The Reception

by sister_mike

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15

Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle

"That's no ponyquin, no dummy that's absorbing the energy; it's Princess Celestia," Twilight said.

"What!?" Pinkie Pie said.

"Twilight, are you serious?" Applejack asked.

"How do you know?" Rarity whispered.

Twilight stared down at the princess. Her eyes were wide open, the pupils dilated so large that her purple irises were hard to see. A twisted, large grin was stuck on her face. Her shiny white coat was darker, almost black; the colors from her mane were faded.

Twilight walked around the princess for a better inspection.

"See?" Twilight said. As if on cue, as she pointed to the princess's cutie mark, a flash of lightning struck, illuminating the room. It had grown dark outside, the night sky taking over. Another moonless night; Princess Luna was still missing.

Her friends gathered closer to look at the cutie mark. Sure enough, it was a picture of the sun, identical to the one that Princess Celestia had.

"What's going on? Why is she absorbing all the energy?" Fluttershy asked.

"I-I have no idea," Twilight whispered. She walked back to the front of Celestia and stared her in the face. "Princess Celestia? Can you hear me?"

Celestia didn't move.

"What do you think we should do? Do you think we should try n' move her?" Applejack asked.

"We have to get her out of here, the energy is changing her," Rarity said.

"Princess Celestia! Wake up, can you hear me?" Twilight said. She put her two front hooves on the princess's shoulders and shook her. Nothing.

Twilight looked around the room. The green cocoons illuminated the space. No changelings had come in after them. Another flash of lightning struck. Twilight thought she saw something move in the corner of her eye, but when she turned, nothing was there.

"We need to get out of here; we need to get Princess Celestia out of here. We need to find Princess Luna—she'll know what to do," Twilight said.

"How are we going to get her out?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight bit her lower lip, panic slowly seeping in. The slow stream of energy continued to waft into Celestia's horn. What if when they moved her and cut her off from the energy, something bad happened? Like she evaporated, or woke up in an angry rage—or even died?

"I don't know," Twilight said.

"What about the energy source? What if something happens when we move her?" Rarity asked.

"Maybe we should try to find Princess Luna first?" Fluttershy whispered.

Twilight looked at her friends. They were all waiting for her to make a decision. She didn't know what to do, and they were all counting on her. She put her hooves on the princess's shoulders again.

"Princess Celestia, please! If you can hear me, send us a sign! Please, wake up!" Twilight cried.

Maniacal laughter filled the air. It came from all corners, every direction. Twilight backed away from the princess, her head spinning, trying to locate the source. Lightning flashed again, and Chrysalis dropped from the ceiling, having hidden amongst the pods.

"It'ss uselesss," she said, "Princesss Celestia won't wake until I tell her to do so—and she is almossst ready."

"What have you done to her?" Twilight asked. Her friends joined her by her side.

Queen Chrysalis cackled, lightning flashing behind her. Something stirred behind Twilight and the others—changelings were coming in, blocking the door.

"Why are you using all of this energy on Princess Celestia? I thought you conquered Equestria to feed your changeling subjects," Twilight said.

"Yess, that was only one part of our plan. There are so many poniesss acrosss Equesstria, and so much energy, that we are burssting at the seams with it! Little by little, over the passst few monthss, I have been feeding the energy into Princess Celestia. The energy issn't the same energy that we changelings feed on. The energy she is receiving has been tainted by dark magic. She is transsforming! Sssoon she will be a changeling, a changeling queen like me, and she will be completely under my control! She will rule along besside me, and as we expand our territory, I will govern the different realms using my alicorn puppets, and will take over the whole world!"

Lightning flashed and thunder roared as Chrysalis cackled again. The changelings kept walking closer and closer, circling around the ponies.

"Alicorn puppets... plural?" Twilight said.

"Oh Twilight, you don't misssss a beat!" Chrysalis said, "If you weren't the leader of the Elementsss, I may have just ssspared you!"

"What do you mean puppets plural!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"She... she plans to do the same to Luna, don't you Chrysalis? Except your dark magic doesn't work on Luna as it does on Celestia, because Luna still has dark magic in her and it counteracts yours! That's why you've awoken Discord! Since he was the one who planted the seed of darkness in Luna, you're hoping he'll know how to get rid of it so you can turn her into a puppet too!" Twilight said.

Her head was spinning as it all came together. Fury raged through her. She glanced back at Celestia again. Princess Celestia, her idol, her peaceful leader—now, nothing more than a blackened puppet.

"You really are the smartessst pony in the land," Chrysalis said, a wicked grin on her face.

"Except your plan isn't working as you had hoped, because Discord doesn't know how to change Luna back. That's why you two were arguing," Twilight said, more aloud to herself than to Chrysalis, as she put the puzzle pieces together.

"So," Chrysalis spat, "that little dragon did contact you. And you warned the griffins. No matter; once Celestia is in my control, which she will be done her transformation very soon, I will send her and my army to Griffordia and we will take them by storm anywaysss!"

"No," Twilight said, standing tall, "we won't let you do that. We have the Elements of Harmony, and we're here to stop you!"

Chrysalis laughed. The changelings around them snickered as well.

"You can try all you want, my little poniesss, but we are too powerful now, thankss to all of your energy. We are unstoppable, and not even your little Elements can defeat uss," she said.

"Come on girls! Don't listen to her; we can—and we will—defeat them," Twilight shouted. She whipped out her Element crown and stood in position, the others taking out their Elements and standing behind her.

Twilight closed her eyes and felt the power of the Elements take over. She rose off the ground and could feel the positive energy flowing around them. A surge of energy powered through her and she knew that the Elements were charged, that their positive rainbow magic was ready. Twilight opened her eyes, and together, with her friends, she thrust the energy towards Chrysalis.

Chrysalis laughed. She shot a green beam of power out of her horn and it hit the force of the Elements. Twilight pushed harder, summoning all of her energy. They had to defeat her. They just had to. But Chrysalis's beam pushed back, harder and harder, and soon it was overcoming that of the Elements.

Twilight could feel sweat rolling down her face. She was panicking. They were losing. The Elements were failing.

"No," she whispered.

And then it happened. Chrysalis's beam pushed the Elements aside and hit Twilight and her friends hard, full on force. They flew across the room, hitting the wall and floor. The changelings around them snickered as Chrysalis laughed triumphantly.

The Elements had failed.

Twilight staggered up. Rainbow Dash helped up Fluttershy, and Applejack helped up Rarity. Pinkie gave Twilight the most serious look she had ever seen on the pink pony's face. They had lost. They had failed Equestria.

"I tried to warn you; you and your pathetic Elementsss are no match for me! I'm going to tear you and your friendsss apart, going to torture you like I did your brother. You should have just stayed in your cocoon Twilight Sssparkle, and gone back to sssleep when you had the chance. Now it'sss too late," Chrysalis said. She slowly began to walk towards them, cornering her and the others, as the changelings walked behind her. "You cannot sssave Equesstria."

"They can't—but I can."

Chrysalis whipped her head behind her. Lightning flashed and a silhouette stood in front of the window, now opened. Twilight craned her neck to look over Chrysalis and the changelings.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight cried. A surge of hope ran through her. Luna was ok. She was her normal self. Equestria had a chance.

"How did you essscape!" Chrysalis spat with anger.

"You got cocky Chrysalis, that's how," Luna said, stepping towards her, "and now you're going to suffer for what you've done to my subjects and to my sister, and to our kingdom."

Chrysalis hissed in anger. She charged towards Luna. Luna moved to the side and shot a beam of energy at Chrysalis. It hit her, but did little damage. Chrysalis shot back, and encountered the same result. It was almost as though the two of them had special force fields up and neithers power could hurt the other.

"It'sss no usse fighting Luna, and you know it. Our powersss are uselesss againsst each other," Chrysalis said.

"Doesn't matter; I will take you down and I will save my kingdom," Luna said confidently.

"Ha, you and who? These six? In cassse you failed to notice, I have all of the ponies imprisoned," Chrysalis said.

"I have an army outside, encircling the castle. Seemed you forgot about those stationed on my moon base, my guardians. While you took care of Celestia's, you, again, neglected your thinking when it came to me. And I have awoken many citizens, mostly those from Ponyville, and they are on their way to help fight," Luna said.

Chrysalis charged at Luna again. Their horns met and the two of them battled against each other physically. Twilight made a move forward to help, but a changeling hissed at her threateningly. There were too many of them for her and her friends to try and make a move.

Luna overpowered Chrysalis. She pushed her aside and Chrysalis fell across the floor. Twilight couldn't help but smile a little, and Pinkie did a small jump for joy. Somehow, the room had grown darker.

"You're right Chrysalis, our magic doesn't work against one another. Guess it just means I'll have to dispose of you the old fashioned way," Luna said darkly, walking towards Chrysalis. Lightning flashed. The outline of another pony appeared behind Luna, sneaking up behind her. Luna towered above Chrysalis, about to fatally attack her.

Twilight glanced again at the figure behind Luna. She then looked around the room and gasped.

"Princess Luna, no! Look out behind you!" Twilight shouted.

Lightning flashed. Luna turned just in time. Princess Celestia missed her and stumbled towards the side. Chrysalis seized the advantaged and kicked Luna to the ground. Celestia stood beside Chrysalis obediently. The room had grown darker, because the energy had stopped flowing into Celestia.

"No," Luna whispered. "Celestia, no... it cannot be."

"Oh but it iss," Chrysalis said smugly. She glanced over adoringly at Celestia. Celestia stood slightly behind Chrysalis, her eyes staring forward in a haze. "She is completely under my control now."

Luna stood, staring in shock at her sister. A pained look crossed her face, one that Twilight couldn't help but replicate.

"Sister... I have failed you," Luna whispered. She took a step towards Celestia. Celestia hissed. Chrysalis laughed. Celestia took a menacing step towards Luna. Luna took a step back, uncertain.

"You can do it Princess Luna! You can save her!" Twilight shouted. Chrysalis whipped her head towards the mane 6, almost as though she had forgotten they were there. She narrowed her eyes at them.

"Time for you six to disappear," she said darkly.

Chrysalis stepped towards them. Lightning flashed.

The last thing Twilight Sparkle saw was Celestia lock her horn in battle with Luna, the changelings surrounding the princesses, and Chrysalis's menacing bright green eyes.

Chapter 2

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight groaned. Her head pounded. When she tried to open her eyes, the room spun. She closed her eyes again and took deep breaths. She was alive. She wasn't in a cocoon. She hadn't gotten a good glimpse of where she was, but it wasn't in a pod. Something continuously banged somewhere nearby. It didn't help her head.

The last thing she remembered was Chrysalis walking towards her and the others. And then everything went black. She didn't remember Chrysalis charging at them or using magic. It must have been some kind of magic though—some kind of powerful magic—because how else could she explain what happened.

Luna and Celestia had been about to battle. Celestia. Tears sprung to Twilight's eyes. Her beloved mentor was nothing more than a half-breed changeling-pony puppet. Though she wasn't fully a changeling, she was at a point where Chrysalis was satisfied with the transformation. And if Twilight didn't do anything fast enough, Luna was to become a puppet as well. As much as Twilight liked to believe in the night princess and her strong powers, against both Chrysalis and Celestia, she was disadvantaged and the fight was unfair.

The Elements had failed. Chrysalis's power was stronger than them. How could anything be stronger than the Elements of Harmony? The Elements which had defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord. It was the Elements that kept peace in Equestria. The only thing that could possibly be stronger than the Elements was Luna and Celestia's power...

Celestia.

That's what we should have done. Instead of trying to fight off Chrysalis with the Elements, we should have used them to reverse the transformation and turn Celestia back into an alicorn pony. Then together, with her power, Luna's, and the Elements, we could have defeated Chrysalis. We were too gung ho about finally arriving in Canterlot and defeating Chrysalis, that we overlooked the most logical thing to do.

I overlooked the most logical thing to do... and now because of my lack of leadership and coordination, my friends are probably trapped in cocoons or dead, and Equestria has no hope without them, because they are the other keys to the Elements.

— Come on Twilight. You can still fix this. As long as you're not stuffed back into a cocoon, take it as a sign that you are meant to fight. Any oversight in Chrysalis's logic—such as keeping you alive and unharvested—should be used to your advantage. You'd feel it in your bones if your friends were truly gone. And if they're in cocoons, well, you busted them out once and you can do it again. Just get up, off the floor, and make a move.

—But what if my friends really are gone?

—Then you can still get your butt off the ground, go find Luna, free her, and the two of you can figure out a way to save Celestia. The key right now is to get Celestia away from Chrysalis and find a way to change her back. Once Celestia is back, the battle against Chrysalis can really begin.

Twilight nodded to herself. She found that internal battles, though sometimes redundant, usually always worked out in the better favor.

She was right after all (though really, when wasn't Twilight right?); even if her friends had perished and the Elements really were worthless, she could still go find Luna, team up with her and together they'd find a new way to save Equestria. And if that failed, maybe Twilight could go join the rebellion with the griffins and fight the changelings that way. And if that failed, maybe she's join the dragons? Or maybe she'd team up with Discord? Either way, she at least had a plan A, and a number of subsequent plans that could follow if that one failed.

Her sense of confidence slowly returning, Twilight opened her eyes. The room still span, so she took deep breaths until it stopped. The banging noise continued somewhere across the room.

Slowly standing up, Twilight saw that she was in the dungeons. It was surprisingly bright, many torches lit against the walls. The sky was still moonless. Twilight peered out of the small window of her cell. Luna had said that she had an army with her. Twilight couldn't see anything on the grounds, though she was facing an awkward angle. Maybe that had all been talk from Luna. Twilight hoped not.

Twilight stopped for a second and thought about the others who had come with them to Canterlot. Were they still searching the palace for Discord or Luna like Twilight had told them to? Or had they been captured as well? Twilight hadn't received any sort of message from Flam. She tried to be positive and took that as a good sign.

She turned away from the window to get a better look at the dungeon and her escape options. As soon as she turned around, her heart stopped and the blood drained from her face. There, lying on the other side of her cell in the middle of the walkway, was her Element crown.

Chrysalis didn't destroy the Elements? Has she lost her mind?

—Who cares! Get the crown!

Twilight moved closer to the bars and used her magic to levitate the crown towards her—except it didn't work. She tried the spell again, but the crown lay motionless on the ground. She put her hoof to her forehead, just to double check that her horn was still there—just in case Chrysalis had pulled a Discord. It was still there. But her magic was failing her.

Maybe this is the same sort of cell that Luna was put in, where my magic doesn't work.

Twilight got back onto the ground and stretched her foreleg as far out of the cell as she could. She couldn't reach; she was just short.

Cursing, she began to pace back and forth in the cell. She needed to get to the crown before someone else—a changeling—came down and noticed it lying there. Surely if it was brought to Chrysalis's attention, she'd realize her idiotic oversight and destroy the Elements. How was she going to get to the crown without using magic? How as she going to get out of this cell?

Twilight huffed in frustration. She couldn't think straight with that incessant banging noise. She turned towards the direction of the noise and gasped.

Shining Armor was in a cell across the walkway and over to the left from Twilight's. He was consistently throwing himself against the bars, trying to escape—and come after Twilight. His eyes were fixed on hers, an eerie green glow around his pupils. A sign that he was still under Chrysalis's spell.

"Shining Armor, stop—listen to me. You can snap out of her spell," Twilight said, "You're stronger than this!"

"That," Shining Armor said, throwing his body against the bars in between his words, "friend of yours—that dark knight—dragged me down here and put me in this cell. He's separated me from my Cadance! And tore me away from my goal, my plans to kill you. But little did he know that my Queen would transport you down here. Oh the irony."

His eyes burned with anger, and they never left Twilight.

"Shining Armor, listen to me. You're under a spell. Cadance is fine, it's Princess Celestia who is in danger. Chrysalis has turned her into a puppet and—"

Shining Armor screamed as he threw himself against the bars viciously. He hit the bars hard, the noise vibrating throughout the dungeon. He staggered back and shook his head. When he looked up again, the green around his eyes was gone. His eyes filled with tears.

"Twilight—I'm so sorry. I have no control. I can hear what you're saying, but the spell is taking over faster and faster," he said quickly. He jumped around nervously. "My conscious is being kicked further and further back into my mind and I am losing myself. I can't stop it. I'm trying, but I—"

His head twitched and the green was back.

"When I get my hooves on you," he hissed darkly, "I am going to tear you apart. No magic required. I'm going to do it slowly and savour every minute."

Twilight cried out something incomprehensible. She had never felt so trapped in her life. There was nothing she could do to help her brother, and she couldn't save herself either. She went to the window in her cell again. Maybe if she saw someone passing by she could signal to them somehow, and get them to—

Just then, the door opened at the top of the stairs with a bang. Twilight whipped her head in the direction. She could see the shadow of a pony walking down the stairs.

"Twilight? How did you end up down here?" CloudsArmor asked, as he tentatively walked down the stairs.

"CloudsArmor! You need to get me out of here!" Twilight cried.

"Soldier!"

CloudsArmor jumped at Shining Armor's booming voice. His look of surprise went from Shining Armor back to Twilight back to Shining Armor.

"Captain, sir! We've been looking for you! Were you and your sister imprisoned toge—"

"CloudsArmor—you need to get me out of here. Shining Armor is under a spell and—"

"Soldier, I need you to get me out of this prison cell at once," Shining Armor said, his eyes still fixed on Twilight. "We can free my... sister... together."

"Right away, sir," CloudsArmor said. Conveniently, the keys were hanging on a rack nearby. By the fact that Shining Amor hadn't used his magic to get the keys and free himself, Twilight gathered that either his cell was magically compromised as well, or he was so hell bent on his mission to kill her that he simply overlooked the keys.

"No—CloudsArmor, you need to listen to me. Shining Armor is under a spell," Twilight said, speaking very quickly, "If you release him, he'll kill me. He's been compromised by Chrysalis and has been programmed to stop at nothing to kill me."

CloudsArmor looked shocked. "Are you serious?"

"Please, let me out. We need to leave him down here, and find the others. I know where Princess Celestia is, and we need to use the Elements of Harmony to—"

"SOLDIER! As your commanding officer, I demand that you release me from this prison cell right now. That's an order," Shining Armor spat.

CloudsArmor looked torn. Twilight could tell he was having an internal struggle as to whether he should disobey his captain or not.

"CloudsArmor, please! Listen to me! He's under Chrysalis's spell! He's going to kill me!" Twilight cried.

"An order soldier!" Shining Armor shouted. "Disobeying your commanding officer is grounds for treason! And under the circumstances of Equestria's current state, I should think that her security has been compromised enough! We're all on the same team! Release me and I shall take care of Twilight Sparkle!"

CloudsArmor looked pained. He looked between the two, the set of keys in his mouth. Finally, he stood up straight.

"Shining Armor is my commanding officer, Twilight. And while you may have been the leader of our renegade team, with my real captain back in action, we can all work together to get rid of Chrysalis," CloudsArmor said, as he walked towards Shining Armor's cell.

"CloudsArmor! No!" Twilight screamed.

CloudsArmor had barely unlocked the cell door, when Shining Armor knocked him over and came barreling out. He charged towards Twilight's cell and began ramming against it like he had been doing earlier in his own.

Twilight backed into the corner of her cell, tears streaming down her face.

"No..." she whispered.

CloudsArmor quickly jumped up. He looked confusedly at his captain and back to Twilight. She looked at him.

"Help me, please," she whispered.

Realizing his mistake, CloudsArmor charged towards Shining Armor. But his captain was stronger. CloudsArmor had barely made contact when Shining Armor threw him across the room. CloudsArmor jumped right back up and tried to corral Shining Armor to the other side of the room and away from Twilight's cell.

The two moved back and forth, but slowly CloudsArmor was making progress, and was pushing Shining Armor into another cell down the hall. Shining Armor stood on his hind legs and whinnied angrily. He stomped his feet, trying to scare off CloudsArmor, and in the midst of it, Twilight heard the delicate tinkle of something breaking.

"No!" she whispered.

As CloudsArmor and Shining Armor continued to do their dance and moved out of the way, Twilight ran up to the bars of her cell. And sure enough, lying in the middle of the path, was the shattered shards of her Elements crown.

Shining Armor kicked CloudsArmor hard in the jaw. The blow sent CloudsArmor flying again, and Shining Armor ran back in front of Twilight's cell and paced furiously. CloudsArmor staggered back up and looked at Twilight, who had backed further into her cell again.

"Just go! Get help!" Twilight shouted. CloudsArmor nodded and clambered up the stairs.

Twilight just hoped that while he was gone, Shining Armor would forget that his magic should work now that he was out of the cell. If he found a way to open her cell, maybe she'd be able to run past him and trick him into going in and locking him inside...

But as soon as CloudsArmor was out of sight, Shining Armor turned to Twilight with a terrifying grin on his face. The latch to her door open magically and Shining Armor stood in the doorway.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he said darkly. Lightning flashed outside.

Twilight backed further into the cell. As long as they were both in the cell, their magic wouldn't work; But Shining Armor was so much more stronger than Twilight and quicker. She wouldn't stand a chance. She was doomed.

Just then, Shining Armor hesitated and looked down at the floor. Twilight then heard it too. A faint beeping noise. A small metal ball, with a red blinking light rolled into view and it beeped steadily. Shining Armor cocked his head to the side confused. Suddenly it began to blink more rapidly.

"Shining Armor, get down!" Twilight shouted.

And then the bomb exploded.

Chapter 3

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight's ears rang. She waited a few seconds. When nothing else happened, she slowly opened her eyes and stood. Dust was settling down. Her cell wall had been blown clean off. Shining Armor lay off to the right. Twilight tested her magic. It seemed to be working. Whatever sort of spell had been placed on the cell was gone.

Not wanting to risk Shining Armor playing dead and have him leap up and kill her, Twilight performed a sort of "life-sensing" spell on him. He was alive but unconscious.

"Twilight? Are you ok?"

Twilight turned her head towards the stairs. Cautiously walking down was Pinkie, Inkie, and a dark grey mare that she didn't know.

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight cried. She felt like collapsing with relief. "What... how did you... you saved me."

"Is he ok?" Inkie asked, pointing towards Shining Armor.

"He's alive—but we need to put him in a cell before he awakens," Twilight said.

"I'll do that."

CloudsArmor appeared behind the mares and walked towards Shining Armor. He began dragging him towards a cell.

"That sure was fast help," Twilight said.

"We were passing by in the hall when CloudsArmor popped out of this door and said that you needed immediate help. Blinkie whipped out a bomb and—"

"Blinkie? This is Blinkie? I thought you said she had died," Twilight said, interrupting Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie and Inkie couldn't help but smile when they looked at their middle sister.

"She survived," Pinkie said, jumping slightly.

"We're not positive how, since she says there's not enough time to tell us now. But that's ok; all that matters is that she's here," Inkie said. Blinkie looked slightly bashful.

"Well... it's nice to meet you Blinkie," Twilight said. Blinkie stomped something.

"She says it's nice to meet you too," Inkie interpreted.

"Pinkie Pie, what happened to you? What did Chrysalis do?" Twilight asked, "I've only been conscious for a few minutes and already so much has happened... How did you find your sisters so fast?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head sympathetically.

"You must have been knocked out Twilight; it's been at least an hour since our failure of a showdown with Chrysalis. I don't know about the others, but I remember Chrysalis coming towards us and...

Pinkie Pie

"Time for you six to disappear."

Chrysalis walked towards them. A stream of green magic burst out of her horn. Pinkie put up her foreleg in defence. She felt a tingling sensation all around—surely she was being put back into a pod. But then suddenly a warm feeling intercepted the tingling one and everything went white. Pinkie closed her eyes from the brightness.

When the feeling stopped, Pinkie hesitated for a few seconds. Slowly, she opened her eyes and lowered her leg. She was outside of the palace. She stood in front of the main entrance. Perplexed, she looked around to see if any of the others were outside with her. Just as confusing, her Element necklace was still around her. Chrysalis hadn't destroyed the Elements. Maybe whatever that intercepting feeling was, maybe that's what had saved her? Were the others ok as well?

Suddenly, something hissed at her. She looked up to see a dozen or so changelings hissing down at her from the balcony above her. She took a step back. Should she run inside or stay outside? Or stay and fight?

Before she could decide, the changelings swooped down and started to attack. Pinkie began to run away from the palace, away from the direction that they were coming. If she could find shelter, maybe she could figure out a plan on how to find the others.

But there were too many changelings. Pinkie kicked and fought has hard as she could, but she was unfairly outnumbered. Three changelings pinned her down and a fourth came over with a menacing smile. It lowered its horn to Pinkie's head. She squirmed and wriggled, trying to break free.

When the changeling's horn touched Pinkie's forehead, there was a spark. The changeling jumped back, surprised. Pinkie too, was just as surprised. When it tried to do it again, the spark went off again and this time was sharper. Another changeling wandered over and tried to perform the cocoon spell instead. It got zapped too. The two argued something in their language and then decided to try it together. Pinkie continued to wriggle and squirm, and just tried to keep calm.

As the two changelings lowered their horns towards Pinkie, a bright spark zapped them and caused them to fly across the courtyard. The changelings holding her down hesitated, and Pinkie took advantage of their divided attention, jumped up and knocked them out of the way.

They hissed at her, and Pinkie began to back away. There were more changelings behind her, circling around her. She looked around, panicked, hoping that whatever had caused the spark would appear again.

A changeling charged her. Pinkie panicked and closed her eyes. There was a sudden shriek and Pinkie felt an odd vibration. She opened her eyes and saw that the changeling had been disintegrated. It then hit her; her Element necklace. She looked down at it.

It was glowing and sort of humming. It felt warm against her neck, like it had been firing power. Was it acting on its own accord? Saving her? Or was she subconsciously using it? Could it even work on its own without the other Elements?

Another changeling charged her and the necklace acted again. It shot out a beam in the shape of the balloon gem on the necklace and the changeling evaporated. Pinkie then turned and aimed it at other changelings, disintegrating them one by one.

More and more changelings came. One by one, Pinkie beamed them; but there were too many. Soon they were swarming on it, trying to tackle her to the ground. The necklace could only seem to attack them on one directly. She wasn't sure if she could disintegrate the whole group.

And then suddenly the necklace seemed to stop working all together. Pinkie had managed to free herself from a group of changelings trying to stuff her into a cocoon again, but now they were circling her and she had backed into a wall surrounding the courtyard. She willed the necklace to fire again, but it just lay dormant. It wasn't glowing any more.

And I was having such good luck! Pinkie thought.

The changelings saw that her powers weren't working anymore and snickered as they approached her with confidence. Pinkie was fully backed into the wall. Unable to find an escape route, she began to fumble in her bag, trying to find a bomb.

But just as she had managed to find one, she heard a soft beeping noise. She glanced down at the bomb she had found in her bag; it wasn't blinking or beeping. Confused, she looked into the crowd of changelings. They had heard it too and were looking around them, their attention again diverted from Pinkie.

Then Pinkie saw it. Rolling down into the middle of the group of changelings was a small metal bomb. It beeped steadily and a red light was blinking. It settled in the heart of the swarm, and then began to blink and beep faster.

Knowing that the bomb was going to go off at any second, Pinkie jumped and ducked behind a nearby planter. The explosion went off with a loud bang! and the sound of shrieking changelings filled the air.

Pinkie looked up just after the bomb had gone off. Whoever had sent it was on her side, watching her. Peering through the falling debris of the cobblestone and various scattered changeling limbs, Pinkie saw the silhouette of a mare just hiding behind the other side of the stairwell leading up the main set of palace doors. The mare waved at her frantically.

The changelings were in a frenzy. Those who were still half alive were crying out in agony over lost limbs, while those who had fully survived stumbled around, trying to regain their balance. Pinkie glanced at them and then looked across back to the mare. She continued to wave frantically, but didn't call out to Pinkie.

Pinkie took a deep breath and ran through the swarm of changelings towards the mare. The conscious changelings began to chase after her. Debris continued falling from the sky and Pinkie coughed from all the dust. As she got closer to the mysterious mare, she saw another bomb roll by her, on its way to finish off the remaining changelings.

The bomb went off sooner than expected and caused Pinkie to go flying. She landed hard across the courtyard, her eyes tightly shut. There was a slight ringing in her ears, but she could hear more changeling cries and the sound of falling debris. Somepony began to drag her somewhere and she felt them drag her down a set of stairs, and the creek of a door closing.

Once they had stopped dragging her, Pinkie stood up and looked around. Wherever they were, it was pitch black; she couldn't see a thing.

"Who is it? Who's there?" Pinkie said. The other pony didn't answer. Pinkie heard her rustle around in her bag. "Who is it? Twilight? Inkie?"

The silence was making Pinkie slightly uncomfortable. She began to back away from the rustling noise and then hit something behind her, a wall maybe.

"Listen, I appreciate you saving me and all, but I need to know who you are. There's a lot going on right now and there's been a lot of pony possession, so if this is just a cruel changeling joke, then you had better be prepared for a mean-lean-Pinkie-keen-fighting-machine!" Pinkie shouted, "'Cause I'm telling you, I will not go eas—"

Suddenly a bright light shone in Pinkie's face. The other pony pushed something towards Pinkie. Pinkie glanced down at it. It was a hardhat with a light built in it, just like the one Blinkie—

Pinkie whipped the hat on and shone it at the other pony. She couldn't believe it. Tears began to fill her eyes.

"B-Blinkie? Is that really you?" she whispered.

The dark grey mare looked at her with panicked eyes. Relief began to flood into Blinkie's face and she nodded, smiling slightly.

"But is it.. can it really be you?" Pinkie whispered. Blinkie stomped something, nodding enthusiastically.

Pinkie tackled her sister and brought her into a tight hug. She cried and Blinkie patted her back.

"I thought... we though, Inkie and I... we thought you were dead!" Pinkie cried.

Blinkie pulled away and shook her head. She stomped something and looked at Pinkie meaningfully. Pinkie cocked her head to the side, not understanding. Blinkie sighed and stomped something else.

"You know I can't understand you," Pinkie said softly. Blinkie nodded and shrugged. She stomped something else anyways.

"What happened? Back with the changelings and the bomb on the way to Ponyville? We thought you had taken the bullet for us, that you had sacrificed yourself. How did you get to Canterlot so fast?" Pinkie asked, regardless that she wouldn't be able to understand her sister's responses. She was just too overjoyed to see her.

Blinkie cocked her head to the side, thinking. She started to stomp something, but then stopped. Looking at the ground, she saw a nearby small twig and picked it up. She began to draw something in the dirt.

"Are we in the palace?" Pinkie asked. Blinkie nodded as she continued to draw. "Weird that there's a dirt floor in here."

Blinkie nodded and shrugged. She finished her drawing and stepped away. Pinkie looked down and illuminated the picture with her hat. It was a picture of a crescent moon, with what looked like a horn sticking out and wings attached.

"What? Blinkie I don't under... wait..." Pinkie said. She racked her brain. How would Twilight view this picture? What would she do? "Wait... Luna? Princess Luna?"

Blinkie nodded excitedly. Pinkie knew that she and her sister could sit here for hours and have Blinkie spell out all of her messages, but that would take up too much time.

"Princess Luna brought you here?" Pinkie said again. Blinkie nodded. "Did she save you from the changelings on the way to Ponyville too? Is that how you survived?"

Blinkie shook her head. Negative. Blinkie then took the twig again and spelt out something in the dirt. Inkie? it said.

"Yes, she's ok, or at least, the last time I saw her she was ok. I hope she's still ok. She's in the palace somewhere," Pinkie said. "Do you know if there's a way into the palace from within this... cellar? Basement? What are we in?"

Blinkie stomped something. Pinkie sighed. Blinkie sighed. She then just shook her head and motioned Pinkie to follow her.

Pinkie gave Blinkie her hat back and let her lead the way. As they walked, Pinkie updated Blinkie on what had happened to them after she had "sacrificed" herself. Blinkie would nod here and there and stomp at some parts. Pinkie would pretend to know what she was saying or commenting on and continue talking.

After walking for a lot longer than Pinkie had expected, Blinkie suddenly stopped and put up her foreleg as a signal to Pinkie. Pinkie stopped as well. There was a door in front of them. Blinkie put her foreleg to her mouth, indicating that Pinkie should be quiet. She nodded.

Slowly, Blinkie opened the door. Light flooded through and revealed what looked like a corridor of the palace. Blinkie stuck her head through the door, and then waved that it was ok to Pinkie. They stepped through the door and it closed automatically behind them. When Pinkie turned around to look at the door, she saw that it blended into the wall, the doorknob barely noticeable and the doorway completely invisible. Blinkie switched off her hat.

"Come on; let's go this way," Pinkie said, picking a random direction. Blinkie nodded and Pinkie took the lead.

Pinkie wasn't exactly sure where she should go or who she should look for. Her friends could all be in cocoons, or dead, or at the very least, they were probably all scattered in different locations. Princess Luna had last been in the main ballroom, battling it out with Celestia.

Probably not a good idea to go back there with only one of the Elements.

They ducked down random passages, hid from changelings and were essentially walking around blindly.

"I really don't know what we should do," Pinkie said, "I don't know where to start. What do you think we should do?"

Blinkie thought for a second and then stomped out something elaborate. Pinkie sighed.

"If only I could understand you..."

"She said maybe we should go outside of the palace and see if the rest of the army has assembled."

Pinkie and Blinkie both whipped around. Inkie stood behind them, tears in her eyes as she stared at Blinkie.

"She... she..."

"She's alive," Pinkie finished for her.

The three had a group hug and cried together, despite the fact that they could be captured at any given moment.

"How did you survive? What happened?" Inkie asked.

Blinkie stomped out something. Inkie nodded along and frowned slightly, giving Blinkie an odd look.

"Ok..." she said.

"What did she say?" Pinkie asked.

"She says there's no time to explain how she survived the bomb fiasco with the tunnels earlier, but that she told you she would meet you in Ponyville," Inkie said.

"Oh! I knew you said Ponyville, but I didn't realize that meant you were meeting us there!" Pinkie said. Blinkie stomped out something again.

"She says that she met up with Princess Luna in Ponyville and that the princess awoke many citizens. Most of them agreed to come to Canterlot to fight, while some stayed in Ponyville to free more citizens and guard the city. She says that the Ponyville army is coming by foot, but that she and Princess Luna flew here, and that Princess Luna also has a good number of her guards on standby, ready to attack. She says they should be assembling outside somewhere now," Inkie said.

"I was just outside and saw nopony! Only changelings!" Pinkie said.

Blinkie looked at Pinkie and stomped something.

"She says they're assembling near the labyrinth," Inkie said. Inkie then turned to Pinkie Pie. "What happened with you Pinkie? How did you get separated from the others?"

Pinkie briefed Inkie on what had happened, how they had found Shining Armor, his crazed possession, their failed fight with Chrysalis and how Celestia was also, but differently, possessed.

"What about your team? What did you guys find?" Pinkie asked.

"We found Princess Cadance in that crystal, just as you said, but Shining Armor was not there. Flam didn't have the power to free her, so we figure it's a different kind of cocoon. We then moved on and found Discord. He's on the third floor, fourth room on the right. Oddly enough at the time he was only guarded by three changelings—the rest of them must have been in the ballroom with Chrysalis when you guys were fighting. We took the changelings out and went inside. Discord is in the same sort of crystal cocoon as Cadance, except only his body's in there. His head is exposed, most likely so he can talk to Chrysalis. He seemed heavily sedated though. He must be powerful, as Chrysalis is taking a lot of measures to make sure he doesn't get free.

"It was almost as though he was asleep. We managed to talk to him though, like he was sleep talking. He confirmed that you said—Chrysalis is using him to figure out a way to get the dark magic out of Princess Luna, so she can turn her into a puppet as well. Except Discord says there isn't a way to get it out. While he may have planted the idea behind Nightmare Moon, he did not create Nightmare Moon herself. Luna created Nightmare Moon subconsciously and planted the seed of darkness within herself. There's nothing Discord can do. Chrysalis is wasting her time, but refuses to believe so," Inkie explained.

"Then really the only thing she can do to Princess Luna is..."

"Kill her," Inkie finished. Blinkie stomped out something furiously.

"Don't worry Blink, we'll make sure that doesn't happen," Inkie said.

"Plus Chrysalis said something about her magic not working with Luna's, that they counteracted each other... so it's going to take Chrysalis a lot to try and kill—"

Suddenly, a door to their right burst open. Pinkie cut her sentence short as CloudsArmor ran out of the room.

"Pinkie Pie! Inkie Pie! Quick, Twilight Sparkle is down here, she needs your immediate help!" he said panicky.

"What's going on?" Pinkie asked, as she and the others rushed towards the door.

"Her brother is trapped down there with her and is possessed in thinking that he has to kill her," CloudsArmor said.

"What should we do?" Inkie asked.

Blinkie put up her hoof and stomped something. She then poked her head into the room and walked down the stairs a bit.

"She said she'll take care of it," Inkie said.

Blinkie then ran back up the stairs. Pinkie could hear the soft blink as the bomb rolled down the stairs. And then the explosion went off.

Twilight Sparkle

"And that's everything up until now," Pinkie said.

Twilight took a second to let everything Pinkie had told her settle in.

"So, your Element necklace acted on its own accord?" Twilight said. She looked at the necklace still around Pinkie's neck. Pinkie Pie nodded.

"It was weird, I feel like I had no control over it. I didn't know they could work by themselves, did you?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight sighed and shook her head.

"No, I didn't know. And I'll never know now—mine is broken," she said. She gestured to the shards on the floor. The Pie sisters gasped.

"What are we going to do now?" Pinkie Pie asked, "It's not going to work!"

"I thought you said it didn't work on Chrysalis anyways," Inkie said.

"True; but now I realize that we should have used the Elements to change Princess Celestia back," Twilight said. "I guess we'll have to find another way to free Princess Celestia."

"And defeat Chrysalis..." Pinkie added. Twilight sighed and nodded.

Suddenly Shining Armor twitched and groaned loudly from his corner cell.

"Come, we should leave before he awakens," CloudsArmor said.

"Right," Twilight said.

CloudsArmor and the Pie sisters began to walk up the stairs. After one last, long, lingering look at her shattered crown, Twilight followed them.

Chapter 4

Rarity

"Just give me five more minutes to sleep in, Mommy..." Rarity muttered, rolling over. Her mother continued to shake her shoulder. Rarity batted her own hoof at her mother, and tried to pull the covers over her head. Except there were no covers. As a matter of fact, she felt something sticky beside her. She hadn't had an accident, had she? That would be awfully embarrassing...

"Rarity, please; wake up," whispered a hasty voice. The more and more it spoke, Rarity's ear twitched, as she came to realize it didn't sound like her mother at all. It didn't even sound like a mare. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder at the intruder, wondering why they were in her house and why they had spilled juice on her bed. A stallion with a red mustache and a striped vest was nervously glancing around as he shook her shoulder.

He wasn't the usual sort of stallion that Rarity dreamed about, but he was sort of handsome. Rarity turned over and sleepily smiled at him. Just as she did so, a female unicorn came into view behind him. She looked at Rarity curiously and placed a pinecone on Rarity's snout.

"Don't do that," the stallion said with a slight impatient tone. He pushed the pinecone off of Rarity and the blue unicorn began to cry.

Rarity sat up, now utterly confused. She looked at the two, completely bewildered.

"Rarity? Are you ok? It's me, Flam; do you remember where you are?" he asked.

Rarity sagged there for a second, but then shot up straight as everything came flooding back. She panicked for a second as she took in the room around her. She was still in the ballroom, pods hanging above.

"I—w-what happened?" Rarity asked. Her head felt a little fuzzy. She remembered Chrysalis coming towards them and then... nothing. Flam hadn't even been there at the time.

"I can't quite say what happened on your end; My group got separated by some changelings after we found Discord. I'm afraid to say that one of the buffalo didn't make it. Discord is locked up, but sedated. Chrysalis must be afraid of his power. He wants to use Discord to transform Princess Luna into a puppet or something along those lines..." Flam said, with a frown.

"Yes, I recall Twilight saying something like that," Rarity said, scratching her head.

"I happened upon the ballroom here and was surprised to see it was empty. I thought you would be in here battling it out with Chryaslis—but nopony was here. Then I saw you hanging in a pod..."

"I was in a pod?" Rarity said. She looked beside her. Remnants of the pod steamed on the floor, an icky green goo.

"Yes," Flam said.

"GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE!" Trixie shouted suddenly, followed by an evil cackle. She then began to bounce around the room, levitating her pinecone.

"I couldn't leave her behind," Flam explained, "As our group was getting separated, nopony seemed to be taking charge of her. Since she's in the same condition Flim is in, I just... I couldn't leave her behind."

"Understandable," Rarity said. She wiped some of the cocoon goop off of her white coat. When Twilight had done the spell, there hadn't been any cocoon remains, though really, who was she to compare Flam to Twilight. "Well, I do thank you for saving me for a second time. You seem to be turning out to be my knight in shining arm—"

Rarity froze as something caught her eye across the hall. Trixie had stopped dancing around the room, and at the moment was doing a particular jig on the spot, her pinecone twirling around her. Above Trixie was a pod that held a familiar white filly, with a pink and purple mane.

"Is something wrong?" Flam asked. Rarity walked past him and stopped underneath her sister's pod. Flam walked up beside her. "Is that...?"

"My sister," Rarity whispered, tears coming to her eyes. Even though the image of Sweetie Belle's terrified face and outstretched hoof had been burned into Rarity's mind, seeing it again in life made her remember just how horrific it really was.

"I was in a pod beside her, originally," Rarity whispered. "S-she's reaching out towards me."

"Well; we can't just leave her behind," Flam said. He straightened his hat, and Rarity saw his horn begin to glow.

"W-what are you doing? It's too dangerous for her here," Rarity whispered, as she looked back and forth between Flam and Sweetie Belle.

"Yes, but seeing that pained look on your face was terrible. We'll take care of her—I'll take care of her, as you fight Chrysalis. I already have one ward, no harm in having two," he said. Flam then hesitated and looked at Rarity. "Unless you'd rather her stay in there. It was a hard decision for me to make with Flim, but I'll understand..."

"No," Rarity said, her own horn glowing, "Let's get her out of there. Hopefully we'll find Twilight somewhere and maybe she can transport Sweetie Belle to Zecora's or something. Either way, I left her behind once and I just can't do it again."

The two carefully levitated Sweetie Belle's pod down from the ceiling and carefully melted it around her. Sweetie Belle coughed and coughed, but remained asleep. Rarity was relieved to see she was breathing.

"We'll just have to give her a minute," Rarity said. She nervously glanced at the door. Where had Chrysalis gone? And puppet-Celestia? And Luna? What had happened to her friends?

"I'll go gather Trixie," Flam said. Trixie had wandered into a corner of the ballroom. She was fussing over something.

Sweetie Belle began to stir. She mumbled, like Rarity had, convinced she was asleep at home and that their mother was waking them. Rarity cooed and shushed Sweetie Belle, and once she saw her eyes were fully open, she put her hoof over her sister's mouth.

"Oh, my dear little sister," Rarity whispered. "You need to listen to me now, ok? There's a lot going on right now and—and it's going to be really scary looking to you. But I've come now and freed you from what you're about to see around us. I need you to try and promise me not to scream, so as not to attract attention, ok Sweetie? Can you do that for me? I promise you I will take you somewhere safe."

Tears began to brim in Sweetie Belle's eyes and she began to breathe heavily as she looked around her. Nevertheless, she nodded, and cried as quietly as she could. Rarity pulled her into a tight hug and stroked her mane.

"Apple Bloom is at Zecora's hut. We're going to go try and find Twilight and see if she can send you to be with her there. None of this bad evil can get you in the Everfree Forest," Rarity said softly.

Sweetie Belle nodded, tears still streaming down her face. Rarity pulled out of the hug, but kept her sister close, keeping her foreleg wrapped around her.

"Flam, we're ready to go," Rarity called over to the corner.

"Uh, Rarity, you'd probably better come look at this," Flam said.

Rarity frowned. They needed to leave ASAP and find somewhere safe to hide Sweetie Belle. She and Sweetie Belle walked over to the corner where Flam was standing, and amazingly, Trixie was standing still as well.

"What is i—"

Rarity's jaw dropped. Sweetie Belle gasped.

Chained, gagged and bound tighter than any criminal Rarity had ever seen, was Princess Luna. She was chained to the floor, the chains weaving over her so much that her body could barely be seen. Her legs were tied together with rope and there was a gag in her mouth and a blindfold over her eyes. She wasn't moving.

"Do you think she's alive?" Flam asked.

"She wouldn't be chained to the floor if she was dead," Rarity said, "The question is, whether she's awake or not. Princess Luna, can you hear us?"

Luna's ear twitched. Flam made a move to take the blindfold off, but Rarity stopped him. She looked up at the ceiling. No green stream was pouring into Luna. Rarity then moved her hoof away and Flam pulled off the blindfold.

Luna looked at them with relieved and terrified eyes. The princess had tears in her eyes. She said something, which was muffled by the gag. Trixie put her pinecone next to the princess's face and gave her a sad look. Flam removed the gag.

"Thank the stars," Luna said, "You're alive. Let's hope that the rest of the Element bearers are as well."

"Princess Luna! What happened?" Rarity asked.

"Celestia overpowered me and pinned me down. They tied me up and then they all ran out of the ballroom. Chrysalis has gone to Discord to find a way to turn me into a puppet as soon as possible," Luna said.

"But he can't. We had a chat with him and he said it's impossible; the dark magic that lives within you was brought upon by yourself, not by his doing," Flam said, "Chrysalis imprisons him in vain."

"I know," Luna said. This news surprised Rarity.

"She's left you unguarded," Flam said.

"She must be panicking more than I thought. She must know that her attempt to destroy the Element bearers failed then, and she is getting anxious in her actions," Luna said.

"But the Elements failed. We're not threat against her," Rarity said. She glanced down at her Element necklace, surprised to see it still resting against her neck.

"They failed against her, but I'm sure if you could use the power to transform Celestia back. With my sister back to her normal self, the two of us could fight Chrysalis," Luna said.

"But I thought Chrysalis said yours and hers magic was matched, that they couldn't affect one another," Rarity said.

"Yes; but combined with my sister's strengths, we could overpower her. Even though we can no longer wield the Elements of Harmony, there are other devices and magic tricks that we can perform together, some even to be said to be stronger than the Elements," Luna said.

"Why haven't you used them before?" Rarity asked.

"Because using the Elements is easier. The magic I speak of is of high mastery magic; plus we've never actually performed them before," Luna said. "I just know they exist. I can't explain it all now."

"I guess with the power from you and Princess Celestia, and the Elements, we'd surely beat Chrysalis," Rarity said.

"Definitely. Therefore, it is imperative that you get me out of this entrapment. We can meet with the army assembling in the labyrinth, and then we can—"

Luna stopped. Trixie moved forwards and moved the pinecone from beside the princess's face and onto her snout. It balanced there for a second, in which Trixie clapped ecstatically, but then it toppled over. Trixie pouted.

"What is the meaning of this?" Luna asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"The changelings did something to her; they've scrambled her magic. They saw that unicorns could free the ponies from the pods, and they've been attacking unicorns and scrambling their magic so they can no longer do so," Flam explained. "The same thing happened to my brother."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Luna said, still staring bewilderedly at Trixie. "I can fix that though."

Flam's jaw dropped and Rarity gasped.

"You can fix her?" Rarity asked.

"Yes," Luna said, wriggling in her chains. "Like you stated before, Chrysalis's magic and mine is very similar. Any dark magic performed by changelings, I can easily undo."

Luna's horn glowed and Trixie floated in the air. Trixie panicked slightly, not understanding what was going on. She cried and reached out towards the pinecone on the floor. Then suddenly, she slumped unconscious for a second. Just as quickly, she straightened up and opened her eyes. She looked around her, observed her messy mane and oddly jagged tail, the rips in her cape, and the random unicorns looking at her.

Luna carefully lowered Trixie onto the ground. Trixie gave each of them an odd and slightly aggressive look.

"Where am I?" Trixie finally asked.

"Canterlot," Sweetie Belle answered.

"And pray tell, why is the Great and Powerful Trixie in Canterlot?" she asked.

"There is no time to explain now," Luna said. Trixie jumped back slightly, as though she had not noticed the princess there. She gave Luna a little bow. "These unicorns here will explain everything to you later. For now, I need you to help them with anything they tell you to do. Ask questions later."

Trixie nodded slowly. Rarity wondered if she would actually follow up on the princess's orders.

"What do you want us to do now Princess Luna? How do we get you out of these?" Rarity asked, nudging the chains.

"They are probably bound with magic—magic that would, unfortunately, be beyond your comprehension and skills; no offense. I need you to find somepony who is more advanced in magic," Luna said.

"Twilight Sparkle?" Rarity asked.

"Ugh, Twilight Sparkle is here?" Trixie said. Rarity shot her a glare.

"You're alive and well because of Twilight. She took good care of you," she snapped.

"Unfortunately, I do not think that the type of magic Chrysalis used here can be undone by the magic of ordinary unicorns. I need you to find me an alicorn," Luna said.

"But you said you didn't know where Princess Celestia is; and she's possessed," Rarity said, as she bit her lower lip.

"There's another alicorn though! And I know where she is!" Flam piped up, "But she's in an odd crystal, different than the other cocoons."

"You just need more power to free her; the three of you should be able to do it," Luna said.

"What about me?" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

"You, my little filly, I shall send to be with your friend in the Everfree Forest," Luna said softly. Sweetie Belle looked up at Rarity. Rarity hugged her tightly.

"Thank you princess," Rarity said softly.

"Of course; now go—go get me Princess Cadance."

Chapter 5

Rarity

"When we went in here, Shining Armor was threatening to tear Twilight apart," Rarity whispered.

She stood alongside Flam and Trixie outside of the room that Cadance was being held.

"He wasn't there when we found her," Flam whispered back, "She was by herself."

"Hmm... I wonder where he went. He was under a spell that possessed him, and his goal was to kill Twilight," Rarity said.

"That's cruel; possessed to kill your own sister. This Chrysalis is really a—"

"Oh blah blah blah, Twilight this and Twilight that. Can somepony please tell me what is going on and why I need to be involved?" Trixie blathered. "And why do I have what the taste of pinecones in my mouth?"

"Will you be quiet!" Rarity snapped, "We're here to free Princess Cadance, who then can free Princess Luna. With their help, we can find the others, change Princess Celestia back to her normal self, and then defeat Chrysalis."

"That still doesn't tell me what's going on here. Why is everypony stuck in those weird green cocoons, and who is Chrysalis?" Trixie asked.

"Chrysalis is the queen of the changelings; they overtook Equestria a few months ago," Flam said quickly. "You had your brain scrambled and had become fixated with pinecones."

"What? That is the biggest bunch of nonsense I have ever heard. As if the Great and Powerful Trixie's brain and magic become scrambled. And there's no way that I like pin—"

"Shh! You don't need to know everything right now! What you need to do is shut up and help us free Cadance," Rarity hissed.

"With those sort of manners? You really expect me to help you when you hiss at me and tell me to shut up? Please," Trixie said. She rolled her eyes. "You'll have to give me a better reason than that. I don't owe you ponies anything, let alone know who you are."

"No, you don't owe them anything—but you owe me."

The three unicorns turned to see Twilight, Pinkie, Inkie and Blinkie behind them. Rarity felt a huge wave of relief—so far at least two of her dear friends, and half of the Element bearers, had survived.

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle—we meet again. I owe you, you say?" Trixie snickered.

"Yes. I found you aboard the train, eating a pinecone. I felt too empathetic to leave you there. You've been traveling with me and my friends ever since," Twilight said, "Without me, you could have been changeling fodder by now."

I see she left out the part of Trixie saving her life accidentally with a bust of magic, Rarity thought. It's probably for the best right now.

"I see you've been unscrambled too," Twilight said. Trixie just stood there and glared at her.

"We found Princess Luna. She's shackled down in the throne room—we think Chrysalis is trying to hastily find a way to turn her into a puppet. She said that regular unicorn magic wouldn't work on releasing her, that we needed to find an alicorn. She said that more than one unicorn could free Cadance from her crystal," Rarity explained. "Trixie is supposed to be helping us."

"The princess frees you and you're arguing against her orders? Really Trixie," Twilight said, "I can't believe you. You'd think that after all you've been through the past couple of months, you'd remember a bit of what transpired."

"Well I don't," Trixie said hotly, "So I don't see any reason as to why I should help you."

"Fine then," Twilight said, staring hard at Trixie, "Just walk away. If you don't want to be helpful, then don't; you'll just be a coward then. One day, the memories of what happened to you will come flooding back, and you'll realize just how terrified you were, and that you should have stayed here to help. Go if you want."

The two unicorns stared at each other, neither of them blinking. Rarity kept glancing around, sure they were going to get caught at any moment.

Finally, Trixie looked away and huffed.

"Maybe I will then," she said. She roughly pushed past Twilight, causing the purple unicorn to stumble. Pinkie caught her. "I don't see any reason to stick around and help you losers. I'm out of here."

They watched as Trixie walked down the hall and turned the corner, without so much as a glance back.

"You're really going to just let her leave?" Rarity asked quietly. Twilight sighed.

"There's no point in keeping her here if she's going to be difficult. One day she'll come back and realize that she was wrong; but right now, we need to free Cadance," Twilight said.

"I'm glad to see that you two are all ok—and Blinkie! You've survived!" Rarity said. She smiled at the dark grey mare. Blinkie nodded appreciatively.

"Yes; Pinkie and her sisters saved me. I was trapped down in the dungeon with Shining Armor. He's locked down there now. CloudsArmor went to the army that's assembling in the labyrinth, to warm the other royal guards that their captain is currently incapacitated. We figured that since my brother is trapped down there, maybe we can figure out a way to free Cadance," Twilight said. "You said that Princess Luna thinks we can free her? The three of us?"

Rarity nodded. "Something about one unicorn's magic not being enough. The three of us should be able to do it, especially if you're here Twilight. Your magic abilities are stronger than me and Flam's."

Twilight paced for a moment.

"Alright; Pie sisters, I need you to guard the door. Two of you can guard the ends of the halls, while Pinkie can stand right outside of the door. Rarity, Flam and I will go inside and use our magic to free Cadance; then we'll head back to the throne room and free Princess Luna," Twilight instructed.

Inkie and Blinkie nodded, and each walked to the opposite ends of the hall. Pinkie saluted Rarity and the others as they walked into the room.

"Any news of the others? Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy or Applejack?" Rarity asked.

Twilight shook her head.

"Hopefully they're ok; Princess Luna suggested that we use the Elements to change Princess Celestia back," Rarity said. Twilight nodded.

"I know; I came to the same conclusion. The only problem is," Twilight said, her voice breaking a bit, "my Element crown broke. Shining Armor smashed it accidentally as CloudsArmor tried to fend him off. I have no idea what we're going to do. The Elements won't work."

"There's got to be another way," Rarity said. She placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"We'll figure something out; maybe Luna will know what to do," Twilight said. Rarity nodded.

Cadance was still encased in the green crystal. She looked peaceful, as though she were dreaming.

"Ok," Twilight said, after she walked around the crystal once, "I want you Rarity to stand at that point over there; Flam, you at the bottom point over here. I'll be over here."

The three got into formation.

"Do you both remember the spell, right? We need to concentrate together, get a feel for each other's magic, and try to synchronize it," Twilight explained.

"We remember it; Flam actually freed me from a cocoon in the throne room, and I freed Sweetie Belle. Princess Luna is sending her back to Zecora's," Rarity said.

"Excellent. Let's get started. Just go slow," Twilight said.

Rarity closed her eyes and felt her magic pulsing through her blood and her horn. She cleared her mind and could begin to sense the other's magic around her. She tried to pace herself so that she was working at the same rate as them. Once the three of them got synchronized, the crystal slowly began to melt.

After several long, tense moments, the crystal fully dissolved. Cadance lay peacefully on the floor, her chest rising and falling.

"Do you think we should try to wake her up?" Rarity asked.

Twilight approached the sleeping princess and gently shook her and called her name.

Cadance slowly began to stir. She opened and closed her eyes several times. Unexpectedly, she threw up. Rarity looked away, so as not to throw up herself. Twilight rubbed Cadance's back.

"Grrhhhuurrr..." Cadance said groggily. Twilight helped her into a sitting position and evaporated the princess's stomach contents away.

"Cadance?" Twilight said softly, "It's me; Twilight Sparkle—Shining Armor's younger sister."

"Twi... light Sparkle?" Cadance said. She put her hoof to her head. "The room... spinning..."

"It's ok Cadance; take your time," Twilight said.

Something sounded outside of the hall. Rarity glanced to the door quickly, apprehensive. She waited, but whatever the sound had been, it had been minimal and Pinkie didn't burst inside. Flam glanced at Rarity and then moved closer to the door—just in case.

"Twilight," Cadance said softly, "Where am I? What... what happened? Did she... did she end up marrying him?"

Twilight glanced at Rarity. She then looked back at the princess.

"I don't think so. The wedding took place, but she revealed herself before the vows were ever exchanged," Twilight explained. Cadance exhaled in relief and then broke down crying. "How long ago did she take your place Cadance?"

"Five months before the wedding," she sobbed, "I was visiting another town to look at flower arrangements, and she came out of nowhere on my journey back to Canterlot. She locked me up in this crystal and after a few days, I fell into a sleep."

"Five months before the wedding? That's been nearly eight months now," Rarity said.

"What?" Cadance asked, a confused look on her face.

"The changelings have taken over all of Equestria," Twilight said gravely, "We ourselves were trapped in cocoons for two and a half months or so. Only a few ponies had managed to survive and have been on the move, all over, ever since. And since unicorns can free other ponies from the cocoons, the changelings began to attack them specifically and scramble their brains, so they couldn't remember how to do magic."

"That's terrible," Cadance said, as she stood up straighter.

"That's not even the worst; Chrysalis has possessed Princess Celestia. She's turned her into some sort of half-breed pony-changeling mix, and Celestia is completely under her control. Chrysalis is trying to find a way to do the same thing to Luna. As of now, Luna is immune to Chrysalis's powers, because she has the same dark energy as Chrysalis running through her. The two can't fight or defeat each other, because their magic counteracts each other. Right now, Luna is chained up in the throne room, and she says she needs alicorn magic to free her," Twilight explained.

"What!? Celestia is possessed? A puppet? How could this happen?" Cadance asked, a slight tone of anger in her voice.

"Since the changelings took over Equestria, they've gathered more energy than they really needed for themselves. They no longer need to take on a disguise and feed off of the love of a pony; they simply harvest your energy from the cocoons. Since they had so much excess energy, Chrysalis began to pour all of the energy into Celestia and it's changed her. She's trying to figure out a way to do the same to Luna, and even freed Discord to see if he knew a way," Twilight explained. She bit her lower lip. "Whether or not she can find a way to transform Luna, she was planning on doing the same thing to you. I fear that if we had not freed you just now, she may have kept Luna imprisoned and move straight onto you, since you do not have dark magic running through you and she is getting desperate."

"But how can Celestia be possessed? It has to be some sort of trick—I just can't believe..." Cadance said.

"It's true; Chrysalis turned Celestia against Luna. They were battling," Rarity said quietly.

"But the Elements of Harmony; surely you have them by now and—"

"We were foolish," Twilight said, as she sighed, "We tried to use them to defeat Chrysalis. She is too powerful for the Elements now. We should have used the Elements on Princess Celestia when we had the chance. They could have changed her back."

"What do you mean 'when you had the chance'? Surely we can find another opportunity to change Celestia back. Come, we will free Luna now and then the eight of us can go and find—"

"It's not that easy," Twilight interrupted again, "We were separated after the Elements failed and so far we have only regrouped as three. And even if the other three are ok and we are six again, my Element crown is broken. Shining Armor smashed it by accident."

"It's broken? But... Shining Armor smashed it by accident? Where is he, is he ok?" Cadance asked.

"Yes and no..." Twilight said. She looked away from Cadance. "He's been compromised by Chrysalis. She's put some sort of spell on him, making him believe that he has to kill me, in order to keep you safe."

"What!" Cadance said. She stood up, the outrage clear in her eyes.

"He's ok though! We've locked him up in the dungeon," Twilight said.

"Oh! When I get my hooves on that Chrysalis, I am going to..." Cadance said, mumbling off at the end.

"We all want our vengeance; but first we need to free Princess Luna," Twilight said.

Cadance nodded.

"Lead the way Twilight. We'll go free Luna, find your friends, and change Celestia back," Cadance said. She then grinned. "Then it's time to kick some changeling ass."

Chapter 6

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash groaned. Her right wing was throbbing painfully right in the middle. Tears automatically sprung to her eyes from the pain, even though she was just waking up. She couldn't quite fully remember what had happened. She recalled Princess Celestia sneaking up behind Luna and the two of them beginning to battle. Twilight shouted out to Luna, which had caught Chrysalis's attention. Chrysalis began walking towards them, saying something about them disappearing. Rainbow Dash hadn't been listening. Her loyalty senses had kicked in and she jumped in the air and had begun to fly towards Luna's aid.

And then everything flashed brightly for a second and then went dark. And now, here she was—wherever "here" may be—with a terrible throb pulsing through her wing.

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes. She was up high somewhere. From a glance at the shingles around her, she figured she was on the roof of the palace. How she got up here, she didn't know or care—all she cared about was the tremendous pain in her wing.

She tried to sit up, but couldn't sit up fully. She was leaning towards the right. Her wing wouldn't get off of the roof. Wincing as she looked over, Rainbow Dash—as tough as she was—tried not to throw up at what she saw. Somehow, she had pinned her wing to the roof. A sharp metal weathervane poked straight out the middle of her wing, a red ring of blood pooling around it.

Rainbow Dash bit back more tears. How long had she been up here? How long had her wing been pinned like this, causing her to lose blood? Now that she was awake and thought about it, she did feel a little weak. How much blood had she lost?

"Rainbow Dash!"

Someone whispered her name loudly from below. Rainbow Dash carefully manoeuvred herself so she could peer over the edge. She wasn't up very high—she was facing the back side of the castle and the ground was only a few feet below, so she was probably over a covered exit area or above the first-floor servants quarters—but she was up high enough that a jump down would hurt her legs.

Applejack stood below her, looking around hastily as she called her name as loud as she dared. Rainbow Dash waved.

"Are you ok up there?" Applejack asked.

"No—my wing is pinned through a weathervane," Rainbow Dash said. She vainly hoped Applejack couldn't see her tears. "I can't fly. And I don't think I can free my wing on my own—it's at a weird angle."

"Ok; hold on a sec. Big Mac is trying to figure out a way to get me up there," Applejack said. Applejack then said something Rainbow Dash couldn't hear to somepony out of her sight. Probably Big Mac.

Rainbow Dash looked around as she waited for Applejack. She could hear some faint commotion coming from the front of the palace—reason enough for Applejack to look panicked while calling out to Rainbow Dash—and she had a clear view of the labyrinth off to her right. It looked as though there were ponies gathering there. The army Luna spoke of perhaps?

"Rainbow," Applejack shout-whispered again. Rainbow Dash looked over the edge again. "We have an idea of how to get up—but you're not going to like it."

"Uh oh; what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Big Mac is going to boost me up part of the way; then I'm going to throw a lasso around the weathervane you're stuck to and pull myself up the rest of the way. It'll be painful for y'ah Dash, but it's the only way I can get up there and help," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash groaned. Applejack had been right—she didn't like the plan. But she needed help, otherwise she'd be trapped up here forever.

"Alright; get on with it," Rainbow Dash said. She moved away from the edge and waited.

The rope flew up a couple of times and missed. Rainbow Dash tried to help secure it to the weathervane, but was having difficulty maneuvering with her limited movement span. Finally, Applejack secured the rope and pulled on it. It hurt like hell.

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and failed to keep back tears as Applejack climbed her way up to the roof. As soon as Applejack had a steady footing on the slightly slanted roof, she let go of the rope. Rainbow Dash exhaled loudly at the relief of the pressure.

"What happened? Do you remember?" Rainbow Dash asked, as Applejack ran over to inspect her wing.

"Chrysalis began to approach us n' her horn was glowin' green. Then there was a warm flash of light and I ended up in one of the towers, completely unharmed, Element necklace still attached. I ran down the stairs and next thing I knew, I found Big Mac. He said somethin' about an army gatherin' in the labyrinth; we were on our way when Big Mac spotted you up here, unconscious. We've been callin' at y'ah for the past twenty minutes," Applejack whispered.

"Do you know where the others are?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Applejack shook her head. "No. Hopefully they'll be in the labyrinth with the gatherin' army. If we're ok, I reckon their ok too."

"Um, I'm not exactly ok," Rainbow Dash scoffed. She winced as Applejack lightly touched her wing.

"I realize that; I just meant that we're not dead," Applejack said, "Now just give me a second. I'm going to have to pull your wing through the weathervane. You're lucky it's not an extremely tall one. You're going to have to stand as I get near the top."

Rainbow Dash nodded and took a deep breath. She braced herself for the pain.

Applejack slowly began to push Rainbow Dash's wing up through the vane. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but cry out loudly from the pain. Applejack stopped and hesitated, glancing around to see if anyone had heard them. When no changelings came barreling over to attack them, she continued to push the wing up. Rainbow Dash stood as the wing came closer to the top.

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash suddenly hissed, "How are we supposed to get it over the top? There are four different poles protruding from the top, pointing in the four directions!"

Applejack paused and cocked her head to the side.

"How in the hay did you get your wing caught in here in the first place? And without creating a big mess? The hole in your wing is only as wide as the main pole," Applejack said. She scratched her head with her free foreleg.

"It doesn't matter how I got it in there, what matters is how we get it out," Rainbow Dash hissed.

"Ok, hold on; let's think of somethin'," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash sighed. She already knew what they would have to do.

"We're going to have to break it somewhere so I can slip my wing out through the bottom," she said quietly. "How strong do you think this metal is?"

"Brace yourself," Applejack said. She pushed and leaned against the pole, testing its strength. Rainbow Dash winced, and bit down on her bottom lip hard. "It's not that bad; it's kinda old and rusty. A strong buck or two and it should knock over. I'm going to have to put your wing back down to the bottom."

Rainbow Dash nodded and wept in pain as Applejack carefully slid her wing back down the pole. Once it was at the bottom, Rainbow Dash ground her teeth together in preparation. She nodded to Applejack when she was ready. Applejack nodded back and began to kick at the pole.

Each kick was painful. The pole rubbed on the inside of Rainbow Dash's wound. Luckily, it only took three strong kicks before the pole snapped in half and fell over. Applejack swiftly pulled Rainbow Dash's wing out of the pole. She then whipped out a bandage from her bag and wrapped it tightly around her wing.

"I'm not too good with healin' and stuff," Applejack said, as she tied a knot in the bandage, "but hopefully this'll be good for now."

"Derpy's surprisingly good at this stuff," Rainbow Dash said, "Maybe she'll be with the group in the labyrinth and she can fix it. Thanks Applejack."

"Come on. I can lower you down usin' the rope, and then I'll rappel myself down," Applejack said.

"I can get down myself," Rainbow Dash said. She stood, but winced in pain as she did so. Every movement hurt her wing.

"You're hurt bad Rainbow. This is no time to feed your ego. Let your pride go and let me lower you down. Big Mac will untie you at the bottom, I'll climb down and then we can go meet up with that army in the labyrinth. With any luck, the other four will be in there and we'll be back on our way to defeatin' Chrysalis," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash sighed and nodded. Applejack was right. She needed to let her pride go. Be patient. Rainbow Dash wondered if her other friends still heard Celestia's words from nearly 24 hours ago.

"You're right Applejack," Rainbow Dash said finally. "Ok, tie me up and lower me down. Let's go meet up with that army."

Chapter 7

Fluttershy

Fluttershy's eyes had been closed for mostly the whole time. The sight of the possessed Princess Celestia was just too much for her. How in Equestria were they going to defeat Chrysalis now? Fluttershy heard Twilight shout Luna's name. She opened her eyes, just in time to see Chrysalis's grotesque horn glow green. Fluttershy squeaked in fear. This was it. This was the end.

Then a warm, fuzzy feeling enveloped her. She felt calm and peaceful, which was very odd given the circumstances. Maybe this is what it felt like to die. Maybe she was in heaven.

She opened her eyes as she felt a cool breeze pass by.

"Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy jumped at her name. Her legs shook beneath her as she turned towards the voice. She jumped again.

She was inside the labyrinth. Behind her, was a large group of ponies. Some faces she recognized, others she didn't. Some were dressed in royal guard attire, while others weren't. Mr. Cakes continued to stare at her.

"Are you ok?" he asked again.

Fluttershy opened her mouth, but all that came out was a squeak. What was Mr. Cake doing here? As she looked at some of the ponies behind him, she recognized more faces.

"It's Flutter-shy!"

Derpy came out of nowhere and threw her forelegs around Fluttershy in a hug. Fluttershy still shook nervously, very confused as to what was happening. Where were the others?

When Derpy pulled away, a few of the other ponies took notice to her sudden attendance.

"Element of Kindness, you are alright," Windstrong said.

"Where are the others? Where's Rain-bow Dash?" Derpy asked.

One of the stallions in the royal guard suddenly noticed Fluttershy and rapidly approached her.

"An Element bearer! Are you alright? What happened? Where is Princess Celestia?" he asked, speaking very quickly. Fluttershy squeaked.

"I-I don't know what happened," Fluttershy said softly. The Element necklace around her neck suddenly felt very heavy. More and more ponies began to turn their attention towards Fluttershy, and she didn't like it. Be brave.

"Where are the princesses?" the guard asked again brashly.

"Calm yourself soldier! This is the Element of Kindness, and you shall treat her with nothing less," Titan Wings said. He pushed his way through the crowd until he was in front of Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, what happened?"

"I don't know; the Elements failed. Princess Celestia has been transformed into some sort of puppet and is being controlled by Chrysalis. She and Luna were about to battle, when Chrysalis turned her attention back to us and then suddenly I appeared out here," Fluttershy stuttered, "and I'm not sure where the others are."

"Possessed Princess Celestia? We need to get into the palace, now," the first guard said.

"No; we need to wait here for Princess Luna's signal, like she ordered," Titan Wings said again.

"She may be dead for all we know! We need to act now! We've been sitting here idly for too long! It's time to act!" the guard shouted again. Some behind him rallied in agreement.

"Do not speak ill of Princess Luna! Chrysalis cannot defeat her, this I can assure you. We will wait here until she gives her signal to attack!" Titan Wings said.

"If Chrysalis can compromise Princess Celestia, she can do the same to Princess Luna! We need to act now before Equestria is lost forever!" the guard shouted again.

"Stand down soldier!" Titan Wings shouted, "As your captain has been compromised, I am in charge here! We will await Princess Luna's orders!"

"I say we let the Element bearer decide what to do! We need some sort of direction! We're wasting time just sitting around here!" the guard shouted back. Others began to murmur and shout in agreement. The crowd was beginning to get restless. Titan Wings and the guard turned to Fluttershy.

"Well Fluttershy; what do you think we should do?" Titan Wings said.

Fluttershy squeaked. The crowed went quiet and looked at her. They were expecting orders, waiting for her to make a decision. They had just unofficially made Fluttershy their new leader, and she did not like it one bit.

After a half hour, the group was still in the labyrinth. Fluttershy told the army that she thought they should wait until either Princess Luna or Twilight came to get them. She didn't like being in the leader's position, and even though she had been elected as such and had made an "order", the guard and Titan Wings continued to argue.

"You wanted to make her our leader, and so we did! Fluttershy says to wait, so we wait," Titan Wings argued with the other guard.

Their constant arguing was beginning to give Fluttershy a headache and wasn't at all making her feel any better.

"Look! Newcomers!" somepony shouted.

Somehow in the midst of all of the arguing and decision-making, Fluttershy had been pushed further and further into the labyrinth. She craned her neck towards the entrance to see who was coming. If her wing wasn't hurt, she could have hovered to see over the ponies heads, like some of the other pegasi were doing.

"More Element bearers!" someone else shouted. Fluttershy's ears perked up and she tried even harder to look over the ponies.

"Make a path, let them through!" someone yelled.

"One of them is injured! Somepony, get a first aid kit, quick!" another yelled.

One of her friends was hurt? Fluttershy began to push her way through the crowd.

"Fluttershy! You're alright!" Applejack drawled, as Fluttershy met up with them in the middle.

Applejack and Big Mac were slowly walking towards her. Rainbow Dash was between them, mostly leaning on Applejack for support. Rainbow Dash winced and gave Fluttershy a sheepish grin in greeting. Her right wing was drenched in blood. A makeshift bandage was wrapped around her wing, much like Fluttershy's. Now that she had a better look at her, Fluttershy noticed that Rainbow Dash looked dangerously pale.

"Is there a doctor somewhere?" Applejack asked.

"Dr. Hooves came with the Ponyville group," Titan Wings said. The then turned towards the crowd, "Dr. Hooves! Your medical expertise is needed!"

Within a few minutes, Dr. Hooves had pushed his way through the crowd, a first aid kit with him. He instructed Rainbow Dash to lie down and he then began to stitch up her wing and bandage it properly.

"What happened to her?" Fluttershy asked nervously. It was very unnerving to see her strongest friend suddenly so weak and vulnerable.

"She reappeared on the roof and there was a weathervane stickin' out of her wing," Applejack said. "Big Mac n' I just happened to be walkin' by when we saw her and brought her down. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I've been in here since we disappeared out of the main chamber," Fluttershy said. She then lowered her voice, "There's a lot of tension out here. Some ponies are waiting for Princess Luna's signal, while others want to go into the palace now and help. They've unofficially made me their leader, since I'm an Element bearer."

"What did you tell them to do?" Applejack asked.

"I said we should wait here for Twilight or Princess Luna," Fluttershy said. "You haven't seen Twilight or the others, have you?"

"No, but I'm a guessin' that if me n' you—and Rainbow Dash, more or less—are alright, then they must be too. And I'm also assumin' that since we still have our Element necklaces, they must have theirs too," Applejack said, as she poked at her necklace.

"I wonder why Chrysalis didn't get rid of 'em," Big Mac said. Fluttershy glanced at him and blushed slightly.

"My guess is that whoever transported us out of the room—'cause I'm assumin' that wasn't Chrysalis's magic; felt more like Celestia's—got us out before Chrysalis could act," Applejack said.

"But... Princess Celestia is possessed; how... could she... have transported us out?" Rainbow Dash wheezed.

"Well, if you think about it, she's been possessed this whole time, since we were in the cocoons. And it sounded like she was the one who sent us through those portals in the first place, when we first escaped," Fluttershy said.

"There's a lot about the princesses' magic that we don't understand," Applejack said.

"That's very true," Fluttershy said.

"What do you think we should do now?" Applejack asked.

Fluttershy sighed. Why was she still in charge? She glanced around at the anxious ponies, waiting to hear her response. She looked down at Rainbow Dash, who had her eyes closed and was breathing softly. She opened an eye and then closed it again.

"I'm awake," she said.

"Well, for now, I think we should let Rainbow Dash rest. I say we wait at least another hour for either Twilight or Princess Luna to appear. After that..." Fluttershy sighed. She hated giving orders. "After that, then we can attack."

"Ok! Finally, some direction!" the first guard, WinterHooves his name, said. "Why don't we plan out a strategy until then?"

They waited and waited. Rainbow Dash eventually sat up. Derpy gave her a muffin and proceeded to tell the group about what she and Windstrong had gotten up to in the palace. She told sadly how Windstrong's brother had gotten killed by one of the changelings. Windstrong then said a prayer for his brother.

WinterHooves, Titan Wings, and a hoofful of other guards began to strategize a plan. As the end of the hour started to come to a close, they began to dish out instructions to everypony in the army.

Fluttershy knew that a lot of the ponies had come from Ponyville, but a good chunk had come from some other nearby towns and cities as well. A few stragglers had joined the group after Rainbow Dash and Applejack had shown up. As Fluttershy looked around now, she hadn't originally realized just how big their army was. Even though she was opposed to violence and war, it gave her optimism to see their increasingly bigger group of ponies.

Titan Wings quietly approached Fluttershy. He put his hoof on her shoulder. She sighed.

"It's been an hour," he said quietly.

"No signal has come; it's time to act," WinterHooves said, a little too aggressively. Fluttershy sighed again. She glanced up at the moon, and then over at the palace.

"You're right; an hour is what I said, and no signal ca—"

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from the palace. Many of the ponies gasped, some jumped. Fluttershy shrieked slightly and shielded her eyes for a second.

When she opened them, she saw some debris and glass falling from the back side of the palace, facing the labyrinth. Smoke came out from the window and Fluttershy rubbed her eyes twice, doing a double take.

"Whooaa!"

Pinkie Pie hung out from the window, her hoof gripping the sill. Her voice traveled to the labyrinth. Fluttershy squinted, as a light grey mare pulled her back into the room. Inkie? And was that a white unicorn Fluttershy saw in there too?

They're ok? Rarity and Pinkie Pie?? Twilight must be with them!

Fluttershy then smiled, determination spreading across her face. She straightened up and turned to Titan Wings, a grin on her face.

"I think we just saw our signal."

Chapter 8

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight gave Cadance a few more minutes to regain her composure. The princess still felt woozy and weak from being in the crystal for so long.

"Just how did she take your place Cadance?" Twilight asked.

"It's so ridiculous; she did it so easily. I was just on the outskirts of Canterlot, minding my own business. I just went on a walk, and she disguised herself as an injured pony and asked for help... Next thing I knew, she had me imprisoned in this crystal and kept me underneath the palace in the caves. After a few days, I fell into a sleep," Cadance explained. "She must have been watching me for a while, and planned to take my place."

"Princess Luna can see through changeling disguises though. I wonder how she didn't catch Chrysalis sooner," Twilight said, as she began to pace.

"She must have avoided Princess Luna like the plague," Rarity suggested, "because Luna wasn't at the wedding."

"How do you feel Cadance? Think you can make it to the main chamber and free Princess Luna?" Twilight asked.

Cadance stood up and took a deep breath. She nodded. Twilight smiled. They were going to succeed.

"Excellent; let's go then," Twilight said.

Just as she took a step towards the door, it burst open and all three Pie sisters rushed in. Inkie slammed the door shut behind her and pressed up against it, as Blinkie began to fumble with something in her bag.

"Uh, Twilight, we have a slight problem," Pinkie said.

The door began to bang and bulge. Hisses could be heard on the other side.

"What are we going to do? How are we going to get out of here?" Rarity asked.

"How many are out there Pinkie?" Twilight asked.

"Too many," Pinkie replied.

"Is there any other way out of here?" Inkie asked, pushing with all her might to keep the door closed.

"Up there," Cadance answered. She pointed up towards the ceiling. "There's a narrow passageway between the floors. We can crawl over into the next room."

"What an odd place for a secret passage," Pinkie said.

"Who cares! We need to move! We need to get to Princess Lune before those changelings devour us!" Twilight said.

"But Twilight, how are we going to get up there? There's nothing in this room to climb up," Rarity said.

"I'll levitate you," Twilight said.

"I'll help," Cadance said.

"Quick; Flam, you first. You can help pull up us up once you're up there," Twilight said.

Cadance removed the secret panel on the ceiling and Twilight levitated Flam up top.

"Cadance, you have to go next because you need to lead us through the passage," Twilight said.

"But Twilight—"

"No arguing, you need to go! Only you can free Princess Luna, and she's the most powerful ally we have against Chrysalis right now. You're still too weak to fight, and the Elements of Harmony didn't work on Chrysalis. If we want any hope of changing Celestia back, we need Luna to help," Twilight barked.

Cadance nodded and flew up. Twilight levitated Rarity up next, and then Pinkie.

"Blinke, Inkie, come on!" Twilight shouted, as the changelings began to push harder against the door. Blinke stomped something quickly.

"She says to pull her up last; she'll delay the changelings," Inkie said.

"I'll hold the door with my magic; Cadance can levitate you up," Twilight said.

Inkie nodded. She hesitated for a second and then stepped away from the door. Cadance levitated her into the passage between the floors. Twilight struggled to hold her magic. The changelings were using every ounce of force to break through. Blinkie slowly began to back up towards the cut out in the ceiling, her eyes never leaving the door.

"You're next Twilight," Cadance said. Before Twilight could say anything, Cadance levitated her into the cramped space.

"Go, start to lead the way," Twilight said. Cadance nodded and began to crawl quickly through the cramped space, the others following.

"Blinkie, are you ready?" Twilight asked, her magic still holding the door. Blinkie nodded, her eyes still fixed on the door. Twilight took a deep breath and let go of the door.

Within seconds, the room was flooded with changelings. Twilight quickly switched her magic over to pulling up Blinkie. Blinkie let the bomb drop just as she was pulled through the gap and Twilight replaced the ceiling tile. Blinkie waved at her to start crawling fast.

Cadance was already lowering the others into the next room when Twilight and Blinkie caught up. The bomb went off in the next room, the force pushing the rest of the ponies out of the passage. They tumbled to the floor and groaned. A small hole appeared in the wall between the two rooms, and the surviving changelings began to dig their way through the wall.

"Quick! Leave the room! Go go go!" Twilight shouted.

Twilight ran to the front of the group and led them down the hall. Changelings burst out from the first room they were in and began to chase them. Blinkie and Inkie threw various small bombs at the following changelings, while Cadance kept up a barrier around the group, as changelings threw forces of magic towards them.

Twilight rounded the corner and came face to face with another group of changelings.

"What do we do?!" Rarity exclaimed.

"This way!" Cadance shouted, going down the other direction.

"But that isn't the right way!" Twilight shouted.

She didn't argue any further though. They'd have to take a detour towards the main chamber.

The changelings were hot on their heels. A changeling tackled Blinkie to the ground.

"Not my sister!" Pinkie shouted in rage. She kicked the changeling hard in the head, a deafening crack ringing through the chaos. She helped Blinkie up and they continued to run. Twilight kept throwing back blasts of magic towards the changelings.

Cadance rounded another corner and began to lead the group down a flight of stairs. Flam stumbled and fell, changelings on him within seconds.

"Flam!" Rarity shouted.

"Just go!" he shouted back, struggling with the changeling, "I'll be ok!"

"Rarity, come on!" Twilight said. She turned back and grabbed Rarity's hoof and dragged her away, as the changelings surrounded Flam.

They managed to escape the changelings. Cadance had led them down into an old servant's corridor on the opposite side of the palace. They waited a few heartbeats to make sure the changelings hadn't followed.

"Come; this way," Cadance said. She pushed on a spot on the wall, and a secret door appeared. She created a ball of light with her horn, and urged the ponies inside.

"I didn't realize there were so many secret passages in here," Twilight said.

"Most of them are only known to the princesses," Cadance said, as the last pony entered. She shut the door behind them and then stepped to the front. "Follow me."

They walked in silence as Cadance led them down the long, narrow passage. Twilight glanced at Rarity.

"Flam will be ok, Rarity," she said quietly, "I promise."

"He saved me at least three times this whole voyage," Rarity said softly, "and I couldn't return the favor."

"He'll be ok," was all Twilight could say.

They walked quietly, Pinkie and her sisters sometimes whispering here and there, but mostly, it was the sound of their hooves. The passageway seemed to twist and turn all over. It felt as though it took them twice as long as it would have taken if they had just gone through the regular palace.

"They made it so confusing, in case anypony ever stumbled upon it who wasn't supposed to know about the passage," Cadance explained, as Twilight voiced her thought. "We're almost at the main chamber though. There's a door that will lead us straight in."

Just as she finished her sentence, Cadance stopped. She put up her hoof for the others to stop as well. The Pie sisters stopped whispering. Cadance gestured for them to be quiet. She then put her ear to the wall and listened.

"Do you hear anything?" Twilight whispered, after a few moments of silence. Cadance slowly shook her head.

"I think it's all clear."

She pushed a series of bricks on the wall. A door opened beside Twilight. Twilight poked her head through and looked around. There were no changelings in sight. She stepped through and waved the others to follow.

Just as Rarity had explained, Luna was strapped down in the far corner of the room. Twilight and the others rushed over to her.

"Princess Luna! Are you alright?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. It is such a relief to see you again, unharmed, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said. She then turned her head.
"Cadance, you are freed. I need you to do the same for me, immediately."

"Of course," Cadance said.

"Blinkie, Inkie—can you two guard the door?" Twilight asked. Inkie nodded. She and Blinkie moved closer to the middle of the room, their eyes on the door.

"I'll join them," Pinkie said.

Cadance lowered her horn to the chains wrapped around Princess Luna. She closed her eyes and murmured an incantation in a language Twilight had never heard before. Her horn glowed an unusual color of grey. For a second Twilight was concerned that they had been tricked again, that this wasn't the real Cadance; but Luna could see through the changeling disguises and would have said something.

When she was finished, Cadance opened her eyes, a glint of hope in them. Luna tried to stand, but the chains didn't budge. They pushed her back to the ground.

"I... I don't understand," Cadance said, the hope fading fast from her eyes.

"It's alright," Luna said calmly, "Just try it again."

Cadance tried the spell again. Still, it didn't work. She tried again and again, saying the words faster and faster each time, her apprehension obvious.

"W-what are we going to do? It isn't working," Cadance whispered, panic in her voice.

Luna struggled against the chains. She sighed in frustration.

"There has to be some other way," Twilight said.

Pinkie Pie and her sisters walked back over to the group, after nothing had happened for the past twenty minutes.

Blinkie walked up to Princess Luna and stared at her square in the face. Luna stared back and then nodded.

"Everypony, stand back," Luna said. Blinkie began to pull out a series of small bombs and place them around the princess.

"Princess, are you crazy!?" Twilight said, "They'll tear you apart!"

"Do not fear, Twilight Sparkle. Now stand back," Luna said.

Twilight stood back, an uneasy feeling growing in her stomach. Was this really going to work? How did Luna expect to survive an explosion like this? Blinkie set up nearly half a dozen bombs around the princess.

Blinkie then looked at the other ponies, as though checking to make sure they were far enough away. She then backed up a bit herself, but not nearly as far as the others had gone.

"Shouldn't she back up further?" Twilight asked. Inkie shook her head.

"She's keeping something from us, something to do with her survival of the earlier explosion. She can survive them somehow," Inkie murmured under her breath.

Blinkie pulled out a small remote and hit a button. Red lights began to blink on all of the bombs in unison. They began to blink and beep faster.

Twilight hadn't been prepared for the magnitude of the blast. She hadn't expected it to be that great. She was pushed back a bit, and there was a slight ringing in her ears.

" Whooaa!" Pinkie said, as she flew through the window. Inkie quickly ran and pulled her back through.

There was a thick cloud of dust where the princess had once been. Twilight coughed and stepped towards it, just as a dark silhouette began to approach her. Princess Luna smiled down at Twilight. Twilight smiled back. They were back in the game.

"Time to go find my sister," Luna said.

"There's no need; I'm right here."

Twilight and the others whipped around. Standing at the door, a fleet of changelings behind her, was the possessed Princess Celestia.

Chapter 9

Twilight Sparkle

"Sister, you are not yourself," Luna said. She took a step forward, but then retreated slightly, as Celestia's horn glowed menacingly.

"Do you really want to duel again, Luna? After what I just did to you and the effort it took you to escape?" Celestia asked.

Her voice was warped, and her eyes glowed a grotesque green. Her coat was a dark, smoky grey, and her beautiful colorful mane was faded. Her cutie mark looked oddly out of place on her dark body. When she grinned at Luna, her teeth looked sharp and jagged. A few feathers fell off of her wings. The sight brought tears to Twilight's eyes.

We just have to save her, we just have to... Celestia, my mentor, my idol...

"Celestia, wake up and see what she has done to you," Luna said, "Look around and see what she is doing to our beloved kingdom!"

"Queen Chrysaliss has provided me with great power," Celestia said. Twilight winced as she hissed Chrysalis's name. "I've never felt better. You must join us, sister."

"You really are possessed if you think Luna would ever join Chrysalis's side," Cadance snapped.

Celestia slowly turned her head and tilted it to one side as she looked at Cadance. She smiled wickedly.

"Dear Cadance, you are free as well? Chrysalis will not be pleased, but no matter. Once I defeat and ssubdue Luna once again, I will take you down, and you can begin your transsformation," Celestia said.

"That's enough Celestia!" Luna shouted. She took a firm step forward, her horn glowing. Celestia cackled.

"You think you can defeat all of uss? I've always been stronger than you sister, and I have ninety percent of the changeling army behind me. It's no usse! You will fall, and you will become one of us!" Celestia shouted.

Celestia charged at Luna and Luna charged back. They met in the middle, their horns clashing together.

"We need the Elements of Harmony, we need to change her back!" Inkie cried.

"We need to find the others—now," Rarity said, as she turned to look at Twilight.

Twilight bit her lower lip. Even if they did find the others, how were they going to use the Elements of Harmony? Her Element crown had broken.

"Go!" Luna shouted, as though she had heard what Rarity said. She pushed against Celestia, but Celestia held her ground.

"Come on girls," Twilight said.

"I'm staying here; I need to help Luna fight," Cadance said.

Twilight and the others tread carefully around the fighting alicorns. The changelings blocking the door hissed. Twilight had never seen a group so big. She took a step back.

"T-there's way too many of them," she whispered, as the changelings began to march into the room.

Blinkie began to rummage around in her bag, as the small group of ponies began to back into the room, the changelings coming closer.

Twilight turned her head at the sound of a shriek behind her. She gasped. Celestia laughed, as Cadance slumped to the floor unconscious, her body smoking slightly. Luna shot a beam of magic at Celestia, but she dodged it effortlessly. Luna charged her, and once again the two princesses were locked at the horns.

"Blinkie, we need a bomb, fast," Twilight said.

"Why does she have to do everything? We all have bombs in our bags!" Inkie snapped.

"This isn't the time to argue!" Pinkie shouted.

Just then, an explosion went off. It went off outside of the room, in the centre of the changeling army. Changelings hissed and shrieked. Those that were in the main chamber already, turned around to help their fallen comrades. Pinkie threw a small bomb at their turned backs.

"Get down!" she shouted.

Twilight hugged the ground as the other bomb went off. There was the sound of a lot of commotion in the hall. Were those voices Twilight could hear?

Applejack and Big Mac suddenly burst through the throng of changelings. Applejack kicked a changeling that tried to bite onto Big Mac. They kept the changelings at bay, as Fluttershy and a severely injured Rainbow Dash limped into the room.

"Twilight! Rarity, Pinkie! You're all alright!" Fluttershy said, a smile on her face.

Twilight and the others ran over. Pinkie Pie helped support Rainbow Dash on her other side. Rainbow Dash gave her a weak grin.

"What happened!?" Pinkie asked.

"I was transported to the roof, and a weathervane was through my wing," Rainbow Dash said. She winced.

"You're in no condition to fight, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said.

"I know; but we need to try the Elements of Harmony on Chrysalis again," Rainbow Dash said, gritting her teeth.

"They won't work on Chrysalis," Twilight said, "but we could have used them to change Celestia back."

"What do you mean 'could have used them'? We still have our necklaces," Applejack said, mid-kicking a changeling out of the way.

"I know you do; but my crown was smashed by Shining Armour," Twilight said with a heavy sigh, "I don't know how we're going to use the Elements of Harmony, if I don't have mine."

"We'll figure something out," Rarity said.

There were shouts and shrieks coming from the hall. Twilight craned her neck to see what was going on.

"What's happening out there?" she asked.

"The pony army is here," Fluttershy said, a proud smile on her face, "We've got all of the royal guards and a few civilians fighting inside here, and the rest of the civilians surrounding the palace. We're going to win this!"

Suddenly there was a loud shriek from behind them. They all turned their heads in time to see Celestia sneer in anger, her right shoulder smoking slightly.

Looks like Luna managed a hit.

"Come on; we need to at least try to use the Elements. You don't know for certain that it won't work Twi," Applejack said.

"You're right. We need to—"

A changeling came out of nowhere and knocked Twilight hard across the face. Changelings swarmed around them, kicking, biting and using their magic to fight. Twilight fought back, the whole thing becoming a blur of black bodies and scrapes and bruises.

Fluttershy was fiercely putting up a fight to protect Rainbow Dash. She had backed her into a corner and Twilight had never seen her fight so viscously. Derpy came into the room and helped. Applejack and Big Mac fought side by side, each covering their backs. Pinkie helped her sisters launch bombs into the crowd of changelings. Despite all of the ammunition, the size of the changeling army didn't seem to be going down.

Just then, Twilight was pinned to the ground. She struggled against the changeling, who grinned down at her, as it began to lower its horn to hers. It was going to scramble her magic. She was going to lose her magic! Her biggest nightmare was going to become a reality!

"Help! Someone help me!" Twilight shouted. The changeling had already inhibited the use of her own magic. A warm, fuzzy feeling was beginning to envelope her. This was it. This was the end of her and her conscious mind.

Suddenly, there was a big spike of magic. It blew the changeling off of her and knocked over a few more in the perimeter of the spell. Twilight felt dizzy, as the pony helped her up. Had one of the princesses helped her? That had been serious magic.

When the room stopped spinning, Twilight couldn't believe her eyes. Trixie gave her an odd look.

"What?" Trixie finally snapped.

"Trixie.. how did you... how did you do that?" Twilight asked.

"Trixie is great and powerful," she replied.

"Thank you," Twilight said.

"There is no need to thank; we are even now," Trixie said.

Flam and Rarity walked over to Twilight and Trixie.

"Flam! You're alive!" Twilight said.

"Trixie saved me; they almost had me scrambled," he said.

"Saving two ponies, Trixie? Isn't that above your limit?" Twilight asked. Trixie shot her a dirty look.

"I got lost in the palace, ok? So I figured I'd be safer if I joined your little rebellion," she snapped.

Twilight smiled. She then turned to make sure her other friends were ok. The changelings seemed to be falling back. She could see more of the ponies outside in the hall, slowly diminishing the changelings.

"Come on girls; Applejack is right. We need to least give the Elements a try," Twilight said. "Trixie, Flam, you two stay here and fight. I'm going to close the door. Trixie, I'll need you to keep it shut with your magic."

"An easy task," Trixie scoffed.

Twilight magically shut the door and Trixie stood in front of it, her horn glowing. Flam stood by her side. They defeated what little changelings were still in the room.

"Derpy, Inkie, can you two go check on Princess Cadance?" Twilight asked. They nodded and ran over to the fallen princess. "Big Mac, Blinkie, I want you two to stand at the door with Trixie and Flam. Fight off any changelings that try to get through. We're going to try and save Princess Celestia."

Celestia and Luna fought on. Both of them had small injuries, but nothing serious. They seemed to be at a standstill. Twilight and the others made their way over to Luna, Pinkie and Fluttershy carrying Rainbow Dash. They stood behind Luna.

"I'm not sure if it's going to work; but we're going to give it a try," Twilight said.

Just as she said the last word, Celestia shot a powerful beam of magic and knocked Luna out of the way. She then turned angrily at the six ponies.

"Come on girls!" Twilight shouted.

They got in formation and Twilight closed her eyes. She tried to concentrate on summoning the Element of Magic, despite the fact that her crown was broken. She remembered the feeling of the magic surging through her, the incredible feeling of the fresh power running through her veins. She felt herself tingle all over, as though it was really happening.

Twilight opened her eyes and saw she was floating. It was working. It was actually working. She turned her head and saw the others behind her floating as well, their magical auras surrounding them. They were doing it. They were using the Elements of Harmony!

"No," Celestia whispered, "No! This cannot be!"

Panic filled the princess's voice as she shouted. Twilight stared down at her beloved possessed mentor.

"We're going to save you, Princess Celestia," Twilight said, her voice echoing.

"No!" Celestia shouted.

"Come on girls!" Twilight shouted again.

They pulled their energy together and Twilight readied the beam of purifying magic aiming it at Celestia. But just as she fired it at the princess, Celestia jumped out of the way and dodged the beam. She then ran towards the broken window.

"No!" Luna shouted, still struggling to stand from her sister's attack, "Do not let her escape!"

But it was too late. Twilight and her friends floated back to the ground, as Celestia jumped out of the window, and flew away.

Chapter 10

Twilight Sparkle

"Quick! We need to go after her," Twilight said. She had rushed to the window and was watching Princess Celestia fly away.

"How are we going to follow her? None of us can fly, and those who can are injured and can't," Rarity said, as she gestured towards Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, both of whom had wing injuries.

Luna stood slowly and whistled loudly.

Suddenly, a pegasus poked his head through the window, nearly bashing into Twilight's face. Twilight looked down to see Luna's large chariot hovering below the window, two pegasi harnessed in, their wings flapping. Luna walked over to the window.

"Troy, we're going to need more of you to pull the chariot. There are seven of us coming all together," Luna said, addressing the pegasi at the window.

"I'll go find more guards, your Highness," Troy said. He then took off, flying so fast, it almost seemed as though he disappeared in midair.

"What about the rest of us?" Inkie asked.

"I'm sorry," Luna said, her voice genuine, "But there is not enough room in my chariot for all of you. I would take you all, if I could. But only myself and the Elements of Harmony will be able to go."

Blinkie nodded in agreement, and then stomped out something.

"I want you to stay here and try to fend off the changelings. Guard over Princess Cadance," Luna said, gesturing towards the unconscious pink princess.

Blinkie nodded, and then turned to Inkie and began to stomp out something else.

"They're here," Twilight said. She gestured out the window, where four more royal guardian pegasi were being harnessed to the chariot. Five out of six of them were Luna's guards, but one of them was Celestia's. Twilight recognized CloudsArmour and Titan Wings.

"Quickly, everypony into the chariot," Luna said.

Applejack and Fluttershy helped lower Rainbow Dash into the chariot first. Then they got in themselves, then Twilight and Rarity. Pinkie Pie gave her sisters a quick hug and then jumped into the chariot. Luna was the last to enter.

"How will we find her?" Twilight asked, as the chariot took off.

"Now that I know what her presence as a possessed alicorn feels like , I can sense her properly again," Luna said.

"Where are we heading to, Princess?" Troy asked, who was sitting at the front of the chariot.

Luna didn't answer. Instead, she closed her eyes and her horn glowed. She murmured something that Twilight didn't understand, and then suddenly, in front of them was a sparkly, silver trail.

"Follow this path. This is the way my sister went," Luna said, "And fly as fast as you can."

The chariot was cramped, and the silvery trail seemed to go on endlessly.

"How are you holding up Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked quietly.

Rainbow Dash winced, as the chariot jostled around.

"Princess Luna, is there anything you can do to ease her suffering?" Twilight asked, giving her rainbow friend a concerned look.

"Oh my—please forgive my manners. My thoughts are so preoccupied with my sister, I... I just feel foolish now," Luna said. Her horn glowed again, as did Rainbow Dash's wing. After a few seconds, it stopped.

"Celestia is better at healing, than I," Luna said, "I seemed to have lost that ability when the dark magic took over me. It seems as though I traded it for something else. Anyways, while your wing is not completely healed, it should no longer feel pain now. Though I do advise not to fly until it is properly healed."

"Thank you, princess," Rainbow Dash said, "It doesn't hurt at all anymore! That's amazing."

"What do you mean you traded your healing abilities for something else?" Twilight asked.

"That is more of a metaphor; it just seems that some of the magical attributes that Celestia and I used to share are no longer with me. Instead I have different powers, that she does not possess, but that Chrysalis does," Luna explained.

"Princess, why do you think the Element of Magic worked, even though I did not have the crown?" Twilight asked.

Princess Luna smiled.

"Dear Twilight; the Element of Magic lives in you. You are the bodily representation of it. You do not need those silly trinkets to really harness the Element's power. The power lives in you," Luna explained, still smiling, "Celestia and I never used trinkets when we used to use the Elements of Harmony. The reason we gave you those pieces, was so that you were not tempted to use the power in your everyday lives."

"Everyday lives? You mean we can access the power any time we want? We don't even need each other to do so?" Twilight asked, shocked. The faces of her friends expressed the same surprise.

"Yes, in a way. The power is limited and not as powerful when one Element is used on its own; they work better together, because together they make up Harmony. We did not want this power to be abused, and although we trusted all of you with the Elements of Harmony, and believe that you would not abuse this power, sometimes... sometimes the greed of power can sneak up on you, without you even knowing it," Luna said. Twilight guessed she was reflecting on her time as Nightmare Moon. "So Celestia created the trinkets so that you would think you needed them to use the power."

"But when Discord came back, and the 'Elements', the crown and necklaces, were missing, Celestia insisted that we find them again," Twilight said.

Luna sighed. "Since Discord helped create the seed of darkness within myself, Celestia wanted to make sure that you were strong enough to defeat him and work together. That is most likely why she told you to find the crown and necklaces, to ensure that you could work past Discord's tricks."

"That Princess Celestia, always testin' us," Applejack said with a chuckle. "I wonder how she was able to send us to all those different places and save us n' stuff, while bein' possessed."

"Save you? Send you places?" Luna asked.

"When we first escaped from the pods, we ran into the labyrinth and then we were separated, and each given a task. Mine was to find you," Twilight explained. "And then just a few hours ago, when we were trying to fight Chrysalis, she was coming towards us, seemingly going to destroy us, when we were all saved and sent away."

"Except some of us appeared where a weathervane was, and ended up worse," Rainbow Dash said.

"Anyways," Twilight said, "In the beginning, we all heard what sounded like Princess Celestia's voice. And then the warmth that enveloped us and sent us away seemed like her magic too."

"I did not think my sister was that strong," Luna murmured quietly.

"We're not one hundred percent sure, but it sounded like her," Twilight explained.

"I guess we'll know the truth after we save her," Fluttershy said.

"Just how long is this path? Where are we going?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I have a speculation of where we're going. It may be a long ride. We'll just have to wait and see," Luna said.

It had been nearly two hours. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had fallen asleep. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were playing cards—Twilight wasn't surprised when the pink pony had randomly pulled out a deck—and the rest of them sat quietly, watching the scenery go by. The night was beginning to fade, and the first few peaks of morning were starting to show, as they traveled further and further east, towards where the rising sun would be.

"We're not in Equestria anymore, are we?" Twilight asked quietly. Luna shook her head.

"We left its borders a half hour ago," the princess murmured.

"Where are we then?" Applejack asked.

The landscape around them was barren and grey. Naked black trees twisted in a forest below, and tall, sharp mountains were everywhere. The silvery trail led between the mountains, traveling further and further into a thick cluster of them.

"We're in an unclaimed land, run by monsters," Luna said quietly.

"How can it be unclaimed?" Twilight asked.

"It has the same magical properties as the Everfree Forest," Luna said. That explained it well enough.

The trail led into a thick patch of fog. As they chariot entered it, Twilight could barely see in front of her face, let alone the trail any more.

"Land just over there," Luna said suddenly. How she, or the pegasi pulling the chariot, could see was beyond Twilight's knowledge.

The chariot began to descend, and landed softly on a platform. The fog began to thin. Twilight stepped off of the chariot, the others following, and she looked around. Dark black mountains surrounded them, and they were very high up on one of them. A dark cave was in front of them. Thunder rolled over head.

"W-W-W-What's that?" Fluttershy stuttered. She pointed her hoof at something up ahead.

Twilight followed the line of her hoof. Towering above them, on the next platform up, was a dark, steep castle. It looked run down and extremely old. Inside one of the broken windows, Twilight thought she saw something glowing green. Twilight could see the silvery trail leading inside the castle.

"Where are we?" Twilight whispered.

A crash of lightning illuminated the castle. Luna stepped to the front of the group and took a deep breath. She looked up at the castle.

"Chrysalis's castle."

Chapter 11

Twilight Sparkle

"C-C-C-Chrysalis's-s c-c-castle?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Chrysalis has a castle?" Twilight asked.

"They do not call her a queen for nothing," Luna said, still staring up at the castle. "Come. We must go inside."

"Wait, princess, what's the plan?" Twilight asked, "What if there's an ambush waiting for us?"

"There isn't," Luna said, "It's just Chrysalis and my sister. All of the changelings are in Equestria. The plan is that I need you six to go after my sister. I will distract Chrysalis."

"What of us, your Highness?" one of the guards asked.

"CloudsArmour, Titan Wings; you stick with the Elements of Harmony. The rest of you are with me," Luna said.

Luna led the group into the towering cave. The unicorns provided light as they walked through the empty cavern. Applejack had to keep a hoof on Fluttershy to ensure that she wouldn't run away. The yellow pegasus kept shaking and squeaking every few seconds.

The walk in the cave was short. Soon they were ascending and were out the other side, steps away from Chrysalis's castle. Up close, the castle looked more run down than Twilight had initially thought. Most of the windows were broken, and those that weren't, were completely covered in dirt. The door was broken, barely hanging on its hinges. The inside of the castle looked just as dark as the cave had been.

"Is this really her castle?" Rarity asked.

"No; this land, this untamed land, was once a powerful kingdom, ruled by beautiful and majestic beasts. That time has long passed. Chrysalis has merely taken the castle as her dwelling, as changelings hold no formal territory," Luna explained.

"How do you know Chrysalis is here?" Twilight asked.

"My sister would not have come here otherwise. She was retreating to her 'master'," Luna said.

They walked into the castle. The unicorns again provided the light. Luna lead them up a flight of stairs and then turned to the right. She paused in front of a set of great doors. An eerie green glow came from inside the room. Twilight could hear voices on the other side as well.

"... Elements of Harmony to change me back to normal," came Celestia's warped voice.

"It can't be done," Chrysalis said, "You've been fed too much dark energy. Those ussselesss Elementss can't harm you, as they didn't harm me."

"Are you certain?" Celestia asked, "Because they ssseemed pretty sure they would work. My sister was the one who told them to use them on me."

"Are you questioning my authority?" Chrysalis hissed, "Remember who gave you such awesome powers. I can take them away from you, I can take your consciousness away and turn you into nothing but a shell!"

There was the sound of a whimper, as though Chrysalis struck Celestia.

"Besssidess," Chrysalis said, "One of the Elementss is broken."

"But they were working," Celestia said, "It didn't matter that the Element of Magic was broken."

"What!?" Chrysalis screamed.

"The power lives within them," Celestia said, "The trinkets are just a ruse."

"We are going to have to gather even more energy then, if we hope to defeat them," Chrysalis said angrily.

"I thought you said that we were strong enough to defeat them anyways," Celestia said.

"Do not question me! More energy would merely be a precaution!" Chrysalis shouted. "Are you certain they didn't follow you here?"

"They couldn't have; I left before they had the chance," Celestia said.

"You are wrong," Luna bellowed.

She kicked down the door and entered the room with her head held high. Chrysalis and Celestia were standing in the centre, a slow waft of green energy entering Chrysalis. Some poor creature that Twilight didn't recognize was in a cocoon in the far back corner.

"It seems that with your transformation, you can no longer detect my presence, sister," Luna said.

"How dare you intrude into my cassstle!" Chrysalis shouted.

"Like you intruded into ours?" Luna asked darkly, her eyes narrowing.

Luna charged at Chrysalis, four of her royal guards following behind her. Titan Wings and CloudsArmour stayed with the mane 6. Luna and Chrysalis's horns locked, magic sparking.

"Get out of here Celessstia!" Chrysalis ordered.

Celestia glared at Twilight and took a step back. Celestia glanced towards a nearby window and back to Twilight.

"She's going to make a run for it again!" Twilight said.

Applejack and Twilight began to run for Celestia. Celestia bolted across the room towards the window.

"We can't let her escape!" Applejack exclaimed.

Celestia reached the window and began to fly out. Twilight kept running, not sure what else she could do. Just as she was about to turn back and tell CloudsArmour and Titan Wings to go after Celestia, a streak of rainbow zoomed past her.

Twilight and Applejack reached the window in time to see Rainbow Dash tackle Celestia to the ground.

"Quick! Titan Wings, CloudsArmour, help Rainbow Dash keep Princess Celestia grounded! The rest of us need to get down there—now!" Twilight shouted.

The two guards flew by Twilight and Applejack, and joined Rainbow Dash on the ground. Twilight and Applejack turned around and ran towards the door, the others following. Luna and Chrysalis continued to fight, as Luna's guards kept Chrysalis surrounded.

When Twilight and the others reached the ground, Titan Wings and CloudsArmour had Celestia pinned to the ground. Rainbow Dash was off to the side, blood surrounding her. She was slumped up against a rock for support.

"Rainbow Dash! Are you ok?" Twilight asked. She rushed towards her friend. Applejack helped Rainbow stand. The stitches that Dr. Whooves had provided had ripped open, and her wing was drenched in blood.

"Princess Luna told you not to fly!" Fluttershy said, a sternness in her voice.

"Couldn't... just let the... princess... escape," Rainbow Dash said.

"Come on girls; if we can change Princess Celestia back, she can heal Rainbow Dash," Twilight said.

Applejack and Fluttershy helped carry Rainbow Dash over to where the princess was being held down. Celestia was thrashing, trying to get CloudsArmour and Titan Wings off of her. They were struggling to keep her still.

"Quick; we have to get into formation before she uses her magic," Twilight said.

She and her friends quickly got into position. Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated on the magic flowing through her. Celestia began to panic harder, flailing wildly. She kicked off CloudsArmour and shot a beam of magic at Titan Wings. She jumped up and spread her wings, ready to take off.

But this time, the favor was in the hooves of the Elements. Twilight felt the energy of the Elements flowing through her and she opened her eyes. The princess took one step back, and shrieked, as the warm rainbow light completely enveloped her.

Chapter 12

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight and her friends floated softly to the ground. The rainbow light slowly began to dim, and once it had vanished, Celestia stood tall, her eyes closed. Her coat was back to its magnificent shade of white, her mane was bright and colorful, the colors of the rising sun, and when she spoke, her voice was soft and kind.

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle," she said softly, "Thank you all."

A single tear rolled down the cheek of the princess. Twilight's heart ached and she took a hesitant step towards her idol.

"Are you alright, princess?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Celestia said, as she opened her eyes. "I cannot begin to thank you enough."

"There's no need to thank us, princess. It was our duty as the Elements of Harmony. Of course we were going to save you and Equestria," Rainbow Dash said.

"But there is need for many thanks. I failed my kingdom. And if it were not for you six, I'd still be corrupt and under that devil's spell," Celestia said, anger in her voice. Twilight had never heard Celestia be angry before.

"What exactly happened, Princess Celestia? How did she do this to you?" Twilight asked.

"There is nothing to explain. It is simple. She overpowered me. The energy of love that she fed off of Shining Armor made her more powerful. And when it came down to a duel, I lost. She put a spell on me, one in which I could not move and could not talk. I could barely think. But I could always see," Celestia said, "I could see what she was doing to my kingdom. And as she began to feed the dark energy into me, my rationale and my self-identity began to be pushed further and further into the back of my mind. There was nothing I could do to stop it. Soon, a new, dark identity began to take over, and I could do nothing but sit by idly."

"So you could hear us when I tried to wake you?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. I could hear and see everything. I could see her and her changelings putting innocent ponies into cocoons. I saw when she arrested my sister. And I felt so ashamed, so useless, because I could do nothing to stop her," Celestia said quietly.

"You were in that room? The whole time, from the very beginning?" Twilight asked softly. "Spike said he didn't know where you were."

"My appearance had been altered. It even took you some time to think about where I was," Celestia said. "Even my sister couldn't detect my presence."

"But you're ok now? The darkness is all gone?" Twilight asked, "Or is some of it still there, like with Princess Luna?"

"With Luna, it is different," Celestia explained, "Since she brought on the darkness herself. For me, it is all cleansed. I am myself again. It is all gone, because it was forced upon me. I am sorry that I attacked all of you. You don't know what's it like, not being able to stop your own actions. I had no control over my body, or over what I said."

"It's ok, princess. You're safe now, and now we're going to defeat Chrysalis," Twilight said, holding her head high.

"Do you think you could heal me first maybe?" Rainbow Dash asked. She was slumped up against Applejack again, and was looking very pale.

"Oh dear me, of course," Celestia said, approaching the blue pegasus at once. She lowered her horn and a soft glow emitted from it. It surrounded Rainbow Dash, and within seconds, all of the blood was gone and so was the hole in her wing.

Rainbow Dash stood on her own and stretched her wing. The color was back to her coat and she jumped in the air and flew around in a few circles.

"Back in business! Awesome! Thank you, princess!" Rainbow Dash said, punching the air with enthusiasm.

"Um... I think maybe my wing could use some healing too..." Fluttershy said. She said it so quietly that Twilight was surprised the princess had heard it at all.

Celestia smiled and walked over to Fluttershy. She healed her broken wing, and then examined the rest of the group, who seemed to miraculously have little to no injuries.

"Now let's go get that Queen," Celestia said, determination in her voice.

Celestia led them to the castle and up the stairs. She burst through the door, the six ponies flanking her. She stood tall and glared at Chrysalis.

"I sssee they've changed you back," Chrysalis said, a terrible smirk on her face.

"Your magic on me was not powerful enough to defeat the Elements of Harmony," Celestia declared.

"But your preciouss Elements weren't powerful enough to beat me," Chrysalis said.

"Now I am here to guide them, and aid in their power. And so shall my sister," Celestia said.

Celestia scanned the room. Her face turned even angrier.

"Where is Luna! What have you done with her?" Celestia shouted. Chrysalis cackled.

Twilight panicked and began to scan the room as well. Luna was gone. There seemed to be no trace of her.

"There! Up there!" Rarity shouted.

Twilight and Celestia both looked up sharply. There, hanging in a gigantic cocoon and banging on it from the inside, was Princess Luna.

Chapter 13

Twilight Sparkle

"H-How could Princess Luna be in a cocoon!? She said Chrysalis's magic didn't work on her!" Twilight sputtered.

"She's not unconscious though! She's tryin' to get out," Applejack said.

Chrysalis laughed. "My magic has grown even stronger than I had thought! My dark powers can now overpower Luna's!"

Luna yelled something from within her cocoon, her voice inaudible. She banged hard on the cocoon, but it would not break.

"Do not worry sister; I shall free you, as you freed me," Celestia said firmly. Her horn glowed and she shot a beam of magic at the cocoon—but it did not work. The small hole the magic had created quickly regenerated and fixed itself.

Chrysalis cackled louder. She shot a ray of green magic at the cocoon and it thickened, Luna becoming barely visible. Celestia growled in anger and took a step towards Chrysalis.

"It is foolish to think you can change her as you changed me Chrysalis," Celestia said, "You know that it will not work. Discord told you as much."

"But it is already beginning to work! The firssst sstep is imprisoning her, and I have achieved that! With a little bit more power, I can and I will transform Luna. I will transform you back and I will eventually get Cadance as well! You three will be my puppeteers as I eventually take over the whole world! Finally, me and my changelings will have the land we deserve, and we will no longer be second class citizens to ponies and other creaturess!" Chrysalis said.

She charged at Celestia and they locked horns. Twilight turned to her friends.

"We need to get Princess Luna out of there, pronto," Twilight said.

"On it," Rainbow Dash said. She flew in the air and went up to the cocoon. She began punching, pulling and poking at it. She even tried tearing it apart with her teeth.

"It's different than the ones we were in," Rainbow Dash said.

"Is it like the crystal Cadance was in?" Twilight asked.

"No; it's different from that too," Rainbow Dash said.

"What are we going to do? If Celestia's magic didn't work, there's no way my magic is going to," Twilight said, as she began to pace frantically. Rainbow Dash continued to try and tear the cocoon apart by hoof, but to no avail.

"What if we try the Elements of Harmony on it?" Applejack asked.

"That might just work! Rainbow Dash, come back down here and get in formation," Twilight said, "Don't worry Princess Luna, we'll get you out!" Twilight wasn't sure if she could hear her.

The ponies got in formation again and began to channel their energy. Suddenly, something blistering hot and sharp struck Twilight. She flew across the room, a scream escaping from her lips. Chrysalis cackled, her horn steaming from the blast.

"Twilight! Are you alright?" Rarity asked, as she rushed towards you.

Twilight didn't give a proper answer. She was pretty sure the exact words that left her mouth were "aassshdfhhhaaaaahhh!", but she couldn't be 100% certain. She slowly opened her eyes, glossy from tears, and saw that there was a blistering welt on her shoulder where she had been struck.

"W-what happ-ppened?" Twilight asked, unable to stop her voice from cracking. She was in so much pain.

"She's grown so powerful," Pinkie Pie said, kneeling on Twilight's other side, "Chrysalis hit you without even breaking contact with Celestia."

"She did it almost instanteously, like she didn't even need to think about it," Fluttershy said.

"Watch out!"

Rainbow Dash suddenly dove to the ground and tackled Pinkie to the ground, a beam of magic hitting the wall. A hole appeared in the wall, melting it away. Chrysalis laughed again.

"W-we need to try to use the E-Elements of Harmony to free Luna," Twilight winced, as she stood.

It hurt to stand. The leg connected to her shoulder was in tremendous pain if she tried to put any weight on it. Pinkie Pie held her up for support.

Chrysalis shot a strong beam of magic at Celestia. It hit Celestia hard and she flew across the room. She hit the wall with a hard thud, but stood up immediately, despite the loud crack and now odd angle that her left wing was at.

Chrysalis cackled and flew in the air, standing in front Luna's cocoon.

"You cannot beat me! I am too powerful for the likes of you pathetic poniess!" she screeched. She shot a few more rays towards the mane 6, all of them diving out of the way, one of them singeing Rarity's tail.

"We need to try!" Twilight shouted.

"But we're not in formation!" Applejack yelled back.

"Doesn't matter! Just concentrate on your Element!" Twilight said.

She didn't dare close her eyes. She focused on the cocoon behind Chrysalis, and tried to concentrate as the energy slowly began to flow through her. She began to rise off the ground, the others in their various spots doing the same. Chrysalis growled at them and readied another blow, but Celestia jumped out of nowhere and tackled the changeling queen to the ground. Twilight was impressed, though not surprised, that the princess could jump that high, despite her broken wing.

The energy flowed through Twilight and she could feel the power of the other Elements in the room. She gathered the energy, aimed it and shot it at the cocoon. The cocoon was enveloped with a rainbow glow, and then burst into flames, disintegrating. Luna gracefully landed on the ground, as did the Element bearers. She nodded her head in thanks and turned her attention to Chrysalis.

Chrysalis knocked Celestia off of her, her face twisted in rage. Celestia stumbled over to the ponies, Luna catching her before she could fall.

"Thank you, sister," Celestia said.

"Anything for you," Luna said in response. The two shared a look, and then both of them turned to Chrysalis.

Chrysalis continued to snarl in rage. Luna took a step towards her, her face stern, her mouth opening to say something, when Celestia quickly shot out her foreleg and held her sister back. Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Chrysalis's face continued to twist and snarl, though it looked like it was more than just the rage. Smoke began to surround her body and created a cocoon around her. Small shocks of lightning came out of the mini-cloud cocoon, but then the black cloud began to encompass the whole room. The lightning became stronger and the cocoon began to grow bigger. A maniacal, dark laugh filled the room.

When the cloud cocoon dissipated, Twilight's jaw fell open. Fluttershy screamed behind her, and Rarity nearly fainted. Standing in front of them, at least ten feet tall was Chrysalis. Her eyes were bright red, her body somehow blacker than before. Her wings seemed to expand the entire room's length, and they were sickly and scaly. Her tail no longer matched her sick green mane; instead, it was the same, tick scales that covered her wings, and there was a sharp spade point at the end. Her tongue seemed longer and more snakelike. Her horn looked as though it could penetrate the hardest shell, and her teeth were sharper and more jagged.

"W-What just happened?" Rainbow Dash whispered.

"She's transformed," Luna whispered, her eyes wide.

"Into what?" Twilight asked.

"A monster."

Chapter 14

Twilight Sparkle

"A monster," Celestia whispered back.

"B-but she was always a monster," Rarity whined quietly.

"Sister, we need to act now," Luna said quickly, practically shouting. She quickly shot a beam of magic at Celestia's wing and it cracked back into place. The sun princess hadn't even so much as winced at it.

The two princesses ran towards their new, giant, formidable foe. The ran around her in opposing circles, each chanting the same thing in an unknown language to Twilight. Luna shot out a ray that resembled the moon and Celestia shot out one that resembled the sun. The two images flew above the princesses and met together above Chrysalis. There was a bright light, quickly followed by absolutely no light at all—everything went dark. Suddenly there was a loud burst of what looked like stars, and they enveloped Chrysalis.

The two princesses stopped running and went back to the group of ponies. They stood in front of the Element bearers and shot alternating beams of magic at Chrysalis as well.

Twilight had never seen such feats in magic. Although Chrysalis's magic had been terrifying, yet brilliant in the eyes of a magic scholar, it was nothing compared to what she had just seen the princesses perform.

This must be one of those magical powers Luna had mentioned, that they use instead of the Elements of Harmony.

The princesses stopped shooting magic and everypony seemed to hold their breath.

The stars around Chrysalis began to wriggle and vibrate. They could not contain her. They began to break apart and they shattered as they fell to the ground.

"Everypony down!" Luna instructed harshly, as Celestia erected a barrier around them. The stars continued to fall, shattering and exploding as they hit the ground. The giant Chrysalis cackled and laughed. She shot a beam of lightning at the ponies, the barrier just barely holding. Luna then erected a barrier inside of Celestia's.

"What are we to do sister?" Luna asked, trying to hold the panic out of her voice. Chrysalis began to stab at the barriers with the point at the end of her tail. She never stopped laughing, her eyes screaming bright red.

"I don't think there is anything we can do," Celestia whispered. She turned her head to Luna, and Twilight's heart stopped. She had never seen the look of fear of Celestia's face. There had always been concern, whenever they were attacked before in the past. But the look on the princess's face now was nothing more than pure fear; fear of losing, fear of death—fear of letting her kingdom down.

Fluttershy was crying non-stop behind Twilight, Pinkie's forelegs wrapped around her. Rarity looked dangerously pale, which was hard for a white pony to do. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were holding hooves.

"What if we tried the Elements of Harmony and your spell together?" Twilight whispered, desperate to find a solution.

"She will kill us the minute we let this barrier go," Celestia said. Twilight wasn't sure she ever heard the words "kill" come from the princess. She wasn't sure she liked it at all.

"The best thing we can do, is send you six away and wish you good luck," Celestia said.

"Princess, no! We're not leaving either of you," Twilight said.

"There must be something we can do Celly," Luna said. Chrysalis continued to chip away at the barrier, sending the odd lightning bolt of magic now and then.

"We need help, is what we need," Celestia said.

"And help is here!"

Suddenly, something exploded outside of the barrier that hadn't come from Chrysalis. Chrysalis stumbled momentarily, caught off guard by the explosion.

Twilight whipped around as a group of ponies entered into the barrier. Celestia turned her head, a look of relief forming on her face. Luna gave a devilish grin.

Cadance, Shining Armor, Trixie, and Flam entered into the barrier. Chrysalis began to beat harder upon seeing the new reinforcements, once she had overcome the small bomb diversion.

"Cadance! Shining Armor!?" Twilight said, slightly hesitant. Her brother walked over and pulled her into the biggest hug.

"I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am," he said softly, "I could see everything, but couldn't control myself. I just... just couldn't control..."

He started to cry. Twilight pulled away. "It's ok Shining Armor. It's not your fault, and you didn't do any harm. How are you you again?"

"Cadance fixed me," he said, a proud smile on his face, "With her power of love, she essentially reminded me of who I was, even though I knew the whole time, and pushed the dark magic out of me."

"Where are the others? My sisters?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"They're outside, rigging the castle up to bring it down," Cadance said, "Big Mac and Derpy are helping. We're going to blow this place up to smithereens once we're done with her."

"What happened to CloudsArmor? Titan Wings? I heard they were with you," Shining Armor asked.

"Uh..." Twilight said, just now noticing that they were gone.

"They are up there, in cocoons," Celestia said, nodding her head.

"When did that happen!?" Twilight asked.

"It's not important—there was a lot going on. What matters is that we defeat her and save everypony in Equestria," Luna said.

"We need the Elements of Harmony and Cadance, we need your power of love," Celestia said, her eyes fixed on Chrysalis, "Plus Luna and I's solar attack."

"Shining Armor; we need you to create a barrier around us," Luna said.

"Yes, of course, your Highness," Shining Armor said, his voice suddenly extremely serious. His horn glowed and a third barrier appeared inside of Luna's.

"What can we do to help?" Flam asked.

"You and Trixie need to get those pegasus guards out of their cocoons," Twilight said, her mind calculating with the princesses' plan, "because as soon as we're done defeating Chrysalis, we need to get out of here before the castle explodes."

"But if we've defeated her, what's the rush?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"There's no guarantee it will kill her—just change her back and temporarily stun her," Celestia explained, "So we need to explode the castle, preferably the whole side of the mountain, to ensure her death."

"Do my sisters even have enough explosives for that!?" Pinkie asked.

"You'd be surprised what that Blinkie Pie has in store," Cadance said, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Get ready everypony; once our barrier is down to only one, she's going to fight viciously," Luna said, "So we're going to have to act quick."

"Won't she hear our plan!?" Fluttershy wheezed, her legs shaking frantically.

"She cannot hear inside our barrier," Celestia said.

"Get ready girls," Twilight said. She held her head up high. This was it. This was it. They were finally going to free Equestria from the past months of enslavement.

The mane 6 got into position. Flam and Trixie hovered near the edges of the barrier, so they could have a closer range for freeing the trapped pegasi.

"Ready?" Luna asked. Celestia looked over her shoulder and caught each pony in the eye for a second. Twilight nodded at her. Celestia nodded and turned back to her sister.

"Ready," she whispered.

It was utter chaos and mayhem. The princesses' let go of their barriers and Shining Armor's barrier shone brightly. As soon as the princesses' barriers were down, Twilight could hear her brother struggling against Chrysalis's endless assault of magic.

As hard as it was, Twilight tried to drown her brother out and concentrate on what she had to do. Luna and Celestia had run out and began to chase around Chrysalis again, chanting loudly over the commotion. Cadance closed her eyes and began to channel her own energy.

Chrysalis didn't know who to attack, who to concentrate on. She tried swiping at the two running princesses, nearly knocking over Luna, but she kept on banging on the barrier as well. She also began to try and swat at the pegasus guards as they were freed one by one, but they were quickly instructed by Luna and Celestia to leave the castle and tell the others outside to get ready. Once the guards were free, Trixie and Flam ran back out of the barrier and out the door.

Twilight felt the energy of her friends around her. She felt her own Element pumping through her veins, her horn ready to fire the power of the Elements at Chrysalis. She could also feel Cadance's power around her, charged and ready to go. She watched as the princesses' solar spell entrapped Chrysalis in stars once more. And as they ran back into the barrier and began to fire more rapid spells at Chrysalis, Twilight let go and shot the Elements of Harmony onto Chrysalis as well. Cadance released her magic as well.

It was a sight like no other. The changeling monster was covered in gold stars. A bright pink heart floated a top of her, and the rainbow of the Elements began to encircle her. All together, the power pooled together and dove inside of Chrysalis. For a moment time stopped. The stars had disappeared, but hadn't shattered and fallen like last time. Chrysalis looked herself in her monster form. She hesitated as the magic had disappeared inside her. She waited a second and then laughed, as though the magic had not worked. She gave a final, strong shot of magic at the barrier and shattered it, Shining Armor stumbling backwards, his horn smoking.

Twilight and the others floated back to the ground. Twilight felt pure fear in her heart, sure it had stopped beating. They were exposed to the great monster. Chrysalis cackled, lightning flashing outside. She took a step towards the group. And then it happened.

Chrysalis seemed to implode. She was suddenly being sucked inward, into a void that Twilight couldn't explain. Before she could see what was happening to Chrysalis, Twilight shut her eyes tightly, the light too intense. The room exploded in rainbow, stars and hearts, all on the background of the brightest, whitest light Twilight had ever seen (for a split second).

"We need to get out of here!" Luna was suddenly shouting.

Twilight opened her eyes. The castle seemed to be rumbling. Her friends were already running for the door, Celestia leading them out. Shining Armor grabbed her hoof and pulled her towards the door, Luna taking up the rear.

Before she left, Twilight got one last look at what remained. Lying slumped on the ground, unconscious, was Chrysalis. She was back to her regular size, except she looked different. Her horn was gone and so were her wings. Even though she still looked the same height as Celestia and Luna, Chrysalis had lost her powers. She resembled nothing more than a mere, black, powerless changeling.

When they got outside, Twilight and her friends quickly jumped into Luna's chariot, her guards already positioned to pull. Luna didn't enter the chariot this time, and flew on her own. Another chariot hovered in the air, this one pink, obviously belonging to Cadance. Derpy, Big Mac, Flam, Trixie, Blinkie and Inkie were all inside.

Luna's chariot pulled away quickly, and the alicorns all flew.

"Blow it," Luna said.

Blinkie pushed a button on a control in her hoof. Red lights began to suddenly blink all over the exterior of the castle. Twilight could see some in the cave, as well as some further down the side of the mountain.

The chariot flew away swiftly. Twilight turned her head and watched as the red lights began to blink faster, as they faded in the distance. And before too long, there was a loud explosion and the castle, the cave, and the cliff began to crumble.

Chapter 15

Twilight Sparkle

"Did... did we do it?" Applejack whispered.

It took fifteen minutes for the rumbling and breaking of rock to stop. The castle and the cliff it had once sat on were completely demolished. Celestia, Luna and Cadance had flown back to fully ensure that the deed had been done—that Chrysalis was dead.

"Let's hope so," Twilight whispered back.

The groups of ponies sat in their chariots quietly. Twilight stared at the spot where the castle had been. Did that really just happen? Had she really survived?

"I think what's the hardest thing to comprehend, is that this all took place over the course of two days," Rainbow Dash said, scratching her head. "It feels like it's been months."

"Years even," Rarity said. She moaned slightly, "My hooves are killing me. I feel like we've been fighting this battle foreeevverr."

Had it really just been about 48 hours? Twilight shook her head at the thought. What a wild ride.

"W-W-W-W-What if she-she's not—" Fluttershy began to stutter.

"She is," Twilight said firmly, "She's dead. Gone forever."

After a few more tense, silent minutes, three flying silhouettes began to fly through the fog and dust. Celestia nodded her head. Luna seemed to smirk slightly.

"She's gone," Luna said.

"And she's never coming back," Cadance said firmly.

"Come on my little ponies," Celestia said, "Let's go home."

The princesses quickly rid of the rest of the changelings hanging around Canterlot, Twilight and her friends still helping.

"Now that Canterlot is free of changelings, we can begin to clean up Equestria, and restore our great kingdom," Celestia said.

"There's still someone else we need to deal with," Luna said, "Discord is still free."

Luna led her sister and the mane 6 up the stairs of the palace and towards the room where Discord was being held. Twilight and her friends had to use the Elements of Harmony to seal him in stone once more.

"Princess Celestia, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Twilight said, as they walked down the hall.

"What is it, my faithful student?" Celestia asked.

"How were you able to communicate and send us places, when you were possessed by Chrysalis? You said that you could hear and see everything that was going on, but that you were powerless," Twilight said.

Celestia paused, in front of Discord's door. She looked over at Twilight puzzled.

"Communicate? Send you places? What are you talking about, dear Twilight?" Celestia asked, her voice genuinely confused.

"When Twilight first broke us out of our cocoons, we ran into the labyrinth to try and escape the changelings. Then we were separated n' these doors appeared and a voice sounded like yours, urging us to go through," Applejack explained.

"And when we were battling Chrysalis the first time, she was about to finish us off, but then someone sent us to safety again," Rarity added on.

Celestia looked at them still quite puzzled. She pushed the door open and opened her mouth to speak, but another voice spoke first. The room filled with laughter.

"Oh, that wasn't Celestia that helped you; it was me," said Discord.

All of the ponies, including the princesses gasped. Discord was still heavily bound and chained, and slightly groggy, but more awake than he had been before. He chuckled as the ponies walked inside.

"You helped us?" Twilight asked.

"I doubt that; it's one of his tricks," Rainbow Dash said, crossing her forelegs.

"Discord; do you speak the truth?" Luna asked darkly.

"Oh Luna—you were more fun as Nightmare Moon," Discord said with a heavy sigh, "Of course it's the truth! I only speak the truth."

"Why would you help us?" Twilight asked, still unbelieving.

"Because you ponies are so much more fun than those boring changelings," Discord said, "I thought I'd shake things up a bit, and wake you up Twilight Sparkle."

"You were the reason I woke up in the first place?" Twilight stuttered.

"You really didn't think that after two and a half months you were going to wake up on your own, did you?" Discord asked. He laughed. "Of course I woke you up! I was the one who told all of you to go into the light and told you it was somewhere you needed to be. And I also saved you from Chrysalis when she was about to obliterate you."

"Prove it! I don't believe you!" Rainbow Dash said, getting up in Discord's face.

Discord smirked and cleared his throat. "Be patient."

Rainbow Dash nearly fell out of the air. Fluttershy let out a little squeak. Twilight couldn't believe it. That was the voice. That was the voice, so Celestia-like, that had talked to all of them.

"Why Discord," Celestia said, "Why would you help us?"

"You can't expect me to come back and take over Equestria, if it's already overrun with changelings, now can you?" Discord said, with another heavy sigh, "Really Celestia, it's quite obvious."

"It's just another prank he pulled," Luna said stiffly, "Only this time, it was in our favor and it was a prank on Chrysalis."

"There's nothing more than I hate but changelings," Discord said.

"You know we're here to put you back in imprisonment, Discord," Celestia said.

Discord sighed again, "Yes, yes, I know. Here I go, saving all of Equestria, and you punish me by turning me back into stone. So fitting."

"What, were you expecting us to just hand the kingdom over to you?" Luna asked.

"Of course not; but I was hoping we could make some sort of deal," Discord said.

"We're not here to make deals, Discord," Luna said.

"Now hold on, sister; he did essentially aid us," Celestia said cautiously, "What is it you want, Discord?"

"What if you send me to another dimension? Far, far away from Equestria, far enough that you know I won't ever disturb you and your ponies again," Discord said.

Luna opened her mouth to argue, but Celestia cut her off.

"Sure, I'll send you to another dimension Discord—as a stone statue," Celestia said.

Before Discord could argue, Celestia gave the signal to Twilight and her friends, and they used the Elements of Harmony once again, sending Discord back into his statue-state prison.

Celestia sent Discord away to another dimension, another magical feat Twilight didn't know existed.

All of the ponies were exhausted. The princesses arranged a feast, prepared by themselves and volunteers, for survivors in Canterlot.

"It's going to take a lot to rebuilt Equestria," Applejack said.

"But we did it. We saved Equestria!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping gleefully beside her sisters.

Twilight smiled at them, away in her own thoughts. So much had happened the past couple of days, she just didn't know where to start. Maybe she would write a report about to the princess.

"Twilight!"

Twilight lit up at the sound of the voice. She turned and saw a small purple dragon run into the room.

"Spike!"

Twilight pulled Spike into the biggest hug she'd ever given. She held onto the baby dragon close, afraid that if she let go, she'd never see him again.

"I'm so glad you're all ok!" Spike said, " I can't believe you guys did it! Equestria is free!"

"Yes, it's amazing, isn't it?" Twilight said.

She smiled as she watched Spike regroup with the rest of their friends. The princesses chatted politely with other survivors who had wandered into the palace for food, and for long overdue need of company.

Yes, they had done it all right. But as Twilight turned and watched the rising sun, she couldn't help but fear, that someday, down the road, she was suddenly going to wake up inside a hideous, green cocoon.

The End.

Author's Note

This is it! This is the end of the main trilogy! If you feel that you want to know more of what happened, and that not everything has been resolved, do not fear! Here is the link to the "Post-Reception Stories" compliation, which is a compilation of various short stories of what happens to the ponies after saving Equestria. This will explore some new relationships hinted in the story, and just various aftermath of the Reception (Such as a prelude to Scootaloo, like much of you are awaiting for!)

Post-Reception Stories: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/69767/postreception-stories