“This can’t be happening.”
The army was running toward the sound of the shots as fast as they could. All of them were panting, covered with sweat. Darkness surrounded them, while cold air seemed to seep into their bodies.
“What WAS that?” Cheese asked, horrified as he ran.
“We’re about to find out,” Spitfire replied.
“Not to go against your word, Spitfire,” Fluttershy called, falling behind the group, “but shouldn’t we be running away from the loud, scary noises?”
“No,” Spitfire called back. “If somepony’s hurt, we can’t just leave them lying around! We have to help them!”
None of the group argued with that statement, so they continued running, guided only by the dim light of Twilight’s horn. They could barely see, but they kept searching.
Eventually, Twilight saw something out of the corner of her eye.
“Guys!” she called out to the group, signaling them over to her with her head. “I found something!” She shined her light on the entrance to the Everfree Forest. There, the group saw Bulk Biceps lying on the ground, motionless. There was a pool of blood beside him.
“Oh my goodness,” Soarin gasped, covering his mouth with his hoof.
“Fluttershy, check for a pulse,” Rarity said, entering her hospital mindset.
“There isn’t one,” she replied, checking over the body. “He was shot three times, with what looks like magic. The wounds are bad.”
“Oh dear,” Rarity sighed. “Well, let’s see what we can do.” As the two began inspecting the body, Applejack ran into the forest. Within seconds, she reemerged, with large tears in her eyes.
“Anypony see Big Mac?!” she cried, frantically looking in every direction. The other ponies shook their heads.
“I don’t see him anywhere,” Cheese said, scanning the area. “No hoofprints, no body, no nothing!”
Applejack was becoming increasingly worried. “Well, he can’t have just vanished!” she screamed.
“Maybe he ran away when he heard the shots,” Soarin suggested.
“But what if he didn’t?!” Applejack hyperventilated. “What if Sombra’s army captured him?! Or worse: what if they killed—”
“CALM DOWN, Applejack!” Spitfire shouted. Applejack became silent. “We don’t know what happened to Big Mac, but that’s not important right now! We need to focus! Right now, what’s important is the fact that we’re down two soldiers!” Upon hearing this, Applejack shrunk away and kept her mouth closed.
“Any chance you can save Bulk?” Soarin asked Rarity, trying to change the subject.
“A small one,” Rarity admitted, looking at the body. “I would need my equipment, though, and that’s at the base.”
“Well, then, what are we waiting for?” Rainbow exclaimed. “Let’s go!” She tried to lift Bulk Biceps with her hooves, but midway through her attempt, Spitfire pulled her away.
“Wait,” she whispered to Rainbow. “I think I hear something.”
The group became dead silent, listening to the sounds around them. At first, they heard nothing but the cold wind blowing and the rustling of dead leaves. However, after a moment, a new sound entered their ears.
“Hoofsteps,” Twilight gasped, hearing the soft sound of hooves colliding with the ground. “That means…”
“...there’s another pony out there,” Fluttershy finished, her voice quiet and afraid.
“Not just a pony,” Cheese corrected, hearing more hoofsteps. “A group of ponies.”
The ponies continued to listen, silent and motionless. As the hoofsteps drew nearer and nearer, five silhouettes emerged from the darkness. At first glance, all of them looked like ponies. However, as they drew nearer, the army saw that the silhouettes belonged to two unicorns, two pegasi, and one changeling, each wearing a gray helmet and body armor.
“Sombra’s soldiers,” Twilight gasped.
The soldiers hadn’t noticed Spitfire’s army yet, but they were moving toward them at an alarming fast pace. Each of them was carrying a spear, and had a fake red horn coming from their helmets.
After a moment, the changeling turned its head and looked directly at the army.
“We have to move!” Spitfire said suddenly. She prepared herself for flight, but Rarity grabbed onto her tail.
“What about Bulk?” Rarity asked. The soldiers began running toward them.
“We leave him! Right now, we need to get to the base!”
“But you said that if somepony’s hurt, we have to help them!” Cheese recalled.
“Circumstances are different now!” Spitfire shouted. “We have to run!” She escaped from Rarity’s grasp and ran in the direction of the base, leaving the army alone with Bulk.
“What do we do?!” Cheese asked, afraid.
“I don’t know!” Twilight responded.
Sombra’s soldiers were approaching them quickly. One of the unicorns fired a shot from its horn, aiming for the group, but missed and hit a tree instead.
“See?!” Spitfire called out, running back into the light. “This is why we have to go!”
The army looked at each other as if they were having a shared thought, then nodded. They followed Spitfire, leaving Bulk Biceps’ corpse behind.
Sombra’s soldiers were right on their tails.
The army was running side by side, weaving through the remains of Ponyville as fast they could. The dirt below them was hard and uneven, causing pain every time their hooves collided with it, and there was barely any light to guide them. Still, the group ran, using all the strength they could muster.
Cheese looked behind the group and saw that the soldiers were mere yards away.
“Well, this is bad,” he sighed, turning back to the army.
“We can’t let them find the base!” Spitfire shouted to her group, nearly tripping over a rock. “We have to lose them!”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Rarity asked, panting.
Spitfire was about to respond, when suddenly the group heard a large sound that made them jump. A second later, Soarin saw a blast of magic flying past his muzzle, just missing hitting him.
“Whoa!” Soarin yelled, jumping back. He looked behind the group, and saw that the unicorns were charging their horns for more powerful shots, while the pegasi were preparing to fly straight at the army.
“If we’re going to do something,” he called to the army, “we need to do it now!”
“Alright!” Spitfire shouted. “I have a plan! Everypony get into that building up there!” She pointed to the outline of the Quills and Sofas in the distance.
“Why?” Soarin asked.
“Don’t question me. Just go!”
With that, the army ran toward the building, their manes rapidly blowing in the wind.
When they arrived, Rainbow Dash kicked down the door and the group ran inside. Much like Sugarcube Corner, the inside of building was dark, with broken glass scattered all across the floor. Most of the inventory was gone, and had been replaced by large clouds of dust.
“Stay away from all the walls,” Spitfire said, inspecting the area. She looked through a nearby window, and saw that Sombra’s soldiers had remained outside. They were staring at the building, quietly speaking to each other.
“What do we do now?” Cheese whispered, shivering in the cold. He tried to rub his hooves together for warmth, but failed.
“We get rid of the soldiers,” she responded, walking away from the window. “Twilight, I’m fairly confident that the five out there are either going to shoot us through the walls, or blow up the building entirely.”
“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy gasped.
“If you knew that was going to happen,” Applejack began, glaring, “then why did you make us come in here?! We’re even more vulnerable than we were before!”
“Not if we can get to them before they can get to us,” Spitfire said. She pointed at the door. “Twilight, I need you to go outside and ambush them with a blast of magic.”
“Wait, what?!” Applejack exclaimed. “If she does this, she could DIE!”
“But if she doesn't do this, we ALL die. Think about it, Applejack. This is the only way!”
Applejack turned away from Spitfire, teeth clenched. She looked out the window, and saw the unicorns charging their magic. She gulped, then turned back to the army.
“If you're gonna do it,” she sighed, looking at Twilight, “you need to do it now.”
“Okay,” Twilight responded, nodding. She looked at the army, then ran toward the door. “If anything happens to me, please don't wake up Spike.”
“We won't,” Cheese assured. “You have our word.”
“Please be careful,” Soarin said, frowning.
“I’ll try,” Twilight replied. She then proceeded to run outside, leaving the army alone in Quills and Sofas.
“Let's hope she does this right,” Spitfire coughed.
The army remained silent, attempting to hear what was happening outside. At first, all they heard was silence. Then, after a moment, a loud shot penetrated their eardrums, causing them all to jump. Spitfire ran toward the window to see if she could see what had happened, but when she looked outside, nopony was there.
“They’re all gone,” Spitfire said, her face expressionless.
“All of them?” Cheese asked.
Before Spitfire could respond, something walked through the doorframe and collapsed onto the ground.
“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed. “You made it!”
“I feel drained,” Twilight panted. She was coated in even more sweat than before. “Using that amount of magic took a lot out of me.”
“How much magic did you use, exactly?” Rainbow asked, trying to help Twilight onto her hooves.
“Enough to blast the soldiers deep into the Everfree Forest,” Twilight said. A stern expression came across her face. “We need get back to the base now. While my magic may have postponed the soldiers from getting to us, I doubt it stopped them. I think they’re going to find their way out of the Everfree. When they do, they’re going to want revenge.” She paused to take a breath. “We need to get to safety.”
“Well, then, let’s move!” Spitfire ordered, beginning trot through the door frame.
“If it isn’t too much trouble, can somepony carry me?” Twilight asked. “I’m having trouble moving.”
“I got you,” Rainbow volunteered, picking up to the alicorn. Once Twilight was up, the army left the building and went back into the night, heading for Sugarcube Corner.
Midway through the walk back, Soarin looked at Twilight.
“You did great today,” he said, smiling.
“Thanks,” Twilight responded.
When the group arrived at Sugarcube Corner, they found it in the exact same condition they had left it in. Broken glass still covered the ground, and the pots on the floor hadn’t moved an inch.
“Good to know the soldiers didn’t find this place while we were gone,” Rainbow said, carefully placing Twilight on a counter.
“Yeah,” Spitfire responded. She entered the room right in front of the one with the trapdoor. “Now, let’s make sure they don’t find this place at all.” She turned to Twilight. “Twi, are you sure that the soldiers going to come back?”
“Ninety-nine percent sure,” Twilight stated.
“Well, then we need to do everything we can to secure the base,” Spitfire continued, turning to the army. “We’re going to have to wake everypony up, break the news to them about Big Mac and Bulk Biceps, not to mention put the entire base on lockdown.” She sighed. “This is going to be difficult. Darn soldiers. We wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for them.”
“No, we wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you,” Applejack said, bitterly.
Upon hearing this, everypony froze and looked at Applejack, confused.
“Excuse me?” Spitfire grunted.
“I said, ‘we wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you,’” Applejack repeated, glaring at Spitfire. “You’re the one who caused this whole mess.”
“How?!”
“Well, for starters, you were the one who decided to send my brother and Bulk Biceps on a dangerous mission instead of sending Rainbow and Cheese like you were supposed to!”
“Wait, what?” Twilight interrupted. “I told Spitfire to send her best!”
“Yeah, well, she didn’t!” Applejack shouted. “And now, we lost two members of the army because of her!”
Twilight stared at Spitfire, her mouth wide open. “How could you?” she asked.
“Hey, I did what was BEST for the army!” Spitfire shouted back. “If I sent Rainbow and Cheese on that mission and we lost them, we would lose the WAR.”
“You don’t know that!” Twilight said. “Spitfire, I’m the army’s strategist. You should've followed my strategy!”
“Twilight, think about it this way. Because I didn’t send Rainbow and Cheese, we didn’t lose our best soldiers! We only lost the expendable ones!”
“Expendable?!” Cheese screamed. “Nopony’s expendable! Those two were good soldiers!”
“And one of them was my brother!” Applejack growled, looking directly into Spitfire’s eyes. “I don’t understand you, Spitfire. You say you’re doing things for the army’s welfare and such, but then you keep calling the soldiers who die expendable! You can’t be working toward the best for a group of ponies you don’t care about!”
“I do care about you guys!” Spitfire said. “And you know why? Because you guys are actually helping us win the war! All those ponies who died in combat, they were expendable, because they didn’t help us win the war in the end. All they did was DIE!”
“That’s ludicrous! Spitfire, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re the underdogs in this war! Nopony is expendable! The efforts of everypony count!”
Spitfire was about to yell at Applejack, but was interrupted by Soarin.
“Okay, everypony, how about we all just calm down,” Soarin suggested. “Let’s all just—”
“Not now, Soarin,” Applejack interrupted, glaring at Spitfire.
“No, I-I agree with Soarin,” Fluttershy stuttered. “Let’s stop this fighting.”
“Applejack,” Spitfire began, ignoring Fluttershy, “everything that I do is to help the army so that we can win the war!”
“Well, because of you, we’ve gone from an army of fifty to an army of five!” Applejack cried out.
“It’s not my fault all those ponies were expendable!”
“Spitfire, do you think that Pinkie Pie was expendable?” Cheese suddenly blurted out. Upon hearing this, everypony froze. Then after a moment, they all looked at Spitfire, expecting an answer.
“No,” Spitfire said, calmly. “Pinkie Pie’s loss was a tragedy.”
“And the loss of all those other ponies wasn’t?” Applejack asked, walking toward the army leader. “Spitfire, do you know how blind you are?”
Upon hearing this, all the ponies gasped. Spitfire, appalled, took a few steps backwards, but tripped over a pot and fell onto her back. She looked at the other seven ponies, who were watching her every move.
Applejack was about to continue talking to Spitfire, when suddenly, the army heard a loud bang coming from the next room.
“What the—” Spitfire yelled as she and Applejack team into the next room. Inside, they saw the trapdoor, wide open, with a changeling right next to it.
“CHANGELING!” Applejack screamed. She ran toward the changeling, attempting to grab it with her hooves, but it kicked her in the side, knocking her into a wall.
As the other six ponies ran into the room, the changeling grabbed a pot and threw it at Spitfire, who narrowly managed to dodge it.
“Applejack!” Soarin called out as the army ran over to check on her. She was bruised, but otherwise unharmed. The changeling, seeing them distracted, took advantage of the situation and ran through the trapdoor, entering the base.
“Oh no,” Spitfire gasped. She picked up Twilight and followed the changeling. “Everypony, after it!”
Together, the group ran into the base, hot on the changeling’s heels. They followed the changeling through every empty hallway and around every corner, trying not to lose it.
They followed the changeling for three minutes before it turned around a corner and vanished.
“Darn it!” Rainbow screamed. “It’s gone!”
“Well, this is bad,” Cheese stated, scratching his mane. “Really bad.”
“We need to put the base on lockdown,” Spitfire said, carefully putting Twilight on the ground. “If that changeling escapes, it could tell our location to the enemy.”
“Plus, there’s still those other four soldiers outside,” Twilight pointed out, trying not to move her body. “We don’t want them coming inside, either.”
“Right. We need to make sure nopony gets in or out.” Spitfire turned to her army. “Soarin, Cheese, I need you two to go to every section of the barracks and wake up all the ponies inside. Tell them all to go into the dining hall.”
“Why?” Soarin asked.
“To get them all in one place. Right now, the ponies are spread all throughout the base. If we can put them all in one room, it’ll be easier to find the changeling in the rest of the base, since it’ll be the only one out there.”
“Makes sense,” Soarin said, nodding. “We’re on it.”
“Good,” Spitfire said, watching Soarin and Cheese run off into the distance. She turned to the hospital workers, who had been keeping their distance from the army. “Rarity and Fluttershy, get into the hospital. Help Nurse Redheart bring all the hospitalized ponies to the dining hall.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Rarity and Fluttershy chorused with a salute.
As they left, Spitfire turned to the remaining soldiers. “Applejack and Twilight, you two aren’t in the best condition. Go into the dining hall and make sure you get yourselves some seats.”
“Alright,” Applejack agreed, putting Twilight onto her back, and walking off in another direction.
“What about me and you?” Rainbow asked, cracking her neck. “Are we gonna continue looking for the changeling?”
“Nope,” Spitfire said. “We’re going to lock up base before anything can escape or get in.”
“Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
The two flew off in the direction they had came from, trying to make as little sound as they could.
The dining hall was packed to the brim. For the first time in months, everypony was present. Every single chair was filled, leaving many ponies standing or sitting on the floor, trying to squeeze into the room.
“Wow, this place is packed,” Applejack said. She was sitting at a table with Twilight, Soarin, and Cheese, who were silently watching the ponies behind them talking.
“Yeah, it is,” Cheese agreed. He was about to say something else, but stopped midway through the first word in order to listen to a conversation Party Favor was having with Sugar Belle.
“Why do you think we were called here?” Party Favor asked. He was facing Sugar Belle, oblivious to the fact that the four ponies at Applejack’s table were watching him.
“I have no idea,” Sugar Belle admitted. “It has to be an emergency, though, since we’re never woken up in the middle of the night!”
“What if somepony died?!” Party Favor yelled. His entire body was shaking.
“No, I’m sure it’s not that,” Sugar Belle reassured, patting Party Favor’s head. “It’s probably just some sort of new plan or something. I’m sure we have nothing to worry about.”
“Poor ponies,” Cheese sighed, turning back to the ponies sitting at his table. “They don’t know what’s coming.”
“I doubt they’re going to take any of the news well,” Twilight groaned. “We’re probably going to have a large amount of crying ponies on our hooves.”
“Speaking of crying,” Soarin began, putting his hoof around Applejack, “how are you holding up?”
“Not very well,” Applejack admitted. “I just lost my brother, ran through Ponyville twice, yelled at the army leader, and got kicked by a changeling.” She sighed. “I haven't been having a very good day.”
“Neither have I,” Soarin said, laying his head down on the table. “It was bad enough losing Bulk, but then you guys fought, and now we're being threatened by a changeling.” He turned away, and looked at the stage. “Things aren’t exactly going well for us today.”
“You can say that again,” Cheese moaned.
Two minutes later, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash silently flew into the dining hall, looking for the rest of the army. When they found them, they flew over to their table and sat on the floor next to them.
“We’re back,” Rainbow announced. “Sorry we took so long. The door wasn’t closing, for some reason.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight yawned, looking down at the two. “We haven’t been waiting for that long.”
“That’s good,” Spitfire said. “Listen, I’m going to go up on stage and make a speech about the current situation, and then I’m gonna go look for the changeling.” She pointed at the large crowd of ponies in the room. “If things get out of hand, can you promise to stay here and calm these ponies down?”
“I promise,” Twilight stated, crossing her heart.
“Good. Well then, here goes nothing…” Spitfire moved away from the group, and flew up above all the ponies in the room. A majority of them were talking, having similar conversations to Party Favor and Sugar Belle’s.
As Spitfire landed on the stage, she cleared her throat, then took a deep breath in. Unlike with the funerals, there was no pre-written speech for her to use. Instead, everything she said would be her own words.
“Attention, everypony!” Spitfire yelled, attempting to project her voice over the many voices of the other ponies. “I have an announcement to make!”
Everypony stopped their conversations and looked at her. Silence filled the room quickly.
“Uh, well, earlier in the night, while you were all sleeping,” Spitfire continued, “Twilight had a dream about Ponyville. And in that dream, she was visited by Princess Luna.”
Upon hearing the princess’s name, all of the ponies simultaneously gasped. Many expressed their amazement aloud, saying “wow”, and “I can’t believe it!”, while the army just looked toward the ground, trying to avoid looking at Spitfire.
“Luna told us to meet her at Dodge Junction, and she said if we showed, we’d be given information that was crucial to winning the war.” Spitfire noticed that she was still sweating, even though she wasn’t running anymore.
“If she told you to meet her,” Braeburn piped up from the middle of the audience, “then why aren’t you there?”
“Well, we all decided that it would be best to send Big McIntosh and Bulk Biceps alone on the mission.”
“Did we now?” Applejack whispered to the army through gritted teeth. She glared at Spitfire, who ignored Applejack’s facial expressions and continued with her speech.
“When we sent them on the mission, however, the two got ambushed by Sombra’s soldiers.”
The crowd shared another collective gasp. Apple Bloom, who had been in the back of the crowd with Granny Smith, began weaving through the ponies in order to make it to the stage. Granny tried to follow her, but she couldn’t get her wheelchair through the crowd.
“Are they okay?!” Apple Bloom screamed as she arrived at the stage.
“They’re dead,” Wind Rider suddenly said, emerging from the crowd. All the ponies turned to him, their faces in complete shock.
“What?” Apple Bloom asked, shaking. She was beginning to cry.
“I said, ‘they’re dead,’” Wind Rider repeated. He began walking toward Spitfire. “There’s something Spitfire isn’t telling us. You wanna know how I know? Because I overheard Cheese Sandwich calling Bulk and Big Mac’s mission a ‘suicide mission.’”
All the ponies turned toward Spitfire, eyebrows raised. Spitfire tried to wipe away some of her sweat, only to find out that her entire forehead was wet.
“What aren’t you telling us, Spitfire?” Trixie demanded, glaring at the army leader.
“Well, you see—”
“There’s a changeling in the base!”
Everypony froze upon hearing this. Slowly, they turned to Rainbow, the source of the outburst, who was standing on the table, blushing.
“There’s a what?” Mr. Cake asked, looking in every direction. “I’m not sure I heard that correctly.”
“There's a changeling in the base,” Spitfire confirmed, sighing. “One of the soldiers that ambushed us was a changeling, and while we were distracted, it got into the base.”
“WHAT?!” Everypony seemed to yell at the same time. Many ponies were getting prepared to run. Spitfire felt more sweat going down her face.
“Don't worry, everypony,” she said. She was visibly shaking. “We have everything under control. While the army and I look for the changeling, we need you all to stay in here. I promise, inside this room, you are completely safe.”
The ponies were shaking, making nervous glances around the room.
“I don't think they believe her,” Applejack whispered to the army.
“I don't think I believe her,” Cheese responded, shaking his head.
“Everypony, please, just stay in better and remain calm,” Spitfire continued. “If you need help with anything, just ask Twilight, okay?” She looked at the ponies, awaiting a response. Instead, the ponies just stared at her, their eyes wide. She sighed, then slowly walked off stage. The eyes of everypony in the room followed her, and not a single one of the ponies made a sound.
When she reached the table the army was sitting at, she gestured toward the door with her head. “Soarin, Rainbow, Cheese, Applejack, come with me,” she said. “We're going to find that changeling.”
Without saying a word, the four ponies followed Spitfire out of the dining hall. They could feel the gaze of every other pony watching them the whole way to the exit.
“How are we supposed to find a changeling in this base?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head. She was walking beside Applejack and Cheese in one of the base’s corridors, following Spitfire’s lead.
“We look for it,” Spitfire simply stated. Beside her was Soarin, who was looking back at the three who were following them.
“But how will we know it’s the changeling when we see it?” Rainbow briefly looked inside a bathroom. “Changelings can take the form of anypony, remember?”
“I know that, Rainbow.”
“So how are we supposed to find it? I mean, for all we know, the changeling could be in the dining hall with everypony else, pretending to be a member of the rebellion!”
“Rainbow, I know what I’m doing,” Spitfire firmly stated. “Just trust me.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because trusting you went so well last time,” she muttered under her breath.
“Applejack,” Spitfire growled. “Because of me, we're alive, aren't we?”
“Yeah, but Bulk Biceps isn't. And speakin’ of Bulk, why did you lie to those ponies back there? They work hard for the rebellion; they deserve to know the truth!”
“Yeah, well there's no need for them to know it!”
“Can we please not fight right now?” Soarin said, looking at the fellow soldiers. “Remember, we’re all on the same side here. There’s no reason to form more conflicts. I get that you don’t agree with Spitfire, Applejack, but I’m sure there’s a better way of communicating that to her.”
“Alright, fine,” Applejack sighed. “I just want everypony down here to be completely safe, that’s all.”
"I want everypony to be safe, too, Applejack.” Spitfire asserted.
“Great!” Soarin exclaimed, smiling with his hooves in the air. “You two just found some common ground!”
“I guess we did,” Applejack said, smiling at Spitfire. Spitfire smiled back.
For the next fifteen minutes, the group remained silent as they looked inside every room for the changeling. They checked every single section of the barracks, the meeting room, the kitchen, and the two bathrooms, but to no avail.
“We’re running out places to look,” Cheese sighed, leaning against a wall. “Are you sure the changeling didn’t leave before you could lock the base up?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “The changeling is likely unfamiliar with the base’s layout. There’s no way it could’ve found it’s way back that quickly.”
“So where is it then?” Cheese asked. “As I said, we’re running out of places to look.”
“Well, we still have the hospital to check,” Spitfire coughed. She looked at Cheese, who was slowly sliding down the wall.
“Alright,” Cheese said. “Let's go.”
The group began to gallop in the direction of the hospital, passing no rooms or ponies along the way. The entire path to the hospital was empty.
When they arrived inside the hospital, the group immediately began searching for the changeling. Spitfire, Rainbow and Soarin began looking inside every cabinet, while Applejack and Cheese searched in and underneath every single hospital bed.
There was only searching for thirty seconds before Rainbow found something.
“Aha!” Rainbow yelled, opening the cabinet nearest to the wall. Inside was Lightning Dust, curled up into a ball. “We've got you, changeling!”
“What?” Lightning Dust asked, looking at around the hospital. Her teeth were chattering. “I-I'm not a changeling! Just look at me!”
“You're not fooling anypony with that act,” Spitfire said. “Lightning Dust is DEAD. We saw her die in action yesterday.”
“Ugh,” Lightning groaned, beginning to glow green. “You ponies are so hard to keep track of.” As she said it, her body faded from green to black. Holes began to cover her entire body, and a horn sprouted from her head. Within seconds, the changeling underneath had been revealed.
“I knew it,” Spitfire said. Then, in the blink of eye, she kicked the changeling in the face, knocking its head into the back of the cabinet. It rolled out and fell onto the floor, completely unconscious.
When the changeling woke up, it found itself lying down in a hospital bed with beige ropes tied around it’s body. It tried to move its legs, but it couldn’t. The changeling was trapped.
After giving up trying to move, the changeling noticed that Spitfire, Soarin, Rainbow, Cheese, and Applejack were all standing next to the hospital bed. All of them were staring at the changeling, and Spitfire, who was right next to the changeling, was holding a long, wooden spear.
“Oh, good,” Spitfire said, looking directly into the changeling’s eyes. “You’re awake.”
“What do you want from me?” The changeling asked, trying to shake it’s way out of the ropes.
“Just to ask you a few questions,” Rainbow answered.
“Now, we can either do this the easy way,” Spitfire continued, “or the hard way.” She pointed the spear at the changeling’s head, causing it to sweat. “If you take the easy way, you get to live.”
“I’m not going to tell you ANYTHING!” the changeling hissed.
“Hard way it is,” Spitfire sighted. She held the spear up high above the changeling’s chest, and was about to thrust it down, when the changeling suddenly screamed.
“NO! DON’T DO IT!” It shouted, violently shaking it’s head. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Just don’t kill me!”
“Smart choice,” Spitfire said, dropping the spear onto the ground. “Alright, changeling. Why are you here?”
“And how did you find us?” Rainbow added.
“I’m here because Princess Luna told me and the other soldiers to come here,” the changeling responded, finally remaining still. “She gave us the orders to find and kill the members of the rebellion here in Ponyville.”
“But how did she know we were in Ponyville?” Cheese asked.
“The dream, obviously.” The army looked at one and another, sharing confused looks. The changeling sighed. “Princess Twilight’s dream? Does that ring a bell?”
“How did that tell Luna where we were?” Soarin questioned, taking a few steps away from the changeling.
“Because Twilight dreamed about living in Ponyville before the war. Luna took that and assumed that Twilight was dreaming about the place she was living in during a better time. Obviously, she was right.”
“So, why did she tell us to go to Dodge Junction if she knew we were in Ponyville?”
“That was to lure you out into the open so we could take you out easier. And it worked, because we were able to kill those two stallions of yours.”
Upon hearing this, Applejack’s eyes widened. She jumped onto the changeling’s bed, and put her face right in front of the changeling’s. “You killed my brother?” she growled.
“Big, red earth pony with an Apple for a cutie mark? Yep.” The changeling said, without hesitation. Applejack growled and was about to reach for the spear, but was pulled away by Soarin.
“Calm down, Applejack!” Spitfire ordered, watching Soarin pull on Applejack’s tail. “I’m sure it’s just saying that to mess with us!”
“Right,” Rainbow agreed. “We need to focus.” When Applejack was pulled completely away from the changeling, Spitfire picked up the spear and laid it next to the changeling’s head.
“Don’t mess with us,” Spitfire said, glaring at the changeling. “Now, tell me, if you were assigned the job of killing us all, then why did we find you hiding in a cabinet?”
“Because the hospital is the only safe place in this base right now. You’ve fortified it so much, I think it could probably withstand anything.”
“Explain yourself,” Rainbow demanded.
“Well, when we came here to Ponyville, we brought a bomb. So when I found my way out of the Everfree and found your base, I placed it inside the largest room I could find.”
“The dining room!” The army simultaneously shouted.
“Bingo!” the changeling exclaimed, trying to clap its hooves. “You win a prize: the death of your entire rebellion. We rigged the bomb to explode at 1AM. And that’s in…” the changeling looked at the clock, “...four minutes.”
“Darn it!” Spitfire gasped. “Applejack, Soarin, Rainbow, Cheese, evacuate the dining hall NOW! Get every single pony in here!”
“But the changeling’s still here,” Cheese pointed out.
“I’ll take care of it! GO!”
“But what about you?” Applejack asked.
“When I’m done with the changeling, I’m gonna go attempt to find the bomb and dispose of it!”
“But, Spitfire, if you don’t find it, you could die out there! And I may not agree with your judgement sometimes, but I don’t want you to DIE!”
“Yeah, but I can’t let us lose the base! It’s too important!”
Without saying a word, Applejack planted herself in front of Spitfire.
“Look, Applejack, please, I need to do this. Can you please just trust me this ONE time?” Spitfire looked directly into Applejack’s eyes, and bit her lip. Applejack sighed, then nodded her head.
“Good,” Spitfire said. “Then let’s move!”
Applejack, Rainbow, Cheese, and Soarin ran out of the hospital as fast as they could, leaving Spitfire alone with the changeling.
“You’re never going to win this war,” the changeling told Spitfire. “Sombra has more allies than you could ever imagine. To get to him, you’ll have to get through all of them and the princesses first.”
“Why are you even with him, anyway?” Spitfire asked. “I’m pretty sure he’s drained all the love in Equestria.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Spitfire,” the changeling said. “King Sombra is giving us all we need.”
Before the changeling could say anything else, in one large motion, Spitfire grabbed the spear and thrust it through into changeling’s chest. It spent the last few moments of its life gasping for air.
Spitfire was flying through the base as fast as she could. There were only two minutes left before the bomb was set to explode. She looked behind her, and saw that only half of the ponies had made it into the hospital. They better hurry, she thought to herself, or they’re not going to make it.
When she flew through the doors of the dining hall, she found the room completely empty. There was not a single pony in sight; only a mess of tables and chairs remained in the room. She landed on the ground with a small thud, then began rapidly searching for the bomb. Where is it? she kept asking herself as she flipped over tables. I’m running out of time!
After flipping over three tables, she found it. It seemed to have been kicked into a wall and was lying upside down. From the bottom, it looked like a brick. However, from the top, Spitfire could see that there was a complex system of grey wires that connected to a screen emerging from the inside. The screen displayed a countdown, which was at 1:23, and quickly decreasing. Spitfire grabbed the bomb and put it between her front hooves, then flew out of the dining hall as quickly as she could.
With a minute and ten seconds remaining, Spitfire found the trapdoor to the outside. She put the bomb on the ground, then unlocked the door. She attempted to push it open, but the door wouldn’t budge. Spitfire looked down at the bomb. Things were not looking in her favor.
Then, all of a sudden, Spitfire heard the pattering of hooves coming in her direction. She turned around, and saw Applejack running her way.
“Applejack, what are you doing here?!” Spitfire shouted, still pushing on the door. “Get to safety!”
“I’m sorry,” Applejack answered back. “But I couldn’t follow your orders! I remembered Rainbow saying something about the door not closing, so I got worried.” She looked at the bomb. 57 seconds remained. “We’ve had too many losses for one day. We’re not going to have anymore. Together, you and I are going to open that door and dispose of that bomb!”
Spitfire couldn’t stop beaming at Applejack. “Well, don’t just stand there!” she cried. “Come help!”
Together, the two began pushing the door forward. With all the strength they had in them, they slowly managed to get the door partially open. The space was just about the size of a pony.
“We did it!” Spitfire exclaimed, looking at the bomb. There were only 26 seconds left. “C’mon, let’s go!”
One after the other, the two ran through the space and entered Sugarcube Corner. The freezing air from outside entered their bodies, but they tried to ignore it. With ten seconds left, Applejack, who was carrying the bomb, ran out of Sugarcube Corner, and threw the bomb into the darkness.
Seconds later, the two heard a loud BOOM!, and saw a large, fiery explosion in the distance. They covered their eyes with their hooves as tiny bits of debris and dirt came flying at them, making their bodies and manes turn black. When the last bits of debris stopped raining down from the sky, they looked and saw a large crater just ten feet way from Sugarcube Corner. Spitfire sighed.
"We did it," she panted, looking at the crater. "We just saved everypony and the base."
"Yes, I suppose we did," Applejack said.
The two looked at each other, grinning, for a moment, before Spitfire let out one large sigh, and passed out right in front of Applejack's hooves. Applejack smiled before picking her up. She looked at the sleeping Spitfire.
"Finally, we can all rest for a little bit," Applejack said to Spitfire, sighing in relief. "We've had a long day, haven't we?"
With Spitfire lying on her back, Applejack slowly walked into back into the base and shut the door, leaving the cold and darkness of the night behind.