Meanwhile, Shimmy Shake had just finished her lunch and quickly headed to her dorm room to see if Lighthoof was there. And she wasn’t there. Pate was also with her to find Lighthoof as well. “Find her yet?” Pate asked.
“No,” the cheerleader sighed, “not here.” She then looked at her side table and could see a picture frame on top. In that photo, is both her and Lighthoof as fillies, playing at the sandbox, building a sandcastle with their plastic shovels and pails.
“What’s that?” he asked, looking at the photo.
“Oh that? That’s just a photo of when Lighthoof and I had our first play date at the playground. We had so much fun there.” Shimmy picked up the picture to get a better look at it. She then felt a sad feeling inside of her.
“You know Shimmy, when me and Lighthoof were at the castle with Ocellus and Emerald a while ago, she seemed kind of upset.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think she was angry at something.”
“Angry? But...…why would she...” Then Shimmy began to think about the recent events at cheer practice. “Wait. Do you think she’s jealous?”
“Jealous? Of what?”
“Of me becoming captain of the cheer squad?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Well I think that would be a good reason why.”
“Now I really need to find her and talk with her. Follow me, Pate.” Shimmy placed the picture down and ran down towards the hall, with Pate following behind her.
“Shimmy!” squeaked a voice. The cheerleader stopped as her boyfriend caught up with her.
“Did you hear that?”
“I think so,” Pate replied, “Where...”
“Up here!” the voice squeaked again. The two looked up and gasp. Floating up to the ceiling, there was a balloon version of Coral. “Could you get me down?”
“Coral?” the mare and changeling gasped.
“Are you a balloon,” Shimmy asked.
“Yeah, this is really weird,” Coral admitted. Her voice was a bit higher now.
“How the heck did you end up like that?” Pate questioned.
“It was Lighthoof. She zapped me with some sort of spell.”
“But... She’s an earth pony,” Shimmy stated.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I saw that she had a unicorn horn, I swear.”
“Did you know where the last time you saw her?”
“I only saw her go right after she zapped me. Could you take me to my dorm? I don’t want any creature seeing me like this.” Pate flew up and carefully grabbed onto the hippogriff balloon and carried her down the hall.
“Tell me where your dorm is,” Pate asked the balloon. Then Coral told them where to go.
While they took care of her, Lighthoof had left the school and was looking around for a place to hide. However, in her rush to get out of the school, she only grabbed a scarf, meaning she didn’t have much to keep her warm in the snow.
“Ugh, I still hate snow,” Lighthoof grumbled. After stopping for a moment, before saying something. “This is being such a hassle, I just need to get to the castle.”
Her horn started glowing again and teleported back to the Castle of the Two Sisters. “Very nice,” Majesty commented. “How about you try out some spells in my journal?”
Lighthoof looked around and could see the journal lying on the ground. She picked up with her hooves but then thought about lifting it with levitation. “Huh,” she said, “I think I might be getting used to this.”
”Very good. You see, you’ll be much better than Shimmy now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, will you stop lying to yourself. When have you ever had a friend like Pate?” Lighthoof thought about what she said. She then thought of a couple of the boys at the school. She then teleported back.
Meanwhile, at the school, Sunshine was just minding his own business. He was just checking on his winter clothing until he heard someone behind him. “Hey, Sunny.” The hippogriff looked behind him and could see Lighthoof looking at him. Her eyelashes fluttered as she walked closer to him.
“Uh, hi, Lighthoof,” Sunshine replied. “...What’s up?”
“Oh, well, I was thinking we could spend some time together.”
“What do you mean by that?”
”Well, I think there’s something irresistible you can see, of what am I saying, that thing is me.” Lighthoof’s horn came into view and started making blue hearts float around Sunshine’s head. Before the hippogriff reacted, he was quite shocked, but suddenly, he found he couldn’t take his eyes off of Lighthoof. Something about her look... Beautiful.
“L... Li... Lighthoof,” Sunshine stuttered.
“Notice anything different?”
“You... You look so amazing.” The hippogriff quickly started nuzzling up to the mare.
“Oh, you’re amazing too.”
“There you are,” said a voice. Lighthoof looked over to see Smolder standing at the end of the hallway. “Where were you?”
“Um... I needed a moment alone.”
“Really! Then why is Sunshine nuzzling you?”
“Because Lighthoof is so adorable,” Sunshine cooed.
“Since when you two were a couple?”
“We should've been one year ago.”
“But you’ve only been at this school for a few months.” Then Smolder could see Lighthoof now had a horn. “What the... Is that a horn?”
Lighthoof looked up and could see her horn was now exposed. “Oh... Ugh...” Lighthoof didn’t know what to say.
“Lighty, what’s wrong?” Sunshine asked.
“Well, someone’s overstayed their welcome and she shouldn’t really judge,” Lighthoof commented. ”Let’s see if we can improve her image.” She gained a cheeky smirk and quickly zapped Smolder.
The dragoness could feel her body becoming weird. Looking at her claw, Smolder could see her claws starting to melt. Not just her claws, her horns and spines as well. The dragon quickly melted into a pile of goop which started taking form. A wooden frame popped out of nowhere and the goop appeared in the middle of it. The wooden frame appeared to hang itself on the wall with a painting of Smolder, dressed up a princess.
Lighthoof just gasped at what she did to her. “Smolder?!” she cried. The young mare was in a panic. She quickly ran off with Sunshine following her.
Meanwhile, Shimmy and Pate placed Coral in her dorm room just before they heard the bell ring. “Dang it. I can’t go to class like this,” Coral cried.
“Maybe…maybe we can just tell the professors you’re feeling sick,” Pate suggested.
“Well... Right. Just make sure to keep my door locked, please.”
“Got it,” Shimmy said. She closed the door and locked it with a key before she and Pate ran towards the next classroom. When they got there, they could see that Smolder was missing. Sandbar, Gallus, Ocellus, Yona and Silverstream were having a conversation, feeling concerned about them being missing.
“Have you seen Smolder?” Sandbar asked.
“Smolder missing too?” Yona questioned.
“Yeah, so is Coral,” Ocellus added. Pate and Shimmy both looked at each other. “I’m getting a little worried, first Lighthoof now them.”
“Not to mention, Gale and Flare aren’t responding to anything anyone says,” Gallus added. “Something is definitely wrong.”
“Should we tell them?” Pate whispered to his girlfriend.
“I don’t know,” Shimmy responded silently. “How would they react?”
“Don’t ask me,” he shrugged. Then Ocellus faced the couple who’re whispering to each other.
“What are you guys whispering about?” Ocellus interrupted, then they turned to her.
“...Uuuuuuuuuuuh,” Pate said. “Nothing?”
“Class,” Rarity said. “I’m noticing that some of you are missing, but we will take care of that later. Lessons must carry on though, so hopefully, the ones that are late won’t mind.” Rarity started her lesson as the students that were there sat back and listened.
Meanwhile, Lighthoof had wandered around the school to see that Gale and Flare were sitting outside of Headmare Starlight’s office. They both had the same blank expression they had when they were first hit by Lighthoof’s spell. “Are you two still under... Mind control?” Lighthoof asked.
“If that’s what you want,” Gale and Flare said in unison.
“This is... Kind of creepy.”
“Oh, Lighty, don’t worry,” Sunshine cooed. “It’s not too bad.”
“He’s right you know,” Majesty said.
“Shut up, Majesty,” Lighthoof groaned.
“Hey, you could’ve told somepony by now. You’re outside of your Headmare’s office. Why don’t you talk with her?” The young mare looked at the office doors. She could talk with Starlight, but she had already done enough damage to her fellow students.
“Is there anything we can get for you?” Gale asked.
“No. Just... Leave me alone for a minute.” Gale and Flare both stood up and walked away. “This is beginning to be too much.”
“Lighthoof,” Starlight Glimmer said. She had just opened her door as she heard the young mare talking to herself. “Where have you been? Ocellus said she hasn’t seen you since first classes. The same goes for other students like Shimmy Shake.”
Lighthoof was now on the spot. She was panicking until she thought of something. “You sound like you’re a bit old, now back, and listen to what you’re told.” Lighthoof revealed her horn and zapped Starlight without a second thought. Once she did that, she raced off with Sunshine.
Starlight quickly started feeling sore as her mane started turning gray. Scratch that, it was straight up turning white. Her body started aching as she started gaining some wrinkles and her mind got a little foggy.
Rarity’s class soon ended and the students left the room. “Still no sign of Smolder yet,” Ocellus commented.
Sandbar sighed. “Where could she be?” he questioned. Shimmy and Pate left the classroom with the young five as they heard something.
“Hello?” called a voice.
“Wait,” Gallus halted them for a while, “do you hear that?”
“Yeah. That sounds like her,” Ocellus commented.
“Smolder, where are you?” Silverstream called.
“Follow my voice,” the dragoness called. The young five, as well as Pate and Shimmy, followed Smolder’s call. Turning one more corner, they all gasped at what they saw. Smolder was still stuck in the painting and was banging against some invisible wall to try and get out.
“Smolder?” the students gasped.
“Guys, get me out of here,” Smolder cried.
“How...how did this happen?” Gallus questioned.
“It was Lighthoof.”
“Lighthoof?” Sandbar questioned.
“How Lighthoof make Smolder painting?” Yona questioned.
“Maybe the same way she made Coral a balloon,” Shimmy muttered.
“Excuse me?” Ocellus questioned. They then ran where Coral’s dorm room is. They even forgot to get Smolder out.
“Hey!” Smolder called themselves to get their attention. Gallus and Sandbar quickly came back and picked up the living painting.
“Don’t worry, we got ya,” Gallus told her, then ran with Sandbar towards the dorm room. They made it, and they tried to open the door. They keep jerking off the doorknob, and Shimmy tells them that it’s locked. She got out her key and opened it. When they got inside, they saw the orange hippogriff balloon was still floating on the ceiling. “What in the name of Tartarus?” he gasped.
“My goodness,” Silverstream said in shock.
“Shimmy, I thought you were going to keep creatures out of my room,” Coral said.
“Well, I have an excuse,” Smolder stated. Sandbar and Gallus carefully placed the painting of his friend down to make sure she didn’t break.
“Smolder, you too?”
“Yeah, since when did Lighthoof become a unicorn?”
Ocellus pondered for a minute. “It’s gotta be that journal she found,” she muttered.
“Right! I think she got possessed,” Silverstream cried.
“What... Girls, what are you talking about?” Shimmy questioned.
“It’s a bit of a long story,” Sandbar said. “We’ll explain while we search for Lighthoof.” He quickly turned to Smolder and Coral. “Don’t worry girls, we’re going to fix this.” Quickly, they ran off leaving the balloon and painting by themselves.
“Nice dress,” Coral said, pointing at the dress Smolder’s wearing.
“Thanks,” Smolder replied.
Running down the hall, the students when they saw Starlight Glimmer. She was as old as Granny Smith now. “Headmare Starlight?” the students gasped.
“I don’t know what happened,” the old mare groaned.
“Starlight, just don’t move too much,” Ocellus said. She carefully helped Starlight get somewhere to sit as Shimmy started getting worried.
“Oh, Lighthoof,” she sighed, “What have you done?”
Meanwhile, Lighthoof was walking around Ponyville with love-struck Sunshine, and controlled-emotionless Gale and Flare.
“Oh, I can’t believe what I did,” the young mare muttered. She looked at the boys, one was completely love-struck and the other just emotionless. “Majesty, if you’re listening, this is all your fault.”
There wasn’t a reply. Instead, Lighthoof had gotten a breeze blowing and she started shivering. ”Ugh, this annoying weather has to go, I don’t care what time it is, no more snow!” Without thinking, Lighthoof launched a beam into the sky.
The clouds started moving out of the sun’s way as the weather started getting hotter. Lighthoof and the boys weren’t the only ones noticing this. Shimmy and Pate were running towards outside of the school entrance with the young five as they could feel the temperature starting to go up. “Yona getting hotter,” Yona spoke, starting to pant.
“Yeah, me too,” Shimmy agreed. The heat was soon starting to get to them and they had to take their winter clothing off to prevent them from overheating.
“Guys look!” Sandbar cried. He pointed to some of the snow, which was starting to melt.
“Hold on, spring isn’t supposed to come for a few months,” Ocellus commented. “What’s going on?”
“Lighthoof struck again!” Silverstream claimed. “She’s changing the weather!”
“Silver, get a hold of yourself,” Gallus cried, calming her down.
“This still can’t be good,” Ocellus said. “Winter’s being cleared away too fast.”
There were a few cracks and screams which the students quickly went to investigate. They all saw several ponies ice skating on a frozen pond, which was cracking and melting. Thinking fast, Gallus, Silverstream, Ocellus, and Pate quickly flew to the rescue.
They quickly lifted the ponies on the pond up and carried them off the ice before it could break away and melt. The weather might’ve been warming up, but the water was still freezing.
“Oh, we need to find Lighthoof, fast,” Shimmy Shake shuttered.
“Yona getting scared,” Yona shivered.
“Stay brave Yona,” Sandbar said, calming his girlfriend down. Shimmy was starting to get a little frantic and quickly ran off. “Shimmy, wait!”
“Guys, you do what you need to do,” Shimmy replied, “I’ve got to find Lighthoof now!” She ran as fast as she could to find her friend. Pate saw her leaving and quickly followed after helping a pony to safety.
“Thank you,” a colt said, thanking him.
“No problem,” he replied back, then quickly followed Shimmy. And he finally catches up with her.
“Okay, where do you think she could be?” Pate asked.
“I’m thinking,” Shimmy replied. She thought as much as she could. “She’s probably jealous.”
“I thought I did taste something bitter.”
Shimmy quickly stopped in her tracks and looked at her boyfriend. “Since when?” she asked.
“Yesterday, at Sugarcube Corner,” Pate explained.
“W...Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think it was Lighthoof. Even if it was, I didn’t want to hurt your relationship with her.”
“But... Lighthoof would’ve told me if something was wrong. I can’t wrap my head around it. We’re best friends.” She held her head as she tried to think.
“How about I go up and look around for Lighthoof?” Shimmy simply nodded and the changeling did his idea. He flew up into the air and began scanning the area. He could see something glowing close by.
“Shimmy,” he called her, “I think I see her.” Pate quickly led the way as Lighthoof was doing some more magic.
For some reason, the young mare found herself starting to enjoy the magic. She looked around at an old-looking table. “Ugh, that table looks so vile, how about I give it some style?” She quickly zapped the table and turned its wooden body into crystal.
Then she looked over to working vests. ”Why just wear a typical vest, when you can always look your best?” She quickly zapped all the vests and turned them into some fancy looking dresses that would put Rarity to shame.
“Lighty, you’re so amazing,” Sunshine cooed.
“Oh, thank you, Sunny,” Lighthoof replied. “Gale, Flare, please fetch that table and dresses.” The griffon and dragon did as they were told as Lighthoof smiled at her magic.
Shimmy Shake and Pate found her, but something didn’t look right. “Wait. Is she...…Taller than usual?” Pate asked.
Shimmy squinted a bit and could see the changeling wasn’t wrong. “Yeah. How did she get taller?” Shimmy questioned. Pate simply shrugged. “Well, we can’t let this get any worse.” Taking a deep breath, Shimmy ran towards her friend.
Lighthoof quickly saw the blonde pony running towards her. With a simple eye roll, Lighthoof stopped her friend in her place. “Shimmy, it’s about time you showed up,” Lighthoof commented.
“Lighthoof, you have to listen to me. This isn’t who you are.”
“What do you mean? I’m enjoying myself here.”
“Are you? You turn Coral into a balloon, Smolder’s stuck in a painting, Headmare Starlight is an old mare now, and just look at the boys.” Lighthoof looked at Sunshine, who just stared at her with lovey-dovey eyes. Gale was holding the dresses while Flare held the table over his head. “Do you think they would be enjoying this.”
Lighthoof started feeling a little guilty until she saw Pate run up and try to pull Shimmy off her grip. This triggered something to make the unicorn angry and she levitated the changeling into the air. ”I’ve been having enough of you, and I think it’s about...”
“Lighthoof stop!” Shimmy screamed. The unicorn looked at her friend just as the young five started showing up. “Look at yourself. What’s happened to you?”
Lighthoof found herself a mirror to look at her reflection. Her expression quickly turned to shock and horror as she got a good look at herself. She then actually looked at the boys that were under her control. She brought her hoof to her head and sighed. “What have I done?”
“Don’t listen to her. She’s just trying to keep you in her shadow,” Majesty said.
“Shut up,” Lighthoof said to the pony in her head.
"Light, what's going on?"
"I...I Found a journal at the castle and……some mare named Majesty showed up in my dream."
"Why did you listen to her?" Shimmy asked. She was getting anxious.
"Because..." Lighthoof stuttered, "It's because of you!" The young mare was speechless at what she just heard. "Let's take a look at some things you have that I don't. One, you're more likely to get a position that you're not cut out for; and second, Pate!"
"Me?" Pate questioned.
"Yes, you! Shimmy and I've been friends for years. We've always been together and then one day, some bug-horse comes along and asks her out. Next thing you know, both a male and female are hanging out because their relationship is bound to last longer than the single friend."
“You’re... Jealous?” Shimmy questioned. “That’s why you did all of this?!”
“Yes, I’m jealous. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Yes! If you told me that, none of this would be happening.”
There was a moment of silence. Lighthoof looked at herself again and sighed. “You’re right. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“You know I would never forget about you. You’re my best friend. You should be able to tell me about these kinds of things.”
“But... If I do learn my lesson here, what can we do about this? I’ve pretty much just caused Smolder and Coral to be a painting and balloon forever respectively.”
“If you do all of those spells, can’t there be one that can turn back time?” Pate asked.
“He’s wrong,” Majesty said. By judging her voice, Lighthoof could tell she was getting worried.
“It’s worth a shot,” Lighthoof replied. She took a deep breath, and started thinking about how the spell should go. ”I’ve been foolish and my envy blinded me, thus it caused the truth to be impossible to see. I wish to learn from my mistakes, it’s for my friends so I’ll do what it takes. So, please let’s have time to rewind, so I can make all of my mistakes today.”
With that being said, Lighthoof’s horn started glowing. Brighter. And brighter. It was starting to engulf her, Shimmy, and Pate. It flicked and started absorbing the rest of Ponyville. And then--
๑
Lighthoof shook her head. She looked around. She was now back in the Castle of the Sister. Not only that, but Pate was there with Ocellus and Emerald.
Pate looked around confused and walked over to the cheerleader. “Were you...a unicorn before?” the changeling questioned.
“I…I think so,” Lighthoof replied. She quickly bit herself to check to see if she was awake, which she was. With that confirmation, Lighthoof then looked at the journal she had just found and jumped back in fright. Pate thought fast and turned himself into an alligator before tossing the journal into the air before he caught it in his mouth and ate it.
“Huh, this journal is a lot harder to chew than I thought. Looked like a paper cover to me.” He then managed to swallow it before changeling back to his base form.
“What are you doing?” Emerald questioned.
“Um... I was wanting to show Lighthoof what forms I can turn into, but a book fell into my mouth.”
“...Yeah,” Lighthoof said, confirming the changeling's claim.
“...Okay then,” Emerald said.
“I think I’m going to check to see how the girls are doing?” Lighthoof quickly walked off with Pate deciding to follow her.
Shimmy Shake was staring off into space before Smolder decided to snap her claws. “Hey, Equestria to Shimmy,” the dragoness said. The mare snapped back to reality and looked at her confused friend.
“Sorry, Smolder,” Shimmy apologized. “I just lost my train of thought.” She then looked over to Pate and Lighthoof, who were walking over to them.
“I thought you were exploring the castle,” Tarsi commented.
“We start getting a little bit cold,” Lighthoof said. “Plus, I’m not sure if I do have some homework back at school, but I think I should double-check.”
“I……should probably do the same thing,” Shimmy said.
“Can we still use your makeup kit?” Grace asked.
“Only if you don’t overuse it and return it in one piece.” The girls agreed and Shimmy soon left with Lighthoof and Pate. After walking out of the Treehouse’s earshot, the cheerleader both talked between each other. “So, how long have you been envious of me?”
“It started when you and Pate had your first date,” Lighthoof sighed. “I didn’t think much of it, but you two started spending more time together. I was starting to feel like a third wheel. Not to mention, you had a boyfriend while I didn't. He even wrote a superhero based on you.”
“...That’s true. But you know I wouldn’t just stop hanging out with you. What kind of a friend would I be if I did that?” Lighthoof sighed. “Listen, next time you’re having an issue, let me know so things don’t spin out of control. Okay?”
“...Okay.” They kept walking back to school as a colt and griffon were having a conversation.
“Hey, Gallus,” Sandbar said, “Do you have... Deja vu?”
“...Kind of,” Gallus admitted. “Was... Lighthoof a unicorn?”
“I think so. I could’ve sworn Smolder was a talking painting. What happened?”
“I think some things are better left a mystery.” The two didn’t say anything else. As the changeling and two cheerleaders walked past them.
“Let’s just pretend that what happened, didn’t happen,” Lighthoof said.
“Pretend what didn’t happen?” Shimmy asked with a wink. Lighthoof smiled as she hugged her friend. The two were glad they were able to put their strange event behind them and stay friends.