//------------------------------// // 6 Trial run of the Mane six(plus Spike) // Story: Knowledge Brings Change // by hydra30 //------------------------------// "NO, DON'T!" screamed Ocellus to her fellow changelings desperately as they buzzed past her. "IT'S NOT TRUE,  THEY CAN USE MAGIC. I HAVE SEEN IT!" But none appeared to have heard her, buzzing off to meet the charging ponies. Ocellus trembled with fear, the odds of this turning into a full blown slaughter were increasing exponentially. What was she going to do? She had no desire to fight, not even in the heyday of the changelings' strength. With fearful tears, Ocellus transformed into an ant and scurried into a fissure in the ground, blue flowers falling to the ground outside. --- Rainbow Dash galloped towards the five changelings that had broken off from the group to challenge her, fire in her eyes at the thought of the fight that was soon to follow. Swiftly, she leaped over the first changeling that reached her, spending him skidding across the dirt on his belly as he slid to a stop. The next she dodged by standing on her hind legs and spinning on her hooves, his gossamer wings grazing her stomach as he passed. The next two lunged at the same time, one striking from above, another from below. Rainbow only smirked at their attempt to overpower her and braced her legs in preparation. At the last second, Rainbow leapt ever so slightly into the air and angled her body horizontally. She fit in the space between her lunging foes easily, both going wide eyed as they missed their quarry completely and their momentum carried them to where they collided with each other and slammed into the dirt. "Ha," snarked Rainbow, turning her attention from the four sprawled changelings to the final one who buzzed before her. "You are going to have to get up far earlier than that to take down Equestria's fastest pegasus with such mediocre moves." "A pegasus that can't fly," remarked the changeling, a cruel smirk on his face. "As long as you are in our domain the inherent magic of your kind is rendered inert." Rainbow looked over her shoulder in time to see the other changelings climb to their hooves and move in to circle around her. "And while you still retain your agile nature, our greater numbers will eventually overwhelm you, Rainbow Flash." "It's Rainbow Dash, bug!" snapped Rainbow, pawing the ground with a challenging smile on her lips. "And you're wrong if you think I will be an easy opponent just because I can't fly out here in this barren dump." "Always so confident,  its so annoying," hissed one of the other changelings. "I say we silence that cocky tongue once and for all." No sooner did he finish this sentence did they lunge forward to dogpile the lone Rainbow: 'TIID KLO UL' Rainbow flashed a violent smirk as all her attackers froze in their tracks, their hissing mouths letting out air like slow leaks. "And to think, even I thought I couldn't be any faster," said Rainbow smugly, ducking under the changelings in front of her and walking a good ten feet away. Twiddling her hooves, she faced her lunging foes and waited. Slowly, like someone restarting a paused video, the changelings sped back up to normal speed, colliding with each other at the spot on the ground she had once occupied. She grinned with the thrill of the fight, waiting for them to notice her... and waited... and waited some more. She sat on her haunches, her aggressive grin being replaced by a look of confusion. The changelings kept squirming and crawling all over each other, wrestling with the space beneath them with a fiery passion, despite the fact that their supposed target wasn't there. Hoof met face as it became obvious that they weren't going to notice her absence under their own power. "AHEM?!" she snapped. "Not now," said the changeling on top of the pile, full blown looking at her and talking, "We're busy." Rainbow dropped her jaw at the immeasurable obliviousness, even Pinkie Pie wouldn't be this distracted on the worst of days. "AAAAAAHHHHHHEEEEEEEM!!!!!!!??????" she shouted at the top of her lungs. " I said..." This time they did notice her, looking from her to the ground beneath them. "Wait, how did you..." Okay, Rainbow felt it was time to stop playing around: 'VEN GAAR NOS' A small cyclone billowed from Rainbow's mouth, sweeping the changelings into the air and carrying them off into the distance, their screaming, flailing bodies twirling rapidly all the way. 'WULD NAH KEST' Rainbow streaked across the dust of the Badlands so fast her hooves left a trail of glass in their wake, allowing her to overtake the cyclone and arrive in front of it. As it vanished she twirled on her forelegs and tucked her hind legs under her rear and threw them out in a powerful buck. She caught two of the changelings in the guts as they dropped from her cyclone, propelling them backward... ...directly into two of their fellows, who in turn, collided with the last of their group. They hit the ground in a heap a good distance away from where the cyclone deposited them, groaning in pain as every nerve in their bodies cried out in agony. One looked up in time to see Rainbow steadily striding up to them. The look on her face said they were in a lot of trouble. "How is this possible?" moaned the changeling on top. " Only changelings can use magic out here... but you're a pegasus... a pegasus using actual spells...? Impossible!" "Buddy," snarked Rainbow, standing up on her hind legs and gesturing her forelegs around in complicated movements, the changelings gasping in dread as electricity arced along her hooves. "I have always overcome the impossible." The changelings screamed and scattered, their wings and tails twinging as a stream of lightning streamed through the air between them. --- "Fella, ya don't wanna do that." A single changeling stood ahead of his four companions that had joined in ganging up on this single earth pony. She surmised that without her earth pony strength they all thought a single changeling would be enough to subdue her. The gall of it left Applejack with a slightly irritated pride. 'Boy howdy, they are in for a nasty surprise.' As expected, the changeling lunged, his forelegs outstretched as his buzzing wings carried him swiftly to his quarry. Applejack just stood there, waiting for him to get closer. 'MUL QAH DIIV' The changeling had expected his momentum to be enough to knock Applejack straight on her rump, but when he slammed into her, his whole body stopped dead like he had flown into a pony statue. Cringing in pain, he slowly tilted his head up, his whole neck cracking like breaking twigs, and looked up. All he could do was gulp nervously. Applejack was covered head to tail in luminescent orange and blue scales, transparent orange horns protruding from under her Stetson. With a swiftness deceptive to her size, Applejack twirled around fast enough that the changeling dislodged from her chest and hung in the air, bringing her legendary hind legs out to buck him in the chest as he descended to the ground. He went flying backwards... straight towards his fellows, who were too dumbstruck to react. He slammed into the four of them, scattering them all with sound resembling a bowling ball knocking down bowling pins echoing through the air. STRIKE. Groaning with pain, they climbed steadily up, their legs shaking slightly as they fought to regain their composure. "Had enough?" asked Applejack. The changelings turned to her as she approached, still garbed in her Dragon Aspect. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't. Applejack rolled her eyes as they all took to the air on their gossamer wings, fangs bared. And they decided to kick it up a notch, as all of them became shrouded in green magic, giving them the appearance of green meteors, just like in Canterlot. Steadying her legs in a fighting stance, Applejack grew a challenging smirk as they all lunged at her one by one. The first one slammed into her chest, same as before, his destructive changeling magic dispersing around her shielded body. Before he could even comprehend his attack had failed, Applejack quickly flipped over, hanging in the air on her back, and threw her left foreleg out. The changeling was sent skyward as a fireball struck him in the stomach, flames dancing across his form as he flew a good fifty feet in the air, crashing down in a smoldering heap as gravity yanked him back down. Applejack planted her hindlegs on the ground after launching the changeling, leaning her upper body back just in time to dodge a glimmering green meteor. 'IIZ SLEN NUZ' A blue mist struck the meteor's side as it passed, knocking off the green flames and encasing the changeling beneath in a thin layer of ice, the vicious snarl it wore frozen solid. Applejack quickly pulled out her lasso as the velocity of her Thu'um carried the changeling off, quickly taking aim and lashing it forward to loop it around its frozen neck. Swiftly and quickly, she yanked her tail, sending the frozen changeling in the opposite direction... ...To land smack dab on top of a smoking changeling in the distance, who had just now managed to climb to his hooves. Applejack wasn't able to dodge the next changeling, who finally managed to knock her off her hooves when a second changeling slammed into her right after he did. She squirmed under her restrainers, but two against one, even with her Dragon Aspect, meant her struggling only slightly stirred them. They both hissed in her face, spittle landing on the aspects covering her face. A deep impact echoed somewhere behind her, and when Applejack tilted her head back the final changeling stood over her, blaring its fangs. It became clear what their intention was, but Applejack only arched an eyebrow in annoyance. One of her pinned forelegs twitched, and pulsating electricity covered her. The two changelings pinning her howled in pain, leaping off their quarry as lightning arced over their chitin. 'FUS RO DAH' A luminescent blue wave of mist struck the twitching changelings, carrying them into the air and depositing them right on top of the two other changelings, knocking them to the ground once again. Smiling, Applejack turned to the changeling that was about to bite her throat. "Fella, ya look like you could use a hug." Gasping in fright, the changeling galloped off, an Applejack shrouded in pulsating electricity and glimmering Dragon Aspect hot on his heels. --- "You uncouth ruffians," said Rarity angrily as five changelings circled her like ravenous sharks. "This is no way to treat a lady." "Ha, a lady, huh?" inquired one of the changelings. "Well, that should make this even easier." He turned to the two behind him, "Pin her, we'll take care of the rest." Rarity scowled as two of the changelings took flight and lunged. "If you think I will let you soil my pristine mane and coat by pressing it to the icky dirt, you are sadly mistaken." As they closed in, Rarity took a deep breath and exhaled. 'GOL HAH DOV' A cloud of luminescent orange, blue, and yellow washed over the changelings just as they were a foot from Rarity, dropping to the ground and standing before her, unmoving. " What are you doing?" snarled the changeling that ordered them to attack, "Destroy her!" They didn't move. "Are you deaf, I told you to attack the enemy!" Rarity smirked as she turned her attention from the bickering changeling to the two before her. "You heard him, gentlecolts, attack the enemy." "Yes mistress," they droned, turning about face and lunging. The mouthy changeling could only watch as two of his cohorts tackled the two next to him. They rolled across the ground, the two Rarity had transfixed snapping, snarling, holding nothing back, while the other two seemed unsure if they should fight back or not. They tumbled and rolled so far, it was not long before only one changeling stood in the vicinity of Rarity. "Ahem." The gentle hum was enough to make the changeling spin around on his heels, coming face to face with a smiling, but obviously perturbed, Rarity. "Somepony needs to teach you some manners," said the elegant unicorn in a voice that would send a hydra packing. --- "SURPRISE!" shouted Pinkie, Icarian Flight taking her far past the changelings circling her and into the wide open blue. They could only stare as a pony known for defying the laws of physics pulled a stunt even they didn't see coming. And as expected, it only took a second for her to start plummeting back to them with extreme force. They narrowed their group's circle in on the spot she would land, hissing aggressively as their quarry closed in. They pawed the ground as she grew bigger, her velocity leaving a stream of tears as she closed in. But then she suddenly stopped a good twenty feet above, held aloft by purple ripples that were streaming from her hooves as they stood upon open air. So dumbstruck were they, they didn't not react when Pinkie stood on her hind legs, a ball of fire appearing in her left hoof, a ball of lightning in her right. "DOUBLE SURPRISE!" Pinkie started laughing hysterically, pelting the ground beneath her with lightning and fire that streamed from her hooves that spun like propellers, her eyes losing focus. The changelings broke formation as pure destruction rained down on them, each path they took soon blocked by a random spell. When her levitation spell wore off, Pinkie landed among the product of her bedlam. Small craters and scorch marks littered the land for about forty feet in all directions, five battered changelings lay before her groaning in pain as their bodies throbbed sorely. "Come on boys," said Pinkie, picking up the nearest changeling and yanking his muzzle. "Why the long faces?" The changeling lying prone on his back behind her shook his head to clear up his spinning vision, looking up in time to see Pinkie drawing smiles on his comrade's cheeks, the crayons held in strands of her unruly pink hair. Slowly, he crept up behind her on his belly, watching the back of her head with interest. One quickly timed strike and it would be over. Snarling, he lunged... only to be struck in the face multiple times a second as Pinkie twitched aggressively. With an uncharacteristic look of annoyance, Pinkie turned to the changeling caught in the path of her tail. "Come on, now you're just being a party pooper." With a flash of green, the changeling fell over, stiff as a board. --- "I won't let you hurt my friends," snapped Fluttershy, leaping over a changeling and landing a kick to the back of his head. At one point in her life, even such a small group of hostile enemies would have made her stiffen up and fall on her back. But now even greater priorities registered to her now. Twilight had cast aside her own well being to face an enemy they were blind to, a great entity, though it wasn't hostile to them, still had a dark and sinister air about him that made her hair stand on end, they had spent three years learning how to do magic no non-unicorn could ever do before. While the last one wasn't entirely unpleasant, it, plus all the other occurrences, could have been avoided if they had only been stronger.It was time she cast off her nerves of mush and grow some more worthy of somepony who had the power of a whole other dimension at her disposal. 'Twilight...girls... I am here... and I always will be... for you...for all of you.' The changeling she dropkicked doubled back to the rest of them, all five hissing and buzzing their wings. Fluttershy met their challenge with a threatening paw at the ground, her nostrils billowing as she crouched down. Unamused, the changelings lunged forward, aiming to overpower the lone pegasus with numbers. 'GAAN LA HAAS' The changelings fell short of reaching their target, crashing to the dirt as they felt their bodies' energy reserves drain, while Fluttershy felt a rush of energy adding to her own barely tapped potential. --- "This is your last warning!" said Twilight with a scowl. "Surrender, we will provide you with aid if you cease this senseless violence." "NEVER," yelled one of the changelings, his four allies hissing with agreement. "You are powerless out here. You have no defense while we have our queen's throne... our queen who you murdered in cold blood." "Cold blood?" inquired Twilight threateningly. "Your precious queen caused me unfathomable amounts of suffering. She turned my friends against me, impersonated my brother's fiance at their own wedding, and hurt Cadance, my first friend. And need I remind you, it was Hermaeus Mora who actually killed her... not me." "It was because of you that he was able to come here, pony," snarled one of the other changelings. "I may share some of that responsibility," started Twilight, shaking her head with shame. "But Chrysalis shares the rest. When she destroyed that amulet is when Hermaeus Mora really entered our world." But it seemed the changelings were done talking. They lunged forward, fangs bared as their buzzing wings increased their dash towards the purple unicorn who only facehoofed. It would seem Fluttershy was right... tough love. Neighing and rearing up on her hindlegs, Twilight unleashed a stream of lightning from both her forelegs and her horn. They had learned in Apocrypha that Nirn magic can be channeled through hooves and horn alike for a unicorn, which only increased its potency. She and Rarity were a force to be reckoned with. Her streams struck the ground in front of the changelings, erupting into a pulsating wall of impassable energy that arced and eddied with such movement that it almost looked like something alive. They covered their eyes as their close vicinity to the electric barrier made every nerve twinge. They dared not move closer. Which, it would seem, Twilight was counting on. She rose into their line of vision, astride purple ripples that carried her over the wall of lightning she had conjured. Blinking in surprise at the use of magic, despite how deep they were in the changeling territory, and well within the range of the magic absorption, they barely dodged in time when Twilight cast a dark red orb of light from the foreleg she threw out. It flew over their heads, flying in a slight angle into the distance before hitting the ground about a yard away. 'WULD NAH KEST' A purple blur flashed past them, solidifying into Twilight, who began galloping away. Thinking that their quarry was fleeing, the changelings hissed and gave chase, carried in the air by their gossamer wings. Twilight looked behind her and saw the changelings closing in hot on her. They were going to catch up in a few minutes at their current speed. But that was okay... she had run the distance necessary for her plan. With a flash, Twilight cast a recall spell, winking out of existence and reappearing where her mark spell had landed a moment ago. A few feet ahead, the five changelings who had been pursuing her looked about in confusion at her absence. To them, she had been there one second and gone the next. Suited her just fine. 'VEN MUL RIIK' A pocket of mist flew from Twilight's mouth, erupting into a full blown cloud as it impacted the changelings, completely enveloping them. Twilight gave a mischievous smirk. 'FIIK LO SAH' Beside Twilight, a form shimmered into existence, identical to Twilight, other than being transparent and blue. "Ready?" she asked her bizarre doppelganger, who nodded. Smirking, Twilight charged into the mist. 'LAAS YAH NIR' Outside, Twilight’s spectral clone opened its mouth and spoke. 'ZUL MEY GUT' "Hey, cheese brain." Lightning went off inside the fog, followed by a scream and a thud. "What's going on?" asked a changeling frantically. 'ZUL MEY GUT'   "Hey, slug breath." "How did you know–" The changeling was interrupted by a flash of red, a slight crimson stream flowing from him into an unseen section of the fog. 'ZUL MEY GUT' "Hey, melon nose." A blast of fire flashed and a changeling flew out of the cloud, trailing smoke. 'ZUL MEY GUT' "Hey, skeever butt." "I am not, wait what's a–" The sound of ice creaking solid sounded. 'ZUL MEY GUT' "Hey, ugly." "No... no I won't fall for–" The final changeling was silenced by the sound of a skull impacting another skull, the sensation of a horn pressed to his forehead registering before he blacked out. --- Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, and Shining Armour watched with terrified fascination as Twilight and her friends lit into the changelings with wild abandon. It was hard enough to see them blow apart a storm contaminated with Everfree magic with but a word, but to see the non-unicorns use magic like this was something beyond the realm of possibility. Just what kind of magic did this Nirn place actually have at its disposal? Celestia watched as her student conjured a wall of lightning with rapt attention. She was both proud and scared of what she was seeing. The actual magic was nothing for her to be impressed at, she had seen several like it during her long life, but the actual use of it in such close proximity to such a large chunk of mananite was unsettling. She felt the magic destitution in her very being, a sensation she had not felt for over a thousand years, and a sensation all ponies should be susceptible to. But Twilight was using magic completely unimpeded. It terrified her that Twilight now had all this unknown power at her disposal... plus, how could she measure up to it... what could she have to offer her pupil now that she had such power? She knew nothing that could measure up to the Thu'um. "When this is over... I want to resume my studies with you." The last words Twilight spoke to her before she left for Apocrypha all those years ago echoed in Celestia's mind, and it brought calm to the maelstrom of emotions in her heart. That was not how a wise teacher should think. Twilight was waiting for her at the end of this stretch, did she have nothing to offer but self doubt when that time came? No... she had over a millennium of knowledge... she could think of something. 'And maybe she can teach me something,' thought the princess, watching earth ponies and pegasi wield magic similar to a unicorn's for the first time in history before her. 'If they can learn this magic, it stands to reason others can too.' "They... they have grown so powerful!" moaned Luna, her eyes wide as saucers as Twilight conjured a cloud of mist, and Applejack flung a frozen changeling with her lasso, clad in a luminescent dragon image. "I... I can hardly believe that is Twilight and her friends," commented Cadance, shaking slightly as two changelings who were challenging Rarity suddenly turned on the others. "What has happened to my little sis?" asked Shining Armour sadly. "Do not despair," said Celestia with a motherly smile. "They are still the loving ponies we all care about, deep down." They all jumped as Pinkie let loose a barrage of attacks at her group of changelings from above, Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armour giving Celestia a nervous look. "Mostly," she said with a nervous look. "But let us not forget how much we love them. I have a feeling they will need it, so as to not completely lose themselves while they are on this path." They all looked to the ponies who were wailing on the changelings, making a silent promise to each other to do as Celestia suggested, not allow this group of stalwart friends to forget themselves. --- Pharynx looked on in complete horror as the changelings stood no chance. And they were using magic... all of them... even the non-unicorns. His whole world was crashing down in front of him. The invasion of Canterlot had failed, Chrysalis was dead, and now ponies could use magic here, despite being so close to the throne. That was the only thing he believed to be a complete absolute, that the throne would always render invaders powerless. Now even it had failed. A thread snapped in Pharynx... his eyes became different sizes as a psychotic look took hold. "YOU!" He snarled, spittle flying from his mouth as he looked to the bleeding Thorax behind him. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't helped that wretched unicorn in Canterlot we would have conquered that insufficient kingdom of Equestria. Our queen would have fed on enough love to feed us all indefinitely... you... you..." Thorax could only stare in resignation as Pharynx loomed over him, his own blood still clinging to his mouth. But he didn't care. He was ready for it to end... he had suffered so much all his life, he just wanted it to end... here and now... even like this. Maybe then his loneliness would end. 'WULD NAH KEST' A hard, scale clad foot impacted the side of Pharynx's face before he could attack Thorax again, his crooked fangs actually popping from his gums as his face deformed to the foot for a second before full blown flying out in the direction the foot kicked him. He tumbled to a stop on his belly, spitting out green blood as it flowed from his empty gums. A section of his chitin cracked and fell from his cheek, revealing red muscle. "I would stay down if I were you." Pharynx looked up to see the little purple dragon that had ventured here with the ponies standing over him. He had his arms crossed, a scowl on his face that made even his pudgy appearance look intimidating. But Pharynx wasn't easily intimidated. He hissed up threateningly... only to get stuck mid hiss as Spike struck him in the chest with a green glowing claw. "Loser," commented Spike, not giving a single glance back as he turned around and sprinted to the prone form of Thorax. He knelt down next to him, not hesitating to cradle the bleeding changeling's head in a claw as he brought the other to his chest. He stared at him with a worried look as Thorax only gave him a look of complete resignation, somehow knowing the changeling believed he was going to die. No, Spike would not let that happen. A golden star twinkled in the claw held to Thorax's chest. He took in a great gasp of air as the puncture wounds in his neck slowly closed. The pain eased as his blood flowed back into his body, his chitin sealing shut in mere seconds as the last of the green fluid reentered his body. By all accounts, he appeared fine. But Thorax knew he wasn't. "Please... don't," he moaned to the purple dragon above him. "You are wasting your effort... I can't be saved." "Don't say that," snapped Spike defiantly. "The wound has almost closed." "You don't... understand," moaned Thorax, batting Spike's claw away, the baby dragon gasping to see green lines following along with the changelings neck veins. "I... am poisoned." "But how?" Asked Spike frantically, looking to Pharynx, who was still as a statue. "That jerk is a changeling, like you." "Changelings aren't immune to our own venom, in fact, it's more lethal to us than it is anypony else," explained Thorax, Spike gasping in dread. "It's... it's one of the methods Chrysalis used to instill our loyalty. Obey, or be bitten and die." Spike was not going to give in. Maybe if he used both claws... no, the poison was totally unaffected by his magic. He had to do something though, this changeling was different from the others, so different. He risked his life for Twilight, for all of them, in Canterlot. He could not die like this. And... Spike knew his people needed him. "HERMAEUS MORA!" shouted Spike to the open air. "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME. THIS CHANGELING IS DYING, AND HE HAS THE MOST POTENTIAL OUT OF ALL OF THEM, HE WON'T BE OF ANY USE TO YOU DEAD." Tears brimmed in his eyes as he brought his attention from above to Thorax, who's breathing was still slowing. "YOU WANT THEM AS YOUR NEW MINIONS... SHOW YOU CAN LOOK AFTER THEM. IF YOU ARE SO POWERFUL... SAVE THIS ONE'S LIFE." In the back of Thorax's fading consciousness he heard this. 'Hermaeus Mora... wants us?' The last of Spikes words echoed across the land, no response. He clenched his eyes shut in despair. He could think of nothing else, his healing spell was ineffective, Hermaeus Mora was obviously content with letting him die. How could it end like this? A great sadness bloomed in Spike... for the first time... he would watch a good soul die in front of him. He never once imagined he would witness... Wait. Something else was stirring in Spike, a tingling sensation he could not place, nor fully locate. But it screamed one thing if he focused on it, 'solution'! Without hesitation, Spike clamped onto the sensation, unable to comprehend how he did it, but when he did... he could 'feel' Apocrypha's presence within him. A black tendril popped out of the ground next to him, a golden chain dangling from it. A chain from which hung a flat, teardrop shaped gold amulet, a clump of jade cut to resemble multiple serpents fitted onto it, the snakes' eyes a multitude of precious gemstones.