“Applejack! Applejack!” Nightstar shouted for what seemed to her the thousandth time, but the forest remained silent once again. Except for the sound of the blizzard picking up.
“Zis iz a lost coze,” she complained. “We’ve been searching for yourr frriend for hours. My throat hurts and I am chilled to ze bone! We have to turn back, orr we freeze here!”
“Oh my. You must be catching a cold,” Fluttershy worried aloud.
“Girls, focus!” Pinkie sharply barked an order. “We have a friend to find and we are NOT leaving until we have her back.”
Nightstar blew at her hooves and tried to spread the warmth along her chilled sides. If it weren’t for Pinkie, they would have been back home already. The cheerful, if not completely sane, prank-loving mare was gone. The transformation was bizarre, if not outright chilling.
“Pinkie, we need to go back! Who knows what iz going to answerr ourr calls in herre?” Nighstar pleaded.
As if obeying the mare’s summon, a howl came flying from amongst the trees. The sound was returned from several other directions.
“Of course!” Nighstar slapped herself on the face, smothering it with snow. “That sounds about right at the moment! Fluttershy, I don’t suppose you can talk to Timberwolves too?”
“N-no, I c-can’t. T-timberwolves are n-not animals, t-they are m-m-monsters!” Fluttershy whimpered.
One by one the green glowing dots began appearing throughout the trees, pushing all three ponies back to back.
“Okay, I am done,” Nighstar grunted. “Flutters, grab her!” The yellow pegasus grasped one of Pinkie’s foreleg while the thestral had another. “Now lift!”
“Put me back down! I’ll show those Timbermeanies the definition of a proper howling!” Pinkie protested as the ground started to fly away from her.
“No way, Pinkie! We aren’t finding Applejack if we're dead!” Nigthstar shot back, shutting down the argument before it began. “We are going back! Fluttershy, flap your wings.”
“Try-ing!” Fluttershy was audibly strained. The frail pegasus struggled to fly with additional weight.
“Hold her, it won’t be far!” Nighstar promised and flapped her own wings harder to compensate for the weaker pegasus.
Flying back to Ponyville with cargo was challenging and took longer, the blizzard soon arrived in full force barely allowing the trio enough time to get inside Fluttershy’s home again. All three, cold and coughing.
“Aghhh! Grogar’s hairy..!” Nightstar swore in exasperation. “I forgot about the meeting, Dreamy is going to murder me!” Nighstar went on attempting to re-ignite the fire to warm herself.
“Oh, my! I am so terribly sorry to have put you in trouble!” Fluttershy immediately apologized.
“Ooo!” Pinkie cooed with excitement.
“No, they won’t be burning me on the pyre,” Nightstar sighed, tired of Pinkie’s humor.
“I’ll make us some hot chocolate, to help us warm up a little,” Fluttershy suggested.
“Oh, Flutters, you are the best.”
The fire soon started to crackle again, starting to warm the room. Nighstar also noted Philomena being absent at the time.
Nighstar’s brief moment of relief soon fleeted away leaving her with the morbid anticipation of the punishment she was going to recieve once she was back in the city.
“Hey, hey! No need to sulk, Nighty, we’ll find AJ later! She’s a big girl, no mossy-old Timberwolf can get to her!” Pinkie dropped next to her by the fire.
“It’s not your friend that I am worried about!” Nighstar pouted, having enough of the pink nuisance. “My mistress will punish me for disappearing! Even more so after I couldn’t tell her where I went!”
“Your mistress? Oh, you are just like Shadow!” Pinkie pointed out, entirely unfazed by thestral's attitude.
“Who in Tartarus that is even?!” Nightstar blasted in frustration. “Is there any time at all when you talk any sense?”
“Oh, that’s Nightmare Moon’s changeling. Rainbow said she takes scouting waaaaaaay too seriously!”
Pinkie’s explanation instantly cooled Nighstar’s temper,
“A changeling?”
“Yeah, she had been living in Twilight’s Castle for a while. A really funny gal she is! She can tell you ANYTHING with a straight face! AJ hates her though, she was never the type for comedy. ‘Dat missy is nothin’ but trouble, m' tellin’ ya!’” Pinkie gave her best impression of the farmer.
“No, no!” Nighstar rapidly waved her hooves. “You said the Empress sent her here to live? Herself!?”
“Hmm? Yep,” Pinkie said, looking entirely disinterested in this part. “Keeps saying: Mistress this and Mistress that.”
“But… how?! Changelings are her enemies! You are lying! You are pulling one of your pranks!” It had to be so, because if she wasn’t…
To Nighstar’s great relief, Pinkie burst into laughter.
Finally, Fluttershy has returned, saving Nighstar from any more jokes coming her way,
“Here you are!” she happily smiled, passing cups to the ponies by the fire.
“You gave me the best idea for a prank ever!” Pinkie declared.
“Oh no, not again,” Nighstar mumbled.
“Pinkie, maybe save it for later,” Fluttershy stepped in Nighstar’s defense. “We all are a little too tired for more jokes.”
Pinkie suddenly looked confused,
“What jokes? I didn’t make any yet.”
“For Her stary sky’s sake, you keep doing your stupid jokes ever since you came!” Nightstar flared.
Pinkie shook her head,
“No, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did! You just told me that the goddess employs her sworn enemies as her servants! Even we, her most devout, have to earn a great honor!” Nighstar reverently stated.
“You mean Shadow? Pff-ha-ha-ha! That was no joke, silly!” Pinkie giggled. “She really does work for Nightmare Moon! She says so herself! Fluttershy, tell her!”
Upon hearing her name called out Fluttershy instantly shrank,
“Well… it is true?” Fluttershy whispered.
“It can’t be,” Nighstar refused to believe again. “This… you must be mistaken.”
“Nope, she’s as much a changeling as we are ponies,” Pinkie confirmed once again. “We can ask Spike! Or Applejack, once she’s back. And Rarity too!”
“Ah… that would take a little travel,” Fluttershy cautiously objected.
“Oh, my bad,” Pinkie shrugged without losing her smile.
The idea was… unusual, the High Priestess would most certainly not approve, but not as world-shattering as Nightstar originally thought. Fluttershy knew the goddess personally, she would not insult her by lying so.
Actually, it didn’t sound so weird at all.
“Well, of course!” she slapped herself on the face, being embarrassed to even have had doubts, to begin with.
“Already planning a witch hunt?” Pinkie pinched her again, but Nightastar just waved it off.
“That changeling is in her service because she earned it!” Nighstar declared.
“As Rainbow would have said: Duh!” Pinkie made a perfect parody.
“The Moon, in her glory, offered changelings a place among her subjects! It is only natural that some of them would rise!” Nighstar inspiredly continued. Pinkie opened her mouth again but Fluttershy nudged her on the ribs before she could say anything else.
“I have to tell the others! We should hold a glorious celebration for our queen’s mercy!”
“Won't you stay at least for a little bit? There’s a blizzard outside,” Fluttershy asked, worried.
Nighstar looked at the clock and determinedly shook her head,
“It’s almost dawn, I have to tell the Priestess before the sun rises, or we would have to wait for the next gathering.”
Nightstar finished her drink and quickly went to get her things,
“Thank you for this revelation! I think Dreamy would thank you on behalf of the whole congregation too! Goodbye to you both!”
“Sure, see ya!” Pinkie waved.
“Stay safe,” Fluttershy asked instead of saying her goodbyes. Nighstar only nodded with a smile and stepped back into the storm.
“Do you think Dreamy is going to lynch her, or just kick her out?” Pinkie excitedly asked once the door closed.