The ponies awoke to a day like any other since they had been squeezed into this inhospitable and squalid corner of the Everfree Forest. Nopony openly admitted that they were doomed, but the icy hand of its spectre lurked subconsciously behind their every thought and every action.
The number of ponies in what was once grandly known as the Resistance was diminishing with resigned attrition as they toyed with destiny, keeping up air and foot patrols only so that they could retreat ever further when the Changeling Army got too close, but now there was nowhere left to run to. Without having ever signalled this as their last stand by the bold declaration of some grand gesture, it had arrived just the same and the burden was oppressive.
Time was running out.
Pinkie Pie’s grouchy personality was still being counterpointed on a not infrequent basis by the sudden unwelcome reappearance of her wings; an event that would under any other circumstances have been the catalyst of great humour, now consigned to be a tragic reminder of love lost. All around knew better than to comment.
One morning however, something happened that nopony had seen for a long time; her mane and tail frizzed, limbs springing rigidly out at random angles as she bounced into the air, eyes wide, taking in a sudden gasp of surprise. Whatever her Pinkie Sense was telling her caused a smile to pass across her face and she simply dropped what she was doing to find her leader, leaving her co-workers to stare open mouthed at what had just happened.
She burst in to Zecora’s makeshift headquarters and spied the zebra poring over a map of the Everfree; symbols representing changeling units fully encircling their position. Being a leader was never easy, but she stared down the barrel of this gun alone, wishing to spread cautious hope rather than panic. Soon it wouldn’t matter, but at least she had bought them a better quality of life as the clock ticked inexorably, counting off their existence second at a time.
“Thunderlane’s not dead, Zecora; I’m going to rescue him! Who can you spare?”
Zecora turned and looked up, facing Pinkie Pie with a sigh:
“Poor child, the loss you feel is not new,
Many widows hold the same view.
Each for their loved one does yearn,
Yet they are gone and do not return.”
The pink equine launched her next volley at the weary zebra “No Zecora, you don’t understand. My Pinkie Sense told me. Just now!”
After a brief pause, she continued “Maybe the others are right too; maybe their loved ones are still alive. I’m going to find out. Who can you spare?” repeated Pinkie Pie forcefully pounding her forehoof on the floor, eyes piercing into her leader’s soul like a metal spike.
Zecora weighed up the pros and cons in her mind. Maybe it would be better to allow her friend to die at least striving to achieve something positive, rather than just passively waiting for the inevitable? She was burdened with guilt for having cast the experimental pegasus spell on Pinkie and having seen the results. She could also see the naked anger barely constrained in front of her; hell had certainly known no fury such as the one simmering inside Pinkie Pie. With most ponies now resigned to their fates, even if they didn’t directly face them, this one pony had real spirit and determination to succeed. If anypony could pull this off, it was her.
“Very well my dear, I do concede;
A travel companion you will need.
A unicorn brave and true
Is what you need to see you through.
Come back here in an hour,
And I will do what’s in my power.”
At this, Pinkie dismissed herself and went to seek out Bon Bon, requesting her to look after Rumble, but not providing much in the way of explanation. Having lost her own marefriend, she was bereft of purpose and foalcare would at least restore some focus to her life. It was no secret that she and Lyra had so desperately wanted a foal of their own, but that never happened, so she agreed to look after Rumble as the foal she never had.
The two mares walked along together, wordlessly separated in their own solitary worlds to find the young colt. Upon seeing the two of them stood together, Rumble dropped what he was doing and ran towards them, eyes wide with innocent delight; his two favorite mares had come to see him!
Pinkie gave him a brief hug, accepting his affection as he nuzzled deep into her neck, while unseen to him, her eyes betrayed not even the barest hint of emotion. She told him that she would be going away for a few days and that Bon Bon would look after her. To him, this was a holiday; Pinkie had said she would only be a few days and in his naivety he had no cause to disbelieve her; why should he? She would come back soon and he would make sure to keep a list so he could tell her all the fun things he did with his latest best friend.
Cheerfully he showed Bon Bon what he had been doing and Pinkie Pie slipped away; no more loose ends, no more ties.
At the allotted time, she met with Zecora who greeted her and introduced a blue unicorn:
“Pinkie dear, please meet my friend;
On Party Favor you can depend.”
The two ponies acknowledged each other silently.
“Before you set off to go
There are some things you need to know.
Changelings have a good sense of smell;
This mud will protect you, rub it in well.”
Both ponies did as they were told, rubbing the scent-masking mud over each other until they were covered from muzzle to hoof.
“Now take this cape, it will cover two;
It’s changeling magic, so they won’t see through.
We think their hive is to the west;
Go that way to begin your quest.”
Zecora envied them their destiny; their fate would be sealed in a few short days or even hours, unlike the lingering half-life the others were living in the forest with the point of Queen Chrysalis’ Damoclean sword poised over them. She had done her best and given the two brave adventurers as much of a head start as she could, but it was down to them now. Inside, she had already said goodbye to them.
The adventurers made their way westwards, taking the cross-country route to avoid the risk of running into patrols on the roads. They navigated by the sun, remaining constantly alert as they listened for snapping twigs, startled animals or the drone of wingbeats overhead. The changelings did not have to be quiet as they moved with insolent ease around their conquered territory; they may have been cruel and unrelenting, but it was the sheer number of them that was the most frightening.
The two ponies did see a lone pegasus patrol at one stage; a pair of brave flyers at treetop height who would have been hopelessly outnumbered if they were spotted. Pinkie Pie suddenly realised the extreme dangers that the pegasi flyers faced, and Thunderlane’s unquestioning courage in resuming operational sorties even though he clearly wasn’t fit. He had known what he was going back to, but she felt sickened because to her it had only ever been a game. He had protected her; gone in her place. Now she would make sure that she would never abandon him.
“Want to know why I volunteered for this mission?” asked Party Favor cheerfully.
“To get away from the constant feeling that we were going to be invaded?” came the unhelpful reply.
“No silly, it’s because I like parties and you’re the best party planner ever” he continued.
“Was” said Pinkie.
“I used to live in a village where nopony had any cutie marks and we never had any parties” he continued “And when the changelings invaded we got our cutie marks back, but there wasn’t time to party; we all ran instead!”
“Let’s hope we’ve got something to celebrate when this is over then” said Pinkie tersely.
Whilst Zecora’s invisibility cape would provide protection from being seen, it was awkward for two to wear at once going over the fields, because it pulled when they got out of step, let alone the regular snags on brambles that threatened to pull it off every time it got caught. Worse, after spending any time under it, the occupants soon became uncomfortably hot, so they decided to travel exposed, but taking care to keep the cape at hoof so they could hide at a moment’s notice when prying eyes threatened.
The further west the ponies travelled, the more frequent they found the enemy patrols to be. Although unpleasant to be in the proximity of so many changelings, it was clear that Zecora had sent them in the right direction and they were getting closer to the hive.
Eventually their progress was stemmed by a main road and they scouted clandestinely to a position on a slight ridge that allowed them a view either way. A foot patrol was approaching from the east and they thanked providence they had not just burst out onto the road where they could have been seen. Taking up a position in a hedge overlooking the road, they hid under the protective mantle of the invisibility cape and watched the patrol go past. Once it had moved on a little down the road, they crept out of their hiding place to follow at a safe distance, keeping in step to reduce the risk of the cape slipping and revealing their presence.
After a short march, the two ponies could see the road entering a cave protected by changeling guards, highlighting its significance. If either of the ponies felt trepidation, neither showed it for the sake of the other. This must be the entrance! Passing into this strange new subterranean world may well be their last act of freewill and indeed they may quite possibly never see the light of day again. Now that they were both actually here, faced with this life changing decision, each felt slight pangs of doubt.
“Ready?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Ready” affirmed Party Favor.
Each pony felt a heart in mouth moment, but neither was prepared to vocalise their fears.
They felt terribly exposed even though the invisibility cape had so far lived up to its maker’s designs, but tensions built as they followed the patrol in, tiptoeing carefully to avoid alerting the guards. Just as they thought they were past the guards, a gruff voice from somewhere nearby shouted “You smell of pony!”
The two ponies froze as one, neither daring to breathe. They looked with apprehension to where the loud voice had come from to see one of the guards doing a comedic impersonation of a dragon, at which its fellows laughed heartily; it had been nothing more than a joke!
Party Favor began to wonder if his heart could take it, but this close call just made Pinkie more determined than ever.
A bewildering honeycomb of tunnels stretched in all directions; it would be impossible to navigate around such a maze, their only hope was to keep following the returning patrol and be as quiet as possible. The passageway opened into an enormous cavern; an amphitheatre of vast proportions cut from the solid rock. Changelings were everywhere, all going somewhere, performing some organised task within this vast and highly ordered infrastructure. The sheer scale of the changeling domain was so much bigger than what they had expected, filling them with a new and more sickening dread.
While they tiptoed further into the large cavern in the hoofsteps of their patrol, they were momentarily distracted by the sound of raucous changeling laughter coming from one of the tunnels that emptied out into this great cavern. Curiosity overcame the two ponies and they followed the tunnel which opened into a smaller rough-hewn chamber.
Inside this dimly lit cave, strange translucent green packages were suspended all across the ceiling, but that was not the focus of the attention. A yellow and pink pony was slumped on the rough stone floor surrounded by changelings, whimpering pitiably and trying to hide from their callous kicking and taunting. Pinkie’s blood turned to steam as she realised that the crowd’s victim was Fluttershy. Although the young pegasus had hardened considerably following the changeling invasion, no amount of training could have prepared her for the degrading and humiliating treatment she was receiving at the hooves of her heartless captors.
The pink pony felt a restraining foreleg across her chest. Party Favor was right; they must not respond now or they would suffer the same fate. Pinkie smarted with outright anger that her kind and timid friend should be treated so badly, and ground one forehoof into the other while swearing revenge through gritted teeth.
They waited and watched.
The two ponies kept a watchful eye on Fluttershy as their friend underwent the slow and horrific process of being loaded into a green cocoon, and was then suspended from the ceiling in the same way as hundreds of others in this cavern alone; who knew how many more there were within the labyrinth of the hive?
Their work done, the changelings departed the chamber, having had their fun.
Now was the rescuers’ time to act.
“We probably won’t have time to release more than one or maybe two. Let’s go for the biggest we can see. If we’re lucky we’ll find an alicorn and then with their magic we’ll have a better chance than if we release an earth pony, know what I mean?” Pinkie planned out loud. Party Favor nodded and they both carefully slid the cape off themselves.
Pinkie pointed to the largest cocoon in the chamber and Party Favor focused to light his horn, but it didn’t work. He tried again but could get nothing from it at all.
“There must be a magic block in place” he called out “Time for Plan B.”
Thinking fast, he resorted to a party favourite; from out of nowhere conjuring an inexhaustible supply of party balloons that he tied together at comic speed to create a ladder that Pinkie swiftly climbed. Once at the top, she began biting through the filament that suspended the cocoon while Party Favor created a soft landing area for the cocoon to fall onto.
Pinkie bit down hard on the surprisingly tough strand, ripping and tearing at it with all her force, until finally the green cocoon fell free and fell onto a cross-stitched blanket of party balloons. Party Favor immediately started ripping at the package, grimacing as a strange liquid leaked out. While he hoped he hadn’t harmed the individual inside, the victim could either recover or die, and either option was probably better than the living death they faced currently.
Still atop the party balloon ladder, Pinkie stretched out to another large cocoon and started biting through that too; Party Favor feverishly weaving another balloon mattress in preparation before resuming his task of undoing the one already on the floor. Shortly, he released a bedraggled pink pony from their prison. He gave a silent vote of thanks as he could see a unicorn’s horn and what were possibly wings; this could be Princess Cadence!
She coughed and spluttered as her lungs burned with the shock of breathing air once more. Just at that moment two changeling guards flew in; they were discovered! Party Favor was caught like Angel in oncoming headlights and Pinkie took the opportunity afforded by his diversion to jump down onto the guards from ceiling height, sending them crashing to the floor in two untidy heaps. Cadence’s eyes flickered open and she flashed a grateful smile of pure radiance over to her two brave rescuers.
“Pinkie Pie!” said Princess Cadence in relief “I am indebted to you and your friend for my rescue, but I fear it may be short lived; other guards will surely be arriving shortly.”
“Can you use your magic to bring down more of these ponies?” asked Pinkie. She tried, but as with Party Favor, the spark from her horn withered and died, so Pinkie scampered quickly back up the balloon ladder to bring down the next pony.
Pinkie released the next cocoon and it fell safely onto another party balloon blanket where Party Favor and Cadence tore into it as swiftly as they could. As it broke apart, Cadence saw the white coat within and exclaimed “Shining Armor! – Is he alright?”
The stallion coughed and spluttered before responding “Is the wedding over?” It took him a few seconds, but then he added in a mixture of surprise and revulsion “I appear to be covered in something sticky … ”
“Oh thank goodness you’re back with us. Lots to explain. No time” trilled his wife as they all turned in the direction of a drone of wingbeats coming from the passageway. Less than a second later, they knew their time was up as a swarm of changeling guards flooded in to the chamber.
“This can’t be good” said the white stallion with masterful understatement that earned him a reproachful stare and a raised eyebrow from his beloved alicorn.
“Well if our fate awaits, then at least we’ve had a few brief moments together” sighed Cadence and moved over to her ‘would have been’ husband, touching horns as she gave him a lingering look.
“I have no idea what’s going on Cadie, but I know I love you with all my heart” replied Shining and with that their horns began to glow.
A dome of pink love magic expanded from the spark created at the two lovers’ horns. Their commitment was clear and since Cadence was the Princess of Love, the power of their passion was unrivalled, especially as they felt that this could be their last chance to demonstrate it to each other.
The pink dome of love became a deeper, richer colour and as it grew, its effect touched the nearest changelings. Pinkie and Party Favor watched astonished at what they saw; the sinister looking pony-esque bugs touched by the magical aura froze in mid-action and transformed before their eyes into multicoloured deer-like creatures.
Fearing their last moments as a couple coming to an end all too briefly, the lovers put everything into their demonstration of affection and suddenly there was a flash of pink light as the magic dome exploded, transforming all those in the cave. They separated, exhausted but happy, still lost in each other as their two rescuers looked around in disbelief; all their captors having now been transformed into large-eyed deer-morphs. Better still, they seemed to be as placid as they looked.
The deer-morphs looked at each other and then their surroundings as if unsure what to do. Some looked around as if trying to come to grips with their new forms, while others wandered off down the passageway into the main cavern.
Pinkie was first to get a handle on the situation. There may be a magic block in place, but Queen Chrysalis had worked with Shining Armor on the protection spell that he had cast over Canterlot and so had exempted his magical aura, which wasn’t blocked, but was being amplified by Cadence’s love!
They had a chance!
“Princess Cadence, Shining Armor” she called out, “Your love is strong enough to beat the changelings! Come on quick – we’ve got to get you into the main chamber so you can show them how much your love means to each other. Can you do that? For Equestria? For each other?”
Still a little bewildered, but lost in each other’s love they agreed and trotted down the passageway with Pinkie pie and Party Favor. They emerged to witness all hell breaking loose; the random arrival of the deer-morphs had caused consternation and to cap it all, Queen Chrysalis had returned with a large contingent of the Changeling Army. Cadence and Shining Armor saw her and a stare of mutual hatred flashed between them.
The ponies held the advantage for a fleeting moment while Chrysalis tried to work out what was going on.
“OK” said Pinkie “Forget about old meanie pants; think really hard about how much you love each other and how much you want to be together and how much you want a foal, and …” she trailed off.
Shining Armor looked startled “A foal?” he asked, taken aback.
“Yes darling, more than anything else” cooed Cadence staring lovingly into his eyes “I love you.”
He closed his eyes and focused as their horns touched once more. Just then, Chrysalis ordered her changelings to attack, but a blinding pink flash filled the entire cavern, the force bowling the changelings over and the command was never actioned.
All was silent.
Once they got over the brightness of the flash, all they could see were hordes of docile looking deer-morphs; all except one.
“What is this trickery?” demanded Chrysalis, her voice raised in anger and echoing around the cavern.
“Changelings live on love right?” Pinkie Pie quipped “We’ve just given you indigestion!”
Chrysalis poised mouth agape, now standing at the head of an army of one.
“We have more love than you have hate Chrysalis, and now you don’t have your army to support you. Come, join in our love and let it cleanse you; we can all work together for good” spoke the Princess of Love. Chrysalis began to reach out tentatively, then something snapped inside and she smacked Cadence’s hoof away, turning and running out of the cavern screaming.
“I’m sorry for what has happened” said a comforting but unfamiliar voice to the Royal Couple.
“Who are you?” enquired Cadence, turning to face a handsome green stag-morph.
“My name is Thorax and I would like to make amends for the terrible things we have done to you.”
“Well, you could start by freeing our friends from their cocoons” she responded.
“Of course” said Thorax, assuming the mantle of leadership with natural grace and issuing commands to make it happen.
Later that day, the Resistance heard the sound heralding their most feared event; an army was advancing on their makeshift village. Pegasus numbers were so reduced that they hadn’t been able to maintain air cover and were caught completely by surprise. The changelings had found them and it was all over.
Zecora moved into the open area at the centre of their village, bravely standing to face her destiny as the leader of ponykind; any aggressor would have to go through her first. With fiery resolve etched on her face, she planted her hooves decisively on the ground and waited for the end.
When the advancing multitude emerged from the forest into the clearing of the village, it was not a gloating and vindictive Queen Chrysalis at the head of a marauding army of changelings, but a throng of ponies with Princess Celestia and an attractive green coloured stag at its head. Zecora feared some evil mind games at work, but just then Pinkie Pie broke ranks and bounced forward with Thunderlane and Party Favor following her to give the zebra a big hug.
“Pinkie Pie do my eyes deceive,
Or have you won us a reprieve?”
“She has done so much more than that, Zecora” said Princess Celestia “She and Party Favor have overthrown the Changeling Army, released all the captured ponies and banished Queen Chrysalis. Not a bad day’s work, I should say.”
With that, there was a massive reunion as loved ones almost tumbled over each other in their desire to be reunited. Even the stoic zebra, having kept strong for the sake of the ponies for so long, finally allowed a tear to trickle down her muzzle; a tear of relief and the utmost pride she felt in Pinkie Pie.
Equestria was saved.
Pinkie Pie meanwhile was laying on her back, giggling happily as Thunderlane and Rumble made a fuss of tickling her tummy. They were a family once again.
Author's Note
Thanks to RainbowSparkle3 for suggesting a sequel to "The End of Innocence".
Equestria is saved and Pinkie Pie returns to being the Element of Laughter.
Happy days!
