The Dire Switch

Twilight and Spike were casually approaching her castle which wasn't too far from where they were. They were carrying shopping bags filled with food and other necessities.

Twilight took in a deep breath and exhaled it calmly. "Today is a good day, Spike," she told her companion with a soft smile.

"I have to agree with you on that." Spike agreed with an earnest nod. "Not too hot, and not too cold."

The two walked up the stairs and Twilight extended her hoof to open the door. When the door opened, she and Spike were suddenly bumped by an invisible force, which surprised them and they fell on the ground.

"What in Equestria was that?" Spike gasped in surprise as he got up and picked up the fallen bags. He looked to Twilight for an answer.

But she didn't reply. Instead, she quickly searched around. She only spotted a teal-colored horn glowing in the distance before it disappeared behind the hill.

"I have no idea, Spike." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of what had just occurred. "Maybe Starlight can tell us about—"

"Twilight!"

Twilight and Spike turned their heads inside the castle to see Starlight running to them. Speaking of Starlight... Twilight mused in her head. However, she was taken aback by the anger and confusion in her expression as soon as she caught up to them. Perhaps she does know?

"Where are they?" Starlight demanded as soon as she caught her breath.

"Who?" Spike tilted his head.

"Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo," Starlight answered firmly.

"What did they do?" Twilight asked Starlight gently by placing a hoof on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. What did the three fillies do that could cause Starlight to be in this state?

Twilight could see that Starlight was struggling to calm down as she spoke. "I don't know how, but those three managed to switch my cutie mark with Sweetie Belle's." She then turned her body to show Sweetie Belle's badge-shaped cutie mark attached to her.

Twilight and Spike gasped at the display.

"When did this happen?" Twilight asked. Her voice was tight in concern.

"Just now," Starlight affirmed her.

"How and why did this happen?" Spike asked next. His claws practically covered his mouth.

Starlight sighed deeply. "I have no idea. Before it happened, Sweetie Belle asked if she could switch cutie marks with me. Obviously, I declined her request. But apparently, she's more ambitious than I thought." She ended with an eye roll.

"You didn't even notice that your cutie mark was being switched?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

Starlight shrugged helplessly. "I had no idea. If I'd known it was happening, I would've stopped it right away. However, I did notice my magic being a different color and I started to wobble a little bit. When I saw my cutie mark switched, I knew it was too late."

"Though now that I think about it." Spike looked outside and scratched his chin. "We did bump into an invisible force that had a glowing, teal-colored horn. A color similar to yours."

Twilight now connected the dots. "Maybe that was what bumped into us. Three invisible escaping fillies."

"Are you kidding me? Are they on the loose?" Starlight couldn't believe her ears. "With my magic?"

"It's not like you're an earth pony now, Starlight." Spike tried to lighten the mood. "You have Sweetie Belle's magic, you know."

Starlight gave him an unamused expression. "Thanks for reminding me, Spike."

Spike chuckled sheepishly.

"This is bad. Very, very bad." Twilight was now pacing in a circle. "Your magic should not rest in the hands of an inexperienced foal!"

"Precisely why I denied their request in the first place!" Starlight exclaimed. "Stop telling me things that I know, Twilight!" She suddenly snapped.

Then she sighed and rubbed her head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just heavily concerned for their safety." She apologized as she pawed one of her hooves.

"As you should. Knowing your magic, it will lead to nothing but disaster if used in the wrong hooves." Twilight told her grimly.

Starlight shot her an exasperated look but didn't say anything this time.

"Should we tell Rarity?" Spike spoke to Twilight, twiddling his claws.

"Absolutely not!" Twilight and Starlight exclaimed at the same time.

"Rarity would kill me if she found out about this. She'll think that I agreed to this stupid switch." Starlight explained with a tight note of fear in her voice.

"And the last thing she needs to worry about is her sister possessing dangerous magic beyond her control," Twilight added. "In fact, no one should know about this except us. Applejack and Rainbow Dash can't know about this either."

Starlight nodded firmly, agreeing with what she said.

"Won't they get angry at us anyway for not telling them in the first place?" Spike argued.

Starlight got between the two and jumped down at the end of the stairs in one leap. "We can worry about them later," she told the two firmly. "What I care about is finding those three and keeping a close eye on them as much as possible."

"Why do you want to watch them? Don't you want your cutie mark to be switched now?" Twilight followed Starlight down the stairs.

"If my theory is correct, and they used a similar spell I used on Princesses Celestia and Luna, the spell lasts for twenty-four hours," Starlight told her. "Hopefully by then, they won't do anything stupid."

"The real question is how are we going to find them?" Starlight finished with a hopeful look at the two.

Spike and Twilight joined by her side and began to walk beside her.

"Knowing them, I know one place where they go every time a crisis happens," Twilight told her firmly.

She, Spike, and Starlight looked in the east direction with grim looks on their faces.

Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle panted inside their clubhouse. They were exhausted from the running and were relieved to finally take a breather.

"That was way too close!" Applebloom exclaimed to her friends. "We almost got caught by Starlight."

"And Twilight and Spike," Scootaloo added. She looked at Sweetie Belle with an exasperated expression. "I knew this was a bad idea. Why didn't we just obey Starlight's wishes? I don't want to be on the run like a criminal."

"I shouldn't have brought up the idea in the first place," Applebloom said regretfully. "Now Starlight hates us. I know it."

"It's only for a day! Then once the day passes things will go back to normal." Sweetie Belle reassured them.

"Your cutie marks will return to normal, but our relationship with Starlight surely won't." Scootaloo pointed out.

"Come on, girls. Starlight will understand. Meanwhile, we got all the cool magic spells now!" Sweetie Belle boasted before lighting her horn and teleporting them to the middle of the Everfree Forest.

Scootaloo jumped when she saw her new surroundings. "Uh..."

"Can we please go back?" Applebloom's legs were shivering. "I don't like it here."

Rolling her eyes, Sweetie Belle teleported herself and her friends back to their clubhouse. "Come on, girls. You're no fun."

"Let's just stick to the basic spells for now, thank you very much," Applebloom said hesitantly. "I'm not ready for any big banger spells yet, you know."

The clubhouse grew silent.

"So, how are we going to do this? Everyone is going to be asking why you have a different cutie mark all of a sudden." Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.

"Simple. I'll just borrow a gown from my sister's place, and it'll hide my flank." Sweetie Belle answered. "We can teleport there if you two want, but since you don't want any banger spells..." she trailed off when she saw Scootaloo look out the window, and look back at them with a horrified expression.

"I think this time might be an exception." Scootaloo worriedly told the two. "They're coming!"

"Who?" Applebloom tilted her head.

"Starlight. Along with Twilight and Spike." Scootaloo said hurriedly. "We need to go. Now!"

Sweetie Belle looked away awkwardly and beads of sweat started to come down her forehead. "Well, teleporting the three of us took most of my energy. I don't know if I can do it a second time—"

Loud knocking banged on the door, and the three looked on in horror.