” Celaeno cawed. “Who else is gonna’ keep us from being lonely up there?!”
“Like I’m letting my brother fight up there alone!” Alice chuckled.
“And I’ll join you as well,” Dexio stated. “However, like Mage Meadowbrook said, that’s only if we need to, and hopefully it'll be a smooth ride to Canterlot before we have to storm it.”
“But before you go,” Zecora suddenly warned, prompting everyone present to gather near, “there’s something you must hear. The changelings wield a power that you should fear. It’s important that you too not forget that they are in possession of the Alicorn Amulet!”
“The Alicorn Amulet!?” Starswirl wheezed. “I thought I had that infernal thing hidden away a millennia ago!”
Zecora shook her head. “It had resurfaced in the not-too-distant past; it seems even the most well-kept secrets hardly last.”
“I don’t understand,” Skystar interrupted. “What’s this Alicorn Amulet?”
“It was something a rival of mine from the distant past used to try and best my natural abilities in my better years,” Starswirl explained. “How he even came about it, I’m not entirely certain, but I only barely managed to remove it from him and kept it far away from where anyone could find it. Sadly, it wasn’t hidden far enough away, it seems.”
“After it was owned by the unicorn Trixie,” Zecora continued, “I had it sealed away at my home in the Everfree.”
“Trixie!?” Sam gasped. “What was she doing with something like that?”
“It’s a bit of a tale that I’ve no time to tell, but ever since that day, she’s been doing rather well. But I digress, enough useless chatter. Now back to the part of the story that matters. Yesterday morning, the changelings attacked. What’s worse is that my home was ransacked…”
_____________________________________________________
Zecora kicked the door of her tree-trunk hut in, her eyes instantly looking upon a staff leaning against the wall next to a shelf of jars and flasks of various potions. Running past the simmering caldron at the center of the room, she grabbed the staff in her teeth as progressively-louder buzzing approached her home. Spinning around, four changelings had already entered inside, two on the ground blocking the door while the other two flew before the front windows. As she glanced over to a small chest at the bottom of one of her wooden cases, an even louder buzzing was just up ahead.
As the four changelings slowly approached her, the zebra let out a tough shout as she jammed the end of her staff into the lip of her cauldron, tipping it and spilling some of its contents out. Most of it dribbled down the front of the steel pot and into the hot coals keeping it warm. With a fiery flare, a black, sooty smoke puffed into them and blinded them completely. As they coughed and tried to fan the smog away, Zecora bounded onto the edge of her pot and dove over the first two changelings and out the door.
With the smoke billowing up from the doorway, Zecora was able to see as dozens more changelings flew in through the Everfree Forest in a line she knew she could not pass through or around. With a saddened grunt, she turned back and galloped east, refusing to stop until the buzz of the changelings’ wings became quieter.
Rowing a small wooden canoe into the sea with her oar, Zecora couldn’t help but look one last time at the country she was forced to abandon to the whims of its invaders. She then looked back forward at the aquatic horizon, hoping to reach the shores of the land she was headed for soon.
_____________________________________________________
“I came to the Dragon Lands and told them of our plight,” Zecora continued, “and for Equestria, Ember was willing to fight. She gathered her army and we headed back west to rid my home of these pests. Upon reaching Ponyville, we attacked without reprieve, hoping we would eventually make them leave. And then you came in and helped us achieve glory, and that, my friends, concludes my story.”
While the others were silent over her harrowing tale, Sam couldn’t help but applaud, receiving odd looks all around. “I’m sorry, I know that’s a verbal tic for you or something, but seriously, to come up with all that on the fly, it’s just… Right, but thank you for all that.”
“Even if the changelings have this Alicorn Amulet,” Dexio reasoned, “and it is as powerful as you say it is, it still shouldn’t be able to stand up against a Psychic-type attack.”
“I sure hope so,” Capper breathed out. “Otherwise that just throws a real big monkey wrench into this whole thing!”
“Okay!” An earth pony called from behind the other side of the train. “You’re all set to go whenever you’re ready!”
“Perfect!” Alice turned back and waved thankfully to them. “You guys are lifesavers!”
“Hold on!” Now looking up and facing the other way, everyone saw as Ember floated to the ground along with two dragons that both held a large wooden chest on both ends. “I told you I was getting you guys something!”
As the two dragons heaved the chest toward the group, Alice suddenly noticed that along with her staff in one hand, she held onto a black spear and a pair of sabers kept safe in a pair of olivine-finished sheathes. Ember was quick to notice her gaze, and with a toss of her hand, she lobbed the spear at Alice. Catching it, she held it to examine its blade, which, while short and rather dull, was still smoothed out and carved in a way that made Alice grin over the damage she’d still get to cause with it.
“Sure beats that stick you’ve been using, huh?” Ember crossed her arms, proud of the jab she made. “Yeah, that’s obsidian straight from the Dragon Volcanic Range. It’s nearly hard as diamond and can really knock an enemy’s head around.”
“Exactly,” Alice whispered to her self, hopping the weapon off her hand and getting a feel for its weight. “Thank you so much for this!”
“Hey, now, I’m just loaning that one to you! That obsidian blade is super rare and valuable, so I expect to get it back in one piece when this whole thing is over!”
“You mean the spear or the blade?”
“Both, but yeah, you take especially good care the blade.”
“Don’t you worry. This thing’s staying by me like it’s my baby.”
Ember nodded to her approvingly before focusing her sights to Celaeno, who turned to her as she swung her arm back, tossing the two swords to her. “These are yours!”
Celaeno dropped the changeling spear and caught both swords by their sheaths. Spotting the hooks on both sides of each sheath, she slid them into her sash and huffed amusingly as they latched and held. She then crossed her arms over her waist before pulling out each sword one after the other. Even in the dead of night, Celaeno was breathtaken over how bright each new blade gleamed. She didn’t’ even need to scrape her thumb over the edge of the blade to see how well-sharpened it was.
“They’re beautiful,” she gasped, tears forming in her eyes.
“That’s freshly-forged Dragon’s Iron,” Ember exclaimed, “some of the strongest metal in the world. Of course, that stuff’s more common than Alice’s obsidian, so they’re yours to own.”
Alice coughed in feigned offense as Celaeno brought her new weapons back into their sheaths, almost painfully so. “Thank you.” She then reached her hand forward and gave Ember’s a firm shake. “You dragons are officially a friend to us parrots!”
“As opposed to when we helped save this town?”
“Touché!”
With her thanks given, Celaeno resumed examination of her swords, giving each one its own undivided attention.
“Alright,” Grubber spoke, “Alice and Celaeno got their new toys, so what’s in the chest.”
“Don’t get your hopes up, little guy.” Ember flicked the chest open with the tip of her tail. Sitting atop a neatly organized pile of arrows with thick, round heads with wicks sticking from them, an ornate metal bow was carefully perched on top. “Now, who here has fired a bow and arrow before.
Alice tried her best to resist the urge to raise her hand before Capper came up to the chest first. “I’ve fired a bow and arrow in my day.”
“In your day?” Rockhoof exclaimed. “How old even are you?”
“Twelve, but hey, that’s pretty old in cat years!”
The stallion could only shrug. “Point taken.”
Capper carefully extracted the bow and a single arrow from the pile, twirling the latter around his fingers for fun, making Ember and the two dragons instantly nervous.
“Careful, cat!” Ember shouted. “Those heads are filled with blastpowder and…” Ember’s fears were partially sated as Capper quickly knocked the back of the arrow on the center of the drawstring and pulled back while aiming at the sky. “Okay, fine, but you still gotta’ light it first!”
With a sharp huff out her nostrils, Ember shot a small flame that hit the end of the wick, where it began to sparkle and travel toward the base of the head. With a slightly more-vertical tilt, Capper let loose his fingers from the string, sending the lit arrow upwards. Right at the apex of its ascent, the sparks reached the base, igniting the blastpowder inside and creating a dazzling firework blast that filled the night sky. In the distance, Capper’s ears wiggled to the faint sounds of ponies cheering on what they thought was a celebration, inspiring him to turn to his friends and give them a gentlemanly bow.
“Hmph.” One of the dragons beside the chest rolled their eyes. “Showoff.”
“Looks like you got the gist of it.” Ember turned on her clawed heel and clapped her hands once, pointing backward with her thumb in the same motion. “Alright, load it in! They don’t got all night!”
Without another word, the dragons quickly carried the chest of arrows into the first boxcar. As Ember continued walking, Alice looked hurtfully confused.
“Wait, you’re not coming to fight with us?” she asked.
“Sorry,” the dragoness responded sympathetically, “but we gotta’ make sure these changelings don’t get into any more trouble here. Besides, I just gave you all the help you need! If you really need further help from me, then that spear, those swords, and all those explosive arrows won’t do squat for you!”
“I get it, makes sense.” She then reached her hand out to her, Ember drawn to the respectful gesture. “Then I guess this is goodbye, Ember. Again, thank you for all your help.”
The other dragon, a red and yellow-bellied adolescent with a gangly set of fangs, left the box car with his companion “Hey! We helped too!”
“That was a collective ‘your!’” Alice mentioned in annoyance.
“Oh… okay!” Satisfied with the three-syllable word that he did not understand, he and the other dragons flew off to continue managing the town square and the ponies’ continued evacuation.
Alice stared at Ember, awaiting her to accept her handshake. Finally, Ember put her hand into hers and let her grasp it, only for Alice to pull her close and lock her left arm around her back. Ember frowned at the hug she was sure to receive, only for Alice to pound the center of her back with the side of her fist. As Alice stepped away, Ember reached behind her as her wings involuntarily flapped, completely uncertain what kind of farewell she was given.
“See you around,” Alice finally bid, “hopefully.”
Despite the suddenness of it all, Ember smiled gladly, suddenly loving what she had received from her. “Ha, you humans are alright, you know that!”
As a suddenly-worried Sam was pulled in by Ember to be given a similar farewell bump of the chest and pound on the back, Dexio turned to Zecora, who continued watching the sight. “You staying behind too?”
“I’m afraid I must, my furless friend,” she began, “but I hope our paths may cross again. I want you all to give it your best shot, for I just know you’ll save Canterlot.”
Dexio knelt down to her and shook her hoof, greatly appreciating the new friend he made in her. “Thanks, Zecora. Good luck yourself.”
Sam flexed his shoulders forward and felt a relieving crack as Ember made her way to Celaeno again, who delivered her new favorite farewell with the same level of enthusiasm. As the other ponies and Equestrians also made their goodbyes to Ember and Zecora, Sam walked toward the passenger car.
With a loud whoosh of the train’s whistle and a push up on the throttle lever, Boyle got the train to begin inching out of the station. It quickly picked up speed as the entire train left the station platform, rounding the first turn to the north and making its way to Canterlot. As it left the town, a few lines of dragons and freed ponies cheered the train’s departure, wishing their heroes inside a victorious next battle.
Sam and Alice placed their hands onto the window as a show of thanks and appreciation for their support. Just as the crowds began to get too small to tell apart a single pony or dragon, the two of them finally noticed Zecora and Ember standing at the front before the train took another turn and removed them from their sights. With only open area around the car, Sam and Alice settled back into their seats to face their traveling companions.
“So,” Alice began, “how long’s a trip to Canterlot usually by train?”
“Dunno.’” Capper stretched his legs out and rested them on the seat across between Sam and Alice, snuggling further down into as comfortable a position as he could. “All I know is that it’s getting late, and I’m already losing my twelve hours of beauty sleep. Besides,” he yawned, “can’t really storm an invaded Equestrian capital on no energy, and I should know.”
“Oh,” Skystar whined, sitting beside Capper, “I wanted to get to know our new friends a little better!”
“I wish we had that luxury and time,” Starswirl commented, seating himself down, “but Capper is right. Any rest we can get now before our arrival shall be crucial.”
Sam shrugged, shifting himself over to a small enough gap between Capper and the window. “We slept a little on the flight to Poni, but yeah, that doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea.
Capper breathed in through his teeth, uncomfortable over Sam’s body sluggling up against his. “Hey, hey! A little personal space would be nice!”
Sam ignored his protests as he put up his long legs on the seat where he had been sitting, sighing in relief at the room he now had. “Sorry, but I’ve been told I’m a kicker. You can take my head on your shoulder or my heel into your crotch, your pick.”
“Crotch?” Sam gently pounded the spot that he referred to, Capper involuntarily pulling his waist in at the thought of being kicked there. “Alright, but only this one time.”
Skystar then began to tip herself over until her underside was stretched over Sam and Capper’s laps. “Sorry,” she snort-giggled, “don’t really like sleeping on my back in this form. Wings push into my back and give me cramps!”
As Capper scooted a little more to the inner ends, Sam gently laid his right arm across Skystar’s neck, gently stroking her firm, soft down with his thumb. “That’s okay. Some of us don’t mind sleeping closer to others.”
Capper rolled his eyes before closing his eyes and awaiting sleep to take him quickly. After taking her hat off and placing it on her own lap, Alice crossed her arms to below her breasts and slid her back along the backrest of her seat, folding out any wrinkles pressing against it. She then looked along the rest of the train as the remaining Equestrians also got comfortable in their seats and began to quickly doze off, made comfortable by what they were already able to accomplish.
Fizzlepop pet along Grubber’s side as he fell asleep beside her before noticing Dexio getting out from his spot, Squabble stretching his neck across where he sat to lay his head there. “You’re not sleeping?” she asked.
“You go on ahead,” he whispered. “I’m used to late nights back home, so I wouldn’t be sleeping at all anyways. Was going to walk through the boxcars; something to keep my mind at ease.”
“Whatever helps you.” With a massive yawn, Fizzlepop leaned over and let her body power down as slumber came over her, now sleeping peacefully beside her small, furry companion.
Dexio carefully walked to the back of the car, observing as Sam comforted Skystar, stopping with his hand on the door.
“You want to know a little about us?” Sam’s softly-spoken question earned a smile and a gentle nod from the hippogriff. “Okay, well, my sister over there, she’s always been the adventurer and Pokémon prodigy between us.”
Alice grinned as she tucked her chin onto her chest, letting his voice help carry her to sleep with Skystar. With a relaxed smile, Dexio carefully and briskly opened the back door, stepped through it, and closed it behind him to eliminate the outside noises.
“You see,” Sam continued, “she actually got her first Pokémon when she was only eight-years old, and a pretty rare one at that. At that time, I was old enough to be one, but I never saw myself becoming a Pokémon trainer until that moment. I’ll admit, I was pretty jealous that she was going to become such a remarkable trainer while her brother would just become a nobody cooking at a restaurant that his family owned.”
Sam felt the weight of Skystar’s head get heavier on his thighs as she was quickly lulled by his tale. “However, if it wasn’t for that moment of envy, I would have never met one of my best friends and closest companions. I went out… to… this mansion north of a place called Camphrier Town and tried to catch the Honedge that would become my Aegislash…”
Sam could tell that Skystar was no longer lucid enough to be listening, and with her gentle snoring seeping from the nostrils of her beak, Sam put his head against the back of his seat and let the soft whistles she let out help his eyes close.
Dragons lined the walls inside the Ponyville town hall as they stared dutifully at the changelings huddled on the floor in the center of it, and with more of them stationed just outside and along the town, none of them would even think about trying to take the town a second time. One of the changeling commanders was curled up in a fetal position deep in the center of it all. Along with the dozens of changelings surrounding it, his frail position served as a perfect façade to cover its actions.
It shot his magic at a circular obsidian disk with a smoothed center in small bursts, nervous that each one would betray its intentions. “Come on, please…” it murmured. “Those blasted apes and their creatures!”
Finally it managed to shoot a strong enough burst that allowed the outside of the disk to glow before it covered its surface. The changeling had to stifle its oncoming victorious laugh as it tried to ensure that no one saw what it had done. Curling up more around it, the glow on the flat surface receded back to the sides, unveiling Cocoon’s face, who looked surprised that she was finally able to speak to it.
“Commander Capillary!” she bellowed. “Why are you contacting me at–”
“My queen,” it hissed, “please, speak quieter! Ponyville has fallen!”
“…What?”
“The Pillars and their friends received help from these creatures I’ve never seen before, and then an army from the Dragon Lands flanked us on the opposite side!”
As their conversation rang out, the changelings around Capillary were happy to crowd themselves further to isolate themselves from him and spare themselves from whatever punishment he was sure to receive.
“What creatures?” Cocoon questioned. “How did they even enter Twilight’s castle?”
“We’re not certain ourselves, my queen, but the important thing is–’
A pair of feet landed beside Capillary as a crystal staff tapped on the floor to further get its attention. It only had to glance out of the corner of its eye for a second to see that it was Ember.
Quickly, it turned back to it, their last moments the most crucial now. “They know Celestia’s been captured they’re on their way to Canter–”
Ember swung the staff into the side of Capillary’s head, knocking it out cold, worrying Cocoon on the other line as the dragon picked up the disc. “Capillary, Capillary! Please resp–”
Ember took a large bite out of the disk and chewed, removing Cocoon’s image as the link to her through it was destroyed. Spitting the pieces out of her mouth and chucking the disk to the floor, Ember soared to the top level of the town hall, confusing her dragon guards inside.
“Ember!” Shale Tail shouted. “What’s going on?!”
“The changeling queen’s been tipped off!” Zecora galloped onto the balcony, uncertain of Ember’s commotion. “I have to warn the Pillars and their friends! Zecora, can you hold down the fort while I’m gone?”
Whatever the situation, Zecora was quick to realize that time was of the essence and whatever her reason for leaving was an important one. With a nod, she allowed Ember to leave her guards and the changelings in her hooves.
Ember quickly walked toward the empty clerk’s office where she found a window she could squeeze through. “Make sure nothing leaves or enters!”
“Oh, come on!” The younger red dragon complained. “You’re going to leave a pony in charge of us?!”
With her arm wrapped around her staff, Zecora threateningly pointed the end of it at him. “I am the one in charge, as your leader has said, unless you too want a staff swung into your head!”
The dragon slunk his neck in fearfully, her point made. He then looked up and away from her toward the sky.
“She better be back soon,” he mumbled.
Cocoon teleported outside of the palace, the royal guards guarding the doors pointing their spears at her out of shock. Upon seeing her without her disguise, green, fiery rings appeared beneath them and ran up their bodies, transforming them into their original changeling selves.
“My queen!” the one on the right spoke.
“What has happened?” the other responded right after.
Cocoon panted, a cold sweat forming on her face. “The Ponyville faction has been defeated by the Pillars with help from those in the Dragon Lands.”
“But… the Ponyville faction had them surrounded. How could–”
“Never mind how they could, they already have, and now they’re on their way to Canterlot! Gather the army! We must protect Canterlot or our plan falls to ruin!”
“As you wish, my queen!” Both guards bounded up off the ground until they flew higher than the highest point of the highest spire on Celestia’s palace.
Charging their horns and tapping them together, their auras glowed stronger before they blasted out a green-ringed pulse that spanned over the entire city, a short, but tangible boom following each ripple. En masse, the awakened well-dressed citizens of Canterlot stepped out of their homes and into the streets to see the signal in the sky. One by one, green flames washed over them and turned them into changelings, many of whom were already wielding spears and shields. As soon as they transformed, they all split up and flew to specific parts of the city to prepare for battle.
Many organized lines of changelings flew off to the southern city gates, already landing beside each other to form several tight rows, perching themselves atop the gates, or forming a barrier on both sides of the gates, ensuring that neither of them could get in from any angle. A couple-dozen changeling soldiers stood guard at the train station, ready to intercept them there.
However, most filled the edges overlooking the drop over the cliff the city was perched on, giving them a perfect vantage to see everything up above, down below, and all else beyond. There were soldiers for them to form three rows that bordered the entire open side of Canterlot and still leave plenty more to patrol the streets. Cocoon began to calm herself as more changelings positioned themselves to defend their new kingdom from takeover.
“Now let’s see how powerful the Pillars really are!” Cocoon cackled as the remainder of her army settled themselves in, the changelings guarding the edges of the city forming a tall, spikey phalanx with their shields and spears, keeping watch over every angle their eyes could see.
No matter what the Pillars and their allies would bring, they had to ensure their efforts would be short-lived and unsuccessful.