Scootaloo woke up with a start. It was pitch black. That was the first thing she noticed. The second was the fact that she was in a bed, something she hadn’t been in for a long time. She looked at the floor to see a lump…no, as her eyes started adjusting she noticed that it was Green Lightning, the steady rise and fall of his chest and the sound of his snoring meaning he was sleeping. Scootaloo didn’t remember much of the previous day, or previous few hours. She couldn’t tell how long it had been. Lightning made a grunting noise turning her attention back to him she could tell he was waking. She pulled the covers back and hoped off the bed, walking over to Lightning. He was muttering in his sleep, “No…no…no.”
Scootaloo carefully prodded his sleeping form. “Lightning, Lightning wake up,” she whispered, “Lightning?”
He opened his eyes quickly; they were completely red with a white iris signalling what he was looking at–her. She couldn’t even scream before he was on her, jamming his hoof in her mouth to silence her. She managed to get out a small muffled squeak. “The darkness, it’s everywhere.” Came it’s voice. This wasn’t Green Lightning. The voice was filled with callous malice.
He slowly began to loosen his grip, “Lightning?” Scootaloo whimpered, looking at him with pleading eyes.
“No, He’s not home at the moment.” It said, “But Lightning sounds good, but he’s Lightning so I can’t be him. Well technically he is me and I am him but I can’t have his name. I'll come up with my own name; and because you can't have lightning without a storm, you can call me Storm Blitz and Blitz for short, or Blitzy.” Blitz said with a little bit of sadistic glee in his voice, “Or…or… ‘The Blitzanator!’’ He said, moving his hooves in emphasis.
Scootaloo fearfully looked up at Blitz's menacing figure, "What have you done with Lightning?"
Blitz's white eye stared at her, she felt it boring into her, "He'll be around soon, but in the meantime you're stuck with me." Blitz hissed.
*****
Darkness was all around him. He couldn't even see his hoof in front of his face. Green Lightning was scared. He couldn't see, feel, or hear anything. It felt like he was floating."Hello?" he said to nopony. There wasn't even any echo. This is it he thought I'm dead or in Limbo which is pretty much dead anyway. He crawled into the best floating ball he could manage and just whimpered to himself "No...no....no."
He heard a voice saying his name "Lightning, Lightning wake up," it was Scoots! "Lightning?"
"I'm here! I'm here!" he tried to say, but no sound came out. He couldn't talk! But I was just talking. He mentally stated. Instead another voice answered her, it was his, but also not his.
“No, He’s not home at the moment.” It said, “But Lightning sounds good, but he’s Lightning so I can’t be him. Well technically he is me and I am him but I can’t have his name. I'll come up with my own name; and because you can't have lightning without a storm, you can call me Storm Blitz and Blitz for short.” Blitz said with a little bit of sadistic glee in his voice.
What does he mean? Another me? Lightning asked himself. He then heard Scoots voice, sounding terrified, "What have you done with Lightning?"
Scoots? Afraid? This is really bad He thought. He tried swimming through the darkness, it didn't work. Running, walking, falling, they all didn't work.
Blitz's voice came again "He'll be around soon, but in the meantime you're stuck with me." Blitz hissed.
"No!!! Scoots!!!" He yelled at the top of lungs but to no avail.
*****
Blitz took a step towards Scootaloo, she took a step back. Blitz saw the fear in her eyes and grinned. He loved fear. He was almost upon her when he felt a throbbing pain in the back of his head, he turned around to see a flying tortoise with an angry expression upon his face bashing into his face. “Ow! Stop that!” He said pushing the tortoise out of the way, but he wouldn’t give up. Blitz then had an idea; he punched the tortoise’s flying contraption which crumpled the moment it was attacked. The tortoise looked up, swore in tortoise language and fell through the cloud floor.
Blitz then turned his attention back to Scootaloo who was cowering in the corner in fear. He approached her again, slower than before to instil fear into her heart and make her give up hope. He was in front of her now, grinning sadistically. He didn’t notice that she had picked up a fairly weighty book and had hidden it behind her. Blitz put his face up to Scootaloo’s and was about to say something when she hit him with the book and he crumpled to the floor.
Scootaloo cautiously walked up to Lightning's body on the ground and prodded it. His eyes opened, and Scootaloo knew they were his own. She sighed, the next moment Scootaloo found that she was embracing Lightning making him fully awake. He shifted awkwardly in her grip, so she let him go, "Lightning? Is that you now?" she asked.
"Ummm...yeah, I think so." He answered. "Did he hurt you?"
"Who? Oh him, no. Just scared me that's all." Scootaloo was surprised that Lightning was worried about her safety.
"Oh good then." He said quickly, opening his door and letting Scootaloo exit first, which made her blush.
Why was he acting like this she wondered Oh well, He's cute anyway...wait what!? Why am I thinking of him like that?
As she followed Lightning down the stairs she noticed something, he was walking like he had purpose now. She followed him into Rainbow Dash's room, who was still asleep despite the racket that Blitz, Lightning approached his mother's bed, and flipped it over sending Dash with it.
“Whoa! Lightning, what the heck!?” Dash said, now fully awake.
“Why didn’t you tell me there was a psychopath living in my head!?” his voice cracked slightly. “And what the heck is with my voice!?” he cried, with his voice changing in pitch, volume and speed.
“Oh no, oh no.” Dash said coming to a terrible realization.It appeared as though Lightning had ‘inherited’ traits similar to that of Pinkie’s other self, Pinkamena. At least, that’s all she could hypothesise in such a short space of time.
“Mum! What’s happening to me!?” Lightning squeaked in a high pitched voice, “I almost hurt Scoots…Mum? Tell me.” He said in a deep voice that got higher as he continued talking, “I don’t wanna hurt anypony ever!”
“You’ll have to come to the lab-” Dash started to explain.
“NO! I’m not going to the lab, we’re going to Twilight, and she’ll know something.” Lightning answered.
“Twilight!? What does she know about injecting electro-magnetic fluids into a fleshy compound and then blasting it with pure radiation energy.” Dash asked.
Lightning looked at his mother with a look that said ‘what?’ before he simply said “Nothing…yet. Come on Scoots let’s go.” He crouched down so Scoots could get on his back. Rainbow Dash just stared after them, unsure if to pursue them or just wait
*****
“Twilight!? Twilight Sparkle!!! I gotta talk to you!” Lightning yelled banging on the library’s door.
A small purple dragon opened the door and stared at the visitor. He then blinked his eyes and ran back inside yelling “TWILIGHT!!! THERE’S A CHANGELING AT THE DOOR!!!”
“Oh great, I’m being accused of being something. I don’t even know what a changeling is!” Lightning said, clearly exhausted and not in the mood for being accused of being a changeling.
“Oh yeah, you weren’t made then,” after a look from Lightning she quickly corrected herself, “born… they are creatures that came from the Badlands and they were called changelings. They attacked Canterlot a few months ago. Their queen pretended to be Twilight’s brother’s girlfriend or something and was planning on marrying him…like eww. Anyway your mum and the other Elements stopped them, and Princess Candence and Shining Armour helped too I guess…” Scootaloo explained.
“So why does the small purple dragon think I’m one of them?” Lightning asked with a puzzled look upon his face.
“Well; firstly his name is Spike, and secondly he probably thinks you’re a changeling because technically you’re still a foal and foal don’t talk…” She trailed off.
At that moment the door of the library opened and Lightning was surrounded in a purple aura coming from a unicorn’s horn. That unicorn was Twilight. She let out a sigh, “Spike, this isn’t a changeling it’s just Green Lightning,” she said to Spike who was cowering behind her, “who is grown up now?”
“Um? Hi?” Lightning said nervously, his determination and confidence gone now that he was suspended above the ground by Twilight. When she screamed he knew what she was thinking. She slammed the door in Scootaloo’s face, who protested loudly, and marched inside intent on studying what she thought was a changeling. She encased him in a purple sphere and then went to answer the door, which Scootaloo was banging on loudly.
“Scootaloo? What are you doing here?” Twilight said, pretending to be surprised.
“Oh, I think you know. I’m here for Green Lightning who you’ve accused of being a changeling and trapped inside.” Scootaloo said accusingly.
Twilight looked taken aback “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Green Lightning? Pfft he’s only just a foal, he can barely talk let alone fly. What makes you think he’s here?” Twilight said, unconvincingly.
“Because he came to the door, and then you took him inside. Because you think he’s a changeling, and he’s not!” Scootaloo told Twilight, her patience wearing thin. “Just lemme in.” She demanded pushing past Twilight with determination. Twilight wasn’t quick enough to stop her. Scootaloo wizzed past and stood by the purple sphere that had Lightning trapped inside it. “See?” She pointed at the purple sphere, “It’s Lightning. And he’s not a changeling.”
“Well Scootaloo it’s clearly evident that you’ve been brainwashed by this deranged creature so now it will be up to me to, to make sure that you are safe.” And with that said Twilight picked up a squirming Scootaloo in her purple aura and threw her out the door.
****
Scootaloo had never felt more defeated or miserable in her whole life, she let Lightning down. If only she could just fly, she could go to Rainbow Dash and tell her what happened. She then noticed Dash talking to a brown-coated stallion with a sand timer as his cutie mark. she felt herself running towards Dash calling her name.
“Hey there Scoots! Where’s Lightning?” Dash asked.
“Twilight took him and thinks that he’s a changeling but he’s not but she wouldn’t listen to be and then I tried to get to him and then she threw me out and said I was brainwashed by Lightning but I’m not I’m fine and then I looking for y-” Scootaloo’s words came out in a rush going too quickly for anyone to understand.
“Breathe Scoots, breathe.” Dash said in a soothing voice, “Now tell me again, what happened to Lightning?”
Taking a breath this time Scootaloo began again, ”Twilight’s trapped Lightning because she think that he’s a changeling,” she said slower than before and shorter. Her voice broke and a tear fell down her face, “I tried to stop her, to save him but I couldn’t…I couldn’t stop her.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Dash said wiping away Scootaloo’s tears, “Twilight doesn't even know that he is a robot so her reaction would be as expected.” Looking down at Scootaloo with a smile, “Let's go explain.” She finished. She then marched towards the library with Scootaloo close in tow.
****
“So now you’ll tell me who you are and what you have down with the real Green Lightning.” Twilight explained.
“But I am the real Green Lightning!” Lightning pleaded still in the purple sphere that Twilight had encased him in.
“That’s what you keep saying.” Twilight said, grabbing a notepad in her magical aura and jotted down a few notes.
“Because it’s true!” Lightning cried, he started crying.
“Why are you crying?” Twilight asked tilting her head.
“Why do you think!?” Lightning snapped, “You kidnapped me and trapped me in a ball. And threw Scootaloo out! And I miss my mummy!” The last time Lightning referred to Dash as ‘mummy’ was two weeks ago when he wasn’t as developed. But here he was screaming for his mummy.
Twilight then finished writing down notes and then said to Spike “Now send this to the Princess! She must know of this!”
As if on queue Rainbow Dash burst through the door and rammed into Twilight sending her sprawling to the ground. Spike ran upstairs.
Scootaloo rushed to Green Lightning still trapped in the sphere and proceeded to hit it with everything she had.
Rainbow had Twilight pinned down with her hooves and was about to start explaining herself when Twilight smiled slyly and bucked Dash in the chest with her back legs. Dash; temporarily winded let go of Twilight in order to regain her breath. With her eyes were off her target for just a second giving Twilight the chance to attack. Grabbing the closest thing next to her which happened to be (Macho Stallion’s: How to Kill a Manticore With Your Bare Hooves) .Twilight struck Dash and moved further away from her.
“Ow!” exclaimed Dash. She looked at Twilight who was standing there with a satisfied face. Dash, angered by Twilight's smug look kicked at her legs and tripped her. She slowly got up and picked up the book that hit her over the head, before slowly making her way over to Twilight who was backing up tentatively. Dash then weighed the book in her hoof and threw it and Twilight’s horn.
“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” Twilight yelled in excruciating pain, “WHAT THE BUCK DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?”
“You kidnapped my son, trapped him in a ball, tossed Scoots out, oh and impersonated one of my best friends so don’t you dare be calling my son a bucking changeling you bitch!” Rainbow explained, seething with anger. Scootaloo looked on in awe, she had never seen Dash so mad.
“Hehehe, so you finally figured it out. Took you long enough.” Said the now accused ‘fake’. Green flames covered her body and when the dispersed, in her place stood an insect-like pony with holes in its hooves, “Well I guess there’s no point in hiding it now.” The changeling buzzed with a masculine voice. “I am Twitch, and if you’re looking for your friend she’s in the basement. But if you want her you gotta get through me.”
“Uh-huh, one question ummm Twitch…how is your magical aura purple not green?” Dash asked.
To her surprised Twitch burst out laughing, “I have…your friend, and you…wanna know that!?” he said between laughs. “It’s just a new trick we changeling have learned while in exile. And if your second question is ‘how are you even here?’” he said mimicking her voice perfectly, “the answer is; I was always here. I’ve been masquerading as various ponies, never staying the same for more than two days. That’s how.” Twitch explained. He was moving closer and closer to the right where there was a vase. Dash wasn’t paying attention to him anymore though, she was busy trying to help Scootaloo free Lightning. Twitch picked up the vase carefully and quietly.
Scootaloo turned around and, realising what was about to happen, cried out a warning to Rainbow Dash.
It was too late.