Author's Note
This contains OCs introduced in my previous stories. Descriptions are here
Celestia tries Skype
Spike runs over to Celestia on the cutie-map table and places a bowl of plain oatmeal in front of her "Thank you Spike".
"No problem! Just something I quickly wiped out of the cupboard" Twilight magically grabs Spike.
Applejack panics "I'm really sorry Princess Celestia! W... We'll get you something better eat". She hands Celestia a plate of apple slices in cinnamon. Celestia simply dumps the slices in the oatmeal and eats it, to other ponies dismay.
"It's alright, I didn't come here for quality food. I came here because Starlight sent me a letter regarding a method of remotely communicating with the Changeling Kingdom".
Starlight nods "When the Changelings took over the castle, they arranged these four beetle stones". She places four dark rocks in the shape of beetles on the table. "It let them communicate with Chrysalis, but now that Thorax is in charge it should direct to him".
Celestia pays close attention.
Starlight arranges the beetles in a square formation. They emit a green laser between them then produce a display. Several reformed changelings look into the display. Spike waves "Hey guys!"
Thorax peeps into the display "Oh uh, how does this thing work. Is it on?"
Celestia responds "Yes, I can hear you Thorax"
"That's great! We've reformed the Changelings drones and there hasn't been any sign of Chrysalis, all is good here".
"That is wonderful to hear from you Thorax, the territory surrounding the Changeling Kingdom is unfamiliar to us ponies. Would you mind giving us a tour of the surrounding region?"
"Of course!"
Twilight asks "Should I go get my closest friends?"
Thorax exclaims "Oh you can bring thrice as many! The Changelings always want to meet new ponies"
"They'll be safe right?" Starlight asks worried.
Celestia nods "I'm sure they'll be safe under my watch. Spike, prepare a list of who's coming, I'm going to ask your brother".
Spike takes out a pen and pencil, and tries to write a name."Wait, I didn't write Discord". The pen turns into Discord.
"Just registering myself in. Fluttershy is coming right".
"Yeah, probably. She loves nature walks".
"Splendid!" Discord hands Spike another pen.
Rainbow Dash flips through various sports equipment in her house, Tank looks at a dropped tennis racket. "Cirrus is going to need this stuff to pick out the FASTEST. COOLEST. MOST AWESOME" Rainbow pets Tank "But loyal is pretty good too"
"I already picked one" Cirrus steps in with a Fruit Bat that resembles a blackberry. He lands on Tank's shell.
"You did?"
"Names Echo, hes took a lot of interest in my gizmos". Echo hangs on Tank's propeller and spins around. He notices Tank's food bowl containing fruit and tries to take it. Cirrus pulls it away.
"Fluttershy went to pick up apples for you to eat at Sweet Apple Acres, she said she would meet me here. Seems she's taking a long time though".
Cirrus and Rainbow Dash fly out of Rainbow's house, followed by their pets. Rainbow Dash spots the Mane 6 going to Twilight's castle and follows them. "What's going on?"
"Cirrus. Check" Spike writes Cirrus on the expedition list. Rainbow Dash and Cirrus stand behind him reading the list.
"Maud?! Really? She's going to slow us all down!"
Pinkie Pie hugs Maud "Oh don't be a silly filly, Maud agreed to go faster than she normally does".
Maud makes an emotionless "Sure"
Rainbow rolls her eyes "Alright, I guess that works"
Pinkie Pie shows a cart behind Maud "And while we're at it, Maud is going to collect rocks!". She blasts her party cannon. Rainbow doesn't seem happy. "This trip can't get any better!"
"Here's food to go for y'all" Applejack enters pulling a delivery cart of baked goods with Big Mac. She hands a bag of apples of Cirrus "Fruit Bats go crazy over these, just make sure he stays off the farm". Big Mac approaches Spike and whispers something in his ear.
"Baked goods? Now it really can't get better. Can it?"
Shining Armor, Cadence, Flurry Heart, and Sunburst arrive. "Awww shucks" Pinkie Pie grabs Flurry Heart and smothers her. Spike looks at the crowd of ponies. The Mane 6, Starlight, Sunburst, Maud, Cirrus, Big Mac, Shining Armor, Cadence, Flurry Heart, Discord, and Celestia.
"Looks like everypony is here. Let's get a move on".
"Um who are you again?" Pinkie Pie asks, shaking the hoof of a changeling.
"I was fake Lyra from the wedding, remember?"
Pinkie looks at the Changeling "Nope, still not familiar"
The Changling turns itself into Lyra "How about now?"
"Oh hi Lyra! I want you to meet my new friend fake Lyra. Wait, where'd they go?". The fake Lyra hoofpalms.
Thorax announces "So? So? Are we ready?"
Celestia nods "Lead the way". Everypony follows behind Thorax as they walk out of the reformed Changeling Kingdom. Big Mac looks around the decaying lands nervous, Celestia says "Don't worry, if anything goes wrong we will protect you"
Discord who is riding a Pigasus says "Oh please, I can take on anything on my own". The Pigasus randomly vanishes into mist and Discord hits the ground and everypony looks at him suspicious "Strange..."
Sunburst who is walking while reading a book suddenly drops it as his horn stops working.
Starlight tries to use magic but it doesn't work. "I thought the throne was destroyed". She follows the magic mist, which leads towards Maud's cart with a sheet on top of it. As she lifts the sheet off, she finds its full of dark stone.
"Maud, did you take the pieces of Chrysalis's throne?"
Maud responds "Actually it's timaneum zirconium alloy charcoal corroded over thousands of years. It's chemical formation tries to bond with magical energy to revert its corrosion.
Pinkie Pie takes a piece of dark stone "Wow Maud, you rock!"
Discord, Starlight, and Sunburst start yelling at Maud to get rid of the throne pieces. She just looks at them emotionless. Pinkie Pie begs "Oh please let her keep them, they're incredibly rare"
Maud says "This is the first time I've seen this rock"
Celestia who is standing ahead finds she's still able to use magic. "You can keep those rocks if you'd like, if we need magic we'll keep our distance". Heavy magic users get frustrated but don't say anything to avoid disagreeing with Celestia.
Pinkie Pie exclaims "Thank you Celestia! It's not often Maud gets this excited over discovering a new rock". Celestia smiles but Discord seems unhappy.
"You know this group is rather... unorganized, can we you know, like split up".
Celestia looks at him funny "Isn't that the way you like it?"
"Unorganized does not equal chaos"
"Very well, is there another changeling who could give a tour to a second group"
Discord waves his claw down "Oh please, I know this place front and back, I teleported secondary characters from ponyville to here. Let me give a tour"
"I guess you can lead a team then. Anypony who wants to go with Discord is free to do so"
Sunburst who is annoyed by Maud's rock pieces follows. Starlight follows Sunburst. Big Mac and Spike decide to go with them. Discord starts to leave but then grabs Fluttershy "I almost forgot you".
Celestia waves to Discord at the edge of the Changeling Kingdom "We'll meet back here at sundown".
Cirrus waves at Fluttershy worried, who is being carried by Discord "She was supposed to teach me about caring for a pet". She holds up Echo while flying slightly above the ground, following Thorax and Celestia through a forest area.
Applejack hands Echo an apple. "It's all mighty simple. As long as you understand nature".
Cirrus looks confused "I kind of don't".
"What?"
Rainbow Dash responds "You know Cirrus lived in Cloudsdale her whole life, the city made of clouds? Forests and animals aren't a familiar concept there"
Applejack looks at Cirrus concerned "Then why in tarnation did you get a pet?"
"Fluttershy begged me to".
Rainbow Dash tries to look at various critters along the expedition path. "I'm not as much of an animal expert compared to Fluttershy, but they uh... enjoy affection". Rainbow nervously pats a beavers head.
Cirrus beckons an squirrel who is trying to open an nut. Cirrus takes it to the squirrels dismay, then smashes it and hands it back. The squirrel eats the innards of the nut.
"Yeah kind of like that"
"Well you're an adorable... land critter thing"
"That's a squirrel" Rainbow scratches her head "Sheesh, you have a lot to learn about the surface world".
"Excuse me... Squirrel. How do you take care of a Fruit Bat?" Cirrus holds Echo up to the squirrel, who simply runs away.
Applejack puts her hoof around Cirrus "Don't you worry! As long as you're eager to learn it'll come".
Rarity tries to put on make up but her magic keeps dissipating to Maud's rocks. "Will you please let me use magic for a second"
Celestia turns to Rarity "You don't need magic for this tour. Enjoy nature while you're here. You could always join Discord's group if you really need to".
Discord stops on the path and relaxes on a cloud he spawned "Go on, do as you wish".
Starlight looks at Sunburst confused, who is still reading the same book. "Wow Sunburst, that must be a REALLY good book if you've been reading it non-stop for the last four hours".
"Modern Spellcasting. I don't know why I'm reading it for the twenty third time when I can't even cast spells, but I don't see anything better here".
Fluttershy gasps "Bu... but... there's all sorts of wild life here. Just give them a chance". A bird lands on Fluttershy's hoof, which she holds up to Sunburst. He simply looks away and continues his book.
He mutters "No thanks. You can't learn magic by looking at animals". Fluttershy frowns and flies away. Starlight looks at the book suspicious and casts a spell on it.
Sunburst flips the book around and takes off his glasses. "The words are getting blurry, I must be looking at it too much".
Starlight asks "So why not look at something else?" She holds a butterfly up to Sunburst.
"Fortunately, I brought other books" Starlight takes another book out of his cape to Starlight's dismay. "Gravity and Directional Reversal"
"Fortunately..." Starlight whispers to herself.
Fluttershy sneaks back to the main group. Twilight asks "Is everything alright?"
"I don't know why Sunburst joined this expedition. He's ignoring all the scenery and just wants to read his book. I know Discord only came because... well... I did".
Shining Armor turns to Fluttershy "He always comes wherever me and Cadence go. I know he is the royal crystaller and all... but he hasn't had to do much".
Cadence nods "Flurry Heart has been much more calm lately".
Cirrus flies up to a bird nest "Maybe if he sees just how beautiful it is out here, he'll turn his focus".
"Discord? Are we going?" Starlight yells to Discord who is napping on a cloud "Oh yes, I thought Sunburst could take a break walking and read his book".
"Well we didn't come here for reading books, let's move".
Discord groans, then starts flapping his wings, pulling the cloud along the path.
Starlight calls "Sunburst! This way!"
Sunburst walks into a tree "Oof. Pardon me". He turns to the path and follows Discord.
Starlight asks "Why don't you take a break from your books and look at the beautiful scenery".
"And... how is this going to help me cast spells?"
"Not from personal experience, but it helped Twilight. The Princess of Friendship".
Sunburst puts his book down "How? I don't see any connection"
"Well... I kind of attacked her with vetrio quell monoexior... after the village I enslaved got their cutie marks back".
Sunburst flips through a spellbook "Vetrio Quell monoexior?! It says here most alicorns can barely block it".
"Twilight did. I've asked how and she said it was her friends who helped her understand herself, allowing her to better use magic".
"Well, what can you tell me about myself?".
Starlight thinks to herself "Now that I think about it, you're a lot like Twilight".
Sunburst looks confused "Really?"
Thorax announces "That's just about everything around here" he points to the Changeling Kingdom down the path "It just loops back here".
Celestia responds "Thank you for your time Thorax, we'll take a break and eat then head back. I believe Applejack brought something for us all"
Applejack distributes the baked goods with Big Mac. "I'm surprised y'all came back here, I thought you two got a long with Discord".
Big Mac responds "Eeyup".
Spike explains "Well, he kinda dozed off, probably just wanted to use his magic to do... whatever".
"Heh, some ponies can't live a day without using magic. Earth ponies and pegasi could do it for millennia".
Thorax says "Starlight and Discord sort of did when they got into the changeling hive. Discord stumbled over a lot.
Starlight enters with Sunburst "It seems like he got to understand himself better by not using magic for once, and this pony is here to do so too".
Sunburst nods. Starlight tells him "Twilight used to read books all day like you did, and her magic only got so far. It wasn't until she made friends she started to understand herself better so she could excel".
He turns to Twilight who awaited for their return. "Is this true?"
"Yep".
Sunburst hesitates and approaches Spike and Big Mac "Hey. Um... how are you doing... Spike the brave and glorious".
"Great! But aren't you kind of brave and glorious".
"Uh no?"
"Didn't you save the Crystal Empire by telling the princesses what spells to use?"
Sunburst looks confused "That wasn't much... I didn't even cast anything".
Spike pats Sunburst "Well to be a hero you don't have to do big things, just the right ones. Even me".
Sunbursts explains "Taking the crystal heart to the center of the empire before Sombra take it is pretty big though".
"It wasn't really, Twilight found the crystal heart, that was the hard part. I just climbed down some stairs, then everypony else did the rest".
Sunburst thinks to himself, then notices Applejack tossing apples at Pinkie Pie who watches them with her mouth. "Let me try".
An apple hits Sunburst in the nose. He flinches, then one knocks his glasses off. Pinkie Pie laughs. Sunburst trots away "I never realized I was so klutzy". Pinkie Pie grabs him.
"Well, try again. Focus on the apple and move into position".
Sunburst focuses on the apple in Applejacks hoof as she tosses it. He steps forward and catches it. "I... I did it!"
He backs away to Starlight who was watching "But how does this help me cast magic?"
Starlight leads him away from the group, to a pile of rocks. Sunburst takes out a book "Spell casting for beginners. I still can't do the first one".
Starlight reads the book "Temperal Reflectate... makes a dull rock shiny temporarily".
Sunburst takes a dull rock from the pile and tries to cast to use magic on it. It doesn't work.
"I tried this dozens of times. It doesn't work".
"Did your friends teach you anything?"
As Sunburst charges a spell he starts to relax and the glow on his horn dims "Do it right, not big". He then focuses on the rock carefully and lines his horn up with it "Focus and move into position".
He casts the spell and the rock turns bright, it reflects sun in to his glasses, forcing him to look away. "Ugh, not again".
Starlight grabs the rock and points it away "No, you did it!"
"Uh um I did?" Starlight hands him the rock. Sunburst makes an excited laugh "Heh... uh... let me try another one".
"I think the other ponies are heading back soon, we should go eat".
Sunburst nods "Sure, I should talk with other ponies more often... instead of you know... reading books all the time". He puts the spell book under his cape.
Starlight nods, they return to Twilight's group.
As the group heads back, Fluttershy puts her head down, but Sunburst taps on her "I'm sorry about earlier, when we get back think you could teach me all about those cute little critters?"
Fluttershy perks up "I thought you had better things to look at"
"Starlight helped me realize studying can only do so much. Sometimes you have to learn from friends"
"I'm very glad you did. Somepony else is already coming to see me too".
Cirrus holding Echo waves. "Natures great huh?"
As the ponies march into the sunset, Discord wakes up at the end of Equestria "Is the tour over? What they can't just leave me here"
