//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Of Ponies and Dragons // by Jeckard Cain //------------------------------// Twilight had just woken up from her nap, she was about to roll over and wake Spike in his basket, then remembered he was with a certain somepony. She sighed and got up and went to brush her mussed up mane. Another year with no pony to go with to the celebration, she didn't mind it all that much. Mainly because she and Spike would always go to the roof of the tree house and watch the fireworks together. This year, Twilight woke alone to the sight of ironically, a twilight sky, outside her window. The sunset was beautiful, and so calming, Twilight almost fell out of her bed when the first large blast appeared, the crowd went wild, screaming and hollering. There was usually a fireworks display at the end of the day. Twilight noticed something odd however, the firework she had just seen was very much like a blast she remembered seeing used only a few months ago. Where it was, she couldn't recall, she kept on thinking through her memory to exactly when. A bright green blast then ponies screaming and running outside. Suddenly Twilight knew where she had seen it before, her brother's wedding. Twilight leaped from her bed and galloped down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her. Opening the door she saw people running every which way on the street and changelings were in the sky and on the ground as well chasing ponies. Twilight looked away in horror when a changeling fed on a nearby colt. Leaving her house behind she ran through the streets and shouted the names of her friends in the hopes that they could hear her. Pinkie was the first to show up, sprinting towards Twilight with a grin on her face as she smacked changelings out of her way in the road. Pinkie finally reached Twilight and started shouting in between gasps for air "Changelings all over the bakery!" she breathed hard "They didn't want any of my sweets they were more interested in my customers. FOR FOOD!" Twilight responded "Pinkie! I need you to gather everpony and help save the ponies in town, try and get them into the town hall. Once you do bar the doors and only open if I knock okay?." Pinkie thought for a moment then said "But how am I supposed to know it's you Twilight, it could be a mean nasty scary changeling out there just POSING as you. Maybe you're a changeling right NOW!" Pinkie reared back as Twilight just sighed heavily "PINKIE! It's me, remember the night of the Grand Galloping Gala and how we all hated it then went and ate at Pony Joe's donut shop?" Pinkie seemed to mull the thought through her hed before nodding and stepping closer to Twilight "Well seeing as you remember that I guess you're Twilight, but then again you could STILL be a changeling, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt right now." Twilight, finally able to convince her, repeated what she asked and Pinkie said "Okie dokie lokie, don't stay out here too long, these changelings are nasty, not a single smile among them." Twilight appreciated her concern but she told Pinkie she had to find Spike before going to the town hall. As Twilight ran around town, she didn't meet as much resistance as she thought there would be, only one or two changelings stopped near her. As soon as they saw that it was Twilight though, they turned tail and ran or flew away. Twilight continued to search any building for other ponies in need of help along with looking for Spike. After searching for what seemed like ages Twilight spotted a tall dark figure nearby, it was about as tall as Celestia but with black fur and greenish looking hair, with the hooves seemingly missing chunks it was definitely a changeling. Twilight decided to slowly walk towards it to investigate, that is until she saw Spike standing next to the changeling. "SPIKE!" Twilight lost all control and sprinted to him and picked him up, that was when she got a look at his eyes. "Do you like what I've done with the place Twilight Sparkle?" Spikes eyes were a shade of green all around, he looked woozy and not in control of himself. "I'm so glad you got to see this, after all it is my grand return and with Ponyville providing my subjects all the food we could ever want, Canterlot will surely fall within DAYS!" Twilight put Spike down before focusing her attention on the Dark Queen, the ruler of the Changelings, Chrysalliss. Twilight finally cut the queen off "What have you done with Spike?" The queen only chuckled then broke into a furious uproar of laughter "Can't you tell my dear? I'm feeding off of his love. His love for you, his love for this town. His love for me." Twilight suddenly recognized what was going on. Once again someone she cared for was manipulated by the evil queen and forced into feeding her all the love she could get. "My dear Twilight, the only thing I did was give this poor dragon the love he so desperately tried to find from another pony. I knew right away the feeling of his emotion when he found me scrounging around in those blasted mountains. After I started to feed off him, I was able to find my little darlings and have them gather for this little get together we're having." Twilight interjected "Spike is loved by all his friends! He would never succumb to you!" The queen giggled once again "I never said the love of his friends, I only said you, this town, and me." Twilight understood what was going on finally "So you were Alliss, and you fed off of Spike and the town for this festival and all the love these ponies were feeling. You took advantage of Spike when he was weak from rejection and now you're using his power to take over this town." Chrysalliss nodded and grinned, baring all her teeth. "You figured me out, how droll, I was looking forward to explaining it all in more detail, but alas, I think it's time I ended this little talk." Twilight attacked first with a small spell that immediately bounced off of some sort of shield around Chrysallis. She shot larger kinetic spells her way with the same result every time. Telekinesis with rocks being dropped on her, still nothing. The queen just laughed to herself the entire time "Twilight, I thought you were taught better than to attack your superiors." A bright green light shot from Chrysalliss's horn and landed on Twilight's own shield, the beam kept burning against the shield as Twilight strained to protect herself, then suddenly, searing pain hit her as the shield shattered and she was flung to the ground. Chrysalliss stepped over to Twilight with her horn still glowing. Tears formed in Twilight's eyes as she readied for the worst. She looked to Spike who was still in his trance and screamed "HELP ME SPIKE!" As soon as she yelled, there was a shimmer within the queens shield and Twilight saw an opportunity to strike, launching a small pebble though a rift in the shield and hitting the queen with some much deserved force. The queen backed away in pain as she held her face where the rock had struck. "HOW DARE YOU LAY YOUR FILTHY MAGIC UPON ME!" Chrysalliss reared back and began to cast another spell. As she did a particular highborn British voice cried out "Twilight, Spike! Oh thank Celestia I've found you in this mess. Just look at what these changelings have done to my mane!" Twilight's eyes shone with a newfound resolve as she ran to her friend "Rarity! I need your help to build a shield, just do what I do, NOW!" Twilight lifted her horn and pulled a barrier around herself, Rarity, not being nearly as powerful a unicorn as Twilight mustered up a small defensive shield her father had taught her. Chrysalis cast her spell and it his Twilight's shield like a small house. The torrential downpour of magic proved to much and Twilight's shield shattered once again before the magic turned towards Rarity's shield. It held almost no defense and was destroyed in mere seconds. Twilight and Rarity were both thrown to the ground with small cuts and bruises all along themselves. Twilight looked to Rarity and motioned towards Spike. Rarity got the idea and decided to try what she heard Twilight scream earlier, with a little more zest to it however. Or as much as she could muster in this state. "SPIKEYPOO WE NEED YOUR HELP!" The sound of Rarity screeching out that was like cat nails on a chalk board. However it was exactly what they needed as Spike broke free from the Trance and snapped back to reality. Chrysalliss had lost her source of magic for now and backed away trying to regain control. Spike fought back as best he could, he looked to Rarity, then Twilight. Tears began forming in his eyes. "Did, did I cause this?" Twilight looked to Spike "NO! You didn't cause this, she did!" Spike turned around and saw Chrysalliss as she tried to cast her spell on him again. He fought back the spell once again. "You miserable little worm, you were so much easier to take control of when I looked like, oh yes" Chrysalliss changed into her form for Spike. Aliss stood in front of him as he blinked "No, no no. You tricked me." Alliss laughed then changed back to Chrysalliss, "We changelings are prone to do that my dear dragon. However, I still provided the love you sought. I was still there for you even when this one had thrown you away." She motioned towards Rarity. Rarity hung her head low, understanding now how Chrysalliss had used Spike. Maybe if she had given him a chance instead of disregarding him, none of this would have happened. "Twilight!" Spike called out "She's using my love to destroy Ponyville right?" Twilight nodded but said that she was also using the love from Ponyville too. Spike shook his head "No she's ONLY using my love to do all this herself. Her minions are the ones feeding on the town, not her. Twilight, I can't forget how she treated me when she was Alliss, and I can't forget the contempt I built around Rarity for the rejection. She's going to get control over me again soon. I know how we can stop this and you can beat her though." Chrysalliss smacked Spike with her hoove sending him into a bench nearby and breaking it. "Silence you worm, if you don't submit now I will use you to destroy your friend, including your beloved Rarity." Rarity looked to Spike and Spike to her, he only smiled and then looked to Twilight. "Twilight, you still remember that memory spell right?" Twilight knew immedietally what Spike wanted her to do "No Spike, I won't use it on you! I have no idea how much it could erase!" Spike pleaded with her "But it's the only way to get rid of the memories of Aliss for sure. If I forget a few things, so be it. I'm willing to give that up to save my friends and the ponies I love." Spike walked towards Twilight and Rarity slowly with his arms outstretched. "Don't you dare you insolent whelp! I will-rrgh-take control of you!" Twilight looked to Spike and ran to him, she was met by him with Rarity as well. They all embraced and Spike raised his head to Rarity, "I love you Rarity, always have and always will." Twilight saw Spike'e eyes begin to turn green again. Tears began to well up in her eyes as well as Rarity's. Then she cast her spell. Spike fell to the ground, unconcious as his mind rushed to figure out what had happened. Chrysalliss was taken aback. "No, how. You can't just, THAT'S CHEATING!" She roared. Twilight and Rarity began to walk towards Chrysalliss, now, with no power going to the queen and their own hearts filled with resolve. "CHANGELINGS TO ME! WE ESCAPE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY!" The hive mind of the changelings collectivly obeyed the queen as they all began to fly away. Towards the mountains once again but thankfully away from Ponyville. Twilight and Rarity collapsed finally and breathed a sigh of relief. They took Spike back to his small bed and helped the ponies of the town back to their own homes. It would be a busy day repairing things tomorrow. As Twilight layed in bed, she looked to Spike, seeing him soundly asleep as if nothing had even happend, in his own mind nothing really did happen she thought. The night grew long and Twilight closed her eyes and let sleep finally take hold of her.