//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 // Story: Pinning the Heart // by Random_User //------------------------------// Chapter 34 “You weren’t kidding,” Filter said and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his magic. “Rumble means business with his training.” “He’ll get you to push yourself, that’s for sure,” Berry said. “If he doesn’t become a chef or a Wonderbolt, he’ll make a great drill sergeant,” Barrel joked. “What’s the rule on talking if you’re not encouraging your training buddies?!” Rumble asked. “If you can chatter, you can go faster!” The foals answered in chorus. “Let’s pick up the pace then!” Rumble said and hastened his trot. “You tell em!” Thunderlane cheered, sounding as if the new pace were no effort to him. Hearing panting, I glanced over at Turner and grinned. “Come on Turner, you can do it!” “Gasp!” Turner gave me a nasty look. “How did I get talked into this again?!” “Rarity!” Thunderlane said. “I don’t recall her being involved in the conversation. Gasp! I believe it was my lovely wife and my daughters who convinced me to take leave of my senses.” “That’s not what I meant,” Thunderlane turned his head and nodded to his right. “It’s Rarity, and it looks like she’s having trouble.” “Slow pace!” Rumble led the herd in a jog towards Rarity and the pair of overloaded trolleys she was attempting to pull along. Thunderlane pulled away from our group at a full gallop. “Rarity!” he called to her. “You’re back!” “Show off,” Turner grumbled. “Darling, it’s so good to see- oomph!” Rarity giggled as Thunderlane picked her up and spun her around in a full circle. Putting Rarity back on her hooves, he shielded their upper bodies from sight with his wings and leaned forward. Rarity leaned in to meet him, and hummed a satisfied note. Kevin stumbled a bit, with a goofy smile on his face. “Wow.” Pinch giggled and slowed down to steady Kevin. “You all right?” “I’m fine,” Kevin said. “Thanks.” “Drat!” Dinky said and hopped up and down in frustration. “I should have brought the detector. This would have been a perfect spontaneous test.” Pinch laughed. “Don’t worry, we can test the new calibrations with your mom and dad or my mom and dad soon.” “Just bring it when Pin sees Coco again,” Amethyst teased. “You’re sure to get some readings then.” Thunderlane dropped his wings, and Rarity, blushing, waved a hoof at us. “Hello everypony.” She blinked in surprise. “Filter?! Filter smiled and waved at her. “Hello Miss Rarity.” “Not that I’m not pleased to see you, but what in Equestria are you doing here?” “Pin invited me,” Field said and patted me on the shoulder with a hoof. “He’s picking up the new menus for the Tasty Treat and taking a couple of days off to visit Ponyville,” I said. “Hmm,” Rarity said. She gave me a look that told me my answer had not convinced her. “It’s true,” Rumble said. “He’s going with us, Bon Bon, and Lyra to the Ponyville Buckball Tournament this afternoon.” Rarity looked as if she recalled something. “That’s right. Fluttershy mentioned she and Pinkie would play in a tournament soon. Since I wasn’t planning on being here the date must have slipped my mind.” “Why are you back, Miss Rarity?” Noi asked. “Pin said we still had to wait two weeks for you and Miss Coco to get back.” She looked worried. “Is everything okay?” “Everything is fine. At least, I believe it is. Twilight sent me a message that Celestia had written to her saying the Elements of Harmony were needed to help with an important diplomatic issue. We’ll be meeting tomorrow to discuss the matter. What we will discuss, I haven’t the faintest clue. Twilight didn’t provide many details.” “I hope nothing bad has happened,” Piña said, looking worried. Rarity gave her a kind smile. “I’m sure it hasn’t. If not, Twilight would have been more specific with her message and asked us to meet her post haste.” “Since you’re here, would you like to go with us to the tournament?” Thunderlane asked, sounding hopeful. “I would love to, darling, but as you can see I have a lot to sort out and put away.” Rarity looked to the two trolleys and sighed. “I will also need to repack so I can get on the earliest train back to Manehatten after we address whatever has come up.” “Oh.” Thunderlane’s ears fell, and he looked crestfallen. “Had I known you were coming I’d...” He glanced at us and looked guilty. “You’d have ditched us,” Barrel said. Thunderlane flinched. “I wouldn’t put it quite like that.” He looked to Rarity. “If I help, could you make it?” “Having your help would make things go faster, but I doubt it would make it so we could make the tournament,” she said. She gave Thunderlane a halfhearted smile. “If you see Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Snails before their games, tell them I’ll be cheering for them from afar.” “I could help too,” I offered. “I’ve worked in your shop before and know where most things go.” “You’re such a dear, but I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Rarity said. “You have a guest to tend to.” “We can take care of Mister Filter, while he’s helping you,” Piña said. She gave Dinky a prod with her elbow. “Right Dinks?” “Right!” Dinky said with enthusiasm. I glanced at Filter, who gave me a wink. Doing my best not to grin, I asked the foals, “You wouldn’t mind being Filter’s hosts for me?” “Of course we wouldn’t,” Pinch said. “I don’t know,” I said, feigning being worried. “There was a lot we needed to do to get ready.” “Like what?” Berry asked, looking at me with mock suspicion. “Pin said something about getting a ‘lucky hat’ before things started,” Filter said. “We can show you where they’re selling them,” Rumble said. “Pin mentioned we needed to paint our faces, too,” Filter said. “He told me it was good luck for Ponyville’s fans to wear the team’s colors.” Dinky pranced in place. “We're going to do that too! We could do it together!” “Dinks, calm down,” Kevin said, taking a step away from Dinky. “I needed to teach him the rules of buckball too,” I told them. Dinky’s prancing halted, and the foals gasped. “You don’t know the rules?!” Noi asked in disbelief. Filter shook his head. “I’ve never even seen a game being played.” “Dinks,” Kevin said, taking another step back from her. “Really?!” Dinky asked. “We’re going to be with you for your first game?!” Dinky asked. “Really,” Filter confirmed, smiling. “This is going to be so great!” Dinky said and then ran up and gave Filter a hug. “We’ll make you a buckball fan in no time!” Kevin sat down and shook his head. “I took steps back from her and she still got me,” he said, drawing giggles from Noi, Piña, and Pinch. “Dinky,” Muffins chided in a gentle tone. “What have you been told about doing that?” “Ask permission first,” Dinky said, her ears half down. She let go of Filter. “Sorry, Mister Filter, I got excited.” “No harm no foul,” Filter said. He grinned and asked, “Are there fouls in buckball?” The town’s clock chimed the half hour with pleasant notes. “Sounds wonderful Dad,” Amethyst complemented. “Much better than that horrible clunking noise it was making.” “All she needed was some love and care, a bit of oiling, getting the movements in rhythm, and she was singing sweet tunes again,” Turner said. “That works with Berry too,” Barrel deadpanned. Berry looked shocked, blushed, and smacked Barrel’s shoulder with a hoof. “There are foals present!” Barrel feigned innocence, but the playful spark in his eyes ruined his act. “I didn’t say anything inappropriate.” “We’ve had enough of a break,” Rumble said. “Everypony who is not going to Rarity’s to help her, follow me. We’ll have to push to get home, clean up, and then meet back up to get ready for the tournament.” “You guys have fun,” Amethyst said. “I’m going to go with Pin and Thunderlane.” She smiled and rubbed her hooves together in an almost maniacal way. “I feel an organizing spree coming on.” ***** What is going on? I thought, as raucous laughter came from just outside the shop. I looked up from my ledger, as the shop’s door opened and it’s bell chimed. Filter stepped inside blushing a brilliant shade of red. “You all right?” I asked him. “Yes,” Filter answered. He glanced over his shoulder, just as Muffins waved to me through the shop’s window. She paused, waved at Filter, and gave him a teasing grin. Looking embarrassed, Filter waved back with a tortured smile plastered to his face. Muffins laughed before she turned and trotted away from the window. “All right, spill it,” I said. “What did you do?” Filter, still blushing, approached the counter. “I might have said something inappropriate to Miss Muffins.” “If Muffins was joking around with you it couldn’t have been too bad.” I raised an eyebrow. “How inappropriate are we talking, though?” Filter gave me a guilty look. “Turner would not be happy level bad.” I snorted. “I doubt that. I’ve never known Turner to get upset about somepony saying something about Muffins, unless they were making fun of her amblyopia. Tell me what happened, and I can tell you how much trouble you’re in.” Filter put a stack of mail on the counter and glanced back towards the store’s window. “Muffins landed close to the shop as I was about to come in and asked if I would carry your mail in for you. I said, ‘sure,’ and took your mail from her. She gave me a wing hug and thanked me for taking your mail and for being so nice to Dinky and the foals the last couple of days.” Filter paused, and his blush almost went as red as it had been when he came into the shop. I motioned for him to continue. “Go on.” “She asked if I minded the hug, since she didn’t ask before giving it to me.” “And she wonders where Dinky gets it.” “I told her, ‘I don’t mind at all. Your wings are so soft and warm I could stay with you like this all day,’ without thinking.” I laughed and waved a hoof. “Don’t worry about it. Compared to me telling her she smelled like muffins one time, what you said is nothing.” Filter stared at me. “You didn’t tell her that.” “I did, in front of an entire group of ponies. Turner gave me Tartarus for it later, but he wasn’t mad. He thought it was funny.” “Then I don’t feel quite so bad,” Filter said. “Muffins has this ability to get ponies to say what's on their mind. I think it’s because she can make you so comfortable around her things bubble out without you meaning to say them.” Filter looked thoughtful. “That fits her cutie mark.” I nodded toward his saddlebags. “How did things go with Jasmine and the tea?” “Great! Miss Leaf gave me an entire set of samples to take back to Saffron. She didn’t charge me much even though I offered more for them.” “Jasmine’s a smart business mare. Knowing her, she sold them to you at cost to make a good impression with Saffron. Did she brew you any of them?” “Only a couple of them,” Filter said. “They were both delicious.” “I wasn’t kidding when I said Jasmine has some of the best teas I’ve ever tasted.” Filter snorted in annoyance and his ears pinned back. “I still can’t believe that jerk raised the prices on his teas so much.” “I can. Saffron can take it as a kind of complement. Canterlot suppliers will try to raise their prices on successful businesses. Since this is the second time she has it happen, her restaurant must be quite popular in several circles.” Filter’s ears went back up. “That’s good news. As long as she can keep from being gouged, she can take it as a sign things are going well and not worry too much about it.” “If another supplier raises prices on her you can be a hero again too.” “I’d rather she not have any trouble at all,” Filter said, his ears falling a bit. I studied him for a moment and then grinned. “What?” he asked. “It shows you care for her.” “Her and her family,” he said with a nod. “The restaurant means so much to them, I don’t want them to have to worry about it because of some greedy sleazeball trying to take advantage of them.” “Are you including her dad in that?” I joked. “Even the grouch,” Filter said through a chuckle. Feeling something was off, I glanced up at the shop's clock. “That’s strange.” Filter followed my gaze and looked up at the clock. “The time looks right to me.” “That’s not it. The foals said they wanted to come see you after school. They should be here by now.” Filter shrugged. “Maybe they got caught up with something after class.” “That’s possible, but I would have thought Dinky would have shown up even if something was going on at the school.” “I’m sure they’ll be here in a few minutes,” Filter said and walked around the counter. “I’ll go put these up and then I’ll get back to sketching.” “You don’t have to work on the design today. These are your days off, remember?” “Working on the design isn’t work. It’s fun.” He stopped and grinned at me. “I’m excited just thinking about how she’s going to react. Besides, I’m going to be getting back on the train the day after tomorrow.” “It doesn’t seem like you’ve been here that long.” “Good, that means I haven’t been too much of a pain.” “Quite the opposite,” I assured Filter. “I’ve enjoyed you being here. I hope you don’t feel you’ve misspent your days off.” Filter snorted. “Are you kidding? We’ve gone to a buckball tournament and I got to meet the Elements of Harmony while we were there. Yesterday, we went on a guided tour of the most beautiful caverns I’ve ever seen, played buckball with everypony, then had a cookout, and this morning you took me to the ice archery range.” He grinned, turned, and patted his saddlebags. “And this afternoon you directed me to the perfect solution for Saffron’s problem and I got some delicious teas for myself at the same time. This trip has been awesome!” “I’m glad. I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you, but the pickups I had scheduled couldn’t wait.” Filter waved my words away with a hoof. “I understand. You have a business to run. It’s not like you didn’t tell me about it before I got here either.” He stepped into the back of the shop. “I’ll keep an ear out for the foals, but grab me if I don’t come down. I get lost in my work sometimes.” “Will do.” After the final two pickups of the day and an hour later I finished up my work on the ledger and put it away. Glancing at the clock, I muttered, “Something’s wrong.” As if summoned by my worrying, Filter stuck his head into the storefront through the workroom door. “Still no foals?” “No.” I stood up and started putting things in their places. “I’m going to close a bit early and go looking for them.” Filter gave me a concerned look. “You’re worried.” “I am. This is not like them, and with us living so close to the Everfree Forest and it getting close to dark...” “I’ll go with you,” Filter said, his tone serious. The shop’s door opened and Cheerilee, Piña, and Sweetie Belle stepped in. “Piña, what...” I stopped as I noticed how tense the trio were. “Are you okay?” “I wanted to come by and thank you for fixing us dinner last night, Uncle Pin,” Piña said, sounding cautious. I looked at Filter, who gave me a confused look. “What are you talking about?” I said, turning back to Piña. “We all had a cookout at your place after we played buckball.” “I wanted to meet my sister’s friend Coco’s cousin.” Sweetie walked up to Filter and gave him a nervous smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you sooner, but I’ve been busy helping Noi with her flying lessons.” Filter’s brow furrowed. “Noi’s an earth pony and Coco’s my sister. What are you-?” “It is them!” Piña said with relief. She rushed up to me and gave me a hug that made me grunt. She started crying, and I gave her as comforting a hug as I could. “What in Equestria is going on?” I asked. “Changelings are here in Ponyville,” Cheerilee said, doing an admirable job of keeping her voice calm. “We needed to get help as soon as we could. Since Filter is in the Royal Guard, we thought it would be best to come here to contact him so he can get us help.” “Changelings other than Kevin?” Filter asked. Cheerilee nodded. “Amethyst is holding one in her magic in the school's basement right now.” “Sisters help us,” I said, as a chill of fear ran through me. “We don’t know where Pinch and Kevin are,” Piña said through her sobs. “We split up and-” She hiccuped and looked frustrated with herself. “I can’t be crying and hiccuping right now!” She stepped back from me and wiped away her tears. “I’m sorry, Uncle Pin. I was so relieved it was you I lost control.” Cheerilee hugged Piña and nuzzled the top of her head. “You’ve been very strong and brave. Don’t be hard on yourself for crying. I’m close to crying too, worrying about all you foals Amethyst, Riff, and everypony else.” Filter looked at me and said, “Pin, I’m going to need a pen and paper. I’ve got to send a message to-” “Don’t send it to Spike!” Sweetie blurted. “We think they got him and Twilight.” Her voice trembled as she added, “We think they got Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie too.” “Pin,” Filter said, snapping me out of my shocked state. “Can I have that pen and paper, please?” he said with patience. “Got it!” I used my magic to pull a quill, ink, and sheets of paper from my work supplies. I transferred the supplies over to Filter’s magical hold and looked to Cheerilee. “You have a changeling in the school’s basement?” Cheerilee nodded. “I’m not sure what happened, to be honest. Amythest and I were tutoring some students after school while Riff was refereeing a hoofball game with some of the foals outside. Everything was fine, and then sompepony ran into the schoolyard yelling that changelings were in Ponyville. There was a commotion and the sounds of a scuffle. I ran outside to see what was going on, and Rumble had tackled a foal to the ground. Scootaloo and Piña jumped on top of the foal too and held him down. Before I could ask what was going on, Pinch cast a spell I’ve never seen before, and the foal turned into a changeling.” “And Amethyst ended up holding him in the basement while you went for help,” Filter said. Cheerilee nodded. “Riff stayed with her and the foals, in case anything happened.” “Good thinking,” Filter said. He looked at Sweetie Belle and gave her a comforting smile. “You must be Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie Belle nodded and sniffed. “I am.” “I remember you from the reports on the Elements we guards have to study. You look just like your photo. The reports say you are brave like your sister and have had your own adventures.” Sweetie smiled back at Filter. “Not quite like my sister’s, but a couple of them.” “I need you two to tell me what happened, so I can give more details to my commanding officer.” “Apple Bloom’s was telling everypony at school her sister had been acting kinda off this morning and she didn’t seem to know the morning routine around the farm too well. I said that Applejack may have been working herself too hard again, since Rarity can act funny when she’s been working too hard too, and then Scootaloo joked that maybe Applejack was a changeling.” “Little did she know,” Piña said in a tone that lacked humor. Sweetie Belle nodded. “Apple Bloom didn’t think it was all that funny either, since the way Applejack was acting like some of the things Twilight and Miss Cheerilee have told us to be on the lookout for if we thought somepony might be a changeling. She remembered hearing Dinky had made that changeling detector with her dad, and said we should ask her about it after school.” “So that’s how you got involved,” Filter said to Piña. “After school, the Cutie Mark Crusaders went to Dinky about what was going on and asked if they could use her detector,” Dinky told us. “Since we were Dinky, we heard what was going on and volunteered to go with them, in case it was a changeling.” “So you went and got Dinky’s device and went to the Apples,” I guessed. Piña nodded. “We talked to Big McIntosh about what was going on. He thought we were kidding, but he agreed to come with us when we talked to Applejack. When we got closer to Applejack, Kevin froze and said she was a changeling, before Dinky’s tester even did anything. Big Mac said he wanted to try something, and called Applejack over to us.” “Could the changeling sense Kevin?” Filter asked. “I think so,” Piña said. “She was looking at him in a funny way, when she walked over to talk to Big Mac. At first, Dinky’s device didn’t make a sound, but when Big Mac started talking to his ‘Sis’ about how proud he was of her and how much he cared about her Dinky’s detector started chiming.” “She was feeding off his love for Applejack,” I said. “Big Mac set her up.” Filter asked, “What happened then?” “The changeling must have known we were on to her and bolted,” Piña said. Filter paused in his writing. “Towards where?” “Into town,” Sweetie Belle said. “We tried to follow her, but she was too fast. When she ran through some of the alley’s between the buildings we lost sight of her for a few seconds, and she disappeared.” “Tell them about what happened at the Cake’s,” Cheerilee prompted the fillies. Piña nodded. “After we lost the changeling, Big Mac said we should try to get to another of the Elements to warn them what was going on. Sugar Cube Corner was the closest place we could think of with one of the Elements, so we ran there.” “As soon as we got into the shop, Dinky’s machine started chiming,” Sweetie Belle said. “Mister Cake was at the front counter and he asked us what was wrong, since we had come in a rush. Before we could say anything, Big Mac told him we needed to talk to Pinkie about Applejack and asked if we could see her for a minute. Mister Cake said that she was helping Missus Cake with the foals, but that he could go get her for us. Big Mac said we would come back later and took us all back outside.” “I didn’t get what he was doing, when he motioned for us to be quiet and to go back outside. After we moved away from Sugar Cube Corner Kevin said, ‘They’re after the Elements,” and Big Mac said, “Eeyup.” When Piña asked him why he didn’t say anything to Mister Cake he said he didn’t want the changeling to start trouble for he Cakes. “Big Mac told us to split up and then head for the schoolhouse, while he and Apple Bloom went to tell Mayor Mare what was going on,” Sweetie Belle said. “There could be dozens of changelings here, if they’re going after the Elements,” I said. “Rumble said the same thing after he, Piña, and Scoots caught the changeling,” Sweetie told us and gave a worried glance to Piña. “The doofus is flying to Cloudsdale to get the Wonderbolts,” Piña said. “He said we couldn’t wait on the Royal Guard to come, even if we went to get Mister Filter and got his help. We couldn’t even try to talk him out of it. He took off even with us yelling at him not to.” Filter paused in his writing and sighed. “Brave, but reckless. He’s right though, we need hooves on the ground as fast as we can.” He finished up whatever he was writing, folded the paper, and cast a spell that made the letter vanish in a shower of red sparks. “The emergency report is away, now we wait.” “We haven’t seen Apple Bloom or the other foals,” Cheerilee said. “That has me worried.” “Apple Bloom with Big Mac, so she should be okay,” Sweetie Belle said. “Dinky went with Pinch and Kevin, so they should be okay too, since Kevin can tell when another changeling is around.” “We need to go help Amethyst with the changeling,” Filter said. “Do you know any containment spells?” he asked me. “A couple, but it’s been years since I practiced them.” “That’s fine. Hopefully, you won’t have to use them.” He looked to Cheerilee and said, “Lead the way, ma’am.” ***** As we approached the schoolhouse, there was not a pony in sight and the schoolhouse was dark. “There’s nopony here,” I said, worry tinting my voice. “Everypony’s in the basement,” Cheerilee said. She led us to the covered stairwell to the school’s basement and rapt out the rhythm of a tune with her hoof and stepped back. “We thought it would be safer to stay out of view.” Piña tilted her head. “What was that?” Cheerilee grinned. “It’s Amethyst’s favorite tune. It’s better than a password.” There was the sound of a bolt being slid free. The basement door was flung open and Riff stepped out of the stairwell. “You’re back!” he said with relief. “Yes, we-” Cheerilee’s words were cut off as Riff took her in a hug. “You are a brave, beautiful mare,” Riff told her and nuzzled her mane. “Amethyst and I were worried to death.” “Riff, there are students standing right there!” Cheerilee said. “We didn’t see a thing,” Piña said, grinning. Sweetie Belle giggled. “Nothing at all.” Cheerilee smiled. “Good. I trust you won’t see this either.” She turned, hugged Riff back and gave him a quick kiss. “How are the foals?” “They’re all worried about what’s going on, but they’re being brave,” Riff told her. “What about the changeling?” Cheerilee asked. Riff’s ears went back in worry. “Not so good. He’s not responding to anything we say. He’s far more afraid than the foals.” Cheerilee gestured towards Filter with a hoof. “Filter’s already sent a distress message to the Guard, so help should come for everypony soon.” Riff turned to Filter and his ears sprang up with surprise. “The foals weren’t kidding when they said ponies were talking about a ‘giant unicorn’ being in town.” He waved for us to follow him. “Let’s get out of sight.” We followed Riff down into the basement. Being the last pony in our group, I shut and locked the door behind us. “Woah!” one student said. “You were right, Pip. There is a giant unicorn in town.” My attention went to Amethyst, who was maintaining a containment spell around a young changeling who was half curled up in a pitiful shaking ball.” “It’s a foal,” I said, surprised. “I thought I told you it was,” Cheerilee said. “You did, but I thought it was an adult changeling mimicking a foal not a nymph.” “How is everypony?” Cheerilee asked the students. “We’re fine, Miss Cheerilee,” Lisa said. “Is this the Royal Guard?” Cloudy asked. “Mister Filter is in the Guard, yes,” Cheerilee told her. A worried noise came from the changeling and he tried to make himself smaller by sinking lower to the ground. Filter walked close to the bubble with careful, slow steps and sat down. “Hello.” The changeling scrambled to the back of the containment spell and pressed himself against the barrier as if trying to put as much space between him and Filter as possible. His chest heaved with fearful breaths and his eyes never left Filter. “Little guy, please stop!” Amethyst told the changeling. “We told you we’re not going to hurt you!” “He will!” The changeling looked to Amethyst with frantic eyes. “Let me go! Please! I didn’t hurt anybuggy! I didn’t want to hurt anybuggy! We didn’t want to come on this mission at all, but we had to!” He took a breath and pleaded, “Please let me go! He’s going to torture me and tear my wings off! Please!” “I would never hurt any creature, much less a foal!” Filter said, aghast. “The Guard doesn’t do such things either.” “You’re lying,” the changeling said, not with defiance but in terror. “She told us that’s what you did with the other nymphs. You tortured them, you starved them for days, tore off their wings, and then staked them out in the Everfree Forest, and watched them be eaten alive by manticores.” Filter looked horrified. “By the Sisters no! I swear to you, I would never hurt a prisoner, much less a foal, nor would anypony in the Royal Guard.” The nymph slid down the side of the containment sphere and to the floor. “If you won’t, then the bats will. She told us Princess Luna still likes to eat foals and nymphs. She told us her guards will carve us up and feed us to her while we’re still-” “That’s absolute rubbish!” Pip said, jumping to his hooves. “Princess Luna would never eat anypony or let her guards hurt anypony!” “Liars.” The nymph curled up, tears going down his face. He shifted, ducked his head, and shielded his face with his forelegs. “I just want to go home.” An uneasy silence came over everypony. “Who is the ‘she’ he keeps talking about?” Snips asked. “Queen Chrysalis, if I had to bet,” Filter said. A knock came on the basement’s door. The foals tensed, and Cheerilee approached the stairwell with cautious footsteps as Filter and I channeled magic into our horns. “Hello?” “It’s us!” Dinky said through the door. “We have to prove it,” Pinch said, her voice muffled. “Mrs. Cheerilee, if you’re down there, you drew a smiley face on my last quiz,” Dinky said. “That’s them,” Cheerilee said. Using my magic, I undid the bolt to the stairwell door. “It’s unlocked,” I called. The door swung open and Dinky, Kevin, and Pinch came down the stairs. Using my magic, I shut and bolted the door again. “Where were you?!’ Piña asked, as she grabbed Pinch into a hug. “I was worried sick.” “We went the long way through the park, so if there were any changelings around they wouldn’t sense Kevin.” Pinch hugged Piña back. “We went at a normal pace, so we didn’t draw any attention our way. I’m sorry we made you worry.” “It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re safe.” “Sis?” Dinky said, looking at Amethyst and then at the changeling. “What’s going on?” “We had an unexpected guest,” Amethyst said. “Are you okay?” Dinky asked as she gave Amethyst a hug. “I’m fine, but I feel like a ursa, having to hold him like this,” she replied, giving Dinky a hug and nuzzling her mane. Dinky let go of Amethyst looked to Filter. “Can we let him out?” Filter looked down at Dinky and shook his head. “We can’t do that, as much as I would like to.” Dinky walked over and put her hoof against the barrier, sending small ripples across its surface. “Hello?” One of the changeling’s ears twitched. “My name is Dinky,” she said. “I’m sorry you have to be in there. Is there anything we can do for you?” The changeling raised his head. His eyes were puffy from crying, but he did not look as afraid as he had been. He shook his head and curled back up. “He’s back to not talking,” Cheerilee sighed. “Sis, let me in,” Dinky said. Several of the foals gasped. “Dinky!” Amethyst said, sounding shocked. “I can’t.” “Please,” Dinky said. “He’s scared and he’s alone. He needs somepony.” The changeling raised his head and looked at Dinky with suspicion. “Dinky, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Filter told her. “He’s a foal, but consider the situation he’s in. He could take you as a hostage.” “He’s not a monster, he’s just like us.” Dinky said with determination, “I want to help him.” “He won’t hurt anypony,” Kevin assured. The changeling cut his eyes towards Kevin as if recognizing something about him, and then went back to looking at Dinky. “Let her,” Cheerilee said. “Like you said, he’s a foal. He needs somepony right now. I would do it myself, but I have my students to take care of.” “I agree,” Riff said. “How better to prove to him we are not monsters than to let one of our own comfort him?” “Yeah but...” Amethyst said and looked to Dinky. She gave her sister a proud, worried smile. “We’re not going to talk you out of this are we?” Dinky smiled. “No.” “Mom would have my ears,” Amethyst said. “It’s what Mom would do,” Dinky countered. I grinned. “She’s got a point there. Muffin’s would never stand by and let a foal be so miserable.” Amethyst paused for and smiled. “You’re both right, but she’s still going to have my ears.” She nodded to the magic barrier. “Ready?” Looking nervous, Dinky turned to the barrier and nodded. “Ready.” The barrier blinked out of existence, Dinky took a quick step into the space it had encompassed, and then the barrier appeared again with a soft pop of magical power. Dinky moved close to the changeling and sat down. The changeling looked up at her. “You’re worried about me?” Dinky smiled and nodded. “I am. You’re so scared it’s tearing me up.” The changeling sniffed. “I couldn’t tell what any of you were feeling, with you on the other side of the bubble. I thought it was some kind of trick.” Dinky leaned down and hugged the changeling, who stiffened at the contact. “Careful,” Filter cautioned. The changeling sat up to return her hug with an awkward hug of his own. “Thank you.” He held on to Dinky as if she were a lifeline. “My name is Cubitus.” “I’m Dinky,” she told him. As if an unspoken permission had been given, the other foals moved closer to the barrier. “So the barrier’s why you couldn’t tell,” Kevin said. He dropped his disguise, with a flash of green fire, and waved at Cubitus. “Hey Cubi.” Cubitus gasped in shock. “Keratin?! The Queen said the ponies had tortured and killed you!” “Nope!” Kevin grinned. “They took me and the others in our group in.” “She said they would never accept us,” said as if parts of his world were being rearranged. “They want to help.” Kevin nodded to Dinky. “You're hugging one of my best friends. Does she feel like she doesn’t care about you?” Kevin glanced at Dinky, who smiled a bit more. “No, she wants to help.” “We all do,” Pinch said, getting a chorus of affirmatives from the other foals. There was a solid knock on the stairwell door. “Miss Cheerilee? You down there?” Apple Bloom asked, her voice muffled by the door. “You’re going to need to prove you’re you,” Cheerilee called up the stairwell. “Cheer, it’s me, Big Mac,” he said, his deep voice having no trouble being heard. “You wore braces durin’ high school. You wanted them off before our senior pictures, but your dentist said you weren’t quite ready for them to come off.” “It’s them,” Cheerilee confirmed, looking unamused as the foals giggled. I unbolted the door, using my magic. “Come on down,” I called to them. Big McIntosh opened the door and Apple Bloom sprinted down the stairs. “I’m so glad you’re back!” Sweetie Belle said as she and Scootaloo took Apple Bloom in a hug. After returning her friends’ hug, Apple Bloom looked toward Dinky and Cubitus. “What in tarnation is goin’ on?!” “Apple Bloom, this is my friend from the hive, Cubitus,” Kevin introduced. “He came in with the other changelings, if I had to bet.” “Then he knows where my sister is!” Apple Bloom said. Cubitus looked confused. “Your sister?” “Applejack, the Element of Honesty,” Big McIntosh told him. “She’s my sister too.” “The other team took the Elements to the hive,” Cubitus said. “Not good,” Filter said. “That’s in the Badlands.” Apple Bloom looked up to Filter. “We have to help us get her back before they do something horrible to her.” “We wouldn’t do anything to her,” Cubitus said. “The Queen won’t either. She wants them as political hostages and for their powers. She’s planning to mind control them like she did with Prince Armor.” “Really not good,” Filter said. “Why are you here?” Dinky asked. “You’re just a foal.” “I’m one of the team’s foragers,” Cubitus said. “What’s a forager?” Cloudy asked. “I gather love to share with the impersonation team until they could get established and start collecting enough love on their own,” Cubitus told her. “Why were you at the schoolhouse then?” Lisa asked. “Them,” Cubitus said and pointed a hoof at Amethyst, Cheerilee, and Riff in turn. “They have enough love among them to keep the entire team going.” Cheerilee blushed and looked at Amethyst and Riff as if needing help about what to say. Amethyst giggled, shrugged, and said, “Cat’s out of the bag now.” “Our teachers are in a herd?” Cloudy said as if stunned by the news. “You could’ tell?” Lisa asked her, sounding surprised. “Wait a minute,” a slight built pegasus colt said and looked toward Dinky. “You’re Amethyst’s sister, so you had to know.” Dinky gave the colt a guilty smile. “Amethyst asked me not to say anything.” Filter turned back to Cubitus. “How many-” Somepony tried to open the stairwell door, interrupting him. There was a tension filled second of silence before there was another attempt to open the door followed by pounding. “They know we’re here,” Cloudy said, sounding scared. Lisa hugged her and gave her a comforting nuzzle. “It’s going to be okay.” “Cheerilee!” a very impatient sounding Berry called through the door. “You unlock this door right now or I’ll buck it in!” “That sounds like Berry all right,” I said. “Please prove who you are first, please,” Filter said, in a polite guard’s tone, after approaching the stairwell. “I gave you a hug this afternoon, and I want to see my girls,” a concerned sounding Muffins said. “Private Light Filter, this is Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. What did the princesses have as their snacks today?” Filter sighed in relief and answered, “Celestia had tea and two slices of cake. Luna had coffee and a moon pie.” He used his magic to undo the bolt to the stairwell door and opened it. Berry raced down the stairs, scanned the room, ran to Piña and Pinch, and took them in a hug. “Thank the Sisters! Are you two okay?” “We’re fine,” Piña said. Muffins was the next to descend the stairs. While not as rushed as Berry had been, she came down the stairs in a hurry. She looked towards Amethyst and gasped. “Ammy! What in Equestria is going on?!” Dinky let go of Cubitus and waved a hoof at Muffins. “Hey Mom,” she said, sounding worried. “Dinky wanted to help Cubitus feel better, so I let her into the containment spell,” Amethyst said. “He wouldn’t even talk, until Mister Filter came,” Piña said. “When Cubitus saw Filter he freaked out and said the Royal Guard was going to do horrible things to him and feed him to manticores.” “Don’t be mad, Miss Muffins!” Cloudy said. “He was terrified and Dinky and wanted to help.” Muffin sighed and looked at her daughters. “I don’t know whether to scold both of you or tell you how proud I am.” She hugged Amethyst and took her in her wings. “I was worried to death about you, when I found out what had happened and there was a changeling here.” She looked towards the containment sphere and smiled. “Had I know it was a little changeling, I wouldn’t have worried so much.” “Oh wow, it’s Soarin!” one of the students said. Filter came to attention and saluted the Wonderbolt, as he stepped from the stairwell. Soarin saluted back. “At ease.” He looked at the containment bubble and tilted his head. “I was informed there was only one changeling here.” “I’m not a changeling, Mister Soarin,” Dinky said and waved. “I wanted to make Cubitus feel better, since he was so scared.” Soarin gave Filter a no-nonsense look. “Since the changelings are now considered asylum seekers and we are dealing with a nymph rather than an adult, I will let this very serious breach of protocol go and not mention it to Spitfire.” Filter swallowed. “Thank you, Sir.” “Does that mean Amethyst can let him out?” Scootaloo said. Soarin nodded. “She can.” “Thank you!” Amethyst said and ended the spell. She rubbed her horn with a hoof and winced. “I’m going to be feeling that in the morning.” Everypony turned their heads towards the stairwell as uneven hooffalls came down on them. “Easy there, Bro, you don’t want to go tripping down the stairs after all you’ve been through,” Thunderlane said. “Rumble!” Piña and Noi cried, as the colt took exhausted steps into the basement. “I’m ba-” Rumble was cut off as Noi and Piña took him into a crushing hug. “Don’t you ever do something like that again!” Piña scolded him. “He got the Wonderbolts, though!” Noi said. “Girls, he needs to breathe,” Thunderlane said, through a chuckle. “He’s flown far and fast today, so go easy on him.” “Sorry!” Piña said, as she and Noi loosened their grip on Rumble. Soarin looked toward the freed changeling. “Cubitus, right?” “Yes,” he said, fear in his voice. “I am here to inform you, you are now under the protection of the Equestrian Forces as an asylum seeker.” “Thank you.” He swallowed and said, “Thank you so much,” in a raspy voice. “Does that mean everything is okay now?” the slight pegasus colt asked. “The situation is... controlled for the moment,” Soarin said. “Everypony can go home now, but we’re going to need to escort you back.” “Is everypony okay?” Riff asked. Soarin nodded. “Everypony is fine on both sides. The changelings knew we were coming and most of them split. The changelings that stayed were waiting outside of the castle with a white flag. They’re meeting with Mayor Mare and Spitfire right now and telling them everything they know about what is going on.” Cubitus slumped in relief. Dinky hugged him again. “See? Ponies don’t hurt other creatures unless we have to.” “That’s how you knew his name,” Noi said, still holding onto Rumble. “One of them told you.” “That’s right,” Soarin said. “Who…” Cubitus swallowed. “Who told you my name?” “A changeling named Radius,” Soarin said. “He’s the spokespony, er, spokesbuggy for the other three.” “I knew it,” Cubitus said, sounding like some hope had come back to him. “I knew he wouldn’t leave me.” “Is he a friend?” I asked. Cubitus smiled. “He’s my brother.” “Despite everything turning out well with the changelings here, I have some bad news to deliver,” Soarin said, his tone turning grave. “Right now, the Princesses’ location is unknown and we are under martial law. The royal family of the Empire is also missing, along with the Elements of Harmony. We are coordinating with the other Guard forces to organize a rescue attempt.” The foals whispered among themselves in scared voices. “Was anypony else taken?” Cheerilee asked. “Not that we know of, but Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lunamoon, and one of the royal staff from the Empire, a pony named Crystal Hoof, are missing. However, the changelings we have talked to said they were not taken by them and there was never a plan to. Nopony seems to know where they went.” “They must have known we were here,” Cubitus said. “My brother said there were intruders in the castle yesterday, but they got away from the team before they could capture them.” “How many were on each team?” Soarin asked. “Twelve for our team, twenty for the extraction team that took the Elements,” Cubitus said. “I was one of the four foragers for our group.” Filter stared at him with disbelief. “You’re telling me a group of changelings took the Element’s places and they only had four changelings for support?!” “We’re expendable to the Queen,” Cubitus said in a resigned tone. “She told us that if we failed we should be glad to face the horrors of the dungeons of Canterlot instead of suffering what she would do to us if we returned to the hive.” That a nymph could say such things in such a flat and hopeless tone chilled me. “That’s what Radius told us too,” Soarin said. “Radius is part of a group that thinks the Queen’s gone mad,” Cubitus said. “They’ve said she’d starve us all to death or keep sending us on suicide missions until there weren’t any changelings left because she couldn’t get over her wounded pride and admit what she was doing was wrong.” “I told you what they had been saying made sense,” Kevin said to Cubitus. “There are some ponies that aren’t too happy about seeing a changeling or we scare them, but that’s because we attacked them, not because they’re mean. It took a while for me to go over all the lies the Queen told us about them, but now I’m more at home here in most ways than I ever was back at the Hive.” “He’s a Ponyville pony now,” I said. “The foals did the special ceremony in front of the Princesses themselves that made it official.” “That’s right we did!” Piña said and giggled. “Maybe, if you stay long enough, we can do it to you too,” Noi said. “What are you going to do with him?” Dinky asked Soarin. Soarin raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘do with him?’ ” “Are you going to arrest him?” Pinch asked. “I wasn’t planning on it,” Soarin said. “We have standing orders that so long as a changeling does not harm anyone or cause trouble they can feed off of the love of ponies.” “But they involved him in the kidnappings,” Filter said. “I was ordered to check in on him and bring him to Town Hall so he could see his brother. I wasn’t told to make arrests or take prisoners.” Soarin appeared to have an idea. “Wait a minute. You’re staying here right?” “With me,” I said, raising a hoof. “Then you’re coming with me to Town Hall too,” he told Filter. “As the only member of the Royal Guard in Ponyville I think Spitfire and the mayor would like to talk with you.” Filter glanced my way as if asking, “What I have gotten myself pulled into?”