Roy sat at his desk, flipping through file after file on what he could gather about any nearby secret labs. Apparently the run-down Fifth Labratory had collapsed not too long ago, leaving the colonel suspicious as to the timing. As he scanned over what seemed like hundreth page, there was a knock at the door. "Sir," came a suspiciously low voice, one of his subordinates most likely, "It seems that the very badass and totally normal-sized(if not, impressively tall) Edward Elric is here to see you." There was another sound like metal hitting flesh, followed by an add-on. "Ow. Oh, uh, a-and his younger brother Alphonse, too."
Chuckling, Mustang called back, "Come on in, Fullmetal." The door opened to the two brothers, along with a couple of new, yet familiar, faces. "How're the guests doing?" He eyed the young alchemist's company, "And who are they?"
Ed answered both questions in one reply, gesturing to his two companions. "Why don't you ask them yourself, colonel?" The girls waved happily, a bit nervous at seeing the frightnening flame alchemist once more.
"Well, seems that unicorn magic of yours is quite a feat, Miss Twilight." Roy stood to shake hands with the humanized pony. "And this other one is...Applejack, right?" The cowgirl nodded, tipping her hat. "Where are the others? Decided to stay back at the inn?"
"Yeah," Ed replied, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, excpet for Dash...she kinda...flew off..." He awaited the lecturing, or maybe some sarcastic aid. Instead the colonel ignited a fire with a snap, a smirk playing dangerously at his lips. "You lost one, Fullmetal?" Ed gulped, holding up his hands defensively. "Well, I'd say you better find her before I barbecue you, shrimp." The blonde's fuse was lit once more, ready to blow at being mocked in person, his har antenna twitching.
"That's what we came to you about, actually." Twilight got in between them, using her hands as barriers. She still wasn't used having them instead of hooves, but found them to be effective in this situation. The two cooled down, letting the girl speak. "Mr. Colonel, we were wondering if you knew where the lab that we escaped from was. I think Rainbow Dash might've flown back there to search for clues. She seemed pretty upset about it last night."
Mustang went over to his paperwork, pulling out the stakck he'd found most useful. "I've actually been looking into that, as has Hughes," he said, handing the files and a map to Ed, "I believe there are a few places where it could've been, based on these few facts. Y'know, you got good timing. I can't go out there due to my responsibilities here(plus a date tonight), so you can go check it out for me." Edward looked ready to refuse, but the colonel gave him a withering glare. "That's an order, Elric."
Mock saluting his superior, Ed turned with his group to exit. Mustang grabbed the boy by his prosthetic arm, whispering to im. "You haven't thought about asking them, have you?" The blonde knew exactly where the colonel was going. "I have, but...I don't know if they can. I mean, it might work with my arm and leg, but Al..." he glanced at the suit of armor containing his brother's very soul. "I don't know if they could restore Al. I don't wanna do it without him." Mustang smiled, letting him go. "Understood, Fullmetal."
~///~
Pinkie rushed up to embrace Rainbow Dash in an ursa minor hug, babbling about how worried they all were. "Gack! A-Alright, Pinkie..." she slipped free of the party pony's grasp, gasping, "I get it! I won't run off again. Sorry, everypony." She glanced around the room, seeing the forgiving look on Rarity's face and Fluttershy's caring smile, but the others weren't there. "Wait, where is everypony?"
"Why, they're out scouring the city for you, of course! They even to the trouble of disguising themselves then left with our hosts." Rarity replied.
"Well, I guess we better go find 'em before--" Before Dash could finish the sentence, Rarity held up a hoof to stop her. "No, no! Absolutely not! We're not running off. Otherwise we'd end up in some crazy cycle and we'll never find them. It'd be far too much trouble."
Pinkie randomly jumped in with her own point. "But if we didn't do that, then there'd be no plot! I mean there wouldn't even be a point to this scene! C'mon something's gotta happen here!" As usual, everypony else simply summed up her rambling to Pinkie just being Pinkie. Rarity ahemed and went on. "Where did you think you were going in the first place, dear? And what were you going to do without us?"
Sighing, Dash once again explained she was going back to the lab. "I wasn't sure where it was, but I thought I could spot it from the skies. I got lost, but luckily I ran into a friend of Ed's and that guy who caught us earlier--Hughes, I think--and they showed me the way back. Again, I'm super sorry for making you all worried...I just had to find us a way to get back to Equestria....We really, really can't stay here."
"I know it's not out home, Dashie, but at least we have somewhere to stay! And honestly, what makes you the one who has to get us back? We'll all help, you know. You don't have to blame yourself for this." Dash looked down at her hooves, shuffling them nervously. "What is it, Rainbow?"
"It is my fault. I-I'm so sorry...I'm sorry..." Her voice cracked, and she gritted her teeth to keep herself from saying more. The secret was out though. She looked up to see the concerned eyes staring back at her. Pnkie was getting a bit excited, muttering that this was 'it'. "I just..." Dash sighed, facing the facts.
"I didn't mean to, I swear. But there was this...this light...It was coming from a ways off, over by these clouds. We weren't scheduled to have any rain, so I thought I'd go and fix them. But there was one that was glowing, farther away, a bit low over the trees. I got kinda curious and followed it...It went into the Everfree Forest. I knew I wasn't supposed to go, and pegasi don't control the weather there anyways, but I thought maybe I could get it. I don't know what happened but...There was this...thing...And I--" She saw how intently they were looking at her now, waiting for more. "Anyways, it's my fault, and I have to get us back. I have to fix this."
~///~
There was a blur in the center of his vision, like a sunspot, fuzzy and making his head spin. He tried to get to his feet, but wobbled and fell back onto his hands. He thought he could here a woman's voice. "L-Lust? Damn...what 'appened?" He called out, but his voice sounded much stranger. "What happened to us? Ugh...We can't see..." He caught himself, realizing he speaking oddly. "Er, I can't see..." He fixed himself, wondering what could havemade him want to speak like that.
Blots of red and green slowly came into focus, blending with the white and making the scene look like a snowy holiday eve. The bloth of light slowly started to look like a figure. "The Truth? Is this...the gate, then?" He looked around, everything seeming to go in slow otion by his vision.
"Eeeenvyyyy..." The voice came from the creature, sounding like multiple echoes. "Eeenvyyy...?" It sounded somewhat concerned, slowly coming back into focus. He tried to mumble something, swearing when he couldn't find the words. "Eenvyy!" It sounded angered now, and a brighter glow pulsed from atop its head. He started to think that maybe the Truth would try to take a toll from him for taking him back home.
"Shaddup!" He shouted back, only to be lifted off the ground. He shut hs eyes at the harsh light, opening them only at a final shout of his name.
Celestia stood before him, a burning mix of anger, fear, and worry tearing up in her eyes. "Envy! What did you do?! What happened?! Answer me!" She shook him around, making him nearly hurl. "Gah...S-Stop it..." he mumbled, to which she set him down to let him explain. "Ah...we don't know...a rebound..." He lifed a rather stiff hand to his head, brushing his hair back. "Are we...at the lab? L-Lust?" He opened his eys once more, a chill going over his spine. "Where...wait, are we still in the forest?!"
Sure enough, the alicorn and he were still sitting on the grassy soil. "Dammit! What the hell happened?!" He shouted to the sky, stomping his hoof on the ground.
He looked down, realizing there was something wrong with that. He screamed in surprise at the sight of a black hoof with holes in it like Swiss cheese. As he stood, he found a rather odd looking tail hanging off his rear, flicking irritably. The rest of his coat was just as dark, with insect-like wings on his back and a horn protruding from his head. Whirling on the princess, he exclaimed, "What the fuck did you do to us?!" He shook his head, unable to stop speaking so formally. "I mean, me! Gah!" He paced in frustration.
The princess stopped him mid-step, turning him to face her. "Listen, Envy. I'm not too sure what happened, but Luna and Spike are gone, and you are a Changeling. I believe it was a result of the 'rebound' you spoke of, Luna's power trying to hold you back, and the spell I used on you." Envy let this soak in, chalking it up to the same answer she had come to. "So that means..." he laughed, "Your two pals got transmuted back to Amestris. We wonder if Lust will find a way to get me back, though." He turned back to the alicorn, who was much taller than him now, at least by a couple feet. "So, what's a changeling? And how come we--ah, I--keep talking like that?"
"Changelings are very dangerous creatures," Celestia explained, feeling uneasy at the smile spreading on Envy's fanged mouth, "They have the ability to shape-shift and feed on the love of others. They and their queen, Chrysalis, were recently defeated by the Elements of Harmony. They also used the royal 'we' when addressing themselves, much like my sister Luna does, although they refer to themselves as a hive." She watched the slight interest on Envy, then asked a question of her own. "Where did you come from? And who is Lust?" She leaned in more seriously, "And, most importantly, where are my little ponies?"
Looking around, Envy figured he could probably just fly off, but wth a glare from the sun pincess, he changed his mind, knowing he couldn't escape. "Well, it's kind of a different world. We don't know all the specifics though, 'cause the kind of alchemy we've been using recently is new. Lust is kinda like our partner. She's been overlooking things mostly, and needs chimeras like you for some...certain plans. As for your buddies, well, they're in her hands now." He scanned over his new body, particularly glad about the shape-shifting part. It was a skill he could do before, and knowing he still could reassured him.
"Now, if you dont mind we'd rather look like ourself, not some dumb whatever-we-are now. And we'd rather stop talking so weird, too." He concentrated, drawing on his inner homunculus powers. He must've still had the Philosopher's stone in him, otherwise he wouldn't be alive. "Just give us a minute..." He poured all his force in, sensing a hot sensation here his horn was. It was glowing, as he noted, red much like the stone.
A breeze blew by as the silent attempt to change dragged out. Finally, he let out a breath, exhaustd. "We don't get it! How come we can't change back into a human?" Celestia stared at him oddly, then came to a conclusion. "There aren't any humans in this world. And I believe changelings can only change into things of this world." Envy stomped a hoof, the feeling of doing so still strange. "I'll take you back to the castle--which you'll need to shift into a pony to blend in-- and perhaps you can sort things out there, but until then..." she shot him a look, her horn tinged with magic, "You are not to cause any disturbances. Understood?"
Envy's horn alighted once more with its scarlet aura. His body morphed into a similar form, but with no holey limbs, frayed tail, fangs, or wings, opting to keep just the horn. His ouroborus tattoo was moved to a mark his flank, which every pony here seemed to have. He nodded, then trotted after her to the castle.
~///~
Ed crossed off another site on the map, folding it back up, shoving it in his pocket, and tossing the marker behind him in defeat. "We'll never find this place!" He clawed at his hair, mumbling something unintelligible. "Besides, it's getting late...we should head back. Dash's probably already there, anyway."
Twilight took the map from him, flipping through the files once more. She wasn't able to read it, which had her feeling down, but she asked what she thought was important to be deciphered by Al. "What's this one?" She held up a small stapled stack with a transmutation circle drawn on it, along with a circular symbol of a dragon.
"Oh, that one's about..." Al skimmed it over, eyes somehow widening, "Umm..." He took it from her slowly, tapping his brother on the shoulder. "Hey, Ed, check this out. Isn't this that lab?" Curious, Ed took the page and flipped over it, a grimace forming on his features.
He scoffed and handed the papers back. "Yeah, it is. I think that's from the stack Hughes had contributed, too. He seemed like he was on to something when we last saw him." Al nodded his agreement. "You think we should...go back and see?" Twilight and Applejack both responded encourangingly, anything to help them get back and possibly find Dash. "Alright." He retrieved the map, unfurling it and searching for the location where the lab once stood. "Here it is. The Fifth Laboratory." He pointed to a spot one the map that looked like it had been circled, then erased.
Turning on his heels, Ed headed his own way. "Uh, brother?" Al's voice reached him, and the young alchemist turned with an embarrased look. "It's the other way, isn't it?" Al nodded, to which the blonde followed his brother, going the right way, to the Fifth Laboratory.
~///~
Blood was all over his clawed feet, spattered about the floor in front of his. "Good work," a voice said, followed by the sound of something being crunched in half. He opened hi eyes wider, djusting them to the dimly lit corridor. He attempted to stand but there was something on top of half of him. He looked over to see Princess Luna's unconscious form covering his left side. The munching sound repeated, catching his attention.
He screamed. That was all he could do. Some large beast was ripping another of its kind apart, devoring the bones and muscle in one bite. It struggled trying to pull off an arm, finally popping it free and tearing apart the ligaments. Its meal was already dead, headless, in fact. It was the most gruesome thing he'd ever seen in all of his life.
"Calm down, now," the same creamy sound came to him, the words flowing over him. He felt like he was talking to Rarity, nodding as he turned. The image of his love was replaced by another one of the beings. "Well, you're not Envy, but you are a little chimera. I suppose I can use you." The so-called chimera raised an eyebrow, correcting her, "A...what? N-no, I'm a dragon. My name's Spike."
She strode over to him, towering over him, actually. "Spike, hmm? A bit bold for such a little thing." She bent down, moving Luna off him and stroking his back, making him arch like a cat. "Why don't you come with me? Maybe you can clear some things up for me, dear." Spike hesitated and took a glance back, averting his eyes from the bloody mess and focusing on the princess. "Don't worry," the woman turned his gaze back to her, "Just come with me."
With no choice, lest she decide to feed him to that monster, Spike tentively followed her. "Say, you got any gems? Like, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, maybe crystals?" She chuckled, replying, "Gems? Actually, I think I have a few lying around."
~///~
The quartet reached the pile of rubble that was the lab. Nothing stood there, no trace that it had ever been the birthplace of many-a philosopher's stone. The larget transmutation circle was gone, as well, lost under the fallen concrete. Sighing, Ed rang his mechanical fingers through his hair. "See? I knew it was nothing. This place has been down ever since we, eh, interfered." He and Al shared a look, one of a sad and yet mischevious remembrance.
"So, there's nothin' here, then?" Applejack spoke up, kicking a rock to the side. "Well, shoot. Whaddya s'pose we do now? Head back?" She glanced at the sky, starts already twinkling into view under the indigo sky. "After all, it's already night. I bet everypony back at the inn is wonderin' where we've been." Ed sighed and went with her, stepping back onto the street.
A guard came running towards them, gun raised. Before anyone could react, he shot Al's head clean off. "S-Stop right there!" He shouted, rushing at them. Ed turned, clapping his hands and putting his palms on the ground. The earth shifted, a piece of street jutting up to slam into the man's face. Ed picked up his brothers helmet, tossing it to him as he strode over to the man.
"Well, well, lookie here," Ed picked the guard up by his shirt collar, "Mind tellin' us why you're guarding a dump? Or is it more than that?" The man growled, not spilling anything. "Suit yourself. Al?" His brother appeared behind him, clenching an armored fist. A shriek from behind drew away their attention.
Twilight had been subdued by a second one, with Applejack kicking wildly at another. Ed dropped what he was doing and ran to their rescue, only be stung in the back of his neck. He noticed AJ had a similar reaction, dropping to her knees and being roped from behind. Ed's vision blurred, his brother calling his name from somewhere far off, or so it seemed. With a muttered reply, he slipped to the ground.