Magic Disruption Apparatus Malfunction
They were in a valley running from a mysterious creature that was hunting them. The creature turned out to be a pegasus that quickly ran away after seeing that the guards were nearby.
After some brief hesitation, a guard approached her with a tennis ball. She placed that on her horn. Everything changed – Izzy began hearing countless voices in her head as if she was in the middle of a noisy room.
“Izzy, are you okay? What’s happening to you?” Sunny asked in a panicked voice.
“What do you mean?” Izzy asked. She tried to keep the panic out of her voice.
“Look at your legs. You turned black.”
Her legs were black and they had holes in them. “Give me back my sparkle!” Izzy said angrily.
The incessant chatter in her head didn’t help at all. Others were talking – she just couldn’t understand what they were saying yet she could tell the direction where it came from.
“It’s just a tennis ball,” the guard said in a frightened voice. “Don’t turn us into potted plants.”
They were afraid of her.
“You didn’t do anything?” Izzy asked in shock. “I don’t believe you.”
Sunny inspected the tennis ball – that’s all it was. “Can you fly?”
“I hear voices in my head and now I look like this. How do I turn back? What am I?” Izzy asked.
“What do you hear?”
“I can’t understand them, too many are talking all at once.”
“Try flying.”
Izzy flapped her wings – easily taking off into the sky.
“You’re coming with us!” The pegasus demanded.
Although, Izzy was out of their grasp while floating in the sky. It was her choice to or not to.
“Can you reverse this?” Izzy asked.
“Yes,” the pegasus said.
Izzy flew back down to join the pegasi. Sunny had a slew of questions for the pegasi that escorted them into Zephyr Heights while Izzy tried to focus on the present when there were thousands of voices in her head. It didn’t take them long to reach the queen. Izzy saw the queen and the two princesses flying into the room. One of the princesses was the pony they met earlier.
“Your highness, the shield did this to the unicorn.” The pegasus pointed to the black pony with insect wings and a horn. “Can you turn her back into a unicorn?”
“It will take time. Show them the guest suite,” Queen Haven said. “I’ll fix her after the celebration.”
“Can we join?”
“Pegasi only.”
The guards escorted them to a lavish room.
“Hey, I have to talk to you.” The pegasus they met earlier walked by.
“Your princess, your majestic highness,” Sunny said.
“Just call me Zipp. There’s no way my mother can turn you back – she can’t even fly. We all can’t.”
“How can I get some silence?” Izzy clutched her head. “They won’t shut up!” There were thousands of voices chattering non-stop in her head. It was beginning to drive her insane.
“What are they saying?”
“Too many are talking all at once. I can’t understand anything.”’
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Zipp asked.
They decided that waiting for Queen Haven to officially reveal that she couldn’t do anything was a waste of time so the three of them set off towards the south since that’s where the voices were coming from. Izzy could hear as if she was next to them while it was coming from really far away.
The three of them journeyed for over three days to reach the place in Izzy’s mind. Every passing day she became weary due to a lack of sleep. It wasn’t possible to sleep with so many ponies talking incessantly. There was nothing visible yet but Izzy felt they were close. They were in the middle of a forest without a single pony in sight.
“The voices are coming from below us,” Izzy said.
“I guess we find a nearby cave or something.”
Sunny instead opted to dig – dig right through. It didn’t take her long for her to fall into an underground city made of crystals. She screamed as she was falling – a black ponies just like Izzy caught her. They were taking her away.
“Sunny?” Izzy shouted. “Are you okay?”
“Why are you talking, princess?” a black pony asked.
“Princess?” Izzy said.
The ponies surrounded Zipp and they escorted them into the city. Izzy could hear chatter nearby but it was still incomprehensible.
“Why can I hear you talk in my head?”
the changeling said in her mind.
“That’s freaky,” Izzy said. She understood what the changeling said. Little by little, she was able to make sense of the noise in her mind. It was as if she was capable of eavesdropping on all of them. “What am I?”
“Changeling?”
“Where is my mother?” Izzy asked.
“Sunny? What are you doing here?” Argyle said.
“We came because Izzy started hearing voices and they wouldn’t stop talking. She wanted some peace and quiet. Dad, what are you doing here?” Sunny said.
“I found these changelings that needed me to live. I’ve been living here for the last couple of years. We couldn’t contact anyone and it was too impractical for everypony to move. I missed you, Sunny.” He embraced Sunny in a big hug.
“You’re eating his luminescence?” Izzy exclaimed with horror.
The changelings nearby started consuming the luminescence of her friends after one of them tried it. It was as if they discovered a new source of food.
“A changeling? You need to tell me everything about you,” Sunny said. “I’ve never even heard of them before.”
“Where do you want us to begin?” the changeling said aloud. He was also using his horn to consume Sunny’s luminescence.
Author's Note
Izzy's cutiemark consists of a heart and a crown.
