Chapters Twilight stepped into the clearing, where her friends had already arrived. "Well, now that that's settled, why don't we head back to Ponyville?" Twilight was about to suggest dinner at her home, but stopped when she noticed the faces worn by the rest of the Elements of Harmony.
"Girls, what's the matter? It's not about... this," she gestured to the blood staining her hooves, "is it? Look, girls. I did what we had to do. Celestia needed that done, but it's over now. We can all just forget it. Okay?"
The other five mares shifted a bit. Pinkie Pie was sitting still for the first time in months. Rarity had a pained look on her face. Fluttershy seemed ready to cry. Applejack wasn't even looking in Twilight's direction. Rainbow Dash, however, seemed most conflicted about the situation.
"Girls? C'mon! Look at me! I had to do it! Celestia told us to get rid of her! Why are you treating me like this?" Twilight put her hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "Applejack?" Apple jack stood suddenly, pushing Twilight away.
"No. Not right now Twilight. I can't talk to you or I might- I'll-" Applejack stomped a hoof in frustration. "Just leave me alone! Okay?" Applejack galloped of, through the woods.
"Applejack!" Twilight called after her, but it was no use. She turned toward Pinkie Pie, "Pinkie? You're always happy, c'mon, say something. Lighten up the mood! Please, Anything!" Pinkie Pie flinched, backing away from the unicorn. Twilight noticed that her mane had slowly been deflating as she spoke.
"Applejack's right, Twilight. I don't want to talk to you right now." Thankfully, Pinkie at least stayed seated in the clearing.
Twilight turned towards Fluttershy. She was the Element of Kindness, surely she would talk to Twilight.
"Fluttershy, I'm sorry, but you heard the Princess, I had to-"
"NO! Twilight! You didn't have to anything!" Everypony stared, shocked at Fluttershy's outburst. "Listen Twilight. You MURDERED her. There is no excuse for killing somepony, and-"
"But she wasn't even a pony, she was-" Twilight was interrupted by the stinging surprise of Fluttershy's hoof hitting her cheek. Hard.
"Dammit, Twilight! Shut up! What right do you have to kill any living thing!? You heartless- You- You-" Fluttershy's entire face was twitching now, tears poured down her cheeks, falling to the ground, wetting the dirt. "You BITCH! " Fluttershy slapped Twilight again, and ran.
Twilight watched Fluttershy's receding form silently. She couldn't speak. She put a hoof up to her cheek where her friend had hit her. Shocked, she pulled it back. Fresh blood covered her hoof. Only this time, it was her own blood.
Twilight looked up from her hoof to find that only Rainbow Dash remained in the clearing. "Rain-"
"I'm sorry Twilight. I need to go find Fluttershy. You're an egghead, go write about what you did tonight. Maybe then you'll realize your mistake." Rainbow Dash turned and followed the path Fluttershy had galloped away on.
Twilight fell to the ground, laying face down in the moist grass. What had she done? She hadn't had a choice. It wasn't her fault. Right?
Twilight pushed the door to the Golden Oaks Library open with her face, too tired to perform magic. It had been a tiring night. Glancing at the clock on the wall she was surprised to see that it was just past 3 AM.
Great. She had an appointment with her dentist, Colgate, in 4 hours. Twilight wondered absently whether she would even be able to fall asleep tonight. Her recent insomnia had been getting worse. Twilight gazed jealously at her assistant Spike. He was curled into a ball, wrapped deep within layers of blankets upon his miniature bed. How he slept so soundly, only Luna knew. Twilight yawned as she got into her own bed, pulling the blanket over herself. Her thought wandered, before returning to earlier that day.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Princess? You sent for me?" Twilight entered the throne room nervously.
"Please, Celestia is fine, we're both princesses." Twilight's mentor smiled dully before continuing, "I have some bad news. There seems to be a changeling living in Ponyville."
"A changeling? In Ponyville? But why would-" Twilight was interrupted by another princess, this time her old foalsitter, Cadence.
"Why do you think? The only important people living there are the eight most powerful Equestrians, excepting Celestia."
"Eight?" Twilight questioned.
"Yes," Celestia intervened, putting a hoof up, "however, the identities of the two you are unaware of are unimportant. We will speak of this with you at a later date. At this current time, I need you to get rid of the changeling in Ponyville." Celestia raised an eyebrow as she said 'get rid of,' and Twilight inwardly shuddered, knowing that this was not going to be a fun mission. Nodding, she returned to the door.
"You can count on me, Pri- Celestia ," she corrected herself.
~~~~~
Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony stood outside the Ponyville Orphanage. Rainbow Dash looked over to Twilight. "Are you one hundred percent sure that she's the changeling? I mean, it could be anypony! What if-"
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I know you liked Scootaloo, but there's nothing we can do. according to Celestia this changeling is as ruthless as Chrysalis... And nearly as powerful too."
"But she's just a kid! You can't seriously expect us to kill her in her sleep!" Rainbow Dash had tears in her eyes, "look, I understand that she's dangerous, but isn't there anything else we can do?" Rainbow looked torn between fighting Twilight and agreeing with her.
"If we allow her to live, she could murder the entire town! Again, I'm sorry, but this is the only solution!" Twilight was shocked at Rainbow Dash. Whatever had happened to the 'Element of Loyalty?'
Rainbow hung her head, "all right, I don't think it's right, but if a princess tells me to, I guess I have to..."
"Rainbow!" Twilight was shocked at her friend, "I don't want you to listen because I'm a princess! I want you to listen because we're friends, and you want to! I-" Twilight stopped talking. "I'm sorry. Let's just get this over with."
And with that, she pushed the door open.
Applejack sighed. She wondered what she would tell Apple Bloom tomorrow. She hated lying to others, especially family, but she couldn't tell the truth either. She opened the door to Apple Bloom's room, and looked sorrowfully at her younger sister. Oh, how her life was plagued by death. First her parents, then her foalsitter, this was the second friend of hers who had died. Applejack was proud of her sister's resolve throughout all of this, but she also knew it affected the young filly more than she let on. The poor thing was obviously experiencing nightmares. She was always tired in the mornings and afternoons. Unless... What if that was the changeling's fault? What if it had something to do with the blamed thing draining the love from her sister? Applejack was so angry with the idea that she nearly slammed Apple Bloom's door as she left towards her own room.
Applejack lay on her bed, remembering the terrible night that had preceded.
~~~~~~~~~~
Applejack took a deep breath as the six friends walked up the stairs. The changeling was only a few seconds walk away now. Twilight turned around.
"Okay, I want Rainbow Dash-" She paused, "I want Applejack to go in and make sure she's asleep. And be quiet, in case she knows why we're here."
Applejack's fur bristled, "Wha- me?" Applejack grit her teeth. "Of course. Anythin' for you Twilight. 'Cause we're friends. " Twilight just nodded.
Applejack walked across the hall to the door. It was marked simply 318. Applejack tried to tell herself that was all that was in there.
A number.
All they were doing was killing #318.
Murdering #318.
318 souls screamed in Applejacks ears, crying, begging. Applejack was surrounded by them, drowning. She felt herself being pulled down into the depths of hell.
"Applejack!" Twilight whispered, "snap out of it! Just check to see if she's asleep!" Applejack opened her eyes. She was standing in a hallway, in front of a door marked simply 318.
"Sorry, Twi, I don' know what came over me..." Applejack shuddered, remembering the horrid vision. Where had that come from? She'd never experienced something like that before. She shook her head once more and pushed open the door.
Applejack looked around the room. There was a minuscule bed, barely large enough for the loudly snoring filly laying on it. She was thrown across the blankets, covering a small notebook. Applejack's mind wandered, wondering what was written on it. Applejack turned around and stuck her head out the door.
"It's all good, girls. She's definitely asleep." Applejack turned back toward the room to look at the empty bed.
What.
Empty bed...
"Shit."
Applejack stared at the open window. How could this have happened? Bucking Changelings. Applejack winced as Twilight stuck her head in the door. "What? Where is she!? You said-" Applejack looked out the window, ignoring Twilight. The orange filly had already made it out of the property. Jumping out the window, Applejack used a tree as a kickboard and propelled herself in the disguised changeling's direction. The remaining Elements of Harmony followed soon after.
The chase had begun.
But why?
Rainbow Dash lay in her bed beneath a cloudy roof. For some reason the cloud she used for a pillow was grey and wet. She was too lazy at the moment to fix it.
Besides, her face was already wet with tears. Rainbow Dash had cried the entire way to her home. She had been unable to save Scootaloo, unable to comfort Fluttershy, unable to save Twilight from her own madness. She couldn't help anypony.... What kind of friend was Rainbow Dash now?
Rainbow Dash rolled over in her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about poor Scootaloo. How could Twilight have done such a thing? Rainbow was supposed to be the loyal one, but what was she supposed to do when her best friend became a threat to those she cared for?
Her mind slowly went from wondering to wandering. To be specific, it wandered back to that night's horrid events.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash stared out the window. Applejack was chasing Scootaloo, who, with the power of her underdeveloped wings, was just barely keeping out of the older pony's grasp.
"C'mon Rainbow! Move! We need to stop it!" Twilight pushed Rainbow Dash to the side, spread her wings, and jumped out the window. Rainbow stared dully after her, the unicorn's words ecoing in her mind.
"IT." That was what Twilight thought Scootaloo was. An IT.
Was that all Twilight thought of Rainbow too? Or Pinkie? How about Fluttershy? Rarity? Applejack? Were they all ITs to Twilight? What about all of Ponyville? Was Twilight a lone princess in a town of ITs? How could Twilight even say such a horrible, nasty thing?
Rainbow Dash's feathers and fur alike bristled with anger. She would show Twilight just what an IT was capable of.
Twilight was catching up with Scootaloo. Her wings were larger, more capable than the filly's, and she wasn't going to escape. Unless... Rainbow Dash smiled. She was the fastest pony around. No Princess Egghead would hurt her favorite little filly. Rainbow Dash ruffled her feathers and joined the chase. Only she wasn't chasing any foal. She had her sights set on a certain lavender princess...
~~~~~
Rainbow Dash tackled Twilight about two and a half hooves behind Scootaloo. She had been barely fast enough to save the poor thing from Twilight. The two older ponies skidded to a stop on the ground, bashing into a tree.
"Rainbow Dash! What in Tartarus do you think you're doing!? Get off of me!" Rainbow Dash's hooves were wrapped tightly around Twilight's midsection, as well as her wings.
"Not a chance! I can't let you hurt her! She never did anything wrong!"
"She's a changeling, Rainbow! What makes you think she hasn't? She's probably fed off of everypony at the orphanage, and you! "
"I don't care! She never hurt anypony! If she's been feeding off of ponies, it's probably because she has to! That's the only way for her to survive!"
Twilight continued to struggle, but her voice became suddenly flat. "Rainbow Dash. Let me GO!" Twilight drew back a hoof and hit the cyan pegasus with all of her might. Rainbow Dash fell to the dirt, blood seeping from a cut in her lower lip.
"Twilight, stop!" But Twilight was gone, off chasing Scootaloo again.
Rarity closed the door behind her, letting out a breath she'd been holding for far too long. She was just glad Sweetie Belle hadn't been staying the night. She wondered how she would break the news to her sister, or if she'd even have to. With her in school, word would get around quickly. The only question was whether it would be true, or just gossip. Rarity decided that she would have to tell Sweetie sometime before Monday.
Rarity threw herself into her bed with a long, drawn-out "uuuuuuugh!" Then thrashed around, messing up her mane, as well as her carefully laid-out sheets. Usually wallowing helped with feelings like these, but this time, it seemed that not even a good wallow would make rarity feel any better. Rarity groaned again, then chided herself for making such an unladylike noise.
Rarity thought back to the night that had preceded, but instantly shuddered. You mustn't think of such things. She told herself, worrying about them will give you wrinkles. Rarity stood up suddenly. "I know! I'll make a fashionable dress! That will take my mind off of what happened!" She said it out loud, if only to reassure herself. She hopped over to a foal-sized ponyquinne standing next to the curtained window. Levitating a few pleasing colors of fabric, she began to work.
An hour or so later, Rarity stood in front of her most recent masterpiece, tears streaming down her face. Standing in front of her was a small ponyquinne wearing a snug orange hoodie. The hood had three swaths of a purple-ish fabric loosely stitched in a chaotic pattern that seemed to resemble a mane when viewed from a few key angles. Stitched to the sides were two stuffed wings. Upon the ground lay a small pile of green and black gems that Rarity had left out of the final design. Rarity sucked in a deep breath.
"No... I wasn't- I meant to-" She choked on her words and threw her hooves around the ponyquinne. "I'm so- sorreeheeheeeeeee! **" She sobbed loudly, holding the ponyquinne tightly to herself, her mind returning to the chase that had occurred only a few hours before.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity was breathing heavily. Most of her friends were passing her, despite the fact that she'd been the first one out the window after Twilight. She just wasn't as athletic or energetic as her other friends. Especially at 2 in the morning.
Rarity stopped, panting for breath. If she couldn't run as fast as her friends, she'd just have to use her natural-born gift of magic to keep up.
Her horn began to glow softly blue. Slowly, a glowing blue liquid began to coalesce on the tip of her horn, running down the length of her horn and dripping down to the dirt beneath her hooves. Where the luminescent blue liquid splashed to the dirt, small tendrils of magic began seeping up and out of the ground, creating the ghostly blue outline of a chariot. When the outline was finished, it quickly began filling up with more luminescent blue fluids, becoming black, and growing swirls of gold and silver, tying together, making a beautifully terrifying chariot. Rarity's horn stopped glowing, and she took a moment to breath. She wasn't quite done yet. She still needed a chauffeur.
Rarity aimed her horn once more, this time pointing it at the sky instead of the ground. The grey clouds the Pegasi had gathered for tomorrow's storm rumbled softly. A small peal of lightning burst from a low-flying cloud, striking the ground next to Rarity's improvised chariot. When the smoke had cleared there stood a gaseous figure, fading in and out of sight. If you had been there, you would have found it hard to focus on his features, your eyes sliding away from his face.
Rarity smiled proudly. "Ah, the joys of being a Unicorn... Oh, and what should I call you, dear sir?"
"Whatever you please, madam," the shady figure bowed his head, his deep baritone rumbling like the thunder he was born of.
"Hmm... How about, Thor? Yes, that's perfect!" Rarity clapped her hooves together, "onward, Thor! Follow the orange Pegasus!"
Pinkie Pie looked into the eyes of the two ponies who had her cornered. Their eyes glowed evilly, and Pinkie knew they had a powerful weapon hidden behind their backs.
"Pinkie, how many times do we have to tell you to get home before midnight? You're still young, and you worry us!" Mrs. Cake was holding a tissue to her face, dabbing at tears. "Four in the morning Pinkie? We thought you'd been hurt at one of your parties. You didn't even call!" Pinkie looked down at her hooves.
"Honey, give her some space, something's wrong,look at her mane..." Mr. Cake put his hoof on his wife's shoulder. Pinkie Pie said nothing. "Pinkie? Do you want to talk about what happened at the party?"
"There was no party, " Pinkie growled.
"What do you mean 'no party?' Where have you been all this time?" Mr. Cake looked Pinkie up and and down, realizing for the first time that her mane had no streamers hanging from it, that her fur wasn't matted with frosting, that she had no air of drunkenness.
Pinkie Pie pushed her way past her landlord and landlady, not caring about hurting them. "I was on a mission with Princess Twilight Sparkle." She spat the name, gritting her teeth.
"What's the matter then? I thought you loved spending time with her, why, just the other day you-"
"That was before." Pinkie interrupted, "she's- Twilight's changed... I don't know what, but something happened to her recently. I-" Pinkie stopped grimacing and started crying. "I think she's- I think she's broken! I think becoming a princess broke her!" Mrs. Cake tried to put a hoof on Pinkies head, but she pushed it away. "Leave me alone! I'm not a filly any more! You're not even my parents!" With that she galloped up the stairs to her bedroom. Mrs. Cake gazed after her for a moment, before returning to tears.
While Mr. Cake was trying to comfort his distressed wife, Pinkie Pie lay on the pink carpet beneath her bed, trying her hardest to block the images of the preceding night from reaching her distressed mind.
~~~~~~~~~~
Pinkie Pie bounced along, keeping pace with Applejack. The two were closest to the disguised changeling. Somehow, despite her wing injury, Twilight was still keeping up. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were nowhere to be seen, but there was somepony else following them. A strange grey colt that Pinkie instantly recognized as a witches familiar. Who could be controlling him? Obviously a Pegasus, due to his cloudy nature, but Pinkie knew Rainbow wasn't a practitioner of witchcraft, so who?
With a shock, Pinkie realized that the chariot he pulled behind him was not carrying a Pegasus in grey robes, but a Unicorn! A strangely familiar looking one too! It looked almost exactly the same as Rarity! in fact, it was
"Ohmygosh! Rarity!" Pinkie called out, "I didn't know you were a Pegasus! Or a witch!"
"Oh, please, darling. I prefer the term sorceress , and I'm no Pegasus either. This is just a trick I learned while we were all, er, mixed up?" Rarity waved a hoof at the others as she passed.
Pinkie watched in awe as Rarity swooped past Scootaloo, screeching to a halt in front of the orange filly. She watched in even more awe as the inertia flipped Rarity's chariot over, tumbling into a tree, a small spine dragging Scootaloo down with it. To make things worse, Thor chose that moment to leave, and the sudden lightning strike hit the chariot in full force, setting it afire.
"Rarity!" Twilight shouted.
Fluttershy said nothing as she entered her cottage, she simply sat down in a sofa and watched the many animals around her sleep. Her eyes were red and puffy, but no tears fell from their raw surface. She simply sat, and remembered.
~~~~~~~~~~
The four mares stared at the burning wreckage. Fluttershy covered her face with her hooves. Pinkie's mane slowly deflated. Applejack removed her hat and breathed a quick prayer.
Twilight took a few steps back, shaking her head. "No... Rarity..."
The four nearly jumped with fright when they heard a small cough. then another. Applejack rushed over to the decimated chariot throwing back a few pieces of black wood, but it turned out she was unneeded. From the other side of the wreckage came a small wheeze, and then, very faintly, "over... here!"
The four mares practically threw themselves around to the other side of the burning chariot. There, coughing on the ground was a small changeling, her black chitin still faintly flickering orange. Laying next to her was an unconscious Rarity, dirty and bruised, but alive. Fluttershy looked at the poor changeling who had risked it's own life to save Fluttershy's best friend. A Unicorn the changeling barely even knew. Fluttershy was about to go to her side, but stopped when Twilight stepped forward.
"Look what you've done!" She screamed at Scootaloo, "you did this! It's all your fault that she's hurt!" Twilight's eyes were wide and bloodshot. Her fur was matted with tears, which continued to stream down her face. "How could you?" She whispered.
Scootaloo shuddered, coughing.
"Well? Answer me, damn you! " Twilight's hoof flew, hitting the changeling squarely in the jaw. Sickly green blood dripped from the changeling's nose. It coughed, and more blood came out of it's mouth, the green fluid spraying itself onto the lavender Unicorn's hooves. "Why don't you speak!? " Twilight shrieked in rage, hitting the changeling over and over again, pummeling it's face and chest. "Speak! Damn it! Say something!"
The other three mares stared, shocked. Applejack turned away, unable to bear the scene before her. Pinkie went as far as to slowly drag herself away from the others, heading into a clearing a few feet away.
But Fluttershy stayed.
Fluttershy couldn't look away.
The horrors in front of her paralyzed her. She couldn't even blink.
Scootaloo coughed again and said "I never wanted this. I just wanted to live in freedom. Away from my mother and her evil plans. All she cared about was taking over. She wanted nothing but power. I just-"
Twilight hit her again, "you think just because you don't like your mother you can come to Ponyville, and hurt my friends!?" Twilight took a deep breath, "Let's see you try and hurt my friends when you're trapped deep in Tartarus." Her horn glowed a strange blackish shade, seeming to sharpen into a long black scythe. Twilight raised her horn skywards and brought it down to Scootaloo's chest in a quick strike.
Fluttershy stared at the power of the curse.
Scootaloo screamed as the black blade touched her heart. Her body glowed a terrible white, and Fluttershy watched as the changeling's very existence fell to pieces, as if she were a weak parchment caught in a tornado, the words on her surface slowly being ripped apart. There was no blood. There was just a small squeak as Scootaloo was forever torn out of existence.
Fluttershy looked at Twilight, panting, her horn still faintly black, and she ran.
Celestia poured herself another glass of wine, continuing her monologue. Luna simply eyed he glass nervously.
"Haven't I taught her properly? I thought she was pure! I made her a princess! She was supposed to be loving, like i never could be!" She took a large swig before continuing, "Oh, Luna, whatever shall I do? I asked her to befriend the thing, and she goes off and destroys it!"
Luna sighed, putting a hoof on her older sister's shoulder. "Be at peace, sister. 'Tis not your fault." She lowered her hoof over Celestia's goblet, pushing it to the table. "You need to sleep. You must raise the sun in mere hours." Celestia lowered her head and followed her sister out the door towards her personal chambers.
Chrysalis gazed out the window of her tower. Her lands were vast, but she felt empty. Her own daughter, dead. Destroyed, wiped from existence. And by none other than Twilight Sparkle. A small tear, the first she had shed in years, fell down Chrysalis' cheek. "Oh, dearest Lydea. Why did you have to leave? I warned you that they wouldn't accept you. My poor daughter."
She turned away from the window, and another tear made it's way out from beneath her eyelids.
From this day, and for the rest of this moon, there would be mourning in her kingdom.
Epilogue: (Possible Outcome) Do Not Touch
If you were to ever visit Canterlot,you would find that it was the very city in which lived the two princesses.
If you were to visit their palace, you would find that it contained a beautiful statue garden, where once stood a statue of a particular Draconequus by the name of Discord.
If you were to visit this garden, you would find many a beautiful statue, all marked with a small bronze plaque: Do Not Touch.
One of these statues would be of a straight-maned Alicorn, it's head hung low, and tears falling from it's face.
On the ground near it's feet is a bronze plaque: Do Not Touch.
Do Not Touch.
Do Not Touch.
Do Not Touch.
Do Not Touch.
Do Not Touch.