Mystery Revealed
Rainbow Dash and Spike were stood frozen in place as Trixie, wearing her purple hat and cape, stood before them with a sinister smile on her face. Her two guards were stood by her side with the same looks on their faces. Her magical shield blocking the door was now bathing the tiny room in a sickly green light.
“Who are you?! What’s going on here?!” Rainbow Dash kept glancing between the Trixie standing before her and the one now lying on the bed covered in the weird slime.
“Isn’t it obvious?” The Trixie by the door said. “Then again, you never were the smart one of the group, were you, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow glowered at Trixie.
“Dash!” Spike yelled in a panicked realisation. “She’s a… a… Changeling!”
The Pegasus looked back at Spike, then to the unconscious Trixie. At this point the room was bathed in the light of flickering green flames. Rainbow and Spike watched as the imposter Trixie’s eyes flashed green. Her two guards had dropped their disguises and returned to their original forms. They were Changeling drones. Dark grey creatures with horns and fangs, tiny transparent green wings, a dark blue shell on their backs, their legs full of holes. They both looked identical, except for their eyes. The one on the left had bright blue eyes, yet the other one’s eyes seemed shinier, sharp and penetrating. The Changeling guards were grinning widely, showing off their fangs.
The imposter Trixie laughed as green flames then surrounded her, shattering her disguise, revealing her true self before them. A much taller, slender Changeling with a crooked horn, a green shell that not only covered her back but also wrapped around her middle, deep green eyes and messy dark turquoise hair that matched her tail. Rainbow Dash and Spike instantly recognised her as the Changeling queen.
“Queen Chrysalis!” Rainbow spat out as if the name tasted like bile. She ducked down into a defensive stance ready to protect Spike if she had to.
“W-w-what are you doing here? What did you do to Trixie?!” Spike said as he stayed hidden behind Rainbow Dash, eyeing the Changeling Queen nervously.
“Her?” The Changeling Queen didn’t even bother to spare the blue unicorn a quick glance. “Oh nothing yet, although she was quite the little instrument in my plan. You see, after the fiasco in Canterlot, my subjects and I were cast away to the Badlands. A seemingly endless desert filled with rocks and sand. Lost without our home we travelled aimlessly and took what little nourishment we could from the minuscule villages we found along the way, but it wasn’t enough.
“You may remember that we Changelings feed off of love. Without it, we grow weak. My entire swarm was dying and we were the last of our kind. I feared the worst had come. And then… the Crystal Empire returned. Love spread across all of Equestria and we fed off of it. Each of us grew stronger and we began to head towards it. I’d heard legends of the Crystal Heart, but never believed it to be real. After we reached the Crystal Empire we did as we always do. We began to replace the citizens and blend in, getting stronger and building our army… one Crystal pony at a time.”
Rainbow Dash looked at the guard on the right, the one with the shiny blue eyes. Now she knew what this one was. It was a Crystal pony, before it had been permanently altered into the monster it had now become.
“We had to be careful though. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour were two ponies who were well aware of our tricks. Because of this, we couldn’t get near that Crystal Heart. However, luck began to turn in our favour. Soon we heard word that the Crystal Faire was starting soon and that it was an event for powering up the Crystal Heart. This would be our time to strike, yet we still had no way of getting closer to it. That’s when little miss magic pony there showed up.”
Spike turned to Trixie as Chrysalis nodded towards her. She was still out cold, lying in the goo that was keeping her imprisoned for who knew how long.
“She amazed the ponies with her silly little tricks. Foals play stuff really. But I suppose after so much time being slaves and then being banished for a thousand years into shadow they would love any form of entertainment. I heard that Trixie received an invitation to perform for the faire which would help power the heart. This was the opportunity we had been waiting for. That night I paid her a little visit. Before she even realised what was going on, I had knocked her out and then locked her away. I took her place the next day, performing right next to the Crystal Heart and they loved it. As the show went on, I drained the love it was collection, as did my Changelings disguised as volunteers and assistants. Before the show had ended, we had managed to not only reach a higher level of power than ever before, but my magic reached a peak where I was able to mind control the entire Crystal Empire in one swoop. A few managed to resist, but they were quickly hunted down, and made to join the swarm.”
Queen Chrysalis laughed as she caressed the face of the former Crystal pony, now just another drone. It made Spikes scales stand on end. Rainbow Dash took a half step back, watching the two guards as she addressed the Changeling Queen.
“So if you took over the Crystal Empire, why did you come to Ponyville? Shouldn’t the Crystal Heart keep you fed forever?”
“You‘re right.” Chrysalis said, returning her attention to the rainbow haired mare. “The Crystal Heart should keep us sustained forever. Those Crystal ponies have become our very own little batteries, keeping the heart charged and feeding us. However this is no longer about just food or sustaining my subjects. This is about revenge. After Canterlot I’ve been thinking on how best to get my revenge. All I need is an army. The Crystal Empire is already under my control and so is most of Ponyville!”
“But how?” Spike asked from behind Rainbow Dash. “How did you make all our friends fall in love with Trixie? They all know she’s a fraud and no pony likes her here.”
“Hmm? Oh, that was easy. The cereal of course. With Cadance under my control I simply made her cast her love spell on it that would force the pony eating it to instantly love the mare without reason. I made the pink Alicorn give it out to her friends and they didn’t think twice about it after trying it. Even that pink idiot at the bakery was ordering hundreds of boxes and giving them out to every pony in town. Who would have known that the Princess of love could herself be so easily controlled by a love spell.” Laughing, Chrysalis turned around, looking out the tiny hole in the door that was still being blocked by her magic.
“And now tomorrow, all of these pathetic little ponies will gather in the city hall and voluntarily offer themselves to be a part of Trixie’s magic act, and they will be walking right into my trap. One by one they will walk into my chrysalises and soon all of Ponyville will be transformed into Changelings. Then with our new army, we shall storm Canterlot and bring the city to its knees.”
Chrysalis laughed again. Rainbow Dash glanced back towards Spike and whispered to him.
“Spike, you’ve gotta get a letter to Celestia. Tell her what’s going on. I’ll create a distraction.”
“But… how? Rainbow no, I can’t-“ Spike was then cut off as Rainbow took a step forward, making herself the centre of attention.
“That’s all well and good your BUGness, but you forgot one thing!”
The Changeling Queen slowly turned to face the cyan Pegasus, a smug grin on her face.
“Oh? And what is that little foal?”
“It’s that when the villain reveals their plans… they always lose!”
Rainbow charged at the Queen but her two guards instantly jumped on her, pinning the mare to the ground. She fought and struggled managing to break free from one before Chrysalis herself used her magic to restrain the Pegasus.
“G-GO!” Rainbow screamed as the magic tightened around her. Spike snapped out of his trance and ran for the window. One of the Changeling guards jumped for him but the baby dragon managed to dodge out the way before climbing up to the window. Queen Chrysalis fired an energy blast intent on harming him permanently but Spike managed to jump out in the nick of time, only leaving a smoking hole in the wagon and sending glass and splinters flying everywhere. He ran as fast as he could away from the wagon to get away and hide.
“Stop him!” Spike heard the voice of Trixie shouting from the inside of the wagon. “Stop that purple dragon! The Great and Powerful, Trixie demands it!”
Instantly everypony outside the city hall turned in unison towards the baby dragon. The baby dragon looked back and saw a sea of green eyes in the dark, all narrowed and looking towards him. Cries of outrage filled the area and they all began to chase Spike down. All of the ponies now all had the same goal in mind, to catch the one who dared make their beloved Trixie angry. He moved as fast as his legs would take him but sadly, ponies moved a lot faster than baby dragons. He’d have to out manoeuvre them. Dodging down an alley, Spike used his speed to knock over some trash bins to try and slow down his pursuers. It only managed to stop one of them, tripping a mare he knew as Bonbon, but that was all he needed to get a little extra distance as the others had to gallop around her.
He ran into Sugarcube corner and sprinted around the counter and went into the kitchen, looking to run out the back door. Pinkie then suddenly popped out from inside a cupboard and blocked off Spikes exit. With her mane now straight and her eyes glowing green, she looked like she was about to throttle the little dragon with her bare hooves. He couldn’t get around her and going back would lead him back to the approaching herd. Pinkie charged at him, going full speed as Spike looked for a way out. Thinking fast, he quickly swung open the oven door, causing Pinkie to slam head first into it, leaving behind an imprint of her face. Spike cringed but didn’t have time to check on her as he heard more voices from behind him. Running out the back door, Spike took a hard right and headed towards the Golden Oak Library. It wasn’t far and he knew that in there he’d find a parchment and quill. He just had to get there quickly.
Spike almost made it to the library when suddenly a flash appeared in front of him. The purple dragon blinked as he looked at who stood before him. Twilight Sparkle.
“Twi- Twilight?” Spike looked up at the purple mare as she looked down her mussel at him with anger showing in her eyes. Spike noticed that they were a light shade of green, just like Pinkie’s had been. “Twilight, it’s me Spike! Listen to me! Trixie isn’t who you think she is! It’s Queen Chrysalis in disguise!” Twilight’s horn began to glow as she bared her teeth. “Please, Lis-“
Twilight fired a beam of purple light and it hit Spike right in the shoulder. The baby dragon fell down, holding his shoulder as the shock of what Twilight had just done washed over him. He looked back up to Twilight with tears starting to form in his eyes. Not from pain, but from his heart breaking. Twilight stood over the dragon and pinned him down, leaving him with nowhere to go.
“N-no.” Spike said weakly. He couldn’t believe his Twilight would do this to him. No. Not his Twilight. Chrysalis did this to her. “Twilight, please snap out of this! Please! Remember me! All the good times we shared together, the way you raised me and looked after me! How you taught me to read and write! Please!”
Twilight didn’t seem to respond, but her eyes looked like they were fighting an internal struggle.
“I know you’re in there Twilight! Fight it!”
Twilight shook her head, her internal struggle gone and she looked the dragon right in the eyes as her horn started to glow again, preparing for another attack on him.
“Twilight…”
Her horn began to glow brighter as she aimed it directly at the baby dragon.
“I… I love you, Twilight!”
The light from Twilight’s horn started to slowly resend and her green eyes flashed and started to fade. She blinked. When she looked back at Spike the green eyes were weaker but she was looking at him like she wasn’t sure what to do.
“S- Spike?” Twilight looked down at him for what felt like an eternity, but suddenly the shouts of the ponies hunting Spike could be heard down the end of the street. The purple dragon looked towards them, then back to Twilight.
“Forgive me, Twilight.” Spike said earnestly. He then sat up as far as he could and blew fire at the tip of her tail. The Alicorn screamed in terror and began jumping around the place before stomping on her tail to put out the fire.
Spike quickly got to his feet and ran again. He’d have to come back to the library later when it had all quieted down. Running, he took a turn heading towards the edge of town, hoping that maybe he could hide in the Everfree Forest. It was dangerous, but right now it was the lesser of two evils. The little dragon couldn’t hear the crowd anymore and started to slowdown. The shouts of rage had been replaced by the sounds of his feet hitting the ground, the crickets in the grass and the buzzing of bees in the air.
Wait! There are no bees around here, especially not at night. Spike thought to himself. He then looked up and saw he was surrounded by about six Changelings, flying in the sky just above him. The purple dragon ran again and he was starting to get out of breath. He looked back up just in time to see the drones separate into two groups. Spike ran between two buildings and came out the other side hoping he could get out of their sight, but as he kept going one of the groups landed in front of him, forcing the dragon to run down another street. His side was beginning to hurt but he pushed himself harder. He was almost to the end of the street when the other half of the Changelings group showed up. Spike turned down an alley quickly and came face to face with a dead end, turning around he saw the six changelings all blocking him in.
A trap. They had corralled Spike into an alley and now he was trapped. He panicked knowing there was no way out, but he had to try something.
“Stay back!” Spike shouted as he stood with his back to the wall with nowhere to go. “I-I’m warning you. If you come one step closer, I’ll… set fire to you all!” Spike spat flames in their direction. They each laughed and began to move in towards him. This was it. They were going to capture him and turn him into a drone like themselves. He liked being a dragon. Why did this have to happen?
Just then, a cloaked figure jumped down between them. The Changelings jumped back at this newcomer, he looked like a large stallion almost as big as Big Macintosh. The cloak around him was midnight black and he was holding a long metal staff in a purple levitation field. Spike didn’t know what to make of what he was seeing. It was like a hero had leapt right out of his comics to save him. One of the Changelings ran forwards and the hooded stallion brought the staff around and smacked the drone with it, knocking the wind out of the creature. Then the others were jumping in, attacking the cloaked figure from all angles. Using the staff he swatted them all away, spinning it around and dodging to the sides, keeping the Changelings from touching him. His attacks were fast and precise. He knew how best to strike without taking too long to change to his next target. One managed to get in close behind him but the pony spun on the spot and grabbed the Changeling in a headlock. Spike watched as another pressed its advantage by flying up into the air. It was going to do a dive bomb attack similar to what they did when invading Canterlot.
“Look out above you!” Spike shouted in warning. The stallion looked up and saw the green ball of flame heading towards him. The hooded pony brought the staff down onto two other Changelings, knocking them out and then switched his levitation magic to fire an energy beam from his horn. The beam looked exactly like that which Twilight had used earlier on Spike himself just recently, but this one looked much more dangerous. The Changeling that had become a green ball of flame was blasted back by the attack and collided with another on the floor. Spike looked around and saw one of the Changelings flying away.
“One’s getting away! Up there!” Spike pointed with a claw and the hooded stallion saw the Changeling. He then lifted the Changeling that he was pinning down above his head and tossed the insect through the air, knocking down the escaping bug with a mighty thud on a roof top where they weren’t moving. The stallion had taken out all six of the Changelings and hadn’t even taken a scratch himself.
“Wow. You’re incredible.” Spike said walking up to the stranger.
“No problem Spike. Sorry I couldn’t have come sooner.” The stallion said as he levitated up the staff.
“Well I’m… Wait. How do you know my name?”
“Of course, I know your name.” The stallion removed his hood to reveal his white coat and blue hair. “We’re family.”
“Shining Armour!” Spike shouted as he ran up to give him a hug. “I’m so glad to see you! But how did you get here? What happened at the Crystal Empire? Didn’t you get mind controlled too? Where is-” Shining Armour cut Spike off by putting a hoof to his mouth.
“One question at a time. First though, we need to get out of here, and I need you to send a message to the Princesses in Canterlot.”
“But I don’t have a-“ Before Spike could finish, the white stallion levitated a quill and some paper to the dragon.
“My little sisters number one assistant without a spare quill and parchment on himself? Now I’ve seen everything.” Shining looked down at Spike with a smile as the baby dragon took the quill and paper, writing a letter of help to the Princesses. They both started to head away from the streets and towards the edge of town. “I followed the Changeling Queen here to Ponyville from the Crystal Empire hoping to put an end to her plans once at for all. I came to the library earlier but found Twilight was already under the Changelings spell. Without Twily or Cadance to help, I thought the next best option was you, assuming you hadn’t already been put under their spell, but you never came back all day.”
“Yeah. I was trying to sneak into Trixie’s wagon with Rainbow-.” Spikes eyes widened. “RAINBOW! WE HAVE TO-!” The little dragon was starting to panic but Shining placed a hoof on his head.
“Spike. I promise that we’ll do everything we can to save her. But you need to finish that letter. You’ll have to tell the Princesses to come with the entire royal guard.”
Spike nodded and wrote as fast as he could.
“The queen will soon know you’ve escaped and she’ll set her plans into motion immediately.”
“She said she was going to turn every pony into Changelings in the city hall and then march another attack on Canterlot.”
“Sounds about right.” Shining Armour looked over to the Everfree forest. “It’s no good. We can’t wait for help. We’ve gotta get in there and try to save them now!”
“Can’t you just create a shield like you did last time? Blow them all away again?” Spike asked, looking up from the letter.
“No. Cadance helped me make a shield that powerful before to push them all out. The spell usually surrounds an object. In the case before, I made it surround the entire city of Canterlot.”
Spike frowned and then went back to finishing the letter. Once done he rolled up the letter, then took a deep breath and blew fire onto it, sending the ashes away in a spell, that would go directly to Princess Celestia. Spike then looked at Shining Armour with fierce determination.
“So, how do we get in there and rescue our family?”
Chrysalis looked around at all the changelings. The troops she had sent out to track down the little dragon hadn’t returned yet.
"Where are they?" the changeling queen said, frustrated. "They should have been back ages ago."
"Heh. Sounds to me like they failed and Spike got away." Chrysalis turned to glare at the rainbow-maned pegasus she had tied up. Once again, Rainbow Dash had managed to ungag herself and was taunting the queen. "He probably already sent a letter to the princesses. They’ll be on their way to kick your flanks back to wherever you came from!"
Rainbow smirked, seeing her captor looking more flustered, but then was unnerved as the changeling queen smiled, and knelt down to her eye level.
"Perhaps you're right. I guess really there is no longer a reason to wait till the morning." Chrysalis stood up and turned to her guards by the door. "You two, fetch the ponies outside and bring them into the main hall. It's time I performed a little disappearing act for the ponies of Ponyville—” Chrysalis smirked, looking down upon Rainbow Dash ”—and welcomed the rise of the new changeling empire!"
The pegasus immediately renewed her struggles and started shouting obscenities to the changeling queen before once again being gagged and then taken away.
Spike and Shining Armor both sat outside the main hall of Ponyville, looking out at all the deserted tents and litter among the grounds. Disguised changeling guards stood at every door and window, keeping watch.
"Where is everypony?" Spike asked quietly to Shining Armor.
"Guards are posted at every entrance to the main hall and a few patrols are flying overhead. No doubt the changelings have everypony inside."
"Chrysalis must have started the show early.” Panic began to rise in Spike’s voice. “She's going to turn the ponies to changelings!"
"With both the Crystal Empire and the entirety of Ponyville's population, the changelings will have almost an unstoppable number. We'll be looking at a war on our hooves," Shining Armor said sadly.
Spike gulped audibly then turned back to the town hall.
"How do we stop them?"
Shining Armor thought about it for a second, looking again at all the possible ways to get inside. Watching the patrols and the guards, it seemed like there was no way in without a confrontation. Then he saw one lone guard stood by a small window.
"Spike, I've got a plan. But I’ll need your help. Can I count on you?"
Spike looked at all the guards. He was so scared and thought this would be far too much for him. But then he looked into Shining Armor’s eyes. His gaze was confident. Spike knew that look. It was the same one that Twilight always had when she had a plan.
"Just tell me what to do."
The night was still dark, but that never bothered a changeling. They were used to the dark and could see in it just as well as the light. Changelings always had the advantage over Equestrian guards; the ponies would rely on bright lights to see through the darkness, whereas a changeling’s vision needed no aid of lights and their dark colours made them almost invisible in the night. But tonight they were guarding Ponyville town hall and all the lights shone brightly out the front while one particular changeling guarded around back in the dark. Inside the town hall, the changeling Queen was getting her show underway, showing the Ponyville citizens a epic showing of magic. A simple ruse. This particular changeling found it funny that ponies could be so easily tricked. A little mind control with corrupted love and they would do anything and follow their idol blindly. Their queen was clever. He would follow her to the last corners of Equestria. His wonderful queen.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light shone directly into the changeling’s eyes from the darkness. He'd allowed himself to be distracted and that gave the opportunity for Shining Armor and Spike to blind the changeling with Spike’s fire breath, enhanced by Shining Armor’s magic. A silence bubble also wrapped around the changeling, preventing him from making any noise before being slammed onto the floor and knocked out. With the changeling unconscious, Spike and Shining Armor quietly slipped inside through the back window. They were now inside Mayor Mare's office and the room seemed to be deserted and untouched.
"Huh?" said Spike, breaking the silence. "You'd think big ol' nasty Queen would want to take over the mayor's office."
"Nothing of use to her, here. She doesn’t want a base, just an army," Shining Armor replied, keeping his voice down.
"Right. So she'll be in the main hall surrounded by guards and ponies that love her. Why doesn't she just order them to attack Canterlot like how she got the town to attack me?"
"Because they love Trixie; not her. She has to keep being Trixie-like and Trixie would never order an attack on the capital. I saw in the Crystal Empire what happened to the citizens there. One by one. She would ask for volunteers, they would come up on stage, and she would make them disappear. Then a changeling, disguised as them would return on stage while the real ones would get placed into a chrysalis pod to be transformed into one of their own."
"That's horrible," Spike said, aghast.
"Yeah, and she's running against the clock, which means we are too." Shining Armor moved over to the door.
"Okay, so what do we do?"
"Stick to the plan. Follow me and watch behind us."
The two crept over to the door and Shining Armor listened for anything that might be on the other side. Buzzing. Sounded like two sets of changeling patrols crossing paths. Just as it seemed the coast was clear, the white unicorn opened the door and looked out. It was dark but the coast was clear. Motioning to Spike to follow him, the two went out to the hallway. The main hall was down the end and the changelings went that way. Keeping their ears open, they moved silently until they heard a buzzing sound coming towards them and fast. Looking behind, they saw a group heading towards them. They opened a door at random quickly and jumped inside. They listened at the door as the buzzing passed them and kept going. Shining Armor kept listening carefully but then noticed that Spike was poking him in the side. Turning to look at the little dragon, he saw fear etched on his face. The unicorn turned to look at what had Spike so scared.
It was then that he noticed that they were in a room filled with chrysalis pods, all hanging from the ceiling. There were dozens of them, all filled with ponies. Many of which looked like they could just be sleeping, but some others had looks of misery, like they were having a horrible nightmare.
"We've got to save them," Spike said to Shining Armor.
"We will, Spike, but that would take us longer, and you know we have no time."
"But..." the little dragon began to protest but then the door clicked. Shining grabbed Spike in his magic and the two ran deeper into the room.
"I swear I heard something," one changeling guard said, entering the room.
"Ponies talk all the time during the changing process," said another as it entered the room followed by the rest of the patrol. "It's no more than mumbling in your sleep. They aren’t aware of what's happening to them." The second changeling stepped closer to one of the pods.
"It's a pity, though. I'd so love to hear their screams while they watched helplessly as they became one of us. Heh-heh." Spike felt his rage begin to boil and looked to make a move. Shining Armor held out a foreleg and stopped the dragon. Spike looked up and saw controlled anger on the stallion’s face. He wanted to hurt the changeling too, but now wasn't the time. They had to wait.
"You think there is enough out there to take over Canterlot?" the first changeling asked.
"Our Queen believes so. So we shouldn't doubt her. Besides, with the power of the Crystal Heart powering our beloved Queen, how's anypony going to stop her?"
Spike turned to look at one of the pods as he continued to listen. There was a pegasus mare inside, she had a yellow coat and an electric blue mane.
Raindrops? Spike thought to himself. He lifted up a claw to the pod and wished he could help her.
"And besides, with all these ponies under her control, there won't even be a fight; merely a struggle. And Celestia will have to watch as her own subjects attack her city. Loyal... clueless... and blind!"
Raindrops opened her eyes, revealing bright turquoise eyes, exactly like a changelings. Spike jumped back and let out a startled yelp. The little dragon slipped backwards on some of the chrysalis slime and fell over. The changelings in the room let out a loud hiss and then proceeded towards to sound. Shining Armor quickly moved around the chrysalises and jumped the group from the side, tossing one away with his magic. Two of the others jumped at him but he dodged one while catching the other and slamming it into the ground. Shining brought up his rear legs and then bucked the other changeling, sending it sprawling across the floor. The fourth changeling used its magic to fire off a bolt of energy at Shining Armor. The stallion quickly conjured up a magic shield to defect the blast and it fired off in a random direction, almost hitting one of the chrysalis pods. If the blast had hit that pony inside, it would have been their end. Shining had to close the gap between the pair of them before the changeling had a chance to fire again. The unicorn charged as the changeling powered up another blast and this time when it fired, the unicorn pointed his conjured shield downwards so the blast would hit the floor. As the changeling prepared a third blast, Shining tossed his shield at his attacker and stunned it as the conjured shield hit their horn. Shining then jumped onto him and pinned him to the ground. As Shining Armor was about to deliver the knockout blow, he found himself being rammed off the changeling. The unicorn looked up to see a pair of white unicorn stallions with blue hair just like his own. Then the changeling himself stood up and then changed its form to look just like the other two. Three changelings, taking on Shining Armor's own form, standing ready to fight back.
"Okay. This just got interesting," Shining Armor said with a smirk. The three copies of himself also smiled and then they all charged.
Spike had been watching from behind the pods, watching and silently cheering on Shining Armor. He wanted to help but feared he'd only get in the way. Shining Armor was captain of the royal guard and could easily squash these bugs. Just then Spike heard a noise behind himself and spun on the spot to see the fourth changeling that Shining Armor had thrown across the room at the start of the fight. Spike took a step back.
"S-stay back! Or I'll... breath fire at you," Spike said shakily, wondering if the fire would do much without Shining Armor’s magic to enhance it.
"You'll surrender immediately, dragon, and face our queen!" the changeling demanded.
Spike stood his ground but then something seemed to register about the changeling's voice. It sounded familiar. And his eyes; the changeling's eyes seemed to have a crystal shine to them rather than the dull look they usually had. Spike then remembered something.
“You think I could be a captain of the royal guards like the prince?” The light blue crystal pony with the yellow mane asked Spike.
“Of course, you just have to have confidence in yourself. I’m sure you can do it if you try.”
"But I’m not brave like you. I’m a scaredy pony," The crystal pony said looking sadly at the ground.
"Being brave isn’t about not being scared. It’s about doing what’s right, despite being scared. I’m not fearless, but I always stand up for my friends, or even ponies I don’t know. I’m sure you can do that."
Spike gave the pony a smile which he returned.
"I think I can at least try."
"D-Diamond Paige?" Spike said, uncertain. The changeling's eyes seemed to widen at the name, confused. "It's you, isn't it?"
The changeling closed its eyes then shook its head as if trying to remember. But when its eyes opened, the shine had faded. It hissed and then charged at Spike. The little dragon held his arms up in front of him in a bid to defend himself but found himself being lifted up and kept up in the air as the changeling ran under him and collided with Shining Armor. The much larger stallion knocked out the changeling with a single blow to the head and then lowered Spike down to the ground.
"Is he...?" Spike asked, looking at the unconscious changeling.
"Going to get back up? I doubt it," Shining said. Spike then looked at the unicorn. His eye was slightly red where one of the changelings must have got in a lucky strike. Looking across the room, Spike could see that there was three other changelings in their normal forms, lying unconscious.
"How'd you defeat those three changelings? Weren't they copies of you?"
"They looked like me, Spike. But they weren’t me. All the worse for them, really."
"Shining. This changeling. He's..."
"I know, Spike. I noticed when they came inside. He was a crystal pony."
"Diamond Paige. He was a friend of mine."
"I'm sorry Spike, but there's nothing left of that pony in there now." Spike looked down at the changeling and thought back on its reaction.
"No. I think you're wrong. When I recognized him and said his name, he hesitated. Like he was trying to remember. I think if we-"
"Spike," Shining Armor interrupted. "We don't exactly have time for this now. Ponies are being placed into these chrysalises as we speak and soon that second patrol will come looking for this one. We need to go. Now."
Spike knew he was right, so he nodded and followed behind the unicorn, glancing back at the changeling who was once his friend. Just then, Spike saw another door, slightly ajar. He took a few steps towards it and heard the sound of voices.
“Another one in the pod. This is too easy.”
Spike peeked into the doorway and saw stairs leading down to a basement.
“Shining Armor!” Spike whispered loudly to the white unicorn. The stallion turned back, as he approached Spike, he started hearing the voices too.
“These ponies are so gullible. They fall right into the trap and the others don’t question it.”
Shining Armor made his way down the steps through the darkness, being careful since the steps were coated in slime. Spike held onto the wall as to not slip.
This must be where the pods are coming from, Spike thought to himself. As they reached the bottom they saw the basement had even more of the pods, each with the ponies inside. Two changelings were creating another pod.
“The next one should be dropping through, get ready,” one of the changelings said, holding the chrysalis pod vertical. The pod was open at the top, and they seemed to be aiming at something. Just then a quick beam of light appeared in the ceiling. Shining and Spike looked up and saw a square hole with a few wisps of smoke, but falling through the hole was a pony. She landed inside the pod and immediately the trapdoor above closed, placing them all into darkness again. The mare looked around in confusion and let out a panicked yelp as the changelings began to seal he in. Shining leaped into action, immediately knocking down one changeling and then trapping the other inside a bubble. Spike started to slice away the pod with his claws but it wasn’t a quick job. Shining Armor began interrogating the changeling he had knocked down.
“Alright monster, talk! What’s up there?”
“Do your worst! I’ll never betray my queen,” the changeling said smirking.
“Yeah, we’ll never talk,” said the changeling in the bubble.
“Fair enough.” Shining Armor popped the bubble and slammed the changeling down onto the other cracking their heads together and knocked them out.
Spike almost got the mare out the pod when Shining Armor helped and used his magic to levitate her free. She was still covered in splotches of the goop, shaking it off. She had a yellow coat and orange hair. Spike recognized her as Golden Harvest.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” the mare said.
“Hey, no problem,” Spike said, offering her a smile.
“What’s going on up there?” Shining Armor asked.
“You mean on the stage? The great and powerful Trixie is putting on a magic show. She’s so amazing. She’s the most wonderful-” Shining Armor cut her off.
“Focus! Tell us exactly what is happening?”
Rainbow kicked and thrashed at her bonds. She had been tied up and gagged, forced to watch the show from the side as, one by one, ponies were led onto the stage. The changeling queen called for volunteer after volunteer.
"Yes, you good mare, come on up."
Again and again she would pick them out, one at a time. They would each enter a box on the stage and be gone in a puff of smoke, then a changeling transformed right in front her and walked onto the stage, disguised as the disappeared pony. Rainbow couldn't do anything but watch. Looking to her left, she saw the real Trixie, bound and gagged, but still unconscious.
Why hasn't she woken up yet? Rainbow kept thinking to herself. And will she still be Trixie when she wakes up? These thoughts clouded the blue pegasus' mind every time she looked at the unicorn mare.
"Yes, another volunteer! Come up here, little filly," the disguised queen called out again.
Rainbow turned her head back to the stage. Not the foals as well! Rainbow thought, horrified. Just then she heard a squeal of joy and then a little orange pegasus ran onto the stage.
"SCOOTALOO!" Rainbow screamed into her gag. The little filly looked up at Trixie, pure hero worship in her eyes as she looked up at the fake Trixie.
"Now little filly, you know what the Great and Powerful Trixie will ask of you. Simply step into the box and Trixie will use her outstanding magic to make you disappear and then reappear."
Scootaloo nodded excitedly and then ran into the box. Rainbow Dash renewed her struggles harder than ever before, screaming into her gag. The fake Trixie's horn lit up and glowed a sickly green colour. Rainbow pulled harder on her restraints. Despite how much it hurt, she couldn't let this happen. Not to Scootaloo. She'd promised to be like a big sister to her. She couldn't fail her. Then she saw the puff of smoke enveloped the box.
Rainbow's heart broke. She could only watch as the smoke began to disappear. She closed her eyes.
This can't be real. Please, let this be just some horrible nightmare. The crowd gasped. But this wasn't the usual gasp of amazement, but of confusion. Rainbow dared to open her eyes and saw a white unicorn stallion standing where Scootaloo had been. The little filly was sat on his back looking confused. The fake Trixie had a look of pure anger on her face.
"Hello, honey. Long time no see," Shining said, a cocky edge to his voice. He had a history with Chrysalis.
"You!" the changeling queen turned to the side of the stage. "Guards!" Immediately the changelings, all disguised as Equestrian bodyguards, ran onto the stage to capture the unicorn. Shining Armor levitated Scootaloo to the back of the stage as the first wave got to him. Shining kicked, dodged and fought them all off. Rainbow watched on, wishing she could help the stallion, but she her bonds held her tight. Just then the door off to the side opened a tiny crack. Rainbow feared more changelings were coming but was surprised when Spike walked through. The pegasus's heart lept in her chest as the baby dragon ran directly towards her.
"Rainbow, are you okay?" he asked as he used his claws to start cutting her ropes. Finally free, the mare pulled the gag out her mouth.
"Spike, thank Celestia you’re safe,” Rainbow said, getting up and stretching her wings. “We've got to help Shining Armor. He's outnumbered."
"Right!" Spike nodded.
"Wait!" A third voice called to them. Rainbow and Spike turned to see Trixie had woken up and was looking at them with pleading eyes. "You've got to untie me." Spike then quickly walked over to her and started cutting away her bonds with his claws.
"Good idea," said the blue pegasus. "We could use the extra set of magic to take out these changelings!" Trixie stood up and then tossed the rope away.
"Are you out of your minds?" Trixie said, fear in her voice. "We can't defeat them. They have an army! We are seriously outnumbered. I say we run and wait for the royal guard."
"They are on their way," Spike said to Trixie. "I sent a letter to Celestia, but this time of night, it could be a long time still before they can get here. We've got to slow them down and try to save everypony, before it's too late."
“But what can we do by ourselves?”
“We just have to stall for time, anyway we can,” Spike said, looking determined.
"You're crazy, little dragon!" Trixie said, taking a step back.
"Hey!" Rainbow got really close to Trixie. "If you want to run away and hide like a coward, then go right ahead! But that's our friends and families out there. So you can either help us save them or prove to us what we already knew, that you are no talent fraud."
Trixie looked shocked at her words, but before she could retort, Rainbow turned on the spot and flew at full speed out onto the stage to help Shining Armor. Trixie then looked down at the little dragon.
"Please, Trixie," He said, looking up at her.
Trixie didn't say a word. Instead, she turned around and ran for the door. Spike couldn't believe it. She really just abandoned them. There was a loud crash from on stage. Rainbow had entered the fight and was reigning down on the changelings from above. Looking up higher, he saw a large amount of equipment near a catwalk. He had an idea.
Chrysalis was furious. Shining Armor showed up out of nowhere and was disrupting her plans. Oh, she remembered him well. She had posed as his bride to be, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Cadence to her friends and family. Well, her friends and family would soon be a part of the changeling army, and forced to fight for her as mere drones as they attacked the capital of Equestria, Canterlot. Her plans hadn't changed; merely been delayed. A tiny setback. The changeling queen watched her changelings, disguised as bodyguards, as they attacked Shining Armor from all sides. He wasn't giving up, but he was getting tired and as soon as his strength finally left him, it would all be over.
Suddenly a rainbow streak flew across the stage, knocking her changelings off the white unicorn like they were bowling pins.
"What!?" the changeling queen shouted, looking for the source of this new disturbance.
"You're not getting away with this, changeling!" Rainbow Dash shouted down from above, looking down to take aim at Chrysalis.
The changeling queen jumped out the way and Rainbow missed. The pegasus took out another guard on her charge and then flew back up to retake her dive to the queen. Chrysalis, still in Trixie's form, charged up an energy attack and prepared to shoot it at the pegasus. Just before she did, she heard something snap above her. Looking up, she saw a heavy sandbag was falling and was about to hit her. The energy blast she had been charging up fired at the bag, destroying it and sending sand flying everywhere, much of it landing on the queen, getting in her eyes. Rainbow looked above to the catwalk to see Spike giving her a thumbs up. The little dragon had cut the sandbag lose and was quickly moving to the next, cutting it with his claws and letting it fall on an unaware changeling that had been sneaking up behind Shining Armor. The stallion was still in close combat with a large number of drones and their numbers were dwindling. The blue pegasus smiled and then took aim at the blinded changeling queen. She dove fast and then got close enough to the queen to strike.
Chrysalis rubbed the sand out of her eyes and saw the blue of the pegasus just a few inches from her. She couldn't defend herself. Rainbow Dash was inches from the Queen, but then something collided with the pegasus. Chrysalis cleared her vision and looked over to see a pink mare holding down Rainbow Dash.
"Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash said with shock.
"No pony hurts the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Pinkie Pie yelled crossly at Rainbow.
Rainbow shook her head.
"No, Pinkie. That's not Trixie! That's the changeling queen!" Pinkie Pie gasped loudly in shock.
"Don't you DARE call her that!" Pinkie then thrust one of her hooves down, attempting to hit the pegasus, but Rainbow moved fast, getting out from under the pink mare.
"Pinkie, you have to-" before Rainbow could finish, the disguised Trixie shouted out to everypony.
"They have ruined the Great and Powerful Trixie's show. Stop them! Everypony stop them!"
Immediately, the crowd of brainwashed ponies began to ascend to the stage, a few pegasi flew up and around to Spike on the catwalk. Many other ponies surrounded Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor separately.
"You've all been brainwashed! Can't you see that?!" Rainbow shouted to the ponies. But they weren’t listening. Instead, they all just jumped at the pegasus who had to fly away in retreat.
Shining Armor had taken out most of the changelings, but when the Ponyville citizens attacked, it became a lot harder. These were innocent ponies, he couldn't hurt them. The first charged at him, a mint-coloured unicorn mare with a white stripe through her light green hair. She seemed to have no combat experience like he expected for a town like Ponyville, but he had to hold back. Shining Armor spun around the mare and hit her in the back of the neck, a swift knockout blow. But now the rest of the town was barreling towards him. Taking out this many ponies wouldn't be easy, especially if he had to hold back. He charged his horn and fired stunning spells towards everypony, but their numbers were getting too numerous. He needed a better plan. Thinking quick, he placed a small shield around himself and pushed past them all, heading straight to Chrysalis. If he could just cast his spell to make her take on her normal form, they would all see this wasn’t Trixie and her control over them would break. Shining charged, knocking ponies down one by one. He came ever so close before a light shot his shield and shattered it, knocking the unicorn onto his side. He quickly got up and spun to his new attacker. The stallion froze instantly. The pink alicorn Princess stood before him. His wife, Cadence.
"Please no..." Shining said. The princess of love now stood between the fraud Trixie and Shining Armor. The former, with a cocky grin on her face. He couldn't bring himself to hurt his wife. This wasn't some changeling assuming her form, this was her in the flesh. Blinded by corrupted changeling magic.
"Cadence-" was all he managed to say before she fired a beam of energy at him, striking him hard in the chest before collapsing.
Spike watched in horror as the pegasi flew towards him on the catwalk. He turned and ran as fast as he could, trying to get away. One mare landed in front of him, which he recognized as Cloud Chaser. He dropped down low and slid right between her legs and kept running. The exit was just ahead of him and as he got to the door, he felt himself stop an inch from the handle. He reached out and but still wasn't getting any closer. Spike then looked at his claw and saw it was glowing purple. He turned his head and saw Twilight looking down at him.
"Twilight?" Spike asked in horror. Twilight had been so close to Spike for years, ever since he was a newborn baby dragon. She'd always been there. They'd always been together. Now she was looking at him, not with anger, but with hate.
"Twilight, please snap out of it. Please!" She didn't respond. "You've been brainwashed! Chrysalis put a spell on you, on the entire Crystal Empire! She's making you into mindless slaves to Trixie!" Twilight reacted to that by levitating spike close to her face.
"Never mention Trixie's name again, dragon! You are not worthy of saying her name!" Twilight had clearly snapped. Talking to her wasn't going to work. Spike then looked down over the edge of the railing. The baby dragon then looked back to Twilight with tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I love you." Spike then blew a blast of fire into Twilight’s face. She screamed as Spike took the opportunity to jump over the edge falling to the ground below. Spike yelled out in fear, but before he hit the ground, Rainbow Dash swooped past and caught him in her front hooves.
"Geez, warn me next time you're gonna do that!" Rainbow said, sounding a little fatigued. She spun around and tossed Spike up onto her back, then took off at speed again. It seemed now that every pony had their sights set on Rainbow and Spike. Pegasi flew towards them which Rainbow had to dodge and weave between. The main hall was small and they were running out of room.
“Hold on tight, Spike,” Rainbow shouted back to Spike and then began to dive bomb directly towards the floor, managing to dodge the advances of several of the pegasi coming towards her. She then turned upwards at the last second avoiding the crowd of ponies below. Spike, watching from Rainbow’s back, looked at all the furious and angry ponies. He had to save them but this plan wasn’t working... Or was it? Spike thought to how the citizens chased him all over town, maybe they would again. That’ll get them all out the hall and away from the changelings.
“Rainbow, head for the exit! They should follow us out!” Dash nodded and then turned to the left heading towards the exit. As she did, she felt something heavy hit her side, sending her off course. Looking back quickly she saw Applejack and Big Macintosh both bucking apples towards them, Rainbow Dash dodged and weaved, pulling up higher. Spike with one free claw managed to deflect one of the apples before another hit his other arm. Spike lost his grip and fell.
“Spike!” Rainbow turned to catch him but was instantly caught off guard by the distraction. A pair of pegasi, Flitter and Cloud Chaser, together pulled Rainbow to the ground despite her struggles. Spike had landed among a group of unicorns that caught him in their telekinesis and were currently taking him to the stage where the changeling queen, still disguised as Trixie, was laughing maniacally. Rainbow and Spike were both now brought to the front of the stage, Spike restrained by magic which even held his mouth closed so he couldn’t breathe fire, and Rainbow restrained by multiple ponies, while Applejack tied her up with her lasso.
“AJ, snap out of it. You’ve got to listen, she’s a cha-” Applejack stuck an apple into Rainbow Dash’s mouth to silence her. There was nothing any of them could do. Looking around, Spike saw Shining Armor lying unconscious at the feet of his wife. Again the false Trixie laughed, getting close enough to Spike and Rainbow so only they could hear her.
“You honestly thought you could stop me? The citizens of Ponyville love me, and you know now how much stronger I become with the love from another! Now I have the love of the entire Crystal Empire and Ponyville!” Chrysalis turned to the townsfolk. “Beloved ponies! Trixie thanks you for your aid in capturing these troublemakers. What say Trixie perform another feat of magic? And make these three disappear… forever!”
The crowd roared, cheers mixing with angry shouts, all wanting the same thing: for the show crashers to be punished! Spike looked to see Twilight among them. He couldn’t believe this was it. He had tried, and he had failed. Now he’d lost her.
“Do you understand now?” the Queen said as she looked back at Spike. “You didn’t stand a chance. Neither of you did.” She cast a glance towards Rainbow Dash before she faced the crowd and boasted loudly, “none can stop the Great and Powerful-”
“FRAUD!”
Her voice echoed throughout the room but yet the changeling queen looked surprised. Everypony stopped, looking confused at each other. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke in the middle of the stage. As soon at the cloud cleared, a blue unicorn with a silvery blue mane appeared shocking the crowd. The real Trixie!
“You think you can steal the stage from The Great and Powerful Trixie? Don’t make Trixie laugh.”
The crowd stood stunned. Murmurs of “two Trixies?” rose up from the crowd. The changeling queen growled and turned to the audience.
“Seize her! Seize her at once!”
The townsfolk didn’t move.
“What are you all gawking at? Get the imposter!”
Murmurs of uncertainty could be heard from the townsponies.
“The only imposter here is you, changeling,” Trixie said, to the horror of the crowd.
“Me? Clearly, you are the changeling. Look upon me, ponies of Ponyville. Surely you can tell I’m the real one of us.” Some ponies murmured, still unsure.
“Hey!” shouted Scootaloo from the back of the stage. “The real Trixie speaks only in the third person!”
Brat! Chrysalis thought to herself. Some citizens rose up in murmurs of agreement. The crowd was turning on her.
“But I am Trixie!” the disguised Chrysalis said, looking pleadingly to the townsfolk.
“Prove it!” said the real Trixie. “I challenge you, to a magic duel! Loser leaves Ponyville.”
“You’re joking, right?" Chrysalis laughed.
“What’s the matter? Scared?” Spike looked at Trixie. He heard the confidence in her voice, but her knees were shaking. Was this a bluff?
“Ha! You must be stupid! Very well: you’re on.”
The two stood opposite each other, Trixie looking at Trixie. The false Trixie bore a smug grin; the other was sweating profusely. The real Trixie swallowed, and at that moment Chrysalis shouted:
“Draw!”
She fired off a quick bolt of green energy which caused Trixie to jump out of the way. The unicorn used her magic to pull the curtain down and drop it over Chrysalis. The changeling queen quickly wrapped the curtain in her own magic, tearing it apart as she attempted to step out of it. Trixie’s horn continued to glow purple as she ran across the stage to a magic box. She jumped behind the box and hid as she seemed to be focusing her magic on something, but no pony saw what. Trixie then pulled out a playing card from behind her own ear and threw it at the disguised queen. Chrysalis had just removed the rags of the curtain when the card hit the queen on the face, and slowly slipped off to the floor. It seemed to do nothing more than annoy her.
“This is your plan? You’re stupider than I thought!” She lifted up the box that served as Trixie’s cover and the mare looked to the Queen. “You’re finished!”
Chrysalis threw the box down onto Trixie, crushing her. The sounds of shattering glass echoed across the room. The false Trixie walked over to where the box was and noticed that it was completely flat. Lifting the box up, she saw a shattered mirror where Trixie had been.
“Yoo-hoo!” a voice from above called. The queen looked up and saw Trixie on the catwalk, her horn still glowing. The queen made to charge and instantly tripped. Her hooves had been wrapped up in a collection of multi-coloured handkerchiefs. The changeling queen got up and instantly enveloped the catwalk with her magic, shaking and tearing at it, ripping it loose from its supports, and bringing it and Trixie crashing to the floor. The blue unicorn tumbled as she hit the ground, before sitting up and rubbing her head.
“You’ve made a fool of me for the last time! I’m going to end this once and for all!” The disguised queen fired a green energy bolt directly at Trixie, but as the beam was about to make contact, the unicorn quickly threw something at her hooves causing a cloud of smoke to appear. The energy pierced the smoke, coming out the other side. Once the smoke dispersed, Trixie was nowhere to be seen. Everypony looked around, wondering where she went.
Spike knew, though: she had landed on the trap door. That’s how she had appeared before, and now used it to escape. She used Chrysalis's own trick against her. The queen grew visibly angry and ran to the spot, smashing a hoof down onto the trap door. She ripped it up and looked down into the room beneath the stage. Shining a light, she saw all the chrysalis pods below.
All open, with the ponies once inside them gone.
In a fit of rage, she screamed; a terrifying howl that made all the citizens back away from her in fear.
“I will destroy her! Guards! I command you to-”
The disguised Trixie cut herself off when she felt something: a strong emotion heading towards them. No, not one pony’s emotions; dozens! She turned to face the doors, and in that instant, they were thrown open. Dozens of Canterlot guards burst into the room! Pegasus guards in the air, unicorn guards charging their horns, looking for targets; and behind them all, Princess Celestia.
She made it! Spike thought. She then immediately cast a spell over the entire room which caused everypony to glow. Then all at once, each of the disguised changelings reverted into their normal forms, looking shocked. The citizens gasped loudly. Up on the stage, the changeling queen, Chrysalis, stood in her natural form, anger etched on her face as she stared directly at Celestia. The townsfolk screamed and began to run away, the enchantment of blind love broken. Guards then started firing off attacks, stunning the changelings one by one.
“No! NOO!” the changeling queen screamed. The ponies holding Spike and Rainbow all fled in several directions, some still trying to work out what was going on. Dash quickly moved over to Scootaloo and grabbed her off the stage, taking her over to a corner away from all the fighting.
“Hey, squirt, are you okay? Scootaloo! Talk to me!” Rainbow said to the orange filly.
“Wha- Rainbow Dash? What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked, looking around, confused.
“Chrysalis brainwashed all the ponies in Ponyville, but Spike managed to get a letter to the Princess. Everything’s going to be okay now!”
“That bug lady from Canterlot?” the young pegasus asked.
“Yeah, but don’t worry; we’re gonna kick her flank to the badlands and back for what she’s done,” Rainbow said with a serious expression on her face, looking towards the changeling queen.
“If any pony can, I’m sure you can, Rainbow Dash!”
The rainbow-maned pegasus looked back at Scootaloo, who was looking up at her with that look of hero worship that she always used to have. Rainbow smiled at her; seemed her biggest fan was back to normal.
Celestia, still locking eyes with the changeling Queen, charged towards her. At that moment, Chrysalis quickly cast a spell over the stage, covering it with a hardened green wall, preventing any pony from getting inside. Spike looked around and realized that he was trapped inside. Chrysalis smirked as she watched the alicorn princess try and break the wall down using her magic.
“You’ll never be able to break through that wall, Princess. You may have foiled my plans once again, but I WILL have my revenge! But first, I have some business to take care of.”
Chrysalis then quickly jumped down the trapdoor, out of sight. Spike, who was stood off to the side against the shield, started to bang against the green wall. When Celestia saw him, she immediately went over to him.
“Spike, are you okay?” the white alicorn asked.
“I’m fine, and I’m really happy you showed up, but you’ve got to find a way in before she escapes.”
“Don’t worry, Spike. We’ve got the entire building surround-”
Suddenly there was a scream from below.
“Trixie is still down there!” Spike said, looking to the trapdoor. “I- I’ve got to go help her!”
Rainbow Dash flew over to them, looking at Spike, with Scootaloo holding onto her back.
“Are you crazy, Spike? That bug queen is still down there!”
“I have to, Rainbow. She risked herself to buy us more time.”
“But we can’t break the wall down!”
“I’m afraid not even my magic so penetrate it,” Celestia said.
“Maybe not by yourself.” They all turned to see Shining Armor, Cadence and Twilight all stood together. Shining Armor stood forward, addressing Spike.
“You go on ahead Spike. We’ll break this wall down in no time and be right behind you.”
“Shining Armor, are you sure we can break through this?” Celestia asked.
“I’ve been learning anti-changeling magic ever since our wedding-” The unicorn nodded towards his wife “-It’s how I avoided their mind control. We just need powerful magic to enhance the spell.”
Cadence stood next to her husband. “And you’ve got three alicorns to help right here.”
They smiled at each other and nuzzled quickly. Twilight walked over to Spike.
“Spike, we’ll be right behind you. But please be safe; I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I’ll be fine Twilight. Just... hurry, please.”
Twilight placed a hoof against the wall as Spike placed his claw on the other side.
“Twily, we need to hurry,” Shining Armor said, standing with the others.
“Go Twilight, they need you.” Spike turned and ran for the trap door.
“You can do it, Spike!” Scootaloo shouted from the back of Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah, go kick that bug’s butt!” the cyan pegasus called out after.
Spike gave a quick wave of his claw and then jumped down the hole.
Trixie lit up her horn. She was in the basement under the stage which was full of ruined chrysalis pods. When she came through here the first time, she had ducked into the room to hide from a changeling patrol. She saw all the ponies trapped and knew she couldn’t just leave them. One by one she had set them free, many thanking her and, with an odd trace of hero worship, praising her.
But of course they would. She had just saved them from a terrible fate; of course they would praise her. She just wished certain ones would stop staring. Then the queen could be heard gloating through the floor and Trixie knew that if she didn’t do something, they would all be in trouble. She voiced her concern out loud and immediately the ponies around her lavished her with more praise, telling her that she was incredible and the most powerful unicorn in all Equestria. With that boost to her ego, the blue unicorn told them all to flee and they did so without question.
Then Trixie remembered: the ponies were under a spell to make them love her. While she thought she deserved such attention, she knew that it was wrong; wrong that a changeling was posing as her and stealing all the attention for herself. But she couldn’t stop a changeling queen. Not alone.
Then she remembered that Spike said Celestia was coming. Maybe she could buy them some time. And why couldn't she? She was the Great and Powerful Trixie! The showmare heard her voice from above again. Looking up again, she saw a trapdoor. She then waited for her moment to shine.
That was just a few minutes ago. Shaking her head, Trixie looked around the room again. All the ponies were gone and hopefully safe, so she figured she had enough time to stay hidden and catch her breath. The unicorn sat down and brushed her mane out of her face. Then, just as Trixie exhaled, there was a crash from above her and the trapdoor was ripped away. The mare got up and ran as she heard a terrifying screech from behind her.
She ran up the stairs and into the next room, also full of ruined chrysalis pods that she helped to open. There were four changelings, all tied up; she had seen them before and put them into the corner. The blue unicorn hid out of their sight and moved to the door. There was a crash from behind her and all around she heard the sounds of fighting. Trixie knew this meant help had finally come. Moving out into the hallway she saw it was clear; no patrols or anything.
They must have been called to help in the fight, Trixie thought to herself.
Just then the lights went out, turning everything to darkness. Trixie lit her horn up to see where she was going. Then she heard a voice.
Trixie!
The mare jumped at the sound of her name. The voice was angry and close enough to be in her ear; yet she looked around and was alone.
You arrogant foal. You’ve ruined everything!the voice spat; now unmistakably Chrysalis’. You can’t escape from me now. We’re directly linked thanks to all the time you spent in the pod. I learned your secrets, your mannerisms; everything! I hope you enjoyed your little game, because I’m about to start my own...
Trixie kept moving, with the voice never stopping. She saw a locker and quickly jumped inside.
Hiding in there won’t save you! I know everything you’re thinking.
Trixie jumped out the locker and began to run fast. She tried many doors but all of them were locked. She slammed particularly hard on one door as her heart beat faster.
Ahh, fear. I can taste your fear, Trixie, and it is delicious.
Again she slammed on the door, and felt it give a little. Again and again she slammed on it until it finally opened. Trixie ran into the dark room and noticed it was full of filing cabinets.
Give it up. You can’t hide from me.
The unicorn ran deeper into the room, hiding behind one of the filing cabinets before gasping for breath. Then she heard the sounds of the door clicking open, followed by someone entering the room. She held her breath and dared a quick look. She saw the legs of the changeling queen.
“I know you’re in here,” Chrysalis said aloud, the voice no longer in Trixie’s head. “To think, a simple mare like yourself would be able to ruin my plans.” The queen moved between the rows of cabinets. “I had the entire Crystal Empire under my command; the Crystal Heart giving me so much love I could feed its energy into a seemingly harmless cereal, forcing the masses to love a pretentious mare like yourself. All the while, their love for you would feed me; make me strong. Ponyville was set to crumble next and Canterlot would have been mine. Now my army’s numbers fall because of you meddling fools.” Her voice rose in anger, tossing a file cabinet across the room. “You’ve ruined it all!”
Again and again she threw the file cabinets across the room. Trixie still held her breath, trying to stay perfectly silent, until she couldn’t hold it any longer and gasped for breath.
“There you are!” Chrysalis enveloped her magic around Trixie and lifted her up. The magic then focused solely on her throat, squeezing and choking the mare. “I would prolong your suffering... but you’ve delayed me enough. Time for you to sleep, little foal. Forever!”
Trixie’s eyes opened wider as she felt the magic cut off her air supply. She kicked at the air desperately trying to break free from the queen’s magic. Chrysalis smiled as the unicorn struggled and her movements slowly became limp.
“GET OFF OF HER!” Spike burst into the room and jumped onto Chrysalis’s back, pulling at her hair. The queen screamed and let loose her magical grip on Trixie, who fell to the ground, coughing before refocusing her magic. The changeling queen tossed Spike off her back, despite his grip, taking a chunk of her hair.
“You worthless little dragon! How dare you!?” She charged up her horn, ready to deliver a deadly blow, but as she was about to cast the spell, the sound of hundreds of filing cabinets opening caused her to turn her attention to the room again. Trixie lifted out thousands of files, separating them out with the paperwork inside, and made them fly towards the queen, surrounding her, trapping her inside as they spun at a high speed that she wouldn’t be able to walk out from. Chrysalis began to cast her spells at the folders and paper, destroying them in chunks. Spike knew it wouldn’t hold her much longer. He looked at all the now empty file cabinets.
“Trixie, I have an idea!” Spike said, and started to tell her his plan.
The queen blasted away the encircling papers until only a few remained. Then she saw one of the filing cabinets being telekinetically thrown towards her. She jumped out the way, then saw another being tossed at her; then another and another. Chrysalis kept dodging them one after the other. There were so many, more than she remembered the room actually having. Then one came right at her and she had no way of dodging. She reached out and tried to grab it with her magic; but there was nothing to take hold of. The cabinet collided with her, yet seemed to phase right through her. Looking around, she suddenly noticed that the cabinets around the room were not actually being picked up, but materialising from the stationary ones and disappearing again after landing behind her without a sound. An illusion!
The changeling queen’s anger peeked and her rage-fueled magic sent everything in the room flying and crashing into the walls, and canceling the illusion spell. With the room now cleared, she could see that Trixie and Spike were gone. The queen wasted no time, flew into the air and took after them into the hall.
Spike and Trixie were running as fast as they could.
“That was a great idea, little dragon,” said Trixie, smiling down to Spike. The queen’s outraged scream echoed behind them. The pair looked back in fear.
“Real great,” she deadpanned.
“Quickly, in here!” Spike yelled, leading Trixie into the room with the chrysalis pods. “We can escape by climbing back out the tra-” Spike stopped suddenly.
The changelings that had been tied up in the room were surrounded by another four changeling guards, setting them free. They each turned to look at the two intruders. “Trixie, look out!”
The eight members of the swarm stood with grins on their faces and began to spread out. Slowly they began to encircle them.
“Any other bright ideas?” Trixie asked snarkily.
“Umm… d-do you have any more smoke bombs?”
“No, I used them all.”
“Y-you’re a unicorn, can’t you zap them?”
“I do tricks! I never learned how to fight! Where are your friends?!”
Where are they? Spike thought. Why hadn’t they broken through the barricade yet? The changelings had now fully encircled the pair; they were trapped. Inch by inch, the changelings began to move closer. Spike and Trixie held each other, bracing themselves for the worst. Daring a quick glance Spike looked up into the eyes of a changeling as they shined at him.
“Diamond Paige!” Spike shouted as he pulled himself away from Trixie. All changelings froze in place. Especially the changeling that the little dragon began to approach.
“Listen to me, you used you be a crystal pony. Your name is Diamond Paige! You used to always follow me around the empire, do you remember? Spike the Brave and Glorious!”
The other changelings began moving forward, all but the one Spike was addressing.
“You used to always say you wanted to join the guards but weren’t sure of yourself and I gave you some encouragement. Do you remember what I said?” The changelings pounced, Trixie used her magic to hold off one, but another tackled her from the side. Trixie screamed for help. “Remember! I said-” Spike too was tackled to the floor and pinned down.
The single changeling still didn’t move. He heard a voice in his head. His queen…? No, another.
Being brave isn’t about being strong, it’s about being strong enough to do the right thing.
The changeling burst into green flames. All heads turned to look at him. When the flames cleared, what stood before them was a pony with a light blue coat and a bright yellow mane, all crystallized.
Diamond Paige looked at the changelings, then looked to Spike and Trixie.
“I remember.”
He lowered his head and charged. The unsuspecting changelings instantly found themselves headbutted and knocked down. Four of them took to the air and flew towards the crystal pony. Two changelings kept Trixie and Spike held down, and couldn’t do more than watch as they charged him. Diamond Paige dodged the first three changelings but the forth tackled him to the floor.
“No!” Spike called out. The little dragon dug his claws into the floor to try and pull himself away but the slime from the pods above had made the patch of ground too slimy. He looked at his claw and had an idea. He gathered a clawful and then threw the goop into the changeling’s eyes, causing it to let go of the baby dragon and wipe at its face.
Spike ran to Diamond who had three changelings holding him down. Suddenly, the green fire encircled the crystal pony again, and the changelings were thrown back across the room, one colliding with the changeling pinning Trixie. Where Diamond Paige was once pinned there now stood a huge Bugbear.
Which had wings. And a stinger. And was, seemingly, very angry.
“Spike, grab Trixie and get out of here. I’ll take care of these insects!” Paige said in a rough voice.
“But we can’t leave you!” Spike said, pleading with the crystal pony-changeling.
“I’ll be fine, just go.”
“NONE OF YOU SHALL BE FINE!”
All eyes turned to the door. Queen Chrysalis walked in through the door, sealing it behind her. She looked outraged.
“Seems you’ve managed to make quite the mess. Ruined my plans, made me look a fool...” The queen paused as she looked at the scene before her. “And turned one of my own against me.”
Chrysalis looked at Diamond Paige, still in his bugbear form. The other changeling minions stood behind their queen.
“Seems the crystal ponies aren’t quite as easy to convert. Defective vermins.”
“It is you who is defective, bug!” Diamond Paige snarled and charged at the queen. With a flick of her horn, she blasted the crystal pony-changeling in the chest, causing him to fall and collapse at her feet. Green fire flickered around him and he returned to his pony form, devoid of his crystalline skin. After a second, the flames flickered again and his body reverted to it changeling form again.
“Pathetic. Now for the both of you!” Chrysalis charged up her horn.
“Trixie,” Spike said in a low voice, “get up the trap door and tell the others about the crystal ponies. Tell them they can be saved if they can get their memories back. I’ll hold her off.”
“What?” Trixie whispered back. “Are you out of your little dragon mind?”
Spike remembered back to when Rainbow Dash made the same sacrifice for him. They had to warn the other ponies not to hurt the other crystal pony-changelings.
Spike thought of everything that happened because of the changeling queen. An entire empire. Ponyville. His friends, and his family.
Spike looked at Diamond Paige, who was still motionless on the floor.
It ignited a spark inside his belly. He clenched his claws tight into a fist and let out a roar, more primal than any he’d sounded before. Flames spewed from his mouth, aiming directly at Chrysalis. The other changelings scattered as the queen fired a green beam spell of her own from her twisted horn. Fire and magic collided with each other, pushing against one another. Trixie ran, but suddenly found herself blocked off by the changelings, preventing her escape. She looked at them, panic gripped her for just a second before she saw something and then had an idea. She smiled.
“You dare to oppose Trixie? The most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria?” Trixie’s horn glowed, but the changelings didn’t flinch. They knew Trixie had no fighting magic.
Suddenly, from behind them, a chrysalis pod lowered from the ceiling, then scooped on them all up, and with Trixie’s magic, sealed up around them. They all struggled but couldn’t break free from the slimy cocoon. Trixie looked at her hoof and wiped the tip of it on herself, looking smug.
“Never mess with the Great and Powerful Trixie.”
The mare ran and reached the door leading to the basement with the trapdoor. She dared a glance back and saw the struggle of power, dragonfire against changeling magic. Spike was struggling just to keep the flames burning; his breath was running out quickly and the magic beam was getting closer. She looked at the ground, struggling with a decision. The ponies needed to know the truth, but...
I can’t hold it! Spike thought to himself. He dared to open his eyes and saw his flames flickering weakly. The magic burning through the fire.
“It’s over, little dragon! You should never have challenged me!” the queen boasted. Spike squeezed his eyes closed and gave his last gasp. Suddenly he felt the pressure leave his body and the fire burning hot again.
What? Spike looked to his right and saw Trixie stood at his side, her horn glowing as she sent her magic directly into him.
“Don’t give up, little dragon. Incinerate that insect!” Trixie had given Spike her magic to boost his own, much like Shining Armor had done before. Spike looked back to Chrysalis beyond the flames, and gave it his all. With renewed vigor, he pushed his flames out again, pushing back Chrysalis’s magic.
“What? NO! I’m done with you two! THIS ENDS HERE!”
Chrysalis powered up her energy again and the blast pushed back against the flames. The strain came back almost instantly for Spike, and even Trixie herself could feel the pressure from it. Both of them, being pushed back from the force of the colliding magics. They couldn’t hold on any longer.
“You cannot defeat the changelings! We are infinite! We are eternal! We are-”
“Finished!”
Chrysalis looked down. Diamond Paige jumped up, smacking Chrysalis’s horn, causing the spell to immediately fail.
“YOU!” Chrysalis screamed as she physically grabbed the crystal pony-changeling. He just smiled as Spike’s fire came at them both.
Chrysalis screamed. Before the fire made contact, her horn glowed brightly, and the room exploded with light as magic collided with flames at point blank range.
Spike and Trixie were thrown back against the wall, both slumping down in pain as all turned to darkness.
There was a bang from across the room. Dozens of hooves running towards him. Spike couldn’t open his eyes and just accepted his fate, fearing what the swarm of changelings would do to him.
“Spike!”
They called out his name. How’d they know his name?
“Spike, wake up!”
The little dragon dared to open his eyes a tiny bit. A pair of large purple eyes greeted his vision.
“T-Twilight?” Spike asked, his voice rough from bellowing so much fire all at once.
“You’re okay! Thank Celestia!” Twilight said, almost in tears from grief and relief, seeing Spike in such a state but knowing he was alright.
“Well, I didn’t do it alone,” Celestia said with a smile. Spike looked around the room. There were dozens of ponies all around: Celestia, Cadance, Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash with Scootaloo still riding on her back and others too.
“The… the crystal ponies…” Spike tried to speak but he was too tired.
“Shh, Spike. You’ve done quite enough,” Twilight said calmly. They quickly embraced in a hug before an attention-grabbing cough came from beneath the pair.
“Excuse Trixie-” all eyes looked down “-but if the dragon could please get off of her, she’d like to get up now.” Spike had landed on top of Trixie and the mare was uncomfortable squished against the wall. Twilight levitated Spike up and onto her back. Trixie got up, unsteadily with the help of Cadence.
“Are you alright?” the pink alicorn asked. Trixie realized who she was being spoken too by and quickly bowed her head.
“Y-yes, your highness. Thank you,” Trixie spluttered out quickly.
Cadence coved a laugh with her hoof and then turned to Shining Armor. He was standing across the room. At his hooves was Chrysalis’ prone body. She wasn’t moving.
Guards had entered the room and rounded up the changelings that had been trapped in the chrysalis pod. Shining Armor continued to look at the changeling queen and then conjured up a magical rope, using it to bind her legs together and an enchantment around her horn, preventing her from using any magic.
“We’ve finally captured the queen,” Shining Armor said before turning to face Spike. “I don’t know how you managed to stop her. You’re quite the tough little dragon.”
Rainbow Dash flew over to Spike and gave him a quick jab on the arm.
“Wayda go, Spike, I can’t believe you took out that bug by yourself!”
“Well, not by myself...” Spike said and then turned to the blue mare. “Trixie helped me. I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Trixie raised her head and then put on a smug face.
“But of course. Trixie isn’t afraid of any changelings like that. Why, if she wasn’t so tired from being ponynapped for so long, Trixie could easily have vanquished the whole army herself.”
Suddenly there was movement from the side of the room as the chrysalis pods began to move. Trixie screamed and hid behind Princess Cadence. Everypony took up a defensive stance as the figure came closer. Spike watched as the figure limped into view. A changeling; scorch marks all over his body, and shaking hard. He looked at them all and his eyes sparkled.
“Diamond!” Spike jumped down from Twilight and ran unsteadily towards the crystal pony-changeling, ignoring the shouts for him to stop. ”Are you okay?! I’m so sorry.”
Diamond Paige opened his mouth to talk but then collapsed. “Diamond!” Spike turned to the others. “Please, we need to help him.”
Everypony hesitated for a second before Trixie stepped forward. “I’ll help, Spike.” The showmare quickly ran to Spike’s side and checked over Diamond Paige.
“He’s hurt badly,” Spike said to Trixie. “He needs a doctor!”
There was silence for another second before Twilight, too, came over to help.
“I’ll carry him Spike, but you need to tell us everything that happened down here.”
Large numbers of crystal ponies and changelings were being divided up into many carriages. Over the last few days, changelings had been separated from the crystal pony-changelings. After a lot of work, the Canterlot magical committee was able to restore the memories of the crystal ponies, but not their actual forms. The damage Chrysalis had done to them was irreversible; however, they were all able to change themselves to look like their old selves.
The regular changelings were being sent to correctional facilities so that they might be helped; maybe give them a chance to join society as Equestrian citizens in the future. But many remained hostile, staying yet loyal to their Queen. Chrysalis herself was locked away in a cell of her own, and had yet to wake up after being taken prisoner. She was constantly monitored, but it was unknown what was keeping her from waking up.
Spike looked down from the balcony of Canterlot Castle. He watched as, one by one, the crystal ponies boarded the many carriages to be taken back to the Crystal Empire.
“Spike?”
The little dragon turned around and saw Twilight walking up to him. “You’ve been sat up here for hours. Come down and get some food.”
Spike turned back around and looked down at the crystal ponies. “Are they gonna be alright, Twilight?”
Twilight came over to the little dragon and placed a hoof around him.
“Thanks to you. Not only did you save all of Ponyville from suffering a worse fate, but your actions saved all of Equestria as well.”
“But why did the crystal ponies not become full changelings? They were able to break free.”
“Crystal pony DNA is different to regular pony DNA. We aren’t sure of all the details and differences they’ll live with now, but this is something they will all have to figure out themselves. They all seem fine. Though many are shaken by the whole experience, they have their memories back, thanks to the memory charm spell. They can go home.”
Spike saw Diamond Paige entering into the back of one of the carriages. He looked up at Spike and gave a short wave. Spike returned it as he disappeared out of sight. The little dragon turned and gave Twilight a hug.
“I almost lost you.”
“Oh, Spike... I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”
The two shared an embrace for a while longer before the sound of voices coming towards them could be heard.
“You really want Trixie to return to the empire again? After everything that happened?!”
“Given everything that’s happened, the empire could do with a morale booster. I hope you don’t mind?” came the playful reply, as Princess Cadence rounded the corner with Trixie at her side.
“Mind?” Trixie bowed quickly to the Princess. “It would be Trixie’s honor.”
Cadence smiled, then turned to Twilight and Spike.
“Hey you two, dinner's almost ready. Princess Celestia and Luna are waiting.”
“Great! I’m starving,” Spike said running up to Cadance. “What gems do you think they’ll have this time? I hope they have emeralds. Or maybe sapphires. Rubies? Turquoise?”
Twilight smiled as they all went ahead and then followed them.
The guards watched the monitor carefully. The changeling queen’s image on the screen remained motionless.
“Any change?”
The guards turned around to see Shining Armour walking up to them. The first guard, a stallion with a grey coat and black mane, stood up.
“Nothing, sir. The prisoner still hasn’t woken up yet.”
“The last of the changelings are leaving the city now,” Shining Armor said, walking over to the cell. “I was expecting her to try something.”
“Sir-” the other guard stood up; a mare of black coat and white mane “-is it possible she’s actually in a coma?”
“Unlikely. All the vitals show that she’s perfectly healthy. And the spell that hit her also hit another pony; he was up and walking moments afterward and he was much smaller than-” Shining Armor stopped suddenly. “Open the cell door.”
The guards looked at each other. “But sir, we-”
“Open it!” the stallion shouted. One of the guards opened the door quickly, fumbling with the key. Shining Armor darted inside lowering his horn. Chrysalis's entire body began to glow purple, before the green flames erupted around the changeling queen. When the flames dispersed they revealed a normal changeling. The mare guard looked into the cell.
“What… what’s going on?" she asked.
The changeling opened his eyes slowly. They had a familiar shine to them.
“W-where… am I?” the changeling asked.
“What’s your name?!” Shining Armour shouted.
“My… my name?” The changeling was struggling to gain control of his senses. He’d been locked in a sleep spell for days.
“Answer me!” the white unicorn demanded.
“P- Paige…” The changeling blacked out again. “My name’s… Diamond Paige.”
Shining Armor grit his teeth in anger. They’d been duped. He turned to the guards and shouted.
“WHAT CARRIAGE WAS DIAMOND PAIGE ON!?”
The carriage rattled from side to side as the pegasus stallions pulled it through the air. Diamond Paige had his eyes closed, and a smile on his face. He was trying not to laugh.
“Hey,” one of the crystal ponies addressed him - a light green mare with an amber mane, “is something funny?”
He opened his eyes to look at the crystal pony. He smirked at her.
“Oh, I’ve just got a feeling that this day is going to be…”
His eyes flashed green, then he looked out the window as the caravan flew through the air, traveling far into the distance, with the disguised changelings pulling the cart.
“...Perfect.”
Author's Note
Thank you to everyone for reading this, and if you have been reading and waiting since I first uploaded this...
IM SO SORRY :( The wait you all had to sit through, must have sucked. I know what it's like to be reading and enjoying a story and then getting to the end and going... where's the next part? And seeing the person hasn't updated in years. It's a heartbreaker. Well, I always had this story in my mind, just writing it killed me, or rather not writing it.
But here it is and the story is complete! YAY!!!
Special thanks to John Gabriel for helping to make this chapter a smooth streamlined reading experience. :)
And Thank you to everyone, for reading. :)
