“Okay, listen,” Twilight whispered. “There’s, uh, a problem. I think we might have changelings in Ponyville.”
“You just said that,” Nutmeg said.
“Yeah, but Rainbow looked like she wasn’t paying attention.”
“What? I was too!” Rainbow protested. “I was so listening! In fact, I was already thinking of ways to beat them!”
“Oh?” Twilight tilted her head. “Any ideas?”
“Eh.” Rainbow shrugged. “Not yet.”
“Let’s back up a moment,” Nutmeg said. “Why do you think there are changelings in Ponyville? Have some ponies suddenly started acting out of character?”
“Oh, oh!” A sudden burst of clarity interrupted Rainbow’s thoughts. “Did you find eggs?”
Twilight made a face. “Eggs? Really? That was your first thought?”
“Well, yeah. There were eggs all over Chrysalis’s hive. Remember?”
“Okay, first off, those were pods, not eggs,” Twilight said. “You’ve seen Chrysalis, right? You saw how big those pods were? You really think they came out of her?”
Rainbow did indeed think about that. Then she immediately attempted to stop thinking about it without any success. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut. “Ugh, okay, pods. Did you find any pods, then?”
“No. I have something better than that. I have unimpeachable evidence, Rainbow, that…” Here she leaned forward again, her voice dropping to a whisper. “That somepony we know is a changeling!”
“And what’s that?” Nutmeg asked, his voice just as quiet.
“Uh.” Twilight frowned. “They’re a race of pony-like insects capable of transforming their outward appearance into a variety of—”
“I mean, what’s your evidence?”
“Oh! Right, sorry. This way.”
* * *
Twilight led them through the castle entryway, though the throne room, through the library, through the kitchens and private quarters, up long flights of stairs, through her bedroom to a second library, through that to a secluded, curtained-off study, and finally to a nondescript section of wall composed of the same pale lavender crystal as the rest of the castle. All the while Rainbow kept up a running commentary for Nutmeg, pointing out the magical map table, the root chandelier from Twilight’s old library tree, the special convection ovens in the kitchen that had never been used once in their three years of existence. She had fewer things to say about the private portions of the castle, having spent less time in them, but she made sure to note all the books as they passed. Nutmeg liked books; he would appreciate that.
Twilight’s horn flashed, and a series of loud clicks emanated from beyond the wall. A seam appeared, and large section of the crystal recessed with a hiss and flurry of smoke, revealing a dark hall beyond. Without hesitating for the smoke to clear, Twilight strode into the passage.
“I keep it in here,” she said. “Where I know nopony else can see it.”
They walked in darkness for far too long. Dash felt the crystal ceiling pressing down on her. She began to breath faster, and sweat prickled her coat. Beside her, Nutmeg’s heart began to beat faster. She could feel the vibrations in her wingtips.
Finally, none too soon, they reached the light. The passage opened into a small room loaded with – what else – books. Rainbow would have sighed if she weren’t so relieved to get out of the passage.
“Okay.” Twilight’s horn glowed, and a scroll tube floated up from the small writing desk perched in the back corner. She twisted open the end and tapped out the paper from within. “I got this letter from Celestia this morning. As soon as I read it I knew I had to—”
“Seriously? A letter?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “That’s your evidence?”
“I knew I had to get to work immediately,” Twilight finished, with only the slightest narrowing of her eyes. She unfurled the scroll, cleared her throat, and read. “Dearest Twilight Sparkle, I hope this letter finds you well. I write to you today on a matter of grave import for yada, yada, okay, here we go. I have long suspected, and recently discovered incontrovertible evidence, that one of the Elements of Harmony is, in fact, a changeling!”
“Whoa,” Rainbow said. “Awesome!”
“What? That’s—” Twilight rolled the scroll back up and scowled at Rainbow. “How can you say that? One of our friends is a changeling!”
“May be a changeling,” Nutmeg said. “Celestia might be wrong.”
A silence followed. Twilight stared at him.
Princess arrested for murder! The headline flashed before Rainbow’s eyes, and she stepped between Twilight and Nutmeg before it could come to pass. “He didn’t mean that, Twilight.”
“Yes I—” Nutmeg began. A swift elbow to the ribs from Rainbow, followed by a slight shake of the head, cut him off. “Er, I mean, what other evidence do we have?”
Twilight stared at Nutmeg for a long moment, then nodded. “So far, just my changeling detection spell. Rainbow’s the only Element of Harmony I’ve used it on, so we just need to get the other four girls here, and then we can move onto the hard part.”
“Is casting the spell that hard?” Nutmeg asked.
“Huh? Oh, no, the spell’s super easy. It’s figuring out what to do with a changeling that’s the hard part.”
* * *
Hours later, as the late evening sun approached the horizon and Ponyville was filled with its warm golden glow, the assembled Elements of Harmony finally met at the castle. Rainbow and Nutmeg greeted the girls at the entryway.
Nearly three months had passed since she’d seen them, Rainbow realized as they waited. Well, all but Rarity and Twilight. She pondered that realization, turning it over in her mind like a pretty shell she’d found on the beach, considering its colors and swirls. She expected a tinge of melancholy there, of sadness and loss, all embedded in the simple joy of a reunion. A homecoming.
But those emotions were conspicuously absent. Or, the sadness was, at least. She was happy to see her friends again, and her heart beat faster at the thought of seeing Pinkie and Applejack and Fluttershy for the first time in a season. But already she was looking past that, to the Orithyia and plying the skies with Nutmeg, to adventures and icebergs yet to come.
So lost in these contemplations was Rainbow that she didn’t notice the girls had arrived until Pinkie Pie tackled her in a flying hug that left them both rolling on the crystal floor just inside the castle’s entrance. She fought back briefly, her mind seized by visions of pirates, but then the sound of Pinkie’s laughter and the cotton-candy scent of her mane and most of all the overwhelming, blinding pinkness of the mare broke through her momentary fugue, and she returned the hug with a giggle of her own.
“Dashie! You’re back!” Pinkie followed this with a hug that flexed Rainbow’s ribs. “Aaaaaahhhhh I missed you!”
“Missed you too,” Rainbow wheezed. “Please let me go.”
“Oop, sorry!” Pinkie hopped back onto her hooves, dragging Rainbow upright along with her. She set the pegasus down and patted her feathers back into position. Just as quick she sidled away, over to Nutmeg, who leaned back with a slight widening of his eyes. “Oh! Oh! Who’s your friennnd, Dashie?”
“I’m guessing this must be Nutmeg, right?” Applejack said. She gave him a frank up-and-down with her eyes, smiled, and stepped forward with her hoof out for a bump. “Heard a lot about you, sir. My cousin out in Appleloosa says your iceberg’s still dropping water on the town.”
“That’s what they hired me for,” Nutmeg said. He returned the hoof bump. “Rainbow tells me you know something about running an orchard.”
“Oh, I doubt she used those exact words.” Applejack grinned. “Nice of you to cover for her, though.”
“Hey, don’t, uh, impugn my good character,” Rainbow said, shimmying her way between them. Something about the way Applejack was looking at Nutmeg set off little alarms in the back of her brain. “There’s enough rumors out there about me as is.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Impewn? You taking vocabulary lessons from Twilight, now?”
“Hey, I’m allowed to read.” Rainbow burnished her hoof on her chest fluff. “Oh, hey Fluttershy. Didn’t see you there.”
“Um, sorry.” Fluttershy stepped out from behind Applejack. “Pinkie looked very happy to see you again and I didn’t want to get in the way. Hello again, Rainbow. And hello, Mister Nutmeg.”
“Hello, miss,” Nutmeg said. “Just Nutmeg is fine, if I’m allowed to call you Fluttershy.”
“Oh, see?” Rarity entered the conversation here, nudging her way into the circle. “I told you he was so polite! Didn’t I say that, Fluttershy?”
“Um, you did. Among many other—”
“And as for you, sir!” Rarity said, directing her fire at Nutmeg. “How have you been? I feel like it’s been forever since we last met! And how did you get those nasty bruises on your legs there?”
“We had to clean up a—”
“We had to fight an iceberg!” Rainbow answered for him, since it seemed Nutmeg wasn’t giving their adventure the weight it deserved. “You girls should’ve seen us! We spent hours flying in a hailstorm, filled with chunks of ice the size of wagons all zipping around fast enough to take your head off! We almost died a dozen times each! It was awesome!”
“It was interesting,” Nutmeg allowed. “But we survived, as you can see.”
“Oh! You must tell us all about it later,” Rarity said. She sidled up to Nutmeg and slipped a foreleg over his shoulders. “You know, it’s said that when two ponies survive dangerous experiences together, it builds an intense bond! Why, my own parents met during the famous Fillydelphia blackout of ‘73! The power went out while they were riding on the train, and they spent almost an hour crowded together, squeezed against each other by the sweating, stinking masses of un-air conditioned public transportation riders! It was only natural after such an ordeal they found themselves inseparable! So, how are things with you?”
“Uh.” Nutmeg glanced around for help. “Fine…”
“Okay, enough of that.” Rainbow pushed her way between Nutmeg and Rarity, ignoring the latter’s squawk. “Twilight got a letter from Celestia that’s probably wrong and now she’s panicking. Everypony tracking that?”
There was a quiet chorus of mumbled agreement. Ponies nodded in instant understanding. It was, by Rainbow’s casual accounting, the fifth or sixth time such a thing had happened.
“So, whatever happens, just stay cool, okay? She’s already really high strung and we don’t want her blowing something up again. Questions? No? Okay, let’s go see her.”
With that, Rainbow led the four mares – and a somewhat confused Nutmeg – deeper into the castle.
* * *
“Girls, thank you for coming,” Twilight said.
They’d forgone the normal throne room for this, and were instead ensconced in Twilight’s bedroom. There wasn’t enough furniture for them all to have a seat, so Rarity and Twilight sat on the bed, Fluttershy curled up in front of the fire, while the others filled in what seats they could. Nutmeg, perhaps sensing his tenuous position there as both an outsider and the only stallion, remained standing near the door.
“Your message sounded really important,” Applejack said. She was perched, somewhat awkwardly, in the chair beside Twilight’s writing desk. “We came as quick as we could.”
“It was.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I received a letter from Celestia this morning. It… well, I’ll be blunt. Celestia says that one of us, one of the Elements of Harmony, is a changeling.”
A chorus of astonished murmurs followed. “Gasp!” Pinkie exclaimed. Rarity half-rose onto her hooves, then settled back down with an obvious exertion of will. Applejack’s eyes widened. Fluttershy merely tilted her head.
“I know, I was shocked too,” Twilight said. “I consider you all my friends, of course, and events over the past few months have taught me that what’s on the outside of a pony isn’t as important as what’s on the inside. Even if what’s inside you is a changeling, which I guess is pretty important… okay, this metaphor isn’t going where I wanted. Bottom line, I love you all, regardless of whether you’re a pony or a changeling or whatever.”
“Aw.” Rarity laid a hoof across Twilight. “Darling, that’s so sweet. And I think I speak for all of us when we say the same.”
“Thank you, Rarity.” Twilight smiled at her. “I say all this because I want you girls to know that there is no judgement here. I love you all! And if any of you, maybe, have had a big secret for the past several years and always wanted to reveal it, but never had the courage, well, this is the time! I promise that we will accept you and care for you and love you just as you are!”
There was a pause. The six mares exchanged thirty-something glances.
“Right now,” Twilight continued. “This is the perfect time. Any big reveals. I promise we’ll all hug afterward. Anything? Seriously? Okay, going once, twice, and… come on, last chance. Seriously, I promise absolutely nothing bad will happen and we’ll still be best friends afterward.”
More silence and glances. Twilight frowned.
“Okay, fine. Magic it is then. Now, we can do this one at a time, or all—”
“Hey,” Rainbow said. “You didn’t give me a chance to reveal myself! You just cast that stupid spell the moment we walked in the door.”
“I know, I’m sorry! I panicked!” Twilight ducked her head. “But I’ve had a chance to think about it since then, and realized this way was best. It’d be so much better for everypony if the changeling just revealed themselves. Really. Right now. C’mon, anypony?”
Applejack shrugged. “Sorry, sugar. What’s next?”
“Next is magic! Now, we can do this one at a time, or as a group.”
“Does it really make a difference?” Rarity asked.
“Well, it’s more dramatic if we do it one at a time,” Twilight said. “And I suppose—”
“Oh! Oh! Do the dramatic way!” Pinkie jumped onto her hooves and bounced. “That’s more exciting!”
“Well, uh… Okay, any objections?” Twilight looked around. “None heard. Now, uh… okay. Just… just have to start, then. Here we go. Here… here we go.”
They waited. On the bed, Twilight took a quick breath. Then another. Then she kept taking them until sweat appeared in her coat and her lips turned gray.
“Darling,” Rarity said. “You’re going to pass out if you keep doing that.”
“Sorry, sorry.” Twilight closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath, holding it in. “Okay. We should, uh, probably start with the most likely suspect. A pony who is, um, better than most at deception. Who… oh, how to say this. A pony who seems like they’re probably pretty good at manipulating the emotions of others. The pony that, if somepony said ‘Hey, did you know that so-and-so was a changeling all along?’ you’d probably just be, like, yeah, that makes sense. We should start with them. Uh, no offense to that pony.”
As she spoke, every eye turned to Rarity. The dressmaker noticed this after a few moments, and her expression darkened.
“Oh. Oh.” She drew her head up. “I see how it is. Why, nevermind the fact that Rarity has helped save Equestria on numerous occasions, or that she’s the Element of Generosity, she wears the most make-up so she’s probably the changeling!”
“Aw, come on, Rares,” Applejack said. “We all helped save Equestria. Twilight’s just saying… Well, we’ve all seen how you treat Spike.”
“What?! I treat him with the utmost courtesy! Why, I daresay there’s another pony who respects Spike more than—”
“Okay, enough,” Twilight said. “Rarity, look at me for a moment?”
“And why should I do that?” Rarity rounded on her. “I’ve half a mind to just get up and—”
A bright flash from Twilight’s horn cut off the rest of Rarity’s tirade. She froze, gawked, then blinked away tears. The others leaned forward, breath suspended in their chests, waiting.
Nothing happened. Rarity dabbed at her eyes.
“Huh,” Twilight finally said. “Well, uh… I knew it! Rarity’s not a changeling!”
“Oh, save your breath.” Rarity sniffed.
“Sorry, sorry.” Twilight wrung her hooves together. “So, um… who’s next?”
“Heck, guess I’ll go,” Applejack said. “I ain’t too worried.”
Twilight nodded. A bright light built in her horn, followed by a flash. Applejack flinched away, her eyes blinking rapidly, and then she chuckled.
“Ta da,” she said. “Still me.”
Twilight nodded, and her eyes shifted to the two remaining ponies. “Oh no… Pinkie, Fluttershy… if there’s anything you want to tell us now…”
Fluttershy remained motionless, a calm expression on her face. Pinkie bounced in place.
“Ooh, me! Do me next!” She raised a hoof. Every strand in her mane seemed to strain outward, expanding, ready to explode.
“Fine. Oh, I’m so sorry…” Twilight’s horn glowed again, then filled the room with a flash. When it cleared, Pinkie remained Pinkie.
“Aw,” Pinkie said. She looked down and seemed to deflate. “Oh, but that means! Fluttershy’s the winner!”
Every eye now turned to Fluttershy. Rarity gasped and held her hooves to her mouth. Twilight seemed stricken.
“Fluttershy,” she said. “Not you… why… why couldn’t you tell us?!”
“I think you’re about to be very disappointed, Twilight,” Fluttershy said.
“I am?” Twilight scrambled away. “Wait… you mean, I’m about to be disappointed in myself, for my prejudiced and unwarranted fears of changelings? I’m about to confront an irrational bias and understand how incomplete my grasp of friendship truly is?”
“Just cast the spell, Twilight.”
“Very well.” Twilight closed her eyes and choked back a sob. “Oh, I’m so sorry!”
Another flash filled the room. Time seemed to stand still. Rainbow leaned forward, her wings flared and ready to fly.
Fluttershy remained in the center of the room. She blinked, but otherwise seemed unfazed by the brilliant light. All were silent.
Finally, Twilight spoke. “Huh.” Her horn glowed, and Celestia’s letter floated up before her. “Okay, grave import, shocking discovery, yada yada, aha, ‘one of the Elements of Harmony is, in fact, a changeling!’ She says it right there. Maybe I got the spell wrong?”
“Well,” Rarity paused and nibbled on her lip. “It occurs to me, darling, that you haven’t tested us all.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I tested Rainbow Dash hours ago. It’s not her.”
“She means, you haven’t tested yourself,” Applejack said.
There was a pause. All eyes now turned to Twilight.
She snickered. “Oh, Applejack. That’s… that’s cute, in a way. Wow.”
“You tested all of us,” Fluttershy said. “Why not test yourself, too?”
“Okay, first off, I think I would know if I were a changeling,” Twilight said. Her earlier distress seemed forgotten, and a smile broke out on her muzzle. “I mean, seriously? Oh, and think about it. If I were a changeling, I’m the one doing the test! All I have to do is make a bright flash with my horn—” here she did so, momentarily blinding everypony present, “—and ta da! Look, I’m not a changeling! It’s amazing! Because none of you can tell the difference between the incredibly elaborate changeling detection spell I created and a simple light cantrip.”
“C’mon, Twi,” Rainbow said. “Just humor us.”
“Yeah,” Applejack said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Ugh, seriously?” Twilight looked around. Finding no dissent, she sighed. “Fine. I just want you all to know how illogical this is. But since you’re my friends, I’m willing to do it.”
Her horn glowed again, brighter this time, as though she were putting extra effort into the spell. She clenched her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut, and a bright flash illuminated the room, stealing away all their vision.
“There,” Twilight said. “See? Not a changeling. Now, if we can all focus instead on what else we’re doing wrong, we can figure out who the real… the real… um…”
She trailed off there, for reasons that were immediately understandable to Rainbow Dash. For Twilight was rather distracted by the sight of her own leg, held before her face. It was dark, and glossy, and filled with a few large holes that seemed to serve no apparent structural purpose other than to confuse biologists. She tapped the glossy black leg against her chest, which was equally chitinous, then craned her head around to peer at the armored plates running down her back and the long, membranous wings emerging from her shoulders.
Finally, “Oh. Okay.”
Then Twilight fainted.