//------------------------------//
// The Power Within Us 
// Story: Beat It 
// by Spirit Guide 
//------------------------------//

"What did you do with Princess Celestia?" Rainbow shouted.

Chrysalis merely chuckled. "Still as impertinent as before, are you? Don't worry, I haven't done anything to them. Not yet anyway. Your Princesses are not the reason we returned to Equestria. Ever since Twilight's insufferable brother and her fiance-" she shot a look of pure hate at Twilight. "-blasted us out of Canterlot, we were too weak to reorganize and counterattack, so we waited, slowly regaining our strength. Soon after, we learned of your friendship with the bronies, and found an opportunity to strike back! Ever since we recovered from our defeat at Canterlot, we have been hiding among you all, slowly growing stronger as we fed off of your bond. It is hard to admit this, but to say that friendship is the most powerful magic of all would be no less than the truth. Yours is so strong, so powerful, that we have at last gained the strength we need to take over Equestria!"

In the middle of the Square, the captured changelings buzzed excitedly. "Ah yes," Chrysalis continued, "my faithful subjects." She walked over to the prisoners, the ponies and bronies hopping out of her way to avoid getting hurt. One brony stood his ground, gritting his teeth as the tall changeling drew nearer. Chrysalis brushed him aside, leaving the poor stallion shaking as he was dragged back into the bulk of the herd. "They'd so kindly volunteered to go undercover within your ranks, following everything you do, attending your silly celebrations, learning all they could and relating the information to me. Once we'd gained a sufficient amount of power and were no longer hungry, we decided it was time to attack. It was my minions who-" Her sentence was interrupted by Fluffle Puff, who ran over to her despite the warnings the bronies were whispering to her. She hopped excitedly in front of Chrysalis.

"Who are you?" the changeling queen demanded. "What do you want?"

Fluffle Puff held up a hoof-drawn picture of her and her friend Chryssi, a good version of the changeling queen. Fluffle thought that Chrysalis was actually her best friend (even though everypony was Fluffle Puff's best friend). Needless to say, Chrysalis was not impressed or interested.

"Get away from me, you furry abomination!" she screeched at the fluffy pony, giving her a shove.

Fluffle's mouth dropped open, the picture fluttering to the ground. Her eyes grew wide and tears started to from. She rushed up close to Chrysalis, stroking her hoof and blowing hopeful raspberries in a final attempt to gain her love and appreciation.

"I said, LEAVE!" Chrysalis beat her wings and her horn flashed, sending Fluffle Puff crashing into the crowd of ponies. She lay there, her eyes filled with tears that flowed steadily down her cheeks. She took one last longing look at the creature she thought was her friend before running down the road, sobbing silently.

The bronies were in shock. "Did you see how she treated Fluffle Puff?" Nurse Redheart whispered.

"A heartless monster, that's what she is," Delta Brony muttered back.

Chrysalis smirked contentedly, her evil deed pleasing her to no end. "As I was saying, it was my minions who carried out my orders, destroying several monuments in Equestria and crashing the bronies' parties. And if that wasn't good enough, you all blamed each other! Your bond deteriorated from within, weakening your power so much that we became the dominating ones. All that is left to do now is seize control of Equestria!"

All through Chrysalis's terror-take over speech, Twilight and Rina examined their options. "Could we fight her and the changelings head on?" asked Rina.

Twilight frowned. "I don't think so. She probably wasn't lying about the changelings gathering strength from our friendship."

"But we have to stop her!" Spike hissed. "Otherwise, they'll take over Equestria!"

"Not just Equestria," Dave realized. "World domination is a greed that only grows. Soon after, they'll try to take our world too!"

Twilight gasped. "They wouldn't dare!"

"Who's to say?" Rina shrugged. "It'll be tough, but if they can take Equestria, fighting a couple of human armies would be like Pinkie Pie versus a cupcake. We all know the outcome of that."

"Then let's change the outcome." The quizzical looks her friends gave her only inspired Twilight further. "We can stop them and we will. Like Chrysalis herself said, friendship is the most powerful magic of all and together, we can prove it! Rina, you and Dave spread the word: get ready to fight. Me and Spike will do the same."

"Are you sure Twilight?" Spike asked concernedly. "I feel like there's something wrong."

"Don't worry Spike," Twilight said reassuringly. "It's just Chrysalis and a couple of changelings. We can take them."

"Right, right...." But the little dragon didn't sound very sure of himself. Rina and Dave slipped into one side of the crowd while Twilight led Spike through the other. All the while, Chrysalis continued to speak.

"Since you're all here now, it will be so much easier to destroy you, or just imprison you for eternity." The changeling queen burned through the chains holding her captive minions with blasts from her horn. The freed changelings bowed before their leader before taking to the sky.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rainbow Dash flew so fast she was little more than a blur. She punched one of the changelings in the stomach, while more pegasi flew up to help her recapture the escaping changelings.

"ENOUGH!" thundered Chrysalis. Her horn flared, and she fired rounds of magical beams into the air, striking the ponies and bronies with deadly accuracy.

"Rainbow!" Applejack cried, sliding to catch the falling pegasus.

"Saber!" Race rolled under the legs of his herdmates to break his friend's fall.

Chrysalis chuckled. "I'm more powerful than you think, you fools. I have the power to move both the sun and moon. I have the strength to move the entire city of Canterlot. You are nothing compared to me." She gestured towards the sky, which was suddenly filled with a loud buzzing. Everypony looked up in horror, for an enormous swarm of changelings had just flown into the city. Numerous, never-ending and countless, they filled the sky and blocked out the moonlight. "And now, my subjects and I shall force you into submission, or will you surrender peacefully?"

"No." Twilight hovered in the air above her friends, her wings spread wide as she flapped them. "You come here, bursting with power, stolen magic, with threats of pain and imprisonment for me and my friends. but you still fail to grasp the true meaning of friendship. Only then will its magic assist you."

Rina-chan was boosted up on the backs of Brony Dance Party and Vector Brony. "Friendship is gained through trust, proving yourself to your friends with acts loyalty and kindness. We give generously, laugh about are mistakes and are always honest with each other. Thus, we are able to unlock the true meaning of friendship and the magic within."

Chrysalis stared at them, dumbfounded, and burst out laughing. "Oh, you really think you have the power to defeat me and my subjects?" The changelings above them buzzed menacingly and Twilight had a sneaking suspicion they were laughing. "Well then, why should we stall any further. I believe-"

"ATTACK!"

From both sides, ponies and bronies alike charged towards Queen Chrysalis. Slightly taken aback by the sudden stampede of pastel-colored equines, she stumbled backwards before taking to the air.

"Begin the assault," she ordered a changeling wearing dark-blue armor. "Don't show any remorse, not even if they surrender. Beat them all into submission."

"Yes, your majesty," hissed the changeling Captain. He dived towards the mass of ponies below, closely followed by the rest of the swarm.

"Here they come!" shouted Twilight over the battle cries of everypony around her. The changelings browsed their targets, each one looking for a pony to impersonate. Just before they collided, every changeling assumed the form of a pony or brony from the throng below. However, the swarm attained quite a few losses before the fight had even started for their opponents had organized themselves, whether it was unicorns charging magic missiles, pegasi slapping with their wings or Earth ponies bucking with all their might, a number of changelings were defeated almost immediately. Then the battle began in earnest.

Twilight looked around, trying to find the place where she would be the most useful. That reminded to be seen though, because everywhere she looked, her friends were holding out by working together. Applejack lead a band of Apple Family members and Earth bronies against a gang of doppelgangers, doing their best to avoid hurting each other. Rainbow Dash and Commander Firebrand, leading both the Wonderbolts and the military bronies, plowed through the changeling ranks like a hot knife through butter. Vinyl, Glaze and every Bass Cannon owner wheeled their artillery pieces into the Square, stacking them one on top of the other. Mando Pony and Acoustic Brony hooked up their instruments to the tower of a modified amplifiers and played a riff, the sounds of their strumming magnified a hundred times, bowling over their arthropod enemies. Rarity and several other unicorns were pooling their magic to preform higher-level spells, such as group-binding spells which immobilized multitudes of Changelings every time it was cast. Fluttershy was using the Stare on the changelings, her mesmerizing power intensified through the glasses of Buc, AnY and Paleo, which they held in front of her eyes. Pinkie and Cheese, their Party Cannons set to maximum, were dishing out their ammo like snowflakes in winter, blasting the changelings with hardened spheres of cake, confetti and variously shaped piñatas , which actually hurt more than it sounded. Discord and John de Lancie had knocked out a knot of of changelings and were trying to figure out the best way to thread a string through the holes in their legs.

It looks like everything is taken care of, Twilight thought. But then, where should I go?

A loud zapping caught her attention and Twilight whirled around. Chrysalis was hovering above the battlefield, picking off ponies and bronies at her leisure. Whenever a Wonderbolt or a pegasister would fly up to attack, the changeling queen blasted them with no problem, sending the assailant falling towards the ground where a friend would break their fall. Chrysalis clearly wasn't tiring at all.

She needs to be stopped, decided Twilight, and I'm probably the only one with enough magic to face her. Flexing her wings, the Princess of Friendship took to the air, avoiding the flying combatants as she made her way towards Chrysalis. Twilight summoned her magic, firing a multicolored beam of energy at the changeling queen.

"Oof!" Chrysalis groaned when the beam hit. She hadn't been looking and couldn't avoid Twilight's attack, but she brushed it off as if it were nothing. Looking down at her flawless shell-like coat, she grinned at Twilight and said, "Nice try, but you're magic is far too weak to harm me. But here, let me show you how it's done." Chrysalis charged up her own horn and fired a bolt of flashing green energy at Twilight.

"Gah!" cried Twilight, throwing up a hasty force field. She could feel Chrysalis' energy beam against her shield, slowly wearing it down. I can't hold it up much longer! Just when her force field was about to collapse, a dual-colored bolt of energy hit Chrysalis from the side, forcing the queen to end her attack.

Twilight turned to look for her savior. Standing on the roof across the street was her brother and sister-in-law, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Both their horns were glowing. "Hey there, Twily!" Shining Armor called. "Need some help?"

Chrysalis was taking her time, recovering from the surprise attack, so Twilight flew over to them. "I sure could," she replied, hugging them. "Chrysalis and the changelings have been feeding of off our friendship with the bronies."

"Why would they start feeding on friendship instead of love like they always did?" Cadance wondered.

"Chrysalis herself admitted that friendship is the most powerful magic in the world," Twilight recalled, "but even without unlocking it's true power, she's still very strong."

"Then will just have to take her down," Shining said.

"Alright then," Cadance said, nuzzling her husband. "Let's go blast some changeling plot."

Twilight beamed. "Great, but I have just one question: how did you know the changelings were here?"

"Forest Rain stopped by the Crystal Empire on his way to Canterlot," answered Shining Armor. "He said he'd also sent out for extra help, but flew off before he told us what he meant."

"Whoever he was talking about, I just hope they can help us."

"Me too. Now let's go blast Chrysalis again!"

Twilight and Cadance lifted Shining Armor into the air, splitting his weight evenly between the two of them. Chrysalis had recovered from the crystal rulers' sucker-punch and was now watching them approach. "Hello again, Shining dear," she said lustfully. "How nice to see you again."

Shining Armor scowled and his horn began to glow. "Don't even think about it, you monster."

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Chrysalis asked incredulously. "All I wish is for us to be together agai-"

"Oh , no you don't!" Cadance blasted the changeling with a beam of light-blue magic. Chrysalis ducked and the beam flew over her head. "Now, that's not very nice at all. Why would you do that?"

"Because you trapped me and Twilight in the Canterlot crystal caves, hypnotized my Shining Armor, ruined our wedding  and tried to take over Equestria!"

"As before," Shining Armor finished, "we will use the power of our love to defeat you."  The two spouses connected their horns and a bright-purple sphere of energy spread out from their point of contact, washing over the battle. Chrysalis cringed as the wave of love rolled over her, but opened her eyes when she realized nothing had happened. Looking around, Twilight found that the changelings had suffered no harm whatsoever and were still fighting her friends with the same ferocity as before.

"I don't understand it," muttered Shining Armor. "Why didn't it work?"

"Oh, don't you see?" Chrysalis laughed. "Since we no longer feed on love, it's no longer a threat to us. You're power is useless here."

"But ours is not."

In a flash of blinding light from the moon, Celestia and her sister Luna appeared, both with magical auras around their horns. "Sorry we're late, Twilight," Celestia apologized. "We'd only just got the message from Forest Rain."

"However," added Luna, "we are now here and ready to fight Queen Chrysalis to keep her from conquering Equestria."

Twilight smiled. She loved the royal side of her family the same way she loved her friends: with all her heart. "Then let's get right to it."

"You fools!" shouted Chrysalis. "Even with your combined power, you cannot defeat me! You may as well surrender now lest you be destroyed."

"And allow you to rule our fair land and those beyond it as you wish?" Celestia asked rhetorically. "I think not."

The four alicorn princesses, with the Crystal prince in tow, rained down beam after beam of magical energy on their foe, leaving the changeling queen with no choice but to take on defensive maneuvers and end her attacks. The more they fought, the more Twilight began to realized just how strong Chrysalis was. Not only did their attacks leave barely a scorch mark but in comparison to Celestia, who was the tallest pony she knew, Chrysalis was at least twice her height, not including her pitted horn. Unfortunately for Twilight, her pondering was getting her into trouble. Her attacks became less accurate and Chrysalis took it as an opening, firing her own green magic at the smaller alicorn Princess.

"Twilight, move away!!" Celestia ordered.

"I'm not leaving you!" Twilight called back.

Chrysalis heard the commotion. "Not that way, you aren't!" She charged her horn, firing a large beam of energy brimming with destructive power towards Twilight. The lavender alicorn had no time to conjure a shield or dodge and resorted to the most primitive way of protection: throwing your hooves up in front of you.

Twilight watched the green blast through a gap between her legs, waiting for the final blow. However, she felt nothing. Lowering her hooves, she found her view taken up by a fifth alicorn. This one had a coat comparable to Celestia's, but her mane was a moderate amaranth color. She wasn't wearing any type of regalia and her cutie mark was a quill and a purple inkwell. She was also slightly taller than Celestia. On either side of the new alicorn's right side were two ponies, a mare and a stallion. On her right was a light-grayish-brown unicorn mare wrapped in a long-white scarf pinned with golden 'T' with a cutie mark of a heart-stamped stand-up microphone, and a male bat-pony wearing blue armor, his cutie mark reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock. On the mystery alicorn's left side was a bald, white stallion wearing a red-and-black checkered shirt and glasses, sporting a blank comic panel cutie mark, and a pale-amber pegasus mare with a cutie mark of a blazing wheel.

A grinning Forest Rain shot into the air above the new arrivals. "I did say I'd bring help and this is some pretty good help."

The red-haired alicorn nodded, regarding the changeling queen sadly. "I never should have left the crew. It's depressing really, seeing what has come of our great thinking minds. It's as much my fault as it is that of Megan's and Rob's. Now we must fix our mistakes and make things right. Jim, Mitchell, Tara, Sabrina," she called to the ponies on either side of her.

"Yes Lauren?" they replied.

"Go assist our fans and subjects. Your presence among the herd will reinvigorate them and restore their fighting spirit."

"What about you?" Tara asked.

"I'll be joining the Princesses of Equestria in the battle against Queen Chrysalis herself. Good luck everypony."

"You too, Lauren," Jim said. Sabrina and Larson grabbed their crew-mates and carried them down to the battlefield, where they began to make dents in the changeling ranks.

"Hey look!" shouted Mane Event over the buzz of combat. "Jim Miller and Tara Strong are here!"

"So are Sabrina Alberghetti and M.A. Larson!" Blank Canvas shrieked excitedly.

"Brony on!" yelled Hoof Beatz.

BRONY ON!" the other bronies chanted together, resuming the fight with renewed strength, pushing the changelings back. Chrysalis glanced down at her forces as they were forced to retreat. She turned to look at the new arrival. "Who are you?" she demanded.

Lauren sighed. "It would make sense that you don't know me. Most everypony give me full credit for my work, even though there are a few who fritter it away to Cosmos and Galaxia, which is funny because they are merely nonentities in the backs of their minds. However, since you focused on feeding off friendship, you forgot to learn the full history of your opponents, and as a result you have no idea what you're up against."

"Don't give me your fancy talk, you harpy," Chrysalis hissed, drawing gasps from Twilight and Cadance. "You show up, in the middle of a war-zone, keeping me from my conquest and spouting rubbish all the while. Now who are you?!"

The alicorn drew herself up to her full height of four-and-a half feet, barely half of Chrysalis' current height, and said. "I am Princess Lauren Fausticorn, creator of Equestria and mother of all ponies. I am the guide of the herd, the head of the bronies. My children and subjects revere and admire me and are more than willing to risk their lives for what they believe. Now, I shall return the favor and vanquish you, Queen Chrysalis of the changelings, for you have tampered with a force you can't control and breached the borders of a land you were banished from, as a punishment for your crimes in Canterlot. You may be strengthened by the magic of friendship, but you don't have the means or ability to unlock its full potential and use it properly."

Chrysalis cocked her head to one side in confusion. "Whatever. It doesn't matter what you say, I will still rule Equestria and take the world beyond it. All I need is-" She was cut off by a puffy white object, which flew into her face at MACH 3, knocking her backwards.

"What was that?" Twilight wondered.

Lauren looked down, then smiled. "It looks like somepony has the right idea."

Twilight followed Fausticorn's gaze to the street below, where the most unusual battle-craft stood in the midst of the battling ponies. It was white and poofy, with a large cannon made out of the same material as the rest of the tank. It took Twilight a moment to realize that the entire vehicle was made out of pillows. And sitting in the hatch, her hooves on the controls, was Fluffle Puff, her usually-smiling mouth slashed in a frown across her muzzle with her tongue sticking out. She glared at the pillow-kisser-smacked Chrysalis, nodded to the five alicorn Princesses above and rolled her tank back into the fray, firing a barrage of cushions at a cluster of changelings with a push of the POMF button.

Twilight smiled too. "So, we'll fight her together?"

Igniting her horn in preparation for the combat ahead, Lauren answered, "No matter what, no matter when, we won't let evil have its way."

Celestia, Luna and Cadance glided over and hovered beside the other two alicorns. "It's time we showed Chrysalis the true meaning of friendship," Celestia announced.

"Agreed," said Luna.

"With the support of both the ponies and the bronies, our power will be far greater than anything we've ever dealt with before," Cadance warned. "We'll have to work hard to direct it."

"Don't worry!" Shining Armor called from the street. "I'm sure you can handle it! Meanwhile, I'll take command down here. There are quite a few ponies who are in need of a bit of guidance." As he spoke, two young ponies, a filly and a colt, galloped out of the violence around them.

"Mr. Shining!" cried the pale-yellow filly, her dark-brown mane swishing around her. "We want to fight some bad guys!"

"Don't rush him, Kiki," requested the light-cobalt colt. "He's just wishing Twilight and the others good luck."

"Alright you two, that's enough." Shining waved to the flying Princesses. "I'm going to have my hooves full down here, watching Kiki Havivy and Michael Morones."

"At least you're not fighting a 10-foot power-hungry changeling queen," Twilight reminded.

Shining shrugged. "Just do me a favor and knock some sense into Chrysalis for me!" With that, he dove back into the battle, Kiki and Michael staying as close to him as possible.

Chrysalis had finally gotten the pillow off her face and was now fuming. She rose high into the air, her horn crackling with power. "This is it for you, Princess!" she thundered.

"Which Princess?" Lauren asked, a smile crossing her face. "There are five of us. Who were you referring to?"

"What? No! Don't you mock me!" Chrysalis fired her pent-up energy at the alicorns. Together, they cast a shielding spell that covered not only their group but also split into individual force-fields, protecting their friends and subjects below. The changelings were shocked to find their attacks glancing off their opponents without leaving a mark. The ponies and the bronies herded the swarm directly below the match between the five alicorn Princesses and the changeling Queen.

"This is the end for you!" Chrysalis roared, pushing her magic to the limits, causing loose sparks and beams to fly out of her horn.

Twilight grunted, sweat beginning to from on her face. Could it be that Chrysalis was overpowering them? She quickly glanced at Celestia, Luna and Cadance. The three of them were also beginning to tire., which made sense since they all used up their energy in the previous exchange with the huge changeling. Lauren, however, was running hot, her magic at its fullest, and was dishing out as much energy as she could into supplying protection for everypony. She really is amazing, Twilight sighed, but it's not enough. If she tries to keep this up, Chrysalis will eventually weaken us to the point were she'll blow us away. Carefully hovering over to the redhead alicorn's side, she said "We're running out of magic. We need to stop Chrysalis now. Do you have a plan?"

Lauren was silent, her horn still shooting a steady stream of magic. For a moment, Twilight was worried that she didn't have any ideas and that they were all doomed, but then Lauren looked up at the sky, her eyes sparkling. "There is one thing left," she said quietly so Chrysalis wouldn't hear, "but it will require the awareness and focus of everypony. We need to unite them all under one banner again, so to speak."

Her eyes wide, Twilight too looked up at the clear night sky, the stars twinkling brightly far beyond the moon. Finally it hit her. The one weapon they still had that could save them, but as Lauren had said, they would need all the ponies and all the bronies to give their full, undivided attention to it. Without another word, Twilight slipped out from behind Lauren, whispering words of support. She fluttered down to the battlefield where Equestria had pretty much won, the changelings all corralled beneath the dueling royals. Shining Armor, who was overseeing that no changeling escaped, unnoticed or at all, trotted over to her. "We've got them all," he informed, "but everypony's worried. Chrysalis is still fighting and isn't showing signs of giving up."

"Don't worry," Twilight assured him. "Lauren's got a plan. But we need to show how powerful our friendship really is. We have to join together, in body and spirit, to call forth the true power of friendship."

Shining wasn't the least bit surprised. Rather, he was looking forward to seeing the full might of unity in action. "Let's spread the word, then." The two siblings hurried through the crowd, alerting every pony, brony, draconequus and creature. They organized circles, rings of unbroken contact. Together they stood, acknowledging the thing they valued together above all else: friendship.

Twilight, pleased with the quick organizing of her friends, rose up to where the other Princesses were still fighting Chrysalis, and not a moment too soon. Celestia was clearly exhausted, as were Luna and Cadance. Twilight slipped in beside Lauren as the three Equestrian rulers drifted behind, catching their breath. Carefully adding her own magic to Lauren's beam, Twilight told her, "They're all ready. I can feel the power of our friendship coming from them, like an aura of sorts."

Lauren nodded. "I can feel it too. It means we're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Watch."

The two still-fighting alicorns raised their eyes to the heavens, as if searching for an alternative. As they watched, something appeared from within the inky blackness of space. It was made out of highly-durable metal sheets and possessed several rocket boosters, as well as numerous antennae. On the back of this floating machine was an operating cabin and on the front was a set of six separate yet connected cannon barrels. From inside the cabin, a light-raspberry pegasus with a blue mane examined the dashboard instruments.

"Firefly." Lauren used her magic to call the operating cabin. "You there, Firefly?"

"I'm here, Lauren," Firefly answered, "and the readings are incredible! I've never seen the friendship levels so high before, not even at last year's BronyCon. This is going to have some serious effect on those changelings"

"I'm glad to hear things are still running smoothly, but we need you to charge the Cannon."

"Not a problem. Surprise?"

A white pegasus with a poofy yellow mane popped up beside the command chair. "On it." She whizzed around the cabin, pressing buttons and pushing switches while from her seat, Firefly did the same.

"Changing weapon settings from 'Love and Tolerate Beams' to 'Lethal Blaster'."

"Maxing out the Rainbow Power Receiver."

"Switching from 'Elements of Harmony' to 'Unification'."

"Beginning to absorb power... now."

A ray of rainbow light shimmered into view, centered on the ring of friends below. The beam shot up into the air, entering through the receiving tube on the back of Firefly's booth. Friendship energy burned through the machine's inner workings, steadily flowing into the front of the Cannon. From the streets of the city, everypony could see the multicolored glow of the six large barrels. "Ready to fire, Firefly?" Lauren asked.

Back in the cabin, Firefly shook her head even though nopony could see her. "No can do, Princess. Even with everypony showing their friendship to the world, it's gonna take a while before the Cannon's charged."

"Okay, that's okay," Twilight said nervously. "We can hold out a bit longer, right?" Right about then, she noticed that Lauren's energy beam was weakening, slowly dwindling in size. "Lauren, what's wrong?"

"I don't... I don't think I'm gonna make it," Lauren replied slowly, her face drenched in sweat.

Twilight paled. "You can't stop! You're the most powerful alicorn ever and we need you."

Chrysalis could feel Twilight's emotions and Lauren's doubt through their attacks and came in for the kill. Several feet above, Apple Bloom watched the queen dive at the two defenseless alicorns. "Come on!" she yelled at Gryph. "We gotta help them!"

Gryph lowered his hat over his ears and stuck out his leg. "Hold on. This is gonna be a bumpy ride." Apple Bloom wrapped a hoof around Gryph's leg and he jumped off the roof, heading straight for Chrysalis. Using gravity to gain further momentum, Gryph manged to overtake Chrysalis, Apple Bloom swinging off his leg and onto the changeling's back, while Gryph himself went flying straight through Lauren and Twilight's force-field, absorbing the loose energy and crashing into them.

Twilight righted herself in the air, trying to regain her balance. beside her, Lauren was doing likewise. "You didn't have to go so fast, Gryph," she scolded the pegasus. "You could have hurt somepony." She looked around for him, ready to continue criticizing, when she discovered the creature hovering in front of her. It was a dark-grey gryphon. Twilight stared in shock. "Gryph?"

The gryphon looked down at himself, examining his new form. "Concept art. Wouldn't you know it? Guess your magic shield left some stuff lying around, ran through my head and plucked this out." He shrugged. "Might as well use it."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "And quick too. Look!"

Gryph swung around, corkscrewing just as a bright green magic-missile shot past him. Chrysalis was floundering through the air, shooting magic randomly, Apple Bloom astride her back and holding on for dear life. "How dare you!" roared Chrysalis as she bucked in the air, trying to remove the filly from her back.

"Yeah right, whatever you say!" chuckled Apple Bloom, clearly enjoying the job of keeping Chrysalis occupied. She pulled on the changeling's mane and slapped her wings, causing her to tumble to and fro.

"THAT'S IT!" Chrysalis swung her head around, and Apple Bloom was flung off her back and onto her head, where her hooves fell in front of the queen's eyes. Chrysalis grinned maniacally as she felt the filly's head beside her horn. "You've caused me quite enough trouble for one evening. Now it's time to say goodnight." Her horn began to glow threateningly. Apple Bloom could feel the heat of changeling magic washing over her, the high temperature becoming too much to bear. She loosened her grip to wipe her forehead and Chrysalis threw her head back, tossing Apple Bloom into the empty air where she began her descent.

Ponies everywhere looked up from their fight at the falling yellow filly, not one of them able to help her. Apple Bloom also looked up helplessly at the laughing changeling, her life flashing before her eyes. Ah just wish ah could've found my special talent and earned mah cutie mark with Sweetie Belle an' Scootaloo, she thought, tears forming in her eyes. I just hope it doesn't hurt too much. She closed her eyes, waiting for the final impact.

It was softer than she imagined, a lot like Applejack's warm hugs. She opened her eyes, wondering what it looked like, but her surprise was enormous when she saw a gryphon's smile taking up her view. "Gryph?" she asked.

The gryphon sighed gratefully. "Thank Faust, you're okay." He rose into the air, taking Apple Bloom further away from the ground. Twilight and Lauren flew over to them, and Gryph passed Apple Bloom over to Twilight. "Hold onto her for a minute, please?" he asked the Princess of Friendship.

Twilight smiled. "Go for it."

Gryph nodded grimly, then turned towards Chrysalis, his claws flexing menacingly. The queen stared at the gryphon, wondering why one of them was siding with the ponies. "What is your argument with us, gryphon?" she demanded of Gryph, not knowing who it really was.

Flapping his wings rhythmically, Gryph drew closer to her with every reason he gave. "You threaten Equestria, you attack my friends, you endanger the lives of thousands, and you nearly kill my B.F.F?" He was now mere feet from Chrysalis. "I'd say I've got more than enough reasons so that I have no regrets for what I'm about to do." He pulled back his claw and raked it across her face.

"AAAAAHH!" Chrysalis shrieked as she flailed through the air. Gryph followed her, clawing every visible part he could reach with his sharp talons. Apple Bloom watched her friend fight from atop Lauren's head. "He's really brave, isn't he?"

"Very," Lauren agreed.

"But it takes more than just guts to win a fight," Twilight announced, then called through Lauren's contact spell, "Firefly, is the Cannon ready?"

"All fired up and ready to go," the pegasus reported. "Just get that gryphon guy out of the way, the beams might get him if he's to close."

"Ah got this," Apple Bloom said. She stood up, leaning on Lauren's horn for support, then launched herself towards the fight, cutting through the air. She landed on Chrysalis' head and whispered into her ear, "How ya been? Ready for another spin?"

"WHY AM I CURSED WITH SUCH FOES?!?!?" the queen screeched as she attempted to knock the filly loose once more. Before she thought to relight her horn, Gryph and Apple Bloom had flown out of range.

Gryph hovered over to where the Princesses' were. "All clear."

Twilight smiled. "Ready?" she called to the Firefly through Lauren's contact spell.

"Ready."

"Aim?"

"Aimed."

Lauren was about to give the order, but Chrysalis flying towards them interrupted her command. She leapt forwards, firing a series of magic bolts at the changeling queen, forcing her back over her chained minions. She began to circle her, keeping Chrysalis right where they wanted her with short bursts. "Would you care to do the honors, Twilight?" she called, wafting a small, magical orb at her.

Twilight caught the glowing sphere in her hooves. She glanced at Lauren, who nodded and returned to herding Chrysalis. She looked around her, at Celestia and the other Princesses, at the ponies in the street below, at the little filly and the gryphon whose back she was on. Together, they would prevail. "Firefly?" she said into the ball.

Back up in the operating booth, Surprise rushed over to the dashboard as Firefly replied. "Yes, Twilight?

"Fire the Orbital Friendship Cannon."

Firefly and Surprise slammed their hooves down together on the large, multicolored button on the dashboard, activating the flying space weapon. The barrels flared, and a great rainbow laser blast raced towards the city, leaving bright tails of light in its wake. Twilight, Apple Bloom and Gryph(who had turned back into a pegasus) looked up at the glowing machine, already feeling the warmth from it. Chrysalis spared a glance at the floating trio, while at the same time trying to counter Lauren's barrage. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "You are about to lose everything you hold dear and you're smiling?!"

"We're not the ones who are about to lose," Twilight revealed. "You are."

Seething, Chrysalis tapped into her final reserves, depriving herself of her new height, adding the last of her magic energy into her horn and loosening it at Twilight. Lauren leapt into its path, calling on her own magic to block the attack. Before it reached them, however, Chrysalis was drowned in a blinding cascade of friendship in the form of high-velocity rainbows, which slowly fell upon everyone in the city. To the changelings, it felt like Cadance's and Shining Armor's love blast magnified a hundred times. But to everypony else, it was like a light rain of peace and tranquility. The fighting had left them all tense, but they felt their stress washing away, along with all the fatigue of battle. Twilight looked behind her at the other Equestrian Princesses who, thanks to the Orbital Friendship Cannon, had regained their magic. She found herself feeling immense happiness, which she could sense coming from her friends around her, all of them lending their strength to maintain the power of the O.F.C. Chrysalis, on the other hoof, was feeling nothing of the sort. She watched in horror as her minions were lifted into the air by a magic which she knew nothing of, flinging them and herself out of the city on a wave of rainbow light. The seemingly endless stream of friendship power sent them far beyond the borders of Equestria, leaving nothing behind but their cries of defeat.