The Magic In Us

"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.