Princess Cadence has been poisoned, will Twilight Sparkle and her friends manage to find a cure in time?
Queen Chrysalis forces Zecora to make a poison which Cadence is then tricked into drinking, thinking it is a gift from Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle and her friends need to find a cure quickly, or Cadence will surely die. (Happens between season 2 and 3)
It was about an hour before dawn and the zebra, Zecora, stood by the entrance to her hut in the Everfree Forest, enjoying the pleasant breeze on her face and waiting for her little niece, Zig-Zag, to return. She had gone to look for some potion ingredients for her aunt and had said that she wouldn’t go far. Zecora couldn’t help but feel a little worried, especially as she had only recently acquired the foal.
She went back inside her hut and readjusted a recently added picture of herself and Zig-Zag before getting back to work on a potion she was making. She did not notice the strange creatures landing outside her hut. She had just finished the potion she was working on and sealed the contents in a bottle when the door opened.
Zecora turned her head towards the door, expecting to see her niece. She gasped when she saw the creatures on her doorstep which surged into her hut before she had a chance to react. She stared around at the horrid buzzing creatures that had invaded her home. The creatures made a gap in the doorway to allow the largest one of the group into the hut.
‘What is going on!’ Zecora demanded, ‘I thought such creatures from Equestria had long gone!’
‘Oh, do pardon the intrusion,’ the largest one began, causing a large amount of the group to snigger, ‘I’ve got a little job for you. I’m Chrysalis, queen of the changelings . . .’
‘I’ve heard about you a bit,’ Zecora snarled, ‘you’re nothing but an evil git!’
‘And would have succeeded in taking over Equestria if it weren’t for that princess,’ Chrysalis half said to herself. ‘Hoof over the recipe,’ she told one of the other changelings who hoofed her a piece of paper. ‘Here’s what I want you to make,’ she told the zebra with a nasty smile. Zecora was appalled.
‘I will do no such thing for you,’ the shocked zebra stuttered, ‘I could not make such an evil brew,’ She was interrupted by a giggle from Chrysalis. Zecora was disgusted. ‘You might as well let me be,’ she said firmly, ‘there’s nothing you can do to make me!’
‘Aunt Zecora, what’s going on?’
Zecora was horrified to see her little niece in the doorway. Chrysalis gave a cruel grin.
‘Grab her,’ the queen ordered. Two of the changelings lay hoof upon the frightened filly. Chrysalis turned back to Zecora, ‘Are you going to make the potion?’ Zecora stared at her. ‘Twist her leg back,’ Chrysalis told the two changelings. Zig-Zag yelled out in pain.
‘No! Stop it! Leave her alone!’ Zecora shouted, ‘I cannot bear to hear her groan!’
‘Well?’ Chrysalis asked through a chuckle, ‘are you going to make it or not?’
*
To Cadence,
With love from Twilight, This drink is a present for you. I insist you drink it all yourself as I know how inclined you are to share so much with others.
Cadence finished reading the note and smiled, ‘Twilight you know me too well,’ she said to herself. She wondered how long Twilight Sparkle’s present had been there. It was nearly dawn. The princess hadn’t been able to sleep so she had got up. She looked back at the present. She was rather thirsty. And as there was no-pony around she wouldn’t be tempted to go against Twilight’s instructions and share it with anypony.
As the sun rose she swallowed the liquid. It did taste rather nice but she experienced a slight burning sensation in her throat as she swallowed. It was the thought that counted the most in any case.
Cadence had successfully fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning. When she awoke the sun was shining brightly. She didn’t know why but she didn’t feel quite herself somehow and maybe felt a little sick. She looked over to see that Shining Armor was still asleep. She gave a small smile before getting out of bed carefully, in order not to wake him. Maybe she just needed some fresh air. She decided to go for a walk. She left a note and planted a kiss on her husband’s cheek before leaving. Ponies were bustling up and down the Canterlot streets but many of them greeted the princess in any case.
‘Good morning,’ she replied cheerfully, but she didn’t feel cheerful. She seemed to be feeling worse as time went on. She felt a little dizzy. Perhaps she needed to sit down. As she walked on her dizziness became worse and her legs began to shake uncontrollably. Before she knew what was happening, she had collapsed onto the ground. Her vision became slightly blurred.
‘What’s happening to me?’ she said, her voice suddenly becoming hoarser. She looked up to see what looked like three ponies which gradually merged into one.
‘Princess?’ came the voice of a slightly alarmed Twinkleshine, ‘what’s wrong?’
‘I-I don’t know,’ Cadence replied weakly. Twinkleshine stared fearfully at the princess’s state.
‘Lyra! Minuette!’ Twinkleshine called urgently, ‘help me to carry the princess to my home!’ The two ponies exchanged looks before hurrying over. ‘Wind Whistler,’ Twinkleshine continued, addressing a pegasus pony, ‘could you fly to Canterlot Castle and tell Princess Celestia what has happened?’ Wind Whistler nodded and flew off as fast as she could.
‘Thank you, Twinkleshine,’ Cadence said softly.
‘She does look rather ill,’ Minuette commented.
‘We better hurry,’ said Lyra, as they lifted Cadence onto their backs.
As quickly and as carefully as they could, they headed for Twinkleshine’s home. On arriving, the three ponies made their best efforts to make the princess feel better but nothing seemed to work, and, to make matters worse, Cadence began to experience surges of pain. The only things they seemed to be able to do was make her more comfortable and offer words of comfort.
Celestia soon arrived, accompanied by Luna who had evidently only just woken up. Cadence slowly looked up.
‘Auntie Tia? Aunt Luna?’ she murmured as the blurry shapes came towards her. Celestia looked very worried. Her niece was evidently not in a good state.
‘Luna,’ she began quickly, ‘round up all the doctors and nurses in Canterlot and bring them to Canterlot Castle, I’m going to take Cadence back there now.’ Luna nodded and galloped off.
Celestia had flown slowly and carefully back to Canterlot Castle with Cadence on her back. Her niece’s state was most definitely getting worse as time went on. On their arrival, Shining Armor galloped over.
‘Cadence!’ he cried. She slowly looked over slowly and gave a weak smile. Shining Armor stared at the bad state his poor wife was in. ‘What’s wrong with her?’ he asked Celestia.
‘We should find out soon enough,’ Celestia replied, ‘Luna’s going to bring back all the doctors and nurses in Canterlot,’
‘She’s, she’s going to be okay then?’ he inquired nervously.
‘Time to wake up, Twilight!’ came Pinkie Pie’s voice.
‘Pinkie?’ answered Twilight Sparkle with a yawn and opening one eye, ‘will you stop bouncing on my bed?’ Pinkie Pie jumped off the bed and began to bounce around the room instead. Twilight Sparkle began to regret asking Pinkie Pie to come and help her with her reshelving this morning. Spike was still asleep when she got up and she and Pinkie Pie began reshelving.
He was still asleep when they had finished too. The two ponies giggled as they went past him on their way to meet the others at Sugar Cube Corner.
When they arrived, Rainbow Dash was going on about a new flying trick she had come up with. Fluttershy murmured something in an attempt to pretend to be interested, Applejack gave a yawn and Rarity wasn’t making the slightest effort not to look rather bored. Rainbow Dash had evidently been talking about it for quite some time.
‘Oh, Twilight,’ came Fluttershy’s small voice as she noticed her approaching them, Pinkie Pie already having hurried over energetically.
When the group went outside a few minutes later, Twilight Sparkle noticed Zecora wandering around in a way which almost suggested that she really didn’t want to be caught sight of.
‘Zecora?’ said Twilight Sparkle quietly as she approached the zebra. Zecora jumped in surprise.
‘Oh, hello,’ she said rather unnaturally before looking behind her at the two yellow ponies, one with a dark blue mane, the other with a pale blue mane, who were standing a short distance away.
‘Are you okay?’ Twilight Sparkle asked.
‘Oh, yes,’ she replied in an unnaturally high voice, ‘Um, nice day, isn’t it? Well, I’d better go . . .’
‘Something’s wrong,’ said Twilight Sparkle as she watched Zecora galloping away.
‘What makes you say that?’ asked Rainbow Dash.
‘She didn’t speak in rhyme for one thing,’ Twilight Sparkle pointed out, ‘maybe we should go after her.’ Just then, Spike came rushing up to them with a letter.
‘What’s it say, Twilight?’ Applejack asked. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened as she read.
‘It says that Cadence is very sick,’ she began, ‘and Princess Celestia wants us to come and meet her at Canterlot Castle. They need all the help they can get.’
‘What are we waiting for?’ said Rainbow Dash, ‘We’ve got a train to catch!’
‘Hold on there, partner!’ Applejack told her. Twilight Sparkle nodded.
‘We should go and pack anything that might be useful,’
‘Absolutely,’ Rarity replied, ‘I simply can’t go anywhere without some fashion accessories!’
As the group hurried off, they did not notice the two yellow ponies change their appearance.
‘Princess Celestia,’ Twilight Sparkle said, ‘we came as fast as we could!’
‘Hello, Twilight Sparkle,’ Celestia replied in a graver tone than usual, before noticing her sister running up to her. Luna gave a sigh and shook her head. ‘No clue at all?’ Celestia asked.
‘No, my sister,’ Luna replied, ‘never seen anything quite like it; it seems it must be a very rare aliment. I have sent a group of ponies into the library to search through books on ancient illnesses.’ Celestia nodded.
‘How – How bad is it?’ Twilight Sparkle asked nervously.
‘Very bad,’ Celestia responded, ‘she seems to have a large amount of symptoms: aches, dizziness, pains, bad throat, occasional chills and fever, cold and hot sweats; she says her vision has become blurred too.’ The group stared. ‘She couldn’t sleep much last night,’ Celestia continued, ‘but whenever she did she had terrible nightmares but we don’t know if there’s a connection between the nightmares and her illness or not.’
When they all entered Cadence and Shining Armor’s room, they were greeted by the sight of the poor princess on the bed looking very pale and very weak, often tossing and turning, and occasionally yelling out in pain.
Shining Armor, who was sitting on the bed next to Cadence, his eyes filled with worry, didn’t notice the group enter the room.
‘When did this happen?’ asked Twilight Sparkle.
‘It started yesterday morning,’ Celestia told her, ‘she collapsed.’ After a few moments, a thought crossed her mind and she spoke again, ‘I don’t suppose it could be an allergic reaction to the drink you sent her?’
‘Drink?’ Twilight Sparkle asked.
‘Yes, the drink you sent her.’ Celestia replied, ‘I’m sure you didn’t mean . . .’
‘I didn’t send her any drink!’ Twilight Sparkle spluttered.
‘But you left a note on it,’ said Luna before hurrying off to get her evidence.
‘That’s not my writing!’ exclaimed Twilight Sparkle when Luna returned, ‘and it’s not Spike’s either!’ They all looked over as Cadence yelled again and Twilight Sparkle suddenly vaguely remembered something she had read.
‘Um, Twilight?’ Are you okay?’ asked Fluttershy nervously. Twilight Sparkle’s feelings must have shown in her expression.
‘I need to go to the library!’ Twilight Sparkle said urgently, ‘Now!’
On arriving, she bolted through the shelves until she found the book she was looking for. When the others arrived, Twilight Sparkle was rapidly flipping through a book with the title ‘Potions & Poisons’. The group of ponies that Luna had sent to the library all looked over to see what was going on. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened.
‘Oh, no,’ she said, somewhere between panic and sadness, ‘I was right!’ Applejack looked over her shoulder.
‘That looks mighty bad,’ she said in a serious tone.
‘Um, are you sure, Twilight?’ Fluttershy asked quietly. Twilight Sparkle nodded grimly. Celestia looked over anxiously.
‘My – my n-niece has b-been poisoned!’ the princess spluttered. Luna came over.
‘It’s going to get worse by the look of it,’ she exclaimed, ‘a lot worse.’
‘Is there a cure?’ Celestia asked in a slightly panicked tone, ‘and how long does Cadence have before . . ?’
‘It says the length of time depends on the dosage,’ Twilight Sparkle answered, ‘Hang on, there’s a page missing! Somepony’s ripped a page out of this book!’ She was right. The page containing the method and ingredients was missing.
‘I bet if there is a cure, it was written on that missing page!’ said Luna bitterly. She looked more closely at the book. ‘It mentions nightmare in here!’ They all looked more closely. ‘Apparently, the victim will revisit their worst memories while they sleep but the pony who is responsible for giving them the poison, directly or indirectly, will be the most frequent presence.’
It was quickly agreed that Twilight Sparkle would carefully ask Cadence about her nightmares but would avoid letting her or Shining Armor know that she was poisoned as it would make them both feel a lot worse.
Twilight Sparkle quickly returned with a sigh, it was obvious now she thought about it. The others turned towards her.
‘If only we had been able to locate the changelings’ hive, this might never have happened,’ came Luna’s voice after a few moments of the fact sinking in.
‘A few changelings must have snuck in at night through the library window and ripped the page out the book,’ Celestia said, ‘everypony in Canterlot has been on particular guard for changeling activity. At night would have been the easiest time.’ They all nodded and Twilight Sparkle remembered how she had tried to sneak into the Canterlot library at night.
‘So how are we going to find this cure, then?’ inquired Rarity.
‘There must be another copy of this book, surely?’ Twilight Sparkle said.
‘There are many,’ replied Luna, ‘the problem will be finding a correct edition,’ The group looked at each other. ‘Newer versions have removed the worst potions, or, at least, the instructions for making them,’ she explained, ‘the cure, therefore, will also have been removed from those copies.’
‘I’m worried about Princess Celestia,’ said Twilight Sparkle as the group left on their search for the cure in Canterlot, ‘she normally doesn’t seem to show her emotions that much; she seemed to be in a state.’
‘Once we’ve found the cure, she’ll probably be fine,’ Fluttershy replied quietly.
‘Why’d that changeling queen want to poison Cadence anyway?’ asked Rarity.
‘Uh, maybe because she’s evil?’ said Rainbow Dash in a sarcastic tone.
‘Revenge probably,’ answered Twilight Sparkle, ‘if Cadence hadn’t escaped, the wedding would have gone ahead and if it weren’t for Cadence, Shining Armor wouldn’t have revived or been able to perform his protection spell.’
‘But she could only do those things because of you, Twilight!’ said Pinkie Pie.
‘I just hope the changeling queen doesn’t think of that,’ Twilight Sparkle replied, ‘mind you, Cadence’s death could easily work as a revenge on all of us.’
‘Well, I-I wonder how she was able to make it,’ came Fluttershy’s gentle voice, ‘not just anypony can make a potion effectively, you know . . .’
‘Probably one of those changelings has a special talent at potion making,’ Rainbow Dash said.
‘But changelings don’t have cutie marks,’ Applejack reminded her, ‘so they probably don’t have special talents.’
They searched until late evening, but found that Luna was right, if the copy they were looking in even contained the information on the poison, it did not contain the ingredients list or any sign of a cure. They had received help from a number of ponies, including Twinkleshine, Wind Whistler and Lyra, but had been unsuccessful even though they had covered the whole of Canterlot.
‘Right,’ said Twilight Sparkle with a sigh, ‘tomorrow, we take the train back to Ponyville and search for a cure there,’ The others nodded gravely. ‘I just hope Cadence can last until then.’
‘Is she still alive?’ Twilight Sparkle asked Celestia hurriedly.
‘Yes,’ Celestia replied grimly, ‘but she’s in about double the pain.’
‘We’ll be back as soon as we can,’ Twilight Sparkle promised, ‘you can count on us.’
The group hurried to the railway station and boarded the train that was about to leave. Most of the group seemed reasonably relaxed, especially considering the situation, but Twilight Sparkle was having trouble not showing in how much of a panic she was in.
They had no idea how long Cadence had to live. She might be dead within a few hours, a few minutes, a matter of seconds! She might, Twilight Sparkle felt sick, already be dead! Maybe they should have run faster yesterday, or got more ponies to help them, perhaps they should have left for Ponyville last night, or got up earlier in the morning? Her memories of Cadence foalsitting her that kept coming to the front of her mind were only making things worse and making her feel more guilty. When they at last arrived in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle was the first pony to get off the train.
By early evening, having as much success as in Canterlot for finding a cure, Twilight Sparkle’s panic was really beginning to show. The whole group felt pretty miserable. No-pony was saying anything, Fluttershy was hunched up almost in a ball, Rainbow Dash was no longer flying and Pinkie Pie’s hair was slightly flatter than usual.
As Twilight Sparkle went through her memories of that day and the previous one, she suddenly remembered Zecora’s odd behavior. Zecora! Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of it before? If anypony had a copy of that book she would! And even if she didn’t, she might well know of a cure!
Twilight Sparkle realized as they all headed for the Everfree Forest that this would also solve their other potential problem of creating the cure once they found a correct copy of the book.
When they reached Zecora’s hut, they knocked at the door, but no-pony answered. Fluttershy timidly leaned her head against the door.
‘It – it sounds like somepony’s crying in there,’ Fluttershy told the others softly. Twilight Sparkle slowly pushed the door open. She slowly approached Zecora who was sitting, facing away from them, hunched up in the corner of her hut. The others followed carefully at a short distance.
‘Zecora?’ said Twilight Sparkle quietly. Zecora jumped and the piece of paper she had been holding flew from her grasp and fell at Twilight Sparkle’s feet. She looked down. It was the missing page from the potions book.
Twilight Sparkle stared. She stared at the page, then at Zecora. The others looked over Twilight Sparkle’s shoulder at the page.
‘Z-Z-Zecora, how, how could you?’ said Twilight Sparkle in a shocked tone.
‘You, you made that poison, didn’t you!’ demanded Pinkie Pie, ‘She’s an evil enchantress . . !’
‘Pinkie!’ interrupted Twilight Sparkle before looking back at Zecora who looked very ashamed of herself. ‘Why did you do it, Zecora?’ Zecora looked over at the picture on the wall of her and her little niece. Twilight Sparkle looked over too. ‘Who’s that with you?’ she asked.
‘My – my n-niece, Zig-Zag,’ Zecora replied weakly, ‘she came to live with me a short time ago . . .’
‘Where, where is she now?’ Twilight Sparkle inquired. A tear ran down Zecora’s cheek.
‘They, she took her, Queen Chrysalis took her . . .’ Zecora responded.
‘Who?’ asked Twilight Sparkle.
‘The queen of the changelings,’ Zecora answered, ‘They were going to hurt Zig-Zag unless I made the potion, and – and then C-Chrysalis took her to ensure I wouldn’t make the cure.’
‘Do you know where they took her?’ said Twilight Sparkle.
It was quickly decided that they would find Spike and get him to find the ingredients while the rest of them rescued Zig-Zag in order to save time and reduce suspicion which was realized as a possible problem when Zecora explained how she had been being watched by changelings nearly every time she left her hut, however, she was not entirely sure by how many although she could recognize some of them instantly.
It occurred to Twilight Sparkle that Zecora would have to think up a question only Zig-Zag would be able to answer in case it was a changeling in disguise, as there was a possibility that Queen Chrysalis might expect a rescue attempt; and for Zecora to give them a question only she could answer in case they were set upon by an army of changelings all disguised as her. Twilight Sparkle really hoped this wouldn’t happen as they didn’t have the time for unnecessary complications.
They warned Spike to watch out for any suspicious ponies and to make out, if asked, that the ingredients were for soup, before setting off. They walked quite close to the edge of the Everfree Forest but never left it, then took a sudden sharp turn going deeper into the woodland. As they went further, they noticed a gradual increase in the amount of slime on the plants and trees.
‘We must be getting close!’ said Rainbow Dash.
‘Stay alert and watch out for changelings,’ Twilight Sparkle told the others. The sound of buzzing became louder as they got closer. Although it was evident that this wasn’t the changelings’ place of residence, there seemed to be quite a few in the area. The group had to dodge behind a tree or hide among other foliage to avoid being caught sight of by a couple of changelings who appeared to be patrolling the area.
Suddenly, Fluttershy, who hadn’t made a sound until now, yelped in pain. Rainbow Dash swiftly grabbed her, revealing a trap to have clamped around her hoof and leg. Within a few paces, the others began to hear snapping sounds beneath their hooves as traps tried to snap shut on them.
‘Go!’ shouted Rainbow Dash, ‘we’ll catch up to you as soon as I’ve freed Fluttershy,’ The others hurried ahead, only just avoiding many of the snapping traps.
‘Run closer to the areas where the slime is,’ called Twilight Sparkle, ‘there’s less likely to be traps there!’
At last they were out of the area and onto what seemed to be something like a dirt track. They stopped and waited for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle wished they would hurry up both for Cadence’s sake and for their own as the dirt track made the area more open and there were few places to hide in.
Due to Rainbow Dash’s rapid flight speed, she and Fluttershy caught up pretty quickly; Zecora did her best to treat and bandage Fluttershy’s injuries, she almost seemed like her old self again for a few moments. The group kept close together as they walked on in the increasingly horrible environment. The place was filled with a terrible stench, somewhere between the smell of drains and rotting flesh. All the trees and plants were dying and covered in oozing sludge and slime. There was something in the air too which made it hard to breathe and hurt their eyes.
‘This is simply horrible,’ Rarity complained, ‘how can they possible live like this?’ No-pony answered. If the changelings didn’t live here, Twilight Sparkle hated to think what their home was like. As they turned a corner they were greeted by the sight of what looked like some sort of encampment swarming with buzzing changelings.
‘You-you don’t think they’ll be able to smell us do you?’ Fluttershy asked nervously.
‘With this stench in the air!’ exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
‘I didn’t mean like that,’ Fluttershy replied softly, ‘I meant like our friendship . . .’
‘Huh?’ said Applejack, confused.
‘I think what she means is that you are friends,’ said Zecora, ‘on each other you do depend. Such love, a changeling could probably sense from far above.’ Twilight Sparkle looked at Zecora, thinking about what she had just said and that her sentences were beginning to rhyme again.
‘So let’s just stay a little further from the camp them!’ Pinkie Pie suggested.
‘Pinkie’s right,’ Twilight Sparkle told them, ‘but if we’re going to find Zig-Zag we’ll have to take the risk and be as quick as possible.’ They walked in single file round the edge of the camp, stepping in each other’s hoof prints in case there were any more traps in the area.
‘I’m fed up with walking,’ sighed Rainbow Dash, ‘can’t I just fly over and look for Zig-Zag by air?’
‘Rainbow Dash,’ Twilight Sparkle responded, ‘changelings can fly too,’
‘And you could easily get noticed,’ continued Applejack.
‘And get caught,’ added Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash snorted.
‘You may be a very fast flyer,’ murmured Fluttershy, ‘but there would simply be too many of them.’
‘And think of Cadence,’ exclaimed Twilight Sparkle, ‘we don’t have much time left to save her. Do you want to be responsible for her death, or force us to choose between saving her and rescuing you when you get caught?’
‘Alright, alright,’ muttered Rainbow Dash, ‘you’ve made your point.’
‘Hush and keep your heads down, quickly!’ Zecora ordered urgently. They managed to hide themselves just before Queen Chrysalis, who was cackling, stopped close by, accompanied by another changeling.
‘In agony, you say! Tossing and turning! Wriggling and writhing! Screaming out so loudly the whole of Equestria can probably hear her! And poor Shining Armor can’t do a thing to help her!’ The changeling queen burst into a fit of creepy giggles. Twilight Sparkle was having to use a lot of self-control not to attack her. ‘And to think how easy it all was, ‘Queen Chrysalis continued, ‘that poor princess practically poisoned herself, and that zebra was so easy to persuade . . .’
‘Are you going to give that zebra back her niece, your majesty?’ the other changeling asked. The queen snorted.
‘Of course not! She’ll only think I have, just as her niece will think that you’re her aunt,’ The other changeling gave a nasty grin. ‘They’ll be drained down to the bone.’ The queen remained silent for a few moments, smirking to herself. ‘You know, I really think I ought to pay our little patient a visit, don’t you?’ she said through chuckling. The other changeling sniggered. ‘I ought to give her a good send off, shouldn’t I?’
Zecora and Rarity were struggling to hold Twilight Sparkle down. After a minute, Chrysalis turned to the other changeling again.
‘It’s time to change the guard on that zebra,’ she stated, unaware that she was gesturing in the direction that Zig-Zag was being held, ‘go and inform those who are to take over.’
‘Yes, your majesty,’ the other changeling replied before hurrying off. As soon as the smirking queen had walked away, chuckling evilly as she did, Twilight Sparkle turned to the others, rage pulsing through her veins.
‘Right, let’s go,’ she snapped, before charging off.
‘Twilight, not so fast!’ Rarity called in a low voice.
‘We’ve gotta catch her before she does something crazy!’ said Pinkie Pie.
‘And she told me not to act impulsive,’ muttered Rainbow Dash.
‘Her anger is understandable,’ Zecora told them, ‘but her fury may make her blind.’ They only had to race on a little further to find Twilight Sparkle who seemed to be in a more sensible frame of mind but was still very angry. ‘If you need to let your anger out, let it out on me,’ Zecora said, ‘I’m the one to blame.’
‘It’s that changeling queen I want to lay hoof upon,’ said Twilight Sparkle bitterly, ‘and if you weren’t in such a state too, Zecora, you wouldn’t be saying something like that.’ Zecora gave a sad smile.
‘If you weren’t in such a state I wouldn’t have to,’ she replied. Twilight Sparkle managed to return Zecora’s smile. The place Zig-Zag was being held was within view.
‘Why don’t we grab her while they’re changing the guard?’ suggested Rainbow Dash. The others nodded, and, hiding themselves among the grass and foliage, snuck over close to where Zig-Zag was being guarded by two changelings.
‘Will that pony ever stop sniveling?’ one of the guards moaned.
‘She’s a zebra, remember?’ the other replied.
‘I don’t care!’ the first retorted, ‘maybe I should try slapping her.’
‘I wouldn’t if I were you,’ the second warned, ‘apparently she makes an even worse noise if you do.’ The group crept closer. They could now see Zig-Zag who was shaking slightly and whose expression was full of misery; her hooves were also stuck to the ground with slime. Twilight Sparkle carefully aimed at Zig-Zag’s hooves, willing her not to make a sound or jump in surprise, and made the slime disappear.
Zig-Zag was surprisingly mature: she slowly looked down at her hooves, only moving her eyes slowly, she made no sound or even moved an inch, she slowly moved her eyes around to see who was responsible. On catching sight of the group, she made certain her expression did not change in the slightest and still allowed no sound to come from her mouth. She looked straight forward again, only watching the group out of the corner of her eye. The group was relieved. The replacement changeling guards were in view.
‘At last!’ said the first guard.
‘Don’t let Queen Chrysalis hear you saying that!’ muttered the second. The four changelings greeted each other by flashing their blue eyes green.
‘Somepony grab her now!’ muttered Twilight Sparkle urgently. There was hesitation, then, Fluttershy, to everypony’s surprise, including Fluttershy’s, took to her wings and dived over, at a reasonably slow speed, took Zig-Zag in her arms, and hurried back.
Zecora had instinctively wanted to embrace her niece but Zig-Zag had stopped her. It took Zecora a few moments to realize that, of course, the interaction would not have gone unnoticed by the changelings.
Zecora scooped Zig-Zag onto her back and they all hurried away as fast as they could. The fact that Zig-Zag was gone couldn’t go unnoticed for more than a few seconds.
‘That was very brave, Fluttershy,’ Twilight Sparkle puffed.
‘Well, I, what I mean is, I just couldn’t stand seeing that poor little thing there any longer,’ Fluttershy replied quietly with a slight blush.
‘They’re coming! They’re coming!’ shouted Pinkie Pie. The sound of buzzing was getting louder. Zig-Zag held more tightly around Zecora’s neck as everypony increased their speed. They galloped on.
‘We need to lose them somehow,’ said Twilight Sparkle, ‘we can’t have them following us back to the hut, it would cause massive problems.’
‘There’s a lake up ahead,’ Zecora told her, ‘we could try . . .’ Twilight Sparkle nodded. They stopped and hid close to the lake. As the changelings caught up and began to search the area, one at a time, they quickly and carefully got into the water.
‘I really wish we didn’t have to do this,’ murmured Fluttershy. The group held their breath nervously under the water.
‘Gone,’ one of the changelings said, ‘searched everywhere,’
‘Queen Chrysalis isn’t going to be happy about this,’ another sighed before signaling to the rest to return.
When they were sure the changelings were gone, the group gasped for air.
‘It was freezing in there!’ exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
‘Not to mention wet,’ Rarity complained, ‘look what that water’s done to my hair!’
‘Would you have preferred the changelings, Rarity?’ asked Applejack, ‘it was either them or the water.’ Zig-Zag let out a shudder.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Twilight Sparkle, ‘I learned a spell recently that will dry us off, but we must hurry in case those changelings come back and for Cadence’s sake.’
*
Spike greeted them when they got back to Zecora’s hut.
‘Did you get everything on the list?’ Twilight Sparkle asked him. Spike nodded. Zecora had begun to make the cure with Zig-Zag passing over the ingredients to her.
‘I’m sorry I failed you, Aunt Zecora,’ Zig-Zag was saying.
‘Can’t you see that in no way have you failed me?’ Zecora replied. Zig-Zag gave a small sad sigh.
‘I tried to escape five times,’ she explained, ‘I originally only had one guard and my hooves weren’t stuck to the ground either. That queen caught me the fifth time; I crashed right into her; I guess I should’ve been watching where I was going . . .’
‘Do you think the changeling queen was exaggerating about the pain Cadence is in?’ Twilight Sparkle asked Applejack.
‘I hope she was,’ Fluttershy murmured anxiously. A loud snore came from the corner of the room which turned out to be Pinkie Pie who had fallen asleep. They were all pretty sleepy.
The five ponies that were still awake watched as Zecora and Zig-Zag tried to create a balance between working both carefully and quickly. As they watched, they slowly began to close their eyes.
*
They were awoken by Zecora’s shakes and anxious expression. Zig-Zag was trying to awaken them too.
‘It’s an hour until dawn,’ she told them in an almost panic-stricken tone; she was carrying some sort of flask on her side, ‘we must leave now!’ Twilight Sparkle jumped up immediately and helped to wake the others.
They dashed from the hut into Ponyville and bolted in the direction of the Railway Station but there encountered an unforeseen problem. It was very early morning. The trains didn’t run this early. How were they going to get to Canterlot in time?
Twilight Sparkle looked around rapidly and nervously and caught sight of a couple of the pegasus ponies from the Royal Guard who looked as if they had just dropped somepony off in Ponyville as they had a small carriage. Twilight Sparkle hurried over to them.
‘Please,’ she gasped, ‘we need to get to Canterlot as quickly as possible, it’s an emergency!’
‘We can take you to the edge of Canterlot,’ one of them replied. As there was no way they could all be taken at once, it was decided that Twilight Sparkle, Zecora and Zig-Zag would be taken first; the royal guards would then bring two more from their number and an extra carriage to pick up the rest of the group.
‘The others won’t make it in time, will they?’ Twilight Sparkle asked Zecora.
‘That I do not know, be we cannot wait around for them to show,’ Zecora answered, looking down at her thoughtful niece, who, after a few moments, turned to Twilight Sparkle.
‘Is Aunt Zecora right in thinking that this princess’s special talent is love?’
‘Yes,’ replied Twilight Sparkle.
‘And that she freed her fiancée using it?’ Zig-Zag continued. Twilight Sparkle nodded. Zig-Zag seemed to be more deep in thought now, fitting this knowledge with what she had been told had happened while on the way back to her aunt’s hut.
‘What are you thinking, Zig-Zag?’ asked Twilight Sparkle.
‘I was just wondering,’ Zig-Zag began, ‘well, it just seems a bit funny that a changeling that craves love, wants to kill a pony who can produce love, but it also seems that this princess is the only pony who is able to free a changeling’s victim. Such a pony would be an incredible hindrance if . . .’
‘You think that as well as being an effective revenge, it may also be the first step in a plan to re-capture Canterlot and take Equestria?’ asked an alarmed Twilight Sparkle. Zig-Zag nodded. Zecora was slightly surprised at her niece’s foresight. ‘But no-pony’s really sure how far it was her feelings of love and how far it was her special talent,’ Twilight Sparkle continued uncertainly, ‘so . . .’
‘If no-pony can be certain, then I doubt any changeling can either,’ Zig-Zag pointed out. Twilight Sparkle sighed, realizing she was right, and, know that, from a changeling’s point of view now, success could not be guaranteed in a takeover situation if Cadence wasn’t ponynapped and/or killed.
Twilight Sparkle thanked the guards as they set down at the edge of Canterlot and hurriedly got out of the carriage, swiftly followed by the other two.
‘How much time do we have left?’ Twilight Sparkle gasped as they galloped through the almost deserted Canterlot streets.
There seemed nothing he could do to help her. Shining Armor looked over at his wife as she let out another shuddering gasp. He would have done anything to take the pain for her. What kind of illness was this that brought so much suffering? He stroked Cadence’s mane in an attempt to comfort her.
Oh, Twilie, he thought, please hurry back with the cure.
‘Do you know where her room is?’ Zecora asked Twilight Sparkle, who nodded. They had reached the main part of Canterlot.
‘How long have we got?’ Twilight Sparkle asked.
‘Only ten minutes,’ Zig-Zag told her.
*
‘Maybe, maybe you should sleep . . .’ Cadence breathed painfully. Shining Armor shook his head.
‘I won’t sleep until you’re well again,’ he insisted, putting his arm around her. They were both pretty exhausted. Cadence smiled at him, a small suffering filled smile. ‘Anything I can get you?’ he asked. Cadence’s hesitation may either have been caused by uncertainty or pain.
‘I’m, I’m thirsty again,’ she told him weakly, ‘I’m sorry,’ she added softly. Getting Cadence to swallow anything in this state was a bit of an ordeal.
‘Don’t apologize, Cadence,’ Shining Armor told her, ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can.’
Within a few seconds of Shining Armor leaving the room, one of the larger window panes appeared to disappear by itself. Cadence slowly turned her head and shivered as gusts of early morning wind hit the room. For a few moments, the open gap was surrounded by a green light. Then, to Cadence’s horror, the changeling queen entered the room through the gap, evidently in a good mood. Despite her terrible state, Cadence still managed to glare at the queen.
‘Trust you to turn up when I’m in need of bed rest!’ Cadence uttered through a grimace of pain.
‘Don’t you mean, on your death bed?’ Queen Chrysalis sneered. Cadence stared blankly at her. The queen looked confused for a moment but then she gave a nasty, gleeful grin. ‘You, you actually don’t know, do you?’ she asked before letting out an evil laugh. The sense of dread became combined with Cadence’s many other pains.
‘If you’ve hurt anypony . . .’ Cadence began, struggling with the effort to speak at all. The changeling queen spluttered with laughter. Cadence would have demanded to know what she was finding so funny, but the princess just couldn’t. It seemed like she was getting weaker every moment, plus, all her symptoms and pains seemed to be getting worse at a more rapid pace.
Queen Chrysalis strolled over to the bed and smirked as her victim let out a cry of pain.
‘You thought you were ill, I suppose,’ Queen Chrysalis chuckled, ‘thought it would just go away after a few days? Well I’ve got news for you, Princess, it’s not an illness, it’s poison!’ Cadence’s pained eyes widened in horror and terror. ‘But don’t worry, it will go away,’ the queen continued, stroking Cadence’s cheek with a holey hoof; Cadence was too weak to push her away; ‘in five minutes you’ll be dead!’
Cadence was determined not to cry, not this time, no matter how much this changeling tortured her.
‘Now it’s 4 minutes 57 seconds,’ came the cruel voice of the queen, ‘4 minutes 56 seconds, 4 minutes 55 seconds . . !’
‘GET YOUR HOLEY HOOVES AWAY FROM MY WIFE!’ Shining Armor had returned to the room.
‘Not for much longer,’ the changeling jeered, ‘only until “death do us part” as far as I recall . . .’ Shining Armor glared at her.
‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ Shining Armor snarled, while trying to drive her as far away from Cadence as possible.
‘Don’t tell me you don’t know either!’ Queen Chrysalis sniggered, while hovering in midair, ‘you two must at least be the only two ponies in Canterlot who don’t know, maybe even in the whole of Equestria! Your lovely wife has minutes to live . . !’
‘What . . ! No . . !’ Shining Armor gasped. The queen giggled. Shining Armor glared at her. ‘You poisoned her, didn’t you!’ he growled.
‘That basically sums it up!’ Queen Chrysalis snickered.
‘How dare you!’ Shining Armor shouted.
‘She was supposed to die eventually down in those caves,’ hissed Queen Chrysalis.
‘I’m going to make you sorry for everything you’ve done and tried to do, you monster!’ roared Shining Armor.
‘Whatever you do isn’t going to be able to save her! No-pony can now!’ Queen Chrysalis declared. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Twilight Sparkle, Zig-Zag and Zecora.
‘We have the cure!’ puffed Twilight Sparkle.
‘What!’ Chrysalis spluttered.
‘Oh, thank goodness!’ gasped Shining Armor. Queen Chrysalis glared. There was no way she was going to let them get that cure to Cadence, especially not in the last three minutes.
‘Come and assist your queen,’ Chrysalis called out. Ten changelings, who had been hiding in various different places, flew into the room. Twilight Sparkle stared. They were going to have to fight and dodge these changelings if they were ever going to get to Cadence in time.
‘Watch your back, Zecora,’ Twilight Sparkle muttered, chances are they’ll try to get the cure off you.’ Zecora nodded. The changelings had one distinct advantage: they could fly. If they did get the cure, the three of them, being two zebra and a unicorn, would be very unlikely to be able to get it back.
‘I’ll watch her back for her!’ Zig-Zag told Twilight Sparkle.
They quickly went into battle. Twilight Sparkle had been right about the changelings trying to get the cure from Zecora, luckily, she and Zig-Zag were tougher than they might have looked.
‘Get off me!’ one of the changelings had snarled when Zig-Zag had jumped on his back. Twilight Sparkle was having her share of problems as the seconds ticked past: she was having to fight a varying average of five changelings at once, and, maybe it was just her, but Twilight Sparkle was finding it harder to fight them in their true form and, perhaps, they were a little stronger than before? She had almost been badly attacked from behind by three of the changelings, fortunately, Shining Armor had noticed this out of the corner of his eye just in time and had surrounded his sister with a temporary repelling shield. I must learn to perform that spell myself, thought Twilight Sparkle as she was recovering from the shock.
Shining Armor himself seemed to be having the same strength problem while fighting Chrysalis, either because Cadence’s contribution to Shining Armor’s spell, as well as getting rid of the changelings, had, at the same time, fed their unable to be satisfied hunger, or, they had gained power from a new temporary source.
1 minute 35 seconds left.
A dark shape could be seen against the window panes. It flew towards the gap. It was Luna. She flew directly at the changeling queen who only just avoided her attack.
‘You dare to show your face after what you’ve done!’ Luna snarled.
There was soon magic flying in all directions as the changeling queen and the princess of the night started fighting viciously. Some of the changelings were surrounding the bed to guard against Cadence getting cured while the others had cornered Zig-Zag and Zecora.
Twilight Sparkle had hurried over to her brother to make sure he was alright. He was, and charged at the changelings surrounding the bed. Zig-Zag realized the changelings would get the cure unless . . .
‘Twilight!’ Zig-Zag called out. Twilight Sparkle ran towards her, and, as she did, Zig-Zag threw her the flask containing the cure which Twilight Sparkle caught in her mouth by a chord which had been used to attach it to Zecora’s side. She ran as fast as she could in the direction of the bed but was blocked by changelings.
‘I’m open!’ Shining Armor shouted. Twilight Sparkle threw the flask to him. 30 seconds left.
It went from Shining Armor to Zig-Zag, to Twilight Sparkle, back to Zig-Zag. Amongst this chaos was a green flash. 20 seconds left.
‘Throw it to Zecora!’ Twilight Sparkle shouted. Zig-Zag spotted her aunt and was about to throw when . . .
‘Don’t throw it to her! She’s trying to trick you!’ Zecora shouted. Zig-Zag looked up to see two Zecoras standing by the bed. Queen Chrysalis was no-where to be seen. 15 seconds left.
Zig-Zag looked from one Zecora to another with a panicked expression.
‘Throw it Zig-Zag, we must save the princess!’ shouted one of them. Zig-Zag thought she could detect some malevolence in her tone but she couldn’t be sure. The real Zecora was panicking too, she had to think of something and fast. 11 seconds left.
‘Your parents sent you to me because they were unable to look after both you and your brother!’ the real Zecora blurted out.
‘What’s that got to do with anything!’ the fake Zecora snapped. Zig-Zag threw the flask to the real Zecora while Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle and Luna attacked the fake who quickly reverted to her true form (five of the other changelings fled).
Zecora administered the cure to Cadence as the sun was rising. Queen Chrysalis glared furiously (the five other changelings fled now too) but after a few moments her expression changed. Cadence’s eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving.
A deadly silence had fallen over the room. Everypony just stared. No-pony moved. Shining Armor was the first to move. He stood next to Zecora and gave Cadence a light shake. She didn’t stir.
‘No . . . No . . .’ Shining Armor murmured under his breath, his eyes filling with tears. Twilight Sparkle and Zig-Zag slowly approached the bed. Queen Chrysalis grinned wickedly.
‘This is all my fault!’ exclaimed Zecora, putting her head in her hooves and joining Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle and Zig-Zag who were already crying.
‘She’s dead!’ cried the elated changeling queen, ‘She’s history!’
‘You’re going to pay for this!’ snarled Luna, glaring through angry tears.
‘Your niece is dead, Luna!’ Queen Chrysalis cackled.
Princess Celestia appeared just as Queen Chrysalis was flying out through the paneless window, pursued by Princess Luna, who only just got out before Queen Chrysalis replaced the pane of glass. Celestia, who had just returned from raising the sun, looked around the room, momentarily confused, then, she let out a horrified gasp, and hurried over to her niece’s bed.
‘If only we’d been a few seconds faster!’ exclaimed Twilight Sparkle bitterly while trying to balance her brother, who was crying uncontrollably, on her shoulder. When the door opened to reveal Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack and two pegasus ponies from the Royal Guard, no-pony turned round. Twilight Sparkle’s friends slowly walked over, slowly taking in what had happened, and joined the mourning.
‘She didn’t deserve this,’ Celestia was saying through her tears, ‘she was the last pony to deserve this. She was always so . . .’
‘Kind and caring,’ Twilight Sparkle said, ‘always thought of others before herself.’
‘She was perfect!’ Shining Armor managed to let out through his sobs.
‘And to die so young,’ Celestia said, ‘and in so much pain . . .’
‘But . . .’ said Zig-Zag slowly, ‘she can’t be dead! She just can’t be! It wouldn’t be right!’
‘Zig-Zag,’ Zecora said softly, ‘sometimes, justice just doesn’t prevail . . .’
‘I guess,’ Celestia trembled, ‘we’ll n-need to a-a-arrange h-her f-f-f-funeral . . .’ She was unable to say any more. No-pony was. They just cried and cried. So did the guards at the door. In the same way it had once seemed Cadence’s love and kindness and caring had filled the castle, sadness filled it now, as if the castle itself was crying.
‘Whatever is the matter here?’ came a very concerned voice, ‘is there anything I can do to help?’ Everypony looked up, they had stopped crying for a moment, but now, started again; this time though, not from sadness but from joyous relief. It was Cadence who had spoken. She was sitting up. She was okay. She was perfectly alive!
Cadence found herself being hugged and kissed by everypony in the room at once. The two guards outside the room beat their hooves on the ground in applause before hurrying off to tell the rest of the castle, and the rest of Canterlot, the good news.
Zecora laughed, realizing that, in the chaos, she had forgotten something in the cure’s instructions. It had said that the afflicted would become temporarily frozen, as if dead, while the cure was taking effect.
‘Shining Armor, it’s okay,’ Cadence was saying, ‘I’m fine.’
‘I thought I’d lost you, Cadence,’ Shining Armor replied slightly hoarsely.
‘Just like I thought I’d lost you when I was down in those caves . . .’
‘I think we should leave them alone for a few minutes,’ Celestia said quietly.
As they walked out the room, Zig-Zag gave a small smirk.
‘What is it, Zig-Zag?’ Twilight Sparkle asked her.
‘Well,’ Zig-Zag giggled, ‘that changeling queen, she’s not going to be very happy is she!’
*
Luna had been chasing the changeling queen all around the outside of the castle while having tormenting comments about Cadence being thrown at her. This wasn’t only extreme torture for Luna but she harbored a secret concern that if she got too angry she might revert back into Nightmare Moon as a method of self-defense.
‘Your niece is nothing but a corpse now, Luna!’ Queen Chrysalis sniggered. Luna was about to make a retort when she heard a large amount of cheering from below. She looked down and gave a knowing smile.
‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you!’ Luna told her.
‘What are you talking about?’ the changeling queen spluttered. She looked down to see a certain pale pink horned pegasus walking among the cheering ponies. Queen Chrysalis was enraged. While she was glaring furiously at the scene below, Luna aimed a spell at her which only narrowly missed. Chrysalis turned and glared at her.
‘Looks like you have at least one hole in your brain like in your Emmental legs!’ Luna giggled.
‘My legs do not look like cheese!’ the queen retorted.
‘Should have thought twice before making fun of my niece!’ Luna replied. Queen Chrysalis was about to respond when three spells were shot at her from below. She had evidently been noticed.
Soon, spells were being aimed at her from many directions, she turned and fled, pursued by Luna, who was also aiming spells at her. Most of the ponies below who weren’t casting spells were laughing at Queen Chrysalis’s attempts to dodge them. Zig-Zag started doing impersonations.
‘Maybe your special talent is doing amusing impressions!’ said Pinkie Pie to Zig-Zag before joining in. Meanwhile, Zecora was apologizing to Cadence.
‘I’m truly sorry, your highness,’ Zecora was saying, ‘I guess Zig-Zag was a bit of a weakness . . .’
‘Cadence is fine, but you mustn’t blame yourself, Zecora,’ Cadence replied, ‘that changeling queen is the one to blame, no-pony should be put in such a position, and I am deeply grateful to you for saving me.’
‘Twilight and her friends deserve more thanks for that, I was of little help and that’s a fact.’
‘That’s not true!’ Zig-Zag interrupted, ‘you did loads Aunt Zecora! I’m going to make sure you’re back to your old rhyming self in no time!’ Zecora sighed but gave a small smile. Zig-Zag turned to Cadence, ‘how are you, Princess?’ she asked.
‘Very well, and fully recovered thanks to your aunt,’ Cadence replied, ‘thank you for asking, Zig-Zag.’ Shining Armor came up to them, evidently only recently having stopped crying, and put his arm round Cadence.
‘It’s Zecora, isn’t it?’ he asked. Zecora nodded. ‘Would you be able to mix up a few batches of that poison cure for us? We would like a small supply in case of emergencies.’ Once Zecora had nodded again, Shining Armor turned to his wife. ‘All your food and drink is going to be tested for a while.’ Cadence nodded.
‘I could test it for her!’ Zig-Zag offered.
‘No you can’t!’ said Zecora, ‘I’m not risking losing you again! Besides, I thought you wanted to join the Royal Guard when you were older.’
‘I was only offering,’ Zig-Zag mumbled.
Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle stood together, looking up at the sky, and watching as Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalis faded into the distance. The two ponies smiled at each other.
‘With any luck,’ Princess Celestia said, ‘Luna will find where the changelings live this time.’ Twilight Sparkle nodded. ‘Then we can get rid of the changeling threat once and for all.’
