//------------------------------//
// Aeterna 
// Story: Aeta 
// by EpicGuy 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash's hooves pounded on the soil of Ponyville, tiny pebbles piercing her cyan fur. She winced slightly, shifting her fluffy mane to hide her face, but didn't slow her trot as she went across the empty streets of the town.

How will I tell them? she wondered, the slightest bit of sorrow forming a lump in her throat, how can I assure them that it's alright?

The pegasus huffed, cursing as her hooves tripped on a random twig, most likely blown by the heavy drafts a couple hours ago. "Heck, why should I lie?" she snapped. "Even I know it's not alright! I gotta tell them the truth..." Rainbow Dash gulped, the silence of the town getting to her acute nerves. "...Even if I'm punished for it."

A bright flash of pink appeared next to it's drab, gray neighbors. Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow thought with a grin, perfect. Everypony should be there.

She blasted through the door, not minding the looks she got from a few bystanders. She flared her wings, shuffling her fur to look as ferocious as possible for a pastel-colored pony.

"Everypony out!" Rainbow Dash snarled, gnashing her teeth. "NOW!"

Earth ponies breezed past her, shouldering their way out of the car while the cheeky pegasi opted for the open windows and the unicorns vanished in a multicolored mist. A familiar lavender coat passed by her crazed, delusional eyes. She held out a hoof to stop the unicorn, as well as the four other ponies behind her, cowering in fear. "Not you five." she murmured. "Please sit down."

With bemused frowns, Rainbow Dash watched her friends, one by one, plop into the wiry chairs and slowly scoot closer. Twilight Sparkle, after looking at Rarity's puzzled features and finding they matched her own, spoke first.

"What's the matter, Rainbow Dash?" she asked quietly.

Rainbow Dash chuckled, letting her fur go flat and ruffling her feathers against her back- it may be the last time she'd be able to. "Twilight," she said, turning to the mare in question, "and everypony else, I've gotta tell you something- my whole life has been a lie."

"Whaddaya mean?" Pinkie Pie questioned, hopping to her feet.

The pegasus glanced around the room once more. These were her friends- if friendship truly was magic, then they'd be okay with it, right?

Well, it's now or never, she thought.

With a deep breath, she began to change.

Cyan fur became black chiton armor- her mane was lit ablaze in a sickly green flame, burning holes in the hair. Her feathers molted until all that was left was a hideous, white skeleton, and a gnarled horn sprouted from her forehead with a searing pain. She would have screamed, had she not have been so awesome.

Surprisingly, nopony gasped. As the last lick of fire vanished from Rainbow Dash's mangled body, no astonished faces met her own. She licked her long fangs, clicking her tongue.
"So, are you going to say something?"

Twilight Sparkle smiled. Then she began to laugh, softly at first but soon cackling like a madman. The others soon joined in, and the once-pegasus felt like a filly in a ridiculous Nightmare Night costume. "What's so funny?" she hissed, her voice strange to her ears.

After wiping some tears from her eyes, Twilight Sparkle looked back at her friends. They nodded solemnly. "Rainbow Dash, we've got something to tell you too!" she replied. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her mane erupted in mountainous flames- and the unicorn smiled all the while. 

Rainbow Dash hissed in fear, watching Sugarcube Corner go up in emerald fire. Her eyes darted across the scene- Pinkie Pie’s disturbing, wide smile didn’t flicker as her being burned slowly. 

"Stop it!" she shouted, quivering at the thought of being burned alive. Not after all she'd been through! "Stop it, Twi!"

Just as quick as the fire appeared, it too vanished into the air. A thin tendril of jade-colored smoke tickled her nose as it escaped through the open window.  What was before her was not five bouncing ponies, but five disfigured Changelings, each with familiar manes. Twilight Sparkle gave a little hop of bliss, her string-like hair bouncing in dainty ringlets around her shoulders. "We thought you'd be so scared, Rainbow!" she said. "We thought you'd turn us in to Celestia herself!"

"I'd never!" Rainbow Dash gasped, disgusted. She flipped her charred mane over her eyes. "I don't care if I and my friends are the most feared creatures in Equestria! I don’t care if everypony’s got a huge bounty over my head!” You're still my friends, as cheesy as it may sound."

Fluttershy blushed, the pink against her black cheeks incredibly easy to see. “Aww... Thanks, Rainbow Dash.” she said softly. She gave an insect-like sound of appreciation.

Applejack, her horn strangely out of place among her dull yellow swath of hair, slung her long hoof around Rainbow Dash’s oddly thin shoulders. “Yer too kind, Rainbow.” she chittered. Her deep sage eyes containing wisdom beyond her years stared into Rainbow’s own- her plush eyelashes fluttered suggestively, and the once-pegasus felt conflicting emotions at the action. She settled to flash her needle-sharp teeth instead of question it. 

Pinkie Pie and Rarity, both smiling happily in the back of the shop, nodded as well. “I was going to tell you, dear,” Rarity began, her thick accent still prominent in her natural state, “I had a script and everything all planned out. But now that I think about it...” Her twisted horn gave off a light green aura, and a crisp white scroll levitated from behind her back. After sniffling slightly, she set it ablaze. “...It’s for the better we chatted under these circumstances.”

Pinkie bit her lip, keeping an excited yell inside her throat for the time being. “Yeah! I was really really scared you’d freak out and fall or something, so I baked an extra-special cupcake designed to get anypony awake, under any circumstances!” She reached below a nearby table and pulled out a treat that seemed to seep pure sugar. Although her senses were heightened already, Rainbow could smell the delicious cake from the front of Sugarcube Corner. She smacked a drop of drool from her chin before anypony could notice her swooning.

Twilight Sparkle buzzed her wings, the resulting sound not unlike a hyperactive hummingbird in flight. Her luminous eyes seemed bright and cheerful against her dark skin. “We’re all glad we can let all our secrets out, Rainbow. Let’s face it-  we’re being hunted by all of Equestria, perhaps even beyond! We have to stick together, and sometimes that means showing your true colors.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Heh, right.” She glanced down her back, her eyes alighting onto scaly wings. She fluttered them gently, watching intently as they bent over her back. 

She glanced towards the open window- although it was still daylight when she had arrived at Sugarcube Corner, the sun barely peeked out from behind it’s cloud covers now. Her exceptional eyes scanned the perimeter, although the action was, and she knew it, in vain...

When she saw nothing, the pegasus turned Changeling sighed in relief and embraced her friends once more. 

But there was one. A coat of stunning crimson, eyes a shade of sky-blue. Not a wing or horn to her name, she sat, nearly hidden.

A witness.





The pony shook against the bush in which she sat, feeling the leaves tickle her fickle skin. As scared as she was, her mind was utterly blank except for a lone command. 

Run, you daft mare!

And she did- tearing up Sugarcube Corner’s landscaping with frantic hooves as she sped far away, digging up dirt piles at a time. She stopped finally at an empty cavern, her eyes blank as she entered. 

Once inside, a green spark flickered within the depths of the cave. She didn’t flinch nor blink as the spark grew into a solid flame, which then engulfed her body in a bright blaze. She cackled devilishly as slowly but surely the fire extinguished itself, leaving only a cloud of black smoke in it’s place.  “This day has been just perfect!” she squealed, daintily hopping from the edge of the unoccupied cave to a smooth wall. 

On the wall, hung by a thick emerald slime, was a black and white photograph of seven little ponies and a squat dragon- although the colors had been dimmed, the emotions on their faces still shone through.

I wish I could be that happy, she sniffed. Her jaw turned upwards into a vicious snarl as her horn brought forth a stunning lavender quill. “Soon, Chrysalis...” she cooed.

In one swift motion, the largest of the seven ponies’ heads was burdened with a gigantic X, and her lithe wings were ravaged with smaller scribbles of blood red ink. “Now that I know of six more Changelings...” Chrysalis spat.

“One being your oh so precious student...”

“HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW, CELESTIA?”

“HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?!”