Chapter 10: Twilight's Anger
On the highways leading into the city of Toronto, cars, buses and trucks were forced to stop by police officers. Many people wanted to know why, including a young family who were coming to the city for the first time.
"Turn on the radio dear," said the wife, "maybe they'll explain the reason for this delay."
"Good thinking honey," said her husband.
He turned on the radio to a country music station. The song was just ending, and the annoucer was coming on; "this just in, strange creatures are attacking at the base of the CN Tower, and this is no joke ladies and gentlemen. We've been told that the creatures known as Changelings have arrived from another world and are on the attack. We've also been told that one human and several ponies that look similar to the characters on the TV Show 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' are fighting back aganist the changelings. Until these creatures are stopped, the mayor is asking for everyone to please stay away from the area. Passenger and freight trains have also been told to stay away from the nearby Union Station until further notice. More details are due to come in, and we will update you on these strange events in our city."
The husband and wife looked to each other, "it can't be true, can it?"
"I don't think it's true, but then again, there were reports just year of magical ponies in Northern Ontario, so they could be real," said the wife. "I don't know, and we won't know until we get moving."
"I want to see the ponies," cheered the little girl.
"Sorry sweetheart," said her father, "we could be in for a long wait."
Back at the Rogers Centre, Starlight Glimmer and the other unicorns were giving it their all to prevent the changelings from entering the building. Of course, some tried to slip past them and use a different way in there.
"Oh no you don't!" cried Moondancer and shot an energy beam at the changeling.
"Nice shooting Moondancer," commented Starlight.
"Thanks, I've been practising for just such events as this."
Inside the building, Matthew and Twilight were making their way down the stairs. The sounds of explosions above their heads made them worry for their friends.
"I hope they're okay up there, changelings are tough little buggers," said Matthew.
"Don't worry about them, they can handle whatever comes their way. Besides," Twilight added, "I did unleash that spell on them, thus preventing them from changing forms."
Matthew looked down to his watch, "you performed that spell about an hour thirty minutes ago. We'll have to act fast."
Twilight nodded and they carried on down the stairs.
At last, they reached the bottom of the stairs and over to the main hall. There they discovered there were well over a thousand people in there, and many were focusing on comic books, cards, movies, and even action figures.
"We need something to help us get their attention," said Twilight.
Matthew looked around and found what they were looking for. A small stage where a comic book writer was just telling the fans about an upcoming comic book.
"That'll do," Matthew and Twilight said in unison.
They ran to the stage, and got there just as the comic book writer finished. They ran onto the stage and took the microphone. Secruity officers ran onto the stage and pulled out their weapons, "you're not suppose to be up here, get off the stage."
"This is an emergency, so sorry, but we're not getting off the stage." He then spoke into the microphone, "may I have everyone's attention? Your attention please?"
But not everyone was looking in his direction. The secruity officers continued to point their weapons at Matthew, "last chance. Drop the microphone and get off the stage."
Matthew groaned and pulled out his bow-staff. He swung it and knocked the officers off their feet.
"Sorry boys, but it's like I said, this is an emergency." Luckily, that stunt caught everyone's attention and now they were looking to the stage. "Listen to me everyone, there is an attack going on just above your heads. There are creatures known as changelings, and they want nothing more than to hurt all of you, so if you'll kindly make your way to the exits. Police officers are waiting outside to help you get away."
But no one moved.
"Changelings aren't real, they're part of a cartoon show about ponies," shouted a person in the crowd.
"I'm serious, there is a real attack going on up there. My friend Twilight and I have come down here to get you out of here."
"That's not the real Twilight Sparkle," shouted another person. "It's probably just a robot."
"Or a holographic image," said another.
"Although it does look real, I wonder how many hours it took to make something so complex."
Twilight smacked her forehead, "and Rainbow calls me an egg-head." She lit her horn and unleashed some magic into the crowd. It lifted a person off the ground and into the air. After ten seconds of this, she lowered him safely to the ground.
"Not the real Twilight eh? Are you sure about that?" Matthew asked with a raised eyebrow.
The crowds were stunned and silent.
"Now for your own safety, put down the comic books and the cards, and kindly make your way out of the building."
This time they listened and started moving towards the exits. Matthew walked over to the secruity guards and helped them to their feet, "sorry about that, but I had to stop you from using your weapons."
"It's fine Sir, just help get these people out of here."
"What do you think we're doing? Come on Twilight."
Twilight nodded and followed her human friend. As she walked past a booth though, she heard a voice call out; "good luck". She looked back in surprise, "that voice, it almost sounds like..."
"Twilight come on!" cried Matthew.
"Oh right, coming!"
She ran through the crowds and rejoined Matthew at the stairwell. He then called out to the crowds, "Twilight and I will go on ahead to see if the coast is clear. Don't run up the stairs until we give you a signal."
"What sort of signal?" asked one person.
Matthew looked to that person, "you'll know it when you see it."
He and Twilight walked up the stairwell, but stopped before the halfway point. Twilight looked up to him, "does it seem quiet to you?" she asked.
"Yes, a little too quiet," he answered.
No sooner had he said that than dozens of changelings appeared at the top of the stairs. Try as they might, Starlight and the rest of the unicorns couldn't keep the changelings back.
"Blast, they got through our defenses," groaned Matthew.
"Here we go again," groaned Twilight. She extended her wings and took flight, "I'll hit them high..."
"I'll hit them low."
Twilight flew upwards, firing off her magic at the changelings. Other changelings flew down towards Matthew, where they were met with his bow-staff. He swung it and smacked them hard, while at the same time, using his kung-fu moves.
"Oh no, not again," groaned one changeling.
He ended up getting smacked by Matthew's bow-staff, flew towards a wall and after hitting it, fell down the stairwell towards the crowds. The impact knocked him out.
"I've never seen a creature like this before," said a person.
"Then it's clear you don't watch My Little Pony do you?" asked another.
"Uh, no. No I don't."
Above them, Starlight and the other unicorns arrived to help Matthew and Twilight, "Sorry, but they got past us."
"Don't worry about it Starlight, just keep them back!" cried Twilight.
Matthew waved to the other people. That was the signal and slowly, they made their way up the stairwell. They stopped though when changelings started flying down towards them. Matthew swung into action and smacked many of them down, while Twilight and the unicorns took care of the rest.
As he got to the top of the stairwell, Matthew saw a changeling on the outside heading for a window and heading straight for Twilight.
"Oh no you don't!"
The changeling smashed through the window with it's magic, and would've hit Twilight, but instead got a shoe to the face by Matthew. He had grabbed onto the railing, spun himself around and hit the changeling. However, no sooner did he hit the changeling then he lost grip and started following the changeling down the stairs.
"Matthew!" cried Twilight.
She flew towards him, but thankfully, he had caught the railing again, which stopped him. The changeling though flew down in between the gasping people and soon reached the bottom of the stairs where the other battered changelings could be found.
"Ouch," groaned the changeling and passed out.
Matthew looked to the crowds, they were all staring at him in shock, "are you waiting for an invitation, get the heck out of here!" he cried. They listened and ran to the exits.
Twilight flew over towards her human friend, "are you alright?" she asked worringly.
"Yeah, I'm fine Twilight," he groaned as he got to his feet. "Though I wouldn't recommand trying that again unless you're a stunt man, or stunt pony in your case."
"Are you sure you're going to be alright? You look worn out."
"I'll be fine, let's just worry about getting these people to safety."
Twilight nodded and together, they pushed through the crowds. Even more changelings could now be seen coming out of the portal, which made things all the more difficult for the heroes. Still, they never gave up and once Starlight and the other unicorns made it outside, they were able to keep the changelings back. Police officers in the meanwhile lead the visitors of the convention away from the Rogers Centre and to another part of the city that was safer.
"Is that all of them?" asked one officer.
"I'll go check," said another.
The officer went into the building with Moondancer right behind him. They soon returned, "it's all clear, everyone is out of there. There are only changelings down there, and they've had the wind kicked out of them."
With that part of the job done, Moondancer ran to rejoin her friends.
Back at Canterlot High, Principal Celestia made the annoucement for everyone to get out of the school if they could. Escape however was easier said than done as the changelings seemed to surrond the building.
"You can't escape the wrath of the Changelings," snarled one and prepared to unleash an attack at the human CMC.
However, the changeling never unleashed the attack as it got smacked. The human Crusaders looked to see that their rescuer was none other than Lemon Zest.
"I never thought I'd say this to one of you, but thanks," said human Scootaloo.
"Glad I can help, now excuse me a second." And Lemon Zest charged out of the school, smacking even more changlings with her sheet music stand. She was soon joined by human Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, leave some for me why don't you?"
"Well then, you better hurry slowpoke!" Lemon Zest called and stuck her tounge out.
"Slowpoke, eh? I'll show you who's the slowpoke!" And she charged in to hit more changelings.
Once Applejack and Sugarcoat arrived to take on more of the changelings on the outside, the students and teachers were able to make their escape. Though some decided it was best to stand and fight.
"No one messes with the Great and Powerful Trixie's school," proclaimed Trixie.
One changeling charged at her and she stood in shock. Luckily, Sunset Shimmer was able to jump in and smack the changeling away. She looked back to Trixie, "this is no time to be boastful Trixie. If you want to help, then be firm and fight back."
Trixie gulped, she was nervous, but seeing the scared looks on the students and teacher's faces, she found courage. She picked up a nearby big branch and swung it, smacking a couple of changelings with it.
"Whoa, I never thought I'd see Trixie do that," commented Emily as she and the others reached the back of the school.
"Well in times of war, anything can happen," said Ryan.
Trixie was quite impressed with what she did, but still she remained focused and joined in on the fight with all the other students.
In Equestria, despite the large number of enemy changelings, the heroes were winning and this was really starting to annoy Chrysalis.
"Stupid fools, how can we be losing to such low lives like them?" she cried angerily.
Rainbow Dash heard the outburst and smirked, "not so weak after all, eh Chrysalis? Maybe if you'd get off your little flank and get involved, maybe then you'd stand a chance. NOT!" she said and pulled a face.
Applejack saw this and smacked her forehead, "please tell me she didn't just do that?"
"Oh she did that alright," groaned Gilda.
Chrysalis' wings opened up and she stood up, "fine then, I'll finish you all myself. Starting with your Princess Twilight Sparkle!" She flew off the building and headed for the portal to Earth.
"Me and my big mouth," groaned Rainbow Dash.
At the base of the CN Tower, the heroes were really feeling worn out, but they were winning their fight, "just a couple more minutes and that's it," said Twilight, "what can possibly go wrong now?"
Matthew and Starlight looked to her, "really? Did you just ask that?" asked Starlight.
"Whoops, didn't mean to," groaned Twilight.
They then heard Pinkie Pie's voice threw the wireless headsets, "I hate to be a party pooper and deliver more bad news, but you've got company coming and it's not good company."
"What sort of company Pinkie?" asked Matthew.
Before Pinkie could even answer, the not good company arrived. The changelings stopped and Matthew with his pony friends gasped in horror, "never mind, we know who it is."
Chrysalis smirked just seeing them, "So, you've been able to last this long huh? I'm quite impressed, but you will not be able to stand up to me."
Seeing the changeling queen before her eyes once again, Twilight's anger started to grow. Matthew and Starlight could see this, "Twilight, don't lose your temper," advised Matthew.
But this time, Twilight wasn't listening to him. It seemed as though she was drowning out the world, and focusing on the events that occured during Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding.
"Twilight, please calm down," said Starlight with worry.
Angry snarls could be heard from Twilight, her eyes twitched and an angry scowl came to her face.
"Twilight don't!"
"Twilight, stay calm!" cried Matthew.
It was no use. In one angry yell, Twilight's anger had finally reached it's breaking point. She ran away from the group and fired an energy blast at Chrysalis.
"You wanted a fight Chrysalis, well you got one!" Twilight shouted angerily.
Chrysalis smirked, "I was hoping for this." She flapped her wings and took to the sky.
"You're not getting away from me this time!"
Twilight took to the sky with her friends yelling after her. Their yells though fell on deaf ears and Twilight didn't stop. She fired one energy blast after another while she and Chrysalis flew high above the streets. Some blasts missed Chrysalis, but others hit her and more than once, she fell a bit of a distance to the ground.
Many of the changelings charged upwards to help their queen.
"Stay back you fools, this little pip-squeak is mine!" she called out to them.
With another angry yell, Twilight unleashed a very powerful blast at Chrysalis, which hit her hard. A nasty smirk came to Twilight's face, "that felt good there."
"She's doing quite well," commented Minuette. "Though I'm kind of scared of that smirk."
"I'm more concerned about how much energy she's using," said Matthew. "Anger has a way of draining one's energy, just like what happened with me. Except now Twilight's been fighting for a long time before Chrysalis showed up."
"Wait, are you saying that...?" Starlight looked up to Matthew with a concerned look.
Matthew nodded, "she'll run out of energy and she will fall."
Sadly Matthew was right. With all the fighting she had done before, and now with her anger controlling her, Twilight was running out of energy. That however wasn't going to stop her. She wanted payback for what Chrysalis did in Canterlot, and she was going to get it one way or another.
With horns lit, they unleashed powerful blasts at each other. At first, they were able to withstand each other, but then Chrysalis' attack started to push through.
"No!" cried Twilight.
With one mighty push, Chrysalis' attack blasted through and hit Twilight. She started falling towards the ground. Moondancer and Minuette ran to her aid, and using their magic, slowed her down till she gently touched the ground. Now her friends could run over towards her.
"Twilight, are you okay?" Matthew asked.
"Please Twilight, say something," begged Starlight.
Instead of an angry look, the expression on Twilight's face had changed to a sad look. Tears were now falling from her eyes and she muttered; "I failed. I failed."
"No, you didn't fail, you put in a good effort, you just let your anger get the better of you," said Matthew kindly.
"You did hit her quite a bit, that's something," added Starlight.
But still, Twilight remained sad. Chrysalis landed nearby, cackling with laughter. Both Matthew and Starlight were annoyed by her, "I don't know about you, but that Changeling has got me peeved!" exclaimed Starlight.
The ponies gasped. Matthew was confused, that was until he heard Starlight say, "Sorry for my language, but it's how I feel."
"I feel the same way Starlight, it's time we taught that Changeling Queen a lesson." He turned back to Moondancer, "can you watch over Twilight for us?"
Moondancer nodded.
Matthew and Starlight walked up towards Chrysalis, who smirked, "really? A unicorn and a human? Is this really all you got?"
"We may seem pathetic to you Chrysalis, but we're more than a match for the likes of you," said Matthew firmly.
With her horn lit, Starlight unleashed a powerful blast at Chrysalis, which hit her hard and pushed her back a short distance. Matthew charged in next and smacked her with his paintball gun, which broke it.
"I've been meaning to get a new weapon anyways," he muttered.
An angry glare came to Chrsyalis' face, "fine, you two are willing to be destoryed, so I'll gladly fulfil your wishes."
"You wish," muttered Starlight.
They charged in at the changeling queen again, trying everything they knew to seriously hurt her, but the changeling queen was quick and dodged their attacks, then went on the attack, almost hitting them.
"Yikes, that was close," groaned Matthew. At that moment, his eyes focused on the Rogers Centre, and the glass railing system at one end of the stairwell leading to the downstairs. "That'll work." He called out to Chrysalis, "come and get me you oversized bug! Or are you too chicken?"
Chrysalis forgot about Starlight and charged at Matthew. He meanwhile ran towards the building and stood near the railing.
"Any last words human?" Chrysalis asked as her horn started to glow.
"Just a few. Starlight, hit her hard!"
Chrysalis looked back, but only got glimpse of a bight light. Starlight had unleashed a powerful blast, which hit Chrysalis hard. Matthew then kicked her stomach from underneath, making her fly, smash through the railing and fall towards the ground below.
The kick though had made Matthew flip over the edge and now was dangling above the stairs.
Starlight ran over towards him, "Grab my hoof Matthew!" she cried.
He grabbed onto her hoof. She groaned since he was heavier than a normal pony, "don't let me go!" he cried.
"Never," smiled his friend. Using all her strength, and no magic, Starlight pulled Matthew back to safety. Both panted and sighed with relief, "are you alright?"
"Never better, though I'd never recommand that either," Matthew smiled. "You really have changed Starlight, and I'm grateful for that."
Both of them got up and walked outside. There were still a few changelings flying about. Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine and Minuette were still firing at them while Moondancer tried to snap Twilight back to her senses.
"Report in guys, how's it going where you are," Matthew called into the headset.
"We got almost all of them beaten and pushed back to the portal," came Ryan's reply. "There are still some fighting back, but we're good."
"We're fine over here too," came Patrick's reply.
Matthew sighed with relief, but it wouldn't be for long. Chrysalis flew up and landed right behind them, "you stupid fools, you can never beat us. We are unbeatable."
Ryan then called in, "bad news, even more of them are coming through and they're attacking."
"Same here," came Patrick's call.
Starlight and Matthew looked to each other with concerned looks. Chrysalis had overheard and smirked.
"Is this really how we're going down?" Starlight groaned.
"I guess so, but if we're going down, we're taking them down with us. Stand firm Starlight my friend, cause this fight has just reached the next level."
Starlight nodded and stood in a firm stance.
Chrysalis smirked, "you are tough, I will give you that, but at the end of the day, your defeat will be your end."
Matthew and Starlight were about ready to attack again when another call came in, "guys, we got good news, more back-up is on the way, and they're really mad at Chrysalis and her changelings," came the voice of Rainbow Dash.
More figures appeared through the portal, and brought about huge relieved sighs to both Matthew and Starlight.