Romance and the Fate of Equestria

I've seriously considered going back through the story and replacing every instance of "donut" with "doughnut"… "donut" is technically correct, I've never seen a spell-checker that denied its authenticity, but looking at it is starting to make me feel like one of those idiots who used words like "thru" and "tho". "Doughnut" just looks more… English, I guess.

Meh, too much trouble. And "donut" is cuter.

Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen

The six friends sat in the train as it chugged around the mountain, on the familiar route from Canterlot to Ponyville. Rarity and Fluttershy were relaxing together on one of the beds in the rear of the car, Rarity levitating a hairbrush and absently brushing Fluttershy's mane, while Fluttershy herself scanned the pages of a magazine, wordlessly singing a little tune.

"What's that you're humming, darling?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, it's the theme song to that new sitcom that's been playing on the radio a lot," Fluttershy giggled. "I bought the record albums of the first two seasons, the stories are so cute, and I've got the theme song just completely stuck in my head."

"Oh yeah, I know what show you're talking about," said Rainbow, leaning over the back of her seat. "Is it the song that goes 'hi hi hi' or the one that goes 'papaya pa pa payapa…'?"

"The first one," Fluttershy said brightly.

"Yeah, the season one theme," Rainbow laughed. "Freakin' adorable."

Pinkie squealed abruptly. "Oooh, I wanted to save this for when we got home but I just can't! Big news, you guys: I'm the new Bonny Blu!"

The others stared at her blankly. "You're what?" Twilight said in confusion.

"My sister," Pinkie said eagerly, speaking in short bursts through eager breaths. "Set me up. With the director of Cupcakes. Who's casting for the sequels. Needed a replacement Bonny. I read for the part. And I got it!"

Twilight gaped. "I don't understand. Why would you do something like that? I mean, congratulations, that's an amazing achievement, but why?"

"Okay," Pinkie said, breathing more slowly. "I don't like Cupcakes, but a lot of ponies do. There's nothing sadder than when a beloved franchise goes under. Okay, there are sadder things, but when you're, you know, like, a nerd, franchises are all you've got, the only thing that keeps you going, you know?"

Twilight frowned deeply. "…Go on," she submitted.

"I happened to run into Syrenity Jossfly on the street," said Pinkie. "She doesn't care about the franchise. She quit that morning. And I… I felt I couldn't run the risk of her replacement being less than perfect. And the only perfect Bonny Blu I could think of was… me. I felt personally responsible to try to do it. And I did." She beamed.

"You're going to be rich," Rainbow said in awe.

Pinkie shrugged.

"You've never acted in a movie before… and now you're the lead in a new horror franchise?" Rainbow marveled. "You know that happens, like, never, right? You are amazing!"

"Hey, it's all who you know, and I know Octavia," Pinkie chirped.

"You're going to become a huge celebrity pretty much overnight," Rainbow went on. "Whether they like you or hate you, they will be following you around nonstop and getting into your personal life. You realize that?"

"Well, total strangers always ask me if I'm the actress from Cupcakes anyway, so I might as well cop to it," said Pinkie, her grin getting increasingly broader.

"Congratulations, Pinkie Pie," said Fluttershy. "You'll… have to forgive me if I never watch the movie, though. I can't stand horror." She shuddered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Big Macintosh stood on the platform of Ponyville's train station, his eyes on the tracks coming in from the northeast. Derpy flittered back and forth around the station randomly, a tiny smile on her face and a spring in her step.

"You waiting for Twilight and the others?" she called to Big Mac.

"Eeyup."

She dropped to the ground next to him. "Me too. I'm waiting for Rainbow Dash."

"Eeyup," he said again.

"Did you know we're dating?" Derpy blurted excitedly. "I'm dating Rainbow Dash. Isn't that great?"

"Eeyup."

"Didn't you date Rainbow Dash?" she said, suddenly squinting in suspicion and hostility, her wings bristling.

"Nope," he said nervously, taking a small step away from her.

"Really?" Derpy pressed, eyeballing him intensely with one eye. "Because she said she went with you for like five minutes. Is it not true?"

Big Mac bit his lip. "…Literally," he finally managed to say.

"What?"

"It was literally five minutes, maybe less," he clarified.

"Oh, okay," said Derpy, suddenly looking calm and contented.

A few minutes later, the train pulled in. The instant the doors opened, Rainbow Dash zipped out and tackled Derpy. After tumbling over each other a few times, they started rising into the air, spinning up and up and up, before they slowly started drifting back down, kissing tenderly as they did so.

"How ya doin', Muffin?" Rainbow Dash whispered as they hovered a few feet off the ground.

Derpy's face turned red and she snorted with laughter. "I love it when you call me that! No matter how many times I hear it, it makes me giggle and blush every time."

"And I like making you giggle and blush, so you're not gonna stop hearing it anytime soon," said Rainbow, rubbing her nose against Derpy's.

"AWWWWWWW!" Pinkie Pie gushed shrilly.

Rainbow Dash's ears flattened at the piercing noise. "Thanks," she said dryly, glaring at Pinkie.

Applejack slowly strolled out of the train, her face lighting up at the sight of Big Macintosh. "Hey, big brother. Thanks for waitin' here for—"

"MACKY!" Fluttershy wailed, darting past Applejack and embracing Big Mac tearfully.

"…Her," Applejack finished quietly. "Waitin' here for… her. 'Course…"

"Oh, Macky, it was so awful," Fluttershy sobbed. "I don't know what I expected, but… not this. I hope I never have to do anything like this again. We did a good thing for Equestria, but… at such cost. Hold me?"

He brought one of his massive arms up around her and nuzzled her face.

Twilight got their luggage, a small wagon carrying all of their saddlebags and travelling cloaks. "I'll take that for you, Twilight," said Spike, appearing abruptly at her side and grabbing the handle of the wagon.

"Thanks, Spike," Twilight said, forcing a small smile.

"Where's Discord?" Spike asked, looking around for him. "I wanna tell him all about how poker night went."

"Discord's gone, Spike," Twilight said glumly. "He betrayed us. He works for the changelings now."

"Oh," Spike gasped. "Oh, wow." He sat down, leaning against the wagon for support, unable to speak for a while. "…The guys will be so disappointed," he finally said. "Poker night just wasn't the same without him."

"I know just how you feel, Spike," Twilight muttered, taking one of her saddlebags out of the wagon and staring at it forlornly. "I feel so betrayed. And not in the patriotic sense because he abandoned our country, this betrayal is… personal. I thought he was my friend. But I guess he only ever saw it as imprisonment." She looked down, holding back tears. "I miss him. I seriously miss him. But… it can't be helped."

She sighed and wrapped an arm around Spike's shoulders. "Anyway, I've been thinking, and I think you should have his room. How does that sound?"

"Oh," Spike exclaimed. "Um, sure, I'd like my own room. …Hey, why did he get his own room before I did?"

Twilight laughed. "Because I like sharing a room with you. I certainly wasn't going to do that with him, so I had to set up a new bedroom. Now it's yours."

"Okay," said Spike, hugging her. "Thanks… I accept."

"Great. We'll get it all set up with your stuff as soon as we arrive." Twilight looked around at the entire group, each carrying on their own conversations. She held the single saddlebag closer to her heart and said, "Spike… why don't you let Derpy and Big Mac help you with the luggage, and we'll meet you back at the library. We have secret Elements of Harmony stuff to discuss."

At that, the train platform went silent and all eyes turned to Twilight. Derpy turned uncertainly to Rainbow Dash, who gave a little nod. Derpy reluctantly pulled out of Rainbow's embrace, and joined Spike. Fluttershy gave Big Mac a tiny kiss and gently motioned him along. Spike and the two ponies left the station without a word.

"Huh," Applejack said uneasily. "What's so secret that you can't even share it with Spike?"

"It's actually not a secret at all," said Twilight. "We'll tell the three of them in a minute. I just wanted to open by reminding you of something we swore would never go beyond the six of us and Gilda. Once that discussion is out of the way, we can fill our loved ones in on the rest of what I'm about to tell you."

"Sup, Twi?" Rainbow said sharply. "Something about Cocoon?"

"Well…" Twilight began. "Gilda said that Cocoon stayed alive by feeding off of everypony in Ponyville at once. With just one of him, and a whole town full of love, no one was hurt."

"All right, where are you going with this?" said Rainbow.

"I just wanted you to keep that in mind before I showed you… these," Twilight said nervously, producing the five ribbon-wrapped changeling eggs from her bag.

The others stared in silence for a few seconds. "Well… I like the ribbons," Rarity finally said. "What are they?"

"They're changeling eggs," Twilight said, averting her eyes. "I stole them from the hive."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "I don't know that I'd eat that omelet."

"I'm not making an omelet!" Twilight snapped. "I'm adopting them. I'd like you to meet the newest members of my family… my five little changeling girls." She brought the eggs closer to the others, presenting them in a straight line.

"Twilight…" Applejack started.

"Don't try to tell me it's a bad idea," Twilight said in a pained voice. "I've talked it over with Cadance, and she gave me her blessing. If anypony would know, she would. If you have a problem with me doing this, you can take it up with her. Maybe you'll convince her of something she hadn't considered, but I doubt it. She knows the full situation much better than you would."

"I wasn't gonna say a thing against you, sugarcube," Applejack said solemnly.

"Good," said Twilight, staring at the eggs. "Because… I think I love them."

Rainbow sank to the ground and shifted her hooves nervously. "Uh… did it ever occur to you that maybe that's how they lure in their prey? By making you love them? It's like hunting. They already know how to hunt!"

"Of course that occurred to me," Twilight said patiently. "But I don't care. It doesn't matter. I can defend Ponyville and myself from five newborn changelings. I'm kind of good at magic, in case you hadn't noticed. My motherly love will set them straight before they're adults, I'd bet my life on it. And I kind of am putting a lot on the line with his gamble. If Chrysalis is raising all the eggs in the hive into a bloodthirsty army… well then, by the time she's done that, I'll have raised these five into upright and responsible citizens of Equestria. So in a way, this is a long-term tactical plan to maybe make peace between our nations."

She gently touched one of the eggs. "I was in the hive, casting my spell to shield the nursery from the blast… and when I first saw all those eggs, my first thought was that they were blank slates, that they could become anything, that maybe if they had the right upbringing, then, whatever else they wanted to do with their lives, they could also be diplomats, and this ugly war could come to an end. My second thought… a very overpowering thought… was that I really want to be a mother, and this was a chance to get that done without having to wait for Joe to come back… because I really didn't want to wait." She blushed.

Applejack smiled. "Well, you're already a great mother. All that was missin' was the kids. Way to be proactive, Twi."

Fluttershy flew over and gave Twilight a tight hug. "You're amazing," she whispered, kissing her on the cheek.

"I only hope that in years to come, they'll be coming to their Auntie Rarity for more pretty bows just like these," said Rarity, straightening one of the bows wrapped around an egg.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Adoption's awesome," she said simply.

"Do you know when they're going to hatch?" Pinkie said eagerly. "Will I get enough advance warning to set up a birthday party around them so they can see it as soon as they come out of their eggs?"

"Maybe," Twilight chuckled.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

At the library, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gave a whispered, partial explanation to Big Mac and Derpy while Twilight set up the five eggs on a magically-constructed wooden pedestal, painted powder-blue. The pedestal had two levels, and the two lavishly-decorated queen eggs were placed atop the higher one.

"So, Spike, whatcha think?" Twilight asked.

Spike shrugged. "I think history is on your side," he said. "This household has a pretty good track record when it comes to stolen eggs." He called Peewee over, and the dragon and phoenix struck a pose.

Twilight laughed. "That's true, Spike. Thanks." She turned to address the others. "Thanks for the encouragement, everypony. That was a pretty big weight off my back. I wasn't sure how much support I'd get."

"We're always here to support you, Twilight," Rarity said tenderly.

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "Unless we were sure you were going to get yourself killed, we'd never force you out of something you really want to do. Even if we thought the idea was stupid… which we don't. And you're not gonna get yourself killed, so, you know, you go girl."

Twilight turned back to the eggs and stepped back to get a good look at where the pedestal was placed in the room, and how it fit in with the lighting and the rest of the decoration. "This feels good," she decided. "Yes, very good."