"Easy to say." A changeling darted back from a swipe of Perception's blade and darted into the space behind it with a loud hiss. "What can you do about it?!"
"Me?" He parried a violently jabbed horn, turning it aside in time to jump out of the way of a larger changeling. "Not much. Together, we have the power. We, as changelings, are overdue to take our future in our own hooves!" The time for subtlety had passed. He either secured the support of other changelings, or his coup would end there.
Celestia suddenly vanished, winking to a spot nearby. The magic Chrysalis had been throwing scorched and destroyed the spot she had been standing in. "I will give any changeling that sees the error of their ways a full pardon," she called out, the room shaking with her booming royal voice. "We will seek no punishment against any that ceases this path now."
A changeling that was attacking Perception Gap and his few allies hesitated, glancing around. They turned on another changeling and tackled them to the ground. "The reign of Queen Chrysalis is over!"
They were the first, but far from the last. Every changeling that switched sides was another reason for the rest to consider doing the same. It was not a rout. Chrysalis' influence wasn't so tenuous that it would all collapse so easily, but a wedge had been planted.
Outside, the Mane Six battled fiercely against the changelings, but the changelings were also battling the changelings. Celestia's booming mandate had reached them, loud and crisp, and its effects were rippling behind the sound like a secondary wave of confusion and disorder among their ranks. Instead of being captured, they were making progress towards where the elements were stored.
Inside, Cadance reached Shining's side, cradling her injured and drained would-be husband. "Are you alright?"
He had his ears pinned. "I'm the worst husband ever..."
"Shh..." Cadance stroked him slowly. "Monster attacks get you a pass, but only the first time. Shh..."
Elsewhere, a filly took a slow shaking step back from a ferally grinning changeling. "Get away," she muttered weakly, too scared to shout properly.
"From lunch? Nah..." The changeling lunged at the filly, inspiring her to let out a piercing wail of terror, but it was too late and both knew it.
That he would be roughly tackled to the side was not in the plan. "Get out of my way." He shoved the other changeling, and got punched for his effort. "Idiot!"
"One of us is an idiot, and it isn't me." The other changeling shoved him back. "The queen of the ponies is giving anyling that stops fighting amnesty."
"So what?!" hissed the changeling that had been interrupted so close to securing his meal. The little filly had already dashed off. "Chrysalis will destroy her, then you! What use is a pardon from a deposed ruler?"
"Can't you feel it?" The other changeling's wings buzzed with agitation. "It's in the air... Something new is coming, and I'm going to be on the right side of it."
"Death is always the right side, eventually." The changeling looked perhaps a bit too proud of his retort. "Let's get you there." He lunged with teeth bared, the two going down in a wrestling and biting contest for the future of the city, and of changeling kind in general.
What neither could predict was the power of love. Starved of his partner's true presence, malnourished and drained, Shining Armor was a sponge for the true warmth and care being shown to him. He swelled with it and began to echo it, refilling and rebounding. Both of them shimmered with a more powerful connection than ever they had before. Cadance's magic wove between them, focusing on that connection between them and strenghtening the bond. Through it, she could restore him, and she was doing just that as they began to float into the air.
Celestia's magic bolt was turned aside with a vicious swipe of Chrysalis' horn. "You can't win. The traitors will be subdued and nothing will change. Nothing. Do you not understand?"
But Celestia was smiling in that gentle and knowing way she had a habit of. "You already lost."
"I will wipe that smile off your face." Chrysalis fired new bursts of power, knocking the princess back step by step. "You're not nearly powerful enough to stop me."
"I never had to be." A flare of power stopped one shot against its stiff bubble before fading away. "My little ponies are ever my true source of power, and you let them succeed for me."
"What's she saying?" The heavyset changeling on Perception's side threw back three changelings at once. "Did she lose it?"
Perception heaved for breath, battered and bruised, but not yet defeated. "The ponies... may be fools at time... but their princess has built a nation and defended it for long enough for them to forget the specific time... She knows something..."
Cadance and Shining's eyes filled with the luminous power of their connection, feeding Shining. She put her entire faith in him, keeping none of it back for herself. It was his time to shine, and he was ready to do so, shuddering with the gifted power. His horn brilliantly shined, but it was not alone. Its glow combined with hers, forming a heart in the air above them as his magic took sudden shape, a new bubble expanding rapidly outwards at the speed of thought.
Chrysalis leaped for Celestia, teeth wide, face a grimace of anger and hatred. None of it helped when she collided with the expanding wall, thrown back as surely as the other changelings.
But not all the changelings. Many were spared the assault that ejected others, some violently, but all the others inexorably. Thrown out, ejected, they were carried away. The sphere escaped out windows and up chimnies, and carried the changelings away on that current. They could but scream and flail as they were carried away.
What was once a battlefield became suddenly quiet. Perception fell to a knee, the other legs looking ready to give out. He was still there. His friends, still there. Some other changelings he didn't know personally were also still there. They were just as confused as he was, gauging from their slow craning necks, all trying to comprehend what had just happened so quickly.
The battle for Canterlot had ended. The ponies had won, protecting their land.
Celestia shook herself out, regaining what composure she had lost in the conflict. Though marked with the violent struggle, she managed to put on the face of the Eternal Princess quickly. "My ponies, we are saved. Let us resume our celebration for not only those who are to be wed, but those who are our saviors."
Cheering erupted, deafening and pure as ponies stomped and clapped in equal fervor for the couple that slowly settled back on the ground. They were all too happy to accept the happy ending given to them. Celestia had declared a happy ending, and that was all they required.
Outside, Twilight blinked at the sudden stop in the fierce battle to get to the elements. All the changelings that had stood in their way, swept up and away... But some still remained. She approached one on unsure hooves. "Hello?"
The changeling hissed at her, wings flared out like an animal trying to look as big as it could to dissuade a predator, but they did not flee, nor attack. "What do you want?!"
"A good question..." Twilight glanced at her recovering friends and the many changelings that looked just as exhausted from the exchange. Cheering reached her ears from inside the castle. "It sounds like things are... finished, but you're still here." She inclined her head. "I heard Princess Celestia's promise." She was pretty sure all of Canterlot had heard it.
"And now you will attack us... The tables have turned, again... And you can easily brush us aside." The changeling took a slow step back, glaring at Twilight with obvious apprehension. "I would if our situations were reversed."
But Twilight smiled, bright and friendly. "But I am a pony. The princess has made a decree. Until she rescinds it, it is the law of the land. All crimes you may have... had a part in, she forgave them all." She offered a hoof to the scared, but dangerous, creature. "Do you accept that?"
Pinkie bounced up, hooves cycling through the air. "Ooo! Say yes, please! You're all super fun!"
The changeling peered at Pinkie with amazing doubt. "You were just fighting with us for the survival of your species, and you find that 'fun'?"
Pinkie inclined her head. "But you don't want to fight with us, and that changing thing you do is pretty cool!" The logic was simple to The Pink One, as confusing as it was for the changelings, more of them paying attention to the exchange. "So say yes. Let's be friends!"
Inside, Celestia allowed her ponies to cheer and celebrate. She was approaching a specific changeling, one weak and tired. She felt just about the same, but was better at hiding the fact. "You did a very brave thing. You are very clever and very brave, but I admit, I cannot be sure of your motivation."
Perception erupted in green flames, taking his pony form with ears pinned back. "My people have suffered enough... your majesty..." It was easier to call Celestia that. It wasn't forced, like Chrysalis. She deserved it without asking for it. "I ask for one thing and one thing alone for our service today."
Celestia skewed her ears forward at him. "What would that thing be?" Wealth? Glory? Power? A thousand petty rewards flitted through her mind. They were all easy to give, but the idea of them being asked for saddened her. Perhaps he would surprise her? She could but hope. "I will listen."
Perception forced his way to his hooves, shaking a little with fatigue, but standing properly. "I request land. Not for myself, but for my people. We will forge a place for ourselves among your ponies."
Celestia raised a brow. "I cannot allow that." She could see his wince and his frown. He was ready to fight, but she was not done. "A foreign country in the middle of my own? No... That simply will not do. Any new municipality that exists within the boundaries of Equestria must be a part of Equestria. It may set new laws, but they must also follow the laws of Equestria as a whole. I cannot have a pony traveling within Equestria suddenly not be in the protection of the laws I set for them."
Perception's brows raised together. That was not an outright denial. In fact... "Then we may have land, to have a new city?"
"There are matters to discuss, and issues to resolve." She waved at Perception and his friends. "See to their injuries, and the guards. I want every injured creature escorted, gently, to the infirmary. What is your name?"
"Perception Gap." He dipped his head. "At your service."
"Tell the others," boomed Celestia, removing the need for anypony to tell anycreature else. "Perception Gap has won the changelings today. The specifics need discussion, but they are to be treated as guests."
Changelings everywhere let out a relieved noise, be that a sigh or a rough cheer. The ponies would not arrest them, even if the changelings had attacked in the first place. Perception's allies closed with him, those strong enough to help him move, allowing him to rest against them. They were moving off with laughter and cheers.
The future was uncertain, but that they had won a victory seemed clear enough. What the next day would bring, none could say, but it was free of Queen Chrysalis, and that was worth cheering about at the least.
"Bro!" Mirage lowered on fluttering wings with his usual silly smile. He wasn't hurt at all. "I got here as quick as I could... Where's everyling else?"