Transmutation

by RarityTookManehattan

Chapters

1: Life in Equestria
2: An Unknown Enemy
3: A New Reign of Terror
4: Anti-Autocracy Plans

1: Life in Equestria

Deep in the Everfree forest, a cloaked figure collected an assortment of magical herbs.

In his bed in Ponyville, Discord's body wobbled like jelly during an earthquake.

In the castle of Canterlot, Celestia's eyes flew open in response to a strange nightmare.

In the dark night sky, Luna's moon shone brightly.

Twilight yawned and stretched her legs as the sunlight filtered through the window.

"Wake up Spike," she mumbled. "If we keep to the plan, we might finally finish relocating the books today." Twilight opened her eyes groggily and tried to fly out of bed.

Instead, she fell to the floor with a loud thump.

"What the-?" Twilight tried to examine her wings. Turning on the spot, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror.

"Argh!" Her face froze in shock. "No, no, no, no, NO! This can't be happening!" Spike rubbed his eyes and squinted at Twilight in confusion. When his eyes focused his mouth fell open in horror.

"Tw-tw-twilight! What happened to your wings and your... h-h-horn?"

Twilight Sparkle, the recently crowned alicorn princess of friendship, was no longer an alicorn. In fact, she was no longer even a unicorn.

"How could this have happened?" she whispered.

At that moment, the doors to her chamber burst open. Rainbow Dash ran inside and skidded to a halt in front of Twilight, whose mouth once again fell open in shock. Her pegasus friend - the young flier of Ponyville and a member of the Wonderbolt academy - stood in front of her. However, she no longer bore her wings, and a horn unmistakably protruded through her rainbow-colored mane.

"I was about to ask you to use your magic to get my wings back... but I can see that's gonna be a problem," Rainbow said, her eyes glancing over Twilight's earth pony body.

"What the buck is happenin'?" yelled a familiar voice from the doorway. Applejack stood in the light from the hall with a pair of orange wings on her back. The three ponies stared at each other, their shock mirrored in each others' expressions.

"We need to find the others and figure out what's going on," Twilight declared. The three of them nodded and ran awkwardly out of the room.

Spike fell back into his bed with a groan.

"Fluttershy? Fluttershy! Are you in there?" Twilight knocked on the door to her friend's home impatiently. A broken voice seemed to come from within.

"I... I'm not feeling well... p-p-please can everypony leave me alone..." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Fluttershy, stop foolin' around! All of us have swapped species, now get out here so we can work out what's happened already!"

"It's ok, sugarcube," Applejack added, throwing a disapproving look at Rainbow. "You can come out."

"B-b-but... I'm hideous..." Fluttershy sobbed from behind the door.

"Don't be silly," Twilight said, shaking her head. "If you'd just come outside we could sort this whole mess out." They heard a few more gulps and sniffles from within the cottage, but the door began to open.

"Honestly," muttered Rainbow Dash, "who could get so worked up about losing their wi- argh!"

Stood in front of them was one of the strangest creatures they'd ever seen. While it had the pale yellow pony-ish head, pink flowing mane and deep teal eyes of their friend Fluttershy, that's where the similarities ended. The creature had a thin, snake-like body, the middle section of which was brown and fuzzy, the end comprising of a turquoise dragon tail. It had two arms, one of a chicken and one of a bear, and two legs, one of a horse and one of a purple dragon. Its wings did not match - one was pink and translucent, like a butterfly's, while the other was purple and spiked like a dragon's. The overall effect was a mixture of hilarious and terrifying.

"You said you'd all swapped species!" the creature cried in horror, its eyes welling with tears. The voice was unmistakeably Fluttershy's.

"W-we have," Twilight pointed out hastily. "Just, none of us have become... er... draconequuses."

"Listen, sugarcube, Twilight'll find a solution soon and we'll all be back to normal, ok? None of us thinks any less of you," Applejack soothed. A familiar voice from nearby interrupted the conversation.

"Oh my! Fluttershy, may I say you are looking marvelously chaotic?" The voice contained a hint of amusement.

"Discord! What's going on?" asked Twilight, glancing around wildly. A brown pony with a hurricane cutie mark came trotting down the path to Fluttershy's house. His dark mane was ragged and matched his untamed tail.

"DISCORD?" The three ponies yelled in unison.

"Yes, yes, laugh all you want! Discord has lost his powers, Discord is just an ordinary pony. Well at least I know my chaotic magic is in the hands of my good friend Fluttershy." Fluttershy's long, thin body shrunk inwards in embarrassment as she saw her friend.

"As for the whole situation, I know no more than you do," Discord told Twilight. "I was fast asleep last night dreaming lovely dreams of friendship and magic when all of a sudden my body wibbled like a noodle in front of a hairdryer and I passed out to wake up a pony! I do wish I could use my chaos magic to better illustrate this story," he added dryly.

"Ok," said Twilight with a slightly crazy tone. "Let's just find Rarity and Pinkie Pie and figure out what the hay is going on!"

"Rarity, are you in there? We need to figure out what's happening," called Twilight, knocking loudly on the door of her friend's boutique.

"I'm coming!" Rarity replied. A loud bang followed, along with a string of angry muttering, before the doors flew open.

"Sorry about that - I simply can't manage without my magic. I - oh my!" Rarity's eyes widened as they passed over Twilight's earth pony form, Fluttershy's strange new draconequus body and Discord as a young colt. The others gazed at Rarity, who now had a pair of white wings.

"I know, rather drab don't you think? I remember the beautiful wings I had when I tried to enter the young flyer's competition..." She sighed wistfully. "But I suppose it could be worse." Her eyes couldn't help but flicker towards Fluttershy.

"I'd explain what's happening... but I have no idea," Twilight told Rarity.

"Now wait a minute," interrupted Rainbow Dash. "We have one draconequus-" she gestured towards Fluttershy - "two pegasi-" she nodded towards Applejack, and then Rarity - "two earth ponies-" she smirked a little at Discord and Twilight - "and one unicorn." She looked uncertainly up at her horn. "What does that make Pinkie Pie?"

At that moment a bright pink blur zoomed past the group. They stared around in confusion before a loud zap noise sounded and Pinkie Pie appeared in front of them with a flash.

"Hey guys! You'll never guess what happened this morning!" Pinkie Pie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then magically teleported an assortment of cakes in front of them all with a huge smile. A pink horn sat atop her curly-haired head and a pair of pink wings protruded from her sides. She glanced at Discord and gasped dramatically.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Somepony new! My name's Pinkie and I know everypony in Ponyville! Would you like me to throw you a party?! I can use my new alicorn magic to make it super special!"

Twilight threw her head in her hooves.

"This is far, far worse than I thought."

Author's Note

This is my first ever fanfic so please comment and tell me what you think! :heart: Will update soon :raritywink:

2: An Unknown Enemy

"Ok... so first thing's first, we better contact Celestia," Twilight decided. Assembled around her in the council chamber of her new castle was one of the most strange assortment of ponies ever gathered in one room. Sat on her throne at the head of the group was Twilight herself - relatively normal, other than the fact that she was supposed to be an alicorn princess. On her right was Rainbow Dash, fidgeting awkwardly in her seat and occasionally sending rainbow sparks from her horn. Next to her was Fluttershy, who looked beyond bizarre and decidedly embarrassed in her new draconequus body. More and more it appeared she was struggling to control her new-found powers, and Discord as a pony stood looking extremely amused as little fluffy sheep clouds began to pop up around the castle.

On the other side of the circle of thrones sat Applejack, who couldn't sit still or find a comfortable position in which her orange wings wouldn't poke into the chair. Rarity raised her eyebrows.

"You just have to keep them folded in like this darling," she advised, her own white wings tucked neatly at her side. Applejack's hat was knocked to the floor as she tried to squash her wings back against her body.

Finally, there was Pinkie. Every few seconds a pink flash would light up the room as she teleported uncontrollably. Even when she wasn't accidentally using her magical powers, she shot across the room with her wings, leaving a sparkling pink trail in the air behind.

"Weeeeeeee!" squealed Pinkie, a huge grin across her face as she almost collided with one of the increasing number of strange sheep clouds. Discord was by now rolling on the floor laughing, kicking his hind legs in the air at the prevalence of chaos in the room.

"Will everypony QUIT IT?" yelled Twilight. Pinkie teleported obediently back into her seat and Fluttershy apologized quietly, although the sheep remained. Applejack's wings finally snapped to her side and the group all turned to Twilight expectantly.

"Sorry," Twilight added. "But whatever's going on is serious so we need to get to the bottom of it, and soon."

"I just don't understand!" cried Rarity. "What possible purpose could there be for swapping our species like this?"

"I'm not sure... but the Princesses will know what to do, I'm certain of it. Spike? Spike?" Twilight called. "Where is that dragon? It's never been more important for him to send a letter than it is right now!" A small sheep flew into Twilight's head and Rainbow, Pinkie and Discord all struggled to suppress their laughter.

The doors to the chamber burst open and Spike ran inside, panting for breath.

"There you are, Spike. Now I need you to write a letter t-" she began but Spike interrupted before she could finish her order.

"Twilight - you - need - to come - outside - now," he gasped.

"What now!? What could possibly be more important than this?" she cried exasperatedly.

"I'll - write your - letter! Just - go!" he told her, flopping down in the corner and pulling a quill from behind his ear.

Twilight hesitated, but then nodded. She knew Spike wouldn't be telling her unless it was something serious.

"All right, come on everypony - let's go!" Twilight told her friends. Within fractions of a second, Pinkie had already zoomed past in a pink blur, Fluttershy had teleported away, Applejack and Rainbow had begun to run and Rarity had flown past with her new wings.

"This is gonna take some getting used to," Twilight sighed. Discord tried not to laugh.

It became apparent as soon as Twilight got outside what Spike had been worrying about. A huge, red, gleaming bubble seemed to surround all of Ponyville. It reminded Twilight of the protective shield Cadence had created to keep out King Sombra, only it had a much more sinister edge. Almost every resident of the small town was stood outside of their home, staring up at the ominous red dome with obvious fear.

"What is it?" Derpy wondered from up in the air.

"Where the hay did it come from?" asked Granny Smith.

"Ok, I'll-" Twilight began but then hesitated. She was about to say that she'd go and consult her books, but she realized with dismay that most of them were now destroyed. Her second suggestion was going to be that she'd try and blast through it with her horn, but she was forced to remind herself that she no longer had magic. Her third, most simple option was going to be that she'd fly up and examine it - but due to her absence of wings she would have to walk over to its border. Before she could offer, however, Rarity had already spoken.

"I can see that this... bubble thing, is scaring you all - no matter, for I will venture to find out what it is using my new wings," Rarity told the crowd below. The citizens of Ponyville stared up at Rarity's new pegasus form with awe and horror as she flew towards the uppermost reach of the huge red bubble. When she approached the top, she tentatively reached her hoof out to touch it - and upon doing so was instantly thrown back towards the ground. Her wings snapped to her sides at the shock and Rarity screamed at the top of her voice, unable to fly now that she needed to. Applejack managed to soar forwards just in time to catch her, and the two tumbled to the ground clumsily, but intact.

"Have no fear everypony!" Pinkie yelled. "I'll teleport out of the bubble!"

"Erm, remind me what's the benefit of that?" asked Rainbow, but Pinkie had already vanished in a pink flash. The residents of Ponyville cheered as they spotted Pinkie reappear outside of the bubble's wall - however, within seconds she reappeared back where she was, looking confused and disappointed.

"This bubble's just a big meanie!" cried Pinkie, waving her hoof at it angrily.

"Ok, enough games. I'm gonna try and blast it with my new magical horn," Rainbow claimed, licking her lips and focusing. Everypony watched with bated breath as a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.

With all her effort, she tried to fire a super awesome magical rainbow lazer - but all she managed was to fizzle a few sparks from her horn.

"Stop it! Stop it!" cried Twilight. "We don't know what this bubble is or where it came from, but I doubt firing magic at it will work!" Rainbow grinned a little sheepishly. "So far we've established that we can't go through it -" Rarity nodded firmly, wincing- "and we can't teleport away from it." Pinkie nodded too, twirling her black scheming mustache. "So... I guess we just have to wait for Princess Celestia to reply and tell us what's going on. In the meantime, we'll research in the books I have left to see if we can find anything relevant. Earth ponies, try and get to work on the farms - we'll need to stockpile as much food as possible. Pegasi - see if you can still control the weather within the bubble and keep an eye out for any Cloudsdale ponies who might arrive with news on the situation. Most importantly, everypony needs to stay calm."

After a brief pause, the residents of Ponyville murmured their assent. The earth ponies gathered with the apple family and started heading back towards the farm, while the pegasi flew up into the air to try and control the weather. Derpy flew along behind looking cheerful.

"Nice work, Princess," murmured a voice in Twilight's ear. Discord winked at her and Twilight felt a little better.

"Ok, I guess we better find out what we can," Twilight told her closest friends. They smiled back at her, supportive as always.

"Good thinkin', Twilight," agreed Applejack.

Before any of them could move, however, the sky darkened and a booming voice began to laugh...

Author's Note

Thanks for reading my latest chapter! :twilightsmile: wanted to slip a bit of Derpy in there hehe :derpytongue2: can't decide who to choose as my villain! We'll see :pinkiesmile:

3: A New Reign of Terror

The skies above Ponyville began to darken, and the deep echoing laugh sounded throughout the town. The previous calm that Twilight had managed to instil faded, replaced by a new sense of panic keenly felt by all within the bubble. Rainbow Dash stood in a defensive stance, preparing to fly at any moment - without realizing that she no longer had wings. Rarity gazed in fear up at the dark sky and subconsciously shrunk closer to Applejack. Fluttershy became as small as mouse, then (ironically) squeaked in fear as she tried to figure out how to become full-sized again. Pinkie teleported up onto the roof of the town hall by mistake and jumped up and down on the tiles in her panic, causing some damage to the building's infrastructure.

The group of friends all continued to stare up at the sky, glancing around wildly to find the source of the laugh. Twilight, however, had already recognized the deep voice, and her heart sank.

"King Sombra!" she yelled, despite her fears. Her voice echoed through the silence. "Show yourself!" The deep voice laughed again, and Sombra appeared reflected in the huge red bubble.

"Hello, Ponyville - my new kingdom," his booming voice called. Some of the citizens' mouths fell open in shock while others screamed aloud in pure terror. "I see you've noticed some of my little... changes." His huge eyes stared down at the main six and Discord in their new bodies.

"You did this to us?" Twilight cried in horror. "B-but how?" He laughed his sinister laugh once again.

"If I told you that, what kind of villain would I be?" he asked. His booming voice contained hints of sarcasm.

"Well then," Twilight called, trying not to let her panic show. "Why? Why would you do this?" King Sombra's face smirked down from the bubble.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart, Twilight Sparkle? Isn't it obvious?" Twilight stared blankly, but Discord looked all too aware.

"You've taken the power from those who can use it and displaced it on those who can't, yes yes bravo," Discord called up sarcastically, clapping his hooves. "However you seem to underestimate my dear pal Fluttershy's natural skill for chaos! In only minutes your new kingdom will be overthrown and we'll all be forced to live under the Lady of Chaos' new terrible reign. Isn't that right Fluttershy?" He glanced down at his friend, who was currently the size of a mouse. She squeaked something in response that no-one quite heard. "See? She's already made her first tactical move and shrunk herself."

Sombra looked unimpressed. "This weak, puny filly is no threat to my power," he commented. Fluttershy shrank further. "Her crippling fears prevent her from using the magic that under your control, Discord, could've been so dangerous to my reign." Discord shook his head indignantly.

"Why, I completely disagree, King Sombra. Any minute now Fluttershy will lose her temper and then we'll all be sorry and you can't say I didn't warn you. Isn't that right my dear?" He glanced down at his friend, nudging her a little with his hoof so that she popped back to normal size. Fluttershy quaked a little but tried to be brave. With great effort, she screwed her eyes tight and attempted to focus all of her anger. The ground began to shake. Discord watched eagerly and the citizens of Ponyville held their breath.

After a few seconds the quaking stopped and a pretty flower popped out of the ground.

King Sombra's cruel laughter echoed throughout the town and Fluttershy hid behind her new plant in embarrassment.

"She is as significant a threat to me as the blades of grass under her feet," he commented. "With your practically unrestricted chaotic powers I would've struggled to make progress, Discord, but now they are as good as destroyed." Discord looked unfazed, although he cast a slightly worried glance at the flower concealing Fluttershy.

"And you, Twilight Sparkle - I have heard great tales of your power, and the way you wielded all of the alicorn magic against your foe Tirek. I couldn't face becoming ruler with you in my kingdom, even without the other princesses' empowerment. However, with this simple-minded earth pony in possession of your powerful magic I am free to act as I wish." Pinkie opened her mouth in shock.

"Simple-minded? I'm not simple-minded, you big meanie!" she yelled, unintentionally teleporting again so that she was on the balcony of the her home.

"Pinkie's right," Twilight added. "She may not have any experience with magic, but that doesn't mean she can't learn!" King Sombra shook his head with amusement.

"Oh really?" he asked. "I thought your skills were a result of careful study, of concentration and hard work? Are you telling me this hyperactive pony has the focus to hone her raw magical power?" Twilight bit her lip and before she could articulate a convincing response Sombra added: "I thought so."

"Well why did you give me wings?" asked Rarity with defiance.

"And me! What am ah supposed ter use these for?" yelled Applejack, awkwardly flapping her new orange limbs.

"How was it helpful to take away my awesome skills and replace them with this useless thing?" wailed Rainbow Dash, squeezing a few feeble sparks from her horn. King Sombra paused for a moment, a dark smile on his face.

"I just wanted to be thorough in ensuring that the six elements of harmony would feel... disharmonious," he answered. "Although I'm sure that Twilight's lack of magic will be enough to render any powers the elements would have had useless either way." He smiled sadistically and Twilight looked crestfallen.

"Now enough questions! This is my kingdom now, and you will abide by my rules. Any festivals, gatherings or parties are henceforth banned." Pinkie's hair deflated like a balloon. "Oh and don't bother trying to overthrow me - with neither alicorn nor draconequus magic you'll struggle to impact my incorporeal form." A dark mist descended where previously there were clouds, and somepony near the town hall screamed.

"Enjoy enslavement, subjects!" King Sombra's face vanished from the bubble but the dark mist continued to hover ominously in the sky. An uneasy silence hung in the air.

"Well someone has a power complex," muttered Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie teleported next to her, making her jump in shock and then grin in embarrassment.

"Anypony up for a secret anti-autocracy party?" she stage-whispered.

Twilight face-hoofed.

Author's Note

Sorry it's taken a while to update, been a busy week! :fluttercry: anyway hope you liked the latest chapter! Please continue to comment and tell me what you think, it really helps me and/or makes me smile :pinkiehappy: more to come soon :scootangel: :heart:

4: Anti-Autocracy Plans

"Pinkie, I thought I said this meeting was supposed to be secretive!" Twilight cried out angrily.

The main six, Discord and a few select guests were collected in Pinkie's home. The room was decorated with colorful streamers, and a huge cake iced with the words Anti-Autocracy Party formed the centerpiece of the gathering. Scootaloo currently held a squeaky rubber mallet in her mouth as she attempted to hit a sweet-filled pinata, while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom cheered her on through mouths full of candyfloss. Fluttershy seemed to be uncontrollably creating rabbit-shaped balloons, which Gummy proceeded to chew on contentedly.

"Shhh, Twilight - you're shouting. We don't want K-I-N-G S-O-M-B-R-A to hear," Pinkie Pie whispered loudly enough that everypony in the room could hear anyway. Everypony except Granny Smith, that is.

"What?" she yelled across the room. "Ah can't hear y'all!"

"Pinkie says we shouldn' be shoutin', Granny," Applejack told her patiently.

"What?" Granny Smith repeated.

"Pinkie sayid, NO SHOUTING!" Applejack yelled. The room feel silent and she grinned sheepishly.

"Heh... so anyway, now that's sorted..." she mumbled awkwardly.

"Can everypony pay attention?" Twilight addressed the group. "I know this may seem like a party-" Twilight threw a scowl in Pinkie's direction - "but this is important. We need to figure out how to put an end to this madness, once and for all."

"The elements?" suggested Apple Bloom. Twilight considered this for a moment and then replied uncertainly.

"That would be the obvious solution," she said hesitantly. "But I'm not sure whether I represent the element of magic any more, seeing as I have no... well... magic. Besides, the elements currently reside in the tree of harmony."

"What about the power of love?" squeaked Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo made a retching noise and Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What? It worked against the changelings," she added defensively.

"And who would be the happy couple to solve all our problems?" Rarity pointed out sarcastically.

"Erm..." Sweetie Belle glanced around the room with a critical eye, focusing on Fluttershy for longest - who blushed in embarrassment. "What about-"

"Maaaybe it's best we don't go down that route," Scootaloo interrupted. "Remember the last time we tried to interfere with ponies' love lives?" Big Mac, stood near the back of the room, added a decisive "eeyup".

"Besides, I have a better idea. I think we should wage an epic battle against Sombra with Rainbow Dash leading us into the fight!" cried Scootaloo defiantly. Rainbow Dash grinned and pushed her chest out proudly.

"Sounds good to me, kid!" she agreed, ruffling Scootaloo's hair.

"And how would you lead us into battle without your wings?" Twilight pointed out.

"Oh. Yeah. That." Rainbow sat back down again, looking disappointed.

"Well, as much as this brainstorming session is advancing in leaps and bounds even without my help," Discord began, "I think there is an obvious solution which would lead to certain victory for all things friendship."

"And what would that be?" Twilight asked warily.

"Pinkie and Fluttershy, of course!" All eyes in the room turned to either the hyperactive pink alicorn - who paused in the task of blowing up a balloon, which proceeded to fly around the room with a silly raspberry noise - or the pale yellow draconequus, who shrunk back a little and bumped her head on a lampshade.

"No offense to Pinkie and Fluttershy, but how are they the solution to all our problems?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not offended," Fluttershy quickly told her friend with a small smile. "I'm sure I wouldn't be a very good solution."

"Maybe cake is the solution!" Pinkie cried joyously. "Or balloons! Or-"

"If only I still had my chaos powers I could literally zip your mouth shut," Discord wistfully interjected. "Ah - yes - chaos powers. As I was saying: Pinkie and Fluttershy, while they may seem a little..." He paused, trying to think of a tactful phrase. "...useless-" Yes, that was the one! "-they could be the key to getting us out of here. My powers - well, Fluttershy's powers now - are practically unlimited. If it was me, I could easily turn that stupid red force-field into an ordinary soap bubble, or hot sauce, or-"

"Or a giant balloon!" Pinkie interrupted enthusiastically. Discord rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Pinkie, or a giant balloon. As for you, you now have Twilight's alicorn magic. While not as good as my amazingly brilliant chaos - Twilight dear, don't sulk, we all know it's true - I'm sure you could use some of your super special awesome friendship alicorn powers etc to take down Sombra." The room was quiet for a moment as everypony pondered the possibility.

"Well..." Twilight began hesitantly. "I suppose it's possible. I mean, yes, turning the big red bubble into a soap bubble would sure be helpful if Fluttershy could manage it. And you're right, a battle between Pinkie and Sombra - if we assume that Pinkie would be able to focus on something serious and utterly non-fun related for more than ten minutes - would probably be fairly evenly matched now she has my alicorn powers. Certainly, she'd have a good chance if we managed to drum up some happiness and cheer throughout Ponyville. After all, Sombra thrives on negative energy - without it, he becomes weaker and weaker." There was silence for a moment.

"Ok then, what are we waiting for? Let's go get that big meanie!" Pinkie yelled. Applejack grabbed Pinkie's tail in her mouth just as the pink alicorn attempted to fly towards the door. Applejack utilized her full apple-bucking strength to hold her back.

"Woah, Nelly! I don't think we're ready for a big ol' battle just yet," she pointed out.

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed from near the back of the room.

"But ah wanna see some action!" Apple Bloom cried out.

"Yeah! I think it's time for an epic showdown," Scootaloo agreed with a grin.

"I have to agree with Applejack on this one," Twilight called out decisively. A chorus of disappointed groans from the Cutie Mark Crusaders echoed through the room. "Magic takes training, practice and concentration. I'll need to teach Pinkie how to use it."

"Will you teach me with musical intervention?" she asked, and Fluttershy (whether deliberately or not) used her chaos magic to dress Pinkie up in full rap-music gear. Pinkie nodded appreciatively, her gold chains jangling, and opened her mouth - but Twilight quickly covered it before she could begin.

"Erm, pretty sure that won't be necessary. I was thinking flashcards." Rainbow, unseen by Twilight, mimed retching and the Cutie Mark Crusaders giggled.

"Anyway, this is the plan. Rarity - you'll try and help me to teach Pinkie how to use her magic. You may not have been an alicorn, but you were a unicorn so it's worth a shot." Rarity nodded solemnly and cast a fearful look towards her giddy friend, whose eyes were currently following one of Fluttershy's rabbit-shaped balloons as it floated around the room. "Discord - you'll do your best to teach Fluttershy how to use chaos magic. There's not really anyone else I can ask to help with that, since you're the only person who's ever been a draconequus." Discord grinned eagerly and walked towards Fluttershy, who smiled a little despite her nerves.

"Oh, and please try not to cause too much chaos," Twilight added. Discord looked particularly mischievous.

"Well, I can't make any promises. Who knows - maybe Sombra's not your problem: Fluttershy might try and take over Equestria," he theorized. Upon seeing Twilight's best I-am-not-amused face he added, "Or maybe not."

"The rest of you, try your best to lift spirits around Ponyville. Applejack, Rainbow Dash - I was thinking maybe you could try and plan some kind of celebration or festival. I know Sombra banned all kinds of party, but I'm hoping that once Fluttershy and Pinkie are ready to defeat him you can throw one and distract him," Twilight explained. Rainbow Dash stared at her in disbelief.

"So lemme get this straight," she began. "You're gonna train Pinkie and Fluttershy to fight Sombra using their new awesome powers while I get to throw a party? This is unbelievable," she wailed.

"Hosting a celebration will be just as important!" Twilight pointed out with a lecturing tone. "Your job is to raise everypony's morale - no easy task, I can assure you." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Rainbow hosting a party instead of me?" Pinkie clarified. Then she giggled. "What a doozy!"

Author's Note

Sorry it's taken so long to write this chapter :twilightblush: hope you enjoyed it though! Gonna try and update more often from now on :pinkiesmile: as always, keep the comments coming! I always love to know what you guys think :scootangel: