(Train to Ponyville, 4:05 PM)
The Element Bearers were chatting happily as they rode the train back to Ponyville. Well... most of them were. Twilight Sparkle was still thinking about the situation with her family of course. How could she not? It's not everyday you realize that you've never tried to contact your family in almost two years, and they've never tried to contact you in return.
'How could I have forgotten? How could they have forgotten?' she thought, staring out the window. Had she and her family really drifted apart like this? She used to be so close with them, especially Shining!
"Twilight?" someone asked, worry in their voice. The purple alicorn turned to see Spike and the others looking at her with concern.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, "You still bummed about your family?"
Twilight wanted to lie and say she was fine, but they would never accept that. "Yeah..."
"Well don't worry Twilight!" Pinkie said, scooching over and putting a foreleg around her friend, "Once we get back to Ponyville, I'm gonna throw you a good old fashioned Cheering-Up Party! Then we're gonna help you make up with them! Right everypony?"
The others nodded with smiles on their faces, and Twilight couldn't help but smile back.
"Thanks, girls." she sighed, "It's just... I have no idea where to start."
"Ah think the best place to start would be at the Royal Wedding." Applejack commented.
"Yeah, but what if she doesn't get invited?" Spike asked.
"They have to invite her Spike. Even if they've drifted apart they're still family." Fluttershy replied.
"Okay then, but how is the question? It's not like she can bring up all of this familial drama during the ceremony. Weddings are supposed to be fabulous occasions celebrating the union of two hearts." Rarity gushed, her inner romantic shining through.
"Maybe once she gets her invitation, she can go back up to Canterlot and talk it out with them before the wedding?" Rainbow offered.
Twilight perked up, "That's a good idea, but what do I say? Am I just supposed to walk up to them and say, 'I'm sorry for not sending any letters or visiting you but you haven't done either of those things for me?'"
"Absolutely not, darling! This is a subject needs to be dealt with carefully. You know how you feel, but you don't know how they feel. Talk to them for a while, figure out if they're angry at you or not. If they aren't, then just discreetly take them aside and speak your piece. Then let them speak theirs and see what you can do about this. If they are angry at you though..." Rarity said, unsure of what to say at the end.
"Try not to make a huge scene?" Pinkie offered.
"Yes, that!"
Then, a unicorn stallion in a waiter's uniform walked in pushing a food cart, "Excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but your orders are ready "
They all gave their thanks as the waiter left the cart. The conversation stopped for a moment as they took a few minutes to eat some of their meals. Rarity had ordered a salad and water, ever the weight watcher. Twilight had ordered a daisy and egg sandwich with water. Pinkie Pie had ordered a hayburger and pink lemonade. Spike was munching on some gems he had brought with him and drinking lemonade he had ordered. Fluttershy had also ordered a salad and water. Applejack had ordered an apple fritter with water. Rainbow just had a plate of hayfries.
"Where were we?" Twilight asked.
"Trying not to make a huge scene if your family is angry at you." Rarity answered.
"Look, the point is that worrying excessively about what could be instead of what is, isn't going to help ya Twi." Applejack said.
"I can't help but worry! What if I don't get invited to the wedding because they hate me? What if I do get invited but they ignore me the entire time? What if they disown me?!"
"They won't do that." Spike rolled his eyes.
"How can you be sure?!"
"Okay, I can't be sure," the young dragon admitted, scratching the back of his head, "but you have to calm down. I'm not saying you can't worry, but driving yourself crazy might just give you a heart attack."
"I'm pretty sure Alicorns don't get heart attacks!" Rainbow snickered. Twilight couldn't help but laugh. Soon, everypony was laughing. It wasn't that the joke was funny, because it was pretty lame by Rainbow Dash's standards. They were just happy to be there for each other.
"Hahaha! Thanks girls, I needed that." Twilight smiled genuinely, wiping a tear from her eye.
"No problem! Anytime you need a laugh, just come to me!" Dash puffed out her chest.
"Hey! That's my job!" Pinkie halfheartedly complained with a smile.
"There's no rule saying there can't be two comedians in this group is there?" Rainbow smirked.
"No, I suppose there isn't." Twilight replied, her smile growing. She was so lucky to have such great friends.
(Manehattan, The Harbor, 5:17 PM)
Isaac whistled as he flew over Equestria's counterpart to New York City in the form of a generic pegasus. The buildings weren't nearly as tall, but they were up there. There were no cars, but taxi carriages still had loud horns apparently. It even had it's own Statue of Liberty!
The disguised angel touched down on the docks in front of the ship Kowalski had built to get the polar griffons here. He could see them moving around in the windows. It wasn't surprising, since the ship had also been built to function as their hotel for the duration of their stay in Equestria. He had conjured up some gems that they could exchange for bits to buy stuff with. Isaac walked up to the door into the ship, where two polar griffons were standing guard.
"What is your business here, pony?" one of them asked.
The disguised angel smirked and took a look around. No one was looking. In a flash of golden flames, the stallion's head was Isaac's head. It was a rather disturbing image.
Their eyes widened, "M-Mister Isaac! You can go in sir."
He smiled and turned his head back into a pony's head, "Thank you"
It was good thing they knew he could shapeshift, wasn't it? With that, the former human walked right on into the boat. There were polar griffons walking around, chatting, eating, etc... In a flash of golden flames, Isaac assumed his true form. All of their eyes turned to him instantly.
"Hello, everyone. Did you miss me?" he smirked.
They gasped and ran up to him, seeming to ask a million questions. He put his hands up, silencing them.
"Calm down, please! Before I do anything else, I need to know something. Where are Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico?"
"They went to the capital of this land to talk with the once called Princess Celestia about the trial of Nightmare Moon! We heard that she has escaped her imprisonment. Is this true?" one spoke up.
"Yes, Nightmare Moon did escape." they let out various cries of outrage, "However, you don't need to worry! I put her right back where she belongs!"
They all let out sighs of relief. Too bad they didn't know that 'where she belongs' really meant with Luna.
"I really do need to figure how to placate them once they find out the truth." Isaac thought.
"So are there any problems?"
"None really sir. Many of us have been trying to enjoy this 'city' while waiting for news." another polar griffon spoke up.
"Oh really? Please elaborate." Isaac smiled as they starting talking about their experiences in Manehattan. It felt good to be adored by people, or griffins in this case.
(Ponyville, Minuette's House, 5:25 PM)
Blue Lily sighed as she and Trixie finally made it back inside. Turns out the townsponies were looking for them, and they did not look happy. They had to sneak around without being seen. She could have used magic to disguise them, but after messing with the Mirror Pool the unicorn was running low on energy.
"Where did they even get all those pitchforks and torches? Trixie knows this is a rural town but there shouldn't have been enough to arm everypony!" the showmare commented.
"Maybe they got the town blacksmith has them in excess and took advantage of their anger to make a profit?" Lily shrugged. She placed her saddlebags on the coffee table and plopped down on the couch. Trixie sat down right beside her.
"So... What do we do now?" Trixie asked.
"I dunno. We obviously can't go outside until they cool off. Wanna see if Minuette has any board games we can play?"
The unicorn sighed, "That sounds boring, but it beats sitting around until the middle of the night."
"Alright then. Wanna eat lunch first?"
"That would be nice."
"Anything in particular?"
"A daisy and egg sandwich will suffice for Trixie."
Blue Lily rolled her eyes and got up off the couch. She walked into the kitchen.
That was when she, he, heard them for the first time. Actually, that isn't entirely accurate. It was just the first time he heard them on the same side of the screen.
"Are you sure it's wise to be messing with her?" a female voice asked. She had an English accent.
"Wisdom is subjective, dear sister." a male voice replied, bearing the same accent.
"He will notice if you aren't careful."
The disguised angel froze, and looked towards the door leading to the basement. That was where the voices came from. But how? The door was locked and there were no windows to break into in the basement. Lily took out the key from her mane, and opened the door with a soft click.
"Oh, now look what you've done. He's coming down."
"He wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't started talking."
"Trixie! Get over here! Someone's in the basement!" the unicorn called, assuming his true form. He started walking down the steps.
"Who is it?!" the showmare asked, coming up behind him.
"We're about to find out."
"You could just ask us you know." the female commented, sounding amused.
When they reached the bottom of the steps, they saw the intruders. Both unicorns, one of them was a mare, the other a stallion. The latter of whom was examining the doll house containing Cadence in his telekinetic grip. The mare was examining the Crystal Mirror and the Prototype Mirror.
"But we have a feeling you know we are already," the stallion continued.
"Or at least who we're supposed to represent in your eyes." the mare smirked.
"So tell us if you've heard this question before." the stallion smirked, their expressions eerily similar.
The mare took a coin out of her dress and tossed it to the angel.
"Heads, or Tails?"
(Train to Ponyville, 5:51 PM)
*GRUMBLE!*
The loud sound stopped the conversion, and everypony turned to a blushing Fluttershy.
"Eep! Um, excuse me. I need to use the restroom." the shy pegasus quickly left.
"Ouch, that's gotta be embarrassing." Rainbow commented, wincing in sympathy
"Yep. But now that you mention it, I kinda need to use the mare's room too." Applejack said nervously, excusing herself as she got up to use the facilities as well.
"My stomach feels weird." Pinkie groaned, rubbing it with a hoof.
"Oh dear, do you think there was something in the food?" Rarity asked worriedly.
*GRUMBLE!*
"I don't know! All I know is that I have to go now too!" Spike groaned, running for the restroom.
"Wait for me!" Pinkie said, following after him.
"Pinkie, you're a girl! The mares' room is the other way!" the young dragon told her.
"Oops, sorry!" the party pony turned around and ran that way.
"I'll go talk to the staff about this." Twilight got up with a frown on her face, and left.
Rainbow and Rarity were the only two left. They just stared at each other awkwardly.
"Well one of us needs to stay and watch our bags." Rarity said.
"It isn't going to be me." Dash replied.
"So we need to settle this the fair way..... NOT IT!" Rarity sprinted off, leaving the blue former pegasus to look at her mouth agape.
"Some lady you turned out to be..." Rainbow grumbled, trying to think of something else other than her need to use the restroom.
(Ponyville, Minuette's House, 6:02 PM)
Isaac and Trixie stared at the ponies across from them at the table. Their intruders were just happily eating sandwiches.
"So now that I've made you lunch, are you willing to tell us what you know?" the angel asked.
"Ah, but you never answered our question. You just dragged us away from the mirrors and the Princess." the male replied.
"Forgive me for being wary of you two. I thought it was normal to be cautious of intruders." the ancient evil commented sarcastically.
"You two are technically intruders as well if you haven't realized." the female pointed out.
"Alright then, let's try this another way." Isaac growled. He raised a hand and channeled chaos magic into it, causing it to glow with a scary red aura.
"Stop playing stupid games or I'm going to blast you."
They did not look bothered in the slightest at the prospect.
"One, don't you like to play stupid games with others?" the female asked.
"Two, you know couldn't hit us no matter how hard you tried." the male snorted.
"Three, you won't even try to hit us. That would just make a lot of noise and blow your cover." the female smirked.
Isaac grit his teeth and let the magic dissipate. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin, still unflipped.
"Tails." he called and flipped the coin. With a soft thud, it landed on heads.
The stallion smirked and turned to his 'sister', "Told you," then he looked up as if in thought, "although that isn't as satisfying as I imagined it would be."
The mare smiled, "Chin up, there's always next time."
"So know that I've played your game, answer me this. What's wrong in the multiverse?" Isaac asked.
The stallion grinned, "You'll have to be more specific than that. There is always something wrong in multiverse. That comes with it having infinite possibilities and all."
"Okay then. What's wrong in the multiverse in relation to me?"
"Wait a moment, what is the multiverse?" Trixie asked.
The mare turned to her, "Think of it like this, my dear. Imagine one day you wake up to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. There are two brands. In one universe you choose Brand #1..."
",and in the other you choose Brand #2." the stallion finished, "Every time you make a decision, a new universe is created where you made a different decisions. Or at least that's what the science fiction books will tell you. In reality, probability is what causes new universes to form. In one universe you were born a stallion,"
"and in another, a mare. Anything is possible, thus anything exists." the mare finished with a grin of her own.
Trixie's eyes widened, "Wait, then you're..."
"Yes, they are counterparts to each other! Now would you two mind answering my question?" Isaac snapped.
The stallion frowned, "How rude." he turned to his 'sister', "He really is different from the King isn't he?"
"That comes with being a Villain, brother."
The angel snarled at that comment, "I am not a villain."
"Ah, but you wouldn't have been petrified if you weren't, would you? You also forgot the capital V in 'Villain'." The mare replied.
"Enough! Answer the question" Isaac growled.
"I suppose we've riled him up enough, haven't we? Very well then. Your presence here is the problem." The stallion said.
"You mean in Equestria? Trust me I've tried to leave."
"It's not just you, actually. Multiple people from multiple Earths dropped into multiple Equestrias by an unknown force. Most of them are hostile," the mare began.
"Or are destined to become hostile." the stallion finished.
Isaac thought back to his days reading FIMFiction on Earth before he came to this world. A fad that had started. Stories that began with someone becoming someone else and then getting dropped into Equestria, usually by the manipulations of...
"The Merchant." the angel said, eyes widening.
"What merchant?!" Trixie asked. She was getting really confused now.
"That is the form it likes to take the most, yes." the mare replied.
"How are the Merchant's actions affecting the multiverse? I imagine just dropping some humans into a few Equestrias and giving them superpowers isn't much a of a problem.
"Ah, but you have to figure that out for yourself." the stallion sneered.
"Then why bother telling me anything?!"
"Because the King asked us to." the mare replied.
"WHO IS THE KING?!" Isaac stood up, slamming his hands down on the table, and his eyes glowing red with rage.
The two ponies just smiled and said at the same time, "We think you know who he is already."
And then they disappeared.
(Ponyville Train Station, 6:45 PM)
The sun was setting as the train pulled into the station.
"Finally, we're home!" Rainbow grinned, flying out the train.
"I hope you managed to talk to the staff, Twilight." Rarity said, trotting out.
"I did actually, and managed to get our money back." the purple alicorn replied.
Spike groaned as he walked out, "Let's never eat on that train again."
Applejack was the same, looking rather disgruntled. "Ah hear that. All of use were on the can for at least half an hour!"
"My stomach still hurts." Pinkie complained, rubbing her gut.
The others looked to her in worry, "Do you feel sick?" Fluttershy asked.
"Wait, I think I feel something coming up!"
"Is she going to puke?"
"Somepony get a bucket!
*BELCH!*
Pinkie grinned, "Nope, it was just a burp. False alarm."
Rarity's face scrunched up as she covered her nose, "Dear Celestia, why does it stink so much?!"
Rainbow gagged, "Pinkie, that's disgusting even by my standards."
"That hayburger I ate did taste kind of weird."
"Then why did you eat it?!" Twilight asked.
"I said it tasted weird, not bad."
They all groaned at their friend's response.
"Well, I'm heading home. See you guys later!" Rainbow waved as she flew off.
"I better check on my animal friends. Hopefully they didn't get into too much trouble while I was gone. Goodnight everypony."
The shy ex-pegasus walked off.
"Ah'm gonna go back to Sweet Apple Acres. Cider seasons' starting in two days and Big Mac can't do all of the heavy lifting on is own." Applejack said, leaving as well. The others went through their own goodbyes, until the train station was empty.
None of them were aware of the faker in their midst, and that's just how the changelings liked it.