Exiled From Equestria

Twilight’s ears perk up at the sound of a squeaking instrument. She grabs her maps (with her mouth) and places them into her left saddlebag, carefully closing the strap.

She arises from her sitting position onto all four hooves. The swamp setting is likely the most unpleasant one she’s experienced so far. The smell of moss and filthy swamp water, the slightly squishy dirt, and all the tall trees and misty fog turning the sunrise sky a hazel green.

Overall, it’s cold. Twilight tucks her neck deeper into her silver-lined spring green jacket.

The powerful unicorn stands on an oval-like piece of land surrounded on all sides with swamp water covered in lily pads and duckweed except for this narrow scrap of land leading to a large area of damp land where wooden buildings lay.

Twilight gallops from her land to the village. As she comes closer to the buildings, the music of a saxaphone, clarinet, piano, and trumpet, along with chatting and talking, drown out her own thoughts.

She skids to a halt in front of a broken-down one-story building where all the music is coming from. Twilight trots up the four creaking steps to the porch and up to the front doors that swing with ease as she enters.

The music gets suddenly loud. So loud that her ears ring until they readjust to the band. She winces while scanning across the cantina. There are many circular tables covering almost 80% of the room. The rest is made up of a stage where three musicians sit with their instruments, playing an energizing jazz. On the far right side is a bar counter with a line of ponies on stools drinking fresh cranberry juice, since it’s the only fruit that grows in murky swamps like this one.

The only seat available is at a two-pony booth in the back of the room, thankfully farthest away from the band.

Twilight is just about to sit down when a pale gray earth pony stallion with an orange mane beats her too it. Back in Ponyville, she would just shrug to herself and leave. But she has no choice when the dark magic takes a better hold of her. Her eyes quickly flash green and red with an evil grin to accompany it. When they fade, Twilight trots up to the stallion and prods him in the shoulder. He turns to her with a smile that fades when she leans in so close to him that their noses touch.

“This is my seat, you clueless moron!” she whispers in such an angry and quiet way that sends the stallion galloping out of the catina. An evil grin sits on her face until the pony disappears from sight. Once he does, she turns back to the booth and sits in a sit, thinking dirty words about the stallion.

She snaps back to reality. Stop it, Twilight, don’t let it get ahold of you. I should really apologize to him…

Don’t. He deserves it, the dark magic replies. The fact that it’s grip is tightening on her scares the purple unicorn. She shakes all thoughts from mind and displays a friendly face instead.

Twilight is sitting at a booth in the middle of a swamp with no money and has come inside only for a rest. To her, things can’t get any more random.

To the world, they can.

A periwinkle earth pony stallion with a ruffled brown mane and cerulean blue eyes strolls over to Twilight’s booth. He seats himself across from the unicorn herself. She shifts uncomfortably.

“Can I help you?” Twilight asks awkwardly. She’s surprised that it’s not drowned out entirely by the band.

“I was going to ask you the same thing. My name’s Cranberry Tart. What’s yours?”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Cranberry Tart lends a hoof Twilight’s way for her to shake, which she does timidly. “I know just about everypony in this swamp. Are you knew?”

“Well...yes. Why do you ask?”

The stallion laughs. “‘Cause me and my brother own this place.”

“That’s, um, very interesting.” Twilight doesn’t know why she feels so timid. Just add it to the list of side effects of being exiled from the place with ponies you love.

“So where ya’ from, Miss Twilight?”

“It’s funny, actually. I’m from Equestria.”

“Equestria, you say?” The stallion looks with fascinated eyes. “I’ve never met a pony from there. What’s it like?”

“Uh…” Spit it out, Twilight, spit it out! “There’s lots of ponies, many varying cities full of varying types of ponies.”

“This swamp is mostly earth ponies. Anywho, why have ya traveled ta Scramptra? You journeyin’ ‘round the world?”

“Yes and no. I’m traveling halfway across the world, but in the opposite direction you're thinking of.”

“Oh? How so?”

“It’s sort of a long story, but I’m traveling back to Equestria. I never meant to leave it in the first place.”

The stallion glances at Twilight’s horn. “Can’t you just use magic?”

She shakes her head. “My magic is a bit…on the frits. I’m only using it for dire circumstances.”

“And gettin' back ta yer home ain’t?”

“It's not necessarily a life-threatening situation."

“Hm.” The stallion rubs his chin with a hoof. “Have you got any maps specifically showing where you need to go?”

Twilight reaches into her magenta saddlebags and pulls out the maps of Scramptra, Kalbure, and Equestria. Somehow, she is able to spread them all out onto the small table.

“So, we’re here,” he says, pointing to Stargaze Swamp in the top right section of the map. “Which direction are you traveling?”

“Northeast.”

“That means you don’t have much to pass through until you get to Kalbure. You only have to…” the stallion trails off. He pauses with wide eyes, looking back and forth between the map of Scramptra and the map of Kalbure.

Twilight bites her lower lip, a habit when she’s worried. “What’s the matter?”

When the stallion looks back at Twilight, his face is full of shock and fear. “Ya have to pass through Crystal Reef.”

“Crystal Reef? What’s so bad about that place?”

“Did I hear somepony mention Crystal Reef?” The band has finished another song and announced that their taking a break by the time the two ponies turn their attention to a pale emerald earth pony mare. She has pale gold eyes that point at the tip and a pink and ruby curly mane. She smiles ever so sweetly as she sashays over to the booth.

The stallion’s face brightens. “Yes you did, Darlin’.” He waves a beckoning hoof to he. “Twilight, this is my wife, Emerald Haze. Emerald Haze, this is an acquaintance, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight waves. Emerald smiles. “Hey, Twilight. Are you new?”

She’s about to answer when Cranberry beats her to it. “She’s come all the way from Equestria. Can you believe it?”

“Why, Equestria is about a third across the world from here, ain’t it?”

Cranberry nods. “The reason why I mentioned Crystal Reef is because she has to cross through there to get to Kalbure.”

Emerald gasps. “Do you know how dangerous that place is, Twilight?” The lavender unicorn shakes her head. “Why, it’s just the most dangerous river-like lake, surrounded by even greater so dangerous woods. You can’t possibly pass through there without a guide!”

Cranberry Tart smiles weakly at his wife. “Well, Darlin’, we could always be her guides.”

Emerald pauses. At first, she can’t think of anything to say. “Through the life-threatening Crystal Reef? Are you sure?”

“Personally, I find it a fun adventure. But it’s all up to you, Darlin’. If you don’t want to go, I won’t make ya.”

“Oh, well, we haven’t left the village on a trip in such a long time.” Beads of sweat run down her forehead. “Don’t you have to run the cantina?”

“My brother has handled this place all on his own for months before. Whenever he leaves, I take over for him, so we shouldn’t find that as problem.”

“I just don't know, Cranberry. It’s an awfully dangerous journey.”

Twilight tenses up. She doesn’t actually need a guide. She didn’t even ask for one; Cranberry volunteered. “That’s very nice of you, but I think I can manage the trip on my own,” Twilight replies just as the band kicks back into music.

Emerald sighs. “I don’t know if I would ever forgive myself for letting a tourist cross that place on their own.”

“I wouldn’t call myself a tourist, Emerald Haze. I’ll be fine.”

Emerald looks from Cranberry to Twilight. “I’ll go.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with it?” Cranberry asks. Emerald nods. “Alright. Just give me time to let my brother know, and then we’ll head off.”

Twilight lifts a corner of her mouth upward in a smile. “Thank you.”

***

Twilight Sparkle follows Cranberry Tart and Emerald Haze as they lead her through the forest of swamp trees. The purple unicorn has finally gotten use to the smell once they reach their destination.

The three ponies stop at an edge of the wide river passing through Stargaze Swamp. There, perched upon the waterlily-and-duckweed-infested water, sits a fairly large wooden boat tied to a small dock with a rope. Cranberry and Emerald hop upon it with ease. Twilight hesitates. She has never been on a boat before.

She watches and listens to the boat sway in the water. Cranberry tilts his head a bit. “You comin’ in?”

“Yeah, I’ve just never been on a boat before. It seems kind of small and...rocky.”

Emerald hides a laugh behind her hoof. “Twilight, you’ll be fine. Have you ever been on a hot air balloon?”

“Yes.”

“Then you have nothing to fear. It won’t sink, I highly doubt you’ll get sea sick, especially since we’re not going to be in the sea.”

“Can’t we just...walk?”

The periwinkle stallion shakes his head. “Not if you want to pass through Crystal Reef.” Then Emerald and him snatch two paddles.

Twilight hesitantly leaps onto the boat. Her rough landing in the center between her guides rocks it enough for water to splash inside. She blushes. “Sorry.”

“Not a fret, Dear,” Emerald reassures.

Cranberry unties the boat from the dock easily with his mouth before tilting his head to the right and dipping his paddle into the swamp water. Emerald does the same, but in the opposite direction. Soon they start paddling rhythmically.

The first thing that pops into Twilight’s mind is how slow and peaceful it is. For awhile, all you can hear is the soft paddles and chirping of crickets.

“So…” Twilight trails off, glancing from Emerald, who paddles in front of her, and Cranberry, who paddles behind her. “Why do you have a boat? Do you travel along the river a lot?”

“I wouldn’t say a lot,” Cranberry replies clearly, despite the paddle in his mouth. “Emerald and I take this boat down the other way as a shortcut to a cranberry field. It’s surrounded by thorn bushes, so entering from the water is the only way in.”

“Are cranberries all you eat?” Twilight asks curiously. So far, that’s the only food source she has heard of in these parts.

“No, but they’re the tastiest,” Emerald replies. “Besides those, the only other edible plants that even grow here are waterlilies, lotus, water chestnut, water caltrop, wild rice, watercress, water spinach, taro, and cattail.”

Cranberry’s mouth begins to ache from paddling for so long. He hauls his dripping paddle back inside the boat, then clumsily grabs it with his hooves and uses them instead. This tactic uses more effort and is slowly, but it gets the job done.

Twilight is on the verge of asking another question when a loud roar echoes through the swamp. A new question comes to mind. “What was that?”

“That,” Cranberry says with a gulp, “was a Skwoth.”

Twilight remembers how Amber Eyes mentioned the same type of creature. “It’s not going to come after us...is it?”

“Not as long as we stay in the water,” Cranberry replies. “We should reach the end of the swamp around dusk. We’ll have to sleep on the boat, then start heading through Crystal Reef. That’s where you have two horrible options: you can either pass by Crystal Reef through the forest where many creatures, including Swoths, lurk, or you can pass along the river.”

I’m going to regret asking this, Twilight thinks. “What lurks in the river?”

Emerald Haze’s eyes fill with worry. “Hippocampi.”

“Hippocampi?”

“A hippocampus is an earth pony with the lower half of a fish.”

Twilight curiously peers over the side of the boat. In the water, all she spies are seaweed and cat fish, other than her wavy reflection. “What’s so bad about them?”

“Oh, Twilight, don’t ever underestimate a hippocampus.”

“But why?”

Emerald sighs. “Because they have powers. Strange powers.”

Riddles, Twilight thinks. These are riddles. Why won’t she tell me what they actually do?

Soon enough, Emerald Haze’s teeth begin to ache, too. This time, when she lifts her paddle out of the water, Twilight snaps from her thoughts and offers to paddle. “Why, thank you.”

“It’s no problem, really. Without you guys, I’d be as lost as ever.” She picks up the paddle in her teeth and starts to paddle. However, this being her first time and all, she doesn’t take notice of the currents, and it drops from her mouth too quick for her to catch. “No!”

Cranberry discards his own paddle into the boat and joins the two ponies at the edge of the boat. He stares at Twilight’s horn in the reflection. Is this situation dire enough?

“I think I can get it,” Twilight replies. She grabs her sword from her sheath and tries to push the paddle from the bottom of the river onto the shore. Unfortunately, the iron work is not six feet deep and can barely reach it. I can’t use my magic, I just can’t… She figures that reaching for the paddle is pointless and sheaths her sword. So, Twilight slips her sword sheath and saddlebags over head, rests them on the bottom of the boat, then swings a back leg over the edge into the freshwater river.

“Honey, what are you doing?” Emerald asks rhetorically. “That water is as dirty as a pony who’s never bathed. You really shouldn’t do that.”

“Can’t ya just use your magic?” Cranberry asks. Twilight shakes her head, then slips her other back leg into the water, sending her slipping into the depths below.

She feels something alive brush past her hoof and screams out bubbles, then kicks herself to the surface. “Something just brushed my hoof! It was alive and slimy and–”

“Twilight, calm down, you’ll sink the boat!” Cranberry shouts at the flailing pony, attempting repeatedly to climb back on board. “It was probably a cat fish. Are you okay?”

She nods, even though she’s not okay. Twilight feels sick to her stomach right now. But, instead of complaining, she quietly swims to the bottom of the deep river. The swamp water is murky and dirty, so she can only spot blurred shapes a few inches within her view. The sense of touch becomes her next option as she sinks to the muddy seaweed down below.

The weeds are long and thick. By the time she is able to actually touch the ground, her breath runs out. Twilight kicks her hind legs for the surface.

Then something whooshes past her face. Her heart pounds painfully against her chest. Her lungs scream for fresh oxygen. Again, something soft and moving brushes against her legs.

Twilight has only a second to gasp for air until she gets slapped by something rough. It sends her into the plants on the shore. Blood racing, the lavender unicorn parts some bushes to look back at the river. That is when she sees a large creature with four stubby legs staring at her hauntingly. His eyes pierce yellow. He opens up his wide jaw to reveal pointy teeth.

She is in the presence of a Cragodile. The rock-infested creature roars, trampling over weeds toward his prey. Twilight screams so loud that the creature winces for a moment before charging at her full speed. She glances around frantically, but in the heat of the moment, decides to run in the opposite direction of the river. Her violet eyes glance back every few moments just to see the Cragodile’s terrifying face again.

Please don’t turn me into Cragodile food! Twilight shrieks in her head.

Twilight becomes so distracted that she doesn’t realize she’s approached a dead-end cliff. She skids to a halt, heart pounding, stopping just in the nick of time. Fearful eyes turn to the cragodile. Where do I go now?

Her horn is just beginning to spark when Cranberry Tart and Emerald Haze appear in the distance. She stops using her magic, thankful for the rescue, as Emerald gallops to the lavender unicorn, resting her unsheathed sword on the grass in front of her hooves. Twilight looks down at it, but by the time she looks back up, the green earth pony is leaping onto the cragodile’s rocky back. He stomps tramping to shake off the earth pony, but she clings on tight. In the meantime, Cranberry leaps at the cragodile’s head in hope to kick him unconscious. But the creature sees Cranberry before he can kick and whacks him away with his tail.

Turns out that Cranberry ends up to be the one unconscious. Not long after, Emerald is finally thrown off his back and lands roughly on the dirt ground.

Twilight looks down at her sword. I don’t have any other choice… With the cragodile rampaging toward her, she seizes her sword and charges. At first, she just doesn’t know what to do. She’s never inflicted any deadly violence on a creature before. Should she now, even though the only other option is much too high of a risk?

The blade slashes against the rock mouth. The wound is deep and harmful enough that the cragodile’s mouth is too sore to open. He turns to the other alternative of his rock tail.

Twilight can’t watch. The sword inflicts deeply into the tail, causing it to gush blood. The cragodile hollers in pain, only to find himself in much more pain for spreading its jaws open wide. His agony turns to rage. Harsh yellow eyes glare down. This time, he attempts to trample over Twilight herself.

She stares at the tip of her bloody sword in her mouth. Her eyes widen in surprise at the red stains. No… she thinks. I just can’t do it.

Her horn sparks green and violet. She quints as the cragodile is lifted off his feet. Green and violet swirl around him, covering him entirely. Her horn sparks and shimmers. Purple waves flow from her eyes. Once again, she can feel the dark magic overwhelming her. She continues to think about friendship, but since this is the second time, the darkness has learned and is battling harder against it. This physically hurts Twilight, but she tries her best to stay concentrated on her spell.

Twilight can just make out the image of an apple tree before she faints from complete and utter exhaustion.

***

A pale raspberry pony with straight magenta hair and tears streaming from her cyan eyes gallops out of Canterlot’s gates, not slowing down until she’s reached the forest beside Winsome Falls. She glances from the bright blue sky hovering above Winsome Falls, to the olive green leaves coating the redwood trees of White Tail Woods. She leaps behind a large bush, landing in a curled-up ball, sniffling.

“I’m a monster,” Pinkie Pie whispers. “I’m a monster.”

She says this exact line repeatedly until all her tears dry up. She stands up, stretches, then flops onto her hindquarters. “Pinkie never hits ponies. Pinkie never causes violence.” She slightly sways her head back and forth. “I’m a bad Pinkie… A monster Pinkie…”

Heavy hoofsteps paint ripples on a pool of rainwater beside Pinkie as she trots up to see her reflection. “Pinkie doesn’t want to be mean… Pinkie wants to help ponies, not hurt them.” She hides her face behind two magenta hooves. “But Pinkie isn’t helping at all.”

She shuffles away from the puddle, deeper into the redwood forest. “The only way Pinkie can help is by not helping at all… when Pinkie stays away, friends can find Twilight without a meanie Pinkie…” Wet eyes stare down the very hoof that met with Nightmare Moon’s face. “Without a bully Pinkie…”

Suddenly, a blurry black and green shape zooms past her left from the corner of her vision. Pinkie’s ears perk up with her vision. “H-Hello?” she stammers. “Is somepony there?”

A bush behind her rustles. She leaps backward, slowly backing away from whatever is inside. “Hello? Who’s there?”

Through her teary eyes, Pinkie Pie can see a black and turquoise pony appear from the bush. “A-A ch-changeling?”

There’s an abrupt change in her vision as the changeling takes the form of Pinkie Pie herself. An evil sneer appears on her face. The only difference between the herself and the counterpart is that the changeling has poofy, frizzy hair and is sneering.

Before she can react, Pinkie Pie backs into another changeling. He snarls, his horn beginning to glow. Green magic quickly surrounds Pinkie's head. Her eyes fall shut, and she faints, landing on the hard ground. A pale pink orb floats from her head, hovering to the changeling disguised as Pinkie Pie herself. The pink orb then fades into his mind. With a bit of yelping and some pain, the changeling grins warmly. With her changeling mind and Pinkie's subconscious, the changeling makes a perfect spy.

***

Pink posters dripping sticky glue levitate in turquoise magic beside Rarity as she trots around Canterlot, pasting missing posters of her pink friend all over buildings.

She reaches into her pearl pink saddlebag and levitates out yet another poster, a bottle of ‘super stick glue’ following close behind. Rarity doesn’t notice the glue in her violet mane as she strokes the wet brush on the paper, coating it in a thin white sheet. However, once the sticky page is glued onto another flagpole, she accidentally bumps into the glue. It spills all over her mane and nose. She sneezes.

“Look on the bright side, at least it blends in with your white coat.”

Rarity turns around to see Rainbow Dash hovering over, giggling. She lands next to her friend, folding her wings underneath her own scarlet saddlebags.

The unicorn rolls her eyes while levitating a clean poster onto her nose and mane, dabbing off the liquid. This only causes Rainbow to giggle more. “Don’t you have better things to do, like help us post up missing posters?”

“I finished ten minutes ago.”

“What?” Rarity pulls out the rest of her posters, counting them all. She has plenty more than a hoofull, that’s for sure. “How did you finish so quick?”

“First of all, I don’t go like ‘brush brush’,” Rainbow Dash says, pretending to paint glue onto an already glued poster in a graceful way. “I go grab, splat, paste. Grab, splat, paste.”

“Well my way is less…” rarity ponders for a moment. “Chaotic.”

“Alright everypony. Fluttershy an’ Ah finished hanging up posters, only because there’s no room left,” Applejack calls, Fluttershy and herself trotting to meet with the rest of the group. “Ah don’t know if this is goin’ to work, though. Pinkie could be anywhere by now.”

“Hey guys!”

Everypony freezes from shock.

“What’s up?”

They turn around.

A pale pink pony is bouncing cheerfully toward them, gazing across all the missing posters of her. “Where’d you get all these posters? Where’d you get the money? Where’d you get the picture? Where’d you get those awesome saddlebags?” Her words flow out of her mouth so quick that nopony can process and of the answers.

“Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow, continuing to stand still. “But...you...what?”

Pinkie Pie stops bouncing once she arrives in front of her four friends. “What’s up?”

“Darling,” Rarity speaks, “your mane was flat…and you ran away…”

“Where the hay did you go?”

Pinkie stares puzzledly. “I was just exploring White Tail Woods for a bit. Where were you gals?”

No pony responds. Pinkie waves a hoof back and forth in front of their faces. “Hello? Did you hear my question?”

Applejack clears her throat. “Well, uh…It sure is good ta have ya back…I guess.”

Fluttershy rubs the back of her neck. Everypony exchanges awkward glances.

Pinkie Pie could look the most confused if she isn’t keeping it hidden. “So where are we going?”

“Pinkie, why did you run away?” Rainbow asks demandingly. Her eyes narrow. She doesn’t feel nearly as angry as she’s acting. “We were worried out of our minds about you!”

The pink party pony turns to the ground. She pretends to appear guilty. “I didn’t mean to make you all so worried…”

A hush falls over the four friends and one imposter friend. None of them know a thing about Pinkie being a changeling, for none of them were there to witness it. Sweat trickles down the changeling’s forehead; she was given descriptions on how the pony acts and talks, but she has no idea what had just happened between the friends.

The changeling doesn’t notice that somepony is hugging her until she snaps out of her own thoughts. A purple mane is ruffling in her face. Then the pony steps away, appearing to be a white unicorn with teary eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re back, Darling.”

The changeling suddenly feels deep sorrow. She has never ever received a comment so welcoming and friendly before. For the first time, she realizes how lonely she is.

“We were thinkin’ ‘bout headin’ over to the Crystal Empire an’ askin’ Princess Cadence fer some help,” Applejack informs, breaking the silence. She still looks uneasy and on the verge of pouring out questions, but she remains calm.

“Sounds good to me,” Pinkie Pie cheers. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as we find yet another pony to lend us some bits,” Rarity responds. “We already received a room from a waiter, these saddlebags from a store clerk (we had to pay an hour of labor, of course), and nearly a hundred missing posters–”

“Which turns out to be a waste now,” Rainbow complains. “Let’s just sneak aboard the train. Who’s with me?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widen. “Rainbow, how dare you think of something like that! That’s just as bad as stealing.”

Rainbow Dash recalls attempting to steal a Daring Do book from the Ponyville Hospital. It didn’t end up well. Sneaking aboard a train because they have no money while their best friend is missing and Princess Celestia is gone, wreaking havoc across Equestria–that doesn’t seem so bad.

“And like stealing other ponies’ bits isn’t?” the cyan pegasus retorts instead of her continuous thought.

Applejack scowls. “We didn’t steal their money, we kindly asked for it with some added labor.”

Rarity rubs her left temple with a white hoof, trying to relieve stress, but turning out to be pointless. “Everypony be quiet!” she hollers. Her friends (and a changeling) turn their attention to her. “We have no time for arguing. It’s a little past lunch, so if anything, hunger is driving us toward anger and retorts. Will you two please stop bickering for a moment to let me think? A moment, is that too hard to ask?”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack glare at each other. One of them would be bound to throw in another retort if Fluttershy hadn’t stepped in and joined the glaring fest. RD and AJ backed down, releasing their anger.

Rarity sucks in a deep breath of crisp afternoon air high up in the mountains. She releases it with her frustration. Sometimes she misses Twilight so much more than other times.

“A week ago, I would’ve thought that sneaking onto a train was preposterous.” I can’t believe I’m saying this, Rarity thinks. “But at the position we’re in…”

“No!”

Now it’s Applejack’s turn to be in the spotlight of the crowd. The boiling sun hangs just a few tail-lengths of her head. They lift a foreleg to their forehead to block out the intense daylight.

“No,” she repeats, softer this time. “We cannot, and Ah mean cannot break into a train. No matter how desperate we are, Ah refuse ta participate in somethin’ that is wrong.”

“Come on, AJ, we don’t have all day!” Rainbow Dash complains. The heat and hunger is making her crankier than ever. “If we have to spend one more measly hour of time we don’t have doing something that’s not even for our benefit, we’ll never reach Twilight in time. What’s more important: laws or friends?”

Fluttershy rubs at the cement ground lightly with a butter hoof. Without making eye contact with anypony, she whispers, “She does have a good point.”

By now, the changeling is sitting on the ground trying not to appear bored. She wants to start feeding off their love for one another like her queen commanded her to do (it’s not like she would have objected), but since Pinkie Pie doesn’t have a unicorn horn, she has to wait until night when all the ponies are asleep. Then she can shapeshift back into her changeling form just long enough to cast the spell that will start draining their power.

“Then you can stay here if you won’t sneak aboard!”

The changeling wakes from her thoughts. The cyan pegasus seems to be hollering at the orange farm pony yet again.

Applejack sighs from frustration.

Rarity rolls her eyes. “Everypony, we do not have all day. Are we sneaking aboard or not?”

It’s for Twilight’s sake, Applejack thinks. She groans. “Alright, y’all. Ah guess…Ah guess we ain’t got any other choice.”