Cheerilee took a deep breath, the musty hot air of the long-abandoned home filling her lungs. It smelled of rotting food and death, the heat only intensified both of those scents. Elytra, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Sunburst were all in this house, crowded near the doors and windows watching the street and the mare that stood in the middle of it.
In the house across the way were the rest of the adults; Applejack, Fluttershy, Bon Bon, and Meriwether. They watched Rarity just as intensely and occasionally looked to the sky to see if Twilight was near.
Discord had insisted on coming along, but he was rebutted quickly. If he couldn’t use his magic out here, then he wasn’t much help. While he might not have been the ideal choice for a foalsitter with Spike, it was all they had. They needed everypony else.
“Does everypony remember their job?” Sunburst asked as he adjusted his glasses. He received nods in response. “We’re going over them again. Cheerilee, what’s yours?” Since he had laid out the plan he had drilled them over and over again about it, this was the fifth time Cheerilee had to recite her part.
“Take the rope-” She picked up the rope that sat at her hooves. They only had about forty feet of it left and she had fifteen feet of it, as did Bon Bon. Meriwether had the last ten. “-run under Twilight, toss the rope over her back, then take Bon Bon’s rope and run back under. Tie her wings down and do what I can to help keep her down.” She had memorized it completely, but that didn’t make the thought of carrying any of it out any more calming.
“Elytra?” Sunburst looked to the changeling.
“Shapeshift into something big-” Elytra was staring out of the window as her wings hummed softly beneath her shell. She had one hoof on a glowing green orb, one of the ‘Hearts’ she kept around. It was recharging her slowly, she had told Cheerilee; she was feeding off of it to make sure she could carry out her task. “-hit her legs to get her down on the ground and then provide a lookout. If the Elements don’t work-” Elytra picked up a glowing blue syringe in her magic and gave it a little shake. “-jab her.”
Sunburst had given the syringe, much to the chagrin of multiple ponies in the group, to the changeling. It was mostly due to the fact that Elytra wouldn’t have to be close to Twilight to actually use it. Any security and safety that they could insure was for the best, even if some ponies didn’t trust her.
“Rainbow and Pinkie?”
“Wait until Mayor Mare ties her mouth closed and you put the crown on her and then work our magic!” Rainbow’s determination hadn’t faded even a little since the plan had been set. Her wings twitched on her back in nervous anticipation of confrontation. It was a sign that let everypony know that she was ready for anything.
“Right…” Sunburst sighed and shook his head. There was more to their side of the plan, mainly what they did if the Elements didn’t work. Rainbow Dash refused to acknowledge that possibility and that part of the plan as a whole. “Just remember, if Rarity is in trouble, speed out to save her.”
“Yeah yeah, I know.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and scoffed at the stallion. “Like I would let my friend get hurt. Dream on.”
“I wait until Twilight is down and get the crown on her.” Sunburst was more focused than he had ever been. His knees shook and knocked together and he had his jaw clenched, but he was ready. Cheerilee could see it in his eyes. “Just remember: stay out of her line of fire. The last thing you want is for her to use that horn on you.”
They waited silently, just watching the sky for any sign of the alicorn. The heat had already made sure everypony was drenched in their own sweat before the fight even began. That’s what she would ask Twilight to do first, before even thinking about how to fix this mess: lower the sun. Then, at the very least, they could go out without getting dehydrated within ten minutes.
“You ready?” Elytra nudged Cheerilee with a leg and whispered. “Because I’m not.” The sound of wings buzzing beneath hard chitin seemed to intensify as the changeling spoke. One of these days Cheerilee would have to talk with her about that obvious tell, but that could wait for later.
“This is going to be the scariest thing I’ve ever done…” The mare had to steady her breathing as she thought about her part of the plan yet again. “At least when I had to deal with Trixie it wasn’t expected. I think knowing that I have to face Twilight is making it worse.” There was a beat where neither of them spoke. “What about you? Are you full yet?”
Despite her misgivings about Elytra, Cheerilee couldn’t help but care about the resident changeling. There was that yearning deep down to learn, to improve, that just attracted the mare. It was the heart of a teacher looking at a new student and being pulled in by something more as well. There was a kind heart in there, one that only wanted to be better than it once was.
“Getting there.” The Heart rolled around a bit under a chitinous hoof. “I should have enough to do my job. I just can’t wait to get back inside and recharge fully, because that flight with Discord wasn’t easy.” Elytra looked tired. Her body language and her eyes all read like those of a pony who had pushed too hard too fast. It was about eleven o’clock at night, not that you could tell, and nopony had even thought of sleeping yet.
“Here she comes,” Sunburst hissed as a great shadow passed over the street and Rarity. “Back back back.” He kept his voice low as he hurried the mares deeper into the house. They all crouched behind an overturned couch on the other side of the living room, careful about even breathing too loud in case Twilight could hear it. Dash was on the end, her eyes focused on the open door in case she had to act and save Rarity.
Everypony was deathly still as the shadow stopped overhead, great wings kicking up the dust in the road and whipping Rarity’s mane and tail into a frenzy. Cheerilee was barely peeking over the top of the couch, her hooves holding onto the rope like her life depended on it, as she watched the unicorn shake and look up at the descending monster.
Twilight landed, her hooves sending a mighty tremor through the ground and shaking the windows of the house. From the window Cheerilee could just make out Rarity looking at Twilight’s chest. Slowly, that twisted and monstrous face leaned down.
“H-hello Twilight.” Rarity’s voice was muffled, but the fear was audible and visceral in the words. “I-it has been a while, darling. I w-was hoping we could talk, like old times.” The attempt to reach the pony inside of the monster was admirable, but it had no effect.
Beady purple eyes stared at the Element of Generosity. That viscous black drool poured from her mouth and formed puddles in the dirt as her lips pulled back to reveal the sharpened teeth of a predator. Twilight’s nostrils flared as she sniffed the pony in the street, searching for something. A long dark purple tongue fell from the alicorn’s mouth and she leaned forward, her jaws opening.
Dash disappeared in a polychromatic flash, leaving a rainbow trail and a strong wind behind her. Just as Twilight’s mouth would’ve encompassed Rarity’s head, the unicorn was picked up and carried away into the air.
“GO!” Sunburst screamed.
Twilight turned her head to the noise. Those eyes flashed as she lowered her head and pointed her horn straight at the doorway. The group inside was already bolting towards it and couldn’t stop. Thankfully they were saved by a pair of orange piston-like hooves hitting Twilight’s jaw with a thunderous crack. The alicorn stumbled from the hit and leaned against the house that Cheerilee was in.
Pinkie Pie was the first out of the door, avoiding Twilight’s face and racing off to join her friends. Elytra was next and she took up her position at the monster’s rear. Next was herself, rope held in her mouth and a mix of determination and fear filling her heart and mind.
Cheerilee ran under Twilight, needing to duck as the alicorn was still staggered from the kick to the face from Applejack. She passed Bon Bon while going under the beast and got to the other side less than a second after the younger earth pony had reached her destination. Both mares tossed their ropes over Twilight’s back in time and caught the other’s. With a nod they both ran back under Twilight as quickly as they could, the ends of the ropes in their mouths, and tied them together to pin the princess’ wings down.
That had all taken less than a minute, which was all it took for Twilight to recover. She raised her head to let out a howl, but only let out a confused yelp instead when something hit her hind legs. Elytra had changed into a Kodiak bear-a slightly aqua colored Kodiak bear-but one nonetheless.
The shapeshifted changeling stood on her hind legs, towering almost ten feet tall, and slammed into Twilight’s legs again. Elytra’s massive paws hit the right spot, and then hit it again for good measure. Twilight fell hard as her legs caved from the force of the blows, her head hitting the ground and all four of her limbs crumpling beneath her. The feral alicorn attempted to get up, but both Cheerilee and Bon Bon slammed into her stomach as hard as they could, knocking the wind out of her and keeping her on the ground.
Elytra shifted back into her normal form and took to the skies. Her dark pink eyes focused on streets coming from town hall. If any of those things came this way, she would let everypony know and then they would have to work downtime.
Meriwether was busy looping the rope around Twilight’s muzzle as the alicorn attempted to snap at her. Sunburst was helping as well and soon enough the beast’s maw was shut and kept that way.
Twilight thrashed about, her legs kicking and her head swinging around wildly as her horn let loose bolts of magic wherever it was pointed. When she attempted to get up, Cheerilee and Bon Bon would hit her again to keep her down. It was difficult to keep out of the reach of her legs but it wasn’t impossible, as long as they timed it right they could keep her on the ground reliably.
All five of Twilight’s friends stood at the end of the street in front of the castle. They all looked on, terrified of the thing their friend had become. The pony they had spent years with, the pony they had defeated countless villains beside, and the pony who they had helped ascend to alicornhood was nothing more than a violent and thrashing beast now.
They were about to change that.
Sunburst held the tiara inlaid with the Element of Magic in his hooves as if it was made of glass. The stallion steeled his resolve and stepped towards Twilight, ducking more than a few times to avoid lances of pure energy that erupted from the two foot long spear coming from the rat’s nest of a mane.
“Please Twilight...I know you’re in there,” the Crystaller mumbled and closed his eyes as he put a hoof on her neck. “Please let this work…” He placed the crown on the alicorn’s head and stepped back. It was too small for her head now, barely staying in place as she thrashed about.
It took a few seconds, but the thrashing stopped. Twilight’s horn stopped firing off magic and the beast settled. Her breaths became even instead of frantic and her eyes focused on the five ponies in front of her.
“I-is it workin’?” Applejack asked softly. “Twilight, are you in there?” The other Elements started to walk forward slowly. “We need you somethin’ fierce right about now. So if this could work and you could come back to us…”
“Please, Twilight,” Fluttershy pleaded with the downed monster.
“Twilight.” Sunburst stepped forward again and reached out to place a hoof on her muzzle. “Listen, I-I don’t know if I can figure this out alone. Somehow I’ve gotten us this far, but we need you.” He looked back to the other Elements and then to the castle in the distance. “They need you, Flurry Heart needs you too. She needs her family, not me.” He closed his eyes and sighed deeply into the hot summer air.
“Is it working?” Rarity cocked her head to the side as she spoke. “She’s not...well she’s not moving about but she’s not changing and I don’t feel the Elements doing anything.” The other Bearers chimed in with similar thoughts.
Twilight’s head jerked.
The sharpened horn of the alicorn pierced the stallion’s chest and jutted from his back, the tip now drenched in crimson lifeblood. Sunburst’s mouth hung agape as he looked down at Twilight, fear and pain saturating his expression. He was lifted off of the ground as Twilight raised her chin from the dirt. With a shake of her head the lifeless body of the scholarly unicorn was tossed to the side as his glasses shattered on the ground.
“Elytra, the syr-” Before she could finish calling for the bottled up mana to be injected, a massive purple hoof impacted Bon Bon’s chest and sent her crashing through the window of the house Cheerilee had been waiting in earlier. The schoolmare turned to look back at the house, only seeing what looked to be the earth pony lodged very firmly in a wall.
Cheerilee barely dove out of the way of another flailing hoof. She hit the ground as Twilight slowly stood up, her nostrils flaring and horn charging up. Everypony watched on, sheer terror overcoming them as the monster that haunted their every moment rose to her hooves.
The Element of Magic fell from her head and hit the ground, only for one of Twilight’s hooves to slam down on it. The purple star at the center of the tiara shattered beneath the powerful appendage. Small purple sparks emitted from the bits of crystal, but that was it.
“E-Elytra!” Cheerilee hollered out to the changeling again. It had taken two of their only hopes in the world to disappear in a matter of seconds to finally shake her out of the stupor she had been in. “The mana! Now!”
Twilight’s jaw snapped open and ripped the rope in pieces as she raised her head and let out a howl that shattered the stillness of the blue sky above. The beast turned its gaze to the five Element Bearers, her eyes filled with fury, and her horn began to glow.
The syringe full of bright blue liquid, surrounded in an eerie green glow, was suddenly plunged into Twilight’s neck. The plunger on the end was forced down and the pure harmonic mana was forced into the alicorn’s system.
The reaction was almost instant; the veins beneath her skin started to glow the same color as the injection, her legs crumpled beneath her once again and her whole body began to shake. Twilight fell onto her side as she began to spasm and let out howls and roars of pure pain.
“G-grab the ropes! We’re pullin’ her into the castle now!” Several eyes were still focused on the body of Sunburst as Applejack yelled at the group. Cheerilee was one of the few who reacted and met the farmer at Twilight’s barrel, Pinkie and Dash being the others.
“What about Sunburst and Bon Bon?” Meriwether shouted from the other side of the street, her eyes still locked on the stallion. The politician’s entire body shook and trembled. The massive howl that came from deeper in Ponyville only succeeded in making her shake more.
“We’ve got incoming!” Elytra landed on the ground and faced towards Town Hall. “Get her inside, I’ll do what I can to hold them off!” Cheerilee hated the sound of that...it sounded like they were going to lose three survivors on this mission.
“AH SAID GRAB THE ROPES AND PULL!” Applejack screamed at her friends, her pupils the size of pins. That finally did it and caused the other Bearers to leap into action and grab the two ropes that had bound Twilight’s wings to her sides.
The castle steps were a good two or three hundred feet away across open terrain. They tugged and pulled at the ropes, eventually getting the massive body of Twilight turned to a point where they could walk backwards and pull the alicorn in a straight line to the staircase.
Cheerilee looked up to see Elytra’s horn lit up and firing blasts down the street. The green bolts of acidic changeling magic were hitting houses and setting them ablaze as a way to delay the horde that they all knew was on its way.
Progress was slow under the hot sun, especially since Meriwether had run past them and was already at the door of the castle. Cheerilee would’ve grumbled, but she had no more energy to spend on the mayor. They had to get the still spasming and thrashing Twilight inside as soon as they could, and that demanded every last drop of effort.
Elytra shot a stream of magic at the ground and it erupted into a wall of solid green fire. The landscape of Ponyville beyond her was alight in green flames and the screams and howls of the feral unicorns echoed into the eternal sunshine.
The changeling turned and raced over to the group and Twilight, who had made it all but fifty feet in ten minutes. Her form changed into the bear again in a flash of light and she got on all fours and helped push them towards their destination. It made the work quicker, but not quick enough.
A bolt of energy came through the wall of fire and hit Elytra in the back. The changeling roared out in pain but continued to push. More and more magic poured through the wall and pockmarked the earth around them. It showered the group in dirt and debris as they continued their slow work.
Twilight had finally stopped moving, hopefully just passed out, and the weight became fully dead. It was another ten minutes of being showered in magic and dirt, another ten minutes of being grazed and covered in dust. Another ten minutes of constant maximum effort under the sun.
They had to stop, they couldn’t go any more. Twilight had only been moved about half of the distance to the castle, but it was all they could manage. Nopony had the strength anymore, it had all been used.
“W-we can’t do it, Applejack. We have to leave her.” Cheerilee’s entire body was covered with sweat. Every muscle in her body screamed and protested at her, they demanded her to stop and give up. “We just can’t.”
Nopony else was in any better shape, they all were beaten down and exhausted. Even the toned bodies of Rainbow and Applejack who were used to such strenuous physical activity. Even Elytra’s disguise faded and left only a tired and slightly scorched changeling before them. They all looked at Applejack.
“You’re right.” A bolt whizzed by AJ’s head and nearly grazed one of her ears. “A-alright, we leave her.” The look in AJ’s eyes was that of complete and abject defeat. For a pony that had been handed loss after loss out here, it finally looked like this might break the mare.
“No.” They all looked down at the monster they had been moving. Her size hadn’t changed much, but it had changed. Her features had softened and she looked up at them all with a blood soaked face. “P-please…I-I can’t go back…”
Twilight got to her hooves. She was still double their size and those vicious fangs still poked out from her mouth, but she was talking. Her legs shook and wobbled as she took a tentative step towards the castle. That was all it took to re-energize the ponies around her. The Element Bearers stabilized their rapidly shrinking friend and walked with her towards the castle.
Elytra’s wall of fire finally died down and the dam was broken. The horde of feral unicorns sprinted through the street and headed straight towards the group at a lightning pace. They let loose bolts of energy at targets they could now see.
The group started to run. The rapidly changing alicorn did her absolute best to keep up, but she slowed down the group too much. It made them too easy to hit.
One bolt hit Rainbow Dash in the back, right between the wings and sent the pegasus to the ground.
The next impacted Rarity and scorched her pristine white coat and left behind an angry blister that bubbled with pain.
Cheerilee felt one of her front hooves get knocked out from under her and she hit the dirt. She saw the fur on that hoof sizzle and burn away to expose the scorched skin beneath. It didn’t even hurt. She couldn’t feel it.
“C’mon, get up.” Elytra picked up the schoolmare in her magic and stood her upright. “We’re not dying here, not today.” The changeling’s shell was broken in several places, completely black in others. She had taken more than a few blasts in her bear form and somehow she still stood and even helped Cheerilee. “Not you, not now.” The pair hobbled after the group the best they could, but the horde caught up first.
Elytra stopped and screamed. The sound of chitin being cracked and crunched came from behind them, only to be followed by a wet and slimy ripping noise. Cheerilee looked back to see a pale purple unicorn with an amethyst and aqua mane carrying the bottom half of Elytra’s back left leg in her mouth. Green blood oozed from the stump.
They were going to die. Today. Now.
“STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!”
It was Twilight’s voice and it screamed louder than Cheerilee had ever heard. Waves of purple magic emanated from the alicorn, then everypony left in the group disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.
The next thing Cheerilee knew, she was in the main hall of the castle again. Her head spun and her vision swam as she collapsed to the cool crystal floor. Elytra fell right beside her, and screamed in pain as her wings buzzed helplessly.
“Discord! A-a towel or sheet or something!” Fluttershy descended onto the changeling and put pressure on the stump. “Y-you’ll be okay, Elytra. You’ll be okay.” Discord appeared beside them in a flash of light, a long bedsheet in his grasp. Fluttershy grabbed it with her wings and wrapped it as tight as she could above the severed limb, then tied it off.
Elytra passed out before the bleeding stopped.
Cheerilee stood and looked around. Her mind still hadn’t caught up to all that happened...she thought that they had all been teleported. The crying and screaming from around the room didn’t help.
Rainbow sat on the floor, Pinkie by her side. The pegasus’ wings were limp at her sides and she struggled to move them with tears running down her cheeks. The burn mark on her back from where she had been hit looked deep and bad.
Rarity bit her lip and shook as she looked over her ruined coat. Fur had been burned away and left only scarred and scorched flesh underneath all across her right side. She started to cry and wail, as both the pain and realization had hit her at the same time.
Twilight was curled up in the middle of the floor and she cried as the blue magic of the castle surged into her horn. The alicorn spasmed and shook, she couldn’t stop as the transformation completed itself and the bad magic was purged from her system completely.
“Was it worth it, Applejack?” Meriwether’s voice came from somewhere. Cheerilee had to spin to find the mare at the base of the stairs. “Was she worth it?” The mayor nodded towards Twilight in the middle of the room. “Was she worth two lives?”
“You better shut your mouth!” Applejack stormed over to the other mare and put a hoof inches away from the politician’s nose. “You turned tail and ran like the coward you are! Ah don’t wanna hear a word from you! Like usual, you left ponies to die!”
“You saw what happened! We stood no chance!” Meriwether laughed in the face of the distraught and angry farmpony. “She was toying with us, Applejack! She waited until we let our guard down and killed Sunburst and Bon Bon! You only got out because she finally decided to do something.” The mayor jabbed a hoof at Twilight. “And what did it cost? Two lives and all of this carnage.”
Applejack’s hoof connected with the side of Meriwether’s face. The elder statespony fell to the ground, unconscious before she hit the floor. Applejack huffed and shook with pure rage as she looked down at the other mare.
“Th-this was our only chance.” Applejack didn’t sound convinced and the words rang hollow. She turned, went over to Twilight and knelt. A hoof reached out and rested on the alicorn’s shoulder. “Twilight…”
“I-I’m so sorry, Applejack. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” Twilight Sparkle managed to get out between heavy sobs. She finally looked up at one of her oldest friends. Her face and mane were still soaked with a mix of sweat, tears, and Sunburst’s blood. “I-I never...meant…”
“Twilight you need to tell us what happened. What caused this?”