My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

A Changeling’s Lament

Chapter 20

To Win a War

Dinky yelled as she was thrown into the throne room. She landed hard and skidded to a halt. “what was that for!?” she yelled to the Changelings. They ignored her and left.

“why am I even here?” she asked herself as she got up.

“You are here…” a super angry Chrysalis said from behind. Dinky looked to see her sitting on the throne with wind gusting around her. “to pay for your insolence!”

A fearful Dinky backed up in fear. “w-what? What are you talking about?”

Chrysalis snarled as her horn glowed. Dinky was lifted off the floor and slammed into the ceiling. “you know what I’m talking about!” she flew up to Dinky and snarled in her face. “Your association with Oscurita is putting a halt to my plans!” she grabbed the filly and squeezed her throat. “He’s gone soft and it’s all your fault!” Chrysalis physically threw Dinky to the floor. She hit and heard something crack.

Chrysalis landed on the ground with a frightful force. She walked over and pressed down on Dinky’s neck again. “If Oscurita can’t work properly, then I can’t control the world!” Chrysalis’ eyes turned green with red pupils and purple fire coming out of the sides. “and it’s your fault that he’s like this!” she kicked Dinky into a pillar, cracking her back. Chrysalis’ horn glowed as she stopped a few feet away from Dinky.

Dinky struggled to get up, feeling something broken in her rear-left leg. “he’s not… some thing… for you to use.” she groaned. “he has feelings.”

That tears it. Chrysalis used her magic to pulled Dinky to her. “he is nothing but a tool. Nothing more. A monster like him has no feelings!”

Dinky looked at her with a slight chuckle. “then why did he spare me? Explain that.”

Chrysalis snarled and threw her to the ground. “Ask your mother! She and he go WAY back.” Chrysalis evilly chuckled as she raised her hoof. “if you’re still alive, that is.” she looked to the door and saw Edge standing there, stunned that she’s doing this. “Watch close, Edge. This is what happens to those who oppose me!” with all her might, Chrysalis slammed down on Dinky’s head.

Elsewhere, far in the Gryphon Kingdom, a mother sensed her daughter in distress and shot awake.

“DINKY!” Derpy yelled out as she shot up. Pain erupted though her body, causing her to fall back holding her stomach area.

Sparkler and Luna, who happened to be in the hospital helping with the wounded from the battle, heard her outburst and went into her room. “well, look who’s finally awake.” Luna said.

Derpy opened one eye and painfully looked at them. “Luna…” Sparkler suddenly hugged her, causing Derpy to blush a little bit. “Sparkler… sorry for ending up like this…”

“I’m just glad your okay, mom!” Sparkler tearfully said.

Luna rolled her eyes under her eyelids and chuckled. “I’m just glad your okay. We were all so worried that you wouldn’t come out of the coma.”

“coma…?” she pushed Sparkler away for a moment and looked her body over and saw that she was covered in bandages. “what happened? The last thing I remember is a cave-in and… oh, Luna. Are you okay?”

Luna chuckled. “I’m fine. Thanks to you. You pushed me out of the way in the nick of time but… Derpy, it really should’ve been me.”

“why?”

“well, Alicorns can heal faster then normal ponies, like how Req can heal faster then her friends. I would’ve been out of a coma in 3 days then you being in a coma for… Faust, who knows how long.”

Derpy patted Luna on the back and chuckled. “it’s okay. Even if I did know, I still would’ve done it.”

“but…”

“just stop right there, Luna.” Sparkler chuckled. “my mom can be stubborn and it‘s usually when it involves her friends.”

“that’s right. Besides, we’re friends now. You would do the same for me, right?”

Friend. Until now, she only considered Celestia, Twilight, and Trixie her friends. She never considered anybody else to be her friends. “yeah. We are, Derpy.” Derpy smiled and they both hugged.

Derpy heard crying outside her room. She looked to see a whole lot of people worse then her. “did I miss something important?”

“We’ll explain later.” Luna chuckled.

Sparkler remembered that Derpy had shouted something that made them come in. “mom… you yelled out something when you woke up.”

“I did?” Derpy thought back to it and remembered. “Oh. It’s Dinky. I think she’s hurt.”

“Dinky?” Sparkler exclaimed in surprise.

“But she’s all the way back in Canterlot. How could you tell she was in pain?” Luna asked. “Are you sure she was hurt?”

“I’m positive. I know my daughter better then anyone. She‘s hurt. I think something bad is going on back home.”

*Half a hour past the battle with Godzilla…*

“…repeat what you just said.” Celestia asked in confusion, not really understanding what Leon and Friction are planning. She, Zaltan, and the other major players were in the throne room, talking about what to do.

“launch an attack right now! Chrysalis is vulnerable right now.” Leon said. “This kind of defeat will make her angry and unfocused.”

“you’re asking to launch an attack…” Armor started. “on our capital. Which is enveloped by a impenetrable force field. Which is guarded by a giant monster that makes hordes of monsters made out of shadow. With just what little forces we have?”

Friction shrugged. “it’s not perfect.”

“you’re basically asking us to launch a suicide mission.” Celestia exclaimed.

“you want your empire back or not?” Leon asked in anger.

“I want it back. I just don’t want to lose my people taking it back.”

“nor mine.” Zaltan agreed. “unless there’s a way so that we all come out alive, we’re not going to risk our lives in a suicide run.”

“I believe…” Satoshi said as he barged in, carrying blueprints in his hands. “… I can help with that.

*present day*

The mint-green Pegasus somberly walked though town with Armor, Halo, and Twi following right behind him.

“Are you sure that’s the bastard who took advantage of you?” Armor asked for confirmation.

“well…” Twi wasn’t sure. “he has the same voice b--”

“that’s good enough for us.” Halo wickedly said as he and Armor headed to him. Using their magic, they caught the Pegasus off guard and dragged him down a alley when they pinned him up against the wall.

“You have a lot to answer for!” Armor sinisterly said, holding the Pegasus in place with his front-right leg. “I could send you to jail for attacking a member of the royal family!”

“What!? What are you talking about?” he replied in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb. You know what you did!” Halo angrily said. He walked to the entrance and brought Twi in.

“Oh. She’s cute.” the Pegasus idiotically said. He looked down and saw the preggo belly. “yikes. Pregnant. Never mind.”

That sent Armor over the breaking point. He hardly pushed the Pegasus against the wall as his horn began to glow. “That’s all you have to say for taking advantage of a member of the royal family?!”

That didn’t do much except make the Pegasus more confused. “okay. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“6 months ago, you took advantage of my sister in a house of ill repute and now she’s pregnant with your child.”

“What!?! Impossible. I’ve never gone near one of those places in my life.”

“but you said that ever since the place closed down, it’s been tough to get your fix.” Halo said.

“I was talking about my favorite ice cream parlor. It closed down and I haven’t been able to find a place that does it as great.”

“And the ‘do it a few times and you’ll be right as rain line?’”

“I was giving a friend advice on how to grow radishes. Granted, it’s not good advice, bu--”

Armor squeezed down on the Pegasus’ neck. “Stop lying!”

“It’s the truth.”

“doubt it. Twili, is this the one who took advantage of you?”

Twilight looked at the Pegasus, who looked back at her. With a sigh, she shook her head no. “It’s not him. He has the same voice but not that feeling of dread I felt.”

“dread?” Halo and Armor muttered.

“See? I told you it wasn’t me. And plus, there’s only so many voices in the world. Some are bound to repeat.”

He had a point there. Armor let him go and let him breath. “Sorry. Guess I got the wrong guy.”

The Pegasus rubbed where Armor pinned him and got up. “that happens. You’d be surprised how many people mistake me for someone else.” he walked to the exit. “good luck with whoever got ya knocked up. He’s in for a painful surprise.” he slightly joked, still rubbing his neck.

“so it wasn’t him.” Halo said.

“sorry, Twili.”

Twi smiled and hugged them both. “it’s okay. Just knowing you two are going to help is more then enough for me.” while still in the hug, she looked the alley exit and watched the Pegasus walk away. She remembers green, just not as a skin color.

Bodies of the dead lay under cloth along main street. Families and friends mourned the loss of their fallen comrades and cried.

Soarin’ sat in front of one, keeping a straight face but was broken up inside. “Soarin’?” Dash was surprised to see him here. “what are you doing here?”

“saying good-bye… to a old friend…”

Curious who, Dash walked over and pulled the cloth off the dead guys head. It was a stallion she never saw before. “Who…”

“Diamond Cage. He was a Wonderbolt who retired and moved here. He was my idol. He taught me everything he knew.”

“wow. Sorry he’s gone. Wish I could’ve met him.”

“yeah…” Soarin’ looked away down the street and sighed. “makes you think if you should… just go for it.”

“Go for it?” Dash replied in confusion. She walked over and looked in Soarin’s direction. They both saw Spitfire walking down, making sure that the grieving families were all right. Dash chuckled softly. “are you in love with Spitfire?”

Soarin’ gave a wry chuckle. “you may say that.”

“why didn’t you say anything?”

“Same reason why Shadow couldn’t ask you out. She’s way out of league.”

Dash sputtered and laughed. “nonsense. Just go and ask. You never know if it’ll work if you don’t go and try.”

Soarin’ knew she was right and didn’t try to argue. He looked to Spitfire, took a deep breath, filled up with confidence, and walked over to Spitfire. Dash hoped for the best, unaware that her little ‘speech’ was overheard by her coltfriend.

Shadow took a deep breath and walked over to Dash just as Soarin’ walked up to Spitfire.

“Spitfire…”

“Dash…”

Both mares turned around and looked to the other. “will you go out on a date with me?” they both asked, hoping for the best.

Before Spitfire and Dash could ask, everyone in the city heard a lot of commotion coming from the tower. For the past couple of days, there was something happening up there but they couldn’t piece what was going on.

Well they were about to find out.

“Are you sure it’s ready?” Celestia asked Satoshi.

“only one way to find out.”

“Right. Well, I better go and get ready for a big rousing speech.” she joked before she and Zaltan walked off.

Satoshi and Gilda looked at each other and chuckled. “let’s hope this works.” they both said, hoping it would.

The sound of spinning fan blades echoed though the air, getting the attention of everyone in the city.

“What is that?” Amelia muttered.

Something descended from the clouds above, putting the city under a cloak of darkness. For a moment, everyone thought it was the Changelings again then realized that it wasn’t.

“they didn’t.” Req said, realizing that they were looking at.

“they did.” Ash said with a big smile.

A big ol’ Airship flew on down from above and hovered above the city. It looked exactly like the Orion except for a few differences.

First, the masts have been replaced with a giant hot-air balloon bigger then the ship.

Second, the ship is a bit shorter and pointier, making it like a flying arrow.

Thirdly and lastly, there wasn’t as many decks like with Orion. While Orion had 4, this new airship only had one for cannons.

In short, this new airship was designed for combat.

The ship landed in the center of town, or as close to the center as it could. Celestia and Zaltan walked up to the bow together. Down in the town, just in front of the ship, a news crew put a microphone in front of the ship and were gonna transmit this around the world.

Celestia cleared her throat and spoke as loudly as she could. “3 weeks ago, something happened that no pony, gryphon, or anyone could’ve seen coming; Canterlot fell. To a powerful horde. A horde we could not comprehend.”

Zaltan cleared his throat and walked in front of her. “it was horde that has conquered all of Equestria and has set their sites on the world itself. The Gryphon Capital Feather Top was recently hit by a attack against a powerful foe. Not everyone… got out alive.”

All over the world, this little speech was playing though tv’s, radios, basically whatever electronics that can convey sound.

Ponyville: the occupying Changelings listened from a radio that was loud enough to be heard down in the library’s basement for Aura and Lina to hear.

“The hoard is the Changelings.” Celestia said as she took over. “and their sights are on the world itself. And if they don’t get their way, the world will burn.”

Trottingham: the radios all over the city played the little speech.

“but it’s not the Changelings fault that they launched this invasion. They were forced to do so via a lack of resources and a vengeful queen.”

Badlands: the dragons overheard this though radios they had ‘procured’

“their country was decimated with by a unknown foe in a war that is much like what’s going on now. A war of destruction and annihilation. They didn’t ask for it and they paid the price for it.”

Cloudsdale: the Pegasi hovered, stopping what they were doing to listen.

“so this war they had launched is to prevent themselves from dying out; from going extinct. But their ruler, in her pursuit of vengeance, is taking things too far. If she gets her way, the world as we know it will drastically change.”

Canterlot: the prisoners and changelings overheard this though the same crystals they saw Ponyville, Maredrid, and Maredrid in. Chrysalis heard this and snarled as angrily as she could.

“as much as we feel sorry for the Changelings, we are not going to let them conquer the world just so their queen can get her revenge.”

Feather Top:

“so, by this time next week, we are going to launch a counter-attack. We’re gonna take Canterlot back, take down the queen, free the Changelings, and save the world!” Zaltan said with gusto.

“everything you know is at risk.” Celestia said to finish. “If the queen wins, they will suffer the consequences. We’re not forcing you but we’re asking you… we’re asking you to help us save the world. To save your family and loved ones. So save everything and everyone you know! To bring an end to this dreadful Winter War.”

The crowd, without a word, cheered.

“Well, that got them wiled up.” Applejack chuckled.

“And they needed it.” Zil said.

Edge walked thought the castle, shocked by what he saw. He never suspected that Chrysalis would do such a thing to a child. He looked up and saw that he had somehow got in the dungeons.

“how’d I get here?” he muttered. He continued down into the dungeons, looking around when he saw something odd.

A large crystal, shining bright despite there being no sun. “A Crystal? Here?” a shiver went down his spine. There was something deathly familiar about this. He slowly walked in close to it. He saw his reflection in the crystal, which changed to a crimson Pegasus before changing back. “What was…”

He reached out to touch his reflection. When he did, a surge of energy shot though him and sent him crashing into a wall and falling to the floor, being knocked unconscious.