Beyond the Skies

by FrostTheWolf

Scroll 32- An Unexpected Series of Events (Part 1)

Beyond the Skies- An Unexpected Series of Events (Part 1)

---

Earlier

By the time that Calvin woke up, it was still very early in the morning as the rays of sunlight began to peak through the windows of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse. After being grounded by Twilight, and having the restrictions be revised, he was finally able to be outside the castle after so long. When Apple Bloom and the others heard about this, they decided to celebrate by holding a sleepover at Sweet Apple Acres. While it was a bit sudden at the time, Twilight thought it would be a nice change of pace for him and encouraged him to do so.

“Mornin’, sleepyhead,” he heard Apple Bloom say to him, while also placing a tray that had a plate of waffles and some apple slices down, as well as a glass of water, for him, “Apologies for waking ya this early, but I didn’t want ya to end up missing breakfast.”

“O-oh, uh… thanks,” the young teen replied as he took a sip of water and looked back at the earth pony, “H-how are the girls?”

“They’re doing pretty well. Right now, Sweetie and Scootaloo are helping Mac and Granny with cleaning the dishes,” she said, before motioning her head towards the barn. As Calvin grabbed an apple slice and straightened himself up, he could see both of the fillies that Apple Bloom was talking about in the kitchen. Sweetie herself was holding different plates and utensils with her magic, while Scootaloo was drying them off with a dish. Once that was done, the clean dishes were handed off to Big Mac and Granny to be put away.

Though, there was one particular pony that happened to be missing from the picture. Once Calvin had finished with his meal, he decided to ask about it. “Hey, have you seen Applejack this morning? Is she out bucking the apples out of trees again?”

Much to his surprise though, Apple Bloom’s response to the question was not what he expected. “A-actually, ah saw her leave earlier this morning, like earlier than when she normally gets up. However, something about her seemed different though.”

“Different?” he asked, “How so?”

“Well, usually, if my sister had to go somewhere early, she would usually leave behind a note and tell us,” the filly replied, “Though, when ah saw her this morning, she not only didn’t leave a note, but almost forgot her hat. Whenever AJ heads out into town, she never forgets to bring her hat with her. Mac thought that it was just her being sleep deprived, but you and ah both know that she’s an early riser.”

That was definitely weird. While he might’ve only been around Applejack a few times, Calvin saw it as a bit strange for her to just leave without telling anypony. If anything, it almost felt like she was trying her best not to be found. Though, one possibility came to mind as he was thinking this over. Perhaps Apple Bloom was not the only one who noticed her acting like this.

As both the Skyshifter and the earth pony climbed down from the clubhouse and landed back on the ground, that was when Calvin decided to ask something, “Hey, Apple Bloom, before we do anything today, would it be alright if I made a quick trip to Twilight’s castle?”

“Uh… sure, ah guess,” the filly shrugged her shoulders, “Why ya asking me though?”

“Well, I was going to let Twilight know that I was going to spend the rest of the day with you and the girls,” the Skyshifter replied back as he moved his hands to his pockets, “Though, I was thinking that while I’m there, I could ask Twilight and Spike about Applejack. Surely, if anypony notices anything about ponies acting strange, it’s got to be her, right?”

At first, Apple Bloom wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Though, as she thought it over, the earth pony began to realize that Calvin made a valid point. Hay, perhaps Twilight knew the reason as to why Applejack was acting this way. “Alright, that’s fine. Though, once ya found an answer, ya better come back and tell me. Ah don’t like being kept in suspense, ya hear?”

“Loud and clear,” the Skyshifter replied with a mock salute as he left the dishes from breakfast on the patio before he made his way out of the front gate and onto the road that led back to Ponyville.

As Calvin was making his way back to town, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he wasn’t alone. Despite him being by himself with nopony else around, the young teen felt that either something or someone was watching him, perhaps even following him, given that he could hear the sound of wings, but he didn’t see any pegasi flying above him. Whatever it was, it got to the point that he couldn’t just simply shrug it off and ignore what was happening.

Eventually, Calvin stopped walking and immediately turned around to see what was following him. Much to his surprise, he found what looked to be a barn owl about thirty feet or so behind him. However, instead of landing on the ground or in a nearby tree, they were just flying idly in place, which was weird. From what he knew, owls were supposed to be asleep during the day, instead of flying around like this one was.

Unless they were someone pretending to be one. “Who are you?”

Much to his surprise, he actually got a response. However, it wasn’t exactly what he expected. In the blink of an eye, a flash of green light enveloped the owl, as a much different creature landed on the ground in front of him. The creature looked like a pony, but its body and appearance looked a lot more insect-like in nature, with holes in its legs and tail.

“Please don’t freak out. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Despite what he was saying though, Calvin wasn’t exactly scared by these sudden developments. If anything, he was puzzled. “What made you assume I was going to do that?”

For a moment, the bug creature blinked, before looking back to the young teen, “W-what? Y-you’re not… afraid of me?”

“Why would I be?” Calvin asked as he folded his arms, “We haven’t met before. If anything, I’m curious about why exactly you are following me.”

Again, the creature blinked as it looked back at itself. It seemed like he didn’t even take into account the flaw in his transformation. Though, he was quick to refocus his attention back to him. “Let me ask a different question then. Are you a friend of the dragon named Spike?”

At that question, the young teen was quick to nod his head. “Well, yes, actually. He and I pretty much live in the same castle. Are you a friend of his by chance?”

“You can say that,” the creature nodded, “My name is Thorax. It’s kind of a long story, but I don’t have the time to explain right now. There’s something I need to warn Princess Twilight about immediately.”

Originally, Calvin was going to ask more specific questions about what exactly Thorax was and how he would be able to transform like that. However, the mention of him needing to warn Twilight immediately had everything else in his head come to a halt, “Warn her? About what? What seems to be the problem?”

At this, Thorax looked behind him, before his gaze returned to Calvin. “If you can take me to where Princess Twilight lives, then I can fill you in on the way. This really can’t wait, and I need to see her quickly.”

“Uh… sure, I-” Before he could even finish what he was saying, another green flash went off right before his eyes. This time though, Calvin was caught off guard by the sight of a black spiral band around his right wrist. At first, it looked like any ordinary wristband. Though, that was when he saw two dots that were the same color as Thorax’s eyes. “Okay, I must ask. How are you doing that?”

“Are you saying you haven’t met a changeling before?” the band hummed back in a muffled voice that sounded like Thorax.

When that question was asked, it felt something had clicked in Calvin’s mind as he looked back at the band. “Oh, you’re a changeling? I’ve heard some ponies I know mention them, but never really told me about them or… well, met one. All I remember was that they mistook my transformations for-”

“Transformations? You can transform like I can?”

“Well, yes, but actually, no,” the Skyshifter retorted, “It’s a lot to explain. Though, I don’t think now is the right time for this discussion. After all, you did say you were in a hurry.”

---

By the time that Calvin arrived back in Ponyville, everything seemed to be as normal as any other day in the week. Even though Thorax had informed him of what he wished to warn Twilight about on the walk over, there wasn’t anything going on in town that would show that the same thing happened here. Everypony was acting normally, from those who ran the markets to the ponies coming in and out of Mayor Mare’s office. Even when he passed by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, the two of them seemed to be in rather high spirits.

However, as he saw the castle in the distance as well as a familiar mare standing outside and talking to a dragon in the entryway, the band on his wrist tightened. “Stop.”

“W-what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Something’s not right,” Thorax hummed again, “I don’t know why, but something feels off, like they’re not even there.”

“What are you talking about? Spike’s-” Just as he was about to finish what he was saying, the dragon at the door did something unexpected and slammed the door in Starlight’s face, a move that even startled the unicorn that was trying to talk to him. “-right there. Okay, that doesn’t seem right. Spike isn’t the kind of person who just slams doors in people’s faces like that.”

“If that’s the case, I fear that we might be too late,” the band hummed as the ‘eyes’ on it blinked for a brief moment, “However, there’s only one way that we can be absolutely certain.”

“What exactly did you have in mind?” Calvin asked.

“While I can’t sense them, I remember enough of their personalities to determine the real one from a fake,” he said, all while Calvin watched Starlight try and talk with him again. Only this time, Twilight was there, too. “However, I need to be really close by, in order to hear them.”

“So, what you’re saying is the only way we can know is if I have a door slammed in my face?”

“Pretty much. Though, that’s just an alternative. Would either of them happen to be talking to somepony right now? If so, we could try to-”

As he said that, Calvin looked up towards the castle entrance, only to find that Twilight and Spike had already gone back inside, while Starlight was trotting away. He could see that the mare looked rather confused and she was talking to herself, but couldn’t quite hear what she was saying.

“Yeah, I don’t think that first option is going to work,” the young teen told him, “Seems like the only choice we have is the alternative.”

“Alright, but keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a full conversation. It can be a brief and short exchange.” With that in mind, Calvin walked on over towards the castle and knocked on the front door. Not a moment afterwards did Spike answer the door, but he looked extremely annoyed and irritated by his presence.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, uh… hi, Spike,” Calvin replied. Immediately, the Skyshifter was surprised by how the young dragon was acting, but tried his best to not show it. “I was wondering if-”

“Listen, buddy, the princess is very busy today and really does not like interruptions with her work. Like I told the mare before you, unless it's an emergency, either come back tomorrow or make an appointment.”

Immediately, the dragon slammed the door in his face, as the sound of a lock being put in place was heard on the other side. Yet, while the exchange between them was rather short lived, he was quick to move along the side of the castle and away from sight before he looked down at the band on his wrist. “Well, was that enough for you?”

“More than enough. That’s definitely not Spike,” Thorax confirmed, shortly before transforming back into his normal form, “Yet, that’s only one of them. When the changeling’s captured Cadance, they also replaced her family and the Crystaller Sunburst. Unless one of us gets inside, there’s no way we can tell for certain.”

At that, an idea happened to strike Calvin as he looked up at the top of the castle. “You know, Twilight’s castle does have a balcony. Given how rarely it’s used, it could serve as a way in for you?”

The changeling blinked at that, before tilting his head. “Me? Why me?”

“Because this fake Spike is already suspicious of me. If he caught me sneaking around, he would probably warn anyone else they’re working with,” the young teen tried to reason with him, “Not only that, but compared to everyone else in this town, I stand out like a sore thumb.”

“Didn’t you say earlier that you could transform though?”

That had the Skyshifter scratch the back of his head as he let out a small breath, “Yeah, but those are a little more specific and not really ideal here. Not only that, but since you were able to tell that the Spike we just met was a replacement, then you can more than likely determine if anypony else he’s with is also a replacement.”

“I guess,” the changeling nervously replied back as he looked towards the balcony, before briefly looking back at Calvin, “You’ve been inside the castle before, right? Is there anything in particular that could help me blend in?”

“My best guess is something rather small and quiet that you can quickly move around with,” he replied, “Don’t turn into any objects though, especially books. If I learned anything from living with Twilight for some time, it's that she has an impulsive need to put away any loose item or book she finds. If her replacement is trying to pretend to be Twilight, then it’s safe to assume that they would try to copy her habits as well. You know, so that no one suspects anything?”

It took Thorax a minute or two, but afterwards, the changeling transformed into that of a house fly and flew up to the balcony as quickly as he could. Once he was up there, the fly quickly darted inside the castle and left Calvin to wait outside for his return.

Yet, as Calvin waited for Thorax to return, a different thought came to mind, after he remembered what he was told back at Sweet Apple Acres. Was it possible that the ‘replacements’ that Thorax spoke of not only captured Spike, but also Applejack as well? While such a possibility might’ve explained the odd behavior that Apple Bloom mentioned, he didn’t want to immediately jump to conclusions just yet. After all, he didn’t exactly have any solid proof right now to back up his claims.

After about ten minutes, the young teen felt a familiar tightness around his right arm. When he looked down, he found that the same spiral band that Thorax had turned into before was back again. “Sorry if I kept you waiting. My observation ended up taking a bit longer than expected.”

Even though he was back, Calvin had a feeling that the changeling’s findings weren’t exactly promising, based on his tone. “It’s alright. Is it as bad as you thought it was?”

“No. It’s much worse,” the band hummed, “It’s not just Spike that’s been replaced, but also the princess and her friends. Even though I haven’t met all of her friends, I could tell that the other mares in the castle were replacements.”

“Through the same way that you were able to tell that Spike was one?”

“Not quite. Back in the Crystal Empire, Cadance and Sunburst told me a lot about Princess Twilight’s friends, on the off chance that I would meet them if they ever came to visit. So, based on what they told me and how these pretenders were acting behind closed doors, the difference was obvious. However, I did not see any of them change back to their original bodies while I was inside.”

The young teen could only let out a small sigh, “Well, this is going to be very problematic. For another reason, I mean.”

“How so? I don’t understand.”

“One of Twilight’s friends happens to be the older sister of a friend of mine, Apple Bloom,” he explained, “She told me this morning that her sister, Applejack, had been acting strange, and I promised that I would try and find out what’s going on. Now, how am I going to explain to her that her sister had been kidnapped and that an imposter is pretending to be her? She wouldn’t believe me, unless I had proof of some kind.”

“Oh. I did not know that,” he replied, “I wish there was something I could do to help, but our options are rather limited right now. We’re the only ones that know of the replacements. Everypony else would assume that they’re actually the princess and her friends.”

It was as the changeling said those words that Calvin thought of an idea as he leaned back against the side of the castle and folded his arms. “What if we aren’t the only ones though? Surely, somepony else in town has probably noticed the strange behavior of the replacements, right?”

“That’s… plausible,” the changeling admitted as the band hummed again, “However, given everything that you and I have found out so far, we probably don’t have a lot of time on our side. Not only that, but we need to be very careful. If word got to the replacements of us asking a lot of questions around town, they would get very suspicious of what we’re up to.”

“Then, what exactly can we do?” he asked with a bit of frustration in his voice, “You mentioned that our options are limited. So, if the idea I suggested isn’t going to work, then what are some options that we can do?”

At first, Thorax didn’t have an answer for him. Calvin watched as the eyes on the band blinked and shifted around a bit, as the changeling seemed to be thinking. Despite how bad their current situation was, there should’ve at least been one possible solution, or at least, somebody they could talk to if they couldn’t think of something.

It was as Calvin straightened himself up and prepared to walk away from the Castle of Friendship that the changeling finally said something, “There may be one pony we could talk to. However, I’m not sure if they’re actually in town or not.”

“Well, I guess it’s a start, at least,” the Skyshifter thought to himself, before he looked back to Thorax, “Who are you thinking?”

“The only other pony that comes to mind is Sunburst’s friend and Princess Twilight’s student,” the band hummed some more, “I believe her name is Starlight Glimmer-”

“Wait a second, Starlight?” he asked, “I saw her earlier today.”

“You did? When?”

“Starlight was actually at the door to the castle and talking to the replacements of Spike and Twilight before we tried anything earlier,” Calvin explained, before he shrugged his shoulders, “It looked like she was trying to ask Twilight for advice on something, but whatever she was told didn’t really settle right with her.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s possible that Starlight might’ve noticed the same changes that we have noticed so far,” Thorax said, sounding rather hopeful by this, “Did you happen to notice where she went?”

That question didn’t really help their current situation as Calvin shook his head, “Not really. Around the time she was leaving, we were preparing to have that ‘talk’ with the replacement Spike at the door. I had no idea where she might have gone afterwards.”

“Does she have a home or residence in town that we could visit?”

“Not really. Most of the time, she lives in the castle, like I do,” the young teen replied back, as he started to walk away from the castle. However, as he was looking around town, the young teen heard the crumpling of paper underneath his foot. When Calvin looked down to pick it up, he happened to find what looked to be a faded flier of sorts. Despite it being aged a bit, he could make out some of the pictures on the page and one particular showpony that was front and center on the page.

“What is it?”

“It’s a flier for a magic show, I think… from yesterday?” Calvin said, before he tried to read the partially faded print, “The humble and penitent Trixie would like to invite you all to take part and witness dazzling new magical feats and sights as part of her ‘Great Equestrian Apology Tour’! Our performance begins at six o’clock this evening and tonight. Trixie has a rather special guest assisting her. No need to buy tickets, but tips are greatly appreciated.”

“It just sounds like what Sunburst calls a ‘promotional poster’. I’m not sure if it can help us right now.”

“Actually, it might,” the young teen replied, which was enough to surprise the changeling, “The mare this flier is talking about, Trixie, is actually friends with Starlight. If we find her, then perhaps Starlight may be with her as well?”

“If that is true, then that may be possible. Though, we should be careful, unless we want to let the replacements know what we’re up to.”

---

Despite how simple it might have seemed to Calvin at the time, it turned out that trying to find a single unicorn that would clearly stand out in a town like Ponyville was much harder than he thought. The young teen had tried asking ponies at places that he thought either Trixie or Starlight would visit, such as some of the shops around the marketplace. However, despite his best efforts, nopony happened to know where either of them could be. Some ponies didn’t even know that the two of them were back in town.

Fortunately for him, it wasn’t entirely a waste of time. When he was just about to call it quits, he actually learned one detail that could possibly lead both him and Thorax in the right direction. Much to his surprise, Trixie happened to stop by the Tea Shop in Ponyville to order a few things she ran out of. Furthermore, the owner of the shop told him that Trixie was outside of town, on the assumption that he was there to pick them up and deliver it to her.

Of course, the stallion also happened to mention that Trixie went on about other topics as well while she was here. However, such things weren’t really that important compared to actually finding her.

The directions that they were given led the two of them to the edge of the Everfree Forest, a location that was rather convenient, since it allowed for Thorax to drop his disguise and be back in his normal form again once they were there. Unfortunately, the directions themselves weren’t rather specific on where Trixie’s wagon happened to be, so the two of them had no other choice but to walk around and hope that they would eventually run into what they were looking for, all while being on the lookout for any beasts that might be hiding.

Luckily, their search didn’t really last that long. “-my gosh, I can’t believe-!”

“Did you hear that?” Thorax was quick to ask.

“Yeah, but barely. I could only hear a few words,” the Skyshifter grumbled, “Darn it, we’re going to need to get closer. I can’t hear them from this far away.”

When the changeling heard that, he took a quick look around the area to try and see if there was anything that could possibly help them. Luckily, Thorax was able to find one thing that could possibly work. However, there was something he had to ask first. “Calvin, I have a question. Remember earlier, when you told me that you could transform?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, do you have anything that could help you climb that?” the changeling asked, before he motioned a hoof over to a big oak tree that was on the side of the road. “I was thinking that if you can get up there, you could get a better vantage point and make it easier to listen in on whoever’s talking right now.”

Immediately, when Calvin first looked at the tree, the first thought he had would be to turn into a Skylander like Stealth Elf and use her blades as a way to climb up the side of the tree. However, it was then that he noticed that some of the wood on the tree had aged significantly. If he tried anything rash, he might end up knocking the whole tree over by accident.

Luckily, he had an alternative option in mind. “Yeah, I think I got something. Give me a second,” Calvin told him as a blue glow began to emit from his pendant, “Eight Pegs and No Legs!”

“I’m sorry, wha-” Before Thorax could even finish his sentence, the changeling was startled by the sight of Calvin changing into what looked like a walking pirate squid with arms, “What the-?”

“What? I did tell you earlier that what I could do was more specific, didn’t I?” the Skyshifter replied in a lower tone, his voice sounding like that of Wash Buckler as he began to use the legs of his new form to move up along the side of the tree. Once at the top, he changed back to his regular form and gave Thorax a thumbs up as a sign that he reached the top before moving closer to where he heard the voices from earlier.

Fortunately, Calvin did not have to wait for too long. As he reached some of the branches on the other side of the tree, he found the sight of Trixie’s wagon and two mares who were talking in front of it. At first, he couldn’t tell whether or not they were actually the ponies they were looking for. Yet, it soon became clear as he overheard their conversation.

“Trixie, let’s just take a moment and stay calm-”

“Stay calm?! Starlight, we both heard what they said in the castle. I-I can’t deal with this! I-I’m just a performer, not some hero! This… this is princess-level stuff! But the changelings ponynapped all the princesses! We’re doomed!!”

“Well, it seems like we’re not the only ones who know about the replacements anymore,” Calvin remarked, before looking back down to listen some more. “That’s a relief.”

“Maybe not. Chrysalis only said that they took Celestia and Luna along with Twilight and the others. But maybe-” Before Calvin had the chance to listen in further, the sound of a snapped twig echoed in the forest and alerted both of the unicorns, “W-who’s there?!”

Immediately, Calvin moved away from where he was and hurried back down the tree, something that surprised Thorax because of how suddenly he was back. “That was… quick. Did you learn anything?”

“You can say that,” he replied, “Apparently, the voice that we heard earlier was Trixie herself. From the sounds of it, she and Starlight tried sneaking into the castle by themselves and saw the replacements talking with Chrysalis.”

The changeling himself was surprised when he heard that, “That’s… rather fortunate to hear. Were you able to hear anything they were talking about?”

“Not a lot, but we probably have a bigger problem to deal with right now,” Calvin told him, “Before I could hear anything else, something startled them. I’m not sure if it’s a beast from the Everfree or not, but I don’t think we’re the only ones trying to find them.”

“If it’s possible that some of the replacements followed them, then that could be a problem,” he replied as he glanced farther down the road.

“We don’t know if it is, though. For all we know, the two of them could be panicking over nothing,” Calvin reminded him, before an idea came to his head, “Alright, here’s what we are going to do. You stay here for a moment, while I go over and take a look. If the coast is clear, I’ll let you know, and you can join me.”

Before the changeling even had the chance to say anything, Calvin was already making his way over to the wagon. He could hear the sounds of commotion, but couldn’t quite make out too much at first. As he got closer, the young teen began to hear the two unicorns again, yet this time around, it sounded as if the two mares had switched roles. For now, it was Starlight that was beginning to panic instead of Trixie.

“Oh, no. Oh, dear Celestia, no!!”

“Starlight? Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?!” Starlight retorted, “Trixie, don’t you realize how bad this is?! We spent so much time sneaking around the castle, trying to find answers, and yet, we forgot to check and see if-”

By this point, Calvin had reached the wagon and chose to make his presence known, “Oh, hey, there you are.”

The unicorn’s reaction to what he said was almost immediate as she jumped in fright and landed in Trixie’s forelegs, like it was a scene straight out of Scooby Doo. Not only that, but it took Starlight a bit to realize that he was there. When she finally did, that was when the unicorn forced Trixie to put her back on the ground before she looked towards him, “Calvin, do not scare me like that!”

That had Calvin scratch the back of his head as he was quick to apologize, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I think I’m just relieved to find you, with what’s been going on lately-”

It was as he was saying this that his eyes shifted and noticed that there were two others with Starlight and Trixie. However, they weren’t Equestrian at all. In fact, they were actually humans. The two of them, a boy and a girl, looked to be a bit older than he was and wore casual clothes that were kind of similar to his. However, both of them had a strange band that was around their wrists.

“What the heck!? Starlight, what’s-?”

“Honestly, that’s what I think, Trixie, and I want to know,” Starlight replied back, “Before you arrived, the only thing that they told us was that they were humans, like you.”

“Like… me?” the young teen asked, before looking at both of the twins, “That’s the first time I’ve heard of there being other humans here…” Unlike with Cruger back in the Skylands, these two did not look like they had been summoned here in some particular manner. If anything, it was entirely possible that they probably arrived here the same way he did, when he first came to Equestria.

However, the weirdest part of this whole thing was that even though Calvin just saw them, it felt like he knew who they were. “Have we met before?”

“Wait, you know these two?” Trixie asked, who seemed just as confused about what was happening.

“I think so,” he replied with a puzzled expression on his face, “They seem familiar… Who-?”

“Calvin, don’t you remember us?” the girl soon asked, their expression seemed to be a mix of both shock and disbelief, “We went to school together? We were all in the same class? Surely, you remember my brother, right?”

Despite what she said, that did little to help jog his memory. Calvin wasn’t even sure how long it had been since then or who these two were. Yet, the two of them seemed to know him for some reason. “Uh, if I have to be honest, I’m better when it comes to remembering names,” he admitted as he tried his best to jog his memory a bit, “Besides, the only people I remember from then were-”

Then, for a moment, it felt as if something clicked into place. The two of them were siblings, and they knew him from his old school back on earth. Surely, it couldn’t be who he was thinking of… could they?

“W-wait a minute… are you-”

However, before he had the chance to finish what he was saying, he heard a different voice speak up from behind him, “Uh, Calvin? Can I come out now? I’ve been waiting back here for the last few minutes, and you haven’t told me if it was safe or not.”

Immediately, Calvin turned his head back to where Thorax was once he realized this, “Oh, shoot!! Sorry!!” he apologized, before he looked over to Starlight and Trixie, “There was someone I ran into on the way here that wanted to talk to Twilight and such. Though, after we found out that something bad was going on in the castle, we began searching for you instead.”

Both mares looked to one another for a brief moment, before Starlight tilted her head and looked back at him with a puzzled expression, “Really? Who?”

“Promise me you won’t freak out, alright?”

Starlight blinked, looking at Trixie before she tried to ask a question. “Uh, what-?”

“Do you promise that you won't freak out?” Calvin rephrased his question.

This time though, Starlight had a different response for him as she let out a low sigh, “I promise that I won't freak out.”

As soon as he heard that, the young teen smiled as he looked back over towards where the Changeling was hiding, “Okay, Thorax. It’s safe to come out.”

As the changeling emerged from their hiding spot, Trixie was quick to overreact and assume that Thorax was a villain. However, Starlight was quick to come to his defense, and when the unicorn was asking how exactly he was who he said he was, Thorax recalled the acts of kindness that both Spike and Princess Twilight showed him in the Crystal Empire. Once the initial panic had subsided, that was when the Changeling began to inform them about what happened in the Crystal Empire, as well as the current situation.

However, as he was talking, Calvin couldn’t help but focus his attention back to the two newcomers. Even though he was trying to focus on the current conversation, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew these two from somewhere. It was as if the answer was on the tip of his tongue, and yet, he did not know what to say, because he couldn’t tell who either of them were.

Of course, that all changed when Trixie made a comment about how everypony they knew with powerful magic is gone… and then, the friendly neighborhood draconequus decided to make an unannounced visit. “You know, whenever somepony decides to start a conversation involving powerful magic, they always seem to forget to ask if I wanted to take part in it. Why, I would have been insulted by that, if I hadn’t changed my ways for the better.”

Perched up in a nearby tree like the Cheshire Cat, Discord took a quick glance at everyone before he snapped his eagle talon and reappeared alongside Trixie’s wagon. “So, can anypony explain why we have Twilight’s own friendship student, a magical showmare, a rogue changeling, Calvin and a pair of twins that he happens to know, for plot convenience’s sake, standing around in the middle of the woods?”

“Wait, what was that last one-?”

Immediately, Calvin saw the girl faint on the spot. Yet, ironically, that was when the young teen got his answer as to who they were. “Raquel!! Hey, what did you do to my sister!?”

“What? Immediately assuming I did something when all I did was just make an entrance? Now, that’s just uncalled for,” the draconequus retorted, holding both his paw and talon up in innocence, “While I admit, I am curious about you two, my attention is a bit more focused on the situation as a whole. Hence, the reason why I asked my question.”

At that moment, Calvin now knew who these two were. Trevor and Raquel Arlott; a pair of twins that attended the same elementary school he used to go to back home. However, while Trevor saw him as a friend and someone that shared a few interests with him, his sister was the complete opposite. In fact, it would be accurate to say that Raquel was his Diamond Tiara, because of the amount of times that she had teased and made fun of him, all because he didn’t really fit in with the other kids in their class.

Now, much to his shock and utter disbelief, the two of them were somehow here. Words weren’t enough to describe how Calvin felt in that moment. To know that there were other Displaced like him was one thing, but to know that there were others like him in his world that he actually knew felt completely different. He felt a strange sense of joy and happiness wash over him as he looked over towards Trevor and acted on impulse.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?! Huh? Calvin, what-?”

Before Trevor even realized what was happening, his old friend from elementary school had come up to him and wrapped his arms around him in an unexpected hug. He could feel the tears that ran down Calvin’s face as they stained his shirt as he tried to make sense of everything. Yet, it was then that he heard the young teen mutter just a few words under shaky breaths. “Y-you’re here… Y-you’re a-actually here. I-I…”

When Trevor heard that, any anger that he once felt mere moments ago began to evaporate. He had no idea how long Calvin had been by himself in this place and was honestly worried that he had forgotten who they were. Yet, the very few words that were spoken were enough to dispel his doubts as he returned the hug and pulled his friend in closer to him, “I missed you, too, buddy.”

For a single moment, it felt as if the rest of the world had stopped around them. It had been too long since they had seen one another, and while this wasn’t exactly the reunion that either of them were expecting, they were happy to see each other again nevertheless. Eventually, the two of them loosened their grips, and Calvin tried to dry his tears to recompose himself, yet such a simple thing was rather difficult for the Skyshifter to do at that moment.

However, before either of them could say anything, that was when they heard the conversation that was going on between Starlight and Discord that had them snap back to reality, “They took Fluttershy?”

“Yes!”

“Where?”

“The Changeling Kingdom-!”

“ …Who or what is Fluttershy-?”

In an instant, the two of them heard a loud snap, and in the blink of an eye, every other creature that was nearby had disappeared. Only Trixie’s wagon remained as Calvin got back on his feet, while Trevor was still confused by everything that had just happened. “What… in the world was that? And how-?”

At that point, the young teen finally felt composed enough to speak as he looked back at his friend, “It’s rather complicated,” he explained, before he heard the sound of a small groan as he looked over to where Raquel was, “Hey, I think she’s waking up.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Trevor let out a sigh of relief as he went over to his sister and tried to lend a hand, “Raquel, are you alright?”

“P-please tell me the big one’s gone,” the two of them heard her groan, before placing her right hand on her head as she propped herself up with her left arm. As her eyes readjusted, Raquel first looked towards her brother, before her gaze met Calvin’s, “O-oh, uh… Hi, Calvin. I-I’m not sure if you remember me, but-”

“I remember you,” the young teen told her, “We did go to school together, but you weren’t that friendly to me.”

Raquel blinked for a moment, before she looked away with an expression of regret on her face, “I… don’t do that anymore. A lot’s changed since then, and… w-well, I’m sorry for what I-”

Before she had the chance to finish what she was saying, Calvin said something that Raquel did not expect. “I’m not mad. In fact, I’m really happy to see you and your brother again.”

“Y-you’re not… angry? After all that I-”

At that, the young teen let out a chuckle, “Raquel, I’ve met people here who used to do bad things and then found a way to turn their lives around for the better, two of them being the same mares that you two just so happened to be talking to a few moments ago,” as he was speaking, Calvin extended his arm forward and offered a hand to her, “As far as I’m concerned, all that’s in the past. Now, would you like some help getting up?”

It took Raquel a moment to fully grasp what she heard, and yet, part of her couldn’t bring herself to believe it at first. She didn’t even think that she deserved his forgiveness. Although, now was not the time to ponder on such things, for the three of them weren’t exactly in the safest of places right now.

So, she stretched forth to grab his hand, and as she did, Calvin carefully pulled her up and back on her feet. “T-thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Calvin smiled as he turned his head to look at her brother, “Now, I’m going to guess that both of you have quite a few questions?”

“More than you can imagine,” Trevor nodded. “However, I don’t think this friendly chat is meant to be held in the middle of these woods. Would you happen to know someplace where we can go?”

The young teen could only scratch his head as he looked back at the twins, “I do know one place, actually. However, there’s a lot to catch you two up on. I’ll try my best on the way since where we’re headed is going to be on the opposite side of town.”

“Town?” Raquel asked, “There’s a town out here?”

At that, Calvin couldn’t help but give the two of them a small smile, “Oh, you two are in for a surprise.”

---

End Part 1

Author's Note:

To Where and Back Again... from a different perspective.

Part 1 of 3