The Magic In Us

Chapters

Sometimes, It Feels A Little Hopeless
We Just Need To Find The Magic Inside Of Everypony
So Hold My Hoof, 'Cause We're Growing Together
It's Time To Show Your Courage
Raise Our Voices In Harmony
You Gotta Hear What I'm Sayin'
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
Don't Look Now
Cause There Is Hope When We're Together
Cause We've Got The Magic In Us
We'll Always Have Each Other Forever; Epilogue

Sometimes, It Feels A Little Hopeless

The sun shone down to the world below, radiating its intense heat, as though in spite of the five traveling ponies. Their pace was slow and their hooves dragged, their heads hanging low as sweat dripped down their faces. They panted, licking their lips for any drop of saliva, their mouths as dry as the desert they were in.

Zephyrina Storm, princess of Zephyr Heights, unfurled her wings, holding one above herself, desperate for some kind of shield against the scorching sun, and held the other one above her future step-sister, Misty Brightdawn, who gave her a grateful smile in return. Sparky laid his head down on Hitch's mane in exhaustion, yawning before closing his eyes.

Slowly, the five ponies continued on, determined, refusing to give up so easily, despite the tortuous heat. They had an important mission, one that they thought they'd never be able to go. But despite all thoughts to the contrary, they were able to figure out where the mysterious changeling kingdom was, and they had worked too hard over the past six months to find it on a map to not go, and, at this point, they had traveled for far too long to turn back now, lest the last two weeks be for naught.

Originally, they considered taking the Marestream. Even without magic, the vehicle could be fitted for an actual engine, and run on fuel. But, that would've taken too long. They wanted to leave as soon as possible for they didn't know how much longer Pipp would last. Besides, building the engine in a hurry like that would raise too much suspicion, and unless they wanted to bring the entire Zephyr Heights army along with them, they had to be discreet. Plus, they didn't know how long they'd be gone and they didn't want to run out of fuel and have to abandon it somewhere and lose it forever.

But, those were all excuses the five of them made after they left without the Marestream. In reality, they had jumped in with all four hooves before thinking things through, just leaving before they could talk themselves out of it. By the time using the Marestream had crossed their minds, they were already miles outside Maretime Bay and since it was already the next day, they couldn't go back to retrieve it, without raising too much suspicion. So, they came up with excuses as to why they thought bringing the Marestream was a bad idea to make themselves feel less like idiots.

Izzy Moonbow stumbled over her own hooves and before anypony could react, she fell flat on her face, accidentally getting a mouthful of dry sand. Misty rushed to her side, grabbing Izzy's hoof and helping up a spluttering Izzy. Izzy spat and sputtered, trying to get all the dry sand out of her mouth, but some still stubbornly remained.

"Eww!" Izzy whined, her tongue hanging out. "Do not eath the thand, gyth. It doeth not tathe good."

Hitch Trailblazer, Sheriff of Maretime Bay, handed Izzy a small canteen of water. "Here. To rinse out your mouth. Just don't use very much."

Izzy took the canteen with her hoof and drank some, giving it to Hitch when she was done. She swished the water around before spitting it out on the sand, making Sunny, Zipp, and Hitch gasp.

"Izzy!" Hitch scolded. "You were supposed to swallow it, not spit it out!"

Izzy looked confused. "Why would I swallow sand?" She asked with her tongue back in her mouth.

Zipp groaned. "Because, Iz, that was valuable water you just wasted and we don't have very much of it left," Zipp explained, groaning again.

"Oh. Oops. But, it's not like I want to swallow a bunch of sand. That's just nasty!"

"Izzy, it's called picking the better of the two evils. Swallowing sand? Or wasting valuable water?" Hitch argued.

"Not swallowing sand. Definitely the lesser of the two evils," Izzy replied, causing Hitch and Zipp to groan.

"Alright guys," Sunny Starscout said, getting between them before it got out of hoof. "We're all tired, thirsty, and hot. Not to mention hungry. We're all just grating on each other's nerves. Let's just move on and keep going, alright?"

Hitch, Izzy, and Zipp all grumble incoherent responses. In the past two weeks, Sunny and Misty had been acting as the mediators of the group, stopping any potential fight before it escalated, terrified they'd have another repeat of that horrible day, but this time, resulting in losing their friends forever.

Six months ago, Pipp, their best friend, Zipp's little sister, and a Guardian of Unity, was fillynapped by changelings in the middle of the night and replaced with one of their own. The changeling–who they discovered were shapeshifting creatures who used to be allies of Equestria, though, clearly, they weren't anymore–had led them into a trap that resulted in the five of them on the roof of the Crystal Brighthouse, the changeling demanding that they trade Sunny for Pipp.

Zipp, in a conversation to stall for time, had discovered pony kind was useless to the changelings without their magic. To keep Equestria safe, Zipp and Misty worked together to shatter the Unity Crystals, Equestria's sole source of magic, before Sunny could go with the changeling. However, that required not getting Pipp back, sacrificing her as collateral. Because of this, and because emotions were running high, Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch had all turned on Misty and Zipp, all of them saying things they regret and causing Zipp and Misty to leave the Crystal Brighthouse and stay with Queen Haven back in Zephyr Heights. It was there that they–more specifically Misty–were able to find where Pipp was, after working tirelessly, researching the entire Zephyr Heights royal library top to bottom for six months.

The five ponies continued on, dragging their hooves through the sand, counting down the miles it would take to reach the changeling kingdom, despite none of them even knowing what the starting number was.

Zipp sat in front of the campfire, nibbling on her small dinner of dried noodles, which tasted like paper seasoned with the dry sand they spent all day walking on. They would've cooked them in water, but they were low on it as it was. Zipp stared at the dancing flames of the fire, her mind blank, the cold night a sharp contrast to the scorching day.

Giving up on eating dinner, she put her remaining noodles back in one of the portioned-out sandwich bags, put it back in her saddlebag, and pulled the ends of her black coat closer together, sighing heavily as she pulled down her black beanie hat.

It was at this moment that Sunny and Hitch approached her, as though they were waiting for Zipp to be done eating. Zipp barely spared them a glance before staring back at the fire. Since the five of them set out on their journey two weeks ago, Zipp had barely spoken to Sunny and Hitch more than necessary. Zipp still hadn't forgiven them for the horrible things they said to her, despite Sunny's numerous attempts at apologizing, and even if she did, Zipp was still upset at them about the things they said to Misty, and the effects it had on her.

In the six months since that day, Zipp felt more protective over Misty than she did before. Maybe because Misty trusted Zipp so completely when she shattered the Unity Crystals, destroying all magic, and all she got in return was three of her friends turning on her and saying horrible things. Maybe it was because Misty didn't talk anymore, despite saying three sentences the day they left for their journey, when one of the changelings that had tried to stop them shapeshifted into Opaline, reopening half-healed wounds, making her seem that much more vulnerable and needing that much more protection. Maybe it was because Zipp saw Misty as a younger sister, her older sister's instincts playing a role, especially since she wasn't able to protect Pipp.

Whatever the reason, Zipp felt responsible for Misty's safety, wanting to protect her from those who wanted to do her harm. Zipp only forgave Izzy because she was so sorry the minute she saw them walk into the Brighthouse two weeks ago, and Misty was so quick to forgive her, and because despite delivering the final blow to Misty with her words six months ago, her intent and her words weren't aimed as blows, like Hitch and Sunny's words were. They weren't aimed to hurt. She was simply speaking what she had thought.

Even though Misty had already forgiven Sunny and Hitch, unbeknownst to them, Zipp refused to do so for both Misty and herself. When Zipp had asked why Misty forgave them so quickly, Misty had simply told her that life's too short to hold grudges. That she saw first–hoof the effect that holding a grudge could have on a pony in Opaline, and she refused to be like Opaline in any way. Opaline refused to forgive Princess Twilight or whoever hurt her, and it turned her into the evil, magic-stealing tyrant that raised Misty and tried to take over Equestria. Well...in so many words.

Still, though, Zipp felt as though Sunny and Hitch didn't deserve such quick forgiveness, and as such, she refused to give it to them.

"What do you two want?" Zipp asked with bitterness in her tone, not looking away from the campfire.

"Can we... talk?" Sunny asked hesitantly.

"If it's you attempting to apologize again, I don't want to hear it," Zipp answered, giving that response to Sunny not for the first time.

"We know..." Hitch answered, his voice a monotone devoid of emotion. "It's not about that."

Zipp glanced at Misty, who was sitting across from them with Izzy, who was currently teaching her how to shield herself from other ponies' emotions so that she didn't constantly get overwhelmed by them. Zipp's eyes lingered on the dark blue mane accessory Misty was wearing, with the dark blue bead in the middle that held a picture of all of them from Misty's Cutie Blossom Bash Izzy made for her two weeks ago. Zipp glanced at the one Izzy was wearing, which was purple with thin strands of blue and a dark purple bead. Zipp didn't know which picture was in Izzy's bead. All she knew was that it was a picture of all of them.

Zipp sighed and reluctantly stood up, following Hitch and Sunny a little ways from the campfire, out of earshot of Misty and Izzy. Once Sunny and Hitch turned to face Zipp, Sunny was biting her lower lip, as though unsure of how to word something.

Zipp sighed irritatedly. "Ugh, you wanted to talk to me about something, so talk. I have some very important fire staring to get to," Zipp said sarcastically, making it clear she'd rather be doing anything else than talk with them two.

Sunny sighed heavily, before finally talking. "Is...is Misty alright?"

Zipp blinked, not expecting that. But her surprise didn't last long before it boiled down to frustration. These two had no right to ask if Misty was okay when they hadn't even apologized to Misty themselves. It was as though they assumed Misty knew how sorry they were through their emotions with her being an emotional empath and all, so they didn't need to apologize, despite the tension being high. Perhaps they believed Misty also didn't want to hear it, so they didn't even try. Perhaps it was because they saw Zipp as Misty's keeper. That they couldn't approach Misty until Zipp gave them permission to, which was not the case. Despite Misty being glued to Zipp most of the time, Zipp did not even try to tell Misty what to do. Misty was her own mare who could make her own choices. Though, it made Zipp feel a tad bit better if that's what Sunny and Hitch thought.

Whatever the reason, the fact that they had yet to verbally try and apologize was not cool and yet another reason Zipp refused to forgive them.

"She's fine. Why?" Zipp responded shortly.

"It's just that...Misty hasn't said a word to any of us in the last two weeks. We just thought it was because she was still upset with us, but, she doesn't seem upset with Izzy yet she still hasn't said a word to her. We were just wondering..."

"Has Misty talked to you or anything?"

Zipp felt her blood boil with anger. Did these two morons seriously not put it together yet. Were they really that blind, that dense, to not be able to recognize the consequences of their own actions? Have they moved on so quickly that they didn't remember what they said? And they wonder why Zipp hadn't forgiven them yet.

"She doesn't talk to anypony anymore. Not since that day." Zipp said in an emotionless voice, trying her best to control her anger.

"But...why?" Sunny asked, still not putting it together.

Zipp clenched her whole body, trying to stop herself from doing something she'll regret later. "Why do you think?" Zipp asked through clenched teeth, before walking away from the campsite and into the darkness of the desert.

Posey waited until he was a good distance away before following him, making sure it wasn't obvious that she was following him. She rolled her eyes. What was she doing? Following a colt–filly across town every day for the past two weeks? For all she knew, somepony was playing a prank on her.

It all started with a note. On the morning of Maretime Bay Day, she woke up, her heart feeling heavy upon realizing that this would be their first Maretime Bay Day in three years without Pipp. She had gotten ready for the day, and opened her door to find an envelope on her porch from Sheriff Hitch, with the official Sheriff seal on it.

Posey, confused, had picked it up and had walked back into her house. She had opened it and read it to herself aloud:

"To Miss Posey Bloom,

This letter is top secret and should only be used as evidence when proving your case.

As you know, we found where Princess Pipp Petals may be located. A small team that includes myself and my deputy, Sparky Sparkoroni, has been dispatched on a top secret mission to rescue her. I repeat. Top. Secret. While I'm gone, despite his past error of judgment, I have put Sprout Cloverleaf in as acting Sheriff, for he knows all the ins and outs and protocol of being Sheriff, unlike anypony else. However, I do NOT trust him. I have reason to believe that he is working for the enemy. However, confronting him may interfere with the mission, and rescuing the Princess is our top priority.

Therefore, I need backup. I already have my animal deputies on the case, but they will not be enough. I need your help. I am putting you as true acting Sheriff, though nopony else can know, until a specific time. You are to tell only one pony, a pony you trust with your life, a pony who can keep this secret. They are to be your undercover deputy. I need you and your deputy to trail Mr. Cloverleaf discreetly. Make sure he intends no harm on Equestria or its current and fragile state of unity. If he attempts to manipulate Maretime Bay again like before, I need you and your undercover detective to restrain him and show this letter to the citizens of Maretime Bay so they know that I, Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer, appoint you as true acting Sheriff of Maretime Bay until I return.

I wish you luck.

Sincerely,
Sheriff Hitch Trailblaizer

Posey had rolled her eyes upon reading the letter. At least nopony could say Sheriff Hitch was unprofessional. He could have just said 'Posey, I've gone with my friends to save my marefriend and I don't trust the pony I put in charge to run the whole town, so I need you to pick a deputy and trail him. Oh, and I'm secretly putting you in charge. Nopony else can know about this.' Well, Hitch has been known for being dramatic. At least that hasn't changed.

Posey had originally believed that somepony had pranked her, or that this was another Operation Glitterbomb situation. Originally. Then she had walked out to go about the rest of her day when she heard Sprout's announcement. That Hitch had a last-minute call to help his ill grandmother so he would be out of town for the time being and he put Sprout as acting Sheriff. Considering everything that happened, she decided to follow the letter's instructions. The first step was to pick a deputy, then she had to follow the colt-filly around town until he did something suspicious.

Posey glanced at Windy on the other side of the street, who glanced back at her and winked, before continuing to follow Sprout. Posey sighed and sat back downing her seat at the Cafe. Who knew trailing somepony would be so much work?

She had been sitting there for ten minutes, sipping her latte and reading her favorite book in peace and quiet when her phone dinged from a text message. When she checked it, she found it was a text from Windy, with coordinates. Posey rolled her eyes. Sometimes Windy got a little too caught up in the things she did.

Posey sent back a text with a bunch of question marks before Windy sent a "Share My Location" to her. Posey got up, paid for her latte, and walked as normally as she could to Windy's location.

When she got there, she found a pale Windy, holding her phone.

Posey rushed over to Windy. "Windy? What's wrong? Did something happen with Sprout?"

Windy nodded, wide-eyed. "He knows. They know. And they're waiting for them. Hitch and his team are walking into an ambush and they don't even know it."

Posey took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, then, let's tell them."

Posey took out her phone and called Hitch, but it went straight to voicemail. So, she sent a code red message, but just as she sent it, she heard Windy scream and everything went black.

"Ugh!" Hitch groaned as he held his phone above him in the air as the four of them sat around the campfire after another long day of rough travel. According to the map, they were just a couple of miles from the edge of the desert. So close, yet so far. "There's no service out here!"

"Well, we are outside of Equestria," Izzy commented.

"Yeah, I doubt Z ▪︎ Heights considered you wanting to post Ponygram pictures 100 miles outside the Equestrian border when they set you up with the long distance plan," Zipp added sarcastically.

"For your information, Zipp," Hitch purposefully over-enunciated with a glare. "I am not posting Ponygram pics, I am checking in on Posey about Maretime Bay. Or, I would be if I had any service!" Hitch whacked his phone with his hoof before raising it above him again.

"Right. Why did you put Posey as an undercover Sheriff again? Seems kind of...counteractive, don't you think?" Zipp asked, narrowing her eyes at Hitch.

"What do you mean? Posey's the perfect pony. Besides having no qualms about telling ponies what to do, she's the only one brave enough to tell Sprout off when he's being an idiot." Hitch said, too busy trying to find a signal to be affected the way Zipp was hoping he would be.

"Right...whatever," Zipp responded with a roll of her eyes.

"Ugh, I'm going to try somewhere else." Hitch finally said, standing up and walking away.

"You can try, Sheriff, but I doubt ten hoofsteps closer to the border will change much!" Zipp called back sarcastically, earning an ice-cold glare from Misty, to which Zipp quickly looked away, blushing a bright red from shame. Misty was right. Being mad and refusing to forgive Hitch and Sunny was one thing, but purposefully agitating them was a whole other.

Hitch decided to ignore Zipp's unnecessary coment and decided to try anyway. As he walked, his eyes on his phone, he suddenly tripped over a very big something. Hitch rubbed his head, reaching out for the phone he dropped while also picking himself up from the ground.

Behind him, he heard somepony else groaning. He turned around to see Sunny slowly sitting up, rubbing her hear. Hitch rushed over to Sunny, reaching out a hoof to help her up. Sunny accepted, groaning a bit as she stood up.

"Oh my hoofness, Sunny! Are you okay? I am so sorry." Hitch asked, examining Sunny for any injuries.

"I'm fine. What are you doing?"

"Ugh, looking for a signal in this hellhole." Hitch raised his phone again. There was a wavering bar before it fell again. "I want to check in with Posey to see how everything is back in Maretime Bay, but with no service..." Hitch trailed off as he turned in a circle, his phone held high.

"How can you think about Maretime Bay after what Zipp said about Misty not talking. She made it sound like it was our fault and it was." Sunny put her face in her hooves. Hitch finally put his phone down upon hearing Sunny's panicking voice. He slowly sat himself down next to her as Sunny collapsed to the ground in a guilty mess. "I basically told her to stop stuttering or to not talk at all!"

Hitch sighed. "You think that's bad? I told her that she was in no position to talk about friendship when she sentenced our friend to a living hell. I just...how do we approach her with something like this? Are we just supposed to say, 'hey Misty, sorry about we said. We didn't mean it and we were being total jerks. We didn't actually mean for you to stop talking. So, you know, you can talk now and not be afraid of losing us?' I doubt that'll get her talking again."

Sunny groaned, staring at the ground. "I know, but we have to apologize in some way. That was horrible of us and I'd never forgive myself if Misty never talked again because of us." Sunny sighed. "What is wrong with us? Why did we say such horrible things?"

"Pipp."

Sunny looked at Hitch confused.

Hitch sighed before continuing, his emotional wall coming down for a moment. "Pipp was the one who always kept me in line. She was always the first one to tell me when my emotions were leading me rather than my common sense. She taught me how to stop, take a deep breath, and rethink the whole situation from a different angle. That's how she was able to come up with so many new songs. By looking at her old songs from a different angle." Hitch scoffed, shaking his head and staring out into the horizon. "I'm a mess without her. I don't know what I'll do if I have to spend the rest of my life without her."

Sunny put a hoof on Hitch's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find her and bring her home."

Hitch looked at Sunny with sad eyes. "And what if we don't?"

Sunny didn't say anything. She just stared at his fear–filled eyes. She hadn't seen Hitch this vulnerable in a long time. The last time she'd seen him like this was ten years ago, when he was fourteen and his dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. When he realized it was a likely possibility that he was going to lose his dad.

Sunny wanted to tell him that they'd find her, that they weren't going to go home without her. But that was all pointless, because, the truth was, they might not make it home at all. They may not find her. And even if they did, they might not live long enough to bring her home.

So, Sunny didn't say anything. Instead, she just stayed silent, following Hitch's gaze into the dark horizon, wondering just how in Equestria things got so bad from just a simple, miscommunicated fight one morning in the bedroom of the Crystal Brighthouse six months ago

Author's Note

Alright, the finale to the Pitch Tiology is here. This chapter sort of works as a recap chapter since so much had happened in the second part, I figured it was important to give a quick sum up of the important things.

But, don't worry. The fun is just beginning :twilightsmile:

We Just Need To Find The Magic Inside Of Everypony

"Friendship is the true immortal piece of magic that binds us as one. The friendships you forge will include your lowest point and your highest point in life. The ups and downs your friendships encompass will build up your true character and lead you to your destiny and calling in life. No doubt the journeys in friendship will be bumpy, but in the end, it will make up who you are in the future and define your personality. Remember! Friendship is Magic!"
~KO Linken

The six little ponies ran through the changing hallways, going by raw instinct rather than any actual knowledge. Little did they know, their magic was guiding them along their path.

Zipp glanced around, praying like hell that they didn't run into any changelings before they found the queen. She was surprised they didn't already. They had already been running for a good seven minutes, and they hadn't seen a single one.

Sparky sat on Hitch's back, struggling to keep his eyes open. Hitch didn't know what to do. He wanted to put Sparky somewhere safe until the battle was over, but he didn't want to leave him by himself. And nopony could dragonsit him because they needed all hooves on deck to fight the changeling queen and their army.

To say the least, they wouldn't have Sparky's transformation fire on hoof to change everyday objects to weapons. Why did they have to disarm themselves so dramatically when surrendering?

Suddenly, Zipp skidded to a stop. She peeked through a hole in surprise, seriously counting their lucky stars. They had run past the changeling weaponry. She called to her friends and pointed to the armory, and they all smiled. This was perfect.

They jumped through the hole as it closed. They'd be safe until a new hole opened up. Their mouths dropped open in surprise at the weapons galore they could choose from.

They sprung into action. They didn't know how much longer they had. In the last battle, they were sorely unprepared. This time, they had the opportunity to prepare and they were not going to waste it.

They ran to grab the weapons. Both Zipp and Pipp grabbed swords since sword practice was part of their daily princess training when they lived at the castle. "Royalty mustn't only be able to sit and look pretty as well as sign decrees. They must also be able to defend their kingdom at all costs," their mother always told them.

Misty also grabbed a sword. Opaline was not going to raise a defenseless filly and made Misty practice sword fighting every day. She hadn't picked up a sword since she left the lair, but as soon as she picked it up, it felt natural in her hooves.

Hitch grabbed a club, much like the one Sparky made him. He was pretty good at it during the first battle so he thought sticking to what he knew would be best.

Izzy found a spear, one she quickly bedazzled with her own personal touch by adding extra glitter she always kept on hoof. Sunny grabbed throwing knives. She wasn't well-versed in weapons like Misty, Pipp, and Zipp, but she always did have pretty good aim, and years in making smoothies and cutting up fruits made her pretty good at using knives. Though she grabbed a sword in case she ran out of throwing knives, even though she had close to a hundred of them that all fit nicely in a bag that looped onto the bag she always wore.

Finally, the six ponies were ready to go. They were just about to find a way out when Hitch suddenly spoke up.

"What about Sparky? The little guy is in no position to fight."

Sparky gurgled at him from Hitch's back, smacking his lips and softly closing his eyes.

"You could always leave him in here. That way, when everything's all done and over with, we can come back for him," Zipp suggested.

"Are you kidding me? This place is going to be overrun with changelings when we declare war on their queen! This is their armory!"

"He's got a point," Pipp agreed with a shrug.

Sunny sighed. "Let's just…head to the throne room. We'll find a hiding spot for him on the way."

Hitch sighed, to which Pipp quickly nuzzled him in comfort, gaining a warm smile in response. And then they were off, running through the hallways and looking for the throne room, while Pipp and Hitch looked for a hiding spot for Sparky.

They found something that would suffice. It was a little hole in the wall, just big enough for Sparky to climb through, but the hole was pretty big on the inside. If he stayed against the wall, the stone partially covering the entrance would hide him. Reluctantly, with Pipp's silent comfort, he put Sparky there.

As they continued walking, thinking it best to conserve their energy for the actual fight, Hitch hung towards the back, hanging his head. After a bit, Pipp noticed and hung in the back as well, walking next to him.

"You okay, hun?" Pipp asked concern in her voice, lowering her head so it was level with his.

"Huh?" Hitch asked, seeming startled. He shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just…" Hitch trailed off.

Pipp gave a small smile. "Honey, it's okay to be scared. I know you like to hide your fear for other ponies' sake, but sometimes, the most inspiring thing you can do is show your fear and do it anyway, despite your fear. That's real courage. I'm scared too. I'm terrified. But I know that if we don't try, I'll spend my whole life thinking of the what-ifs. I refuse to spend my life like that."

Hitch smiled up at Pipp. She always knew how to comfort him when he needed it most. She pecked his cheek and nuzzled close to him as they continued walking at the back of the group. While it lifted his spirits a bit, his heart was still heavy.

"Pipp. I've…there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about and…I want to say it before we…you know…?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Hitch took a deep breath. "When I found out you were captured, and every day since then, I wasn't myself. I'm not proud of the stallion I was. I actually regret him. It made me realize how lost I am without you, my little songbird." Pipp's heart warmed as she heard his nickname for her for the first time in forever it felt like. "But…there are some things you ought to know about me. Things that…that I said and did that I regret. And if you don't want to be with me after, I'll totally understand–"

"I don't want to know."

Hitch looked up at Pipp, confused. "W–what?"

Pipp sighed. "Look. These last few months have been…incredibly trying for all of us. I'm surprised we haven't died from exhaustion. The point is, we all said things we regret. I mean, I told a friend that I regret ever knowing him and that he was a mistake, even though he was just trying to help me."

"Y-you did? Wait, who?"

Pipp's eyes widened as she realized the position she put herself in. She chuckled nervously. "Uh…the who doesn't matter. What matters is that we were put in a position nopony should be put in. And we reacted the best we could. It doesn't matter what happened in the past. I know who you are. Our friends know who you are. Do you know who you are?"

Hitch shook his head miserably. "Not without you I don't. You're my other half, Pipp. I don't know who I am without you. I just know I don't like that pony."

"Well, you ought to be proud of that pony. Because you know what I see? I see a sheriff of Maretime Bay, willing to do anything to protect his fellow ponies. I see the best dragon–pony dad in the world."

"The only dragon‐pony dad!" Izzy yelled from ahead of them. Pipp was about to ask if she's been listening in to their conversation, before realizing she didn't want to know the answer to that.

"Whatever. Anyway, that doesn't negate that you are the best. And most importantly, you're a pony. You make mistakes. You're not infallible. You're going to royally screw up. Tell me, Hitch. Did you learn from the mistakes you made?"

"Yeah. I learned that I should stop and listen before reacting and that the words I say don't just affect me, but everypony around me."

"Well, then. That's what's important. That's what life's all about. Making mistakes, and learning from them." Pipp gave Hitch a small smile. "You know I love you, right? And I always will."

"I love you too, my little songbird."

As they were gazing into each other's eyes, they bumped into the ponies in front of them. Pipp was about to ask why they were stopped when Zipp, the pony they bumped into, gave a firm shake of her head. The both of them quickly shut up, giving one more look of love, just in case they didn't see the end of this. There was fear in Hitch's eyes. He was terrified of losing those he loved the most. But Pipp tried to comfort him through her expression, and she could tell it worked a bit.

The six ponies took a deep breath and entered the hole they guessed to be the throne room, Sunny first, Hitch last. Sunny glowered at the changeling queen who was sitting on the black and green throne. She was inspecting her hooves with distaste.

"Ugh. I really should've been the one to pose as Pipp in Maretime Bay. At least that way, I could get a proper hooficure. Besides, you know what they say. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

"Give it up, Queen Vespula! You've already lost!" Sunny yelled, not yet reaching for her weapons.

Queen Vespula rolled her eyes. "Don't even try bluffing to me." She looked at them, widening her eyes. "Oh no! You got into my changelings' weaponry! What am I to do?! Spare me from your terrifying wrath!" She leaned back on her throne, her foreleg on her forehead dramatically. "Please, show me mercy!" She taunted dramatically.

Pipp rolled her eyes. "Not your best act, Vespula."

Vespula looked back at the six ponies. Specifically Pipp. "It's called sarcasm, pink pony," Queen Vespula spat with disdain. "Learn it."

Pipp scowled, opening her mouth to reply when Sunny intervened. "Stop playing games, Vespula! Surrender, and we will spare you!"

"You think I'm really scared of six little ununified ponies."

"You should be! Because we are united!" Sunny countered.

"Are you?" She turned to Pipp and Hitch. "Does your marefriend know about your little fight with her sister and future stepsister? Or is she in the dark?"

"This isn't going to work, Vespula. Hitch already beat you to it. I don't care!" Pipp yelled, pulling out her sword. "Do what Sunny said, or face our wrath, you bug thing!"

"Oh? But did he tell you about how bad it got? How it silenced Misty for six long months? How Zipp tortured herself with the words he said? Perhaps you'd like to see the fight for yourself?"

Vespula pulled out her other magical crystal ball, her backup one she had to use after Zipp destroyed the first one. She lit her horn with a green aura, magically starting at the crystal ball.

Pipp gritted her teeth. Like hell, Queen Vespula was going to try and ruin her relationship after locking her up for six months. She held her hoof out.

"Sunny, give me a knife."

"W–what?" Sunny asked, thoroughly confused.

"Give me one of your throwing knives. Now!" Pipp said with more urgency, staring Queen Vespula down as she began to magically pull up the recording.

"W–why?"

"Just do it!" Pipp snapped.

Hesitantly, Sunny gave Pipp a throwing knife. Hitch tried to get Pipp's attention, telling her to think before doing anything brash, but Pipp ignored him. With one calculated throw, the knife soared through the air, pointed end first, and imbedded itself into the crystal ball, cracking it before it shattered completely.

All five ponies stared at Pipp, with wide-eyed shock, though, Pipp could tell there was some pride mixed into Zipp's stare. Even Queen Vespula seemed a little shocked. She looked from Pipp to her shattered crystal ball, back to Pipp, multiple times.

"You…you fool! Do you have any idea what you've done?! Do you have any idea how rare these are?! These two crystal balls have been passed down for generations, for centuries! First your blasted sister, and now you!"

Pipp looked at Zipp, raising an eyebrow, who simply shrugged in response.

"I have no more spares you…you idiot!"

Pipp looked at Queen Vespula with a smug smile. "You should've thought of that before you locked me up, you good for nothing, bug-infested freak!"

"NO! YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT BEFORE YOU SHATTERED MY CRYSTAL BALL, YOU IGNORANT FOAL!!!" Queen Vespula took a deep calming breath before speaking again, this time with a small smile of her own that made Pipp start rethinking her decision. "Fine. That's alright. I'll just have to make another one. Do you know what the most important ingredient for making a crystal ball is?"

Pipp remained silent, glaring at the deranged queen, but she swallowed nervously.

"A soul that's known great sacrifice," Queen Vespula whispered dangerously.

Pipp's eyes flicked to Zipp. In this whole experience, Zipp was the one who had to make the biggest sacrifice. She sacrificed magic, her sister, her friends, and the entire life she built up in Maretime Bay just to save Equestria. Pipp took a small step towards Zipp, ready to leap in front of her if need be. Zipp already made a huge sacrifice. It's time she did the same.

The queen laughed maniacally, her eyes those of insanity. She called for her changeling army to charge. Sunny pulled out another throwing knife, Zipp, Pipp, and Misty all unsheathed their swords, while Hitch and Izzy pulled out their spear and club.

"WE'LL DO OUR PART!!" Sunny yelled, raising her throwing knife.

"HOOVES TO HEART!!" The rest of them echoed before charging at the wall of changelings.

The two sides clashed for the final time, all of them knowing this was a battle to the death. The ponies split in hopes of dividing the changelings, but there were so many of them, that they could barely see anything past all the changelings. Could barely hear anything past the buzzing of insect wings.

Still, they persevered. Izzy was slowly backed into a corner by a flood of changelings, the amount of green flames from most of the changelings blinding her. She saw her friends, she saw Onyx, she saw the Queen, she saw everypony she ever knew. There were even a couple of them in the form of Comet.

She scowled at the changelings. "I know who my friends are, and you are not them!"

She charged at the changelings, avoiding as many as she could. She knew the plan. Priority was the queen. All of them had to do whatever they could to get to the queen. Once they took out the queen, this would be tons easier.

Misty and Zipp ended up meeting in the middle of the throne room, fighting back to back. "Ready for round two, Misty?" Zipp asked with a determined smile.

Misty gave a determined nod and the two of them took out changeling after changeling. However, the changelings were more ferocious this time, trying to protect their queen, actually having battle armor of their own too. Misty and Zipp were quickly disarmed and captured.

Pipp saw this all go down and she called out for her sister. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins and while she was struggling against her barrage of changelings, she quickly disposed of them and hurried after her sister. Like hell, they were going to hurt her.

She galloped towards Zipp and Misty, not ready to let the changelings win after everything they've been through. However, it was as though the changelings predicted her move and threw themselves at her, catching her by surprise. They knocked her to the ground, making her drop her sword. They kept her pinned to the ground before picking her up and dragging her after the two other mares.

The changelings were prepared this time. They had fought these ponies twice before and they knew their fighting technique. They knew when the prisoners escaped, they'd go to the throne room. They weren't idiots. Taking these ponies out would be a breeze.

Hitch watched as Pipp was captured again. Anger welled up inside him. He knew that Pipp could take care of himself, but he had still kept an eye on her. He wasn't going to let anypony harm her after he just got her back. Without thinking, he bolted for Pipp, but the changelings were waiting for him. They tackled him to the ground and dragged him with the others, though he was still struggling and fighting.

That left only Sunny and Izzy left. Sunny had caught on to what the changelings were doing. They were using their friendship against them. While it hurt, she knew she couldn't go after them. The changelings would be expecting that. She kept trying to make her way to the queen, but with changeling after changeling buzzing around, it was nearly impossible to keep track of her surroundings. She noticed some weren't even attacking. They were just flying around trying to disorient her.

That's when she heard Izzy scream. She turned around to see her being dragged away. Sunny gritted her teeth as she fought the urge to go after her. Her first nonearth pony friend. Tears filled her eyes as she kept throwing knives, eventually pulling out her sword so that she'd have enough knives for the queen.

Sunny was the hardest to get, and Queen Vespula was getting impatient. With a growl, she flew off her throne, landing in front of Sunny, wanting to get this over with, but wanting to have a little fun in the process. She smiled wickedly down at the wide-eyed earth pony, who had scrambled back in surprise.

Sunny looked at the queen with a glare filled with tears, only to see a familiar red earth pony step out of the mess of ponies and walk up to her with a wicked smile.

Sprout.

She shook her head. "Really? You're having a changeling pretend to be Sprout of all ponies? Couldn't choose my father again? Or my mother?"

"Oh, you foolish filly. There was no pretending. This is Sprout."

No glint.

She looked at Sprout confused as he stared her down with a malicious grin. "W-what? Why…why…you're working for the changelings?" Sunny asked incredulously.

Sprout chuckled. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I side with my own species."

"W-what?! You can't be serious! You're not a changeling you idiot!"

"Oh, but he is. You see, we've been infiltrating Equestria for centuries. While we change into ponies you know to steal your magic, when we want to simply infiltrate, especially for years, it's easier to just create a whole new pony."

"W-where's the real Sprout?" Sunny asked, completely confused, still not comprehending.

Vespula rolled her eyes. "This is the real Sprout. The entire Cloverleaf family are changelings. Generations ago, they moved to Maretime Bay when travel between the three cities was still common, just when ponies were starting to separate themselves."

"B-but…your mom helped bring back magic…you…you tried destroying it…"

"Yes, the old changeling Sprout didn't get the message that we wanted magic back so we can take it from you. Phyllis had to step in."

Sunny took a step back, wondering what else of her foalhood was a lie. "But…but…"

"Originally, we wanted him to become sheriff, since, you know, he could then control the ponies of Maretime Bay, but, well, you see how that went. The old changeling needed some…help. He was drunk on love, and didn't know how to control it."

"But…your mom she…she was against bringing back…how…"

"Phyllis had to blend in. She had to have power. More so than the sheriff since that part of the plan failed. That way, when it was time to bring back magic, ponies would follow her lead. We have spies all over Equestria. Changelings pretending to be ponies. How else did you think we knew everything about you? Your weaknesses? Your strengths? The fact that you were the key to bringing everypony together? Who do you think started those fights? Back in Maretime Bay? We learned from our ancestors' mistakes. And even if you were to defeat us, only two spies were revealed to you! We have dozens more! Changelings will always be a part of pony kind, waiting for the opportunity when I call them to arms and Equestria will be ours!"

Sunny stumbled back, eyes wide. In her surprise and shock, the changelings were able to grab her and drag her to the throne with her other friends.

Upon seeing her wide-eyed shock, Hitch was instantly concerned. "Sunny? What's wrong?"

"It…it was all a lie. None…none of it was real…"

"What do you mean, Sunny?" Misty asked.

Sunny couldn't talk. Vespula was right. Even if they were to defeat the changelings, how could they trust anypony back home? How could they trust those closest to them? How could they trust each other? How could they trust themselves?

Sunny shook her head. How dare Queen Vespula make her doubt herself? Her friends? Her fellow ponies? The ponies were united…kind of. They…Sunny widened her eyes. This was what Queen Vespula was trying to do! She was trying to sow distrust and separation.

And that was when Sunny began to panic. If this got out…if the changelings revealed themselves…ponies wouldn't just be separated by kind…they'd be separated in general! Nopony would trust each other again. Pegasi would no longer trust unicorns, earth ponies, or other pegasi. Same with earth ponies and unicorns. They could lose the light of Friendship forever!

She would not let that happen!

"It doesn't matter what you throw at us! We're going to bounce back every time! We're going to keep fighting! And we will keep winning!"

Sunny shoved the changeling that was holding her down and stood up. Feeling motivated, her friends followed her. As they stood up for Equestria, their cutie marks began to glow.

"Sow distrust and separation! As long as the Guardians keep breathing, we'll keep fighting!"

With what? Your nonexistent magic? Puh-lease. Give me a break!"

"We don't need magic to defeat you! All we need is each other!" Sunny took a step towards Queen Vespula. "Because with a little Creativity," As Sunny said this, Izzy began to glow a soft bluish-purple color, floating into the air. The other ponies looked up at her in shock, except for Sunny, who was staring a Queen Vespula with a determined smile. "Confidence! Kindness!" As one, Pipp and Hitch began to glow, Pipp a dark purple that matched her mane, and Hitch a dark blue that matched his cutie mark. "Courage! And Empathy!" Zipp and Misty began to glow as well, Misty the same coral color as her cutie mark and mane, and Zipp the same pink as hers. "We have Hope! And when we have Hope, we can do anything!"

Then Sunny began to glow a beautiful gold color, her alicorn wings and horn glowing brightly. Brighter than it ever had before. Beautiful gold necklaces began to glow onto the five ponies, each of them with a gem in the middle in the shape of their cutie mark the same color of the glow around them.

They were all shocked. The magic was supposed to be gone. The crystals were shattered. Magic…yet, here it was. Glowing brightly. They were confused, but they didn't question it. Instead, they trusted it.

"You, and your followers, have done wrong to Equestria for moons, but your magic is nowhere near the might of the Magic of Friendship!"

They all began to glow in a bright white light. Queen Vespula looked up in fear as she predicted what would happen.

But that was when Pipp caught sight of Morphis, standing in the crowd of changelings, looking up with a small smile. She blinked, her eyes going from an ethereal white, back to her normal green. This wasn't right. Not all changelings were evil. Some were sweet. And kind. And even shy.

As soon as she thought that, the ethereal glow faded and the six ponies were slowly lowered to the ground. Confused, five of the ponies looked at each other in confusion, but Pipp's head was lowered towards the ground.

Zipp noticed this. "Pipp? Is everything alright?"

Pipp sighed heavily. "This isn't right," She muttered.

"What? What do you mean this isn't right? We were about to defeat the bad guy," Hitch asked, looking at Pipp, confused.

"No. We were about to defeat a bad guy. And some good ones. That's not what we do. We give a second chance to any creature who wants it."

"You think these guys want a second chance? After everything they did?" Zipp asked.

Pipp looked back at Morphis, who was looking at her confused. "I know one who does," Pipp answered with a small smile. She turned to the rest of the changelings. "You have all been dictated by tyrental queens for centuries! Ones who wouldn't let you be yourselves. Ones who made you believe that you were nothing but drones. But you're not! You can be different! You are different! Some of you are kind. Others are sweet. Some of you are brash! Or adventurous! Or creative! Or…whatever. I have to admit. I thought you guys were all the same. But a very special changeling showed me the truth. That you are all separate changelings with your own personalities." She looked at Izzy, with a smile. "Each with your own sparkle."

Izzy gasped, a small smile on her face.

"LIARS!!" Queen Vespula shrieked. "YOU'RE ALL LIARS!! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THEY'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE WHEN THEY FAILED TO BEFORE!!"

"Because they gave me one," Misty said, stepping up. She may not have known this changeling Pipp was talking about, but she could feel Pipp's honesty. And she'd kill herself before she'd pass up to redeem anypony or creature. She was given a chance. Who was she to deny somepony else that chance?

Pipp turned to look at Misty with shocked eyes. Misty gave a small smile in return.

"Because it's the kind thing to do," Hitch said, stepping up next to Pipp. He didn't know this changeling, but he had the feeling this was the friend she was talking about earlier. Plus, he trusted her. If she said there were some good changelings out there, then he believed her.

"Because there are always some creative souls out there just waiting to let their imaginations run wild!" Izzy said, bouncing up next to Pipp.

"Because it takes courage to change, and we respect that kind of courage," Zipp said, standing behind her sister in solidarity.

"Because where there's change, there's hope. And hope is the reason we live every day. Without hope, what's the point in waking up every day?" Sunny said as she stood with Pipp.

Pipp stepped forward, looking at the changelings. "I understand how hard it can be to go against the flow. To set new trends. To be the first one to take that first step. But don't worry. A changeling already beat you to it. Morphis?"

Morphis swallowed nervously, stepping up to Pipp with a nervous expression. Pipp welcomed him with a smile. All the changelings gasped in shock.

"May I? I'm an empath?" Misty asked, walking up to Morphis with her hoof raised.

Morphis looked at Pipp confused, as though asking if it was safe. Pipp nodded, and Moorphis took a step towards Misty. Misty put her hoof on Morphis and the first emotion she was flooded with was fear. He was terrified of his queen and going against her. But the second one was joy. Joy that Pipp was still giving him a chance, even after everything his kind had done to her. And deeply rooted bewilderment as to why Pipp would give him a chance after everything that's happened to her. Everything his kind did to her.

Words in Pipp's voice rang through his head. "No. Your Queen is. She's the mastermind behind all of this," Pipp paused. "How many of you actually wanted to go through with this whole revenge plan thing your queen cooked up?"

And most importantly, she felt love. He loved Pipp. Not romantically, but he began to see her in an older sister kind of way. She understood the feeling. Misty pulled away. These were private feelings. She had no right to see anymore. Just enough to prove he's genuine, and she's already done that.

She stepped back, giving a nod of approval. Pipp smiled, tears filling her eyes.

"Hi new friend! I'm Izzy!" Izzy exclaimed, bouncing up and holding her hoof out. Morphis looked down at it, confused, just staring at it. Izzy tilted her head, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "You're supposed to shake it."

Hesitantly, Morphis lifted it, taking Izzy's hoof, and slowly shaking it up and down. He didn't know of this odd custom, but it felt nice just to be included.

Pipp looked at the rest of the changelings. "If he can do it, so can you. Your Queen only has the power you give her. You can fight back. You can do what you want to do. Now's the chance to speak your opinion. Now's the chance to choose your own life! You can either follow her, or you can choose your own path!"

Suddenly, a changeling walked up, this one with a sparkle in her eyes and legs that glimmered like sunlight. "Morphis…I…I don't know about this."

"Please, Jewel? They want to be our friends. We don't have to fight. I…I don't want to have to do this without you. I…I love you, Jewel. You're like a big sister to me. I don't want to lose you."

At this, the changelings gasped. No changeling has ever said the L word in centuries unless they were talking about food. This was unheard of. This was wrong. They could be thrown in the dungeons for this. And yet, the ponies barely reacted, like saying they loved each other was just a normal part of their day.

Jewel took a deep breath. "Love you too?" She said as though it was a question.

Misty walked up to Jewel, holding out her hoof in question. She looked at Morphis who nodded. Jeweled did what Morphis did, taking a deep breath and stepping closer to Misty.

Misty put her hoof on Jewel's chest, much like she did for Morphis. At first, Misty thought all she felt was a black empty void. She wasn't sure what to do. Should she reject her, or okay her? What did the black void mean? Was she lying? Was she telling the truth?

And then Misty felt it. The small ball of love deep in Jewel's heart. The love she had for Morphis as one would have for a little brother. A fierce protective instinct. It was well hidden, and Misty barely felt it, but it was there.

Misty took her hoof off of Jewel and nodded. Morphis smiled broadly and hurried to Jewel, embracing her in a big hug. Jewel stiffened, but let it happen. However, she eventually untangled herself, clearly uncomfortable.

Izzy bounded up and hugged her as well, much like Morphis did, but Jewel quickly pulled away, shoving Izzy to the floor. Pipp was by Izzy's side in an instant, helping her up.

Jewel and the other changelings were ready for the ponies to get mad at them and tell them off for being so violent. To tell them there was another way and turn their back on them. Instead, what Pipp did surprised them.

"Izzy, you shouldn't just run up and hug somepony without their permission. Not everypony knows you. Seriously, keep doing that and you might get pummeled someday. I'm so sorry, Jewel. Izzy doesn't understand the concept of personal space sometimes."

Izzy chuckled a bit as she stood up. "Yeah, that's fair. I did take her by surprise. Sorry about that, Jewel."

"Umm…" Jewel said, at a loss for words. She was really expecting the ponies to Bash her head in for that. "It's fine…umm…I'm just not a huggy…changeling?"

"That's fine. You don't have to be. You just have to be yourself," Sunny said, walking up.

"Right…whatever…look, I'm just here because Morphis is here. He's my responsibility. Where he goes, so do I. I'm not into the whole cupcakes and rainbow thing."

Zipp shrugged. "Whatever fits your fancy, Jewel. Personally, I'm not into the whole rainbows thing either."

Queen Vespula watched all this with horror. How dare they come to her hive and try to steal her subjects. She glowered at the two traitors. There was more to a queen than her subjects. There was power. There was authority.

She stood up, glaring at the traitors. She would not put up with this kind of treachery. Her horn lit up with a green aura, and she aimed a blast right at Jewel and Morphis.

However, Pipp saw this and her eyes widened. "Jewel! Morphis! Look out!"

Without thinking, with no hesitation, she galloped towards the two changelings. Hitch turned just in time to see Pipp jump between the blast and the changelings.

"PIPP!!! NO!!"

Author's Note

*Misty evil laugh*

You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?

Alright, I've decided, two more chapters to go. It's all coming to an end (unless I do a fourth one, which I'm really starting to think I am)

Get ready to cry! (A warning to myself, because I'm still going to listen to depressing music as I write this next chapter)

So Hold My Hoof, 'Cause We're Growing Together

“True empathy isn’t simply understanding another’s experience, it’s connecting to the emotions that underpin that experience.”
~ Adapted from Brene’ Brown

"Feeling all alone again?" She heard her voice ask.

Misty squeezed her eyes shut, but it didn't look that much different than the dark void that had encompassed her before. She laid on her stomach, putting her hooves over her ears, as though to block out the words, but she knew from experience that wasn't the case.

"Aww…poor Misty–Wisty all by her lonesome self," She heard her voice pout. Misty could practically see its bottom lip pointing out in a mock pout. "Nopony loves her." The voice surrounded her, and echoed throughout the dark void, wrapping around her, suffocating her, resonating deep within her soul.

"Leave me alone," Misty muttered. She had hoped that after she made up with her friends, these would stop, but they almost seemed to get worse.

Her twin self scoffed. Her voice sounded as though it was above her. "Oh, get over yourself, Misty. You and I both know the devastating truth. Nopony would want to be friends with a pointless screw–up like you."

"I have friends," Misty muttered, thinking of Zipp, Izzy, Sunny, Hitch, and Pipp.

"They're not your friends, Misty. If they were, they wouldn't have abandoned you when times got tough. You're nothing to them. They only keep you around so you won't go evil like the hoof that raised you."

Misty squeezed her eyes tighter. "No. Zipp didn't abandon me."

Misty's voice scoffed again. "That's only because she felt sorry for you. Poor Misty–Wisty is all alone. Poor Misty–Wisty doesn't have any friends. Poor Misty–Wisty doesn't realize that everything Opaline told her was true."

"Stop. Just stop…please." Misty begged.

"If you're so confident about your friendship with those ponies, why don't you talk? Oh, I know!" The voice said, as though just realizing something. "Because you're afraid you'll say something so stupid, so horrible, that your friends won't want anything to do with you."

"No. That's not true," Misty argued weakly, tears filling her eyes.

"Oh? Then what's the real reason? Huh? Huh?" Misty remained silent, not able to think of anything. The voice made a triumphant sound, and she could practically see its triumphant smirk. "That's what I thought. 'Misty stutters too much'. 'Misty doesn't know what she wants to say'. 'Misty doesn't know what she's talking about'. We both know it's true."

"No, it's not," Misty mumbled, curling up tighter into a ball.

"Isn't it? Hmm…maybe you're right. Oh, that's what it was. 'Misty's stupid.' 'Misty doesn't know how to read ponies.' 'Misty ruins everything.' You know, that's exactly what all your so-called friends thought when you stupidly shattered those crystals and stupidly destroyed magic."

"No. They didn't. My friends would never think that of me."

"Oh? Then why don't you ask them? Is it because you're too scared to hear the truth?"

"Shut up," Misty muttered, anger and hopelessness brewing inside her.

"That's not surprising. Poor Misty–Wisty is afraid of everything," The voice taunted.

"Shut up!" Misty said louder, but the voice continued to ignore her.

"Why don't you stop being such a coward and actually grow a pair!"

"SHUT UP!"

Misty sat up. She panted heavily, looking around her at the barren landscape, the only thing notable being the pony–filled sleeping bags all lying on the massive tarp she was currently lying on.

Misty sighed, her whole body covered in a cold sweat. She didn't understand why she was having these nightmares. She reached up and grabbed her mane accessory out of her mane and looked through the bead. She stared at the picture in it. These ponies were really her friends, right? They loved her, right?

Misty sighed, putting her mane accessory back on. As she did, her eyes caught sight of the charm bracelet around her hoof, with all of her friends' cutie marks. She stared at them, more specifically Zipp's.

It hurt her knowing that Zipp had yet to forgive Hitch and Sunny. It made her feel worse that the biggest reason Zipp hadn't forgiven them was because of how much they hurt Misty. It made Misty feel guilty. Like she was getting in between their friendship. If only Zipp understood how guilty Hitch and Sunny felt. Like they didn't deserve Misty and Zipp's forgiveness.

Misty sighed, banishing their emotions the way Izzy taught her, and crawled out of her sleeping bag. She stared at her bag, debating whether or not she should bring a flashlight, but she quickly decided not to. They needed to conserve their batteries and make them last. During their stop in the last Equestrian city before the border, they had stocked up on supplies. They had all charged their phones, as well as charged their portable battery packs for their phones, as well as bought more. Each of them carried three battery packs and twelve packs of batteries. Considering how much longer they had to go, they didn't have resources to waste.

Misty began walking across the sandy plain, her breath fogging out in front of her. Walking was always the best way for her to think things through or clear her mind. Whenever she struggled to choose between doing what was right or doing what Opaline wanted her to do, she'd pace the width of her small bedroom, talking to herself.

While she didn't exactly talk anymore, though she didn't really understand why herself, she did still walk to sort things out. Back at the castle, when she'd have this nightmare every night, she'd roam the castle walls. It became a nightly routine, so common that the guards just got used to seeing her, and sometimes, they'd have stuff ready for her, whether it'd be hot tea, a nice note, or anything to help her out of her funk. Nopony else knew about her nightly habit. Just her and the same night guards that patrolled the hallways she walked.

As she walked, her mind began to wander back to the dream she had. She began to wonder how much of what her dream self said was true and how much of it was false. Was Zipp still only her friend because she pitied her? Did her friends really think she was stupid? That she ruins everything? Did her friends really think that when she destroyed the crystals? Was she really a coward?

It was then that Misty heard grunting, followed by a stream of curses. Misty, unsure of what to do, slowly crept towards the noise, despite the perfectly good silence in the other direction. As she got closer, she could see a figure holding something up. She slowly crept up, trying to see through the darkness, when the figure gained familiar features.

Misty kicked some sand with her hoof, purposefully making some noise. Hitch turned around to face her, phone in hoof. "Oh, thank hoofness, Misty. It's only you."

Misty narrowed her eyes at him, her body still in a ready-to-flee position.

Hitch sighed, rolling his eyes. "Damn changelings," He muttered before turning fully to Misty and looking her right in the eye. "My name is Hitch Trailblazer. I'm Sheriff of Maretime Bay. I'm on a rescue mission to save my marefriend, Pipp Petals, whom I love with all my heart, from the evil changeling queen. I'm on the side of the ponies and whatever time I'm not spending with Pipp, or being the best pony–dragon dad I can be to Sparky, I spend protecting Maretime Bay. Or, I would if I could get some damn service!"

Nothing. There was no glint in the eye, no carefully worded sentences that weren't technically lies. It was all straightforward and true.

Hitch then turned away and raised his phone high in the air. That was when Hitch seemed to realize something and he turned around to face Misty with narrowed eyes. "How do I know you're you?"

Misty sighed. She had prepared and written a speech similar to Hitch's. They all did for verification. It didn't matter if the changelings knew about them or even memorized them. They were meant to be lie-detector speeches. They were all straightforward and truthful, so when the other pony stared into their eyes, they could see whether or not there was a glint.

Misty pulled out her phone and opened the speech on a notepad app on her phone. She handed it to Hitch, who held it up for her after a moment of looking at her in confusion. No stuttering. No awkward silence as she tried to remember what she had to say.

Misty took a deep breath, and looked Hitch in the eye, seeing her speech from the corner of it. "My name is Misty Brightdawn and I'm one of the Guardians of Unity. I'm on a rescue mission to save one of my best friends Pipp Petals from an evil changeling queen. I was fillynapped as a filly by an evil fire alicorn named Opaline Arcana. My cutie mark is a butterfly and I found my long–lost father, Alphabittle Blossomforth."

Tears gathered in Misty's eyes. She didn't understand why it was so hard to talk for the past six months, but she decided she wanted to do it as little as possible. Hitch, seeming satisfied, handed Misty her phone after quickly glancing at it.

At Misty's confused look, Hitch quickly clarified. "Just checking to see if you had any service."

Misty shook her head disappointingly.

"Yeah, I know. As Zipp said, 'I doubt Z ▪︎ Heights considered me wanting to post Ponygram pictures 100 miles outside the Equestrian border when they set me up with the long distance plan.'"

Misty gave Hitch an apologetic look.

"Don't be sorry. Zipp was the one who said it."

Misty sighed, looking away before giving Hitch a sympathetic look.

"It's fine. I know Zipp is still pissed about what happened. Not that I blame her. If somepony said what I said to you to Pipp, and then said what I said to her to me, it'd take a while for me to forgive them as well," Hitch paused, looking at the ground away from Misty, before taking a deep breath and looking back at her. "Zipp told us you haven't said a word since…you know. And that it's about that…is it because of what we said to you? Is that why you don't…talk."

Misty shrugged, looking down and scraping her hoof into the ground.

Hitch sighed, sitting down, patting the spot next to him. Misty hesitantly sat down, not looking him in the eyes. "You know that Sunny and I…we didn't mean what we said, right?"

Misty nodded, still looking down at the ground.

Hitch watched Misty, knowing that her knowing they didn't mean it wasn't enough. "But, still, we're…I'm sorry. I was scared and confused and–"

Hitch stopped when he felt something on his hoof. Hitch looked down to see a blue hoof on his. He looked up at Misty, who had a sympathetic look on her face. Hitch could practically hear the words radiating from her look: ' It's okay. I know. You don't have to say it.'

"But I do!" Hitch argued. At Hitch's raised voice, Misty flinched, pulling her hoof away. "I do. It was wrong of Sunny and I to assume that you knew how sorry we were. We shouldn't have had you being an empath dictate what we do. You're just like any other pony, and any other pony deserves to hear a heartfelt apology. One we failed to give you. And for that I'm sorry."

Tears filled Misty's eyes. It was one thing to just know how sorry her friends were, but it was a completely different thing to hear one of her friends verbally apologize to her. To know that they really considered her a friend to want to give her such a heartfelt apology meant the world to her. She may not be ready to talk, but now she knew that everything her dream self said wasn't true. She did have friends. They didn't pity her. They didn't abandon her. She wasn't nothing and she wasn't a pointless screw-up. And, most importantly, she mattered. Not just to herself, but to her friends.

Hitch sighed, looking at the ground. "And I'm sorry for what I said. I was just…I didn't know how to react. I was so scared. I…that was the first time I realized that…that I may never see Pipp again. That I..." Hitch sighed, shaking his head. "I haven't been myself lately. Actually, I haven't been myself since I learned that Pipp was captured. She's been my rock. She's been the one that held me steady. That got me out of my comfort zone. She's been my compass. Without her…I'm just so…so lost. I just…I just wish I knew that then. When she was here. If I had…I wouldn't have picked that stupid fight with her."

Misty just stayed silent, much like she did with Zipp in front of Pipp's Cutie Blossom Bash Tree. Zipp and Hitch were very similar when it came to expressing their emotions. Once they started letting them out, the best thing to do was just to stay silent as if somepony wasn't there, listening to them, because as soon as they realize their emotions are affecting somepony else, they'll shut down again.

"I know it's stupid trying to find service in this place. I mean, we're miles away from the Equestrian border, but…worrying about Maretime Bay…it doesn't allow me to worry about Pipp…because once I start…knowing she's in that place…with those monsters…I wouldn't be able to think about anything else. If she dies…I don't know I might…I might just die right along with her."

Tears filled Hitch's eyes. Tears he quickly wiped away with his hoof. Misty wanted to comfort Hitch in some way, but her gut told her to restrain herself. To just let him talk. She wondered if she was doing the right thing or if she was ruining something…again.

"It's just that…if I can't protect the ones I love, how in Equestria can I protect Maretime Bay? It feels like since magic came, I'm suddenly not adequate. Who knows, maybe I never was. When Maretime Bay needed me to protect it the most, I've done nothing but fail it. When Sprout brainwashed everypony and built that robot thing, I wasn't there to stop him. When all the ponies began fighting and the magical black hole opened up, I wasn't able to bring the ponies back together. Sunny did that. When Opaline came to steal cutie marks, I couldn't stop her from taking all of Maretime Bay's. When the changelings fillynapped Pipp, I couldn't stop them. When…when that changeling wanted Sunny for Pipp, I wasn't strong enough to do what needed to be done and when you were, I scolded you for it. Who…Who am I...?"

The two of them were silent for a long while, not saying or doing anything. Misty didn't know what to do. She knew who Hitch was…to her. But only he knew who he was. He seemed so broken without Pipp. Ugh, why was she such a social idiot? Pipp would know what to do. Pipp would give him the confidence he nee…Her eyes widened as an idea came to her. Only he knew who he was and he needed the confidence to admit it proudly.

Misty turned to Hitch, tapping his shoulder. When he turned to face her, she held up her phone, which still had her lie detector speech. He looked at her, confused, before she pointed her hoof at Hitch.

"You want me…to say my lie detector speech?"

Misty quickly nodded.

Hitch sighed. "My name is Hitch Trailblazer?" Hitch started hesitantly before Misty put a hoof to his mouth.

She shook her head, puffing out her chest and raising her head high, gaining an air of confidence.

Hitch realized what she was trying to tell him. "My name is Hitch Trailblazer and I'm Sheriff of Maretime Bay. I'm on a rescue mission to save my marefriend, Pipp Petals, whom I love with all my heart, from the evil changeling queen! I'm on the side of the ponies and whatever time I'm not spending with Pipp, or being the best pony–dragon dad I can be to Sparky, I spend protecting Maretime Bay!" With every sentence, Hitch grew more and more confident, before he was exclaiming it to the heavens. He looked at Misty with renewed hope. "You're right, Misty. I love Maretime Bay. And I love Pipp. I'd do anything for them, including traveling outside of Equestria to save them. And the citizens of Maretime Bay feel safe under me. They feel protected. And it's a job nopony else can do. And in the end, that's all that really matters."

Hitch felt confidence and hope swell up in him. He wasn't a failure. He wasn't a disappointment. He was Sheriff Hitch, and he may not always be able to save those he loved by himself, but he can save them with the help of his friends. With them, he can do anything. And in that realization, it felt like there was a great weight lifted off his chest.

He looked at Misty with a gracious smile. "Thank you, Misty. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that."

Misty smiled back at him before laying her head on his shoulder. Hitch rested his head on hers, and they both stared off into the horizon, not even noticing Misty's cutie mark as it glowed brightly, drowned out by the light of the rising sun.

"Morning, Sheriff. Still trying to find the impossiservice, are we?" Zipp asked sarcastically, earning another glare from Misty.

Hitch stopped in his tracks, turning around to face Zipp. Sunny and Izzy swallowed nervously at the glare Hitch was giving her. Even Zipp was a little intimidated, but she refused to back down.

"Zipp!" Hitch started, taking a couple of steps closer to Zipp. Zipp glared back at him, expecting a blow she was sure to receive from a fed-up earth pony sheriff, a retort already on her tongue. "I don't care if you don't want to hear this, because you're going to hear it anyway! I'm sick and tired of letting others dictate my actions!" Hitch paused before continuing, Zipp bracing for the blow. "I'm…sorry. You didn't deserve all those horrible things I said to you just because you had the courage to do something that needed to be done. Courage I didn't have. Instead, I was scared and a coward, and insecure, so, instead of admitting that, I took it out on you and Misty. And for that…I'm sorry."

Zipp opened her mouth to say her retort when she froze as her brain processed what Hitch just said. She stared up at him, wide-eyed.

Hitch turned back around, addressing everypony else who was also staring at him in shock, even Misty herself. "C'mon ponies. Let's move. We got a long journey ahead of us still and I'm not sure how much longer Pipp will last."

Zipp stared at Hitch with wide eyes, speechless. This was…unexpected. Misty walked up to Zipp, just standing next to her. When Zipp was finally able to peel her eyes off of Hitch, she just stared at Misty, who had a knowing look on her face.

"Did…did something happen that I should know about?" Zipp asked, confused.

Misty shook her head and walked away. Yes, Misty thought to herself, looking at Hitch, who seemed to have a 100-lb weight lifted off of him. Something did happen. But not something she needs to know about.

And with that, the five little ponies packed up their things, and continued their long journey to the changeling kingdom.

Queen Vespula rolled her eyes as she watched her worst enemies in her Crystal ball, as she sat on her throne. Ugh. She's always hated sentimental moments. They were always about friendship, and flowers, and ponies, and bleh! Ugh. She was totally over the whole cute pony thing.

Honestly, she was surprised that Equestria lasted for so long with its gullible principles without being invaded or dominated. There was no such thing as friendship. None of it was real. Equality was a farce and fairness was nonexistent. That wasn't how the real world operated. It's either kill or be killed. And it was about time Queen Vespula taught them a little something about the real world.

It's Time To Show Your Courage

"Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the ability to move forward in the face of it. There is beauty in this definition because courage can exist in the decisions we make every day. Courage exists in the individual who accepts who they are and openly lives the life they want in the face of rejection. Courage exists in those who challenge their own perceptions in the face of accepting they are not infallible.
~Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts

"Maybe we should stop for the night," Izzy said, her voice trembling as she looked into the surrounding fog with fear.

"It's okay, Izzy," Sunny said, nuzzling Izzy a bit. "There's supposedly an abandoned town up ahead. Zipp showed us on the map. We're going to crash there, remember?"

Izzy swallowed nervously. "I know but this place has bad vibes all over it. Maybe we should stop now and resume when it's light out."

Misty stopped next to Izzy, nodding in agreement. They had finally left the scorching desert a couple of days ago, soon finding themselves in the middle of a Savannah. For the first day or two, Izzy and Misty were totally fine. But now…not so much.

It wasn't the crazy spooky fog that was so thick you couldn't see through it, or the few trees they'd see in the distance that looked like grasping shadowed figures, or even the unnatural silence that permeated the air, though, those things certainly didn't help. It was a feeling, deep down inside their gut that scared the two unicorns. Something that screamed danger to their subconscious minds. That made them want to stop right now and turn around, preferring to find another way to the changeling kingdom.

"Iz, a lot happened in the last six months. Maybe your mind's just playing tricks on you." Sunny said, trying to reason with Izzy and Misty.

"Yeah. Maybe you're just both on edge after everything that's happened." Hitch added. On his back, Sparky yawned before laying his head back down and falling asleep.

Zipp nodded in agreement. "Trust me. I scoured this place with my pony drone for the next fifty miles ahead, just in case the abandoned town, isn't really abandoned. This place is clean. Nothing here whatsoever besides a few buildings that look like they'll fall over from a wind stronger than a breeze."

"You sure?"

Zipp nodded. "Totally."

Izzy swallowed nervously before nodding, not sure she exactly agreed.

"I am not stepping hoof in that town," Izzy said sternly, planting her hooves into the ground, with Misty standing firmly behind her.

They had been walking for about another ten minutes before they finally got to the entrance of the abandoned village. They couldn't see much since there was a thick, heavy fog surrounding the place, but all Izzy knew was that there were bad vibes all over this place.

Zipp groaned while Sunny Gabe her a warning glare. "Izzy," Sunny said, a comforting smile on her face. "Instead of us telling you not to be afraid, why don't you tell us what scares you so much."

Izzy tapped into her sixth sense, the one that allowed her to see a pony's sparkle. She couldn't place her hoof on it, but there was just something that was off about this place.

"I don't know. I can't place my hoof on it. I just know this place is bad news and there's something that doesn't want us here."

"Wow. Your powers of perception are truly frightening." Zipp stated sarcastically.

"Look, Iz, we're all exhausted. It's just your brain playing tricks on you," Hitch said with a yawn. "Maybe, once you've gotten a good night's sleep, you'll realize how there was nothing to be afraid of in the first place, okay?"

Izzy clenched her jaw. She wasn't exactly convinced, but she knew there wasn't anything else she could say to convince her friends not to go into that town. If her friends were going in there, she was going with them. She sure as heck didn't want to be out here alone. And anyway, maybe Hitch was right. They are all exhausted. They've been traveling since dawn and it's almost midnight. They would've stopped earlier, but seeing as the abandoned town would've been the perfect rest spot since they could potentially restock on supplies, they wanted to make it there before they set up camp. They definitely traveled longer than they normally did.

Izzy and Misty both took a deep breath before following the other three in. Zipp had to admit that the smallest voice in her head was telling her that something wasn't right here, but her more logical part brushed it off as simple exhaustion and being on edge from everything that had happened. Zipp saw the live footage from the pony drone herself. There was nothing out here other than the frail-looking buildings for the next fifty miles. They were good.

As they walked in, they all realized pretty early that there wasn't exactly much here. Sunny realized Zipp was right about how frail the buildings looked. If anything, Sunny thought Zipp was even downplaying it a bit. Not to mention most of the buildings looked as though they were tree houses, with ramps leading up to them. Sunny looked for any ground buildings, but couldn't see much past all this fog. They looked like one wrong hoofstep would break a hole into them. She wondered if they'd be safe enough to sleep in.

Other than that, there was nothing that stood out to the five ponies as being dangerous. Sure, the whole town looked creepy as hell, and some of the buildings creaked as they swayed a bit in the very light breeze, but other than that, there was nothing that screamed red flag. Still, Izzy and Misty did not like this place one bit.

"See? What'd we tell you? Nothing to be afraid of."

"Exactly. So, I was thinking, we can pick a building to sleep in tonight and forage for supplies tomorrow. That way we can–"

"ZIPP! LOOK OUT!!!" Izzy yelled before she charged at Zipp, ramming herself into her and knocking Zipp to the ground.

"Izzy! Zipp!" Sunny called as the rest of the ponies ran to their friends.

Zipp groaned as Izzy rolled herself off of her, groaning herself. "Izzy…" Zipp muttered, sitting up and rubbing her head. "What in the hay was…"

Zipp trailed off when she saw the arrow that was pointing out of the ground where she had just stood before Izzy pushed her out of the way, saving her life. Where did that come from? Zipp opened her mouth to ask just that when they were suddenly assaulted with hundreds of arrows raining down on them.

Izzy yelped as she jumped out of the way just in time to avoid about five arrows implanting themselves into the ground where she just sat. "Okay! There's something to be afraid of! Definitely something to be afraid of!"

Zipp jumped to her hooves, avoiding arrows left and right. Sunny and Hitch ran against the wall of one of the buildings, Hitch holding Sparky close to him, in hopes of making it harder for the archers to aim at them, whoever they were, or at least lessen the amount of arrows being shot at them by being out of sight of a couple of archers, but the amount of arrows didn't seem to lessen. In fact, they seemed to grow.

"Okay! You can cease fire now! Please?!" Sunny yelled, hoping the archers who seemed to have pretty good aim would hear her cries. However, the arrow assault refused to relent.

Misty never thought she'd think this in her life, but she was actually grateful for the training Opaline forced her through which included obstacle courses and surprise attacks. It made it easier for her to avoid the arrows, despite how clumsy she could be sometimes.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Izzy screamed before she bolted as fast as she could in the direction she came in from, avoiding arrows left and right.

The rest of the ponies were on her tail, trying their best not to get hit with an arrow. As she ran, Zipp tried to glance around at the rooftops of the buildings, but the fog was much too thick for her to see anything. Whoever these were, they had the tactical advantage, and they knew it.

Suddenly, Hitch felt an arrow graze his cheek. He yelped, his pace only quickening, desperate to get out of there as he sheilded Sparky with his body. Finally, they bolted out the way they came, the arrows following them. They ran for a good mile or so, despite the arrow barrage stopping a while ago. After about ten minutes of running, they all sputtered to a stop, out of breath and scared out of their wits. What in Equestria was that all about?

"Is everypony okay?" Sunny asked, panting heavily once they were sure nothing was following them.

"I just got a small scratch on my cheek from one of them, but once we bandage it up, it should be fine. Other than that and being terribly confused and terrified, I think I'm okay." Hitch answered after examining Sparky.

"I told you! I told you we shouldn't go in there! I told you there was something in there that didn't want us in that town!"

"Izzy, we get it. You were right," Zipp said flatly, trying to control her rapid breathing. She never wished for the ability to fly so much as she did now.

"But what was that? And why would they attack us?" Misty asked. In the week since her talk with Hitch Misty's been talking more and more. She still didn't talk as much as she used to, but she was talking, and that was progress. And she didn't have those nightmares anymore. It was as though her chat with Hitch was as healing for her as it was for him. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"Maybe it was just because they saw us as trespassers and they didn't know whether or not we were a threat? Maybe if we just talked to them…" Sunny trailed off, hoping the others were picking up what she was trying to put down.

"You can try, but I'm not going back in there without some kind of protection. I mean, we just got our flanks handed to us back there. Multiple times. It's a death wish to go back there without…something."

"Zipp's right, Sunny. Whatever those were, they didn't seem in the talking mood." Hitch agreed. "Maybe we should all just find someplace safe to sleep tonight and then tomorrow, go around them."

"Sounds like a great idea." Zipp agreed, a plan even Sunny could agree to. Before they could do anything, they needed their sleep.

After a while of wandering, they finally found a cave inside a small hill in the Savannah. That was where they decided to make camp. Tomorrow, they'd try and go around the village of death, making a wide berth. They'd have no reason to attack then, right?

Zipp woke up to the sound of chanting. She opened her bleary eyes, looking around to see her friends still asleep. Still foggy-brained from sleep, she slowly crawled out of the small cave they were sleeping in, peeking out to find torchlight in the distance.

Slowly, Zipp crawled out of the cave, keeping low to the ground so that the long yellow grass hid her. She slowly crept closer until she could see individual figures all holding torches and spears. However, the fog was much too thick for Zipp to clearly make them out.

Suddenly, one of the figures turned around and Zipp could hear below all the chanting, "Look! There's one! Get it!"

Zipp's eyes widened before she bolted back towards the cave, forgetting all thoughts of cover. Zipp sprinted as fast as she could, her heart racing, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She had to warn her friends. She had to tell them they were in danger.

She could see the cave from where she was. She pushed herself harder than she ever had before. Her lungs burned, and her breath was heavy. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, but she was gaining, she was getting closer. She could hear them behind her, but she dared not look back. She was almost there. She was so close. She was going to make it. She was–

Suddenly, something landed in front of her. She skidded to a stop, falling on her back. She looked up at it, her breath heavy, her racing heart coming to a stop right along with her. She looked up at the thing that stopped her in her tracks. She looked up at the thing that stopped her with wide eyes. It had an eagle's wing and head and front claws, while the rest of it resembled a lion. It looked familiar, but Zipp read so many Mythology books back at the Zephyr Heights library in search of any info on the changelings, they all seemed to blend together.

Zipp only stared at it for a moment before she saw it raise its spear. Thinking on her hooves, she thrust her back hooves up, targeting right under the creature's chin. Stunned, it stumbled back a bit, seemingly in a daze. Taking advantage of the distraction, she jumped to her hooves and sprinted towards the cave like her life depended on it.

She racked her brain for the lightest sleeper and when she found it, she called at the top of her lungs, "MISTY! MISTY! WAKE UP!"

After a moment, Misty peeked her head out of the cave, her eyes half-lidded from just waking up. When she turned her head towards Zipp, her eyes widened with fear.

"MISTY! WAKE EVERYPONY UP AND GET YOUR FLANK OUT OF THERE!" Zipp yelled, refusing to slow her speed.

Without a moment to lose, Misty popped her head back into the cave and within five minutes, all four remaining ponies were bolting out of the cave, their saddlebag on their back.

Zipp followed them, gaining more and more from the creatures. Suddenly, her friends disappeared in front of her. Zipp continued to run, hoping they were all right. Suddenly, something grabbed Zipp, pulling her to the side.

Zipp was about to scream and raised her hoof to punch whatever was trying to keep her there when she felt a hoof on her mouth. She looked up to see Hitch staring at her with wide eyes, slowly shaking his head. She looked around and saw Sunny, Izzy, and Misty all there was well, tears of fear in Izzy's eyes.

They had found a small cave. Well, it'd really be better described as a small hole in the side of the hill. It was barely big enough for the five of them, and not tall enough for any of them to sit up as they all crouched as quietly as they could.

All of them stared at the entrance, which was covered by tall grass. They all held their breaths as the creatures ran to the hole and stopped for a moment. None of them even breathed as they stood there for a moment, all of them praying to anything that listened that the grass was enough to cover the whole from the sight of the eagle–lions.

Eventually, the creatures moved on, running in a different direction. After about ten minutes of not hearing their running steps, all of them breathed a sigh of relief, still refusing to climb out.

"What were those things?" Hitch asked, holding on to Sparky for dear life.

As one, everypony turned to look at Sunny. Sunny blinked once in surprise, then again, wondering why everypony was looking at her. It's not like she knew what they were. "What?"

"Argyle's journal? You brought it, right?" Zipp said as though it were obvious.

She blinked again, her brain still foggy from just waking up. Then her eyes widened and she reached back into her saddlebag, bumping into Izzy in the process. In an attempt to avoid getting bumped by Sunny, Hitch leaned back, only to hit his back against the wall and yelped in pain.

"Oops," Sunny muttered, turning back around to see if Hitch was okay, only to accidentally whack Misty in the face with her hoof. There was zero room for any of them to move. "Oh my hoofness, Misty, are you okay? I'm so sorry."

Sunny was about to turn back around when Zipp grabbed her. "Sunny. Before you move and pummel somepony else in the face, maybe we should all leave the hole before one of us ends up with a bloody nose."

Sunny chuckled nervously before they all left in the opposite order they came. Zipp, then Sunng, then Izzy, then Hitch and Sparky, and finally Misty. Once they were all out, Sunny pulled out her journal and started flipping through the pages.

"Hmm…I didn't get a good look at them, but I did see something like feathers and claws. Let's see…umm…" Finally, she stopped flipping, finding something. "Uhh…what about Hippogriffs? Part eagle, part pony?"

"Affirmative on the eagle, negative on the pony," Zipp said.

"You're right. Hippogriffs live on Mount Aris." Sunny said, too distracted to fully register what Zipp just said.

Hitch, Misty, and Izzy looked at Zipp confused. Zipp shrugged. "I saw one up close."

Hitch opened his mouth to say something when Sunny interrupted him. "A‐Ha!" Sunny exclaimed. "Griffons! Part eagle. Part lion."

Zipp nodded. "Sounds about right."

"Well, it says here that they're warriors…"

"Clearly," Hitch muttered.

"And that they're not very social…"

"Well, that's one way of saying that they greet visitors by shooting a barrage of arrows at them and then chasing them all over the prairie." Zipp deadpanned, earning a glare from Misty.

"And that they're allies of Equestria. Maybe they just didn't realize we're ponies." Sunny said with a smile, looking up at them hopefully.

A hope that Zipp quickly extinguished. "Uh…yeah, no. That griffon clearly saw I was a pony and then he still raised his spear at me."

"Maybe this whole Savannah is their territory?" Izzy suggested.

"Well, if that's the case, then we're screwed." Zipp said. All four ponies looked at her with confusion and nerves. Zipp rolled her eyes, grabbed her saddlebag from Misty, and pulled out the map, laying it out in front of them. "Here we are, almost to the halfway mark. And here is where we think Pipp is. If this whole Savannah is their territory, we'd have to backtrack all the way we came, past the Equestrian border–"

"Why? Can't we just backtrack a bit?" Hitch asked.

Zipp shook her head. "Nope. The Savannah isn't cut and dry. It goes in and out like waves. And in some parts, it goes in pretty deep. If we want to avoid those raging maniacs, the safest bet would be to go back to Equestria. I have a feeling the only reason we survived the first attack was through pure luck. I doubt we'd survive a second." Zipp then went back to the map. "Now, once we get back to Equestria, we'd have to go up north pretty far and then go around here, then come back down and continue on."

Sunny breathed in through her teeth. "That could take months."

"So, in other words, not an option." Hitch concluded.

"Basically. But there is one more option. A frontal assault."

At this, everypony gasped. Zipp had just said a moment ago that they most likely wouldn't survive a second attack and that they just survived the first one by pure luck. Now she wanted to do a frontal attack? Was she crazy?

"Zipp, you just said we wouldn't survive a second attack. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"You're right, Sunny. We wouldn't survive another attack. If it were by surprise. But, if we take the fight to them…" Zipp trailed off, a small smile on her face.

Hitch gasped as he realized what Zipp was trying to say. "We have the advantage."

"Exactly."

"Are you sure? I mean, we're going to be outnumbered." Misty pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm sure. We totally got this. We just need some...weapons...and maybe armor."

"How do you expect us to find that in the middle of nowhere?"

Izzy gasped. "I got this. I'll just need fifteen hundred gooey bunnies, five wooden boards, five poles, and five pieces of sharp metal. Oh, and glitter. Lots of glitter."

Zipp swallowed nervously as the five of them slowly walked into the "abandoned" town. She could feel her hooves shaking, but she knew she had to do this, lest she have to wait another six months to save her sister.

"Zipp, are you sure this is a good idea?" Sunny whispered nervously.

"No. But I think we can take them. There weren't more than fifty griffons in that group. If we just stick to the plan, we got this."

Suddenly, an arrow was shot and landed in one of the ponies' shields. Hitch swallowed nervously as he glanced at the arrow in his shield before looking straight ahead of him, seeing a huge crowd of at least five hundred griffons.

"There are more than fifty…" Hitch muttered, looking at the crowd in complete fear.

Zipp turned to Hitch who was looking ahead of them. Zipp turned around to see the crowd of griffons slowly walking towards them. Her eyes widened as reality began to set in.

"We so don't got this..." Izzy said as she looked at the army of griffons.

Hitch thought about Pipp and Sparky, weighing the pros and cons before finally concluding. "I think we ought to retreat," Hitch said, taking a step back.

"I…I think you're right, Hitch." Sunny quickly agreed.

Four of the ponies began to slowly walk backward as though making slow deliberate movements would avoid upsetting the griffons. There were a couple more arrows shot, making the four ponies turn and start running in the opposite direction. However, Zipp stayed where she was, watching the griffins closely. They slowly approached, one step at a time, as if in a warning. She narrowed her eyes at them. Sunny's words rang through her head.

"And that they're allies of Equestria. Maybe they just didn't realize we're ponies".

Zipp bit her lip, trying to make a decision. It'd be terrifying, and maybe even stupid, but it could work. She'd do anything to save Pipp. Zipp took a deep breath and stood her ground.

Sunny skidded to a stop when she realized Zipp wasn't behind her. "Zipp! What are you doing? Let's go."

Upon hearing Sunny, the other three ponies skidded to a stop.

Zipp shook her head. "No. I wanna try something."

"Uh, death? Cause that's exactly what'll happen if you keep standing there." Hitch said desperately.

"I don't think they want to fight. Sunny said herself they used to be allies of Equestria. Something tells me they can be so again. Maybe if we just talk to them…"

Zipp watched as the griffins slowly approached them, only shooting arrows once in a while, as though giving them plenty of time to get out of there. An arrow landed deliberately right beside Zipp into the ground. Something told her that it wasn't that they were horrible archers. That if they really wanted to kill them, they would've been dead last night.

"They don't exactly look like they're in the talking mood," Izzy said, fear filling her voice.

Zipp turned to look at Izzy and Sunny. "Is that what you two thought when my mother put you in the dungeons three years ago just for being a unicorn and earth pony?"

Sunny and Izzy opened their mouths to protest, only to realize they had nothing to say to that. Izzy and Sunny looked at each other. No, they didn't believe Queen Haven was in no mood to talk that fateful day. They simply assumed she was scared and confused. And that she wanted to protect her subjects. Not once did they think Queen Haven actually wanted to hurt them.

Zipp sighed. "Look. You get out of here. I don't want you ponies getting hurt if I'm wrong. I'm a princess. My mom trained me in making diplomatic relations. This is my job. If I get hurt…I don't want to drag you into this."

Zipp turned back around to face the griffons, putting her shield and spear down in a show of surrender. Her heart raced, and her fear was palpable. But something told her she needed to do this.

Suddenly, she felt somepony beside her. She looked to see Hitch standing next to her, a soft smile on his face as he looked at her, dropping his shield and spear. "I'm not sure if you're incredibly brave or incredibly stupid, but, well, I am Sheriff. Seeing as your princess, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have a guard at your side to make sure things go smoothly and everything stays diplomatic. Plus, I'll do anything to save Pipp. Even if it means facing a rampaging army of griffons." Sparky made a small sound of agreement.

Zipp softly smiled back. Zipp was on the fence about forgiving him after his heartfelt apology a week ago, but now this just solidified it. Zipp could hear the griffon army getting closer.

Suddenly, Zipp felt somepony else on her other side. She turned to see Misty walking up beside her. "If our parents marry, I am going to be princess of Zephyr Heights. I might as well start learning this kind of thing. What better way than real life experience?"

Suddenly, Sunny was right beside her. "We may not have magic, but I'm still the alicorn. If Equestria's making new allies, I ought to be present."

Then, Izzy appeared next to Hitch. "I can add creative contributions in making deals and stuff. Besides, I'd never leave my friends hangin'."

Zipp felt her heart warm. She was scared to death. She was terrified. But it was easier to face that fear because despite facing almost certain death, she had her friends by her side. Sure, her idea was crazy and probably was going to get them all killed, but she knew she had to do it. She had to face these griffons head-on. Something deep in her gut told her so. And even if her friends didn't agree with her, they still wouldn't let her face it alone.

The griffons came closer, walking slowly. All the ponies had dropped their shields and spears, facing the army of griffons with no weapons or protection whatsoever. Zipp took a step forward, stepping in front of her friends. If things didn't go right, she'd be the first to take the fall.

That was when Zipp's cutie mark began to glow softly. To their surprise, the arrows had stopped flying, however, the griffon army did not. They continued marching towards the five determined ponies. Zipp watched them with determination, her entire body full of fear, telling her to flee, but she resisted and stared at the griffons with a determined expression.

Finally, the army stopped just inches away from the five ponies. Four of them took a cautious step back, ears flattening a bit. However, Zipp stayed rooted to where she was, staring at the griffons. They simply stared back. Then, the griffon in front, who had golden armor, a head of dark brown feathers they almost looked black, and a dark brown furred body raised his spear.

Zipp squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the blow that…never came? Zipp opened her eyes to see the spear pointing a hairwidth from her forehead, but remained where it was. The griffon glowered at the pony, staring at her for a long moment as though sizing her up.

Finally, he spoke. "Who are you?" The griffon's voice was deep, and it resounded through the entire town.

Zipp felt her whole body tremble, but she refused to give into fear. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, speaking loud enough for most of the griffon army to hear her. "My name is Zephyrina Storm, princess of Zephyr Heights and these are my friends. Back in Equestria, we're known as the Guardians of Unity."

At those words, Guardians of Unity, a wave of whispers began to transcend the griffon army. The griffon with the spear aimed right at Zipp's forehead, who seemed to be the leader, narrowed his eyes at Zipp. "Tell me, what are you doing here in Griffonstone, Princess of Zephyr Heights and Guardian of Unity?"

"We hadn't realized this was your home. We didn't mean any harm–"

"That is what you say. However, when we ran you out of our territory, you came back with spears and shields as though to attack us. Why should we listen to you?"

Zipp opened her mouth, a million reasons forming in her mind, but she realized that none of them mattered. This is what they should've done, to begin with. The griffon was right.

Zipp sighed, looking the griffon in the eye. "You're right. We were wrong. We shouldn't have come here with the intent to attack you. So, no, you have no reason to listen to us."

At this, the four ponies behind Zipp gasped quietly, eyes widened in shock. The griffon's eyes barely widened before his face became a stoic mask again. However, he said nothing, allowing Zipp to continue.

"But we're sorry. And we ask that you have the mercy to listen anyway." When the griffon didn't say anything else, Zipp took that as her cue to continue. "My sister, Pipp…she's been captured. By the changelings…" Zipp trailed off, not sure how to continue. However, Zipp didn't have to because Hitch began talking.

"Hey, umm…" Hitch began to take a step forward but stopped when the griffon switched his chilling glare to Hitch, who chuckled nervously. "Umm…hi."

"State who you are before you speak, pony."

"Right umm…I'm Hitch Trailblazer and I'm Sheriff of Maretime Bay. What I was going to say is that we had the chance to trade Pipp for Sunny, who's an alicorn, and–"

"You have an alicorn. Pray tell, who is this Sunny you speak of."

Sunny took a step forward. "That's me, good sir. I'm Sunny Starscout."

The griffon narrowed his eyes. "You do not look like an alicorn."

"Well, physically, no I'm not. At least since magic disappeared. You see, the changelings wanted to trade me for Pipp, but Zipp here found out that we're useless to the changelings without magic. So, she sacrificed her sister and in a great act of courage shattered the Unity Crystals…" Sunny trailed off upon seeing the griffon's confused look. "They were the source of all magic. So, in order to save Equestria from the changelings, she risked everything, including her sister by destroying magic to make us useless to the changelings. Then she and Misty Brightdawn," Sunny gestured to Misty. "Worked tirelessly for six months to find where the changelings are, so that we can rescue her. Which is why we're here."

"You dare ask us for our assistance?" The griffon asked.

Zipp shook her head. "No, sir. We just…we just ask for passage through your territory. That's all. All we want is to pass through. You see, if we were to go around, we'd have to backtrack all the way to Equestria, go north and around, then come back down. That would take months and we're not sure how much longer Pipp will last."

The griffon was silent as he examined the pony. Griffons hadn't seen ponies in centuries. Not since it foolishly divided itself. But it seems now ponies were no longer divided. He had no desire to ally his griffons with the ponies of Equestria, but he had to admit that he felt a growing respect for the pony princess.

The griffon caught sight of the glowing symbol on the pony's flank, though, the other ponies were too busy keeping an eye on them and trying to not show their fear to even notice. Perhaps the ponies had more magic than they believed.

The griffon pulled back his spear, setting the butt end of it on the ground, much to Zipp's relief. "I will allow you passage through my territory."

"General, are you sure–" The griffon next to him started to ask, but stopped when the general snapped his head back to look at him.

"Yes, I am sure. You question me, your leader? This princess has shown much courage and has gained my respect for the time being." The griffon turned back to Zipp with a cold glare. "However, if I see you in Griffonstone again, I assure you I will not be as merciful. You are allowed passage on your way to the changeling kingdom and back. However, after you cross our territory a second time, if you come again, consider it a decoration of war. Do I make myself clear, Princess?"

Zipp quickly nodded. "Crystal. Thank you, general."

"Courage is something we griffons respect, despite the creature showing it. You have shown great courage to save your sister as well as keep your subjects safe if what you say is to be believed. Now, go, before I change my mind."

"Of course. Right away, general." Zipp did a quick bow. "Thank you."

Zipp bowed again and with no time to waste, the five ponies sprinted across Griffonstone, continuing their journey.

Queen Vespula groaned in exasperation as she watched the five ponies continue their journey through her crystal ball. Why did these ponies get through every trap she threw at them? She thought for sure that the griffons would kill them if one of her drones disguised themselves as a griffon scout, declaring that those five ponies were coming to attack them.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. They may have passed one obstacle, but they were still a long way from the changeling kingdom. And still plenty of time to stop tthem. And those little ponies were going to pay. She was going to make sure of it.

Raise Our Voices In Harmony

"Sometimes the kindest, bravest thing we can do is stand up to someone who is being unkind. Doing so causes conflict. It will upset the person we are confronting. A nice person would see the potential for conflict and stay quiet. A nice person never wants to rock the boat. A kind person knows conflict is possible and acts anyway. A kind person knows they might create waves, and they are OK with that."
~Kristen Caminiti

"We're lost, aren't we?" Hitch asked Zipp flatly.

Zipp squinted her eyes at the map as though that'd help her see it better. She shook her head. They weren't exactly lost, just…a quick detour. "We're not lost. I know exactly where we are," Zipp said aloud, thinking to herself, 'I think'.

Zipp looked up to find another fork in the road. "Damn it," Zipp muttered to herself.

"Are you sure? Because I feel like we've seen this fork before," Izzy said, skipping ahead and leaning down to squint at it. "Yep. I've definitely seen this bush before."

"We are not lost!" Zipp yelled in exasperation, refusing to admit the obvious. This wasn't the first time they've been through this. Zipp was perfectly capable of reading a map, despite how vague and faded and totally unproportioned that map was. Seriously though. Was this the only map in all of Zephyr Heights that had some revenant of outside Equestria? Couldn't they just choose a better one?

Zipp shook her head. "We'd see the ribbon, remember. The one you had Izzy put there the last time you didn't trust me?"

"You mean that ribbon?" Sunny asked, pointing to a purple ribbon that was tied to a tree branch.

Zipp looked up at where Sunny was pointing and she groaned, her face blushing a deep crimson. Okay, so maybe they were lost. But it's not like it's her fault. She'd never been outside of Equestria, and usually, she was really good at reading maps, but this map was impossible to read.

"Maybe one of us should navigate. You have been the only one reading that map since we left Maretime Bay a month ago. Maybe your eyes are just tired and it's all blurring–"

"I got this!" Zipp snapped, interrupting Hitch. Hitch stopped, staring at her. Zipp sighed and looked down, softly closing her eyes. "Sorry, Hitch. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I'm just…stressed and worried. We're getting closer to the changeling kingdom, I can feel it. I'm just worried about what we'll find once we get there."

Sunny put a hoof on Zipp's shoulder. "It's alright. We all are." Sunny lifted her hoof, slowly reaching for the map.

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Fine. Here. Whatever."

Zipp gave the map to Sunny, who also squinted similar to what Zipp did, after a bit of looking at it. Izzy skipped up to Zipp and scrutinized her with narrowed eyes.

"You okay? You've been super grumpy since we left Griffonstone. Plus, your sparkle's been dimmer than the new usual."

"The new…usual?" Zipp asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep. You and Hitch's sparkles have been extra dimmer than before when you found out Pipp was captured. So I call it your new usual."

"Right…well, I'm fine. I'm just…stressed."

"Honestly, I think we all are," Hitch said, rubbing his eyes. "It's been days since I got a decent night's sleep. Or any sleep really."

Zipp looked at Hitch who honestly looked worn out and ragged. He looked as though he was the one captured by the changeling queen rather than Pipp. Zipp couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was so worried about Pipp, and it seemed as though the closer they got, the worse he was. Sparky couldn't even get him to smile anymore, no matter what he tried.

Sunny stared at the map, trying to make sense of it. "This thing makes no sense," She said as she turned the map this way and that.

Zipp took the map from Sunny and turned it the right way. "We're somewhere around here," Zipp said, pointing to a section of woods. "This is where we think Pipp is," Zipp then pointed to the circled location with a red star.

Sunny squinted at the map, then at their surroundings, then at the map again. It was so faded, it was hard to place anything. Not to mention that the map was incredibly vague. The forest they were in didn't even have a name. It was just an image of a clump of trees. At least the changeling forest had a little more detail, but it was still pretty vague. Zipp wasn't joking when she said they'd be going in blind.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance. I have lived in these woods for years since."

All five ponies turned around to see a black zebra with grey markings and black and white hair. Izzy smiled. This zebra didn't look much like Mariama and Skye, besides the markings, but he looked friendly enough. Plus, Izzy always loved meeting new friends. Not to mention, since meeting the two zebras back in Maretime Bay, Izzy had wanted to meet more of them.

Izzy bounded over to the Zebra. "Hi new friend! I'm Izzy! Izzy Moonbow!"

"Pleasure to meet you, Izzy Moonbow. My name is Amani, now you know."

Izzy tilted her head. "You rhyme?" She didn't remember Mariama and Skye rhyming.

Amani smiled. "It is a tradition of old in my culture. One, I'm afraid, has lost much vigor."

All five ponies glanced at each other before Izzy exclaimed, "Cool! So you're like a walking poet!"

"Yes, I suppose you could say so, but then again, for so long I've been on my own, how should I know?"

Misty walked up to the Zebra. "How do you come up with words like that? So quickly?"

"It was how I was raised, so it comes naturally. Perhaps if I were not, it would come more problematically."

Zipp looked at the Zebra suspiciously. To be honest, she wasn't so sure this Zebra could be trusted. Zipp might as well have been Izzy at the Griffonstone town. This Zebra had bad vibes written all over it. Living by himself with simply a merchant's trailer in the woods far from any civilization? It screamed suspicious all over the place.

Plus, she heard of the shaman magic Zebras used. It was so unlike Equestrian magic. For all they knew, this Amani could be spouting off all these incantations or curses without them even knowing.

Zipp narrowed her eyes at the Zebra. "Do you have to rhyme?"

"Zipp!" Hitch scolded.

Amani shrugged. "I have been doing it my whole life, all I know is rhyme."

Sunny chuckled nervously. "Please, forgive our friend. She's just a little stressed. We all are."

"No need to apologize. I think I can emphasize. I would be too if I was as lost as you."

"You were eavesdropping?" Zipp asked incredulously, that fact only adding fuel to her fire of suspiciousness.

"Forgive me, in these woods, it is better to wait than to rush. For you, I did not know if I could trust."

Sunny smiled warmly. "It's fine. We understand. More than you know."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Look, Thanks for the offer, but…we don't need help. We got this."

"Zipp…" Sunny started, only for Zipp to interrupt.

"I said I got this!" Zipp snapped back.

Izzy slowly crept up to Zipp. "Yeah, I'm sure you do, but just in case…" Izzy slowly grabbed the map and handed it to Amani.

Amani glanced at it before his eyes briefly widened. "Forest of Leota? Are you quite sure? Those woods are known to have a dark aura."

The five ponies all looked at each other. "What do you know about the forest?" Hitch asked.

"Bad things happen to those who go there. And coming back out after going in is quite rare. It's said that those who you love the most can be found in those woods as though they are ghosts. But do not be fooled, little ponies, for it is not so. They are but shapeshifters of old. They do nothing but drain you until you are as empty as he. Beware of the changelings."

Izzy's eyes widened, gasping. "The legend! The legend! He knows the legend!" At the four remaining ponies' confused looks, Izzy rolled her eyes. "For it is not so? They are shapeshifters of old? They drain thee until thou art as empty as he?"

At the reminder, everypony else's eyes widened. Of course, Izzy was referring to the legend that allowed them to figure out who had taken Pipp. It was an old Bridlewood legend that was passed down from generation to generation, similar to the one about the troggles. Unicorns were known to be very superstitious, evident in their jinxie words, and most of their…traditions were taken with a grain of salt. But, on the rare occasions–as in two–the unicorns' superstitions were well placed.

In fact, it was that very line, shapeshifters of old, that allowed Sunny to connect the dots between the blue eyes that feed and the changelings mentioned in her father's journal as the same creature. However, it seemed that the Bridlewood legend had more information about them than Argyle's journal. All the journal said was that they used to be allies of Equestria, which they clearly weren't anymore, and that they helped during the last known battle Princess Twilight and her friends faced, against three supervillains who were magically enhanced by some long-lost artifact. Other than that, there was nothing really useful about them.

It was also through the legend that Misty was able to figure out where they might be on a map. Misty was able to figure out that the legend wasn't only a warning the unicorns passed down, but, unbeknownst to them, also a map of where the changelings live. After some vigorous research in astrology, Misty was able to figure out that in some parts outside of Equestria, due to magic disappearing and messing up the sun and moon cycle, at night, the moon was always full. She was also able to find out that some of those places had been vaguely mapped out using pony drones. After a bit more digging, she was able to figure out a general area about where the changelings might be.

However, something else Amani said stuck out to Zipp. He had said beware of the changelings. How did he know of the changelings? There was no mention of the word changelings in the legend. Zipp narrowed her eyes, more suspicious of this mysterious Zebra.

"How do you know of changelings?" She asked.

Amani simply shrugged again. "Every creature within a hundred-mile radius knows about such creatures. Their terror in these parts has lasted many years."

"What do you know of the changelings?" Sunny asked, stepping forward.

Amani narrowed his eyes briefly but answered nonetheless. "It is said that changelings are master shapeshifters that roam the night, searching for victims full of magic and might. They glance into their mind to find the one they love the most, and with their skin, they put on a show. All the while they fool that poor creature, they steal the love their victims give as though it is dinner. It is through that love that they gain power, taking their victim's magic through their love, giving them the nickname the love hunter."

Izzy gasped. "The blue eyes that feed."

"Precisely, little pony. They feed on the love of others to keep them from weakening. For it is through love that our power and strength grow. The more we love, the more our hearts are set aglow. However, changelings' chests are nothing but empty voids of black, making feelings something they lack."

"Nothing but an empty shell," Misty muttered with wide eyes, looking at Amani.

"Right again, dear pony. And since love is an emotion we are constantly feeling, changelings are always constantly hungry."

"So that's why that changeling said we were useless to them without our magic," Zipp concluded, her mind wandering. To that, Amani simply nodded.

Sunny gave her friendliest, most heartfelt smile. "You wouldn't happen to know where the changelings live, do you?"

Amani narrowed his eyes further, clearly showing his suspicion. "Why would you five ponies, seek out the changelings purposefully?"

"No reason," Hitch said, looking away from Amani.

"I may for a long time been on my own, but I do have brain cells in my bones. No creature searches for dangerous species for no reason. It's obvious you are keeping secrets." Amani said, taking a couple of steps back.

Hitch widened his eyes as he watched his chance to find Pipp starting to slip away. "H–hold on. We're not changelings if that's what you think…" Hitch said, trailing off when he saw Amani's suspicious face refuse to change.

"Creatures who keep secrets cannot be trusted. In these parts, trust is all that will keep you from being abducted."

"Oh well, then. If you don't want to help us, that's your choice. Cause, honestly, we really don't need your help."

Sunny gave Zipp a warning glare, who only glared right back in response. Sunny rolled her eyes but kept quiet. She didn't want to stir the pot. She knew that Zipp was just stressed, and confronting her would only start a fight. They had come too close now only for their plan to blow up because they couldn't stop fighting. They needed things to stay somewhat peaceful between them all.

Izzy then popped up in front of her friends, facing Amani. "Oh, well, that makes sense with the changelings around and all." Izzy took a deep breath and her friends braced themselves, predicting what was about to happen. "Well, the changelings used to be friends with Equestria but for some unknown reason they now want to take over so they captured Pipp in hopes of trading her for Sunny who's an alicorn or used to be but not anymore because magic was destroyed, cause, you see, on the balcony of the Crystal Brighthouse where we kept the Unity Crystals aka the source of all Equestrian magic, the changelings wanted to make the Sunny for Pipp deal and the changeling mentioned we were useless without magic so, in an attempt to keep Equestria safe, Zipp–" Izzy rushed over to Zipp, pointing her out. "–and Misty–" Izzy rushed over to Misty, also pointing her out. "Shattered the Unity Crystals, destroying all magic so that we'd be completely useless to the changelings but unfortunately the rest of us didn't understand their whole Royalty Before Family motto so we all got in a massive fight and Sunny, Hitch, and I–" Izzy went to each respective pony as she said their names. "–all said things we regretted and it caused Zipp and Misty to move out of the Brighthouse and go back to Zephyr Heights, which Zipp's mother is the queen of making her a princess. And it was there she and Misty looked for where the changelings might be in the extensive castle library of Zephyr Heights where Misty found the answer using the legend and astrology, cause, as it turns out–"

"Okay Iz, I think he gets the picture," Sunny said, walking up to Izzy and slowly guiding her a couple of steps back.

"But he said that those who keep secrets can't be trusted," Izzy countered.

"Yeah, but I doubt he meant for you to give him your whole life story," Hitch answered with a small smile.

"But, I want to be trusted," Izzy whined.

"It is okay, Izzy Moonbow. You have already said everything I need to know."

Zipp narrowed her eyes at Amani. "Well, you wouldn't mind if we did a little test of our own, would you?"

"Of course not, dear Zipp. I wouldn't expect anything different."

Zipp turned to Misty, who hesitantly walked up, holding up her hoof. "You wouldn't mind if I touched you real quick. I'm an empath, and I can tell what creatures are feeling by touching them. Since changelings are empty voids inside, I'll be able to know if you're a changeling if I can sense what you're feeling."

Amani smiled. "Ah. An empath is the perfect way to reveal a changeling."

Misty put her hoof on Amani's chest and gasped at what she felt. Usually, when she accidentally touched ponies, she'd get a crazy mess of emotions, hardly being able to tell them apart. However, as soon as she touched Amani, she got a cool wave of calmness, one that reached into her soul. It was so unlike the cold emptiness that wanted to drag her into its black void from the changeling. This was like a bucket of cool refreshing water being dumped on her in the middle of a desert. Amani's calm was so different from Misty's own mess of emotions. But, as soon as Misty's hoof touched Amani, she felt herself calm too, like an ocean wave engulfing her.

"Misty?" She heard Sunny ask, concern in her voice. "Is everything okay?"

Misty blinked, not realizing she was just standing there with her hoof on Amani's chest, like a weirdo. She turned her head to see Izzy watching her with a confused look, Sunny and Hitch staring at her concerned, and Zipp already in a defensive stance, as though she was just waiting for a reason to attack Amani.

Misty quickly stepped away, an awkward smile on her face. "Yep. He's good. No changeling here," She said nervously, knowing full well just how weird she acted.

Zipp narrowed her eyes but fortunately said nothing. The question must've been on Misty's face because Amani answered, "I meditate every day. Perhaps another time, I can show you how so you can form your own way."

Misty smiled gratefully, accepting Amani's offer.

"Well, with that now out of the way, let me show you where you wish to go so desperately."

"Desperately?!" Zipp said, clearly taking offense for some reason.

Sunny put her hoof on Zipp's back as Amani began walking away, silently shaking her head. Zipp rolled her eyes and groaned, but listened to Sunny as they followed Amani deeper into the woods.

"So, you're just living here alone in the forest. By yourself?" Zipp asked., to which Amani simply nodded. This wasn't the first time Zipp asked this, though it was worded differently each of the three times she asked. "No, parents or family or anything?"

Amani internally rolled his eyes but answered as respectfully as he could. "I'm afraid not, Princess Zipp. Three years ago, my parents grew quite sick. Then they died and I was all that was left. I have no siblings, and my grandparents are dead."

Zipp's eyes momentarily widened. "Oh. I uh…I'm so sorry. That really sucks. So, umm…why are you living here still? Got a thing against modernized civilizations or something?"

"What is wrong with Zipp?" Hitch whispered to Sunny as they walked near the end of the group. He felt Sparky jump off his back and onto Sunny's.

"What do you mean? Zipp's just getting to know Amani."

Hitch rolled his eyes. "Yeah, super passive-aggressively."

"Look, Zipp is just stressed. Like really stressed. I'm even going to go out on a limb and say she's terrified. We're getting closer to the changeling kingdom and we have no plan of attack on how we're going to rescue Pipp because we have no idea what to expect when we get there. We don't even know where in the kingdom Pipp is being held. Zipp just needs something to investigate and Amani's it, apparently."

"Like how Misty was that something a year ago?" Hitch asked flatly.

"Exactly!" Hitch raised an eyebrow at Sunny who just sighed. "Look, Hitch. Please, don't say anything yet. If you do, it's just going to start a fight and it might cost us our one chance in rescuing Pipp. Once we rescue Pipp, you can confront Zipp all you want, but please, just don't do anything drastic until then."

Hitch sighed, glaring at Zipp who was currently still grilling Amani. It made Hitch angry to see Zipp treating Amani so poorly. Hitch understood her mistrust. It seemed as though nearly every stranger they met tried to hurt them. Misty, when she was working for Opaline, Opaline herself, Allura, the changelings, the griffons. Heck, when Hitch first met Amani, he was suspicious as well, and while they didn't know much about Amani, they knew he wasn't a changeling, and, at this point, miles away from Equestria, that was all they could ask for. They were lucky to stumble upon a creature who didn't want to eat them at first glance, to begin with.

Besides, Amani was being really kind showing them the way to the changeling kingdom. He didn't have to do that. They were five strange ponies searching for incredibly dangerous love–eating creatures. He could've just said good luck and been on his way. Sure, he was a little odd with his rhyming and all, but Zipp should just be grateful that Amani was willing to help them at all. If it weren't for him, they'd probably still be wandering aimlessly in the woods until they happened to stumble upon the changeling kingdom in the worst way and they got themselves captured.

Hitch sighed reluctantly. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises," He said through gritted teeth.

Hitch did not feel like himself saying that. There was no excuse for the way Zipp was acting. Hitch was stressed too. More than any of them knew. So stressed, he hadn't had any sleep since they left Griffonstone a week ago. His heart raced at the thought of potentially seeing Pipp again. He wondered what he'd find there. Would Pipp hate him? Would she blame him? Would she accuse him of not getting there in time? Would she still be alive? No. She would be. He felt it in his heart. He'd feel it if she were…right? He shook his head. He wouldn't go there. Not again.

Anyway, even though Hitch was stressed and had a million questions racing in his mind, he didn't act the way Zipp did. He was still respectful. He was still nice. And he wasn't being passive-aggressive.

But, even though it made him feel horrible, he had to consider what Sunny was saying. If he were to confront Zipp, it could cause another fight. Zipp had just forgiven Hitch. Their relationship was still fragile. Confronting her could cause a multitude of reactions, all ending in being unable to save Pipp.

He thought back to when he got his cutie mark. He had stood up for that filly when the colts were being jerks, ditched the meanies, and played with the little fillies. That was the second best day of his life, his first obviously being when he and Pipp professed their love for each other and they started dating. Things were so simple back then. It was you either be kind or be mean. What was it he said when he was retelling his cutie mark story? The only peace of mind is to be kind. But, what if being kind made things worse? What if being kind prevented him from finding Pipp? What if being kind prevented him from rescuing her? What if being kind doomed all of Equestria? He didn't know what to do.

Well, that's what he thought before Zipp crossed the line.

Hitch had looked up to see Amani forced against the tree, Zipp so close to him with her eyes narrowed he had no room to move, much like she had Misty forced into the corner of Mane Melody a year ago when she was trying to find the lantern. The others, including Sunny, were around them, trying to get Zipp away from Amani, but none of them made any real physical effort to stop her. He was so lost in thought, that he had no idea how things escalated so quickly, but it didn't matter because that was when it was decided. That was when he asked himself what Pipp would say if she knew Hitch just stood by while her sister harassed some innocent Zebra. She'd be so disappointed.

So, Hitch did the only thing he could do. He marched up to Zipp and tapped her on the shoulder, his sheriff's side coming out. But when that didn't even phase Zipp, her barrage of questions continuing like the arrow assault that night in Griffonstone, he did exactly what Pipp did at Mane Melody when Zipp was harassing Misty. He jumped between Amani and Zipp, pushing Zipp back.

Zipp stumbled back, her face one of shock. "Hitch, what are you doing?! I was just about to get Amani to reveal his true motive!"

"What ulterior motive Zipp?! The only creature here I see that's being suspicious is you!" Hitch sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing the bridge of his muzzle with his hoof before looking back at Zipp. "Look, Zipp. Ever since we left Griffonstone, you've been nothing but mean to everypony around you. I've–"

"No. I just put up with your crap long enough! How do you expect we defeat the changelings with us the way we are now?! With glitter and our nonexistent powers?! How?!"

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out! We always do! I don't know how, but by some miracle, when the odds are nothing but stacked up against us, we somehow always make it out on top."

"We can't keep relying on dumb luck to get us through these situations! Eventually, our luck's going to run out and if we don't have a plan, we're going to get ourselves killed!"

"Look, don't you think we know that? We're all working our flanks off trying to put together some kind of plan, no matter how half–baked it is. But we can't put together anything until we know where Pipp is at least being held, or figure out what the kingdom even looks like so we can find some way to infiltrate it. But, there's nothing we can do about it now."

As Hitch spoke, his cutie mark began to glow. Amani was the first to notice it and a small smile appeared on his face. Perhaps these ponies weren't as doomed as they thought.

Misty also noticed it. Her eyes widened in surprise. That couldn't be right. Cutie marks only began to glow after the magic returned. So his cutie mark shouldn't be glowing. Magic was destroyed. She shattered the crystals herself. Nopony has been able to fly, cast spells, or grow plants with their hooves in six months since the crystals shattered. So why was his cutie mark glowing?

Misty shook her head. She decided not to say anything. For all they knew, it could all be a fluke. It most likely didn't mean anything. She didn't want to give her friends false hope, only for it to be snatched away. That was the worst possible thing somepony could do to somepony else. So, instead, she kept her mouth shut and let Hitch continue, keeping an eye on his cutie mark.

"And that's most definitely no excuse to be snapping at every creature. Especially when that creature's trying to help! What is wrong with you? Why are you like this?!"

"Because I'm scared, okay?!" Zipp yelled back, tears in her eyes. "I'm terrified that we're going to save Pipp, but it's going to be too late! I'm scared that I'm going to fail her like I did that night! I'm scared that I made the wrong decision and that I should've just gotten Pipp back! At least then we'd have magic. Now we're going in on what might as well be a kamikaze mission." Zipp dropped her head. "And it'll be all my fault."

Hitch's anger suddenly turned into sympathy. He didn't realize how much guilt Zipp was carrying. How much actually weighed on her chest. It hurt him to see one of his closest friends, especially one who always put on such a tough front, struggling so much.

Hitch walked up to Zipp putting a hoof on her shoulder. His cutie mark began to glow brighter, nopony but Misty even noticed. "Zipp, none of this is your fault. We all chose to go on this rescue mission. We all knew the risks and we knew the likelihood of this actually succeeding, and we still chose to come despite all that. There's nothing you could have said or done that would've stopped us from going. You wanna know why? Because Pipp is our friend, and we'd do anything to save her."

"But, it's my fault magic is gone. It's–"

"No, it's not. None of us blame you. Or Misty. You did the only thing you could do to save Equestria. Hey," Zipp looked up at him. "I promise we're going to save Pipp. Or die trying."

Zipp softly smiled up at him before hugging him tightly. Slowly, Hitch's cutie mark began to dim, making Misty wonder if it was really just a fluke, or if it really was what it looked like.

"This is as far as I dare to go. But don't fret, you should be able to find your destination thirty miles or so down the road." Amani said as they approached a clearing in the woods, the trees on the other side looking dead and broken. A forest with no trees.

"Thank you, Amani. And…I'm sorry for the way I treated you. That was wrong of me. You were just trying to help and I acted as though you were hiding something."

"It is alright, Zipp Storm. You only wish to protect your little sister. It is understandable. She's lucky to have an older sister with such a protective instinct."

Amani and Zipp smiled at each other. The rest said their goodbyes, and as they walked away, Zipp wondered if she actually ever told Amani that Pipp was her little sister or what her last name was. She turned her head behind her to ask, only to find Amani suddenly gone. She shrugged. Oh well. Izzy probably told him on their way here and she didn't hear. Either way, Zipp didn't think too much of it. Perhaps if she had noticed how Amani failed to rhyme in his last words, she would've, and perhaps, things would've turned out differently.

Author's Note

Haha…the suspense…

Alright…I'm currently writing this at one in the morning because, well, I don't know. And yes, I'm aware I should be sleeping, but, well, all you insomniacs out there get it.

We are officially at the halfway point! By the next chapter, the five of them will have arrived at the changeling hive to attempt to save Pipp. Keep an eye out for the next chapter to see what happens next.

Until then, drop your predictions in the comments below.

Hakuna Matata!

You Gotta Hear What I'm Sayin'

"True confidence is not what you take from someone to restore yourself, but what you give back to your critics because they need it more than you do."
~Shannon L. Alder

Three months earlier…

Pipp sat in the corner of her cell, squeezing her eyes shut and rocking back and forth. Images played in her head. Images of her friends laughing and having fun, without her. Images that weren't real. She tried to block them out, but they only came in more frequently. Her friends. Her sister. All as though they forgot about her.

She shook her head. No. They wouldn't. They loved her. She had to have faith. She had to have confidence that her friends would come for her. That they would help her. They'd do everything they could to help her without putting Equestria in danger.

"Izzy Moonbow. Sunny Starscout," She began to say like a mantra, as though reminding herself of her friends' names. "Misty Brightdawn. Sparky Sparkeroni. Zipp Storm," Pipp paused before saying the last name. "Hitch Trailblazer."

Pipp took a deep breath. She thought about the song she sang where she heard Hitch's voice. She tried singing it again and again, but she had yet to hear his voice. Did she really hear his voice or was she imagining it? Was she going crazy? Was this what crazy felt like?

The slot in the cell door opened and Pipp snapped her head up. A changeling put a meal through and Pipp rushed over as fast as she could. She tried to grab the changeling's hoof, but the changeling pulled it back before she could do so. Just like he always did. Damn it! She had to escape. She had to get out! Why couldn't she get out?!

She kicked her dinner tray, sending food flying all over the place. Tears began to leak down her face as she curled into a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth, sobbing into her hooves. Did they break her? Is this what breaking felt like? Was she ever going to see the sun again? Her friends? The love of her life? Was life worth living at this point?

"Thirty...thirty-one...thirty-two...thirty-three...thirty-four..." Pipp counted as she stared at the wall. Her episode of crazy was over, thank hoofness, and now she was just her usual zoned–out self. For some odd reason, counting helped her stay sane in this six-by-eight cell. "Thirty‐eight…thirty-nine…Fourty…"

In the time that she's been here, she couldn't help but feel bad for the changelings. With every interaction she's seen between Queen Vespula and her subjects, it's been nothing but threats and intimidation. That wasn't how a queen ought to rule. They should rule with compassion and kindness. They should put the well–being of their subjects first, not their own vengeful desires.

Pipp couldn't help but wonder what had happened to that drone. The one sent to Maretime Bay to make the deal with her friends. After Pipp found out that Zipp and Misty shattered the Unity Crystals, and Pipp boasted about how they already got away with it, and then Queen Vespula said Pipp would never see the light of day, Pipp was then forcefully escorted back to her cell.

But as they escorted her out, she overheard Queen Vespula ask how her friends knew the changelings needed their magic, and the drone answered it was because he accidentally let it slip. She didn't hear the rest of it because that was when she was escorted out of the throne room and the black stone door had closed behind her. But as she was walked down the hall, she heard Queen Vespula yell in fury.

She didn't have to know what happened to know that the drone was punished, judging by how angry Queen Vespula was. Despite being the ones holding her captive, Pipp held no real anger or resentment towards the changelings. From what she was able to grasp, all they were doing was following Queen Vespula's orders, like real drones. But, Pipp knew they weren't just mindless drones. Pipp didn't know what they were, besides what they called themselves, but she knew that there bug–like creatures had feelings. They were just buried deep deep down. It was evident in that one changeling's fear when he had to tell Vespula that their plans had failed and it was his fault.

Pipp heard something knock on the door three times. She sighed, knowing what that meant. She stood up, and walked to the corner of the cell farthest from the door, with her back facing the cold stone door.

Slowly, Pipp heard the door squeak open. She waited, listening closely to the hoofsteps walking into her cell, listening for the bucket of water as it sloshed a little back and forth. Pipp listened as her cell door closed, before plastering on a small smile that, to her surprise, was becoming more and more genuine.

Pipp slowly turned around and sat in the corner, facing the changeling with a bucket and mop. For some reason, Queen Vespula demanded that Pipp's cell be cleaned every other day. Apparently, she had some sort of fetish against germs or something. She always wanted to keep every part of the castle clean, and apparently, she didn't trust Pipp enough to just throw a mop and bucket of water in and let her do it herself. So, she had another changeling come in to do it.

It was always the same changeling. Every time. He was the only living being she'd seen in the past however long it's been. After the fifth time, Pipp was desperate for somepony to talk to other than herself. So, Pipp began talking to the changeling, telling her about her life and herself. The changeling had remained quiet at first, but, one day, when he had walked in, Pipp was vocalizing, trying to find a good tune to make for a song. The next time he came in, he had asked Pipp to sing while he worked.

She was surprised but agreed. That was the first time he had spoken to her. After that, they formed a tedious bond. While protocol required Pipp to stay facing the corner, after Pipp sang to him as he worked, she was able to turn around to face him without him getting after her.

In that time, which was probably a couple of months, they would either sort of talk or she'd sing to him. When they'd talk, he'd ask her questions about her life. They weren't even questions the changelings could use against her, but questions about menial things. Like how it was to have a phone or to have a sister. Or what it was like to have a smoothie or run a beauty salon. Of course, Pipp would answer them all, despite how silly they sounded.

But, Pipp knew nothing about this changeling, not even his name. Whenever she'd try asking him questions about himself, he'd shut down and their interaction would be over for the rest of the time he was here. But, it didn't matter. She enjoyed the company. It was one of the only things that kept her sane. She was actually starting to look forward to his visits.

"Miss Pipp? Do…do you think you can sing to me today?" The changeling asked as he put the mop in the bucket, soaking it in water, and then mopping the floor.

"Of course. But, first, I need you to do something for me."

The changeling froze up, pausing briefly, but he didn't say anything. He was starting to shut down, she could tell.

"Don't worry. It's nothing bad or anything. It's just…did you know the changeling that was sent to Maretime Bay to make that deal with my friends?"

The changeling nodded. Good. This was progress.

"Well, I was wondering…what happened to him. I was just wondering because I know Queen Vespula was pretty angry and I was just hoping he's okay."

The changeling was silent for a long while before he finally said curtly. "He's in the dungeons."

Pipp had a feeling there was more to it than that, but Pipp didn't want to push. This was more than he talked about himself the whole time they started conversing. She didn't want to regress in their relationship.

So, Pipp began to sing to him:

You hear that sound?
Oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

"Do, do, do, do." The changeling muttered to himself. The first time she sang this song to him, she had told him it was a call-and-response song. It took a couple of tries on different occasions but now he replied. Quietly, but still there.

The melody that's ringing out?
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

"Ooh–hoo, ooh, ooh." The changeling mumbled to himself.

A special tune.
That keeps you true.
Your voice that speaks.
When no one sees.
So listen close.
Keep holding true
And sing the song that makes you.
Ooh, ooh, ooh

"Do. do. do."

You.

When the song ended, there was silence for a long while. Pipp didn't know if the changeling wanted her to sing another song or if he wanted to talk. Pipp was just about to open her mouth to sing him another song when he finally spoke.

"Why are you so nice to me?"

Pipp looked up at him, shocked. He had stopped mopping and was looking at her. When he realized she was looking at him, he quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry?"

"Why are you so nice to me?"

Pipp was confused by his question, but she answered it anyway, saying with a shrug, "Because that's what ponies do. We're nice to each other until we're given a reason not to be."

"But…why?"

Pipp was thoroughly confused. What in the hay was he getting at? "Because…it's the nice thing to do? Hasn't any creature ever been nice to you because it's the nice thing to do?"

The changeling shook his head. Pipp's heart felt for the changeling. To live his whole life in a castle full of other changelings like him and he's never once experienced somepony being nice to him. Pipp began to wonder how many other changelings were being deprived of one of the things Pipp always took for granted.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I've given you a reason not to be. I'm keeping you locked in here."

"No you're not," Pipp said sternly.

"Well, my kind is–"

"No. Your Queen is. She's the mastermind behind all of this," Pipp paused. "How many of you actually wanted to go through with this whole revenge plan thing your queen cooked up?"

The changeling shrugged. "I don't know. We don't really get a say. Will you sing for me again?" The changeling quickly said, looking away and continued mopping.

"Sure. But, first…what's your name?"

There was a long pause before the changeling finally answered, "Morphis."

Pipp smiled before she started singing the next song:

Hey, ponies, listen to me.
You gotta hear what I'm saying.
You got that sparkle deep inside…

Present Day…

Pipp walked the length of her cell, trying to grapple with everything Posey and Windy just said. She couldn't believe it. How deep did this changeling conspiracy go?

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. Sprout is working for the changelings?"

Windy shrugged while Posey said, "We think so. We're not sure. All Hitch said in his letter was that he had reason to believe that Sprout was working for the enemy."

There was a moment of silence where nopony said anything while that sank in. Sprout was working for the changelings? Why? What would possess him to do that? What were the changelings offer him that he'd help the changelings take over Equestria?

"And…and Hitch and the others are…coming to rescue me?"

Posey shrugged. "Yeah. Well, us now, I guess."

Pipp sat down, feeling hope swell up inside her. Hope she was afraid to feel. Her friends found where she was. They came to help her?

It was then that Morphis walked in. Since he told Pipp his name three months ago, he had been walking in with his head held high. It made her smile every time. Except this time. This time it made her heart stop.

Since that day three months ago, Pipp and Morphis had really started to bond. He was a couple of years younger than Pipp, being only seventeen. He was a low-ranking private in the changeling army. Every changeling in the hive starting at sixteen had a place in the army. He wasn't close to any of his other littermates, except for one. His older sister. She was the only one who was ever semi–nice to him.

As soon as Morphis saw Posey and Windy, he paused and dropped his gaze. Windy and Posey noticed him and immediately stood up, Posey glaring daggers at him and Windy cowering next to Posey.

"Umm…hi," Morphis quickly said, looking down, just standing there, holding his mop and bucket. He glanced up at Pipp who gave him a weak smile.

"What do you want, bug," Posey spat out, still glaring at Morphis.

"Hey," Pipp ran between Morphis and Posey. Morphis was shy, kind, and sweet. He didn't have the personality to stand up to Posey. "Chill. He's not going to hurt us. He's just sent in here to clean. The Queen has some weird thing about germs."

Posey gave one more glared glance at Morphis. "Fine. If you say so. But, I'm watching you, bug."

It hurt Pipp to see Posey being so rude to Morphis. Morphis was such a nice changeling, and he didn't deserve the treatment Posey was giving him. But Pipp didn't say anything, though, she didn't understand why. She never had a problem standing up for herself or others when they needed it. Why couldn't she do that now for this innocent changeling?

Well, that was, until Posey said, "Ugh. He's so bug-like."

Pipp stepped closer to Posey. "Posey, why don't you lay off a bit? You don't need to be so rude," Pipp said softly.

"Are you defending him?!" Posey asked incredulously.

"No, I'm not, it's just that…" Pipp trailed off when she saw Morphis wilt a bit at that sentence.

He turned away and started mopping, not even looking at Pipp. He squeezed his eyes shut a bit before opening them, but this time, Pipp could see the mask of anger that clung to them.

Who was she? Pipp was a pony who stood up for others who needed it. She was Princess Pipp Petals. The pony who had the confidence to go against the flow, against the norm. She didn't just sit passively when a pony needed her help. Granted, Morphis wasn't a pony, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he needed her help. And that was what she was going to give him.

"Wait. No. I take that back. I am defending him," Pipp said, standing up tall.

"You are?" Posey asked, to which Pipp nodded. "But why?"

"Because he's my friend!" Pipp declared confidently. She didn't even realize it until she had just said it. But it was true. She considered him her friend. That was all there was to it.

"He is?" Posey asked incredulously.

"I am?" Morphis echoed.

Pipp turned to the changeling, who was looking at her dumbfounded, all thoughts of cleaning forgotten. "You are. I didn't realize until now, and for that, I'm sorry. I consider you a friend. And, I hope you'll consider me one too?"

To that, Morphis nodded.

"Don't you know what those…those monsters did?! To you?! To Hitch?! To all of Equestria?! They took magic away!"

Morphis snapped his head up. "No, we didn't! You did that all by yourself!" Morphis argued.

"How dare you?! Is this who you're calling your friend? A bug who lies!"

"Morphis isn't lying! Zipp and Misty took magic away!" Pipp defended. "They did it to save Equestria! To keep the changelings from feeding on it!"

"Yeah. To keep your friend from feeding on it. And that's if that's even true. What reason would Sheriff Hitch have to lie to us? "

"Look, I don't know. All I know is that Morphis is different. Heck, maybe they're all different. Maybe their just following their Queen's orders. The point is, Morphis here is kind, a–and sweet, and even a little shy. He's nothing like Queen Vespula."

Pipp's Cutie mark began to shine, but the two of the three ponies were too involved with listening to what Pipp had to say to notice, and Pipp was too busy saying it to notice either. Morphis noticed though, but he didn't say anything. He had no idea what it meant. All he knew was that he couldn't tell his Queen about it. Not if he wanted to keep his new friend safe. And, oddly there was a small feeling in his gut not to tell Pipp either. He didn't know why, but he thought it best to listen.

"Maybe none of them are. Queen Vespula rules with such an iron hoof, that none of them have the chance to be what they could be. I'm sure if Morphis had another chance at life, without a dictative Queen, he'd do something different. He wouldn't be evil. He…he reminds me so much of Misty. All he needs is a chance, just like she did. And he'll shine brighter than the sun."

Both Posey and Windy gave her weary looks.

"C'mon, guys. Don't you trust me?"

Posey and Windy sighed, looking at each other before Windy said, "Alright if you're sure."

"Windy. Are you crazy?! Do you know what that is?!"

Windy gave Posey a look. "If that's what Sunny said about unicorns and pegasi, we wouldn't even be friends, Posey. We probably wouldn't even know each other. I don't know about you, but my life is so much better now that I met you. Most ponies don't understand your harsh nature, Posey, but…I do. If I asked somepony to give you a chance like Pipp is asking for this changeling, I'd want them to say yes. Wouldn't you?"

Posey opened her mouth to say something, only to close it again. While Posey didn't want to admit it, Windy had a point. Posey sighed, softly closing her eyes.

"Windy?" Windy tilted her head at Posey. "I hate you."

Windy smiled while Pipp's Cutie mark shone brightly before dimming back to nothing. As though it didn't glow at all, while Morphis gained more friends that day than he had his whole life.

Author's Note

Oookay, so I know I said that the mane six, minus Pipp (seriously, I don't know what to call them since they're technically not the mane five cause Misty's with them and it's not like Pipp is dead…yet), was going to infiltrate next chapter, in the last chapter, (sry if that didn't make sense) but as I was writing the next chapter, I realized I was going back and forth between the ending and the present so much, that I completely forgot about Pipp. Yes, I know, the five of them are going through this whole ordeal just to save her, but I was so focused on them, that I forgot to give Pipp her special cutie mark moment.

Plus, I was reading back on the story just to make sure my imagination doesn't take me too far and I realized I wanted to add in this scene but I completely forgot. And I was thinking about the ending and realized that the ending I wanted to do would make no sense without these scenes.

So, instead of just changing the ending like a normal person, I decided to be stubborn and spend all day trying to integrate these scenes into the story, deciding that combinging it with Pipp's special cutie mark moment would be a great idea! (Me thanking my past self for leaving the whole Posey and Windy getting captured as a cliff hanger thing)

*sigh*

I'm a mess, okay.

Alright. Now we're halfway. I'm halfway done with the next chapter. Now I just need to go back to that chapter, finish it, edit it, and publish it, and then things can go back to what was planned. I promise that the five are going to infiltrate the castle this time. At least now when the ending comes you'll know what the hell is going on.

Onto the next chapter!

Hakuna Matata

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Your personal light bulb moment can come anytime. Are you ready to take personal responsibility for doing the work that has to be done?
~Unknown

"This is way too good to be true," Zipp muttered as she looked through the binoculars at the desolate-looking black castle made out of some kind of rough-looking rock, that looked incredibly pointy at the top.

Sunny held out her hoof and Zipp passed the binoculars to her. She looked through them, surprised to find it practically empty. "Where are all the changelings?"

"Maybe they knew we were coming and fled?" Misty asked hopefully.

"Doubt it," Hitch answered, narrowing his eyes. "They didn't exactly seem like the fleeing type."

"This is the place Amani said they were, right?" Zipp asked.

Suddenly, the five of them heard buzzing to their right. They quickly ducked down behind the rock they were hiding behind, keeping themselves out of sight. The five of them carefully peeked from behind the rock, to see a pony-like creature that was all black, with blue wings and eyes, Swiss–cheese legs, and sharp-looking fangs protruding out of its mouth. It flew past before disappearing out of sight and into the rocky castle-like structure.

"What is that?" Misty asked, not sure whether to be disgusted or terrified.

"Must be what changelings look like in their true form," Zipp deduced.

"But they're so… buggy," Izzy said, staring in the direction the changeling disappeared.

"I don't care how bug‐like they look. If Pipp is in there, then so will we. We are getting her out," Hitch said determinedly, glaring at the changeling hive. The rest of the ponies watched him with trepidation, not sure how far he'd be willing to go to save Pipp, and whether or not they'd be willing to go with him.

The five ponies slowly crept away from the changeling castle, back towards the clearing where Amani parted with them and they made camp. Now that they've seen the kingdom, they had to make some kind of plan as to how to get in and out without being noticed.

"I don't care what we have to do to get in there, but if Pipp's there then so are we," Hitch said once they made it back to the clearing.

"I know Hitch, but we can't just go in, guns blazing. That's how we'll all get captured," Sunny reasoned.

"Then we don't get captured!"

"Then we make. A. Plan," Sunny argued.

Hitch sighed heavily. "I don't care what plan we come up with, as long as it ends with us walking back home with six of us rather than five."

"And it will. We didn't travel all the way here just to turn back now," Zipp said with determination in her voice. "We're rescuing Pipp. But we're useless to her if we get ourselves captured too."

Izzy gasped her eyes widening. "Oh my hoofness! Oh, my hoofness! Idea! It's risky. And it's dangerous. And it might not work. But it might and I like those odds."

Izzy paused dramatically while the other ponies just looked at her confused.

"First, one quick question. Zipp, do you have a tracker on that pony drone of yours?"

The patrol changeling flew steadily into the changeling hive, making his way through the changing hallways to the throne room. He landed on the cold, hard, stone floor, bowing low to the queen sitting on the throne.

"The targets are within sight, Your Majesty," the patrol changeling said. "Should we go into phase two?"

Queen Vespula stared down at her subject, her evil grin growing as everything went according to plan. "Prepare yourselves for it, but do not engage. At least not until they're closer."

The drone nodded before flying off to pass the message to the general and the changeling army.

Queen Vespula chuckled as she stood from her throne and walked out of the room, up the stairs, and to the cell that held her three prisoners. Finally, generations of planning have come to an end and soon, their revenge will be complete. It was about time she enjoyed her reward.

Queen Vespula walked in to see three prisoners, one green earth pony with a light pink mane, a pink pegasus with a pink mane, and another pegasus, though, this one was light pink with a purple mane.

Pipp stood up, glaring at Queen Vespula. Her mane was a tangled mess and her crown was in the corner on the stone floor, and there were dark bags under her eyes. The princess of pop was a ragged mess, but there was still the light of hope in her eyes.

She stood in front of Posey and Windy protectively. "Let Posey and Windy go. You have no use for them here."

"Oh, but I do. How else will I lead your desperate friends into a trap?" Pipp opened her mouth to speak, but Queen Vespula rolled her eyes, interrupting her before she had a chance to talk. "Oh, save your breath. I just had to get one look at you so I could mirror you exactly. Don't want them coming in to save the right pony, now do we." Queen Vespula turned to leave but turned at Pipp's shocked look. "Oh, and… that's right. I've nearly forgotten. How silly of me. It's your three‐year anniversary. How sweet. That'll be fun. Anniversaries make our victims that much more desperate."

Queen Vespula chuckled as she left the prisoners' cell, her heart filling with glee. She could never understand why the citizens of Equestria didn't love revenge as much as she did. It felt fantastic.

Queen Vespula walked into her royal chambers, a maniacal grin on her face. She walked to her mirror, watching her reflection as green flames engulfed it and before her eyes, a pink pegasus with purple hair and a golden crown appeared. Her smile grew at the likeness.

As Queen Vespula began to sing, she realized it matched Pipp's voice perfectly, causing her to be elated:

🎵This day is going to be perfect.
The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small.
All those friends will gather round,
Say how glad they are I'm found.
What they don't know is that I'll have fool them all🎵

Back in Pipp's cell, Pipp looked up at Posey and Windy with wide, desperate eyes, after learning that it would be her and Hitch's three-year anniversary and how such a meaningful day was going to be used against them. Tears filled her eyes as she sat on the mattress, looking down at the ground.

🎵This day should've been perfect.
The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small.
But instead of having cake,
With all my friends to celebrate
I may never see my love at all🎵

Queen Vespula prepared herself, messing up the purple hair until it was messy and tangled as she flew around the room in an evil sort of dance, making herself look more and more like the disheveled Pipp in the cell.

🎵I could care less about the sheriff,
I won't partake in any cake.
Love? I'll be lying when I say:
That through any kind of weather
I'll want us to be together
The truth is I don't care for him at all.
No, I do not love that fool,
In my heart, there is no room.
But I still want him to be all mine🎵

Pipp ran around the room as she realized the love of her life was about to walk into a trap. She searched the cell inside, leaving no centimeter untouched, hoping to find some sort of way out, searching every stone, every nook and cranny.

🎵Must escape before it's too late,
Find a way to save the day.
Hope? I'll be lying if I say:
I don't fear that I may lose him,
To one who wants to use him,
Not care for love and cherish him each day.
For I love him like a tune
All my thoughts he does consume.
Oh, Hitch Trailblazer,
I'll be there very soon🎵

When Pipp looked up longingly, she saw the covered-up window that was high up in the cell. She gasped as she felt her whole being light up with a newfound hope. She looked at Posey and Windy who looked at each other and then back at her, giving Pipp determined nods.

Queen Vespula flew down the hallway to the throne room when she heard word that those ponies were getting closer. Her smile grew as it finally became time.

🎵Finally, the moment has arrived
For me, to take what should be mine🎵

Pipp spread her wings in an attempt to balance herself as she stood on Windy who was standing on Posey, Pipp raising her hoof higher in hopes of reaching the window, but coming up just short of it.

🎵Oh, if we don't escape
He'll end up falling for a fake.
Hitch Trailblaizer will be–🎵

Pipp fell, making Windy and Posey fall on each other as well when she heard her own voice echo throughout the room, but it wasn't she who said it. Rather, it was Queen Vespula, making Pipp shiver in fear.

🎵Mine. All mine🎵

"Izzy, no. Just no. It's way too risky." Zipp said with finality.

"But–"

"No. We're not doing it." Hitch interrupted. "Not even an option."

Izzy looked at Sunny and Misty, pleading for them to just listen, but it was useless. They just looked away. Izzy closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She thought back to what a unicorn once told her when she was young. Big ideas mean big responsibilities. You have to be ready to take responsibility for the work that has to be done. She'd take responsibility because this was the only plan they had.

"Well, do you ponies have any better ideas? Besides Hitch's just running in guns blazing and hoping for the best?"

"Yeah. Not that," Zipp answered.

"That's not a plan. That's a decision. One that's up to me to make," Izzy argued, looking at each one of her friends.

"Izzy, if there's anything I learned through this whole ordeal, it's that nothing is just your decision. We're all in this together. What you decide affects everypony else." Sunny said softly.

"Believe me, I am thinking of everypony else. Look, we don't know where Pipp is and we can't just wander the halls in hopes we stumble upon her. This solves two dilemmas with one crystal. We can find out where they're keeping Pipp and it creates a distraction so you guys can sneak in."

"Fine, Izzy. You made your point. But if anypony should be the one to do it, it should be me, not you," Hitch argued.

Izzy shook her head. "No, Hitch. You're needed back in Equestria. You all are. Hitch, you're the sheriff of Maretime Bay. The ponies need you to keep order. Zipp, if something happens to Queen Haven, Zephyr Heights is going to be in chaos. Misty, same with Alphabittle. Whether you like it or not, you're Alphabittle's daughter. If something happens to him, the unicorns are going to look up to you for guidance, lest they go all jinxie again. And Sunny, you may not have the horn and wings, but you're still the alicorn. You brought the three pony kinds together. They need you to keep them united. I'm…I'm disposable."

"Izzy, you're not dis–" Misty started.

"In the face of all of Equestria, I am!" Izzy interrupted. "It's my plan, and if things blow up in our faces, I should be the one to take the fall." Izzy sighed. "Look, it might not come to that. I'm sure by next month, all six of us are going to be celebrating in Mane Melody. I mean, it took us a whole month to get here, it'll probably take the same amount of time to get back. But, Just in case it doesn't…I need you to promise me that if things go wrong, even in the slightest, I need you to promise me that you'll leave Pipp and me and get the heck out of dodge. Don't doom all of Equestria for us." As Izzy said this, she looked Zipp in the eye. "Promise me you'll get them out safely."

Zipp looked at Izzy with wide eyes. Was Izzy really asking her to abandon her? Abandon Pipp again? To fail not just her sister, but her best friend too? Zipp knew she had to promise that she'd get herself and the three other ponies out of there, but still, she refused.

"You can't really expect me to…I mean, you're…" Zipp racked her brain for an excuse as to why this was a stupid promise to make. "I'm just one pony! You can't expect me to force three grown ponies out of a situation they don't want to leave."

Izzy smiled softly to Zipp, her cutie mark softly glowing. "I'm sure you'll find a way. You just have to be a little creative." Izzy winked. "Anyway, I know you'll do what's needed to be done, no matter how hard it is."

Zipp closed her eyes, sighing heavily. "Fine. I promise."

"Say it," Izzy prodded.

Zipp clenched her jaw. "Izzy, you can't really–"

"Say it!"

Zipp squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears back. "I'll do my part…" Zipp paused, not ready to say it. Once she did, there was no going back.

"Zipp…no…" Hitch said, pleading with Zipp not to go through with it. Not to force them to turn back when their friends needed them most. When his marefriend needed him most. Begging her not to make that decision for him.

Zipp ignored her friends, knowing Izzy wouldn't stop until she said it, loath she was to admit it. She hated Izzy for making her do this. She had finally understood the saying that there's a fine line between love and hate. "Hoof…hoof to heart." Those words were like the final nail in Pipp's and Izzy's coffins.

"Thanks Zipp. I know that was hard for you." Izzy quickly changed the subject, moving on from such a depressing atmosphere. She hated seeing her friends so sad and all she wanted was for them to smile. "Okay! For this to work I'll need some Super Duper Dry Fast Paint. Purple color…" As Izzy continued, her cutie mark began to shine brighter before dimming back to normal.

"Zipp to Izzy, do you read me? Over," Zipp asked into her earpiece, which was connected to her spy gear, which luckily didn't need wifi or cell service to work. Though, it was best to test it.

Zipp held her breath. They already knew the tracker worked, so whether the earpiece worked or not, Izzy would still be going in. But at least if it worked, they'd have some kind of communication and they would have some kind of clue if Izzy was okay or not and if they took her to where Pipp was.

"Izzy to Zipp. I copy. Over." Izzy's voice could be heard in Zipp's earpiece.

Zipp breathed a sigh of relief and she gave Sunny, Misty, and Hitch a nod. Hitch held Sparky close to him, refusing to let him go for any reason.

Izzy's voice was uncharacteristically serious. In truth, she was terrified. She was starting to regret this plan. Damn creativity. Why was it always coming up with great ideas? Couldn't somepony else come up with the idea for once?

Izzy waited with bated breath for Zipp's okay. She touched her mane for the mane accessory for comfort, only to remember she left it back at camp. If the changelings searched her, she didn't want them to take it away in case she'd never get it again. That meant everything to her, much like Misty's charm bracelet meant to Misty.

The picture that was in it was a picture none of her friends knew she had taken. She found that when it came to pictures, taking them when ponies weren't aware of it truly captured the magic and emotion of the moment. It was a picture of them all having a great time at the Crystal Tea Room, a couple of weeks after Opaline was defeated. Misty was experimenting with making different teas behind the counter like a mad scientist, with Sunny and Zipp hesitantly tasting them all, and Alphabittle assisting her in getting the ingredients she needed. Pipp was on the stage, giving a go at slam poetry with Onyx and Dapple teaching her, Pipp claiming that she made song poems all the time, how hard could slam poetry be? Though, she wasn't very good at it. Hitch and Queen Haven were sitting at the tables in front of the stage, encouraging Pipp when she failed and cheering her on the few times she succeeded. Sparky was on the table, drinking one of the successful new teas Misty was making. Zoom and Thunder were there too, and while their official reason for being there was to guard Queen Haven, since there were no clear dangers, they were enjoying watching Pipp's attempts at slam poetry, live streaming her successful attempts. Every time Izzy looked at it, she smiled.

She had made each of her friends one too. Misty already had hers, but the ones she made for Hitch, Zipp, Sunny, and Pipp were each in their own respective bags, though Pipp's was in Hitch's. She had put them in there before they left to come back to the changeling castle, just in case she didn't come back.

The thought terrified her, but she knew she didn't have a choice. If she didn't do everything she could to save Pipp, she'd never be able to live with herself. And, besides, how bad can a changeling prison really be? At least she'd be with Pipp. Hopefully.

"Alright Iz. How're things on you're end? Over." Izzy heard Zipp say through the small purple earpiece in her ear.

Izzy looked up from her hiding place behind a rather fat tree and watched the changelings on the side of the castle, patrolling back and forth, looking bored. They didn't seem to notice any of them yet, which was good. At least there'd be no surprises.

Izzy reached up and pushed the button on the earpiece. It wasn't conventional, having to push the button every time you wanted to be heard, but it was all Zipp had and it was better than nothing.

"Everything's hunky-dory over here. Nothing out of the uzhe. Over." Izzy took her hoof off the button.

"Alright. We're ready to go for launch in ten. Nine. Eight…"

Izzy felt her heart race. This was it. It was now or never. Izzy bit her lip as she summoned every ounce of her courage. If Zipp could stand up to an army of rampaging griffons, she could do this. She would do this.

"Seven. Six. Five…"

Hitch, Misty, and Sunny all bit their lip as Zipp counted down. The reality that they might never see their best friend again began to sink in and it made their entire bodies sag with dread.

"Four. Three. Two…"

Izzy crouched, ready to sprint as soon as she heard one. She knew she had to be sneaky, just to make it seem realistic, but she still had to cause some sort of distraction.

"One. We're go for launch. Over"

"Copy that. Over and out." She said before she crept up to the large, rocky, castle, crouching low.

She stayed far enough away to evade the notice of the patrolling bugs, but close enough so that she could see the perfect place for her infiltration. She examined the black stone walls, searching for any weak spots. Whenever a changeling would fly past, she'd duck behind a tree or a rock. She couldn't reveal herself until she was ready.

Finally, she saw one. A ledge, with multiple hoofholds. On the other side from where her friends were. Perfect. There were no windows or any form of entrance on this side of the castle, but that was fine. It wasn't like she needed one. She slowly crept up to it, keeping an eye out for any changelings.

She put a hoof on her earpiece, pushing the button. Zipp demanded that if they went through with this, she'd need to keep frequent updates and check-ins. "Izzy to Zipp. I'm in position. Get ready to move. Over."

In her earpiece, she heard static before, "Zipp to Izzy. Roger that, Iz. Got a lock on your location. Over."

Izzy was just about to start climbing the ledge when she heard Zipp's voice again.

"Hey, Iz?"

Izzy pressed the button. "Go ahead."

"Just…please be careful. Remember, we're celebrating at Mane Melody next month. Pipp's going to treat us all to custom spa treatments. Promise you'll come back?"

Izzy paused. That wasn't a promise she could make because she didn't know if it was a promise she could keep. So instead, she said, "Roger that, Zipp. Over."

Zipp didn't say anything, but before Izzy took her hoof off the button, she muttered. "Hoof to heart." Then she said louder. "Over and out."

Izzy let go of the button, and not hearing anything else coming through, she took a deep breath and began to climb. This would have been so much easier with magic. At least then she'd be able to help lift her body with a levitation spell. But everypony knew the chances of them coming out of this alive with no magic was unlikely, but they still had to try. They always had to try. And besides, what kind of dangerous mission would it be if it were easy?

She grunted as she climbed, sweat dripping off of her from the heat. She squeezed her eyes shut as she pulled herself up to keep the sweat from dripping into her eyes. She huffed and panted from the exertion, but she persevered. She would not give up. She could not. She came way too far to turn back now. At least now she can say she tried rock climbing and at least now she knew she would not want to do this ever again in her life.

Just when she thought she couldn't go any further, she saw a small crevice just big enough to squeeze into and rest without having to cling on for dear life. She still had to hold onto the rocky face to keep from falling to her death, but at least she could let herself rest.

She climbed into the small crevice and let her body relax, just a little, still scared that if she fully relaxed, she'd fall to her death. She gasped for breath as she looked down, seeing the ground that was about eighty feet below her. She dropped her head back, wiping her face with one hoof while the other clung to the wall, and then waited.

She only had to wait for about five minutes before she saw a lone patrol changeling. Perfect. He'd have to call for backup. She put a hoof to her earpiece, pushing the button before speaking. "Izzy to Zipp, do you copy?"

There was a moment where all she heard was static before she heard Misty's voice coming through. "Misty to Izzy, I copy."

Izzy widened her eyes. "Where's Zipp?" Izzy asked in a whisper.

"Refueling. We're all taking turns charging ourselves up before we head out. Zipp's here. Stand by."

Izzy waited before she heard: "Zipp to Izzy, do you copy."

"Yeah, I copy. How long has it been?"

"Not long. Only about fifteen minutes. That was Misty's polite way of saying I had to use the restroom. Update?"

Izzy nodded, and then remembering Zipp couldn't see her, she quickly said, "Affirmative. I got a lock on the target. Initiating phase two."

"Copy. Over and out."

Izzy took a deep breath. Alright. All she had to do was make it seem realistic. She sighed. Talk about putting her acting skills to the test.

Taking another deep breath, she began climbing, this time however more sloppily. She purposefully slipped, making a couple of pebbles fall off the wall to the ground below. She yelped, trying to seem quiet, but just loud enough for the changeling to hear.

It worked like a crystal charm. The changeling looked up, gasped, and called for backup, initiating phase two.

From the entrance of the changeling hive, the four ponies heard a changeling call for backup from behind the huge black structure. Six of the eight changelings responded to the distress call, leaving two to guard the entrance and prevent exactly what the four ponies were attempting to do.

Zipp sighed heavily as she racked her brain for something when her gaze passed over two stones. Getting a rather clichéd idea, she threw the stones a good distance away one at a time. The changelings hissed and one went to investigate while the other stood guard.

Zipp thought, desperate for something. Izzy's distraction wouldn't last much longer and they needed to be inside the hive by the time Izzy was apprehended, otherwise, their whole plan would go to shit.

Glancing at the three other ponies, she whispered, "Follow me," before creeping out of their hiding place.

Slowly and quietly, the four ponies and baby dragon crept towards the entrance, always staying in the one guard's blind spots. They quickly slipped passed him and through the entrance one at a time, jumping behind four stone pillars to wait.

As the ponies waited, Misty watched as the wall in front of her began to open up until there was a hole large enough for a pony to fit through. She looked at her friends. Zipp was too busy staring at her tablet for movement from Izzy, Sunny had her eyes closed as she guided Hitch through deep calming breaths to calm him down, doing the same thing herself. Only Sparky seemed to notice, looking back at Misty with a worried expression that mirrored what Misty was feeling.

Misty bent down and peeked through the hole to find an entire maze of passageways full of changelings just going about their daily lives, completely unaware of the pony intruders. Misty's eyes widened, only to fully bug out as the hole closed five minutes later. Misty peeked from behind the pillar to see the wall across from her open a brand new pony-sized hole to a whole new network of hallways just as another one diagonal of it closed. Fear began to grip Misty. Oh no. Oh no no no.

Just as Misty was about to go into a full-blown panic attack, she heard two beeps from Zipp's tablet and Zipp whispering, "She's on the move."

Misty ducked back behind her pillar. Zipp slowly peeked her head from around hers just in time to see Izzy being dragged in by four changelings, and from the looks of it, she was putting up a pretty good fight.

Two more changelings from deeper within the hive came to assist and the six changelings lifted her off the ground and carried her through a hole that worked as a doorway. Zipp then stared down at her tablet and watched Izzy's tracker zig-zagged throughout the hive. Finally, it came to a stop, but still, Zipp waited.

Until she heard Izzy say through her own earpiece: Izzy to Zipp. Do you copy? Over."

Zipp breathed a sigh of relief. "Zipp to Izzy," She said as she pressed the button. "Yeah, I copy. You good? Over."

"Besides a couple of bruises, I'm just peachy. They put me in a cell next to Pipp's. Well, more like threw me. You know, I've always wondered what it was like to be thrown. Not something I'd do again. Over."

"Izzy, focus. How's Pipp doing?" Zipp asked, to which Hitch seemed to lean closer.

"Not very good. She's unconscious. You need to hurry."

"We're on our way. Over and out." Zipp said, cutting communication. Zipp looked up to see Hitch staring up at her with expectant eyes. Zipp was about to tell him what Izzy said but then realized that if she did, he'd be a mess. He'd go into a situation without thinking it through desperate to help Pipp, getting them all captured. Zipp sighed.

"She's fine," Zipp lied, hoping it wasn't too far from the truth. "Let's just hurry."

Zipp and the other three ponies hurried from behind the pillars and to the entryway they saw the changelings take Izzy, only for it to close just before they stepped through. Zipp and Hitch ran into the now completely solid wall, Sunny and Misty skidding to a stop just in time.

Zipp and Hitch took a step back, staring at the wall in shock. On the wall to their right, another hole opened up, just big enough for three ponies to walk through side by side.

Zipp pressed the button on her earpiece. "Zipp to Izzy, do you copy? Over." She said flatly.

"Izzy to Zipp. I copy. Over."

Zipp sighed. "This is going to take a while. Over."

An hour later, the four ponies came to yet another staircase, leading down into the dark unknown. Zipp looked down at her tablet. They were really close to Izzy, finally. Zipp breathed a sigh of relief.

It took them longer than they thought to navigate the maze of hallways. Zipp couldn't even make a map to show where they've been because the damn walls kept changing. Before they began their journey to navigate the changeling hive, Zipp had given the other three ponies earpieces, testing them, just in case they got separated.

But, after many failed tries and frustrated bucks and kicks when they came to a dead end that wasn't there two seconds ago, they finally made it to the top of the staircase to what Zipp assumed the dungeons.

Slowly, the four ponies crept down the stairs. Zipp almost got her flashlight, but if there was an ambush, Zipp didn't want to alert them of their presence. All four ponies held their breath as they descended. When they reached the bottom, they were relieved to see nothing greet them.

"Zipp to Izzy. We made it."

"Really? You got past the guards already. Wow, you guys work silently."

Guards? All four ponies widened their eyes when they heard what Izzy said, turning around to see over fifty changeling guards approaching them with wicked smiles.

Zipp quickly put her tablet down as all the ponies got into defensive stances. The changelings charged, turning into the ponies in an attempt to confuse them. The ponies put up a valiant fight, taking out changeling after changeling. Sparky puffed out dragon fire left and right, transforming changelings into inanimate objects.

He got to Misty, but before he could blow fire at her, she quickly looked at Hitch, who was currently bucking another changeling. He paused when the changeling fell unconscious and looked Misty in the eye.

"Hitch, it's me! Please don't blast me! I'm the real Misty Brightdawn!"

No shimmer. As Sparky moved on, Zipp was currently in a locked battle with four other changelings that looked like each of her four friends. She bucked and punched, but, eventually, the changelings were able to grab hold of her limbs.

However, they were quickly knocked out. Zipp turned around to see Sunny with a good-sized rock. Zipp smiled gratefully at Sunny before moving on to help Hitch out with his barrage of changelings.

Misty just finished her attack on a Pipp-looking changeling when she looked up to see a changeling that was shapeshifted into herself trying to sneak up on Sunny from behind "Sunny!" Misty yelled, already charging at the changeling.

By the time Sunny turned around, Misty had already tackled the changeling to the ground and the both of them rolled around, wrestling, trying to gain any advantage they could, pulling each other's manes and punching each other in the muzzle.

Sunny stood by helplessly, looking at the both of them with wide fear-filled eyes. She grabbed her rock, only to realize that with them wrestling back and forth, Sunny had no idea which was which.

"Sunny! What are you doing just standing there? Get the changeling!" Zipp yelled, wrestling a changeling that looked like Hitch.

"I-I can't! I don't know which one's the real Misty!" Sunny yelled, watching them desperately, hoping to find some clue as to which one was the changeling. But since they were locked in a wrestling match, Sunny couldn't see their eyes long enough to see the glint.

"I'm the…the real…Mi–AUGH!" One of the Misties tried to say before she was punched in the face.

"LIAR!" The other Misty screamed.

"I–I don't…I can't…give me some kind of hint!" Sunny yelled desperately.

"I'm the real Misty!" One of them yelled.

"Ugh! No, I a–" The other one started before taking a hoof to the gut.

Sunny looked back and forth between them, unsure as to what to do, when one of the Misties cried out, "If you can't figure out which one's which, just knock us both out! Focus on saving Pipp!"

Sunny slammed the rock on the other Misty's head, knocking her out, without hesitation. The real Misty stood up, wobbling a bit. Sunny held out a hoof to steady her, which Misty gratefully accepted. She wiped her face, a bruise already forming and one of her eyes already turning black.

"How…how did you know?" Misty asked once she caught her breath, looking at Sunny confused.

Sunny smiled at Misty. "A changeling wouldn't have been so willing to voluntarily sacrifice themselves so quickly to save another pony. If I was in your position, I would've done the same."

Misty smiled back at Sunny warmly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Zipp rushed to Misty when she was sure all the changelings were knocked out or turned into inanimate objects, quickly inspecting her.

"Oh my hoofness! Misty! Are you okay? When Sunny said she couldn't tell you apart, I was so worried. Are you…you?"

Misty nodded, looking Zipp in the eye. "I'm me. I'm Misty Brightdawn."

"Guys! Guys, are you okay! Hello? Sunny? Misty? Anypony?!" Izzy called desperately from the fourth cell down.

Misty, Zipp, Sunny, and Hitch all turned to the door of the fourth cell. "It's fine, Izzy. We're okay. We just…we had a close call. But everything's going to be fine. Except for the fact that we're all going to be feeling real sore tomorrow." Zipp said with a small smile.

Sunny chuckled a bit. "Yeah. You could say that again."

"Thank the moons." Izzy said relieved.

"Don't worry, Iz. We'll have you outta there in a sec. We just gotta get through verification first."

"Don't worry about me! Just get Pipp!"

All of their eyes widened. In all of the ensuing chaos and the scare with Misty, they had all forgotten about Pipp. Hitch tried to run to one of the cell doors next to Izzy, trying to figure out where Pipp was, but Zipp stopped him, making him wait until they got through all of their verifications, just in case. They couldn't be too careful here.

Finally, they all finished, quickly asking Izzy which cell Pipp was in. As soon as Izzy said the third one, Hitch was the first one there, opening the door before any of them could react. When he saw Pipp, his heart stopped. He froze, just staring at the still and prone form in front of him. He didn't want to believe it was Pipp. His Pipp. His little songbird. But it was clearly her. Her coat. Her mane. Hitch's eyes filled with tears as he hurried to Pipp's bruised and battered form. He quickly gathered her up in his arms. Her body was still warm. That was good.

The others got to the doorway and gasped upon seeing Pipp's unconscious form. All three mares put a hoof to their mouths as they stared at Pipp and Hitch with wide eyes. Sparky went to go comfort Hitch when he saw Pipp and stopped.

"Pipp? Pipp, can you hear me? Pipp! Pipp say something! Please!" A sob began to lodge in his throat. "Please…"

Hitch bundled Pipp in his hooves as tight as he could, holding her against his body as though his very embrace could heal her. He buried his face in her mane, tears running down his face.

"H–Hitch…?"

Hitch gasped, pulling Pipp away. Pipp blinked up at him with those beautiful green eyes. Hitch's whole body warmed as the realization struck him. Pipp, his Pipp, was going to be okay. She was going to make it.

"Issat really you?" Pipp slurred blearily.

Hitch nodded frantically, a grin stretching across his face overcome with relief. "Yes. Yes, it is. It's me. I'm here. You don't need to worry. I'm right here."

Pipp smiled. It was trembling and weak, but it was there. "Good…I…I've been wanting to…" Pipp slowly blinked, closing her eyes as though it was hard to stay awake. "I'm so…so sorry. I was so mean…and…incon…incons…" Tears ran down Pipp's face.

Hitch embraced Pipp tightly, holding her close to him. "Pipp. You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, I was the jerk. I should've asked you why your pipsqueaks were so important."

"I've missed you so much," Pipp sobbed into Hitch's shoulder. "Moons, I've missed you so much. I…I thought I was never going to see you again."

"I missed you too. But it's okay. I'm here now. I'm here and I'm never going to leave you again."

"Good…"

As Pipp sobbed into Hitch's coat, Zipp, Misty, and Sunny all wiped away tears. They all wanted to make sure Pipp was okay, but they knew she and Hitch were having a moment. One that had been delayed for seven months. So, instead of ruining this heartfelt moment, they all watched with teary eyes and small smiles, glad to see their favorite couple reunited.

That is until Pipp's sobs seemed to change. Hitch couldn't tell since it was muffled by his shoulder, but he could've sworn it sounded like laughing. But, Hitch knew that couldn't be right. Still, the hair on his back stood up and he suddenly grew tense.

The three mares saw Hitch's suddenly rigid body and looked at the pair confused. Zipp and Misty looked around the room in hopes of finding whatever it was that made Hitch tense, while Sunny watched Pipp closely, also noticing the change in her demeanor, though it was so subtle she couldn't place her hoof on it. She just knew that something was suddenly very wrong.

"P–Pipp…?" Sunny and Hitch asked hesitantly at the same time, their thoughts on similar wavelengths.

Pipp chuckled a little before whispering quietly in his ear, "Think again, love.…"

Author's Note

You know when you're tearing up at your own scene even tho you know how it ends, because you're listening to sad music from YouTube and it's 2 in the morning. Yeah, no, me neither :twilightsheepish:

Anywho, personally, this was my favorite chapter to write in the whole trilogy. I had it planned for a while and I'm so excited to publish it. I think it turned out pretty good.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. And keep an eye out for the next chapter.

Happy Monday!

Hakuna Matata!

Don't Look Now

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent."

~Douglas MacArthur

Hitch pushed Pipp back, causing her to fall on the floor before scrambling back frantically, his eyes wide. Zipp, not hearing the whispered words, turned to Hitch, glaring at him, thoroughly confused.

"Dude! What the hell! That's my sister!" Zipp yelled.

"Zipp…I don't think that's your sister…" Sunny said with a trembling voice and wide eyes. She didn't hear the whispered words either, but she did see the manic grin on Pipp's face as Hitch pushed her away.

Suddenly, Pipp started laughing maniacally. Sunny and Zipp glanced at each other, Zipp muttering, "What the…"

Sunny turned to Misty. "Go get Izzy out!"

Misty gave a curt nod and ran out of the cell, running to Izzy's as fast as she could, as Pipp continued her laugh of pure insanity. She turned to the two mares, but when she turned her head, it turned in an unnatural direction, causing the bones to crack, and making the two mares shiver. But that was nothing compared to the look on Pipp's face. Her green eyes were wide and manic, her pupils and irises pinpricks. The smile that she wore was wide, wider than any smile the two of them had ever seen. And it wasn't the happy joyous smile they'd so often see from Izzy, but rather the smile of insanity.

Zipp and Sunny took a step back, but Hitch stayed where he was, a couple of feet away from the manic Pipp, still trying to grapple with what the hell just happened. He stared at the love of his life with wide eyes, her head tilted unnaturally, a manic smile splitting her face.

"Oh," She said in between bursts of laughter. A laugh that didn't even sound all that natural. It crawled up the three ponies' spines, making Sunny and Zipp take another step back. "You ponies are so gullible! I didn't even have to perform my whole act to fool you! Pity. I did put some good stuff in there at the end that I wanted you to hear, but, better not push my luck. Really though. I think that was my best performance yet!" Pipp laughed again.

Misty and Izzy came running back into the cell. They had waited outside, but when none of them came out, they went in to see if their friends needed help. But as they watched Pipp slowly stand up, her head cracking back into place, they skidded to a stop, watching Pipp with wide eyes as she slowly grew taller.

Suddenly, green flames engulfed Pipp, lighting up the whole room. They were so bright, that the four mares instinctively put up a hoof to protect their eyes. An ethereal wind blew about the cell, making the manes on all the ponies blow every which way. It was like a tornado of green flames. But, surprisingly, there was no heat. Just the bright green light.

Within the cyclone of flames, Pipp slowly lifted into the air. Her pink body began to crack and shatter into little fragments like a dropped piece of glass or an old shell. In her place was a tall black creature. But that was all they could see through the green flames.

Once the flames dissipated, standing in Pipp's place was a tall creature that shared similarities to the changelings they fought and saw patrolling the castle–the same Swiss-cheese legs, the same black texture, the same fangs protruding from her mouth—but she also looked more pony than bug. For one, she had pupils where the changelings did not. Her irises were also green, rather than blue, but instead of the soft, spring color green that always reminded Hitch of the grassy fields in Maretime Bay, this was a sickly green. One that made their skin crawl. Her pupils were also elongated, unlike pony pupils.

She also had a mane and tail, which was green and tied at the bottom like a loose ponytail, something the changelings lacked. But unlike a normal mane and tails like ponies, hers was wispy and stringy, like old cobwebs. It also seemed to have holes in it as well.

There was a horn on her head, but this was gnarled and twisted, reminding Izzy of the rocky ledge she had just climbed an hour and a half ago. Her wings were those of an insect—see-through and flimsy looking—however, they looked tattered and broken, ending in jagged points and having holes in them. Sunny wasn't sure if she was supposed to resemble an alicorn or one of those changeling things. The creature's limbs were long and slender, causing her to stand taller than anypony Sunny had ever seen. She was even a couple of feet taller than Opaline.

The five ponies stared at the creature that took Pipp's place in wide-eyed shock. Hitch finally seemed to process that Pipp wasn't ever in this cell, at least when he got there and he finally stood from the ground, taking a shaky step back.

"Holy Mother of…" Zipp mumbled, trailing off in shock at seeing her little sister break apart in green fire and be replaced with this…this thing.

Suddenly, something the changeling said that fateful night on the Brighthouse balcony echoed through Sunny's head, and it clicked. "Y-you're the Queen. The one who tried to trade me for Pipp."

"Good work, alicorn. You actually use your brain. I am Queen Vespula! Queen of the Changelings, the greatest species to EVER EXIST!"

"What…how…" Hitch stuttered before he finally seemed to grab hold of his tongue. "Where's Pipp?!" He yelled, anger radiating off of him like a heavy cloud.

"Oh. The stupid and naive pop princess isn't here right now," Queen Vespula said with a sly smile.

Hitch glared angrily at the changeling queen. "What did you do to her?!"

"I wouldn't worry about her right now," Queen Vespula licked her lips. "I'd worry about myself if I was you." She finished with a cruel laugh.

Hitch growled, about to leap at Queen Vespula when Zipp stopped him. "Ugh. What are you doing?! Let! Me! GO!" Hitch yelled at Zipp with fire coursing through his veins.

Sunny was in front of Hitch with a determined look while Zipp held him back. "Hitch, I know you want to go after her, but we need to get out of here. She'll pay for hurting Pipp, I promise. But we need to get out of here. We need to go back to Equestria, and get reinforcements. We'll come back, I promise. But we sorely underestimated this mission."

"That's the understatement of the century," Zipp muttered under her breath to herself.

Hitch breathed heavily through his nose, glaring at Sunny, but Sunny stood her ground, standing between Hitch and Queen Vespula. She kept her look of determination, but there was an underlying emotion underneath. A look of fear. That seemed to get through to Hitch.

Slowly, Hitch's breathing came back to normal. He closed his eyes as his body relaxed, the fire coursing in his blood slowly turning to ice. He took a deep, calming breath like Sunny taught him and unclenched his jaw.

Finally, he nodded and Zipp slowly let go of him, still ready to spring into action at the slightest movement Hitch would make towards Vespula. Hitch spared one more glare for the changeling queen before turning around and running out of the cell. The four mares took a deep breath and followed closely behind him.

They ran down the changing hallways, trying to catch certain holes before they closed and skidding to a stop when others closed before they could jump through them. They were so lost and turned around, that they didn't even know which side the entrance to the castle was on.

Suddenly Sunny heard buzzing behind her and glanced back to see hundreds of changelings following behind them, flying fast and gaining. She turned back to her friends, pushing Misty and Izzy, who were right in front of her, with her head. "Go go go! We got company!" Sunny urged.

Zipp glanced behind her to see the hundreds of changelings. Suddenly, she heard Izzy yell, "Zipp, watch out! STOP!"

Zipp turned her head to look ahead, only to skid to a stop right in front of a wall of changelings smack in the middle of the hallway. The five ponies looked behind them to see the other changelings still pursuing them.

They all looked around for an escape before Misty found one. "Over there! Hurry!" She yelled as she pointed with her hoof to a shrinking hole.

They all jumped through one at a time, Sunny going through last just as the hole closed completely, blocking out the changelings. Panting, they slowly stood on shaking hooves, trying their best to catch their breath.

Slowly, Zipp looked up and her eyes widened with shock and fear. "Uh…guys…this isn't over."

The others looked up and their hearts stopped, their breath catching in their lungs. They were in a huge room with a curtained dais, upon which sat a throne. But that wasn't what scared the five ponies. Filling the room were thousands of changelings, making the measly fifty changelings look like a trot in the park. And there were still more coming in.

They dropped their mouths open in shock. They wanted to turn and run, but there was nowhere to run to. They were trapped, and they walked right into it. They had no choice but to fight. No matter how hopeless it seemed, because it definitely seemed hopeless.

Zipp went into princess mode. One of her duties as princess was leading and commanding an army into battles, something she didn't struggle doing like other duties. However, one role was to inspire the ponies to want to fight. To lift them and motivate them. This she struggled with. She was never good at public speaking.

However, this time it seemed to come to her. "Get up and fight, ponies! We haven't lost yet, and we won't until we die! As long as we're fighting in any way we can, we haven't lost!"

"But…how can we win? There are thousands," Misty asked with fear in her voice.

"I'm not sure we will, but we won't lay down and give them the sword that delivers the final blow! We may go down, but at least we'll go down fighting! We knew this wouldn't be easy! But you came anyway! So let's fight! For Pipp! For our home! For EQUESTRIA!"

"FOR EQUESTRIA!!" The rest of them echoed, charging at the thousands of changelings waiting for them.

Pipp paced the length of her cell, biting her lip in trepidation. She knew her five friends were close, otherwise, Queen Vespula wouldn't have come in here to boast about it, but she had no idea what was going on. Did Vespula capture them yet? Did they know she was alive? Did they fall for Vespula's trick? Or did they win? Were they searching for her now, or were they retreating?

Posey and Windy watched Pipp pace back and forth. Of course they were worried for her friends, but they were also worried about her. She hadn't stopped pacing for the past two hours. Not since their escape plan from the window failed by them falling flat on their faces.

"Pipp," Windy said, not for the first time in the past two hours. "Maybe you should just…sit down or something. Get some rest. All this stress isn't good for you."

"Yeah. You're going to rub your hooves raw," Posey added, a little more brashly than Windy's sympathetic voice.

"I'll be stressed whether I'm standing or sitting, okay?! At least if I move around, I won't drive myself or you two crazy?!" Pipp snapped, pausing for a moment in her pacing before continuing.

"Well, I don't know about Windy, but you're still driving me crazy with all your pacing. And from the look of it, you are too."

Windy glared at her.

Posey looked at her confused. "What? We all know it's true." To which Windy rolled her eyes.

Pipp sighed, finally stopping and collapsing on the floor, her limbs cramping from the exertion. That was the most exercise she had done in over six months. If she were smart, she'd be exercising every day to keep herself from getting weak. But if she were smart, she wouldn't have to worry about exercise because she would've already figured out a way to escape.

"No. You're right. Seven months of complete and utter isolation in the same plain room with absolutely nothing to do would drive anypony batshit crazy. The only reason I didn't was partly because of Morphis."

"Well, you said he came every other day." Windy reasoned.

"Roughly. It's so easy to lose track of time in here."

"Well, then, what did you do to pass the time when he was gone?" Posey said as though she should've known that would be the next question.

"I counted the seconds. When I got to one hour, I'd touch a stone, then the next, and so on around the room. I'd start on the bottom so then I could place my crown there so I'd know where I started. When I got to twenty-four hours, I'd start all over again."

Pipp sighed. She still sometimes counted. Late at night, when Posey and Windy were asleep, but she couldn't. Or anytime she was alone or there was some quiet time. She wondered if she would count forever or if it was something she'd grow out of if she escaped. No. She would escape. She had to. For her subjects. For her friends. For her sister. And for…for Hitch.

Before she had time to think too much about Hitch, the door opened, and in walked eight changelings. As she looked at them, she realized she recognized one of them. Morphis. She wanted to talk to him. To say hi. To ask what was happening, but she didn't want to get him in trouble. She wasn't stupid. She knew without him having to say anything that their conversations were forbidden.

Then the changeling who looked like the leader spoke. "Morphosis. You said you overheard these three talking about trying to escape?"

Pipp's eyes widened. She rounded on Morphis. What the hell was this changeling talking about? She expected to hear Morphis deny it, but apparently, she was sorely mistaken.

He nodded. "I did, general. She and her two cohorts were plotting it in the corner. They said if I said anything, they'd make me pay."

What?!" Pipp shrieked in disbelief. She saw the changelings flinch at the sudden high-pitched noise, but she didn't care. "That is so not true! Morphis, tell them that's not true! Tell them!"

Morphis remained quiet, looking at her with an indifferent mask. Or maybe it wasn't a mask. Maybe it was his real emotions. Maybe she was a fool for thinking she could befriend a changeling.

Perhaps it would hurt less if it were true. But his accusations weren't even correct. They were all lies and they both knew it. He was making up lies to get her in trouble. Moons, she truly was an idiot.

"Morphis. I'm your friend. We…you said I was your friend. I…I trusted you! I thought you were different!"

Morphis looked her in the eye with an indifferent look, taking a deep breath before saying, "Big mistake. I was never your friend."

It was probably a trick of the little amount of light there was, but there was the smallest blue glint in his eyes. Not like she knew what that meant. She didn't exactly have books to study on changeling anatomy.

She glared back at him. "The only mistake I see…is you." She seethed. "I wish I never met you."

She saw him flinch a little at that. Good. He deserved it. He betrayed her. She was so wrong. All changelings were the same. They didn't deserve any mercy. They were all monsters.

He looked her in the eye again and they seemed to glisten. "Me too," He answered softly. Another glint.

"Good job, Pipp," Posey said sarcastically. "Look at what your friend did. Ain't he just a bundle of sweetness?"

"He's not my friend. He never was." She muttered dangerously.

Tears filled her eyes. This betrayal hurt more than she expected it to. She didn't know how much she had come to care about him in these months. He was so sweet, and kind. He was funny. He was super shy. It was like he was discovering the world for the first time, and she had the pleasure of being the one to show it to him. Or, tell it to him more like. And he helped her keep her sanity. He made staying here somewhat bearable, even if it was just a half-hour conversation every other day.

Only to find out it was all a lie. None of it was true. These creatures really were changelings in every sense of the word. They had no true emotions. Nothing that was their own. They switched values, ideals, and principles like the skins they wore.

The general demanded they be put in the special cells, whatever that meant, and they were kept separate since they clearly couldn't be trusted together. Pipp went willingly. There was no use fighting. They'd never win. Windy did too. The only time Posey objected was when one of them touched her, demanding that they get their "slimy hooves" off of her.

The three of them were led down hallway after hallway and staircase after staircase. Finally, when she was sure they were underground by now, she was led into a hall full of doors. They opened one and threw her in. Unable to catch herself in time, she fell onto the cold hard stone. She grunted as she fell, yelping a bit when the side of her head hit the ground. Like the changelings cared. They closed the door and locked it.

Before they had, she could see that the room she was in had no windows, boarded or otherwise, no mattress, not even a lantern. When the changeling closed the door, she was immersed in total darkness.

That was when she began to panic. She never liked the darkness. She always preferred the sun and the day. With an active imagination, her brain would trick her into seeing stuff that wasn't even there. Izzy even made a discreet nightlight for her when she first moved to the Crystal Brighthouse when she struggled to sleep. Nopony knew about it, except for Izzy. Not even Hitch. She was embarrassed to be twenty-one and still sleep with a nightlight.

But she wasn't embarrassed now. She was terrified.

She stood up and started banging, demanding she be let out. But, as she pounded on the door, she felt something taped on the back of it with her hoof. She felt around and felt something that felt like paper that was taped to the door. She slowly took it off the door and opened it, confused.

When she did, she saw glow-in-the-dark ink. She narrowed her eyes as she read the message:

10,800 on • = 3 cells

Pipp stared at the writing, confused. Out of curiosity, she felt around the back of the door, finding three more keys taped to it. Her eyes widened as it all finally clicked. She squeezed her eyes shut, dropping her head, before walking to a corner to count.

Moons she truly was an idiot.

The ponies charged at the army of changelings with a battle cry loud enough to overpower the overwhelming sound of buzzing insect wings. "FOR EQUESTRIA!" They all screamed.

They had no magic, no weapons, nothing but their hooves and their wits. But they weren't going to let that stop them. The two sides clashed, one side screaming, the other buzzing. The ponies didn't go down easily. They punched and kicked and bit, doing whatever they could to come out on top.

Misty and Sunny both found huge rocks and, giving each other knowing and determined smiles, stood back to back, knocking changelings left and right. However, the changelings soon overpowered them and they had to run off in different directions to split the ever-growing group of changelings.

On the other side of the throne room, Zipp had found a long skinny stone stick that had a clawed end that held a crystal ball. She picked it up in her mouth, dropping and shattering the crystal ball. With her hoof, she kicked a particularly large shard of glass to Hitch, who looked to be struggling. He smiled gratefully, quickly grabbing it and stabbing the changelings enough to immobilize them, but not kill them. He's never killed anything in his life, and he wasn't about to start now. Green, sizzling blood spattered on Hitch's hoof, burning it a bit, more and more with each stab, but he ignored the pain, continuing on like there was no tomorrow. Zipp began swinging the stone stick back and forth, the clawed side hitting changeling after changeling. She put the stick in her hoof so she could have better aim, jumping onto the four-staired dais to have any advantage it gave her.

Sparky had jumped off of Hitch's back, hoping to help his friends any way he could. That's when he saw Misty being overpowered by an Opaline. Misty tried to swing the rock in her hoof wildly in hopes of knocking her with it, but it was no use, Opaline had her pinned, and other changelings were approaching. Sparky ran up to Misty, a puff of dragon fire ready to be released. Misty tried to tell him to go, that it was too dangerous, but she didn't get the chance to when he blew the dragon fire onto her rock, turning it into a bat.

Misty looked at it with shock, giving Sparky a grateful look before he was off again to help the others. Zipp was right. Bringing Sparky would be useful. Sparky's magic didn't rely on the Unity Crystals. His could work with or without them. The changelings didn't take into account Sparky's transformation fire. Granted, neither did the ponies.

Misty smiled up at Opaline smugly, who had a shocked and, dare Misty say, feared look on her face. She never thought she'd see that in Opaline, even if it wasn't really Opaline. Misty raised her bat and swung, knocking Opaline out, which, in a way, was strangely healing.

Izzy had unicycled her own spear. She had run to take cover behind the throne, grabbing a pointed rock and a longish sturdy stick on the way. Once she had taken cover behind the throne, she grabbed her craft kit from her mane, put the rock and stick together, and taped the hell out of it.

Just in time too. A changeling had spotted her. He was coming right for her, bringing an entire fleet of his friends with him. She jumped to her hooves, charging at the group of changelings with a battle cry. She began waving it around like somepony would a fly swatter, keeping the changelings at bay just to avoid her makeshift spear.

On the other side of the room, Sunny had just knocked out a changeling who was in the form of Zipp when she heard something.

"Sunny Bunny? Is that you?"

Sunny's heart stopped, her eyes widening. No. That wasn't…that couldn't be…

Sunny slowly turned around and standing in the middle of the fray of chaos was Sunny's father, Argyle. Tears filled her eyes as he looked exactly like she remembered him. Every detail was the same. His glasses. The twinkle in his eyes. His contagious relaxed grin. His voice. Oh, how Sunny longed to hear his voice for so many lonely years.

Sunny shook her head. No. This wasn't real. This was a changeling. This couldn't be…this isn't…she took a step back, her ears flattening. Argyle was gone. Her father was gone. She'd never see him again. She took a step back. She'd never…

"Sunny Bunny?"

Against her better judgment, she opened her tear-filled eyes and looked at him, almost as though it was instinct.

Argyle smiled the brightest smile she had ever seen on him. His eyes filled with tears, but they didn't stream down like hers did. "Oh, my beautiful little Sunny Bunny. You turned out better than I could have imagined. I knew you were special from the second I laid eyes on you."

"D-dad? Is that…"

"Yes, Sunny Bunny. It's me." Sunny was so overcome with emotion and longing, that she didn't even notice the glint in his eyes. "And I'm so glad I'm able to see the beautiful mare you've become."

"Y-you mean that?"

Argyle's smile grew warmer and more fatherly. "Of course I do. I'm so proud of you. I must be the luckiest father in the world."

Sunny smiled back at him. She wiped tears away with her hoof, but in vain. They kept overflowing. But these weren't tears of despair. Rather, they were tears of joy. Exuberance. The chaotic battle between her friends and the changelings suddenly didn't exist. It was just her and her father. She took a step towards him.

"Dad," She whispered, her voice so full of joy and relief.

"Sunny, my filly. My beautiful little Sunny. You did it. You did what I always knew you could. You brought Equestria together again. You brought back magic. You did it all. I couldn't be prouder."

Sunny smiled widely, tears flowing out freely now. She was at a loss for words. Those were the very words she wanted to hear from her father. That he was proud of her. She brought pony-kind together. She brought back magic. She was the alicorn. But none of it mattered. It'd all be pointless if her father wasn't proud of her. If she didn't live up to the pony he knew she could be. But knowing she did made her whole world.

And then it all ended. Hitch, brandishing a club made from Sparky's dragon fire, came up behind Argyle, hitting him in the head, and knocking him out. Hitch kicked him for good measure, glaring at the fallen earth pony.

"How dare you take his form you monsters! You don't deserve to even know one of the greatest ponies in Equestria!"

"DAD!!!" Sunny shrieked as she watched her father go down with a new wave of tears, of fear and pain.

Sunny's heart broke all over again. Seeing her father fall…it transported her back in time. When she was sixteen. She had come home after helping Hitch with his rounds to see him in his workshop. But he was on the ground, blood pooling from his head. He had had a heart attack, and when he tried to stand up to get help, he had stumbled, unable to stay on his hooves. He fell, but on his way down, he hit his head on the corner of the table just right. His head flew back and his neck broke, killing him instantly.

Seeing the blood pooling from this Argyle's head brought her back in time. She wasn't there to help him when he needed her most, but she was here now. And magic forbid she was just going to stand there while her father died all over again. She had a second chance to save him, and she was going to use it to the fullest.

Sunny ran to Argyle, hoping to stop the bleeding before it killed him, and to see if his neck was intact. If those things were handled, he'd be fine. He'd be okay.

Hitch looked up to see a sobbing Sunny running towards the changeling. Hitch reacted quickly, jumping between Argyle and Sunny. Sunny didn't even try to stop and she ran right into him, battering her hooves against his chest

Zipp, who had enough reprieve to glance around, looked up to see Sunny hitting Hitch, tears in her eyes. At first, she thought it was a changeling, but realized Hitch wasn't fighting back, just keeping her restrained. Then Zipp saw Argyle's still form and Hitch's club on the ground next to him and the pieces clicked together.

She ran to the struggling pair, grabbing Izzy on her way, who yelped in confusion. They began fighting off changelings that tried to sneak up on them, providing them the cover Hitch needed to get Sunny back in the game.

Hitch grabbed Sunny and forced her to look at him. She kept trying to move her eyes to look at Argyle, as though keeping an eye on him would make him okay, but wherever Sunny's gaze looked to find Argyle, Hitch adjusted his body to stand between them.

Finally, Sunny relented, knowing the sooner she got this over with, the quicker she'd be able to get to her father. But it wasn't like she was about to be happy about it. She glared daggers into Hitch, making him flinch. He never wanted to see that look on Sunny. Especially when it was aimed at him.

"Sunny, please. Just…look around."

Sighing heavily, Sunny looked around at the raging battle around them. Her gaze landed on Misty, who seemed to be struggling to fight herself, looking as though trying to hold back tears. Zipp and Izzy were struggling to keep the barrage of changelings back, giving Sunny and Hitch a wide shield from the changelings that was very quickly shrinking.

Sunny blinked, reality snapping back into place. Tears filled Sunny's eyes, and Sunny quickly blinked them away. She shook her head, keeping her gaze away from the Argyle changeling.

Hitch saw the change in Sunny and his grip loosened. "Sunny? You okay?"

"I'm fine," Sunny said curtly. She couldn't worry about herself. Her friends needed her. "You can let me go now."

Hitch gave Sunny a look. "Are you sure? You don't look—"

"I'm fine!" Sunny snapped. She took a deep breath. "Look, it doesn't matter if I'm okay or not right now. We just need to take out these changelings, and get out of here."

Hitch didn't look convinced, but he let her go anyway, giving her a look that said this wasn't over. Sunny picked up her rock and began to sprint away in the opposite direction when Hitch called out, "Sunny! Wait!"

Sunny stopped, turning her head to face Hitch, making a deliberate effort to avoid looking at her father. Hitch nodded towards Sparky who came waddling up and puffed out some dragon fire on Sunny's rock, turning it into a sword. Sunny gave Sparky a grateful nod, gave a small smile to Hitch, and sprinted off without another word. Hitch looked at Argyle's body for a brief moment, sighing before turning his attention back to the changelings, whose numbers finally seemed to be dwindling.

The battle raged on for what felt like hours, the five ponies giving everything they got. Sparky had made his way to Izzy and Zipp, puffing any changeling that got in his way with dragon fire. He transformed Zipp's stone stick into a sword and changed Izzy's makeshift spear into a real one that was much sturdier. Finally, when the ponies turned to fight the next changelings, they found the throne room, devoid of moving changelings.

They stared at the room in open-mouthed shock, looking at each other with wide eyes. They did it. By the stars, they had actually done it. They were gasping for breath, they were achy, and their limbs felt like they'd fall off with the slightest step, but they had done it. They had done the impossible. They couldn't believe their eyes.

They wanted to collapse and sleep for days, but they knew they had to get out of there before their window of opportunity closed. They glanced around, looking for an exit when they finally found one just opening up. The five ponies rushed to it, weapons in their mouths for lone changelings. They all jumped through the opening one at a time, only to skid to a stop, their eyes widening.

Hundreds of more changelings were waiting for them with malicious grins on their faces. The five ponies slowly backed through the opening they just ran through, back into the throne room, never taking their eyes off of the wall of changelings.

Sunny looked at the rest of her team. Sweat dripped down their faces and they were all gasping for breath. Sunny felt achy like she could barely move her limbs without feeling pain. She guessed the others had similar aches. Hitch's hoof was burned to the point it began to blister. Zipp had a scratch on her cheek and Izzy had a couple of bruises. Sparky looked like he didn't have another puff of dragon fire left, looking like he did when Opaline took all his dragon fire. They'd have to take him back to the Isle of Scaley once this was all over and done with.

They all looked ready to croak over and die from exhaustion.

The one who actually looked the least ragged was Misty. She still had a fierce glare in her eyes, and while she was still panting, she wasn't gasping like the rest of them. Sunny guessed it had to do with her years with Opaline.

Sunny sighed. She and her friends didn't have anything left in them. Perhaps they could fight a couple more changelings, but they couldn't fight hundreds more. Sunny looked at Zipp who looked conflicted. Zipp wanted to continue fighting, but she wanted to do what was best for her friends. She didn't know if it was fighting or surrendering.

Zipp already made the hard decision once and she was scorned for it. Now it was time for Sunny to do the same.

Closing her eyes in defeat and dropping her head to the floor, she dropped her sword made from Sparky's transformation magic and kicked it away from her. As it clattered to the stone floor, it sounded as loud as a sonic boom in the eerily quiet room. It slid across the throne room, turning in circles before finally settling down, looking as still as the dead. She took a step towards the changelings, and sat down, ready to be apprehended.

The four remaining ponies looked at her, confused. What was she doing? They could still fight. They were in pain, and they could barely move, but they still had a little fight left in them. They still had adrenaline coursing through their veins. However, Misty could read Sunny's emotions, and this time, she saw what they all looked like from Sunny's eyes. It may have been only for half a second, but it was enough to know that Sunny was right.

She followed Sunny's lead, dropping her bat, and kicking it across the throne room. It rolled until it hit Sunny's sword. Misty walked up to Sunny and sat down next to her, dropping her head on Sunny's shoulder.

Zipp bit her lip. She trusted Misty with her life, but she didn't know if this was the right decision or if this would be the end of the Guardians of Unity. Zipp shook her head. She had just said she trusted Misty with her life, and yet, she wasn't trusting her with her life. Still, Zipp hesitated, until a thought came to mind that made her decision for her. Misty trusted Zipp implicitly when she destroyed the Crystals. She put everything on the line all for an idea Zipp had. Plus, not to mention, Misty trusted Zipp when she stood up to the griffons, trusting that Zipp was right about the griffons not wanting to fight. It was high time Zipp returned the favor and trusted Misty like that.

With a heavy sigh, she rolled her eyes, realizing she never even had a choice. Whether Misty knew it or not, whether she agreed or not, wanted it or not, Misty was Zipp's responsibility. Now that Pipp was gone, Zipp felt protective over her. She already failed one sister. She wouldn't fail another. And if that meant surrendering with Misty so she wouldn't have to surrender alone, then that's what it meant.

Zipp tossed her sword with the other two weapons and went to Misty's side. Though, she sure as hell wasn't about to sit. She remained standing but put her hoof on Misty's shoulder. Misty looked up at her, giving a weak smile, even though her eyes were terrified. Zipp gave a reassuring smile of her own before glancing at Sunny, who still had her head bowed and her eyes closed, a single tear streaming down her face.

Izzy didn't even hesitate. She tossed her spear in the direction of the other weapons and bounded over to her friends, sitting on Sunny's other side. She wouldn't let her best friends go through this alone. They needed her. Hitch was the only one left. He hesitated. He wanted to keep going. To blast all these changelings into the nether. To make them pay for hurting Pipp. For being so damn cruel. But, he wouldn't let his friends surrender alone. He wouldn't let Sunny surrender alone. He couldn't help his marefriend. But he could help somepony he thought of as a sister.

Groaning softly to himself, he tossed the club before he could change his mind. He then walked and stood protectively behind Sunny, glaring at the changelings, Sparky on his back. He put a hoof on Sunny's shoulder. Upon feeling it there, she gasped and snapped her head up. She looked around to see her friends crowding around her, all with their weapons discarded. But she was the most shocked to see Hitch standing behind her. She looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes. He smiled warmly at her before glaring back at the changelings. Sunny smiled, raising her hoof to put it on the hoof on her shoulder. She glared at the changelings with a determined look. She had her friends by her side, and with them, she could face anything.

Cause There Is Hope When We're Together

"Hope can be a powerful force

Maybe there's no actual magic in it,
but when you know what you hope
for most and hold it like a light within
you, you can make things happen,
almost like magic."
~Laini Taylor

The five ponies were quietly led from the throne room to the cell they had just escaped. Still patiently waiting there was Queen Vespula, like she knew all along they'd be back. Sunny gritted her teeth that she was proven right, wondering if surrendering really was the best option.

Queen Vespula looked up from inspecting her hoof when she heard them approaching. She smiled when she saw the bruised and ragged look of all of them, smiling even more upon seeing their defeated looks. These ponies were easier to break than that annoying pink pegasus.

The only two ponies who seemed to still have light in their eyes were the blue unicorn and the former alicorn. No matter. She'd squash that soon enough as though it was never there.

Queen Vespula sighed in an airy fashion. "Well, well, well. It's about time. Do you know how long I had to wait in this dingy cell for you to be finished with your…attempts of prevailing?"

"Clearly, not long enough," Hitch muttered under his breath.

"Personally, it was too long for my tastes. Honestly, though, I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did. I was sure you'd be goners after ten minutes. Though, it certainly didn't look easy. You're all messes." Queen Vespula laughed evilly. She turned to one of the changelings that had escorted them. "General, get that one a first aid kit," She said, pointing at Hitch. "We don't need that one getting infected, and spreading germs everywhere."

The general nodded, flying away immediately. She looked at one pony at a time. The pegasus glared at her, though she could see the hopelessness behind the facade. The glaring former alicorn. She'd have to spend some quality time with that one. The glaring yellow earth pony, sorrow deep in his eyes that went to his soul. The glaring blue unicorn. That one would be the hardest. She looked like she had been torn down already, due to the reinforcements of her emotional walls. She'd have to look at that one's files again. And finally, the lavender unicorn who looked at her with exhausted, fear-filled eyes.

They all looked like they struggled just to stay standing, as though the smallest wind would blow them over. She smiled at her handy work. She honestly didn't think breaking these so-called Guardians of Unity would be so easy, but here she was, three down, three to go.

She began to walk past the five ponies, none of them even attempting to attack her. She didn't think they could even try, even if they wanted to. They looked too exhausted and weary to do much of anything.

She walked out of the cell without another word. She wasn't an idiot. The longer she stood there rambling about her amazing plan, the more likely they'd be able to stop her and she wouldn't stop until these blasted ponies understood the pain her ancestors went through tenfold. She closed the door behind her, only locking it when the general came back with the first aid kit and tossed it in there. She never planned for those ponies to step hoof out of that cell again.

"10,787…10,788…10,789…10,790."

When Pipp got 10,790, she stood up, slowly walking over to the door. The note did say 10,800 on the dot. She put the key on the lock on her side of the cell, feeling around for it before she was able to slip the key through.

"10,796, 10,797, 10,798, 10,799." She turned the key but didn't open it. "10,800."

She opened the door with the key still in the lock. She squinted her eyes shut as the light from the ha blinded her for a moment. She put up a hoof to block her eyes. She looked around, surprised to see that there were no guards. That's probably why the note said two hours on the dot. This was probably a guard rotation.

She hurried through the hallway after closing her cell door behind her, giving a single hooftap on each cell door. It would've been nice if the note gave her cell numbers, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She crept down the hallway, keeping her ears perked for any noises. Suddenly, she heard approaching hoofsteps. She looked around, testing a door and finding it unlocked. She quickly opened and closed it, resting it against the door jam so it didn't close all the way, and locked herself in.

Two changelings walked by, chatting amongst themselves. Pipp listened closely through the tiny crack in the cell.

"So, what happened while I was in the infirmary from the first attack?" The first changeling asked.

"Got a new batch of prisoners. Six I think."

"Really. We got enough cells for that many?"

"Queen says she wants to keep them all in the same cell down in unit ten. Wants them to get so sick of each other that they hate one another," The second changeling answered.

"Yeah, living in the same cell for months will do that to you," The first one agreed.

"Yeah. Queen Vespula wants to break 'em first. Show Equestria that even their Guardians of Unity aren't infallible."

"Yeesh. Harsh. The queen ain't pullin' no punches, is she?"

"Hey! Quit dawdling and get your flanks over here! Ya got a cell to guard!" A third voice yelled, much deeper and older sounding than the first two.

"Sir, yes, sir!" The two changelings called at the same time, before scampering away.

Guardians of Unity? Unit ten? That must be where her friends were! When she couldn't hear the three guards anymore, she slowly opened the cell door and quietly peeked her head out. When she was sure the hall was empty, she crept into the hallway, closed the door behind her, and hurried down the hallway.

She had no clue as to where unit ten was, but she knew that's where she had to go.

The clip cloping of hooves on stone could be heard throughout the cell as Sunny paced back and forth, racking her brain for some way to escape. It was her responsibility to come up with an escape plan. It was her the others followed in surrendering, and she was the reason they were in this mess. It was her job to get them out.

The others were recuperating in their own way. Zipp sat against the wall, Izzy sleeping with her head on her shoulder, hugging a sleeping Sparky. While Zipp was cramping from sitting in the same spot for such a long time and longed to stand and stretch her muscles, she didn't want to wake Izzy. They had all gone through so much, and while the rest of them couldn't sleep if they tried, at least one of them could. And Sparky looked sick and gray. He needed as much sleep as he could get. He was a baby dragon after all.

Zipp watched Sunny pacing with a bored look. While she could see how the pacing could get on another pony's nerves, and while it annoyed her a bit, she didn't mind. In fact, it reminded her of Pipp. Pipp often paced when she got anxious, though, she did so more before they met Sunny and the rest of them than she did after. Still, it felt almost…nice, in a nostalgic kind of way.

Misty and Hitch sat in the corner, Misty tending to Hitch's wounds with the first aid kit the general threw into the cell. While the supplies in the first aid kit were…meager at best, Misty was able to make them work. Misty was used to having to treat her own wounds from a young age. She was often clumsy, and she'd often fall and hurt herself on the missions Opaline sent her on. Opaline wasn't exactly what one would call…the motherly type, and when she would come back from her missions, Opaline would toss her a first aid kit and tell her to treat it in her room so she wouldn't get blood all over the place.

While burn cream would've been ideal, she was able to make do with the hoof sanitizer in the first aid kit. When she put the hoof sanitizer—which had a surprisingly decent amount of alcohol in it for such a low-grade first aid kit—Hitch handled it pretty well. However, when Misty began wiping the blisters with a clean cotton pad, Hitch breathed through his teeth and tensed up. And when Misty rubbed over a particularly painful blister, he snapped.

"Damn it, Misty! Be careful!" Hitch yelled, to which Zipp shushed him. Despite Izzy and Sparky being out like a light, Zipp didn't want to test how deep of a sleeper they were.

Misty shot an apologetic look at Hitch, trying to be more careful along the blister, but she couldn't be that much more careful. Hitch held his breath, biting his lip to keep from snapping again. Though, that was easier said than done with Sunny's hoofsteps scraping against his ears like hooves on a damn chalkboard.

"Cut it out, Sunny! Your damn pacing is driving me up the damn walls!" Hitch snapped again, earning glares from all three mares. At the sudden glare assault, Hitch blushed and looked down, mumbling a quick "sorry".

Misty began to bandage Hitch's hoof, putting it then in a sling she fashioned from the fabric bag that held the medical supplies.

"Is the sling really necessary?" Hitch asked.

"You don't want to accidentally burst the blisters. That's gonna hurt like crazy."

Hitch sighed but didn't argue. She then gathered the medical supplies with her hooves and walked them over to Zipp. Zipp was about to decline when Misty pointed to her own cheek. Right. Zipp was cut. Zipp sighed and relented.

Misty put some hoof sanitizer on the cut, making Zipp inhale sharply. Misty started gently wiping the cut, making Zipp grimace. To distract herself, she turned her attention to Sunny.

"Sunny, give it a rest," Zipp whispered.

"There's got to be a way to escape. There always is. Nothing's inescapable."

"Face it, Sunny. Pipp is almost as creative as Izzy," Zipp paused, looking at Izzy, before looking back at Sunny. "Almost, she emphasized before continuing. "She's been here for seven months and still hasn't found a way out. We're as trapped as she is."

"Sure, we may be trapped for the moment, but I promise, if we put our minds together, we'll figure something out. We will. We can't just give up. We—"

"Sunny! Enough! We're in the changeling kingdom in the middle of nowhere being held prisoner, and nopony even knows where we are!" Hitch yelled.

At this, Izzy slowly opened her bleary eyes, causing Zipp to glare at him. "What time izzit?" Izzy slurred, still waking up.

Nopony had any idea. They had already lost track of time. There were no windows, nothing to keep track of the hours. There wasn't even any chalk or sharp rocks to make tally marks. The changelings confiscated Izzy's craft kit the second time round and took all their phones, not that they'd work anyway. For all they knew, it could've been a couple of hours or a couple of minutes.

So, instead, nopony answered. As Izzy blinked and looked around, reality seemed to sink in. "Oh. Has anypony come up with an escape plan?" She asked, her tone making it clear she didn't think so.

Only Zipp answered. "Face it, guys. It's hopeless. Even if we do happen to get out of this cell, we'll still need to fight Mom knows how many changelings out there, and that's just to leave the damn building. And that's if we can even get out without getting lost. That's not even including the fact that Queen Egotistibug will probably send drones after us to catch us. Then we'd have to cross Griffonstone with a pursuing changeling army and somehow convince the griffons that we mean them no harm. And, if by some rare miracle, we make it through the raging bird lions, we'll still be leading a changeling death army right to Equestria, putting everypony else in danger. And that doesn't even include when the hell we'd be coming back to try and save Pipp again."

All the ponies stopped what they were doing and stared silently at Zipp with wide eyes, including Misty and Sunny, before Hitch finally muttered, "Wow. That was even more depressing than what I was going to say."

The most shocking part of it all of course was the fact that Zipp was right. If they were to escape the cell, they'd have to fight who knows how many changelings, after already being weak and injured, and most likely without Sparky's dragon fire. Then, they'd somehow have to make it through the changing hallways which took them an hour to navigate just to find Izzy, and that was with a GPS. Once they escaped they'd have to go past the griffons, who barely let them pass alive before, with a changeling army on their tails, putting them in danger, and then cross a desert, where they couldn't stop for very long because there was no place to hide, essentially bringing the army to Equestria, putting everypony in mortal danger.

Sunny started pacing again. She was about to agree with Zipp. It was hopeless. To go through all that just for the slim chance they might…

Sunny stopped pacing. "That's why we keep fighting," Sunny mumbled.

"Because we're going to lose?" Izzy asked.

"Exactly! We fight–wait what?" Sunny asked when what Izzy said sank in.

"Well, Hitch was saying that Zipp is right. It is a losing battle," Misty explained.

"Uh…no. We fight because there's a slim chance we might win," Sunny sighed, standing in front of all her friends, standing tall and strong. "For our whole lives, Hitch and I were taught that unicorns were super scary maniacs with horns like razors, tongues like tasers, and teeth like tacs. Izzy was led to believe pegasi were brutes you'd hate to be among and that they were vicious and ate their young. Pegasi believed that earth ponies were the pony ladder's bottom rung. But we were wrong. We met each other and showed unity between pony kinds was possible. When we wanted to bring back magic, everypony told us magic was an old pony's tale and that it wasn't possible, but then we brought back magic by bringing together pony kind!"

Sunny's cutie mark began to glow, softly sparkling. The softest golden light surrounded her. "When the ponies of Maretime Bay thought it was hopeless to fight against Opaline, Misty told them that our cutie marks weren't the only things that made us special. That we were just as strong without them. When the aurora-corns in Starlight Ridge thought it was impossible to fight against Allura, we showed them that they could! We are the Guardians of Unity! It was never supposed to be an easy job. But we promised we'd never give up hope that things would work out. Because with a little hope, and if we work together and we have each other, we can do anything! We just need a little hope. We just need a little unity…"

🎵"We just need to find the magic, that's inside of everypony…"🎵

Sunny turned to see Hitch walking up to her. She stared at him with wide-eyed surprise. He smiled softly. "My whole life, I told you you couldn't, and you proved me wrong. I think it's about time you proved me right. We can do this!"

Sunny smiled up at him softly.

🎵Sometimes it feels a little hopeless…🎵 Misty sang as she took a step forward.

Izzy bounded up next to Misty. 🎵But things aren't always what they seem.🎵

The four ponies smiled, singing in unison: 🎵Can you feel it? The energy? Yeah, the power is growing!🎵

They all looked at Zipp expectantly, giving her their best pleading eyes. The same pleading eyes they used for Hitch at Starlight Ridge.

Zipp rolled her eyes."What the heck? Alright, we'll keep trying. I mean, the worst has already happened. What more could go wrong."

Everypony glared at Zipp, who looked around in confusion. "What? You want me to sing it? What the heck, things couldn't mmph–"

"Ah ah ah ah," Izzy said, putting a hoof to Zipp's mouth. "Saying it once was bad enough. You don't need to say it again."

Zipp looked around in confusion. Misty sighed. "Even I know asking what you just ask is like tempting fate to make something go wrong," Misty informed.

"How could a couple of measly words influ—"

Zipp was interrupted when the oil in the lantern ran out and the candle extinguished, enveloping them in total blackness. All four ponies glared at Zipp again, and even though she couldn't see them, she could feel them.

"You were saying?" Sunny's voice deadpanned.

"Nice going, Zipp," Hitch's voice said sarcastically.

Zipp chuckled nervously. "Oops…but…we still have the light of hope, so who needs a silly lantern anyway?"

There was silence before Hitch started to laugh, exhaustion playing a small part in his sudden laughter. The others joined him, laughing joyously together. As they laughed, they began to sing. Their cutie marks began to glow softly, carrying the sound to one very specific pony…

Pipp bucked at the wall in quickly growing anger. Ugh! These walls were grating on her nerves and driving her crazy! She chuckled bitterly. If the changelings wanted to break her mind, they should've just stuck her in here.

She finally found out what the units meant, and thank the Unity Crystals changelings were smart enough to actually put up signs. However, the hallways kept changing so much, she couldn't keep track of where she was, let alone where she was in relation to Unit Ten. There were a couple of times when she'd be in Unit Nine, then she'd walked through a door to find herself in Unit Two or Five or whatever was not Ten. When she'd turn around to go back through the hole, she found the hole was freaking closed. She was going mad.

🎵Don't look now
Things will get better…🎵

Pipp's ears perked when she heard the faint tune playing in the air, sounding like ponies singing. She knew that tune. She wrote that tune. That was her song! She took a hesitant step closer. She doubted the changelings would sing her song for fun. They probably hated it. So why were they singing it? It didn't make sense. Unless they weren't singing it. Could it be…? Were they really there?

Just hold my hoof,
Cause we're growin' together!"

There it was again. But just a little louder. She took another step.

🎵We've got the strength to take on whatever,
Cause we got the magic, we got the magic…🎵

This could be a trap. The changelings could be trying to lure her into thinking these were her friends singing. Going there could get her caught, putting her back at square one, or worse. But if she didn't try…she'd never forgive herself. She had to try…

🎵Just take another look,
Things are gettin' better🎵

Pipp ahead, making a turn at the corner. She jumped through a door, the music growing quieter. She skidded to a stop and turned around, jumping through the door before it closed. She continued, switching her direction whenever the music grew quiet, feeling more motivated the louder it got.

🎵We're growing strong, we're growing together!
We'll always have each other forever!🎵

Her heart raced, her breath heavy, and her hooves burned, but still, she pushed herself faster. The closer she got, the more sure she was these were her friends. Her friends were here and she was going to see them! She was going to free them! She could hardly believe it!

A wide grin split her face and she began to sing as well, belting out the notes. She didn't care if the changeling heard her. She was about to see her friends for the first time in seven months! She was going to hold Hitch in her hooves for the first time in seven long miserable months. Nothing else mattered besides getting to that cell.

However, unbeknownst to her, her cutie mark began glowing, the magic from it masking the sound of her voice from any changeling as she sang with her friends.

🎵Don't look nooowww!
(We got the magic. We've got the magic in us!)
Don't look nooowww!
(We got the magic. We've got the magic in us!)🎵

Finally, the song seemed to fade when she got to a cell door after reaching a crescendo. She stood in front of the stone cell door, uncertain. It wasn't too late. If this were a trap, she could turn back and continue her search, and no changeling would be the wiser. But she knew she'd regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't at least try.

So, slowly, trying to be as discreet as possible, and failing, she looked up and matched the key with the number on the cell, putting the key in its lock and slowly turning it. After taking a deep breath, she opened the door as wide as she could, light from the outside streaming in to reveal five ponies and a baby dragon all standing in the middle of it, crouching in a defensive position, all glaring at her.

When the four mares processed who it was, their eyes widened in shock as Pipp stood in the doorway, a shell of the princess she used to be. Her hooves were scuffed and dirty. Her hair was a tangled mess. Her coat was full of dirt. But her eyes…her eyes held the same vibrant hope they always had.

Hitch, however, wasn't fooled. He glared at the pink pony with dangerous malice in his eyes. His body tensed and he clenched his jaw, ready to pounce. While the others hesitated, he was ready to tackle her to the ground if she even took a step.

Which she did.

She took a hesitant step forward, shocked into stunned silence. Hitch reacted immediately. He launched himself at her, knocking and pinning her to the floor. She tried to get out of his grasp but to no avail. He wasn't about to let go.

"Hitch! You idiot! It's me!" Pipp yelled, struggling.

"Ha! Likely story!" Hitch yelled. "Like you're really Pipp. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!"

"Hitch stop! It's really Pipp!" Misty said, running up to Hitch in an attempt to pry him off, though he was much stronger than she was.

Misty felt the relief and joy and shock Pipp felt when she opened the door to find them there. Then she felt her terror, confusion, and anger when Hitch jumped her. And most of all, through all of it, Misty felt Pipp's love, which was stronger than ever. Never had she felt love from Queen Vespula, even when she was posing as Pipp. Not like this.

Zipp came up next to her to help her and together they lifted the struggling Hitch off of Pipp. Sunny and Izzy came to help, Sunny standing in front of Hitch to block his view of Pipp. He kicked and fought, trying to get out of the ponies' grasp. This was the only chance they had to find his Pipp and the others were letting it go to waste.

"Let me go! Where is she? Where's Pipp, YOU MONSTER?" Hitch snarled. It scared Pipp to see him like this.

"Hitch, it's me. It's really me!"

"It is her, Hitch!" Misty yelled, trying to get through to Hitch.

"How do you know?! She's faking it again, I know it!"

"Because Misty's an empath, remember?!" Sunny yelled. She'd seen Hitch angry, but never this angry. It scared even her.

That seemed to finally get through to Hitch. He stared at her, wide-eyed, as he finally laid eyes on the love of his life. "P-Pipp?"

Pipp looked him in the eyes so he could see the honesty within them. "Yes, you big idiot of a stallion. It's really me! And…and you're you." Pipp said with a huge grin and tears in her eyes.

She threw herself at Hitch, who caught her in a tight, but loving, embrace. Tears were filling Hitch's eyes as he held the mare he longed to see for over half a year. The mare he hoped and prayed would be okay. The mare he thought he'd never see again.

Pipp was a sobbing mess, crying the tears she had kept buried over the past seven months now that she was in the hooves of the one she loved the most. Tears of fear. Of joy. Of sorrow. Of pain. Of regret.

And, without further ado, they separated momentarily to kiss. The feelings Hitch and Pipp felt for each other, the ones they tried to keep buried in order to survive, came flooding back in full force, bringing more tears to her eyes.

Tears filled Sunny, Izzy, and Misty's eyes. Zipp watched them with a small smile, knowing they deserved this moment. At least for a few minutes.

However, when the kiss continued, Zipp thought it best she intervened. "Ew, gross. Sister in the room. Try to be a little considerate when you're–" Zipp pretended to shiver dramatically. "Sharing the love."

"Aw, lighten up Zipp. I think it's romantic," Izzy said, putting a hoof on Zipp's back.

"Yeah. It's adorable. I'm so happy they found each other again," Misty muttered with a smile of her own.

"Romantic? Adorable?" Zipp asked dramatically looking at two of her best friends with a look of betrayal. "It's disgusting! I don't want to see my little sister kissing some…some stallion!" Zipp exclaimed, now no longer acting.

Hitch and Pipp ended their kiss, looking at Zipp with bored looks. "After everything we've been through for the past three years, am I really just some stallion?"

"Were you just kissing my sister?" Zipp asked.

"Uh…yeah. She is my marefriend after all."

"Then yes. You are just some stallion."

Pipp groaned, rolling her eyes. "Ugh, stop being so dramatic and grow up, Zipp," She said before mumbling under her breath, "Sheesh. I'm beginning to understand how Mom felt during the Jinxie games."

"Zipp. Give them a break. They haven't seen each other in over six months." Sunny said with a small smile.

Zipp rolled her eyes. "I know. I know. I…" Zipp trailed off, walking up to her little sister and hugging her tightly, tears running down her face. "I was really worried," Zipp whispered in Pipp's ears, so low only she could hear it. "I'm so sorry. I should've made that deal. I should've–"

"Shhh…you have nothing to be sorry for. You were just doing what Mom taught us to do. I would've done the same had I been in your position." Pipp whispered just as softly.

After a bit, the two princesses separated, smiling softly at each other. That was when a little green dragon waddled up, hugging Pipp and cooing. She picked Sparky up and began hugging him tightly. When she put him back down, he stayed glued to her side.

Izzy bounded over, and hugged Izzy tightly, catching Pipp a bit off guard, but she didn't hesitate to return the hug. She had a fleeting thought that maybe these weren't her friends. Maybe they were changelings trying to trick her so when she found it it wasn't real, it'd hurt that much worse.

But, no. She knew these were her friends. She didn't know how she knew, but she just did. And she was never going to take them for granted again. She was going to appreciate any time she had with them, no matter what.

Once Izzy let go, only doing so after Misty softly put a hoof on her back, Misty came in for a hug, whispering apologies for not coming sooner and choosing Equestria over Pipp, to which Pipp answered similarly to the answer she gave Misty. That she had nothing to be sorry for. That she was doing what was best for Equestria. That Pipp would've done the same thing had the roles been reversed.

Sunny was the last to hug her. Sunny whispered in Pipp's ear about how happy she was Pipp was okay and that had Zipp let her, she would've traded herself for Pipp any day. Pipp only responded by saying she was glad that she didn't. That Pipp would blame herself for cursing Equestria.

When Sunny and Pipp separated, Sunny took a deep breath, not wanting to ruin such high spirits. "Now onto more important matters. What do we do next?"

"What do you mean what do we do next? We get the hell out of here!" Zipp said.

"Well, now that we got Pipp back…I don't know…I guess…I was thinking…maybe we should face Queen Vespula."

"Are you crazy?! Did you forget what happened last time we faced all those changelings? We got our flanks kicked!" Zipp argued.

"I know, but…well…Queen Vespula is just going to send an army after us. Do you really want to lead a changeling army to Equestria? Maybe Queen Vespula's orders would be for them to trail us and invade when we're weary and sick. Who knows? She may come too. I just think…maybe if we don't go back, and face Queen Vespula instead of leading her to our home…it'll keep Equestria safe."

"What kind of logic is that, Sunny?! It's not like Opaline where Equestria was hidden from her! She knows exactly where it is! She can come at any time!"

"I know! But if we face her, and we win, she can't invade Equestria!"

"Umm…I'm just going to add my two bits, and umm say…that horn on Vespula's head? Yeah, that actually works. She has magic. The same magic as an alicorn. With Equestria relearning how to live without magic…I don't think they can take on an alicorn right now." Pipp interjected.

"Umm…neither can we. Did you forget that we don't have magic either?" Zipp asked in return. "And have you seen Sparky? We don't exactly have those weapons he gave us and he doesn't look ready to make more."

Everypony looked at Sparky, who was looking better than he did earlier, but still pretty bad. His scales were not the bright green they used to be, but at least they weren't gray either.

"I think we can still do it without Sparky's magic," Zipp was about to open her mouth in protest, but Sunny spoke again. "Let's vote. All for facing Queen Vespula?" Sunny asked, raising her hoof.

Hitch and Pipp looked at each other as though consulting each other silently, before looking back at Sunny with small smiles. Hitch and Pipp were sitting, with Hitch's hoof around Pipp and Pipp leaning into him, one of her hooves on his chest.

Hitch shrugged. "Eh, I wouldn't mind giving that Bug hybrid a piece of my mind."

"Ditto. She's going to regret locking me up," Pipp agreed, to which Hitch squeezed her and kissed her forehead.

Sunny looked to Misty and Izzy, already knowing Zipp's answer.

Misty bit her lip. "I already put Equestria in danger once. I refuse to do it again." Misty looked up at Sunny with a determined look, giving her a curt nod. "I'm in."

Sunny looked at Izzy, who already had her answer. "I am so in. That evil bug lady took my craft kit and I want it back."

Zipp sighed, knowing she had no choice. "Fine. Whatever." She certainly wasn't happy about it.

"Alright! Let's go ponies. We have an evil bug Queen to find. And we won't leave until she's defeated. Hoof to heart!" Sunny yelled, putting her hoof in the middle.

"Hoof to heart!" The rest of them echoed, putting their hooves on top of Sunny's, finally at last together and united again.

Author's Note

Alright ya'll! We almost done!

Depending on how I split the chapters, we're going to have two or three more chapters to go (most likely two, but, we'll see :raritywink: )

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and keep an eye out for the next one!

Cause We've Got The Magic In Us

Warning:

The following contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing such as a graphic and violent death.

Viewer discretion is advised

"I will always love you.
My only regret is that if I had known
that the last time I saw you,
would be the last time I saw you,
I would have hugged you a little tighter,
told you I loved you a little louder,
and stayed by your side a little longer.

My mind knows that you are gone,
but my heart will never accept it.
I miss you so much."

"Jewel! Morphis! Look out!" Pipp yelled as she saw the blast that was aimed right at them.

Morphis and Jewel turned and saw the blast with wide eyes, but both of them were frozen in fear and shock. Without thinking, with no hesitation, Pipp galloped towards the two changelings.

"PIPP!!! NO!!" Pipp heard Hitch scream out.

But it was already too late. Pipp had already jumped and now she was in the way of the blast. Silently, she sent a prayer to the heavens above that Hitch would be okay without her. That he'd find another love in his life that he could be happy with. That he can love somepony as much as he loved her.

The beam of magic blasted Pipp and engulfed her in a green magical aura. She felt her whole body seize up as it felt like billions of needles were poking every part of her skin. Her muscles began to spasm. She wanted to smack herself, to brush away whatever was violently causing these sensations, but she couldn't. She was frozen in the air. Her body began to numb as thousands of tingles were sent painfully through her body. Still, she did not regret it.

The smell of burning flesh and hair filled the throne room as it kept going. Smoke began to lift from Pipp as she was electrocuted. She screamed as her whole body felt like it was hit by a carriage or a building twenty times her weight. She just wished for it to stop. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her body painfully seized and spasmed, as though constantly preparing for a blow that never came, only to relax briefly before tensing up again, over and over. It was like clenching and unclenching her jawbone over and over again with no reprieve. Still, she did not regret jumping in front of those changelings.

Zipp called out to Pipp, tears streaming down her cheeks as she was split between the past and the present. She was sitting by Pipp's hospital bed again back at the Zephyr Heights castle, praying Pipp would survive, blaming herself for not connecting the dots of her symptoms with pneumonia. She was watching Pipp be electrocuted in a green magical aura, unable to do anything but plead for Vespula to stop, blaming herself for not stopping Pipp in time.

Hitch galloped towards Pipp, throwing himself at her, pushing her out of the magical aura and to the ground. Tears were already falling down his cheeks as he held Pipp close.

The other four ponies ran to Pipp, praying like hell she'd be okay, but knowing deep down inside she wouldn't. As Hitch held Pipp, he got a huge whiff of burning flesh and hair. Holding her sent electrical shocks through his body, but they were insignificant compared to Pipp's.

Pipp's hair was a mess, some places were burnt off while others were standing straight up. Pieces of her flesh were charred and black, other parts bleeding and raw. Her eyes were closed, her mouth trapped in a scream. Her breathing was so shallow, that he could barely feel it.

"Pipp! Pipp! Pipp! Look at me! C'mon honey, just look at me! Please just be okay! Please! Don't die on me! Don't! PIPP!"

Pipp slowly opened her eyes, which were bloodshot and red, her eyes having a hazy effect. Hitch smiled as she stared at him, and though they were half-lidded and it looked like a difficult effort just to keep them open, they were open and that was all he asked for. That they were open and she was breathing.

"H–Hitch?" Pipp asked weakly like it hurt just to talk. Tears streamed down her face.

"Yes yes. I'm right here, my little songbird. I'm right here. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. We're going to find a way to heal you. We will."

"H-Hitch–"

"We're going to get you out of here, and we're going to go find Amani. I promise. He has magic that has crazy healing abilities, right?"

H–Hitch…please–"

"You're going to be okay, okay? We didn't come all this way just to leave you behind." Hitch cried, a sob forming in his throat. Deep down, he knew this was the end, but he refused to accept it.

"H-Hitch!" Pipp weakly called, shutting him up. "Hitch…this…this is the…end for…for me…" Pipp said, her breath heavy, tears forming in her eyes from the pain alone.

"Don't say that! You can't say that! We found you! After six long and agonizing months, we finally found you. You're free! You're supposed to be okay! After everything we've been through to find you, you have to be okay! You have to be!"

Pipp began to convulse and she began to make choking sounds as her body began to painfully move without her permission. Hitch held her tighter, his heart racing.

"No! Please, don't leave me!" He cried between sobs. "Please don't leave me!"

"I…won't…" Pipp said weakly when her body finished convulsing. "I'll…I'll always be…" Pipp weakly raised a hoof and softly put it on Hitch's chest. "Right…here…"

Pipp shook as she shivered. Her body was so cold. So very cold. But the pain was starting to go away, so that was good. Her mind began to haze and her vision began to blur a bit, but she kept her eyes on Hitch.

"Oh, Hitch, I love you so much. I'm so…so sorry I didn't…appreciate…you when…when I…had…the chance."

"Why?" Morphis stepped up, laying down next to her. "Why did you do it? I…I don't deserve it." Everypony could hear the tears in his voice. Jewel sat down next to him in silent agreement.

"Because…because that's…that's what friends do…" Pipp said in between gasps of breath. "And…now you…you have…five new…ones. Apreciate…them…before it's…it's too late. Don't make…the same mistake…I did."

It was getting harder for Pipp to talk. She turned to her sister. "Take…care of Hitch and…and Misty. They'll need…you. Make sure…Hitch finds…somepony else to…to fill his heart."

"Please Pipp…" Zipp whispered. "Don't go…" Tears were flowing down Zipp's face.

"I…I wish…I could be there…to see you become queen. You'll…you'll make a…a damn good one."

"What am I supposed to tell Mom," Zipp argued. "I can't tell her her youngest daughter is…is…"

"You'll tell her…you tell her that I love her…and that…that despite what she thinks…she…she was a great…great mother. I…I love you, big sis…"

"I love you too, little sis." Zipp wiped away tears with her hoof.

Pipp turned to Misty. "You'll…you'll be a great…great princess. I wish…I wish we could've been…stepsisters."

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," Misty apologized.

"Don't…don't be. You did…you did the best you could…" She turned to Hitch. "Will…will you…sing for me?"

Hitch wasn't a singer by no stretch of the imagination, and he didn't like to sing in front of others, but for Pipp, he'd do anything. So, he sang as tears ran down his face, trying to sing around the sob building in his throat.

🎵And you were…right there in front of me,
Just too close…for me to see.
And I didn't know what…what you had truly meant to me.
When you were right there…in front of me🎵

Pipp smiled weakly. "It…it was you…a month ago…I was…singing that song…and…and I…heard your voice in…in that cell…I heard you. I…I wasn't going crazy…it was really…really you." Pipp wanted to sing one last time for the love of her life, no matter how physically painful it was for her. Her voice was far from the powerful sound everypony was used to and had come to love, instead being very weak and fragile, like it would break at the slightest pressure. Still though, something about Pipp singing, despite the circumstances, soothed something deep in everypony's soul.

🎵For I love you…like a tune
All my…thoughts you…you do consume.
Oh, Hitch…Trailblazer,
I'll see you very…soon🎵

She used her last breath to say the last word. As she said it, her eyes closed and her chest stopped moving.

"Pipp?" Hitch asked, shaking Pipp's still body. "Pipp! Pipp!" Hitch knew at that moment that Pipp was gone. He could feel it deep inside his soul. "PIPP!" Hitch howled. "PIPP! NOOO! NOOOO! COME BACK! PLEASE! I NEED YOU! COME BACK! I…I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU! COME BACK!"

Tears streamed down Hitch's face. It's said that every changeling in the whole hive could hear his wails. He held Pipp's body to his, rocking back and forth, burying his face in her mane. He sobbed into her mane, the warmth in her body slowly fading. Sunny looked away, tears falling freely now, not just from the death of her best friend, but also from the wails of her foalhood friend.

The four other ponies couldn't bear to watch him. They all turned away, even Zipp, as Hitch cradled Pipp's dead body. Pipp couldn't be gone. She couldn't. There were so many things he didn't say. He forgot to say that he loved her back. He didn't get to apologize for the things he said to her sister. He didn't get to tell her how much she meant to him. He forgot to say that his life had no meaning without her. She had to come back so he could tell her. So she'd know he loved her. He loved her more than life itself.

Why? Why did she do it? For changelings who did nothing but lock her up? Who abused her and kept her locked away from the world? Who tried to kill her and her friends multiple times? Who put her friends in such difficult positions? Why? Didn't she know how much he needed her? How much they all need her? Didn't she care? Why…

Zipp wiped away her tears. She turned to the rest of the changelings, hoping to finish what her sister started, though she didn't have Pipp's personality. "Pipp sacrificed her life for your peers! For your kind! Are you really going to stand there and let her sacrifice go to waste?! Are you really going to say we hate you after one of us just died for you?! Make her sacrifice mean something!" Tears filled Zipp's eyes, and the more she spoke, the more anger filled her voice. "Would you rather fight for somepony so willing to sacrifice herself for you?! Or one who's so quick to kill?!"

The changelings' ears flattened, unsure of what to do. For centuries they were taught that ponies were evil and that they'd do anything to make you believe you were their friend, and just when you trust them so completely, they backstab you so horribly, that it takes you moons to recover. When the ponies needed them most, the changelings were there. When the changelings needed the ponies' help the most, they were nowhere to be found.

Yet, here was one, sacrificing herself for them. Dying for them. It went against everything they were taught their whole lives. It went against everything they thought they knew about life. It was like their world was flipped upside down. They were lost and they wanted to find something familiar. Something to ground themselves.

"Don't listen to her!" Queen Vespula yelled. "They finally feel the pain they caused us and now they're throwing a hissy fit. They hurt us and yet they expect us to pretend everything's fine. We hurt one of them and suddenly, we're in the wrong?! They want to do nothing but hurt us. They want to make us vulnerable so they can eliminate us!"

When Hitch heard Queen Vespula's voice, his whole body tensed. Anger like never before filled his whole being. Screw second chances. Screw friendship. Screw love! She was going to pay! They were all going to pay!

"You…you…" Hitch seethed, only seeing red in his vision. "You…you KILLED HER! YOU KILLED THE ONLY MARE I'VE EVER LOVED!!!"

"Too bad, pony scum," Queen Vespula said with no remorse whatsoever.

"Taking her is one thing, but this?" Hitch softly laid Pipp's body on the stone floor with the utmost care, before turning to Vespula with fire in his eyes. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU MONSTER!!"

"Hitch," Sunny said, hoping to stop him before he did something he regretted. "Wait. Just stop and think before–"

But he was already gone, bolting towards Queen Vespula his only intention to make her pay for what he did. He galloped as fast as he could. Then, something incredible happened. His hooves began to glow an earthly green. Then, behind Queen Vespula, a large, thick green plant grew and smacked her down to the ground like a big fly swatter.

Sunny's eyes widened. "Earth pony magic," She mumbled, before turning to her friends. "Quick! Try to use your magic!"

Izzy and Misty squeezed their eyes shut and tried to cast some sort of spell, the easiest they could think of, but their horns sparked like dysfunctional lighters. Zipp jumped into the air, desperately flapping her wings, only to fall back to the floor. Sunny squeezed her eyes and stretched her body as she tried to turn into her alicorn self. Nothing.

"But…I'm…trying…to help somepony!" She said through gritted teeth from the force of trying to turn into her alicorn self.

"It's not just you Sunny," Misty assuaged. "It's all of us. None of our magic is working, and yet, Hitch's is."

"Try your earth pony magic," Zipp suggested.

Sunny turned to Queen Vespula, focused her energy, and pounded the ground with her hooves. Nothing happened. Not even glowing hooves. The four mares looked back at Hitch with worry.

Misty's eyes widened at the expression on Hitch's face. There were tears in his eyes, and his face held so much anger, that even though it wasn't directed at her, she took a step back, her heart racing in fear. She's never felt such strong emotions from anypony besides Opaline. That's when it clicked.

"That's it," She muttered.

"What's it?" Izzy asked.

"His emotions! That's why his magic is working and ours isn't. His emotions are so strong, it's jumpstarting his magic. Are emotions are nowhere near as strong as his. I mean, just look at him." Misty said with wide eyes, pointing her hoof at Hitch.

Hitch was currently riding on a big vine, going up and down and all around, avoiding magical blasts from Queen Vespula. His teeth were clenched so hard, that his friends were surprised he hadn't popped a vein yet. There was so much grief and anger in his eyes, even his non-empath friends could feel it just by looking at him. But it was nothing compared to what Misty felt.

Misty felt his anger and grief rise in her like it was her own. She didn't know where her emotions ended and his began. Hitch's emotions were so strong that they overpowered hers so much, that she couldn't even remember what she felt. Tears filled her eyes. Queen Vespula had to pay. She had to pay for taking his one and only love from him. Without thinking, Misty bolted for Queen Vespula, tears in her eyes as she wailed out a battle cry from the soul.

Zipp jumped in front of Misty, who ran into her, almost bulldozing her over. Misty yelled for Zipp to let her go, that Queen Vespula had to pay for what he did to her, but Zipp wouldn't let go. She wouldn't let Misty get hurt too.

"Izzy!" Zipp yelled. "I need your empath assistance over here! How do we make her stop feeling Hitch's emotions?!"

"I…I don't know!" Izzy yelled desperately, already next to Zipp. "Misty! Misty look at me! Please!"

Misty refused to look at Izzy, only having eyes for the very queen she had to murder. The queen who had to pay!

"Umm…" Izzy racked her brain for something, anything. "Get her out of the room. Get her out! Make that physical barrier." Izzy said, desperately hoping it would work.

"Sunny! We need your help!" Zipp called.

"B–but what about Hitch?" Sunny asked, not taking her eyes off Hitch.

"There's nothing we can do for him right now. He's so far gone, he won't listen to any of us. At least he has magic. Misty doesn't. If we don't do anything, Misty's going to get herself killed."

That seemed to get through to Sunny. With one more glance at Hitch, Sunny turned and helped drag Misty out of the room. Jewel and Morphis used their wings to lift her in the air as Misty struggled and fought. Not a single changeling stopped them. They were too busy watching the raging duel above.

Hitch wouldn't give Queen Vespula the chance to recover. As soon as she got up to point her horn at him, another plant would come out of nowhere and knock her back down to the ground.

Once they dragged Misty out, she finally seemed to calm down. Izzy gave her a crash course on how to reinforce her shield to block out stronger emotions. Once she did, they went back to plotting how to stop this.

"What about these things?" Izzy asked, pointing to her golden necklace. "We were about to blast Queen Vespula when Pipp stopped us."

"I think…I think they'll only work when we use them all together. And…"

"And we'll have two missing," Zipp finished for Sunny, who simply nodded.

"Well, how about Sunny and Zipp try to get through to Hitch, and Misty, Morphis, Jewel, and I will try and keep as many changelings away from collateral as–" Izzy stopped when they all heard a scream.

"Sounds like a plan," Zipp said urgently before they all burst into the throne room.

The four ponies and two changelings skidded to a stop when they entered the throne room. Their eyes widened when they saw Queen Vespula unmoving, a vine around her neck, her face having a tint of blue to it.

Sunny and Zipp looked at Hitch with wide eyes while Hitch just glared at Queen Vespula. That's when Sunny saw Vespula twitch and knew she was still alive, but if Hitch kept this up, she wouldn't be for long. Without another thought, Sunny ran at Hitch and threw herself at him. They both fell to the ground, breaking Hitch's concentration. Without his concentration, the plant stopped tightening.

Zipp ran up to Queen Vespula and set her free, only to wrap some vines around her hooves and her midsection to keep her wings against her. Then she put some vines around her horn to hopefully block her magic.

Hitch struggled under Sunny, only for Sunny to hit him against the stone floor. Hitch looked up at Sunny in shock.

"Hitch! Stop! This isn't who you are! If Pipp were here, what would she think if she knew you were trying to kill somepony!"

"She's not a pony–"

"That doesn't matter! You're the element of kindness! This isn't who you are!"

Hitch's necklace began to glow as it finally hit him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep back the tears. He knew Sunny was right, he just didn't want to admit it. If Pipp saw him like this, so blinded by anger and grief that he actually hurt another creature…she'd be so disappointed.

Hitch closed his eyes softly, nodding his head to show that he was okay. Sunny didn't look convinced but let him go anyway. He stood up, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"Your queen wanted to kill those two changelings," Hitch pointed to Jewel and Morphis. "Because they wanted to be themselves! My marefriend took their place and sacrificed herself so that you have a chance to be yourselves! Choose good! Don't let my marefriend's sacrifice be for naught!"

"But how?" A brave changeling asked. "We still have to take love to survive."

"Have you thought about sharing love instead of taking it?" Misty asked. At their confused looks, Misty sighed and continued. "I used to live under a horrible pony. One who was just like Vespula. She didn't let me be myself, she didn't let me be who I really was inside. But, there was one lesson she taught me that I will never forget. One of the very few times she was ever right. It's a lesson I live by, despite how evil she was. You get what you give. I didn't trust my friends in the beginning, and, in return, they didn't trust me. But once I opened up to them and was vulnerable, and trusted them, they did the same for me. If you give love, you'll get love in return."

"But how? We've never really given love before…" Another changeling asked.

"Just let your feelings run wild. Let ponies and changelings and any other creature see the real you. Show them your heart and they'll show you theirs!" Izzy called from next to Misty.

"But…what if they don't like what they see? Would you outcast us again?" Another asked in a trembling voice.

Zipp took a step away from the unconscious Queen Vespula, finally speaking, set on finishing what her sister started. What her sister died for. "I understand it can be scary to be yourself. You fear that others won't like you for you. But believe me when I say, that while it's true some won't like you, the right ones will. The ones who are meant to be your friends will. And they're all that matter. Your friends, not your critics, are the only ones that matter."

There was dead silence as all the changelings looked around at each other. As the silence raged on, Hitch slowly walked to Pipp's body, sitting down next to it. Nopony or changeling noticed as they were so focused on the current situation. He didn't care about anything else besides how the hell he was going to continue his life as only half a pony.

That was when Morphis stepped up with a nervous look. Going against his queen and making friends with a pony was one thing, but accepting a whole new way of life was something completely different.

However, when he stepped up, deciding to share love rather than take it, something incredible happened. Morphis was lifted into the air and a pink ball of light emanated from his chest. It extended from him in thick pink rings before a pinkish-white light wrapped around him. Slowly, he descended to the ground as the pink light faded, and in his place was a shell of the changeling he used to be.

The changeling before everypony and changeling was mostly yellow, with some accents of blue. He had three light blue gems in his chest and light blue horns. He had sparkled light blue wings that were a little darker than his original blue wings. His carapace was a greenish blue on top and the same light blue underneath as his other accents. He still didn't have any pupils, but his eye color was now the same greenish blue as the top of his carapace. His ears were longer, yellow on the outside and darker blue on the inside.

Sunny walked up to him in shock, her mouth hanging open. Jewel, not wanting her brother to go through this alone, also made the decision to share her love. She floated into the air with the same pink light, undergoing the same transformation as her brother.

When the light faded, in her place was a beautiful sparkling changeling. Her coat was a midnight blue like the night sky, with a touch of purple. Her whole body shimmered with sparkles like stars shining brightly, her whole body reminding them of the night sky. Her carapace was different shades of pink, ranging from a coral pink to a dark purple. Her horns, wings, and eyes were light pink. She had three pink gemstones on her chest that sparkled like jewels. While the outside of her ears was the same color as her coat, the inside was a darker pink.

She flattened her ears as she blushed shyly, lifting one of her hooves and leaning back as she saw all eyes on her, smiling shyly.

Then, another changeling followed her lead and another. Soon the entire throne room was filled with bright pink light as all the changelings decided to share love rather than take it. Izzy, Misty, Sunny, and Zipp all took cover from the sudden burst of light and magic. Hitch covered Pipp's body with his own as the throne room walls seemed to break apart from the sudden bursts of magic. Changelings were wrapped in pink light, coming back as a completely different changeling with appearances that were similar to Morphis's and Jewel's, but in an array of different colors.

Once the blasts were finished, the four ponies looked up to see the room full of completely different changelings. Sunny and Zipp looked at each other with wide smiles as did Misty and Izzy. The golden necklaces were still around their necks, but they didn't pay any attention to them. They stared at the changed changelings, shock overfilling them.

The changelings looked at each other and themselves, chatting excitedly to one another. They examined one another's appearance as they felt something they had never before felt their whole lives. Happiness! Love! Peace!

That was when Queen Vespula woke up from her unconscious state, blasting the vines off of her with her green magic. She stood up, ready to fight, when her eyes widened. Her entire hive was changed to new creatures. Her subjects were laughing and all had a joyous time. As she watched, tears began to fill her eyes.

This was all she wanted for her subjects. Her whole life, she was taught that the only way she could give this to her subjects was by making the ponies hurt as much as they hurt them when one of their alicorns killed their benevolent king, King Thorax. But here her subjects were, not hurting the ponies and yet, happy and laughing amongst each other. Her long-buried heart and emotions began to rise from the depths of her black and empty chest.

Izzy was the first to notice the conscious queen and gasped, taking a step back. All the changelings and ponies, except for Hitch, turned and were in defensive stances against Vespula. Except for Misty. Misty bit her lip, looking at the ground, before an idea came to her.

Slowly, she walked up to the queen, much to Zipp's and Sunny's protests, though they made no physical motion to stop her. Misty stopped when she was right before the queen, who looked down at her with conflicted emotions. Misty could feel them warring inside of the queen, understanding her predicament.

"I was raised by an evil tyrant who tried to take all the magic for herself. She forced me to be her servant for over a decade, keeping me from discovering who I really was, and preventing me from getting a cutie mark. She told me only she could give me what I truly wanted. But she was wrong. I could get what I wanted on my own if I put in the effort. I chose good instead of following her evil ways. When I tried to give her the same chance, she was blinded by her want for power to listen to what I had to say and chose to continue her evil schemes, which soon became her downfall. You don't have to make the same decision! You can be the leader your subjects deserve!"

"H–how?" Queen Vespula asked, a tremor in her voice.

Misty held out her hoof. "Take my hoof, Queen Vespula. Let me show you there's another way. Just like somepony once did for me."

Slowly, hesitantly, Queen Vespula raised her hoof, reaching for Misty's. As she and Misty's hooves touched, a pink light began to glow from her chest as well. She was wrapped in a pink light that was brighter than any of the other single changeling transformations. Her pink cocoon lasted longer, but once it was done, a whole new changeling was in her place.

Her coat was a light green and her hair was a cerulean blue while her wings were a light see-through blue with a dark tinge. Her eyes were still green, but darker than the rest of her coat, not as sickly looking. Her horn was no longer jagged but long and resembled more like a unicorn horn. She lacked the same two horns as Morphis and the rest of the changelings, but she was still taller than any other changeling. The bottom of her carapace was a blue a shade darker than her hair and the top of it was a green the same shade as her eyes. She had three pearly white gems on her chest that almost sparkled as much as Jewel's.

The four mares hugged one another, happy that this nightmare was finally over. That was when Sunny noticed somepony was missing in the celebrations. She asked her friends where Hitch was, and Zipp pointed to the end of the throne room close to the entrance.

Sunny's eyes widened as she remembered Pipp's death. She tried calling out to Hitch, silencing the cheers in the throne room. All the changelings, as well as the five ponies, stared at Hitch. Sunny bit her lip, not sure of what to do for her closest friend.

Then she saw Queen Vespula slowly walk up to Hitch, stopping a good distance away. She hung her head, unable to look at the pain she so callously caused. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm so sorry, Hitch–"

"It's Sheriff Trailblazer to you," Hitch interrupted coldly.

"Right. I'm so sorry, Sheriff Trailblazer. I wasn't in my right mind. I didn't mean for anypony to get hurt."

"And yet, you tried to blast two changelings with a magical beam. The same magical beam that killed the mare I love. Look, I understand you've changed, but if it wasn't for the fact that I'm trying to keep my marefriend's memory alive by being the stallion she wanted me to be, I'd still be suffocating you in that vine. So, just leave me the hell alone, okay?"

Queen Vespula sighed before walking away. The entire room was somber, not a happy spirit in sight as they all stared at Pipp's still form.

Sunny sighed. "C'mon guys. Why don't we go outside to discuss a stronger alliance? Let's give Hitch some space."

Queen Vespula nodded, all too happy to agree. The ponies and changelings all left the throne room, Sunny glancing at Hitch one last time before joining the others outside.

Hitch lowered his head and closed his eyes as he sat down next to Pipp's still form. Tears slid down his face and on the stone floor beneath him. Slowly, he scooted closer to Pipp and laid his head down on her.

One specific tear landed on Pipp's element and the element soaked it up. Another tear soon fell onto it and another, the element soaking them all. Soon, the element began to glow a beautiful gold that brightly showed. Hitch slowly opened his eyes and then widened them in surprise when he saw Pipp's body entirely engulfed in golden light.

He shot back in shock, staring as the golden light seemed to be working around her. The blush slowly came back to her cheeks. Her hair began to grow back in the places it was burned off of. Her raw patches began to heal. Her charred skin returned to its beautiful pink color.

The golden light filled the throne room and shone so brightly, that the ponies and changelings from the outside could see it through the window. They rushed into the castle, worried for their friend.

In the throne room, the light slowly began to fade, until it was as though it was never there. The only sign anything magical happened at all was the element on Pipp's neck softly glowing.

Hitch slowly approached Pipp's body, staring at her chest, which was rhythmically moving up and down. His eyes widened as he slowly rubbed Pipp's warm forehead. He watched her for a moment, unsure of what to do. He bit his lip, rubbing his hoof along her perfect silky mane. Once he said something, and if Pipp didn't respond, despite it being impossible that she'd still be here, he'd still be crushed beyond repair. But he had to try it. He just had to.

"P-Pipp?"

Silence.

He decided to try again. "P-Pipp?"

Silence.

He closed his eyes to hold back the tears. He knew it. He knew she was gone. Why did he get his hopes up? Why did he…why did he think that after everything that's happened, there'd still be one more impossible miracle?

While he had his eyes closed, a golden magical dot floated up from Pipp's element and slowly landed atop her nose. Golden waves spread out around her before disappearing. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times as her eyes blurred as though she hadn't used them in days. She looked around the empty throne room, her eyes falling on the only other pony in the room.

"H-Hitch?" She asked, still lying on her back.

Hitch's eyes squeezed shut before he opened them wide. He stared at her in open-mouthed shock and she simply smiled back, tears filling her eyes.

"Pipp? Are you…?"

Pipp nodded, smiling ear to ear in pure joy. Hitch snatched her up in a tight embrace without another word, hugging her as they both fell to the ground, Hitch laughing in utter joy.

"I…I can't believe it! I…I thought I lost you forever!" Hitch said with the biggest smile he's ever had on his face.

"I thought I lost me too!" Pipp answered with a laugh before she and Hitch kissed deeply.

Back in the halls of the castle, Sunny and the other three mares ran through the halls, following the reformed changelings to the throne room. They burst through the doors and skidded to a stop, looking around.

Their eyes widened in fear as they saw Hitch, on the ground on top of Pipp's body, seeming to be sobbing.

"Hitch? Are you okay?" Sunny asked, taking a step closer to Hitch.

Hitch lifted his head to show the mares his tear-streamed face, but there was a wide grin splitting his face. Confused, they looked at him and then a Pipp's body, surprised to see her sit up with a huge smile on her face.

The four mares stared at Pipp in complete shock and incomprehension. This was…this couldn't be possible.

"No freaking way…" Zipp mumbled, a smile slowly beginning to form on her face.

"How is that possible…?" Misty asked, her eyes still twice their size. They've seen a lot of impossible things, but this was by far the craziest.

"I don't know. Really, I don't. All I know is that Pipp's here and she's alive! She's so impossibly alive!" Hitch yelled in glee before embracing her again.

"No freaking way!" Zipp exclaimed before running up to her sister who was very much alive.

Zipp hugged her tightly, tears of joy filling her eyes. She couldn't believe her sister was alive. She was alive and well. It was impossible and completely crazy, but it didn't matter because Pipp was alive!

"PIPP!" Izzy exclaimed with a smile before running up to the hugging trio.

The other two mares followed suit, hugging Pipp tightly. They couldn't believe it. Everything was finally perfect. There was nothing that could separate them now. Pipp laughed as tears fell down her face. She thought she had lost the most important ponies in her life, but here she was and here they were.

"Pipp?" A familiar voice asked.

The five ponies separated from Pipp to reveal a yellow and blue creature. Pipp didn't recognize him, but somehow, a small voice in her head told her who he was.

"Morphis? Is that you?" She asked with a confused look. At his nod, she seemed to just notice the other reformed changelings, including the tallest one. "What in the hay happened to you all?" Pipp asked, wondering just how much she missed.

"Well, after your sacrifice, the changelings realized we weren't their enemies and they all decided to give love rather than take it, and then they all magically transformed into these brilliant-looking creatures and they're all kind of good now." Izzy filled in, earning a wide-eyed confused look from Pipp.

"We'll fill you in later. It's a long story," Hitch whispered in Pipp's ear, to which Pipp gratefully nodded.

"Speaking of magic, what's up with ours? Hitch was able to use earth pony magic when he fought Queen Vespula, but it still doesn't work. And what are these things?" Zipp asked, pointing to her necklace. "What do they mean? How do they work? Why did they come to us?"

Pipp opened her mouth to ask what, Zipp was talking about, only to close it again. She figured she'd find out later.

"I…I don't know. I think it's another mystery for Detective Zipp to solve," Sunny said as all five of her friends surrounded her. "But whatever it is, I know we'll face it together. We don't need magic to keep us united. All we need is friendship and each other."

As Sunny said this, each of her friends' elements began to glow brightly. White light then erupted from them and surrounded Sunny in a bright shining ball. At first, Sunny was terrified, but the light felt so warm and safe, that she knew it couldn't be bad. She closed her eyes as the beams of light lifted her into the air and she was encased in a bright light, much like the changelings were, but hers was gold instead of pink.

Slowly, the beams of light lowered her and dissipated, the light around Sunny soon after. All five ponies stared at her in nervous trepidation, not sure what to make of this. Once the light faded, all five ponies gasped at the sight before them.

Sunny was no longer an earth pony. She was an alicorn, but instead of her golden wings and horn, her horn was the same orange as her coat, her wings a shade lighter with pink thin streaks that were the same color as her mane and were barely noticeable.

Sunny slowly sat up, rubbing her forehead. As she did, her hooves grazed passed her horn and her eyes widened. "I'm an alicorn again!" Sunny exclaimed. When she saw her friends staring at her, she stared back, confused. "What is it? Did something go wrong?"

"No," Pipp mumbled.

"You're a real alicorn. Like Opaline was!" Misty said in wide-eyed shock.

Sunny, confused, looked down at her wings, expecting them to be gold but seeing the orange a shade lighter than her coat and the dark pink streaks. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Neighway, Sunny. You look adorbs!" Pipp exclaimed.

"Now that's what I call a glow-up!" Izzy said as she bounced up and down.

"That is so cool!" Zipp added.

But the elements weren't done yet. They glowed brightly until all of them shot a huge magical beam into the sky, spreading all the way to Equestria. Wisps of magic floated around them all before seeping into their wings, horns, and hooves. Unicorn horns lit up and pegasi flapped their wings, lifting themselves in the air. Earth ponies were able to grow plants to their wildest imaginations.

All five ponies gasped as the beam of light slowly faded, Misty's and Izzy's horns lighting up. Pipp and Zipp flew into the air and Hitch grew plants and cleaned up the mess he made earlier. Magic was back and here to stay, no longer being connected to any magical relic. The ponies and changelings celebrated, happier than ever that this nightmare was finally over.

Author's Note

At this point I am emotionally numb :ajbemused:

Anyway,so this is sort of the end. The next chapter will be the epilogue and will lead into the next story, which I have decided to do, because, I'm really enjoying writing this series. A little hint, it won't be as emotionally taxing as this one was and there's going to be a bit more humor in it, kind of.

See you in the final chapter of Magic In Us

We'll Always Have Each Other Forever; Epilogue

"Ugh! Where is she!" Pipp groaned as she paced the room back and forth, her nerves a fraying wreck. Her heart raced and she couldn't think of anything else other than how many ways this day could go wrong.

"She'll be here, I prom–"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Misty!" Misty flinched at Pipp's sudden outburst. Pipp sighed and shook herself out as though to shake away all the stress, though that was impossible. "I'm sorry, Misty. I'm just…stressed."

"It's okay, darling. I was just as stressed as you on my special day," Queen Haven comforted. "I'll tell you this though, no matter what goes wrong, it will be the best day of your life."

When Pipp paced past Thunder, who was guarding the door with Zoom, he leaned in and whispered not very quietly, "Trust me, she was way worse than you."

Queen Haven glared at Thunder, while Zoom hit the back of his head. Thunder chuckled nervously before all five mares and two guards heard a hurried knock on the door.

Pipp quickly flew over to the door and opened it to find Zipp hovering in the air with a white polyester garment cover. It was one of the incredibly rare times anypony would see her in a dress. It had a blue skirt that matched her hair with little wonderbolts on it in white. There was a pink fringe, the same pink that matched her mane and cutie mark, and a yellow backless top with a pink collar with a dark purple gem in the middle. Zipp was not happy about having to wear a dress, but anything for her little sister, she supposed.

Pipp sighed in relief. "Ugh! Finally. Where in the hay have you been?" Pipp asked as she took the garment cover from Zipp and flew to the side to allow Zipp to come in.

Zipp flew into the large room, closing the door behind her. "Sheesh Pipp, chill. I was just checking on the groom."

Pipp froze, before turning around. "With my wedding dress!" Pipp practically choked out. "Zipp, you know it's jinxie for the groom to see any part of the bride the day of their wedding until the bride walks down the aisle! And believe me, we do not need any help conjuring bad luck. We're doing just fine on our own, thank you very much."

"Chill, Pipp. That was before I picked up the dress," Zipp answered, dismissing her little sister's concerns with a wave of her hoof. "Anyway, it's not like any of that seeing the bride the day of the wedding jinxie stuff is real."

"You are the worst mare of honor." Pipp stated flatly. "I knew I should've chosen Misty."

"Pipp, you have absolutely nothing to worry about," Zipp comforted as she flew next to Pipp, putting one of her forehooves around her. "Sunny and I got everything perfectly planned out for your big day."

"It's not Sunny I'm worried about," Pipp grumbled under her breath.

Hitch paced the room, walking back and forth as Sunny and Morphis watched him, Sunny with a bored look and Morphis with a concerned one. He's been doing this for the past hour. Sunny yawned and grabbed a magazine, flipping through it as Hitch continued his dragged-on stress monologuing.

"…was I thinking? I can't marry her. She won't want to marry me. She's going to back out at the last minute. I mean, she's a princess and I'm just a…a lowly earth pony sheriff. I'm asking her to be a mother to Sparky! She's only twenty-three! She's too young. Not to mention she's a social media star, and I'm horrible in front of the camera–"

"Didn't you guys figure that out after…" Morphis trailed off, refusing to bring up that whole changeling nightmare.

Hitch paused for a moment in his pacing. "Well, yes. But…I mean…still," Hitch resumed pacing. "She's a princess! She gets loads of attention. All eyes are on her. What if she decides I'm not good enough!"

"I think if she thought you weren't good enough, she would've said something by now. And, even if what you say is true, which I doubt after everything you've been through, what are you going to do? Abandon her at the altar?"

Hitch stopped pacing and sighed, dropping his head. "No. I guess not. Thanks, Sunny."

Just then, Sparky, who was sitting on a table in the middle of the big Zephyr Heights dressing room, accidentally blew out a puff of dragon fire, barely missing the wedding rings.

After the changeling kingdom, the eight ponies went back to Equestria. The Guardians of Unity dropped off Posey and Windy in Maretime Bay and quickly grabbed the Marestream and were off before anypony could even see them. With magic back, the Marestream worked and they went straight to the Isle of Scaly. After another month of travel, Sparky was looking much worse than before, but after their trip to the dragon lands, he was doing much better.

"Whoa Sparky. If you're going to be the ring bearer, you need to be more careful of the rings. We don't want something happening to them," Sunny said, quickly grabbing the rings and setting them out of range of Sparky's dragon fire.

There was a knock on the door and Morphis hurried over to open it.

"Oh, hi again, Zipp. Weren't you just here?"

"Yeah. I was. Is Sunny in there?"

Morphis widened the door and stepped to the side so Zipp could see Sunny, who was putting the finishing touches on Hitch's suit.

"Pipp wants me and you to go check everything…again," Zipp said flatly.

"Didn't we already do that this morning?"

Zipp nodded, clearly annoyed. "Yep. But she wants us to check again. Trust me, you do not want to argue with bridezilla in there." Zipp answered.

Sunny sighed, promising she'll be back in time to help Hitch with his bow tie and finish the finishing touches, before walking out of the room, softly closing the door behind her.

"Why couldn't Pipp just hire a wedding planner for all this?" Sunny asked with a heavy sigh as they walked down the hall.

"Yeesh, you're in a bad mood," Zipp observed. "Besides, you know Pipp doesn't trust a wedding planner to get everything right?"

"And she trusts us?"

"No…but well, since Pipp will be living with Hitch, she knows we'll have to deal with her wrath every day in Maretime Bay if we don't get this right, and she considers that enough incentive." "What's up with you?"

"I just had to sit for an hour hearing Hitch doubt himself."

"Regretting taking that best mare gig?"

"No…" Sunny trailed off.

"But…?"

Sunny sighed. "I can't stop thinking about what happened back in the changeling hive. When we all thought Pipp was dead–"

"She did die." At Sunny's confused look, Zipp continued, keeping her emotions at bay. "Pipp died. Her heart stopped. She stopped breathing. And not just for a couple of seconds. For a good ten minutes or so. She's only alive because Hitch's tears mixed with her element brought her back."

"Right…anyway, I can't stop thinking about how Hitch reacted. I…I didn't even recognize him and I've known him since kindergarten. He was…I didn't even see him like that when his father died. I'm worried that if something were to happen between them, or if something happened to Pipp again…what will it do to him?"

Zipp sighed, stopping her pace and staring Sunny right in the eye. "Sunny, Pipp's Element of Unity didn't bring her back alone. It was Hitch's tears mixed with it that did. It was something only Hitch could do, and if the roles were reversed, it'd be something only Pipp could do. Do you know why? Because they love each other. They're meant to be with each other. Nothing's going to happen between them. As for something happening to Pipp, we know we'll do everything in our power to stop it before that happens. Alright?"

Sunny sighed before nodding.

"Alright. Let's go check on those wedding preparations."

"Oh, my hoofness. Pipp, darling, you look absolutely magnificent!" Queen Haven said, tears filling her eyes.

Pipp stared at herself in the mirror, her mother and Misty, who wore a purple two-piece dress with bronze accents that almost looked like a suit of armor as a dress, standing right beside her. Pipp had to admit, Izzy did an amazing job unicycling this wedding dress. It was originally her mother's when she married Pipp's and Zipp's father, who died when Pipp was only five years old.

It was a simple wedding dress, and it was beautiful, but Pipp wanted to add her own personal touch, so she went to Izzy and she had to admit, Izzy did an amazing job. This was even Pipp's first time seeing the dress, since they already knew the dress fit Pipp and Izzy wanted it to be a surprise, which made Pipp nervous, but ultimately, looking at it now, Pipp couldn't have asked for anything better.

It was the standard wedding dress white, but Izzy somehow added a dark purple tinge to it, the same color as her Element of Unity. It could barely be seen and somepony would only notice it at just the right lighting, but it made the dress. The edge was lined with dark purple, and the front was decorated in silver beads and lace. The sleeves only went halfway down her foreleg, and they were lined with dark purple, with the slightest ruffle on the bottom.

Pipp smiled at her hair. Misty had done an amazing job. All of her hair was to one side of her head, while the other side had two cornrow braids down it, wrapping to the other side of her head. On the side of the corn rows was a beautiful clip that looked exactly like Pipp's cutie mark. Even the coloring was the same. Izzy had made it just for this occasion. In her hair, Pipp wore the manecesory Izzy made her, which held an image of them all during their first Nightmare Night with Misty after she got her cutie mark in a turquoise gem the same color as Hitch's mane.

Queen Haven wiped away tears with her hoof. "Oh, my darling little filly. You look all grown up," Queen Havem said with a tremble in her voice like she was trying to keep from bawling. "And to think you almost didn't get to see this day," Queen Haven wiped her eyes again, though this time with a tissue Jazz handed her, who had a box in her hooves and dabbing her own eyes with one. "You look so beautiful, my darling."

Pipp turned to face her mother. "Thanks, Mom. But, remember, you promised you wouldn't cry when you officiated the wedding."

"I know. I know." Queen Haven waved the hoof that held the tissue. "Complete Queen perfessionalism. But I'm going to cry all I want before and after."

Pipp chuckled as she hugged her mother. When they separated, Pipp turned to Jazz, who wore a dress with a pink skirt, a white top, and a thin pink bow in the middle with folded sleeves. "Jazz, you did amazing on my hooves," Pipp commented, staring at her shiny golden hooves with dark blue musical notes that matched Hitch's cutie mark painted on them. "You really outdone yourself."

"Only the best for my best friend on her wedding day," Jazz said, hugging Pipp as well.

"And Izzy, I really can't thank you enough for my dress. It's absolutely beautiful."

"It was nothin'. My creative juices were just overflowing with ideas! Alright, so your dress is something old, your hair clip's something new, your hooves are something blue…" Izzy looked up in thought. She wore a light blue dress with slightly puffed-up short sleeves and a dark purple fringe along the edge and white fringe along the collar and sleeves. "Am I missing anything?"

All of them thought before Pipp widened her eyes. "Oh, my hoofness. I totally forgot to get something borrowed. What am I going to do?!"

"Got ya covered, pink princess."

The five mares turned to see Jewel flying in, softly closing the door behind her. She was wearing a simple pink dress that matched her eyes and horns, with dark purple gems around the edge of the skirt and a single dark purple gem on the chest. She flew to Pipp and landed in front of her.

"It's one of the bracelets I make. I thought about just giving you one, but I figured that you'd need something borrowed, so here. This is my favorite one. Don't lose it. And I want it back."

Jewel held out her hoof that held a beautiful midnight purple with silver star beads bracelet. Pipp gave a grateful smile, taking the bracelet and putting it on. "Thanks, Jewels. I'll take good care of it," Pipp said before hugging her.

The only two creatures Jewel would let hug her were Pipp and Morphis. Pipp and Jewel had become quite close over the past eight months since that day at the changeling hive. Apparently, sacrificing your life for a creature will bring you closer together.

Once they separated, Pipp looked at herself again in the mirror. "Alright, I think I'm all set."

Just then, the door opened again. "Okay, bridezilla. Sunny and I checked and rechecked everything and–" Zipp stopped when she caught sight of Pipp in her wedding dress. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.

Pipp's heart stopped at Zipp's reaction as she began to panic. "Oh no, is it too much? Ugh! I knew it was too–"

"No, sis. It's perfect. You look beautiful. Hitch is going to be beside himself."

Zipp flew in to hug Pipp, and Pipp hugged her the tightest and the longest. Knowing her sister was okay with this and supported it made the day absolutely perfect, even if everything else were to go wrong.

That was when they heard a soft knock on the door. Izzy opened it with her magic to reveal a changeling. He quickly bowed, aiming his words at the room as a whole. "Your majesties. Sunny Starscout told me to tell you that the ceremony will start in about ten minutes." He then turned to Queen Haven. "Also, Sunny asked me to escort you to the wedding arch, your Majesty."

"Very well. If I must." Queen Haven kissed Pipp on the cheek. "I'm so happy for you my darling little filly. I'll see you out there."

Queen Haven followed the changeling out of the room and Pipp took a deep breath, her nerves flaring again. She felt anxiety crush her chest, and tears of fear filled her eyes. She couldn't believe she was doing this. What was she thinking?

"Zipp," She whispered urgently. Zipp turned and immediately grew concerned when she saw tears in her sister's eyes. "Zipp. I can't do this. This is…what was I thinking? I'm only twenty-three. I have my whole life to live. I shouldn't be getting married now. I know we said that we should get married ASAPP after everything that's happened, but…but what if this is a mistake!" Pipp whispered frantically.

"It's not," Zipp said comfortingly.

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm your big sister. I know these things. Plus, I've seen the way you two look at each other. You love each other so deeply. This is the right thing to do."

"Are you sure?"

Zipp nodded, smiling, proud that her sister was doing this.

Hitch took a deep breath as he waited at the altar for the ceremony to begin. He paced back and forth as guests slowly began making their way to their seats. Queen Haven walked up to the center of the altar, behind the podium. They were set in front of Pipp's Blossom Bash Tree.

Sunny put a hoof out, turning him around. "Here. You're all crooked."

Sunny, who wore a long lavender dress with white fringe on the skirt, a darker purple bow on the collar, and a turquoise belt, began straightening his tux. Hitch was sweating, but she didn't need to know that to know how scared he was. She had known him since foalhood. That's the reason Hitch asked Sunny to be his best mare. She was his closest and oldest friend. She knew him better than anypony.

"Hey. No need to be so worried. Everything's going to be fine," Sunny whispered with a comforting smile. Then her smile grew as she held out her hoof again. Hitch sighed, rolling his eyes, but complied.

"Up high! Down low! Hitch it to a post!" They both chanted together. "Flip it Sunny side up and on a piece of toast!" As they came to the end, Sunny nuzzled him playfully before stepping back with a smile.

Hitch chuckled nervously in response before turning back to the growing sea of ponies. Ninety percent of Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights, and Bridlewood were here. As well as over half the changeling kingdom. This was one of the most momentous occasions in Equestrian history.

Suddenly, the music started and Hitch gasped, his whole body tensing up. Behind him, Sunny put a hoof on his shoulder in silent comfort. Behind her stood Morphis. Behind him stood Alphabittle, and then his animal deputies.

Everypony hurried to find their seats, quickly sitting down as the procession started. First came Jewel with her small bouquet. Then Izzy and Misty. They all took their places across from Hitch, all standing in line, Misty first, closest to where Pipp would stand, Jewel last.

Everypony watched as Seashell, Peach Fizz, and Glory skipped down the aisle, each with a basket of dark purple flower petals. Hitch took a deep breath as the three fillies dropped flower petals along the grassy aisle. Hitch clenched his jaw, on the verge of an anxiety attack. This was it. There was no going back now. He couldn't wait to see Pipp, to say his vows, to be hers forever. And yet, he was terrified. He wasn't sure of what, but he just was.

Then the music changed and everypony stood up from their seats. The castle doors opened and out walked Princess Pipp Petals, holding Zipp's hoof. As soon as he saw her, Hitch's mouth dropped open. He'd never seen a mare so beautiful in his life. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she walked down the aisle uncertainly, as though she was afraid she'd trip or something. She was so beautiful in the dress Izzy unicycled for her from her mother's dress. He couldn't help but smile as his worries melted away with just one look at her.

Sunny leaned in closer and whispered in Hitch's ear with a small smile, "You're catching flies, Sheriff."

Hitch quickly shut his mouth but kept his eyes wide as Pipp slowly walked towards him. She finally reached the altar and when she looked up at him with a small smile, she couldn't seem to take her eyes off him. Zipp gave Hitch Pipp's hoof, giving him a warning glance, and took Pipp's bouquet before standing behind Pipp and in front of Misty. Hitch helped Pipp onto the dais before they both sat down so they could hold both of each other's hooves.

"Hi," Pipp whispered shyly.

"Hi," Hitch responded in a whisper, blushing as deeply as Pipp. "You look beautiful, by the way."

"Thanks. You do too. I mean handsome! You look really handsome. Rocky did pretty good with your mane."

That was when Queen Haven started. "Citizens of Equestria and beyond. I welcome you to this joyous and momentous occasion, for it is not only a royal wedding, but the first wedding in over a century that binds an earth pony and pegasus in holy matrimony. We stand here today to honor and celebrate the love shared between my daughter, Princess Pipp Petals, and Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer, as they come together to start their new life with a solemn vow, surrounded by their closest family and friends. If there is anypony or otherwise who has any reason as to why these two shouldn't be married, speak now or forever hold your peace." Queen Haven paused, waiting for some creature to say something, but nothing was said, much to the couple's relief.

Queen Haven continued. "A true marriage begins well before the wedding day, and the efforts of marriage continue well beyond the ceremony. A brief moment in time and the stroke of the pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage, but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and compromise to make marriage durable and everlasting. Today you declare your commitment to each other before family and friends. Without further ado, we begin with the vows. Hitch, you may begin." Queen Haven took a step back.

Hitch took another deep breath. "You know, I had this whole speech planned out…"

"Of course you did," Pipp said playfully, causing the audience to chuckle a bit.

"But umm…standing here today, before the most beautiful mare I've ever seen, I realize I don't want to say any of it. Umm…you know, the moment I first saw you in that throne room in this very castle, even then, you somehow stopped me in my tracks. It wasn't your beauty that stopped me, though that definitely didn't help," Another chuckle from the audience. "But it was instead your beautiful voice as you sang that song. You were so happy in the air, just singing your heart out and you wanted everypony else to feel that kind of joy. If I didn't think you were the enemy, I would've spent all night watching you. Then everything went to hell. Leaving you alone in that throne room is one of my biggest regrets.

"And then we brought back magic and I finally accepted my love for you. Of course Sunny was the first to find out, and the day we confessed our love for each other, I learned never to ask Sunny to keep a secret, unless I want to be sent on a fake rescue mission to save you from your terrifying room."

The audience laughed and Sunny blushed in embarrassment.

"And then you went missing, and I thought I'd never see you again. I wasn't myself. In fact, I was a complete jerk. The two mares right behind you can attest to that. And then I found you, only to have lost you again. Pipp, I can't live without you. You're my other half. I'd…I'd fall apart without you. You're the glue that holds me together. I won't spend another day without you. I love you so much, my little songbird."

Tears filled Pipp's eyes as she smiled up at Hitch. She quickly wiped them away at the same time Queen Haven wiped away her own.

"Wow…that was…that was beautiful," Pipp whispered. "I'm not sure how I can beat that."

"Pipp, you may begin with your vows."

"Umm…right. Well, it wasn't exactly true love at first sight with me. Actually, I thought he walked around with a stick up his butt." The whole crowd chuckled, including the ponies at the altar behind the couple, all of them agreeing with a laugh, making Hitch blush. "And then the Jinxie games came around and something my mother said…I couldn't get it out of my head. 'We didn't realize how much we needed each other. How wonderful it can be when we're...all together...'. When you risked everything to save Sparky, it made me realize how kind you are, and how you're willing to risk everything for the creatures you love. And I realized…I was willing to risk everything for you. You were the pony I first thought about when I woke up. The last pony I thought of before I went to sleep. Just thinking about you would make me laugh when I'd be up in the middle of the night. You keep me stable, keep me grounded. Without you, I'd just, float away."

Queen Haven wiped away tears with her hoof. "Oh dear. I promised my daughter I'd be professional about this. I knew I should've just had Alphie officiate this wedding."

"Mom," Pipp playfully groaned with a small roll of her eyes and a smile.

"Now, onto the rings…"

Pipp and Hitch exchanged rings with Sparky as the ring bearer. Each ring had three gems, each gem representing something. The dark purple one represented Pipp, the dark blue one represented Hitch and the green one represented Sparky since he was a part of their small family. They each said their lines before putting the rings on each other. Then Queen Haven had Zoom and Thunder put a crown atop both of them with a dark purple and blue string connecting the two, as per tradition for a Zephyr Heights royal wedding.

Finally, the moment everypony had been waiting for came. "I now ask you to rise…" The entire crowd stood up as one. "As I announce for the first time in Equestrian history, Mr. and Mrs. Trailblazer. Prince and Princess of Zephyr Heights!"

As one, everypony, including the groom's stallions and bridesmares, bowed as one to their princess and to welcome their new prince.

"You may now kiss the bride, Prince Hitch Trailblazer."

Pipp and Hitch only hesitated for a moment before they kissed. As their lips touched, everything else faded out of existence until it was just the two of them. They were lost in each other, exploring the best parts of one another. They wrapped their hooves around each other and with their eyes closed, they were the light that guided each other through the sea of darkness.

"Alright, love birds. Mom said kiss. Not…not whatever this is. Save that for the honeymoon. Nopony wants to see that." Zipp's voice said, startling the two apart. They turned to see everypony still bowing.

"Zephyrina Storm! Do not ruin this for your sister or so help me I will ground you for a month." Queen Haven scolded, making her five friends chuckle.

"You…you can't ground me! I'm…I'm an adult!" Zipp stuttered, blushing deeply in embarrassment.

"Yes. And I'm the queen."

Zipp didn't say anything else. Sunny and Zipp then flew off and came back, both holding a broom which they set down in front of Hitch and Pipp, who then, while holding hooves, jumped the broom. It was a Maretime Bay tradition, and Pipp and Hitch were insistent on combining their traditions into this wedding. As such, the earth ponies all stood up while all the other ponies continued bowing. As the newlyweds walked back down the aisle, all the earth ponies threw rice at the couple, another Maretime Bay tradition. Once the couple were through the the castle doors, with their bridesmares and groom stallions behind them, the rest of the audience stood and cheered for their princess and new prince.

Music raged on as the after-party played well into the night. The couple was sitting at a table set aside just for them on the side of the room, while the DJ played music on the stage.

Zipp flew up to them, her coat reflecting the different colored disco lights. "Hey Prince Hitch!" Zipp yelled just to be heard over the beat of the music. "What you gonna do now that you're the prince of Zephyr Heights?"

"Whoa," Hitch quickly said. "Slow down. I'm still just Sheriff."

"Yeah. And I'm just your run-of-the-mill, everyday citizen of Maretime Bay," Zipp said sarcastically. "Come on! You're a prince! Royal life is the best! Embrace it!"

"Yeah, 'cause we just had to drag you away from the castle when we moved to the Brighthouse. I mean, there were some punches thrown at the poor guards as they dragged you along the floor, kicking and screaming, and you were totally throwing–"

"Okay, I get it!" Zipp interrupted her sister's sarcastic speech. "Maybe royal life isn't the best. But still. Whatever you wish, you just have to say the words, and it's yours." Zipp said, bowing in the air dramatically.

"Can I wish for you to go away?" Pipp asked over the blaring music when it suddenly stopped.

"No can do. I was actually sent to get you. Sunny wants us all to do the Unity dance together. Like what we did at the manesquerade ball a couple of years ago."

"Oh yeah. I forgot Sunny wanted to do that. Alright. Let's do this."

Zipp flew away and Hitch got up, walking around the table. Pipp flapped her wings and began to follow Hitch in the air when she saw something in the distance. She stopped in her tracks, looking up in the sky, squinting her eyes, trying to see it better.

Hitch stopped and turned when he realized Pipp wasn't following him. "Honey? Is everything alright?"

"Do you see that?" Pipp asked, pointing into the sky.

Hitch looked to where Pipp was pointing and squinted his eyes. He definitely saw it, but it was just a white blob in the night sky.

"Maybe I should go get the others?" He said, not taking his eyes off of it. Hitch wanted to play it off as nothing but some nature thing, maybe a bird or something, but something deep in Hitch's gut told him otherwise.

"Yeah, I think that might be best," Pipp agreed, hovering in the air. "Maybe I should go see what it is?"

Hitch shook his head. "Bad idea. At least without backup. Anyway, it looks like it's coming this way. Wait here. I'll be back."

Hitch turned and ran off to the dance floor where Sunny, Misty, Izzy, and Zipp were gathered, getting ready for their dance.

"There you are. We almost had to start–"

"Forget the dance. There's something you need to see." Hitch said before running back to their table.

When the five ponies got there, Pipp was sitting on the floor in front of the table, holding what looked like a snowflake. It quickly melted in her hoof until all that was left was a note, which Pipp had already read, and was now staring at it with wide and confused eyes.

"Pipp? What is it? Is everything okay?" Sunny asked, stepping up to Sunny.

Pipp gave the note to Sunny and the four other ponies gathered around to read it over Sunny's shoulder, but that proved unnecessary because Sunny read it aloud.

"'To Princess Pipp Petals and Prince Hitch Trailblazer,

We received word of your defeat of the changelings and your resurrection through the tears of your true love. We've been waiting for you for centuries. We believe you are the ones who have been prophesied. I promise we will explain everything once you arrive, but we need you to come as soon as you possibly can. We are in desperate need of your help. I wish you safe travels on your journey. And bring your friends. I, more than anypony, know that apart from love, friendship is the most powerful force in Equestria and beyond.

Awaiting your swift arrival,
Flurryheart, Queen of the Crystal Empire'"

Author's Note

Alright, that's the end of The Magic In Us. I had to end on a wholesome note since the last two stories in the series were so depressing. :scootangel:

There will be a fourth story. Shout out to Sword_Ironwing for giving me the idea. Go check him out. I do want to release another chapter on Beautiful Things as well as the story Starlit Roots before I release that.

Disclaimer:

The songs I used in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Hasbro, the maker of MLP. These are the songs I used.

Right There In Front of Me
A Special Tune
Magic In Us
This Day Aria

I decided to do it all at the end at once. So, yeah, don't shoot me for copyright Hasbro! :twilightblush:

See you in the next story, and, in the meantime, check out some of my other stories!