The cries of terrified ponies rang throughout the city of Canterlot. A Pegasus the color of buttercream almost added her own scream to the throng as the nightmare causing this uproar crashed into the ground beside her.
“Fluttershy!” A blue blur rammed the Changeling’s head into the cobblestones with a sickening crunch.
“What are you doing?” The blue Pegasus began pushing her along, her yellow hooves clutching her saddlebags close to her chest. “You’ve gotta get outta here before it’s too late.”
“B-but I can’t-” Rainbow spotted a sewer entrance. Lifting the cover, she turned to her friend.
“There’s no time to be afraid, Flutters. There’s only one way this is going to work, and that’s splitting up and going as far from each other as possible.”
“M-maybe Twilight’s mistaken-” Rainbow grabbed her hoof, practically dragging her into the sewer system.
“Maybe she is, but it’s too late for an alternative. See ya on the flipside.”
And with that, the steel cover was set back in place, leaving a tearful mare to wonder how this could have happened.
Earlier that week……
Fluttershy was tending to her animals, as usual, when the sound of a scuffle caused her to look up to see a white rabbit and two ferrets exchanging blows.
“Angel, Basil, Lemon! Stop that!” As she moved to separate the fighting animals, one of the ferrets was thrown into the bookcase, dislodging several from their careful placements.
“ENOUGH!” The two still fighting stopped immediately, wincing at the tone and volume of the normally quiet mare’s voice.
“You should be ashamed. Corner, all of you.” Watching the guilty animals trudge to different corners, Fluttershy let out a sad sigh. For some reason, the animals were acting out, and it wasn’t an isolated incident. Rarity had told her Opal Essence would hardly come out from under the bed, scratching anypony who tried to retrieve her.
Applejack explained to her that Winona had suddenly turned into a nervous wreck, barking at shadows and howling in the middle of the night.
Owlowiscious refused to come near Ponyville at all.
Tank and Gummy were…. well, Tank and Gummy.
‘And none of them will tell me why.’ Fluttershy thought, frustrated. ‘Unless “a bad thing is coming” is it.’
When everything first started that was what all the animals told her, even the manticores. She’d told Twilight, who’d written Celestia, who’d replied back that nothing was wrong but to remain vigilant anyway.
Looking at the mess of books, she sighed. As she put them away her thoughts drifted. All this uncertainty and vagueness was causing her unnecessary stress.
‘Maybe an earthquake or some other natural disaster is on its way?’ She placed another book on the shelf.
‘But the animals aren’t running away like they should if that were the case. So why-’
“Huh?” There was one last book on the floor, but it wasn’t one she recognized. Not only that, but she was certain it hadn’t even come from her bookcase, as her books were all neatly in place. There was no space for this book to have fallen, and she never left books lying on the ground.
Picking it up, she read the title embossed on the cover.
“History Expanded: Secrets Explained and Revealed.”
Curious, she opened it up to the first page.
Until recently, history has been focused on the reigns and fallings of monarchs, wizards and species. Much of the information we read about these, sadly, are viewed and taught as old pony tales and are not taken seriously.
I am writing this book with the permission of the Princesses, under the condition it goes to them so that they may read of my findings as well.
Chapter One: Changelings
Changelings are a race that little is known about. What we know for certain, is they feed off of a pony’s love, making the pony weak. They also have a hive mentality, with one Queen acting as ruler and mother to the drones.
Though these are the facts we are familiar with, I have found evidence of -
“Fluttershy!” The Pegasus yelped, the book fumbling in her grasp. Rainbow stood in the doorway to her cottage, a look of concern on her face.
“You okay? You didn’t answer when I knocked on the door. Her rose-colored eyes fell on the book. “If you wanted to read that, you’d better save it for the train ride.”
That caught Fluttershy’s attention.
“Train ride?”
“Yeah. Celestia’s summoned us and I got a really bad feeling.”
Fluttershy nodded as she reached for her saddlebags, pausing a moment to stare at the book before placing it in.
“Be good while I’m gone.” She called out to the animals in timeout. Unlocking the animal door so that they could come and go, she went on her way.
She didn’t see the look of fear and concern that crossed their little faces.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the train, her friends were talking and laughing, trying to ignore the bad feeling they all seemed to share. Fluttershy had the book open on her lap, but couldn't bring herself to actually read it as something unpleasant settled in her gut. Her thoughts went to her animals and what they'd been trying to tell everyone.
'What if the "bad thing" is what we're all heading towards right now?'
"Hey, Fluttershy, is that a new book?" Fluttershy looked up, startled by the sudden question. Twilight was looking at her, a small smile on her lips.
"Um, yeah. I just found it in my cottage this morning." Twilight looked confused.
"You mean you didn't know that it was there?"
"No. You see some of my animals had a quarrel, and ended up knocking into my bookcase. After I put them in time out, I was cleaning up the mess, and this book was there. But the thing is, it wasn't there this morning so I have no idea where it came from."
Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought.
"Maybe somepony sent it to you by mistake. Like they were trying to practice their magic and accidentally teleported it off their intended target?"
"Oh, my!" Fluttershy looked at the book in her hooves, a sense of guilt and shame settling over her.
'If that's so, then I shouldn't be reading this. It's somepony else's property.'
Closing the book with a sigh, she placed it back in her saddlebags, vowing to return it to whomever it belonged to.
But as the train draws closer to its destination, it would've been wiser to have stayed in Ponyville.