//------------------------------//
// What in Equestria just happened? 
// Story: The Doom Patrol 
// by Magenta Cat 
//------------------------------//

	This was bad, REALLY bad.

Like, 'run for the hills! run for the moon! just run away!' kinda BAD.  

Discord's statue lie shattered on the ground in a secluded area of the Canterlot Castle garden and was covered by a note that said, ‘Back in 16 hours.’

The moon hung over Equestria and the Pony Princess sisters were sitting in front of the debris with horns and eyes glowing, their combined magical auras covering the pieces of Discord’s statue. Behind them, with her Element of Magic on her head, Twilight looked in bated silence. Applejack paced back and forth with her Element of Honesty around her neck. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were moving their heads and bodies about like paranoid chickens in the Everfree, clad in the Element of Generosity and Loyalty respectively, and expecting Discord to appear from anywhere and everywhere. Pinkie Pie, wearing her Element of Laughter, was trying to calm down Fluttershy, with her Element of Kindness.

"It's... impossible," said Celestia with an air of finality, her eyes and horn's losing their glow.

"If Discord does not desire to be found, there isn’t a power me or my sister possess that can," Luna assured, her eyes and horn returning to normal as well.

"Then, what do we do about it?" asked Twilight, frightened out of her gourd at the possibility of an undetectable Discord running amok.

"Yeah! There’s gotta be something we can do!" said Rainbow Dash, holding her hoof up in righteous indignation.

"Are you certain that we can’t use the Elements to find Discord and put him back to his prison?" asked Rarity.

"I'm afraid that the Elements must be in Discord’s presence to act. Otherwise, they are ineffectual," answered Celestia. She looked back at the note. "The best we can do right now is wait and hope that Discord keeps his word."

"Speakin’ of which, how much time has passed?" Applejack was getting more nervous by the minute.

"Well, the gardener found the pieces this morning at nine o'clock,” answered Luna. She looked at the stars. "It’s about midnight now, so there must be less than an hour left."

"As a matter of fact, I like to wake up early." A familiar voice said from above. Everypony looked up to see Discord floating casually over them. "So, my sixteen hours of fun have run their course."

"How did you free yourself?" Celestia commanded to the draconequus. 

"Always right to the point like a good little Dictator, aren't you Tia? No wonder Luna snapped and tried to kill you and everything on this planet," Discord said, smiling as he descended to the ground. "Very well then, I must confess: I did not free myself."

"What?" Everypony said in unison.

"You heard. A rather good humored fellow freed me for sixteen hours so he could have his kicks watching me doing what I do best," he responded matter-of-factly. He then started to laugh. "But I cheated him and performed rather little of any respectable spectacle, so he couldn’t watch very much. Hahahaha!” Discord rolled onto the floor, laughing as though he had said something profoundly funny.

Then Pinkie interrupted. "So that's why there’s no a chocolate rain! Phooey!" Pinkie said, as though it were the most important thing in the world. 

Discord, his laughter now contained in a bottle that he then shoot right into the ocean like a basketball, said. "Correctomundo. I'm truly sorry for that, but you see, I have decided that my new concerto of chaos will be a bit more of a… focused piece, like a three instruments solo. But oh BOY, how you’ll all be impressed by how much effort I did so put into it."

"What have you done, you monster? ANSWER US!" shouted Luna in the royal Canterlot voice, stomping her hoof onto the ground.

"Hello pot, name’s kettle, have we met?" replied Discord, holding sock puppets of a pot and kettle in his hands. 

Before Luna could fly towards Discord and show him personally just how much of a monster she truly could be, she started vibrating in place as the sound of a clock buzzing filled the room. Discord propped open her mouth with a hydraulic cart-jack, reached into her stomach, and pulled out an old, round, analogue alarm clock. 

Leaving the jack in her mouth for her to feebly try to pry out with her hooves, Discord looked at the clock and his eyes bulged out of their sockets only for them to run back into their home, screaming.    

"Oopsie loopsy. It looks like my time is up. See you in the next apocalypse!"

He waved them all goodbye and sat down on the pedestal of his former statue. Then, adopting the pose of The Thinker, he turned into stone.

Applejack scratched under her hat. "What the hay was that all about?"

Rainbow Dash was just as confused. "Yeah! "

"I don't know. Princess?" asked Twilight. 

She looked at her mentor, who was busy trying to pry out the cart-jack from her sister’s mouth with her magic. "Your guess is as good as mine, my faithful student." Sweating, Celestia ceased the golden glow around the cart-jack to wipe off her brow. “Whew. That thing’s really stuck in there!”

“Mmph mmph mmph!” Luna muffled, waving her forehooves around frantically.  

Before anypony could offer to help, a grey coated pegasi appeared, flying at full speed toward them and shouting, "Help! S.O.S! Mayday!" 

Rainbow stopped the scared mare from her inevitable trajectory into herself  in the middle air. "Derpy? Calm down. What's happening?" 

"It's Ponyville! It's being terrorized by three weird monsters, and one of them is a changeling!"

"A changeling?!" Now everypony was concerned.

"We’ve got to high-tail it back to Ponyville faster than a coffee drinking jack-rabbit!" Applejack said, Twilight nodding in agreement. Still remembering vividly the mayhem caused by the changelings at her brother's wedding.

"Mmph Mmph Mmph Mmph Mmph Mmph, Mmph Mmph Mmph Mmph Mmph," Luna said as her horn and Celestia’s started to glow.

“Luna is correct. We will teleport you all back to Ponyville while the two of us investigate just who let Discord free this time.” 

“Mmph mmph mmph!” shouted Luna.

“Right. And find someway to separate the cart-jack from Luna,” Celestia said, blushing embarrassingly at her own forgetfulness. "Good luck my little ponies." As a white-golden and black-bluish aura surrounded the six elements of harmony plus Derpy, and they were gone. 


***



The elements and Derpy appeared inside the town hall, where it looked like everypony and their mother had taken refuge in after a particularly bad scheduled storm. 

"My baby! Where’s my baby!?" shrieked Derpy, hyperventilating like mad. 

"Mommy! I'm right here," Dinky waved comparatively calmly compared to her mother with her tiny forelegs from a corner accompanied by Doctor Whooves.

"Don't worry your pretty little bubble covered butt, Ditzy. I've been at her side all throughout this ordeal." 

Derpy sighed in relief. "Thank you. I knew I could count on you, Doc."

Rarity spoke. "Speaking of counting on somepony, could somepony please explain to us what is going on?"

The Doctor was about to answer when Spike came up to her from the crowd and said, "Follow me." 

With that said, the mane six obliged, leaving Derpy to vigorously hug crush the daylights out of her daughter and the good doctor. Rainbow hogged up the space around the window and dropped to floor in fear at what she saw. "W-wh-what was that?" 

Pinkie assaulted her with questions as she got back up. "What? What did you see? Was it chocolate rain? Ooo ooo! Maybe it was a cotton candy cloud! Or even better, a--" 

Before she could continue, Twilight stuffed a forehoof into her mouth. “Rainbow, what did you see?" 

Rainbow gulped and said, "You guys are not gonna believe this, but there's some shadow thingy floating around the town!" 

Pinkie Pie spit out Twilight’s hoof and said, "Sayeth Whaaaaat?" 

Spike nodded and said, "That's not the only problem. There’s also a changeling hoofing at the front door, and a metallic creature shouting some kind of battlecry that's destroying everything made of glass in town.” 

The mane six looked towards the rest of the crowd of ponies for confirmation. 	They all nodded. A voice came from the front door.

"Please! Let us in! We're scared." It sounded like a mare's voice.

Rarity walked towards the front door and asked, "Who’s there?" 

Before she could reach, though, Spike was in front of her and blocking her path. "Don’t fall for it! It's the changeling! It's been trying to convince us to open the door all the night!" he said, before scratching at his chin. "But for some reason, it hasn't even tried shape-shifting into a pony or something to get us to lower our guard. It's weird." 

Twilight was surprised by the commentary.

"Now that doesn't make sense. Assuming it’s far from Chrysalis’s mental commands, it shouldn’t be very bright, and its first instinct should have been to blend in with its environment in hostile territory. Why on earth would it reveal itself?”

“Please! Open up!” the maybe changeling shouted before hoofing at the door some more. 

"And that poor thing sounds frightened too," added Fluttershy. "Maybe it’s not dangerous." 

Applejack then started to approach the door, keeping Spike away with a hoof when he tried in vain to stop her. "Hey out there. What do you want?" she said through the door.

The changeling responded quickly. "We just want someone to help us! I don't know what happened! We we're playing and then Discord--"

"Hold on," Applejack interrupted, "Did you just say Discord?"

The scarred voice of the changeling answered, "Y-y-yes..."

“Don’t listen to it!” Spike yelled, still struggling in vain against Applejack’s hoof.  

Twilight approached the door, her mind trying to put the pieces together. "Tell us, does Queen Chrysalis know that you’re here?" 

The voice now sounded confused. "Who?"

"Well, now that is certainly peculiar." Rarity said in disbelief. "A changeling who thinks for itself and doesn't know about its Queen?" 

Pinkie jumped to the side of the door and said, "If we let you in, you Pinkie promise that you won't harm anypony?" 

"Why would I harm somepony?" the changeling said in a clearly confused tone. "I just want some help! Please! I'm looking for my sister!" And then, the changeling did something that astonished everypony in the room.

It started to cry.

Fluttershy's maternal instincts rose as she said. "We should let it in. I don't think it's dangerous." 

Applejack looked at Twilight and asked, "Should we?"

"Well… it doesn't sound dangerous at least."

So, with that, Applejack unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a rather strange looking changeling. It’s chitinous exoskeleton lacked any and all black and was instead colored primarily with a dark tone of mustard yellow. Second, it actually possessed a mane and had a tail-like membrane, both a dark amaranth. Also its eyes, instead of being light blue and compounded, were gamboge colored and were singular like Chrysalis’s ones. 

Finally, in its mane, laid a light brilliant crimson bow.

When the changeling noticed the others mares, it stopped to cry and tackle-hugged Applejack to the ground.

"Oh Applejack! You're finally here!” she said, sniffling and nuzzling Applejack’s neck.  !Please help! I don't know what to do!" 

Applejack stared at the creature with estrangement and a confused tone. "Sorry, but, do I know you?" 

The changeling backed away and started to cry again while saying, "Don't you recognize me? It’s me, Apple Bloom!”

Everypony in the room gasped, and it sounded like the doctor said, “What a twist!” 

“Please Applejack! You gotta believe me! You just gotta!" 

Applejack didn't want to believe it. She COULDN'T believe it. "If you're REALLY my sister, then answers this: who crashed Big Mac's cart the other night?"

The changeling calmed down and answered ."It was you... but you promised to take me to that theme park down in Las Pegasus and you gave me five sweet tarts so’s I could keep my snout shut." 

Applejack looked on in disbelief, her jaw hanging loose. "Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom tackle-hugged Applejack to the ground again. "It's been horrible Applejack! Horrible! Sweetie Bell tried crying for help and Scootaloo flew around trying to find somepony but everypony just ran away from us and into Town Hall so I tried to ask them for help, but nopony came out!" 

As the waterworks from Apple Bloom continued to flow freely again, Twilight took a step closer to the sisters and asked, "What happened?" 

Apple Bloom’s waterworks immediately stopped. "Well, like I said, Discord appeared and then--" 

Rainbow interrupted her by saying, "Oh no! The shadow thingy’s back and it's coming towards us!" 

But it was too late. The black silhouette of a pegasi surrounded by a cerise aura and with two purple glowing eyes of doom entered into the Town Hall and barreled into Rainbow Dash, but instead of impacting her like any solid object would, it went through the cyan pegasus, making her squirm and plop onto the ground with an unceremonious thud.

The shadow placed its hooves towards its mouth. "No! Rainbow Dash I'm sorry! I didn't mean-- I was only trying to get to you! Please forgive me!" it apologized in a familiar voice. 

"Scoot--Scoot-a-loo? It's that you?" asked Rainbow Dash, still trembling.

Twilight looked at Scootaloo, saying, “Wait. If Apple Bloom was the changeling, and you were the shadow, then that means--" 

However, before Twilight could finish, Rarity had, for once, long put two and two together before the bookish mare and shouted, "Sweetie Belle! Where is she!?" 

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom pointed a hoof in the town park’s direction. Rarity galloped there, followed closely by the rest of the six sans Rainbow Dash, who was still trying to recover, and Pinkie Pie, who stayed behind to give her company as she did. 

Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy stopped a good twenty feet when they saw a mare made out of metal shouting so loud that even the ground under her started to shake and crackle.

They had all almost passed out, the sound pressure causing their eardrums to bleed, but Twilight managed to conjure forth a set of earmuffs for everypony as well as a magic dome to contain the mechanical being and its sonic shout. However, the sound waves were too much for the magical construct and smashed it into bits. When one single piece of solid magic fell onto the mare's head, making her to stop her crying and turning around.

"Rarity!" She said with oddly non-monotone robotic voice before running up to the fashionista and practically crushed her spine in her cold, metallic grasp. "Rarity! I was so scared! Discord came and then I was made of metal and I didn’t' know what to do and--" 

Rarity was shocked. In front of her, crushing the life out of her, was her filly sister. Except she wasn’t a filly. She had the body type and voice of a full grown mare, and she was now made out of a gray silver metal and what looked like a plastic mane. 

"Swee--Sweetie Belle?" she choked out. 


***



Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie and Spike put Rainbow on a couch to rest. Spike turned to Scootaloo and asked, "How did you do that?" 

Scootaloo kneeled down next to her idol and said, "I'm sorry, it wasn't my fault. I just tried to reach Rainbow for help, but I didn't mean to pass through and harm her." 

Spike made to put a comforting claw on her shoulder, but Pinkie stopped it with a hoof and made a face similar to the one Rainbow Dash had made when she touched Scootaloo.

“Oh, right. Sorry,” He all but whispered. He turned back to Scootaloo. "I know you would never try to harm anypony Scoots. What I meant was how could you physically pass through a solid pony and why did it seem to knock the living daylights out of Dash?"

Pinkie interrupted. "Well, it seems that our friend Scootaloo here is now made out of a more direct, more pure form of energy, energy, but I can't tell what kind, since she can pass through solid objects, but also can be solid enough to not pass through the floor when standing."

Spike, Scootaloo, and a reawakened Rainbow turned to look at Pinkie. "What? Twilight is not the only smarty pants pony in town ya know."


***



Not long later, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Mane six, and Spike were reunited at the library after Twilight calmed down the rest of the town assuring that the three monster-mares were completely harmless.

As the whole town was now fast asleep back in their own homes, Twilight said, “So let me get this straight. You were playing at the town park, when Discord came out in front of you." The three ponies nodded. "Alright. In as much detail as you can, tell me, what happened next?"

In unison, the crusaders said, "Well..."