• Published 8th Feb 2012
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The Seven Tribes - Scootaloo-009



An ancient race bent on overthrowing the Princesses emerges after 2000 years of hiding

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Arc 7: To Canterlot!

The Seven Tribes

by Scootaloo-009, a.k.a. Mechsrule1

My Little Pony and related names, images, and scenarios are property of Hasbro Inc.

Arc 7: Magic Camp

Chapter 19: To Canterlot!

“Cutie Mark Crusader Campers!” the trio of fillies cheered as the train departed Ponyville Station.

“Take care now!” Rarity called after them.

“Learn lots!” Applejack ordered.

“Just make sure you have fun!” Rainbow Dash added.

Before long, Ponyville was a blob in the distance, and ahead loomed Canterlot, where the three would be spending the next week.

It had been easy to convince Rarity to let Sweetie Belle go. Getting Apple Bloom to go had been harder. Apple Bloom had tried arguing that she might get her cutie mark, but Applejack countered that by pointing out her special talent couldn’t be something she shouldn’t normally have. In the end, after realizing Apple Bloom would probably spend the whole week following her around, Applejack agreed to let her sister go.

Scootaloo was really excited. Not only would she have a chance to learn the enchantments she needed, Canterlot also had great blacksmiths. She was sure to find one who could make what she needed to enchant. Sure she’d seen its nastier corners in her travels, but she could easily avoid them along with anypony who might recognize her.

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The trio disembarked from the train and headed toward Canterlot castle where the camp was to be held. The magic camp would take place on the grounds, and there were plenty of guards and signs directing foals to the correct location to meet in one of the gardens outside the School for Gifted Unicorns.

As they approached they saw numerous other foals outside, waiting about. There were quite a few there, but at least they would be divided up to make things more manageable for the instructors. As they got into the midst of them, Scootaloo thought she saw somepony she knew.

“Starflare?” Scootaloo called out. The filly looked just like her.

“Scootaloo?” the filly called back. She smiled and galloped over.

“It is you!” Scootaloo cheered, hugging her sister. “Girls, this is Starflare, one of my sisters.”

“I’m Sweetie Belle.”

“Apple Bloom.”

“Nice to meet you!” Starflare returned.

“So, how have things been with Reflection and Star Dust?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well, mom was really upset we lost you again, and dad wanted to come after you anyway. Eventually they calmed down.”

“I was worried they’d do something to you two after you defended me.”

“They were too busy being mad about losing you to remember,” Starflare replied. “So, what brings you to Canterlot?”

“We’re goin’ tah Magic Camp!” Apple Bloom replied.

“Really? Me too!” Starflare cheered. “Mom and dad dropped me off earlier today. I’m just waiting for it to start.”

“Cool,” Sweetie Belle said.

“So when does camp start?” Scootaloo asked.

“Not for a couple hours,” Starflare replied.

“So Ah guess we have tah wait,” Apple Bloom said glumly.

“Well why don’t we hang out until it starts,” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Great idea!” Starflare agreed.

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“So if we’re meeting your brother, why are we going to the palace? Shouldn’t we go to the barracks?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew Twilight into Canterlot on a cloud.

Twilight had been nervous about flying, especially with Rainbow Dash, but she had to trust her friend again or they would never be real friends.

“Princess Celestia wanted me to meet somepony. It just happened to be today that Shining Armor wanted to meet us too,” Twilight replied.

Rainbow Dash grunted, but took the cloud down near the front door to the castle. Twilight got off, and Rainbow Dash sent the cloud away with a kick.

“Hello, Twilight. You made it just in time,” Princess Celestia said. She strode outside to meet them. “And I see you have brought Rainbow Dash along.”

“It’s the fastest way here,” Twilight replied. “So who am I meeting?”

“She’ll be arriving shortly,” Princess Celestia said. “You can see the balloon now.”

Princess Celestia pointed at a small balloon in the distance, gently floating towards the castle.

It landed by the palace steps and a strange, but familiar pony got out. She was green, with some metal braces on her legs. Upon her back were not wings, but fins, and she had no mane or tail, not even a stub. Behind her followed a gray earth pony. She walked very slowly and awkwardly, one step at a time, almost like an oversized foal walking for the first time. She seemed to have the most difficulty with the rear legs, trying to move them together most of the time.

“Seafoam?” Twilight cried.

“Hello, Ambassador Sparkle,” Seafoam replied. “It is nice to see you again.”

“Woah, cool!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Thanks to that water breathing potion you discovered, I managed to devise one that worked the other way,” the gray pony following her said. “We’re lucky that their bodies haven’t evolved that much and the bones were still present. All it took was a little magic and some braces and we have a land walking sea pony.”

“I’ve never exactly walked before, but I’ll manage,” Seafoam said.

“I’m Gearbox by the way,” Gearbox said to Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “I’m an inventor.”

“Welcome to Canterlot,” Princess Celestia said to Seafoam. She then turned to Gearbox. “I see my sister did well to hire your services.”

“This can hardly be called my work,” Gearbox said. “It was your court mages that did the magic.”

“I just flew in a balloon, something no seapony has ever done. I’m amazed no matter who is responsible,” Seafoam said.

“So what are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“The king was so embarrassed over what happened, he decided enough was enough and he would send an ambassador here,” Seafoam explained. “I was the logical choice given my extensive experience dealing with surface dwellers. I’ll be here for quite a while.”

“I’ve already installed a tank in one of the rooms for her, and prepared a few gallons of the potion so there’s no danger of the effects wearing off,” Gearbox said. “I have other projects to work on, so if you have any problems, send me a message. Princess Celestia’s messenger dragon knows me.” With that, the gray pony walked off rapidly.

“Are you busy all day?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Just initial negotiations today,” Seafoam replied.

“How about you come visit Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash suggested. “We’ll give you the grand tour.”

“I really should take care of business first,” Seafoam said.

“That’s okay. We have things to do in Canterlot first,” Twilight said. “We could come by later.”

“I think that will work out fine,” Princess Celestia said.

“Yes, it shouldn’t take long,” Seafoam said. “The King is quite eager to help now.”

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“Welcome, everypony, to magic camp. My name is Velvet Sparkle, and I’ll be your teacher for the week,” the friendly white unicorn mare said, greeting the dozen foals before her. “I see some familiar faces and some new ones as well. Now, does anypony have a question for me?”

“Is it true yer Twilight’s mom?” Apple Bloom asked.

“You mean Twilight Sparkle? Yes, she’s my daughter.”

“I have a question!” a dark gray unicorn colt said. “Why is there an earth pony and a pegasus here?”

“They might be changelings!” exclaimed a yellow winged unicorn.

Scootaloo whipped up a light wind that tousled their manes. “Does that answer your question?”

“My daughter recommended all three of them,” Velvet Sparkle added. “Anypony else have a question for me?” She waited a few seconds before continuing. “How about we go around and introduce ourselves. Just give us your name and something about you related to magic. It can be a favorite spell, or something you want to learn, or the first spell you learned. Anything related to magic. You first,” she said, pointing to the colt who had questioned Scootaloo and Apple Bloom’s presence.

“I’m Iggy. I want to learn how to become invisible.”

“I’m afraid that’s a bit more advanced than anything we’ll be covering,” Velvet Sparkle said.

“My name is Blue Heart, and... I’m not really good at magic. I guess I’d like to learn how to walk on clouds,” said a light blue unicorn with a teal mane.

“That spell isn’t as common as it should be,” Velvet said. “I’ll make sure we make time to learn it.”

“Um... Frostfire. I use spells other ponies don’t like to talk about.” This filly was gray with a blue and red mane partially hidden by a floppy hat.

“I think I remember you from the last camp, though I believe you had a different teacher.”

“Spice!” declared a pink filly with a purple mane

“Sugar!” added a second filly, with the same color scheme, but lighter in shade.

“We can do this!” they said together, their horns glowing.

“And that is?” Iggy asked.

“Tele-” Sugar started.

“-Pathy,” Spice finished.

“I’ve... never seen that before,” Velvet said, surprised.

“Only we-” Spice started.

“Can do it,” Sugar finished.

“I’m Silver Star,” said a gray filly with a white mane. “My first spell was teleportation.”

“Very nice,” Velvet commented.

“I’m Scootaloo, and I want to learn how to enchant things,” Scootaloo announced.

“I don’t know if we’ll have time to go over that, but I might be able to help you with the basics,” Velvet Sparkle replied.

“Name’s Apple Bloom. Ah don’t really know much about magic, but Ah’d like tah get better at this,” Apple Bloom said. She summoned her bag to herself, but it stopped just short of hitting her face.

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you with levitation.”

“My name is Sweetie Belle, and I like to sing magic.”

“Right, Twilight told me you could do vocal magic,” Velvet Sparkle said. “You’ll have to show us some time.”

“I’m Starflare, and I’m really good at light magic.”

“Very fitting for your name.”

“I’m Sketch. I’m only here because my parents made me come.”

“That’s not a magic fact, Sketch.”

“Fine. I only know levitation,” he said, grunting.

Velvet turned to the last pony, the winged unicorn. “And you are?”

He looked about nervously. “Uh... Quickquib.”

“And your fact?”

“I... um... don’t know any magic?” he said awkwardly.

“Well it is nice to have you all here,” Velvet said when they were all finished. “Now if you will all follow me, I’ll show you around the camp.”

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“Shining!” Twilight greeted, seeing her brother outside the barracks, waiting for her.

“Twili! How have you been?” Shining Armor asked, trotting over.

“I’ve been so busy lately,” Twilight replied.

“So, um, you said you can get me mananite?” Rainbow Dash whispered.

“Yes and no,” Shining Armor replied, not lowering his voice. “I can’t just give you mananite. I’m just a captain, and I’d have to justify it to my superiors. I’d have to do it in exchange for a service to the guards or other valuable materials.”

“Sorry, I can’t join the guards at all,” Rainbow Dash said, “I served in a foreign military.”

“That wasn’t my idea,” Shining Armor replied. “You see, there’s a lot of rumors going around right now, about a long dead pony tribe not being dead after all. A tribe much more advanced than we are.”

“So you want some terra pony tech? That’s easy, there’s a huge pile of it in her basement,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing to Twilight.

“I’m interested in weapons,” Shining Armor replied. “Equestria’s weapons are primitive by comparison to other countries. We only keep them at bay with magic, and that’s not good enough.”

“Well we don’t have any weapons right now,” Twilight replied.

“That’s fine, I’ll give you the mananite now, and you can give it to me when you get some.”

“Why do we have to give it to just you?” Twilight asked.

“Because I won’t see it, otherwise.”

“Celestia would probably have it destroyed,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Remember how she reacted to the last terra pony? So will anything do, or are you looking for anything specific?”

“Well, I’m not sure what kind of war machines they would have, if they even have any. Weapon stockpiles would be good too. Especially firehooves and gunpowder. You know how expensive that stuff is,” Shining Armor replied.

“It’s a deal. Any terra pony weapons we find are yours,” Rainbow Dash said, shaking his hoof.

“Great. How much mananite do you need?”

“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I’ve worked out a design that will work the best for what you are trying to do,” Twilight replied. “We just need two bars.”

“I’ll grab some now,” Shining Armor said.

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“Okay, when I say go, I want you to hit the target with your magic,” Velvet instructed. The group had moved to another part of the grounds. Fifty feet away were a series of bullseyes. The foals stood behind a line in the grass.

“What does she mean ‘hit it’?” Apple Bloom asked.

“She didn’t say what spell, so I guess whatever spell you want,” Scootaloo replied.

“But I don’t know any spells like that!” Apple Bloom protested.

“Go!” Velvet Sparkle shouted.

“Just hit it with that stomp spell,” Scootaloo replied. Then she turned her attention to the target, and built up her magic. She focused it like she had so many times before, then unleashed it. The red and white target flashed blue before a deep slice appeared across it. It didn’t go more than a quarter inch into it, but Scootaloo was proud of herself anyway.

Next to her, Apple Bloom contemplated how to stomp the target from where they were. She tried seeing what the other foals were doing. They simply got their horns glowing, and sent a bolt of that color at the target, but she didn’t know how to do that. Rather than risk failing, she charged her hoof and stomped. The ground shook momentarily, before a cloud of dirt knocked the bullseye over.

“Let’s see how you did,” Velvet said once all the foals had fired their spells. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both looked equally nervous, as theirs stood out dramatically. All the others looked the same, a big scorch mark, though the other foals didn’t all hit the same spot. “Um...”

“Sorry, buh Ah didn’t know what spell Ah was supposed tah use,” Apple Bloom said, dragging her hoof in the dirt.

“Me neither,” Scootaloo admitted.

“I didn’t mean any spell, just a blast of magic,” Velvet replied.

“Oh. I don’t know how to do that,” Scootaloo replied.

“Same,” Apple Bloom added.

“Don’t worry, you’re here to learn this stuff. Why don’t you show me what spell you did use?”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said. She charged her magic and slashed at the target. Her angle must have been off because a small piece of the wooden target fell off.

“Eeep!” Silver Star squeaked.

“Okay, and you, Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom focused and stomped again. The resulting eruption was smaller this time, a consequence of her low magic.

“I’m telling you, changelings!” Quickquib declared.

“Those are both uncommon spells, you know,” Velvet commented. “Now the magic bolt is not a spell at all, but rather a release of raw magic. It’s a bit inefficient but can be invaluable in a pinch. All you do is gather up your magic and simply send it out in one direction. Why don’t you give it a try?”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said. She could already feel her magic coming back, so she summoned it up until her wings glowed. Then she released it. The glow simply vanished and the magic retreated to the pool inside her. Scootaloo growled at herself and tried again.

When her wings were glowing again, she did what she usually did when she was frustrated and flicked her wings. This time something happened. The magic popped out of her wings, but instead of coming out in a single bolt, it caused an eruption of what looked like blue fog to appear, extending a few feet in front of her, then it dissipated quickly.

“You have to condense the magic before releasing it,” Velvet said calmly. “Apple Bloom, why don’t you give it a try?”

Apple Bloom nodded. It took a little longer for her hoof to glow, but when it did, she was at a loss as to how to release the energy. She tried waving her hoof, flexing her leg, but nothing worked. Finally she tried thrusting the leg forward. That did the trick, and a green ball of magic flew forward and struck the ground near the target.

“Very good. I want you all to keep trying until you can hit the center twice in a row,” Velvet instructed.

The foals returned to practice and soon the garden was alight with various colors of magic being fired around. By the end of the hour, most had accomplished the goal of two consecutive bulls-eyes, though it was hard to tell now with all the scorch marks on the targets. Even Apple Bloom had hanged to get a couple in the center, but not in a row.

“We’re all a bit low, so why don’t you all take a break to recoup your magic,” Velvet Sparkle said. “Be back in an hour.”

“Yay!” the foals cheered and rushed off, some in pairs, some by themselves, eager to explore Canterlot. Scootaloo just stood there frustrated. She hadn’t managed to progress past the puff of blue smoke. No matter how hard she tried focusing the magic together, it still did nothing.

“Why don’t you take a rest? The break will help,” Velvet said trotting over.

“I don’t need a break,” Scootaloo retorted. “I need to learn this!”

“Now now, Clopstantinople wasn’t built in a day. With all the magic you’re using, I’m sure you need to recover.”

“Not really,” Scootaloo replied. “My doctor says I have a really high regeneration rate.”

“Still, taking a break will give you time to think of a new approach.”

“Okay...” Scootaloo reluctantly left and headed into town. Might as well get things in motion now.

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“They’ll be ready in a week,” the smithy said.

“Great. Thank you. I’ll be back then,” Rainbow Dash said. She left, and immediately bumped into a certain filly.

“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked.

“Oh, hey,” Rainbow Dash said.

“What... what are you doing here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Just... dropping off some of our knives to be sharpened,” Rainbow Dash lied.

“Can’t you have that done in Ponyville?” Scootaloo asked, suspicious now.

“Yeah, but the Canterlot smiths are way better,” Rainbow Dash said. “Well I have to get going. Twilight’s waiting for me.”

“Okay.” Scootaloo didn’t even have time to register that Twilight was also in Canterlot and what that could possibly mean before Rainbow Dash flew off. Scootaloo didn’t bother following her, and instead walked into the shop.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Can I help you?” the earth pony smith grunted.

“I’m looking to have some blades forged.”

“Okay, what metal?”

“Steel I guess,” Scootaloo said. “What else is there for blades?”

“I have a few ingots on display, take a look,” the smith said. He waved a hoof to one wall. Along it was a series of shelves with single metal bars sitting on display. “Pick any one you like and I’ll tell you what it’ll cost.”

Scootaloo walked over to the wall and gazed at the various blocks of metal. None looked particularly impressive until she found one that was an iridescent purple. And beside it was a blue one! and a green one! There was a whole line of colored metal bars!

“Nice huh? They cost more than regular steel, and they’re a bit weaker, but they’re great for decoration.”

“How much are these?” she asked.

“Depends on the size of the blade,” the smith said. Scootaloo rummaged around in her tail and produced a tracing she had made of one of the blades from Rainbow Dash’s claws. She placed it on the counter.

“I need six of these.”

That looks like... huh. “Any particular color?”

“Um... red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Can I do one of each?” Scootaloo asked.

“Hmmm. I wouldn’t need a whole bar for each, but they’re not really fit for cutting.”

“I’ll use magic to reinforce them,” Scootaloo said.

“Fair enough. I’ll do it for 1200 bits.”

“Twelve hundred!” Scootaloo cried. She pulled out her bag of money. She was well below that.

“That’s the lowest I can go,” the smith said.

“I only have one hundred bits. Is there anything I can do to make up the difference?”

The smith looked at her for a moment. “Maybe.”

“I’ll do anything!”

“I’ll do it in exchange for star metal,” the smith said.

“What metal?” Scootaloo asked, confused.

“Foal, yah ever heard of a shooting star?”

“Yes.”

“Well sometimes they actually land in Equestria. What lands is a really high quality metal called star metal. If you can bring me at least ten pounds, I’ll do the job for free.”

“Where am I supposed to find something like that?” Scootaloo cried. She hardly saw shooting stars, let alone one that hit the ground.

“You’re in luck little filly,” the smith said. he calmly strode outside and Scootaloo followed. Once outside, he pointed at a distant mountain. “Do you see that slide? It kind of curves to the left at the bottom?”

“Yeah.”

“Last night I saw a shooting star land near the top of the slide. Normally I’d have my brother go get it, but the idiot went and broke his wing three days ago. You’re a pegasus so you should have no trouble getting it instead. If it’s over ten pounds, you’ve got yourself a free set of blades.”

“I’ll do it.”

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“I think he will like what we have discussed.,” Seafoam said.

“Excellent. Nova, have you got everything?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Yes, Princess,” the white messenger dragon with yellow spikes said.

“Will you need to rewrite it on waterproof paper?” Princess Celestia asked Seafoam.

“That is part of Glare’s job,” Seafoam replied.

“Very well. Nova, could you send it please?”

“Right away,” Nova said. She rolled up the scroll then set in on fire.

“Ah, and right on time,” Princess Celestia said as Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked into the throne room.

“Yes, we just finished up for the day,” Seafoam added.

“So will you be coming to Ponyville with us?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Of course. I want to see everything I can while I’m here,” Seafoam said. “I have a bottle of air breathing potion if I need it.”

“Alright, to the train station!” Rainbow Dash declared, sticking a hoof into the air.

“The train station?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well yeah. I don’t think Seafoam can walk on clouds, and she has enough magic in her right now. Plus it’ll be nice,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“I’d love to see what a train is,” Seafoam said.

“We won’t make it to Ponyville until nightfall,” Rainbow Dash said. “But then we’ll have tomorrow.”

“I don’t know if I should spend that much time away from my work,” Seafoam said.

“I’m sure your King will need time to go over what we discussed,” Princess Celestia said. “If anything important comes up, I’ll just send you a message.”

“You could stay at my house if you want,” Twilight offered.

“That is most kind, fellow Ambassador,” Seafoam said.

“Just call me Twilight.”

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“We’ve all had a great day, so it’s time for a camping tradition,” Velvet announced. “A campfire!”

The foals were gathered around a large wood pile on the castle grounds. Velvet lit it with a spark of magic, and within a minute they had a roaring fire going, casting a merry glow on everypony.

“And what’s a campfire without marshmallows?” Velvet sang, producing a bag of them.

“Okay, Sweetie Belle, get on the stick,” Scootaloo said, brandishing a large twig.

“What?”

“She said we’re roasting marshmallows.”

“Oh, ha-ha!”

“Forget the sticks,” Velvet ordered. “You have to use magic to hold them.” The foals groaned. She ignored the outburst and passed around the bag so each foal could take one.

“At least I learned this,” Scootaloo said, levitating the tasty puff. Every spell she had tried to learn had ended in varying degrees of failure. Her light spells were dim and unfocused since the light came from her wings and they were very different in size and shape from a horn, she’d given up on magic bolts, and even the despell spell had only worked sometimes. Only levitation had she been able to get down at all, though objects she levitated bobbed a bit, unlike the other foals’ whose objects mostly hung in place. It was rather hypnotic watching the marshmallow float up and down like it was caught in an invisible ocean and it was bobbing on the waves.

“Yeah, this is better than hittin’ mahself in the face all the time,” Apple Bloom agreed. She had done well with levitation as well, but couldn’t quite get the object to move unless she was pointing a hoof at it. Even her light spell had been okay, but awkward. The unicorn’s horn was the source of light for them, but since her hooves were her magic focus, the light came out of them, making it rather difficult to walk while using. Creating free floating light sources was mentioned as a possibility for later in the week.

“Here,” Frostfire said, passing the bag to Blue Heart.

“Eeeek!” Blue Heart shrinked, dropping the bag. All eyes were on her as she backed away from something on the ground.

“Careful!” Frostfire shouted. She was sitting next to Blue Heart and quickly scooped up what had scared her. “You could've hurt him.”

“Him!?” Blue Heart cried. “What is that thing?”

Frostfire held it up so the rest could see. It looked for all present to be the skeleton of a lizard. It’s empty eye sockets had an eerie glow in them.

“Eeewww!” Sugar cried.

“Gross!” Silver Star agreed.

“Changeling!” Quickquib shouted but everypony was used to ignoring him by now.

“Cool!” Apple Bloom declared.

“He’s my pet Fluffy. I brought him back to life when he died,” Frostfire explained.

“That’s weird. Ah was brought back tah life but Ah ain’t no pile ah bones,” Apple Bloom commented.

“You just haven’t had enough time,” Scootaloo joked.

“It took me a long time to get it to work,” Frostfire explained. “Who brought you back?”

Apple Bloom just pointed.

“I used a song that I have no idea how I knew it, and I don’t even remember how it went now,” Sweetie Belle stated.

Velvet had walked over and was examining ‘Fluffy’. “Necromancy is not a field of study the Court Mages encourage.”

“I only use it on small things. Fluffy’s the only animal I brought back that stayed back.”

“Don’t worry, what’s done is done, though I do ask you refrain from doing in while on the grounds,” Velvet Sparkle said authoritatively.

“It’s still creepy,” Quickquib declared

“I’m with him,” Iggy agreed.

Frostfire stuck her tongue out. “Well that’s your problem.” She lifted up her hat and placed the lizard under it.

“What is it with you-” Spice began.

“And calling everything a changeling?” Sugar finished.

Quickquib rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve just been a bit jumpy I guess since the invasion. They really did a number on my house.”

“So...” Velvet said, trying to move along. “Sweetie Belle, would you mind singing a bit?”

“Sure!” Sweetie said excitedly. “This is a song that clears away clouds. You need a lot of sirens to really make it work, but I’ll do my best.” She closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and began.

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Two beings were fast asleep in the tiny wagon when something knocked on the door, waking them up.

"I'll get it," the taller winged and horned figure said. The other, furred and feathered, laid back down. The first figure walked over to the door and opened it. "Hello?"

There was nopony there. Confused she stepped out into the moonlight and looked around.

"If this is a prank, I assure you it is not funny," she shouted.

"Trixie Lulamoon?" came a voice from behind. She spun around, horn blazing but something was clamped around her neck. At once her magic died out.

"Trixie!" roared her companion. He leaped at her assailant, but two more attackers joined in and subdued him.

"Trixie Lulamoon?" the voice asked again. Trixie looked over at the pegasus. Not just a pegasus. This one had bat wings.

"What do you want?" Trixie spat.

"The Princess wants to speak with you."

"You might as well kill me now. I'm not speaking to Celestia."

"Princess Luna has demanded your immediate presence at Canterlot," the bat pegasus said.

"You attack me in the middle of the night and demand I leave all my possessions behind for your Princess? She holds no power here."

"I'm sorry but we had to make you listen," the pegasus replied. His companions had already released Greg. "We are to escort you there. You can bring the wagon if you wish."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we knock you out and take you back by force."

"Greg, we're going to Canterlot," Trixie declared angrily.

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Frostfire - property of Blank Flank

Iggy - property of Csquared08

Silver Star - property of Dinky Doo

Sugar & Spice - property of Emerald Glow

Blue Heart - property of blueheartpegasus

Sketch -- property of Pen Writer Pony

If you like this story, you should check out some of my other works:

My tumblr, an alternate universe mixing MLP and Cyborg 009.

Forever a Changeling, my new story starring Rainbow Dash as a changeling.

Samurai Applejack, a drastically different kind of story. It’s rated mature for violence and some suggestive lines.

Night of the Werepony, what I consider to be my worst story, but it’s my most popular. It’s just one chapter long.