Groom Hornwell's 2022

The soldiers Calfa and Damma came back to the stadium. They landed before Flurry and the other soldiers, saluting her by raising their right forelegs. “Mareshal, I report that we’ve turned off three sirens around the city”, said Calfa.

Flurry nodded. “At ease, everypony”, she said looking at them. The formation of soldiers left broke. They started to disperse a bit around the stadium.

Twilight was in front of Spike’s face, talking to him. “Don’t you want them to pay for what they’ve done to you?” She asked.

Spike sniffled, he was looking down. “Twi-Twilight, you have n-no idea what they made me do!” He slowly raised his arms and covered his eyes with his claws. He started to sob.

Twilight smiled and got closer to him. She started to pet his muzzle. “You can tell me anything, dear brother”.

Spike uncovered one of his eyes, looked at Twilight and then to the ground. “We-well, they made me attack the apple farm…” He inhaled. Twilight stopped touching him. “…An-and I derailed a train too. Oh, I’m so sorry!”

Twilight sighed. She looked up the sky and then back at Spike. “Spike…”

He looked up. “Ye-yes?”.

Twilight smiled. “Do you think it’s your fault you hatched as a dragon?”

Spike raised an eyeline. “Uh, what?”.

“Nevermind, Spike, don’t worry.”

Flurry approached them, flying to be next to Twilight, and cleared her throat. Twilight looked at her. “Aunt, what’s next? We wait for them to come and get us here? I ask, because the first backup will take atleast an hour to come”.

“Flurry, if you wanted to overthrow me from my government, where would you expect to meet me?” Twilight said.

Flurry narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to one side. “Um, well, the place where you are most of the time I guess”.

“And that is…?”

“... The Canterlot Castle?” Flurry suggested.

“Exactly!” Twilight slowly nodded once. “Gather all of the soldiers you have left. We have a flight to the castle” She looked at Spike, who had been looking at them talking. “Are you coming with us, little brother?”

Spike nodded vigorously, generating a small hurricane that almost moved the alicorns off their flying spots.

Flurry moved to one side of Spike and looked at the ponies behind him on the ground. Then, she turned her head at Twilight. “There’s one issue. All of my team left is non-pegasus, except for the two that have just come”.

“Do they have vertigo, the non-pegasi?” Twilight, still in front of Spike, smirked at her.

Flurry chuckled, shaking her forelegs. “Come on, aunt, don’t underestimate them. You know they have flown ‘til here thanks to the pegasi’ help”. She opened her eyes wide. “Are you suggesting…?!”

Twilight laughed briefly. Then, she looked at Spike. He had been nervously playing with his claws. “Spike, can you lend the Weapon a claw?”

Twilight and Flurry were flying, heading to the Canterlot castle. Behind them was Spike. On his back were the soldiers that lacked wings, holding onto his scales. The two pegasus soldiers were flying by the dragon’s sides, making sure that none of the unwinged fell off his back.

They had flown over the School for Gifted Unicorns, the Opera House and the Moon Memorial. They were about to reach the castle’s plaza.

“Watch out!” Flurry shouted out of a sudden. A green laser beam passed near the group. It came from the castle direction. Then many others came. Twilight, Flurry, and the two pegasi, performed stunts in mid-air to dodge the laser beams.

Spike was hit by many laser beams at the same time. Twilight, briefly, turned to see Spike’s status. The skin of his chest was singed. But the laser beams seemed to be unable to break through his reptilian skin, only burning the surface.

On the ground of the castle’s plaza, a hundred black beings were illuminating their horns, shooting magic attacks from them.

Twilight and Flurry got ahead of Spike and the soldiers. They started counter attacking too with their magic. They both blasted many changelings on the ground with their laser beams.

“Come on, my pretties! Take flight and get her!” A voice emerging from within the crowd of changelings said. Chrysalis took flight, and so her followers did.

Twilight turned around and approached Spike. He was flying still and was taking many shots on his chest. “Spike! Go and roast them!”

Spike opened his eyes, and nodded. He roared with fury, his body almost shaking off the soldiers on his back.

“Wait!” Flurry approached them, still dodging lasers. “Land and take them off your back first! Otherwise you’ll get them killed!” She turned around and returned to combat.

Spike looked at Twilight. She nodded. “Spike, do what she said!” She went back to the aerial fight too.

Spike started to fly down. While he did, the pegasus soldiers already helped the other soldiers to get on ground.

Most of the changelings had already taken flight and headed against Twilight and Flurry. Chrysalis was there too. “Go for Twilight Sparkle! Make sure she suffers!” she exclaimed, surrounded by her children in mid-air.

As Chrysalis said, most of the changelings stopped paying attention to Flurry, although Flurry was still shooting many of them down that had turned their backs on her.

Twilight had her own fight there. She had shot many of the changelings down. There were even enemies that went horserk and charged against Twilight in the attempt to stab her directly with their horns. But they couldn’t reach her, not physically atleast.

Meanwhile on the ground, there was another battle. The soldiers that came down from Spike’s back, where shooting laser beams with their horns at the changelings in the rear, that had stayed on the ground. To protect themselves from the enemy fire, they got cover in the Farmer’s Market, hiding behind large wooden boxes. Although, these objects after being hit with hot magic, started to catch fire. Green fire.

Since the two pegasi, Calfa and Damma, couldn’t do much against the changelings besides physical contact, they decided to stay near their unicorn comrades. The same applied to the earth pony soldier.

“Get out of there, Deltail! It’s catching fire!” Damma yelled, pointing a large wooden box with her hoof. The unicorn behind it quickly trotted to another cover.

“We’re running out of covers!” exclaimed Calfa. “Watch out!” He grabbed Damma by the shoulder and pulled her before a laser beam passed in front of them. “We need another cover!"

The unicorns and the pegasi gathered on their last cover. It was a statue of Celestia. When it was hit by the laser beams, parts of the concrete body started to fall or explode into dust.

The unicorns every few seconds took their heads out of the cover to shoot at the advancing changelings. On one chance, a changeling had flown behind them and shot two unicorns before they noticed and counter attacked. The floor was starting to flood with pony and changeling blood.

Meanwhile, Spike had joined the battle. He was probably the one with most kills. He flew around the plaza and spat fire at the swarm of changelings in the center, roasting the bugs he caught. A strong smell invaded everypony’s nostrils. The burnt black beings, with part of their bodies turning gray, started to fall on the ground from a height. Their bodies splashed against the hard concrete.

And it didn’t matter how many laser beams they shoot at Spike. None of them could pierce through his skin.

Flurry, apparently being ignored by the changelings, started to look for her platoon. She was over the Royal Hedge Maze. She took her cantie-rantie with her magic. “Uh, Calfa, Deltail, where are you all?! Over!”

“Marshal, this is Calfa! We are south the plaza! We need support immediately!” exclaimed the voice coming from the communicator.

Flurry, without saying no more, started to head south as fast as she could.

That time, it was Chrysalis who went after Twilight, accompanied by her minions. Flying, they got into a fight of laser beams behind the castle. “Would you die already? Stupid alicorn!” Chrysalis said, as she, like her minions, shot lasers at Twilight.

Twilight did a backflip in the air in order to avoid getting hit. With a hoof, she took the part of her mane that fell on her face. Her forehead was soaked with sweat. She sighed, taking as a rest the seconds they stopped shooting at her. “Let me ask you something, Chrysalis!” She shouted. They were only a dozen legs away from each other.

Chrysalis grinned. She raised her foreleg and the changelings on her sides stopped shooting. “Consider them your last words!”

Twilight, still in mid-air like her opponents, cleared her throat. “Well, let’s suppose you win tonight. That’s if Spike doesn’t take revenge and incinerate all of you changelings. Tell me, would it be any difference then?”

Chrysalis rubbed her lower jaw. Her eyes went to the sky for a second. Then she looked back at Twilight. “Uhm, yes, there wou-will be differences! First of all, it will be the doom for your species. You will all be incarcerated in dungeons like the one here in Canterlot. Maybe that would teach you, specist ponies, some modesty when treating other species!”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m not on the wrong side of history, Chrysalis. I am protecting my species. Is that a sin?”

Chrysalis snarled. “Enough of stupid questions! Take her out!” She pointed at Twilight. The changelings obeyed and went after her, shooting more laser beams at her.

Flurry Heart was going to the southern part of the plaza and she saw fire. A lot of green fire was coming from wooden objects. Behind a deformed concrete structure were the members of her platoon. Although some of them were lying on the floor, asleep or dead, cause she saw them lying next to them, the awake and unafraid. With words she thought she’d never speak, she said into her cantie-rantie: Attention, platoon, I’m going to distract them while you escape to the castle, leave the injured or dead behind. Copy that?!”

"Marshal, we've got two kays, and the earthie is injured! We cannot left Omegait behind!" Calfa's voice answered from the communicator.

Flurry got closer to the changelings attacking the soldiers and shot them in the back. "Just obey me, I'll take care of Omegait!" She shouted directly at the soldiers.

They looked at her. Calfa got out of the cover and looked at his comrades, pointing at the castle doors. "Move to the castle, now, now, now!"

The rest behind the concrete statue obeyed and started to gallop to the castle.

More changelings were coming to attack them, but Flurry took them out before their laser beams could reach them. She went behind the statue and saw three bodies. Two unicorns, and an earth pony that was still breathing. He had lost one of his forelegs. Blood wouldn't stop coming from it. He screamed in pain. Flurry approached him. "Omegait", she called him. He looked at her, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stop screaming. "Ma-marshal, marshal! Please kill me!"

Flurry opened her eyes wide. "What are you even saying? Get your hoof out of there and let me see!". She sat on her haunches in front of him. She took a look at the stump that was once his right foreleg.

"Ma-marshal, I don't wanna be a bucking amputee!" He sobbed loudly. "Just end my life! Shoot me!"
Flurry's horn started to illuminate. With high precision, she shot at the wound of his leg and cauterized it. "No!" Omegait gave a last scream, but it sounded more like a dissapointed noise than a painful one.

"Alright, now I'll take you to the castle inside", Flurry said, grabbing Omegait with her telekinesis and putting him carefully on her back.

Another sudden earthquake striked. Spike had fallen to the ground of the plaza. Blood poured out of his chest, flooding the area around. The changelings, even though he wasn't moving anymore, kept shooting him the back, in the chest and in the head. A dense smoke was coming from his enormous body.

Twilight, who had been flying pursued by Chrysalis and her minions, got from the back of the castle to the plaza. She saw the dragon on the ground. "No! Spike!"

Luster Dawn had left Fillydelphia fourty five minutes ago. She was about to reach Canterlot. The reason why she was flying so fast is because of what she heard while in Fillydelphia. The five pegasus soldiers sent by Flurry had gotten to Fillydelphia and asked for backup. They told the emergency password. CMC2K. And Luster knew well what that meant. She flew so fast she passed all the Weapon backup soldiers heading to Canterlot.

She was reaching Canterlot's train station. She flew over the Stablo press building and then over the headquarters. She was looking at the empty streets. "They all must be in the dungeons", she thought aloud.

She flew to the Castle, going over the farmland and reaching the plaza of the sisters. She reached it.

There was chaos, in front of her in the air and on the ground. Luster jaw's dropped. On the ground lay an enormous purple beast and dozens of black beings. Changelings. Just like she'd heard. Although nopony back in Fillydelphia mentioned a dragon.
A strong smell of roasted flesh invaded her nostrils. She even coughed a little. She started to approach the castle doors. Even though she saw changelings moving around just a couple of dozen legs away, they didn't seem to care. Or maybe, they hadn't noticed her presence.
She landed on the ground and pushed the big doors that were the entrance to the castle. The inside was dark.

"Hey, somepony is coming!" A male voice said from the inside.

"I'm Luster Dawn, don't shoot!" She stepped inside and the door closed behind her. She turned around and saw Flurry with her horn illuminated, ready to shoot. "Prove you are not Chrysalis again!" She told Luster.

Luster Dawn looked down. "Okay, I'll prove it". She sighed. "Twilight won't admit it, but between you and me, I'm her favorite". She looked up to face her.

Flurry snorted, turning off the light of her horn. "So it is you". She chuckled. "You missed the rodeo, neighrd", she said, drawing imaginary circles around her eyes.

Luster smiled. "But I still got here before it ends". With her telekinesis, she took a cloth out of her saddlebag. Then grabbed her round glasses and wiped them. Behind her in the hall were the soldiers. They were resting on their haunches. Their black uniforms were stained with green matter and blood that shone against the light of the unicorns' horns.

"Hey, I've still got to swat some bugs out there". Flurry pointed at the door with a leg. "And since we are short-hoofed here, I believe you could lend us one".

"You shouldn't worry about being short-hoofed. Your backup from Fillydelphia is coming", Luster said.

"Thank princess for that. It turns out I forgot that the Weapon division in Cloudsdale was sent to defend Las Pegasus. I sent six pegasi there for nothing. I'm just glad they came back unharmed", Flurry said. She pointed at the soldiers with a hoof.

While Flurry was speaking, Luster had walked to the door. "Shall we go? We really gotta find Twilight".

"Of course. Just give me a second", Flurry said. She looked at the soldiers. "Attention platoon!"

The soldiers, except for Omegait, got up and formed in two organized columns. There were five unicorns and eight pegasi.

"You'll hold this position until further notice. The backup is on its way. Understood?"

"Yes, mareshal!"

Flurry turned around and went to the door with Luster. They pulled the doors open and took flight.

Twilight was flying over the Lighthouse, near the Airship Mooring. Chrysalis and three changelings went after her.

"Hahaha! We killed your tiny little brother!" Chrysalis said in the midst of laughter.

Twilight dodged a laser beam from one of the changelings and shot back. They also dodged. "And he killed atleast thirty of your children. Do you even care for them?" she asked.

"Thanks to their sacrifice, I'll be a real queen again and I'll spawn thousands more. Equus pro equus!" Chrysalis answered.

Twilight looked behind Chrysalis. "Flurry!" she shouted.

Chrysalis looked behind her. Nopony was in sight. Then turned her head forward again. Twilight was escaping back to the castle. "You coward! Come back here!"

Flurry Heart and Luster Dawn were fighting in the air over the plaza, killing the changelings remaining. There were only a few left alive. And those alive weren't even fighting anymore. They hid or run away from the alicorns. The light grey floor was full of black spots. The cantie-rantie of Flurry resonated: "Marshal, we have reached Canterlot with the backup, where are you? Over!" With her telekinesis, Flurry took the device out of her pocket and pressed the button. "I'm in the castle plaza. But the situation is under control now. Over and out".

"Copy that. Over and out".

Luster Dawn flew around the castle and then approached Flurry. "I can't find Twilight! Do you think she's okay?"

Flurry sighed. "If she's still alive, she'll get here no matter what." They both started to fly down and landed on the plaza, in front of Spike's body. "Can you believe this beast, Spike, helped us in the battle?"

Luster nodded, looking at the burnt corpses of changelings around the place. "I have no doubts about that", she said with her eyes wide open.

They both looked up the sky and saw, coming from the north east, atleast a hundred ponies. They all wore black shirts and helmets. The Weapon soldiers. "Cavalry is here. A little bit late, but is here", Flurry said, smiling. Then Flurry and Luster looked north. Twilight was coming, pursued by Chrysalis and three changelings. Both Flurry and Luster took flight and went after them.

But before they could reach Twilight and the changelings, they saw them heading behind the castle. "I'll go behind them!", Flurry said, looking at Luster. "You go to the other side of the castle and wait for them there!" Luster nodded and headed south west while Flurry followed Twilight and the changelings.
Luster went to the right side of the castle and stayed flying close to the wall. Then they appeared in front of her, coming from the back of the castle. But something was wrong, because all of them, except Flurry, had purple coats. "What the hay?" Luster couldn't help to say.

There were five Twilights. All exactly the same.

Flurry was behind, with her eyes wide open. Her horn was illuminated, unsure of shooting.

They all look tired. They all looked sweaty. Even the tiny little details like the messy hair. They simply were flying on their places, in front of Flurry and Luster.

Luster looked at Flurry. "Who is the real Twilight?! You were going after them!"

Flurry shook her head. "There was a sudden green flash that blinded me. I can't tell who is the one".

Luster swept the Twilights with her eyes. "Okay, you're gonna prove you are the real Twilight", she said. "I'm gonna ask you something you would only know if you were the real one", The Twilights simply stared at Luster. "Tell me why...". Luster cleared her throat. She briefly looked at Flurry and then back at the Twilights. "Tell me why I'm your favorite and why Flurry is not"

"Because..." The Twilight in the middle of them started to say. "Agh!" She was automatically shot by Luster. A green flash invaded everypony's eyes. Chrysalis body was falling. It landed with a loud thud on the Royal Garden.

From the four Twilights left, three were surrounded by green lights too. They were now three changelings and striked laser beams against Luster.

Luster dodged the attacks and shot back. The same did Flurry and the real Twilight. Those three changelings' bodies quickly fell on the ground.

Twilight flew down to where Chrysalis had landed. She shot Chrysalis many times with her magic.

Flurry approached Twilight from behind. And touched her shoulder. Twilight almost bucked. She stopped shooting and turned her head at Flurry. "Aunt, she's dead already. Calm down".

Luster Dawn approached them. They were in the Royal Garden. "Are you okay, Twilight?" She asked.

Twilight sighed deeply. She looked at Luster. "How did you know it was her, the one imponyating me?"

Luster looked down. She chuckled. Then looked up again. "Well, I supposed that her minions wouldn't dare to speak...". She laughed briefly. "And I know you would never admit I'm your favorite".

Twilight and Flurry smiled. They laughed too.

The cantie-rantie on Luster's saddlebag resonated. "Attention, all Stablo agents! The dungeons have collapsed with the ponies inside!" A voice from the device said.

Flurry, Luster and Twilight looked at each other with their eyes wide open.