Prisoner of Butterfly Island

by Magic Step

Changelings Attack

Twilight Sparkle found Rarity and Rainbow Dash already hovering near the outskirts of the farm.

“Where are Fluttershy and Pinkie and AJ?” she asked.

“Fluttershy’s behind the tree,” Rainbow Dash said scornfully.

“S-sorry,” she whispered, still unseen. “B-but there’s so many…”

“That’s okay; they’re no match for the power of friendship,” Twilight said. “What about the others?”

“Shining’s still trying to find Pinkie Pie… you know how the poor dear’s been lately…” Rarity said.

“And as for Applejack, well…” Rainbow Dash pointed to the farmhouse. “Trapped inside.”

Twilight surveyed the scene. There were at least a dozen changelings climbing all over the farmhouse like it was their personal jungle gym. Where had they all come from? And why were they at the place she’d just robbed…?

“We have to go in and save Applejack!” Rainbow Dash said, tapping her hoof impatiently.

“Foolhardy,” Rarity said. “Without Pinkie Pie we wouldn’t stand a chance if we got swarmed.”

“What do you think, Twilight?” Fluttershy slid out from behind her tree and met Twilight’s gaze with her soft blue eyes.

Twilight studied the building. “Do you know if anyone else is inside besides Applejack?”

“I think Sugar Belle was in there too,” Rarity said.

“Big Mac should be there too then,” Fluttershy said. “He’s never happy unless he’s looking into Sugar’s eyes…”

“Such a perfect couple,” Rarity sighed.

“Well, then they can probably handle themselves,” Twilight said. “It doesn’t look like any of them are going inside yet, but if they move in, we attack. They’re probably just happy to terrorize everyone in the barn, those creeps.”

“What do you think they get out this anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying in circles like a caged animal.

Twilight had never wondered before what changelings wanted. They were evil incarnate, worthy of death and nothing else. But if Starlight was right, what were they anyway? Puppets to distract her and make her feel needed?

Come to think of it… if Celestia burned a village down, the village would stay burned. It could be rebuilt but it wouldn’t be the same. But changelings never did anything except block people from doing things and make messes. All things which were easy to reverse. Maybe she’d been taught to view changelings as the worst thing in the world… to keep her from being able to imagine, or realize, that there could be anything worse…

“Found her!” Spike shouted, and then a heavy weight fell on Twilight’s back.

“Oof!” she shouted, collapsing.

“S-sorry Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said, getting off of Twilight. She glared at the purple dragon, who was now flying away. “That’s not what I meant when I said to drop me off, you jerrrrrr mean you silly dragon!” She giggled, suddenly happy again.

“All right, we’re all here!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Now let’s get those bugs!”

“Wait!” Twilight shouted, but the rainbow mare zoomed toward the farmhouse, eager for a fight. “Oh well…” she turned to the others. “Okay, new plan. No plan. Just go! You too Fluttershy; I mean it!”

Rarity summoned her attack gems to spin around her body as she raced into the fight. Pinkie Pie whipped out her party cannon and half rode, half pushed it into battle. Twilight followed at a more moderate pace, unsure why everypony with ranged attacks felt the need to get so close before attacking. She blasted one changeling after another with her horn lasers; they screamed as they let go of the farmhouse and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Rarity embedded her attack gems into the fallen changelings’ chitin, then triggered them to explode, blasting off huge pieces of their exoskeleton to expose their soft, squishy muscles below.

Twilight was just picking where to aim the next laser- she had to be careful not to damage Applejack’s house- when a changeling landed right in front of her face.

“You ungrateful witch,” it hissed at her. “When we were good enough to cover for you…”

Then it slapped her across the muzzle and flew off.

“Twilight! It’s getting away!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she struggled to get out of a wrestling match with a changeling to pursue. “Shoot it! What’s wrong with you?”

Twilight just stared at the retreating changeling, jaw slack, dumbfounded. It wasn’t even so much that a changeling had spoken to her, or that the changeling had claimed to be helping her.

It was that, under that strange, grating buzz, she’d recognized the changeling’s voice.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy started shaking her by the shoulders. “You need to snap out of it! It’s time for the finisher!”

“Wh-what?” Twilight said.

Applejack clambered out of her farmhouse window. “‘Bout time y’all broke through,” she said. “You’ve got my necklace I take it?”

Rainbow Dash slung the apple-gem studded trinket to Applejack, who quickly slipped it over her head and leapt to join the others.

“Ready Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked. “You’re ready to start, right?”

“Twilight? Twilight?” they all chorused.

Twilight stared, stunned, at the changelings she was expected to vaporize, all lying on the ground, too broken and weakened to flee.

What was she doing? Why was she doing it? Was this okay? What if she was…?

“Get it over with!” one changeling hissed loudly.

The chorus was immediately taken up by the others, some taunting her to take the shot, and the rest begging to be put out of their misery. The voices of the changelings and the ponies all pressed against Twilight’s ears and crowded out her thoughts.

“All right, all right already!” she screamed. “F-f-friendship…”

“HARMONY ATTACK!” her five friends shouted.

The recoil from her necklace made Twilight jerk backward as the rainbow light engulfed the changelings. When it faded, no trace of them was to be seen.

“W-we should split up and check for that one changeling that g-got away,” Twilight said, trying to wipe the events of the last minute from her mind. She had to focus. “Um. Meet at Sugarcube corner in half an hour if you don’t find her.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Applejack said. “I’ll search the-”

“I’ll search the Lunar Lagoon playset!” Twilight shouted, then ran off, not caring what the others picked.

***

When Twilight splashed her way into the cave, Starlight was holding a book in front of her face, but her eyes weren’t moving.

“Starlight.” Twilight shook herself off and slowly approached the pink unicorn.

“So, do you have the bit?” she asked.

“You should already know,” Twilight said. “You were there, weren’t you?”

“What?” Starlight said, looking confused. “No, it’s not safe for me to leave this cave…”

“Then why did one of the changelings speak in your voice!?” Twilight said.

Starlight stared, dumbfounded, then tilted her head back and laughed. “You really fell for that old trick?”

“What old trick?” Twilight said.

“Changelings can imitate the voices of other ponies. Didn’t you know that?” Starlight asked.

“No they can’t!” Twilight said. “They’ve never done that before!”

“Well,” Starlight said, “They only do it when, um…”

“And anyway, the only way they’d know how to imitate your voice, and that imitating it would throw me off, is if you were working for them!” Twilight fired a beam of magic at Starlight. Changelings were evil and desired to die. That included any of their associates.

Comments

[Viper Pit]

what a twist