Chapter 3
The six ponies backed up in fear as the changeling queen approached them; her eyes scanning them in their frightened state. The mane six had a look on their face as if to say “We are out of ideas and now we are doomed". Then Chrysalis spoke.
“You know my army and I feed off of love, but I do love the scent of fear. HAHAHAHAHA.” She laughed.
“What do we do?!” Rarity cried out in anguish.
Twilight was about to say that it was the end but her eye suddenly caught something, two somethings actually. One being the fire extinguisher on the right side of the door they were on and two being the last patch of grass that is raised up level with the tracks before the long bridge over the canyon.
Without hesitation Twilight took action. She grabbed the fire extinguisher and quickly blasted Chrysalis with it. The queen cried out in pain as the contents of it had gotten into her eyes. Twilight then opened a nearby window and waited for the right time.
“Okay.” Twilight said. “On the count of three we jump.” She said, standing behind the group.
“Are ya crazy?!” Applejack shouted.
“One.” Twilight counted.
“Dear if we jump we could die. Or worse, ruin my hair” Rarity said with worry.
“Two.” Twilight said, taking a deep breath.
“Twilight no!” The rest shouted.
“Three!”
As Twilights back legs left the windowsill she looked at the tracks. She had timed the jump correctly but the grass was much lower than she expected. She closed her eyes as she plummeted to the ground. Then she stopped. She looked up to see rainbow dash holding her in the air while flying and the others safely on the ground.
“But how-” Twilight began.
“Twilight.” Dash said as she cut her off. “You need to think your plans through more; I am a pegasus after all."
With all of the friends safely on the ground and free of Chrysalis Twilight couldn’t help but smile. That smile quickly faded however when she saw Chrysalis lookout of the same window they had jumped out of, eyes bloodshot from pain and menacing scowl on her face. In defeat she pulled her head back inside the train in defeat since she couldn’t chase them. Her wings could not support her for long times and she could only really hover due to her weight and their flimsiness. Since falling to her doom wasn’t an option she had only her changelings who, saying this in the nicest way possible, were all dumber than a sack of sacks.
With one problem out of the way Twilight tried to figure out what to do next. They had to hide somewhere but she also thought that if she could get home could think of a spell to stop the changelings.
“Where to now?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“I say we head to Ponyville and see if there is any spell in my library I can use to stop the changeling invasion.” Twilight said.
“Right,” Rainbow Dash said, flying a few feet up in the sky. “Ponyville is…uh…that way.” She continued, pointing towards the horizon.
“Well what er we doin' standin' round here? Let’s go.” Applejack said.
“Uh girls,” Fluttershy whispered. “We’d better be careful on the way down that hill looks pretty steep.”
Of course they all looked down and were instantly horrified at how right Fluttershy was. The hill cliff was almost a straight drop. The only footholds seemed to be a few rocks scattered here and there. Despite the height and angle the cliff could be walked down and having two pegasi could help if someone lost their footing. As they wandered down the cliffside one could only imagine what they could be thinking.
“I am soooooo tired." Said a rather annoyed Rarity. "We have been walking forever.”
"Actually," Applejack cut in. "It's been more like 3 minutes."
The mane six looked up the cliff they were currently descending noticing the rather short distance they had traveled. They then looked off into the horizon, barley able to see the town they called home. Finally, they looked off to see the train slowly fading over the bridge. With a heavy sigh they continued on all with one though in their minds.
How could this happen?
Nevertheless they pressed on. They continued down the steep mountainside sliding off rocks, jumping over crevasses, running from rockslides, the usual mountain descent; and finally reached the bottom. When they finally got down the sun began to set in the west.
"Twi, if the princesses are captured how is the sun moving?" Applejack asked.
"Princess Celestial prepared for an emergency like this, if she and Luna are unable to perform their tasks the magic they have stored is strong enough to keep the solar rotation going for weeks." Twilight states, as a matter-of-factly.
"Whoa!" cried Rainbow Dash, "She told you that?"
"Being the only student to an all powerful princess does have its perks." Twilight shrugged.
"Enough dawdilin' we gotta find some shelter for the night." Applejack said, looking out at the horizion.
"You mean we are staying out here..... In the Everfree forest...... At NIGHT?" Asked Rarity in horror.
"I'm not hearin' a better suggestion" Said Applejack clearly annoyed. "C'mon let's go." She said, taking the lead of the group.
The mane six walked along into the vast forest preparing for the night ahead of them. They made their way past brambles, thick vines, all while gathering supplies and helping all they can. Twilight kept a magical lantern lit, Applejack gathered some food, Fluttershy asked the animals they saw for directions, Rainbow Dash went up to the sky and scouted a path, and Rarity gathered sticks and leaves for shelter. They walked for what seemed like hours until the sun fully went down. They found a grassy patch under a clearing of trees and set up camp. Their "camp" consisted of a few large leaves hanging over a branch and a few logs surrounding some leaves and twigs for a fire pit. It did not take very long to make and after a short while we're all sitting around a crackling fire. Despite them being wide awake they sat in silence. Only the wind and occasionally owl pierced the noiseless forest around them. They sat all with solemn expressions on their faces staring straight at the fire until it went out. One by one they retired to bed until only Fluttershy and Twilight remained. As Fluttershy got up she saw tears forming in Twilights eyes. She walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulder.
"Don't worry Twilight." Fluttershy said tenderly. "We will save Celestia and Luna."
With that she quietly went to bed leaving Twilight alone. Twilight looked at the pit where the fire was just a few moments ago and then up to the multitude of stars above her.
"We will." Twilight whispered to herself. "We will."
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Drat, I almost had them. Queen Chrysalis thought bitterly to herself. We had Equestria in our possession. All we had to do was capture...them... and then no one could have stopped us, but, of course, nothing around here is easy.
Chrysalis scanned the horizon around her desperately searching for a sing. Smoke from a fire, light, a pegasus in the sky, anything. After a while she gave up her search and decided to stop the train and send out a search party. Just as she was about to pull the brake something in the distance caught her eye. A light, now this light was far too big to be a fire and she stared at it oddly for a while to figure out what it was.
Just then the captain of her changeling army came into the engine room. He was rather large for a changeling, not as large as an alicorn but still large. He had dark blue eyes and a scar across the right side of his face. On his head he wore a red hat with the changeling symbol on the front.
"My Queen," he hissed. "We have captured the princesses and they are and in proper containment." The brute said.
"I am aware of that Slash." Chrysalis said bluntly. “However we still have one threat that has not been dealt with that your section failed to stop."
“I understand my Queen that is why we are here, to capture and if necessary destroy them. I just need your command." Slash replied.
Chrysalis was about to speak but then she saw what was causing the light.
"I know where they are headed." She said quickly.
With great speed she went over the speakers with a devilish grin on her face and spoke to the changelings on the train.
"All passengers please put on your correct disguise the train will be coming to the station in a few minutes. Our next stop.......Ponyville."