My Little Pony: Morphing is Magic

Chapter 29

Author's Note: Written by Samaru163 and Tricondon.

Chapter 29

Marco

I had to stop myself from swearing at the ponies below as they nervously trotted up the rocky mountain path. The jittery things pretty well had to be ordered into the forest by Jake - fortunately, his perceived royalty helped in that regard - not that I blame them for their hesitation. I mean, I go into dangerous and suicidal situations on an hourly basis, and even I’m still not as used to it as the others are.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” a green maned mare called.

I replied.

“What if we went around the mountain?” a brown stallion asked. “It’d be easier, don’t you think?”

“Why’d she say that?” he asked with a highly inquisitive look.

“We’re going to the old castle ruins?!” Panicked and fearful looks spread across the faces of everyone. “Isn’t that where Nightmare Moon first attacked?”

“I heard the Changelings took over the castle after Celestia abandoned it!”

“How do you know a Manticore hasn’t moved in? We could be walking into a trap!”

I said in my most reassuring tone.

“How do you know it’s really Twilight?” someone from the back asked. “Those Changelings just ran in! Maybe Twilight’s a Changeling!”

I mentally breathed a sigh of relief as the ponies calmed down a little.

The ponies began walking again, though far more nervously than the situation called for. To be fair, in my group we only had two Pegasi and one of those was a foal. It weirded me out that they put their young in diapers just like humans do, though I was far more interested in how they did it without hands.

It wasn’t too long until we reached the bridge, though that was being very generous. It was little more than a few planks of wood held up by two thin ropes and I seriously doubted it would hold. Still, Twilight seemed to know what she was doing.

Quickly we crossed over and beheld the crumbling ruins of what once looked like a large and well-built castle. The entire ceiling had collapsed away, so I got a pretty good look at the interior. Quite a few ponies were gathered around in the central chamber, some just sitting around and others observing the architecture. It was a bit tricky to figure out whether they were Changelings or Yeerks. That is, until I spotted the bald eagle and peregrine falcon perched on a large pedestal in the middle of the room.

Rachel said, happily tilting her head in my direction.

I responded slyly. Quickly I descended and landed next to the two of them.

Jake said.

I asked casually.

Jake continued off of my first statement.

I said dryly. I turned to look back to the gaping hole above us and quickly spotted a northern harrier coming this way.

Ax asked.

Jake responded. A few minutes later we had five more ponies join our hidden hideout, Twilight among them. She still seemed depressed, but at least she was walking with purpose again, rather than dragging her hooves like she was when she’d left.

Ax landed next to me and I watched as the new group was welcomed in, but after a brief greeting the room fell deathly silent again.

I said.

Rachel reasoned. Craning her head, she called out

Twilight slowly walked towards us, seemingly focusing on nothing. She sat beneath us and wearily looked up. “Yes?”

Jake said slowly.

“Well...further in there’s a room that’s in much better condition than this. We could easily fit everypony there until we return.”

Jake turned to look at us. With that said Twilight began walking to an archway at the other end of the ruins, and the three of us flew after her.

Twilight led us to a nearby building a short distance away and headed inside. I took a quick flight around, but didn’t notice any caved in ceilings or fallen walls. Besides a few broken windows the thing looked like it would provide ample shelter. Satisfied with my observations I flew in through one of the holes and rejoined the others.

I told Twilight. She didn’t seem to take heed of my remark, though, instead looking around like how I’ve seen Jake and the others look whenever we’re at the construction site.

“Yeah, just never thought I’d come back here,” she said softly. “This was where me and my friends took possession of the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare Moon.”

I asked, bewildered. Twilight stared at me as if I was, well, an alien.

“The Elements of Harmony. Certainly you’ve heard of them.”

“My friends and I fought Nightmare Moon after her escape from her lunar prison a few years ago here, in this very room. We used the Elements of Harmony, purified her heart and restored Princess Luna to her normal self.” Twilight seemed to cheer up a little as she recounted her tale.

Rachel protested,

Before Twilight could respond there was a loud crash which was soon followed by shattering glass meeting stone. I spun my head in the direction of the noise and spotted the same grey pegasus with the blond mane from earlier clumsily looking over the damage she’d done to the nearest window.

“Sorry,” she said with an apologetic look. “I didn’t mean to.”

We all just stared at her incredulously. “Ditzy, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked, somewhat annoyed. Just then Ax came flying in through the hole she made.

“Aw, but I wanna see the Prince again.”

Ditzy nodded happily and began flying with ax out the window. Just as her front hooves were about to pass through the glass, she squinted her eyes closed and tried to cover her face. “Ah, my eyes!”

The Pegasus began flying erratically - and considering what I’d seen so far, that’s saying something. It didn’t take long for her to to spiral towards one of the pillars near the windows and collide head first with it. I winced, but she didn’t seem injured by it in the slightest. Ditzy shook her head and flew back a bit, smiling. No sooner had she moved away, though, when a giant CRACK split the air. I watched in horror as the pillar fractured, a large gap shooting straight up the shaft. Twilight gave a shriek as she dove out of the way moments before the entire thing pitched forward, slamming into the ground with enough force to break the floor, sending fragments of stone and mortar shooting across the room.

Ditzy opened her eyes again and turned to us all with a sorrowful look. “...oops. My bad.”

<...man, that pegasus is a flying disaster waiting to happen,> Rachel whispered.

I dryly whispered back.

“Prince Jake, look at this!” Twilight called excitedly. Curious, I shifted my head and noticed a massive gaping hole in the ground where the pillar had fallen. The sides of the hole weren’t rough or damaged, but smooth and placed evenly together. Aside from that, there was nothing else that could be made out due to the thick veil of darkness coming from it.

Rachel asked excitedly.

“I’m not sure, I didn’t even know this room had any secret passages,” Twilight thought for a moment before continuing. “Here, let me see,” Her horn quickly illuminated itself with magic, which then broke off at the tip to form a small sphere. Using her horn as a guide she lowered the orb into the hole, which immediately began to lighten

Ax asked in disbelief.

“Yep, it’s a pretty basic spell, but it works for this situation.”

“Woo, go Twilight!” Ditzy cheered.

Jake said while flying down and landing near the tunnel entrance. Once Ax and Ditzy were gone he began to demorph. He cut off suddenly as his beak melded back into his face and a mouth formed. “I’m not going down there alone.”

I asked jokingly.

“Just for that, you get to go in first,” Jake said with a sly smile. Both me and Rachel complied and demorphed as well. “Good. Now morph bat.”

I flashed him a contentful smile before we all began morphing. It didn’t take long for the three of us to soon be flapping around on leathery wings and diving down into the dimly lit hole. Once inside I fired several high frequency clicks and listened to the echoes that bounced off of every object they could touch. With those I made a mental image of the area around me, particularly of one object directly in front of me.

Rachel replied.

Jake said slowly.

I heard Jake’s wings flapping to my left. A few moments later he came back, Twilight’s little orb following after. It carefully made its way through the darkness, eventually coming to a stop at the base of the object, and immediately I caught notice of one defining feature. I was looking at what looked like a massive rudder.

Rachel said in disbelief.

I replied, equally amazed.

Jake said with finality.
Next Chapter