//------------------------------//
// CHAPTER 36 (AKA: Final day) 
// Story: A thing or two about changelings and their habits saga 
// by Young discord 
//------------------------------//

The sun was high in the sky, it was burning away all doubt and enlightened the current situation…
A war was at the doorstep and the doors were wide open.
The Canterlot army may be impressive but what it can’t do was slow down time… the traps they were supposed to set up and prepare weren’t there, the changelings beat them to it, they’ve been outsmarted and what's worse, the machine wasn’t there either… now was the best time to demonstrate it, both armies were standing face to face, neither of them sure, who will take the first step, a 10,000 makeshift changeling army versus a 5,000 fully trained and specialized Canterlot army
“What do we do Shining sir?” Asked an unsure Monty
“Only one thing Monty, we have to stall”
“Me and pacifica can slow them down with our items but I’m not sure how long that will last”
“It will have to do for now”
Monty looked at Pacifica who nodded at him.
They were about to head right into hell.
Monty boomed into the aerial kingdom to deal with the flyers and Pacifica charged at the ground troops.
The changeling army had no idea how to react it was all in an instant, all they could do was strike back, there was no way they could afford to attack the Canterlot army as Monty and Pacifica gave them a fair share of challenges.
Monty scanned the army for his father, he was way in the back among the flyer’s ranks.
Pacifica smashed through the first layer of ground troops like a windshield smashes a bug, the changelings flew in all sorts of directions, it’s almost as if one was watching an Asterix and Obelix cartoon with the exception being that it wasn’t funny, bodies were flying in all directions, bones were cracking and blood was spouting.
it was a bloodbath, A changeling’s body wasn't designed to withstand such forces, the changelings that got hit by Pacifica’s Rumble Suit were still alive and in great pain but were out of commission for a while.
In the case of Monty it was an entirely different story, rather than using brute force and smashing into ponies he utilised all that he knew about flying, those new wings of his gave him more mobility than he could have ever wished for.
Monty swished and flicked through the aerial troops, one by one, his sharp wings slicing and cutting others who soon enough fell to the ground, their wings crippled for life.
It seemed as if the couple was going to win but the items are only as powerful as their beholder and soon enough both of them were out of steam and the changelings were engulfing the two
Shining Armour had to do something
“ATTACK!”
the Canterlot army arose like a tidal wave of hot steaming gold and hit the enemy’s slate wall.
Two of Equestria’s greatest forces were at a clash, the clank of weapons against hooves, the shouts, screams and war cries all melding together in a melting pot of pain war and death.
This was a first for many here, the Canterlot army may be full of trained professionals but none of them have ever been on a full out war, they didn't need to.
The ponies from the Mane 6 could just look at the death and destruction up front, for the first time they had felt what war was like, they felt this incredible need to help in some way or other but it was being held back by the fear of going there and meeting their end.
One by one, each of the mane 6 broke down, it was too much, they always knew about war but they were never aware of it up until now.
“Is this what war is?” said silently Twilight.
Mark’s machine smacked between Twilight and Armour announcing the presence of Celestia and Mark.
“Celestia?”
“Do you understand now Twilight? this is the true importance of friendship, this is what you all have been burdened with, you teach others in this land about friendship so that the horrors of war never see the light of day”
“I’ll set up the machines!”
Mark expertly turned the dials and knobs on each cathode and anode.
“And now the main part of the show…”
Mark came up to his machine, this was it, this was the moment everypony’s been waiting for, once this is switched on, it will bring peace to everypony, once and for all.
Mark turned the dials some more setting up the activating code.
The pendulums began to swing, the cogs began to turn and the machine began to ominously tick.
“Everypony! focus your magic on the cathodes and anodes!”
The ponies obliged and a large magical screen showed up that displayed Mark next to his machine.
Mark was still, he said nothing.
“Psst! Mark! say something!” whispered Twilight.
But mark didn't say anything, instead he turned and ran to the caves.
“Mark!” Celestia shouted, what in Equestria was he doing?
Mark was already off towards the caves, seconds later he was close enough to the entrance and he started his speech.
“SILEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!”
His amplified voice boomed across the entire area instantly stopping any fighting that was going on, everypony be it changeling,earth pony unicorn or pegasus looked up at the screen that displayed Mark who was barely holding on, he was at his limit.
“To those who don’t know me, my name is Mark, and I have devised something that will solve the problem of changelings once and for all, you needn’t fight anymore brothers and sisters for you will all die”
“WHAT?” Celestia shouted out, what did he just say?
“I’m afraid that I haven't been quite honest with you, friends… that device right there was never designed to feed changelings… it was designed to kill anypony within a 3 kilometer radius, you see I realized something some time ago, if I can't talk ponies out of this war I might as well kill them… don't blame me for it… or do, It was me who had set up the Blood of the Innocent in the first place”
John’s expression widened, so he was the one who had suggested the ideas with the caves, it was him who had recruited him into the group and set it all up, it was him who betrayed them.
Celestia put her royal canterlot voice to use.
“YOU SET ALL OF THIS UP?”
“Yes, even down to the attack on the pony summit and these traps in the caves”
“STOP THIS MACHINE AT ONCE MARK!”
“Well, I am the only one who knows how to stop it and I took extra care to make it as indestructible and untamperable as it can be so if you want me to stop it you'll have to catch me first… I’ll be waiting in the caves”
“EVERYPONY, STOP MARK!”
It’s as if the entire war just disappeared into thin air, changelings and ponies alike were now fighting for their lives.
Pacifica couldn't believe it, the rebels, the attacks, it was all Mark’s doing?
“PACIFICA! WE NEED TO GET HIM IF WE WANT TO LIVE!” shouted Monty from up above.
She had no choice, they had to go get him, the machine was ticking down until activation.
the two zapped faster than anypony else to the caves, Celestia, Shining, Rose and the Mane 6 were already at the entrance.
Celestia knew that Mark must have set up some traps for this occasion.
“Watch out, there are probably some traps set up here we don’t wan-”
But Celestia couldn't finish that sentence as Monty and Pacifica boomed through the cave activating countless traps.
“NO!”
A multitude of explosions loosened up and entire avalanche of crystals that were now going to crush the group.
“EVERYPONY RUN!”
And everypony did, the gigantic crystals bringing down the rain upon them…
Celestia focused all her magic to hold up the now falling ceiling to let the group through
A rock smashed behind the ponies and erased the entrance from the incoming armies.
The armies had finally reached the entrance that was now blocked by a mountain of crystals.
“WORK ON THOSE CRYSTALS PONIES! OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT!”
The changelings pitched in, as much as they hated to work with ponies it was either that or they all die.
Twilight opened her eyes, everypony was safe and sound around her, the caves glistening in their full glory.
They had made it.





Pacifica was having trouble keeping up with Monty, she knew that he was furious at Mark, and he might blame him for the death of his mother, she was going to have to hold him back.
“WHERE IS HE! PACIFICA! TELL ME!”
“I don’t know! I can't feel the connection with him anymore!”
There he was running away the coward that he was.
“THERE YOU ARE YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
Monty swooped in for the kill but pacifica intervened.
The two items clashed causing an explosion that shook the entire cave system.
“Pacifica, let him go”
“No!”
Pacifica wasn't going to let this happen, she might have lost her link with him but she still cared about Mark, and she didn't want to choose between him or Monty.
“It’s because of him that my mum died!”
Mark knew that this was going to happen eventually, he was ready for it.
The rest of the ponies caught up to the trio.
Applejack whipped out her lasso and within a split second she had tied Mark up like a cow, Mark didn't fight back, his body was failing him, he couldn't even cry at this point.
Celestia was furious, she was a deity and nopony was going to toy with her and her subject
“YOU BETRAYED OUR TRUST MARK, WHY!”
Mark coughed miserably, announcing his gradual departure.
“B-because… this was the only way for us to live together…”
“NO, THERE ARE OTHER WAYS”
“You are wrong, Celestia… changelings and Ponies could never coexist without pain… the only way to have you all work together was to…”
“...give us a common enemy” finished off Shining Armour.
“I’m sorry that it turned out like this everypony, but we all knew this had to happen”
“NO IT-”
“YES IT DOES! and you know it, somewhere deep down inside in that darkest part of you, you all knew this, and if this doesn’t happen, we will have wars upon wars over something so trivial… all it takes for us to live together is to will it but we have to put aside our past… please… this has to happen, hate me, curse me do what you want, I had already accepted this fate long ago, just let this happen”
“But ponies will die!”
“Yes, they will but this will erase our past, it will make a new page for you to write on, Please, Twilight, Applejack… everypony, teach everypony the true value of friendship, I entrust the future to you”
“This doesn't have to happen Mark” replied Celestia
“Throwing yourself straight into hell for your friends, this is true friendship, Celestia”
Mark’s body was going numb.
“I caaaaa….”
Mark let out his final breath.
His body began fade, slowly turning into a slither of magic ready to disappear from existence.
“Mark! MARK! TELL US HOW TO STOP THE MACHINE!”
But it was too late, his body was now gone in a ribbon of magic floating away into the unknown.





TICK
TICK
TICK
CLICK
The countdown had ended.
Cogs and pendulums began to spin and swing more rapidly, the machine was now emitting an aura.
"IT'S HAPPENING! RUN!"
But it was too late.
A flash and a blast of magic covered the entire area, all the emotions were being sucked out of every single living being, fear, anger, hopes, dreams…
seconds later, the panic subsided, every single changeling was now gone, their bodies erased from existence, an entire army of ponies now stood in place lobotomised, they were now a hollow shell, only capable of breathing, nothing else was left, memories, feelings, all gone.
silence befell on a plain white sheet of history.