Twilight's Transmutation

by Epicburst

Chapter 15

Twilight's Transmutation
Chapter 15

Applejack groaned. As she picked herself up, the room began to spin. With a grunt, she fell back on her haunches. Rainbow Dash held her own on more than her fair share of botched stunt attempts, so when she came to and picked herself out of the floor, Applejack had to admit she was pretty impressed. Twilight and Rarity were the last to regain conciousness, rubbing her forehead, Twilight groaned softly.

"We have to catch her." Twilight declared, looking for any objections. "She's most likely at Fluttershy's house doing Celestia knows what to her."

Rainbow Dash jumped like she's been electrocuted. "Big Macintosh!"

Applejack turned towards Rainbow, a curious expression etched her features. "What're ya talkin' about RD? What about Macintosh?"

Dash began to prance around the room in anticipation, her wings began flapping strongly. "At the hospital! When I woke up, he was in the hospital!"

Applejack's eyes widened. "What!" Quickly, before Twilight could stop her, she ran towards the hospital.

Ears splaying back, Twilight sighed. "Let's go to Fluttershy's girls, she may need our help."

---

"Don't fail us Pride, you know that he won't let you live if you do."

The beige foal's eyes lit up and the room went dark. Envy looked around, seeing hungry eyes staring back at her. Successfully reestablishing his place, Pride withdrew his shadows and turned to walk down stairs.

"You should learn your place Envy, we wouldn't want you to have an accident now would we?"

Envy sighed and transformed into her newest persona: A white mare with a red cross on her flank, known to the locals as Nurse Redheart. She walked down the stairs behind Pride, who seemed eager to escape her sight.

As they walked down stairs, they saw Fluttershy pacing in the kitchen, a metalic clink following her as she walked. Seeing Nurse Redheart and Pride, she relaxed with relief and walked towards them.

"Is he alright Nurse Redheart?" Fluttershy asked sheepishly, hoping the nothing was wrong.

"Yes, yes, he's perfectly healthy. I made sure he knew my plan to check up on him every now and again to make sure he's staying healthy."

"Oh, thank you!" Fluttershy cheered, nuzzling her foal eagerly. Looking up, she saw Nurse Redheart staring down at her. "Oh," Fluttershy stammered softly, lifting herself up. "would you like some tea?"

Huffing impatiently, Envy forced herself to stay calm. "No, I'm fine." Turning to leave, her heart began to pound as she heard a noise from outside.

Suddenly, the door flew off it's hinges and an angry Rainbow Dash barged in.

"Get away from her you freak!" She yelled as she charged towards Pride.

Fluttershy screamed as Rainbow tackled her foal and took to the sky, she started to fly towards the Everfree Forest.

"Quickly Rainbow!" Twilight yelled. "We must destroy him!"

"No!" Fluttershy growled as her wings propelled her faster then they ever have before. Within moments she closed the gap between her and Rainbow Dash.

Dash poared on speed, a cone of air slowly surrounding her. Just before she broke through, something exploded behind her. Loosing her focus, she was blasted forward by the shock wave. Entering a free fall, Rainbow Dash pulled upwards, regaining altitude. Looking up, she saw a pink streak turning towards her.

"Fluttershy?!" Rainbow Dash gasped in amazement. "Y-you did a Sonic-" Before she could finish, the yellow mare tackled Dash out of the sky, right into the Everfree Forest.

---

"Big Mac?"

Big Macintosh's head ached. His only anchor to consciousness was his name. Eventually, his eyes managed to open, only to snap shut to shield himself from the light.Bit by bit, He managed to open his eyes and an orange mare came into view.

"Big Macintosh, can you hear me?"

"E-Eeyup."

Applejack breathed a sigh of relief, finally knowing that her brother was safe. Looking at him curiously, she wondered what kind of beast could get the best of her brother like that, leaving him half dead and bleeding in the middle of the road.

"Big Mac, do you know what happened?"

Putting his hoof on his head, Big Macintosh nodded slowly.

"Ah was walkin' home when Ah saw Miss 'Shy lying on the ground in pain. Ah was taking her back to the hospital when she jumped up and attacked me." Big Mac's eyes snapped upwards as she heard a hoof hit a wall. Right in front of him was his sister, fuming with rage.

"Don't worry Big Mac," Applejack said decisively as she turned out of the room. "Ah'll fix this."

Big Macintosh let out a long sigh. That's mah sister. he thought laying back down in the hospital bed. Suddenly, another strange thought came to his head.

I can fix that for you . . .

---

Twilight gasped as she saw Fluttershy crash into Rainbow Dash. This wasn't part of the plan! she thought angrily as she jumped over bushes and fallen trees in order to get to their crash landing zone. After a short jog, she entered the clearing where they crashed. Inside there was an enraged Fluttershy, fighting Rainbow with everything she had.

"Where is he!" she asked as she transmuted the ground, causing an earth pillar to thrust itself at Dash.

"Fluttershy!" Dash yelled, flipping over the pillar. "That thing isn't a foal, it's a monster!"

"He was my monster! He might have changed!" Fluttershy said in between choked sobs.

Twilight had seen enough, she had to explain to everything to Fluttershy before this escalated any further. As she ran out into the clearing, Fluttershy's shadow extended and came out of the earth.

"Look out!" Twilight yelled, running towards them.

Turning, Rainbow saw a shadow with an eye looming over Fluttershy. Forcing herself backwards, she got a view of two homunculi: Pride and Envy.

"There Twilight!" Dash yelled, getting Fluttershy a safe distance away.

Twilight clapped her hooves and created a fissure in the ground which was easily avoided by the foal and humanoid. Twilight gasped as she saw Fluttershy walk towards them.

"Pride? Why are you doing this?" She asked as she walked closer.

Pride and Envy smiled. Amazed that they could fool Fluttershy so well. After a moment, Pride spoke up.

"Thank you Fluttershy, my other friends will be here shortly. You are no longer needed." As Pride finished talking, Envy rushed forwards, easily out maneuvering the yellow mare.

Fluttershy gasped as tendrils thrust towards her. Clapping her hooves, an earth pillar stopped them in their tracks. Fluttershy backed herself up next to Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"We can't fight them here." Twilight said, bracing herself for another attack. "We need to get out of here." Twilight clapped her hooves, creating a thick fog over the Everfree.

---

As they ran out of the Everfree, they saw Princess Celestia flying towards them. She was currently carrying a sleeping Spike on her back. As she landed, she held out a hoof objecting their bows of respect.

"We need to get to Canterlot, we would be able to hold a defense there." Celestia said urgently.

Twilight nodded. "The noon train will be arriving soon."

With a nod, they all galloped towards the train station. Along the way, they met up with Applejack, who was exiting the hospital. Joining their path, Applejack galloped along side Fluttershy. Within moments they paid for their tickets and sat in an empty train car.

As everypony breathed a sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash fell asleep instantly, sprawling out on the car's floor. Fluttershy couldn't hold in her grief any longer and began to cry softly. Twilight gently nuzzled her, which Fluttershy escalated into a hug. Minutes passed and her crying slowly dispersed leaving her sniffling. As the train began to move, Spike began to twitch in discomfort. Letting out a loud yawn, he woke up and slowly got to his feat. As he got up, he looked at Twilight and smiled.

"Hey, looks like the view isn't so bad after all."

"Spike!" Twilight scolded, blushing slightly.

Spike left to explore the train leaving Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight, and Princess Celestia alone. Applejack slowly walked over to Fluttershy. She knew that now was the best time to confront her, but there were so many different ways to do it. The easiest way was for her to buck the yellow mare in her face, but she didn't want to hurt her. No matter how she put it, Applejack new she had to do it the hard way: talk about it.

"Fluttershy," Applejack started, not prepared for the name's owner to jump to her hooves in fright. "Ah heard about Macintosh . . ." Applejack shifted her weight uneasily from side to side, her attempt to not make the conversation awkward failed miserably. "C-could you tell me what happened Sugarcube?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened, she wasn't prepared for this! She didn't try to hurt Big Macintosh, she couldn't control herself! Fluttershy looked up, realizing that Applejack was looking at her with concern.

"I-I'm sorry Applejack," Fluttershy whispered, crumpling under her friends steady gaze. "I-I couldn't control myself and then it just happened!"

Applejack stared long and hard at Fluttershy, her eyes piercing through any possible lies. Finally, after a long and uncomfortable silence, Applejack turned back to her seat.

"Alright Fluttershy."

---

Spike walked out of the train car, he couldn't take much more of the discomfort. For some reason they decided to take a train ride to who knows where, that took who knows how long. Walking through the different cars, he realized that there were not many other ponies on board.

Grinning, Spike walked into another train car and sat down. He didn't know what he was waiting for, or when it would arrive, but he was told that something was coming. After an hour, Spike felt something in his chest, the feeling got bigger and more uncomfortable until it forced itself out. Belching fire, Spike was surprised to see one of Luna's parchments. Catching the paper, Spike opened it up and began to read.

Greed,

You have been resurrected and placed inside a baby dragon, we hope this form will be able to suite your mission well. You are not the only one, currently we have successfully managed to resurrect Wrath, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, and me, Pride. Together, we will create the next age, the one of the Homunculous. Your mission is to provide a distraction for those ponies so we have enough time to transmute all of Canterlot. After we do that, we will then have an army in our command. You must not let the Princess reach the castle.

If you complete your mission, we have found a way to permanently extend the dragons life span. One of the few things we never had at our disposal, magic and transmutations, will make us the ultimate adversary.

Spike took a deep breath and incinerated the paper. A bunch of thoughts began racing through Spikes head. Is this letter meant for me? When did anypony call me Greed? I mean, sure I got super greedy on my birthday and almost destroyed Ponyville, but that only happened once!

Spike groaned as his head pounded in pain. Rubbing his head like he had brain freeze, he groaned again as the pain got even worse. Jumping to his feat, he began to stagger towards the others. Tears stung Spike's eyes as he tried to fight through the pain, but he eventually fell to his knees. Refusing to give up, he began to crawl. Desperately reaching for the door, he was bested by another wave of pain that caused him to black out.

You almost got away from me didn't you? Well we still have a job to do.

Spike's eyes snapped open and he walked out the door. Looking up, he smiled and expertly triangle jumped from the train car and pulled himself on the roof. His smile widened as he spotted the engine. Running towards it, he easily cleared the gaps in the train cars and jumped atop it. Taking a deep breath, he began to harden his body. Greed began to laugh as his body hardened to an unimaginable extent. He wasn't surprised when he found himself unused to his Ultimate Shield v. 2.0, Taking a running leap, Greed jumped in front of the train.

---

Twilight stared awkwardly at her two friends. Applejack was currently mumbling to herself with her back towards Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash was still asleep, while the yellow mare was curled up in a corner scolding herself, trying to think of a way to make her friend forgive her. With an encouraging nuzzle from Princess Celestia, Twilight made an attempt to break the ice.

"Um . . . girls," Twilight rubbed the back of her head, searching desperately for a topic. "We'll be arriving at Canterlot soon . . ."

"Alright." Applejack huffed, keeping her back towards Fluttershy.

Hearing a quiet squeak, Twilight turned towards the sound's owner. Walking quietly towards Fluttershy, she sat down next to her.

"I-it's all my fault . . . isn't it . . ." Fluttershy mumbled eventually, looking up at her lavender friend desperately.

Twilight nuzzled Fluttershy softly. "No Fluttershy, it's not your fault. It was Pride who did this, he was the one that hurt Big Macintosh Fluttershy, not you." Twilight smiled as she received a soft, thankful nuzzle from Fluttershy.

Turning back to the Celestia, they both smiled.

"I think everything is going to be fine Princess." Twilight said, beaming under her mentor's thankful eyes.

Twilight immediately began to regret those words as the car lurched violently, throwing its occupants forward violently. The quiet mountain air was soon filled with screams of terror and pain.

Towards the front of the wreckage, a purple dragon picked himself up and dusted himself off.

"I love my job" Greed laughed as he made his way up the mountain towards Canterlot.

---

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Envy said, making all of the royal guards stand at attention. "I'm afraid my faithful student Twilight Sparkle has gone rouge. She has refused my directions about the dangers of forbidden magic, and now she has the intention on overthrowing me and my sister." Envy watched as the royal guards looked at each other in confusion. How could such a devoted student suddenly turn on her mentor?

"All of her friends are in on it, the only exceptions are Big Macintosh, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity." The namesakes stepped next to the princess. "They will assist me in this ponyhunt. If anypony sees any of her accomplices, arrest them." Envy and the others turned back into the castle, leaving the yard in stunned silence.

As they walked inside, Pride stopped. "What are you doing Envy? You told us that we were going to hold them off for now, not start a nation wide manhunt!"

"Listen here, both of you!" Pride and Envy both turned and faced the red stallion. His muscles were pulsing with annoyance. "We don't have time for your childish bickering, Greed has accomplished his mission, so we only have a few moments before the guards disperse."

Pride took an involuntary step back as the red stallion towered over him.

"Wrath, stop being so bossy, can't you see you're terrifying the baby over there?"

"Shut it Envy! Get outside and begin working on the circle, Pride should be baiting them here any moment." Envy nodded and rushed outside.

---

Twilight's head ached. The last thing she could remember was talking to Fluttershy and Applejack. At the thought of her friends, her mind began to panic. Her eyes snapped open to the tragedy before her. Ponies were everywhere, scattered among the rocks, stuck between train cars, and hanging off ledges.

"F-Fluttershy?" Twilight moaned, her head pounding. "A-Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Spike?" Twilight began to panic as she desperately began to search for her friends.

Minutes dragged on and slowly became hours. Frustrated, Twilight was just about to give up until she saw a piece of metal move. Rushing over, Twilight tossed the metal out of the way with her magic. Underneath the scrap metal, Twilight found her friends battered and bruised.

"Applejack!" Twilight yelled as she saw her friend come to. "Somethings happening in Canterlot and I can't find Spike or Princess Celestia anywhere!"

Applejack rubbed her skull and hoisted an unconscious Fluttershy on her back. Looking towards the train wreck, she gasped.

"What the hay happened? What could have caused so much damage?"

Twilight shook her head, tears started to fill her eyes. "I-I don't know, but I can't find Spike anywhere!" Applejack moved next to her and gave her an encouraging nuzzle. "D-Do you think he's-"

"No Twilight," Applejack interrupted, staring hard at her friend. "Spike's tougher then he looks, he could be chasing after whatever caused this."

Twilight nodded. Looking towards Canterlot, another blue flash erupted from the castle. The flash glowed intensely and was followed by screaming.

Looking towards Applejack, she nodded and they rushed up the mountain.

---

Pride watched as the transmutation circle around Canterlot began to glow. Standing back with Lust, Envy, Wrath, and Gluttony, he watched as the transmutation began. The final step in their plan has officially begun, but because of his strength, the transmutation needed a lot more souls for the exchange.

As the transmutation activated, the ground within Canterlot began to turn a dark purple. The five ponies smiled as they saw the final stages of their plan come together. Sniffing the air, Gluttony growled and moved towards the cliff edge, spotting four ponies coming closer to the city. Moving next to Gluttony, Lust saw what he was looking at.

"Looks like we've got some company over here!" Lust called, drawing the others closer. "Pride, you stay here and keep the transmutation active." Nodding, the small foal went back to the edge of the transmutation circle and began to fuel it once more.

Running down the hill, the four homunculi prepared themselves for battle. Wrath equipped himself with swords that he found in the armory, still preferring them after such a long time. Once equipped, he was the first one down to the entrance of Canterlot.

Wrath smiled as he saw the four ponies trudge closer, already exhausted and having no idea what to expect. As the four ponies limped closer to the entrance, their faces lit up, happy to see another friendly face.

"Big Macintosh!" Applejack smiled and walked faster towards her big brother, happy to see that he has recovered. "How did ya know we were on our way to Canterlot?" Applejack asked after nuzzling him affectionately.

"Lucky guess." Wrath said coldly, eager to start the battle.

Suddenly, Twilight's ears perked up. "Pinkie? What are you doing here?"

Instead of giving an answer, Pinkie responded with a hungry growl, as she slowly stalked towards Twilight. Moving backwards, Twilight regrouped with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, not taking her eyes off of the two ponies standing side by side.

Fluttershy yawned softly as she came to. Being gently placed down, Applejack looked towards Twilight.

"Somethin' ain't right here Twi', I can feel it."

"I can feel it too Applejack." Twilight gasped as the light emanating from Canterlot intensified, covering everything in a dark purple hue. Suddenly, everything clicked. How could she be so stupid! Twilight's mind raced as she finally realized what was going on, and the only way to fix it.

Clapping her hooves together, Twilight launched herself forward towards Wrath, blasting him with magic bolts as she flew through the air. Expecting this, Wrath easily deflected the bolts with his blades.

"That's not Big Macintosh girls! He's a Homunculus!" Twilight yelled as she dodged a blade. "I need to get in there!"

Rainbow Dash flew towards Wrath at blinding speeds, only to crash to the ground when a white spike pierced her wing. Groaning in pain, she looked towards where the spike came from. Rainbow gasped as Rarity stood above her. Lashing out, Rainbow landed a buck to Rarity's chin.

Twilight and Applejack pressed Wrath back further until they got him by the moat. Twilight and Applejack fought fiercely, lashing out with kicks and magic. All of this was thwarted however, as Wrath easily returned the blows. Twilight and Applejack began to loose steam as Wrath continued to toy with them. Catching one of Applejack's bucks with a forehoof, he tossed her into the moat. Turning towards Twilight, he swiftly closed the gap and began slashing furiously. It took all of Twilight's focus to keep up with the blades flashing past her. Her focus was shattered as she heard a yelp of pain from Rainbow Dash. Blinking hard, Twilight never saw the blade coming as it flashed above her head and cut off her horn.

Rainbow Dash yelled in pain as Rarity stabbed her leg. Crumpling to the floor, Dash tried to pick herself up as another spike pierced her forehoof. She was surprised when a flash of yellow came streaking towards Rarity, forcing her backwards into Wrath.

No matter how good they were in the ancient times, they were not used to their new forms. Twilight transmuted a sword of her own and began pushing Wrath back, taking full advantage of Lust being forced into him. Suddenly, A yellow beam of magic forced its way towards Wrath, being deflected by his blade. Twilight grinned as she saw Princess Celestia land beside her.

"Twilight, this is the last lesson I can teach you." She paused, launching another beam of energy at Gluttony. "This is the sacrifice you must make for knowledge, and this is the sacrifice you must make for friendship."

Princess Celestia led the charge into Canterlot. Moving swiftly, she effectively held back the Homunculi in pursuit. The purple glow of the transmutation grew, and a beam of white shot skyward. Twilight stared horrified as she realized that this circle was meant for a city wide pony transmutation.

As they turned down a main road, Twilight saw Spike greedily collecting money from another pony.

"Spike, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked shocked.

"Excuse me." Spike said, annoyed that he was interrupted. Looking towards the four ponies in front of him, Spike smiled. "Looks like I'm going to need to stop you after all." Without hesitation, Spike rushed towards Twilight. His extended claw meeting hard stone as Twilight transmuted a small wall in between them.

Celestia launched a beam of magic towards Spike, which he made no effort to dodge. Receiving a solid blow to the chest, steam hissed off of his dragon hide. Spike smiled as he surged towards the Princess. Reflexively, Twilight was prepared to launch a beam of her own, but instead receiving searing pain from her broken horn.

Applejack howled in pain as Gluttony landed teeth first on her back. Collapsing to the ground, she tried to free herself, but Gluttony's grip only tightened. Turning, Rainbow Dash tried to buck Gluttony off of her friend, but was intercepted by a sword piercing her stomach.

Twilight's eyes widened as she saw her friends fall at the hooves of the Homunculus. Outnumbered and outmatched, she ran. Twilight's eyes burned with tears as she turned and fled. Her friends were now going to die and it was all her fault. Twilight wiped away the tears when she heard the screaming.

Looking around, ponies all around her were writhing on the ground. Their bodies becoming hideously disfigured, erupting in flames, or disintegrating altogether. All of this pain and suffering was her own fault.

"Twilight, this is the last lesson I can teach you." Princess Celestia's voice rang in Twilight's head. This is the sacrifice you must make for knowledge, and this is the sacrifice you must make for friendship. Twilight gasped as she finally came to a decision. Her final act of friendship.

Twilight closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to stop the tears, but it was futile. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she stifled a sob. "I'm so sorry."

Clapping her hooves together, she tapped into the human transmutation circle. Finding its energy, she began to reverse it. Please! She begged. I'll give up anything . . . I'll give up everything. Just make the Homunculi's souls go to Tartarus.

The transmutation circle's color changed violently from a dark purple to a bright blue color. Twilight gasped as she began to feel searing pain course through her body. Looking down, she saw her legs beginning to disappear. Choking down her fear, she fed everything she had into her transmutation, desperate to save her friends.

Rainbow Dash lay on the ground, slowly bleeding out, waiting to die. Her eyes slowly closed as the world around her went black. Within moments, she felt energized again. Desperate for an explanation, she steadily got to her hooves. Walking towards the center of the city. She saw Twilight's body turning to dust.

"Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash, Princess Celestia, and Applejack raced towards her rapidly disappearing body.

Celestia covered her eyes as a blinding flash engulfed the city.

Slowly, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Big Macintosh, and Spike stood. They all groaned in pain, and were all wondering what happened. Princess Celestia told them about Twilight's downfall and their reaction was instantaneous. Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Rarity broke down into tears. Big Macintosh sat on his haunches, wrapped in an embrace with Applejack for what felt like hours.

Fluttershy gasped as she found her foal lying on the ground. Nudging it gently, she began to cry as her foal began to move, she wrapped a wing around him as he nuzzled in her embrace.

"I'll name you . . . Pride."

---

"And that is how Pride was born."

Fluttershy beamed as Cheerilee's classroom was flooded with the stomps of little foals. Unwillingly, her eyes began to overflow with tears, just like every other time she thought of this story. At the end of the day, Pride walked alongside Fluttershy. Still ecstatic over his awesome day at school. Looking up, Pride noticed Fluttershy was still crying softly.

"Can we visit Aunty Twilight today?" Pride asked enthusiastically.

Fluttershy smiled softly. "Of course we can Pride."

She smiled as she saw her four best friends by Twilight's grave. Silently, she trotted over and stared at the headstone.

Hear lies Twilight Sparkle. Student of Princess Celestia, Bearer of the Element of Magic, and Savior of Equestria

As Fluttershy sat down, the others began to tell Twilight about their day. Never wanting her to miss out on a single part of it. Fluttershy smiled as Pride began to talk about the day he had, and how Fluttershy sometimes got stuck in place in the cold winter snow. Despite everything that happened, Fluttershy couldn't be happier.

Thank you Twilight . . . for Everything.

Author's Note:

I was surprised at how this ended, not in the direction I originally planned, but I like this ending more. Leave your thoughts in the comments! :)

Comments

[St Jimmy]

Oh...My...God... fuckin epic. Well done!

[Epicburst]

3562674
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like it!

[milestails16]

Oh great,here comes the tears!

[breese101]

3563184 hot damn that...was...wow I'm actually at a loss for words it was so good I mean the description kept me away but after actually reading this I'm quite sad I didn't read it earlier. You deserve a cookie my good author. Please make a fma displaced fix if you have the time because if your this good with a fma related story id love to see a displaced fic for fma.

[DarkSnowGaming]

Well the ending was a happy ending, wasn't a good ending though, I expected Twilight to still be alive in the end.

There should be a death tag.