The gem of emotionby Aether SparkChaptersEmotional thieveryTaken by surpriseA surprise enemyThe volcanoEmotional thieveryYakistan A cave nestled on a cliffside, as the storm raged on and two figures guarded the cave's edge. A pair of dragons were wearing armor and one had a spear. And they… were so bored… “Yaaaaawn…” Stone yawned. “No slouching on the job Stone,” Firestar said for the thirteenth time. “I know I know… but seriously, nothing is going to happen, nothing ever happens,” Stone said. “Doesn’t mean something won’t,” Firestar said. “Dude, we’re in an isolated cave off the coast of Yakistan, nopony even knows about this cave, save for a few, but they're in that pony jail, tartar sauce or something,” The orange dragon waved him off. “Tartarus and the fact there are beings who know means we should remain vigilant,” Firestar said. “You need a chillpill, let me shoot some rounds with your spear,” Stone said. “What? Why?” Firestar held his spear closer. “Because I’m bored!” Stone said. “Like I’ll let you play around with it after what happened last time, you nearly burnt the whole cave down!” Firestar said. “Ugh, will you ever let that go?” Stone sighed. “Not taking any more chances, not when the dragon lord gave us specific instructions to protect the stone,” Firestar said pointing to the glowing green gem in the cave about the size of a baseball. “You really need to get a girlfriend…” Stone rolled his eyes. “Whatever… I need to use the bathroom,” Firestar said. “What happened to 'remaining vigilant'?” Stone asked with quotation marks. “Hard to when you have to use the bathroom, I need you to watch the stone, and do NOT fall asleep again, last time it could have been stolen!” Firestar said. “You never let anything go, fine,” Stone rolled his eyes. “Ok,” Firestar then left to go take his number two while Stone laid back against the wall of the cave and sighed. “Bored…. So bored….” Stone looked out at the forest and saw no sign of movement “Hmm…. nopony ever comes to this cave anyways, a short period of shuteye won’t hurt…” Stone shrugged before taking a nap. And a small figure flew up to the cave. “Heheheh… right where he said it was, all that waiting paid off,” She whispered as she quickly snuck past the sleeping drake, swiped the glowing green gem, and flew away. ---three minutes later--- …..Tap tap tap… “Huh?” Stone woke up and looked up to see an irate Firestar tapping his foot. “What. Did. I. say?” Firestar said looking like he restraining himself from attacking him. “Dude relax, it was just a power nap-” SMACK “OW! What the heck man?!” Stone rubbed his face where he was struck “Look at the rock…” Firestar pointed to his right. “Huh?” Stone turned and saw a green rock “Yeah, what about it?” Stone asked. “....IT’S A FAKE YOU MORON!” Firestar yelled. “What?” Stone said before looking at the rock and he could see it was just a similarly sized rock painted green. “............Oops…” Stone said. “You and I need to find it, and then, YOU are going report why YOU messed up to Ember,” Firestar said. “C’mon! You left to take a poop, surely you get some of the blame,” Stone said. “Don’t you turn this on me, I explicitly told you not to fall asleep!” Firestar retorted. “I-” “Come on! Let’s get moving!” Firestar said as he ran ahead. “Ugh… he really needs a girlfriend…” Stone said as he followed. A hoofball flew through the air and landed on the head of Scootaloo. “Haha!” Scootaloo bounced it to Yona who rammed the ball sending it to Smolder. “Yak like this game, not as fun as smashing though,” Yona said. “Eh, better than what we have in Griffonstone,” Gallus said as he caught the ball and pitched it to Sandbar who bucked it into the air and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom teamed up to bounce it back. “Whoo hoo!” Sweetie said. “Yeehaw!” AB said. Silverstream flew up and knocked it to Ocellus, who ducked down and the ball bounced off of her. “Aw man, almost a perfect one,” Smolder sighed. “S-sorry,” Ocellus said. “It’s fine,” Sandbar said as he approached. “You gotta get used to projectiles or one day it's going to get you hurt,” Gallus said. “What he said, c’mon Ocellus let’s try again,” Smolder said before a bell rang and they turned to see students heading back into the school. “Aw, time is up,” Yona said. “Sorry guys,” Ocellus said. “No problem, we’ll try again, next recess,” Sandbar said. “Alright, let’s get moving before one of the professors gets on our flanks about being late,” Smolder said as they walked on. As the group walked on inside the CMC said their goodbyes and left for home. “Ok, so what are we going to do now?” Sweetie asked. “We should get moving to the clubhouse, we can figure out our next move there,” Scootaloo said as the three galloped through the town avoiding several ponies as they made it to the clubhouse and they went up the stairs to get to planning. “Ok, let’s get focusin on continuin work on our cutie mark aid, ever since we got ‘em we have helped so many ponies, but it may be time to expand our network,” Apple Bloom said. “What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked as they entered. “Ah’m sayin we could let distant ponies know about our cutie mark service, an help em,” Apple Bloom said. “And how are we going to pull this off?” Scootaloo asked. “We can-” Suddenly a loud rumble came around them and they turned to see what it was. And when they peeked out their window to see they saw a figure flying overhead. “Huh?!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “What in tarnation?!” Apple Bloom said. “Was that… a dragon?” Sweetie asked and then a second one flew overhead and they peeked out to see them flying towards town. “Should we go see how this’ll go,” Apple Bloom said. “Why should it matter? We see dragons all the time nowadays,” Sweetie said. “Something doesn’t feel right,” Scootaloo said as they made their back in. Rainbow Dash flew out over the forest flying through clouds and punching holes in them, she then did a loop and flew back through them scattering them. As she paused she then shot upwards and punched through another big cloud and then landed on another. “Whew! Nice workout today,” Rainbow said stretching out her wings as she took off again this time she moved the clouds closer together and planned to bust through them all at once. “Ok, now for the real challenge,” Rainbow said as she stretched out and then she ascended into the air quickly, getting high enough that she could do a rainboom instantly and she took off downwards. “Alright! Let’s see my new technique in action!” Rainbow said as she built up speed, she could feel the wind resistance getting ready to break… aaaaannnd- “AAAAAHHHH!” A voice cried from within the forest and Rainbow was startled out of her charge and she collided with the cloud. “Oooff!” Rainbow grunted and she looked around to see where that scream came from. “Huh? Where-” “AAAAAAHHHH! Somepony help!” it was a filly’s voice… that can’t be good! “Hold on! I’m coming!” Rainbow said and she flew off towards the sound to help whoever it was. She heard more screaming in that set of trees over there! “I’m coming!” Rainbow said and she entered the tree line and landed “Alright! Hero time!” Rainbow said looking for the screaming filly…. And she saw nothing… “Huh? What happened? Hello?” Rainbow looked around. “....Hello Rainbow Dash,” A vaguely familiar voice said and Rainbow turned around. “Huh?! You?! How did you-” “Da mihi thesaurum tuum!” The voice yelled and suddenly a bright green light consumed Rainbow who screamed. Twilight walked through her school, she was getting ready for the next curriculum to teach, sharing, and now she just had to get there without anypony stopping her. “Alright, I will demonstrate how to share based on their individual ways based on species and find a way to mix them… yes, that will work,” Twilight said. “I think this’ll be a great one,” Spike said. “Yeah, I hope you brought some volunteer cards since the girls are taking the day off,” Twilight said. “Yep, hard to forget to bring them when you constantly remind me,” Spike snarked. “You can never be too careful,” Twilight said. “I can name a few ways…” Spike muttered before suddenly they bumped into Smolder who came around a corner. “Huh? Oh, there you are! You need to come with me right now!” Smolder said. “What? What’s going on? And why aren’t you in class?” Twilight asked getting up. “Never mind that… we got a visitor,” Smolder said urgently. “Ok, Spike continue on to class, ask one of the substitutes to help with the lesson,” Twilight said sensing the urgency in Smolder. “Ok,” Spike said and Twilight followed Smolder to the front door. When they got there they saw the main hall was occupied by two dragons, not big, more like medium sized and they were wearing armor. “Hmm? Are you the princess of this land?” Firestar asked approaching. “...Well, I am a princess but not ruler of the nation,” Twilight said. “I told you we should have gone to that big city on the mountain,” Firestar sighed. “It’s where that drake pointed us, Gargle or something,” Stone said. “Garble! Ugh, sometimes I wonder how you passed the exams to be a guard…” Firestar sighed again. “So… what can I do for you?” Twilight asked. “We’re here on the account of a theft of an important item, if you are not the ruler of this nation then we demand you point us to him or her,” Firestar said. “I’m pretty sure Celestia would be more than okay with helping you, but she might be busy, maybe I can help you?” Twilight offered. “I suppose, time is of the essence,” Firestar said. “What was stolen? Gems? Gold?” Twilight implored. “A rare magical gem known as the stone of emotion, a well-guarded treasure by our nation,” Firestar said. “A rare magical gem? What can it-” “We don’t have time, it was stolen by a pony, and whoever they were they were young,” FIrestar said. “How do you know?” Twilight asked. “The hoofprints size was a dead giveaway,” Stone said. “Hmm, so this implies the gem was taken by a foal?...” Twilight pondered this. “And because this bonehead fell asleep!” Firestar said with a growl. “Dude… let it go,” Stone rolled his eyes. “Does this gem pose any danger?” Twilight implored. “If used right, it could mean disaster,” Firestar said. “Then time is of the essence indeed,” Twilight nodded and she trotted to the door with the two dragons “Let’s gather my friends, they are the most dependable ponies around,” Twilight said. “What about me?” Smolder asked. “Why not go back to class, we should handle this,” Firestar informed her. “Alright…” Smolder sighed knowing he was a royal guard and so she could not interfere if he said not to. As they made their way out of the school Twilight led them into town with a levitated magic quill and papers she conjured and she sent the notes to her friends. As they went on to head to the castle of friendship, ponies everywhere were gawking at the two drakes. “Dude, we’re finally the center of attention, I say we throw a party,” Stone said. “Are you incapable of taking anything seriously?” Firestar sighed before he turned and saw a pink pony looking him in the eye. “AGH!” Firestar jumped a little as Pinkie was somehow still in midair and she dropped to the ground with a thud. She let out a gasp and quickly ran up to them. “Newcomers! Yay! I had some mane and tail twitches that told me that we were getting new visitors, but I-” She stopped to take a breath and resumed “But I didn’t think they would be dragons so this means I’ll have to bust out the gemstone cupcakes!” Pinkie cheered. “........Is she on something?” Stone asked. “Move aside, we have urgent business to attend to,” Firestar said impatiently. “But the party,” Pinkie said waving her arms. “We have a stolen artifact to retrieve, we have no time for a party,” Firestar said walking around her. “At least take ooooonnne,” Pinkie pleaded pulling out a cupcake from nowhere and presenting it to Stone. “Alright alright, if it’ll get you out of my face,” Stone took it and examined it closely. He usually eats gemstones only… so this was new… “Hmm, alright,” Stone popped the cupcake into his mouth and ate it………. “Whoa….” Stone said as he chewed on it and suddenly it was like every gem he’s ever eaten… was put to shame instantly, he began to cry a little. “Hmm?” Pinkie noticed his odd reaction. “It’s…. It’s…. DELICIOUS!” Stone exclaimed and picked Pinkie up. “You- what was that?!” Stone asked. “It’s a cupcake… with ground rubies in it,” Pinkie shrugged. “I want more!” He said. “Ok! Let’s head back to Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie said enthusiastically. “Sugarcube Corner?” Stone questioned. “Where all sorts of goodies like that are made and eaten!” Pinkie said and he just widened his eyes. “....Wow…. Pink pony call yourself lucky because I think I found my dream home,” Stone said. “Stone, come on!” Firestar waved him on. “Just a sec, pink pony, do you have a mate?” Stone asked. “If you mean a husband no,” Pinkie said with a head tilt. “Then marry me!” Stone hugged her. “AGH! TOO TIGHT!” Pinkie said before Stone was thumped on the head hard and he dropped her. “Ow!” Stone said.³ ”DO I NEED TO DRAG YOUR SCALY BUTT TO HER CASTLE!?” Firestar growled. “Ok ok! Pink pony, we’ll talk later,” Stone said before he followed the other two. “Actually I’m coming with you, Twilight needs to see me and the others,” Pinkie said. “Great, we can talk more about our eventual engagement and all the treats I’ll receive,” Stone chuckled. “I don’t get what you mean by engagement, but you got it!” Pinkie said. “....He’s not very serious is he?” Twilight asked Firestar. “About as serious as a baby rabbit…” Firestar sighed. The group arrived at the castle and they gathered at the map room. As they waited for everypony else to show up Twilight decided to get to know the two drakes more. “So for the record, what are your names again?” Twilight asked. “I’m Firestar, and he is my burden named Stone,” Firestar said. “You know you love me,” Stone said with a chuckle. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my friend Pinkie Pie,” Twilight introduced herself and her friend. “Nice, now can we move it along, we have to find that gem before it is used on anypony,” Firestar said. “What does it do?” Twilight asked. “It-” Suddenly they were interrupted by a group of mares entering. And there was something off about one of them…. “Huh?” Twilight said seeing a lump under a blanket and shivering. “Twilight, we, no Rainbow needs help,” Fluttershy said worriedly looking at Rainbow who was laying on her back. “What happened to her?” Twilight asked. “Well…” Fluttershy remembered their encounter quite clearly… Ten minutes ago The group was making their way across town and heading for Twilight’s castle. “Where’s Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked. “She told me she was going off to practice on her day off, but if she received the same message we all did then she must be headed to the same destination we are,” Rarity said. “Then why hasn’t she shown up?” AJ asked. “Perhaps she got lost?” Fluttershy wondered. “Should we look for her?” AJ asked. “No, she knows her way around, let us proceed on and I am certain she’ll meet us at the-” Suddenly something crashed into Rarity and she fell over. “Rares!” AJ said as she went over to her to help her up. “Oh dear! I got dirt on my lovely white fur!” Rarity exclaimed. “What just-” Fluttershy turned and saw that the thing that knocked over Rarity was a panicking Rainbow Dash, she turned to her and he eyes widened. “SHY!” Rainbow ran over to her and hugged her, shaking and crying. “Rainbow?! What happened?” Fluttershy asked worriedly. “I-I-It’s after me!” Rainbow sobbed. “What?” AJ said wondering what could reduce the proud Rainbow into a shivering crying mess. “What is? Rainbow what happened?” Fluttershy said seriously. “TOO LATE! IT’S COMING!” Rainbow took to the air in a panic. “Rainbow!” Fluttershy tried to grab her friend but she was thrashing too much and she turned to see what was scaring her so much…. And saw a chicken… “Huh?” Fluttershy looked around as Rainbow dove behind her. “Hide me!” Rainbow cried. “Rainbow, what are you scared of?” Fluttershy asked. “That!” Rainbow pointed at the chicken. “....Is it behind the chicken?” AJ asked. “NO! It is the chicken!” Rainbow sobbed. “..........” Everypony in hearing range just burst into laughter. “Why are you laughing?! Run!” Rainbow cried. “Ok, that’s real funny Rainbow, now c’mon,” AJ said wiping her eye as she was tearing up from laughing so hard. “You have to admit you're overreacting,” Fluttershy said with some giggles. “Not you too Shy! Protect me!” Rainbow cried as she saw the chicken wander near her. “...Rainbow that’s enough,” Fluttershy said starting to worry a little. “You're making a bit of a scene,” Rarity said. “I wants to peck me! I don’t wanna be pecked!” Rainbow cried. “....Somethin ain’t right here,” AJ said trotting up to Rainbow who looked at her fearfully. “Rainbow if this is a joke then stop now,” AJ said. “S-stop giving me that look, it’s scary!” Rainbow said frightened. “.....” AJ clapped her hooves in Rainbow's face and Rainbow ‘eeped’ and dove to the ground. “Girls, ah think she’s serious,” AJ said. “What happened to her?” Fluttershy asked. “Whatever did, it may be the reason we’ve been called upon, let us move,” Rarity said. “Um, what about Rainbow?” AJ asked. “Hmm, I got it,” Rarity said. Right about now “And that’s what happened,” Rarity finished. “Rainbow?” Twilight asked as she approached her hiding friend and Rainbow peeked out of her blanket and eep’d again before diving off of Fluttershy’s back and she ran over to a corner. “She’s utterly terrified of any and everything, I don’t know why,” Rarity said. “Then…-” Twilight was interrupted by Firestar walking past them and up to Rainbow. Rainbow peeked at who was approaching and she cried out in fear seeing a dragon and curled up. “She’s utterly devoid of bravery… hmm…” FIrestar sniffed her and nodded “The gem was used on her,” he said. “Or she’s just a coward,” Stone said. “No, she’s braver than any of us,” Twilight said approaching as well. “Then why is she terrified of everything?” Stone asked. “Does this mean the stone robs the victim of their bravery?” Twilight asked. “No, it robs any being of their most prized personality trait, and it does it so thoroughly they become what they aren’t in the process, I assume she favored her brave heart so she lost it as a result,” Firestar said with a troubled look. “How do we fix it?” Twilight asked. “We need the stone back, and even then it’s no guarantee,” Firestar said. “What?” Fluttershy said in shock. “You mean she’ll be like this forever?” Rarity asked. “Possibly, this situation rarely pops up,” Firestar said turning to the others “We need to find the culprit,” Firestar said with a serious expression. “Let’s go Stone,” Firestar said and Stone sighed as he got up and followed. “Wait, where are you going?” Twilight asked. “To find the culprit, you're free to do your own investigating, just not into this case,” Firestar said as he rested his spear on his shoulder. “We can help you, she’s our friend,” Twilight said. “Dragon land business lady, sorry,” Stone said. “He’s right, you need to stay out of this,” Firestar said. “No,” Twilight said approaching “I am the princess of friendship, and I need to do whatever I can to save my friend,” Twilight said. “...Fine, but do your investigating close to town, we can’t risk anymore cases like shivers over there,” Stone said pointing to the still cowering Rainbow. “Ok,” Twilight said. “And meanwhile we’ll pay the school a visit, see if we can’t dig anything up and spread out some protection,” Firestar said. “Protection?” Twilight asked. The students were all gathered outside of the school and Firestar and Stone were passing out some kind of weird helmets. “What is this?” Silverstream asked. “Obsidian helmets, they were originally made for dragons to avoid the effects of the gem but today they well be used for you, obsidian is a great dampener for gem magic,” Firestar said. “Huh?” Twilight took note of this as she stood with her students. “And also as long as you are not looking directly at the gem when it flashes it shouldn’t affect you,” Firestar said. “You seem to know a lot about magic,” Twilight said. “I study on my off time, it’s a hobby,” Firestar said. “Interesting,” Twilight said. “Alright, now let’s make this clear, if you see a green rock exuding a bright light, run and don’t look at it, ok? Now go on with your days, but be wary,” Firestar said. The students dispersed and Twilight and her friends approached. “Can we have ours?” AJ asked. “Preferably ones that are in fashion?” Rarity added. “Unfortunately that was all we had, but don’t worry, you all will simply need to not look at it to avoid losing personality traits,” Firestar said. “Alright, but we need to find the one responsible soon, before Rainbow hurts herself,” Fluttershy said looking at Rainbow who was hiding behind her. “....I think I know who may be behind it,” Twilight said. “That quickly?” Stone said. “You mentioned the hoofprints were small, meaning it was a young pony… and we know only one small pony who could have a problem with us, who would deliberately target one of us,” Twilight said looking serious. “Who would that be?” Firestar asked. “...Cozy Glow,” Twilight said grimly. Author's Note Hello my viewers, I hope you enjoy this new story made alongside Dragonknife5 Taken by surprise“Cozy Glow? Ain’t she locked up in Tartarus?” AJ asked. “We’ll need to find out, Spike!” Twilight turned and called to her assistant who was nearby chatting with Smolder and when he heard he walked over. “Yeah, Twilight?” Spike asked. “I need you to send word to Celestia, we may have a criminal filly on the loose,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Spike nodded and he pulled out a paper and quill and wrote on it. “Hmm? This young whelp works for you?” Firestar asked. “Yes, he’s my number one assistant, and my adopted brother,” Twilight said. “...A pony and a dragon being siblings?... odd,” Stone said scratching his head. “The explanation will take time we don’t have, come on,” Twilight said as she led them back to the castle. “We’ll handle Rainbow, let us know if anything happens!” Rarity called after them and Twilight nodded as she trotted away. “Ok, RD, come with us,” AJ said. “N-no! What if we get mugged on the way?” Rainbow shivered. “She’s more jumpy than Shy, no offense,” AJ sighed. “It’s fine,” Fluttershy said. “By the way,” Spike asked running beside Firestar. “Hmm?” Firestar looked at Spike. “What’s with that spear? It’s different looking from a royal guard's spear,” Spike said. “This? I made it,” Firestar said. “You made this spear?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, it uses a marka crystal to harness heat and focus it into a condensed sphere of fire,” Firestar explained. “What?” Spike didn’t understand. “A marka crystal? To create combustion attacks… Amazing, I’ve used a few back in the day but never thought of that,” Twilight said. “You did?” Firestar asked surprised. “Of course, I was trying to apply it to my thaumic sensors in hopes of creating a proper magic sensing machine, but it didn’t work,” Twilight said. “Did… you check the age of the crystal? How old the crystal is usually determines its effect and output,” Firestar said. “Really? I never thought about that,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “And do you make sure to send the electrodes through at an even magic current instead of an odd magical one?” Firestar asked. “....I need to retry the experiment later, you seem quite knowledgeable about this stuff,” Twilight said with a smile. “I am an inventor, I make all kinds of things,” Firestar said with a slight blush. A blush that wasn’t missed by Stone who grinned. “A dragon inventor?” Spike asked. “Yeah, he’s a total nerd,” Stone said. “Shut up Stone,” Firestar sighed. As the group made it to the castle Twilight and Firestar were still chatting about inventions they made. “Heh, Firestar you sly dog,” Stone said. “Man, never thought I’d meet somedragon with similar thought processes to Twilight,” Spike said. “Never thought I’d meet a pony with similar thought processes to Firestar,” Stone said. “Huh…” Spike said not sure what to make of this. “And in conclusion, I think electric theory-” Firestar said before Spike coughed and got their attention. “Sorry to interrupt but, we still have a mad filly on the loose,” Spike said. “Indeed, not like you to get distracted,” Stone said with a cocky smirk. “Fine, we’ll continue this later,” Firestar said as they followed Twilight up to the map room. Upon entering Twilight approached the cutie map and turned it on. “Whoa!” Stone said jumping as the holographic map came up. “What kind of magic is this?” Firestar asked. “A special kind from a magic tree,” Twilight said. “...Really?” Stone asked. “Ok, so we find that the mysterious power that turned Rainbow into a frightened pony seems to be in the hoofs of a criminal filly and it is in the process of inflicting magical issues on various ponies in the form of emotional magic being stolen, what was its use originally?” Twilight asked. “It was to be used in the event the dragonlands faces danger, it could be used to pacify potential dangers to dragons,” Firestar said. “Only it never saw use until today, because who’d be stupid enough to attack the dragonlands?” Stone said. “Makes sense,” Spike said. “Ok, if we’re dealing with mind magic then we need to be prepared, Spike can I have your help in locating the right books?” Twilight asked. “Ok!” Spike as he followed her. “You two stay here, if you see any pings, let me know,” Twilight said before the two left. The two drakes shrugged and sat down. Some time passed and Stone decided to break the ice. “So… Fire,” Stone said. “What?” Firestar replied. “What do you think about Twilight?” Stone asked. Firestar raised an eyebrow. “I think she's a good leader and a very caring friend. Not to mention she is knowledgeable,” said Firestar. “Aha don't you think she would be a great mate for you,” Stone said with a slight grin which stopped Firestar with wide eyes. “What brought this on?” yelled Firestar. “Oh come on man you both like to talk about nerd stuff. Both of you like to take responsibility. Not to mention she finds your inventions very interesting, not like our dragonesses back at home. Not one could handle your long lectures about your inventions. Even the new dragon lord Ember tries to avoid you because you were trying to show her your new inventions.” Stone said matter of factly which only irritated Firestar. “What makes you think that I want to have a pony as a mate? Not to mention she's a princess meaning she has a lot of responsibility as a leader. Granted she is beautiful and kind. Not to mention the only female that ever finds my inventions interesting without me getting tail slapped or fire breath in the face, not to mention she’s not saying anything bad about my intelligence or my inventions or how I'm boring,” Firestar said. “See that's my point she's perfect for you!” Stone said with a cocky grin. “Why are you so interested in me finding a mate?” Questioned Firestar. “Because dude you're my cave buddy and I'm your dragon wing man. I got to look for a girlfriend for my buddy. Otherwise, do I have to remind you of your old flame?” These words only got him a tackle onto the ground from an angry Firestar. “We agreed that we’d never ever speak of her again,” Firestar growled. “Noted!” said Stone defensively as Firestar got off of him “Also how can I not help find my best Drake without finding him a date for my wedding?” Stone said. “I've been meaning to ask why do you decided to marry that pink pony Pinkie Pie just so you can eat all her cupcakes? Doesn’t that seem superfic-” Firestar said and it was now Stones turned to tackle. “Don't you ever ever just say that only marry her just for cupcakes. Okay only a little but Those cupcakes are something made with love. Something you don't ever find in the Dragon Lands gem cave. When I tasted her cupcakes I found happiness. Happiness that I have never felt in a very long time. Not to mention it is a family tradition,” Said Stone. “What?” Firestar asked. “Yeah! My mom gave a delicious gem to my dad. Same thing happened to my my grandpa and my great-great-grandfather too. My family only finds mates if one of them gives them a delicious gem. Which Pinkie Pie did. And I love her for that,” Stone said getting off of him. “...But aren't you moving too fast it's a marriage without getting her to know her first. Also on case you had to notice I don't think you don't have the qualifications of a good mate. How are you going to support her?” questioned Firestar. “Look I know I can be lazy and not have of responsibility but whatever comes with my mate I would do it with all my power to make her happy and to protect her. Because my dad said to me ‘son whenever you find a mate that ever gives you something delicious to eat. You must do in every way and your power to make that mate happy and promise to love her for the rest of your life and to never let her go.’ That was the one thing that I ever learned that I kept in My Heart!” Said Stone with a determined look. This surprised Fire Star “But are you sure you want to marry a pony?” “Look I don't care what you say to anyone else but whenever a female ever offered me a delicious gem I must claim her as my mate and to make sure she has a happy life,” Stone said. “But what if she doesn't want to not marry you? You do realize ponies have different relationship practices right,” Questioned Firestar “Then I would learn these relationship practices to win her over. I made up my mind and I'm never going back,” Stone said. For the first time ever Firestar finds Stone's determination surprising and he nodded in acknowledgment,” Well, I wish you good luck and hope you succeed,” Said Firestar with a proud look. “Same to you and I hope you went over Twilight Princess,” Said Stone with that slight smirk. Which only made Firestar blush with anger. “Can we please go back to taking back that gem from Cozy Glow?” Which made Stone chuckle at his face. “Sure sure,” Stone laughed a little as Twilight came back. “Sorry I took so long, Spike had to use the bathroom,” Twilight said. “Gee announce it to everypony why don’t you?” Spike sighed. “Any signs?” Twilight said. “No, but I assure you we’ll find her,” Firestar said. “Alright, then let’s get to work!” Twilight said eagerly. “I’ll help,” Firestar said. Rainbow was still under her blanket shaking in fear as Fluttershy and Rarity were carting her into her cottage on a wheelbarrow. “Slow down!” Rainbow said. “I miss the Rainbow Dash that could handle anything,” Rarity said. “Agreed,” AJ said. “We’ll get her back to normal soon ah bet,” AJ said before sitting down on a chair. “Well, we’ll take care of her later, for now we should rest,” Rarity said. “Don’t worry Rainbow, we’ll fix ya soon,” Pinkie said. “F-fix? What does that mean?” Rainbow asked. “I hope we can soon, If you all need me, I will be out back feeding the muskrats,” Fluttershy said. “Ok,” AJ said as Fluttershy trotted out. “Come here darlings,” Fluttershy spread the feed and the muskrats came over to get some. Fluttershy loves this, ensuring every pet is full and happy. As she hovered about and spread more feed she suddenly heard a rustle in a nearby bush. “Huh?” Fluttershy said, something in her tells her this could be bad for her. Before seeing Angel come out of the bushes. “Angel? What were you doing there?” Fluttershy asked. Angel shrugged and hopped over to her. “Very well, while you're here, could you please disperse the feed while I fill their drinking bowls,” Fluttershy asked. Angel nodded and began working on the already spread feed while Fluttershy turned and began filling the buckets. As she finished she looked in through a window to see how her friends were doing. AJ was napping, Rainbow was still under her blanket, Angel was coming down the stairs, Rarity was in the bathroom doing her make-up, Pinkie was-....wait… “Angel?” Fluttershy asked outloud seeing the rabbit in the- THUNK Fluttershy dropped to the ground unconscious and was dragged away by an unseen foe. “She sure is takin her time,” AJ said having woken up recently. “I’m a tad worried about her,” Rarity said. “Hmm,” Pinkie was looking out the window. “Everything good Pinkie?” AJ asked. “No… something isn’t right,” Pinkie said. “You… are not suggesting something happened to Fluttershy do you?” Rarity asked worriedly. “Ah’ll check on her,” AJ said as she went towards the door. “I’ll come with,” Rarity said and she followed AJ to the backyard and opened the door. And a bunch of muskrats fled past their hooves. “AH!” Rarity yelped as one of them got some dirt on her. “Calm down Rares,” AJ rolled her eyes before looking to see what was scaring the muskrats… and she narrowly ducked a thrown chair. “AND KEEP AWAY YOU FILTHY RATS!” Fluttershy bellowed. “Fluttershy?” Rarity said sounding appalled. “WHAT?!” Fluttershy growled at her making her step back a little. “Shy, yer not actin like yerself,” AJ said knowing immediately she was robbed of a personality trait. And based on how she’s acting, it was her kindness. “Is your last name Sherlock, because that’s obvious!” Fluttershy said with a spiteful tone. “Fluttershy! I demand you cease this vicious attitude this-” “Shut your mouth, your voice is annoying!” Fluttershy said kicking dirt at Rarity before storming away. “Eeep!” Rarity backed away from the dust cloud. “We shouldn’t have let her go off on her own…” AJ sighed. “We must remain vigilant then,” Rarity said before the two went back inside…. And saw Pinkie crying on the floor. “Pinkie? What’s wrong?” Applejack asked. “I don’t knoooow!” Pinkie cried. “....This isn’t good, Applejack! We need to-” “Da mihi thesaurum tuum!” The two spun just in time to see a familiar pink filly with a menacing smile as a bright light flashed on them and they screamed. Huge stacks of books were littered around the room and it was shown that Twilight and Firestar were responsible. “Ok, mind magic comes in various forms,” Twilight said. “And these types are carrying specific effects similar to the gem, if we can isolate some of these effects-” Firestar said and Twilight finished. “We can create a means to protect one from the effects of the gem,” Twilight said “I have to say, it's nice to have a complex conversation for once,” Twilight said. “I agree, usually others look at me like I grew a second head when I speak this way,” Firestar said. “Indeed,” Twilight giggled. Meanwhile Stone and Spike were hanging out and watching the two click. “I swear she’s like a female pony version of Firestar, they belong together,” Stone chuckled. “What do you mean?” Spike asked. “You’ll understand when you're older,” Stone waved him off. “Alright! We can do this,” Twilight said before noticing the cutie map beeping. “Huh? The map thing is beeping,” Stone said. “It means something happened… at Fluttershy’s cottage?” Twilight said getting a concerned look “We need to see if they're okay,” Twilight said. “Ok, you go and check on them, we’ll work on the makeshift magical obsidian helmets,” Firestar said. “Ok, I’ll be back,” Twilight said before teleporting. “...Do we have to?” Stone whined. “Quit your whining, we’ve got work to do,” Firestar said. Twilight arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage and looked around. She saw the animals hiding, why were the- “HEY!” Twilight jumped and turned to see Fluttershy storming up to her. “Flutt-” “SHADDUP! How dare you come into my cottage without my permission!?” Fluttershy barked. “Fluttershy?!” Twilight said in surprise. “GET OUT!” Fluttershy picked up Twilight and threw her outside. “AAH!” Twilight tumbled to the ground and looked up to see Fluttershy slamming the door. “What was-” Twilight said before noticing the bushes rustling nearby and she turned to see Rainbow’s tail sticking out. “Eeep!” Rainbow hid deeper in the shrubbery when she saw Twilight was looking at her. “Can ya’ll keep it down?...” Twilight looked to see AJ lying down nearby. “AJ! Cozy Glow got to Fluttershy! We need to-” “Sleep… only sleep,” AJ said waving her off. “Huh?” Twilight approached and saw AJ was sleeping “AJ, this is serious! We need to-” “Leave me alone… sounds like too much work,” AJ said. “...What?” Twilight said before feeling a poke on her side and she turned to see Pinkie, but her eyes were puffy and her mane was down. “Pinkie!?” Twilight said and Pinkie immediately started crying “Huh? Pinkie? Not you too!” Twilight said. “I’m so depressed and I don’t even know whyyyyy!” Pinkie sobbed sitting down. “They are acting angry, lazy, depressive, cowardly… where’s Rarity?” Twilight looked around and saw a nearby shed open and she hesitantly trotted over there and saw something that made her cringe. Prim and proper Rarity, laying amidst Fluttershy’s soil bags for her garden and she looked filthy. “Heheh… hey there Twilight, care for a bag of chips, managed to swipe it from Fluttershy when she wasn’t looking,” Rarity then did something she’d never do and let out a loud belch before shoveling more chips into her mouth “And can you please get me some ice cream? I would but I just managed to get comfortable,” Rarity added. “Rarity…” Twilight sighed knowing they’d all been affected and now Rarity is acting like a slob. Twilight looked around and decided this place wasn’t safe anymore and she grabbed Rarity in her magic and fled back to the others. “Twilight! Wait! I still had some chips back there!” Rarity cried. Twilight scooped up Rainbow, Pinkie and AJ and she knocked on the door to Shy’s house. Fluttershy opened the door and glared at Twilight. “What are you still doing here!?” Fluttershy demanded. “Sorry Shy,” Twilight used a sleep charm and hit Fluttershy knocking her out, she then picked her up and teleported them all and herself back to the castle. Twilight landed back in the castle and dropped them down, surprising Spike. “Whoa!” Spike jumped seeing them there. “Everything alright?” Stone said walking over. “No…” Twilight said. “I can tell already they’ve been affected,” Firestar flew over. “What?! No, Pinkie!” Stone ran over to her and picked her up. “....” Pinkie just curled up in his arms and continued looking depressed. “I’ll cook that brat for harming my Pinkie!” Stone growled. “Calm yourself,” Firestar said putting his hand on Stones's shoulder. “...Ok,” Stone said taking a breath and walking away with Pinkie. “We need to stop her, now,” Twilight said. “I just finished the equation needed, we can get moving as soon as the defense spell is made,” Firestar said. “Ok, let’s move,” Twilight said. Meanwhile Spike approached Rarity who looked at him disinterestedly. “Hey Rarity, um… are you o-” Spike said before she belched in his face and got up before trotting away while he coughed from the smell. “I’m gonna go raid your pantry and crash on your couch,” Rarity said trotting into the kitchen. “.....We need to get the old Rarity back….” Spike said. Author's Note Gonna spend some time on my novel before writing the next chapter, hope you're enjoying it so far. A surprise enemyAuthor's Note Sorry for the delay, COVID hit me hard, but I'm back and hopefully, I will be able to continue normally on this story. My hiatus may have impacted my skill a little but I'm still going strong. Stay tuned. A surprise enemy Twilight and Firestar were working on it and Twilight nodded as it looked like the magic barrier was finished. “Alright, we should be ready,” Twilight said. “How do we know it works?” Firestar asked. “We’ll need to test,” Twilight said. “Test something on me, I’m not afraid,” Stone said approaching, having set the depressed Pinkie Pie on the couch nearby. “Ok,” Twilight said before looking over the formula “This may sting a little,” Twilight said before making her horn glow with a blue light and she hit Stone with it. “Alright, what now?” Stone asked. “I’ll use a mind-scrying spell to see if it worked,” Twilight said. “A whatistwhonow?” Stone asked. “She’s going to try and read your mind,” Firestar said. “Gotcha,” Stone said and Twilight concentrated and fired a small beam at Stone’s head but it bounced off of a barrier on his head and hit Firestar instead. “Huh?” Firestar said. ‘A part of me likes her… but would it work?...’ Twilight heard from Firestar’s mind. “Huh?” Twilight looked at Firestar who blushed. “U-uh’m, I’m talking about a dragon back home,” Firestar said hurriedly. “Ooook?” Twilight said unsurely while Stone chuckled. “So we know the charm works, no mind-related spell should be able to affect anyone with it,” Firestar said. “We need to distribute it throughout the town,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Firestar said. “Spike, take a message, we’ll need all hooves on deck to search for Cozy Glow,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Spike said as he ran over to a desk with a paper on it. “I’ll get moving downstairs, check on Pinkie,” Stone said as he was leaving. Twilight wrote what she needed to down and then had Spike send it, she then hurried to check on the others. Needless to say, it was what she expected… Fluttershy was being held in a makeshift prison made of books nearby by Stone as she continued to shout profanities at him. AJ was reaching for a glass of water on a nightstand from the couch but she gave up halfway and laid back down. Rainbow was still cowering underneath the couch. Pinkie was just depressingly staring at a wall, her mane down. And Rarity was snoring loudly, surrounded by junk food, looking a little chubbier than before. “We need to find their emotion magics before something happens to them,” Spike said looking at Rarity scratching her butt with her hoof. “Then let’s move,” Twilight said as they walked over to Stone. “I’LL SHOVE THAT PIKE THE RED ONES HOLDING DOWN YOUR THROAT!” Fluttershy barked. “Ugh… starting to miss the mind-numbing peace and quiet of guarding the gem…” Stone said. “Stone, it’s time,” Twilight said. “Good, let’s roll,” Stone said and they walked over to Firestar who was waiting by the window. “Firestar, is everything alright?” Twilight asked. “No, we need to hurry, something tells me this Cozy Glow works fast,” Firestar said. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Come look,” Firestar said and Twilight noticed a bunch of depressed ponies trotting about. “No…” Twilight and the others left the castle and saw the ponies everywhere acting off. “Excuse me,” Twilight approached Filthy Rich who was trying to count his money. “Huh?” Filthy turned to Twilight. “Why is everypony looking so down?” Twilight asked. “A filly flashed some kind of rock at us and suddenly I don’t know how to count money anymore! My money management skills were one of my few major quirks and now it's gone!” Filthy said while panicking. “I can’t remember how to work up the motivation to nurture my garden! It’ll die!” Carrot Top complained trotting into view. “Eh… for some reason working out feels like too much work now,” Bulk said sounding unmotivated. “I was in the middle of giving a speech to some ponies and when a flash of light hit me out of nowhere I suddenly got stage fright!” Mayor Mare added her two bits in. “Ok OK!” Stone said. “I can sense it on them, they’ve all been affected, they’ve lost the emotions that helps them support their passions,” Firestar said. “We were too late…” Twilight said with chagrin… before a bright light struck them all and she cried out, but thankfully her mind guard magic protected her and she turned to see a hooded figure in the distance who paused and then ran off. “There she is!” Mayor Mare said. “She just tried to use the gem on us while we were distracted, which means she doesn’t know about the spell yet, let’s make sure she doesn’t figure it out,” Firestar said as they ran after her. The figure ran around the corner and fled down an alleyway, Twilight took to the air and chased the small pony. “COZY GLOW! Stop right there!” Twilight said with Spike on her back. Oddly enough she didn’t respond and continued running down a street. As she galloped down the road toward the edge of town something flew overhead and landed in front of her and she paused. “The fact you're a kid is the sole reason I’m hesitating to toast you for harming my future mate!” Stone growled. “Tch…” The small pony spread her wings and took to the air but ran into the chest of Firestar who struck her to ground level. “Target found!” Firestar said before aiming his spear and shooting a fireball at Cozy. “Wait!” Twilight put a barrier around her to protect her. “What are you doing Twilight?!” Firestar demanded. “You can’t kill her!” Twilight said keeping the barrier there. “I have orders to kill if necessary,” Firestar said. “That’s not how we do things in Equestria,” Twilight said. “...Very well, but we need the gem back,” Firestar said looking uncertain. “Ok,” Twilight said before turning to Cozy Glow “Cozy it’s over, give it over and we’ll return you to Tartarus without delay, please don’t push your luck,” Twilight said. “....Heheheheh,” The filly laughed in a voice that wasn’t hers. “Huh?” Twilight said. “Why does her voice sound masculine?...” Stone asked. “....You caught me… but not Cozy Glow…” Suddenly the filly turned into a male Changeling. “Huh?!” The group exclaimed. “In fact, this isn’t even the gem,” He held out the gem and it was just a painted rock. “No… we’ve been played!” Twilight said. “B-but I thought all the Changlings were redeemed!” Spike said. “Not all of us were content to conform to you ponies…” He spat. “Then what-” Twilight asked before Spike burped up a letter. “Good news hopefully,” Stone said. Twilight took the note and read it… and she paled. “What?” Firestar asked. “The plan is already in motion, sorry princess, but I was just a decoy,” The Changeling laughed. “What does it say?” Stone asked. “Celestia and Luna’s chariot was attacked, they’ve both been affected by the gem…” Twilight said before turning in the direction of Canterlot. “We need to go!” Twilight said. Twilight, Firestar, Stone, and Spike all took off towards Canterlot on the train. “I’ve never been to Canterlot before,” Stone said wondering what kind of sweets are in Canterlot. “We’re not there to sightsee!” Twilight and Firestar barked at him at the same time. “I know I know, just trying to lift the mood,” Stone sighed. “We need to get there quickly, if what that Changeling said is true, Canterlot is in danger!” Twilight said. “We’ll be ready,” Firestar said. “We need to find the princesses and see if they're alright,” Spike said. “Was it a good idea to leave that Changeling with the pony Starlight?” Stone asked. “She can take care of herself,” Twilight nodded. The group eventually arrived in Canterlot and exited the train and went over to the front gate where a guard was waiting for her. “Princess Twilight,” The guard saluted. “Hello, I came as soon as I got the message, how are Celestia and Luna?” Twilight asked. “They’re… not acting right, right now,” The guard carefully said. “Take us to them,” Twilight said. “Very well,” The guard said and he led them into the city. “Whoa… not what I expected,” Stone said as they walked through the streets and saw Canterlot in less than good condition at the moment. Ponies were trotting about the streets with uneasy looks on their faces, multiple businesses were closed for the day, guards everywhere, ect. “What happened?” Spike asked. “It happened fast, the guards were dispatched to deal with multiple disturbances and it quickly became mass hysteria when several fillies carrying green gems were flashing ponies left and right, and then ponies just started abandoning work,” The guard said. “Multiple fillies? Multiple gems? How?” Firestar said. “Didn’t you say there was only one gem?” Spike asked Firestar. “There was…. So how did… unless…” Firestar seemed concerned. “What?” Spike asked. “Cozy Glow and whoever is helping her shattered it and are using fragments attached to regular rocks to hide them, which are being used to spread the effects! But how did she know that wouldn’t destroy the rocks effects?” Firestar said trying to wrack his brain to figure it out. “She could have an insider who knew, a dragon perhaps?” Twilight guessed. “We’ll have to think on it, and send word to Ember we may have a mole,” Firestar said. “So… what’s going on then? If the filly is only part of it, then what’s with the rogue Changelings and the dragon snitch?” Stone asked. “I’m not sure,” Twilight said. “We’re here princess,” The guard said and Twilight looked to see Canterlot castle. “Ok, thank you,” Twilight said. “No problem,” The guard said and Twilight and the others made their way inside. As the group went inside they made their way through the castle and to the throne room where a couple guards were standing watch. “Halt!” The guard said. “I am here to assess the princesses' condition and find clues as to the solution to this whole mess,” Twilight said. “...And them?” The guards pointed at the dragons. “Their friends,” Twilight said. “Dude, we’ve been friendzoned,” Stone snarked. “Shut up,” Firestar sighed. “Ok, go on in… just… try to be calm with them, and don’t surprise them,” The guard said. “Why?” Twilight said as she entered and saw a sight she wasn’t ready for. Celestia and Lune were acting like fools… Celestia was hopping around like Pinkie Pie and humming a song with multiple guards trying to catch her. And Luna was hiding under her chair and shaking just like Rainbow was. “No…” Twilight trotted over to Celestia and stopped her with her telekenisis. “Hm?” Celestia said. “Celestia! Please, calm down, it’s me!” Twilight pleaded with her teacher but she just giggled and hugged her. “Purple!” Celestia cheered before hopping away. “...She’s acting like a little filly,” Stone said. “And I’m assuming Luna isn’t supposed to be cowering like that?” Firestar asked. “No, she’s usually the last to cower in fear,” Spike said. “Then was their aim to debilitate the leaders of Equestria?” Stone asked. “More than likely,” Firestar said looking concerned. “We need to find out how to get them to cooperate,” Twilight said. “I have an idea,” Spike said and he whispered in Twilight’s ear. “Good idea,” Twilight said feeling dumb for not thinking of it immediately. “What?” Firestar asked. “We need to offer them what they need right now,” Twilight said before using her magic to conjure some candies and a bunch of pillows. “Huh?” Stone said. Celestia bounced around happily playing tag with the guards who couldn’t keep up with her. As she continued playing around she heard a whistle and turned to see Twilight over by Luna who was hiding in a pillow fort and she had some candy. “Celestia, we need your help, if you help us, we’ll give you some candy,” Twilight offered. “CANDY!” Celestia skipped over and sat by her and began eating some of the candy. “Alright, Celestia, Luna, what happened before you ended up like this? Did you see anything?” Twilight asked. “Hmm….” Celestia hummed before she raised a hoof. “Yes?” Twilight asked. “A creepy bug pony, they looked like one of the guards and then they weren’t,” Celestia said. “I-it was frightening, the Changelings were everywhere, we couldn’t hold them back, we were flashed with a gem of sorts and now I cannot even face my sister without wanting to run in fear!” Luna shivered. “And I feel so carefree! Not a worry in the world,” Celestia said. “Not even for Equestria being in danger?” Spike asked. “Eh, who cares!” Celestia giggled. “Celestia’s lost her maturity and concern for others while Luna has lost her courage, and changelings did it… does this mean-” Twilight began to fear the worst when suddenly Spike stomped his foot. “No! Thorax would never turn out like Chrysalis!” Spike said. “Spike, Changelings are behaving this way, someling must have done something to convince the hive to go against their values, this goes way deeper than just Cozy Glow,” Twilight said. “I refuse to believe it,” Spike said. “Sorry but… whose Thorax?” Stone added. “A Changeling Spike befriended,” Twilight clarified. “Huh, who would have thought,” Stone said. “Please Twilight, If Thorax did do something regarding this then he must have been forced, please believe me,” Spike said. “I believe you, but for now we need to find out where the Changeling leader is, to confirm,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Spike said. “Time is of the essence then,” Firestar said. “Let’s move,” Stone said. The group was back on the train and headed back for Ponyville. “When we get home we’ll talk to Ocellus and see if she can’t get in communication with Thorax, if we can see how the changelings are tied into this we can fix it,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Stone said. When the group got there they saw the town was empty for some reason. “Huh?...” Twilight said confusedly. “Where did everypony go?” Spike asked. “Teachers!” They heard and they saw the student six running over to them. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” Twilight asked. “We were waiting for you to get back, we have news,” Silverstream said. “What?” Twilight asked. “Changelings have invaded the town and kidnapped most of the ponies here! We need you to come and-” Sandbar said. “Hold it…” Firestar got in front of Twilight and leaned down to eye level with Sandbar. “.... You're not a pony…” Firestar said. “What?” Spike said. “The scents are different, not to mention why should we trust you in a crisis like this?... something’s fishy,” Firestar said. “.... You're good,” Suddenly the group turned into a group of Changelings with Sandbar turning into Thorax. “Huh?!” Twilight and the others gasped. “Too good to let live…” Thorax said with a grin. “No…” Spike said in horror “THORAX!” Spike cried and he looked at him. “Oh hey Spike, what’s shaking?” Thorax asked. “Wha- what are you doing?” Spike asked. “Following my orders, glad you all came back,” A familiar voice said and they turned to see Cozy Glow standing atop a roof nearby. “What did you do to Thorax!?” Spike demanded. “Just made him remember what Changelings are,” Cozy said showing the fragmented gem. “You made him forget what a good Changeling he was,” Spike said in shock. “Exactly and now, I’m going to rob you all of your most prized emotions!” Cozy laughed as she raised the gem. “Quickly!” Firestar and Stone fastened their obsidian helmets on and Twilight activated her barrier. “Clever, but not effective against THIS!” Cozy said and suddenly the Changelings behind the dragons swarmed forward and while Firestar and Stone were able to stop most of them Thorax got through and knocked Spike out of the barrier. “NO!” Twilight exclaimed. “Gotcha now!” Cozy raised the gem and flashed it and Twilight was forced to drop the barrier and jump in front of Spike and the flash struck her. “NO!” Firestar exclaimed. Twilight stood there stunned, and then an aura left her mouth and flew into the gem and she collapsed. “You little-” Firestar aimed his spear and fired a fireball and Cozy jumped into the air and flew away laughing. “I have to catch her!” Firestar said as he tried to follow her but multiple Changelings blocked him and he got ready to fight them. “Get out of my way!” Firestar said. “Twilight!” Spike ran over to her but she was unconscious. “We have to flee!” Stone said. “But Cozy!” Firestar said. “You're no good in this situation dead! Come on!” Stone gathered up Spike and Twilight and Firestar followed, firing a fireball at the Changelings to scatter them. And they took off deeper into town to hide for now… and Firestar couldn't help but glance helplessly at Twilight and he knew, they needed help. The volcanoAs the two dragons fled the scene they paused near the castle and decided to hide in there, and not long after multiple Changelings flew by. Stone peeked out the window and nodded to Firestar who was bracing the door. “We lost them,” Stone said with a sigh of relief. “We gotta check on Twilight!” Spike said. “Agreed,” Firestar said as he carried Twilight inside the castle lounge and set her down. “She was hit directly by the gem so she’ll be out for-” Firestar said before she started groaning “....I stand corrected,” Firestar said. “Huh?” She looked around looking confused. “Twilight? Please tell me you're alright,” Spike pleaded. “....Heh…. purple lizard….” Twilight chuckled. “What?” Spike asked. “Where am I? Is this like… somepony’s crib?” Twilight looked around sitting up. “Twilight, it's your castle!” Spike exclaimed. “Heh, cool, I like, have some good set-ups, although I need to get some stereos set in and… like have a party,” She chuckled before she got up and trotted away. “Twilight!” Firestar got in front of her. “Hey red lizard dude,” Twilight said. “.....What’s two plus two…” Firestar said with dread. “Uh…… I dunno, twenty?” Twilight said. “She’s lost her intelligence, now she’s just illogical,” Spike said. “You're an illogical,” She said before she wandered off. “....” Firestar looked down. “Hey man, we’ll fix this mess we started and then your pony friend will-” Stone said but Firestar just growled and grabbed Stone and pinned him to the wall with his arm. “Will you DROP the whole thing between me and Twilight!? Need I remind you this happened because of you!” Firestar growled. “Hey man stop!” Stone said. “Firestar!” Spike ran over and tried to separate the two and eventually Firestar let him go and walked away. Stone coughed and rubbed his neck “Sheesh, I guess he knows how I felt when I saw Pinkie affected, we’ll fix her,” Stone said. “Hey dudes! I found a white box in here! With like… food and stuff!” Twilight called from the kitchen. “That’s the refrigerator!” Spike said. “Too hard to say…” Twilight said before she opened it and began digging through it for food. “We’re without Twilight, this isn’t good,” Spike said. “Worry not, we still have a brainiac,” Stone said gesturing to Firestar. “But we’re heavily outnumbered, how are we going to-” Spike paused when he smelt something and Stone smelt it too. “We got company,” Stone said and he turned to a door and saw it close, he approached it and pulled it open easily and saw the Student Six hiding in the closet. “Huh?!” Gallus said. “More Changelings?” Spike asked guardedly. “No, I’d smell it,” Stone said. “Stone!” Smolder exclaimed as she got out of there “Am I glad you're here,” “Hey Smol,” Stone said with a grin as they hugged. “...Yak confused,” Yona said as the group exited the closet. “He’s my cousin,” Smolder explained. “You didn’t mention that earlier,” Spike said. “We were busy,” Stone said with a shrug. “Good thing, we were in trouble,” Smolder said. “Yeah, I was hoping you’d gone back to the dragon lands when this mess went down,” Stone said. “We can’t, not while there’s danger ahoof, problem was that we were overrun by bad changelings and we fled here,” Silverstream said. “I-I just can’t believe Thorax would do this…” Ocellus sobbed. “He’s not doing it intentionally, the gem Cozy Glow is using is messing with his head,” Spike explained. “So… it’s not a repeat of Chrysalis?” Ocellus asked. “No, the gem is making him do this,” Spike said. “What happened here?” Firestar asked having joined the conversation. “We were tending to the teachers while they were sick with whatever this gem did to them and suddenly multiple Changelings swooped in and began attacking the town, chased everypony away,” Sandbar explained. “To make room for the trap they sprung on us earlier,” Firestar said having pieced it together. “Then what do we do? We have to get that gem back from Cozy Glow, who knows what she’s planning to do with it,” Spike said. “....I think I know…” Firestar said looking grim. “She wouldn't…. That’s cruel even by criminal standards,” Stone said. “What?” Spike said worriedly. “She might be planning on destroying the gem and by extension the personalities contained in it, leaving all the victims like this… forever,” Firestar said looking at Twilight whose struggling to open a pantry door even though the handle is right there. “Do I push or pull this thing?!” Twilight said frustratedly. “Is pony teacher alright?” Yona asked worriedly. “No,” Spike said. “How is this gem destroyed?” Sandbar asked. “It was put in Yakistan because there were no volcanos there, lava is how you destroy the gem and whatever it contains,” Firestar said. “Then we have to hurry!” Spike said. “We don’t know where she went,” Firestar said. “Not to mention there’s Changelings outside,” Silverstream added. “....Then we use the cutie map,” Spike said getting an idea. “Huh?” Stone said. Spike opened the cutie map and the group surrounded it as saw Spike scrolling around it. “If Cozy has a fragment of Twilight with her, then we can track her magical signature since Twilight and the others are connected with the magic of this place,” Spike said. “Wow, you're right, if we reroute the magical current and cascade it through Equestria’s magical leylines we can find her,” Firestar said. “I understood, none of that,” Gallus said. “Yeah, I was mainly just repeating what Twilight told me,” Spike said. “Right… basically we have a way of finding out where Cozy Glow is going,” Firestar said. “Ah,” they said. “Alright… there!” Silverstream pointed at a barely visible cutie mark of Twilight and it was over by the nearest volcano…. It was over by “I know that volcano! I went there on vacation once,” Stone said pointing at it. “Then we were right, Cozy is planning on destroying the personality gem!” Firestar said feeling worried more for Twilight than the gem. “We need to get there first!” Spike said. “Me and Stone need to, it's too dangerous if she’s got Changlings there,” Stone said. “No! I can help!” Spike said. “Our answer is final,” FIrestar said. “What about us? You can’t fight all those Changelings yourselves,” Gallus said. “We’ll find a way,” Stone said. “LOOK!” Spike shouted “My sister is in danger and so are all my friends! Whether you like it or not I’m coming!” Spike said. “Yeah, we can’t let harmony be endangered by one vengeful filly!” Silverstream said. “This is for your safety,” Stone said. “Forget safety, you guys need us,” Smolder said. “Yeah!” The others said. “...Alright fine,” Stone sighed. “Stone!” Firestar said. “This is no time to play by the rules, we gotta work together,” Stone said. “Tch…” Firestar looked conflicted. “Twilight would want this,” Stone said. “....Ok,” Firestar said looking away. “Alright, now what do we do?” Stone asked. “I got a plan,” Spike said and they huddled and whispered among eachother. The group had left the castle and snuck through town, when they got to city limits they got onto the train and began to operate it. “C’mon,” Spike tried to reach up and pull a lever but he couldn’t reach it, Stone did it for him. “So can’t wait until my growth spurt,” Spike sighed. “No prob kid,” Stone said as the student six was helping to start the train and it wasn’t long before they were off. “Whoo hoo! Train ride!” Twilight cheered from the back. “Shh!” Everyone shushed her. The train left the station and thankfully no Ling seemed to notice. As they made their way down the path Spike watched for any sign of the volcano that the map indicated. “Hopefully she’ll be there,” Spike said as he looked around. An hour passed as the train moved along and eventually Spike spotted the volcano. And worse yet, it was in the process of erupting. “Not good,” Spike said. “We should be the ones to go to the volcano, we’re immune to lava,” Stone said. “Agreed,” Smolder said not wanting her friends to get hurt. “We’ll at least be able to keep the other Changelings off of you,” Gallus said. “Alright, let’s move!” Firestar said and they left the train. Cozy Glow was making her way up the volcano, one negative about being a foal is that she’s not making much headway, even with a headstart. “Ugh, what I wouldn’t do for longer legs right now,” Cozy sighed. “Don’t worry Cozy, soon Equestria will be too debilitated from having their positive emotions sucked out to defend against us,” Thorax said as he trotted beside her. “Can I ride on your back?” Cozy complained. “No, same as the last three times you asked,” Thorax said. “Uuuugh,” Cozy sighed and she looked to the other Changlings carrying decoy rocks just in case. If all goes right, nopony will be able to stop her now that the princesses have been rendered useless and the elements aren’t a threat anymore. “And I owe it all to you Pharynx for busting me out of Tartarus,” Cozy said to the Changeling. “Don’t mistake anything, I just needed my brother to see the light is all,” Pharynx said. “And I have, now that my caring heart is gone,” Thorax said. “Good to hear, now we get rid of the gem and locate Chrysalis and we’ll be back on track to conquering Equestria,” Pharynx said. “Now let’s move, we need to get this gem to the center of the volcano before it stops erupting,” Cozy turned and saw a dragon beside her. The one who snitched about the gem. A purple dragoness. “And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten our deal, you get half the gold in Canterlot when I conquer it,” Cozy said. “I better, this is as good as treason to the dragon lands,” The dragoness said. “Well I-” Suddenly Cozy was cut off by a changeling flying in front of her. “Guys! Danger!” The Changeling exclaimed. “What?” Cozy demanded. “The dragon guards and the others are coming up the volcano as well, they’ll be here any minute!” He said. “What?! How did they find us?!” Cozy demanded. “I don’t know, what do we do?” He asked. “Grr…. time to make yourselves useful, go slow them down!” Cozy ordered. “Ok,” Pharynx rolled his eyes not liking that she’s ordering him around. “We’ll ditch her after the gems gone, right?” Thorax asked. “Yeah,” Pharynx said. The group made their way up the mountain by air, but then they heard buzzing. “Huh?” Silverstream said. Ocellus flew up to the others. “They’re coming!” Ocellus said. “Ok, get in position,” Spike said. “Ok!” Ocellus said before flying off. As the group made their way further up they saw the Changelings descending the volcano. “Alright guys! Stick to the plan!” Spike said as he jumped off of Firestars back and so did the others. “Get your ex-friend brother!” Pharynx ordered and Thorax nodded and flew after him. “Everyling else! Battle stations!” Pharynx ordered and they descended on the others. Firestar fired some shots knocking a few other out of the air. Yona rammed through a group of Changelings allowing Spike to get ahead. “Go Spike!” Yona called. “I’m on it!” Spike called back as he ran up a ridge, when he got up there and made for the path upwards Thorax landed in front of him. “Hey Spike, remember me?” Thorax chuckled. “Thorax…” Spike said “Go on, come at me,” Thorax said before he shifted into a giant bug monster “The gem took the part of me that cared about you! So I won’t hesitate to crush you!” Thorax laughed. “She made you evil Thorax, but this isn’t you! Snap out of it!” Spike pleaded. “Not a chance! I’m finally following the true Changeling way! And that’s… to take!” Thorax said before he lunged… and was tackled by Stone who managed to pin him. “Get a move on it little dude!” Stone said as he held the Changling down. “Ok!” Spike ran ahead and up the path. Spike made his way up the slope and saw Flurry and a dragoness and he hurried after them. Cozy was sweating from the heat but she turned and saw Spike approaching. “Do these harmony lovers ever quit? You, take care of him!” Cozy ordered. “I have a name you know,” She said. “Do it!” Cozy said before she hurried on. “Ugh,” the dragoness turned and approached Spike, breathing a gout of flame to keep him back, Spike paused as the much bigger dragoness approached. “Why are you helping her! She’s trying to destroy Equestria!” Spike demanded. “Duh, and I stand to become the richest dragon in the dragonlands if she succeeds, so when she approached me I took the offer,” She said. “Out of the way!” Spike said. “What’s a puny dragon like you gonna do?” She laughed. “Not me, but a friend of mine on the other hand…” Spike said and the dragoness looked up and saw Firestar descending on her. He rammed her and jammed his spear into her side. “AAAGH!” She exclaimed and fell over as he wrestled with her. “Traitor! I’ll see you imprisoned for this!” Firestar said. “I’m just doing what anydragon would do and expand their hoard!” She roared as she struggled to get him off. Spike took this opportunity to run past them and at Cozy Glow who was almost at the top of the volcano. “C’mon! C’mon!” Cozy grunted as she climbed over a rock. “COZY GLOW!” Spike yelled after her and she turned and saw Spike coming after her. “Crap!” Cozy Glow said before she took to the air and tried to press on despite the heat. Spike wasn’t as debilitated by the heat and he was gaining on her. Cozy Glow managed to land at the edge of the volcano and she approached the lava. “Hah….hah…. Alright! Time to say goodbye!” Cozy Glow raised the gem and prepared to throw it in when she was tackled from behind by Spike. The two rolled around and struggled. “GET OFF OF ME!” Cozy struggled. “Not a chance!” Spike said. Cozy glanced at the gem lying in the sand nearby and she grabbed some sand and threw it in Spike’s eyes. “AGH!” Spike cried falling back, she tried to crawl for the gem but Spike grabbed her leg and pulled her back. “Get off of me!” Cozy kicked Spike in the face and crawled for the gem when he let go and she grabbed it. “Guess there’s one more personality to alter before I’m done here!” Cozy Glow said before aiming the gem at Spike and flashing it. “No!” Spike cried. Suddenly Firestar jumped in front of Spike and blocked it, and thankfully his obsidian helmet protected him. “Firestar!” Spike exclaimed. “Uh oh,” Cozy said backing away. “Hand it over…” Firestar approached and he reached forward and swiped the gem from Cozy Glow before she could throw it. “Give it back!” Cozy Glow demanded. “I won’t let you destroy what makes Equestria, Equestria!” Firestar said… before a changeling rammed him and sent the dragon stumbling and he wound up falling into the lava and he wound up tossing the gem as he fell. “Firestar!” Spike cried. The gem landed nearby and Spike and Cozy bolted for it, but were cut off by two changelings. Pharynx and a regular Changling soldier. “Huh?!” Spike backed away. “Heh, you lose, soldier give it to me!” Cozy Glow demanded. “You heard her, get it,” Pharynx said and the Changling nodded and retrieved it. “Good thing that soldier came with me here, we arrived just in time,” Pharynx said. “Agreed… hey hurry up with the gem!” Cozy Glow demanded. “NO!” Spike tried to run at the Changling but Pharynx hit him down. “Stay down!” Pharynx demanded and the Changling approached Cozy and hoofed it to her. “Alright! Now watch little dragon, as I destroy harmony with one simple action!” Cozy Glow said before chucking the gem into the lava. “NOOOOO!” Spike cried and he saw the gem vanish into the lava. “Hahahahaha! So long harmony!” Cozy Glow laughed. “....Not yet…” Spike said as he got up. “What’s left to fight for? You lost,” Cozy said in a cocky tone. “....Did I?” Spike said. “Huh-” Pharynx said before suddenly something burst out of the lava. Firestar, and he landed in front of them, and not wasting a moment he lunged forward and pinned Pharynx against a wall. “Huh?!” Cozy said before seeing the other Changeling just standing there “Don’t just stand there! Do something!” Cozy said. “Actually, no,” Suddenly the Changeling turned into Ocellus. “WHAT?!” Cozy said. “We had her infiltrate the ranks of your supporters and now we have you,” Spike said. “W-well I still won! The gem is history!” Cozy said. “You mean this gem?” Ocellus said pulling out the real gem. “Huh?! H-how did-” Cozy demanded. “We used your own decoy against you,” Ocellus said. "You're the one who loses Cozy Glow,” Spike said. “....No….NOOO!” Cozy lunged at Ocellus who jumped out of the way and pitched it to Spike who held the gem and held it towards Cozy Glow. “Say cheese!” Spike said before he flashed the gem at Cozy who’s eyes widened. “NOOOOO!” Cozy cried as an aura left her mouth and entered the gem… and she collapsed. “NO!” Pharynx grunted, trying to struggle out of Firestar's grip. “Looks like Cozy just lost something of her own, I wonder what it was,” Spike asked. Firestar punched Pharynx to knock him out and then approached Spike. “Here, hand it over,” Firestar said and Spike did so. “Ok, Time to release the captive emotions,” Firestar said before he held up the stone and activated it again. It glowed brightly but this time auras flowed out of it and away from there. The group was backed up against a wall as many Changelings surrounded them. Just as they were ready to attack suddenly auras flew into them and they staggered. “Huh?” The Changelings said as they suddenly snapped out of it. “Wait a minute… what were we doing?!” A Changeling exclaimed. “We were helping Cozy Glow!” Another said. “Did… they do it?” Gallus hesitantly asked. “Yep, the plan worked,” Silverstream sighed in relief. Twilight was taking a nap in the train when suddenly her aura flew into her and she gasped as she woke. “I’m… I’m back to normal!” Twilight said with a smile and she hurried out of the train. Celestia was playing with a teddy bear while Lune was still hiding under her throne when their aura’s flew into them and Luna came out from under the throne. “The fear has vanished… thank goodness, I feared I’d remain a coward for life,” Luna said before noticing Celestia was trotting towards her with an embarrassed look on her face. “Can we… never tell anypony in Canterlot how I acted?” Celestia asked. “Sure sister,” Luna chuckled, planning to do just that. Firestar was carrying Cozy Glow, the dragoness, and Pharynx down the slope where the others were waiting. “Spike!” Thorax ran for him. “Thorax?” Spike said unsurely. But then Thorax hugged him. “I’m so sorry Spike! I wasn’t myself back there!” Thorax apologized. “It’s fine!.... Can you stop squeezing!” Spike choked. “Ok,” Thorax said setting him down. “Let’s get back to the train, Twilight is probably back to normal by now,” Spike said. “...Yeah,” Firestar said with a smile as he saw the purple pony galloping towards them. And he knew it was time to head back. Upon returning to the train the group wasted no time and went home. Meanwhile Cozy Glow woke up, and the interaction was… interesting to say the least. “Mmmh…” Cozy woke up and looked around. “Hey Cozy, how was the nap?” Spike asked. “Why are you acting so chummy with the most criminal filly in Equestria?” Gallus asked as everypony surrounded her. “Because I can guess what she lost,” Spike said as she seemed frightened, he approached and stood in front of her. “So Cozy, are you evil anymore?” Spike asked simply and Cozy looked down. “No… I wanna go home now…” Cozy said. “Huh?” The group said. “She valued her own evil ambition, now she’s a normal filly,” Twilight pointed out. “Yes… I know trusting me is hard but… I really am sorry for everything…” Cozy said. “...So, what do we do with her?” Stone asked. “I can answer that,” Cozy said extending her hoofs in a hoofcuffing gesture “I’m turning myself in,” Cozy said with a resolute expression. “But Cozy, your finally back to being a normal filly, you could stay like this forever,” Silverstream said. “I know… but this isn’t the way, I have to learn how by myself, not because a rock took my evil from me,” Cozy said. “She’s right,” Twilight said and everypony looked down at that knowing Cozy couldn’t just live on like this without learning her lesson herself. Upon getting back to Ponyville there were guards waiting there, alerted by Spike who sent a message to Celestia. Upon exiting Cozy Glow willingly went back into custody and entered a cage. “Alright Cozy Glow, thank you for your cooperation,” Twilight said. “And thank you for giving me a brief experience as a non-evil pony,” Cozy Glow said with a smile. “Alright, here we go,” Twilight said before using the gem and releasing the last contained personality, Cozy’s and it flowed into the filly who staggered and shook her head before glaring at Twilight and lunging at the edge of the cage. “YOU STUPID PRINCESS! I CAN’T BELIEVE I GAVE MYSELF UP!” Cozy yelled. “I always knew there was a part of you that was good,” Twilight said. "This is ridiculous! Betrayed by the one pony I thought I could trust, me!" Cozy growled in frustration. “Alright, now come with us Cozy,” The guards dragged the angry shouting filly away back to Tartarus, along with more cages with the dragoness and Pharynx in it. “Brother,” Thorax said with a sad look. “This isn’t over Thorax!” Pharynx sneered as he was carted away. “....I should get moving, I have much work to do back at the hive,” Thorax said as he walked away. “Good luck Thorax,” Spike said knowing Thorax was upset. “Alright,” Twilight turned to the student six who were chatting among themselves and smiled proudly. “Things are back to normal,” Twilight said as she prepared to head back, when suddenly she heard a cough. “Um… Twilight?” Firestar said as he approached. “Hmm? Yes?” Twilight asked. “I wanted to say…. Thank you,” Firestar said. “What for?” Twilight asked. “You showed me there are others like me out there, an intellectual who wants to… meet with another and maybe…” FIrestar was struggling to say it. ‘I understand,” Twilight nodded with a smile and hugged him, resulting in him blushing. “Tell me whenever you want,” She said. “Th-thanks,” Firestar said. “Welp, I better go find that Pink pony and propose to her, the time is nigh,” Stone said. “Propose?” Twilight said in surprise. “Later, for now, we have to take care of this,” Firestar said holding up the gem. “Aw come on, you're not going to drag me back to guarding that cave are you?” Stone complained. “No… we’re going to destroy it,” Firestar said. “....What?” Everyone said in surprise. “It really is too dangerous, it ended up in the hooves of a filly and it caused all this, and personally, I think it is time we lived our lives a bit,” Firestar smiled at Stone. “Atta boy,” Stone patted him on the back “We’ll probably get chewed out by Ember though,” Stone said. “Well… what’s she going to do? Fire me?” Firestar chuckled. “That’s the spirit,” Stone laughed. Twilight smiled as they laughed together, and she knew their lives were finally theirs. “Maybe we’ll return afterwards, and we can….work on some inventions together?” Firestar asked. “I’d love that,” Twilight nodded. “Thanks,” Firestar said. As the two dragons left Twilight watched them go, Firestar promised to return soon as he finished his business and Stone will propose to Pinkie Pie. She hopes things will work out, but for now she has to go see how her friends are doing. And with that, Twilight headed back with Spike and the others ready to see how her friends will react to how Spike managed to defeat Cozy Glow. Author's Note Not my strongest finish I will admit, but I hope you all enjoyed it. This took a while longer than I could have done due to COVID but this was still fun to write. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go back and finish a story that isn't finished, stay tuned.
Emotional thieveryYakistan A cave nestled on a cliffside, as the storm raged on and two figures guarded the cave's edge. A pair of dragons were wearing armor and one had a spear. And they… were so bored… “Yaaaaawn…” Stone yawned. “No slouching on the job Stone,” Firestar said for the thirteenth time. “I know I know… but seriously, nothing is going to happen, nothing ever happens,” Stone said. “Doesn’t mean something won’t,” Firestar said. “Dude, we’re in an isolated cave off the coast of Yakistan, nopony even knows about this cave, save for a few, but they're in that pony jail, tartar sauce or something,” The orange dragon waved him off. “Tartarus and the fact there are beings who know means we should remain vigilant,” Firestar said. “You need a chillpill, let me shoot some rounds with your spear,” Stone said. “What? Why?” Firestar held his spear closer. “Because I’m bored!” Stone said. “Like I’ll let you play around with it after what happened last time, you nearly burnt the whole cave down!” Firestar said. “Ugh, will you ever let that go?” Stone sighed. “Not taking any more chances, not when the dragon lord gave us specific instructions to protect the stone,” Firestar said pointing to the glowing green gem in the cave about the size of a baseball. “You really need to get a girlfriend…” Stone rolled his eyes. “Whatever… I need to use the bathroom,” Firestar said. “What happened to 'remaining vigilant'?” Stone asked with quotation marks. “Hard to when you have to use the bathroom, I need you to watch the stone, and do NOT fall asleep again, last time it could have been stolen!” Firestar said. “You never let anything go, fine,” Stone rolled his eyes. “Ok,” Firestar then left to go take his number two while Stone laid back against the wall of the cave and sighed. “Bored…. So bored….” Stone looked out at the forest and saw no sign of movement “Hmm…. nopony ever comes to this cave anyways, a short period of shuteye won’t hurt…” Stone shrugged before taking a nap. And a small figure flew up to the cave. “Heheheh… right where he said it was, all that waiting paid off,” She whispered as she quickly snuck past the sleeping drake, swiped the glowing green gem, and flew away. ---three minutes later--- …..Tap tap tap… “Huh?” Stone woke up and looked up to see an irate Firestar tapping his foot. “What. Did. I. say?” Firestar said looking like he restraining himself from attacking him. “Dude relax, it was just a power nap-” SMACK “OW! What the heck man?!” Stone rubbed his face where he was struck “Look at the rock…” Firestar pointed to his right. “Huh?” Stone turned and saw a green rock “Yeah, what about it?” Stone asked. “....IT’S A FAKE YOU MORON!” Firestar yelled. “What?” Stone said before looking at the rock and he could see it was just a similarly sized rock painted green. “............Oops…” Stone said. “You and I need to find it, and then, YOU are going report why YOU messed up to Ember,” Firestar said. “C’mon! You left to take a poop, surely you get some of the blame,” Stone said. “Don’t you turn this on me, I explicitly told you not to fall asleep!” Firestar retorted. “I-” “Come on! Let’s get moving!” Firestar said as he ran ahead. “Ugh… he really needs a girlfriend…” Stone said as he followed. A hoofball flew through the air and landed on the head of Scootaloo. “Haha!” Scootaloo bounced it to Yona who rammed the ball sending it to Smolder. “Yak like this game, not as fun as smashing though,” Yona said. “Eh, better than what we have in Griffonstone,” Gallus said as he caught the ball and pitched it to Sandbar who bucked it into the air and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom teamed up to bounce it back. “Whoo hoo!” Sweetie said. “Yeehaw!” AB said. Silverstream flew up and knocked it to Ocellus, who ducked down and the ball bounced off of her. “Aw man, almost a perfect one,” Smolder sighed. “S-sorry,” Ocellus said. “It’s fine,” Sandbar said as he approached. “You gotta get used to projectiles or one day it's going to get you hurt,” Gallus said. “What he said, c’mon Ocellus let’s try again,” Smolder said before a bell rang and they turned to see students heading back into the school. “Aw, time is up,” Yona said. “Sorry guys,” Ocellus said. “No problem, we’ll try again, next recess,” Sandbar said. “Alright, let’s get moving before one of the professors gets on our flanks about being late,” Smolder said as they walked on. As the group walked on inside the CMC said their goodbyes and left for home. “Ok, so what are we going to do now?” Sweetie asked. “We should get moving to the clubhouse, we can figure out our next move there,” Scootaloo said as the three galloped through the town avoiding several ponies as they made it to the clubhouse and they went up the stairs to get to planning. “Ok, let’s get focusin on continuin work on our cutie mark aid, ever since we got ‘em we have helped so many ponies, but it may be time to expand our network,” Apple Bloom said. “What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked as they entered. “Ah’m sayin we could let distant ponies know about our cutie mark service, an help em,” Apple Bloom said. “And how are we going to pull this off?” Scootaloo asked. “We can-” Suddenly a loud rumble came around them and they turned to see what it was. And when they peeked out their window to see they saw a figure flying overhead. “Huh?!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “What in tarnation?!” Apple Bloom said. “Was that… a dragon?” Sweetie asked and then a second one flew overhead and they peeked out to see them flying towards town. “Should we go see how this’ll go,” Apple Bloom said. “Why should it matter? We see dragons all the time nowadays,” Sweetie said. “Something doesn’t feel right,” Scootaloo said as they made their back in. Rainbow Dash flew out over the forest flying through clouds and punching holes in them, she then did a loop and flew back through them scattering them. As she paused she then shot upwards and punched through another big cloud and then landed on another. “Whew! Nice workout today,” Rainbow said stretching out her wings as she took off again this time she moved the clouds closer together and planned to bust through them all at once. “Ok, now for the real challenge,” Rainbow said as she stretched out and then she ascended into the air quickly, getting high enough that she could do a rainboom instantly and she took off downwards. “Alright! Let’s see my new technique in action!” Rainbow said as she built up speed, she could feel the wind resistance getting ready to break… aaaaannnd- “AAAAAHHHH!” A voice cried from within the forest and Rainbow was startled out of her charge and she collided with the cloud. “Oooff!” Rainbow grunted and she looked around to see where that scream came from. “Huh? Where-” “AAAAAAHHHH! Somepony help!” it was a filly’s voice… that can’t be good! “Hold on! I’m coming!” Rainbow said and she flew off towards the sound to help whoever it was. She heard more screaming in that set of trees over there! “I’m coming!” Rainbow said and she entered the tree line and landed “Alright! Hero time!” Rainbow said looking for the screaming filly…. And she saw nothing… “Huh? What happened? Hello?” Rainbow looked around. “....Hello Rainbow Dash,” A vaguely familiar voice said and Rainbow turned around. “Huh?! You?! How did you-” “Da mihi thesaurum tuum!” The voice yelled and suddenly a bright green light consumed Rainbow who screamed. Twilight walked through her school, she was getting ready for the next curriculum to teach, sharing, and now she just had to get there without anypony stopping her. “Alright, I will demonstrate how to share based on their individual ways based on species and find a way to mix them… yes, that will work,” Twilight said. “I think this’ll be a great one,” Spike said. “Yeah, I hope you brought some volunteer cards since the girls are taking the day off,” Twilight said. “Yep, hard to forget to bring them when you constantly remind me,” Spike snarked. “You can never be too careful,” Twilight said. “I can name a few ways…” Spike muttered before suddenly they bumped into Smolder who came around a corner. “Huh? Oh, there you are! You need to come with me right now!” Smolder said. “What? What’s going on? And why aren’t you in class?” Twilight asked getting up. “Never mind that… we got a visitor,” Smolder said urgently. “Ok, Spike continue on to class, ask one of the substitutes to help with the lesson,” Twilight said sensing the urgency in Smolder. “Ok,” Spike said and Twilight followed Smolder to the front door. When they got there they saw the main hall was occupied by two dragons, not big, more like medium sized and they were wearing armor. “Hmm? Are you the princess of this land?” Firestar asked approaching. “...Well, I am a princess but not ruler of the nation,” Twilight said. “I told you we should have gone to that big city on the mountain,” Firestar sighed. “It’s where that drake pointed us, Gargle or something,” Stone said. “Garble! Ugh, sometimes I wonder how you passed the exams to be a guard…” Firestar sighed again. “So… what can I do for you?” Twilight asked. “We’re here on the account of a theft of an important item, if you are not the ruler of this nation then we demand you point us to him or her,” Firestar said. “I’m pretty sure Celestia would be more than okay with helping you, but she might be busy, maybe I can help you?” Twilight offered. “I suppose, time is of the essence,” Firestar said. “What was stolen? Gems? Gold?” Twilight implored. “A rare magical gem known as the stone of emotion, a well-guarded treasure by our nation,” Firestar said. “A rare magical gem? What can it-” “We don’t have time, it was stolen by a pony, and whoever they were they were young,” FIrestar said. “How do you know?” Twilight asked. “The hoofprints size was a dead giveaway,” Stone said. “Hmm, so this implies the gem was taken by a foal?...” Twilight pondered this. “And because this bonehead fell asleep!” Firestar said with a growl. “Dude… let it go,” Stone rolled his eyes. “Does this gem pose any danger?” Twilight implored. “If used right, it could mean disaster,” Firestar said. “Then time is of the essence indeed,” Twilight nodded and she trotted to the door with the two dragons “Let’s gather my friends, they are the most dependable ponies around,” Twilight said. “What about me?” Smolder asked. “Why not go back to class, we should handle this,” Firestar informed her. “Alright…” Smolder sighed knowing he was a royal guard and so she could not interfere if he said not to. As they made their way out of the school Twilight led them into town with a levitated magic quill and papers she conjured and she sent the notes to her friends. As they went on to head to the castle of friendship, ponies everywhere were gawking at the two drakes. “Dude, we’re finally the center of attention, I say we throw a party,” Stone said. “Are you incapable of taking anything seriously?” Firestar sighed before he turned and saw a pink pony looking him in the eye. “AGH!” Firestar jumped a little as Pinkie was somehow still in midair and she dropped to the ground with a thud. She let out a gasp and quickly ran up to them. “Newcomers! Yay! I had some mane and tail twitches that told me that we were getting new visitors, but I-” She stopped to take a breath and resumed “But I didn’t think they would be dragons so this means I’ll have to bust out the gemstone cupcakes!” Pinkie cheered. “........Is she on something?” Stone asked. “Move aside, we have urgent business to attend to,” Firestar said impatiently. “But the party,” Pinkie said waving her arms. “We have a stolen artifact to retrieve, we have no time for a party,” Firestar said walking around her. “At least take ooooonnne,” Pinkie pleaded pulling out a cupcake from nowhere and presenting it to Stone. “Alright alright, if it’ll get you out of my face,” Stone took it and examined it closely. He usually eats gemstones only… so this was new… “Hmm, alright,” Stone popped the cupcake into his mouth and ate it………. “Whoa….” Stone said as he chewed on it and suddenly it was like every gem he’s ever eaten… was put to shame instantly, he began to cry a little. “Hmm?” Pinkie noticed his odd reaction. “It’s…. It’s…. DELICIOUS!” Stone exclaimed and picked Pinkie up. “You- what was that?!” Stone asked. “It’s a cupcake… with ground rubies in it,” Pinkie shrugged. “I want more!” He said. “Ok! Let’s head back to Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie said enthusiastically. “Sugarcube Corner?” Stone questioned. “Where all sorts of goodies like that are made and eaten!” Pinkie said and he just widened his eyes. “....Wow…. Pink pony call yourself lucky because I think I found my dream home,” Stone said. “Stone, come on!” Firestar waved him on. “Just a sec, pink pony, do you have a mate?” Stone asked. “If you mean a husband no,” Pinkie said with a head tilt. “Then marry me!” Stone hugged her. “AGH! TOO TIGHT!” Pinkie said before Stone was thumped on the head hard and he dropped her. “Ow!” Stone said.³ ”DO I NEED TO DRAG YOUR SCALY BUTT TO HER CASTLE!?” Firestar growled. “Ok ok! Pink pony, we’ll talk later,” Stone said before he followed the other two. “Actually I’m coming with you, Twilight needs to see me and the others,” Pinkie said. “Great, we can talk more about our eventual engagement and all the treats I’ll receive,” Stone chuckled. “I don’t get what you mean by engagement, but you got it!” Pinkie said. “....He’s not very serious is he?” Twilight asked Firestar. “About as serious as a baby rabbit…” Firestar sighed. The group arrived at the castle and they gathered at the map room. As they waited for everypony else to show up Twilight decided to get to know the two drakes more. “So for the record, what are your names again?” Twilight asked. “I’m Firestar, and he is my burden named Stone,” Firestar said. “You know you love me,” Stone said with a chuckle. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my friend Pinkie Pie,” Twilight introduced herself and her friend. “Nice, now can we move it along, we have to find that gem before it is used on anypony,” Firestar said. “What does it do?” Twilight asked. “It-” Suddenly they were interrupted by a group of mares entering. And there was something off about one of them…. “Huh?” Twilight said seeing a lump under a blanket and shivering. “Twilight, we, no Rainbow needs help,” Fluttershy said worriedly looking at Rainbow who was laying on her back. “What happened to her?” Twilight asked. “Well…” Fluttershy remembered their encounter quite clearly… Ten minutes ago The group was making their way across town and heading for Twilight’s castle. “Where’s Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked. “She told me she was going off to practice on her day off, but if she received the same message we all did then she must be headed to the same destination we are,” Rarity said. “Then why hasn’t she shown up?” AJ asked. “Perhaps she got lost?” Fluttershy wondered. “Should we look for her?” AJ asked. “No, she knows her way around, let us proceed on and I am certain she’ll meet us at the-” Suddenly something crashed into Rarity and she fell over. “Rares!” AJ said as she went over to her to help her up. “Oh dear! I got dirt on my lovely white fur!” Rarity exclaimed. “What just-” Fluttershy turned and saw that the thing that knocked over Rarity was a panicking Rainbow Dash, she turned to her and he eyes widened. “SHY!” Rainbow ran over to her and hugged her, shaking and crying. “Rainbow?! What happened?” Fluttershy asked worriedly. “I-I-It’s after me!” Rainbow sobbed. “What?” AJ said wondering what could reduce the proud Rainbow into a shivering crying mess. “What is? Rainbow what happened?” Fluttershy said seriously. “TOO LATE! IT’S COMING!” Rainbow took to the air in a panic. “Rainbow!” Fluttershy tried to grab her friend but she was thrashing too much and she turned to see what was scaring her so much…. And saw a chicken… “Huh?” Fluttershy looked around as Rainbow dove behind her. “Hide me!” Rainbow cried. “Rainbow, what are you scared of?” Fluttershy asked. “That!” Rainbow pointed at the chicken. “....Is it behind the chicken?” AJ asked. “NO! It is the chicken!” Rainbow sobbed. “..........” Everypony in hearing range just burst into laughter. “Why are you laughing?! Run!” Rainbow cried. “Ok, that’s real funny Rainbow, now c’mon,” AJ said wiping her eye as she was tearing up from laughing so hard. “You have to admit you're overreacting,” Fluttershy said with some giggles. “Not you too Shy! Protect me!” Rainbow cried as she saw the chicken wander near her. “...Rainbow that’s enough,” Fluttershy said starting to worry a little. “You're making a bit of a scene,” Rarity said. “I wants to peck me! I don’t wanna be pecked!” Rainbow cried. “....Somethin ain’t right here,” AJ said trotting up to Rainbow who looked at her fearfully. “Rainbow if this is a joke then stop now,” AJ said. “S-stop giving me that look, it’s scary!” Rainbow said frightened. “.....” AJ clapped her hooves in Rainbow's face and Rainbow ‘eeped’ and dove to the ground. “Girls, ah think she’s serious,” AJ said. “What happened to her?” Fluttershy asked. “Whatever did, it may be the reason we’ve been called upon, let us move,” Rarity said. “Um, what about Rainbow?” AJ asked. “Hmm, I got it,” Rarity said. Right about now “And that’s what happened,” Rarity finished. “Rainbow?” Twilight asked as she approached her hiding friend and Rainbow peeked out of her blanket and eep’d again before diving off of Fluttershy’s back and she ran over to a corner. “She’s utterly terrified of any and everything, I don’t know why,” Rarity said. “Then…-” Twilight was interrupted by Firestar walking past them and up to Rainbow. Rainbow peeked at who was approaching and she cried out in fear seeing a dragon and curled up. “She’s utterly devoid of bravery… hmm…” FIrestar sniffed her and nodded “The gem was used on her,” he said. “Or she’s just a coward,” Stone said. “No, she’s braver than any of us,” Twilight said approaching as well. “Then why is she terrified of everything?” Stone asked. “Does this mean the stone robs the victim of their bravery?” Twilight asked. “No, it robs any being of their most prized personality trait, and it does it so thoroughly they become what they aren’t in the process, I assume she favored her brave heart so she lost it as a result,” Firestar said with a troubled look. “How do we fix it?” Twilight asked. “We need the stone back, and even then it’s no guarantee,” Firestar said. “What?” Fluttershy said in shock. “You mean she’ll be like this forever?” Rarity asked. “Possibly, this situation rarely pops up,” Firestar said turning to the others “We need to find the culprit,” Firestar said with a serious expression. “Let’s go Stone,” Firestar said and Stone sighed as he got up and followed. “Wait, where are you going?” Twilight asked. “To find the culprit, you're free to do your own investigating, just not into this case,” Firestar said as he rested his spear on his shoulder. “We can help you, she’s our friend,” Twilight said. “Dragon land business lady, sorry,” Stone said. “He’s right, you need to stay out of this,” Firestar said. “No,” Twilight said approaching “I am the princess of friendship, and I need to do whatever I can to save my friend,” Twilight said. “...Fine, but do your investigating close to town, we can’t risk anymore cases like shivers over there,” Stone said pointing to the still cowering Rainbow. “Ok,” Twilight said. “And meanwhile we’ll pay the school a visit, see if we can’t dig anything up and spread out some protection,” Firestar said. “Protection?” Twilight asked. The students were all gathered outside of the school and Firestar and Stone were passing out some kind of weird helmets. “What is this?” Silverstream asked. “Obsidian helmets, they were originally made for dragons to avoid the effects of the gem but today they well be used for you, obsidian is a great dampener for gem magic,” Firestar said. “Huh?” Twilight took note of this as she stood with her students. “And also as long as you are not looking directly at the gem when it flashes it shouldn’t affect you,” Firestar said. “You seem to know a lot about magic,” Twilight said. “I study on my off time, it’s a hobby,” Firestar said. “Interesting,” Twilight said. “Alright, now let’s make this clear, if you see a green rock exuding a bright light, run and don’t look at it, ok? Now go on with your days, but be wary,” Firestar said. The students dispersed and Twilight and her friends approached. “Can we have ours?” AJ asked. “Preferably ones that are in fashion?” Rarity added. “Unfortunately that was all we had, but don’t worry, you all will simply need to not look at it to avoid losing personality traits,” Firestar said. “Alright, but we need to find the one responsible soon, before Rainbow hurts herself,” Fluttershy said looking at Rainbow who was hiding behind her. “....I think I know who may be behind it,” Twilight said. “That quickly?” Stone said. “You mentioned the hoofprints were small, meaning it was a young pony… and we know only one small pony who could have a problem with us, who would deliberately target one of us,” Twilight said looking serious. “Who would that be?” Firestar asked. “...Cozy Glow,” Twilight said grimly. Author's Note Hello my viewers, I hope you enjoy this new story made alongside Dragonknife5
Taken by surprise“Cozy Glow? Ain’t she locked up in Tartarus?” AJ asked. “We’ll need to find out, Spike!” Twilight turned and called to her assistant who was nearby chatting with Smolder and when he heard he walked over. “Yeah, Twilight?” Spike asked. “I need you to send word to Celestia, we may have a criminal filly on the loose,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Spike nodded and he pulled out a paper and quill and wrote on it. “Hmm? This young whelp works for you?” Firestar asked. “Yes, he’s my number one assistant, and my adopted brother,” Twilight said. “...A pony and a dragon being siblings?... odd,” Stone said scratching his head. “The explanation will take time we don’t have, come on,” Twilight said as she led them back to the castle. “We’ll handle Rainbow, let us know if anything happens!” Rarity called after them and Twilight nodded as she trotted away. “Ok, RD, come with us,” AJ said. “N-no! What if we get mugged on the way?” Rainbow shivered. “She’s more jumpy than Shy, no offense,” AJ sighed. “It’s fine,” Fluttershy said. “By the way,” Spike asked running beside Firestar. “Hmm?” Firestar looked at Spike. “What’s with that spear? It’s different looking from a royal guard's spear,” Spike said. “This? I made it,” Firestar said. “You made this spear?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, it uses a marka crystal to harness heat and focus it into a condensed sphere of fire,” Firestar explained. “What?” Spike didn’t understand. “A marka crystal? To create combustion attacks… Amazing, I’ve used a few back in the day but never thought of that,” Twilight said. “You did?” Firestar asked surprised. “Of course, I was trying to apply it to my thaumic sensors in hopes of creating a proper magic sensing machine, but it didn’t work,” Twilight said. “Did… you check the age of the crystal? How old the crystal is usually determines its effect and output,” Firestar said. “Really? I never thought about that,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “And do you make sure to send the electrodes through at an even magic current instead of an odd magical one?” Firestar asked. “....I need to retry the experiment later, you seem quite knowledgeable about this stuff,” Twilight said with a smile. “I am an inventor, I make all kinds of things,” Firestar said with a slight blush. A blush that wasn’t missed by Stone who grinned. “A dragon inventor?” Spike asked. “Yeah, he’s a total nerd,” Stone said. “Shut up Stone,” Firestar sighed. As the group made it to the castle Twilight and Firestar were still chatting about inventions they made. “Heh, Firestar you sly dog,” Stone said. “Man, never thought I’d meet somedragon with similar thought processes to Twilight,” Spike said. “Never thought I’d meet a pony with similar thought processes to Firestar,” Stone said. “Huh…” Spike said not sure what to make of this. “And in conclusion, I think electric theory-” Firestar said before Spike coughed and got their attention. “Sorry to interrupt but, we still have a mad filly on the loose,” Spike said. “Indeed, not like you to get distracted,” Stone said with a cocky smirk. “Fine, we’ll continue this later,” Firestar said as they followed Twilight up to the map room. Upon entering Twilight approached the cutie map and turned it on. “Whoa!” Stone said jumping as the holographic map came up. “What kind of magic is this?” Firestar asked. “A special kind from a magic tree,” Twilight said. “...Really?” Stone asked. “Ok, so we find that the mysterious power that turned Rainbow into a frightened pony seems to be in the hoofs of a criminal filly and it is in the process of inflicting magical issues on various ponies in the form of emotional magic being stolen, what was its use originally?” Twilight asked. “It was to be used in the event the dragonlands faces danger, it could be used to pacify potential dangers to dragons,” Firestar said. “Only it never saw use until today, because who’d be stupid enough to attack the dragonlands?” Stone said. “Makes sense,” Spike said. “Ok, if we’re dealing with mind magic then we need to be prepared, Spike can I have your help in locating the right books?” Twilight asked. “Ok!” Spike as he followed her. “You two stay here, if you see any pings, let me know,” Twilight said before the two left. The two drakes shrugged and sat down. Some time passed and Stone decided to break the ice. “So… Fire,” Stone said. “What?” Firestar replied. “What do you think about Twilight?” Stone asked. Firestar raised an eyebrow. “I think she's a good leader and a very caring friend. Not to mention she is knowledgeable,” said Firestar. “Aha don't you think she would be a great mate for you,” Stone said with a slight grin which stopped Firestar with wide eyes. “What brought this on?” yelled Firestar. “Oh come on man you both like to talk about nerd stuff. Both of you like to take responsibility. Not to mention she finds your inventions very interesting, not like our dragonesses back at home. Not one could handle your long lectures about your inventions. Even the new dragon lord Ember tries to avoid you because you were trying to show her your new inventions.” Stone said matter of factly which only irritated Firestar. “What makes you think that I want to have a pony as a mate? Not to mention she's a princess meaning she has a lot of responsibility as a leader. Granted she is beautiful and kind. Not to mention the only female that ever finds my inventions interesting without me getting tail slapped or fire breath in the face, not to mention she’s not saying anything bad about my intelligence or my inventions or how I'm boring,” Firestar said. “See that's my point she's perfect for you!” Stone said with a cocky grin. “Why are you so interested in me finding a mate?” Questioned Firestar. “Because dude you're my cave buddy and I'm your dragon wing man. I got to look for a girlfriend for my buddy. Otherwise, do I have to remind you of your old flame?” These words only got him a tackle onto the ground from an angry Firestar. “We agreed that we’d never ever speak of her again,” Firestar growled. “Noted!” said Stone defensively as Firestar got off of him “Also how can I not help find my best Drake without finding him a date for my wedding?” Stone said. “I've been meaning to ask why do you decided to marry that pink pony Pinkie Pie just so you can eat all her cupcakes? Doesn’t that seem superfic-” Firestar said and it was now Stones turned to tackle. “Don't you ever ever just say that only marry her just for cupcakes. Okay only a little but Those cupcakes are something made with love. Something you don't ever find in the Dragon Lands gem cave. When I tasted her cupcakes I found happiness. Happiness that I have never felt in a very long time. Not to mention it is a family tradition,” Said Stone. “What?” Firestar asked. “Yeah! My mom gave a delicious gem to my dad. Same thing happened to my my grandpa and my great-great-grandfather too. My family only finds mates if one of them gives them a delicious gem. Which Pinkie Pie did. And I love her for that,” Stone said getting off of him. “...But aren't you moving too fast it's a marriage without getting her to know her first. Also on case you had to notice I don't think you don't have the qualifications of a good mate. How are you going to support her?” questioned Firestar. “Look I know I can be lazy and not have of responsibility but whatever comes with my mate I would do it with all my power to make her happy and to protect her. Because my dad said to me ‘son whenever you find a mate that ever gives you something delicious to eat. You must do in every way and your power to make that mate happy and promise to love her for the rest of your life and to never let her go.’ That was the one thing that I ever learned that I kept in My Heart!” Said Stone with a determined look. This surprised Fire Star “But are you sure you want to marry a pony?” “Look I don't care what you say to anyone else but whenever a female ever offered me a delicious gem I must claim her as my mate and to make sure she has a happy life,” Stone said. “But what if she doesn't want to not marry you? You do realize ponies have different relationship practices right,” Questioned Firestar “Then I would learn these relationship practices to win her over. I made up my mind and I'm never going back,” Stone said. For the first time ever Firestar finds Stone's determination surprising and he nodded in acknowledgment,” Well, I wish you good luck and hope you succeed,” Said Firestar with a proud look. “Same to you and I hope you went over Twilight Princess,” Said Stone with that slight smirk. Which only made Firestar blush with anger. “Can we please go back to taking back that gem from Cozy Glow?” Which made Stone chuckle at his face. “Sure sure,” Stone laughed a little as Twilight came back. “Sorry I took so long, Spike had to use the bathroom,” Twilight said. “Gee announce it to everypony why don’t you?” Spike sighed. “Any signs?” Twilight said. “No, but I assure you we’ll find her,” Firestar said. “Alright, then let’s get to work!” Twilight said eagerly. “I’ll help,” Firestar said. Rainbow was still under her blanket shaking in fear as Fluttershy and Rarity were carting her into her cottage on a wheelbarrow. “Slow down!” Rainbow said. “I miss the Rainbow Dash that could handle anything,” Rarity said. “Agreed,” AJ said. “We’ll get her back to normal soon ah bet,” AJ said before sitting down on a chair. “Well, we’ll take care of her later, for now we should rest,” Rarity said. “Don’t worry Rainbow, we’ll fix ya soon,” Pinkie said. “F-fix? What does that mean?” Rainbow asked. “I hope we can soon, If you all need me, I will be out back feeding the muskrats,” Fluttershy said. “Ok,” AJ said as Fluttershy trotted out. “Come here darlings,” Fluttershy spread the feed and the muskrats came over to get some. Fluttershy loves this, ensuring every pet is full and happy. As she hovered about and spread more feed she suddenly heard a rustle in a nearby bush. “Huh?” Fluttershy said, something in her tells her this could be bad for her. Before seeing Angel come out of the bushes. “Angel? What were you doing there?” Fluttershy asked. Angel shrugged and hopped over to her. “Very well, while you're here, could you please disperse the feed while I fill their drinking bowls,” Fluttershy asked. Angel nodded and began working on the already spread feed while Fluttershy turned and began filling the buckets. As she finished she looked in through a window to see how her friends were doing. AJ was napping, Rainbow was still under her blanket, Angel was coming down the stairs, Rarity was in the bathroom doing her make-up, Pinkie was-....wait… “Angel?” Fluttershy asked outloud seeing the rabbit in the- THUNK Fluttershy dropped to the ground unconscious and was dragged away by an unseen foe. “She sure is takin her time,” AJ said having woken up recently. “I’m a tad worried about her,” Rarity said. “Hmm,” Pinkie was looking out the window. “Everything good Pinkie?” AJ asked. “No… something isn’t right,” Pinkie said. “You… are not suggesting something happened to Fluttershy do you?” Rarity asked worriedly. “Ah’ll check on her,” AJ said as she went towards the door. “I’ll come with,” Rarity said and she followed AJ to the backyard and opened the door. And a bunch of muskrats fled past their hooves. “AH!” Rarity yelped as one of them got some dirt on her. “Calm down Rares,” AJ rolled her eyes before looking to see what was scaring the muskrats… and she narrowly ducked a thrown chair. “AND KEEP AWAY YOU FILTHY RATS!” Fluttershy bellowed. “Fluttershy?” Rarity said sounding appalled. “WHAT?!” Fluttershy growled at her making her step back a little. “Shy, yer not actin like yerself,” AJ said knowing immediately she was robbed of a personality trait. And based on how she’s acting, it was her kindness. “Is your last name Sherlock, because that’s obvious!” Fluttershy said with a spiteful tone. “Fluttershy! I demand you cease this vicious attitude this-” “Shut your mouth, your voice is annoying!” Fluttershy said kicking dirt at Rarity before storming away. “Eeep!” Rarity backed away from the dust cloud. “We shouldn’t have let her go off on her own…” AJ sighed. “We must remain vigilant then,” Rarity said before the two went back inside…. And saw Pinkie crying on the floor. “Pinkie? What’s wrong?” Applejack asked. “I don’t knoooow!” Pinkie cried. “....This isn’t good, Applejack! We need to-” “Da mihi thesaurum tuum!” The two spun just in time to see a familiar pink filly with a menacing smile as a bright light flashed on them and they screamed. Huge stacks of books were littered around the room and it was shown that Twilight and Firestar were responsible. “Ok, mind magic comes in various forms,” Twilight said. “And these types are carrying specific effects similar to the gem, if we can isolate some of these effects-” Firestar said and Twilight finished. “We can create a means to protect one from the effects of the gem,” Twilight said “I have to say, it's nice to have a complex conversation for once,” Twilight said. “I agree, usually others look at me like I grew a second head when I speak this way,” Firestar said. “Indeed,” Twilight giggled. Meanwhile Stone and Spike were hanging out and watching the two click. “I swear she’s like a female pony version of Firestar, they belong together,” Stone chuckled. “What do you mean?” Spike asked. “You’ll understand when you're older,” Stone waved him off. “Alright! We can do this,” Twilight said before noticing the cutie map beeping. “Huh? The map thing is beeping,” Stone said. “It means something happened… at Fluttershy’s cottage?” Twilight said getting a concerned look “We need to see if they're okay,” Twilight said. “Ok, you go and check on them, we’ll work on the makeshift magical obsidian helmets,” Firestar said. “Ok, I’ll be back,” Twilight said before teleporting. “...Do we have to?” Stone whined. “Quit your whining, we’ve got work to do,” Firestar said. Twilight arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage and looked around. She saw the animals hiding, why were the- “HEY!” Twilight jumped and turned to see Fluttershy storming up to her. “Flutt-” “SHADDUP! How dare you come into my cottage without my permission!?” Fluttershy barked. “Fluttershy?!” Twilight said in surprise. “GET OUT!” Fluttershy picked up Twilight and threw her outside. “AAH!” Twilight tumbled to the ground and looked up to see Fluttershy slamming the door. “What was-” Twilight said before noticing the bushes rustling nearby and she turned to see Rainbow’s tail sticking out. “Eeep!” Rainbow hid deeper in the shrubbery when she saw Twilight was looking at her. “Can ya’ll keep it down?...” Twilight looked to see AJ lying down nearby. “AJ! Cozy Glow got to Fluttershy! We need to-” “Sleep… only sleep,” AJ said waving her off. “Huh?” Twilight approached and saw AJ was sleeping “AJ, this is serious! We need to-” “Leave me alone… sounds like too much work,” AJ said. “...What?” Twilight said before feeling a poke on her side and she turned to see Pinkie, but her eyes were puffy and her mane was down. “Pinkie!?” Twilight said and Pinkie immediately started crying “Huh? Pinkie? Not you too!” Twilight said. “I’m so depressed and I don’t even know whyyyyy!” Pinkie sobbed sitting down. “They are acting angry, lazy, depressive, cowardly… where’s Rarity?” Twilight looked around and saw a nearby shed open and she hesitantly trotted over there and saw something that made her cringe. Prim and proper Rarity, laying amidst Fluttershy’s soil bags for her garden and she looked filthy. “Heheh… hey there Twilight, care for a bag of chips, managed to swipe it from Fluttershy when she wasn’t looking,” Rarity then did something she’d never do and let out a loud belch before shoveling more chips into her mouth “And can you please get me some ice cream? I would but I just managed to get comfortable,” Rarity added. “Rarity…” Twilight sighed knowing they’d all been affected and now Rarity is acting like a slob. Twilight looked around and decided this place wasn’t safe anymore and she grabbed Rarity in her magic and fled back to the others. “Twilight! Wait! I still had some chips back there!” Rarity cried. Twilight scooped up Rainbow, Pinkie and AJ and she knocked on the door to Shy’s house. Fluttershy opened the door and glared at Twilight. “What are you still doing here!?” Fluttershy demanded. “Sorry Shy,” Twilight used a sleep charm and hit Fluttershy knocking her out, she then picked her up and teleported them all and herself back to the castle. Twilight landed back in the castle and dropped them down, surprising Spike. “Whoa!” Spike jumped seeing them there. “Everything alright?” Stone said walking over. “No…” Twilight said. “I can tell already they’ve been affected,” Firestar flew over. “What?! No, Pinkie!” Stone ran over to her and picked her up. “....” Pinkie just curled up in his arms and continued looking depressed. “I’ll cook that brat for harming my Pinkie!” Stone growled. “Calm yourself,” Firestar said putting his hand on Stones's shoulder. “...Ok,” Stone said taking a breath and walking away with Pinkie. “We need to stop her, now,” Twilight said. “I just finished the equation needed, we can get moving as soon as the defense spell is made,” Firestar said. “Ok, let’s move,” Twilight said. Meanwhile Spike approached Rarity who looked at him disinterestedly. “Hey Rarity, um… are you o-” Spike said before she belched in his face and got up before trotting away while he coughed from the smell. “I’m gonna go raid your pantry and crash on your couch,” Rarity said trotting into the kitchen. “.....We need to get the old Rarity back….” Spike said. Author's Note Gonna spend some time on my novel before writing the next chapter, hope you're enjoying it so far.
A surprise enemyAuthor's Note Sorry for the delay, COVID hit me hard, but I'm back and hopefully, I will be able to continue normally on this story. My hiatus may have impacted my skill a little but I'm still going strong. Stay tuned. A surprise enemy Twilight and Firestar were working on it and Twilight nodded as it looked like the magic barrier was finished. “Alright, we should be ready,” Twilight said. “How do we know it works?” Firestar asked. “We’ll need to test,” Twilight said. “Test something on me, I’m not afraid,” Stone said approaching, having set the depressed Pinkie Pie on the couch nearby. “Ok,” Twilight said before looking over the formula “This may sting a little,” Twilight said before making her horn glow with a blue light and she hit Stone with it. “Alright, what now?” Stone asked. “I’ll use a mind-scrying spell to see if it worked,” Twilight said. “A whatistwhonow?” Stone asked. “She’s going to try and read your mind,” Firestar said. “Gotcha,” Stone said and Twilight concentrated and fired a small beam at Stone’s head but it bounced off of a barrier on his head and hit Firestar instead. “Huh?” Firestar said. ‘A part of me likes her… but would it work?...’ Twilight heard from Firestar’s mind. “Huh?” Twilight looked at Firestar who blushed. “U-uh’m, I’m talking about a dragon back home,” Firestar said hurriedly. “Ooook?” Twilight said unsurely while Stone chuckled. “So we know the charm works, no mind-related spell should be able to affect anyone with it,” Firestar said. “We need to distribute it throughout the town,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Firestar said. “Spike, take a message, we’ll need all hooves on deck to search for Cozy Glow,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Spike said as he ran over to a desk with a paper on it. “I’ll get moving downstairs, check on Pinkie,” Stone said as he was leaving. Twilight wrote what she needed to down and then had Spike send it, she then hurried to check on the others. Needless to say, it was what she expected… Fluttershy was being held in a makeshift prison made of books nearby by Stone as she continued to shout profanities at him. AJ was reaching for a glass of water on a nightstand from the couch but she gave up halfway and laid back down. Rainbow was still cowering underneath the couch. Pinkie was just depressingly staring at a wall, her mane down. And Rarity was snoring loudly, surrounded by junk food, looking a little chubbier than before. “We need to find their emotion magics before something happens to them,” Spike said looking at Rarity scratching her butt with her hoof. “Then let’s move,” Twilight said as they walked over to Stone. “I’LL SHOVE THAT PIKE THE RED ONES HOLDING DOWN YOUR THROAT!” Fluttershy barked. “Ugh… starting to miss the mind-numbing peace and quiet of guarding the gem…” Stone said. “Stone, it’s time,” Twilight said. “Good, let’s roll,” Stone said and they walked over to Firestar who was waiting by the window. “Firestar, is everything alright?” Twilight asked. “No, we need to hurry, something tells me this Cozy Glow works fast,” Firestar said. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Come look,” Firestar said and Twilight noticed a bunch of depressed ponies trotting about. “No…” Twilight and the others left the castle and saw the ponies everywhere acting off. “Excuse me,” Twilight approached Filthy Rich who was trying to count his money. “Huh?” Filthy turned to Twilight. “Why is everypony looking so down?” Twilight asked. “A filly flashed some kind of rock at us and suddenly I don’t know how to count money anymore! My money management skills were one of my few major quirks and now it's gone!” Filthy said while panicking. “I can’t remember how to work up the motivation to nurture my garden! It’ll die!” Carrot Top complained trotting into view. “Eh… for some reason working out feels like too much work now,” Bulk said sounding unmotivated. “I was in the middle of giving a speech to some ponies and when a flash of light hit me out of nowhere I suddenly got stage fright!” Mayor Mare added her two bits in. “Ok OK!” Stone said. “I can sense it on them, they’ve all been affected, they’ve lost the emotions that helps them support their passions,” Firestar said. “We were too late…” Twilight said with chagrin… before a bright light struck them all and she cried out, but thankfully her mind guard magic protected her and she turned to see a hooded figure in the distance who paused and then ran off. “There she is!” Mayor Mare said. “She just tried to use the gem on us while we were distracted, which means she doesn’t know about the spell yet, let’s make sure she doesn’t figure it out,” Firestar said as they ran after her. The figure ran around the corner and fled down an alleyway, Twilight took to the air and chased the small pony. “COZY GLOW! Stop right there!” Twilight said with Spike on her back. Oddly enough she didn’t respond and continued running down a street. As she galloped down the road toward the edge of town something flew overhead and landed in front of her and she paused. “The fact you're a kid is the sole reason I’m hesitating to toast you for harming my future mate!” Stone growled. “Tch…” The small pony spread her wings and took to the air but ran into the chest of Firestar who struck her to ground level. “Target found!” Firestar said before aiming his spear and shooting a fireball at Cozy. “Wait!” Twilight put a barrier around her to protect her. “What are you doing Twilight?!” Firestar demanded. “You can’t kill her!” Twilight said keeping the barrier there. “I have orders to kill if necessary,” Firestar said. “That’s not how we do things in Equestria,” Twilight said. “...Very well, but we need the gem back,” Firestar said looking uncertain. “Ok,” Twilight said before turning to Cozy Glow “Cozy it’s over, give it over and we’ll return you to Tartarus without delay, please don’t push your luck,” Twilight said. “....Heheheheh,” The filly laughed in a voice that wasn’t hers. “Huh?” Twilight said. “Why does her voice sound masculine?...” Stone asked. “....You caught me… but not Cozy Glow…” Suddenly the filly turned into a male Changeling. “Huh?!” The group exclaimed. “In fact, this isn’t even the gem,” He held out the gem and it was just a painted rock. “No… we’ve been played!” Twilight said. “B-but I thought all the Changlings were redeemed!” Spike said. “Not all of us were content to conform to you ponies…” He spat. “Then what-” Twilight asked before Spike burped up a letter. “Good news hopefully,” Stone said. Twilight took the note and read it… and she paled. “What?” Firestar asked. “The plan is already in motion, sorry princess, but I was just a decoy,” The Changeling laughed. “What does it say?” Stone asked. “Celestia and Luna’s chariot was attacked, they’ve both been affected by the gem…” Twilight said before turning in the direction of Canterlot. “We need to go!” Twilight said. Twilight, Firestar, Stone, and Spike all took off towards Canterlot on the train. “I’ve never been to Canterlot before,” Stone said wondering what kind of sweets are in Canterlot. “We’re not there to sightsee!” Twilight and Firestar barked at him at the same time. “I know I know, just trying to lift the mood,” Stone sighed. “We need to get there quickly, if what that Changeling said is true, Canterlot is in danger!” Twilight said. “We’ll be ready,” Firestar said. “We need to find the princesses and see if they're alright,” Spike said. “Was it a good idea to leave that Changeling with the pony Starlight?” Stone asked. “She can take care of herself,” Twilight nodded. The group eventually arrived in Canterlot and exited the train and went over to the front gate where a guard was waiting for her. “Princess Twilight,” The guard saluted. “Hello, I came as soon as I got the message, how are Celestia and Luna?” Twilight asked. “They’re… not acting right, right now,” The guard carefully said. “Take us to them,” Twilight said. “Very well,” The guard said and he led them into the city. “Whoa… not what I expected,” Stone said as they walked through the streets and saw Canterlot in less than good condition at the moment. Ponies were trotting about the streets with uneasy looks on their faces, multiple businesses were closed for the day, guards everywhere, ect. “What happened?” Spike asked. “It happened fast, the guards were dispatched to deal with multiple disturbances and it quickly became mass hysteria when several fillies carrying green gems were flashing ponies left and right, and then ponies just started abandoning work,” The guard said. “Multiple fillies? Multiple gems? How?” Firestar said. “Didn’t you say there was only one gem?” Spike asked Firestar. “There was…. So how did… unless…” Firestar seemed concerned. “What?” Spike asked. “Cozy Glow and whoever is helping her shattered it and are using fragments attached to regular rocks to hide them, which are being used to spread the effects! But how did she know that wouldn’t destroy the rocks effects?” Firestar said trying to wrack his brain to figure it out. “She could have an insider who knew, a dragon perhaps?” Twilight guessed. “We’ll have to think on it, and send word to Ember we may have a mole,” Firestar said. “So… what’s going on then? If the filly is only part of it, then what’s with the rogue Changelings and the dragon snitch?” Stone asked. “I’m not sure,” Twilight said. “We’re here princess,” The guard said and Twilight looked to see Canterlot castle. “Ok, thank you,” Twilight said. “No problem,” The guard said and Twilight and the others made their way inside. As the group went inside they made their way through the castle and to the throne room where a couple guards were standing watch. “Halt!” The guard said. “I am here to assess the princesses' condition and find clues as to the solution to this whole mess,” Twilight said. “...And them?” The guards pointed at the dragons. “Their friends,” Twilight said. “Dude, we’ve been friendzoned,” Stone snarked. “Shut up,” Firestar sighed. “Ok, go on in… just… try to be calm with them, and don’t surprise them,” The guard said. “Why?” Twilight said as she entered and saw a sight she wasn’t ready for. Celestia and Lune were acting like fools… Celestia was hopping around like Pinkie Pie and humming a song with multiple guards trying to catch her. And Luna was hiding under her chair and shaking just like Rainbow was. “No…” Twilight trotted over to Celestia and stopped her with her telekenisis. “Hm?” Celestia said. “Celestia! Please, calm down, it’s me!” Twilight pleaded with her teacher but she just giggled and hugged her. “Purple!” Celestia cheered before hopping away. “...She’s acting like a little filly,” Stone said. “And I’m assuming Luna isn’t supposed to be cowering like that?” Firestar asked. “No, she’s usually the last to cower in fear,” Spike said. “Then was their aim to debilitate the leaders of Equestria?” Stone asked. “More than likely,” Firestar said looking concerned. “We need to find out how to get them to cooperate,” Twilight said. “I have an idea,” Spike said and he whispered in Twilight’s ear. “Good idea,” Twilight said feeling dumb for not thinking of it immediately. “What?” Firestar asked. “We need to offer them what they need right now,” Twilight said before using her magic to conjure some candies and a bunch of pillows. “Huh?” Stone said. Celestia bounced around happily playing tag with the guards who couldn’t keep up with her. As she continued playing around she heard a whistle and turned to see Twilight over by Luna who was hiding in a pillow fort and she had some candy. “Celestia, we need your help, if you help us, we’ll give you some candy,” Twilight offered. “CANDY!” Celestia skipped over and sat by her and began eating some of the candy. “Alright, Celestia, Luna, what happened before you ended up like this? Did you see anything?” Twilight asked. “Hmm….” Celestia hummed before she raised a hoof. “Yes?” Twilight asked. “A creepy bug pony, they looked like one of the guards and then they weren’t,” Celestia said. “I-it was frightening, the Changelings were everywhere, we couldn’t hold them back, we were flashed with a gem of sorts and now I cannot even face my sister without wanting to run in fear!” Luna shivered. “And I feel so carefree! Not a worry in the world,” Celestia said. “Not even for Equestria being in danger?” Spike asked. “Eh, who cares!” Celestia giggled. “Celestia’s lost her maturity and concern for others while Luna has lost her courage, and changelings did it… does this mean-” Twilight began to fear the worst when suddenly Spike stomped his foot. “No! Thorax would never turn out like Chrysalis!” Spike said. “Spike, Changelings are behaving this way, someling must have done something to convince the hive to go against their values, this goes way deeper than just Cozy Glow,” Twilight said. “I refuse to believe it,” Spike said. “Sorry but… whose Thorax?” Stone added. “A Changeling Spike befriended,” Twilight clarified. “Huh, who would have thought,” Stone said. “Please Twilight, If Thorax did do something regarding this then he must have been forced, please believe me,” Spike said. “I believe you, but for now we need to find out where the Changeling leader is, to confirm,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Spike said. “Time is of the essence then,” Firestar said. “Let’s move,” Stone said. The group was back on the train and headed back for Ponyville. “When we get home we’ll talk to Ocellus and see if she can’t get in communication with Thorax, if we can see how the changelings are tied into this we can fix it,” Twilight said. “Ok,” Stone said. When the group got there they saw the town was empty for some reason. “Huh?...” Twilight said confusedly. “Where did everypony go?” Spike asked. “Teachers!” They heard and they saw the student six running over to them. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” Twilight asked. “We were waiting for you to get back, we have news,” Silverstream said. “What?” Twilight asked. “Changelings have invaded the town and kidnapped most of the ponies here! We need you to come and-” Sandbar said. “Hold it…” Firestar got in front of Twilight and leaned down to eye level with Sandbar. “.... You're not a pony…” Firestar said. “What?” Spike said. “The scents are different, not to mention why should we trust you in a crisis like this?... something’s fishy,” Firestar said. “.... You're good,” Suddenly the group turned into a group of Changelings with Sandbar turning into Thorax. “Huh?!” Twilight and the others gasped. “Too good to let live…” Thorax said with a grin. “No…” Spike said in horror “THORAX!” Spike cried and he looked at him. “Oh hey Spike, what’s shaking?” Thorax asked. “Wha- what are you doing?” Spike asked. “Following my orders, glad you all came back,” A familiar voice said and they turned to see Cozy Glow standing atop a roof nearby. “What did you do to Thorax!?” Spike demanded. “Just made him remember what Changelings are,” Cozy said showing the fragmented gem. “You made him forget what a good Changeling he was,” Spike said in shock. “Exactly and now, I’m going to rob you all of your most prized emotions!” Cozy laughed as she raised the gem. “Quickly!” Firestar and Stone fastened their obsidian helmets on and Twilight activated her barrier. “Clever, but not effective against THIS!” Cozy said and suddenly the Changelings behind the dragons swarmed forward and while Firestar and Stone were able to stop most of them Thorax got through and knocked Spike out of the barrier. “NO!” Twilight exclaimed. “Gotcha now!” Cozy raised the gem and flashed it and Twilight was forced to drop the barrier and jump in front of Spike and the flash struck her. “NO!” Firestar exclaimed. Twilight stood there stunned, and then an aura left her mouth and flew into the gem and she collapsed. “You little-” Firestar aimed his spear and fired a fireball and Cozy jumped into the air and flew away laughing. “I have to catch her!” Firestar said as he tried to follow her but multiple Changelings blocked him and he got ready to fight them. “Get out of my way!” Firestar said. “Twilight!” Spike ran over to her but she was unconscious. “We have to flee!” Stone said. “But Cozy!” Firestar said. “You're no good in this situation dead! Come on!” Stone gathered up Spike and Twilight and Firestar followed, firing a fireball at the Changelings to scatter them. And they took off deeper into town to hide for now… and Firestar couldn't help but glance helplessly at Twilight and he knew, they needed help.
The volcanoAs the two dragons fled the scene they paused near the castle and decided to hide in there, and not long after multiple Changelings flew by. Stone peeked out the window and nodded to Firestar who was bracing the door. “We lost them,” Stone said with a sigh of relief. “We gotta check on Twilight!” Spike said. “Agreed,” Firestar said as he carried Twilight inside the castle lounge and set her down. “She was hit directly by the gem so she’ll be out for-” Firestar said before she started groaning “....I stand corrected,” Firestar said. “Huh?” She looked around looking confused. “Twilight? Please tell me you're alright,” Spike pleaded. “....Heh…. purple lizard….” Twilight chuckled. “What?” Spike asked. “Where am I? Is this like… somepony’s crib?” Twilight looked around sitting up. “Twilight, it's your castle!” Spike exclaimed. “Heh, cool, I like, have some good set-ups, although I need to get some stereos set in and… like have a party,” She chuckled before she got up and trotted away. “Twilight!” Firestar got in front of her. “Hey red lizard dude,” Twilight said. “.....What’s two plus two…” Firestar said with dread. “Uh…… I dunno, twenty?” Twilight said. “She’s lost her intelligence, now she’s just illogical,” Spike said. “You're an illogical,” She said before she wandered off. “....” Firestar looked down. “Hey man, we’ll fix this mess we started and then your pony friend will-” Stone said but Firestar just growled and grabbed Stone and pinned him to the wall with his arm. “Will you DROP the whole thing between me and Twilight!? Need I remind you this happened because of you!” Firestar growled. “Hey man stop!” Stone said. “Firestar!” Spike ran over and tried to separate the two and eventually Firestar let him go and walked away. Stone coughed and rubbed his neck “Sheesh, I guess he knows how I felt when I saw Pinkie affected, we’ll fix her,” Stone said. “Hey dudes! I found a white box in here! With like… food and stuff!” Twilight called from the kitchen. “That’s the refrigerator!” Spike said. “Too hard to say…” Twilight said before she opened it and began digging through it for food. “We’re without Twilight, this isn’t good,” Spike said. “Worry not, we still have a brainiac,” Stone said gesturing to Firestar. “But we’re heavily outnumbered, how are we going to-” Spike paused when he smelt something and Stone smelt it too. “We got company,” Stone said and he turned to a door and saw it close, he approached it and pulled it open easily and saw the Student Six hiding in the closet. “Huh?!” Gallus said. “More Changelings?” Spike asked guardedly. “No, I’d smell it,” Stone said. “Stone!” Smolder exclaimed as she got out of there “Am I glad you're here,” “Hey Smol,” Stone said with a grin as they hugged. “...Yak confused,” Yona said as the group exited the closet. “He’s my cousin,” Smolder explained. “You didn’t mention that earlier,” Spike said. “We were busy,” Stone said with a shrug. “Good thing, we were in trouble,” Smolder said. “Yeah, I was hoping you’d gone back to the dragon lands when this mess went down,” Stone said. “We can’t, not while there’s danger ahoof, problem was that we were overrun by bad changelings and we fled here,” Silverstream said. “I-I just can’t believe Thorax would do this…” Ocellus sobbed. “He’s not doing it intentionally, the gem Cozy Glow is using is messing with his head,” Spike explained. “So… it’s not a repeat of Chrysalis?” Ocellus asked. “No, the gem is making him do this,” Spike said. “What happened here?” Firestar asked having joined the conversation. “We were tending to the teachers while they were sick with whatever this gem did to them and suddenly multiple Changelings swooped in and began attacking the town, chased everypony away,” Sandbar explained. “To make room for the trap they sprung on us earlier,” Firestar said having pieced it together. “Then what do we do? We have to get that gem back from Cozy Glow, who knows what she’s planning to do with it,” Spike said. “....I think I know…” Firestar said looking grim. “She wouldn't…. That’s cruel even by criminal standards,” Stone said. “What?” Spike said worriedly. “She might be planning on destroying the gem and by extension the personalities contained in it, leaving all the victims like this… forever,” Firestar said looking at Twilight whose struggling to open a pantry door even though the handle is right there. “Do I push or pull this thing?!” Twilight said frustratedly. “Is pony teacher alright?” Yona asked worriedly. “No,” Spike said. “How is this gem destroyed?” Sandbar asked. “It was put in Yakistan because there were no volcanos there, lava is how you destroy the gem and whatever it contains,” Firestar said. “Then we have to hurry!” Spike said. “We don’t know where she went,” Firestar said. “Not to mention there’s Changelings outside,” Silverstream added. “....Then we use the cutie map,” Spike said getting an idea. “Huh?” Stone said. Spike opened the cutie map and the group surrounded it as saw Spike scrolling around it. “If Cozy has a fragment of Twilight with her, then we can track her magical signature since Twilight and the others are connected with the magic of this place,” Spike said. “Wow, you're right, if we reroute the magical current and cascade it through Equestria’s magical leylines we can find her,” Firestar said. “I understood, none of that,” Gallus said. “Yeah, I was mainly just repeating what Twilight told me,” Spike said. “Right… basically we have a way of finding out where Cozy Glow is going,” Firestar said. “Ah,” they said. “Alright… there!” Silverstream pointed at a barely visible cutie mark of Twilight and it was over by the nearest volcano…. It was over by “I know that volcano! I went there on vacation once,” Stone said pointing at it. “Then we were right, Cozy is planning on destroying the personality gem!” Firestar said feeling worried more for Twilight than the gem. “We need to get there first!” Spike said. “Me and Stone need to, it's too dangerous if she’s got Changlings there,” Stone said. “No! I can help!” Spike said. “Our answer is final,” FIrestar said. “What about us? You can’t fight all those Changelings yourselves,” Gallus said. “We’ll find a way,” Stone said. “LOOK!” Spike shouted “My sister is in danger and so are all my friends! Whether you like it or not I’m coming!” Spike said. “Yeah, we can’t let harmony be endangered by one vengeful filly!” Silverstream said. “This is for your safety,” Stone said. “Forget safety, you guys need us,” Smolder said. “Yeah!” The others said. “...Alright fine,” Stone sighed. “Stone!” Firestar said. “This is no time to play by the rules, we gotta work together,” Stone said. “Tch…” Firestar looked conflicted. “Twilight would want this,” Stone said. “....Ok,” Firestar said looking away. “Alright, now what do we do?” Stone asked. “I got a plan,” Spike said and they huddled and whispered among eachother. The group had left the castle and snuck through town, when they got to city limits they got onto the train and began to operate it. “C’mon,” Spike tried to reach up and pull a lever but he couldn’t reach it, Stone did it for him. “So can’t wait until my growth spurt,” Spike sighed. “No prob kid,” Stone said as the student six was helping to start the train and it wasn’t long before they were off. “Whoo hoo! Train ride!” Twilight cheered from the back. “Shh!” Everyone shushed her. The train left the station and thankfully no Ling seemed to notice. As they made their way down the path Spike watched for any sign of the volcano that the map indicated. “Hopefully she’ll be there,” Spike said as he looked around. An hour passed as the train moved along and eventually Spike spotted the volcano. And worse yet, it was in the process of erupting. “Not good,” Spike said. “We should be the ones to go to the volcano, we’re immune to lava,” Stone said. “Agreed,” Smolder said not wanting her friends to get hurt. “We’ll at least be able to keep the other Changelings off of you,” Gallus said. “Alright, let’s move!” Firestar said and they left the train. Cozy Glow was making her way up the volcano, one negative about being a foal is that she’s not making much headway, even with a headstart. “Ugh, what I wouldn’t do for longer legs right now,” Cozy sighed. “Don’t worry Cozy, soon Equestria will be too debilitated from having their positive emotions sucked out to defend against us,” Thorax said as he trotted beside her. “Can I ride on your back?” Cozy complained. “No, same as the last three times you asked,” Thorax said. “Uuuugh,” Cozy sighed and she looked to the other Changlings carrying decoy rocks just in case. If all goes right, nopony will be able to stop her now that the princesses have been rendered useless and the elements aren’t a threat anymore. “And I owe it all to you Pharynx for busting me out of Tartarus,” Cozy said to the Changeling. “Don’t mistake anything, I just needed my brother to see the light is all,” Pharynx said. “And I have, now that my caring heart is gone,” Thorax said. “Good to hear, now we get rid of the gem and locate Chrysalis and we’ll be back on track to conquering Equestria,” Pharynx said. “Now let’s move, we need to get this gem to the center of the volcano before it stops erupting,” Cozy turned and saw a dragon beside her. The one who snitched about the gem. A purple dragoness. “And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten our deal, you get half the gold in Canterlot when I conquer it,” Cozy said. “I better, this is as good as treason to the dragon lands,” The dragoness said. “Well I-” Suddenly Cozy was cut off by a changeling flying in front of her. “Guys! Danger!” The Changeling exclaimed. “What?” Cozy demanded. “The dragon guards and the others are coming up the volcano as well, they’ll be here any minute!” He said. “What?! How did they find us?!” Cozy demanded. “I don’t know, what do we do?” He asked. “Grr…. time to make yourselves useful, go slow them down!” Cozy ordered. “Ok,” Pharynx rolled his eyes not liking that she’s ordering him around. “We’ll ditch her after the gems gone, right?” Thorax asked. “Yeah,” Pharynx said. The group made their way up the mountain by air, but then they heard buzzing. “Huh?” Silverstream said. Ocellus flew up to the others. “They’re coming!” Ocellus said. “Ok, get in position,” Spike said. “Ok!” Ocellus said before flying off. As the group made their way further up they saw the Changelings descending the volcano. “Alright guys! Stick to the plan!” Spike said as he jumped off of Firestars back and so did the others. “Get your ex-friend brother!” Pharynx ordered and Thorax nodded and flew after him. “Everyling else! Battle stations!” Pharynx ordered and they descended on the others. Firestar fired some shots knocking a few other out of the air. Yona rammed through a group of Changelings allowing Spike to get ahead. “Go Spike!” Yona called. “I’m on it!” Spike called back as he ran up a ridge, when he got up there and made for the path upwards Thorax landed in front of him. “Hey Spike, remember me?” Thorax chuckled. “Thorax…” Spike said “Go on, come at me,” Thorax said before he shifted into a giant bug monster “The gem took the part of me that cared about you! So I won’t hesitate to crush you!” Thorax laughed. “She made you evil Thorax, but this isn’t you! Snap out of it!” Spike pleaded. “Not a chance! I’m finally following the true Changeling way! And that’s… to take!” Thorax said before he lunged… and was tackled by Stone who managed to pin him. “Get a move on it little dude!” Stone said as he held the Changling down. “Ok!” Spike ran ahead and up the path. Spike made his way up the slope and saw Flurry and a dragoness and he hurried after them. Cozy was sweating from the heat but she turned and saw Spike approaching. “Do these harmony lovers ever quit? You, take care of him!” Cozy ordered. “I have a name you know,” She said. “Do it!” Cozy said before she hurried on. “Ugh,” the dragoness turned and approached Spike, breathing a gout of flame to keep him back, Spike paused as the much bigger dragoness approached. “Why are you helping her! She’s trying to destroy Equestria!” Spike demanded. “Duh, and I stand to become the richest dragon in the dragonlands if she succeeds, so when she approached me I took the offer,” She said. “Out of the way!” Spike said. “What’s a puny dragon like you gonna do?” She laughed. “Not me, but a friend of mine on the other hand…” Spike said and the dragoness looked up and saw Firestar descending on her. He rammed her and jammed his spear into her side. “AAAGH!” She exclaimed and fell over as he wrestled with her. “Traitor! I’ll see you imprisoned for this!” Firestar said. “I’m just doing what anydragon would do and expand their hoard!” She roared as she struggled to get him off. Spike took this opportunity to run past them and at Cozy Glow who was almost at the top of the volcano. “C’mon! C’mon!” Cozy grunted as she climbed over a rock. “COZY GLOW!” Spike yelled after her and she turned and saw Spike coming after her. “Crap!” Cozy Glow said before she took to the air and tried to press on despite the heat. Spike wasn’t as debilitated by the heat and he was gaining on her. Cozy Glow managed to land at the edge of the volcano and she approached the lava. “Hah….hah…. Alright! Time to say goodbye!” Cozy Glow raised the gem and prepared to throw it in when she was tackled from behind by Spike. The two rolled around and struggled. “GET OFF OF ME!” Cozy struggled. “Not a chance!” Spike said. Cozy glanced at the gem lying in the sand nearby and she grabbed some sand and threw it in Spike’s eyes. “AGH!” Spike cried falling back, she tried to crawl for the gem but Spike grabbed her leg and pulled her back. “Get off of me!” Cozy kicked Spike in the face and crawled for the gem when he let go and she grabbed it. “Guess there’s one more personality to alter before I’m done here!” Cozy Glow said before aiming the gem at Spike and flashing it. “No!” Spike cried. Suddenly Firestar jumped in front of Spike and blocked it, and thankfully his obsidian helmet protected him. “Firestar!” Spike exclaimed. “Uh oh,” Cozy said backing away. “Hand it over…” Firestar approached and he reached forward and swiped the gem from Cozy Glow before she could throw it. “Give it back!” Cozy Glow demanded. “I won’t let you destroy what makes Equestria, Equestria!” Firestar said… before a changeling rammed him and sent the dragon stumbling and he wound up falling into the lava and he wound up tossing the gem as he fell. “Firestar!” Spike cried. The gem landed nearby and Spike and Cozy bolted for it, but were cut off by two changelings. Pharynx and a regular Changling soldier. “Huh?!” Spike backed away. “Heh, you lose, soldier give it to me!” Cozy Glow demanded. “You heard her, get it,” Pharynx said and the Changling nodded and retrieved it. “Good thing that soldier came with me here, we arrived just in time,” Pharynx said. “Agreed… hey hurry up with the gem!” Cozy Glow demanded. “NO!” Spike tried to run at the Changling but Pharynx hit him down. “Stay down!” Pharynx demanded and the Changling approached Cozy and hoofed it to her. “Alright! Now watch little dragon, as I destroy harmony with one simple action!” Cozy Glow said before chucking the gem into the lava. “NOOOOO!” Spike cried and he saw the gem vanish into the lava. “Hahahahaha! So long harmony!” Cozy Glow laughed. “....Not yet…” Spike said as he got up. “What’s left to fight for? You lost,” Cozy said in a cocky tone. “....Did I?” Spike said. “Huh-” Pharynx said before suddenly something burst out of the lava. Firestar, and he landed in front of them, and not wasting a moment he lunged forward and pinned Pharynx against a wall. “Huh?!” Cozy said before seeing the other Changeling just standing there “Don’t just stand there! Do something!” Cozy said. “Actually, no,” Suddenly the Changeling turned into Ocellus. “WHAT?!” Cozy said. “We had her infiltrate the ranks of your supporters and now we have you,” Spike said. “W-well I still won! The gem is history!” Cozy said. “You mean this gem?” Ocellus said pulling out the real gem. “Huh?! H-how did-” Cozy demanded. “We used your own decoy against you,” Ocellus said. "You're the one who loses Cozy Glow,” Spike said. “....No….NOOO!” Cozy lunged at Ocellus who jumped out of the way and pitched it to Spike who held the gem and held it towards Cozy Glow. “Say cheese!” Spike said before he flashed the gem at Cozy who’s eyes widened. “NOOOOO!” Cozy cried as an aura left her mouth and entered the gem… and she collapsed. “NO!” Pharynx grunted, trying to struggle out of Firestar's grip. “Looks like Cozy just lost something of her own, I wonder what it was,” Spike asked. Firestar punched Pharynx to knock him out and then approached Spike. “Here, hand it over,” Firestar said and Spike did so. “Ok, Time to release the captive emotions,” Firestar said before he held up the stone and activated it again. It glowed brightly but this time auras flowed out of it and away from there. The group was backed up against a wall as many Changelings surrounded them. Just as they were ready to attack suddenly auras flew into them and they staggered. “Huh?” The Changelings said as they suddenly snapped out of it. “Wait a minute… what were we doing?!” A Changeling exclaimed. “We were helping Cozy Glow!” Another said. “Did… they do it?” Gallus hesitantly asked. “Yep, the plan worked,” Silverstream sighed in relief. Twilight was taking a nap in the train when suddenly her aura flew into her and she gasped as she woke. “I’m… I’m back to normal!” Twilight said with a smile and she hurried out of the train. Celestia was playing with a teddy bear while Lune was still hiding under her throne when their aura’s flew into them and Luna came out from under the throne. “The fear has vanished… thank goodness, I feared I’d remain a coward for life,” Luna said before noticing Celestia was trotting towards her with an embarrassed look on her face. “Can we… never tell anypony in Canterlot how I acted?” Celestia asked. “Sure sister,” Luna chuckled, planning to do just that. Firestar was carrying Cozy Glow, the dragoness, and Pharynx down the slope where the others were waiting. “Spike!” Thorax ran for him. “Thorax?” Spike said unsurely. But then Thorax hugged him. “I’m so sorry Spike! I wasn’t myself back there!” Thorax apologized. “It’s fine!.... Can you stop squeezing!” Spike choked. “Ok,” Thorax said setting him down. “Let’s get back to the train, Twilight is probably back to normal by now,” Spike said. “...Yeah,” Firestar said with a smile as he saw the purple pony galloping towards them. And he knew it was time to head back. Upon returning to the train the group wasted no time and went home. Meanwhile Cozy Glow woke up, and the interaction was… interesting to say the least. “Mmmh…” Cozy woke up and looked around. “Hey Cozy, how was the nap?” Spike asked. “Why are you acting so chummy with the most criminal filly in Equestria?” Gallus asked as everypony surrounded her. “Because I can guess what she lost,” Spike said as she seemed frightened, he approached and stood in front of her. “So Cozy, are you evil anymore?” Spike asked simply and Cozy looked down. “No… I wanna go home now…” Cozy said. “Huh?” The group said. “She valued her own evil ambition, now she’s a normal filly,” Twilight pointed out. “Yes… I know trusting me is hard but… I really am sorry for everything…” Cozy said. “...So, what do we do with her?” Stone asked. “I can answer that,” Cozy said extending her hoofs in a hoofcuffing gesture “I’m turning myself in,” Cozy said with a resolute expression. “But Cozy, your finally back to being a normal filly, you could stay like this forever,” Silverstream said. “I know… but this isn’t the way, I have to learn how by myself, not because a rock took my evil from me,” Cozy said. “She’s right,” Twilight said and everypony looked down at that knowing Cozy couldn’t just live on like this without learning her lesson herself. Upon getting back to Ponyville there were guards waiting there, alerted by Spike who sent a message to Celestia. Upon exiting Cozy Glow willingly went back into custody and entered a cage. “Alright Cozy Glow, thank you for your cooperation,” Twilight said. “And thank you for giving me a brief experience as a non-evil pony,” Cozy Glow said with a smile. “Alright, here we go,” Twilight said before using the gem and releasing the last contained personality, Cozy’s and it flowed into the filly who staggered and shook her head before glaring at Twilight and lunging at the edge of the cage. “YOU STUPID PRINCESS! I CAN’T BELIEVE I GAVE MYSELF UP!” Cozy yelled. “I always knew there was a part of you that was good,” Twilight said. "This is ridiculous! Betrayed by the one pony I thought I could trust, me!" Cozy growled in frustration. “Alright, now come with us Cozy,” The guards dragged the angry shouting filly away back to Tartarus, along with more cages with the dragoness and Pharynx in it. “Brother,” Thorax said with a sad look. “This isn’t over Thorax!” Pharynx sneered as he was carted away. “....I should get moving, I have much work to do back at the hive,” Thorax said as he walked away. “Good luck Thorax,” Spike said knowing Thorax was upset. “Alright,” Twilight turned to the student six who were chatting among themselves and smiled proudly. “Things are back to normal,” Twilight said as she prepared to head back, when suddenly she heard a cough. “Um… Twilight?” Firestar said as he approached. “Hmm? Yes?” Twilight asked. “I wanted to say…. Thank you,” Firestar said. “What for?” Twilight asked. “You showed me there are others like me out there, an intellectual who wants to… meet with another and maybe…” FIrestar was struggling to say it. ‘I understand,” Twilight nodded with a smile and hugged him, resulting in him blushing. “Tell me whenever you want,” She said. “Th-thanks,” Firestar said. “Welp, I better go find that Pink pony and propose to her, the time is nigh,” Stone said. “Propose?” Twilight said in surprise. “Later, for now, we have to take care of this,” Firestar said holding up the gem. “Aw come on, you're not going to drag me back to guarding that cave are you?” Stone complained. “No… we’re going to destroy it,” Firestar said. “....What?” Everyone said in surprise. “It really is too dangerous, it ended up in the hooves of a filly and it caused all this, and personally, I think it is time we lived our lives a bit,” Firestar smiled at Stone. “Atta boy,” Stone patted him on the back “We’ll probably get chewed out by Ember though,” Stone said. “Well… what’s she going to do? Fire me?” Firestar chuckled. “That’s the spirit,” Stone laughed. Twilight smiled as they laughed together, and she knew their lives were finally theirs. “Maybe we’ll return afterwards, and we can….work on some inventions together?” Firestar asked. “I’d love that,” Twilight nodded. “Thanks,” Firestar said. As the two dragons left Twilight watched them go, Firestar promised to return soon as he finished his business and Stone will propose to Pinkie Pie. She hopes things will work out, but for now she has to go see how her friends are doing. And with that, Twilight headed back with Spike and the others ready to see how her friends will react to how Spike managed to defeat Cozy Glow. Author's Note Not my strongest finish I will admit, but I hope you all enjoyed it. This took a while longer than I could have done due to COVID but this was still fun to write. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go back and finish a story that isn't finished, stay tuned.
