The Return of the Changelings

Pony’s pranced around happily, going about their businesses in Ponyville. They talked, they walked, they muzzled, they hugged and life went about merrily. Particularly Moonshy’s, for he was with an individual whose presence made him quite ecstatic. He looked over to her and couldn’t bring himself to believing what was happening. He was trotting down the street with the timid pony who showed him so much kindness by offering to him to take refuge in her cottage, Fluttershy. Odd… the last thing he remembered was seeing that horrifying creature with the teal colored eyes and vamperic fangs fly off into the canopy of the Everfree forest. Nevertheless he smiled and continued to move. He had no idea where exactly he was going but that was alright, for whatever reason he didn’t seem to mind.

The clouds on the… wait… those aren’t clouds. Its fog, and no ordinary fog at that. It had an unnatural greenish tint to it and seemed to be charged with a form of lightning. It encroached upon Ponyville hastily, like a moving wall with the speed of a battering ram and soon the other Ponies around him began to panic. Screaming, terror, running, it was all that was on their minds. They practically trampled each other in an attempt to escape from the unstoppable threat. Moonshy, with frantic perception, looked around for any way of escape and he realized that Fluttershy is nowhere in sight. Now… he was terrified.

He took off into the air but something violently pulled him back down to the ground and the fog now engulfed him. He could see nothing past the fog, do nothing, feel nothing, he was paralyzed with fear. Manacle laughter sounded all around him, echoing through his ears and never leaving. The laughter turned into an evil chuckle and the clopping of hooves moved in on him. From the fog came a taller, obviously female, version of the creature he saw… last night? Or was it? Moonshy didn’t know anymore.

“You have lots of what I seek, pegasus. That could also be bad, assuming you learn how to use it. So you have me at a quandary, absorb it all from you, or eliminate you, hurmmm?” She disturbingly licked her two fangs and spoke again “I suppose either one will do.” Her fangs glimmered as she opened her mouth wider and the insectoid hiss Moonshy was all too familiar with came from her mouth. There was a short pause before she came down at his neck.

“ENOUGH!” A beam of moonlight pierced through the dense fog and temporarily blinded the creature. Just in time, one half a millisecond later and who knows what would have happened. The creature reeled back and hissed right as an indigo colored alicorn landed right in front of him. When Moonshy opened his eyes for the first time sense the creature’s assault he found that the world around him faded away for an astral dimension to take its place. He was standing on, surrounded, and sheltered by the night sky.

“Young Moonshy,” a strong feminine voice spoke to him before he even had a chance to figure out what was going on. “Do not be afraid, you are safe now.”

Moonshy looked up to see a face he knew well. Princess Luna, for she had aided him many times when nightmares seeped into his mind. Nightmares were always intense for him. He bowed properly, low enough that his muzzle touched the bright stars of what would be the ground. “Princess Luna… I- I don’t know what to say… what happened?”

“You were having a dream, was it not obvious?”

“Were?”

“Well, perhaps it started out as one, what you witnessed turned into a vison.”

“A- a vison? So your say- I mean what are you saying? Of what?”

“Moonshy Art, There are things in this world that will stop at nothing to destroy harmony and the whole of Equestria as we know it. Take a word of advice, do not let them rob you of your most positive emotion. It is one of the most precious things anypony can have in their mind’s possession.” Luna spread her wings, left the ground, and began to fly away. Moonshy, not getting the answers he wanted, took off after her.

“Wait! Princess Luna! What do you mean? WAIT!” Too late, the dream dimension around him faded away into blackness and he fell back into reality with a thud and a flurry of stars.

There was an irritating ring in his ears as he was waiting for his now wide open eyes to adjust to the new lighting conditions. His vison re-centered and when the ringing passed, his ears were greeted with the beautiful singing of birds, his eyes welcomed by the rays of the morning sun, and his face given new life by, wait, is that, LICKING!? Moonshy shot up straight into the air with a startled yelp and he hit his head on a ceiling. “OUCH!” Now he saw that the licking was being done by, not just one, but three woodland creatures. A ferret, a raccoon, and a squirrel. They happily stared at him with unfitting intrigue, as if expecting something out of him, but Moonshy didn’t know what. The creatures, however, weren’t the strangest things he viewed upon awakening. He was inside a structure which, upon further inspection, seemed to be made up mostly of wood and critter sized staircases, holes, and... houses? What would houses be doing inside a house? What was HE doing inside a house?

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy’s soft, kind, voice sounded from the top of some stairs just in front of him. “Are you alright? I heard a thump.”

“No uh, it’s fine. I jus- had a wakeup call, that’s all.” Moonshy smiled his fitting nervous smile once again while he rubbed the back of his head.

Fluttershy looked away from Moonshy briefly at the animals down below. He half expected a timid pony like her to scream out of fear, but what he witnessed was the exact opposite.

“You guys, what are you doing waking our guest like that?” She spoke politely and with a soothing voice to the creatures as though they were her friends. “Don’t you know it’s a little bit rude to scare someone like that?” The creatures looked down at the floor as if feeling a bit of remorse. A few seconds later the squirrel reached into its chubby cheeks, pulled out an acorn, and presented it to him as if it were an apology gift.

“Oh, err, I’m sure they didn’t mean to startle me. They were just licking my face when I hit your ceiling. Um… how did I get here?” Fluttershy was about to answer his question when the pupils in her now rapidly widening eyes dilated and nearly filled the iris. She let out a loud gasp and began to panic.

“OH MY GOSH! I FORGOT BREAKFAST! Oh, I’m so sorry you poor little creatures, I didn’t mean to… Oh dear. She rushed out the front door while the three forest creatures who remained in the cottage rolled their eyes and impatiently tapped their feet. Fluttershy came back a few minutes later with bits and pieces of vegetables gathered in a bowl. “Eat up you poor things, I’m so sorry I didn’t make this sooner!” Without even a second of delay, the three animals buried their faces into the bowl of food and were soon joined by plenty others.

SMASH! Fluttershy’s door burst wide open and in rushed the familiar purple alicorn he met yestermorning.

“FLUTTERSHY! Oh my stars, have you seen Applejack anywhere!?” Princess Twilight’s intelligent voice was frantic, as was her demeanor.

“No, I haven’t… is something wrong Twilight?” Fluttershy replied.

“Is something wrong? YES! Something is very wrong. I asked Applejack to help me move some books this morning and she never showed up!”

“Oh, I’m sure she has a very good reason-“

“If she did, she would have at least told me about it. But no, it’s like she vanished off the face of Equestria!”

“Um, Okay. Where should we start?”

Moonshy plopped himself down onto the floor and watched as the two ponies spoke. He felt he had no necessary contribution to the conversation so he listened attentively and thought. He should have guessed Applejack went missing when she was absent from Sweet Apple Acers yesterday. The way her grandmother spoke so highly of her responsibility should have been a tip off.

“TWILIGHT!” The voice of a young boy reverberated through the door fallowed not long after by a scaly purple creature with green spikes and emerald eyes. He wasn’t a pony, he looked to be a young dragon. Moonshy saw more dragons that most other ponies during his travels through the Equestrian wilderness but never up close like this. He was intrigued to say the least.

“I,” the dragon panted “have a message from.” The dragons face screwed up as though he were about to puke and, in a belch of green flame, manifested a piece of rolled up parchment sealed with a red ribbon and… The royal seal!? Okay, now things have gotten much more interesting.

Princess Twilight shrouded the parchment in a translucent purple magic and opened it up. “Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle. My sister has informed me that an old enemy stirs in the Everfree forest. Bring your friends, you and they must attend a private meeting so that we may discuss what to do about…” She lifted her head and her eyes widened with great concern. “Fluttershy Spike, we need to go!”

“But… What about Applejack?” Fluttershy inquired. Twilight stopped suddenly in her gallop out the door. Though Moonshy couldn’t see her face he could tell she was debating something internally. Twilight took a deep breath and on her exhale, she waved her hoof outward as if flicking something off her shoulder. “We’ll find her later.” She explained, looking back. “For now, we have to attend this meeting. Come on!”

Fluttershy, Twilight, and the dragon left the cottage, forgetting to shut the door. A raccoon looked up at Moonshy curiously, confused just as much as he was. He was now alone in the strange silence of the dwelling, for the birds stopped singing, not knowing what to do. I wonder where their friend Applejack is. What does my vison mean? Why did the creature in it look so much like the one I saw near the forest? These questions and many more entered his mind as he thought to himself. He wanted to help somehow but, without any magic, what could he do? He’s just a pegasus with hermitical tendencies who paints pictures. Hardly the stuff of any hero. Hang on, so, a pony named Applejack goes missing, I see a horrible creature outside a forest, then I have a dream which turns into a vision of a similar creature. Her haunting words enter his mind distracting him for a second “You have lots of what I seek, pegasus.” “Absorb it all, or eliminate you.” “I suppose either one will do.” What could that mean, what do I have that anypony could possibly want? What did Luna mean when she said, “Do not let them rob you of your most positive emotion”? What does any of this mean? Moonshy shook his head. “Come on Moonshy! Get your thoughts in order!” His words to himself startled the raccoon next to him. “Some pony- err, ponies, need your help!” Wait… but you don’t have the faintest clue where she is. You don’t even know what she looks like! Moonshy paced around the cottage for a second, barely managing to avoid stepping on the small critters skittering across the floor. Wait… you saw the creature in the Everfree forest. The fog in my vision seemed to come from that direction as well. Does that mean… AH HA! Though he wasn’t exactly sure Applejack would be in there, he saw it as a lead to fallow. After all, Applejack’s disappearance and the arrival of the creatures taking place around the same time have to be linked right?

There he stood, at the foot of the first line of trees. Their roots entangled on each other like a network of spider webs, the twisted branches and grotesquely warped trunks a doorway into a never ending wilderness. As he looked the eerie sounds of unknown creatures invaded his ears sending a chilling shiver down the deepest parts of his spine. No matter how many times he entered this forest (and he has entered it many times before) the sounds and dim lighting never became any less creepy. Every time, Moonshy has to work up a bit of courage before he enters. He did so with a series of deep breaths and calming thoughts, as well as a mental preparation of maneuvers to use in case there’s trouble. Reluctantly, he stepped in, under the shadow of the same imposing canopy where he had met the creature face to face the night before. Looking back, not even meters in, he discovered that he… missed Ponyville, never before had he missed a town.

As he wearily moved through the ever thickening brush, the frightful environment heightened Moonshy’s senses. No sound went unnoted, no potential hiding spot unrecognized. If anything made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up for even a second he would realize it before the prowling creatures did. Nothing yet so far. Moonshy made certain to steer clear of heavy brush and dry leaves, with hopes of making minimal noise. Why don’t you just fly? He asked himself for the umpteenth time. Because, the trees and vines are too closely knit together! Flying is impossible unless you want to find yourself tangled in vines or caught in some creature’s nest. He answered himself yet again. These minor arguments with the impulsive side of his mind kept him thinking rationally, but, when he felt most secure (Typically when he’s resting inside some bushes or traveling through a sunny clearing.), his mind phased in and out of deep thought. When it did this, he often found himself reminiscing about Ponyville. And when it strayed further than typical for most ponies in this situation, he thought about the five ponies he met there. Particularly Fluttershy. What was it about her, specifically her, which intrigued him so? He wondered how he would befriend them, or if they already considered him one. With all of his intuition, he still couldn’t figure it out.

“Who in tarnation are you talking about?!” A pony’s voice sounded a fair distance away.

“Moonshy! Where is the pegasus Moonshy!?” spoke another. That one… it was so familiar. It reminded him of… no, it couldn’t be. He grew concerned at the mention of his name, yet all the while curious. He guessed he didn’t want whoever owned that voice to see him so he approached with caution. His front hooves nearly slipped as the ground seemed to vanish beneath him. Quick reflexes and a couple wing beats shot him back into a nearby bush. Now he was overlooking a ravine. Populated only by jagged gray rocks and two individuals. One was a pony. Orange in hide and green of the eyes. Three red apples dotted her flank and her braided blond hair flowed out from beneath her tan rancher’s hat. The other was the tall, bug like, horrific female creature Moonshy saw in his vison. She resembled an alicorn… in a twisted corrupt way. Her dark irregular horn sprouting out from the top of her head. A demonic green magic resonated off of it, shackling the orange pony to the ground.

“For the last time, I don’t know anypony named Moonshy!” The orange pony insisted. “Now let me go, or I’m gonna—“

“Gonna what? Applejack, are you going to get your friends? Use the elements of harmony on me?” the creature leaned in closer and lifted the pony’s chin and smiling wickedly. “Face it, Applejack, it’s hopeless to resist. You are at my mercy and you will meet your end, unless, you can tell me,” The creatures voice steadily became more tense and enraged “WHERE THE PONY MOONSHY IS!”

“I told you already, I do NOT know any pony named Moonshy.” Applejacks voice remained strong. Fear, though there still, was pushed to the back.

“Very well… I’ll find him myself!” The creatures mouth opened and she made the same enhailing hiss she made when she was about to bite Moonshy in the vision. The image made him tremble, all he wanted to do was shy away and flee as fast as he could, but at the same time… he couldn't leave a fellow pony here to die, especially not off his account. His mind raced, divided between two choices. Run, save himself, but forever live with guilt. Or… Stay here and stare death in the face, supporting the unlikely chance that he would save somepony else’s life in the process. Every muscle in Moonshy’s dark blue body tensed. He could feel himself fighting two different impulses… and then, he felt nothing. In that moment, he was no longer the pegasus named Moonshy, he no longer acknowledged the concept of death. All he was, was a last line of defense between a threat, and an innocent bystander. His wings flapped ferociously, not giving a care about what was to come. They lifted him up into the air, high above the deep ravine. He dropped a can of red paint out of his left saddle bag from a zenith above the creature. It fell with haste and smashed into her skull, exploding everywhere. He dropped from the sky and bellowed out a noisy demand.

“FOLLOW ME! RUN!”

Noticing that her magic shackles now dispersed, Applejack ceased her opportunity and bolted along with Moonshy. By the time the dazed and distracted creature regained focus, Moonshy and Applejack were many meters ahead and well out of range of most of the creature’s magic… most of it. All he did was run. Green beams of energy whistled dangerously close past his dodging form. Only feet ahead the thinning ravine made a sharp turn to the left. Moonshy didn’t know exactly what it held in store for him and Applejack but he knew it was their only chance. The momentum of his dash caused him to power slide around the corner. The friction beneath his hooves burnt, but he didn’t care. He continued to run, Applejack not far behind him. There was a snug little nook just to the right that reared around behind a large rock. A nearly perfect hiding spot… given the situation. One of the maneuvers he prepared in his mind forced his muscles to jump up and over the rock and then flatten out in order to remain as low as possible. Applejack reared the corner just behind him and she almost missed him. Had it not been for his grab and pull of her behind the rock as well, she probably would have kept on running… oblivious to the fact the she could have possibly lived if she hid. Moonshy held her mouth shut so that she wouldn’t make a sound while they waited for the creature (who hadn’t seen them hide) to move along her merry way.

The creature did exactly as he predicted. When she reared the same corner she lost sight of them. She abruptly stopped in her tracks and looked around with enraged eyes. She stomped the ground out of frustration before letting out one more beam of demonic green energy which cut a large crack through the adjacent cliff face to them. Moments of intense silence passed. Moonshy didn’t know what was going on.

What is she doing? He thought. She’s just… standing there, what’s she planning? The creature paced around the ravine. Clop, clop, clop… cla-clop her hoof steps drew closer. Soon… very soon, she would be on top of them, and at that point there would be no hope for either of them.  Their demise seemed imminent. Moonshy could feel Applejack tensing, getting ready to bolt yet again, a mistake indeed if that were to happen. Moonshy tightened his grasp on her anatomy. Death was almost upon them both now, but still he sat. Clinging to the fading hope that this creature would overlook them and fly away like the last one did.

She laughed. To Moonshy’s utter surprise she laughed. Her wicked cackle echoing many times over as it ricocheted off the unending walls of the jagged ravine. It sent a shiver down his spine, petrifying him for a brief moment as the sound her chitin wigs fluttered away. The laugh turned into a bloodcurdling screech and it soon became apparent that she was calling something. The sounds of a swarm of cicada... no…more of those creatures, fallowed soon after. The sky grew dark with their shadow. The she-creature, cackled once more as the swarm fallowed her every move.

“Oh Applejack!” She extended the last part of Applejack’s name in a disturbing manor. “Sense you won’t come out… I hope you don’t mind me destroying your friends!”

Applejack began to struggle even more but Moonshy couldn’t let her go. If he did, that creature up there would kill her. What then? (He knew the importance of the elements of harmony… if Apple jack died, the rest would be useless.) The other ponies would have no way of stopping her. He held on to her with all the strength he had left but Applejack was strong. She broke free right as the last of the creatures evacuated the ravine. She ran to the end and stared up. Moonshy caught mixed feelings coming from off of Applejack. Concern, anger, sadness, bravery… but most predominantly… fear, fear that she would never see the happy faces of her friends again.