An Earthbound Journey

by ShadeJak

Last Preparations

"Well, I certainly was hoping for some last, desperate effort by you foals to try and come here for some silly heroics. It simply means I will have the opportunity of destroying you and claiming the reward I've so eagerly anticipated!" Chrysalis sneered as she looked down at the six ponies who stared back defiantly at her.

“You’ve made a big mistake getting in our way, Chrysalis!” Twilight said, charging up her horn and firing a blast of magic at the changeling queen. Queen Chrysalis, however, simply sneered at the unicorn as her own jagged horn began glowing a bright red and she countered the attack with a magical barrier.

“So sorry, Twilight…” Chrysalis said with a laugh. “You’ll find I’m making good use of this crystal’s remarkable power! Now what was that technique you used last time on my children?” She asked, stroking her chin as her barrier shimmered around her. “Was it THIS?” She asked, rearing back and her horn glowed again, a large sphere of magic rising up and exploding, sending down a rain of magic bolts.

“Aw, horseapples! Looks like the Queen's learned a new trick!” Applejack shouted, immediately taking cover to avoid the starstorm attack, followed by Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, while Rainbow did her best to dodge the blasts of magic and the star-shaped explosions they created, and Twilight hurriedly summoned a barrier to protect herself.

“Let’s see her match me!!” Rainbow shouted, flying at the changeling queen, who simply smirked and trapped the pegasus in a red aura, flinging her into a tree.

“Such an adorable resistance, but will you be able to harm all these poor, enslaved ponies?” Chrysalis asked, her eyes flashing and the townsponies’ eyes glowed a bright green, and menacing smirks spread on their faces as they approached.

“Leave them out of this!” Twilight protested. “This is between us!”

“Twilight Sparkle, I’m not one to put honor before reason.” The changeling queen said, remaining on her perch as the hypnotized townsponies advanced on them. "I'm sure you already knew that.

“Applejack! Pinkie Pie! See if you can round them up, but try not to hurt them!” Twilight ordered.

“On it!” Applejack shouted, taking out her lasso and undoing it, passing one end to Pinkie Pie. “Meet me on the other side, we’re gonna rope ‘em all together!” She ordered, the pink earth pony nodding with a grin as she took the other end in her teeth. The two ran past the mesmerized ponies, using the rope like a tripwire to knock several of them over and into one-another. The enslaved ponies paused, the pegasi taking to the sky and flying around to gather up clouds and kicking them into action, setting off bolts of lightning and forcing the two earth ponies to retreat.

"Well this is just dandy..." Applejack muttered, laying herself on the ground to avoid getting struck. "Any ideas, Pinkie Pie?"

"I think so!" Pinkie replied, whipping out her party cannon and sticking a crosshair scope on top of it and a crank lever on the side. "SAAAAAAAAY CUPCAKES!" She yelled, turning the crank and firing pastries from it at the brainwashed pegasi, knocking several out of the sky and to the ground. "Wow! I knew keeping all those extras from the flutterpony party was a good idea!" She said, nodding to the astonished Applejack.

Several unicorns began to approach, their eyes glowing a dim green as they began charging up their magic and levitating several chunks of debris off the ground to send at them.

"Get behind me!" Applejack yelled, Pinkie Pie complying as the farmpony turned and readied herself. As the flying debris came at them, Applejack swung her hind legs out and bucked the debris, shattering it apart and sending smaller chunks flying back at the unicorn, slowly driving them back.

"Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, get a tornado ready to catch these changelings. Rarity, back me up!” Twilight ordered, her friends nodding as they prepared to do as they were told.

“Don’t just sit there! Get them!” Chrysalis ordered, glaring at the defeated ponies for a moment then up at her many children. With a nod, the changelings began swooping down at them. Rainbow flew at one, knocking it out of the sky as Fluttershy followed nervously.

“A-are you sure about this?” Fluttershy asked, cringing as she saw the fight go on around her.

“Just think about what they did to your animals, Fluttershy.” Rainbow said, bucking another incoming changeling in the face as Fluttershy’s expression hardened into a determined look.

“I still can't believe they'd do something so mean! They’re gonna PAY for that!” The pegasus said, her wings beating harder then ever and earning a smirk from her friend as they flew up and down in the air in circular motions, forming a cyclone that quickly caused the changelings to stop on their tracks and get sucked into the vortex.

“Idiots…” Chrysalis muttered, facehoofing before turning her attention on Twilight and Rarity, who began to assault the magic barrier she had up and causing it to ripple and crack slightly.

“No, not again!” The changeling queen hissed, firing a beam of red magic at them and burning a hole through the ground. “You will not break my barrier, foals!” She declared, summoning another starstorm spell.

“Look out!” Twilight shouted, summoning a barrier of her own again as she held on to Rarity, protecting the two of them from the onslaught of magical bolts that rained down on them, blasting craters into the ground all around and then returning several blasts of their own, attempting to penetrate the barrier.

“Almost got ‘em!” Applejack said as she and Pinkie knocked two brainwashed ponies’ heads together, rendering them unconscious. “Sorry y’all. Really am…” She said to the two ponies laying on the ground.

“Alright, who’s next?” Rainbow asked, before suddenly being struck from behind and knocked out of the sky by the sudden arrival of a brainwashed Thunderlane.

“Oh no! She got you, too, Thunderlane?” Fluttershy asked nervously as the stallion stared back at them in a blank daze.

“Quite an impressive flier, I’ll admit…” Chrysalis mused. “Now deal with the yellow one!”

Thunderlane nodded, the glassy expression on his face never wavering as he turned and faced Fluttershy while Rainbow was starting to stand up again, rubbing her head. Immediately the dark gray pegasus flew straight at Fluttershy, going in circles around her to cause a brief tornado that sent her spinning uncontrollably and leaving her dizzy in the air. Glaring, the brainwashed Thunderlane prepared to attack her again.

“He's not that impressive.” A new voice announced as a loud screech was heard from above and Gilda swooped down, tackling Thunderlane and slamming him into the ground. “Seriously, bug-pony… you picked a buncha lame ponies for your dirty work? No wonder this was easy for me.” The griffoness sneered.

“Gilda…?” Rainbow asked, staring at her former friend.

“We’ll just say this evens things out for scaring off your friend last time I saw her.” The griffoness said, glancing up at Fluttershy, who just squeaked a little remembering the last time she’d encountered Gilda. “Even if she is way too soft for my tastes.” She added. “The place seemed to be goin’ downhill so I thought I’d drop by and see if you had it handled.”

“Admit it, Gilda. You were worried about me.” Rainbow said with a grin, nudging the griffoness, who just scoffed.

“Don’t get all lame on me, Dash. So who’s this freak?” She asked, gesturing at Chrysalis, who now had her attention on them.

“Somepony you REALLY need to have a little more respect for!” Chrysalis snapped, summoning another starstorm spell.

“Quick! MOVE!” Rainbow shouted as Applejack and Pinkie took cover while Twilight and Rarity hid under another barrier. “Hey, Gilda? Think you can give me a little head-start?” She asked. “I got an idea for how to break the barrier she’s got up.”

The griffoness cocked her head. “What? Wait…” Her eyes widened as she caught on to what Rainbow had in mind. “On it.” Gilda immediately grabbed Rainbow’s hind legs and flew up high, avoiding the raining magic bolts and remaining changeling drones and did a quick spin in the air, her momentum allowing Rainbow an extra burst of speed.

“What in the world…?” Chrysalis wondered, staring up at them as Rainbow flew way up high and began plummeting towards her, air pressure circling around her.

Fluttershy quickly flew up higher, knowing what was about to happen as the air around her friend began to take on a hue of color, and Rainbow impacted against the barrier, creating a sonic rainboom in the process. A loud sound resembling the shattering of glass was heard and Chrysalis was blasted away by the shockwave into the sky and crashing into the Everfree Forest. In a panic, the changelings who were still conscious abandoned the fight and flew after their queen, hoping she had survived.

Standing up, Rainbow let out a cheer. “Alright! Now how awesome was THAT?!” She asked excitedly.

“No way around it, that wasn’t half-bad, Dash.” Gilda said, flying down beside her.

“Thanks, Gilda.” The pegasus replied.

“I told ya, Dash. Don’t get all soft on me. Just call us even.” The griffoness said with an eyeroll.

“Ugh… what’s going on? Where am I?” Mayor Mare asked, standing up amongst the crowd and rubbing her head.

“The changelings had ya brainwashed.” Applejack explained.

“Yeah! You guys were all like zomponies or something!” Pinkie Pie said. “But mean ol’ Chrysalis is gone now so you’re all better!” She explained, grinning.

“I see…” The mayor replied. “Well, thanks, you girls.”

“Why does my head hurt?” Nurse Redheart asked.

"And can somepony explain why I smell like cupcakes?" Raindrops asked, shaking the cake mix out of her mane.

“Oh, we had to knock a bunch of you out to stop you from attacking us!” Pinkie Pie said sheepishly.

“Well I can see it’s gonna be a long night…” The nurse replied, noticing several ponies looked like they’d be needing medical treatment. “Changeling sickness… not looking forward to this.” She sighed, gesturing to several paramedics who had been among the crowd and they immediately began tending to the many ponies who were just now snapping out of the delirium the changelings had them under.

“Well, let’s get what we came for.” Twilight said, approaching the crystal spire, which now looked somewhat damaged from the sonic rainboom. Focusing her magic, Twilight fired a thin beam to carve out a piece, and floated it into her saddlebag.

“I’m just glad everypony’s okay now…” Fluttershy said, flying back down and helping Thunderlane get up. “Um… Gilda? Could you maybe stay a little longer and help out?”

“No way, dweeb.” Gilda said. “That ain’t my thing.” The griffoness’ eyes widened when she was met with an intense stare from the pegasus that she’d not expected. “…is what I’d say if I knew it wouldn’t be cool of me to do Dash the favor of seeing to things here.” She said with every effort to preserve her dignity.

“Well, it means a lot to me, too, for what it’s worth.” Fluttershy said with a small smile.

“Whatever, just get lost and do what ya gotta do before I change my mind.” Gilda snapped, turning away.

"You all okay, girls?" Twilight asked.

"I'm well, Twilight." Rarity said. "Even if the changelings are gone now, I just hope those ghastly creatures have not defiled my boutique in the slightest!"

"Much as I wouldn't mind checkin' on the farm, we do have an urgent matter at hoof." Applejack said.

“Well, we’d better not keep the princesses waiting.” Twilight said. “Let’s get back to the Crystal Empire right away!”

“We’re gonna take care of this once and for all!” Rainbow said proudly to the pony crowd. “Don’t you worry about us, we got this like always!”

“Yeah! Sombra’s gonna feel really silly when he sees what he got himself into messing with the Elements of Harmony!” Pinkie Pie said, confetti bursting out from behind her back.

~

“We’re back!” Pinkie Pie cheered as the six ponies appeared in the Crystal Palace throne room.

“You have the piece of the crystal?” Whooves asked, trotting forward as Twilight floated the piece out of her saddlebag. “…That’s way too small..” He said, causing Twilight’s ears to droop in exasperation. “I’m only kidding. It’s perfect, now follow me!” He said, leading them to the back chamber where Cadance, Shining Armor, the Crusaders, Spike, and King Charlatan awaited.

“My penguins, they have been forced to fall back. We’ve not much time! The ice barriers will not hold these invaders off long!” The penguin king explained.

“Nothing is if Sombra’s not stopped.” Shining said, downcast. His expression quickly lit up when he saw the six enter. “Twily! You’re back!”

“Of course I am!” Twilight said with a smile. “We ran into a little trouble—”

“But nothing we couldn’t handle!” Rainbow said proudly.

“Ah admit, ya did good with that sonic rainboom back there, Dash.” Applejack said. “So what happens now?” she asked.

“Princess Celestia and Luna are already waiting for you in the caves where King Sombra was once imprisoned.” Cadance explained. “Whooves will take you there right now and explain things from there. The rest of us will remain here and defend the Crystal Empire as best we can.”

“Cadance…” Twilight said, worry in her tone.

“We’ll be alright…” Cadance said with a smile. “Thank you, for everything… now hurry up! You can’t keep this waiting.”

“Alright, we won’t be long, I promise!” Twilight said as she and her friends approached a large capsule that Whooves was standing next to as the earth pony inserted the crystal shard into it.

“Well, are we ready?” Whooves asked. “Let’s get moving!”

As they prepared to board the odd machine, a familiar fanfare suddenly went off.

“Ooh! Did we win something?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Not exactly…” Spike muttered as Discord spun down from above and landed softly in front of them. Whooves, the Crusaders, Charlatan, Shining and Cadance simply stared dumbfounded.

“Honestly, Discord, is this really the time for pictures?” Rarity asked.

“Of course it is, Rarity!” Discord said with a hearty chuckle. “If anything this is the best time for them! After all, if the world ends I’ll be full of regret that I didn’t preserve this last memory, right?” he asked.

“Ah guess he’s got a point there…” Applejack remarked. “Though ah don’t really like admittin’ it.”

“By the way…” Discord said, his neck stretching out impossibly far so his face was inches from Cadance and Shining Armor. “I wanted to give my congratulations! I can already imagine your little bundle of joy’s going to have big things in store for her if we all make it!” His eyes became big and pleading as he was suddenly standing between the couple, his arms draped over them as though they were best friends. “You… were planning to invite me to the shower… right?” He asked.

“…Like saying no would stop you from showing up?” Shining asked.

“How do you know we’ll be having a girl?” Cadance wondered.

“Ohhh chaos gods’ intuition, my dear princess.” Discord said, suddenly dressed like a doctor. “But I’ll be expecting my invitation in good time!” He said with a smile as he cast off the labcoat and revealed a floral print shirt and his camera underneath. “NOW! Everypony… and dragon and penguin together…” He said, snapping his claw and in a flash of light everyone in the room was grouped together in front of the Doctor’s machine. “And say… Fuzzy pickles!” He declared.

As he’d hoped, the words gained confused expressions from those not used to his photo antics and glares of annoyance from those who were, and the snap of the camera preserved the moment forever.

“Oh, this is perfect!” Discord said cheerfully as he looked over the photo. “Well, good luck saving the world, my little ponies!” The draconequus said, raising up his claw and spinning back up into the air, vanishing before he reached the ceiling.

“What… just happened?” Charlatan asked.

“I’m gonna guess he’s been doing this the whole time?” Shining asked.

“You have no idea…” Rainbow deadpanned.

“Well, that drama’s over! Let’s get going, shall we?” Whooves asked, gesturing as he held open the door, allowing the six to enter, followed by the Crusaders.

“Don’t worry, Twilight! I’ll help keep this place safe!” Spike said, proudly brandishing his new sword again.

“I’m sure you will, Spike.” Twilight said with a giggle as she entered last, followed by Whooves.

“Brace yourselves, girls, and ALLONS-YYYYY!” The Doctor declared, pressing a switch inside and the machine vanished in a brilliant flash.

Author's Note:

And another chapter, with one more on the way! This and the next chapter were actually originally gonna be one big one, but I decided it worked better as two separate ones, so I'll have the next one up shortly!

Comments

[ZeroChill]

And Gilda proves herself to be a defrosting ice queen in this chapter. I like it.

[Luna-cy]

“By the way…” Discord said, his neck stretching out impossibly far so his face was inches from Cadance and Shining Armor. “I wanted to give my congratulations! I can already imagine your little bundle of joy’s going to have big things in store for her if we all make it!” His eyes became big and pleading as he was suddenly standing between the couple, his arms draped over them as though they were best friends. “You… were planning to invite me to the shower… right?” He asked.
“…Like saying no would stop you from showing up?” Shining asked.
“How do you know we’ll be having a girl?” Cadance wondered.
“Ohhh chaos gods’ intuition, my dear princess.” Discord said

"...Wait, I never mentioned a girl, how did you know I knew?"
"Princess's intuition, my dear chaos god."

EDIT: Okay, now I see the "her" but if I took this long to see it it's kind of hard to blame me.
It's so hard to see a three letter word.

[Pinklestia]

So, they don't need to leave their original bodies behind?

[Yoshifan30]

“Such an adorable resistance, but will you be able to harm all these poor, enslaved ponies?” Chrysalis asked, her eyes flashing and the townsponies’ eyes glowed a bright green, and menacing smirks spread on their faces as they approached.

That was actually a coincidence that you predicted that King Sombra has the ability to mind control them

[Yoshifan30]

[Yoshifan30]

“By the way…” Discord said, his neck stretching out impossibly far so his face was inches from Cadance and Shining Armor. “I wanted to give my congratulations! I can already imagine your little bundle of joy’s going to have big things in store for her if we all make it!” His eyes became big and pleading as he was suddenly standing between the couple, his arms draped over them as though they were best friends. “You… were planning to invite me to the shower… right?” He asked.

Once again that was a lucky guess that they are going to have a kid named flurry heart

[Yoshifan30]

So the battle rages on between them and chrysalis and yeah she put up a good fight and specially learning a new spell pk STARSTORM and what makes things worse they had to face off the other changelings and the brainwashed ponies from the town and they were having a hard time until Gilda showed up to help out which it helps out but still not enough but it looks like rainbow use one of her ultimate move the Sonic Rainboom sending Queen Chrysalis away and the other changelings and it looks like the spell wore off and the other phone is a story to wake up even though they're going to have a huge headache so once they got the Crystal from the meteor site they teleport themselves to the Crystal Empire to meet up with the others and of course Discord showed up but once everything is all set they are going to the Past to stop King Sombra once and for all