Knowledge Brings Change

by hydra30

7 Patience isn't a virtue

Heaving slightly under the effort, Fluttershy plopped the last changeling on top of the four others, the force of his impact making them all cringe in pain and exhale what little air was left in their lungs.

She looked down at them, watching as they struggled to so much as breathe. It was so pathetic, they thought that they would be beaten so easily that five apiece would be enough to defeat her and her friends. The absurdity of it all almost made her want to puke.

Here they were, here to lend aid, and still they chose to try to conquer.

Not that it was entirely unexpected, of course. Twilight had the foresight to know this outcome was more than a possibility. But it still was so ridiculous that the changelings would be so stupid as to challenge them, and with such weakened numbers and physical strength, no less. How thick could you be to...?

'Wait... what is this?!'

Fluttershy suddenly took in this situation in with new clarity.

She had just beaten these changelings senseless... piled them onto each other without effort... and was internally mocking them for their stupidity...

...And she felt nothing for it but apathy.

She suddenly realized that something was wrong, she was not reacting the way she should. She had been all about the fight when it first broke out to protect all those here close to her, but she had been expecting to feel such remorse when it was over... but it was over... and she felt nothing like she thought she would. She was not even sorry for their pain, pain she herself had inflicted.

And in the face of such realization... a fraction of the original Fluttershy stirred in Fluttershy's heart.

The Fluttershy who existed before Apocrypha... before that wedding... before she gave into selfishness for the first time in her life, leaving a dear friend with nowhere else to turn to but a tentacled monstrosity from another world...

A world of strife and suffering.

'Oh, what have I done?' Fluttershy moaned to herself, slowly walking towards the pile of changelings. 'I didn't have to be so rough...'

Her train of thought was broken when her hoof struck something hard that tinkled. Looking down, Fluttershy saw a small disk of glass that wasn't lying on the ground, but looked to have been burned into it. Somepony's first thought would be to wonder where it had come from.

But not Fluttershy, at the moment.

Her attention was drawn to her reflection in its surface. Her eyes...she didn't know what it was, but her eyes seemed wrong. Something was there, something that had not been there before...

Looking up, Fluttershy brought her attention to the individual brawls her friends were currently engaged in. They all fought with gusto, and while she could expect that from Rainbow Dash and Applejack (and Twilight, now) she saw the same look in their eyes that she had just seen in herself. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew they wouldn't usually have been this aggressive, especially with how outmatched the changelings were against them.

A single tear trickled from the meek pegasus' eye.

'What's happening to us?'

---

The moment Spike slapped the amulet around Thorax's neck, the stone's snakes immediately sprang to life, slithering over each other in a tiny ball of jade coils. Spike suppressed a shudder, the flesh under his scales crawling at the sight. He had no problems with snakes, for the most part, but seeing something so small move in such a way...

He was glad Twilight wasn't here to see this, she would jump out of her skin so hard they would be wiping what's left off of Luna's moon.

Thorax suddenly sat up from where he lay in Spike's arms, taking in great gulps of air as the green patterns on his neck receded.

"Calm down," said Spike, easing the recovering changeling back into his arms. "You're going to be fine."

Thorax settled back into Spike's support, too exhausted to resist, but was able to display a confused look.

"How is this possible?" he asked. "No changeling has ever survived the bite of another changeling before."

Spike simply nodded to the amulet, Thorax jumping slightly at the multiple moving serpents. "That amulet is imbued with the power to neutralize poison."

"But... Chrysalis assured us that no force in the world could save us from our own venom!"

"Good thing it's not of this world," replied Spike, but the flabbergasted look on Thorax's face made him roll his eyes. "Haven't you figured it out? This amulet, my and the girls' new powers, Hermaeus Mora himself, it all hails from an entirely different world."

That had not actually occurred to Thorax, not at all. Who would consider such outrageousness?

But in a way, it all made sense, it actually would explain everything that had happened so far, and how even something as absolute as their venom's potency could be undermined so quickly. The insanity registered for Thorax now... they had been driven from Equestria by something not of this world. An entity that had its sights set on them, if he was to believe what he had heard before.

But, despite all of that, something forced its way to the forefront of Thorax's mind, something that by all accounts should be insufficient compared to an all powerful entity from another world, but refused to be irrelevant.

" Why go to such lengths to save me?" Thorax asked Spike, the feeling slowly returning to his body. "And I mean you specifically. For whatever reason why all this is happening, why did you just get between Pharynx and me? My death could not have been that detrimental."

Spike actually had to do a little bit of soul searching to find the answer. Aside from the fact that what Pharynx did was atrocious, why had he just intervened, and invoked Hermaeus Mora himself for aid, no less?

"You have been different from the start, Thorax," explained Spike, "During the Canterlot invasion, you took a great risk to distract your brethren from Twilight, so she might put a stop to Chrysalis. And here, now, you were willing to accept our proposal for aid, even though the others would rather be violent and force what they want from us."

Thorax had never truly contemplated his own actions up to this point. Yes, he turned on his changeling kin in Canterlot because he didn't believe what they were doing was right. When all seemed lost, and aid came, he had been willing to accept, even if it came at the hooves of the enemy. Everything he had done had been, for lack of a better term, un-changeling.

And here was the result of such actions. Someone had come and saved his life, when he had been moments away from certain death. And with no small amount of danger to himself, if Spike hadn't gotten the drop on Pharynx he wouldn't have been laid low so easily.

A smile and tear brought Spike's attention.

"Hey, don't worry," he said reassuringly. "The poison won't stand a chance against this amulet's magic, you're going to be fine."

"It's not that," said Thorax in a slightly choked voice. "I just... I wonder if this is what it's like...to have a friend."

"Who says you have to wonder?" said Spike with a slightly coy smile.

Thorax looked up in disbelief.

"Anypony who would stick up for Twilight is a friend of mine."

---

Pharynx fell to the ground as the paralysis wore off, blood gushing from his mouth, from his gums that housed his fangs until just a moment ago.

Hissing in pain as he lightly touched the section of his face missing its chitin, he brought his attention to the annoying infant reptile that had kicked him, only to gasp in surprise, splattering the ground in front of him with globs of green blood. The baby dragon was cradling Thorax (that doormat of a changeling with absolutely no ambition) who, even now, was unmistakably recovering from the venom he had delivered.

That should have been completely impossible.

Finally, a tiny flicker of fear sparked in Pharynx's soul. Now the little baby dragon was using magic that was completely unprecedented. What was this madness?

Unicorns, able to use magic so close in proximity to the magic absorption power of their mighty queen's throne. Pegasi, earth ponies, and dragons using magic they weren't supposed to. And now, a changeling bitten by another changeling was making a full recovery. It was bedlam, if absurdity was a painting, it would depict this situation right here. The princesses themselves were here, so close, yet...

His attention was brought to the four ponies in the distance who had yet to join the fray, noticing a significant difference between them.

Where as all the ponies fighting had the tendrils and eye added to their cutie marks, the flanks of the four ponies at the back still resembled what the intel from their previous infiltration described. Even Pharynx, with his aggressive warrior mind, could see the significance. The conclusion.

'Hermaeus Mora... it has to be... he's meddling."

That had to be why the princess' student and her allies could use magic in their territory. That eldritch monstrosity must have given them something that works against them. And his actions left a mark.

A mark the princesses and their little pet didn't bear.

"This is my last shot," mumbled Pharynx, blood trickling from his lips as he spoke.

His horn lit up in a dim green.

---

"I... think I'm okay now," moaned Thorax, while Spike helped him to his hooves.

"That's a relief," commented Spike happily.

Thorax brought his attention to the amulet around his neck, poking at the face as the serpents ceased to move. "Incredible, I've never seen anything–"

He was cut off when a flash of green went off next to them. Thorax and Spike turned to find Pharynx was gone.

---

Twilight and the others met in between their respective brawls, panting slightly but looking none the worse for wear.

"That... was... awesome," said Rainbow, regaining energy at a faster pace than the others due to her lifestyle. "I didn't know I could kick so much tail with this new power."

"YEEHAW," cried Applejack, rearing up on her hind legs. "You'll get no argument out of me Dash, I can't wait to try my Dragon Aspect on my trees when I applebuck."

"Whoa nelly," said Pinkie, throwing a lasso around Applejack that was made of frilly tassel. "You were hard enough on those poor wood buddies originally, I don't think that they would survive getting kickity kicked by earth pony legs infused with the power of a dragon. I bet even Alduin himself would be hard pressed to survive that."

"You're one to talk about restraint, Pinkie," said Rarity irritably, pointing to her pockmarked battlefield with the charbroiled changelings lying prone in the center. Pinkie only squeed and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "But I do concur, it actually felt good to be able to deal with those ruffians with a little something to even the playing field."

"Just try not to lose yourselves, girls," stated Twilight, wearing a proud but cautious look. "These powers are useful, no doubt about that, but they don't make you infallible. There will always be something that can render even the most useful of skills pointless, and it can come in any shape or form."

"Hey, one hundred and twenty percent on board with you on that, egghead," said Rainbow, while most of the group give her a baffled look. "I know what you're thinking," she continued with a smirk of cruel humor. "'It wasn't something you'd expect from the brash Rainbow Dash, these powers should have inflated her ego like a dirigible. While normally that would be true, even I recognize the potential of Hermaeus Mora and his kind. If we ever have to face him, or something on par with him, I know these new powers would be less than useless."

"Oh... oh my," said Rarity, walking up to Rainbow and putting a hoof to her chest. "That was quite insightful, Rainbow, darling."

"It would seem that Apocrypha is even having an effect on your adrenaline fueled brain!" said Pinkie, appearing on Rainbow's back and giving her a noogie on her multicolored scalp.

"Yeah yeah, enough," said Rainbow, blushing as she bowed her upper body down and let gravity slide Pinkie over her withers and to the ground with a thud. "Don't remind me, it will take all my willpower just to go back to that wretched place."

Twilight smiled happily at the scene. It would seem that her friends were adapting to their new powers just fine... well, except for one. Fluttershy had a look about her she didn't like.

"Fluttershy?" said Twilight, approaching her marefriend with a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

Fluttershy jumped out of her depressed stupor at Twilight’s words."Oh... it's nothing, Twilight."

"Come now, darling," started Rarity, her and the others having noticed the conversation. "If something is bothering you, you can tell us."

"Yeah Fluttershy," said Pinkie, her chipper voice laced with concern. "The last thing we need to do is bottle up something. If something comes along and shakes that bottle, we will all get splashed with icky repression soda."

Everypony gave Pinkie a look for her analogy, but with a shrug soon returned to Fluttershy with supportive smiles all around. It warmed Fluttershy's heart to see herself surrounded by support, her friends knew exactly what to say to help her ease out of her shell. The sight of Twilight and the others support put her at ease.

Ever since Apocrypha, Fluttershy had felt an overwhelming desire to stick with them, wherever that might be. Whether that be an expansive realm of books ruled by a tentacled monstrosity with no stationary body, or a barren wasteland littered with dust, Fluttershy knew she would be there. And right now, Fluttershy was reminded that Twilight and the others felt the same.

"TWILIGHT!"

The shout made all the ponies jump in alarm, turning around to see Spike speeding towards them... astride the back of a changeling with a sizable gold amulet around its neck.

"Spike? What's going–"

"TWILIGHT, THE PRINCESSES!" Spike continued, cutting Twilight off and bringing all their attention to behind them.

"PRINCESSES!" they all shouted in worry when they saw what was going on.

---

The four regal ponies' attention was snapped from the group of mares in the distance when a flash of green magic illuminated behind them.

They turned to find Pharynx behind them and he was a sight that gave even the two wizened alicorn sisters the chills. The whole side of his face was swelling, a jagged triangle missing from his chitin that exposed grotesque pulsating muscle. His mouth was open in a half pant, half hiss, so much changeling blood cascading down his lips that nothing could be seen but a miniature waterfall of green viscoelastic liquid.

"Stay back, you fiend," said Shining Armour, placing himself between Pharynx and the princesses, pawing the ground.

In a flash, Pharynx pounced on Shining Armour, knocking him between the princesses and onto his back... immediately slamming his slimy mouth over his neck.

---

"SHINING ARMOUR!" screamed Twilight in despair as she watched the rabid changeling clamp his mouth over her brother 's neck.

They had been carried quite a distance away from the four royals during the skirmishes, and it was taking a while to close the gap on hoof. They had originally tried to use Thu'um to come to the aid, but had used too much during the fight and it would take a bit before they could use them again. Even Twilight had been drained.

So she could only watch helplessly as her brother was bitten by a poisonous pony/bug.

"THORAX, GIVE ME THE DRACONIAN MADSTONE!" demanded Twilight, turning to said changeling buzzing above. "IT CURED YOU, IT HAS TO WORK FOR MY BROTHER TOO."

"Don't panic, Twi," said Spike from Thorax's back, worry still in his eyes but self assurance as well. "That won't be necessary,I believe his attack failed."

"Don't be stupid, Spike," snapped Rainbow, flapping her wings out of habit but forced to gallop to the downed captain, same as the rest.

"Yeah," said Fluttershy, her heart hammering as the three alicorns started to try prying Pharynx off Shining by hoof, their magic inaccessible. "He clearly got his mouth on Shining Armour, and his fangs are venomous."

"Not anymore," said Spike, flashing them a smug grin when they looked at him in confusion. "I kicked his fangs out when I knocked him off Thorax."

A slight pause took place for a second as they sprinted, then a little mirth began to form in their hearts at what Spike said. Rainbow even let out a slight chuckle.

---

" Get... off... my... fiance!" groaned Cadance, giving a final heave as she and the other princesses finally pried Pharynx loose and tossed him aside, flashing the prone Shining a look of deep concern. "Are you alright, my love?"

Shining brought a hoof to his neck and felt around.

He felt no pain and saw no blood...but he did feel intense disgust at the thick green goo on his neck and shoulders.

Groaning in disgust, he stood up and pulled his hoof away, his eyes cringing at the green rope that connected his hoof to his neck.

---

Pharynx cursed to himself as he lay on the ground. 'Damn that pint sized dragon, why did he have to knock out my teeth?'

"BUDDY!" the shout made Pharynx look up from his spreadeagle position, noticing that it came from the very dragon who defanged him, riding on Thorax's back. "You are so in for it."

"Yeah, you wait till we get a hold of you," said the rainbow maned pegasus. She and the other ponies were galloping towards his location, ugly scowls on their faces. "You're in for a world of hurt."

Pharynx knew she wasn't exaggerating.

After all that had happened, he knew they weren't going to go easy on him if they got their hooves on him. He had to do something to save himself, he had to win... in honor of his beloved queen. He didn't have his fangs anymore, but he still had one weapon natural to changeling kind.

Bracing his forehooves to the ground, Pharynx launched himself away from the approaching foes and towards the four in the other direction, hoping to catch one of them off guard. And it seemed Cadance drew the short straw, for as she was trying to help Shining Armour wipe the slime off his neck, Pharynx plowed into her and knocked her to the ground.

Twilight and her friends halted just in time to stand among the princesses and the terrified Shining Armour, watching as a huge cobra coiled around Cadance, spreading its hood as its head was poised at her neck.

"Nopony move," the snake hissed threateningly, the terrified Cadance cringing in pain as the coils that bound her tightened. "NOPONY MOVE!"

Twilight felt every nerve in her body twinge at the sight of such a large snake, but her concern for Cadance greatly overrode it. "Don't you dare hurt her."

"Oh, I won't," said Pharynx viciously, eyeing Celestia and Luna hungrily, "As long as they comply with my demands."

"Pharynx, this is madness," said Thorax, Spike hopping down from his back as he approached.

"Stay away, you treacherous tick!"

"Why are you so obsessed with this?" Thorax asked pleadingly. "What few changelings you could rally against Twilight and the others have fallen, what do we hope to gain by continuing this pointless struggle?"

"Finally fulfilling our queen's prodigious dream!" replied Pharynx proudly.

---

'Ain't putting up with this any longer,' thought Spike, sneaking behind Celestia's flamboyant tail, a flash of white going unnoticed as all had attention only for the present hostage situation. 'Looks like it's round two.

A trail of clawed footprints began making its way from Celestia's tail to the snake ahead.

---

"I will never let my queen's ambition die," said Pharynx, his lidless eyes twitching.

"Pharynx, stop this," begged Thorax with budding tears. "If you don't, the ponies will be forced to..."

A dull crunch echoed through the land for a second, and if one looked they would see Pharynx's snake tail crimp slightly with a fanged pattern. Thorax backed up to the rest of the flabbergasted ponies as Pharynx howled in pain, their surprise growing as whatever was going on made Pharynx lose focus and turn back into a changeling.

Now he just lay there, restraining Cadance with his hooves around her neck and hind legs around her waist.

Cadance sensed her chance, thrusting her wings out and pushing Pharynx off her slightly. He still clung to her like a vice, but her actions opened a space between her back and his chest. A space she quickly felt filled with something small and scaly.

Looking back, she saw Spike positioned between her wings, looking at Pharynx with a look of pure irritation.

'FO KRAH DIIN'

Pharynx was immediately blown off Cadance, coated head to tail in ice, landing stiff in the distance. Spike steadily helped Cadance stand and escorted her to the others.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" asked Shining Armour frantically, nuzzling his fiance.

"Yes, I'm fine," confirmed Cadance, hugging Shining comfortingly. "Thanks to Spike."

"Tell me about it," snarked Rainbow, nudging Spike with an elbow so hard she almost knocked him to the ground. "You're on fire today, shrimp."

"Good thing dragons are fireproof," said Pinkie, lifting Spike up by his underarms and smiling at him, a blush on his face.

"Thorax," Celestia's strict voice brought all their attention. "We don't want to do it, but if that changeling won't comply with us... we will have to kill him."

Thorax looked at the stiff Pharynx with slight pity. He didn't want to do it either, because throughout everything, Pharynx was special to him in a way only he understood. But if he was going to be defiant to the last, what more could they do? Time was running out for the changelings, this was their last...

Twilight and her friends suddenly doubled over, groaning in discomfort.

"Twily!" gasped Shining Armour, rushing to his sister's side. "What is wrong?"

"I don't know," replied Twilight, massaging her abdomen. "I... feel something..."

"Girls, your cutie marks," gasped luna.

Looking, Twilight and her friends were shocked to find that the tentacles marking their bodies were twisting and undulating, moving across their coats like living snakes, all of them feeling their hearts stop as the eyes in the center of the masses blinked.

"Girls," said Spike, also clutching his abdominal area. "I have felt this before."

"You have?" Inquired Twilight through her own sensation. "When?"

"When I got the Madstone," replied Spike, pointing to said amulet around Thorax's neck. "When all seemed lost and it seemed Thorax was doomed, I called out to Hermaeus Mora. I felt this sensation, and the madstone appeared along with one of Hermaeus Mora's tendrils. I... think it means we are connected to him."

"Connected?" Inquired Celestia, unease in her voice. "I don't like the sound of that, what does it mean?"

"Well, we have spent a good bit of time in his realm," said Pinkie nervously.

"And on Nirn, it's not unheard of for the followers of Daedra to develop a telepathic link to them," explained Twilight.

This did not relieve Celestia's fears at all. "And what is this feeling telling you?"

"Just try to focus on it," explained Spike to the girls. "It'll come to you."

They did as he suggested, focusing all their will in analyzing the foreign sensation in their bodies. And when they did, all color drained from their faces.

"Run," whispered Twilight in a panic stricken tone.

"Twily what's..."

"EVERYPONY RUN, NOW!"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, moving so frantically that it was a challenge to stay on one's hooves.

"What's going on!?" said Shining Armour, "There aren't any fault lines in the Badlands, how can there be an earthquake? "

"This isn't an earthquake," explained Celestia, examining the sensation through her hooves. "I have experienced all manner of earthquakes and this is nothing like them. It's almost like..." she looked up, pale faced, "like something really big is moving underground!"

Now that got a reaction.

"You heard Twilight, run," said Shining Armour seriously.

"What about the changelings?" inquired Thorax, everypony looking up to see he was carrying the frozen Pharynx in his hooves. "The condition they are in, they won't make it."

'WULD NAH KEST'

They all turned just in time to see Fluttershy zip over to the changelings they had pummeled earlier in a yellow blur.

'VOKRII'

At that one simple word, the changelings all sprang up and took off on their wings.

'WULD NAH KEST'

And Fluttershy was back in front of them, wearing a grin."I think they will be fine, even they know it's a good idea to flee an earthquake."

"Fine, fine, let's go already," said Spike frantically.

A great fissure started opening up in the distance, and that was all the motivation they needed to get moving.

Except for Spike. He saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him stop. He contemplated what to do for a second, then forced his fear down and sprinted in the direction of the fissure.

"SPIKE!" screamed Twilight in horror, stopping to throw him a worried look, while everyone else stopped in response to her scream. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"No time to explain!" Spike called back. "Just go, I won't be long!"

Twilight wanted to argue, but if she tried to intervene neither she nor Spike would outrun the fissure. All she could do was hope Spike knew what he was doing. And hope he had a damn good reason for doing something so foolish.

"Come on," said Twilight, resuming the escape along with the others.

---

Spike ran as fast as his pudgy feet would carry him. It was difficult on the jerky ground, but he had to do something, fast. As he approached the edge of the fissure, his dread grew as the widening crevice's boundaries approached his destination at an alarming rate.

He wasn't going to make it at this rate:

'WULD NAH KEST'

Leaping forward as soon as he was free of his sprint, Spike flung his claw out at the moment the ground in front of the spot he landed crumbled and fell into the fissure. He knew he had failed, his claw clenched only little bits of ground. Cringing, he opened his eyes...

And was surprised to see the transparent silhouette of a changeling centered around his claw.

His detect life Thu'um was still active, and when the tremor started it showed him the unmoving form of a changeling in the distance. He didn't know why it was stationary, despite the trembling earth, but he could not just leave it. He had lunged for the figure just as the crumbling earth reached it, expecting to grab a holey hoof as it fell.

But somehow he held the whole changeling in his fist.

But now was not the time to dwell on this bizarre turn of events. The fissure had ceased growing for a few seconds, but that was changing. Even now the ground under Spike's arms was fracturing, crumbling and falling into the new ravine, blue flowers getting blown away as they were suddenly airborne.

With a panicked grunt, Spike used his tail to spring himself back to his feet, cradling his clenched claw with his other claw as he bolted out in the direction of Twilight and the others.

---

"What is the meaning of this, Twilight?" asked Celestia, running next to her student.

"I can't fully tell," said Twilight in a philosophical tone as she sprinted. "All I can say is that Hermaeus Mora has grown impatient."

"Yeah," said Pinkie, bouncing on her hooves but still keeping up. "He's all party pooped out on the changelings putting up this pitiful resistance, so he is going to intervene."

"How is splitting the earth going to help?" asked Luna.

"Turn around, you'll find out."

"Spike, you're okay, don't ever..."

Twilight was cut off when her thoughts ground to a halt, along with all the others, even the changelings, who where coincidentally resting atop the steep incline the ponies and dragon had finished sprinting up.

From this vantage point they could see right down the fissure, which now stretched in front of the foreboding changeling hive. But what drew all the attention was that out of the fissure, four huge black tendrils rose up, two on each side, each the size of skyscrapers. Then they fell flat, two on each side of the changeling hive, falling opposite to each other over the fissure.

With a mighty groaning sound, the tendrils pushed the earth apart like the bread of a sandwich. The changeling hive staggered, its foundation crumbling as the damaged ground around it submitted to gravity and plunged into the earth. All watched as the pointed structure toppled forward like a felled tree, the top breaking off as it impacted the other side of the fissure, before both pieces tumbled into the earth, twirling like two halves of a dropped broken pencil towards a tiny dot of glowing orange below.

It wasn't long before Celestia and Luna's manes and tails resumed flowing in a nonexistent breeze.

Comments

[Undead Equestrian Writer]

I have over 10000 hours in both Oblivion and Skyrim and about 500 in Morrowind, and so I'm really happy when I see crossover's to the Elder Scrolls at all...

[Alfaridwan Setiabudi]

Omg here we go again more please

[Emtu]

Someone really should get Andrea Libman to do some dragon shouts in the Fluttershy voice. A FUS RO DAH straight from the VA would be amazing.

[Sarraceno]

Hermaeus Mora certainly can do demolitions in style

Fluttershy should not fret that much, buggos tried to follow Pharinx despite all the wrongness in that after all the warnings... and good enough that some of them survived besides Thorax and Ocellus

[Nixxus Shadowblade]

9688209
that would be adorable

[HB_DS2013]

Ah, a waypoint!

[Kichi]

And this Mares and Gentlecolts is a impatient Hemaeus Mora... Let it serve of example and think how could it be a angry Hemaeus Mora

[Greenhorn]

Spike was really da Man in this chapter. However, what Fluttershy sensed was really concerning in some way - like any emotion barrier that normal ponies might have to hinder their negative side was already gone from the Mane 6.

[dragonus85]

and the throne is now gone