The sound of shrill screaming stirs me awake with a start. I don't know who is screaming or why, but whatever the reason is may indicate that I, too, am in danger.

As my head starts to clear, I recognize the fact that it is actually not one, but two pairs of screaming. Very familiar screaming, too. This is none other than Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, my fellow Cutie Mark sisters.

“What? What? What is it?” I ask in a disoriented way as I quickly look around the clubhouse. That alone strikes me as odd. Shouldn't I have woken up in my bed at home instead? How did I get here?

And, more importantly, what threat is out there that startles my club sisters so much?

Since I see no immediate and dire threat in the room itself, like the clubhouse being on fire, I look at my fellow Crusaders instead to see where they are looking at. When I do so, horror sinks into me when I notice them looking at me.

Then I look at myself for an explanation, in particular my forelegs. Doing so reminds me how they are all black right now and full of holes like a certain kind of cheese I know.

“Oh,” I lament in realization.

Pony feathers, this should be a dream too. I'm not supposed to be a changeling. Least of all an evil changeling in particular. I really did wake up from a nightmare related to this issue, but this whole problem should have ended there.

I know who I am. I am a unicorn. I am a pony! I am the baby sister. This shouldn't be happening to me!

What did I do to deserve this?

I cringe tightly away from my club sisters’ rejection. I also pull the oval rug carpet on the ground around me tightly as if to use it as a shield to protect me.

My actions must have caught my club sisters off-guard because they quickly cease screaming as soon as I do that. They expected to see a creature like me try to attack and terrorize them, not cringe in fear and pain.

Apple Bloom asks, “Huh?”

Scootaloo reflects a second later, “Huh?”

“Don't look at me!” I wail at my club sisters. “I'm hideous right now.”

“But . . . who are you, and what are you doing in our clubhouse?” Scootaloo asks in confusion. “Do you have an appointment with us?”

I start crying.

“An' where in thah apples is Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom asks with confusion mixed with concern. “She should be here bah now. She's always thah one who's keepin' our schedule fer us.”

“I'm Sweetie Belle!” I wail at my club sisters desperately while still cringing tightly within the rolled-up rug. “It's me! I swear it's me! I know I don't look or sound like my old self right now, but I really am Sweetie Belle!”

“What?!” Scootaloo asks with strong skepticism. “You're pulling my legs. If you wanted to impersonate one of our dearest friends, I'd think a changeling, of all creatures, could do a better job than this.”

“But I was changed into a changeling last night!” I continue to wail at them desperately. “I've never been a changeling before. I don't know how to change.”

“Um . . . why don't ya start from the beginning,” Apple Bloom encourages. “Cuz, right now, ya got us more confused than a monkey doing math problems.”

“Wait a second,” Scootaloo cautious her apple-farming friend. “Do you really think there is any credibility to any of this? Why are we even listening to him when we should be alerting the town authorities?”

“I'm not a 'him'!” I insist hotly. “I'm a girl and a filly. I am Sweetie Belle.”

“Could have fooled me,” Scootaloo rejects skeptically.

“Hush, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom discourages. “Let's just hear 'im out an' . . . or 'er out?” A moment passes, then Apple Bloom resumes. “Ah'm so confused, so let's juz 'ear out our guest.

“Okay, um . . . Sweetie Belle . . . start from the beginning.”

“The beginning?” I echo as I privately wonder where that is. “Well, um . . . the only thing you really need to know is this all started after I left the clubhouse and waited for Button on my first date. Oh, and . . . he didn't show up, by the way.”

“What? Why wouldn't he show up?” Scootaloo wonders then seems to wonder a second later why she even asked if she isn't fully convinced that I am really Sweetie Belle.

“That's what I wanted to know, so I headed over to his house to check on him when he seemingly stood me up. At his house, I knocked on the door, but it was only his mom that answered the door. She explained to me that Button was sick.”

“Huh.” I notice Apple Bloom looking up as the little filly thought back. “Come tah think of it, he was absent yesterday.”

“Oh yeah!” Scootaloo also recalls.

“I asked Cream Heart if there was anything I could do to help because, as you know, I like helping. It is the Crusadery thing to do,” I continue to explain. My club sisters nod in agreement with this statement. “In turn, she asked me to go to the library in Starlight's Castle to see if there were any books on home remedies to help Button recover faster.”

“Really?” Apple Bloom wonders. “If all this was true, ya should have come over to ma place. Granny Smith is chock-full of good ol' advice on recipes to cure whatever ails ya.”

“Well,” I shrug, “I suppose I should have thought of it, but there isn't as much of a reason for Cream Heart to think of it,” I somewhat explain.

“Eh . . . true,” Apple Bloom accepts with a neutral shrug.

“Well, anyway,” I continue, “so after I stopped by Button's place and got the request, I did indeed go to Starlight's Castle and check out two books that . . . Oh! Shoot. I think my saddlebags and the books are still at the castle.”

I notice my club sisters look at and nod at each other because the information I just gave is something they could later verify.

“Um, well, before I left the castle, Starlight happened to spot me and request for me to follow her. She said she was surprised I was up so late but still wanted me to do her a favor. I said sure and followed her. In turn, she led me to the Friendship Cutie Map and said she was trying an experiment to not just get it to work again, but to get it to work in a more specific way. She was trying a spell to see if she could summon the image of anypony's cutie mark on the map at will, regardless if that pony has a friendship problem or not.”

“Can she really do that?” Scootaloo asks with curiosity and minor alarm.

“She claimed she already got it to work, but it required somepony who knows and is connected to the subject we're seeking,” I answer. “Starlight wanted to see if I could do it too. That way she'd know if anypony could be called into that room and concentrate on whomever they are seeking. If it worked, we could use the map to find anypony that's missing.”

“Sounds useful,” Apple Bloom realizes. “It also very much sounds like a Starlight Glimmer project.” She looks off to her side. “Come tah think of it, it sounds like something Sunburst would think of as well.”

“Exactly!” I cheerfully agree. “Starlight told me that she and Sunburst came up with the idea together.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glance at then simultaneously nod at each other because each filly knows that is yet another fact they could later verify.

“So what went wrong?” Scootaloo asks as she looks back at me. “I'm not saying I believe you yet, but I can see the pattern of where this story seems to be going.”

“I don't know,” I admit sadly. “I don't think Starlight knows either. She really didn't expect this result. She was convinced that the procedure would be very safe, else she wouldn't have requested a filly like me to participate.”

I notice Scootaloo wince when I referred to myself by the label of “filly”. Considering what I look and sound like, I can understand her reaction but it still wounds me inside because it makes me feel so wrong and hideous. It is also a painful reminder of the wrong circumstances I now find myself trapped in.

“That sounds right,” Apple Bloom agrees. “Ah really don't think she'd invite ya into this experiment if she thought it was dangerous for ya. She's ain’t the kind of pony who'd willing endanger an innocent filly.”

“So . . . you believe me?” I ask Apple Bloom with desperate hope in my eyes and voice.

Scootaloo also regards Apple Bloom to see if her club sister does believe me.

Apple Bloom is silent for a long while as she continues to carefully regard me. During that time, I feel myself inwardly panic. What if she doesn't believe me? What will I do next? Where will I go? Will she call the authorities on me? Will I be arrested? Will I spend the rest of my life in jail while trapped in the body of an evil changeling?

I feel like so much is hinging on her faith in me right now. It makes me feel so nervous.

Eventually Apple Bloom's expression brightens as she declares, “Ya know what, Sweetie Belle? I do believe you.”

“Really?!” I ask brightly.

“Really?” Scootaloo echoes skeptically. “How can you say that? This is obviously not Sweetie Belle.”

Apple Bloom looks at Scootaloo as she says, “Y'all know magical mishaps happen within this town on oh'cassion. We've seen that plenty of times in our life. Her story ain't that far-fetched if ya think about it.

“Plus, look deep into her eyes, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom encourages. Scootaloo does so. “We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We're more connected tah each other than jus' about any other pony Ah know. If this really is Sweetie Belle, ya should be able to feel it.”

Scootaloo winces a bit at Apple Bloom as if admitting that she's afraid to cooperate with that request, but she does eventually do it. I meet her gaze with intense worry and hope in my eyes. My vision even blurs a bit as tears rise in them. I so desperately long for her to believe me and am worried that she will not.

In time Scootaloo closes her eyes and turns her head away with a sigh, then says, “You're right, Apple Bloom. When I look deep into her eyes, I can't convince myself that I'm looking at anypony other than Sweetie Belle. Her spirit shines through those eyes as brightly as I have ever seen despite her new current appearance.”

“Really?!” I ask as brightly as I did for Apple Bloom a moment ago. “So you believe me too?”

“Yeah.” Scootaloo grins as she looks back at me. “I suppose I do.”

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” I ecstatically exclaim as I rush forward and seize them both into a hug.

“Hey! No hugging!” Scootaloo complains. “You know I don't like mushy stuff.”

“And ya know that Sweetie Belle does,” Apple Bloom reminds Scootaloo poignantly. “This is exactly what the real Sweetie Belle would do in this situation.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo accepts. “I suppose. Also, if all of this is true, I'm sure she'd need this right now.”

“That's right!” I fiercely agree. “You two are my club sisters. You're a part of me. We got our cutie marks and share our destiny together. If either of you two didn't believe me . . . well, I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“Well, ya have us now,” Apple Bloom announces encouragingly as she lightly pushes me back so that we can face each other again. “So it's time to do what we Crusaders do best. How can we help, Sweetie Belle?”

I sit back down as I look down in defeat as I admit, “Right now . . . I'm not sure. There's so much on my plate right now. I look like an evil changeling so I might get arrested on the streets. Mom and Dad might scream and chase me out of my house with a levitated broom. I didn't know where else to go other than here. Starlight doesn't seem to think I'm Sweetie Belle either, though I'm surprised she didn't try to stop me.”

I look up at my club sisters with horror as something else occurs to me.

“Or she couldn't stop me!” I exclaim fearfully. “What if I'm not the only one hurt by that experiment?

“And, come to think of it, there is another potential problem. Just before I changed, I was cooperating with Starlight by concentrating on somepony I cared about. At that particular moment, I thought of and concentrated on Button Mash.”

Scootaloo looks taken aback in an offended way as she asks, “What? Why didn't you concentrate on one of us?”

“Because I couldn't choose either one of you over the other,” I answer immediately, “and Starlight requested me to focus on only one pony during that experiment. She wanted to simplify the experiment and see if that worked before moving on to more complex layers of her tests. Also, at that particular moment, I was concerned for Button Mash after learning he was sick. Despite how interesting I found Starlight's experiment, I was still anxious to get a move on and get those remedy books to Button's mother.”

Scootaloo thinks about what I said for a moment then nods to herself before saying, “Okay. I guess that makes sense. For you, at least.”

I lift a black, hole-filled hoof to signal for their attention because what I'm about to say next is really important. When I do seem to secure their attention, I go on to announce, “The thing is . . . the experiment worked at first but it had an unexpected twist. Button Mash's cutie mark did show up on the map but, when strange greenish light started to envelop me, Button Mash's cutie mark also lifted above the table. I heard him cry out my name in a horrified tone before his cutie mark shrank back and returned to the table, only this time it relocated somewhere in the Everfree Forest!” I finish with dramatic horror to my tone.

I notice both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom look at each other with alarm then pass that same expression to me.

I nod as I say, “I'm not just worried about myself or Starlight right now, I'm also concerned for Button Mash. What if something happened to him as well? What if he's in trouble?”

“Then that's what we need to find out,” Scootaloo decides. She looks at Apple Bloom. “So here's what I'm thinking. Ride with me in the wagon behind my scooter and I'll take you near Button Mash's place and drop you off there. While you check on him, I'll continue my way to check on Starlight and see if she's okay. While I'm at it, I might as well explain the situation to the best of my knowledge and get her on our side. After all, there is no other pony in town more likely to help us fix this situation other than Starlight. She's the greatest magic caster I know that still lives in town.”

“Agreed,” Apple Bloom declares with a confident nod. “That sounds like a plan.”

Scootaloo looks at the door to their clubhouse as she adds, “We should also post a sign on our front door to inform everypony that today's meetings are canceled due to an unexpected emergency.”

“And what should I do?” I ask anxiously. “I want to help.”

Scootaloo hesitates in answering as she gives me a discerning look before saying, “Right now the best thing you can do is stay here and keep your head low until we clear up the situation with everypony else. We don't want to start any confusion or panic so, until we explain the situation to them, it's probably best you hide here.”

I frown as I look down, but I concede, “Okay. If you think that's best.”

Apple Bloom looks at Scootaloo as she says to her, “Whichever one of us finishes our task first should return to the clubhouse as soon as possible just in case Sweetie Belle gets spotted. If that happens, one of us should be 'ere and vouch for 'er.”

Scootaloo nods as she says in a tone of strong agreement, “Good idea.”

Apple Bloom then regards me for a second before stepping forward to embrace me in a hug. Once again, I find myself heavily appreciating this.

“Don't ya worry, Sweetie Belle. Your club sisters are on the job, and if there's one thing we do really well, it's helping other ponies,” she reassures.

I sniff before saying very gratefully, “Thank you. Thank you both.”

“Hey! We're still Cutie Mark Crusaders. This is what we do,” Scootaloo announces cheerfully.

Then, on a whim, she starts singing one of our club themes in an attempt to cheer me up.

“We're the toughest little ponies in towwwwwn.

Got the moves, got the mojo . . . no harder working ponies around.”

At that point, Scootaloo pauses as she waits for the rest of us to join her. During that time she flashes us an encouraging smile.

I smile back at her gratefully. This moment feels more significant because I remember a time when Apple Bloom and I started singing that song to pick up Scootaloo's mood when she was feeling down. Now, appropriately enough, she's using that same tactic to cheer me up in return.

Aside from that, both of my club sisters know I love to sing. There aren't many other strategies that would be more effective at picking up my mood other than that.

So we pick up the next few lines together but with a little hesitation on my part.

“We are a trio, work as a teaaaaaaaam

We'll be the first ponies out on the flaaaaaaaaag-waaaaaaaaving sceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeene.

“We get going when the going gets tough

We know our very best is just ne-ver enough

We're kinda short, but so whaaaaaaaaat? We don't get defeated

We could take a little break, but we don't need it

“We've got hearts . . . as strong as hor-ses

“We've got hearts . . . as strong as hor-ses

“We've got hearts . . . as strong as hor-ses

We've got hearrrrrr-arrrrrrrr-arrrrrrrrrrrts . . . hearts strong as hor-seeeeeeeeeeeeeees!”

While not the full lyrics, we're unable to continue because we laugh playfully together as we all collapse onto the floor.

Then, after that, I look teary-eyed at my club sisters as I'm given another glowing reminder of how and why I love them so much.

And I do feel so much better now that I know I got my club sisters to watch my back. Together, we can do anything . . . for we do have hearts as strong as horses.

Author's Note

Finally some good news for our innocent little protagonist, and of course it would come from her fellow Crusaders. Her best friends in the world.

When I look at the CMC and examine who they are, I come to the conclusion that few would know or feel Sweetie's spirit better than them.

That's important to build the foundation for later chapters, for Sweetie is initially overwhelmed and she needs allies. This gives her a place to start, and her instincts naturally drew her to the true core of her strength. With the Light of Friendship building her path, hope is restored. That's a start.