//------------------------------// // Something to Prove // Story: And Hell Followed // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// “Tell us what you remember, Sweetie.” Sunburst sat down next to the bed Rarity and her little sister shared. The filly had finally woken up and he had been the first one they called. It was much appreciated as his curiosity was insatiable. “Anything at all.” He wasn’t good with younger ponies, too emotional and too fragile. “I-...” The filly’s voice cracked with the single syllable as she looked to her older sister. Rarity kept a hoof on her back and nodded, coaxing Sweetie Belle into talking. “There was a voice.” “A voice?” Sunburst did his best to disguise his excitement at the little revelation. “What did it sound like? Was it a mare or a stallion?” He had to refrain from launching into too many questions at once, the last thing they needed was for the changed filly to clam up. “It was a stallion.” Sweetie’s eyes stayed focused on the ground as she spoke. “He kept...he kept saying stuff.” His frustration at the vagueness of the statement built fast. He needed more clarity. “We needed to…” The little unicorn choked back a sob and her whole body started to shake. “We needed to get them.” “Who’s them, Sweetie?” Thankfully, Rarity spoke. If Sunburst had been forced to ask the question he might’ve been a lot rougher about it. “It’s okay, darling. We aren’t mad at you, you did nothing wrong. You can tell us.” Her voice was as smooth as silk and just as gentle with her sister. “Th-the earth ponies and pegasi.” Sweetie Belle stammered out as she began to cry. “We needed to get them. Beat them. We needed to get them all. Them or us. Them or us. Them or us. Them or us.” She kept repeating the phrase over and over again as it devolved into gibberish and sobs. Rarity pulled the filly close to her chest and hummed as she rubbed Sweetie’s back softly. It was a survival instinct, then. Fight or flight cranked up to eleven but minus the flight option. Why? Who was the voice telling the unicorns this stuff? He finally had an answer and it only raised more questions. “Sweetie Belle, I need you to tell me something else. Please. Anything.” Sunburst needed more to work with, he needed more data. “Did the voice ever say his name? Were there any other commands?” He was trying his best, but he couldn’t contain his emotions any longer. “D-dig. Dig. We had to get down. We couldn’t reach it. We couldn’t...we couldn’t get to it right.” The mana pool below the castle. That didn’t sound like something implanted, that sounded like it fit the situation. Whoever was issuing commands was doing so actively. It couldn’t have been Twilight, she wasn’t a stallion. “We had to reach it. We have to reach it. We have to win. Them or us. Them or us.” She launched back into repeating the commands over and over again into Rarity’s chest. “Thank you, both of you, for your time.” Sunburst stood and gave Sweetie a little pat on the back. He shot a look that said ‘I’m sorry.’ to the mare on the bed and turned to leave. The crying and repeated commands didn’t stop as he left. More questions, that’s all he was left with. Every time he had found an answer it led to only more questions. It was a fractal question at this point, and it was frustrating beyond belief. He always knew this wasn’t going to be simple, but he was running out of steam. With a shake of his head he resolved to get to work formulating answers for those questions later. For now, he had a meeting to attend. Sunburst had called a meeting and was organizing his thoughts for it when Rarity had come to get him. Hopefully everypony was downstairs and seated, because it was not going to be an easy discussion. Luckily he had grabbed what he needed before and left it outside of Rarity’s room. He made his way downstairs to the dining hall. Everypony, including the changeling and dragon, were seated and waiting. Applejack, who usually sat at the head of the table, left that seat vacant and motioned for him to take it, which he did. “Okay...um…” It’s too bad he wasn’t that good in front of prepared crowds. Sure he could rattle off explanations and such, but giving speeches? There was a reason he was preparing before being interrupted. “So. Twilight.” Sunburst tapped his hooves on the table before retrieving something from a bag he brought along. He set it on the table for everypony to see. It was nothing special, just a simple medical syringe. Inside, however, it contained the pure mana from the pool below the castle. It was just as radiant while contained as it was down there. Every eye was drawn to it, the foals all ‘ooooh-ing’ softly. “This is how we turn her back.” Sunburst cleared his throat and tapped the syringe with his hoof. “We inject her with mana from the pool. There’s no way we can get her inside long enough to change, and even if we could I doubt we could restrain her without losses.” He looked around the room, his eyes drifting from pony to pony. “So when she gets back from Canterlot we ambush her, inject her, and drag her in here. The combination of this and the magic of the castle should turn her back.” “Should?” Meriwether spoke up. “Well what else might happen?” That was the question he had been dreading. There was no way around this topic, so he had to address it now. “There’s an off chance it kills her.” The disapproving sounds from almost everypony but Cheerilee let him know that they didn’t like that plan. “I-It’s not a big chance! Seeing that the transformation was painful for Sweetie Belle, and seeing how Rainbow reacted to being submerged in the mana, it’s pretty safe to assume this will be extremely painful. Her body transforming back to its normal form and her system being overwhelmed with power will not be easy on her, but it’s the one chance we have.” “What about the Elements of Harmony?” Rainbow, who was sitting next to Pinkie Pie, spoke up. “I know there’s only four of us but the actual, like, jewelry has pretty strong magic, right?” The recently revived pegasus stood up and looked around the room. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to gamble anymore. Especially with Twilight’s life.” “I’ve read Twilight’s books on it: we need all of you to use them and-” Sunburst shrugged. “-we still don’t have Fluttershy.” Rainbow narrowed her eyes at him and leaned forward. “This is still our best chance.” “If you read her books, you egghead, then you would know the Elements are like chock full of harmony.” Rainbow waved her hoof at the stallion and scoffed. “So if we put hers on her head, it might change her back.” “It might not.” Sunburst rebutted. “Well it won’t kill her.” Rainbow shot back. “If the two outcomes are either nothing or getting Twilight back over getting her back or death, I know which one I’m picking.” Rainbow flopped back down in her seat and crossed her hooves. “Rainbow, y’all remember what happened when Discord changed us.” Applejack added after her friend’s outburst. “Twilight tried puttin’ the Elements on us and they didn’t do nothin’. There ain’t no way they’d help now.” “That was different, AJ!” The re-energized Pinkie hopped up into her chair to speak. “We were all discorded out so we didn’t match our Elements! That’s why they didn’t work!” Rainbow nodded along as Pinkie spoke. “But this is different. Twilight may be all monster-y but she still has a lot of magic!” “Maybe y’all are right.” Applejack conceded with a sigh before looking at Sunburst. “Is it worth a shot?” “It depends on where the Elements are.” The expressions of shock and bemusement on the faces of the Element Bearers present only offended the stallion. “What? Twilight didn’t exactly write down the location of the artifacts that regularly save Equestria. Are you surprised?” “They’re in the Everfree Forest.” AJ stood with a sigh. “Ah doubt the tree would take too kindly to anypony but one of us tryin’ to take ‘em. So that means if we wanna try this, somepony has to go get ‘em.” “Me!” Rainbow jumped out of her seat and began to hover above the table with her hoof raised high. “I can do it, there and back, quicker than anypony else!” The wary looks she received from the table made her slowly float back down to her seat. “What?” “Dashie, we just got you back.” Pinkie Pie’s voice turned somber as she rested a hoof on the pegasus’ side. “Do you really want to go back out there?” “Rainbow Dash can do it!” Scootaloo hollered from her chair with a grin. “Twilight isn’t even here, who can stop her? She can get there and back in ten seconds flat with no problem!” The smile the winged Crusader received from Rainbow was nothing short of radiant. “Can it wait a few hours until dark-night...till we know when the unicorns sleep?” Applejack looked to Rainbow, then back over to the stallion at the head of the table. “Do we have any idea when Twilight will be back?” “Well a flight from Canterlot at her size…” Sunburst closed his eyes and did a few rough calculations. “Five hours? That’s a rough estimate. She could get back sooner or later, there’s no way to really know.” He bobbed his head a little as he thought a little more. “Shortest possible is two and a half to three hours, the longest I would say would be six.” “From here to the castle in the Everfree is like a fifteen minute flight at my top speed.” Rainbow shrugged and leaned back in her chair with a grin. “This is practically easy mode!” The eyes of several ponies, including Sunburst, rolled. “Wait two hours at least.” He recommended. “Enough of the unicorns should be asleep that you won’t run into any resistance.” Rainbow pumped her hoof in celebration of the little victory. “But no rainbooms!” Sunburst pointed a hoof at the mare and narrowed his gaze. “I’m not joking, either. We are not putting you back into that pool.” “Alright alright.” Now it was Dash’s turn to roll her eyes. “Two hours, no rainbooms, there and back. I get it!” “I’ll do it instead.” Every head turned to the only changeling in the room. Some eyes were filled with surprise, some with disdain. “W-we can’t afford to have any of them hurt again, right? I can fly too, not as fast as Rainbow Dash but...I don’t think anypony can.” That drew a grin and a knowing nod from the Wonderbolt. “Like Ah said, if you were listenin’, Ah doubt the tree will let anything take the Elements from it besides one of us.” The venom in Applejack’s words were enough to make Sunburst grimace. He didn’t usually care what the rest got up to out here, but there was something beyond nasty floating in the air right now. “Th-then-” Elytra’s wings buzzed beneath her shell as she wilted under the gaze of the earth pony across the table. “-let me clear the way?” Elytra looked to Sunburst to elucidate on her suggestion. “Nopony here has been in the Everfree since this all started. We don’t know if the unicorns are in there yet and the last thing we want is Rainbow Dash getting ambushed like-like…” The changeling looked down at the table and let out a low hum. “...like Applejack was.” “Y’know what?” AJ clicked her tongue and shrugged. “Ah ain’t gonna argue. Ah think this is a great plan.” That drew the visible confusion of everypony else in the room. No one expected the farmpony to agree with Elytra on anything. “Go ahead, we’ll send Dash out when you get back.” ---- “Be careful Elytra!” Scootaloo stood by the changeling on her scooter. The filly’s smile had been replaced by a worried frown. “Fly high, okay? Don’t get too low a-and when you get into the Everfree watch out for Timberwolves...and Cockatrices!” “I’ll be okay, Scoots.” Elytra had adopted the nickname from Rainbow Dash. It was cute and fit the little pony well. “Don’t worry about me, you just make sure everypony here doesn’t get too down, alright? Keep their happiness safe, I know you’re good at that.” She smiled at her closest friend in the castle and ruffled her purple mane. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cheerilee looked more worried than Scootaloo and sounded like it too. Which was a far cry from the accusatory tone the mare had used with Elytra not even a few hours ago. “Hey, if I want them to trust me I have to put something on the line, right?” She had to prove to everypony here that she could be relied on, that they could trust her. “I’ll be okay. As soon as I get into the forest I’ll turn into something small to stay out of sight. Trust me, I’ve been doing this stuff for a long time.” That was the wrong choice of words at the wrong time, and she just realized it. “Okay…just be safe.” The words tasted like a mix of honey and vinegar, care and worry. Elytra had to resist the urge to show how much that combination always bothered her and just nodded. Not wanting to dawdle any longer, the changeling pushed open the massive doors to the castle and stepped into the outdoors. Immediately, she was overcome with just how hot it was. It felt like she was in the middle of a desert, and the scenery wasn’t doing much to dispel that feeling. No grass remained alive and one could see the heat rising from off of the ground. It was starting to get too hot to even step outside. Elytra’s shell opened up and her gossamer wings unfolded. She gave them a few moments to get comfortable before they started to buzz and lift her off of the ground. The heat from the surface helped carry the shapeshifter up above the nearby buildings, which was much needed. She continued to climb, just wanting to stay as far away from the ground as she could. Scootaloo was right, there was no reason to give the unicorns an easy shot. High above Ponyville, about where the clouds would usually be, was her final cruising altitude. The town below, despite it being about nine at ‘night’, was bustling with activity. Unicorns clogged every street within two blocks of town hall. A constant stream of the monsters were going in and out of the massive hole in the middle of town, presumably this was a shift change. They finally had enough that they didn’t have to stop going after whatever they were digging for. For what it was worth, the unicorns paid her no mind. None of them fired shots at her or even so much as cast a glance her way, probably too preoccupied with their task to even care. If she was actually down there they might care, but it seemed like they were smart enough to realize that going after her while she was flying was a waste of time and energy. Elytra wouldn’t complain about that. Her thoughts drifted back to Cheerilee, back to their conversation earlier. It still hurt. She thought that if any ponies were on her side utterly and completely, it would’ve been Cheerilee and Scootaloo. At least one of them still had trust in her. Elytra wanted to help the ponies in the castle, she really did. She had gotten them things she thought would make them happy, and it did make them happy. The night they all spent drinking together had tasted like warm melted chocolate, and when Scootaloo had gotten the scooter again? The sweetest candy she ever had. So it worked! To figure out it was wrong had been puzzling. Things were simpler with other changelings. They all knew what the other was thinking, what they were feeling. No one ever had to say a word and misunderstandings were few and far between. Something like this would never happen in a hive. Then there was Cheerilee herself. The question about whether Elytra really cared about her or Scootaloo still stung, and she still didn’t know the answer. The feeling in her stomach wasn’t as strong as it was with Sweet Brew in Canterlot, but it was still there. Was it just her instincts telling her that Cheerilee would give her love or was it more? It was still hard to tell. There were times, like now, when she wished she had stayed at the hive after the Metamorphosis. All of those changelings had learned about this stuff together as one big family, but she just left. She had wanted to go off and learn on her own, from the ponies who had perfected it. That was a mistake, it turned out. Cheerilee would see in time that Elytra was a good changeling, that she could be trusted. She wasn’t trying to use anypony as food or drain them, it was just...nature. Something she fell into and would try her best to break now that she was more aware of it. Helping like this was a good step in the right direction. Reaching the edge of the forest took roughly thirty minutes at her top speed, which was a lot slower than Dash could ever be. When her hooves touched the ground, a very acidic taste hit her tongue. It made her recoil and nearly retch as it passed over her. Fear, and lots of it. This wasn’t an animal’s fear, either. This was something that was frightened and had a reason for it. It was powerful and overwhelming, making the changeling scrunch her nose up. She wanted to run away and get as far as possible from the stench, but if something was scared it meant that something was alive. Or somepony. As much as her instincts told her to leave and find something tastier, she fought them. The shapeshifter trudged through the thicket until she came along a clear path, which she followed. It was a short walk to a cottage nestled in a copse of dead trees right on the edge of the forest. It was where the taste was coming from, she could tell that much. As Elytra approached the cozy looking cottage, she wondered if she should transform. If there was a pony inside, surely they would react better to seeing another pony instead of a changeling. That’s how it usually worked. “No, stop thinking like that.” She hissed at herself through clenched teeth. No more hiding, no more disguises. No more lies. She needed to show that she was a new changeling, not an old one. Only internal changes now, no more external ones. After a few deep breaths and the suppression of one panic attack, she finally let her hoof hit the door. There were a few sounds from inside, two voices, and the taste of fear grew exponentially. She just wanted to throw up. “H-hello…?” A soft yellow pony with a long pink mane and frightened cyan eyes opened the door ever so slightly. As soon as she caught a glance of Elytra she let out a yelp. “C-c-can I help y-you…?” “Are you...okay?” This poor thing was absolutely downright terrified beyond all belief. “Are you safe?” A pair of wings on the pony’s back let her know she was dealing with a pegasus at least. Why did this pony seem familiar? Had she seen her walking around town before all of this? “I-I think so…” The pegasus’ voice was so small and quiet. Elytra could see the poor pony start to shake. “Wh-who are you?” “Fluttershy, who is it?” A distinctly male voice came from inside, one that let out a long and drawn out groan after speaking. “If it’s a salespony, tell them we don’t want any!” Whoever it was at least had a good sense of humor. “Wait.” It slammed into her like a fully loaded freight train. “Fluttershy!?” A grin erupted across Elytra’s features as she started to bounce on her hooves. “They’ve been looking for you! They said you were gone! Your whole cottage was gone!” The changeling let out a delighted cackle as her wings buzzed. “That was my doing!” The male voice came through again. The sound of...well not two hooves, but at least one hoof and some claws hitting hardwood came from inside. Soon enough an image that would petrify any creature in the land opened the door. A long serpentine body covered with brown fur, a mismatched pair of horns and limbs from four different animals towered over her and the pony. Different sized red pupils looked over Elytra as the thing grinned from ear to ear. Discord was well known among the hive, and feared for good reason. He looked different though, not so imposing as the stories told. The once mighty god looked...sick. “Well aren’t you a parasite for sore eyes.” Discord chuckled before wobbling on his legs and falling against the doorframe with a groan. “Ugh, why does it feel like I’m swimming through oil all of the time.” “Discord, you need to lay down.” Fluttershy, the pony they had been missing all this time, chided the patchwork monster and guided him back over to the couch. “I-I’m sorry, who is looking for me?” “Your friends!” Elytra exclaimed as she walked into the cottage and looked around. From what she had heard about the pegasus, there were supposed to be animals around...but she saw none. “They’re all in Twilight’s castle and they’ve been worried.” “They’re all okay?” Once she had gotten Discord settled, Fluttershy turned back towards Elytra. “Really?” Elytra nodded vehemently with a smile. “Oh my...I can’t believe it. I thought…” Fluttershy shook her head to push out some nasty thoughts that the changeling could taste in the air. “They’re safe?” “The whole castle is protecting us.” She walked over to the couch and looked over Discord. “He can’t fly, can he?” They needed to get back to the castle. Even if she didn’t scope out what she was supposed to, bringing back Fluttershy would earn her so much goodwill with everypony there. Just imagining how happy they would be… Elytra mentally kicked herself. She needed to stop thinking about this. Bringing Fluttershy back was good because it would be reuniting friends and helping them save Twilight, no other reason. No other reason at all. “No…” Fluttershy frowned and placed a hoof on Discord. “Ever since we came back he’s been getting worse and worse. I don’t know what to do.” Now that she thought about it for a second, this reminded her of Rainbow Dash. “I think we can help, we had-” The thought of telling Fluttershy, who she had been told was a bit sensitive, that one of her friends had almost died was not a good one. “-somepony that was sick just like him.” “Really? Oh my…” A small, but noticeable, smile developed on Fluttershy’s lips. “We’re going to get you help, Discord. You’ll be okay.” The taste of rich brown sugar suddenly overwhelmed the revolting emotion that had been assaulting her. Oh it was so...sweet and tasty. Elytra had to stop her mouth from watering. “Yippeeeee.” Discord raised his lion paw in the air and pointed a single digit to the ceiling and gave it a spin. “I can’t wait to have the entire Rainbow Power Squad see me like this...ugh. I can hear them all laughing already…” “How are we going to get him back?” Fluttershy asked as she ran her hoof along the trickster’s chest. “He can’t fly and I don’t think either of us are big enough…” Elytra could change into something big enough and still fly, but she decided to hold off for a while longer. “Before we head back, can I get your help with something?” Elytra figured she could kill two birds with one stone and make sure nopony else had to come back out here. Fluttershy looked at the changeling and tilted her head to the side inquisitively. “I came out here to make sure the Everfree Forest was clear so Rainbow Dash could come get the Elements of Harmony. Would you be willing to help me cut out the middleware and get them so she doesn’t have to?” “The Everfree is-wait, why do they need the Elements?” Fluttershy didn’t know about what was happening outside. She had been gone since the start and hadn’t encountered any of those things...or Twilight. Oh, how would she explain that? “Things aren’t...great out there.” Elytra was going to be as delicate as possible and try not to mention any death or monsters to the timid pony standing beside her. “Your friends think the Elements can fix it and they need them soon.” “I-I guess…” The pegasus looked back to her friend on the couch, her eyes and the air around her full of worry. “Will he be okay here alone? I don’t want to leave him…” That was a valid concern. If any unicorn came along and found the cottage somehow, Discord wouldn’t stand much of a chance in his current state. “We can bring him along?” Elytra focused all of her energy into her horn, the energy deep down in the center of her carapace burning up as she transformed. She picked a griffon she had spotted in Fillydelphia at some point, a big bulky bird that had gray fur on his back half and the coloration of a raven on his front half. It would be more than enough to carry Discord and maybe even Fluttershy if it was needed. “It’ll be quick.” Elytra’s voice was deep and gruff now, like she had swallowed gravel. “O-okay but what about the things in the forest…?” Fluttershy was scared again, the transformation had nearly sent the poor pegasus into a panic attack. “Th-there are manticores a-and timberwolves and o-other things.” “Unlikely.” Discord chuckled. “If I’m in this bad of shape, I can’t imagine those things are faring much better. Creatures made from magic, they’re held together by it.” The implication that the Everfree Forest was clear of danger because of this was...worrying. It was for someone smarter than Elytra to dissect. “Well, there’s no way to know unless we see.” Elytra grumbled out as she took Discord and slung the god onto her back. The back quarter of his body was hanging off of her, but he would stay for now. “But don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” Elytra smiled at Fluttershy but it seemed that this form didn’t have that winning smile she wanted, because the pegasus cowered a little. “Be gentle!” Discord grumbled as he did his best to get comfortable. “I pay for first class, I demand at least some peanuts and a movie…” She admired his spirit despite his condition, at least. Though having something she had been told to fear for her entire life on her back was a bit...odd to say the least. Elytra and Fluttershy left the cottage and took to the air. The disguised changeling deferred the lead to the pegasus, as the pony had a much clearer idea of where the Tree of Harmony was inside of the forest. Sure enough, just as Discord had predicted, there was nothing in the forest. No growls of wild animals, no creatures skittering in the dark, and no living trees. Fluttershy tried to ask questions about exactly what had happened, but Elytra had just told her that her friends would explain everything. It wasn’t worth it to upset the pony so far away from the castle. The trio came to a deep gorge that scarred the massive and dead forest, on the other side was a decrepit castle that looked like it was days from falling to complete ruin. Stones littered the ground, shattered stained glass was bathed by the hot sun above and the shadow it cast fell right over the crack in the earth. Instead of going into the castle, which looked like a place that something called ‘Tree of Harmony’ would reside, they headed down into the gorge. Elytra started to taste that fear again, it was slight but was quickly overpowered with something she couldn’t quite place. It tasted like an aged piece of hickory being burned. Determination? When they finally reached the bottom, Fluttershy went into a cave whose entrance was hidden among some fallen rocks and dead tree trunks. What was inside filled Elytra with wonder and hope. It was a structure about twice as tall as she was now. It was made of pure shining crystal that illuminated the cave in a soft and gentle light. It was fashioned to look like a tree, a central trunk decorated with a sun and moon near the base and a six pointed star with a purple gem in the same shape in the center. From the star sprouted eleven branches, six of them ending in brightly colored gems that looked like the cutie marks of the ponies in the castle and Fluttershy. “S-so a pegasus, a being of chaos and a bug walk into one of the most sacred places in Equestria…” Discord stopped to take a deep breath in groan. “Y’know what, I got nothing. I just know I hate this place…” He mumbled something else after, something about his ‘beautiful plunderseeds’ and ‘two royal pains’, but it was lost on the air. “So how do we get them down? Do we just...grab them?” Elytra cocked her temporary bird head and looked at the gems embedded in pure crystal. “Applejack said it would reject anypony that wasn’t one of the Elements.” She was still slightly entranced by the tree. Somehow, despite everything going on outside, it looked just as magical as she assumed it had always been. Even she could feel the magic coming off of it, and her horn wasn’t designed to work like that. “Um..hi...Tree.” Fluttershy approached the structure and placed a hoof on the trunk. “I-I know it’s usually Twilight who comes to get you, but it’s me this time…” Her wings twitched against her sides as the nerves crept into her voice again. “I think the world is in a lot of trouble, and we could really use the Elements of Harmony right now...if you could just..please let me have them. I would really appreciate it.” The tree shuddered and shook, causing the pegasus to yelp and jump back. Three sets of eyes watched as the light the tree emitted became blinding light. Then, one by one, each of the stones that were set in the branches began to come loose. As they floated to the ground, golden jewelry began to form around them, all necklaces. When only the star in the center was left, it shook before falling out with a dull thud into the dirt below. It took a few seconds, but a golden crown formed around it. “That was...easy.” Elytra remarked as Fluttershy went around and picked up each of the Elements. She put the necklace with the pink butterfly gem on and carried the rest in her hooves as she started to fly again. “I’m actually surprised.” “Don’t...jinx it, bug.” Discord warned. “L-let’s just go to the castle....I really don’t like being out here.” Elytra could only agree with the pony as the two took to the sky again. If Sunburst was right about how long it would take Twilight to get back, they could easily make it back to the castle without incident. Even encumbered they both could fly high above the threat on the ground. She would still have to avoid answering any questions, though. It wouldn’t feel good, but it wasn’t her job to explain things. That was up to her friends when they got back to the castle. She felt good, a warm feeling spread from her heart and over her entire body. It was nice to have at least one thing work out in their favor without incident for once.