> Metamorphosis
>  by Mares Guyver
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: Into the Woods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





“Life . . . an infinite energy beyond scientific understanding. Now, this energy has been transformed into a new weapon.”     ~Opening monologue, Bio-Booster Armor Guyver (OVA)





He was running.

Well, perhaps “running” was the wrong word, considering his current form was that of an equine, or more specifically, that of a pony. “Galloping” was likely the more accurate means of describing his current activity, as he rapidly dashed, one hoof after another, into the depths of the Everfree Forest. Every once and awhile, he would tilt his head slightly, glancing behind him out the corner of his eye to make sure that nothing was following his trail. This action was made all the more difficult by the leather satchel he held tightly between his teeth. Two identical bags bounced at his sides from their position of being secured tightly around his middle.

After several minutes passed, the stallion slowed to a trot, panting heavily from both the exertion and exhaustion. Glancing upwards, he checked for any breaks in the foliage above while his ears swiveled around listening for even the faintest whisper of a sound that by all rights should not be there. However, he was only greeted by the mild *woosh* of the air between the forest leaves and the chitter-chatter of perfectly normal woodland creatures around him.

Sighing, the stallion slumped down against one particularly sturdy tree, gingerly lowering the satchel from his mouth as he did so. After briefly playing his jaw back into place with his hooves, the pony reached into a side pocket of the downed bag and pulled out a flask of water, taking one quick swig before putting it back in place. Resting his forelegs on his chest, the tired pony relaxed and took stock of his surroundings.

The earth pony was pale brown in color, with a mane of darker brown swept back on his head and down his neck. He had blue eyes that never seemed to rest on one spot, flitting to and fro as if every sound, every change in light and shadow, held a potential threat. Around his neck was a simple white collar and equally unremarkable necktie. On his flank, however, there was a more curious sight to behold—two triangles, one inverted such that the tips of both shapes touched one another in the middle of the form. But even more curious than this was a jewel, ovoid and smooth in texture, that was affixed to his body just beneath his sternum.

Unbidden, the gem lodged in the pony’s flesh began to glow, changing in color from deep blue to purple. Wincing, the stallion raised himself up from his seated position until he was back on all four legs. Taking the satchel on the ground back in his mouth, he breathed in once through his nostrils, then again broke into a gallop straight into the depths of the forest.

More time passed, and eventually the pony emerged from the trees into a small clearing. He was clearly in pain, breathing hoarsely and stumbling with each step he took. The jewel on his body had since changed from purple to maroon, and was slowly metamorphosing further to a blood-like red. Spying a small pond near the center of the clearing, the pony hobbled over, limbs shaking, until he eventually reached the water’s edge. With less care than before, he dropped the satchel from his mouth onto the grass and plunged his head into the water. After drinking several gulps, he came back up for air, starting as a voice suddenly growled behind him. 

“Well . . . lookee here, boys.” 

Slowly turning around, the stallion looked up to match the gaze of the smirking form before him. The blue-furred creature was nearly bipedal, with arms disproportionately large and legs disproportionately small for supporting the massive torso of the beast, such that it had to slouch forward so that its palms touched the ground. It had greenish-yellow sclera for its eyes, upright pointed ears, and a canine snout with a flat black nose. The creature was attired in a simple vest with pockets full of glittering gems, as well as a black collar lined with diamonds with another polished jewel hanging from it.

‘A Diamond Dog,’ the seeming stallion thought, glancing between the figure immediately in front of him and two similar creatures a few steps behind, ‘Just what I need right now.’ Clearing his throat, the pony looked up again at the Diamond Dog in front of him, and spoke aloud, “I’m just passing through. I don’t want any trouble.” 

The Diamond Dog blinked, and then laughed, his two companions joining in moments later. “‘Trouble’? We don’t want . . . trouble,” he stated, lowering his head until it was level with the stallion, “We want . . . jewels.” 

The pony took a slight step backwards, one hoof unconsciously rising in the direction of his lower chest. “W-well that’s a shame, b-because I’m fresh out!” he stammered, sweating as the Diamond Dog’s eyes narrowed. Before the stallion could react, one of the canine’s meaty fists whipped out, knocking the pony sideways and onto the ground. Dazed, the pony laid there with eyes closed, though still breathing shallowly.

“Liar,” the Diamond Dog stated, seemingly as an afterthought, while his cohorts chortled behind him. “Check the saddlebags,” the canine barked, pointing at the prostrate pony, while he bent down to pick up the other purloined pouch. Slipping off the catches to the bag, the Diamond Dog lifted the flap to reveal the satchel’s contents.   

‘Wha . . . what in Equestria is this?’ the canine thought as he lifted the strange object from the bag. The item was round and roughly the size of a dinner plate, though much thicker in diameter. It consisted of a wound-up series of tube-like coils, held in place by three, large, dull metal clamps with three thinner clamps in-between the gaps. Nestled in the center of the coil bundle was a polished metal orb, with a ring-like rim of the same material around it.

“Boss!” 

The Diamond Dog towards the shout from his cohort, and saw that his companions were holding up two more of the strange, wheel-like objects, likely pulled from the downed pony’s other bags.

“Any jewels?” the lead canine asked, and his cohorts shook their heads. Snorting, the Diamond Dog turned back to the object in his own hands, examining his reflection in the polished orb’s surface. Scratching his chin with one clawed finger, the canine mused, “These not-jewels must be valuable . . . maybe we can trade them, get something better.”

His companions tilted their heads in confusion. “‘Trade’?” one of them asked, raising an eyebrow at the word as if it were foreign to him, and the lead canine shrugged. 

“Can try something new,” he stated, and then frowned his other cohort started waving at him with an idiotic grin on his mug, “What?!”

Hopping up and down, the second subordinate clapped his massive paws together as he continued to grin goofily. “Look, Boss, look!” he stated, turning the still unconscious pony over so that the red gem on his lower chest, which was now blinking furiously, was clearly visible. The boss Diamond Dog smiled, and after putting the strange object back in the satchel, walked over to the stallion and grabbed the glowing gem with his paw.

“Urgh!” the Diamond Dog grunted as he tugged at the ovoid jewel, but to no avail—it simply would not budge from its fixed position on the pony’s skin, despite the flesh itself visibly stretching like taffy beneath the pony’s coat. Finally the Diamond Dog released the gem, his only reward being a few stray hairs clinging to the gaps between his paw pads. The canine looked back at his companions, who matched his confused expression, one shrugging while the other scratched the top of his head. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a weak voice stated, and the lead Diamond Dog turned back around to see the brown pony shakily rising until he was finally upright. The canine laughed disdainfully. 

“Or what?” the Diamond Dog asked, lowering his head so that his snout was almost touching the muzzle of the pony. The pony didn’t blink, but simply narrowed his eyes.

“Or you’ll make me angry,” he said calmly, though even as he spoke the entirety of his eyes began to glow a sickly green, while an aura of similar hue shimmered into place around his body. “And you won’t like me when I’m angry.”


*                *                *                *                *                *


A moment passed, and then the relative peace of the Everfree Forest was disturbed by three bloodcurdling screams. Birds scattered in panic, shaking loose the leaves of the trees as critters scattered to safety on the ground. Larger creatures such as the manticore and timberwolves glanced up cautiously, but when no danger was sensed went back about their business. Minutes passed, and eventually quiet and calm settled again over the woods.


*                *                *                *                *                *      


Back in the clearing, the again blue-eyed and brown-coated pony brushed himself off and straightened his tie. Humming a jaunty tune, he cantered over to his satchels and again placed the two saddle bags across his back. As he was about to take the handle of the final bag back in his mouth, he briefly glanced behind him to the groaning pile of bodies behind him. Frowning slightly, he slowly trotted over to the three battered forms and stood still until their gazes eventually met his.

Still frowning, the stallion stated, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry we had to encounter each other today. As far as what’s been done to you, I had little choice—I had reached my limit when you lot decided to jump me, so it was convenient to take the sustenance I required from you.”

Turning back around, the pony stepped back to the water’s edge, grabbed the final bag, and ambled over to the treeline. Feeling the eyes of the canine trio still on him, the pony paused, and then lowered his bag before speaking over his shoulder, “You should recover in a few days’ time. Well, mostly recover, I think—even I don’t know the long-term effects of having that much magical energy drained away so quickly. You might best use this time to reflect on your misdeeds, and think twice before you ever attack an innocent, pony or otherwise, ever again.”

Turning back to the darkness of the woods, the stallion again grasped his bag and trotted away in the forest depths, still humming the same merry tune. Back in the clearing, the wrinkled, desiccated forms of the three Diamond Dogs gasped for air from toothless, gummy mouths, shaking and shivering as they struggled to make sense of what had just happened to them.

Back in the Everfree Forest, the brown earth pony stopped in his tracks as his ears twitched at a sudden sound—a quiet buzzing above the trees, slowly growing louder and more malicious with each passing second. Taking a firmer grip of his cargo, the stallion again broke into a gallop—it was clear he simply had no more time to waste. For the safety of his friends, his family, and his race, he had to make it to his destination: Canterlot!



*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *



Mare(s) Guyver Presents:



My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic



~ and ~



Bio-Booster Armor Guyver



“METAMORPHOSIS”



*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *


> Chapter 1: A New Day Dawns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





“Morning in Ponyville shimmers!
Morning in Ponyville shines.
And I know for absolute certain,
That everything is certainly fine.”
~ “Morning in Ponyville” from “Magical Mystery Cure,” My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic





*BRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!*

In response to the sudden aural intrusion, the lump beneath the thick covers of the bed shifted, a low moan emerging from the bed’s plush depths. Eventually, a light magenta leg snaked out from the confines of its warm sanctuary into the morning chill, wavering over the alarm clock on the nightstand by the bed until finally tapping it into silence. Again the covers shifted, and with bleary, unfocused purple eyes, Amethyst Star rose up to greet the new day.

Following a large yawn and stretch of her forelegs above her head, Amethyst reluctantly left the embrace of her down-filled cocoon, lowering herself from the bed onto all four hooves. Blinking, smacking her cotton-filled mouth, and still suffering the occasional yawn, the mare slowly made her way out of her bedroom to the bathroom she shared with her younger sister, who thankfully was not yet awake. Once in the bathroom, the horn on Amethyst’s forehead was suffused with a raspberry-red glow as she entered her morning routine—washing herself, brushing her teeth, and combing out the many, many kinks in her violet and light purple mane. This last task always took her a fair amount of time, which was one reason why she was forced to wake well before anyone else in the house, or even the majority of Ponyville for that matter.

Her morning ritual complete, and now feeling much more awake and refreshed, Amethyst cheerfully trotted down the stairs of the two-story house to the main floor. As she made her way to the final landing, her smile increased as she simultaneously smelled a delicious aroma and heard a gentle singing emerging from the kitchen. Walking around the banister of the stairs, Amethyst peeked around the corner of the room divide, her smile turning into a full-on grin at the sight before her.

Within the kitchen stood another mare, lightly bobbing up and down as she manipulated a wire whisk in a bowl full of brownish-yellow batter. The mare had a light grey coat, a straw-like yellow mane, and a cluster of seven bubbles marking her flank. Her eyes were closed as she stirred, but when she opened them the mare revealed two, lopsided golden eyes—one focused on the bowl, while the other pointed to the ceiling above.   

“Baking these treats is such a cinch! Add two-thirds cup of brown sugar! Add a little more, and count to four, and you never get your fill’er . . .” Ditzy Doo sang as she poured the batter into a 12-cup mold, “Muffins!! So sweet and tasty!” 

“Muffins! Don’t be too hasty!” Amethyst Star chimed in, snickering as Ditzy jumped slightly, her pegasus wings unfurling so that she hovered lightly in the air. Spying the magenta-coated mare in the entryway, Ditzy grinned sheepishly and dropped down beside Amethyst, putting one foreleg on the younger pony’s shoulder while Amethyst matched the gesture.   

“Muffins!” the two mares rang out together, raising their free forelegs up into the air, “Muffins, muffins, muffins!!” Amethyst and Ditzy held the same position for a few seconds more before collapsing in shared giggles. Had anyone been witness to the scene, they would have been hard-pressed to say whether the two ponies were mother and daughter or sisters, so close they seemed in both appearance and demeanor. 

Sitting on her haunches, Amethyst brought her other foreleg around and gave Ditzy a hug, which the grey-colored mare returned with a smile. “Morning, Mom,” Amethyst said, nuzzling Ditzy’s cheek with her own lightly in greeting. Ditzy giggled slightly at the touch, and still smiling pulled away to look at her adopted daughter with her one good eye.

“Morning, Sparkler-sweetie!” Ditzy chirped, “Did you sleep well?” She laughed again as Amethyst openly yawned, waving a hoof in front of her mouth. Her cheeks now aflame, Amethyst rose up back on all four legs with a sheepish grin of her own.

“As well as could be expected,” she finally answered as she ambled over to the coffee maker on the counter, smiling both at the fact that her mother had already run the machine and at the smell of the heavenly brew. 

As Amethyst used her magic to levitate the coffee carafe and pour herself a cup, Ditzy fluttered over to the kitchen’s oven. Taking a dishrag in her mouth, Ditzy carefully opened the oven door and pulled out a freshly-baked set of muffins, which she gently set down to cool. As she grabbed the mold she had previously poured batter into, Ditzy fought the grin on her face as a low moan emerged from the direction of her daughter.

“Sweet, Blessed Celestia, that’s the stuff,” Amethyst breathed out as she finished sipping from her coffee mug, the young mare only emerging from her stupor when the full-hearted bray of her mother’s laugh reached her ears. Pouting slightly, she glanced at other mare, still grinning and openly googly-eyed. “Shut up,” Amethyst mumbled, struggling and failing to keep a smile from her own face.

Whistling innocently, Ditzy turned back to the finished set of muffins, which had cooled enough for an experienced muffin devourer such as herself. Grabbing one with her hoof, she tossed it into the air and opened wide, chomping down on the pastry once it entered her maw. “Mmmmm . . . first muffin of the day,” Ditzy hummed, while her daughter giggled at the familiar sight.

Shaking her head, Amethyst turned and opened one of the cupboards with a light tug of raspberry-red energy, for as much as she loved her mother’s baking she still liked some variety once and awhile. Frowning at the cupboard’s contents, Amethyst turned to Ditzy. “Are we out of bread, Mom?”

Looking up from her morning muffin gorge, Ditzy smiled apologetically, “Sorry Sweetie, I didn’t have time to stop at the market after my route yesterday. With all the new homes and families sprouting up around Ponyville, it’s just been taking me longer and longer to finish the daily deliveries.” 

Nodding understandingly, Amethyst turned back and continued to examine the cupboard. It was true that, in the years that had passed since Princess Twilight’s coronation, a constant stream of ponies had come to settle in Ponyville in order to be closer to Equestria’s most recently named princess. As a result, the formerly small, pastoral town had grown by leaps and bounds over the relatively brief span of time. 

“You’d think between all those new homes and businesses, there’d be enough incentive to hire more workers to help you out at the post office,” Amethyst remarked without taking her gaze away from the cupboard.

Ditzy smiled a wan smile, bringing into contrast a few laugh-lines that marked even her, seemingly, eternally youthful features. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” she stated with a chuckle, “In any case, we’re expecting a lighter number of deliveries today, so I should be able to make a run to the market before it closes.” Holding up one of her trademark culinary creations, Ditzy grinned broadly. “But in the meantime, we do have plenty of deliciousness!”

Amethyst just rolled her eyes, turning back to the cupboard to see if she could find any alternative worth eating. Eventually a plastic-wrapped package caught her eye, tucked into a far corner of the cupboard. Levitating the package out of the cabinet, Amethyst grimaced slightly at the contents of the bag, but not spotting anything else remotely edible, sighed and trotted over to the toaster, the bag and a jar of peanut butter floating behind her. Still munching on yet another muffin, Ditzy glanced at her daughter with her swiveling right eye, then shuttered and nearly choked when she saw what Amethyst was intending to eat.

Swallowing the remainder of her meal, Ditzy finally managed to speak aloud. “Y-y-you’re going to h-h-have one of t-t-those!!” she stammered in horror, pointing with one shaking hoof at the offending item now floating out of its package—an English muffin!! [1]

Still frowning, Amethyst didn’t look up as she focused on the bread-based food product in front of her. “They’re not so bad with enough peanut butter on them,” she finally stated, her horn flashing once as she used her magic to slice the pastry cleanly in half. Lowering the two muffin halves into the toaster, she finally turned to look at Ditzy, who was ashen-faced and still pointing a shaky foreleg. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Despite herself, Amethyst laughed as Ditzy proceeded to make a variety of inelegant gagging noises, holding her hooves to her neck like she was being choked before finally dipping backwards and collapsing onto the kitchen floor. Eventually, Ditzy rolled back onto her hooves and stood up, smiling at her daughter with her oppositely-pointing eyes. Shaking her head and gently chuckling, Ditzy moved over to the refrigerator and removed a carton of carrot juice from the inside. After pouring the juice into three glasses, Ditzy finally turned back to face the younger mare.

“I really don’t understand how you can eat those dry, bitter, just-plain-yucky . . . things,” Ditzy stated, then blinked and chuckled lightly, “Between the coffee-lust and eating . . . not-muffins, I swear, you’re getting to be just like your father.”

The peaceful atmosphere of the kitchen was shattered as both the plastic peanut butter jar and English muffin package dropped to the floor with an audible *smack*. As silence settled over the room, Ditzy raised a hoof to her mouth as she suddenly realized exactly what she had just said. Turning around, she looked cautiously at the magenta-colored unicorn whose head was bowed, her body quivering slightly.

“Sweetie?” Ditzy asked carefully, slowly moving closer to her daughter until she could see her face, obscured as it was by her violet bangs. Amethyst’s eyes were tightly shut, her teeth clenched, and she was muttering underneath her breath.

“I’m not like him . . . I’m not like him.” Amethyst murmured, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes as she spoke. Her own eyes watering, Ditzy opened a wing and wrapped it around her daughter, who started slightly at the touch before settling down. Gently, Ditzy pulled Amethyst closer until the pair were side-by-side, bodies and heads resting against each other. They held that position for a few minutes until the silence was finally broken by two things: 

The first was the *pop* of the fully toasted pastries emerging from the depths of the appropriately-named appliance; the second was a voice that positively reeked sunshine and good cheer.

“GOOOOOOOD morning, everypony!!” Dinky Doo exclaimed as she bounced into the kitchen, grinning ear-to-ear and waving one foreleg in a broad arc. When she received no reply, the gray-violet adolescent blinked and looked around until she spied her mother and sister. Trotting over to the two of them, Dinky gave the two hugging mares a quick once-over and frowned a little with growing concern. “Hey, is something wrong?” Dinky asked carefully.

Quickly separating, Amethyst wiped her face with her foreleg while Ditzy turned to her younger daughter with a strained smile. “N-nothing at all, m-my big muffin!” she said, corralling Dinky away from Amethyst so that the other mare could regain her composure. “N-neither of us are fully awake, yet,” she stated, turning back to look at Amethyst, “Isn’t that r-right, Sparkler-sweetie?”

Still facing away from her mother and sister, Amethyst nodded, and taking a deep breath, levitated the peanut butter jar back up from the floor and put the English muffin package back into the cupboard. With the peanut butter jar now floating beside her, Amethyst turned back to the toaster, and scowled with sudden distaste at the pale pastry waiting for her.

“You really should eat something, Amethyst,” she heard her mother utter softly. Turning around, she saw Ditzy gazing at her with a look both concerned and pleading, the grey mare’s usually wandering eyes now focused and rigid. “You really need . . . to keep your strength up.” Thankfully, Dinky was too involved in mimicking her mother’s morning muffin guzzle to notice Ditzy’s uncharacteristically more serious tone. 

Please, Ditzy mouthed silently, and after a moment, Amethyst nodded.

Okay, she mouthed back in reply, feeling a lightness in her chest as her mother’s smile returned, the mare’s light yellow eyes once again moving in their usual revolving dance. Turning back to her breakfast, Amethyst quietly opened the peanut butter jar with her magic, spreading it one of the muffin halves with a knife she had levitated out of the utensil drawer. Chomping down on the pastry, Amethyst realized her mother had been right about these “not-muffins.”

Even with her favorite peanut butter flavor on top, in the end they really did taste bitter.


*                *                *                *                *                *


Time passed, but eventually breakfast ended. After the three ponies had fully cleaned up the kitchen, they made ready to attend to the business of the day. As usual, Ditzy was fluttering around the house trying to locate the scattered pieces of her mailmare’s uniform.

“Where are my saddlebags?” Ditzy’s voice was heard from the master bedroom upstairs. Without looking up from the book she was reading in the living room, Dinky’s horn began to glow with a light mulberry aura.

“Behind the recliner here in the living room,” the older filly stated with familiar ease, turning another page in her book with her hoof.

“Ohhhhh . . . and my hat?”

“Tossed on the umbrella rack.”

“And my shirt?”

“Dumped in the laundry basket by the washing machine.”

“Ok~ay!” Ditzy exclaimed, flying back downstairs only to crash at the bottom landing as she found all of her missing items floating and waiting for her in a familiar raspberry-red aura. Looking up from her prone position, she spotted the smirking face of her older daughter around the corner from the stairwell.

“Missing these?” Amethyst asked sweetly, and laughed as Ditzy grouchily grabbed the mailmare’s hat with her teeth and flipped it onto her head. Smiling more genuinely, Amethyst helped her mother into the rest of her uniform, buttoning the shirt and securing the straps of the saddlebags with long practiced ministrations of her magic. 

Now fully dressed, Ditzy Doo opened the front door to their home and took to the air. Slowing to a hovering position, the pegasus turned around to face her two unicorn daughters, who in that time had also emerged from the house.

“Well, I’m off!” Ditzy stated, “You two have a good day!” And with a final wave, the mailmare dipped, spun, and finally soared away into the bright blue sky. Amethyst and Dinky continued to wave for a few moments more, but eventually they lowered their arms to their sides. 

Turning to her younger sister, Amethyst stated, “I guess we better get going too, huh Squirt?” grinning as the adolescent pony puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

“Squirt?! I’m almost as big as you are, Star, so you don’t get to call me that anymore!” Dinky retorted, and Amethyst laughed, nodding her head to indicate that the older filly had a point. Still chuckling, Amethyst began walking down the dirt road that would take her and her sister to Ponyville, where their own jobs were waiting for them. After a moment, Dinky followed alongside her older sister.

Glancing over at her little sister, Amethyst noted that indeed Dinky was no longer, well, dinky. While not quite a full-grown mare, Dinky was certainly older and bigger then when Amethyst had first met her adopted sister, at that time just a small filly. In fact, when she thought about it, Dinky was actually about the same age Amethyst herself was when Ditzy Doo had adopted the then-older filly and brought her to her new home. Other changes were evident since that time as well—Dinky now wore her wavy, light blond mane in a tail-style high on her head, the tail held in place by a large, pink bow that bounced in time with her gait. [2] 

‘One thing that hasn’t changed, though . . .’ Amethyst mused as her gaze briefly wandered to her sister’s flank, which was completely bare of any markings, unlike most other young mares or stallions her age. Noting her older sister’s look out the corner of her own eye, Dinky coughed once so that Amethyst’s gaze trailed back to meet her own.

“Are you looking at my butt, sis?” Dinky asked with a sly smile. While she briefly felt her face flush, Amethyst recovered and matched her sister’s expression.

“Well how could I not, it’s such a cute tush,” Amethyst replied, grinning as she noted the red creeping up the younger mare’s face, “I’m surprised none of the stallions your age have complimented you on it yet.” Amethyst internally cackled as her sister’s face quickly turned a shade of maroon, then noting that Dinky had muttered something beneath her breath, leaned in so that her ear nearly flicked the side of her sister’s cheek. “What was tha~at?” she asked in sing-song, and Dinky bowed her head further before speaking.

“One might have . . .” Dinky muttered, and once the words registered in Amethyst’s brain the older pony’s eyes widened as a goofy grin spread across her face.

“Ooooh, tell me, tell me, tell me!” Amethyst exclaimed, bouncing up and down like a school-age filly, or a Pinkie Pie. After a moment, she noticed that her sister didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm, so Amethyst stopped bouncing and put one consoling foreleg around her little sister. “Come on, tell Big Sister everything,” she stated warmly, and Dinky nodded in reply.

“It was Pip, you know, Pipsqueak,” Dinky finally uttered. “I was just trotting through the town square the other day and just happened to pass him by. I don’t think he knew, but I saw him . . . glancing at me as I trotted away.” If it was even possible to do so, Dinky blushed further, “I may have, passaged a bit, after I noticed him look.” [3]

Amethyst grinned toothily, pulling her little sister into a hug. “D’awww . . . my widdle sis is w’all gwown up,” she uttered, then laughed as she noticed her sister’s glare at the extra dash of “cutesy-wutesyness” in her voice. Tapping her chin with her hoof, Amethyst considered the situation. “Well, I guess Pipsqueak isn’t exactly a ‘pipsqueak’ anymore . . . plus ‘Pipsqueak and Dinky’ does have a certain, thematic ring to it.” Noting that her little sister was shrinking into herself out of even further embarrassment, Amethyst gave her a gentle squeeze, waiting until Dinky met her gaze again. “Do you like him, too?”

Dinky didn’t reply right away, but as she turned to glance to the side, the shy, gentle smile on her face told Amethyst all that she needed to know. “I . . . guess, maybe,” Dinky finally offered, and though Amethyst’s smile remained warm, her eyes took on a slightly mischievous glint.

“Well, you know what this means, right?” she asked, grinning as Dinky looked up at her with a confused expression. Breaking the embrace with her sister, Amethyst cantered away down the path, exclaiming nearly as loud as she could, “Pipsqueak and Dinky, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!”

To her credit, Dinky only watched the laughing mare for two seconds before the words her older sister uttered finally processed in her brain. “S-S-S-Star!!!” Dinky bellowed, breaking into a gallop to pursue the older pony who had also begun to run, “You get back here!!”

The two daughters of Ditzy Doo continued their chase from the outskirts of town where their family lived all the way into Ponyville’s town center. Various other ponies glanced curiously at the two mares—one laughing hysterically, the other screaming incoherently—before shrugging and going about their business. Other ponies that knew the two girls well, such as Golden Harvest and Raindrops, simply shook their heads with light, exasperated smiles. 

Just another day in Ponyville.

Eventually, Amethyst slowed down in order to allow her younger sister to catch her . . . which she did by tackling the older pony at full speed so that they rolled in the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and dirt. When the dust cloud settled, Amethyst was flat on her back, Dinky sitting on top of her with a triumphant grin on her face.

“Oh Dinky, you’ve got me,” Amethyst crooned with mock gravitas. “Do what you will with me, but do it quick, lest I be fired from my job for not being . . . two minutes early!” 

Dinky snorted, but managed to maintain a mostly serious expression on her face as she scratched her chin with her hoof. “This offense requires the most severe of punishments . . .” she stated, and then grinned wickedly, “So I decree, Death . . . by Tickle Torture!!” As she spoke, the tip of the unicorn’s horn began to glow while a matching mulberry aura surrounded her errant sister, who began twitching, shaking, and laughing uncontrollably.

“Hehehe!! Stop, please—hehehehe—I’m sorry, I give! Hehehehe!” Amethyst managed to utter between whinnies. Dinky merely raised a brow, though the glow atop her horn did dim slightly.

“Which of us is the greatest and most powerful sister?” she finally asked with an imperious smirk, her lips twitching as she struggled to keep her façade intact.

“You are!! Hehehehe! You are the greatest—hehehehe—and most powerful one!” Amethyst nearly screamed, barely managing to keep her volume in check. Another minute or two passed, but then Dinky shrugged and stepped off from sitting on her sister.

“Ok,” she said simply, the glow around her horn and the aura around her sister dissipating. Still quivering slightly, Amethyst gradually rose back on all four legs.

Wincing slightly, Amethyst rubbed her torso with one foreleg, “Ouch! My sides are going to be aching the rest of the day . . .” She stiffened slightly as another mulberry glow alighted her body. But rather than produce more pain, instead Amethyst felt her aches fade away until only the barest tingle remained. Smiling, she turned to her sister who to her credit looked a little abashed, and ruffled the younger pony’s mane affectionately, “Thanks, Squirt.”

Dinky frowned slightly at the repeated use of the diminutive (despite the fact that it actually wasn’t all that different from her actual name--it was the principle of the thing), but then took on a more pensive expression. Not looking her older sister in the eye, she absentmindedly rubbed the back of one foreleg with the other. “Star, you’re not going to . . .” Dinky hesitantly stated “I mean, what we talked about, you won’t tell . . .”

“Not a soul,” Amethyst said softly, placing one hoof under her sister’s chin and turning her face around to meet her own. “Until you decide you want to tell someone else, that’s a secret between sisters,” she continued with a wink, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake—or a delicious and nutritious muffin—in my eye.”

Dinky giggled as her sister went through the prerequisite gestures of a Pinkie Promise with Doo Family Amendment, then reached up and gave her sister a quick hug before stepping away with a full smile on her face—an expression Amethyst easily matched. “I guess I’d better get to the library,” Dinky finally stated, turning around to head in the direction of the oak tree and oft-residence of the local-town Princess.

“Hey,” Amethyst stated, smiling as Dinky paused to look back at her, “Have a good day, Little Sis.” 

Dinky returned the smile, “You too, Big Sis.” And with a slight bounce in her step, Dinky Doo cantered away as Amethyst watched on. 

As soon as Dinky was out of sight, Amethyst turned around and trotted to her own destination for the day—the local Ponyville jewelry store, The Diamond Mint. Amethyst had been working as an apprentice at the store for nearly a year, and according to the proprietor (whose name was shared with the store), was well on her way to becoming a fully-qualified jeweler in her own right.

Stopping in front of the establishment, Amethyst again found herself questioning the choice of location, as The Diamond Mint was located within the same building as the town’s much larger joke shop, such that the entire building resembled a giant jester’s hat. The only clue that a jewelry store was present was the singular display window full of glittering trinkets and a small hanging sign.

Entering the store, Amethyst’s presence was announced was a tinkling bell on the door and after a moment a light blue mare with a purple and cream mane emerged from the store’s back room. Recognizing Amethyst, the other mare’s body relaxed as she smirked slightly and ambled over in a casual manner.

“I just saw you and your sister tumbling out there, Sparkler,” Diamond Mint finally stated. “You two are just tooooo cute!” 

In response, Amethyst merely rolled her eyes at the other mare’s jest. “Yeah, yeah, yeah . . .” she muttered, though only with mock irritation as a smile quickly returned to her face, “So how’s business today, Boss?” 

Now it was Diamond’s turn to roll her eyes. “How many times have I told you to stop with the whole “Boss” thing,” she intoned with mock hurt, “We’re nearly the same age, you know. And considering everypony seems to think we’re twins, that practically makes us family, or at the very least equal business partners.” Amethyst laughed and nodded in agreement. In truth, nearly everypony she had met after she had begun working in the jewelry store had pointed out the seemingly remarkable resemblance between herself and Diamond Mint. However, neither of the two mares saw it that way.

After all, their respective coats and manes were completely different colors!

If there was anything they shared though that both agreed upon, it was their cutie marks—three cut and polished gemstones resembling diamonds that marked both of their flanks. But while Diamond Mint had earned her cutie mark for being able to put together fantastic jewelry from even the most mundane materials, Amethyst Star had earned her nearly identical mark for an entirely different reason.

“In answer to your question,” Diamond finally stated, her voice drawing Amethyst out of her musing, “We just a fresh shipment of gemstones from the Crystal Empire. They still need to be cut to specification, but once they are, we’ll have a whole new line to offer to our customers!” Amethyst smiled at her co-worker’s enthusiasm, and lifting a smock and goggles with her magic, she walked over to the back room door.

“I’ll get right on it, then,” Amethyst said. “You don’t mind watching the front, Di?” 

Smirking, Diamond Mint leaned against one of the display cases with one brow raised. “Have I ever minded ‘watching the front’?” she uttered with a grin, and then taking on a superior tone, puffed out her chest and lifted her nose into the air, “I am Diamond Mint of The Diamond Mint, and it is my duty to cater and pamper—”

“And beg and cajole . . .” Amethyst added sarcastically.

“Yes,” Diamond agreed with a smile and nod of her head, “And ensure that my customers are comfortably mesmerized so that they feel obligated to give me a sale.” Grinning now, but still holding her nose in the air, she gestured weakly with one hoof. “Now, shoo, off with you now.”

Struggling to hold in her laughter, Amethyst bowed with one foreleg outstretched and the other across her chest, “At once, madam.” Still facing Diamond Mint, she shuffled backwards through the door and into the backroom. Once there, she allowed herself to finally break out into a fit of giggles, and based on the sounds making their way through the door, knew that Diamond Mint was doing the same.

Shaking her head with mirth, Amethyst finally donned the worker’s garb and turned to face the cases of unpolished, uncut gemstones before her. Lifting one particularly large amethyst from a case, she smiled as her namesake twirled in the air in front of her, her mind calculating the exact number and degree of cuts that would be necessary to bring out this gem’s full brilliance. This was where her special talent would finally come into play.

To put it simply, Amethyst Star could make absolutely anything sparkle.

It was how she had earned her nickname, “Sparkler,” as well as her cutie mark—using her magic and special intuition to make all sorts of everyday objects glitter as if they were coated with the same dust used to give that “certain-special-something” to pastries at Sugarcube Corner. But while her skill and magic had been good for parlor tricks at the orphanage where she grew up, she had not found a practical use for her talent until she once briefly assisted Rarity at the Carousel Boutique . . .


*                *                *                *                *                *


At the time, Amethyst had been trying multiple odd jobs, trying to find something where her talents would be useful as well as help to support her mother, who barely made ends meet for the three of them on a mailmare’s salary. Though she didn’t have an eye for fashion (a fact which Rarity had loudly and frequently pointed out), the unicorn had still lived up to her Element of Harmony and generously taken Amethyst under her (proverbial) wing. Despite some misgivings about the job, Amethyst had slowly found pleasure in the more technical aspects of putting together clothes and making adjustments to previously purchased outfits.

It was while helping Rarity to arrange a particularly troublesome (for Rarity, anyway) set of evening gowns that her unrealized ability had finally made itself known. While Rarity loudly agonized and carried on about various details and ideas in the background, Amethyst had been rummaging through the collection of gemstones Rarity kept on hand to adorn her various designs with. Levitating one polished ruby in front of her, Amethyst had become fixated on what she felt was a flaw in the gem’s look—she couldn’t put her hoof on what the flaw was, only that she knew that it was there.

Amethyst remembered how, without really thinking about it, she had concentrated her magic onto the ruby. Tiny, microscopic cuts were chipped away from the gem as Amethyst had continued to stare at it, not really conscious of what she was doing and only knowing what needed to be done. Eventually, the mare’s eyes had refocused, and hovering before her was a completely different jewel—one that seemed to be lit from within as if it contained flame itself.

“How did you do that?” Amethyst remembered Rarity asking in wonder, as well as her own shock at not being able to recall when the older mare had stopped talking and come to stand beside her.

“I, I don’t know,” she remembered herself replying, as at the time she truly didn’t, “I just . . . focused on it and it turned into—this!”

Amethyst also remembered the genuine smile that lit up Rarity’s face, as well as the gentle hug she was pulled into by the Element of Generosity. “Well Darling, I think I might have an idea of what this says you’re meant to do,” Rarity had stated, bumping Amethyst’s flank with her own.

That same day, Rarity had dragged Amethyst over to The Diamond Mint, shooed out all of the other customers despite Diamond Mint’s protests, then introduced Amethyst to the jeweler and explained what had happened not minutes before. Amethyst remembered the questioning expression on Diamond’s face that just managed to cover growing excitement, and her demand for an immediate demonstration. She recalled how, despite her nervousness under the gaze of the two other mares, she had taken an emerald meant for a gold necklace, and after several minutes of concentration, caused the same metamorphosis she had performed in Rarity’s boutique. Amethyst certainly wouldn’t forget how, after the demonstration, Diamond had hollered in exhilaration, grabbed her, and swung her around in the air through a combination of enthusiasm, manic strength, and magic—they were lucky nothing of importance got broken. 

And she would always remember how, on the very day, Diamond Mint had hired her on the spot with the promise of making her the (second) finest jeweler in all of Equestria.


*                *                *                *                *                *


Amethyst smiled, shaking her head lightly to rid herself of the fog of memory. After all, she had a job to do, and if she was going to live to her family’s reputation of hard work and dedication (if not some of the . . . less respectful things her family was known for), she had to get right on to it. Focusing again on the unrefined amethyst stone in front of her, the mare allowed her magic to flow, and threw herself wholeheartedly into the task at hoof.


*                *                *                *                *                *


In the Everfree Forest, the brown-coated stallion hid beneath the hedges and low-lying trees. The buzzing was growing louder now, closer and more insistent. He knew it was only a matter of time before they found him, well before he would have a chance to reach his destination and meet with his contact on the outside. The pony frowned with frustration—he was so close to his goal, it just wasn’t fair!

Looking at the trees and brush and foliage about him, the stallion took a deep, calming breath, and considered his options. He could continue to try and hide from his pursuers, mask his presence and trail as best as possible, and hope that he might find friendly aid either within the forest or the nearest town—a place he knew to be named Ponyville. Or, he could stand his ground either here, or somewhere nearby, and ensure that none of his potential captors returned with the cargo he now carried. Sadly, knowing what he did about his pursuer’s tracking abilities, the second option seemed like the more likely if less preferable one.

The pony scratched the underside of his chin with one hoof. He wasn’t a fighter—his specialty had been research and analysis, not combat. And even with his . . . enhancements, he knew he couldn’t hope to last long against his pursuers if it came down to a scrap. So a direct fight was out of the question—he needed an entirely different strategy. Something unexpected, something that those intent on finding him could not hope to predict. A trump card.

Glancing around him briefly before closing his eyes, the stallion extended his hidden senses into the natural elements of the woods, feeling the pulse, the flow, the magic that existed even here, in the Everfree Forest. Unbidden, he felt himself groan in frustration—there was so little of it!

Well really, that was inaccurate—the forest pulsed with magic like any other living thing in Equestria. However, due to its vast size and uncontrolled nature, the magic of the woods was diluted and less concentrated than it would be in a smaller organism, such as a timberwolf, or an Ursa Major, or a sea serpent.

Or a Diamond Dog. Or a pony.

Still, it was what he had to work with—he just hoped he had enough time to prepare what he needed before he was found. The decision made, the brown-coated pony sat on his haunches and placed his forelegs on the ground. Several moments passed with nothing seeming to happen, but then gradually the grass, brush, and other plants began to wilt and lose their color. The discoloration spread outward from the stallion, taking hue and vibrancy away from everything the growing blight touched. Still seated in the center of the expanding circle, the pony grimaced as the excess energy was channeled into the gem below his chest, the jewel gradually glowing lighter and lighter blue until it blazed a stark white.

He was ready. He was waiting.


END CHAPTER ONE

> Chapter 2: [Un]Expected Encounters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





“Emerging evil is born whispering,
A forgotten word of creation.
New life boils up from the ground,
Shattering the peace of our land.”
        ~ “Bio-Booster Armor Guyver (OP theme)” from Bio-Booster Armor Guyver (OVA)





*ting~aling!*

“See you later, Spike!” Dinky called as she walked out the door to the Golden Oaks Library into the late afternoon sunshine. Hearing the muffled reply to her farewell from the interior of the building, the adolescent pony smiled, gently shut the door behind her, and then trotted out into the dusty town street.

Dinky had been working as a part-time helper at the library ever since she had finished her schooling not so long ago. Her original desire had been to research possible activities that might help her to obtain her cutie mark, as she had been the only filly in her class to graduate without one. And as much as she enjoyed throwing herself into various adventures as an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader, none of those pursuits had left any markings on her flank except scrapes in her fur and the occasional bruise.

It was just as well, because while Dinky did enjoy the hooves-on-approach, she found that she enjoyed learning in general far, far more. This curiosity had been actively nurtured by both her mother and her father when he was still at home, and encouraged further by Princess Twilight Sparkle as Dinky spent more and more time at the library, muzzle buried in a tome about this, that, or the other. While the alicorn had not actively taken Dinky under her wing, she had provided insight and guidance when she could, helping to point Dinky in the right direction when a question arose or new pursuit blossomed.

Over time, as the princess’s growing duties required her to spend more and more days away from Ponyville, Dinky had been recruited to helping Princess Twilight’s number-one assistant with the everyday running of the library. Dinky had been thrilled to accept the responsibility, for not only did it provide her with more time to pursue something she enjoyed, it also gave her purpose that her unmarked flank continued to withhold. There had been a level of tension between herself and the town’s resident dragon at first, but eventually they were able to settle into a comfortable working dynamic—Dinky easily falling in her role as the number-three assistant (after Spike and Owlowiscious) at Golden Oaks Library.

It had probably helped that Dinky’s presence also served to alleviate, just a little, the loneliness that Spike felt towards his surrogate mother’s more and more frequent absences.

Dinky was jerked from her musings by the sound of her name being called, and after looking around spotted two earth ponies her age, one waving a foreleg enthusiastically in the air, the other smiling from behind a fully-laden stand of apples. Grinning, Dinky trotted over in the direction of the two other ponies.

“Hey Sweets!” Dinky greeted the waving pony, who lowered her foreleg to give the grey-violet older filly a hug. The mare in question was light gold in color, with a deep saffron mane and purple eyes. Pulling out of the hug, the pony with the single pillow cutie mark matched her friend’s grin.

“Hey, Dinks!” Sweet Wheat greeted in return. “How goes the library work?” [1]

Dinky shrugged in response. “Same old, same old,” she finally said, “And what about you and your job at the spa?”

“Same old, same old,” Sweet Wheat replied, and the two ponies shared a quick laugh before turning to the third pony present—a similarly golden mare with bright red eyes and a matching bright red, braided mane that was secured at the end with a large pink bow. “I was just chatting with Apple Bloom here about how a good massage does wonders for a pony after working in the fields all day long.” 

Apple Bloom snorted a chuckle, shaking her head ruefully. “Ah believe you, really ah do,” she drawled, “But like ah was sayin’ – if mah sister eva caught me gettin’ a massage from ‘Carrot Top’s’ little sister, ah wouldn’t be able to show mah face at the farm eva again.” The pony with the cutie mark resembling an apple bisected by a hammer shook her head once again for good measure, “Y’all know how our two sisters get along, being com-pet-ti-tors in the produce market, an’ all.”

Sweet Wheat rolled her eyes while Dinky laughed. “Are we really going to let our sisters stand in the way of our friendship, AB? Truly, I’m hurt,” Sweet Wheat stated with a slight pout, then ambled behind Apple Bloom while the other warily tracked her movements. The apple farmer jumped slightly as she felt Sweet Wheat’s hooves touch her just behind the withers, and then melted as the other mare began gently kneading in a circular motion.

Grinning slyly, Sweet Wheat brought her face alongside Apple Bloom’s, fully aware that her ministrations had caused the other mare’s eyes to glaze over. “Seeeeee . . .” she whispered into Apple Bloom’s ear, “This isn’t so bad. In fact, I’d be willing to offer you a discount or even a family package deal for you and your siblings! Now, if you just let me have a discount on some of those Red Delicious apples . . .”

“Surrrrre . . .” Apple Bloom purred dreamily, then blinked and shook her head, “Ah mean, no! We’re scrapped as it is this season, SW—ya’ll know that! Your sister’s havin’ the same problem!” 

Sweet Wheat paused in her massaging, then smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“Suit yourself,” she stated, lifting her hooves away from Apple Bloom after giving one last twist that caused the other pony’s entire body to shudder in a way that, given the noise that emerged involuntarily from Apple Bloom’s muzzle, was not exactly unpleasant. The apple farmer glared pitchforks at the other mare as she sauntered back around the apple stand until she was by Dinky’s side again. The grey-violet pony’s cheeks were puffed as she struggled not to laugh.

“You’re evil,” Dinky finally managed to say, which a blushing Apple Bloom seconded with a quick jerk of her head. 

Sweet Wheat simply shrugged again while an only slightly cheeky smile graced her face. “Can’t help it if my talents are also useful for trade or as currency,” she stated, then glanced back at Apple Bloom, whose scowling face still carried a bit of her mane’s coloration. “Well, most of the time anyway.” [2]

Shaking her head at the two earth ponies' antics, Dinky looked around the marketplace to see if any of their other friends were around. Eventually her eyes settled on a pale yellow pegasus with a light violet mane, cobalt blue eyes, and a single feather marking her flank. The young mare was standing perfectly still in the center of the usual market hullabaloo, gaze unfocused and mouth slightly ajar as she stared upwards towards the sky.

“Hey, Alula!” Dinky exclaimed with a shake of her foreleg. 

The pegasus’s ear twitched as the sound of her name reached her, and slowly she tilted her head until her eyes met Dinky’s. Gradually, a small, awkward smile made its way onto Pluto Alula’s features. [3]

“Heeeeyyyyyy . . .” she replied slowly, then turned her body to fully face Dinky, Sweet Wheat, and Apple Bloom. This motion caused her to bump her flank into a cart full of watermelons, which upended, pouring the rolling fruit onto the street. Several ponies tripped as their legs were knocked out from under them by the thundering melons, while others managed to dodge, jump out of the way, or (in the case of pegasi) take to the air. However, some of the dodging ponies failed to look before they leapt, causing them to crash into other stands lining the market square, leading several of the stands to tip over and pour their wares into the street as well. 

Soon the market was in chaos. Oblivious to the screams of pain, exclamations of surprise, and crashes of wooden boards, Alula trotted over to her friends with the same vapid grin, while Dinky, Sweet Wheat, and Apple Bloom vacillated between expressions of shock, horror, dismay, and finally resignation. Noticing her friends’ expressions, Alula turned around and took in the pandemonium occurring behind her.

“Huh, wonder how that happened . . .?” she stated, and the three other mares suddenly felt the simultaneous urge to facehoof and/or fall on the ground.

“Alula, dear . . .” Sweet Wheat began cautiously, “What . . . what exactly were you doing in the middle of the market out there?” 

In response to the question, Alula’s dim grin brightened by a few lumens.

“Ohhhh . . . you know those little dust spots you can sometimes see in your eyes?” she replied, and when three other ponies slowly nodded continued, “Well, I was tryin’ to decode the messages they’re tryin’ to send to me.” 

The overwhelming urge to faceplant returned to the three other mares.

“So, umm . . .” Dinky started with a strained smile, trying to ignore the slow throb inside her skull, “you were trying to . . . decode ‘messages’?”

“From dust spots,” Apple Bloom stated more bluntly, the other two mares wincing at her tone. 

Once again seemingly oblivious, Alula nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I noticed how they always seem to be winkin’ in and out when I’m tracking their movements? Seemed kinda like Horse Code, you know? Tap-tap-tap, rap-rap-rap, tap-tap-tap. Sooooo, I figured they must be trying to send me some kinda message!” she finished with a confident smile. The other three ponies grinned in reply, but their expressions were slightly more askew, the corners of their mouths twitching as if they had to be forced to maintain their positions. [4]

“Tha’ has to be the stupidest, most idiotic thing I eva—” Apple Bloom breathed out, Sweet Wheat and Dinky waving their forelegs and making *shushing* motions behind Alula. Luckily, whatever Apple Bloom was about to say was cut off by a haughty peal of laughter and voice that oozed self-aggrandizement and inflated ego.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” Diamond Tiara chortled with a smirk as she strode up to the quartet of ponies. She was followed as always by her dear friend, Silver Spoon, who, though also smirking, was not doing so as brilliantly. The two were followed by a small posse of past-school age fillies and colts—the usual bottom-feeders that latched onto the most popular pony around for pure survival’s sake.

“If it isn’t the Derp-tastic Trio,” Diamond Tiara continued, raising one hoof in Alula’s direction, “First off: Princess Erroria!” Glancing behind her, Diamond Tiara looked over the market corridor, still in disarray from the earlier watermelon stampede. “Whose talent for wanton destruction obviously has still yet to reach its peak!” she concluded, and her friends giggled around her while three of the four mares under target glared at the pink and purple pony while Alula looked back and forth confusedly.

“Heeeeeeyyyyyyyy . . .?” Alula finally replied with a rise of confused consternation. Diamond Tiara looked back at her posse with a small smile, making a ‘What can you do’ gesture with her foreleg and wagging her brows. 

Turning back around, Diamond Tiara gestured at Sweet Wheat, “And next we have ‘The Noi’—noisy, nosey, obnoxious, and annoying!” 

Sweet Wheat just stared deadpan at the clearly projecting pink pony. “You’ve been saying the same thing since grade school—it still doesn’t make any sense,” Sweet Wheat remarked, a logical point which Diamond Tiara covered-up with another chortle of laughter that her groupies gradually joined in on. 

After a moment, Diamond Tiara turned to face Apple Bloom, who looked about ready to either upend her apple stand or leap over it so that she could throttle the prissy pseudo-princess.

“They are joined by their friend, Apple Bloom,” Diamond Tiara stated, and her compatriots murmured briefly in confusion at the lack of a demeaning nickname, but then quieted again when Diamond Tiara continued, “Second-place, runner-up for longest running time before figuring out the completely obvious and getting her own cutie mark!” 

While the groupies broke out laughing again, Apple Bloom herself snorted steam from her nostrils.

“Charmed,” she muttered between clenched teeth, though inside she was letting loose a stream of choice words that would have earned her a beaning from both of her older siblings. Diamond Tiara simply smirked in response, and then turned to Dinky, getting ready to lay the coup-de-grace, but losing breath at the fact that the grey-violet older filly was actually smiling at her.

“And f-f-finally we have the l-leader of the trio,” Diamond Tiara stated hesitantly, slightly unnerved by the fact that Dinky was still smiling warmly at her. Coughing once, Diamond Tiara continued more steadily, “The oldest blank flank in all of Ponyville, neigh, all of Equestria!”

Diamond Tiara’s posse cheered, egging her on while Alula, Sweet Wheat, and Apple Bloom glanced at Dinky worriedly. The daughter of Ditzy Doo and sister of Amethyst Star simply continued to smile.

Inwardly frowning, Diamond Tiara took a step forwards towards Dinky, who didn’t move a muscle in response. “A filly so talentless, not even private study with an alicorn Princess can find her a proper place in life!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, staring Dinky right in the eye.

Dinky continued to smile.

Undaunted, Diamond Tiara took another step closer to the other pony, refusing to break eye contact even as she heard a questioning murmur from her so-called “friends” behind her. Frowning more intensely, she remarked, “A daughter who is such a disgraceful failure, her own father and step-father bailed on her and her family out of Complete. Utter. Shame!”

With these words, the fillies and stallions behind Diamond Tiara grew quiet, and a small frown even settled on Silver Spoon’s face. The gathering itself had not gone unnoticed, and gradually several other ponies were beginning to make their way over to investigate the hubbub they were hearing. Dinky’s friends were all livid, their glares hot enough to spontaneously combust Diamond Tiara if properly focused.

And through it all, Dinky simply continued to smile.

Her last nerve fraying, Diamond Tiara took the final step forward, closing the distance so that she and Dinky were practically muzzle to muzzle. “Presenting, DERPY HOOVES the SECOND, Ms. Dinky Donkey Dunderhead Doo!!” Diamond Tiara nearly screamed, her twitching, somewhat mad, cornflower-blue eyes boring into Dinky’s own golden ones, daring her to make a response. Any response.

“If you really wanted to kiss me that badly, you should have just asked.”

Diamond Tiara reared up, a look of horror etched on her features as gasps of shock echoed around the now much larger crowd. Pluto Alula, Sweet Wheat, and Apple Bloom shared similar expressions of astonishment that after a moment gradually gave way to ear-splitting grins.

“W-w-w-w-w-w-what?!?!” Diamond Tiara stammered. 

In response, Dinky just traced small circles in the dirt with her hoof, her eyes darting shyly between Diamond Tiara and the ground. She had the same small smile on her face, though now the smile was punctuated by a pair of rosy dots on her cheeks.

“Wellllll . . . it’s obvious from everything you just said that you’ve been paying a lot of attention to me,” Dinky stated, her eyes still flitting between glances at Diamond Tiara and the ground, “I mean, I’m kind of flattered actually. As you said, I’m really a pretty boring, ordinary filly. And to receive the express attention of one of the most popular, wealthiest, and, well, most beautiful mares in Ponyville . . .” 

Dinky stopped tracing her hoof and looked up, gazing into Diamond Tiara’s eyes with an expression so worshipful that the other mare found herself frozen in place, unable to look away. 

“I guess, wow, how could I say ever say no to that level of adoration?” Dinky finally remarked, taking a step closer to Diamond Tiara, who tried to back away but was blocked by the now much larger crowd that encircled them.

“Stay away!! I never meant . . . You’re twisting my . . . I’m not that kind of . . .!” Diamond Tiara stuttered haphazardly, her attention divided as her eyes darted around looking for an exit, any exit. But alas, Dinky only drew closer, nodding her head sagely.

“I know, I know, this is new for me too,” Dinky said, “But no matter what happens, I’ll always think of you as a good friend, Tiara.” Diamond Tiara’s head whipped around at this remark, and was dismayed to find Dinky has closed the distance so that she was less than a foot away. Smiling gently, Dinky placed one foreleg on Diamond Tiara’s withers, the other mare now starting the quiver and shake as sweat beaded down her face. 

“After all, we share so much in common,” Dinky continued, her smile growing a little sadder, “We . . . we both know the pain of having an absent father, who disappears without warning or saying when he’ll be back, if ever.”

“MY DADDY LOVES ME!!!!” Diamond Tiara bellowed, though her words carried more desperation than anger as tears started to well up in her eyes. The pink mare then froze as Dinky pulled her into a gentle hug, patting her back with one foreleg.

“There, there, I know. My Daddy loves . . . loves me too,” Dinky said consolingly, pulling away from Diamond Tiara and holding the stunned mare by the shoulders. “My Mommy always says that as long as we keep the people we l-love in our hearts, then we’ll never have to be scared, or lonely, or s-sad ever again.” Dinky then smiled brightly, though the corners of her own eyes seemed moist as well. “I’m so glad we understand each other so well!”

“You!! You!!” Diamond Tiara stammered, then noticeably brightened when she spotted Dinky’s sister, Amethyst Star, emerging from the crowd to stand by Apple Bloom and Dinky’s other friends. Pointing a shaky foreleg at the magenta-colored mare, Diamond Tiara gazed out at the crowd of ponies who completely dwarfed her former posse, her eyes wild and a grin absolutely manic on her face. “Hah!! Aha! See! See! She’s such a little filly that she needs her Big Sister to come save her!!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed triumphantly, her smile diminishing both at the fact that the crowd was frowning hostilely at her and that Amethyst Star was smiling while shaking her head.

“Eh, nope,” Amethyst stated, floating an apple off from Apple Bloom’s cart after tossing some bits in the collection basket, “Seems to me she’s doing just fine on her own. I’m just here to watch the show so I can brag about it to Diamond Mint at work tomorrow.” Taking a bite from the apple, Amethyst stared and watched the gummed-up gears slowly turn in Diamond Tiara’s brain, and after a few moments decided to cut the frazzled filly a little slack.

“You know, my job . . . at the jewelry store,” Amethyst intoned, gazing between the dumbstruck Diamond Tiara, the cringing Silver Spoon, and the other, confused, well-to-do colts and fillies in the pink pony’s posse. “Where your parents frequently shop.”

It took nearly a minute, but eventually the mare’s words finally struck home. Glancing between Amethyst Star, Dinky, Dinky’s three friends, her own friends, and the crowd of smirking ponies around her, Diamond Tiara rapidly considered the implications of the combination of lost face, public humiliation, the likely loss of her allowance once her parents got wind, and the whole host of really confusing emotions now running through her. She chose to do the only sensible thing she could think of.

Screaming a primal noise that could have woken Discord from his stony slumber if that hadn’t already happened years before, and in a move that would have made Iron Will feeling both proud and slightly inadequate, Diamond Tiara turned and plowed her way through the crowd of ponies, sending several skyborne (to be caught by friendly pegasi) while others quickly moved aside to let the mad mare pass. Within seconds, there was naught a sign of Diamond Tiara aside from a rapidly dissipating cloud of dust.

Diamond Tiara’s groupies quickly followed in the footsteps of their leader, the crowd laughing around them as the seemingly untouchable fillies and colts turned tail. While most of the group simply kept their eyes forward trying to spot the distant speck of their Alpha Pony, Silver Spoon actually paused the briefest of moments to match gazes with Dinky. The blue-grey mare offered the smallest of apologetic smiles, then turned her head back around and exited the square as the tail of the group.

The crowd of ponies who had witnessed the spectacle continued to laugh for several minutes, the loudest chortles coming from those who either knew Diamond Tiara personally or by reputation within the village community. Eventually though the ponies parted, either returning to their businesses or deciding to end the work day on a high note.

Dinky continued to sit and stare in the direction that Diamond Tiara had fled, a mix of different emotions running across her face. Eventually, she felt a presence by her side, and looked up to see her older sister wearing a smile that was at once proud, triumphant, and comforting. After a moment, Dinky matched the expression, and raised one hoof up in the air while Amethyst did the same. Behind the duo, Pluto Alula, Sweet Wheat, and Apple Bloom watched the scene with wide-spread grins on their faces. No spoken words were necessary as the two unicorn mares solemnly tapped their hooves together.

*EPIC SISHOOF, FOR THE WIN!*


*                *                *                *                *                *


Sometime later, Amethyst Star, her sister, Dinky Doo, and her sister’s two friends, Sweet Wheat and Pluto Alula could be found making their way along the dirt path out of Ponyville towards the Everfree Forest. The jeweler’s apprentice was followed on either side by Dinky and Sweet Wheat, while Alula drifted with wings outstretched in the air above. All four of the ponies wore saddlebags loaded with a combination of fruits, vegetables, and grains.

“Remind me again how we got roped into all of this!” Amethyst remarked irritably as she slowly ambled along, tripping at times as the weight of the bags caused her to make each step deeper and harder than usual

Sweet Wheat managed a strained, apologetic smile. “I know, I know, it’s my fault—I just had to bring up the fact that my sister asked me to take all these carrots out to Fluttershy’s cottage as a favor. And then AB laid a guilt trip about how “ahr little show” closed down business in the market for the day, leaving her with a surplus of apples that had to go somewhere,” she acknowledged. 

Amethyst sighed in response, bowing her head and closing her eyes. “No, no, Wheatie, you couldn’t have known the other vendors with drop-offs would get the same idea once they saw us loading up,” Amethyst said, managing a soft smile for the yellow mare at her side. “Don’t mind me, I’m just being a sourpony.”

“Aw, thanks “Big Sis #2,” Sweet Wheat stated with a grin of her own. “At least you’re getting your exercise for the day,” she added, laughing lightly as the older mare groaned.    

“How Mom handles this kind of thing every day, I have no idea . . .” Amethyst uttered, squirming slightly under the weight of her saddlebags and drawing another gentle chuckle from Sweet Wheat. 

“It’s really not so bad . . .” Alula stated with closed eyes from above, flapping her wings once and then resuming her slow drifting glide, all four legs outstretched, “Fresh air, breeze through your fur and mane . . .”

“Saddlebags digging into my sides, dirt clogging up my hooves . . .” Amethyst grumbled between clenched teeth, and Sweet Wheat chuckled sympathetically.

“Yeah, I know this kind of physical work isn’t too typical for you unicorns,” Sweat Wheat remarked with a small smirk, then frowned and turned her gaze skyward, “Though at least you two I can understand—I have no idea how Alula is pulling off what she is . . .” 

“I am Petrochelidon spilodera . . . or maybe Hirundo rustica . . . migrating north whilst carrying a pair of coconuts,” Alula replied lazily, again flapping her wings once before resuming her gentle glide. On the ground, Amethyst and Sweet Wheat winced at the sudden mutual brain freeze, then shook their heads to clear them and continued their slow trot. [5]

Noting the air of quiet on her right side, Amethyst glanced over at her younger sister, whose head was bent low, eyes focused on the ground. “You’re awfully quiet there, Squirt,” Amethyst finally stated with a grin, which weakened when her sister didn’t respond to the familiar jibe. With a gentler tone and light nuzzle, she asked, “Something on your mind?”

At the touch, Dinky’s head bobbed up as if waking from a long sleep. Blinking she glanced briefly at her sister, then back at the ground again. “Oh, it’s nothing . . .” she stated, and Amethyst raised one curious brow.

“‘No lies,’ Dinky,” Amethyst stated firmly, and at the use of the familial phrase, Dinky looked up to meet her sister’s gaze, “Tell me what’s wrong . . .” Hazarding a guess, Amethyst offered, “Is this about earlier, with Diamond Tiara?” Dinky turned away again without a word, but after a moment nodded slowly, so Amethyst gave her another quick nuzzle.

On Amethyst’s left side, Sweet Wheat snorted, “That stuck-up, prissy, pretentious, brat! Honestly, how old does she still think all of us are? Are we really still in Kindergarten?” Cantering slightly in order to get ahead of Amethyst, Sweet Wheat looked over at her distraught friend and stated with firmness, “Honey, you have nothing to feel bad about. Anything that filly gets she earned in spades from bad karma over the years.”

“The kind of girl that does nothing but bad things, and then wonders why her life sucks . . .?”

“Exactly! See, Dinks, even Alula is with me on this one,” Sweet Wheat said with a grin, and after a moment, Dinky looked up with a hard set to her eyes.

“It doesn’t make it right,” she stated, then her face fell and she looked at the ground again, “Even when a pony is mean to you, it doesn’t make it right to treat them mean back . . .”

“Dinky, you unbridled Diamond Tiara by suffocating her with kindness,” Amethyst noted, and froze when Dinky glared up at her with wavering, angry eyes.

“It wasn’t real! I just . . .” Dinky turned away again, now actively choking on a sob as she sat on her haunches. With unspoken agreement, Amethyst and Sweet Wheat also paused, lowering their saddlebags to the ground and settling beside the grey-violet adolescent. With a brief rush of air as she descended, Pluto Alula did the same and joined the gathering.  

“I just . . . wanted to get under her skin a little,” Dinky finally said, tears trailing down her cheeks as looked up at Sweet Wheat and Alula. “The same way she was trying to do with all of you, I wanted to do to her. So I did. I used my brain, picked out her weak spots just like she was trying to do to me . . . and went for the jugular.” Covering her face protectively with her forelegs, Dinky shrank into herself as she continued to cry. “I’m a horrible pony,” she stated between sobs, and jumped as she felt one, then two, then three sets of forelegs encircling her.

“Sis, it’s never wrong to stand up for yourself or your friends however you can. So you don’t like the way you handled it this time, try a different way next time,” Amethyst said softly from behind her, rubbing a small patch of Dinky’s fur with her hoof. “But never, ever think that you are a bad pony.”

“The fact that you’re feeling bad about it now just shows how good your heart is, hun,” Sweet Wheat said, picking up the dialogue, “Mean ponies act mean all the time because they want everyone to hurt like they do. Good ponies act mean only when they have to, but never because they really want to. And I know that there is not one mean, nasty bone in your body, Dinks.”   

“Universal Fact: Dinky Doo is a good pony, and an even better friend,” Alula stated with a nod, smiling as her words produced a brief laugh from the older filly.

Wiping her eyes, Dinky looked up into the gazes of the huddled mass around her, then smiled genuinely before adding to the group hug herself. “Thanks guys,” she whispered, and the four mares settled as they all realized their friend (and sister) was going to be okay. They stayed like that for a moment, reveling in the peaceful atmosphere and the warm comfort of each other’s’ presence. Friendship is magical . . . [6]

Or at least it is until it gets interrupted by a massiv—*BOOM!!*

At the sound of the explosion and shaking of the ground, all four ponies suddenly grabbed each other tighter, forming a protective sphere. After a minute passed, Amethyst stuck her head up and glanced around slowly. Seeing that the area around them was still intact, she loosened her hold on the three younger ponies and stood up, Dinky, Sweet Wheat, and Alula doing the same shortly afterwards.

“What the hay was that . . .?” Amethyst wondered softly, the other mares nodding as they had the same thought. 

Taking to the air and looking around for any sign of where the noise had come from, Pluto Alula’s eyes alighted on a trail of smoke drifting up from somewhere within the Everfree Forest. Pointing a foreleg, the pegasus exclaimed, “Over there, guys!”

Turning around, Dinky spotted the same smoke trail above the forest treeline. Her former woes were forgotten as a spark of youthful curiosity and excitement quickly stomped the other feeling into submission. Grinning widely, Dinky broke into a gallop, tilting her head briefly to cry out, “Come on, let’s go check it out!”

While heartened by the fact that her younger sister seemed to be feeling better and more herself, a twinge of worry crept up Amethyst’s spine as she looked between the retreating forms of her sister and the light-yellow pegasus, and the mysterious smoke cloud that possibly heralded unknown danger. “Get back here, you two!” she exclaimed, breaking into a gallop herself as she made pursuit.

“Guuuuyyyysssss! What about the—” Sweet Wheat declared desperately, gesturing at the mislaid saddlebags still full of goods to deliver. The earth pony bit her lip, glancing between the bags, her retreating friends, the bags, her retreating friends, the bags . . .

“Oh, Chantenay carrots!” Sweet Wheat finally declared in exasperation, then broke into a gallop herself as she tried to close up the lead the others had gained. “Wait up for me!!”


*                *                {Sometime Earlier}                *                *


He was cornered.

At long last, the brown-coated stallion’s pursuers had caught up with him near the far edge of the Everfree Forest. They now surrounded him in a semicircle within a small clearing bordered by a rocky, moss-covered hill. The pony’s eyes darted around as he backed up to the edge of the rock, looking for any possible escape route, but his pursuers had both the low and high grounds covered; there was nowhere left to run. Sighing, he bowed his head, took a deep breath, and then looked up with rigid determination to meet the unblinking gaze of his captors.

Changelings.

A squad of at least eight of the insectoid equines now surrounded him, some standing on the ground with their perforated legs, others hovering in the air with their tattered wings loudly buzzing. Virtually indistinguishable, each of the changelings were roughly the size of a full-grown pony, covered in ebony chitin instead of fur, and possessing gnarled versions of a unicorn’s horn on their foreheads. Their eyes were all a monochromatic light blue, yet conveyed expression and malice through the aid of rigid brows and sharp, curving fangs in their sneering mouths. On their backs were blue, saddle-like mounds on which the translucent wings of grounded changelings rested, the mounds seemingly held in place by aquamarine straps that wrapped around their barrels.

And above these straps, mounted just beneath the chest of each changeling, was a shiny, deep blue, ovoid gem.
 
One changeling, apparently the leader given his unique, blue helmet and armored collar, took one step forward towards the pony. <You may as well drop the disguise, Doctor. You’re not fooling anypony here,> the Changeling Commander communicated through a series of clicks, hisses, and a buzzing of his wings. [7]

Sighing once again, the brown-coated stallion with the double triangle cutie mark bowed his head in defeat. It seemed time to face the inevitable. 

With a roar, a circle of neon green flame erupted from the ground around the pony, growing until it formed a dome around his form. A moment passed, and then in a flash, the flames dissipated. 

Where the stallion had stood now rested another changeling, wearing the same saddlebags around his middle and carrying the third in his own fanged mouth. [8]

The Changeling Commander sneered at the new sight before him, and then resumed a dead serious, almost angry expression. <Doctor Ephemero, you are charged with high treason against the Queen-Mother Chrysalis as a result of the theft of her majesty’s property, conspiracy to do the same, and breaking the fundamental laws of our kind,> the Commander intoned gravelly, <What say you?>

Softly, but with gradually increasing intensity, the captive changeling began to shake, his wings buzzing furiously as he unleashed a crazed peal of laughter that caused the assembled insects to draw back slightly in primal terror. Grinning maniacally, Doctor Ephemero lowed the satchel in his mouth to the ground, then stared directly at the Changeling Commander and spat out, <You complete. Utter. Foal!!> 

Seeing the confusion in his fellow changelings’ expressions and body language, the doctor continued, <Do you have any idea, any idea, whatsoever, about what our dear, sweet, merciful Queen-Mother has done to us all?!> Pointing to the gem on his torso, which unlike his brethren was pulsing with soft, white light, he queried, <Do any of you know what these things actually do to our kind?!>

Several of the drone changelings snorted and chuckled, and one bellowed proudly, <They are our salvation! A gift from the Queen to save us all from our constant hunger; to make us stronger than we could have ever dreamed!> A withering glare from the Changeling Commander shut the lesser insectoid up, but rather than mollify the doctor, it only resulted in his laughing louder.

<As expected from a low-rank drone!> Doctor Ephemero barked, then turned to face the lead changeling. <And what of you, Commander? Do you also buy into the party line, or is there something of a brain hiding beneath that encrusted helmet?>

In response, the Changeling Commander frowned deeper. <Ours is not to question, ours is merely to obey,> he stated, then narrowed his eyes nearly to slits. <And your betrayal will mean your death.>

Again, the doctor laughed. <I’m already dead, my brother,> he stated, looking around the assembly of his fellow kind, and gesturing with one hoof, <You’re all already dead!> Moving his hoof to his chest, Doctor Ephemero pointed to the gem which was lodged there. <This is the death of our race!> he proclaimed, then pointed at the satchel on the ground, <And so are these! I’m no traitor, I’m trying to save our people!> Grinning, he looked again into the face of the Changeling Commander, whose impassivity was starting to waver. <I am in full compliance with our most sacred of trusts, for I faithfully serve ‘The Greater Good’.>

<‘The Greater Good . . .’> the assembly of drones repeated, and it took all of the Commander’s willpower not to join in the ritualistic repetition of the key phrase that was programmed into every changeling from the moment they hatched.

Shaking his head, the Commander glowered at the still grinning doctor. <You. Are. A. Traitor!> he bellowed, half for his troops’ benefit and half to convince himself of the same, <One such as you could never serve, much less begin to comprehend, ‘The Greater Good’!>

<‘The Greater Good . . .’>

<SHUT IT!> the Commander ordered with a roar of his wings, and then turned back to his prisoner, slowly drawing closer to him. <You . . . are going . . . to die, traitor.> he hissed between clenched fangs, stepping forward until he was nearly muzzle-to-muzzle with Dr. Ephemero, <Any last words?>

Again, Doctor Ephemero smiled, though this time it was a small, sad one. <‘It is a far, far better thing I do, than I ever done,’> he stated softly, and taken aback at the change in tone, the Commander slowly stepped away from his fellow changeling. Reaching down, Doctor Ephemero took the third satchel back his mouth, and on the doctor’s torso the gem embedded there began to glow an increasingly intense white. Though his speech was slightly altered by the presence of the satchel strap between his teeth, he continued the Charolais Dickens quotation, <‘It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.’> 

Still slowly backing away, and motioning through gesture for his troops to do the same, the Changeling Commander hesitantly stated, <Doctor . . . be reasonable . . .>

Smiling serenely, the doctor replied with difficulty, <Like I said, Commander, I’m already dead. I’m just upping the timetable.> The gem in Doctor Ephemero’s torso now blazed like a small star, small cracks of light leading outwards from it across the changeling’s ebony body. Looking the Commander dead in the eye, Doctor Ephemero said in plain Equestrian, “And not you, your drones, or the tyrant Chrysalis herself is going to get these units back over my dead body.” [9]

The changeling doctor vaguely heard something sounding like a cry to retreat before everything went white. The last conscious thought he had before the wave of warmth wiped everything away was simply, ‘Forgive me, your Highness . . .’

Elsewhere in Equestria, the final message of a faithful servant was sadly received. 'You are forgiven, Ephemero,’ was the reply that would never be heard as a single tear traced its way down a dark-colored cheek.


END CHAPTER TWO

> Chapter 3: The Marvelous Bio-Booster Armor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





“It's time now for a new change to come;
You've grown up and your new life has begun.
To go where you will go, to see what you will see,
To find what you will be, for it's time for you to fulfill your destiny.”
        ~ “Celestia’s Ballad” from “Magical Mystery Cure,” My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 





In the small clearing bordered by a moss-covered outcropping, smoke and debris from the rogue changeling’s self-destruction still drifted in a lazy cloud. Coughing sounds emerged from within, and after a moment the dust began to swirl away as multiple sets of translucent wings buzzed back to life. As the air cleared, a single, large, scorch-marked crater in the ground and blasted into the side of the rocky hill became visible. Multiple chitin-covered forms rubbing their monochromatic eyes shakily rose upright, knocking off errant leaves and branches downed by the explosion’s shock wave as they did so.

Still coughing, the Changeling Commander grimaced and tried to do a headcount through the lingering particulates. < Sound off! > he managed to cry out between winces and muscle spasms, listening to hear the similarly haphazard responses from his unit. Surprisingly, every single one of the drones seemed to have survived.

< Sir, what—*cough*—happened? > asked a female drone near the Changeling Commander, who turned to face to his subordinate—a lieutenant, if he remembered correctly. 

Now, it was a well-held misconception in Equestrian lore that only Queen changelings were female, while the many drones making up the remainder of the race were male, mimicking the dimorphic differences of the insects they seemed to resemble. However, while it was true that female drones were fewer in number than the males, they did exist, often remaining behind to care for the local hives, though some also joined the various guard and infiltrator ranks. One would be hard-pressed to notice, as the two genders were so alike in voice and appearance, the females were often mistaken for male changelings by the casual observer. This in turn gave rise to the belief that there were no female changeling drones; however, there was one, sure-fire way to tell them apart.

It was the fangs.

Shaking his head, the Changeling Commander briefly wondered if the explosion had given him a concussion, despite his helmet’s protection. The female lieutenant, though mildly confused, politely and obediently waited for her superior to respond rather than speak out of turn. That is, until her eyes widened in sudden panic.

< Sir, you’re bleeding! > the female lieutenant exclaimed, pointing with one foreleg at the runny line of silver making its way down the lead changeling’s face.

Frowning, the Changeling Commander reached up with one hoof and lightly touched it against his cheek. As he drew his limb away, he grimaced at the sight of the metallic stain upon his hoof. [1]

< So I am . . . > the Changeling Commander replied, lightly tracing the wound that bisected the carapace around his left eye and cut into his helmet. Waving off a medic drone that tried to approach him, he turned and stepped over to the charred earth that marked his prey’s last stand, the female lieutenant falling in place a step behind him. Not needing to be told, a hoof-full of drones were already picking their way through the debris and wreckage to determine if anything of their quarry remained.

< So the traitor chose to end his life rather than face Her Majesty’s judgment. As expected from a coward, > the lead changeling remarked offhandedly as he observed the salvage efforts, then looked back as the remainder of his troops gathered around him. < Report! >

One fluttering changeling rose up from the charred crater and saluted with a foreleg. < Sir! The explosion resulted in no casualties, only minor scrapes and a few small carapace punctures from flying debris, > the changeling soldier stated smartly, and then glanced behind him. < Given the minimal environmental impact, I’d say the explosive discharge was magic-based, likely from an overloaded capacitance of the fugitive’s Zoal Gem. The discharge was enough to vaporize him and damage his immediate surroundings, but otherwise lacked the energy to do much else outside of a fixed radius. > 

The drone glanced back at his comrades still digging in the crater, who looked up and shook their heads with raised hooves at the unstated question. Turning back to his superior, he said, < It appears that nothing remains of the traitor or the stolen units, sir. > Noting the Changeling Commander’s growing frown, the soldier hastily added, < B-but it i-is possible that the units were flung away by the force of the explosion, rather than destroyed! >  

The Changeling Commander nodded, scratching his chin with his holed foreleg. ‘If the explosion was magic-based, then the bio-booster units may have survived due to being partially organic. That is, if the blast managed to fling them away from here . . .’ he mused, then with a roar of his wings rose into the air. < Spread Out! Our new priority is to locate the three missing units that traitor stole! You have permission to perform transmutation if necessary, but find the Guyver units, whatever it takes! >

< YES, SIR! > the assembled drones responded with shared snapping salutes, launching into the air in a swarming fury that vanished into the forest’s depths moments later.  

Still hovering in the clearing, the Changeling Commander briefly turned around to consider the scorched earth and grass left behind by his fellow changeling’s self-destruction. ‘What were you thinking, Doctor?’ he wondered briefly, then scowled and blasted into the forest in pursuit of his drones. ‘No matter. If I don’t recover the units it’s my head on the chopping block for sure . . .’ 


*                *                *                *                *                *


In a different section of the Everfree, Amethyst Star started in mid-stride as her ears picked up a series of quick, excited shouts and hollers, which after a moment she recognized as belonging to both her sister and Pluto Alula. Turning her head, she matched gazes with Sweet Wheat, who had caught up to the older mare. Nodding together, the two ponies changed direction and increased their speed towards where had heard the combined yells come from.

After another minute of weaving through tree trunks, jumping over rocks and low rises, and ducking under branches, Amethyst and Sweet Wheat emerged from the treeline into a partially canopied glen with a large pond in its center. They quickly spotted their quarry near the water’s shore. Alula was flitting about in the air excitedly while a grinning Dinky stood over a steaming, disc-shaped object to which she was conducting that most scientific of examinations—poking at it with a stick.

“Dinky!” Amethyst barked, both her sister and Alula’s heads snapping up with wide eyes at the harsh cry. Stomping over forcefully, Amethyst seized the stick away from Dinky’s magical grip with her own power, throwing it away into the pond. “Back away, now,” Amethyst stated in a tone that held no room for argument.

Not to say that her younger sister couldn’t try.

“But Starrrrrrrrrrr . . .” Dinky whined, “We weren’t doing anything dangerous, just—”

“You know better,” Amethyst cut in, “I’m invoking Family Rules 57 and 50.” Glancing at the mysterious, wheel-like object at her sister’s hooves, she noted a lightly glowing ring of light shining around the roughly baseball-sized metallic orb at the disc’s center. “And add Rule 53 to that list too.” [2]

Dinky snorted, her ears swiveled back and her head lowered as she looked up to meet her sister’s stern glare with an equally frosty gaze. After a moment, Dinky slowly backed away until a few feet separated her and the no-longer smouldering, circular device on the ground. Sensing her friend’s tension, Alula also moved away, lowering to the ground beside Dinky and covering the filly with one wing, which earned a tight smile in thanks.

“Sooooo, you’re telling me your family actually has rules for these kinds of situations?” Sweet Wheat asked incredulously, the innocent question seeming to break the animosity between the sisters as they both began to sweat.

Sharing a nervous glance with her sister, Dinky eventually turned to Sweet Wheat. “Yes, yes we do,” she affirmed, while Amethyst nodded a little too enthusiastically.

“Doesn’t everypony?” Pluto Alula asked nonchalantly, the Doo sisters blinking at the unexpected source of support. 

Sweet Wheat gave one more curious glance at the sisters, then shrugged, making a *hmmf* of disinterest that earned relieved sighs from the sisterly pair.

Shaking her head, Amethyst turned to face the mystery object still sitting in a small crater by the pond’s bank. The round apparatus was roughly the same size as a small wagon tire, and consisted of several dull metallic plates of varying width encasing a bundle of tube-like coils. The coils themselves were thick and segmented, looking almost like a series of oversized worms or strands of spaghetti bound together into one compressed mass. Resting in a depression at the center of the bundle was a polished metal sphere about the same size as a doorknob, the ring of light from before having emerged from a gap between the sphere and a rim of the same material which was mounted flush against the bunch of coils. 

Surrounding the device with her own magic, Amethyst levitated it into the air so that the metallic orb in its center faced the four ponies. After examining her own reflection in the sphere’s face, Amethyst turned with a softer expression towards her still sullen sister.

“You’re the most well-read of any of us, Dinky,” Amethyst said with a cautious smile, “Any thoughts?”

Dinky blinked, and then slowly mirrored her older sister’s expression. Leaving Alula’s hug, she stepped forward to stand beside Amethyst, turning to also consider the strange disc, still hovering in the magenta glow of her sister’s magic a few feet in front of the pair.

“It’s definitely biomechanical,” she finally stated, raising one foreleg to point. “Look at those coils on the inside of the outer casing—those aren’t artificial, they’re organic. And that orb in the center, the one that was glowing a second ago? It might be some sort of lock or control interface that releases that coiled . . . thingy from the inside of these clamps.” The older filly shook her head, adding with a rueful half-smile, “But what this thing does once it’s opened, I don’t have the first clue.”

“Could it have caused that explosion?” Amethyst asked, and beside her Dinky shook her head.

“If it were a part of some larger device that went off, there’d be more damage to it,” Dinky declared, turning to look at her sister as Amethyst did the same. “But this . . . disc is fully intact, aside from a few scratches and scuffs to the outer shell. Whatever that blast was likely launched it over here.”

The two sisters turned again to consider the unknown apparatus, and as they continued to ponder Sweet Wheat and Alula stepped forward to stand alongside of the two of them. 

“How do you know all that . . . stuff, Dinks?” Sweet Wheat asked to break the silence, looking over at her friend expectantly.

Dinky offered the other pony a slightly nervous grin. “Welllllll . . . I have read a lot while I’ve been working at the library. And . . . my Daddy taught me a little too,” she offered, sweating a little as Sweet Wheat continued to gaze at her curiously.

“I thought your Dad was just the town timeskeeper,” Sweet Wheat stated non-believingly, looking between the two Doo sisters with unveiled skepticism.

“He . . . mettled in a lot of things,” Amethyst stated, her mouth pursed in a tight line. Turning to the disc again, she smiled in a way that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “He liked to think of himself as a Lord of many subjects.”

Dinky glanced at her sister worriedly, while Amethyst stared at a point somewhere behind the floating object. Sweet Wheat continued to glance perplexedly between the two sisters, mentally recording the exchange so that she could investigate further later on.

Meanwhile, Alula, who had largely stayed silent up to this point, stepped forward closer to the magenta-suffused device. “Maybe you need some kinda password or incantation or somethin’,” she stated, waving one foreleg in front of the metal sphere burrowed at the middle of the disc. “Ala Shazam! Open, Sesame Bun! Klaatu . . . Barada . . . Nickel-metal hydride!” [3]

Waking from her reverie, Amethyst’s eyes widened at the sight of the younger mare. “Alula, get back!” she shouted, leaning forward and pushing the pegasus back with her foreleg.

“Whoa!” Alula exclaimed, her wings unfurling and flapping at the unexpected touch and movement. 

As the pegasus moved backwards, her flapping wings struck the older mare’s rear, accidently giving her a forward push. Already off-balance from shoving Alula, Amethyst stumbled, her hooves losing purchase in the wet grass as she slid forward towards the bank of the pond. She would have fallen, had her trip not been stopped by banging her head into the enigmatic device, which through it all had remained floating in the air in front of the group.

“Oww!” Amethyst exclaimed as she sat in the grass, rubbing her head with one foreleg. Before she could turn to yell at Alula, however, her eyes widened and her ears swiveled as she heard a rising *zahhmm* close by. Whirling around, she stared directly into her own reflection in the metal sphere, now once again pulsing with a ring of white light that was gradually increasing in intensity. As the whine and glow of the orb continued to rise, the cluster of coils began gyrating, skimming along their lengths with greater and greater speed.

With rising panic, Amethyst turned her head and yelled at the three adolescents, “GIRLS! Get awa—!”

Before she could finish, the metal clamps surrounding the coil bundle popped open, and as if launched by a spring the metallic orb shot itself at Amethyst, the mass of coils it was attached to trailing behind it like a thickly braided mane. Resembling a monstrous cross between an octopus and a net, the orb latched itself onto Amethyst’s face while the tentacle-like coils attached to it shot forward and spindled to wrap around the mare’s form. With frightening speed, the coils congealed together and expanded, spreading outward until Amethyst’s body was totally entombed by the fleshy mass. [4]

The three older fillies could only watch in horror as Amethyst thrashed and bucked, struggling in vain to throw off the viscous ooze as it hardened, taking shape into a vaguely pony-shaped cocoon around her body. Beneath the rapidly transforming pile, Amethyst struggled to breathe as she felt the coils press themselves into her, working their way into her body, snaking under her fur and skin.

[Girls . . .] Amethyst somehow managed to croak out through the hardening shroud that surrounded her head, though her voice was suitably distorted. [Stay . . . back . . .] Any other words were halted as the encapsulated mare stumbled again in the slick grass, rolling head over hooves until she fell into the pond with a large splash.

The sudden expulsion of water seemed to shake the three adolescent ponies from their shock, and as one they rushed over to the water’s edge. Peering into the pond’s dark depths, they struggled in vain to make out the form of their friend beneath the rippling water and slowing stream of rising bubbles.

“Star . . .” Dinky whispered unbelievingly, shaking her head as the rising bubbles finally stopped. Swallowing a sob, and with tears growing in the corners of her eyes, she exclaimed in one shrill cry, “STAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!”      


*                *                *                *                *                *


In the skies above Equestria, a lone, gray form could be spotted, humming and lightly dancing around the various clouds drifting across the land from the factories of Cloudsdale. Looking closer, one could see that the form was a pegasus mailpony, smartly dressed and carrying two full saddlebags strapped around her barrel. Suddenly, the blond-maned mare froze, her wings and legs outstretched and rigid. No longer held aloft, she plummeted, entering a spin as she struggled to regain control. Eventually the mare managed to direct herself towards one of the various clouds, crashing spectacularly into its puffy surface.

Breathing heavily, Ditzy Doo rose on her haunches atop the cloud, one hoof covering her heart and golden eyes clouded. “Muffin . . .” she murmured, and then her eyes suddenly cleared as her head shot upwards. “Sweetie!”

Her usually wandering eyes now focused and narrowed, Ditzy quickly tightened the straps of her mailbags with her teeth, unfurled her wings, and with a mighty flap took to the air. Rising vertically with wings fully spread, Ditzy rolled and completed a quarter loop so that she faced the direction from which she had come. Stretching outward to make herself as aerodynamic as possible, Ditzy furiously beat her wings until they became a blur, a cone of condensed air forming behind her and a crackling boom rocking the skies as the mailmare broke the sound barrier.

Whatever it took, she had to get back to Ponyville!


*                *                *                *                *                *


Back in the Everfree Forest, Dinky, Sweet Wheat and Alula continued to stare at the pond’s surface, still hoping that some sign, some miracle would occur, and bring Amethyst back to them. After several minutes, Sweet Wheat turned to Dinky, who kept gazing into the water with a wavering stare.

“Di-Di-Dinky?” Sweet Wheat asked with a warbling voice, struggling to keep her own tears from flowing. “What . . . what do we do now?”

Looking up with red eyes, Dinky hiccupped back another sob. “I . . . I d-don’t know,” she finally said, falling back on her haunches and covering her face with her hooves. “Oh Star, I’m so, so, sorr—” Dinky tried to say, only to be stopped as the tears and sobs finally overtook her shaking form. 

With similar sorrowful expressions and their own streaming tears, Sweet Wheat and Pluto Alula sat beside Dinky and enveloped her with their forelegs, Dinky using her own to clutch her friends a moment later. Together, the three friends openly wept and clung to one another in the grass along the bank of the pond.

*SNAP!!*

The abrupt sound woke the trio of ponies from the mourning, as their heads shot up, eyes wide, to stare with growing horror at the sudden intrusion emerging from the woods into the glen.

< Well, this is unexpected, > the Changeling Commander stated as he slowly walked into the shaded clearing along with a hoof-full of his drones. After a few moments, additional changelings also stepped or flew out from between the trees, forming a circular line on the ground and in the air around the three older fillies. Smiling in what may have been intended to be a friendly manner, but due to the fangs and slowly healing scar came off as more of a smirk, the lead changeling spoke up in plain Equestrian, “Hello, my little ponies.”

By this point, all of the adolescent ponies were quivering with fright, the shock from the events of the last several minutes threatening to overwhelm them. Glancing between the many, similar looking insectoid forms, Sweet Wheat bent her head towards Dinky’s. “Dinks, are those . . .?” she whispered in the her friend’s ear, and Dinky nodded.

“Yeah, Changelings,” Dinky replied in an equally quiet voice. Casting a glance at the water behind her, Dinky frowned as she remembered one of her father’s key rules: Never run when you are scared. 

Taking a deep breath, Dinky turned to face the group of changelings with narrowed, determined eyes. Stepping forward, she placed herself in front of Sweet Wheat and Alula, lowered her horn, and dug her hoof into the ground. “I’ll distract them. Once there’s an opening you two get out of here and find help,” she stated, her horn softly glowing as she channeled power into it. After a moment, she felt a presence beside her, and turned to see Sweet Wheat’s confident smile.

“Nothin’ doing, Dinks,” the masseuse stated, “We may not have magic like you do, but Alula and I can still handle ourselves in a fight pretty well.” 

Stepping up to Dinky’s other side, Pluto Alula nodded in confirmation, her wings tensing and unfurling as she also dug her hoof into the ground and glared at the Changeling swarm.

“Besides,” Sweet Wheat continued as Dinky turned from Alula to face her again, “It’s like my sister always says, ‘You never leave a friend hanging.’” Sweet Wheat smiled a bit more warmly. “We’re not going anywhere without you, hun,” she elaborated with a wink.

In response, Dinky also smiled, then turned to face the changelings with a confident grin of her own. “Alright girls, let’s do this,” she stated, and was about to say more when the single armored changeling raised a foreleg and spoke up instead.

“Look here, my little ponies, we’re not looking for trouble,” the Changeling Commander stated, relaxing slightly as he noted to lowering glow of the unicorn’s horn and confused expressions on the fillies’ faces. “As a matter of fact, you may be able to help us,” he continued, “You see, we lost a very precious artifact of ours recently, and hope you may have seen it.”

The Changeling Commander’s horn glowed a sickly green, and after a moment a similar aura formed in the air beside him. Gradually, the image of an armored disc resolved in the center of the glowing aura, and the lead changeling cast his monochromatic gaze back at the pony trio.

“Have you seen this item?” he asked, “Answer me truthfully, and no harm will come to you.”

The three young mares glanced at each other warily, and then after a moment turned again to face the Changeling Commander.

“Nope, can’t say we’ve seen anything like that around here,” Dinky replied with a strained smile.

The Changeling Commander matched the expression with a mocking grin of his own, then sighed and shook his head as the aura and image within it faded away. “You likely wouldn’t know, but we changelings are natural lie-detectors given our ability to feed off of your emotions,” he stated, his grin turning into a frown. “Seems you’ll have to pay a penalty for your your little deception.” 

The Changeling Commander’s horn again lit up, and gradually his helmet and harness were suffused in a neon green glow. With quick work, the vestments were removed and dropped on the ground as the scarred changeling strode forward towards the three ponies.

< Sir! >

The Changeling Commander paused at the hissing exclamation, glancing behind him as the female lieutenant buzzed to his side.

< What are you doing, sir?! > the female lieutenant asked with frantic worry, though after a moment she lowered to the ground and shrank under the intensity of her superior’s glare.

< Not that it’s any of your business, lieutenant, but I believe these ponies deserve a good scare for their impertinence, > the Changeling Commander replied, leaning over towards his subordinate <Besides which, it’s a long flight back to camp, and I’m sure we’ll all be needing a little snack along the way>

Gulping, the female changeling quivered and shrank further, almost laying in the ground in order to put some distance between herself and her scarred commander. < I-I’m s-sorry, sir! > she stated, her frequent nervous wing pauses making her Changeling-speak nearly incomprehensible. < I-I di-did not intend to q-q-question— >

< See that you don’t, if you value your future . . . lieutenant, > the Changeling Commander cut in, then turned and continued to march towards the three ponies. < None of you interfere!! > he ordered, and grinned as he heard the resounding < YES SIR!! > in response.

‘This will be a nice stress reliever, given all the trouble I’ve been through today . . .’ the lead Changeling thought as he stopped a few feet in front in the huddled and tense ponies, who he amusedly noted seemed to be trying their best to glare at him in a threateningly way, and failing spectacularly at it. Smirking, the Changeling Commander bowed his head, then raised it with a roar as his wings buzzed furiously and the gem implanted in his chest lit up like a blazing blue star.

Dinky, Alula, and Sweet Wheat screamed in terror at the sudden shout, and then continued to scream as the changeling’s body began to swell, cracks appearing in his carapace until the chitin gave away and burst apart in a flash of gristle and pus. His flesh and sinew now exposed, the changeling continued to grow, his form reshaping and becoming more muscular and animalistic. Thick, coiled bands of dusky hide expanded across his body, filling the holes of his legs while his hooves grew into large, clawed, paw-like appendages. His wings shrank into his body as his form continued to expand, his eyes turning from light blue to a malevolent yellow as additional horns sprouted like a crown around his head. Eventually, the transformation stopped, leaving the metamorphosed changeling towering over the three shaking and terrified ponies. [5]

“Not so confident now, are we?” the transformed creature stated, his deepened voice rumbling like thunder from his throat. “BOO!!!”

The three older fillies shrieked, and clung to one another in quivering fright as the Changeling Commander laughed, his subordinates quickly joining in a moment later. 

Working her way out from the huddled mass of her friends, Dinky tried her best to scowl menacingly at the monstrous changeling, only to receive a toothy grin in reply. Gulping, the filly threw her head back in exclaimed, “Somepony, any pony, HELP US!!”

Behind Dinky and her friends, the waters of the pond parted with a splash as a shadowy form burst forth from beneath its depths. Mid-air, the figure seemed to pause, looking down at the scene with glowing yellow eyes before dropping down to land beside the three ponies on the grassy shore. Unsurely, the Changeling Commander backed away a step, and after a moment, the three young mares also looked up to take in the new arrival. [6]

Taller than a typical pony by nearly a head, the figure was covered from head to hoof in thick plates of light lavender or wisteria armor, which unlike the shiny chitin of the changelings instead resembled the leathery hide of a rhinoceros or sauropod. Beneath the armor, the body of the equine form was sheathed in a tight mesh of black or dark grey coils, matching the same coils that previously had been housed within the mysterious disc. The entire head of the figure was concealed in a helmet consisting of multiple organic-looking segmented plates. Two triangular projections at the sides and rear of the helm seemed to sheath a pair of lowered and down-pointing equine ears, while at the very front a horn of glowing, raspberry-red crystal jutted forward into the air. Beneath this crystal, mounted in the center of the helmet’s forehead was a familiar-looking rimmed metal orb, from which a ring of light glowed with menacing intensity. Other metallic orbs dotted various points of the figure’s body, including two at the front of its muzzle, two flanking the upper crown of its head, two mounted behind the withers, and one just behind the center of its underside.

The head of the armored equine was framed by a mane of raspberry-red ethereal mist that flapped and crackled in an invisible breeze; a tail of similar consistency billowing from a dock extension at the figure’s rear. As if in warning or challenge, two vents mounted on the sides of the stranger’s helmeted muzzle blasted jets of steam, the glowing ring on its forehead flaring once with burning light before returning to a more subdued glow.

“Look!” Sweet Wheat exclaimed, both Dinky and Alula turning to follow the line of their friend’s outstretched foreleg. The light yellow-coated pony was pointing to the newcomer’s flank, and more specifically, to the cluster of three, light-blue, cut gemstones that glowed as if lit from within. The three young mares turned to look at the head of the armored equine, which was still faced unwaveringly towards the transformed changeling not more than a few feet in front of it.

“Amethyst?” Dinky whispered with wonder and growing hope, tears dotting the corners of her eyes as a small smile stretched across her face.

Growling, the Changeling Commander took one thudding step towards the other seeming equine, who did not budge or flinch at the shaking impact to the ground. “I don’t know who or what you are, but don’t get in my way!!” he bellowed, lashing out with one clawed foreleg.

In response, the armored form merely tilted its head, allowing the paw nearly the same size as its helmet to *woosh* past. Raising one of its own forelegs, the light lavender figure placed one hoof against the changeling’s own muscular foreleg, and with little effort pushed against it, causing the Changeling Commander to stumble back a few steps.

Roaring with frustration, the Changeling Commander glared at the interloper, who stepped between him and the adolescent trio, lowered its head, and then twice dug its foreleg into the ground. Grinning with open malice, the Changeling Commander stated, “So, you want to test yourself against me, huh?” Without waiting for a response, he bounded forward, his forelegs outstretched and grasping the armored equine’s own raised hoofs with his clawed grip. 

“VERY WELL!!” he roared, pushing back against his opponent with all of his strength.

For a moment, it seemed as if the lead changeling quite literally had the upper hoof, as he continued to bear down on the smaller armored form to the open cheers of the other changelings. But then the Changeling Commander’s growls of triumph quieted, turning to grunts and roars of frustration as slowly, bit by bit, the armored figure began pushing back.

With yellow eyes aglow and a halo of white light flaring brilliantly on its forehead, the wisteria-colored stranger straightened until it and the lead changeling were on equal footing, both their sets of rear legs digging into the ground as they fought to maintain purchase. As much as the transformed Changeling Commander tried, he could not seem to prod the smaller, more slender equine any more from their seeming stalemate. Concerned buzzes and hums grew among the other changelings, while small, triumphant smiles grew on the faces of the three fillies.

‘How is this possible?’ the female lieutenant wondered as she and her cohort watched their superior continue to struggle, muscles straining with visible veins and sweat tracing down his body. ‘Such a small body, but able to match the Commander’s strength? Or maybe even . . . surpass it?’

As if it had heard the female changeling’s musings, the horn atop the armored figure glowed brightly. After a moment, ringlets of raspberry-red energy surrounded the clasped hooves and paws of the entwined foes, just as the light lavender combatant began pulling its opponent’s forelegs outwards from his body and then down towards the ground.

The Changeling Commander screamed as he felt his forelegs twisting on themselves, but as much as tried to let go of the stranger’s hooves, the magic aura surrounding his paws held him fast. He could feel his forelegs shearing under the pressure, the bone and sinew stretching well past their capacity as the other fighter continued to pull downwards. Pain clouded his vision and hearing, everything else dropping away as he became more and more aware of the tearing burn in his forelegs. 

He could almost feel, almost feel them about to break . . .

. . . but before that could happen, the armored figure flipped forward, using the lead changeling’s forelegs as supports as it bent its body inwards and placed its rear legs square on the changeling’s muscled chest. A moment passed as the Changeling Commander’s monochromatic eyes stared into his opponent’s equally yellow glowing gaze; and then, at once, the form bucked the Changeling Commander, stretching its rear legs out while releasing him from their shared grip at the same time. The changeling’s massive form fell backwards past the shocked faces of his brethren, who quickly parted to allow his passage. He slammed backside-first into the treeline, smashing tree trunks in half as he continued his impromptu flight into the Everfree Forest.

Meanwhile, the armored equine has used the momentum from pushing against the transformed changeling to propel itself back towards the pond shore. Bending backwards, the wisteria-colored fighter entered a somersault and landed squarely on all four hooves, legs outstretched and head bent low to the ground such that its horn pointed forward to the dusty clearing made by its opponent’s flight.

The group of onlookers, changeling and pony alike, turned their gaze from the armored figure to follow its horn’s line-of-sight into the gloom of the Everfree. A rapidly dissipating cloud of dust marked the Changeling Commander’s passage, and from within the darkness a faint coughing could be heard as the dust and debris continued to clear. Eventually, the massive form of the Changeling Commander could be seen, rising shakily to his legs amidst the downed trunks he had shattered in his backwards flight.

“Hah, Hah!” he chortled, “You’ll need more than a lucky kick to stop me!” Slapping errant trunks aside like twigs, he strode forward back towards the glen. “Though I’ll rip you apart for this embarrass—!”

Before the Changeling Commander could continue his tirade, the horn of the light-lavender equine again lit up, and with it a half dozen of the downed tree trunks, which slowly levitated into the air. With a flash of raspberry-red, the cylindrical forms converged on the Changeling Commander, splintering and cracking as they slammed into his swollen body, and sending another cloud of dust into the air.

Once the dust had again settled, the Changeling Commander was revealed to be held fast to the ground by the multiple tree trunks, which had separated around his rock-hard body before spearing deep into the ground. The lead changeling squirmed and shouted, but could not seem to break free from his wooden bindings.

“Just you wait!” he spat, the veins on his neck throbbing as he continued to struggle against the thick trunks holding him in place. “I’ll break through these bonds like kindling in a moment! And then none of your cute tricks will be able to with . . . stand . . .”

Once again the Changeling Commander was rendered speechless by the actions of his foe. Rising on its back legs, the armored equine reared and stood upright, its glowing yellow gaze never once moving away from that of the transformed changeling as its forelegs draped across its chest. At its waist, just below plating protecting its stomach, a polished sphere began glowing with multifaceted light. Just behind its withers, two smaller, similar spheres also began to glow, and from their depths tendrils of light began to trail outward from the figure’s body. Within moments, the tendrils spread and coalesced, forming a pair of ethereal wings outstretched perpendicularly from the armored combatant’s torso.

Now seemingly held in place by the glowing wings, the standing fighter tapped its front hooves against the armored plates covering its chest, which sprang open and out from hinges mounted at the figure’s armpits. Revealed from beneath the armored plates, nestled into the mesh of fleshy coils, lay two translucent sacs vaguely resembling jellyfish. After a moment, the two sacs swelled like inflating balloons, and then began to fill with orbs of glowing light pink. In the air around the newcomer, pinpoints of light appeared, the dots of starlight breaking into swirling streaks as they were pulled by an unknown force into the two gelatinous sacs. As the glow within the containers continued to grow in size and intensity, pink and purple lighting cracked in the air around the figure as the last of the dots of light were pulled in. The orbs of light within the sacs seemed to reach critical mass, and then erupted outward from the light lavender figure as twin beams of furious pink energy framed by swirling streaks of violet lightning. [7]

The swarm of changelings and trio of ponies watched in stunned silence as the twin beams coalesced into one titanic wall of blazing pink fury. The Changeling Commander barely had time to scream before the beam nearly as tall as the trees themselves engulfed him, blocking him from view as his trapped form was consumed. Unwavering, the pink battering ram of energy continued past him, gouging a trench of destruction further into the depths of the Everfree Forest.


*                *                *                *                *                *


In a hollowed tree nestled in a marshy section of the forest, the zebra known as Zecora opened one eye from her meditative trance, which consisted of her balancing upside-down by her head atop a bamboo lance. She sensed that something was amiss, something in the air that seemed to crackle and hiss. However, when nothing out of the ordinary came to pass, she closed her eye once again, knowing all too well that the peace surely could not last.


*                *                *                *                *                *


Closer to the edge of the Everfree Forest, along the path back to Ponyville, the many animal residents of a grass-roofed cottage also stirred as their senses picked up something off-kilter with their woodland home. As the house’s pegasus owner Fluttershy flitted about from animal to animal and tried to soothe their agitated nerves, the cottage’s two other occupants gazed into the air in unusually quiet contemplation. 

The first, a bubblegum pink mare with a white-streaked violet mane and swirling purple eyes, grinned maniacally and then hovered upwards via her propeller-topped beanie hat to the head of her companion, a serpentine mishmash of various animal parts and limbs known more commonly as Discord. The pony aptly named Screwball giggled again before leaning in towards her “father” and whispering into his ear. Whatever the mare said caused the former Spirit of Chaos to grin and then chortle with glee, his “daughter” joining shortly afterwards while their butter-yellow host continued to try and mollify her still unsettled pets.      


*                *                *                *                *                *


Back in the shaded glen, mere seconds had passed, and a new sound had broken into the cacophonous combination of the beam’s deep *BAAROOOOM!!!* and the Changeling Commander’s shrill cry of pain and terror—the almost-melodious tinkle of shattering glass. More seconds passed, and eventually the beam dissipated, leaving behind naught but a cloud of dust and ash hovering in the air along with a strong odor of ionized air. While the mysterious equine’s protective armor chest plates slid back into position, the changeling swarm and trio of young mares peered into the gloom, their eyes all widening as the full extent of the weapon’s devastation became clearer.

While the armored fighter’s buck had only served to put a small dent in the Everfree Forest, its next attack had carved a clean hole straight through the woodland depths all the way to its other side near the Ghastly Gorge. The hole was lined with the stumps of trees that had been knocked aside by the beam’s fury, and a deep rivulet had been excavated in the ground from which wisps of smoke floated like offerings of incense. And in the center of the gorge, not moving but somehow still very much intact despite the destruction about him, laid the prone and unconscious body of the de-transformed Changeling Commander.

<Sir!> the female changeling lieutenant cried, her wings buzzing as she took to the air and dashed over to her superior’s side. Crouching down, she pulled the prostrate changeling upright, noting with relief that he was still breathing shallowly, and seemed relatively unharmed. That is, until her gaze travelled downward and noted the hole in his hardening carapace where his Zoal Gem used to be, leaving naught but bare flesh beneath.

Eyes wide with fear and panic, the Changeling lieutenant’s head shot up and she looked back at the armored equine that had settled back on all four legs and stared at her with an unblinking, glowing yellow gaze. As if sensing the changeling’s thoughts, the light lavender form dug the hoof of its foreleg into the ground once, steam again hissing from the vents of its faceplate as the globe on its forehead flared with sparkling light.

< RE-RETREAT!!! > the female lieutenant bellowed, and before she could issue another command the other changelings blasted into the air, clicking and buzzing with terror as they followed the conveniently carved pathway out of the Everfree Forest. The lieutenant managed to snag one drone before he could make his escape, and together the two hoisted their still unconscious Commander aloft, his helmet and armored collar following behind in an aura of neon green energy.

As soon as the changelings were out of sight, the light behind the armored figure’s eyes and around the metal orb on its forehead dimmed. After a moment, the equine form turned, looking down at the three huddled young mares who gazed up with mixed expressions of fear, excitement, wonder, and hope.

[Di . . . Dinky?] the form stated in a voice that sounded mildly distorted, like one of Vinyl Scratch’s mix-tapes, but was still recognizable enough to cause all three of the adolescent ponies to gasp aloud. [8]

“S-S-Star?” Dinky asked cautiously, her mouth quivering as her two friends openly grinned. “Is . . . is that really you?”

[Yeah . . .] the armored figure now identified as Amethyst Star replied vaguely, turning her helmeted head to face the trench of destruction cut into the Everfree Forest. [What . . . what happened here?] The other three ponies blinked in response, glancing at one another before looking back up at Amethyst’s armored form.

“Don’t you remember anything, Sparkler?” Sweet Wheat asked unsurely, eyes widening as Amethyst’s helm shook back and forth.

[No . . . no, I don’t remember anything before just now,] Amethyst stated, bringing one hoof up to her head as of to hold it. [We were looking at that disc. I bumped into it. It glowed and . . . jumped out. And then . . .] The mare trailed off at she looked at her hoof, which like the rest of her was covered in a wisteria-colored panel of armor. 

[M-my hoof! Wh-what happened to my hoof!] she exclaimed, whirling around as if to check the rest of herself, but in so doing caught a glance of her own reflection in the pond’s mirror-like surface. [That . . . that thing!] Amethyst cried, pointing one foreleg at the image of the armored pony, who matched the gesture in kind. [Is . . . is that . . . me?!]

“Oh, Amethyst . . .” Dinky began, but flinched back as the armored mare fell back on her haunches, both hooves pressed to the sides of her head.

[NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!] Amethyst screamed, raising both forelegs into the air while the trio of adolescents could only look on despairingly.

As if response to her cry, the plates of the armored suit parted, separating and falling behind the familiar magenta form of Amethyst Star as if pulled from her body by invisible strings. Released from the armor’s hold, Amethyst fell forward onto the wet grass, but after a moment recovered and rose to look behind her.

Amethyst, Dinky, Sweet Wheat, and Alula stared as the panels of armor reformed in the air above the pond into the equine shape that previously had encapsulated the jeweler’s apprentice. The empty suit of armor hovered for a moment, and then slowly, gradually, lowered itself into the water. The pond’s surface rippled with bluish light as the armor entered it, beginning with the hooves and moving to the legs, body, neck, and finally the head. The last bit of the armor to disappear was the tip of the helmet’s horn, but then that too vanished, and with it the glowing ripples as the pond resumed its normally dark appearance.

For nearly a minute, Amethyst and the others stared at the spot where the armor had disappeared, for breaking the silence would mean waking from the dream, and accepting the reality of the nightmare that had just transpired.

Eventually, Amethyst turned to face her sister and friends, who in turn were still staring at the pond. Leaning over, Amethyst smiled and tentatively reached out towards her little sister . . . 

. . . who flinched at the sudden motion and cowered back into her friends’ embrace, eyes wide and shaking with recently remembered fear. Amethyst’s foreleg remained hovering in the air, while her mouth was agape and tears formed in her eyes.

‘She . . . she’s afraid of me,’ Amethyst thought as she took in the look of outright terror etched in her sister’s golden eyes. An expression, Amethyst was horrified to find, was also mirrored in the flickering gazes of both of her former foal-sitting recipients. ‘They all are.’

Slowly, shakily, Amethyst lowered her foreleg and backed away from the spooked fillies. Rising up on all four legs, Amethyst continued to walk backwards, head lowered and struggling not to sob as tears trailed down her cheeks. Eventually the dam broke, and spinning around the magenta-coated pony broke into a gallop towards the treeline.

The sounds of her sister’s cry seemed to wake Dinky from her stupor, and as her eyes cleared she was finally able to take in Amethyst’s quickly retreating form. Wiggling out of her friends’ forelegs, the grey-purple filly reached out her own hooves desperately. 

“Star, wait!” she cried, but it was all in vain as her older sister disappeared into the woods, the swish of branches and foliage the only things marking her departure.       


END CHAPTER THREE

> Chapter 4: Lost and Found (Part 1: The Search for Sparkler)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





“In the darkness,
I search for something I have lost.
In the flow of time,
I await the light that will soon come.
I dream that we might, one day,
Meet again."
        ~ “Waiting For … (OP theme)” from Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor 





‘I’m a monster.’

That was the sole thought that continued to reverberate, over and over, through the halls of Amethyst Star’s consciousness. Though her eyes were open, they did not see the tree trunks, bushes, or other bits of foliage which she continued to jump around or push through purely by instinct. No, all Amethyst saw was the afterimage of her little sister’s and friend’s faces—eyes wide and mouths quivering with fear. Fear of her.

“I’m a monster.’

Her gaze unfocused and blurred by the tears that continued to flow, Amethyst certainly didn’t see the tree root on the ground, covered in moss and fallen leaves. While her forelegs made it over, the root managed to catch around one of her rear fetlocks. Pitching forward, the mare stumbled, wavering for a moment as she sought to regain her footing until her hooves finally slipped out from under her. 

‘I’m a monster.’  

Rolling to her side, Amethyst fell off the path she had been following and down a steep hill. Tumbling head over hooves on the wet leaves and grass, she skimmed over various rocks and other forms of debris, the sharp edges scraping the skin beneath her magenta coat. Bruised and battered from multiple impacts on the way down, Amethyst finally reached the bottom of the slope, her slide gradually coming to a halt beneath one patch of twilight that somehow managed to break through the canopy of the Everfree.

‘I’m a monster.’

Slowly, shakily, Amethyst raised her head and gazed up to the glimmering hole in the shade above with heavily lidded, reddened eyes. A moment later, her head fell back to the ground as she gave herself to the oblivion of unconsciousness. But even as the darkness settled around and inside of her, the same thought continued to sound at the surface of her thoughts as she descended into the safety of her core.

‘I’m a monster.’


*                *                *                *                *                *


Back in the covered glen, the three adolescents were responding to their former foalsitter’s flight in varying ways. 

Sweet Wheat was pacing, digging her hooves into the earth and grass as she moved back in forth along the bank of the pond. As she marched, the masseuse muttered, “What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do . . .”

Pluto Alula was similarly restless, her wings buzzing as she alternatively hovered, darted, and streaked her way across the boundaries of the vale. At times, she seemed to begin a pursuit of the one wayward mare, holding a foreleg in front of her as she raced to the section of treeline where Amethyst had vanished; however, as soon as she reached the trees Alula paused, blinked, and then blasted back to hover over her friends’ position.

Dinky, on the other hoof, was uncharacteristically still and silent, her gaze still fixed on the path down which her older sister had fled. Her face, normally clear and expressive, was a rigid mask of worry and guilt, her eyes quaking in their sockets as she struggled to make some sort of sense of everything that had recently transpired.

Eventually, after several minutes of the same impasse, Sweet Wheat let out a frustrated groan which echoed across the clearing, causing birds to take flight and small forest creatures to scatter to safe cover. The unexpected shout woke both Alula and Dinky from their reveries, as they both turned to look at the worried face of their friend.

“What’re we gonna do, Dinky?” Sweet Wheat finally said, her voice rising in pitch along with her anxiety. “We just can’t leave Sparkler alone out there! Not in the Everfree!”

“I know!” Dinky barked with eyes blazing, the unexpected harshness in her voice forcing Sweet Wheat to step backward, one foreleg raised and ears swiveled back against her head. Dinky blinked, her eyes widening as she took in her friend’s response and realizing how she had come across. Closing her eyes, Dinky took a deep breath, exhaled, and turned her gaze to the ground. When she spoke again, it was with a much quieter and calmer tone.

“I know,” she said, looking up after a moment towards her friend. “Sorry Sweet Wheat, I’m just so worried . . .”

Sweet Wheat managed a tentative smile, stepping forward and putting one foreleg on Dinky’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright—we’re all worried about her,” she stated reassuringly, “Maybe if we put all three of our heads together we’ll get this figured out.”

Dinky nodded, returning Sweet Wheat’s smile before sitting back on her haunches and rubbing one foreleg under her chin. “We can’t stay here. And we can’t just go blindly stumbling into the Everfree either,” she mused, looking between her two friends. “Maybe Alula can fly back to town while Sweets and I—”

“No,” Alula stated simply as she hovered in the air by her friends, her crossed forelegs and narrowed eyes communicating her intentions quite clearly. Sweet Wheat and Dinky both sighed in response.

“Well, I guess that’s out,” Sweet Wheat confirmed with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. 

Dinky nodded wearily in reply, and then blinked, a brief twinkle sparking in her pupils as the proverbial candle lit up over her head. ‘Idea.’

Out loud, Dinky said, “There is . . . one thing . . . we could try.” The unsureness in Dinky’s voice caused both of her friends to turn to her with concern, and Dinky managed a small, wan smile in response. “There’s a spell I’ve been working on as part of my studies at the library. I . . . haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but it just might help us find Star.”

Alula and Sweet Wheat shared worried glances. While neither of them were experienced with the workings of unicorn magic, both had heard the stories and been witness to some of the disasters caused by their resident princess’s own magical experiments. The “Want it, Need It” debacle in particular still caused nightmares for some of their friends, as they had all been foals at the time that particular incident had occurred.       

With a gulp, Sweet Wheat finally replied, “If you think it’ll help, hun, we’ll back up whatever you want to do one hundred percent.” Alula nodded her assent, though her expression belied her hidden worry.

Dinky smiled again, then turned around and walked a few paces towards the tree line. Sitting back on her haunches, she took another deep breath, and then glanced back over her shoulder. “You two might want to . . . back up, a bit,” she stated with a tight smile, watching as her two friends nodded and carefully retreated along the bank on the pond.

Turning forward again, Dinky took another deep breath and closed her eyes, tilting her head up as she focused her mind and carefully reviewed the various steps of the casting. The spell she was about to perform was an expansion to an enchantment she had learned shortly after she started working at the Golden Oak Library. Living as she did with an absent-minded mother and occasionally sleep-deprived older sister, things were often misplaced at the Doo household, resulting in frantic searches for various sundry items nearly every morning. To save unnecessary time and effort, Dinky had taken it upon herself to learn a tracking spell she could cast on some of her family’s more commonly lost items, the residual magic allowing her to “know” the exact location of each item she had thus marked.

While helpful, the enchantment carried a number of disadvantages. For one, the magical trace decayed over time, meaning that eventually Dinky would be forced to recast and renew it if she still wished the spell to work. Additionally, the trace only worked over a very short range, which was fine within the confines of a single household, but less so when the distance was anything greater than a few hundred feet. Lastly, the spell was only able to search for items that previously had been marked with a magical trace—it couldn’t seek out anything else, even if Dinky managed to perfectly imagine to lost item, or pony, in her mind.

Given these faults, Dinky had decided to learn a better, more powerful version of the enchantment, one that could (hopefully) find anything she wanted to search for across any distance or around any obstacle. When her research at the library for just such a spell turned up nil, Dinky decided to create her own improved spell, using her access to the various magical tomes at the library as well as Princess Twilight Sparkle’s own vast knowledge to craft her own incantation—the very incantation that she was now about to use, untested, for the very first time.

Dinky gulped, trying her best to swallow her own nervousness by imagining the calm, reassuring voice that had guided her through many a magical textbook. She recalled how though Princess Twilight had been unable to directly supervise her studies due to royal obligations, the princess had still gone out of her way to leave open time to provide clarification about various thaumaturgical formulae, review her  proposed evocative wording combinations, and even test Dinky on the more basic lessons of spell-casting. Having never had a formal education in unicorn magic, the young mare had eagerly soaked up as much information as she could, fascinated by the intricate art of spellcrafting. In this modern, peaceful Equestrian age, it was an discipline few other unicorns actually bothered to learn, in part due to a perceived lack of necessity beyond skills needed to supplement their own special talents.

The other reason was that true, bonafide spellcrafting could only be accomplished by the most disciplined and talented of unicorns, and as such few original spells had been created within the last few centuries. Such skill and dedication to the field of magic was necessary, as the dangers and risks of original spellcraft were usually far above the ability of a novice magic practitioner to handle.   

With that last thought, the young mare felt her heart sink as she remembered some of the other things that Princess Twilight had imparted to her during those rare moments they spent together: Thoroughness and a strict attention to the most minute details, as the slightest misspoken word, the vaguest miscalculation in the application of mana, could lead to disastrous consequences; respect for proper, empirically-sound procedure through graduated testing and refinement of her proposed spellwork in a controlled setting; and a healthy sense of caution regarding any new, untested magic, based partly of Princess Twilight’s remembrances from her time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns . . . and partly from her own sheepishly recalled misadventures, such as the time she accidentally switched all of her friends’ cutie marks and subsequently earned her wings and crown.

All these thoughts ran through Dinky’s head even as a more subconscious part of her continued to prepare her body for the casting. Despite the danger, despite the warnings from Princess Twilight that her spell was probably not ready or fully developed, Dinky knew she had no other choice. To find Star . . . to find her Big Sister, the filly understood she would have to take a leap of faith, trusting in herself, her studies, and in the guidance of Princess Twilight Sparkle. 

‘Please, please forgive me, Princess, but I need to do this . . .’     

“Dark powers whose black deeds escape even the light of the moon, behold now the radiance . . . of Love,” Dinky proclaimed, her horn alighting with a golden glow as the air around her began to swirl. Beneath her, lines of yellow light carved an intricate design into the grass, forming a circle with Dinky at its center.

“I call upon the powers of my star, ancient powers near and far, release those powers unto me!” she continued, the breeze around her body increasing as the aura around her horn spread to encase her entire body. 

“Winds to the sky, stars to the heavens, and the unyielding soul!” Dinky exclaimed, her voice barely audible over the roar of the winds swirling about her. Several feet away, Sweet Wheat and Alula huddled together, lowering themselves into the grass as they watched Dinky’s glowing form through partially shut eyes. Though they both wanted to intervene, the two fillies held firm, faithful that Dinky knew what she was doing with her invocation.

“To this heart, give me Sight Beyond Sight!!” Dinky finished with a final yell, the winds dying to nothing as she opened her eyes, which were blank and suffused in glowing white light.

Within the confines of Dinky’s inner eye, the rest of the world fell away as her vision raced forward, following her older sister’s path into the depths of the Everfree Forest. Though the edges of her sight were clouded with streaks of bluish light, the center was crystal clear as it shot through trees and weaved around bushes until taking a sudden left curve over the edge of a hill. The vision seemed to pause for a moment in mid-air, and then raced downwards over rocks and debris until it finally alighted on a familiar magenta form resting at the bottom of the incline. [1]

Dinky . . . DINKY!!

The soundless voice resonated across the span of Dinky’s consciousness, and after a moment her vision retreated, rewinding like a video recording back along the path it had traversed until it re-entered the glen and slammed into Dinky’s skull with all the force of a Sonic Rainboom. Darkness reigned for a time, but eventually Dinky reopened her eyes to spy the worried faces of both Alula and Sweet Wheat, who briefly smiled before frowning again with concern.

Dinky discovered that she was on her back, lying down in the wet grass of the clearing. With a groan, she sat up and rubbed her forehead with one hoof, Sweet Wheat and Alula moving to support her on either side. Dinky blinked, and both of her friends gasped as the filly looked at the both of them with a pair of glowing golden eyes.

“Dinks . . .” Sweet Wheat hesitantly ventured, looking between her friend’s glimmering eyes and her horn, which with still surrounded with a golden aura. “Are . . . are you okay?”

“Yeah . . .” Dinky replied, though her voice was distant, almost childlike with wonder, as she looked to and fro about her. “I found Star,” she added after a moment, and at this both Alula and Sweet Wheat let out relieved sighs.

“That’s good, but . . . what are you seeing now?” Sweet Wheat asked with growing concern as Dinky turned to face the earth pony, her golden eyes still aglow and unfocused as a smile lit her face.

“I see everything,” Dinky replied, as she continued to gaze at the swirling nebula of purple starlight that she knew encompassed her friend’s form. Turning, she looked at Alula, who similarly was suffused and filled with dots of cobalt blue, the lights concentrating particularly around the margin of her folded wings and stretching out into the air around her. [2]

Switching her gaze away from her friends, Dinky took in the new, unveiled form of the world, as millions perhaps billions of multicolored lights floated in the air, ran along and under the ground, and danced in the waters of the pond behind them. Some of the lights floated freely, while others seemed to coalesce into distinct collections of points, lines like arteries following out from them to other points, intermingling and connecting everything in the clearing together.

As she continued to focus on the new sights around her, sounds, images, and emotional impressions began flashing across her mind. These lights, they were alive, Dinky realized, and as the deluge of information continued to flow Dinky shut her eyes, clamping her hooves to the sides of her head as she distantly heard the worried shouts of her friends beside her.

‘I just . . . I just wanted to find Star!’ Dinky thought, and as a picture of her older sister flashed across her mind the other images and sounds faded away. Breathing heavily, Dinky opened her still glowing eyes, noting that almost all of the lights had dimmed considerably. 

All but one raspberry-red colored trail, running along the ground and in the air towards the treeline of the Everfree.

“Dinky?” Sweet Wheat asked hoarsely, her throat dry from trying to shout her friend out of her seeming trance. “Honey, please, tell us what’s going on.” Alula bobbed her head, confirming her own desire if the worried scrunch of her features and teary red eyes weren’t enough.

Still breathing heavily, Dinky nodded, reaching out with her forelegs to clasp both her friends’ shoulders. “The spell, it did . . . it did more than I expected,” she began, still looking forward while her friends rubbed her back encouragingly. “It was just supposed to find whatever I wanted to find and show me where it was, but . . . it seems to have a side effect.”

Dinky glanced up at both of her friends, trying to smile in an assuring way. “Instead of just showing me what I was looking for, I think . . . I think the spell is making me able to see magic itself.” Turning her head away as her friends gasped, she continued, “I’m seeing the magic in everything. And . . . I’m not just seeing it; I’m hearing it, connecting with it in my mind. It . . . it’s a little overwhelming.” [3]

The filly shut her eyes as the roar of the magic started up again, the swirling lights around her returning to their full brilliance as Dinky felt her friends press into her trembling form. Drawing a deep breath, Dinky focused and forced the image of her sister back to the forefront of her mind. As she did, the lights and sounds died away again, save for that one raspberry stream that she knew marked her older sister’s path.

Shakily, Dinky rose on her legs, Alula and Sweet Wheat following suit a moment later. Her lips pursed in a tight line, the librarian’s assistant affirmed, “But if I focus on one thing, one magical signature, it . . . it’s not as bad.”

“Dinks . . .” Sweet Wheat began with concern, but the gray-purple filly shook her head, fixing a determined gaze at the forest in front of the trio.

“We have . . . we have to find Star,” Dinky said with finality, “She’s . . . I think she’s hurt, and I . . . I don’t know how long I can maintain my fix on her magic trail.” Dinky felt rather than saw her friends step up to her sides.    

“Well then, what’re we waiting for?” Sweet Wheat asked with a small, but confident grin.

“Excelsior!” Alula exclaimed, her wings flaring open in preparation.

‘Thanks girls,’ Dinky thought with a smile, and at some hidden signal she shot forward, Sweet Wheat and Alula trailing just behind. ‘Hang on, Star—we’re coming!’


*                *                *                *                *                *


*poke*

A magenta-coated foreleg briefly swatted at the offending appendage sticking into its owner’s ribs, and then lowered again to rest under the mare’s head like a pillow.

*poke* *poke*

A groan emerged from the mare lying on the forest ground. As the mare’s leg swatted out again, a voice mumbled, “G’way Dink. Don wanna g’up yet . . .” After shifting around into a more comfortable position in the leaves and sticks, the mare’s body settled with the sound of slow, measured breathing.

*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*POKE*

“Ahhh!!” Amethyst Star yelled as she bolted upright, her mane resembling a porcupine as all the hairs stood on end. Scrambling onto her hooves, she took a few deep breaths before whirling around, her face contorted into a vision of pure fury. “DINKY!! How many times have I told you—!”

Amethyst’s rebuke cut short as she took in the form of the shaking, trembling form in front of her. A form that in no way resembled her younger sister.

Crouched low into a protective ball, ears swiveled back and body quaking, was another unicorn mare. She had a dark-grey, nearly black coat, and a long, aqua-blue mane that hung limply from her head like a clump of wet noodles. The mare’s eye color was unknowable, as a pair of green-tinted, opaque, ovoid glasses that rose to distinct tips at the corners obscured her eyes from view. A long, sea-green travelling bag rested atop the mare’s back, secured in place by several light blue straps tied around her barrel. Hovering in the air in front of the quivering pony in a light green aura was that most scientific of instruments, and the offending device which had roused Amethyst from her slumber—a wooden stick. [4]

Gulping, Amethyst smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way as she reached out with one hoof. “Hey, are you—?” she began, but before she could say anything more the other mare started, her mouth open in a wide “O” as if to scream though oddly only the faint whistle of air emerged. The other pony’s legs and hooves dug deeply into the soil as she quickly backed away from Amethyst until she knocked her head into a tree. The blow dislodged the mare’s glasses, which bounced on the leaves and then settled close to Amethyst’s hooves. 

Shaking her head, the dark-coated pony fell forward onto her stomach, her forelegs waving in wide sweeping arcs through the leaves in front of her as faint grunts and squeaks emerged from her muzzle. Amethyst blinked and continued to stare at the odd display until she noted that the other mare’s eyes were completely shut.

Her own eyes widening with understanding, Amethyst took another deep gulp, levitated the glasses in front of her into the air, and then slowly, carefully approached the still frantically searching pony until they were a hoof’s reach apart. Gently but firmly, she placed her own hooves on top of the other mare’s, holding them in place even as she felt the other pony struggle to pull away.

“Hey, hey! It’s okay now,” Amethyst stated softly, levitating the glasses over to the other pony and resting them back atop her muzzle. “I’m another pony, you don’t have to be afraid of me,” she continued, smiling despite the fact she now knew the expression would go unseen. The dark-coated pony across from her continued to shake lightly, but stopped trying to pull away and tilted her head up to face the general direction of Amethyst’s voice. 

Amethyst released the other mare’s hooves, and the unicorn proceeded to raise one shaky foreleg up, waving her hoof around in small circles until Amethyst gently guided it to rest beside her own face. The other mare then proceeded to trace around Amethyst’s muzzle, forehead, eyes, ears, and horn, much to the magenta-coated pony’s chagrin as she noted the unexpected facial she was receiving from the other mare’s dirt-caked hoof.

After exploring the dips and ridges of Amethyst’s features, the other pony seemed to be satisfied, a small smile emerging as she lowered her hoof back to the ground. The dark-coated pony then stood upright, and Amethyst made to do the same, but gasped and whimpered as the motion sent shocks of pain through her body. Blinking back tears, Amethyst eventually noticed an outstretched foreleg, and looked up to see the now openly smiling face of the other mare above her. Grasping the offered appendage, Amethyst let out another sharp cry as she was pulled upright, but then breathed out once she had settled into a standing position. Wincing, Amethyst glanced over at her new companion, who was looking in her direction with a tilted head, furrowed brow, and smile that conveyed questioning and concern.

“I’m okay,” Amethyst stated with another wince as she rubbed one foreleg against one of her many bruises. “I guess I must have taken a tumble, or something, I don’t really remember. I’m a little banged up, but I’ll survive.” Glancing briefly at the other mare, Amethyst blushed lightly before saying, “Umm . . . don’t take this the wrong way, but you are blind, aren’t you?”

In response, the dark-coated unicorn nodded with a small, wan smile.

“Umm . . . okay then, and you can obviously hear me just fine,” Amethyst said which the other pony confirmed with another nod. “So . . . umm, I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Amethyst Star, I live in Ponyville. How about you?”

Once again, the other mare responded with a small, sad smile as she shook her head, her long locks of aqua-blue swishing like a curtain. Leaning back, the dark-coated pony took in a deep breath, and then opened her mouth wide with one foreleg outstretched. However, no sound except the faint whistle of exhaled air emerged from the other pony’s throat.

‘So blind and mute, huh?’ Amethyst mused, ‘Seems a little strange that such a pony would just happen to be lost in the Everfree Forest, though I suppose she wouldn’t know she was lost in the first place.’ Amethyst watched as the other mare used her light-green magic to lift the stick she had previously used to poke at Amethyst, and then began tapping at the ground around her in a seemingly random fashion, turning in circles as she did so. As the other mare’s flank came into view, Amethyst took note of the other pony’s cutie mark—three neon-green question marks, floating with the help of red-orange butterfly wings.  

‘Well, that’s . . . different,’ Amethyst noted with a smirk, but then after a moment settled into a frown. ‘Still, there’s something that just feels . . . off here,’ she continued to ponder, ‘I don’t know what it is, but this mare reminds me of some—’ Amethyst’s eyes widened, and she raised a hoof to stifle her gasp before she could alert the other seeming pony. ‘Th-that color scheme! And that aura she’s using! It looks just like a chan—!’

Amethyst’s musings were cut short as once again she felt a light prodding in her side. Growling lightly, she glanced down to spy the outstretched stick, and followed its length to look into the questioning smile of the other pony.

“Quit it already!” Amethyst yelled as she raised one foreleg to knock the stick aside. Hearing the harshness in Amethyst’s tone, her companion’s smile fell as her ears swiveled back, and with head lowered she began backing away from the angered unicorn. Seeing the other seeming pony so distraught smothered Amethyst’s anger like a wet blanket, and after taking a deep breath she stepped forward and laid a hoof gently on the quivering mare’s shoulder.

“Look, I’m . . . I’m sorry. Today’s been . . . kinda stressful,” Amethyst offered lamely, only relaxing when the other unicorn slowly nodded her head. “What are you doing here in the Everfree Forest anyway?” 

Crickets chirped loudly in the background for a few moments before Amethyst facehoofed.

“Right, right, can’t talk . . .” she muttered to herself, shaking her head as the other mare smiled softly with both understanding and bemusement. Looking up, Amethyst tried, “Look, I’d rather not call you, “you” all the time. Can you, I don’t know, write your name in the dirt or something?”

The other unicorn nodded her head emphatically, then used her stick to draw a single “?” in the ground between the two ponies. Amethyst blinked as she stared at the symbol etched in the soil, and then glanced up at her companion with a raised eyebrow.

“Question Mark,” she stated flatly, “Your name is . . . Question Mark?” The daughter of Ditzy Doo sighed loudly as the other mare again nodded vigorously with a wide grin on her face. Pinching the bridge of her nose with one hoof, and knowing the gesture would go unseen by the other pony, she hazarded, “And your cutie mark, what does it mean?” [5]

The pony now known as Question Mark tilted her head quizzically.

“You know, your cutie mark. You know what that is, right?” Amethyst pressed, and after Question Mark nodded described the dark-coated pony’s mark for her. “What special talent does that represent?” Amethyst restated.

Frowning, Question Mark sat on her haunches and tapped one forehoof against her head, resting her elbow against her other foreleg. After a moment, the dark-coated mare grinned, and then standing upright opened her mouth and issued a series of clicks, buzzes, chirps, and squeaks.

If she were Pinkie Pie, Amethyst’s jaw may have fallen straight to the leaf-strewn ground. As it was, it simply hung loosely as she openly stared at Question Mark’s smiling visage. “Insect noises,” she finally stated, “You . . . can make . . . insect noises.” Once again, Question Mark nodded enthusiastically as Amethyst groaned, sat on her haunches, and covered her face with both forehooves.

‘A mysterious, blind, mute, unicorn with the exact same coloring as a changeling who just happens to be wandering around the Everfree and whose supposed special talent is making insect noises. Nothing suspicious about THAT whatsoever . . .’ Amethyst pondered with a shake of her head, and then her eyes shot open as she bolted back upright, startling Question Mark with her sudden movement.

‘Wait . . . the Everfree. Dinky! And Wheatie and Alula!’ Amethyst thought frantically, glancing upwards and noting the purple-tinted sky through the forest canopy. ‘It’s late and getting dark, and I completely forgot about them! I’m so stupid!’ she berated herself, knocking one hoof against the side of her head as Question Mark continued to look in Amethyst’s direction with concern. Feeling the other mare’s stare, Amethyst glanced at Question Mark and frowned. ‘I still have a bad feeling about this “pony,” but if I’m wrong and I leave her out here alone . . .’

Clearing her throat, Amethyst stated, “Look, it’s almost nighttime and I really don’t think we should be out here when the nocturnal animals start to wake up. Plus, my little sister and her friends are lost somewhere and I need to find them.” Walking up to the dark-coated mare, Amethyst swished her tail under the other pony’s muzzle, and taking the hint, Question Mark bit down on the hairs tickling her nose. Nodding once, Amethyst slowly led her companion back in the direction of the hill she vaguely remembered falling down. 

Just as they reached the base of the incline, both of the duo’s ears twitched as they picked up a faint noise above. Due to the gathering darkness, Amethyst struggled to make out details close to the top of the hill as she squinted her eyes together in an attempt to focus. The sound of rustling leaves and faint exclamations above suddenly grew louder and less distant, and Amethyst barely had time to widen her eyes and start shouting a warning before three forms tumbled down the hill and landed on top of the two unicorns.

As the dust from the impact settled, Amethyst groaned as all of her recent bruises and injuries again made themselves known to her. Grimacing, she opened her purple eyes to find a familiar though glowing pair of golden eyes staring back at her.

“Star!” Dinky exclaimed from her perch atop her older sister. Leaning down, she pulled Amethyst into a tight hug, ignorant of the fact that her sister was silently screaming in pain at the gesture. “I found you, I really found you!”

“Yeah . . . you did,” Amethyst managed to choke out, “And now you’re kinda really hurting me!”

“Oh!” Dinky exclaimed, loosening her hold on her sister with a sheepish grin and blushed cheeks. As the sitting sisters parted and a wincing Amethyst brushed herself off, Dinky’s gaze fell towards the leaf-covered ground. 

“Star . . . I . . . I’m so sorry,” Dinky said, causing Amethyst to look up into her little sister’s now teary gaze. “If . . . if I hadn’t gotten scared, you wouldn’t have run off and gotten yourself hurt! And lost! And . . . and if anything else had happened . . .”

“Oh, Dinky,” Amethyst murmured, and she scooted over to her younger sister and began softly nuzzling her. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I . . . I shouldn’t have run off like that, and left you and Wheatie and Alula all alone in the middle of the Everfree. I’m supposed to be the responsible one here, after all.”

Dinky gazed up into her sister’s warmly smiling face, her glowing eyes probing, searching for confirmation as Amethyst’s own tears started to well up. Brushing her sister’s mane with one hoof, Amethyst continued, “If . . . if something had happened to you . . .” As her voice trailed off, Amethyst’s sight turned to Sweet Wheat and Alula, who by now had recovered and stood up a few paces away. “If something had happened to any of you, I . . . I never would have been able to forgive myself.”

Smiling sympathetically, Sweet Wheat shook her head and stepped towards the two sisters. “We’ve all done some foalish things today—I’d say that makes us even, wouldn’t you?” she remarked with a wink, one foreleg outstretched towards the older mare.

Amethyst gratefully gripped the outstretched hoof, and the earth pony used her inherent strength to gently but firmly pull the wincing pony up on all four hooves. Dinky also stood up, and her eyes widened as she finally took in her sister’s condition.

The older sibling’s magenta fur was a mottled, dirt-streaked mess, her normally pristine violet mane now tangled with several hairs sticking out like antennae. Dark welts marked her legs where they had banged into rocks and tree limbs during her fall, while small tears in her coat showed where fur and skin had been scraped along the way. On Amethyst’s barrel, right where her ribs would be and where Dinky had unknowingly hugged her sister, one particularly large, multi-hued bruise was visible even beneath the mare’s own deep-colored coat.    

Hearing her younger sister’s gasp, Amethyst glanced at Dinky out of the corner of her eye. Smiling painfully, she stated, “It . . . It’s really not that bad, Dinky.”

Puffing out her cheeks with indignation, Dinky stomped up towards her sister. “Not bad, my flank!” she uttered, lowering her still lit horn to point it at Amethyst’s side. “Just gimme a sec and I’ll—” 

Before she could continue, the golden glow around Dinky’s horn and eyes flickered and then went out entirely. Dinky swayed on her hooves, and would have swooned had Amethyst and Sweet Wheat quickly braced themselves against the grey-purple filly’s sides. Alula quickly fluttered over to the trio, taking a position near Dinky’s rear.

“Dinky?” Amethyst asked worriedly, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

In response, Dinky slowly shook her head, and then looked up at her sister with lidded eyes and a tired smile. “I’m okay, Star—just used up too much magic on the spell I cast to find you,” she said, then leaned forward to nuzzle her sister reassuringly. “Worth it though.”

“In more ways than one . . .” Sweet Wheat remarked with a grin, and both Doo sisters turned to look at the masseuse with curious expressions. Sweet Wheat simply nodded her head towards Dinky’s rear, where Alula also sported a bright smile. Still not comprehending, Dinky’s and Amethyst’s eyes slowly followed Alula’s gaze down towards Dinky’s flank, and then both sisters gasped as Sweet Wheat guffawed and Alula whinnied.

Where once had been naught but blank, grey-purple fur now showed a cluster of five, light-yellow, four-pointed stars or sparkles. A moment passed as the realization of what the symbol meant settled on both sisters. [6]

“I got it . . .” Dinky finally whispered, then with growing excitement looked up to her sister’s proudly smiling face. “My cutie mark . . . Star, I finally got it!”

“That you did, Little Sis. I’m so proud of you,” Amethyst said, pulling her sister into a hug with one foreleg. Amethyst glanced back at the new sigil adorning her sister’s rear. “What do you think it means?”

Dinky rubbed one hoof under her chin, then blinked, and closed her eyes with a small smile.

“I think . . .” she stated as she turned to meet her sister’s gaze. “I think it means . . . I’m good at finding lost Stars.”

That statement earned an even firmer hug as well as a soft nuzzle from the older mare, and both Doo sisters laughed joyfully even as their tears soaked their respective coats. After a few moments, Sweet Wheat and Alula joined the huddle, offering their congratulations to their friend as they laughed with relief and cathartic release. Off to the side, Question Mark simply cocked her head and smiled vacantly in the direction of the pony quartet.

After another minute of hugs and adorability, the younger mares took notice of the new pony in their midst. With sheepish grins, they parted, though both Sweet Wheat and Alula stayed close to the Doo sisters in order to support them both. For a moment, silence reigned as the dark-coated unicorn smiled and looked on silently while the other four ponies traded glances between one another. 

“Um, girls, this is . . . Question Mark,” Amethyst offered with a flourish of her outstretched hoof. The three adolescents warily muttered greetings while Question Mark simply smiled and waved her foreleg.

“Star,” Dinky whispered, bringing her muzzle close to her sister’s ear, “That mare . . . she looks awfully like a chan—”

“I know,” Amethyst replied in equally low tones, “I’m suspicious too, but I don’t want to jump to any conclusions just yet.” She frowned, staring at the dark-coated pony who continued to smile vacantly. “I’m not even sure what one of those things would be doing here in the first place . . .”

Dinky blinked with visible confusion, and then after a moment her eyes widened. ‘That’s right, Star said she couldn’t remember the fight before, so she wouldn’t remember the changelings either . . .’ Dinky mentally surmised. Turning back towards Amethyst, she began, “Star, listen, about earlier . . .”

“Shhhhhh!!!”

Everypony turned to look at Alula, who had one hoof raised in front of her mouth, eyes closed, and both ears swiveling around frantically. The other mares tried to listen as well, their heads turning about as they looked up at the forest canopy, but then glanced at each other with shared looks of confusion. Question Mark seemed more unsettled, shaking lightly on her hooves as her head twisted around and around. 

Just as Sweet Wheat made to say something, Alula’s eyes opened wide with apparent panic. Without a word, her light violet tail shot out like a whip and wrapped tightly around Question Mark’s foreleg.

“GET OVER HERE!!” the pegasus exclaimed, and in one fluid motion she yanked the bewildered and visibly frightened Question Mark over to the rest of the group, her mouth again open in a silent “O”. Seemingly ignoring the angered and confused protests of her friends, Pluto Alula spread her wings wide and then fell atop all four of the other ponies, knocking them onto the ground.

“Alula!” Amethyst finally managed to exclaim as she lifted her head. “What’s the big—?!”

“GET DOWN!!” Alula yelled (oddly, in a Hosstrian accent) as she shoved Amethyst’s head back to the ground with her hoof. An irritated “mmph!!” issued forth from the older pony, but she stayed low.

Just as others were beginning to question (not for the first time) the sanity of the vanilla-colored pegasus, they all finally heard it—a faint, whistling sound high above them. Gradually, but at an accelerating pace, the sound grew louder, deeper, and more resonant, eventually shaking the very canopy of the Everfree. 

Just as the whistle reached a fever pitch, it was joined by a *whoosh* of air and crackling boom as the forest suddenly decided to explode all around them. [7]


CHAPTER 4 CONTINUES

> Chapter 4: Lost and Found (Part 2: Finders Keepers)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






{For Those Who Came In Late . . .}


“GET DOWN!!” Alula yelled as she shoved Amethyst’s head back to the ground with her hoof. An irritated “Mmph!!” issued forth from the older pony, but she listened and stayed low.

Just as the others were once again beginning to question Alula’s sanity, they all finally heard it—a faint, whistling sound high above them. Gradually, but at an accelerating pace, the sound grew louder, deeper, and more resonant, eventually shaking the very canopy of the Everfree. 

Eventually the whistle reached a fever pitch, and then it was joined by a *whoosh* of air and crackling boom as the forest suddenly decided to explode all around them.


{And Now, The Conclusion . . .}






Everypony screamed (or at least made a silent attempt to do so) as their prone bodies were washed with the dust, dirt, sticks, and stones dislodged by the force of the blast. Only Alula remained stoically silent, using all four of her legs and outstretched wings to both hold her friends on the ground and provide protective cover. After several heart-pounding moments, the wind buffeting against their bodies settled, then died down altogether.

Shakily, Alula rose up on rubbery legs and gingerly stepped away from the other prostrate ponies, breathing heavily. The others soon opened their eyes and began looking around, but it was Sweet Wheat’s startled gasp that drew their gazes to the standing pegasus, as three pairs of eyes went wide.

The filly’s back and legs were crisscrossed with nearly a dozen small cuts and several purplish welts. Her drooped wings were tattered, with several gaps where feathers had been either blown askew or torn away entirely. 

Faster than the others, Sweet Wheat scrambled to her hooves and dashed to Alula’s side. The pegasus winced as Sweet Wheat began pulling leaves and bits of wood from her cuts, using larger leaves to clear the wounds. Amethyst and Dinky quickly joined the pair, and looked on as the earth pony worked.

“You idiot!” Sweet Wheat yelled hoarsely, tears burning her eyes even as she continued to tend to her friend. “W-what do you think you were d-doing, huh?! Trying to be s-some kind of superhero?”

“Couldn’t . . . let you . . . get hurt,” Alula wheezed, shivering and wincing as Sweet Wheat continued to prod at her back. Dinky whimpered lightly, rubbing her snoot in the crook of her friend’s neck. Alula returned the gesture with a nuzzle and soft smile of her own.    

Frowning, Amethyst stepped away from Sweet Wheat and Alula and looked towards the epicenter of the blast, which was still shrouded in lingering dust. After a moment, Dinky slowly walked to her side while Alula hobbled over with one foreleg wrapped around Sweet Wheat for support. Question Mark, still shaking slightly, stayed in place, her ears swiveling back in forth as she whimpered and anxiously dug at the earth with one hoof.

“What in Celestia’s name caused this?” Dinky finally asked, echoing the thought running through the other ponies’ minds as the dust gradually cleared, giving them a full-on view of the devastation. 

Where once there had been closed-off forest was now an open valley, tree trunks as thick as whole ponies ripped away to stumps and lying in scattered piles on the ground. With the trees gone, the twilight sky above was perfectly clear and visible. The four ponies stared at the twinkling stars for a moment before tilting their heads down to look into the crater gouged into the center of the blast zone.

Standing with spread legs in the middle of the lightly smoking crater, wings outstretched, head bowed, and eyes shut tightly in concentration, was a familiar grey-coated pegasus. 

After a moment, the mare with the bubbly cutie mark slowly opened her eyes, her golden irises locked together in serious focus . . . until she noticed the depression she was standing in. At once, the pony’s eyes parted to their usual walleyed positions as she slowly took in the destruction around her. 

“Oops, my bad,” Ditzy Doo remarked, nearly flooring her four observers above her. [1]

Wavering on their legs, the group of friends traded glances between them, mouths gaping like seaponies as they struggled to process the sight before them. 

“M-M-MOM?!?!?!” Amethyst and Dinky finally sputtered out together.

Ditzy’s ears twitched at the sound of the two unicorns’ cry, and she frantically turned around until her eyes settled on her daughter’s forms. Almost immediately, the mailmare’s mouth began quivering as tears dotted the corners of her eyes.

“MY MUFFINS!!!” Ditzy cried, her wings unfurling before she shot like a cannon towards the two Doo sisters. Sweet Wheat barely managed to pull Alula out of the way before the grey comet barreled into Dinky and Amethyst, knocking both of them to the ground.

Bawling, Ditzy sat up and crushed her daughters against her body. The two fillies struggled to push away, but between Dinky’s exhaustion and Amethyst’s injuries they were unable to break their mother’s stranglehold.

“Mom, you have to let go . . .” Dinky managed to say.

“NEVER!!!” Ditzy blubbered.

“But you’re choking us . . .” Amethyst squeaked out.

“My love will give you strength!”

“Vision . . . dimming . . .”

“You don’t need it—I haven’t!”

“I think . . . my wounds are reopening . . .”

“I’ll soak it up with my fur!”

“Losing . . . consciousness . . .”

“That’s right, my little muffins, just go to sleep . . .” Still grasping her daughters against her, Ditzy began swaying back and forth while gently humming. Eventually, she began to sing . . .

. . . and was abruptly cut off as she was suddenly yanked backwards by her mane. Suddenly free, both Amethyst and Dinky immediately proceeded to inhale large gulps of air—Sweet nectar of life!

Feeling the force pulling her mane let go, Ditzy whirled around, her eyes spinning until they settled on a pale gold-coated pegasus mare with a messy cyan mane, matching blue eyes, and a cutie mark resembling three drops of water. The hovering pony frowned, forelegs crossed as she spit a few blond hairs from her mouth.

“Good gravy, Ditzy!” Raindrops hollered, “I know you’re worried about your kids and all, but by Celestia, have some common sense for once!”

“Hehe, sorry . . .” Ditzy stated, rubbing the back of her head with one hoof, then blinked and gaped at the still frowning mare across from her. “Wait, Raindrops?! What’re you doing here?”

Raindrops narrowed her eyes, and with a huff dropped onto the ground. “Someone had to follow you after your shenanigans earlier! Really, Ditzy . . . ringing the town alarm, screaming at every pony you saw if they’d “seen your muffins,” and then blasting off again before giving any of us a chance to join you? Honestly . . .” she grumbled as she absently rummaging through the saddlebags strapped around her waist. After pulling out a roll of gauze in the crook of one foreleg, Raindrops turned around and began waving a trailing white strand in the air. 

“Heeeyyyyyy!! We’re down here!” she yelled towards an indistinct speck in the sky above. In response to Raindrops’ call, the speck quickly grew larger, soon turning into a pegasus with an earth pony riding on her back.

Touching down, the pegasus—a smirking, persian blue-coated mare with a coifed, light-yellow mane—laughed out loud. “Well I’ll be mooned, Ditzy was right on the money!” Cloud Kicker exclaimed, as her passenger, a yellow-coated mare with a fiery orange mane, just rolled her eyes. [2]

Glancing around at the many stumps and fallen trees in the newly carved-out clearing, the weatherpony blew a low whistle. “For the love of Luna, Ditz, did you really have to flatten the entire Ever—?”

Cloud Kicker’s laughter squeaked to a halt as her eyes finally spied her sister Alula, still leaning against Sweet Wheat and smiling dopely at her older sibling. 

The pegasus promptly bolted forward, causing her carrot-flanked passenger to tumble head over hooves onto the ground. Ignoring the shouts from behind her, Cloud Kicker soared forward like a spear, passing Ditzy, her daughters, and Raindrops (who was in the process of bandaging Amethyst’s wounds) and finally alighting in front of Alula and Sweet Wheat. Shoving the protesting masseuse aside, Cloud Kicker quickly began probing her sister’s body with her hooves, taking care not to reopen closed cuts or press down too harshly on her fading bruises.   

“‘Lula, are you—? How bad—? What happen—?” Cloud Kicker stammered as her eyes continued to trace across her little sister’s mottled fur, until a weight on her chest made her pause. Cloud Kicker glanced down to the top of her sister’s violet mane as Alula gently nuzzled against the older pegasus.    

“S’not bad, s’already healing . . .” Alula mumbled as she continued to press her muzzle deep into her sister’s coat. “M’okay, Cloudy, m’okay.” 

Hearing these words, Cloud Kicker sighed with relief. ’Bless Luna’s ink-stained cheeks,” she breathed, her body relaxing as she wrapped one foreleg gently around her sister’s shoulders. 

Observing the exchange, Sweet Wheat struggled between trying to give the two pegasi room and wanting to shove herself in-between, her tail twitching as she snorted with agitation. The adolescent’s ear flicked as she sensed hoof-falls behind her, and she turned to look up at the wan smile of her own older sister. 

“You okay?” Golden Harvest asked gently as she settled beside Sweet Wheat, throwing one foreleg across the other’s shoulders. 

“About the only one who is, physically at least . . .” Sweet Wheat grumbled, her eyes lowered as she traced one hoof on the ground. After a moment, the filly began to shake, tears forming in her eyes and teeth gnashing together before she finally stammered, “I’m sorry, sis! It’s my fault we were out here! I should have—!” 

“Hush,” Golden Harvest cut in, and she turned and pulled her sister into a much firmer embrace as Sweet Wheat continued to utter muffled recriminations. “Just give your big sister a hug . . .”

The remaining mares watched the two reunions quietly, Raindrops with her omnipresent frown as she continued to tend to the two Doo sisters, Amethyst and Dinky with small smiles, and Ditzy with an oddly blank expression. 

Gulping, Ditzy turned from watching her friends to once again face her own daughters.

“Um . . . that hug earlier, can . . . can we try that again?”

Amethyst and Dinky paused to glance at one another, but then shared a grin and slowly stepped forward to embrace their mother. Together, the three Doos formed a three-way hug between them.

“My Muffins . . .” Ditzy mumbled between sobs, over and over again. “My Muffins . . .”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Amethyst said soothingly, though her own eyes were moist as she rubbed her mother’s back with her free hoof. “We’re all okay.”

“Don’t be sad, Momma,” Dinky added, nuzzling her mother gently from the other side. “Please . . . don’t cry.”

Several more minutes passed as the group of ponies reconciled, tended to the wounds of the injured, and let their varying feelings towards the evening simmer. Eventually, the small party began trudging up out of the clearing created by Ditzy’s dynamic entrance back towards the edge of the Everfree, heading  in the direction of Ponyville.

Shortly after the other ponies began their climb, a small pile of earth near where they had been standing shifted, and then Question Mark’s head popped out of the newly formed hole. Raising her muzzle into the air, she sniffed sharply as her head tilted around in a circle, and then she licked her lips as she settled on one direction in particular. Pulling herself out of the ground, she began a slow shuffle out of the clearing, following the path that Amethyst Star and the other ponies had previously trod.      


*                *                *                *                *                *


<IDIOTS!!>

The low glow of torchlights threw the enraged visage of the Changeling Captain into sharp relief, lines of shadow making the edges of his chitin-covered face even more severe and pronounced. Raising himself up by the armrests of his stone chair, the Changeling Captain glowered down at the assembly of drones trembling before his dais, dancing light glinting off his green-colored helm and dark carapace. 

<You fools, that creature you encountered was the Guyver Unit! It could be nothing else!> he bellowed, his monochrome eyes gazing disparagingly over the gathered troops.  

The changeling soldiers were clustered in a large, domed chamber deep within a cave on the edge of the Everfree Forest, The cavern itself was one of several lining the sides of the Ghastly Gorge, and had previously been the home to one of the many Quarray eels that routinely nested in the gorge’s stone walls. Now, it served as the forward base camp for an entire platoon of changelings, dispatched by Queen Chrysalis from their subterranean kingdom south of the Macintosh Hills. [3] 

<U-u-understood, s-sir, but wha-what were we supposed to—?> one drone attempted, only to be cut off by the roar of his superior’s wings.

<You were supposed to retrieve the stolen units and bring Ephemero back, alive,> the Changeling Captain barked in reply. <But instead, you not only come back to me empty-hooved, but also to tell me our hive’s greatest scientific mind is dead, two units are missing and one apparently activated!!> Hovering in the air, the Changeling Captain looked over the assembly of drones, eyes narrowed to mere slits. <Who among you is responsible for this debacle?!>

The lower-ranking changelings nervously glanced at one another—some gulping, others visibly shaking—but not one of them dared to speak up. As the tension continued to build and the hovering Captain began the growl through clenched teeth, one high-pitched voice suddenly rang out: 

<It . . . it was the Commander, sir! He-he’s the one who de-decided to fight the creat—, I mean, the Guyver, sir.>

A beat passed, and then the sea of seemingly identical changelings parted, revealing one lone, female lieutenant standing still, a hoof covering her muzzle as her widened eyes shifted back and forth. Forelegs crossed, the Changeling Captain lowered down until he was nearly level with the separated drone, shoving his face forward until they were practically muzzle-to-muzzle. Still shaking, the subordinate soldier attempted to back up and lower herself away from her superior, but to no avail. 

<Name and rank . . .> the Captain growled, drawing out every last hummed syllable.

The female changeling’s gulp echoed across the chamber.

<Lieutenant, Third Squad, designation Seventh of Nine, sir!> she finally replied, and in response the Captain’s eyes narrowed further.

<I didn’t ask for your designation, lieutenant; I asked for your name,> the Captain reiterated, slowly and menacingly, purposely ignoring the gasps and hushed whispers from the other soldiers around him. To ask for another changeling’s personal name . . . that was only something known to kin, very close friends, equals in terms of rank or position . . . or lovers. 

<It’s . . . Polygonia, sir,> the lieutenant hesitantly offered, two points of red visible beneath the chitin covering her cheeks. 

<Polygonia . . .> the Changeling Captain repeated, and then after one more awkwardly long moment finally backed up and away from the female drone, much to her embarrassed relief. <There was mention in the reports of a female drone who questioned Commander Solenopsis during the battle, and also ordered the retreat after he was defeated . . .> the Captain remarked. <Was this you, Polygonia?> 

At the subordinate changeling’s nod, the Captain stroked the underside of his chin with one hoof, hovering back and forth in front of his raised chair. Finally, the Captain lowered back to his seat and looked purposefully at the cowering lieutenant.  

<Congratulations, Commander, you’ve just been promoted,> he stated, his horn lighting up with neon green as a familiar, chipped blue helm and collar floated into the air, and then over to the stunned drone. <Your new designation is Third of Five, and as Solenopsis’s replacement, your first assignment is to drill with your squad before going back into the field. They obviously could use the refresher.> 

The Changeling Captain then looked over the rest of the now grumbling changeling crew with a smirk. <Best listen to this one, you maggots. She’s the only one that seems to have any brains among you, not that it’s really any surprise . . .> 

The Changeling Captain’s smirk grew as his words had their intended effect, as the other drones were now eyeing their newly assigned Commander with hate-filled gazes and deep-set, fanged grimaces. The drone in question still seemed stunned, holding the helmet and collar in both forelegs until she noticed the stares she was receiving from her former contemporaries. The raw contempt being conveyed by those monochromatic gazes and buzzing sub-vocalizations caused Polygonia to shrink into herself, but after taking one more large gulp she shakily donned the collar and helmet of her predecessor, and then raised a foreleg up in salute.    

<Sir!> Commander Polygonia intoned, and then without another word took to the air and quickly departed the antechamber. After a few moment’s pause, the other drones followed suit, more slowly and still grumbling to one another.

As he watched the small grouping flit away into the dark, the Changeling Captain again allowed himself a small smile. While it would certainly benefit his troops to have a more level-headed and fast-thinking Commander leading them in the field, at the same time such blatant freethought and initiative needed to be kept in-check. In alienating the young lieutenant-now-commander from her peers, as well as making her a target for their ire and resentment, the Captain felt he had ensured Polygonia would tread far more carefully in the future, especially before acting even the slightest bit autonomously.

Rising from his chair, the Captain hovered upwards towards the ceiling before alighting to the side into another, smaller room offset from the main chamber. This room, like so many of the other small hollows dotting the sides of the primary hall, had previously served as storage and nesting chambers for the eggs of the Quarray eels. Now it served as a strategy room for the Captain and his Commanders, the remaining four of whom were gathered around a raised table in the center of the chamber. 

As the Changeling Captain entered, his four subordinates made to stand, but were held back by a casual wave of their superior’s holed foreleg. Taking his place at the table, the Captain glanced between his men, noting the whiff of nervous energy darting between them, made more obvious by the thinly veiled glances they were giving one another. 

<Sir . . .> one of the commanders finally ventured. <There are rumors floating up from medical. Is it true what happened to Solenopsis? Did he really . . .?>

<Lose his transformation ability? Yes, it’s true,> the Changeling Captain replied, allowing a moment for the revelation to settle amongst the other changelings before continuing. <From what the medics have been able to tell me, apparently the destruction of the former Third of Five’s Zoal Gem nullified his ability to use transformation magic. He’s no more than a worthless grub now.>

The first commander who had spoken gulped audibly, his polished collar rising from his neck as he did so. <Sir, could that mean . . .> the changeling hesitatingly stated, <I mean, could it be that Ephemero was ri—>

<I’ll not have that traitorous talk in my presence, Fourth of Five,> the Changeling Captain cut-in.  <I’ll do my best to forget what you were just beginning to say.>

The other commanders snickered lightly as Fourth of Five drew lower into himself, seemingly trying to disappear into his armored helmet and vestments.

<Y-you’re t-too kind, s-sir,> he finally stated, drawing another guffaw or two from his compatriots.

Smirking lightly himself, the Changeling Captain turned to face a particularly tall and composed changeling at his right. <Number One, are your drones prepared for our next infiltration?>

The tall changeling smiled thinly. 

<Among her squadmates, your newest Commander was particularly detailed in her report, sir,> The Commander designated First of Five intoned. <We shall seek out the witnesses from earlier today, and determine whatever it is they know about the Guyver unit and its current loca—> 

<Sir!> 

The sudden cry caused the other changelings to turn and look at a Changeling Commander on the far left side of the Captain—a wiry drone who was shuttering with gritted teeth and agitation. The commander had both of his forehooves on the table, using them for leverage to push himself forward and into the Captain’s field of vision.

<Please sir, allow me to take on this mission!> he exclaimed, then blinked his monochromatic eyes and seemed to take in the stares of the others . . . and the icy glare of First of Five. Setting back into a slightly more sedate but still tensed posture, the changeling bowed his head and continued, <Thir-, I mean, Solenopsis was me comrade, sir. We were clutchmates growin’ up, we was, an’ we went through the same training group before enterin’ service as attack drones. For ‘im . . . I means to find the one who activated the Guyver unit an’ take vengeance upon ‘im.>

The Changeling Captain cocked his head, one brow raised with curiosity.

<Your emotions cloud your judgment, Fifth of Five . . .> he remarked, observing how his subordinate seemed to slump at his words. <Given how far behind the former Third of Five and how underwhelming your performance has always been, I dare say you are hardly the most qualified to tackle this assignment.>

The Changeling Captain briefly looked away, stroking the underside of his chitin-coated jaw with one hoof.

<And yet, vengeance can be a powerful motivator . . .> he mused aloud, noting in the corner of his eye how Fifth of Five seemed to inflate with sudden hope. Grinning slyly, the Captain said, <Very well, Commander. Ready your troops—you set out at dawn. The rest of you, leave me.>    

The four Commanders quickly stood and saluted (Fifth of Five with particular gusto), which the Captain returned dutifully. Three of the Commanders quickly took to the air and departed the chamber, but the tall First of Five hesitated, briefly following the others before stopping at the lip of the exit and touching down on the ground.  

<I would never question your decisions, Captain, not in front of the others . . .> he began, turning to face his superior whose back was to him. <But are you sure Abedus is up to this task?>

For a moment, the Changeling Captain merely stared at his subordinate, who met the higher-ranked changeling’s gaze unwavering and without fear. Eventually, the Captain stood on all four hooves and began lightly pacing within the tight confines of the meeting room.

<No. But it is a relatively simple task of information retrieval and little else, despite what grandiose images of revenge may be driving him,> the Changeling Captain replied. <And should he find and do battle with the Guyver, Fifth of Five’s particular transmutation should prove an interesting test of the bio-booster armor’s abilities. Should he succeed, Commander Abedus will properly be recognized as a hero . . .> 

Pausing, the Captain turned, a slight smirk on his face as he matched gazes with his right-hoof changeling. <Should he fail, well . . . no great loss,> he stated with a shrug.

First of Five blinked, and then mirrored his superior’s leer. <I see . . . indeed, the Greater Good, then. Very well, I will see that the other troops are kept at the ready> he said, his wings buzzing as he hovered into the air and raised one foreleg in salute.

The Changeling Captain nodded, returning the salute. <See that you do . . . Number One.>

As the other changeling departed, the captain turned and shuffled back over to the table, resting his hooves upon it as his eyes gazed into nothingness. Though he had been quick to dismiss it, Fourth of Five’s comments had aroused a number of deep and dangerous thoughts within him.  

‘Ephemero . . .’ 

Doctor Ephemero had literally been the changelings’ best and brightest. A third-rate attack drone, but a brilliant scientist, it had been Ephemero who had deciphered the cryptic writings found in the ruins and relics uncovered beneath the Changeling Kingdom. It had also been Ephemero who had discovered the process for creating Zoal Gems—jeweled organs that could serve as capacitors of emotion and magical energy, thus reducing the need for changelings to constantly scavenge and be in a state of near starvation. It was Ephemero who had worked out how to convert the standard changeling storage pod into a metamorphic matrix, allowing any drone to undergo conversion and be granted a specialized transmutation tied to their individual Zoal Gem, one more powerful and more versatile than any mimicked form a changeling could assume on his or her own.   

And it had been Ephemero who, not more than a few days prior, had led a revolt deep into the center of the ruins, stolen the Guyver units, caused untold havoc and destruction, and in sum, betrayed them all.

The Changeling Captain growled, his fangs clenched tightly as he fought to suppress the indignant rage brought on that simple word, betrayal. To a changeling, all of whom were brought up to work for the Greater Good, to put the needs of the many above the needs of the few, there could be no greater crime than betraying the collectivist goals of one’s hive. Ephemero may have felt he was in the right . . . for months he had been ranting to anypony who would listen to him about how he no longer felt that the Zoal Gem conversions were in the best interests of the changeling race; that they represented some sort of perversion or danger. Of course, no one listened to such obvious lunacy; after all, the conversion had been endorsed and even undertaken by Queen Chrysalis herself. If the Queen was willing to undergo such a transformation, then surely it must be safe for her subjects to do so.

And yet . . . if what happened to Solenopsis was any indication . . .

Shaking his head, the Changeling Captain took his own advice and buried any such traitorous thinking—it would do him no good in the long run. Besides, he had greater concerns to contend with, now that Ephemero was dead. How was he supposed to report that to her Highness without immediately being ordered back to be executed for his failure? Or worse, crippled and cast amongst the unwashed ranks of the grubs. And even that news was a hoofful of puppy love next to the fact that the three stolen units, the greatest potential weapons in the slowly reviving Changeling army’s arsenal, were still missing . . . 

‘And now one unit has been activated. But then . . . where are the other two?’


*                *                *                *                *                *


To call the Everfree Forest “dangerous” would be to seriously underestimate the sheer breadth of its perils, practically to the point of rudeness for not giving the haven of manticore, cragadiles, and hydras the proper respect. However, just because the Everfree was hazardous did not mean that it couldn’t be safely traversed. One merely had to follow one of the many paths crossing through the various sections the woods, and never, ever wander onto a road less taken.

This night, a lone figure could be found traveling along one such path, headed at a leisurely pace in the direction of Ponyville. The figure was shrouded in a rich purple cloak and hood which completely obscured its features, though the four hooves that softly clopped against the earth announced its likely equine nature. 

Every once and a while, the figure paused and glanced upwards at the stars and moon alighting the nighttime sky, silently considering them before bowing its head and continuing along the moonlit path. At some point, a quiet gurgle could be heard coming from beneath the ground-trailing cloak, and once again the figure paused, clutching at its midsection. The head beneath the hood looked around, and after a moment the form seemed to settle its gaze on a pinecone sitting near the treeline.

Unbidden, the pinecone rose into the air suffused in an aura of light magenta, and then floated over to the hood of the figure. A dainty muzzle reached out from the depths of the hood and gingerly took a bite from the pinecone, emitting soft crunching noises before settling into a frown.     

“Needs some peanut butter . . .” a haughty voice muttered, and with another lash of magenta the pine cone was tossed into a bush on the path’s edge. A metallic *tink* drew a pause from the shadowy figure, and after a moment the cloaked form slowly and carefully made its way over to the bush.

Individual branches from the foliage parted as the hooded figure leaned to peer inside. A small *gasp!* escaped the hood’s confines as the figure took in the wheeled object nestled within the bush’s innards.

“Huh, what’s this?” the form wondered aloud as a ring of light slowly flickered into being within the rim of the dented, metallic orb sitting in the center of the contraption. Slowly, coils within the clamped, outer casing of the device began to ungulate and twist against one another, over and over, with rapidly increasing speed . . . 

For yet another time that day, and most certainly not for the last, the relative peace of the Everfree Forest was shattered as a scream echoed out between the branches and leaves of the woodland canopy. [4]


*                *                *                *                *                *


Outside the Everfree, and walking along the road to Ponyville, Question Mark trailed several yards behind the happy, loving families, using the sounds of their hooves on the ground and quiet conversation in part to guide her. As she shuffled along, she occasionally shifted her shoulders, causing a muffled clatter in her backpack as its precious cargo was moved into a more comfortable position. 

Settling the wheeled apparatus contained within between her shoulder blades, Question Mark continued forward, still smiling ever so softly. Despite some, unfortunate, setbacks, a mishap here and there, and more than one unplanned encounter, all and all . . . 

This day had been just perfect. [5]


END CHAPTER FOUR

> Interlude: Silence in the Doo House
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





“When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it’ll never end,
But however hard you try, you can’t run forever.
Everybody knows that everybody dies, and nobody knows it like the Doctor,
But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if he, for just one moment, accepts it.”





Amethyst Star rolled in her bed, her sheets and covers in tumbled disarray as the mare tossed and turned intermittently. Eventually Amethyst paused, her eyes wide open as she laid flat on her back and stared at the ceiling.

She couldn’t sleep.

During the long walk back to Ponyville and then afterwards to her family’s cottage, bits and pieces of memory from the events in the glen had come back to her, slowly but surely. 

For the most part they were flashes—impressions of sound, light, and emotion without any context to give them meaning. Dinky and the others sadly hadn’t been able to help clear things up, as there had been too much attention on all of them when their group returned to town and those ponies still awake realized that "'Derpy Hooves' wasn't crazy after all!"

And that was before it was finally revealed that the four of them had been attacked by changelings . . . 

Needless to say, given all of the commotion and hullabaloo of the last few hours, Amethyst and her former charges had been decidedly unable to take time and discuss the full details of what had happened earlier that evening. But bit by bit, she remembered:

A gigantic, muscled, horned creature, looming over her while a cluster of changelings watched in the background.

An incredible sensation of strength and power as she grappled with the beast, its large forelegs feeling like twigs in her hooves as she stretched them outwards.

A sense of floating and the image of glowing white wings . . . followed by a corona of blinding pink light that smashed the monster before her to oblivion.

A swath of forest, gouged. A trio of young mares, terrified.

Groaning, Amethyst pulled her sheets over her head and rolled to her side, clamping her eyes shut and trying to force the images, smells, and sounds from her mind. Unfortunately her efforts were to no avail, and so with a huff she threw her sheets and comforter back with a quick burst of magic, leaving her body fully exposed to the night air. Shivering at the sudden loss of warmth, Amethyst rolled to her other side and carefully peered over the edge of her bed.

On the floor beside Amethyst’s bed, resting on a portable futon with spare sheets, lay Question Mark. Unlike her roommate, the seeming pony was sound asleep, a light smile on her muzzle as she quietly breathed in and out. Despite the cuteness of the sight, Amethyst couldn’t help but frown at the mare’s form.

It had been her mother Ditzy who had suggested bringing Question Mark back home with them, once she had met the wayward pony who had followed their group back to Ponyville. Despite both Amethyst and Dinky subtly expressing reservations, Ditzy had seemingly brushed those concerns aside, sweeping the dark-coated mare under her wing and personally guiding her into their house while her daughters trailed behind, trading worried glances.

Shaking her head, Amethyst returned her thoughts to the present as she looked down again at the still sleeping form of Question Mark, struggling to find a resolution to all the confusion provided by the other mare. On one hoof, Question Mark bore a striking physical resemblance to a changeling, coincidentally happened to be lost in the Everfree Forest at the same time that other changelings had attacked Dinky and her friends, had a cutie mark and matching “talent” involving insects, and just-so-happened to be unable to both see or talk. The sheer level of coincidence bordered on the absurd . . . which in turn led Amethyst to doubt her own conclusions. After all, what changeling was so stupid as to craft such a clearly obvious disguise? 

Unless, of course, it was intended to be completely obvious. The whole thing was enough to make one’s head spin.

‘So I may be dealing with either the dumbest or most brilliant changeling ever,’ Amethyst concluded. She smiled despite herself as Question Mark whimpered in her sleep, her forelegs pawing at the air until the mare finally settled back into her silent breathing. ‘Then again, maybe I’m being too cynical. She could really be just another pony, after all. I should take a cue from Mom and just hope for the best.’ [1] 

With a slightly lighter heart, Amethyst quietly trotted to the bathroom and poured herself a glass of water. As she was making her way back to her bedroom, the mare paused as she spied a glow coming from downstairs. Her glass floating beside her in an aura of raspberry-red, Amethyst carefully stepped down the stairwell until she could glance through the gap between the ceiling and banister into the living room, where a single lamp was dimly lit.

Lying stomach-down on the couch of the living room, head resting on folded forelegs atop the armrest, and features cast in harsh relief of light and shadow, was Ditzy Doo. Though her back was to Amethyst, the younger mare could see her mother was staring intently at the side table on which the single lamp was lit. Or rather, she was staring at another object which also happened to laying on the table: a treasure which Amethyst knew held a high level of meaning to the mailmare.

Sitting beneath the lamp, glinting in the soft light, was a glass box on a wooden stand, a small hourglass filled with grains of yellow, grey, tan, and brown hanging suspended on the inside. The sides of the box were edged in strips of bright blue, and the blue-tinted glass itself was etched and inlaid to resemble the paneled and windowed sides of a certain, Trottingham variety of telephone booth. If one looked very carefully, they could even read the frosted lettering which read “PONY BOX” along all four sides. Atop the pyramidal peak of the box was a small, cylindrical projection resembling a lamp, which itself contained a deep blue gem that seemed to glow from the reflected light of the larger lamp above. Amethyst watched as her mother shifted and reached out, gently twisting the cylinder with her hoof, which through a series of joints, cogs, and wheels caused the hourglass within the box to pitch and spin end over end. 

As the hourglass continued to tumble, Ditzy’s hoof lifted and slowly caressed the sides of the glass box, finally coming to rest on the wooden base of the keepsake. Though the distance made it difficult to see, Amethyst believed she could spy her mother tracing her hoof across a gold plaque embedded in the wooden base—a plaque which Amethyst knew contained a simple, solitary statement:


“Time will tell. It always does.”


Suddenly feeling very intrusive, Amethyst averted her gaze and began slowly inching her way backwards up the stairs. She would have continued to do so had her ears not suddenly perked up at the sound of her mother’s voice.

“Sparkler’s hiding something.”

Amethyst’s eyes widened at Ditzy’s brief summation, and leaning down she peaked again through the gap between the ceiling and the banister as she slowly lowered her water glass onto one step. She was puzzled to find though that her mother had not moved, and was continuing to stare at the glass box and spinning hourglass, her head resting on her folded forelegs.

“Her and Dinky both,” Ditzy continued. “There’s something they’re not telling me. Probably to spare my feelings or protect me, I’ll bet.” A sigh followed as Amethyst observed her mother again reach out and begin tracing her hoof along the glass box. “They’re so much like you in that way.”

Amethyst had to practically bite on her own tongue and a stream of denials nearly emerged from her throat, and she grimaced as she struggled to swallow the feelings of vitriol brought on by that statement. Noting that her mother was continuing to speak, Amethyst shook her head lightly and focused outward on her mother’s words.

“They’re strong mares now, our girls are; they’ve grown so much these last few years,” Ditzy stated, and then slumped as another sigh escaped her. “Maybe too strong, if they’re getting themselves involved in the kinds of messes we always seemed to stumble into. I worry about them so . . .” 

A moment passed as Ditzy continued to rub her hoof softly up and down the sides of the glass case, but then she spoke again with a greater level of vigor and enthusiasm.

“Dinky got her cutie mark today! You’d be so proud of her—she got it using a spell she came up with all on her own! Something she said gave her ‘sight beeyoond sight.’” Ditzy giggled lightly at her own drawn-out wording, which Amethyst found curious. Ditzy then tilted her head, turning to look at a shelving unit inset into the wall behind the couch. 

The shelves were dotted with various framed photos and knick-knacks, and Amethyst followed her mother’s line of sight to one particular item—a rusted, dented toolbox emblazoned with the image of a screwdriver and two interlinked cogs, beneath which were written the initials: T.T.S.S. [2] 

“I know that you’ve been watching over our Muffin, Tinker . . .” Ditzy remarked, then turned to again face the hourglass. “Both of you have.” 

Ditzy smiled, then added, “You’d be proud of our Sparkler, too, Doctor. She’s grown so much these last few years. You’d hardly recognize the quiet little filly I brought home with me all those moons ago . . .” The mailmare deflated, sinking further into the sofa as she whispered, “She’s a better mare than I could ever hope to be.”

At that statement, Amethyst practically had to shove her own hoof in her mouth to keep from crying out loud. ‘That’s just not true, Mom! You’re so much more than I could ever become . . . stronger and kinder and gentler than I could ever dream of being. Please . . . please don’t say such things about me!” she pleaded silently, but unbidden, Ditzy continued.

“Our girls are becoming more than I could have ever hoped for them. Strong and wise and kind and carefree, just as I always wanted. And they’re doing it all on their own . . .” Amethyst’s eyes widened as she noticed her mother’s body start to shake. “B-but, what I nev-never wanted for them . . . was to have . . . the same problems, the same dangers we dealt with. N-not so soon!”

Silence settled over the Doo house, broken only by the sound of Ditzy’s labored breathing.  

“It was different for me and you,” she finally stated, then gave a glance towards the toolbox. “With you too. I may not be the smartest mare in Equestria, but I knew what I was getting into when I got involved with you both.” 

An uncharacteristically harsh laugh emerged from Ditzy’s throat, though it also sounded somewhat like a sob. “I guess I’m just drawn to stallions who belong to the world first, and to me a very distant second,” she uttered. 

Amethyst noticed that her mother’s body was once again shaking, though this time only growing in intensity, her wings lightly quivering against her sides as the audible sounds of weeping tinkled in the younger mare’s ears. Without warning, a memory made its way to the forefront of Amethyst’s consciousness. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t resist the assault of sounds and images that now played across her closed eyelids. The day when he had left them all behind.

The last day of the Doctor . . .


*                *                *                *                *                *


“. . . so then I told them, ‘Now listen here, I’m the Doctor. I’m a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and over 900 years old, and if you want to start a war then by all means go ahead. But know that’s the worse choice you could possibly make because I’ll ensure that your little empire experiences a fate far worse than mere destruction alone could ever hope to be.”

“And what happened then, Daddy?”

The equine Doctor smiled. “Why, they did the only sensible thing! They turned tail and fled as fast as their ion engines could carry them!”

“Yay!!” a young Dinky Doo exclaimed, throwing her forelegs into the air and wiggling in her seat. Beside her, a low groan emerged from beneath a tousled violet mane.

“Too. Early.” an adolescent Amethyst Star murmured, causing both her younger sister and the stallion across from her to burst into giggles. 

A similarly light chuckle emerged from the muzzle of Ditzy Doo, though she managed to keep a grip on the tray she carried in her mouth as she ambled over to the kitchen table. Setting the tray down, she removed a steaming mug and maneuvered it just in front of her oldest daughter. 

A brief inhale of the aroma emerging from the cup seemed to revive the older filly, as she rose and gratefully accepted the mug between her hooves. As Amethyst sipped the heavenly brew, Ditzy softly stroked the back of her daughter’s mane.

“My poor Sparkler . . .” Ditzy stated. “Rough night foalsitting Cream Puff, sweetie?” 

Amethyst paused in her sipping to glance at her mother with one, blood-streaked eye. 

“The horror . . . the horror . . .” she rasped, drawing fresh snickers from the rest of her family. Though she tried her best to glare at all three of them with unrepentant adolescent rage, Amethyst was betrayed by the smile tugging at the corners of her own mouth, and she eventually let out a quiet laugh herself.

After passing out the remaining drinks and muffins, Ditzy sat down beside the Doctor, pausing briefly to give him a peck on the cheek before devouring the savory treat in front of her. As children are often wont to do in the face of parental PDA, both Amethyst and Dinky made light gagging sounds while their mother smiled satisfactorily and the Doctor absently rubbed the side of his muzzle.

Eventually the four ponies stopped trying to embarrass each other, and settled into a combination of light conversation, happy consumption of mass quantities, and generally peaceful family togetherness. Dinky cheerfully related the latest goings-on at school and upcoming lessons she was looking forward to, while Amethyst alternated between light teasing of her sister and more subtle signs of interest. In-between, Ditzy shared some the latest gossip from her mail rounds, as well as news and stories she had heard from more distant parts of Equestria.

Through it all, the Doctor simply watched the three mares of his life, a distant and somewhat vacant look in his eyes despite the smile on his face.

“Dear?”

The Doctor shook his head, and then turned to face the concerned, lopsided golden eyes of Ditzy Doo staring at him.

“Doctor, are you okay? You’re awfully quiet, and that’s reeeally not like you . . .” Ditzy remarked, an untypical frown on her face. Both Amethyst and Dinky wore similar expressions as they noted their mother’s tone.

Glancing between the three ponies and the ground, the Doctor lightly tapped his forehooves together as he gathered his thoughts before finally looking up.

“Why, nothing at all! Nope, nadda, no problems here what-so-ever. I’ve just, ah, was thinking about—um—some adjustmenty thingies I need to make to the TARDIS’s temporal flux modulator, yeah. It’s been acting rather . . . squirrely as of late, and I, ah, really need to devote some time to getting it in working order and whatnot. Um, hmm,” the Doctor replied with a cheerful smile and bobbing head, causing Ditzy to raise an eyebrow at the suspicious level of enthusiasm. Amethyst and Dinky merely traded confused looks. [3]

“Well . . . don’t work yourself too hard now,” Ditzy finally said, leaning over to give the Doctor a brief nuzzle before returning to her muffin devouring. The Doctor softly rubbed the disturbed fur on his cheek with his hoof, looking at the ground while the other ponies continued their breakfast.

Closing his eyes, the Doctor sighed. “Listen, there’s something—” he began, only to be cut off by a sudden *screech* as Ditzy bolted from her chair.

“Oooh, look at the time! I’m going to be late for work!” Ditzy exclaimed as she hovered over the table. Leaning down, she gave the Doctor another quick peck on the cheek. 

“Have a good day with your fixing, dear!” she exclaimed, then glanced over at a bemused Amethyst. “Sparkler-sweetie, would you mind terribly making sure Dinky gets to school?”

Amethyst grinned and made a mock salute. “On it, mon capitan,” she intoned with an exaggerated Prench accent, causing her little sister to giggle. 

Ditzy smiled before dashing out of the kitchen to retrieve her mailmare supplies.

Dropping her foreleg, Amethyst glanced at her sister. “Better get a move-on and get yourself cleaned up, squirt—you don’t want to be running late either.”

Dinky puffed her cheeks at the use of her least favorite nickname, sticking her tongue out at the older filly and making a * pfftthpth* sound, which the more mature pony easily returned in kind. After a brief competition between the two as to who could make the best Bronco cheer (though they both already knew their mother topped both of them), they stopped and shared a brief sisterly nuzzle before Dinky finally cantered out of the room.

Shaking her head, Amethyst traded a wry glance with the Doctor before lighting up her horn and levitating the dirty dishes and silverware from the table to the sink. As she proceeded to fill the basin, she could feel the Doctor’s eyes following her, but clamped down on her tongue to prevent any snide remarks.  

“Do you need any help, Sweetie?” the Doctor finally asked. “I’m really quite good with the washys and scrubbies, you know.”

Amethyst smiled at her intuition proving correct, then glanced over her shoulder. “I’m okay, Dad, really. How about you go ahead and get started on the TARDIS,” she remarked, and then grinned slyly. “I can tell you’re anxious to get your hooves under her control panel.”

“That’s not—! Why does everyone—?! Shut up!” the Doctor exclaimed with rosy cheeks as his daughter whinnied. Adjusting his tie, the stallion mumbled, “No respect for one’s elders, I swear . . .” He then slowly made his way to the back door, still muttering to himself. 

As he reached the aperture, the Doctor paused, one hoof resting on the door as he glanced behind him.

“Amethyst . . .?” he ventured, waiting for the adolescent to face him before continuing. “You know that I . . . care about you. You, your mother, and Dinky, right?”

Amethyst smiled. “Of course, Dad. We all love you too . . .” she remarked, her smile taking a more awkward slant as she gazed at the Doctor puzzledly. “You are acting really weird this morning. Are you sure you’re all right?”

The Doctor smiled wanly.

“Oh, you know me! Madpony in a Blue Box, and all that—can’t tell if I’m upside down, inside out, sideways or byways some days!” he stated cheerfully, though his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Thankfully, Amethyst didn’t seem to notice as she simply shook her head ruefully at his expressed cheer.

Still smiling, Amethyst turned around and again turned her attention to washing the dishes. But as she was doing so, her ear flicked as it picked up a quiet sound drifting from the space behind her.

“I don’t want to go.”

Amethyst whirled around with mouth open, the “Whu” sound already forming in her throat, but paused when she only saw the back door close with a *click*. Closing her mouth, she frowned and stared at the door with a puzzled expression for a moment, but then turned back around and resumed washing the dishes. 

It was probably nothing . . .



*                *                *                *



Later that day, Amethyst, Dinky, and Ditzy waited anxiously around the table for the Doctor to return so that they could start supper, but he never came, and eventually the three were forced to eat without him. They waited again the next day . . . and the day after . . . and then two days after that . . . but the Doctor never returned.

Days turned to weeks, weeks changed to months, and eventually, months became years. And though Ditzy continued to display optimistic cheer and Dinky an innocent hope, a quiet coldness settled within the pit of Amethyst’s stomach, for she knew the truth.

He had abandoned them.


*                *                *                *                *                *


As Amethyst’s thoughts returned to the present, her rage from the memory of days past was tempered by the continued sound of sobbing coming from the other side of the wall.

‘How often has she had to do this?’ Amethyst wondered. ‘How many days has Mom had to wait until we’ve fallen asleep so that she can talk like this? How long has that smile she’s always had for both of us during the day been a mask for everything else she’s been feeling?’ 

Part of her wanted to flee, right then and there. She had already seen and heard too much that she was never meant to experience. Another part of her wanted to respect her mother’s desire for privacy and allow Ditzy the chance to regain some composure, so that she could be the loveable, bubbly mare she always seemed to be by morning.

But at the same time, Amethyst knew she couldn’t just leave things like this.

‘Family Rule #7: Never run when you are scared.’

Taking several deep breaths, Amethyst worked to steel her resolve, and then gradually stood up and made her way down the remaining stairs to the first floor. Though Amethyst was no longer trying to move quietly, so distraught was Ditzy that her daughter was practically within hoof’s reach before she heard the creak of floorboards behind her. 

Whirling around on the couch, Ditzy looked up at Amethyst, who stood a few steps away with an unreadable expression on her face, though her purple eyes were conspicuously lined with red.

“O-o-oh!! S-Sparkler-sweetie, what’re you doing up so late?” Ditzy stammered, her golden eyes darting around in individually contrary directions. “Did my light wake you? I’m sorry—I was just . . . cleaning! Yeah, cleaning!”

Ditzy rose from the couch, turned, and began fluffing the pillow she had previously been resting on. “The thing about early morning cleaning is, you really get a lot of dust in your eyes,” Ditzy stated, raising a foreleg to rub her face with her fetlock. “I’ll bet, *sniff*, I’ll bet it might even look like I’ve been *sniff* crying, or something. And really, it *sniff*. . . that couldn’t be farther from—!”

The older mare stopped as she felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder. Turning around shakily, her eyes briefly met those of her adopted daughter, as Ditzy struggled to decipher the younger mare’s rigid features.   

Amethyst herself couldn’t help but note how old her mother looked; how the low light of the room drew out the worn lines of the other mare’s cheeks and forehead, washing out the golden tint of her mane so that it almost seemed snow white. As the younger mare was taking all this in, Ditzy found herself sinking into the depths of the younger pony’s purple gaze, and so transfixed was the she that Ditzy didn’t notice her daughter lean forward, reach out with both forelegs, and wrap them softly around her neck.

The mailmare’s eyes widened as her head was gently pulled forward until it rested beside her daughter’s head atop her shoulder. Gradually, Ditzy began to feel a hoof running through her flaxen mane, and she realized this wasn’t the embrace of a filly seeking comfort or reassurance. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“Amethyst . . .?” Ditzy murmured weakly, her eyes again growing moist as the raw feelings she had hastily buried welled up again. Her daughter didn’t reply at first, continuing to stroking Ditzy’s mane, just as Ditzy herself had done for both her daughters over the years. Eventually, Amethyst finally spoke. 

“I miss him too, Mom.”





“Everybody knows that everybody dies . . . but not every day.
Not. Today.” [4]





Deep within the Everfree Forest, in a clearing bordered by a rocky outcropping where a defiant changeling had made his last stand, the scars of his sacrifice continued to mar the immediate landscape. Even so, the Everfree was resilient, and though only a few hours had passed, already grass was regrowing, scorch marks on rock fading, and various nocturnal animals emerging to forage from the clearing despite it still bearing the faint odor of smoke and changeling miasma. Likely within another day, all signs of the recent explosion would have been consumed by the woods, wiped clean and buried within the long memory of the wooded terrain.

The Everfree endures.

But just as change in the Everfree is rapidly forgotten as the land reclaims itself, so too are other changes equally quick to appear. Within the clearing, animals paused in their feeding and gathering to look up, their small ears twirling and noses twitching as senses far more acute than any pony’s perceived a sudden wrongness in the clearing. At some hidden signal, they scattered, fleeing into the air, beneath the ground, or up to the safety of tree limbs and branches at the clearing’s edge until once again the grassy area was still and silent.

That is, until a light wind began to blow, swirling around the glade with rising force as leaves and scattered bits of debris were sent airborne. The air crackled, arcs of static electricity dancing between rocks, branches, and soil. All at once a new, alien sound emerged; quietly at first, but resonating with increasing strength and urgency:   


*VWORP*



“Some days are special,”



*VWORP*



“Some days are so, so blessed,”



*VWORP*



“Some days, nobody dies at all.”



*VWORP*


As the wheezing, groaning whine continued to reverberate along the tree-line, a strange sight slowly resolved into being. Flickering in and out of view, but with increasing levels of solidity, was a tall, rectangular, blue box. A cylindrical lamp at the top of the box glowed blue in time with the wheezing groan, finally fading away as the noise ceased and the box assumed total opacity. Now fully visible, a door inset into one side of the box swung inwards, revealing blinding light and steaming mist which slowly rolled out into the clearing.

Minutes passed, but then, from within the obscured depths of the box, a light-colored foreleg emerged, and gingerly stepped onto the dew-covered ground.    





“Now and then, every once in a very long while, 
Every day in a million days when the wind stands fair and the Doctor comes to call,
Everybody lives.”
                ~ Diary of River Song, “Forest of the Dead” Doctor Who






END INTERLUDE