A couple of changelings swarmed around the castle, hissing at the ponies.
"Come out!" they whispered. "Come out!"
The princesses and the staff stood in the nursery room, frozen.
Babs Seed automatically turned into a life-size orange popsicle.
Rarity was the first to break the silence.
"The changelings have invaded Draconia!? Oh of all the worst possible things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" Then the unicorn fainted dramatically and landed on Sweetie Belle's bed.
"Rarity's right!" Apple Bloom cried. Apple juice sweat formed on her forehead. "What are we going to do?"
"We're gonna die!" Scootaloo yelled. Her purple mane began sticking up with electricity, due to nerves.
"Easy, there kid-OW!"
Rainbow Dash had tried to calm her down, but ended up getting electrified by the filly's mane.
"I wish father was here!" Sweetie Belle whimpered. Tears fell from her eyes and they turned into crystals.
"EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!" Screwball shouted. She stomped her hooves which created a light beam. It traveled from her and hit her sisters, ceasing their magic from going haywire. Babs Seed was changed back to normal.
Her sisters stared at her with awe. She has never used her royal voice before.
"We can't cry like a bunch of foals!" Screwball continued. "We are big kids now! Would father want us to hide? No, he would prefer that we, the Draconians fight back!"
"Yeah, but how?" Mothball pressed on.
"Hey Flash, what do you say we sent our soldiers down and arrest the changelings?" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"Our army is outnumbered by the changelings!" Flash answered. "Besides, these changelings are more powerful than us!"
An idea hit Screwball.
"We can help your army fight against the changelings, Flash!"
Her sisters brightened at the idea and smiled eagerly.
"Well...that is a possibility," Flash pondered. "Sunset what do you think?"
"I...I don't know...," Sunset said unsurely.
"Oh come on, Sunset! We can help!" Babs pleaded.
"You are too young!"
"We have powers, remember?"
"Yes, but your powers are still not fully developed! Besides, you are too small."
The princesses only scowled.
"Sunset, give us a chance to help out," the heir spoke gently but firmly. "My powers are fully developed and I can take them down. Even though my sisters' powers are half-developed, I can stay by their side, and they are just as capable as you are! Please give us a chance to defend our kingdom. Isn't that what princesses are supposed to do? Fight and protect others from our enemies?"
There was a pregnant silence for a while.
"You sound just like your mother," Sunset smiled softly. "All right," let's gather around and discuss a plan!"
"Yay!" Everybody shouted.
They almost forgot about Rarity until they heard her groaning on the bed.
"I'll get her up," Applejack rolled her eyes.
"And I'll tell our soldiers to come upstairs!" Rainbow Dash saluted.
"Should we charge into the castle and attack them, my lady?" McDreamy asked.
"Not yet!" Chryslais responded sharply. "Let them come out and then we attack them!" She lifted her eyes up toward one of the windows of the castle. "Heloooooo! Where's Discord? I'm not getting any younger down here!"
A window opened. Pinkie Pie poked her head out.
"Um, Discord is not here! Please leave the message after the beep! Beeeep!"
Chrysalis rolled her eyes.
"Okay, then show me the princesses, you fool!"
"Okay!" Pinkie said, pretending she didn't hear Chrysalis' insult.
After the window closed, Chrysalis turned toward the general.
"Be prepared to attack as soon as they make their appearance!"
"Yes my lady!" the army answered.
As soon as the window opened the army shot their green magic toward...a giant block of cherry jello!? The green magic bounced off from the jello and aimed back at the changelings. They all screamed, feeling the burn of their own powers.
Laughter was heard from inside the nursery.
"You can't hurt us! You can't hurt us!" Screwball and Babs Seed mocked.
Apple Bloom blew a raspberry at them. The two sisters giggled madly and high hooved each other.
Chrysalis seethed so much that steam came out of her ears.
Before the changelings could fully recover, Babs and Apple Bloom clapped their hooves together. A moment later, a huge red cloud appeared over the changelings.
The cloud poured out all oranges and apples on them like there was no tomorrow! Changelings were screaming and getting their heads bonked by the fruit. Some were even knocked out!
"Those simple little fools!" Chrysalis growled. She had shielded herself and McDreamy from the princesses' attack with her invisible shield. "McDreamy, we have to sneak in through the backdoor since the front door is not avaiable!"
"Can we use the mucus on them, my lady?" The Captain suggested.
"Not yet!" the angry noblemare snapped. "There isn't enough of it!" Her face formed a twisted smile. "Besides, I want to save the mucus for their father."
"But he's not here!"
"I mean, once he arrives, you brainless warthead!"
"Oh...," McDreamy said in a dumb voice.
"Fluttershy, do you want some water?" Emerald asked. It was early evening and the prisoners were in their cells. Some were sleeping, others were sitting around.
"No thank you," Fluttershy shook her head.
"Fluttershy, you have to drink," Emerald pressed on. "You need strength!"
"I second it!" Cheese added. He leaned over to Fluttershy's ear. "Fancy Pants and I have stolen a water pitcher from Lemon Zest while she was sleeping!"
"You stole it!" Fancy Pants corrected. "I uh..was making sure that Lemon Zest didn't wake up!"
Fluttershy's eyes widened.
That glass of water did look refreshing.
"Well...all right," the pegasus smiled. She took the cup from Emerald and put it to her lips. Amazingly, the water did taste refreshing.
"I have forgotten the taste of water," she murmured. Her eyes looked up to her changeling female friend. "Emerald, may I ask you a question?"
"Yes, anything!"
"We got time before 'Herr Stinkgallop' bothers us," Cheese winked.
"Why did Starlight Glimmer throw you all in this place? How did you came here?"
Her new companions looked at each other, wondering who should go first.
"Fancy and I'll go first!" Cheese volunteered. He cleared his throat. "I come from Germaney!"
"And I am a resident of Canterlot!" Fancy Pants stated. "I met Cheese Sandwhich on a train. He was sitting next to me when we got into a conversation of politics."
"I told him that I didn't believe Starlight's claims that the changelings were the reason why Equestria has been lacking in economic problems. It has been like that since Equestria's war with the penguins," Cheese added. "Starlight promised that after establishing equalitarianism, we would never work like slaves. But after she became head of Germaney, we still work like slaves!"
"I agreed with him as well, which was why I volunteered to join him in the protest rallies." Fancy continued. His voice changed from neutral to sadness. "One day, we were holding a protest rally on the streets of Germaney when Fräulein Starlight appeared. When she did, we were arrested immediately! Many of our followers screamed and ran away, trying to get away from Starlight's goons. Cheese and I were one of the few that her soldiers had captured."
"We weren't fast enough," Cheese recalled unhappily. "The soldiers tasered us with their magic which made us black out. When Fancy and I woke up, we were surprised to be an underground cave! The soldiers made us wear these striped pajamas and put us to work!"
"And we've been here since then!" Fancy finished.
"How long have you two been here?" Fluttershy asked.
"Ten months."
Fluttershy's mouth fell open. 'Sweet Celestia!'
Thorax took his turn to talk.
"Before I tell you how I was brought here, let me tell you a little bit of background so you would understand my answer."
"Go ahead," the pegasus nodded kindly.
"I was born in Lady Chrysalis' kingdom. I was different from the other changelings because I was more interested in gaining love through friendship, instead of stealing it from other ponies. I guess I've always been like that since birth. Chrysalis always told me that feeling love makes us weak but I didn't beleive that! A few times, I had felt love from ponies, for some reason love made me feel strong. Stronger than I am without love. I used to sneak out just to befriend the ponies. Chrysalis found out and banished me from her kingdom. Afterwards, I went to find a place call home. That home was McMane, a nice small pony village that happily welcomed changelings. That is where I met Emerald and Toffee." His smile started to wan as Thorax continued his story. "Then Fräulein Starlight came and began preaching about equality. We didn't know what to expect of her. Once she loaded us into her carriages, that was when I knew she was not to be trusted. I tried to run but she lassoed me with her rope and took away my powers."
The pegasus was at a loss of words. Her heart went out to Thorax and for all the pain he had to endure.
"You are not alone, Thorax," Emerald spoke soflty. "The same situation happened to me too and any changeling who wasn't evil. I too, was banished from Chrysalis' kingdom because I wasn't interested in feeding off ponies' loves, like other changelings. I don't know why it never pleased me, but it was always like that for me since birth. When Chrysalis found out that I refused to eat a pony's love, she told me to never come back to her kingdom. I had to find a place where I can be free and settle down. And that place was McMane."
"How did you two survive without stealing love from others?" Fluttershy questioned.
Emerald and Thorax smiled, that this question was brought up.
"We have found a way to do that," Emerald explained. "By developing mutual friendships with ponies. We show our true forms to a pony and befriend them while a pony befriends us back. While a changeling obtains love from their pony friend, the pony friend doesn't lose energy at all because they're receiving love from the good changeling in return. It is what allowed me to meet my husband, Toffee." A sad sigh escaped from her lips. "Starlight captured my family and I, the same way she captured the others."
"Who are your other family members?" the former nanny asked.
"Only our son," Emerald sighed. "He managed to escape when my husband pushed him out of the carriage while Starlight was looking the other way."
"What's his name?"
"Mothball."
Fluttershy gasped. Her eyes sparkled for the first time in a while. "Oh I know Mothball!"
"You do?" Emerald and Toffee , responded with shock and excitement.
"Yes, he came to Discord's castle months ago!" Fluttershy told them about how she and Discord discovered their son. When she was finished with her story, the parents became overfilled with so joy that tears fell from their eyes.
"Oh thank Celestia that he is safe!" Emerald smiled.
"We thought he'd be a goner!" Toffee wiped his tears away.
"Discord has been looking for you two for Mothball!" Fluttershy added. She pumped her hoof in the air. "What til I go and tell him!" Her smile was quickly replaced with a sad frown. "If he still likes me."
"Um, there is one problem!" Fancy Pants pointed out. "We are stuck down here. So how would you go and tell him?"
Fluttershy pondered for a while.
"Well, we could plan an escape. I know we lost our powers but we haven't lost our will to fight back. Do you want to get out of here?"
"You bet we do!" Cheese winked. "Who doesn't?"
"Find the courage within yourselves to stand up and fight for what you believe in. Who wants to join me in escaping?"
All prisoners smiled and raised their hooves up. One by one they all sided with the kind pegasus. Not only do they crave for freedom but also they felt that the soldiers were being too harsh with Fluttershy.
"So, what's the plan, Lady Fluttershy?" Cheese bowed.
"Well, here is what we are going to do...,"
Fancy Pants and Cheese had taken keys from the sleeping soldiers and unlocked the cells. One by one with Fluttershy in the lead, all prisoners tiphoofed out of thier cells. They had to restrain their giggles and shouts of joy so the enemies would not be awakened. Sneaking past the soldiers was easy since the soldiers were heavy sleepers. They did not have any trouble getting past Svengallop's office since the pony snored like a train coming down the road. The escaped prisoners walked down the cave, over the waters, and across the rocks.
At last they spotted a ray of sunlight! It was coming from an opening from above. There was also a rope that hanged from there.
"So that is how Starlight and her minions entered and exited out of here," Fluttershy mused.
"Well, what are waiting for?" Emerald beamed. "Let's climb!"
Somewhere in Canterlot, Discord was in the middle of negotiating with the royals about the whereabouts of the yellow pegasus. Suddenly, he felt his body shaking and slithering in a violent way.
"What in the world?" he grumbled in pain, massaging the right side of his torso. "I felt some strange magical imbalance going off."
So far, only a couple of refugees made out of the cave. Emerald, Toffee, and Thorax had gone up first and were assisting the rest up onto the grass.
"I have forgotten the feeling of the grass!" Emerald noticed, feeling the grass brushing against her hooves.
"I have forgotten what Celestia's sun looked like!" Fancy Pants, gazed up while squinting.
Down below, Fluttershy was making sure that all the prisoners were climbing up safely on the grass. One by one, every pony with the pegasus' encouragement reached up to the top of the opening. The former nanny was the last one to get onto the rope.
"We're almost free!" the prisoners cheered. "Woohoo!"
"We're almost there!" Fluttershy agreed. But just as she was climbing, the pegasus felt something grabbing her long tail and pulling her down by force. Fluttershy tried to fly up but whoever was grabbing her tail was stronger than her. The pegasus landed on the ground with a thud.
"Oof!"
"Going somewhere?" a cold voice sneered. Fluttershy turned her head around. It was Svengallop! Standing behind him were Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Indigo Zap. Their eyes were groggy and there were lines underneath their eyes. They had just woken up from their nap.
Fluttershy stayed frozen in her spot, her eyes widened. How could she mess this plan up?
"I woke up from my sleep, wondering why was everypony so quiet," Svengallop talked so quietly but dangerously. "Now I know why. Not only were my girls sleeping on the job, but also they let the prisoners get away!" He swished his head to his little army. "Seize the prisoners!"
Before the girls could take one step, Fluttershy sat up and waved her hooves out.
"No, if you want my friends, you have to come and get me first!"
"Very well...," Svengallop smiled cruelly. He grabbed the mare by her pink mane and tossed her across from him.
Fluttershy yelled when she felt her head make contact with the wall. Sinking down to the floor, she grabbed the back of her head, feeling if there was any blood. There was red blood on her hoof. She almost didn't see the general coming up toward her until he loomed over her with a sword.
"What a stupid way to die!" Svengallop mocked. "Dying while trying to escape! You could have stayed here longer and we would have spared your life! Any prisoner who tries to escape is punished by death! And that is what I'm going to do to you!"
The pegasus gasped as she watched Svengallop raise his sword. Fluttershy shielded herself with her hooves, thus she would not feel the impact so much.
Just then, there was a big flash of light that appeared around the trapped mare. It was so bright that it blinded Svengallop. Surrounding Fluttershy was...her draconequus!?
"GET YOUR HOOVES OFF MY FRIEND!" Discord screeched.
"Discord!?" Surprise filled in the mare's head. Her heart also felt peace and serenity that her friend came to save her!
The Draconian King grabbed the pompous Svengallop by the throat and threw him against the wall. The sword dropped from the general's hoof in the process. The spikes appeared from the wall. As soon as Svengallop made contact with them, he screamed.
"Don't just stand there, get that royal freak!" he demanded.
Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest were about to take one step closer only to be turned into giant blue creampuffs by Discord.
"AAAHHH, WE GOT FAT!" they screamed with horror.
Discord wasn't finished with them yet. With his chaos magic he raised the injured Svengallop and the cream puffed shadow five and spun them in the mid-air around and around and around-until he was sure that they turned green.
"And now for the grand Finale!" Discord announced. The chimera snapped his fingers which opened a hole in the wall. He didn't hesitate to toss Svengallop and the soldiers into a dimension, that was filled with dancing broccoli and carrots, singing obnoxious songs. "Have fun in veggieland!" He laughed.
"Not not veggieland!" Svengallop cried. He and the girls screamed as they fell down inside the strange place.
Discord zipped up the dimension, feeling satisfied. He poofed over to the object of his affections. "Fluttershy are you all right?"
Fluttershy beamed when her eyes met Discord's. She was more than all right, she was so happy to see him! With all the energy she could muster, the pegasus ran over to him, eager to hug him. But as soon as Fluttershy reached Discord, she stopped. Her joy and relief was replaced with anxiety and confusion. Her last conversation with the King never went well. How was she to know whether he will take her into his arms or reject her again? Does he truly care about her?
The king still smiled and quickly wrapped Fluttershy up in a big hug, knowing that his beloved had been tricked by Chrysalis.
"Don't worry, I'm getting you out of here," Discord whispered softly into her ear. His voice made Fluttershy's heart flutter and her muzzle pink. How could he still have this much effect on her? She heard her King snapping his claws twice and before she knew it, she was in Celestia's throne room.