In the throne room of the Castle of Friendship held seven ponies worried out of their minds. As all the mares sat in their respective seats, Magic paced back and forth. Her eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration and she started pacing a hole in the floor.
Spike chased her into the room, worry covered his face after she raced into the castle. He tried to follow the conversation as it happened, but he would never understand it until they had a second to explain it to him.
She turned to Flash. "Do you know who they are?"
He sighed in response and picked up his head. "It's kinda confusing. I think they looked like you guys, but I don't know if they're changelings or not."
Loyalty stepped in the conversation, leaning back in the ice throne. "Probably is, nothing else can look like us."
"How'd you know it wasn't us?" Magic asked him. As much as he wanted to reveal what Fluttershy had told him, he decided to conceal it.
Spike's eyes followed everyone as they talked, his claws fumbling together
"Pinkie had her mane straight and Fluttershy was kinda... rude," he stated nervously. He shook his head, "They weren't you guys. I mean, unless you six were in Canterlot yesterday." Each mare shook her head.
"They weren't in Canterlot yesterday, I would've known," Spike stepped in, hoping someone would explain it to him. Of course, he was ignored.
"Then they're definitely changelings. Looking like us would get them close to the princesses," Magic stated and looked to each of her friends. She took a deep breath. "We've handled changelings before, this should be fine."
Loyalty shot up from her throne, "Then why not go there now and just beat them up and save Equestria again?"
Generosity looked up at her. "As much as I would like that to work, I think the princesses could've handle themselves with a few changelings." She looked to Magic, "Though I suppose we could do something like that."
Honesty pulled Loyalty back down by her tail. "We sure they changelings? The princesses did tell Flash that we needed to be careful."
"What else could they be?" Flash asked. Before Honesty could respond, Laughter jumped on the table.
"Maybe! Maybe their from another dimension and they're us!" She smiled down at all of them. Everyone but Kindness groaned.
"Pinkie! We don't have time to think the impossible!" Magic yelled at her.
Laughter huffed. "So a mirror can make you two legged but a portal can't make more of you!" She plopped down in her seat angrily.
"Maybe their just stronger changelings?" Kindness chirped. "Maybe Chrysalis made them stronger or smarter." Magic nodded.
"That has to be it," Magic nodded as she thought it over, staring at the ground and pacing again.
Generosity looked to the others, worry covering her face. "If they're a different kind of changeling, then we have no idea how to combat that."
Honesty looked to her, "We just gotta have a good enough plan. They can't be that strong or that smart, there has to be limits to even changeling abilities."
As Magic was putting a hole in the floor with her pacing, the rest were full of panic and were making rash parts of plans. Loyalty started the conversation, "I don't care how strong or how smart they are! We just need to go there and save the princesses! Simple as that!"
"I agree, but we should have some order to the attack," Generosity stated, looking up at Loyalty as the mare flew into the sky again.
Honesty rolled her eyes, "That ain't never gonna work!"
"Why not?" Loyalty flew down onto the table, pushing her muzzle against Honesty's. Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, along with her tail flicking back and forth.
Honesty put her hoof on Loyalty's chest and pushed the pegasus away. "Cause! They're smart and strong, what keeps them from foolin' us? Or having a stronger attack?"
"So you have a better idea?" Generosity asked with her nose scrunched up.
Honesty rolled her eyes again. "We should stealth it and take out one at a time. Two or three to one should be an easy match with their abilities."
As the arguing started, Spike still didn't have that great of an idea what was going on. "Uh, can someone explain this whole situation to me?" He asked, and was once again, ignored. He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
Laughter slammed her hoof down on the table. "We'll get caught and ambushed! It'll never work!" She looked to Loyalty. "And they'll be too strong for an attack!"
They all stared at her for a better idea, annoyed their ideas got turned down by a mare who suggested multiple dimensions earlier.
"W-we could always mix the two. Sneak in and go from there." Kindness stated, her voice getting quieter and quieter as she continued on. "O-or not," she whispered in the quiet room under all the eyes.
Laughter continued her idea, "We sneak in and make sure to take out at least one without getting caught, then ambush and attack! That makes five and the jump on them!" She sat back down in her seat with a high head over her plan. "Thank you," she said simply.
The four started fighting over the best idea and best plan of attack. As Flash watched all this unravel, he walked over to Magic who was slumped over a book, looking through it.
"Got any ideas?" He asked. "We just need the princesses safe, you know. We don't have to defeat the enemy with our visit."
She nodded in response and flipped the page. "Yeah, but I want to discover whatever I can about the enemy. From what I'm reading, the hive's queen can't change the type of changeling she produces."
"So it's not a changeling?"
"No, it could be, but it isn't stronger. It might have more skills though," she stated as she flipped another page. "I mean, she might've enhanced their abilities with something. This book is old."
The arguing in the background only grew. He turned his attention to it as she read, but as he overheard, his ears perked up with an idea. He turned to Magic. "You could use a spy to figure out more after the plan. You should hear the others ideas, Pinkie's idea sounds pretty good."
"Huh?" She tapped out from her reading to discover the onslaught of an argument. Her ears fell at the sight of her friends fighting, as they always did. She could see the four propped up on their hooves, fighting over each idea. She could also see Kindness whimpering in her own throne with fear.
She stood to stop the fight as she started listening in, hearing each of their ideas. She heard of Loyalty and Generosity's basic attack and Honesty's stealth one. She heard Laughter's thought out process she couldn't well explain over the other three arguing.
As she listening, she picked out good points from each idea, formulating her own little plan inside her world of construct. As she thought over the plan, Flash tried to stop the fighting, joining in on it.
She looked up, a determined look on her face. "Girls!" She yelled over the commotion, turning everyone's attention to her. "Look, I have a plan. But we have to hurry."
Loyalty flew in her face, "You picked mine, right?"
"Ours!" Generosity yelled from her seat.
Magic shook her head, dashing passed the pegasus. "I'll explain on the way, hurry and let's hope a train gets here soon." She ran out the door. Every pony looked at each other and shrugged, dashing out of their own seats to follow her.
Magic sighed as she looked up at the sun as she ran. "Please let the princesses be okay."
Spike ran after them. "Will someone please explain what's going on?" He yelled after them as he followed.
Fluttershy didn't expect everypony to get used to the castle as soon as they did. Once she returned to Celestia's room from the gardens, she was shocked to find no one. She assumed they were all in Luna's room and was surprised nopony was in there either.
So, she decided to go hunting for her colleagues. She had an idea where some would be, like Twilight in a library or Spike in a gem room. But she had no idea where those rooms were, and was disappointed to find there were no signs in the entire castle.
As she walked down halls, opening doors and shutting them, she got more annoyed with the whole situation. Her eyebrows furrowed as she pushed open a door, seeing nothing in there, she'd slam it shut.
She rolled her eyes at every empty room, not even taking anytime to admire the work that went into them. She didn't care for the fancy chandeliers, or the nice painted walls, or the nice drawing rooms.
What she took from every room, was the atmosphere each held. Some rooms were cozy with warm colors, carpets, and drawn curtains. Some rooms were cold with tiled floors and no windows, just a light fixture. The rooms she liked the most, even for their two second reveal, were the earthy ones.
Green walls with hardwood floors, curtains drawn so that light shined in and bounced off the chandelier. It was her favorite, it lightened her mood a bit and put a smile on her face, but she was still annoyed.
Her eyes lit up as she saw a tall set of doors. She pushed open the doors and was relieved at the tall shelves full of books. She had never been happier to see a piece of literature. And she hated literature.
She raced through the shelves, her hooves touching the cold floors as she raced. Candle holders sat above labels on the sides of the shelves. On the far side of the room, there were huge windows for the main light source. As she looked down rows of shelves hurriedly, she became annoyed all over again.
But when she finally looked down a row next to the wall, she saw three mares. She rolled her eyes and looked at the label. "Equestrian history," Fluttershy deadpanned. She looked to the three to discover that it was Twilight, Pinkamena, and Applejack. "Of course."
She trotted over to the three and cleared her throat, turning the attentions of them from books to her. Her eyebrows raised, as if she was a very disappointed parent. Pinkamena, for some reason, hid behind Twilight as Twilight went back to reading.
Applejack stood up with a smile. "Howdy, partner! How ya doin'?"
Fluttershy just stared at her. "What are you three doing?" She looked past Applejack to try and get a look at the words on the page.
Applejack smiled widely. "Well, we're just lookin' up on those Elements of Harmony thingamobobers," she looked to the books. She looked back at Fluttershy. "Wanna help?"
Fluttershy looked at the books on the floor with a disgusted look. She looked back up at Applejack. "Never really liked books. What more do you need to learn anyway?"
Twilight's voice cut into the conversation as she looked through the books. "If their still functioning or not."
Pinkamena bounced up, shoving a book in Fluttershy's face. Once Fluttershy didn't take it from Pinkamena's hooves, it fell to the ground with a loud noise followed by the echo. The earth pony talked anyway, "Apparently they're only used if all the elements are wielded by the true elements of harmony. The ponies that control and represent them!"
"And those happen to be?" Fluttershy asked rudely, pushing the book to the side.
Pinkamena noticed the rude attitude and backed slightly away from the mare. A nervous anxiety took over her pink colors. It was as if a cloud covered the bit of sun she was getting. The new bright pink changed back to the ugly, dull pink.
"Well!" She started nervously, a nervous smile and giggle with it. "Us! I think. I mean, I was Laughter, and Twily was Magic!"
"I was kindness, what were the rest of us?" Fluttershy asked, a slight blush on her face as she obviously and abruptly remembered something. She noticed Twilight's smirk towards her and looked away. "Oh can it, princess."
Twilight's ear drooped with a childish smirk. "But you make it so easy!"
"Uh, can't really remember the rest of 'em," Applejack smiled nervously. "I'm sure Rainbow and them remember!"
"Speaking of which," Twilight said as she flipped a page with her magic. "Why don't you go searching and figure them out, saying as you don't want to be useful."
Fluttershy growled at her. "I don't want any of this, so why should I help?"
Twilight just glared at her, a serious look overtook her face as her words cut through the air. "Well, if your king ever wants to see you again, you might want to get a move on." Her voice gave chills to everyone in the room. Even Fluttershy gave a worried look to the mare.
Fluttershy laughed nervously. "Fine, and this isn't cause of the stupid draconequus. It's cause I'd rather not die!" Fluttershy puffed out her chest and walked away, attempting to act above it all. As she walked off, Applejack and Pinkamena's eyes followed her.
"It's totally that amalgamation of things," Twilight smirked as she turned a page again.
Fluttershy went stomping through the halls, anger fueling every step once again. She got used to her favorite emotion, but now, she hated it.
She loved being angry, it got her adrenaline going and terrified every thing around her. She felt on top of the world, and everyone else thought they would break if they stared at her.
But Twilight made her madder than anything. The mare was obviously intent on being the leader, which Fluttershy didn't mind, Twilight could handle herself. And it seemed herself, Twilight, and Rainbow were some of the highest in command so she didn't care. But that was at the beginning.
Now, now the mare was just annoying! Acting as if one thing she did out of order was a stage ten rebellion! And when Fluttershy got homesick, she spent time in the gardens, of course it wasn't the same as the vicious creatures in the Everfree, but it helped. But her portrayal of handling herself, was her way of getting out of doing things to Twilight.
And ever since a little feud, Twilight just loved playing with her. And sure, her emotions would be easy to read after living alone since she was a foal!
As Fluttershy stomped the through the halls, she thought further about things, no matter if she didn't want to. And most of those thoughts were about how much she hated 'new' Twilight.
She's so stupid! She thinks she knows everything! Fluttershy thought angrily. She knows nothing! Just cause she thinks I care about Discord she thinks she can toy with me!
Her anger riled up as her hoof stomps became louder. I don't give a flying fuck about that thing! Just cause he's chaotic, and interesting, and sweet!
She stopped in her tracks, the anger disappearing for confusion. She stared at the wall in front of her and shook her head. "You barley know the thing. First impressions mean nothing." She told herself, continuing on her way calmly. Well, her attempt at being calm.
Her mind tried to forget how he held her and how much he wanted her. He was so fun to mess with. It's like he was her chaotic opposite. He played around just like she did, he just seemed so sweet. It was like he knew her forever and just was trying to be blunt about saying he liked her.
She sighed as her thoughts ran. She didn't understand anything. She was around him for five minutes and she felt like she never wanted to leave his side. She chuckled, smiling as she thought she'd hate him when he started talking to her. She wondered if he even cared anymore.
It was pretty obvious something was bothering her, and he wasn't an idiot, she didn't think. But he was probably sitting in a throne, watching over the three in the library, thinking about some other mare with pink hair.
She sighed and rolled her eyes, her anger draining as she slid her feet across the floor. He seemed like the type, she thought.
She shook her head as she heard a rattling noise. She looked to the door next to her and just stared at it, hearing more and more rattling. She eventually heard a thud! as she crept closer. She jumped away from the door at the sudden noise.
She heard a muffled 'dammit!' and crept back towards the door. As she peeked through a small opening, she saw a cyan hoof next to a rainbow mane. She rolled her eyes and stood up straight, pushing open the door to see a mess of a room.
The few pieces of furniture in there was a desk, two shelves, and a sofa. The hardwood floors matched the shelf and desk, the red curtains matched the velvet, red cushions, which Rainbow Dash was sat on.
The drawers of the desk were strewn out, one near the wall which Fluttershy assumed was just thrown at the wall. As Rainbow Dash was too busy looking through papers to notice Fluttershy, the yellow mare cleared her throat to get her attention.
Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped up to her, her angry look melting into an approachable one. "Uh, hey Fluttershy, what'cha want?"
Once again, Fluttershy didn't answer. She looked over the room, the floors barley noticeable from the papers covering it. Fluttershy picked up a paper and looked over it, the first word she noticed being 'insurance'. So she did the most logical thing and asked about it. "Insurance? What are you looking for?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes angrily, being reminded of the situation. She groaned. "Ugh, looking for the castle's insurance, revenue, political history, that type of thing." Fluttershy was more than confused.
"So, what's the problem? I'm assuming this rooms purpose is holding those kind of papers." Fluttershy asked, stepping over some papers to sit in the chair pushed in the corner. She assumed it went to the desk.
Rainbow fell back into the sofa, placing a paper on her face to block the sun. "All these are for years ago! There must've been some political mayor garbage or other country garbage since then! Plus revenue had to go up or down, it doesn't stay close for that many years."
"Why do you need these? I never knew dictators needed to worry about the politics of the ponies," Fluttershy stated, crossing her front hooves and raising an eyebrow. She could easily see Rainbow's frustration with her.
Rainbow shook her head. "I shouldn't be mad, you lived in the Everfree for Daybreaker's sake!" She looked through some of the papers again, just so she didn't have to stare at the yellow and pink combo ruined by such an annoyed look.
"That's how chaos breaks loose and dictators lose control. Ponies are either going to function normally with their day to day lives, or they're going to be held captive." Rainbow's eyes narrowed on the paper she was holding. "I like just getting whatever I want while ruling over something."
"Sounds like the better option," Fluttershy said, confusing Rainbow.
"You agree with me?" The cyan pegasus asked.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know, you just seem uncooperative."
"You know more about ruling beings with consciousness than I do. I'll trust you with it."
"Okay then," Rainbow said rubbing the back of her neck. Feeling the awkwardness of silence, she decided to talk again. "So, why'd you come in here?"
Fluttershy stepped out of the chair. "Twilight wanted to know what the rulers called you before we learned your name."
"What? Why?" Rainbow asked, her attention turned back to the mysterious beauty.
"Those Elements of Harmony things are what they called us. So we wanted to know what they were," Fluttershy stated calmly. Of course, all this did was make Rainbow even more curious of her. She didn't know to feel bad for her or to care at all.
As Rainbow finally comprehended what she said, she shook her head and thought it over. "Uh," she started, too flustered to think. She quickly got Fluttershy out of her mind and started thinking, but she was coming up blank.
"Uh, can't remember," she said, looking at anything but Fluttershy. She started looking through papers again, though she couldn't focus on them.
Fluttershy sighed. "Alright, maybe Applejack knows it." The mare trotted out of the room. And of course, all Rainbow stared at was the mares hips and her tail. She quickly shook her head and went back to work.
Fluttershy left the room, happy to be out of a political atmosphere. Though she didn't understand politics, as she had lived in the Everfree for most her life, she hated them. The whole atmosphere was condescending, the ponies in the situation never helped. It was all disagreement and lies.
As her mind ran with why she hated politics, she turned down a hallway she didn't recognize. The crystal floor got colder, the air was freezing, and all the doors were cracked. A chill went down her spine as she crouched through the hall.
She already hated the new environment she was in. As she walked through the halls, she froze, her posture straightening with fear. She heard a giggle, or it was a laugh. Whatever it was, it sounded like whoever made it was having fun. She sighed in relief at that realization.
"Ahhh!" A mare screamed. She turned behind her, her eyes widened and her heart was beating out of her chest. Did they just get caught? Did Rainbow just threaten the Princesses for more information and broke one of their horns? Or was a murderous guard employed?
As she stared at a door, another scream was heard. She was terrified, but crept towards the door, hearing more giggles and small screams. As she was a hoofstep from looking inside, the door creaked open further. She froze and just stared at the door, terrified out of her mind.
She swallowed. What was the possibility of a murderous guard? And wouldn't Daybreaker protect her if she was in danger? She nodded, though her body didn't believe what her mind did. She held her breath and threw open the door, rattling and clinging ensued as gold fell at her hooves.
She looked up and saw Spike and Rarity staring at her, laying on top of a comically large amount of gold. Even Fluttershy was amazed by it. Spike ignored her and went digging through it, returning to the surface with a green gem. He devoured it instantly.
Rarity climbed over the gold and closer to Fluttershy with a smile. "Hi, deary! How are you?"
As Fluttershy ignored her, she watched the drake scrounge through the gold for what she assumed was gems. She looked back at Rarity, "Do you remember what the rulers called you before they learned your name?"
Rarity tilted her head in confusion. "No, I can't say I do. Why?" She ignored the massive ringing of gold hitting gold.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes at having to explain it again. She sighed, then spoke with a boredom like no other, "Well, those names were what control the Elements of Harmony so we kinda need them for ..." she just realized she had no idea why Twilight needed them. She shrugged it off. "For something, can't remember."
Rarity smiled at her, a very condescending atmosphere around her. Fluttershy attempted to ignore it. "Well, can't remember the name!" She shooed the mare away and started climbing over the gold again with a wicked look in her eyes. "I can't believe this is all mine now!"
"I get the gems," Spike said bluntly.
Rarity smirked. "Of course, they're barley worth anything anyway!"
Fluttershy rolled her eyes at the two jerks. The two were obviously selfish as all hell. Fluttershy was selfish when it came to ponies, but even she had empathy for the ponies she knew. More for animals, but she could still have empathy for ponies.
She wasn't selfish and rude like those two were. They only cared for each other and nothing else it the world. And it really made Fluttershy sick. She guessed that's why they were some of the most evil creatures in the land. The drake was naïve to Rarity, and she was so full of herself only a dragon could be worthy of her.
She could actually pin why all her colleagues were chosen for this. Applejack was so trusting, you couldn't trust her. Pinkamena was so depressing, she brought the mood down even when she was happy. And she didn't even need a reason for Twilight. The mare was just evil.
Rainbow had rules to being a dictator. She knew how to be one and she knew how to stay in control. And there was obviously a thrill the mare got from being in control. That was obvious enough by her eyes.
But Fluttershy couldn't pin point herself. Sure, she was cruel and somewhat selfish, but she still had the ability of empathy. Then again, she smirked as she realized it. Evil can't function if there's mercy, then it's just temporary and pathetic.
She smirked proudly. She could even call herself the most important part. She'd give no mercy.