Prologue: Setting The Stage
Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled as she delivered via levitation several gallons of liquefied positive emotions to the small army of Changelings she'd hired to assist with her latest experiment. That done, she took one last look at the hastily-constructed replicate of Ponyville in The Badlands, then nodded to Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to begin launching the projectiles from the siege weapons she'd provided them with. With how effective those three were at causing havoc and destruction by accident, Twilight figured they'd be masters of it if it were done intentionally. She wasn't wrong. Within less than twenty minutes, nearly every building in faux-Ponyville had taken some extent of damage and most were burning. Even the fountain of Celestia near the center of town was somehow on fire. Smiling, Twilight turned to them to offer congratulations. The Changelings whom were still present and waiting, however, looked between the fake and very-on-fire town and the three fillies in horror at the rate of havoc they'd wrought. Even their failed invasion of Canterlot hadn't been this destructive!
"Well done, girls! If I ever need to lay siege to a city in the future, I will definitely call you three first!"
"I'm not sure how to feel about that..." Sweetie Belle mumbled while her two friends searched their still-blank butts for a sign of a new picture. There wasn't one.
"Thanks, miss Twilight!" Scootaloo replied. "We may not have gotten a Cutie Mark from this, but it sure was a fun experience!"
"Just remember that doing something like this without royal permission is not just dangerous, but also highly illegal." Twilight warned in cheerful fashion.
"We'll remember!" Apple Bloom assured her.
As the three fillies departed Twilight turned once more to the Changelings.
"Alrighty! You all have your assignments, and thank you once again for your efforts in making a replica of Ponyville. Without your help it could have taken months for me to get it set up!"
"Well, you are one of the few Ponies willing to hire us so soon after the wedding incident...still," he looked back once more at the bonfire of a town. "Even after you explained what you were planning I hadn't expected this. I don't think any of us did."
"After having lived in a town with those three for the last several years I've learned to stop underestimating their natural penchant for destruction. Frankly I'm surprised any of the buildings are still untouched."
"Are you going to be okay walking through all that to your shelter?" Twilight waved a hoof in unconcerned fashion.
"Oh, I'm not going to walk there, I'm going to teleport. Once I cast Amnesia on myself I won't have a clue how I got there or what happened to the town above save for what little clues I've left lying about what will be left of 'The Library'."
"Wouldn't you normally in a situation like this just teleport to Canterlot or write them an enchanted letter to ask the other royals what had happened?" One of the other Changelings asked. Twilight nodded.
"Yes, but I sent a letter to Celelstia and Luna well over a month ago detailing what I'm planning to do. They've already set up a series of spells around the town to block transportation magic trying to leave the area. It won't stop me from walking out, but that's part of the test as well. One good look around is all it should take to convince me to stick around a little longer. There's no way I could make it out of here on wing or on hoof without more water than I can carry on wing, and walking means more weight for food. I'd need to build a cart or fix a wagon to haul that much."
"Which is where some of us disguising as bandits comes into play." concluded a third Changeling. "Your wagon's supplies would be vulnerable at night when you're asleep."
"Exactly. Well, I guess I'll be off."
