What a strange coincedence, Fluttershy thought to herself. Usually at the start of the week most ponies would wake up exhausted and grumpy, unprepared for a long and tiring week of work and other unfun stuff. But this Monday Fluttershy woke up with a warm feeling in her chest that fueled her body with strength to tackle anything the day would throw at her.
With the morning sunshine pouring gently into her bedroom, Fluttershy turned to her side to bid the peacefully sleeping changeling good morning, only to find out the peacefully sleeping changeling was now peacefully absent.
Slightly worried, Fluttershy got up and looked around her room, finding nothing that would indicate Chryssie’s whereabouts. Skipping her morning aftersleep stretches, she left the room and walked downstairs.
Fluttershy felt a shiver run down her spine when the distinct smell of fire assaulted her nose, causing her to quicken her pace. When she finally arrived in the smoke-screened living room, she started coughing. She could hear coughing and grumbling further away from her, and then a loud, happy “Yipee!”. Stumbling and rubbing her teary eyes with her wings, Fluttershy walked up to a window and pushed it open.
The current of fresh air swayed over her, washing the noxious fumes away into the outside. Fluttershy rubbed her eyes a little bit more and turned around.
The three foals were standing in front of her, all smeared in soot and flour, each with a dish resting on the head.
“Good morning!” They all said in unison, each smiling brightly, though Chryssie’s smile looked more like a grin. Which toothpaste would one use for these fangs?
“Oh… morning, children… Are you all okay?” She replied with a slight touch of worry in her voice. They didn’t look hurt, but Fluttershy preferred to double check on things like these.
“Yep. We feel like sunshine and rainbows!” Chrysalis exclaimed. “But that’s not important right now. What is important is that we, by our mutual agreement, have started a constest.”
“Whoever makes you the best breakfast wins!” Sombra gleefully said, shaking with excitement. The dish on his head looked like it was about to fall off.
Fluttershy’s mouth formed a perfect o; it wasn’t every day she got somepony cooking breakfast for her. Then she actually looked at the contents of the dishes.
Whatever hunger she had had, it packed its things, tidied its room and smashed the door behind itself, screaming ‘nope!’ all thoughout the process. It didn’t even leave a note behind.
Now, Fluttershy understood the smoke. The contents of villains’ dishes represented a smelly, charred goo covered in spices of different color. By looking at Sombra’s dish alone, she saw salt, pepper, mustard and ketchup. The other villains’ works of art were probably not much better.
“Umm… thank you all very much. I appreciate your concern a lot, but… but I’m not hungry… if you’re okay with that.” Fluttershy blushed heavily. It was one of those rarest times she refused a gift in favor of self-preservation. Hopefully, the kids wouldn’t be too disheartened.
“Oh… okay, then.” Sombra replied in a rather saddened voice. Other two didn’t look too pleased either. “I’ll just put it over there… if you get hungry you’re welcome to try it.”
It never took much to break Fluttershy’s resolve. Sad faces made by foals and fillies were especially good at it. The instant the three villains turned away to put their concoctions away, Fluttershy felt a sense of guilt so strong it literally hurt.
“Wait! I just thought about it… and yes, I’m hungry,” she said with a tiny dash of dismay in her voice, as the three rushed to her, gleefully offering their creations. There was no way around it: she had to try all of them.
Fluttershy took the dish from Sombra and eyed it closely. The black mass was bubbling, for a moment it made Fluttershy worried that whatever served as an ingridient was a living creature and was still alive, but upon closer inspection it turned out to be just the temperature.
“Looks… lovely.” Fluttershy commented, when suddenly a black bubble bursted, spraying a small amount of liquid in her eye. “Ouch!”
A quick swipe solved the issue, but it couldn’t delay what she was about to do. Fluttershy took a deep breath and licked a small portion of the concoction, swallowing it shortly afterwards.
“Do you like it? Do you love it?” Sombra chatted unstoppably.
“Of course she loves it! Just behold that lovely shade of green,” Nightmare Moon reassured Sombra.
Chrysalis floated her dish near her face, looking a bit suspicious. The sickly green colour on Fluttershy’s face was not a good sign, so she decided to test her creation before further actions. The instant she touched ‘food’ with her tongue, she felt a burning desire to drink endless amounts of water.
“I think that’s quite enough!” She exclaimed, grabbing Sombra’s dish right from under Fluttershy’s nose.
“Hey! Stop that, Chrysalis, she ate nought of our dishes yet!” Moonie exclaimed indignantly.
“Overeating for breakfast is bad for health. You don’t want Fluttershy to get sick, do you?” Chrysalis asked, snatching Moonie’s dish as well. The confused alicorn nodded in reply. “Good. Then let’s put it away till…” She mumbled something that sounded like ‘never’, “it would be even better then.”
As Chrysalis carried the dishes away, she saw sincere gratitude on Fluttershy’s anguished pale-green face.
***
“Change is good, but you have to agree: there is nothing better than waffles,” Fluttershy cooed, pouring syrup on a huge plate full of waffles. The villains, sitting behind the table and staring hungrily, all nodded in unison. Carefully, Fluttershy filled each plate with an equal amount of waffles.
Her stomach quickly settled down after a cup of herbal tea, but the lesson was learnt: she needed an alarm clock. One more meal like this and she would never be able to eat again.
Looking at the three eating, she smiled. It made what would come easier.
Today, she planned to take her first steps to educating the little villains. Finding a piece of chalk was not difficult at all, and she already had a blackboard somewhere in the attic. But the toughest part would be convincing her friends of the idea of them visiting a school. Even telling them would be a problem. Fluttershy always had a tough time revealing secrets, and when it came to secrets. She already had Applejack at her side; surely she would back her up. But others might be harder to convince. Especially Twilight.
She didn’t know if she would manage to convince her other friends, too. Rarity might support her, if she wouldn’t immediately go berserk when she would see Nightmare Moon wearing the hoodie she made, and because of the simple fact of Fluttershy lying to her. Rainbow Dash would be a tough nut to crack, but underneath that blue armor she had a big heart, and Fluttershy knew how to reach it.
Pinkie Pie… Fluttershy didn’t want to make assumptions about her. She knew she would be wrong whatever she had in mind.
“Thewse wawwfles arw twe bewst!” Chrysalis mumbled, her mouth filled with the crunchy delight, the syrup dripping right on the table. Just as always, Chrysalis left quite a mess.
“It would be even better if Chrysalis stopped stealing mine!” Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes and was about to bite the last remaining waffle on her plate… when it suddenly splashed some syrup in her face and started articulating, obviously taunting the alicorn.
Fluttershy’s heart stopped beating for a moment and her cheeks turned pale as snow.
“The waffles are alive!” Sombra exclaimed in excitement as his waffles came alive as well and joined the waffle already on the table. “They’re alive! Alive!”
In horror, Fluttershy watched the entire patch of waffles she recently baked sprung up from their place and jump across the room on the table.
Chrysalis quickly swallowed what she had in her mouth and stared silently at the gathering crowd of waffles in the middle of the table. Her face was getting more and more pale as she watched their numbers grow. When suddenly…
“Hold on a second! Waffles can’t be alive!” Chrysalis exclaimed loudly; the loud proclamation of solid fact whipped Fluttershy back into her senses. Almost immediately she dashed to the foals, grabbing all three of them and carrying them away from the growing mass of waffles.
“Waaah! What’s happening, mom?” Sombra asked, really curious about the living waffles.
“No time to explain! You need to hide! Now!” Fluttershy replied, hastily running to the cabinet at the further end of her cottage. “You need to hide and keep quiet!”
“Why? Is somepony really bad coming?” Moonie managed to utter.
“You don’t even know, Moonie. You can’t even imagine!”
Finally, the cabinet was within her reach. Fluttershy quickly opened the doors, and, with all three villains inside, slammed it shut and turned around.
The waffles formed a big squad, standing tall, like soldiers, while a tall slim figure formed from the remains of syrup. It twisted and turned as it slowly turned from liquid into solid matter.
“Hail Generalissimo Discord!” The waffles suddenly shouted, hailing their commander, who stood in front of them in an expensive general coat covered in medals, ribbons and orders.
“At ease, Captain Crunch.” Discord took off his tricorn and gracefully nodded to his troops. “You have completed your task with outstanding results. You and your troops are now dismissed.”
“My General, we also spotted…” The commanding waffle was unable to finish its report as Discord quickly snatched it with his claw and swallowed it in one bite.
“Nu-uh. Don’t spoil the surprise. Mmm, crunchy.” He snapped his fingers and the waffles fell down, drained of chaotic magic. He turned to Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy, my most truest of friends, I’m so happy to see you!” In a flash, he was right near the cabinet, embracing her in a tight bear hug. “You won’t believe how much I missed your screams and squeals of terror and horror!”
“I’m… happy… to see you… too… Discord…” Fluttershy gasped for air as she was being crushed in his embrace.
“Now you can kiss boredom goodbye! I’m back and it’s time to make your life exciting.” Discord smiled as he let her go. Though, it was more of a mischievous smile of a villain, planning something cunning. “Just let me hang my coat first, I’m so tired from the trip.”
“No!” Fluttershy eeped and covered the cabinet’s doors with her own body. “Erhm… I mean… not in the cabinet. It’s, uh, new.”
“Oh, come on, Fluttershy, the last time my coat exploded in your house was entirely not my fault. You should ask your pet rabbit; I’m sure it was him who put that stick of dynamite inside my pocket.” Crossing his arms on the chest, Discord tried to express his indignance. “That rabbit has a stash of explosives, I’m sure of it!”
Suddenly, his expression changed from indignance to surprise, and then to a raptorial grin. He scratched his chin with his lion paw.
“Are you hiding something from me, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy felt cold sweat run down her neck, her legs were shivering, she could barely stand. “Or rather somepony?”
“Wh-what? N-no… No, I’m not… hiding anypony.” She swallowed nervously, feeling her cheeks turning bright as ripe red apples. “I’m… not…”
“Hey, stop poking me with that thing!” Suddenly, Moonie’s muffled voice sounded from inside the cabinet. “It hurts!”
“It’s not my fault it’s so big!” Chrysalis angrily hissed in return. “Now be quiet, we’re supposed to be hiding!”
“May I ask a question? If ponies don’t usually wear clothes, why is there a cabinet?” Sombra’s question made even Discord lift an eyebrow.
“That’s… actually a good question.” Chrysalis replied. “We’re gonna have to ask Fluttershy about that… But really, why does she need a cabinet?”
“I wonder that too.” Discord giggled, gently moving Fluttershy, who lost all will to fight, and opened the doors, revealing three little villains bunched up in the corner of the cabinet. “My….oh my….”
Fluttershy was about to lunge and cover the villains with her body, in vain hope that Discord would just suddenly forget what he had just seen and do something else, but the draconequus acted first. Laughing joyfully, he quickly lifted Sombra by the nape and looked at him closer.
“Aah! Help! I’m being foalnapped!” Sombra tried to wrestle himself out of Discord’s grasp, blindly swinging his hooves at him.
“Sweet goodness, Fluttershy! I thought I only left for a couple of months! Foals these days grow up so fast.” The draconequus swiped a tear away from his eye. “I can’t believe it. It doesn’t happen often… well, it never happens at all, but it happened just now… I’m amazed! Shocked! Amashozed!”
He let Sombra go and the foal quickly ran to Fluttershy’s side and hid behind her. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon followed his example.
“My Fluttershy isn’t so shy after all! At least three times not shy!” Discord smiled and scratched Fluttershy behind an ear. “You naughty filly, you!”
“Discord, stop this! It’s not what you think!” Fluttershy pushed his claw away from herself. “It’s not what you thi—”
“Is that a changeling?” Chrysalis tried to bite Discord’s paw the instant he pointed at her. “My, my, that is a changeling. You cannot not notice the holes.”
“Racist!” Chryssie angrily shouted in return.
“A unicorn, a changeling… and an alicorn! Fluttershy, I never knew you had it in you!... Well, you obviously did. At least three times…”
“Discord!” Fluttershy roared slash spoke without whispering , prompting him to turn silent. “It’s not what you think! I’m not… ehm… I never had it in me…. Not in that way…”
“But in what way?” Discord smiled slyly, leaning closer to Fluttershy. “Tell me all your dirty secrets, my not-so-shy friend.”
“Discord, stop it! I don’t have dirty secrets, and I never had anything in me!” Her face turned crimson red as Discord’s muffled giggles became louder. “I mean, I do have something in me. Talents…”
“Yeeeeeah, you have quite a ‘talent’ swaying with every step.” He giggled even harder, as Fluttershy almost cried in shame.
“What’s your problem, you… whatever you are!” Chrysalis suddenly stepped up, shielding Fluttershy. “Leave us alone, jerk!”
“A feisty one, huh? We’ll make the greatest of friends!” Discord clapped his hands. “I hope your brother and sister will be like you.”
“Enough!” Fluttershy’s suddenly loud voice made Discord stagger backwards a little. “They are Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis and Sombra, Discord! They’re not… not… what you thought!”
“Oh…” Discord eyed the three foals carefully. “Oh… Ooooooh… I see. Let me guess, Twilight tried experimenting?”
“Yes…” Fluttershy sighed heavily. “Please, my sweeties, go upstairs. I and Mr. Discord need to talk.”
“Thy name is Discord? Selena mentioned thee once. She said thou wert quite the hellion.” Nightmare Moon looked at Discord with a bit of scorn, but Chrysalis prevented any more words from her.
“Let’s just get going, Shy needs to discuss some adult business. Come on,” she said, even though curiousity was urging her to find out more about this weird Discord. What business could he possibly have with Fluttershy? Nevertheless, she, Sombra and Nightmare Moon quickly left for the upper floor.
“Yes, you’re correct. They appeared when Twilight was experimenting with the box we found under the Tree of Harmony. She left them in my care while she’s devising a counter-spell.” Fluttershy tried her best to summarize the situation in as few words as possible.
“So, that’s why they look like the villains’ small copies. Psshh, Twilight’s such a doofus.” Discord crossed his arms angrily. “She left out the best ex-villain. Blah.”
“I’ve been taking care of them for quite a while now. They’re all really sweet, once you get to know them.” Fluttershy looked out the window, her ears dropping. “But I feel like I’m robbing them of their childhood by keeping them locked up here. I must be an eyesore for them.”
“My poor, poor friend.” Discord floated to Fluttershy, his face distorted in a grin. “Your motherly feelings are indeed strong. I’d rate three Celestias out of five. So, what kind of idea are you nursing in that brain of yours?”
Fluttershy blushed furiously at the compliment and it took her a second to compose herself and speak. “I want them to feel appreciated. They are no different from any other foal, so I decided to prepare them for school.” Terrifying silence engulfed the room for a whole minute, and for Fluttershy it felt like a minute of endless torture.
“Hold on a second, I need to drop something.” Discord landed on the floor, walked to the kitchen, picked up a small glass and proceeded to drop it on the floor, smashing it into thousands of tiny pieces. “Okay… No, wait, I need one more.”
It took Discord three glasses and one plate — which he broke by accident if he were to be trusted — to get him back to his senses. After he was done, he bursted into maniacal laughter.
“Oh my, oh me! And I called myself mad! Sending an insane demigod, a tyrant and an overgrown bug to school!... It’s a recipe for disaster. I absolutely love it!” Discord gasped for air as he spoke. “I could never come up with anything like this even if I tried!”
“Umm…. thanks?” Discord threw another laughing fit at Fluttershy’s reply.
“I love it! Absolutely love it. Ten Discords out of ten.” He clapped his hands together. “And I’m ready to help out carry out this insane idea. For the greater good.”
Fluttershy sighed with relief. Already, she had one supporter. The only problem was that it was Discord, and his support was the number one symptom you needed to see a psychiatrist. However, Fluttershy was still convinced that her actions were just and that her little villains deserved to be treated like any other child. With a just cause like that, she couldn’t not be victorious.
“If I want to convince Twilight to let me send them to school, then I need to convince everypony. We should see my friends as soon as possible.” Fluttershy felt herself full of energy and ready for action. “But first, I think it’ll be a good idea to give my little villains something worthwile to do, and I know exactly what it is.”
“Neat. I’ll fetch the glow sticks.” Discord smiled. Flutershy stared. “...What? What else would they do?”
***
“I don’t like where this is going.” Chrysalis mumbled as Fluttershy approached the blackboard. “I think this weird draconeqi… draconeqa…. whatever, is controlling her mind!”
“Oh, Chrysalis, I am deeply saddened by the fact that I have to question thine intellegence at this point.” Nightmare Moon giggled when Chryssie glared at her with fiery eyes. “This set up is nothing more than that of an establishment named… schooooool.” She warbled the word as if it was something magical. “Aaaah… Selena used to tell me a lot about this place. This shall be glorious.”
Nightmare Moon lovingly adjusted the pencils on her table and put her papers in order and looked in excitement at Fluttershy, who turned to the villains, beaming happily.
“I hope you are all comfortable with the tables my friend Discord so generously provided.” She smiled as the three foals tried to make themselves comfortable. The tables Discord conjured out of thin air were almost identical to those one would see in school, but the draconequus also put extra effort into it by naming each table after the villains. Even though he mispelled all of them.
“So… So… Sombrero…” Sombra struggled to read the letters carved on his table.
“Oh, I would be even more comfortable if you let us know why we need them,” Chrysalis groused.
“You’re about to find out.” Fluttershy exclaimed, grabbed a piece of chalk with her teeth and started writing on the blackboard, which, too, was provided by Discord. (At least she wouldn’t need to fetch the one in the attic). Once she was done, Fluttershy put the chalk down, turned around and unfolded her wing to present what she wrote to the foals.
“Every pony in Equestria possesses a great range of skills. However, there are quite a handful of which we all share. One of them is knowledge of written language.” She looked back at the board on which she’d written her name in capital letters. “What I want you to do now is to write your names!”
Chrysalis’ jaw dropped once she saw the word. “Oh my… It is so long!” She tilted her head, trying to look at the board from a different prospective, to see if there’d be less letters, but to no avail. “So… long...”
“I’m going to do my best!” Sombra exclaimed, levitating a pencil towards himself and starting to work right away. Nightmare Moon followed his example. Only Chrysalis was left staggered and unsure of what to do.
“It’s really easy, sweetheart. Let me show you.” Fluttershy hurried to Chrysalis’ aid, picked up a pencil and tried to explain the basics of writing.
The whole scene was so charming that Discord could not help but feel a little jealous. He only wondered why Fluttershy had not started with teaching them which sound belonged to which letter (or just asking whether they could write); he kept quiet.
“If it wasn’t for Twilight being a doofus, I would be sitting there too. But who wants to be a kid again, to have an excuse to do all sorts of crazy chaos-causing shenanigans? Grr, stupid Twilight.” He angrily crossed his arms. “I’m so exploding her tree one day.”
Just a few seconds later, Nightmare Moon and Sombra were ready. Fluttershy whispered a few more hints to Chryssie and quickly collected the papers. The results were quite surprising.
Nightmare Moon had very pretty script that reminded Fluttershy of old manuscripts from Twilight’s library, probably a result of Selena’s tutelage. At times, the strangely woven letters would look confusing, but this seemed like a good start. Sombra’s writing, however, was most peculiar.
The letters were all weirdly shaped; bent and turned in weird angles, they resembled geometrical shapes more than they did letters. They felt rough and alien, like some kind of ancient dead language. Then, it finally hit Fluttershy.
Sombra’s from Crystal Empire! He was writing in his native language. Well, that made things much more difficult.
“Did I do well?” Sombra focused his eyes on Fluttershy, expecting an immediate answer.
“You… erm… did great, sweetie. But there’s… something I have to tell you.” She walked up to Sombra and put his paper on the table. “Here, in Equestria, we use different letters than you do. It’s… complicated.”
“But I don’t know any other letters.” Sombra lost spirit and hung his head in sadness.
“Fret not, my dear friend. I shall teach thee the alphabet… if our caretaker would allow it.” Nightmare Moon gently bowed her head to Fluttershy, who blushed furiously, realizing she’d forgotten the very basis.
“Oh, umm… of course you can! It is a great thing when you can help a friend in need.” The colour on her cheeks fading, she moved to Chrysalis.
The changeling filly looked quite furious as she was writing, and then her pencil slipped, leaving an ugly line on the paper, she angrily threw the pencil on the table and pouted.
“This is stupid!” She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. Fluttershy quickly leaned over her shoulder and looked at the paper — it was filled with sloppy, barely recognizable letters, and there was a ton of them.
“I’ll never get this done,” Chrysalis growled quietly.
“Don’t say that. With every failure, you improve a little bit. Keep trying, and you’ll succeed.” Fluttershy gave Chrysalis a sweet hug. “I know you will. I believe in you.”
“But I tried a million times already! I’m just not cut out for it.”
“It’s okay, Chryssie. Let me do it with you.” As Chryssie wrapped the pencil in toxic-green magical field, Fluttershy guided it in correct directions, trying to show the mistakes in Chrysalis’ writing and correct them.
“Ah, please, Flutters, you’re going to give me sugar poisoning.” Discord sarcastically noted. “Besides, we have some dummies to converse with… I mean, your friends.”
“Hold on. It goes there… and here… Done!” Fluttershy backed away and looked at a sloppy, but complete word: Chrysalis. “You did great, Chryssie! I’m proud of you.” She gave the changeling a rub on the head, and a barely noticeable crimson color seemed to invade Chryssie’s cheeks.
“Alright... Sweethearts, attention please.” Fluttershy approached the blackboard and knocked on it a few times. The knocks were so weak they were quieter than her own voice, but it still seemed to attract the attention of the three foals. “I’ll have to leave to do something important… We’re going to have guests.”
“Guests? That’s awesome!” Sombra exclaimed. Other foals seemed to share his excitement.
“Finally! I hope I get to see Apple Bloom again,” Chrysalis noted.
“Meanwhile, you should keep writing. Moonie…” she pointed at Nightmare Moon, who quickly stood on attention. “I leave you in charge. Help your friends with learning the alphabet.”
“Thy will be done!” Nightmare Moon exclaimed.
“If you have any questions, you can ask Discord.” As Fluttershy said that, draconequus quickly appeared in front of her.
“What do you mean? Am I not coming with you?” he queried, crossing his arms.
“S-sorry, Discord, but I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to walk around Ponyville… ponies are still… erm… doubting your reformation.” Fluttershy smiled awkwardly as she spoke. “Besides, I can’t leave my sweethearts all by themselves.”
“I feel like you just simply don’t want me around anymore. Do you have another spirit of chaos?” Another flash later, Discord was dressed in a fancy tuxedo, with a rose attached. “Well, fine, then! You’re not the pony that reformed me!”
“Discord…” Fluttershy rolled her eyes, and Discord quickly changed back to normal.
“Bwah, fine. You’re too good at convincing. Go, run, do what you have to, before I change my mind.” He turned away from her, trying to look offended. “I’ll stay here. Alone. With no supervision. I won’t cause any trouble. No trouble at all.”
“I’m sure of that.” Fluttershy smiled and went out the door. As she distanced herself away from the cottage, Discord slowly closed the door leading outside.
“So, my little friends… Time to receive your education. Oooooh-ha-ha-ha, I’ll give you a degree in epic shenanigans, bwa-ha-ha-ha!” Discord rubbed his claw and paw together, laughing maniacally. “This will be the greatest time of my life!”
***
The longer Fluttershy floated over Ponyville, the bigger her desire to turn back and give up grew. This terrible feeling of everything going south was following her everywhere she went, but when she set her eyes on a big cloud above the skies, the feeling reached its peak.
“It will all be fine. It will all be fine.” She kept chanting to herself as she approached Rainbow Dash’s napcloud. It was an unusually big cloud that Dash used specifically for napping. She even shaped it differently each time.
Fluttershy figured that if she was able to persuade Rainbow Dash that sending a trio of villains to school would not end in a catastrophe, then winning over the rest of the crew would be a piece of cake. After all, Rainbow Dash was the most stubborn out of her friends, right after Applejack — and she was already at her side.
Fluttershy swallowed nervously and carefully landed on the cloud. Strangely enough, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. Strange. Usually she would nap at this time of day. Where could she b—
“Boo!” A sudden shriek escaped Fluttershy’s ears as she collapsed face first into the cloud. The soft, cotton-like surface accepted her face as its own and formed an imprint of her terrified expression. Fluttershy barely managed to keep her hooves from shaking uncontrollably and slowly turned her head around.
“Ha-ha! Got ya good, didn’t I?” Rainbow Dash hopped onto the cloud, stiffling another laughing fit.
“That wasn’t nice, Rainbow Dash! How could you?” Fluttershy put her hoof to where her heart was and closed her eyes.
“Soory, I just couldn’t resist.” Rainbow Dash approached Fluttershy and quickly put her back on her shivering hooves. “You can’t believe how happy I am to see you, Flutters. Honestly, it seems like we don’t talk that much anymore.”
Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a friendly hug, and that made the poor pegasus feel just a little bit better.
“Y-yeah… Sorry about that. I was very busy… with important stuff…” Fluttershy murmured, looking for the best place to start her story from.
“Found a new critter, eh? How long have you poked around the bushes to find it?” She giggled, sitting down on the soft cloud. Fluttershy followed her example.
“Actually, it’s… not a critter. It’s… something else entirely. Or… rather someponies.” A streak of cold sweat started running down Fluttershy’s neck. “Some small ponies.”
“Huh? There’s a new kid in town?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.”
“Yes… and no. A certain pony did… uhh…. something… and… now I… have to take care… of… ehm… them.” Fluttershy suddenly realized that she just didn’t know what to say. She just spoke whatever came to her mind, and that was bound to end in something terrible. “I mean… it’s not that hard, but it is… time consuming.”
“You were pregnant?” Rainbow Dash’s question was like a thunder in the clear sky. If Fluttershy wasn’t already sitting, she would have collapsed. “Who is he? Tell me! I’ll break his face! His bones! His… everything!”
Rainbow Dash’s cheeks turned crimson red, as she got up, her eyes burning with hellish flames. “Nopony dumps my friends when they’re pregnant and gets away alive!” She roared like a demon straight out of Tartarus.
“No, no! Rainbow Dash, I wasn’t preg….pregnant! I just… Please, calm down!” Fluttershy cursed silently at her shyness. Had she been just a little bit bolder, she wouldn’t be dealing with an angry Dash right now.
“Oh, don’t try to cover up for him. I know you’re kind and all, but this matter requires sheer merciless brutality!” Rainbow Dash bumped her hooves together and flexed her neck. “And I’ve got aplenty of it!”
“I wasn’t pregnant!” Fluttershy cried out in desperation. “Please, listen to me! I’m taking care of three kids, but they’re not mine!”
Fluttershy’s desperate cry seemed to have attracted Rainbow Dash’s attention, as she turned around in confusion.
“I mean… uhh… It’s a long story.” Fluttershy exhaled, partially with relief, partially with regret.
“We’ve got a lot of time. I’m listening.”
Fluttershy was surprised that, throughout the whole whole story, Rainbow Dash hadn’t interrupted her once. She just sat there and looked attentively. Her emotions were incredibly easy to read on her face, and at times her expression of irritation and anger scared her greatly.
“That’s all…” Fluttershy gulped nervously. “Please, Rainbow, don’t be mad. I’m sorry about not telling you before… or any of my friends. I was just… scared.”
“Scared? Scared of what?” Rainbow Dash looked at her seriously. Fluttershy hated when Dash looked serious — it was incredibly unnatural.
“Scared of what you would say… I feared that you might get angry at them…” Fluttershy sighed heavily.
“And for a good reason. Have you forgotten what they did? But that’s not the worst part: Twilight just loaded them off to you!” Rainbow’s cheeks turned crimson again. “Each of them is dangerous!”
“No! They’re not dangerous!” Fluttershy yelled. “They’re not evil, they’re just… weird. But they are very sweet, once you get to know them. Please, Rainbow, trust me — they are just foals. Not villains, foals!”
Rainbow Dash sighed heavily, and Fluttershy knew that this sigh signalled her complete and utter failure. Despite telling her every single important detail, she’d still failed to persuade her.
For a moment, a weary grave silence claimed dominion over the small napcloud.
“So… you said that Applejack knows about this whole ordeal?” After a long pause, Rainbow Dash was first to break the silence. “Don’t get me wrong, I trust you wholeheartedly, but…”
“You want her to prove my words?” Fluttershy brightened up significantly.
“Y-yeah… I mean, I trust you, but…”
“Great! Let’s go at once! We’ve got no time to lose!” Fluttershy exclaimed, quickly pushed Rainbow Dash off the cloud and took to the air herself.
“Waaah!” Dash quickly spread her wings, elevating herself back to Fluttershy’s altitude. “Something tells me I will not like what I’ll hear.”
“Don’t worry, you will!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “And now, to Applejack! No more time to waste!”
***
A sudden spark of energy jumped out of the box as Twilight’s magic struck it. The small yellowish spark slowly grew into a big ball and hung above the box as if expecting something.
“Did I… do it?” Twilight bit her lip, slowly inching closer to the ball. Meanwhile, Spike had taken cover behind the couch which he had, in advance, nailed down to the floor so it wouldn’t be flung away.
“Twilight, every other orb exploded six seconds and a half after appearing, I suggest you get in cover, right about—”
His voice drowned in a clap that reminded of thunder as the ball exploded, leaving its surroundings scorched, and Twilight covered in ash.
“—now.” Spike finished his sentence and leaned over the couch. “Huh, that was a bit too early. At least a second and a half earlier.”
“Yeah… go figure,” Twilight murmured, scrubbing the grime off her muzzle. She looked around and sighed heavily; the entire library was now more reminescent of a magic battlefield: the floor was scorched and at places still smoking, the bookshelves were empty, with all the books safely hidden upstairs and all furniture was either destroyed or close thereto. “Maybe I need to decrease amount of magic?”
“Maybe you just need to take a break? Seriously, you’ve been at it for far too long. Take a break.” Spike quickly approached Twilight with a towel he hid behind the couch in advance (as well) and wiped the rest of the ash off her face. “Keep still, your muzzle isn’t going to clean itself.”
“Break? I can’t go on a break! I’ve got things to fix!” Twilight exclaimed just as Spike was done. She rushed to the box, gazing angrily at it as if that would help her solve the magical puzzle. However, when she noticed her reflection on the sparkly surface of the box…
“By Celestia! Why am I black?!” Twilight’s eye started twitching from shock.
“You see, I kind of wanted to tell you that about three explosions ago, but you never gave me a chance.” Spike threw the now black-as-tar towel on the couch. “So, what will it be - tea or coffee?”
“I”ll… Tea. Add some sugar.” Twilight mumbled in reply and Spike quickly rushed upstairs, shouting something. Perhaps, her caring assistant was right and she was in need of a break. Maybe even a nap.
Sighing heavily, Twilight trotted followed Spike upstairs, to the undamaged part of the library. There, she sunk her face deep into the pillow while Spike was busy heating the teapot with his own breath.
“When I’m done with this counterspell, I am so taking a vacation.” A flash of her horn and the rest of the ash dropped to the floor, leaving her almost spotless.
“Sounds neat. Where to? Baltimare? Las Pegasus?” Spike smiled as the water started to boil.
“Baltimare. A few days on the beach do wonders to a tortured mind.”
“Sounds like something they’d put on advertisement posters.” The teapot started proclaiming its discomfort with the boiling liquid inside; Spike dispensed some of it into a cup. “Here you go.” He handed Twilight her cup, and she took a few sips.
“Aahh… delicious.” She cooed happily, taking another sip, seemingly oblivious to the temperature. “Best tea in my life.”
“Hehehe… By yours truly.” Spike blushed slightly. “I hate to brag, but even Rarity says my tea is amazing.”
Their peaceful tea time was interrupted by knocks on the front door. Spike carefully looked at the door and raised an eyebrow.
“Apparently somepony heard the explosions. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” he assured and quickly ventured downstairs, around the box and straight to the door. With a quick swipe of his claw, he unlocked all three of the inside locks and opened the door.
“Princess Twilight is conducting a dangerous experiment and is not to be distu-oooh, hello, Rarity!” His scaly cheeks turned pale pink with blush when he met eyes to eyes with Rarity.
“Why, hello, Spiky. We have some important topics to discuss with Twilight, I hope it wouldn’t be any trouble for you to let us in?” She winked at Spike from under her luscious purple mane and, like geas, it made the dragon obey.
“Oh, of course! Come on in… wait, did you say ‘we’?”
Before Spike could ask any further, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy quickly entered the library. It would take Spike a whole minute to finally remember to shut the door.
“Wow-wee, what happened here? Explosion party? I love parties with fireworks!” Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves once she noticed the devastation the library was in. “Can I bring my own?”
“Girls? What are you doing here?” Twilight put away her tea and trotted downstairs, but once she noticed Fluttershy, her face fell. “Oh, by Celestia, please tell me it’s not what I think it is.”
“Umm… I’m sorry, Twilight, but… I thought it would be better to let our friends know…” She slowly trotted backwards into a corner as Twilight approached her. “I… thought it would be… better…”
“Fluttershy, it’s going to be a catastrophe if this slips into the public! You cannot even imagine!” Twilight angrily scolded her, when suddenly Applejack jumped in the way of her advance.
“Now hold yer gryphons, Twi. Fluttershy made the right choice —Ah mean, we’re the Elements of Harmony! We’re supposed to work as a team. Ya should have told us from the very beginning.” Slowly, Twilight was surrounded by her friends, and now it was her who slowly inched backwards into a corner. Fluttershy looked over Applejack’s shoulder with a very guilty expression on her face.
“And what did you think when you just left them with Fluttershy? You knew they could be dangerous and you left them with her of all ponies!” Rainbow Dash flew into Twilight's face, staring her down.
Twilight shrunk under her friend’s angry glare, but didn’t utter a word.
“I’d have to agree with Rainbow Dash, dear. That was really irresponsible.” Rarity at least had the grace to remove the chromatic pegasus from Twilight. “Whatever were you thinking?”
“Why didn’t you tell us that you brought the villains back as foals?! It sounds so cool!” Pinkie Pie beamed brightly. “Can I throw them a welcome party?”
“No! No welcome parties! You wouldn’t throw the Cerberus a party if it was to attack Ponyville, would you?” Twilight, who had regained her composure, exclaimed, glancing at her. Pinkie immediately sulked.
“I wouldn’t. But three little kiddies are not Cerberus… though they would look like one if they merged bodies… Eww, that sounds gross.”
“Ah can’t speak for all, but at least Chryssie seems alright. She’s been at the farm for a while,” Applejack tried to steer the discussion back on topic.
“She did what?!” All ponies backed away from Twilight in fear. “You let Chrysalis outside?!”
“T-Twilight, I’m honest, we were not noticed! Nopony apart from the Apples knew… I think…” Fluttershy felt her entire body shiver. The chances of her plan working out were quickly rolling down the hill.
“Ah’m telling ya, it worked out fine. She and Apple Bloom even became friends.”
“Friends?! Are you two mad?! She’s a changeling! A changeling!” Twilight cried out in anger, veins on her neck about to burst. “If anypony finds out that there’s a changeling in their neighborhood, they’ll quickly round up a mob and come to your house with torches and pitchforks!”
“There’s no reason for that! They’re harmless!” Fluttershy finally gathered enough courage to speak up. “Believe me, Twilight, they are not dangerous at all. They are little foals, they wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Twilight sat down on the floor, rubbing her temples furiously. She was about to say something, when suddenly Spike appeared in the middle of their little circle, holding a plate of cupcakes and tea.
“I know you’re all arguing and stuff, but how about a break?” He smiled awkwardly, hoping that hot tea and just slightly burnt cupcakes would ease the situation.
“Yay for cupcakes!” Pinkie exclaimed, grabbing one, tossing it into the air and then catching it with her mouth. “Yummy!”
Friends agreed to take a break and Spike, elevated by such news, quickly pushed a round table in the middle of the room. As his pony friends were sipping tea in complete and awkward silence, not interrupted even by Pinkie, Spike looked around and, with heavy heart, went to fetch the broom.
“Not that I’m still not furious with you, Twilight, but every time you try to interact with the box, it explodes?” Rainbow Dash put down her cup of tea and looked around. “Not even I could make such a mess out of my own house.”
“Well, not every time, but… at least five times out of six.” Twilight replied, levitating a cupcake to her mouth.
“You know, dear, I recently moved all my things from the attic. You could perform your experiments there. As long as you don’t burn down my house, that is.” Rarity noted, prompting a surprised ogle from Twilight.
“Really? Thank you so much, Rarity. I… I probably need to put a protective dome over the box. That should solve the problem of collateral damage. I hope your neighbors won’t mind the sounds, though.”
“Oh, do not worry, they got used to weird loud sounds. Ever since Sweetie Belle moved in, they hardly got any sleep.” Rarity smiled gently, looked at her tea and sighed. “Just like me.”
“So, Twilight, would you finally care to clarify whether the villains are dangerous, or whether we should worry more about ponies burning down houses if they find out?” Rainbow Dash finished her cupcake and looked straight at Twilight. “I’ve got to know for sure.”
“Of course they’re dangerous! I mean, I… think they are… Urgh…” Twilight started rubbing her temples again. She seemed to have developed a habit of doing that whenever she was stressed. “From what I have seen, they are no different from normal foals, except for some quirks, but… they can’t be normal. They just can’t.”
“They aren’t normal. They’re unique. But they are far from dangerous.” Fluttershy perked up her ears. “Of course, they might misbehave at times or do something dangerous… but all foals do that.”
“You tell me.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, smiling. “You won’t believe how many times I had to rescue Scoots from trouble. Or their entire Crusader team. I lost count.”
“There’s no guarantee that they have no dark secrets, Fluttershy. There’s a reason why they became evil.” Twilight looked Fluttershy straight in the eye. “Destiny, Fluttershy. Mine is to be the Princess of Friendship; theirs we’ve already seen. If it were not so, it’d go against everything I’ve learnt.”
Fluttershy did not avert her eyes. “Yes, and it was because of the way they were raised. They told me everything they remember about their past lives, and it was no funny business. At all!” Seeing the doubt in her friends eyes, she asked: “Would you have become an alicorn if Celestia hadn’t taken you under her wing? Destiny isn’t static, we shape it with every opportunity, every choice.”
“Ah believe Fluttershy is right. If there’s any danger, then it won’t be comin’ from them.” Applejack intervened as Twilight turned away, staring blankly at something. She sighed heavily.
“Perhaps you’re right. After all, I haven’t been with them for that long, although I should have.” She cast an apologetic glace at Rainbow, then at Fluttershy. “If Applejack agrees with you, I’m willing to trust your judgement here, Fluttershy.”
The air felt lighter and much more fresh after those words. Fluttershy felt like a boulder had just rolled off her back; it felt great to be relieved of carrying such burden as hiding a secret from the closest of your friends.
“Th-thank you… I just thought it would be easier for all of us if our friends knew.” She blushed a little when Twilight nodded to her words.
“You’re right. It does feel much better,” she said right before pouring some more tea for herself, all the while looking at Fluttershy expectantly.
“Oh, also, I had a little… idea.” Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together to relieve the rising tension.
“I thought there’d be more. What’s on your mind?” Twilight asked once she was finished.
“The summer is going to end quite soon, and… I think that… the foals should… “ She swallowed nervously. “...go to school…”
At first, Twilight didn’t seem to react. Then, she looked at Fluttershy and deadpanned: “What?”
“I mean, they are foals… and all foals should receive education… I already have them studying basics, they’ll get to the required level in no time!” Fluttershy tried to brighten up the mood, as her friends slowly turned their sights to her, most of them looking quite shocked. Even Applejack was surprised. Only Pinkie didn’t look the part.
“I think Fluttershy is right. All foals have to go to school. I mean, I went to school. My sisters all went to school! All of us went to school! It’s only logical if Fluttershy’s foals go to school too.” Fluttershy was a little startled at Pinkie calling the villains ‘her foals’ but she didn’t pay much attention to that, as there was a more serious conversation coming — probably even tougher than the previous one. But at least she had Pinkie by her side.
That was two crazies by her side now. Maybe Fluttershy did need the professional help, after all.
“One insane idea after another.” Twilight sighed heavily. She looked much older when she was dissapointed. “We need to keep them hidden, Fluttershy. You might as well parade with them in Central Plaza; that would have the same effect.”
Everypony nodded to her words and even Fluttershy couldn’t help but admit that she was right. And yet her resolve was still there, she felt able to do anything to prove her point. She just didn’t know how.
“Twi has a point. Also, I’m pretty sure they’ll have a hard time fitting in. Chrysalis is a changeling, she probably can’t even read!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Though… the expression on Cheerilee’s face would be priceless.”
“It would be her last expression ever before a heart attack.” Rarity looked at Rainbow. “You should be ashamed for even thinking that, Rainbow Dash!”
“Oh, come on, she has probably seen a lot worse,” Dash replied with a gentle smile. “Cheerilee’s very tough. She can stop a dragon and then send it back home to do its homework.”
“Yeah… sure.” Twilight sighed. “Anyway… Sorry, Fluttershy, I’m afraid you’ll have to abandon your plans for school. They are too risky.”
“We can make disguises for them! I can even make them on my own, if you want. They won’t look apart from the crowd, I promise!” Fluttershy clinged — even to her it sounded pathetic.
“Hmm…” Rarity hummed sagely, looking at the wooden table with some deep thoughts happening in her mind. “What if I help her? Hypothetically, of course, I could make something fashionable for that age.”
“Except that we don’t even wear clothes. Have you forgotten that part?” Applejack lifted an eyebrow, prompting Rarity to pout.
“Well, I suppose not — in Canterlot or Manehattan, maybe.”
“Y’know, Rarity’s idea is actually really awesome!” Rainbow Dash butted into the conversation. “Fluttershy could say that they’re her foreign relatives and that it’s a tradition in their country to be fully dressed all the time.”
“Or that they’re preparing for a masquerade!” Pinkie sprung up from her seat. “Oh, oh! Imagine them during Nightmare Night! They would definitely win the award for scariest costumes by just being themselves!” She clapped her hooves happily.
Fluttershy felt her inner spirit rise. She was so close. So close. Her friends needed just one solid argument, and they would support her idea.
“Ugh, this is not going to work. Even if we do make their disguises solid enough, there’s no way they would fit in! Normal foals or not, they’re not like the rest — Fluttershy said so herself. They would become pariahs, outcasts.” Twilight and Fluttershy went for another staredown, but this time, Fluttershy had way more confidence, even for her own good.
“Believe me, they will make a lot of friends. I will teach them. Besides… why won’t we just go and take a look?” She looked at her friends, sitting around the table and smiled. “Come with me. I’ll show them to you.”
“We get to see them! Yipee!” Pinkie Pie sprung up from the chair and started jumping up and down in joy. “Oh my, oh my, I can’t wait!”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go! I want to see myself some sun-eating fillies!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, heading for the door. But before Fluttershy could take the lead, Twilight signalled her to come over.
“Uhm… you all go ahead, we’ll catch up to you.” Fluttershy waved at her friends. “We just… had some things to discuss.”
“Secrets again? Seriously, guys, haven’t we been over this already?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but Rarity urged her to move onward and pay no attention to it.
“Let it go, Dash. We all have secrets we’d like to keep unknown... What kind of toyline one prefers, for example.” Rarity allowed herself a sassy grin, which made Dash’s cheeks turn bright pink.
“You keep quiet about that.” Once their little dialogue had moved too far away to hear, Twilight looked Fluttershy in the eyes.
“Be honest with me now: are you doing this just because you feel responsible for them?”
“Uh, what do you mean?” Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion.
“I should have foreseen this. Of course the element of Kindness would feel the need to watch over little foals and guide them. Mothers have been symbols of kindness for ages, after all,” Twilight said, leaving Fluttershy a little lost. When she said nothing, Twilight continued: “Why does good have to be so senseless at times?! Fluttershy, even if, by some insane miracle, you manage to persuade our friends to support your crazy idea, I can’t just stop working on the counterspell!”
“I… I know… I’m not asking you to.” Fluttershy felt vulnerable and ashamed and Twilight could feel that. “I know you won’t stop your work… I really am convinced of what I said. They really are dear to me. I want to care for them.” Twilight sighed heavily and put her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.
“Just know that, in the end, all wrongs have to be corrected one way or another.” Twilight withdrew her hoof, nodded and trotted towards the door. ”Sometimes we have to step over our pride and ideals to do what is right. So… in the extreme case… just be ready.”
Twilight left the house but Fluttershy didn’t follow her right away, instead taking a few moments of pondering. An extreme case… As much as the thought terrified her, Fluttershy opted to hide it in the darkest corners of her mind and do her best so that the ‘extreme case’ wouldn’t happen. With her mind cleared, she hurried after her friends.
“The further it goes, the better it gets.” Spike grumbled, as he twisted the keys in the keyhole. “But at least it cannot get any worse…” When he was done locking the doors to the Golden Oaks Library, he quickly ran after his pony friends, thinking to himself that he might regret those words sooner or later.
***
“Okay, everypony, before we go in…” Fluttershy was standing in front of her own house, feeling all tingly. Her friends’ meeting with the foals was seconds away, and she wanted it to go as smooth as possible. Which wouldn’t be that much, since Discord was there. To say that she was worried was an understatement. “Please, do not act rashly. You might scare Sombra.”
“Wow. Somehow this sounds even sillier coming out of your mouth, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “Scare Sombra… this is comedic.”
“Can I play with them? Can I? Pleeeease?” Pinkie Pie shoved her muzzle into Fluttershy’s and smiled widely. “I will be careful, I promise!”
“Well… no, I’m sorry, uhm, not yet.”
“Aww!” Pinkie planted her butt on the ground and looked sullen.
Rarity rubbed her hooves together and swallowed. “I don’t know what to expect.”
“We all do, Rarity. We all do.” Twilight sighed.
“Okay… alright… Let’s go.” Fluttershy took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “I’m home!”
Sounds of footsteps could be heard from inside, then the clicking of the locks and finally the door slowly opened. Fluttershy closed one eye, ready to turn away and shield her sight from the chaos Discord might have caused, but instead of complete wreckage, she saw the three cuties all bunched up on the pillow, sleeping, while Discord was drawing away at the blackboard, apparently enjoying the sound of his own voice.
“—as I have already stated, magical synthesis — or alchemy — is the process of creating new elements through bombarding arcana with different essenses.” He was wearing a long white labcoat, huge glasses and had a pencil tucked away behind his left ear. When he finished drawing a schematic, he slowly turned around and grinned when he saw the three sleeping foals. “Aaah, delightful. Now, where did Shy put those cookies?”
“Umm… what’s going on?” Fluttershy stepped inside and Discord suddenly screeched and turned around, holding his chest.
“Ah! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” He took a deep breath. “I almost had a heart attack.”
“Discord? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, suddenly teleporting behind Discord, probably in an attempt to see what was going on.
Discord suddenly turned pale white, as a big red heart shaped cloud of smoke appeared not far from his head and then delivered a overwhelming strike right in his face — a literal heart attack.
“Ouuuuch,” he whined, holding his nose. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you!” Pointing his lion paw at the cloud, Discord quickly blew it away. Then, he got up, swiping the dust away from his labcoat.
“Oh, I see you brought friends. Hello!” Discord waved to everypony, only receiving angry glances in return. “Oh, geez. You guys are no fun. Fluttershy just asked me to watch after her sweet little foals until she comes back. So, have you taken care of your toxemia yet?”
“W..what?!” Fluttershy’s jaw almost dropped. “What… are you saying?”
“Relax, Fluttershy. Relax. You mustn’t worry in your state — it’s dangerous for the foal.” Discord grinned, picking Fluttershy up against her will and tickling her belly. “Who’s a good kiddie, tookie-tookie-too..”
“Don’t bother, Discord, we already know the truth: they’re not hers,” Rainbow Dash said bluntly. The draconequus looked extremely dissapointed.
“Awww… You ruined a perfect running gag, Fluttershy. Have I told you that you’re no fun?” He put her down, tickling her a few times just for the sake of it.
“So… now that everything has been taking care of, can we see the foals?” Rarity approached the couch, Fluttershy quickly followed.
“Oh, of course, they should be he—” She was cut short when she noticed that the villains were absent. “Oh no…”
It seemed that their bickering woke them up, and there was no way to tell where they went.
“Umm… I swear they were there a second ago…” Fluttershy mumbled, looking around in fear. “Everypony… watch your back. Especially your back.”
“Huh, why?” Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow.
“Because Sombra always comes from behind.” Twilight murmured. “I had a taste of it myself. If you hesitate even for a moment, he’ll mount you and you’ll never get the saliva out of your mane.”
“What is that supposed to—” Rarity suddenly eeped when she felt her tail being pulled. Carefully and slowly, she turned around and watched silently, her face distorted in horror. “By… Celestia.”
“Ah, darn it, Sombra!” Chrysalis popped out of the closet like a boogeyfoal and rushed to Sombra, who was gleefully chewing Rarity’s tail, seemingly unaware that he was being watched by other ponies. She grabbed him and tried dragging him away, but to no avail. “Let go of her, you’re blowing our cover!”
“Mnaw-nawm…” Sombra murmured, dilligently chewing the purple hair. Finally, he let it go and started scrubbing his tongue. “Gakh, ew-ew-ew! It’s gross!”
“What is the meaning hereof? We might be spotted!” Nightmare Moon jumped out of the same closet, approaching the duo. Only halfway through it occured to her: “Oh, we already are. Nevermind then.”
“Uhm… friends… meet my foals.” Fluttershy smiled awkwardly, quickly shifting behind them. “I’m pretty sure you can… figure out who is who. But I can… tell you, if you want…”
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all stared at the three, unable to close their mouths or make any movement. Sombra tried to snuggle closer to Fluttershy and hide under her wing, feeling uncomfortable under the gaze of two ponies at once.
“They’re… they’re…” Pinkie’s eyes were as round as saucers and her hooves started to twitch. “They’re…”
“They’re adorable!” She suddenly shrieked, rushed forwards and grabbed Chrysalis, who happened to be the closest foal to her, in a tight bear hug. “Ooooh, my, you’re so small and you feel so warm! I want you as a pillow! And a blanket! I wish there were more of you!”
“Aaaagh, why is it always me?!” Chrysalis desperately tried to wrestle out of Pinkie’s hug. “Don’t you have any grasp of personal space?! My personal space?!”
“Uhh, Pinkie, could you please… uhm… let her go? Chryssie doesn’t know you, she needs some time…” Fluttershy tried to talk some sense into her overreacting friend, but to no avail.
“Pinkie, I think Fluttershy has a point. Can you see those fangs?” Rainbow exclaimed. “She’d eat you up and not notice you were even there!”
“Don’t be silly! Fluttershy said they weren’t dangerous!” Pinkie tightened her hug, trying to feel every inch of Chryssie’s face with her cheek. “Soooo cuuuuute!”
Nightmare Moon and Sombra watched in confusion as their helpless friend tried her best to free herself from the pink partymaker’s mighty grip. When they noticed Rainbow Dash slowly walking towards them, they quickly tried to retreat back to the closet. Fluttershy just barely managed to hold them in place.
“Pinkie, I really suggest you let her go. She might get really… angry when she’s nervous.” A small itch on her foreleg reminded just how angry she could get.
“Let me gooooo!” Chrysalis outright roared, feeling unwell in such a tight hug. “Just let me go!”
To everypony, it seemed like a normal reaction to an unwanted hug, but both Fluttershy and Twilight focused their attention on the little changeling. Just one glance from the alicorn was enough for Fluttershy to see that Twilight would take serious action if something bad was to happen to Pinkie.
“Let! Me! Go!” Chrysalis growled angrily, but, before Fluttershy rushed forwards and freed her from Pinkie’s grasp, the changeling’s body burst into green flames.
Pinkie eeped and immediately backed away, but the fire didn’t affect her at all. In fact, it didn’t even leave a mark. The entire room was now gazing solely at the green firestorm. Even Rarity took notice and left her saliva-soaked tail to drip on the floor for a second.
Chrysalis’ silhouette twisted and reeled inside the fire, as it grew smaller and smaller, eventually growing into a size so small it was barely noticeable. The fire was gone as suddenly as it had appeared and where the changeling once stood… a tiny humming bird now sat — a tiny humming bird with very weird color scheme, too: the body was toxic pink while her left wing was yellow, and the right one blue.
“By Celestia… Amazing!” Twilight quickly approached the humming bird, but it swiftly dashed across the room and flew up right under the ceiling.
“Tw-Twilight? What happened? Where’s my Chryssie?” Fluttershy watched the humming bird carefully, feeling every inch of her body shaking.
“She’s here. She just transformed.” Twilight turned to Pinkie. “I need a pencil, a notebook and Spike.”
“Sure. But I don’t have any spare Spikes.” Pinkie pulled a pencil and a notebook out of her mane and hoofed them to Twilight, who, in turn, levitated them to Spike, who was standing right behind her.
“Somedays I wonder if I really need to grow into a fifty feet tall dragon to be noticed around here,” he groused and started scrambling on the paper. “Go wild, Twilight.”
“Chrysalis has displayed her ability to transform into creatures different from equines. This disproves my previous theory about changelings only being able to transform into ponies and creatures of similar physiology. Judging by the situation that provoked the transformation and… a questionable colour scheme, it happened unintenionally, which also suggests that the skill to shapeshift is not inborn.” Twilight spoke quickly and unclearly; it was ambiguous whether Spike even understood what she was saying or just got used to it.
“Twi, maybe ya should…” Applejack tried to get her friend’s attention, but was shut down by a loud shush from Spike.
“She’s doing her scientist thing. Don’t disturb her when she’s doing her scientist thing. It ticks her off.” He quickly got back to copying Twilight’s words on paper. “Which might not seem like a thing to you, but when she’s ticked off, I have to sleep downstairs.”
The humming bird jittered all around the room, from one corner of the ceiling to another, never staying still. Its tweets echoed throughout the cottage, strangely loud for a creature that small.
“My… Oh my.” Fluttershy covered her mouth in worry. “Oooh… my…”
“What she sayin’?” Applejack carefully trotted around, thinking that she might be able to catch the bird. “If that’s her, that is.”
“All that I can say is that she’s scared. Very scared. The rest… I’d rather not translate.”
“Hold on, I’ll catch her.” Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings and taking to air but Fluttershy quickly jumped in her way.
“No! Humming birds are small and fragile, you might hurt her if you touch her!” Rainbow Dash puffed her cheeks and landed back on the ground, watching as the helpless changeling turned bird dashed around, tweeting helplessly.
“Please, you’ve got to help her! She needs our help!” Sombra exclaimed, jumping on the couch. “Chryssie! Can you hear me? It’s okay! We’re here! Don’t panic!”
The bird just tweeted and kept flying around. It looked as though nothing could calm her down or stop her. However, soon a thin layer of green fire started to form around the small bird.
“I think… I think she’s about to transform!” Twilight exclaimed. “Somepony, anypony, get a pillow or something!”
“Wait, do I have to write that down too?” Spike shouted, but nopony seemed to care as the room descended into pure madness — everypony was running or flying around, looking for something.
The green fire completely engulfed the bird and, in mere moments, Chrysalis was back, rocketing down at a breakneck speed straight into the foor. Worried tweets shifted into loud yells as she plummeted down to her doom.
There, at the last moment, a small pillow, engulfed in blue energy, got right in the way of Chrysalis’ fall. Her razor-sharp horn pierced the pillow like a lance, but the soft surface saved Chrysalis from an impending head trauma. As the dust and feathers settled down, Chrysalis raised her head, looking around lazily.
“Chryssie!” Fluttershy immediately dashed to the changeling, took the pillow off of her horn and threw it away. “Chryssie, are you okay?”
“As okay as I can be.” Chrysalis murmured in reply. “But I think I’ll lie down for a moment. See ya.” She nodded sagely before passing out.
Everypony were silent as Fluttershy carried Chrysalis away on her back. Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck. “It just keeps getting better and better. By the way, nice job, Rarity.”
Rarity nodded in reply and picked her poor tail back up and tried to squeeze the wetness out of it, until she suddenly noticed Sombra standing right beside her.
“Please, no more! I put at least an hour into this mane, I don’t want it ruined!” She immediately started panicking, but Sombra didn’t seem to be interested in her tail or mane.
“You saved Chryssie.” He said before gently hugging her. “Thank you.”
“Oh… uhm… You’re welcome.” Rarity patted the foal on the head, smiling awkwardly. “Ehm, darling, would you be so kind as to give me a drying cloth or anything… and not chew my hair anymore?”
“Of course! Right away!” Sombra exclaimed and soon, Rarity was already cleaning her tail with a white piece of cloth.
“Much obliged. You’re a good foal… you just need to consider your diet.” She patted him on the head one more time.
Fluttershy finally came back down and was immediately assaulted by a barrage of cries from Pinkie.
“I swear I didn’t know it would happen, please forgive meeeeeee! Pleaaaaase!” She looked at Fluttershy with tearful eyes. Just one word would be enough to drown the entire cottage in tears.
“It’s okay, Pinkie. Chryssie’s okay and she forgives you. She just got too stressed out and now needs some rest. It’s all fine.” She gave her friend a pat on the shoulder, which seemed to calm her down.
“This was… more intense than I had expected.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck.
“Now you certainly see why they cannot be allowed outside of Fluttershy’s cottage.” Twilight exclaimed, turning to Dash. “Nopony knew Chrysalis could transform. Who knows what else she’s capable of? What if she turns into a snake and bites somepony? What if Nightmare Moon would react poorly to something and then turn it into a statue?”
“I beg thy pardon, lavender unicorn whose name I convinently forgot, but I do not, I repeat, do not, in any case, turn ponies to stone!” Nightmare Moon, enraged by such statement, stepped forth and gazed at Twilight.
“Unlike somepony!” Discord’s voice resonated from the couch.
“I would never do such a monstrous deed! Therefore I demand apologies!” Nightmare Moon slammed her hoof down and stared at Twilight.
“Is that so, missy? Do you really think you can keep your cool if somepony crosses you?” Twilight returned the gaze, looking at Moonie haughtily. “What if I don’t apologize? What are you going to do about that?”
“I… I… I shall call thee names!” Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes. “And thou shalt be mildly inconvenienced!”
“Oh, then go ahead!”
“Thou… thou… thou art a behind! A… very dirty behind! And also… the smell that is coming from thee signifies that thou hast abstained from bathing for quite a prolonged period of time!” Nightmare Moon had to surf through her entire naughty lexicon to come up with that insult.
“What? That’s idiocy, I don’t smell!” Twilight exclaimed angrily.
“Actually, Twi, you’ve been exploding the chest for quite long time. You kind of smell like ash and burning.” Spike put the pencil and flexed his fingers. “A bath wouldn’t be too bad for you right now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?! Ugh, nevermind, that still doesn’t change the fact that they cannot be allowed outside.”
“Actually…” Rarity was finally done with her tail and put the cloth away. “From what I have seen here, they do not seem that dangerous. I mean, it was clear that Pinkie was holding Chrysalis against her will, and had Chrysalis been violent, it was well within her capability to injure her.”
“Yeah! I mean, have you seen her fangs? They’re enormous! You can grill bunnies on those.” Rainbow Dash, who flew upside-down under the ceiling, stated, making Fluttershy cringe.
“It’s not only about being violent, it’s also about having hidden powers they might be unable to control!” Twilight didn’t back down. “Who knows what kind of crazy powers they have! Would you allow your little sister to go to school knowing that there might be a foal who can open a black hole and suck the entire town into a different dimension where everypony is a carrot?!”
“But Twilight… didn’t ya have an uncontrollable power that only Celestia managed to suppress?” Applejack interjected and her rebuttal hit Twilight like a huge boulder falling down a mountain.
“I… Ah… Erm… That’s…” she stuttered and stumbled, unable to retort.
“If these foals are properly taught, they will be as peaceful as any.” Rarity concluded. “I mean, you saw how worried Sombra was for his friend. I am pretty sure he will not harm anypony unless something extremely crazy happens. I’d be willing to give them a chance.”
“And Nightmare Moon, too. What you said has been pretty hurtful, and had she had some kind of pride issue, she’d blast you right away.” Rainbow Dash continued the point set by Rarity. “Yet all she did was call you a butt… hehe, a smelly one.”
Twilight looked like a boiling kettle as she turned crimson red with rage.
“As my friend, who is not present here, would say...” Nightmare Moon flapped her wings and elevated herself until she was at the same level as Twilight’s head. “Owned.”
“Fine! Fine, then! If you’re so confident about this, then go ahead!” She suddenly screamed, aiming her anger at nopony in particular. Then, she turned to Fluttershy. “You’re making a huge mistake, Fluttershy. Mark my words, this will backfire on us all badly.”
With those words, she stormed out of the cottage, trotting away, spewing angry comments at anything in her sight.
“I think I’ll go with her. Don’t worry, she’ll calm down, eventually. See you!” Spike exclaimed, running after Twilight, but not before blowing Rarity a kiss.
“I… I think she’s very mad at me.” Fluttershy swiped the sweat from her brow and sat down on the couch.
“She’ll get over it.” Rarity said. “A few cups of coffee, a little beauty session and she’s calm as a kitten.”
“What’s truly important right now is that now you can get your cuties ready for school!” Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves together. “Ooh, I’m so excited!”
“But remember: we’ll be watching.” Rainbow pointed at her eyes, then at Fluttershy’s. “If they cause any trouble…”
“They won’t. I promise that by my life!” Fluttershy put her hoof to her heart.
“Good. Very good.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Well, we should get going there. Today has certainly been an expierence.”
“I agree. I’ll totally take a nap after so much stress!” Pinkie yawned. “Or I won’t. I don’t know yet. I’ll find out once I get home.”
“Fluttershy, visit me when you need to make these disguises. I’ll be wating!” Rarity brushed her tail one final time, frowning, and all three ponies trotted to the exit.
“Goodbye, friends. Thank you so very much.” Fluttershy smiled as they left.
“So… what will happen now, mommy?” Sombra sat down by her side and leaned closer to her.
“Now? Now, I’ll get you all ready for school.” Fluttershy smiled in reply. “Go upstairs and check on Chrysalis, will you?”
The two foals dashed upstairs. She was about to go upstairs herself, too, but suddenly heard zealous munching sounds from the kitchen. She went to investigate at once.
“What’s that sound?” She thought to herself, peeking into the room and spotting Discord munching on the sugar-coated cookies she’d hidden in a jar specifically for the foals once they were done studying. “Discord!”
“Oh? Everypony already left? Well, gosh-darn.” Discord slowly put the jar away while Fluttershy leered at him menacingly. “I’m in trouble, right?”
“Yes, quite.” Fluttershy frowned. “I’m going to need help while I’m preparing my darlings for school. I won’t be able to do all housework in time so I need you to help me.”
“Fine, fine, fine.” Discord got up and snapped his fingers, the chaotic magic immediately dressing him in a maid outfit. “But I’m still not doing windows.”