CHAPTER 7: THE CHANGELING REVOLT
Tirek, the Pony of Shadows, Sombra, the Storm King, and Chrysalis were gathered in Grogar’s throne room. Grogar sat on his throne, smiling. “My legion! Now that we have the Crystal Heart and even the Crystal Princess in our possession, it is time to execute the next part of my plan!”
Chrysalis hissed. “And what exactly is that plan?! You speak of this ‘master plan’ to destroy our enemies, and yet you’ve kept the actual plan part a secret from us!”
“Enough, Chrysalis. Remember that it was I who restored your power and I can easily take it away! The destruction of Twilight Sparkle and her friends shall come soon enough for you.”
Chrysalis frowned in response. “Fine, I’ll be patient… Your Majesty.”
“Good. The next phase of my plan includes you and these others infiltrating your old hive.”
“What could you possibly need from there?”
“I am pleased that you have asked. What I require is a few pieces of your old throne.”
“Wait a moment,” the Storm King interrupted, “what’s so important about a throne?”
“My throne was able to block all outside magic from harming my hive.”
“That could be beneficial to our cause,” Sombra remarked. “Fascinating. A throne capable of blocking outside magic… just like my shadow crystals.”
“Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and I used it to trap the Mane Six and her friends before we were turned to stone,” Tirek responded. “Although I’m not quite sure that it would still work.”
Grogar chuckled at Tirek’s remark. “Wrong you are, Tirek. After your defeat, the remaining pieces were relocated to the Changeling Kingdom, where they are currently under the watch of General Pharynx and his squadron.”
“And what are we going to do with them once they are retrieved?” the Pony of Shadows asked.
“You shall find out in time, my friend. Now, go! And do not return without the pieces!” Grogar charged his bell, which blasted the villains with its magic, and they were teleported to the outside of the Changeling Kingdom.
Twilight and her friends, along with the new addition of Flash, were on the Friendship Express heading toward Canterlot. Seeing the castle, Celestia smiled and turned toward Twilight.
“It’s been a long time since Luna and I have been to the castle. I’m just happy it’s been in the care of such a capable young mare.”
Twilight blushed. “I’m only as good as the princess who mentored me. It’s great to see you after so long.”
Celestia smiled and the two hugged each other. That was when the train came to a stop. “We have arrived at Canterlot!” yelled the conductor. “Please exit the train!”
The heroes got off the train and headed toward Canterlot Castle. Waiting at the door for them was Tempest.
“Princess, I heard about what happened at the Crystal Empire. Are you and your friends alright?”
“Physically, yes. Emotionally, no. They took Flurry Heart.”
“And the Crystal Heart!” Flash added.
Rainbow Dash frowned. “They destroyed the barrier around the empire that keeps it from freezing.”
“We barely escaped,” Luna said. “My sister and I tried our best to protect Flurry Heart, but the Storm King defeated us.”
Tempest growled. “That beast has hurt enough ponies already. He needs to pay.”
“And so do the other villains brought back by Grogar,” Twilight remarked. “That’s why we need to get inside the library to find out where Grogar’s castle is located.”
Starlight frowned. “Assuming we even can find out where his castle is.”
Twilight smiled. “I think our best luck would be in the restricted section. Come on, everypony.”
A few moments later, Twilight and her friends were in the restricted section of the archives. Looking through book after book, the heroes found almost nothing. Twilight groaned.
“At this rate, we'll never find anything on Grogar!” she shouted.
“Well, not here, at least,” a familiar voice replied. The heroes looked toward the entranceway and saw a certain draconequus standing there. “Hello, everypony.”
Fluttershy put down her books and ran toward him. “Discord!” She jumped into his arms and gave him a hug. “What are you doing here?”
Discord teleported himself in front of the heroes. “I know about what happened at the Crystal Empire. I also heard about Grogar and the Legion of Doom.”
“And?” Twilight asked.
“I want to help.”
“Help? Like you did when you were trying to, and I quote, ‘help Twilight get her confidence back?’” Rarity asked.
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Discord replied, frowning. “But just let me prove to you that I can be useful.” He then turned into a small version of himself and used the well-known “Puppy-eyes” technique. “Please?”
“Alright, you can help.”
Discord smiled. “Thank you, Twilight. I’ll make it up to you. All of you.”
Sunset continued to be confused. “Can somepony please tell me what is going on?”
The villains hid behind a rock outside of the Changeling Kingdom. Seeing the beautiful hive, Chrysalis snarled. “What have they done to my hive? It’s hideous!”
“I don’t know, in my opinion it looks… nice,” said the Storm King, only for Chrysalis to hiss at him.
“You know what, I’m just going to shut up.”
Sombra turned to Chrysalis. “So what’s the plan?” he asked.
Chrysalis kept her eyes on the hive. “Sombra, you and I will sneak into the hive and try to stay undetected. Meanwhile, the Storm King will stay outside the hive.”
“And do what?” asked the Storm King, seemingly disappointed with his lack of action.
“I need you to create a storm that will prevent any changelings from escaping in case we have to fight them. Do you think you can do that?”
“Can I?” The Storm King activated his staff. “That would be a yes.”
Tirek frowned. “What will I do?”
“You and the Pony of Shadows will stay near the hive to make sure Twilight and her friends can’t stop us if they find out we’re here.”
“We won’t let anyone, pony or otherwise, make it inside,” the Pony of Shadows said, smiling and emitting orange flames.
“Good. Sombra, let’s go.” Chrysalis turned to the Storm King and smiled. “You know what to do.”
The Storm King nodded and used his staff to create a storm that surrounded the kingdom, with heavy winds spread around to make sure no changeling could fly away and escape.
Afterward, Chrysalis and Sombra headed toward the hive. Chrysalis shapeshifted to blend into the surroundings and Sombra transformed into a shadow.
In the room where the pieces were being kept, Pharynx sat in front of a chest containing the throne pieces. Sharpening his spear, he looked at his guards. “I’m going to discuss the recent attack on the Crystal Empire with King Thorax. Make sure that no one gets in or out, alright?”
“Yes, sir!” they yelled in unison.
“Good. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Pharynx exited through a magically sealed doorway. As he left, Chrysalis, disguised as a rock, returned to her original form and approached it. Sombra followed close behind.
“What do we do once we’re inside?” Sombra asked.
“Just follow my lead. I’ll open the door in three… two… one!” Chrysalis used her magic to break the door down and she and Sombra ran into the room.
The changelings guarding the chest became worried. They wondered how Queen Chrysalis was back, and in their fear, they were easy to take out. Chrysalis and Sombra blasted them with magic, and they were flung all across the room.
“Finally! Now we can get the pieces!” Chrysalis exclaimed. She ran toward the chest and grabbed it with her magic. She and Sombra quickly ran out of the room and toward the exit, but Chrysalis stopped, giving the chest to Sombra.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Just take this. While I’m here, it’s time I do something I should have done long ago!”
Chrysalis ran toward the throne room, where Thorax and Pharynx were talking.
“Thorax, with the attack on the Crystal Empire and everything else going on, I think we need to evacuate the hive.”
Thorax frowned. “I don’t know, Pharynx. How would we even convince the changelings to evacuate? You know they’re stubborn.”
“If anyone can convince them, it’s you. After all, you’re a better ruler than any of the changelings have ever known.”
Chrysalis entered the room. “Oh, really? Better than your own mother?”
Thorax snarled. “Chrysalis! How are you out of your stone prison?”
“That doesn’t matter. What does matter is what I’m about to do to you. And don’t even think about trying to get the other changelings and flying away, my fellow comrades are making sure you can’t escape.”
Pharynx hissed at Chrysalis and levitated a spear in his magic. “Thorax, run! I’ll deal with her!”
“Pharynx, I can’t let yo—”
“Just go!” Thorax followed his brother’s orders and ran outside. Little did he know that Chrysalis had already defeated Pharynx. Alerting his subjects of the current situation, they tried to run away but saw the villains outside and instead hid in a cave near the hive.
Thorax grew a worried expression on his face. “I need to alert Princess Twilight.”
Twilight and her friends were sitting around the restricted section continuing their conversation with Discord. “So, you know where Grogar’s castle is?” Applejack asked.
“I do. During the Bell Wars, Grogar made his plans from his home city of—” Before Discord could finish, Spike burped up a scroll.
“Twilight, it’s for you.” He handed the scroll to her. She read it, and almost instantly became extremely worried.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?” Sunset asked.
Twilight began panicking.
Trixie put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight? Is everything alright?”
“The Legion of Doom attacked the Changeling Kingdom. Thorax and the changelings can’t even leave without risk of getting killed!”
The heroes gasped.
“Why would Grogar send the villains to attack the Changeling Hive?” Trixie asked.
“I don’t know, but this is starting to become too much for me.” Twilight began breathing heavily and almost started crying, before her friends gave her a hug and she calmed down, albeit not much.
Flash held Twilight’s hoof and smiled. “If there’s anyone who can do this, it’s you, Princess.”
Twilight blushed. “Thanks, Flash.”
The Royal Sisters nodded at each other and Celestia turned to Twilight. “Twilight,” she said, “Luna and I have agreed on this, and we’re going to do it.”
“Do what?”
“While you and your friends are away to defeat Grogar, we’re going to stay here and make sure that Grogar’s legion doesn’t attack anymore of Equestria.”
“How?”
Luna smiled. “We can sense when the legion is attacking a part of Equestria. We will keep the kingdom safe.”
Twilight and her friends smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Twilight,” Celestia responded. “Now, be careful.”
“We will.”
Rainbow Dash smiled. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go to Tambelon!”
Grogar once again watched the heroes in his Crystal Ball. “Everything is going according to plan. After I resurrect my army, those ponies won’t stand a chance!”