Hard Responsibilitiesby Just A Random PegasusChaptersWe're Protecting Ponyville... Together? Aggravating DisagreementsVery Different ConversationsWorking TogetherWe're Protecting Ponyville... Together? We're Protecting Ponyville... Together? "Flash! Flash, wake up!" Twilight said, nudging her special stallion. "W-what?" He asked, opening his blue eyes to find a distressed Twilight looking down at him. "Are you okay, Twi?" Twilight just sighed as Flash sat up on the bed. "I'm not sure. I'm a little nervous, that's for sure." Flash Sentry proceeded to stretch his wings. "What happened? Did Princess Celestia give you more royal responsibilities?" Twilight shook her head. "No." She then picked up a scroll with her magic. "Princess Celestia sent this earlier." She read over it again. "The changelings are invading the Crystal Empire." Flash jumped to his feet. "What?!" He then thought for a moment, remembering the last time they invaded. "Why the Crystal Empire? Shining Armor and Cadance live there, and they were the ones who defeated her at first." Twilight looked down out the window. "Princess Celestia thinks it's because Queen Chrysalis wants to trap the two." She turned around to Flash, getting a more determined look on her face. "This is why I must gather my friends!" The mane six all stood in front of their special ones: Fancypants, Soarin, Cheese Sandwich, Caramel, Discord and Flash Sentry. "As you know, changelings are invading Equestria. So, we have a responsibility for you six." Twilight informed as the stallions nodded their heads. Discord then rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is, I can take care of it." Discord responded, creating a cotton candy cloud and proceeding to sit on it. Twilight raised a brow. "All of you are charged with this task." As soon as everypony was silent, Twilight continued. "We decided to trust you six with keeping Ponyville safe and making sure all citizens are safe." Cheese Sandwich didn't know whether to smile nervously or happily. "You're giving us this responsibility?" Twilight nodded her head. "You are some of the closest ponies to us. If the citizens here are going to trust anypony, it would be you six." Caramel gave a smile. "Well, I'm happy you think we can do it." Applejack walked up to him. "Ah know ya'll can do it. It really isn't that hard." She then hoof-bumped Caramel and looked into his eyes for a few seconds. The rest of the mane six then walked over to their special ones. "See you later, Flash." "See ya, Twilight." Pinkie and Cheese were wrapping each other in a tight hug. "I'll miss you, Cheesy!" "I'll miss you too, Pinkie." Pinkie Pie then pulled apart. "Don't have any parties without me, or else I'll have to blast you with the party cannon when I get back home!" Fancypants took Rarity's hoof and kissed it. "I'll miss you, darling." "Same with me, dear." Discord gave Fluttershy a bouquet of cotton candy in chocolate milk. "I'll see you later, Fluttershy." Fluttershy giggled. "Don't turn Ponyville chaotic while I'm gone, okay?" She then hugged Discord. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, Soar." Rainbow Dash said, flipping her mane back. Soarin nodded his head. "Yep!" They then wing-fived. When Rainbow Dash knew nopony was watching, she gave Soarin a quick nuzzle before nervously looking around and flying to where Twilight was. All six were standing next to each other, waving goodbye. Twilight started to charge up her horn. '"We wish you luck!" Fancypants called as Twilight teleported her friends. A moment of silence hung in the air. "Well, what should we do now?" Soarin asked, hovering above the other stallions. Fancypants thought for a moment. "Discord?" The draconequus looked down at the unicorn. "What do you need, fancy-shorts?" Fancypants glared at Discord. "Can you use your chaos magic to create a force field around Ponyville?" Cheese Sandwich responded before Discord had the chance to. "Why just Ponyville? What about all of Equestria!" Discord pondered for a moment. "Okay! Here goes..." "NO!" Flash Sentry cut in. "I don't think all of Equestria knows about the attack." Discord raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying, yellow guard?" Flash gritted his teeth. "I'm orange." "Whatever. Get on with what you were saying!" Discord responded, sloppily eating some cotton candy. Flash shot a small glare at Discord. "Well, if ponies see a force field around all of Equestria, they would assume something is wrong. We want nopony going crazy." Flash then thought for a moment. "And we can't put it around all of Equestria, since the changelings are already in the Crystal Empire." Cheese Sandwich nodded. "I meant around all of Equestria that isn't invaded by changelings." Caramel and Soarin nodded in agreement to Flash's statement. "Well, what do we do, then? Let everypony get attacked because we didn't want to put up with them running like crazy?" Fancypants questioned as he straightened his tie. "It would be better if nopony else knew about it. We were technically only assigned to protect Ponyville." Caramel responded. "Well, why not help the rest of Equestria?" Cheese Sandwich asked. "I really don't want to see Twilight mad again, so I insist on doing what she said. And that was to protect Ponyville!" Flash answered as Fancypants got in his face. "Well, what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for those bugs to come invading in?!" Discord nodded his head. "Fancy-shorts has a point for once." "I didn't ask you!" Fancypants remarked, glaring at Discord for a short period of time. "How about..." Cheese thought for a moment. "We tell the ponies in Ponyville we're putting a force field up! If they're calm, then we could argue that it's the best decision." Cheese then walked over to a house. "Cheese!" Flash called as he stomped on the ground. Cheese rang the doorbell of the house as a cream colored mare with a red mane stepped out. "Hello!" The mare happily piped as Cheese waved to her. "Hello. I am here to tell you that Equestria is currently under a changeling invasion, so-" "WHAT?! CHANGELING INVASION?!" The mare shouted as she ran along the streets. "THE CHANGELINGS ARE COMING! THE CHANGELINGS ARE COMING! EVERYPONY INSIDE!" The mare yelled as many other ponies ran like maniacs to get inside their homes. An eerie silence then hung over Ponyville. "Well, that went perfect!" Caramel remarked sarcastically. Author's Note I normally ship Applespike instead of Carameljack, but I felt like Caramel would work better in this story. I also wanted to write a little Carameljack. I hope you like it so far! Aggravating Disagreements"Uh... that could've gone better." Cheese Sandwich remarked as Caramel shot him a glare. "Ya think?" Caramel responded, turning away from the party stallion. Cheese hung his head low. "You know, I never realized how much we needed the six." "What?" Flash asked, raising a brow. "Pinkie, Rainbow, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. They always remind us to be friendly. Now... look at us. Just a few minutes without them, and we've already started being unpleasant to each other." There was a short moment of silence. "I understand what you're saying, but..." Discord started. "We need to put more focus on keeping Ponyville safe." "And how are we supposed to do that? It will be impossible to get everypony to agree on the same thing!" Fancypants responded. "I'm going to put a force field around Ponyville. That way, we can all be happy." With that, a pinkish-purple magic dome was conjured up. "You're welcome." Discord remarked, not giving anypony the chance to speak. Discord felt a small poke at his side. "Yes?" He asked as he saw a little colt looking up at him. "What are you, sir? I mean, you look really strange." Discord chuckled heartily. "I get that a lot. But what fun is there in making sense?" Discord then patted the colt on the head. "I am a draconequus." "Cool!" The colt responded. "Well, what I really came to ask, was why you put a force field up." "Oh, I did because..." "He wanted to practice his chaotic magic!" Flash interrupted. "Now, you may want to get home, little colt. Your parents are probably wondering where you are." The colt nodded and took off for home. "Is there any harm in telling the colt the truth?" Discord questioned as he glared at Flash. "Well, actually, yes. We don't want the fillies and colts scared to death." Discord rolled his eyes. "He's going to find out from his parents, anyway." "It's not our place to tell him that, though!" "Cheese Sandwich did!" "That's because he didn't think before he spoke!" "Well, sorry! Let's have a cupcake to cheer up!" Cheese interrupted as he pulled a platter of cupcakes out of nowhere. Flash rolled his eyes. "No." He then spread his wings. "I think we need a leader; someone to keep order between us six." "Well, who do you think it could be?" Soarin asked. "Well, me!" Flash responded as he pointed to himself. Discord glared at him. "Why? We all know that I should be the leader." The draconequus then drank some chocolate milk. "You would just make everything chaos!" Fancypants interrupted. "I agree." Flash responded to Discord. "I should be leader because I am a royal guard. It's my job to keep others safe." Fancypants shook his head. "The leader will have to be somepony who knows how to properly assign others in the group. That's why I should be leader." "Uh, no. You wouldn't get your hooves dirty for your life!" Caramel responded. "Ooh! Can I be leader?" Cheese Sandwich asked. Everypony shook their heads. "Oh, let me guess, you have an explanation on why you should be leader?" Discord asked Caramel as the earth pony shook his head. "No. I don't exactly want to be leader." He then gestured to Soarin. "I think Soarin should be leader." "What?" Flash responded. "Why?" "Well, Soarin is the only one not in this argument right now. And, he has practice with being on a military team. I think that's enough reasons." Fancypants pondered. "Well, alright. Soarin, you're the leader of our little group." "Alright!" Soarin then hovered into the air. "Well, since we have the force field up, I suggest we tell everypony it's okay to come out of their homes!" Flash face-hoofed. "Are you kidding me? We are not doing that." "Why not?" Soarin asked, landing again. "What if-" "Are you going to question my force field?" Discord interrupted, giving the guard a glare. "Well, I don't know if we can fully count on it. Remember how Shining's force field didn't stop the changelings?" Flash retorted. "I do not recall that. I was in my stone prison, thank you very much." Discord responded, giving Flash an even angrier glare. "Let's just appreciate what we have. If Discord wasn't here, we would have to worry about the changelings casually walking in Ponyville." Soarin remarked. Flash turned to look at Soarin. "If Discord wasn't here, everything would be so much easier!" Soarin nodded. "I agree with that. But he does offer a lot more protection, being a chaotic being." "Thank you! Somepony finally understands how useful my powers could be!" Discord remarked, patting Soarin on the head, messing up the stallion's mane. Soarin glared up at Discord. "Great. Now my mane looks like a complete mess." Flash rolled his eyes. "Your mane style doesn't matter right now! We have a whole city to protect!" A gasp was heard from Fancypants. "A perfect mane is everything!" He then levitated a comb and straightened Soarin's mane. "Thanks." "No problem." "Can we get back to protecting now?" Flash asked as Soarin nodded his head. "I still think we should tell everypony that there's nothing to worry about yet, and that they can come outside. But we will warn them about the possibility of changelings trying to get in." Fancypants nodded his head. "Alright. I'm in!" "Same!" Caramel added on. "Let's do this!" Cheese chimed in. "Ah, what the heck." Discord added. They then all turned to Flash. "You're outvoted, Sentry." Caramel remarked as Flash grunted. "Fine." He agreed. He had a feeling deep inside that this wasn't the best way to go about the issue. Very Different ConversationsSoarin knocked on a bright colored door. "Are you sure they won't go completely crazy?" Flash asked as Soarin nodded. "And if they do for some reason, we can blow the whistle I have to get their attention." Cheese waved his hoof. "We can also use my mega-phone! Everypony would listen to us then!" Flash gave a small roll of his eyes. "Alright, fine." The door opened to reveal a cream colored filly with a curly red mane and thick framed purple glasses. "What arth you still doing outsith? The changelings arth invading!" She remarked, adjusting the glasses on her face. Soarin nodded. "We know. We are actually the special someponies of the Elements of Harmony, so we know about all the current dangers." The filly smiled brightly. "Wow! Nice toth meet you! I'm Twist!" Twist introduced. "Hello, Twist. Well, we're here to inform you that a force field was put up, so you can come out. You would need to be ready to take cover anytime, though, just in case they break in." Twist looked up at the sky, where she spotted a force field. "Wow! You can do that?!" Twist asked Fancypants as the unicorn shook his head. "No, dear. I don't have much magical talent." Discord flew up to the front of the group. "It was me. You're welcome." "Wow!" Twist remarked, smiling brightly. "So... I can go out and hang with my friends?" Soarin nodded. "Sure, kid. Just be careful." "Hooray!" She responded, running off. Soarin smiled at the sight. "Alright... one house down. We have about..." "A LOT to go!" Flash interrupted, pointing down the street. "This is not a good idea." "Well, everypony else thinks so," Caramel responded. "Ooh! I can get everypony's attention with my mega-phone!" Cheese remarked, pulling out a big mega-phone out of nowhere. "Excuse me? How did you get that?" Fancypants asked as Caramel nudged him. "Don't question Cheese. He has those strange party pony powers Pinkie has." Fancypants nodded. "I guess you can call those two the unstoppable duo!" Caramel chuckled in response. "Yep!" He then got a look of confusion on his face. "Say, you seem like you're in a much better mood then before." Fancypants nodded. "Well, something happened with my business in Canterlot yesterday. I put that at the back of my mind. Also, I was and still am worried about Rarity." Caramel nodded. "I understand. I'm a little nervous that something will happen to Applejack." "EVERYPONY! YOU CAN COME OUT OF YOUR HOUSES NOW! THERE IS A FORCE FIELD UP, BUT MAKE SURE YOU ARE ABLE TO GET SOMEPLACE SAFE AT ALL TIMES! HAVE FUN!" Cheese announced out of his mega-phone. It almost burst everypony's ears. Fancypants looked back at Caramel. "As I was about to say: We probably are all on edge because we fear for the safety of the six." Caramel nodded and looked at Fancypants, his jaw suddenly dropping. "Is something wrong, Caramel?" Fancypants asked as he heard muffled laughter behind him. "Uh... you're... you're..." The laughter increased behind Fancypants as he turned and found Discord laughing while wearing his nice, blue hair. "Discord! What do you think you're doing with my hair?!" Fancypants burst as Discord put the hair back on the unicorn's head. "What? Everypony likes playing a little bit of dress up!" Discord responded, still laughing a little. "Well, just don't use my hair next time!" "Why? Because you spend an hour making it perfect every day?" Discord responded as Fancypants had a look of rage on his face. "I do not take a whole hour! Fifteen minutes at most." "Whatever you say, Fancyshorts." "Don't call me that, for the last time!" "Guys, stop fighting! We have to protect Ponyville!" Caramel interrupted. "Well, we don't have to do anything. My force field is really strong!" Flash stomped into the conversation. "Well, we have to be on our guard no matter what!" Soarin nodded. "We need to be prepared to blast those bugs away!" Cheese Sandwich jumped in with a platter of cookies. "How about cookies?!" "NO!" Everyone shouted as the argument raged on. They were so focused on proving their point to one another that they didn't hear the faint pounding on the force field. Working TogetherThe thumping increased as ponies ran inside their houses for cover. "No! We have to protect-" Flash then looked around, seeing the streets bare. "Uh, guys? Where is everypony?" "They must have went insi-" Soarin cut himself off as he looked up at the force field. Trying to break in were black, pony-like bugs. They hovered with their transparent wings. "C-Changelings!" Caramel stuttered, his eyes big. He then turned to Discord. "Do something!" "I'll try!" Discord responded. Before he could snap his claws, the force field shattered, causing a huge breeze to blow. The changelings then bulleted into the small town, causing the six to take off as fast as they could. The six soon found an underground shelter and jumped in it. They sat in silence for a moment as Soarin spoke up. "We need to stop them. Everypony in Ponyville is counting on us." Fancypants nodded. "Alright. What do you suggest we do?" Soarin thought for a moment. "I got a plan." "Which is...?" "We each have to separate into groups to defeat them. I will pair each of us up." "Alright. Let's do this!" Caramel remarked as Soarin stood up. "Yep!" He then pointed at Fancypants. "Fancypants, you and Discord are working together. Caramel, you are working with Cheese Sandwich, which means I am working with Flash Sentry. Is this a good arrangement?" Everyone nodded, though Fancypants looked a little unsure about the whole ordeal. "Then let's do this!" Cheese Sandwich remarked, pulling out his party cannon. "Ready to go, Caramel?" "Yeah!" Caramel responded as he followed the party pony outside. "Looks like we're working together, Fancy-shorts," Discord remarked as Fancypants rolled his eyes. "Just don't call me that, and everything will work out fine." Fancypants responded as he and Discord went above ground. "Ready, Flash?" Soarin asked as Flash nodded. "I'm always ready!" Flash responded as he and Soarin took off into the skies. The six started knocking out the changelings. Fancypants used his magic to slam the bugs into the ground as Discord used his chaos magic to do more damage. Cheese Sandwich blasted his party cannon as Caramel used his legs to knock out the changelings. Flash Sentry and Soarin were using speed and force to knock them out. They fought for a long time, and then found themselves all by each other. A horde of changelings were approaching them, snarling. "Alright! Let's all take a shot!" Soarin exclaimed as the six got in a ready position. "FIRE!" Cheese shouted as he fired his cannon into the huge crowd of changelings. The others attacked as well, putting all their might into it. After another round of hardcore fighting, they all slouched to the ground. The six soon saw more changelings approaching them. "More?! I thought we already defeated them all!" Caramel remarked, standing back up. Suddenly, an explosion-like sound was heard in the distance. A pink aura soon filled the sky, pushing all the changelings out of Equestria. The six looked to find Queen Chrysalis being pushed away; becoming a star in the distance. "Wow... that was an experience!" Fancypants remarked. "Well, I wouldn't have gotten through it if you guys weren't here," Flash exclaimed as Caramel raised an eyebrow. "Why? We just argued the whole time!" Caramel responded as Flash nodded. "I know. But, we worked together to defeat the changelings. And I think we can all agree that Rainbow Dash has a right to be proud of Soarin!" Flash recalled as Soarin flushed. "Well, thanks! I think the six have a right to be proud of all of us! Flash was right; we worked together to face-" Soarin was cut off by Rainbow Dash tackling him in a hug. "How are ya? Good? Yeah, same with me. I just defeated a whole empire's worth of changelings," Rainbow Dash remarked, fluttering her eyes a little at the stallion beneath her. "I did, too! Well, with the help of them," Soarin gestured to the others. "So... why are you here so early?" Rainbow hovered into the air. "They decided to take the train instead of teleporting here, and I wanted to fly. So, it will be a few hours before they come back." Cheese Sandwich thought for a moment. "Well... while we're waiting..." Cheese pulled out a platter. "Cupcakes and cookies anyone?" Everypony looked at each other and got a smile. "Sure!" Flash responded as the others nodded their heads. Soarin took a cupcake and looked back to where he saw Rainbow still hovering in the air. "You're not gonna eat one, Dashie?" Soarin asked as Dash shook her head. "Well, no. I got some crystal candies in the Empire. Speaking of which, I saved some for you!" Rainbow Dash responded as she took out a small bag and gave it to Soarin. "Well, thanks, but you didn't have to, Dash." "Of course I did, silly! You know I love you!" Soarin flushed. "That's the first time I heard that from you..." "Probably not the last time you will!" A voice called. Everypony turned to find Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie standing together. "Uh... yeah. Probably not the last time..." Rainbow exclaimed as she felt her face heat up. "Hey! Did the train arrive early?" Caramel asked as he gave Applejack a small hug. "No. We were just surrounded by ponies asking for autographs, so I teleported us here," Twilight responded as Flash flew over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Fancypants, Discord, and Cheese Sandwich walked up to their special mares, each greeting each other warmly. "Ugh... what happened?" A tired voice asked from behind. Everypony turned to find Spike rubbing his eyes. Twilight pulled apart from her current embrace with Flash. "Uh... I'll tell you later. You missed a lot." "Alright. As long as I didn't miss seeing a superhero protect Ponyville, I'm good." "Well, that's what ya missed out on," Applejack responded as Spike's face was filled with shock. "WHAT?!" He questioned as everyone fell to the ground laughing. "It's not that funny!" "Oh, Spike. You really need to cut down on your nap times," Twilight remarked before laughing again. She then looked to the sky and smiled. Ponyville was safe. Equestria was safe. And she had everypony around her to thank. Except Spike. She laughed again as she saw ponies leaving their homes, happy that the sky was clear of changelings.
We're Protecting Ponyville... Together? We're Protecting Ponyville... Together? "Flash! Flash, wake up!" Twilight said, nudging her special stallion. "W-what?" He asked, opening his blue eyes to find a distressed Twilight looking down at him. "Are you okay, Twi?" Twilight just sighed as Flash sat up on the bed. "I'm not sure. I'm a little nervous, that's for sure." Flash Sentry proceeded to stretch his wings. "What happened? Did Princess Celestia give you more royal responsibilities?" Twilight shook her head. "No." She then picked up a scroll with her magic. "Princess Celestia sent this earlier." She read over it again. "The changelings are invading the Crystal Empire." Flash jumped to his feet. "What?!" He then thought for a moment, remembering the last time they invaded. "Why the Crystal Empire? Shining Armor and Cadance live there, and they were the ones who defeated her at first." Twilight looked down out the window. "Princess Celestia thinks it's because Queen Chrysalis wants to trap the two." She turned around to Flash, getting a more determined look on her face. "This is why I must gather my friends!" The mane six all stood in front of their special ones: Fancypants, Soarin, Cheese Sandwich, Caramel, Discord and Flash Sentry. "As you know, changelings are invading Equestria. So, we have a responsibility for you six." Twilight informed as the stallions nodded their heads. Discord then rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is, I can take care of it." Discord responded, creating a cotton candy cloud and proceeding to sit on it. Twilight raised a brow. "All of you are charged with this task." As soon as everypony was silent, Twilight continued. "We decided to trust you six with keeping Ponyville safe and making sure all citizens are safe." Cheese Sandwich didn't know whether to smile nervously or happily. "You're giving us this responsibility?" Twilight nodded her head. "You are some of the closest ponies to us. If the citizens here are going to trust anypony, it would be you six." Caramel gave a smile. "Well, I'm happy you think we can do it." Applejack walked up to him. "Ah know ya'll can do it. It really isn't that hard." She then hoof-bumped Caramel and looked into his eyes for a few seconds. The rest of the mane six then walked over to their special ones. "See you later, Flash." "See ya, Twilight." Pinkie and Cheese were wrapping each other in a tight hug. "I'll miss you, Cheesy!" "I'll miss you too, Pinkie." Pinkie Pie then pulled apart. "Don't have any parties without me, or else I'll have to blast you with the party cannon when I get back home!" Fancypants took Rarity's hoof and kissed it. "I'll miss you, darling." "Same with me, dear." Discord gave Fluttershy a bouquet of cotton candy in chocolate milk. "I'll see you later, Fluttershy." Fluttershy giggled. "Don't turn Ponyville chaotic while I'm gone, okay?" She then hugged Discord. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, Soar." Rainbow Dash said, flipping her mane back. Soarin nodded his head. "Yep!" They then wing-fived. When Rainbow Dash knew nopony was watching, she gave Soarin a quick nuzzle before nervously looking around and flying to where Twilight was. All six were standing next to each other, waving goodbye. Twilight started to charge up her horn. '"We wish you luck!" Fancypants called as Twilight teleported her friends. A moment of silence hung in the air. "Well, what should we do now?" Soarin asked, hovering above the other stallions. Fancypants thought for a moment. "Discord?" The draconequus looked down at the unicorn. "What do you need, fancy-shorts?" Fancypants glared at Discord. "Can you use your chaos magic to create a force field around Ponyville?" Cheese Sandwich responded before Discord had the chance to. "Why just Ponyville? What about all of Equestria!" Discord pondered for a moment. "Okay! Here goes..." "NO!" Flash Sentry cut in. "I don't think all of Equestria knows about the attack." Discord raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying, yellow guard?" Flash gritted his teeth. "I'm orange." "Whatever. Get on with what you were saying!" Discord responded, sloppily eating some cotton candy. Flash shot a small glare at Discord. "Well, if ponies see a force field around all of Equestria, they would assume something is wrong. We want nopony going crazy." Flash then thought for a moment. "And we can't put it around all of Equestria, since the changelings are already in the Crystal Empire." Cheese Sandwich nodded. "I meant around all of Equestria that isn't invaded by changelings." Caramel and Soarin nodded in agreement to Flash's statement. "Well, what do we do, then? Let everypony get attacked because we didn't want to put up with them running like crazy?" Fancypants questioned as he straightened his tie. "It would be better if nopony else knew about it. We were technically only assigned to protect Ponyville." Caramel responded. "Well, why not help the rest of Equestria?" Cheese Sandwich asked. "I really don't want to see Twilight mad again, so I insist on doing what she said. And that was to protect Ponyville!" Flash answered as Fancypants got in his face. "Well, what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for those bugs to come invading in?!" Discord nodded his head. "Fancy-shorts has a point for once." "I didn't ask you!" Fancypants remarked, glaring at Discord for a short period of time. "How about..." Cheese thought for a moment. "We tell the ponies in Ponyville we're putting a force field up! If they're calm, then we could argue that it's the best decision." Cheese then walked over to a house. "Cheese!" Flash called as he stomped on the ground. Cheese rang the doorbell of the house as a cream colored mare with a red mane stepped out. "Hello!" The mare happily piped as Cheese waved to her. "Hello. I am here to tell you that Equestria is currently under a changeling invasion, so-" "WHAT?! CHANGELING INVASION?!" The mare shouted as she ran along the streets. "THE CHANGELINGS ARE COMING! THE CHANGELINGS ARE COMING! EVERYPONY INSIDE!" The mare yelled as many other ponies ran like maniacs to get inside their homes. An eerie silence then hung over Ponyville. "Well, that went perfect!" Caramel remarked sarcastically. Author's Note I normally ship Applespike instead of Carameljack, but I felt like Caramel would work better in this story. I also wanted to write a little Carameljack. I hope you like it so far!
Aggravating Disagreements"Uh... that could've gone better." Cheese Sandwich remarked as Caramel shot him a glare. "Ya think?" Caramel responded, turning away from the party stallion. Cheese hung his head low. "You know, I never realized how much we needed the six." "What?" Flash asked, raising a brow. "Pinkie, Rainbow, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. They always remind us to be friendly. Now... look at us. Just a few minutes without them, and we've already started being unpleasant to each other." There was a short moment of silence. "I understand what you're saying, but..." Discord started. "We need to put more focus on keeping Ponyville safe." "And how are we supposed to do that? It will be impossible to get everypony to agree on the same thing!" Fancypants responded. "I'm going to put a force field around Ponyville. That way, we can all be happy." With that, a pinkish-purple magic dome was conjured up. "You're welcome." Discord remarked, not giving anypony the chance to speak. Discord felt a small poke at his side. "Yes?" He asked as he saw a little colt looking up at him. "What are you, sir? I mean, you look really strange." Discord chuckled heartily. "I get that a lot. But what fun is there in making sense?" Discord then patted the colt on the head. "I am a draconequus." "Cool!" The colt responded. "Well, what I really came to ask, was why you put a force field up." "Oh, I did because..." "He wanted to practice his chaotic magic!" Flash interrupted. "Now, you may want to get home, little colt. Your parents are probably wondering where you are." The colt nodded and took off for home. "Is there any harm in telling the colt the truth?" Discord questioned as he glared at Flash. "Well, actually, yes. We don't want the fillies and colts scared to death." Discord rolled his eyes. "He's going to find out from his parents, anyway." "It's not our place to tell him that, though!" "Cheese Sandwich did!" "That's because he didn't think before he spoke!" "Well, sorry! Let's have a cupcake to cheer up!" Cheese interrupted as he pulled a platter of cupcakes out of nowhere. Flash rolled his eyes. "No." He then spread his wings. "I think we need a leader; someone to keep order between us six." "Well, who do you think it could be?" Soarin asked. "Well, me!" Flash responded as he pointed to himself. Discord glared at him. "Why? We all know that I should be the leader." The draconequus then drank some chocolate milk. "You would just make everything chaos!" Fancypants interrupted. "I agree." Flash responded to Discord. "I should be leader because I am a royal guard. It's my job to keep others safe." Fancypants shook his head. "The leader will have to be somepony who knows how to properly assign others in the group. That's why I should be leader." "Uh, no. You wouldn't get your hooves dirty for your life!" Caramel responded. "Ooh! Can I be leader?" Cheese Sandwich asked. Everypony shook their heads. "Oh, let me guess, you have an explanation on why you should be leader?" Discord asked Caramel as the earth pony shook his head. "No. I don't exactly want to be leader." He then gestured to Soarin. "I think Soarin should be leader." "What?" Flash responded. "Why?" "Well, Soarin is the only one not in this argument right now. And, he has practice with being on a military team. I think that's enough reasons." Fancypants pondered. "Well, alright. Soarin, you're the leader of our little group." "Alright!" Soarin then hovered into the air. "Well, since we have the force field up, I suggest we tell everypony it's okay to come out of their homes!" Flash face-hoofed. "Are you kidding me? We are not doing that." "Why not?" Soarin asked, landing again. "What if-" "Are you going to question my force field?" Discord interrupted, giving the guard a glare. "Well, I don't know if we can fully count on it. Remember how Shining's force field didn't stop the changelings?" Flash retorted. "I do not recall that. I was in my stone prison, thank you very much." Discord responded, giving Flash an even angrier glare. "Let's just appreciate what we have. If Discord wasn't here, we would have to worry about the changelings casually walking in Ponyville." Soarin remarked. Flash turned to look at Soarin. "If Discord wasn't here, everything would be so much easier!" Soarin nodded. "I agree with that. But he does offer a lot more protection, being a chaotic being." "Thank you! Somepony finally understands how useful my powers could be!" Discord remarked, patting Soarin on the head, messing up the stallion's mane. Soarin glared up at Discord. "Great. Now my mane looks like a complete mess." Flash rolled his eyes. "Your mane style doesn't matter right now! We have a whole city to protect!" A gasp was heard from Fancypants. "A perfect mane is everything!" He then levitated a comb and straightened Soarin's mane. "Thanks." "No problem." "Can we get back to protecting now?" Flash asked as Soarin nodded his head. "I still think we should tell everypony that there's nothing to worry about yet, and that they can come outside. But we will warn them about the possibility of changelings trying to get in." Fancypants nodded his head. "Alright. I'm in!" "Same!" Caramel added on. "Let's do this!" Cheese chimed in. "Ah, what the heck." Discord added. They then all turned to Flash. "You're outvoted, Sentry." Caramel remarked as Flash grunted. "Fine." He agreed. He had a feeling deep inside that this wasn't the best way to go about the issue.
Very Different ConversationsSoarin knocked on a bright colored door. "Are you sure they won't go completely crazy?" Flash asked as Soarin nodded. "And if they do for some reason, we can blow the whistle I have to get their attention." Cheese waved his hoof. "We can also use my mega-phone! Everypony would listen to us then!" Flash gave a small roll of his eyes. "Alright, fine." The door opened to reveal a cream colored filly with a curly red mane and thick framed purple glasses. "What arth you still doing outsith? The changelings arth invading!" She remarked, adjusting the glasses on her face. Soarin nodded. "We know. We are actually the special someponies of the Elements of Harmony, so we know about all the current dangers." The filly smiled brightly. "Wow! Nice toth meet you! I'm Twist!" Twist introduced. "Hello, Twist. Well, we're here to inform you that a force field was put up, so you can come out. You would need to be ready to take cover anytime, though, just in case they break in." Twist looked up at the sky, where she spotted a force field. "Wow! You can do that?!" Twist asked Fancypants as the unicorn shook his head. "No, dear. I don't have much magical talent." Discord flew up to the front of the group. "It was me. You're welcome." "Wow!" Twist remarked, smiling brightly. "So... I can go out and hang with my friends?" Soarin nodded. "Sure, kid. Just be careful." "Hooray!" She responded, running off. Soarin smiled at the sight. "Alright... one house down. We have about..." "A LOT to go!" Flash interrupted, pointing down the street. "This is not a good idea." "Well, everypony else thinks so," Caramel responded. "Ooh! I can get everypony's attention with my mega-phone!" Cheese remarked, pulling out a big mega-phone out of nowhere. "Excuse me? How did you get that?" Fancypants asked as Caramel nudged him. "Don't question Cheese. He has those strange party pony powers Pinkie has." Fancypants nodded. "I guess you can call those two the unstoppable duo!" Caramel chuckled in response. "Yep!" He then got a look of confusion on his face. "Say, you seem like you're in a much better mood then before." Fancypants nodded. "Well, something happened with my business in Canterlot yesterday. I put that at the back of my mind. Also, I was and still am worried about Rarity." Caramel nodded. "I understand. I'm a little nervous that something will happen to Applejack." "EVERYPONY! YOU CAN COME OUT OF YOUR HOUSES NOW! THERE IS A FORCE FIELD UP, BUT MAKE SURE YOU ARE ABLE TO GET SOMEPLACE SAFE AT ALL TIMES! HAVE FUN!" Cheese announced out of his mega-phone. It almost burst everypony's ears. Fancypants looked back at Caramel. "As I was about to say: We probably are all on edge because we fear for the safety of the six." Caramel nodded and looked at Fancypants, his jaw suddenly dropping. "Is something wrong, Caramel?" Fancypants asked as he heard muffled laughter behind him. "Uh... you're... you're..." The laughter increased behind Fancypants as he turned and found Discord laughing while wearing his nice, blue hair. "Discord! What do you think you're doing with my hair?!" Fancypants burst as Discord put the hair back on the unicorn's head. "What? Everypony likes playing a little bit of dress up!" Discord responded, still laughing a little. "Well, just don't use my hair next time!" "Why? Because you spend an hour making it perfect every day?" Discord responded as Fancypants had a look of rage on his face. "I do not take a whole hour! Fifteen minutes at most." "Whatever you say, Fancyshorts." "Don't call me that, for the last time!" "Guys, stop fighting! We have to protect Ponyville!" Caramel interrupted. "Well, we don't have to do anything. My force field is really strong!" Flash stomped into the conversation. "Well, we have to be on our guard no matter what!" Soarin nodded. "We need to be prepared to blast those bugs away!" Cheese Sandwich jumped in with a platter of cookies. "How about cookies?!" "NO!" Everyone shouted as the argument raged on. They were so focused on proving their point to one another that they didn't hear the faint pounding on the force field.
Working TogetherThe thumping increased as ponies ran inside their houses for cover. "No! We have to protect-" Flash then looked around, seeing the streets bare. "Uh, guys? Where is everypony?" "They must have went insi-" Soarin cut himself off as he looked up at the force field. Trying to break in were black, pony-like bugs. They hovered with their transparent wings. "C-Changelings!" Caramel stuttered, his eyes big. He then turned to Discord. "Do something!" "I'll try!" Discord responded. Before he could snap his claws, the force field shattered, causing a huge breeze to blow. The changelings then bulleted into the small town, causing the six to take off as fast as they could. The six soon found an underground shelter and jumped in it. They sat in silence for a moment as Soarin spoke up. "We need to stop them. Everypony in Ponyville is counting on us." Fancypants nodded. "Alright. What do you suggest we do?" Soarin thought for a moment. "I got a plan." "Which is...?" "We each have to separate into groups to defeat them. I will pair each of us up." "Alright. Let's do this!" Caramel remarked as Soarin stood up. "Yep!" He then pointed at Fancypants. "Fancypants, you and Discord are working together. Caramel, you are working with Cheese Sandwich, which means I am working with Flash Sentry. Is this a good arrangement?" Everyone nodded, though Fancypants looked a little unsure about the whole ordeal. "Then let's do this!" Cheese Sandwich remarked, pulling out his party cannon. "Ready to go, Caramel?" "Yeah!" Caramel responded as he followed the party pony outside. "Looks like we're working together, Fancy-shorts," Discord remarked as Fancypants rolled his eyes. "Just don't call me that, and everything will work out fine." Fancypants responded as he and Discord went above ground. "Ready, Flash?" Soarin asked as Flash nodded. "I'm always ready!" Flash responded as he and Soarin took off into the skies. The six started knocking out the changelings. Fancypants used his magic to slam the bugs into the ground as Discord used his chaos magic to do more damage. Cheese Sandwich blasted his party cannon as Caramel used his legs to knock out the changelings. Flash Sentry and Soarin were using speed and force to knock them out. They fought for a long time, and then found themselves all by each other. A horde of changelings were approaching them, snarling. "Alright! Let's all take a shot!" Soarin exclaimed as the six got in a ready position. "FIRE!" Cheese shouted as he fired his cannon into the huge crowd of changelings. The others attacked as well, putting all their might into it. After another round of hardcore fighting, they all slouched to the ground. The six soon saw more changelings approaching them. "More?! I thought we already defeated them all!" Caramel remarked, standing back up. Suddenly, an explosion-like sound was heard in the distance. A pink aura soon filled the sky, pushing all the changelings out of Equestria. The six looked to find Queen Chrysalis being pushed away; becoming a star in the distance. "Wow... that was an experience!" Fancypants remarked. "Well, I wouldn't have gotten through it if you guys weren't here," Flash exclaimed as Caramel raised an eyebrow. "Why? We just argued the whole time!" Caramel responded as Flash nodded. "I know. But, we worked together to defeat the changelings. And I think we can all agree that Rainbow Dash has a right to be proud of Soarin!" Flash recalled as Soarin flushed. "Well, thanks! I think the six have a right to be proud of all of us! Flash was right; we worked together to face-" Soarin was cut off by Rainbow Dash tackling him in a hug. "How are ya? Good? Yeah, same with me. I just defeated a whole empire's worth of changelings," Rainbow Dash remarked, fluttering her eyes a little at the stallion beneath her. "I did, too! Well, with the help of them," Soarin gestured to the others. "So... why are you here so early?" Rainbow hovered into the air. "They decided to take the train instead of teleporting here, and I wanted to fly. So, it will be a few hours before they come back." Cheese Sandwich thought for a moment. "Well... while we're waiting..." Cheese pulled out a platter. "Cupcakes and cookies anyone?" Everypony looked at each other and got a smile. "Sure!" Flash responded as the others nodded their heads. Soarin took a cupcake and looked back to where he saw Rainbow still hovering in the air. "You're not gonna eat one, Dashie?" Soarin asked as Dash shook her head. "Well, no. I got some crystal candies in the Empire. Speaking of which, I saved some for you!" Rainbow Dash responded as she took out a small bag and gave it to Soarin. "Well, thanks, but you didn't have to, Dash." "Of course I did, silly! You know I love you!" Soarin flushed. "That's the first time I heard that from you..." "Probably not the last time you will!" A voice called. Everypony turned to find Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie standing together. "Uh... yeah. Probably not the last time..." Rainbow exclaimed as she felt her face heat up. "Hey! Did the train arrive early?" Caramel asked as he gave Applejack a small hug. "No. We were just surrounded by ponies asking for autographs, so I teleported us here," Twilight responded as Flash flew over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Fancypants, Discord, and Cheese Sandwich walked up to their special mares, each greeting each other warmly. "Ugh... what happened?" A tired voice asked from behind. Everypony turned to find Spike rubbing his eyes. Twilight pulled apart from her current embrace with Flash. "Uh... I'll tell you later. You missed a lot." "Alright. As long as I didn't miss seeing a superhero protect Ponyville, I'm good." "Well, that's what ya missed out on," Applejack responded as Spike's face was filled with shock. "WHAT?!" He questioned as everyone fell to the ground laughing. "It's not that funny!" "Oh, Spike. You really need to cut down on your nap times," Twilight remarked before laughing again. She then looked to the sky and smiled. Ponyville was safe. Equestria was safe. And she had everypony around her to thank. Except Spike. She laughed again as she saw ponies leaving their homes, happy that the sky was clear of changelings.
