-Changeling^2

Chapter 2: A Night Not Soon Remembered.

The group was in awe. Baffled at the scene in front of them. Their good friend, who was a career apple bucker by the way, just bucked another living beings skull in. If the bloody mucus pool wasn’t enough of a sign; the sickening thud that was still resonating throughout the grounds was a reminder no one could ignore. Even Rainbow Dash who was prepared for a brawl, couldn’t keep her eyes on the epicenter of a view for very long. Having gathered everyone’s attention Applejack spoke up.

“So what now?”

“What do you mean what now?” Twilight Sparkle asked still shaken by the scene in front of her.

“I mean what’re we gonna do with this vermin here.” Applejack answered with venom dripping from her voice.

A voice like that coming from such a normally calm pony forced everyone to take a step back.

“W-w-why are you so angry?” a small voice coming from Fluttershy asked hidden in the group.

“I’m sorry everypony it’s just . . . It’s just . . . I think about what these vermin did to Twilight and her family. I think about how they played us for fools. How they tricked us to turnin’ our backs on you.” the renowned apple bucker said with a mixture of frustration and dejection.

Everyone in the group besides Twilight cringed at that sentiment. They remember how their purple friend charged into the wedding hall declaring that the bride was evil. She was so fervent with her accusations she forced the bride out of the aforementioned hall balling her eyes out. Twilight felt so proud of herself for pointing this out in front of everyone; however Shining Armor was less than pleased as he listed off the reasons for his wife's actions that Twilight saw as incriminating evidence to the princess's evilness. Twilight's heart broke when she was told by her own brother she was not welcomed to the wedding.

Her heart was crushed further as her friends and teacher decided to go with the princess.

There was nothing Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and especially Applejack regretted more than abandoning their friend like that. The five other mares were  constantly apologizing to Twilight afterwards, while some even broke out into tears. Overall though the biggest revelation of the entire event was that they swore to never leave one another's side no matter the situation.

“Nevertheless we can’t go around being bullies to whomever we want, even if they are incredibly vile.” Rarity spoke out of the crowd moving towards the downed changeling.

“Now girls I’m not saying that we are going to let this thing go without punishment but I do think we should rethink our course of action.”

“What are you proposing?” Twilight asked.

“I propose that we take it back to Princess Celestia so it can receive judgement fairly.”.

“Um that’s going to be a problem.” The voice of the train conductor sounded off. “I was suppose to make this announcement once we made it back into Ponyville but; Canterlot is in lock-down until further notice, so no traveling in or out of the city.” The conductor rubbed the back of his head embarrassed his unlucky judgement.

“Well that surely puts a damper on our plans.” Rarity deadpanned.

“It looks like we’re just going to have to bring it back to Ponyville for the time being.” Twilight said her horn glowing purple magic along with the unconscious body of the changeling.

“Ah hold up there sugar cube. Are you sure it’s safe to bring one of these on a train full of ponies?” Applejack inquired more about the sanity of her friend than the situation.

“Do we have another choice?” Twilight responded lifting the body out of the pool of blood with her magic.

“Yeah just leave it here and start the train back up.” Rainbow Dash chimed in much to the chagrin of a couple others.

“How could you say that Dashie? We’re suppose to be helping ponies not hurting them!” Pinkie Pie admonished her friend, at the same time getting a nod of approval from Rarity.

“I’m sorry Pinkie but I’m gonna have to agree with Dash here. We can’t bring this danger to Ponyville! Remember these things feed on us, what the hay do you think it’s gonna do when we get home?” Applejack retorted.

Despite the argument heating up in the group, Twilight had the level head to actual act. Under the cover of argumentation she lifted the body from it’s self made pool with her magic. Lightly moving the changeling to and fro Twilight was able to wipe the off the blood that had began to stain itself on the body. To complete her task she created a makeshift egg around the changeling that was so thick with purple magic it’s contents weren’t view-able from the outside. Turning around, which in turn moved the ‘egg’, Twilight made her way back into the train. This finally got the attention of the animal specialist.

“Twilight what are you going to do with i-it.”

Oddly enough this was one of the rare occasions in which Fluttershy was heard, more so in a quarrel. However it would've of been more beneficial for her to go unheard because all the attention was now turned unto the purple unicorn.

“Twilight what are you doing! You can’t bring it with us! Just leave it out here for the timber wolves so nopony else will get hurt!” Rainbow Dash commanded flying over and looking directly into Twilight Sparkle’s eyes.

“We are going to bring it back to Ponyville; it’s going to be under surveillance until we can bring it back to Canterlot and to the princess, we are done talking about this.” Twilight stated.

“But Twilight . . .” The two ponies who were against the idea of taking the changeling with them started.

“Or are you not going to trust me again?” Twilight asked successfully making all the ponies, including the train conductor who was standing off to the side, flinch with the harshness of her tone.

Everypony that held an element of harmony looked away in embarrassment. Their friend knew how to say something that was already profound, stronger. Spike who was on her back sank down knowing he was at fault just as much as the ponies. Without any more words of defiance the group silently made their way back onto the train; the conductor helping some of the ponies not using to wearing such elegant dresses up the steps. He also promised to keep silent about the whole ordeal.

As the group of seven made their way into the passenger carts they were bombarded with questions about the unplanned stop. Twilight explained that a mysterious object in the shape of a rock was in the middle of the track and the conductor couldn’t move the train without it gone. Twilight further elaborated that the object is mysterious and that she was taking it home to study it, hence the floating purple orb. Satisfied with the explanation they got the upper class ponies turned their attention back to whatever activity they partook in before the explanation.

Moving further down the train from where they were originally seated the group was curious about what Twilight was doing, but decided to keep quiet lest they make the mistake of mistrusting Twilight again. Occupants that didn’t hear Twilight's explanation were filled in by the five mares not carrying a purple orb and Spike. It took only a minute to reach a cart on the train that wasn’t filled. When the group settled down they let out a collective sigh of relief, being so very glad no one wanted to prod deeper into the situation. With another small sigh of her own Twilight released her magic unceremoniously dropping the changeling; then the train began to move.

The bleeding didn’t get much better as the changeling fell into a new purple vat released from the now dissipated spell. Splashing off the ground the blood flung itself onto the group in small spots. Needless to say it grossed them out to the point some started choking on an imaginary hairball.

Observing the gruesome scene Twilight Sparkle began to wonder whether it was the blood or something else that made her feel off kilter. It turned out to be the latter as sweat flowed down from her brow, Spike grew heavy, and everything seemed to be spinning. With no strength left she fell to her side, knocked out by exhaustion. Spike was able to move off of Twilight as she fell so he didn’t end up pinned under her.

Completely forgetting about the bleeding mess everypony made their way over to aid Twilight. Pinkie was first and she made a makeshift fan out of cloth from her dress. Rainbow Dash then lifted the sleeping mare into the air and onto the back of Applejack who accepted the offering without hesitation. Fluttershy added to Pinkie’s fan power by spreading wings, creating her own wind. Rarity worked the back as she removed the strap from Twilight's stomach, the crest from her chest and for good measure the headpiece; doing this in order to ensure there was nothing constricting her friends airflow. Spike stood off to the side orchestrating it all.

A makeshift bed was made for Twilight Sparkle as she slipped off of Applejack and her dress was folded neatly beside her. The pony began lightly snoring relieving a lot of tension in the cart.  Attention now turned to the other unconscious occupant.

While the ponies didn’t want to care about the fate of the changeling they needed to do something before it died from blood loss. They know that Twilight would want the Changeling to get home alive. None of them had an idea on how to carry out a plan  untill the baby dragon had an epiphany.

“Hey Fluttershy you know how to stop bleeding right?”

“W-What makes you think I would?” Fluttershy said nervously, blushing because she was put on the spot.

“Well you do aid animals that are injured in your cottage. I’m sure that some of them come in with cuts, bruises, or even broken bones.” Spike explained.

“B-B-B-But that’s different.”

“Darling we believe that you can do it. I mean how far away is a changeling from any other animal you take care of?” Rarity said reassuringly.

Fluttershy gulped as she approached the mess on the floor. Poking the body as if it was already a dead body she slowly came to a decision on what she needed in the situation. Flutter listed off several items including bandages, cotton swabs, etc. Luckily for her Pinkie happened to have . . . all the items . . . on her person.

Never question Pinkie Pie.

Taking the outstanding event with a grain of salt Fluttershy began her work leaving the others to mingle about.

“So um, what’re we gonna do with the critter when we get back?” Applejack asked flustered by the events of the night.

“Well I think it shouldn’t go anywhere there cannot be an eye on it twenty four seven. I shudder to think what it could do unsupervised.” Rarity said getting a rare nod in agreement from Applejack.

“I got it! How about we put it in the town hall!” Pinkie Pie declared.

“Are you insane? We can’t put it in a public place; especially where ponies will be during the day and night!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed which was met with a retort from Pinkie.

“But Dashie, you and Derpy destroyed it again remember? And we can’t start rebuilding for at least a couple of weeks.”

Rainbow Dash was about to object but wasn’t able to find flaws in Pinkies argument. Her and Derpy did bang up the hall pretty good, and Ponyville did not have the money to rebuild currently. Plus no one would think to look in there, fearing a collapse of debris on their head. Dashie hung her head in defeat which Pinkie Pie met with a big hug and the phrase “I knew you would understand”.

Applejack facehoofed at the scene, annoyed that she lost her only ally in the group. But she too couldn’t help but believe that the town hall was the best option. If they had any luck maybe the building could actually collapse during the next couple of days.

Fluttershy worked diligently to stop the bleeding. Not only was it pouring out of a broken and misshapen nose but seeping out of a cut gum line. Letting pure adrenaline take over Fluttershy put her hooves on the snout and twisted quickly. The sound of bone moving started to make the doctor feel woozy but she pressed on nevertheless. Taking some cotton swabs from the materials provided by Pinkie, Fluttershy placed them in the creatures nose to stop one source of the bleeding.

Next she took some wet wipes and placed it inside her patients mouth; allowing the bleeding gum line to clot quicker. Most of the injuries had been dealt with so the bloody mess around the workstation was the next concern. Grabbing some towels Fluttershy quickly wiped up the area. Her adrenaline rush dying down Fluttershy started to let the instability created by the blood get to her. She dispensed with the bloody rag in a trash can at the corner of the room before she could faint, allowing herself a minute to calm her rapidly beating heart.

“Rarity, could you come over here. If you want.” Fluttershy spoke in a way somewhat betraying her timid vocabulary.

Quirking an eyebrow Rarity trotted over and began taking directions from her friend. Apparently It mostly consisted of using her magic to levitate the changeling off the ground to check her body for more injuries.

Turning over the body placing it on it’s back Rarity and Fluttershy found a legion of scars in waiting. Some of them light while some looked like it penetrated the skin deep. The scars only appeared on the under half of the body but not a single scratch on the top half half. As both ponies formulated a theory as to why this was, a voice came over the intercom.

“We will be arriving in Ponyville in approximately five minutes.”

Snapped out of their train of thought the two ponies decided there was nothing more they could do for the changeling medically. Regrouping during the announcement about Canterlots lock-down for the next few days, the group was considering the new problem at hoof. The problem being how could they transport the changeling without causing an uproar. Without Twilight they couldn’t get the changeling out of the train under the cover of magic, but they could create a distraction.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, could you still do a sonic rainboom?” Rarity asked loudly to Rainbow Dash on the other side of the cart.

“Yeah, of course, why?” Dashie answered confused, her confused look was shared with the others.

“I have an idea.”

Ponyville Train Station

“We've arrived in Ponyville, thank you and we can’t wait until you ride with us again.”

While all the high class ponies making their way off of the train and the conductor moving his way through the train to check all the carts, the plan was put into action.

“Are you ready Dash?”

“Of course Rare, just say when.”

“. . . NOW!”

The Pegasus was off. Faster then most eyes can trace; a colorful blur made it’s way into the night sky. Before anypony could think of what was happening an explosion of the color caressed the sky accentuated by the twinkling stars. Everypony looked up with amazement. Except a few who took flight under the cover of the rainbow colored night.

“I told you the distraction would work.” Rarity smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, quit your yappin’ and keep runnin’.” The apple bucker said while carrying the changeling on her back with Rarity on one side and Pinkie Pie on the other.

“Oh, pretty lights.”

“Keep your focus darling, last thing we need is for it to fall off Applejack and draw attention to ourselves.”

Back on the train Fluttershy and Spike were keeping their friend company until she woke up. Before that could happen though the conductor was making his rounds clearing the train of stragglers. Entering the cabin he saw the party of three. Taking a second to soak in the sight the conductors accusatory gaze, which left Spike and Fluttershy on on bated breath, soon melted into a soft tired smile.

“Need any help getting home?”

Town Hall

“Whew, that was close.” Applejack sighed.

“I know, if it wasn’t for the Pinkie pointing out Lyra and Bon-Bon we would’ve never made it.”

“I was just wondering what they were doing wrestling outside for.”

An awkward silence hung in the air. After the recovered, the group had began scouting out a place to drop the unconscious thing. They decided that putting it in any old place could be a hazard for anyone who took a quick glance inside. One place after another was struck down as a viable option since it was always viewable from one of the windows at the base of the building.

“Hey guys, how about the backstage area? You know the one Celestia was suppose to be in during the Nightmare Moon incident where we found the out that we were the bearers to the elements of harmony. I was *giggle* laughter, Rarity was generosity, Applejack was honesty, Rainbo . . .” Pinkie promptly had a hoof shoved in her mouth by Rarity before she could continue.

Again it couldn’t be denied, Pinkie was onto something. Applejack hustled over to the indicated area with concern written on her face. If this didn’t work than they were stuck. Peering over the corner Applejack gave a small smile seeing that while the backstage was collapsed on there was a small area that the changeling would fit. Positioning her hips Applejack bucked off the changeling so it was situated just under some high sitting debris.

“Looks like our job is done. Now, I think it’s time to go home and get some well deserved beauty sleep.” Yawned the white unicorn.

“So we’re coming back in the morning to check in on it right?”

‘'Course Pinkie, we don’t want the vermin getting anywhere right; and I think that my buck was just enough to make sure it don’t go running during the night.”

With a job well done the group of three exited the town hall until the morning. Leaving the creature to it’s own “devices”.

Town Hall: Dawn

‘Ugh where am I?’ The changeling wondered rubbing her injured head. ‘Last thing I remember was surrendering to . . . them.’

Standing before the changeling was a group of six less than happy mares and an adorably mad baby dragon. The unicorn in the middle dawned the most serious look.

“We need to do some talking, now.”