//------------------------------//
// Day 3 Part 4 
// Story: A Venomous Queen & A Poisoned Princess 
// by Flikaline 
//------------------------------//


Day 3 Part 4


When they were sure the changelings were gone, the group gasped for air.

‘It was freezing in there!’ exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

‘Not to mention wet,’ Rarity complained, ‘look what that water’s done to my hair!’

‘Would you have preferred the changelings, Rarity?’ asked Applejack, ‘it was either them or the water.’ Zig-Zag let out a shudder.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Twilight Sparkle, ‘I learned a spell recently that will dry us off, but we must hurry in case those changelings come back and for Cadence’s sake.’

*

Spike greeted them when they got back to Zecora’s hut.

‘Did you get everything on the list?’ Twilight Sparkle asked him. Spike nodded. Zecora had begun to make the cure with Zig-Zag passing over the ingredients to her.

‘I’m sorry I failed you, Aunt Zecora,’ Zig-Zag was saying.

‘Can’t you see that in no way have you failed me?’ Zecora replied. Zig-Zag gave a small sad sigh.

‘I tried to escape five times,’ she explained, ‘I originally only had one guard and my hooves weren’t stuck to the ground either. That queen caught me the fifth time; I crashed right into her; I guess I should’ve been watching where I was going . . .’

‘Do you think the changeling queen was exaggerating about the pain Cadence is in?’ Twilight Sparkle asked Applejack.

‘Sorry, Twilight,’ Applejack replied, ‘I really couldn’t tell.’

‘I hope she was,’ Fluttershy murmured anxiously. A loud snore came from the corner of the room which turned out to be Pinkie Pie who had fallen asleep. They were all pretty sleepy. 

The five ponies that were still awake watched as Zecora and Zig-Zag tried to create a balance between working both carefully and quickly. As they watched, they slowly began to close their eyes.

*

They were awoken by Zecora’s shakes and anxious expression. Zig-Zag was trying to awaken them too.

‘It’s an hour until dawn,’ she told them in an almost panic-stricken tone; she was carrying some sort of flask on her side, ‘we must leave now!’ Twilight Sparkle jumped up immediately and helped to wake the others. 

They dashed from the hut into Ponyville and bolted in the direction of the Railway Station but there encountered an unforeseen problem. It was very early morning. The trains didn’t run this early. How were they going to get to Canterlot in time?

Twilight Sparkle looked around rapidly and nervously and caught sight of a couple of the pegasus ponies from the Royal Guard who looked as if they had just dropped somepony off in Ponyville as they had a small carriage. Twilight Sparkle hurried over to them.

‘Please,’ she gasped, ‘we need to get to Canterlot as quickly as possible, it’s an emergency!’

‘We can take you to the edge of Canterlot,’ one of them replied. As there was no way they could all be taken at once, it was decided that Twilight Sparkle, Zecora and Zig-Zag would be taken first; the royal guards would then bring two more from their number and an extra carriage to pick up the rest of the group.

‘The others won’t make it in time, will they?’ Twilight Sparkle asked Zecora.

‘That I do not know, be we cannot wait around for them to show,’ Zecora answered, looking down at her thoughtful niece, who, after a few moments, turned to Twilight Sparkle.

‘Is Aunt Zecora right in thinking that this princess’s special talent is love?’

‘Yes,’ replied Twilight Sparkle.

‘And that she freed her fiancée using it?’ Zig-Zag continued. Twilight Sparkle nodded. Zig-Zag seemed to be more deep in thought now, fitting this knowledge with what she had been told had happened while on the way back to her aunt’s hut.

‘What are you thinking, Zig-Zag?’ asked Twilight Sparkle.

‘I was just wondering,’ Zig-Zag began, ‘well, it just seems a bit funny that a changeling that craves love, wants to kill a pony who can produce love, but it also seems that this princess is the only pony who is able to free a changeling’s victim. Such a pony would be an incredible hindrance if . . .’

‘You think that as well as being an effective revenge, it may also be the first step in a plan to re-capture Canterlot and take Equestria?’ asked an alarmed Twilight Sparkle. Zig-Zag nodded. Zecora was slightly surprised at her niece’s foresight. ‘But no-pony’s really sure how far it was her feelings of love and how far it was her special talent,’ Twilight Sparkle continued uncertainly, ‘so . . .’

‘If no-pony can be certain, then I doubt any changeling can either,’ Zig-Zag pointed out. Twilight Sparkle sighed, realizing she was right, and, know that, from a changeling’s point of view now, success could not be guaranteed in a takeover situation if Cadence wasn’t ponynapped and/or killed.

Twilight Sparkle thanked the guards as they set down at the edge of Canterlot and hurriedly got out of the carriage, swiftly followed by the other two.

‘How much time do we have left?’ Twilight Sparkle gasped as they galloped through the almost deserted Canterlot streets.

‘About twenty minutes,’ Zecora puffed back. Twilight Sparkle increased her speed.

*

There seemed nothing he could do to help her. Shining Armor looked over at his wife as she let out another shuddering gasp. He would have done anything to take the pain for her. What kind of illness was this that brought so much suffering? He stroked Cadence’s mane in an attempt to comfort her. 

Oh, Twilie, he thought, please hurry back with the cure.