THE SYMBOL OF PEACE

With the Mane 6, they, along with Ruby who needed a bit of coaxing, were currently hanging out at the lake. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were doing some tricks as they jumped into the water, Rarity was busy sunbathing, Fluttershy was currently hanging out with Ruby, and Applejack watched as Twilight had a bit of a worried look on her face.

“What are you worried about sugarcube?” Applejack asked Twilight while placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Huh?” Twilight asked as she looked at Applejack, “Oh, it’s nothing Applejack.”

Applejack crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “Sugarcube you and I both know that's a load of cow manure.”

Twilight sighs a bit, “I’m just worried about Fred, he hasn’t shown up yet and I’m worried something bad might have happened.” Twilight said, then frowns, “Like Chrysalis mind controlling him.” she said the last part quietly.

Applejack sighs and nods. “I get what you mean, I always get an uneasy feeling around her, but Fred is a strong guy. I am sure he could fight her control if she tried something.”

“I know, but still, can’t help but worry.” Twilight said, suddenly, she and Applejack were splashed with water, causing them to scream in surprise. They looked at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, both laughing, then glared at the two. “Seriously?!”

Applejack cracked her knuckles. “How about we show them how to make a bigger splash?” She asked Twilight with a grin.

Twilight grinned as well, “Let’s go for it!” Twilight said. The two of them take off their wet clothes and run into the lake in their swimsuits before using Twilight’s magic and Applejack’s strength to splash Rainbow and Pinkie.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said, a grin on her face. “Oh it’s on now!”

The girls all laugh and play in the water making such a fuss that water splashed onto Rarity, Fluttershy, and Ruby. Soon all of them were playing in the lake trying to get each other wet. It was this scene that Fred found as he came walking up in a light T-shirt and swim trunks.

“Well, I take it that everyone is having a good time.” Fred said, getting some of the girls' attention.

“Fred! You're here.” Twilight said with a smile before she was splashed by Rainbow, unfortunately it was a little too hard and her bikini top pops off due to the water. “Rainbow Da-” Twilight noticed her missing top, causing her scream as she covered her chest while Fred looked away.

“Oops.” Rainbow Dash said, a sheepish smile on her face.

The other girls gasp and look for her top before Pinkie pulls a whole dressing divider curtain and places it between Twilight and Fred. “Here you go Twilight!”

“Thanks Pinkie.” Twilight said as the others kept looking until Ruby held Twilight’s bikini top in one of her claws.

“Here you go.” Ruby said, handing the top to Twilight.

“Thank you Ruby.” She sighs and puts it back on before tying it again making sure it's tight. “O-ok I got it back on.” She said with a bright blush.

Pinkie then grabs the divider curtain and, some-fucking-how, stuffed it into her mane. “G-good.” Fred said as he looked back at the girls, seeing Twilight glaring at Rainbow Dash, who still had the sheepish smile on her face.

“OK I admit it was my fault, but I honestly did not mean for that to happen. You know me, I'm a prankster but I don't make people flash other people.” Rainbow said as she started to back away from Twilight while laughing nervously.

“Rainbow, I suggest you start flying before her magic does first.” Applejack said.

Rainbow didn’t need to be told twice as she immediately took off, water went flying as she flew out of the water, hitting the others and Fred. “Hey!” Rarity shouted in annoyance.

Applejack shakes her head and pats Twilights back before whispering to her. “She didn’t mean it sugarcube, but at least now you know your crush finds you attractive.” She said in a teasing way.

Twilight immediately blushes at that, “What?! I-I don’t have a crush!” she said quickly.

Applejack smirks and rolls her head. “Sugarcube, I know a crush when ah see one, now go to em, I’ll keep the girls busy.” She then walked over to the others.

Twilight still had the blush on her face, glancing over at Fred who had decided to sit at the lakes edge and look up at the sky, a content smile on his face. Twilight took a few breaths before smiling nervously and walked over to Fred. “H-hey.”

Fred looks at her, giving her a friendly smile, “What’s up?” he asked her.

Twilight looks away nervously. “Um...sorry about...earlier.”

“It’s alright, you don’t need to apologize.” Fred said, “I should be the one saying sorry though, it took me longer than I thought to get here.”

Twilight looks at Fred worried, completely forgetting her embarrassment from earlier. “What happened? D-did Chrysalis try to use her magic on you?”

Fred shook his head, “No, she just wanted me to stay with her, can’t say I blame her after what happened during the mock battle.” Fred said, frowning a bit, the memory still fresh in his mind.

“That fight was pretty harsh.” Twilight said with a frown.

“Yeah, it was.” Fred said, “It made me wonder if letting them fight was a good idea, or if I should have ended it sooner.”

“Well, I would not have had anyone fight but...they did seem to talk while they fought and showed what their problems were.” She said looking down.

Fred nods in agreement, “Yeah, Chrysalis wanting to make sure she and her subjects survived, and Gallus just doing what he needs to do to survive. Both having no one to turn to for help.”

“She could have talked to Celestia.” She said a bit upset. “If she was struggling she could've just reached out for help instead of brainwashing my brother and taking Cadence's place and ruining their wedding.”

“I get that you're still upset about that, I really do. But she was desperate, plus, the Changelings were always treated as monsters whenever they interacted with ponies, so it was obvious she wouldn’t trust ponies after the way they treated her kind.” Fred said.

“Ponies aren’t that bad...we would have helped.” She said while looking down.

“Twilight, I’m not saying all ponies are bad, just some of them. Remember the incident with that mare? The one who wanted to get the school taken down? The one who also said those with Quirks should be Tartarus?” Fred said, bringing up the incident. “Now think of that, except with Changelings instead of Quirk activated creatures. Even if Celestia agreed to help, there would have been incidents like that all the time. It would have eventually caused even worse incidents, like riots, murders or worse, a war.”

Twilight frowns and looks down at the ground. “I...I guess you're right.”

Fred then places a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you.” he said, “You just needed to know that, sometimes, even the most kind person can be cruel. And that desperate times, calls for desperate measures.”

She sighs and nods. “Ok, I understand, I don’t like it but I understand.”

He pats her shoulder, “Yeah, the truth sucks, it’s helpful, but it always sucks when it’s told.” Fred said.

She nods and sighs. “I’m sorry for ruining our relaxation time.”

“Hey, it’s fine. The conversation just escalated a bit and ended up in that area.” Fred said, a comforting smile on his face.

Twilight rubs her arm. “Still I am sorry.”

“It’s alright Twilight.” Fred said, giving her a small hug, this caused Twilight to blush brightly as she returned the hug, a small smile on her face. The two then pulled away, small smiles on their faces. “So I see you guys managed to get Ruby out of the house.”

“Yes, it was mostly Pinkie and Rarity that got her to come.” She giggles a bit. “Pinkie promised treats and Rarity said Ruby wouldn’t have to get wet, just spend time with us.”

Fred laughs a little, “Well it seems like that whole not getting what promise wasn’t needed.” he said, pointing at Ruby, who was zooming around in the water while Rainbow Dash hanged onto a rope that was tied to her. “Looks like Rainbow Dash has discovered the wonders of jet skiing.” Fred said just as Rainbow Dash was sent into the air by a wave, performing a few tricks before she landed on the water, hollering with joy.

Twilight frowns a bit and narrows her eyes. “Does it make me a bad friend if I want to watch her slip and crash into the water at those speeds?”

Fred looked at her in confusion. “Uh, maybe?” he asked, confused on why she would say that before he knew why, “Is it because of the whole, you know…” Twilight blushes and covers her chest before nodding. Fred rubs the back of his, a small blush on his face. “W-well if it makes you feel better, I-I didn’t see anything.” Fred said,

She blushes a bit more. ‘Does that mean they are too small? Or did he look away as soon as he noticed or maybe he isn’t interested in me because I'm not human?’ Twilight starts to overthink the situation and her hair starts to go wild the same way it always does whenever she panics.

Fred noticed this and was confused again, “Uh, are you alright?” he asked her, a hint of worry in his voice.

She snaps out of it and shakes her head. “Hun? Oh yes sorry. What are we talking about?”

Fred just looks at her before laughing a bit, “Oh nothing important.” he said before laying on his back and looking at the sky. “It was just a topic that should be put behind us.”

She nods slowly and sits down next to him. “Alright.” She looks up at the sky and says. “Do you like it here in Equestria?”

“Now that is a bit of a tough answer. I do miss my old life back home, but there isn’t really much I can do to go back. But being here in Equestria, with the power to protect the innocent like the superheroes in comics.” Fred said while smiling, “Well, I guess I can say that I’m loving being here.” though internally he was really missing his family and hopes to see them one day.

Twilight smiles a bit. “I’m happy you like it here.”

“Yeah, and I’m glad to have you girls and Ruby as good friends.” Fred said, but the word friend kept repeating itself in Twilight's head for some reason.

Twilight looks at the sky more with a frown. “O-of course we are all friends.” She said, and Fred didn't notice the stutter.

“Hey Fred! You’ve got to try this! It’s awesome!” the two heard Rainbow Dash shout to Fred, making them look at her and see she was walking out of the water while holding the rope that was still tied to Ruby.

Fred smiled a bit before standing up, “Alright, I’ll join in.” he said as Rainbow Dash handed him the rope while he walked into the water a bit. “Alright Ruby, let’s go!” he said to the Genesect, he nodded happily before she zoomed through the water again. Fred laughed loudly as he held onto the rope while he was slowly raised above water until only his feet were in.

“That sure does look like fun!” Pinkie said with a grin.

“It is!” Rainbow Dash said, her grin hadn't left her face, “But doing it is a lot better than watching it! It’ll feel like your, your, uh, I can’t think of how to describe other than it’s awesome!”

Twilight looks over at Rainbow. “Maybe it feels like you caused your friend to flash her crush?” She said with a frown as her horn lit with magic.

Rainbow Dash gulps nervously before blinking and grinning, “Your crush huh?” she asked Twilight.

Twilight's eyes widened in panic. “Rainbow don’t you dare!”

“Fred and Twilight, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-” Twilight immediately tries to tackle Rainbow Dash, but the speedster dodges and flies away while still singing, Twilight angrily chasing her.

“Darn it Rainbow!” Twilight tries to grab her in her magic.

Meanwhile

Back at UA, students were talking about the battle between Gallus and Chrysalis as well as what the two just revealed to the entire school, especially a certain group of students. "Did you all see how that fight went? It was insane!" Sweetie Belle said, "I actually thought they were gonna kill each other!"

"W-well they didn't, thanks to M-Mr. All Might." Ocellus said as she stood a bit away's from the group.

"Yeah, if he d-didn't step in, things might have gotten m-messy." Thorax said in slight fear, knowing how dangerous Chrysalis can be when mad.

"Pfft, please, as if those two crybabies are capable of actually killing each other." Garble said with his arms crossed as he leaned against a wall.

"I don't know Garble, Chrysalis did seem intent on really hurting him." Smolder said, "Maybe even killing him as well."

"That would have been like really bad, for the school and Mr. All Might." Sandbar said while practiced controlling his Quirk, this caused the others to shudder at what would have happened if word got out that a student killed another student under Fred's watch.

"That would cause all sorts of problems. Like maybe this school getting taken down." Applebloom said.

"Or worse, All Might and the rest of us in the dungeons." Silverstar said, causing them all to gulp in fear. "I don't think I like the idea of any bad outcome." this caused everyone, minus Garble and the Crusaders, who knew that they wouldn't end up in the dungeons, to voice their agreements until Gallus walked into the room, his talons in the pockets of his jacket. Everyone remained silent as he walked past them without saying a word, though he did get glares from most of the girls but he just ignored them as he walked into the kitchen that was next to the lounge area and opened the fridge to get something to eat.

"Stop staring." Gallus said,

"Or what? You gonna complain to us how shitty your life was?" Garble mocked, receiving a punch to the shoulder by Smolder but he ignored it.

"No, I'm gonna kick your ass." Gallus said with a serious look on his face as he glared at Garble, who just snorted.

"Please, you and that lame ass Quirk of yours ain't shit against me." Garble said arrogantly, this caused Gallus to slam the fridge shut and walk up to the arrogant dragon, the two trying to stare the other down.

"Oh yeah you tail turning slug? You want me to prove to you that I'm tougher than you?" Gallus asked as he touched a piece of metal, coating himself in metal while small pops can be seen from Garbles claws.

"You act like you're tough but you're just like the rest of the namby pamby ponies, just a big crybaby." Garble said but before the two could do anything, Smolder quickly got in between them.

"Knock it off you two, if you want to see who is top dog around here, then wait till Mr. All Might gets back so you can set up a mock battle." Smolder said, trying to push the two away from each other.

"Why wait when we can settle things right here and right now?" Gallus said as he changed his hands into hammers.

"Because if you do, you'll both get in serious trouble." Smolder said, trying to reason with the two. "Think of the punishment for unauthorized fighting can lead to? Plus endangering fellow students and destruction of property? That all leads to a serious punishment of who knows what!"

The two just glared at each other before turning their backs to each other and walking off. "Whatever, I rather not waste time with a weak shit like him." Garble said as he walked up the stairs.

"Same to you, lizard." Gallus said as he walked off to who knows where. The others let out sighs of relief.

"Yona thought they were gonna smash each other." Yona said,

"Yeah, and I don't think All Might will like that. Nor would he like two students fighting while he's away." Scootaloo said,

"Speaking of which, did you guys know where he went?" Applebloom asked.

"From what Rarity said, they were going to the lake to hang out since it's been a while since they did." Sweetie Belle said, "Which explains the three of us."

"Yeah, there's not a lot to do around here ever since we got our Quirks. Those jerks have been giving us the stink eye whenever we walk down the street." Scootaloo said angrily.

"T-that's horrible! I thought t-that after hearing from C-Celestia they would have l-left us alone." Thorax said, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Do not think that just because their rulers say we are alright, doesn't mean they'll listen." everyone froze when they heard a familiar voice, they all slowly turned and saw Chrysalis, who was wearing a simple black robe. She walked towards the kitchen before opening the fridge and grabbed an apple.

"C-C-Chrysalis! I thought-" Thorax began but Chrysalis cut him off.

"That I would be asleep while you all talked about me behind my back? Well, I just woken up and gotten hungry." Chrysalis said as she took a bite out of the apple while walking past the group and towards the stairs. "Now that I've gotten something to eat, I'll be retiring to my room, do not disturb me unless you want to die."

"Y-y-yes my q-q-queen." both Thorax and Ocellus said at the same time, making Chrysalis pause and look at them before she continued walking up the stairs. Everyone remained silent for the next few minutes before Sweetie Belle spoke to the two Changelings.

"You don't have to follow her orders anymore, she's not a queen anymore." she said.

"Y-you don't understand, j-just because she w-was defeated, doesn't m-mean she's not the q-queen anymore." Thorax said, with Ocellus nodding in agreement, not that anyone can it of course.

"Y-yeah, she's still the q-queen. Whether we l-like it or not." Ocellus said, both her and Thorax having worried looks on their faces. Worried that Chrysalis might order them to attack their fellow students in order to try and take over.

"I think that is a bunch of horseapples. Y'all shouldn't follow her just because she's the leader, that's just not right." Applebloom said.

"B-but Changelings need a ruler in order to survive, s-someone who is strong a-and cares for the h-hive." Ocellus said, looking down. "W-without a queen, t-the rest of the h-hive will suffer."

"That can't be right, why can't someone else take charge?" Smolder asked, "You know, take charge if Chrysalis isn't around?"

"C-Changelings aren't like other s-species. We are m-more like insects than a-anything." Thorax said, gaining a few looks of confusion.

"What does that mean?" Yona asked him.

"Well, y-you know how insects l-like bees and ants h-have queens and that t-they depend on those q-queens?" Thorax asked, receiving a few nods. "I-it's like that, if t-the queen is gone a-and no replacement is f-found, the hive will.....die."

"So either obey or die?" Yona asked, receiving nods in response. "That not fair!"

"Hey, t-that's Changelings for you." Thorax said with a shrug.

"It's still not right. Your survival depending on one being who could make you do bad things." Sweetie Belle said, the others nodding in agreement. But what they didn't know was that Chrysalis was listening to their conversation, her mane covering her eyes as what they said began to repeat in her head.

"S-someone who is strong a-and cares for the h-hive."

"So either obey or die?"

"Whether we l-like it or not."

"It's still not right. Your survival depending on one being who could make you do bad things."

'They're right, what kind of queen am I if I forced my own subjects to wage war while we were weakened and could have been wiped out?' Chrysalis thought as tears escaped her eyes as she thought of many terrible outcomes of her plan to feed her subjects, unable to think of anything positive that might happen if she won. 'Even if we did managed to conquer Equestria, that would mean we would have to deal with the other races who want to test their luck at conquering the land.' She continued to walk towards her room, her mind still plagued with terrible thoughts of her subjects dying.

Because she was too prideful to admit that there would be another way.