Shifting Sandsby RalfilChapters1. Realization2. Changing Location3. Unexpected Meeting4. Thinking of Fights1. RealizationOn the outskirts of Ponyville there was small amount of debris. While not a picture of total devastation, it still spoke of some sort of aftermath. There were a few things that, from a resident’s point of view, would have appeared to definitely not belong there. First of all, there were the fragments of marble littering the ground. They seemed to be portions of pillars, perhaps ones that had happened to be in the way. There were only a few, but they probably didn’t originate from the grassy hill they now lay on. Certainly they would have caught the attention of any Pegasi flying overhead if there had been any. The Sun certainly glinted off them harshly, as if angry at them for what they implied. However, as strange as this seemed, it still wasn’t the oddest item there. Nor was it the scraps of red velvet cloth that littered the ground as well, though they did speak of affluence and some great occasion. They gave a bit more of a hint as to the reason for these peculiarities. The regal pieces were marred by several unsightly tears. They had been disfigured by either a fight or some form of vandalism. Nonetheless, it still didn’t explain what had occurred. No, the greatest anomaly was what lied amongst these things, and it was breathing. The breath was slightly haggard, but still had a somewhat peaceful sound to it. The sound only made when one is having a particularly relaxing dream. This unconscious creature was definitely worse for wear, but the dreams did not care. They lavished the being with fond memories of happy times, joyful times. After a period of time marked only by the passing of the sun and a few gentle breezes, the creature stirred. Its breathing grew more distressed, and its eyes scrunched as the face unwittingly took on the expression of fear. Hooves were raised in front, and to any onlooker, it would appear that this previously content individual was now fending off terrors unseen, ones that can only appear in the worst of nightmares. As the sun settled beneath the horizon, its parting rays cast frightful shadows around the hill. The creature’s writhing on the ground became more intense as a battle of epic proportions occurred that could only be seen within the poor tormented being’s mind. The moon appeared as it peaked over this scene, its benign radiance unaware of what had caused so much damage in the light of day. The individual finally seemed to have reached a climax in their imaginary fight, and they bolted up from the ground gasping for air, and hissing. To anypony close enough to witness this, of which there were none, it would have been immediate cause for alarm. The oddest thing of all the debris, laying in a small indentation in the ground, looked for all the world to be part of what had recently created no small stir in Canterlot: a changeling. The conclusion would be easy to attain. While attacking the city, changelings had frightened many ponies. They had been defeated, ironically, by the one thing that they had come to steal and harvest: love. One mare’s love for a stallion had given him the power to remove a foul presence from the land of Equestria. If you were to ask somepony who had been there for it what was going on here they would immediately have told you something you would have no apparent reason to doubt. The changeling must have been blasted here by the powerful magical shield said stallion had conjured. Depending on who you had asked, the pony might go on to say that this one, should be captured, perhaps slain, or maybe just driven back to changeling territory. You would have no reason to disagree with their conclusion. None at all. Changelings had already proven themselves to be harmful and disgusting parasites (unlike parasprites which took adorable and turned it into a defense as well as a weapon). Yes, you would have no reason to doubt that this was a vile creature of evil. Neither would the pony you had asked. At least, you wouldn’t have to doubt this until the changeling did something very extraordinary for a changeling. What happened would appear to any educated pony to be impossible. They would immediately be confused at what occurred. They would be speechless in fact. The changeling, after throwing terrified glances all around itself had relaxed and then stiffened again. It put one of its front hooves to its head and seemed to concentrate, worried, listening to what clearly was not an enjoyable sound. Then there was a flash of light. In the place of a changeling now lay a moderately sized unicorn stallion. This was the impossible, a changeling taking the form of a pony not within their current sight. Clearly, this was no ordinary changeling. The now stallion was of a peculiar appearance. His coat was like lightly colored sand, and his mane and tail were as white as a cloud. His eyes, if there had been enough light to make them out, would have been the color of a clear sky. Again, however, these were not the strangest portions of him. On his flanks were a pair of marks. If you weren’t familiar with this concept, a pony would tell you about cutie marks. The marks that appear on everypony when they discover the one thing that made them truly unique. The marks that show to the entire world what a pony’s special talent was. The marks that often determined even a pony’s career. This stallion’s cutie marks, or, as more proper Equestrians would say when referring to a male, stud stamps, were of a sort that had not been seen ever by the inhabitants of Ponyville, though a very few number of residents of Canterlot would be able to tell you of them. This stallion’s stud stamp was a picture of a changeling. The stallion looked up into the sky, then over towards a nearby mountain, and followed this by staring at his upraised hooves for a moment. He lowered them and opened his mouth to speak. If you had been watching this you would likely be curious. What would he say? Would he reveal some deep secret that would set him on an adventure? Would he pine after somepony special to him but now lost? Would he swear revenge for some insult? The moon certainly seemed curious at this specimen. It appeared to lean in as the words came from his mouth. The wind ceased as if to prevent anything from drowning out what was to be heard by nopony at that time. Even the grass, which had been enjoying its day before the crash, seemed to lean in expectantly. A scowl appeared on the stallion’s face. A single word came from his lips, almost seeming to float in the air. “Crud.” 2. Changing LocationThe moon, constantly watching, didn't really do anything different. Its path would take a long time to complete, so there was no rush for it. The breeze suddenly picked up a bit however, resuming its course. It didn't look like any real information was going to be forthcoming as of yet. The grass busied itself in growing, almost spitefully, as it seemed to attempt to overcome, very slowly, the cloth and marble fragments that had blocked its sunshine for a portion of the now gone day. This would be a long process, but eventually it would succeed, if only because some fillies would clear the debris sometime in the future as a punishment for acting out in class. Nonetheless, the grass, if it could really think for itself, would have been proud of its supposed might. Fortunately for the stallion, there really was no one else there, at least for the moment. As it was, he seemed quite certain that the predicament he was in wasn't a preferable one. Following the use of what really was the worst explicative in his vocabulary, the scowl was replaced by a grim set face of determination. He stood up, glancing around once again to determine a bit more from his immediate surroundings. The breeze ruffled his mane as it passed by, as if promising to be back for some more information later. While there was nothing much near him, there was a faint glow off to his left. He squinted his eyes to decide what it meant, and he realized that it was the lights of a nearby town, though he did not yet know that it was Ponyville. Very few lights were on at all right now, with most ponies having turned in for the night. However, it was just enough to catch his notice. Knowing that he needed to get moving soon, he arose from his position on the ground and started to hobble towards the town only to suddenly stop. It seemed that the journey over to this spot had not been very kind to his body. He appeared to be in pretty bad shape. He took stock of himself from head to tail, examining the extent of his injuries. They were fairly serious as he had to have been smashed through at least one wall (probably with a curtain or tapestry on it) to have brought the debris with him. He sighed heavily. “I won’t get anywhere fast like this” he muttered to himself. If you could see the in the dark, you would have then seen his irises grow both inwards and outwards until his eyes were entirely blue. The cuts and bruises all across his body acquired a faint green glow and vanished. Any observer would have been quite shocked to notice that throughout this process there was a distinct lack of magical glow from his horn. Once he healed himself, the strange unicorn’s eyes returned to normal. Once again he looked down at his hooves. Then he glanced over the rest of his body. Though it was now in fine shape, he was dissatisfied. A thought seemed to pass across his determined face that said, “I'll stand out in the darkness with my coat and mane.” He looked towards his crash site and saw the remains of the royal curtains. “This ought to do it” he muttered again. The stallion returned to where he had fallen and picked through the objects that had accompanied him to this place. His horn took on a grayish-blue glow. The longest, most intact piece of cloth was also enveloped in the glow and levitated into the air. Magically floating it over to himself, he tied a couple of strands of thread around his neck, making the cloth into a hooded cape that, while unsightly to look at, was at least quite a bit darker than his fur. Now much more prepared to venture away, he left the site and trotted briskly towards the town. It was now much darker than when he had awoken, though the moon continued to shed its own faint light across the ground. As he entered the town he noticed that there were very few lights on in any of the buildings, but he could tell that there were definitely ponies in most of the homes. He looked around as he passed through what must have been the market. None of the stalls were open. Also, to his disappointment, none of them had any food lying around either. They really had tidied up for the night. Besides this, he doubted that anypony would be willing to share their food with a complete stranger in the middle of the night. What he needed was a house with food and nopony home. He went from building to building listening at doors and windows finding at the very least quiet breathing coming from each of them. He had always had very good hearing. Eventually he came upon one building with no sounds coming from it. It was a rather large tree that seemed to have been hollowed out yet was still alive. He jiggled the door handle a little to see if it would give. Unfortunately for him, there was no such luck in store right there. He glanced around the tree a bit and found that there were several branches that could provide a way up to one of the windows. It seemed that the locked door was only there to dissuade the most casual of burglars from entering. Hopping up several of the branches carefully, the male unicorn made his way to the unlatched window. Pulling it open, he glanced inside. It was definitely darker in there than outside. The already faint moonlight made very little difference inside. He could only see a little into the room, and found that there was a ledge of some sort next to the window. He stepped onto it and quietly pulled the window shut again. Risking a little light from his horn, the stallion looked around the room again. It seemed that he was in a large room full of books. In fact, he was on top of a bookcase. This might make things difficult. He didn’t see any way to get down easily. This was a very tall bookcase. Examining the other bookcases in the room he discovered that there was in fact a ladder leaning up against one of them. It seemed to be of the sort designed specifically for getting books down from any point. It even had wheels for sliding sideways along a book shelf. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the room. Sighing, he magically pulled it over and latched it onto the top shelf of the bookcase he was on. Slowly he clambered down the book ladder to the floor, maintaining his light so he could watch his footing. He looked around some more, ignoring the books. Suddenly there was a noise that permeated the whole room, but it was only his stomach. He hadn’t eaten in over half a day by this point, so he was fairly hungry. Scanning the wall, he spotted a doorway leading into what must be the kitchen. He walked across to it, avoiding a few obstacles such as a chair and a table with a bust of somepony on it. Opening the pantry door he found some vegetables and a stale muffin to eat. Bringing them floating over to the kitchen table, he made a quick meal of them. There wasn’t a whole lot else besides a small bucket of apples. Whoever lived here likely had been planning on doing some shopping when they returned from wherever they were. He ate those as well to top off his appetite. They were quite a bit better than what he was used to. Now full, he evaluated his situation again. He was in a kitchen of somepony who loved books, but wasn’t home at the moment. He had just eaten all their food, so hopefully they wouldn’t be returning right away. It was night, so there was no chance of getting assimilated into the town as a newcomer right now. He needed a place to rest for the night, but he definitely couldn’t risk using any of the beds here in case they arrived home before he woke up. He needed to find a secluded place, and this building was as good as any other for at least being indoors. He wandered around the main floor a little bit more until he finally discovered an entrance to the basement. Clopping down the stairs he found himself in a room filled with equipment of all sorts. It seemed that they were being stored down here. They were all turned off and covered with thin sheets to keep the dust away though. He weaved in between them until he reached the back corner of the room. Grabbing a couple of sheets from nearby apparatuses, he made himself a makeshift bed to lie down on for the rest of the night. Maybe he’d be able to figure out some more about his situation in the morning. He just hoped he’d be able to get out before the owners returned. 3. Unexpected MeetingAnd so he slept and dreamt. The stallion found himself in the middle of a field with the sun shining bright as day, for the moment. He looked around himself inquisitively, wondering what was going on. At that point he noticed one thing in particular. Rain had decided to start falling on him. Not only that, but it wasn’t normal rain. He lifted up his foreleg and examined it as a brown liquid dripped off of it. “What the junk?” he asked no one. This was definitely weird. “What is this stuff?” He decided to get out from under the raincloud as it was quickly causing him to get rather sticky, and uncomfortably so. As he did this he noticed that the grass he was on wasn’t normal either. Now, if it had been light and dark green squares it wouldn’t be too surprising. That would just indicate a well-manicured lawn. However, this grass wasn’t green. It was black and white squares. “What is this, a chess board?” He shook himself dry, but unfortunately the brown liquid was very sticky. “Aw, gross. Now I’m just covered in…” He leaned his nose towards his foreleg and sniffed it. “chocolate?” It was then that he heard someone laughing rather loudly nearby, and a strange being floated past him. Also strange was the fact that he seemed to be doing so without anything carrying him. Again the unicorn was extremely confused, but this time he directed his question at the strange creature: “What the junk is going on?” The slender, floating individual took notice of him and clapped his hands together in glee. “Oh! Another pony to play with! What shall I do with you? Hmm? That’s an interesting cutie mark.” The creature leaned over and twisted in a way that didn’t seem possible as he examined the stallion’s flank. “What the hay?! Personal space here! And for your information, it’s a stud stamp.” The unicorn stomped one of his hooves on the checkered ground to emphasize his point. “I’m not a mare.” The creature smirked and put his hand to his chin. “Oh? Perhaps we can change that. You see, I’m Discord. Perhaps you’ve heard of me? Spirit of Chaos? Ah, I can tell by your face that you have. I love a good shocker like that. Heheheh. Now tell me. What’s your special talent? I’m sure it’s quite unique.” The apparent Draconequus was grinning from ear to ear now. “You better let me know. There’s no telling what I might do if I get bored.” He stood up, finally landing on the ground, and pulled a lightning bolt out of the sky to demonstrate his point. “Oh, and give me your name too. It’s easier to let you say it than for me to take it.” He casually tossed the lightning bolt at a nearby building where it splashed and started a fire. The stallion had paled considerably as soon as Discord revealed who he was. Stuttering and trying to back away, he said, “My n-name is Sh-shifting Sands. Um,” He coughed. “I’m really good at improvisation.” Glancing nervously at his stud stamp he continued backing away. The Spirit of Chaos quickly snapped his fingers, appearing right behind the frightened unicorn. “Is that all you can do? I don’t think you’re giving me the whole story. In fact, it all seems a little,” He paused to pull out some sunglasses and slap them on. “Shifty.” The stallion jumped a little bit before groaning at the pun. “Right. Like that’s not the first time I’ve heard it.” He decided to put the aforementioned improvisation skills to use and continued, “Now, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other people to mess with. Busy schedule and all that. I’ll just be going now.” With that he turned and galloped away from Discord as fast as he could. Suddenly the Draconequus was floating next to him again sucking chocolate milk from a glass with a straw in it. “Oh, but I’m not finished with you yet Shift. Can I call you Shift?” Deciding not to mention that was his actual nickname, Shift worked on just increasing his speed. “Well, if you’re going to be rude and ignore me I’ll just have make you pay attention.” Discord reached over and picked the unicorn off of the ground. Now, since I can tell you’ve lied to me, I think I’ll have some real fun. Oh don’t give me that look. Of course I can smell a lie from a mile away. I’m a master at them. Now, what to do with you…” Shift was now being held by the head at arm’s length as he struggled to get away. The Spirit of Chaos suddenly brightened up and smiled even more. “Ah! I know. How would you like for your ‘stud stamp’ to be a bona fide cutie mark?” He flicked Shift on the nose and tossed him away. “Have fun! Oh look! I think I’ll go torment her next.” He flew off. Groaning, the unicorn stood up and rubbed his side which he had landed on. He noticed that he definitely felt weird. He felt lighter and the grass seemed just a little bit closer to his head than before. Confused he opened his mouth and began to speak, “What the-“ He stopped immediately. Oh no. “Did he-“ It was confirmed. His voice was now a few octaves higher. Frightened, he looked over his body hurriedly. Discord had done something very disturbing. He had turned Shift into a mare. He glared up at the sky as the sun and moon quickly switched places and howled. “NOOOOOOO!” Shift sprang up gasping for breath and looked around at his dim surroundings. He was still in the basement of that building. Giving a sigh of relief he quickly checked himself to make sure he was still a he and not a she. That would have been…unpleasant to say the least. It had been a while since Discord had been defeated by the Elements of Harmony, but Shift still had nightmares from the short time where he was running free causing chaos. It had given the unicorn some pretty bad emotional scars. Shift still wasn't sure how he had ended up on the hillside in the first place. He lived in Canterlot. Suddenly he heard a creaking noise coming from above him, snapping him out of his thoughts. There it was. The residents must have returned. Well, this wasn't good. He had been hoping to at least be able to get out unnoticed and find a map or something. He heard a pair of voices. They were fairly muffled, so he couldn't really make out what they were saying. However, he could tell that there was what sounded like a mare and a young colt up there. A much louder creaking alerted him to the opening of the door to the basement. Definitely not a good sign. They must have noticed the missing food. He heard the mare calling out, “Hello? Is anypony there?” Well, at least she didn't sound overly suspicious. She seemed more curious about the situation. He needed a plan, and fast. He could only think of one way to sufficiently confuse whoever it was long enough for him to get out without being asked any questions. It was risky, but he had to take that chance. His horn glowed blue and flames surrounded him. As the flames changed from a blue to a green aura his form was replaced with that of a changeling once again. Knowing that his transformation had produced a sizable, though brief, flash of light he speedily moved to a different portion of the room and hid behind some other machinery. The mare let out a small yelp of surprise and charged forward, her horn ablaze with a purple light. “Who's there?! Show yourself!” She shouted. She began looking around frantically. The now changeling was peaking from behind a device that looked almost like a tree from Hearth's Warming Eve and was able to get a good look at her as he charged his own horn. Green flames enveloped him once again, and now in his place stood a pony looking just like the purple unicorn. There was one small difference though. The duplicate was a stallion. The mare spun around and spotted him now. Running forward, she said, “I don't like it when a pony breaks into my home. You better have a good reason for being here.” Chuckling softly to himself, Shift stepped out into full view. He may be in a sticky situation, but there was no reason that he couldn't enjoy the shock from seeing someone like him. The mare gasped, confused. Shift was just about ready to make a run for it when she said something he had definitely not been expecting. “Dusk Shine? What are you doing here?” Now it was his turn to be surprised. She knew someone who looked like this? Sure, there was the chance of meeting somepony with the same cutie mark as yourself, but that was very rare outside of Canterlot. The only reason it was there much was because of the nobility often trying to keep their bloodlines “clean.” All he could really think to say now was, “Um.” Fortunately for him she went off talking almost instantly. He wasn't completely sure, but she seemed to be under the impression that he was from an alternate reality. A gender-swapped one. As mentally unstable as she clearly was, at least she was giving him a background. He mused over how he could get out of this and, hopefully, get home. “So why did you come here? Did something bad happen with the changelings on your world?” She suddenly asked, interrupting his train of thought. “Oh, um...” He had to think fast. Time to improvise! “No! I just wanted to make sure everyone here was alright. You know, see if you needed any help.” He could feel some sweat beading on his forehead. There was no telling whether she would buy it or not, and he certainly didn't want to try knocking her out since he had absolutely no idea what her magical strength was. “Everything went great here! Once we Shining Armor was able to cast his shield spell again we were able to have a wonderful wedding.” Well, it looked like she bought it. Shift let out a small sigh of relief. Now he just needed to get out of here before he was found. “Well, I don't have much time. I, er, need to get back to my studies. Yeah. I'm figuring out a way to recognize changelings more easily.” If he could just leave now, he'd be in the clear. “Okay.” The mare looked surprisingly disappointed by that. Then she perked up. “I can help you with the spell. Did you bring the ingredients for it with you?” And there went his plan. Spell? Ingredients? He had no idea what she was talking about. “Ah, no. I may have forgotten them.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. “I'll just go look for them now.” He started to make his way towards the stairs. Maybe he could get away now. “I'll help you look. After all, I'd be pretty impressed if you are able to cast the spell right away. Or did you find a method that uses less magical energy? Actually, that makes sense. How did you do it?” Hayseed. She just wouldn't let up, would she? As he climbed up the stairs, the purple unicorn unfortunately following him, he was starting to really sweat. A lie was best when simple, and this one was getting far too elaborate for his tastes. The more complicated it is, the easier to slip up. This pony might be off her rocker a bit, but he couldn't count on that solving everything. “I think I can handle finding everything just fine. I do need to get going though.” They were now in the main room. He could see that it had a lot more books than he had initially thought. Maybe this was a library. He paused for a moment as something struck a chord in his memory. Anyplace with this many books certainly had to be a library, but there was only one library like this. He had heard about it while looking through a public library in Canterlot. Circular, quaint, and a very natural theme. What else was it that the shelving pony had said? She had said that it was the home of a very important pony. The...Element...of...Magic. He looked at the mare who was talking again, though he wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. This couldn't be her. Alternate universes? Who would believe in that sort of thing? It was the stuff of cheap fiction novels. But, if this was her home, then he was in big trouble if he couldn't get away from her. He now had another reason to leave fast. “Hello... are you even listening?” She was staring right into his face. He shook himself out of his thoughts and responded. “Oh, right. Sorry. I was just thinking for a moment there.” He looked towards the door. “I get going now.” He turned away to head for the door when she sighed. “I was saying that I've got the spell components here already. You weren't listening.” This time it wasn't a question. “I'll just gather them up right now. That way we can save time.” She walked over to one of the drawers in a bookshelf and opened it with her magic. “Let's see. A blue feather, a ruby, wait. Where's the vase? Ugh.” She levitated out some items and placed them on the table before shutting the drawer with a back hoof. Shift thought he heard a clicking noise as she did so. He cocked his ear slightly, hoping that it had come from the drawer. Then he heard it again. He started sweating a bit more now. He needed to leave right now. “Well, I guess we'll have to go ask Fluttershy for one. I knew I should have gotten two.” She pulled a book off the shelves and laid it on the table as well. Shift began inching towards the door surreptitiously. She looked up. “Well, we have almost everything. So I guess we're just about set. I was really hoping to get to use the spell again for experience.” She paused. “Are you okay?” Shift could hear the clicking a lot more now. It was becoming an incessant chatter. He could feel thoughts approaching his mind. There were about three different patterns in there from what he could tell. He started focusing on blocking his thoughts from them as much as he could. At that point something happened that was sufficiently surprising as to stop his thoughts completely. Not exactly what he had intended, but later he would be glad that it had made him effectively invisible to the three minds approaching. They actually left as quickly as they had come when they didn't sense him anymore. It didn't just surprise him though. A flash of bright light appeared in the room, and with it were two ponies. They looked exactly like him and the mare already here. The new stallion was smirking proudly and seemed quite pleased. “I knew it was a good idea to get two vases.” Shift looked at the duplicate mare and stared for a a bit before finally uttering a word in disbelief. She seemed to be feeling the same way as she stared at him. Simultaneously, they both said the one thing that came to mind: “Crud.” 4. Thinking of FightsA long awkward silence permeated the room as the original mare and the newly appeared stallion gaped with their mouths open. The other two ponies shifted uncomfortably. Shift suddenly began to feel a thought strain approaching his mind. His eyes widened in fear at first, but quickly his brow furrowed in confusion. The thoughts were a lot like his own. In fact... he and the new mare stared at each other. He could feel her confusion as well. Testing the waters, he probed a bit with his mind. 'Hello?' He asked. The mare stumbled backwards imperceptibly before looking at the still dumbfounded ponies next to them. She glanced at him again. 'Yes?' the thought came. He laughed nervously in his mind. 'Ehehe. I'm guessing you're me from this other world the mare was talking about.' He waved his hand in front of said mare's face. She didn't respond. 'Huh. I guess they are a bit confused. Not that I blame them.' 'So, am I the only one thinking about what Eris did? Or do you feel as grossed out as me?' The new mare looked pointedly at him. 'What do you call yourself anyways?' Shift coughed in surprise at her bluntness. 'I'm Shifting Sands. Call me Shift.' He furrowed his brow again in thought. 'Eris. Where have I heard that before. Hmm. Aha! You must mean Discord.' He grimaced. 'Now that I think about it...' He looked her up and down. '...Yeah. I'm feeling pretty disturbed right now too. Er, what's your name?' The mare's eyes narrowed. 'Right. I'm Sandy Shift. Figures you'd have a backwards version of my name.' Shift adopted an offended look as Sandy continued. 'Now what do we do?' Unfortunately, their mental conversation was cut abruptly short as the Unicorn who was apparently known as Dusk spoke up, “Um, Twilight? What's going on?” He turned to the mare beside him. “I thought I was helping you get home.” The one who was apparently Twilight chose now to put her two bits in as well. “I could ask you the same thing.” She turned to Shift, directing the statement at him. “Why were you in my basement anyways? Wouldn't it make more sense to meet in the main part of the library?” 'Lie! For all your stupid flank is worth, lie!' Shift thought both to himself and in answer to Sandy's question. “Um, I must have made a miscalculation and ended up in the wrong spot. Clearly those two have accidentally traveled back in time and messed up as well.” His sweat was returning full force. 'They'll never buy that!' 'Just go with it!' 'Fine, but it won't work.' Sandy spoke up, “Oh, he must be right. I do seem to remember this happening.” She smiled awkwardly, eyes darting back and forth. Twilight seemed to calm down and sighed. “Oh. Okay. I suppose that makes sense. I've done it before, and changing time-lines seems impossible from what I've figured out. Of course you'd remember it.” Shift grinned triumphantly at his female counterpart. She scowled back. 'You're forgetting an important detail in this oh so clever plan of yours.' 'And what would that be?' he replied cockily. Pleased that they had diffused the situation, even if just for a little while. Sandy raised her front hoof and pointed it at Dusk, all the while glaring at Shift. 'Him.' Shift became very nervous again right there. At this point Dusk interjected saying, “Now wait a minute. What the hay are you talking about? This is too weird. I just got back from the...wedding...in...Canterlot.” His eyes widened in apparent realization. “They're changelings Twilight!” He ignited his horn with a purple glow. Twilight also lit hers up. Shift and Sandy, in order to add to the confusion and possibly allow themselves to get out alive, readied spells of their own. Unfortunately, both forgot about the color of their magic as they shifted into fighting stances. Twilight yelped in shock as she saw the green auras. She jumped away from Shift as Dusk did the same with Sandy. Now they were all in a circle facing each other. Shift had Twilight and Dusk on either side of him with Sandy across from him. Shift sighed in frustration. “Here's an idea.” He said, “How about we-” He was cut off as Dusk fired a spell at him. Jumping to avoid it, he grumbled, “Well, if that's how it's going to be, then FINE!” With that he unleashed his first spell. From the corner of his eye he could see the mares were fighting each other in a similar manner. He smirked slightly. These purple unicorns had no idea what they were dealing with. At least, that was what he thought. Shift and his counterpart were both quite skilled when it came to magic of this kind. They had been practicing using it to hide for a very long time. They were certain they were prepared for anything Dusk or Twilight could throw at them. However, even though they were far more skilled than any regular changeling, they weren't nearly as powerful as the prodigies of Prince Solaris and Princess Celestia. One might have thought they would win easily due to the nature of their surprise advantage. They would have been wrong. The unicorns had already fought changelings before, quite a few in fact, and knew a spell that could knock one senseless easily enough if it was restrained. As soon as they were revealed to not be the real deal there was no chance of them overcoming the purple unicorns. If you were to look at this situation from Twilight’s perspective you would certainly be feeling aggressive. After all, this girl’s brother had recently been under the influence of changeling magic to such a degree that it was even erasing some of his memories. She had in fact talked with him after the defeat of the changelings about why he hadn’t seen the obvious signs that his fiancé had been acting strangely. To her shock he had revealed that he had no recollection of anything like that. The queen of said changelings had removed all memories that she considered objectionable to her plan. Changeling mind magic often leaves its subject floundering and idiotic unless proper caution is taken. The changeling queen took none of this caution. One can only assume it is because she was in the final stages of her plan to conquer Equestria. If she needed more time she likely wouldn’t have been so condescending towards those around her. However, if one was to actually find themselves able to study changelings would have learned that their ability to integrate so fully into a society that nopony ever knew they weren’t there is a key feature to their way of life. Shift at this time was focusing merely on fighting against a unicorn who clearly had it out for him. Said unicorn was still furious with the changelings he had encountered recently and had no intention of allowing any more of them to deceive anypony. He felt they had done enough damage already. As Shift dodged yet another blast of magic, likely an attack spell bolt of some kind, Dusk became even more frustrated. He had easily defeated several changelings pretending to be him just a day before. He couldn’t imagine why this one was so much more trouble. “Hold still so I can blast you!” he shouted. Shift responded negatively and began taunting the unicorn. The rage was clear in his voice, so Shift hoped this could make the unicorn an easier opponent. After all, angry enemies are rarely rational. As it turns out, this unicorn wasn’t so easily distracted. Firing two near simultaneous bolts to either side of Shift, he lept forward. Shift found himself rearing up on hind legs to avoid these blasts. He was caught off balance when his foe tackled him to the ground. Shift desperately tried powering up another spell, but the purple stallion on top of him fired faster. The unicorns were just faster with their spells. This had become evident rather quickly in the fight. Though Shift had been sending spells of his own in retaliation to Dusk’s attacks, he had been forced onto the defensive. That was what allowed Dusk to direct the tide of the battle. The next thing Shift knew, there was a bright purple light in his eyes and he was left with a pounding headache. Everything around him became a blur. He heard several muffled sounds that he couldn’t quite make out. Some seemed high pitched, some low. He was certain there was a thud of some kind in there somewhere. Most prevalent was one that he could feel. It was rough and varied, but he couldn’t remember for the life of him what was going on. The last thing he saw before everything went black was a pair of green orbs overtaking his vision.
1. RealizationOn the outskirts of Ponyville there was small amount of debris. While not a picture of total devastation, it still spoke of some sort of aftermath. There were a few things that, from a resident’s point of view, would have appeared to definitely not belong there. First of all, there were the fragments of marble littering the ground. They seemed to be portions of pillars, perhaps ones that had happened to be in the way. There were only a few, but they probably didn’t originate from the grassy hill they now lay on. Certainly they would have caught the attention of any Pegasi flying overhead if there had been any. The Sun certainly glinted off them harshly, as if angry at them for what they implied. However, as strange as this seemed, it still wasn’t the oddest item there. Nor was it the scraps of red velvet cloth that littered the ground as well, though they did speak of affluence and some great occasion. They gave a bit more of a hint as to the reason for these peculiarities. The regal pieces were marred by several unsightly tears. They had been disfigured by either a fight or some form of vandalism. Nonetheless, it still didn’t explain what had occurred. No, the greatest anomaly was what lied amongst these things, and it was breathing. The breath was slightly haggard, but still had a somewhat peaceful sound to it. The sound only made when one is having a particularly relaxing dream. This unconscious creature was definitely worse for wear, but the dreams did not care. They lavished the being with fond memories of happy times, joyful times. After a period of time marked only by the passing of the sun and a few gentle breezes, the creature stirred. Its breathing grew more distressed, and its eyes scrunched as the face unwittingly took on the expression of fear. Hooves were raised in front, and to any onlooker, it would appear that this previously content individual was now fending off terrors unseen, ones that can only appear in the worst of nightmares. As the sun settled beneath the horizon, its parting rays cast frightful shadows around the hill. The creature’s writhing on the ground became more intense as a battle of epic proportions occurred that could only be seen within the poor tormented being’s mind. The moon appeared as it peaked over this scene, its benign radiance unaware of what had caused so much damage in the light of day. The individual finally seemed to have reached a climax in their imaginary fight, and they bolted up from the ground gasping for air, and hissing. To anypony close enough to witness this, of which there were none, it would have been immediate cause for alarm. The oddest thing of all the debris, laying in a small indentation in the ground, looked for all the world to be part of what had recently created no small stir in Canterlot: a changeling. The conclusion would be easy to attain. While attacking the city, changelings had frightened many ponies. They had been defeated, ironically, by the one thing that they had come to steal and harvest: love. One mare’s love for a stallion had given him the power to remove a foul presence from the land of Equestria. If you were to ask somepony who had been there for it what was going on here they would immediately have told you something you would have no apparent reason to doubt. The changeling must have been blasted here by the powerful magical shield said stallion had conjured. Depending on who you had asked, the pony might go on to say that this one, should be captured, perhaps slain, or maybe just driven back to changeling territory. You would have no reason to disagree with their conclusion. None at all. Changelings had already proven themselves to be harmful and disgusting parasites (unlike parasprites which took adorable and turned it into a defense as well as a weapon). Yes, you would have no reason to doubt that this was a vile creature of evil. Neither would the pony you had asked. At least, you wouldn’t have to doubt this until the changeling did something very extraordinary for a changeling. What happened would appear to any educated pony to be impossible. They would immediately be confused at what occurred. They would be speechless in fact. The changeling, after throwing terrified glances all around itself had relaxed and then stiffened again. It put one of its front hooves to its head and seemed to concentrate, worried, listening to what clearly was not an enjoyable sound. Then there was a flash of light. In the place of a changeling now lay a moderately sized unicorn stallion. This was the impossible, a changeling taking the form of a pony not within their current sight. Clearly, this was no ordinary changeling. The now stallion was of a peculiar appearance. His coat was like lightly colored sand, and his mane and tail were as white as a cloud. His eyes, if there had been enough light to make them out, would have been the color of a clear sky. Again, however, these were not the strangest portions of him. On his flanks were a pair of marks. If you weren’t familiar with this concept, a pony would tell you about cutie marks. The marks that appear on everypony when they discover the one thing that made them truly unique. The marks that show to the entire world what a pony’s special talent was. The marks that often determined even a pony’s career. This stallion’s cutie marks, or, as more proper Equestrians would say when referring to a male, stud stamps, were of a sort that had not been seen ever by the inhabitants of Ponyville, though a very few number of residents of Canterlot would be able to tell you of them. This stallion’s stud stamp was a picture of a changeling. The stallion looked up into the sky, then over towards a nearby mountain, and followed this by staring at his upraised hooves for a moment. He lowered them and opened his mouth to speak. If you had been watching this you would likely be curious. What would he say? Would he reveal some deep secret that would set him on an adventure? Would he pine after somepony special to him but now lost? Would he swear revenge for some insult? The moon certainly seemed curious at this specimen. It appeared to lean in as the words came from his mouth. The wind ceased as if to prevent anything from drowning out what was to be heard by nopony at that time. Even the grass, which had been enjoying its day before the crash, seemed to lean in expectantly. A scowl appeared on the stallion’s face. A single word came from his lips, almost seeming to float in the air. “Crud.”
2. Changing LocationThe moon, constantly watching, didn't really do anything different. Its path would take a long time to complete, so there was no rush for it. The breeze suddenly picked up a bit however, resuming its course. It didn't look like any real information was going to be forthcoming as of yet. The grass busied itself in growing, almost spitefully, as it seemed to attempt to overcome, very slowly, the cloth and marble fragments that had blocked its sunshine for a portion of the now gone day. This would be a long process, but eventually it would succeed, if only because some fillies would clear the debris sometime in the future as a punishment for acting out in class. Nonetheless, the grass, if it could really think for itself, would have been proud of its supposed might. Fortunately for the stallion, there really was no one else there, at least for the moment. As it was, he seemed quite certain that the predicament he was in wasn't a preferable one. Following the use of what really was the worst explicative in his vocabulary, the scowl was replaced by a grim set face of determination. He stood up, glancing around once again to determine a bit more from his immediate surroundings. The breeze ruffled his mane as it passed by, as if promising to be back for some more information later. While there was nothing much near him, there was a faint glow off to his left. He squinted his eyes to decide what it meant, and he realized that it was the lights of a nearby town, though he did not yet know that it was Ponyville. Very few lights were on at all right now, with most ponies having turned in for the night. However, it was just enough to catch his notice. Knowing that he needed to get moving soon, he arose from his position on the ground and started to hobble towards the town only to suddenly stop. It seemed that the journey over to this spot had not been very kind to his body. He appeared to be in pretty bad shape. He took stock of himself from head to tail, examining the extent of his injuries. They were fairly serious as he had to have been smashed through at least one wall (probably with a curtain or tapestry on it) to have brought the debris with him. He sighed heavily. “I won’t get anywhere fast like this” he muttered to himself. If you could see the in the dark, you would have then seen his irises grow both inwards and outwards until his eyes were entirely blue. The cuts and bruises all across his body acquired a faint green glow and vanished. Any observer would have been quite shocked to notice that throughout this process there was a distinct lack of magical glow from his horn. Once he healed himself, the strange unicorn’s eyes returned to normal. Once again he looked down at his hooves. Then he glanced over the rest of his body. Though it was now in fine shape, he was dissatisfied. A thought seemed to pass across his determined face that said, “I'll stand out in the darkness with my coat and mane.” He looked towards his crash site and saw the remains of the royal curtains. “This ought to do it” he muttered again. The stallion returned to where he had fallen and picked through the objects that had accompanied him to this place. His horn took on a grayish-blue glow. The longest, most intact piece of cloth was also enveloped in the glow and levitated into the air. Magically floating it over to himself, he tied a couple of strands of thread around his neck, making the cloth into a hooded cape that, while unsightly to look at, was at least quite a bit darker than his fur. Now much more prepared to venture away, he left the site and trotted briskly towards the town. It was now much darker than when he had awoken, though the moon continued to shed its own faint light across the ground. As he entered the town he noticed that there were very few lights on in any of the buildings, but he could tell that there were definitely ponies in most of the homes. He looked around as he passed through what must have been the market. None of the stalls were open. Also, to his disappointment, none of them had any food lying around either. They really had tidied up for the night. Besides this, he doubted that anypony would be willing to share their food with a complete stranger in the middle of the night. What he needed was a house with food and nopony home. He went from building to building listening at doors and windows finding at the very least quiet breathing coming from each of them. He had always had very good hearing. Eventually he came upon one building with no sounds coming from it. It was a rather large tree that seemed to have been hollowed out yet was still alive. He jiggled the door handle a little to see if it would give. Unfortunately for him, there was no such luck in store right there. He glanced around the tree a bit and found that there were several branches that could provide a way up to one of the windows. It seemed that the locked door was only there to dissuade the most casual of burglars from entering. Hopping up several of the branches carefully, the male unicorn made his way to the unlatched window. Pulling it open, he glanced inside. It was definitely darker in there than outside. The already faint moonlight made very little difference inside. He could only see a little into the room, and found that there was a ledge of some sort next to the window. He stepped onto it and quietly pulled the window shut again. Risking a little light from his horn, the stallion looked around the room again. It seemed that he was in a large room full of books. In fact, he was on top of a bookcase. This might make things difficult. He didn’t see any way to get down easily. This was a very tall bookcase. Examining the other bookcases in the room he discovered that there was in fact a ladder leaning up against one of them. It seemed to be of the sort designed specifically for getting books down from any point. It even had wheels for sliding sideways along a book shelf. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the room. Sighing, he magically pulled it over and latched it onto the top shelf of the bookcase he was on. Slowly he clambered down the book ladder to the floor, maintaining his light so he could watch his footing. He looked around some more, ignoring the books. Suddenly there was a noise that permeated the whole room, but it was only his stomach. He hadn’t eaten in over half a day by this point, so he was fairly hungry. Scanning the wall, he spotted a doorway leading into what must be the kitchen. He walked across to it, avoiding a few obstacles such as a chair and a table with a bust of somepony on it. Opening the pantry door he found some vegetables and a stale muffin to eat. Bringing them floating over to the kitchen table, he made a quick meal of them. There wasn’t a whole lot else besides a small bucket of apples. Whoever lived here likely had been planning on doing some shopping when they returned from wherever they were. He ate those as well to top off his appetite. They were quite a bit better than what he was used to. Now full, he evaluated his situation again. He was in a kitchen of somepony who loved books, but wasn’t home at the moment. He had just eaten all their food, so hopefully they wouldn’t be returning right away. It was night, so there was no chance of getting assimilated into the town as a newcomer right now. He needed a place to rest for the night, but he definitely couldn’t risk using any of the beds here in case they arrived home before he woke up. He needed to find a secluded place, and this building was as good as any other for at least being indoors. He wandered around the main floor a little bit more until he finally discovered an entrance to the basement. Clopping down the stairs he found himself in a room filled with equipment of all sorts. It seemed that they were being stored down here. They were all turned off and covered with thin sheets to keep the dust away though. He weaved in between them until he reached the back corner of the room. Grabbing a couple of sheets from nearby apparatuses, he made himself a makeshift bed to lie down on for the rest of the night. Maybe he’d be able to figure out some more about his situation in the morning. He just hoped he’d be able to get out before the owners returned.
3. Unexpected MeetingAnd so he slept and dreamt. The stallion found himself in the middle of a field with the sun shining bright as day, for the moment. He looked around himself inquisitively, wondering what was going on. At that point he noticed one thing in particular. Rain had decided to start falling on him. Not only that, but it wasn’t normal rain. He lifted up his foreleg and examined it as a brown liquid dripped off of it. “What the junk?” he asked no one. This was definitely weird. “What is this stuff?” He decided to get out from under the raincloud as it was quickly causing him to get rather sticky, and uncomfortably so. As he did this he noticed that the grass he was on wasn’t normal either. Now, if it had been light and dark green squares it wouldn’t be too surprising. That would just indicate a well-manicured lawn. However, this grass wasn’t green. It was black and white squares. “What is this, a chess board?” He shook himself dry, but unfortunately the brown liquid was very sticky. “Aw, gross. Now I’m just covered in…” He leaned his nose towards his foreleg and sniffed it. “chocolate?” It was then that he heard someone laughing rather loudly nearby, and a strange being floated past him. Also strange was the fact that he seemed to be doing so without anything carrying him. Again the unicorn was extremely confused, but this time he directed his question at the strange creature: “What the junk is going on?” The slender, floating individual took notice of him and clapped his hands together in glee. “Oh! Another pony to play with! What shall I do with you? Hmm? That’s an interesting cutie mark.” The creature leaned over and twisted in a way that didn’t seem possible as he examined the stallion’s flank. “What the hay?! Personal space here! And for your information, it’s a stud stamp.” The unicorn stomped one of his hooves on the checkered ground to emphasize his point. “I’m not a mare.” The creature smirked and put his hand to his chin. “Oh? Perhaps we can change that. You see, I’m Discord. Perhaps you’ve heard of me? Spirit of Chaos? Ah, I can tell by your face that you have. I love a good shocker like that. Heheheh. Now tell me. What’s your special talent? I’m sure it’s quite unique.” The apparent Draconequus was grinning from ear to ear now. “You better let me know. There’s no telling what I might do if I get bored.” He stood up, finally landing on the ground, and pulled a lightning bolt out of the sky to demonstrate his point. “Oh, and give me your name too. It’s easier to let you say it than for me to take it.” He casually tossed the lightning bolt at a nearby building where it splashed and started a fire. The stallion had paled considerably as soon as Discord revealed who he was. Stuttering and trying to back away, he said, “My n-name is Sh-shifting Sands. Um,” He coughed. “I’m really good at improvisation.” Glancing nervously at his stud stamp he continued backing away. The Spirit of Chaos quickly snapped his fingers, appearing right behind the frightened unicorn. “Is that all you can do? I don’t think you’re giving me the whole story. In fact, it all seems a little,” He paused to pull out some sunglasses and slap them on. “Shifty.” The stallion jumped a little bit before groaning at the pun. “Right. Like that’s not the first time I’ve heard it.” He decided to put the aforementioned improvisation skills to use and continued, “Now, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other people to mess with. Busy schedule and all that. I’ll just be going now.” With that he turned and galloped away from Discord as fast as he could. Suddenly the Draconequus was floating next to him again sucking chocolate milk from a glass with a straw in it. “Oh, but I’m not finished with you yet Shift. Can I call you Shift?” Deciding not to mention that was his actual nickname, Shift worked on just increasing his speed. “Well, if you’re going to be rude and ignore me I’ll just have make you pay attention.” Discord reached over and picked the unicorn off of the ground. Now, since I can tell you’ve lied to me, I think I’ll have some real fun. Oh don’t give me that look. Of course I can smell a lie from a mile away. I’m a master at them. Now, what to do with you…” Shift was now being held by the head at arm’s length as he struggled to get away. The Spirit of Chaos suddenly brightened up and smiled even more. “Ah! I know. How would you like for your ‘stud stamp’ to be a bona fide cutie mark?” He flicked Shift on the nose and tossed him away. “Have fun! Oh look! I think I’ll go torment her next.” He flew off. Groaning, the unicorn stood up and rubbed his side which he had landed on. He noticed that he definitely felt weird. He felt lighter and the grass seemed just a little bit closer to his head than before. Confused he opened his mouth and began to speak, “What the-“ He stopped immediately. Oh no. “Did he-“ It was confirmed. His voice was now a few octaves higher. Frightened, he looked over his body hurriedly. Discord had done something very disturbing. He had turned Shift into a mare. He glared up at the sky as the sun and moon quickly switched places and howled. “NOOOOOOO!” Shift sprang up gasping for breath and looked around at his dim surroundings. He was still in the basement of that building. Giving a sigh of relief he quickly checked himself to make sure he was still a he and not a she. That would have been…unpleasant to say the least. It had been a while since Discord had been defeated by the Elements of Harmony, but Shift still had nightmares from the short time where he was running free causing chaos. It had given the unicorn some pretty bad emotional scars. Shift still wasn't sure how he had ended up on the hillside in the first place. He lived in Canterlot. Suddenly he heard a creaking noise coming from above him, snapping him out of his thoughts. There it was. The residents must have returned. Well, this wasn't good. He had been hoping to at least be able to get out unnoticed and find a map or something. He heard a pair of voices. They were fairly muffled, so he couldn't really make out what they were saying. However, he could tell that there was what sounded like a mare and a young colt up there. A much louder creaking alerted him to the opening of the door to the basement. Definitely not a good sign. They must have noticed the missing food. He heard the mare calling out, “Hello? Is anypony there?” Well, at least she didn't sound overly suspicious. She seemed more curious about the situation. He needed a plan, and fast. He could only think of one way to sufficiently confuse whoever it was long enough for him to get out without being asked any questions. It was risky, but he had to take that chance. His horn glowed blue and flames surrounded him. As the flames changed from a blue to a green aura his form was replaced with that of a changeling once again. Knowing that his transformation had produced a sizable, though brief, flash of light he speedily moved to a different portion of the room and hid behind some other machinery. The mare let out a small yelp of surprise and charged forward, her horn ablaze with a purple light. “Who's there?! Show yourself!” She shouted. She began looking around frantically. The now changeling was peaking from behind a device that looked almost like a tree from Hearth's Warming Eve and was able to get a good look at her as he charged his own horn. Green flames enveloped him once again, and now in his place stood a pony looking just like the purple unicorn. There was one small difference though. The duplicate was a stallion. The mare spun around and spotted him now. Running forward, she said, “I don't like it when a pony breaks into my home. You better have a good reason for being here.” Chuckling softly to himself, Shift stepped out into full view. He may be in a sticky situation, but there was no reason that he couldn't enjoy the shock from seeing someone like him. The mare gasped, confused. Shift was just about ready to make a run for it when she said something he had definitely not been expecting. “Dusk Shine? What are you doing here?” Now it was his turn to be surprised. She knew someone who looked like this? Sure, there was the chance of meeting somepony with the same cutie mark as yourself, but that was very rare outside of Canterlot. The only reason it was there much was because of the nobility often trying to keep their bloodlines “clean.” All he could really think to say now was, “Um.” Fortunately for him she went off talking almost instantly. He wasn't completely sure, but she seemed to be under the impression that he was from an alternate reality. A gender-swapped one. As mentally unstable as she clearly was, at least she was giving him a background. He mused over how he could get out of this and, hopefully, get home. “So why did you come here? Did something bad happen with the changelings on your world?” She suddenly asked, interrupting his train of thought. “Oh, um...” He had to think fast. Time to improvise! “No! I just wanted to make sure everyone here was alright. You know, see if you needed any help.” He could feel some sweat beading on his forehead. There was no telling whether she would buy it or not, and he certainly didn't want to try knocking her out since he had absolutely no idea what her magical strength was. “Everything went great here! Once we Shining Armor was able to cast his shield spell again we were able to have a wonderful wedding.” Well, it looked like she bought it. Shift let out a small sigh of relief. Now he just needed to get out of here before he was found. “Well, I don't have much time. I, er, need to get back to my studies. Yeah. I'm figuring out a way to recognize changelings more easily.” If he could just leave now, he'd be in the clear. “Okay.” The mare looked surprisingly disappointed by that. Then she perked up. “I can help you with the spell. Did you bring the ingredients for it with you?” And there went his plan. Spell? Ingredients? He had no idea what she was talking about. “Ah, no. I may have forgotten them.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. “I'll just go look for them now.” He started to make his way towards the stairs. Maybe he could get away now. “I'll help you look. After all, I'd be pretty impressed if you are able to cast the spell right away. Or did you find a method that uses less magical energy? Actually, that makes sense. How did you do it?” Hayseed. She just wouldn't let up, would she? As he climbed up the stairs, the purple unicorn unfortunately following him, he was starting to really sweat. A lie was best when simple, and this one was getting far too elaborate for his tastes. The more complicated it is, the easier to slip up. This pony might be off her rocker a bit, but he couldn't count on that solving everything. “I think I can handle finding everything just fine. I do need to get going though.” They were now in the main room. He could see that it had a lot more books than he had initially thought. Maybe this was a library. He paused for a moment as something struck a chord in his memory. Anyplace with this many books certainly had to be a library, but there was only one library like this. He had heard about it while looking through a public library in Canterlot. Circular, quaint, and a very natural theme. What else was it that the shelving pony had said? She had said that it was the home of a very important pony. The...Element...of...Magic. He looked at the mare who was talking again, though he wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. This couldn't be her. Alternate universes? Who would believe in that sort of thing? It was the stuff of cheap fiction novels. But, if this was her home, then he was in big trouble if he couldn't get away from her. He now had another reason to leave fast. “Hello... are you even listening?” She was staring right into his face. He shook himself out of his thoughts and responded. “Oh, right. Sorry. I was just thinking for a moment there.” He looked towards the door. “I get going now.” He turned away to head for the door when she sighed. “I was saying that I've got the spell components here already. You weren't listening.” This time it wasn't a question. “I'll just gather them up right now. That way we can save time.” She walked over to one of the drawers in a bookshelf and opened it with her magic. “Let's see. A blue feather, a ruby, wait. Where's the vase? Ugh.” She levitated out some items and placed them on the table before shutting the drawer with a back hoof. Shift thought he heard a clicking noise as she did so. He cocked his ear slightly, hoping that it had come from the drawer. Then he heard it again. He started sweating a bit more now. He needed to leave right now. “Well, I guess we'll have to go ask Fluttershy for one. I knew I should have gotten two.” She pulled a book off the shelves and laid it on the table as well. Shift began inching towards the door surreptitiously. She looked up. “Well, we have almost everything. So I guess we're just about set. I was really hoping to get to use the spell again for experience.” She paused. “Are you okay?” Shift could hear the clicking a lot more now. It was becoming an incessant chatter. He could feel thoughts approaching his mind. There were about three different patterns in there from what he could tell. He started focusing on blocking his thoughts from them as much as he could. At that point something happened that was sufficiently surprising as to stop his thoughts completely. Not exactly what he had intended, but later he would be glad that it had made him effectively invisible to the three minds approaching. They actually left as quickly as they had come when they didn't sense him anymore. It didn't just surprise him though. A flash of bright light appeared in the room, and with it were two ponies. They looked exactly like him and the mare already here. The new stallion was smirking proudly and seemed quite pleased. “I knew it was a good idea to get two vases.” Shift looked at the duplicate mare and stared for a a bit before finally uttering a word in disbelief. She seemed to be feeling the same way as she stared at him. Simultaneously, they both said the one thing that came to mind: “Crud.”
4. Thinking of FightsA long awkward silence permeated the room as the original mare and the newly appeared stallion gaped with their mouths open. The other two ponies shifted uncomfortably. Shift suddenly began to feel a thought strain approaching his mind. His eyes widened in fear at first, but quickly his brow furrowed in confusion. The thoughts were a lot like his own. In fact... he and the new mare stared at each other. He could feel her confusion as well. Testing the waters, he probed a bit with his mind. 'Hello?' He asked. The mare stumbled backwards imperceptibly before looking at the still dumbfounded ponies next to them. She glanced at him again. 'Yes?' the thought came. He laughed nervously in his mind. 'Ehehe. I'm guessing you're me from this other world the mare was talking about.' He waved his hand in front of said mare's face. She didn't respond. 'Huh. I guess they are a bit confused. Not that I blame them.' 'So, am I the only one thinking about what Eris did? Or do you feel as grossed out as me?' The new mare looked pointedly at him. 'What do you call yourself anyways?' Shift coughed in surprise at her bluntness. 'I'm Shifting Sands. Call me Shift.' He furrowed his brow again in thought. 'Eris. Where have I heard that before. Hmm. Aha! You must mean Discord.' He grimaced. 'Now that I think about it...' He looked her up and down. '...Yeah. I'm feeling pretty disturbed right now too. Er, what's your name?' The mare's eyes narrowed. 'Right. I'm Sandy Shift. Figures you'd have a backwards version of my name.' Shift adopted an offended look as Sandy continued. 'Now what do we do?' Unfortunately, their mental conversation was cut abruptly short as the Unicorn who was apparently known as Dusk spoke up, “Um, Twilight? What's going on?” He turned to the mare beside him. “I thought I was helping you get home.” The one who was apparently Twilight chose now to put her two bits in as well. “I could ask you the same thing.” She turned to Shift, directing the statement at him. “Why were you in my basement anyways? Wouldn't it make more sense to meet in the main part of the library?” 'Lie! For all your stupid flank is worth, lie!' Shift thought both to himself and in answer to Sandy's question. “Um, I must have made a miscalculation and ended up in the wrong spot. Clearly those two have accidentally traveled back in time and messed up as well.” His sweat was returning full force. 'They'll never buy that!' 'Just go with it!' 'Fine, but it won't work.' Sandy spoke up, “Oh, he must be right. I do seem to remember this happening.” She smiled awkwardly, eyes darting back and forth. Twilight seemed to calm down and sighed. “Oh. Okay. I suppose that makes sense. I've done it before, and changing time-lines seems impossible from what I've figured out. Of course you'd remember it.” Shift grinned triumphantly at his female counterpart. She scowled back. 'You're forgetting an important detail in this oh so clever plan of yours.' 'And what would that be?' he replied cockily. Pleased that they had diffused the situation, even if just for a little while. Sandy raised her front hoof and pointed it at Dusk, all the while glaring at Shift. 'Him.' Shift became very nervous again right there. At this point Dusk interjected saying, “Now wait a minute. What the hay are you talking about? This is too weird. I just got back from the...wedding...in...Canterlot.” His eyes widened in apparent realization. “They're changelings Twilight!” He ignited his horn with a purple glow. Twilight also lit hers up. Shift and Sandy, in order to add to the confusion and possibly allow themselves to get out alive, readied spells of their own. Unfortunately, both forgot about the color of their magic as they shifted into fighting stances. Twilight yelped in shock as she saw the green auras. She jumped away from Shift as Dusk did the same with Sandy. Now they were all in a circle facing each other. Shift had Twilight and Dusk on either side of him with Sandy across from him. Shift sighed in frustration. “Here's an idea.” He said, “How about we-” He was cut off as Dusk fired a spell at him. Jumping to avoid it, he grumbled, “Well, if that's how it's going to be, then FINE!” With that he unleashed his first spell. From the corner of his eye he could see the mares were fighting each other in a similar manner. He smirked slightly. These purple unicorns had no idea what they were dealing with. At least, that was what he thought. Shift and his counterpart were both quite skilled when it came to magic of this kind. They had been practicing using it to hide for a very long time. They were certain they were prepared for anything Dusk or Twilight could throw at them. However, even though they were far more skilled than any regular changeling, they weren't nearly as powerful as the prodigies of Prince Solaris and Princess Celestia. One might have thought they would win easily due to the nature of their surprise advantage. They would have been wrong. The unicorns had already fought changelings before, quite a few in fact, and knew a spell that could knock one senseless easily enough if it was restrained. As soon as they were revealed to not be the real deal there was no chance of them overcoming the purple unicorns. If you were to look at this situation from Twilight’s perspective you would certainly be feeling aggressive. After all, this girl’s brother had recently been under the influence of changeling magic to such a degree that it was even erasing some of his memories. She had in fact talked with him after the defeat of the changelings about why he hadn’t seen the obvious signs that his fiancé had been acting strangely. To her shock he had revealed that he had no recollection of anything like that. The queen of said changelings had removed all memories that she considered objectionable to her plan. Changeling mind magic often leaves its subject floundering and idiotic unless proper caution is taken. The changeling queen took none of this caution. One can only assume it is because she was in the final stages of her plan to conquer Equestria. If she needed more time she likely wouldn’t have been so condescending towards those around her. However, if one was to actually find themselves able to study changelings would have learned that their ability to integrate so fully into a society that nopony ever knew they weren’t there is a key feature to their way of life. Shift at this time was focusing merely on fighting against a unicorn who clearly had it out for him. Said unicorn was still furious with the changelings he had encountered recently and had no intention of allowing any more of them to deceive anypony. He felt they had done enough damage already. As Shift dodged yet another blast of magic, likely an attack spell bolt of some kind, Dusk became even more frustrated. He had easily defeated several changelings pretending to be him just a day before. He couldn’t imagine why this one was so much more trouble. “Hold still so I can blast you!” he shouted. Shift responded negatively and began taunting the unicorn. The rage was clear in his voice, so Shift hoped this could make the unicorn an easier opponent. After all, angry enemies are rarely rational. As it turns out, this unicorn wasn’t so easily distracted. Firing two near simultaneous bolts to either side of Shift, he lept forward. Shift found himself rearing up on hind legs to avoid these blasts. He was caught off balance when his foe tackled him to the ground. Shift desperately tried powering up another spell, but the purple stallion on top of him fired faster. The unicorns were just faster with their spells. This had become evident rather quickly in the fight. Though Shift had been sending spells of his own in retaliation to Dusk’s attacks, he had been forced onto the defensive. That was what allowed Dusk to direct the tide of the battle. The next thing Shift knew, there was a bright purple light in his eyes and he was left with a pounding headache. Everything around him became a blur. He heard several muffled sounds that he couldn’t quite make out. Some seemed high pitched, some low. He was certain there was a thud of some kind in there somewhere. Most prevalent was one that he could feel. It was rough and varied, but he couldn’t remember for the life of him what was going on. The last thing he saw before everything went black was a pair of green orbs overtaking his vision.
