//------------------------------// // 12. A daring rescue // Story: The Elements of Disharmony: A Queen's Revenge // by Italibaso //------------------------------// Inside the stone fortress on top of the tallest tower of her new castle, Queen Chrysalis watched over her new kingdom from the balcony with a sinister smile on her face. The changelings that patrolled throughout her kingdom were all dressed in dark blue armor and kept watch over every single corner of the fortress. Suddenly Chrysalis heard the sound of hoofsteps coming from behind her. She looked back and saw two armored changelings walking up the flight of stairs inside the tower. Both of them approached Chrysalis, stopped in front of her and bowed before their queen. ''Any signs of Starlight Glimmer yet?'' Chrysalis asked in a demanding tone. Both of the changelings stood back up, looked at their queen and shook their heads. ''No, your highness,'' One of the changelings answered her with a distorted voice, ''But all the changelings are now in position. We'll be guarding every corner of the fortress. If she does show up, we'll know.'' ''Excellent,'' Chrysalis said, sounding calm and collected, ''Now it's only a matter of time before I'll finally get my revenge on that wretched pony.'' ''Are you sure she's going to show up soon?'' The other changeling asked. ''Oh, I'm sure,'' Chrysalis said with a smug grin before looking back down at the fortress, ''Thanks to the dark magic casted by the Elements of Disharmony, no place in Equestria besides my fortress will be safe. She and the rest of her friends will have no choice but to come here if they want to have any chance of survival. And besides, she's not one to give up on her precious little friends.'' Chrysalis giggled sinisterly and headed back down the stairs of the tower along with the two changelings. ''Looks like she's increased security quite a bit since the last time I was there.'' Ocellus said to the others quietly. She, Starlight and the pillars all watched the stone fortress from far away behind the hill, just enough for them to get a clear view of the place without taking the risk of being spotted by the changelings. ''Then she must have known we were coming.'' Starlight said. Rockhoof looked over at Ocellus, ''So where do you suppose Flash Magnus is being held?'' The muscular stallion asked. ''In the Crystal Caves right beneath Canterlot, that's where my friends are being held along with the rest of Canterlot.'' Ocellus explained. ''I wish I could teleport us there, but I'm afraid I can't teleport to places that I'm not familiar with,'' Starswirl explained, ''And even if I could, the place is too heavily guarded to take the risk. We'll have to find another way to get in. '' ''But how?'' Mage Meadowbrook asked while she watched the changelings patrolling the walls around the fortress, ''A few steps too close and we'll get spotted for sure.'' ''I think I already have another idea,'' Starswirl said, ''With the help of my invisibility spell, we should be able to sneak in.'' ''Great idea, Starswirl,'' Rockhoof said before looking at himself, ''But eh, sneaking ain't exactly my style. You know, considering my......strength.'' ''Don't worry, Rockhoof,'' Starlight said reassuringly, ''I know a spell that can suppress any form of sound around you.'' ''And I could lend you some of my magic, that way we'll be able to keep the spell up much longer than normal.'' Mistmane added. ''Thanks, Mistmane,'' Starlight said before looking back at the fortress, ''Now we just gotta figure out where the entrance to the crystal caves is.'' Ocellus kept looking at every part of the fortress, hoping to spot the same bridge that led to the crystal cave. Eventually she spotted a giant, creepy looking entrance in the form of a skull on the side of the mountain next to the fortress. The entrance was heavily guarded by more changelings dressed in dark blue armor. ''Over there,'' Ocellus said as she pointed to the giant entrance, ''That's the entrance to the cave, I'm sure of it.'' Starlight and pillars all looked to where the blue changeling was pointing. ''Are you certain that's the one?'' Starswirl asked, ''We need to be absolutely sure before we head in.'' ''It's at the same exact place where me and my friends entered the caves awhile ago. It has to be the one.'' Ocellus explained. ''Then that's where we're going.'' Rockhoof said. ''But we still have to find a way to get into the fortress.'' Mistmane said. Starlight looked over at a metal bar gate that was blocking the entrance to the fortress, ''Seems like the main gate is our only option.'' ''But how do we open it without attracting any noise?'' Mage Meadowbrook asked. Ocellus rubbed her chin for a moment as she took the time to examine the gate. Her eyes widened when she noticed a big lever located above the entrance on the walls of the fortress. ''I have a plan,'' Ocellus said to the other Pillars and Starlight, ''I'll disguise myself as a corrupted changeling and open the gate for you using that lever. When it's open, that will be your chance to sneak in.'' ''Not a bad plan, little changeling.'' Rockhoof said. ''Yeah. I'm Impressed, Ocellus,'' Starlight said while smiling at the blue changeling, ''You've really come a long way ever since you first came to the School of Friendship.'' Ocellus responded to the pink unicorn with a shy smile. ''Alright, is everypony ready?'' Starswirl asked the pillars, who all responsed with a quick nod and a determined smile. ''Good luck, Ocellus,'' Starlight said to her, ''We'll make our way inside as soon as the gate is open.'' A white magic aura appeared around Starswirl's horn, which soon spread itself around the old wizard, as well as Starlight and the Pillars. All of them disappeared into thin air right before Ocellus's eyes in a split second. The invisible group of ponies began to make their way to the fortress. Ocellus took a deep breath before letting it out a second later, ''Here goes nothing.'' She said to herself. The small changeling transformed herself into a light blue parasprite and flew over to the fortress. Just as she had anticipated, none of the changelings patrolling the walls seemed to take notice of her as she came closer. Ocellus waited for most of the changelings to pass by before landing on the walls surrounding the fortress. She quickly transformed herself into a corrupted changeling in dark blue armor and with green glowing eyes before any of the other changelings could spot her. She was easily able to blend in without much trouble and walked towards the lever she saw earlier. Ocellus positioned herself behind the lever, grabbed a hold of it and slowly pulled it back with all her might. Not even a second later after pulling the thing, she heard the sound of the gate slowly rising itself up from the ground, which caused all of the armored changelings on the fortess walls to instantly look in her direction. ''Hey!'' Ocellus's heart stopped as soon as she heard the familiar, rough voice talking. She quickly stopped pulling the lever, looked to her left and saw an angry looking changeling with purple wings walking towards her. ''We're not allowed to raise the gate under any circumstances, unless Queen Chrysalis says otherwise!'' Pharynx said. Meanwhile, Starlight and the other pillars were already standing in front of the gate, still invisible thanks to Starswirl's spell. They watched as the gate slowly opened in front of them before stopping half way. ''Now's our chance.'' Starlight whispered to the Pillars. They quickly crawled under the pointy tips of the gate and entered the fortress. Ocellus giggled nervously while still holding the lever with her hooves, ''Oh, right,'' She said in a disguised voice while giving Pharynx an awkward smile, ''Sorry. I uh....just wanted to see if the lever still works. You never know, right?'' ''Lower....the....gate.'' Pharynx commanded in an intimidating tone while giving her a demanding look. Ocellus's eyes quickly looked down for a second before focusing back at Pharynx. She gave him another awkward smile and removed her hooves from the lever, which quickly fell back into place as the gate lowered itself and hit the ground. ''My bad.'' Ocellus said, still in a disguised voice while rubbing the back of her head. ''Don't let it happen again. Understand?'' Pharynx said with his head very close to Ocellus's. She nodded nervously in response. Pharynx turned around and flew back into Canterlot while the other changelings continued patrolling the walls. Ocellus sighed to herself in relief, turned around and looked down into the fortress, hoping to find Starlight and the Pillars. She quickly noticed a familiar, light purple hoof hovering close to the entrance. The hoof seemed to gesture her to come down before it disappeared into thin air. Ocellus flew down to where she saw the hoof disappearing. Within a few seconds after she landed, her whole body turned invisible. Immediately Ocellus saw Starlight and the pillars standing around to her. She also noticed the see-through, magical aura that was floating around them. ''That could have gone better.'' Ocellus whispered. ''It's alright, Ocellus.'' Mistmane said while her horn was glowing, ''What matters is that we're inside now.'' ''Don't worry,'' Somnambula quickly said when she noticed Ocellus's suprised reaction, ''Nopony can hear or see us in here. As long as we stay close to each other in this magical barrier, we'll be safe.'' ''Now we just have to make our way through the fortress without running into any changelings.'' Mage Meadowbrook said. ''I hope you know the way around the fortress, Ocellus.'' Rockhoof said. ''Of course I do,'' Ocellus answered, ''Well, If the layout of the fortress is still the same as Canterlot's that is.'' ''Then I suggest you lead the way,'' Starlight said. ''I'll do my best.'' Ocellus said. ''Let's move out,'' Starswirl said, ''And try to stay together inside the barrier. We cannot take any chances.'' Ocellus, Starlight and the Pillars carefully began to make their way through the heavily guarded fortress. They did their best to avoid running into any changeling guards they encountered along the way. There were much more changelings than they had expected, but thanks to Starswirl, Starlight and Mistmane's magic, they were able to sneak past all of them without too much trouble. Luckily the layout of the fortress seemed relatively the same as the one from Canterlot, just as Ocellus had hoped. With that in mind, she was able to lead the others through the fortress without getting lost. After minutes of sneaking around, they eventually arrived at the long, stone bridge like the one they saw before entering the fortress. The bridge was still heavily guarded by a small group of armored changelings. A few of them blocked the whole entrance to the cave, leaving little to no room for anypony to sneak past them. The Pillars, Starlight and Ocellus hid behind one of the many rock buildings and watched the heavily guarded bridge from afar as they began to plan their next move. ''There it is.'' Ocellus said. ''Those changelings are blocking the whole entrance,'' Rockhoof said, ''There's no way past them.'' ''And teleporting in there might alert them to our presence.'' Starswirl added. ''There's got to be another way to get in.'' Starlight said while looking at the entrance to the cave. ''I think I might have an idea.'' Ocellus said as she looked over at Starlight and the Pillars. ''Let's hear it.'' Starswirl said curiously. ''It will be very risky,'' Ocellus said while rubbing her chin, ''But with your help, It just might work.'' A line of armored changelings kept watch on each side of the stone bridge. Between them stood a series of green flaming torch poles. Suddenly the armored changelings heard the sound of heavy hoofsteps coming from the fortress. They all looked over to where the sound came from and were surprised to see Queen Chrysalis herself marching towards them from around the corner. She seemed to be carrying a long, white glowing chain with her. Six other ponies soon appeared from around the same corner behind Chrysalis. A large, light blue earth pony, A grey unicorn wearing a wizard cloak, a light scarlet pegasus, a old looking unicorn with a flowing mane and finally a blue earth pony wearing a bird mask on her forehead. The ponies all looked sad and defeated while their hooves were tied up with the white magical chains that Chrysalis was carrying with her. The chained up ponies seemed to be following the queen of the changelings without question and didn't show any sign of resistance. The changelings on each side of the bridge all bowed to their queen as she walked passed them. Eventually Chrysalis reached the entrance to the cave and stopped right of front of the small group of changelings who guarded the way in. The six captured ponies all stopped close behind Chrysalis. Meanwhile, Starlight, thanks to the use of her invisibility spell, was able to follow Chrysalis and the Pillars without being noticed and stayed close to them as she waited. ''I need to bring these new prisoners into the cave.'' Chrysalis said with a demanding tone. The changelings bowed before their queen and stepped aside. Chrysalis and the chained up Pillars walked through the entrance and together they entered the crystal cave with the invisible Starlight following them. When Chrysalis got a good look at the inside of the cave, she was surprised to see that it looked almost nothing like it did before. The once bright and sparkling crystals had changed into the same dark crystals that were littered throughout Equestria, torches with green flames had been placed on the walls everywhere that helped to illuminate what little light there was in the cave. On the other side she noticed a long, narrow stone path hanging above a pitch black ravine that led to a rocky platform down below in the distance. On that platform stood two armored changelings, both of whom were guarding a small passageway that she can't remember being there before. Chrysalis carefully walked over the narrow path along with the Pillars as they made their way across. The two changelings guarding the passageway bowed as soon as their queen stopped in front of them. ''Is this where we keep our prisoners?'' Chrysalis asked them in a calm tone. Both the changelings stood back up and looked confused at each other. Eventually they looked back at her and nodded in response. ''Then uh, lead me to them.'' Chryaslis said, trying her best not to be distracted by their odd reaction. The two changelings shrugged at each other and walked into the passageway. Chrysalis, the chained up Pillars and the still invisible Starlight Glimmer followed them further into the cave. Thanks to the green glowing eyes from the changelings, they were able to lead Chrysalis, Starlight and the Pillars through a series of dark tunnels. Another minute of walking later they finally saw another source of green illumination glowing in the distance. The green light got closer and closer until they eventually stepped out of the tunnel. The Pillars and Chrysalis took their time to take in what was in front of them. The Pillars were shocked to see the hundreds of cocoons hanging on the ceiling in a large open area, all of them containing the citizens from Canterlot along with the royal guards. Starswirl looked surprised when he saw that one of the cocoons hanging close above him contained Flash Magnus. Chrysalis watched the changelings patrolling the area as the green light from the cocoons and the torches hanging around on the walls shined on their armor. A few of them took notice of Chrysalis and the Pillars entering the area. ''Fear not, my subjects,'' Chrysalis said when she saw some of the changelings getting ready to attack the Pillars, ''They are no threat to us anymore.'' The changelings backed down while keeping their eyes on the six chained up ponies. ''Is there anything else can we do for you, your highness?'' One of the changelings who had led Chrysalis and the Pillars through the tunnel asked. ''That won't be necessary,'' Chrysalis said with a somewhat sinister smile, ''Right now, I'd like to have some alone time with our new prisoners. So I'm gonna need you and the rest of my subjects to leave this cave right away.'' All the changelings gave each other a confused look. ''But I thought you said we weren't supposed to leave this cave no matter what.'' One of changelings said. Chrysalis paused for a second before talking, ''But I'm the queen, aren't I?,'' She asked with a calm tone in her voice, ''If I tell you to leave the cave, then you leave the cave. Understood?'' She looked at the other changelings with an intimidating look on her face. ''Right, of course, your highness.'' One of the changelings responded nervously, ''You heard her! Everyone out of the cave!'' Soon he and the rest of the changelings in the area all flew into the tunnel. Chrysalis waited long enough until the sound of their wings flapping inside the tunnel had completely faded away. Chrysalis sighed to herself, ''Alright, they're gone.'' She said in a different, softer voice before she transformed back into Ocellus. ''Phew,'' Starlight said before she revealed herself to everyone, ''That was some very solid acting, Ocellus. You almost had me convinced you were the real Chrysalis.'' She said in a joking manner. Ocellus gave Starlight a nervous smile and giggled, ''Y-Yeah.'' ''No more time to waste. Let's go free Flash Magnus.'' Starswirl said. The old wizard looked down at his hooves and used his magic on the white chains to make them disappear. Starswirl then proceeded to fire a magic beam right above the cocoon that Flash Magnus was trapped in, causing it to detach from the ceiling and hit the ground with a loud splat. The cocoon bursted open and the remaining parts scattered all over the place. Flash Magnus slowly woke up and looked at himself laying in the piles of green goo. He quickly stood up and shook the remains of the goo from his body. ''Where am I?'' Flash Magnus asked when he looked at the many cocoons on the ceiling. ''Flash Magnus!'' Rockhoof said before he embraced the armored pony in a big hug, ''Good to see ya, friend.'' ''Rockhoof!'' Flash said, looking overjoyed before hugging back the big stallion, ''How did you find me here?!'' ''I had some help.'' Rockhoof answered after he finally released him from his grip. Flash Magnus looked behind Rockhoof when he noticed five other familiar ponies standing behind him. ''Starswirl?!'' Flash Magnus said with an eager look, ''You guys are here too?'' ''Good to see you again, my old friend.'' Starswirl answered with a warm smile. ''Listen, something terrible has happened,'' Flash Magnus quickly began to explain, ''Chrysalis and-'' ''We know, Flash Magnus.'' Somnambula said calmly, ''Our new friend Ocellus over here has told us everything.'' ''I see,'' Flash Magnus said, ''Then you must already know what happened to Twilight and her friends, huh?'' Somnambula nodded calmly, ''And that's why it is now up to us to save them.'' ''What's the plan?'' Flash Magnus asked curiously. ''You and the other pillars are connected to the Elements of Harmony,'' Ocellus began to explain to the armored pony, ''If you six could cast that magic on Twilight and her friends, it could restore the elements and change them back to normal.'' ''Ah, I get it. With the help of our magical artifacts, right?'' Flash Magnus asked before he showed his shield to everypony, ''Good thing I still have my shield with me.'' ''But what about the other changelings?'' Starlight asked with a concerned look, ''If we decide to confront Chrysalis head on, all the changelings will most likely overwhelm us.'' ''The royal guards will take care of that,'' Flash Magnus suggested, ''They can hold off the changelings while we focus on saving Twilight and her friends.'' ''What about the rest?'' Ocellus asked while looking at the many cocoons on the ceiling. ''We'll have to free them later,'' Flash Magnus answered, ''The citizens of Canterlot aren't exactly fighters. No offense.'' ''I guess you're right,'' Ocellus said, ''Just promise me that the royal guards won't try to hurt the changelings, Okay? They may be under Chrysalis's control, but they're still part of my family.'' ''I understand,'' Flash Magnus said with a confident smile, ''Don't worry, I've been training my comrades to be ready for any type of situation.'' ''Thank you,'' Ocellus said with a relieved smile before looking over at Starswirl, ''Starswirl, can you free my friends now, please?'' ''How can we recognize them?'' Starswirl asked as his eyes were already searching the cocoons. ''I see them up there,'' Rockhoof said while pointing her hoof towards the five cocoons containing a orange dragon, light pink hippogriff, blue griffin, a young earth pony and a small yak. ''How do you know them?'' Starswirl asked. ''I was their teacher for a short while at the School of Friendship.'' Rockhoof explained. ''You? A teacher?'' Mage Meadowbrook said with a playful giggle, ''Now there's something I never thought I'd hear from you.'' ''So you are friends with six different creatures?'' Flash Magnus said to Ocellus with a happy smile, ''Wow, that really is something special.'' ''You can thank Twilight's School of Friendship for that.'' Starswirl said with a proud smile. He then shot a series of magical beams right above the cocoons of Ocellus's friends. Immediately they detached from the ceiling, fell down and hit the ground. The cocoons bursted open and the remains of it splattered everywhere. Ocellus could see her friends laying in the green gooey remains. ''You and your friends can take your time to recover,'' Starswirl said to Ocellus, ''We will gather up all the Royal Guards until we're ready to move out.'' He and the other Pillars then began to search every cocoon for the Royal Guards. ''I will help too.'' Starlight said as she followed the Pillars. Ocellus looked over to her friends and saw Smolder removing the green goo from her body. The orange dragon stood up and stepped out of the slimy remains of the cocoon. ''Ugh. What even is this stuff?'' Smolder asked herself while shaking the last bit of goo from her claw. ''Smolder!'' Ocellus said happily before she approached Smolder with a relieved look on her face. ''Ocellus?!'' Smolder said with a surprise look when noticing the blue changeling standing few meters away from her. Ocellus ran over to the orange dragon and hugged her immediately. Smolder eventually hugging her back while smiling calmly. ''Are you okay?'' Ocellus asked after she let Smolder go from her hug. ''Don't worry, I'm fine,'' Smolder reassured her, ''But how did you escape?'' While Ocellus explained her story to Smolder, Sandbar stepped out of the remains of his cocoon and shook some of the remaining green goo from his body. ''I hope I never get stuck in that thing again.'' Sandbar said to himself. The first thing he saw when he looked around was Yona laying on the ground unconscious while being covered in the same green goo as him. ''Yona!'' Sandbar said with a concerned look before running towards the unconscious yak. Yona slowly opened her eyes when she heard Sandbar's voice calling for her and began to regain her consciousness. She looked to her left with a blurry vision and noticed a pony with a familiar manestyle standing next to her. ''Are you okay, Yona?'' Sandbar asked, still looking concerned as he placed his hoof on Yona's shoulder. Yona blinked with her eyes a few times, ''Sandbar?"' She said in a weak voice, ''It really you?'' A look of relief appeared on Sandbar's face as soon as he heard Yona speak, ''That's right, the one and only.'' He said with a reassuring smile. Yona blinked her eyes a few more times until her vision was finally clear again. A big happy smile appeared on her face when she saw that the pony standing next to her was indeed Sandbar. She quickly stood up and embraced her pony friend in a very tight hug. ''Yona missed Sandbar so much.'' Yona said as she continued to hug him very tight. Sandbar chuckled a little, ''I missed you too, Yona.'' He said while still being hugged by the excited Yak, ''And uh, could you maybe be a bit more gentle with your hugs, please?'' Yona heard what he said and giggled nervously before letting him go. ''Hehehe, sorry.'' Yona said with a shy smile on her face. ''It's alright.'' Sandbar said with another reassuring smile, ''But how did you find me here?'' Yona began to tell Sandbar about everything that has happened after they had escaped from Canterlot. Meanwhile, Silverstream stepped out of the pile of goo and looked to her right to see her friend Gallus, who was sitting in the remains of the cocoons with a sad look on his face. Silverstream looked concerned and quickly flew over to the blue griffin. ''Are you okay, Gally?'' Silverstream asked him. She grabbed him by his claw and helped him get out from the goo. ''I'm fine.'' Gallus answered reluctantly as he pulled his claw out of Silverstream's grip. He turned around, sat down and looked at the ground with an conflicted look on his face. ''What's wrong?'' Silverstream asked Gallus while looking worried. ''Nothing's wrong,'' Gallus quickly answered in a frustrated tone, ''Now go away.'' ''But I just wanna help.'' Silverstream said with slighly sad look on her face. "Then do as I say and leave me alone.'' Gallus answered in an irritated manner. Before Silverstream could say anything else, she heard the sound of many hoofsteps heading their way. She and Gallus looked where the sound came from and saw Smolder walking towards them along with Yona, Sandbar and Ocellus. Smolder gave Gallus an angry look, ''You better have a good explanation for us, Gallus,'' She said sternly, ''How could you just keep such vital information from us?!'' ''Is it really true, Gallus?'' Sandbar asked with a concerned look. Gallus groaned, ''Can we please just put it behind us?!'' ''I don't think so,'' Smolder answered, ''You're gonna tell us everything or else I will-'' ''I'm sorry to interrupt,'' Starswirl said from behind the creatures, ''But it's time to get out of here and save Twilight and her friends.'' Smolder and her friends looked behind them to see Starswirl, with Starlight, the five other pillars and the other pony guards standing close behind him. Silverstream gasped with an excited look on her face, ''No way! The Pillars are here too?!'' Yona's eyes widened when she saw Rockhoof standing with the other pillars, ''Rockhoof!'' She shouted while having an eager look on her face. She ran at full speed towards the big stallion and immediately hugged his right leg. ''Yona,'' Rockhoof said with a happy smile before petting Yona on the head, ''Good to see ya again, ya strong little yak.'' ''No way....'' Sandbar said as he stared at Starswirl with a look of amazement, ''It's.....It's really him.'' ''Something the matter, little pony?'' Starswirl asked when he noticed the look on Sandbar's face. Sandbar eagerly walked over to Starswirl and stopped right in front of him, ''You are THE Starswirl the Bearded! You're one of the greatest and most legendary wizards to have ever existed,'' Sandbar said with excitement in his eyes, ''I mean, you still exist right now of course. But still, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you right now with my very own eyes!'' ''That's all very nice of you to say,'' Starswirl said with a friendly chuckle, ''But I'm afraid they're bigger matters at stake right now.'' ''He's right, Sandbar,'' Smolder said, ''Ocellus already told us everything. We don't have much time.'' ''Oh, right,'' Sandbar said with shy smile, ''Sorry.'' ''Don't worry,'' Silverstream said with a confident look, ''With the Pillars by our side, we can take down Chrysalis and save Twilight and her friends for sure!'' ''Then no more waiting!'' Yona said determinedly, ''Yona and friends gonna teach bug pony a lesson!'' No one noticed the corrupted, armored changeling appearing at the entrance of the dark tunnel. He gasped to himself and widened his eyes when he saw the many ponies and creatures that had escaped from their cocoons. One of the royal guards looked over at the entrance of the tunnel and widened his eyes when he spotted of the corrupted changeling. ''A corrupted changeling!'' The royal guard shouted while pointing at the tunnel. Everyone in the area immediately looked to where the guard was pointing just in time to see the changeling disappear into the darkness of the tunnel. ''He's gonna warn Chrysalis!'' One of the royal guards said before looking over to Flash Magnus, ''What are we going to do, Captain?!'' Flash Magnus looked back at his comrades, flew up into the air and got ready to give his speech to the royal and crystal guards. ''Listen up, rookies!'' Flash Magnus said, ''And today is the last time I will ever call you that, because today is the day that you will show me what you are truly capable of! Our princess have been turned to stone, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have been corrupted and the once reformed changelings are back under the control of Chrysalis! And it's up to us to save them! We're gonna need all your help to hold off the changelings for us. But don't try to harm them, they're still our allies! Together we shall stop Queen Chrysalis and save Twilight Sparkle and her friends along with Equestria! Who's with me?!'' All the guards cheered out loud towards their commander as they raised their hooves into the air. ''For Equestria!'' Rockhoof said determinedly as he raised his shovel. The guards all shouted the same words as they ran into the tunnel along with the Pillars. ''We're gonna help too!'' Smolder said while looking back at her friends, ''Come on!'' ''No, you six stay here!'' Starlight quickly said right before Smolder could come after them. ''What?!'' Smolder said, ''But we-'' ''I know what I said before, but this is too dangerous for you!'' Starlight explained, ''Don't worry, we got this! Just stay here until we let you know it's safe!'' She turned around, entered the tunnel and went after the others. Smolder watched as Starlight disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. ''Dangerous or not, I'm not just gonna sit here and do nothing while the fate of Equestria is at stake.'' Smolder said before looking back at her friends. She walked over to them and reached out her claw. ''Who's with me?!'' Smolder asked as she waited for their response. ''I'm in!'' Sandbar said as he gently placed his hoof on Smolder's claw. ''Yona too!'' Yona said before placing her hoof on Sandbar's ''So am I!'' Ocellus said as she placed her hoof on Yona's ''Let's go save Equestria!'' Silverstream said excitedly before placing her claw on Yona's hoof. They all kept their claws and hooves on each other and waited for a couple of seconds before looking over at Gallus, who looked like he was completely lost in thought as he stared at the ground with a slightly somber look on his face. ''Gallus?'' Smolder asked with a confused look. ''This is supposed to be the part where you join us and say: 'If you're all in, then so am I!' '' Silverstream said with an enthusiastic look. Gallus didn't respond and instead kept the same somber look on his face. ''Gallus?'' Yona said with a worried look. Gallus eventually snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at his friends, ''What does it matter?'' He asked unenthusiastically. ''Excuse me?'' Smolder said in a surprised tone. ''Starlight and the others already have things under control with Chrysalis anyway, so why should we even bother?'' Gallus said with a frustrated look on his face. ''This isn't just about Chrysalis, Gallus! the fate of everything in Equestria is at stake here!'' Smolder said. ''Bug pony use corrupted elements to destroy Equestria.'' Yona explained. ''What?'' Gallus said with a shocked and surprised look. ''I've seen it myself,'' Ocellus said with a desperate look, ''Dark thunderous clouds from Cloudsdale are covering the sky, plants and trees are dying, the weather is going out of control. Even if Starlight and the Pillars save Twilight and her friends and stop Chrysalis, it still won't save the rest of Equestria.'' ''Meaning that all of our homes are in danger!'' Smolder added, ''And that's why we need to do something about it! They're going to need all the help they can get!'' A conflicted look appeared on Gallus's face as he looked down at ground for a minute. Suddenly he got lost in thought again when the unpleasant memories from his time in Griffinstone came back to him. ''Gallus?'' Sandbar said, sounding concerned at Gallus's silence. ''.....Then just go without me.'' Gallus answered reluctantly. ''What?!'' Silverstream said with a shocked look. ''Did you even listen to a thing I just said?!'' Smolder asked in a slighty more angry tone. ''Yona and friends need Gallus help to save Equestria!'' Yona said in a desperate tone. ''Gallus, please.'' Silverstream pleaded. ''I said just go!'' Gallus said out loud with a frustrated tone in his voice. His friends all looked suprised as they stared at him in silence for a few seconds. ''What's gotten into you?!'' Smolder asked with a frustated look, ''Ocellus brought the pillars here in order to save us all and this is how you're going to repay her?! By hiding in here like some pathetic coward?!'' ''Hey, easy now, Smolder,'' Sandbar said, ''There no need to-'' ''Stay out of this, Sandbar!'' Smolder said before Sandbar could finish, ''Well, Gallus? What do you have to say for yourself?'' Gallus stayed silent for a few seconds, ''Go away. Now.'' He said in a cold voice, still looking conflicted as he tried to hold back his anger while clenching his claw. ''Oh, so you're actually just gonna sit here all by yourself, huh?'' Smolder asked furiously, ''Do you want our homes and everything in Equestria to be destroyed or something, you selfish jerk?!'' ''I don't care what happens to any of your stupid homes!'' Gallus shouted in a fit of rage as a look full of hatred could be seen on his face. There was nothing but utter silence as Gallus's friends stared at him with looks of shock and despair on their faces. A sad look slowly began to appear on Silverstream's face as tears slowly formed under her eyes. Ocellus watched Gallus in disbelief before tears appeared under her eyes as well, ''How could you say that?!'' She shouted furiously before she started sobbing. Gallus didn't respond and instead stared at the ground while looking both conflicted and frustrated. Smolder tried to comfort Ocellus in her arms before giving Gallus an angry look. ''No wonder you don't have a family.'' Smolder said in a bitter voice. Sandbar gave the orange dragon a slightly shocked look while still remaining silent. Gallus eyes widened a little. Hearing hose words, it was as if he felt a stab going right through his heart. ''Come on, everyone. Let's go save Equestria.'' Smolder said before she walked over to the dark tunnel. Sandbar watched Smolder leave before glancing back at Gallus, who looked back at him in despair. Sandbar gave the blue griffin a look of disbelief before following the orange dragon into the tunnel. Gallus watched Ocellus and Yona slowly walk past him and followed Smolder and Sandbar into the dark tunnel without even giving him a second glance. Gallus looked behind him and saw Silverstream, who looked slighty angry as tears were already rolling down her cheeks. She eventually slowly waked past the blue griffin as well. ''Silverstream...'' Gallus said to her, talking in a somber tone with a guilty look on his face, ''I....I didn't-'' ''I hate you!'' Silverstream said to him in a uncharacteristically cold voice. She ran into the tunnel and disappeared in the darkness. Gallus struggled to hold back his tears as he could hear Silverstream's crying coming from the tunnel before slowly fading away. Even a whole minute after all of his friends were gone, Gallus still kept looking at the dark tunnel. His face was filled with guilt and doubt. He soon felt tears appearing under his eyes that began to blur his vision. He eventually turned around, walked away from the tunnel and went futher into the dark crystal filled cave without looking back, not caring about where he was going or where he would end up.