Minty Image

by mintgreenconspiracy

Chapter 6-4: Morning in G3 Ponyville shines! And I know for absolute certain! That everything is certainly... fine?

Twilight gave a nice hearty smile; pleased, with herself, that she was finally starting to get the knack for teaching magic. And, to make things even better, it looked like young Rarity's magic training was starting to move along -- meaning that, now that the foal had mastered levitation, Twilight could start teaching her other spells (though it helped that the foal was surprisingly earnest, well... once you could get her to concentrate, of course -- instead of goofing off, or being distracted by one of the thousand worms that somehow seemed to materialize out of nowhere, all the time.)

And she hoped that she might now be able to train the young alicorn in some more advanced kinds of magic (she had not yet found the kind of spells that the young alicorn would be casting, though. Well, you see, normally, a unicorn only learns one or two tricks, in their lifetime, based on their special talent, but the little foal seemed to have no end of tricks that she could, at least, attempt. And this left Twilight unsure of whether it was because of the fact that she had no real talent -- because a talent for loving rainbows made no sense --, if it was because she was an alicorn -- which made more sense, but seemed like a flimsy theory --, or if it had something to do with the strange nature of these odd ponies. Of course there was always the possibility that it had to do with her talent being in magic, like rainbow magic, or something -- she should ask Dash for some weather making lessons for the foal -- assuming she could get either one of the two of them to sit still for any period of time, at all.)

Meanwhile, her mentor/mother (Cheerilee had gotten the adoption papers just that morning, and was already asking Twilight to help her get them laminated, for all to see), was another story, having, just now, figured out how to activate her horn (Rainbow, of course, was to thank for that -- daring Dash, not darling Dash.)

Earlier that week.

Rainbow Dash giggled gleefully, as her newest prank began to take shape. Soon her favored target would be right in position -- right where she wanted her.

And you know what was even better? The prank was sooo simple that even a foal could perform it! And amongst the cheapest that she'd ever attempted. All it took was one cloud that she had 'borrowed' from the weather team, a couple of lightning bolts (that she had bought for a steal from crazy Cloud Hopper's used lightning emporium.) And a lot of time.

Rainbow giggled, feeling her mirth. This was a doozie of a prank, and it was sure to leave both her and her target in stitches (and Pinkie, were she here too.) But first, she had to shush herself, lest her mirth give off her position, because her target would be here any minute and --

"What ahr you up ta Rainbow?" Somepony below asked, blowing her concentration. "Ya ain't tryin' another one of yer dang fool stunts are ya?" She asked, her voice filled with suspicion.

"Me?" Rainbow asked, with a false innocence. "Never!" She said, barely containing the giggles."I was just... Um... Testing this cloud..." She said, pretending to look around in the innards of the cloud -- her head sticking through it! "Yeah!... Testing this cloud! To... um... make sure it's working correctly!" She lied, poorly.

"Uh huh..." Applejack said, looking the cloud up and down. "Then what's all the lightning fer?" She asked, getting a glimpse of Rainbow's stockpile.

"I'm... um.... using them... to.... um.... defend the cloud!" Rainbow said, sweating slightly, and looking around nervously. "That's right! Defending the cloud! In case of... Invaders! They're everywhere you know!" She said, with a fake conspiratorial tone. "Just looking for clouds to jack! But I won't let them!" She exclaimed 'bravely'.

Applejack shook her head, having rolled her eyes enough already. "Who they fer?" She asked, becoming more serious -- pointing at the lighting bolts.

"Nopony!" Rainbow Dash lied, 'smoothly''. "I already told you! I need my lightning bolts in case of cloud snatchers!"

"Rainbow!" Applejack responded, sternly -- her face scrunching slightly..

"Ok!" Rainbow said, bowing her head. "Derpy!" She said, honestly -- maybe she could still fudge the reason. "This is for her being an insult to the disabled ponies everywhere!... And I won't stand for it!" She responded, fervently -- puffing out her chest. "It's high time somepony told her not to be insulting to disabled ponies everywhere!... And I think that ..." She said, eliciting a head shake from the apple.

"Uh huh..." Applejack said, a smirk starting to appear on her face. "An' you just want to zap her!"

"I just want to zap her!" She said, pausing awkwardly, doing a few double takes. "Dang it!" She shouted -- feeling like she had been caught. "No... I mean that I was planning on -- "

Applejack's smirk now grew like a garden weed. "Ya wanted ta prank her didn't ya?"

Rainbow Dash continued. "Pranking her and ... " She said, before grunting loudly -- foiled again. "Yeah! I want to prank her." She admitted, loudly -- hoping that the apple pony would finally go away. "So will you go now?" She begged, seeing the grey pegasus approaching from below -- holding onto a box of baked goods.

Applejack nodded. "Fine! But could ya do me a favor, and not do it so close ta my cart?" She asked, politely. "Ah'm worried 'bout ya scarring off my customers!" She said, firmly -- with a smile (having, finally, given up on talking any sense into the pegasus.)

"Fine!" Rainbow said, hastily moving the cloud -- as the grey pegasus approached ever closer. Ok now she was --

"Hhhheeeeyyyyy RAINBOW Dash!" A hyper voice shouted at the top of their lungs.

"YAAHHHH!!!" Rainbow shouted, hopping slightly -- having been startled. "Pinkie!" She shouted, angrily. "Not now!" She shouted, sternly. "I'm trying to pull a prank on Derpy here! And everypony insists in getting in my way.

"Oh you mean her?" Pinkie asked, pointing at somepony singson, as the grey pegasus moved under the cloud.

"Dang it!" Rainbow shouted, quickly hopping on the cloud to release the lightning it held within. She would succeed at this prank yet! Shout decided, hopping up and down on the cloud, hoping to catch her at the last minute, and ...

"Rarity." Cheerilee said, calmly. "The rainbow ceremony is approaching soon, and it's now more important than ever for you to take your training seriously." Cheerilee lectured her mentee, with a smile. "It's up to us to bring the first rainbow of the season." She said, with a smile. "Otherwise ... " She said, bumping into a grey pegasus with blong hair, and a bubble symbol (or cutie mark, as the natives called it.)

"Oh sorry!" She said to the pegasus (picking herself up the ground, and helping the pegasus pick up her things), who simply smiled, and nodded knowingly -- a knowing expression gracing her face.

"Unicorn foals and fillies can be quite a hoofful can't they?" She said, with a slur, and a smile. "I have two of my own and ... " She said, as a bolt of lightning came down and struck the large purple unicorn right in the horn -- causing her to fall over.

"YAARRRRGGGG!!!" The unicorn shouted, shaking violently along the ground -- her coat smelling of smoke.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted angrily. "You made me miss and... " She said, suddenly stopping -- realizing something, as she slowly started to look beneath the cloud.

"Oh." Pinkie said, with a frown. "Yeah, and you kind of hit somepony." She said, with dismay. "Maybe you should work on your aim." She said, starting to bounce away singsong.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh Dear!" Rainbow shouted, stomping violently. "I'm terribly sorry." She said, kicking the cloud away -- so as to hide all evidence of her prank turned bad.

"Are you ok?" Rainbow asked the purple unicorn, who was just now getting up -- her oversized eyes suddenly resembling the grey pegasus ponies.

"Wow that was a surprise?" She said, sounding dazed, moving her head woozily. "Was Rarity abusing the magic wand again?" She asked, holding her temple, with her hoof.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh Dear!" Rainbow said again, looking around in all directions, including straight up. "Are you ok?" Rainbow asked, anxiously. "My name is Thunderlane and ... " She lied, hoping the new pony in town wouldn't recognize her.

"Rainbow Dash?" Cheerilee asked, suddenly recognizing, what she thought to be, a familiar form (so much for Rainbow calling herself Thunderlane.) "When did you grow those weird looking wings, and why are there five of you?" She asked, her horn glowing like a lightbulb -- the pink alicorn foal giggling at the absurdity of the situation. "And why's my head glowing?" She asked, finding herself blinded by that light. Where was that thing coming from?

"It's not your head glowing silly!" The tiny Rarity said, with exuberance.

"Yeah! It's your horn." Pinkie said, joining in -- giggling along (didn't she bounce off just a minute ago?) "It's glowing like a nightlight." She said, holding a marshmallow over it by a stick (where'd she get it? Why -- isn't it obvious? -- she has stocks of them all over the city, in case of marshmallow emergencies!)

"My horn?" Cheerilee asked, looking up at the glowing thing on her head. "So that's what that feels like." She said, with a bashful smile. "It definitely hurts doesn't it..." She said, fainting onto the ground in a heap (back at the hospital, the doctor was none too happy to hear about the Rainbow's reckless prank.)

And now in the present.

The good news was that the accident gave her something that Equestrian unicorns take for granted (from birth), a fifth sense of what was happening to their horn.

The older unicorn, of course, had immediately started trying, in earnest, to learn the ins and outs of her previously unused appendage (even borrowing books of unicorn magic theory, and advanced magic from Twilight.)

Twilight was correct in her assessment of the purple unicorn, she did remind Twilight a lot of herself -- and not in a good way, having worn herself out a few times trying, unsuccessfully, to cast spells (in this case levitation) that she wasn't ready for.

On the other hoof, could Twilight blame the older unicorn? Cheerilee did, after all, feel a sense of duty to the young pink unicorn, and her training (and Twilight suspected that she didn't want to be left behind by the foal that she was supposed to be training.) However, Twilight found herself, once again, chastising the older unicorn, who had worn herself out trying to use all her magic to lift a half pound metal orb (Twilight had given up on using small household items with the older unicorn, as she tended to break objects instead of lift them.)

"Cheerilee!" Twilight said, sternly. "You need to use less magic when trying to lift small objects! You only need a little."

"But Twilight." Cheerilee said, with confusion. "You tell Sweetie to use all her magic."

Twilight sighed, Cheerilee meant well, but she, frequently, thought too much for her own good. "Yes, but she has a lot less magic than you or Rarity do."

"But you tell Rarity the same." Cheerilee said, tilting her head in a thinking pose.

"Yes." Twilight nodded, preparing her follow up lecture. "But, although, her alicorn magic is a lot more powerful, it's also a lot less focused, meaning that for every jewel of magic she uses that reaches her target, a thousand or ten end up floating off into space. Meanwhile your focus is much, much, much better." She said, nonchalantly, causing the older unicorn to fall to the ground, in dismay -- her energies spent, and her head spinning.

"I'll never understand magic." She sobbed in dismay. "How can I train Rarity properly if I don't understand magic? How can I properly raise her as a unicorn -- "

"Alicorn -- " Twilight retorted, falling back into her old habit of not accepting errors in her friend's speech patterns.

" -- as an alicorn if I don't understand magic." Cheerilee said, with deep dismay -- feeling completely inadequate, and wondering if she should have just stepping out, and gone back to Unicornia.

"You know Cheerilee." Twilight said sternly. "You have to be less hard on yourself." She said, feeling like she was speaking to her own inner demons. "The world doesn't rest on your shoulders, and you shouldn't feel that it should!" She said, looking the other unicorn in the eyes. "Besides." Twilight said with a smile, now that she had gotten the purple unicorn's attention. "Your training is coming along nicely!" She said, lifting the other unicorn's head with her hoof. "Do you remember how long it took Rarity to get this far after she first learned to activate her horn?"

"It took her two weeks before you gave her first lesson in magic." Cheerilee said, contemplatively. "But ... "

"Yes!" Twilight said, with a nod. "You started researching basic magic (albeit a six year old's guide to magic) all on your own!" Twilight said, with a smile. "Besides." She said, an idea occurring to her.

Twilight turned to Rarity, who was sitting nearby, occupying herself by using her horn to move bookcases around (much to Twilight's chagrin, as she would need to reshelve all those books later, and probably put the bookcases back into the wall.) "Could you do me a favor, and toss one of those books on advanced magic to your mother?" She asked the young unicorn, who gladly complied -- giggling with glee all the way at this opportunity to use her magic.

The young alicorn's magic, though, still remained unpredictable, as the book came flying towards the purple unicorn at dangerous speeds.

The purple unicorn cowered, putting her muzzle against her barrel, and blocking her eyes with her hooves. However, instead of a thump, nothing happened. "Rarity!" Cheerilee said, sternly, the worry and dismay apparent in her voice. "You need to be careful with your magic." She said sternly. "You know how dangerous it can be when you lose control and -- "

"Cheerilee!" Rarity said, bouncing up and down with glee. "Your magic!"

"What about my magic?" Cheerilee asked, with apprehension -- afraid to look up from the position she suddenly stood in.

"It's ok to look up." Twilight said, reassurishinly. "Your instinct kicked in." Twilight said, with a smile.

"It did?" Cheerilee asked, looking up just above her field of vision to see a book hovering there, covered in a blue aura. "How did I do that?" She asked, in amazement, wondering how she did it? It just felt so natural, somehow -- and yet she couldn't quite reach down and feel it.

"Instinct." Twilight said, with a smile. "I do feel sorry about the teaching method though." Twilight said, with a frown. "I really shouldn't have used that method, but I was worried that you would give up otherwise." She said, turning away from the purple unicorn in dismay. "And I just knew that if you did it once you could do it again." She said, with optimism.

"What kind of method?" Cheerilee asked, with a frown.

Twilight sighed, looking down sadly -- the memories replaying themselves in her head. "The unicorns and pegasi of old weren't as always as tolerant as they are now." She said, with a deep frown. "And some unicorn families still follow the old regime. As do more than a few of the pegasi families." Twilight said, her tone going dark, and her expression stern. "For example, in those families that still follow the old ways, if a pegasus is having trouble flying then their parent's leave them on a cloud until they either fly, or it evaporates. And unicorns..." She said, remembering the fierce arguments that she'd used to overhear between her parents and grandparents -- during the period before the magic test, when her aptitude for magic remained academic only. She'd even remembered one or two of the lesson's her grandparents had given her when her parents were away on extended business (and she could still recall all the bumps and bruises she got from her grandparent's 'teaching methods'.) "... sometimes throw objects at their young to try to force their magic to activate via their self defense instinct."

"I understand." Cheerilee said, with a smile. "I kind of needed some sense knocked into me anyway." She said, her countenance returning.

Twilight lifted her hoof, prepared to give a lecture about just how dangerous this teaching method was -- but Cheerilee didn't need to hear it.

"And I promise that I will never do anything mean, stupid, or reckless like that." She said, giving Twilight a wink. "Ok Rarity?" She said, turning to her daughter/mentee. "You ready to go?"

"Ok Cheerilee!" Rarity said, carrying half the book's in the library, as well as half the library's many statues (she'd be carrying out the other half of the books and statues, but Twilight had wisely hidden them after the previous day's lesson.)

"Umm... Rarity!" Twilight shouted at the young alicorn. "Could I have those things back!?" She asked, loudly -- chasing after the rainbow haired pink foal alicorn.

"Awwww!!!!" Rarity sighed. "It's not my fault!" She said, dropping to the ground, with a pouty expression. "This new magic is soo much fun and..."

"Oh Rarity!" Cheerilee said, shaking her head, stenly -- it didn't have quite the same effect as she was having trouble containing her smile. "You know how much Twilight prefers her books where they are.

"I suppose." Rarity said, with a frown -- handing the massive pile of things back to Twilight, who grunted slightly under the magical load (apparently the eager young foal was getting better at this!)

Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes. "Oh and Rarity! Cheerilee!" She said, with a smile. "I want you both here for Twilight time tomorrow." She said, eagerly. The reason was simple, as Twilight still found it useful to have the young alicorn join the crusaders for Twilight Time, because she found that it was much easier to train the exuberant young alicorn if another young unicorn was around for her to learn with -- even if they both tended to be kind of excitable. Nevertheless, this was not without it's pitfalls, as the young alicorn crusader, herself, definitely caused at least as much havoc as the other three crusaders combined.

However, Rarity wasn't the only one that benefitted from the expanded Twilight time, it seemed that Cheerilee also to learn a lot from watching Sweetie's magical failings -- not to mention Rarity's.

"So see you tomorrow!" Twilight said, waving with a smile. "Ok..." Twilight thought to herself. "They're gone now. Now maybe I can get these books back onto the shelves, and get some work done and -- "

"HHEEEYYY Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, hanging down from the top of Twilight's door frame -- making monkey sounds, in between fits of giggles. "What are you up to?"

Twilight sighed. "Hey Pinkie." She said, deadpan, knowing full that she wouldn't have the quiet time to finish her work now (and wondering what she did to incur the wrath of the original Pinkie.) "What do you need?"

"Not much Twilight!" Pinkie said, with a wink. "I just wanted to see if Cheerilee was still here!" It's almost her one-week-magic-versery!" Pinkie said, shaking with excitement. "And I was hoping to give her an invitation!" She said, holding an invitation in her hoof somehow.

"Actually Pinkie -- " Twilight started, before being interrupted by the pink pony.

"Oh! Good point Twilight!" She said patting Twilight on her head "I almost forgot about Rarity's ascentionverary later this week!" Pinkie said, in horror. "I simply have to get some more party supplies before it's too late!" She shouted, jumping off into the distance. "I simply can't leave Rarity out!" She shouted into the distance. "There's no time to waste!" She shouted, breaking into a bounce. "I have to get ready for Cheerilee's adoption party! Oh! Oh! Oh! And her adoption-versary!!!"

"O.... Kay...." Twilight said, scratching her head with a quill, that was held in her magical field. "What was that all about?" She asked, inquisitorial -- feeling like she was in complete mystery.

Twilight took a second, to attempt to make sense of it all, then before shaking her head. "Oh well..." She thought, moving the books a few at a time back into place -- shaking her head frequently while doing so. Rarity could still definitely be a hoofful -- no wonder Cheerilee was kind of a basket case.

Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes -- her face starting to show bemusement. After all, this was Pinkie, that she was thinking about. Who could understand her?

In any case, she still had to return all the things that the little alicorn had carried away with her (yeah, it took a while longer for the filly to pick up magic, then Twilight had anticipated -- but, once she did, she took after it like a duck to water.)

Twilight looked through the collection of things still left on the ground. Amongst which was the book that she used to communicate with Sunset.

Twilight sighed, this was probably the last thing she wanted lying there. She meant: what if there was a problem in that strange world? What if Sunset was in trouble? Or what if some other ancient evil like the Dazzlings suddenly showed up and Sunset wasn't able to get a hold of her?

Nope! This was entirely unacceptable -- and Twilight knew it! "Oh well!" Twilight said to herself, picking the book up with her magic, and quickly skimming through the pages to look for damage -- as she was getting to the last page she read, a thumping could be heard downstairs, like somepony was breakdancing (or maybe falling on a treadmill.)

"Spike?" She shouted, down the stairs -- that led into her lab. "Is that you?" She asked, her heart starting to beat faster. "You'd better not be pulling a prank on me!" She shouted, slowly walking down the stairs, the panic growing with each step -- powering up her horn.

As she opened the door to the basement laboratory, she noticed something odd: a pony sprawled out on the floor. She frowned vehemently, silently steeling her resolve, and swallowing. "Who's down there?" She shouted, her fear slowly turning into anger -- who dared intrude on her personal space without her permission? "What are you doing down there?!" She shouted down at ....

"Pinkie Pie?!?!" She shouted, in utter astonishment, rushing down the stairs, at top speed -- her anger turning back to fear for her friend. Didn't the pink pony leave, just a moment before? And how did she get down into her basement without her knowing? And why was the pink party pony's hair deflated? And what happened to her? Why did she look so hurt!?

"Pinkie?" Twilight asked, approaching the pink pony, who was covered in bruises and scrapes (Twilight didn't know that they had come from her trying, unsuccessfully, to trott.) "Are you ok?" She asked of the pink pony, who's eyes quickly shot open -- a crazed expression on her face.

"What did you do with Sunset!" She shouted, leaping like an angry dog at the alicorn princess, and completely catching her off guard.

"Give her!!!! BACK!!!! NOW!!!!" She shouted, trying to kick Twilight, pathetically, with her front legs and hooves -- and trying, unsuccessfully, to gum her with her teeth (yeah, she wanted to bite, but ... flat teeth.) "Or I'll... I'll... Well you don't want to find out! You horse... mutant.... thing!!!" She shouted, her voice filled with venom and vitriol.

Twilight gulped, had her friend gone mad? "Pinkie!" Twilight shouted, as calmly as she could. "What are you talking about?" She said, trying to dodge her friend's flailing, by moving her head. "It's me Twilight!" She shouted, wondering if Discord had decided to do an encore of his return party, a couple of years back.

The pink pony looked back with a lost expression, tears welling up in her eyes. "Twilight?" Pinkie asked, in confusion -- as if a cloud was clearing up. "Is that really you?" She asked, confusion and disbelief in her voice. "Is this your true form?" She asked, her stare distant.

"Huh?" Twilight asked, in confusion. "Pinkie? What are you talking ab..."

"Is this your world?" Pinkie asked, falling in a lump, the tears flowing down her face. She had failed Sunset! Now Lord knew what became of the girl!

"Yes, it's our world!" Twilight said, wondering what was going through her friend's head. "You've..."

"Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, in utter despair. "They kidnapped Sunset, Twilight!" She said -- trying desperately to crawl off Twilight -- her anger turning into a waterfall of tears.

"What do you mean 'they kidnapped Sunset'?" Twilight asked, with a gulp. "Who kidnapped Sunset?" She asked of her friend's counterpart (Celestia was not going to be happy to hear this... Especially not after that whole alternate Sombra adventure!)

Upstairs the book began to glow, the writing beginning to appear on it, in Fluttershy's handwriting, appearing off the last fragments that Sunset wrote. "Twilight! Help! Fairies stole Sunset!"

**********

"Going somewhere?" Asked the lowest assassin on the totem pole to her higher ranked counterpart. "Shouldn't you be here when Lord Vladímir places the artifact around that pathetic unicorn's neck?" She asked, a sadistic expression on her face, as she proceeded to clean her face with her front leg.

"Uh huh..." Replied Phytolacca, nonchalantly -- a small amount of perturbation. "And I'm guessing you'll be watching the ceremony from your cauldron in that weirdo town you constructed north northwest of Manehatten!" He said, with a smirk, receiving the scowl he was hoping to receive from his counterpart.

"You know?" He asked, looking off distantly, his eyes darting towards the other assassin, a mischievous glint in them. "I wonder if the Queen, or Vladímir is happy with the idea of you forcing that witch to help you turn regular ponies into mindless drones." He said, getting up close to his female counterpart, and tapping her on the side.

"How is that any different than what the hive normally does?" She asked, stammering defensively.

"Oh... I don't know." He replied, nonchalantly. "Maybe because YOU AREN'T CHANGING ANYPONY INTO A CHANGELING!!!" He mouthed loudly, causing her to stumble back -- waving her hoof a him, and trying to shush him. "No! You just use some weirdo magic to steal their destiny, and strip them of their minds..." He said, tapping her on the shoulder. "Or should I say... Not you, but that pony -- yes pony -- witch that you have in your employ!" He said, as his compatriot's face exchanged it's normal expression for a kind of lost expression.

"Well you see..." Belladonna said, struggling for words. "I can exp -- "

"No need!" Phytolacca responded, with a smirk. "I won't talk about 'Our Town', if you don't talk about my princess hunting!" He replied, with a smile. "Agreeable?" She said, with a smirk -- having, once again, put one over on his compatrate.

Belladonna gave him an angry scowl. "And your two emblems?" She retorted, in question form.

Phytolacca scoffed back, waving at her with his hoof. "No need to even worry yourself with that," he said, turning around. "I've already found the bearers of one of my two, and arranged a meeting with Prince Vladímir." He said, with confidence, puffing out his chest.

"And the other one?" Belladonna replied, quirking an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about that." He said, putting a hoof on her wither. "I have our newest pony member -- and former drone -- out searching for it. She'll find my fourth bearer for me, and I can collect them once I finish my princess hunt." He said, stretching his wings, and flying towards a window. "So don't worry about it!" He shouted, feeling cocky, as he flew out a window.

Belladonna scowled angrily. She wasn't going to allow herself to be outshone by this pretender -- that was a fact! And she already had suspicions of whom her first bearer could be! (Of course she wouldn't act on those suspicions until the mare outlived her usefulness! She couldn't allow the prince to become too powerful too quickly, after all!)

**********

"Ok girls." Flash Sentry said sternly to his three passengers -- standing what used to be Breezie Blossom, at least they thought it used to be Breezie Blossom (it was hard to tell through all the devastation) -- before allowing them to disembark. "We have no idea what happened after your friend Rarity left Unicornia, so there's no telling what shape it could be in." He remarked, motioning to the two stallions who lowered to let the three earth ponies off.

Flash Sentry turned to the other two guards, taking charge. "Now, gentlecolts, I want you to fly a pattern overhead, and if you see signs of trouble -- or I give the signal -- then you are to arrange for an emergency pick up." He commanded, causing the colts to nod dutifully.

"Ok ladies, should we go?" Flash said, with a smile. "Could you lead the way, I'm not terribly familiar with the layout of your area," he said (much preferring to be the one to lead the way through this potentially hazardous terrain.)

"Why, of course, darling." Rainbow said, with a smile.

"But!" The pegasus stallion warned sternly. "Stay nearby me, incase I need to act in your defense," he stated, having brought four kinds of crossbow, two long swords, a short piercing blade, two samurai swords, and a war hammer.

Pinkie looked at him with a shocked expression -- the anger and hurt apparent on her face. "But Ponyville's a really safe and friendly place!" She said, sternly, her temper actually firing up.

Flash sighed, looking down, sadly. "That was before the changelings attacked." He said, the memories beginning to flow. Mommy! What's going on! ... No! Stay back! Mommy! What's with your wings? I didn't think earth ponies had wings like yours!... Run Flash! Run and don't look back!... What can't I stay, what the worst they will do... Don't ask!... Just trust me!... A Fluttering one has been detected, all units cease any and all feeding, any and all drones from this town are to be dispatched, prepare for --

"Darling?" Rainbow asked, causing the pegasus to shake his head. "Darling? Are you ok?" She asked, having noticed the pegasus holding his head against a toppled tree.

"I'm fine." Flash said, with a faux smile -- milking a false confidence, for all it was worth. "It's no big deal!" He lied. "But needless to say, whatever they did to your town is probably not going to be pretty!" He said shaking his head. "We'd best be going."

The scene at Breezie Blossom was less than pretty, Pinkie found one half of one of the topiaries that the Breezies had painstakingly carved out (in this case, a sculpture of giraffe carefully carved out of a bush) in two pieces, one in the lake, and one near the stumps of a few trees that had been cut down.

"Oh dear!" Pinkie said, with a frown picking up the pieces of one of the breezies houses (which had been constructed from a hollowed out flower.) "I hope no one was here when they stepped on this house." Pinkie said, in dismay -- a tear starting to crawl down her cheek. "Why would anyone do this."

If Flash could have distorted his hoof into a closed fist, like a G3 phoney, then he would have -- the memories streaming into his head again. Mama! Mama!... Why are you motioning me away mama!... It's a foal, somepony grab him!... Our orders are, upon discovery of a fluttering one, that no drones are to be made, nopony is to feed, and that there are to be ... Tiny Flash ducked his head as a sea of changelings were sent flying by one mighty flap of her mother's weird wings. Her wings weren't like any normal pegasus, and they looked nothing like the the changelings' wings? So what were they? They looked almost like moth wings and --

"Darling?" Rainbow said, causing the pegasus to shake his head. "You spaced out again, " she stated, in concern. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Terribly sorry about that." Flash said, with a frown, shaking his head for good effect. "My mind was wondering..." He said apologetically. "It's no way for a soldier like me to act at a moment like this," he said, with a sigh. "Not how a soldier should act at all..." So why was it all he wanted to do?

"Well very well then, darling." Rainbow said, with a smile. "But if you need to talk, darling, I would be more than happy to do so," she said, joining her pink friend, who had wandered off, despite dire warnings from Flash.

"Oh dear..." Pinkie said, having walked past what must have been the fifteenth or twentieth Breezie house she saw crushed under foot (this one originally carved out of a summer gord.) "This is terrible," she said, wondering further and further away, just looking at the horrors around her. "Who would do something mean like this? And why?"

Flash shook his head. Remember Flash! Don't badmouth them behind their backs. "The Queen can be ruthless when she wants to rid herself of something," Flash growled, actually sounding angry, for the first time... Ever! "Mommy!" Tiny Flash said, having returned from hiding in the woods for three long days. "Are you still there?" He asked the pile of... He wouldn't want me to say... but suffice it to say, it wasn't pretty... His little town along the border of the everfree, burnt to the ground.

"But what would the Queen have against the Breezies houses?" Pinkie asked, having experienced the horrors of the world, for the first time.

Flash shook his head... He could only guess... If only he could have been there! If only he had been strong enough to defend his mother then she wouldn't have d...

"Let's keep moving, darlings." Rainbow said, motivating the four ponies, all of whom looked either dejected, furious, or defeated. "Ponyville should be just over this br -- " She said, looking at the bridge, that was no longer there -- with the view of the large purple castle... (or pink after repaint for Pinkie's birthday, that never happened) That no longer existed...

"Oh dear..." Rainbow exclaimed, quickly joined by Pinkie, who gave a very similar response!

**********

"Is anypony still there?" Mini Flash asked, looking at the burned and destroyed ruins of his village. The whole village had been wrecked, and as best he could tell all the ponies ... well... no drones were made that day, and no ponies were standing there when he returned. And the ground had been salted to ensure that nothing would grow there again (the search team later confirmed his worst fears, the only ponies that remained... on this plane... were him and the town drunk, who had hidden themselves in a cider barrel.

"Hello?" Asked a guard in gold armor. "Is any pony still around?"

"I'm here!" Shouted mini Flash, panic stricken on his face -- as he raced towards the guard. "I've lost my mother, and I can't find her! Please help me!"

The guard nodded, a sorry expression on his face. "Let's take a look."

Flash shook his head, everything about this reminded him of his home. How many ponies were lost here? He asked himself, his anger slowly turning into a sense of melancholy -- his hoof mentally held in a violent first.

"Oh dear!" Pinkie said, with a defeated expression, as she looked at the shambles of her two story balloon themed house. Apparently, not just had someone torn it down to the ground, but they dug a hole under it... for some reason... All of her prized possessions had either been looted, or destroyed, and she was none too happy about it. "Why would someone do something so mean, and thoughtless?"

Things weren't much better for Rainbow Dash, who had run off at about the same time as Pinkie -- both leaving Flash Sentry in their dust. Her house had also been raised to the ground, as had the tiny kite shop she kept behind her house. "Oh dear..." Rainbow said, with dismay. "Without my kite shop, however shall I sell those kites now?" She asked, shaking her head. The memories from her non frilly life coming into her head. "Lady Rainbow! One of the fluttering ones has been discovered in this town!... Well, captain! You know what needs to be done then!" Oh... She just wanted to shake her head. Was this how those that she fought felt? Had she, really, been this big of a monster? Was it possible that that horrible pony, Discord, had done her a favor when he took her memory away of that wretched existence?

Minty raced past the Sweet Shop... Or rather what was left of it!

Not good! Not good at all! She thought to herself, shaking her head. Everything was wrecked, and broken! But why?

Wait! Maybe there was still hope! Maybe the Blommin' Blossoms Shop was open!... Nope... Gone...

Maybe the Twist and Style Petal Parlour! Minty bet that once Daffidazey fixed the monsters doos all of Ponyville would be completely out of doo doo... Hmm... Wait... Didn't Daffidazey say that at some point? Oh well! Her shop was most certainly... Razed... To the ground... Minty frowned. This was depressing. But don't worry, dear fans! She wasn't depressed for long!

Why? Because Minty was not deterred! And wouldn't be defeated this easily! Something was not broken! Ponyville had too many great places and cool shops! Something was fine! It had to be! The hat store? Nope... The Wonder Waves Surf Shop!... No... Super Sundaes Ice Cream Parlor... Was she kidding! She didn't even need to look.

She thought to herself with a frown! Counting the town's attractions, one at a time... She knew! The Celebration Selon! They already broke the Petal Parlour, and since the Salon was redundant then they must certainly... ... ... ... ... Destroyed it twice...

Ok... What about the Boutique? Nope...

Twinkle Twirl's dance studio? Nope IT WAS GONE TOO!!

She shouted to herself with a whine, on the verge of going ferril. They were gone!!! Everything was gone!!!!

Was anything sacred? Heck the cotton candy cafe had been torn down (Cotton Candy would be sooo depressed to see this, and the sign left buried half in the dirt.) "Dang you!" Minty shouted, herself finally going farril. "You maniacs!! You squished it up!!! Dang you!!! Dang you all to..." She paused for a second, where was she going with this? "Where should they be danged to again?" She asked herself, trying to remember the rest of the quote from the movie that they had watched like ten weeks ago. Dang you all to the Rainbow Wishes Amusement Park? Yeah! That had to be it! "You maniacs!!! You Squished it up!!! Dang you!!! Dang you all to the Rainbow Wishes Amusement Park!!!!" She shouted angrily... Speaking of which! Maybe it was still there? The green mare could hope! And with everyone gone, and everything squished... Well? Maybe she could get in for half fare!

**********

Flash sentry was finished, it was time to go! He just had to leave, lest he lose what was left of his sanity! This was why he joined the guard! He joined it so those monsters would never do to anypony else what they did to him and his town! He bowed his head in shame -- a lot of good he had done for this town... "I'm sorry mommy!" He said, with a frown -- on the verge of breaking down. "Am I really helping anypony?" He asked, wondering what use he had been. Since joining the EUP he had quickly risen in ranks -- always hoping to make more of a difference, to set things right -- eventually raising all the way to the rank of royal guard. He frowned, realizing that no sooner had his meteoric rise finished with him on top, then he had been immediately been reduced to Twilight's personal criar, a position he lothed (well he loved the princess, but he hated being the worthless guy who's only purpose was to shout that she was arriving -- he wasn't even allowed to defend her, that was somepony else's job.) Should he quit the guard? Was he just wasting his, and everypony else time? But what about the promise he made that day? What about the promise he made the day his cutie mark appeared? His promise to protect? His promise to be halfway across Equestria in a moment's notice? Was it a lie? Was everything a lie? Was his own cutie mark a lie?

"Darling?" Rainbow asked, having returned from the remains of her place -- her face filled with sorrow. "It looks like you are suffering as much as we are, darling." She said, standing on only her back legs, and putting one hoof on his withers. "Do you want to talk about it? I mean, darling, you don't know us or our town, darling -- as much as I hate to admit it."

Flash shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it!" He said, with a frown. "You wouldn't understand." He said, lowering his head, and looking at the ground.

"Let me guess, darling, you feel loss as well, someone you know?" Rainbow retorted, trying to get him to open up.

"My town," he stated quietly, the dams beginning to break. "I lost my town and my family to these monsters."

"Did they turn them into horrible mindless drones?" Rainbow asked in horror -- thinking about the ponies shambling along as mindless zombie bug ponies.

"No!" Flash exclaimed, shaking his head. "They were gone, the only thing I ever found from the inhabitants of my village were my mother's wings." He said, remembering the bottle he put over his mantle, containing those wings to remind him of his promise.

"Wings like yours?" Rainbow asked, in horror.

"No!" Flash replied, shaking his head. "Her wings were very unique."

"You don't mean they looked like a moth's, or butterflies'?" Rainbow asked, in horror -- a thought occurring to her, the lady coming to mind.

Flash nodded. "I never saw wings like those on a pony before that day, or after it," he said, turning to walk away -- having knocked her arm off his wither.

Rainbow held her head, every fiber of her being wanting to turn against him. In the end though, her new identity was stronger than her old one. "I'm sorry to hear that, darling." Rainbow said, with a sigh. "It seems to be an ancient instinct left with our kind since our creation." Rainbow said, starting to walk away. "If we see a fluttering one, or a traitor, then we have to get rid of them and any that harbor them, and that meant your whole town."

Flash looked away, himself fighting his own instinct. "Let's get out of here," he said, wanting to walk away. "Everything is gone... And -- "

Pinkie galloped in, her voice filled with glee. "Don't worry!" She said, with a chuckle. "Everything else maybe gone, but I found one building still standing!" She said, motioning to a pretty nondescript pink house, with hearts everywhere. "It's Minty's house!!!"

"Oh that's excellent news, darling!" Rainbow said, her joviality returning. "That's excellent news, indeed, Pinkie darling! Now all we have to do is show Minty and -- " She said, as a butterfly landed on top of the house.

The house quickly crumbled right where it stood.

"Oh dear..." Rainbow said, her eyes wide like saucers, and her mouth hanging wide open.

"What are we going to do now?" Pinkie asked, her own mouth hanging wide open, and her own eyes as big as saucers.

"What's everyone going?" Minty asked -- having returned from the ruins of the amusement park --, galloping up herself. "Did you find all the slime and gunk that Flash was describing?" She asked, as Pinkie just started pointing at the ruins of Minty's house.

"What's over there?" Minty asked, looking all around. "Can I ask twenty questions?"

"Your house, darling!" Rainbow said, in utter horror -- stammering as the last remaining piece of her Ponyville stood in ruins on the ground.

"Yeah..." Minty said, tapping her muzzle with her hoof. "It's a dump..." She said, motioning with her hoof.