//------------------------------//
// Escape to home 
// Story: A Change of Pace 
// by Votederpycausemufins 
//------------------------------//

	Cicada had been brought to a small stone room with a solid iron door. She had been ordered to sit in one of the two chairs in the room, which were separated by a table. It didn't take long for the queen to recognize it as an interrogation room.
Cicada was glad to be out of her cell. except for the one time she escaped when she was first put in there, the changeling hadn't managed to escape again. 
It had been four days since Cicada had first been put in the Canterlot dungeon. Nothing too exciting had happened since then. Fluttershy coming to visit everyday was the best thing Cicada had done. Apparently the pegasus had gotten a friend of hers to take care of her animals while she had been away.
Cicada had been getting weaker over the four days she had been locked up. She was glad Lila had been able to stay with her, since that had been helping, but the visits had helped as well.
The queen was rather nervous about her current situation. There was a good chance that someling was finally going to ask what really happened the night of the gala, but there was also a small chance her meeting would go well. As Cicada waited, she started to hear voices coming closer.
"Now remember, if anything goes wrong, just shout and I'll come in. Got that?"
The next voice sent a small chill up Cicada's spine. "Hopefully I won't need to do that. though I'll remember if that bug queen tries anything."
The changeling stared at the door until Sparkle walked in.
"I'd say I'm glad to see you again, but I'm not. I'm only happy you haven died just yet so we can go home, though you wouldn't have died anyways."
Cicada continued to glare at the alicorn, trying to figure out what she meant and how she thought they were getting home. 
"The good news is I've convinced everypony here that you're the evil one. Oh wait, it's not for you. But it won't matter to you for too long. Once we get back, this thing can join your 'sister'." Sparkle said gesturing to all of Cicada,
"W-what do you mean? What happened to Nymph?"
Sparkle very obviously pretended to be sad. "Aww, did you actually care for that thing? To bad, I had her killed."
Cicada became filled with rage. "You killed my sister?!"
Sparkle laughed. "Oh come on, stop with the act. You can't expect me to believe after all these years you still haven't done anything with her."
"Who are you talking about? What are you talking about?"
Sparkle stopped chuckling. "Oh my gosh, you're serious. Are you really willing to be that weak?" 
The alicorn put her hoof on top of Cicada's, which had been resting on the table. The queen tried to put her hoof away, but couldn't. Slowly, Sparkle started to push don harder and harder with her leg.
"The only way this can work is if you're awake, so maybe pain will help!"
Cicada wasn't listening to the empress as she tried to free her leg. Eventually the queen cried out in pain. It was loud enough that Sparkle quickly pulled her hoof away and turned to look at the iron door. Within seconds, It was opened by the guard that had led her down.
"What happened? I heard somepony yell."
Sparkle waved her hoof at him. "Sorry, I pushed her a little too hard. "Nothing I can't fix when we get back home. If you don't mind, I think it's time for us to leave."
The guard nodded and let the empress leave. After about one or two minutes, The pony grabbed Cicada, and led her away from the room to where ever Sparkle was headed for.



The null stone on Cicada's magic suppressor had been replaced by a gem so she could cast just one spell. The princesses had come to make sure nothing went wrong. Twilight's friends had also come and Spike was next to them holding Lila so she couldn't help.
“Now come on. Cast your portal spell so we can get home and fix things. Remember, that gem will only allow you one spell, so I suggest you do it.”
Cicada frowned. She started to cast the spell, when Lila broke her concentration. Over to the side, Lila was flapping almost uncontrollably. Spike was trying hard to stop her but at one point he had to let go of her with one hand to shield his face.
“What’s going on with Lila?” Cicada exclaimed. “Is she okay?”
Sparkle made Cicada shut up. “Can you try and get her pet to quiet down? She might not be able to cast the spell with all that noise.” 
The alicorn looked from Cicada, to the bird, and quickly back to Cicada. Her eyes widened and she quickly went over to Spike. “Here, let me help.”
As Sparkle helped Spike, Cicada looked at the others, but her gaze fell on Fluttershy who was also trying to get the queen’s attention, albeit, quieter. The pegasus pointed back and forth between her neck and her head. She stopped immediately when Sparkle started to come back.
“Well, now that she’s quiet, do you want to open the portal now?” Sparkle asked.
Cicada ignored her, trying to figure out what Fluttershy had been trying to tell her. Not realizing she was doing it, the changeling did the same motions as Fluttershy. Sparkle looked at her, horrified as she watched Cicada try and figure it out. When the queen did it a second time, she placed her hoof on her neck and kept it there as her eyes widened.
“Shields up!” Sparkle called, putting a shield between her and Cicada. 
Before any of the others reacted, colored flames covered Cicada’s horn for a split second, and the magic suppressor fell to the ground. Before anypony could try to attack her without her horn, the queen quickly made it appear again.
Cicada put up a shield of her own, but instead of keeping it around herself, she expanded it, shoving everypony into the walls. Using the shock from the attack, Lila flew out from Spike’s grip and towards Cicada. The changeling Put up a circle of fire as Sparkle got closer. It went up right before anypony else could enter the area.
Sparkle nodded with her eyes closed. “You’re right. This is just between us.” The Alicorn opened her eyes back up, revealing them to be gold instead of purple, earning gasps from everyone, even Cicada.
The alicorn let off a powerful blast, sending Cicada to the edge of the circle.  Sparkle walked up to Cicada. “Stop hiding and fight yourself. I know you can hear me in there.”
Before Cicada could respond, Lila flew in and attacked Sparkle. “That stupid bird again! First when we were at that house and then at the castle!”
Taking the distraction as an advantage, Cicada blasted Sparkle in her chest the same place Cicada had when this whole journey had first begun. “That’s for hurting me!” She blasted the alicorn again. “That’s for convincing them I was evil.” and she attack one final time, this time making Sparkle break the fire barrier. “And that’s for killing my sister!”
Cicada’s hair started to lower a bit from become more like an aura than just hair when she cast her previous spell. Glaring at the alicorn, Cicada was taken aback when she started to laugh.
“I-I knew you were in there! Thinking your host was strong enough to not need your help. Looks like you were wrong. And that’s all I needed!”
Sparkle sent a spell directly towards Cicada’s horn. It hit the very tip, and her purple aura started to slowly turn to green.
Cicada let out a blood curling scream as the two colors of magic shifted from purple and green to white and black respectively. Random spells started to fire off in every direction. In some odd coincidence, a portal spell was fired off, followed shortly thereafter by Sparkle’s dark spell. The portal changed from green to dark purple, creating a pathway back to their world. Lila tried to stop the flow of magic between the two rulers, but couldn’t get near enough to help. As Cicada continued to scream in pain, no pony did anything to help. But someone did.
Spike ran towards Sparkle and shoved her as hard as he could. The alicorn was pushed straight into the portal, knocking Lila in there as well. From the momentum of the push, Spike slammed into a column which in turn push him back towards and into the portal.
At that point, Cicada had gotten back up, and while still dizzy, made her way into the portal to follow the others. Before anypony else could make a move, the portal closed and a new one opened up. A new being none of them had seen before stepped out. Instead of speaking, she spoke to them in their minds.
‘My name is Lucia. None of you will really know who or what I am, but I must tell you that you have all been put into grave danger.’