Equestria's Peril

by KJay

Chapter 12: When All Seems Lost

The once vibrant blue sky that hung over Canterlot had now turned to a foreboding blood red. The sun, and moon just halted, and were stagnant, facing one another, each halfway cresting over the opposite horizon The planes grew dark. The shadows had spread faster than a virus. Most were able to escape, but some were not so lucky. The Royal sister's fates: undetermined. The elements: vanished. Everything had transitioned so suddenly, one would wonder 'what hope is there?' Even when the light fades, hope still lies within darkness. For where there is darkness, there is light, and where there is light, there is hope. There is always hope.

"NO! ...........K THI..............IS IS NOT HAPPE.............!" Kelly's hearing faded in and out. It sounded like Daniel was having a panic attack.

"......you hav..........ng to be oka..........!" Someone was with them, a woman?

"Twiligh...........e up Kell...........handle this." Were they talking about him? Kelly felt conciously awake, but his body refused to move. He then realized how exhausted he suddenly was. he felt like he could sleep for an entire day.

"K...y?" He could barely feel someone prodding him. His eyes were slightly opened, but it was like looking through the murkiest water. Only blurriness, and distortion.

"....unbeliev....................razy........AMMIT!" He could hear his friend again.

".........lease..........wake u............" Kelly gave his best effort to respond, but the most he could do was jerk his body sluggishly.

"Oh............going to.......?" More people? Kelly was slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He could now hear a bit better than before.

"I'LL CALM DOWN ONCE..............ORMAL SELF!" Daniel shouted. Kelly's eyes opened a little more, but his vision was still misconstrued.

".....guys, he's waki.......up!" Kelly could see more people approaching him. For some reason, it almost made him panic. "..elly? Kelly?" He looked up to see a lavender haze standing over him. As time went by, he could feel his nerves rebooting. He tried to speak.

"...I...I..." Without warning a sharp pain contracted through his body, starting from his feet to his temples. "AAGH!" The jolt of pain finally sharpened his senses, but lingered in his legs, and his arms. With his vision restored, he took a few long breaths, and made a second attempt. "T...Twilight?" He felt her nuzzle his cheek.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" He didn't turn his head, but only moved his eyes to look around, since the energy or sensation in his muscles had yet to return.

"Twilight...what happened...is everyone...okay?" His words were somewhat breathless. Twilight looked away from him.

"Well, everypony here is okay." She looked back at him. "We don't know whats happened to the Princess', Spike, Cadance, or my brother."

"JUST STOP! I'll calm down on my own!" Kelly could hear Daniel, but was facing away from him.

"Y'all keep on rantin' and stumblin' like that and yer gonna hurt yourself!" Applejack barked at him.

"What the hell is that kid going on about?" Kelly chuckled softly. Twilight backed up to give him some space.

"Um, perhaps it'd be best if you saw for yourself." She smiled nervously. Kelly blankly stared for a few more seconds. When he tried to roll over, a tingling sensation tickled his entire body, like one might feel when their hand is asleep. He ignored it, and forced his tired limbs around. His arm flopped back onto the ground, and caught Kelly's attention immediately. When he first saw it, he figured he was still delirious, and blinked while shaking his head. When he looked again, nothing changed. His entire arm was a deep blue, and he lacked fingers. Now unsettled, and a bit disturbed, he looked ahead to find his friend.

Instead of the familiar troublemaker he had known for so long, a bright red stallion could be seen stumbling about, and snapping angrily at anyone who got near him.

"For the last fucking time! I Don't need your-WHOOA!" Daniel clumsily tripped over his own hooves, and faceplanted into the dirt. Applejack rolled her eyes, and casually trotted over to him.

"Ah told ya so." Daniel clenched his teeth in humiliation.

"Stow it." He wobbily stood. AJ got in his face, angered by his attitude.

"Now don't y'all start with me! In fact, ah actually have a bone to pick with you! Both of ya!" She turned her glare on Kelly. Rarity hadn't said a word, but spoke up for the boys.

"Now, Applejack, we all agreed that we would make the time to sort that out, but now is not that time." Kelly guessed they were reffering to the boys knowing about Equestria, as well as them before they had arrived.

"NO, Rarity! All were doin' is sittin' here 'til Rainbow finds out where we are! If ya ask me, ah think now is the best time to find out what that demon was talking about!" She confirmed his suspicion. Kelly stretched and flexed his muscles trying to make the feeling in them return. He then pushed himself up with his forelegs.

"OW! ugh..." As he moved, the pain returned mildly. Regardless of his new appearance, he pushed himself onto his hind legs by instinct, but lazily fell back onto all fours since trying to balance on four hooves was a chore, let alone two.

"Can you stand okay?" Fluttershy asked him. Kelly stood completely still, while his limbs wobbled. He shook them to get rid of the shakiness, and was already making better progress than his friend, who was still having trouble coping with his transformation.

"I don't believe this." Kelly whispered to himself.

"How the hell are you doing that?!" Daniel's frustration grew as he struggled to even stand still.

"It's not that hard, maybe if you'd stop freaking out." Kelly just stared at the ground as he responded, and was still mentally processing what was happening.

"How do you CALM DOWN?! We are PONIES, and apparantly, we are also LOST!" AJ was getting fed up with the former human.

"Will ya stop thinkin' 'bout yerslf fer two seconds?! We're all in trouble here, and who knows what's happened to everypony else!"

"Just drop it, Applejack." Kelly intervened. "When he gets like this, there's no reasoning with him. It would be best to just leave him be for now." The orange mare gave him a cold look, but only huffed in response. Daniel fell over once again, but didn't attempt to get back up. He sighed in exasperation, and defeat. "How on Earth did we get this way!" Kelly looked to Twilight, desperate for an answer.

"It had to have been the shard." She answered quietly.

"The shard?" Kelly repeated.

"Yes. That book that you brought me, it explained everything related to the shard fragment that Celestia's scholars had found. The book told that although these shards have the capacity to perform magical feats, without both pieces together, then the outcome can sometimes be...undesirable." Kelly understood, but was still trying to process everything.

"So what you're saying is, the Princess used the shard as a last-ditch effort?"

"Yes, and It must have twisted your DNA somehow, and turned you and Daniel this way. It's not for certain, but it is the most likely explanation."

"Well that's just fan-fuckin'-tastic!" Daniel bellowed. Kelly was ready to try walking, until he spotted his clothes on the ground where he had awoken. Immediately, his face was burning.

"Is something wrong, dear?" Rarity took note of his blush. Kelly responded by sitting, and shying away. Stallion or not, being outdoors and in the nude felt unbelievably disconcerning. He nodded to his wrinkled casual wear.

"Oh...well...don't worry, I'm sure you'll get use to it." Rarity didn't sound too reassuring, but Kelly gave his thanks anyway. He glanced past Twilight, and saw Pinkie sitting in a patch of leaves.

"Is Pinkie okay?" He asked.

"She's just a little down-hearted right now, thats all." Fluttershy answered. "I'm gonna go cheer her up." Though she was sad, Pinkie's hair was still conformed to it's cotton candy style. Kelly then looked around. They were in a forest that almost mimicked the Everfree, but not so dense, as many patches in the trees would be able to let light in. That thought brought a question to him.

"Do we know how long we've been here?" Twilight shook her head.

"No, and what's worse, there doesn't seem to be any change in the time of day. We've been awake for a while, but from what I can see, the sky has not changed color, though it is probably next to night time."

"Ah still wanna know what's up with you two!" Applejack spoke up. "What was Ferindher talkin' about when he said that y'all had known about us, and Equestria for months?!" This time, Twilight didn't say anything, she looked at Kelly intentively. Kelly cringed, and looked at Daniel, who was now slowly standing.

"Kelly?" Rarity prodded, also wanting an answer. Kelly stood again, much more confident in his posture, but scared of how to explain.

"I...I don't..."

"You want to know how we knew?" Daniel clumsily walked towards them with annoyance in his tone. "Because where were from, you're all just a make-believe cartoon." There was no remorse in his words. His cruel bluntless, and insensitivity set Kelly off.

"Daniel, shut the FUCK up!" Daniel glared at his friend with fire in his eyes.

"You are so lucky I can't walk straight."

"HOLD ON A MINUTE!" Applejack interrupted their squabble. "Did you just say...make-believe?"

"Yep." Daniel responded, uncaring. AJ looked at Twilight confused.

"Are you being serious? Kelly, is he serious?" Twilight asked. Kelly desperately tried to think of a gentler way to explain. He lowered his head in shame.

"Okay...so...you know how you have projectors?" Twilight nodded, remebering the one she had showed him a while back. "And Twilight, you remember me telling you about how we have the same kind of thing, just more advanced?"

"Yes." Kelly paused for a while, then continued.

"Well, alot of the things that you all do, like being around one another, or even adventures that you go on. We can see all of that." He waited for a response before continuing.

"I...I don't understand." Rarity chimed.

"I know...it's...really hard to explain." No one spoke for the longest time. So far Twilight, AJ, and Rarity were the only ones to hear this revelation. Fluttershy, and Pinkie were out of earshot, and Dash had yet to return.

"What do y'all mean you can see us?" AJ pressed on. Kelly made sure he answered first to keep Daniel from saying something that they would both regret.

"Ever since Twilight first came to Ponyville, that's when we've been able to watch your adventures."

'Speak for yourself, I've only seen a few episodes.' Daniel thought to himself. The three mares looked concerningly at one another.

"This is...quite the baggage." Twilight said blankly.

"Ah don't know if ah believe him or not." AJ was skeptical on such a direct confession. Kelly sighed, having to prove his words.

"Applejack, remember the lesson you learned when you went to that rodeo. The one you were going to win in order to repair town square." Applejack looked at him in mild disgust. "You were ashamed that you didn't get first place, so everyone had to come looking for you-"

"Enough." She stopped him. Kelly could feel guilt welling up inside him.

"Applejack...I'm so sorry. I know this is alot to take in, but please...don't be mad. Please." She looked at the ground. Then to Daniel, who returned the look with a sign of disgrace. When she looked back at Kelly, she didn't seem angry at all. Kelly could only guess it was a mixture of confusion, and sadness. "Daniel, say something." Kelly urged. Daniel squinted.

"What the hell do you want me to..." He stopped when he took a long hard look at AJ. He glanced at his friend, and Kelly gestured for him to speak.

"...Applejack. I...I'm sorry for what I said, but what Kelly says is true. I can't imagine how this must sound to you, but please, I...we...never meant to hurt you." Kelly was relieved that his friend had come to his senses. She looked at him with what Daniel hoped was sympathy. Still her emotions were somewhat unreadable. "Applejack...please..." Daniel proceeded to walk towards her. AJ closed her eyes.

"I'm gonna go check on those two." The farm pony dragged herself towards Fluttershy and Pinkie. Daniel halted, taking the hint. Twilight approached Kelly, and all Kelly could utter was.

"...I'm so sorry."

"How could you keep something like this from us?" She sounded more hurt rather than furious. The overwhelming guilt was making Kelly tear up, forcing him to looked away. Twilight left him soon after to be with herself. Kelly sat, unable to move. The damage that had been done made him want to disappear until he could compose himself. To his dismay, Rarity trotted up to him.

"Rarity." Daniel wanted his friend to be left alone. Rarity silently tried to tell him that she was not prepared to lash at him, but Daniel was wary of what she would say.

"Kelly?" He looked at her with a single tear staining his fur-covered face. She smiled at him, trying to show him she wasn't upset. Kelly looked at the ground.

"I never wanted things to get this bad, Rarity, I swear!"

"It's okay." She touched his shoulder. "It's okay." She repeated.

"No. No, it's not."

"Listen. I want you both to know, that I do not think any less of you. I don't know how or why something such as what you've said could be possible, but in the short time I have known you two...I just know that you are not bad people." Kelly shook his head, despite her sincere tone.

"How can you just shrug this off?" Rarity frowned.

"I can't really. It still bothers me of course, but...I know that if we all let this go too deep instead of worrying about the real problem, then what can we do to stop Ferindher?" Kelly could vaguely see her point.

"We have to make this right." Kelly proclaimed.

"If you want to make this right, then you'll give them time. Daniel, I'm sure AJ is more shocked than she is angry. Just give her some space for now. In time, she will forgive you." Daniel seemed unconvinced.

"Yeah...I hope you're right." Daniel responded meekly.

"Pinkie, Dash...and Fluttershy still don't know." Kelly added, then closed his eyes. Rarity helped him to stand again.

"Well, if Applejack isn't busy telling them, then maybe you should wait until they're ready as well as you."

"She's going to hate me." Kelly said blankly. Rarity knew who he meant, and that what he said wasn't true, but couldn't think of the right words to help him see otherwise. "What about Twilight?"

"Like I said, this is big, and it's left quite the shock, but I know that neither of you never meant for things to turn out like this. I won't dwell about how you two know about us. You are our friends now, and that's what matters. As for Twilight, she just needs time to think too." No one said anything for a moment. After Kelly pulled himself together, he spoke.

"Rarity...I'm so sorry...and...thank you." She smiled at him.

"Right now, we just have to worry about where we are." Daniel slowly made his way over to his friend.

"Hey, what do you say we get used to our new selves while we wait for Rainbow to get back?" Kelly looked at the sky through the trees.

"Um...sure...that sounds good."

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Luna did her best to coddle her sister, but Celestia had fallen into a funk, now that she had let Canterlot slip through her hooves, as well as the citizens that weren't able to escape. They had been walking for an unclear amount of time, since they had not focused their power on shifting the celestial bodies yet. Spike at first had been distraught due to being seperated from Twilight, but after Celestia had managed to sooth him, he had fallen asleep on the alicorn's back.

"You cannot keep blaming yourself sister!" Luna was gentle, but direct.

"Of course I can, I was their Princess, and I let them down." Celestia looked away from her sibling.

"No. Thou did what you could. Besides, not all is lost, we were able to evacuate most of our subjects, and surely Twilight Sparkle and her friends made it out."

"But with Ferindher at his full power, we have no way of reaching the elements."

"We will think of something, sister." Luna concluded before falling back to check in with Shining Armor. The royal Princess' along with Shining were making their way out of the boundaries of Equestria's to escape Ferindher's grasp. With them were a large amount of citizens from multiple settlements. They were leading them anywhere that was safer until Celestia could find some way to fix this mess. "How is everypony?" Luna asked worried of the answer.

"Well, we have a few smaller families that weren't able to grab alot of essentials before we left. Most are fatigued from walking, and our remaining guards are on all sides to make sure we're not attacked or nopony wanders off." Luna frowned, but reminded herself that things could be worse.

"How much further can we go until we need to rest?" Shining turned back to see countless tired faces, and worn out fillys and colts.

"Not very far." He spoke somberly. Luna nodded in grief.

"I'll let her know." She then left Shining to his thoughts. The Captain glanced sadly back at the herd of ponies.

"Cadance...please be okay." Luna caught back up with her elder sister.

"We need to rest soon." At first, Celestia showed disapproval, but reconsidered once she saw how miserable her subjects were. She was reluctant to comply.

"...Okay. We'll take shelter at the entrance of that gorge." She nodded to a narrow passage that curved away a few hundred feet down. "Get guards on both ends to look out for wildlife, or shadows...if they're still searching."

"Yes, Tia." About a half hour went by once everyone was settled in somewhere. They all took the opportunity to get some needed sleep, since the sun should have set hours ago. Once everything was maintained, Luna lay next to her sister. "Now would be the best time to move the sun, and make way for the moon, so that everypony can properly rest." Celestia looked at the orange sky, a refreshing sight compared to the red sky that now haunted Equestria's Capitol.

"Agreed. Perhaps Twilight, and her friends will see. It will let them know that we're okay. I only wish I could be sure of their well being." Luna nudged her.

"Do not worry, we shall find them. They can handle themselves, along with the help of the humans." Celestia felt better to have her sister by her side through this.

"Good night, Luna."

"Good night, Tia."

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No one said a word as everyone anticipated Dash's return. Twilight, and Applejack had found places to lie down, but could not catch any sleep. Fluttershy, and Pinkie decided to lift their spirits, and pass the time with endless games of tic-tac-toe. Rarity had been aiding the boys with getting use to being stallions. Kelly didn't really mind being this way, but after they had only been able to use their swords with their mouths, not to mention the lack of simple motor skills, he was starting to miss fingers, and the limit of two legs. Daniel on the other hand was fed up with it the moment he woke up. He had considered asking Twilight for a way to reverse it, but ultimately deemed that as a bad idea. After a grueling thirty minute wait, everyone could faintly hear the flapping of pegasus wings.

"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity searched the sky throught the leaves. Rainbow nearly startled her when she appeared suddenly from the trees, and did a final flip before landing. All at once, everyone trotted towards her, waiting patiently for the news. Rainbow stretched her tired wings, and had a melancholy look about her.

"I'm sorry everypony. I flew as far as my wings could take me but...nothing looks familiar. I just...don't know where we are." Everyone hung their heads low, and tried to hide their panic. Daniel was the first to speak.

"So, what do we do?" Before anyone could suggest their next action, Twilight used her magic to part a large number of branches.

"Look!" Everyone could now see the faintest horizon, as well as the sun sinking out of view. "The sun is setting! The Princess' are okay!" The mixture of being hopelessly lost, and the Princess' condition produced a hardly enthusiastic cheer.

"Well then, I guess the only thing we can do now is get some shut-eye." Pinkie noticed the moon slowly climbing the darkening sky, and surprised the others with her semi-serious tone.

"Now that you mention it, I am pretty bushed." Rainbow, didn't bother asking about the boy's secret. For the moment, she had forgotten about it, and soon found a soft patch of grass to lie down on. "It's not exactly a fluffy cloud, but it'll do. Wait, what am I thinking?!" The cyan pegasus then soared past the trees and rested on a luxurious cloud overhead.

Fluttershy looked around to see Kelly taking the grassy patch for himself. He caught her gaze.

"Oh...did you want to sleep here, Fluttershy?" She shook her head, and flew upwards to join Dash. Daniel had begun pacing, and was becoming noticably unhinged.

"But, what are we gonna do about food? Or hygiene? How are we even going to know where to GO?!" Pinkie zipped over to him.

"Stop worrying yourself, Danny. We can figure out what to do in the morning." Daniel wasn't convinced.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man! This is bad!" Pinkie tried again.

"Just...think about something that makes you smile." She said with a wide grin.

"Pinkie, please. I'm...I'm just gonna go to bed." Her smile faded.

"Okie dokie...um. Don't worry, things will turn out okay."

"Yeah..." He replied half-heartedly. After the light of day had vanished completely, everyone was fast asleep. Kelly, and Daniel had different grass clearings to sleep on. Twilight slept by herself next to a tree stump, a magic blanket of leaves covered her. Pinkie slept a little ways between Daniel and Kelly, and snored in a goofy manor. Rarity was the last to have fallen asleep since she had made an attempt to tidy up the small piece of Earth she had chosen. Applejack used her hat to cushion the surface of a moderately smooth rock. The warm summer weather made sleeping outdoors that much more bearable. Kelly stirred in his sleep. Prior events, along with the returning guilt of keeping the secret that he did agitated his subconscience. It had been years since he had had a legitimate nightmare.

He tossed all the way around once, and mumbled frantically. The touch of a hoof on his side finally jolted him awake.

"WHA-no, I'm sorry!" He blinked rapidly, slowly realizing his dream had only been just that. "God..." He muttered. He then squinted in the darkness to see who had disturbed him. His gaze softened when he saw a pair of soft blue eyes staring back. "...Fluttershy?" She took a step forward, and then bowed her head timidly.

"Um...can I lay next to you? Rainbow Dash's snoring woke me up." Kelly wore a confused look, and wondered if he was lucid dreaming.

"Um...yeah, of course." He scooched over to where Fluttershy's entire frame could rest on just grass, and no dirt.

"Thank you." She folded her forelegs under her, and laid her head on her hooves. Kelly slid over a few more inches, scared to even touch her. Fluttershy sighed deeply.

"Good night." Her voice soothed him so, that he could barely say anything back.

"Um...good night." He slowly closed his eyes, and drifted between awareness, and the dream scape. Time seemed to slow down, but fly by at the same time. His nerves shifted him awake yet again as he felt the canary pony place her tail over his torso. Her face was much closer to his, as he felt her steady breathing on his cheek. He briefly pondered how much time had gone by. The clash of overwhelming happiness, and shock made him wonder if he should move. He wondered if she had meant to come this close, or if she had just been turning in her sleep. He kept his eyes on her for a few minutes. Having made up his mind, he then smiled to her, and laid his head back down to where their muzzles were just barely touching. Sleep found him almost instantly, and for the remainder of the night, all of the bad dreams had gone far far away.

Comments

[Agile Swift]

NOOOOOOO! I hate it when writers
Have a perfectly good HIE then they make the human a pony that's what I hate

[megazerik]

1472858 thats when everything gets silly