The Switch
The Switch: Chapter 5
Previous ChapterNext ChapterHow could things have possibly gone so wrong? That was what Twilight Sparkle was asking herself right now as she ran her hoof over her rainbow colored mane, with her cyan wings folded at her sides. She sighed as she tried to figure out what they could possibly do from here. Not even Princess Celestia's magic could help them out of the situation that the poison joke had put them in. All her attempts to fix it really did was make it worse.
She turned around to assess the situation some more. Rarity was still sobbing in the corner of the room, trying to get Applejack's mane back to the style that Rarity preferred but it was no real use. Twilight imagined what that would look like and shuddered a bit, it would have looked absolutely terrible. Twilight decided that she needed the most help right now, as the rest were merely shocked by what had just happened, and she trotted over to her to calm her down. She placed a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "Rarity? I know that you are upset because you switched manes with Applejack, it's shocking to all of us but you need to calm down right now. Crying isn't going to help you get your mane back," said Twilight. Rarity continued to sob.
"But I NEED my mane back! It was all I had left after she stole my horn from me!" said Rarity in a malevolent tone.
"Rarity, Applejack did not steal your horn or your mane from you and you know it!" said Twilight sternly.
"She STOLE them from me!" said Rarity who stood up with fire in her eyes and directed her angry gaze towards Applejack. "You stole them from me! Give them back to me right now!" she said. Before Applejack could formulate a response to this, Rarity charged towards Applejack with a snarl and tackled her to the ground, tearing at her mane. "Do you hear me? Give them back to me now!" Applejack was so caught off guard by this vicious assault that the only thing she could do was place her hooves in front of her face in an attempt to protect herself from Rarity's rage. She tried to use her magic to throw her off but she hadn't advanced to that point yet. The other three ponies snapped out of their shock and each tried to pull a furious Rarity off of Applejack. Twilight tried to grab on to her from behind, but Rarity used her hind legs to kick Twilight across the room. Her new strength, gained from weeks of apple bucking had made her more difficult to restrain. Rainbow Dash tried to use her horn to stop Rarity but like Applejack, only sparks came out, no matter how hard she concentrated. Pinkie and Fluttershy both tackled Rarity but once again, she used her new strength, combined with her rage to buck them off and she continued to attack Applejack. Finally, Princess Celestia herself used her magic to pick up Rarity and move her far away from Applejack.
As Rarity struggled to get out of Celestia's spell, Applejack got up feebly and dusted herself off. She walked over to her cowpony hat and after doing her best to straighten her hair; she placed the hat on top of her head and sat down, trying to register what had just happened. Her friends rushed over to her.
"Applejack, are you okay?" said Fluttershy worriedly.
"I...I think so, I don't think she did any real damage."
"Oh my gosh, you're bleeding!" said Twilight. Applejack wiped her nose with her hoof and sure enough, blood was coming out. Applejack looked at the blood on her hoof and just shrugged.
"Oh, it's nothing Twilight, I'll be okay," she said, still obviously quite shaken from the attack.
"You have a black eye too, she really did a number on you," said Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, like I said, I'll be okay. I've had far worse, believe me," said Applejack. She attempted a small smile, but not successfully. The five looked over at Rarity who was still struggling to get out of Celestia's spell and back to attacking Applejack. To the surprise at all, it seemed that Celestia was having genuine difficulty restraining her.
"Unhand me this instant you fools! I will get my mane and horn back! I'll get them back if I have to cut them off of..." it was at that moment that she really looked at Applejack, really looked at the damage she had caused. In the instant that she made eye contact with Applejack, she stopped struggling and a look of horror spread over her face. "Oh my goodness, what have I done?" she said in quiet horror. She stopped struggling and sat down and began crying again. Celestia released her from the spell and the five friends gingerly walked over to her.
When they were close enough, Rarity looked up from her weeping and looked at Applejack. She grabbed her close in a tight hug and sobbed into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry; I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to hurt you please forgive me!" she said. Applejack managed the small smile she had attempted before.
"Well shoot, I forgive you. This thing is gettin' to all of us. I suppose that it was going to come out anyways eventually. I don't hold it against you at all," she said placing a comforting hoof on Rarity's shoulder.
"B-but R-R-Rainbow Dash hasn't attacked Twilight!" said Rarity between sobs. "Nopony else has attacked their friends!"
"Look, I know you feel absolutely terrible about it and I know that you would take it back in an instant if you could. That's all that really matters right now. You didn't do any damage to me. Like I said to the others; I've had much, much worse. Don't feel too bad about it sugar cube," said Applejack.
The room was silent for a few moments aside from Rarity's sobbing. After a few moments, Applejack wrapped a hoof around Rarity's shoulder and began humming a song that she used to sing to Apple Bloom when she was younger. A few minutes later, Rarity calmed down enough that she stopped crying. She took a few deep breaths and looked up at Applejack. "You...you can style my mane however you want to while you have it. I don't mind. I suppose it is kind of your mane right now. Make the best of it," said Rarity.
"Thanks, you can style my mane how you want to as well. You love the way your mane works, you go ahead and make sure you look your best," said Applejack.
"Thank you...thank you," Rarity stood up and addressed the others. "Well...I think I need to be alone for a little while if that's okay with you all."
"Of course Rarity!" said Twilight. "Take as much time as you need."
"Thank you Twilight," said Rarity. The six ponies watched as Rarity walked slowly out of the room, off to wherever she felt that she needed to go. When she had left, the five ponies looked at Applejack.
"So, how are you feeling Applejack?" asked Twilight. The small smile that Applejack had put on for Rarity had faded away. She put her hoof to her nose to see if it was still bleeding and saw that it was, but only slightly. She put her hoof back down and sighed.
"Well Twi, I think I need to be alone for a bit too," she said and without another word, she left the room as well.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It had been a few hours since the events in the ballroom. Princess Celestia had sent a detachment of her guards to fetch Willem from the Everfree Forest to see if he could at all help with this new situation.
Rarity and Applejack had not shown up in the past few hours but nopony felt like they needed to go look for them, they all knew that they needed their time to themselves. So, the four sat at a table, wondering what to do next. "Do you think Applejack and Rarity are okay?" asked Fluttershy.
"I think they'll be fine. Applejack is made of tough stuff and is a very loyal friend. She'll recover," said Twilight. "But how are the rest of you doing? I know this has come as quite a shock to us all." The other three ponies grimaced when they remembered that they had changed manes and tails the same as Applejack and Rarity had. Not long after the two of them had left, the Princess had decided to give the remaining four friends some space while she attended to other matters. She had left rather hurriedly but none of the ponies resented her for her mistake, but they were all still very unwilling to ever let her try anything like that ever again.
"Well, obviously Pinkie really kind of has the same mane and tail, just a lighter shade of pink," said Fluttershy.
"Yeah, I don't know why my mane just popped back to what it normally was," said Pinkie, brushing it with her hoof.
"Well, I've always thought that your hair was reflective of your personality, your personality remains the same and thus, your hair does as well," said Twilight.
"Y...yeah, okay," said Rainbow rolling her eyes before directing her gaze to Fluttershy. "But what has me curious is why Fluttershy's mane is all straight like that. The only time I ever saw Pinkie's mane like that was when we threw that surprise birthday party for her and she though we all avoided her. So, it brings up the question, how are you feeling Fluttershy?"
"Oh, um, well, I'm surprised by all of this the same as you are, but I'm not really depressed about it, I mean, I'm certainly not so depressed about it that it would affect my hair!"
"Well, it still is interesting that this was the hairstyle you got from Pinkie, not her normal one," said Twilight. Pinkie looked thoughtful for a moment before her face lit up.
"Maybe you didn't get my hairstyle, maybe you got Pinkamena's hairstyle!" said Pinkie happily. Fluttershy and Twilight looked at her confusedly.
"Who?" asked Twilight. Rainbow Dash flattened her ears and looked at Pinkie uncomfortably.
"Uh-oh," she said to herself. Before Fluttershy or Twilight could Question Pinkie more on just who Pinkamena was, Princess Celestia walked into the room. Behind her was the familiar, crazy scientist zebra whom the ponies were really beginning to fear being around. He was looking around the elegant room, his eyes widened with wonder as if he was a child seeing the world for the first time. He spotted the four friends and grinned his normal goofy grin at them.
"Well hello there you four! How lovely it is to see you again! How are things aside from...well...that?" he said happily.
"Things could be better Willem; they could be a lot better. As you can see, we are now the subjects of a spell that went wrong," said Rainbow Dash.
"Ah, yes I can see that, that was your doing I assume?" he said looking up at Celestia who gave him a slight glare.
"Yes, I attempted to turn Twilight and her friends back to normal but it obviously didn't work as well as I had intended," said Celestia.
"Well it would seem that way. Now, I have spent every waking minute searching around for a way to turn you six back to your normal selves. I have also kept very much in contact with my associates back in the scientific community and as it just so happens, we are working on a book about Poison Joke. It could revolutionize the whole world! I mean, we haven't even begun trying to discover how to clone it, but we are testing growth and life cycle and such we..."
"Uh Willem, you're getting a tad off topic here." said Rainbow. Willem thought for a second and then facehooved.
"Oh dear me, you are quite right my dears! I'm ever so sorry, so let's see, where was I? Ah yes, now, we are very close to discovering the cure for Poison Joke. You see, the brew that Cousin Z used to turn you back to normal last time was only effective for a weak exposure. The mixture that you put the liquefied Poison Joke in served only to strengthen it. You could take a bath every day for a year in the brew Cousin Z used and it wouldn't make any difference. You see, Poison Joke, as it just so happens, is not a plant in the traditional sense of the word. I have yet to see a normal plant that so thoroughly alters the genetic makeup of a pony like Poison Joke has for you six. It clearly has magical capabilities that are far stronger than what you originally thought."
"So, when you say that the mixture you put it in made it stronger, how much stronger would you say that the mixture made it?" asked Fluttershy.
"Well, based on everything, I'd say it made it at least five or six times stronger. In a way, this plant is actually terrifying. It seems to have attained sentience if it can decide what to do when you come under its effects. In fact, I'd say that it is the most magical plan in existence if not even Celestia here could undo its effects with magic."
"So where does that put us?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Well, like I said, my colleagues and I are very close to a cure for you I would say. Another week or so and I think that we can have it ready to go for you," said Willem.
"Are you sure that it will work?" said Twilight.
"Well...no. One never can be sure with Poison Joke we've discovered, but we are 89% sure. That's the best we can do I'm afraid," said Willem.
"Well, it's a risk we're going to have to take!" said Twilight. "I for one am sick of this whole business!"
"Same here!" said Rainbow Dash. She began getting pumped up at the very idea of being a Pegasus again and she began singing to herself, "I'm gonna get my wings back! I'm gonna get my wings back!" and jumping up and down in the air, as if she was trying to take off. Her behavior puzzled the other ponies and zebra but they took it with good humor. They were all reacting to this in different ways. However, the more excited Rainbow Dash became at the prospect of getting her wings back, the more her horn glowed. With a final yell of "I'm gonna get my wings back!" she jumped up as high as she could and was immediately engulfed in a bright, white light to the surprise of everyone. When the light faded, they saw Rainbow Dash lying on the ground on the opposite side of the room, trying to clear her head. They rushed over to her.
"Rainbow, are you okay?" asked Twilight.
"I...I think so, what happened?" she asked woozily.
"I think you just teleported!" said Pinkie excitedly bouncing up and down.
"Well, that would explain the wooziness," said Rainbow, getting up with a smile.
"That was amazing!" said Willem. "I have never seen a pony pull off a teleportation before! That was truly a sight to behold Rainbow Dash."
"Uh, you're welcome," said Rainbow Dash, grinning at her successful teleportation. At that moment, the group heard Rarity's voice from behind them.
"Oh dear, it seems we just missed Rainbow Dash teleporting!" she said.
"Now don't fret girl, I'm sure she can do it again," said Applejack.
The ponies turned around to see Applejack and Rarity standing next to each other as happy as can be. The two had taken some time and adjusted their hairstyles and as such, the two had completely different hair. Applejack had cut her hair shorter, to about the length that Rainbow usually kept it, and was letting it hang loose as opposed to tying it back like she always did. Rarity on the other hand had foregone her normal perfect curls and had cut it shorter as well and had styled it something like Twilight usually did. When the friends saw this, they rushed over to them and hugged them.
"It seems like you two are doing a lot better, and I love the way you've styled your manes!" said Twilight.
"Oh yes, we are doing much better, Applejack and I ran into each other a few hours after...that...and we decided to help each other pick new styles! Do you like them?" said Rarity happily.
"Oh why Rarity, they're lovely," said Fluttershy.
"I think they turned out mighty nice actually," said Applejack.
"I do as well!" said Willem.
"Same here," said Celestia. "It seems you two have really forgiven each other for this morning."
"Oh yes Princess, I think we really have gotten over it. I still feel terrible about it but Applejack has forgiven me...which is more than I deserve really," said Rarity.
"Aw shoot," said Applejack "Don't worry your little head about it, it's in the past now." she turned her attention towards Willem. "So uh, what's he doin' here?"
"Well, I have come at the behest of the Princess here to see if there was anything that I can do to help in this situation. I was just telling your friends here that I think my colleagues and I have discovered a cure for your predicament." Rarity and Applejack looked at each other happily.
"Do you really mean it?" said Rarity.
"Oh yes, I do. We'll have it ready in just a week’s time!" said Willem.
"And you're sure it will work, you're sure that it will turn us back to normal?" said Applejack.
"Nope." said Willem. "But probably."
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