“Ohhh when Celestia first smiled ‘pon these fields, and blessed them greatly with their yields~”
The school song had been written by one Andante Melody around the time of Ponyville School’s founding, and its age showed in its composition. It was a slow, ceremonious piece, all about how wonderful it was to be a young pony, starting the journey of life in the beautiful land of Equestria, and all the opportunities and adventures that came with it. It was meant to be heartwarming, emotional, sure to bring a tear to the eye of any listener.
“~to see new sights an’ plant new trees, and be the best a foal can beeee~”
Cheerilee certainly felt like crying now as the class began singing, cheerfully and enthusiastically butchering the song. A general mixture of tone-deafness, lack of any musical direction, and the fact that many of them were still polishing off their ice creams had resulted in a rendition that would have Andante spinning in his grave. Judging by the expressions on the faces of the other ponies listening, they felt similarly. But the song was not intended for them.
“~we’ll keep those lessons in our hearts, and someday earn our cutie marks~”
The infected changeling continued to advance on them, carelessly ignoring the finer points of physics as it tripped its way through reality, accompanied by the Cutie Mark Crusaders still calling their offers of friendship in unnatural twisted voices. It was difficult to tell how quickly the space-warping being was going, but it didn’t seem to be slowing down, and Cheerilee feared for a moment that she had got things horribly wrong.
“~and something something shine so bright, and bring forth the mark of our light!”
But then as the unharmonious voices of the children swelled, it stopped dead, an impossible creature frozen in a moment of time, as though it had suddenly heard the awful cacophony. The crusaders accompanying it ground to a halt too, silent for the first time in their lives.
“~so ponies young and ponies old, make sure this story will be told~”
“It’s working!” Cheerilee called over her class as the changeling slowly began to move again, writhing in a way that seemed unnatural even for it. “Keep singing!”
The young foals needed no further encouragement, and launched into what could generously be described as a round, but was more accurately each pony just singing whichever line they pleased, at whatever tempo they wished. It was somehow even worse than before, but as much as Cheerilee couldn’t stand the singing, the changeling reacted to the music as though each individual note was plunging into its soul. It let out a screech that reverberated throughout her body, before twisting itself in directions that didn’t make sense, distorting back and forth until eventually, with one last cry, it folded in on itself, and disappeared completely.
The class cheered, some evidently understanding that they had some part in banishing the creature, before remembering the previous promise of pizza, and rounding on Discord as one. The Draconequus seemed to be the sole observer who had actually enjoyed the music, and he happily began rolling out dough as he congratulated the young foals, complete with chef’s hat and apron. As for Cheerilee, she collapsed to the ground, the stress of the event finally catching up and leaving her exhausted.
“That was quite the performance,” Queen Twilight commented, coming up alongside her. “When the prophecy mentioned wielding childlike innocence against this threat, there were a number of solutions that came to mind. I must admit, none of them involved an impromptu rendition of ‘Mark of our Light.’”
“Prophecies would exist for naught if their answers weren’t obscured in some manner.” Luna joined them, the ex-princess moving as silently as a shadow. Cheerilee would have jumped, had she the energy.
“Is it gone?” She asked. “Properly gone, I mean? I didn’t know if it would work or not, but it was the only thing I could think of, so I-”
“It’s ok.” Twilight draped a wing over the teacher reassuringly. It was warm, and soft, and dwarfed Cheerilee entirely. Not for the first time, she found herself thinking about how much the Alicorn had changed since she’d first met her. “While I can’t say for certain whether the creature is truly gone, I can no longer feel its presence here or anywhere nearby. You acted on the guidance of your heart, and it led you true. We are safe for now, thanks to your efforts.” She gave her a gentle smile that made the already pink pony flush in embarrassment.
“The disturbance in space has been vanquished, or at the very least severely weakened,” Luna concurred. “Hopefully, that will be the last we see of it. ”
The older ponies took a moment of content silence together as they watched the group of younger ponies enjoy themselves. Several large pizzas had been procured from apparent thin air, but at the rate they were being consumed, Cheerilee wondered if even Discord’s chaos magic would be able to keep up with the ravenous appetites of a class full of hungry foals. It dawned on her that she would probably have to write notes out to the parents of the children to explain what had happened on what was supposed to be a normal Canterlot field trip. ‘The excursion was unfortunately interrupted by a foretold eldritch being beyond our comprehension, forcing us to deviate from the planned route and extending the trip. We apologise and ask for your understanding.’
“It’s curious,” Shining Armour said. He had yet to join them, standing and staring still at the spot the infected changeling had disappeared from.
“What is?”
“Well, why that… thing, whatever it was, didn’t just go straight for us. You saw how it was ignoring my shields, and any other magic we threw at it. And the way it was moving through- the uh-”
“The fabric of space-time?” The queen helpfully supplied.
“Yes, thank you Twilight. That.” Shining Armour huffed in annoyance. “Anyway, it seems to me that if it wanted to get to us, it could have done so easily. So why didn’t it?”
Twilight opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it again, obviously thinking. But before she could come up with a theory to explain, they were interrupted.
“Miss Cheerilee!”
“Oh! Dinky! What is it dear?” Cheerilee was on her hooves and back into teacher-mode in an instant.
“Um, well…” The small grey filly paused, evidently realising that she had butted in on a conversation with several ex-royals and the current queen, but the importance of what she needed to say overcame whatever nervousness she may have been feeling, and so she continued. “We, um, we can’t find Applebloom, Miss Cheerilee. Or Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo. They’re not here.”
“What?!” Cheerilee swiftly performed a headcount. She was right. The rest of the class was present, but the Crusaders, who had of course been with the changeling, were absent. In the excitement of the moment she had quite forgotten that they had been separated from the others.
“Wh-what happened?” She said, frantically scanning the room. “Did they wander off, or get lost, or-” A terrible thought suddenly struck her. “Oh… no, surely they weren’t…”
“What is it?” Luna was already alert, on guard for any hidden dangers. “Speak, schoolteacher. We can help.”
Cheerilee gulped. “T-they had befriended- or tried to befriend that thing. Whatever was wrong with it was already spreading to them when we saw them last. What- what if when we banished that creature, we banished them too? What if I’ve just lost those three fillies- permanently?”
Silence fell on the group, dreadful in its weight. Cheerilee didn’t look, but she was sure she could feel their gazes piercing her like shards of glass, judging, appalled at what she had done. What kind of teacher was she, to let something like this happen?
“No.” Queen Twilight spoke, firm and resolute, breaking the tension of the moment. “That’s impossible. The prophecy was quite clear, It was the power of childlike innocence that saved us there, that drove the warped infection out. Those three fillies are perhaps the best example of childlike innocence I know. They will have been safe from it.”
“But-”
“Regardless,” The Queen said, standing and spreading her wings to their full majestic extent, “It is evident that something needs to be done. Cadence, Shiny, you’re on substitute teacher duty. Keep an eye on Discord.”
“Of course! Miss Cadance will see to it that they remain safe and sound!” The alicorn said, beaming. Her husband looked at the crowd of foals with a lot more apprehension on his face, but he nodded all the same.
“Luna, if you could survey the city for us. If that fails, the dream world. We can’t leave out any possibilities.”
“As you wish.” The ex-princess dashed out of the door without another word, taking flight immediately.
“As for you, Miss Cheerilee, I would request that you come with me.” Twilight began to make her way out as well. “While I’m sure they’re ok, attempting to make friends with a creature so distorted will undeniably have affected those girls. They could be anywhere, in any condition. If we are to help those fillies, I will need your assistance.”
“A-are you sure?” The teacher nervously watched as two foals attempted to climb a long-suffering Shining Armour. “I’ve already landed those girls in some kind of trouble. I don’t want to complicate things further.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it was thanks to you that they weren’t consumed entirely by the unreality surrounding that changeling. Besides,” she gave her an analytical glance that made the pink pony shiver. “Something tells me that you are pivotal to all of this. It was childlike innocence that defeated that creature, but it was you who brought that out from them. Make no mistake Cheerilee. You are the key to this whole mystery.”
“Ok,” Cheerilee said, feeling not a little overwhelmed. “Where are we going?”
Queen Twilight grinned a grin so reminiscent of the Twilight she had used to know, back before she had wings and royal titles that despite the whole terrifying situation Cheerilee couldn’t help but smile back. “No time for explanations. For now, just follow me!”