Chapter Six
Wind Whistler trotted through the forest, focusing her mind. She hadn’t wanted to shout; hadn’t wanted to lose her temper, for the first time in years no less. It was unacceptable to let her emotions carry her away in this situation. However, the sheer hypocrisy of the so called night princess had hit several of Wind Whistler’s well hidden buttons, and she was finding it somewhat difficult to bury her emotions where they belonged, in the back burner. Anger, sharp and unpleasant, burned in her heart, not only from the creature’s harsh words towards Draggle, but also the memory of the last queen. It was distracting, irritating, and threatened to take over her brain. But in order for her to be effective she had to control it. She tried to get her mind in order. Morning Glory’s presence worried her immensely, but for right now they needed to find shelter of some kind…
Suddenly, she felt her hooves brush against some odd looking blue flowers. She stopped, listening to the others behind her screech to a halt as well. The rest of them were at the edge of the flowers, their hooves and feet out of the way of the strange foliage.
“Wind Whistler?” Fizzy peered at her from behind Surprise.
Wind Whistler opened her mouth, and for some unfathomable reason burst out laughing.
Fizzy and Draggle, who after the shouting thing were now seriously concerned for Wind Whistler’s sanity, backed far away from her (and the blue flowers). The two of them stared at her, uncertain.
Gusty, on the other hand, charged right into the flowers, Surprise with her. The two each grabbed a wing and started to drag Wind Whistler out. She continued to laugh uncontrollably, and kicked a bit from the odd sudden bought of the giggles.
“Is it those Frazzit things again?” Fizzy asked, looking up at the sky.
“I don’t think so.” Gusty said, but her voice was…changing. It was going higher and higher, becoming squeaky and high pitched. “Hey!” By this point her voice resembled a squeaky whistle.
“I –hahahaha-don’t-hahahaa-feel any different-snort-I simply-ha-can’t stop-” Wind Whistler collapsed into laughter. “Please stop-hahahaha-this is starting to hurt.” More laughing.
Morning Glory came over and plucked a leaf off Wind Whistler, tossing it aside. “I-” She blinked, and began to shrink. A pair of antennae appeared as she shrunk to the size of a bird. She blinked. “…what?”
Surprise looked down and blinked. “It’s the flowers, don’t touch them.” Her hair suddenly began to sparkle, although she didn’t notice this. Fizzy and Draggle did though.
“Er…Surprise…your head is flashing.” Fizzy said.
“What?” She looked behind her at her mane. She blinked as her mane flashed yellow, then green, then yellow again, rotating between lights. She grinned. “Hey, this is kinda cool!”
“What do we do? Draggle, what are those things?”
Draggle reached into a pocket and pulled out a spell book. In her rush she ended up flipping through it, and Fizzy blinked. She tapped Draggle. “It’s upside down again.”
Draggle gave her a slow look, then snorted and flipped it right side up. “I knew that.” Fizzy smiled slightly, and didn’t contradict her.
Eventually Draggle cursed. “Alien plants, not in here.”
“HI! I foooound you!”
“GAH!” Fizzy and Draggle jumped. The witch dropped her book and grabbed the stick. “Back off!”
“Oh no! Your friends got into the poison joke! Didn’t you see it? Do you have eye issues? I mean none of you are cross-eyed, buuuuut…”
Draggle took a swat at Pinkie Pie, who dodged, and grinned even more happily at her. “Oh! You wanna play ball?”
“Yeah, with your head!”
“Oh! Head keep away!” Pinkie stopped bouncing and tapped her chin. “But if we’re gonna help our friends over there, we should wait a bit for the games, don’t you think? Stone face their sounds like she’s dying laughing. Which would be a fun way to go, buuuuut, I don’t think she wants to go that fast, don’t you?”
“…you know that plant?” Draggle asked.
“Yep that’s poison joke! I know a zebra that can help you! Just follow me!”
“…how can we trust you. You attacked us!”
Pinkie blinked. “I don’t attack ponies, I party with them! Well…unless they’re bad ponies like King Sombra or Nightmare Moon or even Trixie when she went all evil alicorn amulet on us, but you aren’t bad ponies, so why would I attack you? Oh please let me help! I want to be your friend!”
Draggle looked at Fizzy, and then looked at Wind Whistler and the others. Draggled sighed. “Promise you won’t give us away to your leaders?”
Pinkie blinked again. “Why not?”
“Just don’t or I’ll fry you!”
Pinkie tilted her head. “…you don’t have to do that. I don’t understand, because the princesses are really really nice, even Luna is really really nice when you get to know her and I’m sure this is all a biiiig nasty misunderstanding.” Pinkie took a breath. “But if it means you’ll stop acting like silly fillies and let me be your friend and help you, then I’ll Pinkie Promise I won’t tell anypony where you are…unless you tell me I can, okay?”
“How do we know you’ll keep it?” Gusty walked over, her angry face sort of spoiled utterly by the airy squeaking.
Pinkie suddenly frowned and squinted her eyes. She leaned close to Gusty. “Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise. No. Pony.” Her eyes bugged a bit, and Gusty snorted, ears laying back.
“We don’t have much of a choice, Gusty.” Fizzy pointed out.
Gusty looked at the other two. Surprise was a bit to busy oogling her hair, but eventually she looked at Wind Whistler, who was quickly losing breath, and nodded. Morning Glory buzzed over and nodded as well.
Wind Whistler gasped. “Yes-aahahahahaha! Can’t breath!”
“Alright, we’ll trust you, for now.” Gusty squeaked.
Pinkie Pie then did a very fast rendition of her Pinkie Promise, baffling all by digging out a cupcake from her mane and sticking it in her eye. Although she liked to see her friends smile, Wind Whistler’s smile was a bit more of the pained kind then the fun kind. She could tell the difference between happy smiles and unhappy ones, smiles were her forte. Not that she always knew what to do in response to unhappy smiles, but she did know the difference. Good thing this time she knew what to do!
“How can we trust this zebra though?” Gusty stamped. “I don’t want anyone unnecessary to know about us.”
Pinkie bounced. “If that’s how you feel I’ll bring the antidote to you then! Quick! I know a cave around here with a nice pool! It’s not the kind that duplicates you, though, so it’s safe! Come on!” Pinkie bounced away, heading towards the cave she knew was around here somewhere. By now the Element Bearers had a good lay out of the forest. And Pinkie was so fearless she felt she could just happily stroll through Everfree without a thought. She hadn’t been eaten, or even badly hurt, yet, so clearly she was doing something right.
So she bounced off towards the cave, near the gem quarry that Rarity had encountered the diamond dogs that one time. The dogs had not bothered anypony since Rarity, so Pinkie Pie deemed it safe. Draggle, sighing a bit at the fact that they were now depending on a clearly airheaded pink dingbat, but seeing no other solution, helped Fizzy put Wind Whistler, who by now couldn’t walk with the uncontrollable laughing, on Gusty’s back. Gusty grunted a bit, but didn’t mind the weight at all. With a few grumbles, because she didn’t like Pinkie at all, Gusty followed Pinkie’s bouncing path through the wood.
Despite their doubts on Pinkie Pie’s reliability, they made it to the cave with little incident. Though she still was chortling, Wind Whistler was managing to get the laughing under control, at least enough so that it didn’t hurt her sides so much. Pinkie smiled gently and gave her a little pat on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Auntie Pinkie will be right back with the cure! And some treats! Be right back!” She bounced away.
“…I have a bad feeling about this.” Draggle growled.
“I like her. She seems fun.” Fizzy said.
“Yeah! We have the same symbol! I like her!” Surprise said.
“…for once I agree with the witch.” Gusty squeaked.
“…HEY!” Draggle frowned at Gusty.
“Hope she comes back soon, I really don’t like being small.” Morning Glory landed on a rock. “And these things on my head feel strange.”
“I think it’s kinda cute.” Fuzzy leaned down and smiled at the tiny Morning Glory.
“Her voice is irritating.” Draggle said. Morning Glory sagged and Draggle snorted at her. “You sound better big, is all. Blame the flowers.” Morning Glory nodded, though she still looked a bit hurt.
Fizzy nudged her, offering some comfort, unfortunately she nearly knocked Morning Glory to the ground. Morning Glory sighed, her wings dropping. “She’s right. I feel like a bug.”
“Don’t worry. Even if…Pinkie I guess? Even if she doesn’t help after all, we’ll figure something out.” Fizzy said, figuring she would have to keep their spirits up. Even if she personally missed Big Mac, for some odd reason her mind kept wandering towards him when she let it, she had to focus on her family first. Big Mac was nice, but he wasn’t family. Unfortunately.
Draggle found a rock to sit on and took out her book again. She squinted angrily at the pages, and Fizzy came over to peer over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Just in case we have to fight again.” Draggle said, still frowning at the pages. Fizzy knew that she had issues reading. It wasn’t that Draggle was dumb, as he mother always accused her of; it was just that she, for some reason, had a hard time memorizing spells. Fizzy knew as soon as Draggle found what she wanted, and memorized the words; she would probably forget them an hour later. Still, at least she could do something for right now.
Fizzy stayed with Draggle, silently giving her support. Gusty, unwilling to talk for fear of the squeaking, paced around at the outside of the cave, watching for danger, or Pinkie. Morning Glory sat on her head, keeping an eye out as well. Surprise hovered over Wind Whistler, who by now was lying on her side on the cave floor, legs twitching and giggling in a pain filled manner. Surprise frowned and nuzzled her a bit.
“It’ll be alright. She’ll come back, and you’ll be fine Wind Whistler.” Surprise said, her good humor gone now that her friend was suffering.
Fizzy sighed, and perked a bit when Draggle absentmindedly gave her a little pat between the ears. Fizzy smiled gently. It would be all right. She knew it. She yawned, and cuddled up next to Draggle, her eyes drooping as she fell asleep.
Twilight stood up and faced the pegasus guard. “Explain to us what happened.”
The pegasus panted. “It’s…actually very strange. A few moments ago, while Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were gone, a small group of Crystal Ponies, along with your brother, showed up at the palace. They claimed a group of alien ponies attacked, and put a spell over the Crystal Empire, and captured Princess Cadence. No one can get in or out. Not even the trains are moving, and pegasi say there is a large black cloud completely covering the city. It seems to have happened overnight.”
“That…is awfully fast. And there was no hint of an invasion before this?” Luna asked.
“None, the entire court was shocked by this. We are not even sure when it began. Captain Shining Armor is being…very vague…”
“Princess…I think there is something more going on here then just an invasion and a misunderstanding.” Twilight said.
“Indeed…you two, can you give us a moment?” Luna looked at Big Mac and the guard. “Just a few moments.” The two nodded. Big Mac looked at the woods, sighed, and went back into his house, looking fairly downtrodden. The pegasus guard lifted off and went to examine how things were doing from the air, giving the two princesses their space.
“Luna, you shouldn’t have-“
“I know…you must understand, Twilight Sparkle. I cannot fully remember everything that happened when I was trapped on the moon. It was like being asleep. I can remember a few things, but for my own sanity I chose to…hibernate. A thousand years in that cold hell would have driven me madder then I was, and subconsciously I knew that. So until I was able to be free I did not allow myself to be fully aware. To me the time that we were in contact with the Dream world was not that long ago. I…can remember the Gloom Clan.” She looked at Twilight, her face pained. “I saw the things they did. I witnessed it happen to ponies I called friends. Ponies who loved the night as I did, and whose lost weighed heavy on me. The girl’s smell, and the way she looked…It was hard for me to see her, and remember what her kind did…to my friends, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia has had time to cope, thousands of years to, and you never saw the way they were like before.”
“But it was thousands of years ago, Luna.” Twilight said. “That’s plenty of times for them to change.”
“Logically I know that. Logically I know I shouldn’t have come on so strong. I wasn’t prepared.” Luna looked up. “That is why it must now be you. You must befriend them, and find your foals. They don’t trust me, but you are a different matter. In the meantime, I will attempt to break through this barrier between us and the Crystal Empire.”
Twilight nodded. “Alright. But-” Twilight paused as Pinkie Pie went bouncing by with a tub of water on her head. “Pinkie, we nee-“
“Hi Twilight! Bye Twilight!” Pinkie grinned at her and bounced into the forest.
“…your friend is very particular.” Luna said. “Did she have a tub on her head?”
“Yeah, that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie. She’ll be there when we really need her though.”
“Are you certain?” Luna asked.
“Positive. She’s probably looking for the Cutie Mark Crusaders…in her own special way.”
“Why does she need a tub for that?”
“It’s Pinkie Pie.”
Luna blinked. “…If you say so.” She paused and looked up at the sky. “I will return to Canterlot. I trust you to have things handled here, Twilight. Good luck.” Twilight nodded as Luna took to the air, spoke briefly with the pegasus guard, and soared back towards Canterlot. Twilight looked back at the farmhouse door and trotted over. She knocked.
Big Mac opened the door and stepped back out. He bowed his head briefly. “Eyup, Twilight?” He asked.
“Where is Applejack, did she come back?”
“Nnope.”
“…Big Mac, what were the aliens doing here?”
Big Mac blinked, and Twlight sat down, doing her best to look nonthreatening. She knew from Applejack that her big brother was actually very shy, which was why among strangers he usually only said ‘eyup’ and ‘nnope’. He just didn’t like to talk to other ponies. So she waited until Big Mac was ready to talk to her.
“Found Fizzy last night. She was hurt, and lost, so I helped her.” Big Mac said.
“Fizzy…which one was that?”
“The bluish unicorn.”
“Not the one that was blowing wind at us?”
“Nnope.”
“How did you talk to her before I cast the translation spell?”
“Didn’t. Just listened.”
Twilight blinked. “Ooookay…”
“I’m worried about my sisters, Twilight.” Big Mac rumbled. “And I’m worried about them aliens.”
“Will you help me find them? I promise I don’t want hurt any of them. And they might know what happened to the foals. I don’t think that their appearing here, and our friends disappearing, is unconnected.”
Big Mac frowned.
“Will you help me?”
Big Mac thought. “Eyup.”
“Great! Meet me at the library, we’re going to get organized. I’ll find the others.”
“Ya mean the other Element Bearers? Ya ain’t gonna try and make me the new Applejack?” He snorted.
“No, we just need your help. Besides, the elements are back in the Tree of Harmony.”
“Eyup.” Big Mac nodded and started down the hill, heading for Ponyville. Twilight lifted her wings and shakily took to the air. She was getting better at the whole flying thing, and she had to admit it was easier to get around long distances then just walking. She would try Fluttershy next, one eye on the ground in case of aliens.
Meanwhile, back at Dream Valley…specifically back at Paradise Estate, the remaining ponies of the Estate were gathered, in a mild uproar.
“Now settle down.” Magic Star snorted. “Head count…” She took another count of the heads. “…still the same.” She looked at Galaxy. “Wind Whistler and the others are still not back, and neither are Whizzer and Sweet Stuff.”
“Oh something awful happened to them! I know it!” Shady was in a mild panic attack, pacing back in forth. “We won’t ever see them again!”
“Shady, please.” Magic Star stamped a bit. “This isn’t the time to panic. We have to think this through. Calmly.” She looked a certain blue unicorn with a ribbon symbol. “Ribbon, any luck?”
“I’m having a hard time contacting Fizzy or Gusty, it’s…like in Tambelon. I couldn’t contact anyone from that side unless they were asleep, and it’s harder with Whizzer and Sweet Stuff being so far away…one moment, please…” Her horn glowed, and she smiled. “Got them!”
The other ponies pressed in, only to be warded off by Megan, Magic Star, and Galaxy. “Give her some space, you know how hard this can be for her.” Megan gently shooed Shady and Heart Throb to the side, both of whome were anxiously awaiting the verdict.
Ribbon suddenly jerked. “Oh! Oh no!”
“What is it?” Megan asked. “What did they say?”
“They’re from another world…I am not certain, but that may be where Wind Whistler and the others are. But…their lost foals are here. The two strangers came here looking for them. There are shape shifting monsters, called Changelings. It’s…fragmented, but…” She frowned.
“…Ribbon, are you certain you can’t contact Wind Whistler’s group?” Galaxy asked. “I have a feeling it may be important they know this.”
Ribbon looked at Galaxy, sighing a bit. By now most ponies knew that when Galaxy had ‘a feeling’ it was usually correct. Galaxy’s intuition was, in many ways, her greatest skill, and if she felt that the others needed to know this information, then she was probably right.
Megan gave Ribbon a head rub, smiling at her. “You can do it, Ribbon.” Ribbon smiled a bit. Megan’s usual positivity was infectious, in many ways. Ribbon knew that Magic Star, Galaxy, and Wind Whistler had been subtly trying to guide the girl as she grew. And it was working. After a few nudges in the right direction, Megan could come up with solutions to problems, and very good ones, in a timely manner. Most of the younger ponies, especially the baby ponies, considered her an older pony sister, and a role model. And Megan herself loved to be around the younger ponies. Ribbon suspected she knew that Magic Star and the other older mares were watching out for her, but she didn’t seem to mind it.
Ribbon sat down and concentrated. “I need everyone to be quiet. Please. If they are asleep, I will be able to connect…I’ll try Gusty first.” The unicorns would be more receptive to her magic, being of the same kind as she. Though Gusty was more of a combative pony, and Fizzy was, well, and airhead, the two’s magic would respond the best to Ribbon’s.
Ribbon cast her mind outwards, focusing on the familiar mind of Gusty. Violent, defensive, athletic and brave. She knew the feel of all her friend’s minds, after briefly touching each of them, never deep enough to be intrusive, but enough to know how they felt. Gusty’s mind always felt strangely steady. She was a pony who knew who she was. The defender. Ribbon could feel her, but she just couldn’t connect. She frowned. Fizzy then. Nice, bubbly Fizzy. Unlike Gusty Fizzy’s mind was more erratic, moving from one subject to the other, light and airy as her bubbles. But here…Ribbon could feel her. In her mind she could see Fizzy in front of her. She was…dreaming about a huge eyed red pony, but the image popped like a bubble as soon as Ribbon came upon her.
“Ribbon! Where are you? Wind Whistler is-“
“Fizzy, you have to listen to me! The alien’s foals are here! Applejack and Rarity! Tell the aliens those names! Tell them the Changelings are coming!”
“But Ribbon!”
“The Changelings, Fizzy, remember the-” But the connection blew away, and Ribbon couldn’t tell her anymore.
Ribbon opened her eyes.
“Did you find them?” Megan asked.
“I found Fizzy…I gave her as much as I could.” Ribbon lifted her head. “I just hope it’s enough.”
Fizzy jolted awake, nearly kicking Draggle off the rock. She glared at Fizzy, as she had been deep in her book. “Do you mind?”
“Changelings!” Fizzy blurted.”
“Changewhatnow?” Draggle asked.
“I…don’t know. I saw Ribbon. She said something about Changelings, but she didn’t tell me what they were.”
“Useful.” Draggle said sarcastically. She looked up at the sound of four hooves bouncing. Pinkie hopped happily past Gusty, who snorted at her, a tub balanced on her head. How in the world Pinkie managed to not only lift the tub, which was circular, wooden and large enough to fit three ponies, but carry it on her head…it was mildly baffling to all. And, somehow, still defying the laws of physics, logic and good sense, somehow Pinkie dipped the tub into the small pool and emerged with the tub, now full of water. She placed the tub down and leaped on the side of it. Pinkie took out a bottle of something from her hair and started to sprinkle it in. “I got the cure! All you have to do is bath in it, and you’ll be fine. We’ll need to warm it up a bit though!”
“Guess I can do that.” Draggle didn’t want Pinky to heat the water, in case she decided to boil them and make pony soup.
“Just don’t burn the tub.” Gusty squeaked.
“I’m not going to burn the tub!” Draggle protested as she flipped through her book. Everyone backed away a bit, except Pinkie, who didn’t back away from manticores, much less funny humans with silly books. Everyone held there breath as Draggle, very carefully, found a spell. She placed her hand on the tub and, with the air of someone about to light as stick of dynamite, slowly and carefully spoke the words necessary. There was a brief pop and a hiss, and the water began to steam. Draggle sighed in relief.
“Wow! You can do magic like a unicorn! Where do you keep your horn?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m a witch, I don’t need a horn.”
“Can you teach me? Please please pleeeeease!”
“No.” Draggle said quickly. This pony was already off the wall. She clearly didn’t need to learn magic spells.
“Pleeeease!”
“No.”
“PLEEEEEASE!”
“NO!” Draggle swung her stick at Pinkie, who ducked. Pinkie shrugged.
“Okie dokie Lokie, but If you ever change your mind…”
“No.” Draggle growled. Pinkie just grinned incessantly at her. Draggle almost found herself smiling, but she didn’t know why. Maybe it was because Pinkie was one the few ponies that didn’t get terribly offended by her temper, which for some reason was becoming more and more Hydia like as she aged. Pinkie was still annoying, but then again unless that pony was named Wind Whistler or Magic Star Draggle found most of them annoying to various degrees. Even Fizzy’s airheadness was annoying, even if she was a friend.
Gusty managed to get the still chuckling Wind Whistler on her back. Fortunately Wind Whistler had managed to modulate her breathing enough so that the danger of her asphyxiating was less, but it was still clearly an effort on her part. Gusty jumped on a rock, then leaned over the tub, gently sliding Wind Whistler into the warm water. She leaped in immediately afterwards, Morning Glory dipping in from her perch on Gusty’s head. Surprise plopped herself in afterwards, careful not to crush Morning Glory.
After a moment, Wind Whistler’s head emerged from the steaming bath, her face once again smooth and serious. “That feels much more acceptable.” She raised her head fully and nodded. “In fact it is actually very soothing.”
Surprise ducked her head in, then emerged, her mane’s flashing light dimming to nothing. A few moments later Morning Glory grew out of the tub, the antenne on her head dissaparing.
“Well, I guess I have to admit it.” Gusty’s voice was totally normal. “You came through, loon.” She nodded at Pinkie.
“My name’s not loon! It’s Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie bounced. “Pinkamena Diane Pie! But everyone calls me Pinkie! You guys should call me Pinkie! Who are you? I can’t keep calling her Stone face!” She pointed at Wind Whistler. “Unless that’s your name? Is it your name?”
Wind Whistler blinked. “Not in the slightest. My name is Wind Whistler.”
“Oh! That’s a really pretty name! You should smile more! You really should!” Pinkie grinned at Wind Whistler, who just sort of stared back at her as if trying to figure her out. Pinkie eventually tore her eyes away to look Fizzy with great inquisitiveness.
“I’m Fizzy!” Fizzy smiled at Pinkie, who grinned back. Surprise bounced out of the tub, splashing Pinkie. “Surprise!”
Pinkie laughed. “That’s a good one!”
“I know! It’s my name too!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“That’s great! I love surprises!” Pinkie bounced some more, and Surprise smiled. Thankfully she didn’t bounce, as Ponylander bodies were not meant for the same up and down motion that Pinkie was displaying, but it was clear that Surprise liked the other pony, now that she seemed less hostile then before.
“I’m Morning Glory, it’s nice to meet you.” Morning Glory jumped to the ground, shaking her butterfly wings to dry them. Pinkie stuck her face close to her wings.
“Oooo! Pretty! Did you get a spell for them? My friend Rarity once got a pair of wings like these, only they burned up in the sun! She almost died, but Rainbow Dash saved her!”
“..no, no magic. I’m a Flutter Pony.” Morning Glory replied.
“…why are you smiling if someone who call friend almost died?” Draggle asked.
“Well she didn’t did she? Rainbow saved her, and everything was fine!”
“But what if she didn’t?” Draggle asked. Pinkie frowned at her.
“But…she did. Why dwell on something sad that never happened?”
“…she’s just as stupid as the rest of you.” Draggle said. Fizzy grinned up at her. “Eyup! I really like that word!”
Draggle sighed. “We aren’t going to get you to stop doing that, are we?”
“Nnope!”
“Who are you?” Pinkie asked Draggle, the smile still on her face. Draggle shrugged and told her. Pinkie tilted her head. “Draggle? That’s a funny name!”
“Like I said, I’m a witch. We have names like that.”
“You look like a human.”
“That’s because I am. I’m a human witch.”
“Are their other kinds of witches?”
“Just about any race can have witches. Ponies don’t. You have unicorns for that.” Draggle said.
“That makes sense!”
“We’re almost mostly evil.” Draggle pointed out.
“No you’re not! You aren’t evil! I can tell. My Pinkie Sense says so!”
“…you’re what?” Draggle blinked.
“My Pinkie Sense! It tells me things!”
“What kind of things?” Wind Whistler asked, curious.
“Oh, things! Like if there’s gonna be something falling on your head or if it you’re about to be splashed with mud or if something scary is going to happen!” Pinkie smiled. “But you don’t set off my ‘scary’ Pinkie Sense, so you can’t be scary!”
“…if this sense functions as you claim…then that is actually quite…logical.” Wind Whistler blinked. “How particular.”
Pinkie looked at Gusty. “I haven’t heard your name yet!” Gusty blinked, and shrugged. “Gusty.”
Pinkie smiled again. “It’s gonna be hard to fit all these names on one cake, but I’ll just have to bake an extra big one!”
“Cake?” Gusty blinked.
“Of course silly! For the Welcome to Ponyville party we’re gonna throw you! Oh, but you want to be kept secret, so it’ll have to be a secret Welcome to Ponyville party…or maybe just a Welcome to the Drafty Equestrian Everfree Forest Cave Party!”
“I fear we have no time for revelries.” Wind Whistler flapped out the tub and landed. “I am afraid this floral setback has delayed the current difficulty at hand.”
“Yeah, the Mother of Tirac back there.” Gusty landed at Wind Whistler’s side with a snort.
“That is not which I am referring to, Gusty. There is a more important matter.” She turned to Morning Glory. “Where were you last night?”
Morning Glory blinked. “I was with Draggle all night.”
“You did not cross over back to our world?”
“No! I was hurt to badly, and my wings were soaked! I couldn’t fly at all! I had to walk all the way to that apple orchard!”
“Draggle, can you confirm her location?”
“Yeah, Wind Whistler, she was with me all night.” Draggle looked at Wind Whistler, confused.
“She never left your sight?”
“Not once.” Draggle said.
“Then why did Morning Glory come across the gates yesterday afternoon, being pursued by an orange earth pony resembling Applejack, and a white unicorn with Sparkler’s symbol on her flank, who attacked her? Furthermore, why did Morning Glory then claim that the ponies on this side of the gate attacked them, and deformed Applejack?”
Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically. “You have an Applejack too!?”
Wind Whistler looked at Pinkie. “…hold that thought, if you will. Well, Morning Glory?”
“We were attacked yesterday by them.” Draggle nodded at Pinkie, who blinked at her, confused. “But only on this side. Morning Glory never crossed back over.”
“I see…Pinkie, correct?” Wind Whistler looked at Pinkie, who smiled.
“Yep!”
“Did you and your allies attack our friends yesterday afternoon?”
“No! I was looking for the Cutie Mark Crusaders yesterday afternoon! I only found you two last night!” She pointed at Gusty and Wind Whistler. “I never saw the rest of you!”
“Discribe Applejack for me.” Wind Whistler asked.
“Oh well, she’s Big Mac’s sister!” Fizzy blinked at Pinkie in surprise, and Pinkie rambled on. “She’s the Element of Honesty! Or she was. Probably still is. But she’s honest and dependable and tough and she can get really really serious if it has to do with her farm, but she’s really nice and she’s one of my best friends and she might actually be my cousin! Several times removed!”
“Is she…clumsy? Or prone to silliness?” Wind Whistler asked.
“Nope! She’s really athletic, and not silly at all!” Pinkie squinted at Wind Whistler. “Is your Applejack silly?”
“…she can be.”
“Does your Applejack have a hat?” Pinkie asked, from seeming nowhere.
“No…” Fizzy blinked. “Wind Whistler! Ribbon contacted me!”
“…can it not wait? I feel we are on to some solution to this-“
“It’s important! She mentioned Applejack! But…not our Applejack! She said they were looking for the foals! She said beware the Changelings!”
Pinkie suddenly thrust her head in Fizzy’s face, her smile gone. “Did you say Changelings?”
“What’s a Changeling?” Wind Whistler asked.
“Oh, they’re this awful black bug ponies that can turn into other ponies, so they look normal, but they aren’t normal! They feed off love! They attacked us a year ago and tried to take over Equestria!” Pinkie’s smile was back, but it was a bit less wide.
“Shape shifters…” Wind Whistler looked at Morning Glory speculatively. “…we could not cross the gate back after Morning Glory led us there.”
“…you think the Morning Glory we met at Flutter Valley wasn’t our Morning Glory?” Gusty said, giving the real Morning Glory a dangerous look. She jumped up.
“I-I’m not a shape shifter! I’m the real Morning Glor-Akk!” Draggle grabbed her ear and forced her to look at her.
“…tell me about the bees?” Draggle asked.
“Sting? And Queen Bumble?” Morning Glory started to babble. “Sting is my friend, the first bee friend we had. I taught him to fly, and he helped me escape from the bees. He helped me find Megan and bring her to Ponyland. You…you and your family were corrupting our Valley.”
Draggle looked at Pinkie. “Can they read minds?”
Pinkie shrugged. “Not that I know of. But Twilight Sparkle can find out!”
“How?” Wind Whistler asked.
“She knows a spell!” Pinkie grinned.
Wind Whistler closed her eyes. They clearly only had half a story, and if these Changelings were influencing events…she had an idea, but it was risky. Very risky. Far to risky.
“Gusty, Pinkie, step out here with me.” Wind Whistler looked at Draggle, Surprise and Fizzy. “Guard her.” Morning Glory looked down in sadness as the stern pegasus led the other two out of the cave and well away from the others.
“I have this feeling you are about to tell me something I won’t like.” Gusty snorted.
“Take it step by step. We encountered what I now believe to be an imposter Morning Glory, who trapped us on this world. Our friends were attacked by what can only be more Changelings, posing as Pinkie and her friends. But why attack us?”
“Because we would fight back, especially after we found out about the Princess of the Night. We’d assume they were servants of a greater evil then Tirac, and we would have proof of them attacking us.” Gusty’s eyes were starting to widen.
“And it is very possible these missing foals were taken to our world to spark the same on this end, as well as getting Applejack of this world out of the way, and to shock us. Pinkie…tell me about the Princess of the Night?”
“Luna? She used to be a big mean grumpy evil pants! But we saved her!” Pinkie said.
“Saved her how?”
“Well, we friendshiped the evil out of her!”
“…friendshiped?”
“We used the Elements of Harmony! I told you! I’m the Element of Laughter! Applejack is the Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness, Rarity is the Element of Generosity, and Twilight Sparkle is the Element of Magic!”
Wind Whistler closed her eyes and sighed. “Pinkie…what do these ‘Elements of Harmony’ do? How do they work?”
“Well we put on these sparkly necklaces and the elements blast things with a giant rainbow and the evil goes poof! It turned Luna back to Luna! She isn’t Nightmare Moon anymore!”
“Rainbow…the Rainbow of Light!” Gusty looked shocked. “Wind Whistler, you remember what Twilight, our Twilight, Twilight Unicorn, what she told us! When Megan used the Rainbow of Light at Tirac's castle it purified everything! Including Scorpan! He was a monster, but then he became a human once purified!”
“The tales never mentioned anything about the Princess of Night being possessed…or transformed.” Wind Whistler said.
“But that was a thousand years ago! Who knows how much the story changed!"
“Luna was imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years!” Pinkie said helpfully.
“If this Element of Harmony rainbow works in a similar fashion to the Rainbow of Light…then it would indeed have purified the Princess, just as the Rainbow of Light purified Scorpan and the creatures transformed by Tirac’s magic…and if Tirac’s magic came from this Luna…it is very possible we have been in error. Perhaps she did not betray, but was instead infected, and merely spread the infection to Tirac. Tirac, according the stories, was already evil, so the Rainbow of Light merely scattered him, instead of purifying. But if Luna was more like Scorpan then Tirac…it fits.” Wind Whistler sighed. “I reacted in haste.”
Gusty sighed. “Wind Whistler…I know Majesty was like a mother to you. She was like a mother to a lot of the orphaned foals. Twilight Unicorn, Applejack, Sparkler, Galaxy, Magic Star, Firefly, Medley, they all thought of her as their mother. I think that for once no one is going to blame you for getting emotional.”
“But I have hampered our progress with my emotional outbursts, and put us at risk. This is why I chose to control myself, Gusty.” Wind Whistler said. “And that is why I must fix this.”
“Wind Whistler…”
“I need to speak to this Twilight Sparkle. If we combine our tales we will get to the truth of this Changeling plot.”
“You are NOT going alone!” Gusty stamped.
“No, she isn’t.” Draggle limped over from the brush.
“I told you to watch Morning Glory.” Wind Whistler said with a stern, but gentle look.
“She’s fine. Unless you’re going to accuse me of being a Changeling as well? She was with me all night!"
“I am in doubt that a Changeling would be able to possess your magical skills, Draggle. Even if they were to replicate your battle skills, they would be unable to duplicate your…unique methods.”
“And that is why I’m going with you. You know you can depend on me. And if you’re wrong and this princess is evil, or if these Changelings have evil magic, well, guess who won’t be as effected by that crap like you would?”
“You have not been an evil witch for three years-“
“But I’m still a witch, and I’m still resistant to nasty. You aren’t. I’m coming.” Draggled tapped her stick. “Besides, you don’t think it’s illogical to go into a dangerous situation without backup?”
Gusty laughed. “She’s got you there!”
Wind Whistler sighed. “Very well, Draggle. You understand the risk?”
“Yeah yeah, sure sure.” Draggle said dismissively. “Besides, you guys still need to find the Stoneback.”
“I’ll handle that with the others. Be careful, Wind Whistler.” Gusty said.
“I shall be fine. The purple one seemed willing to be friendly.” She looked at Pinkie. “Now, Pinkie, take us to your leader.”