No, this was too serious a situation, and Discord’s magic could be our only hope, so I explained the situation to him. He didn’t seem to care that much until I told him Fluttershy was one of the changelings’ prisoners.
I’ve never seen him so mad, and he teleported us close to the changeling Hive. According to Thorax, only changeling magic works in or near the Hive, so this was as close to it as Discord’s teleportation could get us.
Starlight was close to panicking and didn’t have much confidence in herself without her magic, and she was already struggling with her confidence in general. Still, she theorized that if we destroy Queen Chrysalis’s throne, the source of the anti-magic barrier to all but changeling magic, everyone’s magic would return. That meant we had only one course of action: take out that throne!
We walked to the changeling hive, with Discord whining the whole way since he had to walk. Along the way, we thought up a code word in case we’ll need to prove we’re us: Klutzy Draconequus.
Discord wasn’t a fan of it.
In the changeling hive, there were a ton of large holes in the walls, making the place look like the inside of swiss cheese.
I commented, “So this is the inside of the changeling hive.”
Trixie asked, “Where do we go?”
“Don’t ask me. I have no idea where to go!” Starlight replied with a fearful frown.
Thorax explained, “Well, this is a changeling hive and it shifts and changes like changelings do, so only clangelings can navigate it.”
“Then lead on, Thorax, before we’re found,” I remarked.
We followed Thorax down a tunnel. As we did, Starlight asked, “By the way, Thorax, what happened to your wings? They weren’t like that at the Crystal Empire.”
Thorax looked at his wings. “I don’t know, but I know I haven’t been hungry since I made friends. Changelings are usually always hungry for love”
I started, “Maybe that’s some kind--”
Distant buzzes, which grew louder, interrupted me.
Discord asked, “Wait, do you guys hear that? It’s quite the ‘buzz’.”
Thorax exclaimed, “Oh, no! It’s a changeling patrol!”
My mind raced, yet I couldn’t think of anything.
However, Starlight smiled and asked Trixie, “Wait, do you have some smoke bombs in your bag, Trixie?”
Trixie replied, “Yeah.”
“Then I have an idea. Get them, and…”
Trixie and Thorax, the latter disguised as Trixie, worked together to make it look like Trixie was teleporting from place to place, confusing the swarm. Before long, the tricks got the changelings to leave, thinking “Trixie” was somewhere else.
When Trixie and Thorax came back to the rest of us, I praised, “Trixie, Thorax, that was amazing!”
“Eh, it was okay,” Discord admitted.
Trixie boasted, “Thanks. The Great and Powerful Trixie always try to put a good show.”
Starlight noticed that two of the changelings didn’t chase Trixie and Thorax, and Thorax told us that they must have gone to the throne room in case they would need to protect Queen Chrysalis. So, we went down the path the two changelings flew in.
A little further, we spotted a bunch of changelings guarding a door. Thorax said that the throne room was beyond the door, so we needed to slip past the guards somehow.
Trixie asked, “Okay, now what?”
Starlight guessed, “Uh...maybe a distraction can work?”
“But, Trixie, you said that you’re out of smoke bombs, right?” I questioned.
Discord commented, “And I’m usually the most distracting thing around, but without magic…”
With a smile, Starlight corrected, “Well, you shouldn’t estimate yourself, Discord. You don’t have magic, but you’re still you.”
Discord got the point, approached the guards and made several puns to attract their attention. If the situation wasn’t so bad, I might’ve chuckled at them. As he kept “punning” Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and I snuck through the door. We had no choice but to trust that Discord knew what he was doing and would escape.
Soon, Discord caught up to us. We immediately tested him to ensure he was the real Discord with our code word.
Unfortunately, he failed the “test”.
While we followed “Discord”, to the others, I whispered, “You guys know that’s not Discord, right?”
Thorax answered, “Yep.”
Trixie reasoned, “I guess the real Discord got captured.”
“Discord” went into one of two tunnels in front of us, the left one.
Thorax informed, “Wait, I know this trick. In the tunnel to our left are a swarm of changelings that would pounce on us as soon as we’re in range.”
Starlight raised her eyes up, trying to think of an idea, and I did the same.
Before Starlight or I thought of something, Trixie formed a determined frown. “Wait, I’ll go in and distract them, and you guys go into the other tunnel.”
Starlight said, “But you can’t, Trixie! We need you, and I’m still not sure how to destroy the throne without my magic and I--”
Trixie interrupted, “Starlight, listen to me. We made it this far because of your ideas, not Discord’s, Thorax’s, Jake’s, or even mine. I know you’re scared of being in charge, but you’re great at it. Listen to your best friend: you got this.”
I knelt and set a hand on Starlight’s back, “And I’ll be by your side, Starlight, always. Just trust yourself, like we do.”
Hearing our encouragement, Starlight smiled. She, Trixie, and I hugged, then Trixie crept into the tunnel with the changelings. Starlight, Thorax, and I darted into the other one.
I gained so much respect for Trixie for this act of courage: she let herself get captured to buy the rest of us time. We couldn’t let it be in vain.
On the way to the throne room, Starlight thought of another idea. She was stepping up, and Trixie was right about her being a natural leader.
First, Thorax transformed into Starlight, entered the throne room, and distracted Queen Chrysalis and the changelings by acting like Starlight. As he did, the real Starlight and I crept in from a different entrance of the room and sneaked to the throne. I forced myself to not look up. My heart couldn’t bear the thought of what Twilight and my friends might have been thinking, or feeling, in their “cocoons” that hung from the ceiling if they were conscious.
But before we even made a dent in the throne with rocks we found, Queen Chrysalis exposed Thorax’s true identity, then spotted Starlight and I chipping away at her throne. We ducked behind a part of the base of the throne right before a blast from Chrysalis hit us.
We couldn’t even try to do something to fight back; Chrysalis immediately flew to and picked us up with her magic.
“Let us go!” I yelled.
Chrysalis sorta did what I ordered. She tossed Starlight and me to some of her guards, and we were pinned to the ground.
Chrysalis looked down on us with a smirk. “Well, I will give you two credit for making it this far. But did you really think you could destroy my throne? With rocks of all things?”
“Let us go, or at least free Starlight!”
“Aw, how cute,” Chrysalis teased. “You want to protect your friend. Well, I’ll tell you what: I have no quarrel with you, so I’ll let you go, but the little pony stays.”
I responded, “No way! Starlight’s my marefriend, so if she stays, I stay!”
Starlight begged, “No, Jake! You don’t have to stay here for me!”
“No, I’m not leaving you, Starlight!” I reiterated.
Chrysalis looked at Starlight, then back to me. “Well, be my guest. Your love should taste as good as anypony’s, no matter what you are.”
“But why do you have to feed on love, anyway?” I questioned. “Thorax doesn’t, and he’s a changeling just like the rest of you!”
Starlight agreed, “That’s right! You all don’t have to live your lives starving all the time! Thorax shared love by making friends, and now he doesn’t need to feed!”
I added, “Yeah, real love between friends is one of the best things you can have. I know, because for most of my life, I had no friends, but didn’t know what I was missing until I finally made some! Just give friendship a chance!”
Chrysalis countered, “My subjects and I don’t need your so-called ‘real friendship’ and just need your love, and we will have it!”
Starlight grinned, and another idea must have popped in her head. “Thorax, show her how great it feels to share love. Give her allthat you have!”
Thorax released all the love he gained simply by having friends. It came out as a beam of magic, which smashed into Chrysalis and sent her flying into her throne, cracking it. Then, Thorax glowed and underwent a metamorphosis. He grew taller and his exoskeleton turned from black to green.
Starlight pointed to Thorax. “See? And Thorax still isn’t the least bit hungry! Do you really want to be hungry your whole lives and never have it be satisfied?”
All of the changelings, except Queen Chrysalis, all looked at each other, then shared the love they had and all transformed similar to Thorax. Some were green, some were blue, others yellow. In the process, it made the weakening throne explode, taking out the ceiling. The cocoons holding Twilight and my friends fell to the floor and opened, but the fall didn’t appear to hurt anyone in the cocoons.
Discord, as soon as he was freed, went to Fluttershy. It didn’t look like he’d ever stop hugging her.
As soon as I saw Twilight free on the ground, I ran to and embraced her in a hug. Wanting to be brave for Starlight, I didn’t let myself show how worried I was. But now, I couldn’t have held back the tears even if I wanted to, though they were happy tears.
“I’m so so so glad to see you, Twi! I love you so much and don’t you ever, ever, ever get captured again!” I said, tightening my hug with each “ever”.
“I’m...glad to see...you, Jake, but...you’re squeezing me too tight!”
“Oops! I’m sorry!” I let Twilight go from my grip. I was so happy to see her safe and sound, I wasn’t paying attention to how tight I was hugging her.
Starlight ran to us, and the three of us had a group hug. It never felt so wonderful. After that, Starlight and I explained to Twilight and the others all that happened.
The happy moment ended, though, when Chrysalis stood back up while snarling. We all faced her direction, ready to fight her.
Except Starlight. With no scowl on her face, Starlight walked to Chrysalis and tried to persuade her to reform and even extended her hoof in friendship. Chrysalis reached for Starlight’s hoof, but slapped it away. After that, after giving Starlight a threat, Chrysalis fled.
Starlight frowned, but both Twilight and I placed a hoof/hand on her, showing that we were still proud of her. If Starlight Glimmer still needed to redeem herself, she just did.
Save Equestria