//------------------------------// // Ch. 26: "Bringing the Truth to Light" // Story: The Dawn of a bright, new life. // by Hallowedsoul //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty-Six “Bringing the Truth to Light” Twilight caught up to me waiting outside the throne room as the rehearsal was under way. I guess she’d made one last attempt to convince our friends of the emergency after seeing her proof at her brother’s place, but they must’ve shrugged it off (save for Terra and Seeri, who both had apprehensive looks on their faces). Regardless, she arrived not long after the rehearsal started. “Well, we’re on our own for this one.” She said morosely, though she gave me a warm smile “I hope you have a good plan.” “I… wouldn’t say good, more like it’s all we have.” I replied sheepishly and she stared at me “Look, this is gonna be a gamble but it’ll pay off, it’s just that…” “Just what?” She asked and I stared at her carefully. “You’re going to have to go it alone.” I replied, and her face fell “Don’t worry, I’ll be right here waiting for you but if you want to stop her you’ll have to trust me.” “I do trust you.” She said, her voice frightened but resolute “What’s the plan?’ “Confront Cadence.” I stated, and she stared at me incredulously “I told you it wasn’t exactly a good plan, but again it’s all we got. Now you need to get going, Celestia just called Cadence into the throne room and they’re wondering where you are.” She stared at me apprehensively, before she drew me into a crushing hug and gave me a passionate kiss. “For luck.” She murmured, before breaking the embrace and charging into the throne room. I watched from outside as she confronted ‘Cadence’, which caused quite a commotion among the others and caused ‘Cadence’ to run off. She glanced at me as her brother got on to her about her confrontation and I nodded. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” Shining Armor finished as he walked past her and towards the door “I have to go and comfort my bride. And you can forget about being my Best Mare; in fact, if I were you… I wouldn’t show up to the wedding at all.” He shot me a glare as he walked past me, and I returned it while telling myself he was gonna get it for saying that crap to my marefriend. “C’mon, y’all. Let’s go check on the Princess.” Applejack said, and the others all walked past Twilight and I and out of the throne room “Ya ought ta keep a better handle on yer marefriend, Leon.” She said as she walked past me. “I’m handling this appropriately, AJ.” I retorted, and then looked back at Twilight, who was sitting on the floor with a look of sorrow. She glanced up at me with an expression that said ‘I hope you know what you’re doing.’ and I nodded confidently before shutting the door behind me. ‘Time to get a hold of Luna; our part in this game has officially begun.’ Nica said and I nodded. I asked a guard to escort me to Princess Luna and he complied hesitantly when I told him it was an emergency. Once up there, Luna dismissed the guard and confronted me. “What goes on that you needed to speak to me so urgently, Leon?” She asked and I looked at her with determination. “It’s nearly time.” I replied calmly “You need to get our Sleepers ready for tomorrow because that’s when it’ll all go down, just near the end of the ceremony.” Luna stared carefully at me “Are you sure? My sister and I have not noticed anything amiss.” “Oh, trust me, it’s going to happen.” I replied with a smug grin “I just managed to get my last piece in place and she’s gonna bring the whole house down when she gets back.” “Who is the final piece, if I might ask?” She said, and at this I hesitated. “Twilight Sparkle. My whole plan is riding on her shoulders and you’ll find out why soon.” “Our sister’s student, the love of your life, Twilight Sparkle?!” She asked me incredulously and I nodded “You gamble everything on her for what reason?” “Because she can do it. I believe in her.” I replied firmly. “Are you so sure?” She asked and I nodded. “Positive. She’ll succeed.” Luna sighed “Very well. Do you have an approximate time when it shall all occur?” “Possibly around noon, they’ll need to be ready a couple of hours before. Be sure to remind them of their positions.” I said and she nodded. “It shall be done.” She said, and I nodded. I departed her tower and returned to my room, though I didn’t sleep. If Twilight wasn’t gonna get any sleep, neither was I. Instead, I went about making sure everything was ready; my knives were sharpened and my gun clean and ready to work, with a full clip loaded. Once that was done, I sat on the bed and awaited the dawn, firmly ignoring the heaviness of my eyelids. I was brought from my musings by a knock at the door and when I opened it, it was to find a bunch of Royal Guards there. “What’s up, doc?” I asked them warily. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has requested your immediate presence.” The one in front said, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Tell her I said no, that I’m waiting for my marefriend to get back.” I replied tersely, though he grinned at me. “Oh, don’t worry about that, the ‘Princess’ is coming here and as for your marefriend…” “She has been dealt with.” A voice behind me said, and I turned slowly to see ‘Princess Cadence’ walk in through the balcony door, which closed behind her. ‘Oh crap, Leon get out of-’ Nica began but then she was silenced at the same time ‘Cadence’s’ horn glowed a sickly green color. “Be silent, pest.” ‘Cadence’ snarled, but then she adopted a sweet smile as she began to approach me “I was hoping we could have a… chat, about you wanting to join me.” “Then let me cut this short, Chrysalis.” I said, spitting out her true name “I don’t intend on siding with you, especially since you’ve already lost.” She chuckled at me and dropped her disguise, revealing the true form of the Queen of the Changelings. She was wearing some kind of chitinous regalia that hugged at her lithe form and her hands ended in claws. She was beautiful, but in the same way a predator is. “The game is far from over, Leon, and it’s time you had a… change of heart.” She said, and then I was suddenly grabbed by the changelings disguised as guards and pinned to the ground while I struggled. “Dammit let me go, you bastards!” I snarled, wriggling this way and that and managing to get a couple of lucky hits in before one of them hit me with a stunning blast and my body went numb. I could do nothing but stare as Chrysalis approached me calmly and then knelt down, taking my limp head in her hand. “I can smell the love you have for that meddling unicorn. It’s just too bad you’ll never see her again…” She said, and I was held up by the changelings and her horn began to glow “Now… why don’t I tell you about a mutually beneficial relationship we can have with each other.” I glared at her as her eyes met mine and then my world turned green. Veronica’s POV “Dammit!” I cried out after being shoved out of the “door” that lead to where I could communicate with Leon. Almost as soon as it shut, it was suddenly covered in some kind of… stuff, that I guess represented Changeling magic. I summoned my keyblade, Silver Hourglass, and attempted to use that to unlock the “door” but it was to no effect. Figures, he’s probably been whammied and that gunk on the door wasn’t gonna come off until he saw through the illusion. And then I heard it, her words echoing through Leon’s mind. “Don’t you wish you could change it, change the way your world works? I can help you, you know… We can exact revenge upon all of them; the people who murdered your friend and upon the faulty system that allowed it to happen.” “Oh shit…” I swore. This was gonna get worse than it already was if she keeps saying that crap. You see, I’ve discovered what it was that Leon picked up from the Void, and it’s bad, like really bad. Bad, like, “End of the World” bad. Oh yeah, it’s bad, and what it does is it feeds off negative emotions until it can eventually manifest and run rampant. “All you have to do is pledge your loyalty to me and when we are done here, we shall return to your world and conquer it. You can rule your world with me at your side… doesn’t that sound wonderful? You will have the power to change everything you hate about your world and make it better.” “Dammit, Chrysalis, stop telling him that shit!” I shouted fruitlessly. And then I felt it, the rising hatred in his soul. I looked around quickly, at the vast crossroad that represented the various parts of Leon’s mind and saw the shadows begin to press in. I didn’t wait, I began to run down a random pathway, trying to get away from the darkness which had now formed behind me and was giving chase. “Shit, shit, shit!” I yelled as the darkness nipped at my heels and I threw open a random door and dashed in, slamming it shut behind me. I slid down the door until I was sitting and held my head in my hands. “Dammit, now what do I do?” I said, gripping my head desperately. ‘Find him…’ A voice called out and I looked around hurriedly. “Hello? Is someone there?” I called out, standing up quickly “What do you mean ‘find him’?” ‘Find him… he must forgive, or the darkness will consume him.’ “Forgive? Forgive what?” ‘His past…’ I looked around for the voice, but couldn’t find anyone else here. “How do I find him, this place is massive and I can’t just sift through it like I normally can.” I called, and as I did I saw a light appear ahead of me, beckoning me. ‘Follow the light, and believe; the stronger your hope, the closer you’ll get…’ I stared at the light and nodded, breaking into a run in pursuit of it. “You’re not fading on me, Leon.” I said as I ran “Everyone still needs you… Twilight still needs you and I’ll be damned before you break her heart again.” Twilight’s POV “Augh!” I cried out, bracing myself against the ancient mine cart Cadence and I had found and clutching at my chest. “Twilight, what’s wrong?” Cadence asked, concern evident in her weary eyes. “Leon’s in trouble…” I breathed. It wasn’t something I knew; I’d felt him cry out in agony “We have to get out of here now!” “First Shining Armor, now Leon?” Cadence asked, shaking her head “Will she stop at nothing to ruin everypony’s lives?” “I don’t know, but we need to hurry.” I said, and then used my magic to put Cadence inside the cart and get it going. We were silent as the cart followed the track, but then we both noticed the track suddenly end. I couldn’t help but think about how much I’d failed him as the cart collided with the end and threw Cadence and I out. When I realized we weren’t falling, I reopened my eyes and saw that Cadence had spread her wings and was carrying both of us to safe point just on the other side. We landed on our hooves and were faced our next obstacle; a dead end. “No… no, no, NO!” Cadence yelled as she banged helplessly on the crystal wall, before sliding to her knees with a sob “It’s hopeless… we’ll never get out of here in time to save Shining and Leon.” “Yes we will, we just have to find…” I said as I looked around, and another edge opposite us and about twenty yards up, only this one had sunlight streaming in “There!” I grabbed Cadence and teleported us both up there, and then we were faced with another problem; the Fake Cadence’s old bridesmares in their dresses. “You’re not going anywhere…” The three of them droned mindlessly. ‘Oh no…’ I thought desperately ‘NOW what do we do?!’ Then I remembered what Leon had asked Lyra back at the workshop. “Lyra!” I called out to her and the mint-green mare froze in her tracks, a confused look in her eyes “Remember Leon? You want his babies and if you stop us here, you’ll never get that chance!” She stared at me for a second before clutching at her head and groaning in agony, collapsing to the ground. The other two were completely oblivious to her plight and kept advancing, until Cadence created the illusion of a bouquet of flowers and ‘threw’ it off to the side. The two bridesmares watched its progress and then leapt after it with a cry of “MINE!” I hurried over to Lyra and examined her for a moment before finding the spell controlling her and dispelling it. She groaned again and blinked several times, her eyes changing from that sickly green back to her normal amber. “Wh-what happened?” She said, then looked around cautiously “Where am I, where’s Leon?!” “Calm down, Lyra.” I said, forcing her to look at me “Leon’s in danger. I don’t know why or how, but I just know and I need your help.” Lyra’s eyes widened briefly before narrowing in fury. “Chrysalis…” She snarled “I swear to Celestia if she’s harmed my Leon in any way, I’ll rip her bucking throat out!” ‘Your Leon?’ I thought incredulously, but then shook my head lightly ‘Not now, Twilight, fate of Equestria in your hands!’ I helped Lyra to her hooves and she hiked up her dress so that she could keep up with Cadence and I as we ran out of the cave and into Canterlot. We arrived at the palace just before Celestia could finish the rite. “Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, it is my great pleasure to pronounce you-” Celestia began, but I interrupted her. “STOP!” I called from the doorway and everypony turned their attention to me. I took the time to notice that neither Seeri nor Terra were present, and strangely, neither was Leon. “Ugh, why does she have to continually interfere?!” Fake Cadence growled, causing both Celestia and Shining Armor to look at her “I mean, why does she have to ruin my special day?” “Because.” Another voice cried out from behind me and the real Cadence stepped forward, divine wrath blazing in her eyes “It’s not your special day. It’s mine!” “What?!” The fake Cadence exclaimed in shock “But how did you escape my bridesmares?!” “They threw a bouquet and the other two twits jumped after it.” Lyra said, storming in after Cadence with just as much fury in her eyes “Fortunately, they managed to bring me to my senses before I did something equally as stupid.” “Heh, that’s clever, but you’re still too late.” The fake Cadence sneered. “Ah don’ understand… Why are there two Cadences?” Applejack asked. “She’s a Changeling; a foul creature that takes the form of a pony you care about and feeds off your Love for them!” Cadence said, never taking her eyes off her doppelganger, who was glaring angrily at her with glowing green eyes. As soon as Cadence finished speaking, the other Cadence wrapped herself in green flames and dropped her disguise, revealing her true form to every pony present. Once she was done, she smiled and began laughing. “Right you are, Princess.” She sneered “But I am not just a Changeling, I am the Queen of the Changelings! And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my brood!” She began to approach Cadence, who stood strong in the face of this new foe. “Equestria has more Love than any place I’ve yet visited.” She said with a wicked smile as she looked around at the gathered ponies “My brood will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!” “They’ll never get the chance!” Cadence retorted hotly “Shining Armor’s barrier will prevent them from reaching us!” “Somehow, I doubt that.” Chrysalis said with a chuckle and turned her attention to my brother “Isn’t that right, dear?” Shiny nodded his head drunkenly, which made Cadence attempt to rush Chrysalis. “Ah, ah, ah.” The Changeling Queen said, turning fully to Cadence, her horn glowing “You wouldn’t want anything untold to happen to your precious groom, now, do you?” Cadence growled, but backed off. I walked up next to her and gave her a concerned glance. “Ever since I took your place, I’ve been feeding off Shining Armor’s Love for you.” She said as she walked back to my brother and draped an arm around him almost lovingly “Every moment, he grows weaker and so does his barrier. As we speak, my brood has very nearly broken through.” The other ponies gasped at the revelation, but Cadence and I continued glaring at the Changeling Queen. “He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control now.” She said, and then turned a wicked grin to me “Along with your coltfriend, Twilight Sparkle.” “What have you done to Leon, vile creature?!” I cried out and I could hear Lyra growling in anger “I swear to Celestia if you’ve harmed him in any way-” “I’m fine. More than fine, really.” A cold voice called out from behind me. I closed my eyes and turned slowly around, unsure if I actually wanted to face him. When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Leon was standing there, wearing his normal clothes with his coat and hat. Strapped to his leg was that thing I’d seen him pull out against Shining yesterday. What scared me though, was his face. His eyes were green, like my brother’s, but unlike my brother he did not seem to be in a zombified state; he was glaring hatefully at us, at everything around him. I’ve only ever seen that look in his eyes when he’d told me about his world. I gulped and approached him cautiously, trying to put as much calm into my voice as I could when I spoke. “Leon…” I breathed in relief “Thank Celestia you’re alright… I was worried something might’ve happened to you.” “Something did, Twilight.” Was the cold response as he walked forward and past me “Queen Chrysalis has shown me something great…” “And what’s that, dude?” Lyra asked carefully “What could that thing have to offer that you’d want?” “Revenge.” He replied, hatred dripping from his voice “With her help, those bastards back in my world will pay for the cruelty inflicted upon my friend, and once I have that we shall take it over and I will rule it the way it was meant to be ruled…” He stopped at the base of the throne and turned to face us. Chrysalis laughed and descended the steps again, running a finger down Leon’s arm. “Your time runs out, little ponies.” She sneered “Soon, my changelings will break the barrier around Canterlot and then we shall take it over, with the whole of Equestria following soon after. And once we’re done here…” She turned to Leon and caressed his head gently “We shall travel to his world and take it over as well. His mind was very informative on how his government works…” “As long as I get my revenge, I don’t care what you do.” Leon snarled, hatred burning in his eyes which made the Changeling Queen giggle. “No, you won’t.” Everypony in the room turned their attention to Celestia, who’d been silent up to this point and was now stepping forward, her face resolute. She summoned a sword from nowhere and pointed it at Chrysalis, who had summoned her own weapon. “You may have made Shining Armor too weak to cast his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self…” She said and then charged Chrysalis, their weapons clashing violently “I can protect my subjects from you!” And with that, she broke free from Chrysalis and flew up into the air, her horn glowing with a bright light, which she fired at the Changeling who fired her own beam in response. The two met mid way and it looked like Chrysalis was going to lose, but then the Changeling’s beam pushed Celestia’s back and connected with her horn. There was a bright green flash, and Celestia’s crown went flying. My teacher collapsed on the ground from the attack and was stunned. “Princess Celestia!” I cried out as the gathered ponies all gasped in fear and I ran to my teacher, where I was soon joined by the other Elements. “Ah, Shining Armor’s Love for you was stronger than I had originally assumed.” Chrysalis said, examining her hands “Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!” “The Elements of Harmony…” I heard Celestia murmur “You must retrieve them and use their power to defeat the queen…” I looked up at my friends and we all nodded. We ran towards the doorway to leave, but I paused before I could cross, looking one last time at Leon who had begun to hold his head like it was hurting him. Lyra saw me looking back and waved her arm frantically. “Twilight, go! I’ll take care of Leon!” She yelled and I nodded at her. As we ran out into the courtyard, Chrysalis’ taunts followed us. Then, a new sound reached my ears and I stopped, glancing up at the barrier. First, there was silence… then the barrier shattered in a tidal wave of sound and wind. We stared in horror as the Changelings began to dive down toward the city and we could only gape as they flew at us. Just before the first wave could reach us, there was a twang followed by a zipping sound as what looked like an arrow flew over our heads and at the oncoming horde, exploding magnificently and causing the rest to pause. We turned as one to our savior and saw that it was Searing Shield in the outfit she’d been wearing when we’d first met her, holding that strange bow up and glaring fiercely at the Changeling swarm. Terra stepped up as well, her own face determined. “Get the Elements and save Equestria.” Seeri said, nodding at us “Terra and I will provide you with some cover.” “Let’s go, girls.” I said and we ran past them to the tower where Celestia kept the Elements of Harmony, though I stopped when I got closer to Terra “Terra, Leon is-” “He’ll be fine, go do what you need to.” She interrupted, giving me a sweet smile. I nodded and caught up to my friends. ‘Oh please don’t let anything bad happen to Leon…’ I thought miserably as I ran. Switching to third-person; The Battle for Canterlot has begun! The mare ran for her life from the Changelings that pursued her, dreading the moment when they finally managed to catch her like they did her coltfriend, but then she tripped and fell to the ground. She turned around quickly and realized she had no time to get up and so she screamed and closed her eyes. But then she heard something dash past her, followed by the sounds of fighting. Only when the sounds stopped, did she open her eyes again to see a gray-coated Earth pony mare with raven black hair and wearing a fancy dress, straightening a pink bow tie at her neck. The new mare turned her attention to her and cocked an eyebrow. “Are you okay, miss?” She asked and the mare on the ground nodded “Good. Do you know where Donut Joe’s is?” Another nod “Splendid, get up and hurry there, it’s been set up as a safe house during this crisis.” The mare on the ground nodded once more, stood and ran away down the street Octavia had come. Once she was gone, the cellist turned her attention back to the newly arrived Changelings. “Which of you wishes to be the first to grant me the honor of a dance?” She asked and bowed gracefully. The Changelings glanced at one another and then charged. Octavia merely smiled before charging as well. On Main Street, the bulk of the ponies in Canterlot were running pell-mell from the Changelings dive bombing them… save for two, a pegasus and a unicorn both with brown coats and curly golden-brown manes, who stood and observed the oncoming horde. The unicorn wore a pair of glasses along with a gray suit with a red tie while the pegasus wore a gray flight suit not unlike something the Wonderbolts wore and a pair of goggles on his head. “Well, Lofty…” The unicorn said, adjusting his glasses “When Luna came into our dreams and warned us of a terrible event, I wasn’t quite expecting a Changeling attack.” “Hmm…” The pegasus replied, sliding his goggles onto his face “Usual tactics, Spirits?” “Naturally. Wouldn’t want them to be disappointed, do we?” Was the calm response. “Nope.” And with that, Soaring Spirits (known as Lofty to everypony else to avoid confusion with the Wonderbolt, Soarin’) crouched, and then shot into the air while High Spirits, his twin brother, set up the spell that allowed the two of them to synchronize their thoughts, resulting in a faster response time for the two and granting a shared knowledge between them. Spirits also set up a Voice Amplifier spell and called out to the fleeing ponies around him. “Attention everypony, please make your way to Donut Joe’s; it has been set up as a safe haven during the attack, I repeat, everypony please make your way to Donut Joe’s until the crisis has been resolved, thank you!” Once that was done, he dismissed the spell, and went inside a three-story building so that he could get a better view of the chaos around him to provide real-time information to his brother, who was darting from Changeling to Changeling, knocking them out of the sky. On the other end of the city, a group of foals was cowering in a huddle, surrounded by Changelings that looked at them hungrily. They advanced slowly on them and after a few steps, one of the foals cried out in fear. There was a poof and a blue and purple smoke cloud appeared amidst the foals, along with an azure-coated mare with an ice-blue mane that was very neatly styled and wearing a blue and purple suit with silver stars embroidered upon it, with silver slippers on her hooves and a purple pointed hat and similarly colored cape. Her arms were spread out in a “here I am!” gesture. “Fear no longer, my dear foals, for the Great and Powerful Trixie has appeared to save you from these foul creatures!” She exclaimed, staring the Changelings down, though there were beads of sweat on her brow. The Changelings all stared at her curiously before one shrugged and they launched themselves at the show-mare, who merely grinned and cast her hands down at the ground again, creating a large smoke cloud. When it cleared, all the surrounding Changelings were unconscious and Trixie was panting a bit. She turned her attention to the foals behind her. “Come, my little foals.” She said, beckoning a hand to them “The Great and Powerful Trixie shall show you to safety, and the best donuts in Equestria!” And with that, Trixie led them safely away, the rest of the Changeling swarm too busy dealing with the sudden surge of resistance in other parts of the city to notice one show-mare and a group of foals. Closer to the palace, not that far away from Seeri and Terra, a group of Guardsponies were struggling to hold their own against the never-ending waves of Changelings. “Stand strong, we must reach the palace and protect the Princesses!” The leader cried out, though his guards were actually being pushed back by the horde. Just when they thought all hope was lost, the Changelings attacking them were encased in a midnight blue aura and thrown violently away, with Princess Luna landing calmly in front of the guards and turning to acknowledge them. “Your Majesty!” The leader said, dropping to one knee “The swarm of Changelings has been endless and we can gain no ground towards the castle.” “Do not worry about reaching the palace, valiant Guardsponies.” Luna replied, effortlessly keeping attacking Changelings at bay with her magic “Fall back towards the establishment known as ‘Donut Joe’s’ and set up a perimeter around it.” “Umm, may I speak freely, Your Majesty?” The leader replied curiously and Luna nodded “Why Donut Joe’s?” “The citizenry has been redirected there and it is currently being used as a shelter.” She replied calmly “We are sorry, but we have no further time for inquiries. Please do as we ask, and the crisis shall eventually be resolved.” “As you wish, Your Majesty.” He replied, then stood and turned to his guards “Guardsponies, fall back and regroup at Donut Joe’s. Time is of the essence, so carry those who cannot walk and support those who cannot run. Now let’s move ‘em out!” As the Guardsponies departed, Luna turned her attention back to the palace, watching the explosions of Seeri’s arrows and brilliant displays of Terra’s Evocation. “I suppose I should stop holding back as well.” She murmured and a grin spread across her face, then she spread her wings and flew straight into the thickest bout of fight, right at the castle gates. At Donut Joe’s, Vinyl Scratch was kicking back with her headphones on, bobbing her head to some of the sick beats she’d ‘borrowed’ from Leon’s music player with her hooves resting on a strange, boxy device. Donut Joe walked over and placed a fresh latte on the table next to her, which garnered a smile from her as she took a small sip of the glorious nectar of life. ‘I wonder how Leon’s doing? I hope he and Twilight aren’t getting into another fight.’ She thought idly, and then movement outside the shop got her attention. “Yo, Joe.” She called out, removing her headphones “Looks like you’re gonna be pretty busy here soon.” “Looks like it.” Was the calm response from the kitchen just as the first wave of refugees began pouring into the diner. “E-excuse me, is this where we’re supposed to come during… that?” The mare in front asked Vinyl nervously, while pointing a finger outside at the chaos that was Canterlot. “Yep. Go on and have a seat, babe.” Vinyl replied, taking another light sip of her latte. “How are you so calm?! Changelings are attacking and rumors are going around that Princess Celestia was defeated by the Queen!” A stallion in the middle of the growing crowd yelled and there were a collection of gasps. “She was, I was there when it happened, I saw everything!” A different mare cried out, and this time several ponies screamed in terror. “Hey, hey, hey, hey!” Vinyl called out, standing and waving her arms to get everypony’s attention “Everything’s under control, the Princesses are sending guards to come protect us, just take a seat and cool your heels for a little while.” “Cool our what?” A stallion asked, and Vinyl shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, it’s just a phrase a friend of mine used once.” She replied, throwing a winning smile into the group “Besides, we’re all safe in here.” “Safe? In a cheap diner, what’re you nuts?!” A different stallion cried out, though this got him a whole lot of cold stares from the gathered ponies around him “What?” “You must be new to Canterlot, otherwise you’d know that Donut Joe’s is the best diner in the city.” Vinyl said casually, and she saw the stallion blush and take a seat. At that moment, a colt burst through the door (or did a good impression of it since several ponies were blocking the way). “A group of Changelings is heading this way!” He cried out “We’re doomed!” The group of ponies all screamed again and began to shuffle about in terror, but they stopped when Vinyl pulled an air horn from somewhere and activated it, causing several ponies to cover their ears in pain. “Calm down, everypony. I’ve got this.” She said calmly, and began to roll the boxy device through the throng and towards the door “Move it, dude; step aside, babe; excuse me, ‘scuse me, pardon me.” Once she was outside, the ponies shuffled behind her as she aimed the device in the direction of the oncoming Changelings. “Wh-what is that?” A stallion asked, and this garnered a huge grin from Vinyl. “Sweet Celestia, I’ve been waiting forever for somepony to ask me that question.” She replied, then cleared her throat “This? Oh, it’s nothing much, it’s just…” Her grin grew to be from one ear to the next as she raised one fist over her head. “MY BASS CANNON!” She roared and slammed her fist down on a button that was on top. There was a small click and everypony froze, staring at Vinyl, whose grin never faded. Then the box began to transform, with panels sliding from in front to reveal a huge set of speakers and the sides extended out to reveal several more, smaller speakers. Once that was done, a pressure began to build and the gathered ponies could hear a deep rumbling, not from the earth, but within their bodies as several ears began to pop from the building pressure, when it finally exploded out with a cacophony of sound and light. The sound and light wave expanded outward, shattering every window in its path until it finally reached the horde of Changelings, who began to drop to the ground writhing in pain. Eventually the sound and light wave dissipated, leaving shattered windows all across the street and Changelings screaming in pain while the ponies behind the Bass Cannon save for Vinyl Scratch, who was smiling broadly at her handiwork, all began to uncover their heads and ears. “Hot damn, Octy, I wish ya could’ve seen that.” Vinyl said, as the Bass Cannon folded itself back up. At Celestia’s School for Gifted Young Unicorns, the students were being chased through the school and herded out onto the lawn by the Changelings, who all chattered in a manner that reminded them all strongly of laughter. However, before one of the Changelings could get at one of the unicorns, it was knocked away by a golden blur, and when the other Changelings looked at what it was, a Gryphon stepped calmly forward, her beak turned upwards in a wicked grin. “This may be a school for eggheads, but I’ll be damned if I’m not gonna have some fun here today.” Gilda said, her eyes glittering with excitement. The Changelings all looked at each other for a moment before charging the Gryphon, who began to fight them all savagely, though she was vastly outnumbered. The unicorns saw this, and nodded at each other before aiming stunning spells at the Changelings. The fighting at the school lasted for a good hour before all the Changelings present were down, but they could all see more coming. “Alright, eggheads.” Gilda snapped, turning her attention to the gathered unicorns, who were all breathing as hard as she was “Time to buck up and move out; we’re heading to Donut Joe’s.” “What?” A unicorn mare gasped, one hand clutching her side “Why the donut shop?” “Because it’s been set up as a meeting spot for the refugees of the city.” Gilda replied, glaring at the mare “Once we arrive, we’ll be pretty damn safe not to mention we’ll have food and drink. Now, are there any more stupid questions or can we hit the road already?” The unicorns all glanced at each other and shrugged, then nodded at the Gryphon. “Alright, let’s get a move on before the rest of those Changelings decide to show up.” She said and they hurried out of the school. “Terra, watch out!” Searing Shield cried out, launching a barrage of magic-infused arrows at the Changelings attempting to swoop down on the war-mage. “Thank you, Seeri; be careful, you’ve got a group coming in from the castle!” Terra called back, creating a small meteor storm around her and Changelings fell burning to the ground. “I see ‘em!” Seeri replied, and focused her fire on the incoming group. After a few moments of fighting, the two defenders found themselves back to back with each other. “Damn.” Seeri swore, looking at the Changelings surrounding them “There’s too many of these stupid things. I’m almost out of arrows!” “And I am running out of energy…” Terra replied, panting hard “I can’t keep casting magic like this for much longer.” They both stared at the horde around them, until the Changelings were all suddenly yanked away in a midnight-blue aura, with Princess Luna landing in front of the defenders. “Are the two of you okay?” She asked and Seeri and Terra both nodded. “Yeah, we’re fine, Your Majesty.” Seeri said, and rubbed one shoulder “But we’re losing ground here fast; there are just too many Changelings.” Luna turned and considered the horde being held back by her magic, before nodding and turning back to Seeri and Terra. “We shall need reinforcements if we are to take back the castle.” She said, then held out her hands “Take my hands and I shall teleport us to sanctuary, where we may regroup and then launch an assault upon the Changelings.” Seeri looked at her for a second, before nodding and extending her arm. Just before she could make contact with Luna, however, a small flame appeared on her hand. She stared at it for a second, and then inclined her head as though listening to a voice neither Luna nor Terra could hear. Then a smile crept across her face. “Sorry, Luna.” She said, as she put her bow away “But it appears I still have an ace up my sleeve.” “If Seeri is staying, then I shall stay as well.” Terra said resolutely, and then gave Luna a small smile “I am not entirely out of this yet, either.” “You two cannot hope to take the castle back on your own!” Luna protested “The Changelings outnumber you and more continue to arrive.” “You’re right, we can’t take it back ourselves.” Seeri replied, turning to the Changelings as her hair began to wave, despite the fact that no wind blew “But we can give you a foothold; go get help and bring them back here and once you do, then we’ll storm the castle.” Luna stared at them both for a moment before nodding and teleporting away. Once she was gone, the barrier she’d been using to keep the Changelings back fell and they began to charge the two defenders. “Alright, Terra.” Seeri said, as her body lit up with flames that did not burn her “I’m tired of playing with them. It’s time we end this charade.” “Indeed.” Terra replied as her eyes turned golden and became slitted like a cat’s as she removed the ribbon holding her hair in the ponytail, which began to grow and change colors “I shall protect my friends with everything I’ve got. I won’t hold back anymore!” And then the Changelings descended on the defenders and piled upon them. A moment later, a massive explosion sent them all flying away as they were faced with their new combatants; a girl covered head to foot in light purple fur with her hair grown out almost to her feet, and her feet and hands ending in sharp claws. Her companion stood wreathed in flames, her hair having become almost pure fire and flickering savagely, with enormous wings of flame extending from her shoulder blades and her eyes glowing hotly. “Let’s end this!” They both cried out at once and launched themselves into the horde of startled Changelings.