Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Prologue
View Online

Adventure of e-Lightning

Prologue

Prologue
“Hey doc, you online?”
“Yes, I’m here. Do you need any help?”
“I’m just about ready with the machine, but there are just a few bugs. Can you help?”
“Sure.”
I was working on the machine for several months. It was a machine with the power to transform humans into ponies, and vice versa. I used an inter-dimensional telecommunicator to contact Doctor Whooves for tips and help on tricky problems.
“Okay, so what you need to do is to cross a few wires,” Doctor Whooves said. “Take the green wire and move it from the XR2 port to XR6.”
“Got it,” I said, realizing I sounded like a total geek. “What do I do with the black wire?”
“Just put that in XR2.”
“… And, done!”
“OK, try it out.”
I stepped into the machine. I inserted my key and instantly a holographic menu was presented, offering the three types of pony-Earth pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn.
“Ah, what the heck, I’ll go Pegasus. I always wanted to try flying anyway.”
I pointed my finger at an icon showing wings. The machine instantly went into action. It scanned me several times, and then before I knew it, everything went black.
I woke up in a daze. I was still in the machine. I removed the key and walked through the open chamber door. I walked to a mirror, and I was amazed by what I saw. In front of me was a green-eyed blue Pegasus with a silver mane, combed back as if it were wind-blown. I turned around and saw a green thunderbolt with a small line of binary code going across it on the Pegasus’s flank. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
My telecommunicator began to blink red, and started beeping. I cantered over and pressed the ‘Answer Call’ button. Doctor Whooves stared at me for a few seconds over the monitor of the communication device.
“Well, I can see it worked as planned.”
“Absolutely! And I’m loving the results.”
“OK then, are you ready to come to Ponyville?”
“Am I ever!”
“OK then, I’ll prepare the TARDIS.”
I waited a few minutes, passing the time by attempting to use my wings. After a while, I saw a flash of light and instantly the TARDIS appeared in front of me. The doctor stepped out.
“Are you ready to come?”
“Sure!”
I grabbed a briefcase containing some important items. There was my laptop, charger, a pair of headphones in case I get bored, a document containing some information, a wireless internet stick (I was never sure if Wind wireless worked across dimensions, but I wanted to find out.), and my favourite book. I jumped into the TARDIS, and the doctor followed behind me.
The TARDIS began to travel through dimensions. Doctor Whooves asked me a question.
“What should I call you when we are in Ponyville?”
“I’m not sure. I never really thought of that… How about… Electronic Lightning, e-Lightning for short?”
“Sounds good to me, e-Lightning.”

Chapter 1
View Online

Adventure of e-Lightning

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
The TARDIS appeared in the basement of Doctor Whooves’s house. I stepped out of the machine to find a puzzled Derpy looking at me.
“What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you before.”
“My name’s e-Lightning. I’m a friend of the doctor.”
“Oh.” The derp-faced pony said. “Okay then!”
“e-Lightning,” The doctor piped in, “I know you don’t have any accommodations, so you can stay in my guest room for now.”
“Thanks,” I said.
He showed me to the guest room. It was rather simple, a room with a small kitchen and a simple bed. I walked in, and saw the clock. It was already midnight. I walked straight to the bed, got in, and went to sleep.
***
I woke up to Derpy ringing a bell at the door.
“Good morning,” She said. “How was your sleep?”
“It was fine,” I said. “Does the doctor want to see me?”
“Yes, in fact, he does.”
“Alright then.” I got out of bed and walked upstairs where I saw the doctor waiting for me.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Would you please come with me to breakfast?”
I followed him to the dining room, where I saw some food laid out for me on the table. There were some apples (I assumed they were from Sweet Apple Acres), some waffles, and some strawberries. We sat down and I started eating immediately. I didn’t eat anything since I came to Ponyville! While I was eating, Doctor Whooves told me a few things.
“Since you are from an alternate dimension, everything will work differently for you. For one, you should not reveal your true name to other ponies, there could be a collapse of the dimensions, or total isolation, preventing you from getting home if you need to.”
“Got it.”
“Another thing, unless you are completely comfortable with the pony you are talking to, try not to reveal too much about yourself. If you reveal too much, who knows what will happen?”
“You have a point there.”
“Alright, that’s all I have to say for now.”
“Thanks.”
I finished eating and walked out of the doctor’s house. I decided to try using my wings. I slowly and steadily took off, trying hard not to fall or bump into something. I didn’t get proper flight training, so I was worried about how my flying might be. I stopped worrying the second I came across someone I easily recognized. She stared at me for about five seconds, then squealed and ran off. “Typical Pinkie,” I thought to myself. Apparently, somepony else had noticed me. Lyra Heartstrings herself walked up to me.
“By Pinkie’s expression back there, I can tell you’re new. So where are you from? You look like a Cloudsdale type of pony.”
“Well, if you really wanna know…” I pulled Lyra aside.
“Truth is, I’m from an entirely different dimension.”
“WHAT? Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.”
“Then which one?”
“The human dimension.”
“Whoa! I always wanted to meet a human! What’s it like? Tell me everything I should know.”
“Alright, I will, as long as you don’t tell anyone. I’ll tell someone if I need to.”
“Agreed. Now tell me!”
She pulls out a notepad entitled “Human studies”, and a pen.
***One hour later***
“And that…” I said, out of breath, “is everything you need to know… about human life.”
“Thanks a lot!” The mint-green pony said. “This’ll be a great help to my studies!”
“You’re… welcome.”
Lyra trotted off, where an impatient Bon-Bon was waiting for her. She started shouting, and I knew that was my cue to run off.
I had no idea where I was going, but I didn’t really care. I kept looking behind me, and before I knew it, I had bumped into Rainbow Dash! She somehow looked a lot prettier up close. I wasn’t sure, either it was something I picked up from the machine, or maybe it was just me.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”
“Oh, um, sorry. I’ll just get going now.”
I watched as she sped off, to whatever she was doing. I thought to myself. “Can it be? Do I really have a crush on RD now? I can’t believe it! Nopony must know!”
***Meanwhile…***
“Augh!” Rainbow Dash shouted to herself! “I’m so stupid! I can’t believe I said that to him! I had the perfect chance to leave a good impression on him and I blow it!”
***Later***
It was getting late. I decided to return to the doctor’s house. I opened the door to find apparently everyone in Ponyville crammed into Doctor Whooves’s house.
“SURPRISE!” They shouted. I nearly flinched, but I should have known something like this would happen. After all, Twilight Sparkle had the same welcoming committee. Pinkie stepped through the crowd.
“Welcome to Ponyville e-Lightning!”
“Thanks,” I said awkwardly.
“You’re welcome!”
The party started, and I walked over to a table with punch. I took a ladleful and poured it, rather clumsily into the cup. “Stupid hooves,” I thought. Suddenly, I noticed a stage set up at the back of the house. DJ P0n3 was there. At first I thought “Big deal.” Then I noticed she was trying to use my laptop! Apparently, ponies aren’t compatible with Windows 7. I quickly started pushing through the crowd, but not everypony was that willing to move aside. Next thing I knew, DJ P0n3 had managed to open my iTunes. I started running harder when I realized I had wings. I took off and started flying, but apparently, I haven’t practiced enough, because I crashed into a wall. It kind of reminded me of Derpy’s clumsiness. I quickly trotted alongside the dance floor and managed to reach her before anything else could happen.
“I can take it from here.”
“Alright then. I can’t figure out this computer anyway. What kind?”
“Microsoft Windows.”
“Micro-wha?”
“Never mind.”
I clicked on one of my favourites. Apparently, a lot of people like deadmau5. I decided to put on my headphones. Maybe I could get a job as DJ. If that’s so, I’d need TONS of songs, and the ability to remix a song. I could be known for unique beats. Suddenly, a crowd of ponies rushed up, wanting to know more about the song.
“This song is awesome!”
“What’s it called?”
“Who’s it by?”
“Where’d you get it?”
“It would be really hard to get it from here… But if you want to know, it’s called Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff by deadmau5.”
“Huh? Who’s that? What’s that?”
“It’s complicated.”
The crowd disappeared as soon as it appeared. Lyra was still there.
“I’m guessing deadmau5 is from your dimension.”
“Yep.”
“So what’s he like? Any good?”
“Heck yeah!”
“Huh. You told me about computers from your dimension. What kind of computer is this?”
“It’s made by Fujitsu. It’s a Japanese company.”
“Anything else?”
“It’s a Windows 7 Enterprise.
Suddenly, Bon Bon appeared from the crowd and grabbed her by the arm. She dragged her away. I have no idea what’s going on between them.
***Meanwhile***
“You’re too obsessed! Why do you like him anyway?”
“… I can’t tell you.””
“And how come?”
“He told me not to.”
“Look, just tell me.”
“Okay, just a second.”
***
Lyra walked out of the crowd again.
“Can I PLEASE tell her?”
“Fine.”
Lyra walked back into the crowd. I decided to give the stage back to DJ P0n3. I was walking through the crowd, making my way through everypony dancing. I walked outside, where Pinkie somehow managed to set up an Olympic-sized swimming pool in a backyard barely over 10 metres long. “Oh Pinkie,” I thought. “Always defying physics.” Derpy was there, and she decided to dive in. She flew up high in the sky, then dropped right in the pool.
***
Derpy landed in the pool right near Rainbow Dash. Instantly water sprayed everywhere, soaking RD from head to tail. “Derpy! Watch where you’re splashing!”
“Sorry.”
***
I knew I had a crush on Rainbow Dash, but what happened took it to the next level. My eyes were fixed on her, my mouth wide open, and my wings spread. I knew I had what the fandom called a wingboner, but I didn’t care.
***
Rainbow Dash knew someone was staring at her. She turned to see e-Lightning, owl-eyed. “Huh?” She thought. “Here’s my chance.” She started trying to impress e-Lightning.
***
“What the BUCK is she doing?” I thought to myself. I went from owl-eyed to puzzled. I then decided to walk away.
***
“Augh! What am I doing wrong?”
“Everything,” Derpy said.
“And what do you know?”
“Not much. But even I can tell you that is not how to impress your crush.”
***
Rainbow’s strange behaviour creeped me out for a bit, but I got over it. I began dancing when Pinkie appeared, offering me a cupcake. Suddenly remembering the awful fanfic I decided to read (and I regret doing so), I declined.
The party ended a few hours later, and I was so tired. I walked downstairs, and plopped into bed. I quickly dropped into sleep.

Chapter 2
View Online

Adventure of e-Lightning

Chapter 2

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I have made a few Team Fortress 2 references in this chapter. See if you can find them!
***
Chapter 2
I woke up late in the morning. I was very tired from last night. “That party was AWESOME!” I thought to myself.
I was about to leave when the doctor came to me and said, “Here, I forgot to give you some money yesterday.” He gave me about 100 bits. I couldn’t decide on what to do with them. I decided I should go shopping for some things I should use.
I was walking around town. I figured I should know where everything is. There were plenty of ponies shouting things like “Hey e-Lightning!” or “Welcome to Ponyville, e-Lightning!” or “Nice performance e-Lightning!” I got used to it. I eventually came across Twilight’s library. I didn’t need any books, but I walked in anyway.
Twilight’s library was rather messy; I suppose it was cleaning day. Spike was taking a nap as usual. I was browsing the library when Twilight Sparkle herself walked in.
“Oh, hi e-Lightning! What are you doing here?”
“Just browsing books,” I said.
“Well, you didn’t pick the perfect day to come, today is the day I typically reorganize the books!” she said, while sorting books.
“Hmm,” I said, looking at the books. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“Well, what do you like?”
“I have a liking for a bit of comedy, some sci-fi is good too.”
“Okay then, here’s a few.” She handed, or rather used her magic to move the books to me. “By the way, where are you from? You didn’t tell anyone.”
“I’m… From the human dimension.”
Twilight stopped sorting and the books she had fell on the ground. “You… Are a human?”
“Yes. I invented a machine that can turn humans into ponies, and vice-versa.”
“Wow, that’s amazing, but inter-dimensional time travel is impossible, so you’re scientifically impossible.”
“Not quite, I didn’t invent an inter-dimensional travel machine. I used Doctor Whooves’s TARDIS.”
“TARDIS?”
“Yes, TARDIS; it stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.”
“But that still doesn’t make sense.”
“Yes it does, if the TARDIS is alien technology.”
“I still don’t see how it works.”
“I don’t either, but I can show you how the machine works.”
“Really? How?”
“I have the blueprints, just not with me right now. I should get a backpack while I’m here.”
“Yeah, they’re really important here, in case you need something.”
“Well,” I said, picking up a book, “I guess I should be going now. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
I walked out of the door. Next thing to do: Get a backpack.
***
“Spike? Spike?”
The dragon woke up. He was rather groggy from being interrupted in his sleep. “Yes?” He managed to say.
“Take a note, please.”
***
I walked out of a store with a new backpack, and I instantly put my book into it. The backpack had two interlocked gears on each side. I was walking until Twilight ran up to me. “What’s wrong?” I said.
“The princess would like to see you, along with me, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack.”
“Alright then, tell the others and let’s go to Canterlot!”
***Later that evening***
We walked into the palace. A few armed guards let us pass through. Princess Celestia was in the next room. We all bowed upon entering, and the princess walked over to us. “You wanted to see us?” Twilight said.
“Yes, but more specifically e-Lightning.”
I was very nervous at that point. I wasn’t sure about what would happen. “Yes, princess?”
“I would like to ask you a few questions.”
“Alright,” I said. I wondered if I was being too colloquial, after all, I’m talking to the co-ruler of Equestria, and a sun goddess.
“Now, e-Lightning, Twilight Sparkle has told me that you come from the human dimension. Is this correct?”
“Yes.”
“Are you also a brony in the human dimension?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, you seem to fit the bill. I have a mission for you and everypony else here.”
“Okay, what is it?”
“You see, I have received a short note from Discord a while ago.” She gave me a small piece of paper. Written on it was:

Chrysalis and I have decided to team up against you. You shall pay for ruining our plans.

It was quite short, but very concise. Apparently Discord has teamed up with Queen Chrysalis, and soon Equestria will be in for lots of trouble. “You see,” The princess said, “There is a missing link that is required to strengthen the Elements of Harmony even further. That link is passion. Since you are a brony, I suppose you are very passionate about us and everypony in Equestria.”
“That’s true…” I said.
“This link can add extra power to the Elements. However, it was not needed, as using it against a single threat would overpower the Elements and exhaust them. However, with multiple threats like in this case, we would require the Element of Passion. We need you to take on this combined threat. Do you accept?”
“Of course! I always wanted to go on an adventure like this!”
“Alright then, it is settled. You will go with Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy into the Everfree forest. That is where I believe they have hidden. You have one day to get ready for this trek, and then you must go. It is not wise to wait for our enemies to get stronger while they can.”
“Alright!” I shouted.
“That is all I have to say for now. Good luck.”
*** The next day***
I woke up early in the morning. I set an alarm on the doctor’s clock to wake me up at 4:00. I planned to build some weapons to arm myself. I set out for the workshop. I took some pieces of metal, wiring, and high explosives. After a few hours, it was ready. “Alright! This RPG should take out hundreds out changelings at a time!” I tried to put it in my backpack, but it wouldn’t fit. Then it hit me. I should try to make it compact. Another hour later, I had managed to create a device that transformed from a small remote with a single button to a full-sized RPG in less than three seconds. I packed about 50 rockets to go with it. I then packed some other items. I packed some armour, food, several earpieces for communication, and a sleeping bag. I also decided to throw in an AK-47 with several ammo clips. I was all set. I looked at the clock. “Whoa! 9:00 already!” It wasn’t my usual bedtime, but I thought I could use the extra sleep.
***The next day***
I woke up at 6:00 in the morning. I needed some extra time because Doctor Whooves’s house was at the outskirts of Ponyville, and we planned to meet at Twilight’s library at 9:00. By the time I was there, it was 8:30 and Rainbow Dash was there, typically. Her speed is unmatched; after all, her last Sonic Rainboom caused her to go Mach 22, faster than any known spacecraft. “Hi,” I said, blushing slightly. I was talking to my crush, after all. “Oh, hey e-Lightning.” She replied. There was some silence, as we didn’t know what to say next.
“So, uh… What do you have in your backpack?”
“Nothing much. Some food, some tools, the usual. How about you?”
“Me? If anything, I’m overprepared! I’ve got a fully working RPG in here!”
She squinted at my backpack for a few seconds. “I don’t see how you can fit something that big in there.”
“That’s because it’s compact, see?” I pulled out the remote.
“That’s an RPG?”
“Well, not exactly. Check this out.” I pressed the one button on the remote, and it sprang into the air, transforming instantly into a fully working RPG.
“Whoa!” She said.
I pressed another button on the RPG and it turned back into the remote. “Oh, by the way, take this.” I gave her an earpiece. I put mine on. “What’s it for?” She said.
I talked into the earpiece. “Can you hear me now?”
“Yep, crystal clear.”
“There, that’s what it’s for. I made multiple so we could all use it talk to each other.”
“Well that’s thinking ahead.”
Twilight then opened the door. I gave her an earpiece. Soon after, everyone else came, and I gave them all earpieces.
“Are we all set?” Twilight said.
“Yeah!”
“Of course!”
“Sure.”
“YAY!”
“Yes.”
“Yeah!”
“Okay then, let’s go!”
We set off for the Everfree forest at a good pace.
***
“Augh! It’s so hot out here!” I said. “Wait… Never mind!” I pulled out a black baseball cap and put it on. “Heh, now all I need is a baseball bat,” I thought to myself.
“Okay,” Twilight said. “We’re now in the middle of the forest. This is around the area where Chrysalis and Discord are hiding out. Rainbow, e-Lightning, and Fluttershy.”
“Yes?” We all said.
“I need you to scout the area for any signs of them.”
“Alright.” We said.
Rainbow and Fluttershy took off immediately, but I still wasn’t used to wings. I had a bit of trouble flying, but then I managed to get off the ground and fly… At least until I crashed into a tree.
“Are you alright?”
“NEED A DISPENSER HERE!” I said, in a daze.
“Dispenser?”
I shook my head. “Never mind, it’s alright.” I flew straight into the sky and started flying. I was scanning for quite some time when I saw a couple of curious changelings on my tail. “Uh-oh.” I said. I talked into my earpiece. “e-Lightning here, I must have passed over some base of some sort. I got two changelings following me.”
I got a response a few seconds later. “Roger that, e-Lightning, just avoid coming back and get the changelings off your tail.”
“Got it,” I said. I flew as hard as I could. Eventually, the changelings lost sight of me, but I didn’t notice. I was going too fast. I eventually heard an explosion. I broke the sound barrier, but what amazed me was a trail of zeros and ones that was following me. “It’s not a Sonic Rainboom,” I thought to myself, “but maybe it’s a… Sonic Matrix?” I turned around and headed back to base. It was getting dark. “Heading back to base,” I said.
***
A campfire was set up and everyone had their sleeping bags out. I knew something was up the second I saw Rarity with a mouthful of marshmallows and Fluttershy with hair combed down her face. “What’s with her?” I said.
“Truth or dare,” Applejack said.
“Can I play?”
“Sure. Ah don’t see why not.”
I sat down in the circle. “So who goes next?”
“Hmm… Ah got one!” Applejack said. “Twilight, truth or dare?”
“Hmm… Dare!”
“Okay then, Ah dare you to put your tail in the fire for three seconds.”
“I’ll get a water bucket ready,” I said. I pulled out a bucket and poured some water into it.
“Okay, here goes…” She said.
She managed to keep it in for half a second before immediately shouting “Ow! Ow! Ow!” and then sitting on the water bucket. We all laughed. “Okay, I have one,” Twilight said. “e-Lightning, truth or dare?”
“Truth, I said.
“Okay then, who do you have a crush on?”
I immediately blushed. “Do you really want to know?”
“Of course, it’s part of the game.”
I sighed. “Truth is… I… Have a crush… on…” I broke off.
“Come on, just tell us!”
“I HAVE A CRUSH ON RAINBOW DASH!” I shouted. The reaction was immediate. Everypony gasped. Rainbow Dash stood up, and my heart sank. I didn’t know what to expect.
“So you have a crush on me? For real?”
I sighed. “Yes.”
“Well, truth is… I have a crush on you too.” My jaw dropped. “You… do?”
She sighed. “Yes.”
“Umm… Now what?”
“Well… Would you like to be my very special somepony?”
“Sure, as long as you’re my very special somepony.”
“Alright then!” We leaned in for a kiss when Pinkie appeared and said “Yay, you’re a couple!”
“Pinkie!” I shouted.
“Sorry!”
We kissed. I wasn't sure what to expect really, but it was a good feeling. Afterwards, Twilight said, “O-kay then… Who’s next?”
“I think Ah’ve had enough for today,” Applejack said.
I felt pretty good that night; maybe it was because word got out, and there was a positive response. I moved my sleeping bag next to Rainbow’s that night. I felt like everything was going our way in this mission.

Chapter 3
View Online

Adventure of e-Lightning

Chapter 3

Chapter 3
When I woke up, I had no idea where I was, but the first thing I knew was that I was not at camp. What was my first hint? I was in a cocoon. My head hurt. “Where… Am I?”
“You are at our base, e-Lightning.” Queen Chrysalis herself walked up to me. “And you are our perfect opportunity.”
A changeling walked up to me. “Oh no,” I thought. “Oh Celestia ,no.” I said out loud. The changeling transformed into me instantly. “Oh dear Celestia, no.”
“Now…” The changeling queen said, “Go and find them.”
“HELP!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. But it didn’t work. The cocoon was muffling my cry for help. Discord walked in.
“Why, hello, e-Lightning. Nice day, isn’t it?”
“No. I can’t even tell because I’m underground and in a bucking cocoon.”
“Watch your language, or I’ll watch it for you. Now anyway, I know why you are here. Celestia has sent you with Twilight and her friends to help them on their quest. And I suppose you are the secret element of passion, not available in the pony dimension?”
“Yes, now set me free or I’ll make you.”
“How can you, while you’re in that cocoon?” I was silent.
“Oh, and by the way, shouting ‘I HAVE A CRUSH ON RAINBOW DASH’? Bad idea if you don’t want to get caught. I have the hearing of a bat, you know.”
***
Pinkie Pie looked at the above paragraph. “Uh-oh! This looks like a doozy is up ahead! I better warn everyone!” She suddenly realized she was making her own paragraph. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to bother you!” She trotted down the side of the page and into the next paragraph.
***
e-Lightning’s imposter flew to the camp and got into a sleeping bag. Rainbow Dash woke up to rustling.
“What are you doing?” she asked. The changeling realized that his cover would be blown. He decided to use magic.* The changeling’s forehead flashed green and a beam of light struck Rainbow Dash in the head. She cringed in pain. “What’s… Going… On?!” Eventually she gave under the magic. The hypnotized Rainbow Dash immediately went back to sleep.
***
“It’s so boring in here!” I said. “Does anypony have a deck of cards?” A changeling held up a pack of cards in a box. “Wanna play Go Fish?” I said. The changeling nodded.
***
It was morning, and everypony had woken up, including imposter e-Lightning and hypnotized Rainbow Dash. “Hmm…” Twilight Sparkle said. “Is it just me, or is e-Lightning acting differently?” She pointed out e-Lightning acting awkwardly.
“THAT’S BECAUSE HE’S A CHANGELING!” Pinkie exclaimed. The changeling was caught by surprise.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” The imposter lied.
“Pinkie, don’t make wild accusations like that!” Twilight said.
“But this isn’t a wild accusation! I saw it in the first paragraph!” Pinkie said. She pointed up to the sky.
“Pinkie, is this about the fourth wall again? You know it doesn’t exist.”
“It really does--“ Pinkie was interrupted by her sudden shaking.
“Now that I believe!” Twilight said.
“See?”
“You still don’t have enough evidence!” Twilight said.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “He’s still the e-Lightning I know and love.” She hugged the imposter.
“Yeah? Well you’re hypnotized!” Pinkie shouted.
“More wild accusations? I can’t believe you, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Alright, let’s move on.” Twilight said. “Now my plan is that we have Rainbow, Fluttershy and e-Lightning search the sky again for the base.”
“Got it,” They said.
“Now, everypony else look for the base by land.”
“Alright.”
“Ready? Remember your earpieces!” Everypony put on the earpieces. “Alright, let’s go!”
The Pegasi took off all at once. “That’s strange,” Twilight said. “Typically e-Lightning would have trouble taking off. Oh well, guess he’s just getting better at it. Okay, let’s split up!” The remaining unicorns and earth ponies took a different direction each.
***
“Do you have any sixes?” I said. The changeling nodded and I gave a card to it.
***
Pinkie looked at the above sentence, an excuse for a paragraph. “Wow. We have got to find him. He’s playing the game all wrong!”
***
“Hey, I think I found something!” Twilight said into the earpiece. She was looking at a trapdoor. “Everypony come here!” In less than a minute, everypony was staring at the trapdoor. The changeling immediately recognized the trapdoor as the entrance to the base. “Hey, no fair! You were cheating was heard from inside.
***
“You can’t win that way! You have six cards, not all of them can be aces!” The changeling snickered as it revealed its cards.
***
“Alright, who should go first?”
“I will,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Wait, let me come with you,” imposter e-Lightning said.
“Okay, you can come with,” Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight used her magic to open the hatch. The changeling and Rainbow jumped in.
“Tell us when it’s all clear!” Twilight said.
***
The changeling hurried down the corridors to where Queen Chrysalis and Discord were. “We have a problem!”
“What’s wrong?” Queen Chrysalis said.
“They’ve found the entrance!”
“What?! No way! We have to stall them!” She shouted. “Wait… Is that a pony behind you?”
“Yes, but don’t worry, she’s hypnotized.” The changeling queen stared at Rainbow Dash for a few moments, examining every detail. “Hmm… Okay, you two can go.”
***
The changeling and Rainbow Dash hurried over to where e-Lightning was kept prisoner. They opened the door.
***
“Do you have any… Wait! Stop! Imposter!” I shouted.
“Wait… Carl, get away from him! No playing with the prisoner!”
“Oh, alright,” I said. “It wasn’t getting anywhere anyway. He kept cheating!”
***
“Did you hear that?” Twilight said. “I thought I heard someone shout ‘Imposter!’”
“I told you!” Pinkie shouted.
“That still doesn’t prove anything. Not much, at least.” Pinkie started shaking again.
“We still have to figure out what the doozy is.” Twilight said.
“I already told you! The doozy is that he’s an imposter!”
***
The spell began to wear off of Rainbow Dash. “Who… What… Where…” She said.
“Whoa!” She shouted, as she finally came to and saw more than 100 changelings staring at her. “Yikes!” She shouted. She turned to run when suddenly her eye caught a cocoon in the far back. She turned around again. “Who’s that in there?” she said.
***
I knew it was my turn to act. “Rainbow! I’m over here!”
“e-Lightning? But then who’s here?”
“That’s a changeling!”
“Don’t listen to him.” The changeling said. “I’m the real e-Lightning. Discord is pulling tricks on you.”
“No, listen to me!” I shouted! “I’m not an illusion! That’s a changeling!”
“Two e-Lightnings, both of their stories are equally likely… Who’s the real one? Oh Celestia, I wish everypony else was here… Wait! They must be outside! I should call for help!” Rainbow Dash thought to herself.
“HELP!” She cried.
***
“Did you hear that?” Twilight said. “Rainbow’s calling for help!”
“No, don’t listen! She’s still hypnotized!” Pinkie said.
“You still haven’t got any proof that she is hypnotized.”
“Oh yeah? Well, remember her eyes? They’re usually magenta, right? But this time, her eyes were green!”
“Hmm… That’s right…”
“And remember? When your brother was hypnotized, his eyes were green!”
“Right! So then that means she is hypnotized! So then maybe it’s a trap!”
“See?” Pinkie said. “I told you so!”
“Sorry Pinkie. So what should we do then? We just can’t leave her down there forever.”
“Yeah, you have a point there.” Pinkie said.
“I think we should just wait,” Twilight said.
***
“HELP!” Rainbow Dash cried. “Why isn’t anypony coming? Do I have to go to them and ask them for help?” She waited for a while. “Guess I have to.” She took one step, and suddenly rows of changelings filled the corridor. “Oh no!” She shouted. “Guess I’ll have to decide myself.” She thought for minutes on who is correct. Was it the e-Lightning next to her, or the one in the cocoon? Was it the one who said that Discord was pulling tricks on her, or the one saying that the other e-Lightning is a changeling? She kept thinking, until she came up with an answer. “Pop quiz,” she said harshly.
***
“Pop quiz! Here’s my chance!” I thought to myself.
“Alright, what element does e-Lightning represent?” Rainbow Dash said.
“Passion!” The changeling and I replied in unison. “Darn! He knows more than I thought!” I thought to myself.
“Okay then, who is the pony who brought e-Lightning here?”
“Doctor Whooves!” We replied in unison.
“Hmm, you were a bit slow there,” She said to me.
“What is the meaning of life?”
“42! I shouted.”
“What?” said the changeling.
“Alright then, the e-Lightning over there is real, and you’re not.” She said to the changeling. She punched him with as much force as she could muster. The changeling fell to the ground, and his disguise faded away. Rainbow snatched my backpack as soon as she could. “Hmm, let’s see here,” she said as she filed through my bag. “Where did you keep that RPG?”
“It’s in the third pocket, next to the Swiss army knife!”
“Thanks!” She shouted to me. She pulled out the remote and pressed the button. Instantly the remote transformed into an RPG. The changelings were in shock. She loaded a shell into the gun and pointed it directly at the changelings. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” she shouted as she pulled the trigger. I put my hooves over my ears.
The rocket flew at a high speed toward the changeling in the middle of the room. There was a flash of light and a loud “BOOM!” Instantly the changelings went flying all over the room. Rainbow Dash ran towards me the second when she got the chance. She pulled out the Swiss army knife and made a cut in the cocoon. I pulled it open and jumped out.
“I’m sorry I ever doubted you,” she said.
“It’s alright, everypony has to make a mistake sometimes. Besides, I would be just as confused if I were you.” We hugged.
“Umm, e-Lightning? We have a problem.” Rainbow Dash said to me.
“What?” I said.
“Look.”
I saw what appeared to be every changeling in the complex lined up at the edge of the room. “Uh-oh,” I said.
“What now?” Rainbow said.
“Now, we call for help again.” I said.
***
“HELP!”
“I’m getting tired of waiting. Besides, Rainbow sounds sincere this time.” Twilight said. She jumped into the trapdoor.
“Twilight, no!” Pinkie shouted.
“I think we should follow her,” Rarity said.
“Me too,” Fluttershy said.
“Ah think so too,” Applejack said, and they jumped in after her.
***
“Well, it looks like this is it,” I said. “We’ve waited, and nopony has come to save us so far.”
“You’re right,” Rainbow Dash said, looking at the seemingly endless line of changelings.
“Well, what should we do?”
The cyan Pegasus whispered into my ear.
***
“C’mon! I think the voice came from here!” Twilight shouted. They turned at the next intersection and down the hall.
“My, this place is huge!” Rarity said.
They kept running down the hall and opened the door. What they saw was hundreds of changelings… And e-Lightning and Rainbow Dash making out. Everypony cringed in shock.
“I don’t even know what I should be more concerned about!” Twilight shouted.
***
We looked up to see Twilight and everypony else staring at us. We blushed.
“Umm…”
“Never mind that, we gotta get rid of these changelings!”
“Too late for that,” A familiar voice said.
“Discord!”
“Oh, and by the way, I see what you did there.”
Queen Chrysalis was beside him. Her horn flashed a brilliant green and everything went black.
*Yes, changelings can use magic. They have horns!

Chapter 4
View Online

Adventure of e-Lightning

Chapter 4

Chapter 4
When I woke up, I was in a cocoon again. “Another one?” I thought. I looked around, and saw that I wasn’t alone in here. Rainbow Dash was in the same cocoon. I looked around and saw that Twilight and the rest of the ponies were in cocoons. I looked down and saw millions of changelings. I also noted that this room had a very high ceiling.
“Like it?” Discord said. Queen Chrysalis was at the doorway and she turned on the lights. We were surrounded by changelings everywhere. “We put you two lovebirds together in a cocoon since you had the nerve to make out in our base,” Discord said. I turned red with anger, but it quickly flushed out. I had to wake up Rainbow. I shook her awake. “Huh?” She said.
“Look down,” I whispered. She looked down and flinched at the sight of all the changelings.
“Yikes! What are we gonna do?”
“Well first, we have to wake up everypony else. Then, we have to pray that we’ll get out of this alive.”
“Got it. So, how do we wake them up?”
“Shouting, I guess.”
We started shouting as loud as we could to wake the others up. “Huh?” Twilight said as she woke up. “Where are we? What’s going on?” We pointed to the floor. She stared in shock. Applejack was next to wake up.
“What’s goin’ on?”
“Look down,” I said.
“Yikes!”
Eventually everyone else woke up and we all had no idea on what to do. Twilight was pretty much going over everything we could possibly do.
“We could just open the cocoons, but then what would we do to get rid of the changelings.”
“Forget this,” I said. “Let’s just call for help.”
“I second that motion,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Me too, Ah think we need to do something different,” Applejack said.
***
Derpy was flying over the Everfree forest when suddenly she heard a distant cry for help.
“Hmm… Where’s that coming from?” She said.
She flew in the general direction of the noise. She heard the noise a lot better.
“HELP!”
“That sounds like…” Derpy gasped and flew immediately back to Ponyville.
***
It was an average day in Ponyville, there were not many clouds in the sky and generally there was a good mood, at least until Derpy flew in. She crashed into a wall, and then straightened herself out. Carrot Top was nearby, and she noticed her concern. “What’s wrong?” she said.
“I heard a cry for help in the Everfree forest!”
***
Pinkie made a hole in the paragraph. “It’s true! Tsk, tsk, they should have listened to me!”
***
“Okay then…” Carrot Top said, slowly backing off and running in the opposite direction.
“Why won’t anypony listen to me?”
“I’m listening,” Pinkie said. “I’ll come with you to help!”
“Maybe we should ask the doctor for help, too?”
“Sure, why not?”
***
Pinkie pulled Derpy through the fourth wall. Instantly, she noticed the reader. “Um, hi there!” she said.
“This way!” Pinkie exclaimed. She made a hole, where Derpy jumped into the doctor’s house. Pinkie followed.
***
“Well, Derpy, what are you doing here?” The doctor was having a cup of tea.
“I need your help. I heard a cry for help in the Everfree forest.” The doctor was shocked. He knew what would happen if he didn’t do anything. He dropped his cup just thinking about it.
“Of course I’ll help you.”
“Alright! Me, Derpy and the doctor makes three! Let’s get over there!”
***
“It’s hopeless. There isn’t anypony for miles on end,” I said.
“Not really,” said Rainbow. “Pinkie’s outside, but she won’t set a foot in here.”
“What now?”
“Keep shouting!” Twilight said. “We need all the attention we can get!”
“HELP!” We all screamed.
***
Pinkie, Derpy, and Doctor Whooves went through the fourth wall. There were instantly at the entrance.
“Alright, let’s get down there,” the doctor said.
One by one, they jumped into the hole.
“HELP!” They heard.
“I think it’s coming this way!” Pinkie said. She started shaking again. “Yep, I’m sure of it!” They ran through corridor after corridor, with Pinkie leading the way. They came to a large room. There were four cocoons dangling from the ceiling and an endless army of changelings. Screwball was fluttering around lazily with a propeller cap. “Screwball!” Derpy shouted.
“404 not found,” the chaos pony said.
“I missed you too!”
“3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693.”
“Look, I know you like Discord here, but can you please help us?”
“Herp derp.”
“Glad you understand. Now let’s fight!”
***
I didn’t expect much from Derpy, with her just being a clumsy Pegasus. But she fights pretty well with Screwball. I guess I should expect more when two rather odd ponies are fighting. At some points, I was surprised what Screwball could do. At one point she flopped her ears around and a lightning bolt the size of the Lincoln Memorial struck the changelings. “Turkey!” she shouted. Soon after, every changeling was on the floor, either dead or unconscious. Derpy flew up to where we were. “Are you…” She stared momentarily at the sight of me and Rainbow Dash in the same cocoon. “Long story,” I said. Derpy shook her head.
“Doesn’t matter, as long as you’re okay.”
“Hey Derpy!” The doctor shouted. “Take this!” He passed a knife to her.
“Thanks!” She started cutting at the cocoon. In less than a minute, we were free. “I’ll take it from here,” I said. I flew over to the other cocoons and started cutting at Twilight’s cocoon. “Man, Chrysalis has gone the extra mile to make these extra strong.”
“You gotta hand it to her,” Rainbow Dash said.
I was able to free Twilight, who in turn used a spell to cut open the rest of the cocoons. It was now just us against Discord and the changeling queen.
“Well, well, finally taking a stand, aren’t we?” Discord used some of his chaos magic to first lock Derpy, Screwball, and Doctor Whooves in a cage. Then he twisted the battlefield around to his liking. The floor began shaking and I began to lose my balance. A huge crack opened in the floor and I finally fell. I was heading straight for the hole in the ground. I braced for impact, but it never came. There was a purple aura surrounding me. “Thanks,” I said.
“No problem,” Twilight said. “Now let’s do this!”
“Wait a minute…” I said. “Where’s the elements?”
“They’re in my backpack,” said Twilight.
“Yeah, just one problem… You don’t have your backpack!” I said.
“Uh-oh.”
Discord smiled. “We locked away your backpacks, in case there was something dangerous there.” He thought for a few seconds. “Okay, here’s what you can do. You can either leave now, and we can do what we want, or you can look for your backpacks and you can defeat us. Then we’ll never try to take over Equestria again.”
“Okay, backpacks,” I said.
“But wait!” Discord said. “There are catches.”
“Does there always have to be one?”
“Yes, especially in this case. If there aren’t any, then defeating us would be too easy. First of all, you have two minutes to find them. Second of all, no magic, and no wings are allowed. Lastly, if you fail, you die, and so do your friends.”
“Okay,” I said, realizing I was taking the greatest risk in my life.
“Alright, I’ll remove your extra parts.” Instantly everypony’s respective wings and horns disappeared.
“Okay, your two minutes start now.”
We rushed out of the room and searched corridor after corridor. “There has to be some kind of method,” Twilight said.
“Okay, as far as I know, we have two methods. There’s the grid method, searching every room for the Elements. The other is called the drunkard’s walk, where we randomly search. I propose number two, that way, we cover more ground and waste less time.”
“I agree,” Twilight said.
We searched corridor after corridor, but the Elements weren’t there. Everyone worried. Not only did their lives depend on this, but Equestria did too. Discord’s voice echoed through the halls. “30 seconds remaining,” he said. We started searching faster. 5 seconds. We began to panic. 10 seconds. I began losing it. Five seconds. Four seconds. Three seconds. “Oh please Celestia, please let the Elements be here.” Two seconds. I opened the door. One second. “I found them!” I shouted. Everypony rushed to me. There were our backpacks, with Twilight’s carrying the Elements. “Quick, get the Elements and let’s head back,” I said.
The main hall was empty, except for Discord and Chrysalis. “Good job, you found the Elements,” he said. With a flick of his wrist, our wings and horns returned. “Now you can defeat us.”
“Everypony ready?” Twilight said. Everypony had their respective Elements. I stood in the middle of a circle. Twilight concentrated until her magic caused her crown to glow. All the elements were glowing. Before I could say anything, they shot beams straight at me. I felt a warm rush of power surging through me. My eyes were glowing. My forehead shot a blinding rainbow of light straight at Discord and Chrysalis. “That’s strange,” I thought. “I don’t have a horn.” The light surrounded Chrysalis and Discord.
“Ow, it hurts really bad!” Chrysalis shouted. “Does it really hurt this much?”
“This is a bit stronger than usual, but yeah, this is what it feels like.” Soon, a layer of white stone emerged from both of their legs. They were becoming petrified-- literally! Soon, we were facing two statues of Chrysalis and Discord. Everypony stared at me. I looked up to see a crown with a green gemstone shaped like a lightning bolt. “Wow,” I thought to myself. I looked back at the statues.
“What should we do with them?” I asked.
“I suggest that first you unlock this cage, and then you leave them here,” The doctor said. “Then we replace the entrance trapdoor with a titanium hatch that is impossible to open.”
“Good idea, but where do we get that?”
“I always come prepared,” the doctor said, holding a perfectly-sized metal trapdoor. We found a key. It fit perfectly in the slot. Soon after, everypony was freed from the cage.
“Alright then! Let’s get out of here!”
We went through the corridors, one by one, until we reached the exit. The doctor and I worked together to remove the old wooden trapdoor with reinforced titanium. After a few minutes, we were done, and not a moment too soon, because some semi-conscious changelings tried to get out of the base.
***
Carrot Top was worrying. She hadn’t seen Derpy for hours on end. When she went to the doctor’s house, it was empty. Everyone was out of the house. She was thinking of worst-case scenarios. “Maybe they got kidnapped by an enemy of the doctor,” she thought. “Or maybe a wormhole picked them up and brought them to a different dimension. Just when she was thinking of the worst possible thing, she saw in the distance, coming from the Everfree forest, Twilight and friends, e-Lightning, Derpy, Screwball and the doctor. She ran over to them.
“Where have you been?” She asked Derpy.
“Just on an adventure,” said Derpy. “Say, Twilight, what were you doing in there?”
“Long story,” she said.
***
It felt great to be back. After a few days of being put in cocoons and forced into uncomfortable situations, sometimes both at once. Since Carrot Top was still concerned, I decided to tell her what happened.
“Well, it all started with a letter from the princess…”
***A few months later***
I woke up in Rainbow Dash’s house. She was still asleep, but I had to wake up early for my job at Cloudsdale Postal Service. I walked downstairs to the kitchen where I made some toast. I ate quickly and got ready to leave. I put on my hat and mail bag. I was just at the door when Rainbow Dash stopped me. “Leaving so soon?” she said.
“Yeah, I have to come in early today. Today’s Mother’s day, so there’s gonna be lots of letters.”
“Maybe we might be celebrating in the future.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I blushed slightly.
“Anyways, see you later!” She gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I opened the door and left. It was a beautiful day in Cloudsdale, as usual. I flew off towards the post office.
***
When I arrived at the post office, Derpy was already there. “Hey,” I said.”
“Hi e-Lightning. How’s it going?”
“Same old, same old. How about you? Is Dinky doing okay?”
“Everything’s fine with me. Dinky is doing fine too.”
“Well, enough chit-chat. Gotta get to work. See you around!”
I flew towards the mail pile, collected all the letters I could carry, and took off for the first recipient’s house.