Through Deceiving Eyes

by CowgirlVK


Chapter 10: Into the Everfree

The next time Twilight felt herself rising into the realm of the living, the pain, irritation, and everything else was much more subdued. She opened her/his... She paused as she looked down at her pet’s body. “Celestia this is weird.” She commented.

Doctor Stables chuckled as he stroked her soft fluffy feathers. “You aren’t the only one weirded out.”

“You aren’t living it!”

“I’m talking to a mare in an owl’s body!”

She let out a hoot of laughter. “Definitely will take some getting used to. So, how long have we been out?”

“Two hours.” He replied solemnly.

She cringed. “I didn’t think-”

He laid a hoof on her wing. “Twilight, we had a bit of a complication. I’m waiting to see how you handle it before I copy this spell on the others. I’m afraid the Fluffs overwhelmed their senses.”

“Which raises another question.” She said, looking over at her unconscious form with a yellow coat and greenish, orange like mane.

He blinked.

“Why are the rest of us showing the color change, but you still look perfectly normal?” She looked him over with her large eyes, tilting her head all the way to the left, then all the way to the right.

He started chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” She asked.

Placing a hoof over his mouth he stifled the myrth. “Sorry Your Highness, I didn’t mean to. Just...”

“Just what?”

“You look kinda cute...”

If owls could give a death look, Twilight sure did. Doctor Stables recoiled; his smile instantly vanishing. “So, do you know what I did?”

She nodded. “Alright, what ‘did’ you do?”

“Well, to help you handle your new perceiving skills, I found another spell in the book. If I had time, I’d go use it on Spike, I’m certain it’d completely clear up his symptoms.”

Twilight eyes pleaded with the doctor, begging him to cast the spell.

He shook his head. “Your Highness, we don’t have the time. Do you feel alright?”

Twilight’s large yellow eyes slowly blinked as she looked around. It was as if everything had been slowed down. Her hearing had been muffled... At least, wherever it pertained to the Fluffs. “I think, whatever you did, worked. I think Applejack should be next.”

The doctor nodded. “You should be over here.”

Twilight opened her wings and tried to fly. If somepony had taken turned gravity in reverse, Twilight wasn’t sure if she’d been knocked more out of balance.

“Slowly,” He suggested. “You need time to get used to your new body. You can’t just-”

“I know!” She snapped.

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you do, it took you a while to figure out how to fly to begin with.”

She winced and nodded reluctantly, falling silent. Doctor Stables reached down and picked her up, placing her on his back. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”


Fluttershy’s eyes slowly fluttered open, above her stood the Doctor. She smiled happily as for the first time in a long time she woke up without so much as an ache. “Mmm, Good morning Doctor, am I being let go? Can I go-” she looked around and nearly screamed as she saw her body on the other side of the room. Winnona and Owlicious were instantly at her side... and looked much larger than what she had remembered.

“Easy there Fluttershy,” Winona said… sounding an awful lot like Applejack.

“AJ?” Fluttershy blinked.

“Yep!”

The timid mare started hyperventilating. “Wha? H-h-how? What’s that!”

Owlicious laid a wing over her quaking... paws? Fluttershy’s breath started coming in short, quick gasps. Her body shaking. “Wha-wha-what’s g-g-going on?” she asked fearfully.

“We have an issue going on in Ponyville,” Doctor Stables began. “There is this parasite...”

Fluttershy blinked. “Why am in the body of a Rabbit?”

Gummy, for the first time in the time Fluttershy had known him started laughing. “Actually, you and Angel swapped!”

Fluttershy’s eyes flew to the doctor. “Well,” he began. “We don’t have much time to explain, but this is kinda what happened-”


Doctor Stables looked both ways as he led the group of ‘pets’ out of the Hospital’s front doors. Outside, he had a wagon waiting. As pre-arranged, each member would pretend to be asleep while the doctor carried them out and set them in the back off the medical wagon.

One by one they were transported, finally the whole lot of them were in. He closed the back door, and hitched himself to the harness.

Doctor Stables took a deep breath as he turned towards the direction of the Everfree and calmly started walking.

Their first concern had been Celestia’s orders that all pets were to be captured, and put in a ‘safe’ place, away from ponies just in case they started going nuts.

While most of the mares were long since felled, a good number of the stallions were still half capable of functioning. This was a problem because most of the Royal Guard were Stallions.

This had been solved with this simple tactic, use the medical cart until they were in the Everfree. If anypony stopped him, he’d tell them that he was going to investigate into the whereabouts of Zecora. This was essentially the mission, the only lie involved was the Wagon’s Occupants... and the good doctor wanted nothing to do with trying to explain to the stuck up guards what he was doing with six pets and heading towards the forest.

Inside the wagon, each pony/pet was still attempting to get used to their new bodies. Applejack laid down and closed her eyes, whimpering.

“You alright Darling?” Rarity asked.

“Just a tad sore.” Applejack admitted reluctantly.

Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried frowns.

“W-wh-what?” Dash asked. “Hold up. Why is AJ sore?”

“Because ah decided to be tough and do the transfer awake.” Applejack didn’t look over at Dash. It was so weird, they all knew that the pets belong to their respective friends, but none of them had ever imagined this side of the reality. It was just so weird.

“And the doctor allowed this?” Dash asked. “Honestly?”

“None of us knew how we’d handle it,” Twilight explained. “It was an experiment.”

“We are pressed for time - that’s not when you ‘experiment’ Twilight. That’s when you play it safe and you don’t take unnecessary risks!” Dash exclaimed. Well, as close as she could to exclaiming when she was in a turtle’s body. Turtles didn’t talk very fast.

“Like you, RD?” asked Applejack in a jesting tone.

Dash glared.

“Admit it Rainbow, ya would have done the exact same thing had’ve ya’ had the chance.” Applejack stated.

Dash pulled her head into her shell. “Yeah, I guess you are right.”

“Look, girls, we are all in new territory,” Twilight said. “The important thing is we get this job done and save Equestria.” Twilight glanced over to Fluttershy, who was curled up next to Rarity just shivering.

“Ya know Twi’,” Dash spoke up once more.

“What?”

“I never thought I’d see the day Angel wasn’t making a royal nuisance of himself.”

“DASH!” They all cried out together as Fluttershy completely disappeared behind Rarity.

“Shoot Dash!” Applejack growled. “Yer’ a tortoise and ya still ain’t thinkin before yer mouth can move!”

Rainbow glared. “I was trying to lighten the mood! Pinkie Pie does it all the time!”

Pinkie Gummy frowned and shook her head. “Even I know time and place, Dashie…”

“What about that time with the ponytones?” Rainbow Dash fired back at Pinkie.

“Girls,” Twilight cut in before the debate could escalate. “We have a lot to think about, so let’s focus.”

They all nodded, settling down to complete the plan as the cart rumbled down the road.


Doctor Stables thundered through the streets of town. Every time he’d pass a royal guard he’d catch his breath; worried that they would stop him and forcibly search the carriage. When none of this happened, he went from being worried about the search to being even more worried about the guards. Stables didn't stop, but he still noted the listless looks on their faces. Time was running short, several of the said guards lay half dead and dying against walls, doors, and even a few in the streets themselves.

He scrunched his nose at the smell of the dead, averting his eyes when he came across the torn remains of one. Shivers ran down his spine and fear gripped at his heart as he imagined the agonizing screams of the bloodied corpse that remained of the guard lying dead in a nearby alley. Not wishing to further look at the guards and various other ponies, he focused his gaze forward, attempting to block the images before him as he released a heavy sigh.

He was trotting with a quickened pace along the dirt path when a high pitched, ear piercing scream erupted from behind him and he lurched forward as a stallion threw himself on the cart. He shouted as his eyes fell upon the crazed pony and instinctively shot a bolt of magic that knocked the stallion away just long enough for him to slip by without further incident. He kept his horn slightly aglow, prepared for any future incidents should they arrive and berated himself slightly for not keeping more aware of his surroundings to begin with as he continued on. His trotting was quick to become galloping as he heard more hooves approach from unknown areas.

His sides heaved, sweat stinging his eyes as he continued to run. His lungs burned and legs ached.

He had to keep going.

Finally, he was on the edge of town. With a burst of magic, he broke through a roadblock and into the forest.

The feel, the smell, the sounds... everything was different the moment he passed the barrier. Doctor Stables slowed down, his ears tilting this way and that to catch every little sound. Screams, howls, hoots...This wasn’t like Ponyville. A Timber Wolf howled off in the distance, haunting and solemn. Stables shivered at the unsettling noise going on around him, the creatures almost crying out for an escape, anything to be rid of whatever it is they were going through.

Crash

The Doctor jumped as something fell right in front of him, he gasped as he looked down at the corpse of some tree creature so far gone that he could no longer pick out what it had been.

He frowned. “You poor thing.” He whispered. Taking a deep breath, he continued on through the forest. A little farther in, a family of mice jumped out of the shadows, laying their tiny little teeth into his pastern. He yelped in both surprise and pain.

Fluttershy was nearly instantly out of the carriage, and rapidly into the fray. Moments later, Applejack and Twilight had joined her side to help pull the mice from the doctor’s legs.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked as she swallowed the last one down.

Stables looked at her with mild disgust.

“I’m an owl! It’s what owls eat!” Twilight defended herself.

“Ah didn’t say nuthin.” Applejack snickered as the realization dawned on Twilight of what she had just done.

“Wait a minute... did I just- Oh Celestia! Ick!”

“Let’s not think about it... shall we?” Fluttershy stated, also somewhat bothered by what was going on around them. “How much have I missed?”

“A lot!” Twilight answered.

“Alright, everypony back in the cart, we’ve got to get to Zecora... before we get...” Doctor Stables put his nose to the air, scrunching it when a putrid smell hit his muzzle. “Oh no... Timberwolves! RUN!”

Fluttershy, Twilight, and Applejack waited for the cart to pass them before Pinkie was suddenly with them, then the four of them back inside the cart.

Stables ran on and on, the sound of the wolf pack quickly encroaching upon his heels. He could smell their pungent breath from almost every direction. The wind itself was flat and hung in the air like a foul blanket.

That also meant that they were not far away.

Stables leaned into the harness, his body screaming against the pain, and unaccustomed exercise.

From the sound, Stables could hear them congregating. He assumed they’d caught something and were now preparing to devour it. At least they were off his tail now.

Something in the back of his mind told him to investigate. He hesitated, should he? He glanced back at the rumbling, and jolting cart behind him, he had six lives... then the lives of every pony in Equestria relying on him. He had to pull through.

“HELP!”

Stables froze as the voice registered in his mind. That was no creature…

His hooves picked up speed, and with a burst of energy he didn’t even know he had left, Stables thundered down the path towards the voice.

A figure came into view up ahead, overshadowed by the towering timber wolves, but that did little to hide the iconic grey coat and darker grey stripes of Zecora, the healer that resided in the Everfree. The girls heard the screaming as well, and upon feeling the cart slow, the girls peeked out to see what the problem was.

The first thing Applejack noticed was the timber wolves, and then not long after Zecora laying at their paws. The other girls notice it soon after and all at once, they start shouting out to her and running or flying towards the wolves.

“Zecora!”