Life. Death. Two clearly different things. Reality. Dreams. As different as light and darkness. But how different are they really? Sky Blue, orphaned middle child of the Blue family, needs to know. She's been having the same dream every night. But...
Life. Death. Two clearly different things. Reality. Dreams. As different as light and darkness. But how different are they really? Sky Blue, orphaned middle child of the Blue family, needs to know. She's been having the same dream every night. But...
...suddenly, she stops dreaming altogether. She sees the shadow that haunted her for seven years... the shadow of her mother's killer.
Contains spoilers for season 6 finale, LoE, and some headcanons. Thou hast been warned.
*ring ring ring* Three o'clock. In the morning. Sky looked out the window of her cloud home to see nothing but pitch black with a silver crescent in the sky. The moon was waning, and it was almost gone. Sky had seen this before. She knew it was just another night, with the same old dream, but she couldn't help feeling scared. She was waiting for her sister, just like every night prior, only for her not to return. Over two and a half thousand times, seven straight years, she had this dream. She saw the same shadow at the end: A dark unicorn figure with a crooked curved horn.
Sky knew this to be the shadow of Sombra, former king of the Crystal Empire, who was overthrown by Midnight Twinkle and her friends with the power of love. Why was he in her nightmares, though? She was just a filly, and she had never even set hoof in the Crystal Empire, much less on the day of that battle. Why was he, king of shadows and destruction, living inside the mind of this one filly, who hasn't left home since her mother passed away? The only pony Sky could ask about Sombra was her sister, Midnight Blue, but she hasn't been seen since the Crystal Empire was saved for the third time... the day the Changelings were reformed.
Sky knew the only solution was to go to the Crystal Empire and ask her sister about the Changeling invasions and King Sombra, and possible connections between them, but she didn't know how to travel there. The train was obviously not an option, as that was run by Cadence and Shining Armour's Royal Guard, who would recognise a former Rainbow Factory worker's sister and send her straight back home. Flying, she would be too clearly visible by day and too tired by night to make any headway. Walking, the Summer Solstice would arrive too soon before she got there, and she'd be just a face in the crowd for next year's Summer Sun Celebration. She could teleport, but she needed to find a skilled unicorn mage willing to go with her.
So it was that Sky Blue thought to ask her friend Sweetie Belle for help. After all, she'd been learning magic from the Princess of Friendship herself for over a year and a half now, she must've mastered teleportation! Sky snuck down through the skies, and then landed in Ponyville, where her friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, lived. All she had to do now was find their clubhouse, and she already knew where it was: on a secluded part of Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle usually practiced singing at three-thirty in the morning anyway, so now would be a good time to ask her. The two of them could sing along the way... in case the teleportation didn't work. If it did, they could sing when they got there. All Sky had to do now was call out for her friend.
"Sweetie Belle! It's me, Sky Blue!" Sky hollered into the clubhouse. Maybe she's not here yet? Sky thought. It is about twenty minutes early... maybe I should just wait inside the clubhouse? And so she waited. And waited. Eventually, even in the pitch dark, Sky could make out Sweetie's face.
"Sky Blue!" Sky heard Sweetie calling. "Over here!" Sky saw Sweetie in a tree, next to the clubhouse rather than in it. "Quickly!" Sky flew up to the tree branch.
"What are you doing?" Asked Sky.
"Hiding from that!" Sweetie answered. She pointed a hoof. "Don't make another sound." Sky looked down to see a pile of branches in the shape of a wolf. She knew it was a Timberwolf, but she thought they were only twice as big as ponies. This one was about seven times as big as an average size Timberwolf. "That's Arboralupus Rex, king of the Timberwolves. He stole something from Rarity and I'm going to get it back."
"Are you out of your mind?!" Sky asked, not realising how loud she was being. "I thought you said not to make another sound! The king could probably smell us anyway though..."
"I guess I hadn't thought of that." Sweetie replied. "How am I gonna get that Fire Ruby back now?"
"Wait... you lost Rarity's Fire Ruby!?" Sky asked. "And it was stolen by the Timberwolf king? Not the Dragonlord?"
"Ember wouldn't steal a gem from Spike's friend, Sky." Sweetie replied. "Rex on the other hoof... er... claw... was brainwashed by King Sombra's son, but even if he wasn't, he'd take the Fire Ruby and combine it with the Ice Sapphire and the Nether Emerald to make the Star of Illusions. I read about it in one of Twilight's books. These three gems hold mystical powers, and when combined, they make a gem that could destroy the universe... and replace it with a new universe of pure evil!"
"That sounds a lot like the Chaos Heart." Sky responded. "The bringer of destruction mentioned in the Light and Dark Prognostici. Lord Blumiere, who changed his name to Count Bleck, created it with Princess Celestia and Discord's sham wedding, then an evil mage named Dimentio stole it when Blumiere was an inch from death. Dimentio then combined his power with that of the Chaos Heart and that of a green stallion named Lucian to make himself a super demon. He wanted to create a new universe which he could rule as king, but he was defeated in the end by Lucian's sister Aurora, as well as Princess Celestia and Discord."
"Wait... Discord helped Celestia defeat an evil mage BEFORE he was reformed?" Asked Sweetie Belle in confusion. "Let me guess... his rise to power was after their friendship ended, wasn't it?"
"I guess so." Sky replied. "I wonder if one of us will become evil at some point. I can only hope that we don't, but... who knows? Anyway, if the three gems combined could create an evil super gem, I guess we just have to destroy one of them... preferably not the Fire Ruby, as that was a gift to Rarity."
"We'd better get moving, then." Sweetie Belle responded. "The Ice Sapphire is in the Crystal Empire, and the Nether Emerald is in Tartarus. We can't linger here much longer, and we could take care of the Timberwolf king after destroying one of the other two gems. Let's go to..."
Sky exclaimed "The Crystal Empire!" at the same time that Sweetie exclaimed "Tartarus!" Sky looked at Sweetie in confusion.
"Teleportation can instantly take us to the Crystal Empire, but there are too many ponies there." Sweetie explained. "The guards of Tartarus only focus on the prisoners, so it'd be much easier to sneak around there." Sky could only hope that Sweetie was right... they had to literally go to Tartarus and back again.
"Should we round up the others?" Sky Blue asked her friend Sweetie Belle. "Or should we go without them?"
"As much as Scootaloo would love to fight ancient Tartaran beasts, she's joining this year's flying competition." Sweetie replied. "And Applebloom has to work with her family on the farm."
"I thought Scootaloo couldn't fly!" Sky responded.
"So did I, but apparently Peewee the Phoenix returned and gave her some magic feathers or something." Sweetie explained.
"Isn't Peewee only two years old, though?" Sky asked. "And don't phoenixes age slower than other creatures?"
"No, they just revitalise when they die." Sweetie replied. "They're not like alicorns. They're truly immortal, whereas alicorns live for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years."
"That's amazing!" Sky exclaimed in wonderment. "Phoenix Swift and Phoenix Blade were in the Junior Wonderbolts Derby, and they were tied for second place, below my coltfriend Flaming Thunder. They're the twin sons of Fiery Storm, the legendary Wonderbolt. They were named after the bird, of course."
"What does this have to do with Peewee?" Sweetie asked? "Other than the species, I mean."
"Nothing, really. I just thought I'd mention it." Sky replied casually.
"Are you out of your mind?" Sweetie asked. "Why are you wasting time? We only have two hours until the sun comes up! We can't let Twilight know we're using her Cutie Map to teleport to the Chaos Dimension!"
"Are you out of your mind? You stole my catchphrase!" Sky responded. "And why do we need to go to the Chaos Dimension? Aren't we supposed to go to Tartarus?"
"The quickest way to Tartarus is through the Chaos Dimension, so we need to take a quick not-so-detourish detour." Sweetie explained. "That way we can get there faster and seek out Discord's help."
"This is love, this is war, this is pure insanity!" Sky sang. "Dimentio, you're driving me crazy!"
"As much as I love music, we can wait for Discord to sing the song." Sweetie replied. She then began humming Discord's "Glass of Water" song to herself.
"Hypocrite" Sky whispered under her breath.
"I heard that." Sweetie replied. "My main talent may be helping others, but my secondary one is sonic resonance. I'm a singer, don'tcha know?"
"I know, Sweetie Belle." Sky answered. "I'm sorry. We need to focus on getting to Midnight's... I mean... Twilight's Castle of Friendship."
"Why do you keep calling Twilight by your sister's name, Sky?" Sweetie Belle asked. "You know they're not the same pony, don't you?"
"I know, I know." Sky answered. "It's just that... I miss her. And I see so much of her in Twilight. The comforting hugs, the glint in her eyes, and the concern for her friends. They have so much in common. Not just that their names are both times of night. I just wish you could've met her before she left."
"Isn't she in the Crystal Empire?" Sweetie asked. "Maybe we could go there after destroying the Nether Emerald. For now, we should focus on the task at hoof. We need to use the Cutie Map and stop the cataclysm! Onward, to the Castle of Friendship!"
"You seem to be forgetting that it's still not even four in the morning." Sky replied. "We need to not be seen or heard." Sky blinked. Before she could open her eyes, she and Sweetie teleported to the throne room of the Castle of Friendship. "I expected you to be able to teleport us, Sweetie Belle."
"That wasn't me." Sweetie replied. "Somepony else must have done it. Can't imagine who it would be, though."
"I heard you wanted to go to the Chaos Dimension." A familiar voice said. "Only a draconequus or similar immortal creature can take you there. But it'll cost you... You must express no emotion whilst there. The flying badgers would find it and feed off it the way that the Changelings do... or did, before they were reformed."
"Discord?" Sky and Sweetie asked at the same time, and he said his own name.
"Jinx!" Discord exclaimed. "Your silence will make it easier to avoid expression."
"Mph!" Sky tried to speak, but her lips stayed sealed. "Mph! Mmmm!"
"That's how a real jinx works, amateurs." Discord replied. "Now, just one more thing..." Discord snapped his claws, and instantly the two fillies each had a bubble around their heads. "There is oxygen in the Chaos Dimension, but it wanders all over the skies, so it'd be safer with those bubbles around your heads. Obviously I don't need one, since I'm the Lord of Chaos and don't need to breathe. Even a half second of asphyxiation could kill you two though, so teleporting to Tartarus would be dangerous without those bubbles."
Would it kill Discord to stop rubbing his ability to survive his own home in our faces? Sky thought. I wish I could give him a piece of my mind, because he's clearly out of his.
"As you may know, the Chaos Dimension was created by my late ancestors, who vanished shortly after its creation. As the last of my kind, it is my sworn duty to protect the chaos in the Chaos Dimension from being interfered with by the... ugh... normality of the quote-unquote 'real world' and its inhabitants. It is for that reason that the creatures attack any non-draconequus who isn't accompanied by me."
After another snap of Discord's claws, starless skies once again filled Sky's cone of vision. Only this time, there were supernatural creatures in said skies. Before Sky or Sweetie could identify them, Discord snapped his claws again and teleported the three of them to the gates of Tartarus. The bubbles had worn off, but the two CMC fillies were still jinxed. "Mph!"
"Sky Blue and Sweetie Belle." Discord stated. The jinx was then lifted. "Now I see there was no real point in jinxing you... other than the sheer fun of it." When the three of them actually got a good look of this place, they noticed that the three-headed guard dog, Cerberus, was nowhere to be seen. "That's odd..." Discord noted. "What ever happened to Tirek? Without Cerberus, he could escape from here again!"
"It's worse than that." Sweetie replied. "Without a guard, all of the evil beasts could escape. Tirek, Antasma, Queen Arachne, The Wither Storm, The Dark Star, The Paradox Myst, and the rest!"
"Aren't you forgetting one?" Sky asked. "Dimentio?"
"I said 'and the rest' didn't I?" Sweetie responded. "What matters is that they're all free, whether they're in here or not. We should start looking for that stone now... before any of them find out we're here."
"Um... Sweetie Belle?" Sky asked. "I think it's too late for that!" Sky pointed her hoof to the cloud of purple smoke hovering above them.
"ANTASMA!" Sweetie exclaimed. "Quick, Discord, make a magic pillow!"
"I already know what Antasma does, little one." Discord replied. "One giant magic pillow, coming right up!" And like that, with a snap of his claws, Discord created a relic of the Pi'illo civilisation: a dream portal pillow. "Quick, rest on it!"
"Are you out of your mind?" Sky asked. "How can we sleep at a time like this?"
"This pillow creates dream portals, Sky." Sweetie explained. "Sleeping on it will allow us to enter the dreams of everyone in the same Dreampoint. With this, we can show that nightmare king the true meaning of terror! Sleep on it right now!"
Sky laid her head to rest on the pillow, but it didn't do anything. "What gives?" She asked. "I don't feel any dream portal!"
"I forgot it only works if your brain wavelength is the same as that of the Pi'illo people." Sweetie mentioned. "Let me try." As soon as Sweetie rested her head on the pillow, a cloud of iridescent smoke appeared. Sky jumped in, while Discord just stood there and watched.
After Sky entered the portal, it closed up. Sky was in the dream world, and there was the dream world version of Sweetie Belle right beside her. "Hello?" Sky asked. "What should I do to find a way out? Can you help me, Sweetie Belle?"
"I am not Sweetie Belle." The dream world Sweetie Belle replied. "Or, at least, not as you know her. I am... Dreamy Sweetie! You must wake the real me up to make the portal open up again. Find something that gives my dream a great shock, and use it to wake up the real me. I suggest confronting the spirit of the Nether Emerald."
Sky, now knowing vaguely what to do, went towards a source of glowing green light. She had to follow it, find the gem spirit, and then do... something. That was all she needed to know for the time being. Until she woke up Sweetie Belle, Sky would be trapped in a nightmare.
"It's another nightmare." Sky Blue sang. "I swear there's something out there, so save me 'cause I'm so scared. Will you show me the way?"
"Follow me." Dreamy Sweetie replied. The two of them continued to go towards the light, knowing that its source was the spirit of the Nether Emerald. About a third of the way there, they saw some strangely shaped stones. There were some cube-shaped ones, cylindrical ones, and cone shaped ones with a spiraling protrusion extruding from them, like the heads of gigantic drills. Those are probably pieces of some giant drill-based golem or something. I wonder if it will come to life, like the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 when Flim and Flam cast the power-doubling spell on it? If that's the case, there must be somepony guarding the gem spirit.
"Dreamy Sweetie, what're we gonna do when we find this spirit?" Sky asked. "Can it talk? I know your real world self wouldn't know that, but maybe Luna told your dreamy self?"
"The three gem spirits can talk, but their personalities are... annoying." Dreamy Sweetie answered. "We must be persistent in order to communicate with them. One thing they like to do is test the heroes' worth in combat. They each create a giant golem and we have to grow into giants to fight it. Only dreamy ponies can become giant, so you'll have to hover over my shoulder."
"I knew there was going to be a golem fight!" Sky exclaimed. "Those didn't look like ordinary rocks. Well, let's get going then. BACK TO ADVENTURE!"
"What's gotten into you, Sky?" Sweetie asked. "Kind of a hypocrite considering that you always ask if ponies are out of their minds. And isn't that from the wrong game?"
"Eh, wibbly wobbly timey wimey... and dreamy weamy I guess." Sky responded. "It doesn't matter where it comes from, catchphrases are catchphrases... and I don't remember a Dream Team member having a catchphrase. That was the best thing about the time traveling trio."
"Just say their name!" Dreamy Sweetie replied.
"But it's a terrible pun!" Sky retorted. "It's just a play on partners in crime!"
"And Dream Team is somehow a better pun?" Sweetie re-retorted. "And anyway, it's more of a quintet than a trio... unless you count past and future selves as the same pony... though the Time Quintet is a sci-fi series, not a group of ponies... and we just got sidetracked again." As the two CMCs were arguing about games and puns, neither one of them noticed that they had reached the centre of the pile of rubble. Standing face to face with them was the Nether Emerald's Spirit... well, not really standing, since it had no legs, but there it was.
"Hello? Mr Spirit?" Sky asked the gem spirit. "We were wondering where the real Nether Emerald is and..."
"SHADDUP!!!" The Nether Emerald Spirit interrupted. "I'm try'na sleep! Gotta stay moisturised to produce more energy, and I can't do that while I'm awake, can I? So STAHP PESTERIN' ME! Go ask another gem spirit for help... You're wasting your time and mine."
"What my non-dreamy friend here is trying to say is that you're the only gem spirit we can find, and we need your help to wake ourselves up." Dreamy Sweetie replied. "So if you could please tell me where the real Nether Emerald is, we could destroy it and set you free... and then be out of your hair... not that you have any."
"You really wanna know where the Nether Emerald is?" The spirit asked. "I'll tell you where it is... it's in SHADDUPVILLE!"
"INSOLENCE!" Dreamy Sweetie exclaimed in anger. "I am Dreamy Sweetie Belle, dream world version of the apprentice of Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, and I COMMAND you to release the requested information AT ONCE!"
"Insolence?" The spirit replied. "Aww, is da widdle pony mad? 'INSOLENCE!' Adorable. 'INSOLENCE!' Priceless! As for the location, I'd be happy to... NOT TELL YOU!!" The spirit then flew away, resting on top of a stack of boulders. Dreamy Sweetie and Sky worked together to bust and move the rocks, so that they could get the spirit to talk.
"Cast the shadows out from sight, a final stand, a shouting cry." Sky sang. "All the wrongs now turn to right, so fight the past, take back the night! And call upon the torch tonight, to bring out all the ghosts to light, because at last we have to go, it's time... to take back the night!" After hearing these words, the Nether Emerald Spirit froze for a few seconds, then it gathered up all the golem parts from the ground and rebuilt the million year old relic, the Drilldigger Golem.
"DRILLDIGGER ON!" The spirit screamed. This is not good. Sky thought. How exactly is Giant Dreamy Sweetie going to help me now? "I'll crush you! You'll pay for your crimes! If you die in this dream, reality can't save you!" Sky could see a thousand clones of Dreamy Sweetie fusing with the real Dreamy Sweetie, doubling her size... then redoubling it, and re-redoubling, then re-re-redoubling, and so on until she was over a thousand times her original size. A giant hammer appeared out of nowhere, and Giant Dreamy Sweetie grasped it with her magic.
"SHOWTIME!" Sky and Giant Dreamy Sweetie shouted together. Even when one of them was giant, they didn't exactly know how to defeat an ancient golem with just dreamy magic and a giant hammer. Giant Dreamy Sweetie swung the hammer with her magic, causing a decent bit of damage to the Drilldigger Golem, which hit back for more severe damage to Giant Dreamy Sweetie. It started raining hayburgers out of the sky. Giant Dreamy Sweetie noticed that they were falling rhythmically, and told Sky to collect them and feed them to her. They managed to gather eight of them, which was enough to restore Giant Dreamy Sweetie's health.
The next attack from the golem was easier to dodge, since the duo were prepared for it. Using the hammer, Giant Dreamy Sweetie countered the attack and severely damaged the golem. Next, they traded a few more blows before the golem was in peril. "It is time!" Giant Dreamy Sweetie told Sky. "The foe is weak and ripe for defeat! Let's finish it off with the Finishing Sisters move! See that shooting star? Catch it, Sky!"
Giant Dreamy Sweetie threw Sky upwards, towards the shooting star, which Sky caught and threw downward, while Sky was still holding onto it. "EXCELLENT!!" The duo shouted. The Drilldigger Golem was no more. After finishing their victory dance, Giant Dreamy Sweetie returned to normal size. "Feel like talking yet, Stony?"
"That was AMAZING!" The Nether Emerald Spirit exclaimed. "I thought you real worlders were small fries, but you've proven that you're a big fry, Big White! Next time, I wanna take on Big Blue! You've proven to be a worthy foe, so I'll go ahead and... TELL YOU! But only Big White. It'll be our little secret."
Dreamy Sweetie walked slowly towards the Nether Emerald Spirit, which told her... "Clouds... Rocks... a cliff... A mountain. Definitely a mountain... in the far north, past the largest mountain range in the world. The mountain stands alone, but unites all souls on the solstice."
"A lone mountain... in the far north..." Sky said, partially to her friend, and partially to herself. "I know where it is! Mount Amore!"
"That was supposed to be a secret!" The spirit replied. "What gives?"
The two heroes, having awakened the gem spirit, were sent back to the real world. "Discord, I know where the Nether Emerald is..." Sky said. "It's on Mount Amore."
"Mount Amor-what-the-hay?" Discord asked.
"Mount Amore, the northernmost mountain, where all lost souls unite." Sky explained. "I've never been there, but I heard about it from my sister. She was trying to find a new source of rainbow juice, so the factory didn't have to rely on blood."
"Sounds absolutely repulsive..." Discord yakked. "But it's our only lead. As soon as we get back to Equestria, I'll teleport us there."
"I wouldn't advise that, Discord." Sky warned him. "The mountain is protected by an Aurora Flash that turns all magic against its users. We'll have to walk. And hurry, we only have until the solstice."
"It's the Changeling Hive all over again." Discord complained. "But I suppose if Miss No Magic thinks it's for the best... Allons-y!" The trio began walking back to the mortal world, ready to start their fortnight of misfortune.
"Let's see... Tartarus is to the far south... not quite the pole, but that still means we have to walk 11000 miles in two weeks." Sky Blue said to Sweetie Belle and Discord. "Eleven thousand... that's OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAND!!! But maybe we could teleport to the Yakyakistan border and just hike from there. Discord?"
Without even a second thought, Discord snapped his claws and teleported the three of them to the Crystal Mountains, near the border between the two nations. "FOR DREAMALITY!" Discord exclaimed as a Pigasus appeared right under him from out of nowhere, as did a lance in his claws. The Pigasus and lance disappeared in an ethereal smoke, and Discord lost his ability to fly. "Well, if at first you don't succeed..." Discord came back to the mountaintop and summoned another Pigasus, but the second one disappeared just like the first one. "Welp... Third time's the charm!" He sent another Pigasus, but that one disappeared too.
"There's no point in sending more Pigasi to their doom, Discord!" Sky explained. "The magic barrier is biggest and strongest as the solstice approaches. We need to walk the rest of the way... by my calculations, we should have just enough time to make it if we can JUST STOP DAWDLING!" Sky proceeded to walk north, and the others followed in her wake.
The unlikely trio had been walking for what felt like centuries, even though it was only mere minutes. Sky noticed that there were a few sets of small yak tracks, probably belonging to a baby yak or two. Then she started to follow the tracks, even though they were going northeast rather than due north. She surmised that if she followed the tracks, maybe the yaks could help them. Pinkie Pie had befriended them after all.
Sure enough, the trio saw a cute little yak child that looked like the baby yak Pinkie Pie described only about six moons older... My ability to read ages with eyes is uncanny. Sky thought to herself. I wonder if she can talk?
Sky's question had just been answered when the yak child said "Hello" to her.
"Hi. I'm Sky Blue." Sky introduced herself to a potential new friend of hers. "What's your name?"
"Hi Sky." The yak child replied. "I'm Yacqueline... you may have noticed, but I don't talk like those grown up yaks. It's because I don't quite agree with their customs, what with being secluded in the north for over nine thousand moons."
"Tell me about it." Sky replied sarcastically to Yacqueline. "I'm a Changeling, but I've been reformed ages before Thorax was even born... well, six years, but that's still ages. I've been disguised as the middle child of the Blue family my whole life, and my friend Sweetie Belle and my sister Vivian are the only ones who know. Well, and you now, obviously. Even Midnight, my other sister, is completely in the dark, and not just because of her name. The Blues don't even have three daughters, only two. My real name's Meteora, but I only use that name around my fellow Changelings... and close friends who know I'm a Changeling."
"Well Meteora, I won't judge you." Yacqueline tried to hug her new friend, but tripped over her short hind legs while her front ones were in the air. So Sky/Meteora hugged Yacqueline instead.
"I'm glad you take me for what I am." Sky said to her new yak friend. "Wanna see my true form?"
Yacqueline nodded, her horned head looking so cute with those baby horns bobbing along with it.
Sky/Meteora transformed into her true self, which not even Discord, who was standing right in front of her, and not even Flaming Thunder, whom she had been pretending to date, had seen before, in front of this almost complete stranger. She felt like a stripper, revealing herself to a stranger like this... except she was doing it for free. Her scaly skin was multicoloured, like an iridescent suit of armour. "It's because I'm the first reformed Changeling ever, so my exoskeleton had more time to evolve and recolour."
"It's absolutely beautiful!" Yacqueline exclaimed with amazement. "It looks like those Skittle things from the human world that Pinkie Pie was telling me about. Can I lick it?"
Meteora felt a little awkward about this, but nodded her head anyway. "Just don't lick my horn." She said, gesturing the one still-black body part by bobbing her head like she did when she nodded. "...or my wings." She flapped them at 42 beats per second, a bit slower than they usually flap in her true form, but still 21 times faster than in her pegasus disguise.
Yacqueline licked Meteora's scales, about five of each colour, and said things like "Mmm..." and "Tasty" as she was licking them. When she was done, Meteora transformed back into her Sky disguise and Yacqueline said her fur tasted good too. "Was I a bit too much?" Yacqueline asked. "Or not enough?"
"Just right, thanks." Sky/Meteora replied to her affectionate friend. "I'm glad you licked me actually. But can you help me and my friends get to Mount Amore? It's for a very important date: The Summer Solstice."
"Yes, yes, OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAND times yes!" Yacqueline shouted like the adults she was trying to differentiate from. "I thought you'd never ask!"
"When I said 'date' I meant a calendar date, not a romantic one." Sky/Meteora rolled her eyes. "I need to stop a ritual before it starts, and the offering point is on Mount Amore's peak."
"Oh." Yacqueline let her adorable head down. "I'm sorry I got the wrong idea. But yeah, I'll help you." Yacqueline walked northwest to the cave of her friend, the Yeti. She asked him if he could give Meteora a ride, and he roared that he doesn't take Changelings, good or evil. So she asked for Pinkie Pie's sled that she lost in the cave, and when he returned it, it was shattered remains of nothing. Sweetie Belle built a new sled with the remnants and some crystal ice, and the four friends, yak included, set off to Mount Amore for the summoning ritual.
"What have I done" Meteora/Sky Blue asked herself. "I let a complete stranger just up and lick me!" Why did I say that out loud? She thought. Yacqueline might turn her tail and run off... I can't help it, I'm a babbling idiot. And I have a coltfriend! Would he be OK with a lesbian affair? Probably, since guys are all about the girls, especially the bestial ones. Sky smiled realising that she had nothing to worry about. "Please kiss me quick, cause I need to feel it!"
Yacqueline was happy to oblige, and that kiss was the best one Sky ever felt... though, to be fair, she only kissed Flaming Thunder once. He didn't enjoy it, and that's probably why there wasn't any tongue. He preferred Scootaloo, Sky's least favourite Crusader, because they both idolised Rainbow Dash like she was some kind of tomboyish goddess. Sky admired Dashie, but didn't idolise her by a longshot. That was the one thing she and Flamie disagreed about: What they thought of Rainbow Dash.
Soon enough, Sky transformed into her true form, and her lizard-like Changeling tongue was in Yacqueline's mouth. She was seriously considering dumping Flamie for this yak, or proposing a threesome with him and her. They'd probably both agree, stubborn as Flamie is. Sad to see her new friend/lover go, Sky/Meteora released her tongue from Yacqueline's mouth, and bade her farewell. "If I leave you now, will I see you again?"
"No, you probably won't, because that is stupid." Yacqueline replied. "Actually, I wanna see you again too. Maybe after you stop the ritual?"
"Maybe." Sky answered. "And that was just an hors d'oeuvre. Next time we meet, you will feast on a deadly eight-course meal. Ciao!"
"Love that pun, gurl." Yacqueline replied. "Ciao and chow... the eight-course meal will be yours to enjoy, though." Yacqueline's face begun to droop as she watched her newfound mate leave her behind.
Meteora was just as sad to leave as Yacqueline was to see her leave. Sky shed both a fountain of tears and a mountain of fur, some hers and some Yacqueline's. However, she, Sweetie Belle, and Discord all had to go to the mountain's peak, and they wasted enough time as is.
Discord had just about enough of this. He didn't care that his magic would backfire, he just wanted to get there. So he cast a teleportation spell thinking south and went north. "That's odd." Discord said to himself. "Why didn't I just do that before? Knowing I couldn't do magic without it backfiring should have made me want to do this sooner. Well, here we are: The peak of Mount Horror."
"AMORE!" Sky and Sweetie corrected Discord. "Anyway..." Sky said. "...it looks like we're too late: The ritual has already started. Look, there's the Nether Emerald!" The green gem was right in front of them, being held in a red aura of magic by a familiar-looking unicorn: Shadestar, son of Sombra. Next to him was a beast that could only be described as a human: he had a tall body, pale-white skin, and red irises without pupils.
"Well... it's been a long time, hasn't it, Nick?" Draco asked Discord. "Since you and I chatted, I mean."
"We don't have time for pleasantries, Draco." Discord replied to this man, as if he were an old friend. So Discord was lying to me about Celestia being his first friend... and lying to everypony else about that pony being Fluttershy. Sky thought to herself. "I know what you're doing... and I've come here to free you. Free you from Shadestar's rule! I know his father was like a brother to you, and that you want to avenge him, but this isn't the way! You can avenge the dead without killing their killers."
"You're too late, Nicholas!" Draco exclaimed to his old friend. "Or should I say... Discord? The sun has already begun setting... and now the hour has come at last, the soft and fading light, has crossed the west horizon, and has bidden us goodnight. And what a lovely night it is, to walk a moonlit field. To see the softer shades, that are by Starlight, now revealed!"
After Draco sung his verse, Shadestar inserted the gem into the four-point-star-gem-shaped keyhole on the mountain's peak. The ritual had begun. Draco was right, Sky thought. It's too late now. When the gem entered the keyhole, Draco laughed and a mysterious melody resonated from the gem. A green aurora went with the melody, echoing into the skies above and around the mountain.
The song played on a loop for thirty minutes, then there was nothing but starlight, silence, and the life-forms that observed them. "Only two more gems, Lord Draco." Shadestar said to his lackey. "And one of them is right near here, in the Crystal Empire!"
Draco paused a moment before replying. "Lord Shadestar, there is still plenty of time. We have until the winter solstice to find that gem. Shouldn't we be concentrating on the girl? The one who wishes to thwart our plans?"
"Her actions matter not, Lord Draco." Shadestar reassured his minion. "She will perish along with her pathetic little friends. They will be thrown into the darkest depths of the Chaos Dimension, where not even that traitor cousin of yours, Nicholas, can save them! And her disguise is in vain as well... she openly admitted to being a Changeling in the presence of my pet, Yetimus the Yeti."
"Changeling or not, Sky... Meteora is still our friend!" Sweetie Belle defended Sky. "And we will not let our friends be offered up for some summoning. The Star of Illusions shall never become reborn, nor shall its bearer return to the mortal realm!"
"Ah, yes... Sweetie Belle." Draco looked upon the unicorn filly with amusement. "Or should I say... Evelyn? The Princess of Spirits? The Masked Angel hath chosen her newest student well. Evelyn, Evelyn, why do you bother to stay? Why aren't you running away? Don't you feel like severing? Everything's just come together at last. It's too late to keep us awake!" With that, the two demon summoners summoned a Mega Pi'illo and slept on it.
Now there is no time to lose. Sky thought. This was the moment that we, the heroes, were waiting not long and preparing not well for. The moment that we take our dreams back from the Dream Stealers and destroy the Star of Illusions before the plan comes to fruition! Sky and Sweetie, or rather, Meteora and Evelyn, rest their heads on the pillow, which was this time letting both of them create a dream portal and Discord stepped into it. The three of them had one objective now: To stop the Black Cataclysm.
