(Finally, it's done... It's finally done!!! Enjoy.)
While Dragon Heart and the others were enjoying a little munch time at Sweet Apple Acres, we go back to the main section of Ponyville where Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle and Spike wandering around streets together witnessing the different little changes around them thanks to their newly formed friendship with the changelings. However, there was no signs of Dragon Heart arriving yet, and poor little Spike was slightly disappointed.
“Nope, no sign of Dragon Heart yet,” said Pinkie Pie as she was hopping along beside her friends, “but it’s such a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
Spike just sighed feeling a little let down, “Aw man, where is she?”
“Don’t worry Spike;” said Twilight, “I’m pretty sure that she’s on her way; I doubt that she forgot.”
While looking around, Pinkie just couldn’t help but continue to show a huge smile on her face. All that transpired from that glorious day up to now, it was a real treat to see Ponies and Changelings working together in peace.
“You know… sometimes I never realize just how vibrant Ponyville has gotten ever since we made peace with the Changelings,” Pinkie stated, “Why… just a couple of days ago, a couple of them wanted to help me watch over the Cake twins. It turned out that those two were real baby lovers, and it’s definitely giving me a break every once in a while when Mr. and Mrs. Cake aren't around.”
“What, really?” said Spike out of shock, “So… Pumpkin and Pound didn’t cry; they weren’t scared of them?”
“Nope, it was like they could sense that they weren’t bad and were not going to harm them; they absolutely loved them!”
“It really is quite amazing of how helpful the Changeling is willing to be;” said Twilight happily, “They’re doing everything they can to earn our loving trust, and I think it’s going well.”
Pinkie suddenly thought of something else, “Oh, oh! I also heard that recently a female changeling who loves kids is studying over Cheerliee teaching her class, and she even plays with them sometimes and the kids learned to enjoy her company! I admit it is still a bit weird to me sometimes, but this is what Dragon Heart wanted, right?”
Thinking about Dragon Heart in his head, Spike sighed again, “Yeah… and the best part is that they’re all able to do want they always secretly wanted to do… besides their usual duties and still feed off our love without being all creepy and scary ,and forcing us into submission. It’s a win-win situation!”
Despite talking about good things from this outcome, something else was still bothering Twilight… something that she was partially worried about.
“Well… there is one thing that I am still wondering about,” she said, “Chrysalis. We haven’t heard about her ever since she changed; I hope everything is alright.”
“Maybe she needed to lay back and take it easy all this time;” said Spike, “You know, to recuperate and stuff.”
“Of course, she needed time to change completely after hearing about the truth of her past,” said Pinkie, “I bet she’s as cuddly as a kitten now!”
Twilight looked at Pinkie kinda weird; what she said didn’t seem right to fit with Chrysalis, “Um, I wouldn’t go that far; this is Chrysalis we’re talking about.”
“I know, but you never know; life is full of surprises! For all we know Chrysalis could blow all of our minds away!”
“I’m all for Chrysalis to being nicer and all,” said Spike, “but seeing her being too nice would be… well, weird.”
(In Spike’s mind…)
‘Attention all ponies of Equestria, I am pleased to announce that I have fully changed my ways. I am no longer in need for vengeance, I want to spread nothing but love and happiness everywhere I go; I want to be your best friend!’
Spike suddenly shuddered a bit from that thought and was almost frighten about it coming true, “Ugh, on second thought… that would be straight out creepy.”
Just then, they all heard a voice sound out in the sky above them; one of their Pegasus friends, “Alright, see you guys later… and don’t forget to work on those fancy formations!”
It was Rainbow Dash and she was she was talking to small group of Changelings that were waving back at her.
“Sure thing, Rainbow Dash!”
“Straight up!”
Rainbow Dash looked down and saw her friends down on the ground waving at her and she swooped down to meet with them.
“Hey Dashie,” said Pinkie while hopping up and down still, “what’s up?!”
“Hey guys,” Rainbow Dash responded with a proud smirk, “I was just hangin’ out with some changeling buddies of mine. They’re pretty cool and all but they need to work on their flying skills; I can literally fly circles around them… not that I wouldn’t be able to anyway.”
Spike felt a little confused by Rainbow’s statement as he asked, “Um, Rainbow Dash, they’re Changelings; aren’t they good at flying anyway?”
“Well… yeah,” Rainbow dash sarcastically, “and we Pegasi are really good at flying too.”
Suddenly, Derpy flew by and waved while smiling, “Hey, Rainbow Dash!” But because she wasn’t watching where she was going, she ended up smashing right into tree and fell back down on the ground. She shook herself off and smiled nervously, “I-I-I’m o-okay!”
Rainbow Dash just shook her head and sighed, “Well… most of us anyway. But my point is as good of a flyer that any pony may be, you have to be even better… no, waaaaaaay better than good if you want to be… a Wonderbolt!”
There was a sudden moment of silence as no one could say anything… until Spike said in a confusing manner, “Say what now?”
Pinkie suddenly felt excited chills in her body as she was constantly wagging her tail like a dog, “Awesome, Changelings are trying out for the Wonderbolts now?!”
“Well… just those guys; I’m quite surprised that they even got in myself… they’re so lucky. Their reason for doing so is because they want to impress their clan by becoming the best Changeling flyers that Equestria has ever seen! Maybe it was their secret dream or something.”
“I did hear something about that,” said Twilight, “but I wasn’t quite sure if it was true or not; but I guess it is.”
Rainbow Dash envied those Changelings for being in the Academy, but she knew that her time would come sooner or later.
“In my book, those changelings are the coolest and bravest changeling flyers I’ve ever seen; maybe Dragon Heart and her two friends should tryout.”
Twilight was glad to know that changelings were now treading different territories besides Ponyville; the more places that accepts them the better.
“That’s wonderful,” said Twilight, “that must mean that the academy’s leader, Spitfire is fully aware of the treaty and trusts them completely.”
Rainbow Dash looked at the others while scratching her head and grinning sheepishly, “Well… she has... mostly to say the least.”
“Mostly,” said Spike, “was she still a bit suspicious of them; was she being extra tough on them?”
“Not exactly, but based on what they told me, she was being pretty strict on them at first. I wish I could’ve been there when they went on their first day.”
-----
A few weeks ago at the Wonderbolt Academy…
The Academy leader, Spitfire was all set up and flew out to the training grounds. Waiting for her there were the group of recruits that were ready to continue their training in hopes that one day they would become members of the Wonderbolts. They all stood at attention once Spitfire landed in front of them and were waiting for her orders.
“Alright flyers, I hope you’re all wide awake because we’ll be doing a whole lot of training today! So I better see some pure determination out there and I don’t want any excuses. After all if you don’t want to work very hard, then that means you don’t want to be a Wonderbolt, now do you!”
As Spitfire walked down the line of recruits, her eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a few new ponies in the ranks. However, she couldn’t help but think that something was up with them.
“By the way, I do believe that we have some new slackers in the group; a small group of ponies who think that they have what it takes.”
Her glare was suddenly on the four suspicious ponies that were standing at attention staring forward doing their best to not give anything away. But they couldn’t help but sweat a bit feeling nervous from the leader’s stare.
“If I had 5 bits for every time I heard somepony say that, I’d be richer than Celestia!”
Spitfire stopped in front of the four ponies and they stood silent staring straight ahead of them mostly not showing any signs of fright.
“Tell me your names, maggots!”
And so they did.
“Fangblade!” (male)
“Poison!” (female)
“Fireflight!” (female)
“Cloud Diver!” (male)
Once they all sounded off, Spitfire arched an eyebrow at them, and then they all shouted…
“… mam!”
It was up to this point that Spitfire noticed something in their eyes that appeared different from the others. She couldn’t quite tell what it was, but she wasn’t fooled for a second.
“You guys are definitely interesting looking ponies… or are you?”
“M-m-maybe?” one of them answered.
And one of the others thought to himself, “Dang, she’s scary.”
Their bodies were tensing up again and more sweat was rolling down their bodies. They were afraid that she would discover their hidden secret.
“You 4 really think you have me fooled, don’t you? You don’t think I can see what’s going on?!”
The other ponies continued to stand attention staring straight forward, but they were also wondering what Spitfire was talking about. Meanwhile, the 4 certain ponies were starting to shake a bit knowing that their cover was blown.
“Well guess again… Changelings!”
All of the ponies lost their concentration as they all gasped and looked at the 4 ponies Spitfire was staring down. Suddenly, the 4 ponies dropped their disguises and showed their true changeling forms. They smiled nervously as one of them said…
“Um… surprise?”
Not a single smile was seen on Spitfire face as she continued to show her cold-hardy stare at them. To them, this pony almost seemed as intimidating as their Queen if not the exact same way.
“I knew those sign-in forms were a bit… bizarre; especially since I sensed a little green slime on one of them.”
Three of the changelings glared at the one who called herself Poison and she protested, “Hey, come on; I couldn’t help it if I was sweating a bit out of excitement of signing up!”
Spitfire turned her back to them while leaving them in the dark of what their fate was, “Changelings in my Academy, disguising themselves up like us. Do you know what I have to say about this?”
Suddenly, all 4 changelings jumped in fright as Spitfire suddenly turned around and got right in their faces, “Do you?!”
They all quickly shook their heads feeling scared out of their wits. ‘How could one pony seem so dangerous and intimidating’ they all wondered.
“What I have about all of this is… well played guys; well played.”
The changelings were suddenly in a state of confusion hearing what she said; and when they looked up, and small little smirk was seen in her expression. They all thought to themselves… “Um… what just happened?”
“You 4 almost had me fooled for second. Not many ponies… or should I just say creatures could ever get past my watchful eyes.” Then, she got up in their faces again making them stand at alert again, “However, you tell any other pony or changeling about this and I’ll rip those wings right off of you, and then you won’t be able to fly at all, understood?!”
They all started to sweat again as they all softly said, “Y-y-yes mam.”
“Come on, I can barely hear you!” Spitfire protested, “You 4 are supposed to be Changeling soldiers who went on many dangerous missions; what would your Queen say?! Now, I said… understood?!!”
They all got themselves together and stood back up in attention and shouted, “Yes mam!!!”
“Hmph, impressive,” said Spitfire with an amused smile, “Welcome to the team; I’m expecting great things from you.”
It was obvious to the 4 changelings that Spitfire was well aware of their peace and was allowing them to participate in her academy. As far as the other recruits go, most of them were just relieved that nothing major happened, and there were a mix of gladness and suspiciousness among the rest.
“By the way,” Spitfire said suddenly looking back at the four changelings, “I’m afraid that your so-called disguises are not welcomed here! If you wish to stay in my academy and earn my trust, I want to see your true faces and come to know the real you! Excuses won’t be tolerated otherwise.”
She flashed another smile at them and said, “Think you can handle doing that, soilders?”
They all smiled back and saluted to her as they shouted, “Yes mam!”
-----
Back in the present…
“Heh, from what I heard from them,” continued Rainbow Dash, “it was quite a wild ride for them. But if Spitfire could accept their friendship, I don’t know who wouldn’t!”
“Don’t hold your breath, Rainbow,” Twilight chuckled.
Spike became a little confused on how those changeling went about to getting in the academy and asked, “Wait a minute; so… if the treaty was already, then why did they even change their appearance anyway?”
“I guess they knew about her being very strict and harsh sometimes,” Rainbow Dash responded, “and showing up the way they were might have caused her to reject them or something. But I guess even she has a heart and can be nice sometimes. Heh heh, I’m being sarcastic by the way.”
Spike shrugged his shoulders and decided to not think hard on it anymore, “It still seemed a bit pointless to me, but hey… whatever works for them.”
“So by the way,” Rainbow suddenly wondered, “is Dragon Heart here yet? If she was I’d figured she’d already be with her Spikey here.”
“Please do not call me Spikey,” retorted Spike with a low-eyed look.
“Hey, if Rarity and others can call you that, then so can I.”
“That aside,” said Twilight, “she’s not here yet as far as we know. We were actually walking around out here to see if she arrived yet ourselves.”
“But we’re still looking;” added Pinkie, “Wanna join us?!”
Rainbow Dash agreed; seeing Dragon Heart would be great and she could see just how much cooler she’s gotten, “Sure, why not; I’ve got some time to kill.
-----
At some point, Dragon Heart and her crusader friends and changeling friends were now departing from Sweet Apple Acres after enjoying some delicious homemade apple pie, made by Granny Smith herself, and began walking together towards Ponyville, where more friends were waiting.
“Aw man,” groaned Razor in satisfaction, “your Granny can sure make a mean, tasty pie!”
“Yep,” said apple Bloom proudly, “and a whole lot of mean, tasty foods; but Ah don’t like to brag.”
“At least they don’t actually make you mean;” said Sweetie Belle as she smiled and elbowed Scootaloo on her side, “huh huh?”
Scootaloo looked at her un-amusingly and shook her head, “No.”
Obviously she didn’t think Sweetie Belle was great at making good jokes.
“By the way, Applejack,” said Dragon Heart curiously, “any reason why you decided to come along with us?”
“Nothin’ special,” Applejack answered, “Ah was done with mah chores on the farm for now anyway, and Big Mac said he didn’t need any help to finish his work. So Ah figured why not tag along with you guys and see Spike’s reaction when he sees you again.”
The crusaders were giggling again seeing Dragon Heart blush from AJ’s comment, “Applejack, please stop that.”
Razor and Dusk smirked a bit seeing Dragon Heart embarrassed; they just couldn’t wait to see her and Spike reunite again.
“So Dragon Heart,” said Apple Bloom, “wasn’t there somethang that ya wanted to fill us in on; something that happened?”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I think it would be better to tell you once we find Spike and Twilight.”
“Aw, do you have to?” whined Sweetie Belle.
“Yes… we do,” Dusk quickly stated.
The three changelings were suddenly staring straight ahead for some second trying to not make eye contact to any of them.
“Maybe it’s something serious,” whispered Scootaloo, “just look at their faces.”
“They definitely look a little troubled,” said Sweetie Belle, “Maybe they a good ol’ surprise hug.”
“Great idea, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom responded, “Git ready girls.”
All three crusaders crouched down and each one of them had their sights set on of the changelings in front of them.
“Ready; one… two… THREE!!!”
They all launched forward and leapt up in the air and then they all landed on each of the changelings (Apple Bloom on Dragon Heart, Sweetie Belle on Razor, and Scootaloo on Dusk) and gave them a big friendly hug.
The changelings all jumped and almost stumbled over from the fillies’ weight force, but then began to feel slightly comfort.
“Wh-wh-what’s the meaning of this?” said Dusk nervously.
“The three of ya looked a little down,” said Apple Bloom, “so we decided to give ya’ll a surprise hug to make ya feel better.”
“So… feel any better?” asked Scootaloo.
“Actually… I do feel a little better,” said Razor, “Must be the love.”
“Thanks, I guess we really did need that,” said Dragon Heart happily.
“Glad to be of service!” said Apple Bloom
Suddenly, Dusk overheard something that was nearby, “Hey, you guys hear that?!”
They were all wondering what he was talking about, so they all followed him as he hovered over to some nearby bushes. And sure enough, what they saw was another changeling who was talking to one of Applejack’s friends.
“Look you guys, it’s Fluttershy,” said Sweetie Belle softly, “but what are she and that changeling talking about?”
They saw the single changeling as it began to fly off, but then stopped and looked down at Fluttershy who was smiling happily and said, “Thanks a lot for this talk, Fluttershy; I just hope that I can find somepony to be my friend and accept me for who I am?”
“Of course, Flower,” Fluttershy responded, “don’t you worry about a thing. There are plenty of ponies here that would do just that, like myself. Just be yourself and everything will be fine. Just remember what Dragon Heart did and use that for inspiration; you could learn a lot from her you know.”
Flower smiled herself and blushed, “Yeah, I sure could. See you again, Fluttershy.” And with that, Flower went off into the sky.
“You too, Flower,” said Fluttershy while waving at the changeling, “You’re welcomed to come back any time.”
That was yet another changeling who was working really hard to change their image; Dragon Heart couldn’t feel any happier. Seeing that changeling seeking emotional help from one the bearers of the 6 Elements brought a joyful little tear to her eye.
Suddenly, Apple Bloom jumped out of the bushes and made their presence known to the yellow Pegasus, “Hey, Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy jumped slightly not knowing that she wasn’t alone, and she turned around to Apple Bloom and the others behind her, “Oh, hey Apple Bloom and…” Then she suddenly gasped and smiled a bit brighter seeing the young changeling that helped bring ponies and changelings back in peace again, “Dragon Heart, you’re back!”
“Sure am.”
“And… so are we,” said Razor abruptly, “Seriously, what are we, Dusk, chopped liver?”
“No,” said Dusk as he rolled his eyes, “Dragon Heart is just… special around here.”
Fluttershy suddenly felt a little flustered, “Oh , I-I-I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to neglect you. It’s nice to see you two as well.”
“Don’t worry about it; it’s not that big of a deal.”
The crusaders went over and gave Fluttershy a group hug together; it was something that they seem to do whenever they all see her.
“So what’s going on with ya today, Shy,” said Applejack, “It seemed like you were helping out a changeling there or somethang.”
“Oh yeah, Flower; she seems to trust me a lot and I’m very glad that she thinks that way about me. But, there are other ponies here she could ask for friendship advice; I was being a little jittery.”
Fluttershy always thought that she wasn’t someone that somepony or anything else could always depend on; and having these talks with Flower made her a bit nervous of whether or she was really any help at all.
“Not to worry,” said Dragon Heart as she flew to Fluttershy’s side “I know Flower and I say that she’s doing great thanks to your advice.”
“Really?” said Fluttershy, “You think so?”
“Of course, you’re the Element of Kindness. If there’s any pony that Flower could ask about being kind and friendly, I’d say you’re a perfect candidate.”
FLuttershy blushed out of embarrassment, “Well… I don’t know about a perfect candidate, but I guess I did pretty good… and thanks for saying that.”
“We’re making our way towards the main part of Ponyville,” said Apple Bloom, “you know, so Dragon Heart can say hello to everypony… and to see a certain someone… who’s a dragon.”
“Oh yeah,” Fluttershy chuckled, “I’m sure she definitely wants to see him.”
“Oh come on,” groaned Dragon Heart, “you too?”
“Don’t be embarrassed, Dragon Heart, everypony is meant to be with somepony; no matter how bizarre it may seem to some.”
“I’m not embarrassed about being in love,” she said while blushing somemore and slightly turning her head, “I’m embarrassed about you guys pressing on the matter. I mean I’m still a little nervous, and I’m sure he’s a little nervous too.”
“Don’t worry Dragon Heart,” said Scootaloo, “We’re with you all the way! You’re a changeling; you were brave enough to fight against your own Queen for petes sake! If you and Spike really, really like each other, you’ll both get through this… and you’ll do it together.”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other wondering what was up with their Pegasus friend being so sensitive all of a sudden.
“Oh my gosh, Scootaloo,” chuckled Apple Bloom, “since when did you become so cheesy?”
“Hey, I have my moments, alright!”
“Hey you guys!” a loud, quirky voice called out suddenly.
Fluttershy perked her ears up hearing the voice and recognized it right away, “Wait a minute, was that…”
Coming down from above was a grey Pegasus mare with a blonde mane flowing in the air. Her eyes were also a bit here and there all over the place, but she was looking in the same direction the whole time. She landed in front of the group and had a very cheerful smile to show off.
“How are you guys doing?” she asked, “Mind if I hang a bit?”
“Oh… h-hey, Mrs. Derpy,” said Fluttershy nervously, “we weren’t expecting you to suddenly appear before us.”
“We definitely weren’t,” Scootaloo mumbled under her breath.
Applejack overheard her and gave her a little bump on her flank, “Scootaloo, be nice.”
The young mare turned her attention to CMC and was staring at them with such dawing eyes it caused the little fillies to feel a little uneasy, “Aw, aren’t the three of you just adorable; I could just eat you up!”
Applejack and Fluttershy thought that Derpy was acting pretty weird even for her, but Dragon Heart and the other two changelings knew that something suspicious was going on here. Just then, Dragon Heart saw what she needed to see to realize what was going on.
“Well hello there… Derpy,” she said while looking at her with a normal smile, “it’s nice to meet you personally.”
“Yeah, same here!” said the cheerful mare while flapping her wing happily, “Hello dear friendly changelings whom I do not know.”
“Oh give it up, Joker,” said Dusk, “we know it’s you.”
“Joker?” wondered Applejack.
“Huh?” said the CMC.
The grey mare scowled at the three changelings a bit and got into a pouting stance, “Darn it you guys, no fair; you ruined my fun.” And then the mare suddenly transformed into another changeling; a male changeling to be exact.
“I guess that hasn’t changed, now hasn’t it?” said Dragon Heart.
“Whoa, it was a changeling!” said Sweetie Bell shockingly, “I didn’t even realize it.”
“Why not,” Razor stated, “his obvious green eyes gave it away. After all, Derpy’s eyes are bright yellow, aren’t they?”
The trickster changeling realized his mistake and knocked himself on the head, “Oh man, I have got to work on that!”
All three crusaders just shook their heads and said at once, “That’s just sad.”
“Um, guys…” said Dragon heart hesitantly, “this odd friend of ours is Joker. We’ve called him that because he always loves to pull pranks on other ponies in many towns. It did prove to be useful in some of our… objectives in the past, but now he just does it for the fun of it. Although he still needs to work on his eye color thing if he wishes to trick someone completely.”
Joker was really proud of his work and wasn’t afraid to gloat about it, “Yep, that’s me! I’m the one who loves to copy as many ponies as I can! I’ve copied more forms of ponies than any changeling has ever done. As a matter of fact…”
He suddenly changed into Scootaloo posing her tomboyish grin, “I can copy you…”
Then he changed into Sweetie Belle smiling and flourishing her mane around, “I can copy you…”
And lastly, he changed into Apple Bloom; acting as wild and energetic as she is, “And… Ah can copy you! Hey howdy hey!”
All three crusader had blank stares seeing their own forms in front of them and were a bit weirded out on how the changeling was making them like, “Wow, Freaky.”
“Oh, can you crusaders guess who Ah am now?!” Joker then changed himself into the form of a very familiar pink filly sporting a tiara on her head, “I’m like so tired of you losers. I need to like go and primp myself or something.”
All of the crusaders suddenly broke down laughing at Joker’s performance.
“Oh man, that is so Diamond Tiara!” shouted Scootaloo.
Dusk just rolled his eyes as he watched Joker continue to make fun of the rich filly even though he found it a little funny himself, “Oh brother.”
“Ooh, look at me;” Joker continued, “I’m Diamond Tiara and I’m like super rich! I’m always spoiled rotten, and I’m a nasty little… brat!”
Suddenly, Sweetie Belle drew a blank, “Wait, that didn’t rhyme with rich.”
“Oookay, Joker,” said Dragon Heart hesitantly, “I think you’ve entertained us enough for now.”
“What are you talking about; I have a whole lot more to show!” Joker suddenly turned into Pinkie Pie and was hopping up and down wearing a huge smile, “Come on, this is super duper extra fabulous fun! Fun, fun, fun!”
Applejack had a pretty good laugh, “Hey, that’s a pretty good Pinkie Pie imitation.”
“Yeah, it is;” Dusk responded, “but seriously dude, that’s enough. We have more important business to take care of.”
Joker stopped bouncing and just pouted at his changeling brethrens, “Alright, have it your way,” and then changed back into blonde, grey mare named Derpy, “but I’m going to stay in this form for a little while; this is a good pony to imitate, and the experience is really growing on me.”
Razor just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, “Whatever floats your boat, man.”
“I like him,” said Sweetie Belle, “he’s funny.”
As much as they wanted to see more of Joker’s acts, Apple Bloom knew that they needed to be elsewhere at this moment, “Come on guys, to Ponyville; we can’t waste another minute!”
“Yeah!!!” all crusaders shouted.
Everyone started to move on forward to leave Joker with his business, and then Applejack looked over at Fluttershy who was still looking at Joker in Derpy’s form; it was still quite bizarre to her.
“Ya comin’, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy jumped up and her attention went back to her earth pony friend, “O-o-oh… sure, I’m not doing anything right now.”
“Catch you later, Joker,” shouted Dragon as she looked back at the transformed changeling, “Try not to cause too much trouble.”
“No Promises!” Joker said with a mischievous smile.
Dragon Heart just rolled her eyes and shook her head as she went on ahead; she knew that Joker wouldn’t do anything mean to anypony anymore… or at least those who don’t deserve it. Once they were all gone, Joker chuckled while looking around for some harmless but mischievous fun.
“Okay, what to do next?”
Suddenly, as he walked forward… he accidentally ran into someone. When he looked up, he was quite surprised to see the very mare whose form he was copying standing right in front of his eyes.
“Uhh…”
He stood still sweating a bit while the real Derpy was curiously looking at him with her out of proportion eyes. She was wondering why she was suddenly staring at herself, unless…
“No way,” she gasped, “I have a long-lost twin?!”
Joker chuckled nervously and truly didn’t want her to seem like an idiot, so he told her, “Um, actually… I’m not your twin. I’m just a changeling posing as you.”
Derpy drew another blank for a few seconds but then realized what he said. She just smiled and lightly hoofed him on the shoulder, “Neat, wanna hang out?”
Joker didn’t quite know what could come of hanging out with this mare, but maybe making an actual friend for a change could be fun. After all, it’s what Dragon Heart wished for.
“Sure, why not.”
And with that the Derpys… I mean, Derpy and Joker just flew off in having a good friendly time together. This could only end well.
-----
Back inside Ponyville… Rarity was running a couple of errands in the town just doing her usual business. She was also looking for someone to help her with her work back at the boutique; however she had no luck in finding who she was looking for.
After a while, she ended up running into the group made up of Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, and she greeted them in an elegant, polite tone, “Hello girls… and Spike.”
Spike was suddenly looking and acting cool in Rarity’s presence “Sup’, Rarity?”
He was done trying to attract her all the time, but that didn’t stop him to continue to try and impress her.
“What are you all up to;” Rarity asked, “taking a little stroll together?”
“Far from it,” said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight then filled her in with details, “Actually, we’re on the lookout for Dragon Heart in case she had come back already to visit you know who. Have you seen her?”
“I’m afraid that I haven’t, darling,” Rarity responded, “However, have you seen my little sister? I’m tailoring a dress for some other filly for a birthday party and Sweetie Belle is just perfect to model it out for me.”
They all shook their heads as Twilight answered, “No we haven’t, sorry.”
Rarity seemed a little disappointed, but then she had an idea, “Hmm, perhaps she’s with her crusader friends; where are they?”
“Heh, why don’t you ask them yourself,” Rainbow snickered as she pointed their attention in a certain direction.
About a little ways from where they were to their left, they finally saw her. It was Dragon Heart; she was walking by with her two changeling friends along with Applejack, Fluttershy and the crusaders. Apple Bloom was the first of them to notice the other group and became excited and waved to them to gain their attention more.
“There they are; hey guys, over here!”
Dragon Heart’s body was vibrating with happiness as she was able to see Spike in her sights again. After all this time taking care of things back at her nest home and other places, she was happy to be here once again with Spike and his friends.
“And there he is,” she thought to herself while sighing, “Wow, he hasn’t changed a bit.”
Spike saw her as well and at first he just stood there while staring at her, but then his eyes lit up as he shouted out, “Dragon Heart!”
Spike then left Twilight’s side as he suddenly sprinted towards the young changeling with open arms.
“Alright,” shouted Pinkie Pie, “go get her, Spike!”
Dragon Heart became a little startled as the young dragon was quickly rushing towards her. But as he got to her, he quickly stopped, calmed down, took a deep breath and played it cool.
“Ahem, hey Dragon Heart; nice to see you again.”
As he went forward and hugged her, Dragon Heart blushed and looked all around noticing some of the other residents looking at them at smiling. It was rather nice to finally see these two back together.
“N-n-nice to see you too,” Dragon Responded as she thought to herself, ‘Yep, he hasn’t changed a bit.’
Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity were looking rather amused for Spike, and Pinkie was just happy that Dragon heart and Spike were back together again.
“Well, I guess this saves us the trouble of finding them,” said Rarity.
“Long time no see guys;” Razor called out to the other group as they approached them, “Did you miss us?”
“Of course we did,” Twilight responded, “you guys did help save Ponyville from your queen after all.”
Dusk just shrugged his shoulders, “Meh, it was nothing.”
Suddenly, Dusk jumped as Rainbow came up into his face upon hearing what he said, “What do you mean it was nothing?! What you guys did that day, especially Dragon Heart, was absolutely cool and very awesome!”
“Absolutely and positively awesome!” Pinkie Pie added.
“Uh… okay, okay,” said Dusk; he felt a little awkward after that, he got their point.
After a few more minutes of sharing conversations of what was going on since Dragon Heart and her friends came back, Twilight knew that it was time to get down to business.
“So how are things going with you guys?” she asked Dragon Heart, “I can only hope to hear you say that everything is going well so far.”
“Well of course;” Dragon Heart responded with a half-smile, “everything is going exactly as I always planned it to be… mostly.”
“Mostly?” said Spike.
“Well I’m sure her plan of peace wasn’t going to be accepted 100 percent, Spike,” said Twilight, “There’s probably still ponies who still don’t trust changelings no matter how much they may seem to change.”
Pinkie Pie suddenly came up to Dragon Heart and smiled at her slyly, “So, are you happy to see Spikey again?”
Dragon Heart freaked out again, “Wh-wh-what?! Come on, Pinkie, stop smiling at me like that! ”
“Look, you’re all great friends and it’s nice to see you all again;” said Dusk, “especially you, Spike. But… I’m afraid we’re also here because we have information that we have to share that might be important.”
Spike and all of the ponies suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked over at the changelings curiously.
“Huh?”
“Hey, does this have to do with whatever you said that you wanted to tell us about earlier?” asked Apple Bloom.
“It most definitely does,” Razor responded.
Dragon Heart was contemplating over what was on her mind and was almost afraid to tell them as her head was pointing down towards the earth.
“Is everythang alright, Dragon Heart?” asked Applejack.
“Oh yeah, everything is going great; much better than I ever thought we could do. It’s just that… something happen a couple of days ago that has us worried a bit about the peace that we’ve recreated being threatened.”
“Threaten, well doesn’t sound like anything good,” said Rarity with concern.
Spike stood up and suddenly shouted out to defend her, “No one should ever threaten your hard work; you worked too hard for it!”
“Yeah, and we all deserve a 2nd chance!” added Apple Bloom.
And the other two crusaders agreed, “Yeah!”
Dusk glared at them and raised his voice, “Well apparently someone doesn’t think that!”
They all looked at Dusk worryingly seeing how he sounded when he shouted suddenly, and he straighten out his voice and calmed down his nerves, “S-sorry about that, still a little shaken from what happened.”
“So what exactly happened that day that made this moment so important to talk about?” questioned Twilight.
Everyone listened closely as Dragon Heart told them, “It was during a moment that we were tending to our Queen and going over different possible things for the future. Afterwards, Razor, Dusk and I went out of the nest to take care of business somewhere.”
“And, and… come on, tell us;” said Sweetie Belle loudly, “the suspense is maddening!”
“Anyway…” Dragon Heart continued while leering a bit at Sweetie, “we got to this clear pasture that was a few miles from our nest and were discussing things in private. Nothing that we were trying to hide from Chrysalis and the others, just plans that we would soon put into action; after all, I am Chrysalis’ sub-general now.”
“Really,” said Spike excitedly, “congratulations! That is a good position, right?”
Twilight just chuckled at Spike cluelessness, “It is if you’re really good at that sorta thing.”
“It can also be a dangerous position too since it makes you a very important member of the colony,” added Razor in a serious tone.
“Wh-what makes you say that?” asked Fluttershy.
Twilight, Spike and all of their friends were all quite antsy to find out just what happened to them that could’ve upset the balance of the new peace they’ve created. But soon enough, Dragon Heart revealed the answer.
“While discussing over things, we were caught off guard… we were… ambushed.”