/\/\/\/\15 Years Later/\/\/\/\
6 Mares sat in a circle in the top floor loft of SugarCube Corner. In the ground floor the remnants of an overzealous party were strewn across the room. A celebratory banner had fallen partially on the ground that was a mix of confetti, colorful balloons, and cake crumbs. On the banner in capitalized letter was 'GOOD JOB AT SAVING THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE AND PASSING YOUR TEST.'
Soft giggling could be heard from upstairs. It was kept low to avoid waking the Cake twins.
"-and I did a triple backflip and rode the current right out of Ghastly Gorge," exclaimed Rainbow Dash with a smug look on her face.
"Well thanks for telling us that story Rainbow. I wasn't sure if I got it the first 5 times you told us TODAY," Applejack noted with emphasis at the end.
"Well I don't see the rest of you coming up with interesting things to talk about," replied Rainbow Dash.
"Oh I know," yelled Rarity "I heard that Fleur De Lis and FancyPants are having their first foal." Rarity looked around expecting gasps and "Oh My"s from her friends. All she got were blank stares.
"Boriinnnggg." Rainbow retorted.
"Sugarcube, I know you're into the on goings and who's he what's it of them Noble folk, but we ain't all too interested into those gossipy stories." Said Applejack in an affirmative tone.
"There is nothing boring about the elite of our society. You, Twilight you must care, considering you lived with them for most of your life," Rarity replied. Her face bent into a look of frustration.
Twilight rubbed her sides before answering. "I don't care much for the nobles." Twilight answered but winced as she saw Rarity wither at her words. "I mean I know all about them and had to converse with them daily while being the princess's prodigy. I really wish I could take those hours stuck in Day court back but Princess Celestia had tried to teach me all about the government and politics. And if that wasn't enough, my Mom made sure I learned all about the other nobles and their lineages."
"Oooh, you're mom sounds like someone of high class, Rarity stated with renewed vigor "Does she have many high connections?"
"Umm, you could say that," Twilight voiced sheepishly while scratching her sides "We're kinda a noble family."
"What!" Both Rarity and Applejack sputtered.
Rainbow Dash still kept a bored expression leaned in a little bit.
"Wow Twilight, so you're like all those aristocratic ponies in Canterlot." Fluttershy said Fluttershy in her normal calm voice.
"Yea yea. Just don't go spreading it around." Twilight replied with the slightest bit of irritation in her voice.
"Twilight, you must tell. As a noble what does your family own as your noble inheritance?" Rarity asked questioningly.
"You know the Dragon Fire fields," Twilight looked around as her friends nodded. "We own the northern woos there."
"Oh my! Those luscious cherry blossom trees. Oh what I'd do to walk through a forest that doesn't have giant pony-eating monsters or Ancient Evil Moon goddesses." Rarity thought aloud to herself.
The gang chuckled quietly at her antics.
"Enough," Rainbow yelled pushing close to the noise limit. "Let's do something fun."
"Well what do you have in mind?" Asked Applejack while Rarity humphed and Twilight rolled her eyes.
"I say we play… truth or dare!" This got gasps and squeals of glee from the surrounding ponies.
"Ooh pick me! Pick me!" Smiled Pinkie.
"Ok… Truth or Dare?" Said Rainbow slowly. She waited for a seconds as Pinkie put a hoof to her face deep in thought. Twilight shifted slightly still sliding her hoof along her sides.
"Truth." Said Pinkie with a grin too large for her face.
"Where do you keep your Party Cannon?" Rainbow questioned.
"Right here silly." Pinkie said with a giggle. Before firing it in Rainbow Dash's face. Twilight stopped scratching to wonder how the Cake family was able to sleep through that.
Applejack let out an uproarious laughter. "I think you should have expected that Dash." She watched Rainbow stand back up from we're she'd fallen. Rainbow held her head as her eyes spun in her head for a few seconds.
Twilight smiled at the sight of her friends laughing. However she was less than comfortable at this point. She reached back and scratched her sides for the hundredth time that night. 'Where was this itch coming from' Twilight thought to herself. It had been happening ever since returning from crystal empire. That had been a couple of weeks ago. Everyone (except Pinkie) had decided on their return that they should hold off any parties for a few days, much to the dismay of a certain Earth Pony. Everyone had almost forgotten about it until they'd gone to the Crystal Empire to help them host the Equestrian Games and Pinkie Pie was not one to miss out on a party. 'Is it just me or is this itch getting even worse.' She scratched at her sides and it took her a while forget to notice that her friends were all looking at her.
"So what's it going to be Twilight," Rainbow stated.
"Um… what did you say," Twilight responded dumbly.
"Truth or Dare, you know the game we've been playing for the last 10 minutes," Rainbow Dash said irritatedly.
"SugarCube, are you ok," asked Applejack "You've been out of it all night."
Twilight nodded slowly saying "I'm alright. I just have itch on my sides."
"Oh oh I know I know!" Pinkie yelled. "I have some of this itchy powder that can deal with any itch. I once had this itch behind my ear but it wasn't my like my Pinkie Sense and when I showed Mrs. Cake she showed me the powder and the itch completely went away."
Pinkie looked at her friend, but she wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Twilight was shuddering where she sat. Pinkie watched her shake as spasms went through her body.
Rarity looked at Applejack with a look of worry on her face. "Are you sure you're ok," questioned Rarity.
"I already told you I'm perfectly fi-uh oh," Twilight ended. She got up to her hooves and ran out the door. The others heard the bathroom door open slam close as her friends got up to follow.
When they got to the door they could hear her regurgitate inside the bathroom. Rainbow and Fluttershy winced with each shout. After a few minutes the hurls slowed down and Rarity questioned "Twilight?" She waited for a response and when none came she said "I don't think you're ok at all. I think you should see a doctor."
"I said I'm fine," groaned Twilight as she opened the door. Her friends tried to look indifferent as the putrid smell drifted out of the bathroom.
"You didn't seem fine in there," Applejack replied "I think Rarity's right."
"No. It's ok. I just need to sleep on it." Twilight muttered.
Applejack decided not to push it any further. She offered to walk her home to the library. Twilight nodded slowly in response.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"And drink some cranberry juice," Rarity said "It'll help with the nausea."
Applejack looked at Twilight who looked like she was about to collapse on the ground at any minute. She obviously wasn't listening to Rarity ramble on. Applejack shifted uncomfortably with Spike on her back. His scales were soft and smooth but some of his pointier spikes were needle sharp.
They reached the library in no time at all. The full moon had reached the highest point in it's sky. Twilight used her magic, with a barely contained grimace, to levitate her keys and unlock the door to her library. After Twilight walked in she turned around and said in a relieved voice "Thanks guys for helping me and Spike get home."
"Nothin to it Twilight." Applejack replied. The farm pony shivered in the chill of the night. They cast long shadows from the light in the doorway.
"Well, I'll just take Spike off-," Twilight ended abruptly. Her magical grasp on Spike had slipped. He landed on his head and gave a little shout. He then stood up and rubbed his head.
"Ow, why'd you do that," Spike asked in an irritated tone. He looked around at the darkness and realized he was outside.
The comment brought Twilight out of her shock. She ran forward into the dirt and checked Spike to make sure she was all right. "I'm so sorry Spike. I-I p-picked you up with magic and then…I don't know what happened."
"It's ok Twilight. Let's just go back to bed." Spike said tiredly. He yawned and stretched one of his arms over his head before walking into the library.
"Twilight, are you sure you don't want to visit the doctor," Rarity questioned with a slight squeak in her voice.
"I'm completely absolutely undeniably fine," Twilight said in one breath "All I need is some time to rest and I'll be back on my hooves on the morrow."
"If you say you are…then I have no right to say otherwise. However if it gets any worse promise is you'll go the hospital right away." Rarity said pleadingly.
"I promise. Now I don't want to hold you from your well deserved sleepover so run along now before sun the comes up," Twilight said with a face that vaguely looked like a smirk.
The Earthpony and Unicorn said their goodbyes and began their stroll back to SugarCube Corner. Applejack turns her muzzle towards Rarity. She looked up thoughtfully with a frown on her face. She shivered slightly and Applejack got the idea that it wasn't from the cold.
"Something buggin you Rarity," Applejack asked curiously.
Rarity took a moment before replying. "I'm worried about Twilight."
"Aw shucks Rarity, Twilight said she'd be fine. And besides she knows how to take care of herself," Applejack said with more confidence than she felt.
"It just worries me that it messed up her magic… badly. The stronger the disease, the greater the effect it has on a unicorn's magic. And if it did that to someone as magically gifted to Twilight, then that's saying something about the disease." Rarity said.
Applejack had to wait a few moments to think of a reply. "She'll be fine Rarity, Twilight is a strong pony and smart. I bet she'll be lookin for a cure through her books by tomorrow. And besides, Princess Celestia would probably cancel Day Court to make sure Twilight was alright."
"Yea. You're right Applejack, I think I needed that," Rarity said without her usual noble dialect.
"Anytime SugarCube," Applejack whispered just loud enough for Rarity.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Twilight furiously scanned through book after book. She'd tried to get some sleep, but she felt restless, especially after having her levitation spell fail, the easiest spell a unicorn could do.
She was on research mode so she went through each book in minutes. When the last book refused to give her anything helpful she had to fight the urge to defenestrate the tome. Hours of useless research. A small voice in her head reminded her that it wasn't useless. Any knowledge was power and she'd been lacking in her medical knowledge.
'It might help me later when I get a cold, too bad it won't help me now.' Twilight thought to herself as she cut turned off the lights and descended into her bed. Her tired eyes closed and the lavender pony was soon asleep.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Twilight woke up very late in the morning. Both Spike and the sun risen a long time ago. As her eyes adjusted to the light so did her other senses. Her itch was back in full force and her nausea was quick to follow. Twilight quickly ran into her bathroom. The horrible sounds of her retching could be heard around the library.
"I thought I already threw up all I could yesterday," Twilight drearily said to herself. She tiredly walked to her couch. The Unicorn mare sat down and gave a sigh. Twilight took a moment to reevaluate her options. 'I could always go to the hospital, but would they really know what to do if an entire library didn't even mention my disease. Zecora seems learned in obscure diseases. At the very least, I won't be put in quarantine for having a new disease.' With that Twilight quickly brushed her teeth, took a shower, and brushed her mane. Very few realized that it took a lot of grooming to keep her so straight and smooth.
After she'd forced herself to stomach a daisy sandwich and informed Spike, she walked out the door heading for the Everfree forest.
It was a cloudy day in Ponyville. The normally bright buildings were a dull color today. There weren't any birds singing and the only sound that could be heard was a carriage moving some distance away. Everyone's steps were muted and hurried. There was an eerie quite that seemed to reflect Twilight's feelings.
"Hey, Twilight," Rarity yelled to her friend.
Twilight cringed at the voice. It shattered and stomped on the silence. Then all of a sudden her symptoms seemed to slam into her in a wave. A face of discomfort graced her face before she changed it into a smile as the fashionista approached.
"It's good to see you up and around," Rarity chimed.
"Is that so," Twilight said in an undertone. The itching was bugging her and she tried not to shiver from the cold. It seemed she also now had to deal with a splitting headache.
"Yea with you losing your lunch in the bathroom and all," Rarity said with a giggle.
"Yup all I needed was a good rest and now I'm fine," Twilight muttered. Twilight noticed she was walking slowly and picked up her pace. She prayed to Celestia that the symptoms would give her a break. Her hoof almost shot at her side, but she stopped it and tried to pretend as if nothing happened. This was not lost on the white unicorn.
"You aren't fine, are you," Rarity sighed. Twilight and Rarity stopped. Twilight gave a slow dejected nod before walking again. "You said you'd visit the hospital if it got worse," Rarity said sternly.
"Yes I did, but I thought that Zecora might have a cure just as well so I was making my way over to her cottage," Twilight said matter-of-factly.
"Oh no, I'm not letting you go into the Everfree alone. Every time we go in there it's like the forest directs the nastiest of beasts to attack us," Rarity said, her high Canterlot accent cutting deep.
Twilight nodded an 'ok' and continued her walk with a white unicorn at her side. Soon the cobblestone pavement gave way to dirt roads as they trotted through the outer reaches of Ponyville. They quickly passed Fluttershy's cottage which seemed empty at the moment.
The 2 ponies strode through the small field that separated Ponyville from the Everfree first. They scanned the tree line for the unmistakeable archway that led to Zecora's hut.
They continued down the jungle trail. The forest was dark even during the day. The forest canopy only allowed a select few rays to grace the forest floor. Both unicorns were put on edge by the wild calls of the forest's creatures. Run-ins with the denizens of these woods were never good.
Twilight noted that trail had become more trodden than her last visit. Zecora's mystical brews and their incredible properties were gaining fame back in town. Twilight saw the outline of the Zecora's hut which increased in detail as they approached.
She stopped in front of the door and moved her hand to knock, but was stopped short as head's pounding spiked. It felt like someone jabbed into her head and wiggled it around her skull. The feeling reverberated down her body. Rarity would have noticed Twilight's pained expression if Zecora did not choose that moment to open the door.
"Welcome my pony friends, for what reason have you come to civilization's end," Zecora exclaimed in her singsong voice. A grayish purple smoke flowed out beside her.
Twilight could barely catch her breath, much less give Zecora a response.
When it became apparent that Twilight wasn't going to answer Rarity said, "Twilight has a strange disease and we don't know what it is. I told her to visit the hospital, but Twilight remembered you were knowledgeable about the Cutie Pox so we decided to visit you."
Zecora grinned and stepped aside of the doorway, "We'll come in you two. Let's see what I can do."
Rarity walked in first and looked back at Twilight. Twilight had recovered herself and took a few shaky steps inside. Rarity did not miss it this time and gave Twilight another worried look.
Zecora gestured them forward. She told them to sit in the living room before walking through a door.
Rarity watched Twilight shift uncomfortably on the sofa. She had a pained expression that she was unsuccessfully trying to hide. "You're breaking a sweat Darling. Do you want to ask Zecora for a glass of water," Rarity questioned, her voice filled with concern.
"No thanks," Twilight answered her face creased into a frown, "The sooner Zecora can make me an antidote, the sooner I can get back to my library."
Rarity only nodded in reply.
Twilight looked around the room. Various masks and other decorations were hung around the Zecora's house. At first, it would look quite frightening, but Twilight realized that Zebra's had their own way of saying hello. The masks all had smiles, and while they may seem scary at first, she realized they were welcoming, not sinister. The paint on the masks exuded an aura of calm serenity. With a quick scan of the place showed her that Zebras, or at least Zecora, liked to keep their houses colorful. Twilight came to the revelation that Zebras might like to keep their homes colorful to make up for the lack of color on themselves.
'That's all well and good, but that's not helping this pain go away is it.' Twilight's mind screamed at her. The purple pony hadn't that that it could get any worse, but her disease had other ideas. Twilight cringed as she felt small needles starting to prick at her skin. They felt like they were wielded by an amateur sewer who sowed the quickly and without precision. Each time the needles went in deeper and each time they wiggled their way out.
Twilight never saw it coming when Zecora pulled out a piece of her hair. "Aaahhh," Twilight screamed flailing her hooves out wildly.
Rarity and Zecora both gave her confused looks. "I don't like having my coat pulled out either, but a single piece could hardly matter," Rarity said in her pompous accent that made many ponies think of her as arrogant and high horsed.
Twilight didn't trust herself to come up with an intelligent response so she just gave a quick nod of her head.
Zecora took the lavender piece of hair to the brewing pot in the middle of the room. It contained liquid that was clear and looked no different from water. However as she dropped the fur into the pot, it quickly changed to an azure color whilst she took a ladle and began stirring. Zecora's eyes widened, "Well this is new. I've never seen this shade of blue." She stopped her stirring, but the liquid soon darkened to a navy blue and ending in a stark black. White dots soon started appearing in the darkness. They glimmered and disappeared as if it was the night sky being reflected of wavy waters.
Rarity had stood up to get a good look at the contents of the brew as well.
It did not stay that way for long however as the pot began to steam from an unseen heat source. Zecora slightly recoiled her head. The dots became no more and the blackness was swallowed by an bright red. While there were no more changes in color or form, the liquid looked very static. Zecora heard a scream from Rarity and turned her muzzle towards the sound. The fashionista was no longer facing the pot, but was looking at the pony on the couch.
"T-Twilight, y-you're bleeding," Rarity stammered her voice nearly a shout.
Twilight ears stood up at this and she looked at Rarity, now it was her turn to look confused.
"Y-your h-hooves," Rarity said.
Twilight looked down at her hooves and her eyes widened in horror. Her skin was drenched in the red liquid. She couldn't find the point of entry. It seemed to be diffusing right out of skin. She opened her mouth to scream, but the hammering on her head started again. Twilight lost focus on her surroundings. The needles ripped there way out of skin. Every part of her body was aching. Her itch was becoming a burn as something kicked at her from the inside. She felt her nausea return, but it seemed minuscule compared to her other pains. Her body shook with each pounding of her brain. 'I'm going to die.' Twilight thought to herself, wondering how she still had the ability to think. 'Die,' the word somehow had a calming effect on her and her acceptance of it came quickly. 'At least the pain would go away.' This part of her mind gave out a mental sigh of relief, but another still screamed from the pain. She could feel the spasms spreading through her body. At one point she thought she coughed up a large amount of red liquid. However she felt a large surge go through her that was neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Soon her sense of feeling and taste dulled. Then she felt as if someone pulled a cord and turned off her eyesight. All she heard before falling into the bliss of unconsciousness was the sound of bones snapping and skin ripping.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Twilight had never felt so good in her life. 'I feel amazing. It's like laying on a fluffy bed after spending all day in a hot spring in the mountains with one of the most breathtaking sights in the world. This is so much better than all that pain… Pain? Oh yea whatever sickness I had. Whatever Zecora had given me, it had worked wondrously. I might just ask Zecora for that antidote to use whenever.' She rolled onto her side and felt smooth flatness under her. 'I'm on the ground? I never knew sleeping on the ground could've been so relaxing. I should probably get up now. Wouldn't want to overstay my welcome.' She opened her eyes with some effort and gave a yawn.
Something was wrong. The world seemed take a new depth and her voice sounded a little different. She took in her surroundings and saw Zecora and Rarity with identical expressions of shock on their faces. Their eyes and mouths wide open. Then Zecora did something that Twilight would never her expected from the zebra. She put her hoof to her head fainted much like Rarity's fake faints. Rarity's face however just changed.
*mumbled sounds*
"What did you say," Twilight asked.
"What did you do to Twilight," Rarity said with malice in her voice.
"Huh," Twilight said now becoming confused to the extreme.
"What did you do to Twilight," Rarity yelled at her.
"What are you talking about? I am Twilight. Twilight Sparkle, you know, your friend," Twilight said irritatedly.
"Wrong answer," Ratity said her voice low but audible. Her eyes filled with a rage Twilight had ever seen. Twilight noticed that various sharp items around the hut were now surrounded by Rarity's magical aura. "What have you done to my friend!" Rarity said with all the contempt she could muster. She chose that moment to lunge at Twilight.
Twilight reacted faster than she thought possible. She was behind a sofa in the blink of an eye. She thanked her incredibly fast instincts as she heard the knives impale themselves into the sofa behind her.
A cold long silence followed that. She almost decided to take a peek when the sofa was thrown aside. Rarity stood over Twilight's form with an impressive array of weapons.
"Die you evil she-demon," Rarity screamed in fury.
"Wait! It's me Twilight," Twilight yelled.
"Oh yea? Then prove it," Rarity challenged her.
"Uhh… remember that time Fluttershy became a model. You made me Pinkie Promise never to reveal the fact you were jealous," Twilight said rapidly. The fear was clear in her voice.
Rarity's eyes became distant as she remembered that week, but she then looked at her with more rage than before. "You dare steal Twilight's memories. Prepare to be sent back to Tarturus," Rarity said.
"Wait you can still feel the elements of her harmony," Twilight screamed. When no strike came she opened her eyes she flinched at the knife an inch from her face. "If I was dead, your connection with the elements would be broken."
Rarity's face was filled with realization and then let out a cry and grabbed Twilight in a hug. "Oh Twilight, I'm so sorry." Rarity cried, tears rolling down her face.
Twilight hugged the shaking mare back. "It's ok, it's ok. Just let it all out," Twilight cooed to her. She noted that she had to look up to Rarity to see her head. When Rarity looked at Twilight, Twilight gave her an understanding look even though she had no clue as to what made Rarity mistake her as a demon.
"It's j-j-just that, I thought you were dead," Rarity admitted before letting more sobs and tears.
"It's ok," Twilight assured "I'm alright now. Why would you even think I died?"
Rarity looked up at her with a blank expression. Then she pointed in the direction of the sofa Twilight was sitting on when she first came here. Rarity didn't look at what she was pointing at, instead she just buried her muzzle in Twilight's shoulder. Twilight tried to ignore the wet feeling on her coat. Twilight then looked at what Rarity had been pointing at. For a second Twilight didn't know what she was looking at then her she saw it.
Rarity knew what was coming as she felt Twilight tense up. She quickly put a soundproofing spell on her ears as Twilight louder than she ever had in her entire life.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
They say that it was loudest sound in the history of Equestria. In the Ponyville hospital all of the sleeping foals woke up and began to cry. In Fluttershy's cottage all her animals ran around out of control. Applejack had an apple tree fall on her. Rainbow Dash crashed into an empty library. The cupcake on Pinkie's plate exploded. In Canterlot, Celestia sneezed in the middle of Day court while Luna tossed in her bed. In the Crystal Empire Shining Armor had a crystal chandelier fall in front of him. The sun let out a solar flare. Far into the future, during the end of the universe, the beings alive could only hear one sound, the sound of an mare screaming in terror.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Zecora was shocked back to consciousness, limbs flailing. Rarity only removed her spell when she saw Twilight panting for air.
"B-b-but but," Twilight stammered with a horrified expression on her face. In front of her was… her. But not her. On the sofa was the mutilated corpse of Twilight Sparkle. It was hardly recognizable to the mare it used to be. Parts of her body, including her face, seemed to be sunken in. It's colors were dulled. But what terrified Twilight was the open gash on her… or it's back. It was as if someone had grabbed her sides and attempted to rip her in half, starting with the top. Broken bones were sticking out at unnatural angles while her entire spine was just hanging out completely. Blood pooled out and it looked as if someone had to tried to pull her organs out of her body.
Twilight looked away and returned Rarity's hug bringing her closer. Meanwhile Zecora came out of her daze. She looked around and shakily got up.
"And you ponies say Zebras are weird. What's next, Celestia growing a beard?" Zecora rhymes tiredly. She shakily walked into her bathroom before emptying her lunch into her toilet.
Twilight whimpered a little before forcing herself to ask, "What happened?"
Rarity looked at her with teary eyes. She croaked her throat and said "I don't know. After you started bleeding the you just began lashing out at everything. You stopped responding to whatever we said and just coughed up blood. So much blood. I saw you dying in front of me and I couldn't do anything to help. But then you started have a bulge swell in your back. And suddenly you just ripped out of… yourself."
Twilight nodded slowly. Imagining the horror that Rarity had felt. The two mares just sat there for a while. Zecora soundlessly walked into the room and put down a plate with several cups. Then she grabbed the thing on the sofa and put it in a bag and removed it from the room. Then she sat down and waited quietly for the 2 ponies.
When the 2 calmed down, they moved wordlessly to sit across from Zecora. They both poured themselves some of the brew and drank it slowly. Twilight visibly relaxed and layer back. The drink calmed her frayed nerves. Rarity had a similar reaction.
Zecora was the first to break the silence. "I am no qualified nurse. But that disease may have been a curse."
Twilight looked at the room Zecora had carried the bag into. She hated to think that someone had afflicted her with some black magic, but there was no other feasible explanation. Maybe not some black magic, or even dark magic, but some strange magical spell.
"But why would anyone want to get rid of Twilight," Rarity said "There isn't anypony out to get you is their dear?"
"This seems…different. I don't know why, but it doesn't feel like somepony else did this to me," Twilight responded. She decided to think about her gut feeling later. "We'll think about that later. Right now I just want to read a good book and sleep on it."
"Well however placed this jinx, they wanted to make you a minx,"
Zecora said with a deep laugh. Rarity let out a giggle of her own.
"What," Twilight asked wondering at how the conversation had changed so abruptly.
"Oh it is quite true. You do look gorgeous. Not that you didn't look gorgeous before…but with these wings you're on a whole new level," Rarity explained with a widening grin.
"Wings," Twilight asked questioningly. She turned her behind and to her surprise she found to Pegasus wings. Her heart skipped a beat as she had her eyes frozen on the newly formed wings. They were a little big for her size and reached back to her cutie mark. They were a misty gray at the ends, but the color morphed back to her lavender color as her eyes neared the joints connecting her wings to her body. Twilight began to hyperventilate and before she knew it she had gotten up. She kept turning around to try to get a better view of her newly gained wings. "Get me a mirror," Twilight yelled frantically.
Zecora produced a mirror and Rarity levitated it over to Twilight. She turned herself around trying to get a good look. Her wings hung on her jerking or shifting every now and then. She soon realized that it wasn't the only change. Her coat had turned a brighter shade of purple and seemed to shine in the light. Her mane and tail had both gotten longer and white dots glimmered in the violet areas. Several times, Twilight swore she it flow by an unseen force. However the biggest change was that she had gotten smaller. Not just smaller…she had gotten younger. She looked like she 3 years younger and am entire head shorter. Her head barely came up to Rarity's lower muzzle.
"W-what happened to me," Twilight asked.
"I don't what happened, but you look just like the princess's," Rarity answered. "You are an alicorn."
"Alicorn," Twilight whispered. 'This is not good. Not good at all. I have to ask the Princess how to fix this. But how will she react seeing me like this. Will she think I'm part of a weird cult that performs dark magic rituals. What if she thinks I want to take her place? Challenge her rule. This is bad, really really bad. When the Princess learns of then she'll to send me back to Canterlot's darkest dungeon or maybe even magic kindergarten…no she must never know. She must never find out.'
"No," Twilight said.
"Huh," said both Zecora and Rarity.
"The Princess's must never know. Nopony must ever know," Twilight answered as she turned to her friends. "You must promise never to tell anypony ever that this happened to me."
Zecora nodded with a stoic expression while Rarity nodded hesitantly with disappointed look on her face.
"You both have to Pinkie Swear," Twilight said with a firm voice.
"Cross my heart hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye," the zebra and pony recited.
"Good. I can whip up an illusion spell when I get home, but for now Zecora do you have something I could wear," Twilight questioned.
"I have dresses with both satin and lace, but will they cover your wings if they fall out of place," Zecora replied.
After some foraging through Zecora's wardrobe the settled on a simple cloak much to Rarity's distaste.
"Brown is totally not your color," Rarity said while the 2 mares got ready to leave.
"I'm sorry Rarity, but I can't wear something fabulous and not bring attention," Twilight said noting how vain that sounded. "Oh I almost forgot, what are we going to do with the 'bag' in that room."
"I hope you do not care, if I bury it in the hill back there," Zecora responded.
"I don't mind at all, let's get out here Rarity before the sun sets," Twilight said.
They hurried out of the forest and in no time at all they were back at the library.
"Sorry about putting you through all that trouble," Twilight told Rarity.
"It's ok, I'd do anything for a friend," Rarity said while bringing Twilight in for a hug. "Come on down to my boutique later, I have to take new measurements for your new dresses."
"What new dresses," Twilight asked slowly.
"The ones that'll fit your new wings," Rarity chimed.
"I said we weren't telling anypony," Twilight said with barely contained anger.
"Whatever you say," Rarity exclaimed before walking away and leaving Twilight at the library.
Twilight opened the door to the library. The lavender mare walked in quickly, happy to find herself surrounded by her books. Closing the door with her back hoof, she grabs Zecora's cloak and hangs it on her coat hanger.
Looking outside Twilight saw the red and oranges of the sunset. With the another quick burst of her magic she turned on all the lights.
"Twilight is that you," Spike mumbled as he came down the stairs. "Where were you all da-"
His eyes widened as he got a good looked at his newly changed caretaker.
"Um…wings," Spike noted.
Twilight came out of her shock and knocked her head slowly. 'Darn! Forgot about Spike.'
"Some weird new spell," Spike asked. Twirling his claws around each other.
Twilight slumped her head down. She put her hooves to her face and her body began tremble. She let out a sigh and said, "I don't know Spike. I just don't know what to do. It just happened so suddenly."
Spike ran towards his surrogate mother and rubbed a claw on her on his back. "It's ok Twilight. You'll figure it out. Why don't you umm… ask Princess Celestia?"
"The Princess! No she can never know about this," Twilight cried out. 'How could I explain this to Princess Celestia? I had weird disease that sucked like Tartarus and then it stopped all of a sudden and gave me wings. At best she'll think I'm part of an evil cult trying to summon an evil demon to Equestria.' "No Spike. She'd never believe me if I told her the truth."
"Are you sure, this is Princess Celestia we're talking about," Spike responded but quieted down when he got an angry look from Twilight. "Well you can't just sit around and do nothing," Spike pleaded.
Twilight's head shot up at this. She couldn't just mope around doing nothing. No, the librarian was a mare of action. With a determined look on her face she yelled to Spike, "Quick Spike, get me every book you can on Changelings and illusion spells."
Spike jumped back at Twilight's volume, but got up to follow her command.
'It doesn't matter if it's an illness I caught during my visit to the Crystal Empire or the result of a dark magic ritual by a bunch of crazed ponies. I'll get rid of these wings. Besides there's more than one way to get rid of unwanted limbs.' Twilight shuttered at the thought reserving it as a last chance option. 'But first I'll need a way to hide these abominations.'
Twilight worked through very many books. Most books didn't tell the magically adept mare anything she didn't already know. In her increasing pile of books she had everything from 'Magical Tricks and Illusions 101' to 'Everything you need to know about the Changeling's diet.' Twilight's trained mind scanned through 5 books in just as many minutes. Twilight growled in frustration as she found nothing to help her in her predicament and tossed the first set of books aside.
Spike watched from the other side of the room as Twilight violently flipped the pages of a book getting more frustrated by the minute. The purple dragon watched with his mouth agape as she carelessly chucked a book at the wall. 'Twilight would never hurt a book. She practically worships them.' Several strands in Twilight's mane flipped out of place. Her eyes grew frantic and the corners of her mouth were slipping into a demented. 'Oh no. She's going Smartypants mode. I've got to tell Princess Celestia before she turns the town crazy again.' Spike slowly edged away from the mentally unstable mare. 'Don't mind her and just make it to the bedroom. Don't draw her attention and she won't use her weird mind magic on me. There I'm almos-'
Spike never got to finish his thought as he was struck by a randomly thrown book in the head. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Damn it," Twilight yelled in her frustration as another book proved to be fruitless. There were so many options, but none of them worked for her. An illusion spell could conceal her wings perfectly, but the spell would break with the slightest nudge to her side. As for transformations, they would only last a short time and she'd have to transform them into 2 objects that hung exactly where her wings would have. A size spell would take too much energy to maintain.
'Another worthless book. Wait books aren't worthless. Yes they are. No they aren't they've always helped me when I needed them. I don't see them helping you now. B-but. No, you should just give up now. But then everyone will see that we have wings. No they won't…because they won't have anything to see you with. What do you mean? You know the long knife under the counter. Yes. Use it to stab everyone's eyes out. No I couldn't do that! Yes you could, your the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville. No, I mean it's just wrong. Well you could use the knife another way. How? Let's just say you it involves the knife and your wings.' The conversation Twilight ended abruptly as Twilight came across something interesting in a book. It was the formula for the changeling spell.
All the other books had just passed it off as a 'changeling thing.' This one, however attempted to explain it in a language Twilight could speak. However her hope did not last as it only explained how a changeling could use the spell. She glumly looked at the last book in her pile as her last hope shattered to pieces. She looked at the numbers and symbols involved in arcane magic. 'Well it looks like Ponyville have to do without their eyes.'
A spark appeared in Twilight's eyes as fireworks went off in her brain. 'Wait a second. I can make this work.' She levitated her chalkboard towards herself and immediately began scribbling down her notes.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Twilight smiled at her handiwork. In front of her was a revised version of the changeling spell. The chalkboard had various equations and symbols fighting for every inch of the chalkboard. It had taken 6 hours, but Twilight had harnessed the Changeling spell. It was by no means stable and Twilight had no doubt that it could blow up in her face. But what other option did she have. She looked at kitchen cabinet containing her knives. 'Well there's always that.'
She was running on almost no sleep for the past two days piled on top of the only food she hasn't nauseated and the oh so pleasurable experience of ripping out of one's own back. "Here goes nothing," Twilight whispered hoping to Celestia that this works. Her horn started to glow as her face frowned in concentration. She had to use intense focus to push the spell through the multiple magical loopholes that allowed this spell to work for a unicorn. Her horn glowed brighter as she activated different parts of the spell with as much precision she could muster. She felt the burning start at her feet. It was painful, but quick as her body was soon engulfed in purple fire. As soon as it came the fiery blaze was gone and in its place stood a Lavender unicorn.
"Yes yes yes," Twilight squealed in glee. She took a moment to admire her work. 'No extra limbs. No purple feathers.' Her wings twitched at the thought and a small distortion appeared momentarily on her side. The amethyst mare frowned at that, but shook her head. 'It's the best I'm going to get. Just got to be careful.'
With another sweep of her eyes she decided the spell would be indiscernible except to those who were looking for it. She glanced at the clock on the wall which showed time to a quarter past 4. 'It looks okay but, there's only one way to make sure this works flawlessly.'
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Twilight grabbed Zecora's cloak as she left the library. After gently closing the door she set off down towards Ponyville's best (and only) fashion boutique.
Grabbing the cloak had been a precautionary measure. She was eager to test her modified Changeling spell but she wasn't that eager.
The piece of cloth proved to be unnecessary however. The Streets of Ponyville were barren of any Equine life this early in the day. A big contrast to the constant buzz of cities like Canterlot and Manehattan. The color seemed to drained from the town giving the colorful buildings a gray hue. It wasn't long before the cloaked mare upon the fashionista's place of residence.
Twilight grinned when she saw at the light on the Second floor was still turned. Obviously the dressmaker had stayed up all night sowing together a dress for some noble pony in Canterlot. Twilight thought back to the week Hoity Toity had ordered 60 dresses from Rarity. The next few days had been of isolation and constant work for the fashionista. 'And I thought my mane looked bad when I'm stressed.'
She raised her hoof and knocked. Twilight waited for a few moments before knocking again. Losing her patience standing out in the morning cold and being sleep deprived for two days, she teleported up to Rarity's workroom. Under normal circumstances teleporting into somepony's home without permission was a gross violation of privacy. But Twilight came to the decision that nothing about yesterday would fall under the category of normal.
She appeared in a dimly lot room with various cloths and colorful objects in a seemingly random arrangement. Across the room a white mare's head shot up at a desk. The mare turned her head around and her eyes grew wide in terror at the cloaked mare.
Twilight quickly removed the cloak to reveal herself to the frightened pony. When Twilight looked at her face, she saw that Rarity's expression had changed. Her face was hard to read, but Twilight thought it was a 'failed to compute' face.
Twilight cleared her throat and put on a winning smile. She said, "Nice right, the wings are completely gone."
Rarity yelled out in rage, "You…what happened to your beauty? Why are you so ugly now?"
"Hey," Twilight interjected "I'm not ugly. I know I've been gaining some on the sides, but I don't think I'm that ugly." Being told you were ugly from a fashion expert is never a good experience… but then again they thought everything not made by them was ugly.
"Yes I guess. Not with curves and a flank like that anyway," Rarity sighed. "It's just that when you've seen the best, everything else looks like Timberwolf droppings. Oh and I stayed up all night coming up with a bunch of new dresses that go just swimmingly with your would be new look."
Twilight ignored her first comment and glanced at the sketches sprawled on Rarity's desk. They depicted various designs of dresses that had fabulosity that only Rarity could create. "Wow these are good. Almost makes me want to wear them later."
"What's the point of wearing them now?," Rarity groaned "You don't have wings anymo-"
Rarity was cut off as Twilight released her modified Changeling spell. "I didn't get rid of them. All though I wish I could. I made the Changeling spell so I could go outside without causing an Equestria-wide panic."
"Are you sure you want to keep this hidden?" Rarity asked, but decided to drop it with Twilight's disapproving look and said "While I think you look fantastic, if you really want to go back to the way you were I won't try to stop you. You should probably tell the Princess."
"No," Twilight yelled. "I can never tell her. She'll probably banish me or throw me in a dungeon or throw me in a dungeon in the place she banishes me."
"You know that's not true. Just tell her honestly and she'll understand," Rarity assured.
"You saw what happened. I literally ripped my way out of my body. If she finds out she'll think I was practicing forbidden magic," Twilight countered ending with a frantic note.
"You're lying to yourself right now. We all know that Princess Celestia wouldn't intentionally harm you in anyway. You can't keep this hidden forever."
"I'll make sure of it. I'll find a way to get rid of these useless limbs one way or another," Twilight stated.
"Well if your methods are anything like that SmartyPants incident, I won't hesitate send a message to a certain Sun goddess."
'I'll need to bring her to the front of the list if I ever to use my contingency plan.'"I promise I won't. Anyway I have somewhere I need to be,"
"Why? Where are you going this early?" Rarity questioned the Lavender mare.
"To lie to the lie detector herself."
Twilight trotted quickly down the dirt path to Sweet Apple Acres. She passed the schoolhouse who's color was also dulled in the twilight hours.
'Ooh I hope this'll work. If it works for her then it'll work for anyone. Oh but what if it doesn't work. She'll understand right? But then she is bit more superstitious than normal and might accuse me as a crazed cultist. No I have to believe she'll trust me. Oh I'm here.' Twilight looked up at the sign that had a several apples painted on it. She continued down to the path towards the barn and farmhouse. Eventually Twilight heard the noise of trees being bucked early in the morning. Looking around she quickly spotted the orange in the see of green. Twilight approached quickly. 'Well here we go.'
"How's it going Applejack?" Twilight said in a cheerful voice.
Applejack turned around and noticed Twilight. As Twilight approached Applejack's head snapped up and she leaned her head forward, her eyes scrutinizing Twilight. "Woah Twi is that you?" Applejack asked.
"Of Course it's me. You see me almost everyday. I think it would be pretty easy to recognize one of your best friends," Twilight replied.
"No it's just I didn't recognize you like 'that.' What kind of spell is that? You mind casting it on me sometime. I'd be able to finally beat Rainbow in fair race," Applejack explained.
"…W-what sp-sp-spell?" Twilight stuttered with dread growing in her mind.
"The one that made you look like that," Applejack stated.
"Do I have wings and a sparkly mane," Twilight said.
"Am I supposed to be seeing something else," Applejack responded.
Twilight looked at her back and noticed two familiar feathery protrusions. "Oh Buck."
