Evenfall: Verdant White

by Yinglung

Chapter 14 - The Pony Cost

Thin fog covered the dark green valley, and the hordes of soldiers trotted wearily against the grey sky.

"Fifty leagues."

Shining Armor continued. "Still fifty leagues till we arrive at the outskirts of Manehattan, according to our crystal pony orienteers. The terrain will no longer be this rugged after we descend the hills. With any luck, we'll be seeing the Statue of Harmony in a day or two."

He added bleakly. "If it's still standing, that is."

"Are they reliable?" Spike asked.

"They're well drilled about the geography of the East Coast under Sunset Shimmer's order, so I will trust their judgment."

Shining Armor raised his head. "And I'd like to think that our authority as royalties still count for something in these chaotic times. They should be loyal enough."

"Of course. So at least we've that going for us."

The dragon drolly mused. He then muttered with worry. "... Can we make it there safely, you think?"

Cadance lightly sighed. "Maybe. The medical emergency in our army is so far ameliorated by the muskoxen's gracious sacrifice, and I also helped calm down some of the sick and wounded with my love spells."

"Commander, commander!"

A panicked cry rang from the front. Spike's heart skipped a beat, when he saw Gumpa run towards them with a fearful expression. It eerily reminded him of the incident at the Echo Notch.

Shining Armor did not couch his words, and straight-out said with a groan. "Darn it, Spike."

Spike's eyes twitched, but he still said. "Gumpa, what's wrong again? Is Puuska-"

"No, respected one. Puuska's fine, and he told me to say thank you for your earlier help. B- But there's an entire horde of q- q- qua-dru-peds running up hill from a distance!"

"Quadrupeds?"

Spike frowned. "So you mean... they're not ponies?"

"Those far-seers said most of them are not ponies. I think they're what you Equestrians call... donkeys and mules?"

Despite his incredulity, he asked. "... Are they coming for us, and are they armed?"

"I- I don't think so, since we're shielded by the mountain fog. But at this rate we'd make contact very soon! And they are clearly armed, but with very backward weapons, like hoes and pitchforks."

Shining Armor nodded and mulled. "While we don't want to engage in any needless conflicts, a bunch of donkeys and mules with rusty pitchforks will be no match for our army, however knackered we are."

"T- That's not all! Lady Pie told us that she saw a unicorn leading the donkeys and mules. A purple one."

Spike's eyes grew round, and the two ponies next to him looked visibly shaken as well. He asked immediately. "I- Is she-"

"No, she told me that she's not somepony you know. But Lady Pie knows that pony, and she warned us that she was a very, very powerful magic user, on par with the strongest unicorn that you personally know, Commander. And she doubts that the unicorn has the best of intention."

"What? A unicorn as powerful as Twilight?"

Spike looked aghast. "A unicorn as strong as her could level the mountain and bury us all in a landslide if she gives it her all! If that unicorn is against us like Sunset Shimmer does, then we're... we're..."

"Toast, that's what." Shining Armor tutted.

Gumpa's white face looked even whiter by their words, as they were not exactly instilling the most confidence in her right now. "D- Do you not have any way to deal with her?"

"We need to engage her pre-emptively and do some proper diplomacy."

Spike let out a nervy sigh. "Maybe she's not as hostile as we think... I pray to the Spirits of Harmony that's the case."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, this went better than I thought."

Spike gleaned at the unicorn from afar. She was standing in front of her herds of donkeys and mules on a jutting rock, a particularly tall mule accompanied her at her side. She had a slightly wavy mane of purple, dashed with cyan stripes in the middle. Her coat was a lighter shade of purple, and according to the scouts, she had a starry-shaped cutie mark that suggested an affinity to magic.

"Commander, that mare, called Starlight Glimmer I think, wanted to meet you and 'any other leaders' of our army by the bend. They promise that they are a band of peaceful rovers that would only retaliate if attacked."

"Thank you, Marin. Signal to her that we accept, and reiterate that we're not hostile as well unless provoked. We will meet her, both parties unarmed, exactly half an hour later."

"Yes sir!"

Spike nodded to the retreating crystal pony, and sighed. He was but an eager young lad caught up in things that were much bigger than himself - not unlike himself in truth.

His companions, on the other hand, stood in scattered positions near him. Most of them were at clear relief that the leader of the mob did not seem overtly hostile.

He then tilted his head slightly. "So Pinks, you do know her."

Pinkie, who was directly beside Spike, nodded rapidly. "She, um, she is somepony that, uh, we know b- because Twilight!"

"Yeah. I get it, say no more." Spike smirked minutely. A flustered and stuttering Pinkie Pie was a step up from a depressed and self-harming one.

But Pinkie then winced. "I know she's being nice now, and we should really accept an offer of friendship at times like this..."

She fidgeted. "But... But she's known to feign kindness and be a manipulator of the mind as well."

Spike immediately tensed up. "What?"

"She could strip ponies' cutie marks at her will... Of course, I don't know if she could do that at this point of time, but she's a master manipulator, and she has many more spells up her sleeves, even if she's not wearing any sleeve, no doubt!"

"That does not sound good."

Spike's face clouded up, unfazed by Pinkie's feeble attempt at a joke. "But since you've heard of her, unlike Sunset Shimmer, what exactly was her motives then?"

"I think... it was because she blamed Cutie Mark for losing her her only friend. So she strove to create or obtain powerful spells, first to strip Cutie Marks, next to even ambush Twilight in her castle, bending time to her will in order to make us fail."

"... How exactly?"

"By traveling back in time to make Dashie's first Rainboom fail. Since it would lead to our friendship never forming in the first place, it created many many terrible changes to the world we knew, before that world's Twilight fixed it..."

Pinkie recounted the many possible future-pasts to the astonished dragon, and at last added with deep wistfulness. "... And of course, there was also one version of the future that Equestria as a whole was plunged into an all-out war with the Crystal Empire."

Spike suppressed his first reflex to bare his teeth anxiously. Instead, he asked half-jokingly. "Aw. So are we in a bad timeline ourselves? Can I realistically expect an alternate pair of Twilight and me to bail us out now?"

To his pleasant surprise, Pinkie softly chuckled and leaned in. "We had a frank discussion with Discord a while ago on the nature of time, time travel, and alternate worlds. Without sounding like I'm giving an old bo-ring lecture, let's just say that the world we saw was probably wholly separate from the world we're in, even though it is so super similar in most circumstances. This probably explains why there're ponies here that we never expected to come up, such as Shimmie..."

Pinkie bit her lips, but quickly smiled again. "... And the common past of our own world is basically set in stone, unlike the future, which contains unlimited possibilities. Time travel could never really change things, other than forming stable loops or causing transient mirages. Still, we suspected that her tampering caused some sort of anomaly that caused us to see the visions in the first place, but it was what it was, simply visions, no more real to us than a passage in a story book."

"... I see." Spike breathed out heavily. "But we must still be careful. The two-faced stones must be kept on us at all time during the meeting."

"Of course!"

He massaged his chin a bit, and suddenly asked. "Pinks, how's Cassie doing?"

"E- Eh? She- she's alright, and her little water sprites are fine as well. Why ask?"

"No, nothing special. It's just that I've thought things over after that near-disaster."

Spike sighed with a bitter smile. "You all were right. Even though I was angry, I was not blind. I did see all of you frowning at me, nearly pulling my tail to stop me from going off on Cassie, but I paid no attention to that. I'm too caught up with my sense of righteous anger. And I thought by venting my anger on her, the injustice Sunset Shimmer afflicted on you by her callous mind control could be somewhat redressed, if only by proxy."

"Spike..."

"I brought her up now, because we're now facing yet another individual, who, as you said, might have the potential of throwing mind spells at people's faces without a second thought."

Pinkie winced, and the dragon kicked up a bout of dust carelessly. "... You just told me how Discord and Chrysalis would act up if they had their ways, I... well, I am oddly relieved."

"H- Huh?" Pinkie widened her eyes.

"I've been too stubborn for my own good, it seems. Not even the experiences from a dragon old as dirt helped. At the end, it took me threatening to cut up and serve a kelpie begging for her life, and then stopped by none other than you, that I realized that focusing on what terrible things someone could've done does nobody any good."

He tightened his breastplate and continued. "The old chaotic tyrant, and even the ruthless changeling queen both managed to be turned at the end. Even though it was a very bumpy road, even though they could've caused untold damage to everything we know and love, but there they are, content and even arguably willing to side with us... I hope they are, still."

He dryly laughed, and then smiled. "All of these make me think, maybe there is... no, there should be a chance for this Starlight gal, even though she was damned by your visions of future-past, and her shameful but maybe malleable tendency to bend minds."

The dragon scratched his head. "Actually, I am now a bit surprised that you stress her danger to me so much, after what happened with Cassie... Eh, not that I'm unhappy with your useful reminder or anything. But if I am to face her without needlessly bad preconception, then perhaps you should as well, Pinks."

Pinkie blinked, and then genuinely chuckled for once. "... Spike, this is why I liked you in the first place."

Spike quickly blushed. "W- What's that all of a sudden?"

"You've always been quick to show your emotions. But nowadays you've kept that to yourself so much, just to show everypony that you're not just a barely weaned dragon, but a credible leader as well."

"Hey, I resent that first remark! And is that even something a normal pony would use to describe their own drakefriend?"

The pink mare merely continued to chuckle. "I was a bit worried, and even more scared when you acted so cold towards Cassie. But now I know why you did that, and you're still the Spike I knew and loved: Sometimes quick to anger, but always quick to forgive as well."

"Really, huh?" Spike smirked.

Pinkie suddenly straightened and turned serious, prompting Spike to drop his grin as well. "Spike, I've been feeling so insecure about why and how we two should be together."

Spike immediately knitted his brows. "Pinks, didn't we talk about-"

Pinkie grinned. "No, I'm not moping anymore. I'm just saying that I've just realized why we're such a matching pair of drakefriend and marefriend! And feeling insecure anymore is just silly!"

"Hmm? What is that-"

"Spike, Pinkie, I don't mean to be a third wheel, but we have to go now. Everyone's ready except you two."

Kanipha walked near and put his tongue out. "Not even I can predict what that Starlight Glimmer girl would do if we're late."

Spike and Pinkie separated from each other with an embarrassed blush. The dragon then coughed and said with barely authoritative tone.

"Okay, everyone remember to hold onto their charm, and let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of flowing water filled the air, as Spike and his entourage entered the hastily erected tent in the middle of the two armies.

"Whoa, did we ask for so many of them to come?"

The tall donkey turned and asked Starlight Glimmer, the latter of whom appeared to be as confused as him. She cantered in front of the group and interrupted. "Hey, you lots, didn't I just ask for your chief commander and the main leaders to come?"

"Well, Miss Glimmer, everyone here beside me is also important persons of their own-"

However, before Spike could introduce everyone one by one, the donkey suddenly covered his mouth, pointed at Cadance and Shining Armor and yelped. "Oh my goodness! T- They're Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor of Crystal Empire!"

"Wait, what?"

Starlight Glimmer rubbernecked and widened her eyes. "Hey, you're right! She's an Alicorn! How the Tartarus did I miss that?"

The donkey became hyperventilated as he seemed drawn to the bemused couple, and he let out some shrill hisses. Before anyone could make sense of the situation, he was engulfed in a green flame, and a hissing changeling appeared in his place.

"W- Wha-?" Spike blinked, and then blinked again in simple astonishment. Pinkie was similarly shocked.

The royal couple took several steps back in deep weariness. The others, however, did not give an overt reaction, because most of them did not even know what a changeling was.

Starlight Glimmer turned to the now-changeling. She was not a bit stunned by this abrupt change in his appearance, and she merely groaned. "What now, Thorax? Why suddenly reveal yourself right here and now?"

"I... hsss... am... sorry... hsss... can't... stop..."

Pinkie sighed and said. "That changeling mister probably got a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of love Princess Cadance is emitting, and loses his disguise. She's the Princess of Love after all."

Starlight Glimmer turned back to the pink mare, and she looked even more shocked. "Huh? Y- You know about changelings? How?"

"Oh boy."

Spike raised a brow and let out a 'hmpf', which was reciprocated by Kanipha, Geuse and the royal couple in particular. "Yeah, we're about to ask the same question, plus many more. I guess you also have some for us as well."

"But!"

Starlight Glimmer glared at the royal couple and interjected. "Are you guys sent here by Sunset Shimmer to conquer the East Coast? The Manehattanites might be utter jerks, but Sunset Shimmer is also our foe!"

Cadance was a bit surprised by her words on the Manehattanites, but she quickly clarified. "She's our enemy as well."

Shining Armor exchanged a gaze with her and added. "We fight for ourselves."

Starlight Glimmer looked stunned, while Spike timely said. "So if we've established that we mean each other no harm, then why don't we trade some questions and answers?"

"Deal."

Starlight Glimmer quickly refocused and said. She briefly looked at Thorax, and added. "But first, can you all find a way to make him stop hissing first? He looks really uncomfortable."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The changeling, Thorax, sat meekly behind the purple unicorn in his changeling form, clearly nervous at being studied from head to leg. Starlight Glimmer, on the other hand, spluttered in disbelief. "T- That... Are you telling me that all these are true? The Crystal Prince and Princess exiled, a long-lost pony race-"

"Two, actually." Spike corrected.

"- returning from thousands of years of solitude... and now every race from the Frozen North, plus a bunch of surrendered crystal ponies are banding together under your - a baby dragon's - command?"

"You can say that again." Kanipha snorted.

"Doesn't make it less outrageous." Geuse laughed.

"Or less true." Frigg added with a serious tone.

"You should know that if I were to make a story up, I would definitely pick something much more plausible." Spike exhaled and reminded Starlight. "But remember, it's now your turn to share your side of story."

Starlight began to grit her teeth. "We are forced to take up arms, and we want nothing but peace."

"Hm." Spike lightly harrumphed, and the others also threw their judging gazes on her.

She bit her lips and continued. "I... I was a unicorn who studied magic at my home on the Griffish Isles. Back then, I was quite frustrated by... um..."

Her eyes shifted and she coughed. "... A lack of community cohesion."

Spike and Pinkie covertly exchanged a glance, as Starlight hoof-waved. "Anyway, I gathered a bunch of ponies, and were about to move shop to a new place and build a new village, where we can all live happily together without bad influences."

"Uh-huh."

"I had been choosing a good place to settle my followers. After much investigation, two prime locales were selected. One was a dry, secluded vale far up the Delamare, and the other one was a parcel of boreal clearing, at the foot of the Hyperborean mountain across the sea."

Pinkie suddenly interjected. "Is the first one about eighty leagues to the north-northwest of Manehattan, just a bit south to the eastern stretch of the Crystal Mountain?"

"Wait, how do you know?" Starlight looked astonished.

Pinkie briefly flustered, and Spike quickly covered her track. "We camped near that place once, when we were marching down from Ville de Platine. It's indeed a good place to settle if you want to be away from everyone else in Equestria."

"... I see." Starlight slowly nodded. "So, just when I was weighing the options, our little fellowship somehow attracted attention from Equestrian authorities. It was probably because security all around Equestria was tightened after the changeling invasion and the events at Las Pegasus."

"Eh." Geuse commented. "You can't blame them for getting suspicious, can you?"

"Maybe they thought you were trying to build a cult." Kanipha mocked.

"I'm not!" Starlight's face grew red. "It's for everypony's good!"

Spike waved her down. "Fine, fine, whatever you say. But I assume things went awry?"

"... It did. To move ourselves out of the attention of the Equestrian authority, I chose the option to move abroad. But when we were about to board the eastbound train and leave... Guillaume's army descended upon the Griffish Isles, as part of Sunset Shimmer's plan to isolate the East Coast."

Starlight looked despondent. "... They surrounded the whole isles and cut off the outbound rail connections. They were ravenous and fearsome, and I did the cowardly thing - I left everypony I knew behind and escaped by sea alone, hanging to a crowded life-raft which drifted to the south."

"..." Spike was silent, and even Pinkie was saddened by her obvious showing of guilt.

"Starlight, maybe I should take on from here."

Thorax spoke up, and pat the sad unicorn's back gently. "From your gazes, I guess many of you are quite curious about my origins."

"Sure do... Thorax." Shining Armor narrowed his eyes.

"I'm a changeling."

"Duh." Spike rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know it's redundant." Thorax snorted. "But from what you said, not all of you had seen a changeling before. The prince and the thane, for example?"

"Ja." Magnar curtly said.

"So you can change your appearance... at will?" Stellan raised a brow.

"Yes, a changeling can impersonate anyone by changing into any look. Also, we feed on the emotion of love. That's why earlier our evil queen attacked Canterlot during the wedding of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance - she wanted to turn Equestria into a giant love factory by force."

Spike could barely believe what he was hearing, when he heard Thorax badmouthed Chrysalis so blatantly. But then he thought of 'Allela', so a changeling who hated Chrysalis's guts might not be so far-fetched at all.

"I was part of the invading army during the Canterlot invasion..."

Thorax suddenly blinked and pointed at Pinkie. "Hm, did I see you there back then?"

Pinkie grinned. "Sure you would! I'm the Element-bearer of Laughter!"

Thorax widened his eyes, and muttered. "Ah... But that's only part of why you're known to me. However, yes, I was tasked to guard the door after you guys entered the throne room, so I saw and heard everything."

"Only part of it?"

"I would explain later."

He then sighed. "After the explosion occurred in the royal garden, I scurried away quickly to avoid arrest. I was hungry and hurt, but the experiences in Canterlot also showed me what true friendship was like."

"Really?" Pinkie looked genuinely happy for once.

"Absolutely. That... Twilight Sparkle was truly an example to all. Even though she was betrayed by someone she trusted wholeheartedly, she was barely angry or vengeful, and she only blamed herself for neglecting her friend's feeling. And of course there were the rest of you, standing by her till the very last moment."

He smiled brightly. "You were an inspiration to me since then."

Pinkie looked so overjoyed that tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. "Aww! I'm so glad!"

Spike studied the changeling carefully, and found no obvious sign of lying. He then asked. "So what then?"

"After a long, hard journey, I stumbled into the city of Manehattan. In particular, I found myself wandering inside the donkey quarter in Fresh Meadows. I took on a donkey disguise, which you all saw just now. And to my surprise, I got accepted pretty quickly into the community, and even made a custodian in charge of official documents. I strove to apply what I saw about friendship and dedication back then in my daily life, and I discovered that I don't need to steal the tasty love from other's true friendship, if I can just make good friends and gain love myself... And even though because it's not a-hundred-percent pure and unadulterated love, their companionship did nourish me for a good while."

He pointed at Pinkie again. "Miss Pinkie Pie was known to the donkeys, because she was famous not only for reuniting Cranky Doodle, the son of a prominent judge, and his old lover Matilda, but she was also one of the rare ponies that speaks the donkeys' old sacred tongue."

"Well, it's nothing really! I'm just glad to help!" Pinkie grinned.

Thorax smiled, but then winced and became sad. "However, everything changed when the war broke out. Everypony almost suddenly became paranoid and aggressive overnight. The attack on Griffish Isles and Sunset Shimmer's threat caused everyone to grow incredibly anxious, which was not helped by the blockade and the few times that Griffish warships actually fired on the harbor. Vigilantes and bandits of different factions roamed the streets. But it was also the time when Starlight and I met."

Starlight looked genuinely grateful. "Thorax was the one who helped me up from my broken raft and nursed me to full health. I am forever indebted to him."

"Nah, I just did what I had to do. Besides, you did not bat an eye when I accidentally reveal my true self. I can't even begin to describe the sheer amount of love I felt back then."

Thorax's sweet smile gradually evaporated, as he recounted their plight. "... At first, the donkeys and mules could still band together and defend themselves. But after the horrifying news about Cloudsdale reached us, the city leaders from every big East Coast community convened together, in order to discuss the possibility of rejecting the tyranny of the 'false' government in Canterlot. I heard that they were trying to emulate La Ville and proclaim independence from the 'Dominion of Equestria', in order to fight against Sunset Shimmer in earnest."

"Huh, wasn't that a good news?" Spike asked.

Thorax's expression was difficult. "The truth is, to us in the donkey and mule community, it does not really matter who's the one ruling over us, so long as we can live in peace and harmony without conflicts. And to most of them, although Sunset Shimmer's actions in the West were undoubtedly cruel and excessive, a lot of them thought it might not entirely be a bad thing if she took over."

"What? Why?" Spike looked shocked.

Thorax scratched his chitinous shell on his face. "Well, we all read about words in the press defending Sunset Shimmer written by Miss Pinkie Pie. Since she has such a good reputation among us, we were admittedly a bit hesitant when it came to making a stand against Sunset Shimmer, even if it was the right thing to do."

Starlight exhaled with irritation. "She started the fire, and she ought to be burned by it."

Pinkie simply blanched, her newfound happiness was abruptly extinguished by the welling of guilt. Spike immediately groaned aloud, and gave a glare to the clueless changeling. "Thorax, she was mind-controlled at the time, and she was incredibly traumatized by being forced to betray her friends."

Thorax gasped. "Oh dear, I don't know about that. I'm so sorry."

Pinkie shakily grinned. "T- That's fine. I have to know one way or another eventually."

Thorax shifted and scratched his snout. "But the fact is, our deemed sympathy to Sunset Shimmer's cause made us a public enemy for the other Manehattans. In addition, as I have learnt painfully, prejudice against non-ponies was a reality in Equestrian society. The combination of collective paranoia, as well as old and new hatred, eventually led to an all-out attack on our community a week ago."

Pinkie gasped, and Thorax said wistfully. "The rioters were not stopped by the police, presumably because the higher-ups wanted to let the war-crazed Manehattanites 'let off some steam'. As a result, our houses were looted and burned, and we were robbed and beaten in the streets."

Starlight Glimmer looked positively incensed. "I wanted to use spells on those looters and vagabonds to stop them, but Thorax just won't let me do it!"

Thorax sighed. "Starlight, it's simply too dangerous to go against the mob. Besides, what could you possibly achieve by beating them up with magic? It would just lower us to their level, not to mention anger them even more."

"I could psych them into obeying me!" Starlight huffed.

Spike quickly narrowed his eyes but remained silent. Thorax breathed out and said. "Mind control is not the solution either. If they shake out of it, then what?"

Starlight harrumphed, but she was jolted when she met the almost hollow gaze of Pinkie. She then winced and did not offer a retort.

"All in all, we're brutalized by the end of the day. Even the grand elder was beaten up and kidnapped to somewhere unknown. After being made the temporary leader, I made the painful decision to abandon our homes and lead an exodus out of Manehattan, partly because Starlight said there is a spot up north that might be suitable for us to hide and camp at this turbulent time. We can do little else, because to stay in Manehattan for longer would spell the end of the largest donkey and mule community in Equestria."

Starlight slowly added, her tone full of spite. "We've then grabbed whatever we could find to defend ourselves, even hoes and pots, and escaped the city overnight. They didn't stop us, probably because they thought it was good riddance."

"And then you met us." Spike exhaled.

"That's correct." Thorax nodded.

"What do you want to do afterwards?"

Thorax and Starlight exchanged a gaze, and he said. "... To continue our journey up north, and escape the war and conflicts till things calm down."

Pisacan mused. "You sure about that? Now that the sun is out, crops are probably much harder to plant. And you would have to start from nothing in the middle of nowhere."

"We must try." Starlight sounded stubborn.

Spike looked around, and suddenly asked. "Have you considered the possibility of... joining us?"

"What?" Both Thorax and Starlight looked stunned. Other companions of Spike also looked astonished, except for Pinkie, who was already cheering him on.

"We have no wish other than restoring peace to the land, and isn't that what you want as well? Two heads are better than one, and three are better than two. With us, you'll be protected against the more hateful elements in Equestria, and you can also help bring an end to this cruel war. Moreover, the donkeys and mules shouldn't be too unhappy with Pinkie on their side, should they?"

Thorax buzzed his wings. "... That's not wrong."

Starlight looked more suspicious. "... What? Are you planning to use us as your cannon fodder?"

"No one in my army is a fodder." Spike said with a steely tone, and then he softened somewhat. "Besides, we're not expecting another fight in the short-term if everything goes right."

"What's your plan?" Starlight was piqued.

"We plan to make a quick march and rendezvous with our other friends in Ponyville. If that's done, the weak and the needy can be settled, and only the capable ones would be called to the final fight with Sunset Shimmer."

"Ponyville is your ally?" Starlight looked brightened. "I heard that they were the only settlement in the west that successfully repelled the attacks from Sunset Shimmer."

"We have very capable friends there, who undoubtedly were holding the line against her encroachment. Even Discord, the former king of chaos, is on our side. We must go join with them quickly, and deal a blow to that nasty orange unicorn."

Spike then casually gazed at Thorax. "Speaking of which, your old queen Chrysalis is in Ponyville as well."

Thorax's jaw dropped, and he stuttered. "W- W- What?"

"I wonder if it would make you feel better... if I tell you that she's probably also on our side."

The changeling could only blink repeatedly in silence. Starlight chimed in and asked. "How? Isn't Chrysalis the ruthless changeling queen that doesn't believe in sharing love and friendship, and would only drain every ounce of love out of someone if she gets the chance? How in Equestria would she agree to join force with you guys?"

"Long story. She and some changelings got blasted to Zebrica after the invasion, and she then ended up back and staying in Equestria, this time willingly with us. Let's just say that it was again because of Twilight's sacrifice, that even a miserable and hateful tyrant like her could be persuaded to soften up." Spike said with obvious uncharitableness.

Thorax let out a half-understanding whimper, and then he asked bemusedly. "Why didn't she just go back to her old seat in the Changeling Kingdom and recuperate?"

Geuse heaved. "She got into an all-out war with Timbucktu after she got blasted to Zebrica, and after she lost and fled, we ransacked her pithy little home to dissuade her from ever coming back."

Spike added to a flabbergasted Thorax. "Many things happened afterward, but I should also mention that she got double-crossed by her most trusted lieutenant, so she might be a bit shaken in confidence. I don't suppose you heard about Allela?"

"A- Allela? She's my direct boss in our squadron!"

"Guess what, she's originally a queenship candidate Chrysalis forcefully absorbed into her own hive. And when she managed to regain her memories before the assimilation, boy, was she teed off beyond measure, and she almost stabbed many more holes on her former queen before we stopped her. But after everything, Chrysalis should now be much more subdued. I think you might even be able to tell her your friendship speech to her without getting yelled at."

Thorax only managed to close his agape mouth after a moment, then he said smilingly with obvious resignation. "When you put it like that, do I even have a choice? My old queen seems to be reformed, and the promise of peace is only second to love in sweetness, especially to my adopted donkey and mule brethren."

Starlight was still visibly unsure, but when she looked at the clear look of longing on Thorax's face, she huffed and sighed. "Fine, I'll go too. But don't you betray Thorax's trust, or you would taste the consequences!"

Spike merely smiled, quietly taking note of the steadfast dedication of Starlight towards her friend. "Of course, we will try our best to deliver. But you should know that not even us know what exactly is happening in Ponyville at this moment."

"Huh. Very well."

"But if you're really to join force with us, something much more urgent and important must be explained first."

"What is it?"

"We're actually going to Manehattan ourselves."

Starlight and Thorax widened their eyes and looked at each other, and then yelled in unison.

"What-?!!"

Comments

[Yinglung]

This chapter is written promptly thanks to the encouragement from Bloody_Tofu :)

A minor-spoilerish clarification:
While this story sounds rather harsh to the characterization of Sunset Shimmer and vice versa to Starlight Glimmer, it was not my intention to denigrate or whitewash. There is an in-universe reason why certain character acts that way, particularly for Sunset Shimmer.

A larger-spoilerish clarification:
She is also a victim of some kind.

[Bloody_Tofu]

7765089 awwwwww

[ferret]

Soooooo much war

It's a fun story though, with many funny and clever moments.

[Yinglung]

7771987 Thanks for the read! You're a very quick and perceptive reader!

Yeah, so much war. In universe there's a hidden reason of sorts why things foul up so quickly, but practically, major upheavals like this are also catalysts for permenant and substantial changes that open up for later storytelling. If people are content and well fed, they won't like or desire changes. It is a setting that allows power to be easily reshuffled, to previously nameless ponies like Lion Muzzle for instance. A revolutionary empowerment, if you will. (The comparison is not entirely serious)

[ferret]

7772011

I find war really limiting, actually. Everything becomes about the war, and both sides tend to get entrenched, so it's hard to write about other stuff. Opportunists emerge from the woodwork to prey on the instability, and accounting for their schemes uses up more valuable words. You always have something to write about, but you always have something you have to write about, and with war, that writing is rarely pleasant. Progress only happens in support of the war effort, and you can never write about peace and relaxation, not without readers uninvested in it because they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. They come to see peace only as a fragile denial of the "reality" of war, or a stalling tactic preventing them from reading about the latest move made by allied or enemy forces.

[Yinglung]

7773215 If it's any consolation, war will not dominate this story once this particular one is over, and it would shift back to daily shenanigans, adventure and a sprinkle of regular politicking.

The end of this arc is in sight (fortunately), and things to come will be expedited along according to my story plan, so no gruelling guerrilla wars and the like (Thank goodness). Amongst many reasons is also that I originally have another plan for Starlight, but I have decided to spin that off into a separate story of its own because of the uniqueness of its setting.

I too agree that the heaviness of war prevents me from writing about other possible situations, and it's indeed limiting in a sense because I don't know crap about writing wars and it's killing me because even though it was a vehicle for character development and lore reveal, it became the dominant concern of everyone once it broke out. And yet once I kickstarted it, it has a momentum of its own, and I can't just shrug and handwave it away without making the whole thing look inconsequential.

(Scratch head) Heh, I will wrap it up quickly to the best of my ability.

[ferret]

7773505

I think it's like any compelling plot point, it can be good for the story, but it's easy for it to get out of hand.

[Finwe Nar]

Honestly this is my favorite fanfiction that i have ever read and i simply cannot wait for the next chapter!

[Yinglung]

7979133 Thank you, I'm very flattered by your interest in a story this long! I'll definitely try to write a new chapter shortly :)

[Finwe Nar]

7980097 Are you kidding me? I love long stories! in fact my favorite series is 30 books long. You add so much detail with out it sounding watered down. You have written an intricate plot that simply begs to be explored. I aspire to be able to write as well as you

[Yinglung]

7980375 Awww, this is so, so kind of you! I'll get to the writing board right away :D