The sun had set in Ponyville and it was almost time for Nightmare Night. Back at Rowan's house, in his bedroom, Rowan was getting ready for the upcoming celebration, which included putting his costume on.
As Rowan tied on the cloak of his costume, he whistled a tune that sort of fit the occasion: Nightmare Night by Glaze and Mic the Microphone. Rowan smiled to himself as he whistled the tune. He liked to remember the music from the human world, more specifically the Brony fan music. But thinking of all of that made Rowan sigh. It was clear that he missed his home world.
Rowan shook himself out of his depression, “I’m still going back once I find the spell to take me home. But for now, I’m staying here. So I might as well enjoy it.” It did the trick to raise his spirits. After all, that was what he told himself every time he got homesick.
Finally, Rowan finished putting on the last touches of his costume and took a look at himself in the mirror. For Nightmare Night, he was going as a dark unicorn. It was a simple costume that consisted of a jet-black cloak with a hood and several black streaks that ran all across Rowan's body.
Rowan smiled at himself in satisfaction, "Okay, it looks good. Time to start heading out for the square to oversee the setup." And so, he turned around and began to head downstairs. Shade, as awake as ever, was waiting downstairs by the front door for Rowan. When the unicorn came downstairs, Shade began to violently wag his tail like an excited dog.
Rowan noticed this and grinned at the shadow wolf. Of course he would be excited for tonight, seeing as almost all of Ponyville was bustling around outside preparing for the celebration. Rowan walked past Shade and opened the door for the wolf, "All right, let's go."
With an excited bark, Shade ran out the door, with Rowan following right behind. Rowan closed the door behind them both and began to gallop after Shade, heading towards the town square.
As Rowan And Shade ran towards the town square, they passed by Twilight's library. But as they passed by, Rowan noticed the front door open and Spike waddled out.
Rowan stopped just in front of the dragon, "Hey, Spike. Ready for Nightmare Night?" But then he noticed the dragon's costume, "Um, what are you wearing?"
Spike was wearing a plain white, skin tight jump suit with a pair of cardboard wings attached to his back. On his head, he a headband with a cardboard horn attached to it.
Spike puffed out his chest smugly, "I'm an alicorn. I made this costume myself."
Rowan grinned at the dragon, "Nice work." He looked back to the library, "Hey, where's Twilight? Is she still getting her costume on?"
Spike shrugged, "Maybe, but it's been taking her so long that I decided that I'd get a head start on getting candy."
Rowan nodded, "Right. Do you know what Twilight’s costume is?"
Spike paused, "Well, no. She never told me what she was going as, other than she'd been preparing it for months. Although, come to think of it, she started to work on it after the changeling attack on Ponyville."
Rowan scratched the back of his head with a hoof, "Hm, I wonder if that means anything."
But then, Twilight called out from inside the library, "Spike, I'm ready."
Spike glanced back inside the library, "Ok, I'm out here with Rowan."
"Rowan? Oh, hold on a second." Just a second after she finished her sentence, Twilight teleported outside between Rowan and Spike.
Both Rowan's and Spike's eyes widened as they saw Twilight's costume. They were both impressed at how life-like her costume was. With her black skin and hole-filled mane, Rowan could have easily mistook her for the real thing. And with a pair of transparent wings attached to her back, it made the costume seem to be alive. Twilight was a changeling for Nightmare Night.
Rowan felt himself begin to smile as he looked at Twilight's costume, "Whoa, Twilight. That costume is amazing."
The lavender unicorn beamed, "Thanks, Rowan. I've been working on it for months. I got the idea for it after we went to the changeling hive a few months ago."
Spike was grinning as well, " Wow, Twi. This is amazing. Man, you even got the holes in your legs." To emphasize his point, the dragon poked his claw into a hole in Twilight's hind leg. But as he did, Spike's claw met contact with purple skin that suddenly rippled into appearance. Spike quickly withdrew his claw and the purple bit of skin disappeared again.
Twilight smiled at Spike as she explained, "It's an illusion charm. I've been working on it for a while, but it falters whenever it makes contact with anything."
Suddenly, Shade let out an urgent bark towards Rowan. Rowan smirked at the wolf, before turning back to Twilight and Spike, "Well, we better get going. I need to check on the setup for tonight and Shade's been waiting for this for a while now. And trust me when I say you don't want to keep a wolf waiting, especially Shade."
Spike nodded, "Right." He quickly hopped onto Twilight's back, and they began to make their way to the town square. But as they trotted along, Twilight leaned in close to Rowan and whispered, "So, what about them?" She nodded over in the direction of the Everfree Forest.
Rowan gave Twilight a small smile, "It's okay, I've already got it worked out. All we have to do is welcome Princess Luna to town like nothing is wrong, and then after everypony has spent some time with Luna, we'll slip away with her and head for the grove. Then we can ask Luna if she can help with our situation."
Twilight nodded, "Right. Sounds good."
Spike suddenly craned his neck over Twilight's head, "What sounds good?"
There was a split moment of panic between Rowan and Twilight, but then Rowan quickly replied, "I was just saying that once I finish my introduction for Princess Luna, I was going to challenge Twilight to a game of spider tossing. I think I could beat her easily." Rowan passed a small wink to Twilight.
Twilight nodded in understanding, "I doubt that, Rowan. You've never even played that game before."
Rowan shrugged, "So? I could get lucky."
Twilight smirked at him, "Well, just don't be upset when you lose to me, 'the worst spider tosser in Ponyville'."
Spike chuckled a bit, "Oh, then can I play the winner?"
Rowan shrugged, "I guess so." Spike grinned in delight and continued to look at the rest of the town as they prepared for the upcoming celebration. But while Spike was distracted, Rowan leaned over to Twilight with a smug grin, "But seriously, I'd totally win."
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Well, I guess we'll just have to see."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Yes, it is."
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Naractia sat in the dark grove with the other changelings, the sounds of Nightmare Night sounding in the distance. Even from the grove, she could hear the sounds of ponies laughing and screaming in the distance. Rowan wasn't kidding when he said that this was one of the town's favorite holidays.
Naractia sighed as she turned back to the changelings, "All of those sounds almost makes me want to go and see what they're doing."
The changeling male, whom she sat closest to, simply mumbled his reply, "Right." He was still lost in thought. The entire day, he hadn't been thinking of a way out of his bindings like the others, but rather he'd been thinking of his own life. Back from his time in the hive, all the way up to here.
All throughout his past, his life had been filled with confusion and destruction. But up 'till now, he'd never thought about it at all. But now, he was at war with himself. He was torn between the life that Naractia led and the life he had before under Chrysalis. He was so confused now, and he was trying desperately to figure out what to do. It seemed as if he was missing something.
He was on the verge of believing Naractia and seeing why she left the hive, but there was something that bothered him and he couldn't tell what it was.
But as he glanced to Naractia, he remembered that her choice to leave the hive hadn't been hard. She'd been banished from the hive during the Canterlot invasion and had never been seen since. But after the business over the Liber Tenebrarum, Naractia was the one who had revived the queen and regathered the strayed changelings of the hive. But then she was again banished by the queen.
Then suddenly, a question popped into his mind. He looked to Naractia, "Why did you leave the hive? Really?"
Naractia looked back at the male, "I already told you, I wanted to find love. The kind of love that the hive could never give to anyone else. I wanted to experience that for myself."
The male nodded, "Right, but after you were first banished during the Canterlot invasion, why did you come back? Why didn't you seek out love like you wanted to?"
Naractia paused for a moment, before replying, "I came back because the hive had been my home before and I didn't want it to fade away into nothing. When I rebuilt the hive, I was hoping that I could keep the changelings from hurting anypony in Equestria. I was hoping that I could get my mother to see Equestria the way I saw it. Not as a source of power, but as a land where we could live peacefully with everypony."
Right as Naractia finished her statement, something clicked in the male's mind. All at once, everything seemed clear to him and he knew what to do. He found Naractia was sincere and he agreed that what she was doing was the right way to go. And he wanted to help her in the only way he could.
The male gave Naractia a serious look, "Princess,"
Naractia was caught off guard, as were the other two drones. Naractia stammered, "What? Did you just-"
The male cut her off, "I need to tell you something and you need to be silent, because we have very little time."
The leader glared at the male, "What are you doing? Are you-?"
The male shushed him and looked to Naractia, "The truth is that we weren't sent after you by the queen. It was a changeling spy who gathered and sent us after you. He was a spy in Ponyville before, the one who had told the queen about the Liber Tenebrarum. I'm sure you know him."
Naractia nodded, "Yes, I know him."
The female piped up from her tree, "What are you doing?! You worthless little..."
The male ignored her and continued, "He'd been planning this from the beginning, back since you began to rebuild the hive. He planned to influence the queen into banishing you again, and when he took the initiative to catch you when you tried to run, the queen would see him fit and make him the heir of the hive."
Naractia's eyes widened, "He was the one who told my mother? He's the one who got me banished?!" Suddenly, the conversation that she'd had with the spy outside Chrysalis's chamber had made sense. He had been gloating about his coming success.
The male continued, "Yes, he wanted to have more power over the hive. And when you ran, he planned to have you captured so his next phase of the plan wouldn't be foiled. He believed that if he were proclaimed Chrysalis's heir, some of the changeling drones would still be loyal to you, since you are of royal blood. In order to fully solidify his power over the hive, he needs you dead."
"And what's more, when he sees that we haven't returned with you captured, he'll know that we've failed. You need to know that he has been secretly gathering his own followers in the hive. Whether he's been proclaimed as heir or not, he'll be coming here to capture you himself. Enough time has passed that would make him suspicious of our failure, and he will be coming here soon."
Naractia paused, "But why would he come here? Wouldn't he think I'm already across Equestria by now?"
The male shook his head, "No, he knows you would come here for one reason: Rowan."
Naractia raised an eyebrow, "Rowan?"
"Yes. Rowan is the only pony in Equestria who can use shadow magic, and he knew that you would go to him for protection. And so, he'll lead his followers here to Ponyville, and he's probably on his way here now. You need to go to Ponyville as quickly as you can and warn everypony that they're coming."
Naractia glanced at the male changeling curiously, "Why are you telling me this?"
The male sighed, "I think you're right. The hive is a cruel, unloving place, only fit for mindless drones." He smirked, "And since I'm no longer mindless, it isn't the right place for me. My place is here, and my duty is to help you in protecting the ponies of Equestria, Princess."
Naractia smiled at him, "Thank you."
The male nodded as he narrowed his eyes, "Now go. There's not much time. Hurry. Fly!"
Without a moment of hesitation, Naractia changed herself into a pegasus and took to the sky and began to fly to Ponyville. Meanwhile, the male sighed in relief, "Go, Princess. Your friends need you."
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Rowan, Twilight, Spike, and Shade soon reached the town square, where everypony was anxious for the celebration to begin. Everypony was in costume, running around with candy bags, screaming in joyous fright as they scared each other. Rowan let out a grin as he watched everypony in their festivities.
Suddenly, a pink mare in a green skinned costume popped up in front of their group, "Hey, Twilight changeling, Rowan the dark unicorn, and Spike the alicorn!!" Shade let out a bark of recognition, making Pinkie Pie giggle. She bent down and pet the wolf, "You, too, Shade!"
Twilight smiled at her friend, "Hey, Pinkie." But then her eyes met Pinkie's costume, "Um, what are you for Nightmare Night?"
Rowan looked closer at Pinkie's costume to see that it resembled an alligator's skin. Pinkie let out a giggle, "Can't you see? I'm an alligator. Me and Gummy are matching costumes this year!" Pinkie said as she bounced up and down in her usual way.
Spike scratched his head, "But isn't Gummy already an alligator?"
Pinkie giggled, "No, silly. Gummy's dressed like me!" Suddenly, Pinkie produced Gummy from behind her, wearing a pink pony costume.
Rowan was fairly impressed. Gummy's costume had pinkie's exact mane and tail style, and that's difficult to do seeing as Pinkie never really does her mane.
Suddenly, Pinkie placed Gummy on her back, "Oh, we gotta go. We're going to go collect candy from all over town, and we need to get going if we're going to fill all of our bags."
Spike perked up at the mention of candy, "Oh, can I come to? I have my own bag."
Pinkie beamed, "Sure you can!" She looked at Rowan and Twilight, "How about you guys?"
Rowan shook his head, "Sorry, Pinkie. I'd like to, but I still have to oversee preparations for tonight."
Twilight nodded, "Right, you guys go ahead. I'm a bit too old for getting candy on Nightmare Night."
"Too old for candy?!" Pinkie gasped, "NEVER!"
Twilight sighed, but Rowan just chuckled, "All right, you guys go ahead and we'll meet up after I'm done with the preparations. Save a candy bag for me."
Pinkie gave one last smile before grabbing Spike's tail and running down the street with the dragon in hoof. Spike was a bit unprepared and let out a scream as he was dragged at high speed by Pinkie, making Rowan and Twilight laugh.
Rowan let out a chuckle, "Okay, I guess I better get started."
Twilight nodded, "Right, let's go check on Applejack with the bobbing for apples."
Rowan looked around the town square until he spotted Applejack's wagon full of apples. He pointed a hoof, "There it is." And he and Twilight made their way over to where Applejack was setting everything up for bobbing for apples.
As they approached the farm pony, Rowan gave a small wave, "Hey, Applejack. How're things coming?"
Applejack looked up at them and waved back, "Oh, hey Rowan, Twi. Ah'm almost done setting up here." She paused as she looked at Twilight's costume, "Whoa, Twi. That costume is amazing. You almost look like the real deal."
Rowan glanced at AJ's costume to see it was a scarecrow, "Um, weren't you a scarecrow last year?"
AJ nodded, "Yup, but Ah've been mighty busy and Ah didn't have any time ta find a new costume, so Ah figured I could use this one for another year. Plus, Ah thought it'd be one that ain't too scary for Fluttershy."
Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Fluttershy? Why Fluttershy? She never leaves her cottage during Nightmare Night."
Applejack nodded, "Well, not this year. Ah'm tryin' to convince her that Nightmare Night ain't that scary." She then glanced back to the apple cart behind her, "Fluttershy, you mind gettin' me a few more apples for the pool?"
A small squeak came out of the cart and Fluttershy slowly popped her head out from under the apples, "Oh, um... Okay." She grabbed a few apples with her hooves and flapped out of the cart and lighted down next to Applejack. "Here you go." The shy pegasus handed the apples to the earth pony, shaking slightly from being out of her cottage during Nightmare Night.
AJ took the apples, "Thanks, Fluttershy. And look, Rowan and Twilight are here."
Fluttershy's eyes went wide, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice." She looked at both of them, "Hey, Rowan. Hey, Twi-" Suddenly her eyes went wide as her eyes rested on Twilight and her costume. She let out a squeak before shouting, "Changeling!" In a flash, the shy pegasus zoomed back into the apple cart.
Applejack sighed, "Come on, Sugarcube. It's only Twilight. She ain't a real changeling."
Rowan felt himself trying to hold back a laugh. This situation was to funny for him. But then a voice called out, "Rowan! Twilight! Up Here!"
Rowan looked up towards where the voice came from to see a sight he didn't expect. It was Naractia in her pony disguise, except instead of a unicorn, she was a pegasus. Rowan was very confused. She was supposed to be watching the drones. What would make her leave them behind and come into town?
Before Rowan could say anything, Naractia lighted down next to him and Twilight, "Rowan, Twilight, I need to talk to you, now!" Rowan could hear a bit of panic in her voice, which meant this wasn't good.
Applejack raised an eyebrow at this new pony, "Who's this?"
Rowan and Twilight stopped themselves short, both unsure what to do. Rowan cleared his throat, "Um, Applejack, this is... uh."
Naractia interjected, "I'm Rosa. I'm new in town."
AJ nodded, "Right, well howdy do, Rosa?"
Naractia smiled, "I'm fine. It's nice to meet you." She turned to Rowan and Twilight, "We need to talk, now."
Twilight nodded, "Right. Let's head back to the library." She turned to Applejack, "See you later, AJ, Fluttershy." And with that, she began to gallop towards the library with Naractia and Rowan.
Applejack smiled as she waved them good bye, "See y'all later."
As they ran, Rowan looked Naractia, "Rosa, huh? Where'd you come up with that?"
Naractia sighed, "It's a long story. I'll explain later if we have time."
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As soon as they were back at the library, Twilight turned to Naractia, "Why'd you come back to town? And I thought that your pony form was a unicorn."
Naractia nodded, "Right, well it was, but I needed to fly here as quickly as possible because we don't have that much time." With that, she transformed from her pegasus form back into a unicorn, "I needed to tell you something that I learned from the drones."
Rowan nodded, "Right, if we don't have that much time, just get to the point and tell us what's going on."
And so, Naractia began to tell them everything she'd learned from the changelings. But little did they know that a small dragon was standing outside, and he had already seen Naractia change from a pegasus to a unicorn.
Spike's eyes widened, "A changeling!? But why would Twilight and Rowan be with a changeling? Unless..." Realization hit Spike, "No, they must be changelings, too! They replaced them both and hid them away. I need to get them back!"
Without a single pause, Spike turned around and ran down to the town square to get his friends to help. He'd need help from both Twilight's and Rowan's friends if he was going to take on these changelings.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Finally, Naractia finished her explanation to see Rowan and Twilight with wide-eyed expressions.
Twilight stammered, "But, are you sure? Is there another changeling raid coming here?"
Naractia nodded, "Yes, but I don't know when they're coming. They could be on their way right now."
Rowan shook his head, "No, we can't let that happen. We can't have another repeat of the changeling attack when they came for the Liber Tenebrarum. There would be mass panic, not just in Ponyville, but all across Equestria."
Naractia sighed, "Then what should we do?"
Rowan paused before replying, "We're going to need to tell our friends what is going on. With their help, we can keep watch for any changelings that come. Until the changelings come, we need to wait for Princess Luna. When Luna gets here, we should be able to hold back the attack until more help gets here. But for now, we can't let anypony know what is happening, or else they'd panic. We need to keep calm if we're going to get through another attack."
Suddenly, the door to the library burst open and Rowan turned to see a gray blur fly through the air. As quickly as the door opened, Rowan was met with a face full of hoof and toppled to the ground. Before Rowan could react, his attacker landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Rowan glanced at the attacker to see that it was...
Rowan gasped, "Thunderlane? What are you doing?" Rowan quickly glanced at Twilight and Naractia to see them in a similar situation as he was. The ponies who now stood in the library were Rainbowdash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Thunderlane, Caramel, and Sassaflash. They had all been cornered and trapped by none other than their own friends.
Thunderlane stood glaring down at Rowan as he pinned him to the floor of the library, "Where is my friend, you changeling? Where is the real Rowan!"