The cleanup from Tirek’s rampage was going well. Many of the homes that had been destroyed were well on their way to being repaired, and the re-introduction of ponies’ various forms of innate magic had spirits at an all-time high despite the adversity they had undergone.

There was one issue with a mass repair of an entire mid-sized town; however, they needed wood. Lots of it. And the six mares who tended to get the brunt of execution work were not pleased with the viable prospects. The discussion was being done on a walkthrough of our intrepid town.

Loudly.

“I don’t care what you say the town needs Rainbow Dash, we are not cutting down half my orchard!” Applejack bellowed.

“Oh, come on AJ, you don’t even use the orchard the vampire fruit bats are in! I don’t want to to go into the Everfree to do logging! That place somehow manages to be boring despite being so creepy!” the prismatic stunt flyer whined while flying loops over the farmer’s head.

“Yes, but the innate magic of the forest may allow us to create a magical barrier far more easily, so we don’t have to repair Ponyville as thoroughly each time.” came the matter of fact tone from the purple alicorn of the group. “If we can inscribe runes into the wood, there’s a good chance that the houses will repair themselves! It’s genius!” Still not entirely in control of her limbs, one wing from the excited alicorn flapped out with a light ‘fwap’ to the butter coloured pegasus at her side.

“Oop! Sorry, Fluttershy!”

“It’s ok.” Came the nearly inaudible reply.

“Yes darling, that is all quite interesting, but why, pray tell, do you need all of us for this? Or any of us at all.” Rarity quipped with a flip of her perfectly coiffed mane and a significant look at their purple leader.

Twilight suddenly looked abashed. “Well, we’re not needed to do the logging, but the lumberjacks who are going to do the work want protection. And since we beat Tirek, we’re who they want.”

The resident fashionista looked pensive for a moment and then nodded. “Well, as long as we won’t need to do any hard labour... all of this nonsense has been an absolute nightmare on my mane. Honestly, it’s as if these ruffians are incapable of dealing with anything in a civilised manner. Dirt and mud and sweat, it’s going to take poor Aloe a month to get rid of all of the kinks in my back -”

“Why didn’t they ask for a guard contingency?” Fluttershy asked before Rarity could get any real steam for a rant.

“They did.” Twilight deadpanned. “ But the major cities are so overtaxed with keeping the peace and calming down citizens that the Princesses had to call in a favour with Cadence in the Crystal Empire to send in extra troops, resources and building materials. I’m afraid a little town like ours is laughably low on the priority lists when entire sections of Canterlot and the countryside were wiped off the map when Triek came into full power.”

“But Ponyville got the worst of it!” Applejack cried. “And we put a stop to it, at that.”

“Which is why the crown has given us an incredibly generous stipend, several supplies and provisions, and made sure to send a small battalion of labour ponies to help rebuild. Not to mention the fact that they trust us with being able to protect a small group of workers when we’ve proven we can handle much more. Don’t mistake inability with negligence Applejack.” Twilight growled back, feathers ruffling at the perceived slight against her mentor. She turned her head slightly to level an even look at the abashed farmer.

“Uh, guys? Not to cut in, but is it just me, or did it get dark all of the sudden? And why does it sound like there’s a plague of locusts nearby?”

The sky turned pitch black, not from clouds, or even the absence of the sun, but because thousands of changelings had blotted out the light entirely. The cackling of Queen Chrysalis rang victoriously over the small village of Ponyville, even over the nearly deafening buzz of her subjects all taking flight. Bathed in the jade glow of her twisted horn, Chrysalis's malice filled smile was almost the only thing visible in the sky, save for the tiniest rays of sunlight that occasionally eked from behind the curtain of angry and hungry changelings, the rays small rays distorting as they shone through beating gossamer wings.

Below the swarm, Twilight Sparkle and her friends stood at the base of Twilight's castle. Most of them looking up with pensive determination, save Fluttershy who was half hiding behind the alicorn princess. Twilight's and Rarity's horns glowed amethyst and azure respectively and illuminated the six ponies.

Chrysalis cackled gleefully. "Is this all the resistance I can expect from this pathetic 'kingdom' of yours, Princess Twilight Sparkle? A half dozen ponies casting frightened expression up as me as they pretend to stand tall amongst my invincible army?!" Chrysalis pointed. "The yellow one is actively cowering behind you!"

Twilight merely narrowed her eyes in determination. "We'll stop you." She shook her head. "Your reign of terror ends today."

Chrysalis stoically stared down at Twilight before erupting into uproarious laughter. "And how do you figure that, Twilight Sparkle. Do you simply plan to unite with your friends with the power of friendship to defeat the hordes at my command."

And then something completely unexpected happened to Chrysalis. Princess Twilight Sparkle, despite being utterly surrounded behind, in front, to her sides, and even above had the audacity to smile knowingly at her.

“Well, yes, actually.”

Chrysalis sneered as the jade glow from her horn turned into a dangerous flame, and it began to hum with deadly power. “Prove--”

Chrysalis found herself cut off before she could even get out the word ‘it’. First, by the unexpected orb of blinding energy that sprung into existence around the six ponies. Second, by the rainbow beam of energy that slammed into her and her army.

Rather than feel herself once again propelled far from the battle, Chrysalis felt her energy subside as if being drained away from her. Suddenly simple things like ‘blasting Twilight’, ‘knowing which direction was up’, and ‘staying conscious’ eluded her, and she found herself falling towards the ground. As luck would have it, a thatch roof helped break Chrysalis’s fall, followed by the ceiling breaking itself, then the floor she hit afterwards, and then yet another floor. This was followed up by a small cascade of Chrysalis’s ‘invincible’ -currently unconscious- army falling on top of her.

As the thumps from the above Changelings piling onto what was already an impressive mini mountain of disdainful injury abated, Chrysalis slowly came to her senses. Her muffled; rather crushed, senses. With all the calm and collected demeanour of a sheep that had just had its wool coat set ablaze, Chrysalis snarled and roughly pushed her troops aside until she breached the surface of the mound.

Daylight had returned to Ponyville, though it now shone brightly over scores of broken houses and moaning Changelings. Some of which were being swatted at by the local populace with brooms, broken off masonry, and farming equipment. Chrysalis scanned her surroundings for the ponies who had defeated her. S didn’t take long as they were floating well above ground in a shimmering orb having apparently decided their manes and tales required extensions longer than the ponies themselves and more eye-searing colours to go along with their ostentatious lengths.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends looked down at Chrysalis not with a look of contempt or even the smug look of victory for having ousted her so completely, but with the look of ponies ready to continue the fight and give her another dose of... whatever it was that they had just given her. The Changeling scowled upwards, using a foreleg to block out the sun and shifting it a few times as light from the scornful star shone past the holes in her leg. Chrysalis bit at her lip closed her eyes and sighed. “Parley” she called out as she opened her eyes.

It echoed oddly out the hole she had made.

Twilight and her friends paused in confusion for a moment.“... Excuse me?” Twilight replied.

“Parley,” Chrysalis repeated, “it’s when two opposing sides discuss terms for a--”

“I know what it means!” replied Twilight.

Chrysalis nodded. “Well then, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps you could invite me into your castle, and we can discuss terms.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And your troops will stand down?”

Chrysalis looked around herself. "They can’t even stand UP right now!”

“Woah, woah, woah, wait for just a second here!” Rainbow Dash interjected. “How do we know this isn’t just some clever Changeling rouge?!”

Rarity smacked a forehoof adorned with purple, yellow, and blue diamond marks against her forehead. “Ruse, Rainbow, darling. Ruse! Rouge is make-up.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes and pointed a foreleg into the town. “One of my troops is being savagely beaten by a broom... I’m not sure how one ‘fakes’ that.”

Twilight blinked, turned off her hair extensions and looked around. “Alright. Parley accepted. We’ll call the Canterlot guard to detain and treat your Changelings and take you to parley with the Princesses.” The purple pony landed heavily beside Chrysalis and looked directly into her eyes. “But so help me Chrysalis, you so much as bear a fang at a pony, and I will personally chain you next to Tirek. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.”

Author's Note

And there's the first chapter. A very serious and heartfelt thank you to Justice3442 for helping me so thoroughly with that fight scene.

Seriously, I suck at fights, even abridged ones like this. Justice is a saint.