Pocket Change

Chrysalis

As expected, everything's going according to plan. Although, I'm getting less information than I would have liked.

"Given your knowledge on the properties of magic, I'm willing to bet that you girls aren't from this world, are you?"

Their eyes seemed to go wide at this, confirming my suspicion. To be honest, it wasn't just their knowledge, it was also what I saw through the tears in space: civilization, sapient creatures, another world...

"Relax, won't you? You have nothing to fear. My plans concerning this world are for the greater good after all."

The girls eyed me suspiciously. "Right, your plans...what exactly does it entail?" Adagio asked.

"Evolution of the human race," I stated proudly.

Their expression changed from that of suspicion to confusion. I clapped my hands, a projector in the room coming to life and displaying the schematics of my plan on a projection screen.

Adagio stood up, taking a few steps closer to the projector. "Adaptive evolutionary enhancement, C-cells, Precision guided munition? Y-you plan to mutate the entire world..."

"Not quite. The population ratio of changeling to human should be about 1 to 3 when all is said and done."

"Okay, we've heard enough about your master plan, but that still doesn't explain why you kidnapped my sisters. Spill it."

Well, she's quite forward.

"Yes, well, that was more so a communication error on my side with my children, and I'm terribly sorry for that. I only meant to invite the three of you with the hope of discovering more about magic. One more time, for reference, you're absolutely sure the girls you were competing against possessed magic?"

Sonata hummed agreeably, much to my delight. I've already confirmed the identities of the Rainbooms: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset Shimmer.

Now that I've gotten what I wanted, I no longer have any other need for these girls. I snapped my fingers calling Chimera to my side who had been sitting in the corner like a shamed dog.

"It would seem that I've occupied enough of you girl's precious time; my son will kindly escort you to the exit now."

"Yes, mother!"

Change/Chimera

"Follow me," I guided, somehow knowing where I was going.

I headed in the direction of the exit, the Dazzlings following closely behind me. I stopped in my tracts as I noticed the mycelium begin to stir. This development was soon proceeded by the sound of struggling. I whipped around, eyes widening at the sight of the mycelium forming pods around the Dazzlings.

"What the!?"

I rushed to Aria's pod, tearing away at the fungus, confused as to why it was trying to cocoon them. Unfortunately, the more I tore away at the newly forming pods, the faster they formed.

"Aria?! Aria!"

As the pod completely developed Aria, it soon began to fill with a familiar green liquid. While Aria fought tirelessly against her prison, her sisters hardly had any strength to. In just a few moments they were already unconscious and suspended in the green matrix. In time Aria succumbed to the same fate, leaving me confused and devastated.

"Leave them, dear," mother said from behind me.

"W-why?"

"They were no longer of any use to us and we couldn't simply let them go. No, that would simply have been too troublesome."

"They're my friends."

She remained silent for a bit. "Yes, I suppose they were," she said as she placed a hand on my shoulder, "fear not, they won't stay in such a state for long. Now come along dear, we have much to discuss."

I stayed fixated on the pods for a little while longer in disbelief. It was regrettable, yes, but mother must have her reasons, right? Even still, I don't like it. But what am I to do?

Reluctantly, I stood up and followed after her, looking back at the pods one last time, a tinge of guilt gripping my chest.

The Next Morning...

Rarity

It's been quite a chaotic night and things are only going to escalate from here. Luckily, things have seemed to die down for the while, allowing me to finally get some well-deserved rest.

Closing my eyes, I relaxed my muscles, laying down for the night.

"Ms. Rarity! Wake up, Ms. Rarity!"

I shot up out of bed to the sight of Petal rushing into my room and desperately tugging at my sheets. Good heavens, this girl nearly scared the life out of me.

"What seems to be the matter, darling?!"

"He's gone! Change is gone!"

My now racing heart somehow found itself able to beat faster at this. Throwing myself out of bed, I made my way into the hallway and down the staircase. Flipping all the lights on, I made my way over to the sofa Change should have been lying on. Trixie was still lying unconscious on the sofa, hooked up to one of Twilight's monitors.

Instead, all I was met with was the sight of an open human-sized cocoon, green viscous fluid pouring from it. My eyes followed a trail of footsteps making their way outside of the store and vanishing into a nearby alleyway.

Petal walked up beside me, pinching my nightgown. "Where did he go?"

I had no idea, but I had a feeling it didn't mean anything good. I should call the girls.

Hours Later...

We've searched for what felt like an eternity and still found nothing, even after Rainbow Dash cleared the entire city. Given no other leads, we opted to head to school.

"Sooo, are we still gonna raid that facility?" Rainbow Dash asked, breaking the silence.

"I already told you, it's not raiding, it's investigating," Twilight corrected.

Pinkie shrugged, "I don't see a difference."

Twilight sighed, sounding exhausted which prompted me to put a hand on her shoulder. "I just don't understand, it's like he vanished into thin air."

"What if he did?" Fluttershy suggested quietly.

Practically everyone ever so slightly grimaced at this, causing the poor girl to sink into her seat.

Rainbow Dash suddenly perked up, staring just beyond us toward the end of the lunchroom. "What...the?"

We all turned to look in the direction, all of us dropping our jaws in shock. Walking into the lunchroom without a care in the world was Change. But he looked...different somehow? I couldn't place what exactly it was though. We watched as he looked over the lunchroom, taking in the sight. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, I could have sworn he was talking to himself.

He continued scanning the room before stopping at our table, smiling, waving, and going to sit at an empty seat. He continued to talk to himself, sneaking glances at us every so often.

"Huh?!" Sunset exclaimed.

"Sunset, what is it dear?"

"There's another voice in his head."

Pinkie titled her head and cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Doesn't everyone have a voice in their head?"

An awkward silence passed over us until Applejack spoke up, "Maybe Pinkie has a point, he might just thinkin' or somethin'."

"No, that's not it. Typically, everyone's internal monologue sounds similar to their speaking voice, but this...this is different."

Twilight leaned forward a bit. "Different?"

"The voice isn't remotely similar to his, sounds evil, feminine, and won't stop talking about us. Wait," Sunset paused before turning to address me, "you said his name was Change, right?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then, who's Chimera?"

"I'm sorry, darling, I couldn't hear you. What was that?"

"Oh, nothing...it's just that...from reading his mind, Change's name doesn't seem to be Change, but at the same time, he's instructing himself to go by Change. It's weird."

That does seem weird and it doesn't exactly help his case with his sudden appearance and disappearance. I stood up from my seat. "I'll go talk to him."

The girls looked uneasy, Sunset going as far as to grab my hand before I took off. "Be careful, something doesn't feel right."

I nodded, to which I was released. As I made my way toward Change, he seemed to grow more alert. Without warning Change suddenly stood up, making his way out of the lunchroom. I turned back to face the girls, all of them standing up to approach me. I proceeded out of the lunchroom, expecting to see Change walking away down the long hallway. Only, I didn't.

It was as if he vanished into thin air.

Twilight was the first to come up behind me. "Which way did he go?"

"I'm not quite sure."

"I can still hear his thoughts, he couldn't have gone far," Sunset added.

"Let's split up, we'll cover more ground, and don't use your," Twilight attempted to urge before Rainbow Dash super sped away, "powers..."

Within a few seconds, Rainbow Dash found her way back to the group in a gust of wind. "What the heck? I looked everywhere, it's like he just up n' vanished!"

"That can't be possible. Although faint, I can still hear his thoughts," Sunset interjected.

The following ten minutes consisted of us turning the entire school upside down in pursuit of Change. I made the right move when choosing to stick with Sunset. For lack of a better term, I feel like I'm playing a game of hot and cold.

"He's close, I can feel it," Sunset whispered to me.

I nodded as I continued to silently follow. We stopped in front of a custodial closet, Sunset gripping the door apprehensively. Taking a deep breath, Sunset flung the door open to...an ordinary custodial closet.

"What? This doesn't make any sense, he should be right here!"

Sunset turned away from the doorway in frustration, but something inside the small space caught my eye. There were two mops in the closet, one of them leaning against the wall rather strangely. Unsure why, I leaned closer to examine it. After a few moments of intense inspection, I noticed the handle of the mop was wet. Yes, not the tassels themselves, the handle. Beads of water dripped down the handle.

Brushing the last attempt aside, I reached out to touch it, only for the mop to...evade my grasp. Odd. Chalking up to it just coincidentally being knocked off balance. Reaching out once more, I attempted to grab the mop, only to be avoided once again. That's definitely not right.

Again, I grabbed at the broom, but before it could move, I restricted it in my magic. That's when the broom became violently shaking, struggling against my magic.

"Uh, Sunset, dear, could you come over here for a second?" I called out from the closet.

Sunset trudged behind me, letting out an exhausted moan. "I'm here," she paused, placing a hand on my shoulder, "what the-what's up with that mop?"

Sunset's face suddenly lit up with an air of realization. "Hold him still."

Sunset placed the index and pointer finger of each hand to her temples, concentrating her magic on the mop. Without warning, the mop exploded from my magic, Sunset simultaneously crying out in pain as she held her head in her hands. In the span of a second, the mop flung itself past us, sprouting legs and running away down the hallway.

Intent on chasing after it, I stopped, leaning over to see if Sunset was okay. "I'm fine, go after him! Don't let him get away!" She exclaimed, standing up shakily.

Needing no further instruction, I took off after the mop. Still, it is rather inconvenient having to run.