Tuesday night arrived for another Team Awesome pack meeting. Chrysalis had already showed off her new form and been escorted to the Changeling Kingdom.
"Yakyakistan is our main topic for tonight," Rainbow Dash announced to everyone. "We got the flower and thanks to Penny, we are able to store it for the time we need the magic in the reserve to grow. Primeva, you're the one who led this idea to me, so, you have the floor for our next steps."
Starlight Glimmer cleared her throat. "Thank you, Master. Alright. Hear me out, the whole way again."
Everyone nodded.
Rainbow blinked and listened.
"We got changeling magic for this project on November 10th. One month from that is December 10th. Or—if we want to give the flower's magic time to be with Penny and the reserve for a full month, that would be December 16th.
"I'm not finished," she assured everyone with a serious gaze.
Rainbow shifted slightly in her sight but kept quiet.
"The actual potion mixture requires three days to incubate. I'll explain why we should wait soon. If we wait and do it on the 19th, it'll take another three days for the potion to actually take effect, assuming we've done this whole thing properly.
"Due to the giving nature and communal magic alive in the air on Hearth's Warming, I recommend we actually wait until December 19th. Three days to incubate, and the potion is ready on the 22nd. Three days to take effect will land on December 25th."
Rainbow Dash stared uneasily down at the table. "But if it fails…" she muttered.
"I know," Starlight replied. "That would be very disheartening, but the extra magic enhancement from that particular day only helps our chances," she insisted. "I promise you it is for the best, Rainbow Dash."
The master mev's eyes watered at the thought, of the possible success, of being able to give her sister flight on a special day. She wiped them away with a few feathers of her wing. "Okay," she said with a determined breath. "Let's plan on doing that. Rhezenda, have Apple Bloom study with Zecora on this matter in the meantime. That should help too."
Sweetie Belle smiled warmly and stated, "Got it. I think it's a good plan too."
"Is Penny okay?" Spike asked.
"Let's check in, shall we?" Rainbow Dash replied. "Quintaza Pinkie Pie, you have the floor."
Pinkie leaped on the table, whistled, and showed the frozen Penny.
"Hi," Penny said stiffly through her icy shell.
Discord leaned in and looked close. "I could limber you up a bit," he offered.
Pinkie stopped him and shook her head. "No. She needs to stay like this. We both know it even if we don't know exactly why. She can still talk on my flexchange day and at a pack meeting like this one."
The draconequus blinked but nodded and returned to hover near Fluttershy.
"How you holding up in there?" Rainbow Dash asked Penny.
"It's cold obviously, but all in all, well enough. The flower's magic is intact," Penny assured her.
"You can sense it?" Starlight asked with a hopeful smile.
"Oh yeah," Penny said. "You Awesomevs are lucky to have me to tell you that this thing is definitely suited to your project's goal."
"And we appreciate it very much," Rarity told her. She spoke with succinct conviction in her gratitude.
"We really are," Rainbow said. "I hope you don't feel like a prisoner to us."
"It's fine, Master," Penny replied. "I am magic and a copy of Pinkie Pie. I promise, I am right where I belong, as you intended."
Rainbow smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. Again, thanks for everything you're doing for us."
A stiff, icy salute followed, wholly sincere nonetheless, and Penny was soon whisked back into Pinkie Pie.
Rainbow Dash glanced over to the agenda Sweetie Belle had ready.
"Down the line," the master mev told everyone. "Primeva, number one."
"Magic lessons are going well," Starlight said. "We're very glad to have the cell phones even if we've only mainly used them in Yakyakistan. Hey Master, I was wondering, is it possible for us other Awesomevs to acquire a bat pony form, like Fluttershy has?"
Fluttershy smiled and blushed, modestly staring down at the table.
Rainbow put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, the thing is, it's a special thing for her based on a past power and experience. It's actually a little different than my bat form. I think that if you could get a bat form, it would be more like mine where it's just the wings and fangs. The ears stay like a pony's instead of like a bat's. No eye color change. No cutie mark change. Some of the specialty to Fluttershy's form should stay intact."
At that, Starlight smiled with arm indigo eyes. "That sounds wonderful actually."
"The best way to find out is to just start trying it. Instead of me granting the form to you during our flexchange, we do it in our usual pony form. Afterward is when you try it yourself. With enough time, it might happen," Rainbow Dash explained. "That's how Fluttershy regained her form at will. Even on our first flexchange, we both felt something."
Fluttershy gave a small nod to confirm. "It's true."
"I'd like to start trying then," Starlight decidedly announced.
"Me too! Me too! Me too!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.
"Me three," Rarity agreed with a blush. "Ha, and I am number three."
"And number four Fyra would also like to seek this power. It'll make me feel closer to being a dragon," Applejack reminded everyone.
"Darn it, I can't say 'me five' because I already said me too," Pinkie groaned.
Twilight Sparkle became thoughtful. "I have to admit, I'd feel left out if every Awesomev could do it but me."
"One of us! One of us!" Pinkie chanted and giggled.
Twilight giggled back. "You know what, I'll try too, but I'm going to wait to see how the rest of you manage. As the alicorn mev and last fledgling, I feel it is the proper thing to do."
"Much appreciated, Princess Twilight," Applejack replied with a friendly wink.
Twilight blushed.
Fluttershy giggled. "Bat ponies galore."
Rainbow Dash grinned. She was liking the idea too.
"That was a fun tangent but back to other stuff," Starlight decided. "Chrysalis and I played Dragon Pit today. She won, so she was happy. And she doesn't seem to be spewing hate at me every turn, so I consider that progress. Nothing else to report."
With a nod of acknowledgment, the master went on to say, "Segunda, number two."
"Well, I am liking my bat pony form whenever I want though our magic still seems to affect it. I prefer it still closer to my actual flexchange night," Fluttershy said.
"Then why don't you have it on now?" Pinkie asked. "Your turn is tomorrow."
"It's different for a pack meeting," Fluttershy answered. "Even Master sticks to just her fangs during our meetings."
"Okay, if you say so," Pinkie replied, letting the matter end there. She certainly understood the sense as an Awesomev herself and what she could or would do on or closer to Saturdays.
"Some of my animals were scared of Chrysalis at first, but they warmed up to her. She only needed a little bit of help for the actual task of feeding them," Fluttershy informed everyone. "Nothing else to report."
"Mitria, number three."
"I will defer to Twilight for our little escapade to Friendship University yesterday. Besides that, I showed Chrysalis around at my boutique, and she helped me dye some fabric. Her own sense of style strikes me as a bit Gothic," Rarity considered aloud.
"That's all well and good, but did she actually accomplish the work okay?" Applejack asked her.
"Yes," Rarity stated. "Nothing else to report here."
"Fyra, number four."
"Apple Bloom is plum pleased to have her part in our Yakyakistan trip. For Chrysalis, we tried out a bunch of things at the farm for her to do. We were trying get a feel for her strengths and weaknesses, what job suited her best. So far, we all agree she's strongest at checking which apples are good or bad for eating. I think with some extra practice, she'll be a good cook too," Applejack reported. "That's all I got tonight."
"Quintaza, number five."
"All of you were there for what happened in Yakyakistan. Since we were gone, all day, I didn't have any time with Chrysalis. I might have her help out at the bakery on Saturday," Pinkie told everyone. "I just showed you how Penny is doing. Nothing more on my end."
"Rexa, number six."
Twilight relayed the events concerning Friendship University from the previous day to everyone.
"Ha, that'll show Neighsay for sounding off before he's rightly checked his stuff," Applejack said.
"I certainly hope so," Twilight noted.
"I honestly would have expected better from somepony in charge of most of the schools in Equestria," Fluttershy added softly.
Twilight nodded and concluded her turn with, "That's it for me."
"Your turn, Master," Sweetie Belle said.
"I showed the Student Six my cell phone. Yona was the one who suggested we look at cave fronts," Rainbow told everyone.
"How are things going with Chrysalis?" Fluttershy wondered. "Besides the obvious," she quickly added, referring to Chrysalis' new default appearance.
"Well, she enjoyed the game just fine while you were all gone," Spike reminded them. "She might even play with us again."
"She has accepted Twilight as her second friend," Rainbow happily announced.
The others smiled and nodded, except for Discord. "I still say she needs to be watched very carefully," he said with authority.
"She is," Fluttershy assured him. "She's with the changelings now and still not allowed in the castle during pack meetings. Plus, we have you to help us out."
At that, Discord smiled and nodded proudly in approval.
Sweetie Belle glanced up at Rainbow Dash and pointed to an item on her notes.
Rainbow nodded and sighed. "I have to tell you all what happened last night."
The others all glanced at her, fully attentive to her serious nature.
She relayed the events of the previous night in detail regarding the visit from four unicorn stallions, most notably taking all of Chancellor Neighsay's magic.
"Hmph. Serves him right," Rarity said indignantly.
Twilight blushed. "That's a bit harsh, but...I can't say I disagree."
"Same to Flim and Flam so far as I'm concerned," Applejack added. "They got off easy. So, Twilight, did you hear about this from the princesses or Starswirl yet yourself?"
Twilight nodded. "I did. There was not much to discuss. Princess Luna sent a letter about it, saying I would hear more from Rainbow Dash. They don't plan to punish her if you're worried about that. Starswirl sided with her as a witness and explained the numerous warnings Neighsay ignored. It's unfortunate for Neighsay, but he is stuck without his magic. That's not changing. Right, Master?"
Rainbow nodded. "It's mine now. I don't think my powers would even let me give it back to him."
"Us earth ponies manage," Pinkie said. "He will too. He's still got his portal and probably access to other artifacts. It's not like when Tirek took so much of our magic, and most ponies just outright collapsed. He's probably even still got a cutie mark, right?"
"He does," Rainbow replied. "He can go about his day like an earth pony with a unicorn horn on his head. He'll still be doing his thing for the EEA." She paused and stared at the table a moment. "Unfortunately," she muttered.
Twilight smiled softly. "That's out of your jurisdiction, Master."
Rainbow blushed with a nod and slight smile of her own.
"Well, I do feel a little sorry for him," Fluttershy said, "but I understand why things happened the way they did. We forgive you, Master."
Rainbow blushed again. "Ya'll are my fledglings though, so you're a little biased."
"True," Starlight agreed, "but it's not like we agree with you on every little thing—or even big things. We just know what you are, better than most."
"And I'm not one of your fledglings," Discord interjected. "I, for one, am glad to have avoided such a mistake myself. It sounds like the sort of thing I would have done ages ago."
"Oh, so you forgive me?" Rainbow Dash asked with a playful smirk.
"Well, it still makes you a bit scary, but we're friends now. I've gotten past that. I don't know this 'Neighsay' fellow from dirt, but he sounds like he deserved it. I guess it's more...I don't really think of it is a thing to forgive you for. It's your business, you know," he finished with a shrug.
"Fair enough," Rainbow replied. She looked at Sweetie Belle. "How about you, Rhezenda? You were there and seemed a little unsettled by all of it."
"Well, I was," Sweetie Belle confessed, "but it's not like I'm mad at you, Master. I guess I was more worried that you would get in trouble. But um...." She blushed. "I was glad that I got to greet the guests the way I did...and...I saw you eat."
Rainbow blushed too, closed her eyes, and smiled. "That you did. It could not be helped. So you took some enjoyment from that?"
"Y-yes," the young assistant hesitated to say.
Rainbow chuckled. "It's alright. That's part of why you wanted to be my Rhezenda, right?"
Sweetie Belle grinned in agreement. "Right."
"Well, then, that covers that, yes?" Rainbow asked her.
The young unicorn nodded.
"What's the plan for this weekend, Master? Are you going anywhere? Huh huh huh?" Pinkie prodded.
Rainbow looked at her team for a moment, eyes shifting around the table in thought. "I want to go to Cloudsdale to show Chrysalis around, may as well drop in to see my parents and finally tell them I'm a master mev," she announced. "It has been over two months now."
"Am I going too? And Scootaloo and Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Rainbow confirmed for her, "Yes. After all, I'd rather tell my parents alone, so rather than leave Chrysalis by herself, she'll have you three to keep her company and keep an eye on her."
"Maybe I should come too," Fluttershy offered. "None of them really know the city like you and I do since we're both from there."
Rainbow nodded. "Sure, sounds like a plan."
"Anything else to report from your end, Master?" Rarity inquired.
"I'll probably check in with the students sometime this week, provided they are still in good shape in everyone's classes," Rainbow said.
The others all confirmed for her that the students slept well enough during the week.
"Yeah, I think that's it. Here's hoping to a good end to Project Mercury. I'd hate to see it fail as a planned gift for Hearth's Warming. We make the potion one month from today," Rainbow reminded them all from Starlight's given dates.
"Oh, I can't wait!" Pinkie said. "Not just for Penny's sake but for Scootaloo too. I hope she likes it. I mean, why wouldn't she like it? She asked us to do it for her, right?"
"Right," Rainbow agreed. "I hope so too."
Twilight nodded with a pleasant smile. "I'm sure we're all hoping for the best for our young friend."
Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement.
Rainbow sighed a happy little sigh. "Alright, Team Awesome, this meeting is over. You are all dismissed."