Royal arrived in Ponyville late that night. The streets were quiet, as usual. He could only hope that this meant he had outrun the army in returning to his new hometown. He knew it was too late to return to his house; he didn’t want to wake Scootaloo at this hour.
“Well, I’ve got some bits left. I think I’ll book a room at the local hotel.” He walked down the road from the train station and found the corresponding building. He paid and headed for his room. Once there, he fell asleep almost immediately.
Don’t worry, little sister…I’m almost home…
Rainbow Dash awoke several hours later. It was about 5 a.m. She tapped Scootaloo on the head lightly, but got no response from the filly. Dash chuckled softly.
“Squirt, you’re the one who said ‘bright and early.’ This is bright and early. Come on, chop chop!” Scootaloo rolled over and opened her eyes.
“I didn’t mean that literally!” she said, groaning. But, she remembered who they were going to look for, and immediately perked up. Rainbow smiled at her.
“Atta girl! Let’s go!” Scootaloo nodded and followed her idol as they departed for their adventure.
In the center of town, Paulie and Chrysalis stood and thought, trying to cook up a strategy for how to best spread out the changelings. Chrysalis directed them similar to how an orchestra conductor would order his players around. Her plan: spread out across all areas of Ponyville and attack when the time feels right. Paulie walked over and whispered in her ear.
“Chrysalis, do you think this is really the best approach? Shouldn’t we have the entire army at our disposal to seek and destroy properties as we see fit?” The changeling queen shook her head.
“That might take too long…if they’re spread out, they can each work on conquering a different corner of Ponyville. Remember, this is only the first step of the mission.”
Unfortunately for the pair, they were standing right outside the hotel where Royal was staying. He had awoken from his slumber because of another dream involving Scootaloo. This one was more pleasant, as it featured them spending time together as they had before the faux scandal happened. The dream made him realize that he was only a few minutes away from his own home where his little sister waited.
Royal had ventured outside the hotel walls and was standing right inside the entrance. At that moment, Chrysalis conveniently forgot what time of morning it was.
“Yes, leveling Ponyville is only the first step in the grand scheme. The way I see it, we can install leaders in four main locations. Here, Las Pegasus, Canterlot, and…Fillydelphia!” Royal shuddered as he hid behind the door.
They’re gonna go after…my hometown? Over my dead body. Trying to kill me is one thing. But trying to kill everyone I love? Congratulations, dumbflanks. This just got personal.
“Let’s go back to the canyon. The changelings will take care of things, and we’ll bring our leader in later on. For us, we’ll discuss plans for the conquering of Las Pegasus!” With those words, Paulie and Chrysalis flew away.
Royal waited for them to depart. He then lightly walked along the Ponyville square. He had to get to somepony’s house and warn them. He walked along until he saw a sight for sore eyes; Twilight Sparkle’s library. He quietly snuck over to the door and gave it a firm knock. Inside, Twilight opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep studying at her desk close to the front door. Sleepily, she stumbled over to the door.
“Who’s there? Princess Celestia hasn’t even risen the sun yet! Who besides the Apples would be awake now?”
“It’s Royal. Please, Twilight…you’ve got to listen to me.” Twilight immediately snapped to her senses. She opened the door, allowing him to enter.
“Come on in, Royal.” As soon as Twilight closed the door, she quickly hugged him.
“Uh…hello.” Royal did not expect this as a response. Twilight backed off, embarrassed.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I just…I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Twilight. I missed everyone.” He noticed a now-repaired Smarty Pants, guessing that his doppleganger had included the doll in his “desecration” of the library.
“I’m sorry about what happened here.” Twilight shook her head gently.
“It’s not your fault, Royal. Pinkie told me everything yesterday morning.”
“I know. I’ve cried over this enough. I’m back now, for good.” Twilight smiled.
“I’m very happy to hear you say that. I thought you had a meeting with Princess Celestia that day.”
“I did. That’s why I’m here. I’ve got some news for you, and not the good kind, either.” Twilight listened intently, bracing herself for whatever came out of Royal’s mouth next.
Nearly two hours later, it was still dark. Royal spent that time inside the library with Twilight, trying to come up with a viable strategy to dethrone the villains before they could even get started. If Twilight didn’t already believe Royal’s news about the princesses being locked away in cocoons, she sure did now. The sun and moon had risen as normal the previous day because Celestia and Luna were granted temporary release at the appropriate times. Chrysalis cast a spell on the castle’s guards, gaining their allegiance. The releases were done to avoid suspicion, but the cover was now blown. Somepony forgot to release Celestia in order to repeat the process on this particular morning.
Rainbow and Scootaloo crossed paths with Big Macintosh on their search for Royal. Their search had led them straight to Sweet Apple Acres.
“Hey, Big Mac!” Rainbow said. The big red stallion greeted them.
“Good morning Rainbow, Scootaloo. What brings ya out here?”
“We’re looking for Royal. Have you seen him anywhere around here?” Big Mac, having not been present at the recent meeting, only had the bad memories of when Royal supposedly stole more apples than he sold in a day. He turned away.
“Sorry, I couldn’t care less about that thief.” Scootaloo hung her head. Rainbow gave her a hug with a single wing, offering a moment of moral support.
“I know we can’t convince you otherwise, but try and reconsider your thoughts. Sorry to trouble you, Mac.” The pair started to walk away. When they were about to leave the farm, they heard him speak again.
“Good luck, you two.” They turned around to see him smile warmly in their direction. Big Mac hadn’t yet heard that Royal wasn’t the thief, but he knew that they cared about him. They smiled back and continued on their way. As soon as they left Sweet Apple Acres, the sun began to rise. This puzzled Rainbow.
“Did Princess Celestia sleep in or something? The sun should have been up 3 hours ago.” Scootaloo shrugged.
Paulie and Chrysalis continued to fly towards their destination, and they too were puzzled about the sun not rising on schedule.
“I think your henchmen are in a different timezone, Chryssy.”
“I should have known…never leave a grunt to do a queen’s job!” she scowled.
“But why does that matter? We’ll have control of Ponyville and Canterlot after today. It’s a time of celebration!” Chrysalis smiled.
“Yes, and the attack should begin right…about…now!”
Almost as if they could hear her counting down, the changelings appeared from their hiding places and immediately began running amok in Ponyville. Some of them appeared right in front of Rainbow and Scootaloo.
“What th…get behind me, kid!” Scootaloo obeyed her mentor. Rainbow stared down the creatures she never thought she’d see again.
Changelings? Well, that explains the fake Royal perfectly! How dare they try and frame my little bro like that?!
“You wanna fight? Good. You’ve gone and made fools of all of us, and I’m not happy about that!”
Before too long, changelings had popped out of nearly every corner of the village. Royal had left the treebrary and knew he had to see Pinkie before heading home. On the way, a few changelings engaged him in combat. He quickly blew past them. Nothing was going to stop him from seeing Pinkie again. Inside Sugar Cube Corner, a group of changelings had already surrounded Pinkie and Mrs. Cake. The pair stood tall, forming a barrier between the creatures and Mr. Cake, who held the twins Pound and Pumpkin close to himself, protectively. Unfortunately, they had no weapons and neither one of them were the fighting type. Pinkie’s party cannon was in her room, and she couldn’t very well leave the Cakes to fend for themselves. They braced themselves for whatever came next.
In one stunning flash of light, a familiar blue figure pounced head-on into the fray. Royal struck anything in the pile that moved. He was in complete melee mode. However, he took his fair share of hits as well. The melee appeared to be over when the changelings piled on top of him. It looked like the numbers game had caught up to the angered young stallion. However, they soon flew off and crashed into the walls of SCC when Royal activated his aura. He stood up, though slightly bruised.
“Royal!” Pinkie yelled. He deactivated his aura and turned to her.
“Hey Pinkie. Is everyone okay here?” She said nothing, but immediately charged towards him.
Oh no, is she going to deck me again? He braced for the worst.
Pinkie did quite the opposite. She pulled him in for the biggest hug he’d ever received in his life.
Meanwhile, Rainbow flew over Ponyville, with Scootaloo riding on her back. She’d had no choice but to flee the battle.
My pride hurts after running from that fight, but what choice did I have? She glanced back at the filly she was carrying.
If the squirt got injured or killed, I’d never be able to forgive myself. Better drop her off with AJ so she’s not alone.
Soon, she happened upon the farm, but the scene was similar. Big Macintosh was fighting off changelings near the house, protecting his sisters and Granny Smith, who hid behind the door. Naturally, AJ wanted to help, but that was out of the question, according to Big Mac. Rainbow decided to come in for a landing near the door. She let Scootaloo slide off of her back.
“Get in the house, kid.” Scootaloo obeyed and immediately huddled under a blanket with Apple Bloom.
Rainbow turned around and prepared to join her good friend’s older brother in warfare.
“Hey Big Mac…you look like you could use an extra pair of hooves.” He turned around.
“Eeyup.” Rainbow grinned.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Back at SCC, Pinkie finally released her grip on Royal, allowing him to gasp for breath. He was not expecting this kind of welcome.
“Oh! I’m so, so sorry, Royal! I just…I wanted to say I’m sorry, and I missed you, and I really care about you, and look out!”
Royal activated his aura, causing the now-recovered changelings to smash into one another and fall to the floor.
“Pinkie, I’ll hold them off. You get your party cannon and we’ll force these beasts out of here!” She nodded and sped up the stairs to her room. Royal kept his shield up and felt the force of the blows from behind as the changelings tried to claw him apart. He saw from the corner of his eye that one of the creatures had gotten past him. The lone changeling took a leap of faith towards the Cakes, but a sudden blast knocked it backwards. Pinkie was standing at the bottom of the stairs with her party cannon in tow.
“What part of ‘stay away from my adoptive family’ do you not understand?” Royal turned around to face the changelings once again. Now that he had some backup, he had nothing to lose. He flew up to one of the changelings and slapped it.
“Come and get me, swiss cheese!” Royal bolted out of SCC and was immediately surrounded by more changelings. Even worse, they were running amok through the peaceful little town.
“Uh, Pinkie? We’re gonna need more ammo!”
Rarity and Sweetie Belle were trapped inside the Carousel Boutique. The sisters huddled under a table.
“Sweetie Belle, if I don’t live to watch you grow up, I want you to know that I love you.” This drove Sweetie to tears.
“Rarity…you’re the best big sister a girl could ask for!” They hugged each other tightly. Rarity crawled out from under the table and stood up.
“Stay there, darling. Big sister has some ‘customers’ to serve.” Sweetie Belle huddled under the table with fright. What was her sister thinking? Rarity walked over and opened the door. A group of changelings sprang into action, looking for a quick capture. Rarity’s eyes turned blood-red.
“You wouldn’t dare lay a hoof on anything in here!” The group turned and looked at each other, and then continued to advance on Rarity.
“Okay then, you want to keep digging your own graves? Here’s a shovel!”
Several moments later, the changelings ran out of the Carousel Boutique as fast as they could. Rarity stood tall.
“Sweetie, darling, you can come out now…” she said in a sing-song manner. Sweetie crawled out from under the table.
“What did you do to them, Rarity?” Rarity grinned evilly.
“It’s amazing how many different uses one can find for common sewing tools.” Sweetie Belle looked confused.
“Huh?” Rarity chuckled.
“I’m just kidding. I made them play dress-up. They didn’t want to play, so they left.” Sweetie Belle smiled.
“Okay!” Sweetie was surprised when Rarity suddenly picked her up and placed her on her back.
“You’re coming with me, dear. I have a feeling we are not the only ponies dealing with an infestation this morning.” Sweetie didn’t say a word…she just held on to her sister’s neck as Rarity galloped towards the heart of Ponyville. Along the way, they were joined by Fluttershy, who explained to them that she was never touched by the changelings that invaded her home that morning. All it took was for her pet bear to gobble up one of the attacking creatures and the rest scurried off like lightning.
Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac and Rainbow held their own against the changelings they fought. However, Mac was beginning to notice the toll all the fighting was taking on their land.
“Rainbow, start flying toward town.”
“Are you sure you want me to leave you alone?”
“Eeyup.” Rainbow turned and started flying away. Big Mac’s scheme worked; the changelings all followed Rainbow away from the farm. He followed behind her. Applejack prepared to leave as well.
“Granny Smith, watch Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. I’m going into town.” Granny nodded.
When Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Big Mac reached Ponyville Square, they found it overrun with the changeling army. They quickly found the rest of their friends. In one corner, Pinkie and Royal stood ready to fight, with Pinkie’s party cannon loaded and ready to go. In another, the aforementioned trio of Applejack, Big Mac and Rainbow Dash were ready to rumble. In a third corner, Rarity, her scared kid sister and Fluttershy stood still. Finally, Twilight came to stand by her friends. She was not about to let the same creatures who tried to wreck her brother’s wedding destroy her new hometown. She had heard about the fates of her brother, her sister-in-law, and the two princesses she considered family, and she was not happy about it.
“Ponies! On my command, attack!”
A full-blown melee was about to begin.