//------------------------------// // Ch.22 - Change for the Better // Story: The Witching Hour - Chaos is Change // by Chaotic Ink //------------------------------// "Look, she’s moving!" "Finally." Midnight growled as consciousness came back to her. How could she have been jumped in Canterlot Castle of all places? And how in Celestia's sun-shining flank had Skimmer been able to shoot magic beams, not to mention how unicorn magic had been able to hurt her!? She growled again. At least one thing was for sure: the next time she saw Shining Armor, she was going to rip his throat out, brother of Twilight Sparkle or not. She cracked opened her eyes- "Oh, thank Celestia you're up," Shining Armor said, "We could really use-" "YOU!" Midnight sprang up, roaring as she tried to snap at his throat. Shocked at the sudden attack, Shining instinctively reared up and threw up his forelegs defensively to keep her back. She didn't get his throat, but her bulk and momentum pushed him to the ground. Immediately there was a tumult of shouting, loudest of all Midnight recognized from Twilight but she ignored it. She didn't know what his game was but right now she felt questions could wait until he was not expected to get up anytime soon under his own power. When it became clear she wasn't going to get at his throat, she took a deep, open-mouthed breath; the large oxygen intake heating her insides to a burn that began traveling up to her own throat. Before she could as much singe him, something hit her hard in the side and went tumbling over with her, her fire going wide and into the wall. She and her new assailant scrabbled quickly to their hooves and Midnight found herself muzzle to muzzle with Twilight. "Move," Midnight snarled, wings outspread and tail poised. "No!" Twilight snapped back. "Darn it Midnight, will you just calm down!?" "Calm down? CALM DOWN!? I'LL CALM DOWN WHEN I BREAK HIS HORN OFF!" Shining's hooves shot to cover said body part. "He, Holly, Skimmer, and a bunch of others attacked me! He’s up to something and I’m going to beat it out of him!" "It wasn't him!" Twilight shot back. "Nothing he's done has been him at all!" "It's true!" Holly called out from what seemed a ways away. "Midnight, you have to believe them!" "Don't worry, I'll deal with YOU when... I... rip... his..." Her initial fury slowly faded as she looked towards the mare, only to find thick, crystal bars. After a few moments of finally just looking around, she realized they were in a barred-off room of some kind with other barred entrances visible beyond. It looked just like a big, crystal dungeon. "What the...?" "Midnight, please," Twilight continued, "there's a good explanation for all this but you need to calm down and listen to us!" "I'd take her advise if I were you." Midnight's head snapped back towards Shining, growling once again. "Oh, really?" A shine on the crystal wall behind him (what was the deal with all the crystal?) and Shining's face, larger than life, appeared on it, smirking menacingly at them. "Really. I must admit, you're stronger than you look if you recovered from my stun blast so quickly." Midnight looked over at the regular-sized Shining facing the one on the wall and saw his face was a mix of defiance and fear. "Somepony start talking," she growled warningly. The Shining on the wall laughed. "You got too nosy for your own good! You and that annoying little sister of his!" Twilight snorted at the image. "Then again, I did plan it that way," the image continued. "I needed to remove the Elements from play if my plan was going to work and it was so easy to distract the other Element Bearers that removing you was foal's play." "What plan?" Twilight asked, nervousness creeping into her voice. "The plan I have for Princess Cadance, of course," the image replied, as if it was obvious. "Her and the rest of Equestria." All three cellmates growled. "And you really think we're just going to stay here and let you do whatever you want?" Midnight asked sourly, moving over to the bars. "It's not like you have a choice in the matter," Wall-Shining said casually. A bit too casually. As Midnight inspected the bars, something black, greenish-blue, and nightmare-ish popped up in front of her, fangs bared. “YEEACH!” Midnight yelped, jumping back. What it was looked something like a cross between a pony and a bug. The general pony shape was there, the four legs, head, and ears, along with a unicorn horn, but the legs all looked like something had drilled large holes in them. It didn’t have a mane or tail, but a fin of some kind running down the back of its head and neck and another where the tail should have been. Its eyes looked like large, blue-green orbs and it had some sort of natural armor on its back, same color as its eyes, and the wings she saw were definitely insect-like and even buzzed occasionally. “What. The TARTARUS. Are they?” Midnight asked, trying to calm her breathing. “They’re called changelings,” Shining, the real Shining, supplied. The fake one was gone from the wall. “Cadance and I heard about them on our travels but no-one ever credited them as real. They can take the shape of anypony, even copy their voice, and drain the love from others. Their queen jumped me as soon as we got back and took my place. She’s the one that attacked you and sent you down here.” “Ah,” Midnight said. “Well, I guess that’s better than you being drugged out of your mind on magic supplements and trying to lead a military coup against the princesses.” Both Shining and Twilight gave her a look. “Drugged out on magic supplements? What gave you that idea?” Shining asked. “The, uh, change in color of your magic aura, mostly,” Midnight admitted, scuffing a hoof on the ground. “How was I supposed to guess you’d been replaced by a love-sucking bug pony?” Something clicked in her mind. “Wait, if they thought I was a threat… oh Makers, Arina! Eden!” “Sunny and I are in here!” Came Dancer’s voice from a few cells down. “Lady Eden isn’t here but…” her voice trailed off but the worry was easy to hear. “And Arina?” Midnight asked, loud enough to carry to all the cells. “Over here,” Twilight said, indicating a small cage near the back of their own. “I haven’t been able to try anything yet; any time I try to use magic, they come over and-” Midnight brushed past her and when she got a good look in the small cage, her heart sank. Arina was there, but it looked like she been through Tartarus and back. Most of her legs were skewed at odd angles and her body looked like someone had stepped on her. Her fur was matted with what looked like dried blood and both of the right eyes were shut. Upon seeing Midnight, though, the two left ones seem to come alive and she even managed a quiet, pitiful chirp. “I’m glad to see you, too,” Midnight whispered. “Just stay still and save your strength; I’ll get you out of there in no-time.” Lowering the small crystal cage, Midnight opened her mouth, wrapped as much of it as she could around the cage, and bit down. Being a gem-eater, the cage gave way with little effort and the kirin carefully picked the spider out. She even felt broken, lying there on her hoof with all eight legs dangling and not even trying to stand. “How long have I been out?” Midnight asked in a dangerously calm voice. “Hours, I think,” Twilight supplied. “I was sent down just before you were but I wasn’t knocked out. When I tried to use magic to get out, the two changelings outside hit me with a stun blast and drained me a bit.” “That’s how they’ve kept us down here for so long,” Shining added. “They drain us periodically to keep us too weak to try and escape and if we do try, they just drain us some more. From the sounds of it, a lot of ponies down here need medical attention soon or…” he trailed off. Midnight nuzzled the spider as she looked around their cell. It looked like any other cell in a dungeon, only made of crystal, and of course there were the guards and getting everypony else out as well. “Damn it!” Shining yelled, kicking the cell wall. “With the two of you down here, I don’t know how we’ll stop them!” “We will,” Midnight said, gently putting Arina down in the far back corner with a few whispered words of encouragement. “How?” Twilight asked. “We can’t use magic and we’re locked in!” “Give me a few minutes,” Midnight said, inspecting the crystal around them more closely. “I’m thinking.” ----------------------------- With a final tug, the bow in Squeaks’ mane was set and the filly was done getting dressed. After giving her work one last look-over, Sapphire nodded her approval and looked around at the rest of the ponies gathered there. Windrunner and Honey were finishing up while Forest, Spine, and Ember waited off to the side. Outside the doors to the suite, she could see the rest of the bearer guard waiting for them. All mentioned had some degree of worry on their face since none of them had seen Midnight since the previous morning. Sapphire had finally told the guards what Midnight was up to and why and a few of them had done a quick sweep of the castle and shops but they found nothing. They were all getting increasingly worried. Summer, on the other hoof, was fuming. “Tells me to do whatever I want with the dress, then disappears right before the wedding! Does she have any idea what I spent in time and money on it!? What in Celestia’s name is she thinking!?” She turned her fiery gaze on Sapphire once again. “Are you sure she didn’t say where she was going!?” “Yes, Summer, Midnight didn’t tell me what she was doing,” Sapphire told her for at least the tenth time. “Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll make it back before the wedding starts.” “Then she had better be able to put her dress on properly and Celestia help her if she comes into that chapel with her mane uncombed!” Summer snapped as she marched towards the door, Orange and Autumn following meekly behind. “The ceremony is in half an hour, so she better be running into the castle right now if she means to make it on time!” “Mom’s alright, isn’t she? Maybe Princess Luna or Princess Celestia can go get her real quick?” Squeaks asked as they followed Summer out. Sapphire had only told her that Midnight had gone out on an errand for the princesses. She didn’t think it right to tell her the whole story just yet; nopony other than the guard even knew about the threat. “The princesses are very busy right now,” Sapphire told her, “but Midnight said she would be back and she never breaks a promise like that, does she?” Squeaks shook her head “Nuh-uh,” she agreed, looking a little bit less anxious. “You still haven’t heard anything?” Sapphire asked Windrunner as they started down the corridor. Windrunner shook her head. “Nothing. We haven’t exactly had a lot of time to go searching for her, what with the bearers becoming the bridesmaids as well. What exactly was that all about anyway?” “Captain Armor said that the original bridesmaids were doing it as some sort of ploy to get in good with the nobles and princesses. With him being as touchy as he is lately, I can see why he got rid of them, even with Cadance’s protests. I suppose he figures the Element Bearers wouldn’t have such ulterior motives and they’re the best friends of his Best Mare, so that would be another reason to trust them,” Sapphire explained. “That makes sense,” Windrunner agreed, “but I also haven’t seen Twilight since yesterday; none of us have.” That made Sapphire pause momentarily. “You don’t think something happened to both of them?” “Miss Sparkle has family here in the city,” Hazelnut said, coming up on Sapphire’s other side. “She might have went to visit them overnight and come in with them to the wedding. Midnight might have seen her in the street and gone with her just in case.” “Without any word to us? We also haven’t heard back from Arina yet. Something is off, I just know it.” Out of the corner of her eye, Sapphire saw Honey fidgeting and falling behind. “Keep up Honey; we don’t want to lose you, too,” she said, attempting to joke about the situation and only making herself feel worse. Honey picked up her pace, opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it with a small shake of her head and continued to follow the group. ----------------------------- Twilight looked from the broken spider at her hooves to the kirin rubbing her face by the bars of the cell. “Are you sure about this?” she asked, looking over at where her brother was laying, pretty much out of the way. “He could still-” “Stick to the plan,” Midnight whispered back, rubbing her nose again. She’d gotten blasted in the face by one of their jailers when she began teething one of the crystal bars. She’d also apparently been drained of a bit of love but apparently both their stunning spells and draining magic didn’t have the same effect on her as it did the others. Score another one for her part-wyvern biology. In fact, all it really seemed to do was stoke her increasing anger at the whole situation and she had figured out just how to direct it. The look in her eyes told the purple unicorn not to argue any further. Taking a breath, Twilight powered up her horn and concentrated on healing the spider in front of her. “Hey!” One of the guards shouted and both ran up to the bars. Their horns flared, preparing to stun and drain Twilight, and Midnight made her move. A quick nibble had been enough to tell the kirin that the crystal was no harder than the gems she regularly ate, which she sometimes also crushed under hoof to sprinkle on other foods. Knowing this, all she had to do was wait for the perfect moment, or better yet stage it, to strike. With both jailers in front of the bars and distracted by Twilight, there was no time for them to react to the kirin leaping up and smashing through the crystal bars, the disguised armor she had with her deploying, bowling both over and sending their spells flying off harmlessly. The first guard she bit in to, her extended fangs burying themselves deep into his whither, then she shook him like a ragdoll and flung him against the nearby wall hard enough to audibly knock the wind out of him. The second jailer had enough time to power his horn back up, only for Midnight to turn and bite down on it, using it as a handle as she unmercifully picked him up by it and slammed him repeatedly into the ground. When she felt she’d beaten him enough, she flung him over to join his companion. Two more changelings came rushing around the main entrance of the jail block and shot a few stun spells at her. Midnight dodged them as she rushed forward as well. When they were in range she opened her mouth and blasted one of them with her fire then slashed into the other one with one of her hoof blades, sending them both shrieking to the ground. When she was done there was the scent of burnt skin and the sounds of whimpering in the air. ‘Just like you left Arina, you bastards,’ Midnight thought viciously, roaring in victory loud enough for all present to cover their ears. When the roaring didn’t summon any more jailers, she threw the second two on top of the first just as Twilight and Shining left their cell. Midnight gladly took the now healed spider from Twilight, who looked at the four changelings apprehensively. “Midnight… don’t you think that’s taking it a bit far?” Midnight looked back at her and Shining with a cold expression. “And what they’re doing, what they’re planning, isn’t?” she asked. Twilight opened her mouth to respond that they hadn’t nearly killed anypony but the words died on her lips as she caught sight of the other prisoners. Based on what she’d read and some photos she’d seen, many looked to be starving. If the changelings were planning to do the same to the rest of Canterlot, even the rest of Equestria, then maybe a bit of violence was necessary. Midnight didn’t wait for a response and went about breaking down the rest of the crystal bars and helping the captured guards and castle staff out into the main area. Most of the mares that looked like castle staff were crying while the guards who could still walk huddled around Shining and the also released Night Skimmer and Holly. Blade Dancer and Sun Singer sat apart from the others but close enough to stay involved. “Alright, everypony is free,” Shining reported after taking a head count. “By Celestia, they’ve taken over most of both guards.” “And starved most of them to the point they can barely move,” Holly added. “We need to get most of these ponies to the medical ward, not send them into battle.” “Not an option,” Midnight said. “The wedding could be happening right now and their plan revolves around that. We need to get back to the castle and quick. Any that can’t move will have to be left here.” “We can’t do that!” Shining said. “I won’t leave anypony behind!” “Even if it means losing Cadance!?” Midnight shot back. “Even if it means losing Canterlot!? Sorry, I’m not playing those odds!” “Then what do you want us to do!?” Night Skimmer spoke up. “Midnight, we can’t just leave them all down here!” “I think I have an idea,” Twilight said, interrupting. When all eyes were on her, she continued. “These caves were old gems mines, so it stands to reason that some equipment, like rail cars, should be left down here. We can load up the ponies that can’t walk into them and push them out that way.” “How do you know-?” Holly started. “I read about it in Canterlot: a History. It’s a pretty big book.” Shining just shook his head with a smile. “Twily, what would we do without that big brain of yours?” Blushing, Twilight trotted over to the entrance of the makeshift prison and looked out into the much wider cave network. “Over there!” she called out after a minute, pointing. Down a ways were a collection of mine carts, lined up and ready to go as if the mines were still in use. As the more fit went to bring them over, Midnight flew up and examined the cave from the air. It was a rather spacious cave system from the looks of it. In fact… She flew back down as they began loading ponies into the carts. “I think I know a way to get us out of here faster but we need a plan for when we do.” “Myself and any able guards are going straight to the wedding chapel,” Shining said without hesitation. “That’s where the queen will be. We beat her, the rest should surrender.” “That’s where my guard will be, so I’ll be heading there with you,” Midnight agreed. “Your guard?” Twilight asked, but Midnight ignored her. “Me, too,” both Holly and Night Skimmer said. “No,” Midnight said. “We need somepony in authority to round up the rest of the guard who haven’t been replaced by changelings. We’ll need them if things go sideways.” Shining nodded. “First Lieutenant Holly, that’s your job.” “But sir!” she protested, “you’ll need my help!” “This will help, lieutenant, and it’s an order.” Frowning, she accepted it. “Yes sir!” “Captain Skimmer, you’ll have to be the one to get the others to the infirmary,” Midnight said. “Now wait a minute!” Skimmer objected. “They need somepony to escort them and make sure things don’t get crazy when you drop half the guard into the castle doctors’ laps. After that you can…” she trailed off, frowning. “Where is Princess Luna at this time of day?” she asked. “She should be in her chambers, sleeping. Even with the wedding going on, she’s been more focused on the threat,” Skimmer said, then his eyes went wide. “You don’t think-!?” “I don’t know, but I doubt it,” Midnight said. “After you get to the infirmary, go and get her up if the changelings haven’t done anything to her yet. If we have both royal sisters in the fight, it might not be much of a fight at all.” Skimmer nodded. “I’ll be down with her in no time.” “Alright, now that that’s settled, what did you mean when you said there was a faster way out?” Shining asked. “From the looks of it, the caves are large enough that I can go wyvern. You tie the carts onto me and I crawl out of here faster and safer than those carts. Once we reach the entrance we can split up.” “Agreed. Alright, you all heard…” he looked at Midnight, then at Twilight, then back to Midnight, who nodded, “Captain Storm, once everypony is in the carts, she’ll change and we tie them all off to her. Make sure everypony is secure before we move!” As Shining organized the process, Twilight looked back up at Midnight. “Captain? You’re a Captain of the Guard?” Midnight sighed. “Do you want to talk about this right now when the fan is about to get hit or afterwards when I can calmly and fully explain things?” Twilight frowned and Midnight signed again. “I promise I will explain everything when this is all over. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she recited, going through the motions and substituting Arina for a cupcake. “Alright, fine,” Twilight said, not happy but mollified. “I’m keeping you to that.” “Pinkie is keeping me to it,” Midnight grumbled. “Now go help them with the ropes, I need room to change. Oh, and take Arina with you; I can’t hold her while I’m so big.” She threw the protesting spider to Twilight, who caught her in her magic before she could land on the unicorn’s face. It only took a few minutes to sling the carts under Midnight once she’d changed, then they were off. It was a good thing the caves were big enough for her to crawl through because a few of the rails the carts would have traveled on ended with twisted tracks that would have sent the carts into deep chasms and they would have lost all but the pegasi and thestrals that could still fly, those only being a couple dozen at most. The whole way, Twilight used her magic to guide Midnight to where fresh air was coming into the cave system. Finally, they reached a large ledge with an opening into what looked like the deep levels of the castle. Not being big enough for Midnight to go through, she balanced on the edge while the others disembarked. A few were green from motion sickness, but otherwise all had made it. “Alright,” Midnight said after she’d shrunk back down and Arina had jumped back up on her, “let’s get moving and-” She stopped as five ponies blocked the entrance to the castle. “You’re not going anywhere!” they said in unison, marching forward. They weren’t changelings, Midnight was sure. At this point, why be disguised to confront them? “Lyra?” Midnight said, recognizing the one in the middle. “More changelings?” Shining asked. “Only one way to find out,” Midnight said. “Lyra! What are you doing down here and not in the room with the mirror?” She asked the unicorn in a surprised tone. “M-Mirror?” Lyra said, halting her approach in confusion. “Yes! These four mares were supposed to take you to the mirror to the human world! That’s what the princess promised, remember?” “Mir-ror? HUMANS? MIRROR TO HUMANS!” And like a light switch, the unicorn turned on the other mares. “WHERE MIRROR!?” She shouted, jumping on them. With odd looks at the scuffle unfolding before them, the group of guards and servants filed into the castle proper. “What was-?” Shining asked. “Conspiracy theorist,” Midnight said. “Crazy beats mind control. Alright everyone, let’s get moving! There’s not a moment to lose!” Nodding, the group split into two and they went barreling towards their respective destinations. ----------------------------- The wedding was proceeding rather well, Sapphire thought as Celestia neared the end of the ceremony. Even so, something about the whole affair seemed… off and it wasn’t just because both Midnight and Twilight were still missing. Twilight’s absence had caused a bit of a buzz at the beginning, being the Best Mare and all, but Shining said that he and Twilight had gotten into an argument that had something to do with the wedding, he wouldn’t specify what, and after a few minutes had convinced both Celestia and his parents that they could go forward without her. Whatever her problem was, if she thought it was worth skipping out on the wedding over, then perhaps it was best that she wasn’t there. What was even stranger was that Cadance didn’t even make a peep about this. If fact, she looked pretty out of it from her walk down the aisle all the way up to the alter and all through the ceremony. Nothing was said about Midnight’s lack of presence beyond their own group and any mention of her got a cold look from Summer. The anger radiating off the unicorn had diminished as the ceremony went on, but it was still noticeable from where Sapphire was standing. “And now,” Princess Celestia said, “Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, it is my great pleasure to pronounce you-” “STOOOP!” came a yell from the closed doors to the entrance hall, making everyone turn towards them. This was immediately followed by a loud, familiar roar that made Sapphire sigh in relief, no matter why the roar had been made. The large double doors burst open and two guards came sailing into the chapel, landing half way to the alter with twin, metallic thuds. Midnight swooped in, landing hard in the center aisle and in full armor, making several very intimidated guests scurry hastily away from her. Twilight quickly joined her. “What do you think you’re doing!?” Shining yelled down at them. “How dare you interrupt our wedding like this! And Twilight, where have you been!?” “Don’t you dare talk to her that way!” said… Shining? Another Shining Armor came up and stood with Midnight and Twilight while a good number of guards, both Solar and Lunar, took up positions behind them. “And it’s not your wedding, anyway.” “What the…!?” The Shining Armor at the alter started, then took a few steps forward in disbelief. “Don’t act too surprised,” Midnight said, “you had plenty of time to figure out what we were capable of, miss Queen of the Bugs! Also, you might have wanted to have better security than four unarmed jailers and five brainwashed mares.” Her hoof blades swung forward. The Shining Armor at the alter looked from the newly arrived group to Celestia and back several times. “I… but… they…” Finally, he took a breath and glared at them. “Good to know,” he growled. “I-I don’t get it,” AJ piped up. “How care there be two of’em?” “He’s a changeling, a creature that can take the form of anypony and feed off your love for them,” Twilight explained. “And this one isn’t just any changeling, it’s their queen.” The fake Shining Armor growled, then became enveloped in green fire, something similar to how Midnight changed in and out of her wyvern form. “BEARER GUARD!” Midnight called out, “TAKE POSITIONS!” As Midnight put herself between Twilight and the changeling queen, the other eleven members shot out of the crowd and in front of the rest of the bearers by the alter. “What is going on!?” Summer yelped as Scarlet bolted past. “We’ll explain later,” Sapphire said as she put Squeaks on Honey’s back and began to pull the unicorn away from the scene. Orange was also pulling Summer back while Forest pulled Ember and Autumn back with Honey and Squeaks. Spine put himself between them and the changeling. “Right now we have to get clear!” “But Midnight!” Summer protested. “Can take care of herself! Trust me Summer, she’s safer than us right now!” As the green fire dissipated, it left behind what was obviously a changeling but a different one from what they’d seen in the crystal caves. This changeling was tall, as tall and lanky as Celestia, with even larger wings and horn, which, unlike the others, was long, gnarled, and seemed to have holes taken out of it like the legs. This one also had a mane, tail, and normal-ish looking eyes, all the same blue-green as her mid-section.. “Right you are, little librarian,” the changeling queen chuckled, her voice oddly distorted like two ponies were talking at once. “And as queen, it’s my job to find my subjects fertile hunting grounds. Equestria has more love than any other place I’ve found, not to mention the alicorn of love herself and her almost inexhaustible supply of it. We’ll be able to absorb so much of it that we’ll become the strongest race on the planet! And don’t think your little shield spell will help you any, either. I’ve been slowly undoing your spell ever since I took your place. You may have enough numbers to fight the changelings that made it inside with me before the shield went up but right now it’s so weak the rest of my army should be breaking through any time now!” Midnight risked a look outside. There, in the sky was… too many black dots to count and the shield itself seemed to be pulsing all over the place like it was being pelted by rain. Rain in the form of changelings either hitting it with their own magic or even slamming into it bodily. ‘Oh, Tartarus…’ “Despite your pathetic efforts, Canterlot will fall! After that, the rest of Equestria will soon follow, then I, Queen Chrysalis, will lead my changelings to conquer the entire world!” “No, you won’t,” came a regal, commanding voice from behind the queen. Celestia, having first moved the dazed Cadance out of danger, stepped forward. She no longer radiated a sense of calm and peace but now one of an angry sun, ready to scorch anyone who opposed it to ash. “Shining Armor’s shield may fail but since you have so foolishly exposed who you truly are, I can protect my people! We’ll see how yours fair when their leader is defeated!” With one massive flap of her wings, Celestia took to the air and shot a beam of golden magic at the queen. Chrysalis immediately countered the blast with one of her own. For a moment, as the beams connected, they seemed evenly matched. Then the changeling’s green magic pushed the golden one back so fast Celestia never had a chance to move. The green beam connected with the princess like an uppercut, knocking her up and back before she fell heavily to the floor of the chapel. Her crown, knocked loose from the hit, clinked in the stunned silence as it hit the floor. “PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Twilight cried out, immediately rushing to her mentor’s side, Midnight close behind. “Fool!” Chrysalis crowed. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be prepared for you when the time came!? I’ve been absorbing love almost constantly from Princess Cadance and any love you and your sister had for her, not to mention all the other ponies who adore her! Add to that, with all the running around and worrying I’ve been having you do because of the threat; you can barely stand as it is! Right now I’m more powerful than all three alicorns combined!” That was too much. All the ponies present began to panic and try to flee, only to be stopped by all the other guards present showing that they, too, were changelings. Out in the entrance hall, Midnight could hear the guards they’d brought with them beginning to fight. Shining ran up to the alter towards Cadance, but what good that would do, Makers knew. Scanning the crowd, she finally saw Sapphire and the rest of her family and friends backed into an alcove. Out of immediate danger, but stuck there all the same. She caught Sapphire’s eye and while the pegasus was clearly frightened, focusing on the kirin seemed to give her more resolve. Midnight wanted nothing more than to go to them but she knew that might just make them a target right now. “The… the Elements…” Celestia groaned as Twilight cradled her head. Her horn was scorched black and even her muzzle looked a bit discolored. All the bearers and bearer guard around her looked equally shocked and afraid that she’d gone down so easily. “You must get the Elements and use them to stop the queen!” “But what about you!?” Twilight asked, panicked. She’d never seen Celestia so weak before. She was the alicorn of the sun, ruler of Equestria, she wasn’t supposed to be like this! “As long as you get the Elements and defeat Chrysalis and her army, I’ll be fine, now go!” “Twilight, we have to move,” Midnight said, nudging her away from the alicorn. “There’s more at stake here than just Celestia!” Twilight looked up at her, stunned, then nodded. “Y-You’re right… you’re right,” she repeated more strongly. “Girls,” she said, turning to her five friends, “let’s go!” As they began to run, Spike hopped up and landed on Twilight’s back. “I’m coming, too!” “Spike!” Twilight protested. “Hey, if I could help with Discord, I can help here, too!” “Bearer Guard!” Midnight called out, fangs extended, “you know your duty! I expect nothing less than every last bit of your effort!” She punctuated the last word with her tail blade hitting the tiled floor. “Ma’am, yes ma’am!” they chorused, quickly following the bearers. Midnight only hesitated for a second to look back at Sapphire. She was holding Squeaks now, both looking right at her. She saw Sapphire mouth the word “go” and she tore after the others. “Arina, stay with them!” Midnight said, throwing the spider across the chapel as she ran out the doors. Arina landed squarely on Squeaks’ head, chirping happily at seeing them again. “No matter what you do, you can’t win!” Chrysalis called after them, laughing. If she wasn’t so fixated on getting the bearers to the Elements, knowing they were the only real hope they had left, Midnight would have turned around and flung herself at the changeling queen. There was indeed fighting out in the entrance hall, though the guards seemed to be holding their own. Holly was charging towards the fight with several other guards in toe but there was no sign of Night Skimmer. Either his group had been caught on the way to the infirmary or was having their own fight to get to Princess Luna. Either way, it looked like Holly’s group was all the reinforcements they could expect. Midnight and several of the others took swipes at the changelings they passed to try and help but they were quickly out the door and running through the castle grounds towards the Elements’ vault. All those present with wings took to the air and by instinct Midnight looked up. She could actually see cracks in the pink dome above them and they were quickly spreading. At that moment she realized that the shield would fail and it would be raining changelings before they got near the vault. “Keep going!” Midnight called, stopping. “What are you doing!?” Wild Mane called back as the rest of them slowed down. “I’ve got this! Just get to the Elements!” Midnight called back, her hooves bursting into blue flames. As all present knew what that meant, they picked up speed again and left the kirin behind. Like the long ago fight with the hydra, this wasn’t a fight she planned on winning; it was a delaying action with only two goals: divert as much attention as she could from the bearers onto herself and bring down as many changelings as she possible could. That was it. The changelings above all pulled back as one, and as one hit the shield one final time. As it broke, so did the blue tornado of fire below, revealing the black wyvern within. With a roar, she met the descending horde with a storm of fire. ----------------------------- “I know this has been said before, but I am so glad she’s on our side,” Spike said, looking back at the fiery hell Midnight was unleashing on the changelings. “There it is!” Twilight called out as they quickly neared the vault. Wild Mane and Hazelnut took the lead, body slamming through the front doors. Miracles of miracles, there weren’t any changelings inside. “Alright, all I should have to do is unlock it and we can end this!” Twilight said, running over and, copying what she’d seen Celestia do last time, stuck her horn into the hole in the middle and channeled her magic into the lock. The result was like sticking her horn in an outlet. The magic shot back into her horn, zapping her into a jittery dance, then shot her halfway back down the room. “Was that supposed to happen?” Scarlet asked. “Twilight, darling?” Rarity asked as she helped the other unicorn back to her hooves. “You can unlock the vault door, right?” Shaking herself, Twilight approached the door again, inspecting it more closely this time. “Uh-oh,” she said after a few seconds. “Uh-oh? Uh-oh!? Twilight, this is not the time for uh-oh!” Rainbow yelled. “Okay, okay, I think I can unlock it,” Twilight said. “You think!?” Tight yelped. “It’s locked with alicorn magic! That said, I think I can work around it if some of the mechanism is like a schlage, E-V-V-A-M-C-S, or Shi He Chi Me lock.” “Whatever you’re planning to do, do it fast!” Wild Mane yelled out as he and Hazelnut shut the door behind them. “The captain’s good, but she can’t keep all the attention to herself!” From outside, there came a loud, ominous buzzing. ----------------------------- Midnight roared as a shot of magic almost hit her eye. Snapping her head around, she let out another gout of fire at her tormentor. Whether or not she got him, she didn’t know, but she was already busy lunging at another massed group of changelings nearby. In truth, she had no idea if she’d actually killed any of the changelings she’d torched or swatted so far but she doubted most would be getting up soon. Another plus was that where she’d ended up making her stand was probably the most open part of the royal gardens beside where the hedge maze was. She had plenty of room to spin around, flail her tail, and shoot out stream after stream of fire without having to really worry about accidentally hurting anypony. She was doing a good job at keeping most of the changelings at bay and not letting many get near the Elements’ vault but the same could not be said of the rest of the city. From her vantage point she could see many more changelings flooding into the streets, shops, and homes, chasing ponies hither and yawn, probably catching many of them. Several times she almost took off into the city when she saw foals being chased but she reminded herself that she had to stay where she was. Once the bearers used the Elements, this nightmare would be over. That was, if they would GET the Elements already! What in Equestria was taking them so long!? A look back at the vault and she could see that a large group of changelings had snuck in under her from the direction of the city and were pouring into the vault. It was when the inside started flashing like one of Vinyl’s concerts that Midnight figured they were going to need more direct help. Roaring and falling to all fours, she began charging towards the vault. If they were having such a problem getting it open, she’d just smash in one of the walls for them. As she approached, she saw another wave of changeling approaching and turned to blast them. Instead, something bright green slammed into the side of her head like a train. Letting out another roar, this one of pain, Midnight toppled over onto her side. Oddly enough, by the time she hit the ground the pain was gone, replaced by a complete numbness. Several other large, painful impacts hit her as she tried to get back up and this time she saw they were coming from the chapel. ‘Damn that bug-queen bitch!’ Midnight growled to herself as she tried to get up yet again and was rewarded with several more shots. While this time she stayed down, she did angle her head so that her next shot of fire could at least come close to the balcony Chrysalis had to be firing from and make her go back into cover. When she felt the angle was good enough, she opened her mouth. Another green blast shot out and hit her squarely in the back of the throat. Her roar of pain was cut off as her throat went numb. She could still feel her lungs going up and down but couldn’t feel the air moving in and out. It was such an odd sensation that she couldn’t help but focus on it, even as the blue fire engulfed her again and she screamed at herself to concentrate and keep her wyvern form up. ‘Don’t you screw this up Twilight, not when we’re this close! Not right after you finally know about us! Don’t tell me we held off for too long!’ she thought as a swarm of changelings descended upon her unresponsive body. ----------------------------- “Well, that was close,” Chrysalis said as her horn cooled down. “Wouldn’t want someone to ruin all that hard work by just sitting on a wall.” “You’re a monster,” one of the ponies behind her spat out. Turning, she realized it had to be from one of those gathered around the dragon she’d laid out shortly after the bearers and their ridiculous guards had made a break for the Elements. As if they could ever reach them anyway. Celestia had them under magical lock and her alicorn magic was the only key to get inside. That or destroying one or more of the walls around them, but the only one who could really come at them that way was currently laid out on the castle lawn. A valiant attempt, but ultimately futile. “Would you call Celestia a monster if she invaded another country for food? Such hypocrites, of course you wouldn’t!” “Celestia would never invade; she’d negotiate with the other country for food!” It was the blue pegasus with the orange eyes, a small thestral filly hiding behind her legs. The honey-colored unicorn hovering near them had something odd about her, something familiar… “Keep telling yourself that,” Chrysalis said dismissively. The alicorn in question was currently being secured, hooves, wings, and horn all, to the floor by the few guards left with her. With her demonstration of power, few would be foolish enough to try and attack her and she’d already shown what the consequence of that was. “Then again, it won’t matter soon, will it?” “The bearers will stop you,” Shining said, still trying to snap Cadance out of her trance. “We’ll see,” Chrysalis smirked. ----------------------------- “Any time, Twilight!” Sky shouted as she dodged several more blows from her doppelgangers. “I’m going as fast as I can!” the unicorn shouted back, sweat running down her face as she concentrated. She was sure she was getting close! It hadn’t taken long for the changelings that had slipped past Midnight to get in, what with all the windows. As soon as they had broken in, they’d begun to change into either the rest of the bearers or their guards in an attempt to confuse them. “Only go after your own doppelgangers!” First Sergeant Hazelnut had called out. “They could just sit back and watch us beat each other down otherwise!” As it turned out, it was the best order that could have been given. While the changelings could copy what they looked like, they couldn’t copy their skills or special talents. This was most notable with Rainbow and Windrunner as the changelings copying them couldn’t possibly match their speeds, even confined in the vault like they were. Rainbow Dash after Windrunner fell out of the air, hit hard by the two speeding trails of rainbow and dust brown. Rarity and Dandelion look-a-likes were easily picked out by their green magic while AJ, Mane, and Scarlet copies began piling up as the three originals used their strength to knock around the changelings like they were training mannequins. Sky, Cleaver, and Star Claw all used their loud screeching to stun the changeling impersonating them before knocking them back down to the ground. Pinkie… well, there was no way for the changelings to keep up with whatever she ended up doing, nor could they pull a party cannon out of nowhere, which began to take its own toll on their numbers. Tight, Blackberry, Spread Eagle, and Spike stayed near Twilight and Fluttershy, the butter yellow pegasus doing her best to stay out of the fight, and beating back anyone that came near or torching them with fire. To Spike’s consternation, the marble floor wasn’t letting him set up a ring of fire around them like he and Midnight had done with Discord. At first things looked to be going their way with the first wave of changelings all falling with none of their own down for the count. Then they all heard Midnight roar in pain and felt the vibration as she hit the ground. “She’s down!” Windrunner confirmed as she poked her head out of one of the windows. She quickly withdrew back inside as several green magic beams flew in, followed by the next wave of changelings pouring into the vault and the fight was on again. The world quickly became a blur for the combatants as more and more changelings entered the vault. Now, whenever they knocked a changeling out, two more seemed to take their place and this influx soon began taking its toll. Rarity was the first to go down, hit by nearly half a dozen stun spells at once right after taking a pot shot at a trailing Rainbow Dash copy. Pinkie, having grabbed Dandelion and begun using him like some fixed magic cannon, took out the unicorn’s attackers but their stationary position left them open to another volley of stun spells. Scarlet, AJ, and Mane were doing their best to shrug the blasts off but with three of their members down the number of enemies they were taking on were too much for them to handle and they, too, soon fell. They made a good account of their last hits as Scarlet simply jumped into a wad of changelings, clawing with all four limbs and biting anything and everything she could until the whole mass went down with her. AJ’s last buck sent two changelings into another approaching group, taking them all down like bowling pins before another group stunned her. Wild Mane lived up to his name, being a wild blur that tore through the changelings at a disconcerting pace, hitting with his front hooves, bucking with his rear ones, and even head-butting a few that got too close to his face. After the other two fell, the numbers became too much, even for him, and he went down with a mountain of changelings dog-piling him. With all the forward ground threats taken out, it became only a matter of time before the non-stop barrage of stun blasts from the ground and air began taking out their air cover. All three thestrals fell in quick succession, not being as fast as either Rainbow or Windrunner but their speed couldn’t save them either. Once they got hit by one stun blast, their speed dropped considerably, allowing them to be hit by more and more until they also fell to the ground. “Twilight?” Fluttershy whimpered as the mass of changeling all turned their undivided attention on the last five ponies. “I… think… I… YES!” Twilight cheered, just as Tight went down. “It’s unlock- oh, you’ve got to be kidding me! There’s another layer!?” Before she could even try and start to unlock this new lock layer, she was hit by over a dozen stun blasts. Before she went down, she noted how these blasts didn’t seem as individually effective as the ones the jailers below the castle had been. She’d have to wait to find out why as she said hello to the darkness. ----------------------------- Her wait, oddly enough, wasn’t that long. “Twilight and the others will stop you!” she heard Shining say as she came to and saw that they were all being carried back into the chapel. “Just because you took a cheap shot at Captain Storm doesn’t mean-!” Cadance, finally awoken from her drained stupor, added, before stopping short as the bearers and their defeated guards were hauled into the room. They were all awake again though they all looked like they’d been through the ring a few times. Midnight looked even worse, being dragged in by four changelings and still out. A cry of alarm turned her attention to the side where she could see Midnight’s family and friends, still trapped here in the chapel. They were all looking at the kirin, now splayed out on the floor where the changeling had dropped her, like they were watching a pony on their death bed. In the crowd of ponies on the other side of the chapel, she could see her parents there. She should have known they wouldn’t have left, not with both their children in trouble. “You were saying?” Chrysalis asked with a smirk. Laughing, she turned to the changelings that had brought them in. “Go, feed! The guards here will be more than enough to handle any pitiful resistance they try and put up.” Nodding, the changelings shot back out of the chapel, leaving only about a half dozen guards with the changeling queen. “It’s all rather funny, really,” Chrysalis continued to her captive audience. “Both Twilight and Midnight were suspicious of me, though neither of them realized just what my true plans were. It’s a good thing that the rest of you were so caught up in either planning the wedding or chasing false leads to listen to them!” Twilight hung her head. She’d tried to get the others to understand just how off Shining had seemed but they’d all dismissed it as frayed nerves from the wedding and running the guard, even though Twilight had known her brother could handle things better. Looking back up, she saw that Midnight now had an eye open and was looking at Scarlet. The hippogriff was looking back at her and nodding as covertly as she possibly could while elbowing Wild Mane next to her. “We’re sorry we didn’t listen to ya, Twi,” AJ apologized. “It’s not your fault,” Twilight said, an idea coming to her. She no longer felt any of the effects of the stun spells and again she noted how weird that was. However, if she was feeling fine again, then so must the rest of them who’d been in the vault. And if Midnight was already up after going down like she had… “she fooled all of us, even Midnight.”1 “Hmm, I did, didn’t I?” Chrysalis said, swaggering over to Midnight, the kirin’s eyes closed again, and giving the still supposedly down and out captain a kick. Noises of protest rose from where Sapphire, Summer, and the others were at. “Besides you Element Bearers, she was the only one that was really a threat. Too bad she’s still out; I guess I’ll just have to wait a bit more before I drain the love from every last one of her friends and family here today!” Had she’d truly done proper research on the kirin, she would have known how bad a choice it was to have just said what she did. Or, at least, not say it while directly over her. Like a blue and black lightning bolt, Midnight shot up from the floor, fangs out and gleaming, and bit Chrysalis hard in the base of her neck. Chrysalis screamed and reared back but Midnight was already holding on tight, her legs and wings wrapping around the changeling queen, wing claws digging into her hide, as her head began twisting back and forth as if to tear a chuck out her, which was likely the kirin’s plan. Her tail blade whipped around, trying to plant itself into either the Chrysalis’ back or legs to help bring her down. The few other changelings in the chapel shot up to defend their queen but were quickly jumped upon when Hazelnut yelled out “NOW!” and the bearer guard fell on them, knocking them back down to the ground and beating them into submission. Spine also pushed himself back up to his feet and jumped on the one changeling to break free and make for the windows, possibly to get reinforcements. Spread Eagle hurried over and kicked the changeling struggling under the dragon out cold. Remembering she had enough magic to beat Celestia, Chrysalis used it to first grab Midnight’s still flailing tail, then the rest of the kirin and pull her off. Midnight wasn’t so easily dislodged and as she was ripped away, her teeth and claws left deep, badly bleeding tears in the changeling queen’s chitinous hide, making her scream as she flung the kirin away. “You… you little… you dare!?” Chrysalis said as she touched the spot Midnight had bitten into, green blood oozing out of the wound. Charging her horn up, she turned towards Sapphire and the others. “I’ll show you what happens to someone who defies me!” Midnight was already up and charging back in but Chrysalis was faster, her magic shot flying before the kirin could get close. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for the kirin as the bolt flew across the chapel. Too fast for her to do anything about it, she watched as Sapphire surrounded Squeaks and Arina with her own body, as Summer did the same with Autumn and Orange over her, as Spine dove forward to protect Forest and Ember. As she watched this all unfold, something in her clicked and all she could focus on then was that, no matter what it took, no matter what it cost now, she would KILL Chrysalis and grind her body into the ground until all that was left was a green smear. As such, her attention fixed solely on the changeling queen now, it never registered to her when Honey jumped in front of the blast, activated her own magic that was also a sickly green, and blocked it with a shield spell of her own. Honey was pushed back several paces as the bolt hit her shield but, straining, she put all her concentrating and magic into the shield, allowing her yellow fur to flash away in small green-flamed puffs, revealing black chitin underneath. By the time the blast finally fizzled out and she dropped her shield, in Honeysuckle’s place was another changeling, about Midnight’s size and similar in body style to Chrysalis but instead of the queen’s blue-green colors and dead-looking mane, her colors were a honey gold and her mane and tail were voluminous, almost like a normal pony’s would be. “Leave… them… alone!” she yelled at the larger changeling, panting with the exertion of negating the blast. “YOU!” Chrysalis yelled. “I thought I recognized you, Honeycomb! When I’m done with these meddlesome ponies, I’ll deal with you- AAAARGH!” She screamed as Midnight slammed into her again, teeth and claws and even tail this time tearing into her with the will of a creature possessed. As the rest of the bearer guard rushed in to help their captain, Sapphire looked up at the changeling standing between them and the queen. Her golden eyes flicked back towards them momentarily and in that moment, Sapphire thought she saw regret there but then the eyes were back on the escalating fight and so was Sapphire’s. Squeaks’ eyes, however, stayed on the changeling a little longer, her whisper of “Honey?” inaudible over the screams and yells of the fight. With the changeling queen well and truly distracted, both the bearers and Twilight’s parents made it up to the alter to join Shining and Cadance. “Thank Celestia you two are alright!” Twilight Velvet said as she reached her children, pulling them both into a crushing hug. “And you, too, Cadance dear!” she added, also hugging the alicorn. “None of us will be alright if we can’t take out the queen!” Shining said, watching as Chrysalis continued to fight off the entire bearer guard while also trying to pry Midnight off again. “What about your spell? Can’t you use that to send all the changelings out of the city?” Twilight asked. Shining had told her about it before and she’d done some research to help him fine-tune it. The spell as it was taught was a larger version of a general shield spell. However, it could be tuned to allow certain species in and keep others out, something useful when hiking in the wilderness or among possibly hostile races. Shining closed his eyes and focused, putting as much power into his horn as he could, but it barely lit up at the tip. “I… I can’t! I don’t have the strength to perform it!” He tried again, this time stumbling as even less power emitted from his horn. “They drained me too much!” “My love will give you strength!” Cadance said, helping him back up, only for them all to stumble as Chrysalis blew all her attackers back with a large pulse of magic. “Ridiculous!” She shouted, one again getting a firm magical hold on Midnight and ripping her off again, causing more of her green blood to spurt out of fresh wounds. “Only changelings can use love like that!” Midnight was back up almost as soon as she hit the floor, just in time to catch a blast of magic right to the face. The impact sent her flying back, slamming into one of the pillars holding up the chapel and cracking it before falling to the floor. “And once I finish off this abominable pest, I’m going to drain you almost dry and show you true power!” Chrysalis screeched, advancing on Midnight who was trying, and clearly failing, to struggle back to her hooves. Cadance glared at the queen’s back, then looked at Shining Armor. He looked just as haggard as she felt. Chrysalis was wrong, though; she had to be. If Twilight and her friends could defeat such enemies as Nightmare Moon and Discord with friendship and harmony, why couldn’t love, her own special talent, work for her? Leaning forward, she touched the tip of her horn to Shining’s and focused. Chrysalis herself had said that Cadance was an almost unending font of love and she pulled on those almost inexhaustible reserves now and channeled them into Shining Armor. Realizing what she was doing, Shining focused on the love she was giving him, allowing it to flow into him and give him hope and the courage and strength to do what had to be done. Chrysalis was almost on top of Midnight, watching as the kirin fell back to the floor, her eyes unfocused and breathing shallow, even as she still tried to crawl towards her. She’d kill off this persistent vermin, then that little traitor, then drain each and every single pony in this chapel dry before leading her changelings into a glorious new golden era as masters of the continent and, eventually, masters of the entire world! As she powered up her horn for one finale blast, she noticed that the green glow of her horn was being over taken by an even brighter pink and blue glow from behind. Spinning around, she saw Cadance and Shining Armor glowing in their respective magic auras, the power of their magic becoming more and more obvious with every second. “NO!” she screamed, flying towards them. Too late. Shining’s shield spell detonated and the pink magic slammed into the rushing changeling queen like she’d run into a brick wall. Honey, seeing this, jumped into the air, only to get smacked by the magical wall as well, smacking her into the chapel wall behind. Chrysalis was sent flying out of the chapel windows, out over the castle, and eventually out of the city, the force sending her flying out into the distance. All changelings in the city were also sent flying, many out of the city with their queen but quite a few into the sides of buildings and walls. And, just like that, the invasion was over. With Chrysalis gone, Sapphire, Squeaks, Summer, and the others, along with the bearer guard, all swarmed to Midnight’s side. Holly and several other guards stormed into the chapel, looking for changelings to fight but the few they saw were in no condition. Shooting a questioning look up at her captain, Shining nodded back wearily. “Medic,” he said in a tired but relieved voice.