Present Day
Christian and Twilight are stationed at two ends of an open field right outside Golden Oaks Library. The noon sun high above them, almost as if the face-off is ripped right from a western film. Twilight takes a quick, deep breath. Training Christian in the magical arts has been a daunting project to say the least. However, the human has shown promise in his three weeks of lessons. With a shake of her head, she readies herself for today’s little outing.
“Alright Christian, you ready for your magic lessons today?”
“You better believe it, Twitty! I’ve been practicing all week!” Christian cracks his knuckles in readiness. Training with Twitty has been a great way to practice his newfound skill; as long as he had absolute focus…
“You said that last time before you hit that carriage!” Christian’s face scrunches at Dash’s comment before turning into an unamused expression.
“Thank you Dash for that annoying comment!” He sighs, a bit irked now. “Let’s do this. What’s first, Twitty?!” He shouts to his teacher.
“First, let’s do your easiest spell. I want you to block my magic. So…” Twilight’s horn starts to glow a faint purple. “BLOCK!” A vivid purple blast flies out of Twilight’s horn, aimed right at Christian’s face. Christian eyes light up.
“OH GEEZ!” He quickly throws out both of his hands, palms open toward the projectile. In the blink of an eye, a pale orange shield forms in front of him. The purple laser smashes against the newly made shield and vaporizes on contact. Twilight, realizing Christian’s quick casting, smiles. “Nice form, Christian!” She yells. Christian opens his eyes to see what happened. Relieved that he isn’t suffering from a giant burn mark on his face, he sighs. He looks up at his teacher.
“A little warning would be nice next time!” Twilight laughs a bit at the human.
“I said ‘block’!” She responds. Christian’s nostrils flare at the comment.
“Never mind that, Christian; you performed nicely.” A voice says from the sidelines. Christian turns to see Celestia sitting next to the rest of the Elements of Harmony and Vague.
“Celestia’s right, Christian; you sure are gettin’ the hang of your magic!”
“Yea, until he hits another mailbox.” Dash remarks.
“Oh, c’mon Dash. Christian has been getting a little better.” Vague says, floating above her.
“Meh, I’ve seen better.” She responds.
“Well, my boyfriend is no amateur, Dash.” A voice says behind the rainbow pegasus. All heads turn to see Dee-Dee, blonde-haired, gray-clad human Dee-Dee. The Elements sit there, flabbergasted.
“Wait a sec, Dee-Dee isn’t a pony? STOP THE PRESSES!” Vague yells as he falls to the ground, perplexed. Dee-Dee slowly inches away from the fiery lunatic.
“Uh, what’s up?” She asks.
“Well Dee-Dee… you’re a human!” Pinkie exclaims. Dee-Dee pivots a hip in annoyance.
“So?”
“Didn’t Christian say something about being your OC-thingy when you got here?” Pinkie questions, making Christian hop into the conversation.
“Pinkie, that was just a theory; since the portal is magic; I’d assume magic has something to do with it.” Christian states while holding back the rest of Twilight’s magic with one hand holding up his shield. “Ten bucks says that Dee-Dee has some plastic on her that makes the portal’s magic inert.”
“Well, my backpack does have some plastic in it” She answers.
“See?” Christian says while he blocks the last of Twilight’s barrage.
“Phew!” She says, a bit winded. “Nice work, Christian! That’s enough for today!”
“What?! That’s it for the day?!” Christian complains. Normally, Twilight would give him at least five lessons for the day. “Maybe Celestia’s presence is making her a bit nervous to try anything else?” He says quietly to himself.
“Well, that’s it for your shield training. How about we try a bit of conjuring, Christian?”
“Umm… Alright, I guess.” He says, nervously. Christian had never tried to conjuring something with his magic abilities before. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
“Obviously, something simplistic. How about…” The unicorn thinks to herself. “Ah ha! Perfect! Christian, conjure up a pen for me!” Christian looks at her, astonished at her item of choice and laughs.
“That’s it? A pen? Pfft, easy.” He says, shrugging at the request. Conjuring a bit of magic in hands, he snaps his fingers and after a brief flash of light, the object he created appears before him.
“See? Piece of cake!” He says triumphantly.
“Uhh, Christian?”
“Yes, Twitty?”
“That’s a hen.”
Christian’s eyes dart open after he hears the results of his spell. In disbelief, Christian glances down at the ground in front of him and sure enough, there was a hen sitting in front of him. His jaw drops as he takes in the slip-up. Meanwhile, Dash and Vague start laughing hysterically at Christian’s screw up, prompting the human to fire two darts at the flanks of the mocking ponies.
“How the heck did I conjure a hen?!” Christian yells to Twilight.
“Interesting!” Celestia exclaims. “Try another spell for him, Twilight.”
“Huh? Uh… Okay.” She responds, a bit hesitant. “Ready, Christian?” She asks as Christian shakes his head rapidly and refocuses himself.
“Alright, I’m ready this time! Hit me, Twitty!” He yells to her.
“Alright then! Christian, conjure up a mug!”
“One mug coming up!” Christian shouts as his hands glow a fiery orange once more. With a strong snap of his fingers he spawns another object in front of him. After another flash of light in front of the human, he yells to Twilight for confirmation; as his eyes are closed. “Well… Did I do it?”
“Uhh… sorta.”
“Sorta? What do you mean-” Christian says, bewildered. He opens his eyes to reveal an oriental-looking rug laying at his feet. A disgruntled expression washes over Christian’s face. “A RUG?! Give me a bloody break! How does this keep happening!?” He yells into the sky.
“Amazing!” Celestia shouts from the sidelines.
“Huh?!” Everyone else exclaims.
“Amazing?” Christian says, befuddled. “Uhh PC, I didn’t perform the spell correctly.”
“That’s why it’s so amazing, Christian!” She says as she gets up and starts to trot toward the human. “While you have Twilight’s prowess and magical talent; you still lack in conjuring easy spells. However, when it comes to harder spells; such as your shield and psychokinesis; you seem to perform them quite easily.” She explains. “I also find it quite interesting that, unlike unicorns, you learn spells through physical means rather than studying books and tomes. The human mind is quite odd and interesting in the way it works.”
“You’re telling me.” Christian says; a bit annoyed at this new found information. “Guess I’ll just have to practice more.” He says with a shrug. “Ain’t that right, Twitty?” He shouts behind him as Twilight trots up to the group.
“Looks like it, Christian! We’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Cool.” He replies.
“Well, if that’s going to be the lesson for today;” Celestia starts. “I might as well head back to the castle and-“
“YOUR MAJESTY!” A voice booms from above the group. The crowd looks up to see a squadron of royal guards flying directly at them. With a quick turn, the pegasi land in front of Celestia. Distressed looks are traded among the ponies before them as the head guard approaches Celestia with a panicked look on his face. “Your Majesty, you must return to the castle immediately!”
“What’s the problem?” She asks with serious concern.
“Your Majesty, a patrol just returned with news of a group of changelings just south of Ponyville.”
“No way!” Christian shouts in protest. “I made all those stupid bugs and their queen into lawn ornaments the first time I came here!”
“Well,” the guard continued; “apparently a few of them got away.” He turns back to Celestia. “Your Majesty, we must get you to the castle for safety. We don’t know if Chrysalis is commanding them; but we must be cautious.”
“I understand.” Celestia answers. “Then let’s...“
“Hang on a second!” Christian interrupts. “Where did you say your patrol spotted those insects?”
“South of Ponyville.” The guard answers without hesitation. “In the Badlands.”
“Good,” Christian answers with a devious smile. “Cause I’m going after them.” He turns to Twilight; “Twitty, you can teleport me there, correct?”
“Yes, but-“
“Good, then let’s go.” The human cuts her off. The rest of the Elements of Harmony look at each other quite worried at what their human friend wanted to do. Celestia and her guard also looked a bit concerned.
“Your Excellency,” A guard starts. “Going after these changelings can prove risky. With all due respect…”
“I’ll stop you right there.” Christian interrupts yet again, an annoyed and aggravated look on his face; “If you think you’re going to stop me from going after the bugs whose Queen kidnapped me and turned into a pony for her own nefarious purposes, then you’ve got another thing coming!” The guard steps back, a bit startled at the human’s attitude. “Plus, I won’t be going alone.” He turns toward the girls. “I’ve got the Elements of Harmony, right?” The girls nod with a smile.
“Of course, Christian!” Rarity says. “We’ve always got your back, darling.”
“Hang on a sec, Rarity.” Dee-Dee butts in. “If all of you go and help Christian take out the changelings in the Badlands; who will stay with Celestia?”
“What do you mean?” The princess asks.
“What if Chrysalis plans a diversion and heads straight for the castle with another army of changelings? You’ll have no line of defense!” The guards’ faces become awash with vexation at Dee-Dee’s comment. The head guard jumping forth to defend his fellow squadron.
“Excuse me, Ms. Evermore; we are perfectly capable of stopping a bunch of changelings!”
“Really? How’d you all fare the other two times changelings invaded Canterlot?” Dee-Dee questions with a smirk on her face. The guard goes to counter her argument, but then; realizing that she is absolutely correct; slowly steps back in line with the other guards.
“Thought so.”
“Ms. Evermore does bring up an excellent point.” Celestia acknowledges. “Even if it is unlikely that Chrysalis has managed to become free from her stone imprisonment, some extra security at the castle would be helpful."
“Makes sense to me.” Applejack says. “So who else is going to go help Christian and Twi?” The girls look at each other with unwavering looks as they try to silently decide who is staying and who is going. Finally after a few seconds, Rarity raises a hoof.
“I’m going with Twilight and Christian!” The group’s eyes widen with pure shock as the white unicorn steps toward the human, who is surprised himself.
“Wow Rarity, didn’t expect you to want to fight.”
“Really? Even after what happened on your planet?” Christian suddenly remembers Rarity’s fighting back at Area 51.
“Never mind.” Christian says with a bit of smile. “Anyone else?”
“Count me in!” Dash yells. “Can’t wait to kick some changeling hide! You in Vague?”
“Of course I’m in! Can’t just leave my best friend and my marefriend while they fight!” Vague floats down and nods to Christian. Christian himself looks towards Dee-Dee, who looking back at Celestia with a little bit of worry.
“You staying Dee?” Christian asks. Dee-Dee doesn’t respond for a few seconds, still looking at Celestia. She slowly turns and nods.
“Yea, I’ll stay. Not much of a fighter anyway.” She walks up to Christian and looks softly into his eyes. “Just don’t do anything risky, okay?”
“No problem, Dee. We’ll be fine.” She nods understandingly before running back to the other girls.
“The rest of you staying here?” Christian asks. The other three Elements of Harmony nod.
“You betcha, Christian!” Applejack responds.
“We can… um… help Celestia.” Fluttershy murmurs.
“Yea don’t worry, Celestia is safe with us!” Pinkie jumps over to Christian. “You just get those changelings, alright?”
“You betcha, Pinkie!” He turns toward his group of four ponies, all smiling with confidence and eager to protect Equestria. He smiles. Those dumb bugs won’t know what hit them. He thinks to himself. “You guys ready?” The ponies nod in confirmation as he walks next to Twilight.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road, Twitty!”
“No problem!” She says as her horn starts glowing a deep purple color that, after a few seconds, starts to grow larger and larger; with occasional white flashes flickering from her horn.
“Good luck.” Celestia says to the crowd just as they vanish from sight. The Princess looks onward to where the group stood a few seconds ago.
“Somethin' wrong, Princess?” Applejack asks.
“No, I’m fine. I’m confident that those five will be able to handle anything them encounter.” She says, still thinking about the choice.
“Your Majesty, we must get going.” One of the guards breaks Celestia’s train of thought.
“Of course.” The guards start to lead Celestia, Dee-Dee, and the rest of the ponies back to the castle. Celestia is still deep in thought about what’s occurring, but more importantly on what Dee-Dee said. “Dee-Dee,” She addresses the human in mind
“Hmm?” Dee-Dee responds.
“What made you think that if Chrysalis had returned, she would plan a diversion?” Dee-Dee shrugs at the question.
“Honestly, it just seemed like something I would do if I was in her position; leading some of the Elements of Harmony and Christian away from the castle to make it an easier target and such; though it does seem kind of stupid now that I think about it.” Celestia grows curious at her statement.
“How so?”
“Well think about it, Chrysalis wouldn’t have much of an army; she would have no time to recover and grow her army if she had just recently escaped, which in it of itself seem unlikely that she escaped at all! You said it yourself! Most likely, she is still a stone statue somewhere.”
“Yes,” Celestia stops for a second to gather her thoughts before continuing forward. “But then that makes me wonder what her statue is.”
“Maybe that’s why the changelings are in the Badlands?” Applejack hypothesizes.
“Perhaps, I just hope for their sake that’s not the case.” Celestia says coldly.
“Why is that?” Dee-Dee asks.
“Because if those changelings found their Queen, all of Equestria could be in grave danger.”