//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Let´s do some rescuing // Story: The final challenge // by Dianabel //------------------------------// “You ready?” Punja asked Ocellus and Zecora. She spied the changeling guards from the bush. Ocellus changed her form to a corrupted changeling. “Ready.” she replied with a confident smirk. Zecora nodded. She left the bush running, Ocellus following behind while flying. “Stop you… um…” Ocellus put her hoof under her chin. She entered in a slight state of panic, since she didn´t know how to insult Zecora. Thankfully, the changelings didn´t see nor heard them, so there was nothing to worry about. Punja, who was watching everything, put her hoof on her forehead in frustration. “Ocellus…. My precious… Please.” she muttered under her breath. Ocellus kept on thinking. But eventually, she gave up and shook her head. “Nevermind.” she cleared her throat. “INTRUDEEER!” The changelings turned around. They gasped when they saw Zecora running. “FORMATION!” a guard ordered. The changelings blocked Zecora´s way by circling around her. Pretending to be scared, she looked around. A changeling pricked her neck with a spear. “Ow!” complained Zecora. “Be careful with that spear, because I´ll get even I swear.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” the changeling said unamussed. Shee turned to Ocellus. “Good job, soldier.” “Thank you!” Ocellus replied excitedly. The changelings were surprised by that answer. Zecora scowled at her. Ocellus realized her mistake. “I mean.” Ocellus cleared her throat. She put her hoof in front of her forehead. “Where do we take her, boss?” a changeling asked. “That´s actually a pretty good question.” Ocellus agreed. “Lock her in a room that´s free. We´ll think what to do with her later.” The changelings and Ocellus nodded and took Zecora inside the school. Ocellus grabbed Zecora´s shoulder and winked at her. Meanwhile, Punja prepared to do her part. “Never thought that they would actually fall for that.” she thought aloud. She took some stones and put them inside her bag. After making sure that no changeling was around, she went to the school´s windows. “Her friends were a yak, a griffon, a pony, a hippogriph and a dragon. They must be inside a cabin. All I have to do is to look through the windows.” With just taking a glance, Punja knew that this wouldn´t be an easy task. She sighed. “I just hope this doesn´t take until tomorrow.” “Ok. Let me get this straight, Ocellus is back?” Gallus asked astonished. Smolder looked through the window. “I think so.” Every creature in the room sighed in relief. “Thank goodness.” Sweetie Belle said. “But what if she gets captured?” Sandbar asked a bit worried. “Yona not worried. Ocellus can transform into bad changeling.” Yona patted his back. “Exactly!” Silverstream said hopeful. “She´ll come to the window and free us!” Smolder, who was looking through the window once again, clenched her teeth nervously. “Actually… She got caught.” “WHAT?!” her friends and the CMC exclaimed. “I think she transformed into a white pony with black stripes instead of a changeling.” “You mean a zebra, right?” Apple Bloom asked perplexed. Smolder massaged her forehead. “Come on, Ocellus, you can do better than that. But at least there are no changelings watching over this zone! We have our chance to escape!” Smolder was going to open the window but Sandbar put a hoof on her shoulder. “Woah, there. First we need to come up with a plan to save Ocellus.” “There´s no time for that!” Gallus complained. “The changelings could return at any moment.” “Does that mean that we´ll have to improvise?” “Yup.” Apple Bloom replied. “Unless you come up with a better idea right now.” Sandbar sighed. “Ok, fine. We´ll improvise.” The conversation was interrupted by some thuds on the window. Scootaloo tilted her head and raised her ear. “Did you hear that?” “Hear what?” Sweetie Belle asked confused. “I don´t know, but I did hear something.” Silverstream gasped. “Oh no! It´s the changelings!” she took and shook Scootaloo. “We´re doomed!” she exclaimed after throwing poor Scootaloo to the floor. Gallus noticed a stone hitting the window. He approached and looked down. He saw a small zebra picking up a stone. “Actually, it´s a white filly with black stripes.” he clarified. “That´s a zebra.” Apple Bloom corrected once again a bit upset. Sandbar gasped. “It could be Ocellus! Open the window.” Gallus nodded and opened the window, only to get hit by a stone. “Ouch!” he moaned while covering his nose with his claws. “Sorry! I´m so sorry.” Punja apologized. “Be careful, Ocellus. You almost broke my nose!” Punja raised an eyebrow. “Isn´t it clear that I´m not your friend?” Gallus widened his eyes and grabbed something to hit her, but Punja stopped him by shaking her hooves. “No no! That´s not what I meant! What I meant is that I´m not Ocellus, doesn´t it show?” “Oh…” Gallus quickly put the object he grabbed back to where it was. He grinned nervously. “Sorry…” “How do we know that you´re not lying?” Smolder asked suspiciously. “Yeah! What if zebra is mean changeling?” Yona joined in the accusation. Punja sighed. “Where to begin…” she thought aloud. “I know when!” she cleared her throat. “Zecora and I met Ocellus on our way to Canterlot, since warning Twilight about Tirek was the best thing I could thought. We went to the castle and Twilight sent us here, since Ocellus wanted your safety ensure. So we came up with a plan to free the school. I hope those changelings haven´t been too cruel.” she smiled nervously. Gallus, Smolder and Yona tilted her heads, not really understanding what the zebra was saying. “Her story may be confusing but I don´t think that a changeling would talk in rhymes, so I believe her.” Smolder told them. “Mhm.” Gallus agreed. Yona nodded her head. “Wait a minute!” Apple Bloom made her way through the three friends. “Did you mention Zecora?” “Yes! Finally somepony who understands me in this mess!” “Oh my goodness! Is she ok?” Punja bit her lip. “She´s with Ocellus trying to free Starlight, Trixie and Sunburst. I mean, it´s not great but it´s not the worst.” “You also mentioned Twilight? Did you see my sister? Is she ok?” “And mine?” Sweetie Belle joined in the conversation. “What about Rainbow Dash? Do you know her?” Scootaloo asked. “Whoah, whoah, calm down, otherwise I´ll have a nervous breakdown.” Punja said a bit annoyed. “The thing is I don´t know. Twilight sent us here, so I can´t tell how things for them did go.” “Oooh…” the three fillies muttered worried. “But now it´s not the time to chat. We have to scape like the rat chased by the cat.” Every creature nodded. The first to jump were the CMC, then Sandbar and Yona, who shook the ground a little when she landed. Smolder, Gallus and Silverstream left by flying. The latter took Punja and hugged her tightly. “You´re so cute! I´ve never seen a pony like you!” she exclaimed excitedly. Punja got upset and pressed against Silverstream´s chest to prevent her hug. “For your information, I am zebra. Next time you should name creatures with more caution.” Silverstream laughed apologetically. “Sorry.” “No harm done. But let me go, and my forgiveness you have won.” Silverstream released Punja. The little zebra smiled. “Thank you.” “So um…” Sandbar shook his hoof, asking Punja her name. “Punja.” “So Punja. Do you have a specific plan?” The zebra filly nodded. “I´ll explain along the way. All I can say for now is that each of you have a part to play. Come on!” Punja started running. The Young Six and the CMC followed behind. “I hope that this weirdo´s plan works.” Gallus whispered in Smolder´s ear. “Otherwise, everything could go berserk.” “I heard you!” Punja exclaimed. “Also, what a nice rhyme you threw!” “Darn it!” Gallus hit his forehead. “It´s too contagious.” Smolder held her laughter. Ocellus and Zecora entered the school. They saw Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie cocooned. Ocellus and Zecora clenched her teeth. Just when they were about to leave the hall, Zecora hit Ocellus´ hoof to indicate her to carry out the plan. “I´ll stay here with her!” she exclaimed. Surprised by her sudden outburst, the changelings stared at her with estranged and confused faces. “What?” a changeling asked. “Just to get her to make an idea of what happens to those who disobey. It´s very discomforting for her!” Zecora widened her eyes and pretended to be scared. “Oh no! Being cocooned is the worst form of torture I know!” she dramatically put her foreleg on her forehead. The changelings didn´t embrace the idea yet. “Which gives me a great idea, I could torture her to take out some information about Twilight and her friends!” Ocellus suggested “That´s a great idea! We could do a torture room and interrogate every student!” Zecora gagged. Although Ocellus was a bit astonished and terrified at the idea, she kept on playing along. “That´s a good idea, yes! But I recommend testing the idea first. She´s the perfect candidate for the first test! I could do all of that while all of you find her a room to lock her.” “Why would you want all of us to leave?” a changeling who was guarding the hall asked up. Ocellus got a bit nervous by that question at first, but she managed to keep it together. “To create a more menacing environment for the prisoner! After all, an interrogation is more frightening if it´s one to one, isn´t it?” The changelings weren´t too fond of the ida, but they finally gave in, much to Ocellus´ surprise. “You´re right.” the captain of the changelings said. “RETREAT!” she commanded. “YES, SIR!” the other changelings replied while putting their hooves in front of their foreheads. When they fled the room, Ocellus and Zecora sighed in relief. “I can´t believe it worked.” Ocellus said with a kind smile. “I am surprised I admit.” Zecora agreed. “Now go free them. I don´t want to put those poor students in a pit.” “Me neither.” replied Ocellus while flying to the cocoons. She shivered. “I don´t want to imagine what those corrupted changelings might be capable of.” She undid the cocoons, releasing the three unicorns. Starlight was the first to gain conscience. “Uuh… What happened?” “The school was invaded by Cozy Glow and Chrysalis.” Ocellus explained. “The school invaded?” Starlight asked confused at first. Then, she gasped when she remembered what happened in her battle against Cozy. “Sunburst!” she exclaimed as she held his body with her arms. Sunburst slowly opened his eyes. “Starlight? Why are you covered in green substance?” Starlight sighed in relief. “Thank goodness you´re not dead.” “Why would I be dead?” he asked with widened eyes. Starlight widened her eyes. “Dead? Did I say dead? Why would I say that? What I meant is unconscious, I meant, I didn´t want you to be still for a long time!” Zecora frowned at Starlight. “I don´t what exactly happened, but something tells me that she´s hiding something to her friend.” she whispered in Ocellus´ ear. “Can somepony explain to me what´s going on?” Trixie asked. “Trixie!” Sunburst exclaimed. “Believe me, I´m just as confused as you are.” Trixie watched Ocellus´ disguise and jumped scared. “GAAH! Stay away you beast!” she brightened her horn. “No no, don´t worry, I´m Ocellus.” the young changeling returned to her original form. “See?” However, some changelings who were guarding the school´s gates heard Trixie´s screams and entered to see if everything was alright. But it wasn´t. They infuriated when they saw Ocellus´ true form. “You traitor!” a changeling yelled at Ocellus. “Let´s seize the rebels!” the other changeling suggested. He called the other changelings by whistling with his hoof. As soon as the whistle ended, lots of changelings surrounded Ocellus, Zecora, Starlight, Trixie and Sunburst. Zecora kicked some changelings to open the way for Ocellus. “Go reunite with your friends!” Zecora exclaimed. Ocellus nodded and left the hall. The unicorns and the zebra looked at their enemies. “How many changelings do you see?” Sunburst asked. “Let´s see one two three four five…. Countless.” Trixie replied. “Fear not.” Zecora said. “You are more powerful, even though they are a lot.” “Zecora is right. Let´s show them what happens when they mess with us.” Starlight said with a smirk as she enlighted her horn. Zecora wore determination on her face. Trixie and Sunburst were a bit unsure at first, but they nodded at each other and prepared to fight. The changelings made sure which wasn´t locked to know in which one they should put Zecora. The CMC, Punja, Sandbat and Yona were hidden in a corner. Sweetie Belle somewhat inclined to watch over the changelings. She quickly hid when she noticed a changeling turning around. “They´re coming.” she warned to her friends, Sandbar and Punja. “Do we attack yet?” Sandbar asked to Punja. “Let them come nearer.” Punja replied in a whisper. “We attack as soon as we see in the wall their figures.” “We´ll have to guide ourselves by their footsteps.” Apple Bloom said. “Shh! Quiet!” Scootaloo silenced her friend by shaking her hoof. Their breath accelerated as the hoofsteps got closer. The moment never seemed to come. It seemed like the time went slower than usual. But they kept their eyes wide open, waiting for the changeling shadows. Finally, after some time, they appeared. Punja left out a huge scream. “NOOW!” The changelings raised their ears. Before they could defend themselves, Yona jumped from behind. “SMAAAASH!” she yelled as she landed on some changelings. The changelings who weren´t trapped by Yona, were surrounded by a circle of fire that Smolder had created. Apple Bloom grabbed some ropes that Punja brought on her bag and tied the captured changelings, with the help of her friends and Sandbar. Silverstream and Gallus flew towards their friends as fast as they could. A bunch of changelings were chasing them. “GUUUUYS!” Silverstream yelled. “Help uuuus!” Galllus begged. “I´m bringing some more!” Ocellus informed while running away from other changelings. Immediately, Yona jumped on all the changelings she could land on. Unfortunately, by doing so, she also landed on Gallus and Silverstream. “Ow!” the hippogryph and griffon exclaimed in pain. “Yonaaa!” Gallus complained. Silvestream slapped a changeling´s face for showing her his tongue. Fortunately, they weren´t under Yona´s stomach for too long. The yak released them to let her friends tie the changelings. Meanwhile, Smolder blocked the way of some changelings by blowing fire in front of them. Silverstream and Gallus tackled two changelings against the wall. They looked at the Apple Bloom. “Hurry!” Silverstream told her desperate. “I don´t think we can hold them for much longer!” Galllus added. “We can´t help you now!” Scootaloo replied. “We´re busy tying these changelings!” Some changelings were about to attack the two friends, but thankfully, Yona jumped on them before they could do anything. Ocellus flew to their friends. “I think I can help with that. The problem is that I´m not sure if it still works, but I think it´s worth the try.” “Ocellus!” Galllus exclaimed upset. “Oh yeah, sorry!” Ocellus started coughing. It seemed that she had nausea. Gallus and Silverstream looked at each other, a bit disgusted by the fact that she was trying to vomit. Finally, Ocellus regurgitated a green substance that kept the changelings attached to the wall. “That was absolutely disgusting.” Gallus commented. “But at least it worked.” “That was gross and cool at the same time.” Silverstream said with a nervous smile. “This was something that we did when we were under Chrysalis´ rule.” Ocellus explained. “I didn´t know that we could still do that.” she admitted surprised. “Less conversation and more action!” Punja scolded. “Oh right!” Punja started kicking changelings to earn Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle time to bind the defeated changelings. Sandbar and Scootaloo joined the fight. Of the three, Scootaloo was the only one who seemed to be having fun. “This. Is. AWESOME!” she yelled excited. “Rainbow would be so proud!” They kicked the changelings to the wall so Ocellus could throw at them her substance. Gallus and Silverstream helped by tackling changelings to the walls or ground. The battle continued for some time. When they were finished, all of them panted heavily. “Finally!” Sandbar exclaimed in relief. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle jumped back when some changelings showed their tongues. “I think we should lock the tied ones.” Sweetie Belle suggested. “Agreed.” Apple Bloom said. “But where?” Smolder asked. Yona didn´t need to think that. She got an idea just by watching the doors. She calmly directed towards them. With just one kick on the doorknob she opened it. The students inside were just as surprised as Yona´s friends were. “Yona and friends free students, Yona and friends lock mean and nasty changelings.” Every creature smirked in victory. The CMC, Sandbar and Punja helped the locked students to get out, while Gallus, Silverstream, Ocellus, Smolder and Yona pulled the changelings inside the rooms. Once they were inside, Gallus closed and locked the door. “Where do we go now?” a rescued male student asked. Sandbar came up with an idea. “Follow me to the library.” he looked at his friends. “I´ll come back.” he told them while running to the library, the rescued students followed. The changelings around scared them. The students yelled. “Ignore them! They´re tied. They can´t do anything to you.” The students obeyed but were still afraid. Cadence, Flurry, Spike and Thorax appeared in a hidden spot in the Crystal Empire. They gasped in horror when they saw the conditions the empire was. It was as if Sombra earned his victory by breaking the Crystal Heart, except for the fact that the sky wasn´t orange, but grey. The crystal ponies were enchained or locked in cages. There were changelings everywhere who were feeding on their love. Cadence looked at the castle, concerned for Shining Armor. “We need to get the castle as soon as possible.” she said. “Any ideas?” Thorax asked. Flurry jumped from Cadence´s arms. She flew towards Thorax and pointed at herself. Thorax didn´t seem to understand the baby, but Cadence and Spike did. “Are you crazy?” Spike asked. “There´s no way you´re distracting the guards. It´s too dangerous!” Cadence forbade Flurry. “In any case, the one who should go is me.” “You´re not going.” Cadence also said. “But why? I saved the Crystal Empire before! Sure I can do that again.” Spike replied confidently. “Firstly, because I´m looking after you, as Twilight would have liked. Secondly, if you went out there on your own, what would happen to the bell?” she pointed at the bell. Spike looked at the bell. “Oh. Right.” Thorax, who was paying attention to the surroundings, noticed something very important. He shook his hoof violently. “Oh my! Guys! Look!” They obeyed and watched. They gasped when they saw Queen Chrysalis at the balcony of the castle. “Queen Chrysalis?! What is she doing here?” Cadence asked while raising an eyebrow. “Commanding her army? Rule the Crystal Empire perhaps? She´s the reason why changelings are here!” Spike said. He stopped talking when Cadence and Flurry glared at him. He smiled as an apology. Thorax silenced the two, since he noticed that Chrysalis was about to speak. “Shh! Listen.” “My dear changelings.” the queen addressed to her subjects. “We are about to achieve glorious times. Times in which we can feast on all the love we want! Times in which hunger won´t be experienced by changelings. Times in which we will rule Equestriaaaa!” she energetically put her hoof on the air. The changelings cheered her queen. “But there are things we still need to do. As you know, there´s an enemy. No! Two enemies that are trying to steal my throne. Firstly, Twilight and her friends! And secondly, an ancient Equestrian legend: the ugly and old goat Grogar!” The changelings booed. “She´s lucky that Grogar isn´t here.” Spike commented in a low voice. “I don´t think he would have taken that nicely.” “Fortunately, we still have time to act. All you have to do is to find an ancient artefact, which is none other than the Bewitching Bell.” The changelings didn´t say anything. “From your silence, I can tell you have no idea of what I´m talking about, do you?” No response. Chrysalis sighed frustrated. “You know. Grogar´s bell.” “Aaaah…” the changelings muttered in understanding. A brave changeling in the crowd took off and raised his hoof while flying. “My queen. I have a question.” “Yes?” she asked in a passive aggressive manner. The changeling gulped nervously, but he continued with her question. “How does the bell look like?” Chrysalis widened her eyes. “How could I have not thought on that?” she asked to herself while she rubbed her forehead. She cleared her throat. “Well, it looks like a rusty, metallic, with a rectangular shape. It´s also of a dark bluish green colour.” “Oh. Ok.” “One more thing. The bell was stolen by the Crystal Empire´s saviour. The so called `Spike the brave and glorious´!” The crystal ponies gasped. “We must look for him! He´s the one who´s preventing us to get our glory! When we find him, we´ll take the bell from him and drain all his love until he gives out his last breath!” The changelings cheered once again. Spike put has hand on his chest and shivered. “Yikes.” he muttered. “All hail queen Chrysalis!” “HAIL CHRYSALIS!” “Our beautiful queen!” Chrysalis was getting flattered, but she remembered that she hadn´t won yet. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOUR FOOLS?! SEARCH HIM!” she snapped. The changelings got scared, nodded in obedience and started searching for Spike. Chrysalis ignited her horn and disappeared. Thorax, Cadence and Flurry worriedly stared at Spike, who was hyperventilating. “I´m so screwed.” Spike said. “Ok, let´s not enter in panic. The only thing that we´ll get by being nervous is clouding our minds.” Cadence advised, trying to calm Spike down. “Cadence is right.” Thorax agreed. “We still need to come up with a plan to enter the castle and save Shining Armor.” At that moment a changeling discovered them. Before she could warn the others, Cadence cast a spell to silence her. Thorax inmovilized her. “That was close.” Spike sighed in relief. The changeling noticed Spike and the bell. She felt a huge rage inside, causing her to have an adrenaline rush that allowed her to release from Thorax. She flew towards Spike. Cadence fought her for some time. “Run!” Cadence told Spike. But Flurry did something unexpected. She took the bell with her magic. Seeing her intentions, Cadence tried to reach out to her. “Flurry don´t!” But it was too late. Flurry had already struck the bell. Spike noticed that Thorax didn´t know what happened, since he was too busy fighting the changeling. “Thorax look out!” her warned him. Thorax heard a ring. He saw magic coming out from the bell. He and Cadence got out of the way. The changeling, however, didn´t. She screamed when the magic hit her. Thorax and Spike closed their eyes. Cadence tried to cover Flurry´s eyes, but she shook her head with a smile, telling her it wasn´t necessary. Cadence raised an eyebrow. Why was her daughter so calm? But she received the answers when there was no more magic coming out from the bell. When they opened their eyes, they didn´t see a burnt body like they expected to. In fact, they saw a changeling. But in its normal version. They smiled when they saw her beautiful colours standing out. The changeling rubbed her head confused. “Ugh… What happened?” she looked around. “Where am I? This isn´t the changeling hive.” She saw a group of creatures smiling at her. She recognized them one by one. “Is that… Spike! I´m so happy to see you. Princess Cadence and her beautiful baby, Flurry Heart!” The baby alicorn laughed cheerfully. “And…” she gasped when she saw Thorax. She grabbed a stick she saw near her and started hitting Thorax. “Bad changeling! We don´t do that anymore! You hear me? Not anymore! What would our good ruler Thorax think of you?” “Angie! It´s me! Thorax!” Thorax said, but the changeling didn´t listen to him. Cadence and Spike stopped her from hitting Thorax. “No no no! Stop!” Cadence ordered. “He is Thorax.” Spike explained. Angie raised her eyebrow confused. “Is that true?” she asked the changeling. “Yeees.” Thorax replied in dizziness, his eyes going everywhere. She gasped. “I´m so sorry, your highness! But why do you look like that?” “It´s a long story, but I´ll tell you anyway.” Spike said. He cleared his throat. “It all began when-” Flurry put him in a bubble. Spike tried to ask why she did that, but he couldn´t hear his voice. When he realized what the baby alicorn did, he glared at her. Flurry shrugged with a smirk. “Chrysalis has returned. And this time she has company. She, along Tirek and Cozy Glow, retrieved an ancient artefact, the Bewitching Bell, used by the evil emperor Grogar in his rule. Chrysalis went to your hive and corrupted you with it.” Cadence explained quickly. Angie put her hoof on her mouth. “Oh my… That doesn´t sound good.” she muttered nervously. “Luckily, thanks to my daughter,” she looked at Flurry with pride, making her blush. “we discovered that the bell can reverse the effect.” Angie sighed in relief. “What a relief.” “Answering to your question of where you are, we are at the Crystal Empire.” Thorax said as he got up from the ground, rubbing his temple in the process. “Chrysalis ordered you to take the bell from Spike and kill him basically.” “Oof!” the changeling mumbled as she shivered. “I´m lucky you returned me to my normal self before I could do that.” she looked at Spike with concern. “I hope I didn´t harm you.” “No worries. I´m fine. You haven´t touched me either.” he reassured her. “Maybe we could use this on every corrupted changeling!” Cadence suggested. “It worked on her, why shouldn´t it work on others?” “That´s a great idea!” Thorax replied. “However, does it work on several changelings at once? Or is it one by one? I´m just saying so we can save time and energy for ourselves. Not to mention the magic from the bell. We don´t know if it runs out. We might need it for later.” “Those are some good points.” Spike replied. “As for how many in one strike… I guess we´ll have to experiment. I guess that we´ll use it for only the changelings in the castle for now.” “And on you too.” Cadence told Thorax. Thorax didn´t understand Cadence. But when he did, he laughed at his obliviousness. “Oh! Right, of course. I was so focused on the plan that I forgot about myself.” Cadence blasted the bell. After it rang, it released magic towards Thorax. When the magic stopped coming out, Thorax was back to his natural form. He looked relieved at his hooves and his wings. They were as lively and majestic as before. He started jumping in joy. “Oooh! It feels so good to be colourful again!” he exclaimed excitedly. Angie and Cadence smiled in contentment. “Ok. Now we need a plan to get into the castle.” Spike said as he put his claw under his chin in thought. “I think the best way would be a distraction.” he quickly turned to Flurry. “Which won´t be you.” Flurry puffed in disappointment. Cadence tried to hold her laughter. “I think I am the perfect candidate.” Angie offered herself. “I have some ideas that could earn you time.” Spike, Thorax, Cadence and Flurry shared glances. In front of the castle, several changelings were monitoring the main entrance. Angie stepped in front of them. Immediately the changelings circled around her and pointed her with their spears. Angie took some steps back. “Whoah! Whoah! So much aggressiveness! That´s not healthy for your heart.” she noticed a spear touching her. “Ouch! Careful with that.” They growled furiously. “You know what you need? A story!” The changelings raised an eyebrow confused. Angie cleared her throat. “In a village of Foaledo, the name of which I have no desire to call to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlecolts that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old bucker, a lean hack and a greyhound for coursing. An olla of more apples than hay…” As Angie was telling a story to changelings that seemed to be interested, Spike, Thorax and Cadence, with Flurry on her back; crept on the floor to remain unseen and went upstairs. Spike carefully opened the door, made a sign to tell them to enter one by one. “I guess that including theatre in the kingdom´s activities was a good idea after all.” Thorax whispered in Spike´s ear. “Thorax!” Cadence scolded quietly. “Sorry.” Thorax apologized. After they entered, Spike got in and slowly closed the castle gates. When he turned around, he saw lots of changelings growling and approaching them slowly. He tightly hugged the bell. “You know what? Maybe now would the perfect time to test what you said earlier, Thorax.” Cadence said. “Agreed.” he told Cadence. “Then, I´ll leave it to you.” Spike handled the bell to Cadence. She took it with her magic. Without thinking it, she ignited her horn and threw a ray of magic at the bell. Immediately after, she summoned a force camp to protect themselves in case it didn´t work. They all hugged each other with their eyes closed. The bell elevated and rang. Shining Armor was alone in his cell. His hoof was enchained to the wall, his magic was blocked by a ring around his horn. He was shivering from the cold. Through the small spaces the bars in the wall left, he could see how the windigos covered the Crystal Empire in snow. The fact that he wasn´t able to protect the empire or his family distressed him. He didn´t know what was going to happen to him, but he didn´t care. All he wanted was his family to be safe. He had been praying for their welfare nonstop. “Please be safe. Please be safe.” he repeated to himself. He stopped talking to himself when he heard some hoofsteps. He put in a self-defense position, ready to attack. But he wasn´t prepared for what was coming next. Suddenly a flash of light brought the cell´s door. Shining Amor didn´t see the source of light, since the light was blinding him. But when he saw with clarity, his eyes filled with tears of joy. He saw Cadence standing in two legs, with her majestic wings wide opened and a smirk of determination in her face. Flurry jumped from her back and flew to Shining Armor while mispronouncing the word dad. “Flurry!” Shining hugged Flurry. The baby alicorn destroyed the chain and the ring that were restraining him. “Cadence!” he exclaimed as Cadence flew to hug him. She threw herself in Shining´s arms so hard that she made him fall backwards. The family laughed. “I´m so glad to see that you´re ok.” he told Cadence. “Me too.” Cadence replied while snuggling her cheek against Shining´s. “I was feeling cold inside the cell but your embrace warmed me.” “Aaaaw.” Spike and Thorax entered the cell. Both sighed in relief. “You´re ok.” Spike said. “Without a scratch.” Thorax added. Shining noticed the two of them. “Spike! Thorax! You´re ok!” he noticed that Thorax was in a normal form. “And in your respective form.” he sighed in relief. “I´ve never been so to see a colourful changeling in all my life! How did you manage to enter, anyway?” “We had some help.” Thorax said while stepping to the left. Lots of colourful changelings entered the cell. “What in tarnation? I thought all of them were corrupted. Did I miss something?” Shining asked as he scratched his head. “They were. At the beginning.” Spike explained while flying towards Shining. “But we managed to turn back to the good side thanks to this!” Spike showed the bell to Shining. Shining looked at it with attention. “Good. Good. Aaah. Great.” he took a brief pause. “What is it?” “Grogar´s bell.” Shining gasped. “What? But I thought he was a legend.” “All of us did. But apparently, he isn´t. Anyway, Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy managed to get it but I took it away from them. And Flurry managed to save me and herself from being killed by Grogar himself.” “What?!” “We´ll explain everything better later, don´t worry.” Cadence reassured him. “This is an amazing discovery. I need to tell Twilight. I wish she was here with us.” Spike said to himself while looking at the bell. “SPIIIKE!” Twilight yelled as she and her friends appeared out of nowhere. Twilight´s yell caused Spike to drop the bell, falling in his foot. He started jumping while grabbing his foot and whimpering in pain. Twilight ran towards him. “Oh my goodness! I´m so sorry!” she hugged him. “Are you alright?” “Twily!” Shining Armor exclaimed. “I´m so glad you´re ok.” “How did you find us?” Cadence asked. “Family sense.” Pinkie Pie explained. “I´m ok. I´m ok.” Spike said to Twilight. “You sure?” Twilight asked concerned. Spike nodded. “In that case… I have something to tell you!” she and Spike exclaimed in chorus. They widened their eyes in surprise. “You do?” they asked in unison. “Ok, you first.” Spike said. “We know how to defeat Grogar!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Really?” “Well, we´re not hundred percent sure, but it´s worth trying.” “Oh. What is it?” “We´re going to use the bell against Grogar.” Rarity enthusiastically explained. Spike gasped. “Oh ho ho… Very ironic if you ask me. Well, now it´s my turn. We discovered that we can reverse the spells that the bell casts!” The mane 6 gasped. “How did you discover that?” Twilight asked. “Flurry used the bell on a corrupted changeling, and she returned to her original form. Then, when we entered the castle, Cadence pulled the same trick. And we also discovered that it can work on various changelings at the same time!” “Well, that´s a relief.” Applejack put her hoof on her chest. “That means that we might be able to return all changelings to normal!” Fluttershy exclaimed excitedly. “I hate to ruin all the positivity, but I think that in order to do that we also need the time.” Rainbow Dash said while looking at the window. “The windigos are already covering everything in snow. What if by the time we reformed every changeling Equestria is buried by snow? The only way to deal with the windigos is to defeat Grogar and the villains. It´s the only way that ponies will see that we need to be together. More now than ever!” she asked frightened. The ponies looked at each other worriedly. “Rainbow is right. We need to deal with Grogar and the villains first.” Twilight said firmly. “But once we´re finished, we´ll return every creature to normal.” she said to Spike with a tender smile. “Now that you´re talking about returning creatures to normal, there´s a changeling out there who needs our help….” Thorax smiled in a nervous manner. “Which, thanks to that of my true Don Quitrote, are even now tottering, and doubtless doomed to fall for ever. Farewell.” Dramatically, Angie put her hoof on her forehead. The changelings clapped and whistled in contentment. “Thank you. I´m so glad you liked it.” Angie said to the crowd as she took bows. “We want another story!” a changeling in the crowd demanded. “Yeah!” the changelings joined in the other changeling´s request. Angie was caught unguarded. “Another story? Well… That´s the only one I know by heart. Much to Angie´s misfortune, the crowd didn´t take no for an answer. They approached to her menacingly, like a predator to its prey, ready to attack her at any time. Angie walked backwards until she bumped against a wall. She put her hoofs on her head to protect herself and closed her eyes. “Angie!” a voice called from behind called. Angie´s ears perked up. She looked behind. There were Thorax, Cadence and her family, Spike, Twilight and her friends, and many reformed changelings. “Thorax! You´ve come in the perfect moment!” she exclaimed in relief. “Although a little sooner wouldn´t have been bad either.” she muttered to herself. “Don´t worry. Help is coming!” Cadence told her as she flew in front of her. Once again, she struck the bell with her magic, making it ring. When there was no more magic coming, all the changelings returned to their beautiful and normal colours. Meanwhile, the mane 6, with the help of Shining Amor, Flurry and other changelings; freed the crystal ponies. The crystal ponies and changelings cheered on the heroes. They all stood in the castle´s balconies. “We appreciate your cheers, my friends. We all do.” Cadence said. “But this isn´t over yet. There are many things we need to do. There are other kingdoms that are under the villain´s control. I suggest we, crystal ponies and changelings, divide in groups and help them!” Thorax said. Both, crystal ponies and changelings, cheered once again. Shining Armor turned to Twilight. “I guess this is goodbye, then.” “Don´t say that.” Twilight scolded him. She held his hoof. “We are going to see each other again.” “I know that. What I meant that this is goodbye for now.” Twilight blinked. “Oh.” she chuckled nervously. “Yeah, that´s what you meant.” she hugged her brother tightly. “Be careful. All of you.” “I´m more worried about you than I am worried about myself, believe me.” Shining said. “We are just facing a bunch of changelings. You are facing Grogar himself! There´s no comparison between the two.” Twilight rolled her eyes playfully. “In any case, take care of yourselves.” “We will, Twily.” he replied while nodding. Twilight smiled. She took the bell from Spike and turned to her friends. Rarity held the bell with her magic. “Come on, girls. Let´s do this.” Twilight ignited her horn but was interrupted by Spike. “Wait!” he ran towards her. He hugged her foreleg. “Let me come with you.” Twilight looked at her friends, asking them what to say, but they didn´t seem to have the answer. She sighed. “I don´t know. This is too dangerous, Spike. I just want you to be safe.” “And I want to be by your side. I know that the most likely thing is that we will win but… This is a very different situation. If things go wrong… I want to be there with you to cheer you up and help you. You´re my sister, and as such I want to fulfil with my duty as your brother. Please, let me come.” Twilight´s eyes filled with tears. Spike was right. There was a possibility that things went wrong, and it would be less hard for her if she was with her little brother. She wiped her tears. “Ok. But if I tell you to run, you run.” she said. Spike didn´t agree with that statement, but he knew that if he refused, Twilight might not let him come. He nodded. “I promised.” “Pinkie promise?” “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Spike accidentally put his finger in his eye. “Ouch…” he complained quietly. Twilight chuckled. “You Pinkie Promised.” Pinkie Pie said from behind. “You´d better not break it.” she told him in threating manner. “I´m not going to break it. I swear.” Twilight smiled tenderly at him. “Ok. Now we go for real.” Spike hugged her foreleg. Twilight ignited her horn and she, along her brother and friends disappeared.