Crystals Grow on Rainbows

"Okay, for those who don't know, here is the situation. We have a huge swarm of changelings, trying to break down the main door and take us down. And we cannot hold out forever. But we don't need to y’see; we only need to keep them out until Celestia arrives with reinforcements. Spike got an update on our situation through, but we haven't seen him since. Keep an eye out, he's the only one we can be sure isn't a changeling."

Twilight had taken up position on top of the crystal throne. Her task would be to pick off any Changelings that came from above, and hopefully in the meantime devise a way of counteracting the crystal horns. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were safely hidden beneath the throne room on the stairs. Nopony wanted to see the twins orphaned, and all three members of Sky's family was out in the snow. With Spike missing, that left the Crystal Ponies and Applejack to defend the line.

"Now, make sure that you hit it in just the right way, otherwise you're gonna end up with apple fritter all over your hoof. And for hay's sake don't hit Spike. He's the sure card, anything he says goes, understood?" Most of the crystal ponies nodded, some were less confident in their bucking skills than others were. Even Applejack had to admit that she would have preferred having more time to teach them, but making the best of what they had would be crucial in the battle.

"Applejack!" Applejack leapt over the barrier of chairs and tables towards the groaning door. A large crystal bar had been placed across it, but it still required several ponies to keep pushing the changelings back. Applejack's impact caused several to fall back, allowing the gap to be sealed again. Fortunately the changelings hadn't used their horns to blast their way in yet, getting through the shield had probably drained that from them.

"Clear the way!" A crack had begun to form in the main bar, prompting some of the other ponies to get more. Golden Laurel positioned herself opposite Applejack in forcing the door shut. "Borrowed these from behind the throne, we should be able to get everypony behind the tables before they give way." Applejack nodded, that seemed like a reasonable plan. Nopony wanted to be on the receiving end of those sharp horns.

"Fine, I'll keep it shut as long as I can, nopony faster on legs than this Apple right?" Grunting loudly, she along with the other ponies forced the doors shut again, allowing the supporting bars to be pushed into place. "Go go!" Her back was pressed up tightly against the crack, already she felt the sensation of changeling breathing. It unnerved her greatly, but she had to wait until the last moment.

That moment wasn't far behind, as the crack in the main brace went right through. With a yell, Applejack sprinted away from the doors like she had never dared to before. Twilight had her horn charged and ready to take out the first changeling that entered. Food would follow, effective enough at stopping anypony as seen before on several occasions. All of that went through Applejack's mind as the doors finally gave way just behind her.

Rainbow Dash would surely have been impressed with her slide under the tables. Up above was a flurry of kicking hooves, flying food, and bolts of magical energy. Applejack was quick to take her position in the bucking row too. Changelings had begun to pile up in front of the doorway by that point, as did food. Had Pinkie Pie been up there, their supplies would have probably been somewhat smaller.

"We're running out of food already! We need you down here Twilight!" Twilight looked down at Applejack; both had expected that it would come to physical blows at some point, but not after the first thirty seconds. And nopony wanted a pregnant unicorn to be fighting, but there wasn't much else they had to rely on. Laurel glanced between the two in waiting for an answer. "Now or never, we spent too long under Sombra's rule; we're going down fighting this time."

*

Fluttershy was doing her best to be strong. The sounds above were muffled, but she could definitely hear a lot of shouting from her friends. "What happens... if the changelings win?" Pinkie Pie patted her shoulder in a small attempt to reassure her. All three foals were fast asleep; it was a miracle that most of the other younger ponies were on the edges of the city. They'd be safer there than in the middle of the battle.

"They won't, Twilight and Applejack are great leaders, and Celestia will get here soon enough. Just think happy thoughts, okay?" Fluttershy nodded. She could do that, it wasn't too hard. Still, she continued to shiver out of fear. On an impulse, she carefully removed her jumper and laid it out on one of the stairs, setting Sky down on it. Pinkie did the same, Icing and Cherry surrounding the infant to keep her warm.

Fluttershy very carefully peered over the edge of the stairs. Heights she had been able to overcome years ago, it was more leaving Pinkie alone for more than a few seconds that worried her now. "Can anything get into here, apart from the way we did?" Pinkie could only shrug; she hadn't been in the stairway until today. Twilight though had said it was a very long way down, then back up. It seemed highly unlikely that the changelings would bother to check.

Five changelings zapped onto the staircase near them at that moment, effectively jinxing her moment of hope. "Fluttershy!" One of the changelings was making a grab for her. Pinkie pulled her back, hiding the foals from view. A threatening hiss caused them to wake; Sky was starting to cry at that moment. Pinkie didn't like that at all. Threatening to invade Equestria was understandable, but making foals cry? With a quick swing of her arms, she pushed the party cannon right at the face of the nearest changeling. "Taste party cannon, you big bullies!"

The resulting confetti from her party cannon knocked one changeling off the edge, while the other four continued to advance. That was all she had, now it could only serve as a shield between them and the changelings. They couldn't open the hatch, and they couldn't get past either. "Fluttershy, take the foals. I'll keep them busy." There was no movement; she couldn't leave Pinkie there without trying to help.

To their surprise, one of the changelings tripped off the edge with a loud squeal, smoke floating from the stumpy tail. Soon, the other three followed a similar fate, revealing the one who had burned all of them with a quick burst of green fire. "Spike! You saved us!" Fluttershy hugged him so tightly that his eyes were in danger of popping out. The Pie twins had begun to cry too at that point, prompting her to release him and care for them instead.

"I was up on top of the spire to send the letter when they found me. Took quite a bit of running, but I eventually got down, and then back up. I didn't know they could actually teleport though. Must be because of those new horns" There was a moment of relief as the floor opened up above them. Terror replaced that as a changeling hissed at them with a hoof swipe.

Spike was ready to bathe its face in fire when a bright beam of light blew it far away. "It's safe to come out now." Spike was still cautious, going ahead of the ponies to be sure. At last, to his great relief, Princess Celestia had arrived. Several of the Royal Guard, as well as scores of pegasi were busy doing their best to clean up the disaster around. Tables had been smashed; several crystal ponies had wounds from horns and hooves alike.

"Spike! Oh I was so worried when you didn't turn up in here." Twilight caught her favourite dragon in a tight hug, once again leaving him short of breath. She had a nasty bruise below her left eye, but otherwise seemed alright. Applejack however hadn't been so fortunate, bearing a stab to her shoulder, and several more welts across her body. As if to complete the scene, Rainbow Dash popped through one of the holes in the roof left by a changeling.

"Whoa, they really trashed the place." It was a great relief to see all of her friends still standing, and especially Sky in Princess Celestia's safe care. "Rarity and Opal are holding off Chrysalis and Sombra, they've become sort of super monster. She says that the Elements of Harmony are the only thing capable of stopping them, we need to go now." Celestia nodded in acknowledgement, performing a spell at that very moment.

Twilight's head dipped for a moment as the weight of the Element of Magic settled down. The other Elements had been summoned in a similar way; Rarity would have hers too undoubtedly. "Go now Twilight, there are still hundreds of changelings that must be dealt with. I shall join you once the Crystal Empire is safe again." While Rainbow Dash wanted a moment to see her filly again, Rarity and Opal didn't have much time

"Could you teleport us to the edge of the ice outcrop? Every second counts, if Opal had her full magic, she would've cleared the blizzard in her area. I don't think she can hold out much longer."