Chapters Rarity ditched her gown and galloped out the door in front of Twilight, who started to canter out after them when the door slammed shut with green magic.
Twilight turned to face the Changeling queen who stood behind her.
"You really are an interesting pony aren't you?" Her voice warbled, sounding like there was two of her speaking in sync. She trotted towards Twilight, a green flame roiling over her body as she shapeshifted into a perfect mimicry of Princess Celestia. "Obviously or you wouldn't have perked my interest."
Twilight tried to back up but found her haunches pressed against the door. A sound proof bubble quickly forming around the pair.
"Why are you so scared Twilight Sparkle?" The changeling queen asked with Celestia's voice. A quick flash of green swept across her pink eyes.
Twilight's pupils shrank as she began to trot forward.
"That's it. No reason to be scared." She cooed as she turned the bubble around them opaque. "I'll keep you safe."
Twilight stood on her hind legs upon reaching 'Celestia' and hugged her.
The fake sun princess smiled and wrapped her wings around the unicorn, her horn glowing a bright green.
Applejack slammed her hindlegs into the door again,trying to get the door to open. "Come. On. You. Dang. Door!" she punctuated each word with another kick.
"That's not going to work Applejack." Pinkie bounced in place.
"Pinkie's right dear." Rarity chimed in. "That door is locked magically, and a powerful magic it is indeed."
"So what do we do?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We can't just leave her in there."
"Now now Rainbow. Twi's a smart filly. Ah'm sure if things get out of control she'll teleport out of there." Applejack assured the pegasus.
"You better be right." Rainbow Dash grumped before racing off ahead of the others.
The quintet reached the tower that the elements of Harmony were kept in and breathed several sighs of relief.
"All the way here and not a single Changelin' seen. Now that's some good luck." Applejack smiled.
"Twilight must be giving them one hay of a beating wherever she ended up." Rainbow smirked.
All of a sudden Pinkie started shuddering, slowing down until she was bouncing up and down like a pink jackhammer. "U-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h."
Fluttershy eeped. "A d-d-doozy?"
"And knowin' Twi's luck."
Pinkie raised one of her hooves and pointed at the tower they were headed towards before falling flat on her belly, still bouncing in place.
A light blue magical aura surrounded the shuddering pink pony and lifted her off the ground. "Well we have a direction, shall we go save our friend?" Rarity asked.
Four other ponies nodded and galloped forward, or tried to in Pinkie's case.
"This is so.... spooky." Fluttershy remarked as the quintet made their way through the seemingly abandoned capital city of Equestria. "There's no ponies or animals anywhere."
"Shouldn't those Changelin's be flitting through town chasin' us down right about now?" Applejack asked. "Ah ain't complainin' that they ain't. Ah'm just sayin'... seems awfully suspicious."
"I couldn't agree with you more AJ." Rainbow said as she swooped in low. "the rest of the city is overrun, but this path? Devoid of any Changelings. Even the tower entrance is clear."
"It's obviously a trap then." Rarity summised.
"But do we have a choice?" Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie shook her head as she rode along in Rarity's magic. "Not if we want to help Twilight."
"Well then get ready everypony!" Applejack yelled as she skidded to turn around and bucked the doors to the tower, slamming them open.
Four sets of eyes went wide, lining the carpet down the middle was a veritable army of Changelings, all chittering and buzzing their wings.
All at once they turned to look at the newcomers before standing to attention.
The five ponies looked at each other and shrugged, following the Changeling all the way up the tower,to the hallway that held the vault that held the elements.
Standing in front of the vault was a Changeling, but one that looked slightly different,
"That's far enough welp. You may leave me and my friends to talk." The odd changeling said.
The Changeling bowed and flew out.
"So glad of you all to join me." the Changeling said, a slightly jovial tone in her voice. "I was wondering if you'd come at all."
Rainbow Dash flew over to the Changeling, smacking her head against a barrier right behind the insectoid equine. "Well we were coming here anyway. I see you decided to lay a trap."
The Changeling chuckled and turned to face the quintet, a purple flame roiling over her black hide, melting it away to reveal a ruined midnight blue and deep purple striped tail, dark lavender. A spiky carapace with purple translucent bat wings poking out from under it. A ruined mane, of the same colours as the tail revealed itself along with a pockmarked horn.
Her eyes turned from the insectoid compound eyes into a pair of pure purple eyes, her fanged mouth curling into a smile.
Twilight trotted around her library restocking the shelves, humming to herself.
"Should you really be out of your room without changing youself to look normal Twilight?" Spike asked as he restocked the lower shelves, glancing at his caregiver.
"Well as long as no pony barges in unannounced it should be fine. And I'm more comfortable like this." the Changeling stated. "Holding up a disguise is still a bit of a struggle."
Spike shrugged. "I'm not complaining. I can tell it's you, it's just that the rest of Ponyville is still a little paranoid." He pointed out. "How's the mental link?"
"Still blocked. I'm not hearing anything from the queen or the rest of the swarm." Twilight smiled. "And Celestia doesn't mind that I've been turned."
"And it gives you some new magic to study." Pinkie pointed out from the shelf.
"That's another goo-ah!" Twilight shouted before falling flat on her back from the surprise. "Pinkie? How did you get in here? How did you get into the shelf? How are you fitting between two books that are less than twenty centimeters apart?"
Pinkie shrugged and pulled herself out from between the books without disturbing them. "I dunno. Rule of funny?"
"What?"
"Nothing."
Twilight blinked as she used her wings to right herself. "Is there any reason you never seem to use the door to come in?"
"See above answer."
Spike blinked and tilted his head. "I'm confused."
Pinkie giggled. "Join the club."
"You confuse yourself?"
"Nope. Rainbow Dash started a 'Confused by Pinkie Pie club.' last week."
Twilight was back on her hooves and casting her disguise spell to make herself look normal again when Pinkie turned her attention back to her. "But I came here because Mayor Rose stopped me and told me she's setting up a town meeting to get the ponies to learn how to spot a Changeling and i thought 'Hey Twilight's a changeling now, she'd know how to see through their disguises.' So I told the Mayor that I'd ask you to speak and teach the others how to see through Changeling disguises."
Twilight stared, forgetting about setting up her disguise. "You what?!?"
Pinkie giggled. "Relax Twilight. I never said you were a Changeling. Just that you knew the most about them."
This caused the changeling to relax somewhat. "Good. I don't want to be run out of town by torches and pitchforks."
"Oh Twilight." Pinkie giggled. "They'd never use torches and pitchforks, they'd pelt you with books."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Because that's so much better."
"That's the spirit!" Pinkie continued obliviously. "The meeting is tonight at eight-thirty." She announced before diving back between the books and disappearing.
"Wait! How..."
Before she could ask the sound of hooves knocking on her door drew her attention.
"Who is it?" Twilight asked.
"Vanilla Rose, Mayor of Ponyville." The elderly mare's voice rang out. "Pinkie just told me you'd be willing to do the presentation at the meeting tonight."
"But...." Twilight shook her head. "I'll be right there!" She called back as she triggered her disguise spell again, managing to finish it this time.
When she opened the door she looked everybit the normal unicorn mare she was a little over a month ago.
"Ah. There you are. I hate to spring this on you on such short notice but I hope you have something in mind." Mayor Rose half asked.
"I'll think of something." Twilight assured her. "Even if I have to improvise."
"Well I hope you come up with something, even if it's a lie. I don't care as long as the town calms down and we can open trade routes again." Mayor Rose sighed. "Our economy is going downhill."
"I've seen the reports. Exports from Ponyville are all being funneled through Rarity's boutique, selling her rejected gems to who knows where." Twilight recounted. "While imported goods stocks are drying up so fast not even Pinkie Pie could laugh at them."
"Yes I could!" Pinkie yelled from... somewhere.
"Exactly. Ponyville's life blood is it's close proximity to Canterlot as an Inn town and the fact that goods to and from Canterlot have to pass through here." Mayor Rose explained. "So if this doesn't work, we might have to ask the Princess for a stimulus package."
Twilight gulped as she stood infront of the entire town in the town hall.
The crowd fell silent and turned to look at her which made her shiver slightly, her disguise flickered again.
"Thank you everypony. Now. I'm sure Mayor Rose told you all why she called this meeting, but just in case she didn't." Twilight magically pulled a dropchord and let a screen unfold behind her, the lights dimming as Spike started up a slide viewer.
"We're here because I'm going to teach you all how to identify a disguised Changeling." She stated.
The crowd of townsponies started talking amongst themselves again.
"We'll be able to sleep easy knowing none of those dirty Changelings are stealing our love."
"Our foals aren't at danger of being abducted and replaced."
Twilight bit her lip and tapped the microphone to garner everyponies attention again. "The first sign is pretty simple. I'm going to ask for a volunteer to assist me."
She waited for a few minutes for anypony to volunteer. More than a few she noticed were looking around nervously."Hmm.... worried about being surrounded by Changelings... same... same... same...sa-Ah hah."
Twilight pointed at the pony in question. A blue stallion with a musical note cutie mark. "Blues. Can you come up here please."
Blues looked about nervously and slowly trotted up to the stage, taking his place across from her.
"Now then. Blues is going to help me show the signs that a pony is a Changeling in disguise." Twilight stated as her horn lit up. "First sign. Watch their eyes. If they are a Changeling their eyes will flash green when put under scrutiny. Like so."
Blues eyes were shifting back and forth when they suddenly flashed green from Twilight's magic.
Everypony talked between one another for a few seconds again.
"Now I know what you're all thinking." Twilight announced. "What about if somepony has naturally green eyes?"
Twilight continued her exposition, occasionally calling up other ponies to show off alternative methods.
"And now. I'm going to teach you all a spell to peel away a Changeling's disguise. Now for this demonstration I have cast a multilevel illusion over Blues. This spell will peel away one level of the illusion to show off the fake Changeling skin I placed over him." Twilight explained as her horn started glowing purple. "Are you ready Blues?"
Blues shook his head.
"I understand you're nervous Blues, after all you've been my assistant through out this entire presentation. But please. It's just this last demonstration and then we're done."
Blues just stood there, shaking like a leaf.
"Now I'll just..."
Twilight never got to finish before Blues bowled her over and tore out the door causing Twilight to lose focus on the spells she had active.
Spike quickly ran over and helped her up. "Are you okay Twi?"
Twilight rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah. I'm fine. But that spot on my head is going to be so bruised after today."
"Uhh... yeah. Maybe we should get out of here."
"Why?" Twilight chuckled. "I'm a little sore but it's...not... like..." Twilight trailed off as she studied her foreleg, spotting a shocked town staring at her through the hole in her foreleg.
"Changeling!" Somepony screamed before the entire town rushed towards the pair.
The citizens of Ponyville all gathered back in the town square after their quarry had disappeared and talked amongst eachother.
"Did anypony get her?"
"Where did she go?"
"She just vanished into thin air."
"She could be disguised and among us right now."
"I doubt it, she was probably just a scout."
"But what happened to the real Twilight Sparkle?"
The crowd parted as somepony pushed their way through the masses, shoving a little purple and green figure to the ground in the middle of the town.
"Oof. Watch the scales would you? I just polished them, last night." Spike complained as he lifted himself up and dusted his legs off. "I would have followed you if you'd asked."
"It's the dragon!"
"Somepony grab him so he doesn't run off!"
As the crowd moved in, a small purple dome surrounded him as a blue unicorn trotted forward and looked over the crowd.
"I found this one trying to make a break toward the library." The mare announced as she scanned her purple eyes across the crowd. "What say you fellow Ponyvillians? Shall we let him go, or see if he's been indoctrinated by the Changeling?"
The towns ponies fell silent.
"If we let him go, he may be able to help us find our missing librarian." She stated.
The crowd nodded and murmured in agreement.
"But wait. If he is indoctrinated, he'll lead us into a trap!" Somepony added in.
The townsponies all glanced at the dragon and murmured amongst eachother.,
"You have thirty seconds to come to an agreement before I let him go." The mare added.
"Well we need his help..."
"4"
"No way, we can't be sure he wasn't brainwashed."
"3"
"Well. We could just use the methods the changeling showed us."
"2"
"No way, we can't be sure if they were even legit."
"1"
"Dammit."'
"Time is up." The mare announced before teleporting the dragon away, folllowing suit shortly after.
The dragon and mare reappeared at Sweet Apple Acres and smiled.
"I can't believe they forgot what Trixie looked like already." Spikes said disbelievingly.
"Ah can't believe you actually agreed to do that meetin' " Applejack fixed the changeling with a hard stare.
Spike stood infront of Twilight. "Don't blame her, Pinkie sprung it on her and never gave her a chance to say no."
Applejack made a face. "That Pinkie. Ah'll have a word with her later." Her expression softened. "Feel free to stay the night Twi. You can head back to the library once things have calmed down."
"Thank you Applejack," Twilight sighed with relief. "Stupid Blues."
"What did mah farmhoof do?" Applejack asked.
Spike folded his arms and glowered. "She had him up to act as her assistant throughout the meeting, at the end he pushed her to the ground and bolted out the door."
"I lost my concentration and my disguise fell away." Twilight hung her head. "I really need to get around to enchanting something so that I can just put it on and it will automatically disguise me."
"Ah'm sure Rarity could give you a necklace or somethin' you could use." Applejack suggested.
Twilight smiled and nodded.
"We'll also need to make it look like you were captured and tied up in a closet or something." Spike added.
Applejack chuckled. "Maybe get that enchanted necklace first sugahcube."
Twilight nodded. "I was thinking the exact same thing."
"Now come along you two. We have a spare room in the attic that y'all can use." Applejack ordered before she started trotting towards her house.
The clock downstairs struck midnight, chiming twelve times to let everypony in the house know the time. Or it would have had everypony not been asleep.
In the attic of the Apple family house, two guests lay on a bed of hay.
Spike the dragon was sound asleep, twitching occasionaly in his sleep.
Twilight Sparkle, however, was tossing and turning.
"We found her!"
"Someone get the queen!"
"We will have you back amongst us!"
Thousands of voices were were chittering away inside her head before they all stopped to perform the next line in unison.
"For the swarm!"
Twilight's eyes shot open as she sat up, her wings buzzing loudly.
"About time you woke up Twilight. It's 10 am." Spike said as he munched on a piece of toast from the doorway. "Hey. Are you okay?" he asked a he noted the changeling's shallow breathing and fearful look.
"No... I mean yes. Yes Spike, I'm fine." She lied.
"Are you sure? Your eyes are green."
"What?"
"Your eyes, they're glowing green."
Twilight rushed to the mirror that was hanging on the wall and looked into it. Sure enough her eyes were pulsing a bright green.
"Oh no. No no nonono! We have to go! Now!" She panicked.
"Whoa. Twilight! Calm down!" Spike half shouted. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure." Twilight said as she paced. "But I heard them last night."
"Them?"
"Them! The others. The swarm!"
"They found a way to contact you?"
"I'm not sure. Unless the blow to the head messed up the blocking spell I set in place."
Before Spike could respond there was a series of knocking sounds on the door to the attic. "Twilight. Sugahcube? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Applejack." Twilight lied. "I'll be right down."
"Okay sugahcube." Applejack's voice answered before the sounds of hoofsteps heading downstairs trailed off.
"Spike.We're leaving. Now." Twilight ordered.
"Should I go tell.."
"NO! I'll teleport us both out, then we're heading back to the library to get Owlowicious and Pee-wee. After that we're heading to Canterlot." Twilight plotted.
"You think the city guards are going to let you in?"
"They will. Princess Celestia updated the guards on my new appearance, so I'm to be let in as long as i'm not disguised as my old self."
"And if we get ambushed by the Changelings on the way to Canterlot?"
"We won't."
Spike looked skeptical. "How do you know that?"
Twilight smirked, showing off her fangs in the process. "Because you, Owlowicious and Pee-wee are going to take the balloon to Canterlot. I'll trot the path alone."
"What? Twilight no! You can't..." Before the young dragon could finish, a flash of purple flame erupted from around them and they vanished.
Outside the attic door, a charcoal black equine figure chuckled with Applejack's voice, an emerald green flame erupting from around it's body, fading away to reveal the farm pony underneath. "Ah love it when the prey is easy to fool."
Twilight was exhausted when she finally reached the city limits to Canterlot, the trip had been long but uneventful, which she was grateful for.
Twilight allowed herself a fanged smile and trotted forward to the pair of guards at the city gates.
"Halt!"
"Who goes there?"
"Twilight Sparkle, student and niece of Princess Celestia, younger sister of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and wielder of the Element of Magic, captured during the siege of Canterlot and turned into a Changeling, briefly brainwashed, since deprogrammed and still loyal to the diarchy of Equestria."
The younger guard stood there stunned,jaw agape as he struggled to process all the information.
The older guard simply rolled his eyes and cast an identification spell over the purple Changeling before him.
"With any luck, not this time. I've simply come to warn the Princess's of a possible impending Changeling invasion upon a town bordering Canterlot, please alert my brother and have him sent out to escort me around the castle. I do wish to brief him on what he may be up against." She ordered as she trotted through the gates.
"Right away Lady Sparkle." The guard acknowledged before he trotted to a radio linked to the guards barracks. "Captain Armor, Captain Armor. Please report to the city gates to escort a ViP to the castle."
The response was nearly instantaneous. "This had better be something more than just a visiting celebrity this time." the voice sighed. "I'm getting kind of annoyed being dragged away from my wife all the time when I'm supposed to be off duty."
"Apologies sir but this ViP asked specifically for you."
"I'll be there in about five minutes."
True to his word, Captain Shining Armor was at the gate 5 minutes later. "Alright. Where is this so called ViP?"
"Waiting just over there sir." The rookie pointed to the insectoid equine sitting on the bench waiting.
"You let a Changeling into Canterlot?" Shining Armor asked, stunned disbelief creeping into his voice. "I thought the Princess's orders were clear!"
"And I though my older brother was a kinder superior to his troops." Twilight said as she stepped into the light to show off her purple chitin.
"Twily? Oh Twily it's you!" Shining Armor exclaimed as he galloped over and hugged his little sister. "Ugh... it feels weird hugging you now. Can't you shapeshift into what you used to look like?"
