The Crusaders find a young colt crying behind a bush and befriend him, but is there more to him than meets the eye? How will the fillies react when he reveals his true identity? Can they protect him from his own kind, or worse, from the Elements?
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, while returning to their clubhouse, find a colt crying behind a bush. They instantly befriend him and give him a place to stay, but the colt hides a terrible secret: his true identity. Can the Crusaders protect him from his own kind, or worse, from the Bearers of the Elements? Can the colt who has done nothing wrong find peace among the rest of the ponies, or will he be doomed to suffer simply for being what he truly is?
Pre-alicorn Twilight, although I think AU tag should cover that. Unsure about adventure tag. Temporary cover art using this pony creator and some small amounts of editing with gimp.
Also, in case anyone wants to know, this is my official entry for The Brony Fiction's contest.
Apple Bloom trudged along the worn path as she led the way back to the clubhouse. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo walked alongside her, helping her carry a long coil of rope and some metal rods (courtesy of Rarity).
Today’s failed attempt at getting a cutie mark? Tightrope walking.
“Well, I’m just glad that no one got hurt,” Sweetie Belle replied.
“Oh, stop being such a worrywart, Sweetie. You have to be fearless, like me!” Scootaloo stroke a valiant pose, with one hoof outstretched to the sky above, only to trip on the rope she was carrying. Her wings vainly attempted to stop her descent as she landed muzzle-first onto the dirt.
Like all good friends, the other two crusaders laughed uncontrollably as they helped their companion back up. “Ya sure ya didn’t mean clumsy?”
Scootaloo scowled at Apple Bloom's remark, but she soon joined in the laughter, unable to withstand its infectious nature.
“Well, come on! Let’s go before it gets dark!” With a small skip, Sweetie Belle hopped on forward, and the group happily continued down the dirt road. All the while, Scootaloo was lost in her thoughts, ruling out options and fabricating new ones…
*sniff*
Sweetie Belle’s ears caught a soft sound by chance, but a quick glance did not reveal its source. Puzzled, she decided to ignore it for the time being.
“I know what we haven’t done yet! We c—”
SNIFFLE
“Hey, did you hear that?”
“Hear what, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom turned back to Sweetie Belle, who had stopped in her tracks. “I didn’t hear n—”
SNIFFLE
There it was again, and this time all three of them cocked their ears towards it.
“I think it came from over there.”
They approached a small bush a couple of hoof-lengths away. In every way, this bush was nothing extraordinary…
SNIFFLE
Except for the leaves it shed due to some unknown force.
“It sounds like…” Sweetie Belle couldn’t quite figure it out, and so she slowly approached the origin of the sound. The other two crusaders followed suit. Step by step, the sound grew louder and louder, if only by a decibel. The unicorn inquisitively twisted her head around the bush, and before her lay a truly heart-wrenching image.
Behind the bush lay a small colt about her age, his aquamarine coat and silver mane peppered with dirt and small cuts. His horn, oddly enough, was a dim gray, devoid of that cheerful color that spread through the rest of his fur.
But it was the shaking that truly struck a chord in Sweetie's heart. The colt was trembling as if out of fear, attempting vainly to control those salty streams that leaked from his eyes. Small whimpers managed to escape his muffled mouth despite his efforts, and there was no sign of stopping.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could only watch in bewilderment, but Sweetie couldn’t take it any longer: she walked right up to the colt, sat down beside him and placed a hoof on his shoulder.
“Now, what’s the matter? Why are you crying?” Sweetie Belle had almost acquired a motherly tone, the kindness in her voice somehow calming down the small, quivering figure.
That light touch on his shoulder…
Run, quickly! Someone has spotted you! Run and d—
But then he heard that sound, that voice that calmed his nerves, that beautiful voice that seemed to almost carry him away from his problems. Safety, reassurance… that's what the colt thought as he inched towards this new pony and hugged her, all the while letting his sadness fade away. Sweetie Belle simply reciprocated his action, placing her hooves around the colt as she soothed him with her voice. His eyes slowly cleared up as the tears disappeared; minutes passed, but it seemed much longer… especially for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who stood there awkwardly behind Sweetie Belle, not exactly knowing what to do. The colt, now with renewed energy, let go and took in his surroundings: he was in an open area with three fillies around him. He turned first to Sweetie Belle, then to Apple Bloom, then to Scootaloo, and then back to Sweetie.
“Thank you very much, Miss, for comforting me. I am sorry, but I have to go.”
I can’t get them involved. It would be too dangerous for them.
“Wait, where ya goin’?” Apple Bloom was suddenly in front of the colt, cutting off his path.
“Yeah, why were you crying? Did you get hit in the head or something?” Scootaloo moved swiftly to his side, stopping the colt from using it as an alternate escape route.
“I… I’m sorry, but I cannot say. It’s too painful for me to think about now. Still, I thank you for everything, and may you have a good day.”
“Well, then at least let us take you back home! Do you live around here?” Sweetie Belle replied.
Hesitation overtook the small foal. Furrowing his brow as he fought internally over whether to divulge such information, he decided to provide only the bare minimum.
“No, I don’t live around here. I live quite far away… or at least I used to…”
Only Sweetie Belle caught that last part, and so she made the colt an offer to help.
“So, you don’t have a place to stay that’s nearby, and it’s getting awfully dark. How about you stay at my place? I’m sure Rarity won’t mind an extra pony in her boutique.”
“Or ya can stay in the barn with me and my sis!”
“Or you c—”
“NO! I-I mean…” The colt hastily cleared his throat and continued: “No, I’m sorry, but nopony must know that I am here for… reasons I would not like to share just yet.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shared the same thought, though it was Scootaloo who talked first.
“What do you mean by ‘re—’”
“Of course, we understand, but you’re still going to need a place to stay. Hmm…”
One hoof on her chin, Sweetie Belle thought and thought… and came up with the perfect solution.
“I know, why don’t you stay at our clubhouse? Nopony ever goes there unless we invite them, and only a few ponies live near there.”
“That’s a great idea, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shouted.
“A-Are you sure I wouldn’t be imposing? I wouldn’t like to get you fillies in trouble on m–”
“What’re ya talkin’ about? It’s the perfect plan,” Apple Bloom reassured the colt.
“So, what do you say, are you in?” Scootaloo stuck out her hoof towards the silver-maned foal, smiling warmly.
The colt looked at all three, and a small smile began to form in the corners of his mouth as he shook Scootaloo’s hoof.
“I accept, but I will not be living for free. I will find some way to work so I c–”
“Nonsense!” Apple Bloom interrupted. “We’re yer friends now, and we’re gonna make sure ya have enough to eat an’ everything.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry, we’ll help you any way we can!” Sweetie Belle’s voice never failed to calm the greenish-blue colt, who could only smile at this overwhelming feeling that coursed through his body as he looked at the three fillies.
Friends… I have friends…
He smiled. He felt happy… and yet he couldn’t quite place the reason for it. The colt thanked all three fillies for their kindness, and the four walked on towards the clubhouse.
“So,” the colt timidly asked, “what are your names?”
Scootaloo quickly took the reigns. “Well, I’m Scootaloo, the second-most awesome pegasus with the fastest wheels in Equestria! The first-most awesome, of course, is Rainbow Dash, the fastest in all of Equestria, no, of all t—”
“Ahem!”
“Oh, sorry, Apple Bloom. I guess I got a bit carried away. This here’s Apple Bloom, and this is Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie Belle… So that’s her name. It fits her voice perfectly.
“By the way, we never got your name,” Scootaloo remarked to the new addition.
“Well, everypony would always call me 1349 back where I come from.”
Apple Bloom suddenly moved to the colt’s right. “What kind’ah name is that?”
“Apple Bloom! That’s so inconsiderate!”
“No, no, don’t worry, it’s okay,” the colt replied. “Where I live, everypony gets a different number as a name.”
“Hmm… Ah know, how’s about we give ya a new name?”
“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle glared at the earth pony, but the colt reassured Sweetie that it was no problem.
“I think that may be a good idea. I never really did like being called 1349. Any ideas?”
“Are you sure? Wouldn’t your parents be mad if you go back with a new name?”
At Sweetie’s mention of his parents, the colt’s face betrayed a hint of sadness.
“No, they would be fine with it. There’s no problem there.” The four continued walking to the clubhouse as the three fillies rattled their minds, attempting to come up with a name befitting their new friend.
“Green Coat! No… Green Lightning! No…”
“Scootaloo, Ah can’t think if you keep shouting out names!”
“But thinking aloud is how I come up with my best ideas! Remember that time wh—”
“How about ‘Silver Flame’?” Sweetie Belle proposed. The other three ponies stared at her questioningly. “I mean, look at his mane.”
His mane was standing up on end, swaying in the waning sunlight, shining fluidly from top to bottom. It was true: his mane did look like a fire— a calm, warming flame on the back of the unicorn foal.
“I think… I like it,” the colt responded, smiling bashfully at the one who gave him his name.
“Okay, then, Silvah Flame it is!” Apple Bloom began to bounce around uncontrollably as she arrived at the club house. “Come on, come on, Silvah! Dont’cha wanna look inside?”
The other three followed her in, and Silver was, to put it in one word, astonished! The clubhouse was actually quite spacious, sufficiently large enough to house at least one colt. Myriads of drawings depicting a blue pegasus draped the walls, and in the center of the back wall there hung a portrait of some old piece of parchment. He could only read the word “Cutie” before his attention was disrupted.
BAM
“Sorry!” Scootaloo lay atop a huge pile of random items, from wooden planks to tennis balls to large helmets.
“I remember it was somewhere around h— Found it!” She quickly pulled out a sleeping bag and a pillow from the mess and threw them towards Silver.
“So, here’s what you’ll be sleeping on tonight. Also, I got some chips, a sandwich, and some soda on that far table. Eat as much as you want! It’s getting late, so I’ll have to go now.” Scootaloo mounted her scooter, making sure that Silver was watching.
“See ya!”
A quick flap of wings mustered a small gust of wind, and in less than a second, she was an orange blur off in the distance.
W-What speed!
“Yeah, she likes to ride it fast. Makes her feel like she’s flyin’. But sometimes she can be a bit of a show-off, especially around new ponies,” Apple Bloom commented.
So… But she’s a pegasus… maybe she can’t fly yet? I have heard of such cases…
By then, a small pang of guilt had begun to build up inside Silver. A pegasus with so many possibilities… and his presence could completely dash all of her dreams…
“Anyways, Ah have to go help my sis bring in the last batch of apples ‘fore it gets too dark! See y’all later, Sweetie, Silvah!” With that, Apple Bloom scampered off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Yeah, and I have to go back to check if my sister needs help with her work.” Sweetie Belle slowly walked towards the door behind her and was ready to leave… but Silver’s thoughts were much faster.
They seem so happy… and my presence could ruin it all…
But they said it was fine.
But I’m now their friend. Friends are supposed to be… open with each other… right?
That word, “friend.” That one word somehow held power over him as the guilt increased exponentially, gnawing at his insides unlike anything he had ever felt before…
“Wait, Sweetie Belle! I-I need to tell you something.”
“What is it, Silver?”
“I…”
Silence. The guilt still clawed away inside him, but his brain would not obey.
No… If I tell her everything, she’ll be in too much danger…
But she’s already in danger just by my being here…
“... Silver? SILVER!”
The shout broke through to him, and he looked at Sweetie only to notice that she was right in front of him, one hoof on his head.
“Silver, you just stopped talking. Are you okay? Are you hurt? It doesn’t seem like you have a fever. Maybe I should take you to the d—”
“No, no, it’s just…”
His eyes got lost in Sweetie’s, and for a moment his thoughts faltered. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle felt her cheeks grow the tiniest bit warm as an unexpected feeling began to wash over her, something unknown that made her feel even happier than before…
Silver’s train of thought internally rammed into his brain as the pang of guilt resurfaced.
“I… I have to tell you the truth. I no longer have a home or a place to stay. I can’t go back to where I came from, I just… I just…” Silver looked up at those caring eyes, and he felt that familiar calmness rush over him. “I promise, I’ll tell you and your friends later about why this is happening, but I need a place to stay for a while, at least until I find some oth–”
Sweetie Belle simply smiled.
“Don’t worry, Silver, you can stay here for as long as you want. I’ll just tell Scootaloo and Apple Bloom when I have the chance. Now, sleep tight! See you later, Silver!”
She took her time to leave, her joy decreasing in the slightest with every hoofstep until she finally closed the door softly behind her.
And Silver once again found himself alone with his thoughts…
Alone with that small pit in his stomach that never disappeared.
Maybe… some rest…
He slipped into the sleeping bag and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake his senses.
Tomorrow will be a new day…
I’ll see my father again. We’ll escape this fate we were cursed with…
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll finally be free.
The New Cutie Mark Crusader (Edited 2014-09-03 00:37 EST)
Apple Bloom’s shout rebounded off the walls of the clubhouse, waking up Silver with a fright— or at least, that’s what should have happened.
“Ughh… Five more minutes…”
“Come on, Silvah! It’s already twelve o’clock an’ time’s a-wastin’! Everypony’s waitin’ for ya outside!” Apple Bloom briskly shook the colt awake, almost making him fly through the roof with fright.
As Silver regained his composure, he walked to the door of the clubhouse and stealthily looked around, making sure that nopony except for the crusaders were present. He quickly exited the treehouse and stopped in front of his three new friends.
“Look, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, there’s something I have to t—”
“There’s no need to worry, Silver. I already told them and they agreed with me. You can stay here for as long as you want, and in fact, we are here to offer you something.” Sweetie Belle and the other two fillies led the surprised colt to a secluded patch of grass. Silver spotted a set of bongos, a long scroll of paper with indistinguishable writing, and a picture of some rainbow-maned pony striking a pose. So taken aback he was by this seemingly random conglomerate of items that he failed to notice the chair right in front of him, almost crashing into it before Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stopped him in his tracks.
Hmm, why would they be leading me here?
The fillies sat the foal down in the chair and took their respective places in front of him. From this new angle, Silver could see Scootaloo positioning herself in front of the bongos and Sweetie Belle standing behind a podium. Apple Bloom suddenly appeared next to her, muttering something about how it was her turn to play the music.
How strange, what could they be planning?
Silver’s instinct began to take hold, sending his senses into overdrive and making his mind panic.
Wait, don’t tell me I just made friends with some of the dreaded cannibal ponies! I’ve heard of their weird rituals and everything, but they can’t be this far inland… right?
Silver was getting ready to bolt when the bongos began, further discomforting him, making him writhe as if attempting to control some beast that lay inside him— a beast slowly convincing him that he had to escape to live.
Sweetie Belle quickly noticed what he was doing, nodded her head to Apple Bloom, and walked over to Silver’s side.
“Don’t worry, there’s no need to be afraid.”
That sweet, calming voice…
Silver stopped squirming and looked at Sweetie’s reassuring smile, returning the favor with his own curved lips and settling back down on the chair.
Apple Bloom, now behind the podium, began speaking.
“Today we hold this ‘ere ceremony in order to induct Silvah Flame as a member of the dist… dista… Sweetie Belle, how d'ya say this word?” Sweetie Belle trotted to the podium and whispered to Apple Bloom the correct pronunciation. Soon after, she walked off and took back her place next to Silver.
“Thanks, Sweetie Belle! Ahem... to induct Silvah Flame as a member of the dis-ten-wished Cutie Mark Crusaders. As stated in the rules of our const… consto… Sweetie Belle?”
Scootaloo suddenly stepped in. “Oh, for Celestia’s sake! Silver, we’re offering you membership into the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
Silver simply looked at the pegasus, a bit stunned at her reaction.
“What’s the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
“Only the most awesome club in all of Equestria!” Scootaloo responded.
“We noticed that you didn’t have a cutie mark, so we wanted you to join our club! We go off on different crusades to try to find our cutie marks!” Sweetie Belle could barely contain her enthusiasm, but Silver was still a bit puzzled.
Cutie marks? What are those? Maybe they’re talking about those symbols that other ponies seem to have on their flanks?
Silver cleared his thoughts and his throat. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t plan on staying here for too long, and it’s not like I can always follow you fillies since I can’t risk others finding me…”
“Please?”
“But I h—”
“PLEASE???”
The colt was no match for the three pairs of beady eyes that had just appeared on the faces of the three fillies.
I can’t… they’ll be in danger… but those sad little faces…
“Oh, who am I kidding? I accept your offer. I would love to be part of your group.”
“Yeah!”
The three other ponies lunged towards Silver, entangling him in one of the tightest hugs he had ever experienced. A certain warmth spread over him, engulfed him, cleared his mind of all worry… and that's when he noticed something: he was truly happy. At least, for that one moment, everything was right in his world.
“Now, what are we waiting for? Let’s get to crusading!”
“Wait, Scootaloo,” Silver interjected, “I don’t think I can go with you guys. I don’t want anypony else to see me.”
“Oh, Ah took care o’ that, Silvah! Follow me!” Apple Bloom led the way through a small patch of trees, Scootaloo not far behind. Sweetie Belle stayed next to Silver, both of them following as best they could.
“Where are you going? Guys, slow down! We can’t keep up!” Sweetie Belle was soon talking to thin air, though. Both she and Silver were now stuck in unfamiliar terrain, trees spread out all around them. Not once had Sweetie Belle wandered off in this direction, and the fact that the foliage had blocked much of the sunlight only made the entire situation seem more hopeless and frightening.
“Great, now we’re lost. Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! You left me and Silver behind!”
Suddenly, a bush nearby began to move, and a small figure rapidly charged towards the white unicorn.
Not on my watch!
In that split second, the colt’s instinct took hold, and he tackled Sweetie Belle onto a bush nearby. Silver himself, however, was unable to dodge the small creature, and they both tumbled out into another clearing.
Ugh… Silver recovered as quickly as possible and found himself face to face with… himself?
Wait, what?
The creature then began to morph, shedding the façade and displaying its true chitinous, black body.
A changeling! But how, how could they have made it so far inland? Ah, in this form, I can’t hope to defeat him!
As it was, luck was on his side: the changeling, as if he had received a message from some commanding officer, quickly turned back and galloped away. Silver thought better than to chase him and trotted back to the first clearing, stopping at Sweetie Belle’s side.
“Are you okay, Sweetie Belle?”
“What… What happened?” Sweetie Belle had recovered from her shock, rubbing her head with a single hoof.
“Oh, uh… a small creature jumped out of that bush and was going to hit you, so I pushed you into the bush. I’m so sorry, but it’s all I could think of.”
“You don’t have to be sorry for saving me, Silver. Did you see what it was?”
“No, sorry, it zoomed by too fast for me to tell.”
There's no need to worry them with this. It’s better if they don’t know. I’m glad it was just a scout; he probably didn’t even know who I really was. But if they were this far inl—
“Sweetie Belle! Silver! Where’d y’all run off ta?” Apple Bloom suddenly appeared in front of the duo, followed by Scootaloo.
“Yeah, we looked back for a second and you guys were gone!” Scootaloo then took in the entire scene and smirked over at Apple Bloom, who easily understood.
“Ya know, if y’all wanted some time alone, all ya had to do was ask.”
A strange warmth arose in Silver’s cheeks, unlike anything he had experienced.
Am I… blushing?
He turned towards the unicorn he saved and spotted her cheeks glowing red, feeling the same way as he was.
“No, no, it’s just that a creature was going to attack me, and Silver saved me!”
With this comment, the colt began to blush even more, his cheeks getting redder by the second.
Why can’t I control this?
Gladly for him, Apple Bloom broke in and reminded everyone of the task at hoof.
“Come on, let’s go! Daylight’s a’wastin’!” The earth pony quickly dashed forward while the other three galloping right behind her. Soon, they reached a much larger clearing, a medium-sized field of grass surrounded by multiple trees. Various objects were lying around, everything from rolls of fabric to long pieces of rope, from a balancing beam to a hammer resting on a pile of wood, from a mini stove (emitting thick black smoke, apparently) to seemingly endless stacks of books and comics.
“What… is all this?” Silver was still taking in his surroundings; each time he looked, he would spot some new, seemingly unrelated object among the rest.
“This is our official crusadin’ place, as o’ today! I brought all these ‘ere things myself!”
“Hey, what do you mean, ‘by yourself’?”
“Oh, an’ Scootaloo helped too! Sorry, Scoots.”
“When did you guys do all this?” Sweetie Belle was surprised that they hadn’t told her anything about this new “crusading place.”
“Remember that one time, Ah think two weeks ago, when ya were sick? Yeah, we found this ‘ere place an’ decided to put it to good use!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo proudly stood up in front of Sweetie Belle and Silver.
“Yeah, and we were keeping it secret so we could surprise you for your birthday,” Scootaloo added.
“But my birthday isn’t until tomorrow,” Sweetie Belle pointed out.
“Oh. Um, well… you can think of it as an early birthday present, from me and Apple Bloom to you! Happy early birthday!”
“So, what are we waiting for?”
The three fillies rapidly sped to the center of the field, Silver close behind them, not exactly understanding what to do next other than to follow.
Stopping in the middle of the field, the colt noticed— though a bit late— that the three fillies were inhaling quite a bit of air. Perhaps it would have been best to cover his ears before the three ponies next spoke— or, perhaps more accurately, screamed loud enough to blow out the eardrums of anypony nearby:
Silver continued to check off items on a list that trailed several ponies long. “Well, Apple Bloom, today we have tried tree-planting, parachuting, sword-fighting, summoning other-worldly creatures, and bungee-jumping, all failed attempts.”
The three fillies were huddled in front of the colt, frowning a bit as he counted off all the failures. Silver noticed this and changed his voice to a happier tone.
“But, we still have one thing left on our list: hide-and-go-seek experts! Come on, I’m pretty sure that we’ll get our cutie marks in that. What are we waiting for?” Silver was joyous to see their frowns replaced with smiles, their determination rekindled, their happiness restored.
“Okay, then, I will be it. You three hide while I count to ten.” Silver knew that he was a bit lacking at tracking other creatures and finding things (at least, in his current form), so he decided this was a perfect chance to train.
“Alright, guys, let’s go hide!” Scootaloo was already pumped up for the game, telling herself that she would win this competition quite easily.
The three fillies soon ran off as Silver slowly counted.
“One… two… three…”
Sweetie Belle ran over to one of the trees, hiding behind a small line of bushes.
“Four… five… six…”
Apple Bloom walked very slowly, attempting not to make any noise, and hid under a large box that had been upended in a previous attempt at finding her cutie mark.
“Seven… eight… nine…”
Scootaloo was looking for a unique place to hide, congratulating herself for finally finding it: a small tunnel, one that she and Apple Bloom had made when trying to earn a cutie mark in tunnel-digging a few days back.
“TEN! READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!” To Silver, it was much like his training, only instead of trying to find food for his queen (he shuddered at the thought), he had to find three little fillies.
The colt carefully looked around, checking for anything that seemed out of place. Of course, when numerous items were strewn about the ground and everything seemed out of place, it became a difficult task, though not impossible.
Silver placed his muzzle down to the ground and inhaled, noticing the dampness of the grass.
Dang, it's too wet to find them by smell alone. But maybe… over here?
Apple Bloom was the first to be found. As Silver walked around the pile of objects, a slight movement of a box caught his eye, and as he approached it, it started to wiggle around more noticeably.
I found y—
Before he could lift up the box, though, it shot in the air, landing open-side up to reveal… a sneezing earth pony?
“Ah… ah… AH-CHOO!”
Must have been the dust in the box, Silver thought to himself as a small smirk edged its way onto his muzzle.
“Aw, Ah guess that means Ah lost, huh? Ah’ll never get my cutie mark.” Apple Bloom’s eyes had begun to water as that realization dawned on her. Luckily for her, Silver was right by her side.
“What do you mean? We can always do more tomorrow! In fact, you’re not done yet!” Silver noticed Apple Bloom's inquisitive expression and continued. “Now you have to help me find the others! Who knows, maybe you’re not good at hiding, but you could get your cutie mark in seeking!”
“Of course! Why didn't Ah think of that? Ah’ll go find Scootaloo, you go find Sweetie Belle. At this rate, Ah’ll get my cutie mark in no time!” Apple Bloom suddenly bolted away, ready to start her search.
Silver, on the other hand, had his attention on a certain bush that lay in front of him.
I think I found another one! I guess I'm not too bad at finding ponies when I'm in this state.
As if on cue, the sun moved one degree forward, reaching the exact angle angle to project two shadows near the bush onto a tree trunk. He thanked his good luck and stealthily cantered forward… until he noticed that one of the silhouettes was the slightest bit off.
It’s not shaped quite like Sweetie Belle… and I can’t see its wings…
Two more steps, but he could still not see the figure.
Two more.
One more.
And then he finally caught a glimpse of the creature that had left that shadow…
It was a changeling.
Come on, tracking skills! Don’t fail me n—
CRACK
Silver looked down at the twig he just snapped with his hoof.
Curses!
And then he saw the changeling’s eyes, those dull green irises that held no emotion.
Had… Had my eyes been like that once?
But now was the time to act, not think. The colt prepared to attack…
Only for the changeling to dash away from the scene.
Probably the same scout as before. That’s not good…
But wait…
There were two shadows!
As he jumped behind the bush, his eyes spotted a white unicorn filly.
“Sweetie Belle! Are you all right?”
“Huh? Oh, um… I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You seem a bit… disoriented.”
“No, no, I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Come on, let’s go back, this place is giving me the creeps.”
Before Silver could ask Sweetie Belle any more questions, Scootaloo’s voice rang throughout the clearing.
“HELP! Silver, anypony, HELP!”
The two unicorns quickly galloped towards the origin of the voice, suddenly spotting Apple Bloom and Scootaloo surrounded by seven or eight… bunnies?
“Wait, I thought you were crying for help? Are you hurt anywhere?” Silver was quite flabbergasted at what Apple Bloom said next.
“Naw, she’s fine. She was hidin’ in a tunnel when she felt these lil’ critters on her hooves and started panicking. She was just bein’ a ‘fraidy-cat.”
“I am not a ‘fraidy-cat!” Scootaloo’s response was quite loud, but she could not hide the small waver in her voice.
“Oh, and Ah see he found ya too, huh, Sweetie Belle?”
“Oh, uh, yes, I guess he did.” She looked over at Silver but she failed to make eye contact with him.
Something is not quite right…
But what could Silver do?
“Let’s have one last round of hide-and-seek. Sweetie Belle, you can be it. Count all the way to 100, just like you told me to.”
“Me? Oh, okay.”
It was clear that the other two fillies were going to protest, but Silver gave them a warning glare.
“Okay, so just stand next to the tunnel and count to 100. Face the trees, and remember, no peeking!”
Sweetie Belle began the count, and Silver motioned to the other two fillies to follow him. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, a bit dumbfounded at his actions, nevertheless obeyed him, stopping at the center of the clearing behind large piles of books.
“Okay, I want no interruptions. Time is of the essence. Now, here is the situation. That is not Sweetie Belle.”
“Wait, what are y–”
“I said no interruptions. Listen, that Sweetie Belle is a changeling. She never told me anything about counting to 100. See that metal cage over there? I need your help to carry it and place it over the changeling to trap it. Quickly, we only have sixty seconds! And remember to be quiet! Changelings have a better sense of hearing than ponies do!”
“But sh—”
“Do you want to live? Then help me!”
The fillies uneasily rose to the task and helped Silver lift the cage off the ground. They slowly made their way towards the counting filly, each second getting ever so closer, but the count was almost still progressing.
“Seventy-one… Seventy-two…”
Only a little more…
“Ninety-seven… Ninety-eight… Ninety-nine…”
Silence. Complete, utter silence. Not even the wind dared to whistle as the count drew to a close.
“ONE HUNDRED!”
SLAM
The three ponies dropped the cage onto the unsuspecting filly, who turned to each of the captors in turn.
“Hey, what are you doing? Let me out!”
“We will not let you out until you tell us the truth,” Silver replied.
“Why are you doing this? It’s not funny anymore. I thought we were friends.”
“Stop the act, Sweetie Belle, or should I say… changeling?”
The white unicorn suddenly stopped moving, and the two fillies outside the cage stared in awe as a horrendous transformation took place before them.
Sweetie’s hind legs were the first to disappear, two black appendages left in their wake…
But by far the most horrible part was the head as the trio watched it morph demonically, all white stained dark and eyes filled with an unseen malice.
“We know it’s you, 1349, and once I tell the rest, we will finally regroup and catch you.” The raspy voice cut through the stillness of the clearing, making the ponies shudder slightly. Silver regained his composure and continued.
“Not like you are now, you can’t. Now, what have you done with Sweetie Belle?”
“Ah, you mean that white unicorn? You’ll never find her. By now, she should be halfway t–”
“Ah found her!” Apple Bloom’s cry astonished the ponies, who became even more awestruck when they saw her rolling a white-coated filly towards the center of the clearing. In that brief instant, the changeling in the cage took his chance and charged up a magical beam that tore a hole through the cage.
Good thing Silver’s instincts were still working.
“Hey, get back here!” The colt started running behind the creature, but the changeling was just too fast. As his strength failed him, Silver was going to give up…
At least, until he spotted another being— another changeling, but for some reason one felt a strong connection to.
“F-F-Father?” Silver suddenly forgot everything else, ignored everything around him, and focused only on the figure up ahead.
“Father, is that you? Father, I’m here! Come on, quickly! We can escape the hive mind! You just have to believe!” Silver was now galloping as fast as he could, never taking his eyes off of the creature.
The changeling had heard him, and (to Silver’s dismay) he began to condense magic on his horn. By the time Silver noticed it, though, it was too late to evade.
“No, you have to stop!”
The beam was shot— that swirl of magic embedded with despair, anger, and hatred, the emotions of the entire hive.
Why, Father? I’m here to rescue you!
And so he braced himself for the destructive force of the impact.
…
…
But it never came.
Huh?
Silver chanced a look, and he was surprised at what lay before him.
The beam had stopped in its path, striking some sort of shield!
But who…
That was when he saw the unicorn, a mare with a purple coat and mane, the spell clearly taking its toll on her. Still, she kept it up, and returned the swirling ball back at its shooter, who easily dodged the missile. The two changelings retreated off into the distance.
“Twilight!” Scootaloo suddenly appeared behind Silver, running past him and stopping in front of the tired unicorn.
Twilight? That must be her name. She must be really strong to stop such a powerful attack.
“Quickly, Twilight, you have to help Sweetie Belle! She’s stuck in this green magical rope and we can’t get it off her!”
“Sweetie Belle’s in trouble? Where is she?” Twilight followed Scootaloo as she led her back to the clearing, the colt following his savior. The purple mare was greeted immediately by Apple Bloom.
“She’s right there, Twilight!”
“Okay, girls, stand back.” Twilight charged up a small light at the tip of her horn, slowly growing in brightness until the unicorn started sweating from the strain. She touched her horn to the magical rope, which broke into millions of pieces and freed its captive.
As everything died down, Twilight shakily sat on the ground, exhausted. Sweetie Belle had already started to wake up, attempting to take in the entire scene around her.
“Wha-What happened?” Sweetie Belle inquired, the other two fillies explaining the entire situation.
“Well, I guess I have Silver to thank then. Wait a minute… where’d he go?”
The three fillies looked all around, unable to find Silver.
“He must have hidden from Twilight! Remember how he didn’t want anypony to see him?” Apple Bloom’s logic was sound, but the three fillies were still worried about him.
“Let’s ask Twilight to find h—”
“Are you crazy, Sweetie Belle? That’s probably the last thing Silvah wants. Besides, look at Twilight! She's more tired than my sis during applebucking season!”
With that, the three fillies went over to Twilight and thanked her profusely for helping them.
“So, are you fillies alright? That’s good to hear. But wait, wasn’t there another pony with you? A small colt with a silver mane?”
“Nope, I don’t remember a colt being around here. Do you?” Sweetie Belle asked the other two fillies, putting on a weak smile.
“Nope, no colt here,” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom replied in unison, also wearing weak smiles in hopes that Twilight would believe them.
“Hmm… must have been seeing and hearing things, probably a product of magic overexertion. I guess I’ll just have to be more careful,” Twilight muttered, the three fillies releasing a sigh of relief.
But still, Twilight thought to herself, I could have sworn I was protecting somepony from that blast earlier. Perhaps he fled afterwards. Oh, I hope he’s alright…
“Hey, Twilight, how’d ya even know that we were in trouble?” Apple Bloom’s question broke the purple unicorn’s train of thought.
“Well, I was tracking some changelings with a wide area spell and it led me all the way here. I’ve never seen them so far inland, but for now I’m just glad I got to you fillies in time. Now come on, let’s all go back home.”
The party of four suddenly began their walk back, Twilight cautiously inspecting their surroundings in case of an ambush. Remarkably, she didn’t even notice the small colt that had suddenly appeared behind them.
Scootaloo was the first to notice him; she kept walking slower and slower until she was right next to him, and she talked in her quietest voice:
“What the buck was that? Why’d you go run off after the changelings? You could have been killed!”
“It’s… It’s complilcated. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to know any more about me. It would only put you more in danger.”
“Oh, come on, Silvah! Didn’t ya hear anything we said? We’re yer friends now, and we would like to know more, so tell us, why’d ya do that?”
Silver hesitated at Apple Bloom’s words, still unsure over what to do.
“We want to know, Silver.” Sweetie Belle had overheard the conversation and joined in as well. “All we want to do is help. I promise, no matter what you tell us, no matter how sad or bad, we will still be your friends. Who knows, maybe we can help you, and we won’t tell anypony else. We Pinkie Promise.”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” each filly recited, almost taking their eyes out with their hooves.
So… This is the famous Pinkie Promise?
He looked over to each filly, seeing each one of them smile warmly, but Sweetie Belle’s smile was what ultimately let him make up his mind.
I have to. It’s the only way.
“Meet me at night in the clubhouse. Say you guys want a sleepover or something. I will tell you everything then.”
The colt then disappeared as rapidly as he had appeared, though not without a small rustle.
“What was that?”
“What're you talking about, Twilight? We didn’t hear anything, right, girls?"
“I didn’t hear anything. What about you, Scootaloo?”
“Nope, not a thing!”
The three fillies looked at her sheepishly, wearing innocent grins as Twilight continued to lead them out of the foliage and back home.
“What took you guys so long?” Silver had been growing impatient, his entire body quaking with nervousness.
“Well, apparently, all three of us had a hard time getting our families to let us have this sleepover, especially with the changelings that appeared out of nowhere,” Scootaloo responded.
They probably gave their families that same look they gave me, Silver thought, shuddering as he reflected on how effective it had been when he decided to become a crusader.
“But enough of that, weren’t you going to tell us something?”
All three fillies had already sat down on the floor. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hugged some pillows as if it were some sort of story time, but alas, this story did not have a happy ending…
After all, it had no ending yet.
“Okay, first things first, I have to come clean.”
Silver took a deep breath as he spoke the one sentence that he dreaded the most, those three words that plagued his mind for more years than he could remember:
“I’m a changeling.”
The three fillies gasped loudly, so loudly they did not notice a fourth gasp coming from right outside the clubhouse.
“A changeling, all the way out here? Ah have to tell Twilight!”
Applejack hadn’t exactly meant to eavesdrop, but… okay fine, that was why she was there all along. After hearing about the appearance of changelings, the farmer had had only one thing on her mind: protecting her family.
Gosh darn those eyes, she thought as she galloped to the library, remembering how she caved in to letting Apple Bloom have a sleepover that night. Ah knew Ah shouldn’t have let her go out in this situation!
In fact, if it had only been up to Applejack, she would have bucked that changeling straight out of Equestria in an instant…
But Twilight had made her Pinkie Promise that she wouldn’t try to tackle a changeling on her own.
Where there’s one, there’s many. If you ever find one, come straight to me. We’ll gather the rest of our friends and we’ll use our Elements to blow them all away.
She was not sure if she was doing the right thing by leaving the three fillies alone with a changeling. He didn’t seem to be hurting anypony yet, and she had already told Big Mac to watch the entire situation in case it ever got out of hoof. Still, she doubled the speed of her gallop, propelling her entire momentum forward towards the library.
Don’t ya worry, little sis. Ah’ll be right back faster than you can say “horsefeathers.”
“Yes, I’m a changeling. Now, before anypony goes and starts throwing things at me, please let me explain.” Silver had already sat down, beckoning for the three fillies to do the same as well.
Apple Bloom dropped the apple she was going to use as ammunition, and Scootaloo let go of the bat she had picked up from the floor, both ponies slowly sitting back down and attempting to recover from the shock they had just experienced. Only Sweetie Belle had refrained from attacking the colt.
“Now, I shall continue my story.
“I am not a… complete changeling, I guess you could say. You see, my father is a changeling, while my mother was a pony. They had met right after the Canterlot fiasco, and by then every changeling near pony civilizations had either fled or changed into pony form. I guess if even one parent is a changeling, the foal is destined to be one, too. The thing is, my father is actually a commander in Queen Chrysalis's…” The name alone made him quiver with disgust. “… in her army, and so when I was born, naturally, much was expected of me. Another complication w-was that …”
By now Silver’s eyes had become watery, a fact visible to the other three crusaders, who gave him sympathetic looks as he did his best to carry on.
“Ponies were not meant to have changeling foals. My… my mom… died when I was born. I never got to meet her. I wish I c-could remember her, b-b-but…”
That was all Silver could bear: he simply broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably. The three fillies stared at each other in turn, but then Sweetie Belle walked up to the colt and gave him the largest, tightest hug she could muster.
“It must be really sad for you to tell us this. Don’t worry, you can cry for as long as you want. We’ll stay right here to comfort you.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo followed suit and joined in on the embrace. The three fillies’ eyes struggled to contain their rivers of salty tears, but perhaps the one who took it the hardest was Apple Bloom.
She knew what it was like to lose someone close to you.
You guys… Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle…
Silver clung tighter to the white unicorn, letting out all his sorrow in front of the three fillies.
“Twilight! There’s a changeling at the Crusaders’ clubhouse!”
“WHAT!?” The purple unicorn was simply astounded! “Are you sure?”
“Of course Ah’m sure! Ah’m the Element of Honesty, gosh darn it!”
Twilight concentrated some magic on her horn and stood very still. A small ball of light had appeared at the very tip of the appendage, glowing softly and warmly. The purple unicorn then opened her eyes in shock, the ball of light disappearing in a flash.
“No, this can't be! They’ve never gone this far into Ponyville! This can’t be good!”
Twilight raced over to one of the bookcases, pulling a hidden lever to reveal the book: or, more accurately, to reveal the book-shaped chest that contained the ultimate weapon. She quickly put in the correct combination and opened the lid, pulling out the six Elements of Harmony.
“Quickly, Applejack! We have to get the others!”
As the hug broke, the colt found himself in his thoughts once more:
I can’t believe I have such good friends.
I… I have to continue. I have to tell them the rest. I have to protect them, at least until I leave.
“Thank you, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, for everything: for being there when I needed help, for comforting me… I am so glad to have as good friends as you three.” For some reason, though, the colt found himself unable to look away from Sweetie Belle, who at that moment decided to look back at him. Their eyes connected for just a second, but that was all it took: the second after, both were blushing quite a bit. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo caught that scene but felt it necessary to keep quiet given the circumstances.
Silver quickly recovered and continued with his story.
“I was sent at an early age to learn Equestrian, and I was taught how to track and find food for the hive. Apparently, I had quite a talent for magic. See, changeling magic is different from unicorn magic; that was something I learned in my travels. While unicorns generally have to ‘learn’ a spell, changelings only need to think of what they want to do and then the spell is cast automatically. Even the youngest of changeling foals can, if they wanted, cast a teleportation spell. Of course, they would still need enough magical energy.”
The three fillies listened intently, making sure to catch every word lest they miss out on something really interesting or important. Apple Bloom’s curiosity, however, got the best of her.
“What d’ya mean by ‘travels’?”
“Apple Bloom, it’s not nice to interrupt!” Sweetie Belle was a bit astonished at how loudly she had reprimanded her friend, but the colt simply replied:
“It’s okay, Sweetie Belle. And don’t worry, Apple Bloom, I’ll get to that later. Now, where did I leave off? Oh! The reason that… the reason why I’m here instead of back at the hive… is… is…” Silver tried to stay calm as he continued. “The reason is because I disobeyed a direct order from the commander, from my father. I was supposed to bring food for the hive, and by food, I mean emotional food. I had been taught how to do that only a couple days before, and I was horrified by it. When you see a creature writhing in pain as their emotional essence is taken against their will… it was just… just… I could not bring myself to do it.”
The three fillies pictured somepony’s energy being sucked out forcefully, and each trembled at the thought. They all quickly switched their focus back to Silver.
“Well, my father threatened to cut off my horn for disobeying orders, and so I ran away, changing into the pony form you see now so he couldn’t track me as quickly. My father was desperate to catch me, so he cast a wide area spell that negated my magic unless I changed back into changeling form, which would alert the hive of my location. He expected me to notice this and reconsider going back. In other words, I can’t use this.” Silver raised his hoof to the gray horn above his eyes before he continued.
“I can’t go back anymore. If they found me, they would torture and kill me in front of the other soldiers, make an example of me. Since I no longer had a place to go, I simply wandered from town to town for a couple years. I spent s–”
“Wait, did you say a couple years? How old are you, then?” This time, it was Scootaloo who interrupted, baffled at the fact that the colt didn’t look a year older than any of the other crusaders.
“You see, since I haven’t returned to my changeling form, I’ve been stuck with this exact body for two or three years. Unfortunately, when changelings turn to ponies, their pony form does not grow, so for all that time this is how I have looked. Now back to what I was saying earlier. I spent some time at some rich pony’s house, attempting to make some bits as a butler to buy enough food, but nopony ever wanted to hire a small colt. I soon stopped at an apothecary’s house, and –”
“A-puth-a-what now?” the earth pony asked, the word sounding quite foreign.
“An apothecary is a pony who makes potions for other ponies,” Sweetie Belle answered. “You can continue, Silver.”
“Okay. So, that was when I found out how to make a potion to turn a changeling into a pony! Of course, it had to be coupled with a certain spell, which apparently was very hard to master. I memorized it, but in this form I can’t really cast it. Still, I have been wandering around to try and find the ingredients, and I noticed that they all could be found here. Now, why was I crying when you guys found me? Well, I had another motive for traveling here. You see, I had… I found… I found my mother’s sister, and she told me all about her and everything, and as soon as I left, I just… I couldn’t keep myself from crying.”
The fillies would have probably hugged him again had he not continued speaking.
“Anyways, if I can drink the potion and conjure the spell, I may be able to change my father into a pony and disconnect him from the hive. Only then would we have a chance to escape and live freely.”
Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom had started murmuring amongst themselves, and they soon reached the same conclusion.
“Silver,” Sweetie Belle remarked, “we’ve decided that we’re going to help you make that potion to save your father.”
“What? Really?” No matter how many times the three fillies had offered to help him, the colt still couldn't stop himself from believing that this was too good to be true.
“Of course. Besides, who knows, we could get our cutie marks in brewing potions!” Scootaloo’s remark reminded Silver of his predicament, and his smile slowly faded away.
“What’s the matter, Silver?” Apple Bloom asked, noticing his sudden change in mood.
“Well, since I’m a changeling, I can’t get a cutie mark. I can’t be part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore.”
“Don’t you worry about that! No matter what, you will always be a crusader, and you will always be our friend. Now, are you with us?” It was as if Sweetie Belle knew exactly what to say to cheer up the colt, who simply nodded his head.
Scootaloo whispered something to the rest of the group, everypony nodding their heads and preparing to shout.
“On three! One… two… three!”
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER POTION BREWERS!”
Suddenly, a thundering crash was heard behind them, all four crusaders turning around and cursing their luck as they stood face to face with a certain creature as black as the night.
“Come on, let’s go!”
The Bearers were already in position, the attack charging up, the ribbons of rainbow light connecting each one to the other.
Then came a loud crash.
Then the screams were heard, those high pitched shrieks that could only have belonged to three distinct fillies.
“Apple Bloom!”
“Sweetie Belle!”
“Scootaloo!”
The colorful lights quickly dissipated as the circle was broken, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash hurrying off towards the clubhouse.
“No, where are you going? We have to charge the Elements!” Twilight’s shout fell on deaf ears, though, as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie galloped off in the same direction to help their other friends.
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake.” Twilight rapidly followed, ready to help in any way she could. Oh, and help her friends surely needed: Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were already fighting five changelings, five or six more zooming in for the kill from either side.
“Nopony messes with my friends.” Twilight charged up her horn as she galloped, screaming the last words anypony expected from her:
Such a powerful emotion. At times, it can glue somepony’s hooves to the ground; at others, it can empower valiant acts of self-sacrifice or even expel that additional strength hidden within a pony’s soul.
The outcome was still uncertain, but one fact was clear. Fear had filled the air: cold, intoxicating fright.
And the changeling scout could feel it – almost taste it – while gazing upon the four crusaders.
The four ponies stared at the black menace, taking care not to move too abruptly lest the beast before them lunge forward without warning.
The changeling took his time, walking ever so slowly towards the foals, a predator eyeing its freshly-caught prize. The colt quickly noticed a small, glowing ball forming at the tip of its horn.
“Everypony, quickly, RUN!”
Apple Bloom understood and quickly zipped away. She hid under a table on the opposite side of the clubhouse while Scootaloo took her scooter and jumped out the window. Silver attempted to make it to the far closet, hoping that Scootaloo would return with help, maybe even with that unicorn by the name of Twilight. No sooner had the colt reached the closet, though, he noticed the changeling was still looking in the same direction.
NO, SWEETIE BELLE!
The unicorn filly had stayed frozen in her spot. The fright made her joints clench and her whole body tremble, and yet it also kept her affixed to the line of fire.
Is… Is this the end? Sweetie Belle’s brain thought, the only organ she still had control over.
So many things I haven’t said, haven’t done. Will I never get my cutie mark?
Will I never grow old with the colt of my dr—
The changeling fired a set of four green magical ropes directly at Sweetie Belle.
So slowly.
Time itself refused to give her any solace, feeling the need to drag out her last moments.
And everything came back to her: all those times she spent with her parents on their crazy adventures, those days she spent burning juice in her sister’s boutique…
Until her mind reached the most recent events, but one thing stood out, one thing made her heart skip a beat…
Whenever the image focused on Silver.
Perhaps…
What could have been?
I guess I will never know.
She closed her eyes.
However, Silver had his eyes wide open in horror…
And he sought to do something.
I HAVE TO SAVE HER! I DON’T CARE WHAT IT TAKES, I WILL SAVE HER, EVEN IF IT COSTS ME MY LIFE!
In that split second— knowing he would never reach Sweetie Belle in time in that form— he performed that one action, cast that single spell he could use, the incantation he had promised to himself so many years ago never to use again.
For you, Sweetie Belle, I will break this promise!
I WILL PROTECT YOU!
His speed increased ten-fold, his mane and horn losing all color, leaving only a lusterless black in its place. Using as much power as he could muster, he cleared his mind and thought of only one phrase.
…
Shield Sweetie Belle.
…
Fear’s paralytic hold began to weaken as the white-coated filly realized she was not dead yet. Sweetie Belle looked up and noticed a green semi-transparent shield that had been erected around her, stopping the ropes in their tracks.
But how… It couldn’t have been Twilight. Her magic is purple.
Sweetie Belle then turned to her left and spotted another changeling, quite a bit smaller than the beast that had attacked her. Before she panicked, though, she noticed the small creature's silver mane, glowing and shimmering like a warm fire.
Suddenly, the realization struck her. “Silver, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me,” the changeling responded, a bit out of breath. “Quickly, now, I can’t hold this barrier up for long. Go. I noticed there’s a trapdoor right behind me. Grab Apple Bloom and leave, and see if you can find help.”
“But what about you? You’re coming with us, aren’t you?”
“It’s me they want. If I follow you, you won’t be safe. I have to stay. Please, go, quickly! My power is fading!”
“No, I’m not leaving you! You’ve done so much for us, for me. I just…”
No regrets. She was going to say it no matter what.
“I-I really like you, Silver! I’ve never felt this way about anypony, and I don’t want to lose you! Please, come with me!” Sweetie's eyes had started watering, a single tear sliding down her muzzle, a sight that almost broke Silver’s heart. Not thinking twice, he quickly wrapped her hooves around her and began to whisper softly into her ear.
“You know, ever since I met you, I’ve always wanted to tell you how beautiful you are. I like you too, Sweetie Belle, very much. Somehow, you just managed to capture my heart that first day. Now, I'm asking you to trust me on this. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine, and later we can hang out together on the grass, looking up at the sky without a care in the world, just the two of us. Does that sound alright? Hmm?”
Sweetie Belle wiped her eyes with one hoof, responding with a single nod and hugging him ever so closely, time slowing to a crawl as they truly let their affection show for the first time: a moment of complete calm, understanding, and unbounded joy…
A moment tainted with sadness as their current situation took hold again.
“Don’t worry, Sweetie, I’ll be okay. Go help Apple Bloom.”
She reluctantly let go and galloped rapidly towards the frightened earth pony as Silver moved the barrier to protect them from the other changeling, who had decided to send beam after beam of magical energy towards the shield.
Apple Bloom went down the trapdoor first, Sweetie following right after. When the white unicorn was half-way down, though, she quickly climbed back up and approached Silver, giving him a small peck on the cheek. Somehow he was able to blush right through his chitinous skin.
“Please be safe. I’m going to get help.”
With that, the unicorn filly went through the trapdoor and disappeared. Feeling his power weakening by the second, Silver stopped funneling magic into the barrier.
I have to stay alive… for Sweetie Belle.
The changeling suddenly lunged towards the colt, who easily sidestepped and ran behind it. Silver charged a small beam of magic and aimed it at the enemy, the attack striking its hind legs and causing it to howl.
Ok, so now he won’t be able to move around as m–
Silver hadn’t noticed that this changeling had a clubbed tail, a detail that would have proved useful before he was struck by the massive object and propelled in front of the changeling’s head. As the beast was about to strike with its fangs, Silver quickly shot a beam at his assailant’s face, making the creature screech in pain. With one last beam, Silver sent the changeling flying into the wall.
Great, that shot took a lot of my energy. Hopefully he’ll learn his less–
EEEEEEEEK!
No, Sweetie Belle!
Silver galloped over to the trapdoor, ready to exit and check up on the filly, when all of a sudden he was knocked back by another changeling, one who was much stronger and fiercer than the previous one.
The colt quickly rose to his hooves and came face to face with… his father?
“Father, it’s me! Quickly, we have to get out of here! I can free you from the hive!”
His clamor fell on deaf ears, though, as his “father” shot a large magical beam at the foal.
Silver was barely able to put up a shield in time. The impact of the two magical forces threw the colt across the floor, landing with a loud thump on the wall behind. Completely unfazed, the foal recovered and walked closer to his attacker.
I have to get through to him.
“Father, it’s me, don’t you remember? We used to race out on the training grounds! You taught me how to use my magic! Please remember!”
The changeling slowly approached Silver, though this time the colt’s words seemed to have struck a chord in the creature. Silver’s father started to shake his head, as if attempting to clear out his mind and make sense of the scene that lay before him.
“Come on, Father, you can fight it! Don’t you remember my mom? Don’t you remember Bright Song? You used to tell me about her sweet, beautiful voice, how she could entrance you, calm you down with her soothing words. Do you remember that?”
Just like Sweetie Belle…
The colt’s father placed his hooves on his head, writhing in agony as if attempting to rip something off his mind. The display soon stopped as the large changeling’s horn charged up another beam of magic, letting loose that definitive strike…
Father…
…on the changeling that was only a hoof’s length away from the colt, stopping it in its tracks and sending it crashing to the opposite wall.
“I…
“I'm so sorry, son. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Father!”
The colt rapidly scurried over to his father, hugging him with all his might before letting go a second later.
“Quickly, I found a way to change you into a pony! You can disconnect completely from the Hive Mind!”
“Thank you, son, but right now I want you to go through that trapdoor and run, quickly. Since you changed back into a changeling, the Hive knows you’re here. You have to change back into your pony form. I will stay here and fend them off.”
“No, Father! Come with me! We can end this if we just use that potion and the spell! I don’t want to lose you again!”
“Don’t worry about me, son, I’ll be f–”
Silver’s father was soon knocked back by a beam of green magic, three other changelings appearing in front of the father-son duo.
“Ughhh…”
“Father!”
The colt’s father quickly rose up and set up his strongest shield, blocking the changeling’s attacks, but it was visible that his powers were weakening.
“They must know that I turned on them. Quickly, run! Change back to your pony form and run! I can’t h–”
The barrier suddenly broke, shattered into millions of fragments as three beams of magic struck the colt’s father squarely on his chest.
“NO, FATHER!!!”
Silver ran over to the injured changeling, attempting to heal him, his eyes beginning to water, but his father simply replied sorrowfully:
“It’s no use, my son. Save your energy and run. I’m… I’m s–”
COUGH, COUGH, COUGH
Green fluid started leaking from the changeling’s mouth, impeding his ability to speak well.
“I’m s-s-sorry I c-c-couldn’t g-give you a b-better life, s-s-son.”
With that, the body ceased to move, the last breath of life extinguished in such a short time.
…
“Father! Please wake up!”
No response.
“Father, please! You have to get up!”
Still no response.
…
“FATHER!!!!!”
Silver’s emotions overwhelmed him, that pit in his stomach growing ever deeper, and suddenly his body started glowing green.
The other changelings, which had been slowly approaching since the attack, stopped abruptly in confusion.
“You killed him!”
The glow began to brighten exponentially, starting to resemble a green flame as it grew.
“You killed my father… NOW YOU WILL PAY!!!!”
Silver charged his horn with an incredible amount of energy, shooting spears filled with everlasting hatred at the enemy. The changelings futilely attempted to dodge them, finding themselves skewered time and time again by the deathly shower. One of the beasts was smart enough to set up a shield around himself, but the sheer force of Silver’s attack was too much, shattering the barrier in an instant.
The changelings quickly scampered off, various spears still protruding out of their bodies. However, Silver— in all his emotional outrage— hadn’t noticed the presence of anoter changeling on the roof of the clubhouse. The colt suddenly found himself in a bind— literally. The magical rope was slowly tightening, sucking away his magic and his life force as Silver tried to break the spell.
No, I have to break free!
But alas, it was to no avail, and after what seemed to him like a couple hours, the colt lay completely still, his life slowly draining away, only a couple thoughts left in his mind.
Scootaloo raced out of the clubhouse at breakneck speeds— possibly even on par with Rainbow Dash’s take-off speed. Still, the orange pegasus had only one thought on her mind:
Get help.
Oh, but who can I get?
Twilight, I have to get Twilight! She knows what to do about the changelings. In fact, she may even be close by!
Fortunately for Scootaloo, she was spot on: Twilight was already at the scene of the action, hollering like crazy, ready to fire beam after beam of magic at the changelings…
When she was knocked backward, the now-existent pain in her muzzle quickly escalating as she recovered.
“Wha…”
Scootaloo, scooter and all, had landed straight on Twilight’s muzzle. Fortunately, Scootaloo herself had not sustained any damage.
“Twilight, is that you? I’m so sorry, Twilight! Come on, you have to get up! Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Silver Flame are all still stuck in the clubhouse! You have to save them from the changelings!”
The purple mare shakily stood up, summoning a quick healing spell to repair her broken jaw.
“What, they’re still in there?”
“Yeah! Quick, you have to go help them!”
“Alright then, let’s go save them!”
Wait, Twilight pondered, who’s Silver Flame?
No sooner had Twilight finished that thought when three changelings materialized in front of the duo, each creature licking its lips as they savored the fear emanating from their prey.
The mare steadily pushed Scootaloo behind her. “You stay back while I take care of them, Scootaloo. In fact, get to the library and tell Spike to get the artifact ready. He’ll know what it means. Now, quickly, go!”
“No, I’m staying here to help you!” the orange filly replied, finding a small stick on the ground and picking it up with her mouth. “Fee, I can fighf, foo!”
“Scootaloo, don’t you ever listen?” Twilight knocked the stick out of her grip and concentrated for a second before a blinding light surrounded the pegasus.
“What are you do—
“Ah, my eyes!”
As soon as Scootaloo regained her sight, she noticed she was already by Sugar Cube Corner, her scooter right beside her.
“Oh, come on, Twilight, that’s not fair!” Scootaloo, knowing the purple unicorn could no longer hear her clamor, decided she might as well go over to the library and give Spike the message.
Hmm… Maybe, if I hurry, I can get back before the fighting ends!
With that thought in mind, she leaped onto her scooter and rode away as fast as her wings could propel her.
Twilight was standing alone, small hoofprints and swirling smoke the only indication that any changelings had tried to attack her.
I hate using that spell, Twilight thought as she softly touched her horn, feeling its immense warmth as a small cloud of smoke began to build up from the tip.
Anyway, I’m not going to survive for much longer, not with my magic depleting this way. Well, might as well check if the potion works.
Twilight pulled out a small purple— no, blue— no, wait, yellow? She pulled out a small vial filled with color-changing fluid and downed it in one gulp.
Ah, Celestia, that’s spicy!
She quickly gasped for air as her eyes watered at the vile taste.
And nothing happened.
And nothing still.
Wait for it…
Nothing yet.
Oh, did I miscalcul—
Suddenly, the purple mare felt her powers getting restored. Swirls of magic spread throughout her body and gave her a faint glow.
She felt more powerful than ever. Soon, a small, eerie grin began to form on Twilight’s mouth, a sight that could scare even the deadliest creatures of Tartarus, perhaps even the Immortal Sisters that controlled the sun and the moon.
“Who’s ready for Round Two?”
“Twilight sent you?”
“Yeah, she told me to tell you to… uh… to get the artifact ready. She said you would know what that meant.”
Spike’s facial expression turned darker as his tone become much more serious. “I guess the time has come.”
The dragon hurried over to a cluttered desk, taking a small golden key out of one of the drawers. He then began feeling around the floor for a latch.
“I know it’s around here somewhere… A-ha! Here it is!”
“What is?”
Out of nowhere, a hidden trapdoor opened up, one that Scootaloo had never noticed in all her past visits. Spike stuck his hand in and pulled out a small gold-encrusted chest engraved with small caricatures of the summer sun. Using the key, he unlocked the container with a small click, a sharp yet warm light emanating from its interior.
”What… what’s in there?”
“This,” Spike responded as he pulled out a small scroll from the case, dropping the chest back into the trapdoor and returning the key.
“Okay, to do this, it’s best to be near the scene of the action. Thanks, Scootaloo, but I must be on my way.”
“Wait, what are you going to do?” Scootaloo replied, wanting desperately to participate in some serious changeling-defeating action.
“I’m going to transport myself to where Twilight is via dragon fire. It’s the fastest way to get there.”
Spike stuffed the parchment into a small backpack and put it on his back. One large breath of air later and he was prepared to teleport.
“Hey, Spike, take me with you, too!” Scootaloo ran towards Spike, scooter in hoof, and reached him at the exact moment the dragon let loose a flaming whirlpool around himself, the fire encompassing the pony as well.
“Scootaloo, what are you doing? I only prepared enough fire to transport myself!”
The library disappeared in a swirling haze, both pony and dragon feeling as if they were being squeezed into an impossibly small place…
It was almost too much to bear.
“Spike, heeeeeellllppp!”
…
Scootaloo slowly opened her eyelids and noticed the intense flame that had once engulfed her was no longer visible. After a couple seconds, she recognized a familiar grove of apple trees.
“Spike, we’re at Sweet Apple Acres! Come on, the clubhouse is not too far fr–!”
She suddenly spotted the small dragon lying unconscious on the floor a couple hoof’s lengths away from her.
“Spike! Spike, are you okay?” Scootaloo shook him, screamed into his ears, did all she could do…
But it was no use: he would not respond.
Oh no, what should I do?
Of course! Twilight should know what to do.
Scootaloo picked the dragon up and set him down softly on his scooter, pushing it forwards as fast as she could in the direction of the action.
Oh, please be okay, Spike!
“Come on, we have to go!”
Sweetie Belle ignored Apple Bloom as she stared back at the clubhouse, wishing with all her heart for her hero to be alright.
Come on, Silver, just last a little longer. I’m sure Scootaloo’s gone to get help.
“Sweetie Belle!”
“Alright, let’s go, quickly!” The unicorn filly took a couple steps forward…
Only to notice a couple changelings waiting for them. Without warning, one of them lunged forward, ready to strike at the two fillies.
Sweetie Belle did what any pony in that situation would do.
“EEEEEEEEK!”
The changeling literally froze in the air, covering its sensitive ears while writhing in pain on the ground. The other changelings around the fillies had all followed suit, as if Sweetie’s shrill voice had ripped their eardrums to shreds.
Wow, Sweetie’s scream can stop these changelings? Wonder if my scream can do that too…
So caught up on her new discovery, Apple Bloom failed to notice the second changeling before them, which wasted no time in pouncing towards them, hooves up, fangs bared…
SMACK!
Something struck the changeling in the side with the force of a manticore. The impact sent the changeling towards the ground right next to the two fillies, whose astonished gazes shifted from the creature to the object that had led to their rescue:
A scooter?
“Scootaloo!” Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom jumped forward towards their savior, hugging her as tightly as they could for a couple seconds: it would have lasted longer had not Twilight run up to them and pretty much pushed them away from the clubhouse.
“Okay, you girls alright?”
The three fillies nodded contently, recognizing how close they had been to becoming changeling food.
“Good. Oh, and Scootaloo, did you tell Spike? Where is he?”
“Well…” Scootaloo directed the purple mare towards a tree a little ways a way; peacefully underneath it lay a small dragon, unconscious but breathing.
“Isn’t that great. Come on, Spike, now’s not the time to be sleeping!” No response arose from the dragon, at least until Twilight decided try something a little different.
“Spike, quickly, Rarity’s getting attacked!”
“What? I have to go save her. I have t–”
A quick bop to the head stopped the dragon in his tracks, though this time he stayed conscious.
“So, Spike, did you bring the artifact?”
The dragon looked over to Twilight with a look of confusion, at least until he remembered the object in his backpack.
“Yeah, I have it right here. You’re only supposed to use it in dire circumstances, Twilight. Those were the Princess’s exact words.”
“I know. I plan to use it only as a last resort. Now, we’re going to get everypony together so we can use the Elements and blast all the changelings back to where they came from.”
In the midst of all the chaos, the three fillies had forgotten all about the colt that had protected them in the clubhouse. Sweetie Belle scolded herself internally for having not told Twilight about him at the start.
“But Silver Flame is still in the clubhouse, fighting the changelings!” Sweetie Belle imagined the horrific image of Silver Flame, injured and bleeding, life slowly dissipating from his body… She couldn’t control her trembling.
No, we’re going to save him.
“Silver Flame? There’s another foal in the clubhouse?” Twilight’s mind began to work overtime, debating whether she had enough magical energy to enter the clubhouse and take him out.
She quickly decided against that course of action.
“Don’t worry Sweetie Belle,” Twilight reassured her as she gathered the bearers together and began to charge the Elements. “Once we use these elements, all the changelings will be gone and Silver will be safe.”
“No, Twilight, STOP! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Unfortunately, the roar of the Elements reaching their maximum power was too loud, blocking any attempts that Sweetie Belle had to try to explain to the purple unicorn.
If she uses the Elements, it will destroy him too.
…
No, I can’t let that happen. I WON’T LET IT HAPPEN!
Without another thought, the unicorn filly entered the circle, and before the Bearers could levitate to shoot their attack, Sweetie Belle bucked Applejack’s necklace, hard.
The piece of jewelry unclasped, but it failed to come off. Panicking even more, as only seconds separated Silver from life and death, Sweetie used her mouth to pry the Element off from the Bearer. The circle suddenly faltered, the colors disappearing into the background, the energy slowly fading way. As the other Bearers looked around in shock, Applejack shot a cold glance at the filly who now possessed her Element.
“Y-You can’t use the Elements of Harmony or you’ll hurt Silver! He’s a changeling colt, and he saved our lives,” Sweetie motioned to the other two crusaders. “You have to save him! You just have to! Please save him!”
The Bearers simply glared at the filly.
Something doesn’t feel right…
Why would she…
Out of all the Bearers’s thoughts, however, Rainbow Dash's were the only ones given the privilege of being uttered.
“Hey, what did you do that for?
“Or are you actually a changeling?”
“N-No! How could you say that? Of course I’m Sweetie Belle!”
But still Rainbow Dash approached her, battle stance ready…
“Cut it out, Rainbow! She’s telling the truth. Now…
“Y’all heard her! We have to go save this Silver, and we can’t use the Elements of Harmony. Well, what’re y’all waitin’ for?”
Applejack rapidly galloped towards the clubhouse and confronted a trio of changelings at the base of the tree. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie stared at her in amazement before following. Twilight, however, was still rooted in place, deep in her thoughts.
A changeling? Helping out the crusaders? But I’ve never heard of a changeling helping anypony else other than their own kind! Maybe she is a changeling…
The purple unicorn looked over at Sweetie Belle, then back to the five ponies who had set off to the base of the treehouse.
But Applejack trusts her, and so do all of my friends. I won’t let them down: we will save Silver.
Twilight checked her saddlebag and found one last potion.
My last one. Oh, well, let’s make it count.
Once again, her body began to feel the tingling sensation of magic flowing through, providing her once again with that eerie glow.
“I’m coming, guys. Time to whoop some changeling flank!”
A couple minutes later, Rarity and Fluttershy were down for the count. Twilight teleported them back to the tree where Spike and the crusaders were waiting. The other four were doing alright, but unfortunately, alright was not enough: they were making no progress towards the clubhouse, changeling after changeling materializing as if out of thin air.
A-ha! They must be teleporting! Let’s try out this new spell, then!
Twilight concentrated a substantial amount of magic on her horn.
Let’s hope this works!
An immense huge wave of magic stretched out from within her, expanding seemingly to no end.
Now to test it.
“Rarity, do you think you could pass me Spike’s backpack?”
“Why, here you g—
Wait.
“My magic. I-It’s not working! Twilight, my magic isn’t working! Oh, Celestia, how horrible! What have those changelings done to me! No, this can’t be happening! Please tell me this isn’t hap—”
“Rarity, there’s nothing to be worried about! I cast a spell to stop magic from being used in this area. Your magic will be fine when I let go of the spell.”
…
“Oh. Well, a little warning would have been nice. Now, I’m sorry, but I feel a… bit too… tired…”
Rarity quickly fell asleep, unable to do much more.
Oh, the joys of magical exhaustion. Fine one second, then horrible the next.
But I’m running out of magic quickly. I have to go save Silver.
Twilight charged directly towards the clubhouse, ramming into every changeling in her path. Luckily for her, they still had not noticed their magic was locked until it was too late. Wasting no time, she climbed the stairs two by two, and soon she came face to face with a scene quite grim:
A changeling foal was tied up in the same green bind that she had seen around Sweetie Belle.
But…
I thought I canceled all magic out! Unless it’s… arcane magic?
A larger changeling was on the floor, lying motionless and covered in what Twilight assumed was its blood. Another large changeling was almost already upon the foal, ready to strike the final blow.
And strike he would have… had not Twilight rammed into him at full speed, sending him crashing to the opposite wall. Regrettably for those inside the clubhouse, the changeling’s body had left a huge, deep gash in the wall. A small cracking sound later proved Twilight’s suspicion.
Twilight quickly levitated the foal wrapped in the bind and prepared to teleport…
Only to find that she could not do it.
Oh, right, I forgot, I can’t teleport either.
The purple mare hurried back out the door and jumped— changeling foal and all— while trying her hardest to cushion him from the gravity of the fall. Still, the injured changeling would not back down without a fight: it galloped as fast as it could to reach the unicorn that had imparted such damage upon its body.
The speed was still not enough, though, for at the last second, the roof of the clubhouse as well as the walls collapsed on top of the creature with a deafening thud, cutting off its advance.
Twilight hurried over to her friends, all huddled around the tree as they saw the last of the changelings stop moving.
Ok, time to assess the situation. Fluttershy and Rarity are out, so if more changelings show up, we may be in a bit of a bind. I’ve already used my last potion and my magic is slowly fading.
Let’s hope that whoever sent these changelings has ch–
And then Twilight’s horn tingled. The purple mare closed her eyes as if to focus her senses.
Oh, no.
Her eyes grew to the size of oranges, her face devoid of any expression.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Apple Bloom had noticed the weird face the purple mare had made, and the unicorn quickly imparted her newfound information:
“There’s a squad of around thirty changelings coming.”
Drat, and we can’t use the Elements with Fluttershy and Rarity in this state. What else could possibly go wrong?
Once again, fate chose to smite the poor unicorn as a distinct buzzing sound resonated from afar, slowly approaching and increasing in volume by the second.
Oh, no, they’re aerial drones, the most powerful type of changelings. We’re doomed.
In a matter of moments, the first dark speck was spotted, then a couple more, then a few more…
In less than five seconds, a large cloud of possibly forty changelings arose from the depths of nowhere, filling everywhere. Instinctively, Twilight set up a barrier around her friends…
Or so she thought, but she quickly came to realize it would not happen.
Well, at least they can’t use magic eith—
And the curve balls just kept coming as she noticed their horns emitting a small amount of light.
No, they really are using arcane magic! Ugh! That means this magic-cancelling spell is useless against them!
Opting instead to counter magic with magic, she let drop the cancellation barrier and put up a bright purple shield around her friends and the small changeling.
And the attacks finally came. The entire shield vibrated profusely, unrelenting in it’s will to protect those below it…
I’m out of options, at this rate, I’ll only be able to block a dozen or so attacks, maybe less.
Twilight’s brain began to think, taking in everything around her, looking for something, anything that could possibly help them.
And thank Celestia, her prayers were answered as she watched Scootaloo take out the scroll that Spike had brought.
“Scootaloo!”
“I didn’t mean to touch it, Twilight! Apple Bloom dared me to!”
“Hey!” Apple Bloom gave the pegasus a mean stare, which she easily ignored.
“Never mind that,” Twilight responded as three more attacks hit her shield. “Quickly, I need you to take that scroll and open it. Lay it on the floor and hold it open with your four hooves!”
“Uh… like this?” Scootaloo had each of her hooves on one corner of the scroll, her stance making her a bit uncomfortable.
“Yeah, now repeat after me: I, Scootaloo, call forth on the ancient magicks of Equestria…”
“I, Scootaloo, call forth on the ancient magicks of Equestria…”
“… and through my soul, I hereby access that life source that binds us all together…”
“… and through my soul, I hereby access that life source that binds us all t-together…”
The shield had begun to weaken, but that wasn’t what Scootaloo was looking at: the scroll underneath her had started to glow a bright golden yellow, a soothing warmth spreading through her body.
“… to call upon the Immortal Sister who commands the sun!”
“… to c-call upon the Immortal Sister who c-commands the sun!”
“Now quickly, Scootaloo, get off the scroll.”
“What?”
“JUST GET OFF IT!”
The orange pegasus leaped away from fright…
And luckily at just the right time, for the scroll had levitated and started to spin as raw magic spewed from the ancient letters written on it. A swirling vortex encompassed the object as everypony struggled to make sense of the situation.
…
CRACK
Oh, no, the shield’s shattering! The artifact’s spell is not yet complete!
Having no other option, Twilight poured in some of her own life force into the shield.
I can’t give out any more. If I do…
Still, it was a risk she had to take to protect those she cared for.
An explosion of golden light arose from the artifact, which had quite suddenly burned up into cinders.
What was more astonishing, however, was what had replaced it: it was another pony, one of such grand stature that she radiated warmth and happiness, a pony equally known for her powerful magic and for her benevolence.
…
“PRINCESS CELESTIA!?”
Chance for a New Life (Edited 2014-09-10 23:26 EST)
“Now, Twilight, I hope this isn’t another one of your tests to check if the artifact works. I only have so many of those, and I was drinking tea with the ruler of the Griffon K–”
The shield broke into tiny shards, and one beam from the changelings struck the teacup the princess held in her hoof. Small amounts of whatever liquid it held splashed onto her royal dress.
“That was my official going-out dress, and now it’s stained!” The air began to sizzle as immeasurable amounts of heat began to emerge from the alicorn; had anypony so much as touched her in this state, the pony would have been burnt to a crisp.
And then Princess Celestia spotted the changelings.
Her anger soared ever higher as her eyes focused on the soldier at the front.
“YOU SHALL REGRET YOUR ACTIONS!” An immense beam of what could only be described as solar rays cut through the first wave of changelings, burning their wings almost instantly. Around ten changelings dropped to the ground with a thud, and some previously hidden changelings on the ground quickly exposed themselves to send the injured back to base.
The remainder of the squad landed in front of the princess, petrified with fright at how the situation had turned out. One of the braver changelings shot a magical beam at the alicorn, who expertly reflected the beam back to its creator, vaporizing him on the spot. Princess Celestia slowly walked up to the changeling in gray armor (obviously the leader, the princess reasoned) and stared him down with a glare that could have killed him in an instant if the alicorn so wanted.
“BOO!”
The armored changeling leaped in fright, landed on its flank and rapidly scrambled to get away from the dangerous pony. The rest of the squad following shortly after.
“Well, glad to see that’s taken care of.” The princess looked over at the green-and-black bundle that lay next to Twilight. “And I see you’ve even caught a live one.”
“P-p-princess, c-can you please b-break those ropes?”
“Hmm?”
Princess Celestia looked over at Sweetie Belle, who had mustered enough courage to talk to their savior. It was clear, though, that the presence of one of the rulers of Equestria was making her tremble.
“He’s a friend,” Twilight explained to the princess. “He saved the Crusaders, and I believe he was also fighting the other changelings.”
“I understand, of course.” Celestia pointed her horn at the ropes, which easily dissolved in a flash. “And you don’t have to be afraid of me, little one,” the princess remarked to Sweetie Belle, “I’m your friend.”
Sweetie Belle simply nodded, but she was clearly still a bit uncomfortable at being in the presence of royalty.
“Here, let’s get everypony back to Canterlot. We can heal Rarity and Fluttershy once we’re at the castle.”
The princess’s horn glowed brightly, the light growing until it encompassed everypony. One second, they were staring at the wreckage that used to be the crusaders’ clubhouse; the next, they were gazing upon the massive entrance of the castle as two elite royal guards greeting them upon their arrival.
As everypony entered, they couldn’t stop themselves from appreciating how large and intricately detailed the interior was: the scene captivated them no matter how many times they entered the castle.
“Guards, could you take these two to the infirmary, please, and have them meet up with me here when they awaken?”
“As you command, Princess,” the guard to the right responded, earning a chuckle from the alicorn.
“You know, you don’t have to be so formal all the time.”
“As you wish, Princess… I-I mean, sure thing.” The guard called in a couple others to help transport Fluttershy and Rarity as Celestia talked to the rest of the group.
“Okay, now, is anypony else hurt?” All the ponies shook their heads. Spike sported a small bump on his head but refused any medical treatment, wanting only to stay with Rarity as she recuperated.
“Why, of course. Just go through that door on tell the guards I sent you to stay with Rarity.”
“Now, then, let’s move on to business,” the princess continued. “I need to talk to the changeling… alone, if you don’t mind.” Celestia touched her horn to the changeling’s chest, and suddenly a small golden aura enshrouded the foal as the healing spell worked its charm. “Everypony can stay here for a while. Feel free to ask the guards for food or anything else.”
With that, the princess and the changeling foal disappeared in a flash, leaving Sweetie Belle a bit preoccupied about what the princess wanted with Silver.
Silver opened his eyes in fright, attempting to remember what had happened.
Okay, so I was fighting the changelings, and then one of them held me in a magic bind, and then…
That was when the foal noticed that he was still bound tight, but not by ropes of green; this time, golden strands surrounded him, attaching him to a not-so-comfortable chair. All around him was a bright light messing with his eyesight as his eyes tried to adjust to the new setting.
In an instant, a tall alicorn materialized in front.
“My name is Celestia, in case you didn’t know, but I am pretty sure that the Hive would have already informed you of that.”
Celestia? The alicorn that Chrysalis defeated?
“I’m going to ask you a series of questions, and you are going to answer them truthfully.” The princess positioned herself at a hoof’s length from the changeling’s face.
“Question 1: Why are you here? What is your objective?”
Silver Flame tried to look away from the alicorn’s gaze, but the penetrating stare was simply too much.
“I… I escaped from the Hive, and I was looking for a place to hide.”
“Lies!” All of a sudden, the binds around the changeling’s torso tightened, leaving the changeling with a lack of air for just a second. “All you changelings care about is the Hive, no matter what happens to yourself or anypony else!”
The princess leaned a little closer, a flame present in each of her eyes. “Question 2: What is Chrysalis’s plan? Where and when is she going to strike next?”
“I-I don’t know! I had only just started my f-f-first mission, and n-none of my s-superiors told m-m-me of an–”
The coils tightened again, this time squishing his appendages together quite uncomfortably.
“Silence! I know that there’s a plan to take over Ponyville! The information came from a changeling general himself!”
By now Celestia had stepped back, almost as if she were preparing to cast a spell at any given moment.
“Question 3: What were you planning to do with the crusaders?”
“Th-They found m-me crying and invited m-me to their club. I b-b-became their f-friend and–”
The princess’s horn began to glow, the coils surrounding the changeling foal glowing, soft sizzling arising from them as the binds burned the changeling's skin ever so slightly. Celestia’s anger reached dangerous levels as she spoke to him again.
“Stop lying! You changelings can’t feel love or friendship! All you do is feed off of it, destroying it as you gorge yourselves in its warmth!”
The colt’s eyes had started to water. His thoughts wandered off to the times he had spent with the crusaders, the way he had helped Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle escape…
Sweetie Belle…
I WOULD NEVER FEED OFF THAT LOVE, NOR THAT FRIENDSHIP!
Whatever hold fear had taken on his mind was broken in an instant, his rage increasing exponentially, a greenish aura rising from every hole in his body.
“YOU DO NOT KNOW ME! YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PAIN THAT I HAVE GONE THROUGH, NOR THE FEELING OF FRIENDSHIP THAT I RECEIVED FROM THOSE THREE FILLIES!”
Celestia, surprised at the outburst, lowered her spell on the coils. Astonishingly, his binds began to weaken as he shouted, his green aura counteracting the golden until the ropes shattered. The changeling looked directly at Celestia with an unwavering gaze.
“DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH, EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE HAD TO SUFFER? THEN HERE!!!”
Out of nowhere, the changeling summoned up a small ball of energy and threw it at the princess’s horn. A bright green flash blinded them both, if only for a moment.
The princess was at a loss of words as she watched his spell’s effect: every memory the changeling had accumulated throughout his life was playing out in her mind, every situation, every emotion. The fear, the loneliness, the hope, and the anger: everything played through her mind in a blink of an eye.
The changeling could only sit back down, exhausted as his power faded.
The air grew still, and the anger once present in the princess simmered down…
And tears began to take its place as every moment played over and over in her mind.
“I… am so sorry, Silver. I let my hatred of changelings cloud my judgment and overpower me.” Princess Celestia rapidly started a healing spell, fixing up the slight burns the binds had left as well as any remaining bruises he had received from the incidents in the clubhouse. “Can you ever forgive me?”
The changeling simply looked away, unwilling to meet her gaze, though finally he mumbled an apology at the princess for having gotten out of control. The tension throughout the room was palpable, but Celestia would not settle for such a result, still riddled with guilt at having judged him for his appearance.
“I… I am sorry for your father, Silver. I know how hard you tried to save him, looking for the correct incantation and the potion.” The princess slowly sat down next to the foal, placing a wing over him in a motherly fashion. The foal tried to inch away, but her wings felt so soft, so comfortable… so safe.
“Still, the spell you had found was incomplete. If you had cast it on your father, he would have become a pony for only a couple days, later deteriorating into dust.” The princess hugged the foal closer to her as she spoke, the warmth she emanated making him feel protected, loved even.
“However, in my… travels… I have come across the full, correct spell that you can use. It’s in the Canterlot Archives, and I would gladly cast it on you so you can become a true pony and live as one of us here. I bet Sweetie Belle would be pleased to hear that.”
Sweetie Belle!
“Don’t worry,” Celestia remarked after spotting the worry in Silver’s expression. “She’s unharmed, thanks to you. Now, I must warn you, the difficulty of this spell is not just in executing it, but the changeling also needs to have certain… tethers to this world, something that anchors the soul to the world of the living so the body change can work. It will be a difficult task, and there is a high chance that you could die in the process… though with your traits, the chance of the spell working is a bit higher.”
Silver Flame simply stared at her in confusion, not quite understanding what she meant by his “traits.”
“See,” the princess continued, “You are a foal of a changeling and a pony. Although you may look completely like a changeling, you have the heart of a pony, and a courageous heart at that.
“I know that there is no excuse for what I have put you through, but please let me make it up to you by helping you fulfill your dream to completely disconnect from the Hive. Would you like to go through with this? I can give you as much time to think about it as you need.”
The chance of a new life, starting from scratch, no longer tied to the Hive and the rest of the changelings
The chance to stay with my friends…
The chance to stay with Sweetie Belle.
But how do I know I can trust this alicorn princess, one who has done so much harm to me?
That one question resonated in his mind, slowly fading into nothingness as he melted into the hug, somehow understanding exactly how sorry she felt about her past actions.
“I do not need more time to think,” Silver replied. “I would like to become a pony.”
I do this for Sweetie Belle… and for me as well.
I can finally be a free creature… a free pony.
“Then let us tell the others at once.” Celestia hugged the foal even tighter, the changeling returning the favor as drop after drop of salty tears fell from her eyes.
“I truly am sorry, Silver.” Another blinding flash later, the two had disappeared from the interrogation room.
A Wish Fulfilled... But at What Price? (Edited 2014-09-11 13:44 EST)
Twilight was busy directing the final preparations for the spell, being meticulous as ever.
“No, no! You guys have to make a larger circle! Princess Celestia and the crusaders have to be in the center.”
The potion was mixed and ready, spawning a small amount of green odorless fumes. The Bearers had their Elements ready, and in no time at all the six ponies surrounded the alicorn princess and the four crusaders. The foals distinctly displayed their nervousness with small flaps of a wing or a continuous tap of a hoof, all still not sure what they would have to do nor why they were needed.
“Okay, so let’s run this through one more time,” Twilight proclaimed to everypony. Her voice commanded authority even to the grass she was standing on, which silently stopped its movement in the light wind.
“Princess Celestia is going to establish a soul link from the changeling to the three crusaders… so that’s you guys, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.” The trio shifted their gaze from the changeling to Twilight as she spoke. “What the soul link will do is connect your ethereal life chains so that transfer of soul energy will be possible in either direction, but as a result your conscious mind will be transmuted to your subconscious to strengthen the connection enough to withstand the stress of the metamorphosis.”
“Wait, what?” The four crusaders simply stared blankly at the purple mare, having understood absolutely nothing; even the other Bearers were flabbergasted at the complex words Twilight had spouted.
“What that means is that when I cast the soul link spell,” Celestia explained to the foals, “it will seem like you are in a dark room with many different things floating around you. As long as you can all see each other, everything will be fine. Remember, your memories and the time you foals have spent together can be very powerful.”
“Ohhhh.”
“Now that that’s taken care of,” Twilight continued, “Princess Celestia will drink the elixir as Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie and I charge up the Elements of Harmony. We will strike Silver at the same time the princess casts the spell. We have to make sure to get rid of the changeling body completely as she constructs the new pony body.”
“Okie dokie lokie!”
“Um… okay.”
“Got it, darling.”
“What’re we waitin’ for?”
“Alright, let’s do this!”
The six Bearers set themselves up for the task at hand, the Elements humming softly as they begged to be used.
“Princess, begin the spell, please,” Twilight spoke, a small quiver in her voice, everypony unsure whether it had risen from nervousness or from excitement.
Princess Celestia closed her eyes, concentrating a small amount of magic on her horn to cast the soul link spell.
“Wooooaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”
The four crusaders felt the sensation of falling, yet no wind seemed to be rushing up against their coats or manes. In a manner of seconds, they felt their speed decreasing, as if they were being held up by some unknown force. Soon after, they landed on the ground softly, their hooves barely making any sound. Nopony moved after they touched the surface, their eyes unable to see if there were any pits they could fall into if they changed the placement of their hooves.
“Sure is dark here, ain’t it?”
Sweetie Belle agreed with Apple Bloom and struggled to gather her magic into her horn to light up the place.
Come on, focus! You practiced this a million times already!
First try, nothing.
Second, zilch.
Good thing third's time the charm: a small, dim light arose from the tip of Sweetie's horn, but it was enough for everypony to notice the intricacies of this new place. Every crusader’s eyes grew to the size of melons as they looked around. The ground seemed to stretch out for hundreds of hoof’s lengths while different pictures, numbers and symbols circulated above, every couple of seconds a complete sentence popping up.
“If we’re in our subconscious…
“Does that mean that everything around us is our thoughts?” Silver’s question almost made everypony blush as they feared the worst: their secrets exposed to their other friends.
As if on cue, a small sentence materialized on the wall in front of the group, the lettering just large enough to be visible.
“I like her mane.”
At that, Silver began to blush uncontrollably, attempting to hide his face but failing to do so in time. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo simply looked at each other and then at the other two— immediately recognizing whose thought it was— while Sweetie Belle copied Silver and hid her face from the other two fillies.
Before anypony could say anything, however, a small chill ran up Silver’s spine. The foal simultaneously fell to the ground, squirming uncontrollably as if struggling to stay in his body.
“Silver!”
The Elements of Harmony had all charged up, the multi-colored circle of light rising along with the Bearers, all poised to shoot.
“I’m ready!” Celestia, still with a bitter and spicy taste in her mouth, quickly shot a steady beam of magic at the changeling body as the Elements released their own energy, both conglomerating at the site of the changeling’s body.
The chitinous black was disintegrating slowly with the power of the Elements, Celestia’s spell creating a pony body in its place. By no means was the spell a simple task: why, had any other pony tried to cast it, they would have used up their energy in an instant. Still, the princess was slowly losing ground: her own magical reserves, though large, was by no means infinite. A sudden shock traversed through her mind, which filled with dread as she felt a presence disappearing slowly.
No, I can feel the young foal’s soul fading. Come on, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle…
The three fillies were dumbfounded at the sight that lay before them: Silver’s body was fading, a bright white glow surrounding him as he started to disappear.
“Come on, guys, we have to save him!” Sweetie Belle went over to him, but as she touched him, a small electric shock hit her hoof and traveled up, making her instinctively pull away.
“But what can we do? How do we save him?” Scootaloo began to blame herself for not having asked the princess what to do in such a situation.
“Well, the princess did say our memories were powerful or somethin’,” Apple Bloom chimed in, attempting to remember anything of value from the princess’s small speech.
“That’s it! We have to make him remember! See all those thoughts and pictures floating around? They’re our thoughts and memories! Maybe if we try to remind Silver of all the time we’ve spent together, we can stop him from fading!” Sweetie Belle had almost run out of air by the time she had finished speaking.
“Come on, guys, let’s get in a circle around him! We’ll yell out all the crusades we went on! I’ll start!” Scootaloo went over to the body first, the other two making the circle as she continued speaking: “Come on, Silver, you can fight it! Remember how you climbed up that tree and jumped on my parachute to stop me from going over the cliff? Remember how you saved me?”
Not even a second after Scootaloo had finished, Silver seemed to stop fading, his body restored to its lusterless black… for about two seconds, then the process continued, all four hooves almost gone.
“We need more memories! Come on, Silvah,” Apple Bloom began, “D’ya remember when ya comforted me after Ah accidentally squished all the pinecones we were goin’ to plant for our tree-plantin’ cutie marks?”
The crusaders continued in that fashion, each time their hopes rising and falling as they watched the scene play out before them, the small reappearance followed by the ever-dreaded change back to translucence. As if their hope wasn’t low enough to begin with, every memory was having less of an effect each time. The last memory anypony could come up with no longer stopped his disappearance, the only parts left being a barely visible chest and head.
I guess I was wrong.
There was one part that Celestia had left out when she had told the Bearers and the crusaders about the spell, at Silver’s behest: the possibility of death.
He must have known that somepony would have talked him out of it if they had known.
This possibility was now quite high, she reasoned, seeing how her own spell had stopped creating the new pony body. The more magic the princess imbued into the spell, the more it would recoil, never budging from that spot, right above his heart.
I thought the crusaders would have given him enough emotional energy to accept the conversion, but I guess I was wrong.
…
Maybe friendship just isn’t strong enough for this spell.
…
At this rate, I’m going to run out of magic. I’m going to have to cancel and reverse the spell, as well as temporarily divert the Elements’ magic. Hopefully, enough of his old body is still there so he can stay alive.
I’m so sorry, Silver. I have failed you.
Soon, Sweetie Belle could take no more.
“Come on, Silver! You said we were going to go hang out later!” Tears began to cloud Sweetie Belle’s vision after the two other fillies had stopped talking: all three had run out of memories to share, and Silver just kept fading. Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom's eyes had also begun to water, but it was nowhere near to the extent as the white unicorn.
“You promised me, Silver. I don’t want you to die.”
Die. Void of life. Gone, away from Equestria, away from this world, never to be seen again.
Sweetie Belle summoned all her courage to stop from thinking about that word, but it was just… just too much for her to bear. The one pony she had actually had feelings for, the first one that she had kissed… In a manner of seconds, her protector, her savior, the changeling with a heart of gold, the pony who had sacrificed himself for his friends— for her— would be gone, stripped from this world, and there was nothing that she could do about it.
The unicorn filly reached out to Silver with her hoof, ignoring the electrical shocks she was receiving: her heart hurt much more than the physical pain the bolts imparted. Hugging him as tightly as she could, Sweetie whispered into his fading ear in the same manner he had done back at the clubhouse:
“Please don’t leave me, Silver.”
And with that, she moved her muzzle back ever so slowly, time freezing as if preparing for this very moment. With one last look, Sweetie’s lips met Silver’s as she gave him that one final kiss before the inevitable end. A single tear dropped from Sweetie’s eye down her muzzle and onto the changeling.
Clinging to the last thread of hope she held, Sweetie nuzzled him as she uttered her last words to the changeling:
“No matter where you go, I’ll go with you. Don’t leave me, because I’ll never leave you.”
…
Unbeknownst to the three fillies, another sentence had begun to take form above them, one in large bold letters that dwarfed every other picture and symbol, yet it was only five words long.
I will never leave you.
And then a bright rainbow-colored light shone through, blinding everypony in the soul link as the ground shattered, the whole scene imploding on itself in a majestic swirl of color.
What is this massive surge of energy? Could it be…?
With a massive amount of determination, Celestia reversed her reversal of the spell only seconds after she had resolved to return Silver’s soul to whatever remained of his changeling body. The spell easily took hold and in no time had already caught up with the Elements’ beam.
They did it. Somehow, they did it…
Both spells completed within a couple seconds of each other, a green glow emanating from the four foals as the magic died down. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom awoke first, disconnected from the soul link.
“Huh? Oh, we’re out! We’re outside that soul link thing!”
“Yeah, we’re out! But Silvah…”
The two fillies diverted their gaze from the other ponies down onto the dissolving green glow, quite surprised at what lay in front of them:
Sweetie Belle was on the floor, holding a small pony in a tight embrace. The foal sported a bluish-green coat and a silver mane, both traits that the crusaders knew quite well. The only major difference was his horn: it was no longer discolored, instead matching the color of his coat perfectly.
The two foals on the floor stirred slightly, Sweetie Belle and Silver Flame opening up their eyes groggily, inspecting the situation at hoof. Not one second later, the filly hugged the colt even tighter, the remnants of small tears staining her muzzle.
“I thought you were going to die.”
To that, the foal promised her one simple thing:
“I would never leave you, Sweetie Belle.”
As they gazed into each other’s eyes, time seemed to slow down again, their muzzles getting ever closer, lips almost touching–
“Alright, alright, you’re gonna make me sick!” Scootaloo’s response broke the mood in a flash. Sweetie and Silver pulled away with a blush as they remembered all the other ponies around him. Only then did he think to inspect how he had changed, his black skin replaced by the soft aquamarine fur he had worn before, his mind no longer holding the constant nagging sensation of returning to that changeling base.
“I’m a pony! The spell worked! I’m finally free from the Hive!”
Silver bounded with joy throughout the field, hugging everypony in his wake, even Princess Celestia.
It worked! I’m finally a pony!
However, a sudden realization made him stop abruptly:
“Wait. Now that I’m a pony, I’ll be living in Ponyville, right? Where exactly will I live? The clubhouse must be in ruins.”
“Don’t worry about that, my dear Silver,” Celestia responded. “One of the drawbacks of this spell is that though it turned you into a unicorn, your magic is at a very low level. You will have to practice unicorn magic for several weeks or months to be able to use it efficiently again, so I am giving Twilight the task of teaching you until your magic has replenished. I’m sure that she has an extra room for you to sleep in. Would that be alright, Twilight?”
“W-why, o-of course, Princess!” Twilight was a bit shaken at that request, but it’s not like she could simply deny the foal a place to live nor reject a suggestion from the princess.
“Then that’s settled. I’ll teleport you all back to Ponyville. Guess I’m going to have to explain to the Griffon Kingdom’s ruler why I suddenly disappeared with one of his teacups. Do give me a bit of a warning next time you use another one of those artifacts, please, Twilight?”
A warm white light surrounded the group as Celestia sent them back to Sweet Apple Acres.
Silver himself could not believe it: he had finally achieved his dream, finding friendship… and even something more.
“So, when are we going to crusade next?” Silver’s enthusiasm was evident in his question, all three fillies brimming with joy at having their newest crusader back.
“Not so fast!” Sweetie Belle went up to Silver, a small blush on her cheeks. “You promised me that we would go hang out, just us two, remember?”
“Hey, that can wait,” Scootaloo remarked, wanting to get to crusading as quickly as possible. “Right now, we have to go find our cutie marks!”
“It’s too dark to go crusading! Besides, it’s the perfect time for Silver and I to watch the stars.”
“No, it’s not too dark! We still haven’t tried getting cutie-marks in… um… in owl catching!”
Silver simply watched as the two fillies continued to fight over what to do next. Apple Bloom stealthily walked up to the colt and whispered to him some fairly sound advice:
“You should probably run ‘fore they make ya choose. Believe me, when they’re like this, there’s no way to win.”
With one look back, Silver gulped and galloped as fast as his legs could carry him, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turning at the unexpected sound of the quick hoofsteps.
“Hey, get back here!” The two fillies galloped right behind him with incredible speed, Apple Bloom finding nothing better to do than to follow them.
And so began the tales of Silver Flame, the changeling-turned-unicorn, and his new life in Ponyville.
Celestia still stood at the site of the action, the place where the spell had been cast, her expression drooping a little as she remembered what she had done to the poor colt.
I hope that this can finally bring you peace, Silver, and give you a new life without such life-threatening worries, a life every foal should have.
And then the Princess of the Sun fell.
…
“Tia! Tia, art thou alright?”
The blue alicorn used her levitation hold to bring Princess Celestia back on her hooves, the Sun Princess waking up at the sudden movement.
“Oh, h-h-hey, Lulu. I g-guess I just used t-too m-mu–”
Celestia was slipping in and out of consciousness, Luna attempting to keep her awake.
“Let us guess, thou used up a substantial amount of thy life force on thy spell?” Princess Luna carried the exhausted alicorn into the castle, at times shaking her back and forth slightly to keep her conscious. “Thou knowst no doctor can replenish thy life force. Even though we are immortal, our life forces may take years to restore to our original levels!”
“I know, b-b-but if I d-didn’t complete the s-s-spell, the c-colt would have d-died!”
An intense pain shot through her horn, slowly arcing down to her heart…
“Ah!”
Luna brought her sister up to her room, placing her on the bed as softly as she could. The white alicorn feebly attempted to pull the sheets over herself, instead only earning a pang of pure pain.
There’s no way I’m going to be able to conduct business like this.
“Lulu, I’m g-going to have t-t-to ask you a f-favor. C-c-could y-you p–”
“Shhh, sayst no more. We shall take care of thy duties. Thou must only rest for now.”
With that, Luna called out to the nearest guard, ordering him to stay outside her room until she returned. As the guard closed the door and as Luna left for her room, nopony noticed the small filly hidden out in front, a filly that had been following them since the princesses had entered the castle.
Nopony, at least, except for one of the elite guards who just happened to be walking past.
“What are you doing here, little filly? You know, this place is off-limits.”
“Oh, um… I got lost as I went to buy apples, and then I saw the princess and wanted to ask her for help. My mother’s sick, so I went out to help her buy things, but I guess I got lost.” The little filly’s expression drooped, her eyes watering the slightest bit.
“Well, no need to cry, little filly,” the guard replied, leading her outside the castle. “That apple stand over there sells very delicious apples.” The pony gave her a couple of bits. “Tell the pony there my name, Sharp Sword, and he’ll give you a discount. I’ll make sure to tell the princess about your mom, and I’ll see if she can give her some medicine. What is your mom’s name?”
The filly stayed mute for a couple seconds, as if she were debating whether to divulge such information.
“Her name is… Majestic Daisy. Thank you, mister!” The small filly bounded away. The guard, a bit confused at the filly’s reaction, turned back to reenter the castle.
Suddenly, the filly veered onto an alley devoid of anypony. Finally out of view, she cast a spell with a green aura that would have raised the attention of any of the guards, had they spotted it.
The ruler is weak. The Queen shall be pleased.
With that, the changeling teleported away, leaving nothing but two bits on the ground where she had once stood.
Silver Flame was quite surprised when he found out that this Twilight lived inside a tree, but he was even more astonished when he was shown his room. It was a simple guest room, true, but the fact that it was neatly furnished and inside of a living tree still bewildered him.
“It looks really nice, Miss Twilight.”
“Please, just call me Twilight. Now, if you need anything, I’ll be up on the second floor. Please don’t be too loud or you’ll wake up Spike.”
“Wait, who’s Spike?”
“That’s right, you haven’t met him yet, have you? Well, tomorrow I’m sure you’ll meet him. Now, is there anything else you need?”
“I don’t believe there is. Thank you so much, M— I mean, Twilight.”
“Ha, don’t thank me just yet. Magic class starts tomorrow, taught by yours truly! See you at 0700 sharp!” The small grin upon her muzzle was not exactly comforting to the young colt.
“But… isn’t tomorrow Sunday?”
“Well, we can’t lose any more time. Almost all foals your age already have a firm grasp over basic magic, and you can’t even levitate anything yet. We have to start as soon as possible if you want to catch up.”
“Okay, I believe you’re right. Tomorrow I start, then.”
“Now that’s the spirit! Good night, Silver!”
“Good night, Twilight!”
The door closed slowly and quietly, leaving Silver alone in his new room. Small portraits of what Silver could only assume were important ponies hung from small pins in the walls. A small bookshelf and a dresser were the only other pieces of furniture apart from the bed, and curious as he was, Silver walked over to the former. Some book names required him to jog his memory in vain (very few changelings were given the privilege of accessing the hive library), but one in particular drew his attention. The book itself seemed quite old— possibly written a couple hundred years ago— but it appeared to have been restored to near-perfect condition.
Written by the late Willneigham Shakespeare, the book was titled Romeo and Juliet.
While scanning through the book, he came across a small synopsis on the second-to-last page. Unfortunately, he was unable to read most of it as his eyes started closing slowly. The only words that latched on to him were those near the end, something about “love” and “death.”
A memory long forgotten. Something that instilled fear that penetrated his very core…
And it was playing right in front of him.
“We have figured out valuable information. This will serve us greatly in our takeover of Equestria.”
Two black figures stood at hoof’s length away from each other, speaking softly enough that no regular pony would have ever guessed what they were saying.
“We should go tell the Queen. She will be most p—”
“Wait.”
One quick use of magic later, and Silver was immobile.
“Eavesdropping is a punishable offense, as is missing training.”
The hold around him quickly constricted, and Silver was unable to even make a noise as the world faded to black, as all heat escaped from his body…
“Ah!”
Silver sat up, unable to comprehend his surroundings. The moon shone brightly outside the open window, and a cool breeze suspended the curtains like ghosts wanting desperately to leave this place. The familiar chill woke him up a bit more as he walked over and shut the window.
Just… a dream?
But unfortunately, the more he thought about it, the more the image grew blurry, the more he began to forget…
And soon the entirety of his nightmare was erased from his memory, although the fright it instigated still crept up within his veins.
That was when he felt something was missing.
No, not something, but someone.
Two someones.
Two people who could tuck him in at night, who could turn anything wrong to right.
His parents.
How he missed them.
And he held not even a picture, barely a memory. Minute tears threatened to form in his eyes, so he tried his hardest to think on something positive.
Something white and fluffy.
Sweetie Belle…
And his mind drifted to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, to Twilight, and to his current form. In front of him now lay a bright future, something every parent always longs for a child…
And he smiled.
A new life. That’s what I’ve always wanted. That’s what my parents would have wanted. I shouldn’t be sad, not with this opportunity.
That reassurance was all he needed as he pulled the sheets over himself. A peaceful sleep would be sure to follow: a great preparation for the chaotic day that lay before him.
“Silver! Hey, Silver!”
“Ughhh…”
One eye opened half-way, and then the other followed suit. Drowsiness plagued Silver as he tried to focus on the origin of the voice. A couple seconds of screwing up his eyes and he noticed the clock right on his bedside.
It read 6:00 AM.
“Ugh, time to train…”
The first rays of sunlight beamed in through the window and struck Silver square in his right eye. At that moment, his brain decided to function in full as the various scents and sights overloaded his senses. He rapidly held up a hoof and looked the other way…
And then he noticed the small purple-and-green figure next to him.
Oh, it’s just a dragon.
…
A DRAGON!
Silver jumped off the bed and took a defensive stance, horn at the ready…
Until he realized he could not perform magic. Looking frantically around for something to grab or an escape route, he almost didn’t process Spike’s next words.
“Whoa, Silver, it’s okay! I’m Spike, Twilight’s assistant! She sent me to wake you up for breakfast!”
At that, the colt slowly calmed down, though he still had some doubts about this new creature.
“Spike… I think that name sounds f—
“That’s right! Twilight mentioned your name yesterday! So… you are her assistant?”
“Well, one of them. But let’s talk about that later. I’m getting hungry, and you’re probably starving as well.”
A small grumble from Silver’s stomach acknowledged Spike’s statement.
“Alright, let’s go eat then,” Silver added sheepishly, and right outside he bumped into something purple and soft.
“Oof!”
In front of him stood Twilight, a small worried expression on her face.
“Oh, there you are, Silver! Come on, the food’s getting cold!”
With that, she walked back into the kitchen as Silver shook his head to clear the imaginary birds flying around it.
“So… Spike. Any reason why a dragon like you would be staying in Ponyville? I mean, most of the dragons I’ve heard about live far away from here.”
“Well,” Spike responded as they made their way towards the living room table, “Twilight is the one who hatched me, so there’s no way I’d just leave her. After that one time…”
Spike’s eyes glazed over as if he were remembering some distant time, some distant place…
“But yeah, I’ve been with Twilight ever since, and I’ll always stay by her side!”
“In other words, Twilight is like your mom?”
“We- I-I mean… I guess so. I never really thought of it that way…”
“Who?”
“Twilight.”
“Who?”
“I already said, Twilight!”
“That wasn’t me.”
Spike and Silver looked at each other, and soon the dragon understood the origin of that question.
“Oh, it was him. Come here, might as well show you.”
Spike led the colt towards the noise, and on a tall perch there stood a small brown owl, wings open as if performing morning stretches.
“That’s Owlowiscious. He’s Twilight’s number two assistant.”
“Owl… Owli… Owlishus?”
“No, Owl-ow-i-scious. Don’t worry, you’ll learn it eventually.”
“Spike, Silver, breakfast!”
“We’re coming!” The two of them sat themselves down at the table, and Spike spent no time in waiting any longer: he began to loudly scarf down the gems Twilight had set out for him. Only after watching Spike eat so gluttonously did Silver pay attention to the odors wafting from the food.
This smells…
“This looks really good! What is it?”
“Well, it’s this recipe Rarity gave me called ‘Boloneighse B—’”
BURP
“Spike, manners! Remember, Silver’s a guest here!”
“Oh, lighten up, Twi. He’s going to be staying with us for a while. Might as well get used to it.” Spike continued to eat his gems, albeit a little more slowly.
“So, Silver, I already told Spike everything you told me about yourself. We also agreed that you can become our third library assistant! We have to get you a library card and everything, but first, finish your breakfast because magic class begins in fifteen minutes!”
“Right.”
Silver’s mouth had never eaten something quite so succulent as this meal. The tender, delicate touch to the daisies and the fine crisp of the hay was something out of this world, much different from the standard ration cubes he had grown up with all these years. So delicious was that soft dressing that added just the right amount of flavoring to the t—
And just like that, it was gone.
“Wow, seems like you were really hungry, Silver!” Twilight chuckled and levitated everything to the kitchen. “Okay, so you have five minutes left before class starts. Feel free to go to the bathroom or do anything else, but be back in exactly five minutes. Wouldn’t want you to be late for school! And Spike, please wash the dishes when you have time! Thanks!”
“Five minutes?”
“Yeah, and I would advise you not to be late,” Spike replied. “Last time she was late, she freaked out and almost destroyed all of Ponyville.”
“Y-You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. I’m sure if you ask her about it, she’ll tell you. Buuut I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“O-Okay…”
Well, it does seem like she has the magic to do so…
“Spike!”
“Coming!”
And Silver Flame was left alone with very little to do.
So I basically have school every day now to try to get back my magic. Well, it’s not like I haven’t experienced this before, but it is a bit annoying.
He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and found a silver toothbrush with his name on it.
Wow, did she plan on everything?
What normally would have taken him two minutes took more than twice the time. His toothbrush fell inside the sink ten times as he tried to position the object just right to reach his back teeth.
That’s it. I need to get my magic back. I’d forgotten how horrible it was to brush my teeth with hooves.
After the twentieth time, he finally decided to give up. Drying off his face and his hooves, Silver opened the door to find Spike right outside.
“Silver, what are you doing here? Twilight’s waiting for you!”
“What, it’s time already?” Remembering Spike’s sage advice, he galloped out and found Twilight in the main room in front of a chalkboard with four legs.
“I can’t believe it, Silver. The first day and you’re already late! 37 seconds late, in fact!”
…
Oh, this is going to be fun…
Gibberish. That’s what all this is.
Silver was twirling his pencil with his hoof as Twilight began to explain the symbols on the board, trying his best to pay attention… slightly dozing off… wait, what was she talking about?
SLAM
“Ah!” Silver sat up straight in his chair, the sight of a ruler on his desk making him cringe.
“So, Silver, can you please summarize what I’ve said so far?”
“We-Um… You were saying that these symbols are how pony magic works?”
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
“You’re right.”
Whew, disaster averted.
“If you can tell me the correct sequence of symbols for a levitation spell.”
Drat.
A knock at the door saved Silver in the nick of time.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Sweetie Belle! I wanted to talk to Silver!”
Sweetie Belle! Silver’s heart began to pound, and whatever sleepiness had possessed him immediately dissolved. Twilight walked over to the door and opened it slightly to reveal a small white unicorn.
“Sweetie Belle! Oh, but he’s in class right now. You’ll have to come back later.”
“Please, Twilight?”
“I’m sorry, b—”
“PLEASE?”
Oh no, Silver thought. She’s not going to use… that?
Seconds dwindled away, and soon the inevitable occurred.
“Fine, Sweetie Belle, but only a ten-minute recess for him. Then he has to continue.”
“Okay, Twilight!”
She did. She used those eyes.
One second later, a small overjoyed filly was bounding up and down right next to the colt.
“Hey, Silver!”
“Hey, Sweetie Belle! What brings you here?”
“You, of course!” A small blush began to form on Sweetie’s face as she continued to talk. “Rarity told me she wanted to talk with you later today.”
Hmm… Rarity… I believe that’s Sweetie’s sister. She was staring at me funny back at the castle…
“So… when should I go?”
“She did say as soon as possible, but I guess you have class with Twilight…
“Wait, what is she teaching you?”
“Pony magic. Yeah, I can’t do magic like you can, yet.”
Sweetie Belle’s face lit up even more as an idea arose from the depths of her mind.
“I know! What if I teach you, too? I could ask Twilight to see if she’ll let me teach you! I could earn my cutie mark in teaching! I could even get Scootaloo and Apple Bloom… but they can’t teach you magic… but they can find something else to teach you! Twilight!”
The filly galloped all throughout the library calling out Twilight’s name. It took twenty-three times until she received a response.
“Ugh. Yes, Sweetie Belle?”
“Would it be okay if I teach Silver magic?”
“WHAT?”
Sweetie Belle leapt back as Twilight’s shout frightened her.
“I’m sorry, I mean, what? You don’t even know how to perform magic well!”
Morosely, Sweetie Belle averted her gaze towards the floor, small inklings of tears beginning to form under her eyes.
“N-No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that I know more about magic than you, so I would be better… suited… to…”
“I know, Twilight. I j-just thought y-you would understand… I know enough to get him started… but I guess it’s just never enough, is it?” Sweetie Belle quickly placed a foreleg in front of her eyes. “I guess I’m just not g-good enough…”
“N-No, of course not! Y-You know, I just remembered I had to… um… to organize these books again! Yes. Oh, I guess I won’t have time to teach Silver today. Ooh, now that’s a bummer. Say, Sweetie Belle, I don’t think you would be able t—”
“I’d love to!” Sweetie Belle returned to her normal, cheery self and galloped towards the perplexed colt still seated at his desk.
“Come on, Silver, let’s go!”
“B-But wh—”
With strength unlike anything Silver had ever seen from Sweetie Belle, she dragged him away by the hoof off into the distance.
And Twilight?
Stupefied, jaw halfway down to the floor.
…
W-What has Rarity been teaching her?
“Twilight! TWILIGHT!”
Spike’s yell broke the trance Twilight had found herself in, and she trotted over to the small dragon.
“What is it, Spike?”
“I just got this. It’s from Princess Celestia.”
“Let me see.”
Indeed, the seal upon the parchment was the Royal Seal, but something was a bit… off. Princess Celestia rarely sent her any letters anymore; most of the time, the princess was on the receiving end. What troubled her most, however, was that this wasn’t Princess Celestia’s handwriting. No, this writing was much more flowery, reminiscent of times long past…
Miss Twilight Sparkle,
We write to theeyou to inform you that Princess Celestia will be having a small period of rest. WeI shall be in charge of most of her duties, so do not hesitate to ask me for anything. And yes, there is no reason to… how do you say, freak out? Yes, we believe that’s it. No, we did not tell thee to write that d freak out. She is but only a bit tired. In addition, my sister has agreed to mine opinion that thouyou should be able to continue thy research regarding arcane magic and adaptations for ponies to use it. We feel that it shall prove to be useful in the near future. Please forgive us for the multiple words scratched out. We are still learning all the eloquences of modern Equestrian.
At the bottom, in grandiose regal lettering, was inscribed “Princess Lunaria.”
“No wonder the handwriting looked so different. I wonder what happened to Princess Celestia, though… But I guess she does deserve a break every once in a wh—
“Wait, did she say…
“Yes! Now I don’t have to hide it anymore! Spike, we’re starting experiment E!”
“B-But you said it would be too con… conspi… conspicu—”
“Don’t worry, I have Princess Luna’s permission, and I need a test subject!”
Spike cringed internally and managed to pull out a weak smile. There was not much use in arguing.
Ugh. This won’t end well.
“Hey, Sweetie Belle, have you ever tried out acting? You know, for your cutie mark?” Silver began to take in all his surroundings, noting the colorful buildings and stalls around him.
“Yeeeaah, that didn’t work out too well. I almost destroyed my sister’s life, and I didn’t even get a cutie mark.”
…
Um… What?
“Come on, slowpoke! You can gallop faster than that!”
Silver looked ahead and noticed Sweetie Belle was already five pony-lengths ahead of him.
“Come on!”
However, something had caught Silver’s eye: two small foals were happily running around in circles, one chasing the other.
That’s when the idea struck him. “You know, Sweetie Belle… I bet I can get there faster than you!”
Silver bent his back legs in preparation, and before Sweetie Belle could even respond, Silver had begun to gain on her. Those quick hoofsteps soon overtook hers, and a small blur of aquamarine zoomed past her.
“Wait, you don’t even know where to go!”
Sweetie Belle took off after him at high speed, and unfortunately for Silver, she was fast. Very fast. Or perhaps it was him who was slowing down.
So… tired… Ugh, I’m not as fast as I used to be, not in this pony body…
But there’s no way I’m going to lose!
The wooden planks and tall apple groves were nearing into view. The scarce amount of passersby ignored them for the most part, except for maybe a small, disapproving glare. All this melted away as the colt felt the need to do something fun, something exhilarating after having spent so many seconds in that dreaded desk. The destination was close, and Silver’s legs were starting to grow sore. Sweat was already clouding his vision, but he as he turned back, he could still clearly spot Sweetie Belle getting closer, one hoofstep right behind him.
“I’m going to get you!”
Silver smiled back, and that’s when it struck him.
Wait a second…
Where exactly am I going? The clubhouse was d—
That distraction was all it took, just enough for him to not notice the small rock right in front of him.
Ahhhh!
He tumbled forward almost endlessly, it seemed. The outside world became a colorful blur as sound and light blended together into a heap of unfiltered information.
“Silver, are y—”
By then, it was too late for Sweetie Belle, who tripped on the same rock and tumbled right behind him.
“Oof!”
A conveniently placed bale of hay halted their motions, and soon they lay sprawled on the mess they had created, both of them out of breath.
“Sweetie Belle… *pant* Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m… *pant* I’m fine…”
“Then that means… *pant* I win… doesn’t it?”
Sweetie’s face popped up on top of his. “You wish!”
“H—”
The next words would never find their way out into the world, for Silver was lost in timelessness. The sun was at the perfect position, and all he could see was Sweetie’s face surrounded by a halo of warmth and beauty. His heart was beating in a frenzy, his mind blank except for the image that lay before him…
And Sweetie herself could not pull away. Something in her mind clicked— but it couldn’t be in her mind: it made too little sense. She had seen him and talked to him many times before… Then why was this one instance, one in which neither pony’s life was in danger, chosen to provide such fleeting emotions?
But she could care less for explanations. All she cared about was that the colt she liked was right there, and the moment was right.
Their lips slowly met, yet the kiss itself was quick… quick yet powerful enough to fill each one of them with immense warmth, perhaps incomparable even to that of the sun.
But the only indications were the slight blushes on both colt and filly as they struggled to contain their joy.
“Hey, you two loveponies ready?”
Sweetie almost jumped out of her fur at the familiar voice, and Silver’s mane stood on end.
“A-Applebloom! W-We were just g—”
“Oh, I know what you two were doing, but now’s not the time! We only have two hours before Ah have to go help ma big sis, so let’s get moving!”
Apple Bloom bounded away, Sweetie Belle and Silver Flame attempting to recover as best they could before galloping right behind.
“It’s about time you three got here!”
The clubhouse was still in shambles, and because of the changeling threat, the new “Crusaders Headquarters” was off-limits. What alternatives remained? So far, a small room in Applejack’s barn had served as a makeshift working area for any small attempts to get cutie marks.
“Hey, don’t go blaming it on me, Scoots,” Apple Bloom replied. “These two were the ones taking their sweet time!”
“Yeah, whatever. So, what’s the plan?”
“We could try to get our cutie marks in teaching!” Sweetie Belle ecstatically pulled out a chalkboard, twenty different colors of chalk, and a small desk…
Wait, where did she even get that?
“Twilight is going to let me teach Silver magic!”
“Alright, that sounds like a plan… but what about me and Apple Bloom? We don’t know anything about magic.”
“Oh, yeah… Well, Apple Bloom, you could teach him about working on the farm, and Scootaloo, you can teach him about… scooter repair! Right, Silver?”
How could he possibly say no in this situation, even if he didn’t really care much for those last two things?
“But I don’t think he wants to learn ‘bout ap—”
“Why not? I would love to! Why wouldn’t I want to learn all about those glorious things?” His wide grin was perhaps a smidgen too wide, evident by the way Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged uneasy glances before looking back at the colt.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course!”
“Weeeell, let’s try it out, then! We won’t know until we try!”
The four of them extended a foreleg towards the ceiling, and Silver prepared his ears for the inevitable.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TEACHERS!”
The two hours were almost up, and Silver felt somewhat good about himself. He now knew how to fix broken axles and the correct time of the day to buck apple trees with maximum efficiency, the right tools necessary for a paint job and how to position one’s back legs just right for maximum power…
But pony magic was going to take more time, much more than the two hours Apple Bloom had. Scootaloo herself soon grew bored, and after acknowledging her failed attempt at finding her cutie mark and spotting Rainbow Dash, she went off to ask her for more tips on how to fly.
Only Sweetie and Silver were left, but no teaching cutie mark had appeared.
“Now, Silver, what does this symbol mean? And no peeking at your notes this time!”
“Was it… Amaro?”
“No, Amaro has a small squiggly thing on the top right corner.”
“Then is it… Foira?”
“No, no, that’s the wrong shape entirely!”
“Ugh, at this rate I don’t think I’ll ever get the hang of pony magic!” Silver, downcast, looked back at the writing he had scrawled on the paper before him, searching for that one symbol…
Dang it, it was Imoro!
“Don’t worry, Silver,” Sweetie Belle reassured him as she walked towards the desk. “It took me a while to figure this out, too! Now, can you tell me what spell starts with this symbol?”
“Umm…”
Come on, I just saw it five seconds ago!
“The… um… the teleportation… spell?”
Sweetie furrowed her brow as she tried to remember. “I don’t remember the teleportation spell, buuut I don’t think so.” Noting Silver’s frustration, Sweetie took out a blank piece of paper and placed it on the desk. “I find it’s easy to think about what the pictures look like.”
A quick second later, she had drawn three symbols: the necessary prerequisites for performing one of the most basic spells.
“See, this first symbol, Imoro, looks like a bent hoof. Do you see it?”
Silver leaned his head to one side a slight bit, a smidgen confused.
“I… I guess…”
“And this second symbol looks like a piece of fabric. See? The fabric is being stretched. And the last symbol has… Silver?”
As much as the colt wanted to pay attention, something else was distracting him. Yes, his mind was somewhere else completely…
It smells like… like daisies…
“Silver? SILVER!”
“Wha-Yes, of course I was paying attention! I heard everything you said!”
Sweetie Belle smirked. “Oh, yeah? Then what was I just saying?”
“Um…”
“See? You weren’t even paying attention.” Sweetie Belle sat down on the floor and pouted. “I guess I’m just not a good teacher. I’ll never get my cutie mark like this.”
“No, Sweetie, it’s not that! It’s just that I don’t really get this material…”
But something else was wrong, and Silver knew it.
“Don’t worry, Sweetie! There are other ways to get cutie marks…”
“I know. It’s just…” Sweetie’s voice lowered and developed a small, barely perceptible quiver. “I always wonder if I’m ever going to find my cutie mark… It took me so long to figure out how to use magic…
“It makes me wonder if I’m good for anything.”
The tiniest of droplets arose in the corners of her closed eyes. No matter hard she tried, the images of previous failures were slowly creeping back up from those dark recesses in her mind, and there was no way to s—
A warm hoof on her shoulder stopped her mind cold.
“Don’t ever say that, Sweetie Belle. Just because you don’t have a cutie mark does not mean you are not good at anything.”
Silver slowly wiped away those premature tears still clinging to Sweetie’s eyes and continued.
“I don’t have my cutie mark, and neither do Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Do you really think we are not good at anything? Changelings do not have cutie marks, and they do not need them to feel like they are good at something, so you should not, either. Remember, your cutie mark does not govern who you are…”
The colt stretched out his other foreleg and lightly touched Sweetie’s head.
“What makes you who you are is in here…”
His hoof traveled down to the center of her chest.
“And in here. Don’t forget that, okay?” Silver smiled softly at the filly. “After all, didn’t you convince Twilight to let you teach me? I doubt any other pony could have done that so easily.”
“Well, I did learn a bit from my sister!” A petite smile poked through, and the sadness slowly drifted away.
“See? And don’t worry about your cutie mark. I’m sure you’ll get it before I get mine. I can’t even use magic yet!”
“Well, then, we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?”
“Now I think it’s time for you to try it!”
Another hour had passed, and Sweetie and Silver seemed to be making some progress.
“Alright, I’ll try. The spell is… Imoro, Argento, Fideris.”
“That’s right! Do you remember the symbols?”
“I think so.”
“Then just picture them on the base of your horn and see if it works! Let’s try something simple… like this piece of chalk!”
Sweetie Belle broke the chalk she held in her hoof in half— more or less— and set one of the parts on the desk.
Alright, I can do this!
As Silver closed his eyes, the images took form in his mind, and he poured all his concentration onto his horn. Tiny wisps of what could only be described as blue embers began to arise from the appendage’s base, and Silver could feel it, the power rushing through his veins, all convening at one point…
And he opened his eyes. Spotting the chalk, he focused the accumulated energy onto it. The entire room was still, without the sound of even a single breath: Sweetie feared that any sound she could emit would break his concentration.
And then the wisps slowly arose around the object. They were barely visible, and even Silver himself was unsure whether his eyes were truly seeing them, but he did not break his focus.
Just a little more…
Magic slowly began to take form around the chalk, and Silver’s eyes stared long and hard at the writing tool with all his might.
“Come on… C—”
He didn’t quite remember passing out, nor waking up a minute later.
“Silver! Silver, are you okay? Silver, speak to me!”
“W-What… Sweetie Belle, what happened? I… I was using the sp—”
“Oh, Silver! You can’t concentrate too hard or you’ll tire yourself out! Do you feel fine? Is your head hurting? What about your horn? Do y—”
“Sweetie, it’s okay. I just feel… a bit woozy. I guess I just need to take it slow.” Silver smiled sheepishly as he attempted to calm Sweetie down.
“Well, if you say so…”
“Don’t worry! Here, let’s see if we c—”
GRUMBLE
“Oh, see? That’s why you couldn’t do it! You were too hungry! In fact…” Sweetie Belle quickly began to pack up everything and stored all the items under one of the floorboards.
So that’s where she had them…
“I think it’s time for lunch! How about we go over to my sister’s place? I’m sure she’ll have no problem cooking for one more, and remember, you still have to talk to her!”
“That sounds like a great idea! Although… I don’t know if Twilight’s expecting me for lunch…”
“Oh, don’t worry about that! Rarity and Twilight are the best of friends! I’m sure Twilight will understand!”
Sweetie Belle trotted out gleefully, and Silver followed right behind.
“Why, hello there, Mister Silver Flame. How do you do?”
“Rarity, you don’t have to be so formal, you know!”
“Oh, Sweetie Belle, don’t you know that one must be very courteous with guests? Now, Mister Flame, I do believe we have some things to talk about...
“But first, let us eat! I had a feeling we might be having some company, so I made enough for one more! Oh, but I forgot the drinks! I’ll be right back. You two can start eating. Make sure to wash your hooves first!” Rarity quickly left before Silver could even speak, so he simply asked Sweetie Belle where the bathroom was. A quick trip later and he returned, sitting down at the prepared table.
To say that the food looked mouth-watering would be an understatement. Even the food Silver had eaten at Twilight’s paled in comparison to this masterpiece.
Although… to be honest, he had no idea what to do. Before him lay an immeasurable amount of utensils, and he had no idea what to do with the hoofkerchief.
“Um… Sweetie Belle?” Silver’s voice was no louder than a whisper. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Oh! Um… Let me see… I think…” Sweetie Belle began to explain as much as she could to him…
“I think I’ll just use these, then.” He picked up the utensils, but he stopped before touching them to the food. The goods were there, so tantalizing, just begging to be eaten… but he knew better.
“Okay, let’s wait until your sister comes back so we can eat.”
“You can eat now, Silver! Rarity even said we could start eating!” Sweetie Belle quickly picked up the fork in her telekinetic grip and was about to eat that first morsel…
“Yeah, but… isn’t it bad manners to eat when somepony’s not at the table? Back when I lived with the apothecary, we always waited for everypony to be seated before eating.” Silver put down his silverware and stayed seated quietly, all while Sweetie Belle internally scolded herself for her behavior.
He’s right. Rarity would throw a fit if I did that when guests are here…
Little did Silver know the reason why Rarity was taking so long. She was quite adept at one spell, one that she had even hid from Twilight and her other friends. This spell allowed a pony to to hear even the slightest whisper from one end of the room to the other. After all, how else could a lady ever hear the latest gossip?
“Hmm… Rarity has been gone a while,” Sweetie pondered aloud. “Maybe I should g—”
“I’ve got the juice! Oh, you two waited for me! How nice.”
Rarity sat down at the table, and the three of them began to eat. Silver was so hungry he finished in about half the time it took for Sweetie Belle to eat her last morsel.
“This was really good, Miss Rarity! Probably the best food I’ve had here!”
“Oh, you’re too kind, Silver.”
Hmm… he didn’t get up yet. Is he waiting for us to finish? Maybe he does know a bit more about table manners than I thought…
Sweetie Belle’s voice derailed her sister’s train of thought. “Psst. Silver!”
“Hmm?”
Sweetie Belle only giggled as she pointed to the right side of her muzzle. Silver stared at her, dumbfounded.
What is she d—
Rarity began to stifle her own soft giggles as she looked over at Silver.
“Um, Mister Flame…”
“Silver is just fine, Miss Rarity.”
“Oh, if you insist! Silver… You have a… little…”
Rarity continued to move her hoof awkwardly over her muzzle, and it took a good three seconds for the colt to finally understand. Slowly, he raised his own hoof to his muzzle and felt the sauce staining it. Sheepishly, he used his handkerchief to wipe his muzzle clean, and there he waited until Rarity and Sweetie Belle finished.
“So, Silver… All I know about you is what Sweetie Belle and Twilight told me. Is it okay if I ask you a couple… questions, in private? Great! Just go wash up and we’ll go upstairs.” Rarity levitated the plates and utensils over to the sink and began to clean up.
O…kay? Something about her tone wasn’t exactly welcoming, but Silver decided to ignore it for the time being.
“Thank you again, Miss Rarity, for everything, for helping me have a new life.”
“Oh, Silver, dear, I would have helped you under any circumstances. You did save my dear Sweetie Belle, after all.
“But…
“Silver, if I may cut to the chase here, you are Sweetie Belle’s coltfriend, right?”
“W-Well, I believe so. We, um, we haven’t, um, called each other like that yet, but yes.” Silver’s cheeks slowly gave rise to faded red splotches.
“Hmm… You seem like a nice pony, but one can never be too careful. While her parents are away, Sweetie Belle is under my care. Now… I believe you’ve seen the power Twilight holds, right?”
“That one time, when she stopped the attack from my f—” Silver’s voice faltered for a second. “The attack from my father.”
“Yes, Sweetie Belle told me about that… My deepest condolences.
“Now, imagine that power times… oh I don’t know, times ten. That is probably how much magic Twilight has. I may not have as much magic as her, but I like to believe I have at least a quarter of that amount.”
“That… That is quite a bit.”
Rarity’s eyes focused on his, the glare delivering total seriousness and instilling fright in the small colt.
“If you hurt Sweetie Belle in any way, shape, or form… let’s just say you will not like me when I’m angry. Is that understood?”
“Y-Yes, Miss Rarity.”
“Oh, you can just call me Rarity. I’m sure that we’ll get along splendidly…”
Rarity brought her face closer to Silver’s, just enough so he could not escape that cold glare.
“But remember, you treat Sweetie Belle like the princess she is, or you’ll be wishing Twilight were there to save you. Understood?”
“Y-Yes, of course!”
“Now, then, it was glad to have you over, but I think Twilight might get a little worried if she notices you’re gone for too long. I take it the teaching cutie mark scheme didn’t work?”
“Yeah, it was a fl— Wait, how did y—”
“Sweetie Belle told me. Now, come on, let us go. It’s not that I don’t want your company, but I’m sure Twilight is very worried right now.” Rarity led Silver out back onto the first floor. “Sweetie Belle, I need your help with something. Could you come upstairs, please?”
“Okay! Just let me say goodbye to Silver!”
Sweetie Belle trotted over to the colt just as Rarity walked up the stairs.
“Silver, are you free tomorrow?”
“Well, Twilight has me on this very rigid schedule… so I’m not sure.”
“Oh. I guess I’ll just drop by again tomorrow to check. Well, see you tomorrow, Silver!” Sweetie Belle gave him a kiss on the cheek, and blushes painted both of their faces as the colt exited.
I should probably hurry. I don’t want Twilight to get worried.
Only a couple minutes after did he notice something crucial:
Drat. I don’t know how to get back to Twilight’s. I should have asked Rarity or Sweetie Belle…
After thirty minutes of walking and asking around, a gray pegasus mare had been kind enough to give Silver directions to the library. He knocked on the door, but there was no response. The door itself was ajar, and so he let himself in.
“Twilight! Twilight, where are you?”
As he walked around, he noticed a green light through the floorboards.
That’s strange…
And what’s this th—
Unwittingly, Silver hoof had opened up a latch, and a slow creaking revealed a hidden entrance.
Maybe Twilight’s down there…
Silver slowly walked downward, and soon surrounding him were various trinkets and objects he knew nothing about. None of them seemed even remotely recognizable, but what really caught his attention was the scene developing before him.
Twilight and Spike. Spike was surrounded by a green glowing shield, and a strange circle with different symbols of the same color lay below Twilight.
“Okay, Spike, tell me if you feel anything. Ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
“Good.”
Twilight’s horn, which was enveloped in the same green glow as the shield, began to show wisps of purple as a small ball formed atop it. In an instant, a beam of magic struck the shield, and Spike almost yelped at the impact…
But it didn’t obliterate him, as Silver thought. Instead, the purple magic dispersed all along the shield, powerless against the green sphere. Both the purple and green died down as Twilight began to pant.
“So… Spike… Did you feel… anything?”
“Nope. I haven’t got a scratch on me.”
“Then… I declare this experiment… a success. Just let me… catch my breath a bit…”
Twilight slowly walked towards the exit to the first floor, and only then did she spot Silver.
“Hey, Silver! You’re back already?”
“W-What was that? It seemed… a bit familiar, some reason.”
“Princess Luna gave me permission to study and experiment with arcane magic. It’s the same magic changelings use…
“Wait. I just got an idea. Why didn’t I think of this earlier? Silver, come with me.”
“Okay…”
The colt followed Twilight over to the living room, and out of nowhere she pulled out a small notepad and quill.
“So, Silver, could you please describe to me, in detail, how you used to do magic? You know, as a changeling?”
“Well, I would just think it, and it would happen.”
“Think it and…
“Wait. You’re telling me you didn’t have to learn any spell symbols or anything?”
“Not really. It would just come naturally.” Silver sat down in a nearby chair as Twilight continued to speak.
“I see. This makes sense if we think about the holes that changelings have in their horns. Those could have embedded symbols in them that allows them to perform all sorts of spells. This could act as a dictionary for all possible spells a changeling can perform. Hmm…”
“Twilight.”
“Yes, Silver?”
“Um… What exactly was that weird green circle that appeared below you? I haven’t seen anything like it before.”
“Oh, that’s an arcane magic circle. Arcane magic can only be done using certain glyphs, which I believe are inscribed in every changeling’s horn. Ponies can’t use this magic because they don’t possess these patterns… at least, most ponies. By using my own… magic to create the symbols below me, I can… can harness arcane magic and possibly use other… more powerful… spells… One second…”
Twilight plopped down in the chair next to Silver and closed her notepad. She levitated the items back to their respective places, but this simple task was taking a considerable toll on her. Twilight’s breath quickened, and she had started to tremble slightly.
“Twilight, are you okay?”
“Yeah… I’m fine… Arcane magic just… it took a… a lot of energy… to make that magic circle… Yeah, I just need to… rest… for a bit…”
Not even a second later, Twilight began to snore loudly.
Wow, she must have been really tired.
“TWILIGHT! TWI—”
Silver quickly galloped over and smacked a hoof onto Spike’s mouth, pointing with his other hoof at the sleeping mare.
“Oh, sorry,” whispered Spike. “That must have taken a lot out of her. Oh well, there’s still a couple hours until dinner. If you want, you can go read a book until I finish preparing the meal.”
“You don’t need any help?”
“Nah, I can do it myself. Just make sure you return the book where you found it when you’re done. Twilight hates it when a book is shelved in the wrong place.”
“Got it.”
Silver walked over to the nearest bookshelf, only to find that all the books were written in a different language.
Maybe there’s an adventure section…
And then he found that one book that caught his eye: Daring Do. Those were the only words he could make out from the other side of the room, but for some reason he singled it out of all the others.
Well, let’s see how this book goes.
Come on, Daring! You can do it! You still have ten seconds until th—
“Dinner’s ready!”
“Ah! J-Just a minute, Spike!”
“The food’s already at the table!”
Therein lay the dilemma. Before Silver lay one final chapter, the end of the story, the answer to all his burning questions…
But he couldn’t just keep Spike and Twilight waiting.
But it was only one little chapter…
GRUMBLE
At times like these, Silver was glad to have a second opinion, even if it was from his stomach.
Hmm… I don’t want to lose my place…
A quick look around and he found a small bin labeled “Bookmarks. Take One.”
Wow, Twilight really does think of everything!
He chose one bookmark at random and placed it in the book, which he quickly stashed away back in its place. Speeding up to a trot, he reached the table and sat down next to a drowsy Twilight. Granted, the food this time around didn’t look as magnificent as Rarity’s or even the previous breakfast, but there was no reason to complain about the taste.
“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking,” Spike told Silver. “It’s not as good as breakfast was, but I do say I can cook pretty well. Don’t you think, Twilight?
“Um… Twilight?
“TWILIGHT!”
“Waah! I mean, yes, Spike?”
“Your food? You do need to eat, you know, especially after using that much magic.”
“Yeah… You’re right…” Twilight let out a tremendous yawn, one that shook the tree to its very core, and started to eat. In the middle of her third morsel, she began talking to herself. “You know, maybe that’s why changelings need to constantly feed on emotions. Magic is closely linked to feelings, and arcane magic is very demanding in energy cost…”
Silver stared at her inquisitively, to which Spike replied: “Yeah, she does that a lot. She likes to think aloud.” Spike sat down and started to eat, and Silver followed suit.
Dinner was over in a flash, it seemed, and finally the energy toll of the day’s events was slowly seeping through to the colt. But no, he would not be defeated by drowsiness when he still had a chapter to read!
Walking back to the bookshelf, he stretched out his hoof to retrieve the book…
When another hoof touched it at the exact same time.
The two ponies looked at each other, then back at the book, then back again.
“Hey, pipsqueak, I touched it first!”
Granted, Silver was a bit cranky, and the mare’s comment didn’t exactly alleviate his mood.
“No you didn’t!”
“Yes I did!”
“Come on, I only have one chapter left!”
“Well, so do I!”
“B—”
“What is all that racket?” Twilight rushed in, her energy seemingly restored. “Rainbow, Silver, you know better than to fight over a book!”
“Rainbow?”
“What, you haven’t heard of the legendary Rainbow Dash? The fastest and most awesome pegasus in all of Eq—”
“Oh, you’re Miss Rainbow Dash!” Silver internally rebuked himself for not noticing that unique mane, and Rainbow mentally cringed. “Thanks again for everything!”
“Huh? Have I… met you before?”
“Rainbow, it’s Silver Flame!” Twilight retorted in Silver’s defense. “You know, he was a changeling, we use the Elements to turn him into a p—”
“Oh, Silver Flame! Now I remember! Um…” Rainbow sheepishly apologized for forgetting about him. “It’s just that I see so many ponies every day, and sometimes…
“Well, whatever. Here, you can take the book today, Silver. I’ll just read it tomorrow.”
“No, of course not, Miss Rainbow! You can take it! I am in your debt.”
“Ugh… Listen, pal, please don’t call me ‘Miss.’ It gets on my nerves. And I insist, you read it first.”
“No, you read it.”
“No, you!”
“No, y—”
“ENOUGH!” Twilight shouted, leaving both Silver and Rainbow dumbfounded and frozen in their spots. “Why don’t the two of you quietly read it together? The library is still open for an hour, so there’s plenty of time left. Just please, stop yelling!”
Twilight left the room and walked upstairs.
“Y-Yeah, I’m down with that. What do you think, squirt?”
“I think it’s a good idea.”
“That was one of the best books I have read so far!”
“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet. Wait until you read the next seven books.”
“There’s more?”
“Yep, a lot more. You know, if you want, I can come back here every Sunday evening and we can get you up to speed on the entire series. But don’t tell anypony else, or I’ll deny it. Got it?”
“Sure, I think I’d like that.”
“Well, I’ve got to go. I still have some weather duties to finish. See ya!”
Rainbow Dash sped off out the door, and Silver easily noticed the rainbow streak she left behind.
Wow, she really is fast…
YAWN
So tired…
Groggily, Silver clambered up the stairs to Twilight’s room.
“Twilight, I’m going to go sleep.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure to tell Spike. And remember, class resumes tomorrow!”
Silver barely managed to stifle a groan as he walked back down and entered his room. He didn’t even remember getting into bed: it all just turned black as he was carried away on the carefree waves of dreamland.
