The Switch
The Switch: Chapter 6
Previous ChapterThe six were sitting in their communal room when they got the message.
The six were discussing how they had organized their aspects of the Grand Galloping Gala when they heard three short knocks on the door. Pinkie bounced over to the door to see a royal messenger who wordlessly gave her a singular scroll and left. Pinkie bounced back and towards the six. "Who was that Pinkie?" asked Applejack.
"Just some messenger who gave me this!" said Pinkie happily, putting the scroll on the floor.
Rainbow Dash used her magic to bring the scroll over to her and she opened it up. The other five ponies watched her eyes scan the parchment for a brief second before she took a deep breath and looked grimly at the other five. "Well, what did it say?" asked Fluttershy nervously.
"There were only two words on the scroll...it just said "it's ready," said Rainbow. The six sat in silence. They each knew what this meant. If Willem was right, then there was a good chance that this brew would change them back to the way that they used to be.
Twilight had butterflies in her stomach, it was nerve wracking to just sit there while the other five processed the news that there was a high possibility that they would be back to their normal races. As the nervous feeling bubbled up in Twilight, she decided that she had to break the silence or she would go crazy. "So...what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"I don't know darling, that crazy zebra said there was no guarantee it would work. What will happen if it doesn't?" asked Rarity nervously.
"I say it's just a risk we have to take to be honest," said Applejack.
"I agree with AJ," said Rainbow "We can't know unless we try." Rarity sighed and nodded.
"Okay, she said weakly "I suppose we should just do it." The six friends got up and silently filed out the door to the ballroom. The not hadn't told them where to go, but they all figured it would be the best place for the experiment anyway.
The trip down to the ballroom was completely silent. Even Pinkie Pie didn't make a noise, as she walked instead of her usual happy bouncing. As they neared the ballroom, they were greeted with the sight of three grim looking zebra scientists, quietly talking about whatever it is that solemn zebra scientists talk about under these circumstances. The stopped talking as the six approached and simply stared silently at them as they entered the ballroom. The zebras followed once the last pony was in.
The six friends were greeted with the sight of Rarity's decoration efforts. The room was covered in golden streamers with purple tablecloths the shade of Applejack's mane. In the center of each table was an ornate vase with a bouquet of flowers from Celestia's private garden. However, nopony felt much like noticing the decorations. They were more interested in a bubbling cauldron in the middle of the room. Around the cauldron were six more zebras including Willem himself, and to the surprise of the six, Zecora was among the group as well. She chatted quietly with Celestia, but the entire crowd looked up when they noticed. Zecora smiled at the six and trotted over to them happily.
"How lovely to see you, but I wish it was during better times. Sometimes, I really do have trouble coming up with rhymes." Pinkie shot her gaze towards the crack in the wall, a look of utter disbelief on her face.
"Are you serious!?" she whispered. Willem came up to them as well. He looked much more formal than normal, his mane was combed, his clothing was completely clean and his goofy demeanor was completely absent.
"Ah, so good to see you, I was wondering when you would get my note," he said flatly. The six looked at each other nervously.
"Uh...would you mind explaining why we seem to have just show up to our own funerals?" said Applejack.
"Well...simply put there are no more tests we can safely run on Poison Joke at the time. The antidote to your problem is the best that can possibly be created with modern technology."
"That still doesn't answer Applejack's question," said Twilight. Willem looked around nervously.
"I dearly wish that I was not the one to tell you all this, but remember when I said that there was an 89% chance that it will work? Well, that remains the truth, but..."
"But what?" asked Rarity.
"The other 11% is that the brew will be fatal. If you drink it, it could very well kill you all, or even worse, change some of you back but kill some of the others. Also, I am sorry to say that my original tests on the half-life of Funnyium were way off, the chemical strengthens over time, not weakens, so if we put this off for too long, the change will be permanent. I actually hope that we aren't already too late." The six went silent for a few moments before Twilight spoke up.
"Well girls, is it worth risking death to go back to normal or should we just accept the hand that fate has dealt us?" Rarity spoke up immediately.
"I'd rather risk it. I NEED my horn back!"
"Oh um...I'm fine with whichever really...it's okay," said Fluttershy.
"Same here!" said Pinkie "But I'll do whatever you want."
"I think I speak for both me and Dash here when I say I agree with Rarity," said Applejack which prompted a nod from Rainbow Dash. Twilight took a deep breath before turning her attention towards Willem.
"Okay, I think we'll go for it." Willem merely nodded. Princess Celestia conjured up six goblets and one of the scientists filled them about halfway with a dark green, bubbling liquid. The six sat at a round table, each facing each other, and the goblets were placed in front of them. The six friends saw that each of the zebra scientists, except Willem, had a clipboard in front of them and were clearly eager to see the results of the brew. Twilight addressed her friends. "Well girls, no need to drag it out any longer, we should do it together." The six nodded before Willem chimed in.
"Before you do, I just want all of you to know that I could take back every wretched experience that you have endured because of me back. I'm so sorry for all of this." Twilight managed a smile.
"We know, Willem, we know." said Twilight. She reached forward and lifted up her goblet, the other five did the same. "Alright, on the count of three: One," the goblets were brought towards the mouths of the friends. "Two," the friends placed their lips on the edges. "Three." they drank the contents in one gulp.
To Twilight's surprise and relief, she wasn't dead...she seemed to be completely fine. She looked around the table expectantly and saw that her friends were alive and well too. Her heart sank when she saw that nothing had changed, each pony still had the attributes of another. The zebras began furiously scribbling down notes. "I...I guess it didn't work," said Twilight. She suddenly had to fight the urge to begin weeping. This was it, no more magic, no more studying under Celestia, no more...at that moment, Twilight screamed in pain. She suddenly felt like her throat was on fire. She heard the screams of her friends too; they were undoubtedly feeling the same sensation. Twilight collapsed on the floor as the pain engulfed her entire body. It felt like she had been lit on fire and at the same time, she was being repeatedly stabbed by a white hot knife. She heard panicked yells around her, but she was only vaguely aware of them. The pain was too much. The pain was her entire world right now. She just wished it would stop, she wished that she would die right now, just so she wouldn't have to endure the pain anymore.
Death...the thought suddenly crossed her mind, she was dying, the potion had gone wrong and she was dying. This was the end for her and her friends. However, the pain she was experiencing drove any thoughts of sorrow away. She welcomed death at this point. She began to black out, the screams of her friends and the panicked yells of the others faded away. To her relief, the pain was fading away too. It would all be over soon...everything would be over soon. Twilight closed her eyes as everything went black.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Princess Celestia watched helplessly as the wielders of the Elements of Harmony slowly perished in front of her, Twilight had already stopped moving as had Rainbow and Pinkie. There was nothing she could do for them anymore. There was nothing anypony could do for them anymore. She to think of a spell to save the other three, but nothing was coming to her mind, nothing would save them, and she was completely helpless. Fluttershy had stopped moving now and only Applejack and Rarity remained. The zebra scientists were running around in panic, trying to figure out what had gone wrong and if the last two could be saved. Celestia didn't pay any attention to them. They would be dealt with soon, oh yes, they would be dealt with. Celestia continued to stare at Rarity and Applejack, their screams of agony rang throughout the room.
All of a sudden, time seemed to stop. Applejack and Rarity stopped writing in agony and their eyes met for a brief moment. Rarity used this opportunity to mouth to Applejack 'I'm so sorry.' before both slipped away. Celestia's eyes filled with tears. The screams echoed in her head, she would never get the screams out of her head. However, to the surprise of everyone, the room was suddenly engulfed in a bright, white light which proceeded to temporarily blind everyone in the room.
Celestia shielded her eyes for a brief moment until the light faded. When it had, she looked back over to the bodies of the six friends. What she saw made her begin weeping in joy and sorrow. Her eyes focused on Twilight Sparkle first, her horn resting on her forehead where it had been before this whole mess while her purple and pink mane flowed from her head.
As Celestia looked around to the rest of them, she saw that they had been changed back as well. Rainbow Dash's wings were folded by her sides where they always were when she wasn't flying and her rainbow colored mane was back where it belonged. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were without horns or wings, as they too had changed back. Rarity and Fluttershy were back to their normal forms as well. Celestia saw that the changes of the manes of Applejack and Rarity had stayed the same through the switch. Both had their normal manes, but the adjustments that the other had made remained the same. However, the one thing that wasn't expected were the mane and tail of Pinkie Pie, they still hung like curtains as opposed to their normal bouncy shape. Her pink coloration was darker as well. However, Celestia hardly cared about that right now.
Celestia smiled in joy that at the very least, her subjects could rest in peace as what they always were. They would have liked that.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Twilight Sparkle awoke to darkness. No, not total darkness, there was a small light, not far from where she sat. She instinctively reached out and touched it with her horn. The bright light expanded and filled the entire space. Twilight saw that she was in a large, white room with two doors on either end. Nothing else was in the room though, just her and the doors.
At that moment though, she realized what she had just done. Her horn was back! She reached up to her forehead and sure enough, her trusty magical horn was placed firmly on her forehead. she expectantly touched her mane and to her joy, her normal purple and pink mane was back on her head where it belonged. She expected tears of joy but none came. Oh well, the feeling of joy was good enough for her.
At that moment, the door on her left opened and in bounced a wingless, cotton-candy maned Pinkie Pie, followed closely by the familiar, flying, rainbow maned Pegasus pony. As they saw each other, they beamed in joy. They rushed over to each other and each was pulled into a large hug. "I think it worked guys!" said Twilight.
"I think so too!" said Pinkie, pulling away from the hug and bouncing around the room happily. Rainbow threw her front leg over Twilight's shoulder and grinned at the bouncing pink Earth Pony. After a few seconds though, the smile faded away.
"Twilight, are we dead?" she asked. Pinkie stopped in midair for a few seconds before landing and trotting over to the others. Twilight's grin vanished at the question and it was a few seconds before she answered.
"Yes," she said quietly. "Yes we are." Rainbow began formulating an answer, but before she could, they heard the door behind them open slightly and a meek voice come from behind them that could have only come from one shy yellow Pegasus.
"Oh, um...I hope I'm not interrupting anything I just saw this door," said Fluttershy. The three Twilight and Rainbow wheeled around just in time to see Pinkie tackle Fluttershy and pull her into a big hug. Twilight grinned at the sight.
"No, no you're not" she said to the shy Pegasus.
"Oh, well, that's good," said Fluttershy. She looked around the room. "So, what now?" she asked.
"Well, we're just waiting for Rarity and Applejack and then I guess we find that out," said Rainbow Dash.
"Did somepony just say our names?" said a familiar eloquent voice. The four looked at the door to see Applejack and Rarity trotting through. surprisingly, they had switched manes but the styles of the changes they had made remained. Nopony cared about that right now though as the group immediately began a large group hug.
They hugged and laughed with each other, hardly caring at the moment that the brew they had been given had killed them. They were together right now, at that was all that mattered. The group heard the door to their right open.
"Would you look at that dear? I'd say that our daughter found some good ponies to be friends with," said a warm, baritone male voice.
"I'd say so," said a happy female voice. "They really do care for each other." the group puled away from their hug to see who was talking and they saw a pair of two earth ponies, who were a little older than the group. One had a cowboy hat on, the same make as Applejack's. He had a cranberry red body with an apple tree as a cutie mark. His mane was cut about the same length as Big Mac's mane and was the color of Apple Bloom's mane. The other was a slightly smaller Earth Pony who had a coat of a lighter shade of orange than Applejack and had a long, blonde mane which she let fall loose around her. Her cutie mark was a gardening trowel next to a blooming daisy.
At the sight of these two ponies, Applejack's eyes widened and she slowly walked towards her grinning parents, too much in shock to say anything coherent. When she reached them, she finally managed to stutter a response. "M...Ma? Pa? Is that you?" she asked in joyful shock. The male pony laughed.
"Yeah, AJ, it's us," he said. "It's nice to see you again." Applejack didn't respond but instead she threw her front legs around her parents and drew them into a hug which they returned. The three ponies were wrapped in that embrace for what seemed like an eternity, but nopony cared at all. Not a single tear was shed and the five friends smiled at the reunion of daughter and parents. Eventually, Applejack broke away and began grinning wider than she ever had before. Applejack's mother put her hoof on her shoulder.
"We just want you to know that we have been watching you. We are very proud of you AJ," she said and her husband nodded.
"Thank you Ma. Big Mac and Apple Bloom are doin' very well."
"We know. we are glad to hear that, very glad," said Applejack's father. "Now, introduce us to your friends! We've always wanted to meet them in person."
"Oh, of course!" said Applejack happily. As the introductions went around, Twilight was beginning to wonder what would happen now. Applejack was obviously overjoyed to see her parents again. In fact, she was happier than Twilight had ever seen her before and that made the rest of them happy too. However, after a few minutes of introductions, Twilight felt the need to chime in.
"So, what now?" she asked Applejack's parents.
"Well, that depends on you six," said Applejack's mother. Twilight cocked her head quizzically.
"What do you mean? We're dead, isn't there only one way from here?"
"Dead? Oh good gracious no, you're not dead. Your bodies are very much alive down in Canterlot they're just...dormant, I think is the best word," said Applejack's mother.
"So we're still alive!?" asked Rarity incredulously.
"Of course!" said Applejack's father. "You don't think He's that cruel do you?"
"Uh, who is 'He'?" asked Rainbow Dash. Applejack's father made eye contact with Pinkie Pie and when he knew that he had her attention, he pointed towards a small crack in the wall. At this, Pinkie burst out into rambunctious laughter to the amusement of Applejack's parents but to the confusion of the other five.
"Uh, Pinkie, what are they talking about?" asked Twilight. Pinkie took a few seconds to control her laughter before she answered.
"I'll tell you about it later."
"Okay, but the question remains, what now?" said Fluttershy.
"Well, like I said, that depends on you six. In all honesty, you can end it here. My wife and I are going back to the door where we came from and anyone who wants to follow us back is technically free to do so. If you want to return to life, then you just need to tap your back hooves together and just keep saying "there's no place like home"." Applejack's mother rolled her eyes and lightly punched her husband's shoulder with her hoof. He just laughed and his wife had to hold back a grin herself. "All kidding aside, you simply have to go back through the door that you came through. It's as simple as that. I personally would suggest the latter option. You six aren't quite done yet. No, I see many more adventures for you six."
"Well, then I say we head on back then," said Twilight. The other five nodded in agreement.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now then," said Applejack's mother.
"Take care you six," said Applejack's father. As the six went towards their door, Applejack rushed back over to her parents for one final hug.
"I miss you so much," she said quietly.
"Don't AJ, trust us, we're doing alright here," said her father. A quiet voice chimed in behind them.
"Does it hurt...actually dying I mean?" said Fluttershy. Applejack's parents broke off the hug and addressed Fluttershy with small grins.
"Not at all. the means to the death may be painful, but the actual act of death, not at all. Still, don't you go worrying about that for a long time Fluttershy. You have many decades ahead of you," said Applejack's mother. Fluttershy nodded and turned back towards the door. Twilight was the closest and so she was going to go through first. She took one final glance at Applejack's parents who waved her forward before stepping through.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Princess Celestia had used her magic to evaporate the cauldron and the brew inside. The zebras were all huddled around the tables, awaiting her wrath which was sure to come at any moment. For now, she just stared at the scorch mark on the floor that her spell had left. Nothing else mattered for right now. Now that the wielders were dead, she was unsure of what to do. Who would gain control of the elements now? Would their power go back to her and Luna or would they merely move on to other ponies? She pushed those thoughts aside for now, it was a matter to be dealt with later.
She became vaguely aware of chatter behind her and the realization that her student's killers were behind her caused her to snap out of her shock. she turned to face them, anger flaring in her eyes. She had not felt rage like this in centuries.
"You...you MONSTERS! You killed them, you killed them all!" she said in pure fury. She was unsure of just how to punish them for this monstrous crime. she was beginning to regret destroying the brew as the agony that the six friends had felt in their final moments would be punishment enough for them...for now. The zebras just tried avoiding eye contact with her. They figured that nothing else could make her angrier. They were all doomed anyway. "I should rip you apart piece by piece, maybe then you would experience the agony that you bestowed upon them in their final moments of life! I should..." but before Princess Celestia could continue her threats, she heard a small groan from behind her. She wheeled around to face what she was sure were the lifeless bodies of the six friends to see Twilight Sparkle beginning to stir. Celestia's eyes widened and the zebra's looked on in a vague hope that maybe they weren't about to be destroyed.
Celestia moved over to Twilight and picked her up in her hooves. Twilight's eyes began to flutter open and within a few moments, she had regained consciousness. "Well, I guess it worked." said Twilight with surprising clarity. To the surprise of everyone, she shook her head a few times and leaped out of Celestia's grasp and onto the floor, looking no worse for wear. She wasn't even groggy. As if on cue, the other five began waking up as well and within moments, the six friends were awake and fully alert. Celestia and the zebras looked on in awe at the six very alive friends.
Silence ruled the ballroom. No one said anything. No one was sure of what to even say.
At that moment, Pinkie's hair bounced back.