"Mike, do you think it's such a good idea to take the grand-kids with us? Didn't you say they had become changelings as well?" Brenda gave me a worried look. Remarkably, Samantha and Tanisha had been behaving like normal children, which surprised me.
"Only after I cleanse them," I said. "Of course, doing so will reduce my leverage with Xaviera, but we can't take any chances. Celestia would not approve of the presence of changelings in her realm. By the way, what time is it?"
"About 7:40," Brenda said as she checked the time on her phone.
"The sun was supposed to be setting about half an hour ago," I said. It was still in its late afternoon position. "I want to try something here -- I want to wait another two hours and see if God is going to allow the sun to set. If that doesn't happen, I will do it myself."
"I think that's a bad idea -- you don't want to make Him angry," Brenda said, somewhat apprehensive of what I was about to do.
"If He actually exists, He will do it. If not, it means something else," I said. I wanted to see if my doubts proved true -- with the power level I possessed, I figured I might be able to prove or disprove His existence once and for all. A nagging feeling of dread gnawed at the back of my mind, but I was determined to see this play out.
"Oh Heavenly Father, by whatever name you go by," I shouted at the sky, "I am giving you two hours to lower the sun. If you really exist, you will do this. If not, I shall do it. Do you hear me?"
"MIKE! STOP THAT!" Brenda shouted at me, showing extreme worry on her face.
"TWO HOURS! YOU GOT THAT!" I shouted at the sky again.
"MIKE!"
Another flash of light and golden POP resounded once again, and now Celestia and the Mane Six were standing in the front yard.
"Princess Celestia, welcome back," I said. "I see every pony is here. Good. Now I shall lure Xaviera here by cleansing her children of their changeling spirits."
"Darling, you mean you can actually do that?" Rarity asked, showing great surprise.
"Hey Mike, how's that supposed to work? I mean, I know you can do lots of stuff like that, but really, cleaning changelings like that, and banishing the spirits, and -- hey, they're just little kids, aren't they? Is it going to hurt them?"
"Pinkie Pie, just be quiet and observe. Xaviera should be here shortly, and I don't want her harming any of you. She has become very powerful, even stronger than the last Queen you encountered. Does everypony have their Elements ready?"
A chorus of "Yes" filled the air. I proceeded to cleanse Samantha then Tanisha, each of them shuddering, then falling unconscious as I finished, and again there was the small crying sound from each of them as their changeling spirits were banished. Suddenly, Xaviera appeared.
"How DARE you interfere with my HIVE!" she screamed, gliding in to stop not ten feet away from me.
"You will not escape THIS time," I sternly addressed her. "You must be cleansed of your changeling spirit, even if you are the new Queen. Trust me, I do NOT want to kill you, just cleanse you of that evil spirit inside you." I telekinetically held her in place, and her struggle was vicious.
"NEVER! Even if you do cleanse me, the next in line will become the Queen! Think about THAT!"
I facehoofed. This is going to be harder than I thought, and I had no idea of how many she had assimilated.
"Elements at the ready. Use your magic NOW!" Celestia commanded. They surrounded her, and cast their magic, enveloping Queen Xaviera in a rainbow-hued vortex. I released my telekinetic grip on her just in time to allow the vortex to banish the Queen's spirit. Xaviera fell to the ground unconscious, naked, but returned to her human form.
"Somepony cover her, I don't want to see her like this," I said. "Thanks again for your help."
"It was my pleasure, Tasavir," Celestia said. "By the way, what did she mean by her comment?"
"I have no idea how many she assimilated into her hive, Celestia. It seems as though the Queen's spirit takes over the next person or pony to have been assimilated. If that's the case, there will be another Queen, then another, then..."
"This sounds particularly bad," Celestia said, fresh worry creeping across her face once again.
"I tried to find everyone she assimilated, but there's no telling how many she may have gotten to."
"Did anyone get the number of that bus that just hit me?" Xaviera said, groggily getting to her feet. "Where are my kids? Gotta get back into the house, I'm cold and hungry."
"Xaviera, you okay?" I asked her.
"Got a bad headache, my body hurts, I feel like I've been hit by a bus, but I guess I'm okay," she said. She found her kids and took them inside.
"Thanks for saving my baby," Brenda said to Celestia. "Mike, it's getting late -- and the sun is still up."
"What time is it now?" I asked.
"About 9:30," Brenda replied.
"Tasavir, what does this mean?" asked Celestia.
"I am conducting an experiment, and all of you are invited to watch. If you might remember, I talked about the existence of a very powerful entity, one who claimed to be the God of all gods, with no others before him. If this is true, and he really exists, he has about 15 minutes, more or less, to allow the sun to set. As you can see, the sun is still in its late afternoon position, and was supposed to set about two hours ago. Even though I am supposed to lower the sun, I am doing this for the purpose of either proving or disproving the existence of this God."
"Tasavir, you tempt fate by doing this. I would suggest you proceed with your duties, lest you anger an even greater power." Celestia admonished me, showing some degree of concern on her face. I believe she was worried for my safety.
"Celestia, your concern has been registered, however, I feel compelled to proceed with this test. Allow me to assume my Alicorn form, this will only take a minute." I changed into my Alicorn form, taking a truly regal appearance by doing so.
"Brenda, is it time?" I asked her.
"Yes," she said. A look of fear crept across her face. I flew up into the sky.
"TIME'S UP!!" I shouted at the sky. The sun had refused to set, so I grabbed it with my magic and lowered it below the horizon, skipping the sunset position. I then grabbed the moon and placed it about half-way in the sky. I flew back down to the ground, gliding to a stop in our front yard, the Mane Six looking on in awe of my display.
"Tasavir, there is no need to be so ostentatious," Celestia advised.
"TASAVIR!! YOU HAVE DISPLEASED ME!!" a voice thundered from nowhere.
"I gave you two hours, and you refused to set the sun. So I did it for you," I said. "Show yourself if you truly exist. I offer that as a request, not as a demand."
"I have no need to show myself to one as insolent as you!"
"So why didn't you allow the sun to set? I gave you enough time to do so. Again, I request you show yourself!"
"I cannot allow you to gaze upon my form!"
"SHOW YOURSELF!!" I shouted, using magic to amplify my voice. "Either you exist or you do not! If you refuse to show yourself, I claim that you do not truly exist!"
Much to the shock of every pony present, a swirling mist rose between Celestia and me, and when that mist settled, there in our midst was none other than...
"Discord!" I hissed. "How DARE you try to trick me into thinking you were HIM!" I lost my temper. My eyes went white with rage, and my visage grew dark and fearsome. My body enlarged with my wings growing to a span of twenty feet as I took to the sky once again. My body started glowing brilliantly, emitting light bright enough to hurt the eyes of whomever gazed upon me. I readied a large magic charge from my horn, which was now glowing brilliant blue, my mane and tail also glowing a brilliant blue to match. Discord watched this spectacle in horror, a look of sheer terror on his face.
"YOU WILL NEVER TRICK ANYONE EVER AGAIN!" I shouted at him, launching this massive blast, reducing his body to a pile of dust. I calmed down, returning to my normal size, and landed near Celestia. Every pony was stunned by this raw display.
"That ... was ... quite ... impressive," Celestia said, the loss of words quite stunning, coming from her.
"Wow! That was AWESOME!" Rainbow shouted.
"Um, Mike, when did you get THAT powerful?" Twilight asked, her face still showing shock and surprise.
"I apologize for losing my temper. I guess righteous indignation got the better of me there. I guess my theory proved correct." I turned to Brenda, who was just standing with her mouth open, her eyes comically large. "Brenda, I guess that means everything you know is wrong."
"Hey, Mike, Brenda, we were going to throw you a party! Can you come this time? Please? I think the occasion is perfect for a party! Princess Celestia, can we have one in their honor? I have everything already planned out from the last time! Every pony will be happy to meet you both! Hey Brenda, can Mike turn you into a pony for us?" Pinkie was bouncing with even more enthusiasm than normal. Applejack was nodding in agreement, and Fluttershy, well...having witnessed my display, she was still hiding behind her mane, behind Rarity at that.
"Michael, darling, perhaps Brenda can model some clothing for me? I would be honored to have her come by my boutique for some measurements."
"We have several hours before I have to raise the sun tomorrow, so I would be honored to join all of you for the festivities," I said. "Brenda, shall I turn you into a pony for this occasion? It will only be for tonight, I promise!"
"MIKE! NO! PLEASE!" Brenda pleaded with me.
"Too late," I said, grinning. I turned Brenda into a zebra, looking fairly similar to Zecora.
"What? What happened? What do I look like? I see stripes," Brenda said.
"Oooh! Zecora!" Fluttershy said and trotted over to Brenda, giving her a hug.
"My name is Brenda!" she shouted. Fluttershy flew behind Rarity, meeping, and hiding behind her mane again.
"Brenda, you didn't need to do that," I said.
"How am I supposed to walk now?" she asked. She tried a little bit, and fell. "Damn it!" Every pony started laughing at her.
"Brenda, try alternating front and rear legs, taking small steps. I think you do right front, left rear, left front, right rear, and keep going like that until you build a good rhythm. Then you can try going faster and taking larger steps," I said.
She started doing this, getting the motion down fairly quickly. She started trotting in a large circle, then going faster until she started galloping up and down our block. She felt the rush of wind through her hair and ears, grinning broadly as she galloped.
"You know, I could get used to liking this," she said, beaming a big smile.
"Now you know how I felt when I was in Twilight's body galloping from her house to Sugar Cube Corner," I said. "The rush is quite exhilarating!"