Author'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.