Rarity leaned out from behind her sewing machine to peer at the clock. She smiled a bit and then hopped up from it, finishing up what she was working on and then trotted off toward the door, putting on one of the fanciest hats she could find before going toward Ponyville’s train station to meet up with an intern that she’d decided to take on as part of a mentorship program. Wanting to make sure to dress properly for the occasion, she picked out the nicest, fanciest summer dress she could possibly find and complimented that up with a rather nice hat.
"Oh, this is going to be fantastic!" She commented as she got close to the station, "My first intern in Ponyville at the original Carousel Boutique that started it all, ahhh!" She pranced in place once she got onto the platform, "I'm so excited!" She cheered, making a few travelers give her strange looks while the locals who knew the excitable, fashion-oriented unicorn simply smiled and waved at her. Rarity's bright grin only escalated once the telltale whistle of the train sounded off in the distance and she watched it pull into the station. It was then she realized something, a rather important detail that had slipped her mind in the excitement.
"Oh my stars...I have no idea what this intern even looks like." She thought, blinking as all the passengers began disembarking from off the last train of the day. Rarity kept her crystal blue eyes open as she looked about for anyone that looked like they were a fashion expert of any kind. Most of them were earth ponies with the occasional unicorn and pegasus exiting from the train cars, none of which appeared at all to be the one she was looking for. However, her gaze was focused immediately as a green-eyed, maroon-colored changeling stepped off the train, looking around with a black and white scarf wrapped around his neck, Rarity taking note of it given how the monochrome colors stood out from his more colorful carapace. He appeared to look around the station for a short time before he locked eyes on the white unicorn and walked over to her.
“Are you Miss Rarity?” He asked, tilting his head.
“I am.” She slowly nodded.
“That’s great!” He suddenly said, stepping forward and pulling the mare into a hug, of which Rarity squirmed in slightly, “When I got a chance to learn and work with not only a great heroine of Equestria but also one of the foremost fashionistas to boot!” He smiled, finally releasing the thoroughly shocked pony.
“Why...why thank you.” Rarity said, catching her breath and recovering from the unexpected hug the insect-like creature had just given her (her being more used to sudden hugs from a certain pink pony she regularly interacted with.)
“You’re welcome!” He said, still smiling bright, “Oh, but my manners are atrocious. I’m Zabrin.” The changeling stepped back and offered a hoof to her, which Rarity returned in kind.
"Nice to meet you, Zabrin." She responded, "And...well, you already know I am." She giggled, "Well, now that we've gotten the salutations out of the way, shall I lead you to where you'll be staying?"
"Yes! I'm quite excited to see the hub of fashion knowledge in all of Equestria: the original Carousel Boutique!" He pranced happily in place while he walked next to her.
"I was thinking the exact same thing!" Rarity did the same as the two walked. As they passed by a couple other ponies in town, though, the unicorn couldn't help but notice a pair of ponies seem to double take and then whisper to one another and it didn't take her long to reason just who it was their gossip was about. She scrunched up her nose and glared in their direction, making the two suddenly break eye contact and then keep walking.
"It's alright, Miss Rarity." Zabrin said with a little smile, "I'm used to it and it doesn't vex me too much."
"Still! It is absolutely rude of them to look at you like that with suspicion, especially in the town where the Princess of Friendship resides," Rarity huffed, "Just...if anypony gives you trouble, let me know."
"As you wish." Zabrin chuckled as Rarity led him into the boutique and then up the stairs.
"So, this is where you'll be staying. The guest room is just in this room here," she opened up the door, "Don't mind the wall paper, I haven't had time to dedicate to actually redoing it."
"It's quite...glittery." The insectoid pony commented as he walked through the room, setting his bag down.
"My youngest sister's idea." Rarity tittered, walking inside with him, "When she was, well, quite young. Truth be told, you'll be the first to stay here besides her in quite a while. Oh! The kitchen is absolutely available to you, take whatever you'd like...except for the mocha espresso mix in the purple container."
"Your specific fuel needs? I understand." Zabrin said as he took the scarf off, placing it on the nightstand.
"Wonderful, if there's anything else that you would require, please don't hesitate to ask." Rarity smiled, "You will be treated as much like a guest as possible. I would assume that you'd like to get some rest before we get started?"
"As excited as I am, it was a rather long journey and I could use some time for sheep counting." He chuckled, turning his head and looking out the window as a small flock of sheep wandered by, making the changeling tilt his head.
"Perfectly reasonable. We'll get started after the two of us get our beauty rest."
"Certainly! Because the best beauties-"
"-are the ones that are the most well-rested!" They both said at the same time, bumping their hooves together and giggling.
"With that, I should let you rest. See you bright and early in the morning, Zabrin." Rarity smiled as she turned to leave the room.
"Hopefully not too early." He laughed.
"Fashion waits for nopony!" She retorted in a sing-song tone before trotting over to her bedroom.
***
Rarity opened her eyes and crawled out of her bed later that night. She heard a noise downstairs and wasn't sure exactly what it was and decided to start going down to investigate.
"Zabrin? Is that you?" She asked, thinking the changeling may have been having some difficulty finding something in the boutique. Upon descending, though, her eyes widened. In the middle of her living room was a pony laying on their side, with another figure above them pinning them to the ground. She noticed that the pony's bright pink coat seemed to have lost its luster and was slowly becoming more saturated as she gasped and twitched. The other figure rose up after a short time, slowly turning its head around to peer at her. Her whole body froze as she saw its face.
Its carapace was black as the night outside, with a mouth that dripped with menacing saliva and contained sharp teeth with very large fangs.
A changeling.
But not one of the ones that had decided to share their love among the rest of their kind. No, this was one of the terrifying ones that preyed on the love of other creatures and were seemingly capable of fully draining a creature to satisfy their need. Rarity started backing away as it had its sights set on her, her horror increasing the moment it came more into the light and she got a full view of its purple mane and blue, iris-less eyes...that perfectly matched her own even its trim figure and cutie mark looked the same.
She rapidly tried to think of an escape plan, finding her flank bumping into a back wall and making her yelp.
And then scream as it unfolded its wings, hissing as it lunged forward at her.
***
Rarity opened her eyes and looked around her bedroom before finally pulling her sleep mask off her face to actually see. She had fallen out of bed and now lay on her floor. It was morning and her panicked breathing finally subsided as she realized she was no longer in danger.
“Just a bad dream...just a bad dream.” She thought, slowly untangling herself from her blanket and rising up. She closed her eyes once more to take another calming breath and then left her bedroom, slowly making her way down to the kitchen. As she turned the corner, she stopped in place as she saw Zabrin standing in the kitchen and making a cup of coffee, eyes widening at the sight of the changeling.
“Good morning, Miss Rarity.” He said, turning over to look at her with a smile, “Did you sleep well?” He asked her. The fashionista, however, was paralyzed as she stared at him, barely even registering his question. Every instinct firing off in her brain was screaming at her to flee the room, but her common sense fought back by saying that she was still coming down from the adrenaline high caused by her dream and that Zabrin was not a threat to her.
“Besides, it looked like me. Changeling me, not me me. You are safe. You are fine.” She thought.
“Miss Rarity? Is everything okay?” Zabrin’s voice came, making her come back to her senses as she looked at him, forcing a smile.
“I’m alright...just had a bit of a rough night. Didn’t sleep fantastically at all, unfortunately.” She shook her head.
“Oh, that’s a relief. I mean, not that you slept poorly, I was concerned I accidentally used your coffee without thinking.” He chuckled.
“No no, you didn’t. Just still trying to get myself out of this stupor I’m in.” She said with a bit of a laugh, “Um...Zabrin, would you like to go get some breakfast? There’s a little cafe nearby called the Oats and Boats. My treat as a way to welcome you into town."
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Zabrin smiled, "I'm eager to get a taste of what Ponyville's cuisine is like." He said, giving a big toothy grin that was enough to make Rarity wince and slowly nod her head.
"Yes...yes indeed. I'll go pretty myself up, let you finish your coffee and then we'll go. After that, though, it is imperative we begin the lessons."
“Absolutely.” He nodded, determination fully present in his eyes, “But for now, breakfast sounds delightful!” He declared, putting his scarf on and nodding, “Let’s go!”
***
“Streamers? On a dress?” Zabrin asked, each of them chatting as they got closer to Ponyville’s marketplace “Truly?”
“Oh, it is indeed true.” Rarity laughed, “At the time, I thought that all five of them were the ugliest dresses that I’d ever made, but looking back on it I’m actually quite glad for the xperience as it led me to creating six of the most amazing dresses I feel I’ve ever made.” The fashionista chuckled, “Despite the event that I actually made them for being a complete and total disaster, but that is sometimes how the seam breaks.” She added in, the two turning a corner and heading on a path toward the cafe.
“That is one of my goals. I want to make clothes for VIPs all across the world.” He said, bringing one of his hooves up and waving it in front of himself, “But...one obviously has to start somewhere when it comes to becoming known, which is why I am here.”
“I got my start by making costumes for the Ponyville school play when I was a young filly. While I’m sure you’ve done some work since you were a...erm...what do you call a young changeling?” Rarity said, trepidation in her voice.
“Grub or larva works.” he answered, “It’s funny you should say that, my first ever creation is actually-” As the pair of clothing connoisseurs approached the cafe, Zabrin found himself unable to finish his sentence as they both had to step aside to make way for a pair of armored unicorns that galloped by them, “Oh my...what in the world was that about?”
“I don’t know.” Rarity’s expression turned more serious as she cantered to follow them, Zabrin trailing close behind. As they rounded the corner and went further into the marketplace, the two of them found that a crowd had seemingly gathered in front of a small house just behind a flower stand. The two got closer, trying to see over as one of the unicorns stood guard outside as the other one went inside. Eventually, a pair of ponies in doctor’s uniforms exited the house carrying another pony out on a stretcher. Rarity looked closer, seeing a green mane and a cutie mark of a pair of white flowers and recognized her as Daisy, one of three ponies that ran flower stands. As she kept looking at her, though, she noticed that the pink of the earth pony’s coat was more muted than how the unicorn had remembered it. In fact, the bright and vibrant green that her hair normally possessed even looked like it had become much more saturated. Almost as if…
“Something was drained out of her…” Rarity thought, her blood running completely cold as she remembered the dream from last night: the eyes of that changeling that looked like her, the shape of that pony laying on the floor, and the fangs that the being had right before it struck at her.
“...is gone...ss Rarity?” A voice got her attention as she looked over at Zabrin, who had a concerned look on his face, “Miss Rarity? Are you okay?”
“Just...a bit surprised is all. What were you saying?” She asked.
“That pony that they took away...it looks like she had the love completely sucked from her being.” He said, his own demeanor matching her own serious one, "Not many creatures can do that except for changelings." He said, the statement sticking within her mind heavily as her mind rapid-fire thought of every terrible possibility that could possibly be happening right now. Her eyes shrunk down slightly as her eyes scanned the entire crowd of ponies, some of which she’d known for quite a while, trying in vain to see if there were any of them that appeared to be acting strange and out of character, nothing standing out to her as she began breathing heavily before her gaze locked itself on Zabrin.
“It couldn’t...no. There’s no way it could be him. Could it?” She thought. From what she’d heard from Twilight and the others, there were a few changelings that still rejected the idea of sharing their individual love and wished to prey upon others instead. Rare as they were, her panic was now certainly settling in with thinking that Zabrin’s arrival in Ponyville and what happened to Daisy were in no way a coincidence. Pangs of guilt, however, struck her as she soon felt entirely hypocritical as she was acting just like the ponies that she’d wanted to chastise yesterday for looking at him with such distrust. She then steeled herself and turned over to Zabrin, but before she could ask or say anything, he was already walking over to the remaining guard standing next to the house. The unicorn turned to look at the newcomer approaching him as Zabin nodded to him.
“Greetings, officer. Might I ask some questions about the incident?” He said, a serious but cordial expression on his face. The guard’s eyes flitted about, unsure of how to respond to somepony just walking up to him but he eventually spoke up once Rarity also came up next to Zabrin.
“Uh...sure. You’re with the Element of Generosity.” He said, “Victim was found this morning at around 8:03 AM, no signs of forced entry which suggests the victim either knew the attacker or they were coerced into letting the attacker inside.”
“8:03, coerced…” Zabrin glanced away and nodded, before turning back to the guard, “Do you have any suspects?”
“Not yet, but given the nature of the victim’s status, there’s potential for anypony around here to be one.” The guard stated, looking over at Rarity, “We’ll actually be going to deliver all the information we have to Princess Twilight. Hopefully she can help shed some light on what’s going on.”
“Yes...hopefully.” Rarity added.
"Good. I'd like to help out with the investigation if you'd allow me." Zabrin said.
"Any experts we can get would be nice. We'll be in town as extra security for the time being. Just come by here if you find anything." The guard replied nodding to his partner as they returned from seeing the medical ponies off. After that, Zabrin and Rarity turned and started going back to the boutique, any thoughts of getting breakfast at the cafe now behind them she no longer had much of an appetite and was positive he didn’t either.
"Do you moonlight as an investigator at home?" Rarity asked him.
"On occasion. Truth be told, I'm actually more high on mystery novels and the inspiration from them." He said, looking around at the town, “I helped solve a few issues back home, but nothing as major as this.” Zabrin shook his head, still looking about, apparently in deep thought.
“What is he thinking about?” She wondered, looking over as the once friendly changeling now fully appeared to be looking around at each and every pony that wandered by the two of them, positive that gears were turning in his head and possibilities swimming about. Whatever he was thinking about, there was pasion there.
Passion that she swore that she could almost taste.
Literally.
She shook her head and refocused on figuring out what the two of them were going to do for the rest of the day.
“Hmmm...when we get back, perhaps we should start out with creating something simple. Maybe some bathrobes?” She asked.
“Hm?” Zabrin glanced over, apparently his attention elsewhere as they approached Rarity’s home/shop, “Oh. Yes, the actual reason I’m here.” He nodded, forcing a smile as the two hooved creatures entered.
***
The rest of the day was...unconventional to say the least. Rarity did her best when it came to explaining everything that she wanted to convey and Zabrin did the same with his learning. Everything about it, though, just felt slightly off, very by-the-numbers. He was certainly receptive to her teaching and was highly respectful, though he seemed quite distracted, like his heart wasn’t entirely within it. While many instructors would feel concerned or even offended by the attitude the changeling was giving off, Rarity knew full well how he was feeling and also admitted to herself she too was not all-in either.
“Seeing Daisy like that...I don’t know what to think or how to respond. Everything just seems so empty, like I feel like I’m losing any desire to want to do fashion things! This is what I do, what I love! Why is this happening right now?” Rarity’s thoughts were interrupted as she let out a yelp as she stuck herself with a needle while knitting one of the cuffs onto a rather fancy robe she worked on.
“Miss Rarity!” Zabrin looked up from his own work, setting his tools and materials down before rushing over to the unicorn, “Are you alright?” He asked, deeply concerned.
“Zabrin, darling, please.” Rarity smiled, temporarily ceasing her own work and using a nearby bottle of antiseptic liquid to clean the puncture wound before putting a small bandage over it, “I do this much more often than you would think. Nopony is perfect.” She laughed, “Not even me. Your worry is certainly appreciated, however. Thank you.”
“You are welcome.” He nodded and slowly walked back over to the other side of the table the two were working on, “I’m just worried about this town. The morning’s events are still fresh in my mind.” He sighed, taking a seat and looking down at his somewhat sub-par looking robe, groaning and planting his head down on the soft cotton, “And it’s obviously affecting my ability to work…”
“Well, I would certainly be lying if I were to say my concentration was not affected either. Seeing something like that happen to anypony is quite frightening.” She said, glancing behind her at the clock, “Perhaps we should call the exercises early today and try and get started a bit earlier tomorrow.”
“That would be for the best.” Zabrin replied, looking outside one of the windows, “Hmm...I’m going to actually go to the hospital and see if-Daisy?”
“Daisy, yes.” Rarity nodded.
“-Daisy’s condition has changed at all.” He said, finishing his statement, “After that, I may actually go talk with those guards and see if there’s anything else they’ve discovered and how I can help.” Rarity started to say something but then slowly nodded her head.
“Stay safe. Please.” She said, receiving an acknowledging nod in return before he exited, the bell ringing as the door shut behind him. Once Zabrin was out of sight, Rarity stared at the bathrobe lying across from her before glancing back at her own. She wasn’t sure at all how to actually finish up what she was working on, leaving it there and then walking up the stairs to her room.
“Between this morning and that horrible, awful dream last night, I’m completely out of sorts.” She thought, seeing flashes of the changeling creature that resembled her before continuing to her bedroom. As she entered, she looked over at the nearby catbed, a white head with a purple bow popping up with a slight mew before a pair of paws stretched out and a toothy, fangy mouth yawned, “Hello, Opal.” She smiled as she walked over to the white cat. Opalescence stood up and started walking over to Rarity, only to suddenly stop. The normally loving (to Rarity anyway) cat suddenly arched her back as her tail and the fur on her back puffed up, moving sideways in an effort to try and get away from the pony, “O-opal? What’s the matter?” She asked, concerned about her pet’s sudden aggression and fear. She tried to take a step forward, eliciting a growl, which quickly turned into a swipe and a hiss as Opal ran to the other side of the room, hiding behind the armoire in the back. Rarity could only stare in shock at the situation, the stress of everything finally making her react physically as her stomach suddenly felt like it did a flip inside of her. She gulped and quickly dashed off to the bathroom, leaning over her sink and closing her eyes to try and concentrate on feeling better, “Don’t throw up, don’t throw up, don’t throw up, don’t throw up.” Thankfully, the horrible churning in her belly quickly went away as she opened her eyes, both of her hooves resting on the sights of the white, porcelain sink. When she took a glance down, though, she noticed that her white coat had turned into one that was much more like a dull, dark grey. She gasped at the sight and stepped back, feeling her whole body as instead of finding fur to rub her hooves into, she felt something much harder, sort of like she had armor on her body but instead it was her. The sensation of her hooves touching it made her think back to yesterday when she got a hug from Zabrin as well as when she’d hugged King Thorax and the young student Ocellus.
“It can’t be…” She said in a weak tone, slowly craning her head up to look into the large mirror just above the sink, making her blood run cold at the sight.
The being staring back at her in the mirror was unmistakably the pony Rarity, possessing a curly purple mane and tail. What changed, however, was everything else. A dark, chitinous armor replaced the white coat, the bright blue eyes were now huge, rounded orbs that possessed no irises and a huge pair of oversized white incisors jutted out from the reflection’s muzzle. She turned to the side, also noticing a small pair of wings had appeared at the sides as well.
She wanted to scream, just like she had in the dream last night.
Instead, the revelation of what was happening no instead held her in place with utter shock, unable to let any kind of rational thought out.
She was not herself.
She was a changeling.
***
"Narrowing down the suspects is going to prove difficult…" Twilight Sparkle said as she walked around a large board with information on it about the recent changeling-related attack in Ponyville...which she remembered to now classify as attacks given three more ponies had now been hospitalized under the same conditions. The Royal Guard ponies from earlier had intended to announce that a curfew was needed in order to protect the rest of Ponyville...or at least attempt to minimize any further attacks. The Princess of Friendship sighed as she sat down in one of the library chairs, setting a mug of coffee down as she pulled out a book to begin doing research. Before she could, though, the door to her library opened and grabbed her attention instead. Twilight turned to look, seeing a cloaked figure come in, though she recognized the cloak’s design as Rarity’s, “Oh, good morning, Rarity.”
“Hello…” The shrouded unicorn kept her voice low as she hesitantly approached the table in the middle. Puzzled, Twilight walked closer, making the cloaked figure stop in place.
“Is everything okay?” The alicorn asked, tilting her head. While her purple-maned friend had certainly experienced meltdowns of drama before that led to her donning a cloak to hide her appearance, something about this particular time felt off, almost like she was doing whatever she could to hide herself, not just her appearance.
“Twilight...we’ve been friends for a while, right?” She asked, “So...you know who I am? What I am?”
“Of course I do.” Twilight said in a deeply comforting tone, walking closer, only for the unicorn to turn her head away, “Rarity, what’s wrong?” Silence flowed about Friendship Castle’s library for a short time before the figure finally pulled her hood back to reveal the changes that she’d experienced last night. While Twilight was at first taken aback by the appearance, her shock rapidly turned to concern, “What happened?”
“I don’t know. It started when I had a dream two nights ago where I saw a pony, it was Daisy, being attacked by a creature that looked exactly like how I do right now. I don’t know...what if I was the one that attacked her? Attacked all those ponies around town?” She shivered, “I just can’t bear the thought of it that I was responsible for hurting anypony in town, especially you, Spike or any of the other girls.” She rambled, sitting on the floor and covering her face with her hooves, doing her best to not hyperventilate at all. She stopped temporarily when Twilight’s hoof gently came up and wrapped around her shoulder, making her freeze for a moment and then peer up at the princess, who had a warm, friendly smile.
“We’ll figure something out, Rarity. I promise you that.” She said, “Here.” She floated the coffee over to her friend, who slowly took it into her hooves and started sipping from it, “Now, when you’re ready, tell me everything that you’ve noticed, experienced, and felt so far. Don’t leave a single detail out.” Twilight took out her characteristic notepad. The cloaked changeling took some time to get her composure while drinking the coffee before telling the alicorn about everything that occurred over the past couple days from Zabrin arriving to her dream to them witnessing Daisy being carried off to the revelation that she had experienced the previous evening. All the while, the purple princess took down notes but mostly kept her focus on her friend. Near the end of the recap, though, the former fashionista’s eyes began to well up with tears and she eventually broke and started to sob. Twilight immediately set it down and stepped forward, pulling her into a hug and gently rubbing her chitinous back.
“I don’t know who I am anymore…” She wept. Before Twilight could say anything to respond, the doors to the library opened up as metal clanking could be heard throughout the crystalline chamber. A cloak was immediately pulled up to hide and the princess stood up to greet the pegasus as they galloped inside.
“Princess, urgent news!” He said, sliding to a stop, “The ponies that were attacked woke up...but they immediately left the hospital all at the same time, refusing to seek any other help. We then noticed that they all headed off toward the Everfree Forest. We’re preparing to investigate now.”
“Thank you for the information. I’ll get my friends together and we’ll prepare to leave. Rarity, would you-” Twilight turned around, looking around for her friend only to notice her ducking out on the other side of the room and rushing off.
***
She ran through the Everfree, having dropped her cloak now to make it easier to move. She didn’t dare try using the wings yet for fear of running herself into a tree, though. While she may have been a changeling, she was a new changeling and didn’t know fully of what she was capable of.
“Especially if I’m not even fully in control of myself.” She thought, glancing down to keep eyes on the hoof tracks that went further into the mysterious magical forest. After a short time of following them, she stopped at a small clearing with several smaller trees about. The changeling stopped, ducking behind some rocks as she observed the ponies. Daisy was the main one that she recognized from the group, although there was something off about her coat...like it was starting to turn darker and blacker. Before she could think of anything, though, she found herself interrupted.
“Well well. Looks like we have an unexpected guest.” A voice came from behind her as the purple-maned mare suddenly found herself picked up in a magical field and vaulted forward, rolling on the grass and coming to a stop in front of the ponies. Each of them turned toward her, totally blank expressions across their faces as they stared down at her. As she groaned, her side aching from the impact of hitting the grass, the tailor turned her head behind her to lock eyes with her attacker as the tall, green-eyed changeling approached, immediately unmistakable as Queen Chrysalis.
“Y-you?! How can it be-”
“After I was humiliated by my own subjects betraying me, I hid myself, biding my time until I was able to finally strike back.” She hissed, “But to do that, I need subjects to serve me, and what better sources than the ponies in the town those accursed Elements of Harmony reside in?” She smirked, her fangs shining in the limited light of the forest.
"What are you talking about? And what does this have to do with me?" The blue-eyed bug asked as she got up to her hooves.
“Soon, their transformations will be complete. All I had to do was just put a little of my own love into them, weave some magic and now they’re under my control.” Chrysalis hummed, walking up behind a stallion and rubbing her holey hoof across his chest before scoffing, “As for you...Rarity, was it? Well, I needed somecreature to take the blame for what was going on and corrupting you to do so would be the perfect icing on the cake to clinch my vengeance." The words hit her like a train, the blue-eyed, purple-maned changeling unsure of what to think of this revelation, "Of course, I need to rethink the entire process now thanks to this one." She seethed, her horn glimmering with sickly green magic once more as Chrysalis pulled the bruised and beaten form of Zabrin from a nearby tree, tossing him like an old potato sack onto the ground nearby.
"Uggh...Miss Rarity." He groaned to his stunned mentor, "My apologies, but I apparently found myself a bit more outmatched than I'd anticipated." He said, forcing a smile.
"Zabrin, darling...it's alright." She said, kneeling next to him and gently rubbing his back.
"Sharing love…" Chrysalis spit on the ground with a look of disgust, "What a horribly rancid thought. Back to matters at hoof, though, I'll need to leave here with my new, more loyal subjects before anycreature gets suspicious," the same evil grin cut across her face once more, "But before that...I need to make an example of what happens to my subjects that are disloyal." She said, ethereal fire beginning to burn and shape around her horn.
"Miss Rarity...whatever happens, just know this...you are you. It doesn't matter what you are, it is who you are…" Zabrin said, wincing from the pain.
"Who I am…" She...no...Rarity...thought, looking down at Zabrin before turning back to the changeling queen menacing them. Twilight's words ringed through her mind, echoing the same sentiments that she'd just heard. Her thoughts all turned to everycreature she knew, from the friends she knew she'd be inseparable from to her loving family that was always there for her to even the shopkeepers who always had good things to comment about her demeanor.
Her name was Rarity, the Element of Generosity. Changeling or unicorn, it didn't matter: she knew who she was and she was going to live her life the way that she wanted to.
"I think not." She said, defiantly standing up and igniting her horn. Bright blue magic shined from it as Rarity stamped a hoof into the grass as a burst of blinding light covered the whole area, forcing Chrysalis to step back and cover her eyes while the others simply closed theirs. Once everycreature's vision fully returned, they could all see Rarity's once darkened carapace now shined a vibrant pearl with purple accents across it. She glared, blue iris-less eyes narrowed directly at Chrysalis as her gossamer wings (now resembling a beautiful butterfly's) flared out from behind her.
"Of all the infernal…" The queen growled upon seeing Rarity's new form.
"You WILL NOT harm anycreature so long as I am here!" She said, her horn glowing bright. Chrysalis snarled and stamped her hoof into the ground, preparing herself to charge at the now purified hybrid before her. Before she could, though, her head snapped to the side as she heard shouting coming from where Rarity had emerged before along with the telltale sounds of clanking armor.
“Tch...you’ll eventually pay for this transgression. Until then, Element of Generosity…” She spit before opening her buzzing wings and rushing further off into the forest, blasting the ground with a spell of green flame to cover her escape. Once gone, Rarity looked over to see Twilight emerge from the heavy brush alongside Starlight Glimmer and a squad of Royal Guard soldiers.
“Rarity! There you are!” Twilight called out as she walked over while Starlight and the other guards examined the fire, quickly putting it out before it could spread.
“Twilight, I’m very glad to see you. Zabrin needs help as well as these ponies before they turn into Chrysalis’ slaves.” She said, matter-of-factly.
“Chrysalis? Somehow I’m not surprised.” The Princess rolled her eyes as she looked to the enthralled ponies, “I’ll get to work quickly.” She turned to them and waved one of the guards over, who trotted and kneeled down next to Zabrin.
“Thank you...for trusting me.” He said weakly as the unicorn began to work his magic to heal the changeling’s wounds.
“I just wish I’d trusted myself more.” Rarity said, looking at him, “You helped me to realize that and I’m thankful for that, darling.” She smiled warmly, looking down a little further, “Oh no...your scarf.” She lamented, pointing out the tattered and burned garment around Zabrin’s neck.
“It’s okay...it can be replaced. I just wish I’d worn a different one. This had some sentimental value.” He sighed, “‘twas the first piece of clothing I’d ever made.”
“Oh, darling…”
“It’s alright. Like I said, I can make another...besides, the cross stitch was far from perfect anyway.” He said, chuckling and causing Rarity to do the same. After a short time, Starlight wandered over to them.
“So, good news. Twilight is pretty sure that she can stop those other ponies from turning into changelings.” She said with a confident nod, though quickly ended up rubbing her head, “Erm...bad news is, though, Rarity, she’s not sure if she can turn you back just yet. You’re a little too...far along?” The unicorn said with an awkward shrug.
“It’s perfectly okay. I’m still who I am even though I look different.” She said, fluttering her wings and looking behind her, “Hmmm...plus I think I’m starting to get some ideas for an outfit to go along with these beautiful new additions. Sequins and glitter, anycreature?” She asked with a little smile as she turned and looked up at the morning sky, the confident aura Rarity radiated now fully restored.
