• Published 5th Jun 2015
  • 660 Views, 66 Comments

Identity - Hyper44



A young pony wakes up outside ponyville, injured and with her memory gone. A strange unicorn, a group trying to spread equality and ponies with evil intent eventualy all links back to her.

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Hidden Well

Later that morning Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walked out of the hidden room with the eight ponies and one dragon. It appeared though that Lightning Jolt, Ember Light and Valentine had been replaced by three different earth ponies.

"Those are some pretty cool disguises." Spike remarked. "Unless you know them well they wont even remind you of them. Maybe not even then."

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were pacing around the three ponies making sure that the disguises were perfect. Valentine was having the least about of trouble with it though it was a shame to see her pretty pink and red colors gone. They were replaced by a dull brown coat and her hair was a single bland shade of green. For Lightning Jolt and Ember Light it was discomforting not being able to feel one's wings or one's horn. Celestia had assured them that she had made sure he would be able to use his horn and Lightening Jolt her wings if necessary but it would make them visible. She had also taught Ember Light how to recast and undo the spell if needed. His magnificent colors that adorned his coat had been turned into a splotchy black. This made him look like a black stallion that had rolled in ashes. His mane and tail was a dark brown.

Lightning Jolt had been turned grey, a dull grey without any touch of silver. Her hair was black and not even a jet black. On top of that Celestia and Luna had adjusted their appearances ever so slightly. Their eyes were all the same color to make them appear as relatives as well as the similar dull colors. Lighting Jolt looked at if she had put on a few pounds, Ember Light looked a little shorter and Valentine looked a little taller. From looking in a mirror they had to agree, unless one knew them well they would not even remind them of their former selves. Even their voices were slightly on different pitches when they spoke. As an extra measure the colors the princesses had chosen were unattractive for a reason. This would cause any passersby to not likely to look at them for very long.

"Alright, do you remember everything I told you?" Celestia asked after they decided that the disguises were perfect.

They all nodded and the monarchs looked to the other six. "And do you?"

"Aw, come on, why can't we visit them?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What if this takes forever and-"

"Their safety is more important." Luna interrupted. "Thou going on trips over there will attract eyes to their location. Even if in disguises it would bring risks as well as ponies will wonder why thou keeps going there. If this does take time then for the good of thy companions thou must make public trips here in the castle to pretend to visit thy friends and not their true location. All must be done to keep up the ruse until our opponents make their move."

"Come on Rainbow Dash, it's for the best." Twilight said putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"Fine!" Rainbow Dash consented crossing her forehoofs, "But I want to know when their caught. Somepony messing with one of my friends, pffft! That doesn’t happen, not with them getting away with it."

The two monarchs gave the ponies and dragon time to say goodbyes once again. Then Lightning Jolt, Valentine and Ember Light stepped back from their friends. The horns of the two princesses lit up and they vanished in a puff of light.

The rest of them walked out of the first room and past the guards, some of which did not even know that the chamber they were guarding was empty. Only a select few did and one would be there at all times. Only he or she would go in to pretend to deliver things to their guests.

* * *

The trio appeared inside a covered wagon that was serval buildings away from the castle. It was a large supply warehouse that had many floors. They of course could not see it. They were on the bottom floor laying on top of stacks of folded blankets. None could stand up with the heavy wooden top closed over them. It was held with hinges on one side and a lock on the other. They all remained quiet not knowing if anypony was in the room. Princess Celestia had told them that not even the pony who was going to pull the cart knew that they were in there. It at least had small cracks that they could peer through but it was limited and moving around could make noise that would be easily noticed in this quite place. Suddenly they heard a heavy door being opened and the sounds of the street now filtered inside the building. They heard a pony walk over to the cat and hitch himself up. With a jerk it began rolling out.

The trip was smooth with the Canterlot streets being so well paved. The wagon swayed slightly with the stallion's movements and the voices of other ponies on the street could be heard clearly.

Now that it was rather noisy the three ponies, ever so gently and slowly inched over to slits in the wood so that they could peer out. Through the narrow gaps they glimpsed well-dressed ponies walking through the streets and decorated buildings lining the path. It seemed as if no pony paid attention to the cart and why should they?It was just another delivery going down the street.

They knew the name of the place that they were going to but not where it was in Canterlot. The princesses had explained before the disguises were applied to them. They were headed to a sort of refugee housing area. Years ago when one of her most trusted guards had retired from his top ranking position but he did want to stop serving. He had founded a church in Canterlot and its main mission was to help other soldiers, actively serving our otherwise. They provided for the needs of their families, physical, mental or emotional recoveries or just providing a place to stay or ear to listen. From there they began taking in refugees from disasters, or war, even if Equestria was not involved. There were the abandoned or those who simply suffered a financial loss, nopony was refused help, save maybe those whose only need was to stop looking for a constant free handout when there were other ponies who actually needed the help.

That was the first reason why the princesses had chosen to send them here. Ponies came and went constantly, either looking for help or coming to volunteer. The second was that though everypony knew about this place it didn't gain much attention for ponies who were without troubles. The third was that it was full of ponies from the royal guard that were retired but had never stopped being loyal soldiers. This way they could be surrounded by guards but not look out of the ordinary. Celestia had sent them a message ahead of time informing them of her plan and setting up their arrival. She didn't want to just teleport them inside any of the buildings since there was always the chance of somepony seeing or hearing and she didn't want them to be seen leaving the castle either. They still didn't know just how wise or observant their opponents were so all precautions were taken.

Once they arrived their main guardian Iron Clad, the founder of the church would make sure than no pony was in that room or any of the connecting rooms. He would then take them further inside and introduce them as ponies who had just walked off the street as many ponies do. He would introduce them by their aliases, Grey Pelt, Evergreen and Ash Coat and they would just become one of the many ponies joining the volunteers. From there they would wait until their attackers were caught.

The trip seemed to take quite a while. Canterlot was a big city. From their views the trio could see that the buildings had become more homely. They were still more upscale than most places in Equestria since this was a capital city after all but definitely more homely. From this they knew that they were getting near the outskirts of the city where the elites did not frequent much. After turning down a few more roads the cart finally rolled up to a large building. They couldn't seem much of it through the slats but it looked big. They heard the pony unhitch and call out to someone. A gruff voice answered back and heavy hoofs walked over what sounded like steps. This pony they took to the Iron Clad since the voice was just what one expected of a guard of that name.

They couldn't hear much of what they were saying since the ponies had moved away. It wasn’t long before the delivery pony was paid and they felt the second pony start pulling the cart. When a shadow fell over them they knew that they were inside. Quickly they came to a stop and they heard a door sliding shut behind them.

Lightning Jolt, Ember Light and Valentine still remained quiet since they could not be sure that this was the pony that was to meet them. That was the purpose of the lock, just in case the wrong pony tried to open it. It was a little claustrophobic to be locked inside of a cart but Celestia had assured that they could actually open it from the inside in that was needed.

There was a thud on the outside of the cart that made them all jump. Later they would lean that it was the lock being kicked off. The hinges creaked as the top was opened. The three ponies yelped, even Valentine as they saw the hulk of a pony standing over them. With the extra height and weight included he was double the size of an average stallion. His mane and tail was a dark red and his body grey. Across his face, neck and shoulder that grey pelt was crisscrossed with white lines that were old scars that were left from what must have been horrendous wounds.

"Hello, I am Iron Clad." He said and was apparently trying to make his gruff voice softer. "Princess Celestia sent me to receive you and introduce you to the volunteers. Don't worry I don't eat ponies. They taste horrible no matter how much seasoning you put on them."

When they relaxed a bit he lifted them out of the cart as if they weighed no more than foals. "Do all of you understand the instructions that Princess Celestia gave you?" He asked. They all nodded, still lost for words at the sight of him. "Good, follow me." He said turning around and leading them inside.

They all followed quietly after him. For Valentine, Lightning Jolt supposed, this wouldn't be anything new because of the family she grew up in. She was pretty sure that Ember Light would enjoy it after all they would be lending a hand to many ponies. He was a friendly pony and she thought she would too, though she still hoped their forced hiding would not last more than a few days.

Author's Note:

I got this idea from the movie Sister Act. I couldn't make it work with them pretending to be two nuns and a monk so I just went with volunteers.
The reason I made Rainbow Dash so fierce in this is because she is the element of loyalty so not being fiercely protective over her friends would not seem to fit with her character.