//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The City of Changelings // Story: The Balance of Harmony // by The Rising Tide of Night //------------------------------// As we passed the doors, a long hallway cut through the walls, opening up into a large city square. The square itself appeared devoid of any life, though it looked like a market had been going on at some point, since there were wooden stalls set up in a haphazard manner throughout the area. It was an eerie sight; all of the stalls looked like they had just been abandoned mid-market. There were some food stalls with rotting fruit and vegetables strewn about the stands, some stalls with household goods filled with rusting pots and pans, and even what looked like a stall for a jewelrymaker, which Rarity immediately grew excited about. She rushed over to the stall, inspecting the remaining pieces of jewelry, admiring the craftsmanship. Many of the pieces were still intact and in good condition, and she spent a good few minutes picking them up, trying them on, and putting them down, until she noticed the looks of impatience on our faces. Smiling abashedly, she put down the necklace she was holding, but grabbed up a couple of beautifully designed rings, slipping them on her fingers in admiration. Applejack just rolled her eyes while Pinkie Pie looked excited about Rarity’s find. As we left the square, we moved into the city proper, looking for the main roads we had seen from the hill. Following the twisting, turning streets was disorienting, and more than once we thought we had become turned around until we got a glimpse of the castle through the tall buildings and were able to reorient ourselves. The emptiness of the city was beginning to unnerve us as we searched among the buildings. Pinkie Pie peered into one of them, searching for any signs of life. “There’s nothing in there except for some old furniture,” she reported. I looked around in disbelief, sure that there had to be something alive in this city. As I searched, I caught a flash of color down one of the alleyways and paused to look. “What’s up, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack. “I thought I saw something move down there,” I replied, indicating the alley. She looked into the gloom, searching hard. “Ah can’t see anything,” she said finally. I took one last look down the alley, waiting for the movement from before, but nothing came. I motioned to the others to keep moving, and we headed down the street, hoping to find something that would ease the anxiety that the empty city was causing. Suddenly, Rarity paused, looking around, and said, “I saw something over there. It looked… colorful!” We looked in the direction she indicated, and also saw nothing. “What did you see, Rarity?” asked Fluttershy. Rarity hesitated before answering. “It looked like… a person, with colorful hair.” We all looked over at her in disbelief. “Really?” I asked. Rarity shook her head. “I don’t know for certain, it was so quick. But something was moving over there.” We looked at each other. “Should we check it out?” asked Spike. I nodded. “But carefully. We don’t know what’s going on. Remember, the Changelings live here, so we have to be very careful. You all remember how devious they were.” The others nodded, and we started down in the direction Rarity had seen the movement before. We saw no further signs of life, until Pinkie Pie let out a yelp and pointed down another alley. “Down there! I saw it down there!” We rushed down the alley, hoping to catch whatever we had been seeing. As we reached the end, it opened up into a large courtyard that was overgrown with weeds and trees. It appeared to be a former play area, as there were see-saws, swings, and slides that were falling apart and being reclaimed by nature. However, this was all secondary to the form that we saw in the center of the courtyard that caused Fluttershy to let out a scream of delight and rush forward. The rest of us stopped dead as we took in the bedraggled form in front of us. Tall, with rainbow colored hair and muscular arms, Rainbow Dash looked back at us from under a torn cloak. She was smiling, and as Fluttershy launched herself at her, the smile appeared to get even wider. After a moment’s pause, we all rushed into the courtyard, hurrying over to where Fluttershy was hugging Rainbow Dash for all she was worth. “But-But how?” I stammered, taking in her form. She appeared to be healthy, if worn down and somewhat wasted away. She just smiled, and replied, “Hey, I couldn’t leave you hanging, now could I?” Rarity smiled at her, completely taken aback. “However did you survive the cave in, darling?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I don’t really know. One minute I was watching the cave collapse, and the next, I woke up outside. I knew this was where you guys were headed next, so I made my way to this city, and I’ve been looking for you ever since.” Fluttershy finally released her, looking up at her with relief. “You have no idea what I’ve gone through, Rainbow Dash.” She kissed her, and continued, “I thought you were dead!” Rainbow Dash smiled down at her in an odd way. “Well, I’m not, am I?” “No, you’re not,” Fluttershy replied. “That makes it all better now.” “I hate to break up the reunion, guys,” called Pinkie Pie. “But we have a problem here!” We all turned to look at her, and saw what she was pointing at. The previously abandoned ruins of the city were now playing host to what appeared to be an army of pale white humanoids. They poured out of the windows and filled the rooftops, crawling and scrabbling their way out. Their limbs were long and spindly, and their hands seemed to be able to grip to the sides of the buildings, as many of them were crawling along the walls. Their faces were humanlike, but very androgynous, and their bodies were smooth and hairless. We circled together, back to back, watching the slowly approaching army. Fluttershy, who was between Rainbow Dash and Rarity, carefully drew her guns, and steadied herself. “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash,” She called, a determined tone in her voice. “You won’t need to save me this time!” I heard Rainbow Dash reply, and I stiffened as I heard a hissing creep into her voice. “No, I won’t. But your friends will.” I spun around in time to see Rainbow Dash’s face melt away, to be replaced by the face of one of the pale humanoids. Fluttershy looked over at her, confused, then began to scream in terror as the Changeling pounced at her. Rarity, however, was quicker than I was, and shoved Fluttershy to the side and out of the creature’s way. Unfortunately, this put her directly into its path, and it collided with her, wrapping its arms tightly around her and pulling her away from us. “Rarity!” I called, shocked. I heard gunshots behind me, and glanced over to see Applejack firing into the approaching horde. “Twilight!” she cried. “We gotta get out of here!” “But-!” I stammered, and I heard Rarity scream as the Changeling pulled her into the approaching horde. Fluttershy was lying on the ground where Rarity had pushed her, and started scrabbling to her feet, bringing her guns to bear. Fury coated her face, and she began firing indiscriminately into the horde, screaming. Spike was also shooting wildly, barely looking at what he was aiming at, his eyes only on Rarity’s retreating form, screaming her name. Fury built within me, and I focused my magic on a new spell. As Pinkie Pie started shooting next to me, I brought my magic to bear, staff glowing, and released a wall of fire that surrounded us, cutting us off from the approaching Changelings. The majority of the horde stopped short of the wall, but handfuls approached closer and were incinerated for their efforts as the wall launched a white-hot bolt of fire at anything within five feet. The attack stopped for the moment, and I called out to the Changeling. “Give us back our friend and I won’t burn down this city!” The Changeling laughed a hissing laugh. “You would not dare, little human. You would burn up your precious friend as well.” I snarled at it, frustrated. “Give her back!” I demanded once more. The Changeling laughed once more. “Unlikely,” it replied. “We shall take your friend to our Queen. I can feel her love for you all pulsing within her. She will provide a wonderful meal for our Queen, and if all goes well, a bit of sport for us.” “What do you mean?” I called, furious. “Come to find her and you shall find out. If we don’t use you for sport, that is.” With that, the Changeling disappeared from view, cackling, as Rarity’s scream echoed through the courtyard. I slumped to my knees, the energy required to keep the wall of fire up draining me quickly. The fire flickered, and the wall shrank to half its previous size. I saw the horde of Changelings watching us, anticipation on their faces, and I knew that I couldn’t let them get us. “Everyone, to me!” I cried, and as soon as I felt their presences beside me, I grabbed their hands, forcing them to hold on to mine, and put all of my remaining energy into a teleportation spell. A purple light flashed around us, and everything went black. I awoke lying on the ground, aching all over. As my eyes focused, I saw that we were back on the hill overlooking the city. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were holding a struggling Fluttershy, who appeared to be trying to break free of their grip and head back into the city. She was crying and screaming incoherently as she thrashed around, but eventually she gave in and slumped to the ground, defeated. Pinkie Pie sat down next to her, holding her closely, frustration plain on her normally happy face. Applejack took a few steps away and flopped down on the ground next to me. She glanced over at me and noticed that I was awake. “Twilight!” she cried. “Thank goodness you’re ok. Ah was starting to worry. When we landed here, you were out like a light.” “I’m sorry,” I muttered, my words slurring slightly. I blinked again, fatigue washing over me as I fought to keep myself focused and awake. Applejack looked concerned as I struggled to move into a sitting position, and she reached over to give me a hand. “Thanks,” I said as she hauled me upright with ease. I looked around, and noticed Spike sitting on the ground, facing the city. “Spike?” I called, concerned. He ignored me, and continued to stare down at the city below us, and I noticed the look of intense concentration on his face. “Spike!” I yelled, and he finally looked over at me, fury and hatred in his expression. I was taken aback at that, as I had never seen him look at anything that way before. “What?” he growled, in such a deep voice that I was afraid that I had taken a Changeling with us by mistake. “Spike, are you ok?” I asked. “What do you think?” he snapped, eyes flickering. “Rarity’s down there somewhere. We need to go save her!” “Spike, hon, Twilight’s in no shape to move right now,” Applejack pleaded. “We need to let her get her strength back.” “Then I’ll go myself!” he growled. He stood to his full height, radiating anger, and even Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy took notice at the sudden turn of events. He looked over at Fluttershy’s tear-streaked face, and asked, “Don’t you want to get back at them for that dirty trick?” Fluttershy nodded, determination plain. “Of course she does,” Pinkie interjected. “We all do! That was beyond mean!” Spike turned his angry face to her, and she continued speaking. “But we need to do this together! It’s the only way!” Spike let out a deep growl. He clenched his hands together, raised his head and let forth a burst of flame that stretched high into the sky. “Fine!” he snarled. “Fine. I’ll wait. For now.” “Good,” replied Applejack, irritated. “Now if y’all could help me with Twilight, we need to get moving. Your little display there just showed anyone who’s looking for us exactly where we are.” Spike looked stubbornly furious, but conceded the point as he moved over to me and helped me stand. My legs were shaking as we moved from our current location as quickly as possible, but we managed to get ourselves into a nearby grove of trees without any trouble. As the sky was deepening into evening darkness, we decided to set up camp for now and try to get back into the town as soon as we could. After getting our campsite ready, we started planning our reentry. I must have fallen asleep shortly after things were set up, since I had no idea what was discussed until after I woke up in the middle of the night. I awoke to the quiet darkness, broken only by the soft sounds of insects and the occasional snores of my exhausted friends. I looked around and noticed that Pinkie Pie was awake, keeping watch while the others slept. I got up, moved over to where she was sitting and joined her vigil. “Hi, Pinkie,” I said, as she watched me get settled. “Hi Twilight,” she replied, rather sedately. I looked at her, worried at the change in her demeanor. “Are you ok, Pinkie?” I asked, concerned. She sighed. “It’s this place, Twilight. It’s so gray and colorless and hard. I’m having a hard time keeping my Pinkie strength going. I know I wanted to bring a smile to everyone here, but it’s really hard when you can’t smile yourself.” I gripped her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “I know, Pinkie. This world is so different from ours, and I can’t help but worry about what it’s doing to us. Rainbow Dash is gone. Fluttershy is an emotional wreck. We have to rescue Rarity from who knows what. We’ve all changed so much in our time here, I’m afraid that we’ll never be the same.” “Well, of course, Twilight,” Pinkie replied with a trace of her old self. “Things have to change. If they were the same all the time, they’d be boring.” I smiled at her. “Did your Pinkie sense tell you that?” She shook her head. “My Pinkie sense has nothing to do with that. It’s my common sense that tells me that.” I chuckled. “Oh, Pinkie, if we all had your common sense, then we’d all know what to do.” She smiled at me, then her expression grew sad again. “I wonder if I’ll ever be able to make anyone smile again,” she murmured sadly. “Of course you will,” I replied. “Who else is going to throw the best parties for a toothless alligator? Or show me when I’m getting too serious by coming up with overelaborate and completely nonsense plans? Or teach me to watch out for falling frogs and pots?” She laughed. “Oh, Twilight, you say the funniest things sometimes.” Giggling, she looked out into the darkness, and smiled once more, looking more like the Pinkie Pie I knew. “Thanks, Twilight,” she continued. “Sometimes we all just need a laugh. Even me.” “Anytime,” I replied. After a short silence, I asked her, “So what is the plan to get Rarity back?” “I need to get everyone up soon. Since you’re awake, we’re going to make our move to get back into the city during the night. Applejack thought it was the best idea.” I nodded. “That makes sense. Night would be the best chance to get in without being noticed.” She continued outlining the plan. “Since we’re pretty sure where she’s being held, we figure we need to get into that castle.” She looked over at me. “Can you still do that spell that shows us who the Changelings really are?” I nodded, feeling ashamed. “I should have done it before. I should have known that seeing Rainbow Dash here was too good to be true.” Pinkie Pie gave me a hug. “We were all caught off guard, and Fluttershy was so happy. I was too happy seeing her so happy that I didn’t even think about it. At least we’ll be ready for it now.” “You’re right,” I replied, hugging her back. We both grew serious, and Pinkie Pie stood up, extending an arm to help me stand. “C’mon, Twilight,” she said. “Let’s get them all going.” We managed to wake everyone and get the campsite packed up within short order. Starting out of the grove, we carefully made our way down back towards the city, relying once more on Fluttershy’s senses. Now that she knew what to look for, the Changelings were easier to avoid, but we were almost caught more than once as the hideous creatures were now patrolling the city walls. Approaching the main gate, we found that it was still open, and that there were two Changelings standing guard. I looked over at Pinkie Pie, who gave me a knowing glance, and promptly vanished. Two minutes later, both guards were dead, daggers sticking out of their necks, and Pinkie was waving us over. She collected her daggers as we hurried into the gates, ducking behind them before we could be seen. As we hurried through the entryway, all senses alert, we noticed that the presence of the Changelings was much more visible now. Everywhere we saw the glowing remains of what appeared to be green cocoons. After entering the city proper, more than once we had to duck into the remains of a building to avoid a Changeling’s searching eyes. They were scurrying around the city, hunting for us with an insect-like mentality. Taking a different route from our previous misadventure, we searched the streets and alleyways, looking for the easiest way to the castle. Finally, as dawn began to stain the gray sky, we had to admit that we were lost once more, and that we needed to find a landmark of some kind before we would be able to locate the castle. We ducked into what we hoped was an empty building to plan. “We need a better look at the city,” Applejack pointed out. “Ah think we need to get to the rooftops and go from there.” “But what about the Changelings?” asked Fluttershy. “Won’t they see us?” “If Ah go, Ah’ll be quick enough that they won’t catch me,” Applejack assured her. “Besides, as long as Ah know y’all are down here, there’s nothing they can do to distract me.” I was uncertain about this plan, but couldn’t come up with anything better. “All right, AJ. Just remember: Anyone you see up there is a Changeling, no matter who they look like. We’re staying right here.” She nodded, gave me a confident grin, and started quickly up the stairs, rifle at the ready. We stayed in the room, keeping a lookout for either Changelings or for Applejack’s return. After a half hour, we started to get restless. Pinkie Pie was pacing the room, and Spike was staring out the window, growling to himself. Fluttershy was still keeping watch, warning us any time a Changeling came by so we were able to duck behind the walls and out of sight. A few minutes later, we heard a clatter on the stairwell, and Applejack came into view. She was holding her rifle, and kept glancing behind her as she rushed towards us. I immediately pointed my staff at her, and she stopped as I encased her in magic, lifting her slightly. Panicked, she waved her free hand and cried, “Real me! Real me!” At those words I released her, and she dropped to the floor. Relieved, she rushed over to us and said, “We gotta move. Those Changelings spotted me while Ah was checking out the city from the roof, and Ah think they followed me down. Ah did my best to lose them, but just to be safe…” I scowled. “AJ, you couldn’t be a little more circumspect?” She glared at me. “Ah had to get out in the open so Ah could see what’s out there. It was the only way.” “Fine, fine, I get it,” I replied testily. The stress was truly getting to us if we were snapping at each other over everything. “Everyone, let’s go.” We headed out of the building as quickly and quietly as we could, slipping into a different building across the street. We rushed into a back room without any windows, and proceeded to discuss the layout with Applejack. Based on what she was able to see, we had a few different options for getting to the castle. We could follow the twisting streets towards the main thoroughfares, and hope that the Changelings weren’t patrolling those roads. The second option was to make our way through the street maze and hope that we were able to get to the castle that way. The third and most promising option was to follow the city wall around to the south until we arrived at the river. We could then follow the river to the rear of the castle and see if there was an entrance there. We decided on making our way to the city wall and following it to the river. It would take longer, but it would likely be the easiest way. After making certain that everyone was aware of the plan, we carefully made our way out of the building. As we headed into the street, Pinkie Pie, who was in the lead, slipped and fell to the ground. “Pinkie, are you ok?” Fluttershy asked, hurrying forward to help her up. She nodded, wincing, and looked down to see what she had slipped on. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the remains of one of those green cocoons, and before we were able to search for its former occupant, a white form dropped to the ground between us, and flung its arms out to grab. We all jumped backwards, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy on one side, and Applejack, Spike, and me on the other, and the Changeling missed us. However, three more Changelings dropped next to the first one, cutting us off from each other. Fluttershy screamed and drew her guns, cutting down one of them, but stopped firing as soon as she realized she might hit one of us. Pinkie, however, jumped behind one of them and proceeded to make quick work of it with her daggers. Unfortunately, during this time, the Changelings were joined by another four, and we were becoming quickly outnumbered. I fired a bolt of lightning at one, sending it flying into the wall, and as Applejack took out another, I launched fire at a third. As more and more Changelings arrived, I saw that there was no way we were going to be able to get to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. I made a tough decision, and yelled to them, “Run, you two! Meet us at the rendezvous point! We’ll be there as soon as possible!” Fluttershy looked apprehensive, but nodded, and grabbed Pinkie Pie, pulling her away from the fray. As they disappeared from view, I pulled Spike and Applejack away from the Changelings and launched more lightning at them, which caused them all to pause. We promptly turned and ran as fast as we could, deeper into the city and away from our retreating friends.