Night of Nightmares

by Berry Delight

Rating: teen
Tags: Mystery, Spike, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Drama
Length: 5866

A mysterious spell causes the mane six to slowly transform into monsters at night. Can they find a way to undo it before it becomes permanent?

A mysterious spell causes the mane six to slowly transform into monsters at night. Can they find a way to undo it before it becomes permanent?

Published 2016-07-28 04:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-09-12 09:04:24 UTC

Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins

It was a crisp, cool autumn afternoon, but the slight chill didn't stop five certain ponies from setting up for their picnic. It was late October, and the ponies had planned to meet for lunch and make plans for Nightmare Night, which was less than a week away. That was why they were all meeting by the meadow near Fluttershy's house.

"Didja remember the plates this time, Rarity?" Applejack asked with a smirk.

"Ha ha," Rarity said sarcastically. "As a matter of fact I did."

"Great!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Now all we need is the sandwiches!"

"Wasn't Twilight bringing those? Where is she anyway?" Rainbow asked impatiently.

"I'm here! I'm here!" called a familiar voice, slightly out of breath. Moments later, the purple alicorn appeared, carrying a picnic basket in her magic, her dragon assistant Spike close behind. "Sorry we're late girls! I got a bit, err... distracted with this book I was reading," she said with an embarrassed smile.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, but the rest of her friends smiled knowingly. They all knew it was hard to pull the bookworm away from her reading once she got started.

"No worries sugarcube, we ain't been waitin' that long." The orange earth pony patted a spot on the blanket next to her. "Why don't ya'll come and take a seat, and we'll get this started?"

"Finally!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I'm starving!"

Everypony took their spots on the checkered blanket as Twilight set down the basket and began passing out the sandwiches. The ponies and dragon began to eat their lunch, sharing stories and jokes. Amidst the laughter, however, they failed to notice the mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of the trees at the edge of the forest, watching them carefully.

"Laugh while you can, little Twilight. It won't last much longer...."

The next morning....

"Twilight! Breakfast!" Spike called from the kitchen, where he was making pancakes. He was surprised she wasn't up yet; she always liked to keep to a strict schedule, and was often up before him.

He heard a loud moan, and looked up from the table he had been setting. "Woah," he said, seeing the purple pony leaning in the doorway. "You don't look so good."

It was true; her mane and tail were tangled, and there were bags under her eyes. She moaned again. "Gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean," Spike said. "Didn't you sleep? Or were you up all night reading again?"

"No, I actually went to bed early," Twilight said. "I just couldn't get comfortable; and my wings have just been so... ugh, itchy!" With a grunt of frustration, she stretched them out, trying to get some relief. She sighed, and walked towards the table. She was about to sit when she noticed Spike staring at her, jaw dropped. "What?" she asked. "Is there something on my face?"

Spike could only point behind her. Confused, she turned, but didn't see anything. That is, until she got a glimpse of her still outstretched wings. "What the- GAHHH!" she screamed. She stared in horror at her wings; for while they had once been regular, feathery Pegasus wings, they now had the appearance of... a batpony's?

She slowly reached a hoof out to touch one. Indeed, it definitely felt like a bat wing. She screamed and jumped back, then ran to the other side of the room, as if trying to run away from them,

"What the HAY happened to my WINGS?!"

If Spike wasn't so freaked out, he probably would have laughed at the scene, watching her dart from one end of the room to the other. "How should I know?" he called.

Twilight finally stopped running and took a deep breath. "This doesn't make any sense," she muttered. "I haven't seen anything like this since, well... the poison joke incident!"

"Well we were near the Everfree Forest yesterday, but I don't remember seeing any blue flowers," Spike said thoughtfully. "Not to mention you guys've been extra careful around there since then." He held back a giggle at the memory of Twilight's spotted, floppy horn.

"I've got to figure out a way to fix this!" Twilight dashed towards the stairs leading down to the main floor of the library, her breakfast forgotten. Spike sighed, reluctantly following her, clutching two breakfast trays in either claw. He knew if he wasn't there to remind her to eat, Twilight would get lost in her books and forget the rest of the world.

Down on the main floor, Spike found Twilight already frantically scanning the shelves, pulling off any book that looked slightly useful, and making a stack on the floor next to her. Just as he set the trays down on the small table in the middle of the room, there was a loud, panicked knock at the door.

"Oh no!" Twilight cried. "I can't let anypony see me like this!"

"Relax, I'll get rid of 'em," Spike told her. That didn't stop Twilight from hurriedly levitating all the books she'd pulled and scampering into the next room out of sight.

The knocking came again, louder this time. Spike ran to the door and opened it; however, once he did, he found no one there.

"Huh? Weird, I guess they must've left," he muttered to himself. He moved to close the door when he heard a "Pssssst!"

His head shot up and he looked around, still not seeing anyone. "Psssssssssssst!" came the sound again. It seemed to be coming from the right, but all that was there was a bush. Just a regular, perfectly normal bush with.... something pink and poofy sticking out of the top?

"Pinkie Pie? Is that you?"

A pair of blue eyes appeared. "Sssshhhh! You'll blow my cover!"

"Your what? Pinkie, why are you-"

"Sshh!" she cut him off again.

"Ugh, just come in then," he grunted. He opened the door wider as the 'bush' scooted past him into the room. Once he closed the door, Pinkie poked her head out.

"Phew! Thanks, it was getting kinda cramped in there," she said, standing, though only her head and neck were visible now.

"Pinkie! Get out of the bush! You're getting leaves all over the floor; you know who's gonna have to clean that? Me, that's who." Spike frowned.

"Sorry Spike, but I need to speak to Twilight right away!" Pinkie said, remaining in the bush.

"Oh, err..." Spike glanced at the doorway of the other room where Twilight was hiding. "She's kinda, um, busy."

"Please? It's super-duper important!"

"Fine, I'll ask. Just wait here and try not to make a mess."

He walked to the other room, with one last glance at Pinkie to make sure she was staying put.

"Twilight?"

"Who was it? What did they want? Are they gone?" Twilight demanded, her face inches from his.

"Whoa, slow down," he said, gently pushing her muzzle away. "It's Pinkie, she wants to speak to you, and she's waiting out there," he answered.

"Did you tell her-"

"Yes, I told her you were busy, but she insisted. Just... hide your wings or something," he suggested. "I'm sure it'll be quick."

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed, folding her wings tightly to her sides. Unless you got really close, you could barely tell her wings were different now that they were closed.

Walking into the other room, the first thing Twilight said was, "Hey Pink- why are you in a bush?"

"I had to find a way over here without anypony seeing me," she replied, as if it were obvious.

"But you're getting leaves all over the floor! Spike, can you clean that up?"

"I knew you'd say that," he muttered as he went to get the broom. "It's not like one of us has magic that would make it much easier to take care of!"

"So, Pinkie," Twilight said, turning back to her friend, "why exactly is nopony supposed to see you?"

"Well...." Pinkie's eyes darted around the room, as if making sure no one was listening in. "When I woke up this morning, something strange happened."

"S-strange?" Twilight asked. "What kind of... strange?"

"This kind of strange!" Pinkie finally stepped out of the bush. Twilight's jaw fell open, and Spike, who had been sweeping, dropped his broom in shock.

Pinkie had holes in her legs.

Pinkie had holes in her legs!

"W-what the... how the... Huh?!" Twilight stuttered.

"Pinkie Pie, you.... you look like a changeling!" Spike exclaimed. "A really pink changeling!"

'Changeling.' Twilight narrowed her eyes, lighting her horn, ready to fire at a moments notice.

"I know, but it's really me!"

Twilight knew it was unlikely that this really was a changeling; it didn't make sense for it to reveal itself like this. But after what happened in Canterlot, she wasn't taking any chances. "Prove it. Do something... Pinkie-ish."

The pink pony shrugged, turning to the bush and pulling out her party cannon. She hit a button and it fired, shooting out confetti.

"Oh, COME ON!" Spike yelled. "I just finished sweeping!"

Pinkie turned to Twilight. "Good enough?"

Twilight nodded. Only Pinkie Pie could lug around a party cannon in a bush barely big enough to hide a pony. "Yes, I believe you. But that brings us to the question: why do you look like a changeling?"

The earth pony shrugged again. "I dunno. At first, I thought I was just having the dream where I turn into a pony made of Swiss Cheese and then get chased by an angry platter of crackers again. But when I tried to get a head start on running and tripped on the stairs, I realized I was definitely awake."

Both Twilight and Spike looked at her for a moment, neither knowing how to react. Finally, Spike snapped out of it and said, "Twilight, isn't this sounding familiar to you? Waking up to something strange?"

The alicorn gasped. "Oh my gosh, you're right!"

"Oh oh oh! Did you fall down the stairs too?" Pinkie asked.

"Err... no. Look Pinkie, you have to promise me you won't tell this to anypony, okay?"

"Of course! Pinkie Promise!"

"When I woke up, I found this." She unfolded her wings to show her.

Pinkie gasped loudly. "Wowza! Are those.... bat wings?"

"So it would seem." Twilight nodded. "I don't know how this happened; but now to find you also woke up to an... unusual surprise? This doesn't seem like a coincidence." She gasped. "We need to check on the others, now! If it happened to us, chances are something happened to them too!"

"Alright," Pinkie said, "but we're gonna need a bigger bush."

"Uh, I think we'll just walk."

"Eh, suit yourselves." She dove back down into her leafy hiding place and scooted once more towards the door, which Twilight quickly opened with her magic before the silly pony ran into it.

The three friends headed off to Carousel boutique, since it was closest, and since it was more than likely if Rarity had woken up in a state in any way similar to theirs, the unicorn would've had one of her famous fainting spells.

Once they reached the door to the shop, they saw the 'Closed' sign was still there. Twilight knocked on the door, uncertain if they'd get a reply if the pony had indeed passed out.

"Rarity, are you there? It's Twilight, Spike and Pinkie!"

However, to their surprise, a familiar voice called, "Come in, darlings!"

Twilight turned to Pinkie. "You'd better come out of the bush. I don't think Rarity'd appreciate you bringing "nature" into her shop."

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" a cheery voice replied, before a pink blur raced into the boutique.

Once inside, they looked around to find the main room of the shop empty, besides for racks of clothes and ponyquins.

"Rarity? Spike called worriedly.

"Sorry to keep you, darlings," said the unicorn, trotting out of her kitchen. "So, what brings you to my shop this morn-ahh!" Rarity jumped back. "Pinkie, dear, whatever has happened to your legs?" She frowned. "Is this another one of your little jokes?"

"Unfortunately, no," Twilight said, showing her wings. "We both woke up to discover this. That's why we're here; to see if anything happened to you..... though, it doesn't look like it has." Twilight carefully looked her over, but she looked the same as ever: same white coat, perfectly curled purple mane, and sapphire eyes. Nothing appeared unusual at all.

"Well, certainly nothing like yours, no; however, I did wake up to a little surprise." Rarity turned to show them that she, too, now had wings! Hers were not pony-like either; instead of matching her coat, their color was light pink, and instead of feathery, they appeared transculent, thin and delicate, almost like that of a butterfly.

"Aren't they fabulous?" Rarity said, admiring them in one of the boutique's mirrors.

"They're... very nice, yes, but.... it didn't bother you at all that you woke up having them?!" Twilight asked unbelievingly.

"Well, I suppose it was a little odd..." she began.

"A little?" Twilight said flatly.

"But just look at them! What could possibly be bad about something so lovely?" She sighed dreamily and turned back to them. "And you know what they say: Never look a gift pony in the mouth!"

Twilight sighed and rubbed her head with a hoof. "Rarity, this isn't natural. Something's going on here and we need to stop it! Besides," she continued, "do you remember what happened the last time you had wings?"

Rarity bit her lip and avoided their gazes. "Well, yes, but.... That doesn't mean this will be... I mean.... Who's to say..... that is.... Oh, fine!" she sighed in defeat. "So, how exactly are we supposed to stop this, when we don't know what 'this' is?"

"I don't know, but-"

Twilight was cut off by the boutique door opening and slamming shut. They looked to find Rainbow in a panicked state, covering her ears with her hooves.

"Rarity," she pleaded, "ya gotta help me, fast!" The pegasus looked around the room, noticing the others there for the first time. "Oh, uh, hi... you guys," she said nervously.

"Rainbow Dash, how many times must I tell you not to slam my door?"

"I know, I know, but this is an emergency!" She uncovered her ears, and everyone gasped upon seeing they were now made of wood! There were even leafy tufts at the tips.

"Sweet Celestia, you look just like-"

It was Rarity's turn to get cut off by somepony running into the shop door. "Ouch! Consarnit Rainbow, ya were supposed to wait fer me!"

Twilight opened the door for the earth pony farmer and they all stepped aside to make room for her. Applejack slowly stepped into the room, feeling around carefully with each hoof before taking a step.

"Uh, AJ?" Spike spoke up for the first time in a while. "Why're your eyes closed?"

She sighed. "Cuz of this." She opened her eyes to reveal her now reptilian pupils. With their green color, they looked identical to Spike's.

"This is getting weirder by the second," the baby dragon said.

"I bumped into Rainbow on the way to Twi's," Applejack explained.

"Literally," the pegasus grumbled.

"I said I was sorry!"

"But wait," Rarity said. "If you were going to Twilight's," she pointed to AJ, "then why are you here?"

"Well, I went there hopin' she could tell me what in the hay was goin' on," she explained. "But she wasn't there. That's when Dash here found a trail of leaves leadin' away from the library, so we followed 'em here."

"And I was hoping you had some kinda hat or something I could use to cover these up," Rainbow said, pointing to her head.

"Of course darling." The fashionista trotted to a back room to find something to suit the pegasus' non frou-frou tastes. When she came back, she found Twilight finishing explaining their situations to the two.

"So let me get this straight," Applejack said. "You," she pointed to Twilight, "got the wings of a batpony, Pinkie's got the legs of a changeling, Rainbow, the ears of a timberwolf, Rarity, the wings of.... somethin', and I got dragon eyes and fangs?"

"That about sums it u- wait, you have fangs too?!" the alicorn gasped.

"Oh... did I forget ta mention that?" The farmer blushed in embarrassment.

Sure enough, when Twilight looked closer, she could see Applejack did indeed have small fangs at the corners of her mouth.

"Wow," was all she could manage to say.

"This is starting to really freak me out," Spike said nervously.

"Pfft," Rainbow scoffed. "I'm not scared."

"No..." Twilight said, her eyes widening. "But you know who would be?"

"Fluttershy!" they all gasped.

"The poor thing's probly scared outta her mind!" Applejack exclaimed.

"We need to get over there now," Rarity agreed.

"Okay," Pinkie said. "Just give me a moment to get enough bushes."

"Are you still on that?" Spike asked, facepalming.

"It'll just be quicker to teleport there," Twilight said. "Gather round, you guys!"

The five friends huddled close to the purple pony as she lit her horn, and they were gone in a flash.

Seconds later, they appeared right outside the shy pegasus' cottage. Not bothering to knock, Twilight burst through the front door, which was unlocked, her friends close behind her.

"Fluttershy?" she called out. "Are you here?"

"We've come to make sure you're alright, darling," Rarity added.

"If something's happened, ya'll don't have to be afraid to tell us, sugarcube," Applejack said.

"We won't think you're strange!" Pinkie yelled.

"Pinkie!" the others scolded her.

"Um... hi girls," came a soft voice. They all turned to the source: the yellow pony peeking around the corner.

"You alright Fluttershy?" Spike asked.

"Yes.... I mean, kind of.... well, not really...."

"What happened?" Twilight asked gently.

Fluttershy sighed and fully entered the room. For several moments, nopony said anything.

Finally Rainbow said, "I don't get it."

Pinkie inched closer to her and then exclaimed, "Whoa! You're like.... see-through-ish!"

The others gasped and looked closer as well.

"Goodness! If you were sparkly, I'd say you were a crystal pony!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Yeah, but instead you're more like.... a ghost!" Pinkie said.

"A g-g-g-ghost?!" Fluttershy shrieked. "B-b-but... I'm still alive! I-is that even possible?"

"I never thought so, but after everything that's happened this morning, I don't know what to think anymore." Twilight sighed, explaining what happened to the rest of them once more.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy muttered. "Is... is there a way to fix this?"

"Not without knowing what caused it first. But I've never heard of something like this," Twilight replied. "I've read every book in the library at least twice, but I don't remember coming across anything like this."

"Hmmm...." Spike thought for a moment. "I know! Twi, remember what you said earlier about never seeing anything like this since the poison joke?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Think about that. Who was it that helped you find the cure?"

"Zecora!" they all cried.

"Of course! Spike, you're a genius!" Twilight praised him.

"Well, you know; I try." He smirked.

"Well what're we waitin' for? Let's get to Zecora's!" Applejack exclaimed.

Everypony nodded, then galloped out towards the Everfree Forest.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy whispered, before following reluctantly.

Author's Note

Phew! It's finally here! This took way longer than I thought; I thought I'd have this out last month :twilightoops: Well, hopefully it was worth the wait.

This is my first multi chapter fic! :rainbowkiss: I plan for there to be about 4 or 5 chapters.

But since I have so many other ideas, I'm gonna be posting other stuff in between chapters of this.
Hopefully you'll find it worth waiting for!

Chapter 2: More Questions Than Answers

"So what do you think, Zecora?" Twilight asked. "Do you know what's happening to us?"

"Hmmm...." the Zebra muttered, rubbing her chin in thought as she looked the six ponies over. "I agree that your case is quite strange, indeed; however, I'm not sure I know of the cure that you need. Therefore I cannot offer a solid explanation; I'm afraid that would require far more examination. But through my books I'll search high and low; if I find something, you shall know."

"Thank you. I'll look through my books as well, just to be sure. I just wish we had some kind of clue to get started."

"There is one thing that stands out to me; surely it's something you also can see?" she said in her usual rhyme.

"Whaddya mean?" Rainbow questioned.

Zecora pointed a hoof at her. "If I am correct to remember, your ears now match those of the wolf of timber. Applejack, a dragon, with her fangs and reptilian eyes, it does not take much to realize. Pinkie is a Changeling, not hard to identify, and a ghost is our dear Fluttershy.

"And yours, Twilight Sparkle, is perhaps the most dire; I am certain you are turning into a vampire!"

"WHAT?!" everypony shouted.

"Oh dear.... that is pretty bad... Are you... are you sure?" Twilight asked.

Her answer was a nod. "Your once feathered wings, now rough like a bat; can you tell me of another monster with that?"

"True... But wait; what about Rarity? I've read about lots of foreign creatures and legends with monsters, but I can't recall anything that looks like that!"

"There is a possibility, one that has occurred to me. A beautiful but deadly creature, also of a singing nature."

Twilight's eyes widened as it dawned on her. "A siren!"

"A what now?" Rainbow asked.

"A siren," she repeated. "The last mention of them was from a long time ago; the days of Starswirl the Bearded. He was the one that defeated them. They were beautiful creatures, almost like seaponies. They also had special powers; their voices could put ponies in a trance-like state, forced to do the sirens' bidding, And to keep these powers strong, they would feed off negative energy and emotions of their victims, using their hypnotizing songs to stir up anger and confusion. I can't believe I forgot!"

"Hmm... beautiful, good singers, you say? That is quite fitting for me, don't you think?"

"Rarity, this is a bad thing, remember?" the alicorn reminded her.

"Oh, right. Sorry," she apologized.

Suddenly there was a loud, low rumbling sound. Fluttershy squeaked and dropped to the floor, hiding her face. "W-what was that?"

"Oops," said an embarrassed Rainbow. She put a hoof to her stomach. "I kinda skipped breakfast."

"Come to think of it, so did I," Twilight recalled.

"We could all go back to my cottage for an early lunch before heading to the library," Fluttershy offered.

"Sounds good to me," said her fellow pegasus, before another rumbling noise was heard. "Er, let's get going, shall we?"

The friends laughed, and, saying their goodbyes, began filing out the door. Twilight was last, but was stopped by Zecora.

"Before you go, if I might, there's something else you should know, Princess Twilight."

"Oh? What's that?"

"This spell will not be easy to beat; I get the feeling it is not yet complete. Acting careful I'd strongly advise, being too hasty may not be wise."

Twilight frowned. "Not complete? What do you-"

"You comin' Twi?" called AJ.

"Yeah.... coming," she called. With one last glance at Zecora, she stepped out of the hut into the forest, those last words running through her mind.

Back at Fluttershy's cottage, the girls and Spike were seated around the table, having a simple lunch of fruit and PB&J's, as they discussed their next move.

"We should head back as soon as we're done here; I'd like to get started researching as soon as possible," Twilight said. Rainbow groaned at the mention of "research".

"Are we gonna teleport again?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know... My magic is stronger now, but that still took a lot of energy, and that was before Fluttershy was with us."

"We could always just fly back," Dash reminded her. "Those of us that can, anyway. I doubt anypony's gonna notice our... new appearances from up in the air."

"And those of us that can't?" said Spike.

"I know! We'll jump from the rooftops like ninjas!" Pinkie suggested.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Yes, that certainly won't attract any attention." She turned to Twilight. "If you, Rainbow and Fluttershy will be flying over, that leaves me, Spike, Pinkie, and Applejack; I suppose hiding my wings would be easy enough..."

"You could borrow my cloak," Fluttershy offered.

The unicorn nodded. "That should work. As for the others, I'm sure Applejack should be fine if she keeps her hat pulled down, but what about Pinkie?"

"We could each walk on one side of her, shielding her from view," Spike suggested. "If she doesn't bounce, that is."

"That might work fer now, but what about when four o' us can't be there?" AJ questioned.

Everypony thought for a moment, before Rarity spoke up, cringing.

"I can't believe I'm about to suggest this, but I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. If we could stop by my shop, I could make some," she winced, "legwarmers."

"Cool!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Can you make them in neon pink plaid?"

"Er..."

"Ooh! What about glow in the dark polka dots?"

Rarity clutched her head. "Please stop..."

"Well then let's get going!" Rainbow said, standing.

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow stepped outside and prepared to take off; the others had volunteered to clean the lunch dishes for Fluttershy before heading out.

The two pegasi were already in the air when they noticed their friend was on the ground, hesitating.

"What's the problem Twi?" Dash asked.

"Well... I wasn't that great of a flyer with my regular wings..."

"Oh, stop worrying. I mean, how different can they be?"

Twilight kept herself from rolling her eyes. Saying something like that was just asking for trouble. 'Oh well... Here goes nothing,' she thought.

Extending her wings, she gave an experimental flap, however, she was not prepared for how high they would send her. For unlike her previous wings, there were no feathers for the wind and air to pass through; instead her now firm bat wings gathered the air underneath them, using it to swiftly propel her higher than normal.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, before remembering what Rainbow Dash taught her to do: hold her wings still and use the air to slowly glide back down.

"Wow... all things considered, I'd say you handled that pretty well," Rainbow commented as she landed.

"Oh goodness... You okay Twilight?" Fluttershy nervously asked.

"I'm fine... I'll just have to be extra careful."

Nodding, the three flyers took to the sky again, one of them making sure to make extra small flaps.

The trip took slightly longer than expected, but they finally arrived and hurried inside before anypony noticed them.

"Alright, I'd already gathered a stack of books earlier, but I'd like to look through the shelves one more time; why don't you two go on and start looking through the ones I'd pulled?"

"Of course." Fluttershy nodded and headed over to the stack.

"Here's hoping this doesn't take too long," Rainbow muttered, taking a book as well.

Twilight went back to scanning through the library's collection once more, but only found a couple more books that were relevant.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, but as she was about to head back to her two friends, she heard three knocks on the door, followed by, "Twilight, it's us!"

Recognizing the baby dragon's voice, she swiftly opened the door for them, closing it firmly once they'd all safely entered.

"Sorry we took so long darling; it was rather difficult to find something... suitable," Rarity said, motioning to Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing around happily.

She paused to hold out a foreleg to Twilight so she could get a look at her new yellow and blue striped fuzzy legwarmers. "Aren't they super duper?" she asked.

"Um, sure," Twilight replied, casting a glance at Rarity, who looked far less than pleased.

"Have you made any progress?" the unicorn inquired, eager to move the subject along.

"I'm not sure; I was just about to check in with Fluttershy and Dash," Twilight replied.

The five of them filed into the room where the two pegasi were poring over their books.

Rainbow looked up when they entered and answered her friend's unspoken question. "We got nothing so far." She grunted and tossed her book behind her, letting it hit the wall and fall to the floor.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" Twilight cried. In one swift motion, she dived across the room to cradle the book in her hooves, scanning the surface for any marks.

Finally satisfied her precious book was undamaged, she levitated six more books from the stack, magically handing one to each of her friends.

"Now that everyone's here, this should go much faster. We're sure to find something!"

Two hours later

"I can't believe we found nothing!" Twilight exclaimed. A couple of mane hairs popped out of place as she began to stress. "Not even the slightest thing!" She began breathing rapidly.

"Uh-oh, she's panicking again," Rainbow said. "Spike, ya might wanna get her a paper bag or something... Spike?"

The baby dragon didn't respond as he sat curled up in the corner, looking depressed.

"What's wrong sugarcube?" Applejack said worriedly.

He sniffed. "Y-you are!"

The earth pony blinked, then frowned. "Ex-CUSE me?"

"Well, it's not you you, exactly, it's just... you now..."

"Dude, you're making less sense than Pinkie Pie," Rainbow told him.

"Hey!"

"Care to explain a lil' more?" AJ asked.

"Well... Twilight and Zecora said you're all turning into monsters... And y-you're turning into a dragon... But I'm a dragon and... and I'm not a monster!"

"Some dragons are," Rainbow said bluntly.

Applejack knocked her upside the head. "Yer not helping!"

"Ouch!" the rainbow-maned mare cried.

The sudden commotion had brought Twilight out of her panicked state. She walked over to her dragon assistant and put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. "Oh Spike... of course you're not a monster; and neither are all dragons. Most ponies know that now. But there was a time when..." She paused suddenly, then facehooved. "Oh my gosh..."

"What's the matter, darling?"

"Many, many years ago, dragons were considered monstrous, natural enemies to be avoided at all costs. Even less was known about them than there is now!"

"Meaning what, exactly?" Rarity questioned.

"Meaning this spell would've been created at a time when dragons were considered just as dangerous as sirens, changelings, and even vampires.... And that means this spell must be very, very old... far older than I'd considered. No wonder we couldn't find anything; spells this ancient would only be found amongst the oldest and rarest of records. How did I not see this sooner?!"

"Great! Where're we supposed to get info on a super old rare spell?" Rainbow moaned.

"What about the Canterlot Archives?" Pinkie suggested.

"Better yet, why not just go straight to the Princesses themselves?" Rarity added.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "If it really is a super old spell, wouldn't they be the best ones to ask about this?"

"I suppose you're right," Twilight admitted. "I'd hoped we could find the answer ourselves, but we may be in over our heads here."

"Well, no worries; the Princesses'll get this fixed lickety split," Applejack assured her.

"Ooh, lickety split! That sounds like a great name for an ice cream sundae!" Pinkie exclaimed. She began listing off possible ingredients to include.

"Well, obviously there'd have to be at least one banana, because you can't have a sundae with the word 'split' in it and not have a banana!" She paused. "I wonder why.... I mean, what does a banana have to do with splitting? Maybe cuz it's usually a big sundae you can split with your friends? But, couldn't you do that with any sundae? Hmm...."

"Maybe it's because when somepony slips on the peel, it looks like they're doing the splits?" Rainbow suggested.

"Ooh, that could be it! Because then you'd wanna buy them some ice cream after that nasty fall to cheer them up!" She frowned. "But having a banana in there seems like kind of a cruel joke. I mean, wouldn't that be a little 'too soon'? What if the pony was seriously traumatized by the fall?!"

"If you two are quite done with your discussion on trauma by fruit, can we get back to talking about our more important situation?" Rarity asked, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry," both ponies muttered.

"It's settled then," Twilight said. "We'll head for Canterlot first thing in the morning. I don't know how long we'll be there, but we'd better pack for at least one overnight stay."

"Oh, but.... tomorrow's Tuesday," Fluttershy said. "I'm supposed to have tea with Discord."

"Darling, this is a rather pressing issue," Rarity pointed out. "Discord will just have to wait."

"Not necessarily," Twilight cut in. "I suppose we don't all have to go."

"Or maybe we don't have to go at all," Rainbow said slowly.

"What're you sayin, Dash?" Applejack questioned.

"I'm saying we skip the trip and go straight to the source of the problem! The Draconequus problem!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy scolded. "You can't really be accusing him of this! I know you don't like him, but that's no excuse to go pointing hooves whenever a problem turns up!"

"Oh come on!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Who else could it be?"

"You're both right," Twilight spoke.

"Huh?!"

"It could be Discord, but we can't jump to conclusions. Why don't Rarity, Applejack, Spike, and I go to Canterlot, while Pinkie and Rainbow join Fluttershy and Discord for tea? You can talk to Discord while we talk to the Princess," Twilight suggested.

"Works fer me," AJ agreed.

"Me too," Rarity and Pinkie piped at the same time.

"I do not like the idea of a 'tea party'," Rainbow began, "but I do wanna be there to confront that jer- err, Draconequus," she corrected after receiving a glare from Fluttershy.

"But what if it isn't Discord?" Pinkie asked.

"Well, maybe Fluttershy can convince him to help us find who did do i-" Twilight was cut off when she heard a sharp gasp. Scanning the room, her eyes caught sight of the top of a head, covered by a hood just outside the window. She thought she caught sight of a blue horn right before it disappeared.

"Quickly!" she shouted. "After them!"

Author's Note

(as for why this was so late, see this blog post here)

First time writing Zecora.... my gosh that was hard :twilightoops: I knew what I wanted her to say, but figuring out how to make it rhyme and not sound dumb? Not easy. How did I do?

I thought about just ditching the rhyming and having her talk normal with the excuse that she accidentally got poison joke, but figured that might not go too well with the readers :unsuresweetie: I'd hate to disappoint you guys, especially so early on :fluttercry:

And next chapter I'm going to be writing Discord for the first time.... :facehoof: what have I gotten myself into?