Alternate Beginnings: Year Five

by Doug Graves

Rating: teen
Tags: Pinkie Pie, Sex, Applejack, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human, Romance, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy
Length: 59026

Hidden foes arise, prompting the mares of Herd Apple to ask - is Doug a monster, too?

Herd Apple continues to grow, making new friends, but concealed foes threaten to prove that there are monsters lurking. But, what makes a monster? Is it the choices you make? Or does merely having the opportunity and the inclination to do so qualify? After all, what kind of being would willingly allow a terrible situation to occur, if you had the power to prevent it in the first place?

Reading of previous books is not required, though some events from earlier years may be referenced.

Set approximately three years before the events of MlP:FiM

Sex tag is for relationships between human and ponies (no clop).

Previous Years:
Alternate Beginnings: Year Four

Continued In:
Alternate Beginnings: Year Six

Published 2018-08-25 17:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-09-13 16:53:57 UTC

2 The Unbreathing Queen

January 10th, 997

Queen Chrysalis looks over the many reports in front of her. She has been quite productive over the last few years. After all, a hive does not breed itself into existence, and she has been very busy gathering love, in both senses of the word. Years ago, her early scouts reported a great many ponies in the land, easily many thousands. And each pony, given the right conditions, would serve her well, recurring sources of love that could then make more sources of love.

She has refined her techniques, over the years. Back when she started you could barely make out that the husk of remaining material used to be organic, much less a creature. Then, after a few iterations and refinements the shriveled remains became identifiable, and they could more easily fake the cause of death. And now, while they can drain and drain and drain until nothing remains, there are two issues. One, why kill off a perfectly good food source? And two, the alicorn Celestia, the tyrant of this fertile land, will deal with her harshly when she finds out that they have spread here. Much more so if anything bad has already happened to her precious ponies. Their past encounters had been smaller, mere skirmishes in comparison to the conquest Queen Chrysalis plans for this land.

And she will find out, Queen Chrysalis knows. Ever since the Invictus Solaris thwarted her earlier takeover of Emperor Incitatus, she may be wise to her methods. In that far off land, those years ago, she had merely impersonated the Emperor's fiance. Now, she has a new host of changeling drones, specially trained to impersonate and integrate. Her goal, to spread her integrators far and wide, even into the ranks of Solaris' guard, has been progressing very nicely, nearly fifty spread across the various towns and cities of Equestria. Their love gathering may be far less than a normal infiltrator, but it is sustained, to say nothing of the information they gather. Even if they were to gather no love, they prove themselves valuable; and yet they are, at the barest minimum, self sustaining! It is the final spurt of a stallion's passion on the delectable cake that is this fecund population. And, even better, they serve as an insurance policy for when she decides to strike. Or is discovered.

Her dedicated love collectors, on the other hoof, have been a bit more aggressive in their gathering in the last few months. The hundreds of eggs that her hive has lain will certainly need that love in order to flourish. It will be difficult to continue her current campaign of integration, as too many ponies turning up from Trottingham or some other far off city will get suspicious. And she won't be able to just have infiltrators take the place of ponies, as too many ponies suddenly turning up with memory loss would be too obvious. Even if it is a convenient and potent source of love, for the time that it lasts.

So, she'll just need to surprise the so-called Princess of the Sun. Queen Chrysalis smirks; all of her intelligence on the alicorn points to a pony who cares deeply about the fate of her subjects. So deeply that she would surrender to Queen Chrysalis' might rather than allow her ponies to be harmed. And, of course, they would not be harmed; merely subject to her whims and desires, their power devoured to form more changelings, who would be able to join with more ponies. Truly, a virtuous cycle.

And, it is almost as if their society is tailor made for her changelings: she can merely integrate one changeling into a herd, and bask in the glow of the ponies' love for each other, and it barely even impacts the ponies whose love is being gathered. Well, maybe just a nibble here and there. Remaining undetected forever, though, would be a near impossibility. Word would quickly spread if just one changeling is found, and then every pony held suspect, and tested. Though, if she manages to integrate a changeling into every herd Celestia would have no choice but to allow her to continue. The threat of missing even one integrator and potentially allowing an innocent herd to perish being too great. And the ponies themselves would be unable to band together, as their distrust for each other would be too great, and the vast power of their harmony would crumble.

But, how to get there, and where to go from there...

Queen Chrysalis looks over the reports of the different creatures in Equestria. Ponies are here, obviously; Queen Chrysalis does a quick transformation to an earth pony, a pegasus, a unicorn, an alicorn, then back to her changeling form. Power levels remarkably similar on the first three, a bit of a boost on the alicorn transformation but also more of a drain. She won't be able to swap between that and other forms very often; better find a way to stay transformed for an extended time to make the transformation cost worth the power boost.

She looks at the next report, finally getting to the creatures she isn't familiar with. Or at least were so rare back in the south, and even in most of the towns here in Equestria that she has already infiltrated, to not be worth the increased attention they would garner should they show up in a pony village. First off, a griffon. She reads through the description, glancing at the pictures; a quick burst of magic later and a female griffon is standing in front of the table. Another burst and a male griffon, and then back to her changeling form. Hmm, flight similar to a pegasus. Claws; may need to train with those, as the reports indicate they use them for grasping.

Next up, dragons. She looks at the pages, grimacing; a mature dragon might be too taxing. She could do it, probably, but it would burn far too much energy to convert to such a high mass. Not worth the cost just for a demonstration, a proof of concept. The teenage dragon, though... they look far more manageable. And better for scouting, as it would be more likely to find a teenage dragon off in the middle of the woods than a mature one.

One green pulse later and a teal female dragon is hunched over, clutching her chest. Chrysalis quickly morphs back; that was far more draining than she thought! The fire resistance, fire breath, organs to support those abilities, the different fluids coursing through her body. She looks down, a few of the holes in her legs growing slightly larger. She shrugs, moving to one of the holding cells to get a quick recharge.

Queen Chrysalis strides down the dark hallways, her two guards moving to the side as she comes to the holding cells. The green liquid covers the two ponies they have captured, keeping them euphoric and incapacitated. Queen Chrysalis closes her eyes, basking in the love she withdraws from the two as they continue their dream. She considers; does she need another egg? Eh, might as well get some more use out of one of them, though she will need to wait to complete the process until she is done testing the transformations.

Their tryst complete, Chrysalis signals to the guards. These two ponies have served their purpose, and would be sent back to where they had been captured. Though, the orange coated male seems to have suffered a small amount, his colorful mane turning a prismatic gray. Oh well; the ponies would probably find some mysterious swamp disease to blame it on. She will need to find a way to correct that in the future. Nonetheless, by keeping the captures short - these two merely spent the night, no inkling they had ever left their camp in the Hayseed Swamp - their presence could go undetected for even longer. It isn't like keeping them inside the cocoons is an option. Ponies do not regenerate love through the enforced dreams of the pods, requiring interaction with each other. Even keeping them in cages makes their love stale and powerless, almost as if ponies require actualization and meaning in their pathetic little lives. Should her plan work, she would need to tread carefully, as becoming too tyrannical and dominating could kill off the usefulness of this population as effectively as a claw to the neck. Not that the Tyrant of the Sun would suffer her doing such a thing.

She quickly bottles the excess love, levitating the container to the guard for storage and distribution. Maybe she had drained a little too much from the stallion. Back to her experiments, to see if any of the other creatures in this or the surrounding countries would be worth infiltrating. Well, of course they are all worth infiltrating, if just to get an idea of how much of a threat they would pose to her once she has taken over Equestria. More to see if they are worth subjugating, incorporating their species under her hoof. Or if she would be better served by turning their land into more pony land and, by extension, more changeling land.

Hmm, Yaks. The description seems very similar to earth ponies, if larger and more brutish, less reliant on magic and more on physical strength. Maybe just a young version, to keep from burning more energy than necessary. She doesn't have a spare battery around this time. A burst of green leaves Queen Chrysalis scowling as she looks down at the unfamiliar body; far too much hair. It is thick, itchy, and hot, even with her being accustomed to the heat of the Badlands. Let's see, the Buffalo; basically the same, but more adjusted for living in the Badlands. Looks similar, but likely not worth the effort; according to the report their society is too small to effectively infiltrate. Maybe a full impersonation would be required. An easy transformation back, and she looks at the next creature on the list.

Hmm. She flips the page over; surely there is more information than this? For a creature that lives with the ponies, in an area with a dedicated integrator? Just two reports, and barely any information at that? A rough sketch, likely from over a hundred yards away. A brief description. One newspaper clipping. Oh, the full report is in a different folder, she was looking at the appendix.

Compiled below are the reports on the creature, designated Terra.

'On February 19th, 993, an unusual creature, later termed human, was observed walking through Ponyville. After a confirmation check, Integrator PV was directed to tail the target. Designation Terra was given, because he emits as much magical energy as the surrounding dirt. Other physical characteristics include a thin bipedal build, estimating six feet tall and one hundred fifty pounds, similar in stature to a minotaur with a much smaller upper body. Appendages (later termed hands) on the end of upper limbs, allowing for grasping approximately double that of an adult earth pony. Lower limb appendages (feet) act as shock absorbers, allowing for efficient movement in an upright position, but low top speed.

Terra was observed moving to the residence of Gem Finder, leaving later that night with Tri-Apple. Infiltrator was too far away to observe the conversation directly, but showed familiarity. Due to weak projected physical strength and low - if any - magic, Terra was given a low priority. On later days, Terra was observed at the Apple farm, working as a farm hand or possible consort, given their friendly and more intimate interactions.

Over the course of late April and early May, Gem Finder and Rainbow Mane observed spending increased amounts of time at Apple Farm. Terra begins twice a week visits to Gem Finder, otherwise rarely observed coming to or going from Ponyville.

Starting in 994, Terra takes additional duties as foalsitter, often appearing with Gem Finder, Rainbow Mane, and Tri-Apple foals. Schedule varies, now occasionally visiting Sugarcube and Carousel. No other changes noted, priority unchanged.

Update from 994; Terra appears to be the sire of the foals. No other changes noted.'

Report from August 12th, 995:

'Gem Finder and Terra, along with three diamond dogs presumably serving as scouts and diggers, observed coming within five miles of main hive location. Defensive countermeasures put in place and readied, though proved unnecessary as the two were ambushed by a quad essence golem. They defeated the golem, one of the diamond dogs sustaining an injury. Afterwards changed course, stand down issued at hive. Followed for several miles, later observed leaving the Badlands.

Appended to the reports is a rough drawing of the bipedal creature, physical description, and known aliases and connections.'

Queen Chrysalis shakes her head. She remembers reports of the security incident, she had been infiltrating at the time, but this was part of the cause? A solitary specimen? No magic? Well, apparently it could sire foals with the ponies; had it been accepted into their society because of that? Despite it? But, what other use could it have? What purpose, why was it there? The ponies generally were occasionally xenophobic, leading to many border skirmishes with other races. Why was this one different?

A smile slowly creeps over Chrysalis' face; maybe it could conceal its magic. Or, it had some sort of mind control. If she could replicate that? If the ability to ingratiate yourself to a population could be used concurrently to her current power, her ability to subjugate one pony and slowly bend them to her will utterly and completely? And then replicated among her changelings? This could change everything! Imagine! The ponies would never even need to know of the changeling's existence, instead using this power to integrate themselves into pony society. Much less resentment, less resources needing to be devoted to enforcing their oppression. And it would be easier to continue on to other countries, as they would not be prepared for the changeling advances.

Hmm, a male specimen. Well, maybe she can extrapolate to a female version after her first transformation is complete. At least there is a very thorough drawing of Terra, as well as a photograph from a distance, her keen eye noticing small details she would incorporate into her transformation.

One burst of green magic later and a tall human is standing at the table. She takes one look at her hand, her face screwing up in terror, and bellows, "Guards! To me! It is an emergency!" She grabs the emergency bottle she keeps in her study, opening it, the form unable to quaff the stored energy.

They come running, of course. Even without her projection this form could be loud, if she needs it, though her hearing is lacking. But her magic! She can barely sense it, but it is inaccessible, as if locked inside one of her vaults. The form lacks strength, barely able to carry her own weight! And now she is stuck as one!

Her guards round the corner, opening the door to her study. The interrogative, "Honey?" comes from one, the other readying its horn.

"Bramble," comes her hurried answer, the guards relaxing at the correct response. She stands, "Quick, rally those off duty; I need help with a transformation gone wrong."

One guard quickly nods, rushing off while the other asks, "What else can be done, Queen?"

Queen Chrysalis glares at her hand, making a fist and smacking it into the table. She winces, shaking at the unexpected pain. Chrysalis looks up as ten more changelings enter the room. "Good. Now, I need ideas. This form is far weaker than I imagined, when I transformed into it. No magic, barely any strength. How can I change back to my changeling form?"

"Love infusion?" one of them tentatively offers.

Queen Chrysalis points at the opened bottle, "Tried it. What else?"

The changelings look among each other, most of them hiding their shrugs and dismayed looks. One of them ventures, "Queen, what if the worst? If you are unable to change back?"

"Nothing? No ideas, from any of you?" Queen Chrysalis shakes her head, pointing at the first changeling that spoke up, "You. We may need to utilize our emergency stores, to keep everyling topped off. Start working on a plan that distributes the stores. You," she points at the second changeling, "Work on a crash course to increase the number of seducers we have. We may need to drastically increase our love intake, and quickly, should I be unable to continue in that fashion."

She stands, looking at the rest of the expectant changelings, "The rest of you, I need ideas on how to reverse this transformation. Anything. Oh, except for you," she points a hand at one changeling who, to her credit, stands up straighter, "I need a plan to go to Ponyville."

3 The Misunderstood Queen

January 12th, 997

Doug waves at another pony as he makes his way to Rarity's Boutique; after playing Bridge with Spoiled Rich and Cheerilee and watching the fillies play soccer a few more ponies have opened up to his presence, a couple of other pairs asking if he would teach them as well. Unfortunately, with the work on the farm gearing up, two year old foals, another very soon to come, and mounting pressure from Cloudsdale to pick up a few more towns he doesn't have a lot of extra time. Rarity's will hopefully be a comforting distraction, a break from the tumultuous atmosphere the Apple household quickly devolves to. Maybe Fluttershy could come over and hang out, see if they could sing together again.

A unicorn Doug doesn't recognize starts walking next to him, initially peering up at him as they continue along the road. Doug glances back with a smile, several long seconds before the unicorn says, "Doug?"

"Yes; can I help you?" he replies as The Carousel Boutique comes into view. The unicorn seems to be growing a little anxious, nervously glancing from side to side. Doug tenses up; normally Sweetie Belle is playing outside, waiting for his arrival, but the filly is nowhere to be seen.

The unicorn stammers, "Well, I was hoping that we, well, that I could get your assistance with an issue that my qu- I mean, that I am having."

Doug stops outside the front of the Boutique, the sign on the front flipped to closed earlier than it should have. "You need my help? I suppose, sure, but what would you need me for?" He turns, heading to the side door that leads to the kitchen.

"Oh, well, um, we've been having a little issue. Nothing too serious, but we can definitely use your help."

Doug opens the door, looking at the unicorn, "Okay, I'd be glad to, if you need it, miss?"

The unicorn laughs nervously, "Oh, you can call me Delilah."

Doug smiles, "That's an unusual name for a... pony..." he stammers as he walks into the kitchen. Rarity and Sweetie Belle are on the table, laying next to each other with eyes closed, horns and hooves encased in a green goo. Two small black, chitinous ponies are standing next to them, long white fangs protruding from their mouths. They snarl at him, their dark wings beating ominously as the door behind him clicks shut, the unicorn smiling while her horn glows a brilliant green, transforming into a similar black form.

Doug stands, trying to take in the scene as one of the black ponies moves closer to Rarity, baring its fangs and staring at him with cyan eyes. Doug holds up his hands, a quiet, "Hey, please, don't hurt her," as the pony above Rarity smiles, slowly creeping closer, the light glinting off the sharp protrusions. The pony behind Doug pushes him, forcing him to a kneeling position, Doug briefly glaring as he moves his arms behind his back. A short laugh comes from the pony in front of him, slowly moving back into its original position.

Doug looks to the side when he hears a sound no pony has made before and a voice that sounds eerily similar. The sound of hand on hand, a hooded figure walking into the room and clapping. The voice says, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the same human that we saw in the Badlands."

Doug says, "Look, none of this is necessary, just-"

The figure moves forward, slapping one hand against Doug's face. It startles him more than injures him; one arm moves to his cheek before the pony behind him pulls on his arm again. He relaxes, allowing his arm to be pulled behind his back and looking up as the figure pulls the hood off, saying, "You will address me with the proper respect, human. My name is Queen Chrysalis!"

Doug stares blankly as his own visage glares back at him. Doug says, "Um," before the human in front of him points a fist at him.

"Silence." Doug immediately quiets down, resting back as Queen Chrysalis stalks in front of him, turning on the pony behind him. "You. That was pathetic, your task to get him to come here fulfilled only because it was what he was already doing."

The chitinous pony bows her head, "I will strive to improve, Queen."

"Soldiers." Queen Chrysalis shakes her head, "You must adapt to any circumstance." She turns back to Doug, "Now, human, you will help me fix what you have done!"

Doug stammers, "I'm not sure exactly what I did to you, um, Queen? You want me to call... me... Queen?"

The figure nods, glaring down, "You know, I thought you were more intelligent than that. Yes, you, whatever you are, did this to me!"

Doug slowly shakes his head, "Right. I don't know what happened to you. I would be happy to help, but I can't really help like this, okay?" Doug motions towards Rarity with his shoulder, not attempting to move his hand in front of his body.

Queen Chrysalis looks closely at Doug before nodding to the pony behind him. The pressure lets up on Doug, and he moves his arms in front of him, rubbing his hands on his elbows. He glances over at Rarity and Sweetie Belle, the two ponies still unconscious on the table. Doug says, "Are they okay?"

Queen Chrysalis nods, looking back and saying, "Do it." A burst of green magic comes from the two ponies on the table. They transform into chitinous ponies, the goop disappearing from their hooves, as the original two guards move to the closet, opening it up to reveal an unconscious Rarity and Sweetie Belle, hooves and horns encased in the goop. They pick up the two ponies as Chrysalis explains, "They are merely sleeping, and will be unharmed as long as you cooperate. Now; why am I unable to use my magic?" Doug watches as the two white ponies are carried out of the room, up the stairs towards Rarity's bedroom.

Doug waits until the four leave the room before shrugging, "I don't know. Not that I know anything about it, but what kind of magic are you talking about?"

Chrysalis sighs, moving an arm up and down, flexing the hand that hit him, "I don't believe you, human." Doug shrugs, Chrysalis continuing, "Fine, if you wish to play this game. If you answer my questions satisfactorily, I will let you and your mate live. First, tell me about yourself. What is a human?"

Doug motions at Chrysalis as the two guards return, "What, you can't tell for yourself? I don't know what you are looking for. Warm blooded? Use tools with hands? Sexual reproduction? There are a lot of things I can think of to describe a human, but I don't know what you mean."

Chrysalis glares, "That is your first wrong answer, human; you do not want to get to three. You know what I am talking about! How do you access your magic?"

"What?" Doug asks, his mouth open as he looks blankly at Chrysalis, a beads of sweat starting to form on his brow.

Chrysalis huffs, "That is two. Every other creature I've transformed into, I have an innate understanding of their magic - ponies, griffons, dragons. But your magic eludes me, human, leaving me unable to transform back into my native form. I cannot provide for my hive like this, and they are beginning to suffer. Now, tell me, or I will bring your mate back down here so you can watch what I do to her!"

Doug starts laughing, starting as a low chuckle that leads to loud guffaws, holding one arm on his stomach and the other covering his eyes. He slowly regains his composure as Chrysalis glares at him, her motioning to her guards interrupted by him saying, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to make light of your suffering. I hope we figure this out, because I don't have a magic core!"

It is Chrysalis' turn to stare blankly at Doug, "What?"

Doug calmly restates, "I don't have a magic core. I have no magic." He puts a hand to his chin, "Well, I might have one. I just never use it, so I don't know where it is."

"NO!" Chrysalis bellows as she charges Doug, tackling him to the floor. Chrysalis punches him several times in the torso, weak hits that barely move his body. Doug raises his arms to shield his face, twisting his legs to protect his groin, as Chrysalis continues to release her rage on him. He looks up at three of the other ponies as Chrysalis hits his blocking arms; they seem to be milling about, unsure of whether to help or stay back.

Doug grabs both of Chrysalis' arms, quickly overpowering his double and spinning her around. Doug twists one arm, then the other behind Chrysalis' back, holding them in place with one hand before rolling Chrysalis to the floor. He holds her in place, remarking, "What, did your transforming ability not copy muscles? Or are you just that reliant on your magic? Rainbow was the same way, you know."

Chrysalis squirms in Doug's arms, "Release me this instant!" Doug grimaces as he looks up, the three ponies moving towards him, their horns and bodies beginning to glow green as they get ready to charge, the other two moving towards the staircase where they had taken Rarity and Sweetie Belle.

Doug chuckles, "Do you agree to play nicely?" as he slides his double away with one leg, slowly getting to his feet. Chrysalis glares at Doug as he releases her, rubbing her wrists where Doug had been gripping.

"And here I thought humans were just weak." Chrysalis gets up, anger on her face as Doug flexes a bicep at her, a bit of frustration starting to show on his face.

"You know, this would go a lot better if you could keep your emotions in check." Doug pauses before he snaps his fingers, "Hey; I might have something."

Chrysalis looks hopeful for once, "Really? Maybe I can hit you some more, see if that helps."

Doug chuckles nervously, "Well, how well can you detect magic?"

Chrysalis pouts at being denied more chances to release her anger, "As a human? Not at all." Chrysalis looks to the three black ponies around her, "My changelings might have a little difficulty, but they should be able to."

Doug nods, "I'll be right back." He glances up the stairs, the two changelings moving to the top of the stairs, their implied threat obvious should he not return. Doug shudders as he starts to walk out of the room, stopping as two of the guards move in front of him. Doug glances over at Chrysalis, who motions to let him continue. The guards follow Doug as he moves to one of the storerooms, glancing past the crystal javelins and tower shield before finding the quad essence crystal. He grabs the pair of sunglasses on a nearby table, putting them on and removing the crystal. He asks one of the changelings, "Can you see anything in this?"

The changeling nods, Doug putting the crystal back into the box, carrying it back to Chrysalis. Doug says, "So, about a year ago, this crystal... infected me. The unicorn who fixed it thought it was because of my innate lack of magic that it was able to get to me; what might have been my magical core absorbed it, the remnants it released. Then, she was able to physically... actually, magically remove the psychic remnants of the crystal that had made its way into me. I have no idea if it would work, but if you let the essence crystal do its thing to you, then you might be able to sense your core. Or your... changelings could. I hope you have some latent magical ability, because if you are relying on mine then you might be stuck as me forever."

Queen Chrysalis looks to the three changelings, "Why didn't any of you think of this? We have these crystals scattered all over the hive!" The three look back at Chrysalis before looking back and forth at each other. Chrysalis looks back at Doug, "So, you just stare at it for a while?"

Doug nods. Chrysalis begins to stare at the crystal as Doug looks to the three guards, "I don't suppose you mind if I go check on Rarity?" The guards look to each other, Chrysalis not reacting, and one starts walking towards the stairs. Doug mutters, "Thanks," as he follows the guard to the bedroom. Rarity and Sweetie Belle are still sleeping on the bed, cuddled next to each other. Doug moves up, placing a hand on Rarity's back and rubbing into her fur. He sighs, "I hope you don't have a headache from all this, that you are okay." Doug rubs down her leg, getting to the green goop holding her hooves together. He looks up at the changeling, "I don't suppose you can remove this?"

The changeling glances back, then nods, her horn lighting up a brilliant green. The goo seems to dissolve into nothing, Doug picking up each of her hooves in turn and rubbing the matted hair down. He repositions her legs to a more comfortable position before giving her a hug around the barrel. Rarity doesn't react, a soft sob coming from Doug as he repeats the action with Sweetie Belle. He gets up; the changeling guard is standing very close, what Doug can best describe as a pleased look on her face. He heads back down the stairs; Chrysalis is still staring at the crystal while two changelings look on, eyes glowing a bright blue.

Several minutes pass before Queen Chrysalis lets out a loud, "Yesss!" and transforms in a burst of green magic. The large form of Queen Chrysalis looms above him, a long, jagged black horn sprouting from her long blue hair. Her thin body and long black legs stand before him as she spins, looking at her body from every angle. She transforms into a pony, a buffalo, then back into her changeling form.

"Mmm," she purrs, admiring her hooves before glancing back at Doug, the human staring at the changeling Queen. She smirks, looking at him seductively and turning her body, "Like what you see?"

Doug looks over her body; he shrugs, "Eh, not really."

Queen Chrysalis glares at Doug, rage on her face, "WHAT! THEn, human," her face wavers, no longer confident, "What don't you like?"

Doug raises an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yes!" Chrysalis barks, glaring at Doug. "TELL ME!"

"Um, your body is too small for how tall you are. I don't care for your hair style or color, a nice brunette in a ponytail, same length, would look way better."

"Pff." Chrysalis blows a strand of hair from her face, "Haters gonna hate. You are lucky I am feeling generous, OR YOU WOULD FEEL MY WRATH!" Chrysalis' horn glows green, shining brightly before she gives a nervous glance to the windows. "Come, guards, let us leave this place! Quickly!" The guards exchange nervous looks, making their way to the kitchen door and transforming into ponies. Queen Chrysalis spots the crystal, "Oh, and I'll be taking this!" grabbing it in her magic and transforming into a tall unicorn.

The five guard ponies move to the door, slipping out one at a time. The remaining unicorn wavers before going to Doug. She says, "Hey, uh, thanks for helping." Doug looks at her in shock as a burst of magic comes from the unicorn's horn. Doug crumples to the ground, his head slamming onto the wooden floor. She then hurries out the door, closing it behind her as Doug lays on the floor, unconscious.

Some time later Rarity walks down the stairs, yawning and holding her head. She spots Doug, asleep on the floor, and laughs quietly. She moves over, nuzzling him and saying, "Good evening, sleepyhead. I didn't know they were working you that hard over at Sweet Apple Acres!"

Doug groans, "What just happened?" as he stirs, wincing as he rubs his head. He looks up at Rarity, then around at the otherwise untouched room. "Was I asleep?"

Rarity yawns, "Yes, and I am still feeling a little tired from today. Wouldn't you prefer to sleep upstairs with me?" She tries to wink seductively, but the effect is ruined by another yawn. "I must warn you, Sweetie Belle is also fast asleep on the bed, so if you insist on doing anything it will be down here, but I myself am exhausted."

Doug smacks his lips together a few times before laying back down on his side, "No, Mama, I'm not tired." He closes his eyes as Rarity rolls hers, pushing the side of her head against his back. He reaches an arm behind himself, softly stroking her face before rolling underneath her, the unicorn giving a reluctant sigh before going for a kiss.

4 Risen Blood

February 14th, 997

"ICE CHIPS!! I SAID, ICE CHIPS!!"

"Okay, Fluttershy, they are on the way."

"THESE ARE ICE SLIVERS! I HATE YOU!! EEEE-"

The high pitched scream slowly tapers down, pausing only when Fluttershy takes a breath. Doug enjoys the short lived respite while he can. Soon enough and the wail comes back, tuned out a little as Rainbow Dash rushes back in the room, a bucket of what is hopefully ice chips in her hooves. Doug plunges his hand into the bucket, holding it there for a few seconds as the screaming and flailing from next to him continues unabated. He withdraws his cold empty hand, placing it on Fluttershy's forehead.

The mare instantly quiets down, the quiet disturbed only by the occasional beep of the two monitors. She breathes softly, holding onto Doug's arm with both hooves, looking to be peacefully asleep to any unaware observer.

Rainbow glances at the list on the table, wiping away a bit of sweat. She says loudly, "Okay, that was a new one. Sorry I misheard it, but I really don't think there should have been an issue, there's like no difference."

Doug shrugs. "There isn't, don't worry about it. Okay, I'm fairly certain she's going to repeat on the next one, do we have everything ready?"

Twenty Nine Hours Ago

Doug turns; the hesitant knock at his door is getting louder, just now able to be made out over the din of the fillies playing whatever game. He glances down at his reports; nothing immediate needs to be done, so he can take a break. He walks over, opening the door, revealing Fluttershy standing there and looking very reluctant.

"Hey 'Shy; it finally happen?"

Fluttershy glances back at her flank, nervously whispering, "Um, I mean, I don't want to be a bother, but I think so. I've started... leaking."

Doug smiles, getting up from his chair. "Excellent! I bet you're ready for her to be out of you, am I right?"

"I suppose so; whenever she is ready."

Present Time

Rainbow nods. "Yup, everything is ready, but Angel Bunny really isn't happy about what happened the last time. I had to promise him ten carrots and a free trip across Ponyville just to get him to come out the time before! And then she went and grabbed him too tightly. Again." Doug glances around the room; it's essentially bare except for the machines and furniture. If the object is in the room, Fluttershy doesn't want it. If it isn't in the room, it invariably becomes the object she fixates on, demanding it over and over and louder and louder until she gets it.

"Yup." Doug sighs, as he flexes his hand. The mare really has no clue how hard she is pulling or tugging or hitting, making it very frustrating to deal with her constant demands. He grabs one of the ice chips, popping it into his mouth. Next, one of his oat bars, closing his eyes as he strokes Fluttershy. She coos, slowly rubbing her muzzle up and down, trying to spread the cool sensation around her face before slowly letting her breath out and relaxing against the sheets. She also wouldn't let him out of the room, even to go to the bathroom. Well, she doesn't leave the room for that either, and sometimes can't control it when she is pushing, so it just gets more than a little embarrassing for everypony. At least they both have plenty of experience cleaning up dirty diapers.

Twenty Eight Hours Ago

Pinkie Pie pronks around the hospital room. "It's going to be so amazing once you have your foal and then your foal and my foal can play with each other and they're going to be bestest best friends, just like me and my sister Maud, and they're going to do so many things together and-"

Fluttershy, pacing back and forth, nervously whispers, "Pinkie."

Present Time

Nurse Redheart moves over to the foot of the bed, carefully spreading Fluttershy's legs, doing a quick check on her progress. She smiles at the two of them, "Well, thirteenth times the charm, right? I'm, let's say, eighty percent certain it will start this time."

"Yeah, well, the last time you said that, an hour ago, it was ninety percent." Rainbow Dash huffs. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that."

"Yes, well, after the last time I had to adjust my calculations." Nurse Redheart points to the chart on the wall; it originally had tracked the pegasus' progress, but after the tenth hour they had given up making neat, orderly lines and started scribbling in the margins. "If you re-"

Doug cuts off Nurse Redheart's retort, "Next one starting up, 'Shy. Remember, start breathing in on one, count to four, then breath out on one. Okay?"

Twenty Six Hours Ago

Pinkie Pie busily pronks around. "-and maybe she'll like counting leaves like I like counting balloons and there are so many leaves out in Ponyville I mean have you ever thought about how many leaves there are in one apple tree and there are soooo many apple trees and-"

Fluttershy, looking very exasperated with bits of sweat beading on her body, whispers, "Pinkie."

Present Time

A muffled snore is the only response from the yellow pegasus, Doug holding a hoof in one hand and making sure his earplugs are secure with the other. Fluttershy awakens, an anxious look around before she locks onto Doug and his unwavering eyes. She smiles before grunting; Doug begins counting, Fluttershy trying to keep her breathing in time as her body begins pushing. She says brightly, "Oh, it feels like she's moving!" before a loud scream rips through the room.

Doug continues his count for about a minute, Fluttershy wailing the entire time. Nurse Redheart, the earth pony patiently watching for any sign of movement, gives Doug a nod. Fluttershy stops wailing, now shouting, "ORANGE!! I NEED ORANGE GEL!!"

Twenty Four Hours Ago

Pinkie Pie takes a large breath.

Fluttershy whispers, "Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie turns upside down, "Yes?"

"Um, oh, never mind." Fluttershy paws at the ground, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh my gosh Fluttershy, you're right! I need to go make sure the parties are ready!" The pink mare pronks out of the room.

Doug looks over, popping one of his ear plugs out. "Something happen?"

Fluttershy shakes her head. "No, but it was starting to get frustrating." She looks down her flanks, "And I thought I felt something."

Present Time

Rainbow looks at her list, dashing outside the hospital room. Fluttershy takes a deep breath, "YOU DID THIS TO ME!! I NEVER WANT! TO SEE YOU! AGAIN!! WHERE'S MY ORANGE GEL!!"

Rainbow returns a few seconds later, an orange in one hoof and a plate of orange gelatin with little chunks of orange inside. Fluttershy tries to lunge for the gelatin, restrained by Doug as Rainbow quickly brings the gelatin in range. The yellow pegasus pushes half of the dessert into her mouth, quickly followed by the other half before slumping back down, falling asleep again.

Nurse Redheart says in a loud voice, "Okay, she is nearly there. Just one or two more, and I think she'll be done! Hopefully."

Fifteen Hours Ago

Fluttershy paces around the room, Doug's hand in tow, the human trying to keep a smile on his face. Nurse Redheart walks in, raising an eyebrow and asking, "Still nothing?" The nurse shakes her head, "She should have been done hours ago, she showed all the right signs." Nurse Redheart moves over to the chart, double checking, "Well, just give it a little longer, and we'll see how she is."

Fluttershy looks down her body, smiling softly. "But she's so comfortable in there! I don't think she wants to leave."

Present Time

Doug nods, "Rainbow, double check with the Shy's, make sure we have more gelatin. I'd hate for her to repeat and have us be out." Rainbow nods, exiting the room as Doug sighs, petting Fluttershy's disheveled mane. "Thirty hours and counting, huh? Wonder if that's a record."

Nurse Redheart grumbles, "I don't know about Equestria, but it is at this hospital." She sighs, looking back at the chart; it had been a hospital record four hours ago. Stupid weird human. She sighs; at least the foal hasn't gone into distress. But, with Fluttershy getting more and more ornery as time has gone on? It sure doesn't make it any easier to deal with. "I don't mean that, it's just been rough, having to constantly monitor her. She is so close, it could happen at any second. Anyway, wake me when it gets close again." She slumps over in her chair, eyes closed as Rainbow enters the room.

"Alright, everything's set." The pegasus gives a sleepy yawn, "How are you still awake, dude?" She glances over at the chart; Doug hasn't left the room, and Applejack said he had been awake the whole time. Whereas Rainbow was around for the first ten hours, then realized that the foaling wasn't progressing quickly and went for a nap, which turned into a long rest while Applejack took over. She barely suppresses her glare at the pregnant mare sitting asleep in front of her; she just has to take everything painfully slow.

Ten Hours Ago

"Oh, um, Doug, I think it's starting."

Doug looks over; Fluttershy is lying on her side, legs extended. "Then what happened before?"

"I think she wants to stay, and I don't want to be a bother."

Doug rolls his eyes as the mare next to him grips his hand with both forelegs, straining and breathing heavily. He calls out, "Nurse Redheart?"

Present Time

Doug shrugs. "I'll go with biology. How's Applejack?"

"Still asleep. Figured I can tough it out, especially if it's just the one or two more. I'll get her if it doesn't happen. Pinkie's busy with the party, I think, probably crashed already." Rainbow smirks; Pinkie Pie had been great for the first five hours or so. Then, Fluttershy started getting progressively worse and worse, and the party pony couldn't handle the frustration and had to keep her spirits up with one party chained into another, just in case the foal happened to pop out and they needed an immediate party. Well, whatever keeps her wings aloft.

"And Rarity?" Doug smirks, knowing the unicorn's reaction to anything this irritating and potentially disgusting or disruptive.

"Pff!" Rainbow Dash laughs uproariously. "You could barely drag Rarity in to her own hospital room for her foaling, there's no way you're getting her in here." She yawns again, snuggling up to Doug, "I'm just going to rest my eyes a little, too. Totally not asleep."

Doug pats her on the head as she rests next to him, watching the monitor.

Five Hours Ago

Fluttershy raises her voice for the first time, "Doug? I feel like my body isn't cooperating. My head is really hot. Do you have something to cool it off?"

Doug looks around the room, slightly frowning. "Um, not at the moment. Hold on, I can-"

"What?" Fluttershy exclaims. "I Want Ice! ICE! ICE!!"

Rainbow sticks her head in the door, "What is going on?" as Fluttershy, gripping Doug's arm, screams for ice.

Present Time

After two minutes Doug sees the needle start to wobble more. He nudges Fluttershy and snaps his fingers. The three mares wake up, Nurse Redheart moving to position while Rainbow heads to the door.

Fluttershy looks over, "Okay, I think I'm ready for her to come out now."

Doug looks over at her, taken aback. "What?"

Fluttershy nods, "I want her to come out, and I don't think letting her stay is an option any more." She looks down her legs, shyly saying, "I think my body was trying to tell me that the whole time."

Doug grumbles to himself, 'I don't think that was ever an option' before he says, louder, "Okay, love, one more try. In, two, three, four, out, two, three, four." Doug counts, Fluttershy breathing along. She closes her eyes as she bears down, Doug glancing at the hint of white that pokes its way out from between her legs. He squeezes her hoof, keeping his count going as Fluttershy opens her eyes, locking with his own.

A slimy squelch later and Nurse Redheart breaks into a flurry of motion. Fluttershy looks around, terrified, and screams, "I WANT ANGEL BUNNY!! I WANT HIM NOW!!"

Rainbow darts out the door, Fluttershy continuing to wail, "ANGEL BUNNEEEEEEE-"

Nurse Redheart moves to Doug, placing the light tan foal in his arms, barely cleaned off and still wrapped in the dirty towel. Doug holds the foal out to Fluttershy, saying, "Aww, isn't she just precious? She's got your mane, she looks just like you!"

"EEEEEEE-" Fluttershy cuts off her screaming immediately, holding her hooves out. Doug lets her stroke the pegasus foal, her bouncy brown mane a very similar curl to Fluttershy's. The mare slowly runs her hoof along the head, a seemingly enormous size compared to the rest of her body. But, Doug reminds himself, all the foals are like that, at least initially. And then they grow to have merely large heads compared to their bodies, at least compared to most animals.

The door opens, Rainbow poking her head in. "So, Angel was really asking for a lot, and I wasn't sure if I should give in when I heard the screaming stop. So, still need him?" Doug shakes his head, Rainbow giving a heavy sigh of relief. "Okay, good. Well, I'm going to make good on that flight around Ponyville, then I'm going to bed. Good, um, day, great job, 'Shy." A rainbow blur remains as Rainbow disappears outside the door and Doug lays back, Fluttershy giving a slightly disgusted grunt as she finishes the foaling process.

Doug swaddles the foal while Nurse Redheart cleans the mare up, a confused Fluttershy looking around the room before finding her foal again. She holds her hooves out; this time Doug places the tiny foal in her forelegs, a smile breaking out on both of their faces.

"Hello, Hedge. It's very nice to meet you." Fluttershy moves her muzzle down, tickling the foal's tiny belly. Hedge laughs, waving her tiny hooves back and forth. Fluttershy looks over at Doug, asking, "What was Rainbow talking about?" Fluttershy bats her eyes, innocent as an angel as she coos at the foal, "I wasn't that bad, was I? Oh dear, I'm sorry if I was a bother."

5 Echoes of Mutation

March 2nd, 997

Applejack sifts through the box she had gotten from Pinkie Pie, trying to find another scented candle among the possibly hundreds of mismatched birthday candles. The mare somehow knows where all of her own things are, despite there being no organization scheme or pattern. A smile comes over her face as she pulls out the fourth scented candle; she sets the box aside, pulling out another such box. This one supposedly holds three scented candles, buried somewhere inside. She shakes her head; Pinkie Pie wants to do something special, a little different this time, try to make the setting a little more romantic for when the princesses come to observe. And now she's got Applejack searching for candles in a stack of candles.

The last time the Princesses came, they had made a breakthrough. Unfortunately for the Princesses, it had to do with Herd Apple's foals and the magic deficiency that they suffered. The alicorns had found out that the condition is, to the best of their knowledge, caused by the pony's magic suppressing most of the human physical characteristics. And they found that it should be confined to his immediate foals and hopefully would not pass to the next generation. It makes Applejack, and the rest of the herd, more comfortable with Doug continuing to sire foals with them. Not that they would have stopped before; the human does his best to raise upstanding foals, being patient with them, and engaging them on a wide range of topics. The foals, now fillies, are growing up into wonderful young mares, even if they are missing a bit of magic potential. Even Rainbow is considering another; well, once her rehabilitation is complete, and depending on how her Wonderbolts training goes.

So, the Princesses continue their research into their own fertility. In the past, the alicorns had been unable to conceive with ponies or other races. Though, that is not completely accurate; when they tried with ponies, the embryo would self-terminate, a grievous process for the alicorn that can feel the life inside her ending. Princess Celestia had tried for many years before giving up after no progress, and Princess Cadance had tried exactly once with the same fate, and a rougher reaction.

However, Doug and his ability to sire foals with the ponies had given the princesses hope, that perhaps he is able to do the same with them, despite their inability to do so with other races of Equestria. He had initially refused Princess Cadance's application to join the herd, or to stud with the alicorn, citing the potential difficulties of such an arrangement. Applejack had been surprised but relieved, the farmpony not enthusiastic at all as to the kind of attention that having a Princess in the herd would entail. So, instead, the alicorns are studying the process when Doug conceives with the mares in his herd, in the hope of figuring out a way to get Princess Cadance a way to conceive with her future mate, almost certainly the unicorn stallion Shining Armor.

Applejack looks into the last box, then at the scattered boxes in front of her. She is short one candle. And she shouldn't be, not if she can add correctly. And it isn't in the last box, she got the three from that one. She glances over at the solar arrangement; you know, it probably wouldn't even be that noticeable. Hopefully. She fluffs up one of the pillows, laying with her back against it, giving a quick smile. Oh, this will work well. Now, just need to make sure the blankets spread on the floor are nice and comfortable, too.

The sound of four hooves hitting the floor at one time startles Applejack out of her respite; she opens one eye, spotting Pinkie Pie pronking from the kitchen. The pink pony takes one look at the candle arrangement, gasps, and pulls out a candle from her mane. She darts over, finishing the design, a smile on her face at completing the depiction of Princess Celestia's cutie mark. "Phew!" she sighs, "Good thing I have spare candles all over, or that could have been a disaster!" She lays down next to Applejack, squirming in the soft blankets, "Mm, I should get a job as pillow tester, too!"

Applejack smiles, rolling back and forth on the comfy fabrics. She can feel the pangs of her estrus, but the desire, the urge, the craving is muted. As if her body knows that she knows how this is supposed to go, and that she doesn't need the constant, aching reminder that she needs to find a stallion as soon as possible or life itself might come to an end. She closes her eyes, lying still, her peaceful repose only slightly disturbed by the sound of Pinkie pronking back to the kitchen.

Some time later Applejack yawns, looking around her. The rest of the herd is quietly eating dinner, the soft clack of hoof on table as they pass the dishes back and forth. She slowly gets to her hooves, smacking her dry lips in anticipation of filling her hungry belly, and in more ways than one. Doug turns, smiling at her and scratching her disheveled mane as she comes into reach. She leans into his hand, though a look at the decorations reminds her; she turns away slightly, saying, "Ah need to go gussy up, you don't want to be with me like this."

Doug rotates her head towards his, kissing her on the lips, "Applejack, I've never thought you were more beautiful in my life."

"You'd better be careful there, partner, or Ah don't know if Ah'll be able to wait until the Princesses get here." Applejack winks at her stallion, swaying her hips and sashaying away as Rainbow whistles. She quickly runs a brush through her hair, debating on asking Rarity to help style her mane and tail but deciding on the straight and simple ponytail Doug likes. She grabs one of her nicer Stetsons, winking at herself in the mirror before heading back to the dining room.

Applejack takes her seat, two plates of food quickly pushed in front of her, the earth pony digging into the apple fritters with gusto. The greens, the fruits, the desserts disappear quickly as the conversation turns to the princesses. Applebaum stops beside her dam's chair, giving a low whine. Applejack looks over, picking her foal up and placing Applebaum by her side.

"Mama! The princes!"

"Yes, dear, the Princesses will be here very soon."

"Why?"

Applejack hops out of her chair, Applebaum watching as she moves over, picking up two of the unlit scented candles and a match. She comes back, placing the two squat candles on the table, pointing a hoof at one of the candles. "So, think of it like this. Ah'm one of these candles, and Princess Cadance is the other one. You, little Applebaum, you are the wick of that candle."

Applejack takes the match, holding it up to the wick, "And Doug lit this here match with me, and we got your little light to show up." She lights the match, the fascinated foal focusing on the flame as it ignites the candle. "And eleven months later, you were born."

Applebaum watches the flame as it flickers back and forth, slowly moving a hoof towards the fire. Applejack tentatively moves her hoof next to the tiny foal, helping guide it close to the flame, stopping her before she can get burned. They sit there for several seconds, staring at the tiny flame as it burns, a tiny wisp of smoke trailing to the ceiling. Applebaum turns, looking at her dam, "Ah don't understand, Mama. Why doesn't Daddy light the other candle?"

Applejack smiles, glancing at Doug, "Well, it's a lot of work taking care of you and your sisters. Your sire does a very good job, but a Princess needs even more time. He wouldn't be able to spend as much time with you, or with me, or even with the Princess if he lit her candle." Applejack sighs, saying a little lower, "The Princesses have had a very hard time finding another pony who can light their candle, and keep it burning, and we're trying to help them with that."

"Oh." Applebaum stares at the lit candle, slowly nudging her hoof past her dam's. She pushes the two candles next to each other, hesitantly grasping the lit candle. Applejack gently pushes her hoof down, shaking her head. She moves the foal's hooves to the unlit candle, prompting her to lift that one instead. The foal smiles as she takes the unlit candle, placing the two wicks together and watching the fire grow.

A flare comes from the windows, heralding the alicorn's arrival as they teleport outside the farmhouse. Rainbow Dash opens the door, smiling at the heavy knock of hooves on wood as the Princesses walk inside. The pegasus offers a hoof towards the table, "Hey, Princesses, awesome as always to see you. Food's on the table, if you want. I think Pinkie Pie made both of you a cake this time."

Princess Celestia smiles down, "Thank you, my little ponies, each of you." She looks around at the cakes, picking a smaller pink one with blue frosting. She levitates a fork over, cutting off a piece and revealing a yellow section. She takes a bite of the cake and smiles, using the fork to cut a second piece, a second blue section underneath.

Pinkie Pie pronks up, waving her flank in Princess Celestia's face, "Do you like it? Do you? Do you? I based it off my cutie mark? Seeee?" She bounces her rump up and down, the balloons on her flank dancing in Princess Celestia's face.

Princess Celestia smirks, "Oh, are they as delicious?" She slides her head over, the pink pony laughing as Princess Celestia licks one of the balloons.

"Oh, silly, you're not licking it right! You need more cake!"

"Oh, I suppose you are right." Princess Celestia picks up a piece of cake, mashing it into Pinkie's cutie mark and taking a bite. She smiles at the taste, Pinkie Pie giggling at the odd sensation. "Did I get it all?"

"Mm, nope! But don't worry, I lick myself off all the time!" Rainbow Dash groans as Pinkie Pie's tongue whirls out of her mouth, stretching to reach her hooves; her body spins like a top, a blur of motion as slobber flies in each direction. The pegasus disappears under the table to try to escape the splatter, two shields forming to contain the gooey goodness. Pinkie Pie stops spinning, her flank sparkling clean, looking around at the other ponies. "What? I do!"

"Nothing, Pinkie, nothing at all." Applejack chuckles, looking at the six young ponies, five of them gaping at the Princesses. "Now, girls, say good night to the Princesses." Rarity moves closer to Princess Celestia, the two shields sluicing the slobber and cake remains into Pinkie's waiting mouth, the group then watching the foals tentatively look around.

Applebaum moves first, tentatively walking towards Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance. The alicorn looks down at the little foal, who coughs, clearly interested in asking something. Princess Celestia levitates the foal, resting her on the table and asking, "Little Applebaum, how are you this fine night?"

Applebaum nods, nervously looking at Lemon and the trio, "Um, Ah'm doing well, Princes. Es. Ah hope you and your sister can light your candle. Ss. Ah love having my sisters around, and Ah love my sisters a whole lot!"

Princess Celestia glances outside, the moon slowly rising on the horizon, the dark image shining brightly, "Yes, Applebaum, I love my sisters a whole lot as well. I wish I could be around them more often. Thank you for your support."

Her piece said, Applebaum turns to the edge of the table before reconsidering, moving forward to nuzzle Princess Celestia, who returns one with a smile. Applebaum turns, scampering across the table to the nearest unoccupied chair, hopping down, then to the floor, and racing to the foals room. Lemon moves over, nuzzling as high on Princess Celestia's foreleg that she can reach before chasing after Applebaum.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo glance among themselves before waving, chorusing, "Good night, Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance!" They each move over to their dam, a "Good night, Sis!" before scampering off to bed. Fluttershy, holding a sleeping Hedge, nods to the Princesses and heads to the foals room.

Applejack stands up, moving to the corner and laying back, enjoying the feel of the blankets and pillows. Doug moves over, starting to rub her back as she settles back against him. Applejack's head moves back, searching for his as his hands find the base of her mane. The two kiss, Doug's hands slowly making their way back to her tail, the earth pony flicking it to the side.

Rarity settles down next to Princess Celestia, her eyes lighting up with her standard scanning spell. The unicorn asks, "So, Princesses, have you been able to refine your imaging spells more? Or, what area are you focusing on today?"

"So, I have the imaging spells scaling down to the cellular level, allowing me to watch with enough precision. It takes a bit more magic, as I am essentially channeling multiple magnification spells at once, in addition to an enhanced perception spell. I was able to observe Fluttershy with those spells, as a matter of fact. This time, I am trying to focus on the magic of the embryo as it combines, specifically, how the magic changes or morphs as it combines. As you know, the combination of alicorn and any of the other pony types results in Disharmony, and has... difficulty continuing."

Princess Celestia's voice catches as she recalls the various attempts she made long ago, and the more recent attempt by Princess Cadance. After a few seconds she continues, "However, with Doug and his lack of magic, there is no combination, resulting in foals that have a near copy of the dam's magical core. It is why I think that it would work should Doug and I attempt to have a foal. Now, if we had a way to suppress the magic, so there is no Disharmony, then..." Princess Celestia trails off, her eyes drifting before locking on Rainbow Dash.

6 Power Magnified

Princess Celestia continues staring at Rainbow Dash, her mind whirring over the possibilities. A flicker of hope flashes over her face as her thoughts turn to the experiment that Sunset Shimmer had designed with Rainbow Dash in mind, the research she had done on Tirek's spell, and the journal with her remaining notes. And the destroyed section.

After a few seconds the pegasus notices, glancing back and giving a shy smile, "Uh, can I help you with something, Princess?"

Princess Celestia turns to Princess Cadance, "Do you know why our unborn foals, our young, never survived?"

"Well, from the little I saw firsthoof, and what you taught me, it is because our magic, alicorn magic, is incompatible with unicorn magic." A single tear rolls down Princess Cadance's face, her eyes lost in the distance.

Princess Celestia nods, "And what is alicorn magic, exactly?"

At Princess Cadance's silence Rainbow Dash says, "Um, a mix of pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn magic?"

Princess Celestia nods again, "More than that, it is each of pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn magic. Each section, fully powered, that provides us with the strength we have. That Harmony, that combination of all, that makes us as powerful as we are. When earth pony magic, or unicorn magic, or pegasus magic by itself tries to merge with alicorn magic, there is disharmony. The magical core, for whatever reason, senses this; rather than allow such an abomination, in its eyes, to exist, it terminates it." She pauses, looking again at Princess Cadance, "How much do you know about that spell I taught you last year, sister?"

A look of confusion spreads over Princess Cadance's face. "Um, aside from how to transfer my power to another pony? Not much. Why?" She shakes her head for a second, "I don't see how imbuing anypony with more energy would help. Would I cast the spell on Shining Armor? But, it wouldn't be permanent, and there would be an extraordinarily low chance that any union of... boosted seeds would work. If we can, in fact, boost a seed. It does have a magical core, if incredibly small. Trying to give just enough power to not overload it? In fact, I do not know if a unicorn magical core can withstand an infusion of alicorn magic, and it is not an experiment I care to attempt."

Princess Celestia gives an encouraging smile, "That is correct, though I had not thought of imbuing Shining Armor with alicorn magic. Like you said, it is unlikely to work at all. But, it is good that you are still thinking of novel ways to find a solution. However, I was thinking of the opposite. You see, the original use of the spell is to instead steal the magical power of a target." Princess Celestia gives Princess Cadance a hard look, debating to go into more detail on the spell and the variants Sunset Shimmer had researched.

A light turns on in Princess Cadance's eyes, her hoof wiping away the tears. "So, if we use that spell to suppress the magic of an embryo-" She stops when she sees Princess Celestia's slight head shake, "It would have to be earlier than that?"

Princess Celestia nods, "If we - likely myself, but whoever has the ability to cast the spell - cast that spell on the embryo, it would merely drain the magic of the embryo, but life would continue. The cell, the embryo would divide, and Harmony would recognize the imbalance, see the combination as disharmonious; the cell would then self terminate. However, if cast on the male seed just before it combines, then there would be no unicorn magic to combine with, and division should proceed as normal. However, the timing would have to be absolutely precise."

Princess Celestia pauses, thinking for several seconds. "In fact, merely using the original spell would not be enough. The spell, in its original version, draws only as much power as the target can safely give; the spell ends before it drains enough magic to be lethal. The residual magic might still be enough to cause a rift, a breach, a split in the magic. As soon as the magical core notices the breach, it self terminates." Princess Celestia stops, again unsure of how much additional information she should allow to become public knowledge; at least Herd Apple has kept her confidences before. "There... is a variant on the spell, that I will need to research if we think this could work, that fully drains the magic from a pony. Or, if my thinking is correct, on a single cell."

Rainbow Dash adds excitedly, "Do it too late, and you get the breach. Too early, and, um, the seed dies from lack of magic?"

Princess Celestia nods, "You are correct, Rainbow Dash; indeed, once conception has taken place, the stolen magic should slowly return. And as it should be in small enough amounts, and slow enough, that the magical core will, hopefully, recognize the returning magic as its own, allowing the embryo to continue developing. Or, if it somehow doesn't recognize the magic as its own, then it could dissipate off into nothing, as opposed to terminating the embryo. Though, that is a possibility as well. And we cannot cast the spell on the embryo, because without magic it cannot survive." Celestia glances at Rainbow Dash, "Well, at least without a variety of magical machines whose sole purpose is substituting their magic for the pony's. Those would be difficult, to say the least, to use with an embryo in the womb, for the duration we are talking. Possible, but a last resort."

Rarity asks, "But, wouldn't that mean that the foal might have twice the magical energy as it normally would, at least on the unicorn side of things? And would that continue as it grows, is born, etcetera?"

Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance trade a worried look before glancing at Applejack and Doug, both resting. Princess Celestia's eyes shine, saying, "This may take a while. I must practice my timing, both on casting the spell and on observing the exact time that the spell needs to be cast." Minutes pass as she watches the two, a timer spell appearing above Applejack that counts down the seconds, hundredths of a second, hundred thousandths of a second. A brief flash as the time approaches zero, Princess Celestia frowning at being fifty milliseconds off. "Congratulations, you two; your first colt."

Applejack and Doug trade happy smiles, Doug rubbing her back as Applejack helps get him ready for Pinkie.

"How accurate do you have to be?" an awed Rainbow Dash asks as a light show projects itself in front of Celestia. The alicorns carefully inspect the graph, looking at how Celestia's projected time to conception differed as time moved on, and which areas she had been most accurate. Then, a second line of her 'casting' the spell to rob the seed of its magic, and the projected cast time lining up with the end time.

"Sadly, Rainbow Dash, I do not know. I suppose I must be as accurate as I can. To answer your earlier question, we will probably see some bursts of energy as the foal realizes and attempts to exercise its strength, and as the alicorn and unicorn magics align themselves."

Applejack asks, moving closer as Pinkie Pie pronks over and embraces Doug, "So, what would you see if it's an earth pony and an alicorn, using this here same technique?"

Princess Celestia considers a moment. "Probably earthquakes when she walks. If she is a pegasus, hurricanes when she flaps her wings. Hopefully lasting a short time, both the individual hurricanes and until the foal learns to control her magic."

Fluttershy walks over, "Um, what if it is an alicorn and an alicorn?"

Princess Celestia says, "Granted, it has been a very long time since I have seen a male alicorn, or a newborn alicorn for that matter. Hmm, if I have ever seen one; my memory tends to get a little fuzzy around the time Discord was messing around with reality. But, if our reasoning holds, the foal would either have difficulty with all three types of magic. Or she would have difficulty with none, because her magic does not have the same disharmony as it acclimates to itself, or combines initially." Princess Celestia pauses, looking at the arrayed ponies, "I do believe I would like a few more chances to get the timing down, before we try for keeps."

Applejack moves forward a little. "What, um, assistance would you need, Princess?"

"Hmm. Before I can do any testing, I will need to locate the research notes on the spell, and figure out how to modify it to continue draining. Then see if I can cast the spell with the target a single cell." Princess Celestia frowns, "If I am unable to do that, the entire line of research may need to be scrapped. I would not want to risk casting the spell if it might accidentally target Cadance, or the egg. Though that may be unavoidable."

"Do you think that you can cast the spell on nothing?" Rarity asks, looking over at Doug and Pinkie Pie, "Or does the spell require a target?"

"Having not cast the spell, I am not sure." Princess Celestia looks at Doug, "I may start off casting the spell on Doug, since he should be unaffected by it. It will likely stop working immediately, or 'work' as long as I funnel magic to sustain it. Then, if that works, find some way to refine the targeting so that the spell works on an individual cell, as opposed to a pony's magic overall. Lastly would be targeting the spell on the seed while it is inside a pony's body, and not casting on the surrounding tissue. And it would be safest to do that testing, to cast the spell if the seed was in my own body, as to minimize the risk to any pony else."

Doug glances over from Pinkie Pie, "Why do I feel like you are stretching for any excuse to get me in bed?"

"Pah." Princess Celestia pouts, "I guess I'll have to hide my intentions a little better." She winks at Doug, who rolls his eyes and returns to focusing on Pinkie. "I would need somepony who wouldn't talk, or try to use this assignment for political gain. Applejack, do you think Big Mac would be available?"

Rarity faints, falling straight on the floor while Applejack's eyes bug out. "Ah... ah... Maybe?"

Rainbow Dash looks over at Rarity's crumpled form, shoving a hoof in her mouth to stifle her laughs. Fluttershy is also gaping at Princess Celestia from behind her mane while Pinkie Pie starts laughing uproariously. Applejack staggers to her hooves, still trying to process what Princess Celestia is asking. Princess Celestia manages to keep a straight face, "Oh, dear, maybe I went a little far. Please, remain where you are, I was merely joking."

Applejack slowly sinks back down, rubbing a hoof over her belly, "Ah'm sorry, Princess, but Ah don't know if scaring me like that right now was the best idea."

Princess Celestia nods, a slight frown, "Yes, I suppose it was a little poor in taste. I am sorry, Applejack." She turns, looking back, "You sure you don't want to, Doug?" Princess Celestia asks, a bit of a waver in her voice.

"You want to go right now?" Doug replies, rolling his eyes. He smacks his forehead as Princess Celestia nods her head, a smile creeping over her lips as Doug continues, "Oh, right, you don't have the spell finished. I guess it'll have to wait."

"Sometimes I think I know you, Doug, and other times you manage to surprise me. What changed your mind?"

"Besides that I don't have access to all my blood?" Doug deadpans, motioning to Pinkie, "And I'm clearly thinking with the wrong head?"

"Yeah, quit distracting him, it's making it take longer!" Pinkie huffs, "This estrus thing isn't exactly comfortable! Now, hurry up and stick a foal in me, then you can go to the Princess and do whoever needs to be done to save Equestria!"

Doug rolls his eyes, "I don't know if I like the wording on that, Pinkie."

Princess Cadance smirks as Princess Celestia sighs, saying, "Well, much as I might want to, I'm afraid I should work on Cadance's research first. I do not feel comfortable casting the spell if there is a chance that, by having a valid target in range, the spell would cast on our unborn foal. Perhaps another time, Doug."

"Yeah, sure," Doug eeks out before collapsing back, Pinkie Pie spinning around and kissing him on the mouth.

Pinkie Pie puts a hoof on her mouth, looking up at the ceiling, "Well, I'm going to give it a six out of ten. Though it mostly wasn't your fault, you probably could have fought through it a little better. You'll just have to try harder next time!"

Doug, still dazed, groans, "Ah huh."

Pinkie Pie laughs, pronking back to the table to continue devouring the remaining cakes. Rarity slowly recovers, looking around as the other mares quickly join Pinkie, making sure all the food is gone. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance attempt the timing spell while watching Pinkie Pie; Celestia is a hundredth of a second late while Cadance is two seconds early. They congratulate Pinkie on her new filly, each pony saying good night to the Princesses before they head off to bed.

7 Cold Blooded Fury

Doug moves over to Princess Celestia, his herd exiting the room. He takes out a picture, a rough sketch in pencil, asking in a low voice, "Celestia, I wanted to ask you. Do you recognize this?"

Celestia takes the paper in her magic, looking down at the depiction of a dark black changeling. Cadance looks as well, though she shows no immediate spark of recognition. Celestia, however, purses her lips as she scans the image. A stick figure next to it shows it is taller than Doug, if you count the jagged horn, making her nearly as large as Celestia. The horn is large and twisted, sticking out of her long dark hair. Her body is thin, her legs long, circles drawn on the legs near her hooves. Celestia's brow furrows, glancing over at Doug and asking, "Where did you get this? If you did not draw it yourself, that is."

"I drew it; um, I thought it was a dream, at first." Doug scratches his head, motioning to the picture, "It was extremely detailed, for a dream, and I remember a lot of it. After the fact, I mean; I had the dream in the afternoon, woke up briefly, yet still remembered it the next day. Normally that doesn't happen; I haven't had a lot of dreams I remember, if any, since I got here. But what worries me is that, at the end of the dream, this Queen Chrysalis person takes the quad essence crystal and leaves. Then later, when I wake up, or at least the next day, neither I nor Rarity can find the crystal."

Celestia mutters to herself, "You even got the name right." She shakes her head, asking in her normal voice, "Did she or any of her changelings injure you or anypony else? Did they use any magic on you?"

Doug pauses a few seconds as he tries to remember, "Um, I don't recall any injuries. They did something to Rarity and Sweetie Belle to knock them unconscious. I don't think it was physical, because we never noticed any injuries or wounds. There was a part in the middle where some of the changelings glowed green, but they stopped when I backed off; they didn't do anything, just let the magic aura fade. They used a spell on me towards the end, I think; I have a really hard time remembering what happened when they left, if they transformed before they left, that sort of thing. There was this green goop that held Rarity and Sweetie Belle in place, on their hooves. Dispelled with magic, I think, I couldn't find any aftereffects. I woke up around the same time as Rarity, we were tired, but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Then she either did not drain you, or has learned to hide it better; I fear the latter. This may be unsettling, but did she lay with you?"

Doug's eyes widen, "Not that I remember. But there's no telling what happened while I was unconscious. But I didn't notice anything different, and I was, how shall as I say, as ready to go with Rarity as I normally am. Why would you ask that?"

"Because she does not breed with her own changelings; they instead rely on the 'donation' of others, of those she subjects to her... influence or deception." Celestia grimaces. Her eyes flare, revealing nothing, then a quick nod, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Doug. Can you tell me more about the encounter with this Queen Chrysalis?"

"Hmm. Well, she, Queen Chrysalis, originally appeared as me, that is, morphed or transformed into me. She was weak - barely any muscle strength, and couldn't use magic or transform back. Could still think clearly, and ordered her changelings around. She was a bit conceited, caring a lot about how I talked to her. And threatening, against both myself and Rarity. Her changelings seemed a little hesitant, or slow to react to things going on. Very unsure as if what they were doing was what the queen wanted, and she did not give them a lot of instruction. Her changelings had captured Rarity and Sweetie Belle, threatening them unless I helped her transform back. I... was able to help her; she transformed back, came onto me, but her emotions were all over the place, I suspect from the essence crystal she used to find her magical core when she was in my form. That's about where my memory ends; I assume they left afterwards, and cleaned up any trace that they had been there."

Princess Celestia gives a heavy sigh. "If only you were able to get away safely, leaving her as she was. As it is, we have lost a huge advantage. Doug, I do not blame you for not knowing, or for thinking of the safety of yourself and your herd."

Doug nods, bowing his head, "I am sorry, Celestia."

"If you believe that you made a mistake, and wronged myself or this nation, Doug, I do not hold it against you, and you are forgiven. But-"

Doug looks up, interrupting her, "Just like that? And would you offer these changelings the same forgiveness, just as easily?"

"It is a difficult question, but I like to think every creature is capable of receiving and deserving of our forgiveness, even if it takes them many times to learn their lesson. For what is the alternative?"

Doug slowly nods, his lips pursed as he watches Celestia.

"In any case, I do not think you made a mistake, Doug; no pony should have to make that choice. Now, back to the matter at hoof. You said Rarity had no memory at all of the encounter?" Doug nods; Celestia shakes her head, "Then there is no telling how far her forces have spread. Or how many ponies they are able to reach. Doug, if it were up to you, what would you do?"

Doug stares at the floor, his mind thinking hard about what to say. "Go after her? Turn up the heat? I honestly have no idea, Princess Celestia, as to what the proper response is. What do they want? Why are they a danger? I don't know enough to offer any meaningful advice. If you want to tell me more, maybe I could offer more, but I don't know how much I want to be involved."

Celestia nods, looking over at Cadance before saying to Doug, "You enjoy war games, do you not?"

"Well, the theoretical aspects of them, sure. I enjoy thinking over scenarios, finding clever plans of attack, that sort of thing." Doug shrugs, his shoulders slightly slumped, "I don't know how much I would actually want to fight or participate in one."

Celestia smiles, "Well, I may utilize you as an adviser, somepony who won't just say yes to me no matter what I propose. And I need to keep the number of ponies who know about this as small as possible. I may come to you in the next few days. However, it is late, and I believe we have kept you from your herd long enough. Thank you, again, for letting us know. I have dealt with these creatures before. However, I do not wish to cause a panic; I know how my little ponies would react if the existence, neigh, the close proximity of these creatures was widely known. Please trust that I will be able to deal with them, and keep your knowledge of them a secret, even from your herd."

Doug frowns, "That's asking a lot, Celestia, but I trust you. I'll keep this secret."

Celestia smiles, "Know that I value the lives and livelihood of all my little ponies, and that includes you, too. Good night, Doug."

"Good night Celestia, Cadance."

Celestia strides to the door, Cadance following closely behind. She watches as Doug walks to the bedroom before looking at Cadance. Steel glints in her eye as she says, "Sister, talk with me as we move; what are you prepared to offer the changelings, for the sake of our little ponies?"

Cadance shakes her head as they walk outside, "Do you honestly think they are capable of being more than parasprites?" She scoffs, a hard look in her eyes, "Even if you thought so, I would offer them a swift exit from our lands. If they are lucky, with their belongings. Why should we offer these abominations anything? I have heard the stories of the destruction they wrought on the lands they came from before."

Princess Celestia stands straighter, "You think these creatures incapable of redemption? That I should go with an extension of Doug's solution, to merely increase the heat on their hive until their eggs boil?" Cadance shudders and looks away, a tear in her eye that anypony would be so callous about the lives of another to propose anything of the sort as a 'solution'. Celestia sighs, "But also because, if they have infiltrated Ponyville, they can and likely have infiltrated everywhere, and I have noticed nothing. And there is no telling how much thrashing this serpent will do if decapitated." She sighs, "I fear we may need to offer her something, some gambit to get her to withdraw her forces."

Cadance bows her head, "I submit to your greater skill in this matter, Celestia, though I hope it proves unnecessary."

"As do I, Sister, as do I." Celestia's horn flares brightly before a haze surrounds her, completely hiding the shining light of her horn and obscuring the alicorn's body. She begins a quick walk towards Ponyville, "You know your spell to sense connections between ponies?" Cadance nods, "Well, I believe we are looking for a pony who is missing them. Who has managed to make only one, or possibly two, strong connections. They may be a traveler, or a recent transfer, but we must investigate, and find the changeling in this area. If there are none, then we go to the next town, until we find one." Cadance nods, the two going up and down the streets, horns ablaze.

Their first stop is the Town Hall, Celestia opening the door and making her way inside the dark building. Cadance follows behind, the two finding the records of ponies who have moved to Ponyville in the last eight years. Celestia takes notes, listing names, addresses, and relationship statuses of the relatively recent arrivals. Finished with their investigation, they pack everything back up, leaving no trace of their visit.

The two alicorns begin stalking through town, stopping at each of the addresses listed and scanning. The first houses are a bust, Celestia slowly making her way down the list, getting to earlier and earlier arrivals. After twenty minutes of walking a grimace creeps over Celestia's face, coming to a stop outside one of the houses in central Ponyville. Her eyes shine, though the light is still hidden from others by her concealment spell. She can barely sense it after a minute of concentration, the changeling hidden inside, but there are far more connections than she had originally suspected possible. No, the changeling posing as a mare has ingratiated herself, already joined with a stallion, part of a herd, and is even with foal, a pinto colt. They have progressed far, far faster than she thought possible.

Princess Celestia knocks at the door, the changeling disguised as a young earth pony mare yawning as she answers the door. The mare briefly shudders before controlling herself, responding in a Cockney accent, "Oh, um, aye-up Princess Celestia! Good evening, I-"

"You may cease with the pleasantries, changeling. Let your Queen know that I will meet with her in three days time, on the fifth of March, to negotiate at a place of her choosing. I will come alone, she may bring whatever forces she wishes. If she does not let me know by the end of the third day, then I will find her, and I will not be alone." Princess Celestia turns, walking back to Princess Cadance before the two teleport away. The mare stands in the doorway in shock before dashing back inside, quickly finding paper and quill.

8 The Queen's Vaults

March 4th, 997

An emergency missive? From Ponyville? Eight weeks after their earlier visit? Queen Chrysalis stomps into the auditorium; despite the pre-dawn time, dozens of her subjects are milling in their seats, awaiting her upcoming orders. "This had better be good," she snaps at the closest guard, moving forward to take the offered letter, "I was deep undercover! With that identity blown, I'll need a whole new one in order to try to infiltrate the Manehattan guard!" She huffs, "And we are low on love as it is! We cannot afford any waste, not with the disruption we had!"

She rips the letter open, eyes slowing growing wider as she reads the contents. "What?" her eyes scan back and forth, "How?" She gets to the end, flips the letter over; seeing nothing on the reverse side, she flips it back over.

"How did this happen? You!" She points at one of the changelings, "I used the spell on him! And we used potions on the two unicorns! How did he retain his memory of the event?"

The changeling stands, "Queen, I do not know; the effects of the spell seemed the same, as if everything was normal. The potions worked perfectly on the two unicorns. Maybe the spell only obscured the final memories of us; it was just the initial scuffle, after all, with the unicorns."

Queen Chrysalis paces back and forth, "Did we lose track of time? Did it take too long, his memories already subsumed to his unconsciousness? Or because he isn't a pony, and we used the wrong spell?" She glares down at the fallen letter, stamping a hoof on it. "Why now?"

"I am sorry, Queen," the changeling stammers, "I only know of the one spell, to cloud a pony's memory. It has occasionally proven... less than sufficient on other races. And with the amount of time we interacted with him-"

Queen Chrysalis slams a hoof down on the floor, cracking the stone. She grits her teeth, blasts of light flinging from her horn and impacting the ceiling, the walls, the benches recently vacated by changelings. Finally, she slowly exhales, the burst of anger fading. She mutters to herself, "I might need to inspect that crystal again, make sure I've fully purged the emotions from my core." She shakes her head, glancing back to her changelings, "Very well. It is too late to do anything about it." She looks over her brood, "Now, we must initiate contingency plan CFO. I need drafts to all our infiltrators and integrators, informing them that Operation 'Cough' is in effect. Daily dead-ling switches, for all of them. Deadline sunset, maximum destruction, targeting infrastructure. Cover assumed to be blown."

The changeling queen shakes her head at the waste, but it has to be done, now that Celestia found out. If only to give her a bargaining chip in the upcoming... well, she hopes it is a summit. Instead of an extermination. But, knowing the softhearted Princess, the likelihood of that is the same as her surrendering peacefully to the Solar Tyrant. And there would be no retreat, not for her, not for her changelings. Her mouth draws to a sneer - and not for Equestria.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Princess Celestia holds her hooves to the sides of her head, staring down at the long lists of ponies, locations, and dates of birth. Times of transfer between cities and towns. Some of these documents must be forgeries, as occasionally the dates and names do not match up, but either the quality is exquisite or there is a changeling disguised in Trottingham, working in one of the offices. She covers her eyes with her hooves; if only they were limited to one infiltrator. And only in Trottingham. But even she does not know how wide the spread is, how deep these tendrils are burrowed. The few instances where she or Cadance investigated one of the discrepancies turned out to be mere clerical errors. And there are hundreds of such errors.

She looks back at the documents; maybe if she is able to figure out which pony is the impostor, she can track down all of the falsified birth certificates. But there would have been so many that are legitimate, there would be too many false positives. They had already checked out the ponies who made the certificates the three changelings had obtained, and all were busts. And if her guards start inquiring as to the whereabouts of ponies from Trottingham, it could be worse than the cost of just letting the changelings continue doing... whatever it is they are doing.

Celestia scans a compilation of news articles. No unexplained deaths. No massive increase in assaults, or robbery, or even unwanted sexual contact! Barely even an increase in those statistics, at all! She lets out a long sigh, her head thudding against the table; if only it is as easy to find the changelings as it is to move the sun. Maybe she was a little hasty in her calling out the Changeling Queen. Then again, maybe not.

The clop of hooves rouses the Sun Princess, a glance to the door revealing Princess Cadance bringing another stack of papers. Cadance takes a sip of her coffee before putting a second thermos just out of hooves reach. "You know," the Love Princess intones, "if I complained about you burning the candle at both ends, you would just say that you generate enough light for everypony regardless of how many candles are burning, and I should go back to gathering these useless papers, searching for more leads."

Princess Celestia nods. "True." She reaches for the thermos, Cadance swiping it out of range.

"And, if I pointed out that we have caught two changelings after we left Ponyville, the fruits of spending six hours researching, and two hours searching, then you would probably say something about how we're getting better the longer we search."

"Also true." Princess Celestia strains, reaching as far as her seated position allows, a look of grim determination. She pushes further, getting up from her seat and waving her hooves back and forth at the beverage, the table in her way.

"But, I also think we've exhausted the easy leads." Cadance sighs, allowing the elder alicorn the steaming treat. "The three we've found have all been transfers from Trottingham." Celestia slurps noisily at the beverage, a few boiling drops escaping her lips. "The last two were very recent transfers. Ponies, our ponies, are noticing something is wrong, and it is doing more harm than finding the rest of her changelings. At least we know where her hive is."

Celestia responds by conjuring a straw and loudly sucking from the empty container.

"You are a foal sometimes and you know it."

Celestia shrugs before giving a long sigh, "I suppose you are right." She lifts the thermos, chucking it at Cadance, the pink alicorn dodging to the side. "Off to bed, then."

Cadance shakes her head, "Oh, no, it's past that. Time to raise the sun, then you have a nice, long day of meeting with all those patient and understanding nobleponies."

"Awww. Five more minutes. Can i go to my room instead? Please?" Celestia gives Cadance a look of utter contriteness and repentance, the look only broken when her thermos hits her between the eyes.

10 A Rift in Time

Doug glances around; where is everything? The whole landscape is white. He looks down as the bright light fades: he is watching a copy of himself. Not a poorly executed impersonation, like what happened with Queen Chrysalis, but exactly like the real thing. The spectral Doug moves an arm forward, passing through himself. But this one is wearing a long, transparent robe. Complete with images dancing along the sleeves. The Doug in front of him holds an arm up, noting the band around his wrist. Doug moves inside himself to get a better look; somehow, he is able to follow exactly what he is watching. On closer inspection, it is a watch, complete with time and date. July 3rd? But that is... hmm, what was the last thing he remembers? Something in March? He glances again; it even has the year, 1002. So, five years in the future. Is he dead? Or this is an extraordinarily detailed dream. A vision of the future?

They watch one of the images: it starts off in a first person perspective, walking down a hallway. He grunts at the uncomfortable feeling, willing himself to pull back and stop moving. The image responds, pulling back to follow the bigger of two unicorns. She is large, a dark charcoal coat, nearly black, with a flowing blue mane. The medium sized pony is an off-white with a meticulously styled blue mane. They nod to the two guards that are standing outside a doorway. Doug tries to turn to the side, the image following his mental command to look outside the window. He sees a long way away, perfectly detailed. There are buildings, a large white tower, then nothing except for a forest and a small town a vast distance away. Doug realizes as he spots a certain farmhouse; he is in Canterlot! And he can see Ponyville, and that would make the room that he is in... hmm, he isn't sure.

Doug turns back, the two guards opening the door to the room. Both unicorns walk inside, seeing Princess Cadance and her fiance, Shining Armor, chatting at a table, plates from their evening meal empty with a quarter full glass of wine, if the bottle next to them is any indication. A short nod in greeting, and the white unicorn speaks, "Good evening, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I trust you are doing well?"

"Oh, thank you, Sir Fancy Pants, good evening to you as well. And, who is this charming young mare?" Princess Cadance's eyes flash as she continues, "Hmm, not for you, but a suitor for one of your colts? My, my, a tad early, is it not?" She gives the stallion a sly smirk and a quick wink.

Fancy Pants smiles, a wink in return, "Oh, I find it is never too early to plan a wedding, Princess. I suspect you are hard at work yourself!"

Shining Armor chuckles, "Oh, you should have seen her yesterday. The bridesmares, their dresses, it will be so nice when the seamstress from Ponyville comes by to help with that." He sighs, raising a hoof to his forehead, "I know we still have a week, but the wait is starting to get to her!"

Princess Cadance smiles, poking a hoof at her fiance, "No, Shiny, I'm pretty sure that is all you, the one getting their mane in a twist."

Fancy Pants smiles, "Oh, well, I can see you two are very busy. I just wanted you to ask Miss Chris à Liss here a few questions, find out her interests, you know the sort. I will be waiting outside; thank you again, Princess, especially with the short notice."

"Oh, of course! It isn't a problem at all!" Princess Cadance beams, looking over the tall unicorn, her smile never wavering as she gazes into the teal eyes.

Shining Armor gets up, "Well, I'll leave you two to your thing. Good night, Cady, Miss Liss."

"Good night, love." Princess Cadance shares a brief kiss with Shining Armor as the two male unicorns leave the room. Princess Cadance's smile disappears while the unicorn's horn flares, a thin bubble surrounding the two. Princess Cadance calmly states, "Silence?"

"Yes," comes the neutral reply. "Also a teleportation inhibitor, if you couldn't tell."

Princess Cadance slowly nods, "I suppose you have decided to start, then."

"Ah, I suspected somepony was scrying on us, when Celestia came. I'm glad to see you and Celestia kept your word. And it would behoove you to go willingly, Cadance. Maybe if you do I'll leave your precious Shiny's love for you alone; well, after I'm done with him, of course. I would hate for you to call off the wedding and break up with him in some sort of overly dramatic fashion."

Princess Cadance glares, "You know, if I stopped you now, your whole plan would be ruined, and you would lose everything you tried to gain."

"I am aware." The unicorn sneers, morphing into Queen Chrysalis' changeling form. "Would you like to try?" Princess Cadance sighs, shaking her head, watching the changeling in front of her transform into a copy of herself. The new alicorn admires her body, "Mm, delicious; maybe I should sample a little of Shiny now. Do you think he prefers the standard position?" Chrysalis notes the look of horror on the real Cadance's face, "Oh? Is something wrong? Something I should know?" She slides a little closer, a sharp look in her eye, "Maybe if you cooperate I might allow him to mount you first on our wedding night. And if you don't, he might never mount a mare at all."

Princess Cadance hangs her head, "Just know, I have promised Shining Armor to wait until our wedding night. He will immediately suspect if you attempt anything."

Queen Chrysalis nods, "Mm, that will make it a little harder, but there are less carnal ways to control a stallion. I will be back to talk later, but I must do this first."

Princess Cadance kneels as a green bubble surrounds her, the alicorn sinking into the floor. Queen Chrysalis, now the only alicorn in the room, pulls out a letter. She steps outside, Fancy Pants looking at her curiously. She says, "I'm sorry, Fancy, but I do not think it will work out between her and any of your colts, not at this time."

The stallion sighs, "Oh, and I had such high hopes for her, she certainly was very spirited. Thank you for your time, Princess."

The alicorn shuts the door with a curt nod, moving to Shining's bedroom. "Shiny?" she tentatively calls, the door opening. "This letter came, from one of the guards."

Shining Armor pulls the letter from her magic, his eyes bugging out as he says, "An invasion?" He goes back, engrossed in the letter as a brief burst of magic comes from Queen Chrysalis' horn, his eyes briefly flaring green as he holds a hoof to his head, wincing in pain. He shares a quick kiss with the alicorn, rushing outside and saying to the guards, "Come, we must inform Princess Celestia immediately!"

Doug looks away from his sleeves. This feels incredibly real, as if he is standing there, unacknowledged the entire time. He pushes the sleeves around; wow, he can even rewind, watch multiple images at one time, and zoom to a certain extent. He watches as the hour hand on the watch begins rapidly spinning, eventually slowing down. He watches a few images flash by. The first, his herd helping the 'alicorn' prepare her wedding. The second, Princess Celestia engaging in a heated argument with the undisguised changeling queen over long, formal looking pieces of paper. Then, a dull night of Princess Luna watching the night sky. The images fade, the watch again ticking normally.

July 10th, Second Year of the Two Sisters, 1002 Domina Solaria

Doug stands straight and tall, hands clasped in front, elegant in the suit Rarity tailored. Long, flowing, nearly transparent white robes over black pants and a dark shirt, a cyan tie with an orange swirl around his neck. He, the bridesmares, Princess Celestia, the rest of the guests; all are waiting for the the bridal procession to commence. Doug glances down, hiding his grimace as he discreetly watches several of the enchanted surfaces from his spot near Shining Armor. Nopony else could see what is playing on his sleeves; well, except for Celestia. She and Queen Chrysalis each picked several vantage points, a few others at his request, and he is essentially scrying on all of them. He can even see himself, standing opposite Rainbow Dash.

So far, things have been proceeding quite calmly, at least on the surface. Chrysalis had roughed up Cadance maybe a little more than necessary during one of their interrogation sessions; nothing illegal, unfortunately, just enough to make the alicorn a bit perturbed. Twilight had come so close to figuring it out and exposing the impostor, but ultimately captured. So far, Chrysalis has an advantage, but Twilight still has the chance to bring it back.

One picture, bobbing up and down as the changeling flies, getting closer and closer to the large pink bubble on the side of the mountain. Canterlot, protected by Shining Armor's shield spell, soon to be put to the test by the invading changeling army, numbering just under eight hundred strong. Queen Chrysalis had left many of her integrators in place in other cities, insurance in case she only won one of the two challenges.

Another image, this time tracking Twilight; Doug had requested the camera when Queen Chrysalis' spell banished her underneath the castle, the Queen none to happy about having to comply. Not that Doug could really do anything, shadowed by a changeling disguised as his assistant. He watches a modestly pregnant Twilight blasting the mirrored crystal that surrounds her, revealing a disheveled and bruised Princess Cadance. The alicorn flinches, cowering and shouting, "No! Wait! Please, don't hurt me! Twilight, it's me! Please, you have to believe me! I've been imprisoned like you. The Cadance who brought you down here was an impostor!"

Twilight shakes her head, a mad glint in her eyes as her horn flares, "A likely story!"

Princess Cadance shudders, slowly getting to her hooves and starting a little dance, "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves..."

"...and do a little shake." Twilight smiles at Princess Cadance, "You remember me!"

"Of course I do. How could I forget the filly I love to sit for the most?" Princess Cadance smiles at Twilight, looking at her belly and giving a knowing smile.

Twilight looks around the room, trying to find a way out of their crystal prison. "We have to get out of here. We have to stop her!"

On another surface, a pink alicorn sits in her borrowed room, softly singing to herself. "This day is going to be perfect!" she smiles, looking at herself in the mirror. "The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small." Her wedding dress fits her form perfectly, her hair immaculately styled, "Everypony will gather 'round, say I look lovely in my gown," a few ponnequinns bowing as her pink eyes glint green, "What they don't know is that I have fooled them all!"

Twilight and Princess Cadance continue to gallop underneath Canterlot, desperately trying to find a way out of the mines. At the wedding, Queen Chrysalis - still disguised as Princess Cadance - practically dances up the aisle, humming to herself. As she gets close to the dais she sings out, "Finally the moment has arrived!" She winks at Doug, who purses his lips and nods. One - zero. Chrysalis continuing, "For me! To be one lucky bride!" giggling as she sings, looking over at Shining Armor, "Mine! All mine!"

--One disrupted wedding, the shield breaks as Queen Chrysalis is revealed, an attempt to fight through a swarm of changelings to get the Elements of Harmony, and back to the Royal Wedding, still in progress--

Princess Celestia is defeated, strung up in a green cocoon. Princess Cadance, the real Cadance, is standing two body lengths from her fiance, hooves encased in green goo, Spike idly standing close by. Shining Armor is standing on the raised dias, his eyes unfocused. Doug is calmly standing at one of the open windows, watching the battle for the city as changelings swoop around. The guests and the rest of the wedding party, minus the bridesmares, have been corralled by changelings, kept huddled in a corner. Queen Chrysalis is standing in the middle of the room, glancing at the double doors and busy coordinating her invasion.

Queen Chrysalis goes over to Doug, laughing to herself. "Oh, please; it is over. You can't possibly imagine that anything is going to change. I have won!" She raises her hoof, motioning outside to the growing destruction, "What more could possibly happen? You like seeing them suffer?" Queen Chrysalis laughs again, turning back to the center of the room to regard the pink alicorn.

Princess Cadance tries to stomp her hoof as she angrily says, "You won't get away with this! Twilight and her friends will-" The doors to the throne room slam open, a group of changelings ushering the Element Bearers inside. Princess Cadance's face falls; she would have crumpled to the floor in defeat if her hooves weren't locked in place.

Queen Chrysalis laughs, "You were saying?" She grins, pacing around the middle of the room, "You do realize the reception's been cancelled, don't you?" She slowly walks over to the windows where Doug is standing, the two surveying the chaos below. Changelings have rounded up many of the royal guards, encasing their hooves and wings and horns in goo. A few pockets of resistance are still holding out, but the changelings are slowly surrounding the ponies, many surrendering as they become vastly outnumbered. Queen Chrysalis announces, "Go! Fe-"

Another high pitched laugh comes from the changeling Queen as Doug begins clapping, signalling the end. She softly sings to herself, "This day has been just perfect..." as a stomp of frustration comes from the cocoon containing Princess Celestia. The green goo melts away as the alicorn gracefully falls from the pod, landing on her hooves. Doug checks his watch as he looks at Princess Celestia, "Any more tricks up your sleeve? Otherwise I'm calling it."

Princess Celestia shakes her head as Princess Cadance shouts, "Wait! I'm sure I could get to Shining Armor, and... and... break him free of Chrysalis' control! And our love for each other would power his shield spell, and expel all the changelings from Canterlot! Winning the battle!"

Doug looks over, "Okay, that probably would work, because magic obeys the stupidest rules here sometimes, but look around you. You're covered in goop, can't move. Shining is standing next to you, mind controlled. Twilight and the rest of the Element Bearers, same thing; captured by a swarm of changelings, and lucky they aren't covered in goop. I think Queen Chrysalis is just trying to curry favor with me, because they totally should be restrained, especially Twilight's horn, and Rarity's as well. Can't trust unicorns to stay put. You have a horde of changelings around you, including Queen Chrysalis who is currently so high on love she 'beat' Princess Celestia." Doug turns to Celestia, "Nice fight, by the way, really sold it with the effects on your horn."

Queen Chrysalis glares at Celestia, "Yes, it was so good I thought you were going back on your word." She mimics Doug, clapping her hooves together, "Bravo."

Many of the ponies glance around, murmuring among themselves. Doug moves back, motioning towards the changeling army, "The only way your solution could possibly work is if Chrysalis just, like, sent the rest of her army to go help with those pockets of resistance, which they are clearly winning, then sung a song to give somepony enough time to break you free, and then got off on watching you buck Shiny in order to get the love to him. Princess Celestia, I'm sorry, but full victory for Queen Chrysalis."

"But, Twilight was able to uncover her identity! And then broke herself and Cadance out of prison in order to warn the rest of us before the invasion started!" Princess Celestia looks between Doug and Queen Chrysalis, "Surely that counts for something!"

"Hmm," Doug stalls, looking at Queen Chrysalis. The changeling returns his look with a forced neutral expression, barely quenching her rage, if this pathetic creature tries to deny what is rightfully hers. Doug looks at Twilight, "Did you know, before the rehearsal, that the pony you thought was Princess Cadance was Queen Chrysalis?"

Twilight glances over at Applejack before shaking her head, "I suspected she was an impostor, or using some sort of trick to get Shiny to have fallen in love with her. But I didn't know how, exactly, she had done it or what, precisely, she was. Or who. I can't believe I wasn't able to convince any of my friends of that! Although, what I really want to know is, what is all this? What are you doing? Why did Princess Celestia throw the fight? Why are we standing around here like a bunch of foals while there is a war going on outside!"

Doug's eyes widen, "Oh yeah, forgot about that. Princess Celestia, going to have to get back to you on that, but the invasion had already started when Twilight broke out of the mines. They weren't attacking the shield yet, but they were in the airspace, waiting for the signal. I'm going to have to rule against you, but I'll give both of them a minor concession for the prison break. Still victory for Queen Chrysalis. If you don't mind, I would tell the troops to stand down."

Applejack walks over to Twilight, "Sorry, Twi. We should've listened to you," as Twilight shakes her head.

Princess Celestia gives a heavy sigh, "Very well." She teleports to the balcony of her chambers, her voice thundering, "Royal Guards! A Ceasefire Has Been Negotiated With The Changelings! Stand Down!"

Queen Chrysalis appears next to Princess Celestia, bellowing, "Changelings! Drones! Squad Alpha To The Castle! All Other Squads, Regroup In Canterlot Airspace!"

Across the city confused guards and militia look to each other as the changelings take flight. They look back and forth at each other before galloping to the ponies bound by goo or chains, attempting to free the now unguarded prisoners. Dozens of changelings fly away from Princess Luna's tower, the door to which had remained closed throughout the fight. An irate Princess Luna, mane askew, looks out from a window of her tower to see the chaos, gasping at the changelings both going in and heading out of the castle. Princess Celestia teleports into the throne room moments before Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalis return, both appearing at the center of the room.

Princess Luna twirls, leveling her horn at Queen Chrysalis. Both begin charging their horns, Chrysalis for a shield and Luna for a dull blue beam of light. The two collide, the bolt of light ricocheting to the ceiling before Princess Celestia throws a shield around both of them, bellowing, "STOP!"

Princess Luna turns, glaring at Princess Celestia, "Explain yourself, traitor!"

Rainbow Dash takes flight, a few changelings moving closer to her, "Yeah! And you too, Doug, how could betray us all like this?"

As the Elements gear up for round two, Princess Celestia bellows again in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "STAND DOWN, EVERYPONY!!" The changelings drop to the floor, backing away from the Elements while Rainbow slowly lowers, rubbing her ears. "Now, in a moment my other captain will be here, and I will be able to explain this the once. In the mean time, please, wait patiently."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack glare at the surrounding changelings while Fluttershy cowers. Pinkie Pie seems oblivious, while Twilight seems to be more curious than anything. Rarity slowly gathers the dresses that everypony had hastily taken off, making sure they are still intact, a hint of a smile at the lack of destruction. Princess Luna stares at Princess Celestia, watching for any sign of a trick or mind control. Queen Chrysalis' horn shimmers, the goop on Princess Cadance's hooves disappearing.

Doug says, "Since we seem to have a moment; Queen Chrysalis, for being discovered early by Twilight: you will answer, truthfully and to the best of your ability, any questions that she has, for three hours a week, with an extra twenty hours distributed whenever she likes. Scheduled, as I am sure Twilight will not fail to do; if the topic allows you may designate another changeling to take your place, as long as the answers are to Twilight's satisfaction. For failing to contain your prisoner, Princess Cadance: you are to release her fiance, Shining Armor, from your mind control. She will have her wedding with Shining Armor, and neither you nor any changeling may sire with him until after Cadance's first is born, or until you have both of their permission."

Queen Chrysalis glares at Doug, "You must know how much I wanted to take him for myself, human." She mockingly bows to Princess Celestia, "But, as a show of good faith, I accept your judgement, though by right I should need to relinquish nothing." Twilight squeals in joy as Queen Chrysalis' horn lights, a green glow flashes over Shining Armor's eyes before he shakes his head. Princess Cadance moves next to him, quickly consoling him as he looks around, bewilderment in his eyes.

Captain Spitfire enters the throne room, glaring at the changelings around the walls. She walks up to Princess Celestia, ripping the patch off of her jacket, "If this is your idea of a joke, Princess, consider this my resignation." She throws the insignia at Princess Celestia's hoof, spinning to walk out of the throne room.

"Denied, Captain. Return to your post." The patch levitates into the air, affixing itself to Captain Spitfire's jacket. Princess Celestia motions towards Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus briefly losing her glare as the Wonderbolt marches next to her, an unreadable expression on the yellow pegasus.

Princess Celestia announces in a loud voice, "I know everypony is curious why we are here, standing with a bunch of changelings." Princess Luna begins to say something but Princess Celestia forestalls it by continuing, "You all have a lot of questions, but they will wait until the end. The short version of the story is I made a wager with Queen Chrysalis in order to prevent an all out war. At the time, she had infiltrators distributed among many of the cities and towns of Equestria. I swore to not reveal her presence, or to participate in the fight against her."

Doug steps forward, "The proposed and accepted contest was as such: Queen Chrysalis had to infiltrate and impersonate one pony. She chose Princess Cadance. At the start of her infiltration she had to give the city one week's warning that a threat was made against the area; she chose Canterlot, and the notice was received and acted upon. She had two objectives: first, to remain undetected during the week before the invasion and capture any pony that found out; the second to capture the city. If Queen Chrysalis managed both, then she would join the Princesses as ruler. I, Doug, of Herd Apple, was chosen as a neutral referee, allowed access to scrying spells and both sides, to decide if there were any infractions and determine penalties. The deal was made before Princess Luna returned; as part of the deal, Princess Celestia was unable to provide her with the details. If Luna was told, then she would have been required to sit out the invasion as well."

Princess Celestia nods, "Both Queen Chrysalis and I would have brought any allegations of misconduct to Doug, but there was no need, until the end. Now, does anypony have any questions? Yes, Rainbow Dash?"

"Princess!" Rainbow Dash exclaims, "Why didn't you exterminate the changelings when you had the chance?"

Princess Celestia gives Rainbow Dash a sad look, "Are you so quick to decide who lives and who dies, Rainbow Dash? I can give you the chance to make that choice." A dark blue dagger materializes out of magic, levitated in front of Rainbow Dash; the mare cautiously takes the dagger with her hoof. A sorrowful Princess Celestia says, "As long as you hold that dagger, then you are free to kill any changeling you wish. However, be aware that they are under the same condition with regards to you."

Rainbow looks at the dagger in her hoof, then at the twenty changelings surrounding her. Queen Chrysalis is charging her horn with a sneer, many of the other changelings turning green as they look ready to charge. Rainbow hastily drops the dagger, quickly backing away. Princess Celestia looks around, glancing at Princess Luna, "Anypony else wish to try?" The blue alicorn briefly shakes her head, "No?" The dagger dissipates into dust, "And neither do I. Now you know why, Rainbow Dash. I did not want to risk the lives of anypony, or even anyling. Maybe I could have gotten two, or three, or even all of them, then or in this room. Then what? At what cost? Could I have managed to get the rest of them, spread over Equestria, hidden as deeply as they were? What about when they are under no such restriction, and can play as if anypony in this room, neigh, anypony in Equestria is holding a dagger? What chance would your foal, Scootaloo, have against one of them?"

Rainbow Dash blanches, the blood draining from her face as her eyes going to the three flower fillies huddled in a corner, one of them piping up, "I'm not a foal!"

The immediate retort comes, "Yeah, you're a chicken."

Princess Celestia smiles as the trio bickers, moving towards the cyan mare and nuzzling her, "And that is how I feel about all of my little ponies." She turns, walking back to the center of the room, silence coming over the room, "Any other questions?"

Applejack moves forward, "So, what happens now? You said Queen Chrysalis is joining you as a ruler?"

Queen Chrysalis nods, "Celestia has agreed to acquiesce to my demands; in return, I will help govern, and I have agreed to treat your precious ponies as... equals. For the most part, things will continue as normal, with a few major changes. First, a campaign of aggressive expansion within our own borders. I will wait and see if a decree is needed, but I would like to see a... healthy uptake in the number of foals born. I'm thinking a third of each herd pregnant, every year. Single mares over a certain age will be under a similar requirement." She smiles as she looks over, "I can see Herd Apple is already in compliance."

Heads turn to look, confirming that both Twilight and Fluttershy are pregnant. Queen Chrysalis continues, "As well, each herd will be assigned one or more changelings, depending on the size of the herd. The goal I will start with is one changeling per six members, excluding foals and fillies age five and under. We will see how much love each changeling is able to... passively absorb, and what the effects of more active draining are, how much can be safely taken. I wouldn't want anypony injured, of course."

Applejack pipes up, "And Ah assume you need help with the, heh, making of more changelings?" Twilight moves forward, whispering to Applejack who then appends, "Though maybe Ah should have asked first, what exactly is a changeling?"

Queen Chrysalis nods, "Yes, each stallion will be required to service any changeling assigned to his herd. To answer your second question, we are able to take on the form of many creatures, gaining their innate abilities. We feed on emotions, specifically love. Drawing love energy from ponies is neither painful nor debilitating, as long as it is done correctly, and your love for others should only be impacted a small amount; not enough by itself to form a rift in a relationship. New changelings born are either changelings or ponies. If the dam spends the entire time transformed, it will be a pony. A changeling can transform once while pregnant, back to their natural form, though it is quite draining; the foal will then be a changeling. Or, if they join as a changeling, the foal will be a changeling. In both cases, lain as an egg. The new changelings, when they come of age, will be assigned to other herds, because I know you ponies have a problem with such things."

Queen Chrysalis turns, addressing the gathered guests, slowly turning to each pony in attendance, "Now, with the large increase in the population, we will need infrastructure. Lots and lots of new buildings, towns. I'm thinking more cloud cities, large farms, suburbs next to grounded cities like Manehatten. All over Equestria, and we'll need them built fast. I'll rely on your expertise for that, and you will soon have a versatile army of changelings to assist in this endeavor."

Queen Chrysalis paces back and forth before stopping in front of Princess Luna. The blue alicorn looks up at Queen Chrysalis, a neutral glare on her face. Queen Chrysalis states, "Now that you know my plan, Luna, do you oppose me?" She turns, looking at the gathered ponies, focusing on Twilight and Cadance, "Do any of you oppose this?"

Princess Luna states, "Equestria has lived peacefully for more than a thousand years, Chrysalis. Are you so willing to disrupt that balance just to increase your power?"

"Not just my power, but the power of ponies everywhere! And, should the other races agree, then all of the races of Equus! All creatures, united under our benevolent gaze. If they choose to oppose that, then they shall be... persuaded otherwise."

Princess Luna looks at Princess Celestia, both alicorns giving neutral looks. Princess Luna stares at Queen Chrysalis, "I do not care for the forced subjugation of any race. If we are able to come to an understanding on that, then very well. I will not oppose you, Chrysalis."

Queen Chrysalis turns and glares, "That's Queen Chrysalis."

"And here I thought we were equals."

The changeling queen strides over, "Do not make me teach you your place, Luna." The alicorn gazes back, daring the changeling with her eyes. A smirk slowly comes over Queen Chrysalis' face before she turns, looking at the crowd, "Anything else?"

Doug says, "One of the original concerns was a panic among the populace, about whether they could trust their neighbors to be who they say they are. Will you require your infiltrators to expose themselves, and what punishment will you have for changelings abusing their power for personal gain?"

Queen Chrysalis turns, glaring at Doug, "You dare accuse me of impersonating another for personal gain?"

Doug looks pointedly at Shining Armor before saying, "If you have already ordered your changelings to not do such a thing, then I withdraw the question."

"My changelings follow my decrees. And they will be my decrees, human, not yours." Queen Chrysalis paces back and forth, "Do you think I should command them to reveal themselves?"

Doug shrugs, "You are the changeling expert, not me. But if you are asking for my opinion, I would say yes, after we announce the change in management."

Princess Celestia shakes her head, "You rule by yourself for a thousand years, and then boom, new princess! Two years later, boom, new princess! Two years later, boom, new queen! They probably think it's old hat by now; they'll just be expecting another new ruler two years from now."

Queen Chrysalis snorts and turns to the alicorns, "Now; you three princesses have an announcement to make. I want a list of all the herds, sorted by city and with their likely reaction to a changeling being assigned to their herd. I will spread my existing changelings as wide as possible, randomly selected among the herds that would not be opposed at this time. Unless there are volunteers, but I somehow doubt that."

Princess Celestia nods, "I'll assign a pony or two to that, should be done by morning tomorrow. The announcement should be ready for distribution by tonight."

Applejack slaps a hoof to her face as Doug announces, "Herd Apple volunteers."

Queen Chrysalis rolls her eyes and nods, "Very well. Any other questions?" The gathered ponies look back and forth, nothing else coming forth. "Oh, and one last thing." She looks at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, "Since you two are both single, and Princess Cadance is out of the running, I expect a foal from each of you every other year."

Princess Luna exclaims, "What?" as Princess Celestia calls, "Dibs on first!"

Luna gives Celestia a dumbfounded stare as Doug turns to Princess Celestia, the human saying, "Did you seriously lose to Queen Chrysalis just to get a foal out of me?"

Princess Celestia's eyes nervously shift back and forth, "Maybe."

The scene suddenly shifts back to white, Doug finding himself alone again. What was that? A portent of the future? Or a fevered imagining of the possibilities? What if he had stalled longer, then would Cadance's plan have worked?

Author's Note

Would you like to see this continued? Debating if it would be interesting / novel enough.

11 The Watcher's Watcher

March 9th, 997

Doug looks around at the vaguely white walls. Too far away to touch, yet they look so close. Like he is in an empty room, and the walls around him are coated in a wet, dripping paint that seems to dribble out from inside the wall itself. He looks down, the floor underneath him covered in the same kind of sticky substance that clings to his feet. He grimaces, a look of disgust as he lifts one foot, then another. If only he had a-

Doug looks at his now gloved hand, holding a full bucket and a wet towel that reeks of ammonia. "How about a power washer?" he quips, sighing when nothing appears. He takes the towel and wipes a spot on the floor, the gooey substance dissolving away. Underneath is some sort of transparent plastic or glass, revealing a white, lightly textured floor. He looks at the spot from the side, his balance disrupted by the odd parallax of looking underneath the formless, colorless goo, then through something clear and seeing the white underneath. He sways, steadying himself by shifting his feet, but immediately regrets holding the towel anywhere near his face, coughing at the cleansing stench. At least his nostrils are clear.

He shrugs, dropping the bucket on the floor in the circle he made. He goes to wipe up more of the substance but finds the towel unable to do anything but build a larger pile that quickly slouches back to where it was before. He tries dunking the towel into the bucket, yelping as the goo sloughs off the towel and splashes, a bit of the liquid searing his forearm. Rubbing the spot doesn't help, but at least the pain slowly fades, leaving no mark on his body but his mind feeling a little less himself.

Doug clears a larger circle, the careful process of cleaning off the towel, wiping the foamy substance until the towel can hold no more. Rinse and repeat. Soon he has a place around him cleared off, and he looks at his feet. He puts the towel on the floor, then able to use his gloved hand to wipe off his feet, then grabbing the towel to clean the glove off. Repeat until his feet seem at least as clean as the rest of him. He sighs, looking around the room. Lots more to do.

After what feels like an eternity of scrubbing he finishes the floor, groaning as he gets up and stretches his back. His effort has only revealed white underneath, quite a bit more elevation as he gets to one of the walls. Well, time to try his luck on that side. He starts at the bottom, a long exhale as he makes a circle, wiping back and forth. The goo drips from above, threatening to ruin his work if he doesn't go quickly. Well, hopefully the ceiling doesn't drip down, but how will he reach-

Doug looks to the side, seeing a box. Well, the edges of a box, since it can't hold anything, just twelve pieces of wood somehow held together in a rough cube. No heart on it, at least. He walks over, grabbing it with his free hand; it's light, and he can move it around easily. And tall enough to let him reach the ceiling. Hopefully the towel doesn't drip when he holds it above himself, but that hasn't been an issue so far. He glances over at the wall, his work nearly ruined by the soft plop as more of the goo spurts out of the wall above. He grits his teeth, starting to work vertically from the top, having to stand on the box to reach the highest corner.

He gives a startled gasp, falling backwards off the box as he uncovers a spot of color. His head painfully impacts the floor, leaving him in a daze as he looks up, the rough wooden beams of the Apple farmhouse revealed by his last wipe. His free hand grabs the box, moving it back to position as he stands again, cleaning the towel off and continuing to work. Revealed next is the wall of his room, the master bedroom, and he can barely make out a pony sitting off to the side, working on something or other.

"Hey!" Doug shouts, trying to get her attention, but to no avail. He pounds on the spot he uncovered and that seems to draw her attention. She briefly glances over, a worried look on her face before she turns to the side. The brief flare of green, a light of some sort, and she glances back, a smile on her face.

"Don't worry but a bit, she'll be here soon," she crows, going back to her book.

Doug sighs, but he can see the clock in the room. Eleven in the morning. How long as he been out? He shakes his head, the last of the cloudy feeling leaving him as he goes back to work. The wall seems to go much quicker than the floor, and he finishes three of the sides before the heavy clop of hooves and the door opening makes him look around at the outside of whatever box he is trapped inside.

Princess Celestia walks inside, the mare nodding to her in greeting. Celestia says, "Sorry for the delay, I came as soon as I could get away from those Tartarus forsaken nobles. How is he?"

"Still sleeping, but he was stirring and making noises. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I thought you would want to know."

"Right. Well, I fear using my magic to try to wake him, as I do not know how it will interact with the potion and spells we administered. Hopefully is he able to wake on his own."

Doug pounds on the wall, shouting, "Hey! Celestia! I'm in here!" Princess Celestia merely turns, a short turn of her head and a quiet sigh.

Celestia says, "I assume, of course, that Queen Chrysalis informed you of the new situation, as you would otherwise not be here."

The pony nods as Doug begins cleaning off the last wall, a bit more haste in his movement. She says, "Yes, and Applejack allowed me to stay, though she does not know of the... situation."

"Good. I would hate to have to restrict her as I have restricted Doug. Though that might be part of why he is having such a... reaction."

Doug finishes the wall, starting to work on the ceiling. He ends up holding the bucket in one hand, the towel making short work of the thin layer above. He feels the walls around him dissipate as the last of the goo comes away, the bucket, the glove, the towel all fading as he moves a hand to his head. His actual head.

Princess Celestia looks over, smiling and saying, "Good afternoon, my little pony. How are you feeling?"

Doug shakes his head, trying to clear the pinpoints of light in his eyes, "Better? I mean, it was quite the weird position, not being able to do anything, but I don't have any pain. Why? What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Princess Celestia says, cocking her head to the side, "What position were you in?"

"Hard to describe, but it felt like I was trapped inside my own head." Doug looks around, spotting the pony from before, the pony nodding to him. Princess Celestia takes a hard look at Doug as he says, "Hello, I'm not sure if we've met formally. I'm Doug, nice to meet you."

"You can call me Jay. Jay Squeak. And, if that's all, I'll be on my way." The mare nods to each of them before turning and walking out of the room.

"Nice to meet you, Jay," Doug says, a brief flick of her tail the only acknowledgement that she heard. Doug looks over at Celestia, "So, um, what happened?"

Celestia continues staring at Doug, her eyes briefly flashing white. She gives a heavy sigh, "You remember nothing?"

Doug shakes his head, "I remember quite a bit, but it doesn't really make sense. I saw a wedding, it gets disrupted by the changelings, and quite a bit more."

Celestia gives a start, her eyes shining again. "And you can talk about it?" She shakes her head, "The geas I put you under should have prevented that. But, alas, it appears you are a more slippery target than I thought." She gives a slight wink to Doug, barely noticeable as he sits up.

"So, I don't suppose we can, um, skip redoing the geas part? I don't know if I like magical compulsions all that much."

Princess Celestia winks at Doug, more obvious this time, "Oh, it was one of Queen Chrysalis' requirements, that I put you under one. She did not specify, however, that you had to stay under for the duration of her campaign. You remember the terms of our arrangement?"

Doug slowly nods, a bit of the conversation the three of them had slowly coming back to him. Also portions of the deal that he had agreed to, Celestia and Chrysalis both casting some spell on him and then drinking a potion that started the whole ordeal. "Arbiter between you all? I don't remember much else of our conversation, between the three of us, but the... vision that I had gives me a pretty good idea of what is going on."

Princess Celestia smiles, "Just remember, Doug, that visions of the future are never given for no reason. If you liked what you saw, then you should strive to make it come about. If you didn't, then think very carefully about how you can change the outcome of the vision. After all, if you change a small part at the start, it can have very large consequences down the road. Potentially invalidating the rest of the vision, and instead inviting a new way for disaster to arise."

Doug nods, "Yep, so, probably no going around shouting to everypony that there are changelings out and about. That could end... poorly."

"It would end extraordinarily poorly, yes, and that is even before you factor me working against you instead of with you. Alas, the burden of living up to your promises."

"Can't just wave a hoof and get rid of everything, huh?"

Celestia lays a hoof on Doug, "I could, sometimes; alas, even I have my limitations. But - and this can be a very difficult thing for anypony who isn't a parent to go through - many times the struggles that one goes through defines the person they become. And removing all obstacles from somepony's path does not make that pony strong or safe, instead defenseless when the next trial comes."

"I know what you mean, about having foals do anything that they can do for themselves instead of doing it for them. But, are you saying we are defined by our suffering and struggles?"

Celestia shrugs, "It is almost the definition of equinity, the equine condition, though in your position, it would be... Sapienity? Sapenity?"

"Humanity, but yes. Maybe as a general term sapienity works."

"Indeed." Celestia sighs, "And it is a hard lesson both to teach and to learn. To have the ability to solve something, and holding back because they will suffer more for you helping them than if you allow the possibility that they might fall. And fall they will."

Doug slowly looks away from her, "Celestia, can I ask a personal question of you?"

"Certainly." The hoof withdraws, Celestia sitting up a little straighter.

"How much do you want a foal?"

Celestia sighs, "I have wanted a foal for nearly the entirety of my adult life, and there are very few things that I would not give to obtain one. Why?" She eyes Doug as he sighs, still looking away from her, "Does it have to do with your vision?"

Doug nods, "And I don't know how much I should reveal about it."

"That is likely for the best. Oh, and as your geas is no longer operable, you should also tell nopony about your responsibilities, or indeed anything at all about the upcoming challenge to my little ponies."

"Right. You can count on that." Doug sighs, "What do you think of Chrysalis?"

"She is conceited, arrogant, selfish, but at the same time a master manipulator and schemer. She played her hoof well, making it very difficult to oust her without grievous harm to my little ponies, though I feel I have gotten the better of her in this negotiation. It is with great reluctance that I deal with her." Princess Celestia glances at the clock, "Unfortunately, I believe my lunch break is coming to a close. Do you have any other questions?"

"No, but Celestia, know that you don't have to go to outlandish lengths to have a foal with me, or with somepony else should your spell with Cadance succeed. When the time is right, I'm sure it will happen."

Princess Celestia nods, a wide smile growing on her face, "You don't know how happy that makes me, Doug. Thank you." She leans forward, a brief hesitation before her face darts forward, a brief kiss on Doug's cheek.

Doug slowly raises a hand to the spot Celestia kissed as she withdraws; she gives him a quick wink before blinking away. He sighs, a smile slowly growing on his face; hopefully that forestalls any other crazed plans of hers. But who knows how she'll take it. But, he should talk to Rarity, and possibly Applejack about setting something up. Not to do with Celestia, but for the ponies in his herd and possibly the other ponies in town. Even if they don't know the reason, they will need to be better prepared for the coming battle. Hopefully singular.

12 Notched Flesh

March 10th, 997

Despite the cool spring breeze flowing through the air, Rainbow pants as they near the end of the second lap around the farm. She shakes her mane, droplets of water billowing forth, trying to form a bit of a breeze with her magic despite staying on the ground. She looks next to her; Doug is also breathing heavily, but turning to one of the barns instead of back to the farmhouse. She shrugs to herself as they continue their fast pace, finally slowing down to a walk as they get close. She stretches her legs as they pause outside the doors, "Hey, so, why the fast pace? Not that I minded or anything, you know."

Doug shrugs as he opens the door for her, "Well, wanted to try to get more in shape, I guess."

Rainbow cocks her head, poking her stallion in the side, "Um, I don't think you need to work out more, dude. We just, like, jogged ten miles." She looks up at the sky, "And it took us, what, an hour? A little more?" She shakes her mane, dashing for the large water jug Doug had placed before the run, drinking greedily before passing it to the human. He takes the water, a brief splash to his face and wiping a bit of the sweat out of his eyes before he takes a long drink.

"Well, I'll be focusing on other parts of my body this time." Doug trades the jug for a bucket, pulling out a few large nails, two metal brackets, and a heavy hammer, handing the two brackets to Rainbow. He pushes one of the crates next to the purple walls, taking the hammer in one hand while Rainbow flies up, holding the metal bracket in place against one of the thick vertical support beams. Doug holds the nail in place, hammering it in, making sure the bracket is secure and just underneath the cutout he made earlier in the beam. He drops down, walks to the other end, up the stairs to the second floor of the barn. He bends down as Rainbow takes the second clamp; she holds it against the beam that supports the second floor while Doug hammers in the second nail.

Doug comes back down and grabs a long wooden beam, picking up one end. Rainbow grabs the other end, grunting as they lift it up, carrying it to the second floor. Rainbow flies over so the beam crosses over the middle of the barn, setting it up to rest on the bracket on the other side and just inside the notched area. He glances up, the brown wooden beam looking a bit out of place next to the purple walls and pink beams. Maybe a good project to get the fillies involved. He rolls over, nearly hanging off of the second floor as he hammers a nail through the bracket to the horizontal beam.

"Like what? Don't you mostly use your legs?" Rainbow looks down, still holding the loosely secured beam, her forelegs beginning to get a little tired as her wings pump up and down. Doug drops down, grabbing onto the nearby crate, boosting himself up. He rest the beam on his shoulder, letting Rainbow get a bit of a break. He holds the nail out to her; she holds it in place while Doug drives the nail upwards.

"Well, I'm using this hammer." Rainbow grabs two more clamps and four nails, holding them in place as he fully secures the beam. "I mean, lower body strength is great, and a large part of many martial arts." They move to the other side, Doug dragging the crate over to give him a better place to stand as they nail the last of clamps, "You know Bulk Biceps."

Rainbow snorts, "Oh, please tell me that is your goal. Please."

Doug rolls his eyes, "Well, I would like to bench press Applejack like I can bench Fluttershy, but I doubt I'll be able to get there. In fact, I've probably already reached how strong I'm going to get, mostly because of my diet."

"So, just eat more." Rainbow watches as Doug moves over, grabbing a large red cylindrical bag. She points a hoof, "What's that?"

"Well, to answer your statement, I'm eating the wrong foods to bulk up." Doug walks over, standing the red bag on its end. "This is a punching bag." Doug throws a few light punches before grabbing a few ropes, threading them through the loops at the top. "Rarity made it out of heavy canvas, and I think she threw an enchantment on it as well, to make it more durable." He taps on the woe essence the ropes are strung through, "But you need to let the enchantment recharge after using it; you can sometimes hear it when it runs out of power. It takes about seven seconds, so just take a short rest when you hear it go off." He motions to the bag, "You would probably call it a bucking bag, because that is the, how shall I say, general pony method of attacking something, but something about the name sounds off."

Rainbow chuckles, "Yeah, saying you want to go practice with the 'ole bucking bag sounds, uh, wildly inappropriate. If accurate. Maybe it's a training bag instead."

"Fair enough." Doug takes the ropes, securing the bag to the beam they had just raised.

"So, you were saying about the wrong food? Bulk doesn't eat anything too different, just a lot more."

"Yup. So, my body doesn't process food the same as yours. In order to get protein or amino acids, the basic building blocks of my muscles, I have to eat it. Unfortunately, I can't just eat a bunch of hay, which does contain proteins and whatnot, because I can't digest the cellulose. I have to get it from somewhere, which is why I eat eggs and nuts and drink milk."

"Okay, so couldn't you just eat more of those?"

Doug shrugs, "Well, I could, if my goal was to get bigger in addition to bulking up. But, unfortunately, it's inefficient, and I would get a lot more calories than I require, so I would likely end up fatter in addition to stronger. And I don't want to get fatter."

Rainbow sighs, looking back at herself, "Well, I know you don't care, but sometimes I think I'd look better with a little more bounce in my flanks. More like Rarity or Fluttershy, you know?"

Doug moves over, tilting Rainbow's head up towards his. She rolls her eyes as they share a kiss, miming him as he says, "And you know I love you, regardless." He ruffles her mane as he continues, "And maybe you would be more attractive to other ponies if you had a bit more junk in the trunk. But that doesn't come without consequences."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I wouldn't be as fast, or as agile, or whatever."

"Sure. And Pinkie Pie does make some pretty awesome cakes. Kinda hurts to miss out."

"Mm, yeah." Rainbow salivates as she looks up at the bag, "So, what would you eat instead?"

"You really want to know?"

Rainbow smirks, "What, you'd have to eat ponies or something?" She laughs initially, but her face falls at his slow nod, his mouth pursed to a grim smile. "Wait, really? So, way back when Spoiled Rich asked you, there's a real reason for you to eat ponies?"

"Well, it's not a topic I bring up because it's uncomfortable, downright terrifying in fact, but yes. I mean, it doesn't have to be ponies, it could be just about any animal. Chickens or pigs would be the most readily available ones. But I refrain from that because, well, two reasons. One, just about everything here can talk, at least to Fluttershy, and I don't want to eat anything that talks. There are a few exceptions to the 'animals can talk' rule; fish, turkeys, a couple of the creatures in the Everfree. The other reason is, while it is okay for us to raise more chickens to get more eggs, it's a bit harder to raise fish or turkeys for the pure purpose of butchering them."

"Yeeaahh," Rainbow intones, "I don't think that would go over very well." She looks outside; the chicken coop, the pig sty, even the barns where the cows like to stay; all are in easy visual range. "Not well at all. I mean, Gilda, my griffon friend, she eats meat, and so do a couple of the other races. They just, um, tend not to talk about it, like, at all when they are here. Somepony scared em real bad several years ago."

"Huh. I wonder if I can order some meat from them. I've kind of resigned myself to this diet, and that I probably won't bulk up any more than I am." Doug jumps up, grabbing onto the beam and doing a few pull ups, testing the beam. "If I could get more meat that would be nice, but I don't have to."

"So, then, why are you working out more?" Rainbow gets down, her wings stretching out, tips on the ground. She does a few wing ups before getting back up, "I mean, I do exercises like that because it strengthens my wings, and helps me fly faster. And I can do a bunch of them. Heh, not much else to do when my magic is low, you know?"

"Certainly. And, well, humans use their arms for most activities, so it's pretty important to keep them strong." Doug drops down, moves up to the bag, a southpaw stance, landing a few jabs with his right hand.

Rainbow dashes over, spinning around and bucking the bag. It rocks backwards, the mare quickly dodging to the side and landing a second buck as it swings back to the center. She rolls forwards while Doug plants his foot forward, stopping the bag's movement with a cross from his left hand, a popping sound from the woe essence above the bag. He winces, shaking his hand a little as Rainbow laughs, "Oh, the sand in there too hard for you?"

Doug rubs his knuckles, "More like I'm not used to hitting things." He motions back at Ponyville, "I've got a couple weapons at Rarity's, things we used in the Badlands." He sighs, putting a hand on the bag, his pressure slowly bringing it to rest. "And if I was really trying to hurt something, then I would use one of those."

Rainbow flies over, nuzzling Doug on the cheek, "So, um, is there, uh, something that you are worried about? Something that could hurt you? Or us?"

Doug slowly nods, "Spoiled Rich is right. There are dangerous things out there, trying to get in. But I can't tell you more, Rainbow, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to trust me on that."

"Oh." Rainbow snuggles next to him, "Well, you aren't going to be one of those things, right?"

Doug holds tightly around Rainbow, sinking to the hay covered floor, "I sure hope not, Rainbow, I certainly hope not."

Rainbow wraps her forelegs around him, matching him squeeze for squeeze. "Well, you better not, cause if you do, I'll, like, buck your flank or something." She forestalls his quick retort, "And not in a good way!"

"You got it." Doug grunts as he stands, lifting Rainbow in his arms, the mare moving her forelegs to around his shoulders. "I might need you to get off for this next one."

"Aww." Rainbow rolls back, her wings keeping her aloft; she says, "Just know, if anything were to happen, I'll be right with you. We can, like, fight it off together!" She does a few midair jabs, hovering closer to the training bag and attempting a spinning kick. However, her spacing is a little off, her kick whiffing the bag and sending the pegasus spiraling into the floor.

Doug smirks as he reaches up to the horizontal beam. He jumps up, his hands gripping the beam from opposite sides. He hangs for a few seconds before repositioning, his hands on the same side. He grunts, lifting his body up in a chin up, a set of five before he drops down. Rainbow picks herself up, flying a little closer to the bag, wary about messing up her kick again. The two continue working out before they both call it quits, tired arms and legs off to whatever duties they have that day.

13 Erasmus' Gift

March 21st, 997

"Soooooooo," Doug hears from above him as he wakes up, the high pitched voice excitedly asking, "What'dja get me?"

Doug cracks open one eye, looking at the pink pony straddling him, her eyes inches from his face. He deadpans, "It's a surprise." An irritated grunt comes from his side, Applejack rolling away as she grabs a pillow and shoves it over her head. Doug continues, "And once you figure out what it is, I'll give it to you."

"Ooh, I love surprises!" Pinkie Pie starts pronking up and down, though her hooves don't leave the mattress, "Is it soft?" The three bounce up and down, a deep, irritated rumble coming from Applejack.

Doug shakes his head, "I'm sorry Pinkie, but I'm only answering one question about the surprise every hour. And you already asked your question."

Pinkie Pie pouts, "What? Hmm..." she looks up tapping her hoof against her head, "No, you didn't answer my question, you just told me it was a surprise, which isn't really an answer, you see, an answer would be something like, 'it's a guessing game', because that would be a lot of fun!"

"Okay, Pinkie," Doug says with a smirk, "It's a guessing game."

"Ooh, I love guessing games! Just like I love surprises!" Pinkie Pie pulls out a black bowler hat, a serious expression on her face. She taps her hoof against her muzzle a few times before pulling out a pipe, a few bubbles coming out of the end, even though she isn't blowing on it. "Okay! Is it soft?"

"Like I said, Pinkie, I'm only answering one question per hour." He leans in close, "And if you don't guess what it is by the end of the day, well, you just might not get it."

"Aww, ponyfeathers. I'd better be at the top of my game! Okie dokie Dougie, I'll be back in thirty minutes!" Pinkie Pie pronks out the door, a large smile on her face.

"No, Pinkie, its-" Doug looks outside at the dark sky, then at the clock next to the bed. Four thirty. Well, not exactly worth going back to bed if she's just going to wake him up again. And, by some interpretations of what he said, it will be a new hour in thirty minutes. He groans, his hand softly petting Applejack's mane, who responds by kicking him with a hoof. He chuckles to himself, rubbing his leg as he slips out of bed and heads to the kitchen.

-

Doug walks out of the kitchen into the dining room, two plates towering with pancakes balanced on one arm. He places one in front of Pinkie, the bottle of syrup in easy reach, before taking his own seat and a fork. He takes a bite of his breakfast and a swig of his apple juice before asking, "So, got your question ready?"

Pinkie Pie nods, blowing bubbles out of her pipe as she concentrates. A small bell goes off next to her; she smiles, her pipe thrown to the floor, "Is it Smooth?"

Doug nods, "Yes, Pinkie, it is smooth." He goes back to eating his pancakes, grabbing the bottle of syrup and butter, generous portions spread out before he passes the bottle to Pinkie.

Pinkie Pie nods, her eyes watching the bubbles as they float around. "Hmmmm", she intones, looking at Doug, "Well, I'll see you in an hour!" She grabs her plate of pancakes, dumping a large amount of syrup onto the pile before devouring each pancake individually.

"Okay, Pinkie, I'll probably be in here," Doug says, rolling his eyes as the mare pronks outside, heading to town.

-

All is calm in the Apple farmhouse, just the quiet rustle of papers as Doug sits at the desk in his office. He turns to the next page of the Phillydelphia weather reports when Pinkie Pie pronks in, "Okay, Dougie, hours up! Soooo, is it Unique?"

Doug nods, "As far as I know; I made it myself and haven't seen a similar one here."

"Well, that's a bit more than I asked, but I suppose everything is a little bit unique, right? I mean, I ate like ten pancakes and they were all unique even though they were very very similar to each other. They all tasted good, they all had syrup on them, though the distribution of syrup was uneven, the first one having less than the second which had more than the third but the third had less than the first and the fourth one which had less than all three of them. You know, I could also organize the pancakes by how much syrup they had, which would make the tenth pancake the most and the ninth the least and eighth-"

Doug shakes his head, a smile on his face as Pinkie Pie reaches behind the doorway, pulling out an easel and several large pieces of paper. She grabs one of Doug's markers and starts listing different categorical systems, ending up with a three dimensional Venn diagram of the ten pancakes. She briefly considers her work before pronking out of the room, the mare now listing off exactly how her pancakes ordered in wheat versus apple quantity and the resulting quality of the experience.

-

Applebaum is quietly counting the dice in front of him, working on adding the number of pips. Lemon is stacking blocks, trying to make some sort of cabin out of the wood set. Doug is working with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, getting the two ready for school when Pinkie Pie pronks into the room. Doug looks over, "Got your next question?"

Pinkie Pie nods, "Yup! Is it Rectangular?"

Doug stares at Pinkie Pie for a few seconds, "Yes, it is."

"Hmm, and not just the box it's coming in, if it is coming in a box, right? Like, you can't count the box and say the box is rectangular even if the thing inside it isn't rectangular."

"Correct, the object in question is rectangular."

"Hmmmm..." Pinkie Pie says as she starts to pronk away.

Doug coughs, Pinkie Pie stopping as says, "Hey, you're heading back into town, right?" Pinkie Pie nods, "Can you take these two to school?" Doug motions at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, both with small saddlebags against their sides. "Save me a trip, even though it isn't all that far."

"Hey, we're big fillies, we can handle a short walk to school!"

Doug nods, "Yes, you two are big fillies, and you will be staying next to each other, got it? Make sure the other one doesn't get in any trouble, running off and chasing Winona or going too fast on the scooter."

"Hey, that was just the one time!" both fillies exclaim. Then they look at each other and say, "No it wasn't!"

Doug rolls his eyes, "Pinkie, just follow behind them, make sure they get there on time."

"Okie dokie! Come on, little pokies!" Pinkie says, ushering the two outside as they continue bickering.

-

"So, Carrot Top was asking if we were interested in doing a bulk trade of apples for carrots. Ah told her sure, so Ah'll need to head back to town at some point to pick them up." Applejack grunts as she bucks the next tree in line, a cascade of apples falling into the baskets. Doug grabs one of the apples that bounced off a too-full basket, tossing it into one of the less filled ones before he loads them onto the wagon.

Both turn to see Pinkie Pie pronking over, the mare asking, "Oh! Doug! I have my next question!" She pronks closer, Applejack rolling her eyes as Pinkie Pie says, "Is it Pink?"

Doug shakes his head, "There are small sections that are pink, but less than... ten percent. Probably less than five, but I'm not exactly sure." He considers a few seconds, "Yeah, just the borders. And maybe a little of each object."

Pinkie Pie frowns, "Aww, I wanted it to be pink."

Doug ventures, "The box it comes in is pink."

Pinkie Pie perks back up, "Yippee! I love pink! It's my favorite color! Well, I suppose I could order which pink I like the most. Like hot pink or-"

Applejack cuts her off, "Ah'm sorry, Pinkie, but Ah'm a little busy here, and Ah need to concentrate. Also, aren't you supposed to be working at Sugarcube Corner?"

"Yup! Well, I'm on break right now, Ms. Swirl is covering for me at the front." She leans in close, "My tail was twitching when I was near her, so I think it's her lucky day." She gives a long wink at Applejack.

"Alright, then," Applejack says, a little confused at the comment, as she turns to the next tree. "Oh, if it ain't too much trouble, Pinks, can you take one of these baskets of apples back with you? They're for Carrot Top, if you see her at the market, have her fill it with carrots, and bring it back next time you come see Doug."

"Okay, Applejack!" The basket of apples rests on Pinkie's back as she pronks back towards town.

-

Pinkie Pie pronks into the farmhouse, dropping a basket of carrots off in the kitchen. She heads to Doug's office next, sticking her head through the open doorway. She smiles when she spots Doug, saying, "Are there Rules?"

Doug looks up from a stack of letters, "That depends on what we are talking about."

Pinkie Pie huffs, "My next question, mister. Are there rules in the surprise that you are getting me?

"Yes." He turns back to his desk, finishing the letter he was reading.

Pinkie Pie rolls her eyes, "Okay, well, are there a lot of rules? Are they tough to figure out? Are they really simple but the difficulty comes from trying to think about what your opponent can do and whether or not they are thinking about what you are thinking about?" Doug steadfastly continues working, opening the next letter, "I mean, I could go on about which level of yomi you are on, and trying to always be one level higher. You know, like if you are playing rock paper scissors and I think you're going to play rock but you-"

Doug rolls his eyes, "Okay, you win. The rules can be described in... less than fifty words."

Pinkie Pie huffs, "Okay, mister, you might have dodged that bolt, but I'll get you!" She raises her hooves in the air, pronking backwards out the door, "I'll get you!"

-

Pinkie Pie pronks into the kitchen, looking at the arranged dishes. She hops to the plate of salad, asking Doug, "Is this for me?"

Doug nods, "And two of the breadsticks, and one of the bowls of hay. I'll see you in an hour."

"Hey, no fair, mister, that wasn't my question!"

"Oh?" Doug asks, trying to conceal his smirk, "You didn't ask it, and it wasn't a question?"

Pinkie Pie raises a hoof, pointing it first at her eye and then at Doug.

"Fine." Doug motions with a hand, "Ask your question."

"Is it Intricate? Like, are there lots of really complicated interactions that you have to be thinking about even before you make your first move?"

Doug shakes his head, "No. It's pretty simple."

Pinkie Pie wipes a bead of sweat off her forehead, "Whew! I was afraid I wouldn't like playing it!"

"Oh, Pinkie, I think you'll like it," Doug says, walking back to his office, a plate of greens, breadsticks and carrots in hand.

-

Fluttershy, Doug, Applebaum, and Lemon are focusing on the cards laid out in front of them, Hedge asleep next to her dam. Doug flips one card, grimacing, before he flips over a second card. He lets out a loud sigh as he flips them over, Applebaum practically leaping forward to flip Doug's second card with one of the others. Lemon gives a quiet 'hmm' before reaching for another card as Pinkie Pie pronks in. She smirks as she looks at Doug, "So, are there Smiles? Like, is there lots of smiling going on?"

Doug smiles back at Pinkie Pie, "Yes, Pinkie, there is lots of smiling going on." Pinkie Pie nods back, but before she can sit down he continues, "There is also lots of not smiling going on."

Pinkie Pie exclaims, "What? Why would somepony not be smiling?"

Doug shrugs, "I asked them not to."

Pinkie Pie's mouth hangs open for a few seconds before Doug reaches over, lifting it with his hand. Pinkie shakes her head as her mouth closes, "Wait, what just happened? I thought for a second there you TOLD ponies NOT to SMILE!" She wipes her forehead with a hoof, "Whew! That would have been something!"

"Um, I did tell ponies to not smile." Pinkie Pie scowls at Doug, "Yup! Just like that!"

"Oh, so they were acting!" A smile breaks out over Pinkie's face, "I guess then it's okay," as she moves over to watch the foals continue to play.

-

Hedge yawns, awakening from her mid day nap. She looks around, spotting her dam, and quietly getting to her hooves. She frowns at the soft tap against the wooden floor as she makes her way, Fluttershy glancing over to see what the noise is. She smiles, straightening her legs and rolling to her side. Hedge slinks forward, her quarry in sight, as Pinkie Pie looks up at Doug from their game. "Hour's up! So, is there Elimination?"

Doug nods a few times, a smile on his face, "Yes, Pinkie, there is."

"Then I know what you got me!" Pinkie Pie excitedly bounces up and down. "It's a guessing game!"

"I thought you might like it," Doug says as he gets up, going to his office before returning with a pink box. "Happy three year anniversary, Pinkie!"

"Oh, Doug, you didn't have to do this!" Pinkie exclaims as she eagerly reaches for the box.

"It's a guessing game!" Doug echoes, quite a bit more enthusiasm than the last time he said that, passing the box over.

Pinkie Pie rolls her eyes as she tears off the wrapping paper. She gasps as she sees a painting of Ponyville from a pegasus point of view on the front, a stylized 'PLB' signature on the bottom. She pulls off the lid, looking at the hundreds of cards inside. She takes one, a picture of herself staring back at her with a huge smile on her face. She giggles as Doug explains, "So, in the game, each of you gets a card with a picture the other pony is trying to guess. You take turns asking the other pony one yes or no question. The other pony answers, allowing you to eliminate some of your possibilities. When you are down to one, you win! Guess Who, but with all the ponies from Ponyville as possibilities!"

"Hey, that's more than fifty words!"

Doug rolls his eyes, "Okay, I'm sure I could eliminate some of the articles in that statement to make it less than fifty. Happy?"

"Always!" Pinkie Pie pronks over, nuzzling Doug, "Okay, so, you want to play?"

"Sure! So, first, we each pick thirty six cards at random; each depicts one of the various ponies from Ponyville. I even have a whole bunch of blanks for when new ponies come along." Doug winks at Pinkie, holding up a picture of Hedge. "We put the cards that are possibilities on these racks, so each pony can see them. You roll two dice, one for the row and one for the column; don't let the other pony see what you rolled! Now, that pony is the one that the other pony is trying to guess, so remember it! Then you pick a characteristic of the ponies. Like, 'Is your pony frowning?' And the other pony says yes or no, allowing you to flip over some of the cards."

Applebaum and Lemon, their own game abandoned, watch with interest as Pinkie Pie and Doug set up for their first game, pointing at the ponies that they recognize and laughing at the entertaining positions some ponies are taking in their pictures.

14 Fire, Wood, and Stone

May 5th, 997

Apple Bloom paces back and forth in one of the Apple barns, excitement plain on her face about finally getting more formal instruction on cooking the various meals. Normally she just hangs around Doug while he works in the kitchen, explaining tidbits here and there, but rarely allowing her to help on preparing anything more difficult than sandwiches. Applejack had asked Granny and Pinkie Pie to help her and her sisters learn, the filly starting to get anxious about the upcoming lessons.

The Apple penchant for never throwing things away that might find some use, somewhere, at some point, has given them enough ovens and cooking surfaces so that each filly will be able to have their own space. They have all sorts of recipes, probably more than there are Apples in the family! Granny knows just about every one, and she's taught just about all of them to Applejack.

Sweetie Belle nervously looks at the various cooking implements in front of her. She mouths the names of each utensil, pointing a hoof at each in turn. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, is much more excited at the prospect of trying something new, but her enthusiasm is quickly depleting as Applejack must be taking her sweet time getting here. She finds herself occasionally glancing over to her scooter, leaning against the wall by the door, but forces herself back to the contents of the room with a heavy sigh.

The three fillies gather around the box of utensils, pans, and assorted measuring cups that Doug had brought over. They don't have any filly sized versions, so each of them tests out carrying, lifting, and pouring imaginary liquids out of the various containers. Sweetie Belle starts lifting a pan with her magic while Apple Bloom takes one of the pots, trying to lift it above her head. Scootaloo grabs one of the measuring cups, lifting it up and peering at the numbers etched on the side.

Sweetie Belles grunts, having difficulty lifting the pan with her magic, and stomps a hoof in frustration. In front of her, Apple Bloom struggles with the large pot, finally bending over the black iron to try to grasp both ends with her hooves. Sweetie Belle's horn glows as she channels more into the telekinesis, trying to lift the pan into the air. However, her magic shoots past the pan, grabbing the pot instead.

Sweetie Belle thrusts her head up, a look of frustration at her pan as it fails to move. However, the pot lifts into the air, a startled Apple Bloom shrieking as she is carried along with it. The back half of her body hangs off the pot, the filly quickly letting go and falling the short drop to the floor. She lands on her rump with a loud bump, rubbing her backside as she looks down at the floor. Sweetie Belle grins when the pan slowly lifts, but gasps as she realizes what she is doing with the pot, her magic disappearing as the pot flips over.

Apple Bloom looks up, giving a short shriek as the pot falls. She bunches up, pulling her tail and legs close and making herself as small as possible as the pot lands neatly around her, deadening her shriek as the pan clatters to the floor.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo bound over to the pot as a loud voice comes from outside the barn, "Are you young'ins there?" The two fillies turn and look to the door, an elderly green earth pony glaring through half closed eyes. Granny Smith squints, looking around the room. "Where's Apple Bloom? Ah thought that filly knew we were supposed to be meeting here!"

A muffled, "Ah'm in here, Granny!" comes from the black pot.

"What's that?" Granny says, slowly making her way to the pot. She cocks an ear as she gets close, "You callin' me an ear?"

"No, Granny!" says the pot, "Ah said, Ah'm in here!" Apple Bloom knocks a hoof on the side of pot, immediately regretting her choice as the pot rings around her.

"What's that?" Granny Smith says again, pushing the pot over and revealing a dizzy Apple Bloom inside.

The filly raises her voice more than normal, her two sisters covering their ears, "AH SAID AH'M IN HERE!"

Granny Smith doesn't bat an eye, "Oh, well why didn't you say so?" She looks around, "Now, you three stop foaling around, Applejack and Pinkie Pie should be here lickety split, and we'll go over how we make some of the food 'round here."

The fillies settle down, though they quickly grow bored of the wait, this time with Granny making sure they aren't doing anything too destructive. A few minutes later, and Scootaloo is banging her hoof on the pots and pans, trying to find which one sounds the best. Apple Bloom is bobbing her head to the beat while Sweetie Belle is slowly growing more and more frustrated at the out of tune 'instruments'. The door to the barn opens, Applejack yelling, "Who in tarnation is making all this racket?"

Granny Smith yells back, "What racket?" as she looks up from the oven she was inspecting. The large cast iron stove has stood the test of time well, though Doug had been through there fairly recently to clean up any rust or debris, especially with them using the barn on occasion for Pinkie Pie's large orders.

Pinkie Pie enters after Applejack, pronking up and down to the beat. "Exactly, Applejack! What are you talking about? This is great!" She jiggles around, happily nuzzling the various fillies and Granny as she moves around the room. The other ovens in the room also are well-kept, and each filly moves to one.

Granny Smith is not nearly as amused; when Pinkie Pie nuzzles her she says, "Y'all ready to start baking, or you want to keep foaling around?" Applejack and Pinkie Pie move to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom while Granny Smith moves towards Scootaloo. "Now, what did you young'ins want to cook?"

Apple Bloom yells, "Pies!", Scootaloo yells, "Potato Fries!", Sweetie Belle yells, "Quesadillas!", and Pinkie Pie yells, "Cupcakes!"

All heads turn to Pinkie Pie, the mares rolling their eyes. "What?" Pinkie Pie exclaims, "I'm a young'in! And I've got a song and everything!"

Applejack shakes her head, "Maybe another time, Pinkie. Granny Smith, Ah think you'll get pies, you know those best." Granny Smith mutters something, wandering around and looking for pie ingredients. "Pinkie Pie, you want to get fries?"

Pinkie Pie huffs, "Fine." She walks with a downcast face towards Apple Bloom, her mane losing a little luster as she mutters to herself, "Can't believe nopony wants to make cupcakes. What's wrong with cupcakes? Nothing, that's what!" She plops down next to Apple Bloom, "So, you want to make pies, huh? Not cupcakes?" Pinkie blows a bit of her mane out of her face.

Apple Bloom sighs, "Ah'm sure you'll have the chance to teach me how to bake cupcakes, Pinkie Pie. But if Ah'm gonna be an Apple, Ah gotta know how to cook apple pie." Pinkie Pie snorts, looking off to the side. Apple Bloom continues, "And, you're a Pie, aren't you? Ah bet you know how to cook some really delicious pies!"

Each pony turns and watches as Pinkie Pie lights the oven, "Well, yeah, duh, I can make a pie. I can make anything! I want to make cupcakes!" Pinkie Pie grabs a potato, "And instead, I'm showing you how to make fries." She takes a knife, a blur of motion as she chops the potato up, the whole potato neatly collapsing into long slices, "Any fry cook worth their salt can make fries." She tosses a few spices, some oil, and various powders into a bag, followed by the potatoes, shaking the contents, "And you know the funny thing?" She tosses the coated potatoes onto a baking sheet, "So can any pony else." She places the baking sheet into the oven, kicking the door closed. "And we're done. So, you want to learn how to make cupcakes?" she asks, her mane poofing back a little to its normal size.

Apple Bloom watches the fifteen seconds it took Pinkie Pie to complete the entire task with her mouth gaping open. Pinkie Pie reaches a hoof over, closing Apple Bloom's mouth for her. The filly shakes her head, her eyes focusing and saying, "That was incredible! How'd you learn to cook like that?"

"Oh, that's easy! Let me show you a trick Doug showed me to practice dexterity." She grabs a large knife, asking Apple Bloom, "Do you trust me?"

Apple Bloom nods nervously, "Ah huh." Applejack looks on nervously, unsure whether getting in Pinkie's way would be safer than staying away.

"Okay, now hold still." Pinkie Pie takes Apple Bloom's hoof, placing it onto one of the tables. She sticks the knife into the table on one side of her hoof, slowly raising it back up. Apple Bloom gulps, her eyes bugging out of her face as Pinkie stabs the knife onto the other side of her hoof. Pinkie Pie starts slow, back and forth over the hoof, the knife gradually picking up speed. It soon becomes a blur, the rhythmic thunking of the knife into the table. "You know, this was way more impressive when Doug did it. I don't know why; I guess we'll just have to make it more interesting!"

Apple Bloom shudders, though her hoof remains in place, "Do Ah want it to be more interesting?"

Pinkie Pie shrugs, as she casually tosses a potato over Apple Bloom's hoof. The thunk of the knife doesn't change, but the potato is shredded into long wafers. The action stops, "So, want to learn how to make potato chips?"

Apple Bloom inspects her hoof, amazed at the lack of scratches. "Sure!" she pipes up, looking over at Pinkie Pie excitedly.

"Well, guess what? It's almost the same!" Pinkie Pie frowns, taking the cut wafers, tossing them into the bag and shaking up the flavoring spices. "You just cook them at a lower temperature for less time!" She takes another baking sheet, tossing the wafers and slamming the whole thing into a different oven. She sits down on her rump, hind legs sticking in front of her while her forelegs cross in front. "Any questions?"

The other ponies in the room roll their eyes, though Applejack's ear flicks back as she hears Apple Bloom's question.

"Um, how do Ah cut the potatoes?" Apple Bloom says, one hoof going to a knife. She picks it up, pointing the end at her eye as she inspects the sharpness.

Pinkie Pie holds up her knife and another potato as Applejack moves over, hastily taking the knife from Apple Bloom before the filly can stab herself, "How about, before we start, we do a quick chat about safety in the kitchen. Also, didn't Doug bring one of his metal doohickeys?"

Apple Bloom shakes her head, "No, Ah think it's still in the kitchen."

Applejack nods, "Alright, Granny, can you go get that? It looks like one of them boxes we cart the chickens around in."

"Ah know what'cha mean, missy. Ah'll be back in a jiffy!" Granny Smith slowly walks to the barn door, shutting it behind her.

Applejack continues, "Well, Ah wanted to have each of us teach the fillies a dish individually, get some one on one time, but Ah see that might not have been the best of choices. So, we're going to go over a bit of kitchen etiquette, and safety. Now, what is this?" Applejack holds up a large knife.

Pinkie Pie raises a hoof, still grasping a knife, and waves it around in the air. Applejack sighs, covering her eyes with a hoof. Pinkie Pie gulps, looking up at the knife, and swaps hooves, holding the other hoof in the air, now waving a potato back and forth. Apple Bloom tentatively says, "It's a knife?"

Applejack nods while Pinkie Pie lowers her hoof, a frown on her face. Applejack says, "Good, and we use straight edged knives like these to cut vegetables, sometimes fruits, and things like potatoes. We also have bread knives" -she briefly holds up a long knife- "which are serrated" -she points at the curved sections- "to help you get through those tough crusts." She puts it back on the table and takes a potato. "Now, you will use two hooves when you cut things, one holding the knife and the other whatever it is you are cutting. So it's important to be comfortable with standing upright, especially when you are working on things that are tough and you have to use a lot of force."

Applejack stands up on her hind hooves, resting her elbows of her forelegs on the table. "Now, these knives are very sharp and quite dangerous. Repeat after me, Ah will never play around with knives."

The trio choruses, "I will never play around with knives."

"Ah will never point a knife at anything Ah do not want to get cut."

"I will never point a knife at anything I do not want to get cut."

Applejack nods, looking over at Sweetie Belle. "Now, Sweetie Belle, Ah don't mean to pick on you or nothing. However, until you get a firm, and Ah mean near perfect, grasp on your telekinesis, Ah expect you to use your hooves. Ah don't want any accidents, not in my kitchen."

Sweetie Belle nods, looking down, "Okay, Miss Applejack."

Applejack moves over, nuzzling the filly, "Now, none of that, Ah'm still just Applejack to you. Scootaloo, same for you. Please don't use your wings. Ah know some pegasi have it down where they can pick things up with their wings, and it's a big help in the kitchen, and in general. But, until you get more comfortable, Ah want to see you only using your hooves. Also, no using the scooter in the kitchen."

"Got it!"

"Now, we'll start on cutting up potatoes to make fries. Doug made a fancy contraption that Granny is getting, but sometimes you just need to cut a couple of potatoes or vegetables. So, Ah want to see each of you standing up at the table." The fillies each slowly get on two hooves, "And, each of you take a knife, and remember, these are sharp and not to be used as toys."

Each filly takes a knife and a potato, standing in front of the smaller table. Applejack demonstrates holding the knife, how to hold the potato still, and how to slide the knife back and forth or chop up and down in order to get clean, safe cuts. Pinkie Pie is quickly getting bored; as the fillies start cutting their second potato Applejack moves over, saying in a hushed tone, "Did Doug actually do that trick with a knife?"

Pinkie Pie shakes her head, "He said he saw it done with a knife in movie, but no, he used a pen, and drew on himself a little. He said it hurt, but also that it would look a lot better with a knife!"

Applejack stares at Pinkie Pie, "Ah huh. Now, Ah know you like things exciting, but we're dealing with some pretty excitable young'ins here. And Ah'm sorry this ain't a more exciting subject, Pinkie. Ah didn't realize we'd be focusing so much on basics. Ah know Ah asked you to help, and Ah appreciate that. But, if'n you want to leave, you can, Ah'll be fine here."

"Okay!" Pinkie Pie says, disappearing from the room.

"Huh," Applejack says, looking outside, "Ah thought she'd put up more of a fight than that." She turns back, looking at the odd shapes in front of each filly. She stops herself from saying something nasty, going instead with, "So, how did your fries come out?"

"Ah'm making triangles!" says Scootaloo, placing her long triangles in a circle, "And they're ramps! Rainbow's talking about making a course outside, and she's gonna help me design and build it!"

Sweetie Belle holds up one of her very thinly sliced pieces, "I'm making ribbons!"

Apple Bloom looks at the small cubes in front of her, "Ah think Ah made too many cuts."

Applejack smiles at each of them, "Well, the nice thing about fries is there is no right shape. Now, Pinkie Pie was using some spices. Putting the potatoes in a bag and shaking them is a good way to spread the spices evenly, over all of the potatoes, so each of you are going to put your slices into the bag, shake it up, and then put the slices on a baking sheet."

Each filly, in turn, follows the instruction, but none are as speedy as Pinkie Pie in dumping their potatoes in or out of the bag. The baking sheet go into the first oven Pinkie Pie used as Granny Smith comes back in, holding the potato slicer. Applejack demonstrates, pushing a potato through. She uses the remaining spices to coat the fries before adding them to the over, saying, "Now; Rainbow, Doug, and you, Scootaloo, really like their potato fries. Most other ponies are fairly indifferent to them, so keep that in mind when you are deciding how many fries to make. Rainbow eats two potatoes or so a meal, Doug one." Applejack moves over, pulling out flour and a few pie tins. "Now, who wants to learn how to make apple pies?" smiling as all three fillies raise their hooves in the air.

15 The Storm Spire

May 12th, 997

"Hey, Sis, it's time!" Scootaloo yells up at the nearby cloud. At the lack of response she growls, pacing back and forth a few times before calling again, "Come on, you promised!" Her hoof taps the ground, the beat quickening at the lack of response.

"Ugh, is it time already?" Rainbow moans after a long wait, a cyan wing moving up to block the sun from her face. The disheveled rainbow mane comes up next, the attached face yawning as she slowly gets to her hooves. The pegasus takes a few shaky steps forward, falling off the cloud and doing a somersault before her wings flare out, her mane shaking back and forth to get that trademark wind-swept look. She concentrates as she lands, still a little shaky even on the low speed approach to Scootaloo.

Scootaloo prances back and forth a little as she watches the aerial trick, "Okay okay okay, let's go!" She darts towards a large stack of wood, then back to her dam, then back towards the wood. Her hooves continue pounding the grassy surface of the field, swerving around the various tree stumps in her way.

Rainbow Dash smiles down at her filly, a quick nuzzle shared between the two when she catches up before Rainbow takes off again, practicing slow speed flight as the two get to the wood pile. Rainbow looks around, trying to find something, but ends up scratching her head, "So, um, what exactly did you want to do with the place?"

Scootaloo grabs her scooter, pushing herself around Rainbow while she explains, "So, I wanted a sweet track to practice on. Turns, ramps, and Daddy was talking about something called a half-pipe. So I was thinking we could make an area that has those and another area that has more of a speed course."

"Now you're talking my language!" Rainbow says. She looks out at the grassy field around them; it had originally been one of the southern Apple orchards, but a heavy storm years ago had knocked over a lot of the trees, leaving a lot of jagged stumps. The ground itself is fairly flat but has been allowed to go fallow, many opportunistic saplings and grasses growing around, leaving a lot of obstacles for any true speed track. Rainbow looks up from the field, seeing Applejack dragging another cart full of wooden planks. "Hey Applejack!" Rainbow calls, waving a hoof, "What'cha got there?"

"Howdy, Rainbow, Scootaloo. Ah'm bringing in some more ramp material, mostly from one of our old barns. It ain't gonna be perfect, but it should hold up to anything less than Rainbow crashing into it full speed."

"Hey, that only happened the one time, and I already apologized!" Rainbow pouts, crossing her forelegs and looking off to the side. She blows a bit of her mane out of her eyes, "And you wanted that section of wall knocked out anyway."

Applejack rolls her eyes, "Well, Ah mostly told ya that to spare your feelings, but we did make it work after all. Doug kept complaining about having to stoop down to get into that barn, and we got a bigger door out of your lack of attention. You might need to take longer naps, or maybe spend less of the nights staying up and sleeping instead." Applejack stops the cart next to the stack of wood, taking her harness off and hopping up into the cart. She says in a softer voice, "Okay, you, grab your stuff and out ya go." Applejack takes one end of a stack of planks, Rainbow huffing as she moves to grab the other end, the two preparing to unload the cart.

Applebaum, a wooden pencil looking comically oversized perched behind her ear, saddlebags stuffed with paper strapped to her side, cautiously drops off the side of the stack of wood. She gives her dam a quick nuzzle, the next leap taking her off the cart, her casual walk to one of the flatter stumps next to them. Her mane blows back, the draft from Rainbow and the Everfree; she pulls one of the pieces of paper out of her saddlebags, spreading it out over the stump and placing a few rocks along the corners to keep it in place. She smiles, looking up at Scootaloo, the filly cautiously approaching and looking at the blank paper.

"So, what's that for?" Scootaloo asks, pointing her hoof at the paper.

"To help you plan!" Applebaum grins, pulling the pencil out from behind her ear. "Doug said that you and Rainbow might not plan right and could waste a lot of time and wood without a good idea of what to do."

"Hey!" Rainbow calls out, "We totally could have pulled this off without any egghead planning for us!" She drops her beam, her and Applejack going back for another load, "I oughta go give him a buck or two, not believing in us!"

Scootaloo glances to Applebaum, then back to the paper. She quietly says, "So, uh, what were you going to do?"

Applebaum quietly says, stifling a sob, "Um, just write down what you girls wanted to do. Take notes, that kind of thing." She hangs her head a little, "Just trying to help."

"Are ya sure, Rainbow? Ah mean, this is a pretty big project, and Big Mac and Ah don't just up and build a barn. It takes some serious planning." Applejack grabs the next stack of wood, lifting it up. "And, trust me on this, you ain't exactly the planning type."

"Yeah, well, me and Scoots got this!" Rainbow grunts as she picks up her side, one more load to go.

"Alright, Rainbow, Ah trust ya, and you know Doug does too. How much more wood you think you'll need to haul out here?"

Rainbow sets her side down, looking around at the field surrounding them. "Um, uh, Scoots, how much did you want to make?"

Scootaloo looks up from the paper, her imagination running wild with images of giant diving boards and massive earthen banks, her scooter flying over each of the obstacles in her way. "I don't know."

Rainbow looks back to Applejack, giving a small shrug. Applejack sighs, saying, "Well, Ah ain't hauling any more wood out here until you know how much you need. And Ah especially don't want to be hauling wood only to turn around and have to haul it back." She points a hoof at Rainbow, "If'n that's the case, Ah'm liable to make you haul it back yourself." She adjusts her hat, Rainbow squinting an eye as she stares back.

"Well, this can't be too hard," Rainbow says, her gaze shifting to the field. "We don't need any for the field section, right?"

"Um, we might need some," Scootaloo says, "I want to make a few ramps over some of the stumps. You know, get a few up and down sections. Or, you know what would be really cool, is a ramp to take off of." She taps her hoof against her muzzle, "And it wouldn't hurt to have a ramp on the other side to land on, so I don't hit the ground so hard. I think it hurts the scooter when I do that in town."

"Yeah, okay, we can do that. So, that's, what, like, six planks of wood?" Rainbow taps her hoof against her chin, "And you want, um, how many of those?"

Applejack rolls her eyes, "How about, Ah let you three figure that out. Ah'll be out'n about if'n you're ready for more wood."

"Thanks, sis!" Applebaum says, her dam giving her a wink as she takes the empty cart and starts walking back to the farmhouse. The foal looks over to the two pegasi, noting their perturbed looks. "So, um, would you like some help planning? It all sounds really, um, awesome so far."

Rainbow lets out a long sigh, "Fine, you can help."

Applebaum gives a short squeal, happily running back to the stump and picking up her pencil. "So, um, Ah think it might be better to start with a big picture. That's what Daddy said. You want a track around the outside, right?" Scootaloo nods, looking excited as Applebaum starts a list on a second sheet of paper. Rainbow pouts at the lack of action, glancing out to the wood and then back to the field. Applebaum says, "Hey, Rainbow, can you find out how much wood we have?"

"Um, we have a bunch of wood." Rainbow cocks her head to the side. "Like, a lot."

Applebaum sighs, "Can you get a tape measure and find out? It'll be good to know to tell Applejack how much more we need. And you don't want to haul the wood we need over here, do you?"

Rainbow considers for a second before she nods, "Yeah, I really don't want to do that. Be right back!" She darts off, the hints of a rainbow contrail behind her.

Applebaum looks back at Scootaloo, "Okay, so, Ah think you said you wanted some other things? What would those be?"

"Um, I... So, let's say I want some areas that are higher, so, like, ramps and stuff. And then I think it would be really cool to have this big, um, vertical wall. Like, a ramp that I could go up, and then come back down on."

Applebaum makes a quick sketch, "Something like this?"

Scootaloo glances at the picture of a small slide that very quickly goes vertical, "Yeah, that looks great! So, how much wood would that take?"

Applebaum adds a few numbers to it, looking around at the wood lying around them. "Um, Ah don't know. It depends on how much we need to support the vertical end, Ah think, and if you want to have a platform on top that you can jump off of."

"Ooh, that's a great idea!" Scootaloo prances back and forth a little, "Then I could, like, start from the top and then hit one of the ramps and catch some sweet air!"

"Okay, let's try to count this." Applebaum looks over at the planks of wood that they have, "So, I think those planks are a foot wide. And about five or six feet long, on the majority of them. And we want at least, say, ten feet tall. And then we need to build the support behind, which is going to be another, let's see, three posts, two tall, that's six, plus a few going across them for support, call it three, and then double that so that we can have a little place on top you can stand on. So eighteen plus ten, or twenty eight. Maybe a few more, so the curve on the ramp isn't so steep. Call it thirty pieces of wood."

Scootaloo watches as Applebaum quickly adds notes to the drawing she made, "I think I know what your special talent is going to be. This is gonna be so sweet!"

"Heh, yeah, it'll be pretty sweet." Applebaum frowns as she glances back at her flank, "No cutie mark though; oh well." Applebaum looks at the paper on the stump, "So, how much space do you think that will need, and how much space do we have here?"

"Um, lemme check." Scootaloo grabs her scooter, making her way from one end of the field to the other. She gets back around the same time Rainbow returns, the mare beginning to count and measure the planks of wood. Scootaloo says, "About a hundred yards, squared."

"Okay, and that'll be good for your outside track, right?" Applebaum asks, drawing on her paper, "And how wide would that be?"

"I think ten feet is good. And I don't want the track going around the entire boundary. Just on half of it." Scootaloo reaches for the pencil, Applebaum hoofing it over, "More like... this." She carefully draws a line around the southern and eastern section, then a meandering line, lots of switchbacks and large turns to connect back to the southwest section.

"Okay, that looks cool, but where is the ramp stuff going to be?" Applebaum points her hoof, "Ah don't think there is enough space for that."

"Oh." Scootaloo looks down as Rainbow comes over; the mare is wearing a hard hat, a foal sized one in one hoof and some construction equipment held in a bucket in the other. "I guess I need to put that in."

"What'cha got there, squirt?" Rainbow says, looking at the drawing, trying to read through the chicken scratch hoofwriting, "Looks... awesome. I think."

"Yeah!" Scootaloo says, "Okay, so, how about this?" She erases some of the lines, drawing in a few large squares at the southeast part. "Enough space for the track around the outside, and we can put the ramp section here! And then the other platform sections in this area."

"Aww yeah, that's what I want to see!" Rainbow says. Applebaum points her to the schematics for the ramp, Rainbow giving a happy nod, "I'll start working on that section, making some of those things we were talking about. So, how about we put that big ramp you want on the little hill on the southeast part. Then we can put a few of the other smaller spots on the area around it." She moves forward a little before stopping and turning around, rubbing a hoof against the back of her head, "Oh, and, um, Applebaum, thanks for the help."

Applebaum smiles, "Thanks, Rainbow! Glad to be of as-sas, um, help."

Scootaloo points back at the map, "Okay, so, let's go map out along the edge, find out where exactly the track is going to do. At least along the southern and eastern edge, 'cause I know where the track is going to be there. Let's find each stump that's in the way, and which ones we should get Applejack to drag out and which ones we should build ramps on."

"Okay!" Applebaum smiles, bringing along a sheet of paper to keep track of how many smaller ramps they would need to make. She pulls out a marker for Scootaloo to mark the stumps they want to remove, the two fillies galloping to the edge of the field.

Scootaloo begins to run along the track in her mind, leaping over some of the stumps and calling, "Ramp!" Others she takes the marker in her mouth, jumping on top and making a black 'x' while Applebaum struggles to keep up. They eventually get to the end of the line, Scootaloo waiting while Applebaum catches up, though neither is breathing very hard. They run over to Rainbow Dash, the mare working on bringing planks of wood to the top of the hill.

Rainbow Dash motions to the two hard hats, "Okay, girls, each of you put on one of these and we'll get started. We only have the two hammers, so the two of you get acquainted with those while I keep bringing the wood over. I'll be holding the pieces in place while the two of you get to hammering." Rainbow looks back down on the picture, "And, um, I hope your balance is good, because we might need to be standing on this structure while we build it. At least, you two will have to hammer while I hold the piece up high. Shouldn't be too bad though."

Scootaloo puts on her purple helmet, Applebaum the hard hat. The two fillies move to the pile of wood, able to drag the pieces of wood, one at a time, that they need to the site. Applebaum makes marks on the pieces of wood with her marker, trying to find pieces of similar length so the ramp is even. Rainbow grabs one of the vertical beams, looking at the ground and saying, "So, are we making this free standing? I think we might want to dig a couple of these posts into the ground."

Scootaloo says, "Apple Bloom is a good digger, we should get her to help!" She grins, "Oh, and Sweetie Belle could help lift and hold things with her magic! We should get them to help too!"

Rainbow shrugs, "Eh, I mean, if you want to, but I was kinda hoping this was something we'd get to do together, Scoots. No offense, Applebaum."

"None taken."

"Okay!" Scootaloo moves over to Rainbow, nuzzling her dam, "I love working with you."

"Heh, I love you too, squirt," Rainbow smiles, rubbing Scootaloo's mane, "But we need to get on this, you know? I'll start... ugh... digging a few post holes." She mutters to herself, wiping imaginary dirt off of her forelegs, "Going to get my hooves all dirty... ugh..."

"Hey, Rainbow, I can do that," Applebaum offers, moving to the first spot and testing the soft earth. Rainbow gives her a large grin and a quick nuzzle before flying back to the wood pile, saying, "Okay, Scoots, the hard part is going to get the nice curve we need without a big sheet that we lay on top. So, we're going to make a long section, then a triangle shape, and then the vertical part. We're going to nail the smoothest boards that we have on top of that."

"Got it!" Scootaloo exclaims, looking first at the longest boards, "I think we want these long ones for the vertical beams. Then we can use these boards over here for the ramp part. They're all about the same." She moves to the last stack, "That leaves these boards to make the base." A few wayward clumps of dirt hit Rainbow and Scootaloo, the two pegasi giving quick glares before they notice the progress Applebaum is making. She has dug out quite a lot of the area already, Scootaloo saying, "Hey, maybe I can get my cutie mark in excavation, too!"

"Ah better not have an excavation cutie mark!" Applebaum says, a quick glance to her flank. "What's excavation?"

"Digging," Rainbow smirks, "And I sure hope you don't get one of those. I'd hardly get to see you!"

"Yeah," Applebaum says, "There's got to be a better way to dig than to use your hooves. This is nice, soft earth and it's kinda hard on my hooves already!"

Rainbow lays out the pieces for the base of the ramp, nailing together boards to make two sturdy lengths. They lay the slats across the top, the various holes and splits in the wood not deterring the ponies in the least. Applebaum digs a deeper section, placing the long pieces for the vertical section in each, dirt covering the holes. The three laugh as they dance over the top of the dirt, pushing it back into place as best they can.

The three work mostly in silence as the day goes on, the vertical part of the ramp slowly taking form as they work their way higher and higher. Soon enough the top landing is complete, slats nailed to the side to form the ramp. The curved section gives them a little trouble, ending up with two slight bends from pieces partially nailed in a triangle connected to the horizontal and vertical sections.

The three exhausted ponies happily sigh as they look over their completed section. Applebaum gathers her materials as Scootaloo smirks to Rainbow Dash, "Oh, this is going to be sweet!"

Rainbow Dash grins at her filly, "I know! It's going to be" - she mashes her lips together - "So! Awesome!"

Scootaloo grabs her scooter, "Alright, here I go!" She makes 'vroom' noises as she gets on top of her scooter, slowly pushing herself in line with the ramp while Rainbow and Applebaum watch excitedly. She starts pushing with her hoof, her speed increasing quickly, still aiming directly at the ramp, the grass easily parting for her scooter's small wheels. Her wings beat rapidly, full speed now as she gets close.

Rainbow's eyes grow wide, holding her hooves up to her face as Scootaloo hits the first of the wooden beams, her scooter quickly making the transition from horizontal to vertical, launching her straight into the air. Three cheers come as she seems to hang in the air, her scooter slowly turns around, the filly's wings helping stabilize the rotation, aiming her directly at the ramp.

She hits the ramp, her wings beating furiously as she yells out another cheer, echoing among the nearby trees. She raises one hoof, Rainbow copying the motion, as Scootaloo calls out to Rainbow, "Race you back to the house!"

Rainbow Dash smirks at her filly, "Oh, you're on!" as she takes off, a rainbow contrail behind her. Applebaum takes her time, grabbing her things and makes her way back, a smile at a job well done.

16 The Soulless Beast

August 5th, 997

"And then Granny tells the poor colt that if she ever hears him serenading her outside the window again, the only reason she won't shave his coat off is because her dam beat her to it!" Applejack bucks another tree, the apples cascading down into the buckets the two placed. She smirks, harnessing herself to the cart, finally finished with another row of apple trees. Doug grins as he grabs one of the baskets and taking it to the cart, Applejack continuing, "Not that it stopped him. Grandpappy always said that if it weren't for Granny insisting that he was never supposed to come see her, he wouldn't have tried so hard to sneak into her bedroom window every night, try to figure out what the secrecy was all about!"

Doug's laugh is cut short as a loud, blaring sound emanates from Ponyville. He looks towards the town, confused as to the meaning of the sound while a look of horror comes over Applejack's face. Doug glances over, his eyes widening as he sees her expression, "Um, Applejack? What does that mean?" He points, starting at Ponyville but wavering as the clouds over the Everfree start building, eventually pointing towards the rising darkness.

Applejack is trying to get out of her harness as quickly as possible, Doug moving over to help. The two leave the wagon, full of baskets of apples, in the middle of the road as they race back to the farmhouse, the klaxon continuing its warning call to all around. They see Granny Smith ushering three fillies - Apple Bloom, Applebaum, and Lemon - inside while Big Mac gallops up from the southern fields. Applejack yells, "Granny, where are the rest of the foals?"

Apple Bloom stamps a hoof, "Ah'm not a foal!" as Granny Smith does a quick head count.

"Let's see, Ah think that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were down at the pond. Fluttershy had Hedge, Ah remember now, Ah think she was with 'em."

Each head turns to the pond, seeing the pegasus carrying Hedge, following the two fillies, both on Scootaloo's scooter. Behind them, the Everfree Forest looms, looking darker and more frightening than normal. Above the forest dark clouds are rapidly developing, opaque masses roiling as they spill out from itself. Apple Bloom asks as they get close and gather up, "Mama? What's going on?"

Applejack shakes her head, "Nothing you three need to worry about." The trio stares at her, obviously unhappy with the explanation. "Look, Ah'll tell you when it's done, okay?" Three unwavering stares. Applejack stamps a hoof, "We don't have time for this. You three, inside the farmhouse, Now! Fluttershy, you're coming with me."

"But, Sis, we can help!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nod along to their sister's assertion, their faces pleading. Fluttershy also looks unhappy at being asked to come along, but nervously moves towards the direction of Ponyville.

Doug says to Applejack, motioning towards the town, "Do you really want to leave them alone with Granny, trying to get to us to help? She's going to have plenty to do just looking after three of the foals."

Applejack shakes her head, "And we're going to need every pony we can for this, can't just leave them with Fluttershy." She looks sternly down at the three fillies, "All right you three, fine. But, if there isn't a safe job for you three to help out, you are going to sit quietly in a corner until this is all over, got it?" She ends with a glare at each filly in turn.

The three fillies nod their heads, gulping a little at Applejack's expression, before looking eagerly at each other, though their enthusiasm is quickly curbed by the grim expressions on each pony's face. The seven start towards town, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom on the scooter while Doug carries Sweetie Belle. Doug asks between hard breaths, "So, what is going on?"

Applejack gives Doug a stony look, "You know how I never told you how my parents died?"

Doug nods, a grim look on his face.

"Well, we're going to make sure no other fillies needs to never hear the story." She looks back towards town, a determined look as they canter into the town center. A flurry of activity greets them, pegasi flying this way and that as the klaxon goes quiet, many ponies approaching from the south, some of them carrying bags of belongings. They see a crowd of ponies at a hastily assembled stage, the seven moving forward to the edge of the crowd.

Mayor Mare stands on the stage, addressing the crowd, looking like she is going through a speech she has given several times already, "Everypony, stay calm, the beast is still a ways out. An emergency letter has been sent to Princess Celestia, and royal reinforcements should be arriving shortly. Until then, we need to remain calm, continue evacuating the southern side of town, and wait to receive our assignments until more information is available." Mayor Mare slowly takes a few steps backwards, looking up at the sky. Many heads turn up as well, watching as the rising clouds seem to hit a ceiling, the anvil of the storm spreading to the edge of the Everfree.

Off to the side two earth ponies are pushing a few tables together, a pegasus draping a tablecloth over the entire thing. A second pegasus rolls out several large sheets of paper, spreading three of them out on the table to show an enlarged and very detailed map of Ponyville and the surrounding area. The fourth sheet is a somewhat nebulous depiction of the Everfree Forest, with approximation of noted landmarks. Two other ponies begin hastily constructing a tent to shield the maps from the coming storm.

Princess Celestia blinks in twenty feet above Mayor Mare, silently descending and standing off to the side. Mayor Mare looks to the other side, watching as a rainbow blur moving closer; she announces as Rainbow Dash swoops in, "Attention Everypony! We Have News!"

Rainbow Dash moves up to the front of the stage, a loud voice, "Alright, at first glance we have at least two large forms, one moving towards Ponyville, the other heading further west, maybe a quarter mile, half mile from town." She swoops down, taking two gray figurines and placing them on the Everfree map. Another figure joins the two, further back, "A third was potentially forming close to where they were first spotted. Both seem to be forty feet tall, plus or minus ten. Um, they are fairly gray, stank to the heavens of chaos magic."

"Got it." A voice comes from the large planning table, the ponies turn to see an elderly mare, the town librarian, poring over a large tome labeled 'Monstrous Manual', the second volume open next to her. Storied Pages says, pointing a hoof at the picture of a large gray monolith, "Going with the earlier description, we're looking at a Catapillt. Large, towering pillar of corrupted energy, has similar chaos magic to timber wolves but on a much, much larger scale. Believed to be restricted to unstable magic areas, such as the Everfree, but attempts to bypass this limitation by catapulting sections of itself. Nothing else but a warning to stay as far away from the creature and remains as possible, as the chaos magic is eventually fatal to ponies, increasing in dosage as you get closer. And it must be cleansed as soon as possible to avoid the area corrupting and destabilizing the magic in the area."

Princess Celestia steps forward, "I will move to deal with the infestation that is creating these abominations. My royal guard will move to intercept the one to the west. I will be back as soon as I am able to assist with exorcising this creature; until then, you must keep it from the river, as the corruption will spread too rapidly if it reaches the water. I must be off."

Princess Celestia spreads her wings, raising a few feet in the air before teleporting just outside the Everfree Forest and galloping inside, the trees wrenching to the sides to create a clear path through the otherwise unnavigable forest. Eyes turn to above the Everfree, sections of the storm starting to break through an invisible wall between the Everfree and Ponyville, small sections of black quickly seeping out and spreading further over the town.

Spoiled Rich steps up, "Everypony! In order to contain the masses that it launches, we will need every available pegasi to form in pairs. You will take canvas, sheets, anything that you can safely hold while staying twenty feet, or more, away from your partner. You will then need to catch the corrupted missiles the catapillt is launching at the river. They need to be immediately dumped as far from the river as possible, as the material will quickly eat through anything organic. Any missiles that fall short can be ignored by the pegasus team."

The pegasi start pairing up by speed, the fastest pegasi in the front of the group. Spoiled Rich points a hoof at Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow, hang back, I need you for something else."

"Got it." Rainbow nods at Cloud Chaser and steps forward, her previous partner moving to find somepony else.

"Unicorns." Spoiled Rich looks over the crowd, "You will need to put together as many of these nets as possible. They need to be able to be grasped by two pegasi flying in the air, opening to get as wide a surface as possible. At least ten sheets thick, one sheet by two sheets, securely sewn together. Rarity, you take charge of that."

Rarity nods, looking to her Boutique and stashes of fabric, "Of course." She turns, moving to her Boutique, shouting instructions to the unicorns following after her.

"Earth Ponies." Spoiled Rich looks at Filthy Rich and Applejack, "I need materials for the unicorns to use; if you have to tear down walls, so be it. Remember, we need things that will serve as nets that a team of pegasi can lift. Anything in town can be replaced. The water cannot." Filthy Rich nods, a few of the more industrious ponies including Big Mac following him. "Applejack, the missiles that hit the ground will start spreading their corruption. I do not know how best to contain it. I suspect dirt will not be enough, that we will need to contain them with metal. You need to find a way to scoop the corrupted material out of the ground without anypony touching it. Being infused with chaos magic, I suspect our magic will not work either, within five feet of the material, forcing us to do it by hoof."

"Um, Ah'll do my best." Applejack looks to the earth ponies congregating around her, "Alright, we'll need to construct the largest digger we've ever made. And fast." The group moves towards the other earth pony group, quick instructions passing back and forth.

The spreading clouds above rumble, a low, ominous sound that rattles windows and hearts. The storm clouds claim more of the heavens, the dark masses slowly blotting out the sun, lightning flashing between the Everfree storm and the clouds directly above.

Spoiled Rich turns to Rainbow, the pegasus snapping to attention. "Rainbow, we need to organize our fliers as soon as possible. The strongest at the front, getting the missiles that are closest to them, using shields I hope will be finished soon." She stumbles a bit as they watch a small white blur rise into the air above the Everfree Forest, an orange glow around the mare beginning to get larger and larger. Spoiled Rich shakes her head, continuing, "I need our strongest fliers, those able to lift the most, on the front line, able to block any missiles in reach. The fastest are going to be our second line of defense, right over the river. I need you as somepony to coordinate our fliers, to tell which teams to move where, to cover the entire arc of the river. You might need another pony to act as a spotter and helping coordinate, letting the teams know which pair of pegasi will need to go after each missile. If you can cover the town as well, great, but that is a luxury. Do you understand?"

Rainbow snaps a salute, "You got it!"

Spoiled Rich turns to Pinkie Pie, "I need containers that can hold the missiles the pegasi catch, or after we dig them up and need to dump them somewhere. They need to be solid metal, large, and bright enough to be seen in the coming storm. Got it?"

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie Pie pronks towards the warehouse many of the other earth ponies are heading towards.

Spoiled Rich turns to another pony, more instructions snapping out. All heads turn to look as a massive light erupts from the Everfree Forest, a gigantic column of pure white scouring away the dark, disappearing into the roiling storm above. Lightning strikes over the Everfree, the clouds releasing a torrent of rain that blocks ponies view of the column of light, now a distorted haze barely visible from Ponyville. A giant gray pillar ponderously rises from the edge of the Everfree, dwarfing the nearby trees. Thousands of feline faces stare back at them, a deafening yowl echoing among the buildings.

"That's way more than forty feet!" comes a terrified shout from Spoiled Rich as the first missile erupts off the pillar of cats, a small gray blur rapidly approaching the southern end of town.

"Incoming!"

17 Holding the Bridge

"mmmMMRROOOWWW-"

The first missile impacts well short of the town, the gray stone embedding into the grassy ground. Chunks of dirt and grass spew out of the hole, the gray stone half buried in the ground. The grass nearby starts wilting, turning brown and soon indistinguishable from the brackish mud, an area ponies had been playing in just an hour earlier.

The first of the nets is brought out, Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane taking it. Rainbow Dash announces to the assembled pegasi, "Alright, speed fliers; you'll need to do your best to match the speed of the missile, otherwise it'll tear right through your nets. Remember, you just need to get the missile off course; if you do manage to catch it entirely, Pinkie Pie will be assembling some cans to try to hold the material. If you don't make it, so be it, just return here after you use your net to get a new one."

The two pegasi fly their net up, a second missile launching in a high arc from the catapillt. The column of light from Princess Celestia, barely visible through the storm to begin with, goes out. A boom overhead signals the start of the rain over Ponyville, heavy sheets that soak the ponies to the bone. Many of the unicorns around the Carousel Boutique mill about, waiting on components the earth ponies will be bringing them before they can begin construction. Rarity, a grimace on her face, is at the door to the Carousel Boutique, bolt after bolt of fabric levitating out of her door, each one quickly unwinding and divvied up among the unicorns, the fabric rapidly being separated into nets.

Doug looks at the three fillies standing near him, nervously shuffling their hooves as they look around. Apple Bloom looks up, "Daddy? What can we do to help?" The three fillies huddle together, glancing at the commotion around them, tiny hints of regret that they got themselves into this situation.

Doug looks around the nearly deserted streets, most of the ponies already assigned a job or waiting for Spoiled Rich to assign them one. He points the fillies to a nearby house, "Alright, we're going to go into each house and find sheets. Try closets, beds. Just strip the sheets off, bring them outside the house. Once you finish with one, go to the next house. Try to keep a pattern when we search the houses."

The three fillies look at each other, nodding as a unit and quickly dashing to one of the nearby houses. The door opens and the four rush inside, shouting to each other about what they find, which rooms of the house are empty, and which ones they need help getting everything out of. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle work on stripping the beds of sheets, Doug emptying closets, and Scootaloo finds herself taking as many sheets as she can drag to the front doors.

The brilliant light from the Everfree comes back, now a deep orange, illuminating the rain still pounding down. The thunder rumbles almost continuously as lightning zigzags every which direction among the clouds high above. The yowling matches the thunder, missile after missile launching itself from the catapillt, none yet reaching the southern part of town but getting closer and closer with every massive step the beast takes.

Near the train station one of the earth pony teams are hard at work dismantling a warehouse. Bulk Biceps lifts a section of the wall off the ground, but his tiny wings are unable to lift both himself and the metal. Open Skies and Clear Skies fly over, the two of them able to clumsily fly the wall closer to a group of unicorns, soon to be fashioned into a mobile shield to block the catapillt's shots. High above them a team of pegasi intercepts one of the missiles aimed for the river south of Ponyville, able to slow it down just enough to land short, instead impacting the muddy banks.

The rest of the earth ponies, following Applejack's instructions, start jury rigging a large horseshoe design. The ends of the horseshoe hold straps, allowing four earth ponies to drag the makeshift vehicle around. The middle section is raised, a solid beam of metal attached to the center post. A second team has a scoop, constructed out of half of the water tower, that they are moving to the front of the assembly. A unicorn team commandeered from Rarity works on welding all of the metal materials together; from the looks of it, they are cobbling together an excavator they can drag around and remain far away from the material being dug up.

Another squad of pegasi takes off from the Carousel Boutique, paired off and carrying nets. Rainbow Dash flies down, seeing Fluttershy milling around, unsure of what to do, or where to help out. Rainbow starts to yell before taking a large breath, moving over and asking, as quietly as she can while still being made out in the rain, "Fluttershy? What's wrong?" Fluttershy's reply is drowned out by the hard rain, her attempts at raising her voice unsuccessful. Rainbow bellows, "Well, find somewhere you can help! Doug got the foals gathering sheets from the houses, maybe help with that!" Fluttershy gives a reluctant nod, flying off to help take the sheets from the emptied houses to the Carousel Boutique.

At the Boutique, a group of unicorns are working on welding hoofholds onto large, flat metal sheets. An earth pony charges over, yelling for Rarity. She quickly comes over, looking at a pile of metal scraps in a cart. She leads the two earth ponies to a group of unicorns, who take the largest sheet, roll it to a cylinder, and stuff it with as many of the metal scraps as it can hold, a large pole through the center. Rarity shudders at the unevenness as the unicorns crush the can as much as possible, leaving two rough wheels that the earth ponies race back to the excavator.

The light over the Everfree winks out again, the small blur diving back down. All over the town lights click on, doing their best to illuminate the area. The yowl of the missiles get closer and closer, more of the cats impacting against the ground just south of the river. A few more are aimed to the southeast of Ponyville, the pegasus fliers starting to be spread thin, though the majority of the missiles still fall short.

A shriek comes from a few ponies, hooves pointing at one of the missiles, barely visible through the pouring rain. It gets closer and closer, no pegasi able to get into the way and divert it. The missile lands south of the river, a direct hit onto one of the houses. It explodes as the missile impacts it; wood, thatching, metal bits sail through the air, a ring around the now destroyed dwelling. Spoiled Rich directs two earth ponies to the wreckage, nervous looks traded between them as they dash, whispered prayers that nopony was inside the house and that they would get back to a safe distance quickly enough.

Four earth ponies move to the front of the excavator, two unicorns strapping them in. The ponies lift the front end, the two wheels being secured underneath. Applejack shakes her head, motioning to the back end. It gets lifted up, two curled sheets of metal roughly hammered to the back, making sleds. Applejack nods, motioning to the area where the first missile hit. The earth ponies, a grim look on their faces, pull their contraption through the streets, two divots etched into the road as they quickly move to the bridge leading to the southern outskirts.

Applejack slowly runs a hoof over one of her larger wagons; it has served the farm well, carting crates of apples to the town and many of their imports back. The solid apple wood construction, intricate designs carved into the walls during the long winter months. Clear varnish to show off the origin of the wood. She reluctantly nods as one of the unicorns moves over, quickly drilling four rough holes into the corners. A large tub of metal, the other half of the water tower, carefully dropped on top, metal rods shoved through the holes and welded to the half circle. Another sheet of metal, loosely secured to the back, serves as a door to the dump wagon they have made. Applejack sighs as two earth ponies strap in, quickly hauling after the excavator.

Rainbow Dash shudders; the missiles are getting close to the river, and they don't have nearly enough pegasi in the sky yet. What used to be thirty seconds between the yowling of the missile, the disturbing image of a cat sailing through the air, the bone crunching impact into the ground, is now closer to twenty seconds. And it still isn't fully in range, the shots being mere tests, maximum power blasts that hang in the air for a long time before plummeting back to earth. A third metal plate team flies up, Rainbow directing them to the east part, towards what is hopefully the furthest that the beast can reach once it gets to the edge of the Everfree. She signals the Skies team to cover the east part of Carousel, the other pegasus team in the air covering west Carousel.

Rainbow watches as the catapillt reaches the end of the Everfree, a few volleys launching off. She zooms to each team, rapid fire directions to the chaser teams to go after the highest arcs, the shield teams on the two missiles that they need to intercept. The pegasi fly up above their targets before diving back down to intercept. The missiles scorch the air, chaotic energy quickly eating through the sheets that the pegasi wrap around them. More than one team yells out as they brush a little too close, tips of feathers smoking from the chaotic magic. Another cry goes out as they return to the Carousel Boutique, the unicorns running out of raw materials to make more nets.

A second volley launches from the catapillt, the missiles easier to make out in the dawning light but more unnerving, the afterimage of a cat flying through the air, only to impact a shield. The pegasi holding it are knocked back, but their purpose is served, the missile no longer aimed at the river, instead dropping down to the ground below.

The scouring light from the center of the Everfree returns, a pillar of flame that reaches into the storms above. The base of the clouds begins bubbling, more and more of the inferno visible as the storm burns away. Finally the blue of the sky is visible out over the Everfree, the sun shining through the expanding opening. The rain continues in Ponyville but slowly lessening, the ponies able to catch a better glimpse of the monster assaulting the town.

Princess Celestia, her normally pink mane ablaze a brilliant orange, teleports next to Rainbow Dash, a brief exchange before the alicorn teleports again. To the south the royal guard can be seen beating a hasty retreat before a massive column of flame impacts the forest, the tiny white image above serving as the focus for the sun's energy.

The catapillt shelling Ponyville, however, has not been idle, a large mass of scat dropping just outside the Everfree. The beast takes a cautious step forwards, the yowling increasing as it gets near, before a second step, bringing the beast another thirty yards closer to the river. It bellows, a torrent of missiles flinging out in every direction.

"Oh dear Celestia," an indeterminate number of ponies cry out, watching the pegasi flit between the storm of projectiles, wrapping missiles just long enough to divert off course before speeding to the next, no chance to exchange their half dissolved sheets for a new set. The unicorns, working in tandem across the river, levitate an array of metal, wood, anything in reach to intercept the missiles, the makeshift bulwark hopefully holding as the last line of defense.

Every pegasus flies as high as they can, matching speeds with the incoming cats, and doing their best to divert the missiles down. Team after team pulls out as their sheets fully dissolve away, none of them daring to get any closer to the chaotic energy. The unicorn shield teams on the bottom manage to stop the last of the missiles from impacting the river, the thud of missiles burying themselves into the ground replacing the rain. A few of the extremely long shots, those ignored by the pegasi to instead focus on the shots aimed closer, impact into the streets north of the river, one of them impacting into a house, piercing through the roof and leaving a wide hole through the walls and floors.

Fluttershy gasps, flying over to the house as the Carousel Boutique is swarmed by pegasi, corrupted sheets hastily gathered and shoved into one of Pinkie's canisters. The ponies turn, looking up as a second wave of missiles erupt from the catapillt, a mass intake of breath from the crowd; there would be no intercepting this volley.

A collective cheer goes out as Princess Celestia teleports under the swarm of missiles. Her horn, still glowing a brilliant orange, directs a beam of light easily a hundred yards wide that lances from the sun directly into the catapillt. The few missiles that are outside the beam find themselves the targets of pinpoint flares, each impacting and blasting the missiles off course. The catapillt, the gigantic mass still visible through the searing flames, slows under the torrent of fire before reversing course, attempting to withdraw back to the Everfree before it collapses. The fire winks out, the beast now nothing more than a massive pile of gray boulders, stacked in a rough pyramid.

18 Battle Hardened

The town stands silent, the only sound the dull thud as one of the boulders rolls down the gray pile of rubble. The ponies stand in awe at witnessing Princess Celestia's raw firepower firsthoof, all eyes trained on the blazing orange figure, her wings slowly beating as she watches for any signs of movement. A few seconds later and the last of the airborne rocks slam into the ground, bits of earth flung to the sides but showing none of the signs of the spreading corruption. A cheer rumbles as the gathered ponies start dancing, their joyous cries dwarfing those of the, now fallen, corrupted titan.

Princess Celestia flies over the collected ponies, her regal voice booming, "You did a fantastic job, my little ponies. Well done." She comes in to a landing by Mayor Mare, a few of the pegasi also congregating around, each pony bowing as the alicorn lands. Princess Celestia glances to Rainbow Dash as she flies in, saying in her normal voice, "Did any of the corrupted missiles make it to the water?"

Rainbow Dash, her face widening into a smile, "Thanks, Princess Celestia! You were pretty awesome," She looks back before awkwardly rubbing a hoof against the back of her head, "And so was everypony else. We all came together, and stopped all the missiles from getting to the water." She spreads her foreleg, pointing to the south part of town, "Just a few destroyed houses, many with close calls."

Princess Celestia nods, the pleasant smile on her face slipping for a brief instant before she regains her composure, "Excellent. The other team was not as successful, and I will be needed there to assist in the recovery process. Inform the others to gather as many of the still corrupted pieces on top of or near the catapillt, or at least where its remains are located. I will be back shortly."

Rainbow Dash salutes, "You got it!" Mayor Mare, Spoiled Rich and Applejack chuckle, rolling their eyes while Princess Celestia blinks away. "Alright," Rainbow says, looking over towards the forest, "There shouldn't be anything else new making its way here, just the remains and spent missiles to deal with."

Spoiled Rich nods, "Very good; Applejack, your team is up. We need to dig out all of the impacted areas, starting with the ones closest to the town. Find a few of those canisters Pinkie made, empty as much of the contaminated soil as we can into them."

"You got it, Ma'am." Applejack gallops over to the two teams of earth ponies, "Giddy'up! We're gonna start our way to the east part of the river, picking up the ones on the shores. Then, make our way back to the west part, only getting those pieces that are close by. Scoop the scat up, dump it into the dump wagon, haul that to the big pile and empty, repeat as necessary. We'll get the main piece out of each, then come back later to shovel out the rest, and any corrupted soil. After we finish by the river, we get those pieces in the town, then those farther out." A team of unicorns follow the excavator, able to assist with pushing the giant scoop into the soil and then pull it back out. A few unicorns move to some of the closer holes inside the town, though their attempts to levitate anything within twenty feet of any large chunks of the missiles leaves them cross-eyed and woozy.

Doug peeks out from inside the destroyed house, looking past one of the broken walls to see why the ponies a cheering, a relieved sigh when he realizes that the battle is over. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are huddling in the corner of the bedroom with him, as far away from the impact site as they can be. Doug looks up, seeing Sweetie Belle in one of the rooms on the second floor, her hooves pawing at the slippery floor as the ceiling loudly creaks, the walls slowly leaning inwards. He yells, "I need help, please! Anypony! Quick!" and pointing to the ceiling above.

Doug goes to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, grabbing the two scared fillies and picking them up. He turns, making his way to leap over the impact site but they start twisting, flailing in his arms to try to get as far away as they can. Their shrieks echo in the open room, "NO, IT HURTS!" , "STOP! IT BURNS!", screaming as they desperately try to get back to the corner. Doug stops, dropping the struggling fillies as he turns around, the two racing back to cower in the corner. Doug, a look of confusion on his face as to what the problem is, goes to the only available window and knocks the broken shards of glass outside with a nearby night stand, knowing he has to get them out of the wrecked building as soon as possible.

A few pegasi fly over the collapsing house, none daring to get close to the spreading chaotic energy that is sapping the color from the wooden walls. Fluttershy flies to the second floor, trying to stay as far away from the chaotic magic emanating from the open hole on the first floor as possible, barely held aloft by her magic. She motions with her forelegs, smiling at Sweetie Belle, the filly terrified at crossing the unsteady beams. A second pegasus goes to the window Doug is clearing, the gray mare holding her hooves out. The house gives another loud creak, the roof slowly waving back and forth, the second floor tilting a little more towards the missile.

Doug grabs Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, setting Apple Bloom on the counter. He says, "Girls, this house is unstable, you have to be strong." The fillies give nervous nickers as they inch closer to the missile, both closing their eyes and shuddering. Doug carefully passes Scootaloo through the window, Derpy taking the filly, quickly moving away from the broken glass and setting her down before returning for Apple Bloom. Both fillies give a sigh of relief as they look back, the house giving another loud groan.

Fluttershy yells, "Doug, don't, it's not safe!" as Doug takes a running leap over the impact site. He winces as he comes down, his bare feet on the destroyed wood, looking up at Sweetie Belle. He gingerly walks away from the house, pulling a few large shards out of his feet. Fluttershy, relief showing that Doug is safe, turns to Sweetie Belle, "Come on, dear, we have to go!"

"But I'm scared!" Sweetie Belle calls, her hooves scuffling along the floor, now dangerously tilted down. She gulps, a quick jump to the bed, then another towards Fluttershy as the bed begins sliding. Fluttershy leans forward, scared of getting any closer to the missile than she has to, grabbing hold of Sweetie Belle and flying the filly to safety as the bed drops down to the first floor, the cracking wood interrupting many of the nearby ponies as they turn to watch.

"My home..." Storied Pages says as she walks over to the destroyed house. She slumps down next to Doug, her eyes watering as a bookshelf topples over, books cascading into the hole, disintegrating on the way down. Her head lowers, the librarian trying to contain her tears as a few ponies cautiously make their way over, comforting hooves laid on the mare's back.

"Whew!" Fluttershy says to Sweetie Belle, the house behind them slowly collapsing, "Good thing you aren't much heavier than a bunny!" She plops down on the ground, moments before Doug moves over, wrapping both of them in a hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you," he says, tears slowly welling in his eyes, "You saved her life, Fluttershy." He gives another heavy sigh as he moves one hand to her head, the other scratching Sweetie Belle's side.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy says, one glance to the pile of rubble she had just left before she buries her head in Doug's chest. She glances up as as his fillies come over, each nuzzling the others. Fluttershy relaxes as Doug's arms wrap around the four of them, resting for a few moments. She can feel his head turning, looking up to follow his gaze to a group of doctors checking out a number of ponies. She feels his arms withdraw, a pang of regret that he is leaving, and slowly gets to her hooves to follow him.

Doug gets up, holding his fillies in his arms as he walks to the stage area. Mayor Mare and Spoiled Rich are coordinating the relief efforts, the two glancing at him as he walks up. Spoiled Rich says, "I'm... glad to see all of you are alive. Doug, I wanted to ask, how did you jump over that missile? You were close enough to the chaotic energy for it to scour the flesh from your legs, but you merely got splinters from the landing."

Doug glances down at his feet before looking back up, a cross, "Um, I don't know. Lack of magic?"

Spoiled Rich slowly nods, giving him a hard look, "And your fillies seem to be affected by it. Though not as badly as some." She motions with a hoof; several pegasi are being treated for burns, one of them with nearly half of the feathers on one wing seared off, the blackened area carefully being excised by two doctors. "And yet you retain no trace after passing within feet of it, while others would have absorbed that magic, corrupting them and serving as a new source to spread the chaotic magic."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo hunch down in his arms, Doug raising an eyebrow and glaring, a harsh, "Do you have a point?"

Spoiled Rich huffs, "I am not trying to insinuate anything, merely trying to figure this out! Please stop treating me like an enemy!" She sighs a heavy sigh, bringing her hoof to her chest as she slowly breaths out. "I was thinking we could use you to dig out some of the corrupted areas, places where we might have difficulty using the earth mover or pony magic to remove all the traces of chaotic magic. Assuming it is safe for you, of course."

Doug stares at Spoiled Rich for a few seconds before saying, "Fine. I'll get Rainbow to grab my work gear, let me know where I'm needed." He sits down with a heavy thump, staring off at the ruined house, the fillies squirming a little as he squeezes them tighter.

One of the doctors comes to Doug, running an instrument over his body, a calming voice as he says, "Well, you all are hopefully the last of the ponies I need to use this instrument on. Normally a hospital wouldn't need it, but with the Everfree Forest so close by we occasionally need to whip it out, see if any of the forest's magic is spreading." He pauses, looking at the instrument and giving a surprised look, "Hmm, no signs of chaotic magic. None at all, as if it passed right through you." Doug holds up his foot, a bit of blood slowly trickling from one of the punctures. The doctor whistles, his colleagues looking over; he motions with a hoof to one, Nurse Redheart coming over with bandages and disinfectant. He holds up one foot, a wince as she rubs the disinfectant and then examining closer, carefully removing the last of the splinters. She lightly rubs the foot, watching for any reaction; seeing none, she bandages it before swapping to his other foot.

The doctor runs the instrument over Scootaloo, frowning at the elevated reading. He tries the time honored tradition of turning it off, then back on, frowning at the repeated reading. He tries Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, grunting as they both return a reading far higher than normal. He walks over to Nurse Redheart, getting a normal reading from her, and then cautiously walking closer to the destroyed house, watching as the reading slowly climbs and climbs as he gets closer. He walks back to the fillies, each pony watching with interest as the reading slowly climbs; he says, "Doug, these are your fillies, correct?"

Doug nods, grimacing a little as the disinfectant is applied, "Yes. Why?"

"They are giving off a reading, suggesting that they are storing an elevated level of chaotic energy, but it does not seem to be harmful to them, or emanating out from them. In other words, they seem to be holding onto that energy, and this detector can spot it, but they are not releasing it; you can tell, because we can stand to be near them without burning. You have other fillies, correct?"

"Yes, back at the farmhouse." Doug waves at Rainbow, the mare flying over. His voice, a note of exhaustion in his voice, "I need Rainbow to go back and get me some things from the house. She could take a reading for you."

"Excellent." The doctor turns to Rainbow Dash, hooving the instrument over. "Rainbow, when you get to the farmhouse, take this, point it at each filly from about one foot away. Press this button here, that starts measuring, and remember the number that comes up. Just wave it about a foot or so away from each of them. Press this button to turn the instrument off."

"Okay." Rainbow takes the chaos detector, peering at the odd looking machine, the blinking lights fascinating her for a moment before looking at Doug. "You need something?"

"My boots and gloves. And a shovel or two, the big metal ones. Guess I'm going to be helping more with the cleanup." Doug reaches over, pulling Rainbow in for a hug, forcing a smile to his face, "Also, great work out there. Awesome as always."

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Alright, that makes it worth being a glorified courier. See ya soon, dude." A brief kiss before she takes off, heading for the Apple farmhouse, looking back and winking at Doug as she flies away. Doug happily sighs, the smile returning to his face, the sight of that pegasus in particular flying always enough to lift his spirits.

Spoiled Rich motions for him to walk towards one of the missiles embedded in the streets, stopping about twenty yards away, her ears laying flat. She asks, "You can feel nothing?" Doug shakes his head, Spoiled Rich shuddering, "This is about where I can feel tingling, the chaos magic reaching out to me." She walks backwards, "It is... extraordinarily unpleasant. To say the least."

Doug shakes his head, "Nope, don't feel anything at all." He reaches an arm forward, then a cautious step before backing off, "Still nothing."

The doctor comes up as Rainbow Dash returns in a wide course that takes her around the missile. The doctor asks, "Any reading on the fillies?"

Rainbow hoofs the instrument back, "Nope, nothing at all. It beeped a little at me when I pointed it at myself." She gives a half smile, moving over to Doug, enjoying the ear scratches as they both look at the doctor.

The doctor takes the instrument, "Yes, you likely have a little, just residual chaos magic the missiles left behind, likely in the air you were breathing. Just take one of the pills we will be distributing shortly, and you should be fine." He points the instrument at Doug, "Hmm, like you said, nothing at all. If you feel up to it, get as close to the missile as you can, then return."

Doug shrugs, walking up to the missile, casually reaching out a hand. The mares around him gasp as his finger gets an inch from one of the cats, the rocky visage quietly yowling at him, the tiny teeth trying to lunge closer. He backs up, returning to the doctor; the pony shakes his head, looking at the reading, "Nothing again. Well, I still wouldn't touch any, at least not with anything you don't mind losing. But you are okay to work, for now, just let anypony know as soon as you feel the slightest bit off."

"Sure." Doug takes the shovel from Rainbow as Applejack leads the excavator down the street, the scoop positioned at the base of the hole. The unicorn's horns light, the metal driving into the ground, soon coming out the other side and lifting the missile out of the ground. The dump wagon moves over, the earth ponies scratching the dirt nervously as the excavator unloads its contents. The two earth ponies hurry to the pile of rubble, dumping the wagon and rushing away, then taking a more languid pace to return to town.

Applejack walks over to Doug, a serious expression on her face. "Hey, Doug, walk with me." Doug follows her over the bridge, the bustle of ponies moving back and forth, many giving the impact sites in the road and town a wide berth as they move to examine their houses. They walk up to the bank of the river, their hooves and feet squelching as they get out of earshot of the town. Applejack says, "Doug, Ah'm disappointed in you. Ah-" She stops herself as she sees Doug collapse to the ground next to her, the work gear falling out of his hands as his arms move to cover his face.

She takes a cautious step forward, watching his chest heave up and down, his sobs stifled by his arms covering his nose and mouth. He shies back as she reaches a hoof towards him, turning his head away from her as she tries to nuzzle him. She frowns, taking another step closer and pressing her muzzle into his chest, moving up to push his arm out of the way so she can see his face. He sniffs loudly, attempting to retrieve the snot mixing with his tears as they roll down his face, barely glancing at Applejack before he squeezes his eyelids shut again.

"You okay there, partner?" Applejack asks in a quiet voice, her muzzle gently pushing against his cheek.

"It's all my fault, Applejack," Doug chokes out. "I nearly got the... I nearly got our fillies killed, and for what? Because I was afraid they would run off or something?" He shakes his head, "Much better to just drop them straight into the fire, right?" He tries to laugh, failing as he chokes up again, trying to look anywhere but at Applejack.

"Look, it ain't your fault." Applejack tries to push his arm away from his face, succeeding as he rolls backwards into the mud. "You didn't know it was going to be this bad."

"But you did, Applejack, and I ignored your advice about this crazy world, and look what it almost ended up costing us." His legs pull towards his chest as he gives a heavy sigh, looking back at Ponyville, "Some days, I just want to go home."

"And maybe Ah should have insisted, but we needed all the help we could get out here and Ah didn't want to stand there arguing. Who knows, maybe you and the fillies helped save the town by gathering enough sheets for the pegasi to use." She rubs a hoof along his mud coated side, "And we can get you home, take a bath and clean you up, but we need to deal with this stuff here first." She looks into his red rimmed eyes staring off into space. She frowns at his lack of movement, "But that ain't what you meant, was it?" She pushes her hoof into his chest, leaving a muddy hoofprint, "You better not be thinking about leaving."

Doug stares off for a few seconds before slowly shaking his head, shutting his eyes and grabbing Applejack, pulling her chest into his. "Half the ponies here hate me, Applejack, and the other half just put up with me because of you. I can see it in their eyes, the way they watch me everywhere I go. Sometimes, Applejack, I don't know why I keep pushing myself. Whether or not it's worth it." He shudders in her hooves, mud smearing across his hands and face as he tries to wipe his tears away.

Applejack takes a hard look at him, made difficult by his arm wrapped around her barrel, "Well, if you ain't gonna do it for yourself, know that you got a lot of ponies counting on you. Lookin' up to you, expecting things from you. And Ah ain't talking about bits or junk like that, but a good role model. Ponies like Apple Bloom over there, and Rainbow, and even me. And Ah know you want to be perfect, and respected by all, but trust me, partner, none of us are perfect, and the sooner you accept that about yourself the better. Now, pick up that shovel, lets get a quick dip in the river. Ah know Ah'm a mud pony, but that don't mean Ah like it lathered on my coat." Doug smirks at the last comment, a long breath out as his face returns to a neutral expression, giving a heavy sigh. Applejack pushes her muzzle into his side again, saying, "Come on, partner, up'n at'em." She gently nuzzles him as he lays still, his heavy breathing puncturing the silence, "Or did you want to lay anything else on me? Ah'm here to help if you need it, and so is the rest of the herd."

Doug gives Applejack another squeeze before gently pushing her to the side, Applejack smiling as she makes her way to the river. The two hop in, quickly rinsing themselves off in the cool, untainted water. Doug ruffles Applejack's mane, the wet ponytail clinging to her side, "Thanks, Applejack. Thank you for everything."

"Aww, shucks, Sugarcube, ain't nothing anypony wouldn't do." She glances over at the dropped items, "Now, you might want to lose the gloves and boots; Ah think they'll just get eaten up by the chaos, and Ah don't think Rarity wants you throwing away her hard-made work."

"Well, least I'm used to working naked," Doug quips as he rolls his eyes, grabbing his shovel while Applejack gets the boots and gloves, her wet tail leaving a long red line as it whips across his flank. The two trade smirks as they walk along the river towards the nearest dug-out hole.

Applejack takes a few cautious steps towards the hole, shaking her head, "Ah think the digger got everything from this one, the solid pieces that is. Still a bit of corruption, but we'll need to handle that as a town. Let's head to the next one, Ah think I feel some coming from there."

19 Nature's Resilience

"Whew!" Doug exhales, dumping his last load of dirt next to the pile of rubble, his all-metal wheelbarrow left on its side. He stretches his back, his arms moving behind him, looking out over the muddy field south of Ponyville. The last of the holes is finally clear of any fragments of the corrupted missiles. It had been two long hours of digging out any visible chunks, sifting through the loosened dirt, the pulverizing force of the impact making it easier than when he digs through the ground with Rarity. However, it didn't make carting the remains in his wheelbarrow any lighter, as none of the ponies could get close to it without suffering aching limbs or a searing headache.

It does make it easy to verify that he got all of the remains, though, as Applejack does a quick double check of the last hole, smiling at the barest tingle of chaos magic that remains. The last remnants would have to be cleansed from the whole area, but not by fire, or metal, or unicorn magic, but by what ponies do best - friendship and harmony. And boy howdy did she have the best idea for that.

Doug ruffles Applejack's mane as he gets close, the air-dried ponytail full of knots and tangles. She squirms in his grasp, her lighthearted laugh as she rolls her body into his, the two of them stumbling to the side. The two begin walking again, a quick repeat as Doug tries to get a few of the tangles out. She bumps his flank again, a quick, "Come on, partner, leave 'er be. Ah got an announcement to make." She gives a playful flick with her tail, quickening her pace back to Ponyville, Doug smiling as he gives chase, a happy shriek as he gets close, the shadow of an alicorn passing to their side as they frolic back to town.

Princess Celestia's mane shimmers, the hue slowly changing from her four colored rainbow to a solid pink as she flies to the pile of rubble. She takes in a long breath before her horn blazes orange, her eyes sparkling white, leveling her horn at the pile. A wide beam engulfs the corrupted rocks and dirt, blasting the dark gray and black to a light gray. She slowly lets out her breath, a brief glance to the sun, basking in the invigorating rays as she flies to the other end of the transported pile. A second blast of brilliant flame cleanses the remainder of the rocks before she slowly glides closer to the smoldering rubble, a smile forming on her face as she returns to Ponyville.

Applejack hops up to the stage, many of the surrounding ponies looking up at her as she repeatedly stomps a hoof. She clears her throat, announcing, "Alright Everypony, Let's Give A Cheer For A Job Well Done!" She motions with her hoof, slowly panning from one end of the surrounding ponies to the other. The crowd stomps their hooves, a few scattered cheers coming from among the crowd. "And, To Commemorate Such A Massive, one might even say Monstrous Undertaking, Ah'm Announcing A Special Treat For The Cleansing Party."

The crowd watches, enraptured as Applejack paces back and forth a few times, the wide smile on her face growing as the crowd murmurs in anticipation, "The Apple Family Will Be Providing, Free Of Charge, One Mug Of Fresh Apple Cider For Every Pony!"

A massive cheer erupts from the crowd, pegasi leaping into the air as Applejack takes a quick bow. She walks off the stage, her voice nearly drowned out as she remarks to Doug, "Well, that'll get them in the right mood."

Mayor Mare steps up to the stage as another pony beats her to it, Ms. Swirl announcing, "And Sugar Cube Corner is happy to provide an assortment of cookies, muffins, and cupcakes!" More cheers come from the crowd, a yellow stallion moving forward especially enthusiastically as another pony takes the stage, Mayor Mare smiling at the continuing announcements.

Princess Celestia flies over, landing next to Applejack. "An excellent idea, dear Applejack. But, I wanted to ask." Her voice drops as the two walk away, many of the ponies giving them space. "If I could borrow Doug for a little bit."

Applejack gives a nervous smile, "Um, of course, Princess Celestia, just be sure to give him back in one piece." She glances back to Sweet Apple Acres, "Do you need him now? 'Cause I kinda need him now."

Princess Celestia smiles, "Oh, no rush." She glances to Doug, "Just give me a wave, and meet me in the Carousel Boutique." Princess Celestia winks as Doug nods, the alicorn turning and walking back to the stage area as a number of royal guards land in the town square. A number of ponies move over, thanking Applejack for her hard work and the promise of cider.

Big Mac gallops over to Applejack as she clears the ponies thanking her, "Um, sis, Ah don't know if we have that much cider ready to go. And you said fresh cider!" He glances back towards Sweet Apple Acres, "We'll have to get the rig set up, and you know Granny ain't gonna be happy about this!"

Rainbow Dash roughly pushes Big Mac to the side as she flies next to Applejack, "Really! Fresh cider!" A cyan hoof points Applejack's muzzle towards her own, "And I'm going to get a glass this time, right?"

Applejack rolls her eyes, "It ain't my fault you never wake up early enough during fresh cider season, Rainbow, even if you are part of the herd. Ah ain't playing favorites, not then, not now. Besides, we're going to need to get the whole herd working on making enough cider to meet the demand. And yes, Ah'll be sure to set aside a barrel for the workers."

Rainbow Dash slowly nods her head, "Yeah, you better." She smiles, a far off look in her eye, "Fresh cider is so much better than the bottled stuff you have around the house, too. Not that I don't like that stuff, but you know what I mean."

Applejack nods, "Eeyup, it's why Granny don't like selling it. And most ponies don't like it as much as fresh, so we don't market it, even though Filthy bugs me about it at least once a year." She gives a sheepish grin, "And they tend to drink up all the cider we do make when it is fresh cider season." She glances over to Big Mac, "And Ah hope Granny ain't too mad at me, that it ain't the perfect timing for fresh cider. But Ah think nopony's going to notice, or say anything."

Rarity and Pinkie Pie come over, a gigantic grin on Pinkie Pie's face, the earth pony saying, "So, Applejack, fresh cider? I love fresh cider! It makes me wonder why every day isn't fresh cider day!"

Fluttershy joins the group, the three fillies and mare cleared by the doctor to return home and following behind. The ponies smile to each other, each taking a turn nuzzling the fillies as they walk back to Sweet Apple Acres. Granny Smith is standing on the front porch, her keen eye drifting from one smiling pony to the next, finally resting on Applejack. Granny Smith's expression slowly hardens, her brow furrowing and glare increasing.

Granny Smith stops the herd, holding up a hoof as Applejack she walks up the porch. The elderly green mare says, "Everypony safe?"

Applejack takes a deep breath, "Eeyup. Fillies are a bit spooked, but doing well."

Granny Smith's eyes narrow, Applejack quailing under the pressure. Granny Smith says, "Everfree Forest?"

"Eeyup."

"Giant monster?"

"Eeyup."

"Town under attack?"

"Eeyup."

Granny Smith looks at the collection of ponies in front of her; Big Mac is shuffling his hooves and nervously glancing around, focusing on the orchards. Doug is standing, the three fillies still held in his arms. Pinkie Pie is bouncing up and down, happy as always. Fluttershy is behind Doug, carrying Scootaloo's scooter. Rainbow is excitedly hovering, trying to contain her enthusiasm and doing a poor job. Rarity looks relieved that everything is over, but seems to be worrying about something. Applejack is trying to meet Granny's eye, but her stance is wavering, unsure about something.

Granny starts again, "Hmm, everypony is safe, so that leaves only one thing. You agreed to have Filthy Rich sell our cider again!"

Applejack shakes her head, "No, Granny. But Ah-"

Granny Smith throws up her hooves, "Well, Ah can't see you mortgaging the farm, so what else can it be to make Big Mac so nervous and Rainbow so happy?"

"Ah told the town we'd provide fresh cider for the Cleansing Ceremony we're having." Applejack paws the dirt, a nervous look as she tries to maintain eye contact with Granny.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Granny Smith says, a smile on her face. "We'll need to get the traveling wagon to haul all the equipment out there, unless you wanna haul barrels instead. Won't be as fresh then." She spits on her hoof, holding it out to the wind, "And the apples won't be quite right. Hmm."

"It might be easier to haul barrels. Ah don't think we have enough apples bucked to make enough, and we'll need to start production now or there'll be Tartarus to pay." Granny nods, leaving to gather the necessary items. Applejack looks over at each pony in turn, "Doug, help Big Mac drag the press out here." The two nod, walking towards one of the larger barns. "Pinkie, Ah left a wagon of apples out in the western field; go bring that back here."

Pinkie Pie says, "Okie Dokie! But, I think I should tell you that Ms. Swirl is going to need to helping baking all the goods she promised the town, and I should be heading back really soon to help with that."

Applejack sighs, "Alright, then, once you grab that wagon, you can be off." Pinkie Pie salutes, pronking away. Applejack says to the remaining ponies, "We'll fill the wagon with the first few barrels we make. Rarity, Ah'll need you to take the wagon; Fluttershy, Ah'll need you and the fillies to set up a stand once you get to Ponyville to start distributing it." Rarity sighs as Applejack glances at Apple Bloom, "How do you feel about tapping barrels?"

Apple Bloom nods, "Ah can do it!" She glances to her sisters, each filly beaming up at Applejack. Apple Bloom slowly drags a hoof along the ground, a small furrow in the dirt. "But, uh, Ah don't know how."

Applejack nods, a smile on her face, "That's okay, Bloom, Ah'll help teach ya." She looks to Rarity, "We'll need somepony to haul the wagon back and forth, Rarity, Ah know you don't really want to, but there ain't many options left."

Rarity sighs, "I'd rather be sorting apples." She glances to the fields, "But I will, if I must."

Applejack smiles, a hoof pulling Rarity in for a quick hug, "Thanks for that, Rares, Ah really appreciate it. Rainbow, we'll need somepony to bring apples to the press and then move the barrels as they fill up with cider and load them on the wagon. Think you can handle that?"

Rainbow shrugs, "Won't be the first time I lift a whole barrel of cider I don't get to drink, but I'm here to help!" Her hooves rub together, her mouth salivating at the thought of upcoming cider.

Applejack nods, "And Fluttershy, you'll be watching all six fillies. Get them doing what they can, but you seven will be in town. Make sure they don't run out of sight during the festivities."

Fluttershy gives a small nod, "Okay."

"Everypony know what they're doing?" Applejack asks as Doug and Big Mac wheel over a large press and tub. Everypony nods, holding a hoof in to the center, a pink hoof making its way into the middle from behind somepony, "Break!" Each pony walks off to their designated duty, Applejack pulling an empty barrel over. "Alright Apple Bloom, so here's how you hook up the barrel to the pump. Then just put your hooves here, and push down, and out comes the cider. Keep going until the barrel is empty. Fluttershy, Ah'm hoping you and Rarity can help the fillies move the full barrels over to the stand and then stack the empty barrels back on the wagon."

Rarity smiles, "Oh, darling, that won't be a problem at all." She grimaces a little to herself as she turns to the wagon Pinkie Pie is dragging along. "Oh, the things I put myself through," she mutters to herself, checking her mane and tail before looking over the straps on one of the larger wagons Big Mac is pulling out as Pinkie Pie quickly pronks towards town.

Doug starts running on the treadmill next to the press, the large wheel starting to turn. Granny sorts through the apples, Rainbow helping dump the good ones into the press. Doug strains as he turns the wheel, mashing the apples to pulp, the juice draining into the barrels. Rainbow quickly flies between the wagon and the press, exchanging empty barrels for full, then taking the full barrels to the wagon. After they load ten barrels the foals hop into the wagon, the fillies walking alongside as Fluttershy and Rarity take the wagon to Ponyville.

Applejack and Big Mac gather a small horde of apples near the press, Big Mac next moving to help Doug with the treadmill while Applejack alternates between helping Rainbow load the apples into the press and helping Granny Smith sort the apples. An hour later and Rarity is on the way back, the unicorn happy to get out of the harness and let Applejack take over hauling the soon to be full wagon. The apple supply is exhausted, the barrels loaded onto the two wagons, and the herd returns to Ponyville. Applejack holds a hoof to her face, a little scared as she counts the barrels; they might not have enough cider for everypony to get a topped off mug, so they might need cut back just a little on the distribution. Hopefully their supply holds out.

The fields south of Ponyville are filled with ponies flocking back and forth, many of them engaging in some massive song and dance routine, Pinkie Pie in the lead. The others are making their way back to town to refill on the refreshments, gathering more food and drink from the stalls ponies are setting up. Joyous laughter trades back and forth, the ponies freely giving away their wares to anypony who asks.

The magic in the air, the friendship, positively shimmers out over the field. Many oddly colored rainbows form around the gathered ponies, lines of color dancing around the houses as droplets of condensed magic coalesce, a spectrum of color around a black grain. The bubbles rise into the sunny sky, more and more forming around the boisterous ponies. The sight of ponies laughing together as they happily shovel dirt back into the craters. Grins traded back and forth as they hoist a new wall, partially made of scavenged components, the warehouse slowly being rebuilt. Even the librarian, bags of items donated by the various ponies, the old mare singing and dancing about finally getting the buck in the flank to follow her dream of working in Canterlot.

The gathered ponies greet the Apple herd with cheers, many an empty mug quickly stacking next to a slightly panicky Apple Bloom. The table is swarming with ponies, the last of the barrels having run dry some ten minutes ago. The crowd quickly clears a path, Big Mac tossing the first of the barrels to Doug, who grabs it and sets it up next to Apple Bloom. The filly grabs the tap and a mug, starting to pour glasses that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pass out. Applejack takes over at the cider stand as Doug spots Princess Celestia; Applejack pulls Doug close, a whispered, "Ah trust you, but don't do anything you'll regret, okay?"

Doug nods to Applejack, a brief kiss as he walks away from the stand. He gives a quick wave to the alicorn, her brief nod in acknowledgement. He walks to the Carousel Boutique, going in through the side door, a heavy sigh as he looks over the ransacked dressers and closets. He starts gathering some of the smaller materials, those too small to use for the nets, making piles by size and color.

The side door opens slowly, Celestia walking through, the door closing behind her with a click. The alicorn takes one ponderous step after another towards one of Rarity's couches; her peytral levitates off, a heavy thunk as the gold settles upon the wood, followed by her horseshoes, casually kicked off, though they leave no divots in the wood as they fall. She gets to the couch, flopping down with a heavy sigh, her eyes closing as she breathes out. She settles down, resting her hooves underneath her, as if the weight of the world is finally off her shoulders.

Doug sets down the fabric in his hands as Celestia makes herself comfortable; he moves over, taking a seat next to her as she smiles. "So, Celestia," he cautiously starts, the mare looking at him, "How are you?"

"Such a simple question," she replies, staring into Doug's eyes, "And yet there are so many possible ways to take it. Much like life."

"Hmm," he says, his fingers idly drumming on the soft fabric of the couch, "Some ponies might get paralyzed at facing so many options, while others would pick one at random and hope for the best."

"But is it really at random when there are so many different ways of deciding? Or are they merely using a different heuristic for their decision making?"

"Well, you could flip a coin, or roll a die, or something."

Celestia nods, "Yes, but they are still making the choice to leave the decision to chance. And choosing what choices to populate their options."

Doug nods, a glum look on his face, "Yes. Yes, you're right." He sighs, "As always."

"And yet, some days I wish I could just leave things up in the air, let the pieces fall as they may." Celestia sighs, levitating over a few scraps of fabric, "And yet I cannot, as I can name every one of the pieces, and know exactly what it means should they fall." Two scraps slowly unravel, her magic aura barely visible as the threads separate themselves, then weaving themselves together into one larger piece. "To answer your question, Doug, I think I am in the mood for some ear scratches."

"Finally, something I can do right," Doug says, his smile hiding the grimace underneath. Celestia rolls over, her head looking up at him from his lap, her front hooves at her sides as she shifts to a comfortable position. One of Doug's hands goes to her ears, the other to her neck, trading his attention between the two as his nails dig into her soft hair. Her mane drapes over his legs, the soft caress as it waves back and forth, the colors mesmerizing as Doug pushes harder and harder. "What a terrible burden to bear, though."

"Mm," Celestia purrs, her head rubbing into Doug's belly, her two foot long horn sliding against his side. She giggles as it finds a few of his ribs, enjoying the pressure as she pushes into one groove, finding one spot to push against before the horn slips, bouncing along a few ribs in quick succession. Her wings splay out on the couch, no longer tightly held against her side, the muscles relaxing as Doug's hand gets closer and closer. "And yet I must, as we all must. How do you think your herd performed today?"

Doug flinches as if struck, a deep breath in and a long breath out before he says, "Well, I was inside for a lot of it, and it was hard to see with the rain going on." Doug's right hand resumes its scratching of her ears, his left making its way to her shoulder and upper foreleg, "The fillies did well. Until the end, that is, but that's mostly my fault." His voice catches towards the end, his hands pausing for a second before starting again.

"Making choices on limited knowledge is a necessity, not an option," Celestia says, looking up at him, "And I would hesitate before beating yourself up too badly about such a thing. Ask the relevant parties for forgiveness, if you believe your actions to be in the wrong and it to be necessary, but do not become cruel because something does not go your way."

"So you won't send me away just because I fail one opportunity?"

Celestia laughs, "Doug, if I had to do that!" She snorts, waving her hooves in the air, "To magic kindergarten with you! Bazap! Bazap! Bazap!" She giggles, "Soon there would be noponies left! Though things might run smoother if I took such an approach with the nobles."

"What a horrible way to live, that kind of threat hanging over your head." Doug sighs, his left hand making its way to Celestia's wing. The mare shudders, her hind legs pushing against the couch to maneuver herself closer to Doug, her head now resting on his thigh. He continues, "As far as how I think my herd did, as far as I know, they did their duties. Rainbow was the most visible; I think she did a fine job commanding, but would have preferred being a foot soldier, taking orders, able to utilize her speed of flight instead of ordering, though she combined the two well. Applejack and Rarity took charge in their fields, able to coordinate the ponies assigned to them and build the things they had to. Pinkie Pie was able to make her canisters, though I rarely saw her around, or anypony working with her. Fluttershy, well, she performed as well as I would have expected. But she rose to the occasion, they all did."

Celestia nods as Doug wipes a tear from his eye, the alicorn saying, "Indeed, they all admirably rose to the occasion. Do you think they would do so again in the future?"

"Without question."

"And, Doug, would you be okay with them doing it again?"

Doug takes a long breath in, slowly letting it out before shaking his head, saying, "I wouldn't stop them. Not that I think that I could, or should, or that I would be able to protect them or do any better if I took their place. Not only is it their choice whether or not to do so, but I don't think they would be any safer if they hung back, merely subject to a different set of consequences. Especially dealing with threats like this. And that set, if they hung back, is probably worse for everypony than if they fought. Though I certainly wish their efforts aren't needed." He stares out towards the Everfree, one of his arms wrapping around his chest and squeezing tight, "I know I don't want to have to face that again."

"A future none of us hope for, but we must plan for regardless." Celestia sighs, "Thank you for your candor, Doug. It is a trait I find disturbingly infrequent among those I meet." A few moments pass as Celestia returns to rubbing her head against Doug's chest, her horn tapping against his leg. A mischievous look comes over her face as her head darts forward, her lips finding his in a quick kiss.

Doug looks down, surprised, as Celestia settles back down in his lap, her eyes closing, a peaceful smile on her face as if nothing had happened. He sighs, staring off into the distance as his hands return, one resting along her side and the other gently rubbing her chin. His thoughts turn to his herd, his place in it, and his purpose in the greater scheme of things as the mare in his lap drifts off to sleep, the party outside getting louder and more rambunctious as the cider and other beverages are consumed.

20 The Eagle's Cry

November 15th, 997

"Really, Doug? You ain't gonna complain about how our weather is all weird, and our birds are weird, and how ponies shouldn't have to do all these various things?"

"Oh, come on," Doug says, his hand waving back and forth at the various trees they are walking by. Many of the apple trees still have their full complement of leaves, none of them targets for the Running of the Leaves two weeks earlier. The ponies had instead focused on the trees closer to Ponyville; they have all lost their leaves, leaving long brown branches reaching to the sky. "I don't complain about it, I just point out the differences between how I'm used to weather working and how things work here."

Applejack slowly nods her head, first to the left, then to the right, then back to the left. "And somehow, in all that explaining, there ain't just a tad bit of resentment that we, ponies, are the ones that have to do all these activities, that life would be so much better if things just happened, heh, naturally?" Applejack looks up at the sky, "Ain't nothing more natural than a pegasus controlling the weather with her magic, or an earth pony helping crops grow with hers."

"Fine, there is a little bit of complaining. And that is totally not what natural means."

"Right, right." Applejack looks off to the south, "If you want your 'au natural', the Everfree is right over there."

Doug shudders, nearly missing a step as he slows down, his hand coming to his face. Applejack frowns as she slows down as well, moving to nuzzle his side, a contrite look on her face. He says, "I'm okay, just, still not completely over that." He shakes his head as the two continue on, "I'll have a hard time trusting anything that comes out of the Everfree."

"You and me both, partner. You and me both. And Princess Celestia even warned us from straying too close to those rocks, something about them attracting timber wolves on account of the chaos magic still lingering around the area." Applejack shakes her head, "Shame about the ponies that live on that side of town, and it weren't no fun dragging a lot of the houses to the north side of town. At least the bridge only needed to be rebuilt twice."

"Never thought there'd be a town emergency to fish a house out of the river, that's for sure." Doug laughs, Applejack smiling at his quick recovery, "And the looks on everypony when it happened a second time. At least we were still gathered around from the first time, and we got them both out of the water quickly."

"Yeah, bit of a shame we needed magic to prop up the bridge for the rest of them." Applejack spits off to the side, "Hopefully we don't have to worry about that happening any more."

"Yup, yup." Applejack and Doug enter Ponyville proper, Mayor Mare barely visible at her customary spot on the stage, a large group of ponies congregating around the front. "So, what job did you get this year?"

Applejack proudly shows off her team lead leg band, "Well, Ah did well enough during Winter Wrap Up to keep my position as plant team lead. Ah think there was a bit of turnover on the other sides, though, but Ah don't know for sure." She leans in close, "Ah heard Rainbow Dash made weather team lead, but to keep her from parading all over town Mayor Mare kept the news from her until this morning."

Doug laughs, "Yup, that sounds like Rainbow." They look, the pegasus strutting back and forth on the stage, an elegant blue leg band proudly displayed. "About time she got that position. So, what kind of things will you do as plant team lead? Mostly coordination between the various groups and making sure your own group is doing well?"

"Eeyup, a bit of this, bit of that. We've got to get covers on the trees that still have leaves on them, which are mostly the fruit trees. Then, every square foot of ground with any sort of green needs to get ready for the snow. Houses are generally assigned to the weather team but Ah make sure the Apple barns are all good and square. Sometimes we gotta spread a bit of last minute defoliant, if any of the plants get the wrong idea in their heads, 'cause they aren't supposed to try to grow during winter."

"Wait, so, your earth pony magic can kill off plants? That seems, well, counter to how it normally goes."

Applejack nods, "Eeyup, and nopony likes having to do it. Kinda like chopping off a bit of hoof; sometimes it ain't growing right, and it needs to be done, or the whole leg will be hurtin'. The plants can grow in the winter, it's just way harder on them, and they draw a lot more magic from the surrounding soil to compensate for the cold and low sun. Ruins the field for the next spring and summer growing season, at least without a big investment of time and magic, so a big part of everypony on the plant team's duty is making sure everything green knows to keep down for the winter. And as plant team lead, Ah have to make sure all of that gets done."

Doug nods, "Big responsibility."

Applejack stands up tall, her chest puffed out and a smile plastered on her muzzle. She gets up on her hind legs, a quick kiss for her stallion; one of his arms moves to help steady her, the other giving her pregnant belly a quick rub. She drops back down to all four hooves as they get to the back of the crowd, asking, "So, any of those sound interesting?"

"Um, I think the covering trees part." Applejack nods before she walks up to the stage, joining a still strutting Rainbow Dash and a slightly amused Amethyst Star on the stage.

A few minutes pass, a couple more ponies arriving before Mayor Mare walks to the center of the stage. She clears her throat, the assembled ponies quieting down, and announcing, "Welcome, everypony, to this year's Autumn Wrap Up! Now, we have a lot to do today, and I'm sure everypony would like to get home before dark! So, without any further ado, we have a new weather team leader this season; let us all welcome Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash raises a hoof to the beating of hooves against the ground, the pegasus releasing an excited, "Aww, yeah!"

Mayor Mare smiles as the ponies quiet down, "And also our returning plant and animal leads, Applejack and Amethyst Star!" The ponies beat their hooves against the ground again, a little more subdued this time as Applejack politely raises a hoof to her hat and Amethyst Star takes a small bow. Mayor Mare continues, "As each of you knows, there are many things that need to be done, such as sending off the southern birds, getting all the animals prepared for hibernation, and making sure all the plants are ready for winter. So, you all have your assignments, let's get to it!"

Applejack moves to the side, the green vested ponies following her, "Alright, everypony, as you can probably guess by the color of your vest, you'll be working on the plant team." She consults her list, quickly listing off names and locations for the ponies to make sure everything has stopped growing.

Doug quickly grows bored as Applejack goes through the two hundred ponies awaiting orders, watching as Rainbow leads about fifty pegasi to the large mass of white and gray clouds hovering to the northeast of Ponyville. The weather team regulars help the less confident pegasi with breaking the large mass into smaller cloud sized pieces. Others work on moving the broken clouds around to ensure an even spread of snow for Ponyville and the surrounding areas, a couple of pegasi singing out, "Bringing out the dreary clouds, to let the snow fall in."

Rainbow flies back to Ponyville, a second set of ponies awaiting instructions for making sure all the houses are ready for the coming snowstorm. She assigns blocks of houses to each pony before moving to the last three pegasi, those who will be taking the southern birds to the south. She looks up as Amethyst Star walks over, a hesitant look on the unicorn's face.

"Um, Rainbow Dash," Amethyst Star begins, "I was hoping I could borrow a few pegasi. I don't really have enough to gather all the birds in time, and I know they need to get moving soon."

"Ugh," Rainbow Dash says, holding a hoof to her forehead, "Not this problem again. Um, sure." Rainbow Dash motions to Cloud Kicker, Sassaflash and Rainbowshine, "You can have those three for sure, since they don't have much to do until the birds are ready."

The three designated ponies move over to Amethyst Star, "Alright, Rainbow, thanks a lot." Rainbow gives a curt nod before going back to double check the progress of the cloud pegasi. Amethyst Star moves to Applejack next, the earth pony giving her a querying look. "Applejack," she says a little more confidently, "Could I get a few ponies to help with the animals? I got a little shortchanged again this year, and I need help moving the food for distribution."

Applejack rolls her eyes, "Ah keep telling you, Star, you need to complain to Mayor Mare, so she can assign you more ponies next year. You keep doing the job with the number she gives you, and she'll keep giving you that many."

Amethyst Star looks down, rubbing a hoof along the dirt, "I know, but I feel like she'll take me off of team lead if I complain, or don't get the job done right."

"Well, there's complaining, and there's not being given the resources to do the job ahead of you." Applejack motions to a few ponies who haven't gotten assignments yet, "Alright, you five, go with Amethyst Star, Ah'm sure she'll have some stuff for you to haul around." The five ponies nod, moving towards the unicorn.

Off in the distance a few of the earth ponies can be heard singing, though their tune is more of a dirge, a sad reminder to the plants and animals of the dreary work ahead, "No easy task to clear the ground, no more sprouting seeds; without care, no sunshine, everyone a-sleep."

The song continues off in the distance; Amethyst Star hesitates as she asks, "Oh, and, um, one more thing. Do you have any ponies who don't mind working with Harry?"

"The bear?" At Amethyst's nod and a look of trepidation from the five earth ponies, Applejack considers for a moment, "Um, is Fluttershy not available? Ah thought she would deal with him."

"Well, yes, but he needs a lot of food and Fluttershy might have some difficulty with that. And she's busy with the birds at the moment."

"Ah suppose. Doug, go with Amethyst, you like Harry, right?"

Doug shrugs, "Sure, I guess." He gives Applejack a short wave, his mare returning one with a slight frown.

"Thanks, Applejack, it means a lot to me." Amethyst Star turns, heading to one of the stores to pick up the boxes of food for the animals. Each pony takes a few boxes, beginning the trek to Fluttershy's cottage and the animal habitats. The unicorns and earth ponies are working together to get food to each of the hibernating critters, making sure their dens are fully stocked for the winter months ahead.

The pegasus members of the animal team are collecting birds from the trees scattered around Ponyville, the flock continuing to grow around Fluttershy as more and more birds are located and sent her way. Many of the ponies are singing joyfully, "Gathering up the southern birds, is how our job begins; clearing all the dreary trees, so they have sunshine again. Then having to say goodbye, head to their homes below! Far to the south, so their bellies can be full!"

After another round of the chorus Amethyst Star says, "Alright, you five, the distribution center is over there." She motions with a hoof to the small bridge by Fluttershy's house, "Just take your crates and start unpacking them by the creek, next to the others." Amethyst Star and Doug walk to the distribution center with the five earth ponies, the unicorn levitating a few packages and placing them on top of Doug's crate before grabbing a crate for herself to carry. The two make the walk towards the Everfree, Doug getting more and more unnerved as they get closer. Amethyst Star glances over, asking, "Um, Doug, will you be okay?"

Doug grimaces before nodding, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Not too much further, right?"

"Well, it's a left from here, but I suppose you could take three rights to be correct." Doug forces out a smile at the ambiguous word, the unicorn smiling back. "Does the Everfree Forest really bother you that badly?"

Doug slowly nods, "Yeah, mostly because of that thing months ago."

"I'll be sure to take that into account in the future." Amethyst gives a small smile, "And you can trust me to do that, I am the premiere organizer in Ponyville."

"Really? I thought that was Pinkie Pie."

Amethyst Star smirks, "Sure, Pinkie Pie is the premiere party planner of Ponyville, but she sticks to parties, and I get just about everything else. Weddings, or at least the non party portion. Big sporting events. Sometimes even if all you want is just an evening get together that you want to go perfectly, I'm your mare." Her smile becomes a little more forced, muttering to herself, "Not that that's gotten me anywhere."

The two reach Harry's house, a simple one room cabin, dirt and grass covered roof giving the appearance of living in the side of a hill. The bear opening the door on the first knock. He grins at the boxes of food, patiently waiting for the two to drop the crates off before wrapping first Amethyst Star and then Doug in a hug. Doug is fine with the bear hug, it not being his first, while Amethyst looks a little uncomfortable with the large animal holding her. Eventually the hug ends, Harry giving the two a wave before taking the crates inside his house.

Amethyst Star and Doug wave back as they make their way back to the distribution center. Amethyst moves closer to Doug, a smile on her face as she says, "Thanks, Doug, for helping out. I was a little worried about going to his house all alone, even if I know he's perfectly safe."

Doug gives a slight shudder, "Yeah, not a problem. Helps me confront my fear about the Everfree too, right? Just foal steps."

"Right." Amethyst Star takes a breath, "And, speaking about foal steps, I wanted to ask you. How busy are you on Friday nights?"

"Um, pretty busy, generally." Amethyst's face falls a little as he continues, "I have to make sure my weather schedules for the next week are all in order and send them out, and that can take a while, especially if there was some sort of mishap during the week. And, more often than not, there is. Why?"

"Oh, well, Friday nights work well for me, surprisingly, since most of my planning has to be done by then. I was hoping we could get together and, um, play Bridge or something."

"That sounds like fun. Generally the rest of the herd gathers over at Sweet Apple Acres on the weekends, so we can probably get Rarity to play. Maybe Applebaum, too, she's shown a lot of interest in the game."

Amethyst Star raises an eyebrow, "Your two year old filly? No way am I letting a foal beat me!" She smirks, her tail flicking back and forth.

"Well, I've been trying to teach her to show a little more respect when she wins," Doug taunts, "We'll see how well she's learning that lesson."

"More like how to be a good sport when she loses!" Amethyst retorts, a playful swagger in her step as they return to the distribution center. She looks bewildered as snow begins falling around them, bellowing, "Rainbow!" as a multi-hued pegasus dashes from Ponyville to some of the snow clouds, the gray pegasus by the offending cloud giving a worried look around. Amethyst gives Doug an apologetic glance before turning to the birds surrounding Fluttershy, "Alright, everypony, we're going to need to double time it from here on."

One of the pegasus retorts, "We weren't doing that already?"

Amethyst ignores that, "We're going to have to move the birds out really soon. Fluttershy, how many are we looking for?"

Fluttershy looks around, "Um, just about five or so."

"Alright, we can carry them by hoof if they can't catch up." Amethyst looks to Cloud Chaser, "Alright, you're up. Have a safe flight!"

Cloud Chaser gives a quick salute, her two pegasi companions taking flight, the massive flock of birds taking wing behind them. Amethyst Star turns to the rest of the assembled ponies, "Alright, food distribution and hibernation. We'll need to quickly get each animal to their assigned den and make sure they have food. Caramel, go check the warehouse in Ponyville, make sure we have all the food out of there. Everypony else, let's start distributing what we have."

The four earth ponies follow Caramel back to Ponyville as Rainbow Dash flies over, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. "Um, soo, long story short, the snowfall is starting early."

Amethyst Star gives Rainbow a steady stare, snowflakes falling down around her. "Really."

"Yeeaah, and these clouds aren't exactly made for stopping once they get going. Real sorry about that, gotta fly!" Rainbow takes off, Amethyst's retort cut off, the unicorn huffing instead.

"Not her fault, just remember, not her fault," the unicorn repeats to herself as she watches animals quickly being herded to their dens. She facehooves as she sees Caramel and the other ponies take a wrong turn on their way back to the cottage, pointing a hoof at them, "Doug, can you go reorient those five? I need those crates of food."

"Sure thing," Doug says, a bit of a shiver as he jogs back to Ponyville. Not a good day to leave his winter gear at home, figuring he would be cuddling with his mares when the snow starts, not having half the day left to work. After all, the way the song is 'Tomorrow winter is here.' Not 'today', and certainly not 'this morning.'

A quick shout to Caramel gets the stallion's attention and the earth ponies pointing in the right direction. Doug glances up, the clouds not looking to let up at all. He sighs as he heads to Sweet Apple Acres; better to get his gear and not need it, depending on which area needs his help and how much he'll be keeping himself warm by hauling things around. But, it'll be a long day regardless of how much he's wearing. At least he likes the snow.

21 Epilogue: Two Years Later

June 30th, 1000 Domina Solaria

Doug walks through town, the evening sun shining brightly in the clear skies. The streets are decorated with a wide variety of streamers and ribbons, many in the shape of an yellow sun with a white crescent moon overlaid, eight orange triangles pointing away. The trees are wrapped with colorful bands of cloth, garlands of flowers, and streamers. Plus, most likely, hidden compartments with explosions of confetti just waiting for Pinkie Pie to pull the trigger.

Five fillies follow him; Pinkie Pie's two, Lemon and Meringue, are quickly getting distracted by the decorations practically littering the walkways around them. Applejack's two, Applebaum and Pomarbo, are attempting to keep the first two in line and doing a poor job, the excitement beginning to get to all of them. Lastly, Fluttershy's filly, Hedge, who darts back and forth between Doug and the two groups, lines of worry crossing her face.

Meringue spots something low, in the grass, dashing off to the side to investigate. Doug whistles as Pomarbo tries to block her but she ignores the whistle, easily knocking the colt to the side and jumping onto a red button poorly concealed under a few flowers. Above the filly, high up in the trees, a firecracker goes off, exploding into a shower of confetti. Meringue squeals in delight, eyes going every which way as she tries to spot another one of the hidden buttons.

Doug walks over, a squirming Lemon held tightly in one arm. He reaches down, grabbing Meringue before the filly can dart off in search of another button. She shrieks before finding herself deposited next to her sister; she looks up at Doug, a tear quickly forming in one eye as she cries, "But, Daddy! It was right there!"

"I know, dear, but we have to leave those for Mama to use tomorrow." Doug pats the two writhing balls of fur, chuckling as he tries to calm them down.

Meringue pouts, loud sniffles mimed by her sister as Lemon responds, "But, um, Pinkie Pie would have been happy with her! That button wasn't concealed nearly well enough, and anypony could have found it and triggered it! So, now, it happened before the big party, and she'll have time to reset it! And hide it better!" She tries to use the distraction to jump out of his arm, but his grip merely tightens around both of them.

"Good try, Lemon, but no. We're going to Pinkie's party at Sugarcube... wait... at the library, okay? You can spend all of tomorrow looking for those hidden buttons." Doug changes course; fortunately the two destinations aren't terribly far apart, especially with him coming from Sweet Apple Acres.

"Mama would let us." Lemon joins her sister in pouting as Doug carries the two to the library, though their expressions change as they get near. The sound of music blares through the open windows, shadows of ponies moving back and forth inside. The fillies begin swaying back and forth as they walk, Doug finding his footsteps matching the beat as well. A loud groan comes from one of the windows above the doorway, the silhouette of a pony flopping back and forth on a bed, clenching a pillow to her head. Doug glances back, his three fillies also marching along as they get close to the door.

Before he can rearrange the two squirming fillies to knock, Pinkie Pie opens the door; she beams a smile at Doug, "You made it! Wohoo! Now we can really get this party started!" She glances at the fillies in his arms, her smile briefly falling before snapping back up, "Oh, well, maybe we'll leave the special games for later. You are coming back later, right?"

Doug chuckles, "Heh, we'll see how they do, if they fall asleep early or something." He winks at Pinkie Pie, the mare winking back and spinning around, raising her back legs an inch and looking back. Doug tosses Lemon first, then Meringue; Pinkie Pie bucks her back up, lowering back down as Lemon gets close and smoothly catching her filly on her back. She does the same with Meringue, the two fillies now riding her as she disappears deep into the party.

Doug turns back, motioning with an arm to the three fillies behind him. Applebaum leads, heading towards the games, while Pomarbo and Hedge hesitate near Doug. He squats down, rubbing each of their manes, "Hey, you two, it's okay, just a bit more ponies than you are used to, okay? Nothing to be afraid of. See?" He stands back up, the two fillies following closely as he walks into the party.

A large number of ponies smile at Doug as he walks in, starting with Lyra. Doug waves or makes a fist and bumps hooves as appropriate, making his way towards a few tables in the back. A good number of the mares bend down, Lyra nuzzling Hedge and Pomarbo as they arrive at the food. Doug spots the bottle of Fire Sauce, pouring a single drop onto a dish of sprinkles. He swirls the sprinkles around, trying to evenly coat them with the sizzling liquid before dumping them onto one of the undecorated cupcakes. He takes a small bite, gasping at the intense heat; at least fire didn't come out of his ears this time.

Hedge and Pomarbo both go up to the tables, grabbing small pieces of chocolate and cake. Doug grabs a plate for the two, holding it down for them to place their treats on. They balance the plates on their back, Pomarbo glancing back and walking slowly even with only two items on his plate. They make their way to a less crowded spot, watching with growing excitement as Pinkie Pie and a small purple dragon take turns dumping Fire Sauce on their cupcakes, seeing who can handle a larger amount of the burning liquid.

His three oldest fillies are dancing with a few others around their age, including a small Lyra, though their dancing mostly consists of going down on all four hooves to the beat, pushing back up as far as they can go, and then back down. Just bobbing up and down, the pony version of a squat, performed to the music. Scootaloo spots him, dashing forward and grabbing at his knee, "Come on, Dad, join us!"

Doug reluctantly gets up, Pomarbo and Hedge staying in their spots as they watch him make his way over to the dance floor. Pinkie Pie joins him, bits of fire leaking out of her ears, an excited, "Ooh! What dance are we doing tonight?" as the dragon walks over, curious as to the large biped in their midst.

"Alright, Pinkie, two legs!" Pinkie Pie stands up on her hind legs. "Arms crossed!" Doug and Pinkie cross their upper limbs, making a box in front of their chest, limbs held parallel to the floor. "Squat down!" Both bend their lower legs, a seated position without the chair, the dragon attempting to mime their position. "And kick!" Doug starts off, kicking one leg out, keeping his arms raised at his chest, then trading which leg is extended and which is on the ground to the beat.

Pinkie Pie matches him leg for leg while the dragon topples over after the first kick. The two start to pant harder and harder as the exertion gets to them, the dragon rubbing his back with a huff as he stands. After a minute the song ends, the two of them standing up. "Oof!" Pinkie groans, falling to her four legged stance, "I might need one of those massages of yours to really get the kinks out!" She winks at him, flicking her tail to the side as she wanders to a different part of the party.

The fillies scamper around Doug, Apple Bloom saying, "That was cool and all, but Ah wanted to see the other dance! The arm one!" One of the nearby Lyras nods along, a few other mares following along, the dragon smirking to himself as he flexes an arm.

Doug raises an eyebrow, "A push up?"

"Yeah, like we were doing!" The three fillies nod, Scootaloo demonstrating as the next track comes up.

Doug rolls his eyes but dutifully gets to the ground, starting to do push ups to the music. He lets out a loud grunt as his three fillies jump on his back, starting to do push ups of their own. The dragon gets down as well, a confident expression on his face as he pushes his small body up and down. Lyra moves next to Doug, doing her own push ups and winking as he tries to keep up with the music, but is unable to as the extra weight slowly gets to him. After another twenty he collapses, his fillies giggling above him as they continue to do pony squats against his back.

As the song ends Doug rolls over, the fillies squawking in alarm as they topple off. He stands, ruffling their manes as they try to shy away, an embarrassed, "Dad!" coming from each of them.

Doug chuckles, looking to the dragon, saying, "Haven't seen you around here before. I'm Doug." He holds his hand out, the dragon taking a long look before cautiously holding his claws out.

"I'm Spike. The dragon."

Doug nods, "Nice to meet you, Spike." The two stare at each other for a few seconds before Doug says, "Well, see you all around!" before he wanders off, the trio dancing to the next song as another Lyra takes his spot, Spike moving back to dance next to the three fillies.

Doug spots Lemon and Meringue at the Pin the Tail on the Pony station watching an intense match between Pinkie Pie and two Lyras. The unicorn wobbles back and forth, awkwardly holding on to the pin as she tries to locate the poster. She stumbles forward, listing one way and then the other, before pinning the tail just south of the pony's flank. Pinkie's two fillies give polite hoofstomps as the second Lyra takes a pin.

Lyra pushes up against Doug's hand, resting her side against his flank, "So, those were some pretty cool moves back at the dance floor. Good endurance, too; kept it up for quite a while."

Doug looks at the pony pressed up against his side, smiling and rubbing her withers, "Thanks; lot of that comes from practicing with Applejack."

Lyra winks, "I can imagine, she's a tough one; you want to see how long I can hold out against you?"

Doug shrugs, "Sure, Amethyst; double check with Rarity first, though, I thought I saw her around here somewhere."

Amethyst Star pouts, "Aww, what gave it away? Not that I wanted to get Lyra in trouble, of course."

"Your voice. Don't worry, the paint is still holding up great." Doug looks over the unicorn's mane and coat, trying to find any hints of purple underneath the green paint. "I guess they haven't broken out the Bon-Bon paint yet?"

Amethyst Star shakes her head, "Don't think so, it's just been Lyra so far. Anyway, I'll double check with Rarity about that massage, and if you can check the more, um, hard to reach spots too I'd appreciate that. I'll bring my extra paint."

"Sure, I think Pinkie's got a room set up in the back; look for the one with the drop cloths. If there isn't a table I can grab one from somewhere else."

"Sure thing. See you in a couple minutes!" Amethyst Star walks away, looking for Rarity - the mare keeps a list of which ponies have gotten massages, though for some reason she only charges the ones that are already in a herd. Not that Doug cares too much; giving the massages is just as relaxing for him as for the mares. And the two stallions, but he told Big Mac and Bulk Biceps that he wouldn't mention them.

Doug spots Rainbow Dash, the pegasus hovering above a group of enraptured fillies. Doug walks over, able to hear Rainbow's story as he gets closer; the fillies begin to look terrified as Rainbow continues, "And so, Nightmare Moon took over the body of Princess Luna! And she went around, terrorizing the little ponies by making them relive their worst nightmares! Because she could tell, just by looking at you, the scariest thing that you had ever seen! The things so scary, that-"

Applejack moves over, hushing Rainbow, "Come on, now, RD, we're supposed to be telling stories about Princess Luna, not Nightmare Moon. Save those for Nightmare Night!"

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Fine, fine. Okay, who wants to hear a story about Celestia and Luna learning about magic together?" The fillies look much happier at that suggestion, smiling and moving in closer.

Rarity moves up to Doug, nudging his shoulder. Doug turns as she walks away, following her; Rarity says, "Alright, two sessions, three minutes with Pinkie and five with Amethyst." She moves in closer, whispering, "No funny business; there are foals still awake." Doug rolls his eyes as they continue to the side room, many splotches of paint dotting the cloth covers. Pinkie Pie is sitting on the table, Amethyst Star lounging on one of the relatively clean chairs.

Doug flexes his fingers, "Alright, Pinkie, ready?" Pinkie Pie nods, Doug starting to massage her hind legs.

Three minutes later and the puddle of pink pony pops back up, reforming to a normal earth pony shape. Doug shakes his head, a smile on his face, as she pronks out of the room. A slightly worried Amethyst Star asks, "Um, is that normal?"

Doug shrugs, "For Pinkie. Let me know if this is too much, or you want me to focus on anything."

Five minutes later and a much more relaxed Amethyst Star barely stumbles out of the room, her eyes having difficulty focusing. Doug follows behind, wiping some green paint off his fingers; the mare only needed a little touch up between her hind legs, the stuff already on her being surprisingly resistant to touch. Probably needs some special soap they take a bath with in order to get it off, once it has set; at least the newly applied paint on his fingers is wiping away easily enough. Why she is overplaying the effects of the massage, though, he has no idea.

Applejack greets him as he walks down the hallway, "Doug, might want to think about taking the fillies home. Some of them are getting pretty tired, and Ah'd hate for you to have to carry all of them."

"Sure thing. All eight?"

"Nah, the trio is doing pretty well." Applejack frowns, "Still have to keep them away from the real sugary treats though, hate for them to crash this early in the party. Need help rounding them up?"

"Sure. Meet you at the front door." A quick kiss and ear scratch later and the two split up, quickly rounding up the sleepy fillies.

Doug waves goodbye to the various ponies as he makes his way outside, though only Rarity is ambitious enough to go for a kiss. Pinkie Pie seems disappointed he won't try to make it back, merely telling him to watch out for opening doors. He leads the sleepy train of fillies back to the Apple farmhouse, a straighter route than the one he took to get there.

Only for Meringue to spot another poorly concealed red button.

1 Storm on the Horizon

January 1st, 997 Domina Solaria

Doug abruptly wakes up, barely able to make out the Apple bedroom in the pre-dawn light. He reflexively pulls his legs towards his chest, suffering a strange duality - his legs are cold while his upper body is sweating. One of his arms, the one trapped under Rainbow Dash, is hot, his mare gripping the limb and snuggling against it in her sleep. The other, the one wrapped around Applejack, feels comfortable as it holds his lead mare as she rests on top of him. Two of his other mares, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, are next to him, fast asleep and cuddled close.

Does smiles, relaxing against the sheets, but flinches slightly; something had woken him up. His ear perks as he hears the clop of hooves near the bathroom; he bends forward, Applejack slightly shifting against him, as he tries to spot the pony up and about; it better not be one of the trio, out of bed this early in the morning. He smiles as he recognizes Fluttershy, the heavily pregnant mare slowly making her way back to the bed, trying to stay as quiet as she can without flying. She gently puts one hoof at a time on the mattress, the bed creaking as she takes the spot next to Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare shifts, Doug taking the opportunity to slide his arm out from Rainbow's grasp. The pegasus stirs, pawing around before she flips over and finds Fluttershy. Rainbow settles down, a smile on her muzzle as she drifts back to sleep.

The mare above him, however, flicks an ear and slowly opens her eyes, looking first at Rainbow and Fluttershy before noticing that the human underneath her is awake. Doug mouths, 'I need to go to the bathroom' and nods his head towards the door. Applejack nods, slowly backing up, her hind hooves thumping against the floor as she leads the way.

Applejack waits outside, though is a little surprised when Doug doesn't return to the bed. Instead, he makes his way outside the room, heading to the foals room. Applejack follows behind, a whispered, "Can't sleep?" as he closes the door behind them.

Doug shrugs, "Well, Celestia's light show was pretty great, especially the new explosions, but I'm just not that tired. Not yet, anyway."

Applejack flicks her tail against his bare flank, "Well, we'll just have to do a better job of wearing you out, then."

Doug winks at Applejack as he opens the door, "Going to join me and Rainbow for a run?" Applejack smiles back as their eyes go to the open window; Rainbow's weather team had a late night, clearing away the clouds that, during the day, dumped nearly a foot of snow on Ponyville and the surrounding areas. The rest of the weather team got the first half of today off to compensate, though Rainbow still needs to get up early to make sure that the sky stays nice and clear; the Everfree does tend to wreck their carefully laid plans.

In fact, it looks like one of those storms is brewing, but hopefully it can wait until later; maybe this year Rainbow won't need to wake up the on-call pegasi. Doug moves over to the bunk beds they have set up; two of them are empty, the last one containing their three oldest fillies. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are cuddled together, the chilly air eliciting a shiver from the two non-pegasi. Applejack takes the blanket, likely kicked off by Scootaloo, and places it over the two cold fillies, tucking it in to keep it from being tossed off again.

The two move over to the last bed, seeing Applebaum and Lemon sleeping. The year old earth pony foals - Applejack's second and Pinkie Pie's first - are both snuggling with their blankets. Applejack nuzzles Doug's side, the human bending over to move his head next to hers. "Ah want another one," she whispers in his ear, moving her muzzle next to him. Their kiss is interrupted as Lemon starts crying, a loud wailing that immediately wakes her sister. Applebaum begins crying, a bit more irritated than anything else as the trio stirs.

"Not this again," moans Scootaloo, trying to find a pillow to cover her head with, "This is like, the fifth day in a row!"

"Sorry girls, she's going through the same stuff you all did," Doug says; Applejack finds a pillow to toss to Scootaloo as he picks the foals up, "Teeth growing, tiny stomachs that won't get her through the night."

"Ugh..." comes the muffled reply, the foals still wailing as Doug and Applejack head to the kitchen. Applejack pulls out a jar of applesauce, hoofing the full bowl over as Doug tries to entertain the foals in the interim. Applebaum reaches for the bowl; Applejack watches closely as Doug first offers the bowl to Lemon, the foal sniffing at the contents. She seems interested at first, but when she goes to take a bite she changes her mind, trying to knock the contents out of Doug's hands.

This tactic had only fooled Doug the first three times, the human steadily growing wiser to her ways, as he quickly takes the bowl away from her. He passes it to Applebaum, the brown foal greedily digging in. Lemon starts wailing again, flailing her tiny legs in every direction as Applejack pulls out a parcel of hay, some carrots, a cucumber, a cupcake, and a loaf of sugary bread. She passes the bread to Doug, who tears a chunk off, removing and eating the hard crust while breaking the doughy inside into manageable pieces. He passes one to Lemon, who takes the piece, peers closely at it, then pops it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

"You want more icing on those, don't you?" Doug asks; the yellow foal drops the second piece of bread, nodding eagerly. "Well, I'm sorry, but we don't eat lots of sugar for breakfast. You'll have to finish your breakfast, then you can get a treat." Lemon whines, looking at the plate of hay and cucumbers that Applejack has prepared. Doug shrugs, "Or, you can go hungry." He refills Applebaum's bowl of applesauce, the foal noisily slurping down the rest while Lemon stares at her food, trying to decide if eating the non-sugary food goes against everything she stands for.

Doug leans over to Applejack as Lemon continues poking at her food, "You sure about that?" he asks, smiling as he caresses her mane. Applejack scoots her chair over, leaning next to her stallion and yawning.

"Eeyup, Sugarcube, Ah've never been surer." Applejack settles into Doug's chest, his arm helping keep her upright.

Doug pulls out Pinkie Pie's cupcakes, placing it on the table. Lemon looks at it, slowly licking her lips as she starts to climb onto the table. Doug shakes his head, "No, Lemon, that's your treat, if you finish the rest of your food." Lemon pouts before starting to eat her greens, perking up a little at the taste.

A loud 'thonk' comes from the master bedroom, Applejack looks up at Doug, the two tilting their heads towards the unexpected noise. A few seconds later the sound of three hooves on wood comes as Rainbow walks through the doorway, one hoof on her muzzle. Applejack raises an eyebrow; Rainbow rolls her eyes, a garbled, "Fluttershy doesn't like getting cuddly when she's pregnant, apparently."

"She doesn't seem to mind it when it's me," Doug says, motioning for Rainbow to come closer. The mare rolls her eyes, moving forward and taking her hoof off. Doug inspects her, but there doesn't seem to be any damage. He smirks, "So, you want me to kiss it and make it all better?"

"No." Rainbow shifts from side to side, glancing at Applejack and the foals. "Maybe." Doug rolls his eyes and motions with an arm, the pegasus climbing into his lap with a smile. One arm continues scratching Applejack's ears while the other wraps around Rainbow, pulling her in close, the chair groaning under the weight of the three.

Applebaum finishes her applesauce, starting to whine again while looking at her dam with pleading eyes. Applejack smiles at her foal, hopping down from her seat to grab a bit of hay and placing it in front of Applebaum. The foal smiles, starting to dig in while Lemon whines about Applebaum getting something that she doesn't have, mostly because she already ate hers.

Rainbow leans in to Doug, sharing a brief kiss as they watch Applejack calm the two foals down. "So," Doug says, "Did the doctors say when you could have another?"

Rainbow shrugs, "Um, not for another year. At least. And, to be honest, I don't know if I want to go through all this again. At least, not yet; maybe when I retire from the Wonderbolts."

Doug nods, "Yeah; hopefully they don't keep you for too long, love." He pulls her in close, both hands rubbing her sides as she sighs.

"Yeah, there will probably be some hotshot filly that outraces me, you know, once I'm out of my prime. But that's still, like, ten, twelve years down the road." Rainbow glances outside, sighing at the dark storms she can see brewing out over the Everfree. "Hey, Doug, wanna go for a run? I'll need to fly off for a little, when we get close, check to see how long those clouds will take to get here. I'd hate to ruin everypony's new year with a snowstorm. Or worse, a snownado."

"Sure. You ponies have the weirdest weather. So, you think you'll need Clear Skies?"

Rainbow shakes her head, "Not to check out the storm, and it's Open Skies."

"Oh? What's wrong with Clear Skies?"

"Made a deal, took the day off. Must have known stormy weather would show up."

"Oh, is she new? I feel like I've heard the name before, but I can't place it."

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "No, dude, you're thinking of Stormy Flare."

"Oh, right. Then you'll be working with?"

"Open Skies."

"And you'll make sure that there are?"

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Open skies."

Doug goes to say something else as Applejack thunks her head on the table, "Will you two take your weather chatter outside? Ah'm too tired to try to keep track of this."

Doug shrugs as he walks to the door, grabbing his snow pants, vest, and boots, "Sure thing, AJ." The two look at the snow covering the ground, the fence line barely visible. "Well, probably going to only do one lap around."

Rainbow nods, looking back at the Everfree, "Well, the storm clouds don't look too bad, at least from here. Probably only need one pegasus to help, if something does need to be done. The two of us should be able to handle it, if it's early on. After lunch, we'll have the whole team, and it'll be easy."

Doug eyes Rainbow's wings as he stretches, "Sounds like your magic is progressing pretty well, then. Tried doing some more difficult cloud busting yet?"

"Yup! So, you know I started testing myself, trying normal cloud busting about two months ago." She does a few stretches of her own, posing a little while winking at Doug, but ends with a frown, "Can't go full speed while I do it, and it's easier if I stop and buck 'em, but I should be able to handle my end of the storm with ease, if we're just trying to stall it. I... ugh, I don't think I could handle busting an Everfree storm though, not yet."

"Hey, you'll get there; just remember not to overdo it." Doug ruffles her mane as he starts shuffling along the fence line, the pegasus merrily chasing after him. Doug finds himself quickly tiring from the increased workload of trying to stomp down a path while keeping a good pace. About a quarter of the way through Rainbow flies up above the treeline of the Everfree, a couple laps back and forth as she inspects the growing storm. Doug continues trudging through the snow for a few minutes before Rainbow flies next to him, dropping down behind him.

"Well, looks like it won't do anything until about eleven. A little early for some ponies, but it shouldn't be too bad." Rainbow's stomach starts grumbling as she frowns, "Yeah, they'll probably complain about missing lunch too."

"Well, maybe I'll whip something up for you and the rest of the herd once we get back." Rainbow flies up, giving her stallion a quick nuzzle; Doug returns it but balks a little as Rainbow tries to climb onto his back. She hooks her hind legs around his waist, flapping her wings to help push her chest against his back. Doug rolls his eyes as she squirms against his coat, his pace slowing down considerably, "Did somepony not get enough cuddling last night?"

Rainbow snorts behind him, pawing at the coat and saying, "I still don't know why you insist on cuddling me so much, dude. I mean, I like it and all, and it's fine in the herd, but I get worried that other ponies will notice and think that, I dunno, I'm not as awesome because I like the cuddles."

Doug shifts, trying to get Rainbow to ride higher on his back, the mare continuing to push her hooves against his coat, trying to get underneath. He finally says, "Off, for a second." Rainbow loosens her grip, releasing her legs from around him. Doug strips his coat off, tying it around his waist, and motions for Rainbow to return. She eagerly does as he replies, "I don't know if I have a good answer for the second part, except that if you really want I can try to refrain from that while we're in public."

Rainbow sighs, "Nah, dude, it's fine. I like it, and I'll just have to be more awesome to compensate, right?"

"You do that, Rainbow; keep being you." Doug winks as he wraps Rainbow's forelegs around his bare chest, "And I'll keep loving you the best way that I know. For you, that's physical touch."

Rainbow cocks her head, which had been resting against Doug's shoulder, "Really?"

"Really. You love cuddling with me, as much as you might like to act otherwise when we aren't alone. You're the first to jump in my lap, or wrestle, or to try to get ear scratches when we don't go in herd order." Doug stretches an arm back, Rainbow eagerly tilting her head so he can reach her ear.

"Huh. I mean, I noticed that, but you're physical with each of us. You're not saying that, say, Fluttershy likes the touch as much as me?" Rainbow rubs her muzzle with a hoof, then rubs her muzzle against Doug's neck.

Doug flinches a little at the ticklish spot, "Well, not as much as you, certainly, but each of you appreciates the contact to a certain extent. And it's how I feel love the most intimately, and it's also how I show love the most easily, the most readily. For Fluttershy, it is words of affirmation; she deeply, fundamentally cares about what other ponies say and think about her. So it can be very hard on her when she hears something negative; I try to say positive things about her and keep my mouth shut on the negatives. Or at least find a very careful way of bringing it up, so that she doesn't see it as an attack on her."

Rainbow slowly nods, "That sounds... I mean, that sounds like Fluttershy, but some of the things she does are just so... infuriating! Like how fast she wants to fly. I know she can do better, fly faster, but she just shuts down when I try to push her. Why does she care so much about the words, why can't she see past it?"

Doug shrugs, "Unfortunately, it's the way she is. And you can't really change that about a pony. Or, at least, your attempts to will end poorly. Instead, you'll have to make a choice. Is it worth risking your relationship with Fluttershy to try to get her to do better? Because you'll need to find a way to get her to see what you think is a problem as a problem without her taking it personally, and trust me, that is a difficult thing to do."

Rainbow lets out a heavy sigh, "Yeah, it can be easier to just... ignore the issue. But I know that doesn't work out well, either."

"Nope, it's a hard problem to solve. Just have to keep at it, remember to take into account her feelings when you are saying something."

"Ugh... Fine. Whatever. I'll try not to insult her directly. So, what do you do with Applejack?"

"Applejack loves doing things together. It's part of why I continue to work with her on the farm, even if I'm not that suited for it; it lets us spend a lot more time doing stuff together. And as a break from weather scheduling, which gets a little routine."

"Yeah, I can see that, she does love competing and whatnot, activities. How about Rarity?"

"So, it's similar to Applejack, but Rarity really likes it when I do things for her. Helping around the store, taking care of Sweetie Belle, going with her on digging trips. And she shows her love for others by doing things for them, often by creating articles of clothing or accessories or those frou-frou things you don't care for."

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Eh... Yeah. I don't know about that. So, let's see, what about Pinkie Pie?"

"You could probably guess, but Pinkie Pie loves gifts."

"Well, duh." At Doug's silence she says, "Wait, is that seriously it? Gift giving is a way to show love?"

Doug nods, "And it's the way of expressing love that I have the hardest time with. That and words; you can say just about anything to me, and it doesn't impact my character, my self image. We're very similar in that regard, we don't get insulted, instead focusing on how we can improve. But, for Pinkie Pie, I have a hard time coming up with things to give to her, partially because she has very few unmet needs."

Rainbow winks, "So, you just gave her a foal then?"

Doug ruffles Rainbow's mane, the mare smiling at the contact, "Heh, I guess I did. And I do my best to make her feel appreciated in other ways, and accept all of her gifts and parties as best I can. That's been a tough one, for sure."

"Yeah, she does throw some pretty awesome parties. And you figured this out about us pretty quickly, huh." Rainbow glances back, sighing at how the Everfree storm is lighting up, lightning coursing through the towering clouds.

"I suppose I did; it can be obvious, if you know to look for it. I read it in a book, Five Love Languages or something like that. And it's pretty clear if you understand that people, or ponies, generally give love in the way that they want to receive love. Kind of like how you like to wrestle with Fluttershy, especially in the bedroom. She, honestly, doesn't appreciate it very much but is deeply afraid of insulting you by telling you to stop. If you want to make her happy, try complimenting her, telling how good a job she is doing and how much I'm enjoying her actions. If you want her to join in, being physical, you need to especially focus those compliments when she is joining in and being physical herself."

"Huh. I guess I can give that a shot. I suppose we really do show love like that, 'cause Fluttershy is always complimenting me on what I'm doing. So, uh, you got a view on any of the foals yet?"

"Hmm, not as well. Guess we'll have to figure that out as they get older."

Rainbow snuggles next to Doug, smiling and resting her eyes as the two get closer to the farmhouse.

9 The Queen's Sacrifice

March 5th, 997

Queen Chrysalis strides out of her hive, looking up at the noon day sun. No sense in scheduling a meeting someplace else, and having to fortify two locations. Two of her changelings failed to report back their receipt of Operation Cough. The integrator in Ponyville had instead sent a message, informing her not of the receipt of the plan but that she, and any other changeling with foal, would be 'encouraged' to stay out of the fight and in their current location no matter how the meeting went. Thus, her hive's location is likely compromised already. The rest acknowledged her plan, and she has a few tricks laid. If it comes to that; though who knows how many of her traps Celestia found out.

The sun directly overhead is shining brightly. Too brightly. Not for spring. The dry heat is already hotter than the Badlands summer. Queen Chrysalis sneers; a show of force already? Who does she think she is trying to intimidate? Though, if the sun princess is that low on cards that she is already playing one, Queen Chrysalis may not escape this unscathed. Nor her hive.

Should she send her forces away now? Order them to disperse, flee the coming firestorm? She mentally shakes her head; she doesn't want to appear weak and unsure in front of her forces, not that any would desert her. But, they would merely have nowhere to run, not in time. Not when Daybreaker could turn the sand of the Badlands to glass at no repercussions to her precious little ponies.

No, she will need to lead with her hardest hitters. Immediate threats against random ponies. The threat against the 'innocents' would be expected, and would taint their entire meeting, but must be done. Celestia already knows the card is in the game, and has already been played.

Queen Chrysalis utters a brief prayer to Faust as she spots, out of the corner of her eye, a shadow growing larger. Not two feet away from her, directly in front. She glances up, the blazing sun making it hard to look straight up, but there are no clouds in the sky. Only one being that would attempt such theatricality. Well, a being that isn't a statue, that is.

Queen Chrysalis stares straight ahead as Sol Invictus silently descends in front of her. The alicorn is naked, not even adorned with her golden peytral or horseshoes. Her mane and tail are completely pink, her horn shining a brilliant orange as she descends, wings fully extended and immobile. Celestia lands, a small cloud of dust scattering from her bare hooves as she stares at Queen Chrysalis.

The two leaders stand for long seconds, silently regarding the other. Celestia has a stern look, eyes slowly blinking as she looks at the face that has caused so much destruction in other lands. Queen Chrysalis stares back, her face slowly turning to a smirk, relishing the heat from the Dawn Blazer's glare.

Celestia breaks the silence first, "Queen Chrysalis, I have better things to do than engaging in a contest of wills with you."

"Please. I know you value nothing more than the lives of your little ponies."

Celestia stares back for several seconds before giving a slow nod, "Then you also know the lengths I am willing to go to protect them. Especially from creatures such as yourself."

Queen Chrysalis holds a hoof to her chest, "From creatures like me? Surely you jest, Celestia; why would I harm such a verdant and vibrant land?" She holds her hoof out, the desolate wasteland of the Badlands spreading for miles in all directions.

"Do not take me for a foal, Queen Chrysalis. My demands are simple: you and your kind will leave Equestria. You will harm no ponies, you will take nothing that is not yours, and you will never return. I do not wish to eradicate your kind, but you leave me little choice."

A high pitched laugh comes from Queen Chrysalis, "And my demands are simple as well: your total surrender. Don't worry, Princess, I will take good care of your little ponies. Just a sample of love here, a nibble there, nothing too draining."

"If that is all you have to offer, then I will be on my way. I have until moonrise to restrain all of your kind, do I not?" Celestia looks up, regarding the sun, "I suppose that means I have as long as I need." She turns, bending her legs as if to jump away, the heat against Chrysalis' chitin becoming uncomfortable.

Queen Chrysalis stomps a hoof, "You are bluffing. You do not know of all of my infiltrators, you are not able to capture them in time, and you do not wish for your little ponies to bear the consequences of your failure."

"And were I not?" Celestia asks, turning back, eyeing Queen Chrysalis with a steely gaze. "They are prepared to accept the worst that you can bring, if it means getting rid of you. And I will ensure that it is nothing."

"I am shocked you have so little faith in your little ponies, Celestia, that you take it solely upon yourself to defend them." Queen Chrysalis shakes her head as she feels the sweltering heat around her increasing again; a few of her forces glance nervously at each other, their wings trying to form a breeze, something to cool them down. Queen Chrysalis gives a mockingly forced frown and pitiful gaze at Celestia, "Were it not for you, your precious little ponies would be defenseless and weak, not just from me but from all Equus!"

"My little ponies are better than you give them credit, Queen Chrysalis." The Sun Tyrant raises to her full height, staring down on Queen Chrysalis. Her horn flares as heat radiates, scorching the sand she is standing on. "Even without me they would succeed against you."

Queen Chrysalis lets out a loud laugh, piercing guffaws that continue for several seconds. She relents, spotting Celestia's glare, "Oh, you are serious?" She lets out another snicker, "You truly believe in them?"

Celestia nods, her face neutral.

"Then, I propose a wager. The rules are simple, Celestia," Queen Chrysalis states, mind whirring as she fabricates her plan, "I will attempt to infiltrate and capture, hmm, one town or city. My choice of when and where."

"And why should I agree to such a wager?"

"Because, Celestia, if I am able to do such to one town, I can do it to every city. If your precious ponies are unable to stop me once, then how will the next go any differently? When I have more changelings under my control, and a city full of hostages, and nothing has changed on your side of things? Besides, of course, the panic and destruction that your side inflicts on itself. It would be catastrophic, and that is without me even lifting a hoof. Merely the threat of one's neighbors, ponies they have known for years, the possibility that they could be changelings. And that will certainly happen if you do not agree to this. This little wager will save you from all that."

Celestia raises one eyebrow, the air around them starting to cool, "Well, what you are proposing hardly seems like a good test of my little ponies. The town must be larger than, say, Ponyville. When you start your infiltration, you must give one weeks' warning of the invasion."

"Then I have your permission to forcibly imprison one pony, of my choice; interrogate them in order to impersonate them, taking their place for the week. And you are not to inform anypony, and by that I mean any creature, of our deal or the coming attack. Anypony who already knows of our existence is to be put under a similar restriction. You will use none of your, granted, prodigious abilities to oppose me; should a confrontation be required by circumstance, you will throw the fight."

"The pony that you impersonate is not to be harmed, save for the capturing and the restraints you place on them."

Queen Chrysalis smirks, "Naturally."

Celestia adds, "And, should the pony you choose to impersonate break free, they are free to oppose you to the full extent of their abilities."

Queen Chrysalis laughs, "Oh, are you so afraid I would impersonate you, Celestia? I'm not nearly that conceited; plus, you have already agreed to not impede me."

"And after you give your one weeks notice of the impending attack, my guards will be ordered to capture, not kill; your drones will be under a similar restriction. Any breach will be regarded as intentional."

The queen's eyes roll, "Of course."

Celestia pauses before gazing at Queen Chrysalis, "Very well. And the stakes?"

Queen Chrysalis ponders for a few seconds, "Should I win, then I join you as ruler of Equestria. I integrate my changelings into every herd; they passively draw love from the ponies around them, and within reason are able to actively draw more; of course, no more than what would permanently injure one of your ponies. My kind never goes hungry again!"

"And I suppose I would serve you?"

Queen Chrysalis smirks, "Well, a queen is greater than a princess, is she not?"

Celestia rolls her eyes, "And then?"

"Hmm. I suppose, after Equestria is fully saturated with changelings, I will move to subjugate the neighboring lands. Then, I don't know, whatever you wish, I suppose. We rule the land together, bringing harmony to everyling and everypony?"

Celestia snorts, "And, what if my little ponies win?"

"Hmm; if my disguise is noticed, and I am exposed, and the invasion halted, then you win, and I and my changelings will leave Equestria, never to return."

"On one condition; any changeling who wishes to stay, may; they are given clemency, they will no longer be under your rule, and you will not hunt them down. Those with foal must stay until the foal is born, then may make their choice; if they choose to leave, the foal stays. Even you, Queen Chrysalis, may stay, but under my command and following my orders."

Queen Chrysalis laughs, "You seriously think any of my changelings would take such an offer?" She motions behind her with a hoof, a sea of stony faces staring back, "My changelings are loyal to me and only to me."

"If you say. Anything else you wish to add?"

"Let's see; a third outcome. If I am able to capture anypony who finds out, and I hold them until the week is up without alerting the general populace; that is, until the invasion commences and is halted. Or, if I am discovered, but the invasion proceeds and I successfully take the city. One or the other, of the two conditions. If I only succeed at one, then you allow me and my changelings to remain in Equestria, gathering the minimum love my hive needs to survive, at the number at the start of the invasion. You do not expose any of my infiltrators, and should any be exposed later on you suppress the knowledge to the general population and allow the changeling to return to my hive."

"And then?"

"Then... then we meet again, to determine where to go from there. Whether it is a peaceful exit, or integration, or another scenario."

"Very well. You have a deal, Queen Chrysalis. I expect you to hold to the spirit of your end of the bargain, and none of my ponies are to be injured. Well, more than is necessary, I suppose. You are allowed to draw enough love for five hundred changelings. Including yourself."

"You dare insult me? Two thousand changelings."

"Six gross, and no more, Queen Chrysalis. Do not push your good fortune."

Queen Chrysalis stands up straight. "Do not think I will just allow such an insult to my honor, Celestia."

Celestia turns, a smile flickering over her face, "Oh, it was no insult; I just hope my mail carriers are up to the task. Dusk tonight, correct? I would hate for one missed letter to bring your whole plan crashing down. Or would it be burning up?" She puts a hoof to her chin, "Hmm, I suppose it is all the same in the end. Unless you would like me to deliver the letters for you." Princess Celestia glances upwards, "I suppose it could take an extra long time for the day to end." She glances down as an image of the sun rapidly ticks towards the horizon, "Or an abruptly short amount."

Queen Chrysalis glares at the alicorn before motioning to one of her changelings. She comes over, carrying a stack of letters already addressed and stamped, the edges curling under the heat. Celestia takes them with a nod to the changeling, then to Queen Chrysalis. As she suspected; just P.O. boxes, likely dead drops, under a false name. Worth a shot.

The light around them returns to normal, the sun still just after noon, "Oh, Queen Chrysalis, one other thing. We will need an arbiter, a neutral party of sorts to referee, if you will. They will be given the authority to determine who wins on each of your two conditions, and determine if a breach has occurred and the penalties."

"Well, I am not picking one of your little ponies." Queen Chrysalis pauses as she considers, "And I do not think you would allow one of my changelings that spot." A smile slowly creeps over her face, "I know just the creature. And, I believe, so do you. He got us into this mess, after all."

"Doug Apple?" At Queen Chrysalis' nod, Celestia nods, "Agreed." Celestia blinks out of existence, leaving Queen Chrysalis breathing a sigh of relief as the temperature rapidly drops. A cool spring breeze blows by, a rarity out in the Badlands.