The New Friend Part 2

Lightning Strike immediately went into action.

"Crimson Shield! Go get help! Get the Royal Guard, now!" he yelled, charging into Ponyville.

"Yes, Lieutenant Lightning Strike! I'm on my way!" Crimson Shield said, taking off at full speed for Canterlot.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends followed Lightning Strike into the Ponyville town square. When they made it there, they saw complete chaos. Changelings were buzzing around, chasing ponies and ruining fruit stands. The last time Twilight had seen such chaos, the parasprites were to blame! Twilight saw that Queen Chrysalis was watching with glee as she hovered in the air above the chaos.

"You guys have fought changelings before, right?" Lightning Strike asked.

"Yeah. They attacked Canterlot when my brother was getting married." Twilight responded.

"Good. Do your best. Don't get hurt." he paused. "Oh, and by the way, Rainbow Dash,"

"Huh?"

"Chrysalis is mine!" Lightning Strike grinned, taking off in a sonic lightning boom.

Twilight watched as the brave alicorn headed straight at the changeling queen. But before Lightning Strike could reach her, a changeling rammed him from the side. The two crashed into the ground, out of sight.

"Lightning Strike! I need to help him!" Twilight cried.

"Now hold on, Twi! Ya can't go ragin' 'round here right now! You'll get yourself hurt!" Applejack said, grabbing Twilight's tail in her teeth.

Twilight struggled. She had to save him! That changeling that attacked him, she had never seen him before. She felt that Lightning Strike was in trouble.

"Twilight! Stop!" Applejack grunted through a mouthful of tail.

Twilight Sparkle's struggling grew weaker and weaker.

"L-Lightning Strike! N-no!!" she cried, starting to cry.

"Now, now, sugarcube... it's okay. He's fine. Lightning's a tough pony! I'm sure he can handle whatever's goin' on." Applejack said sympathetically, comforting Twilight who started to sob uncontrollably.

"I-I can't lose him!"

"Come on, Twilight! If you wanna help him then start kicking some changeling flank here!" Rainbow Dash said, punching a nearby changeling.

'That's right,' Twilight thought to herself. 'I can't help Lightning Strike by crying like a little filly!'

Twilight wiped the tears away with her hoof, and stood, a look of grim determination on her face.

"Let's do this!" she exclaimed, lunging into battle, her friends at her side.

"Yeeee-haw!!" Applejack cried, sending a changeling flying through the air with a good buck.

Suddenly, there was a rumble of thunder. Twilight looked in the direction the sound had come from. Almost immediately, she saw at least twenty changelings get thrown up into the air as if they were ragdolls. A streak of lightning arched up into the sky and slammed back into the ground, causing several changelings to turn tail and flee with screeches of pure terror.

It was Lightning Strike! He was okay!

Pinkie Pie had grabbed her party cannon from Celestia knows where and started blasting changelings with confetti and streamers. Changelings were buzzing around like crazy.

Then Twilight saw a squad of Royal Guards charge in, led by Crimson Shield. They had help!

With the help of the Royal Guard, Twilight and her friends managed to chase every changeling out of Ponyville. But the town was still kind of beaten up. Ponies were peering out of their houses, their movements slow and cautious.

With a flash, Discord popped up right in the middle of the town square.

"Hello, everyponyyyyyy......." He gawked at the scene in front of him. Then disappeared, just to reappear next to Twilight Sparkle.

"Well, well, well.... All this chaos and nopony invited me? Such a shame!" The draconequus grinned maliciously, snapping his fingers. A camera appeared in his hand and he started to snap pictures of their surroundings.

"But, I must say that I simply love what's been done with the place! It's quite impressive!"

"It's not funny, Discord. Changelings just attacked Ponyville!" Twilight Sparkle informed him dryly.

"Oh," Discord shrugged. "Well, they're gone, now, right?"

Twilight ignored him, trotting along until she found Lightning Strike. To her relief, he was alright.

"You okay, Twilight?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah." she replied.

The group of ponies looked around them. There were a few dead changelings lying on the ground, and some of the royal guards were disposing of them. Twilight had never seen a dead pony before. So the sight of the mangled changelings lying in pools of blood were extre mely sickening. She tore her eyes from the scene, focusing on Lightning Strike instead.

"The changelings being so close to where Midnight Shadow was is not a good sign. It seems that his plan is in motion." Lightning Strike said grimly.

Twilight nodded. They had to find the Element of Courage, and fast.

"We may have to go to him." Lightning mused. "We can't just wait to see what he does next. Ponies might lose their lives that way."

"But I don't want to lose you." Twilight blurted out. She quickly placed a hoof over her mouth, blushing. "... Or any of my friends, I mean." she added quickly.

If Lightning Strike noticed, he didn't show it. But it didn't stop Twilight's embarrassment.

"Well, maybe we should be headin' back to Canterlot. Princess Celestia might've found something out by now. Plus she should know what just happened here." Applejack said with a sigh.

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At Canterlot, Princess Celestia informed them that they might be needed at the Crystal Empire.

"There have been reported sightings of King Sombra around the Empire, and it is causing rising panic. You will be needed there. I fear that... my brother might target the Crystal Empire next."

"Yes, Princess Celestia. You can count on us!" Twilight told the princess.

Now they were on the train, heading for the Crystal Empire. Before they even came to the train station, huge black crystals were visible, protruding from the snow.

"Oh, no..." Twilight muttered.

Though Twilight wanted to believe that everything would be fine, she realized that they really were on the precipice of utter disaster.