//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Lost and Found (Part 1: The Search for Sparkler) // Story: Metamorphosis // by Mares Guyver //------------------------------// “In the darkness, I search for something I have lost. In the flow of time, I await the light that will soon come. I dream that we might, one day, Meet again."         ~ “Waiting For … (OP theme)” from Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor  ‘I’m a monster.’ That was the sole thought that continued to reverberate, over and over, through the halls of Amethyst Star’s consciousness. Though her eyes were open, they did not see the tree trunks, bushes, or other bits of foliage which she continued to jump around or push through purely by instinct. No, all Amethyst saw was the afterimage of her little sister’s and friend’s faces—eyes wide and mouths quivering with fear. Fear of her. “I’m a monster.’ Her gaze unfocused and blurred by the tears that continued to flow, Amethyst certainly didn’t see the tree root on the ground, covered in moss and fallen leaves. While her forelegs made it over, the root managed to catch around one of her rear fetlocks. Pitching forward, the mare stumbled, wavering for a moment as she sought to regain her footing until her hooves finally slipped out from under her. ‘I’m a monster.’   Rolling to her side, Amethyst fell off the path she had been following and down a steep hill. Tumbling head over hooves on the wet leaves and grass, she skimmed over various rocks and other forms of debris, the sharp edges scraping the skin beneath her magenta coat. Bruised and battered from multiple impacts on the way down, Amethyst finally reached the bottom of the slope, her slide gradually coming to a halt beneath one patch of twilight that somehow managed to break through the canopy of the Everfree. ‘I’m a monster.’ Slowly, shakily, Amethyst raised her head and gazed up to the glimmering hole in the shade above with heavily lidded, reddened eyes. A moment later, her head fell back to the ground as she gave herself to the oblivion of unconsciousness. But even as the darkness settled around and inside of her, the same thought continued to sound at the surface of her thoughts as she descended into the safety of her core. ‘I’m a monster.’ * * * * * * Back in the covered glen, the three adolescents were responding to their former foalsitter’s flight in varying ways. Sweet Wheat was pacing, digging her hooves into the earth and grass as she moved back in forth along the bank of the pond. As she marched, the masseuse muttered, “What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do . . .” Pluto Alula was similarly restless, her wings buzzing as she alternatively hovered, darted, and streaked her way across the boundaries of the vale. At times, she seemed to begin a pursuit of the one wayward mare, holding a foreleg in front of her as she raced to the section of treeline where Amethyst had vanished; however, as soon as she reached the trees Alula paused, blinked, and then blasted back to hover over her friends’ position. Dinky, on the other hoof, was uncharacteristically still and silent, her gaze still fixed on the path down which her older sister had fled. Her face, normally clear and expressive, was a rigid mask of worry and guilt, her eyes quaking in their sockets as she struggled to make some sort of sense of everything that had recently transpired. Eventually, after several minutes of the same impasse, Sweet Wheat let out a frustrated groan which echoed across the clearing, causing birds to take flight and small forest creatures to scatter to safe cover. The unexpected shout woke both Alula and Dinky from their reveries, as they both turned to look at the worried face of their friend. “What’re we gonna do, Dinky?” Sweet Wheat finally said, her voice rising in pitch along with her anxiety. “We just can’t leave Sparkler alone out there! Not in the Everfree!” “I know!” Dinky barked with eyes blazing, the unexpected harshness in her voice forcing Sweet Wheat to step backward, one foreleg raised and ears swiveled back against her head. Dinky blinked, her eyes widening as she took in her friend’s response and realizing how she had come across. Closing her eyes, Dinky took a deep breath, exhaled, and turned her gaze to the ground. When she spoke again, it was with a much quieter and calmer tone. “I know,” she said, looking up after a moment towards her friend. “Sorry Sweet Wheat, I’m just so worried . . .” Sweet Wheat managed a tentative smile, stepping forward and putting one foreleg on Dinky’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright—we’re all worried about her,” she stated reassuringly, “Maybe if we put all three of our heads together we’ll get this figured out.” Dinky nodded, returning Sweet Wheat’s smile before sitting back on her haunches and rubbing one foreleg under her chin. “We can’t stay here. And we can’t just go blindly stumbling into the Everfree either,” she mused, looking between her two friends. “Maybe Alula can fly back to town while Sweets and I—” “No,” Alula stated simply as she hovered in the air by her friends, her crossed forelegs and narrowed eyes communicating her intentions quite clearly. Sweet Wheat and Dinky both sighed in response. “Well, I guess that’s out,” Sweet Wheat confirmed with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. Dinky nodded wearily in reply, and then blinked, a brief twinkle sparking in her pupils as the proverbial candle lit up over her head. ‘Idea.’ Out loud, Dinky said, “There is . . . one thing . . . we could try.” The unsureness in Dinky’s voice caused both of her friends to turn to her with concern, and Dinky managed a small, wan smile in response. “There’s a spell I’ve been working on as part of my studies at the library. I . . . haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but it just might help us find Star.” Alula and Sweet Wheat shared worried glances. While neither of them were experienced with the workings of unicorn magic, both had heard the stories and been witness to some of the disasters caused by their resident princess’s own magical experiments. The “Want it, Need It” debacle in particular still caused nightmares for some of their friends, as they had all been foals at the time that particular incident had occurred.        With a gulp, Sweet Wheat finally replied, “If you think it’ll help, hun, we’ll back up whatever you want to do one hundred percent.” Alula nodded her assent, though her expression belied her hidden worry. Dinky smiled again, then turned around and walked a few paces towards the tree line. Sitting back on her haunches, she took another deep breath, and then glanced back over her shoulder. “You two might want to . . . back up, a bit,” she stated with a tight smile, watching as her two friends nodded and carefully retreated along the bank on the pond. Turning forward again, Dinky took another deep breath and closed her eyes, tilting her head up as she focused her mind and carefully reviewed the various steps of the casting. The spell she was about to perform was an expansion to an enchantment she had learned shortly after she started working at the Golden Oak Library. Living as she did with an absent-minded mother and occasionally sleep-deprived older sister, things were often misplaced at the Doo household, resulting in frantic searches for various sundry items nearly every morning. To save unnecessary time and effort, Dinky had taken it upon herself to learn a tracking spell she could cast on some of her family’s more commonly lost items, the residual magic allowing her to “know” the exact location of each item she had thus marked. While helpful, the enchantment carried a number of disadvantages. For one, the magical trace decayed over time, meaning that eventually Dinky would be forced to recast and renew it if she still wished the spell to work. Additionally, the trace only worked over a very short range, which was fine within the confines of a single household, but less so when the distance was anything greater than a few hundred feet. Lastly, the spell was only able to search for items that previously had been marked with a magical trace—it couldn’t seek out anything else, even if Dinky managed to perfectly imagine to lost item, or pony, in her mind. Given these faults, Dinky had decided to learn a better, more powerful version of the enchantment, one that could (hopefully) find anything she wanted to search for across any distance or around any obstacle. When her research at the library for just such a spell turned up nil, Dinky decided to create her own improved spell, using her access to the various magical tomes at the library as well as Princess Twilight Sparkle’s own vast knowledge to craft her own incantation—the very incantation that she was now about to use, untested, for the very first time. Dinky gulped, trying her best to swallow her own nervousness by imagining the calm, reassuring voice that had guided her through many a magical textbook. She recalled how though Princess Twilight had been unable to directly supervise her studies due to royal obligations, the princess had still gone out of her way to leave open time to provide clarification about various thaumaturgical formulae, review her  proposed evocative wording combinations, and even test Dinky on the more basic lessons of spell-casting. Having never had a formal education in unicorn magic, the young mare had eagerly soaked up as much information as she could, fascinated by the intricate art of spellcrafting. In this modern, peaceful Equestrian age, it was an discipline few other unicorns actually bothered to learn, in part due to a perceived lack of necessity beyond skills needed to supplement their own special talents. The other reason was that true, bonafide spellcrafting could only be accomplished by the most disciplined and talented of unicorns, and as such few original spells had been created within the last few centuries. Such skill and dedication to the field of magic was necessary, as the dangers and risks of original spellcraft were usually far above the ability of a novice magic practitioner to handle.   With that last thought, the young mare felt her heart sink as she remembered some of the other things that Princess Twilight had imparted to her during those rare moments they spent together: Thoroughness and a strict attention to the most minute details, as the slightest misspoken word, the vaguest miscalculation in the application of mana, could lead to disastrous consequences; respect for proper, empirically-sound procedure through graduated testing and refinement of her proposed spellwork in a controlled setting; and a healthy sense of caution regarding any new, untested magic, based partly of Princess Twilight’s remembrances from her time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns . . . and partly from her own sheepishly recalled misadventures, such as the time she accidentally switched all of her friends’ cutie marks and subsequently earned her wings and crown. All these thoughts ran through Dinky’s head even as a more subconscious part of her continued to prepare her body for the casting. Despite the danger, despite the warnings from Princess Twilight that her spell was probably not ready or fully developed, Dinky knew she had no other choice. To find Star . . . to find her Big Sister, the filly understood she would have to take a leap of faith, trusting in herself, her studies, and in the guidance of Princess Twilight Sparkle. ‘Please, please forgive me, Princess, but I need to do this . . .’      “Dark powers whose black deeds escape even the light of the moon, behold now the radiance . . . of Love,” Dinky proclaimed, her horn alighting with a golden glow as the air around her began to swirl. Beneath her, lines of yellow light carved an intricate design into the grass, forming a circle with Dinky at its center. “I call upon the powers of my star, ancient powers near and far, release those powers unto me!” she continued, the breeze around her body increasing as the aura around her horn spread to encase her entire body. “Winds to the sky, stars to the heavens, and the unyielding soul!” Dinky exclaimed, her voice barely audible over the roar of the winds swirling about her. Several feet away, Sweet Wheat and Alula huddled together, lowering themselves into the grass as they watched Dinky’s glowing form through partially shut eyes. Though they both wanted to intervene, the two fillies held firm, faithful that Dinky knew what she was doing with her invocation. “To this heart, give me Sight Beyond Sight!!” Dinky finished with a final yell, the winds dying to nothing as she opened her eyes, which were blank and suffused in glowing white light. Within the confines of Dinky’s inner eye, the rest of the world fell away as her vision raced forward, following her older sister’s path into the depths of the Everfree Forest. Though the edges of her sight were clouded with streaks of bluish light, the center was crystal clear as it shot through trees and weaved around bushes until taking a sudden left curve over the edge of a hill. The vision seemed to pause for a moment in mid-air, and then raced downwards over rocks and debris until it finally alighted on a familiar magenta form resting at the bottom of the incline. [1] Dinky . . . DINKY!! The soundless voice resonated across the span of Dinky’s consciousness, and after a moment her vision retreated, rewinding like a video recording back along the path it had traversed until it re-entered the glen and slammed into Dinky’s skull with all the force of a Sonic Rainboom. Darkness reigned for a time, but eventually Dinky reopened her eyes to spy the worried faces of both Alula and Sweet Wheat, who briefly smiled before frowning again with concern. Dinky discovered that she was on her back, lying down in the wet grass of the clearing. With a groan, she sat up and rubbed her forehead with one hoof, Sweet Wheat and Alula moving to support her on either side. Dinky blinked, and both of her friends gasped as the filly looked at the both of them with a pair of glowing golden eyes. “Dinks . . .” Sweet Wheat hesitantly ventured, looking between her friend’s glimmering eyes and her horn, which with still surrounded with a golden aura. “Are . . . are you okay?” “Yeah . . .” Dinky replied, though her voice was distant, almost childlike with wonder, as she looked to and fro about her. “I found Star,” she added after a moment, and at this both Alula and Sweet Wheat let out relieved sighs. “That’s good, but . . . what are you seeing now?” Sweet Wheat asked with growing concern as Dinky turned to face the earth pony, her golden eyes still aglow and unfocused as a smile lit her face. “I see everything,” Dinky replied, as she continued to gaze at the swirling nebula of purple starlight that she knew encompassed her friend’s form. Turning, she looked at Alula, who similarly was suffused and filled with dots of cobalt blue, the lights concentrating particularly around the margin of her folded wings and stretching out into the air around her. [2] Switching her gaze away from her friends, Dinky took in the new, unveiled form of the world, as millions perhaps billions of multicolored lights floated in the air, ran along and under the ground, and danced in the waters of the pond behind them. Some of the lights floated freely, while others seemed to coalesce into distinct collections of points, lines like arteries following out from them to other points, intermingling and connecting everything in the clearing together. As she continued to focus on the new sights around her, sounds, images, and emotional impressions began flashing across her mind. These lights, they were alive, Dinky realized, and as the deluge of information continued to flow Dinky shut her eyes, clamping her hooves to the sides of her head as she distantly heard the worried shouts of her friends beside her. ‘I just . . . I just wanted to find Star!’ Dinky thought, and as a picture of her older sister flashed across her mind the other images and sounds faded away. Breathing heavily, Dinky opened her still glowing eyes, noting that almost all of the lights had dimmed considerably. All but one raspberry-red colored trail, running along the ground and in the air towards the treeline of the Everfree. “Dinky?” Sweet Wheat asked hoarsely, her throat dry from trying to shout her friend out of her seeming trance. “Honey, please, tell us what’s going on.” Alula bobbed her head, confirming her own desire if the worried scrunch of her features and teary red eyes weren’t enough. Still breathing heavily, Dinky nodded, reaching out with her forelegs to clasp both her friends’ shoulders. “The spell, it did . . . it did more than I expected,” she began, still looking forward while her friends rubbed her back encouragingly. “It was just supposed to find whatever I wanted to find and show me where it was, but . . . it seems to have a side effect.” Dinky glanced up at both of her friends, trying to smile in an assuring way. “Instead of just showing me what I was looking for, I think . . . I think the spell is making me able to see magic itself.” Turning her head away as her friends gasped, she continued, “I’m seeing the magic in everything. And . . . I’m not just seeing it; I’m hearing it, connecting with it in my mind. It . . . it’s a little overwhelming.” [3] The filly shut her eyes as the roar of the magic started up again, the swirling lights around her returning to their full brilliance as Dinky felt her friends press into her trembling form. Drawing a deep breath, Dinky focused and forced the image of her sister back to the forefront of her mind. As she did, the lights and sounds died away again, save for that one raspberry stream that she knew marked her older sister’s path. Shakily, Dinky rose on her legs, Alula and Sweet Wheat following suit a moment later. Her lips pursed in a tight line, the librarian’s assistant affirmed, “But if I focus on one thing, one magical signature, it . . . it’s not as bad.” “Dinks . . .” Sweet Wheat began with concern, but the gray-purple filly shook her head, fixing a determined gaze at the forest in front of the trio. “We have . . . we have to find Star,” Dinky said with finality, “She’s . . . I think she’s hurt, and I . . . I don’t know how long I can maintain my fix on her magic trail.” Dinky felt rather than saw her friends step up to her sides.     “Well then, what’re we waiting for?” Sweet Wheat asked with a small, but confident grin. “Excelsior!” Alula exclaimed, her wings flaring open in preparation. ‘Thanks girls,’ Dinky thought with a smile, and at some hidden signal she shot forward, Sweet Wheat and Alula trailing just behind. ‘Hang on, Star—we’re coming!’ * * * * * * *poke* A magenta-coated foreleg briefly swatted at the offending appendage sticking into its owner’s ribs, and then lowered again to rest under the mare’s head like a pillow. *poke* *poke* A groan emerged from the mare lying on the forest ground. As the mare’s leg swatted out again, a voice mumbled, “G’way Dink. Don wanna g’up yet . . .” After shifting around into a more comfortable position in the leaves and sticks, the mare’s body settled with the sound of slow, measured breathing. *POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE* “Ahhh!!” Amethyst Star yelled as she bolted upright, her mane resembling a porcupine as all the hairs stood on end. Scrambling onto her hooves, she took a few deep breaths before whirling around, her face contorted into a vision of pure fury. “DINKY!! How many times have I told you—!” Amethyst’s rebuke cut short as she took in the form of the shaking, trembling form in front of her. A form that in no way resembled her younger sister. Crouched low into a protective ball, ears swiveled back and body quaking, was another unicorn mare. She had a dark-grey, nearly black coat, and a long, aqua-blue mane that hung limply from her head like a clump of wet noodles. The mare’s eye color was unknowable, as a pair of green-tinted, opaque, ovoid glasses that rose to distinct tips at the corners obscured her eyes from view. A long, sea-green travelling bag rested atop the mare’s back, secured in place by several light blue straps tied around her barrel. Hovering in the air in front of the quivering pony in a light green aura was that most scientific of instruments, and the offending device which had roused Amethyst from her slumber—a wooden stick. [4] Gulping, Amethyst smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way as she reached out with one hoof. “Hey, are you—?” she began, but before she could say anything more the other mare started, her mouth open in a wide “O” as if to scream though oddly only the faint whistle of air emerged. The other pony’s legs and hooves dug deeply into the soil as she quickly backed away from Amethyst until she knocked her head into a tree. The blow dislodged the mare’s glasses, which bounced on the leaves and then settled close to Amethyst’s hooves. Shaking her head, the dark-coated pony fell forward onto her stomach, her forelegs waving in wide sweeping arcs through the leaves in front of her as faint grunts and squeaks emerged from her muzzle. Amethyst blinked and continued to stare at the odd display until she noted that the other mare’s eyes were completely shut. Her own eyes widening with understanding, Amethyst took another deep gulp, levitated the glasses in front of her into the air, and then slowly, carefully approached the still frantically searching pony until they were a hoof’s reach apart. Gently but firmly, she placed her own hooves on top of the other mare’s, holding them in place even as she felt the other pony struggle to pull away. “Hey, hey! It’s okay now,” Amethyst stated softly, levitating the glasses over to the other pony and resting them back atop her muzzle. “I’m another pony, you don’t have to be afraid of me,” she continued, smiling despite the fact she now knew the expression would go unseen. The dark-coated pony across from her continued to shake lightly, but stopped trying to pull away and tilted her head up to face the general direction of Amethyst’s voice. Amethyst released the other mare’s hooves, and the unicorn proceeded to raise one shaky foreleg up, waving her hoof around in small circles until Amethyst gently guided it to rest beside her own face. The other mare then proceeded to trace around Amethyst’s muzzle, forehead, eyes, ears, and horn, much to the magenta-coated pony’s chagrin as she noted the unexpected facial she was receiving from the other mare’s dirt-caked hoof. After exploring the dips and ridges of Amethyst’s features, the other pony seemed to be satisfied, a small smile emerging as she lowered her hoof back to the ground. The dark-coated pony then stood upright, and Amethyst made to do the same, but gasped and whimpered as the motion sent shocks of pain through her body. Blinking back tears, Amethyst eventually noticed an outstretched foreleg, and looked up to see the now openly smiling face of the other mare above her. Grasping the offered appendage, Amethyst let out another sharp cry as she was pulled upright, but then breathed out once she had settled into a standing position. Wincing, Amethyst glanced over at her new companion, who was looking in her direction with a tilted head, furrowed brow, and smile that conveyed questioning and concern. “I’m okay,” Amethyst stated with another wince as she rubbed one foreleg against one of her many bruises. “I guess I must have taken a tumble, or something, I don’t really remember. I’m a little banged up, but I’ll survive.” Glancing briefly at the other mare, Amethyst blushed lightly before saying, “Umm . . . don’t take this the wrong way, but you are blind, aren’t you?” In response, the dark-coated unicorn nodded with a small, wan smile. “Umm . . . okay then, and you can obviously hear me just fine,” Amethyst said which the other pony confirmed with another nod. “So . . . umm, I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Amethyst Star, I live in Ponyville. How about you?” Once again, the other mare responded with a small, sad smile as she shook her head, her long locks of aqua-blue swishing like a curtain. Leaning back, the dark-coated pony took in a deep breath, and then opened her mouth wide with one foreleg outstretched. However, no sound except the faint whistle of exhaled air emerged from the other pony’s throat. ‘So blind and mute, huh?’ Amethyst mused, ‘Seems a little strange that such a pony would just happen to be lost in the Everfree Forest, though I suppose she wouldn’t know she was lost in the first place.’ Amethyst watched as the other mare used her light-green magic to lift the stick she had previously used to poke at Amethyst, and then began tapping at the ground around her in a seemingly random fashion, turning in circles as she did so. As the other mare’s flank came into view, Amethyst took note of the other pony’s cutie mark—three neon-green question marks, floating with the help of red-orange butterfly wings.   ‘Well, that’s . . . different,’ Amethyst noted with a smirk, but then after a moment settled into a frown. ‘Still, there’s something that just feels . . . off here,’ she continued to ponder, ‘I don’t know what it is, but this mare reminds me of some—’ Amethyst’s eyes widened, and she raised a hoof to stifle her gasp before she could alert the other seeming pony. ‘Th-that color scheme! And that aura she’s using! It looks just like a chan—!’ Amethyst’s musings were cut short as once again she felt a light prodding in her side. Growling lightly, she glanced down to spy the outstretched stick, and followed its length to look into the questioning smile of the other pony. “Quit it already!” Amethyst yelled as she raised one foreleg to knock the stick aside. Hearing the harshness in Amethyst’s tone, her companion’s smile fell as her ears swiveled back, and with head lowered she began backing away from the angered unicorn. Seeing the other seeming pony so distraught smothered Amethyst’s anger like a wet blanket, and after taking a deep breath she stepped forward and laid a hoof gently on the quivering mare’s shoulder. “Look, I’m . . . I’m sorry. Today’s been . . . kinda stressful,” Amethyst offered lamely, only relaxing when the other unicorn slowly nodded her head. “What are you doing here in the Everfree Forest anyway?” Crickets chirped loudly in the background for a few moments before Amethyst facehoofed. “Right, right, can’t talk . . .” she muttered to herself, shaking her head as the other mare smiled softly with both understanding and bemusement. Looking up, Amethyst tried, “Look, I’d rather not call you, “you” all the time. Can you, I don’t know, write your name in the dirt or something?” The other unicorn nodded her head emphatically, then used her stick to draw a single “?” in the ground between the two ponies. Amethyst blinked as she stared at the symbol etched in the soil, and then glanced up at her companion with a raised eyebrow. “Question Mark,” she stated flatly, “Your name is . . . Question Mark?” The daughter of Ditzy Doo sighed loudly as the other mare again nodded vigorously with a wide grin on her face. Pinching the bridge of her nose with one hoof, and knowing the gesture would go unseen by the other pony, she hazarded, “And your cutie mark, what does it mean?” [5] The pony now known as Question Mark tilted her head quizzically. “You know, your cutie mark. You know what that is, right?” Amethyst pressed, and after Question Mark nodded described the dark-coated pony’s mark for her. “What special talent does that represent?” Amethyst restated. Frowning, Question Mark sat on her haunches and tapped one forehoof against her head, resting her elbow against her other foreleg. After a moment, the dark-coated mare grinned, and then standing upright opened her mouth and issued a series of clicks, buzzes, chirps, and squeaks. If she were Pinkie Pie, Amethyst’s jaw may have fallen straight to the leaf-strewn ground. As it was, it simply hung loosely as she openly stared at Question Mark’s smiling visage. “Insect noises,” she finally stated, “You . . . can make . . . insect noises.” Once again, Question Mark nodded enthusiastically as Amethyst groaned, sat on her haunches, and covered her face with both forehooves. ‘A mysterious, blind, mute, unicorn with the exact same coloring as a changeling who just happens to be wandering around the Everfree and whose supposed special talent is making insect noises. Nothing suspicious about THAT whatsoever . . .’ Amethyst pondered with a shake of her head, and then her eyes shot open as she bolted back upright, startling Question Mark with her sudden movement. ‘Wait . . . the Everfree. Dinky! And Wheatie and Alula!’ Amethyst thought frantically, glancing upwards and noting the purple-tinted sky through the forest canopy. ‘It’s late and getting dark, and I completely forgot about them! I’m so stupid!’ she berated herself, knocking one hoof against the side of her head as Question Mark continued to look in Amethyst’s direction with concern. Feeling the other mare’s stare, Amethyst glanced at Question Mark and frowned. ‘I still have a bad feeling about this “pony,” but if I’m wrong and I leave her out here alone . . .’ Clearing her throat, Amethyst stated, “Look, it’s almost nighttime and I really don’t think we should be out here when the nocturnal animals start to wake up. Plus, my little sister and her friends are lost somewhere and I need to find them.” Walking up to the dark-coated mare, Amethyst swished her tail under the other pony’s muzzle, and taking the hint, Question Mark bit down on the hairs tickling her nose. Nodding once, Amethyst slowly led her companion back in the direction of the hill she vaguely remembered falling down. Just as they reached the base of the incline, both of the duo’s ears twitched as they picked up a faint noise above. Due to the gathering darkness, Amethyst struggled to make out details close to the top of the hill as she squinted her eyes together in an attempt to focus. The sound of rustling leaves and faint exclamations above suddenly grew louder and less distant, and Amethyst barely had time to widen her eyes and start shouting a warning before three forms tumbled down the hill and landed on top of the two unicorns. As the dust from the impact settled, Amethyst groaned as all of her recent bruises and injuries again made themselves known to her. Grimacing, she opened her purple eyes to find a familiar though glowing pair of golden eyes staring back at her. “Star!” Dinky exclaimed from her perch atop her older sister. Leaning down, she pulled Amethyst into a tight hug, ignorant of the fact that her sister was silently screaming in pain at the gesture. “I found you, I really found you!” “Yeah . . . you did,” Amethyst managed to choke out, “And now you’re kinda really hurting me!” “Oh!” Dinky exclaimed, loosening her hold on her sister with a sheepish grin and blushed cheeks. As the sitting sisters parted and a wincing Amethyst brushed herself off, Dinky’s gaze fell towards the leaf-covered ground. “Star . . . I . . . I’m so sorry,” Dinky said, causing Amethyst to look up into her little sister’s now teary gaze. “If . . . if I hadn’t gotten scared, you wouldn’t have run off and gotten yourself hurt! And lost! And . . . and if anything else had happened . . .” “Oh, Dinky,” Amethyst murmured, and she scooted over to her younger sister and began softly nuzzling her. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I . . . I shouldn’t have run off like that, and left you and Wheatie and Alula all alone in the middle of the Everfree. I’m supposed to be the responsible one here, after all.” Dinky gazed up into her sister’s warmly smiling face, her glowing eyes probing, searching for confirmation as Amethyst’s own tears started to well up. Brushing her sister’s mane with one hoof, Amethyst continued, “If . . . if something had happened to you . . .” As her voice trailed off, Amethyst’s sight turned to Sweet Wheat and Alula, who by now had recovered and stood up a few paces away. “If something had happened to any of you, I . . . I never would have been able to forgive myself.” Smiling sympathetically, Sweet Wheat shook her head and stepped towards the two sisters. “We’ve all done some foalish things today—I’d say that makes us even, wouldn’t you?” she remarked with a wink, one foreleg outstretched towards the older mare. Amethyst gratefully gripped the outstretched hoof, and the earth pony used her inherent strength to gently but firmly pull the wincing pony up on all four hooves. Dinky also stood up, and her eyes widened as she finally took in her sister’s condition. The older sibling’s magenta fur was a mottled, dirt-streaked mess, her normally pristine violet mane now tangled with several hairs sticking out like antennae. Dark welts marked her legs where they had banged into rocks and tree limbs during her fall, while small tears in her coat showed where fur and skin had been scraped along the way. On Amethyst’s barrel, right where her ribs would be and where Dinky had unknowingly hugged her sister, one particularly large, multi-hued bruise was visible even beneath the mare’s own deep-colored coat.     Hearing her younger sister’s gasp, Amethyst glanced at Dinky out of the corner of her eye. Smiling painfully, she stated, “It . . . It’s really not that bad, Dinky.” Puffing out her cheeks with indignation, Dinky stomped up towards her sister. “Not bad, my flank!” she uttered, lowering her still lit horn to point it at Amethyst’s side. “Just gimme a sec and I’ll—” Before she could continue, the golden glow around Dinky’s horn and eyes flickered and then went out entirely. Dinky swayed on her hooves, and would have swooned had Amethyst and Sweet Wheat quickly braced themselves against the grey-purple filly’s sides. Alula quickly fluttered over to the trio, taking a position near Dinky’s rear. “Dinky?” Amethyst asked worriedly, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?” In response, Dinky slowly shook her head, and then looked up at her sister with lidded eyes and a tired smile. “I’m okay, Star—just used up too much magic on the spell I cast to find you,” she said, then leaned forward to nuzzle her sister reassuringly. “Worth it though.” “In more ways than one . . .” Sweet Wheat remarked with a grin, and both Doo sisters turned to look at the masseuse with curious expressions. Sweet Wheat simply nodded her head towards Dinky’s rear, where Alula also sported a bright smile. Still not comprehending, Dinky’s and Amethyst’s eyes slowly followed Alula’s gaze down towards Dinky’s flank, and then both sisters gasped as Sweet Wheat guffawed and Alula whinnied. Where once had been naught but blank, grey-purple fur now showed a cluster of five, light-yellow, four-pointed stars or sparkles. A moment passed as the realization of what the symbol meant settled on both sisters. [6] “I got it . . .” Dinky finally whispered, then with growing excitement looked up to her sister’s proudly smiling face. “My cutie mark . . . Star, I finally got it!” “That you did, Little Sis. I’m so proud of you,” Amethyst said, pulling her sister into a hug with one foreleg. Amethyst glanced back at the new sigil adorning her sister’s rear. “What do you think it means?” Dinky rubbed one hoof under her chin, then blinked, and closed her eyes with a small smile. “I think . . .” she stated as she turned to meet her sister’s gaze. “I think it means . . . I’m good at finding lost Stars.” That statement earned an even firmer hug as well as a soft nuzzle from the older mare, and both Doo sisters laughed joyfully even as their tears soaked their respective coats. After a few moments, Sweet Wheat and Alula joined the huddle, offering their congratulations to their friend as they laughed with relief and cathartic release. Off to the side, Question Mark simply cocked her head and smiled vacantly in the direction of the pony quartet. After another minute of hugs and adorability, the younger mares took notice of the new pony in their midst. With sheepish grins, they parted, though both Sweet Wheat and Alula stayed close to the Doo sisters in order to support them both. For a moment, silence reigned as the dark-coated unicorn smiled and looked on silently while the other four ponies traded glances between one another. “Um, girls, this is . . . Question Mark,” Amethyst offered with a flourish of her outstretched hoof. The three adolescents warily muttered greetings while Question Mark simply smiled and waved her foreleg. “Star,” Dinky whispered, bringing her muzzle close to her sister’s ear, “That mare . . . she looks awfully like a chan—” “I know,” Amethyst replied in equally low tones, “I’m suspicious too, but I don’t want to jump to any conclusions just yet.” She frowned, staring at the dark-coated pony who continued to smile vacantly. “I’m not even sure what one of those things would be doing here in the first place . . .” Dinky blinked with visible confusion, and then after a moment her eyes widened. ‘That’s right, Star said she couldn’t remember the fight before, so she wouldn’t remember the changelings either . . .’ Dinky mentally surmised. Turning back towards Amethyst, she began, “Star, listen, about earlier . . .” “Shhhhhh!!!” Everypony turned to look at Alula, who had one hoof raised in front of her mouth, eyes closed, and both ears swiveling around frantically. The other mares tried to listen as well, their heads turning about as they looked up at the forest canopy, but then glanced at each other with shared looks of confusion. Question Mark seemed more unsettled, shaking lightly on her hooves as her head twisted around and around. Just as Sweet Wheat made to say something, Alula’s eyes opened wide with apparent panic. Without a word, her light violet tail shot out like a whip and wrapped tightly around Question Mark’s foreleg. “GET OVER HERE!!” the pegasus exclaimed, and in one fluid motion she yanked the bewildered and visibly frightened Question Mark over to the rest of the group, her mouth again open in a silent “O”. Seemingly ignoring the angered and confused protests of her friends, Pluto Alula spread her wings wide and then fell atop all four of the other ponies, knocking them onto the ground. “Alula!” Amethyst finally managed to exclaim as she lifted her head. “What’s the big—?!” “GET DOWN!!” Alula yelled (oddly, in a Hosstrian accent) as she shoved Amethyst’s head back to the ground with her hoof. An irritated “mmph!!” issued forth from the older pony, but she stayed low. Just as others were beginning to question (not for the first time) the sanity of the vanilla-colored pegasus, they all finally heard it—a faint, whistling sound high above them. Gradually, but at an accelerating pace, the sound grew louder, deeper, and more resonant, eventually shaking the very canopy of the Everfree. Just as the whistle reached a fever pitch, it was joined by a *whoosh* of air and crackling boom as the forest suddenly decided to explode all around them. [7] CHAPTER 4 CONTINUES