Chapter 8
Inside the map room of the crystal castle, there was a bright flash of light and everyone was instantly teleported on top of the cutie map roundtable.
“Good thinking, Starlight!” Buttercream said.
“Thanks Buttercream,” she replied.
“Hey, who’s the changeling?” Trixie asked, staring at Elytra.
“Oh, hey. My name is Elytra. I’ve defected and I’m helping you stop the queen,” Elytra responded, shyly.
“We can trust her, guys. I promise,” Flurry said.
“Flurry, what happened to your horn?” Sunburst asked.
“General Scutellum did it last night right before Chrysalis sent me, Butter and Elytra into the Mirror Pool cave.”
“Ah, that explains all the Pinkie clones,” said Trixie.
“Okay, what are we going to do? Are we even safe in this castle?” Mrs. Cake asked.
“I put up a temporary shield, but we can’t rely on that much longer. We need to get out, but first you all need to see something. There’s a reason I brought you all to the map room,” Starlight said.
Everyone got down from the map and looked at it to see six dots glowing over the hologram of Equestria. Flurry then noticed Pound’s cutie mark was blinking.
“Pound, your cutie mark!” she said, tapping his shoulder.
“Mine is glowing too!” said Pumpkin.
“Mine too!” said Stormy.
“Annie and I have it too, and Flurry, your bow is glowing again!” Chip said, pointing behind Flurry’s head.
“Oh, I didn’t even notice that in the broad daylight,” Flurry responded, examining her reflection in one of the crystal chairs.
“Are we being called to deal with a friendship problem?” Annie asked.
“More like a changeling problem. Look at the colors of those dots.”
Flurry pointed to the glowing orbs over the map and everyone noticed they were the colors of the Teachers: blue, orchid, orange, spring green, brown, and light teal.
“It’s calling you kids to find the teachers,” Sunburst said.
“It started this morning before the wedding. We had no idea what it meant, so we figured we’d tell you afterwards. Now that all this is happening, it’s obvious what the map is trying to tell us,” Starlight added.
“But those dots are placed over some faraway places in Equestria,” Mrs. Cake said, examining the map.
“Are these areas even safe to go to?” asked Mr. Cake.
“Well we’ve got the orange one near Baltimare. I’m guessing that’s Smolder,” Thunderhead added.
“Daddy, look at my cutie mark!” Stormy exclaimed.
Everyone watched as a glowing image of Stormy’s cutie mark floated overtop the orange dot, representing Smolder. All the other kids’ cutie marks did the same for corresponding dots: Chip over Yona, Annie over Ocellus, Pound over Gallus, Pumpkin over Silverstream, and Flurry over Sandbar. The dots for Gallus and Silverstream were right next to each other.
“Well we won’t need to split apart to both find Gallus and Silverstream thankfully,” Pound told his sister.
“That must be because they’re both dating and them being together in the same pod probably helps the changelings absorb more love. That’s sweet but also pretty disturbing when you think about it,” Pumpkin added.
“What about us?” asked Chip.
“Yeah, Yona’s in Appleloosa, but Ocellus is over here. Dad, is that Ghastly Gorge?” Annie asked, trembling.
“Sure is, sweetheart,” Tex replied. “Don’t worry, your dad’s got this. Lucky for us, we have family in Appleloosa. We’ll go there first to find Yona, get some help from Cousin Braeburn and the buffalos, then it’s off to Ghastly Gorge.”
“So Daddy, we have to go find Smolder in Baltimare?” asked Stormy.
“Well she’s on the outskirts of Baltimare, probably in some random cave, but at least we can start off on the road pretty easy. I know the way there.”
“But what about Mommy?” asked Flashy.
“I’ll go find them myself,” Elytra told everyone. “Since I know where they are, I’ll look for everyone else.”
“Flurry, that means you and I can get to Sandbar,” Buttercream said, putting her arm around Flurry.
“I think we should also look for my parents, but I know our top priority is getting to Sandbar first,” Flurry responded.
“What about the Elements? Did the changelings use their memory spell to find them?” Pound asked Starlight.
“Not yet, thankfully,” Starlight responded.
Sunburst opened the trap door underneath one of the chairs and used his magic to take all six of the Elements of Harmony out.
“We’ve got them right here,” he said.
“But we can’t stay in here for long. There’s a secret entrance we can all use that leads into the outskirts. From there we can escape into the mountains.”
“But Starlight, General Scutellum will know about it since he copied Twilight’s memories. There’s even a changeling that copied Spike’s memories since he was also replaced,” Flurry said.
“It’s okay, Flurry,” said Starlight. “I just had it completed not long ago and hadn’t told Twilight or Spike where it is, so the changelings mimicking them can’t know about it.”
“Just so long as they don’t take any of our memories,” Trixie added.
“Flurry, the changelings can copy memories now?” asked Sunburst.
“Yeah, it’s how they were able to act so in-character.”
“Astounding…and also very unfortunate for all of us. I never thought they’d be this dangerous.”
“Alright, you guys go find that tunnel,” said Buttercream. “I need to get some of my belongings in the guest room. If I could send some letters using my magic stamps I got from Luna, I might be able to get us some help.”
“Butter, are you sure you’ll be okay?” Pumpkin asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I have a lot of connections. Maybe I can get my family to come in and help.”
“Buttercream, when you’re done, go down the corridor past the kitchen and there’s a storage room to the right at the very end. Look for the oddball blue crystal on the wall and push on it as hard as you can and a door will open. After you get inside, pull the door back down so no changelings come in after you,” Starlight told her.
“Got it. You guys go. I’ll catch up with ya!”
They all ran out of the map room and made their way to the secret entrance, while Buttercream flew in the other direction. She made her way to the upstairs rooms and opened the door to the bedroom she was temporarily staying in. She looked out the window to see that no changelings were around the castle at the moment, so she had a chance to send a few letters and then join up with the others before Starlight’s defense spell ran out. Her belongings were all still in her backpack, so she quickly removed several papers and magic stamps. She grabbed a quill and quickly began to write.
“Mom, Dad, Barb, Scorch, Singe, it’s me, Buttercream! Ponyville’s being invaded right now by changelings and we really need some help! Send as many dragons as you can! Make sure they aren’t too big or they might wreck the town! Hurry up! Okay, that’s one down.”
She folded the paper up and sealed it with the stamp. The paper glowed and then disappeared. It was instantly teleported to her family in Nordo Dracos. She started writing another one.
“Hey, Billow, it’s Butter! No time to explain, but you gotta get to Ponyville right now! We’re under an attack and changelings are invading! Definitely bring Beo and maybe a few guards your size, cuz we’re gonna need all the help we can get!”
She sent the second letter to her contact in Soder Dracos and began to write a third one.
“Nighty, I need you in Ponyville STAT! Changelings are-”
Before she could finish, she felt a shock in her body and was sent tumbling forward. She had been knocked to the ground and was unable to move. She saw two blurry, dark objects walking towards her. She felt herself being picked up and spun around as something green covered her body, only leaving a small whole for her head. By the time her vision started to clear up, it was too late. She had been caught by changelings and spun into a cocoon. The substance was so hard; she couldn’t move to break it and the blast had weakened her.
“Gotcha!” said one of the changelings.
“Hehehe, that one must’ve taken forever to spin!” the other one snickered.
“Yeah, she’s gonna be tough to carry, just like that other fat dragon. Say… I think that’s his sister!”
“I hear she’s got a lot of love to give! Take her to the queen! She’ll be perfect for harvesting!”
Buttercream watched as the first changeling carried her out of the window, while the other one zapped the rest of her stamps with a low-powered beam spell.
“Flurry…be careful…” she whispered.
Elsewhere in the castle, everyone had been lead into the supply closet where the secret door was. Starlight let them all in first with Trixie and Sunburst.
“Be careful up there, Buttercream,” she said as she took one last look behind her before closing the door.
Everyone walked carefully down some steps until they turned into a long corridor. Trixie, Sunburst, and Starlight all used glowing spells on their horns to light the way.
“Well this has been an eventful day,” Pumpkin said sarcastically.
“We’ll be alright, Pumpkin,” Pound told his sister. “We just gotta look hard in all these areas. At least Gallus and Silverstream are together.”
“Do you think Chrysalis will move outside of Ponyville?” Chip asked.
“I don’t know, Chip,” Flurry replied. “She did say she wants to make Ponyville the new changeling homeland. I hope they don’t do too much damage before help arrives. We’ve got to find the teachers. They’re our only hope.”
“What about Twilight and her friends? Or the Pillars? Can’t they do it too?” asked Mr. Cake.
“That’s right. After all, we saw all of them and the teachers take down the Trio years ago and they weren’t even using the Element artifacts,” Mrs. Cake added.
“I’ve been thinking about that, too. Honestly, I don’t have an answer. We’ve had peace in Equestria since then, but the new artifacts appeared recently right in front of the new Tree of Harmony, so they’re obviously needed again. I’m guessing it only works with them in times of great need.”
“Didn’t the Elements refuse to work when they tried them on Cozy the first time?” Thunderhead asked.
“Yeah. It’s like they’re trying to tell us something. We found other ways to defeat Cozy Glow, Tirek, and even the Sorceress without needing the Elements. I know it doesn’t make sense, but like Twilight said: they work in mysterious ways.”
“I’ll say it doesn’t’ make sense. I wish they’d just poof Chrysalis and the others away right now,” Stormy grumbled.
“I wish they’d do it too, Stormy, but it’s not that easy. I thought Discord could help, but he made a good point: we can’t learn a lesson if he just does it all for us. It’s the same with the Elements.”
“Still doesn’t make any sense.”
“But won’t the changelings just find us and copy our memories and know what we’re up to?” Pumpkin asked.
“Maybe, but we’ll just have to be careful. The map wouldn’t tell us where the teachers are if we can’t make it. We have to trust the map.”
“I just hope mom and the others are okay,” Annie said.
“We’ll find her, Annie,” Chip told his sister, putting his arm around her.
“Think there’ll be any changelings on the other side, Starlight?” Trixie asked.
“I hope not, but we’d be a lot safer out there than in the castle,” Starlight responded.
“Hey guys, Buttercream hasn’t come in after us yet. Do you think she’s okay?” Pumpkin asked as everyone turned back.
“That’s a good question,” Flurry said.
“We best not call for her or changelings might hear us on the other side,” Sunburst told them.
“I hope she’s alright back there. Someone should have probably gone with her,” Pumpkin said, forlornly.
They walked on for a few more minutes with Starlight leading the way down the corridor. Finally they saw light coming down from above.
“There’s the exit,” said Starlight. “Alright, everyone remain quiet. I’ll open the door to see if the coast is clear.
Starlight walked ahead to a small staircase and used her magic to open another trap door. She squinted her eyes as light shone down. She walked up the stairs and peered her head out. She quickly turned to the others and motioned for them to come. Everyone was let out one at a time into the open world. The tunnel led to a small grove. There was a pathway that lead into the mountains. They all looked out to see Ponyville in view. Some changelings were still flying around and a few combined changelings were in view as well. They heard the siren going off from here. Things did not seem any better from when they left.
“Alright. Sunburst, Trixie, you both lead them over these mountains and then everyone part ways.”
“What are you going to do here?” asked Trixie.
“I’m going to go back in and check for Buttercream. I’m starting to wonder if she even made it to the entrance.”
“Be careful, Starlight,” Sunburst told his friend, as she gave him the Elements. “Alright, everypony. Follow us.”
They all ran through a path in the forest with Sunburst and Trixie leading the way. Only a few seconds in, they heard a scream from Starlight’s direction accompanied by hissing and roaring. The changelings had already spotted everyone.
“STARLIGHT!” shouted Sunburst.
They all watched as Starlight fought off several changelings that had ambushed her before she could even get back inside the escape tunnel.
“I’LL HOLD THEM OFF! GO NOW!” she shouted.
“Do as she says! We’ll help her out!” Trixie called.
“Here! Take the Elem-AAGH!” Sunburst shouted before being hit by a beam from behind.
The Elements scattered on the ground and were immediately snatched up by several slender changelings with long prehensile tales called “spies”. They flew away with the Elements before Flurry or any of her friends could get to them.
“NOOO! THE ELEMENTS!” screamed Flurry.
Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie did their best to hold back the changelings and retrieve the Elements. A large, round changeling “brute” appeared and roared like a dinosaur. Tons of changeling drones flew out from behind him and swarmed around the three unicorns. The brute fired a very powerful beam at all three of them and stunned them, allowing the drones to encase them in cocoons. Everyone else stood in a circle back-to-back. Annie started crying as she held on to her father. Elytra, Tex, Thunderhead, Mr. Cake, and Mrs. Cake all stood around the kids, protecting them from the changelings that had already surrounded the group. A tall muscular changeling stepped in slowly. He looked like Scutellum but had regular colors and a standard grey frill on the back of his head. This was an “elite”: an advanced type of changeling with capabilities rivaling that of Chrysalis.
“Take the Elements to the Queen!” the elite told the spy changelings as they flew off with the artifacts. “And now for these fools!”
“Stay away from my friends! Can’t you see Mother is using you all?!” Elytra scolded her fellow changelings.
“Silence, traitor! You will suffer for your treachery!”
“What do we do with these ones, Lieutenant?” asked one of the drones.
“They are no threat to us, but the Queen will want them for harvesting. Cocoon them and then take them to Ponyville before Her Majesty.”
“Hey, what’s going on?!”
The changelings all watched as the group of ponies before them glowed brightly. They were blinded by the light and closed their eyelids. In a split second, there was a flash and then the ponies were all gone. They looked around in confusion.
“What?! Impossible! Scutellum told me he disabled that little alicorn princess’s horn!”
“Should we pursue them, Lieutenant?” asked a drone.
“Forget them. We have the Elements now; that is all that matters. But keep an eye out for them. That fool Elytra should be taken to trial under changeling law.”
“Hey, bugs!” called Trixie from her cocoon. “Don’t get too cocky! You underestimate our friends!”
“That’s right. Flurry Heart is resourceful,” Sunburst added.
“Your faith in your friends is misguided, foolish ponies,” the elite replied, standing over them. “The Queen already reigns supreme. No one is able to stand up to her, not even the Lord of Chaos himself! HAHAHA!”
“Discord, if you can hear me, stay away from Chrysalis,” Starlight whispered, as the drones started carrying all three of them off to the town.
Flurry lay down on the ground. She slowly opened her eyes and saw all her friends next to her. All of their parents and Elytra were gone. They were in a strange ethereal world with stars and nebula moving slowly around them. They slowly got up and groaned.
“Wha…what happened?” asked Chip.
“Pumpkin, where did you take us?” Pound asked his sister.
“Wasn’t me,” she replied.
“It couldn’t have been me either,” Flurry added. “That was a very powerful teleportation spell anyway.”
“Where are we then?” asked Stormy.
“And where are our parents?” asked Annie.
“Children…” said a deep female voice echoing around them.
“What? Who was that? Show yourself!” demanded Stormy.
“That’s…that’s the Spirit of Harmony!” Flurry exclaimed.
“The Spirit of Harmony?!” Pound replied.
“She is real!” Pumpkin added, joyfully.
“Spirit, what is it?” Flurry asked.
“Children, fear not for you will join the others soon. When you awaken, you must locate all the Teachers.”
“The changelings have the Elements though.”
“Do not worry, Princess Flurry Heart. The changelings cannot destroy or use them. The Teachers must be found and led back to Ponyville.”
“Spirit, what about all the others that have been kidnapped?” Pound asked.
“Yeah! Those dumb changelings took my Mommy and I’m not gonna stop looking for her!” Stormy added.
The voice of the Spirit giggled before speaking again.
“Your determination is admirable, little Storm Streak. I assure you that blessed circumstances have already found them. Twilight and her friends and the Pillars will not stay hidden for long.”
“How do we know where to start looking for the Teachers?” asked Flurry.
“Follow your cutie marks. You will all be sent across Equestria, but none of you will be alone. Hurry, little ones. Find the Teachers. Their fate is in your hooves.”
“Spirit, wait!”
“Peace be with you.”
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Once again, a brief ray of hope, quickly staggered by unfortunate circumstances. We know where the teachers have been sent to, and who's supposed to rescue them, and Buttercream managed to send a couple of S.O.S. messages to bring in dragon reinforcements, but now she, Sunburst, Trixie, and Starlight have been captured, and the Elements seized. Each turn of bad luck turns Equestria's darkest hour even darker...
A very timely save by Harmony, though. She really does work in mysterious ways, but now it's up to Flurry and her friends to find the teachers, which means separating and going alone. Well, maybe note alone, I should say. As long as they hold onto the hope that they can save their friends and family, and keep each other in their hearts, they'll never truly be alone. Good luck, kids...
Oh damn, poor Glimmy/Trix/Sunburst & ezpecially Butter, nooooooooooo!!!
On the plus side glad Harmony got off her rump & did something to help out young Flurry & her friends, about time!
Now we need some major good vibes on the next couple episodes cause Chryssy & General Butthurt need to be taken down a few pegs already!
Here we go another new generation of the elements
Oh that's cool it looks like the kids are going to find the young six I like that
11690271
The changelings are definitely more prepared this time, but they’ll find a way to stop them. Of course Harmony did help them out a little, and they are now on a road to figuring out how to beat Chrysalis.
Yep I still ship those two so much they are so cute together
Yeah it's actually 10 times worse since now you can't tell apart who is a fake or not
Yeah I guess that's a good point but when it comes to situation especially what Queen Chrysalis is doing right now this is the time we need the Elements of Harmony to work or else things will get worse
I know right and it kind of frustrates me
Ok this is still not good but it looks like they have a lead so Starlight showed the others about the map that there was something Shining in the map which they found out it was the Cutie Mark is reacting but to flurry heart and the other kids and it looks like the location of the young six it looks like they're supposed to find them before they set off buttercream was about to call for help but unfortunately the changelings got her Starlight Sunburst and Trixie leave them to outside away from Ponyville what starlight was noticing somebody's missing it was buttercream so she check on her but once again the change lanes ambushed them and what makes things worse they took the artifacts and they were about to take the rest of the ponies but in the flash of light they were all gone but they kidnapped Sunburst Trixie and starlight and it looks like it was the tree of Harmony safe flurry heart and her friends and telling them to locate the young six something tells me this won't be easy but the question is what happened to the other adults I guess we'll find out next time
11690733
Well Pinkie and Cheese found a way.
11690738
Don’t forget what happens at the end of this chapter though.
11690736
Don't forget, the map sent the kids all on a mission and they were also teleported to safety to speak with the Spirit of Harmony, whom then sent them each to where they needed to find the teachers. Things will work out the way they need to. Every time things gets worse, it gets better.
Well they have a plan to save the teachers now, but in the mean time it feels like things just keep getting worse and worse. Not only do the Changelings have the Elements now, they have captured several more characters.
It took an intervention from the Spirit of Harmony to save Flurry and her friends. Does that count as a literal Deus Ex Machina?
Would an "Amen" be appropriate right now?
11691006
They’ll get closer to victory with quite a few pratfalls, but they’ll get there.
Yeah it does, but I’m trying to avoid it as often as I can. It was mostly to speed things up because this story is getting kinda long and I don’t want to drag it out too much.
I've been wondering, it the Tree of Harmony going to be like the other Trees from the Season 10 comics or do you have your own head canon for it?
11691706
I haven't read the S10 comic arc, so I probably won't reference it in any way. What I have heard is mostly unappealing to me, so I will be ignoring it.
11692298
Hey, I know this has nothing to do with the comic, but at what age did Storm Streak get her cutie mark?
11692299
Storm Streak is a boy and it was recent so probably around when he turned 7.
The Spirit sure knows how to be dramatic, huh?
11696554
When the time is needed.
Ugh! Talk about going from bad to worse. Starlight, Sunburst, Trixie and Buttercream all got captured. (At least Buttercream was able to send a letter to her family. So they'll hopefully get reinforcements soon.) On top of that, the Spirit of Harmony had to save the kids to ensure they can complete their task.
Here's hoping they can find the teachers and save them.
11843456
Thankfully this is where the heroes start to slowly gain the upper hoof. Even the ones that were captured will have their chance to escape or be rescued.