Beyond the Skies

by FrostTheWolf

Scroll 32- An Unexpected Series of Events (Part 2)

Beyond the Skies- An Unexpected Series of Events (Part 2)

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When Trevor and Raquel first saw the town of Ponyville in the distance after leaving the forest behind, the twins honestly had no idea what to expect. Despite being in what Calvin called ‘Equestria’ for almost ten minutes, the two of them had already encountered talking unicorns, a bug-like creature called a ‘Changeling’ that could shapeshift into other creatures and some kind of ‘chaos spirit’ named Discord, so their first impression was that the small town was rather ordinary by comparison.

However, what they soon realized upon stepping foot into the town for the first time was that Ponyville itself was far from ordinary. No matter where they looked, there was something that immediately caught their attention, whether that be a boutique that resembled a carousel or a crystalline tree that was actually a castle. Much to their own disbelief, this ‘small town’ had a lot of places that they thought would stand out to anyone that came passing through. Heck, there was even a bakery that took the form of a gingerbread house!

Although, it wasn’t just the sights that caught their attention, but also the townsfolk. Even though the name was kind of a dead giveaway that there would be ponies in town, Trevor and Raquel did not anticipate how many there would be. Despite looking like a small town on the outside, Ponyville was home to a rather large community of not just unicorns, but also pegasi as well as earth ponies. Not only that, but several of them that they happened to bump into were quite friendly and polite.

Once they had finally gone through town and reached the other side of the Ponyville marketplace, that was when Trevor decided to ask something, “Hey, Calvin? How much further until we reach this place we’re going to?”

“Not far actually,” he said, before pointing off farther down the road, “You can probably see it from here.”

“See what?” Raquel asked, “I only see a lot of trees.”

At that, Calvin just moved off to the side of the road as he looked back at both of them, “Try looking from where I was standing just now. The trees sometimes get in the way when you try to look from a distance.”

At first, the girl was a little bit puzzled by what he told her. Nevertheless, she followed his instructions and moved over to where he once stood. This time around, as Raquel looked into the distance, she actually noticed something past the trees. “Huh? Is that a barn?”

Calvin nodded his head in response to the question, before he looked back towards both of them. “Yeah, that’s Sweet Apple Acres. A couple of my friends call this place home, so I thought it would be easier to come out here, with everything going on in town right now.”

Both of the twins looked towards each other for a brief second, before they asked the same question. “What do you mean by that?”

At first, Calvin had thought about giving a long and extensive explanation. However, with them being so close to the orchard, he probably was going to end up having this same conversation occur with Apple Bloom and the others, so instead, he told them something else, “Do you remember earlier, when Trixie was freaking out? Well, there’s a bit of a valid reason behind that, but some of my friends here should probably hear this, too.”

“Hear what exactly?”

At that, the twins looked at the nearby fence to find a red earth pony standing nearby some of the trees. However, compared to the ponies that they saw in town, this one was actually bigger in size. In fact, he came off as kind of intimidating. Though, Calvin was quick to respond.

“Oh, hi, Mac. Didn’t see you there.”

“Mhm,” the earth pony nodded, before he glanced over towards Trevor and Raquel, “Friends of yours?”

“Yeah, actually,” he answered, “Hey, are Apple Bloom and the girls still here?”

“Eeyup.”

“Are they helping out Granny?”

“Eeyup.”

“Pretty easy to find them?”

“Should be,” the stallion replied.

“Has Applejack come back yet?”

“Nope.”

When Mac said that, Raquel couldn’t help but notice a slight change in Calvin’s expression for a brief moment, before he was back to his calm and positive self. Though, she had no idea what exactly that meant. “Thanks, Mac. I appreciate it.”

“No worries.”

As they finished talking, Calvin led the twins farther down the fence line towards the entrance to the orchard. Though, as they got close to the gate, that was when Trevor decided to speak up. “Well, your friend was rather… talkative. Who was he exactly?”

“His name’s Big Macintosh, but he’s fine with us calling him Mac, for short,” Calvin replied, “Also, please don’t say anything like that around him. He’s got rather good hearing and doesn’t like it when anybody talks behind his back.”

That had Trevor’s eyes shrink before he looked back towards the stallion, out of concern that he happened to hear his most recent remarks. “Oh. Uh, I’ll… keep that in mind.”

“Uh, Calvin? When you were talking with him, who was this ‘granny’ you mentioned?”

“Oh, you mean Granny Smith?”

“…Like the apple?” Raquel asked as she looked towards him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, actually,” he said, just as they had walked past the gate and were now on approach to the barn, “Sweet Apple Acres is the home of the Apple Family. Granny Smith’s the one who runs the orchard, with the help of her three grandchildren. The stallion you just met, Big Mac, is one of them.”

“Really?” Trevor asked, no longer worried that said stallion was too far away to hear any remarks that he might make, “Who are the other two?”

“The one I asked Mac about, Applejack, is in the middle. She’s not the oldest, but also not the youngest either,” Calvin told them, “The youngest just so happens to be my friend, Apple Bloom. You can pretty much tell which one she is, because she’s the only pony I’ve seen that wears a bow on the back of her head.”

Funny enough, just as they approached the front of the barn, both twins happened to see a yellow filly with orange eyes that wore a rather big red bow behind her head. From a distance, it looked like she was bored out of her mind, as she was sitting on the front porch with two other fillies that were with her. Yet, as the three of them got closer, the filly’s ears quickly perked up as she looked towards them and smiled.

“Hey, girls! Calvin’s back!”

Immediately, the other two fillies got off the ground and turned towards the trio. The first one they noticed was an orange pegasus with a cerise mane and tail, purple eyes and had rather small wings compared to the other pegasi they saw in town, while the second was a light gray unicorn with green eyes a mane and tail that was a lighter shade of purple and pink. Despite their size though, all three of them were rather quick on their hooves as they rushed over towards them.

“There you are!! Where have you been!?” the pegasus filly was the first to speak, “We’ve been stuck with having to help Granny all morning!!”

“Scootaloo, she only asked us to help peel some of the apples Mac brought in and sweep up around the barn,” the unicorn told her, “And that only took us a couple of hours.”

“Easy for you to say, Sweetie Belle. You had your magic to help you out,” Scootaloo grumbled, before she turned her head and noticed the twins, “Who the hay-?”

At this point, Sweetie Belle noticed what Scootaloo was looking at and replied in a similar fashion, “Calvin, who are these two? Are they friends of yours?”

Calvin himself looked at all three of the fillies, before giving them a confident smile. “Yeah, they are, actually. In fact, I knew them from before I came here.” His response surprised them at first. Yet, before they could ask any questions, Calvin continued what he was saying, “I happened to find them while I was out in town today.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Apple Bloom replied, “Did ya get to talk to Twilight?”

Once again, Raquel noticed another change in Calvin’s expression similar to when he was talking with Mac earlier. This time though, it didn’t go away so quickly. “Yeah… that’s a conversation that we should probably have inside. I did find out a few things, but you’re probably not going to like it.”

“Come on, Calvin. It can’t be that bad,” the earth pony said, “If it at least explains why Sis has been acting strange, then I’m all for it.”

“AJ’s been acting strange?” Sweetie Belle asked as she walked up the steps of the porch and towards the door, “Now that I think of it, Rarity’s been acting rather odd as well.”

“Your sister… acting odd?” Scootaloo asked, “How?”

“You know when I have to help her get fabric from the market and she’s rather specific on colors?” the unicorn asked, which resulted in a nod from both the earth pony and pegasus. “Well, Rarity hasn’t really been like that recently. Just the other day, she asked for me to get some blue fabric, and I accidentally got navy instead. However, instead of pointing out my mistake, she just thanked me and had me run along.”

As the girls continued to talk, Sweetie Belle opened the front door as they all went inside. Immediately, the first thing that caught the attention of the twins was that the barn wasn’t exactly just a barn. It was also a home with a rather spacious interior. As they walked into the living room, the two of them saw pictures of what could only be assumed as other members of the Apple Family on the wall, as well as in picture frames on nearby shelves. They even noticed a rug that had an apple tree in the center of the living room, as they followed Calvin and the fillies into the kitchen.

After the three fillies took a seat at the table and Calvin sat down across from them, that was when Apple Bloom decided to speak, “So, Calvin, what did you find out? Was Twilight able to help you?”

That single question had Calvin grit his teeth as he looked towards the earth pony, “It would probably be best if I started from the beginning,” the young teen then looked over towards the twins as they stood nearby, before he let out a small breath, “It started this morning, after I left to go to Ponyville.”

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It took almost half an hour or so for Calvin to share the full story, but to him, it felt like he had been going on for hours. A lot of things had happened since he originally left Sweet Apple Acres, and to him, he felt that it was vitally important to cover as much information as he could, in order for Apple Bloom and her friends to understand what was going on. The problem was, the only other creatures who knew the truth about what was going on were nowhere to be found right now. That, and he had little evidence in order to really prove what he was telling them.

“So, let me get this straight,” Scootaloo said, “You’re telling us that on the way into Ponyville, you met a changeling that wasn’t a bad guy.”

“Thorax, yes.”

“And he told you that changelings had ‘replaced’ Princess Cadance and everyone in the Crystal Empire. You two went to the castle in order to talk to Twilight, so he could warn her, but after you got there, the two of you learned that not only was she replaced, but also Spike and her friends?”

“That’s right, all seven of them,” Calvin confirmed for her, “Thorax could tell that they were acting very different from who they were supposed to be disguised as. So, we went to look for Starlight and found out that she and Trixie saw them talking to their queen. Trixie even mentioned that they had Celestia and her sister captured, too.”

“That part we can confirm,” Trevor added, “We had ended up in the forest nearby, where that one unicorn had her wagon, shortly after we got a grip on our surroundings. We overheard those two talking. Of course, we ended up accidentally startling them, too, but that was unintentional.”

After his remarks, that was when Calvin chose to continue. “Shortly afterwards, Thorax told Starlight and Trixie what was going on, Discord decided to just randomly show up, as he always does-”

“W-wait, that’s normal for you?” Raquel commented.

“-And then he whisked them away and left us behind,” he finished, “I’m not sure if Discord is trying to have them pull off some kind of daring rescue or something, but the problem still remains that we have a group of changelings playing pretend inside Ponyville. I have a bad feeling that just ignoring them is only going to cause more problems.”

For a moment, the whole room went quiet. Each one of the fillies were trying to process everything that he told them, while Calvin waited nervously. While he did tell them everything, he was worried that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom wouldn’t believe him, for he was telling them that not only were their sisters and friends kidnapped, but the ones who took them were also impersonating them. They had taken someone that was family to them, and family was something that was rather important to them.

However, the response Calvin got afterwards was one he honestly did not expect. “Well, that explains what ah saw then.”

“W-wait,” Calvin blinked, a bit surprised by that, “You… believe me? Ah thought you would-”

“Calvin, the girls and ah had encountered changelings before. Not only that, but after everything we’ve been through together, ah think we know that you’re not someone who would make something like this up,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Yeah, but it’s… still a little bit hard to believe,” Sweetie Belle added, “I mean, we know that changelings are dangerous, especially after they tried to invade Canterlot, but that was a long time ago. Like, more than a year or so before we met you.”

“Okay, but what are we going to do now, though?” Scootaloo then asked, “Rainbow and the girls were the ones that usually kept everypony safe from danger, but now, they’re the ones in danger. Who knows what these fakers will do while pretending to be them?”

“Scootaloo, slow down,” Apple Bloom interjected, “Ah’m just as worried, too, but what are we gonna do? Unlike Calvin, we aren’t exactly fighters, so just charging in won’t get us anywhere.”

The room went quiet again as all three fillies were trying their best to come up with something that they could do. However, try as they might, it appeared as if any ideas that they tried to come up with fell short. It was mainly due to the lack of evidence and also the fact that none of the townsfolk knew what was going on. Any attempts to try and warn them about what was happening would probably fall on deaf ears. Yet, despite all of this, they still had to at least try something.

Yet, that was when someone else decided to speak up this time, “Sorry if I’m interrupting your brainstorming session,” they heard Trevor speak up, “But can’t you just… I don’t know… retake the castle you girls keep talking about?”

That not only caught all three of them by surprise, but also Calvin as well. “Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that we… capture the Castle of Friendship? Calvin’s the only one that’s a fighter, and there’s only one of him against-”

“I didn’t mean by force,” he clarified, “From what you guys said, it seems like these changelings rely a lot on tricking others to get what they want. Perhaps we could find a way to use that against them.”

“So, wait,” Raquel interjected, “Your idea to solve this is to… trick the tricksters?”

“In a sense, yes,” her brother replied, before taking a seat at the table, “I admit, I haven’t fully thought on the details. Though, perhaps the best thing we could do is find a way to use their greatest strength against them? Not only that, but if they spend so much time inside that castle, they might have something inside there that they probably don’t want anyone else to see. Like, how are they getting their orders from their queen?”

That had Calvin and the fillies look back at one another, before they began to converse a bit among themselves. While Trevor’s idea wasn’t quite fully thought out, he did raise a rather valid point. If Starlight and Trixie did see the replacements communicating with Chrysalis herself, then it was possible that there was something they had inside the castle that allowed them to talk with the queen. Yet, that by itself wouldn’t be enough, especially if they didn’t know what it was they would be looking for.

“Man, this whole problem is just frying my brain,” Scootaloo exaggerated as she let out a groan and looked at everyone in the room, “I mean, the idea’s good, but how are we going to do this just by ourselves? Geez, it’s not like we can just talk to one of them-”

“And what makes ya think that?”

Immediately, everyone turned to the back of the kitchen to find that Granny Smith was outside one of the open windows.

“G-Granny-!? How long have ya-?”

“Long enough, Bloom,” the elderly mare replied as the others could see that Big Mac was with her. “Now, ah don’t know everything that’s going on, but ah know for a fact that AJ hasn’t been acting right. If what ya friend says is true, then ah say we show ‘em what happens when you mess with the Apple Family. And ah got just the thing for this.”

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By the time the sun was starting to come down, everything that Granny Smith had in mind for sniffing out this imposter that Apple Bloom’s friend told them about was ready. Now, all they needed to do was wait for her arrival and act normal. If something seemed out of place, it was more than likely that it could tip off this replacement of what they were up to.

Now though, it was time to see if their gamble would pay off. “Granny, ah’m home.”

The sound of hoofsteps could be heard as Granny Smith turned to see Applejack… No, the one who was impersonating her grand-daughter, as she trotted into the kitchen where she was. “Oh, hello, sugarcube. Sorry ah didn’t hear ya. Ah was busy making some treats.”

“Really?” she asked, rather surprised to hear that, “What did ya make this time?”

At that, Granny Smith brought out a plate that had two triangle shaped pastries and set them down on the table as ‘Applejack’ took a seat. “Been trying mah hoof with our family turnover recipe. Was gonna let Bloom know that ah made some for her and her friends, but ah wanted to hear what you thought about it first.”

“Sure, ah guess,” she replied, before picking up one of the turnovers with both of her hooves as she began to chew on it. After a couple moments, she finished the first one. “Hm… this is pretty good, Granny.”

“Ya think so?” she asked, “Ah did try something different this time to see if it affected the taste.”

“Really?” the mare raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”

That was the moment that Granny Smith had been waiting for, because now, she can drop the facade as she narrowed her eyes, as if the elderly mare was glaring daggers at her. “Pear.”

Immediately, the mare at the table heard the kitchen door lock up as she dropped the pastry back on the plate and tried to get up from the table. “Uh… Granny-?” As she tried to back away and find a place to flee towards, the mare felt something behind her as she turned to see that Big Mac had her as the windows began to close. She tried to look towards the stairs, but Apple Bloom and one of her friends blocked that route off. One glance towards the front of the place, and she found that the rest of the filly’s friends had blocked the front door from outside.

“Ah don’t know about you,” Granny sternly spoke as she maintained her gaze on the mare that was trying desperately to flee, “But in this family, we do not… like… pears. So, why is it that my grand-daughter just so happens to like the one thing that this family detests?”

Now though, ‘Applejack’ was now beginning to panic. However, something did not feel right. They had her cornered, but the mare didn’t do anything. She did not try to fight, or even make a break for it to try and escape. Instead, she dropped the disguise, revealing a far younger changeling than expected, as it raised its forelegs up in the air. “P-please don’t hurt me,” a new voice desperately pleaded as they looked to Granny Smith in fear, “I-I’ll do anything.”

At first, Granny Smith thought that this changeling was trying to lie its way out of the situation it was in. However, there didn’t seem to be any deception with its words. Whoever it was, this changeling was afraid, and now that its cover was blown, it was willing to do anything. As she looked towards the stairs, Granny looked towards the stairs and motioned her hoof as Apple Bloom and her friend Calvin began to come downstairs.

“Now, listen here,” the elderly mare replied, “Ah ain’t going to do anything to harm ya. But the fact of the matter is, ya tried to impersonate mah grand-daughter and deceive mah family, and ah don’t take such actions very kindly. So, for starters, what ah would like to know is who you really are and why you decided to impersonate Applejack.”

At first, the changeling was silent. Though, after a couple of moments, she hesitantly spoke. Instead of answering Granny’s question, the changeling weakly asked one of her own, as her eyes shifted towards the half eaten turnover that fell onto the plate. “C-Can I… finish that?”

“What? Why would you-?” Despite Granny’s original confusion, she just sighed. There was no way that they were going to get any answers if this changeling was too starved to cooperate. “Fine, but make it quick-”

Immediately, the changeling scarfed whatever remained in a single bite. A faint shimmer of green was seen around its body before the changeling looked back to her. “T-Thank you,” she said as her voice sounded a bit more relaxed than before.

“Don’t mention it,” the elderly mare replied, her voice coming off a little stern.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Calvin now chose to speak up as he looked at the changeling, “But I don’t believe we got your name.”

The changeling was a bit startled at first, but shortly afterwards, she complied, “O-Ocellus. My name is Ocellus,” she replied, giving a quick glance around the room before looking back to them, “A-As for the other question you asked, I d-did it because I… was afraid.”

“Afraid?” Apple Bloom asked as she gave the changeling a puzzled glance, “What would ya be afraid of?”

“N-Not what,” Ocellus clarified, “Who.”

When that was said, many of the other ponies in the room looked rather confused. Granny Smith told her that she didn’t have to be afraid of them, so why would she say something like that? Though, it was Calvin who realized that the changeling might have meant someone else entirely. “You mean Chrysalis? You’re afraid of… your queen?”

Immediately, Ocellus nodded, “Y-yes. S-she thinks that I’m a f-failure, because I’m n-not like the other d-drones. I-I can’t bring myself to f-fight anyone, l-let alone take love from them. I-I’m seen a-as a coward and a failure to the h-hive.”

“Then, why come along and impersonate mah sister and her friends-?”

“I didn’t have a choice!!” she said, before letting out a gasp when she realized her outburst. Though, as she continued, that was when Calvin and the other noticed that tears were coming down her face, “S-she forced me to be here, e-expecting me to fail. Y-yet… I wanted to live! I t-thought that if I could hide here, then I could feed on s-something here, b-because of how your f-family cares for each other, because my own kin don’t care for me at all. I didn’t want to deceive any of you, b-but…”

That was something that no one was expecting at all. Originally, Granny thought that this was some drone that was doing her queen’s bidding. However, instead, this was a changeling who was shunned by her own kind and doing whatever she could just to live. Not only that… but the elderly pony had the feeling that Ocellus did all of this because she wanted to know what it was like to be loved by a family that cared for her.

Yet, before she or anypony else had the chance to speak, a different question was asked, “How long?”

Ocellus blinked at that, puzzled by the sudden and short question as she looked towards Calvin. “H-Huh?”

“How long has it been since you last had the chance to feed?” he clarified.

“P-Properly? M-Months ago. There are days where I barely get anything at all. N-Not even scraps.”

At this, he folded his arms and began to ponder for a moment. The question that he asked alone was enough to attract some attention from Apple Bloom. “Calvin, what are ya thinking?”

However, Calvin didn’t quite answer her question right away. Instead, he looked back to the changeling. “Ocellus, I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ve been fully honest with you, despite everything you told us,” he told her as he sat down at the table, “Part of the reason why we went through with all of this was because we know that you and the other changelings that are here had replaced Princess Twilight and her friends, as part of Chrysalis’ takeover plans.”

He paused for a brief moment to catch his breath, but then chose to continue, “Originally, I thought that you were part of this because you were called upon by Chrysalis. However, after hearing your story and what your hive put you through, I’m beginning to realize that you chose to undertake these risks because you thought it was necessary. Is that right?”

All the changeling did was weakly nod her head, which to him was the only answer he needed to see. “If that’s the case, then perhaps we could come up with a compromise. We can help you, and then, you can help us.”

“H-How can you help me though?” Ocellus asked, puzzled.

“Well, you said that you haven’t had the chance to properly feed in months,” he suggested, “So, how can we fix that? Is there a particular way that you would feed that we could help you with?”

At first, the changeling didn’t say anything and nervously looked away. Yet, after a moment or two, she gave them an answer. “I-I usually g-get my fill… through food.”

“Wait, food?” Apple Bloom blinked, puzzled by what was said, “Ah thought changelings fed on love.”

“T-They do,” Ocellus told her, “However, l-love comes in many forms for us. For m-me, there are times where meals have love in them. Y-you know how some creatures would describe their cooking as m-made with love? W-well, for us, t-that’s literal. Food t-that’s made for someone they care for, like for a loved one or a family m-member, would have love mixed in.”

“What about that turnover ya finished? Shouldn’t that have helped?” Granny asked.

“N-no, it didn’t. It doesn’t work if the food is made out of spite. T-that’s why I felt nothing when I finished it.”

Now, the pieces were starting to fall into place. At first, Granny Smith wasn’t sure if Ocellus’ claims just now were true. However, she was now beginning to realize that not only was she being honest, but this poor creature was probably starving. At that moment, it didn’t matter if she was a changeling or not. No creature should ever be forced to starve because of circumstances beyond their control. It would go against everything the Apple Family stood for if they were to turn her away now.

“So, what you’re saying is that if ya have a full meal, then ya can help?”

At this, the changeling nervously nodded her head as she looked back to the elderly mare that asked her that question. “Y-yes. Why do you-?”

“Let me tell you something, sugarcube,” Granny interjected, “If there is anything that this family is known for, it’s our hospitality. And ah, for one, ain’t gonna sit here and watch ya go hungry, because that is too cruel for any creature to watch or go through.”

The elderly mare then looked over at Calvin for a brief moment, “As long as ya make sure to help Calvin and mah grand-daughter afterwards, then we will help you first. Ah promise you that.”

The changeling was shocked to hear that and found it rather difficult to control herself as some more tears began to go down her face. Yet, she wasn’t sad this time. If anything, Ocellus was beyond overjoyed. “Oh, thank you!! Thank you so much!! You have no idea how much this means to me-”

“Oh, settle down now. We haven’t even started yet,” Granny said, before turning towards her two grandchildren, “Bloom, fetch the recipe book. Mac, get the oven and pans ready. It’s time for us to get to work.”

“Is there anything I can do to help-?”

“No, no, you’ve helped more than enough,” Granny insisted as she looked over at Calvin, “If you want though, why don’t ya bring your friends up to speed on what’s going on. Ah’m pretty sure they’ll be curious as to what happened after waiting by the front door for so long.”

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Author's Note:

Part 2 of 3