> FiM 10: Friendship is Galactic
>  by TheAlienBrony22
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. Rough Day, but as expected
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



Within the Dream Realm...



A young colt is running through a thick forest, thorns and branches cut and scratch at the colt's yellow coat, but he didn't care about the cuts... he cared about out running the thing that was chasing him. His brown hair, wavy and wild, the red streaks in his hair and tail made it almost impossible for him to hide. His blue eyes, once filled with hope and optimism, were now filling with tears and fear, as the colt came to a deathly close stop at a cliff edge, the drop being almost unseen, as the colt looked onwards at the rising sun, and started to panic. He heard rustling from the brush behind him, and he had nowhere to go, nowhere to run or hide. From the brush came a tall entity made of a bright blinding light. A mare with wings and a horn, an Alicorn, perhaps. The Alicorn said nothing, but it was charging up a powerful magic spell, and the colt wasn't ready to die. Not just yet. the colt began to scream, and cry out for help, but as soon as the magical attack landed, deafening the colt's screams...



"Hey, Hey wake up! Come on, Everchange, you won't be able to earn your stay unless you come and help. Are you gonna get up or am I gonna have to carry you to the cart, like last time?" a heavy and deep southern voice rang out. The Stallion behind such a voice was a bulky Red Earth pony, short orange hair and bright pink freckles, as well as a huge green apple cutie mark on his flank. "Come on, Everchange. If you need to call a sick day, then fine, but at least bother to say something." The Stallion added on. The Stallion, known as Everchange, started to groan as he got up, and rubbed his forehead with his hoof as he yawned.

"Sorry Big Mac, I was having one of those mornings. The kind where you don't wanna do anything, even though you know you have stuff to do. Pull the cart around back, I'll give you a hand when I get my work clothes on." The stallion said. As Mac went downstairs to get the cart of picked apples, Everchange got up and fished around for his working attire.

Everchange had a pale and faded yellow coat, like a lemon lost its zest, or a sun wasn't shining as much as it should have one day, and it was lacking a form of luster. His mane and tail were brown, like a light milk chocolate, and the faded pink hairs were like cotton candy. His green eyes shined like slightly off colored Jades, but his cutie mark made him so much more different; a green diamond inside a brighter green pentagon, surrounded by a dark black mass. No one knew what the meaning of his cutie mark was supposed to be, and he never talked about it.

It's a mystery to how he can just ignore this one question that Mac has always asked, but still call attention to how he's just trying to stay silent, like it isn't special at all. The other odd thing about Everchange was the accessory on his right hoof, a white leather strap with a green diamond shaped gem on it. It was odd in every sense of the word, but Everchange doesn't seem to acknowledge it at all in the slightest.

Everchange quickly slips on a white tank top and puts on some clean overalls, covering up the accessory on his right hoof and started to make his way downstairs as he hooked himself up to the cart, hauling the crate of apples into town. This was going to be a day like any other... to put it in a one word summary, Boring.



Like a breath of fresh air for the stallions, the town of Ponyville was bustling with friendly faces. Everchange was making his way down the street with Mac, only to soon duck his head and look to the ground as bystanders shot him angry looks, looks of disgust, or backed away in fear. Everchange sighed and hung his head in shame, as Mac tried to think of a way to reassure Everchange that despite him not knowing the full story on why everyone's giving him the stink eye, or treating him like the plague, that its what you do that matters, not how others see you. Everchange and Mac stopped at an empty market stand in the local market place in town, and with the help of a little filly, they stocked the apples up in no time. Everchange was finally feeling a bit better, until he heard a couple stallions behind him laughing up a storm.

"Well well, looks like the apple family must be digging through the dirt to get their bits if they're relying on a monster to make good business. Did the honest lifestyle not cut it for you, Bug boy?" One of the stallions stated, laughing wildly. Everchange turned around to see two twin brothers, one with a moustache and the other with no facial hair at all. The brothers were Unicorns, and very annoying, shifty unicorns at best.

"Flim. Flam. I see you two haven't been run out of business yet, leave it to the twins to share cockamamie half baked schemes to make a quick bit, like a couple of certified frauds." Everchange spat back half-heartlessly. He heard one of the brothers groan, only for the other to keep getting into the stallion's head.

"Something on your mind, Bug boy? Did your girlfriend not love you like she thought? I hope so, cause those love eatin' monsters wouldn't know genuine love if it choked them out in the light of the afternoon! Not that you'd know anything about love, either!" the brothers taunted.

Big Mac and the little filly were ready to hold the young stallion back if he tried to retaliate, but he never made a move. Surprisingly, Everchange just went and took a break, enjoying the peaceful serenity without worrying about if he was a monster, or in cahoots with the changelings.

Everchange rolled his sleeve up and started to tap on the crystal, bringing up a mystical icon of a changeling. Everchange was fully aware of what happened last time, and he wasn't going to do something like that again, unless he really needed to.

He gave the crystal a minute and the icon dissipated into an ethereal mist, and vanished into the wind as Everchange could hear the faint clamoring of customers who were practically throwing their bits to Mac for apples. It was no surprise Sweet Apple Acres was and still is the best Apple farm in Ponyville, but it still surprised Everchange that so many ponies wanted those apples so bad.

"At least Mac and AJ found their callings, when it comes to helping on the apple farm, anyways... meanwhile, my cutie mark is just..." Everchange started, and got a glimpse at a magical blast heading his way in his mind, before snapping out of his daze and following Mac and the filly back to the farm.

Everchange hadn't even noticed that the sun was setting already, but he knew he was going to get an earful from someone, and the logical choice of that someone was Mac's younger sister, Applejack.



After a long trot back to the farm, as he expected, Mac and the filly went inside to wash up for supper, and AJ pulled Everchange aside, wanting to talk. She always had that all knowing look in her eyes, and she could see through someone's lies faster than someone could say Niagara Falls needlessly drifts to the Nile River.

"Let me guess. Flim and Flam gave you trouble again, and instead of tryin' to throw a punch, you took a break?" Applejack guessed, smiling as the sun began to set. Applejack was an orange earth mare pony, with three red apples on her flank, a dark gray hat with a brown ribbon tied on the back of it, her blonde hair waving in the warm summer wind.

Everchange was legitimately a bit scared, but also ashamed of how he could admit that she just spoke the truth. Applejack let out a smile chuckle and smiled, patting Everchange on the back, leading him inside.

"I know you haven't been fitting in well here, and our business has been a bit rocky since we took you on for labor services, but you've worked hard for a nice long couple months, and I know it takes time to adjust. I'm sure once they see just how great you are, they'll change their tune. Now come on inside, sugarcube, supper's ready, and we got a spare seat at the table this time." Applejack insisted.

Her honesty felt no bounds, but it felt like no matter what, he'd still be the stranger from Canterlot without nobody, working off a debt to some really nice folks who gave him a chance. He faked a smile and sat down with the apple family, enjoying a nice meal as the night came to its beginning, and as everypony heads to bed, so does Everchange, and he tries to keep himself calm, as he feels tears forming, he starts to drift to sleep.



4 Hours Later...
Everchange suddenly sprung up in a panic, sweating profusely as he took a few breaths to steady himself. Everchange got out of his cot and went to the window, looking out at the moon, seeing the mare in the moon just made the nights either unbearable or unsettling. Everchange quickly got dressed into his casual clothes. he wore a blue dress shirt, a gray vest with light gray stripes, and a dark green scarf with bright green spot details.

Everchange snuck to every room, to see if the apple family had fallen asleep yet, and started to sneak down the stairs. He was about to walk out the front door, until he heard the fridge open, and turned around with worry, only to see the filly, Applebloom, exhaustedly getting a glass of juice, oblivious to Everchange entirely as she yawned and slowly trotted back up to bed. Everchange sighed and smiled warmly.

'That kid's gonna go places, and I can't wait to see where that place is.' Everchange thought to himself. He quickly snuck out and started to hoof it to the forested area behind the farmhouse. Everchange has gone through this occasionally on some rough nights, but if sleeping in a house can't help, he's always been able to sleep somewhere else. Somewhere... secluded.

Everchange hopped over rocks and hills, ducked and snapped tree branches as he ran through the thickness of the woods. As he came to a stop, he found his front hooves in a hoof deep stream, and a rocky formation leading up to a cave. Everchange wasted no time trotting his way up the formation, and trotted into the cave. Everchange was familiar with the cave, as he always went here to think, or to sleep. But mostly, he came here to test the capabilities of the gem on his hoof. Everchange touched the gem and brought the icon of the changeling up. Everchange pushed down on the gem, and with a sudden burst of power, and a flash of green light, the earth stallion was replaced by a new entity. A changeling.

The Changeling wore a shining blue armor, its insectoid body was blacker than the shadow it cast, The wings it had were shining and reflecting the moon's light, despite having a couple holes. The eyes were a shining green color, and a white crystal was embedded into the armor's center.

The Changeling looked at himself, and familiarized himself with the abilities that Changelings tend to share. He got a running start, and started to fly, he then saw a small group of chipmunks and started to drain them of their love, satiating the hunger he was suffering slightly from. The changeling went back into the cave and started to spray a sticky green resin from his maw, fashioning a type of makeshift resin cot as he climbed into it, and started to fall back asleep. A flash of red light enveloped the cave, as Everchange just mutters to himself.

"Tomorrow is another day." He uttered.
> 2. A Dashing Rainbow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Everchange woke up and began to stretch, groaning as he tries to properly stay awake and process the situation. Everchange glances at the gem, its shining green color, replace with a red color, red like Red Velvet. It hummed a low tone, but he was aware of what this meant.

"Time limit. That confirms my theory on how long I can be a changeling. 10 minutes. And I wasted a minute of that last night just going off of what I remembered from the last time I became that... thing... dear cele- grrr...." Everchange caught himself and groaned.

He let out a sigh. "No, I'm biting my tongue on that one, everyone in this town says it like she's the only princess... I wouldn't call it rude, just insensitive. I better head back to the farm, they're probably looking for me again." Everchange stated, withdrawing himself and bolting out of the cave and through the forest. Meanwhile, up above the highest clouds of Equestria, and past the planet, a huge mechanical ship looms over and waits.



Everchange trots alongside the apple family, slightly exhausted, but recharged enough to put in a bit more effort. Everchange didn't pay any attention to the kind country ponies, but he did overhear something. Everchange turned his head but saw nothing but a fierce breeze blow by. Everchange kept on trotting along, as to not forget he is on stocking duty to stock and re-stock the stand with fresh apples, not like it mattered when he was on duty.

Everypony seemed to be wanting these apples, but when its him at the stand, everyone treats the stand like a zone of dark magic. By this point, Everchange let Applebloom and Mac run the stand while Everchange tried to get more people to buy from the honest apple family. Everypony just seemed to back away and seemed scared, which made promoting business so much more difficult. He looked back to the gem on his hoof and saw it change from red to its usual green, and suddenly got an idea.

While Mac walked away from the stand for a moment, Everchange used the gem to turn into his changeling form, and then magically disguised himself as Big Mac, walking to the stand and started happily promoting the apples. Everyone seemed more interested than before, and quickly went through one huge cart's worth of apples before Applejack came back with another cart full. Everchange saw that the real Mac was coming back, and quickly changed into an ant, crawling into a bush to hide and wait for the time limit to end.

"Ah gotta say Big Mac, we sure sold a lot of apples, today, this is probably our best sale yet." Applejack stated.

Mac looked at the small hoof sized satchels of bits and was confused how people suddenly turned tail for so many apples all of a sudden. "uh.... Eeyup?" Big Mac said quizzically. In a sudden flash of red light, Everchange came stumbling out of the bush he was hiding in, spitting out leaves as he shook a stray stick out of his tail.

Everyone looked at him in confusion, and he awkwardly chuckled. "That didn't go exactly as planned, but at least we made more bits than we did yesterday. I definitely tried my best to get people to come get a fresh apple on a warm summer's day, but I guess Mac was just as helpful, if not more helpful than me, to bring business to an all time boom." Everchange said, shaking a stray pebble out of his mane.

All of a sudden, Everchange felt that fierce breeze again, but it was blowing into his face. The stallion walked to the stand and saw a Pegasus flying very fast in the direction of the stand, The mare was a light blue, her eyes were determined, though one of them looked to have a real bad scar, Her hair, mane and tail looked to just embody every color in the rainbow, and she had what looked like a rainbow lightning bolt under a cloud for a cutie mark.

Everchange ducked under the stand, prepared for the most devastating case of whiplash of the century, but there was a sudden flap of some wings, and the sound of hooves touching the ground. Everchange peaked up and saw the mare up close, She was adamantly confident, and very cocky. Everchange got back on his hooves and cleared his throat. the mare looked towards Everchange and was a bit confused as to who he was.

"Hey AJ, who's the prissy pants over here?" The mare spoke with confusion.

Applejack smiled and pulled Everchange aside to introduce him. "Rainbow, this is Everchange, he's our newest worker on the farm. He works for us for free, and he earns a place to live, what with our spare bedroom." Applejack introduced.

AJ shifted her glance to Everchange and began to introduce the mare. "Everchange, this is Rainbow Dash, a friend of mine, and one of the fastest Pegasus on this side of Ponyville. I can only hope she won't give you too much trouble, understand?" Applejack introduced.

Rainbow Dash eyed Everchange up and down, and seemed fixated on the gem he wore. "Nice watch, did that cost you all your bits, Everchange McFancyCoat?" Rainbow Jived.

Everchange looked to the mare, and back to the gem. A cold shiver ran down his spine and Everchange felt his face contort with anger. The mares instantly could see that a nerve was touched. "It was a parting gift from my mother, and also the last gift from my mother, thank you very much." Everchange scowled as he trotted off back to the farm.

Rainbow and Applejack watch him trot off, and look at each other. "Yeah, he can be a bit touchy when it comes to his background, he's not that open, but he's a nice guy, just a bit reclusive. Give him time, and he'll be comfortable around you... though based on that reaction he just had, maybe don't mention the gem or his mother." Applejack told her friend. The Pegasus and the earth mare saw that since Big Mac and Applebloom had the stand under control, they decided they could go on and have some fun.



Everchange is back on the farm, keeping himself busy as he tries to bundle hay, and overhears the sound of struggling. Everchange trots over to the barn and sees Applebloom walking on a wooden support.

"Hey mister, I'm just trying to grab a tool for Big Mac real quick. Don't mind me none," Applebloom stated, reaching for a tool.

Everchange can see the support cracking, nearing the point of giving way. "Hey kid, you need to get down from there, like now, the support can't support your weight or the tool's. Forget the tool and come down, I'll get it." Everchange stated, worrying for the filly's safety.

Almost like the day was now against him, the support snapped in half, and Applebloom was falling. Everchange jumped onto a couple boxes and caught Applebloom on her neck, and quickly trotted out of the barn before the wooden beam collapsed. Everchange witnessed the barn suddenly collapse, and groaned out of exhaustion. He let Applebloom down and proceeded to lay down on the ground, panting as he tried to stand, but could only lay down and breathe.

"Mister, are you okay? Do you need any help?" Applebloom asked. The stallion looked up towards the filly. "What matters is... *pant* are YOU okay, kid? Nothing broken... *pant* not feeling ill or hurt?" Everchange tiredly asked.

Applebloom was able to get Everchange back on his hooves, and helped him to the porch. "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing to worry about. Are you okay? You don't look too well." Applebloom asked again. Everchange moved into the house on his own, but was still a little sore. He saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash ready to go somewhere with some tools and suddenly stop when they see Everchange in the doorway.

"Your barn collapsed, and I made sure Applebloom was safe." Everchange simply stated. Now aware of an issue, Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran outside and saw the barn in shambles and pieces. "How in the hay did this happen?!" Applejack asked, obviously mad that the barn was in pieces.

Everchange swallowed down his fear and took a deep breath. "It was my fault. I was trying to fix the support beam, but I accidentally snapped it in half by applying too much of my weight. I was lucky enough to grab Applebloom to carry her out of range of the barn's collapse. I'm mighty sorry about breaking the barn, Miss Applejack." Everchange stated, hoping his lie was convincing enough.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were surprised. Applejack was also skeptical, but would figure out if he was lying later once the barn was fixed. Rainbow looked at Everchange, and thought he must've been light and fast on his hooves if he could escape a collapsing barn so quick.

"Hey, Everchange was it? You up for a short race? A quick race from the barn to the library and back. You down?" Rainbow offered. Everchange thought it'd be a bonafide loss, but he definitely wanted to do something other than bundle hay, and he wasn't prepared to let some walking pride flag win one over him anyway. He got into a starting position and Rainbow did the same, readying her wings.

Everchange and RD both started off, the stallion took long leaps to the air, trying to keep a lead over RD, but Rainbow was flying past him fast. Everchange groaned as he trotted faster and faster, easily staying neck and neck with RD. Everchange saw RD fly and turn around, but didn't know why until he felt his face collide with the library's natural wall.

Everchange shook the pain off and galloped fast towards RD, catching up to her, but was quickly running out of stamina. RD was impressed this earth pony was keeping up, but she hadn't even gotten serious yet. RD started flying faster, leaving Everchange in the dust as she landed and boasted her victory. Everchange caught up and tripped, falling flat on his face as he nearly passed out from the exhausting race against the fast flying Pegasus.

Everchange weakly got back up and congratulated RD on the race, and immediately went inside to splash some water on his face. Applejack walked inside and looked at Everchange. "Exhausted, partner?" Applejack asked, skeptically. Everchange picked up on the skepticism in her voice real quick, and knew his lie wasn't in fact enough.

"I can explain. Applebloom was on the support beam, trying to get a tool for your brother, but it was giving way from her added weight, and I managed to catch her and get her out of the barn before it collapsed. I would've told you the actual truth, but you can't be angry at her for an accident, she's just a filly after all." Everchange explained. Applejack mulled over the stallion's words, and could at least respect him for getting her out of harm's way.

Applejack nodded like she understood, smiled and trotted back outside to talk with Applebloom. Everchange knew he didn't want to be nearby if things got loud, so he made his way into town, hoping he'd find something to do. He knew he hadn't had breakfast yet, but maybe a quick snack would work out fine... maybe.



As Everchange trotted his way into town, he still saw ponies looking at him, angry, scared or disgusted. He ignored them to the best of his abilities, and found himself at the front door of Sugarcube Corner.

He walked on in, and was met with more scared faces. Everchange sighed and just waited patiently in line. A couple quick hours later, Everchange was ready to order. He saw a slightly chubby, but jolly light blue earth mare with swirly pink hair, an apron and three cupcakes on her flank. She too, was a bit unsettled by Everchange, but not enough to not treat him like a proper customer.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, mister. What can I get you on this fine day?" Mrs. Cake asked, smiling.

"Hello miss, I'll take a hot chocolate to go and a double layer Chocolate Éclair, please." Everchange ordered with a tired smile, placing more than the exact required bits for the items. "Consider it a token for faking a smile for your other customer's sakes." Everchange said with a warm smile. Mrs. Cake nodded and took the bits as she pinned up his order for the cook to whip up.

Everchange looked back, and still saw ponies staring at him, scared, or disturbed by his presence. He felt something stir within him, and he knew it was time to speak up about this. Enough was enough.

"I get it, you know," Everchange said, turning his attention to the ponies within the building. They looked on, being cautious of the stallion's next move.

"I get that you see me and look at me like a monster... a freak... nay, an abomination... Well you know what? At least the apple family was willing to give me a chance, and I've been working for them for the past 5 months now, and I can say proudly that it'll take more than a splash of chaos from some ancient god, and hateful looks to deter me from doing an honest job to make an honest living," Everchange stated.

"Call me a monster, say I'm a freak, heck, I wouldn't put it past a good hoof full of you to throw stones or use a spell or two on me because you're that scared... doesn't change the fact that you chose to not know me, and only see me for the monster I didn't willingly choose to become." Everchange said. He saw the Éclair and the hot chocolate on the counter. He left ten extra bits on the counter, took his items and looked to the patrons one last time.

"I, Everchange Spectical, am not a monster. Stop fearing me, and maybe try to get to know me, and make a friend, instead of an enemy, you heartless Xenophobes." Everchange stated proudly before walking out of the building, and back to the farm.

'I won't let their sour looks deter me from earning my stay, but I need to find a way to earn more bits, maybe I can try reaching out to other farms in Equestria and try to get a place in the town itself... I know I can't just go back to Canterlot... not after what happened all that time ago.' Everchange thought to himself, as he suddenly stumbled, realizing he bumped into someone.

He turned his head to see someone he just didn't like at all. A purple pony with a pink 6 pointed star surrounded by smaller white sparkles, dark purple hair with a Pink streak in her hair, mane and tail. She had a horn, and newly acquired wings.

Twilight Sparkle, the newly appointed Princess of Friendship, was in front of him. He felt like he was about to go into a panic attack.

The mare looked at Everchange for a moment and bowed her head. "I am so sorry, I'm not quite used to these wings yet, but I hope I can get used to them eventually... Hey, have I seen you somewhere before?" Twilight asked as she apologized. She studied his face, and it had some familiarity to her, but not enough to ring a bell.

Everchange's face nearly turned as angry or disgusted as the ponies who looked at him in such a manner, but he shook it off and just ran back to the farm. Twilight looked at Everchange as he just kept on running, and just wondered.

'That stallion seems familiar... but where have I seen him before?' Twilight thought to herself. She got a good look at Everchange's cutie mark, and thought she recognized it, but Twilight trots back to the library, and sets her stuff down.

"Spike, can you come down here with the parchment and ink? I need to get a letter to Celestia, it's of utmost importance." Twilight calls out.
> 3. Formal introductions and Decimation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the next day rises, AJ has put Big Mac and Applebloom in charge of the stand at the market for today, while she told Everchange that he was working nonstop on the farm, and needed a break. So to make sure nothing was dull, Applejack is bringing him along on a trip across town to visit her friends, see if he can expand his friends list.

Applejack and Everchange walked over to the only fashion store in town, the Carousel Boutique, where AJ proceeded to knock on the door. Everchange was a bit nervous... very nervous.

"Look, Boss, I know you're tryna be nice, but I honestly feel like I could be working on the next selling cartful of apples, not running across town and exhausting myself. Really, I'm fine with working the day away, it's been how I've coped." Everchange explained, shaking a bit, his casual clothes looking ragged and a bit worse for wear. Applejack sighed and turned to Everchange, giving him the all knowing look.

"Partner, I'll be honest with you. the Flim and Flam incident, that made us a lot of bits, I don't know how you pulled off a magic trick like that for you to disguise yourself as my brother," She saw Everchange flinch, he wasn't expecting her to somehow find out about that. She continued, "But your intentions were of the important kind, you wanted to help, but not be looked at like filthy vermin. I'll let you do that more if you explain to me how you do that trick without a horn. Besides, word around town says you had yourself a speech at Sugarcube Corner, no wonder some people haven't been lookin' at you like a rampaging creature, what you said had an impact, and it worked out, but don't think that will work on everypony, understand?" Applejack explained. Everchange just sighed and nodded.

"And another thing, don't call me boss when we aren't working. If we're gonna be friends, call me Applejack, or AJ for short." Applejack motivated. Everchange just looked scared and contemplated on the many things that seemed worse than doing any of this, but was cut short by a sudden halting of motion.

As the door to the boutique opened, Everchange saw another mare, a unicorn, her coat was as white as an unroasted marshmallow, she wore slightly light purple gloves on her hooves, her mane was a bit unkept as it went down, but it was so curly and well taken care of as it curled at the top of her head. She wore what looked like dark blue pants with a black belt, her tail was tied into a bun, but she didn't seem to mind it at all.

"Heya Rarity, I don't suppose you'd mind a friendly visit right now, would ya?" Applejack asked the unicorn.

Rarity simply smiled and laughed with a form of elegance. "Of course, darling. I assume this gentle stallion is also with you, or are you in desperate need of a new outfit? because I can assume the latter, the holes in this designer vest, atrocious! the thorns tearing up the stitching of this dress shirt, it won't do! And this... this scarf! Bright spot patterns were so last year, darling! Not to worry, though, I can fix this! Applejack, you go sit down. And you, sir, come with me, I must fix this!" Rarity stated dramatically, pulling the two earth ponies inside with her magic.

Rarity proceeded to use her magic to remove Everchange's ruined and tattered outfit, and decided to try something a bit more modern, but keep it simple. Rarity took a few measurements and was about to ask about the gem on Everchange's hoof, but went back to figuring out potential designs for the stallion.

"So, how are things, Applejack? And who is this stallion you've brought over, by the way?" Rarity asked as she continued drawing ideas on a notepad with her magic.

"Well, this is Everchange, he's new to town and I've let him work on my farm for 5 easy months now, but I felt like he's been working too hard, and since I thought it wouldn't hurt to try and be his friend, I gave him today off and I'm goin' round Ponyville to introduce him to the others. Since I was on my way to do so, I started with you, since you were much closer." Applejack explained.

Everchange looked around the boutique and could barely look at everything without feeling a type of headache wash over him. "This place is a bit overwhelming for me. I can feel my head splitting already." Everchange said, holding his head as he tried to breathe.

"Darling, if you aren't feeling well, then I'd recommend stopping by Nurse Redheart's for a check up, could be that physical work has you worn out, Darling." Rarity suggested, smiling warmly.

Within a couple minutes of waiting, Rarity had finished an ideal sketch of the outfit and raced off to start sewing. "Applejack darling, bring him back here in a couple hours, I'll have this done soon! Or I can just send it to the farm if that's alright." Rarity called out.

"That'll be just fine, Rarity, we gotta get goin' anyhow, see ya later!" Applejack called back, closing the door, leading a woozy and dazed Everchange to a home up on a hill.

Applejack knocked on the door, and waited for a response. A couple seconds right after, the door opens, revealing a bright vibrant yellow pegasus with a bright pink mane, but most of it was hidden away in a puffy hat, the mare wore a type of brown onesie with a white undershirt underneath. She blushed and hid her face from Everchange.

Applejack chuckled and turned to the stallion. "Don't worry partner, she's always like that around new folks. Fluttershy, this is Everchange, a friend of mine and a brand new worker for the farm. He's been here for 5 months and I figured we could be his friends, since he's lacking in friendly company. Everchange, this is Fluttershy. She's a kind natured type of pony, but she's rather insecure and can be very shy about a lot of things, but once you get to know her, she's a delight to be around. Mind if we come in for a talk, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked.

Fluttershy moved out of the way, and invited the two inside. As they entered, Everchange took a seat on one of the chairs, and felt like nothing seemed wrong. But he did feel a bit unsettled by a rabbit looking at him, almost as if it had some real serious and bad intentions.

"Everchange, this is my pet bunny, Angel. Isn't he the cutest little thing you ever did see?" Fluttershy said, picking him up and snuggling him, as he looked uncomfortable with her snuggling. Everchange was holding back the urge to laugh, but just managed to regain some composure over himself as he sipped on a cup of tea.

Applejack and Fluttershy kept on talking about stuff, while Everchange just lightly moved his hoof over the gem, feeling far more curious about the thing's capabilities than he ever was before, but he knew very well that he couldn't do anything right now, lest he freaked out another pony.

As the mares said their farewells, and after becoming an eligible acquaintance to the shy pegasus, Applejack led Everchange back into town, near a house that seemed to reek with a powerful and potent sweet smell.

"By the Tomes of old Gaelic Ponish, what is that sweet scent?!" Everchange stated aloud, overwhelmed by the smell of sugar and sweet confections. Applejack laughed a bit at Everchange's reaction, not surprised somepony like him who wasn't too used to sweets would react in such a manner.

Applejack knocked on the door, and the door immediately swung open, as a bouncing pink earth pony bounced in every which way, and suddenly landed on their four hooves, unscathed and covered with sprinkles and confetti.

"Hi Applejack!!" The pink pony exclaimed. Everchange instinctively stepped behind the orange earth mare and lightly nudged her closer to the pink pony, a bit scared.

"Everchange, don't be scared, this is Pinkie Pie, she's the happiest party pony to set foot into Ponyville, she knows everyone and knows everything, and its easy for her to make and plan parties. Pinkie, this is Everchange, he's new to town and--" Applejack was quickly cut off by Pinkie pulling Everchange closer as she went wide-eyed.

"He's new to town!? He's been here for five months and I didn't know?! This calls for a belated Welcome Party!!!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, quickly dragging Everchange inside the house. Applejack followed suite and saw Pinkie quickly decorating the interior of her home with streamers, balloons, sweets, and put a party hat on Everchange as he just watch in awe and surprise that this one earth mare could do so much.

Everchange looked over to Applejack. "Quite the energetic one, isn't she?" Everchange asked, marveling at Pinkie's eye for detail and decoration. The happy and sporadic Pink Pony stopped in front of Everchange as she blew one of those party blowers in his face, kinda bringing a smile to his face as he held back the urge to laugh, feeling like he was in a much better mood than he was when he was bucking apples for the next shipment to the stand.

Pinkie was moving so fast, she was like a pink, giggling blur that moved constantly, her pink curls were bouncing as she moved, though he did not want to ask, he was rather curious of the scar on one of her eyes. Everchange didn't mind it for long and decided to delve into the sweet temptations that were prepared, actually feeling a bit hungry himself.

He ate a bowl full of Ice cream, a few assorted berries with a candy coating covering their healthy fruity exteriors, had three slices of cake, and even managed to chug a whole mug full of soda, reveling in the sugar high he was about to experience. But before things could get too off the walls, Applejack cut the visit with Pinkie short, wishing her luck as Pinkie exclaims that she's glad to have welcomed him properly to Ponyville.

Next up was a pony that he was somewhat familiar with, as her rainbow colors were unforgettable. As Applejack and Everchange rose upwards to the skies via hot air balloon, they found a house within the clouds, and Everchange was the one to knock on the door this time, actually feeling a bit happier for a visit.

The door opens and the pegasus he lost his hoof race to is, as expected, the main resident of the house in the clouds. Applejack and Everchange walked on in and it was his turn to try and start a conversation.

"So, Miss Dash, do you have any goals in mind?" Everchange asked. RD just showed a picture of a group of pegasi wearing goggles and some type of uniform.

"Those are the Wonderbolts, and eventually, I'm gonna be the best wonderbolt someday." RD said proudly.

Everchange smiled and clapped his hooves together. "It's always nice to have goals." Everchange said with a smile.

RD went on and on about the wonderbolts, how she's been trying to join their ranks for years, and moved out so she could keep on going with her training to commit to the mind set that she can or will join the wonderbolts in the future, and by that time, Applejack had pulled him aside before he said farewell to RD, leading Applejack and Everchange back down to the ground and towards the library.

Everchange up and laughed heartily as he took in a deep breath and kept on chuckling. "I didn't think this could be so much fun, and with how I spent today, this could be the start of a wonderful friendship. For me, you, and your friends. Though I guess it is getting a bit late." Everchange said, smiling as the sun was beginning to set.

"Well, we still got one more friend to talk with, and before you start worrying, she might be a bit forward with a few questions, but I'm sure you'll be fine. That and, she has a tendency to go overboard with a few things." Applejack said, laughing nervously to herself. The two knocked on the door, within the darkness of the sunset, he looked down at the gem, and saw it was glowing yellow. Applejack noticed this as well, and decided to ask what it was doing.

"Partner, I know you don't like talking about that, but what exactly is it... and what's with the glowing?" Applejack asked, a bit skeptical and worried. Everchange tapped the crystal, showing some sort of spinning symbol as it just kept glowing. The door opened up, and Applejack smiled, glad that she was home.

Everchange's happy and giddy demeanor had suddenly stopped, and crashed into trillions of pieces as he saw Twilight, the alicorn from the other day, standing in the door of the library.

"Everchange, this is Twilight Sparkle, she just got appointed to princess status, but she's rather kind to everypony who means well. Twilight, this is--" Applejack was cut off yet again, with Twilight slowly, but steadily walking towards Everchange, causing him to start backing away.

"Why did you run away from me yesterday? Everchange, was it?" Twilight asked, curious about the stallion's reaction from the other day. "And your cutie mark, it's not like anything I've seen before, but it must have a special form of significance. What's your special talent, if I may ask?" Twilight asked.

Everchange was backing up as Twilight kept walking closer to him, unsure of how to respond, if he could at all. The stallion was sweating, the cold air of the night blowed, and it chilled him, but Applejack trotted up and shook Everchange a bit, trying to get him to say something.

"Partner, what's wrong? Is there something on your mind?" Applejack asked. The stallion didn't answer, and was just getting scared, terrified, even. Without thinking, Everchange slammed his hoof onto the gem, and within that sudden flash of light, the stallion was gone, and in its place was a changeling, who just screeched and flew away, trying to make distance from the princess and his former employer.

"Everchange! W-what?!" Applejack yelled, obviously confused and unable to think or process what exactly had just happened. Twilight however, had an idea, and immediately used her magic to teleport in front of the changeling. Still being freaked out, Everchange dove straight down and shapeshifted into a leaf, hiding itself in a random pile. Twilight started to trample on the leaves, as one blows away, letting the wind carry it.



After a long drift in the wind, the leaf changes back into the changeling, and that changeling flies away, making its way to the cave it had found and started to block off the entrance with its resin. The changeling touched the gem and reverted back into Everchange, who had been holding back tears and started to sob, worrying about the possibility of what will happen when they find him.

"Mother, please... give me strength, give me the courage to do what is right, give me the courage to brave the night..." Everchange muttered to himself. He felt his strength and his resolve crumbling.

"Mother... please give me the heart to forgive. and forget." He whispered to himself.
> 4. Everfree to Change
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Days passed, but eventually, Twilight and the others had found Everchange's hiding spot, and tried to coax him into coming out.

"Everchange, come out of here right now and explain yourself!" Applejack exclaimed, obviously furious.

"You uncouth insect! I wasted some fine materials on you! I let you into my Boutique!!" Rarity exclaimed, fuming as her face went red.

"Come out now, bug boy! And you won't get decked as hard." Rainbow Dash yelled out.

"I can't believe he was a changeling the whole time, can you believe it? Because I can't, how the heck did he fool us like that for this long? I'd be impressed if I wasn't angry!" Pinkie Pie said in a quick breath, happily making a crazy smile spread across her face. Twilight tried to use her magic to cut the resin, but it was a bit thick.

"Spike, burn it down." Twilight said. A small purple dragon with green scales stepped up and breathed a green fire onto the resin, setting it ablaze as the mares looked upon the cowering and panicking stallion.

"Hey! Didn't you hear us, you changeling weirdo? Explain yourself and you won't get decked as hard, not that hard to understand." Rainbow Dash stated, still incredibly angry.

Everchange turned to look at the mares. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this, but he was going to give it his all, if it meant he at least tried to force his way through. All of a sudden, the gem started glowing yellow again, and soon encompassed the dragon, known as Spike, in a mystical yellow essence.
Twilight tried to interfere, but her magical attempts to stop the yellow energy was futile, but Everchange was familiar with what this did, and was going to use this as his advantage to make an escape.

The mystical essence dissipated and retreated into the gem, showing an icon representing a dragon. Twilight stuck her horn in Everchange's face, obviously angry if that essence leaves a nasty side effect on her dragon friend.

"What. Did you do. To Spike?!" Twilight gritted through her teeth. Everchange felt fear, but that fear was suppressed by bitterness, and as Everchange slammed his hoof on the gem again, he had become a dragon.

The dragon was arguably taller than Twilight, had brown covered in Pink scales protruding from his body, which was covered in smaller and tougher brown-ish gray scales, his eyes burning a bright and vibrant green color, black and white marks are all over the dragon's body, connecting to a white gem embedded in the dragon's chest.

Twilight and her friends backed up a bit, but Fluttershy was a bit too far back, and she nearly fell off of the edge, if it wasn't for the swift movements of the newly transformed dragon, who grabbed Fluttershy's hoof and pulled her up, only to let her go and fly off.

"Fluttershy, did he hurt you?" Rainbow Dash asked the shy and timid pegasus.

"It pulled me up." Fluttershy said quietly.

Twilight looked up and started flapping her wings, ready to go after Everchange. Twilight was blasting several magic attacks, but the dragon just instinctively countered her efforts with a swift and powerful stream of fire breath, as yellow as sun's shining light. Twilight narrowly evaded the stream of fire, but eventually stopped following him, seeing him make his way into the Everfree Forest.

"At least he won't be as much of a threat, now, he's cornered. I have to get this information to Celestia." Twilight stated, flying back to her friends.



Meanwhile, the dragon had crashed into a couple trees, slightly unnerved and a bit sore from the sudden attack.

"I can't believe things got so bad." The dragon said, his voice gruff and scratchy. The gem began to glow a red color, and suddenly shifted the dragon back into the stallion's normal form. Everchange got up and dusted himself off, and tried to keep himself calm, knowing how dangerous the Everfree forest is, he wasn't rightfully prepared to brave it, or even step out of it and back into town.

Everchange knew the truth, and couldn't bare to speak it, for fear of attracting unwanted attention. Everchange continued onwards through the brush, avoiding as many of the deadly plants nearby, as well as trying to stay out of the line of sight to hopefully avoid Timberwolves. What he didn't know though, was that three fillies were rather curious, and were hoping to explore the everfree forest together that night, and it'd be the craziest night of his life.

As Everchange steadily hops from branch to branch, he looks down, bewildered and confused as to why he sees his former employer's little sister, and two other fillies wandering around in the everfree forest, at night.

'This is not my night. First, I get chased into this place, I'm on the run, Twilight knows my secret, and now these fillies are doing something that'll get them killed?! Why can't I get a break...' Everchange thought to himself. Everchange dropped to the ground, landing in the brush as he starts picking up on the familiar smell of Timber, and several canine-like growls and snarls.

"No..... They've picked up on either my scent or theirs. Keep the fillies safe, that's what matters right now. The others can nail me to the front of the castle and starve me, but I will not let those fillies get hurt." Everchange told himself. He ran towards the fillies, and saw several Timberwolves getting closer to them. Everchange jumped out in-between the fillies and the Timberwolves, and groaned as he felt his legs sting, still feeling the impact from the crash.

"Mister Everchange?" Applebloom said confusedly. Everchange looked back to the fillies, obviously not in the best mood.

"You three, go back to the farm, Now. It's not safe here for you, go back to the farm and don't stop running, no matter what! I'll hold them back as much as I can." Everchange said firmly. Everchange had been trying to not get turned around in the Everfree for 15 minutes, so he's gotten enough time to wait for the gem to regain power.

As the fillies ran, The Timberwolves were focused on the stallion in front of them. Everchange didn't use the gem, but relied on something he read about once. Everchange leaned back and started to sprint towards the wolves, ready to try and conquer the Everfree. Everchange quickly bucked his hind legs into a timberwolf's wooden muzzle, busting it to pieces as he slammed his head against another timberwolf's face, stunning it for a moment as the stallion quickly jumped up, avoiding a third timberwolf's attempt to lash or cripple one of his hind legs.

Everchange firmly planted his hind hooves into the third timberwolf's neck, and jumped off, and began to run. The timberwolves were practically aggressive now, and were now on the chase for some stallion lunch.



As the fillies run out of the Everfree, they see Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow running towards them. "Applebloom, what are you still doing up?! Why were you in the Everfree Forest?!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Sweetie Belle, we're gonna talk about this when we get back." Rarity said, putting her hoof down.

"Are you three okay? No cuts, no bruises, no broken bones?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No, but mister Everchange, he--" Applebloom was cut off by Twilight.

"So he is in there. I'm going to get him, and get some answers. Wait here till I get back." Twilight stated, running into the forest.

"No! The Timberwolves!! He's holding them off!" the orange pegasus filly exclaimed.



Twilight ran through the branches, vines and thorns of the forest, immediately picking up the smell of Timber. Twilight sees Everchange sprinting past her, while three battered, wounded and aggressive Timberwolves chase after him.

"That guy has no respect for the natural order, does he." Twilight said to herself, teleporting in front of Everchange, charging up a magical spell.

Everchange came to a halt and got on all four of his knees. "I beg of you, don't hurt me, you just bother me. I'm not fond of seeing Alicorns, not after what happened back home! If it means you'll spare me, I'll surrender, and tell you everything, just don't cage me like a wild monster!" Everchange begged and pleaded, as he stayed on the ground. Twilight blast a powerful field of magic at the timberwolves, sending them back with a forceful magical blast. Twilight looked down at the cowering stallion, who was begging like death was imminent.

Twilight really focused on some key points of his pleas. Not fond of Alicorns, something happened back where he was originally living, the questions just kinda kept piling up on their own from there. Twilight sighed and teleported her and Everchange to the outside of the forest.

Everchange looked up and saw the other mares, obviously still mad by what had transpired. Everchange was about to back up, but soon found himself stuck in a magical shield that Twilight had created around him.

"You said you would explain everything, start talking." Twilight stated, glaring down at the stallion.

Everchange sighed. "Not here. Somewhere private, I've made enough mistakes, and I don't want to make another one blurting everything out in public." Everchange said. Twilight carried the stallion with her magic, as she and the other mares teleported to the farm, where Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and the other filly were waiting inside with Big Mac.



"Let me start off by saying I am not your average stallion. I lived in Canterlot, I was poor, but I was studying under my teacher to learn about Alchemy, how to make formulas, potions and tonics that better enhanced crop growth and quickening the time it takes for certain crops to become ripe for harvest. But due to my teacher thinking I was ready for so much more, she had me work under the royals, and when I hit a roadblock, I was told to try and figure out this rare gem." Everchange explained, revealing the green gem on his right hoof.

"I looked for many books on transmogrification spells and tomes, but I was unable to find anything, and I guess it was near impossible to, since it was found in a giant flaming rock that fell from the sky, and nearby a plantation. Royal excavators had to mine every bit of that flaming stone and that Gem was all they found. I spent weeks trying to understand how it worked, but my research fell short. So it was decided by one of the royals that I keep it, if it truly couldn't do anything. I found a brown leather strap lying around, hooked it up to the gem itself, strapped it on, and that was all my first mistake." Everchange explained.



Flashback...
A slightly happier Everchange suddenly stops in place and winces, as he looks at the gem, and feels it embedding itself into his hoof, pushing past the muscle, skin and tissue till the crystal had cut through a bone, the gem going from an inactive prism to a shining green. The brown leather strap suddenly changing to a pristine white color.



End of flashback

The current Everchange shudders as he remembers how much pain there was when it bonded to him. "I, to this very day, have no idea if it's permanent, but I do know from experiences that it hates being forced to come out of my leg. So if you intend to try to remove it, then you are going to have a very bad time even attempting to get close to removing it. Whether out of compliance, or by force." Everchange explained.

"If that's the case, and you aren't a changeling, how did you become a changeling in the first place?" Rainbow asked, not understanding the logic behind the crystal.

"Well, I've come to my own conclusion based off of an event known as the attack of the Chrysalis Queen. I don't remember how it started, but I know that I was running down a castle hallway, evading the guards as I tried to escape, until the changeling queen herself, Chrysalis, made herself known. Unbeknownst to me, I didn't know what the gem would do, but that mystical yellow essence that surrounded your dragon friend?" Everchange explained, gesturing to Spike, who wasn't paying that much attention.

"This crystal recognizes the unique properties of other creatures, and seems to sample their life energy, their natural innate form of magic, or takes a sample of their DNA, cataloguing it in some sort of mystical storage it has access to. When the sample is confirmed to be ready, I can access it and retain the form for 10-15 minutes before the time limit runs out." Everchange explained. Twilight and everyone else looked at each other, and back at the stallion.

"Pardon me if I say that is ridiculous, darling, but that is COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Yeah, if this is the truth, you're leaving out some crucial details, buddy." Rainbow Dash said skeptically.

Applejack was eyeing Everchange the entire time, and she could always tell when someone's lying, and she could tell he was telling the truth, nothing but it. 

Twilight stepped closer to Everchange. "Why can't you stand the sight of Alicorns?" Twilight asked. Everchange did not want to answer that question, not yet, anyways, it felt all too personal.

"I-" But before he could explain, the sound of a belch erupted from Spike, and from the flaming belch was a scroll.

"Finally, the princess got back to me." Twilight said, grabbing the scroll with her magic, unrolling it.


My faithful Student,

The way you described the stallion's cutie mark seems a bit familiar, but I'll have to comb through a few pages of history to get a better idea of what you're about to face, but don't let that stallion out of your sight, and fight if necessary.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Twilight looked back at Everchange, who had read the scroll thoroughly, and seeing Celestia's name left a very bitter taste in his mouth, as well as a couple noticeable tears.

"I assume you're not a supporter of Celestia?" Twilight asked, a bit concerned, but also skeptical. Everchange wiped his tears and crumbled up the scroll, throwing it on the ground.

"I was, 'til she ruined my entire life. What kind of ruler puts her status over the stability of her family." Everchange said, bitter and venomous words escaping his lips as he stomped on the crumpled up scroll, more tears forming in his eyes as he ran off the farm, and then head first back into the Everfree Forest.
> 5. Defining One's Meaning of Great and Powerful Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 1:
'I've decided to forget about coming out of the Everfree forest. That prissy Alicorn princess thinks she can keep an eye on me, because that sun raising heartless snob told her to? Think again, I'm not coming out of this forest till I get a better understanding of this gem, and when I do get out, I'm going to make a plan. And I won't stop until I finally have something solid. But right now, I need to stop writing. I need to get to work on making a shelter for the night.'
-E.S.

Everchange put the quill and book down onto a stump, and started to buck furiously against a couple trees; Knocking them down and pulling some reeds and vines loose to use as a means of tying a few things together. Everchange had no tools, nothing, but he made due with what he could do himself. He decided that if he won't be welcome in town, he'll make himself welcome in the Everfree Forest... Where all monsters dwell.



Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, was a wooden cart, pulled by two unsuspecting colts. One with buck teeth and the other with a slightly disproportioned body for his stature. One had a pair of scissors as a cutie mark, and the other had a snail. Within the cart itself, was a unicorn mare, who was trying to sleep.

Her mane was well kept and it came all the way down to her back, her tail shared a bright sliver-ish light blue-white color with her hair, her eyes were purple, not as purple as you'd expect, but the color teetered on a balance between magenta and basically purple. Her coat was a basic light blue, and she had a crescent moon with a magic wand for a cutie mark. The mare woke up, exhaustedly, and stumbled out of the cart, getting good mornings and bows from the two colts.

The mare yawns and looks around the forest. "Trixie guesses this will do for a temporary homestead. The great and powerful Trixie's great and powerful apology tour will have to be on hold before I can start planning a route. Dangerous my flank, it's a forest, how much danger could there be?" Trixie told herself.

She looked over to the colts. "You two, don't stand around all day and gawk at my astounding presence, set up Trixie's cart and be careful with the mechanisms." Trixie told the colts. As the colts unhooked themselves, they got to work trying to set up the cart like Trixie asked.

Everchange, back on his side, had managed to fashion a wooden hatchet out of thorns, sticks and wood carvings; Hacking away at the leaves, brush and vines blocking his way, as he found an empty clearing that could work as a nice place away from his camp for testing out the crystal's capabilities.

Everchange set the hatchet down, and took a deep breath, marveling at the beauty of the silence, and the lush greenery. Everchange tapped the gem, and saw the icon of the changeling. He tapped the left side of the gem and the changeling icon switched to that of a dragon icon. He tapped the right side of the gem, and saw he had something brand new, the icon of a very skinny and lanky pony with a wavy mane and bug wings. With his curiosity piqued, he tapped the gem again and was met with the icon of a Minotaur like creature.

'Hmm... there goes my other theory. Whoever or whatever created such a gem with a power such as this, it must not have encountered changelings and Dragons before, but seems to recognize Minotaurs and Breezies. But, it's still my goal to understand this rare jewel. Let's start with something I'm familiar with in my alchemical studies.' Everchange thought to himself, switching the minotaur icon back to the Breezie. Everchange pushed the crystal down, and felt everything about him change.

His hooves were shrinking and getting skinnier, he felt frilly fly like wings sprout from his body as he shrank. His eyes had glossed over with a green color, his hair and mane began to wave in the wind, as butterfly antennae sprouted from his forehead. He felt the gem on his wrist disappear, only to magically reform on the back of the small creature. The creature laughed in a high pitch tone, sounding giddy as the bright green light, that was just a beacon for trouble, died down, showing a pale and faded yellow Breezie with a white gem protruding from its back.

"Hmm... for some reason, I was expecting something bigger. I guess the nature of creatures is also present within the crystal, it at least explains why I've become as small as them. I should give names to these transformations instead of making it sound overcomplicated, but I just can't be calling these forms something ridiculous, they feel like an extension of me... When I return to normal size and not as part Breezie, I'll make a list to memorize some names. For now, I'll call the Breezie state, Minifly!" the Breezie said, his high pitch voice not resonating much throughout the forest.



Within the wooden cart that nearly collapsed the first couple times upon trying to set it up to keep it from rolling away, Trixie is reading up on spells, specifically illusion spells for her apology tour. "Hmm... if I used a smoke bomb with an intangibility spell, I could have a brand new act in the making, if all goes well." Trixie murmured, looking over her options. Outside the cart, the colts are busy walking around the forest, discussing something while something else lurks nearby, stalking them from afar.

Minifly was flying all around a couple trees, trying to get used to the small stature and the wind in his face as he flew through the air, feeling a sense of peace and bliss. "This feels incredible. Good thing I don't follow the rules of Breezies, because this is too enjoyable to stop doing! The wind in my face, my mane in the wind, is this what Rainbow Dash feels every day? Because this is incredible! Astounding! I can feel the adrenaline!! WHOO!!!" Minifly exclaimed, cheering and laughing as he flew through the forest. "I'm king of the everfree forest! Nothing can stop me no-"

Minifly spoke too soon as he then hit a colt's face directly, groaning as it shook off the pain. In front of the Breezie was the colts that Trixie assigned to help her haul her cart.

"Hey Snips, it's one of those Breezies! There must be a group of them here if there's one of them here, right?" The slightly taller orange unicorn said to the smaller bright cyan unicorn colt.

"Yeah Snails, maybe if we bring it back to Trixie, we might get a reward for our hard work!" Snips said. The two laughed and looked back at the Breezie, who obviously could understand everything they said, and looked worried. "Starting to think becoming a Breezie was my biggest blunder, and not my brightest idea!" Minifly said aloud. The Breezie exclaimed in fear and flew between the colts, trying to get away.

The colts were on the run to get the Breezie, but with some risky and reckless maneuvers, plus due to his tiny size, Minifly was able to fit into crevices and holes that Snips and Snails would hurt themselves trying to fit through, but as Minifly was about to lose the colts, the gem started glowing red, humming at a low tone.

"No! Not now! Stupid shiny rock, why now?! Has it been 10 Minutes already?!" Minifly exclaimed in a panic. Snips and Snails immediately caught up to the Breezie, and then tackled it head on. In a flash of red light, Snips and Snails got up in triumph.

"Haha! We got the Bree...zie?" Snips and Snails said, as they slowly looked down and saw a full grown earth stallion on the ground, groaning as he looked up at the colts on his back.

"Could you two colts kindly get off of my hind legs? They were meant for a lot of things, but being stood on is definitely not one of those things, young men." Everchange said, with a slightly sour attitude, hoping these two didn't notice him turn back.

"S-Sorry sir, we saw a Breezie flying through here, and well-"

"Well nothing, what are two colts even doing out here on their own in this dangerous forest in the first place?!" Everchange asked in a very angry tone of voice. The colts lowered their heads, worried.

Everchange sighed and looked at the gem, seeing it shine a ruby like luster as he calmed down. "Can you direct me to where you came from?" Everchange asked, still a bit stern with the colts. The two lead the stallion back the way they came and started walking in the opposite direction of the forest, where his camp was getting farther away. In a small clearing, there was a wooden cart, where a blue unicorn mare was looking around for, presumably, the colts.

"Snips, Snails! Where did you two go!! The great and powerful Trixie demands you come out this instant!!" Trixie exclaimed irritably, her horn glowing with a light blue aura. "Sorry Trixie, we got a bit distracted. We saw a Breezie and then we got caught by this guy." Snails said, pointing his horn to the stallion standing above them. Trixie was a bit worried, but she kept her cool and stayed calm, approaching the stallion, pushing the two colts out of the way.

"Greetings, Stallion of Ponyville, I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, the greatest magic user of them all! Trixie is appreciative of you finding her assistants." Trixie announced. Everchange was not phased by her show of bravado, but it was definitely a change of pace that she didn't seem to hate him, but he couldn't be too sure that was the case.

Everchange cleared his throat and put on a smile. "Well, your great and powerfulness, I'm Everchange Spectical, and I just so happening to be making my new home amongst the crazy chaos that is the Everfree Forest. I hope you can understand when I say I mean you no harm or offense, but if you also plan to stay here and do whatever, kindly keep the noise to a minimum. Not for my sake, but to keep the Timberwolves astray." Everchange introduced, smiling warmly as he shook Trixie's hoof.

Trixie definitely got a bit of an ego boost when Everchange said 'Great and powerfulness', but not enough to make her get cocky. Though the sudden show of friendliness was a bit unexpected. "Well Mister Everchange, if you need anything or just want to chat, the great and powerful Trixie will be happy to accommodate, for a price, of course." Trixie said, smiling as she walks back into her cart.

The colts walk up and look a bit disappointed. "Sorry again, Mister Everchange." Snips and Snails apologized, before walking back to the front of the cart, minding their own business.

Everchange tapped his chin with his hoof and pulled out five bits each, handing the two unicorns their own share of 5 bits, smiling. "If you two need some part time work, I could always use some help with getting my camp built. You know where to go." Everchange offered, pointing straight to the other side of the forest, a white wisp of smoke rising above the trees as he runs on back to his camp.



Later That Night...

Snips and Snails have fallen asleep on top of each other, snoring carelessly as Trixie calmly slept the night away. Everchange was sleeping peacefully under the stars in his normal form, seemingly having a really good dream, until there was a loud crack, like a tree being snapped in half from its base, and then screaming, terrified, utterly scared, distant screams.

Everchange ran as fast as he could, stopping in his tracks as he saw Trixie panicking over her now crushed and severely damaged cart. He noticed immediately that those two colts weren't nearby, and figured they were the ones screaming.

"Trixie, what happened? Where'd your assistants go? Who was screaming?" Everchange asked, looking around for anything abnormal.

Trixie got up and saw Everchange, awake and looking around. "My assistants are probably fine, my main concern is that something up and smashed my cart into unfixable pieces! I had valuable and fragile stuff in there!!" Trixie exclaimed, upset at the fact she lost some stuff she could easily replace with the right amount of bits.

Everchange patted Trixie on the back, slightly angered that she didn't seem to care what happened to those colts, but he knows he'll go and get them back. "I'm gonna go get your assistants and make sure they're okay, since you're more worried about a cart you can get another of with the right amount of bits." Everchange said, running in the direction that he heard the screams.

Trixie looked up to the stallion as he ran after the colts, and figured she would have to go with him, without magic, he'd be in hot water.



Everchange ran through the thick brush, trampling vines, sticks, rocks, dirt and grass as he followed the sounds of the screams. He followed and followed till he finally came to a sudden stop, as he noticed a huge gorge, with some stairs leading down to them. Everchange trotted carefully and quickly down the stairs, seeing some sort of mass of red vines or tendrils pulling Snips and Snails into a pony sized hole in the rock face.

"Seems like something herbal is looking for a meat based diet, specifically Pony meat. Time to start eradicating these weeds." Everchange stated, tapping the gem and selecting the Minotaur icon. He was about to select it, until he heard a set of galloping hooves behind him.

He looked behind him and saw the unicorn mare, Trixie, readying a spell. "I'm going in with you, I'm planning an apology tour, and if I plan to say sorry to everyone on that tour, I need my assistants to help set things up! That, and you have no magic, fighting whatever or whoever took them would be blasphemous without magic." Trixie proudly stated.

Everchange smirked and chuckled, catching her attention. "Are you laughing at me? The great and powerful Trixie?!" Trixie said, slightly offended.

"No no, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the fact that you think I have nothing to work with. Magic is for Unicorns and the ones with both wings and a horn, Flying is for pegasi, kicking strength and nature is for earth ponies. But I can do so much more than kick hard and understand nature." Everchange said, feeling confident as he slams on the crystal, enveloping himself in a bright green light.

Everchange began to stand on his hind hooves, feeling his body adjust and become far stronger. His front legs started to increase in size, feeling his physical strength increase drastically. He felt horns growing from the side of his head, and a ring form on his nose as his mane disappeared and his hair became similar to that of a long fauxhawk. His pale and faded yellow coat changed to that of a deep navy blue, as a black shoulderguard chest piece thing formed, with the white gem forming in the midst of the chest's center. A pair of black shorts formed on the Minotaur as The front hooves grew digits, fingers and apposable thumbs as he also grew sharp claws, his tail became skinnier, as a deep dark gray tuft of hair forms at the end. The flash dies down as Everchange was replaced with a Powerful and super strong Minotaur.

"NRRAAAHHH!!!! OOOOHH YEEEEAAAHHH!!!!! Muscle, Strength, and Nothing else but what Matters!! This... This is good!! I'll call this one, Tyrani-Taur!!" The Minotaur exclaimed pridefully, running head first towards the pony sized hole, smashing his head against the rock face, and breaking the hole into a bigger hole, big enough for a Minotaur to fit.

Trixie stood there, awestruck and completely surprised. Did she just see that stallion change into a Minotaur, right before her very eyes? This had to be a joke, a trick, or maybe the stallion was a unicorn with a very short horn hidden in his mane, and he cast a very strong illusion or transmogrification spell. The unicorn tried to process this with logic, until she heard the Minotaur yell for her.

"Hey!! You comin' or are ya gonna stare off into space, Ma'am!! Someponies need our help!! Jeez!!" Tyrani-Taur exclaimed, impatiently waiting on the unicorn.

"I'm on my way, just... a bit surprised." Trixie replied, running to the Minotaur's side, walking into the cave, ready to face the dangers within.

To Be Continued...
> 6. Defining One's Meaning of Great and Powerful Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously on FiM 10: Friendship is Galactic...

'I've decided to forget about coming out of the everfree forest...'

'Trixie guesses this will do for a temporary homestead. The great and Powerful Trixie's great and Powerful apology tour will have to be on hold before I can start planning a route. Dangerous my flank, it's a forest, how much danger could there be?'

'Hmm... there goes my other theory. Whoever or whatever created such a gem with a power such as this, it must not have encountered changelings and Dragons before, but seems to recognize Minotaurs and Breezies. But, it's still my goal to understand this rare jewel...'

'Snips, Snails! Where did you two go!! The great and powerful Trixie demands you come out this instant!!'

'I'm Everchange Spectical, and I just so happen to be making my new home amongst the crazy chaos that is the Everfree Forest. I hope you can understand when I say I mean you no harm or offense, but if you also plan to stay here and do whatever, kindly keep the noise to a minimum. Not for my sake, but to keep the Timberwolves astray...'



As Tyrani-Taur and Trixie wandered through the cave, her horn providing the only source of light, they noticed that those red vines were slowly moving through holes they punctured into the rocky wall's interior.

"It's... moving. What is this thing?" Trixie wondered, looking at the red vines push and slowly slither through or against the walls.

Tyrani-Taur poked at it with his horns, but it didn't seem to deterred by the poking. "They don't feel like vines, but I feel like this thing is alive. Stay close, Tyrani-Taur, has got this." Tyrani-Taur said, smiling pridefully. As the cave went deeper and deeper, the vines were more abundant, they littered and snaked their way through the ground they were walking on, they looked almost as if they were growing something on their sides.

Trixie could feel the vines for herself, and Tyrani-Taur had a point, they didn't feel like vines, but it was alive. Why would it want two colts when a full grown mare or stallion could've been just as good, unless it only eats children... or whatever it does with them. Soon, the wall began to crack, and Tyrani-Taur was ready to strike, until the wall slightly gave way, revealing a huge pod filled with unconscious forest animals.

"Ooooooohh, Something tells Tyrani-Taur that the yellow pegasus would not like seeing this at all." Tyrani-Taur states, walking past the pod, his hooves clacking with the rocky ground with every step.

Trixie sees the wall falter again, showing a pod that reveals a Timberwolf. A huge Timberwolf as it whines and struggles in its pod. "Trixie does not like what this spells out for her assistants, at all. We need to move faster." Trixie stated, trotting ahead. Tyrani-Taur followed the Unicorn, but they soon fell down an unforeseen hole, causing the two to fall down a tunnel, luminated by glowing mushrooms.

Tyrani-Taur got up and saw movement in the shadows ahead. "Tyrani-Taur sees shadows moving... we are not alone, or perhaps we never were. Stay close, Tyrani-Taur will try to keep you safe." Tyrani-Taur stated confidently. Trixie rolled her eyes, when all of a sudden, the familiar humming sound of the Gem echoed through the cave, as it flashed a bright red color, changing the Minotaur back into the earth stallion.

"This cursed gem is against me, I swear." Everchange muttered, gritting his teeth. He heard something within the shadows and backed away, standing by Trixie's side as the shadows got closer. Trixie readied herself to attempt to fight back, until the light of her horn illuminated the shadows, revealing Snips and Snails, seemingly unharmed.

"Ahh, my great and powerful assistants, no need to fear, we're leaving this death trap." Trixie stated confidently. Everchange looked at the colts, who seemed to catch on that Everchange wasn't buying what they were trying to sell.

The colts suddenly screeched in a horrific manner, as they collided together, meshing into a slightly bigger, chunkier and terrifying hybrid of the two unicorns, as it screeched, their eyes becoming filled with a red color as they charged at the mare.

Trixie tried to blast the creature, but it just opened up a hole in itself and let the magical attack pass through. Everchange got into bucking position and slammed his hind legs into the strange creature, sending it back as it separated into two slimy ooze creatures, they hiss and squirm deeper into the cave. Trixie looked at Everchange, and he just stretched his hind legs out and cracked his neck.

"What were those things?! That wasn't natural, that was not okay!! The great and powerful Trixie demands an answer!" Trixie exclaims in shock.

Everchange looked back to Trixie, and sighed. "I don't know what they are, but I can safely say they were never documented on or studied in Equestria... I don't even think these things pre-date the Changelings with their shapeshifting prowess, and the ability to just morph and merge with each other. Stay close and don't panic, we need to say calm and keep our heads on straight if we're gonna save your assistants." Everchange stated, holding out his hoof to the mare.

"That is, if you're willing to trust me. The last couple people who saw me change were immediate to turn on me, but they eventually saw I was just trying to make the best out of a bad situation. Didn't help my case much since I'm trying to live and survive in the Everfree forest, but what can you do." Everchange added.

Trixie hesitated for a moment. She could keep going, or she could leave the colts, and this stallion to whatever gruesome fate waited deeper down... but how could she sleep at night, knowing she left innocent foals to whatever fate awaits them? After a bit of mulling over her options, she took Everchange's hoof and the two ventured deeper, knowing that she might not ready to brave whatever horrors awaited them, but she was compelled to see this through to the end.



As Everchange and Trixie step through the cave, Trixie figures it'd be a good time to try and get to know the Stallion, if they'll be seeing more of each other again, if this isn't the first or final time. "So... Everchange, was it?" Trixie asked, trying to remember the Stallion's name.

Everchange nodded, and kept his attention on Trixie. "So... what's a stallion like you doing in a crazy and dangerous forest like the Everfree in the first place?" Trixie asked. Everchange thought on the question, and tried to be subtle. "Well, uh... I just felt like living dangerously, is all. Someone of my particular talent would have to be in a place like the Everfree Forest, wouldn't you agree?" Everchange said with a smile. Trixie looked at the Stallion's cutie mark, and could not tell for the life of her what it was supposed to be. "Is your talent in Abstract concepts, or can you actually tell me what your cutie mark means?" Trixie said, obviously irritated by how it doesn't look like it could make sense.

"Well, that's a sensitive topic. Ties back to my time with my mother, even though some of those moments were rather... *ahem*, um, to put it politely, unsatisfactory. I never had many friends, but I did have acquaintances. Though, I suppose my only 'friend' was my former employer, and the day she introduces me to her friends, it felt nice for a moment to have someone not care about the then, and only the now," Everchange explained. He cleared his throat and kept going.

"That is, until I just up and panicked, like a wild, untamed beast faced with the inevitability of death." Everchange explained, thinking back to a couple nights ago. His somber expression felt heavy on him, and it almost slowed his pace down. Trixie looked at the Stallion, not interested in the sob story, but did feel a type of way, like she could understand that things didn't have to play out like they did.

She heard the stallion chuckling, and looked at him, his somber expression now a faint smile, she was wondering what was so funny at the moment. "Is there a joke you'd like to share? What's so funny?" Trixie asked, obviously not getting the joke, but felt a smile forming on her face for some reason.

"Simple. What's funny is that you're the first Unicorn to have not tried to kill me or berate me for being so different, whereas another unicorn was going to make me something special, and then they assumed because I could change my form, I was a changeling... I'd say that's pretty much speciesist, but I can kinda understand why she'd think in such a way. My first transformation was a Changeling, and it was odd. The idea that Changelings don't feel love or have hearts, reigns true, but in my case, I feel the emotions, I feel something beating within my changeling body, almost like the change wasn't entirely complete, perhaps it gave me a form of moral control?" Everchange explains.

Everchange looks at the crystal in his hoof, and starts to talk about his thoughts. "Then again, there's so much about this gem that I don't know. Where did it come from? Who or what made such a powerful artifact? Why can't I remove it? How powerful is it really? When will be the right time to utilize its full power, if it has anymore power from here on out, that is." Everchange said, bringing up some valid questions, only to suddenly feel the unicorn's magic stop him in his tracks.

He looked ahead to see a huge hole, leading down to another cave. "Yeesh, somepony or something really likes its privacy if it's getting deeper into the ground. Almost makes me think this could be the work of the Diamond Dogs, but they can't shift their bodies like a sapient glob of snot." Everchange stated, looking down the hole.

All of a sudden, there was a light push, and Trixie immediately lost her footing, slipping down and falling into the hole. Everchange tried to reach for her, until he subsequentially got shoved into the hole by an unknown force. As the Stallion fell, he tried to turn into another form, but found it difficult when falling through the air. Eventually, Everchange had changed into his Changeling form. He fluttered his insect wings and caught the unicorn in no time, though she was incredibly resistant to his grip on her to ensure he didn't let go until he was on solid or stable ground.

"Bleughh!! So you can become a Changeling, what, didn't have preferably anything else?!" Trixie exclaimed in disgust for the changeling.

"Ok, first of all, I'll just call this one, Expioflage. Like Camouflage, Exoskeleton, cause some bugs have tough exoskeletons, and Espionage, y'know?" Expioflage said. Trixie, still disgusted by the form itself, just nodded, agreeing that the name had some tact to it.

"And second of all, I'm not surprised ponies act that way when I become this one, it isn't my most popular forms to use, but then again, I didn't know I also had other options for forms, until just last night." Expioflage explained, his gravelly and warped voice echoing slightly through the cave itself. Trixie shook off her disgust, trying to just imagine the changeling as the stallion from before, all the while also resisting the urge to scream, cry, or act pompous.

Trixie cleared her throat and looked ahead, where a huge cavern-sized opening was, revealing a huge glowing reddish-magenta mass with translucent vines or tendrils or roots protruding into the dirt, as well as the noticeable mountain sized maw with sharp teeth it had. Underneath the strange beast were two pods, one had Snips, and the other had Snails, the two unicorn colts were in a mesmerized state of unconsciousness as their slimy monstrous counterparts surrounded them, licking their semi-nonexistent lips as they eyed the colts. Expioflage turned to Trixie, and decided to come up with a plan.

"Ok, here's the plan. You're gonna get your assistants and gallop like Tartarus itself is behind you, and you're gonna head back to Ponyville, it'll be safer for them and for you. I'm gonna stay behind and do some serious damage to this thing for as long as I can. If I don't make it, it was really nice to meet you, Oh so Great and Powerful Trixie. I hope your apology tour shines like a starry diamond in the roughest and blackest night." Expioflage stated, flying towards the imposter colts, spewing resin at the shapeshifting monsters as they dodged and moved every which way. Though they had no magic, despite mimicking the horns, they still tried to shoot the changeling out of the air. While that happened, Trixie used her magic to lift the pods from the ground, and started to make her great escape.

Expioflage rams one of the imposter clones off a ledge, into what looks like water, the creature exclaims and screeches in agony as its blob like body withered and dissipated into nothing. The other clone tried to do what the changeling did, but the changeling flew up and focused its attention on the huge reddish-magenta mass, the other clone falling into the water, suffering the same cruel fate as its comrade. Expioflage, using his horn as a way to fire changeling magic at the roots, was hoping to disconnect the creature with the soil of the everfree forest, but to no avail as the roots seemed to grow back. Expioflage tapped the gem on his armor and reverted to his normal form, an earth stallion.

Everchange lands on the ground, and looks up to the huge mass with sharp teeth. Everchange cycles through his forms, obviously aware of the recharging feature in effect. "Let's see... Expioflage did not work, Tyrani-Taur's strength would work, if he was fast enough... and Minifly is not for combat of any kind. But," Everchange tapped the gem, stopping on the dragon icon. "This could work wonders. I just need to stall and wait for the gem to recharge." Everchange said, keeping the icon selected as he galloped towards the mass, in hopes of distracting it.



Meanwhile, Trixie has begun the exhausting run through the Everfree, carrying the pods on her back as she clears the way with her magic. She hacked and blasted her way through the bristle, wanting a clear cut through point to escape the forest. All the while, she wondered if Everchange did have things under control.

But, by the time Trixie even knew where she was, as she was thinking about the stallion, she had run face first into a picket fence, tripping over as the pods crashed near the paved path that leads to Sweet Apple Acres. Trixie slightly moaned, knowing that she really didn't have much of a choice, but to ask for one of the elements' aide. "Trixie may regret this, but she has made progress with her tour route, it's now time to see if she can get help." Trixie states, trotting up to the screen door, and started knocking, noticing that the porch light was on, so someone had to be awake at this hour.

She heard the trotting of hooves against the hard wood floor, and saw the element of honesty, Applejack, obviously not in the best mood, and Trixie's presence didn't exactly make things better after what she tried to pull a little bit of time ago, was not feeling so willing to help at that moment.

"What, you got something say?" Applejack said, obviously skeptical of her sudden appearance. Applejack then went wide eyed, looking at the obvious two colts in what looked like green, pony sized translucent egg shaped pods. "What in tarnation happened to them?!" Applejack exclaimed, getting a feel of the pod, smooth, rubbery, but incredibly sticky.

"Something took them and with the help of someone I met, he distracted two monsters that looked like them, giving Trixie enough time to escape. Right now, that Stallion is risking his safety to stop a huge red monstrous mass that's buried itself deep under the Everfree!" Trixie explained, slowly getting more and more in a panic.

Applejack could always tell when someone was lying, though she struggled with reading Trixie before, it seemed like a strange surprise when she could tell the unicorn wasn't trying to lie.

"What was this Stallion's name, and how deep in the ground are we talkin'?" Applejack asked, trotting over to the barn, trying to find something.

"I think it was.. Everchange, I think? Trixie was rather thankful he would help Trixie get her assistants back, but now he might be in some serious trouble." Trixie explained further. Applejack came out of the barn with an axe in her teeth, and she was all too familiar with Everchange, seeing as she saw him run into the Everfree forest just this morning, probably still hurting about that personal issue.

'Partner, what have you gotten yourself into now? Startin' to think your talent is findin' trouble.' Applejack thought worriedly, as she gestured for Trixie to leave the pods in the barn, as they ventured back into the forest.



Everchange, who was making a run through the tunnels, was trying his best to escape the underground labyrinth, but everywhere he went, it seemed like some sort of bipedal mushroom monster with a mouth on its stomach kept trying to nab the stallion, until they got severe buckings to the face. Everchange found himself in a tunnel he didn't notice before, only to see the pod with the timberwolf inside. Everchange tried to break the pod, but it wouldn't even crack. Everchange found a rock and lobbed it at the pod, shattering it, and also waking up the timberwolf inside it. The huge wolf-like creature of nature thrashed as it tried to escape, and it kept on breaking through the pod, proving another thought about those pods.

"It seems like these pods can be shattered by non-living materials, and the timberwolves, being made of sticks, thorns and foliage, they aren't technically alive, despite their animalistic tendencies and behaviors, their natural material bodies allows them to break through the shells." Everchange said aloud, backing away as he tried to escape, only for him to fall through another unseen hole, leading back to the huge monstrous mass.

Everchange felt one of its roots suddenly jut into the back of his neck, feeling his nerves suddenly be told to relax. He tried to resist it, but he couldn't fight back against the sudden strip of control he no longer had on himself.

'Relax, equine... It will all be over soon.' A new voice spoke out, soothing, calming, but malevolent. Everchange continued to try and fight back, but was pretty much losing the fight as his body quaked.

"Wh-Who... Wh-What are you?!" Everchange struggled to say.

'I am the Mycelium, AKA the huge monstrous mass you were trying to uproot. I control plant life and fungus, I noticed a ripe and rare selection of flowers and fungal vegetation on this planet, and I've decided to wipe out you meat sacks and terraform this world to make it mine to rule.' The Mycelium introduced.

Everchange tried to maneuver his hoof to the gem, but he couldn't even feel his body anymore, he just felt weak.

'Don't attempt to try and transform, your world will belong to me, and you equestrians will be food for the fungal spores I'll unleash. I just hoped they'd blossom by now, the soil of this forest is so... finicky.' The Mycelium added. Everchange took in everything that it said, and knew he still had a chance, but he didn't have a plan to get free from the Mycelium's control.

Suddenly, he felt a sudden jolt go through his body, and found himself back in control. He tore the root out of his neck and slammed on the gem, being replaced by his dragon form.

"Ahah! Finally, something that could be legitimately useful. And, I got just the name for this one. Scaleblazer!" The dragon exclaimed. Scaleblazer took to the air, and started breathing fire on the roots of the Mycelium, obviously causing a form of distress. Below the Mycelium, was Trixie and Applejack, who were attacking the Mycelium directly. Trixie hit it with a few magical blasts, and Applejack cut away at some roots that were trying to dig into the ponies.

Scaleblazer started firing balls of flames at the roots, causing more pain and distress for the Mycelium, even setting the thing ablaze as the fire began to spread. It screeched out in agony, as it was burning rapidly like a coal shaped size of wood and sap. Soon enough, the caves began to start crumbling; Scaleblazer grabbed the ponies and started to fly through the tunnels, smashing the pod that had the forest animals within it, letting them run and retreat through the exit as the dragon flew above the everfree, making headway towards Sweet Apple Acres.



As Scaleblazer landed onto the ground, setting the orange pony and the blue unicorn down on the ground, in a flash of red light, Scaleblazer turned back into Everchange, who was a bit somber about the whole ordeal.

Applejack looked at Everchange and began to speak. "Ya know, I could tell Twilight that you--" 

"Applejack, save it. I ran off, I ran off because I have too many personal issues, half of them equate to me having a strong and very aged distaste for Celestia. Tell Twilight what you want, say I nearly got two colts killed, say I put Trixie in danger, say I put three fillies in danger, say I made a mess in the Everfree forest, I don't care anymore, I know who my enemies are for the moment," Everchange said, obviously irritated to no end.

Applejack just let him keep going as she listened, definitely thinking he needs to just say what he feels right now. "I just wanted to apologize for suddenly running off. It wasn't the best idea, or the most mature decision, but it was better than discussing why I don't like Celestia as much as everypony else does. You can tell Twilight that my opinion on Alicorns, is due to personal issues long ago, issues that may never be properly taken care of, and I don't plan to talk about them with her or anypony else until I know I can find some form of trust or compromise so we can put this behind us and worry about something else." Everchange explained, venting as he tried to control the volume of his voice, feeling a bit better for letting out a bit of the irritable bitterness from the other night.

He turned to Trixie and sighed. "Trixie, I'm sorry you had to see me use my abilities, I wasn't exactly prepared to show off my skills with an audience, but I'm sure that someone of your great and powerful skill wouldn't mind a humble and generous rival to encourage you to keep striving to be the best, right?" Everchange said, subtly stroking Trixie's ego with a genuine compliment, all while just praising Trixie's magical skills.

Trixie smiled and trotted onwards to town, probably to get another cart she can live in. "Tis' a shame that her cart got destroyed, but maybe she'll get one made of a stronger material than wood. Though, something tells me I'm not gonna be easily excused, am I right?" Everchange said, bringing his attention back to the orange earth pony, who was contemplating something.

Applejack could only come up with two questions. "Pardner, why in the hay did you go back to the Everfree Forest in the first place? You know ya could've come back to the farm, explain a little bit more, and we'd be square." Applejack asked.

Everchange cleared his throat and looked Applejack in the eyes. "I didn't feel like you would've wanted me back here, and I didn't want to sleep in an alley in town, or sleep in another cave, so I figured I'd try to build a home in the Everfree forest, be the first actual pony to conquer, survive and thrive in such an environment. Plus, it would've meant I could provide for myself, instead of mooching off of you and your family just to earn my keep with an honest job, it just never felt right, doing hard work and being paid for it, because it never felt like I earned it... you already provided me with a roof over my head, food to eat and a bed to sleep in, I just didn't want to take more than I already had during my time here." Everchange explained.

Applejack sighed, thinking about and processing this information for a bit. She thought about it for a moment, and figured she'll pull him aside one of these days and talk about it later.

The mare rubbed and patted the stallion on the back, then firmly smacked him across the face. "Next time you do something like that, give a heads up or it won't be the Everfree Forest you have to worry about, ya hear?" Applejack warned, smirking in such an all-knowing manner.

Everchange nodded, and rubbed his face, which stung more than it should have. "Good, now mind educatin' me on what in tarnation was that huge thing in those caves?" Applejack asked, obviously needing answers.

Everchange shook his head and looked at the orange earth pony, obviously not sure of how to answer her question. "Your guess is as good as mine, but I know it wasn't anything that Equestria has hidden long ago, said something about how it came to this planet to terraform, so something makes me think it is very much, an Extraterrestrial entity. It's quite rare to study extraterrestrial beings, but it is also quite the challenge. I'll have to look into making cash somehow, so I can afford the equipment and tools to practice my studies, but, one step at a time, as I know you do plan on telling Twilight everything. So it'll be difficult to even get a proper start if this is the last time I'll see that Mycelium creature." Everchange explained and wondered, Applejack looked back at the Everfree Forest from a little ways away, and tried to think of an idea to help in some way.

Applejack quickly gathered a couple buckets and started to buck an apple tree, filling the buckets with apples, and setting them down at Everchange's feet. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the bits on me to pay. Besides, I took eno--" Applejack pushed her hoof against Everchange's muzzle, stopping his words.

"Don't matter, this is all on me, besides, you helped out plenty in your own way during your time on the farm, even if you felt like it wasn't properly earned or deserved. You've worked hard, and you've also had a tendency to overwork, but that showed you got something to prove. I'm not quite sure myself on what that might be, but I can assure you, partner, that you're always welcome here, as long as you don't bring any form of trouble with ya. Think of this as my way of making it up to you after what up and happened, I know it'll take some time and some effort to win the others over, but I'm sure they'll understand as time passes." Applejack stated.

Everchange smiled and shook hooves with the mare, grabbed the buckets and made their way back into the Everfree Forest, ready to prepare everything at their little campsite.



As the morning comes through, there's a knock on the library's door. Twilight exhaustedly makes her way down to answer it, to see no one, except for a hand delivered scroll, tied in a dark gray ribbon with strange runes patterned onto the fabric. Twilight opens the scroll and reads it aloud.


Princess Twilight,

You don't know what you've done, but allow me to educate you. That stallion, the one that changed, is an abomination of nature. Nothing more than a disgusting, mindless creature. Do yourself and Celestia a favor, and leave him to us.

~C.N 
> 7. Every Dog has its days, wolves Too
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 2:
'I made a new friend yesterday, her name was Trixie, she's willing to not say anything about the incident in the Everfree Forest, but I do have to worry about how I'm going to go about making my home, and what materials I'll have to use to keep it sound and sturdy. Then again, I could use a couple of my stronger forms to get the job done quicker, but that would just mean I'd just be making a home big enough for my bigger forms, not necessarily me. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I have to keep myself busy, and stay away from that Alicorn. I can only imagine what Applejack has told her about last night.'

-E.S.

The stallion put the book and quill down on the stump, and activated the gem on his wrist. Within a flash of light, Everchange was replaced by Tyrani-Taur, and started to gather thick trees for breaking down and construction. Tyrani-Taur remembered that stone place that mycelium was hiding under, and decided that some stones would also be perfect for keeping something sound, sturdy, and durable. As the Minotaur made his way through the forest, a creature stalks him from afar, ready to make its claim.



Back in Ponyville, Applejack and Twilight are conversating about what to do about Everchange. "If he isn't a changeling, then he's just some normal pony... with really powerful and unexplained abilities of shapeshifting. And he's got no horn, so magic is obviously out the window, unless he's somehow hiding it with a concealing spell." Twilight said aloud.

Applejack was trying all morning to get Twilight to see reason, to see that Everchange is not trying to cause a fuss or to cause trouble, and while she got through a good bit, Twilight still thinks this might be a magic based problem with a magic based solution. "Sugarcube, you know I can tell when ponies are lying, and he's obviously not a unicorn. There are just some ponies who can use magic in other ways. If this isn't magic, good, dark or otherwise, maybe we should just let him figure it out on his own, and not make such a big deal out of this, I even doubt that the princesses could figure out what to do without making it seem like the only option is to, say, lock someone in the dungeon." Applejack retorted, trying to get Twilight to see this from some other angles.

As the two ponies trotted along through town, several ponies from behind the two elements were screaming and trotting past them in a panic.

"What was all that about?" Twilight inquired. A vibrant gray stallion, with short black hair with streaks of white in his mane, and a semi-unkept tail in knots with thorns in it, and panic in his yellow eyes was catching his breath from all the screaming, running and panicking he was doing.

"Hey pardner, what's all the commotion?" Applejack asked the frantic stallion.

"GROWLING... STRANGE SMELL... BIG TEETH.. HOWLING.. MONSTER! DOG! RUN!! WHITETAIL WOODS! PANIC!!!!!!!" The stallion exclaimed, and started to run through town, tripping over himself as the stallion continued to panic with the other ponies.

"A monster. In the Whitetail Woods?" Twilight wondered.

"Could be Everchange, maybe he was testing out one of his transformations, and then soon encountered a group of innocent ponies, who freaked out." Applejack stated.

Almost like they spoke of the devil, Everchange came trotting along, in a better mood as he was carrying a couple bags of what looked like dog food. Everchange was then stopped in his tracks with Twilight's magic as she turned him around, obviously needing answers, where Everchange was just plain mad.

"Can your royal threats wait, your annoyingness? I gotta get these bags to Sweet Apple Acres, heard Winona was runnin' low on food, so I thought I'd buy a couple bags and save Mac the trip." Everchange stated, obviously a bit miffed he was suddenly stopped.

"Partner, that's quite the generous thought you had, but were you in the whitetail woods earlier, by any chance?" Applejack asked, thankful that Everchange thought to help out.

"No, I was in town, getting into a heated argument with someone who called me the royal servant boy of this sour Alicorn, and then I went and got dog food for Winona. Earlier, I had transformed into my Minotaur form to collect stones for construction purposes. I haven't stepped foot in the whitetail woods in years, so what exactly could be the problem that automatically connects to me?" Everchange answered, now wanting an answer for what the deal is.

"Well, a bunch of ponies have just run past us, one of them mentioned something about a monster in the whitetail woods. I don't exactly see who or what else it could've been, if it wasn't you." Twilight retorted.

Everchange knew what she was insinuating, and was just appalled. "How dare you assume that I'm a savage beast! Applejack, tell her what I told you last night, she needs to learn to swallow her words and speak in a way that won't rile me up!" Everchange stated, entirely offended by Twilight's insinuation.

"Both of you, will you cut it out? if there's a monster in the Whitetail Woods, then we need to take care of it. Maybe bring Fluttershy along, she's always got a way of animals." Applejack insisted, trying to keep the two ponies from trying to tear each other to pieces.

Everchange backed down, knowing he wouldn't let Twilight be the one to freely say he was the monster. Twilight knew she had to see if this was indeed the case, if Everchange was a mindless creature, like that mysterious scroll from this morning went on to make him seem that way.

Twilight let Everchange go, obviously not trusting him, and with that, Twilight was able to teleport the dog food to the farm, and the ponies then made their way to the shy yellow Pegasus's home.

Fluttershy was still a bit unsure of if she could trust Everchange, but then again, she always remembered how he saved her and prevented her from falling. Fluttershy agrees to help, and travels along with the other three ponies to the Whitetail Woods.

Unbeknownst to the ponies though, a cloaked pony has been following them, and they've got their eyes fixated on the gem attached to Everchange.



As the ponies make it to the entrance to the trail of the whitetail woods, they see that something has obviously been around, stomping, scratching and causing a real ruckus around the place. Everchange looked down at the Gem, and figured it'd be time to put his powers to use. "Alrighty, I think I have an idea on how to solve the mystery of our recently new 'Creature of the Whitetail Woods'. Did some experimenting, and found I have more than just the form of a changeling, and a dragon. I think its time to demonstrate how much good I can do. Ye royal pain in my flank." Everchange slightly muttered at the end.

Twilight rolled her eyes as Fluttershy ducked behind Applejack, who just watched closely. Everchange seemed to find the form he was looking for, and in a flash of green light, The stallion began to change.

Everchange felt the gem sink into his body, and also felt his coat become tough, but also very furry. His new fur began to change to a light gray color, he felt digits growing from his hooves, almost like he was also developing paws. He felt a white collar form around his neck, embroidered with blue diamonds as his horse-like features became more and more canine-like, his eyes shined bright, emitting a green color, his ears jutting upwards at attention, he felt his instincts get a bit amplified, He soon showed the Gem had formed onto the collar's center, He howled as the flash of light died down, showing he had become a Diamond Dog.

Twilight backs up, and readies her horn, as the Diamond Dog looks onward towards the horn, and looks very unamused. "Oi, ya royal drag, you wanna be brave and stupid firin' that magick attack at me, or do you wanna be sensible and smart, and save the energy for the monsta, ya daft alicorn fool? Tell ya wot, you can prod at me, you can cut me, you can even bloody cut me noggin open and literally pick at me brain, but only when I prove my innocence to extinguish yer arrogance." The diamond Dog stated, his british/scottish accent being half way from understandable to incoherent, his voice sounding heavy and gravelly.

"And to cement that this won' be the last time you see this rough ol' dog, I'm callin' this fella, Germani!" The Diamond Dog exclaims.

Twilight is just wanting to blast him for the heck of it now, until she picks up a strange scent in the air. "Does anyone else smell something odd?" Twilight asked, picking up an odd scent.

"Yeah, ah smell it too." Applejack said, smelling the air.

"Smells... weird.. but familiar." Fluttershy stated.

Germani smelled the air, and nearly keeled over, coughing and hacking at the scent. "Blaagkh!! That nearly knocked the wind outta me! I know that smell, that's the scent of a timberwolf!!" Germani exclaimed through his hacking and coughing. Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy looked at each other, surprised, and concerned as Germani tried to compose himself, crawling away from the strong scent to gather his bearings.

Germani hesitantly sniffed the air, and started to go into another coughing fit. "Yea, that's the smell of a timberwolf, alright! No mistakes about it!" Germani stated, covering his canine nose.

Twilight, and the others ventured into the woods, not noticing the cloaked pony following their every action. Twilight stuck close to Germani, making sure he didn't try to pull anything without being reminded of who he was helping.

Applejack obviously wanted to tell Twilight to lighten up, but Twilight and Everchange were not planning to get along anytime soon, not with how one pony can hide such a secret, and the other just being sour and immediately aggral.

"Excuse me, um... maybe Everchange could direct us to where this timberwolf could be, that way we wouldn't have to uh... get ourselves hurt fighting it, if necessary?" Fluttershy stated, uncertain as to what the plan was exactly.

"Sounds like a right proper idea. Twilight, can you ease up on the poor guy and let him do his thing?" Applejack stated. Twilight didn't want to, but knew innocent ponies could be seriously hurt if they don't find this timberwolf.

Twilight let her guard down, and Germani began sniffing around the ground, definitely picking up the scent of a Timberwolf.

"The idea of a timberwolf being out here in the whitetail woods... it's not something I'm used to, why would it be out here, and not in the Everfree?" Twilight pondered.

"Probably got cast out, or split off from its herd; It's not familiar with the new environment it found itself in, so it's trying to make it where this is a timberwolf only zone." Germani stated, smelling the air as he finds a trail of the scent. "An' speakin' of the obvious, looks like this timberwolf's got a bit of a temper goin', so this is gonna get ugly." Germani stated, following the scent as the ponies follow close behind.



Off in the outskirts of the Whitetail Woods, the timberwolf is on the run for a pony. The pony was gray, with a blue and red mane with headphones, and a sparkling pickaxe for a cutie mark. As the pony tripped over something, it looked up towards the beast as it was suddenly crushed. The timberwolf was proud of its first ever solo hunt, until he saw the pony crushed beneath its huge lumber paw turn to a mystical dust.

Confused, and obviously starved for some kind of nutrition, the timberwolf tries to snap its jaws at the dust, only for a sudden magical blast to knock the timberwolf  back, dismantling it to pieces. Behind the Timberwolf was the cloaked pony, who only seemed to show a vile smile as they trotted over to the re-assembling timberwolf. The pony then lodged a glowing red rock within the chest cavity of the timberwolf, as it repaired itself.

"The wonders of dark magic, it's sickening, but it also gets... necessary results." The cloaked pony stated, the timberwolf whimpered and howled out in pain, the red rock was almost acting as an infection, and was driving the timberwolf mad with the pain it spread throughout its body.

The Cloaked pony just grimaced and grinned as it vanished within a puff of magical energy. The timberwolf, was on the hunt. Not for all ponies, but for Everchange, and whoever else stood in its way.



As the ponies continued to follow the Diamond Dog, It's becoming all the more apparent that the smell of the timberwolf was all of a sudden, a bit... faint. Germani stopped in his tracks and took another couple whiffs of the air around him, and his ears started to fidget a bit. "Partner, whatcha smellin' now?" Applejack asked.

"Somethin' ain't right... scent's gone lame, and... there's somethin' verray off." Germani stated. In a flash of red light, Germani had reverted back into his stallion form. "I think it'd be best if we went back to Ponyville, maybe get some assistance with this sudden-"

Everchange was about to finish his sentence, until Twilight groaned out in exasperation and irritation. "Can you do anything right?! I thought you were hot on the trail, what, did the timberwolf magically disappear or what! You absolute idiot!! How could you lose the trail?!" Twilight exclaimed, obviously enraged, and very impatient with Everchange.

"Twilight, just calm down, it's not the end of the world as we know it, or anything. If the timberwolf is actually gone, then it won't be a problem for Ponyville, right Everchange?" Applejack said, trying to reassure the angry and impatient Alicorn.

"Ok, first off, the timberwolf is very much still here, but there was a sudden change in who was looking for who... I don't know what happened, but I do know I don't plan to stick around so I could either be mauled by a timberwolf, or be called an idiot by a princess in training with a bigger superiority complex than Joseph Stallion." Everchange stated, fuming with irritation himself as his face gets redder every second.

Twilight and Everchange both took a deep breath, preparing themselves for a real verbal feud.

"You are probably the most incomprehensible, unexplainable, and the biggest downright jerk to trot the face of Equestria!" Twilight exclaimed.

"At least I have a personality, instead of just being Alicorn trash for that 'princess' to discard or send somewhere that had to be within my vicinity!" Everchange shouted back.

"Says the trash! First thing you do when we meet is run off, what was that even about.. and How dare you call me trash! At least I don't dress like some sort of blatant stereotype of high class ponies everyday! Who wears something like that anyway, you look like a spoiled royal!" Twilight retorted.

Everchange was getting angrier, Fluttershy heard some faint rustling nearby, and Applejack was picking up on the fact that Everchange and Twilight's arguing, was attracting what possibly could be, the timberwolf.

"Hey fellas, let's calm down and-" Applejack tried to get in-between the ponies, but Everchange got up close and was getting furious.

"You hoof dragging teacher's pet! My mother made me this outfit. It is all I have left of her!! She made this for me so I could wear it, and cherish her memory, Even when she's gone!! You want to make a monster out of me, your highness?! Sure, make the monster out of the stallion who lost everything to a selfish and vile ALICORN!!!!" Everchange exclaimed, his voice breaking a bit as he felt a personal nerve get touched too hard, his voice echoed loudly through the woods.

Twilight just kept glaring at the stallion, not listening to a word he just said, but was obviously aware she just set him off. Out from the brush, a huge creature appears. Twilight and Everchange glance at it, and their anger subsides, turning into fear.

The creature before them was some kind of timberwolf, but it was so... drastically different. The wooden body that made up most of the creature was darker, and thicker, had like different types of rocks, and gems growing and protruding from the branches, sticks and logs making up most of the body. The spiky wooden fangs were replaced with fangs shaped with iron deposits and diamond tips. The beast was huge, bigger than a regular timberwolf, like 3 times bigger. The huge beast had a huge red rock glowing in its chest, the beast proceeded to howl at the ponies, almost tearing a couple of the trees from the ground with such a howl.

Fluttershy, Twilight, AJ, and Everchange screamed and started to sprint away from the beast, and the huge wolf creature roared as it chased after them. Twilight and Fluttershy immediately tried to fly, until Fluttershy immediately ducked and kept running, while Twilight suddenly screamed out, toppling over as there was a noticeable gem shard puncturing her wing, Twilight struggled to get up, but her wing just made it difficult.

"Twilight! Everchange, gimme a hand!" Applejack exclaimed, running to Twilight's side. Everchange begrudgingly turns the other way, and helps the princess up, but the beast is still on their tails. Everchange looked down to see the gem wasn't ready for another form yet, and just chucked a couple stones at it. It slightly worked, as the creature was solely focused on Everchange, and all those between it and the stallion were to pay.

"There's gotta be somewhere we can trap it!" Fluttershy exclaimed, terrified out of her mind and beyond as the lumbering canine monster continued its pursuit. Everchange is sprinting full on, keeping a steady pace with the mares, as the creature tries to lunge in for a 4 in one meal.

Twilight immediately tries to muster as much of her magic into one teleporting spell, teleporting the four ponies back to Ponyville, as the timberwolf monster crashed, and disassembled, only to start reassembling itself.



Back in Ponyville's library, Spike was busy tidying up around the bookshelves, until he saw a magical flash, and heard four ponies hit the floor. the dragon turns around and sees Twilight, exhausted and has a really devastating wing wound, Fluttershy and Applejack, who are exhausted and a bit unsettled, and the Stallion who used that gem on him, Everchange. "Twilight, are you okay?! Your wing!" Spike asked, worried as he clutched onto his caretaker.

"Urgh... I-It's alright Spike, I just need to rest... took all of my magic to teleport the four of us away from the Whitetail Woods." Twilight stated weakly. Applejack and Fluttershy got up, and dusted themselves off as Everchange gets up in one go, trying to catch his breath as Spike just covered his eyes, and his mouth.

"Urgh.... My head is spinning... Are we okay?" Everchange asked, slightly dazed by the teleportation spell. Fluttershy covered her eyes as well, Twilight looked on in surprise, and Applejack looked like she was trying to hold back the urge to point out the obvious. "What?" Everchange asked, confusion plastered on his face.

"Uh... Everchange? I think you may wanna look in a mirror, sugarcube..." Applejack said, looking away from Everchange.

The stallion walks over to a nearby mirror, and the biggest eyesore about him is that he's got blood leaking from his nose, that blood was all over his poorly patched up clothes, one of the only things he has to remember his mother by. The stallion just stood there, his perception of the world just brought him back to that day in Canterlot all that time ago, and he just stood there, feeling a couple tears roll down his face. The screams, the adrenaline...

The stallion's rage was very present, but he didn't voice it. He just stood up, and walked out of the library, only to look back through the doorway, to a solemn Applejack.

Applejack looked on, watching the stallion leave, and turned back to Twilight, who was still trying to treat her wing. "Ya know, I think there's something to learn here, Twilight-"

"Not another word, Applejack. Maybe I was wrong about the monster being Everchange... but I still have my suspicions. I will make sure to inform Princess Celestia of this issue." Twilight interrupted.

"I'm just saying, he's a bit touchy, a bit sensitive about the topic of family. Maybe don't agitate him on that front. I know I'd be the same if someone talked like that about my folks." Applejack stated.

Fluttershy spoke up. "Are... um a-are we sure that it's safe... to just leave the timberwolf there, back at the whitetail woods, when fall's on its way?" Fluttershy asked.

Applejack looked back at the doorway, and decided to leave. "Where are you going, Applejack?" Twilight asked.

Applejack turned back to Twilight, a determined glint in her green eyes. "To go help a friend in need." Applejack stated, running off.



Everchange just kept on walking, till he found himself in the midst of Ponyville. As the stallion walked, he could've sworn he heard some sort of thumping sound in the distance. The Stallion turned to see where it came from, but was met with silence and the audible sound of other ponies trotting along. Everchange continued to trot along, till the thumping sound became slow, but rhythmic, slowing growing in sound as everypony stopped what they were doing as they looked towards the sound's origin, feeling the earth beneath their hooves tremble and shake. Everchange looked onward, only to see the monstrous Timberwolf creature, now made up of tougher stone, dirt, trees, and leaves, still retaining the gems from its body, it roared as it began to run to Ponyville.

"Everypony, RUN FOR YOUR BUCKING LIVES!!" Everchange exclaimed, galloping down the road as fast as he could, everypony was in a panic, running into buildings to hide from the beastly beast as it stomped through the city, trampling through the town as Everchange ran like he hasn't run before, trying so hard to make some distance between him and this colossal Timberwolf. Everchange saw sugarcube corner, where Pinkie was cleaning the front windows till she saw the stallion.

"Hi Everchange!" Pinkie exclaimed happily.

"Pinkie! inside! hide! Giant Timberwolf! Now!!" Everchange exclaimed as he ran past the shop. Pinkie looked confused until she heard the howling monster approaching, and she quickly ran inside the store.

Everchange just kept on running, realizing he was approaching the Boutique that Rarity owned, seeing her close up for the day. "Well, you have some nerve to come back here, you shape changing love sucker, if it's love you want, find it som-"

"Get in the boutique and hide, there's a colossal Timberwolf on the loose!!" Everchange exclaimed, cutting Rarity off as he just kept running. Rarity really had to process that last part as she suddenly picked up on the smell of the timberwolf, and hearing the monstrous howl of the one coming her way.

Everchange was running out of places to go, till he decided to cut through the market, making sure to only go through Flim and Flam's stand to make sure he can hoof it long enough to get to the Everfree Forest. He looks down at the gem, seeing it glow green, signifying that it was time to be useful. Everchange stopped in his tracks as the Colossal Timberwolf did the same, growling as it leered down at the stallion.

Everchange cycled through the icons on the gem, and finally rested on the icon of the dragon. "I hope you enjoyed your puny tantrum, you splintery stalker. Because this is how your story ends, in a blaze of Glory!" Everchange slams on the gem, and begins to transform, once again.

Everchange's coat became a pure green color, he sprouted five tufts of what felt like hair and felt several feathers sprout upwards from the back of his head, each one fading from the green feathers to darker and lighter shades of blue. He felt dark gray wings growing from his side, his tail was long and slender, with a big tuft of white hairs at the end, he felt his front hooves once again grow digits, claws. He felt his muzzle grow into a beak, His his hair and mane faded, making the feathers feel far more prominent in their display. A black chest harness formed onto his upper body, with blue stripes and a Blue diamond. Beneath the diamond was a white gem, embedded into the harness. The creature flapped its wings cawed like a mighty eagle as the flash of light died down.

Everchange took to the skies, and suddenly noticed how his form was not of a dragon, but of a Gryphon. "Well, this was to be expected. I don't really have a clever name for this one, Though I guess it wouldn't hurt to name this one, Lionhawk!" The Gryphon states, trying to figure out how to stop a Timberwolf like this. The Timberwolf shot gems at Lionhawk, but he was able to evade them, though the Timberwolf was being attacked in some way.

Up close to the huge beast itself, was Applejack, tryna use her natural Earth Pony Strength to cause some kind of disruption to the beast, but it was solely focused on Everchange, and it's wooden body just seemed to be tougher than normal Timberwolves.

Lionhawk flew around the beast's gigantic head, causing it to try and keep an eye on the sudden green blur it was having so much trouble focusing on before. It fired gems and stone shards and wooden projectiles at the blur, hoping to hit it once, but it was just getting disoriented. The Timberwolf began to sway, and inevitably soon fell over, collapsing into several huge pieces. Applejack ran and dodged the many falling timberwolf pieces falling from the air, and Lionhawk landed a little bit of feet away, the Timberwolf finally stopped. Applejack ran over to the green Gryphon and then firmly smacked him upside the head, despite him now being taller than the earth mare.

"Have you lost your Apple pickin' mind, partner?! You coulda gotten yerself seriously hurt! What would've happened if you up and broke something if ya weren't careful?!" Applejack exclaimed, hugging the gryphon as the red rock within the timberwolf kept glowing.

"AJ, I get you're worried, but what are you doing here? YOU could've been seriously hurt. I can say that biologically, we ponies are durable and strong enough to withstand some seriously painful altercations, though your pink friend is quite the enigma, by the gods before she's like rubber... sentient rubber. Nonetheless, you don't need to worry about me, I can take care of myself, I'm not a scared and defenseless filly... but I am grateful for the assistance." Lionhawk stated, embracing the earth mare.

Lionhawk looked towards the Timberwolf, and saw it starting to rebuild itself, and it was taking more materials from the Everfree Forest, increasing in size.

"Ah don' understand! Why won't this wild varmint just stay down or retreat?!" Applejack exclaimed. Suddenly, a blast of purple magic, as well as a swift light blue blur hit the timberwolf, knocking it back as it tried to fix itself. It was Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who are really trying to put this creature down.

"No one hurts my friends and gets away with it, you overgrown firestarter!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Lionhawk saw that the magical blast had broke open the chest area of the timberwolf, revealing a huge red glowing rock. Lionhawk bet that was the reason this timberwolf was so insanely crazy and powerful. Lionhawk charged forth, and crashed into the timberwolf's body.

Inside of the colossal timberwolf, Lionhawk rubbed his head and saw what seemed to be a regular Timberwolf, ensnared in some sort of trap, as the red rock keeps on draining something from the wolf itself. "This thing must be drawing life magic from the timberwolf... and if enough is taken, this timberwolf might just perish... no, I can't allow that. Hang on, I'll get you out." Lionhawk stated, kicking the rock out of place, freeing the timberwolf as it weakly reformed itself, but is too weak to move on its own.

Lionhawk carried the timberwolf on his back and the rock in his arms, and started to fly through the body, exiting through the open and inactive maw of the colossal timberwolf husk. Lionhawk quickly landed on the ground as the husk of the timberwolf monster collapsed and turned to ash.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash landed and checked to see if Applejack was alright, while Lionhawk eased the timberwolf down onto the grass, and watched as the mares talked.

"Are you okay? You aren't hurt, are you?" Twilight asked, her voice full of worry for her friend. She reached a hoof out to the farm pony.

"Yeah, are you okay AJ? That thing could've crushed you, if you weren't careful." Rainbow Dash inquired. Applejack brushed Twilight's hoof away from her face and cleared her throat.

"Twilight, you should be home resting, you go on now, and let your wing heal. I appreciate the support, even though it could've gone to someone who I think really needs it right now, and maybe an apology." Applejack said, gesturing to Lionhawk, who was looking at and examining the red rock.

"Him? Please, he probably orchestrated all of this! Hey buddy, you wanna tell me why you did any of this!" Rainbow said, jumping the gun as she got closer. Applejack held the pegasus back by her tail and looked over to Twilight, who would probably be the worst person to send over.

Twilight walked over and stood beside the Gryphon, looking at the gem, then back at the creature.

"So the monster wasn't you, that doesn't mean you might not have some kind of sinister agenda. I don't know what you mean when you say that Celestia took your mother away, because she is not like that, she's not that kind of ruler... Though I can appreciate that you found another solution to the problem." Twilight said, obviously trying to be a bit more secure with her word choices. Lionhawk said nothing, but just looked at Twilight, a sign of fear and concern swelled within him.

"Twilight, do you know what this is?" Lionhawk asked, his tone grim and serious. Twilight shook her head, and focused on the gem, unaware of what it was.

"I expected as such. This is the Ruby of Ea 'Vol 'Uut, it uses time magic and dark enhancement magicks to rapidly throw a living organic creature into a state of no control, letting a beast take control over them, it adapts, it overcomes, it is Darwinism as an ancient magical gemstone. This could very well have been the end of Equestria right now, if it hadn't stayed locked up tight in an ancient temple underneath modern day Manehattan! It drives one mad with power and increases their innate instincts, making them monstrous." Lionhawk explained. Twilight's slight irritation over the stallion, was pushed aside by intrigue and curiosity over the gemstone.

"So... how do you know all of this, unless this was also apart of your alchemy studies?" Twilight asked. Lionhawk sighed and just rubbed his eyes for a moment. The gem on his harness enveloped the Gryphon in a red flash of light as Everchange returned to normal, the Red Rock did not seem to interact with the stallion whatsoever.

"I'd just recommend you send this back to where it's supposed to be, and don't let it fall into the wrong hands. I need to catch up on some important property work, and it'll take me forever to do if I have to constantly drop what I'm doing for some pony's sake. I'll be sleeping in a poorly pitched tent for eternity if I can't find somepony in town who will let me buy some tools and equipment." Everchange stated, obviously exhausted and tired from the chaos.

As Everchange tiredly trots towards the Everfree Forest, the timberwolf he helped out got up and whined as it followed behind him. Twilight had so many ideas about so many things that she didn't know how to properly react. She used her magic to teleport home, and used a magic containment field to contain the ruby's effects while Twilight prepares another letter to Celestia.



5 Hours Later...

As Twilight trots up to her room, and Spike snuggles up in his bed, Twilight turns off the lights and tucks herself into bed, ready to sleep the night away, until she hears a firm knock on her front door. Twilight groans and gets up, heading downstairs and opens the front door to nothing. Nothing except another mysterious scroll on her door.


'Twilight Sparkle,

this is your first warning. That shapeshifting abomination is no Stallion, he's a beast, a freak. A danger to all life. As punishment, we'll be taking the Ruby of Ea 'Vol 'Uut back, The Timberwolf was just the beginning of what we are capable of, and we'll show you and all of Equestria how truly dangerous and vile Everchange Spectical can be to normal ponies. I suggest you re-think about even 'trusting' it.'

~C.N



As Everchange tried to relax in his tent, he heard the whining and whimpering of the Timberwolf. Everchange got up and petted the creature, causing it to shake its wooden tail in joy as it nuzzles up to the stallion, who sighs and smiles a bit as Everchange falls back asleep onto the soft grass,  as the Timberwolf lays down around the stallion.
> 8. The Rarest of Apologies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Ponyville returns to normal a couple days after the whole colossal timberwolf fiasco, Everchange has decided to try and apply himself to befriend the elements, without Applejack's help or presence, and the first element to start with, was Generosity, Also Known As the snootiest of the elements, Rarity. Because it was a true Rarity to meet anypony who didn't immediately turn on a dime to hate ya.

Everchange approached the Boutique and was about to knock on the door, until there was a sudden click of a lock and the dropping of shades. Rarity was not gonna be easy to earn trust from, but he at least had to try, he's dealt with tougher ponies before.

Everchange knocked on the door, and the unicorn seamstress just mouths the words 'Go Away', before returning to work on a dress. Everchange groaned and knocked on the Boutique door harder, hearing the muffled and audible groans of irritation from the unicorn. Rarity unlocked the door and threw it open, obviously not in the mood for distractions.

"Listen, you, if you think I'm going to let you just take my love so you can have a snack, you've got another thing coming, you beastly bug!" Rarity exclaimed as Everchange just stood silently. Everchange sighed and pulled out a small white card, clearing his throat so he could properly read it without a vocal mishap.

"Element of Generosity, you know me as Everchange Spectical, though you saw my changeling form, that is not the real me. Even if you still think of me as a love devouring monster against nature, I would like to earn back your trust and properly earn your friendship. Today, I'll be your personal... *groan* Errand colt for the afternoon to gather whatever it is you could possibly need, no questions asked. If it means I can have a couple more friends, I'll do anything to earn the right to be called a friend." Everchange read aloud.

He put the card away somewhere in the tattered holes of his clothes as he looked back up to the mare, who was obviously eager to have someone get her things. He was handed a couple satchels of bits and a list that stretched out to the other side of the street. Everchange dropped his jaw as Rarity closed it and pat his head. The Unicorn mare proceeded to also explain the items on the list.

"The Green checkmarks are mandatory items, yellow stars are optional, if you have the time today to get them, and the red Xs are the items to not get whatsoever. Come back when you have everything." Rarity explained, slamming the door and clicking the lock as she resumed her work on an order. Everchange closed his jaw and looked at the list, sighing in relief that he didn't have anything to do right at this moment, so this was already a bit easier.

Everchange bought a couple gemstones from the gem store, picked up some high tension rosemary silk, a few boxes of assorted buttons with colors and patterns and differing shapes, Leather Ribbons, fur and floof, plus a crate full of cotton. Everchange traversed Ponyville on his own hooves as he struggled and struggled to carry every single individual crate and box, and barely got through the start of the list. Everchange dropped off the last of what he could manage, and proceeded to look down to the next few items of the list, mostly consisting of similar stuff from the last few items he just collected. Everchange continues on with gathering materials, mostly consisting of different fabrics, ribbons, laces, and a few other things.

Everchange continues this endless trek for friendship as the sun slowly begins to set, knowing very well that he really didn't have anything to do that day, and just trekked onwards, sweating from the heavy load he'd have to haul back, exhausted with going back and forth, and sore for doing so much.

The very next morning, Rarity is ecstatic to see all of the required and optional items ready for re-stocking. Everchange had slumped up against one of the boxes, passed out and exhausted, and very sleepy. Rarity nudged the stallion carefully, only for Everchange to roll over and continue sleeping. Rarity used her magic, as well as asking for a smaller filly to help her lift the stallion inside, she closed the door to her boutique, and laid Everchange onto the couch, where he just muttered and squirmed in his sleep.



Within the Dream Realm...

As a teen colt trotted through the halls of a huge white castle, he was sneaking around, trying to avoid the guards as he entered a room discreetly. Within the room was a tall mare, wearing a ragged cloak, who just pointed to a potion recipe. The stallion gathered four different ingredients, scale of changeling, feather of griffon, embers of Tartarus, and a strand of hair from an Alicorn. The Alicorn hair was plucked from Celestia's hairbrush for convenience sake. The tall mare watched as the stallion ground up the changeling scales into a powder, and minced the griffon feather and hair strand to pieces, mixing it with the crushed scales as the embers were used to heat up an old Bunsen burner. The stallion grabbed a small vial of blue liquid, and poured it into the beaker being heated by the embers.

The stallion watched as it began to bubble, and the ragged mare gestured for him to continue. He poured the crushed and minced mixture of dry ingredients into the beaker, obviously having a type of chemical or magical reaction as it suddenly went off, enveloping the room in a dark purple smog, causing the stallion to cough and wheeze and hack as the fumes were getting dangerously potent. He bolted out of the room, and felt himself slip into unconsciousness, as he saw two princesses running to his aide. Celestia herself, and another princess he knew too well, he couldn't utter a word until he suddenly blacked out.



Back in the boutique, Everchange jolted upwards, covered in a cold sweat as he tried to breathe. He looked to his side to see a scared little filly backing away, setting down a saucer with a cup on it, full of some type of sweet smelling liquid. Everchange did feel how dry his throat was, and took the cup as he guzzled down the contents, not expecting the sweetness to be a full on staying flavor. He noticed where he was, and for some unforeseen reason, every strand of hair on the back of his head was standing up, and signifying it was time to just be on his way and finish the list, yet he didn't dare move, or look away from the filly, who was slowly walking towards him.

The filly was no older than Applebloom, but obviously this kid had an understanding of common sense. Her hair was curled at the front, splitting off at a mix of Bright pink and a faded orchid purple. her coat was white, much like Rarity's, her flank as blank as it could be, her tail and mane curling as her green eyes shimmered with an innocence he once knew had meaning.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you, but you looked like you were having a real bad nightmare. I fixed you some hot cocoa, though I guess it's just hot sugar water, since I didn't have any cocoa powder to properly mix in." The filly said, a bit uncertain of how to approach the stallion.

Everchange smiled and put the cup on the saucer. "It's easy to find a substitute for chocolate, like vanilla or just strawberries... Who are you, by the way?" Everchange stated, fixating his vision on the filly.

"I'm Sweetie Belle, and I'd like to say, thank you for helping us back in the Everfree, it means a lot, mister." Sweetie Belle said, smiling. Everchange smiled, until he heard the clopping of hooves on the ground approaching, and Sweetie Belle backs away, acting like she hasn't said anything.

Beside the stallion was Rarity, who was ready to put a warm and wet rag on his forehead. "Dreadfully sorry, darling, but you were catching something awful, I didn't exactly know what to do at this point. You fell asleep after bringing my stuff, and you passed out. Darling, you know there's such a thing as 'taking a break', right? No wonder you were coming down with a fever, you've been putting too much strain on yourself, doing whatever Celestia knows what." Rarity stated, rinsing the water out of the rag as he placed it to his forehead.

Everchange's demeanor shifted to silence, and Rarity knew she might've touched a nerve. "Sweetie, could you go out and pick up a couple things from sugarcube corner?" Rarity called out, Sweetie trotted towards Rarity, who gave her several bits as the filly left the boutique.

Rarity used her magic to pull up a chair, and proceeded to sit in it, facing the stallion, who already was a bit thrown off by the mentions of Celestia. The dream played out on repeat through his mind, and every time, he saw the other princess fading into obscurity, while Celestia remained.

"Darling, do try to keep your mind on me, please." Rarity stated, smiling. Everchange snapped out of his daze, and looked at the mare, and just felt a form of uneasiness.

"Look here, Rarity. I'm not in the best place for questions, can I just go and deal with something else?" Everchange simply asked. Rarity cleared her throat and stretched her hooves out.

"Tell me, what is it that you want?" Rarity asked, ignoring his question entirely.

Everchange didn't know what the question meant. "Pardon?" Everchange asked in confusion.

Rarity scoots closer to the stallion, looking into his eyes suspiciously. "What do you want? Love, bits, magic, what could a changeling want with me?" Rarity asked.

Everchange knew what she was insinuating, and didn't properly care for it, not with that nightmare playing over and over in his head. "Look, Rarity, you may think I'm a love sucking changeling, but I'm not that at all. Yeah, I can become them, but I'm not them permanently. But there's no point in trying to explain this to somepony who will never like me. And that's fine, I don't need to be friends with everypony, and I certainly don't need the likes of Celestia." Everchange states, standing up and walking to the windows, looking outside to the afternoon sky.

"No one could learn to love somepony like me, or give me a chance to show I can at least try to help ponies. Applejack might be the only one who can, and is willing to, but you and that Alicorn, Twilight, treat me like the plague. Do I look like a monster? No. Can I become a monster? yes. Do I want to hurt ponies? No, absolutely not. Do I get angry? Of frolicking course I do, everypony does and some of us have short fuses to go with short tempers." Everchange explained, obviously a bit bothered by how someone can judge someone by how they appear. He looks to the Unicorn, who's not swayed by his honesty.

Everchange sighs and looks Rarity in the eye. "I knew the princess a fair bit, Celestia, I mean. She seemed like a nice and fair ruler, until the day she took my only family away, I saw her for who she really was. Someone who cares more about their royal status over the well being of someone who couldn't even fight back," Everchange felt a sense of bitterness and sadness wash over him.

"If I was a changeling for a longer time frame, I'd want all the love Celestia had for everypony, everypony except my mother... who's been gone for years now, and considering I haven't heard from her in so long..." Everchange pondered on the thought, and it just made him angry. Not at the Unicorn, but at Celestia. Everchange hadn't even noticed the tears in his eyes, until Rarity leaned in, and wiped them away with a soft handkerchief.

Rarity's skepticism of the stallion just rose, but a sense of understanding was rightfully understood. She'd probably be in the same position as the stallion if no one believed her that a royal had torn her family apart, but that just raised questions in the mare's mind. Questions she planned to take to Twilight. Rarity couldn't accept that he lied, but perhaps there's more to his situation than he lets on.

"Darling, sit on the couch, I'll prepare something for you. Eating always calms me down." Rarity said, smiling as she trotted towards the kitchen. Everchange sat down, and rubbed his face. It must've taken an hour or so to prepare whatever Rarity was making as she set a bowl full of salad onto the stallion's lap.

Everchange was starving already, and immediately started to scarf down the salad, much to Rarity's surprise as Everchange finished the whole thing in just a few seconds. Everchange wiped his mouth and breathed, setting the bowl aside as he looked to the Unicorn.

"Thanks, I haven't eaten anything for the past couple days, I've just been working non-stop on building a cottage, and I might've forgotten to eat or drink something in the midst of my work... I need to start eating more, it's becoming a detriment on my work." Everchange stated.

Rarity notices that Sweetie Belle hasn't come back yet, as does Everchange. "Is it supposed to take this long to get to that sweets place and back?" Everchange asked, concern in his tone. Rarity wasn't sure and she ran out of the boutique to see what the hold up was.



In front of Sugarcube corner, was a raging monster. It was the size of the building itself, and very bear like. It looked to be made out of the space that the planet resided in, only a deep blue hue was the color of its fur. it had stars all around its body, but it was getting ferocious. This was an Ursa Minor, a dangerous magical beast that was obviously wanting something, and was gonna get real aggressive if it didn't get it.

Rarity came onto the scene, and shrieked, attracting the Ursa's attention. The Ursa Minor slowly moved towards the Unicorn, until Everchange got in front of the Unicorn. "You go get Sweetie Belle, I'll take care of this. I'm starting to develop a knack for fighting monsters." Everchange stated.

Rarity trotted past the beast, as he saw the Ursa Minor look down at him. Everchange cycled through his forms, and landed on Tyrani-Taur. He slammed the crystal down, and began to change.

His Pony Physique didn't change too much, he felt his tail get longer and thinner, the brown and pink hairs faded and a bunch of fiery red, golden orange and pine green colored hairs grew in their place. His tail was wrapped in some kind of special fabric, as was his torso. He felt a white solid object form onto his back as he felt his hooves changing as well. His short hair and mane poofed out, curling at points where the brown was a fiery red, and the pinkness in his hair and mane became a pine green or a golden yellow color. His coat stayed the same color, all except his eyes. He felt a Horn-like appendage sprout from his head, patterned in Blue and green stripes as a black and white mark patterned downwards through the middle of his face, stopping on the end of his muzzle. He felt the gem protruding from his forehead amongst the markings, and he roared out, yelling and laughing like crazy as the flash of light died down.

The stallion looked at himself to see what he had become. "A Kirin? Well, there goes the not-all-walks-of-life-can-be-scanned theory. But this is useful, nonetheless. Alright you Behemoth of a Bear, Prepare to face the might of Scoville Hooves!" The Kirin Stallion said, smiling as it charged forth. Scoville Hooves leapt towards the Ursa Minor, but got swatted away as he skidded onto the ground.

"Alright big boy, you wanna get rough? I'm game." Scoville Hooves came charging once more, this time he blasted a blistering blue fireball from its mouth at the Ursa Minor, sending it back as it roared. Scoville Hooves fired more fireballs, even using the horn to use a teleportation spell to dodge the Ursa Minor's attacks.



Inside Sugarcube corner was Sweetie Belle, Mrs. Cake, Mr. Cake, Pinkie Pie, and several well behaved compatriots, who were scared of the Ursa Minor outside, hence why Sweetie wasn't home yet. Rarity hugged her sister, going on about how worried she was. Everyone was watching the Kirin fight back the Ursa Minor, but it would prove to be a bit risky, fighting in the town like that.

"What do we do?! We can't let that Ursa Minor get the kids!" Mr. Cake panicked, holding his wife as the two cowered. Everypony was scared of the Ursa Minor outside, as it fought the Kirin, who was trying to run it off. Rarity was so worried about Sweetie Belle, the very idea of her getting swallowed whole by an Ursa Minor would drive Rarity up the wall if she had come to that conclusion.

Meanwhile, Scoville Hooves is firing flame after flame at the Ursa Minor, only for it to brush off the attacks as it kept on trying to swat at the teleporting Kirin. Rarity didn't know truly what to do, and thought on what would be best for the situation. Stick your fabulous neck out for a shapeshifting stallion, who insists they aren't actually changelings, but are still trying to keep the Ursa Minor from hurting anyone, or stay in the shop, and hold your sister tight, hoping that it'll be over soon.

Back outside, the time limit for Everchange had run out, de-transforming the stallion back into a normal earth pony, which was a bit of a problem. Everchange ran through the town, the Ursa Minor not too far behind, and he was trying so hard as to not trip over himself. It roared aggressively, and he nearly tripped over a couple rocks, until he eventually tripped over himself, skidding onto the ground as the Ursa Minor loomed over him.

Everchange braced himself for how bad this was going to hurt, until he heard something collide, but not with him. He looked to see a magical field above his head as the Ursa Minor relentlessly slashed away. He looked around and saw Rarity and Trixie, focusing their magic to make the shield withstand the powerful hits.

Everchange quickly ran out from under the shield, and he took a moment to inhale some air, get his thoughts together. Trixie let the field disappear and created another one, above her and the stallion. Rarity ran past The Ursa Minor, and fired small petering beams of magic at the Ursa Minor, which was trying to swat its claws at the ponies, only to be met with a sudden echo of calming music.

The Ursa Minor was getting calmer, and more relaxed as it suddenly became lulled to sleep, resting easy as Trixie let down the shield, and Rarity let up on her magical assault.  The music itself was coming from the alicorn herself, Twilight. She managed to lull the creature to sleep, but she was pissed at somepony. Twilight landed in front of the two ponies, and was not amused. Rarity backed away and dove back into the shop, watching everything else from the inside.

"Back to your old ways, Trixie? I thought you left Ponyville after what you did." Twilight said, glaring at the unicorn. Everchange was confused, and wasn't in the best mood either, after all, he did fight off an Ursa Minor.

"And what did Trixie do that was so bad she had to leave town?" Everchange asked, getting in-between the mares.

Twilight groaned and looked at Everchange with irritation. "She challenged me to a magic duel. She won with the help of a dark artifact, and it warped her into being Ponyville's ruler! You were here for this, weren't you!?" Twilight explained, getting more and more infuriated.

Trixie just sighed, taking her magician's hat off and looking upset.

Everchange glared at Twilight. He could deal with a lot of stuff, but as far as he was concerned, Trixie only wronged him for not immediately caring about Snips and Snails when they got nabbed by the Mycelium. "So what if I wasn't here for that? I know that Trixie isn't the same Trixie who helped me fight off a giant sentient Mycelium underneath the Everfree, subsequently saving all of Equestria from being terraformed by a monster plant! If that artifact warped her mind, she didn't have any form of control over herself, the dark forces within it had overshadowed her and she had no recollection of what she had done, because she didn't do anything, but the dark forces within that artifact made her a puppet for their deeds. She doesn't need to be berated on what she hasn't done, she deserves some kind of forgiveness, a word you aren't too familiar with, miss 'Want It Need It' spell." Everchange stated.

Twilight was about to retort, but she catches herself and groans furiously, mad that he brought up the Want It Need It incident. "Look, Trixie is bad news. Here's a lesson for you, be friends with someone that won't get you into constant trouble, or tick off another Ursa Minor." Twilight stated, using her magic to carefully carry the sleeping Ursa Minor back to its cave.

Everchange looked back at Trixie, who was just moping. Everchange was gonna give Twilight what for when the time came, but before Everchange could continue thinking on such a thought, he saw Spike step in front of him, as well as Rarity. Everchange's sour expression changed to that of expected irritation.

"What, come back to call me a love sucking bug... or a monster?" Everchange asked, expecting the insult. What he got instead were smiles and a wrapped up box. The stallion, was now confused.

"Consider it a gift, darling, or my way of apologizing for my rather uncouth behavior; It's just not everyday you meet an Earth Pony who can change shape and form. Could you learn to forgive the transgression, Darling?" Rarity said.

Everchange didn't know what to say, until Rarity immediately stripped him of his ragged Canterlot wears. "Also, I'll be trying to spruce these up, give them a thorough washing *sniff sniff* AAUuugh! These smell so... so... rancid! Definitely needs a thorough scrubbing. You can wear that for the time being while I attempt to fix this. It was something I put off finishing when I heard of your unique abilities, but I decided to finish it up and hope you decide to accept my apology. Anywho, Au Revoir!" Rarity stated, trotting away as she held his former clothes away from her face with her magic.

Spike remained, and just lifted up a slightly opened scroll. "What is this for? I thought the princesses only wrote to their proteges or other kingdoms." Everchange stated, confused even more by the presence of the scroll.

"I got it before Twilight rushed off to deal with the Ursa Minor. But the letter wasn't for her, I saw it was for you. I don't know who wrote it, but I just belched it up out of nowhere. It was so odd, I couldn't figure out who sent it." Spike explained, curious as to what information the scroll held. Everchange rolled out the parchment onto the ground, reading it thoroughly.


Everchange Spectical (if that even is your real name),

You do not know of us... and know that soon, everything will be coming full circle to the likes of you. We are in the shadows, constantly waiting for the moment a filthy commoner like yourself to show your true non-pony colors. We're not sure what you are... but your kind, if there is more of what you are... You are not welcome in PonyVille... Or Equestria as a whole.

Everchange swallowed and looked unnerved. He kept reading.

Know that if the princess in training will not see you immediately as a threat to Pony kind, then you are to be dealt with... by the council of Artemis. Should you continue to keep meddling in affairs you have no business in, you will not like what happens next. Consider this, your final warning.

~C.N

Everchange closed the scroll. Everchange was just more confused, and concerned. Who was this, and why are they after him of all ponies? Everchange took into consideration at the Acronym Signature. C.N... who the hay has a name like that?

"I saw that Twilight had a couple of these letters addressed to her, all from the same person, but she told me to not look at them. When she fell asleep last night, I looked at the letters. Who is this guy?" Spike added. Everchange looked at Spike quizzically.

"Here's a question, why are you helping me? I thought you didn't want to be involved in my business." Everchange asked, skeptical of the dragon.

Spike smiled nervously before looking concerned again. "I think Twilight's hiding something. Whoever this is, they have something to do with the princesses. We have to do someth- *belch* we have to- *buuurp* we have to do something before this esca- *BUUUURP!!*" A stream of green fire spewed from the little dragon, showing a scroll fall to the ground, officially marked by the princesses.

"That has to hurt." Everchange stated as Spike pulled himself together. Spike peeked into the scroll, and handed it to Everchange with confusion. "Uh... It's for you?" Spike stated with confusion. Everchange took the scroll and darted off to the Everfree Forest, wrapped up box on his back and a Scroll in his mouth.

Spike was about to follow him until he heard Twilight calling for him to head back.



As Everchange came to a stop and opened up the scroll, he read it in the moonlight.


My dearest Everchange My dearest Nephew,

Come back to Canterlot and Please come back to Canterlot, according to how much time has passed since your departure, we have a lot to discuss, especially about your family OUR Family... Come to me on equal footing, and we shall talk like rational adults... if you're willing to forgive me, at least try to smile.

-Princess Aunt Celestia

P.S: Come alone, and tell no one of our encounter.

Everchange said nothing. He unwrapped the box Rarity gave him and got dressed into his new digs quickly. Now wearing a Black sleeveless vest with a neatly adjusted collar and a short sleeved white shirt with a red ring around the shirt's hole for the head. Everchange looked back at the scroll, and re-wrapped it, stuffing it under his tent to keep from prying eyes.

His green eyes glistened and shone in the moon's light, but all he could do nothing but shed a few silent tears. Everchange walked over to the timberwolf and hooked on a big red collar, entrusting the wolf to guard his little camp while he made a silent and subtle getaway to the train station, ordering a very expensive ticket to Canterlot as he tried to steady his nerves, and hide the still coming tears from other train riders.

'Get ahold of yourself, Everchange. You're finally heading home after so forsakenly long, the least you can do is be professional, and not a teary eyed mother's colt.' Everchange thought to himself, sniffing as he wiped away the tears, keeping a stern expression. To his left was a bigger, but happier stallion, holding a picture of a mare of the same age, and a swaddled up newborn baby pony.

It made Everchange want to cry, but he was headstrong. He looked to his right, and saw two siblings, one pegasus colt and a unicorn mare playing and having fun while their mother and father admired their children having fun. Everchange felt envious, and he knew why, but he didn't think such a simple sight would resurface old memories.

"Sir, are you quite alright?" A feminine voice rang out. Everchange looked up to see one of the helpers on the train, looking at him quizzically.

"Uh-uh *ahem* yes, I'm quite fine, just exhausted... and I'm currently on my way to see family... been a long time since I saw them... and we aren't on the best terms, so I'm a bit nervous of how this could go, but at least I'm gonna see em again... some of them anyways." Everchange said, muttering the last part.

The helper mare gave Everchange a neck pillow as the lights went out, everypony was heading to sleep. Everchange wasn't one to sleep, but he always knew of the same dream, playing out more and more as the nights went by. By the time he had fallen asleep, the train came to a stop, awaking everypony as the night was still long, and he felt everything shake as he finally arrived in Canterlot.

"Here we go." Everchange stated.



Back in PonyVille, Twilight walks around her library, constantly looking over every book, every tome, every page just to find something. The other elements and Spike were watching Twilight as she was having one of her infamous 'Freak-outs' again.

Twilight slumped to the floor and whined. "Why can't I find anything! It's like they aren't supposed to exist! There's no documentation!" Twilight whined, kicking a small golden piece to her friends. It was the mark of Artemis, the group after Everchange, and on thin ice with the Princess of Friendship.

"Twilight, I'm sure everything's fine, just take a deep breath and we'll help you find something. Okay?" Rainbow Dash offered, helping her Alicorn friend to her hooves.

"Rainbow's right, Twi. Let's not lose our heads just yet, I'm sure whatever's wrong, you know you can count on us to get you out of it." Applejack stated. Twilight looked at her friends, despair and worry plastered on her face as she frantically looked over several tomes.

"Who are they... Who's this Council of Artemis?" Twilight said aloud, like she thought her friends had an answer. She threw a crumpled up scroll at the wall in frustration, which Rarity uncrumpled and beheld the scribbling on it. She felt a shiver go down her spine


Twilight Sparkle,

How disappointing that you intervened yet again... We were trying to get that Ursa Minor to get that lowlife Stallion monster out of Ponyville... but you just had to get in the way. Sleep with one eye open, and keep your friends, close, your highness... Things just got a whole lot less safer for the citizens of Ponyville.

~C.N 



Back in Canterlot, Everchange had made the daring traversing trotting of a trek up the stairs to get to the castle front door, which were guarded by two pure white unicorn guards. The guards went wide eyed as they saw the stallion, and almost immediately greeted him like a royal guest. "W-Welcome Back, your high-"

"Stuff it and not another word, this isn't a permanent thing... It's like your job if you even finish that degrading and meaningless welcome... Temporary." Everchange snapped at the guard, who immediately shut up as they bowed to the stallion. Everchange looked upon the walls, knowing very well how insulting it was to walk these halls once, and to never do so again.

Everchange reached the entrance to the throne room, and saw two more guards, who were quaking and shaking, scared of the stallion who stood before them.

Everchange took a deep breath and glared at the guards. "Move. This is business for the Royal Family. Make yourself scarce and make sure No one and no THING tries to get in." Everchange's voice boomed. The stallions opened the doors and immediately ran past the stallion in fear.

Everchange trotted inside as the doors began to close. Up top one throne was Celestia herself, the Princess... no, the Queen of Equestria. Everchange trotted forward, his expression unchanged as he saw the Queen stand and trot up to him.

Celestia hasn't changed much in the last 1,000 years. She wore Blue and Gold royal regalia, a blue crown with gold detailing and a purple diamond-esque gem embedded into it. One could argue that the colors in her hair had gotten a bit darker over the millennia, but she looked the same as she did centuries ago... on that faithless day.

Celestia looked down at the stallion, a slight scowl being present on her face, but nothing but remorse, regret, sadness, and guilt was present in her eyes. Everchange tried to look invested in whatever she had to say, but his eyes said rage, pain, betrayal, bitterness, resentment, and hate.

"So... did you call me here to do with me what you had done to my mother, your highness?" Everchange asked, venom lacing every word in his tone. Celestia's scowl turned to an expression of agony, as she bowed to the stallion.

"Everchange... My dear Nephew..." Celestia started.

"We are many centuries past the formalities and the titles of family, Celestia. I just want my mother back... I looked into what you did... and she'll be back. She might be angry at you, but I know she won't hate me, because I didn't split our family up over some superstitious facsimiles you could call factual rumors." Everchange hissed.

Celestia looked up at the stallion, and stood tall once more, looking down on the obviously still healing stallion. "It's been centuries... and you still haven't tried to hear me out. All you care about is having your mother back, and you can't even give me some respect, even after all this time?!" Celestia yelled.

"Because I know what I saw, Auntie.You banished my mother, my only mother, to the freaking moon!! HOW DID YOU THINK I WAS SUPPOSED TO REACT?!" Everchange exclaimed, his voice booming.

"I expected you to be rational, to think about what had occurred!" Celestia yelled back.

"SO, BANISHING MY MOTHER BECAUSE SHE CARED MORE ABOUT ME WHEN YOU DIDN'T WASN'T ENOUGH OF A RATIONAL THOUGHT FOR YOU, WAS IT!! JUST LIKE EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR YOU, I TRIED TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO IMPRESS YOU, TO MAKE YOU PROUD, AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN BAT AN EYELASH TO WHAT I, OR MY MOTHER, HAD DONE TO MAKE CANTERLOT FLOURISH!!" Everchange yelled back, the castle shaking with every scream. The guard ponies nearby backed away and ran for cover.

"YOU RAN AWAY, AND DIDN'T LET ME EXPLAIN! I THOUGHT YOU WERE LONG GONE, BUT WHEN I GOT WORD FROM MY OWN STUDENT, THAT YOU WERE HIDING OUT IN A SMALL VILLAGE WHERE MY PUPIL CURRENTLY IS, I COULDN'T LET HER GET TANGLED UP IN FAMILY MATTERS!!" Celestia explained.

"DIDN'T STOP YOU BEFORE, WHEN SUNSET WANTED THE SAME THING FROM YOU, AND SHE UP AND RAN TO YOU KNOW WHERE!! WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO HER NOW?! SHE COULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW WHEN YOU COULD'VE DONE SOMETHING TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT!!" Everchange exclaimed back. Celestia looked down at the stallion, angry as her eyes welled up, tears in her eyes as she gritted her teeth.

"DON'T YOU DARE BRING SUNSET INTO THIS! THAT WAS NOT MY ERROR, SHE MADE HER CHOICE, AND IT LED HER ON A PATH I COULDN'T SAVE HER FROM!" Celestia yelled back, her voice breaking a bit.

"WHY SHOULDN'T I?! MAYBE I SHOULD'VE GOTTEN YOUR NEW STUDENT WRAPPED IN THIS MESS SOONER!! LET HER SEE WHAT KIND OF HEARTLESS RULER YOU ARE WHEN IT COMES TO DEALING WITH FAMILY!! WHEN IT CAME DOWN TO IT ON THAT NIGHT, YOUR TITLE, TO YOU, WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD!! MOTHER LOOKED UP TO YOU, SUNSET LOOKED TO YOU FOR GUIDANCE, AND I ONCE DID THE SAME, I HAVE EXPECTED HISTORY TO REPEAT ITSELF EVENTUALLY, SO GO AHEAD, BANISH ME LIKE YOU DID THEM, LET'S SEE THE REAL YOU, RIGHT NOW!!" Everchange yelled back, a couple tears streaming down the stallion's face as the walls and windows cracked beneath the pressure of the yelling.

Everyone in Canterlot could hear the screaming match going on, and it was like the end of the world was right on Canterlot's doorstep.

"THAT WASN'T MY CALL!!!!! I DIDN'T WANT TO BANISH HER OR SUNSET!! I WANTED LUNA TO DO THE RIGHT THING, AND SUNSET MADE HER OWN MISTAKES!!" Celestia gritted her teeth and yelled out in anger, blasting a random bolt of magic at one of the stained glass mirrors, shattering it in a blinding light.

There was a sudden sound of silence. You could hear a pin drop on the thick carpet due to how suddenly quiet it had gotten. Celestia was panting as tears left her eyes. Everchange was doing the same, tears left his eyes and moved down his face as things got so heated. The sun cutie mark on Celestia had deepened in hue a slight bit before returning to normal. Everchange's cutie mark showed a slight distortion with his cutie mark before it too returned to normal.

Everchange turned around and walked back to the exit, only to hear Celestia call for him.

"Everchange!" Celestia screamed, her voice slightly hoarse and sore from the yelling. The stallion glared back at the ruler, who had more tears to shed.

"We are both angry... at each other... and at ourselves... When she does come back... When your mother comes back... let me make things right... please.." Celestia weakly stated, turning her back as she trotted off to her royal quarters. Everchange trotted down the halls, each guard bowed in respect and fear, knowing that this... was just the start of either a family falling more to pieces... or finally making amends.

As Everchange left the castle for the train station, he suddenly felt like narcolepsy had finally overtaken him, as he suddenly fell to the ground out cold. No pony seemed to notice that something... or somepony was dragging the unconscious and sleeping Stallion somewhere.



In an undisclosed location, Everchange continues to slumber in a cell, whereas in another cell next to his, was Twilight's Cell, where she was blissfully sleeping, unaware of her location.

A robed stallion trotted away as it began to plot what to do next.
> 9. Council of Artemis Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 weeks Later...

Back in PonyVille, things were seemingly alright, except for a panicking and scared little dragon running through town, screaming for the alicorn he lived with, on the verge of tears.

Wasn't long till the elements came calling, trying to calm Spike down. "Spike, take a chill pill, would ya? What's got you cryin' like a baby?" Rainbow Dash asked, being confident.

"Yeah, let's turn that frown upside down, Spike!" Pinkie said, smiling as she pulled out a couple balloons.

Spike just looked around, frantically trying to find Twilight. "Where is Twilight?! She's usually not gone this long without saying where she is!" Spike exclaims, feeling tears well up in his eyes again.

"Now just take a breather, Spike. How long has Twilight been gone? And don't say 4 hours." Applejack asked.

"She's been gone for 4 weeks! How come you guys haven't noticed anything?! She could be in trouble, and she might not be enough to escape wherever she is!" Spike exclaimed frantically. Rarity kindly let the dragon cry into her as she petted his back.

"Well, I'm sure if we get Everchange to get up and not be lazy, he could be of some service." Rainbow Dash stated.

But soon after he was mentioned, Trixie came up to the group, obviously not in a great mood. "Does any of you know where Everchange is? I've been to his little camp, he isn't there, there's just a timberwolf there guarding the place." Trixie stated.

The ponies looked at each other and back at Trixie. "Wait, you can't find him either?" Applejack asked, confused.

"Oh please, she's probably got something to do with this. Where are they, you sideshow nobody!" Rainbow Dash said angrily.

Trixie shook her head, "He always goes to Sugarcube Corner every morning to get his usual intake of sugar and caffeine. Says it helps to utilize a sugar rush for better heavy labor efficiency. But he hasn't been here for weeks, Trixie hasn't seen him at all lately, but the ground was shaking a bit a few weeks ago." Trixie stated.

One could easily think that Everchange is out somewhere, probably messing with the gem on his wrist, but soon after that thought, an ungracious howling was  heard as it echoed from the Everfree Forest, and a timberwolf with a red collar came a running, stopping in front of the pastel colored ponies as it whined, looking scared and uncertain.

The ponies were obviously set aback by the huge unruly beast, but Fluttershy, being great with animals, is able to tell that this Timberwolf is tame, somehow.

"I don't know how Everchange did it, but he tamed a Timberwolf, and made it his pet... I can see the timidness in its eyes, it isn't angry or feral... it's just worried, worried for its owner." Fluttershy said. The Timberwolf barked and fished out a small golden piece, showing the sign for the Council of Artemis on it.

"Darlings, wasn't that the same emblem she was trying to look for a few nights ago?" Rarity asked, pointing to the similar emblem on another golden piece, both of them being the same.

"They both came with black ribbons on their scrolls. One of them was addressed to Everchange, the night during the Ursa Minor attack. They must've got him! But that doesn't explain why Twilight was trying to figure out who they were." Spike chimed in.

Everypony was getting worried, scared for Twilight and what they could want with her... but why go after Everchange? for the gem? "We gotta find them, bring this to the attention of whoever's willing to take a stand." Applejack stated. The other elements, Spike and the timberwolf all seemed to agree in some way, while Trixie slowly backed away, until she was suddenly nudged back into their view.

"You want me to help? What cruel joke do you dare to play on The Great and Powerful Trrrrixie?" Trixie asks grandiosely. The other elements looked at her, obviously not wanting her to waste time with theatrics.

"He's your friend too, ain't he? He spoke mighty high of you when the Ursa Minor incident came back into full swing." Applejack inquired. Trixie looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"D-Do not make Trixie laugh, Trixie has no friends." Trixie stated. The other elements smiled, knowing that Trixie's bravado slipped for a second, if not more to show whatever had happened that night with the Ursa Minor, Trixie felt needed, she felt accepted, even if she can be a bit of a Theatric or an eccentric magician.

Trixie groaned as she shook the blush off of her face. "Where would you even suggest we start. Her boring Library?" Trixie joked.

The other elements thought that was the best place to look for a connection of sorts, as it was the last place Twilight was seen weeks ago before her disappearance, and Trixie grimaced at the idea of going through so much information only to potentially find nothing. Everchange's campsite came to mind, and there might've been a clue there too.

"Let's split up and look for connections, we'll be able to cover more ground that way. Rainbow, Rarity, Spike and Fluttershy will go back to Twilight's treehouse, find something that looks like it could've warranted a type of fillynapping. Trixie, Pinkie, The timberwolf and I will go to Everchange's campsite, try to find a clue or two about where he up and went to." Applejack stated.

Everyone got the gist and they each split off into their groups, trying to make some progress and headway into finding the missing ponies.




Meanwhile...

Everchange slowly wakes up, feeling a massive headache immediately. He groaned as he rubbed his head, only to notice that he was in cuffs and chains. Everchange slowly got up and peered into the next cell, to see Twilight still sleeping. Everchange looked outside of his cell, unable to distinguish where exactly he is.

"What in the name of Tartarus and lower is this place?" Everchange asked himself. He heard somepony coming back, and he quickly got back into position, pretending to sleep as he could see with one eye just barely opened up enough to see what might be transpiring. Three robed unicorns trotted into the room, and seemingly had several types of instruments. What were they planning to do to them?

"Are we properly prepared? The Chancellor doesn't approve of tardiness or going astray from his plans." A stallion said.

"Ugh, you are a fool to assume we aren't prepared. When we get our hands on that gem, and extract the alicorn magic from The Princess of a dead social concept, tardiness and going astray will be the least of our boss's concerns." A mare responded.

"Still, we should be careful. If such a magical gem can exist, what do you think will happen when it comes into contact with a creature of no origins?" another stallion asked, worriedly.

"Well, not like it matters. The briefing starts now, and the main event begins in 7 hours. So let's not keep the Chancellor waiting." The first stallion said.

The three Unicorns trotted out of the room, one of them didn't notice that a ring of keys was dropped at the 'sleeping' stallion's cell door. As the door slammed shut and locked, Everchange got up, and immediately tried to process everything that had occurred.

Everchange grabbed the keys and unlocked the cell door, trotting to the exit till he remembered that Twilight was still here. Everchange trotted over and unlocked the cell, waking Twilight up as she suddenly started to panic.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!!" Twilight exclaimed. Everchange groaned and covered Twilight's muzzle as she screamed into the stallion's hooves. She attempted to use her magic, but nothing happened.

Everchange uncovered her muzzle and backed away a bit. "Are you quite done, you royal pain?" Everchange asked, slightly irritated. Twilight was starting to hyperventilate till Everchange up and smacked her over the head.

"Snap out of it, your studiousness, we have to get outta here, now!" Everchange stated, trotting to the door as he unlocked it.

"Wait, what's going on, and where are we? Why isn't my magic working?" Twilight asked.

Everchange looked back at Twilight. "I overheard that we're gonna be used for a master plan and then discarded like garbage. If you wanna keep wasting time, go ahead, I can leave without you, you know. Where we are, I have no clue. Why your magic ain't working, that I also can't explain, but I do know if we are gonna get outta here, we... *shudders* we'll have to work together, and I know how much we don't like each other." Everchange explained.

Twilight looked skeptically at Everchange. "How do I know you didn't just set this up?" Twilight asked, suspicious of the entire thing.

Everchange looked back at Twilight like she just said 'Praise the Trees and smother the Young!' "I'm a stallion with very little friends, shapeshifting capabilities, and I live alone in the Everfree Forest. Oh yeah, I totally came up with all of this. Aren't you supposed to be Celestia's smartest and most prized student, or does your academic prowess shut down in times of crisis and make you dumber than the dirt we earth ponies grow our crops in?" Everchange sarcastically remarked.

"Well I'm willing to bet your gem doesn't work if my magic can't. It seems like something's stopping the magical influx." Twilight stated. The sound of hooves trotting were coming their way, and Everchange had to act fast.

Everchange tapped on the gem and the icons were present, definitely showing that whatever this gem was, it wasn't magic, or not entirely. So few of the stallion's forms were present, but he had an eye on one of them in particular, a rocky mound-like icon was present in the ethereal green mist, and knew it was now or never when it came down to fight or flight. Everchange slammed on the gem, and almost immediately, he was replaced by a type of strange golem.

The golem itself was some sort of triped-like creature, a lifeform with three legs, each one made of some type of stone. The body was robust, but slim, it had two green emeralds in place of its eyes, and a jagged set of crystal teeth. The gem was embedded into the chest of the monster.

"Oh boy... what is this thing supposed to do?!" Twilight whispered frantically. The Golem grunted, tearing off a piece of its body as he rolled it in the direction of the trotting. Whoever was on their way back to the cells, they were distracted by the literal rolling stone.

The golem motioned to the Alicorn to be quiet while it moved slowly, trying to be quiet and unseen while Twilight kept trying to squeeze past the rocky goliath, but to no avail. The two slipped into a small archive storage room, filled to the brim with cabinets and books and scrolls, each one with the emblem of the Council of Artemis.

Twilight was in awe, these ponies were definitely the organized types, but how can they do all of this on their own? Who or what was backing them up?

"There's so much here. I have to take a couple of these books back with me, I have to get this information to the princesses." Twilight stated, looking over the various tomes and scrolls, picking specific books ass she went on.

The Golem just grunted, and turned over to see a scroll in a glass case. The Golem used its claws to remove the glass and read the scroll.



'Operation: Nightmare Night Solstice'

Step 1. Incapacitate the princesses and the Shapeshifting Stallion

Step 2. Eradicate and Destroy Nightmare Moon.

Step 3. Eradicate all equestrian life on the planet.

Step 4. Step in as Equestria's new ruler, Lord Chancellor Neighsay.

Step 5/Final Step. Destroy the Elements of Harmony.



The Golem growled, catching the attention of the Alicorn, who had already stuffed saddle bags full of books, scrolls and tomes. The golem stuffed the scroll into one of its crevices as it followed Twilight. During the stealthy trek through the empty halls, the Alicorn and the golem behold an eerie sight, a closed door with glowing lights emitting from its cracks, and low rhythmic chanting.

The two looked at each other and peered inside, seeing one robed unicorn stallion, chanting over a small pit of sapphire blue flames, reciting a type of incantation of sorts.

"Exitio fit, et non est victor, non est MANNULUS vitae perierunt! Tisztítsa meg a nem hívőket, irt ki az istenek, elpusztítja az alikört, és küldje el őket! I call upon you ancient spirits of the wicked past, show me the light the darkness shall cast!" The stallion chanted. The fires seemed to rise, and with every linguistic chant, The Golem began to stir.

The door was closed as the Golem went on, Twilight understood what the stallion was speaking, but it was terrifying to even think about it in the moment. She followed after the Golem, who then led her into a small closet. A humming sound came from the gem, as well as a flashing red light. The red light soon filled the small space as the Golem was turned back into Everchange once more.

"Uggh... this accursed gem is going to be a real blight on me. I couldn't speak as that... as that thing." Everchange stated, dusting himself off as the scroll fell from his pocket.

Twilight looks down and picks the scroll up, "Huh, I must've dropped one. Now's as good of a time to read it." Twilight stated. Twilight began unrolling the scroll, until the sound of trampling hooves echoed through the tunnels. Everchange pushed one of the shelves over to block the door as Twilight quietly read the scroll.

"Curse the heavens and damn the fires of Tartarus..." Everchange muttered.



As Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike looked through pretty much everything Twilight had in the treehouse, even having to move Owlowiscious's perch out of the way as they looked through the scrolls and notes, they just kept finding empty threats and basic notes on that same emblem.

"We've been at this for hours, and Twilight didn't even bother to come up with a couple theories on these guys?" Rainbow Dash wondered skeptically. Spike was rummaging through scrolls frantically, and remembered that he kept the scroll those Artemis ponies sent after the Ursa Minor attack weeks ago. He fished around under his mattress, retrieving the scroll as he brought it to the ponies.

"This might have some answers if the ones addressed for Twilight didn't have anything. They seem really intent on giving Everchange trouble." Spike stated, handing the scroll over. Rarity unrolled it as the three ponies read every word carefully. As they did, the four didn't notice the two robed stallions standing in the doorway with potions in their hooves.



As Applejack, Trixie, the Timberwolf, and Pinkie brave their way through the Everfree Forest, they finally get to Everchange's campsite, where several rocks and pebbles are laid in a massive formation with a miniature campsite on the side. "Honestly, it's disappointing that he hasn't used his abilities to make building a home so much easier. I know with that much power, Trixie could easily make a mansion with every resource in this troublesome forest without an issue." Trixie stated confidently.

AJ and the timberwolf rolled their eyes as the four looked around. Pinkie was looking outward into the thick of the woods while AJ and Trixie checked the campsite. The timberwolf sniffed the air and then the ground, seemingly trying to find something that had a similar scent to it's owner.

The search was but a mere few minutes long, but they turned the entirety of the site on its head and inside out, finding nothing. "Well, it's settled, we aren't gonna be able to find anything here. Where do we look now?" Pinkie asked. The timberwolf continued to sniff, sniffing around at the edges of the tent, like it's picking up on something. It barked at the ponies and nudged at the tent.

"Am I even awake right now, if a timberwolf is trying to help us?" Applejack asked the other two ponies.

Pinkie gladly bounced on over to the tent as she lifted it up a bit, seeing a slightly mushed scroll on the ground. "I found a scroll!" Pinkie stated as she grabbed it. The three ponies got together as they read the scroll. They hear the timberwolf growling as robed ponies trot towards them, unicorn horns prepared to fire magical blasts as the timberwolf lifted the ponies onto its head, roaring as it started to run back down the path, heading for Ponyville.



As Everchange tries to keep the door closed and barricaded, Twilight is just distraught. These ponies had plans to destroy whatever these elements were, and destroy Celestia. What was she to do, ponies weren't prepared for any of this... and how did Everchange fit into all of this? She looked back at the stallion, who was using every ounce of strength he had to keep the door barricaded.

He was seemingly somewhat successful as the trampling stopped and was just a faint echo. Everchange grunted and fell over, panting as the door creaked open, not a pony in sight, but the tracks in the dirt led back to where they came from, and where they went.

"Okay, I think we're safe. Great whickering stallions, that was the worst I've ever felt in a long time." Everchange stated as he stretched out his legs and cracked his neck. Twilight stretched her wings out and stopped Everchange in his tracks.

"Yeah, we're safe for now... and right now, I want to ask you a few questions." Twilight stated, fishing a quill, a bottle of ink and a blank piece of paper from her saddle bag.

Everchange's eye twitched in irritation as Twilight wanted to ask him questions, in the midst of some cult society's location. "Twilight, here's a question for you. Do you know where in Tartarus we are? In a cult society. Do you know how much danger we are both in?! I don't think you do, because you are too focused on me to realize that I have my own issues to deal with when you want to pester me with questions. Can we just focus on getting out of here before any of them see us or hear that we're out here?" Everchange stated, getting up in Twilight's face as his irritation rose.

Everchange kept walking, Twilight walked beside him as he tried to ignore her. "Why can't I just ask you some basic questions? We could both benefit to learn from one another. I may not like you, but I've never transformed into anything, other than a breezie, how can you do any of this without a form of magic, if what you're doing is even considered magic. Why doesn't this place block out your powers, how come I have to depend on you when you couldn't care less about the good I've done for Ponyville!" Twilight stated, getting angry herself.

Everchange glared at Twilight, a fiery rage burned in his eyes. Enough was enough, and he was not going to be berated about this any longer.

"Maybe if you weren't so annoying and full of yourself you'd make a proper ruler one day, but I do not take kindly to anypony telling me that I don't care about the good done for Ponyville. I care with my heart and soul, you prissy little alicorn burden! Why can't you just leave me alone or show me a form of respect. I didn't get yelled at by my auntie for nothing because she and I haven't been able to see eye to eye for a thousand years, and she's the sole reason why I haven't seen or heard from my mother because she's on the frickin' moon!!!" Everchange aggressively exclaimed, his voice booming and echoing through the halls and tunnels. Twilight recognized the pressure, the vocal strain in the stallion's voice.

'The Royal Canterlot voice... but how? He's been around for a thousand years?... but how? He... H-He's not even an alicorn... Who could be his aunt... and the mare in the moon is his mother?... There is so much I don't know...' Twilight's thoughts raced, she processed every bit of information, and nothing seemed to make any proper sense. If one of the princesses had an heir, why isn't he being taught or trained to rule? Why is he not seeing eye to eye with the princesses in the first place?

"Hey! You two! Stop right there!" A gruff voice rang out. The ponies turned to see one robed unicorn, with many other ponies behind them, slowly trotting towards them.

"Damn it, Run you alicorn mess!! And Do not stop running!!" Everchange stated, shoving Twilight ahead of him as he stood his ground against the multitude of Unicorns.

Twilight looked back, and could tell that Everchange was serious. "No, I'm not leaving without you! Let's escape together, and let's start over on the right hoof!" Twilight exclaimed. The unicorns ready their magic, and Everchange stands strong.

"Learn to take no for an answer, Sparkle! Go!! I've got this! I don't have to rely on some stupid gem to stand a chance, I'm not completely helpless because I'm an Earth Pony! Now kindly listen one more time, Get your flank out of here and don't come back, I'll find my own way out!! I can't believe I'm saying this, even after a thousand years, but get Celestia!" Everchange stated, bucking the Alicorn through the door way as he closed it, blocking the way with a mound of dirt and rubble.

Everchange looked back at the robed Unicorns, who were still adamant on taking the stallion by force. Everchange smirked and tore a solid root from the wall, maneuvering it like a spear, causing a couple of the unicorns to back up a bit. "Come on, you magic misers of misery! You can't keep a rebellious Ex-Prince down for long, I'm not trapped in the corner with you, you're trapped in the corner with me! HAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!" Everchange exclaimed, trotting forward as the unicorns started to charge at the stallion.



Back in Ponyville, Spike is riding on the back of Fluttershy, and Rarity is being carried by Rainbow Dash as the four flee from a group of Robed Unicorns, firing magic blasts from their horns trying to shoot the pegasi down. Meanwhile, Applejack, Pinkie and Trixie are yelling as they ride on the back of a roaring timberwolf as more robed unicorns follow behind, blasting away at the elements. The two groups soon then found themselves running together through Ponyville, nearly a hundred unicorns were chasing after the ponies, the dragon and the timberwolf.

"This got incredibly out of hand, Dahlings! What're we supposed to do?!" Rarity exclaimed, panicking as she climbed up onto the timberwolf, shaking. Rainbow Dash, Spike and Fluttershy landed on the timberwolf as it kept on running. The citizens of Ponyville trotted and leaped out of the way, the timberwolf howled as it started to make its way out of the village, causing a real bumpy ride for the ponies onboard.

"WEE!!! This is so fun!!! This is better than any rollercoaster ever made!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily, smiling and cheering as the Timberwolf constantly stayed on the run, the unicorns following behind.

Applejack looked around and saw the Whitetail Woods in the distance, and managed to get to the supposed ear of the timberwolf. "Hey!! Get to the whitetail woods, we can lose them there! I have an idea!!" Applejack exclaimed, ducking her head to avoid magical blasts. Rarity and Trixie blasted at the unicorns, who managed to somehow redirect the blasts and fling them right back, causing the mares to duck for cover.

The timberwolf barked and changed course, trampling a couple stray and not careful Unicorns under its tough wooden paws as the ponies and spike made their getaway. The Unicorns continued to follow, dead set on cornering these ponies and enacting some sort of evil plan.

Applejack turned towards Trixie and made her way to her, trying not to fall off the timberwolf. "Trixie, tell me, do you still have any of them fancy smoke bombs left?" Applejack asked. The Timberwolf continued to make some crazy turns and leaps, avoiding innocent ponies who were then bumped aside by the hooded and robed unicorns, who were starting to close the gap between the ponies and them.

Trixie fished around in her magician's hat, and pulled out a hoof full of smoke bombs. The Timberwolf stopped, now facing a huge rocky wall that would be impossible to traverse. The wooden canine turned around, as did  the ponies, seeing that nearly a hundred or so unicorns were surrounding them. They all charged up their magic, ready to strike, until one of them, a more robust and physically capable unicorn stallion stepped up, signaling for his allies to hold their fire.

"Ponies, filthy dragon, makeshift beast. Due to your connections to the Princess of Friendship and the Shapeshifting stallion we've been after for some time now, you have been surrounded by the Council of Artemis. We'd simply ask you to hand over anything you have on you that shows we were ever here... but due to your deeper connections with the Alicorn and the 'Stallion', you are to be... uprooted. Taken out of the picture... permanently." The Stallion went on. Trixie put on a straight face, and winked at Applejack, signaling that she was ready. Applejack winked back and kept her focus on the Unicorn.

"The Chancellor cannot have the elements around, or be found, so to ensure that any unruly sorts are removed from the Council's plans, all non-pony life and the lives of the royal families, including anypony who will live long enough to remember what sour fate befell onto them." The Stallion stated, turning to his allies, who stood at attention.

"My Brothers and Sisters!! Operation Nightmare Night Solstice is at hand earlier than we had hoped, but now, we must wait tomorrow night, and Destroy the moon!! FOR THE CHANCELLOR!!!" The stallion exclaimed. The Unicorns yelled in agreement, and Applejack saw the moment come.

"NOW, TRIXIE!!!" Applejack exclaimed.

"And goodnight, Council of Artemis, You've been a wonderful group of fools!!" Trixie stated, throwing all of her smoke bombs down to the ground, enveloping the ponies in smoke as magical blasts were sent careening everywhere. As the smoke cleared, the unicorns saw that the timberwolf, the dragon, and those ponies were suddenly gone, nothing remained.



The stallion yelled out in a rage, echoing out to a far away hill top, where the group had magically been teleported to, with the combined effort of Rarity and Trixie.

As the ponies and spike celebrated, the timberwolf suddenly picked up on a real familiar scent, and as the ponies and the dragon re-mounted onto the timberwolf, the timberwolf sped off down the other side of the hill, creeping up to a small abandoned and very ancient brick wall poking out from another hill, looking at one of the other nearby hills in the area, showing two robed unicorns standing guard at what looked like a very detailed back-door.

"Do you think that's where they're keeping Twilight, or Everchange?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"How could it not be, darling? The drab and unfashionable robes and cloaks, the fact they are guarding a gate of sorts, and why this timberwolf seems inclined to go to it, It has to be." Rarity explained, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Then we need to get in there... but how?" Fluttershy asked, obviously not wanting to fight her way through. Applejack looked around and she saw a couple rocks. Applejack grabbed them and threw them to the side they weren't on, leading the unicorns away as the ponies, spike and the timberwolf quietly, but quickly made their way over to the gate, opening it up as they quietly ventured in.

"Alright Everypony, stick together and don't wander off... these ponies are very dangerous, and aren't too kind to non-ponies, so Spike, you and the timberwolf stay close, only split off if you find Twilight." Applejack explained. As the ponies ventured deeper, the doors slammed shut as it glowed a vibrant red aura.

To Be Continued...
> 10. Council of Artemis Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight skidded across the carpet, looking up in disbelief as the door slammed shut. She tried to open the door to the best of her abilities, but it was jammed shut. She banged her hooves on the door, trying to force the door open, but it didn't seem to work. She tried to use her magic, it was the same useless result.

"Everchange!! You have to get out of there!! Everchange!!!" Twilight exclaimed, still trying to open the door back to where it came from, but it's stuck in place. Twilight once again tried to use her magic, but it failed to even conjure a sparkle.

Whatever this place was about, it was selective on who or what had magical reign in this place. Twilight backed away from the door and and just laid on the floor, scared of what might happen to her next if she wasn't careful.

As Twilight gave up and let a couple tears fall to the ground, she looked up, and her teary eyes were filled with fear as something screeched and dropped down onto her, obscuring her vision.



As The ponies and Spike continue through the curving corridor, they look upon the walls, which have pictures of one single unicorn standing up against non-pony 'threats', a swarm of changelings, a flock of griffons, a formation of Dragons. It seems like whoever this was, really faced off against some real troubling monsters. Trixie eyed the walls, moaning in an uncomfortable way as she just felt like something was watching her every move.

"Does anypony else feel like there's something watching us? Trixie can't be the only one who thinks this." Trixie asked, worry and panic masking her face as she caught up with the other ponies. The others did notice the sudden feeling, but they felt like it couldnt've been important enough for acknowledgement.

"Ahm sure there's nothing to worry about. We just gotta find Twilight and Everchange, and then we'll be fine." Applejack stated, her brow furrowing as she held back the lump in her throat.

"oohhhh..... I-It's so c-cold in here.. d-does anyone have a b-b-blanket?" Fluttershy shivered. Everypony could feel the air getting colder, it was astonishing to how sudden of a shift this was, it was pretty warm a couple minutes ago, so the sudden chilling air was not something anyone expected. As Applejack fished out a small blanket from one of her saddlebags, the sound of something skittering across the ground attracted the slightly scared attention of the blue unicorn, causing Trixie to let out an 'eep!' and blast a magical bolt towards the skittering sound, only for there to be nothing in sight, and her magic to fail.

"Ok, I'm officially not okay with any of this, my magic won't work!" Trixie worriedly stated. Trixie was in this strange place for a solid couple of minutes or so, and she's already freaked out.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she landed onto the cold floor, trotting along as she stuck with her friends, eyeing the place. "Really, you expect to help our friends when you can't get over the sound of a bug? Talk about great and powerful, but you're anything but that." Rainbow Dash stated, slightly irritated that Trixie is whining this much. Suddenly, there was an echo of something, something screeching, and the sounds of someone yelling in terror.

"Somepony!! Please!!!! Somepony help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the voice echoed, terrified as it screamed out. The ponies knew who that voice belonged to, it was none other than Twilight.

"Hang on, darling! Help is on the way!" Rarity exclaimed. The ponies and Spike trotted forward at great speed. They looked onward at what was going on, and they couldn't believe what they were seeing. They saw a pony-like body, resting on the floor, but it looked nothing like Twilight.

The body of the pony had purple fur and darker purple hair peeking through the strange pale tann-ish yellow skin growing over her, her back hooves had grown two sharp black talons as Twilight's head was getting obscured by some sort of monstrous parasite.

"A-Anypony... Help.. Me!!" Twilight? exclaimed, her voice warping as she struggled against the thing latching onto her. The ponies looked on in horror, not sure of what to do, but Spike was the only one who at least tried something.

"Leave her alone!!" Spike exclaimed, glaring at the ever-growing parasite as he spewed a stream of fire towards it. The moment the fire had made contact, The parasite hissed and wailed, immediately detaching itself from the Alicorn, hissing as it backed itself into a corner, it's small crab like body still smoking from the fires the dragon had expelled onto it.

It jumped forward, trying to latch onto Spike, until there was a sudden slam of something connecting to the creature, sending it back against the wall, burying it in a pile of rocks and dirt as the room suddenly shifted. Spike looked above and saw Rainbow Dash kick that thing to the wall, and everypony shifted their attention to the unconscious Twilight.

"T...T-Twilight?" Spike spoke out, shaking his unconscious caretaker. The Alicorn groaned as she shifted, slightly shivering.

"What the heck was that thing?! That was not something you can find anywhere in Equestria! This place is cold as heck, I might've actually killed something I didn't understand, but then again it was getting its slimy tentacles on Twilight... Aaarrgh!!! Nothing about today makes any sense, what in Celestia's name is going on here and why are there ponies after us?! What do they even want with Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, obviously overwhelmed by everything that just happened so far.

The ponies looked down at Twilight, obviously unsure on how able she might not be at the moment. Applejack looked around and tried so find some meaning behind why it was so cold, while the other ponies tried to tear the door open by force.

Applejack felt the walls, they were colder than a piece of metal encased in ice, but they also slightly vibrated onto her hoof, slightly surprising the farm mare as she continued to look around. Fluttershy and Rarity noticed this as Applejack continued to look around, trying to find out where either Everchange could be, or wherever that strange squid creature came from if it got to Twilight before the ponies did, or just to remember where they initially came from in case they have to run away.

"I wonder how Everchange is holding up... wherever he is." Trixie muttered, hiding her distress in a scrunched up expression as she tried to continuously pry the door open with the other ponies.

"Don't worry about him so much, Darling. He can take care of himself, there's nothing he can't handle as long as he knows what to do. Besides, he's very capable, I don't think he'll be struggling too much to try and leave this wretched place." Rarity reassured, still pulling onto the door with all her might.



On the other side of the door, Everchange stands over the unconscious and very injured unicorns who had tried, and nearly succeeded in harming the stallion. Everchange stands, slightly worn out, bruised, slightly sore, his new clothes cut and torn from the chaos, and his mane was in a frazzled mess, making it a bit more wild and unkept than it already was before.

"Mental Note... *huff* visiting my auntie? *huff* NEVER. AGAIN. *puff* Sweet mother of Anarchy, why do I feel like that Draconequus would've been easier to fight than a bunch of unicorns!" Everchange groaned. He trotted along back to where he and Twilight originally came from, and looked around carefully, making sure he took them all out before doing anything else.

Everchange saw a corridor, one of the unicorns he had fought was crawling desperately towards it. Everchange kept himself quiet and hidden as he watched the unicorn get onto their hooves and duck into a secret tunnel in the wall.

Everchange, now with his curiosity piqued beyond its limits, carefully trotted through, thankful that there were stairs present, but the fact they were made of some kind of metal just filled the stallion's head with more questions as he wearily trotted carefully through this new section of this unicorn cult's secret sanctum.

The dirt on the walls had gone from a brown to a stone gray with slight tints of blue and green, as well as noticing several strange egg shaped pods scattered about, a sickly pale tan-ish yellow with some form of pink-ish gray guttural pattern with occasional black splotches in a type of pattern. Everchange wearily avoided as many as he could, knowing to be quiet as he suddenly heard a gurgling sound in the distance.

Everchange crept forward and saw something truly bizarre before him.

Around the corner, was a dragon, a big red dragon with yellow scales and yellow eyes as it tried to struggle against restraints, its wings were also restrained as he saw another creature in front of the fire breathing creature. A pony shaped monster with the same strange patterns on those pods, sickly strange pegasus wing sized Moth wings and a singular red eye, it's head was exposing something that looked like a brain as the tail of this creature was that same pink-ish gray color he saw on the pods, but those didn't look like hairs, they looked more like tendrils.

This strange pegasus-imitating creature pulled out a smaller creature that had a bright green translucent ooze on its tendrils and a strange sickly orange sludge oozing from its toothy maw as it gurgled in a dormant manner. The dragon tried to breathe fire, but before it could, the strange pony pushed the strange creature onto the dragon's muzzle as it started to wrap its tendril like limbs around, seemingly trying to suffocate the beast as it struggled, muffled screams for a possible savior to hear echoing as the thing began to envelop the dragon.

Everchange felt horrified and disgusted, but he wasn't going to let anyone succumb to what that thing was doing. Everchange got into view and threw a pebble at the strange equestrian monster, causing it to look in his direction. "Hey, you fowl equestrian abomination!! How about you pick on someone of your own kind! AAAAHHHHHH!!!" Everchange exclaimed, trotting forth as he jumped into the air, and slammed his front hooves into the strange pony creature, sending it back against a wall as it screeched out in pain.

Everchange pulled on the monstrous thing, hearing it hiss out in disapproval of the disruption as it quickly left the dragon to try and overwhelm the stallion. Everchange struggled greatly to keep the fowl thing away, and he saw the dragon, shaking off whatever the creature had administered to the being as it suddenly let out a stream of fire in his direction.

Everchange shoved the thing towards the flames as he quickly rolled out of the way, hearing the strange creature squeal, hiss, gurgle and screech incessantly in agony as it was burned to ash. Everchange looked to the dragon, who was a bit weary around the stallion, despite his obvious attempt to help.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! I had that... that uh... thing, on the ropes!" The dragon angrily stated. Everchange's look of appreciation soon turned to a look of irritation and disbelief.

"If it wasn't for me stepping in, that thing would've done something similar to you, which is what I think already did happen to that pegasus over there." Everchange retorted, pointing to the winged equestrian-like squid creature as it screeched, and spewed a huge glob of that sickly orange stuff towards the stallion. Everchange ducked out of the way and bucked the restraints off, though it took a bit longer due to them being metal, and a type of metal he wasn't familiar with.

The red dragon got up and shot a fireball at the monstrous pony, who again recoiled in pain as it flew back against a wall. "So long, you stupid pony, I'm getting out of this crazy place!" The dragon stated, heading in the direction Everchange came from. Everchange was about to let him go until something crossed his mind, making him leap in the dragon's way.

"Wait, there are more of those small creatures back this way, and they might outpower you if you go alone. Besides, what if there are other dragons and ponies and other creatures down here? We can't leave them behind!" Everchange stated. The dragon was about to retort, but he did think that if other dragons were in fact here, they'd need help.

The dragon groaned and turned around. "Fine, but we're not friends. Dragons don't do friends, it's not our thing." The dragon stated. The stallion and the dragon charged deeper into the catacombs of this hidden section, unaware of the escaped unicorn Everchange was initially following making a break for it, only for one of those strange littler creatures to get the jump on the equestrian.



Applejack continued looking around in one of the corridors, stumbling upon more pictures of this one specific unicorn, one picture showing the unicorn fighting off against a tall overlooking bipedal white monster, another showing him bowing to princess Celestia, and other mare in royal garbs.

"Whoever this feller is must be important if he's got connections to the princess... but why is this guy so important to show pictures like this in a creepy and unsettling place like this when it should be up in one of those fancy museums?" Applejack asked herself. She looked on at each picture carefully, feeling like she might've seen something familiar to her, but passes it off as she trots back to the others.

Applejack reaches into one of her saddle bags, and grabs the scroll found under Everchange's tent, the one she hadn't read yet. She looked around and decided to read the scroll before showing the others, hoping that maybe, just maybe, there will be something in it that explains where Everchange could've gone.



Back in the unknown section of the sanctum, the dragon is breathing fire constantly on the pods, burning them to ashes before they form more of those strange one eyed face hugging creatures. Meanwhile, Everchange is looking around every which way for any other signs of life that didn't look like some sort of artificially made eldritch horror with a pony body.

Everchange looked down to the gem, and saw that it was glowing green, and decided now was as good of a time to try out another form. Everchange didn't select a form, but just slammed on the gem, enveloping his body in a bright flash of green light, catching both the dragon and the strange equine monsters' attentions.

The stallion's body became shrouded in a mysterious gray mist as his body began to chill. His hind legs became nothing more than a wispy trail as he morphed into a strange entity. It had a long snout and a very equine-like face, though it was rather terrifying with how dark of a gray color it was. It had a long flowing seafoam green mane as well as the same green colored wisps on its tangible front hooves. It snapped its eyes open, empty lifeless yellow orbs glowed as the creature let out an ethereal and spine chilling neigh as a glowing white gem was shown to be prominent inside of the creature's ribcage, if it had one. The flash of light died down to show that in place of Everchange Spectical, was his Windigo form, Phrosthantom.

The dragon was a bit taken back by the sudden change, but was brought back to reality when the Windigo whinnied and began to circle the strange creatures and what he's calling the 'Crazed Ponies', slowly freezing them in place as they soon started to suddenly and unexplainably turn on one another as they were encased in ice.



Applejack was in a constant state of confusion and slight uncertainty. She read the scroll 4 times, and still couldn't believe what she had read. "Is this why he and Twilight are at odds? Why in tarnation did he... did he really have to go, just like that... it makes no fraction of a whole bit of sense... was this why he's gone? If it was only a visit, why didn't he come back?" Applejack asked herself, subtly trying to put the pieces together.

She almost had a full picture, until one thought came to the farm pony's mind, and she glanced back to the direction of the others, remembering Twilight.

"Does Twilight know anything about this? She is Celestia's student, after all, and they are close, but..." Applejack wondered, contemplating on if she should show the scroll to Twilight and the others, but was trying to figure out what repercussions could come from this choice.

Applejack grabbed the scroll and raced back to the others. "Everypony! There's something important you gotta see!" Applejack called out, her trotting hooves echoing through the corridors.

Twilight is currently resting, and being asked several million questions by Rainbow and Pinkie, obviously still recovering from what that filthy parasite had done to her. Twilight and the others noticed the echoing cries of Applejack, and she came into view, holding a scroll in her teeth as she trotted over to Twilight.

"Twilight, how well are you feeling right now?" Applejack asked. Twilight rubbed her eyes and stretched her legs, even her wings as she slightly yawned and stood upright, still recovering a bit from the parasite's effects.

"I'm fine, Applejack. A bit disoriented, but fine. What's wrong? Did you find something, and how did you guys find me... and why is she here?" Twilight asked, glaring at Trixie for the moment. Trixie took a deep breath and did not retaliate, but she felt a bit insulted.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is here because her friend is missing, and presumably, since one nasty group of ponies wants you and my friend out of the picture, Trixie found herself in the position to ally herself with your friends so we may find them and get back to our semi-normal lives. So kindly enlighten us, princess. Where is Everchange and who are these nasty unicorns trying to kill us?!" Trixie boasted.

If Twilight had no sense of right and wrong, she would've up and smacked Trixie so hard, she would've left a literal bruise on the unicorn's ego, but she was at least grateful that she was on her side for the time being.

"That, I don't know. I do know that me and Everchange shouldn't be enemies, but his disrespect is what rubs me the wrong way. These unicorns, this 'Council of Artemis', they seem to praise another being, a god-like figure that's put a sick idea in their heads that all life, pony and non-pony, should be wiped out. Everchange is still in there, and he's willingly diving into the jaws of the beast; We have to help him, and get ready for tomorrow night!" Twilight explained sternly.

Twilight saw her friends pulling on the door, and sighed. "That's not going to work, it's blocked from the other side, Everchange gave me a chance to run, even when I tried to help him. Now he's facing something he might not understand all that well. He's smart, but he doesn't know what those things are." Twilight added, pointing to the parasite, weakly gurgling and hissing as it tried to escape the rubble.

"Don't worry, Ah got this monstrous little varmint!" Applejack stated, trotting towards the creature. Twilight panicked as she pulled the earth pony back by her tail, much to her friend's disapproval.

"AJ, no! You can't get close to that thing, that's what it wants. These things are parasites, they find hosts, and warp them into monstrous drones. I know, it almost did that to me!" Twilight warned, still pulling Applejack back.

Applejack stopped in her tracks as she whipped her head back at the Alicorn, angry and irritated as all hell.

"Then what the heck are we supposed to do? We can't get through the door, that varmint could get onto any of us and do Celestia knows what to our heads and make us crazy, Everchange has a lot to explain about who he is and what he's all about, but that would have to wait till after Nightmare Night, and we don't know who or what could be lurkin' around right now, eyein' us while they stay out of sight. A bunch of ponies just up and tried to get us, Twi! We have to get out of 'ere and maybe get the princesses!" Applejack yelled. The mare's patience had snapped like a mighty Oak tree underneath the huge paw of a scaly dragon, and Twilight looked at her friends. They were exhausted, tired, scared, and with the addition of Trixie, aware they were outpowered, outmatched and outnumbered.

Applejack handed Twilight the scroll she read, still looking angry. "Read this on the way, it at least shows why Everchange doesn't like talkin' about family, it explains why he don't like Celestia that much, either. Come on, everypony, we need to take this information to people who can help, and we have to hope that somepony can give us some assistance." Applejack sternly said, racing back to the entrance.

The others followed suite as Twilight kept looking at the scroll, reading every thorough detail and word as she connected several hints that started to stitch a story, a chain of events, that link together.

'Everchange... there's a lot you have to answer for.' Twilight thought to herself as she trotted out of the entryway. Twilight was shocked and very confused to why there was a timberwolf out here, but Applejack said she'd explain it on the way. As the ponies, and Spike, mounted the Timberwolf, Applejack seemed to remember that this thing could track scents, and waved the scroll in front of the timberwolf's muzzle as it sniffed it.

"Come on, now. Go to Canterlot, that's where Everchange went to and didn't come back. If we can get answers about him there, then we'll be a bit closer to solving this Council of Artemis nonsense." Applejack stated. The Timberwolf barked and growled as it started to run, making its way to the train tracks as it ran down the railway, following the tracks that'd lead from Ponyville to Canterlot.

Unbeknownst to the ponies, another threat was on their trail as well, and they weren't going to settle for someone interfering with their plans.

To Be Continued...
> 11. Council of Artemis Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Down in the darkest depths of the sanctum's hidden chambers, the red dragon who had been set free by the shapeshifting pony, ultimately just couldn't make it. The dragon succumbed to a small mass of these strange one eyed tentacle creatures, inevitably succumbing to the same fate as all other ponies did, to be a mindless and aggressive drone, meant to be enslaved. A bit further ahead was a frantic and panicking Everchange, trotting along the metal floor as his black hooves left some noticeable dents in the metal plating, trying to stay ahead of those smaller creatures and the poor ponies, plus the dragon they just added to their ranks, that these creatures stripped control of.

Everchange soon found himself at what seemed like a dead end, a bright pink-ish red wall made out of a thick plasma like substance. Everchange turned to the small horde of these creatures and knew he didn't wish to suffer the same fate, until the wall suddenly opened up, and he fell through. It soon closed up again as the stallion got back up, and he found himself in a small library room, filled with books and stuff pertaining to the Sun and Moon, which immediately raised some red flags in the stallion's mind.

"Oh what fresh embers from the depths of Tartarus have I trampled onto now?" Everchange stated, irritated that he wasn't finding a way out anywhere. Everchange looked at the books on the shelves, and they all seemed to have an order about them in their titles.

" 'Fires of Tartarus, Appendix V?' 'The Study of Equestrian Pros and Cons for acquiring Drones?' 'Equestrian Royal History?' What the buckin' hell is all of this?" Everchange asked aloud, not familiar with any of these textbooks.

Most of them seem to be just tanned leather hide covers with ancient scriptures. 'Some of these books seem to be written in a strange language; It's not Old Ponish, at least I can read that. It's not Aztec or Mayan either, this is just so confusing, and I barely know anything about the creatures chasing after me, so what could I do right now, to make sense of all this?' Everchange thought to himself.

"Bah, none of this makes sense!! Twilight is more of a book learner than me, maybe she'll have an answer... then again... No, No! I am not doing that, I'm not running back to Celestia for help. Not after what she put me through... Not after everything I said to her. I have to find something that can carry these books, I need answers, and if I can't find them at the source, wherever that source is, I'll find them in other ways; Like Twilight, maybe even that Zebra in town.. Zecora, I believe? She could help me as well..." Everchange thought aloud.

Everchange stopped trotting all around the room, and heard something. Somepony was coming, and Everchange had nowhere to hide. Everchange saw something and dove for it, as a massive hole opened up. Everchange was hiding under some sort of desk, and saw two figures come in. One that was a pony, and another that was nothing like he had seen before.

This new creature towered above the pony by three times his size, was a pale white bipedal monster-like species, had blackened claws and talons, It had four red things on its chest, supposedly they looked like eyes. The creature's face had a multitude of red eyes, and a deep purple-ish... face, maybe? as 6 black pointed horns jutted out from the side of its cranium.

The pony was a stallion, standing at near knee length to the towering creature. His coat was white, like the creature, but his eyes were a bright blue, his mane was dark, straightened out and flat, his face was long, bemused and bothered by something. He wore a red robe over a black suit, wearing some type of pendant that has a blue ribbon attached to it.

"I assume everything's going to plan, Equestrian? The shapeshifting pony and this 'Princess of Friendship' have been safely secured, and won't be a problem? We'll begin to move forward with the plan, tonight?" The creature spoke, its voice was low, stifled, but commanding and loud.

The unicorn cleared his throat and looked up at the creature, unwavered by the creature's stature. "I can assure you, Mr. Seedellum I, I, Chancellor Neighsay, have got those two under lock and key. This place cancels out magic, leaving anypony in the vicinity helpless an hopeless to fight back. the Operation will go as planned. The Elements are out of town thanks to my suggestion of ambushing them, whilst the prince and princess are in our custody; The Council of Artemis shall rise again, from the ashes of the forgotten past." Neighsay stated, grinning sinisterly.

The Unicorn and the beast laughed maniacally as Everchange heard every word, and felt like he was truly in trouble... Deep, deep trouble...



Back with the ponies, the timberwolf continued to run down the tracks, the ponies try to catch up on the way, constantly telling each other what's been happening since she suddenly vanished.

"So let me get this straight. Trixie is actually trying to help? And on top of all that, Everchange is a Prince?! How the heck can someone like that be a royal?! He's got no respect for others, that doesn't make any sense! And his abilities, what does that factor in, or that strange creature that tried to take over me, the way Everchange can change form in such a way? There's so much I want to ask, but I don't know where to start and when to stop going on about other possibilities!" Twilight stated, obviously overwhelmed by everything going on.

Trixie snickered at Twilight's freak out, obviously getting a couple glares from Rainbow Dash and Rarity, but Trixie did try to make an effort to help. "So, what do you remember from that vile creature that was um... on you, in such a way? Anything useful that might be worth knowing before we suddenly stroll up to the castle?" Trixie asked, just now realizing this wasn't much of a plan.

Twilight knew this, but she had her reasons, but there was always some inclination in her mind after the parasite was removed from her being, she kept on seeing flashes of an alien language, more of those crazy parasites. Equestrian DNAlien drones, even a few dragons had become drones by what she saw in her head, and at the epicenter of these sudden images, was Everchange, fighting back and trying to stop these creatures from getting out.

"I feel like, this Council of Artemis, it's a front for something else. Something involving the princesses, something about the Elements of Harmony needing to be out of the way for the plan to go underway. I'm wondering if Celestia will know anything about this... something to make this all make sense in some way." Twilight stated, unsure of anything she was saying to her friends, unsure if what she was saying was the complete and honest truth, that strange parasite did a number on her. Spike, who was worried about Twilight, embraced the Alicorn, and in turn, was returned an embrace.

Soon enough, the Timberwolf, stopped in its tracks, howling as it leapt and climbed over the train station, running through the streets of Canterlot at a quick pace as the ponies held on tight. A bunch of ponies jumped out of the way as the timberwolf steadily kept its pace towards the castle.

The two guards, who were still a bit shook up about the aggressive shouting match between Celestia and Everchange, saw the timberwolf, and immediately abandoned their post as the large wooden canine burst through the doors, running straight towards the Throne Room. Twilight had to stop this thing before things got hairy, and she instinctively pulled on a couple loose twigs, causing the wolf to yip and whine, coming to a stop as the ponies and spike got flung through the doors, rolling and landing in front of a surprised, confused, and still woeful Celestia.

"Twilight?! My dearest student! What a wonderful surprise visit... a rather unorthodox way to show up, but I like it nevertheless, it's a nice change of pace... for now." Celestia stated, hiding her hurting emotions as she smiled upon her student. Upon further inspection, Twilight was a bit worse for wear. She looked a bit skinnier, she was a bit pale, exhausted, ragged, dazed, and all around just looks like she nearly lost a fight.

"Your highness, you have to help us! Equestria's in danger!" Applejack exclaimed. Celestia stood up and quickly trotted over to her student, still keeping the farm pony's words in her head.

"What kind of danger? I'm sure if you got this 'Everchange' you met to help you, with his abilities, I'm sure he could be of use, instead of me, who has royal duties to fulfill-"

"Princess Celestia, with all due respect..." Twilight fished the scrolls out, and several of the Council's tomes and books on history and magic. "We know about Everchange and his connection to you. I didn't figure you as someone to split up a family, I really didn't. What happened, Is that why he came here weeks ago, and Who's the Council of Artemis? Why do they want all pony and non-pony life destroyed?" Twilight asked, obviously wanting answers.

Celestia was silent, her calm demeanor had faltered, but her horn glowed a vibrant light blue color, bringing a piece of broken glass or two over to the ponies. The first piece was of Celestia, and some darker alicorn being. the other piece was of Everchange, running with tears and anger in his eyes as a couple guards chased after him.

"It was so long ago, my student, and your knowledge on the mare in the moon has been... a tampered version. I'm sure several of you are familiar with the tale of the mare in the moon?" Celestia asked. Several of the ponies nodded their head, and Celestia sighed. "Well, there's a more personal layer to that story... a layer no one else in Equestria, besides myself and Everchange know of." Celestia sat down, wiping her eyes as she felt tears well up in them.

"To understand how Everchange became who he is now, we have to go back... back before being a princess was all that was expected of us--"

"Wait, us? Who's this 'us' you're referring to?" Trixie asked.

"It all started nearly a thousand and twenty years ago. I ruled as princess, but I did not rule alone. I had my sister, Princess Luna, who shared my royal duties with me, as we were the royal sisters who ruled over the land. For the first 4 years of our rule, everything was perfect, until a certain familiar draconequus started causing chaos. We had used the elements to turn him to stone years later, but you already know that. What you don't know, however, is that we, necessarily me and Luna, weren't the ones to do the deed. To answer that question, we'd have to fast forward a year before our 4 years of ruling." The ponies and spike gathered round, and listened carefully.

"It was a quiet and peaceful day in the summer during our 5th year as rulers. Until we suddenly got word from our guards that there was a situation that required our attention. Naturally, we made it simple to know it is important that we dealt with anything that was important enough to be brought to our attention, but... we weren't prepared to deal with a sudden cloud of pure chaos rolling in. We knew it had to be magic of some sort, but we didn't expect there to be a foal on said cloud." Celestia stated.

The ponies looked at each other and back at Celestia, confused. "Understandably, I was distraught when the cloud was taken care of, but we didn't expect there to be a foal on that cloud. I couldn't get there in time, but Luna managed to save it from crashing to the ground, so no harm had come to it at that moment. When it was figured out that this foal was from some village on the outskirts of Equestria, we didn't know where to start to look for this child's birth family... by this point, it's best if he doesn't know... I don't think he'd be able to take that kind of news right now, or at all." Celestia stated, a pained and guilt-ridden expression on her face.

"Naturally, Luna and I decided to put him in an orphanage here in Canterlot, but of course, there were complications between me and Luna--"

"Oh, I know that complication! Princess Luna was upset that no one appreciated the beautiful night sky that she had prepared and made for everypony, and it's due to her jealousy of your praise, she became this Nightmare Moon person, right?" Twilight asked, smiling. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, knowing Twilight was being an egghead again.

Celestia somberly smiled, but it didn't last. "Unfortunately, that is a lie, my student... The real reason is because Luna was looking into the dreams, or more specifically, the nightmares, of the foal we put into the orphanage; I never saw Luna so distraught in my life in so long. She was distraught immensely before we became royals, but Luna was adamant on doing something. Since nothing ever came back about the foal's village, the foal was officially considered an orphan, and was up for adoption; By the time I was about to ask what Luna had done, she was carrying the foal on her back, saying that she adopted it." Celestia stated, rubbing her eyes.

"Since the foal did not have a name, she named it... Everchange." Celestia stated. The ponies looked on, amazed, and surprised.

"So, Everchange isn't like some sort of taboo secret born from a royal affair? He was adopted by royalty?!" Rarity stated, surprised and exaggerating her surprise naturally, swooning as Pinkie happily caught her.

"That makes a lot of sense to why you referred to him as your nephew, because you technically are his aunt, even if his apple fell from a tree, doesn't mean he came from the royal apple tree, yet somehow he's right there. So what made the royal blood go so bad that things got this heated, What happened next, your highness?" Applejack asked.

Celestia took in a deep breath, and she sighed. "After Everchange was taken in, and dubbed as a 'Prince' by Luna, I had already decided to take on a student so my sister could focus on the foal in peace. The years went by before I even knew, and Everchange was but a Colt, around 5 years old and Luna had decided to send him to a public school in Ponyville. Those years were a bit lost on me, but she acted more like a mother than she usually did as a princess. Our subjects were kind of like our children, we'd look after them, do what we could to keep them safe, but Luna had once told me I didn't understand what made him so special, and I thought it was due to his cutie mark either being something very transparent, or because he had no cutie mark yet. Though I can't say that I didn't enjoy how he would say I was just as important as his 'Mom' was. By the time he reached the age of 8, Everchange just stopped going to public school altogether." Celestia explained, reminiscing on the years back then.

"W-why'd he stop, princess?" Fluttershy asked curiously. Celestia took in another deep breath, and sighed as she shivered.

"Everchange stopped going to public school due to harassment by his peers, and a lack of understanding for the work provided. Luna pulled him out and decided to teach him on her own. I heavily disapproved of this, as I knew he needed to socialize more with ponies his age. Luna and I fought about it for weeks on end, but I finally cracked and let her have her way. Luna did well to teach and educate Everchange, saying she picked it up from me when I taught little ponies how to do magic and cast spells. Naturally, she wanted me to try and help teach Everchange, despite him being an Earth Pony, but what he lacks in natural magical skill and a lack of a horn, he picked up on alchemy, potion brewing, and even decided to document several beasts in Equestria to keep up;" Celestia told. Twilight was very intrigued, it at least explained how Everchange knew how to properly use his transformations... some of them, at least.

"Now, obviously I was impressed. He could be a bit stubborn, and a bit resistant to work with other ponies, but he's been quite the fantastic little genius. It was when Luna found this out that she would help Everchange get his cutie mark in Alchemy, to make potions and formulas that can properly benefit the growth of special plants, grow and increase efficiency in crops. But unfortunately, these attempts came at one side effect. Any and every single one of his formulas wouldn't work. One did work, allowing an apple tree to provide delicious fruits of all kinds, but they tasted like sulfur; He eventually gave up on finding his purpose in Alchemy, but he never stopped trying to improve on his craft, though I think it hurt him personally to know he wasn't getting any closer to finding his calling in life." Celestia stated, looking down to the floor as she contemplated her next few words.

"When Everchange turned 12, he wanted to immediately try studying magical artifacts, seeing if he could find a calling in identifying long forgotten historical artifacts lost to the ages. When he did, this was the time Discord had made himself known, causing chaos and he was unapologetic about every bit of it. Since Luna didn't want Everchange to get caught up in something he didn't understand, she brought him with us when we faced Discord before. We had the elements ready, but it wasn't us who used them to turn him to stone... It was Everchange. He was scared, crying, distraught, and he was just upset, thinking he might've ended the life of someone. It took several hours to get him to calm down and to then sit him down to discuss mortality was an uncomfortably different story, but this didn't deter him from looking into magical artifacts. In fact, he studied the elements for a good sum of the next 5 years. He was able to discern that each element had tied to something that related to the concept of a true friendship. One represented Laughter, and another represented Honesty. There was also Generosity, Kindness and Loyalty. But the last one, was about how friendship is it's own Magic, being known as the Element of Magic. These 6 elements together created the Elements of Harmony." Celestia stated.

"Okay, so that covers why he knows how to use those transformations of his, but how did that happen?!" Rainbow Dash asked, still confused about Everchange's abilities, as everypony else was.

"Well, when Everchange turned 18, I officially made him the royal artifact analyzer, his job was about studying artifacts of any kind, and reporting their powers, abilities, and history to us, the princesses, who will have a documenter on hand to keep track of the information given. Until one day, word had spread about a meteorite crashing near the outskirts of PonyVille. Our royal excavators had excavated most of the raw materials from the crash site, but there were a few strange components that were very prevalent amidst the wreckage. A white diamond shaped crystal and a strange circular component with a thick glass-like frame in the midst of it. The items were brought to Me and Luna, who have been a bit distant and sour as of late, and we immediately had them sent to Everchange's studies, who was immediately on the case of the gem's origins, and the purpose of the strange component falling with it. Two years later, well..." Celestia lost her words for a moment, falling silent as she took in a deep, and shaky breath.

"It was approximately 999 years, 11 months and 30 days ago, during what you all now call Nightmare Night. Me and Luna, we had a falling out. She wasn't mad about ponies not loving or praising or appreciating her night sky... She was mad at me for my poor choice of words. She had become Nightmare Moon, and because I had no other choice, I banished Luna to the moon, and she's been there ever since... Everchange came running to our location, in tears. He said something about the gem that I didn't understand, but he didn't say it again, he... was at a loss for words." Celestia, had a couple tears streaming down her face, as she tried to keep herself composed.

"He claimed that I had been bitter, jealous, envious that because I didn't have my former student anymore, he claimed it had to be because of my envy for a true heir. I think deep down, Everchange knew he wasn't truly related to us, but we were his family, nonetheless... he... h-he claimed that I tore our family apart, and he ran. He ran through the castle, and I was trying to tell the guards to block his way... until Chrysalis showed up for a surprise attack. I don't recall what happened after that, but I was so desperate to try and make things right since then, but I feared the day may come when Luna returns... and that day is tomorrow night." Celesta got up and she wiped her tears away as more started to be shed. The princess silently wept as she tried to hold herself together.

"When he came back to Canterlot for the first time in 999 years, 11 months and 32 days ago, I tried to be warm and understanding of his pain, but the fact that he still feels bitter towards me, he left and declared officially that he didn't want anything to do with me..." Celestia stated, her voice breaking a bit. "It hurt... i-it hurt so much to know I had to banish family once... I-I didn't want to lose someone else... even if I was busy with dignitary issues, and I focused on teaching my student... I loved him all the same, as if he was my nephew." Celestia stated, getting choked up as she wiped away the tears.

The other ponies, like Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie, were very moved by the Princess's side of the story, as they haven't heard much of Everchange's side of the story, just bits and pieces. Trixie was a bit impacted by the story, but she didn't show it much. Applejack felt like she knew how that felt, feeling bitter about how some family members haven't been around due to problems with their family. Rainbow Dash didn't have anything to say, but she did feel a bit uncertain with herself. Twilight wiped a couple tears from her eyes as she comforted spike.

Celestia, after a couple minutes, was able to compose herself, but she was a bit somber, still feeling the wounds of the past be as fresh as they were back in a thousand years. "As... as to answer your question about the Council of Artemis, it was a small religious group back during Canterlot's founding, but due to a sudden change in management, Luna and I sought to quell them, seeing that they were spreading heinous rumors about my sister having an illegitimate foal through an affair. How did you hear of their name, my faithful student? And why mention them now?" Celestia asked, her somber tone becoming more curious.

"Because they had me and Everchange under lock and key for I don't even know how long! Magic doesn't work there, but the gem he has works perfectly fine. I'm not sure as to how, but I don't think his gem has anything to do with any form of magic. If it wasn't for that outlier, I probably wouldn't have been able to escape on my own." Twilight explained. Celestia's curiosity grew into that of worry. She looked back at the shards of stained glass, and the princess, for once, got up, and stood tall as she turned her back to the ponies.

"I'll send a couple guards back with you, and I'll make sure they are properly equipped for the job."

"Uh, beg your pardon, Your Highness, but Twilight's leavin' out one important detail. There's somethin' in that council that no-pony has ever seen before. And I do mean, it's a very nasty varmint. It tried to take over Twilight! Everchange is still back there, but I don't think he'll be able to fight back whatever those things are, not fer long. And we aren't enough, we need some extra help, not a couple guards who might accidentally let those freaky things on their faces so they can come after us!" Applejack stated.

That made Celestia stop in her tracks. She did not turn around, but she was obviously scared, or more or less... furious. "P-Princess Celestia? Is something wrong here?" Twilight asked out, worried that her mentor had grown impatient.

"Guards!! Front and Center!!" Celestia called out sternly. Several Earth ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi came into the Throne Room, standing in front of the Sun Princess as they stood at attention.

"We have a Code DNX. I want you all to gear up, and rally towards the entrance immediately. We do not have much time, Do I make myself Clear?!" Celestia stated, her voice firm and commanding. The guards saluted the Princess and trotted off towards a corridor.

"My student, and her faithful companions, I'm going to be going back to that hovel of a Council. I want you all to come back with me." Celestia firmly, but softly affirmed to the ponies. Twilight, was confused, very confused, she wasn't aware of what was happening, but she looked back to see Celestia being handed some sort of garb. A black body suit with some sort of special white armor and pads. The princess tied her waving hair back as he put a glass helmet on, almost perfectly showing off the determination, and the fight in her eyes.

Rainbow Dash looked on, and started to smile. "Oh Yeah!! Haha! Finally, something's about to be done!! Oh please tell me I can get one of those suits too, that looks so cool!!" Rainbow Dash said, ogling the suit Celestia had put on.

"Princess Celestia, what is going on?!" Twilight exclaimed. Celestia, felt a bit bad for not saying anything sooner, but it was now or never that Celestia revealed another secret to her student.

"My dearest Twilight, an invasion is upon us. An invasion of monsters from beyond the stars... I haven't been entirely honest with you, because I knew you weren't ready to face something like this... no-pony is ever ready to face the Highbreed, not even an alicorn is ever properly prepared to face one, but what matters now, is that you stick close to me, and do not let those things get any closer than they already got, understand?" Celestia stated.

Twilight nodded, but she was still so very lost. Celestia used her magic to teleport her, the ponies, spike, and her specially equipped guards somewhere near the council's hidden sanctum, and were prepared to enact a raid.

The battle for Equestria, and everything before it, was coming.

To Be Continued...
> 12. Council of Artemis Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Everchange saw the two vile individuals leave the room, Everchange immediately gritted his teeth, seeing a couple saddle bags that were empty. He strapped them on and started to fill them to the brim with a couple books and tomes at a time, trying to grab as much as he can carry, and decided to try and brave the trip back through those crazed creatures.

"Ok, Everchange... You're on your own right now, but that's okay. You've toughed it out on your own for several long and treacherous years... but you did it nonetheless, you can beat this. You can win against this... But what to do after all of this? That's something to think about after I get out of here." Everchange muttered to himself. The stallion braced himself and ran back towards the corridor he came from, leaping over the strange creatures as he quickly sprinted down the freezing cold metal halls as the creatures chased right after him.



As Celestia followed above in the air, the ponies, and spike, were riding back to the Council's sanctum on the Timberwolf, yet again. Celestia looks down at her student and her friends, still wondering if they'll be able to face this threat and come out on top. Soon enough, it was very clear that there was something cold in the air. The timberwolf came to a halt, sniffing the air as it started to whine, lowering its head as something came towards it. The ponies scrambled to jump off of the Timberwolf, and out of the way, but that something never came. The thing heading towards the Timberwolf, could not be seen. Celestia stepped forward, as she started to disappear into something as the area looked unchanged. Celestia stuck a hoof out and motioned for the ponies to follow suite, and so they did, trotting forward to see the rest of the tracks, covered in ice and snow, as storm clouds rage above them, as it begins to snow heavily.

"W-Why is it so f-fr-fr-freezing cold out here?! It wasn't like this when we c-c-came through!" Rainbow Dash asked, just as confused as her friends as she shivered in the cold wind. Celestia was unaffected, and trotted forward, using her magic to pull a retractable spear, crackling with a form of electrical energy. Twilight, who was really second guessing most of everything that had occurred, saw Celestia looking ahead, steady and cautious of whatever or whoever could be around.

Almost as if the freezing cold had faded away for a moment, the gurgling and screeching sounds of something was coming forward. There were several shapes of ponies, but by Celestia's will, they looked like monsters. Several of these ponies ranged from several types of ponies, some of them had a jutting black horn, symbolizing them as what were Unicorns. Freaky moth-like wings, symbolizing that they were Pegasi, and the lack of a horn or wings, and a tougher set of back legs were to symbolize Earth Ponies. The creatures themselves all had one thing in common. That strange crazy parasite that almost overwhelmed Twilight, it made them like this. They glared and stared at the ponies, hissing and gurgling as they trotted closer. Soon enough, they screeched as they started to run forward.

Celestia ran forward, her crackling and sparking spear generating energy as she yelled angrily towards these creatures. The ponies looked at each other, and knew they had to help. "For Equestria!!" Twilight exclaimed. Her friends trotted by her side, even Trixie had joined the fray, as they joined Celestia in the fight against these creatures.

Twilight used her magic to blast several of them away, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took the fight to physical levels, bucking and headbutting the creatures as he squelched in pain. Rarity and Trixie helped Twilight by providing more magical firepower as they pushed some of these creatures back. Pinkie has been utilizing her Party Cannon to blast several of these creatures back, incapacitating them as they laid down in the thick blanket of snow. Spike was doing perfectly fine, actually posing a type of threat to the monsters as his fire caused them to back away, causing a rare few to retreat. Fluttershy, who was able to talk to some of the local animals nearby, was able to kindly convince several of the animals to fight the monstrous ponies for her while she hid behind her friends. Celestia was making incredibly quick work of the creatures, kicking them, shocking them, knocking them away, and blasting at them with her magic.

"Princess Celestia, what are these things?! What did they do these poor ponies?" Twilight asked, managing to push them back.

"DNAliens! That thing which tried to overwhelm you, was a Xenocyte. Artificial creatures, made to find hosts and turn them into monstrous drones for the Highbreed. Whatever you do, do not let them overpower you!!" Celestia explained, furiously swatting several DNAlien drones away from her. These creatures kept on coming, but that was the least of their problems.



Everchange ducked and dodged the Xenocytes trying to latch onto him, making sure to buck away any DNAliens coming his way as he escaped the hidden sanctums. Now back into the main part of the sanctum, it was chaos beyond chaos. Several of the Unicorns were struggling to pull Xenocytes off of either themselves or their fellow members, some of them had become DNAliens, and Everchange found himself with a choice. Save as many as he can, or save himself, and let them become drones.

Everchange knew which choice to make, and knew it might be costly, but he went through with it. He saw a Unicorn barely holding on as the Xenocyte latched onto their face, but it was short lived when Everchange grabbed the Xenocyte and chucked it a Unicorn, who had just been converted, knocking it to the ground as the unicorn looked at Everchange. "You... you saved me? Why? We had you and one of the princesses in a cell for weeks." the Unicorn asked. Everchange looked back, obviously not thrilled about that fact, but knew that these creatures were a bigger threat.

"You. Me. Save as many as we can. We leave. Now. Your prince demands it, unless you wish to be marked as a traitor to Equestria." Everchange stated, holding his saddle bags up as he trotted to another Unicorn, pulling the Xenocyte from their face before it began conversion. The unicorn, a pale bright gray unicorn stallion with a short red mane and a bushy black tail trotted forward to help, pulling a Xenocyte off of another Unicorn, growing the numbers of normal ponies more and more as they try to undo the chaos, one pony at a time as they fought off the DNAliens.



Back in PonyVille, the Highbreed known as Seedellum, and the Unicorn, Chancellor Neighsay, have already released several canisters with Xenocytes all over the town, waiting for a town's worth of drones to be at their beckon call. But after around a couple hours, everypony was present, but they weren't drones, the Xenocytes were just swarmed and overpowered by the tenacity of those with magical powers, or were just too used to the physical labor and the occasional magical attack, that the Xenocytes had a real struggle with converting any of the ponies into DNAliens, including the children. Soon enough, DNAlien drones were sent in to find out what had disrupted their plans, but soon, the DNAliens were sent running by a several armed guards, wielding strange ranged weapons as they fired upon the monstrous invaders, sending them back as the citizens of Ponyville cheered, knowing that they were safe... At least, for the moment.

On Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac and Applebloom are swatting and bucking Xenocytes and DNAliens away, keeping them away from the farm as much as they can as Granny Smith just sleeps peacefully in her rocking chair, unaware of the chaos going on. Big Mac quickly slammed his hind legs into one of those Xenocytes, sending it flying through the air, skidding and rolling over into the ground as Big Mac grabbed Applebloom and Granny Smith, tossing them into a wagon as he quickly hauled them away from the farm, their dog, Winona, followed close behind.



Back to the Council's sanctum, several unicorns were trotting fast behind Everchange, as several DNAliens fired blasts of magic in their direction. The unicorns fired back at the drones, who constantly dodged their efforts. The few drones who were apparently earth ponies, spat huge disgusting globs of goo at the escaping ponies. Some of the unicorns got stuck on the way, but a couple unicorns were able to free them before getting Xenocytes to the face. Everchange and the remaining unicorns managed to get out, but they had to barricade the sanctum, to keep the drones and xenocytes from escaping to the rest of Equestria.

"Quickly, my brethren! Scatter!" One Unicorn stated as he ran. Almost immediately, a xenocyte had managed to latch onto them, incapacitating them as it slowly took over the equestrian. "Pitiful equestrian creatures... No tact, no shame, no purpose." A voice rang out. The unicorns and Everchange turned to the voice, and saw Seedellum, along with Neighsay, standing tall above the ponies. Seedellum beheld the sight of Everchange, recognizing the stallion from somewhere, but the black mass of the stallion's cutie mark spoke a volume to the alien, as he turned towards Neighsay.

"Equestrian, is this supposed to be humorous?!" Seedellum hissed, startling the Unicorn stallion. "Humorous? No, we're on the cusp of victory, you extraterrestrial! That's Everchange, the false prince of Canterlot. He's in league with the putrid monsters of the world, claiming you have problems due to your genes." Neighsay spat through this teeth.

"HEY! I don't even know what's going on, okay?! But I recognize you, ya old horned smartflank!" Everchange stated, irritated that they had finally escaped, but only to be cornered again.

"Who are you, equestrian vermin?" Seedellum growled, shifting his multi-eyed gaze to the pale yellow stallion. Everchange stepped forward, glaring at the Highbreed before looking towards Neighsay. "You're Mr. Neighsay, my last tutor before I was educated at home." Everchange stated. Neighsay growled as he looked at the stallion in the eyes, remembering something.

FLASHBACK...
The Castle in Canterlot
A Teen Everchange snuck into a room, and grabbed a couple small machines for potion brewing. Beside him was a younger Neighsay, who was much younger, but still old enough to teach about complex potion recipes. "Alright, your highness, if you want to brew potions, show me a recipe you've concocted before." the Unicorn stated. Everchange remembered that day, and how close it was to a dream he had. Scale of Changeling, Feather of Griffon, Embers from Tartarus, and a strand of hair from an Alicorn. Just like the dream, things went awry... and the last thing he saw before blacking out, was Celestia, and his only mother, trotting towards him.

[End of Flashback...]
Everchange closed his eyes, a tear rolling down his cheek as he groaned and glared at Neighsay. "That could've killed me, you know. Besides, not like that matters now,  you are a threat to our plans, and you are to not be around... when we enact our vengea-" Neighsay was interrupted by a powerful buck to the face, sending him back a good distance. Everchange had slammed his hind hooves into his former tutor, and glared up at the highbreed that stood before him.

"I don't know what in Tartarus's depths you are, but I plan to stomp you out, and I'm gonna make it hurt. COME ON!!" Everchange exclaimed, charging towards the Highbreed. The towering entity hissed and ran towards the stallion, fixating its red eyes on the equestrian as it jumped into the air, preparing to connect its front hooves to the entity's face. Everchange was swatted away as he skidded across the ground, but was still resilient against the beast, charging towards it as he quickly spun himself around, and quickly slammed his hindlegs into Seedellum's right leg, a noticeable and audible, sickening snap echoed as the Highbreed bellowed in pain, grunting as it held out its three fingers, and began to rapid fire some kind of finger quills towards the pony.

Everchange was quick to act, running in a zigzag formation, trying to dodge the quills as much as he could as he slammed his head against Seedellum's, knocking the Highbreed off balance, forcing it to stand on its crippled leg, and then soon, fall to its side. The Highbreed roared out in a rage, trying to stand as Everchange slammed his hooves into the Highbreed's side, obviously bruising the alien well as parts of the Highbreed start to swell and darken in hue. It seemed like the highbreed could not fight anymore. "Give up, monster... I can at least guarantee you won't be killed. Your wounds, they'll be tended to, but you are not to step foot or hoof in Equestria after this is settled." Everchange stated. The highbreed, Seedellum, albeit not willing to surrender, was confused as to why this foolish creature would want to spare him.

"Why... why spare me? I have made most of your kind and some sort of fire breathing reptilian species into mindless drones... I had planned to take over your pitiful kingdom, and then branch out to the rest of your backwater world... why in the name of the stars... are you sparing me?" Seedellum asked, obviously not getting what was happening. A lower lifeform had somehow bested him in combat, and he was for some reason, being spared. He did not know how to properly react to this...

At least, not until a certain unicorn had managed to shove Everchange back, sending the stallion tumbling as he tried to move, only to sprain his front left leg and his back right leg. The unicorn, using his magic to bring Seedellum to his footing, his other leg and foot being lifeless, and very unsalvageable... let alone healable, faced the towering extraterrestrial, who was contemplating a subtle change in plans.

"Honestly, if you had just stopped meddling with our plans, then there wouldn't be much of an issue. Now we have to do this the hard way... Seedellum, don't give in to his pitiful last words, he's a lower lifeform, and we unicorns are the superior race. If you can still move, even if it's just a shake of your torso, we can still be at the cusp of victory. If we can make him a drone, we can send him after the princesses, and watch this chaotic little world fall before our mi-" Neighsay was interrupted by a firm slam to his right side, sending him flying into one of the steep earthy hills, knocking the unicorn unconscious as several xenocytes began to surround the unconscious equestrian. Seedellum, had used full force on the unicorn when he slapped him, and sent him flying into one of the hills, and slowly limped away towards the sanctum of Artemis. The several drones that were trying to bust through, stopped and kneeled before the wounded highbreed.

The highbreed turned his glance towards the unconscious earth stallion, and eyed the gem on his wrist for but a moment, before he raised his black claws to the sky. The several remaining uninfected unicorns noticed a stampede of those drones heading their way from almost nowhere, trotting and flying past the unaffected ponies, as several Xenocytes dragged the slowly waking unicorn stallion back inside the sanctum. Everchange was slowly coming to consciousness, and could barely look at the highbreed as it gazed back.

"Know this, equestrian vermi-... *ahem* Everchange... We are not friends or allies, the highbreed do not need your pity, or your friendship... but I do see potential in you... potential that would be wasted as a mindless drone. Know that we have no qualms with you equestrians, but this Chancellor you're aware of... has a lot to answer for when he comes to. And know this as well... We are not the end of the threats you'll face beyond your backwater planet... we won't fight with you, nor against... Come back when you are competent, and you may serve your world well." Seedellum stated. Chancellor was struggling to get up as several of the drones and xenocytes pulled at the unicorn, who was screaming for help. The unicorns who weren't affected, backed away, and Everchange, had no strength, nor the will to find a way to move, after getting a painful supreme beating. As Neighsay called out one last time, one of the Xenocytes had latched onto his face as he screamed out, and the doors were shut.

The unicorns were arguably glad to not be one of those monsters, but it made little sense to them due to the fact that they went against pony kind, and nearly put several other species in danger because of their dutifulness, and almost becoming drones themselves. They looked back towards Everchange, the stallion who spared them of such a fate, unconscious and unmoving. A couple of them were about to move toward him, and help him up, until a powerful bolt of magic struck the earth in front of them, causing them to back away.

Up in the air, was Twilight and Celestia, and on the ground, were Spike, Rarity, Trixie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, a couple royal guards who joined in to help fight the good fight, and Pinkie Pie, who now had a scar on her face, but doesn't seem to mind it as she still acts like her usual self. "Touch a hair on my nephew's mane. I Dare You." Celestia stated, the glass helmet on her suit was cracked and shattered, but she didn't seem to mind that, only wanting to see Everchange again, only to slightly grimace as his body lay there next to the tracks, beaten, battered, but still breathing and unturned.

The ponies trotted over towards him, and looked down at him. "He's injured, really bad. We need to get him to a hospital... there's one in Ponyville, is there not?" Celestia asked. Twilight nodded as Applejack quickly got Everchange on her back, his unconscious garbled nonsense as his body shook was strange, but a bit funny to the orange farm pony as she quickly trotted off towards Ponyville in a quick strafe. The other ponies followed along, though Celestia lagged a bit behind due to her second guessing how things went down back a few weeks ago.



At the Ponyville Hospital...

Everchange was resting in a bed, hooked up to a bunch of meticulous and special medical equipment as he slowly but surely came to. He had to adjust to the sudden shine of hospital lights as he saw Celestia looking over him, giving a warm, and slightly worried smile, as if she actually cared, but was a bit worried it'd come off as condescending. Everchange assumed it was the former, and slightly scoffed, obviously still hurting from the thousand years he spent hating and despising her.

"Princess Celestia." Everchange said sourly, not even looking at her in the face.

Celestia sighed and and took in a quick breath. "I can accept that, all in good time... *sigh* I wish this didn't have to be this way... you being in a hospital bed, physically aching from the mess I made, and me, having to wear an old uniform I haven't worn since the pony tribes were first brought together... strange how things play out, no?" Celestia stated somberly, letting a slight smile creep up around her face, albeit a sad one. Everchange again scoffed, which just made Celestia feel like she wasn't trying enough.

"If you came here to lecture me about how I ran head first into trouble, then so help me, just banish me to one of the stars already... with how much of a stubborn and asinine fool I've been these past thousand years... I more than deserve it." Everchange stated. Looking to the other side of his bed, away from Celestia.

"No, not at all... you don't deserve to be banished. You freed my student from the clutches of a cult, and you fought against one of those things... the highbreed. How you could stand your ground is beyond me, but maybe you do have a few trust issues to work on, albeit that may be my fault... The doctors informed me that you'll be out of here by tomorrow morning, so you'll be able to celebrate the festivities with me, like we used to..." Celestia stated, wiping her eyes for a moment.

"With you?! Ha! Like I'd ever willingly go back, I spend every Nightmare Night honing my skills, mastering my powers, and I'm lucky that my forms can be seen as costumes, for once a year. Why would I spend Nightmare Night with you, when you said I'd never be anything worthwhile!" Everchange gritted, obviously angry as he winced, trying to stay still as the beeping on the machines got a bit faster. Celestia, walked back over to the bedside, and sat down, and looked at the stallion. she was not angry, not happy, not upset... but she did shed a few tears as she looked down at Everchange.

"Those were the poorest choices of words I ever spoke... I just wish you'd let me in, hear me out and not think of me as the mare who... who had to make the worst decision she's ever made." Celestia said quietly, almost like a hush tone or a whisper. Celestia looked at Everchange, and saw his sour expression change to that of resentment.

"Everchange?" Celestia asked, a bit more vocal. The Stallion silently shifted his gaze to the princess of the sun, and waited for a response. "Promise me that you'll at least write to me about your progress... with the gem, I mean... and I hope you'll reconsider joining me for the festivities, since it does concern your mother... sweet dreams, my dearest nephew..." Celestia stated, walking out of the room as a couple more ponies trotted in. Each one being a friend of Twilight, before Twilight herself stepped in, closing the door behind her, in which Everchange closed his eyes in response.

"Come on, you sleepy head! It may be late, but you can always talk to us! We're your fri-" Pinkie was about to say something, until Everchange cut her off and sat up, obviously feeling a few emotions come to the surface.

"You all came together nearly a month ago to rally against me, I've had my spat with your alicorn friend when we tried to escape a cult of some sort, and I think I'm hemorrhaging in my hind legs... is there a point to this, Pinkie?" Everchange stated, wincing more as he held his left leg. The pink pony backed away, and started to slowly deflate, before reflating to show some concern.

"Easy dahling! You might pull something out of place! We just wanted to tell you that we got some information out of Celestia... and my my, you have a rich history!~" Rarity said, perking up as she smiled. Everchange's eye twitched as he pulled the blanket on his bed over his head.

"Look, pal. We're sorry for-" Rainbow was cut off by Everchange, again.

"For chasing me down, hunting me, then chasing me into the Everfree Forest, sorry for assuming I sent a huge malformed and transmutated Timberwolf on the town, or assuming I had probably done something to your magic friend. Go on ahead, you have options." Everchange stated, the irritation in his face slowly coming out, masking his resentment. Rainbow landed and put her face in her hoof as she thought about how to reword that.

"W-Well... w-we at least thank you for all the good you've done, at least." Fluttershy stated, smiling a bit. Everchange's irriation soon faded as he felt the resentment wash over him again.

"Pardner, you saved Applebloom and her friends lives that night. You saved Snips and Snails' lives from that huge plant monster under the Everfree, and by technicality, you also saved all of Equestria from that monster. You stopped the timberwolf problem, and tamed one of those feisty critters, and it helped us find you. I'd say you did a heck of a lotta good right 'ere." Applejack stated, smiling as he took off her hat. Everchange let a slight smile creep over his face before he shook it off.

"If it weren't for you, The Great and Powerful Trixie would've lost her assistants, and you were willing to try and help me get out of the way of the Ursa Minor's feral attack. You actually inspired Trixie a bit to do some good, because it's the right thing to do... you stood up for me, and defended me when no one else would. Thank you." Trixie stated.

Twilight stepped forward, having let her friends, and Trixie, say their kind words. The alicorn was very conflicted. She just tried to hunt down Celestia's Nephew like a monster. Spike crawled onto the bed and looked Everchange in the eye.

"I don't know a lot about you. When Twilight first bumped into you, I was a bit hesitant, but she was adamant on wanting answers. She can just be a bit forward at times. Is there any chance you'd be willing to start over, maybe as friends?" Spike said, smiling as he held out a hand. Everchange raised his good leg up and shook Spike's hand, another smile forming on his face for a little longer.

Twilight cleared her throat as she looked at the stallion in the bed. She looked uncertain of herself, but so did Everchange. "What is it you wanna ask me... I'll give you one answer to a question you want answered, but after that, I just want a calm and rational conversation... none of this talk about what it is we'll have to do tomorrow night. So go on, ask me anything." Everchange stated. The alicorn was surprised by how forward and accepting the stallion was being, but it gave her a moment to think of one question.

"Is it true? Celestia has said many things about your origins, but is it true?" Twilight asked, a look of concern, contemptment, curiosity and a hint of guilt plastered over her face. Everchange took a deep breath, everypony and Spike looked towards the stallion as it exhaled.

"Yes. It's true... I'm no Canterlot native, but I've lived there for as long as I can remember... and during my thousand years of hiding and forsaking everything I was supposed to be, I don't want to be royalty... I just want my family back... old or the one that got banished." Everchange solemnly confirmed, a stern expression on his face as a tear was shed from one of his eyes. He immediately felt a massive amount of pain in his arm as the ponies came in to embrace him, including Spike too, but instead of fighting it, he sighed and accepted it, letting the warm embrace just be enough for him to get a bit more exhausted.



Back at the Council of Artemis, Chancellor Neighsay has been half-converted into a DNAlien drone, but he's a bit more aggral than before. The DNAlien drones guarding his quarters stand guard as Seedellum, who has made a very advanced technological replacement leg for his broken and severed one, is now sitting on a small throne as a few drones attempted to get something working again.

"One of these days, you equestrian filth... You are going to get everything... that is coming to you... Everchange." Seedellum spoke, silently, but aggressively.
> 13. Friendship is... Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun began to rise, the small flickering spots of light shine right on through the curtains in the window, they shine on an empty hospital bed, with the vital equipment being unhooked or disconnected. Standing up near a mirror was the stallion, who was wobbling, but still standing up as he looked at his reflection. He saw his brand new clothes, torn, slightly worn out, wrinkled, and absolutely stained in sweat, dirt, and that strange orange goo those messed up pony things spat at him. Everchange sighed as he turned around to the front door, seeing that the outside of his room seemed pitch black. Curiosity getting the better of him, he trotted slowly to the door and opened it up, seeing that a black void was present. Everchange wasn't bothered by this, but determined to figure out what this was. The stallion jumped into the void, floating through the inky void aimlessly, until a bright white light presented itself. The stallion basked upon what looked like the moon... and immediately noticed that the mare in the moon was missing. Everchange soon felt fear encroach and embrace him as the moon began to change from a peach hue, to an orange hue, to a fiery color, to a blood red color, shining a sinister blood red light upon the stallion as something juts out at him faster than he can react.. he tries to dodge it, but he can't... his body won't allow him to evade. He closed his eyes tight as be braced himself for a sudden impaling... until-





"HEY! WAKE UP!!" a shrill and excited voice exclaimed. Everchange snapped awake, looking up at Pinkie Pie, who was standing on top of him with a huge grin on her face. Everchange gritted his teeth as his eye twitched.

"Pinkie?" Everchange asked, obviously a bit miffed.

"Yes?" Pinkie asked, smiling from ear to ear as her eyes shimmered. Before she could even comprehend what had happened, Pinkie was launched right out of his door out of her own party cannon. Everchange sighed irritably as the doctor and nurse walked in as the earth stallion immediately started to tear the needles out of him as he started to get out of the bed, until the unicorn nurse magicked him back into bed.

"Hey, what gives?!" Everchange exclaimed, obviously not in the best mood as he's not known to be a morning pony. The doctor brought the stallion's attention to him, who was also feeling a bit snippy.

"Let me paint you a picture, your highness. Your body is extremely tough, just like everypony else's, with the exception of ponies like Bulk Biceps, who can take much more of a beating. You may not be built like a normal stallion, being a bit taller than most others, but by Princess Celestia's orders, you are to be escorted to the castle-"

"Oh like tartarus I'm gonna let that happen, let me go!" Everchange interjected, struggling against the magic that was holding him down. The unicorn nurse looked to the doctor, who was obviously regretting ever coming into work today.

"Your highness, can you calm down? I would assume it's a privilege to be a part of the royal family-"

"Let me go, this instant!!!" Everchange's voice boomed and echoed as the room suddenly shook. The nurse backed away, a bit taken back by the sudden earful from the canterlot voice. She wasted no time letting the stallion free from her magical hold as he stood on his legs. The doctor sighed as he stood in front of the aggressive stallion.

"Please stand down, your highness, we need you to do a few tests before we can give you a clean bill of health and the opportunity to leave the hospital." The doctor said. Everchange groaned as he laid back on the bed. The doctor trotted over and performed a couple standard check ups. Everchange's reflexes were fine, he wasn't feeling anything strange or unsettling within or on his body, he was the same as he was before his sudden abduction.

As the doctor continued to write down stuff, he turned to the nurse and nodded, which instructed the nurse to carry Everchange out of the bed and put him onto his hooves. The stallion groaned as he trotted down the stairs and checked himself out. He slowly made his way out of the hospital, only to see seven bright colored mares and a purple dragon standing out front, looking at him with smiles. Everchange frowned and sighed... this was going to be a long day before something could actually happen.

"Bout time you got outta there, we've been waitin'! I hope Pinkie wasn't too much for ya." Applejack said, smiling. Everchange rolled his eyes slightly as he looked over to the pink pony in question, seeing her pluck bits of drywall and confetti out of her mane with a smile on her face.

"I think the bowels of tartarus would've been a more pleasant wake-up call. Also, why wait on me? Surely you have better things to do, no?" Everchange inquired. The mares laughed as they started to trot away while Everchange begrudgingly follows after them, a slight smile spreading across his face as he does.





As Everchange follows the mares and the dragon, it's almost like pure coincidence that he felt a sense of joy, or pure enjoyment for simple fun. He ended up butting heads with one of the mares, this one being Rainbow Dash, who just shrugged it off and kept having fun, flying through the air. Everchange looked around him, seeing everypony he knows having fun, some are having senseless fun while others trot into town, probably to find Nightmare Night costumes. Everchange never did properly celebrate Nightmare Night due to him using his powers on said night as 'costumes' by technicality, but always wanted to try a real costume... it's just that nothing really suited him.

As the stallion thought on this, he glanced at the green gem on his wrist, seeing it glow a bright blue color this time, which only made him a bit worried. He vividly remembered his dream before his rude awakening. He remembered what was foretold to happen on this night... and he wasn't feeling confident on what might happen if things go bad. Everchange sighed and was about to walk back to his campsite in the Everfree, until he felt a sudden tug on his tail, causing him to turn around and face who or what tugged on him. And to his dismay, it was Applejack, who could see clear as day that he was bothered by something... she could always tell.

"And where in the hay do you think yer goin'?" Applejack asked sternly. She let the stallion's tail go as he sighed and turned around fully to face her.

"Home. I'm going back to my home in the Everfree." Everchange stated, slightly backing away from the farm pony. Applejack stepped closer, trying to close the distance that the stallion was trying to make.

"Like heck you are, you know what's going on tonight! Besides, now is a good time to celebrate with us for once, because we'll be altogether, and when Princess Luna comes back out of the moon, you can talk her down." Applejack stated, pulling the stallion towards the town. The stallion groaned and whined a bit, knowing that this was going to suck in the worst way bucking possible... shopping.





On the surface of the moon, was a huge towering black, silver, navy and Red colored castle. It had small statue ponies, which grunted as they seemed to trot on the lunar surface back and forth, guarding the castle's entrance. Inside the castle were tapestries of different moon phases, and one tapestry hangs above the throne, a red crescent moon, seemingly dripping with a red substance, as a robed alicorn sat in place, giggling and laughing sinisterly as she counted the seconds before her inevitable return.





Back in PonyVille, Applejack and Rarity have already found some really good costumes. Applejack seems to have dressed up as a scarecrow, while Rarity was dressed as nothing, as she was eyeing several other costumes on display to find inspiration to make her own. And as it would seem, Applejack is getting a bit impatient with somepony.

"C'mon out here, now! Ahm sure it ain't that bad!" Applejack stated, hitting her hoof on one of the dressing room doors. There was a few moments of silence present before the door opened up. Everchange stepped out, wearing a costume that he particularly despised. He wore the costume of some stereotype of a prince, adorned in magenta, gold, and violet stripes and a poofy collar that obstructed his view. Applejack could barely believe how dumb he looked, but the stallion knew from the start he looked like an eye attracting trainwreck. he groaned as he pulled the collar off and threw it back into the changing room in a huff.

"This is a hopeless venture, I hope you know that. This costume is just embarrassing, who in their right mind would wear something that makes them look like if a jester, a bard and a fruit bowl came together to conceive this costume?!" Everchange gritted, pulling it off of him and chucking it back into the room as he sighed. Applejack could clearly see this wasn't helping him, until Rarity decided to step in.

"Everchange Darling, if you need a costume tailored for you, you can just ask! It's what I do, after all." Rarity offered, smiling proudly as she glanced over and shuddered at that 'prince' costume. Everchange just looked at the unicorn with confusion and skepticism.

"What's the catch? Do I owe you a favor or is this one of those generous acts of kindness I can't read about in any book?" Everchange asked, obviously not used to being helped or offered help. The unicorn laughed as she magicked the atrocious costume back onto its hangar and hung it back up as the ponies paid for Applejack's costume and went on about their day, heading towards the Boutique.





At the royal castle in Canterlot, Celestia is being measured by a royal tailor for her costume. The tailor, being excited to make a costume for the princess, tries to ask questions.

"Out of all the past Nightmare Nights you've spent holed up in your room, your highness, what's the special occasion this year? I'm rather surprised you asked for a costume, but I didn't think you'd be venturing out tonight, if I can kindly say, Princess Celestia." The tailor asked. Celestia did not say a word, she was just looking at herself in the reflection, only moving when the tailor needed measurements. The tailor soon finished up the measurements and trotted off to her sewing chamber, ready to brainstorm a concept, make it an image, and get ready to weave a costume worthy of royalty.

Whereas Celestia simply walked back to her throne, tending to a few guards who had to update their credentials to say in service. All the while, the ponies in the throne room could not notice that the waking hour of chaos is ending faster than they think.





Everchange, Applejack and Rarity are in the boutique, and obviously there's conflicting ideas. And Everchange is a bit disappointed in both choices.

"I cannot believe you'd let him wear such drag, Applejack! No one should be bundled up like a swaddled filly, Darling!" Rarity stated, a bit offended as she turned her nose up. Applejack groans as she clears her throat.

"And ah can't believe you want to dress him up and put him in some frilly suit! He's gonna see his mother for the first time in a thousand years, and you want him to look like he's goin' to a ding-dang-darn funeral?!" Applejack fired back, her country accent getting more and more present as the two mares start to growl. Everchange looked at the sleek, suave black suit, and thought it was alright, but he would've preferred wearing something like that for a gala, or a wedding. He turned his head to a very stylized punk outfit that's been fitted with overalls and a frankenstein-styled mask.

Everchange face hoofed himself and looked through Rarity's catalogue, combing through the various options as a particular costume caught his eyes. The simple yet complex appearance, the simple use of colors and patterns, and it was something he was rather familiar with during his time in PonyVille. It spoke to him, when a pony wears this, they don't see an atrocity, or a nobody, or a royal. They see a noble stallion, fighting for a just cause... it was when Everchange finally came back to reality, he decided immediately that this would be his costume, bringing the catalogue over to the arguing mares, immediately catching their attention.

As Rarity began taking measurements, and accounting for how Everchange has a preference for Black, Gray, gold, White and/or Green, and on occasion Blue, considering the costume he chose for her to remake, the unicorn immediately got to work, and it's just as the sun begins to set, that Nightmare Night is officially on.





Applejack steps out of the boutique in her scarecrow costume, and Rarity steps out in a costume reminiscent of an angel, fake angel wings, a halo headband that floats above her horn, and a white robe. Behind them, was Everchange. His costume was more reminiscent of a warrior's gi. He had a black top with torn off sleeves, a white elastic belt holding up a pair of Green baggy pants with black sleeve rings on the ends of them. He had a gold headband across his head. At first, he was hesitant, but now he feels like he can take on anything... until suddenly, he looks up at the moon, to see the mare in the moon missing... and turning red.

Everchange shook his head, and tried to forget about the insanity as he followed the mares through town, ready to have fun. Applejack and Rarity were keeping a close eye on the fillies, making sure no one got into any trouble or a fight while Everchange sat back at the apple stand, and felt utterly bored, kinda wishing to do something with more action than just going crazy doing nothing.

"Well, this turned out to be a bust. I'm not gonna stay here all night and wither away till the inevitable frozen death of Equestria... *shudders* At least then, maybe things won't be so bad in death..." The stallion grumbled. While he was fine with being properly introduced into the holiday, he still felt like he needed to do something incredibly important... but didn't know how to go about it.

"Uh, hey sir? Are you the pony who can change shape?" A lighter voice called out. The stallion snapped out of his funk and looked down to a small colt, who was wearing a cyan shirt, and blue jeans, holding a pixelated model of what seemed to be a blue pickaxe. The colt had a pinwheel hat on his head with spiky, but well kept brown hair as he held a plastic bucket in his mouth.

"Oh. Uh... *sigh* yeah, that's me. You must be scared, right? A pony who isn't a changeling that can change form? Sounds almost as worse as Nightmare Moon.." Everchange said, letting a smile form for a second before feeling melancholic. The colt didn't seem to leave him alone though as he just looked up at the stallion, smiling.

"That's actually pretty cool! How many of those creatures can you turn into?" The colt asked quizzically. Everchange wasn't sure what was up with this kid, but decided to play along and entertain him.

"I-.." The Stallion thought about that question. He didn't really know what the limit was to his transformation capacity. For all he knew, he might have to replace one of his transformations for something new. And yet, he just came up with a basic estimate, unsure of if it was true or not.

"Uh... I-I'd say about 10 forms is all I have access to, but I'm quite skilled in a few of them." Everchange replied, smiling nervously. The colt just beamed with joy as they trotted in place, looking up to the stallion. Everchange felt a strange sense of pride within him, something he was used to feeling whenever Celestia was brought up in conversation, but this... this was also mixed with a feeling of joy. Something about how this colt admires his powers made him feel less... excluded.

Everchange smiled a bit more, holding his hoof out for a bro hoof, and as they bumped hooves, the two shared a laugh. "Say, kid. What's your name?" Everchange asked.

"Button Mash, sir." The colt said, smiling. Everchange chuckled as he shook the colt's hoof.

"I'm Everchange, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mash." Everchange introduced, smiling as he felt a bit happier that night.





Out on the streets of Canterlot, Celestia is slowly making her way through the crowd of ponies who've come to get candy or a good scare. Celestia's costume is reminiscent to the bride of Frankenstein, her colorful hair tucked away inside a wig with stick on bolts on the side of her neck and painted on stitches, wearing a ragged white wedding dress to tie the costume together. While Celestia would've loved to be in the castle, she did have a special plan for this Nightmare Night down in Ponyville... on account of the thousand year seal now being gone and the true nightmare is about to begin...

To Be Continued...
> 14. Friendship is... Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon, everything was beginning to come into fruition. From the skies came a familiar face... one born of rage, a lust for power, and good intentions turned rotten. The monster was supposed to be Nightmare Moon, clad in dark blue royal armor with a white crescent moon on the front, and with a coat as black as evil itself and a light blue cosmic mane waving in the night's sky.

While a few things about this Nightmare Moon is the same, there was obviously something else about her that seemed to differ extremely.

This Nightmarish mare was very similar to the original Nightmare Moon, but this was not THE Nightmare Moon... she was something crueler. She was not equipped with blue armor, but armor of a more red color, with a helmet sporting the crescent moon proudly. Her light blue cosmic mane was more of a darker blue or pale or faded violet color. Her hoof guards were a pale white color with black knobs fastened onto them. The chestguard she wore was as red as her helmet.

The blackened Alicorn swoops down onto Canterlot unnoticed, ready to make haste with her takeover.





Down in PonyVille, there was a different and less life threatening situation going about, involving the Shapeshifting stallion, and two fillies arguing over what he should turn into.

"Gryphon!"

"Dragon!"

"GRYPHON!"

"DRAGON!"

The Stallion was watching two fillies argue over what he should become. One said Gryphon, the other said Dragon. One of these fillies as a mare dressed up as a fairy tale princess, where the other filly was a colt dressed up as a timberwolf. The two fillies were arguing about the choice for a good while, three hours had passed already, and Everchange was starting to lose his mind a bit.

"Children, please! How about a compromise? To be sure the choice is fair, why don't you answer three questions I ask. If one of you gets the most right, the victor will choose the form." Everchange stated. The fillies stopped their arguing as they sat on the ground, ready to listen to the stallion. As soon as Everchange had thought of a question, he felt his body being pulled away by a magical force, obviously confusing him.

"Ugh... Ok, I guess this isn't happening, why am I being dragged across the ground?" Everchange asked aloud, looking behind him, going pale in the face at the sight of Twilight, and several royal guards.

"You aren't gonna keep Celestia waiting, are you? You are her only family-"

"Not another word, Twilight. I'm not spending Nightmare Night with the one woman who-"

"Who banished your mother. I get it, but this is the night she comes back. Don't you think maybe you should be there by her side for the festivities, or to appease your mother after a thousand years of being trapped in the moon? Celestia is not the same one you ran from a thousand years ago. She wouldn't have at least visited you during your short hospitalization if she didn't care." Twilight stated. Everchange growled a bit, standing up and looking Twilight directly in her eyes.

"That woman is still the same... it's the hate from my aunt that warped my mother into a monster... and as much as I've been dreading these words... you're right, Twilight. I should appease my mother, at least I'll have one form of family to fall back on, then... but I will never forgive my aunt for what she had done." Everchange stated. Everchange activated the gem on his wrist, and slammed it down, becoming Lionhawk, and immediately taking off towards the direction of Canterlot.

Twilight looked up as she saw him take off, obviously still hurting after so long. The alicorn sighed as she looked around PonyVille, seeing so many faces out tonight and she didn't bother to dress up this time. From up above the alicorn's head, was Rainbow Dash, dressed up as a Shadowbolt, carefully maneuvering a storm cloud every which way she goes, cackling sinisterly as she planned to kick the cloud, letting out thunder and lightning to scare unsuspecting ponies.





As Lionhawk soared through the clouds, he eventually landed down on the ground in an alleyway. The gem on his chest let out a bright red flash of light as Everchange, still in his costume, was back to his normal form. The stallion stepped out from the alleyway, walking around the district as he tried to find his Aunt.

'Bah, this is ridiculous! Why should I have to come to her to deal with her mess... It's not like she bothered to care, Twilight doesn't understand. If she really cared, she would've sent out a search party for me being missing... but I guess a thousand years of grief can really change somepony... I can't believe this... I should just apologize, say my peace, and go back to PonyVille.' Everchange thought to himself as he trotted along, not paying attention. It wasn't long till Everchange unexpectedly bumped into Celestia, but things were still a bit sore between them.

"Nephew.." Celestia stated sheepishly.

"Auntie.." Everchange mumbled, trying to avoid eye contact. There was a moment of silence, besides the background chatter of everypony else. Celestia sighed as she looked down at the stallion.

"L-Listen, I... I- I just.." Everchange was trying to find words to say, but he didn't know exactly what to say. He constantly heard Twilight's words rack around in his head, constantly making him feel like there's nothing he could say to make things better, even if he tried. Celestia watched him think, and could only smile. Everchange constantly tried to find the exact words he wanted to say, until he was pulled into Celestia's chest, feeling her leg wrap around him as she hugged him.

"Everchange, there's so many things I want to tell you... I wanted to tell you my side for the longest time, and I know you want to hear your mother's side of the story too... Come, let's head back to PonyVille. I could use a better change of scenery, and it would be nice to see if you have settled down somewhere. Knowing that you're safe is all I need to know right now that would make me happy." Celestia stated, smiling as she looked down at the stallion, only seeing the young, scared and happy colt Luna brought into the castle 1,015 years ago, looking for affection and care...

Something she knew that she didn't give as much as she should've to the poor colt back then...

As Celestia brushes off the guilty chip on her shoulder for the moment, she takes the stallion onto her back, and begins to fly up, heading back to PonyVille. Meanwhile, a shifty, dark and Guilt-ridden malicious entity has already made their way into the Castle, which has begun to go from a shining marble white, to a stagnant brimstone black, with small protruding gems jutting out from every which way, ranging from a midnight blue, to a crimson red.





When the Princess and Everchange arrive back in PonyVille, making quick haste to return to the ground, the gem on Everchange's wrist is constantly flickering between a blue color, a yellow color and the green color it was so used to sporting. Everchange knew it was doing so, but shrugged it off, wanting to just focus on the festivities. And speaking of festivities, he remembered that Celestia was always the one to make a granduous speech to the local ponies, but he never bothered to stick around and listen to it.

By the stallion's side was the colt from earlier, still dressed up in a cyan shirt and blue pants with a pixelated pickaxe in one of his hooves. He looked up and smiled at the stallion, which promptly made Everchange feel a bit less bothered... either he was feeling literal heart burn or this sudden warm feeling in his chest was like friendship.

"Hey mister, do you think I can change shape like how you can?" Button Mash asked. Everchange looked back at the colt, and couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe when you get a powerful crystal like mine, you will... but who knows how long that'll take? Not that anypony who has looked at me... had any kindness in them to give to me. I try to save their lives, and some of them just keep glaring at me... what did I do to deserve this..." Everchange mumbled, collapsing to his knees as he felt a sharp pain within him, grunting a bit as he tried to push through the pain.

As the ponies listened to Celestia give a speech about how this nightmare night was going to be different, at first, it seemed like a pink light filter was glowing down on every pony in the area, until Everchange looked up, and saw the moon, shining a bright blood red color as the lustrous night sky seemed to darken as red stars danced in the skyward void above. Everchange felt a bit unsettled, but ready to stand his ground as he stood in front of the young colt.

"Button, stay behind me... something is clearly wrong here." Everchange stated firmly, looking at how the Blood Moon shines and glimmers sinisterly in the pale faded pink-ish red night sky. Everchange groaned as he noticed every pony begin to panic. Celestia was not sure what was happening right now, but it seems whatever light the Blood Moon was bathing ponies in, it was doing something strange. Ponies began to get angry, turning on each other as they started to fight one another, not even knowing why. Everchange tried to transform into one of his transformations, but it didn't work. The Gem was still acting extremely off, but he wasn't going to let this happen. He knew there had to be something done about this, but what could he really do?

Everchange looked around, seeing that most of the ponies that were bathed in the blood red moonlight started to shift their attention to the stallion, who began to trot away rapidly, carrying Button Mash on his back as he ran away. The colt looked back as a mob of aggressive and red eyed ponies trotted after them, and he ducked down and held on tight, trying to not look at them as Everchange continued to run. As the ponies continued to slowly catch up to the stallion, a sudden and loud caw echoed through the skies, as the ponies were sent flying back, obviously a bit hurt by whatever collided with them. Everchange and Button looked at the entity, and could barely understand what they were looking at.

Standing tall was a gryphon, A gryphon with a horse's back half, and a gryphon's front. It was huge, undeniably huge, practically bigger than a pony and a Gryphon combined. It's feathers were a Silver color, almost like its feathers were made of metal. It's talons matched it's equestrian half's colors, which was more or less a sleek white color, with a cutie mark resembling a Blue bullet with black stars shimmering around it. The gryphon half of the creature had some golden shine in its hair/cranial feathers. It's beak seemed to resemble a Woodpecker's, but not by much. In place of a pony tail was a gryphon tail, long and slender, with a tuft of red and white curly hairs poofing out at the end of it. The strange gryphon pony thing turned to meet the gaze of the ponies, and seemed to smile, their eyes being obscured by shadows as it flew away. Everchange rubbed his eyes and looked in amazement.

"I'll be darned... A gryphon/pony Hybrid... haven't seen one of those before... at least not intentionally. But, now's not the time for marvels. We need a place to hide... and I think I know just the place." Everchange stated, quickly running in another direction, making sure Button Mash was still holding on.





Back in Canterlot, the pristine white and clean kingdom has been blackened and plunged into darkness and fear. Inside a blackened and burned Brimstone castle, sat the looming pitch black Alicorn, who smirked at the sight of several trembling guards, who were loyal to the end to Celestia. She commanded several of her own guards, gray stallions and mares in dark violet armors with red detailing to escort Celestia's guards to the dungeon. As she did, a sudden thought that wasn't her own had interluded into her mind. An image of a stallion with a faded and pale yellow coat, brown and pink hair, and green eyes came to mind.

'Everchange! My son! My poor baby boy! D-Don't hurt him! Please, this is already enough!' a faint, but audible voice echoed out through the Alicorn's head, and the Alicorn's smirk became more and more twisted and malevolent.

"Well! This is an interesting thought. It would be a shame if he didn't join us, and overthrow that sunny shrew of a sister. Pitch Ink! Flintgraad! Get your sorry flanks in here, your new queen has a job for you!!" The Alicorn exclaimed, her voice echoing throughout the ruined throne room. Two guards in special armor trotted in. One was a Chartreuse stallion with a metal prosthetic hoof, clad in dark gray and blistering red armor with the red crescent moon hooking the armor together as he bowed before the Alicorn, showing off a pair of Bat wings and a Unicorn horn. His cutie mark was a piece of Flint that was shaped into a waxing moon stained with a red substance. 

The other guard by the stallion's side was a dutifully dull gray mare, albeit she looked far tougher and physically capable than the other mare guards Celestia had hired. She had Bat wings, but she had no unicorn horn. Her armor was of the same color and design as the stallion's, but it was made to fit her more due to her smaller stature. Her cutie mark was a busted and worn baseball on a cracking ink jar. The ponies removed their helmets, showing that they had short and well trimmed crewcuts. The stallion's cut was colored out of Blues and faded oranges, while the mare's was colored out of Reds and Purples.

"What is it that you ask of us to do, our mighty Queen... Lunar Blight?" The stallion asked, his voice deep, warped, and thoroughly spine chilling. The Alicorn known as Lunar Blight shivered as she giggled, looking at the two guards with a calm, but incredibly manic expression.

"There's a pony I want out of the way, besides Celestia... find a stallion with a pale yellow coat, green eyes, and brown and pink hair. I want you two, my two almighty elites, to hunt him down and rid him for me. Your queen of darkness and Eternal night DEMANDS IT!" Lunar Blight exclaimed. The two guards nodded their heads, unmoved and unwavered by her booming and intimidating voice. They both took a knee, nodded their heads and put their helmets back on.

"We shall not disappoint, your majesty. The stallion will be rid of faster than you can curse that shrew Celestia all over again. Come along, Flint, we must not disappoint her for once." Pitch Ink stated, flying out of the throne room as the stallion followed close behind. As the two guards left, Lunar Blight's maniacal cackling and laughter could be heard all over Canterlot, as innocent ponies shuddered in fear, hoping that Celestia would be here soon to save them.





Back in PonyVille, there was a nice homely little place up on a hill, leading into the forest. Inside said home was a bunch of animals, ranging from bears, birds, reptiles, and one stubborn little bunny who was tapping his foot on the table he was standing on as Fluttershy closed the blinds to her home, obviously not wanting to see the crazy things going on outside on Nightmare Night. The yellow Pegasus shuddered in fear as she tried to calm down. Only for a sudden flurry of rapid knocks to be heard on her front door.

"W-Who is it?" Fluttershy asked, slowly approaching the door as her fear kept rising.

"Fluttershy!! Open the door, please!! It's too chaotic out here!!" A familiar stallion called out. Fluttershy opened the door as a worn out and exhausted Everchange stumbled inside, collapsing onto the ground as the young colt, Button Mash, was visibly shaking as Everchange laid on the ground, trying to catch his breath. As Fluttershy helped the stallion and the colt up, leading them to the couch, she quickly grabbed a few freshly made cups of cocoa, setting them down in front of the stallions as Fluttershy sat down, feeling curious, calm, and incredibly scared about what was going on tonight.

"It was terrible! The sky got red, and everypony was going crazy! We got chased all over PonyVille for crying out loud! This was too much for one night! I wanna go home!" Button Mash exclaimed, feeling close to tears. Everchange finally caught his breath and took in one more deep breath before looking into Fluttershy's eyes with a concerned, stern, and worried expression.

"Fluttershy... I'm going to regret asking this, but is Discord around right now, preferably within earshot?" Everchange asked the Pegasus. Fluttershy would've answered with something, if it wasn't for a sudden magical POOF! to suddenly occur in the midst of the living room.

Hovering above the ponies and animals was the very lord of chaos himself, Discord. A monster known as a Draconequus. He had a goat-like head resting on a long slender slithering body, with a taloned hand and a more bear or lion hand, a dragon's leg and a cow or bull or minotaur's leg as well. A scaly tail with a white tuft of fur or feathers or hair at the end. Mismatched wings, one belonging to a pegasus, and the other belonging to a dragon. He had one deer or reindeer antler and some other type of creature's horn or antler as well. His very physical body is something strange as a whole, but at least he isn't crazy for petty reasons.

"Thank you for the warm compliment, Narrator. Maybe after this chapter, take a break, you look like you need one." Discord casually stated aloud, the ponies looking at him with confusion.

"Oh, nevermind! They aren't me. Anywho, Fluttershy! Happy Nightmare Night, my friend! And who are these two?" Discord inquired. Everchange groaned as he stood up and looked at the Draconequus with pure contempt and slight irritation in his heart.

"Listen up, Discord! I need your help. I need to get to Canterlot Castle, immediately! I have to try and talk down-"

"Ah-bu-bu-bu-bu-bup! Say no more, I knew it's been a while since I've been in stone, so I'll gladly send you to the castle. Just know if this backfires, I propose you let the original plot take its course, it'll benefit you in the long run if you live. Toodles!" Discord interrupted and explained. With a quick snap of his fingers, Everchange suddenly vanished in a flash of white light. Fluttershy glared at the chaotic god, obviously not approving of such a disrespectful use of his magic.

"Oh come on, now. Don't worry, my dear, he's going to the castle to try and make amends. I know I wouldn't want to be him in that situation. There's not enough positive reinforcement to fix what's wrong with the moody Moon princess as she is now." Discord stated, laughing jovially as Fluttershy tried her best to comfort the colt as the Draconequus laughed and laughed.





In Canterlot, a flash of white light is present as it dies down, revealing Everchange, in his new clothes and not his costume. Everchange quickly ran down the streets of the kingdom, looking for the quickest way to quickly get up to the castle entrance. All the while, two flying guards manage to catch sight of the stallion, and grin evilly as they swoop down, prepared to attack.

As Everchange neared the long and traversable steps, he heard the sound of wings flapping. The stallion turned around and saw two bat pony guards rushing towards him. In an act of either habit or instinct, Everchange slammed on the gem without knowing what form he might take on, and was replaced by his Breezie form, Minifly.

"Errors have been made. Errors have been made!!" Minifly exclaimed, flying in-between the bat ponies as he tried to fly away from the two guards, causing them to crash into each other.

"Get your head in the game, Flint. That's the one we're lookin' for! Though last I checked, I don't remember Earth Ponies having the power to shapeshift, but it must be an evolution thing. We were on the moon for a long while, so be on your guard!" Pitch stated, flying after the breezie. Flintgraad got up, growling as he let out a guttural hissing noise and immediately followed after. Minifly quickly flew through the air, noticing several different guards on point as they corner a couple pegasi trying to leave. Minifly growled and flew straight on towards the guard as he slammed his entire small body against his head, knocking the guard upside the head and distracting the other guards, giving the pegasi time to quickly make an escape.

Minifly got up in the face of the guard and blew a raspberry before quickly flying downwards toward an empty alleyway. As Minifly hid in-between a couple garbage cans, and retreating to the innards of an empty tin can, it would've seemed like this was the end of the chase, until those two guards landed down, smelling the air.

"Smell that? Amongst the garbage?" Flintgraad asked, sniffing the air more as he trotted closer and closer to the Breezie's hiding spot.

"All depends on what it is you're smelling besides garbage and filth, Flint." Pitch stated, gagging a bit at the smell of the garbage around them. Flintgraad smelled the air more, recognizing that something was obviously off.

"I smell a Breezie. He must've come through here, so let's see if we can find him soon. Queen Blight demands that we eradicate this pest as soon as possible." Flintgraad stated, taking off into the air. Pitch Ink could definitely smell Breezie flesh in the air amidst the garbage, but she didn't pay much attention as she took off and followed close behind Flintgraad. Minifly fled from his hiding spot and immediately made his way towards the castle, and his incredibly small size made it easy as pie to sneak past the more menacing lunar guards.

"D'oh... I wonder how the others are doing." Minifly stated quietly, fluttering through the halls.





Back in PonyVille, Celestia had just taken off towards Canterlot, obviously aware of what needed to be done. At Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Trixie had all taken shelter from the crazed ponies with Big Mac, who was using his natural physical strength to batter the ponies back.

"Ok, so Nightmare Night just got 20% more awesome! It's like those Evening of the Trotting Dead films I used to binge watch! Except nopony out there is trying to eat us alive... and this isn't a movie." Rainbow stated, her excitement becoming more and more unenthusiastic as the terror was starting to set in, knowing everypony, who just survived an alien parasite attack, is now being mind controlled or driven mad by the light of a Blood Moon.

"So, Princess Twilight, do you have a plan to stop this or get us out, or is this how we all meet a Not-so-Great-And-Powerful Demise?" Trixie asked, her snark being a bit unsupported by the fear she felt shivering up her spine, and making her hind legs feel like Jello.

Twilight was ignoring Trixie for a good minute, but Trixie had a point. This was something unexplainably crazy, and cheesy horror movies aside, everything was just too much. She ran from her mentor, she didn't think to look for Everchange, who would've posed as a major threat if he was affected in any way with those crazy powers he has. Then, she remembered something. His mother was one of the royal sisters, and since Celestia had a Sun theme, Luna, was the obvious Moon Princess. All that time on the moon, looking down in hate and distain would drive anyone mad. But it's not like she was mad about ponies not admiring her beautiful night sky, she was outraged and banished for wanting the best for her child, and it blew up in both of the royal sisters' faces.

"We need to get to Canterlot, but there are so many ponies out there. I don't even know how we're gonna through them without having to brute force our way through. But before we do get to Canterlot, we need to get Fluttershy, make sure she's okay." Twilight stated aloud. Suddenly, a mare with a vibrant light blue coat and black and white stripes, like that of a zebra's, barged through one of the barricades, growling as it swung its hooves towards the ponies.

"That is if we make it to her cottage before these ponies tear us limb from limb!" Applejack exclaimed, slamming her back hooves into the pony, sending it back a few feet as Big Mac quickly blocked the broken barricaded window with a sturdy cabinet.

"Eeyup!!" Mac uttered, grunting as he held the front door shut as crazed ponies tried to reach in.

"Wait, we can teleport! Twilight you can teleport 6 of us on your own. But with my help and also with Trixie's, if she's willing to try like last time, we can actually escape, and make haste to save PonyVille." Rarity stated. Everypony was debating this, and it could indeed work, but what was the repercussion of something this daring?

"This is the only idea we have? Then fine. I'm willing to estimate that we'll only have two tries at this. One for getting Fluttershy, and the next chance is to get to Canterlo-" Suddenly, before Twilight could finish her sentence, there was the sound of fighting, and magical blasts being fired. All was silent for but a moment, until there was a subtle and gentle knock on the door.

"Twilight? Are you in there? I'm not mad, I just want to tell you that we need to find the elements... Nightmare Moon came back with a vengeance, and I cannot stress how important it is that we immediately head out... Don't worry about your shy friend, I got the whole story from her, and some unnecessary tidbits from Discord. We must act now, my student... Everchange won't last in his current state to fight her." A familiar reagal voice rang out.

To Be Continued...
> 15. Friendship is... Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amidst the blackened and even more shrouded parts of the castle, the tapestries of Celestia's achievements would've been torn off, but instead were magically altered to see a flipside of what truly happened... something fouler... something more sinister and dark was at play. Everchange, who had prematurely transformed back into his normal form, trotted along the castle hallways, feeling a bit of a strong invisible force of pressure slowing his hoofsteps. He continued to walk down the hallway until he came across a tapestry that seemed unchanged. At the top of the tapestry was a shot of Nightmare Moon and Everchange's mother, Luna, seemingly becoming one and the same... but below it is the moon turning red, and Nightmare Moon has become something incredibly different... this Lunar Blight character.

Below that was Celestia, on the verge of death as she was surrounded by Lunar Blight's top guards, and as 6 other ponies that couldn't be recognized tried to fend them off. At the very bottom of the tapestry was Everchange, being enveloped in a warped magical field, and that was all that could be seen. Obviously, Everchange was more or less concerned and worried about his fate... and the fate of everypony else. Could he really not stand a chance? Could this be what Discord was talking about before he snapped him to Canterlot?

Everchange shook his head and gritted his teeth. "No, that won't happen. I'm stronger than that... I'm not some bastard foal with no place in this world... I am somepony who can and will make a difference!!! No more running! This won't be how it ends! Not now!! NOT EVER!!" Everchange yelled, reaching for the door, only for it to suddenly extend and get farther away, making the stallion angry.

"Fine then, this will be a test of my patience... as I seem to be running low on that commodity." Everchange groaned as he trotted forth, chasing after the ever-extending double doors, leading to the throne room. Everchange nearly gets ahold of the doors before they get out of his reach, and it fires him up as he keeps up his attempts to reach the throne room.

Everchange almost gets close to the door, before getting pulled back by Pitch Ink and Flintgraad, who were smirking as they readied themselves for a fight. Everchange cracked his neck and charged at the two elites, slamming into them with full force, roaring out as he fought back.

As Flintgraad suddenly rammed his armored helmet into Everchange's face, Everchange steadily got up, and a small leaky trail of blood trickled down his face as he growled at the two elites, continuing on as he began to overpower them.

Everchange manages to fracture and kick off the horns on the two elite guards, who recoiled in incredible pain as they got sent flying by a powerful buck to their guts. The double doors slowly encroach forward to the stallion as Everchange wipes the blood off his face.

Everchange turns towards the doors and immediately grabs ahold of the rings, and pushes them open, an aggressive, determined, scared and confident look in his eyes as he trots forward, the doors closing on their own as Flint and Pitch Ink look on, not in horror, but with gusto and sinister grins.

"Poor bastard, *cough* he never stood a chance." Pitch Ink said, slowly getting up as she threw Flint over her back and started to limp away. Flintgraad looked back at the double doors for a moment, and sneered at the strange gut feeling he suddenly felt.





Back in PonyVille, Celestia, Trixie, Twilight and her friends have managed to get through PonyVille, Celestia is carrying Trixie and Rarity while Applejack is being carried by Rainbow Dash. Pinkie is casually running alongside the white alicorn, while Twilight and Fluttershy are casually flying a bit higher than the princess, with Spike riding on Fluttershy's back. Below them was the train tracks, and behind them was a horde of mind controlled, aggressive, and extremely persistent ponies, each one trying to lunge or get at the ponies who didn't seem to be affected in the same way by the Blood Moon's lunar rays.

"Twilight, do you have any ideas where we could go? Anywhere where those ponies aren't gonna follow us?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, dodging and weaving out of the way as crazed wonderbolts flew past her. Celestia then manages to blast a huge stream of magical energy towards the mindless mad citizens of Ponyville, dispersing them easily, but they were still trying to get at the ponies.

"Not off the top of my head, but maybe... maybe we can go to Canterlot! I have a feeling that maybe if we go there, we'll find the root of the issue! Celestia, how far are we from there if this is the same railway that the whole issue from a little bit ago occurred on?" Twilight asked Celestia. The Alicorn blasted the ground below her, breaking a huge hole deep enough to stop a few Earth Ponies, but the few Unicorns and Pegasi around were obviously a bit more stubborn than to just give up.

Soon, in a flash of white light, the crazed mindless mad ponies were gone. The ponies stopped, and there were some obvious confused faces until their attention was drawn back in front of them, showing Canterlot in the distance, and a fierce dark magical energy is radiating throughout the land.

"Oh no... My faithful student, we must go! To the Castle, make haste! This cannot be allowed to spread in any way!" Celestia spoke out. Her voice was in obvious distress, but it seemed that a bit of rage was present as well. Twilight didn't want to admit that she felt something off about her mentor, but it seemed like the other elements were a bit apprehensive, until Twilight kept flying towards Canterlot.





Everchange moved carefully through the throne room, seeing that the broken glass is still present from the shouting match he and Celestia had, not like it mattered... he made his choice, and he was going to see it through, to see if he could talk down this evil shell of his mother... but with 1,000 years of no actual communication proving to be the only issue with that plan, Everchange still had hope... No, he had Courage. He trotted forward, only to be wary of the fact that the throne did not have anypony sitting upon it.

"Seems to me like I might not be welcome here, if a royal cannot meet another as an equal... Good thing I'm not royal material. Mother!! Show yourself! I want to talk!" Everchange exclaimed. His voice echoed throughout the room, and he heard the flapping of wings, only to be met by the dark winged monster that was pure evil incarnate.

"Ahaha... What a daring choice to come face me alone, Earth Pony. You know, you remind me of another brave soul from long ago, but that's not important. You want your mommy, don't you? That's why you came all this way, just for some maternal figure you haven't talked to in a millennia?" Lunar Blight stated with a wicked smile, but the venom in her words was just as potent.

"That all depends, are you gonna wise up and hear out my offer?" Everchange asks in response with a furious, but blank expression. The wicked alicorn was not expecting such an answer from the stallion. An offer? an offer of what? What could he have that could be of any real value for her and her goal for a kingdom bathed in an eternal blood night?

"Fine then, mortal. What is it that you have in equal exchange for the new solo ruler of eque-" Everchange soon charged forward and jerked his head upwards as he jumped up, and headbutted the wicked Alicorn, knocking the wicked mare off balance as her guard was down, interrupting her ego boasting as she growled and let her powerful magic swell up and charge. 

"YOU IGNORAMIC LITTLE BASTARD!!! Fine then, I guess I know your offer then. I give you your mommy and the kingdom back, in exchange, you give your life foolishly as you try to take mine! Consider this deal... ACCEPTED!!!" Lunar Blight exclaimed, firing magical beams from her horn. Everchange ran out of the way and ran towards the alicorn, leaping upwards to strike his front hooves down onto her, but she manages to dodge out of the way, and it's obvious this wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped... not that he minded, anyway.

Everchange quickly charged forward, leaping forward as he bit onto her leg, and she yelped and swung the mortal aside, only for a flash of light to envelop the stallion, and in place of it was Tyrani-Taur, his Minotaur form.

"Now ya done it, ya prissy dark winged pony!! Tyrani-Taur is here to put you to the ground!!" The minotaur exclaimed. It ran forward as it lunged towards the Equestrian, only to be blasted back by a stream of dark magic.

Lunar Blight lifted the Minotaur up into the air, only to then be met with a flash of green light, replacing Tyrani-Taur with the miniscule Minifly. The breezie flew effortlessly around the shadowy monarch, covering her face with a type of magical dust that made them recoil in anger, swatting the Breezie to the side, only for the Breezie to be changed into the Draconic Scaleblazer. The battle was getting dangerously risky with the fight taking to the skies, and Everchange knew that deep down, he felt a saddening chill of Deja Vu, as he spewed fire towards the Alicorn, who only used magical barriers to ward off the flames.

In yet another green light, The dragon was replaced by the Malignant Shapeshifting Insect, Expioflage. The changeling hissed and sneered as it spewed a sticky hive resin on the alicorn's wings, sticking them to the side of her body as she landed, firing beams of magical energy at the bug, only for it change shape, becoming a mere look-alike of the mutated Timberwolf Everchange once faced before, albeit darker and with glowing green eyes, roaring as it swatted and stamped on the maddened royal.

The timberwolf vanished, leaving the changeling to transform into the Focus-Eyed Griffon, Lionhawk. The ferocious beast lunged in, and delivered blow after blow, scratch after scratch onto the alicorn, only to be knocked back by a powerful magical force field. In another green light, The Griffon was replaced by the Rude and Crude Diamond Dog, Germani. The canine growled and cracked its knuckles as it barked wildly and charged head-on towards the malignant force, bearing its fangs as it drew nearer.

"You waste my time, shape-changer! Give up, kneel to me, and admit defeat! You cannot win! Why is it that you are so persistent?!" Lunar Blight exclaimed. The diamond dog just wailed on the magical field, only to be met by two hooves slamming into his face, sending him back towards the huge double doors.

"Cos oi don' plan on livin' the rest ah my days unda the stupid monsta whose wearin' my mum's body like a flimsy onesie!!" Germani scowled, transforming again, this time, into the Kindling Kirin, Scoville Hooves. The Kirin gritted its teeth as it felt the pure flaming rage within its body whell up and spew out, crashing into Lunar Blight as she was sent careening backwards, destroying the throne. The Alicorn managed to regain her footing, only for another green flash of light to grab her attention, as the Silent Golem, known as Tectress, just leered at the Alicorn.

Even Lunar Blight was baffled, how many forms did this Stallion have before she would start seeing repeats? She didn't get an immediate answer, until the lumbering golem creature grunted and lunged at the Alicorn, striking her face with one of its claws as it readied itself to land another strike. This fight was going to be extremely hectic, extremely fast.




At the entrance to Canterlot, multiple winged soldiers, donning Lunar Blight's armor flew and ravaged through Canterlot, innocent ponies being forced back into their homes while others are trampled into submission. It was a brutal sight, but it was obvious that this was only going to get worse if something wasn't done.

Several of the guards looked towards Celestia and the Elements, only to sneer and bare their fangs as they lunged forward. The princess caught the guards in her magical grasp and tossed them aside as the Elements, Spike, and Trixie rushed to the right, following the smaller alicorn to the castle.

"Ok, we need a plan before we reach the castle, anypony got one?" Trixie asked, worried as she tried to keep up with the ponies. Several guards that weren't pre-occupied by Celestia swooped down to try and take the elements by force, only to be met by the bright green flames Spike spewed in their direction, warding them off for the moment.

"Trixie's right, darling, we can't just run in there without a plan, we nearly met a grim fate just trying that with those uncouth body-snatchers!" Rarity stated, shuddering at the thought. Several more bat pony guards came swooping down, only to be met by a powerful kick to the face, courtesy of Applejack, and a swift uppercut assist by Rainbow Dash.

"Well, what would you have me do?! If we're gonna stop these crazy bat-ponies, we need to stop the alicorn behind all of this... but something tells me Everchange is already ahead of us on that. We need to put a stop to this, and we need to do it, now! We have the elements, we need to stop Nightmare Moon at any costs." Twilight stated, a feeling of guilt eats away at her psyche, knowing that what she said, by any costs, was going to be a difficult task, and could make a problem for much... much later.




Back with Everchange, he was still in his Tectress form, then changed in a flash of green light, was replaced his Windigo form, Phrosthanthom. The spiritual equine charged towards the Alicorn, who was barely getting by in this fight, blasted the Windigo with a magical beam, only for it to pass right through. Lunar Blight was sent flying into a pillar, but refused to give up to a mere Stallion.

"Just wither away already, you stupid waste of-" Lunar Blight couldn't finish her remark before being hit by a strong gust of wind, her legs and wings being slowly encased in ice. In a flash of light, the Windigo was replaced by Everchange, now in his normal state of being, but was thoroughly exhausted from the fight itself. He looked towards the gem on his wrist, and just pondered everything that happened in the last few minutes.

'Well, that was... rather unexpected, usually there's a time limit to my transformations... did I unlock some form of mastery, a form of real control over this gem's unexplained properties? All questions to be answered at a later date... right now, I need to save my mother.' Everchange thought to himself. He trotted towards the Alicorn, who was still struggling to get out of the ice, only to glare and sneer at the Earth Stallion.

"You think you won, haven't you? I'll get out of here, and when I do, you'll be a distant memory!" Lunar Blight exclaimed angrily. Everchange rolled his eyes, which finally set the Alicorn off over the edge... the last strand of straw, to break the godly malevolent camel's back. This stallion, this shapeshifting stallion, he dared to defy the nightmare that is her very being, The Queen of the Crimson Night, The raiser and lower of the Blood Moon, The Lunar Blight?! Who did this stallion think he was, Celestia?! She figured that arrogance was the only thing he truly learned from her, but this foolish sentiment ends.

'No more Mrs. Nice Mare...' The alicorn thought as her horn glowed a crimson color, sparking and igniting into flames, a drippy, bright yellow flame as the ice immediately melted away. Everchange stood his ground and was about to use the gem's power again, until he felt Lunar Blight's seering white-hot burning horn against his temple, causing him to scream and bellow out in agony, and then everything went dark.



Dreamscape

Everchange found himself sitting up, panicking, until he felt like he was... lighter. Everchange looked around him, and saw the strangest sight he had ever seen in a thousand years. A messed up white, black, dark blue, and crimson red void with a withering dark gray tree being in front of him, and a cloaked mare sitting by the tree, unaware of the stallion's presence. Everchange tried using the gem, only for it to not work, and emit a low beeping sound. The mare by the tree obviously took notice of the sound, and stood up to approach the stallion.

"Ugh, I need to figure out why you do the things you do, for my mother's sake, you accursed waste of dragon food." Everchange groaned as he tried to make the gem work. He stopped when he saw the mare approaching him, and by the name of his aunt, she was tall, almost exactly as tall as his mother.

"Uh, hello, you wouldn't happen to know where the exit to this place is, right?" Everchange asked, unsure as to what he should say. The mare smiled and laid a hoof on the stallion's shoulder.

"Everchange... you haven't changed a bit." The mare said, her voice regal, smooth, and was potent with a ring of familiarity to it. Everchange looked at the mare, her dark blue fur, the life in her eyes, they shimmered like sparkling crystal blue arias, and the white crescent moon holding her robe together was quite the outlier, as Everchange recognized the mare clearly, but had no real idea as to what he could say to her.




In the halls of the castle, the faint echoing of Everchange's brief cries were what the elements, Spike and Trixie were following as a guide. The warped interior of the castle was a mind melting experience for the ponies, and the poor dragon, but things seemed straightforward enough when they got to the throne room, bursting through the doors as they prepare to fight.

"Everchange, we're here!!" Twilight exclaimed. The ponies looked on at what was transpiring, and it was all too terrible of a sight to behold.

Everchange's forehead had a sharp red welt pulsating with a purple aura as his body was unresponsive, his eyes, lacking any sign of life as the Alicorn cackled like a maniac. The gem on his wrist, it was flashing a bright cyan color as Everchange's body just remained still.

"Well well, the elements of Harmony... I will admit, I was planning on having my two elites go after the elements after I dealt with this whelp, but you know how plans can be, they're like morals... they change, and I intend to make sure that shapeshifter joins my ranks, and becomes my right-hand stallion... such power, and he's only an Earth Pony, it's positively perfect. I'll be taking the elements now, if you don't truly mind." Lunar Blight monologued.

"You must be crazier than a bunch of brainless chickens accepting help from a hungry timberwolf if you think we're just gonna hand 'em over." Applejack stated sternly. The Alicorn took in a deep breath, and grinned, her sharp jagged teeth glinting in the Blood Moon's light.

"Oh I was so hoping you'd say that. I've been practicing a certain spell on a few of my guards during my imprisonment, so I'll see if it'll truly be at its best when used on such a fool-hardy specimen. Everchange Spectical of Canterlot, RISE!!!"  Lunar Blight commanded, her voice booming and echoing through the room.

The welt on Everchange's forehead suddenly lessened, only for Everchange's body to convulse and twitch, contorting his body in an unnatural manner as he stood up, and gritted his teeth as he glared at the ponies, the life in his eyes returning, only for his eyes to be emitting a vile crimson red color. Everchange yelled aggressively and charged at the ponies, shifting into Tyrani-Taur as he tried to smash the ponies to pieces, only for them to dodge and try to pacify their former ally.




"Mother... i-is it really you?" Everchange asked, hesitating on his words as he felt tears whell up in his eyes. The mare looked down at the stallion, removing the cloak and removing the hood obscuring and hiding a lot of her dark violet cosmic hair, as well as a light blue cosmic tail. The mare felt tears in her eyes as she smiled, bringing the stallion in for a hug.

The Princess of the night, the guardian and observer of dreams, raiser and lower of the Moon, Luna, was right here... wherever this twisted realm was.

"My dear Everchange... my son, my baby boy, it is me... Oh how I've missed you so much! It's been a millennia, we- we have so much to talk about, so much to catch up on. I-" The mare's joyous words suddenly came to a stop, and Luna looked her son in the eyes, which were filled to the brim with tears.

"I- I thought I... I thought I lost you! I thought that monster in your body was all that remained! Mother, forgive me, I didn't- I- I-I d-didn't want to fight you, I truly didn't! I-" Everchange's voice was cracking, catching in his voice as his emotions stampeded in a confused cluster of thoughts. Luna smiled and just wiped the tears away.

"All has already been forgiven, Everchange... all has been forgiven. But, I can feel it, you cannot bring yourself to forgive. Come, tell mother dearest who it is you can't forgive?" Luna said calmly, focusing on finally seeing her child yet again, even if something irked at him.




Back in the tangible world, Everchange's very body was under Lunar Blight's control, and though it definitely caught the ponies by surprise, they knew they had to hold out, to not hurt him, but they had to fend him off somehow... and magical spells can only get one so far in a fight with a shapeshifter of this magnitude.

"Twilight, got any ideas?! I'd like to go buck that crazy mare's teeth in than deal with this crazy two-timing traitor!" Rainbow exclaimed, avoiding a stream of fire as Scoville Hooves kept on bringing the fire to the fast flying pegasus. Twilight was trying to keep Scoville Hooves' attention on her, but the mindwarped Kirin was too focused on wanting some well roasted pegasus wings.

"I can't get him to stop! He won't focus on me, Rainbow, you need to hit him!" Twilight yelled. Rainbow Dash flew back to gain some distance, then came reeling back and smacked the Kirin to the ground, which was starting to struggle to even stand.

"Come on, you shape changing jerk, I thought you wanted to make things right, or was your Loyalty always for this crazy shadow alicorn?!" Rainbow exclaimed. Scoville Hooves rose to his feet, until a sudden sparkle snapped him back for a moment, but it wasn't long till he was back under control and back on the offensive.

"Pitiful little ponies, you think you can just take my greatest warrior back?! HAHAHAHA!!! You all must be the element of laughter, cause that's the best joke I've heard in a Millennia!" Lunar Blight exclaimed, cackling wildly.

Applejack straightened up her hat and gritted her teeth as she yelled and charged head on towards the Kirin. The Kirin changed back into Everchange's normal form, and met her charge with a charge of his own, literally butting heads with the country mare and was evenly matched with her.

"Come on, pardner, ah know this ain't you! You wouldn't willingly hurt another pony, you don't have it in ya to do somethin' like that, at the very least without a reason! Come on, Everchange, snap out of it, Be Honest with me!" Applejack exclaimed, struggling to keep her footing as Everchange suddenly backed off, groaning as he came to again, a violent black aura surrounding him as his body struggled against some sort of unforeseen force.

"What's happening to him?!" Twilight exclaimed. Her friends looked at her, knowing they heard Twilight ask that question, which confirmed that they were probably or definitely in so much trouble.




"Hmm... I see, you can't forgive Celestia for banishing me to the moon? A millennia has passed since then, and while this isn't how I wanted to return, I can still hope that I can make things right-"

"You don't have anything to make right, cause you didn't do anything wrong, Mother!" Everchange exclaimed, his voice echoing in the strangely colored void.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, to apologize for, I'm the one who can't forgive the only other family I still had! I ran away from home the moment you were banished, I ran into the Chrysalis Queen of legends, and I could've died! I spent a Millennia wishing for you to come back, and I didn't know to bring you back! I wasted years upon years of thinking of solutions, but there was nothing I could've figured out... Nothing!! I didn't want to go back to Auntie Celestia for help because I was scared, scared that I'd be punished for running away in the first place, or coming back for the first time in a Millennia, and getting into a shouting match that drove us both to tears!!! I got kidnapped by a damn cult that sought to destroy equestria, I faced a clan of facehugging parasites, and one of them seemed to know a lot about you! I need to properly apologize, I need to make things right... I want my family back!!!!!!!" The stallion exclaimed into the void.

The mare watched on, seeing the stallion she raised as her own, was now crippling himself with the weight of others' actions... her actions. She knows that this place is escapable, but before she sends her son on her way back to the corporeal world, the colors of the void began to change, as did the singular tree that grew in such an unexplained environment.

The crimson red changed its hue to be that of a more dynamic red color, and a bit of the white of the void had begun to become more orange, like a ripe orange on a summer's day.




"Come on, Everchange, snap out of it, come back to us!" Twilight exclaimed. The black aura dissipated and Everchange growled, back on the offensive again as he transformed into Germani, snarling as he lunged towards Rarity, who was a bit trapped in the corner by the beast.

"Darling, please! I listened to your problems, you helped me with an excruciating order, you worked yourself countless times to near exhaustion, find it in your heart, your soul, your mind, darling! Remember the Generosity that Applejack had done for you? Give you a job, a roof over your head, a chance to start anew, to forget the past and look to the future, don't you remember that!?" The unicorn pleaded. Germani growled and backed away, struggling yet again.

"I don't know what's happening, but it seems to be working... whatever it is that's doing something." Twilight said, watching everything play out. Lunar Blight, now actually worried that whatever this was, it was actually breaking her control over the shapeshifter. Knowing very well that this might not bode well for her plans if it keeps up, starts to get into the fray herself, blasting at the element bearers while Spike and Trixie try to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

"This is hopeless, my only real fr- acquaintance, that I can really get along with, is being used as a monster... And I don't know how to help him!" Trixie said to herself, mad, irritated, terrified and defeated before she can even try to fight. Spike, who was hearing every word, looked from a distance towards the rampaging Diamond Dog. The gem wasn't its white color anymore, but it was glowing a more cyan-like color, his green eyes were more of a crimson red as Lunar Blight continued to fight the elements.

"Wait, I think I know how to help him! It's a very dangerous idea, but I'm gonna need someone great and powerful to pull it off... you wanna help him, don't you?" Spike asked. Trixie looked at the baby dragon, confused, curious, and very desperate to do something that'll help.




Everchange sat near the tree, ready to spend an eternity in this strange place, not even noticing how more of the white void had suddenly become more of a bright and slightly faded hot pink. Luna picked her son up, put him on her back and began to fly into the more colorful parts of the void, setting Everchange down as she backed away.

"Everchange, you're not used to being in this realm, not like I have, you want to save me? Then you need to focus on getting back to reality! Look around you, the vibrant colors of the elements, I taught you that the elements can have an effect on one who requires their healing properties. I'm not sure how your friends have figured this out, but I need you to focus on what your friends represent to you! It may just be your only chance to save all of Equestria from a Crimson colored calamity! I know you can do it, you're my son! You shine like the stars on a cloudless night, and you will shimmer and gleam till the morning light! You are Everchange Spectical, The Starbound Prince!!" Luna exclaimed, getting farther and farther away from Everchange.

Several orange, red and pink tendrils began to take hold of the stallion, and though it definitely freaked him out, he felt everything around him get dark and smoky.




The silent golem, Tectress, was the next transformation, and though it was silent, and a rather strange creature entirely, it was still enough to prove itself to be dangerous, trapping and cornering the shy yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, in its re-attachable grasp. Fluttershy saw the lack of a soul in the creature's eyes, but that didn't mean she didn't see the eternal suffering in the stallion's soul, being used as a brutal weapon for mass destruction or the domination of other civilizations. So, in a last-ditch effort to try and bring the stallion out of the alicorn's trance, hugs the rocky creature and utters what she thinks will be her last words if this doesn't work.

"P-Please... I know I was scared of... your changing powers, b-but you don't need to be so angry all the time... you're not a bad guy... you're just misunderstood, b-burdened by mistakes, bothered by stuff out of your control... all it t-takes to stop a fight... is with understanding... compassion... a-and... Kindness." The pegasus uttered out, bracing for the end as her body shook from the fear.

She suddenly felt the creature shake violently before it dropped her, trying its best to fight off the alicorn's control, reverting Tectress to Everchange's normal form, where he was still struggling.

"G-GET... O-OUT...!" Everchange strains, losing his composure as the trance overwhelms him again, forcing him back on the offensive as he tried to rebel against the monstrous alicorn's command.

"He's still in there!! There's still a chance, girls! We need to keep trying to bring him back, I don't know how long he'll be able to resist this trance, but we need to help him!" Twilight called out, using her magic to hold Everchange's body still as it struggled.

"Man, this dude's no unicorn, but he's got some real willpower to resist this crazy moon demon!" Rainbow stated, slightly impressed with how Everchange is still trying to resist the Alicorn's trance, or Twilight's magical hold on his body.

"Ooh! Ooh! Let me try, I can fix him!" Pinkie chimed in, bouncing over to the straining and warpminded stallion. "Come on, Everchange, I know you can do it, nasty evildoers are all talk until you give them a real good dose of Laughter! If I can get out of a real bad funk thanks to the help of my friends, then I'm sure that together we can laugh our worries away and have some good ol' fashioned fun! And that's a Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie said, smiling from ear to ear.

Everchange's range of control began to increase as he tried to say something, only to be thrown aside by Lunar Blight, smacking him right into a pillar that collapsed onto the stallion.

"I grow tired, and very irritated at this sappy nonsense! The Elements, hand them over, now!!" Lunar Blight commanded aggressively, picking Pinkie up with her magic, and aiming her horn right at the pink pony's face. Rainbow Dash rushed forward and tried to kick the Alicorn down, only to be smacked aside and knocked unconscious with Pinkie. Applejack and Rarity tried the same tactic, and were easily outmatched by the alicorn's natural strength. Twilight used her magic to form a shield around her, only for Fluttershy to be the one to break it, courtesy of Lunar Blight tossing the pegasus like a chunk of rubble. Each of the elements, down for the count, and Everchange seems to still be out cold and under rubble.

Each of the elements, taken down by this monstrous mad mare that used to be Princess Luna, it seemed unreal... Twilight teleported over to the rubble, only to find Spike and Trixie hiding behind the throne. Twilight quickly got through the rubble and pulled Everchange's bruised, battered and extremely exhausted body towards some cover as the Mad mare continued to pluck the elements from the unconscious wearers, one by one.

"Please Everchange, wake up, we need you, I don't like saying that a lot, but we need you! You lasted this long on your own, you tamed and fought a Timberwolf on your own, you escaped a bunch of crazy parasites without getting infected by one, you faced a number of horrors like no pony could believe... Surely, you can make one last attempt to cheat death, can't you?!" Twilight pleaded, the unconscious stallion remained as such. The alicorn lowered her head and took a deep breath.

"We got off on the wrong foot, I'll say that and admit that my accusations towards you were huge leaps in logic for me... but while your powers aren't magical, by the looks of how that gem works... I can say that if we get out of this alive, and win... I'll give you another chance, and we can experience the Magic of Friendship together! Who knows what awaits us if we get out of this, but I'll be with you every step of the way, just to make it up to you!! Just. Wake. Up!!!" Twilight exclaimed.

Nothing. The stallion did not move, did not get up, it seemed hopeless. Lunar Blight destroyed their cover and grabbed Twilight, pulling her close as she yanked her element from her crown. The six magical jewels circled around the mad mare as she tossed Twilight to the pile of rubble, a painful snapping sound echoed as Twilight yelped and whimpered in pain, feeling her bad wing take the collision into the rubble.

"Finally, I have the elements of Harmony, and that stupid, sunny rear-ended, cake stuffing sister is nowhere in sight! I won!!! THIS WORLD BELONGS TO ME, EMPERESS LUNAR BLI- Huh?" The alicorn's gloating of her victory was then interrupted by a mystical green glow coming from Everchange's unconscious body. A strange ethereal green tendril of energy jutted forward towards the alicorn, and pierced its armor. The Alicorn, too confused and too astonished by what had occurred, did not notice the strange glowing foreign piece being caught and retrieved by the energy tendril. Twilight, Lunar Blight, Trixie and Spike looked on as the strange piece fit itself over the gem, a huge crackle of blue and green sparks erupted from Everchange's wrist as the piece seemed to form and merge with the gem itself.

The piece was a strange circular object with an odd see-through lens on it, plus 4 green nodes on the rounded edges of such a thing. The strange piece seemed to act as a dial, or an energy focusing component, drawing in the unstable sparks, allowing the round piece to create a strange black coating around the white leather strap, morphing it into a watch of some sort. a watch face with a green Diamond emblem on it, and it began to cycle through these strange icons of the transformations Everchange has used thus far.

"Everchange?" Twilight called out. In a flash of light, the six elements had left Lunar Blight's side and began to transfer energy to the stallion. The energy from the elements began to imbue into Everchange's physical body, all while his green eyes snapped open, the elements were circling him, and he looked at the gem, now encased or properly powered up by this strange watch piece.

Everchange's brow furrowed, he gritted his teeth and glared at Lunar Blight. The elements retreated to their respected bearers, as all 6 ponies were lifted into the air, Everchange was lifted up as well, his eyes becoming entirely green as he felt the power of the elements and their bearers launch him towards Lunar Blight, and as one of Everchange's front hooves collided with the alicorn's chest, a huge green pillar of light and energy spikes up and shatters the roof as a rainbow shimmer shines in the crimson sky.

Soon enough, the crimson sky began to fade, and turn into that of a lustrous wonderful starry night sky, the blood moon dissipated as the moon shined its bright white luster once again, and the bat ponies, well, they eventually got rounded up by the actual royal guard, most of them being taken in to custody, as others retreated and escaped.




Celestia flew at a panicked speed, flying through the halls as she burst into the completely devastated Throne Room to see the elements are intact, Spike and Trixie wrapping an unconscious Lunar Blight in chains and bonds, and her nephew, standing over an unconscious mare as he tried to wake her up.

"Everchange, what- !?" Celestia could barely find the words to say, and upon looking at the mare he stood over, and looking back at Lunar Blight, she was more than just a bit confused with this strange development.

"Lunar Blight... My Mother... they were once both the same person. Lunar Blight was and still is a petty and malevolent entity, but by removing her from my mother's body... I was able to save her, and with the help of my Acquainta-.." Everchange caught himself, and cleared his throat, chuckling a bit, despite his injuries and the things he witnessed this night. "My... friends... with their assistance, I was able to channel a bit of the elements own power into a physical strike... that strike, coupled with this strange component empowering the gem in my wrist, it looked as if like the device itself was affected or in tune with the elements. It saw Lunar Blight as what her name sake is... a Blight, a malignant and chaotic disease that needed to be treated... Mother is alright, by the way, she's just going to need a couple days or so to rest and rid herself of the millennia long fatigue plaguing her body. The separation of Lunar Blight definitely seemed to prove to be quite ruthless on her..." Everchange explained.

"In short, Princess Celestia, Everchange is saying that if we didn't show up, he would've been the unwilling catalyst for Equestria's complete and total destruction." Twilight simplified.

The princess looked at the destruction wrought by the fearsome battle that occurred in the throne room, and sighed. She trotted through the destruction and tried to pick some of the rubble off of her throne, and looked to the ponies with a smile, only to be interrupted by the gagging and sneering of Lunar Blight.

"You think you've won?! I'll break out of these chains right now and seize control over this pathetic kingdom! I will re-bathe the moon's surface with your blood and be stronger than ever!" Lunar Blight threatened, using her magic on the chains, only to realize that it wasn't working. Everchange stepped towards the mad mare, raised his rear legs high and bucked the mad mare to the ground, cracking and fracturing the alicorn's horn, her jaw, and her dignity.

"Know thyne place on the pecking order! You are lower than dirt, lower than the very earthy rock we tread on every single day!! Just accept that you lost, and stop trying when you know you failed!!!" Everchange exclaimed sternly. The alicorn hissed and sneered, yet it refused to actually fight back this time, and to the stallion, that was good enough for him.

Through the use of the elements of harmony, Celestia soon banished Lunar Blight back to the surface of the moon, bound in chains and rendered magickless. All of Ponyville and Canterlot were being properly cleaned up and fixed after the events of last night, and things seemed to feel... resolute.

So why did he feel like this was just the beginning of something much, much more insane?




"Did you retrieve any information?"

"Yes my lord, we found latent energy signatures, and with the proper calculations, we have managed to deduce that we may have found it... the legends were in fact, true."

"Then I will bring my best ship, my best equipment, call in every favor I've accumulated in my years of conquest, and finally, the journey shall be over... and it'll be worth it."

"Um... one small problem, my lord. It would seem that someone was already in possession of what you seek. We recently received a huge energy spike from a small planet in a star system not too far from where you are concurrently. Shall I head there before you, announce your arrival?"

"No... I wish to make my arrival a secret. I will not cause another panic with the native species again, especially if whoever has the device is one of these natives."

"M-my lord, the Arburian Pelarotas were already on the verge of extinction, there was nothing you could've done."

"Nevertheless, I will not bring another species to extinction... many lives and extraterrestrial legacies were lost on this one journey, and if it means I can fix it... finding the device of myth will have made it all the worth it. Send a few drones down to the planet, My arrival will be long and patient... I'm intrigued to personally meet the warrior who found the device. This conversation is over."

"Understood, My lord."

a clicking sound is heard, as well as something powering down. In the darkness of this unknown location, two red eyes glowed in the darkness.

"I can only hope that the stars will guide me to the planet in time."
> 16. A Time to Reflect and Observe
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week after the defeat of Lunar Blight and the return of Princess Luna, all has returned back to the status quo... well, almost all. In the Golden Oaks library, Twilight, Trixie and Everchange are currently working on understanding the strange metamorphosis of the gem embedded in Everchange's wrist, now that it's transformed into this strange bulky watch contraption. Trixie's mostly there for Everchange, not so much for Twilight's sake.

"Ok, trial #1 begins... now! Change!" Twilight states. Everchange presses a new button on the device, popping what looks like a core up from the watch. Seeing the icon he wanted, he pressed down on it, and within a quick flash of green light, Germani was present. The only major difference is the strange bronze ring with the green diamond emblem on it. Other than that, the Diamond Dog was basically the same as it was before.

"Change!" Twilight stated. In another flash of light, Scaleblazer was present, with the same bronze ring and green diamond emblem. Twilight wrote something down.

"Ok, try to transform back for now." Twilight states. In a flash of red light, Everchange returned to his normal form. Twilight shuffled through several lengthy papers of notes while Everchange eyed and examined the watch cautiously.

"You two are possibly the most boring ponies Trixie has ever met." Trixie stated, impatience and boredom looming over her. The other two ponies looked at the street performer, and while Twilight sneered, Everchange chuckled a bit and smiled.

"These things take time, Trixie. After all, Manehattan wasn't built in an hour, you know." Everchange said. Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled out one of her notes, handing it to the stallion, who then tried to look it over.

"Let's get down to answering some questions about this strange... thing. When it comes to transforming, are you truly becoming a copy of that species, or is it something only unique to you?" Twilight asked.

"It's like a bit of both, if I can be honest. Yes, it feels like I'm truly becoming another species, experiencing life, even in a fight, as a species I never was before, it does seem that the gem favors certain aspects to these species, like allowing my Kirin form, Scoville Hooves, to retain the powers and abilities of each of their variations." Everchange answered. Twilight wrote something down on another paper.

"Ok, which of your forms have you had the least amount of control over during your time of transforming?" Twilight questioned.

"Definitely my Windigo form, Phrosthantom. It just feels unnatural to use such a creature's innate ability to draw on hatred to make itself stronger. Ironically enough, I have more control over my Changeling form than I do over my Windigo form... fancy that tidbit of irony, hm?" Everchange answered. Twilight kept writing something down as she brought up a paper with a childish drawing depicting a scenario.

"From what I saw back when we first found out your secret, you had access to only a Changeling. When Spike got closer, the gem hit him with a yellow beam of some kind of energy, what exactly did it do?" Twilight questioned.

"By my best guess, this gem was harvesting or collecting DNA. For what purpose this serves? I haven't a clue. In the thousand years I've been alive and studied this gem, plus its eccentricities, I've never seen anything like this before... though I do have a theory, but as it stands, that's all it is for now, a mere theory." Everchange answered. Twilight continued to jot down information.

"Okay, last question, then we can take a break. How many creatures can you turn into?" Twilight asked. Everchange opened his mouth to say something, but upon hearing the question echo in his head from when Button Mash asked him that question, he was dumbfounded. He didn't have a real idea on how many he could actually transform into. Sure, he made the assumption that he could transform into 10 different kinds of creatures, but he's only used 9 forms thus far... what the heck was he supposed to say if there were more than 10?

"I don't know. I didn't dare to dabble in using this thing further during my 1,000 years alone, or hiding my secret from those who didn't know, but when innocent ponies and creatures start getting caught in my issues, I found myself having to do a lot of stupid stuff to get results. I've only used 9 forms thus far, and I told a colt that I had 10 forms... if I truly do have 10 forms or more, I don't know what this 10th one could be, or what I could transform into later on if I messed with this thing long enough." Everchange answered. Twilight continued to write down information, and was feeling her curiosity growing stronger.

"Well, time for a break! Come on, Everchange, The great and powerful Trixie requires your assistance with a special project." Trixie said, using her magic to pull the dumbfounded stallion out of the door. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes as she continued to look over her notes.




At Trixie's new caravan wagon, it was stocked to the brim with potions and other various ingredients. Various glass jars contained several herbs, mystic spices, there was a strange, emotionless and silent mare in the cart... Trixie and Everchange looked at each other and back at the mare, who seemed to be eyeing the various exotic crystals on the shelves before turning her emotionless face to the two ponies.

"Hm... brimming sedimentary quality... you don't usually find big pieces of Pyrite, or even regular Quartz, just popping out of the ground around small farming towns. Especially if there's no established or official mining quarry, to prevent the overgrowth of mineral deposits." The mare said in a deadpanned tone of voice.

"Do you know her, Everchange?" Trixie asked. Everchange went wide-eyed as he looked at the unicorn with confusion.

"I- I thought you knew her!" Everchange said. The mare casually walked past them, exiting the wagon as the two shook off their concerns, this time, locking the wagon door to prevent intruders before getting to work.

"So, what was it that you needed help with? I know I can use an average level of alchemy studies, but if you need something custom, I'm not the pony you should be asking... trust me." Everchange stated worriedly.

"Trixie just needs you to make her a stamina booster. Trixie finds herself running out of stamina and energy more often doing the smallest and easiest of tasks, so to make sure that apology tour is a go, I sent Snips and Snails out to promote my first show here, in Ponyville! Whereas you, I need to either get a recipe for Stamina boosting potions, or you can make me a bunch of them for my show beforehand." Trixie explained.

Everchange sighed and grabbed a few Phoenix Feathers, The Fang of a Timberwolf, A Pyrite crystal, and something that provides more energy. Everchange quickly put the feathers aside and put the fang and crystal into a pestle and mortar, quickly and efficiently grinding and pulverizing the ingredients together into a fine smooth dust before dumping its contents into a fiery bubbling cauldron. Everchange tossed the feathers into the cauldron as well, and reached into his pocket, pulling out an apple, tearing it in half and removing the seeds before tossing one half of the apple, and all of the seeds, into the cauldron as well. Everchange quickly began to stir and mix the concoction, giving it a quick taste as he felt a surge of energy pool through him, smiling as he began to quickly bottle up several jars worth of the cauldron's contents.

The stallion scooped out the seeds of the apple and put them back in his pocket as he gave the jars of stamina boosters to Trixie and headed off into town to try and relax.

"Phew... finally, a time to relax... now, I should continue work on my home, but I wouldn't want to worry about-"

"There he is!! The shapeshifter!!!" Somepony called out. Everchange stopped and sighed, turning around to see a mob of 6-13 different ponies charging at him.

"I can't catch a break, can I?" Everchange said to himself, bracing for the impact. He felt the ponies surround him and lift him into the air, confusing the stallion even more.

"Three cheers for the strong-hearted stallion!" Another pony called out. Were they cheering for him? Now he was worried, half of Ponyville finally stopped excluding him, and accepted his... strange abilities, but there was always a chance that the other half could burn him at the stake.

"If I can politely ask... WHAT IN THE NAME OF FAUST ARE YOU ON ABOUT?!" Everchange exclaimed, irritated and confused. The ponies holding him up just smiled.

"We celebrate thy bravery, the vanquisher of the bloodied night! The devastator of the Parasites! We welcome thee home, we celebrate thee! Praise the bringer of justice!" A pony stated, almost excited to be saying such pleasantries. Everchange felt as if this sudden praise was either forced, they were asked to do this... or this was genuine, and that scared the life out of him.

"Okay, I can understand why Rainbow Dash likes the praise so much... no wonder her ego's always getting a gut check, but for the love of Manoa, can you just put me down so I can relax!? Sure, I faced some crazy alicorn wearing my mother like a one piece suit, and faced a bunch of one eyed landbound squid parasites without succumbing to their clutches, big deal, Twilight and her friends did the same thing, praise them, not me! Without them, I'd be a dead stallion, so thank them for saving my life and helping me save Equestria... I seriously don't need all the credit." The stallion explained.

The ponies put the stallion down, but they did not give him any room. They crowded around him, smiling and were all ecstatic to be in his presence, it drove him mad cause it just felt uncomfortable. Wasn't until a whistling sound echoed out, causing the ponies to disperse and give him some breathing room.

"Excuse me, but are these ponies bothering you? I tend to make it very clear that even when I'm off duty, I try to uphold and keep the peace." A voice called out. Everchange got up and looked at the stallion in front of him, and felt the strangest feeling of Deja Vu. The stallion was tall, if not just a little bit taller than him, had a pristine white coat and dark blue hooves, wavy, long and well trimmed hair in a few shades of blue, a very blue tail with a noticeable white unicorn horn jutting through, and a shield on his flank with a familiar symbol on it and three silver stars above the shield's points. The stallion held a hoof out and Everchange took it, using the stallion to hoist himself back up.

"Thank you, these ponies are quite uh... eccentric, to put it lightly... Now I know how Twilight feels when Pinkie just gets too into something." Everchange stated, dusting himself off.

"Huh, didn't know you knew my little sister, but that's okay, you seem pretty chill. I'm Shining Armor, great to make your acquaintance, Mr.?" Shining introduced. Everchange smiled.

"Spectical. Everchange Spectical. A granduous pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Armor. Pray tell, is Pinkie your sister, or is the Alicorn who loves books related to you?" Everchange inquired. The stallion laughed a bit.

"Yup, you definitely met Twilight, you'll have to let me tell you that she's not usually the kindest to complete strangers, even when I know she can take care of herself." Shining stated, smiling as he prattled on about his sister.

Everchange looked around and though the crowd dispersed, he was still rather bored, or bothered by how different the ponies seemed to act when he was in their presence now. It was unsettling to say the least, but maybe it was because for a thousand years, he was used to the snide remarks, the occasional death threats and the sneering.

"Shining, could I possibly thank you for a moment, maybe with a pastry or two at Pony Joe's Donut Shop?" Everchange asked the stallion. The stallion, just up and busted out laughing, wheezing as he hit the ground with one of his hooves and wiped away tears, still laughing. What was it about other ponies laughing at him? What did he possibly say that was so funny? What, is being polite suddenly the funniest thing ever nowadays? Eventually, after a couple minutes of laughing like a mad stallion who escaped the looney bin, he eventually calmed down, smiling and coughing from how much he had laughed without stopping.

"Oh boy, you- haha, you're hilarious, you talk like a royal, man. Look, I'm off duty, sure, but you don't have to constantly give me that high regard and respect schpeal. But, to answer your question, sure, I could go for a treat, plus, it'll be a good way to make some friends around this quiet, and peaceful town Twily came to." Shining said. The stallions shared a good laugh as they walked to the donut shop.




"I feel as if I've been kicked in the groin and had hot coals burn against my plot." Everchange said in dejection. A closed sign, due to some form of festivities being in-progress.

"Well, that's a bummer, but hey, we can still go to sugarcube corner, if that's fine." Shining offered. Everchange sighed and looked at himself in the glass's reflection... he looked upset, genuinely devastated.

"I-... Nevermind, I'm not in much of a mood for sweets right now anyway, but I am going to go over to Sweet Apple Acres, to provide some assistance with some physical labor." Everchange stated, walking in the direction of the farm's location.

"Cool, you have fun, bro! If you're ever in need of doing something fun, just let me know!" Shining yelled out, laughing as he trotted off to deal with his own business.




Everchange walks over to the farm, and can see plenty of ponies within the vicinity, and immediately jumps back as one of these ponies, a bright yellow stallion in a western outfit with slightly faded and shaded blonde-brown hair proceeds to shake Everchange's hoof.

"Howdy, pardner! Never saw you before, I'm Braeburn, Applejack's cousin. I heard a lot from her about some crazy shenanigans that've gone on lately in Ponyville, but she also seems to have caught the eye of a stallion! Sure hope we can get better acquainted sometime, friend, but I gotta get back to helpin' mah family! If you ever need a favor, just ask for Braeburn down at APPLEOOSA!!!" Braeburn introduced, running all the way back to the farm at a break-neck speed.

Everchange sighed, turning around as he trotted back to town, dejected and interjected. "Well, that was a bust...Pony Joe's ain't open, Applejack's busy with her family... hmm, I wonder if-" Everchange didn't finish that sentence till somepony crashed right in front of him. That pony was Big Mac.

"By my mother, are you alright, Mac?!" Everchange said in urgency, helping the stallion to his hooves.

"Urgh.... Eeyup..." Big Mac simply said, a bit irritated, or is probably feeling something in his body go out of place. Everchange looked over to the farm, seeing apparently the extended members of the apple family. "They just up and suddenly got to work, I have no idea what that was even about, something about a festival or something." Big Mac explained, feeling a bit irate about the sudden action.

"Did you get booted out by accident too, my friend?" Everchange asked. The red stallion furrowed his brow and groaned. "You needn't worry, my friend, I think we just need time to reflect on the situations at hoof, whatever they may be." Everchange simply stated.

The stallions trotted back towards town, and eventually split up to do their own things.




"NO MORE!! I SAID NO MORE!!!" A distressed and agonizing call echoed and bellowed out. Several guards run over to the door, only to be called off by Celestia. The alicorn opens the doors to a dark, and very night-themed room, where Princess Luna, the princess of the Moon, was sitting up in her bed, breathing in a sporadic and almost maddened pace, tears in her eyes as she looked at her sister.

Celestia sighed. "Guards, fetch me a few glasses of water, and do not make me wait!" The alicorn commanded, the stallions nodded and trotted away. Celestia carefully walked into the room and closed the doors behind her with her magic.

"Luna... how do you feel?" Celestia asked, looking down in worry for her sister. Luna seemed a bit hesitant on wanting to answer that question, but instead of answering, she promptly got up and wiped her tears away, not wanting to look Celestia in the eye.

"I'm fine, Celestia... I- I just need to- t-to.." Luna struggled to find her words, the words she wanted to say, yet even when she found them, she dared to not say.

"You want to see him... don't you?" Celestia asked somberly. Luna turned back to Celestia, more tears began to fill her eyes, her lip quivered as she tried to find some form of solace, only to feel like she could collapse at any moment. "My sister, I know what it must mean to you, to try and reconnect with him, and I want to help you, but you are not in the right mindset to be anywhere else right now, not while ponies still think that Nightmare Moon will return..." Celestia explained.

Celestia looked away, she hated saying those words, knowing well enough that she said she wanted to make things right... but now wasn't the time, not now. She had to appease her subjects, but she needed to amend the scars her family had suffered... she just didn't know how she was going to do that yet.




Everchange was lying down near the shoreline of a lake, looking up at the sky, seeing several pegasi working hard to clear the skies. "Seems like everypony's doing something... why am I not doing something, it seems like some kind of festivity is being arranged, I'm sure the mayor wouldn't mind to have some extra hooves on hoof." He told himself. He got up and trotted up to the path, and immediately made his way to the town hall.

On the way, Everchange saw several balloons of specific colors, ranging from green, black, gray, white, and gold, all while he saw several diamond shapes all over the place, and what looked like a poster with sketches of what looked like some of his transformations. Lionhawk, Expioflage, Scaleblazer, Germani and Tyrani-Taur. A sketch of himself was also smack dab in the middle, smiling as he looks at the gem drawn on his leg.

"There are several questions going through my brain, and not a single one might be answered... so I'm just going to back away, and get to town hall-"

"HELP!!! SOMEPONY HELP!!!" A voice called out. Everchange turned towards the voice's origin, and looked at a huge, towering stone being chiseled into something, as well as a filly, an Earth Pony filly, was hanging by one hoof on top of the stone.

"By the sun and moon, who isn't watching these children, I swear." Everchange groaned, running towards the statue. He hopped onto a table being set, then jumped towards the rock as he quickly put some traction between the stone and his hooves, and began to run up the stone's surface. "Stay calm, I'm going to help you!" Everchange reassured, standing on top of the stone as he reached a hoof out to the foal. The foal was somepony Everchange was familiar with already... Silver Spoon, a friend of that spoiled rich filly, Diamond Tiara.

"Silver Spoon, grab my hoof, everything'll be okay!" Everchange said. He looked around the statue from above, seeing what looked like all of Ponyville was watching him. Silver Spoon was hesitating, but her hold was slipping. "For the love of my auntie, just grab my hoof, already, you'll get hurt if you don't!" Everchange stated, getting impatient.

Silver Spoon tried to reach for his hoof, but felt her grasp on the rock falter, she yelped as she began to fall, until she felt the fall suddenly end. Everchange had lunged forward and grabbed Silver Spoon by the tail, and hoisted her up onto his back as he carefully climbed down. "T-T-Thank you..." Silver Spoon said, the fall must've made her a bit jittery.

"Anytime, just tell me, what gave you the bright idea to climb on a big freaking rock?! You could've seriously hurt yourself, or worse! You're associated with rich ponies, you're not stupid, kid!" Everchange said sternly.

"I-It wasn't m-my idea! I-It was all Diamond Tiara's, she was mad t-that-" Silver Spoon stopped talking as Everchange set her down on the ground.

"I'll talk with her father about it, just try to pick some better friends, okay? It helps to know in situations like this, you do find out who your friends really are." Everchange stated, moving through the crowd as he ran to the town hall.




Everchange burst through the doors and approached Mayor Mare, who was conversating with, to his dismay and disgust, Spoiled Rich. He forgot about her real quick for a second, he had a bigger picture to look at. "Excuse me, Mayor! I see everypony is busy setting up for some kind of festivity, do you mind if I lend a hoof or two?" Everchange asked.

Spoiled Rich then interjected, much to his displeasure. "Excuse me, your kind isn't allowed here, go back to whatever backwater hive you were originally spawned from, and let the ponies do what they do, insect. Okay? Okay." Spoiled Rich said casually, shoving Everchange out of the way.

"Well, I guess it's time to do some laundry, I got 'Spoiled Milk' all over my clothes. Silly me, I guess I should've known better than to try and deal with trash so haphazardly." Everchange shot back, smiling contentedly. Spoiled Rich grit her teeth and pointed her already angular nose up into the air.

The mayor looked up, seeing the two ponies arguing. It gave the mare a headache, but it also gave her a sense of Deja vu. She grabbed a small wooden gavel and knocked it against the desk several times, stopping the two from arguing further as their attention was brought to the mayor. "Now that I have your attention, let me explain to you why I can't be dealing with your issues right now," She said, shuffling through a few papers.

She pulled out a piece of purple paper and adjusted her glasses, "Spoiled Rich, you can't just tear down a library because you want to. I don't care if it's for 'parental' reasons, I'm not authorizing this, especially if I'll have to face the sheer scalding fires of Tartarus when Twilight Sparkle finds out." Mayor Mare stated sternly, taking a stamp and hitting the paper with it, showing a word in big red letters reading, 'DECLINED'.

Upset and outraged, Spoiled Rich storms out in a huff. Everchange just watched her leave, and then simply walked up to the desk. "What a real 'class-act' that spoiled pony is, even I don't act like that when things don't go my way... unless it's Thursday." Everchange remarked. Mayor Mare sorted through the various papers that was taking up space on her desk, and eventually set a few stacks down out of the way before resuming her duties.

"So, Mr. Spectical, a little bird has told me that you have ties to royalty, yes?" Mayor inquired. Everchange could feel his brain spazzing out from the panic, he didn't want other ponies to find out about that.

The mayor then busted into a quick fit of laughter before calming herself down. "Oh you should've seen your face, ahaha! That was beautiful, who here besides Mrs. Rich would want to be involved in the royals' royal business?" The mayor joked. Everchange just sighed and rubbed his face. "Anywho, how can I be of assistance?" The mayor asked.

Everchange looked at the mare behind the desk, and took a breath for a moment as he thought about the words he chose. "I saw that a party was being set up, I can help in any way I can, if you're willing to have me. After all that's happened, I'd like to properly have the chance to do something productive." Everchange stated formally.

Mayor Mare looked up at the stallion, and then grabbed a small green envelope, sliding it towards him. "While I do appreciate your willingness to lend a hoof in the festivities, we're already booked; But, as a constellation, somepony came in and asked for this to be delivered to you... though you don't seem to have a mailing address set up, you can pick up your mail at the Post Office until you get that address set up." Mayor Mare stated, getting back to her duties.

Everchange took the envelope and saw that it was sealed in a dark black wax. He trotted over to an empty chair and sat down, opening the envelope and breaking the wax as he marveled at the glittering purple paper inside. He pulled it out and unfolded it, and it seemed to be some type of literary exposit. 'Well, it's something new, might as well look it over to see who it's from.' Everchange thought to himself.






"Heroisms and Harmonies"


By The Elements



"Trampling fields, the scorning of wars,



Disharmony came down, and Heroes were no more.



Destruction lay waste, catastrophes unbound,



It all could've gone worse, if you didn't come around.



Fires would burn, reduce forests to ash,



an organization on the loose, but you didn't get brash.



The fire in your heart, has burned longer than you've been alive,



If you hadn't shown up that day, Equestria would not have survived.



We made some bad judgement calls, but no one's perfect,



So we hope you'll understand that you have our respect.



We hope you'll pop by tonight, don't be late!



We hope you'll understand that we think you're great."




From, Twilight,


Applejack,


Rarity,


Pinkie Pie,


Fluttershy,


Rainbow Dash,


And the Great and Powerful Trixie!





Everchange looked at the words on the page, and felt his chest tighten up. He was truly astonished, 6 crazy mares, and a traveling magician made this strange poem, for him... what day was it? It couldn't have been his birthday, but he knows a joke when he sees it, and this isn't a joke. It's also not Hearth's Warming yet, though there is a bit of a cold nip in the air.

Everchange looked over the envelope, and saw that it indeed came from the Golden Oaks Library, so that was where he has going next. He looked at the clock, it read '2:31 PM', he couldn't believe that it's only been a couple hours, but he still made haste, leaving the Town Hall as he ran in the direction of the library. From the shadows of an alleyway, something watches... lurking.





In the middle of town, tons of decorations have been set up, as well as a big stone statue being chiseled into the shape of a pony. Several ponies were chatting it up, as was most of the Apple Family tending to the hungry masses as the caterers for such an event. Pinkie was already done with decorations, and was just relaxing at a table, chatting with the mysterious mare Trixie and Everchange saw inside Trixie's wagon.

Her expressionless eyes were a shimmering light turquoise, her coat was a simple color of gray, almost close to the color of stone. Her mane and tail were a lavender color, but they weren't very stylized, just really basic and kinda flat. She wore a blueish-gray colored short-sleeved turtleneck with a Dark blueish-gray strap around her waist. The finishing touch on her was a long, faded rose red skirt.

Pinkie seemed to be practically over-excited in her seat, to the point where the seat itself was bouncing in place. "This is gonna be so much fun!! Of all the welcoming parties I've thrown, this is gonna be the biggest party I've thrown yet! And the best part, I get to throw it with my best friends, and my sister!! Aren't you glad, Maud? Plus, you get to meet one of my newest best friends!" Pinkie stated with the widest and sweetest grin on her face. The emotionless mare just slowly blinked her eyes, her emotion not showing, but she was happy to support Pinkie in any of her endeavors, unlike the rest of their folks.

"I'm always up for a good party... I know if Boulder was with me right now, he'd love to play with Gummy again. Your parties are very extravagant, Pinkie. With all the strenuous issues back home, and the free time I have from campus... I'm glad to get to spend it with you." Maud said, her voice monotone and lacking emotion. Pinkie, undeterred by this, just looks like she's about to blow up into an explosion of positivity.

Coming up from behind the monotoned mare was Spike, who was casually chewing on a couple gems as he passed by. "Hey Pinkie, you ready for the party tonight? It's gonna be the biggest event of the year." Spike said.

"Oh yeah, the party's gonna be a real fun one! Oh! Spike, let me introduce you to one of the many ponies I've humbly invited to this shindig. This is my sister, Maud! Why don't you two take some time to talk, I'll go make some pastries and come back!" Pinkie said, immediately bolting away somewhere. Spike looked at the mare in the seat, and Spike sat up, holding his hand out for a shake.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Spike the dragon. It's great to meet you, Maud, especially since I didn't know Pinkie had a sister." Spike introduced.

Maud raised one of her front legs and met Spike's gesture with a firm and friendly shake. "I tend to pride myself in supporting my sister from the sidelines, I've never been one for parties, though my sister knows how to really throw the best ones. I also can't help but notice that you're a dragon, from how Pinkie described you in her letters, I thought you'd be one of the bigger ones." Maud said.

Spike began to regale Maud in everything he, Pinkie and their friends had gone through in the last few weeks. The Council of Artemis, Parasites, The return of Lunar Blight, and the occasional comparison to certain events from stuff that went on in his comic books. Maud didn't yet express any emotion regarding the events that was abridged and retold to her by the dragon, but did feel like the dragon had a lot to tell. She was proud of Pinkie for standing up against some pretty crazy forces of evil and darkness, it showed Maud that Pinkie hadn't lost any resolve since leaving home.

"...Seems like my sister has really toughened up," Maud said. "She's a party planner, but I never took her for a fighter." Maud noted.

Spike nodded. "She's a wonderful party planner, it's what her calling in life is, but if anyone messes with her friends, I'd hate to be the pony or the creature that gets on her bad side. I'm sure if anyone was picking on or doing something bad to Pinkie, she would know that her friends have her back." Spike stated. Maud nodded.





Everchange stands at the Golden Oaks Library's front door. The memory of the Timberwolf incident just feels gross to the stallion, but he has to find out what's going on. He knocks on the door, but there doesn't seem to be a response. He opens the door and invites himself in. He carefully walks around the library, and heads up a staircase. "Twilight, are you in here? I wanted to thank you and your friends for writing this poem for me." Everchange called out. Not a single sound was heard, besides his hooves clopping against the wood floor.

As he looked at the second floor, he saw no visible signs of a struggle, nor the signs or indication that any kind of conflict had ensued. The front door was unlocked, he was here earlier with Twilight and Trixie... so where did the alicorn go after he left?

He groaned in frustration. "It's times like these where showing my kindness and appreciation to others is just a quest in of itself, minus the danger... if I wanted a tedious chase quest, I would've gotten into O&O instead of devoting my life to aiding the kingdom." Everchange stated. The stallion turned around to leave, only to feel a sensation of paralysis wrack through his body, leaving him immobile.

He looked in front of him and saw Twilight... no... no, this wasn't Twilight, the mare in front of him looked nothing like her. The mare in front of him seemed stoic, yet uncertain. He couldn't directly recognize the mare at all, but he still got a full look of her. The mare had a rather dark blue coat, A Dark purple fedora with a dark blue band, and what looked like part of a unicorn horn was peaking out, A dark purple body suit with dark blue bandages wrapped around her hooves, and a dark blue cape with an odd 'M' shaped pin holding it in place with pegasus wings underneath. Everchange looked the mare right in the eyes, her mysterious light cornflower blue eyes, and her light grayish cornflower blue pupils.

Everchange was about to ask who this was, until the mare ran forward, and socked the stallion in the face, knocking him to the floor and leaving him unconscious. The mare pulled out a small black ball and threw it onto the floor, and vanished in a cloud of white smoke...







Within the Dream Realm...



Everchange snaps his eyes open, and finds himself in a field. He looks around, seeing a never-ending field of grass, flowers, and wheat. Everchange got up and slowly began to walk through the field. He felt indifferent, though his face seemed to hurt real bad. He sighed, walking, and walking, then walking some more. He walked for what felt like ages, yet his body never changed, it never aged, it never developed wrinkles or signs of bodily issues. He was walking for eternity, all while the sun slowly began to set.

Everchange stopped moving, and sat in the field... he looked around, and knew for the moment, he was alone again. He looked at his wrist, and saw a diamond-shaped blood clot where the gem usually was. He looked to the starry sky as the moon began to rise, gazing at the stars. He wondered about his Cutie Mark... resembled his mother's, what with the black mass... but what did the green shapes mean? All this time since he got his cutie mark, he's had no real idea on what his purpose was supposed to be, but then again, his life in solitude, mourning and being bitter... on top of his strange abilities... he was at a loss for what he was supposed to do with his life.

Soon after, the ground began to suddenly disappear... Everchange made no effort to run, but damn he wanted to. He wanted to kick and scream and run, but he thought that staying still and letting whatever happens now, would be the right choice. He stayed still, watching the world before him disappear into ash, until only a white void, and the patch of grass he sat on, and he himself, remained.

Before the stallion could do anything, he heard several hoof steps coming from behind him, yet he dared to not make a move. His volition, however, was tossed aside as he felt a magical power turn him around, and he faced his mother, Princess Luna. Her eyes seemed red, and she had dried up tears staining her face, and she trotted closer. Everchange, without a word, or second thought, ran up to his mother, and just squeezed her in an embrace, squeezing her in a manner that they both knew... he didn't want to let go and lose her again. The alicorn returned the embrace, only for the white void to start shattering.

Everchange felt his grip on his mother waning, and he could feel the ground giving way to an empty black void. He tried to hold on, but he lost his hold... falling into the void as he screamed. He could hear something below him, something that seemed to be like magic, he looked down and saw an overwhelmingly powerful magic blast heading in his direction, and he screamed as it nearly collided with him, enveloping everything in a bright purple light.





"Everchange, wake up!!" A voice called out in distress. Twilight, dressed in some kind of ceremonial garb, was standing over the unconscious stallion, trying desperately to use an awakening spell to, well, awaken Everchange. Eventually, Everchange's eyes fluttered open, his senses overloaded, but otherwise, he was okay. "Everchange, are you okay? How did you get into the library, the door was locked!" Twilight said.

She stepped back as Everchange rubbed his eyes and yawned, only to flinch and groan as he held his face. That punch had some serious kick to it if he was still reeling from it. "I just walked in... it wasn't locked when I showed up, I assumed you'd be back... Ow, that costumed wacko sure knocked me on my flank, though." Everchange explained.

Twilight was very confused, did he say somepony in a costume did this to him? "Wait, somepony else was in here? What did they look like, who were they, where'd they go?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know who they were, or where they went... they didn't say who they were, but I do know what they looked like. They had a dark blue coat, a pink noir-esque hero costume, whoever it was is obviously a mare, but the strangest part was they had a horn and wings..." Everchange thought about the description, and so did Twilight.

After a moment of silent thinking, Everchange got up and rubbed his head. "Well, I guess I better get going, it's probably late and I need to work on my home... but hey, thank you and tell the girls I said thanks for your collaborative effort on this poem. A bit cheesy, but I appreciate the gesture." Everchange said, waving goodbye as he walked down the stairway and out of the library, making an immediate sprint towards the Everfree Forest.

Twilight ran out after him, flying above him. "Everchange, wait! You're gonna miss out on the party! I was trying to find you so we could go!" Twilight said, trying to keep up with the stallion's pace.

Soon after, Everchange came to a halt, and looked back at Twilight, who came in for a landing, catching her breath. "A party... you mean the huge party in the middle of town every pony was setting up earlier today?" Everchange asked curiously.

Twilight nodded, smiling. "As for the poem, I'm glad it wasn't just cast aside or shredded. You should've seen the look on my face when Pinkie came to me and said she wanted to officially set up a huge party, just to properly welcome you to Ponyville, judgement free. I even took a couple liberties of inviting the princesses and some of your extended family." Twilight said, giggling a bit.

Everchange slumped down to the ground, absolutely flabbergasted. This whole tirade of everyone getting ready for a party, for him. Him, the shapeshifting stallion that was called bug boy, a disgusting insect, a plague on the apple farm... what kind of strings did that pink pony pull for everyone to be so accepting of this?

"Fine, I'll go to the party... but if something goes wrong, I'll take care of it." Everchange stated, letting a smile form on his face. Twilight and Everchange began to make their way to the party, but from up above, the costumed mare watches from afar, and disappears in another white cloud of smoke.





In the middle of Ponyville, a bright and really civil party is happening. Lights are flashing, a huge booth with a white unicorn mare controlling some kind of turn table was blasting a bunch of huge speakers to their limit with a type of modern techno-orchestral remix. Several ponies were having fun, even a couple of those ex-council members had come along and celebrated.

Everchange and Twilight trotted up on the scene, and almost instantaneously, Pinkie had popped up in front of them out of nowhere, holding a tray of cupcakes, A brown baked dough with a white frosting and green diamond sprinkles on them.

Everchange looked at the party pony, and could obviously tell that this was definitely a fancier party than he would've liked, but it wasn't over the top, thank his aunt. Pinkie was now dressed in some kind of apron-dress combination, embroidered with pink crystals and a pie shaped pin. She also somehow managed to tie that incredibly crazy mane of hers into a poofy pink bun. "Hi guys, nice of you to drop in for the party! Cupcake?" Pinkie said smiling.

Twilight smiled, taking a cupcake, and so did the stallion. "I wasn't sure what flavor you preferred, but since you usually order a Hot Chocolate and a double layer chocolate éclair at Sugarcube Corner, I could tell you had a sweet tooth that craved chocolate, so I made some cupcakes out of some double fudge brownie dough, made a frosting out of some white chocolate, and those green crystals are edible, cause they're basically made from this rock candy recipe my sister shared with me. I hope you like them, and I hope you'll enjoy the party! I have other guests to tend to, have fun!" The pink pony said, stopping to take a quick and deep breath before smiling and bouncing away.

Twilight giggled while Everchange slowly ate, and enjoyed the cupcake as he could barely understand how that pink pony hasn't passed out from doing that. "That mare has the lungs of a sea-dwelling eldritch creature, that would actually explain her abnormalities." Everchange said, chuckling a bit. Twilight walked on and Everchange did the same.

He was about to converse with the citizens of Ponyville, until something magicked him over to the left. Everchange looked and saw it was Trixie, only to see her in a rather regal dress, one that matched her cape and had a repeating star pattern, though the poofy frills on the dress were black and teal in a type of hypnotic swirl pattern. "Greetings, my royal comrade! I, the Great & Powerful Trixie, have finally got you; I wanted to introduce you to a rather strapping stallion I met, someone who's almost as great and powerful as me." the showmare said confidently.

Everchange was about to say something, until he saw the stallion by her side... and dear Celestia herself, he did not like him. Everchange's face paled, and formed into a sneer. If looks could kill, Everchange would be beating an already dead horse just for the hell of it. "I should've told Twilight to not invite disappointments." Everchange sneered, leering at the stallion who slightly towered above him and Trixie.

Beside the showmare was a slightly light grayish blue unicorn stallion, standing tall and proud as their perfectly combed and groomed light amber blonde mane glistened in the lights of the party. They wore a daisy and a couple fancy and rare herbs on their blue suit, and adjusted a black bowtie as they smiled, a chiding glint in their eyes as they noticed the stallion leering.

The stallion laughed and chortled, looking down at the stallion as they grinned. "Ahh, my dearest distant cousin... I should've guessed by the whole theme of this 'party' that it was for you. Tell me, how's the single life treating you, Everchump?" The stallion said casually, sneering back.

"I'm doing just fine... how's your pride, still in pieces, Prince Blueballs?" Everchange shot back. The stallions pressed their heads against one another, growling as they leered at each other.

Trixie watched them and listened to them insult each other, and of course, it seemed like these two had some bad blood between them. "Trixie's going to assume that you two know each other?" Trixie spoke up. The stallions straightened up and still glared each other down.

"We've known each other since we were younger. This is Prince Blueblood; He's my distant cousin, and he's also a real pain in the flank." Everchange sneered. Blueblood gritted his teeth and turned away in a pompous manner.

"Well, you enjoy yourself, I have, hmm... other matters to attend to." Blueblood said, locking eyes with Trixie. Trixie was about to go with the prince, until Everchange whispered something in her ear.

"Kick him in the groin if he tries anything... he has a nasty habit of being a privileged piece of work." Everchange whispered. Trixie nodded and went along with Blueblood.

Everchange sighed, there goes one friend in the clutches of his family. He was worried, sure, but Everchange knew that despite Trixie's want or need to use sideshow magic to prove her superiority, she'd use actual magic to make that royal oaf see reason. He went off and tried to enjoy the party, hopefully he won't be bothered by anymore run-ins with family.

As the stallion moved around, welcoming and being friendly to so many ponies, he finally found his way to the catering area, seeing Big Mac and Applejack working to keep the food and drinks coming.

"Hey, Applejack, Big Mac! Nice to see ya." Everchange said, smiling to his friends. Applejack reached over and squeezed the stallion, patting him on the back as she got back to working.

"You'll have to excuse her if she's not bein' talkative, bud. she's workin' double time to make sure everypony gets a good meal and a refreshin' drink. Speakin' on the matter, ya hungry?" Big Mac asked.

Everchange nodded and pointed to a small bar-like pastry on the shelf and also to an apple cider bottle with 3 x's across the bottom of its label. Applejack handed them to him and simply said that they were on the house. Everchange took the cider and the small apple pie bar, said farewell to his hardworking pals and quickly sat down at one of the empty tables, eating the sweet and kinda sour dessert as he washed it down with some delicious cider.

'No wonder that Rainbow Dash girl loved it so much, I'd be begging for more too.' Everchange thought to himself, smiling as he continued to enjoy his food.





Out in the woods, Rainbow Dash, dressed in some kind of sporty biker wear, was flying along through the trees, drinking a bottle of cider. "Man, gotta love AJ's cider, it's irresistible. Though I wish I could've talked to Everchange more, that whole party's for him, and all I did was set up a few decorations and sign my name on a poem." Rainbow Dash said aloud. She mulled over the idea, and figured a short visit wouldn't hurt. "I'll go back and say hi, then I'll get back to what I was--"

Rainbow Dash was cut off by the sounds of two nearby ponies. With her curiosity now piqued, the pegasus flew closer, slowly approaching the growing noises as she tried to figure out who was making these noises. Dash quickly poked her head around a corner, and went wide-eyed. "Ooookay I think I had enough cider tonight..." Rainbow Dash whispered, quietly shuddering to herself as she ditched the bottle of cider and went back to the party.

Blueblood was standing on top of Trixie, both of them still and motionless. They had previously come out here to try and get some air from the overwhelming state of the party, until Blueblood tried to escalate things. The both of them had tried to get up and run back to town, until a sudden low droning sound had began to echo through the air. Trixie readied her magic, until she saw a huge shadow being cast over her, and was suddenly smacked into a tree. Blueblood shrieked and ran away, leaving Trixie to whatever her fate was to be.

Trixie could barely get up, and looked at her attacker. Above her was a Manticore, and it seemed to be in a manic state, growling and roaring as it flailed and attacked at anything it saw. Trixie tried to move, but she couldn't, she barely even had feeling in her hind legs. The Manticore was about to attack yet again, but was then somehow defeated. Trixie saw it, lying on the ground, unconscious. On top of it however, was another figure.

A tall figure that seemed to just emanate a sinister energy with its looks alone... or rather, its lack of looks. The figure was some kind of equestrian, possibly earth pony judging by its lack of wings or horn, but something about it just made the mare uncomfortable. Was it because it was tall, unnaturally tall? It had a blank featureless face and a lack of a mouth, yet somehow it knew she was there? A nearly pale and pure white coat with a black suit and white shirt with a red tie, maybe?

The showmare couldn't figure out what it was, but she was terrified, and she wanted to run. She wanted to run, but she couldn't. She didn't have the strength, and the tall entity began to walk closer. She threw her front arms over her face and braced for the end, only to suddenly be lifted off the ground, and looking the strange monster pony where its eyes should be. She felt her hind legs ache, but soon saw that she was enveloped in a black magic aura.

The pain began to fade, feeling returned to her legs, and she was lowered to the ground, healed from her injury. She still trembled at the sight of the creature, but only moved its hoof to its chest, and bowed in a respectful motion. Trixie did the same and quickly ran away back to the party, not caring about her dress's condition.

The stallion sprouted several ethereal black tendrils from its back and carried the Manticore up, stroking it with its hoof. "And this is why I live in solitude for Luna's sake... Let's go back to the cave, my loyal servant, we shall pay a visit when there aren't so many... prying eyes." A smooth, deep, and raspy voice echoed, and the strange faceless stallion walked away, carrying the unconscious Manticore into the direction of the Everfree Forest.





Back at the party in town, Everchange is stuck at the very table he sat down at, and is severely uncomfortable with how his mother, his aunt, and now two other ponies are talking. He was confused at first to see his mother, but he remembers that if Blueblood was here, then of course she'd be here. Everchange would've left, but he didn't want to come off as rude, though he didn't really prefer to listen to them talk politics. He tried to really focus on who these other two ponies were. He knew who they were, but he hadn't seen them in so long... he practically felt bad for not seeing them in the past thousand years.

The pony to his right was a Stallion, an Alicorn stallion no less, though he did very well to hide his wings from the public in his suit. He had a dark foamy grayish-green coat, radiating yellow eyes, and a poofy black mane that sparkled with stars. He wore a lot of silver jewels and had dark freckles on his face. His cutie mark seemed to represent a comet covered in a beautiful blue flame with an orange tail. This was his uncle Cosmos, the King of a small kingdom outside Equestria's borders.

The pony beside him, was his wife, his queen. She was, surprisingly, an Earth Pony, like how he was. The mare had a dark and faded gray coat with a dark crimson mane with a few streaks of orange and blue. Her eyes were white, or just a really, really light gray. From what Everchange could see, her cutie mark seemed to look like the exact mirror image of his... yet, its different. Unlike Everchange's mark, anypony could tell what her calling in life is supposed to be. The mare was simply known as Asher Grain. She was a wheat farmer, and now has several wheat plantations across her and her husband's kingdom.

She had a white blot mass on her flank, but inside the white mass was a strange symbol that Everchange could actually recognize... The Alchemy symbol for Creation. It seemed to radiate a red glow, but Everchange might've just drank the cider too fast and was seeing things. Luna looked over and saw Everchange look... fatigued? No, weary...

"Everchange, I'm sorry, I didn't mean--" Luna said, but Everchange raised his hoof, and she stopped. The ponies looked at the stallion, and he composed himself. He wasn't going to ruin this for them because he felt odd about some random mare's cutie mark, so he did what he always did... fake a smile and go along with it.

"I'm sorry for not talking, I was just in a bit of a funk, and Blueblood pushed me into a big puddle of it earlier, the bastard." Everchange half-lied, trying to bring his focus back to the party.

"Everchange, language please. You may be over a thousand years old, but I won't have you swearing like it's a common thing." Celestia said sternly. Everchange didn't fight back, he just yawned and nodded. He felt odd, why was he so tired all of a sudden? 

"Everchange, are you quite alright? You seem... sleepy." Luna asked with concern. Everchange nearly collapsed onto the floor, until a shrill shriek broke through the noise of the party, causing him to jolt up and awaken. The music came to a sudden stop and Blueblood came running into town in a state of fear.

"M-M-M-MONSTER!!!!! MONSTER IN THE WOODS!! MONSTER ON THE LOOSE!!!" The stallion cried out in a fear-ridden and dramatic fashion. Everypony was looking at each other, worried and concerned as the royal stallion went on. "It was big, burly even! It was furry, it had claws and fangs! It had huge wings, a dangerous tail, I nearly escaped with my life!" Blueblood described. Everchange could hardly believe Blueblood was actually capable of being a drama queen, or a drama king, in his case, but noticed no sign of Trixie. Dash came flying out and was about to say something, but could tell and hear that Blueblood beat her to the punch.

"I can confirm the whole thing, I saw the Manticore sneaking up, ready to nab them!" Dash confirmed. Everypony, even the royals, were beginning to grow concerned. But Everchange just wasn't in the mood to deal with this nonsense. Everchange trotted over and grabbed Blueblood by his tie, and then smacked him in the face as hard as he could muster. Blueblood looked at the stallion dead in the face, and could see that his patience had worn thinner than the silk that was used to make his ensemble tonight.

"Must you be a crybaby, even when you're not being a spoiled brat? Trixie went with you, so you had the decency to at least make sure she was okay, right? You're a pompous crybaby, not a spineless coward, Blueblood. She's my friend, and you know you remember, from the last time you picked on my friend or left them to clean up your mess... I made you pay dearly when Auntie Celestia refused to teach you the basics of right and wrong." Everchange stated, an aggral venom lacing that last phrase that left the panicked noble silent.

The silence was enough for the stallion, and Everchange let Blueblood go. He immediately bolted in the direction of where they came from, and was going to man-handle the hell out of Blueblood if Trixie wasn't breathing.

Dash landed and saw Twilight and the others come up. "What's going on? We saw Everchange run off, but we don't know what the full situation is." Twilight asked worriedly. Dash brought her friends to a table, and the royals soon joined the discussion. All the while, the mysterious mare was watching the whole thing... and soon followed after the stallion they met from before.





Everchange ran through the brush and ran into the clearing, seeing the obvious signs of an attack. Everchange carefully scanned the area, looking at every detail. He saw prints in the grass, signs that things escalated to a point. He noticed fresh prints leading back to the party... Blueblood's no less, but he also noticed another set of prints next to a tree, a tree that looked recently battered judging by how very few splintering wood chunks were falling to the ground. He looked back and saw a small trail of prints, similar to a Manticore's.

"Hm... From how it seemed to look, Trixie and Blueblood came from another direction, obviously one that loops around to the party. They seemed to be... in the midst of something, judging by this mare sized indention in the grass." Everchange said, eyeing the spot that Trixie was laying down on when Blueblood towered over her. Everchange looked over and saw that the Manticore tracks seemed to stop right at the edge of the forest clearing.

"This Manticore must've gone a great length to leave the Everfree for a meal, but this far out, and this close to a town full of ponies? I know some of these creatures are more sapient than others, but I've never seen a Manticore do this, even on the most desperate of circumstances." Everchange puzzled.

He was about to head back, until he saw another set of hoof tracks, looping around to the right and back to the party. He saw they began from the tree that looked recently damaged. "Interesting... It would seem that some other pony, possibly Trixie, may have escaped the Manticore... but judging by the damage done to the tree, just colliding with it at such speed and with such force could've seriously damaged a pony's hind legs. I know Trixie's magic is limited, but I know she doesn't have a instantaneous healing spell in her non-existent bag of tricks... if Trixie was the one who got slammed into the tree, how did she--" A rustling in the trees above broke the silence in the air, besides Everchange talking and analyzing things.

The scene fell silent, and Everchange took a deep breath, whipped around and pushed his left hoof forward, colliding it with the masked mare from before. "Fool me once, shame on you. I will not feel shame because I refused to learn my lesson. Now WHO ARE YOU!?" Everchange yelled, getting angry. The masked mare leapt back and threw several small smoke bombs at Everchange's hooves, causing them to explode and envelop him in a white smoke.

Everchange hacked and coughed as he tried to not breathe in the smoke. Everchange slammed on the device on his wrist, and was replaced by Expioflage in an instant. He cleared out the smoke and lurched towards his foe. "Rrrgh... You just made a huge mistake." The changeling stated. The masked mare charged forward with their wings out, and the two collided, delivering physical blows, but not gaining any upperhand over one another. Expioflage figured this out real quick, and backed off, trying to drain the mare of any emotions, but got nothing... not even an iota of hate was pulled from the mare's body. Already, he was more confused about who this was, but was now wondering what they actually were.

"What is your deal, you crazy mare?! You're obviously an alicorn judging by your obvious possession of having a horn and wings. You got some kick in you, so you have some Earth Pony in you too, but you got no emotions; Either you cry and throw a fit on the inside, or you don't actually know what you're doing right now." Expioflage stated, a bit infuriated that he can't figure out his foe. He hasn't figured out his foes from before, just connected the dots where they seemed to make sense.

The mare grunted, soaring high into the air as it kicked the changeling back to the ground, firing a huge bright gray bolt of magic down onto him. Expioflage groaned, and tapped the badge on his armor. In a flash of green light, Expioflage had switched to Scoville Hooves, and immediately got angry, engulfing themselves in a blistering green flame as their yellow coat changed to a charred black, and their eyes were entirely green, with white cat irises. The Kirin roared out and rammed into the mare, who seemed to actually be faring well against the shapeshifter.

The fires from the Kirin began to burn away most of the mare's costume, but that strange coat color, didn't seem to burn away like cloth. And when it did burn, it showed patches of skin and flesh being burned severely. The mare blasted the Kirin back, and revealed the mare in her entirety. An Alicorn, dressed as some sort of comic book heroine. Her eyes, once a blue color, now seemed yellow and lifeless. The burned patches in her coat, seemed to regenerate as if nothing happened.

"What in the..." The Kirin said to himself. In a flash of green light, Everchange returned to his normal self, and just stared at the mare, who began to land, and stagger towards him. Everchange looked to the mare's side and saw her cutie mark... the same odd 'M' pendant that held her cape together. "Who in the name of Celestia are you?" Everchange asked, more puzzled than usual. The mare caused her horn to glow a vibrant blue magic aura, and her staggering ceased.

'A healing spell... interesting way to confirm one theory... even if numerous more theories contradict it.' Everchange thought to himself.

"I am the mare that defies the gods. I watch over the innocent and make them see reason. I am justice... I am order. I am a fairy tale amongst criminals... I am the Mysterious Mare Do-Well!" the mare exclaimed. He recognized and felt the volume of that voice, definitely confirmed she was royalty of sorts, but he didn't know someone could hold themselves so high... besides Trixie, that is.

"And I am Everchange, son of Luna, and Prince of nothing--"

"I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, SPECTICAL!" Mare-Do Well exclaimed, cutting off the stallion. Everypony else had to have heard her, but Everchange wasn't gonna hold his breath till someone did come around; He kept listening to the mare and kept his muzzle shut for the moment. "I tried to incapacitate you for breaking into Twilight Sparkle's abode. How you could wake up from such a blow is simple, you have dormant potential. I'll be keeping an eye on you, don't wanna risk getting involved with the royals... yet. You never saw me, but I'll be seeing much more of you." The mare stated, making her horn glow brighter.

Everchange was about retort, until in a flash of light, the mare was gone. Everything about tonight was just fine, up until Blueblood starts screaming like a whiny oaf who has a thorn stuck in his crotch and involves one of his friends. Everchange looked around, but saw no sign of the mare anywhere. he heard several hoofsteps coming up from behind him, and quickly turned around, ready to face what was coming his way.

In front of him, was his Mother Luna, His Uncle Cosmos, The Element bearers, Spike and that emotionless mare from earlier that day. He lightened up, but he was still bothered by the events that unfolded. "What are you all doing here? Did you find Trixie?" Everchange asked, he saw his vision blurring... what the hell was happening, he didn't exert himself that much, did he?

He slumped over, but was caught by Applejack. "Woah there, partner; You look more beat than a sandbag in a hoof fight, you gotta rest a bit. Just lean on me, and ah'll carry ya back to the party. the other's will go find Trixie and--" Applejack tried to keep him steady, but he was actively trying to fight the exhaustion. Everchange stood himself up, shaking wearily as he tried to move. He saw the mare's lips moving, but all he heard was some kind of fuzz; he felt ill, bile rose up his throat, but he refused to let it out, and just tried to force it down.

Everchange steadily walked back to the clearing, and looked at a set of hoofprints that seemed to encroach on where Trixie was sent flying. He saw those hoofprints going back to the woods. He slowly followed them, and moved a bush out of the way, and saw them going further, practically leading to the side of the Everfree Forest.

The girls and the royals looked at the stallion, each one of them concerned and confused. "What is that guy looking for over there? He's just looking into the bushes." Dash asked.

"I've never seen him act in such a way... Though I do remember that look of weariness on his face; It's been so long and I still remember that day he looked so out of it, like it was a thousand and thirteen years ago from now." Luna thought aloud.





1,013 years ago...



A young yellow colt was happily playing with a Phoenix, chasing it all the live long day. On a nearby bench, a much younger Luna was smiling, happily watching as the colt chased after the Phoenix.

'It was a long time ago, back in the Canterlot gardens during the days I was working to be a proper mother for Everchange. We had several things to do, but Celestia didn't wish for us to worry about such affairs during a time of peace. We decided to spend the day in the Canterlot Gardens, marveling at several of the statues we had accrued in our slight time of rule. I had decided to let Everchange have some fun, and had him play with Celestia's pet Phoenix, and he chased that bird around the gardens for hours.' the princess narrated.

The colt eventually saw the Phoenix loop around above him, and he skidded to a stop, trying to follow the bird, until he noticed a lone statue. The statue was of a long, tall, slender stallion, lacking a mane, or a tail, but the face they had was one that embodied the true meaning of fear. It had a suit on, and a big circle with an X on it on its flank. It seemed to be recoiling at something.

'My attempt to keep him away from trouble was still in dire need of improvement. He came across the statue of the royal occultist, Quartz Yellowjacket. He was originally supposed to be a figure head for the royal family, direct them to ancient lands in case a fierce foe was coming to destroy their lineage... Instead, when he got his cutie mark, he found an odd obsession and an even odder acclimated enjoyment for the occult arts. For a time, his occult magic has helped fend off forces from dark, dangerous lands beyond any normal pony's reach, but just before we went off to deal with an issue in a nearby kingdom, a sinister force had attacked the castle, and turned our royal occultist into stone. Celestia nor I had the gall to tell Everchange that he was probably still alive, so we let him eye the statue for a bit of time.' 

the scene flashes forward to a few days, then a couple weeks. The colt was researching the statue, and even putting childish scribblings on the pillar it stood on.

'Over time, Everchange had developed more of an interest behind the statue's origins. But a week later, he stops going to the gardens altogether, and I cannot watch over his dreams.' The princess continued.

The colt was exhausted, his eyes wide, and tired. a younger Celestia and Luna towered over him, concern in their eyes as they tried to console the colt.

'On the day of a new week, Celestia and I have tried to ask why the sudden disinterest, but the weariness in his eyes, the lack of sleep, why I couldn't look into his dreams... he had deprived himself of a week's worth of sleep, clamoring on about a repetitive set of short nightmares. In these nightmares, he's found himself in the midst of a dark, and terrifying forest. He'd walk around with a lantern, and find his scribblings hung on random objects in random locations. And then, he spoke of another entity, only one he could apparently see...' She paused.

The colt pulled out one of his scribblings and showed it to the princesses. It showed him, and a few other ponies his age that he briefly knew from the school in ponyville, and a tall equestrian in a black suit, lacking a face, and had long, black, slender tendrils coming from his back. The setting appeared to be a forest, judging by the one singular tree in the picture. Celestia's face some how paled even more, and Luna was worried.

'He was told about an old ghost story back in the olden day, back when the pony tribes were still separate. He was told that back then, colts who didn't do what other colts did would be snatched up in the night by a faceless stallion knowing simply as... The Alta Emissarium. At least in the old text. In Modern Ponish, it calls the beat the 'Tall Stallion'. Though now, I believe I know what this creature may be... The Slender Mane.' She stated.




Luna took a deep breath and sighed, looking at the ponies she told the tale to. "It's not entirely well-known on what this creature is truly capable of, but I do know it's the stuff of nightmares. Legends have updated, showing sights of it near the Everfree Forest, and I fear Everchange's weariness is due to the monster's presence--"

"Woah, hang on there just a bit-picking minute, your highness. You mean to tell me that 'Slender Mane' is real? The Elements of Harmony, I can understand, and Discord too. The fact that Everchange can transform himself into other creatures? Yeah, I can get used to that and accept it. But Slender Mane? You've gotta be kidding; It's just a myth, a scary fairy tale to make little fillies behave and listen to their parents, it's why Scootaloo listens to me. You'd have to bash my head in with the idiot stick to get me to believe that thing actually exists, and even if it did, why is it showing up now?" Rainbow Dash asked, skeptical of the moon princess.

"I'd love to listen to you mares argue, really I would, but my nephew's gone. He up and left while you were telling your story, Luna!" Cosmos stated. Luna whipped her head to Everchange's last location, and indeed, Everchange was gone. "We really need to shorten these stories for the sake of saving time." Cosmos added.

"We have to find him, now!" Luna exclaimed urgently.

"Wait, where's Maud?" Pinkie asked. Everyone looked around, and of course, saw no sign of the emotionless mare. "Y-You don't think the Slender Mane took Maud just now, d-do you!?" Pinkie asked, shaking as she held onto Rainbow Dash.

"This is a really bad assumption, but maybe she went after Everchange? She probably tried to bring him back here and is probably still chasing him. Besides, if he is going to the Everfree Forest, at least he'll be able to take care of himself. But even so, we need to alert Princess Celestia about this. Round up a search party for Trixie, Everchange and Maud, then we try to get them back." Twilight stated.

"Not a bad idea, but I'll give chase and see if I can't help them out of a tight spot. What a way to make a first impression on your new nephew, you cosmic nutjob." Cosmos said, unfurling his wings and flying in the direction of the Everfree Forest.



The Everfree Forest... it was just as dangerous as it was before. Everchange trotted and trotted, sprinting as fast as he could as he watched the tracks. He kept a close eye on where the tracks go, but he could see the sky was getting harder and harder to see. Everchange stopped in his tracks and looked at the ground, activating the device as the green glow illuminated around him.

Silence, silence was all Everchange could hear, and that wasn't ever a word that he'd use to describe the chaos that is the Everfree Forest. Behind him, more hoofsteps echoed out. He whipped around and activated the device, but lowered his guard to... oddly enough see that emotionless mare, standing and staring emotionlessly behind him.

"You again? What are you doing here!?" Everchange asked, bewildered at how this mare was able to catch up to him so fast.

"I noticed you were exhausted back there. I'm not one to tell others how to live their lives, but I can tell that you have a few problems. Physically and Mentally." Maud said. Her monotone voice and lack of expression still not changing.

"Was it that obvious? I couldn't just let some faceless demon from my past just fillynap one of my friends--" Everchange was cut off by Maud pushing a hoof to his muzzle.

"You're not listening. I mean you're exhausted. Exhaustion will be your downfall if you don't rest. Even just 5 minutes will leave you at ease. You look like you're about to keel over, and you seem to be resisting some lingering effect of nausea. You're in no stable condition to keep going. You need rest. You need to think about the situation." Maud said.

"But what about--" Everchange was again cut off, and it was starting to irritate him.

"Listen. Whoever Trixie is, she's probably not here. The Slender Mane, or as my dad used to call it, the Großer Hengst, is definitely not here either. It's just a myth. A Legend. A Folktale. You look like you haven't slept well in the past few months. It's possible that you're seeing hallucinations of your past traumatic experiences, and it's breaking you down. Slowly, but effectively. Your friends are worried, you're missing out on a party they set up just for you. Follow me, and you can tell me your side of the situation at hand." Maud explained, her expression and the tone of her voice, unchanging.

Everchange looked around, and again felt weary. He heard some sort of noise, and he felt sick to his stomach yet again. He leaned against the mare, and she began to carry him out of the forest. Everchange slowly nodded off, squeezing the mare tight as he let out a small yawn and slowly began to sleep.

"And where do you think you're going, Miss Pie; with an unconscious prince no less?" A smooth, deep, and raspy voice echoed out. Maud stopped in her tracks, she listened closely, but the voice did not seem to reply.

Maud kept moving. "Maudelina. I asked you a question." The voice called out again, stern and wanting a reply. The mare stopped and looked behind her, seeing nothing but the darkness of the forest.

Maud took one more step, until she felt something ensnare her hoof, and heard a low growl. It was cold and dry, but very fleshy. "I don't tolerate being ignored!" The voice exclaimed angrily. Maud again turned back, and though her expression remained the same, her words got caught in her throat.

Towering above her, and standing a good few feet away, was the Großer Hengst... The Slender Mane himself. He lacked a face, just like the stories she heard. He wore a ragged and torn black suit, and black tendrils protruded from its back. It lacked a mouth, yet it could speak. It had no mane or a tail, and its skin was pale. The red tie clung loosely to the creature's neck, and it had a circle with a big X on it on its flank.

"Just a legend, hm? If I were a Legend, then pray tell, my emotionless child... Why do I sense fear within you? How can I grab your hoof if I am just a Myth? How can you fear me if I don't exist?" The voice asked in a mocking curious tone. The thing chuckled, and it seemed to reverberate all through Maud's body. Her expression was still unchanged, but her words were refusing to meet the creature.

The voice chuckled yet again. "Come now, don't you have anything to say? I'm all ears, rock farmer. Go on, ask the legend within the Everfree... Anything you wish to know." The voice echoed sinisterly. Maud tried to move, yet she couldn't muster up any courage to.

She just stared at the entity. Silent. The stallion leaned down, its faceless head motioning closer and closer to Maud's. He could feel it, her breath had gotten heavier, yet her expression hadn't changed. She opened her mouth and finally said something. "I'm not-- I- I'm not afraid of you. Leave, a-and let me get him back t-to the party." The mare stuttered, her monotone voice was quaking. She felt her body back away a bit, but only saw the entity step closer.

Every step it took towards her was like a loud drum echoing like a faint roar of thunder. Everchange slowly began to awaken, but fell back into a slumbering state, not that it lasted long in that moment; A wave of nausea caused him to squirm to his hooves. He again tried to push the bile back down, but inevitably succumbed to the nausea, stuck his head into a nearby bush, and retched. "What a class act. He's finally feeling the effects of my abilities; It may have taken a thousand thirteen years, but better late than never. How nice of you to rejoin us, Mr. Everchange." The entity said to the ill stallion.

Everchange raised his head up and then smacked himself, trying to snap himself out of this feeling. He didn't feel sick to his stomach anymore, but the problem was far from solved. Everchange tried to mess with the device, but in reality, he couldn't muster any strength to turn the dial. Everchange beheld his sight onto the creature, and almost as if lady luck had blessed him out of convenience, his strength had returned and he was astonished to say the least.

"Huh... the rumors were true. The Slender Mane exists. You actually exist, you faceless anomaly. I should be happy, but I just feel... underwhelmed. Not like it matters, I'm not here to prove your existence, I want my friend back, you eternal soul sucking sycophant!" Everchange stated.

A low cackling laughter echoed through both ponies minds, and the darkness around them suddenly began to illuminate in a red glowing aura. "Fool, you call me a Soul sucking sycophant? Who do you think I am, your aunt? Soul sucking is so three centuries ago, and it's too messy. I'm more of a Jam person if you could believe me or not; As for your mention of a friend however, was this friend of yours a mare, a unicorn more specifically, blue coat, white mane, reeked of arrogance with a hint of awareness and fear for the unknown, and was last seen with a poor excuse for a member of the royal family?" the voice asked.

Everchange raised an eyebrow, but kept his cool as the forest seemed clearer to see through and travel on. "Yes. How did you--" The voice cut off the stallion as it chuckled a bit, almost in a giddy sort-of tone.

"Mortal, your friend was attacked by a Manticore, one of my new personal minions that still requires training. I watch over all those who enter the Everfree, or encroach near it, except for that Sparkle mare and her friends; They will only grow if they are challenged. Now, let me make one thing clear... I'm not your enemy, and I don't have your friend. She was injured, and I fixed her wounds with a simple healing spell. I was expecting a thank you, but like always, those who are deemed crazy after facing the truth, have seen me and depicted me, as a monster. Poor observation skills on their end, I will say." The entity explained.

Everchange was confused. He looked toward Maud, who seemed to be shaking. Her expressionless face was unchanged, but Everchange learned to tell if fear was in some pony's eyes... and Maud's were filled to the brim. "So, this is all a bit much to take in, especially while possibly my friends and my mother are looking for me, if this mare right here isn't proof of that... I'm willing to take back my insult, but perhaps some other day, I can come back... discuss more on your reasons for being here, probably?" Everchange asked.

The faceless stallion brought its featureless head down to the stallion's and seemed to be looking at him. It felt like an hour had passed, when in actuality it was just a few long excruciating seconds. Everchange felt a warm air brush against his face, and picked up on an odd smell. The smell of... jam? "Fine, but you must come back alone; I can't have more than one visitor, otherwise my other minions will get... antsy." The entity stated. Everchange nodded and guided Maud back the way they came, and the Slender Mane vanished into the darkness of the forest.

"Of all the things I expected to happen at this big party Pinkie invited me to, I wasn't counting on this being one of the things I expected to happen. How did you not feel fear, or your soul being paralyzed when looking at the Großer Hengst?" Maud asked.

"Because of all the times I had nightmares about it as a foal, I would constantly stare it in the face, mostly out of sheer curiosity. My best guess is that I got used to looking at it so much, and the underwhelming idea that it actually existed kinda gave me a reality check, but hearing it say it was not going to suck our souls was also peaking my curiosity... and the strange smell of jam on its breath, too." Everchange stated.

"Jam? That is pretty strange, though to debate on the dietary changes for a myth such as the Großer Hengst is not something I'm looking forward to. Besides, while this was pretty fun, and scary enough to get my heart beating, I gotta get myself cleaned up, and back to my campus. I have a few things to study and a few tests to prepare for. This was pretty exhilarating, though, a nice change of pace from the parties or meeting other ponies." Maud said.

Everchange smiled a bit and chuckled. "If it's all the same to you, I can relate. I suppose I didn't introduce myself proper, I'm Everchange Spectical. What's your name, miss?" Everchange introduced.

"Maudelina Daisy Pie, Though my friends and my family call me Maud for short. I like rocks, and minerals." Maud introduced.

"Maud... that's actually quite a nice name, so simple, yet so complex. Tell me, miss Maud, would you be interested in keeping touch? If it isn't too much to ask considering what had previously occurred, that is." Everchange asked. Maud simply nodded, and the two just simply walked.



After a long trot back the way they came, the two had finally exited the side of the Everfree Forest, and took notice of the group of ponies looking for them nearby. "Well, seems like the end of the walk. Would you mind if I let you go on your way? I just need to check up on something... just in case I might be wrong." Everchange said. Maud nodded and waved him off as he went, and sure enough, Maud was soon tackled to the ground by the pink poofy mess herself, Pinkie.

"Maud! Thank Celestia you're okay, what were you thinking, vanishing like that? You seriously had me worried! I thought the Großer Hengst had gotten you and your soul!" Pinkie exclaimed, squeezing the emotionless mare as she pat her sister on the back.

"My bad. You were all standing around doing nothing, so I decided to do things myself. I went after him, brought him back, end of story. I should've let you know that I would get him back though, I know how sensitive you can be, Pinkie." Maud reassured. Pinkie smiled as the rest of the ponies approached.

"So, where's my Nephew? He's with you like you said, yes? So where is he?" Cosmos asked, looking around in a panic. Luna sighed and looked around as well, noticing a lack of presence from her son.

"He said he had something to check on, something about in case he was wrong. I don't know what he's checking, or where he went, but it seems like he's just worried about this 'Trixie' pony." Maud explained. The ponies looked at each other and sighed in relief.

"Well, at least he's not dead. Then again, he did run into the Everfree Forest, He lives in the Everfree for crying out loud, he's probably used to dodging dangerous stuff on a daily basis... lucky, he gets to live on the edge." Rainbow Dash stated.

"Well, I think we've worried Celly a bit too much tonight, she was prodding my wife for answers and I don't think she'll last much longer. Wherever my nephew went, I just hope he'll be okay. Let's go back to the party, and try to figure out where this 'Trixie' mare went." Cosmos stated. They all began to walk back to the party, though Luna mulled over on how to feel about her son living in the Everfree Forest.



Trixie, was in a real manic and emotional state. She was in the Everfree Forest, scared and mortified by what had happened earlier. She was in Everchange's tent, cowering and shaking as she sobbed into a pillow, and even then, the images that flashed in her mind, it made her feel fear. Not fear in general, but a specific type of fear that tore away at her soul.

She just ran. She ran and ran, she ran like her life depended on it. From the moment she saw the entity, she felt she had to run, and so she did. Trixie had made her way onto the party's scene, drawing in a lot of unwanted attention as she ran through the crowd. The fear on her face was all that was present, and she just wouldn't stop for anypony. She even bolted past Celestia without batting an eyelash, and just made a mad dash for the Everfree. She was terrified, and eventually found Everchange's clearing, and has been hiding in his tent for hours on end.

The sound of hoofsteps were getting closer. They increased in volume, they got closer and closer, and she was worried for her life in ways she didn't think she'd have to be worry in. She raised her face up from the pillow and readied her horn, letting it glow a blue aura as tears cascaded down her face. She was ready to fight back... and she was ready to go down fighting.

"Back to Tartarus and further below with you, faceless demon!!" Trixie exclaimed, her voice hoarse and shaky from the fear and from crying so much. She gritted her teeth and blasted a bolt of magic out of the tent's entrance, only to realize too late that she had fired her shot at Everchange, who was lucky enough to have dodged that blast.

"E-Everchange! I, the Great and Panicked Trixie, am oh so glad to see you right now!" Trixie said relieved. the mare jumped at the stallion and squeezed him in a hug, and Everchange could feel his lungs being aired out.

"It- I- It was terrible! Things were going so well, and then a Manticore showed up, swatting me into a tree! I expected my knight in shining armor to do something to save me, but that coward left me for dead!" Trixie stated. She wiped her eyes and buried her face into Everchange's neck as she continued. "T-Then that Manticore was easily beat... but it was beaten by something much worse. Who would've thought the Myth, known as the 'Slender Mane' would actually be real? I thought it was going to kill me. I got roughed up pretty bad, so running wasn't an option, and I couldn't use magic to get anywhere without proper concentration, but it did something I never would've expected. It... it healed me. I was in no position to run, but it easily could've killed me or snatch me away into the forest, but no... it healed me of my injuries. I thought it was giving me a chance to escape, so I ran back and cut through Ponyville to get to here, I thought it would've been safe, believe it or not." Trixie explained.

Everchange pat the unicorn on her back and tried to calm her down, until a rustling sound was heard. Trixie immediately dove back into the tent, and Everchange just sighed. "Splinter, c'mere boy, Nightmare Night came and went, so you won't get the drop on me!" Everchange called out. From the rustling brush, the Timberwolf came out, panting and nuzzling the stallion with its wooden muzzle. Trixie poked her head out and sighed in relief, stepping out.

"Sweet Celestia, thank goodness it was just your Timberwolf; for a moment I thought it would've been the Slender Mane again." Trixie said with a tired smile. Everchange, despite enjoying the company from his friend, and the affection from his pet, he felt perturbed. The stallion stopped petting the wooden canine and looked to the sky, seeing that it was indeed nighttime... it was time for him to rest anyway.

Everchange tossed a couple carrots from a produce sack he bought yesterday into the air, and let Splinter nosh on those for a bit as it curled up nearby and tried to sleep. Trixie bid Everchange adieu and trotted back to Ponyville, while Everchange grabbed a piece of parchment, a pencil, and began to write out a letter.


Dear Aunt Celestia,

So far, I've learned that the device that used to be the gem on my wrist, may have more potential that I have yet to discover. I also have a gut feeling that there's more about our world that seems to be kept under wraps, even to you and mother despite your positions of royal status. So as I write this, I proclaim that starting tomorrow, I will go out beyond Ponyville and try to work on mastering my transformations, as well as to find out my purpose in life. I'll probably try to document several of my findings if they prove to be useful. Just promise me you'll NOT interfere with my duties, should our paths cross on occasion. This is my responsibility, and I want to see this through.

Your Nephew,

Everchange Spectical

Everchange rolled up the parchment and tied it closed with some blue ribbon. He set the scroll by his side and crawled into his sleeping bag, flipping his pillow over as he began to rest. "I'll have Spike deliver it tomorrow... G'Night, Splinter." Everchange said quietly, letting a yawn escape his muzzle as he closed his eyes as the beast known as sleep took hold.