The once mighty Queen Chrysalis strode through the forest, following the scattering of her handful of remaining Changelings. She was thinking on her actions, although her mind was far from regretful. "Stupid Changelings. I don't need them. Do I?" She paused for only a moment, tossing her head back to flick a strand of blue hair out of her eyes. In the proces of this motion, her extensive horn caught on a tree branch, and her body flung to the ground. "Agh! Beta Twelve, why didn't you warn- oh. Right." She quickly stood up again, continuing her voyage towards Ponyville.
"I suppose those sniveling foals have warned Twilight Sparkle by now." Chrysalis snorted. "I suppose I can deal with a bit of resistance." She was talking to herself again, but didn't seem to care. "Perhaps it's not the wisest decision to give up what little army I had left, but better for them to choose a side now than later. No matter. An insect WILL be squashed tonight, and for once, it won't be me."
Back in Ponyville, six ponies were being awakened and prepped for an imminent assault. Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Pinkie were out of bed and meeting under a street lamp, which Twilight had lit with a quick illumination spell.
"Where's Applejack and Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently. "They should be here by now. Making us wait is so NOT cool."
Twilight sighed. "Give it time."
At the cottage, Applejack had a tight grip on furry yellow hind legs. Fluttershy was wearing footed pajamas with bats on them, and refused to give up her grip on the doorframe, tears streaming down her eyes.
"I don't wanna!" She sobbed.
"Let... go..." Applejack glared. She was a strong pony, but Fluttershy was delicate, and couldn't risk using her full strength. Not in this situation. "Twilight needs us, Sugarcube!"
"So does my teddy bear!" Fluttershy squeaked.
"Yer teddy bear can wait. Chrysalis is comin'. We need all th'help we can get."
"But-but..."
"Alright, fine. Have it yer way. Oh, lookit that, that poor little raccoon is caught in a pet door."
"WHERE?!" Fluttershy shrieked, her grip loosening on the doorframe. Applejack yanked backwards, and the two flew backwards into the bushes.
"Come on, we got work tah do." Applejack said, half-dragging Fluttershy towards the groups meeting place.
"I'M BEING PONYNAPPED!" Fluttershy protested to no avail, hooves dragging in the dirt.
***
A little while later, the six friends stood in a circle. All were ready and eager to protect their home except Fluttershy. She, while usually up for adventure, preferred to do so in broad daylight. From the confines of her cottage. Not wandering into the middle of the Everfree Forest in the middle of the night.
"Alright, girls, listen up, Chrysalis is coming." Twilight said. "Nopony is to make any attacks, is that clear?"
"But I thought the whole point of coming out here was to defeat her again!" Rainbow whined. "Can't I just beat her up a little bit?"
"No!" The unicorn said. "We have to stay strong, and show courage. True courage means knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."
Rarity yawned. She'd been half asleep, her nightly facial still plastered over her face. She didn't like being denied her beauty sleep, but it was for a good cause. "Good heavens, darling. When did we ever say anything about taking a life?"
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "It's a quote. From the book I sent all of you last Hearth Warming. The one you all told me you read."
All five ponies looked at the ground.
Twilight groaned. "Never mind, we don't have time for this right now."
A bit of movement came from the shadows, like a creeping shadow in an alley. Queen Chrysalis, who had clearly seen better days, emerged. "Twilight Sparkle." She said calmly.
"Chrysalis." Twilight said.
"Let me guess, the Changelings warned you of my arrival."
"You bet your flank they did!" Rainbow said, attempting to fly towards the Changeling Queen, but Rarity grabbed her tail and yanked her back.
"And where are they?"
"We had them stay at our homes. We have a hard enough time dealing with you, we don't need them getting in the way. This is between us."
"Aw, isn't that cute." Chrysalis sneered. "But alas, it's wrong. You see, Twilight, you may think you have the upper hoof right now, with your elements of harmony, and your "friendship", but I have a secret weapon, one which I think changes things, if you'll pardon the expression. You may attack me, but it's not me you'll be hurting."
Applejack didn't like the sound of that. "What's that mean? What do y'all mean?"
Chrysalis smirked, and a large green bubble appeared in front of her, floating several feet off the ground. "You see, Twilight, I know where I went wrong last time. I tried to attack you by taking what mattered most to you away. I choose poorly, but I fixed my mistake." The bubble drifted closer, out of reach. Contained inside, and very much asleep, was...
Twilight's eyes blazed with fury. "Spike! Give him back!"
"No, I don't think I will." Chrysalis said calmly. "You see, if you attack me, it's Spike, who suffers. So choose your next move carefully, and meet me in the castle ruins in the Everfree Forest. Don't worry about taking your time, we can wait." She smirked, and the pair vanished in a flash of magic.
Twilight felt her eye twitched. "She didn't... she CAN'T..."
"She just did." Rarity said soothingly. "But we'll get him back. I promise."
Applejack pointed towards the forest, and the previously silent yellow blur running towards it. "Perhaps y'all should get her back first," she countered.
Fluttershy galloped at full speed towards the dark depths, tears streaming from her eyes, steam blazing from her nostrils in fits of rage. "Nopony takes a baby animal under my watch! NOPONY!"
"Fluttershy! Wait! We don't have a plan yet!" Twilight yelled, racing after her, and the remaining four followed suit.