When a changeling gets a bright idea

by Rarity Belle

First published 11th of October, 2016

It's usually a good idea to run. But when that changeling sets her sights on the most powerful magic in all of Equestria, things can turn interesting. With a changeling on the loose, anypony can be anypony. And anything, any thing.

Cast out of her hive because of a rare birth-defect, Chara is doomed to wander Equestria. Looking in all corners of the wind for the mysterious red-flow of emotions. All the hatred, trouble and turmoil the land is rich, will sustain her. Problem is of course that those emotions are a bit difficult to find in all of Equestria. Maybe she can help some poor souls give it to her?

But a feast is what she desires most. Something that will give her the biggest thrill of her life. A devastating blow to the most powerful magic in Equestria, should do the trick just fine. Chara's plan, isn't really a bright one. But what can one, starving changeling accomplish?

About the same as any wild, sentient animal.

A bright but devious plan will hatch, molded by a changeling's desires to consume emotions. Hiveless, red-eyed and hungry, Chara is a near perfect hunter. But every hunter has a weakness, and every prey a strength.

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The long awaited story-commission that was auctioned off at Hearth's Warming Con this year!
Cover art found on internet, credit goes to the original creator.

Chapter 01

Wheels screeched while the engine and fires roared like wildfire. The heavy-duty steam engine had its work cut out. It was finally on the way to its next destination. The train would roam through the desert landscape of Equestria, until it had faded away and been traded in for the lush, green grounds that the land had to offer. Canterlot would be its final destination and along the way the train stopped at places like Ponyville.

The burning desert sun was enough to make everypony both mad and deluded. Which resulted to many of the train’s passengers having their blinder shut. The cool air inside the carriages was a blessing. Though, not all ponies seemed who they originally had been though. There was one pony aboard that particular train who was perhaps a bit unlike the rest of them. Hidden all the way in the last carriage of the train sat a pony who was truly more than met by the eyes.

Sitting on the couch –having assumed a relaxed position– sat a chocolate brown coated mare, with mane in a light crimson shade and eyes to die for. She had boarded the train from its last stop, Dodge Junction. Many a stallion who saw her wouldn’t have been surprised if she was a former dancer of the local saloon and looked to try her luck someplace else. A mare of status and entertainment, but never for pleasure. Yet how wrong all those assumptions had been.

That particular mare went by the name of Rusty Bucket, her cutie mark hidden by the attire she wore, if she had a cutie mark to begin with of course. Nopony really minded her while she didn’t mind them. She was just another soul who tried to get away from the place. None of them could have told whether or not she would succeed.

The minutes had crawled by and the conductor came by. In the distance she already heard his voice saying that signature line. “Ticket please.” Silence followed for a moment. “Here you ma’am,” or “here you go, sir,” was then always followed. Rusty wasn’t really minding it at all. She took her ticket out of a saddlebag and she held it ready.

It seemed like agonizing minutes that the conductor took until he had finally reached her. She was one of the last ponies aboard the entire train, meaning that his job was almost over. “Ticket please,” he then asked to Rusty. She gave him the ticket and he inspected it. It was held in his magical aura as he was a unicorn. The eyes gave it a long glance, shifted to her for a moment and then tore the necessary part off. It was a valid ticket and she could continue her travels to, wherever she was heading to. “Here you go, ma’am, enjoy the trip.”

“Thanks,” replied Rusty in a bit of a sensual tone. One which was arousing to the stallions, confident yet seductive, mysterious even. “May you have a good trip yourself too.”

The conductor gave a tip of his hat and a smile. “And thank you as well.” With those words spoken would the stallion continue on his way again. He left Rusty for what she was, letting her sit on the train that was heading for Canterlot, even though she wasn’t.

Rusty wasn’t on the way to capital at all. No, she had gotten a crazy idea in her mind. One that maybe had been proved too much for her to handle, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying it anyways. She wanted to see it, she wanted to see them, she wanted to see how they really were. Her eyes went to the window and a hoof rested against her head. The near endless stare if ideas and insanity was given by her to the rushing landscape.

In the reflection of the window had she noticed something. A little fizzle of magic, little sparks just below her cheek. Her hoof was laid down and on the spot where her cheek should be. A strange blackness was to be found. What followed was a sinister grin given by Rusty. Her true self had shone through. The true being that Rusty was revealed itself just for a moment, just for a little moment in time. And the ponies on the train? They wouldn’t be any wiser on the matter. Not that the mare cared about them anyways.

She allowed the changes to happen more controlled. When her cheek was covered again, her eyes were shut. A tingling sensation filled her entire body, one that almost made her chuckle. Her own magic was tickling her, but she didn’t have a physical horn of any kind. It was behind the closed eyelids that the changes truly happened.

Seconds came to pass and then, just when they were opened, the biggest change of them all was revealed to the glass. Instead of her normal, azure blue irises, they were red. Red as blood and burning with a passion beyond anything ever seen. A grin of mischief formed by her lips when Rusty saw the change in her iris. “A great feast is awaiting me, a marvelous one,” she whispered to herself, sending a shiver down her spine. What she had planned was one unknown to the world since it was still forged within her mind. Her goal was simple in thought. It was the execution that worried her a bit more.

Her eyes were fixed at the window, it’s reflection staring at a second pony who wasn’t even there. Her sly and devious grin became only bigger. She gestured just with her head for the unseen –and most likely not present– guest to sit on the couch ahead of hers. “You might want to sit down for what comes next, it’s quite the tale that’s lying ahead,” whispered Rusty, keeping her eyes firm on the glass window.

She didn’t wanted that anypony would have seen her like that, if they did, the chaos that would have unfolded would be beyond salvage. No, Rusty had to take it easy, speak in hushed tones and whispers. A single nod came which was followed a deep exhale. Her mind was allowed to travel back, back down to a time that was much different. To a time where she herself was just a foal, a creation hatched from an egg. Her only purpose to serve the king or queen…

~~~~

The agonizing chirping and buzzing of the children rang through all the tunnels. Organic tubes dug out within the soils of the earth, all eventually leading up to the throne room where the queen had taken her rightful place. A queen that was a true monstrosity to look at, ruthless and always playing games with everypony. Her hive had been hidden for too long, far too long for anypony to have even remembered them. That was just the way that she had liked it.

Sitting atop her throne, the queen saw everything that her children saw. Their mental link enabled her to ‘hack’ into the vision of every last child she had. And the child that she had chosen was one of the many caretakers in the hatchery. Her offspring, though many, was dear to her. The queen wasn’t one for violence unless provoked. She glanced through the eyes of her child and saw an egg that was different. An egg-sack that didn’t look like the rest of them and rose her curiosity.

She focused upon that very egg-sack and let out a deep sigh. Something was wrong with it, but could have been of use after all? The vision was broken between the two and the queen’s wings spurted in action. Walking was beneath her and thus she hovered away from the throne. She hovered through the dark throne room and passed the guards who wore a thick, chitin armor and their near blood red eyes were clearly visible through their helmets, and through the darkness of the hive.

It wouldn’t have been too long until she had reached the reproduction chamber. It was located almost straight underneath the throne room, and even the throne itself. A grin came forth when she laid her eyes upon all of the eggs that were hers. All of them containing a whole new generation of children ready to come out when they were. It filled her with a strange sense of pride to see it in that light. The vast, poison green hue that was emitted by the room was just breathtaking.

Yet to her right, two other children were doing their job. She finally set her hooves down to the ground and made her way to them. In other part of the hive would the queen have just walked, but the ‘hatchery’ was one major exception. She walked tall and proud to them. They noticed her and made a bow before her.

“My queen,” one of them said with a feminine, caring voice, “what brings you here today?”

The queen’s smile disappeared and she began to speak herself. “There’s an egg that, troubles me.” Her voice was very feminine, seductive to some point even. At the same time was it also troubled and determined. The queen really was a being who always got what she wanted, via any way possible.

“And, which egg would that be, if I may be so bold to ask?” the child replied, rising up from her bow. Curiosity had taken her over, who wouldn’t be curious if the queen said something in that fashion?

The queen turned around and began to trot to the particular egg-sack. The child hot in her trail, of course. Past the thousands and thousands of sacks they maneuvered with grace and elegance, eventually just stopping by one in particular. The queen pointed to it and the child took a closer gander. There didn’t seemed to be anything wrong in the child’s mind, but the queen’s heart knew it all too well.

“It seems that we may have another Red Eye in our midst. The way that it’s keeping its eyes shut like that, it can only be that. Has the sex been determined yet?” the queen asked, looking at the sexless, highly developed embryo inside the sack.

A shake was given by the child. “I’m sorry, my queen, but we haven’t been able to determine that yet. It’s growing a bit slower than the rest. But, it should be hatching in a few months.”

“It better be,” returned the queen with a wicked grin, “I want to see what comes out of this one.” A hoof was placed on the sack while a glance of curiosity was shot to the embryo that laid in the liquids inside. The queen had become truly curious about what laid inside that very sack.

~~~~

A few months later, the egg had indeed hatched and brought forth a wonderful child of the queen. There was one slight little problem that they all had to deal with. Instead of the usual green eyes that the children had in that hive, that particular one was carrying red eyes. The queen didn’t make that big of a deal out of it at first. She would have bide her time and see what would happen to that very same child. Maybe something good, perhaps something bad?

When time went on though, the troubles became only greater and more apparent. The red eyes were the cause of a problem that the queen knew about and felt the backlash from. The red eyes didn’t allow the child to feed on the positive emotions that flowed through Equestria. Instead could children with red eyes only survive by feeding on the negativity. And Equestria just happened to be a land where negativity wasn’t found that often. Not anymore at least. Maybe when the likes of Nightmare Moon roamed the land, things could have been different.

The situation was tightening. Only the guards of the queen were those with red eyes and they were fed with the quarrels that the children had between one another. There was no way that one more red eyed child could have survived in the hive that wasn’t a guardian. To boot, the child was female. That made the entire situation ten times worse.

The queen sat upon her throne while the red eyed child sat before her, hopelessly awaiting whatever words would have left the queen. A growl filled the throne room and she moved, her massive wings buzzing a little bit. “You, are an abomination of my hive. You, are unable to keep yourself alive among the rest of my children. Slaughtering you, as much joy as it would bring, would make me a terrible mother. Your physic makes you unable to become a warrior and don’t even mention assassin or spy. No, I think the best course of action for you is to do the unthinkable.”

The child shivered in fear. The words of the queen were judging, deeming and the law of the hive. Whatever words would have come next, the child would be doomed either way. A deep sigh was let go by it, the red eyes kept firm on the queen. Not a single word was spoken by it, nopony would even dare to argue with the queen.

The queen hovered off her throne and began to circle her child, inspecting her from all the angles. A deep gander was given to ever last bit of scale that there was. Every dent in her exoskeleton was given a precise look. There might have been a way for the child to still survive, but it had to make use of every utility that it had. “From this day onward, when the sun sets again behind the hills, you will be banished from this hive. You will be hiveless, cursed to wander the wastes of the world above in whatever form you see fit. You might survive and thrive even. Or, you will be slaughtered like wild game. The choice is yours, as long as I don’t feel your presence anymore after sunset. Now go, leave me!”

Harsh words from the queen, but they were the judgement that was spoken about the child. Yet it was the only way that it could have happened. The queen hovered back to her throne and the child just left the throne room as it was. Never to be seen and sensed again by any of them.

~~~~

Banished from her hive, cursed to wander the world above, the child had no true aim in life other than to stay alive. Feeding itself from the pesky quarrels that Equestria was rich, but they were only enough to just make it through the day. No, the child had to find something else. Something that would have become a marvelous feast for her. A place where problems were aplenty and she could blend in with the clop of a hoof.

Perhaps strolling through the deserted, rocky, almost Western Frontier of Equestria wasn’t that good of an idea to begin with? Not that it mattered, it was in those parts that everypony was rough, tough and filled with negative emotions that she could filter. Wearing nothing more but a body covering poncho and a Stetson that covered most of the face, the child had been strolling through the desert wasteland, hoping to find that glory pot of negative emotion. Though she kept herself quiet on the side of the road, camping when the night fell and never staying somewhere too long. It was a nomad’s life that the child had chosen for herself.

Her way of living made her long to a place to stay though. A place where she could just remain hidden in plain sight, perhaps changed as somepony else? It was a wish she began to long for more and more. The days were long and the nights far too short. A banished child like that, possibly shouldn’t have survived that long. Yet the queen had said that she might have survived and thrived, that was exactly what the child was planning to do. If anything, she would become the master of living without a hive. Death was one option she wasn’t looking forward too and one she wanted to avoid at any the cost.

Having lost the count of days of strolling, the child’s hope may have been fulfilled, finally. Because in the distance had the scent of negative emotions emerged like a sweet pie. That smell of something sour and salty came as a massive relief to her. Her lips were licked and a grin created. Finally had the time been there to properly feast, of maybe the first time ever. Staying on the side of the makeshift road she had been following, the child finally encountered a sign.

A sign that read the direction she was heading. Her legs came to a standstill and her Stetson was moved back a little bit. The words on the sign were read aloud, “Dodge Junction, five miles.” Five miles wasn’t long for her, given the incredible distance that she had already wandered through the wastes. But now she had a heading to take and stuck to. Dodge Junction, the little town wouldn’t even know what was heading their way.

The Stetson was lowered again and she made her way down the road again. Humming tunes from nature itself to her, the child could have only followed it. Followed the road and the sweet, salty scent of negativity. She was ready for it, but were they ready for her?

In the end does every road have to end, and hers ended about half a mile before the little town. It had dawned in the horizon, in the blistering light of the merciless sun. How many skeletons she had encountered already? She had lost count after so many. Fortunately had her build allowed her to survive purely on emotion and her wings could help to cool her body down, meaning that water was one of her lowest priorities. But now she had to actually enter the town. She couldn’t do that in the way she was looking. She would be hunted, chased down with tar and feathers before banished again. No, the child had to play it right the first time.

Her nature would become a massive help with that. Because if there was one thing that she knew well, it was the art of disguise. So with a deep breath was the plan forged. A grin came across the dried lips of the child and she was more than ready. “My name, is Chara and I’m a changeling,” she said before her eyes erupted out in red flames. Soon, her whole body would follow.

Chapter 02

Still standing half a mile from Dodge Junction, Chara erupted in a burst of red flames. Flames that wouldn’t burn her but change her entire body. The unique trait of a changeling was of course to change the way they looked, the near perfect disguise for infiltration. She had turned herself in a gorgeous earth pony mare who still wore the same outfit. It would have done the trick since the mare was one that she had encountered some time in the past. And the mare who she became, probably wouldn’t have showed up in that part of Equestria. Safety was placed on the first spot of course, but hunger drove her to do the deeds next.

“Rusty Bucket, at your service,” she said with a grinning face and a sultry, soft sensual tone in her voice. Yet the exterior revealed she was both rough and tough. The near perfect mixture for a town at the frontier of Equestria. Chara gave a nod to herself and then headed for the town. She wanted to see just what caused all of the red flow that she had smelled before.

Indeed half a mile later, the stranger stood at the entrance of the town. She glanced at it from underneath her hat’s lid. All the townsfolk of course looked at her in a funny and strange manner. She was new, strange and damn good-looking. It would be a crime to not take a gander at her. But because she had hidden her body under all that clothing, nopony could determine what species she was. And probably more important: if she was trouble or not.

It wouldn’t have taken too long until the sheriff came out his office. With a rifle strapped to his back and a massive moustache underneath his nose, he came to her. The spurs chiming with every step made. The golden star shone bright in the sun and he meant business.

Yet Chara remained standing there, confident and strong.

With caution had the sheriff approached her and took his rifle from his back, he hadn’t the faintest idea what she hid underneath that poncho. “So,” he started in his deep and manly voice, making himself taller in the process, “a drop-dead gorgeous stranger rolls into town, puh, sounds like the start of a half bit romance story. I wanna know one thing from ya, not where yar from, not where yar heading, no. I wanna know, if yar here to cause any trouble?”

He should have known what kind of trouble she was ready to make. Chara had a difficult job not to give that as her reply with a massive smirk. Fortunately she managed to restrain herself from doing that. Instead, the reply that she gave was more believable. She shook her head first and then lifted the lid of her hat. “No sir, ain’t looking for trouble, just a place to either settle down or call home for a little while.”

Her genuine sounding, honeyed words gave off a good feeling to the sheriff. Maybe this mare could be trusted in any way? The rifle was lowered again and he gave a nod to her. Everything seemed to be fine for the mare to pass through. Now he hoped of course that she wouldn’t stir up any more trouble than she already had. “If I may make a recommendation for ya, the saloon might have a room to spare, depending on how long ya intend to stay that is. And, on a personal note, don’t wear anything risqué in there, unless that’s yar sort of thing.”

Chara didn’t fully understood what he meant by that, but waved it off as a message of goodwill. She nodded back to the stallion who then made his leave again. Only to return back to his office and take place in the rocking chair that stood at the porch, overlooking the main street.

The mare on the other end, would have headed over to the saloon. Hoping that there was indeed a room available, or a poor soul unfortunate enough to buy her one.

~~~~

The doors of the saloon opened and everything felt silent. The music ceased playing, the ponies ceased their conversations and the mares ceased their dancing. All eyes were aimed at Chara, who hid most of her face underneath the lid of her hat. If she wanted to make a spectacular entrance, she was halfway there already. Ponies already were eager to reach of their weapon and kick her out, but they hesitated for some reason.

The reason why, was because she seemed different. Chara was a mare after all, the saloon was a place for stallions to take the crown. Her hoof let go of the door and she stepped further in. The shadows of the place engulfed her body and the cool air travelled passed her neck. Chilling, but just perfect. Her head was flicked up and the brilliant green eyes were revealed. Not even the brightest emerald could compete against that. It was simply marvelous to look at and even better to be around with. It made some already lower their firearms. But others wanted to see further.

Chara made her way over to the bar and took place on a stool. Her hat was then finally taken off and placed atop the bar. Her eyes watched deep in the mirror that hung behind all the bottles of liquor. She saw how so many ponies were just staring at her, feeling the sheer amounts of negativity that they carried within them. This, seemed to be her paradise. This place, this saloon somewhere in the frontier of Equestria, could become her new home where she could thrive.

“The strongest you have,” she said to the barkeeper.

The stallion nodded and poured her a glass of the strongest drink he had. She downed it in just one swig, surprising everypony that was present. With a loud thud was the glass set back atop the wooden bar, looking one particular pony dead in the eyes through the mirror. It was at that moment she had proven herself to the group. At that moment were all the remaining weapons lowered and Chara had earned their respect.

The music began to swell up again, the mares continued their dance and the stallions continued their games of cards. From that day onward until an indefinite time, Chara had earned herself a room in the saloon. As long as she was able to pay the cheap, cheap rent for it. Which was easily done, because of all the odd jobs that had to be done around town.

~~~~

Time managed to crawl by with several months for Chara and she remained in Dodge Junction for as long as she could. Every week did she have enough bits to pay for her room at the saloon and everypony grew quite accustomed to her. Not to mention that she had bought herself a velvet red dress in which she was seen most of the time. Subtle, but charming at the same time.

Yet something wasn’t feeling too well for her. Something had become stale. Something about the entirety of the town had been stale. Chara’s appetite was at the verge of becoming nonexistent and is the one thing that she wants to prevent. All the quarrels in the saloon were breathtaking for her and the consumption of all the ponies their negative emotions was marvelous, but it was the same taste over and over. The same mixture of sweet, salt and bitter both day and night.

Something had to change if she wanted to keep going the way she did. Something to had change, and Chara thought to know exactly what that was. One day she sat at her usual spot in the saloon, covered by shadows with her back hooves crossed over the table. She watched through the entire place and had noticed for a longer time that the barkeeper had particular looks to one of the maids serving the drinks. Maybe, just maybe, she could create friction between them and thus get a new load of red flow through her body. It would be short lived, certainly, but it could sustain her for far longer than the quarrels of a cheated hoof of cards.

The cogs in her head are both turning and twisting in about every possible direction. She wanted to come up with an idea that was so diabolical, that it would set up the owners against one another. The best way to do just that? Deception.

Eventually had the maid come to her, a beautiful young mare who had just become of age and did her job always with a smile. She was hailed by Chara of course. “What can I do for you, miss Bucket?” the blonde coated, ginger haired mare asked in a young and sweet tone.

“Could you get me the usual, please? And, can we then talk a bit, under four eyes?”

“Coming up and, if the talk isn’t too long,” the mare replied.

“Thanks Charming,” returned Chara with a smile of her own.

It wasn’t much later that Charming Saddle had returned with the drink and pulled up a chair to sit down. Chara had removed her legs from the table and came a bit closer. From that moment on, their entire conversation would be done in hushed whispers.

“I know that you have a little eye on the barkeeper, I know that you’re lusting for him every single day. Can’t blame you, he is good looking and handsome himself after all. But what makes you not go after him?” Chara asked with care. Subtlety was a bit overrated in her eyes, but Charming wasn’t seeing the fun in it all.

Charming let out a deep sigh before she leaned back a little bit. Her eyes went shut for just a moment and the thoughts ran wild. Why hadn’t she gone after the barkeeper herself? “Well, you see Rusty, he’s married to his business associate, the mare you almost never see wandering around here. Can’t do such a thing, can you?”

“Only comes down near the end of the day with a bag of bits? Seen her more than enough times. Thought she was just the accountant, honestly,” replied Chara and took a swig from her drink. “So that’s his wife than? Can’t blame him now for looking as lovely as he does to you. But, don’t you want to try it out? Just for once? I know I would.”

“And becoming his mistress? Making him cheat on his own wife? Have you lost your mind, Rusty?!” Charming wasn’t feeling a bit for the plan that was concocted. It was morally wrong to do so and if their affaire would be discovered, they both probably had to leave town.

“On the contrary, Charming, I’m perfectly sober and this plan is something that I do propose. Your charms should be more than enough to make him go willingly with you. Maybe just for one night, to relieve the stress that you’re both having, eh? Maybe, you can keep it a secret furthermore?”

“I don’t know, Rusty, it does seem risky,” the mare said and leaned back in her chair. Her mind was in doubt and troubled, exactly what Chara had wanted. She didn’t have to do the actions herself. Though as long as Charming would have doubted herself, the choice of it actually happening would become only bigger and better.

“I’m not forcing you to do anything, I’m just trying to help the both of you here,” Chara said, strengthening her own position a bit more. “It’s not cheating if you aren’t figured out, and you both will have a benefit on it.”

Charming on the other end was doubting the situation even more. “I don’t know, I honestly do not know what is the best action to do now.”

A smile formed itself across the lips of Chara, in secret did she have Charming exactly where she wanted to have her. The seed of doubt was planted and growing like mad. All that Charming Saddles needed was just that extra little push and fate would decide its course to flow. “How about you think about it during the rest of your shift, when it’s over, you speak with him and just see what comes out, okay?”

The young mare gave a nod to Chara, it was a plan that could be done without much hassle. But Chara knew that if she came to the barkeeper first, the chances of him taking the bait were many times bigger than if he approached her. It was all just part of the plan that she had to spice up things just a little bit. It would take time though. The following day, Chara would come to know the results.

She smiled and waved to Charming while the waitress left the table, continuing on with her evening shift. Just as the customers continued to pour in, eager to drink away the troubles of the day. It wouldn’t have been that much later before Chara made her way back to her room. To just lay back on the bed and think about the troubles of the day as it were.

In the end laid the mare the bed and had shut the curtains. She would get some well-deserved sleep and anticipate what the following day would have brought for her. She hoped for something good of course, on the other end, Charming could have ratted her out. She was playing with fire and could burn herself at any given moment. But for the moment, it was all smooth sailing.

~~~~

When the sun rose back up the following day and Chara woke up like any other. She didn’t feel particularly interested in the day itself. She lusted for the evening though. She had hoped that Charming had taken the bait and of course that somebody had figured out what had happened.

Time would come to pass slowly while she wandered through the by then very familiar streets of Dodge Junction. The mare trotted through them like if she owed them and ponies both left and right greeted her. She greeted them all back of course, hoping for time to pass by a bit more. It just went so slow! When nopony was looking, she cursed the sun for moving so leisurely through the skies and went on a hike outside of town.

The surrounding nature of Dodge Junction was marvelous and there was one particular little spot where she always loved to come. It was high atop a mountain that gave her a view over the entire town. The path leading to it wasn’t steep or anything harsh, it was just long. In the end, Chara had made it and she sat down upon the rock she had claimed.

Her eyes witnessed the near endless beauty of the desert while the whistle of a train echoed in her ears. The train that would be leaving for Canterlot was right on time. But that whistle moved more than she had anticipated. Because the memory of one particular night came back to her. The memory of words spoken about six friends who lived their lives in Ponyville. Six, rather special ponies for that matter.

Chara grinned like the devil when she thought about it. It must have been marvelous to have such friends. On the other end, if that friendship become, broken. The mare chuckled to herself and shook her head. “One step at a time. One step at a time. Breaking friendships isn’t that easily done,” she mumbled to herself.

For hours more she sat atop that rock, looking over the town and all the ponies moving through it like ants. It was a favorite past time for her, she just loved to spot patterns in how beings behaved. Nopony could have blamed her, given her true nature. A nature which she kept hidden very well, if she had to say so herself.

~~~~

When the sun was finally setting itself, Chara had found her way back to the saloon and taken her usual spot again. With her legs across over the table, the mare was waiting for anything interesting to happen. She could already sense that tension had risen for some reason. She just went out and did her normal things, ordering drinks every so often, awaiting the eventual eruption of chaos. The moment she both dreaded and loved.

Charming Saddle was nowhere to be found though and the barkeeper seemed to be more nervous than ever. Had something happened between the two? Charming was supposed to work that evening after all.

Yet at a moment that nopony could have anticipated, the doors flung open and an aged stallion pointed a hoof to the barkeeper. Many weapons were drawn in an instant to counter. This was the moment where Chara had been waiting for. This was the moment where everything just came together and she seated herself better, with an invisible smirk going right over her face.

“Ya dirty little cheater! Ah never expected the likes of ya, to cheat on yar own wife!” the stallion rambled and continued his way forward.

The barkeeper turned red like an apple. Somepony had caught on with what was going on and the entire bar aimed their weapons at the barkeeper. Chara felt the surge of negative emotions through her. The amounts of red flow and the marvelous taste that it carried, she licked her lips. She wanted more, needed more. It was the lifeline for the mare. She was close to having achieved her goal. Chara also wanted to see, just for the giggles, how well the barkeeper would have been able to talk his way out of it.

The elderly stallion set his hooves atop the bar and rose up, looking down to the barkeeper with a near infernal rage filling him. “Ah should order each and every one of yar patrons to shot ya on the spot, but that means we ain’t having a bar anymore! Custody ain’t working for ya either, as she went willing! How could ya have used my daughter in such a way?!”

So that was what’s going on? It was Charming’s father who came busting in. It turned better with the second for Chara who kept herself quiet, looking over the action.

“Ah swear that if Ah hear one more rumor about ya cheating on yar wife,” the stallion said, reaching for his own weapon and setting it against the barkeepers forehead, “ya and missy here, get to know each other real close. Am Ah clear?”

The barkeeper just nodded, fearing for his life to be over while the sheriff walked in, calming the entire situation. Everypony at the saloon lowered their weapons again and Charming’s father left the bar for what it was. “Don’t expect me to come back here,” he said, passing the sheriff without giving him even one look.

But Chara was riding a high unlike anything before. The sheer euphoria of the red flow that she got was unmatched by anything. It was all that she ever lusted after and tasted even better than she had ever dared to dream. In a way, it was the first step for her to execute her next plan. A plan that was just crazy enough to may have worked. Genius and stupidity often went hoof in hoof.

Chapter 03

The train continued to thunder down the tracks. The mare got a smug grin on her face. The memories of the red flow that went through her were just breathtaking and arousing. It was perhaps the best feeling that she had ever had. Words were never spoken though. Even though she sat in the last compartment of the train, there were still other ponies that could have heard her ever word. Not to mention that a changeling in the ‘wild’ might have caused a few ideas of madness to just spark out.

No, Chara had to lay low for the moment. Not that it mattered too much for her in the end. She could always just think about how she would have tackled her new plan. During her stay in Dodge Junction were there always stories about six ponies living somewhere in Equestria. Six ponies who did extraordinary and near impossible feats because of their very friendship.

That very thought drove Chara to already finding ways to break that friendship. But it got even better when time went on. The one place where all the stories would have come together, was of course the saloon and with her looks, she often got the information that she needed.

Six names were always spoken by everypony about the six of them, six names that were almost famous throughout the entirety of Equestria. Their names were of little concern to the changeling though. She was instead much more interested in the collected name she always heard them about. Those six mysterious mares were often called the ‘Elements of Harmony’. One of them had even become an alicorn princess in recent times. Now that alone was a feat unbelievable when she heard it. Chara hadn’t the faintest idea what to expect from them.

Everypony knew about their recently gained ‘Rainbow Power’ after lord Tirek had escaped Tartarus and caused his rampage. That was perhaps the only way through which he could be stopped.

Equestria had almost been doomed, again.

Chara chuckled a bit to herself and stroked through her mane. The tales that she had heard about those six. The word unbelievable wouldn’t even start to cover how she felt about them.

The six of them seemed to be inseparable from the sounds of it. It would have been up to Chara to test whether or not that actually happened to be the case. Anything could have been said about the mares and it couldn’t have been true. “All in due time, all in due time,” she said in hushed tones to herself.

Another grin came forth across her muzzle prior to when she stood up. Chara left her seat and would have gone on a small exploration through the train. Her destination was Ponyville without a doubt, but the journey was long and boring, not up to her par. Maybe somepony aboard the train had quarrels with somebody else, or maybe she could engage herself in a conversation of sorts.

Random thoughts crossed her while she trotted calmly through the carriages and spoke to some ponies aboard. Though none of them were really glad with the fact that she spoke to them. They wanted to be left alone for the journey, not an unreasonable demand at all.

~~~~

In the end had Chara ended up in the restoration-carriage and sat down at a table. The waiter came to her and she placed her order, she felt like eating something fancy for the day and thus ordered a six course dinner.

While she waited, there was a rather handsome stallion entering. The two made eye contact the second he entered and she gestured him to sit down with her. The stallion approached her and gave a small nod with his head, than he sat down and began to speak. “A very good afternoon, fair lady. May I be so blunt to ask, what such a lovely treasure is doing all by herself on a train like this?”

Chara had a difficult time not to blush to the words, hiding most of her face by her hoof. A little giggle left her at first and she then managed to get up the courage to speak. “If the, handsome stallion, really wants to know it, the answer is really quite simple,” she began, lowering her hoof a bit more, “I plan to take a journey to the more rural parts of Equestria. I’ve heard that Ponyville is quite the sight to behold.”

The stallion nodded, confirming her words.

The waiter came with the first course. Chara nudged him and whispered. “Could you also prepare a six course dinner for my, companion, here?” A plan had hatched within her mind.

The waiter nodded and he would be off again. The stallion was surprised by the fact that Chara had already ordered dinner. Though the train had such a strange schedule to begin with. “But, Ponyville you say? Heard stories about that place. Used to be a quiet little town, right up to the point where Nightmare Moon was supposed to return to this earth. After that, it became the epicenter of all sorts of trouble and mostly destruction. The ponies are still lovely company though,” the stallion said to her. He wasn’t entirely wrong with his words though.

The changeling listened to every last one that was spoken by him. She nodded every so often. Her time with him would have been used to extract information, before disappearing on the toilet and let him pay for everything, that part of the plan was already set in stone. “But they have the Elements of Harmony, right? Won’t they protect the town?”

The stallion huffed for a moment and shook his head. “After what happened with both Discord and lord Tirek, I’m still surprised that they are called that. They made a pretty big mess if the tales have to be believed. Of course, they cleaned it up afterward, but the original defeat of those villains was, less than spectacular.”

The waiter than came with the first course of their meal and they thanked him with a smile.

With the waiter gone again, Chara saw her opportunity to ask the one question that was burning on her tongue. Obviously the stallion knew the ponies she wanted to meet. Perhaps she could squeeze out some more information about them. “Now that’s actually quite the something. But do you think that it might inflict something on their friendship, all those earth-shattering moments?” she dared to ask.

The stallion rose his eyes to her and then rose a single eyebrow to boot. It wasn’t the place for a lady like her to ask such questions. But he was too much of a gentlecolt not to answer it. “No, I don’t want to say that. I’ve had the privilege of meeting them once, they seem like a random group of ponies thrown together. But there’s one with whom I’ve spend much more time with, that being Rarity. Lovely mare and somepony me and Fleur always love and look forward to meet. Come to think of it, she might have loved this dinner as well.”

Chara wasn’t getting anywhere, anytime soon with her conversation. The stallion knew bits and pieces about them. It didn’t prove to be the source of information that she had hoped he was. Instead would the changeling have just continued on, asked questions about this ‘Rarity’. Evidently, her clothing lines had Chara often seen in magazines and even in stores in Dodge Junction. The lack of information from the others, was what concerned her.

The trip was still long and she enjoyed his company as a pony. Perhaps she could have just enjoyed the dinner for it was and then bailed out on him, hearing on a bit more about his one encounter with the other ponies that were involved in the Elements. Any big of information that could have helped her, should have been taken.

~~~~

Chara sat back on her seat after the dinner. She came to know some useful things about the ponies who formed the Elements of Harmony. Though in order to take them down where it was truly hurting, she had to find a different set of targets first. Her diabolical plan could only succeed if there was some red flow still left within her. Fresh red flow, for that matter. Ponyville was a town of friendship and strange relations, it wouldn’t have been too difficult to break at least one of those bonds, right? Right? That was the question she asked herself.

Moments later had the train decreased in its speed and the brakes were slowly applied. The massive engine had rolled in the station of Ponyville itself, her final destination. Chara took her belongings with her and would leave the train as one of the last. The door was then shut behind her and the powerful whistle from the engine rolled over the platform.

Huffs and puffs of steam came first and then the pistons came to roll, the train was departing again, heading to Canterlot itself. The changeling had a last look at the train and nodded to herself. The hour was late, but perhaps a small pension or tavern, or even an inn around town still had a place for her to sleep. So she took her luggage and went on. Her appearance was still that of Rusty Bucket, the rough and tough, yet elegant mare from Dodge Junction. Her style of clothing showed those features through and through.

Wandering through the town had made her almost sick of just how friendly and peacekeeping these dreadful ponies were. It was the complete opposite of Dodge Junction. Chara would have never survived in that place without causing some major disturbances herself. In the corner of her eye she caught a sign, a sign that was the one sign she had hoped of finding.

She rushed over to the building and opened the door. Behind the desk sat a mare with a smile. Chara had arrived at a small pension at the edge of Ponyville, far out of the reaches from the center. She arranged herself a room and would be guided to it. Eventually was the key given to her and she opened the door. A deep inhale was taken and she then disappeared through the created gap.

Between the walls was just a simple room to be found. One that wasn’t anything of interest in particular to anypony, but it would have been enough to keep her happy during her stay, at least until she had found something better. Maybe she could do it as she did in Dodge Junction? Doing some odd jobs around town and hope that ponies would compensate her for her troubles. It was maybe a bit farfetched, but it could work.

It was a trouble for the next day though. Chara was tired and wanted to sleep. She had one glance to the bed and jumped right atop of it. She wouldn’t let go of the pillow and coiled up right atop it. In all her life, she had never even used a bed normally once. Always sleeping in strange and curious ways, up to the point where she even managed once to lay upside down, with her head staring at the floor, that was one strange morning indeed.

~~~~

The morning sun broke the horizon and vanquished the night again. Chara came out of her bed, feeling more drained than when she went in. Still, she prepared herself for the day. The changeling left the room with the intents to stroll through the town. Leaving the pension without breakfast was maybe a mistake, but she was on a mission.

While the morning continued on, she saw ponies all doing their daily things and they didn’t really seem to mind her. Not that she had any problems with that. But when the time neared the afternoon hour, Chara found herself roaming through the center of the town. Still no sign from any of the six ponies she wanted to meet. What she did found were two other ponies that caught her interests.

It was at the teahouse where she saw two mares sipping their tea. One was a gray coated one with black mane, looking quite bored and classy at the same time. The other was white with blue mane, and wearing ridiculously sized glasses that blocked the entirety of her eyes. Maybe, just maybe did those two mares knew something about the mares that she wanted to meet. It felt like Chara had hit two birds with one stone.

At one end could she have gathered information about not just those two, but also about the mares she wanted to take down. And to boot, she could hone her skills a bit more and try to break the friendship between those two, to at least have some red flow coursing through her veins again.

It was a longshot, but also one that could have been of massive use to her. Chara approached the two mares and tried not to be a creep. “Terribly sorry, but would you mind it if I joined you on this wonderful day?” she asked with a classy voice, eyes to die form.

Both of the mares took a look at each other. It was a strange and rather unusual request of course. But the two ponies shared their thoughts. The white mare nodded and the gray mare spoke the words. “Not at all, please, join us miss...”

“Bucket.”

“Miss Bucket. Waiter, another cup please.”

“Coming up!” the waiter replied from the inside.

“The name’s Rusty Bucket, by the way, pleased to meet the both of you,” said Chara with a smile.

“The feeling is mutual, the name’s Octavia Melody and this here is Vinyl Scratch,” returned Octavia. Vinyl held a cup of tea in her magical hold and waved to Chara with a smile. “Forgive her lack of speech, she isn’t a mare of many words, at all.”

“And yet, you still understand how she feels?” Chara regretted the question in an instant. It had come out before she even knew what she had said. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, I do apologize.”

By that time had the waiter arrived with a cup for Chara. It was Vinyl who poured her a cup of tea. The unicorn mare didn’t even seem to be bothered by the words, that was the signal for Octavia to answer the question.

The gray mare got a smile across her muzzle. She gave a nod to Vinyl and shifted her attention over to the disguised changeling. “It doesn’t matter, Rusty, she’s been like that since the day I met her. It’s quite the curious little thing and I do understand how she feels. Even though her eyes are obscured pretty much all of the time, you start to learn her body language quite clearly. And for that, words aren’t necessary in the slightest.”

Chara had to admit that she was impressed. The way that those two ponies were busy with each other had she never expected behind them. It gave her much more information that Octavia ever wanted to give up. The changed changeling took a sip of her tea and allowed the liquids to just glide through her throat. The taste was just marvelous and she honestly couldn’t place it. Though the act of her being a lady had to be kept even if she was craving for yet another sip of tea.

“I don’t know what to say to that, that’s quite the accomplishment you have there, Octavia.” The voice of Chara sounded genuinely impressed and the gray mare got a little blush across her cheeks. It was also obvious that the two of them were in a relationship that went further than friends. If the changeling didn’t know any better, the two were in love with each other. Breaking that bound between them, that could have been her massive victory.

“But what is it that you both do?”

Octavia chuckled while Vinyl took another sip of her tea, followed by cookie from the plate.

“We’re both musicians. I prefer the classic tunes of the music of old, playing them with my cello in a band that tours through pretty much all of Equestria. While Vinyl here, as much as I dislike to say it, prefer the music of nowadays. The hard, rasping sounds of magic electricity crashing against each other. It’s something you have to get used to. But what about you, Rusty? What do you do, and, forgive my prying, where are you from?”

It was one of those questions to which Chara wasn’t feeling like answering at all, but she had to give the answer eventually. Her coverstory depended on it and the only way she could have succeeded, was by lying with confidence in their faces. Another sip of the marvelous tea was taken by her before she would have replied.

“Well, you can say that I’m a bit of a traveler, I stay at places for some time until either I get bored of it, or they get bored of me. I’m a, wanderer, you might say. As to where I am from, I can’t tell anymore. It’s, a long and bothersome story I won’t bother you too much with. But let’s keep it on the fact that I’ve travelled for so long, I forgot where my actual home is, or was.” She wasn’t entirely lying though.

The two mares nodded to her words, it was sad to hear but that was how they accepted it. They had bought the story with open eyes. At least, Chara thought that Vinyl’s eyes were open. It could have been anything that went on behind those shades really. Not that it mattered too much. Because she had given most of her attention to Octavia. The earth pony had become the major target for Chara. All the details were remembered, all of the features of her looks. The disguise for Octavia was being formed in her mind, the act of becoming her as well. The longer they would converse, the more the changeling would come to know about their personal lives.

All of that valuable information would be used in the most devious of ways of course. Chara had set her sights on the two of them, she would create such a negative flow between the two of them that their love would break. That was the plan at least and for her, it began to taste even sweeter than the tea she was sipping.

~~~~

For the rest of the afternoon would the three mares be talking to one another. They conversed about the most different subjects that Equestria had to offer. Chara liked the conversation to some degree while Vinyl and Octavia were just happy to have some good company. But in the end, their ways had to separate while the sun set down. It was at that point where the changeling returned to her room, brooding on the plans of madness to come.

Chapter 04

For the past few days had Chara just been wandering through Ponyville. Still disguised as the mare living under the name of Rusty Bucket, the mare from Dodge Junction. She never told many ponies her story while listening to each of them she heard. During all of that time had she been keeping an open ear to any news of the Elements or who they could have been. Fate just so happened to play out against her. None of them were present in Ponyville at the time she arrived, but she had seen the castle that was dubbed ‘the Castle of Friendship’ and it was an imposing structure for sure.

Over time had Chara learned one or two things about each of the six mares and though about ways to utilize that very same knowledge against them. Some of the news is juicy enough to go after of course, yet a lot of it is the same she had heard from everypony else.

It’s strange though, the changeling came to think to herself. She was just minding her own business and trotting through the peaceful town. It was strange that six of the mightiest ponies in Equestria only seemed to have each other as true friends. The whole of Ponyville knew each other and was considered a good friend, but those six always seemed to confine themselves to them, outside of when they needed somebody else along of course.

It made the disguised changeling sit down on a bench for a moment, pondering her mind about the matter. Something just didn’t add up about it. Everypony who they were, but nopony knew who they were. With the rays of the sun hitting her face, the eyes beamed a little bit with redness while the warmth travelled through the veins.

“There’s only one way in which I can do this, only one way through which this little plan of madness even might succeed,” she mumbled to herself. Of course she knew that the plan was madness itself, but that was the way she loved and liked it. Just that spark of insanity fueling her, to achieve the near impossible. It was a feeling that was breathtaking for the changeling. “I need to meet the six of them, personally, get to know them and strike them where it hurts.”

Her hoof coiled up in a fist-like form the moment she finished talking. Infiltration was the greatest asset of a changeling and she would utilize every single trick known to her. Cunningness and stealth were required, as well as a quick and honeyed tongue. A single nod she gave to herself, ready to hit the road again and make way to the Castle of Friendship itself. Chara left the bench and continued on her way, hoping that there was somepony home by then.

~~~~

In the distance it already loomed up for her, the towering spires of the crystalline castle. It was a mess to behold but at the same time was it a marvelous piece. The changeling felt conflicted about it and the sheer amounts of magic that were emitted by the place began to hurt. Not enough to be unbearable, but enough to make her feel a near constant itch on her back. Right on the one spot that she wouldn’t be able to reach with her hooves. Whomever had cast the spell, it knew their defenses well. None of the other ponies who wandered past seemed to be affected by it.

“Chrysalis,” mumbled the changeling to herself. Of course had she heard of how one of the changeling queens almost came to conquer Canterlot with her vast army. But only by the one emotion that they feed upon, were they also destroyed. A strange sense of irony it was indeed. Something about the ordeal made her chuckle for the moment.

The weather was still both warm and pleasant while other ponies just went along their way. Everything just seemed to be fine, if not for Chara. Ponyville had this rather strange sense of idyllic peace and harmony to itself. Yet the Castle of Friendship loomed even greater in the distance. It rose up like the castle of Canterlot which was always visible atop the hill it was built upon so long ago.

Chara slowed down her pace a bit to take in the breathtaking view that spread before her. It was marvelous to gander at, even better to be inside, probably. The crystals and gems that it was constructed from all shone bright in the light. Marvelous, absolutely marvelous indeed.

With new courage and cunning coursing through her body would the changeling have stepped inside the palace, weren’t it for one little fact. Because in the corner of her eye she caught something that seemed oddly familiar. Something that turned into somepony after her gaze had shifted. A white blob of color turned into the white coated, blue maned Vinyl Scratch.

Wonder had filled the changeling’s mind for just a moment. Why would that mare have been there on her own? From their previous encounter had she come to know that Vinyl wasn’t deaf, fortunately. It meant that she still could hear everything perfect, despite her choice in music-career. A grin came forth upon the muzzle of Chara, who came up with a little plan to fill her levels of red flow. She had been hungering after the stuff ever since the disembark from the train. It was her time to make a change again and hopefully get some of the nutrition that she required. It wouldn’t have been that simple though.

Chara made her way to a side-street and then in an alleyway. Hidden from the eyes of everypony was a quick plan devised. Whether Octavia intended it or not, she had spoken way too much information about the DJ, which could be used by the changeling to push all of the buttons. A quick glance was given up to the street itself. Everything seemed to be clear for her to do what she wanted, an opportunity she wanted to make use of.

In a bright flash of reddish fire had she changed her entire appearance. No longer did Rusty Bucket hid in the alleyway, instead it was Octavia Melody whom had taken her spot. Yet to make matters worse, another pony trotted out of the shadows with her. The blue coated stallion who had gone under the name of Noteworthy, stood beside her.

In reality was it all an optical illusion created by the changeling’s arcane abilities, but it would have been more than enough for her plan to work. Or at least she hoped in silence that it was. Chara took a deep breath and stepped out of the alleyway without a pony seeing her, Noteworthy followed suit and the two just began to walk down the street, they were heading straight in Vinyl’s direction.

Noteworthy began to speak about a couple of things that involved the play he had done a few days ago, basically rephrasing the words that Octavia had said to him. That mare could talk for hours about him and not realize everypony was bored of it! But it came out helpful for the matter, as the conversation was kept going, meaning that everything just seemed normal. As long as nopony came to bother them both of course.

While Chara continued on with her part of the conversation, she kept a close yet hidden eye on Vinyl. The closer she came, the more she realized that the unicorn was without headphones. That proved to be a golden opportunity for the changeling. Her tongue became wet as she could already taste the red flow of negativity that filled the air through her, but first things had to be done first of course. A deep breath was taken by her to calm all of the senses, from that moment on would she have been serious about the matter. Nothing else mattered anymore, except to push the buttons of Vinyl Scratch.

Without even knowing that she was there, Octavia and Noteworthy both wandered passed her. Of course had Vinyl wanted to wave at her friend, but she then noticed the stallion being around the earth pony. The decision was made to not do anything, yet her ears were turned to hear what was being said. And the conversation that followed was one that was both gut wrenching and heartbreaking at the same time.

“Say Octavia, how are you and Vinyl doing these days?” Noteworthy asked in his deep and classy voice. “Are you still having some troubles with her?”

Octavia had frowned at the question, it was one that she had rather avoided than answered. The mare had to tell him the truth about the matter, to vent the weight that was placed upon her heart. “It’s gotten worse, Noteworthy, I can’t make anything about her these days anymore. It’s like, I don’t know honestly. She seems so remote and isolated, so away from the world itself. Like, she lives in her own little fantasy.”

“She’s a unicorn after all, it’s what they all do,” the stallion replied with a smirking grin.

That part did Vinyl saw clear as day.

If the unicorn didn’t know any better, she drew the conclusion that the two were having a relation with one another. The way that they spoke to each other, the way that they glanced to one another, the way that their bodies sung the song of a thousand words. Tears would have come behind her shades, a deep sigh followed while her legs ceased their motion. She had to figure out what the two were up to, she had to figure out just what on earth they were planning to do.

Octavia and Noteworthy continued on with their little journey and continued to speak about a couple none worthy things like the weather and when they would perform again together. Of course did Chara knew that Vinyl was keeping a close eye on them, it was the thing that she wanted.

It was perfect to throw the last curveball at the unicorn. She also knew that an engagement with the unicorn at that point was almost unavoidable. Chara had to keep herself busy and not be spotted alone as Octavia, not if she wanted to keep Vinyl guessing. So she did the only thing she could think about.

Octavia reached for the cheek of the stallion, pulled him in closer and gave him a deep and loving kiss on the lips. Vinyl watched how the two of them shared their kiss, there was no lying about it, there was no deception possible. That kiss between them was genuine. Octavia had actually kissed Noteworthy in public. Vinyl’s worst fear had become a shattering reality! How long before she would have told her? Vinyl almost became consumed by both rage and hatred. There were options, but all of them involved tearing Octavia in half. An explanation was required from the gray mare, but later.

Huffs and puffs, streams of tears down her cheeks. Vinyl was broken, filled with hatred and ready for a slaughter. But instead of going after either of the newly made couple, the mare just turned around. She showed the world that she was strong, but inside was she crying like a foal. The mare made a step to leave, followed by another. Before she knew it, she was galloping away.

Chara had done it, she felt the hatred of Vinyl flowing through her. The stream of red flow already filtering through her was amazing. It brought her body to new heights that weren’t experienced in a long, long time. She and Noteworthy made a quick turn to walk into another street and sprinted into another alleyway. From there would he have disappeared and Rusty Bucket would have emerged from the other side.

Octavia had some explaining to do and Vinyl would have either forgave her, or shattered their friendship. Of course had the changeling hoped for the latter fact, but the decision would come to wait. She wouldn’t have just rushed over to the place to see what would happen. No, the red flow in the air would have given away whatever had happened next.

The next destination for Chara was the Castle of Friendship. After everything that had happened and with a new load of courage flowing through her, it was the only thing that she could have done. A nod was given to herself and her sight set upon the spires of the castle, a sinister grin forging itself across her muzzle.

She could speak of luck that there was nopony around to see what she was doing.

~~~~

Late in the evening had the last train to pass Ponyville rolled in the station and only a few ponies had disembarked from it. Yet among those few were there six who couldn’t be happier to be back in the little, tranquil town. Those six just so happened to be the six bearers of the Elements. Everypony stood at the station and yawned a bit, for their journey from the Frozen North had ended, almost.

“Feels good to be back here,” said Twilight to the rest of them, looking at them with a watchful eye.

Everypony else nodded to her and they couldn’t wait to roll in their beds again. “It was surprising to see how the Crystal Empire has developed in such a short amount of time. Yet their couture is something I will never be bored of. Did you see their latest line in fashion?” Rarity asked with a beaming face. She almost couldn’t hold her excitement on the matter.

Applejack had to place a hoof over her shoulders to keep the ivory unicorn on the ground. “Hehe, Ah heard ya, partner, but how ‘bout ya calm down for the time being, eh? Been a long trek by train and ya still gotta cover ‘bout half the town before yar back home.”

“Make that the whole town,” Rarity added while her ears drooped a bit. “Staying at my parents for the night. Long story involving Sweetie and cooking.”

Nopony even dared to question the mare. They all knew at least bits and pieces of what might have happened. They also knew it was a tale that she wasn’t willing to share.

Pinkie Pie on the other end had begun to hop around as she always had done, creating a bit of a distraction for the others. A thing that was much to Twilight’s very own gratitude.

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stretched their wings from the long trip. Though where the cyan mare was already in the air and doing some tricks.

It was the yellow one who remained firmly on the ground. “It’s going to be a good night, that’s for sure,” said Fluttershy in her timid and shy voice to the rest.

She wasn’t wrong with those words at all. The night was cool and without a cloud. The light of the moon illuminated the world while the stars shone bright all across the skies. It only seemed like yesterday that the six of them had been ‘thrust’ in their friendship against the dreaded Nightmare Moon. It had been years of course, but every time that they took a gander up to the moon, it was surprising to not see the well-known ‘Mare in the Moon’ anymore. A thing which either was good or bad, none of them had really decided upon that.

“Ha! You tell me, Flutters! It’s just so amazing to be back here and not being stuck in the frozen skies. I thought I would never be able to fly there again!” Rainbow commented, receiving glares from everypony but Pinkie.

“May I remind you that the first time we visited, it was consumed by an all evil unicorn king?” Twilight commented in return. “Besides, you can fly there perfectly. Not our fault that you are getting it cold that quickly.”

“Hey! I’m a pegasus, remember! I have thin blood to survive in the warmth and in the air, not in the cold!” returned Rainbow in a snarky voice.

“Suppose that’s true enough,” added Twilight, shaking her head a little. The day had both been long and tiresome along with a load of boring. It was time to just leave everypony be for the moment and hit the hay, a thing which they all wanted.

After that they had said their goodbyes and good-nights, all six of them would have taken a different path home. Fluttershy would have walked down lane, Rarity another, Applejack went over the tracks to the farm and Rainbow took for the skies. But Twilight was the one whom had one last companion with her, Spike the dragon. He had come along with them as he was as much a part of their little group as everypony else.

The dragon trotted next to the alicorn and wanted to make a remark on something. Twilight had caught the look in his eyes but was still doubting whether or not to say a word. In the end, she just spoke what was on her mind. “Spike, you have been like this ever since we left the Empire, what’s been bothering you?”

A question was asked which the dragon didn’t wanted to answer, but he had to either way. He felt like he owed it to her. “It’s nothing, Twilight, it’s just that here I’m just a clumsy nopony while up there, I’m pretty much hailed like a princess.”

“Or a prince, in your case,” chuckled Twilight for the moment, covering her mouth with a wing. Spike didn’t saw the humor in it though. “Sorry, my bad.” Moments later had a bright red blush appeared. “But I do get your point and is one which can raise some form of concern. But you have to remember this, you may have saved the Crystal Empire, but you will always be our dragon.” The last thing that Twilight wanted at the moment was to delve too much in the theories and studies she had performed. It just wasn’t worth it in the evening.

“You’re right. Maybe it’s better if it stays this way. A lot of ponies here like me too, right?”

To that didn’t Twilight have the answer yet. She was too tired to think of any answer that wouldn’t hurt the little dragon. “Let’s go home, Spike, get ourselves some good night sleep and we’ll talk further about it in the morning,” she returned to him, placing a wing around him.

Spike just gave a nod before he had one last glance up to the skies above them. The twinkles high up there gave of the reflections of gems sparkling in the sunlight, giving him a smile.

Chapter 05

It was late in the evening when Vinyl roamed the outskirts of Ponyville. It had been hours since she had seen her Octavia making out with that cursed Noteworthy. For that very reason had she become angry. It felt like the worst kind of betrayal to her. It felt to Vinyl that she was betrayed by the one other mare that she had ever dared to love in her life.

Roaming the outskirts of town, it had been close to impossible for the unicorn to not open up all the channels of her magic and go on a rampage. It was maybe a good thing that her shades hid her eyes, since she had been crying for hours on end. The pain that soared through her heart, the fires of hatred that were burning for Octavia alone, were both dreadful. Just that one shared kiss had changed the entire mare’s perspective on life. The stains of her tears were clearly visible, though nopony dared to even talk to the near rampaging Vinyl.

Each step that she made was powerful, almost shattering the ground underneath her hoof. So filled with emotions had she never been, not negative at least. Animalistic growls came from her every so often. Her eyes glanced to the skies above and the moon that crept in all silence through the skies. Her mouth began to twitch, wanting to curse the entire thing to Tartarus and even further.

But not a single word left her mouth. Hate and regret were filling her body while she turned her attention to the woods of Everfree. How easily she could have just galloped in them and never be seen again by anypony. Of course was living her life as a wild beast not something she had planned to do. Instead Vinyl had made a promise with herself: she would figure out the truth behind the matter.

A powerful stomp was given on the ground when she had reached the end of Ponyville. All of her feelings had to be vented. The very meadow that stretched out in front her was maybe the best place to do that. Her horn coated itself in the blue aura and was pointed straight up. Mere seconds later was the beam shot in the air.

The massive discharge of energy that went through her and the outside world was mesmerizing. Even though Vinyl did it to feel better about herself, it still seemed like heavy, electronic notes of music went even through the arcane power. The song of sadness was released to the world in the only way that she knew how. Sadness and devastation played heavy on her mind, which in turn made her magic do the same. The sheer intense power would have left ponies guessing who had released the charge.

But it wasn’t over for Vinyl yet, far from it. She still had to confront Octavia about the entire matter. The only way to do that, was to head home and see what she had to say for herself.

~~~~

The door fell back in its lock and Vinyl took off her shades. The stains of her tears were wiped away the best that she could. Only than she scanned the home for Octavia. Who she found rather easily, just sitting by the fireplace with a cup of steaming tea. The time was there. The aura appeared again around her horn and the cup was taken out of the earth pony’s hooves.

Octavia glanced to Vinyl with a questioning gaze, only to see her cup being flung to the wall. The gray mare huffed annoyed and stood up from her sofa. “Vinyl, have you just lost your mind here?! That was a perfectly good cup of tea, that you just went and smashed against the wall. Explain yourself this instant!”

Without a word and just making gestures to Octavia, Vinyl made her point clear. The gray mare was the one who had some explaining to do first.

Again was there was huff that went through her nostrils. “And just why should I explain myself to you? What’s such earth-shattering news for you that you deem that a worthy opposition?”

The purple eyes of the gray mare had a great and stern stare in them when Vinyl began to explain what she had seen that afternoon. It was again without any sounds from her mouth, indeed confirming that she was a mute, or really wasn’t a mare of the word. Though the further she went on with her tale, even calling in her magic to show an arcane version of Noteworthy kissing her.

Horrified wasn’t even going to cover the feeling that went through Octavia when her friend was done with it. She stared at the DJ with an open mouth and a glance in her eyes spoke more than a thousand words. She wanted to hug Vinyl, saying that it wasn’t her and comfort the mare of her life. Just when the gray mare came closer, Vinyl pushed her away with her magic.

“W-What? V-Vinyl? I-It wasn’t me who did that! I was at home all day, practicing for the event in a week’s time! I didn’t have time to leave the house. Somepony else must, you must have been blinded by the sun, thought it was me!” Octavia tried it with all her might to come up with some form of an excuse about the matter. No matter what she said seemed to calm the DJ down though. Heartbreaking it was for them both.

One lived in a lie, while the other refused to hear the truth. But if that was how their future had decided to play out, so it be. Octavia let out a deep sigh and gave a nod to herself. “Okay, if that’s how you decide to play it, you ignorant foal, than it is going to be better if we stay out of each other’s way for a while. Write me a letter when you’re ready to listen to my side of the story for a change and don’t jump too quickly to conclusions.”

Vinyl nodded firm and was about to do the same. The two mares would leave their house eventually, nearing the dead of night to visit relatives that lived elsewhere in the land. A plan that could have gone both ways, for the pair of them.

It was perhaps an hour later that the pair of them stood by the front door, glancing each other deep in the eyes with a never before seen hatred. Vinyl and Octavia were about to call it quits together. Yet the both of them still had this little shimmer, this tiny ember of hope left within them that maybe one day, their differences could be set aside. A hopeful thought, for a terrible timing.

~~~~

The scent of the red flow had awoken Chara in the dead of night. The sudden increase of the stuff had caused her to leave the bed. With a haste unseen had she galloped out of the pension and followed the trail. Her nose sniffed and inhaled, like a warm apple pie that stood atop the sill somewhere. The sweet scent of deliciousness made her hungry for more, and she was ready.

With a galloped in her hooves had Chara reached the outskirts of town, following the scent. Only to see the two musicians leave in opposing directions. It meant that the disguised changeling had missed the actual event, but maybe she wasn’t too late for the aftermath. She had been with Vinyl before, meaning that it was now Octavia’s time to be taken by her.

The lustful taste of the red flow went through her entire body, letting it fire on all cylinders with unseen force. It felt again just as marvelous as before. If ponies would pay for a quality dinner at a five-star-restaurant, this was her equivalent. Chara licked her tongue at the taste she filtered out of the air. The feelings that tingled her body, wanting to change back to her true and primal form.

Not yet though, not yet. First had the final nail in their coffin to be given. A smirk appeared when she noticed how Octavia came in her direction. With the saddlebags strapped around her was she ready to just leave. It rose questions to which she knew the answer already. So like a good spy, Chara took a few steps back and then assumed a walking position.

She turned straight into the street Octavia was in and the two almost crashed into one another. They passed the other without a word or a sound, Chara shifted her gaze to the mare and just spoke the name.

Octavia didn’t react.

Chara blinked, making her reaction even more believable and then turned around. Her hooves were kicked into gear and she then wanted to reach Octavia. With a quick spring had she reached the visually depressed mare. The other pony had a gander to her side. “Oh, hey Rusty,” she said in a defeated tone.

It immediately changed the entire attitude that Chara had against the mare. This was serious, this was for real, this was perfect. Her face was turned to one of concern and curiosity. “Octavia, what’s wrong with you? You don’t seem like your normal self on this fine night.”

The gray mare huffed and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t in the mood to answer the question, but Chara at least required some form of explanation. “Look, Rusty, it’s complicated and let’s leave it at that. Vinyl and I both need some time alone and we’ll see where it goes from there. But please Rusty, leave me alone with my thoughts for the moment, that’s all I require, just to be alone.”

Chara understood what she wanted and didn’t even feel the need to ask through. A warm smile came to her face with a nod. “If you ever need a place to vent yourself, you know where to find me.”

That managed to crack a smile across the lips on the gray mare. She nodded back and then shook her head. “The offer is much appreciated, but I do think that speaking this situation to family is a bit better than to, excuse my terminology here, near complete strangers.”

“Of course, of course!” Chara returned. She would rise up and spread her legs to hold the cello mare in a firm hug. Who accepted it without any form of hesitation. Just the fact that Octavia could hold somepony that could have lighten the load for her was marvelous to feel.

She let out a deep sigh and shut her eyes for the moment.

“If you ever need help, you know where to find me,” the disguised changeling added. But while they were hugging one another just that firm, Chara did the near impossible. While they held their hug tight, she had begun to filter the air around Octavia for the red flow that sustained her. Even though the gray mare never wanted to admit the facts as they were, she was angry at Vinyl for not believing her. The disparity of feeling betrayed was nothing in comparison to what Vinyl felt of course, but the situation of this mare was just so tasty!

Not soon after that was their hug broken. Chara had to place some effort in the fact to not show any sign of high that she was experiencing. The two of them said their farewells and hoped to see the other again in a better situation. The mood was joyful yet sad, just as Chara had predicted it would have been. Just the way, she preferred it.

~~~~

That very same Chara wandered through the outskirts of town, still riding the high that she received from the red flow that hung around Octavia. The classy mare held so much anger in her, it was near impossible to tell that she was in fact that sweet and loving mare Chara come to know her as.

A massive smirk had come to her face of course, she had driven the two apart from one another, the exact thing that she wanted to do more than anything else. A chuckle would fill the dark streets while she left the town. Chara had to find a place where she could ride out this high, a place where she could stay for the moment and think about the next, crucial step in her insane plan.

Wandering just outside of town, near the border of the feared Everfree Forest, Chara walked down one of the many creeks when she saw it just across. The entrance of a cavern just laid there, hidden a bit by the bush and safe from the water. Her eyebrows rose as she hadn’t expected to find such a thing there. It was worth a shot for checking out though, which she did with pleasure.

The creek wasn’t too deep and the changeling crossed it without hesitation. It was strange though, to feel the water running past her legs like it did. She didn’t gave it too much attention furthermore and instead went straight into the cavern.
It felt cozy, warm and empty. Why? Tartarus if she knew. Chara knew that she could make it her base of operations as there was a curve that led deeper and off to the right, nopony could have found her in that place. Everything was slowly falling in the right places for her, everything was working out the way she intended it to be.

The red flames had begun to consume the mare that was Rusty Bucket. It took a few precious seconds before the horrifying, panting, saliva dripping, female changeling stood there again. The fangs were clearly visible and the horn still brightly lit as a candle. The cavern was vast, probably used by changelings in the past to travel in and out of Ponyville. Chara could have stumbled on an abandoned hive for all she knew. Not that it mattered much, she was closer to achieving her goal.

It would have been in that very cavern that she came up with the idea to use one of the elements in her advantage. One element whom had to accept her as a friend and from there, time would be the judge. The answer all laid in one pink pony.

~~~~

With the sun to the back, a strange pony wandered into town wearing no particular clothing whatsoever. Every step made was powerful, strong and confident. The glance in the eyes was kind, peaceful and above all, curious. What had wandered into town was an orange pegasus. A broken white colored mane shone, a stallion to boot. It was strange to see a being like that wandering into town. He didn’t seem to truly belong there, far too handsome.

Ponies all across Ponyville began to talk about it of course and it wasn’t too long before all hell would break loose. The arrival of the new pony had come to the ears of one particular pony who rushed away from whatever she was doing. Galloping and hopping through the streets, the mare looked for this new and strange pony. It wouldn’t have been too much later that the pony was found on the town’s square.

The market was going on full force and the stallion was just looking around for something to buy. The pink mare giggled a bit and she eventually stood before the stallion, who blinked for a moment, hoping that the mare would have left just as quick as she had arrived. “Uhm, can I help you?” the stallion asked to the pony.

The pink mare giggled again. She then began to shake the stallion’s hooves.

“O-Okay, what’s all this form?” he asked her in all confusion.

“You’re new to town, don’t know how long you plan to stay, but we should throw you a party! Tell me, do you plan to stay long? By the way, my name’s Pinkie Pie, hai!”

The stallion had to swallow the words that were stuck in his mind, this mare was weird yet the name rung so many bells. It couldn’t have been this easy, right? The stallion took a step back and nodded once. “Right, okay, how about we slow down here for a moment and start on good grounds with each other,” the stallion said.

Pinkie Pie nodded, waggling her tail like a curious dog, for some reason.

“Pinkie Pie, was it, right? I, do admit that it’s something to already throw a party for me, but I do plan to move to Ponyville. It’s so rustic and scenic,” he said in a soothing, charming voice. Not much later had the stallion let out a gentle laughter. “I do apologize, where are my manners?”

“Not in this tree!” Pinkie replied, looking through the branches of a nearby tree.

“What?!” The stallion didn’t even knew how she did it. His attention shifted to another pony that stood next to him.

“Don’t question her,” another stallion with a brown coat and a bowtie replied. He checked his pocket-watch and his eyes went big in surprise. “I’m terribly sorry, good sir, but I’m running late! Geronimo!”

“...This town gets crazier by the minute...” the stallion mumbled to himself. He shook his head and had a gander at the departing stallion. Pinkie Pie had come back in the meantime, wanting to hear what the stallion had to say before her little thing.

“You were saying?”

The throat of the stallion was cleared for a moment and he gave a nod. How could he have ever rescued himself from this situation? A deep inhale was taken and the eyes were shut for a moment. “Right, before that little interruption, what I wanted to say, was that my name is Chara, I’m pleased to meet you, Pinkie Pie.”

That alone was about the biggest lie that the disguised changeling must have ever told. The tolerance level around Pinkie Pie always had been a bit low for some. But for a changeling that lived on the negative emotions, living around Pinkie Pie was the worst that could happen.

Pinkie shook the hoof of Chara again and again, more rapidly than the time before. “Pleased to meet you, Chara! Weird name, but you look like a colorful character! The party will be thrown within an hour for you! You plan to stay in Ponyville? Leave it to Pinkie Pie to give the definitive answer to it. After this party, you never want to leave!”

In what kind of horror tale had Chara ended up this time? This mare, this hyperactive hunk of untamed energy, was just terrifying to be around with! And yet, she was one of the bearers of the Elements. Whatever Chara did, she had to keep Pinkie Pie as a friend of hers. She would be the only clue to the others. Tough times were ahead of the changeling indeed.

Chapter 06

If there was one thing which had to be admitted to Pinkie, was it that she kept her word. It was indeed about an hour later that the party for Chara was in full force. The town’s square had been turned –again– in the grounds of a massive party that was in Pinkie’s very own style. Chara was bewildered by the fact of everything that was there, for her. For her disguise in reality. How could Pinkie have done everything in one single hour? It must have been a hell to pull it all together.

To makes things even worse for her, Chara was surrounded by ponies that were happy, proud of the party and happy to meet him. It was almost unbearable and burning the changeling up from the inside. It was the exact opposite of what she was and that little thing was just about the worst in the world. She had to suck it up though. The disguised changeling would bite through it and see where she ended up. But she had made the first contact with one of the six bearers of the Elements, hopefully she would be introduced to the other five. It was a faint little hope, though Ponyville had this strange sense of irony hanging around itself. Perhaps, just perhaps, fate would continue to smile the changeling in the face just a bit longer. Before everything crashes down.

With a cup of cider in his hoof wandered the stallion around the square. He got to know the ponies that were attending the party. The smile and the kind eyes were only the facade of the terror that he had actually planned for each and every one of them. The fears that they had were all visible in the eyes. All of them were terrified for the fact that their little town would be demolished at the first given chance. A fate that it had seen before.

Pinkie Pie hopped from one end to the other, hoping to find Chara among the crowd. Though every pony she asked the question to, had the same answer. None of them really knew where the stallion was. But some of them made a most interesting remark. Some of them made a remark on the fact that there was another pony who had entered town, while they were in the Crystal Empire.

“No way Minuette! There’s another pony who entered town?! Do you know where she is?” Pinkie asked with excitement in her tone. If she could pull it off that the party would have become a two-pony-party, for two ponies who were both new to the town, it would have made her day indeed.

Unfortunately didn’t Minuette knew anything about the whereabouts of the new pony. “Last thing I heard was that she became friends with Vinyl and Octavia, but the relationship between those two has become, wonky,” replied the blue coated mare with a defeated tone. “To put it lightly.”

Pinkie’s ears drooped at that. A deep sigh was let out through her nostrils. “That bad?”

Minuette just nodded as a reply. She hinted at a further story to be told another day.

“We’ll talk about that later, I first have to find the main reason for this party,” said Pinkie in a tone that was filled with compassion, care and genuine interest. The other mare nodded calm, smiled and then the pink haze was off again. Off to the distance, it couldn’t have created anything else but a smile across her lips.

Pinkie continued to hop around the square, keeping an eye out for that orange and white dot wandering about. She did spot him though and eventually stood next to him. Another mug of cider had gone down the hatch again. “Heya!”

The changed Chara shocked up and turned around. The stallion hadn’t expected that Pinkie would have found him that quick again in the crowd. A swallow was made, swallowing the words of curse that he originally had wanted to say. “P-Pinkie, what are you doing here? Better question, why are you here? O-Outside of hosting this entire party.”

The pink mare let out a little giggle and shook her head a bit. “Don’t be so silly! I can doing about ten things at the same time! Come on, come and meet my other friends!”

Was this truly happening? Was this pink mare really wanting to introduce him, a disguised changeling out to demolish them all, to the remaining bearers of the Elements? Either that mare was really good at causing troubles and preventing them, or she was just as ignorant about the world as she appeared to be. It was about the most beautiful thing in the entire world. Chara nodded to the word and Pinkie began to guide him.

~~~~

Trotting over the square, on the other side where the games were being played, a group of five all stood at the strong-arm. An orange coated, blonde maned mare held the hammer ready and gave a powerful swing. Fractions later did the bell ding, silence fell with the exception of the mare chuckling. Pinkie hopped over to them and hugged the mare with the hammer. Despite her skinny build, Pinkie did seem surprisingly strong, maybe even stronger than the other mare.

Chara had to play the game more carefully, play the cards of ignorance before stepping up. Pinkie had a word with each of her friends and then nodded, they all turned around to see the stallion, who gulped because of the nerves. It was his moment to shine. He took a step forward and had to get his act together, he was the one who could control just about everything from them, which was exactly the thing that he wanted to do.

“H-Hello!” Chara said with a stuttering but calm voice. “The name’s Chara, pleased to meet the five of you.”

All of the other mares looked at him. Each of them had that strange glare in their eyes. Something about that stallion was sitting right with them. Something about him was comforting. He eyed compassionate, tough, educated, passionate and daring. Each of those treats spoke to one particular pony in the lineup of mares, who were all as diverse as they ever could have been.

The feelings were at their strongest there. There was almost no friction to be measured between the six of them, not more than the quarrels ponies usually had between each other. Which in return meant that the situation could have become a whole lot more complicated. Chara let out a gentle sigh, awaiting the judgement of the ponies that gazed at him.

“Uhm, the, name’s, Fluttershy,” the yellow coated pegasus replied.

“Howdy partner, name’s Applejack!” the orange mare with the hammer said, tipping her hat.

“Pleased to meet you, Chara, Twilight Sparkle,” answered the purple coated alicorn.

There was a true alicorn in their midst! The sheer joy that Chara would have received if she indeed managed to break the princess of friendship’s will. Many had tried before and none of them had ever succeeded, but she knew exactly where to apply pressure. It was also strange to note that her actual name was used and none drew it in doubt. There wasn’t any better name the changeling could have come up with. Not on such a short notice, at least.

“Well hello there darling! Rarity’s the name, ” the ivory unicorn said with a smile.

“And last but not least, Rainbow Dash!” the cyan pegasus commented.

Chara had some difficulty to keep her own wings against her body. They felt like they could pop at any given moment. Just seeing the six of them together, it was marvelous to see and would have felt so much better to be broken apart.

“And there’s of course Pinkie Pie, who threw this entire thing together,” said Twilight with a chuckle. “But it has come to our attention, or mine, actually, that you are thinking of moving to Ponyville. May I ask, where are you from?”

“Well,” started Chara, trying to puzzle the pieces together, “you can say I’ve always been a bit of a roamer.” His tough, calm and cool voice was something that they never had heard in that combination. Each of the mares found something that they liked in the stallion. It was strange to say, but they all began to get an eye for him. “I’m looking for a place to finally settle down and Ponyville just seemed like the best option for that. It’s rustic, lovely ponies and not too much trouble.”

“Somepony didn’t inform him well enough,” whispered Rainbow to Applejack, who both let out a chuckle in response.

Though no attention was given to the mares and their chuckles though. Instead had Twilight continued speaking to him. “Well, I’m sure that you can find your place here. Ponyville is the host to many different ponies from all over Equestria, living in harmony and peace together. But please, enjoy the party for the time being, it’s yours after all, thanks to Pinkie.”

The stallion let out a chuckle and nodded to the princess. “There are no words known to me that will make me argue those of yours. Though if you will excuse me for the moment, I’ve some business to do with two of your friends.”

Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight all looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but let it slide in the end. They would be on their way, leaving only Applejack and Rainbow near him. Pinkie had hopped off to someplace else. He had the two of them all of his own, and would make the most out of it with over time. He approached the two of them while it was Rainbow who took, or tried to, take a swing at the strong-arm. “So, between the two of you, you’re quite competitive, aren’t you?” Chara asked the both of them. The answer was obvious though.

“Ah wonder what gave it ‘way though,” chuckled Applejack, watching Rainbow make the swing and ringing the bell. “Darn it.” Their attention shifted back to the stallion, awaiting whatever he would have said next. Applejack was ready for everything while Rainbow just smirked on the fact that she had at least come to the farmer’s level of strength.

The changeling conjured up a little plan to get some friction in between their friendship and thought about the near perfect thing. A small competition between the three of them. Who knew where that would have ended up to. “Say, you both look rather agile to me. What would you say about a little race, the two of you and me, galloping around the outskirts of Ponyville. I’ve seen that it is pretty much one long road if you stick to the water.”

Both of the mares had to think about the matter of a second. Yet the temptation was too great to say no to. Any opportunity to kick the other in the belly with the statement of being better at something would have been taken. They both nodded to the proposal, they both liked it.

“Ah hope ya like getting yar flanks handed to ya,” the farmer added in a well-meant chuckle.

“You’re playing with lightning here, Chara,” returned Rainbow with a nasty smirk.

“We’ll see about that when the time is there. How does high noon strike the both of you? That’s when we start.” The time didn’t matter at all for Chara, but it felt like a much more appropriate time to do than any other.

Applejack tipped her hat and agreed with it in silence. She would be there. Rainbow just nodded and took another swing at the strongman, this time just with her hoof, ringing the bell. “Darn it Rainbow!”

“That will be two ciders, please,” she said with a massive smirk. “As for you, mister Chara, prepare to be beaten by Clouddale’s finest.”

Applejack shook her head and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t a fan of what Rainbow always did, but had to suck it up, and indeed pay for the cider. “Alright then partner, ya get yar cider. Also, high noon’s more than fine for me.”

And so was it set in stone that the following day, the three would have the race of a lifetime. A race that proved to be having much more at stake than originally thought.

~~~~

When the evening had gone on until the wee little hours, Chara found herself back in her little cavern. She laid down on the moss that had taken over most of it. All of the alcohol that had been consumed by her body had made her tipsy, but she was never truly drunk. But the first step of the plan had been achieved. The banned changeling had come to meet all six of the element bearers and got a chance to talk to them. All of them seemed interested in her pegasus stallion form.

Of course she knew that, she had perfected the disguise for a number of reasons. Every last one of them would be dying to meet him again. At least that was the plan that she had made up for herself. It almost felt like the changeling had already won, that that one little banished changeling had done the near impossible and shattered the strongest friendship that there was in all of Equestria! What a dream it was, what a dream it was indeed. The changeling let out a deep sigh, exhaling the fumes of the spend red flow and shut her eyes. The following day would have been much more troublesome and plans had to be forged. The mind of an infiltration unit never stood still and during a good sleep were the most devious plans forged.

It still didn’t took away one single fact though. One fact that had been haunting her for a long time. The eyes of the princess just staring at her. It almost seemed like that alicorn had seen straight through the disguise. In the end, it would have meant that she had to play it much more careful around her than of the others. Not a thing that mattered much though, caution had always been a high game for her.

Chara nodded to herself and rolled on her back, yawning just once. After that she would have travelled off to distant lands where only her dreams continued to live and the plans of tomorrow forged in the hottest fires imaginable.

~~~~

An hour until high noon hit them and both Applejack and Chara already gathered themselves at the start. One that was orchestrated by Pinkie Pie. Not only was she an amazing party planner, but also held a good eye out on the many events that were going on. It was curious to see the three of them working on like that though. But of course, as per usual, was it Rainbow Dash who was late again.

“I’m here!” she shouted from the skies while she came dashing in. The cyan pegasus chuckled to herself and then landed right in front of them. “Didn’t miss anything important did I?”

“How ‘bout the rules, ya lazy mule?” Applejack returned in an annoyed tone. Obviously had the cider from the party had an effect on the both of them. One good, the other not so good. Rainbow certainly was hung over and Applejack was just annoyed.

“The rules?” Rainbow returned, not really sure what to do next with her words. She glanced over to Pinkie Pie with a questioning gaze.

“No wings, no shortcuts, just pure muscle power from the legs. First one who has completed an entire lap around the outer rim of town, wins!”

“Wins, what?”

“I dunno, nopony ever told me anything about prizes.” Pinkie shrugged and threw a cupcake in the air, which she caught with her mouth with the greatest of ease.

“Right,” the cyan pegasus mumbled, “we’re gonna do it for the honor and glory than?”

“Fine by me, partner,” returned Applejack who already stood at the start.

High noon was approaching faster and they were all eager to run. Both Chara and Rainbow joined the farmer while Pinkie kept a close eye on the shadows. Only when those had almost disappeared would the starting signal have been given.

“Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it... Wait for it a tini tiny bit longer,” she said. Her eyes were measuring the shorter getting shadows with great care. Seconds went by, which turned into a near minute of agonizing wait. “Go!”

And off they were.

Applejack took the lead easily while Chara took second place. Rainbow came in third and the changeling saw her chance clear as day. It was one lap around town which they would finish quick. The changeling had come up with a couple of terrible ideas that could be used to her own advantage and create some friction all between the friendship between Rainbow and Applejack. She didn’t race for glory, she participate for chaos! And she would show that little friend of hers time and time again.

~~~~

Applejack was the first one that had made it over the finish line and was followed by Chara not too long after that. But a very long after that had Rainbow come in. She was destroyed, wet and covered in mud. Something must have happened to her and it wasn’t good.

The farmer had one look over the cyan pegasus and was actually impressed by the damage that she had done to herself. But her own, homebrewed cider could never have been the cause of that. She rose an eyebrow to the mare who came at her like a rampaging bull. Something was definitely wrong.

“You dirty, little cheater!” Rainbow growled to Applejack, pressing her forehead firm against that of the other mare, who didn’t understood a thing of what was going on.

“’Cuse me, partner, why are ya callin’ me a cheater?”

“It was because of you that I fell in the creek, had to haul both my flanks through the mud and almost got a hornet nest thrown at me! You’re low AJ, you know that? You’re low!”

The orange mare almost turned white as a corpse when she heard that but Rainbow didn’t notice. No words even dared to leave the farmer. Something had been wrong, though she also knew that Rainbow was still drunk.

Without a further word had the pegasus just left her face again. She had taken off for the skies again and soared away into the clouds. Chara watched her for a moment, chuckling on the inside. When the attention shifted over to Applejack, a hoof placed on her shoulder. The farmer had one look to her side, glad that at least one pony could have comforted her. Especially since she was too confused to even say one single word.

Chapter 07

With the hoof of Chara still placed gentle on her back, Applejack had taken her hat off. The earth pony took a gander through the skies above. Something about the leaving Rainbow was unusual, something about her was even stranger than usual. A deep sigh would have left her and shook her head. It was strange though. Strange to see a friend of hers leaving with such a temper tantrum. It must have been the cider from the night before, there was no other way to explain the matter.

Applejack quietly removed the hoof of the stallion from her back. The two had a long look at each other and they both thought about words to speak. A matter that was done more easily in the mind. One of them had to break the ice of the conversation and start with the facts as they were. Applejack turned her head away from him and followed her nose a little bit. The hooves made a few turns left and right, letting her wander without a true aim for a couple minutes.

Chara found it the best chance to speak in that moment. The earth pony was confused, terrified maybe. Calm and gentle words that could have come to her aid, must have been more than welcome. A natural process of thought, one which the disguised changeling wanted to exploit. “It bothers you, doesn’t it?” Chara asked after Applejack had come to her again.

The farmer nodded to him, letting out another sigh while she set her hat back on her head. It just didn’t make sense for Rainbow to do such a thing. “Bother ain’t even covering the basics, Chara. Ah haven’t her like that in a long, long time. Last time she acted like this, it was just after the Running of the Leaves, she threw a temper tantrum which was prevented by Twilight in the nick of time.”

Nods were made by the stallion, both agreeing and understanding what the mare had said to him. Whether it was the truth was another matter to be discovered through. Chara wasn’t in the mood for a history lesson but had to suck it up if she wanted to remain close to the farmer. “But what makes you think that she loses her temper like that?”

He had sat down through his hunches and wanted to hear every last word that Applejack could say. He was truly caring about her wellbeing, a pegasus that wasn’t Fluttershy for a change, a dream she never had dared to think come true. The orange mare smiled faintly before she laid down in the grass. Perhaps he did require a bit more of an explanation on the matter.

She would have given that to him, to some degree. “Well, ya know, Chara, it’s a difficult matter to discuss, but Rainbow’s never been that good of a loser. She’s always blamin’ it to somepony else, she wants to be the best of the best even when she knows she can’t be. Yesterday, she was drunk of mah family’s cider, nearly half the town was! Problem with Rainbow happens to be, she can’t handle too much of the stuff. And that was what made h’r downfall today. That’s why she wasn’t able to do anything, why she wasn’t able to win, and why she ended up in the creek. Should’ve woken her up though, if anythin’ else.”

The changeling listened to the story with open ears. She was gathering all the information that was required to take the pegasus back to earth even harder. All the juicy news about Rainbow was tasty indeed. But in the end he just nodded to Applejack. “Sounds to me like she’s indeed a sore loser. Truth be told, I don’t know how she ended up in that creek though, but I remember that branch hanging dangerously low while passing it,” the changeling answered.

“And with her bein’ a pegasi, no offence, she wanted to fly. We forgot to strap in her wings and Ah guess that she just flew straight against it and, well, yah can guess the rest, Ah presume.”

A gentle chuckle came from the stallion, he could indeed predict what happened. It wasn’t the truth though, far from it. It was never Rainbow Dash herself who had crashed against the tree branch alone. Instead had it been Chara who played a few tricks. Her mastery of illusion magic and own strength had created the near perfect trap.

While Rainbow was galloping to the branch, Chara took it in her mouth and cast a spell. Hidden in the bushes had the hat of Applejack appeared. It was brightly visible for Rainbow. Fractions before Rainbow would have passed the branch had the stallion let go and turned again to a galloping pace. The impact was caught in the ears, followed by the splash of water. That was it, that was what caused the pegasus to lose her temper and the changeling adored it.

“No offense taken, Applejack, it’s difficult to hide where you’re from as it does shine through your personality. I reckon that she will be the old one in a few hours,” the stallion replied kindly, giving her a reassuring smile to boot.

“Ah hope that yar right on that one, partner,” replied Applejack, rising back on her legs. “But the race’s over and Ah won the honor fair and square. Ah won’t be holding ya any longer, it might be best if we separate our ways here and meet again someday.”

Chara rose back to his hooves and opened up for a hug. “If that’s what you think is best, I’m not the one to complain about it.”

The two fell in each other’s hold and the warmth between them was shared. Applejack was oddly comfortable in his hold. It made her feel like she wasn’t the one who had to be tough for a change. For one of those precious few times could she have shone her true personality through.

It was also one of the times where Chara again began to filter out the red flow from the air. Applejack had produced it, doubting whether or not Rainbow should remain a friend of hers. Not that it mattered too much really, the whole fact that she was doubting had given the changeling more than enough energy to survive just that bit longer.

While they held each other firm in the hug, a chuckle came from the mare. Chara ceased the filtration and had a look down, wondering what on earth was meant with the sound. In the worst case had she been discovered. “May I ask, what’s so funny?” the stallion asked her.

Applejack shook her head slight against his chest, letting out an adorable little sigh. “It’s strange, ya know. The temper tantrum, the accident, the race, everything, it’s all part of the Rainbow Dash we came to know and love. Who knows, maybe Ah indeed need to give her a couple of hours to calm down. She can’t stay up there forever, nor can she be mad forever.”

Those two thoughts closed the red flow from Applejack. Chara wanted to filter more out of the air, but there wasn’t anything left. It angered the changeling and caused it to chirps and rasp without sound. The game had to be played even smarter than before. Chara let out an exhale before he nodded to the farmer. She was still troubled and he was a new pony in town with a fresh look at everypony. It could have been the deciding factor. He was meeting everypony for the first time, the advantage had to be made with that.

The time had come to play the game even more daring than it had been done before. Chara held Applejack a bit closer to him, letting her face touch the fur of his chest. “It’s how you all came to know her as, but here’s another little question for you: is it worth it? Is it worth to go through time and time again for the recklessness of that mare? She’s certainly having a problem with her cider and can’t stand losing. I’m sorry to say, Applejack, but that is not what friends do with each other. I do doubt that you have very little happy memories that particular mare.”

Now were the gears turning in her head. The seed of doubt had been planted and the farmer didn’t knew how to continue on from there. Everything could have come next and it terrified her. But it also brought her back numerous memories. Memories that went all the way up and down from everything to everypony. All the memories that she had from Rainbow were analyzed. Yet she began to notice that the bad ones began to outweigh the good ones. She held more bad memories from Rainbow then she held good ones, not a thing she had anticipated.

It didn’t mean to say that they weren’t there of course. Chara’s mind game was that of deception and turns. Turns and twists that Applejack didn’t notice and fell straight for, with her eyes wide open. It was a horrible tactic, but one that at the same end of things, worked just as well.

“Ah hate to admit it partner, but yah might be right on it,” she returned. She began to nuzzle the chest of the stallion ever so slight. Showing the affection that he had showed her, letting a much more compassionate Applejack shine through for a moment. An Applejack that wasn’t all just rough and tough cowgirl. “But it makes me wonder, how do yah know all of this?”

A chuckle came from the stallion, who then loosened his hold around her a little bit. “It’s quite simple, actually, it’s a pegasus thing. Pegasi feel those sort of things between each other, how terrible it may sound.”

“It does make sense, yeah.”

Soon after that had the hug been broken between the two of them and Applejack was ready to leave the place. She waved to Chara with a hoof and wanted to leave, but he had one last remark to make about the matter. “Applejack, if you want to, you could come to my place and calm down a bit. You still seem rather shaken by the matter.”

“’Preciate the concern partner, but Ah’ll be fine! Yah just worry about yar own things and everything’s gonna be just right,” she replied with a forged smile across her muzzle. Not the smile that she had wanted to give, but perhaps the one that made him leave for the moment. She wasn’t in the mood to continue talking to the stallion and nopony could have blamed her.

“Suit yourself! But if you need me, I’ll probably be wandering around town for a while longer. Shouldn’t be too hard to miss. Have a good afternoon!” The wings of the stallion were spread and given powerful flaps. One jump later and he was airborne, soaring through the skies with speed and aggression, though never out to hurt somepony. He went for the skies, probably to find his own peace and quiet. Chara had left Applejack on the ground with her own troubles and thoughts of concern. Pretty much the way the changeling intended it to be.

The farmer would have returned to Sweet Apple Acres to do her daily chores and routine of life. Applejack was still wondering though, she was wondering about everything that had happened during their race, the outburst and the conversation that followed. It all seemed to be so, convenient, at one end. On the other, it might have been just a cruel constriction of fate that just happened to be that way.

Suffice to say, her rhythm for the day was thrown out the window. All while a constant storm of thought went through her mind. The farmer didn’t knew what to think of it, nor what to do about it. But there was also something strange about that very same stallion. Something of which she couldn’t place her hoof on, but just felt it.

Time would have been the judge of the matter and she was happy with it. Time would have decided who was right and who owed who an apology. Confusion was one thing that she couldn’t use for herself and not even her family could have helped with the matter. None of them would have even understood the matter. In the end, Applejack just laid down against a tree and pulled her hat over her eyes. Some shut-eye might have done her good, she hoped.

~~~~

Chara soared through the skies, looking for anything that resembled the likes of Rainbow Dash. If there was one fabricator of red flow still active, it was that very mare. She wanted to consume everything that was around her. The taste of the negativity was strong in one particular direction and Chara decided to follow it. Where it ended up, she didn’t knew.

Minutes went by while she flew through the thick clouds, feeling the flow becoming only stronger as she went on. In the end, she had ended up by a cloud palace at the edge of town. One that was adorned with rainbows and ponds of rain water. No doubt that this was either the home of Rainbow herself, or her parents. It was worth a shot to knock at the door and see what came next. Anything could have happened, Chara was prepared for just that, anything and everything.

A knock was given on the cloud door, which rang through the entire house. “Coming!” the voice of Rainbow echoed from the bathroom. Chara had one gander up the structure to see steam leaving any part of the building, but couldn’t see it at the front of it. The attention was shifted down to the door, whose lock was being turned.

In the opening she then appeared, wearing a white towel around her body and her mane covered in one as well. Rainbow was a different mare but still filled with anger. Her expression changed the second that she saw Chara standing before her door. A huff left through the nostrils before the words followed through the mouth. “And what are you doing here? Come to rub it in that I came in last?”

Chara was visually shocked to hear those words coming out of Rainbow, but the air filtration was just marvelous. The sheer amounts of anger that Rainbow had for the earth pony was beautiful! “N-No! Why would I ever do such a thing, to such a lovely mare as yourself? Applejack won, you came in last, but given what happened, I’m more concerned about your wellbeing than some stupid race for glory. Mind if I, come in for a moment?”

Rainbow’s reaction was surprising. She left the doorway and gestured him to come in. He was welcome in her home, a place whom few ponies had ever seen actually. He went through the doorway and shut it behind him, Rainbow pointed to the living room and he took place on the sofa there. The interior of the place was pretty much what everypony would have expected, a lot of furniture made from the clouds while posters and memorabilia from the Wonderbolts were scattered around. It was both curious and fun to behold. It was all valuable information for Chara.

The cyan mare eventually returned with two glasses of soda. She set them atop the table and dove straight in her comfy arm chair. “So, you’re concerned about me, aren’t you?” she said with suspicion in her tone.

“Isn’t that normal for a pony to be concerned after such a display?”

“You mean what happened after the race? I was just confronting the dirty cheater for what she was, Chara. AJ had it coming a long time for her but that she would pull off a stunt like that was just low. She sat there in the bushes, waiting for me to come by and she smacked that branch right in my face! I’m just glad it doesn’t create a scar!”

“It was a mighty fine sized branch indeed, yeah,” the disguised changeling commented, remembering the race as it had gone in Rainbow’s eyes. The pegasus should have known in what for a hole she had ended up. It was glorious to see how she was dealing with the situation. He took a sip from his drink and smiled to her. “But it does look like you’re getting over it.”

“Don’t even start. At points like these, I do even wonder why I’m even considering everything with the way it goes. Why do we keep on being friends? Why do we keep on forgiving one another like we do?” A deep huff came from the pegasus while she set her glass back down. Not a single path in her mind was leading down to the right track. A deep exhale was released soon afterward. “Chara, could you please leave me be? I’m not in the mood to meet anypony else today and your company isn’t really good either. Maybe tomorrow, but not today.”

Chara gave a nod to the other pegasus. He understood the direction where she came from. “Not a problem, Rainbow. But may I suggest that you take another shower and then go to bed? It does look like that you need it.”

“That obvious?”

It was followed by a nod.

Rainbow shrugged for the moment and she then let Chara out of her house again. She was having more than enough of everypony for the moment. The stallion left her home, gave her one last salute from the air and then just disappeared within the clouds. Rainbow shook her head, thinking back to the moment of the betrayal. She shut her door again, only to return to her chair and laid down in it. Nothing made sense and she was the only pony that could be blamed.

~~~~

Wandering through the dark, musky cavern, chirping like a cricket and buzzing like a wasp, Chara’s mood was unlike ever before. The first shatters between the friendships of the Element bearers had been made. Applejack was getting over it though, but Rainbow Dash had a couple of doubts which could be exploited.

But alas, everything had to be done with time and care though. There were still three other ponies whom she should have come to know. Fortunately for the changeling, she did have one pony on her side who could have told her all about the others. It was time pay Pinkie Pie another visit, and for Rusty Bucket to leave Ponyville for what it was.

A deep, sinister laugh was given by the changeling. A laugh that echoed through the entire cavern system and even up to the surface of the creek. Any animals that were close enough could hear the insanity and diabolical troubles. It was perfect and insane, and above all, it was in harmony.

Chapter 08

The next day came and most of the fires between friends had calmed down just a little bit. Yet Chara was making her way in her stallion’s disguise to Sugercube Corner. It was still just a plain old stupid idea to have used her real name, but it did make for more believable reactions, since she would always react. Another little fact that surprised her was that nopony had seen through her disguise yet. Maybe it was better that way, as it meant that it was a good disguise.

She wanted to meet Pinkie Pie and hear something about two ponies in particular. There were two whom she had met at the part that seemed like easy targets, that were the shy and timid Fluttershy and the fashionable lady Rarity. Those two had no idea what was heading for them. Neither of them knew what kind of storm had been send their way by the changeling.

Chara wandered through the streets without much trouble on her mind. The thoughts were all morphed and she still tried to taste the red flow in the air. It had all but evaporated. Vinyl and Octavia were away from town to live with relatives, both Applejack and Rainbow weren’t seeing the other and lived on the edge of town. All of the concluded in the fact that it was just a calm, almost normal day for Ponyville, for as much ‘normal’ was considered a good thing in town.

The stallion made his way through the streets with light steps to his hooves. The eyes glanced at every pony for just a short period of time. Those same eyes were scanning even though it seemed like they weren’t looking at all in the direction they stared. It gave ponies a false sense of security. They never really spoke with Chara though. In their eyes he must have been busy and wasn’t wanting to be disturbed. Of course did they all knew who he was and even why he was there. It was best for the town to just continue on its daily base if they wanted him to stay.

If that was the trick of winning somepony over, it may have been working. Ponyville was both vivid and lively, always bristling about with life in unexpected corners. Chara didn’t have an eye on that though, he wasn’t even looking for a house to live in of course. No, he was scanning each and every last one of the ponies around there to see what their emotions were. Too bad that they all had the same feeling around them. All of them were just too kind and too helpful for his taste, it was making the stallion’s stomach turn inside out.

Taking a turn followed by another a couple streets later, Sugarcube Corner was rising on the horizon and the shop appeared to be open. Chara got a genuine smile across his lips. Finally was there something going his way that day. Whether the changeling had liked to admit it nor not, but the day had been going off just plain terrible. The cavern in which she had made her hole almost flooded for reasons and a bear had tried to make his home in hers during the night. Two things she wasn’t a big fan of.

The sweetshop came further in his view and the door stood wide open. The chance of just entering the place increased and his trotting speed increased a bit. With a gentle and quiet whistle had he entered the shop soon afterward. His eyes had a gander over the place, seeing all of the sweets that laid around. His licks were licked like a true pony and he wanted to try some of it. It was genuine though. The sweets that were on display, together with the pies, cakes and other sweet delicious baked goods were just breathtaking and the scent that they gave off was just amazing.

If nopony would have kept an eye on him, he could consume the entire store in a matter of minutes. “Pinkie? Are you here, Pinkie?” Chara asked since nopony stood at the counter.

A few seconds later was it indeed the pink mare who came hopping to the counter from the back. She giggled at the sight of him and couldn’t be happier. “Was wondering when I would see you here for the first time. You interested in anything that we have to offer?”

“Oh Pinkie, I would love to buy something, but it’s still a bit too early in the morning for that. I’m afraid that I’ll get an explosion of sugar if I take it now,” the stallion replied in honesty. Of course was it yet another lie, but he didn’t have a single bit in his pocket. The less money he would have spent, the better it was.

The pink mare grumbled to herself, a bit sad. But then she shook her head. “Doesn’t matter! What can I do for you anyway?” The transition from her happy self to a much more depressed version, before coming back to her happy one was curious and breathtaking. Not many ponies could switch their emotions like that and for a fraction of a second had the entire store been filled with red flow. That pink mare was an enigma not even the changeling dared to challenge, yet.

Chara wondered to herself in secret just how damaged that mare actually was, to have such an effect on her. Maybe one day it could be used for her own good. Just one day, maybe. The pegasus shook his head for the moment to return to the conversation. “Well, there’s something that I would like to know, actually. I’ve met Rainbow and Applejack and, let’s be honest, it wasn’t the best encounter that we had between the three of us. So that makes me wonder, if I can meet any of your other friends you introduced me too. They all seemed quite interested in me at the party. Especially the other pegasus and the unicorn, what were their names again?”

“You mean Rarity and Fluttershy!” Pinkie almost squealed to him.

Surprise took the stallion over, raising an eyebrow to matter. He shook his head. But it was the truth though, it were the ponies that he had meant. “Those, are indeed the two that I mean. Could, you tell me a bit more what the relation is between them?”

The question was one that made Pinkie think on the counter. With a hoof rubbing her temple, she thought about the possible relationship between the two mares without making it sound too awkward to listen to. It took her a couple of seconds, but then she was content with her answer. “Well, they met a young age, that’s for certain. They both complement each other perfectly. The one is laid back while the other is stressed, so to speak. When they are together, all the extremes of their personalities are evened out. It almost seems like they, blend in with the rest of the crowd...”

“A thing that nopony around here does, from the looks of it?” Chara asked, curious to hear what Pinkie had to say about that.

“Duh. Of course not, silly! Everypony in Ponyville is special in some way or the other. I don’t like seeing them becoming the gray masses of Canterlot for example. But who am I to judge if they want to have their own little bit of peace and quiet?”

With all the effort and might in his body, the pegasus tried not to huff to it. “Not everypony is a hunk of energy like you,” Chara mumbled without Pinkie hearing it. His attention shifted back to the pink pony with a question spoken aloud though. “But in order to get to those ‘levels’, they must do something together, right? Something that helps them to become both tranquil and peaceful, right? Something, that they both enjoy doing.”

“You betcha! They often go to the spa together to calm down and chat a bit. Not much for the spa myself, but both Aloe and Lotus are great friends of mine. Maybe you should consider a visit to the spa as well, it might do some of your muscles good!” Pinkie giggled at the remark. She would have taken a look through the glass shelves, looking straight at the delicious sweet underneath it. Her lips were made wet and she wanted to have some.

Her attention eventually shifted over to Chara, wondering what the stallion might have planned ahead. “Anything else I can help you with?”

The stallion’s train of thought broke apart and he shook his head. “W-What, sorry? I’m not fo- Oh! No, there’s nothing else that I require. Maybe tomorrow I’ll buy something.”

“You promise?”

“If I don’t forget it.”

“Works for me!” Pinkie cheered and she then darted back to the kitchen, hearing that the next batch of cupcake bases were done. “Gotta dash, see you around Chara!”

Chara made a salute to the mare who then disappeared again. The stallion wanted to leave the store for what it was and exited the same way he entered. A chuckle came to him when he stood outside again. Pinkie was such a strange mare, but she had told him more than he needed to go after the timid pegasus and the lady unicorn. Though again was there a plan that had to be forged.

He peeked back inside the place and saw a fresh batch of cupcakes that stood there in a box, on the counter, with the name of Fluttershy on it. “You gotta be kidding me here, right?”

It was no joke. Fate smiled again on Chara and the plan was kicked in motion. He rushed back inside and saw Pinkie handling the box with ease. “That needs to be delivered right, to Fluttershy?”

“Sharp eyes you got there!”

“Would it be too much of a hassle for you, to let me deliver them to her? As a token of goodwill? Saves you on cost in delivery,” said Chara with a well meant smile. Again was it a lie, for the most part.

Pinkie stroked her chin after hearing the proposition. It was of course a near perfect moment for her and she was liking the idea of him delivering the sweets to Fluttershy. There was something about his eagerness though, something about it just wasn’t really sitting that right in the party mare. Not that it mattered too much though, because she gave the go signal to him. “I don’t really see why you shouldn’t be able to do it. She lives in the cottage near the Everfree Forest, take this road, second left, head on straight to the bridge and then it should come up on your right hoof.”

The directions were surprisingly easy and they were leading the stallion to the direction of Everfree. It was about to get better and better for him. Everything was working out the exact way the changeling had hoped that it would.

Especially since near the border of Everfree grew a string of berries that could make just about anypony sleepy. Berries with that much power could be used as a topping or an extra for the cupcake. The plan was forged, the ideas were set, now all Chara had to do was getting the cupcakes to Fluttershy.

~~~~

A knock came on her front door and the timid pegasus was scared of it at first. It was moments later that she heard the voice of a charming stallion echo through her cottage. A voice that spoke the simple name of Chara. Of course had Fluttershy remembered who it was. She rushed over to the door, hoping to see what she wanted to see.

She opened it with haste but let her face fall between her mane. The mare smiled to him while he presented the cupcakes he had brought for her. What she didn’t knew was that the berry atop of them was in fact one of Everfree’s infamous sleeping berries. Chara had made a slight detour and she welcomed him in her home. “P-Please, come in, Chara. A-Are those the cupcakes I, ordered from Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked out of curiosity.

The stallion nodded and waited for her to go aside. When he finally stood in the living room and the box was set atop the table, he finally dared to take a seat in her house. It was surprisingly refreshing to see something along those lines, with all the walkways and places for critters to hide. Fluttershy was more one with nature than with anything else in Ponyville, a thing that the changeling could appreciate in any being.

“Will you be staying for tea?” the mare asked him.

“If it is no bother to you, I would love to stay.”

A gentle squee came from the kitchen before Fluttershy started making the drinks for them. “It’s absolutely no problem at all, Chara.” Her voice had become more full, much more charming to his ears even, now that they weren’t standing face to face with one another. “I’m supposed to meet Rarity at the spa in a few hours. Not much else planned. How’s the house-hunting going?”

Chara’s eyes became wide. Out of everything that she could have asked, it was that cursed question that she had to ask him. A curse spoken in his mouth left for the world, inaudible to the ears of Fluttershy. A reply had to be made, quick. “I’m, still searching around a bit. Places left and right have captured my attention but none of them are of any particular interest. I do have to admit though, your cottage is lovely. Did somepony build it for you, or did you found it in this condition.”

Now it was Fluttershy’s turn to be quiet. She didn’t remember who had built her house all those years ago. She genuinely didn’t remember anything about it anymore. Anything could have happened before she moved in though. But as with Chara, a reply had to be formed. “I, uhm, found the cottage without the holes and walkways and added them as time went on. Many creatures and critters call this place their home after dark as well. It keeps us both happy and safe from danger.”

“That’s, actually quite amazing, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Not at all,” returned Fluttershy while she left the kitchen with a tray of cups and a teapot. She was ready to spend some time with the stallion and see why he was there. Though when she poured the cups, he offered her a cupcake and she couldn’t refuse. Though when the berry on top of it was spotted, an eyebrow was raised. “I didn’t knew I ordered them with berries...”

Chara shrugged slight. The act had to be held together and she couldn’t nor shouldn’t have figured him out. “It’s probably something special that Pinkie has thrown in for you.”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right. She does that sometimes,” the timid pegasus said with a gentle smile. She took a bite out of the cupcake, including the berry and Chara could have only waited. The juice of the berry would be taken in her blood. It’s effects causing her to be drowsy shortly afterward.

Though just like before, the changeling would monitor everything from the pegasus. Every little muscle detail would be remembered before actually becoming the mare and start the infiltration with the spa.

“Oh, I don’t, I don’t feel so, good,” said Fluttershy a few minutes after the cupcake had been eaten. Her eyelids became heavy, her body felt like sleeping. She became tired and only Chara was close by to help her. “M-Maybe I should, lay down for a moment?”

“You do look rather pale, Fluttershy,” the stallion replied. He stood up from his seat and went over her. He prepared a couple of pillows for her to lay on while the mare had some difficulty even keeping her head straight. She was dead tired, exactly as planned.

The head of the mare fell down on the pillows and the snores followed soon afterward. Fluttershy had fallen victim to the cousin of the Poison Joke. All while Chara was ready to take her spot for the time being.

A massive grin managed to work its way over the muzzle of the stallion. His eyes began to glow and in one eruption of reddish fire, another Fluttershy stood in the cottage. She gave the real Fluttershy a small peck on the forehead. “Sleep well, because you will have some explaining to do after today,” the duplicate chuckled. With a few steps had she then left the cottage and headed for the spa. The memory of the muscles and facial features made it look like she actually walked there.

~~~~

“So that’s why you are so late, Fluttershy,” said Rarity after she removed one of the cucumber slices from her eyes. The timid mare had explained her delay in time and apologized time and time again to the lady of fashion, who forgave her quite quickly. It was just good to be around her friend once more and that they both could relax a little bit.

A few minutes later were the two guided to the bubble bath where they would spend the next couple of minutes. It was there where the disguised changeling would have taken her time to strike on Rarity. She waited to just before they would be done with the bath and thus end their weekly trip to the spa.

“Hey Rarity, I’ve been thinking, the chances that you are a unicorn are slim, given, you know, how your family works and such.” It were words literally taken out of the blue for Fluttershy. Maybe the steam had already gotten to her?

“I’m sorry, but what are you saying here, darling?” Rarity was confused about the entire matter. Why would somepony like Fluttershy have spoken about her family matters like that? Yes, she had spilled tons of secrets about them to her friend, but so was it the other way around as well. It didn’t make sense that Fluttershy would have spilled them. “Please dear, do explain yourself.”

“Well, I know that your father isn’t one,” the disguised changeling mumbled. How Chara had ever come to know such powerful knowledge about the lady of fashion would remain a mystery shrouded by thick fog. Powerful knowledge gained through impossible odds, a changeling’s delight.

“I do hope that you take your words back quickly, Fluttershy, because you are threading on very thin ice here,” warned Rarity her with a snarling tone. She wasn’t in the mood to be called out by anything or anypony.

“Hmhmhmh, my dear Rarity, you shouldn’t have spilled so many secrets out on to me, because now they might be able to bite you back. Imagine what it would do to your status if it came out that you are not from a full-blood unicorn family. How did that old story of yours go again?”

“Don’t you even dare to mention that written tale of madness!”

Fluttershy got out of the tub with a fluent motions. She flicked her wet tale in the direction of the fashionista and was than gone. The timid pegasus had learned to bite back, for whatever reason. Rarity found herself all alone in the world, all of the sudden. She sunk a bit deeper in the tub.

Her mouth moved underneath the water, but the words were never audible. One thing was clear as day, she had been defeated by the one mare whom she had deemed to be her friend. What she didn’t knew, was that it was only the first step in Chara’s game of madness.

Chapter 09

For a few precious and agonizing second had Rarity been boiling in both anger and confusion. She was still in the bubble bath after Fluttershy had left her in a manner only described as cruel. Yet it was so unlike the pegasus to come up with threats like that. In all the years that they have been friends, she had never even dared to think that the likes of Flutters could become the hardest hits. Naturally the mare cursed the day where she told the other mare her greatest secret of them all.

The hundreds of thoughts that rushed through her about the matter were all but kind. Even the thought of rushing after the pegasus and confronting her about the matter dawned to her. The mare rose up from the bath and nodded to herself. It was time to do something that she hadn’t done in a long, long time indeed. A growl left her mouth and Rarity left the bath as a whole. Her horn charged a little bit and a towel was wrapped around her body and mane.

The time had come for Fluttershy to see the damage that she had done with her words. Rarity was furious and wanted to see the yellow mare hurt to some extent. With powerful steps had she gone through the changing area and found her way to the reception, but along the way was there nothing of the other pony.

“So she gunned it with haste, didn’t she? Not that it matters too much, I will find you, Fluttershy, and I will make you pay for that. Because nopony insults neither me nor my family like that,” the unicorn growled to herself in hushed tones.

Behind the counter stood Lotus whom had kept an eye to Rarity. It was unlike the lady of fashion to act that way, that much was certain. “Are you, alright, miss Rarity?” the spa-pony asked. She was curious about what had ticked her off like that. It was unlike Rarity to throw a temper tantrum in the middle of the spa. She just hoped it wouldn’t affect the other clients.

Rarity shot her a glare that spoke more than enough and gritted her teeth. It wasn’t the time to answer any questions from stupid ponies. No, Rarity only wanted to see Fluttershy. “Where’s the pegasus, Lotus? Did she pass through here and when did she leave?”

“You mean Fluttershy, don’t you?” Lotus already began to see the gap that was made between them and slowly understood what had happened. She couldn’t say that she was happy or glad for it. She had to answer with honesty though, a furious unicorn wasn’t something to mess around with. Lotus valued her life and she knew what Rarity was capable off when angered.

The ivory unicorn nodded strong. She took a step closer to the earth pony, who gulped in response. “Yes, Lotus. I want to know, where Fluttershy has gone off to. We have unfinished business together and I gladly see it being finished today, rather than tomorrow.”

“S-She left, maybe a, a minute before you came barging in. T-Two minutes by now, probably.” The stammers in her voice usually told Rarity that she had crossed a line of some sort, but that time she didn’t care one bit. That time she was truly furious and wouldn’t back down until Fluttershy was in her hold.

The mare gave the earth pony a nod and undid the towels from her body. “Much appreciated, she’s probably off to her cottage than, telling her pets that a rampaging unicorn is heading her way.” A sneering huff was released by Rarity, who was truly and totally fed up with the pegasus. “But not even those pets of hers can save her from the coming storm...”

Lotus let out another gulp and didn’t even dare of standing in the unicorn’s way. The last thing that she wanted, was to become a target herself. “G-Good luck with that,” the mare said and cowered behind the counter, fearing the wrath of the unicorn.

Rarity would burst through the door and had a gander at the streets, they were empty of Fluttershy of course. The anger that flowed through her was still present and she took a powerful step, followed by another. Time and time again she would have done that. She was on her way to the cottage of the pegasus. She wanted the full on confrontation with her ‘friend’.

Yet when she closed the distance, there was something unexpected coming her way. Something that hopped through the street in front of her. A pink blob of energy and striking blue eyes that all came in her direction. It was the one thing Rarity hadn’t taken any account for. She didn’t knew how to react to it, what to do against it even.

Because ahead of her, hopping through the streets was Pinkie Pie, ready to almost tackle the unicorn. Agonizing seconds came by but the tackle never came. “Heya!” Pinkie said to Rarity in her usual, sharp tone. What then followed was a hug given to the unicorn. Rarity herself was both powerful and defenseless in the situation. Nopony would have escaped the grasp of Pinkie Pie once her sights had been set on. “How are you doing today?”

It was the one question that the unicorn dreaded more than anything else in the moment. Of course had she wanted to scam the earth pony off, but she didn’t have any quarrel with her, yet. “Let’s just say that I’ve been better,” the lady returned with a defeated tone. Her revenge on Fluttershy had to wait a bit longer until the time was there once more.

The party mare rose an eyebrow and let go of the hug. The air around them had become salty and sweet. The near perfect conditions for the negative emotions to run amok, which was exactly what they did. “Do tell.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at those words and had preferred it if Pinkie had just left her alone. “I’m not going to get rid of you, anytime soon, am I?”

“Nope!” Pinkie said after she appeared behind Rarity, sending her a few hooves in the air.

When she came back down, the unicorn sighed and nodded. “Then walk with me, let’s see where it all takes us. I think I owe you that in the least bit.”

~~~~

“But that does make some amount of sense, if you ask me,” returned Pinkie Pie after Rarity had told her the story. If the unicorn was sure of herself, the party mare almost didn’t appear surprised about the matter at all. On the other end, Pinkie knew everything about everypony, including Rarity’s little family drama. Which made her just as dangerous. Then again, who would believe the likes of Pinkie?

Though where Fluttershy spoke her mouth, Pinkie had always kept it quiet around.

“If that news is coming out, disaster will not just strike you, Rarity, but your entire family as well, not to mention your next of kin,” said Pinkie to her. It was surprisingly refreshing to see that the hunk of energy sometimes –just sometimes– had a much more serious side to her. At moments like that was it a blessing.

One thing still bothered the unicorn though. She rose an eyebrow to the pink mare, wondering what she meant with her words. “Next of kin? I don’t plan to have foals just yet, Pinkie, you know that.”

“Yet, is the keyword here, Rarity. Yet is the word that is never defined. One day, you will have foals of your own. Or, you know, dragons.”

A massive blush appeared on the cheeks of the unicorn, gulping and swallowing any words that she could have spoken as a reply. It wasn’t Pinkie’s place to tell Rarity how it worked, nor whom she had an eye on. “Don’t you ever dare to speak of that again,” she hissed to the pink mare.

Who luckily understood the message. “Fine, fine, fine, but do you believe that Fluttershy will ever go to the press to tell your secret to the world? Gossip is big bits these days and you know that,” Pinkie returned to her. Her eyes shifting between Rarity and the road.

Rarity nodded in return. It was indeed big business for everypony to do so, but the unicorn didn’t think that Fluttershy would have been seen as that credible of a source. “When you put it like that, I do not think that they will pay her much for the secret. She’s a hermit after all, living secluded by nature. But that doesn’t mean of course she’s changing. By Celestia, hear me talking...”

“I’m hearing you,” returned Pinkie while they turned in another street, one that led away from the cottage of the pegasus. “And it doesn’t sound half as crazy as you would think. But why were you going on a near rampage to meet her?”

That had the unicorn nearly gob smacked. Rarity wanted to answer the question. Unfortunately there wasn’t a single sensible word came out of her mouth for the next few seconds. Only after she had shut her mouth and thought about the matter as a whole, she would have formulated her answer in the right way. “Honestly? I don’t know. I do not know why I wanted to go on a rampage to a friend of mine. Yes, she acted a bit unusual but that’s no reason of true concern, right? But, you know about my family matters as well and you, are a much more credible source of information...”

Pinkie felt that she was heading for a crossroad. A crossroad that could have taken her one of two places. One where she kept the secret of Rarity’s family and tried everything in her might to make sure it never got out either, or one where she spoke the secret and Rarity’s humiliation would have been her greatest downfall. Both routes were tempting to take, both had their alluring status.

“But, you would never do such a horrid thing, would you?” Rarity asked of her with a trembling tone. “R-Right?” Fear had taken the once so tough unicorn whole. She had become afraid by just a couple of near meaningless words.

The pink mare took a deep breath and nodded just once. It wasn’t confirming or denying anything for the matter. Her head to be cleared a bit instead. The mare never knew what would happen next and the crossroad she stood on was still as tempting as ever. Pinkie just giggled a little bit for the moment.

“Pinkie, I’m serious here, would you tell anypony my secret?”

So Rarity was serious about the matter. That changed the whole perspective of everypony involved. Pinkie’s eyes shifted to a more shady gaze while she didn’t knew how to truly proceed on the matter. There was only one answer in the entire universe that could have been the right one. “Time will tell Rarity, time will tell whether or not I do such a thing or not. I don’t know, right now.”

It was the one answer Rarity hadn’t wanted to hear.

~~~~

The eyelids felt heavy and didn’t want to open for a few more minutes. Yet the mind had returned to the present time and wanted to know what it had missed. There was a gap of who knew how much time and everything had to be done. A groan came from the body while it rose up from the sofa. A yawn left the mouth after which the mouth was smacked a couple times.

The eyes were then finally opened under a soft, cute sounding moan. The eyes were rubbed by a pair of yellow forelegs. The body dropped itself back in the seat of the sofa and the clock chimed its late afternoon hour. The eyes had another look around and they saw the cottage filled with the walkways and the animals that lived around and in it.

The real yellow pegasus had awoken from her slumber and she had a gander at the clock with a yawn. Her eyes had difficulty reading the time but they noticed that it was too late to visit Rarity at the spa. Something had happened and she had fallen asleep.

“Oh Fluttershy, you overslept again!” the mare said to herself. Her eyes had a gander to the table where the cupcakes stood and the two cups of tea. She had a guest before she fell asleep so abruptly, but what she didn’t knew what whom that guest could have been. “What are we having here?” Her eyes went wide after seeing one of the berry’s atop the cupcake.

She left the sofa with haste and snatched just one of the berry’s. She sniffed it, licked it and felt it, only to make the most terrible of discoveries. “Sleeping berry. I thought that Pinkie never used those on her cupcakes...” It was the truth, partially at least.

Fluttershy shook her head a little bit and didn’t knew what to do next. If she had eaten one of those berry’s, it was clear why she had fallen asleep. But what didn’t make sense was that second cup of tea. Maybe she had invited the delivery pony? No memories were to be found about the entire event. It was strange to tell and even stranger to remember. Nothing made sense to her in the moment. Fluttershy just rubbed her temples a bit and thought even deeper on the matter.

The timid mare huffed and would have shut the box again. Fortunately weren’t the cupcakes contaminated with the juice of the berry. Only when the berry itself was broken and thus leaking juice in the mouth would the ‘poison’ be released and the target fall in a deep sleep. In fantasy stories had there been assassins who used a large quantity of the berry to make their targets sleep forever. A macabre thought indeed.

The pegasus cleaned the room a bit and done the dishes in about five minutes. After that had she left her cottage to roam the backyard and the first few stretches of Everfree a bit. There wasn’t anything of particular interest left inside the house and maybe a good walk would have cone some miracles to her. It was the hope at least, but whether it would have worked.

Of course had she hoped on a ‘yes’, naturally. The birds chirped lively when she began to roam around and the other critters all came her way. One of her wings was opened up for an owl to land down and inspect the world from that height, causing the mare to chuckle softly to herself.

The evening would have come to pass quietly and peacefully. Just the way that Fluttershy had wanted it above anything else. Time would be the judge on whether or not she remembered what had happened. At least there was no permanent damage of the berries.

~~~~

The response of Pinkie about time being the deciding factor about what her answer would have been had devastated her more than she had liked to admit. Rarity had gulped in silence and shook her head in response. “Y-You can’t be serious here, a-are you?” she asked with frightened hesitation.

Pinkie was of course a loose cannon by any sense of the definition. Anything could have happened around her and Rarity had prepared herself about that. But the longer that the two remained together, the more Rarity’s anger shifted into fear for the unknown. A fear that began to fill the air and would have tasted all too sweet. Danger lurked around for the lady of fashion. Pinkie’s answer could have changed everything and she noticed something terrible. Her hopes had been devastated and could only be rebuild by Pinkie’s very own answer.

Though in a strange sense of the word had Rarity been seeing the cracks emerging in not just her relation with Fluttershy, but also with Pinkie. The cracks in between their friendships have been made and one good strike with the hammer would have shattered with like glass. Rarity became even more terrified of the facts as they were presented.

It all started with Fluttershy acting strange, now Pinkie had joined her in the ranks and made her desperate. Attacking and silencing the party mare was one thing that she couldn’t have done in a thousand years. Rarity was running out of options. Anything could have been done to strengthen their relation, but it meant that Pinkie had the perfect blackmail material for the unicorn.

If there was one thing that Rarity would have never allowed herself to happen, it was that. She wouldn’t fall that far from her stand to become the servant of the party mare. No, the two of them acted strange and it was unlike them. Maybe she was just having a bad dream? She could outrun a bad dream if she wanted. And she was more desperate than ever to try it out.

With a deep inhale were the legs of Rarity kicked in a high gear. The unicorn was at a loss for words and just had to get away from the place, she had to leave the presence of Pinkie Pie as fast as possible. Without a single word spoken had Rarity just galloped away from Pinkie’s side and seemed to be heading to her boutique.

The party mare had a look at the unicorn, wanting to shout something after her but she was already out of hearing range. “Wow,” she mumbled to herself, “never knew Rarity could gallop that fast. Heh, guess you do learn something new every day.” Not that the knowledge mattered that much to Pinkie, the air was still filled with anger and fright and the state of those two emotions was as sweet as sugar.

Pinkie wandered off in a side street and shrouded herself within the shadows it carried. It was in those very same shadows that the major discovery was revealed. Because Pinkie had never been Pinkie at all. The eyes shifted from their blue color to a reddish, changeling tint. The whole eye was replaced with that of a changeling in fact.

It had been Chara all long! She had played Rarity for the mentally weak mare that she was, cracking the friendships between Fluttershy and Pinkie on purpose. Rarity’s mind had been broken, the seed of doubt had been planted and Chara could only watch how she would work herself into nothing else but devastation.

It was curious to see the one true lady of the group fall that far from her stand. The one whom she had expected to be the hardest to break next to Twilight, had in fact been one of the easiest ponies.

The pink mare engulfed herself in a bright, short-lasting flash of fire and there he stood again. The pegasus stallion Chara had taken the place of Pinkie, making sure that there weren’t two Pinkie’s roaming around. In Ponyville’s defense, it wasn’t the first time that there had been multiples of the same pony running about. Though for the changeling was it better to be safe than sorry.

In the mental checklist was Rarity crossed through, that was one down and five more to go. Whom could have been next in the diabolical plans of the changeling?

Chapter 10

Having hidden herself for a couple of minutes in the alleyway, filtering all of the red flow that had hung around Rarity, Chara was ready. Ready to meet a new candidate for the mental abuse that she could inflict. It was time for the next victim to make her way up to the figural chopping block. The first cracks had emerged between the friendships of the element bearers. There was always time to make the shatters even bigger though, which was exactly the thing that Chara wanted to do.

“Pinkie? You around here?” the voice of a well-known pegasus suddenly echoed.

Chara’s blood almost froze for the moment and a gaze back was given. Fortunately she was in her stallion pegasus disguise. Otherwise disaster would have surely followed suit.

In the eyes was Rainbow Dash spotted who was looking for Pinkie, apparently. Where the real Pinkie was, was a mystery of course. Not that it mattered too much to Chara. The changeling could do something with Rainbow that hadn’t been done in a long, long time. Maybe it was time to start cracking up the relationship between the daring pegasus and the party mare.

Just the thought of severing their friendship was marvelous. Chara was aware that the two held a closer relationship between them than they first would let on. Pinkie Pie just spoke so much, normal ponies wouldn’t have remembered all of the details, but Chara did. And she would have used them to her advantage. But first things first, the trap had to be set.

“I’m sorry Rainbow, but Pinkie isn’t here,” the stallion said to her in an honest tone. He emerged from the shadows with a calm trot, walking up to her. He went passed her, ready to leave.

Of course were there already doubts in the mind of Rainbow. But why would the stallion have come out the shadows like that. Why would he have gone into an alleyway like that to begin with? Questions that had to be answered at a different time thought. Rainbow shrugged a bit and she than nodded. “You know where she might be then? Ponies said that she walked here, with Rarity before Rarity just legged it. You, don’t happen to know anything about that, do you?”

Was it an interrogation, already? If it was, Rainbow wasn’t doing that good of a job at it. As the saying went, ignorance had always been a bliss and that was exactly how Chara would have played the game with the other pegasus. “I know nothing of that, Rainbow,” the stallion said and leaned casually against the side of the building. “I was just having a gander at the backstreets of Ponyville. They are just what you expect though.”

“No need to tell me that...” Rainbow murmured under her breath.

Chara smiled warm to Rainbow. Apparently had he passed whatever she had given to him. It was a relief but the mind of the changeling wasn’t standing still whatsoever. The stallion was constantly thinking about way to shatter the friendships between the ponies and it thought it had discovered perhaps the perfect way to shatter the one between Rainbow and Pinkie. “Do tell me this, Rainbow, why would you be looking for Pinkie and where had you arranged to meet each other?”

It were some oddly specific questions from the stallion but Rainbow had turned in a hurry. She wanted to meet Pinkie and do what they had planned together. “We had planned to pull some pranks on ponies, and we should meet at the lake outside of town. I’m sorry, gotta dash!”

And with that had Rainbow vanished again from the ground. The cyan mare had taken for the skies and zoomed through them with great speed. But where was the actual Pinkie Pie? That was a thought that also went through Chara. Of course could the stallion have checked on her in Sugarcube Corner, but that was one thing he didn’t wanted to do. No, Pinkie Pie was probably best left alone for the time being. If he came to visit, she might have remembered the appointment and actually gone.

On the other end, if Chara changed to Pinkie Pie and the actual pony would turn up, a lot of explaining had to be done from her side. A deep sigh was released by the stallion who then returned back to the shadows of the alleyway. There was only one thing that could be done, and it was risky.

Further and deeper had Chara wandered into the shadows before the fires consumed his body. The disguise was dropped and made place for a new one. One that had only been worn for one conversation before. A deep inhale was made while a pair of blue eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by a wide, sinister smile.

~~~~

Pinkie Pie, the real Pinkie, was just working at Sugarcube Corner. She had completely forgotten about her appointment with Rainbow. The pegasus would have always come to her if they had to go somewhere. Meaning that this was just another day for her. She stood in the kitchen and behind the counter whenever possible, making ponies happy with sweets and treats,

Miss Cake was in fact surprised by the amount of work that Pinkie managed to haul through in just that morning. It was a big help that only Fluttershy had ordered something that she wanted to be dropped at her home. It meant that Pinkie wasn’t the one whom left the bakery at all. All of it just worked out so nice indeed. “I think that you have earned yourself a bit of a break Pinkie, take the rest of the afternoon off if you like. You have done everything that needs to be.”

Pinkie was surprised to hear those words coming out of that mouth. “Huh? I haven’t been working for that long, now have I?”

“Hmhmhmh, that where you are mistaken, I’m afraid. You have done more in just a few short morning hours than me and my husband do in one full day. You should be proud on yourself for being able to do such a feat, Pinkie. Now go, take the rest of the day off, you have deserved it more than anypony else. Maybe you can visit Fluttershy, ask her about the cupcakes,” she said.

“That,” the pink mare started, beginning to wonder straight after it, “isn’t the worst idea I can do today. Thanks!” With that had she darted off again, off to probably the cottage of Fluttershy to visit her for a nice cup of tea and some tranquility. Whether ponies wanted to believe it or not, but even a mare like Pinkie had the need to some peace and quiet from time to time.

~~~~

The other Pinkie had wandered through the streets of Ponyville with her signature hopping around. She was happy as could be and greeted everypony happily and cheerful. A thing that burned the disguised changeling up more than Chara wanted to admit. Some ponies wondered in silence how she could have been at multiple places at once, but then they remembered that one little incident where their entire town had been invaded with Pinkie Pies that wouldn’t shut up. Maybe one of that had escaped the clutches of the mirror pond? Or Twilight had doomed them all again, like on a regular Thursday. Anywho, the day would have continued as if nothing was going on.

How Pinkie was even able to move in the way that she did, with all that hopping and strange being all together and not get any injury from it, was a mystery that possibly could never be solved. Not that it mattered too much for the time being, the end of the town was in sight and after that would it be a straight line to the lake, hoping for her to meet Rainbow Dash.

Again, with Pinkie being the loudmouth she had been at the party, and the time that both Chara and the pink mare had spoken together, the juicy rumors never ceased their flow. At one point had she told about Rainbow’s preferred kind of relationship. Suffice to say, it was a bit of a shock to hear that being spoken to somepony just met. On the other end, Pinkie had hoped that it had been forgotten by time. A thing which it of course wasn’t in Chara’s case.

“It’s still strange to spill out the secrets of everypony like that though, even if they do tend to forget it when the time comes around, even with the amount of cider she had,” the changeling mumbled to herself, “Ponyville’s just strange, never in my life would I even dare of dreaming to live in such a place. Ponies being too kind, too much trouble and the rumors that do their turn are far too convenient. Maybe... Just maybe, this is all a test from that princess of friendship pony?”

The changeling did have a point with the thought, but what it was in reality might never have been discovered. Chara didn’t know the facts and as far as she was concerned, she could be walking straight into a trap. Wouldn’t have been the first time and definitely not the last one either. Caution was advised and she prayed to whatever holy entity she believed in that the real Pinkie Pie wouldn’t show up.

Instead of just walking up to the lake and meeting Rainbow there, Chara decided to play it safer. She hid in the bushes and took a longer way that brought her away from the path, up the overgrown hill and from there had the changeling an almost picture perfect view on the entire valley, including the small lake. Much to her surprise was Rainbow already there and seemingly waiting for the other pony, who still hadn’t showed up.

~~~~

It might have been the near perfect opportunity for her to take the chance and just go with it. There was nothing else or better that could be done. Chara grinned like the maniac that she could be before going full Pinkie Pie. She never should have gone full Pinkie Pie.

The changeling hopped and darted off the slope and headed straight for Rainbow without a single word. The pink storm that was coming in hot had caught the pegasus of guard and the two crashed violently against each other. The dust waved up and the ponies both moaned, groaned, huffed and puffed inside it, crashing into each other and the ground underneath them.

When the dust finally cleared about three hooves away from the lake, it had turned out that Pinkie had pinned Rainbow down and smiled to her. “Heya!” she said happily, hugging her friend tight, nearly squeezing the life out of Rainbow.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow said in a hushed, breathless tone. “Can’t breathe! Lemme go!” It was near impossible to take a breath with the other pony atop of her, holding her in that position. When the words were spoken, Pinkie did let Rainbow go and wasn’t amused in the slightest about it. A couple of deep breaths were taken by the pegasus, fortunate enough that she was still alive. “Hello!”

Finally had the greets been exchanged and they proceeded by giving each other another hug, one that was a bit calmer than the one before. Rainbow even managed to crack a smile because of it. “Now that you’re here, how about we go to the grotto and get what we need? A lot of ponies are left to be pranked and daylight is fading fast.”

That was one thing that Chara didn’t knew how to respond to. It was unknown to her that the two had a little grotto where they had stored all of their stuff. Rainbow had to lead her to it. “After you,” said Pinkie with a smile. She wanted that Rainbow took the bait, while she could have thought about a mean to get even further under her hooves.

It was strange to hear Pinkie say that though, but Rainbow nodded to herself. If Pinkie wanted her to go first, so it should have been, no difficulty there, right? She turned around and stretched her wings, becoming airborne soon afterward and glided to the grotto, while Pinkie just hopped along for the line. It was killing Chara to make that motion time and time again and even actually getting further with it. How did Pinkie even do that?!

Whether Rainbow liked it or not, even did it on purpose, she showed off a different character trait of her to Pinkie. She seemed more calm, mature and above all, much more seductive. What gave it away for the pegasus to become like that? Chara would have loved to exploit the matter, she would have loved to exploit the sexuality of the pegasus to the brim. A quiet chuckle was made by her before she shook her head only slight. It would have been just perfect if that was the way the friendship was shattered. It really would have gone out with a bang!

“Right, here we are!” Rainbow said when she showed Pinkie the entrance again. It was small enough for a pony to climb through and must have gone on for a good couple dozen hooves. “I’ll get what we need and then we head into town. You still remember what to do with whom, right? We want to prank them, not send them to the hospital.”

The added warning could have meant everything: from Rainbow having seen through the disguise to just being cautious, to even remembering Pinkie not to step over the lines and bars set. It was tempting for Chara to break up the friendship while they were pranking, but that meant that the real Pinkie Pie could be spotted somewhere in the town. No, it had to happen there and then, the lake seemed to be perfect for the chaos that the changeling wanted to cause. “Gotcha.”

Rainbow nodded just once before disappearing in the hole to get the stuff. She was eager to start, but Pinkie had a look around the area for a moment. Everything seemed to be falling in place when the sun began to shine upon her back.

“Perfect,” the voice of the changeling shimmered through for the moment. The time had fallen upon her to do what had to be done. A grin formed itself across her lips and she anticipated when the best moment would be.

With one jump had the mare taken off and landed head first in the lake. She dove under the surface and had a good look at whatever she could see, which wasn’t too much. The fishes all swam away for her and the bottom was still a couple hooves further down.

Pinkie swam back up and broke the surface while flicking her mane back. The wet mane combined with the water still dripping down gave off a seductive look to anypony who might have been watching. And one of the ponies watching, was in fact Rainbow Dash.

The pegasus had everything that the two needed but when she noticed Pinkie emerging like that, a gulp was given. Fear took over her body while her wings sprung open in the classic wing-boner stance. It was a slap in the face for the pegasus. Never had she even dared to dream that Pinkie would have done that to her, again. Rainbow didn’t knew what to do or what to say to the matter. Something had gone terribly wrong and there was no way of putting it gently.

The changeling had Rainbow exactly where she wanted to have her and wanted to throw something else in the mix as well. She wanted to make it even worse for the pegasus. She wanted to not just shatter the friendship between the two, but obliterate it. Everything had to be thrown in battle for that to happen and Chara was happy to oblige with it.

Pinkie began to smile in a seductive manner and the pegasus stood frozen solid. How could she have even reacted against that? Rainbow didn’t know how to proceed from this, she could have flown away from Pinkie, but that only confirmed the suspicion. She could have stayed there and become the plaything of the mare, she also could have just confronted her. But there was one thing that she wouldn’t do, no matter what.

Pinkie left the water, adjusting her walk in such a manner that she became even more seductive. Seeing Pinkie like that, again, was almost devastating for Rainbow. A deep swallow was made before her head was shaken. It just wasn’t right, not after what happened so long ago. “Q-Quit it, Pinkie! We’ve been through this, discussed this and spoke about this! What’s gotten into you that you’re doing this again, to me?” Rainbow managed to work out. Terror had filled her voice again.

The pink mare on the other end just grinned a little bit. She walked past Rainbow with a massive smirk, laying her wet tail over the pegasus’ back, stroking the wing-boners gently with it. Another gulp came from Rainbow before it was time to deliver the definitive blow.

“I know about your desires, Rainbow, I know that you have never completely forgotten about me, nor have I forgotten about you. I know you wanted to stay as lovers, so why not make, hmmm, oh I don’t know, a secret affair?” Pinkie whispered in an ear.

She couldn’t be meaning her words, right? There was no way in heaven that Pinkie would have pushed through with that plan of insanity, right? Rainbow wasn’t so sure about that either. Pinkie was capable of doing a lot of things and convincing others was one of her strengths.

With one motion had Pinkie worked Rainbow to the ground and pinned her down. She dropped her body atop of Rainbow, she even moved in for the kiss! Her lips smacked a few times and were heading straight for those of Rainbow. The questionable sexuality of the pegasus was indeed something that worked marvels.

That very same pegasus managed to work her way from underneath Pinkie and stood back up with haste. “You’re crazy, Pinkie! Absolutely crazy!” Rainbow shouted to the pinkie mare, who stood there. A wondering gaze of what she had done wrong filled her eyes, doing even further damage to Rainbow’s mental state. “Don’t you even dare to do that to me! Talk to me again when you have calmed down, you crazy pony!”

And with that had Rainbow just darted off in the air again. She had escaped the situation faster than ever before. There was no need for Pinkie to have behaved like that, nor did she wanted her to behave like that ever again.

Pinkie on the other end had reverted back to Chara, who chuckled to herself long after Rainbow had fled the scene. The face that the pegasus made in response to the actions was just priceless. It was picture perfect and the cracks between their friendship had begun to emerge. Even some of the delicious red flow had been released by Rainbow.

It was only the beginning of the end though. Slowly were all of them targeted by her.

Chapter 11

A red flame filled the cavern that was her home. The pony whom had entered was no longer present, never had been in fact. Wandering through the rocky cave was Chara, she had come home after her latest little problem-causing and mischief. She was delighted to see the reaction of Rainbow Dash and it surely must have caused a crack in the friendship between her and Pinkie.

“I still don’t get it though,” the changeling mumbled to herself. She sat down on a flat stone with a bewildered glance. It made her feel at home more than the comforts of the bed in the inn. “Why would that pink mare have ever told me such things? I was the new pony around... Why did she tell me..?” Chara shook her head and had a gander to the ceiling. The roots of numerous trees hung down and she let out a single chuckle.

“Maybe, just maybe, there’s a much larger force at hoof that is allowing me to do all of this. Dues Ex Machina’s aren’t that uncommon, especially here in this part of Equestria. Just, just don’t get cocky, Chara. You’re trying to break their friendship, but they can just as easily break you if they want. Or, that mysterious force, for that matter.”

She shook her head again and left the rock for what it was. The changeling had discovered an underground pond earlier, located in one of the lower parts of the cavern. She had explored it the day before and her room in the pension had been cancelled immediately. For all Ponyville knew, Rusty Bucket had left town, never to be seen again, left to wander away until the ends of time.

It took her a good minute or two before she had finally reached the spot. There was something magical about it though. The pond that laid in the middle of the opening was deep enough to submerged in, but it was the architecture that tickled the changeling imagination. With one flick of the horn were the candles ignited. The light revealed the structure to her eyes once more.

It was a changeling pond, that much was certain to her. The water that it carried was different than Equestria was used too. Chara’s cavern was indeed part of an abandoned changeling-hive. Though what she stared at, was the bath of the queen. The very bath that allowed a queen to communicate directly to her children and get to know the past of the area surrounding the hive. Would Chara have submerged herself and see the past of the place? Maybe get to know a bit more about the locals? It was a tempting thought.

A hoof was risen and set against the surface, but never further or deeper in. A deep breath was taken by her, wondering what was the right cause of action. If there was one to begin with. Chara was uncertain as to what she had to do, what she even wanted to do. But it maybe could have revealed something to her.

A powerful nod was given and the red eyed changeling set her hoof in the water, taking another step, which was followed by another. All the way until she was fully submerged. The green flames above her turned orange and reddish when true fire emerged. Her horn shone a bright red color. Chara had activated the pond and was ready for whatever came next, whether it was the past or punishment, she didn’t knew nor did she really care. Just being in the waters alone was calming enough for the thoughts.

The longer she remained submerged, the more the visions of the past came to her. Even though she wasn’t a queen, she was magically capable to activate it. Time didn’t rewind that long. It went back to the day where Chara the pegasus stallion’s party had been thrown. There were three little fillies that had made their way up to the entrance, had a peek in it and wanted to explore.

Yet one of them, a white coated unicorn, said something that Chara couldn’t understand. Only one name she could hear though. “Rarity,” was the name that she heard and in the blink of an eye had the fillies left again. Never to be seen again, not in the past at least.

The horn lost all of its magical charge and the changeling emerged again from the water, taking in a deep breath before leaving. Chara shook her head and couldn’t believe what she had seen. “Rarity, has a sister?” Chara mumbled to herself, wiping the water off her wings, letting them buzz for just a moment. “It certainly is something that could come to my aid.” Her lips morphed in a wicked grin of evil while a plan was already forged in her head. But Rarity’s precious little sister had to wait a little while longer. There was another pony whom she hadn’t taken a gander at, one whom she wanted to argue with for some time already.

“And now, it’s your turn, farmer,” she said to the dirt that was the wall. Her hooves were kicked into motion. Chara left the pond and the fires died down. The gears in her head were working way harder than they should have and she wanted to come up with the perfect plan.

During the entire deviousness and breaking had Applejack been given a free pass to some degree, not anymore. It was time to not just crack the friendship between her and another pony, but straight up shatter it to start the final phase. It would be time consuming, it would be hard to do, but it was just about the only way in which Chara saw it being possible. She had to lay low for a while, impersonate the stallion a bit more and get to know the farmer. Get to know her on a personal level.

All in all, it would have been just another infiltration job for the changeling.

She left her hidey hole and had a look over the forest of Everfree. All the disturbing sounds that left it were music to her ears. And there was one sound that she recognized beyond any other. The chirping sounds of the fruitbats that called the forest their home. “How many times..?” Chara wondered, adding the variable to her mental arsenal.

The changeling would question Applejack, hard, but only when the time was there.

~~~~

Three times had the sun booth been rising and setting over Ponyville. Three days had come to pass and Chara wasn’t as busy as she used to be. She had offered her aid on the apple farm, which was happily accepted. She came to know a couple more things about Applejack and her family. Nothing noteworthy or new though, and nothing that she could work with either. She could curse herself for the lack of information that came from the mare, but on the other end, she did came to know the troubles with the local wildlife. Maybe it was with that, that she had to take her advantage of.

The days had come and gone, Rainbow still didn’t spoke a word to Pinkie nor had Rarity even dared to approach Fluttershy. Everypony that had fallen under the tricks of the changeling was feeling the stress and burden. The red flow had increased between the six friends and Chara was just happy with that, as it meant that she had already a near constant food supply. But it would only get worse for them as time went on, or so she hoped.

On the evening of the third day, while the changeling sat disguised as the stallion near the water of the creek, she was having a gander at both Sweet Apple Acres and Everfree forest. Of course could she have taken a look through the forest and probably gotten some fruitbats to use, but something wasn’t sitting right. No, she had to wait until the family was gone, then the bells of madness would ring. Yet was it remorse that she was feeling? Could it have been that she felt guilty about the fact of what she was about to do? It couldn’t have, right? Changelings didn’t feel those kind of emotions, did they?

Chara wasn’t sure of the matter and she prayed to the divine entities that it was the case. Her eyes went up to the world, away from the scene for a while. Her mouth made motions but not a single word was spoken aloud. She was having an intimate moment with herself, the changeling whom she was and the belief that she was grown up with. She wasn’t supposed to live in this world of course, she was supposed to have perished a long, long time ago.

If her very own queen could have seen the path she had taken, that very same queen would have rued the day she had banished Chara. On the other end, would Chara have been Chara if she hadn’t been banished? Who’s to say that she didn’t became an abominable monster if she remained within the walls of her hive?

A difficult matter to think about for such a simple creature. A matter that hopefully wasn’t one that would have nagged too much on whatever it was she called a consciousness.

The eyes of the stallion turned back to the road, seeing how the cart was pulled by the red coated brother of Applejack, with the three mares walking beside it. They had left for the market in the neighboring towns. Chara was surprised that they would have left that early in the evening though, but it mattered not. Applejack was out of town and she thus had the perfect story. Another smirk came to her face and her breathing slowed.

Nopony was around her and nopony was even looking in the direction that the stallion sat. It happened in a flash and then the stallion was gone. On his place sat a hatless Applejack, whose hoof went through her mane, roughing it up. On the spot where usually a unicorn horn would have been did the green aura appear for the moment. It would create illusions that flew through the night, adding only to the trouble that was about to come. Chara had thought about every last little detail and she was ready to execute her plan of madness. Only one pony could have been the possible candidate.

~~~~

A dozen knocks were given to the door and the timid, shy, yellow coated pegasus jumped a few hooves up in the air. She was terrified since it was already that late, but it sounded like somepony was in distress. Who was she to deny anypony who needed help?

With the aid of her wings she fluttered over to the door. With trembling hooves would the door be opened. The cold air of the night was the first thing noticed. After that, the much more disturbing sight appeared. Because out there stood Applejack with a ruffed up mane and tail, nearly out of breath and panting deeply. She wasn’t looking normal by any means, she had even lost her hat! Something terrible must have happened to the farmer.

“A-Applejack, w-what happened to you?” Fluttershy asked with care, not sure as to why her friend was there. “Is, it something bad?”

“Bad ain’t coverin’ it,” the farmer stated. She took a deep inhale, trembled on her own hooves even and had to come clean to the pegasus. “It’s ‘em fruitbats again, Flutters! They’re back again and if Ah don´t do som´thing quick, the entire orchard will be gone!”

“But, why would you need my help with that? Don’t you know something that will get you rid of them?” Fluttershy asked, remembering the events from the last time clear as day. “I remember you not being too fond of them. So why are you looking at me now?”

“Because... Because...” Applejack stammered, unsure what to say next. Her eyes dropped down while her ears drooped slight. “Because Ah don’t, want to get permanently rid of ‘em, if Ah don’t have to. Ya have better ways of dealing with ‘em than Ah’ll ever have...”

Those words caused a smile to come to the face of Fluttershy, those words almost meant the world to her. She had waited just so long for Applejack to finally see the light in which she lived her life. Fluttershy would of course help her friend in such a manner. There was nothing else she rather wanted to do. A nod was given by the pegasus. “Okay Applejack, I’ll help you. Lead the way and I’ll figure out a way to talk to the fruitbats. And, I’m glad you found that my way might work better than just terminating them.”

No words came from Applejack, but the genuine smile that stood on her face spoke more than enough. The two would have rushed over to the Acres with great haste, hoping to find that not all the trees had been devastated in the orchard yet.

~~~~

After a powerful gallop had the two arrived at the orchard and the fuitbats were all just swarming around. The sounds of apples being drained and falling to the ground was heard left and right, but never actually seen. Applejack was mortified while Fluttershy already stepped up to the case. She was about to do the one thing hopefully would have done the job.

“Uhm, could you, please listen to me, for a moment?” the pegasus asked to all the fruitbats present. Though none of them even had the time nor attention span to look at her. They all continued to fly around, screeching every so often and then continue on with their little troublemaking. None of them threw anything to the pegasus though. But the lack of attention for Fluttershy could be viewed as heartbreaking.

“Come on you guys, we need to have talk!” Fluttershy replied in a louder, higher pitched tone. It was a faint hope of her that they would at least listened to her.

It was to no avail, the bats were still as arrogant and selfish as ever, enraging Fluttershy even more. She was getting fed up with the facts and she wanted to get the attention of the bats, their full attention. “Listen to me!” she shouted on the top of her lungs, looking around to see how all of the bats had indeed stopped.

All of them finally gave their attention to the mare, who was happy that she got what she wanted. Though that glee was only short lived, the bats had their own schedule to keep. And in the middle of the night, they were the lord and master.

Five seconds would the peace have lasted.

Five seconds later had the madness of the bats returned. They flew all over the place, looking for delicious apples that they could devour in mere seconds. There was no stopping the onslaught to come, the pegasus had begun to realize this and she stood there already with tears in her eyes. She wanted to do something to help them of course, but there was just nothing.

Applejack approached her and placed a hoof over her neck, tugging her in closer. The pegasus had a look to the farmer who began to speak. “It’s a shame ya couldn’t get ‘em under yar control, Fluttershy, but Ah reckon that they just don’t wanna listen to anypony anymore. Ah think it’s time to bring out the big guns.”

The pegasus wiped away her tears with a hoof and shot a glare to her friend. She wouldn’t have seen any of the fruitbats being hurt in any way. Arguments of old would have resurfaced and for good reasons to boot. “No Applejack, I’m not going to stand here idle, while you do your thing with them. What did you even do to bring them back here again? You have taken all the precautions that I advised to you after the first time. ...Did you expand the orchard?”

A gulp came from the farmer. “W-Well, A-Ah might’ve, just a little, bit...”

“And that’s why they are back!” Fluttershy worked her way away from underneath the hold of the farmer and even took a step aside. She wasn’t done with Applejack in the least and wanted to give her a piece of her mind. A grumble followed soon enough while the sounds of horror came only closer to the both of them. She also knew that Applejack would have gone to much more extreme measures to get rid of the bats. A thing that the pegasus wouldn’t let happen.

“Well Ah can’t keep up with the demand for mah apples, Flutters! Ah had to expand ‘gain in order to keep everything supplied! Ya can’t tell me that that little expansion caused the orchard to be big ‘nough for ‘em bats to return again,” the cowgirl huffed in return. She wasn’t in the mood to argue with Fluttershy at all, but it was a necessary evil to do and be in.

“There’s no need for violence! Hear me out for the moment and we’ll see how it comes together,” the other mare protested. She really didn’t wanted to see the bats hurt, and who could have blamed her.

Applejack on the other end was having more than enough of it all. Either Fluttershy had to go, or the bats had to go, and she didn’t care whom it was that went first. “Ah ain’s saying yar wrong, Fluttershy, but Ah’ve a business that Ah need to keep running. And if that means gettin’ rid of the vermin with magic, so it be!”

“You’re going to terminate the entire population of fruitbats present here?!” Fluttershy barked in disbelief. She had never even dared to dream that Applejack was in fact that ruthless and that cold. It brought tears to her eyes and a stomp to the ground came.

The farmer was surprised, that much was true. But was Fluttershy really going to stand in her way with this plan? Was there truly no other way to get rid of the fruitbats? Of course there was, but Chara just had to drive the final nail in the coffin. Fluttershy had put her hoof down, it was time for her to show that that was a giant mistake.

“Partner, either these vermin are leaving the orchard via magical mumbo jumbo, or Ah’ll have to hurt you, badly, in order to get it done, Fluttershy.” Applejack wasn’t playing games anymore.

The two stared each other deep in the eyes, seeing the fire that they both had for different reasons. A battle of titans had erupted. A battle which would chill the hearts of even the strongest and toughest stallions around. Both believed they were right, but who was more right?

Chapter 12

The day had been progressing slow and steady for Twilight. Her studies on the subject of friendship had come first as per usual, everything else second or even third. It was surprising to see that nopony had bothered with something during the day. Not that the princes really cared about it either, she was just glad for the fact that she could have continued on with her research and experiments.

Yet it was late in the evening that she and Spike had retreated to one of the living rooms of the castle. Just the two of them, a couple of good books, hot coco and a crisping fire. That was Twilight’s definition of a peaceful and calm evening. Even Spike had to admit that it was lovely, as he had received the latest issue of the Power Ponies earlier that day.

The two of them were just too deep within their own thoughts to be disturbed by anything. Inside the dragon’s mind it happened though. He had finished the issue of the comic and laid it aside. His eyes stared in the crisping, consuming fires of the fire place when the thought occurred to him. A thought which he hadn’t dared to think about previously but it had become much more of an issue in later times. A gentle sigh left his nostrils and he left his seat. He hurried over to the window which had a look over the peaceful, tranquil Ponyville.

The little quaint town was shrouded in the cool and calm cloak of the night, the moon watching over everything and everypony while it shone in the skies. It was a picture perfect moment for the dragon, yet the thought still gnawed hard at him consciousness. Something didn’t seem right and he had to talk about it. Something was just, off.

“Hey Twilight,” he started, turning back to the librarian.

Twilight rose her head from her book and smiled to him. “What’s the matter, Spike? Afraid that the Power Ponies won’t be able to defeat the villain this time?”

“They will, in the next issue,” he replied, feeling himself going off-track there for the moment. He shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. “It’s not that though, it’s our friends. Over the past days they have been...different, don’t you think?”

The alicorn took off her glasses and sighed deep to those words. The book was set aside and her body removed from the chair. There was no way in the world that she could have avoided the subject, because even she had noticed the facts as they were. “They are indeed behaving differently than we’re used to, Spike. But, on the other hoof, when aren’t they behaving differently? Each of them is unique in their own rights, everything is just...”

“Gone to Tartarus?”

Twilight’s head went over to Spike with a set of raised eyebrows, she hadn’t expected those words to have come from the dragon. A couple blinks were made before she shook the thought out of herself. An awkward giggle came forth before she petted the dragon on his head. “Not that, not that at all. No, I think it’s just another phase everypony is going through. Sometime soon they will set their differences aside and learn again that they are all better together than on their own.”

“And what book told you that little fact?” Spike returned in a sarcastic tone. He crossed his arms and glanced in the eyes of Twilight, who could only blush as a result. He knew more than enough at that moment. No amount of words could rectify that blush of hers.

Twilight realized that she had been caught and the alicorn didn’t knew what to do next, only to put Spike lightly in his place. “Spike, we’ve been through quarrels and turmoils ever since we defeated Nightmare Moon all that time ago. Just because we’re friends, doesn’t mean we don’t have to bicker with each other anymore. Besides, they are my friends, it doesn’t mean that they have to get along with the others.”

“You’re missing the point, Twilight.”

“How so?” the alicorn returned with a genuine surprised tone.

“Well,” the dragon started while he leaned against the window sill, “let’s just start with the fact that ever since that new stallion ca-”

“He’s a hunk, isn’t he?” Twilight interrupted. “And so smart too!”

Spike gagged and shook his head to those words. He hadn’t wanted to hear them, but he still heard them in infamy. “As I was saying, ever since he came, our friends have been acting strange.”

She was snapped out of her illusion and Twilight shot a glare to Spike, which turned to a look of curiosity. “You mean to say that, that stallion might have something to do with, everything?”

“Not saying he does, but I’m saying he might, given your history with certain characters.”

Just in that moment had the massive doors of the castle been opened and their signature sound went through the entirety of the place. Both Twilight and Spike shocked up from their thoughts and had a glance in the general direction of the door. Neither had expected a visitor.

“Who could that be?” Spike wondered aloud.

“At an hour this late,” added Twilight, “come on Spike, we’re going to find out.”

“Wish you hadn’t said that...”

And with that had the two of them left their room and headed straight for the entrance way.

When arrived they only saw the door being opened, but not a single pony who had entered. That was until they had a look at the floor. Muddy hoofprints could be seen and led them to the throne room. Who had entered and who had gone straight to there, were the questions asked.

Both Twilight and Spike moved with care through the castle, to the throne room and peeked their head inside, only to see a sobbing Fluttershy sitting there, crying to herself in silence. The two had a look to each other, not knowing why she was there of course, but the fact may have come to light fast.

“Uhm, hey Fluttershy,” began Spike while he walked further in the room. “What brings you here, at this hour? Shouldn’t you be, you know, be at your cottage?”

It wasn’t the best way to have started a conversation with the mare and Twilight knew that. So she took it to herself to interfere straight away. “What Spike means to say: what’s wrong?”

At the sounds of Twilight’s voice did the ears of Fluttershy perk up just a little bit. She was glad to hear a friendly voice that asked how she was doing, and she told them both the entire story of what happened at Sweet Apple Acres.

~~~~

“That’s terrible!” Twilight admitted when the whole tale was done. Spike just stood there with a glance of ‘I told you so’ in his eyes. Finally had Twilight began to see the cracks that her dragon had spoken about. Finally had she too seen the reason as to why everything felt different since the stallion’s arrival.

Twilight took place next to Fluttershy and laid a warm wing over the trembling body. The threat was one not to be taken lightly at all of course and they both knew that. But Fluttershy did seem to calm down when the wing was laid over her. It felt good to know that there were still ponies who wanted to do right in the world.

“Also just love the fact you aren’t running off to Sweet Apple Acres now, to see how the fruitbats are doing,” mumbled Spike to himself, shaking his head. Then he went off to get them both something to drink. It would have been a long, long night for the both of them. When they began talking, it would have been far after sunrise that they would be done. Spike wouldn’t spend longer in their presence than was necessary.

“But, why would Applejack do such a thing to you? You, of all ponies.” Twilight wondered aloud. Why would somepony like Applejack, hurt somepony like Fluttershy. Ideas began to roll ramped of course, but there was one that stuck out more than any of the others. One to which even Twilight had to give some right to. A deep sigh was released through her nostrils.

“I don’t, I don’t know!” Fluttershy sobbed loud.

Spike had returned with the drinks and Twilight levitated them to the table, nodding to him it was okay to leave. He gladly left the two mares alone since he wasn’t particularly interested in the drama that would unfurl, not while he could have some good sleep, that was.

The alicorn took a sip from her drink and allowed the thoughts to settle down for the moment. “Well, when you think about the first time that it happened, she wasn’t too happy either when you asked her if they could stay. But if you asked it this time again, there’s still no reason for her to just straight up hurt you. Maybe she’s just overreacting?”

Fluttershy just nodded in response, hoping with the most sincere of thoughts that it was indeed just the farmer overreacting. But what if it wasn’t? That was the thought that had send her trembling in the seat, the cup of cocoa was set down on the table and she buried her face deep in the flocks of her mane. “And if she, isn’t?”

It was something that Twilight hadn’t thought about before, she had to admit that. What if Applejack wasn’t overreacting and actually meant her words about the matter? It was a tough question to answer, but there was only one logical answer that she could have given to the fact. Twilight gave a gentle nod to herself before she answered. “Fluttershy, if it is indeed the truth about Applejack and she does want to hurt you because of it, I’ll be joining you the next time that you will encounter her, to face her for what she had done and said tonight. Because this is going just too far for comfort. And an enraged Applejack isn’t something to be taken lightly. If she comes here, to the castle tonight to ask me to get rid of them, we’ll have our talk.”

“But, what of the trees?” Fluttershy asked, peeking just her nose through the mane.

The sight was one that could be described as cute for Twilight, but the situation was much more serious to notice that little thing. “Well, if she doesn’t come, I’m sure she’s getting rid of them herself, however she wants to do that is a question beyond me. But how about you try and catch some sleep, Fluttershy, I’ll be here for the rest of the night, waiting for her to come and confront her about the matter.”

The timid pegasus gave a nod in response and left the caring wing of Twilight. Without a word and a weak, genuine calm smile had she left the throne room and headed for the guest rooms. Maybe a good night’s rest would have solved some of the problems that everypony was having. It was a long shot, but was the best one that they had.

~~~~

The air ceased of sound, the bats became silent and then they vanished from the trees. Everything had gone just according to plan for the mare. Applejack stood there, in the midst of the orchard, looking over the entire place with a set of diabolical eyes. She had terrified Fluttershy to the point of her galloping away. It was just amazing to see the pegasus spurt like that.

In a massive burst of red flames had Applejack left the spot and Chara taken the place again. The changeling grinned to herself while the trees were never hurt in any way. She had done the seemingly impossible and impersonated Applejack to the letter, or so she hoped of course.

“And that’s another crack that came,” she whispered while leaving the field. The real Applejack didn’t have a clue of what had happened in her own backyard, but certainly would get the blame of it. It was an encounter of a lifetime and one which the changeling wanted to see all too well. A sadistic laughter was released when she left the orchard as a whole and dove off the beaten path. Everything had gone just as she had planned, every step had gone to near perfection. Chara loved it when a plan came together in the way it did.

The changeling desired to return to the hidey hole that was hers. She wanted to go back to her secured place and from there device the plan to make everything shatter. The cracks were there in most friendships, it was time to take the hammer, set the nail on the weakest point and deliver a blow unlike anything ever seen before. The changeling had deemed it time, to finish what had been started just mere days ago.

While she darted through the plains, the changeling only had one thought to herself, one which she spoke aloud when the waters of the creek came rushing through her ears. “And so it will be written down, that a single, simple changeling can achieve what so many powerhouses of the past and present could not. The Elements of Harmony, shan’t be for much longer. Mark my words, because tomorrow, the red flow will choke Ponyville, and I will stand atop the highest tower, glancing over my creation of destruction!”

It was safe to say that Chara had gotten way ahead of herself…

~~~~

When the sun rose again, everything seemed to be going on smooth, everything promised to be just a normal day for a change. Fluttershy had awoken and felt a lot better than she had expected to feel. She had left the castle near the end of the morning and both Spike and Twilight were ready to have another cup of tea.

Unfortunately for them would the peace and calm have lasted only about a couple of hours.

It would have been near the middle of the afternoon that the doors of the castle had burst open again. Walking through the created opening was Rarity with her sister at her side. The glance in her eyes was one that stood to pure hatred, but not aimed to her sister. “Twilight!” she bellowed through the halls, using her magic as an amplifier. “We need to talk because Rainbow Dash’s gone too far this time!” Whatever had happened, it was serious for the lady to act like that.

Both Twilight and Spike jumped out of their seat and rushed over to the main hall of the castle once more. They wanted to know what had angered Rarity so much and what had caused her to act this way. It wasn’t an overreaction as they were used from the drama queen and Spike realized that she also had a side never seen by anypony, a much more violent side. He gulped at the thoughts going through him and stayed behind Twilight, using her as a shield.

“Rarity! What’s wrong, what happened?!” Twilight exclaimed when she came in the hall. Everything seemed to be normal for the matter, but Sweetie Belle was silent, looking even more bleak than normal. Almost, like the filly had seen a ghost of some kind. The alicorn could have tied the knots together here already, but she still had to know exactly what was going on. “Start from the beginning, why has Rainbow Dash gone too far this time?”

“This is not a matter to joke about, Twilight. This is of the utmost importance and this is all madness! She’s gone too far!” Rarity still bellowed with the aid of her magic.

Twilight’s horn lip up and she countered the spell, letting the unicorn talk on a normal level while at the same time also guiding them to the throne room. Something had cracked in the unicorn’s mind, that much was certain. It was just the question of what it was that caused her to act like that. The alicorn took a deep sigh since a matter with Rarity always had multiple layers.

Everypony seated themselves on one of the thrones and Rarity’s story would have been told. “The reason as to why Rainbow has gone too far today, is because my little sister almost died! That daredevil of nothing took both her and Scootaloo to watch her training, but Sweetie could sit on her back. If I wasn’t there to catch her after the looping that she made, I, I don’t even dare to think about what would have happened then.”

Twilight swallowed once, taking in the entire story as it was. So that was the reason why Sweetie looked like she had seen a ghost. It did explain a whole lot to the matter, but at the same time didn’t. It wasn’t something for Rainbow Dash to ask Sweetie up in the air. Unicorns were not the breed that loved to go in the air at all of course.

It was a curious tale, but for Twilight and her lack of sleep from the last night, the wrong conclusion was drawn out of it. She sighed deep and didn’t knew what to do next. Anything could have happened. But the first issue that had to be tackled was the one of rage and anger. Everypony just had to calm down for the moment. Because in anger, the most foolish decisions were made. And that was something that the alicorn wanted to prevent.

“Okay, okay, okay, so Rainbow asked you to fly with her, she accidently dropped you, but your sister caught you... What were you doing there, Rarity?” Twilight asked, wanted to know the finer details of the story.

Rarity huffed, crossed her forelegs and stared deep in the eyes of Twilight. “I was only there to bring Sweetie there of course. Not to mention the fact that it is quite mesmerizing to see a pegasus go through the air like that. But I decided to stay, because my little sister went up there. And that was the part that I just had to see. I have a legitimate reason to have been there, Twilight.”

Words that couldn’t be denied by any or all. Twilight had worked herself in a tough package and she knew it. Another exhale left her mouth while she leaned back in her throne. Everything was wrong about the past few days. “Okay, we need to calm down, one way or the other. We need to calm ourselves and look for a way out of this mess. Because things have been going on, I can’t tie together whatsoever. Rarity, come back here later tonight, it’s time for a good talk, friend to friend.”

Chapter 13

The sun was setting once more over the land. From all across the fields and houses had they come to gather. The six friends who were oblivious as to why they were called, were on their way. None of them spoke a single word on the way to the castle. Rarity didn’t even grant Rainbow a glance while Rainbow didn’t say a word to Pinkie, Fluttershy was too terrified to even look at Applejack, who had returned earlier that day, and neither the farmer nor Pinkie had even the slightest idea what was truly going on. Something had happened, but what was it?

Clouds had been drifting in and just like the mood, they were gloomy. A storm had been predicted to fall later that evening. It was all setting the scene for something that could terrorize even the toughest hearts. But what would have happened? Nopony dared to speak a word and they moved in silence. Other ponies that they came across all became silent at the sight as well. None of them dared to make a remark, fearing whatever wrath could be called upon them.

Had somepony they knew passed away? Had somepony they loved broken their bonds? Had Twilight gone too far with something? Something had happened, the village just didn’t knew what it was. Ponies just returned home, awaiting the storm that would erupt over time. It would be safer to stay inside if the six of them decided to battle it out among one another.

The five of them all wandered through the streets, not even Rainbow Dash was flying. In the distance had it bloomed up once more, the crystalline castle in which Twilight had taken her residence. The sight of even the castle had been gloomy, nopony felt good with the sight as it was. It was only more pressure on an already ticking time bomb.

When they approached the front door, they could see Twilight just standing there and awaiting them. Judging eyes stared over each of them. Applejack already made a conclusion but would still have continued on. She wanted to be there when all hell broke loose of course. The rest didn’t particularly care, as long as the situation got resolved, one way or the other.

“Ah, good, you’re all here. If you would please go to the throne room, I’ll be with you there shortly. And please, don’t try to tear the place down, okay?” Twilight said to them in a neutral voice. If anypony had to be the voice of reason for the maddened minds she was surrounded with, it would have been her.

The ponies all nodded and didn’t even greet the alicorn in a friendly manner. They made her feel that there was something terribly wrong of course. Twilight let out a deep sigh afterward and shook her head. The last thing that she wanted was to break the friendships that had been forged. Everypony grew to each other as a friend and hinted even as a potential lover from time to time. She shook her head and huffed, blocking those thoughts from her mind.

It was time to settle the debts made with everypony. It was time for Twilight to finally get a good view of what was going on after all. She wandered back in the castle and shut the door tight, locking it not just via its mechanism, but also via a couple of powerful arcane spells. Time of judgement had fallen upon each of them, it was time to speak.

~~~~

All of them sat down in the throne room, each of them on their own throne while Twilight wandered in. Before any of them could have said even a word, Twilight slammed the door shut and opened her mouth to speak. The confrontation would be hard and head-on. “So, here we are, the six of us... Over the past few days it has come to my attention that bad blood has begun to run between all of you, not directly with me, but between you all. My question is: what the freaking, flippity, flip-side happened?! I thought you were all friends of each other and wanted to support it!”

Those words roared the argument in existence, one that never should have been.

“Pinkie tried to assault me, remember! We had spoken about the possibilities of a relationship, but we both figured it was best to not engage in it!” Rainbow bellowed, capturing the attention of Pinkie Pie.

“What?! I did not!” the pink mare returned, rising up from her throne. “When!?”

“A mere few days ago! If you start lying about the fact that you weren’t there when you did it, you’re even a worse pony than I could have imagined, Pinkie!” Rainbow snarled in return, locking the pink mare in a staring competition.

“Not to forget that you almost killed my sister, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity growled loud enough for the others to hear it. Naturally were they all surprised to hear that, and shot glares and glances in her direction. It wasn’t true, right?

Rainbow backed away the second she caught the words. She lowered back down in her own throne and had a good look to Rarity. She genuinely didn’t knew where the fashionista was talking about. It was madness to even say words like that! Sexuality, fine. But accusing her of near straight-up murder? That was a whole other point of interest. “I didn’t! I wasn’t even close by Sweetie! When did this happen Rares?”

“Don’t you try to deny it!” Rarity growled again, charging her horn to capture Rainbow and shake her. “Earlier today, you took Sweetie out for a flying trip!”

The watchful eye of Twilight prevented it and she cancelled the spell without a sound.

“I didn’t! I woke up far in midday and heard Twilight wanted to see us tonight, then I went on to do my chores! Where do you get this nonsense from, Rarity?”

“Are you calling me a liar, of all things considered?!”

“No! I just want to know where you got this from!”

“Quiet y’all!” Applejack shouted loud and clear. Silence took over the room and everypony had a glance to her. Her hoof pointed to Fluttershy who had been eagerly awaiting her turn to speak something. “Go right ahead, sugarcube.”

“Don’t you ‘sugarcube’ me, Applejack, you’re the worst of the lot!”

“Beg yar pardon?” the farmer returned to the timid pegasus with a risen eyebrow.

“Did you forget that fruitbat invasion from the night before or something?”

“Fruitbat invasion? What in tarnation are ya talkin’ ‘bout?” Now it was Applejack who was confused about the entire matter. Something wasn’t right, she had left town for the markets and just as Rainbow, only heard about Twilight wanting to meet them.

“Don’t you dare to deny it, Applejack!”

“Ah ain’t denying anythin’ here!”

“Would you all just be quiet for the moment?” Twilight said in a raised voice. She took place on her own throne and sighed deep. She had listened to all of the words spoken and realized that some hadn’t the faintest idea what was going on. Which meant that there might have been a lot more trouble than originally thought about. It was a matter Twilight would look in at a later point, first she had to settle the bad blood with her friends.

It was too early to jump to conclusions for the time being, but the words of Spike continued to linger through her mind. Speaking of the little dragon, the alicorn deemed it better if he wasn’t there with them while they were having their powerful talk. She had given him an evening off, but no doubt he would be eavesdropping on them and maybe already stood listening by the door. That, or he was just doing his own things. Not that it really mattered in the moment.

Twilight would lie if she said that she didn’t notice the cracks in the friendships emerging between them. She saw them clear as day and only a small amount of extra pressure would have shattered what was left of it. “So many moons ago, we came together in order to fight a common enemy, Nightmare Moon. We were crowned the Elements of Harmony during that event and we remained friends afterward, not because we had something in common, but because if what we didn’t. Our differences made us to the mares we are today and it helped us conquer things we never even dared to imagine. But listening to you lot now... It tears through my heart with pain.”

All of them had a look to Twilight, silencing their own arguments in the process. Each had to admit that it rung a form of truth, however small. But they wouldn’t listen to it with both ears. The hatred and disgust that came for the other mares was greater than the wisdom of Twilight.

“It brings me so much pain to see you all bickering like this, talking about things the other doesn’t even have knowledge about. But we have to solve it, somehow, together.” Naturally had the princess hoped that her words would have done the trick to let the other five listen to her, because of it didn’t, a lot more could have been at stake. “What happened these past few days might have been the greatest ordeal that our friendship has ever gone through, but remember the wonderful moments that we had together, isn’t that just worth it to keep the friendship going for? I never thought that remaining friends would be easy, but we share a bond. I hope you see that too.”

Silence filled the room while the mares began to think and ponder the words of Twilight. They had to admit that she had a point of some sort, but on the other end were their own emotions. Everything from the past week was just troublesome to live by. Everything that had happened previously, in comparison to what happened the past week, wasn’t worth it. So many bad and terrible things had happened, to remain silent about the shatters they had already felt in their hearts.

It would be impossible to remain friends with such a terrible past behind them.

“If you have any way that we might solve this, other than to bury the hatchet and forgive each other, I’ll gladly hear it,” added Twilight, smiling even a little bit.

“And just casually forget that somepony nearly killed my sister? Or that another pony wanted to say something about my family?” Rarity growled up. She pressed her fore-hooves against the table, rising her body up from the throne. “I am sorry, Twilight, but we can’t just forgive and forget this. This is madness of the biggest sort and with the situation as it is, I much rather go my own way. I have no quarrels with you, it’s just the other five I’m having the unfortunate pleasure of despising.”

Whether Rarity realized it or not, but she had spoken the thoughts of everypony present outside of Twilight. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack all felt the same way. They either had something terrible happen to them, or were accused of something that they had never done. How could they have remained friends with a situation like that? It was maddening and heartbreaking for certain, but on the other end was it maybe for the better as well. Maybe it was better to just break their friendship? Twilight didn’t think so.

The levels of stress and urgency of the matter became much more clear to the alicorn after Rarity had spoken her words. The next few words spoken should have been picked with care, or all hell would break loose and there would be the castle to pay. “I don’t know what happened between the five of you in the past few days, but I can clearly say that it isn’t something good at all. And we need to solve this madness before it gets way out of our league.”

“Twilight,” the cyan pegasus started, glaring at the mare with cutting eyes, “ this problem is on each and every one of us, with the others. You have nothing to do with this, so why are you making such a fuss about it anyway? Don’t give me that speech about how we’re your friends and friends help each other. You have nothing to say on this!”

The thought was shared among the others. It was true that Twilight had no business with each of their quarrels and troubles. So why would she have even tried to do such a thing to start with? Of course did the thought process of the alicorn run much deeper than they were capable of and Twilight’s reaction showed that. “No Rainbow, it’s because all of you are friends of mine and I don’t like to see them fighting each other like this. There’s something that we should be able to do and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind! It’s my business, as much as it is yours!”

“Hmpf, if you think that,” grumbled Rainbow and shoved her throne back, “then we’re done talking here.” She stood up and wanted to make a leave. Twilight wanted to just leave the place as a whole and be done with it. Staying there any longer in the same area with the other five had made her sick. Rainbow had to leave the castle and just soar through the clouded skies to get a clear head.

The others actually thought about the same thing but didn’t knew when the time was ‘right’ for them to take their leave. Grumbles and growls all came from the mares while they never spoke a single word. Everypony was just about ready to go and leave Twilight, who couldn’t stop them with all the power in the world. The situation was doomed and pulverized.

~~~~

On the other side of the door had a pair of ears indeed been eavesdropping on them all. Fortunately had Spike the dragon heard everything that the mares had spoken to one another and wasn’t ready to let them leave just yet. He had to do something that he had never done before, keeping them all together. A swallow came and he hadn’t the faintest idea what to do next, but the idea had to be forged quickly. Mainly since Rainbow had already made her way down to the door.

He opened the door and looked straight in the eyes of Rainbow. The pegasus stopped dead in her tracks and didn’t knew what to do next to face him. “Uhm, hey, Spike, how’s it going?” She tried to act cool, like nothing had happened. But the dragon didn’t fall for it.

He had another look to the pegasus and pointed a finger to her. “You, are going back to that throne, take a seat and just talk about the matter! Because in everything that you discussed, you forgot one tiny thing, Rainbow. You all did, by the way!”

Could it be that Spike had turned in their voice of reason? Twilight certainly hoped in that little fact. But if it wasn’t, the biggest meltdown in Equestria’s history was about to commence. Twilight placed all of her hopes on the fact that Spike could choose his next words carefully.

Rainbow on the other end was having a glance at the little dragon, wondering what it was that he could have meant with his words. Something obviously had hit the spark inside of him. “Then,” the pegasus said after looking at the other mares, “do tell what it was we missed.”

The dragon could almost facepalmed so hard in response to those words. Their anger for each other had blinded them to a degree unseen before. Spike didn’t knew how he had to word it any differently. He then just spoke it the way he knew that they all understood what he mumbled about. The entire situation now depended on him. “The thing that you forgot, was to ask! Pinkie didn’t knew what you were talking about and you went straight in the defence, Rainbow. You should have asked what she was doing that day!”

A bright red blush of shame appeared on the cheeks of the pegasus, followed by an awkward chuckle. The dragon was having a point there, one which she didn’t wanted to admit to him. Without a word had she turned back around, hung her head low and started walking back to her throne.

Spike nodded once and then hurried over to the table, climbed atop of it and had a good look at each of them. He wasn’t done with his words, not by a long shot. “You have been through so much together, so much that things like this shouldn’t shatter your friendship. You should have done the one thing that you didn’t want to do, which was talking. Just talk about the matter and maybe, just maybe, it could reveal a lot more than you could have thought it would. Talking is a powerful thing, but only if you give it a chance. That’s, that’s all I’m going to say, hehe.”

The more he spoke, the more he realized that everypony was looking at him with a disgusted face. They didn’t wanted to speak about the troubles that they had been going through, they didn’t even wanted to see the pony with whom they had beef with. Yet amidst it all had Twilight to admit that she was glad. He was a little voice of reason between them all. Though she couldn’t help but to feel that everything was hanging by a threat. Doubts rose in her mind, trouble was blooming, maybe a very, very good night’s worth of sleep might have given her another way to look at it.

“Maybe, it’s time that we all go to bed. Please, stay in the guest rooms for the night, and just think about what could happen, or happened. I’m not forcing you to make it up, but I am asking you to weigh all the options before doing anything that you might regret,” she said to them, charging her horn and opening the door. They were allowed to leave with the thoughts surging like mad.

The time had come for them all to decide, whether or not they would give Chara the way she wanted, or that they would prove that their friendship was maybe the strongest one in all of Equestria. A thing it certainly didn’t feel like in the moment.

All of them would leave their thrones and in silence accepted the offer given. They were ready to hit it for the night, maybe even speak about it in the morning. But nopony could deny that the amounts of red flow that went through the room were astronomical. It began to spread through all the cracks and openings, spreading itself through Ponyville.

Danger was knocking at the door and the changeling got a literal taste of the action. Times changed, something had to give and something had to happen, fast.

Chapter 14

The rays of the sun teased the nose of Twilight quite a bit. Her eyes opened up under the sound of a heavy groan. The alicorn wasn’t ready to leave the comforts of her bed just yet, even though the day had started hours ago. The normally so eager mare was having troubles. The words from the previous evening still lingered through her mind and she wasn’t happy with them.

Twilight let out a deep exhale while she managed to rise her body up from the bed. Everything just felt wrong in the moment, at the same time did her castle feel empty. Maybe they had all gone? She didn’t knew nor did she really care. The mare managed to crawl her way out of the bed and she was presented with a sight curious.

The curtains were lifted and the striking blue skies were the first things revealed to her. The storm had passed over, but the rain it dropped was still visible in massive puddles. “Must have been a terrible a storm,” the mare mumbled to herself. After that she left the scene and went for the bathroom to refresh herself. If anything, maybe that would have awoken her a bit more, that, and she looked like a mess with fur, mane and feathers.

When the bathroom door was opened again, the alicorn left with grace and elegance unseen before. Twilight was ready to hit the day and went over to the guest chambers. Naturally she wasn’t expecting that any of her friends were still there, but the hope remained.

But her feelings were right on the matter, all of them had departed from the castle to do their own things, all while their friendships laid on the brink of being broken by something and everything. It devastated the feelings of Twilight for sure, as she had been hoping that their friendships would be lasting forevermore. The situation was dire to say the least.

“Spike!” Twilight called out. “I’ll making a round through town, you’ll see me when I get back, no idea when I’ll be back.”

“But what about breakfast? You gotta eat something, you know,” the dragon replied from the kitchen. Even though he had a point, Twilight wasn’t letting anything come pass her mind. She wanted to go, had to go even, and that was exactly what she would have done. Leave the castle be for the time being.

A scuff came from her. “I’ll eat something in town, enough places are already open where I can get something that I need. And please don’t try and eat the place when I’m gone. It’s our home, not your secret food stash.”

“Yes ma’am,” the dragon answered with a grumble. He shook his head to the words that she had spoken and sighed afterwards. “Even if I could eat it all, it wasn’t that secret of a stash.” Spike left the kitchen and just began to wander through the halls without a true aim. The sheer and immense size that it had was something that kept him amazed for all time. How such a thing had even come to be, after such a devastating battle, was something that he would never fully realize.

On the other end, it also felt strange for him, strange because of the fact that everypony had been turning against each other. Something had happened and he had some ideas of his own, ideas that Twilight should probably have listened to, but too stubborn to admit. A chuckle came from the dragon while he landed in a chair, thinking of what to do next with the rest of the day.

~~~~

Twilight wandered through the streets of Ponyville with a slow trot. She wasn’t her usual happy and cheery self, far from it even. She was like the ground after the storm, she felt both gloomy and defeated by her own friends. The chaos that had been born the night before was something that she didn’t wanted to be reminded on. Something had to change everything around and Twilight hoped of course that she was able to become the fixer.

Now that was wishful thinking indeed.

With her eyes set on everything and nothing at the same time, she wandered past the market. And thus past ponies that knew her well enough. A lot of them said their casual hello’s while Twilight never replied to any of them. The alicorn just kept on walking, lost in her thoughts.

One of the ponies that she encountered was one whom didn’t wanted to stop at the mere silence of the mare. Something was wrong with her and he felt it, better than anypony. Because that pony was the pegasus stallion Chara. He approached Twilight carefully and began to walk besides her. “You don’t mind if I trot along for a little while?”

For the first time had Twilight glanced up and saw the charismatic smile of the stallion. He seemed to be genuinely concerned about her matter, a little thing which warmed her heart maybe a little bit too much. “Not at all, Chara, please, I would be honored if you joined me in this.”

A little chuckle came from the stallion who then nodded. He couldn’t help but to notice that something was wrong with the mare. “You seem, troubled today. May I ask what the possible cause of that might be?” His tone was kept low while his words spoke of a genuine concern. Twilight appreciated it, for there was at least one other pony in the whole of Ponyville who wanted to ask what was wrong with her. On the other end, it meant that she had to speak her words of concern.

The alicorn took her eyes away for a second or two, not sure whether she had to spill the words to the likes of him. On the other end, it may have been the only pony against whom she could have spoken the words in general. The decision was tough, but settled down on one fact because of his looked. His charms had done the trick, really.

With a sigh would she started to tell exactly what it was that bothered her. She told him about the cracks she noticed appearing in the friendships between her friends, how she tried to resolve the matters on her own, but only feeling too weak to do something.

The stallion placed a leg over her shoulder, trying to comfort her for what it was worth. “It’s sad to say, Twilight, but I don’t think that anything lasts forever. Times change and friends, come and go. From time to time, there’s nothing in the world that can either change minds or is powerful enough to be glue something back together what shouldn’t be. There are times where you just have to drop what is, and accept what’s going to be. I do believe, that this might be one of those instances, judging it from your words alone.”

“Are you suggesting that I should just drop the ponies that I call my friends, and let them pretty much wage war with one another?” Anger had consumed Twilight then. Those words were the ones that she never wanted to hear in her life. She took a much more defensive stance with her words and would talk her way out of nearly everything that the stallion could have thrown her way.

Chara only let out a light but awkward chuckle and shook his head. “I’m not saying that you should watch wage them war with one another, no, you told me that they have no quarrel with you, meaning that they are still your friends, it’s just the relationship between them that’s stands rather unstable, by the sounds of it.” Another smile came to his lips. “What you need to do, my dear Twilight, is to re-evaluate the entire situation for what it is. Only with a calmed mind are you able to see what’s been hidden, which is the right choice.”

The sheer calm in which he spoke, the sheer wisdom that his words carried, together with the comforting smile, Twilight couldn’t help herself but to just melt away at it all. She wanted to hug him, but he was still holding her. The warmth of his body calmed her, it rose her spirit up to new levels. He did have a point though, she had jumped straight to conclusions and tried to fix something that maybe couldn’t be fixed at all. Twilight let out a deep sigh and a nod. She was visually calmed down again from his help. “I, do see what you mean, Chara. It pains me to say, but you’re having a very, very good point. I do need to reevaluate the situation and see what comes out of it. How’s the house hunting going, if I may ask?”

The stallion let out another chuckle, glad to see that Twilight noticed the situation in his way. But there was something else of course, the whole lie and web of deceit that he had shrouded before the mare. “The hunting is going particularly well, I would say. There’s a lovely little place near the lake that I have an eye on, quite remote and out of sight, but still in walking distance from town. Have to be at the mayor’s office soon to see if I can get the lot. Because that, is just the near perfect spot.”

Twilight was impressed that he wanted to build a house near the lake, the sight was pretty, though he didn’t strike her as a hermit at all. On the other end, she had been wrong about ponies before of course. The stallion removed his leg from the alicorn whom had to return back to her own things. They spoke their goodbye’s and separated their ways again, wandering off to different parts of town.

~~~~

Having taken a seat on her throne, the thoughts of Twilight had begun to both run ramped and wild. Everything would have been used in order to figure out what was wrong with her friends. Nothing made that much sense to the alicorn of course, but she tried to remember most of the words that were spoken the day before.

It all just resulted in one single, little fact that she could place her hoof on, a fact so big that she never could have seen it. There was something wrong. Of course there was something wrong, that much was obvious. But then could Twilight place the matter a bit more carefully. Possibly to what the cause might have been. Her friends had never acted in the way they did to one another, the fact that one didn’t even knew what the other was talking about also gave something away.

Twilight bit her lips, but she was almost ready to finally make an accusation of just what was troubling her so much, what was troubling her friends. It stared her right in the face like the walls of the castle, but she couldn’t distinguish what the shape of it was. It was maddening for the alicorn to feel the way she did. Once again was she nearly driven off the edge of insanity.

With a deep sounding ‘urgh’ had the mare left her throne. She would just roam through the castle and get everything out that was troubling her. She rushed over to her bedroom first. The door flung open with her magic and she had a good look around. Something was staring at her, almost laughing at her because she was so thick.

“There must be something, right!? Something that can tie this all together.” Unknown to her was that Spike had left the castle as a whole to do his own things for the day, meaning that she couldn’t ask him for aid of any sort. The alicorn was at a loss and turned around. “Only one place in the entire castle where I might be able to the answers that I need,” she said to herself.

The door of the bedroom was shut again and the mare just rushed over to the library. Again was the door opened with her magic and she galloped through the opening. The grand library of the Golden Oak had been transferred to the crystal one and she began to scour through all the titles that were present.

Looking at the spines of all the books, it might give her the idea of what she was looking for and at. Everything from science to fiction and everything in between passed her eyes. The unicorn didn’t knew what to do, what to think of it. Books were levitated like mad and she sat down on the table, looking closer to the received books.

Times faded away when cold blood finally managed to rush through her veins. The realization had hit her and she felt devastated because of it. It was simple, so simple even. If only she had paid a bit more attention to her little dragon.

“I’ve been played. We’ll have been played by just one pony...” Twilight mumbled to herself, finally realizing that everything was the plan of just one pony. But the question remained, whom was that one pony who could have done everything. A lot of candidates came to her mind, and even more were already crossed off the list for various reasons. “Who?! Who?! Who?!”

“Whowho,” echoed through the library.

“Who?!”

“Whowho.”

Her eyebrows rose in confusion, that sound shouldn’t have been there, right? “Who?”

“Who.”

The eyes of the mare had a glance all over the library. The second voice had to come from somewhere, as it wasn’t her echo that did all of the talking. And there, atop the perch that was erected, sat her owl, Owlowiscious. Twilight blushed a bit and couple plant her hoof in her face for such a thing. She didn’t knew what to say to it and just smiled to her pet. Maybe she shouldn’t have been that taken away in her mind.

On the other end, in that little moment of clarity, there was something that shot through her mind. “Chara,” was the only name that she mumbled. Could it be that the stallion might have been the cause of all the troubles? Spike had mentioned it before that it was the stallion who had a strange scent to him. But they were all taken by his charms, which was more than enough to blind them. “If this turns out to be the truth of the matter, I don’t know what I will be doing to you!”

The owl flew away from the perch, only to roam another part of the castle in peace and silence. The frustrations of Twilight had been building up to a degree unseen before. The time had come to finally use something that she had been wanting to use for a long, long time at that point.

In the meantime had Spike returned back to the castle and entered the library, seeing Twilight as determined as she was. “W-What’s going on?” he dared to ask her.

Twilight huffed just the once and had a glance to him. “I think I know who has been causing all of the trouble that’s been going on between us.”

“Oh, you finally decided to listen to me, didn’t you?”

“Now’s not the time to play arrogant, Spike.”

“Sorry.”

With his apologies accepted, Twilight rushed to the deck with the telescope. She had been wanting to use the thing so long at that point, now was the time that she could finally do it. The door to the deck opened and she rushed through the opening, capturing the device in her magical hold.

Once close enough, the charge of her magic powered the telescope while she looked through it with one eye. It was time to see what the population of Ponyville was doing. All sorts of ponies were witnessed by the thing, all being carefully monitored by Twilight, who was looking for any kind of behavior that wasn’t normal, and looking for one specific pony in the meantime.

Spike had entered the deck as well, curious to see what had managed to get Twilight as crazy as it did. Something had happened of course, and that was exactly the thing where Spike was afraid of. The alicorn had gone up in her methods and the most dangerous thing of all was that she could have done everything. A powerful mistress of the arcane such a Twilight could and would have done nearly everything to get what she wanted.

“No, no, not you, definitely not you, got my eye on you for some time already, but not,” mumbled the mare to herself, watching over every single pony she could see. “Maybe I should expand my reach?” The charge of her horn increased just a bit more, allowing her to view even further and with more detail.

“What is it, that you’re even trying to do? Spot the wrong pony, like in that book?” Spike asked after he joined her on the balcony.

Twilight turned away from the telescope for a moment and gave a nod to the dragon. He wasn’t all that far off the truth, actually. “You can see it that way, yes. I should have listened to your words a lot sooner, because ever since one particular pony came into town, all the troubles that we had with our friends had started. I can’t get him in my sights though...”

“You mean, that hunk of a stallion of yours? I’ve to admit that there was something fishy about him the second I laid my eyes on him,” the dragon commented, leaning against the opening with a smirk on his face.

Twilight huffed once and the smirk disappeared. It really wasn’t the time to play smartass in the moment.

“Fine, fine, fine, sorry for even thinking about it.”

The alicorn turned back to the telescope and had another look through it, looking in the direction of the lake and finally capturing the pony whom she wanted. “So there’s some truth to your story, isn’t there?” she said aloud. A smirk came to her face and the powers of her horn increased even further. She took a couple of steps back from the telescope and prepared herself to fire a spell.

“I hope that this is going to work!” Twilight grunted while all of the power stored was released in one massive blast. A blast that headed through the entirety of Ponyville. Nopony would have felt a thing from the blast, with the exception of creatures that might have been in disguise.

The alicorn had placed her bets and there was no turning back. It was time to see if she was right, if Spike was right, and maybe even save her friends in the process.

Chapter 15

The surge of arcane energy rushed through the air with unparalleled speed. Nopony in the entire town felt anything of it, since it was tuned to lift veils of arcane. Yet there was one pony who felt the full effect of the spell. And that pony, was Chara, the pegasus stallion.

The wave continued to expand itself and eventually reached the stallion who was present near the lake. A burning feeling was felt within the heart, a desire to revert back to the form that it had originally taken. Chara didn’t knew what it was, but she had a difficult time controlling whatever it was. A grunt came while the head was dropped a bit.

The eyes were shut with force and a shake of the head given. The agonizing pain, the will to revert back to her changeling form. Somepony had figured it out. Somepony in town had figured everything out and just wanted to be sure. “I’m not, gonna give you, that pleasure!” she grunted in her true voice. Sparks of red magic already flew off parts of the body. Revealing the disgusting truth that laid underneath it.

Chara had to sit and bite through the pain as best as she could. There was nothing in the world that she could have done to counter it. Not as long as the wave was emitted though. She had to return to her hole, return to that one safe place and just wait out whatever had come next. A huff left the stallion before he turned around. The wings were spread and given a couple flaps to bring fresh air for the stallion.

Only then would the gallop be set. With all the might in her body had Chara powered her legs. The wave was still being emitted and pieces of her changeling-self had shimmered through already. The hidden magic of her own covered the spots and she was just glad for the fact that nopony was around. If they had seen her the way she truly was, all hell would have broken loose.

Galloping past the far outskirts of town, Chara hoped to avoid any kind of interaction with any other pony. The last thing she needed was a conversation while her heart was in terrible pain. It was near impossible to continue on with the way she had done, but the will of not reverting back kept the spirits high. Everything had just gone down the drain in that moment.

The changeling could have cursed the day and everything that had happened. Of course she knew that there was one pony capable of releasing such powerful magical blasts and it was in fact the one pony whom she had left alone. “I’ll get you for this, Twilight, mark my words!” Chara grunted while her feathered wings shifted to the insectoid ones for a moment. A shot of pain went through her spine, causing the poor pony to fall.

A splash of water followed and Chara realized that she had fallen in the creek that led to her cave. Beneath the waterline had her legs reverted back to the chitin changeling armor, which she quickly managed to hide again with her own magic. Terror and turmoil rose while the stallion left the water again. He was just so close to the hidey hole and within there, everything could happen.

Another gallop was made and the entrance became visible. Just a quick dash more, before everything could be vented and released. The stallion’s pain, the changeling’s anger, they both were a terrible condition to live through. And the only way that Chara could get rid of it, was to revert back to her true self, to reveal the monster that she truly was. To show the world the succubus she was.

Of course wasn’t the changeling too happy with the ordeal that she was put through. It was worse than being in the frontier town of Dodge Junction, and it was about ten times worse than being told that she was banished from her own hive. The grief and devastation that she felt when her queen spoke the words, never drove her as crazy as when she was forced to revert back to her true self. Agony, just plain agony.

~~~~

On the balcony of the castle has Twilight been keeping a watchful eye to the matter through her telescope. She knew that Chara was hiding something, but now she knew what it exactly was. As soon as the stallion had returned and dove in his hole, everything became clear to her. She gave a nod to herself and left the telescope for what it was.

Having used the crystalline structure of her castle as an amplifier for her magic, the wave of energy would have continued on long after Twilight herself had cancelled the spell. She took a deep inhale and just went straight past Spike, heading to the library. The dragon didn’t spoke a word, yet.

Entering the library of the castle, the alicorn moved over to a section she had hoped to not see that soon again. Everything that she needed to know about the matter laid there though. She allowed her horn to be charged and the books involving changeling were all levitated from the shelves. There was something strange about that one changeling, like it had gone rogue.

Spike had entered the library as well and was just wondering what was wrong with Twilight. “Say, uhm, Twilight, aren’t you taking this a little bit too serious? I mean, you’re usually never this silent? What have you discovered? Better question: how bad is it?” he dared to ask.

As much as she hated it to admit, it was the only way that it could have been done. Another deep exhale came from the mare while the books were stacked with her magic. “You were right...” she spoke in a near inaudible whisper.

“What?” Spike asked her in confusion. He closed the distance and eventually sat down on a chair. He genuinely didn’t capture the words that had been spoken by her. And there was something about them that made him worry about it.

“I said: you were right,” repeated Twilight while she opened one of the books. “There was something going on with that stallion, because that stallion is a changeling.”

“A changeling? Like those we saw in Canterlot? But what’s a lone changeling doing here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Though the eyes, which I saw for only a fraction of a second, gave away too much information.” Her magic shifted the pages until she found the subject that she was looking for. “The red color that they carried was something I’ve never even seen at all.”

“So, is that a good or a bad thing?” asked Spike who wanted to know the finer details of the case. Of course he knew that it was a bad thing, but it never would hurt to just straight up ask it.

Twilight lowered the book and just nodded to him. She finally sat down on a chair of her own and leaned back a bit. It was terrible to see that such a breed of changeling had been released in the wild. There was some information known about the red eyed ones, but by far not enough to draw conclusions that could have come to aid for anypony. “It’s terrible news, actually. The army of Chrysalis got defeated quite easily because they got an overdose of love. But red eyed changelings, they live for the more negative emotions. And that’s what been driving us apart.”

Spike’s blood almost chilled more than usually. Never had he even dared to think of such a devastating thing to happen. Never had he ever even dared to think that they could be falling victim to it. He out a gentle sigh and nodded. “So, what will you do now with it?”

“Whatever I can, Spike. First, I’m going to have to neutralize it. Not killing it though, because it is through that changeling that our friends are acting the way they are. They need to see it for themselves that it was that creature all along, not just among themselves.” An honorable cause indeed, even Spike had to admit that. And it also proved that Twilight’s theory was correct, not just some hot air that she spoke in the faint hope that her friends would remain together.

It was a tough decision to make, but maybe, just maybe, there would have been a way in which the changeling could have been of aid to her. It was farfetched as it could be, but the option was there nonetheless. Twilight leaned even further in the chair and had a gander at Spike. “When captured, I’m going to study it, try to figure out more about this kind of breed of changeling, see what their origin is and what could potentially happen.”

“No dissecting?” Spike asked with a slight tremble in his voice.

The alicorn rose an eyebrow to that moments prior to her just shaking her head. No dissection would have come to that changeling, not as long as it continued to live, that was. “Come on Spike, we have a trap to set and if my feelings are correct, that changeling is planning a massive attack in the town right now. We need to be ready for it.”

“What can one changeling do to a town like Ponyville?” Spike said more as a joking remark.

The attention of Twilight shifted straight away back to him and she shot him a glare. “In just a few days’ worth of time, has one changeling almost managed to shatter the friendships we’ve had for so many years! I call that pretty dangerous, don’t you agree? I mean, it can revert to all sorts of measures in order to stay hidden. But if the behavior reports on red eyed ones should be believed, it’s going to charge straight into town, head first. Probably looking for me before doing something unthinkable.”

“That’s actually really bad,” the dragon mumbled to himself. “But, does this mean that that changeling is more dangerous than, let’s say Chrysalis?”

Twilight nodded while she closed the book and left her seat. Nothing would be brought with her, only her wits and magic, and enough time to give a warning to the ponies of Ponyville. Nopony had to interfere with that creature, not as long as it wasn’t dangerous for them at least. “Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis nor Tirek had the power to destroy our friendships, but one changeling almost did it from the inside out... That’s clever, even for a bug like that.”

Spike became more terrified of the changeling after Twilight had spoken those words. All of the previously mentioned beings tried to break them from the sides or above, but never from within. One changeling had almost succeeded in what the others had thought to be impossible. Humiliation and danger, that was the situation for the others.

The two left the library as a whole. They had to leave the castle and warn as many ponies before all hell would be unleashed to the town. Either Ponyville would see a swift, quick battle between the changeling and the alicorn, or it would be a war of rage that would last for hours, destroying most of the town in the process. None knew which one it would be.

~~~~

Hidden away in her caverns and galloping through the tubes, Chara still had managed to keep her pegasus disguise up through the agonizing pain. She had rushed to the pond and lit the candles again with a flick of the horn. The harmonious aura that it emitted was enough for her. It was time to shed her skin and show the world whom she truly was. And so, in a massive, bright red flame had the stallion been left behind and only the female changeling stood within the chamber.

Growls and grumbles left the creature, maddened by the fact that the plan had been foiled. Only Twilight was clever enough to take her own and figure her out. Meaning that all of her sights were set upon that one mare. “I will get you for this, Twilight, mark my words, and it will be your pretty town that will be paying the price for it!” Chara snarled to the world above. But first, she had to take a bath fit for a queen.

A bath that would hopefully empower her to take on the alicorn in a head on confrontation. Chara just didn’t wanted to see Twilight fall before her. But as soon as that happened, she wanted to paint the town red, literally.

The changeling’s plans had been foiled, now it was time to return to much more drastic measures of action and being. The time of talk was over, never had been there. Chara, while she distend in the pond, declared war upon the town of Ponyville. A war she was destined to win.

~~~~

Twilight and Spike stood near town hall, in the middle of town, they were waiting for the changeling to arrive and to battle it out. The way that they both stood there invoked power and prowess, ponies actually became terrified of it and all went inside. Nopony knew what to truly expect from the situation as it was. Everything could have changed in the blink of an eye and Twilight knew that.

The friendships that were at stake were far greater than any arcane knowledge that she might have gathered over time. The fact that one little changeling had almost succeeded in the fact that they would have broken up as friends, haunted her mind maybe a tad bit too much. Twilight would have spoken with her friends, but only when the changeling was captured and had in fact spoken the truth in front of all of them.

A tear went the cheek of the alicorn, saddened by the fact that five wonderful friendships had almost been shattered, because they were too busy drooling over the new, near perfect stallion that had wandered into town. That should have been the first signs of trouble though. The tear wasn’t wiped away and travelled all the way down her chin, before dropping to the ground below.

Spike just stood there, awaiting whatever it was that would be heading their way. He was ready for anything and everything in the moment. He was in for a good fight, wanting to kick the changeling’s butt for doing what it had done. He clenched his fits and was ready for it.

In the meantime and near the edge of town, the changeling had entered it. Being the black, chitin armored bug that she was, looks were given. It was the first time that the ponies of Ponyville saw what the being really was and the powerful steps that it made. It invoked some concern by the ponies who went out of the creature’s way.

Nopony dared to speak with it though, the red eyes gave of a slight hint of aggression and they became a little –rightfully– frightened by it. The very same fear went through the air as honey and the changeling filtered it all. There was something marvelous about the taste of fear, but nothing would have been better than the anger that she would consume from Twilight.

There was no doubt for the changeling, Twilight was around there somewhere and all that had to be done, was to just follow the scent. Follow the scent of hatred that was given off by the alicorn, a hatred that originated from the changeling itself. A dark chuckle left the bug upon realizing that little fact. “Consumed by hatred, just the way I like my meals and the perfect way to start some mayhem!” the changeling spoke loud enough for the other ponies to hear it.

They were all under strict orders of Twilight to not engage the being. Everypony knew that and that was one thing that they would heed. Frightened by the words, all of the ponies emptied the streets that would lead up to town hall. The way was clear for them to battle it out on either land or in the air.

Chara followed the road for what it was but she was consumed by something herself. The wish to take revenge on Twilight for lifting her veil and thus foiling her plan had made her blind for everything else that could have happened.

Steps were made, powerful and dangerous by the changeling, ponies all went for their houses as just the sight of the creature was terrifying, only adding the red eyes for an even greater effect. Terror had been struck in their hearts for sure.

“If I can’t take out them from within, this entire town will feel the wrath of the changeling upon themselves, they are already terrified because of what I am, and they call Ponyville so tolerable. Hmpf, Dodge Junction was even more tolerable than this hole of a town...” Chara whispered the words to herself in the hope to not break the illusion that she had set up. She was tough, rough and wouldn’t stop at anything to get done what she wanted to get done. It was time to head to the town hall and confront Twilight once and for all.

~~~~

With a couple turns had the changeling arrived at town’s square. Of course she noticed how it was emptied out with the exception of both Spike and Twilight. Though in Chara’s defense, she didn’t knew who on earth Spike was. But the changeling ceased her pace, standing both tough and mighty across the square.

The two beings were both one-pony-armies in their own right. They could devastate the whole town if they wanted with the flick of a horn. They eyed the other for the longest of time, only making a circle as they were having their standoff. Neither of them wanted to be the one that fired off the first shot. In the end, somepony would have done it of course.

Chara eyed all of the motions that Twilight made, from the way her muscle lifted the hooves to how she arched her back with every step. The alicorn was doing the same thing, only a little bit different of course. The time had to come though, somepony had to open fire.

The horn of Twilight charged up and a blast released to the real world.

Milliseconds later had it reached Chara, who was unable to raise a deflector shield of her own and got hit by it.

That was all that it took really. The spell that Twilight had cast was enough to make the changeling buckle under her own weight. She ended up falling down to the ground and while her eyes tried to fight it, they were shut under the weight of three ponies. Before the changeling knew it, she had lost her consciousness. Knocked out by the alicorn princess of friendship, just like that.

Chapter 16

Grunts, moans and gentle hisses all came from the changeling in anger. She came back to knowledge, unaware of what happened. All she knew was that something terrible had occurred. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, ignited by the fires that usually allowed her to change both shape and form. It was an agonizing pain that she went through of course. A hoof was set on the ground, followed by another in order to rise up at least a little bit. There was something strange about the floor. Instead of stone that she knew, it felt different. It almost felt like it was made from crystals, precious stones. Chara didn’t knew what to expect, but decided to keep her eyes shut for a little while longer.

The wings began to buzz a bit, making sure that she was able to plant her hind legs on the floor as well. She had to stand stable before doing anything and think about her current situation. She remembered facing Twilight on the town’s square, but what had happened afterwards was unknown to her. A shake of the head was given and the eyes were finally opened.

Darkness engulfed her for the first few seconds, than she noticed how the arcane torches were burning just a bit further in the distance. She was in a cell made to contain her. A cell that was made out of crystal, nearly unbreakable by any magic that she knew. A grumble left the changeling. Escaping was impossible and the fire that burned within her, took away the ability to change.

Whomever had put her down there, sure knew how to handle a changeling in captivity. But whom was it that had placed her down there? She knew a pony who was capable of that, and she refused to even spill the name of the being.

The whole concept of time had faded away for the changeling, countless times had she seen the arcane fires be dimmed to simulate a night or become brighter to tell it was daytime but Chara knew that it was all just a play of light. The hours she had spent in the cell were far shorter than the light illustrated. Not only was she imprisoned by somepony, she was being tortured to some degree as well. Not to mention, slowly being starved to death.

If Chara wouldn’t have gotten a bit of red flow soon, she didn’t knew for how much longer she would have survived down there. Yet from the looks of it, she was the only being that was present there. The thought of making her own red flow was taken away from her in just that very instant. A deep, near defeated sigh left the changeling, while not a word followed it up. Patience was required. She had to sit out the torment, one way or the other.

Maybe soon, the being who caught her would have shown the face that it carried and then, Chara could curse it to Tartarus and far beyond of that. All she needed, was the time to stay alive.

~~~~

Twilight sat in her library with the glasses placed in front of her eyes. She was reading through a couple of books that involved both the changeling culture and anatomy. The first time that she had done that, was of course to identify with what kind of changeling she was dealing, but she wanted to know more about them. And Twilight took her time with that. There was no doubt in her mind that she could try to reason with the creature, that dwelled in the dungeon of her castle.

Spike had often asked why there was even a dungeon underneath there, and nopony really knew the answer on that one. Until that situation had happened. From that moment on knew they both why they had it. It was safer to lock them away in there, than some house that was occupied by somepony else who wasn’t even involved in the matter. And it might have saved the town a bit if friends decided to show up.

The alicorn continued to read through the books with a careful eye, reading all of the facts that were known about the changelings as they were to the present day. “It’s curious though, Spike, why would one changeling try to even consider about breaking us apart from the inside. There’s little information known about the red eyed variant to begin with, and I doubt Chrysalis will be happy if I pay her a visit.”

“After the last time? I don’t think she’s going to be friendly to anypony that even dares to enter her hive,” returned Spike, who sat across the table. He was glancing through some books himself, but hidden between the pages was another issue of the Power Ponies. It was Twilight’s problem, he had decided. She wanted to keep the bug down there, she would have kept it down there and dealt with it herself. He wouldn’t get involved in it in any way or form.

Twilight let out a deep ‘hmm’ while she continued to read. “Doubt she will have gotten the liking of me over time. No, the red eye thing is not something that is known through the land and might only be known to changelings themselves. Which means that there is only one thing that I can do, go down there and talk to the creature.”

Spike closed and dropped the book, eyeing Twilight with a risen eyebrow. “And just what makes you think that the changeling wants to listen to you?”

Twilight’s eyes went up. “I think that we can help each other out here. I get the information that I require, while the creature is allowed to keep its life. It’s been down there without any emotional contact for so long already, I doubt that it will last much longer before it begins to starve.”

“Good point, do what you gotta do, I’m not going down there!”

A chuckle left Twilight while her own book was lowered. “I never expected you to go down there with me, Spike. It could turn us against one another and feed on the negative emotion from the bad blood that will come through. Changelings are creatures of deception, remember? They will try everything as long as it gives them what they need.”

“Uuuh, okay, good luck Twilight!” Spike said while the alicorn had left her chair.

She would have gone down to the dungeon, to have a very, very good talk with the changeling. “Oh and Spike, could you collect our friends here, I think they have the right to know exactly what had happened between them, maybe than they will come to realize that it wasn’t the one on whom they have their sights.”

Spike nodded and left his chair with an eager motion. He wanted to tell the ‘good news’ to the five others. He wanted to see them again in the castle that they all called a safe haven.

~~~~

The hoofsteps of another being echoed through the dungeon and Chara woke from a slumber. The light only increased while the steps became louder. They were actually there. It wasn’t a trick of the mind, or a spell that was cast. There was an actual, physical being that came down there. The changeling rose up from the makeshift bed and stretched all of her legs and wings. She then let a buzz echo through the dungeon, announcing her presence.

It didn’t slow the hoofsteps by any means and before Chara knew it, the face of Twilight Sparkle was revealed in the arcane candle light. The devil herself had returned to the dungeon and the changeling had to admit that it invoked a sense of fear within her. She gulped for the moment and naturally prayed that she wouldn’t come to hurt her. But her mouth always remained shut.

Twilight came closer to the bars and even laid a hoof against them. Her magic remained silent but her mouth began to speak. “You and I, are going to have a little talk. But first, shall we start with the beginning? My name, is Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?”

Chara hissed and gurgled in response. She wasn’t in the mood to even talk to the mare. But the presence of Twilight might have meant something for her. She didn’t wanted to talk, but maybe Twilight could have helped her? She didn’t knew, yet. Maybe, just maybe, letting her through on a bit of information might have been more of an aid than a hindrance. The changeling wandered over to the bars and pressed her face lightly through them, staring deep in the eyes of the alicorn with those red, hellfire colored eyes. “The name’s, Chara...”

“What?!” exclaimed Twilight, “you mean the name that you told us, was your actual name? Or is it a disguise that you like to wear?”

The changeling let out a gentle chuckle and shook her head. “It’s my actual name, you fool. Changelings aren’t born with a name, but I took it because I got banished! All because of the red eyes that I have! All because I feed on negativity...”

Twilight felt that she was getting somewhere, maybe nowhere. Either way, she had gotten the changeling to talk to her, that was the way that she should keep it. “But what was your plan? To break the friendships between the Elements of Harmony from within and then? What did you want to do when that was done? What gain would have that given to you? You don’t look like the type that wants to take over Equestria for itself,” she dared to wonder aloud.

Chara left out a hoarse laugh and shook her head. How stupid was this alicorn exactly? How did she even become an alicorn in the first place? How was she even qualified to be a researcher? All those question lingered through the mind of the changeling, who only chuckled to herself once more. It was just priceless to see a clueless Twilight like that. Maybe she felt pity for the alicorn. On the other end, what sense did it make to keep everything hidden from her? Her plan had been foiled and Chara had lost the battle. What if she just told everything to Twilight?

“You want to know it, don’t you?” Chara asked her in a serious tone. “You’re, curious..?”

Twilight nodded.

The changeling accepted that as a yes and began to tell why she had done it. Why she had tried to break the friendships between the elements. She told the alicorn how the plan was forged, how it came to be and how she had executed it.

Unknown to Chara was the fact that the alicorn recorded all of the words with her magic. The entire confession was placed somewhere safe in her mind, ready to be broadcasted whenever it was needed. Ready to prove to her friends that it was all a game they played with open eyes.

But Twilight had to admit that she too was surprised. Surprised to see the sheer dedication that the changeling had in what she had done. How just one little changeling had managed to do where so many others had failed, only because it would give her a high never experienced before. It was worthy of a standing ovation with dedication and cunningness, but only because Spike’s words rung truth had she figured out that there was something wrong.

It was a good plan, a risky one too. But the way in which it had all played out was marvelous to behold. Twilight had to admit that she had never seen the likes of it before. A chuckle left her in the end when the changeling was done with her tale. She was just glad that the full effect was never revealed to her, that the plan hadn’t fully succeeded whatsoever.

The changeling got a hold of the bars with both of her forelegs and coiled the hooves around them tight. “I’ve committed high treason. Not just against your law, but also against changeling laws. I should be decapitated on the spot for having even told you these things.”

Twilight on the other end wasn’t a mare for violence. Not unnecessary at least. “No, Chara, times have moved on since the days of the Changeling Wars so many years ago. Which means that I’m giving you an option here, one you should consider very deeply after I’ve left you here. Either you die here, starved from the cut off the red flow, because you’re too dangerous to be kept alive and from what you told me, I doubt that any other hive would like to have you.”

Chara already saw the future grim for herself, anything and everything could have happened in it. But one thing was for sure, she would die either way, with our without the protection of a hive. “And the second option?” she dared to ask in a stone cold voice.

“The second option is that you remain alive, but you’ll become my guinea pig on the subject of changelings. I would love to know more about your kind and customs.”

The changeling let go of the bars after she heard the words. There was no reason to speak furthermore to the alicorn. Twilight had driven her in a corner which was impossible to get out of. Both methods would have killed her, one fast and the other slow. It was just a matter of how she wanted to die. Another buzz and gurgle left her while she retreated to the shadows, only to remain hidden from all eyes, with the burning pain still raging in her heart.

Twilight nodded once and took a deep inhale. “Take your time with coming up for the answer, I just hope that you make the right one for you. When I’m getting back to you, I hope you have made up your mind. Goodbye for now Chara.” And with those words would Twilight have left the changeling to just continue to rot within the dungeon.

The alicorn’s hoofsteps faded away from the dungeon, and Chara began to scream like mad.

~~~~

The five ponies all sat on their thrones and they were baffled by what they got to see. The recording that Twilight had made was shown to them in the greatest of detail. None of them even knew a word of what they had to say in response. It was devastating to see how they all had been played for fools by one single changeling. Apologies were required of course, and they would make amends with one another, in their own way.

Twilight let the recording play out in full to give them a full extent to the abilities and capabilities of the changeling. It was strange to behold though. Each of them was sure that it was the true pony against whom they had a feud. Chara had even told how she once added the sleeping berries to the cupcakes of Pinkie Pie to get Fluttershy in a good sleep before starting to torment Rarity. She had spilled how her illusion magic was capable of making the sounds and shimmers of fruitbats invading the orchard of Applejack.

Everything was spilled on the table. Even how Sweetie’s fall was planned out in the greatest of detail. Rarity nor Rainbow could have believed the facts presented to them. It was impossible, right? And yet, the genuine tone in which the changeling female spoke, changed everything.

“Ah can’t believe it!” Applejack commented once the recording was over, gob smacked.

“Can you imagine my surprise when I heard all of that? One thing you got to give the changeling through, she’s honest when she’s got to be,” returned Twilight after her horn had been discharged. A rub on her eyes was given while she tried to figure out what the best course of action was. She couldn’t just force her friends to apologize in the throne room. No, they had to do that all in their own times, when they were ready to accept the truth as it was. At least she hoped that.

It was a lot to take in and some already smiled to the others, knowing that it wasn’t the real pony whom did the deeds. Nopony would be able to speak a word for some time to come, but that may have been a good thing for a change.

Spike sat on his throne next to Twilight and he didn’t fully understood what the changeling all had mumbled about. Maybe Twilight would have explained it to him at a later date or something. Not that it mattered much now.

Fluttershy was the one to speak up first, out of all of them, it was the timid mare who took the responsibility upon her. “It does, clarify a lot of things. Everything that had happened, all the interactions we had with each other, it all felt out of characters, but we were blinded by anger.”

“Can’t say I dare to argue with that fact, but I do think that our emotions got the better of us, which allowed the changeling to strike us in full,” added Rarity, agreeing with Fluttershy.

The others couldn’t deny the facts either and all agreed to the matter as well. They were ready to accept the apologies that would have followed soon enough. Twilight got a tear to her eye and she knew that it would all have been over soon. She let out a deep sigh and saw how they all moved from their thrones. A group hug was imminent.

The five of them all hugged each other in a circle which was soon strengthened by both Twilight and Spike. The seven of them all spoke their sorry’s to the pony whom they thought they had wronged. Amends were made and spirits were lifted.

How they had ever fallen for the charm of one stallion was beyond them. Not to forgt how they had spilled so many secrets to a face that seemed trustworthy, it was all an ordeal that now laid in the past. Everypony was just happy for the fact that everything had ended without them breaking their friendships to the ground.

In a way, it was yet another triumph that the Elements had received. A challenge that was greater than anything and everything that they had ever dared to even imagine. All the ponies held each other tight in the hug, strengthen not only that, but their friendships as well.

It took care of one problem and five minds had cleared their conscious from the matter. But Twilight still had one last matter to deal with. A matter she would deal with, the following morning.

Chapter 17

The sun once again shone through the windows of her bedroom. Twilight woke up like any other day, tickled by the rays. She was quicker than ever out of her bed though, since that day she would lay the verdict on Chara the changeling. How she could have slept like a rose that very night was a question beyond anypony. Yet the alicorn rushed to the bathroom to prepare herself. Even though she was going to the dungeon of her castle, it was important that she looked the part of a princess.

Breakfast would be served to her soon afterward and Spike stood in the kitchen, looking over Twilight with a set of curious eyes. He couldn’t really believe what Twilight was about to do, but there was a first for everything. “Are you sure about this?” he asked of her with concerned tone.

There was no more delaying the inevitable. Chara was already at the brink of dying, but maybe Twilight could have helped her. It was already strange to see a female changeling, but maybe because they both shared that same sex, it was the perfect opportunity. Long shots it all were, but Twilight was sure about it. “Sure as I’ll ever be,” she replied.

Spike nodded and continued to eat his breakfast, while Twilight left the kitchen for what it was. Doubts had filled her mind of course, but she also knew that it was time to be the judge. Her hooves brought her all the way through the castle, eventually ending up by the staircase that would have brought her down. It was then, or it would have been never. The alicorn had to go downstairs one last time. She had hoped that Chara had made up her mind.

~~~~

The changeling heard the hoofsteps again approaching and she rose up. She appeared worse than before in the light of the arcane torches. The red flow that wasn’t going through her had drained her. She was still fed thanks to Twilight. But she had aged a lot faster, some of her chitin armor had already been letting loose of her body. She was shredding her skin in a horrifying manner.

It wasn’t much later when Twilight stood before her cell again and the changeling only swiveled her head to the princess. “Come to see me breathe my last breath, princess?” Chara taunted her. She was curious to see what the reaction of the princess would have been when faced with a challenge that held no right answers. “You ponies have always been the same, time’s change but the minds of you lot never do.”

Twilight was horrified to see Chara like that. The slime that connected the armor to the body was just gruesome. The entire sight of the changeling looked like something out of a grimdark tale. Twilight had to gulp once or twice, to not throw up her breakfast. “You look, worse, than when I last saw you, have you been eating and drinking well?”

Chara huffed and stood up, her belly-plate letting loose in the process. The changeling approached the bars and just pressed her face against them. There was no more power left within her body. The creature was at the verge of death and knew that. What sense did it make if she could continue to live, to torment herself in such a manner? She couldn’t change, her red flow was nowhere to be found, her armor was letting loose and she was given actual pony food. It was a pure torment. Twilight, was a cruel mistress indeed.

That very same alicorn had another gander at the being, but the time of emotions just wasn’t there. The time of decisions had fallen upon them. Chara would either die fast or die slowly. Which was the lesser of two evils provided? Even Twilight didn’t knew what to do in the matter. “I hope that you have had more than enough time to think about the matters here, Chara. Your life is depending on it, as you very well know. What’s your decision?”

The changeling tore her face away from the bars, not even granting the princess the looks of sadness that she felt. It was strange though, the closer that Chara had come to complete her goal, the more emotions she had felt. And now, when she was at the verge of death itself, she felt sadness. She felt, alive. For the first time in her entire life, she felt that she was alive.

Twilight must have never come to know that though. The changeling’s entire body turned away and the decision was valued once more. At one end had she wanted to die in that hole, as it seemed only fitting. On the other end, there was just much left of the world that she could see. And maybe Twilight would grant her some form of mercy. It was all a matter of opinion though. The changeling took a couple of weak steps away from the bars, trying to growl and gurgle, but only let out hoarse noises. She was nearing the end of her life. She was ready to embrace what came next.

“Chara, it’s important that you talk to me now, if you don’t speak, there’s probably nothing that I can do. If you want to keep on living, tell me what you need and I might be able to get it for you. But if you want to die, well... Then there’s nothing I can give you, but the time you need for it.”

Did she just show compassion for both decisions? Chara couldn’t tell the difference anymore. It felt strange to be at the mercy of a princess like that. And yet, it wasn’t like a queen that reigned over her. Chara was genuinely surprised that the princess of friendship wanted to help her, even in her most disastrous moment. Maybe, there was something else to the friendships she tried to demolish? The changeling dropped to the ground and shifted her body to face Twilight. If she were to die, she could at least told the princess her story. She could at least tell her, more.

And Twilight would have listened with open ears when the first words began to roll through the dungeon. From the hatching of her egg, to the banishment of her hive, to her adventures through Equestria, eventually ending up with rumors and a single thought. And the rest, was history.

~~~~

Hearing out the entire story, Twilight was at a genuine loss for words. She didn’t knew what to tell the changeling when it was her time to speak. She paced up and down the space in front of the cell. She was followed by the haunting, blood crimson eyes of Chara. They were almost depleted of their bright color. She didn’t knew what to say, was she going to congratulate the changeling? Was she going to punish the creature even more than that she already had done? So many thoughts crossed through the mind. Maybe, she could have taken the middle road.

After all, sometimes was keeping a being alive a greater punishment than killing it.

Which was exactly what Twilight wanted to do with Chara. The deeds couldn’t go unpunished and death would have made the changeling win the battle that had been raging on. Twilight took a deep inhale, stood tall before the cell and glanced deep in the begging eyes of the changeling. Was it true that the closer a changeling stood to death, the more emotions it began to feel itself? A farfetched thought that would be researched at one point or another.

“Chara, Chara, Chara,” started Twilight with a difficult voice, “I don’t know what to do with you, honestly.” She sounded defeated, but also found a new strength somewhere in her mind. “I’m not sure whether to congratulate you on your ingenuity of what you did, or to punish you for it. Maybe, I’m supposed to do both, because what you did was risky and you almost succeeded.”

The changeling wanted to say a word of thanks though decided to remain silent for the most part. She wasn’t in the mood to even speak to Twilight at all. She was only awaiting the punishment that she would receive. Whatever punishment that would have been to begin with. A dry exhale left her mouth, her weak eyes glancing back.

“But I can’t let these deeds go unpunished and letting you die, is not something that I wish for myself. I gave you a choice, but that choice you made was one unclear. You couldn’t decide whether or not you wanted to live or die, so I’m going to make that choice for you. Chara, you’re going to keep on living, as that is a much greater punishment than the sweet release of the afterlife. You tried to break up the elements of harmony in such a manner unseen before. Others should take note what happens to beings that even tried to make such a thing.” That was dark, even for Twilight.

Chara let out a weak growl, tried to rise back on her hooves and confront Twilight about the decision. “So,” she began with a hatred filled voice, “you’re going to make me an example for all of the others? Hmpf, should’ve cut my head off and placed it on a pike!”

“Now that’s just gruesome...”

“Better than keeping a starving, near dead changeling alive!” Chara growled in return.

Twilight closed her eyes for the moment, unsure of how to react to those very same words. But her judgement would remain no matter what. Even though Chara wanted to die, Twilight wanted to use her for studies about the species. Of course she wanted to use the creature for something along those line! But would it have been worth it?

“Having doubts now, princess?” Chara taunted again. She wanted to see if she could get some red flow out of the princess, to at least postpone her demise a little bit longer. A wishful thought it was indeed, since the alicorn wasn’t that open for suggestions at the moment.

“I’m always having second thoughts. The matter is never as black or white as you changelings make it out to be. No, the matter that’s troubling my mind is something I cannot dare to live with. But on the other end, it’s going to be your punishment.”

Chara turned back to face the bars. She pressed her face once more against the stone cold crystals it was made of. “So go right ahead, do what you have to do and punish me for what I’ve done to you and your, friends.” That last word was tough to speak since Chara never had friends of her own. Only ponies with whom she was acquainted. Personal relationships were never a good thing, not for a changeling.

Yet the words of the creature did it for Twilight. She nodded powerful to herself and would have spoken the words she wanted to speak. “So it be then, Chara. From this day onward, you shall become the test subject on changeling metabolism. This is non-negotiable. This, is your punishment for the plan that you hatched. This is how it’s going to be, until the far end of your days.”

The changeling’s eyes squinted a bit. “So you’re going to keep me here, hidden like some sort of secret pet of yours, living my life while you feed me, and see how I react to it? You’re a truly harsh mistress underneath that furry coat of yours.”

The stare between the alicorn and the changeling was broken when Twilight turned away. Those words, about her being a harsh mistress, ached a lot more than they should have. Not that it mattered too much in the moment. Twilight was done with the changeling. She just wanted to see her gone for the time being.

The sheer hatred that she gained for the changeling was released in the air, unknown to the alicorn. But the changeling began to smell the sweet, sweet scent of hatred. The red flow had come again and it was enough to keep her alive a bit longer. Even though Chara didn’t wanted to do it, she had begun to filter the air and taken the substance to herself. It was impossible to overcome her true nature and being. She was a red eyed changeling after all, captured by the hooves of Twilight Sparkle who would use her as a subject of study.

How far the mighty had fallen in just a few short hours. She had almost succeeded in her plan of madness, succeed where so many others had failed previously. Everything should have been perfect, but nothing ever was. Chara let out a deep sigh afterward, Twilight turned back around.

Without a word would Twilight leave the dungeon and the changeling dropped back down to the ground. Chara buzzed her wings only slight, letting the sounds echo through the entire place.

~~~~

Twilight laid on her bed when Spike came in. He knew that she was troubled and the dragon wanted to know if there was anything he could have done to help her. The mare had told him everything of what had happened in the dungeon and he was just speechless. Not only was Chara kept alive, she also would become a subject of study.

How could somepony have even replied to that? Spike wasn’t so sure on the matter but made the decision to not speak a word. It was Twilight’s judgement and he couldn’t change that fact at all. He only nodded and snuggled closer against her, hoping that it would lighten up her spirit just a little bit. The chance was slim, but it was there.

He felt the wing covering his body soon afterward and the two began to snuggle a bit closer. Whatever would have happened with Chare in the dungeon, Twilight was sure that she had made the right decision for the being. It would be kept alive, given a home of some sort and the land of Equestria would get to know more about the rare pheromone that was the red-eyed changeling.

If all matters were only that simple, because there would always a be a trapdoor either left or right. Twilight didn’t knew whether she had made the right decision and the words continued to gnaw at her consciousness. But for the moment, it felt like she had made the right decision.

Her horn charged up just a little bit. She would be casting a spell that she hadn’t done in a long, long time. All of the negativity that she had collected over these past few days, and took it out of her body. Moments later she held an orb of red before her eyes and nodded to herself. Twilight always had been a mare who could be easily irritated and the red flow that she could give off, must have been enough to feed Chara. It was a long shot, but one just long enough that the changeling might survive the ordeal.

~~~~

Having finally returned to their house in Ponyville, both Octavia and Vinyl had a silent face-off with each other. The two stood there, looking at each other with the front door in the middle. The time that they had spent away from each other was good, but there was nothing that felt better than seeing the other mare again.

A smile came on the lips from the both of them. While Octavia had been visiting family, Vinyl had spent most of her time looking into the matter. Fortunately for her, Noteworthy was honest about his relation with Octavia. Which was pretty much nonexistent other than being just friends.

The two hugged each other and nuzzled their noses together in silence. Everything just seemed to be back in the way that it should have been. Which was just the way how they liked it.

~~~~

Chara had both tried and failed. Her plan to break the Elements of Harmony and ride the biggest high of red flow in her life was never going to happen. All of the quarrels that she had caused in Ponyville were resolved and the six friends would continue to remain friends. The changeling felt defeated and without purpose, cursing the fact that she had ever left Dodge Junction at all.

But that was how the story played out for her. Defeated and imprisoned, only to be used as a lab pet by Twilight. Whatever came next, was a thing she wouldn’t have dared to think about. Chara had lost the fight, her life, and many more things. But in the end, during the depth of the true night, a sinister laughter came from the dungeon, one that was hoarse, almost lifeless.

Mere seconds later, the laughter died, together with something else that dwelled in the dungeon. An orb of red appeared in the dungeon, one that caused the eyes to look at it. The bitter sweet scent went through her nostrils. It was red flow. Even though the changeling didn’t wanted to filter the air, she still did it. Every last bit to survive was welcome. Her self-consciousness had been switched off to hibernate. The red flow that Twilight gave to her was only enough to make her primal instincts survive. The changeling that was Chara, had died and an ordinary red eyed changeling had taken her place. The air was filtered before the creature laid back in the shadows again.

That was the story of Chara, the changeling who almost succeeded in doing the near impossible. To almost succeed where so many others had failed. The one changeling, with an idea too massive to succeed on her own. Time was up and the bells were ringing. Not even the chance to a final farewell was given to her. The being that she was supposed to be had awoken and dwelled through the dungeon. If Chara would have ever returned, was a matter that remained to be seen.

Not even Twilight knew what had happened in the dungeon, nopony did. But one thing was for certain, whenever a changeling was involved, nothing was what it seemed. Everything could change in the blink of an eye. But for the moment, calm had finally settled again.