It was just as normal as every other day...until the completely unexpected happened!
Twilight was gone? How could this be? Her friends knew this would be a long arduous journey with many enemies to face, but they would stop at nothing to get their friend back! There isn't anything they wouldn't do, but just how high is the cost of true friendship? What would the ponies have to lose? I guess you will have to read to find out.
Things were going great since the defeat of Chrysalis the Changeling Queen. Shining Armor and Cadence were now married and were living in Canterlot so that they both could continue with their duties. Celestia and Luna fixed the castle with their powerful magic and the Elements of Harmony were once again locked up in the royal vault, with only Celestia and Luna's horns as keys. Everything was returning back to normal and nothing seemed to stand in the way for yet another beautiful sunrise to start of yet another beautiful day, in the land of Equestria.
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It was early morning in Ponyville, and everypony was asleep in their beds. Well, everypony except Fluttershy. She was already up waking and tending to the animals around her cottage. "It's time to wake up Angel bunny." Fluttershy said softly as she gently rocked her pet back and forth. "You need to eat..” *SMACK* Angel hit Fluttershy in the face with his soft pillow and rolled over to go back to sleep. "Oh Angel..." she said as she bent her neck to once again try to wake the stubborn bunny.
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Pinkie Pie was sleeping, hanging from a rafter in the main room of Sugarcube Corner by her tail. Her snoring was very loud as she mumbled the ingredients of her favorite cookies, "Hmm…flower…mm vanilla…choco-" Then suddenly her tail began twitching and she woke up. "Oh no! Something's gonna fall!” she shouted as her tail unwounded from the rafter and she hit the ground with a big thud. "Oh, hahaha, it was me!” she stated with a big grin on her face.
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Rarity woke up very slowly, lying in a silk white and purple sleeping gown with cucumber slices on her eyes. She sat up and removed them, "Well no point in letting them go to waste." She looked around quickly to be sure that no pony was around. She then gobbled them up and let out the tiniest burp. "Excuse me.” she said in a small but graceful voice. "Alright, I've got four dresses I need to send to Hoity Toity by tomorrow. I simply must get started." She got out of bed and quickly walked over to her table where she keeps the papers she draws her designs on. They were blank.
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"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" cried Applebloom as she jumped on her sister's bed. "You promised you'd take me, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo to the park so we could practice obstacle course runnin'!" Applejack threw her eyes open; they were bloodshot since she had stayed up late so she could finish picking delicious red and green apples for her apple fritters. "Can't ya just lemme sleep fer five more minutes?” she asked pleading. "But you promised!” said Applebloom, using the saddest looking face she could possibly make. Applejack sighed, "Alright, Ah’m up. Go get yer friends." She looked back longingly at her bed, "Ah've got a bad feelin' about today. Ah just wanna curl up in that there bed and sleep ‘til tomorrow…"
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Droplets of water plopped down on Rainbow Dash's face. She opened her eyes and looked up. "Hey! D'you mind? I'm sleepin' here!” she yelled. There was a pegasus bucking a raincloud above her favorite napping spot beside her house. "Sorry Rainbow Dash.” said the burly stallion as he moved the raincloud away. Rainbow sat up and decided it was time for her morning routine: 15 wing-ups and a lap around Ponyville. She laid down on her back and used her wings to lift her body, "One....two....three.."
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"Good morning everypony, Octavia here for early morning Scratch N Tavi radio show with my co-host Scratch."
"Ugh, I had to get up early for this show. It's like way earlier than usual."
"Well, good news is that you can just sit there and play music. We will have the news later."
"Great!" /record scratch/
“- I've been waiting, for the taking, of my..” *CLICK*
Spike let his hand slink down from the snooze button of his alarm clock as he sat up. He let out a big dragon sized yawn (well, for a dragon as big as Spike anyway). He was awake, alert and ready for the morning chores. He looked over to Twilight Sparkle, ready for his first chore of the day: ‘Wake up Twilight’. But she was already awake. In fact she was sitting on the floor and staring out of her window at Canterlot Castle. "Good morning Twilight.” he said to her smiling and cheerfully. She turned her head to him, "Oh, hey. Good morning." "How long have you been awake Twilight?"
"I don't know." she replied as she turned her head back to the window. "Oh," he said, "well I'll get started on today's chores."
"You do that. I'll be down in just a minute." Twilight knew that today was an important day, that this could be one of the most important days of her life. She was going over and over in her head just what she needed to do to make this perfect. She walked over to the mirror and inspected herself very closely. "I hope I'm ready for this.” she said to herself, almost as if she was scared.
Twilight timidly walked down the stairs, deep in thought on the day’s upcoming event. She looked up to see the dragon cooking a foul smelling meal she would have to eat. "I'm making your favorite Twilight, so you won't feel as nervous today.” said Spike as he finished glazing the last daffodil for the sandwich. Twilight wrinkled her nose, "Oh, well thank you, it looks....delicious..." "Is something wrong Twilight? You've been acting a little strange since we left Canterlot."
"No I'm fine, let's eat.” she replied wearing her biggest and most convincing fake smile. Spike mulled this over for a minute. "OK but we need to hurry. We're supposed to meet the girls at Sugarcube Corner in an hour.” he said quickly. "Alright," Twilight agreed and began to choke down the sickly looking flowers.
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"Thanks Applejack!” cried all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders as Applejack brought them back home from the park. They were all very grateful for her help even though none of them had gotten their cutie marks. "No problem girls, any time.” she said cheerfully to the three young fillies as she turned to head for Sugarcube Corner. Today was a big day. She was very excited and couldn't stop her steady walk from turning into a sort of trotting skip. She ran past Fluttershy's cottage and stopped. “Maybe Ah should go in an' get the poor girl” she thought. After all, Fluttershy could be a tad forgetful at times when she was nervous or scared. Applejack walked up to the door and knocked, "Hey Fluttershy! C'mon, we're gonna be late!" She could hear crashing coming from inside the house as she heard, "Just a minute." A few moments passed and the door opened. Applejack peered inside to see dishes and food all over the floor, with Angel lying in the middle of it all, eating a carrot. "Oh hey Applejack, I was just getting ready to leave.” said Fluttershy softly. She was glad to know she had a friend to walk with, because she was very nervous about today. "Well let's get on then.” replied Applejack trying to hold back a chuckle, as Fluttershy had some lettuce in her hair. "By the way, Ah like the new hairstyle ya got goin' on there." Fluttershy reached up and felt around in her hair and pulled out a big piece of lettuce. Her cheeks immediately turned red and she threw the lettuce inside. She closed the door and off they went.
Applejack noticed that Fluttershy was a bit shaky and nervous looking. "Don't worry sugarcube, there ain't nothin' to be worried about."
"But I've never even dreamed she would do this.” she replied.
"Ah don't think any one of us did. Just make sure you show your appreciation. It ain't everyday Princess Celestia comes to town to give us awards for bein' the ‘Heroes of Equestria’."
"You're right, I'll try to look as confident as I can when she gets here."
"At a girl!” said Applejack with a smile at her friend.
It didn’t take long before the two reached the front of Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow and Pinkie were already there. The confident cyan pegasus was practicing her 'Thank you, no autographs please' speech while Pinkie pretended to be an entire audience running from place to place shouting, "Yay Rainbow Dash....We knew you were our hero....We love you Dashie!" Rainbow then replied with, "Oh thank you, I'm so glad I could help, and I love you too; I love all the citizens of Ponyville!"
Applejack and Fluttershy walked up to them. "You know it's just gonna be us six at this little git together, right Dash?” Applejack said as she stopped by where Pinkie was sitting. Rainbow blushed, "Well yeah but.."
"But it's fun to pretend there will be people there to watch us!” the cheerful pink party-pony butted in, unknowingly saving Rainbow from an embarrassing moment. "Yeah! That's it!” she said hurriedly. "Where are Rarity and Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. Pinkie answered, "Well Rarity said that she would be late because she had some fashiony stuff to do, and Twilight.." She looked behind Applejack to see Spike riding on Twilight's back. "There she is right there!” she finished happily.
"Hey Twilight, when is Celestia gonna get here?” asked Rainbow, but it was the little dragon on her who answered. "She sent us a letter on our way over here saying she would be arriving within the hour.” he said holding up the parchment. Spike looked around, "Hey, where's Rarity?" Pinkie opened her mouth to give the very long version of the answer, but Rainbow sensed this and planted her hoof in Pinkies mouth. "She's gonna be late.” she replied, short and simple. "Myeahm!” Pinkie agreed in a muffled tone. Twilight felt she should say something, as she was getting some rather funny looks from the ponies. "So how were your mornings girls?” she asked cheerfully. The ponies looked around towards one another and Fluttershy answered, "Very....eventful." The other ponies agreed. Pinkie looked up and saw something in the sky. She gasped very loudly, "It's Princess Celestia! She's here!" The other ponies turned to look up and see the Princess flying very high in the sky. They all smiled instantly; some for joy, some for excitement and some for other reasons.
Rainbow, too anxious to wait, soared up into the sky to meet Celestia as she got closer. She bowed mid-air and looked up with a big smile, "It's very nice to see you today Princess."
"It's very lovely to see you as well Rainbow Dash.” replied the Princess elegantly and with poise. “How are you and your friends?"
"Oh we're great Princess! We're very happy to see you!” she replied excitedly with a very large grin on her face. She looked down at her friends. Celestia looked down as well. If you looked, it would seem almost as if Pinkie's huge smile was giving off a warm glow of light. Actually, it looked very real. In fact it was real, but it wasn't coming from the pink pony’s awfully joyful grin. No, it was coming from beside her where Twilight stood.
Everypony turned to Twilight as her glow intensified. It got brighter and hotter and grew painful to look at, and the other ponies had to shield their eyes. There was something very familiar about this light, and as it faded away, the ponies looked back to see a gray pony with pure diamond blue eyes and wings that resembled that of a broken fly’s. There was no way to avoid the shock; it just couldn't be! The ponies looked as if they had been punched right in the happiness. For the past two weeks since they had returned home from Canterlot, their dear friend Twilight Sparkle had been a changeling.
No pony could believe it; it just couldn't be true! How could their friend be a changeling? Sure, she had been acting a little strange, but that was to be expected since the whole ordeal with Chrysalis. Rainbow and Applejack had noticed some weird things but thought nothing of it. For one, Twilight would never use their names; she would simply address whoever she was looking at. She always looked deep in some sort of thought and she would be seen at some odd places around town close to Sugarcube Corner. But no pony ever thought anything of it. That's how this had gone perfectly; the changeling had gotten to where it needed to be with no problems. All the while feeding off of the love these ponies held for Twilight Sparkle. It was now more than powerful enough for this, with all of the power built up inside. While this was happening, the changeling hoped it was doing its Queen proud. Little did the changeling know that not only had it gotten to where it needed to be, but it was being watched as well.
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In the land of Similaria, Chrysalis stood in the dungeons of her castle looking into a pool of green water. In the scrying pool, she watched as her minion transformed back into its original form. “Good” she thought, “Things are coming together perfectly.” Celestia and her guard captain believed they had defeated her with their repelling spell, but things were falling perfectly into place. "You'll never get away with this!" yelled a voice from behind her. She turned slowly and smiled, "But my dear Twilight Sparkle, I already have." Everypony thought that Twilight escaped the crystal dungeons of Canterlot with Cadence, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Twilight had been sent here to Similaria and a changeling had replaced her to escape with Cadence and get close to the Princess. Chrysalis then used all of her excess magic to shield this changeling from the spell that sent all of the other changelings back to their land. How better a way to infiltrate than to use the Princess’s star pupil?
"My friends will bring Princess Celestia here and save me!"
"Why don't you just use your magic to escape dear? Oh that's right; only changelings may use magic to get through the bars.” she taunted. It was true. There was no way for Twilight to escape unless somepony with changeling magic let her out.
"We are getting closer to unlocking the power of the magic scrolls, dear Chrysalis.” said a familiar and ominous voice. "Perfect, continue working." she replied. "Why yes of course." said the voice. Twilight looked as the figure stepped from the shadows. She could not believe her eyes; this was not possible! She watched, as none other than Discord walked into the room and looked directly at her.
"Hello Twilight,” he smiled, "Surprised to see me?"
"How?” was all Twilight could muster. "Well my dear. Between you bickering with your friends, your brother, his fiancée, and Celestia, enough disharmony had occurred to reawaken me. It's odd to see how such an insignificant pony like yourself could awaken me. But this time my dear, I'm taking a less direct approach. I've decided to help Queen Chrysalis here and.."
"Don't tell her the plan Discord. That's what got you defeated the last time you escaped." said Chrysalis sharply. "Yes m'lady” he said. Then he flew up and flew in a tight small circle and disappeared leaving only smoke and laughter to prove he was ever there.
"What are you planning Chrysalis?” Twilight demanded more than asked. "All in due time Twilight, but for now, I have things I must attend to. None of this could be possible without you dear. You should really learn to control the mumbling you do in your sleep.” she smiled. "What? What mumbling?” asked Twilight. What could she have said to help this evil Queen? Chrysalis merely laughed and exited the room through the large door frame. It was true, almost every night, Twilight had mumbled things about the powerful magic of Starswirl the Bearded and where his scrolls were. Chrysalis then sent Discord to obtain them. Three scrolls with unrivaled ancient power. Discord had unlocked the power of one of the scrolls; this let her absorb her minions and gain their power. But it was a difficult spell and could only be used once every hour with permission from the minion. Of course the minions were more than willing, and if they weren't they were forced to be. With her power ever growing, she would soon have the power to perform the other spells.
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Discord, being the spirit of chaos and disorder, was tasked with reading the jumble of words left behind by the great wizard. The words were written in a long forgotten text, with a spell over them that has varying effects. Right now it was making him forget how to see. On top of the protecting spells and the forgotten text, it was only partially written; some was drawn and it was all written in riddles. Discord had used riddles before. He created them and broke them, but never had he encountered any as difficult as these. It took all of his power and concentration to get through the spell and even more to attempt to decipher it. Of course he had tried to write down translations but, no matter what, the ink always disappeared. There was no way to copy it. So far, he had gotten to: ‘Replicate the desire of flowers on the plains’'.
It wasn't much, but it was a start. Discord was very eager to get his revenge on Celestia and the six ponies that thwarted him the last time. "Them and their precious Elements of Harmony….Pah!” he said aloud as cotton candy rainclouds began forming above him. He was given his own living quarters in the castle, but since they were much too boring for his tastes, he ‘chaosed’ them up a bit. Instead of a bed, he slept on a soft and giant muffin. He had a sundial hanging from the ceiling that told time by how much water there was in the room. The list goes on and on and always changing, as Discord liked change, and was very prepared for the big change about to happen.
He smiled his sinister smile and scratched his goat-like pony chin with his eagle claw. He was once again able to see and resumed his work on the scrolls. Every piece of the puzzle was falling into place. Soon they would have what they wanted; revenge, wealth, power and chaos. Two things were missing from their perfect plan, namely Celestia and Luna. With them out of the way, they would be unstoppable. All they needed was time. Discord didn't really understand changelings, what he did understand though is their desire for change. That was something he could relate to. He wanted it, he needed it and perhaps this is why he decided to join forces with them. After all, as the ‘Spirit of Chaos and Disorder’, the changelings didn't have to hang around forever once the world was theirs.
"Blasted scroll!” Discord yelled as the words begin to dance around on the page and sing. He was all for oddities, but he was working! He thought that perhaps he would go check on his little friend Twilight. He put the scroll back into its drawer and glided out of the room. He slunk his way down the spiral staircase and into the corridor that lead to the east wing, he crossed the dining room and found the steel door that lead to the dungeon. A bit drab he thought, but he left it alone for now. He opened the giant door, went in and it closed behind him. He figured he would have a little fun with this, so he turned invisible and slithered in. There was Twilight, sitting in her cell looking defeated and alone (oh the poor girl, if only she had some hope). As she looked away to view the sky from her cell, he slowly turned the bars to the cell invisible.
Twilight let out a huge sigh and looked down. How would she ever make it out of this dreaded place? She desperately needed a way to contact her friends, a way out, something! She felt so helpless in here. If only she could do something. She turned to look at the green scrying pool that Chrysalis liked to peer in to.
The look on Twilight face was priceless as she turned back to the bars. Discord had never seen such a drastic change in emotion. It almost made him burst into laughter. It only got better as Twilight stood up and readied herself to charge to the doorway and make her escape before anypony realized she was gone. She kicked off with her back legs and broke into the fastest gallop she could muster.
This was the fastest she had ever galloped. She was halfway there. She knew she would make it. She was free and the door was right..*SLAM* She smashed into the invisible bars and fell to the ground. She looked up in tears as Discord turned visible again, laughing so hard he nearly fell. As he became visible, so did the bars and Twilight realized what had happened. She was so hurt, physically and mentally. "You didn't think it was going to be that easy did you? There had to be some part of you that just knew this was a trick.” he said tauntingly as she rose up from the ground. This could be her chance. If she couldn't escape, perhaps she could at least try to learn their plans. "What do you want Discord?” she said, trying to sound as broken and defeated as she could (it wasn't hard). "Oh I just came to pay you a little visit.” he replied, "How are things?" He knew perfectly well how things were. She did not dignify this with an answer.
"Oh come now, don't be that way…” he said, "Is there anything I can get you dear?"
Twilight thought about this; all she needed was to get him talking. "Well, I am pretty hungry." she replied solemnly. He snapped his fingers and a plate of candy appeared before her. Not exactly what she had in mind, but she took it. "See, now that wasn't so bad." he cooed, "Now is there anything else?" He decided he would do one more thing for her and then toy with her some more. "What are you and Chrysalis planning?" she instantly replied. Discord grew enraged, "Why on earth would I tell you that?" Discord wondered if she really thought he was that stupid. Twilight thought for a second, "Well it’s not like I could do anything about it from inside this cell."
Discord thought long and hard about this; it's true, there was nothing she could do from this cell. After all, what was the point of having his genius plan if no pony even knew about it? He cooled down and let out a sigh, "Tell you what I'm gonna do." He vanished and reappeared inside the cell with Twilight. He leaned against her. "How did you get in here?” she asked surprised, due to the fact that only changeling magic worked with these bars. "I'll tell you, but I'm going to tell you my way," he smirked and flew upwards.
“Twilight, oh Twilight the plan is this, my dear. To bend and to break you, fill every heart with woe and fear. Chrysalis and I, we hunger for revenge, and will stop at no end; you will not win again. So be wary dear one, for the time has begun. The destruction of Equestria; the downfall of your dear Celestia…” Twilight followed, “The Princess, but how? She defeated you before, so why not now? Things may not go as you’ve planned; I just need a little help from all my friends.”
”Ha! Your friends will never find you. The Princess and the world is ours, with a little help, mind you.“ Discord finished his last line and then expanded until he exploded (he was a big fan of dramatic exits after all). Twilight was baffled. How does he plan to do all that? It's not like the Princess would just give up.
He didn't tell her much, but it was a start. She had complete faith that her friends would find and save her. A bright light had suddenly appeared behind her, so she turned to look. A door had appeared in the wall. But she just bowed her head and lay down, as she knew it was just another trick.
Rainbow saw the bright flash of light and, despite being so high up in the air, she and Celestia had to turn their heads. The two looked at each other, then back to where the light came from. The flash of light had faded away and Rainbow was looking back to see if her friends were OK. They were all looking to where Twilight was standing, so she looked to find her. She scanned all over but didn't see her friend. Where could she be? She looked back to where Twilight should have been standing and saw something new; a new pony, a gray pony. That was odd, Rainbow thought. Where was Twilight? Then, as the bright pure blue eyes flashed, the realization came rushing over her like a stampede. She had only seen eyes like that one other time. But by this time it was too late. As quick as a flash, four loud banging noises rang out and quick as lightning four ropes were flying towards Celestia. They had a green tint around them; they were enchanted. Before Celestia could even move, the ropes wrapped around her and tied themselves tight around her body, trapping her wings. She began to fall. That must be why Twil...er...the changeling was found hanging out around here so much, Rainbow realized. With Fluttershy on the ground covering her head with her hooves, and Pinkie Pie still in complete awe about the changeling situation, it was all up to Applejack and Rainbow.
As Applejack was getting ready to charge the changeling, she yelled up, "Rainbow, catch the Princess!" Rainbow didn't need to be told twice. In an instant she was in a full dive flapping her wings to catch up with Celestia. Applejack got a galloping start, and when she reached full speed, she jumped at the changeling, prepared to take it to the ground. She was just a few feet away from landing on it when all of sudden there was a quick green flash, and then she landed. She opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on the ground. Where was the changeling? She looked around but couldn't find it. Then she looked up. The changeling had teleported and was on Celestia’s back, grasping her horn and glowing green. "Consarnit! Rainbow, it's on Celestia!" Applejack yelled up to her friend.
Rainbow sped up, faster and faster. Why didn't the Princess just teleport to safety? It had to have something to do with the changeling holding her horn. "C'mon girls!" Applejack shouted to the others as she ran towards where the Princess was falling. The girls followed. Rainbow tried harder and harder to pick up speed as the wind arced around her, making what looked like a cone of wind. She was afraid she wasn't going to make it. She was so close, but the Princess was closer to the ground.
The three picked up as much speed as they could to catch her just in case Rainbow didn't make it in time. They were so close, but the Princess was closer to the ground.
Closer and closer they all began to converge at a focal point where Celestia was to meet the ground, but the girls weren't having it. They mustered up all they could to catch up. Just as the three stopped under where Celestia was going to hit in about three seconds, Rainbow started screaming and sped up even more. And just as Celestia fell upon the three girls at the bottom, Rainbow had reached full speed and connected with Celestia at the same time she connected with the three on the ground. As soon as they all met one another, you could see the brightest flash of light. It had to be the most painful and beautiful thing to watch. The explosion of light was what happened when changeling magic melded with a Sonic Rainboom.
Now, under normal 'breaking the sound barrier' circumstances, the Sonic Rainboom is a disk of colorful light bursting from the point at which sound was broken. It's quite an amazing sight in itself. But this, this was combined with changeling magic. This particular Sonic Rainboom erupted from Rainbow Dash like a tornado of color, fluctuating outwards slowly and picking up speed and shooting rays of light in different directions. It was so magnificent that it seemed to suck the color out of everything around it just to magnify its own beauty. As the ‘Rainado’ Boom covered up the entire block, it slowed down and stopped spinning. It began to twinkle and the colors began changing and switching places like a game of musical chairs where the music never stopped. The colors themselves sped up and became a blur of motionless motion and color, but the colors didn't blend; you could still easy distinguish one color from the next. Then as the colors continued their movement, the tornado itself began to retract to the point of its origin, slowly at first. Then it began rotating in the opposite direction of which the colors were moving. It gained speed back to the center and, almost as suddenly as it had appeared, it snapped back to where it came from, with Rainbow and everypony else still near it. Last, a giant rainbow beam of light shot straight up in the air, into the clouds and into space, and dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. Hopefully, everypony was OK.
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Rarity simply stood there completely stunned, jaw agape, as this magnificent sight happened before her very eyes. Spike, who had been cowering in the bushes, was now standing beside her, watching this awe-inspiring lightshow. This was unrivaled in beauty and raw power. And as the beam of light that had shot into the sky had gone away, she looked at Spike and asked him what had happened. He explained to her that Twilight had in fact been a changeling and had been growing powerful by feeding off of their love for her. He explained how it had set a trap for the Princess, but that the girls had sprang into action.
After her initial shock and horror to learn this, she took a moment to soak it all in. "Well I'm glad that you're OK Spikey Wikey. I just hope that the others are OK too.” she said looking concerned as she turned her head to where the explosion had occurred and quickly galloped over with Spike right behind her.
"Girls?” she called out, "Girls are you all OK?" When none of them answered she began to get scared. She ran forward frantically shouting, "Girls, girls where are you!" Then she heard a faint groaning noise coming from her right, just over the hill. Spike noticed that they were a little ways from Sugarcube Corner, maybe about 600 feet. Rarity and Spike ran over the hill to where their friends and the Princess were, possibly hurt. They made it to the top of the hill and looked down, but they didn't see their friends. All they saw were two ponies on the ground but surely that had to be two of their friends. As Rarity drew closer she got a good look at the two ponies. One of them began to stand up; this was a girl pony, and she somehow looked familiar to her. "Hello, are you OK? Who are you if I might ask?” she asked curiously.
The mysterious pony looked around and then gave herself a quick look over. Her coat wore an orange like color like Applejack, and her mane was tied up in the same way, but it was colored the same way as Rainbow Dash’s. She had no wings or horn, so she must be an earth-pony. And her tail looked just like Rainbow’s, both in style and color. Her eyes were strange; each eye held a different color, the left one was a kind of darkly shaded pink and the right was like a hunter green. The cutie mark was what threw her off. It was strange, a cloud that seemed to be raining rainbow colored Zap Apples.
Rarity gave this pony a long look and then looked over to the other pony, who was still on the ground. This was also a girl pony. She was yellow with a pink fluffy mane styled like Pinkie Pie’s and a long flowing tail of the same color, but styled like Fluttershy’s. She was a Pegasus pony but, the odd thing was, her wings were not yellow like her fur; they were in fact pink like her hair. Her eyes were two different colors as well; the left one was a sort of robin’s egg blue, almost a little green, while the right was a very clear sky blue. The cutie mark, like on the other one, was somewhat strange; three big balloons with butterflies on them. Two of the balloons were pink, but the third one was green. The butterflies on the pink ones were orange, and the butterflies on the green one were red.
They were the strangest ponies Rarity had ever seen in her life. Spike had just stood and looked.
"Don't you recognize me?" said the first mysterious pony. Rarity looked back to her. This pony looked so familiar, she just couldn't put her hoof on it. Then it clicked. "Applejack? Or...Rainbow Dash?” she asked skeptically. The other pony just smiled and said, "Yeah, it's me." Her voice was a little raspy like Rainbow’s, but she had a country accent like Applejack. Rarity looked as if everything in her life just changed. She thought and asked, "Well, which are you?"
The pony thought about this for a moment and replied, "Actually, Ah'm both of 'em." Rarity almost fainted. How was this possible? "And I suppose that is Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie?” she queried. "Yes it's me.” said the other pony as she stood up. Her voice was different completely; it wasn't high pitched and shrill like Pinkie’s nor was it soft and shy like Fluttershy’s, it was just normal. "Where are Celestia and the changeling?” Fluttershy and Pinkie asked. "Ah hav'nt seen 'em” Applejack and Rainbow said. "Nor have I.” Rarity replied.
But it didn't matter, because all of a sudden it hit the yellow pink pegasus like a wave of knowledge she already had, but just got access to. She looked over to Applejack and Rainbow, and the look on her face showed that she felt it too. "Actually, Ah just sort of...remembered, Ah guess you'd call it. Celestia is with that changelin’ somewhere. Ah'm not sure where, but neither does that changelin’ fella. Ah recon’ Celestia will be safe for at least a week and a half." Fluttershy and Pinkie confirmed this with a nod. "Oh…well, alright then.” replied Rarity. She had no idea how they could possibly know something like that, but she trusted her friends (no matter how many of them there might be).
"Well where is Twilight?" said Rarity frantically as she remembered that their friend had been an imposter and the real one was probably trapped somewhere. "We know that too actually. Twilight is being held in the dungeon of the castle of Queen Chrysalis. They don't plan to harm her. She is in no immediate danger, so our first priority should be separating ourselves.” Fluttershy and Pinkie said. Wow, that was extremely well thought out, Rarity thought for herself. She must be able to think more rationally in a state of having a combined mind. At least that's how Rarity saw it, and she actually wasn't that far off.
"Well if I'll be spending time with you, we must come up with a simpler way to speak to you. I can't use both of your names every time I wish to speak with you.” Rarity said.
"Ooh ooh ooh, let me do this! Pleeeaaassseee!” begged Spike, while giving his best puppy dog face. He gave her the ol’ lip quiver (that one always gets 'em). "Hmm, alright.” Rarity replied with a smile. He looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Hmm.......AppleDash!" he exclaimed. She thought about this for a moment and agreed. "Ah like it!” AppleDash said smiling. "What about me?” Fluttershy and Pinkie asked. Spike thought about this one for a little bit, but finally settled on "PinkieShy!" The yellow and pink pegasus thought about this for a moment, then slowly smiled and said, "I love it." She fluttered her pink wings a bit, and then proceeded to fly up and test them out. She enjoyed this a lot. She then slowly descended to the ground and landed with a back flip (Pinkie Pie clearly wasn't lost in there).
"What're we gonna tell folks when they ask about us?" AppleDash asked in thought. "I suppose we tell them the truth if we aren't too busy. We can use all the help we can get. But for the sake of ponies not knowing about Celestia, let's try not to draw attention shall we?” Rarity replied. PinkieShy thought about this. "That sounds reasonable.” she said in an emotionless voice, "I propose we go visit Princess Luna and see what she has to say about all of this." AppleDash agreed, "Sounds good to me."
"But first lets go to Sugarcube corner, cuz I'm hungry!” PinkieShy exclaimed as she ran around in circles. "Let's do it!” AppleDash cried. She then jumped in the air and arched her back a little and then straightened out. Then she met the ground with a hard thud. She had attempted to fly, only to remember that she no longer had wings and at the same time never had them. She got up off the ground, brushed herself off and hung her head. Rarity looked at her with a sad look on her face, "I'm so sorry AppleDash…" It was odd for her to say this name, to have both of her friends as one pony. She couldn't imagine how it must feel to be the same and yet so terribly different. "We will put this right.” she stated matter of factly. "We might, but we probably won't. This is something nopony has probably ever seen before. There's almost for sure no known way to fix this.” PinkieShy remarked in a depressed manor.
Rarity didn't understand how this pony could be so happy one minute and so sad the next. This was something she didn't want to have to see her friends go through. "Come now girls, lift up those chins. Let us go to Sugarcube Corner and get all of our favorite treats, then perhaps a Spa-treatment, then off to Canterlot. What say you girls?” Rarity asked with a large grin on her face. "Well that just sounds downright lovely.” AppleDash said with renewed enthusiasm. "But what even are our favorite treats anymore?” PinkieShy asked solemnly. AppleDash thought about this for a moment and honestly she answered, "Ah...Ah hav’ no idea." Rarity interjected, "Well then we will just have to inform the Cakes of the situation and I'm sure they will be kind hearted enough to allow you to try treats until you come across the ones you like." This put a little more enthusiasm on the faces of the two ponies. "Spike, can you write a letter to Princess Luna?” Rarity asked. Spike’s eyes grew wide and took on the form of hearts, "Of course Rarity, whatever you want!"
"Then write and ask her if she would kindly send us a carriage to Canterlot castle within the next few days, as we are in a situation and will explain this to her upon our arrival."
"Right away!" he exclaimed, and then he scampered off back to his home... without Twilight. He had no idea how he would sleep tonight; he was just a baby dragon and had never been on his own before. Perhaps the girls would let him stay with one of them.
"Well girls, let's hop to it shall we?” Rarity said as she began to walk towards Sugarcube Corner. AppleDash and PinkieShy followed. PinkieShy looked as sad and depressed as she had been, and AppleDash made another attempt to fly, but hit the ground with an even louder thud than before. Rarity heard this and it broke her heart. She would make things better for her friends somehow, and soon.
------
The changeling looked around, it was not sure where they were; a dense jungle with the greenest vegetation it had ever seen, with trees that seemed to grow endlessly into space. They had ended up next to a stream and the changeling decided to take a drink (it may live off of love, but it still needs water). It looked over to where the Princess lay and saw that she was unconscious. Good, this will buy some time, the changeling thought. There was no telling how far away from or how close to Similaria they had ended up. It had been granted limited use of teleportation by Queen Chrysalis to return with the Princess. But whatever that bright and colorful explosion was, it had interfered with the magic and sent them here. The changeling had no idea how long the Princess would stay unconscious and couldn't detain the Princess in the castle dungeon where only changelings could freely enter and exit (due to the special properties of the metal, it was penetrable only to changeling magic). The changeling needed to prevent the Princess from using her magic to escape. Luckily it was granted magic by the Queen for this as well. It walked over to a huge bush that had giant leaves almost as big as it was and pulled one down. It then proceeded to fashion the leaf into a tight cone and used the long blades of grass to weave it together so it would retain its shape. It then held the leaf in front of it and concentrated real hard, looking directly at it. Slowly but surely the leaf appeared to have a green aura around it that grew brighter and brighter until it finally faded away. The changeling had just infused this leaf with magic that will negate any kind of magic the Princess tries to use.
This kind of work took lots of energy, but luckily the pony it had taken the form of had friends who loved her very much, and over the past two weeks it had accumulated a great deal of power and become considerably strong. It slipped the cone over Celestia’s horn and tied it on with long grass.
Next order of business; the Princess cannot be allowed to run off. The changeling untied one of the ropes from around her and tied one end around her neck. It concentrated on the rope and, like the cone, it slowly began to glow green. The changeling had just enchanted the rope to ignore resistance from the end tied around the Princess's neck. Now there was no way she could get away. It hoped that the Queen would be happy for its efforts. When the Princess wakes up, they would start towards Similaria. As all changelings had a sense of which direction it was in, much like an internal compass, this would prove to be just a minor setback; things would be back on track soon enough.
------
Chrysalis was lying in her bed and thinking. How much closer was Discord to unraveling the secrets of the scrolls? How would she dispose of him when she no longer required his services? She was beginning to doze off. How was the capture of Celestia going?
The capture of Celestia....The capture of Celestia! Her eyelids flew open. They should have already been here. The instructions she gave her minion were to teleport to the Everfree Forest and wait until nightfall to teleport back to the castle. So where were they? She jumped up out of bed and galloped out of her chamber door, down the hall and descended the spiral staircase. Once she was in the west wing of the bottom floor, she quickly traversed the halls to the east wing and into the dining room. She flung open the metal doors and ran down the stairs to where the scrying pool was. Though this commotion had awakened Twilight, she thought it best to feign sleep and find out what was going on.
Chrysalis looked deep into the pool and uttered the words, "Show me Celestia." The green pool rippled and slowly began forming a picture. What she saw was confusing. Celestia was unconscious and tied up with a green cone on her horn, while her minion looked at her reflection in the stream. Chrysalis had no idea where they were at; she had never seen that land before. Her minion seemed to be resting while it awaited Celestia to get up and travel back here. Something must have gone wrong with the spell. Perhaps she had put too much faith in this minion. No matter, she would contact it in the morning. The important thing is that Celestia was captured. Things were going as planned. "Celestia is caught, and soon the second phase of the plan will be complete. I still must learn of a way to dispose of Discord when all is done.” Chrysalis said to herself. Content for the moment, she walked back up the stairs and proceeded to go back to her chambers.
------
Discord was working hard on the scroll (he hadn't gotten very far) and this really proved to be a long and arduous process. What he had uncovered still made no sense to him: ’Replicate the desire of flowers on the plains, only to have realized you must do this again’. It wasn't much to work with, but he was confident that he would understand as he translated more. He was beginning to work on the next word when the letters decided they wanted to draw matches and catch themselves on fire. As they burned, the scroll disappeared.
These spells were really starting to try his patience. He took a deep breath and stood up. He turned to his floating lemon and squeezed it. It then turned into a cake that he swiftly ate. "Since I have nothing better to do, I'll go check on Twilight again. I haven't seen her since this morning." He walked out of his room and made his way to the dungeon. He was startled when he heard some heavy hoofsteps echoing through the corridors. He quickly turned invisible and flew up. He was surprised to see Chrysalis hurrying to the dungeon. What had happened? He followed her to the dining room. She almost hit him when she threw the doors open; he had to throw himself to the left but the door still hit him, and he crashed to the ground. How had Chrysalis not heard that? No matter, since she didn't bother closing the door, he snuck in to see what all the commotion was about.
When he had gotten down into the dungeon, Twilight was asleep and Chrysalis was looking into the scrying pool. He flew up behind her to look into it. What he saw wasn't what he expected. He had seen this place before, but where? How did he know of this place? He knew he hadn't been there, but still, he knew it. He kept that image in his mind. As Chrysalis backed up, he flew into the corner and landed. "Celestia is caught, and soon the second phase of the plan will be complete. I still must learn of a way to dispose of Discord when all is done." Discord raised his eyebrow at this. Chrysalis went back up the stairs and closed the door behind her. He turned visible and began walking around. "She wants to dispose of me huh?” he said in a smooth tone. It was anticipated though. "No matter, I shall continue working with her until the end. She isn't the only one who has a disposal plan.” he said as he looked over to the scrying pool. "That place in the pool... Could it be? Could that be the resting place of Starswirl the Bearded?” he asked himself, as he would definitely look into that. But for now, it was back to translating the scrolls. He flew up the stairs and exited the dungeon.
------
Twilight was asleep, dreaming that her and her friends were together and playing in the park. She had just thrown the whirley disk to Rainbow, when the ground beneath her hooves cracked and she was separated from her friends by a gaping hole. They called out to her but she just got farther and farther away. She was startled awake by somepony running inside the room. She opened her eyes and saw that it was Chrysalis. She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep in the hopes of learning something. "Show me Celestia.” Chrysalis said to the pool.
Celestia? Why would she want to see Celestia? Surely the protective barriers of Canterlot would prevent that from happening. She hoped that everything was OK. No, of course it was; her friends wouldn't let Celestia be captured, neither would Shining Armor! Twilight opened her eyes and looked towards the pool. Luckily it was positioned to where she could just make out the picture. She got a quick glimpse and saw the gigantic trees, the huge bushes and how bright this place was. It was a paradise. As Chrysalis began backing up, Twilight quickly laid herself back down and closed her eyes. "Celestia is caught, and soon the second phase of the plan will be complete. I still must learn of a way to dispose of Discord when all is done.” Chrysalis said.
Celestia is captured? No! How could this be? Celestia is the Princess. She has really powerful magic. How could somepony have bested her abilities? Twilight couldn't believe it. There was no way this could have happened. She wanted to cry, but at the same time she didn't want to let Chrysalis know she was awake. She heard the door to the dungeon close. She wanted to dispose of Discord? So she was in fact planning to betray him in the end.
"She wants to dispose of me huh?"
What? Discord was here? She cracked her eye open to watch as he appeared in the corner of the room. "No matter, I shall continue working with her until the end. She isn't the only one who has a disposal plan." Twilight watched as he turned his head to look at the green scrying pool. "That place in the pool... Could it be? Could that be the resting place of Starswirl the Bearded?" She heard the last bit as a mumble as he climbed the stairs and exited the dungeon.
Twilight jumped up. Had he said the resting place of Starswirl the Bearded? Celestia was there? How? She had so many questions and no way to get answers to them. She wasn't used to this. She needed to somehow get out of here. She started pacing around. “So, Chrysalis and Discord both have plans to get rid of each other after everything huh?” Perhaps she could use this to her advantage. She had so much new information to think about. She would soon have to figure out a way to formulate a plan of her own. But for now, she was tired. She lay down on her makeshift bed, closed her eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep, to once again join her friends in a place she was happy in.
As it turned out, it wasn't very hard for the ponies to find their favorite treats at all. They liked everything (since they had taste buds for two they rarely came across anything they wouldn’t like). The Cakes let them eat as much as they wanted, since they felt so bad for the girls. The Spa-treatment was nice as well (AppleDash was opposed to it at first but eventually she came around). PinkieShy couldn't wait to get started, but as soon as it did her face distorted from a happy grin to a look of utter devastation. She had stayed that way throughout the entire visit, and once she even cried when asked how she wanted her massage. It wasn't a bad visit, all three of them were satisfied; it was just different.
Spike had done as Rarity had asked and sent the 'Princess of the night' a message, requesting transport to Canterlot Castle. Luna had immediately replied the letter from her friends:
Dearest Friends -
I would of course be happy to accommodate you. I shall send a carriage to your town hall in precisely two days of time. I am very flattered that you have chosen to come to me for aid in your predicament and I shall do my very best to assist you in any way that I can. It is the very least I can do for you after going out of your way to show me how to act towards others and for assisting in defeating Chrysalis and her changeling-army. I look forward to your arrival.
Yours truly Princess Luna
Rarity could wait for two more days. She just hoped her friends could as well. She would do whatever it takes to make sure they are restored to how they were. "Well girls, it seems as if it's time for us to retire for the night." said Rarity to the other ponies. "Would you like me to see you home?" she asked. PinkieShy sighed, "No thanks, I can do it myself I guess."
"Nah, Ah can handle it. Thanks though sugar-cube." said AppleDash sweetly. Rarity smiled, it was comforting to hear something so specific that only Applejack would say. She just hoped that one personality wouldn't completely take over the other (the thought of this scared her). "Goodnight then dears, I will see you in the morning." said Rarity as she turned to walk away.
"Umm... Do one of you mind if I stay the night with you tonight? I'm not used to being alone." asked Spike as he stirred some dirt around with his foot. PinkieShy ran around him in circles shouting, "Yes yes yes, you can stay with meeeeee!" Then she stopped and thought for a minute and continued with, "I mean, if you think you want to. I can't promise you'll have any fun." She dropped her eyes to the ground as she finished. "Well of course I do!" he replied looking understandingly at her. It must be difficult and morally destructive to have two completely opposite personalities. "Then let's go." she said solemnly as she turned toward the direction of her cottage and began walking away. Spike turned around and waved at his other friend, "Goodnight AppleDash." he called back to her. "G'night little buddy," she called back after him. "You have a goodnight too PinkieShy!" she exclaimed in an attempt to cheer up her friend. "You too." she mumbled back.
As they began the long walk back to the cottage, Spike tried to strike up conversation. "We're gonna have fun tonight, we can play Mareopoloy and Battlepegasus and Filly..."
"Or we can not." she interrupted. "I would probably just lose all of them anyways."
"Oh... Well I can cook up some dinner for you."
"No thanks, I'm not hungry."
Spike was running out of ideas, "I could braid your mane for you." he offered. "Actually, I'm pretty tired. I think I'll just go to bed." she said as she yawned. Then all of a sudden she jumped up and flew forward about ten feet, turned around and landed in front of Spike, and shouted, "Then tomorrow we can have a party! And invite everyone!" Then her face changed again to sad and sullen, "If anyone even wants to come." Spike was so confused. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or sad. He just walked along in silence with her.
PinkieShy was so sad. Her mind was racing and she analyzed every single thought in her head. She could fly herself and Spike to the cottage, but what if she wasn't a good flyer? What if she fell? She couldn't think without thinking of every possibility. Pinkie Pie’s personality would have a really fast paced stream of ideas, but then Fluttershy’s personality would look at which ones were risky and which ones were safe. It was hard for the Pinkie-side to stay happy if she couldn't ever do anything fun. PinkieShy always felt like there was nothing she was good for, probability was her enemy, she didn't have any luck and she didn’t know how to have fun without it being laid back. Every once in awhile the Pinkie-side would shine through and PinkieShy would do something crazy, but then she would realize what she just did and get really upset. She would start thinking about all of the things that could have gone wrong, all of the ponies she could have hurt. What was she to do? She was sad at the thought of being happy when not everyone could be, and sad at the thought that her sadness could be making others sad. She would just have to push through and stay strong.
Finally they had reached the cottage. It was a quaint little place, and Fluttershy was proud of it. But PinkieShy hated it. This was not a place she could live in. She wasn't good with animals (at least, she didn't think she was; she hadn't yet had the chance to try). She looked over to a squirrel. "Hi there little friend." she said depressingly. The squirrel looked at her for a second and ran off. That had never happened before. Usually the squirrel would run up to Fluttershy for a pet on the head. She didn't seem phased, or at least if she was she didn't show it. Spike just looked towards her. It was unusual, but he was sure it was just a fluke. "Come on PinkieShy, let's just go inside and get some rest." he said to her soothingly. She turned and walked with him to the front door. It was locked. She knocked on the door and called inside, "Angel, could you open the door?"
For a moment there was nothing. Then Angel cracked the door open and looked up. He saw a dragon he had seen a few times before and a pony he had never seen. She looked like Fluttershy a little bit, but he knew that it wasn't her; her voice was nothing like hers at all. Angel stood there and waited for somepony to talk to him. "May we come inside Angel?" asked PinkieShy, "It's me." Angel looked at her for a moment and then he grew mad. Was she inferring that she was his Fluttershy? How dare she!? He knew who Fluttershy was and this wasn't her. He shook his head violently and slammed the door right in her face. The next sound they heard was the door, locking from the inside.
They stood there for a minute, trying to figure out what just happened. Spike looked around for a second, and then called, "Hey Angel, it's us! Let us in, we're tired out here!" He got no reply from the bunny. He crossed his arms and said, "Hmpf, rude." PinkieShy turned to him, her eyes tearing up, "Let's just go back to Sugarcube Corner OK?" The look on her face was the look of a pony who had just lost everything she had ever loved. She burst into flowing tears and loud sobs as she turned to begin the long walk back to Sugarcube Corner. Spike was stunned. To see her breakdown like that was like nothing he had ever seen before. As he looked on, he couldn't help but tear up himself as he stood there and wished so badly that there was something he could do to comfort her. He followed her through a blurry vision and they walked in silence, the only sound being that of PinkieShy’s small sobs.
------
AppleDash walked in the other direction upon parting from her friends. She walked towards her cloud home in the sky where her oh-so-soft and comforting cloud bed awaited her. It was quite a walk, so she had some time to herself to think. Thinking for her was a bit different. It wasn't one mind, but at the same time it wasn't two different minds. This type of feeling was a feeling she had never felt before. It was as if a monumental game of Tug-of-War was taking place in her mind, when both teams wanted the other team to win. If the Applejack-side thought something but the Rainbow Dash-side thought something different, instead of fighting over which thought to go with, they would make the best compromise they could and combine the thoughts into a single thought. When she tried to fly earlier, she was prepared and fully expected to take off and soar into the clouds while at the same time she knew she didn't have wings and that this was an impossible feat. But she was so used to having wings that she convinced herself they were there. The combined thought was to try and perhaps something would happen. When she failed to fly, the Applejack-side wasn't surprised, but the Rainbow Dash-side was absolutely crushed and couldn't figure out why she couldn't fly. She had always had wings; why wouldn't they work? It was very hurtful every time she realized that she could not fly but, with her determination, she would keep trying. She had the all the memories of both ponies from both perspectives. Once again, she had gotten that feeling of having knowledge but just now being able to access it. She knew why all of this happened too. It had come to her in the Spa, which she hated to love. When she had performed the Sonic Rainboom in her attempt to save Celestia, the changeling had teleported at exactly the same time they came into contact. And while the changeling and the princess were no longer tangibly there, the intense magic was and they collided with it. Upon colliding with the magic, it latched on to the Sonic Rainboom and caused it to become the changing Sonic ‘Rainado’boom. As it grew in size, the changeling magic actually grew stronger to its breaking point. When it could no longer grow to get any more powerful, it spun back to where it originated and hit the four ponies at full force. The magic then proceeded to seep into the ponies and rewrite them like it would to a changeling. But these were not changelings and they were not accustomed to it, thus producing this effect.
AppleDash was concerned with how she knew this much, but she was also greatly anticipating any more information she would receive as to the whereabouts of Twilight and the princess. She could feel where that information was, and she was slowly gaining its knowledge. She wondered if PinkieShy was experiencing the same thing as her. Maybe it was, since she was hit head on by the blast, that she absorbed most of the magic and it didn't affect PinkieShy quite as much. She hoped it hadn't; PinkieShy was depressed enough as it was.
As she finished this thought, she came upon her home. High in the sky, her home looked back down at her. This home contained everything that she loved and would make her comfortable. She wasted no time in prepping her wings for a flight. She could feel them flapping, beating the air and softly brushing her sides. She smiled as she readied for the take off. She bent her knees, looked up towards her target and leaped a mighty leap into the air, flapping her wings against the air currents. She felt the rush as her wings lifted her closer and closer to her home. She could see it getting closer and closer. She was ready to lie down in her comfortable cloud bed. It would be so amazing. Just as she was secure in this flight, something strange happened. Her home began to move farther away instead of closer to her. Farther and farther it went. She looked very confused and started flapping her wings harder and harder. But no amount of flapping seemed to bring her closer to her home. She knew all hope was lost when she felt a sharp pain on her belly as she hit the ground once again. She looked up longingly at her home. Perhaps if she tried again, she would make it, the orange ex-pegasus thought. She stood up, bent her knees, jumped harder than she had ever jumped before and promptly hit the ground.
Slowly it became apparent to her that she couldn't fly. AppleDash felt herself flap her wings, but this time she looked back to see them. What she saw was nothing. The two spots on her body where she could feel her wings rest held nothing but empty air. There were no wings on her body. The realization of this hit her harder than the ground ever could. It stung her harder than any impact. It hurt her heart. Would she never fly again? Would she never be able to visit her home? And even if she could, would she be able to walk on the cloud? As these questions came into her head, it brought tears to her eyes. She didn't want to cry because she knew that she had known this all along, but she couldn't help it. The tears flowed forth. She sat there for a moment and simply cried to herself before deciding she would have to find somewhere else to sleep. She stood up, wiped her eyes in an attempt to toughen up and look brave and set off towards Sweet Apple Acres. No matter how tough and brave she wanted to seem, and was sure she seemed to anyone who would see her, she couldn't help but let a single tear drop to the ground.
------
It had been a hard night for both of the ponies, but morning was now here. Spike did not receive the party he was promised, but that wasn't a big deal. He woke up and looked over at his friend. She lay there asleep, but she did not look peaceful. The distorted pegasus looked as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders and nopony could help lift it. He woke her up and she looked around for a moment. "Morning." she said to him.
"Good morning PinkieShy. How did you sleep?"
"I slept fine." Pinkieshy grunted.
"Well go ahead and get up, I'll cook you some breakfast before Rarity gets here with AppleDash." he told her. She did as he asked, thankful that he was a good cook, and began readying herself for the day.
After explaining to the Apple-family that she was indeed Applejack, they allowed AppleDash into their home and welcomed her with open arms and compassion. AppleDash had not slept well through the night. She was not used to sleeping on conventional beds, since she was so accustomed to clouds. She woke up with backpains. She tried to stretch the muscles, but to no avail. Regardless, she was ready for the day and wondered what Rarity had in store. She got ready for the day and began to head to Sugarcube Corner.
PinkieShy, AppleDash and Spike were sitting down having breakfast when Rarity walked through the door. Her eyes were bloodshot as if she had stayed up late. She had in fact stayed up late working on a secret project. "Goodmorning everypony!" she said cheerily. "Goodmorning." the three replied. Rarity smiled, "Girls, I think I have come up with a way to lift your spirits." she announced. AppleDash quickly replied, "Really? How?" Rarity chuckled at her friends’ enthusiasm. She had come up with a great way to pass the time and it was always a great confidence booster for her. "Follow me and you shall find out." she told them with a great smile.
------
Rarity and Spike sat in chairs before a velvety red curtain lined with gold. It opened to reveal a small catwalk that she kept around, in case of emergencies. Down the runway strode a pony wearing an exquisite piece. She wore a rainbow colored hat, styled after the one commonly worn by a certain orange coated earth-pony. On her back was a cape. At its base, it was modeled with cotton to resemble a cloud. As the cape draped over her sides and to the floor over her back hooves, it flowed in and out, showing off a great deal of gorgeous and delicious looking red apples. AppleDash was dressed the way she felt she should be. It was very invigorating. She walked back behind the back curtain.
All was still for a moment, before PinkieShy jumped through the curtain trailed by an explosion of confetti and streamers. She trotted down the runway in a happy go-lucky type of way. The yellow and pink pegasus wore a short length dress made of white faux fur that seemed to glisten in the lighting of the room. Blue patches of fur made the dress full and complete. To complete the ensemble, atop her head lay a gold and purple jester crown encrusted with rubies. Normally a jester’s crown droops at the tips, but this one had either a green or pink balloon tied to its ends. This was the longest amount of time any of them had seen PinkieShy in a happy mood. She was frolicking all around the stage; she was having a great time. These outfits weren't exactly normal, but neither were the circumstances. Rarity figured her friends might enjoy an outfit to fit their new temporary personalities. She smiled and clapped her hooves together each time one of them would gallop back on stage to show off their outfit. They were all having a grand old time and everypony was happy. It was just what she wanted for them.
------
Celestias' eyes fluttered as she awoke to the rising sun.
Wait, the rising sun? As she fully opened her eyes she didn’t only come to the conclusion that she had overslept, but that she also was in a place she had never seen before. The trees were the tallest she had ever seen and the water nearby held a crystal blue. She looked up to the sky. There she saw some enormous birds whom could have been as big as houses! The Princess wondered how she could have gotten to this marvelous place, and as old as she was, how had she never been here? The memories of the day prior came flooding back. She had been attacked by a changeling who took on the form of her star pupil Twilight Sparkle. Celestia stood up and looked back at her body; the ropes were still tied about her waist and she could not break free. She had a new rope around her neck, and atop of her horn rested a cone made of leaves. She attempted a simple unbinding spell on the ropes, but as she had figured, it wasn't possible. The changeling must have enchanted this cone with the same magic it had used earlier to prevent her from teleporting away.
A slight snapping noise came from the left. Celestia quickly turned her head to see the changeling that had captured her emerge from the thick brush. It looked at her and opened its mouth to speak. But just as it began, the river beside them began to bubble and pop. The once blue water turned green, the popping grew louder and then the water erupted into the sky. Now a sheet of green water, suspended ten feet in the air, hung before them. Slowly a face came into view. This face looked familiar to the tied-up Alicorn.
"Hello dear Celestia, it's so nice to see you again." spoke a sinister voice, the face now clearly visible.
"Chrysalis!" cried Celestia with a harsh tone. Chrysalis smiled a sinister smile that made the changeling wince.
"You!" screamed Chrysalis while directing her stare to the little changeling. "Why are you not in Similaria?"
"There were complications your majesty." it answered with an unsteady voice.
"Fool! Perhaps I should have sent someone better suited for the job, and not an imbecile like you."
"But.."
"No buts! I cannot aid you as I don't know where you are. Just bring Celestia here."
"Yes your majesty." said the changeling as it bowed.
"Upon your arrival, you shall be dealt with. Hurry back for your own sake." said Chrysalis, and just as she uttered the last syllable, the sheet of water collapsed. Celestia peered into the river and the water was once again blue. She did not try to make an escape. Chrysalis had made every necessary precaution to make sure she did not escape. She accepted her fate, at least for now.
Celestia looked at the changeling. It seemed very very scared after its conversation with its Queen. It looked as if it actually feared for its life. How could she treat her subjects this way? This pony could hardly be the same age as Twilight. Although the Princess couldn't tell the gender of the changeling by its voice, it seemed as though it were a mare. She figured, if she couldn't escape, she could at least attempt to be friendly to her captor. What harm could it cause? It may even be useful to have an ally if things went over well. "Are you OK little one?" she asked sincerely. The changeling looked at her with a look of confusion.
"I....I am fine."
"Don't be afraid, I am sure your Queen won’t hurt you." Celestia said as she smiled. The changeling turned away from her, its shoulders shook. "What is your name?" she asked. The changeling looked back. This was strange; no one had ever been this nice before.
"My name is Joy."
"Joy? Such a pretty name. I am Celestia. It's nice to meet you, I just wish it could've been under different circumstances." she said in a friendly tone. So this changeling was a mare. Celestia didn’t think she seemed to be evil at all. She was just simply ruled by a ruthless leader, that’s all.
Joy was confused; why was the Princess being nice to her? She had been captured. Why did she not make attempts to escape? She couldn't think of these things right now. She had to focus on getting back to Similaria. The Queen would punish her for sure, but just how severe would the punishment be? She was so afraid, though she would not let the Princess know that. "We must leave, I am in enough trouble as it is." she said.
"Of course." replied Celestia. "But do not be afraid of your Queen, you shouldn't have to fear her. She should treat you with respect no matter what has happened."
Could she be being sincere? This was the first pony ever to have been nice to her. The changeling wasn’t used to this kind of behavior. Changelings were taught from birth to be rough and look out for themselves. It didn't matter. She didn't want to anger the Queen further. She took the rope and tied it around her leg. They began to walk into the forest. As they walked, Joy could not help but think about how nice Celestia was being to her. No one had ever asked her about her name before. For a brief second she thought about whether or not she was doing the right thing in bringing Celestia to the Queen. Perhaps she shouldn't have to fear her ruler. She quickly pushed these thoughts from her mind. Thoughts such as these were leaning towards treason. But were there better rulers to live under? Ones who did not dispose of her subjects when they failed? She had only ever known hatred and anger. How could this mare fill her heart and head with so many conflicting thoughts in only mere minutes?
The two walked in silence for what seemed like hours. This place was so much more beautiful than they ever thought it could be. There were flowers that changed colors, trees that dropped fresh and fragrantly enticing fruits as you walk past, and grass so soft it felt like walking on clouds. Celestia was in complete awe as she walked along with Joy. She felt like she should know this place. This feeling was tugging at her heart and mind and she could not shake it away. Joy was of course captivated by the beauty that surrounded her, but it wasn’t anything that she wasn’t used to. Given that the changeling race does not actually eat, Similaria is a beautiful lush and green paradise. It's one of the most beautiful places in the entire world, but still not quite as beautiful as this though. This place amazed her with a variety in fauna and flora, well above the normal standards, but she did recognize some of the plant life and very few of the animals. There was a flower that produced honey that they called a 'Honeycomb'. Other changelings liked to destroy them, but Joy always liked to gaze upon their beauty and smell them. She took this opportunity now.
“Mmmm...” It was so fragrant, she loved it. There was nothing quite like the smell of a Honeycomb. She also noticed out of the corner of her eye a slight flash of color and she smiled inwardly as she recognized the animal. It was a rare creature in their land, and was sought after by many for being as close to the changeling race as it gets. The animal was normally small and green, but when it was in danger it had the power to blend in with its surroundings. They called it a ‘Changelion’. It hadn't crossed Joy’s mind until just now, but since the Princess was being nice to her, should she at least show some form of civility?
"Umm...Miss Princess?" she said slowly.
"Yes Joy?" Celestia replied smiling.
"Have you ever heard of a Honeycomb?"
"Well no, I can't say that I have."
"Please, smell this flower." Joy urged her to take a sniff of the honeycomb. Celestia walked forward, bent down to the flower and inhaled deeply. The sensation that followed was something she had never even imagined in her wildest dreams. It was as if she smelled the color and the life of the flower, like the honey was in liquid and she was breathing it in but only the smell filled her lungs. She took a step back with a very surprised look on her face.
"Why, it's amazing." she said to Joy.
"They are my favorites and the most beautiful flower I have ever seen. We have them where I'm from." Joy said proudly. Celestia then walked forward to the cluster of flowers and craned over them. Because of the way she was standing, Joy could not see what she was doing. She stood like this for a few minutes. When the Princess turned around, she held in her mouth a small makeshift crown made from the honeycombs. She laid it upon Joy’s head and stepped back.
"There, I think that looks perfect." Celestia said as she sweetly smiled. This was too much. Joy had never felt happiness like that before. She would have cried, and it would have been the first time, but she noticed something and turned her head to the right. What she saw was a giant furry creature that stood about fifteen feet tall, with razor sharp tusks and glowing red eyes. It stomped the ground and roared to the sky. It was the loudest roar they had ever heard from an animal, so fierce that it shook the ground. The pair looked at each other, turned, and began to run as fast as they could. They no longer traveled in silence.
Joy and Celestia, joined by the rope that tied the Princess down, ran as fast as they possibly could away from this creature. It screamed to the sky and barreled after its prey. The pair ran together, not being able to get very far apart due to the length of the rope. They ran through the bushes and around the trees trying to get cover from this beast. But no matter where they went or how far they got, the creature seemed to be able to locate them. It simply tore away the seemingly endless amounts of trees without getting any further behind. The beast soon caught up and began making slashes with its tusks; it would not let this food escape. The hunger in its eyes was very apparent and this scared the pair. "Joy! We have to think of something!" cried Celestia as they ran. Joy could barely breathe. What could they do? This beast was far too fast.
Then it hit her, the rope was just long enough to maybe trip the creature if they planned it right. "Princess, get as far away from me as you can and continue running! Be prepared to stop and pull!" she yelled back. They stretched the rope as far as they could and ran parallel. The beast got closer and closer. Joy looked and figured this was a good distance to be for this to work. "STOP!" she screamed. They both stopped and pulled as the beasts’ legs made contact with the rope.
Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong. “Oh no!” Joy had put a spell on the rope to ignore any resistance from the side tied to Celestia. How could she forget that? As the beasts’ legs collided with the rope, it didn't trip, it simply kept running. Joy and Celestia were pulled along the ground by the rope as the beast sped up to locate its prey. It could not see them anywhere; where did they go? It took a long sniff with its huge snout and smelled the scent faintly. They were behind it. The beast stopped at a dead halt and watched as the changeling and the alicorn were thrown forward into the air out of the beast’s sight. The rope acted as a belay and the ponies swirled around each other screaming and waiting to meet the ground. Joy squirmed so much that in mid air the rope tied to her leg loosened and slipped off, freeing Celestia to travel a further distance than she did. Joy hit the ground and bounced with momentum and smashed into a tree. She felt an immense pain all over her body, but she didn't think anything was broken. Her body still felt badly bruised and she decided to lie still as she waited to see what would happen.
Through blurry vision she watched as the beast walked into view, satisfied that its prey weren't moving. It gave a snort. Joy just lay there, she was helpless. Tears were forming in her eyes. The last few things she’d done in her life would be the fact that she failed her Queen and probably gotten the only person who has ever been nice to her killed. Maybe she deserved this. Perhaps if she hadn't failed her mission none of this would have happened, or maybe, what if she had realized that perhaps love was more than simply food?
The beast shoveled back dirt with its back hoof as it prepared to charge her. This was it, her demise, the ultimate punishment. The beast let out a primal bellowing and began to charge at her, growing in speed. It was getting closer, maybe less than 200 yards now. Joy closed her eyes and prepared to face the end. She heard heavy hoof beats and suddenly she was thrown to the side. She looked back. The Princess was lying where she had been just a few moments ago. Joy gasped, Celestia lived! She had butted Joy out of the way, but why didn't she move? Joy looked more closely. Celestia was pretty bruised and beat up, and her right forehoof was swollen. Oh no, Joy thought, is her leg sprained or broken?
"Joy, I think my leg is broken. Run, get out of here! I'll try to hold it off!" she yelled as she stood up. As she slowly got up, her leg bucked under her weight and she dropped to the ground.
This couldn't be happening. What was little Joy to do? The only pony in the world that has ever shown any interest in her was lying in the path of a huge beast that was going to rip her apart. She wanted to help, but what could she do? Tears began to stream down her face. She may have only known her prisoner for a few hours, but she could not just stand by as the only pony who ever seemed to care about her was killed. So many thoughts were running through her head, she didn't know what to do. Her head was pounding and was making her thought-process even worse. She looked at Celestia, her expression seeming so defeated. She just couldn't take it. Joy threw back her head as she screamed at the top of her lungs the most barbaric yowl she herself had ever heard. Now on top of her head hurting, she was being blinded by a bright light.
------
Celestia landed directly on a rock, very hard. She could feel her leg break on impact. It was so painful she couldn't even scream. She looked around; where was the beast? She didn't see it... Joy! Where was she? She heard a loud roar. The roar of the beast, oh no, it had Joy, she had to do something! Without thinking, she jumped up and ran towards the direction that the roar came from. Was she going to make it? She ran hard and fast on her broken leg. It hurt so badly but she couldn't give up. She entered a clearing as she saw the beast charging right at the terrified changeling. Celestia did not stop nor did she slow. She continued running and lowered her head. She rammed her head, horn down, into Joy’s side and knocked her far away from the tree. As she did this, she kicked her broken leg with her back leg and buckled. Joy was safe for now.
"Joy, I think my leg is broken. Run, get out of here! I'll try to hold it off!" she yelled. She attempted to stand and turn to face the creature, but her leg would not allow her any more movement. She fell back down and could do nothing but look at the creature.
Tears began to stream down her face as she realized this was the end. There was no way to escape. She turned her head to make sure that Joy had gotten away. She watched as Joy threw her head back and began screaming. Light began to emit from the changeling’s body as she began to grow. Taller and wider, stouter and furrier; it was a sight to behold as Joy transformed into an exact copy of the beast. She stood tall and snorted before she made a dash for the actual beast. She rammed into its side knocking it off of its path just a few feet from Celestia. The beast jumped up and faced its new opponent. It was of course caught off guard to see that it was facing itself. Nonetheless it charged forward and the two clashed together slamming their skulls together and locking tusks. Joy twisted and threw the beast to the ground. The beast rolled directly into Joys’ legs, tripping her, and spared no time in attacking her. Biting and gnashing at her while she fought back, in a last desperate attempt to rid herself of this creature, she drove her tusks into its side and jerked her head around. The beast roared and backed off, but Joys’ tusks were stuck in its side. It wrenched itself free and examined the deep wound. Joy let out another barbaric roar and walked intimidating towards the creature. It quickly looked around. Admitting defeat, the beast bolted off into the dense trees, knocking them aside as it disappeared from sight. Joy looked after it to make sure that it didn't decide to come back for round two. She waited five minutes but there was no sign that it was going to return.
She turned back to Celestia and began walking over. As she moved, she reverted back into her original form and collapsed to the ground. The battered alicorn picked herself up from the ground and limped over to her. Joy looked up at her. "Thank you for saving my life." she said softly, her voice cracking a little.
"No, thank you for saving mine," replied the Princess. "I had no idea that you could change into a creature so large."
Joy thought this over for a moment. "We can't." she said simply. It was true; no changeling had ever transformed into something over twice its original size. "Well I'm glad you did." said Celestia as she helped Joy to her hooves. "Are you ok Princess?" she asked wondering about her leg. The Princess merely looked at her and said, "My friends call me Celestia." Joy couldn't help but make the biggest smile she had ever smiled at that.
------
They had set the bone in Celestia’s leg back to position and bound it with a makeshift splint. It didn't help that much, but Celestia could now walk on it at least.
"Miss Celestia..." Joy mumbled in a small voice.
"Yes Joy?"
"You don't have to come with me anymore. In the few hours we have known each other, you have treated me like no one ever has before and saved my life. I will tell the Queen you escaped and accept my punishment."
"Actually Joy, I want to come with you. I don't want you getting into anymore trouble with Chrysalis and the only way that will happen is if I come with you. I also would like to see what she has planned... But Joy?"
"Yes Celestia?"
"While the Queen is busy with me, I would like you to free the pony you have been impersonating."
