Flurry’s eyelids slowly opened as she regained consciousness. The only thing she could hear besides her breath was water dripping inside a cave. She suddenly heard a burning sound. A flame shot up in her peripheral that illuminated the cave momentarily.
“Buttercream…is that you?” she asked.
“Flurry? You okay?” Buttercream responded, faintly.
“Yeah.”
As Buttercream blew another plume of fire, Flurry picked herself up. Her body ached, but she was able to stand. A few moments later, she saw Buttercream walking to her, carrying a small plant she was using as a torch.
“Where’s Elytra?” Flurry asked.
“Over here,” Elytra groaned.
Buttercream and Flurry turned towards the voice. They saw Elytra getting up and shaking herself off. She looked around in the cave to check where they were and then rushed over to Flurry and Buttercream.
“Flurry, Butter, are you alright?” she asked.
“We’re okay. I just kinda got the wind knocked outa me,” Buttercream said, rubbing her chest.
“Where did she put us?” Flurry asked.
“Some sort of cave,” Elytra answered, observing her surroundings. “It seems familiar…”
“Well how do we get out of here without my magic?”
“Maybe my Northern Drake strength can help a little,” Buttercream said as she set the plant down and flew up to the roof of the cave to try pounding her way through. The brave dragoness threw all her weight at the rocks, but it was not enough. She was getting lightheaded, so she landed on the ground and sat down to rest.
“I don’t think that’s going to work,” said Elytra. “These walls seem to be made of really tough rock. I know about them through Maud’s memories, but I can’t recall the name of them. The information I got from her is a bit faint now that that other drone copied them. I think he tried to steal some of it from me.”
“Do you remember anything Maud did about how to break through rocks the way she does?” Flurry asked.
“We can only absorb knowledge when we copy memories; we don’t take abilities. That’s why I was chosen to mimic an earth pony. I know how Maud breaks through rocks, I just can’t do it myself.”
“Can your changeling magic help us?”
“I don’t think so. My kinetic blasts are low level and I don’t even know any teleportation spells yet. Scutellum ordered me to focus so much on perfecting the memory-transfer spell; I didn’t have time to work on the rest.”
Elytra then tried charging up an energy blast and using it on the wall, but it did no good.
“Well we can’t just sit around in here. Not while that creepy bug takes over Pinkie’s wedding,” Buttercream said, as she got back up and tried looking around for any clues to an escape.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Flurry said. “I was really looking forward to this wedding. I really did think everything was fine after I got Pinkie to tell everyone the story about our bows. Now that I know it was Chrysalis all along and they’ve gotten this good at taking over a wedding, my day has officially been ruined. For all we know, we could have been out for hours and Chrysalis already got that kiss.”
“This is all my fault,” Elytra said, sitting down in despair. “I should’ve said something earlier or defected years ago to warn Princess Twilight about all this.”
“What was stopping you before, Elytra?”
“General Scutellum took drastic measures to make sure there were no deserters in my group, and I was waiting for a better opportunity to betray him. I didn’t really want to disappoint the queen either. I was close to her ever since I was just a larva. For a while, she even talked about me being her heiress if anything ever happened to her.”
“Is that why you called her ‘Mother’ earlier?”
“Yeah. I think Scutellum was onto me, so he led in her absence instead. I missed her after she was turned into stone, but I had already started to disagree with everything we were doing. I was about ready to run off, until he returned last month with her; then I knew I’d never get the chance. When I noticed you panicking earlier over what you saw with Pinkie and Cheese, I knew right away I had to talk to you. I thought we could at least try to escape with Cheese and prevent the kiss from happening.”
“Well thanks for coming to us, Elytra. I’ve never met a black changeling before, but Spike told me about what Thorax did years ago. He had sparkly wings just like you before he underwent his metamorphosis. Are there a lot of others like you that want to defect?”
“I haven’t met any if there are. I’ve been keeping this all bottled up for years now, but I still don’t understand how to metamorphose. I talked to King Thorax earlier, and I’m not sure how I’ll transform into a better form like he did. I know you have to share love instead of taking it; I’m just not sure how. I feel like such a failure. Now I’ve been caught, and worse: I’ve gotten you two in this mess.”
Elytra hung her head and cried as Flurry sat closer to her. Buttercream had given up trying to find a way out and decided to join them.
“Hey, you made a good first impression on us, even if we freaked out at first,” Buttercream said, patting Elytra on the shoulder.
“Thanks. Again, I just wish I did it earlier,” Elytra replied, leaning up against the warm, chubby dragon.
“We’ll figure something out. I wish I had a way to contact some of my dragon friends, but my magic scrolls are back at the crystal castle in Ponyville.”
“Hey guys?” Flurry asked, turning her head around. “Did anyone notice that weird greenish stuff on the ground over there?”
“That’s the substance we changelings shoot from our mouths to trap our prey. It’s probably safe to touch now, but I wouldn’t worry about it,” Elytra explained.
“I wonder what it’s doing there. It’s almost like some changelings were in here earlier.”
“They were. They prepared this cave for prisoners. It must’ve been the designated area to send the ones that they didn’t have time to put in harvesting pods. They’ll come to do that later.”
“I noticed that in several other spots around the place. That is peculiar,” Buttercream added, stroking her chin.
“Do you think it’s covering some exits or something? There had to be an entrance to this cave at one point,” Flurry said, getting up to look around.
“I dunno, but maybe I can burn it with my fire breath.”
Buttercream flew over to the large spot on the ground with the changeling ooze. It had hardened now, but it didn’t feel quite as hard as the rocks. She stood on top of it, and it started to crack like ice.
“It’s cracking! Maybe we can break through!”
“Careful, Butter,” Flurry said, cautiously.
Buttercream got in over her head and flew several yards in the air, doing a cannonball on top of the ooze. It immediately caved in and cracked like glass. They were expecting it to reveal ground underneath, but instead there was a huge splash that doused Flurry and Elytra as Buttercream was submerged in an underground pool of water.
“BUTTERCREAM!” they both shouted.
They went to the edge to look for Buttercream. She was down there for a few seconds until she swam to the top, gasping for breath.
“AGH!! PINKIE! I saw Pinkie!” she called, as she swam to the shore.
“What?! You saw Pinkie?” Elytra asked.
“Yes, in fact I saw a ton of Pinkies, but they were thin! I had no idea she used to be that thin! They all took one look and then ran over to me! It was so weird!”
“Whoa, hold on a minute…” Flurry said. “There were a ton of Pinkies and they were all thin?”
“Yeah, and they weren’t wearing bows like yours either.”
“Were they shouting the word ‘fun’ over and over again?”
“Yeah, I think so. I had a hard time hearing underwater.”
“Oh…my…gosh. THE MIRROR POOL! WE’RE IN THE CAVE WITH THE MIRROR POOL!”
Buttercream and Elytra looked confused as Flurry rushed to the edge of the pool and pushed some of the chunks of ooze away from it to get a look in the water.
“What’s the Mirror Pool?” asked Elytra.
“I don’t even know,” Buttercream responded, shrugging her shoulders.
“Pinkie told me about this once! She found this magic pool in a cave that allowed her to duplicate herself years ago.
“Oh, wait, I remember that now! It’s a bit scant in Maud’s memories since she never saw it happen, but Pinkie told her about this pool before. And that’s why this cave looks familiar: because she’s been in this cave since it’s right next to hers.”
“Maybe we can get their help. Pinkie? Hello?”
Flurry finally got a view of the water and started calling to see if she could get the attention of the Pinkie clones. Elytra and Buttercream stood next to her to watch. For a few seconds, there was nothing except their reflections, until something pink came into view. Sure enough, a younger version of Pinkie appeared in the reflection of the water with several more behind her.
“Hey!” called the Pinkie clone in front.
“Pinkie!” Flurry called back, joyfully.
“Nice to meet you! What’s your name, little lady?”
“You don’t remember me? Oh, that’s right; she did this before I was born. Pinkie, my name is Flurry Heart! I’m Shining Armor and Cadance’s daughter!”
“Awww! Shining Armor and Cadance had a baby! That’s so sweet!” said the clone in front.
“Who’s the cute, chubby dragon girl with Fluttershy’s color scheme next to you?” asked another.
“That’s Buttercream.”
“I’m Spike’s sister,” Buttercream told them with a smile.
“SPIKE HAS A SISTER?!?” all the clones shouted in unison.
“Yeah, we reunited recently.”
“Wow, we really missed out on a lot over the years!” said one clone.
“Wait, is that a changeling?!” said another.
“EVERYPINKIE RUUUUUUUN!” they all shouted as they ran away from view in the water.
“No wait, it’s okay, girls, I’m a defect!” Elytra called to the clones. “I just betrayed Queen Chrysalis and we were all sent here by her. I’m not the first one to do this either. There are a ton of good changelings now that have colorful, new forms without holes; I just haven’t found mine yet.”
“Wait, so Queen Chrysalis is back?” asked the main clone as she peaked her head up in view.
“Technically she came back several times,” Flurry explained. “She was turned to stone a while ago, but she broke free last month.”
“What’s she up to now?” asked another.
“Well…see, you aren’t going to believe this, but Pinkie’s getting married and-”
“WHAAAAAAAT?!”
All of the Pinkie clones came back and shouted in unison again with hearts in their eyes. They then started bouncing around, making merry.
“FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN!” they all shouted.
“I can’t believe she…er…I…er…WE ARE GETTING MARRIED!” said one clone.
“Who’s the lucky groom?” asked another.
“His name is Cheese Sandwich,” Flurry explained before getting bombarded with questions.
“Awww! Is he cute?”
“Does he like to party?”
“Is he actually the colors of a cheese sandwich?”
“Does he dare to be stupid?”
“Whoa, hold on girls! There’s bad news: see…she’s been replaced at her wedding and Queen Chrysalis is using it to gain power like she did at my parents’ wedding.”
All the Pinkie clones stood still with shocked faces for several seconds until they began shouting and crying while running all over the place.
“NOOOO! MY WEDDING IS RUINED!”
“WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!”
“WHYYYYYYY?!”
“THIS IS SO NOT FUN!”
“NOT FUN! NOT FUN! NOT FUN! NOT FUN! NOT FUN!”
Flurry groaned and buried her face in both her hooves. Buttercream put her fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly. All of the clones stood still and looked in her direction.
“ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP!” Buttercream hollered. “Yes, this is definitely a bad thing, but that’s why we need your help! Could you girls maybe come out and help us bust out of this cave?”
“Sorry, but we can’t come out.”
“Yeah, Twilight cast a spell on us that put us back in this pool forever.”
“The only one who can bring us back out is the original Pinkie Pie herself.”
“But we can’t do that, or we’ll just cause trouble in Ponyville again.”
“Yeah, we were too much. We belong here with each other.”
“Not that we’d be worse than those changelings.”
“Well duh.”
“But girls, it’s just this once we’ll need you,” Flurry explained. “Twilight would understand. Everypony in Ponyville would.”
“But they said we need the original Pinkie Pie. How are we going to find her?” asked Buttercream.
“That’s a good question.”
“I know where she’s being kept,” Elytra said.
“You do? Where?!” Flurry asked.
“There are some ruins over in the middle of the Everfree Forest from the old castle town not far from here. She was put in a harvesting pod.”
“So we need to get out of here then!” Buttercream shouted.
“It’s no use. I’m sure she’s well-guarded. Chrysalis left some drones disguised as royal guards in there. Besides, we still can’t break out.”
“That’s true. Even if we could get inside Maud’s cave, that’s probably been blocked off too,” Flurry explained.
“Come to think of it, the other drones ambushed Maud in her own cave if I recall correctly. They probably just thought to keep her there since she was already in the Everfree Forest. I still don’t know how we’ll get to her.”
“Maybe you can use the ‘Help-Me-I’m-Trapped Tap’ and see for yourself!” said one of the Pinkie clones.
“The what?” asked Flurry.
“It’s something Maud taught me if I’m ever stuck in a cave,” explained the clone. “She’s so good at sensing tremors underground, she might feel it and then break right through the walls and come to the rescue!”
“The Tap! That’s it! I almost forgot!” Elytra exclaimed, perking her ears up and smiling. “It was something I learned from Maud’s memories and I think I still remember how to do it!”
“Does Chrysalis know about the Tap? She must if she has Pinkie’s memories,” Flurry said.
“I’m sure she does, but she only went to Pinkie’s site to deliver her pod, so that means she doesn’t know we’re so close to Maud.”
Elytra walked up to an area where there was a huge stone stuffed in the side of the wall. This was the entrance from the Mirror Pool cave into Maud and Mudbriar’s own cave they lived in, but the changelings blocked it to keep prisoners from escaping. The rock was too big for any of the girls to deal with, but Maud would know how to break it. Elytra began tapping in a rhythmic pattern and then waiting a few seconds after each one.
“I think it went like that. Pinkie am I doing it right?”
“Yup! Keep it up!” one clone called back.
Elytra continued tapping, but she received no response. Finally she heard movement on the other side of the cave. Every time she tapped, someone else was tapping in the same pattern not too far away.
“I think I hear something!”
“Maud, is that you?!” Flurry called.
Now instead of tapping, they all heard digging sounds on the other side of the large rock. The scraping grew louder and louder until it sounded like a jackhammer. Flurry, Buttercream and Elytra all backed up to see the rock start cracking until it all came crumbling down, leaving dust. They coughed as the silhouette of Maud appeared before them. Elytra backed up while the other two walked forward.
“Maud!” shouted Flurry and Buttercream.
Maud spoke in a tone much louder than she was ever used to. Flurry had never seen her this angry.
“Flurry Heart, Buttercream, get back!” shouted Maud as she galloped past them, tackling Elytra to the ground.
“UGH!! MAUD!” Elytra exclaimed.
“What have you done to my sister?!” Maud demanded.
“Maud, it’s okay! That changeling’s with us! Her name is Elytra!” Flurry said.
“I’m sorry, Maud! I wasn’t ready to defect just yet! Look, I know where Pinkie is and I can help you get her back!” Elytra cried.
“And my husband, Mudbriar?”
“He’s alright. He hasn’t been replaced, but he doesn’t know what’s going on either.”
Elytra struggled as Maud continued to push down hard on her legs with her hooves. She raised one eyebrow and looked suspiciously at the changeling underneath her.
“Are you sure this one can be trusted?” she asked Flurry and Buttercream.
“She can,” Flurry said. “She turned herself in to us earlier and then Chrysalis found us and sent us here.”
“Trust me; she’s a good one. She wants to defect,” said Buttercream.
Maud turned her head back and looked at Elytra through the bottom of her eyelids.
“Where’s Boulder?” she asked, sternly.
“Your pet rock? He’s right here. I took care of him.”
Elytra opened up an area of her carapace and revealed a tiny round rock. Maud swiped Boulder away before Elytra could even take him out. She held the rock up to her ear and nodded.
“Yeah? Mhm. He says you were a lot nicer than the others,” Maud replied.
“Uh…he did? Er, I mean he did. Thanks.”
Maud stepped off of Elytra as she stood up and dusted herself off.
“If Boulder and these girls trust you, then I trust you, but you are going to help me get my sister back and save her wedding.”
“Yes. I promise I will help you all no matter what.”
“Maud, we have to find Pinkie,” Flurry said. “If we bring her back in here, we can get those Pinkie clones out of the Mirror Pool to help us out.”
“Pinkie clones?” Maud asked.
“Hey Maud!” shouted one of the Pinkie clones.
Maud turned to the side to hear the voice of her own sister. She rushed over and saw the reflection of several Pinkies inside.
“So it is true. Why didn’t you guys say anything when I walked by this pool before?”
“Sorry. We didn’t think we were wanted anymore.”
“Yeah, but we’re ready to help you now!”
“That Queen Chrysalis is a no-good, nasty bug lady, and we’re gonna get her!”
“Bring us the original Pinkie, and we’ll help you fight!”
“It’ll be fun!”
“FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN!”
Maud couldn’t help but crack a smile at the sight of seeing tons of copies of her sister in a younger form, bouncing around.
“Alright. We’ll find Pinkie and bring her back here, but we have to be quick. I saw the sky earlier after I broke free, and it looks like we have another hour or so before the wedding starts.”
“We were out all night?!” Buttercream exclaimed with her hands up to her cheeks.
“Ooooh, we’d better hurry!” Flurry cried.
They all ran into the tunnel Maud entered through, and passed by her cave, which had been ransacked. Maud had already broken through most of the rocks that were blocking the opening. They squinted their eyes as they finally arrived to an area with light and saw the outside of the forest.
“Alright, everyone. I’ll take you to where they hid Pinkie. Follow me!” Elytra called to them.