//------------------------------//
// Final Round 
// Story: Spot That Changeling 
// by Inspector Brown 
//------------------------------//

	It wasn’t until the ponies left him blinded and alone that Spike finally realized something.  This was a bad idea.  In the main game, each of the players only had to find one pony out of five who was actively trying to fool them, and each one had four allies to help her out.  In this game, Spike would have to find one impostor out of six, without any help at all.  It would be even worse if they all tried to confuse him.  He only agreed to this round because Thorax goaded him into it.  That, and he had scheduled out the time for nine full rounds of Spot That Changeling when they only needed eight.
Twilight’s blindness curse was still active when Spike heard the double doors open.  He listened as six sets of hoof steps echoed around the room, coming to a stop when they reached the six thrones.  Although they all tried to be as quiet as possible, he could hear Pinkie Pie suppressing a giggle.  Assuming that was Pinkie Pie, of course.  If it was, it was probably in response to the girls’ grand plan for duping him.  Wouldn’t it just be typical if Thorax stayed behind, and Spike’s pony friends decided to toy with his paranoia?
No, Spike told himself.  They wouldn’t prank him like that.  Maybe Rainbow Dash would, if she were acting alone.  But Fluttershy would set her straight.  Or maybe Twilight.  Then again, the two of them were part of that massive zombie prank on Rainbow Dash, so, really, who could say?  Spike shook his head.  Even if they were pulling a joke on him, he kind of owed it to them to fall for it.  He did take a little too much pleasure in watching the six of them go at each other like catty school-fillies.
“SWORDFISH!”  Twilight Sparkle’s voice reverberated with magical power, and the scales fell from Spike’s eyes.  He had to blink a few times to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness.  When his vision cleared, he saw six familiar ponies, each one sitting in her respective chair, just like the previous eight rounds.  Only this time, he had no idea which one of them was Thorax.  The six of them all turned to Spike and smiled.
“Ready, set, Spot That Changeling!” they said in unison.
Spike climbed up out of his chair, and walked to the center of the table, so he could look everypony in the eye.  Without saying a word, he looked with narrowed eyes at each pony in turn.  He sneered at each of his friends when he looked their way, hoping he’d see somepony flinch when his eyes fell on them.  It was the only thing he could think of to do, since he had no idea what to look for.
“Uh, Spike?” Rainbow Dash said.  “Aren’t you going to ask us some questions?”
“I don’t know,” Spike said.  “It really doesn’t make sense to ask you who you think the changeling is, because all of you already know.  And I can’t ask if you think I’m the changeling, because you all know I’m not.”  Spike huffed.  “Oh, well.  I guess there’s only one question I can ask.”  He looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes.  “Are you the changeling?”
“No, Spike, it’s not me,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Not me,” said Fluttershy.
“Nope!” said Pinkie Pie.
“No, Spikey, I am not the changeling,” said Rarity.
“Not this time,” said Applejack.
“Sorry, not the changeling,” said Twilight.
Spike stepped back from her, and took a good long look at all his suspects.
“Aaaaaaaand…I got nothing.  You guys have barely said anything to me.  How I’m I supposed to tell who’s acting strangely, when none of you are doing anything at all?”
“Aw, boo hoo hoo!” Fluttershy said out of nowhere.  Her voice had a distinct edge to it.  “What’s the matter, shrimp?  Is finding a changeling too complicated for your simple baby dragon brain?”
“Hey, that’s…” Spike voice trailed off when he realized who said that.  “…not very nice?”
“I concur,” said Pinkie, her voice a dull monotone.  “The vitriol expressed by our compatriot is distressingly inconsistent with her otherwise amicable disposition.  Mayhaps this anomaly warrants a thorough investigation?”
“Um, what did you say?”
“Pinkamena!” Rainbow Dash said, her voice just a twinge higher than normal.  “Can’t you see you’re hurting the poor guy’s feelings?”  Rainbow flew out of her chair, and lovingly rubbed a hoof up and down Spike’s back.  “Don’t you worry about those big old meanies, Spikey-Wikey!  You’re my smarty-warty little ball of adorable, and you don’t have to find any smelly old changeling to prove it!”
Spike pulled away from Rainbow Dash, so fast that he stumbled and crashed in front of Rarity.  “What is going on here?”
“Rainbow, you’re not helping!” Rarity said without her fancy accent.  “Spike is a dragon!  He’s not adorable, he’s tough and ferocious!  And he’s going to whip your flanks!”  With that, Rarity socked Spike hard with her left foreleg.  He somersaulted across the table, landing in front of Applejack.  “Come on, slugger!  Show these namby-pamby ponies who’s boss!”
“Oh, must you be so histrionic?” said Applejack, with an air of sophistication, and no trace of her country accent.  “There’s no call for that kind of violence at a time like this.  We are all friends here, are we not?  Let us have a calm and relaxing game as such.”
“Well, that’s just perfect.” Spike muttered.  “Now, everypony is acting weird.  How am I supposed to find Thorax now?”
“You could do what I do, and just not think about it,” said Twilight, her voice as low as it could possibly get.  “Seriously, I don’t think about anything.  Ever.”
At this, Pinkie Pie stifled a snicker.  Rainbow Dash snickered too, before spilling over into a full belly laugh.  In short order, the rest of the ponies joined in.  And that’s when Spike realized what they were all up to.
“Okay, okay, I deserve that,” he said.  “Hey, Thorax!” he shouted to the double doors, “You can come out now!  The prank has been pulled!”
“Thorax isn’t out there, Spike,” Twilight said, in her normal voice this time.  “He’s in here, with us.  He has been this whole time.  So, have you figured it out yet?”
“No,” Spike said dejectedly.  He scrunched up his eyebrows.  “Buuut, I think I just figured out a new question to ask everypony.  All right, who was the mastermind behind this ‘opposite day’ prank?”
“It was me,” Rainbow Dash said, still chuckling.
“Yeah, I figured as much.  Now, tell me how you planned it, and don’t leave out any detail.”
“Okay,” Rainbow said, catching her breath at last.  “Once Thorax picked who he was going to impersonate, I said it might be funny if we all started acting like the opposite of our normal selves at the same time.  I figured the best time to start would be right after you got frustrated with us all acting normal.  And boy, was I ever right!”  At this Rainbow doubled over laughing again.
“Fluttershy,” Spike said, turning his attention, “did you all rehearse what you were going to say, or was it completely improvised?”
“A little of both,” said Fluttershy.  “We nailed down what attitude each of us would display, and a few of us were coached on what to say.  But most of us just made it up off the tops of our heads.”
“Did you improvise your lines in particular?”
“Um-hmm.  I drew on my experiences with Discord and Iron Will for nastiness inspiration.”
“One last question,” Spike said.  “Were you eager to participate in this prank?”
Fluttershy said nothing for a while.  “Not really, but it’s not like I was uncomfortable with it either.  Rainbow Dash was quick to assure me that you wouldn’t get hurt, so I didn’t really have time to object to her idea.”
“Thank you,” Spike said.  “Now, Pinkie Pie, did you rehearse your part?”
“A little bit,” said Pinkie.  “Twilight told me what to say, and to make sure I said it right after Fluttershy did her bit.  I had to ask what ‘vitriol’ and ‘amicable’ meant.”
“But you understood the rest of what you said?”
“More or less.  I’m pretty sure the gist of my line was ‘Isn’t Fluttershy asking weird?’”
“Okay.  Rarity, was your part rehearsed or improvised?”
“Improvised,” she said.  “I tried to sound like that wretched dragon Garble.  Oh, and I do apologize for hitting you like I did.  I guess I got caught up in the moment.”
“No biggie, thick scales,” Spike said.  “How about you, Twilight?”
“I wanted to improvise my part,” said Twilight, “but Rainbow Dash insisted I deliver that particular line in that particular manner.  I don’t know where she heard it, but it fit what I was planning to do anyway, so I just went with it.”
“Applejack, same question,” Spike said without missing a beat.
“Improvised,” said Applejack.  “I was trying to recapture what I did when I mocked Rarity for her crush on Trenderhoof.”
“All right,” Spike said, walking back to the center of the table.  “We don’t have a lot of time before Thorax has to catch his train back to the Crystal Empire.  So, although I don’t have very much evidence to go on, I’m ready to make my decision.  I’m basing this decision mostly on which pony I thought Thorax would most want to imitate, although my rounds of questioning helped to solidify my suspicions somewhat.
“Having said all that, I think Applejack is the changeling.  She’s the only one who hasn’t been replaced yet, and I didn’t feel her answer to my last question was fully genuine.”
“Okay, sugar cube,” said Applejack.  “There’s only one way to find out if you’re right or not.  Why don’t you go open them doors and see for yourself?”
Spike hopped down from the table and walked over to the double doors.  “Thorax, if you’re the one who’s in the hallway, I’m going to have to sock you!”
Spike opened the doors, and found Applejack waiting for him in the hallway.  “Whoa, now!” she said as he approached.  “Take it easy, there, Spike.  You have to know that we wouldn’t double prank you like that.”
“Wait, I was actually right?” Spike said, genuinely surprised.
“You were,” said Thorax, who was suddenly beside Spike without his glamour.  “And you figured it out based on gut instinct.  I guess you know these ponies better than you thought you did.”
“Well, of course he knows us,” Applejack was quick to say.  “We’re his friends.  He’s one of us.”
“I am?” said Spike.  Then, he smiled to himself.  “Yeah, I suppose I am.”
“Well,” Thorax said.  “I would love to stay and chat, but like Spike said, I’ve got a train to catch.”  Thorax flew over to Twilight, who was already walking to meet him.  “Thank you for inviting me over, Princess.  I had a great time playing with you and your friends.”
“And we enjoyed having you here as well,” said Twilight.  “You’re welcome to come back and visit whenever you happen to be in Ponyville.  Don’t be a stranger.”
Thorax nodded his head in understanding.  “Good night, everypony!”  With that, he flew out the front door of Castle Friendship.
Twilight sighed to herself.  “As much fun as this game was, I am so relieved it’s finally over, and I can once again trust that my friends are who they say they are.”
“Yeah, I’ve had enough lying and manipulation for one night,” said Pinkie Pie.  “Say, anypony up for a round of poker?”
“No!”