//------------------------------// // Waking up // Story: Forever a Shapeshifter // by MidnightInkpaw //------------------------------// 'Ugh, my head... Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head and looked around her. She could only see stone walls and a secure metal door with a small window at around her hight. There also was a separate room on the other side of the door. 'Where am I? She asked herself. 'This looks like a cell of some sort. But, why am I here.' Rainbow heard the door on the other side open, somepony else was here. "W-Who are you?" Rainbow asked as she moved to her defensive stance, preparing herself for any unexpected attack. The pony unlocked the door to her cell and walked in. Rainbow shielded her eyes from the light that came from outside her cell and strained them to look at the shadow of the pony in front of her. It was a mare, she looked like she had wings and a little over Dashs own hight. Once she could bare the light, she removed her hoof from her head and saw that the figure had a horn. 'Wait, a horn and wings?! That means this is an alicorn. She's too short to be Celestia, her mane's supposed to be be flowing so, it couldn't be Luna. Her mane did not end lower than her head,it couldn't be Cadence... S-So, this means,' Rainbows eyes widened. "T-T-Twilight?" She whispered. "Where is she?!" Twilight started to shout. "What did you do to her?!" Rainbow was both confused and scared. "W-What do you mean?" She asked Twilight which, in return, fuelled her anger. 'Where is she? That might be one of the quests they would ask a changeli- wait...' Rainbow looked down at her hooves, front and back, to see grey, swiss-cheese hooves and she only noticed by now that her rear right hoof had been chained to the wall. 'Oh...' She thought and immediately regretted asking Twilight a question. "What happened to Rainbow Dash?!" Twilight spat. "What did you do to my friend?!" She continued hurling questions at... the changeling. "I-I don't know..." that was all she could muster as she was carried over to Twilight by a magenta aura. The changeling felt weak, they couldn't move her body. She also felt like Twilight was choking her. "I will ask you one more time, where is Rainbow Dash?!" Twilights voice was stern and quieter than the last few times she shouted. Her voice seemed to frighten the changeling even more. "I-I-I d-don't-t kn-" they couldn't even finish their sentence before they was thrown back against the wall behind her. The changeling began to cough blood and felt a sharp pain every time they did. Twilight left the cell immediately, feeling a little remorse for hurting the changeling. Twilight walked towards the throne room to inform the Princesses about the changeling and her actions. She opened the door to her destination and saw the two of them discussing something in the center of the room. Luna spotted Twilight walking in. "Oh, greetings Twilight. Have you gotten any information from the changeling?" The lunar princess asked. "Not really, when it didn't say anything, I may have been a little harsh with it." Twilight replied, looking at her hooves in shame. "In what way did you assault it?" Celestia asked. "I threw it back against the wall and the impact was strong enough to make it cough out blood." "Oh." Both the sisters said in unison. "I'm sorry, if only I wasn't so harsh on the changeling..." Twilight whispered as she hung her head lower, almost touching the floor. "It wasn't your fault Twilight, you were worried about Rainbow Dash. It is normal for you to be angry." Celestia said, trying to assure Twilight but failing to do so. "You know Twilight, there was a reason I picked you, of all ponies, to confront the changeling." Twilight looked up at the Solar Princess as she spoke. It was true that Twilight didn't know why exactly the princesses had picked her to... interrogate the changeling. "One of the reasons were because everypony else has something that could have affected either the changeling or the interrogator. For example; if your brother, Shining Armor, were to take your place, he would might as well kill it since, after all, its kind ruined his wedding." Celestia explained. "The second reason was because you know how to deal with tough situations, like this. And you can control your emotions." Celestia continued. "Most of the time." Luna added and looked at her sister with a sheepish smile. "Right," Celestia flashed her sister a soft glare before continuing. "I think you should visit the changeling tomorrow and try again. Just, be more gentle with your ways. For now, you may talk with your other friends and get some rest." "Alright, Celestia. I'll try." Twilight said before walking out of the room and to the hall where the guest rooms were. "Do any of y'all know how long Rainbow's been replaced?" Applejack asked, slightly enraged. "Hopefully it hasn't been that long ago, like maybe the time when we first met, or maybe the time she did the Sonic Rainboom, or the time Rainbow enrolled in flight school, or how about from when she was bor-mmpphh!" Pinkie was cut off by an orange hoof to her mouth. "We get it Pinkie." The farmer replied simply. "So, h-how do we find her?" Fluttershy asked in a whisper. "I-I mean, I understand i-if none of you know, uh, and I-I'm not saying none of you are smart. I'm sorry if I disturbed the peace, I'll be quiet now, I'm sorry!" "It is all right Fluttershy, we're all just worried about Rainbow. Poor dear, I hope she's alright." Rarity said in a worrying tone. As the mane six, excluding Rainbow Dash and Twilight, were discussing, the door to the room creaked open to reveal Twilight walking in with a worried and disappointing look. Just by that, the others could tell what basically happened. After Twilight interrupted, the room fell silent. Nopony looked at each other in the eye, but they could tell that everypony in the room wore frown or worried look. Finally, for what seemed like hours, it was Pinkie who broke the silence. "So, any good news..?" She asked hopefully, even if she knew the answer by Twilight's expression. Twilight looked up at the pink party pony, her mane was nearly deflated, she looked worried and exhausted at the same time which was quite rare for her. Twilight shook her head slowly in response, turning her head to look down once more. Twilight's ears dipped lower after she heard the sound of a certain pony in the room deflating completely. "Oh." "But, we will find a way to get her back, right?" Rarity asked, looking up to see her friends. "Yes, we have to." Applejack stepped forward, a determined look on her face. "Rainbow's always been there for us, now it's our turn to be there for er'." "Yeah, we've dealt with challenges like this before! We can fix this too!" Pinkie joined in, her mane inflating again. "And no matter what problem it is, we'll face it." Fluttershy said boldly with her own encouraging words. She turned to Twilight before finishing, "Together." Twilight smiled, she was glad she had such good friends. "Wow, Fluttershy! I didn't know you could be that brave!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. Was it too much?" Fluttershy squeaked, inverting back to her timid self. As she finished her question, everypony in the room laughed with Fluttershy soon joining in.