//------------------------------// // CH. 03 Shattered // Story: The Last Changeling Queen // by Atuhor Name //------------------------------// Shattered "Everything is OK. Everything is OK." Twilight muttered to herself frantically. I just need a snack, Twilight thought, I never did finish that funnel cake, my blood sugar must be out of whack. Twilight didn't notice everypony on the street giving her a wide berth, as ponies do to things that twitch and mutter to themselves. She was far too busy trying to stay together to notice the market stall frantically being packed up to get out of her way, or the crowd of foals hurried away by Cheerilee peering around the teacher to see if Twilight would explode right then and there. Coming up on Sugarcube Corner at that moment was a blessing for Twilight. The curtains were drawn, and it looked a little dark inside, but surely Pinkie wouldn't mind Twilight coming over. Pinkie never minded anypony coming over. Also, hadn’t Spike said something about Sugarcube Corner to her this morning while running off to the fair? Twilight had to find out about that sooner or later. Pinkie would never abandon a friend in need, Twilight thought, and muttered out loud, unbeknownst to her. After a few knocks, Twilight pushed the unlocked door open. Everything was pitch black inside. Heh, she thought, maybe it’s a surprise party. A mere second later, she found out how right she was--how horribly, utterly right she was. "HAPPY 'YOU DEFEATED THE CHANGELING QUEEN’ PARTY, TWILIGHT!!!" Five ponies and one baby dragon shouted, as the lights flicked on. Several quiet seconds passed as Twilight took in the scene in grisly detail. A custom banner, repeating exactly what her friends just said, hung across Sugarcube Corner. The last two letters were cut off. The banner hung over a crowd of decorations, ranging from cupcakes with little figures of Queen Chrysalis on them, to a full-fledged cake in Twilight's colors, topped by none other than Twilight herself, fighting off a truly monstrous caricature of a changeling. Even my friends think Naudia is a monster, Twilight thought, looking at her friends and their fixed smiles, the world already fuzzy through the moisture in her eyes. As the weight of the world thrummed across Twilight's conscience all over again, she finally broke. ---------------- Applejack could feel that something was off. You didn't need a pinkie sense to tell. Twilight's silhouette alone told Applejack that something was wrong. Unfortunately, right now, the only pony who DID have a pinkie sense was concentrated on throwing the best party she could, and continued to ignore a few extremely troubling twitches in the process. But it was only after the lights flicked on that Applejack could see the full extent of this catastrophe. Tiny, frightened pupils stared back at her, from a face that hadn't seen much sleep in the last few nights. Twilight's broken face was framed by her hair, which looked like it had exploded into unruly curls and split ends. Applejack stared at Twilight in shock. Twilight, in turn, hadn't moved, save for a growing stream of tears flowing down her cheeks. Before she knew it, Applejack was moving towards Twilight. She barely managed to catch Twilight before the purple unicorn dropped to the floor where she stood. Twilight was sobbing openly. "Oh, dear," Rarity said. "Perhaps it was too soon for this party after all..." "I betrayed her," Twilight wailed, her face buried against Applejack. "I can't believe I betrayed her." "Betrayed? Who?" Applejack asked, without thinking. "She was so nice to me too! She didn't have to be, she didn't have to be at all." Twilight was babbling now. "Twilight, who are you talking about? Your friends are all right here." "Naudia asked me to turn her in, but I didn't want to, and she insisted, she told me 'this is the way it has to be, Twilight,’ and now she's going to die!" Twilight erupted into a fresh gout of tears. Applejack took a long appraising look at Twilight, and, not taking her eyes off Twilight, she growled off to the side. "Spike. Take a letter." ---------------- Twilight found herself tied up inside Sugarcube Corner with five anxious ponies and one very anxious dragon. Well, only one anxious pony at this point: the rest of her friends had left for the other room after her attempts to convince them she wasn't crazy. Only Applejack was left watching Twilight. "But, Applejack, I'm telling you! She never cast a spell on me, I... I really do love her for who she is." Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and said the most chilling, heartbreaking thing Twilight had ever heard. "Now don't you worry, Twi." Applejack's voice shook, and she couldn't bear to look Twilight in the eye. "Celestia will be here soon, and we'll have you fixed up in no time." "But... there's nothing wrong with me..." Twilight could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again. Applejack stood for a moment, staring at the floor, the wall, anywhere but at her friend. Eventually, even Applejack couldn't take it anymore. "I'm sorry Twi..." she said, edging out of the room dejectedly, "I just can't..." Applejack took a deep breath, and finally looked at Twilight directly, and cringed back, her eyes meeting the floor again. "I'm sorry." Applejack said again, before she left Twilight alone to wait for the princess to arrive. Twilight was torn. On the one hand they hadn't cut off her magic in any way but... Princess Celestia was on her way. She couldn't think of a way to disappoint the princess more than becoming a fugitive on the run. Twilight slumped over onto the wooden floor. I've already disappointed Naudia today. Twilight thought I've probably already disappointed Celestia too... Twilight curled up on the floor, tears soaking into the untreated wood. ---------------- "Is she going to be all right?" Spike asked. Instantly, everypony in the room turned their heads to face the pony who just came through the door. Applejack never wanted to lie more in her entire life. "I don't know, Spike. I really don't." The silence here was heavy and uncomfortable, like a winter coat on a summer day. Even still, it was a minute before anypony spoke. "What if she isn't lying?" Everypony turned to Fluttershy, who clamped her hooves over her mouth as if she could take back what she had just said. "She isn't lying, she's just under the control of that changeling crone." Rainbow said. "But that's not what I..." Fluttershy trailed off out of nervousness. "She does have a point though. I mean, what if we really are wrong here?" "Well, what would you want if you were in her position?" Applejack said. "I mean, knowing where we are now… what would you do?" The silence came back, weighed down by an impasse none of them could see their way around. It lasted for nearly half an hour before Celestia finally arrived, guards in tow. Nervously, everypony bowed, except for Spike who ran directly up to Celestia and asked. "Will Twilight be all right?" Celestia looked down at the seriously stressed out baby dragon, and had a very hard time telling him the truth. "I will do my best to ensure Twilight is safe." Celestia looked up at the five ponies in the room, everyone having second thoughts on their faces, plain as day. "You all did the right thing notifying me immediately of the problem." That mollified their doubts for the moment. "However time is of the essence now, I've got some-well, most-of the top doctors in Canterlot waiting in the Palace. So, where is Twilight now?" Everypony shuffled their hooves. Nopony wanted to go back into that room. "She's... in the back, Princess. Ah'll show you where." Applejack said. Applejack walked back into the back room, hesitating at every step. Twilight was lying curled up on the floor, still tied up. Twilight did not react when they came into the room, she did not react when Princess Celestia spoke to her, she did not even react when the Princess gently levitated her into the air and took her out of the room. Twilight simply lay limp in Celestia's magical grasp, awake and... well, blank, all the way out, until Princess Celestia levitated her outside and into a prison carriage. Princess Celestia turned to the group of worn-out ponies. "I think it would be best if you all came to Canterlot as soon as possible. This may be hard on Twilight, and she will need to see some friendly faces before this is over." As the carriage clanked off into the sky, half held up by pegasi guards and half by the Princess herself, Applejack couldn't suppress a small thought in her head. What if we really are wrong here?