Vanellope's ears flicked forward as the sound of hooves on stone reached her.
"Oh no," she whispered. "Ralph, he's coming."
"Hey, it's okay," he said, gently nuzzling her neck. "I'm here to protect you."
"As am I," said Twilight, stretching beside the fallen princess.
Vanellope smiled at the show of support. With the strongest earth pony and most powerful unicorn she knew beside her, there was no way Turbo would win.
The door opened slowly and the changeling trotted in, grinning. His grin was swiftly wiped off his face by Ralph's strong hind hooves. In fact, his whole muzzle snapped out of shape.
"Ow," he hissed after it healed in crackling green flames. "You'll pay for that, brute." His twisted horn glowed as he readied a spell, but Twilight was quick to aim a zap of light at his horn.
The changeling twisted away, hissing and chittering something in an insectile language.
"He's warning his hivemates!" shouted Twilight. "Oh, Celestia, I hope our backup arrives soon."
Back in the changeling-defence base, Calhoun paced in front of her best soldiers, eyeing them intensely. Felix sat in front of them too, watching the unicorn bark orders at her soldiers.
"We'll attack with the unicorns and earth ponies on the ground, and pegasi in the sky. Now, Candy Cloud is a cloud city, as the name suggests, and so all ground troops will have a cloud-walking spell cast on them. I hope I don't need to remind you that clouds are still quite fragile, do I?"
"No, ma'am." The response was so precise and instant that Felix felt a flash of pride.
"Good," said Calhoun, nodding. "Now, guns will be handed out to the non-unicorns. These guns are charged with the very same spell that I use for killing changelings and, for Cadance's sake, do not drop the damn things or look down the barrel. Is that clear?"
The last order was barked at a green recruit who was currently peering down the barrel of his gun. He yelped and dropped it. The gun went off, striking a bird which immediately fell to the ground as a corpse.
"Exhibit A," said Calhoun, gesturing with her hoof. "Lieutenant, what's your name?"
"M-markowski, ma'am," he meeped, cringing under the stern glare of his superior.
"Latrine duty for a month. Now, get." The stallion scampered off obediently, and Calhoun continued giving her orders.
The sun hadn't moved in the sky by the time she'd finished, but Felix already had the gut feeling that they may be too late.
"Alright, ponies, let's move out!" Calhoun finally ordered. "Kill those bug things, save a kingdom, and be home in time for dinner."
Felix hoped that his dinner would be a date with the lovely lady before him.
Back in the dungeon, things were getting tense as the three ponies waited for Turbo's backup to arrive.
"Twilight, can you create a force-field?" Vanellope asked.
"I can only create one big enough to surround my tree home," said Twilight. "My brother was always the best at force-fields and other kinds of shield casting."
"That's big enough," said Ralph, standing as close as he could to his injured and terrified mate. "Do it."
Twilight lowered her head, her horn glowing with a faint light. She closed her eyes, straining to make the spell stronger. Sparkles started to appear in a circle around the three ponies as Twilight's tongue slipped out of her mouth. With a grunt, the force-field formed around them as Twilight's horn flared brighter. She panted once it was in place, wiping sweat from her brow.
"Whew," said Twilight, panting. "That's tough."
"I thought you were supposed to be the most magical unicorn who ever lived," said Ralph.
"Well, you try casting spells on an empty stomach," said Twilight, shooting a glare at him.
"It has been a while since we've eaten," said Vanellope. "What I'd give to be back at home with all the edible furniture. Marshmallow pillows, candy cane pillars, cotton candy clouds…"
"Yeah, just make us even more hungry," said Ralph.
"How does that even work?" asked Twilight. "Wouldn't it all fall apart?"
"Apparently there was this guy called Discord who wreaked havoc on Equestria a while ago," said Vanellope. Ralph and Twilight shivered. "Oh, you've heard of him?"
"He escaped his stone prison a while ago, the girls and I had to use the Elements to put him back," said Twilight.
"He's why everyone thinks I'm a monster," said Ralph. "He sent me on a rampage, and I wrecked everything."
"Oh," said Vanellope, tapping her front hooves together. "Well, this is awkward, then. Discord made Candy Cloud."
"That makes sense, then," said Twilight. "Does it also rain chocolate milk there?"
"Only on Tuesdays," said Vanellope. "But now that you mention that, as soon as I get home, I'm going to have a nice chocolate bubble bath."
"Wouldn't that make you kind of sticky?" asked Ralph, grimacing.
"I'd have a normal bath afterwards, duh," said Vanellope.
"It still sounds gross," said Ralph. "Bathing in all that chocolate… never been a fan of chocolate."
"You don't like chocolate?" Vanellope gasped. "Shun the non-believer!" She pointed a hoof at him, and Ralph chuckled while Twilight giggled.
"You two are adorable, really," said Turbo, reminding them all of his presence. Vanellope glared at him. "Oh no, keep going, your love is delicious." He swiped his tongue over his fangs, drawing a growl from the small princess.
"Twilight, remove my magic suppressor," said Vanellope.
"Okay," said Twilight. She concentrated until there was a small click, and then she levitated the ring off Vanellope's horn.
"Thank you," said Vanellope. Then, she took a step towards Turbo, her horn lighting up with electric blue magic. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw blue sparks flying off the cracked horn.
"Vanellope, wait, your horn-" Twilight tried to warn her, but Vanellope didn't hear her.
"You have been a thorn in my side for too long!" Vanellope snapped, her horn flaring with energy as she stepped closer to the smirking changeling.
"Stop!" Twilight cried, but it was too late. Vanellope's horn suddenly gave a sharp cracking noise, and she cried out as magic exploded outwards. The force-field shattered, and the three ponies were left sprawled on the ground.
"Vanellope, are you okay?" Ralph asked, scrambling to his hooves first. Vanellope groaned and sat up, rubbing her horn.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just embarrassed," said Vanellope. "And angry. Stupid changeling, ruining my horn."
"Well, it looks like you got your revenge," Ralph chuckled, pointing to the changeling splattered against the far wall. He slid down, leaving a trail of green goo behind him, and then just lay there in a puddle of it.
"Good," said Vanellope with a huff. She heard a groan and spun around to face Twilight. "Twilight, are you okay?" The purple unicorn certainly didn't look okay, clutching her head with her hooves.
"Oww," Twilight moaned. "Magical feedback is such a pain in the horn." Vanellope had to laugh at the wording. But then Twilight looked at her in confusion. "But how are you okay? That was your spell that backfired."
"I haven't been able to feel it since that fight with Turbo," said Vanellope. The others looked at her with wide, worried eyes. "I know, I'm scared too."
"Well, you don't act it," said Ralph. "You're very brave."
"I'm not going to let him scare me anymore," said Vanellope. "I'm sick of being afraid of him. And if I could hurt him like that, just on accident, then he doesn't have any power over me anymore."
"He still has an army coming," Twilight reminded her. "And we're still trapped in here. Your horn is broken, and I'm too tired and sore now to cast spells."
"Leave it to me," said Ralph, walking up to the wall next to the door of their cell and turning around. With one swift, practiced motion, he bucked his back hooves into the wall, sending a spray of bricks outward.
"My hero," Vanellope cheered, throwing her hooves over his back and then scrambling up onto it. "Now, ride, my faithful steed." Ralph snorted and then took off, Twilight running beside him as they made their grand escape.