The Alliance of Chaos

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8 (Warning: Feels galore)
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

There was a social gathering in Canterlot.

Mayhem came of it.

Diamond Tiara and her father Filthy Rich were there for the event. The earth ponies trotted through the palace garden. On the other side of the hedge to their right, however, was a very special statue. Its face was frozen in a look of horror, its mismatched arms pushed out like a mime in an invisible box. Its neck twisted as if were turning away from something horrible. It was the petrified form of Discord, spirit of disharmony and chaos.

“So, daughter, I was wondering if you could reconsider...”

“No, dad! I’m not going to sell zap apple jam for a living!”

“Daughter, its a family tradition! You must!”

“I’m not going to buy or sell or do whatever with apples! That’s just dumb! I’m not going to deal with the Apple family!” The young filly said with a disgusted look on her face. Her father sighed, a strand of his mane drifting down as the wind blew it astray. He lifted his hoof and put it back.

“I don’t know why you have such a problem with them.”

“It’s that blank flank Apple Bloom! She’s made a fool of me on several occasions, and they’re just so... simple. They’re savage. Unruly.”

“You need to stop being so prejudiced.” He said in exasperation.

But much more important was the red glow in the center of the statue’s chest. “Fiiiinaly.” A smooth, deep voice quietly said from the statue.

A small, light purple baby dragon slept peacefully in a wicker basket in the upper floor of the Ponyville library. Remains of what had been an emerald flecked his scaly mouth. He shifted, and his eyes flickered so that you could see just a bit of his inner vertical eyelids. He sat up drowsily. A powerful feeling rippled through his stomach, as a letter from Princess Celestia came through. He belched, and green flames rippled through the air and materialized as a scroll. He laid back down, and fell back to sleep as the scroll drifted down and rested vertically on his head.

THUNK.

“OW!” The dragon woke up to that voice.

“Twilight?” He sat bolt upright, flinging the scroll down the stairs.

“Oh, Spike. Could you help me? I’m back from Sweet Apple Acres with some things, and thanks for holding down the fort.” Spike went downstairs, and looked at the yawning hole in the wall that Derpy had somehow made. She said she had no clue what had actually happened, but the bits of statue still lingering around the library were a constant reminder. She said she saw a muffin stand. Spike picked the scroll up off the floor. Several boards and a couple boxes of nails were on the floor, Twilight limping slightly on her back right hoof.

“What happened?”

“Oh, I closed my back leg in the door. Is that a letter?”

“I guess. I don’t remember getting it.”

“I never knew you could get letters in your sleep. Not without waking up.”

“Last night was pretty hectic.” Spike said with a yawn.

“True that! Now let’s get started on this wall.”

Twilight, upon opening a box of nails, was greeting with a smiley ball of pink.

“Hi Twilight! Want some help? I’ll help!” Pinkie Pie had mysteriously appeared from inside the box of nails.

“Ummm... Sure.” Sweet Celestia, have mercy. She thought to herself.

“Okie dokie lokie!”

“Now remember, we’re just making something to cover up the hole until the magic starts to grow back the tree. It’s a spell I used after Spike’s birthday, because there is a strange repetition to something getting scorched or broken.” Twilight turned and Pinkie was standing in front of the hole, which she had somehow managed to cover up using the wood and nails. She took out a bundle of housing insulation from who knows where and nailed them up.

“All done!” Twilight looked at her, dumbfounded.

Outside, Apple Bloom looked at the makeshift wall. She had a bucket of tar and a paintbrush that she was planning to use on the Cutie Mark Crusader’s hideout. She put the bucket down, opened it, and dipped the paintbrush in the tar. She stroked the brush over a large knot in a plank. Satisfied, she covered the tar and went on her way.

“Well, I guess that means we can read the letter now.” Said Twilight, remembering the scroll. She used her unicorn magic to pick it up and open it. As she read it, her eyes widened. “Discord’s statue is... gone.”

“Discord?” Apple Bloom was in the window. She came in the door. “Like spirit of chaos? Canterlot statue garden?”

“Yes, actually. How did you know that?”

“We were on a field trip t’ the Canterlot statue garden last year. Right around the time he escaped.” Twilight continued reading the letter. She looked out the window.

“Why hasn’t he done anything yet?”

“Because I’ve been busy!” A cheery, but deep voice rang out behind her. She whirled around. Discord’s face looked at her from the window, with the background blacked out.

“Discord!”

“Hello, Twilight! I’m talking from very far away. Not even in Equestria. The cursed lands, where Princess Celestia sends those who cannot be held otherwise. I’m making friends out here. The draconic Spirit of Hate, the Badlands branch of changelings, the King of the Manticore pride, and Queen Chrysalis,” Here he gripped the edges of the viewing portal and shifted it, bringing Chrysalis into view. She was the worse for wear after failed invasion attempt. Her twisted horn appeared to have a crack in it, with a small crackle of green energy coming from it. Her carapace was cracked slightly. Five changelings sat around her, slightly larger than the ones Twilight had seen before, more solidly built, with reddish wings and poisonous green compound eyes. Their carapaces were streaked with blue stripes. Discord shifted the portal back, and said, “Guess what? I’m not even done! I hope to ally the Element sisters, along with your old friend, Nightmare Moon!” He held up shattered remnants of blue acrylic metal. Twilight recognized them as the fittings Princess Luna wore as Nightmare Moon. “As you may have noticed, blue mist left the scene as Luna was freed from her own darkness. Nightmare Moon is out there in a broken form somewhere.” Discord summoned a mannequin of a full-grown Alicorn. He used his magic to fit them onto the mannequin. Discord closed the portal.

Twilight ran over to the History shelves. She looked at them, and pulled one down. The spine read, Tale of the Element Sisters. She opened the book and read the description inside the cover. It read as so:

The four Element sisters of wind, water, ice, and fire are widely considered to be an old mare’s tale. But the story of these unicorns is sometimes said to be true. These powerful unicorns rose up against the Princess Celestia, and this is the story as it goes.

“Manticores, manticores, manticores....” Twilight went over to the Nature & Biology section. “The manticore hierarchy system is much like that of lions. The king of the pride, or alpha male, is much larger and intelligent than others.” She put the book back on the shelf. “Changelings....” She picked up a book from the upper shelf. “Varieties.... Western Badlands!” At the top of the article was a large red-striped insectile pony with large dragonfly wings and six scarlet singular eyes. Its rear bore a sharp stinger instead of a tail. Its horn was long and sharp with two protrusions on each side. Each hoof was two sharp toe-like protrusions, like goat hooves. “Each full-grown badlands changeling is the size of a full-grown Alicorn.” Twilight read. “Due to their desolate habitat, these changelings are also capable of consuming food, unlike their cousins. Their stingers are very poisonous, and one cup of venom can kill a full-grown dragon. The queen of the Badlands variety is at least the size of a manticore. Because of this, its shapeshifting abilities are impaired, but can shed its thick carapace to pass for an Alicorn when shapeshifting.

Although the three ponies didn’t hear it, a soft peeling sound came from the ceiling. A changeling was hiding up above, listening to their every word. It was the type that had been with Chrysalis, but as it listened, its facial plate began to peel off. He used one hoof to keep it from falling. He was molting. His hoof slipped on the smooth carapace, and the whole thing came off and fell. It stopped in midair, right above Apple Bloom, surrounded in a green aura. The changeling pulled it up with magic just before Twilight could see. But she heard it, the wind whistling through the edges of the eye openings. She turned around and looked up. The changeling, with its missing facial shell, had a pale gray face with blue stripes where the original shell had been. The green aura dissolved, and the mask fell to the floor. Twilight’s horn flared purple as she fired bolts of magic at the changeling. It flew out the open window, to be smacked by a falling yellow pegasus. “Spike, send a letter to Celestia. Tell her to come as soon as she possibly can. We have a changeling here in Ponyville.”

As it turned out, Fluttershy had accidentally landed on the changeling. She had run into a circling hawk.

Twilight scribbled down the letter and gave it to Spike. He engulfed it in dragon fire, which twirled out the window. Pinkie Pie sat on the changeling, eating a cupcake. Spike got a letter back from Princess Celestia.

‘I’m a bit tied up right now. Luna will be coming shortly.’

Suddenly, a flickering blue light appeared in the center of the room. Luna appeared.

“Twilight, we are-!” Abashed, Luna cleared her throat as Twilight held her hooves to her ears. “-glad to see you. We apologize for the volume. ‘Tis unfortunate we meet under these circumstances.

“That’s alright, princess. But what do you think of all this? Discord returning and all?”

“I think I don’t want to turn gray!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “I still can’t believe it! I actually turned gray!” Twilight looked at her sternly. “Sorry.”

“I think it is quite unfortunate. However, we do have someone to ask about it. Who is currently being used as a chair.” Pinkie looked around, then down.

“Ooohh! I get it! She bounced off the changeling, in the process waking it up. Pinkie crouched down in the changeling’s face. “Now do you Pinkie Promise to behave?”

“You’re all insane!” It growled.

“Well, somepony’s grumpy today!”

“I just got pushed over by a pushover! How would you feel about that?”

Fluttershy had just come in from the other room. She had a bandage on her cheek. She crossly walked over to the changeling.

“Who is a pushover?”

“I thought you could figure that out on your own. You, of course!” She stared at him hard.

“I. Am. Not. A. Pushover.” She continued to stare at him, unwavering. She stared him down, until he could not move his head further back. A look of worry entered his face.

“Okay, okay! I get it! You can stop now!”

“Good.” Pinkie clapped her hooves together.

“Good job! Go Fluttershy!” The changeling’s jaw plate began to peel off. He wiggled his jaw, and the chitin fell off.

“Oh, why now? It always has to happen in public, doesn’t it! Every time! He stood, and his horn flared, creating a green bubble of mist. His silhouette could be seen inside shaking violently. Bits of shell flew about inside. He sat down inside.

“Now, if you don’t mind I’m staying in here! You don’t want to see me right now, trust me. Actually, why am I doing this? I’m a changeling! A flash of green fire, and the bubble dissolved. He was now revealed to be a white unicorn stallion with blue hooves, a storm cloud cutie mark, and heavy blue eyes.

“That is much better. Unfortunately for me, this pony is nowhere nearby. Can’t sneak off. I accept defeat honorably, blah, blah, blah.”

“Who is that?”

“I dunno. Think they’re dead. Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t do it!” He looked himself over. “Oh, I think his name was Cold Crack, or something like that.” He looked in the mirror, and said, “Goodness, I look like I’m on drugs! Can’t have that! A flash of green fire, and he turned into a young turquoise stallion, with a snowflake cutie mark, pale blue. His blue mane was swept straight backwards, with white at the end of each strand. The effect made it look like he had a waterfall on his head. His coat was turquoise. His hooves were pure white.

Twilight leaped on top of him.

“Where did you see him? Where?” Her horn flared up, loaded with destructive force.

“Somewhere in Canterlot! I don’t know! I thought he looked like someone who would be trusted! You know, the charismatic spy! Con Mane! You know the idea! He cringed as Twilight moved her horn closer to his face.

“He’s safe?”

“Yeah, as far as I know. Had to tie him up and wipe his memory afterward, but he’s fine.”

“Good.” Said Twilight, letting out a sigh and sitting down on the floor.

Luna, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applebloom were sitting there silently. There was a knock on the door, and Applejack’s voice could be heard,

“Twilight? Can I come in?” Twilight’s horn glowed and the door opened. “I was wondering if y’all had seen.... Uh... Twilight? Who is that?”

Twilight told her the whole story.

“Hm. It would seem we are in a state of national emergency.” Said Luna. “This makes us glad we installed... this.” Luna’s horn flashed twice, and two members of Luna’s royal guard appeared. They gave Twilight quite a start, with their bat wings and vertical pupils. The centerpiece of their armor had a fading green luminescence, and made a fading wheezing sort of sound.

“Yes, Princess?” They said in unison.

“On-command summoning crystals? Genius!” Twilight made a squeeing noise. She came up close, examining the crystal piece. She poked it a couple times, and prodded it with her horn. Across the room, Twilight’s quill started scribbling down notes, gripped in a lavender aura.

“Twilight? We have something a bit more important to deal with here.”

“Well, now that you are done with that...” Luna said. Now addressing the soldiers, she said, “That pony there is a changeling. Do not let him out of your sight.”

“Affirmative.”

“Good. Twilight, is their a place were we can keep the prisoner?”

“Yes, in fact, I do.” Twilight led them downstairs. Apple Bloom began to follow, but Applejack stepped in her way.

“Now, Applebloom, you stay here.”

“But sis-”

“Don’t argue with me now, this is important.”

Applebloom sat over in the corner, sulkily. Then, she could have sworn she heard a small chuckle just outside the window.

“He he....” She looked outside, but saw nothing.

“Well, what if that is important? Teach them not to let me come.” She grumbled under her breath, not noticing the ethereal snake circling round her hooves. It arched its neck and bit her in the ankle. Its eyes glowed red, and it dissipated.

In a faraway cave, in the wastes, Discord sat upon a throne. A silver bracelet around his wrist crafted to look like a winding snake pulsed red. He looked at it, and in the serpent’s mouth, a face appeared, that of Applebloom’s.

“Good job, Rebellion....” He reclined sideways in his throne, and smiled. A chuckle escaped, growing into a cackle. He snapped his fingers, and a pink cloud appeared, and zipped away from the cave. He stood in the center, posing dramatically. He then looked up, annoyed. “HATE! I thought I told you to leave the skylight open!”

Chapter 2

As Twilight began leading them downstairs, Pinkie’s left ear began to twitch madly. She tried to hold it steady, but under her hoof it still twitched. It stopped as suddenly as it had come.

“Huh! I’ve never had that happen before! That means something that never happened before is happening!” Then, she remembered a decade ago at the rock farm. The same quirk had gone off, and later in the day, she found her sister trapped under a dead tree, stuck in a hole. When she said she had been there five hours, Pinkie remembered it had been exactly five hours ago that her ear had twitched.

“Guys? I think somepony is stuck in a hole.” As she said this, the door suddenly slammed shut, and disappeared. Ghostly lights came through the walls, filling the room with pale blue light. The two guards whipped around and pointed their horns at the changeling, humming with energy.

“Did you do this?” Wordlessly, the changeling pointed at his horn, and made a shrugging motion. Each of the lights turned into ghostly snakes. They twirled through the air, converging around the changeling. They pushed him into the wall, and turned into a sickly green spider.

“You failed. You will be eliminated from the equation.” it said. Twilight fired a bolt of magic at it, and it turned into a sprawling, spindly thing with claws at the ends of its arms. Its head was disproportionately small, fangs gnashing together. Twilight continued to fire magic at it, causing it to reel back. It flung one of its claws at Twilight impacting her horn. The magical aura turned black, and turned inward. She attempted to fire more magic, but the black aura held fast, hindering the magic. A high-pitched whine escaped, and the aura began to revert to lavender. Suddenly, the blackness broke entirely, allowing all the pent up magic to escape. Suddenly realizing what was happening, she tried to pull the magic back. It began to fizzle and crack, but the result was inevitable. All the magic flew into the creature, converging around it. A white star replaced the creature, which began to buckle violently. Luna, thinking quickly, made a black field to block the oncoming explosion, shouting,

“Shut your eyes!”

After the chaos and sound of something burning, Luna decided it was safe to remove the barrier. The entire room had been trashed, with a smoking skeleton twitching in the middle. It was the creature. In its undead state, it stood, sizzling. Each of its legs was singing the floor, leaving a smoking depression. It fleshless skull had nothing but a green incandescence for eyes. Its jaw made a vibrating motion, as if attempting to hiss. Its eye sockets faded, and green mist lifted out. The bones collapsed, but its head was still facing Twilight.

The changeling, quite shaken, was quivering. He then dropped in a faint. Twilight caught him, before he could fall off the edge of the stairs. She laid him down at the landing, still rather shaky from the whole ordeal. The guards stood at attention, somehow still calm after the chaos. Twilight used her magic to move a giant stack of books. She grunted, the books lifting off the ground. She moved them to the side, revealing a door. She opened it, and walked inside. Her horn lit up, and revealed a nice, if not dusty, room. She ran out of the room, rushing over to a chest on the other side of the room. She opened it, and oil lamps full of rainbow were revealed. She shook them slightly, the colors blending together. Her horn flashed brighter for a second and it lit up, The flame shifted between all the colors of the rainbow, throwing out prismatic beams. One fell on the changeling’s eyelid, making it flutter. He woke, alarmed. His eyes widened as he saw the rainbow lamp. He sprinted into the room, shouting,

“Not the rainbow lamp!”

Twilight, confused, knocked on the door. It opened a crack, and she saw his toxic green eye, with grey, slick, flesh on the edge. He stuck a hoof out, and for a couple seconds, it was turquoise and white, but then the light fell on it, beginning to strip away the illusion. He retracted his hoof.

“That is the problem. Can you please just use a normal lamp- .... What’s with your mane?”

“What do you mean? asked Twilight.

“Twilight.... thy mane is ablaze.” Said Luna. Twilight looked around frantically. Seeing an old mirror draped in cloth, she tore it down using her magic. The side of her with the rainbow light was with a pure white coat, and her mane was a slowly waving stream of fire. Wherever light fell on her, it was the same. The white visage then began to attempt to pull itself away, scowling. Luna, standing near the lamp, snuffed out the flame. The image began to pull back, until none of it was left. Luna stared, agape.

“Applejack? Buck where the door was and don’t hold back. We need to get upstairs. At first it was to get this book-” Luna held up a copy of Tale of the Element Sisters. “But now just getting out.” The changeling cracked open the door. With the rainbow lamp gone, he was safe behind his illusion. With his horn, glowing changeling green, an oil lamp floated beside him. He lit it, casting light on the room. THUD! The sound of Applejack’s hooves reverberated through the room. The changeling was staring inquisitively at a large knot in the wall.

“That... knot.”

“What about it?” Twilight asked.

“That came from a tree branch. A massive one.”

“Your point?” Suddenly, Twilight realized what this meant.

“We need to go deeper.”

“Well, that’s really mainstream. Can’t you think of anything better?”

“Pinkie..... you’re so random.”

“So, you didn’t know burning rainbow did that?”

“Nope. I didn’t even know anything could do that.”

“Hmm. Well, when you burn rainbow, the light cast strips magical illusions. Hence, my disguise disintegrates, and whatever held that in was weakened. I have a feeling that if we use that, we might find a way down. Or out. The ‘wall’ may just be an illusion. I’ll take it up, see if that does anything.”

“Why are you helping us?” Twilight asked.

“Because maybe I like you more than Chrysalis.” He looked at Twilight, dead serious.

“Well.... that’s nice to know.” Twilight hid her face, blushing.

“And no, I’m not hitting on you. I don’t like you that much. So stop blushing.” Embarrassed, she blushed even more.

“Applejack!” Twilight called. Applejack came down, sweat building on her brow.

“Yeah?”

“Come down here. We have an idea.” Applejack came over, panting quietly. The changeling grasped the lamp in his magic. Luna was up there too.

“Can you go downstairs for a second? Thank you.” Luna walked down the stairs, wearing a poker face. The rainbow beams emanated from upstairs. Twilight edged away from the rays.

“Curses!” The beams dissipated, and he hurried downstairs. “Well, the wall is real. I don’t think we’re getting out that way. This tree is way too strong. Down might help.” His horn lit up, and a small beam of light searched the floor. As he roamed around, the light scanning the floor, he had a small smile on his face. Suddenly, a speck of gray appeared. He focused the light on the spot, and an iron trapdoor appeared. He stood on it, and it began to materialize. The light disappeared, and the door was there.

“You’re welcome” He opened the door.

“Well, it certainly looks old”, the changeling said. They all peeked over his shoulder. Cobwebs were scattered around. One of the stairs seemed to be split in half with rot. Twilight tentatively eased her weight on the first stair. She slowly walked down, each step creaking treacherously.

“It should hold us if we go down one at a time.” Suddenly, as Twilight took another step, a loud, metallic whining sounded out, and after a couple seconds of silence, a piece of metal hit the floor down below. Twilight hurried back up, and just as she cleared the third step, half the staircase fell down, swinging on rusty iron nails. Twilight got to safety, just as the swinging stairs knocked out the supports holding the first half in place. The entire structure crashed to the floor down below. Luna smiled.

“Why are you smiling like that? I nearly died!” Said Twilight. Luna flapped her wings. The changeling turned into a pegasus, with a rose red coat and blue mane. The cutie mark was a purple firework. Luna and the changeling drifted down. Twilight grasped the oil lamp in her magic, and it floated alongside her.

“Applejack, wait here.” The magical aura extended over her entire body, and she drifted down. As she landed next to Luna and the changeling, she stumbled a bit, dizzy from the magical exertion.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve done that.”

Twilight lit the lamp. The glow covered a medium-size circle around them, but it didn’t help much. With the light of the lamp, Luna analyzed the floor. Crystals were embedded in it every few feet.

“I think we recognize these. We haven’t seen them since before. The.... incident. If memory serves.... Luna’s horn lit up, and she touched it to the crystal. It began to glow, and every crystal lit, the room filling with all the colors of the rainbow. The light revealed an altar at the end of the room. And the spiraling staircase, going down and revealing the platforms going down beyond vision.

Twilight gaped in awe at the inverted tower beneath her house. Luna walked over to the altar.

“Cometh!” She called. Twilight and the changeling walked over. The base formed from the tree itself, and a figure of an Alicorn stood there, her foot resting on a cerulean orb. At least, what was left of it. Shards of it sat around it, one single part still bound to the hoof. On a slate were indecipherable symbols. Twilight scratched her head over the strange marks. Luna said grimly,

“Dost thou know what this is?”

“No.... Is it important?”

“Tis a containment sphere. To contain souls. How it came to be here, I know not. But I recognize this one. It held Blaze Ignus. The Sister of Fire.” Luna then flew up to the basement. She came back down, holding Tale of the Element Sisters. She opened to a page, and an illustration of Blaze dominated the page. White coat, flaming mane, scowl. Exactly the same as the thing attached to Twilight. Luna repaired the sphere, and it glowed with a menacing purple luminance. Luna took the tablet from the altar and read it aloud, her ancient knowledge giving her the words.

“The ambassador of day and dusk,

Finding knowledge that is lost.

Guardian of the darker hours,

Quench the fire with thy powers.

Before your world it consumes,

Along with all the ancient tomes.

Unknown foretelling of future events

Starswirl the Bearded, 29 of Snowcoat, 10 BH.”

Twilight gasped when she heard the date.

“Before Harmony.... this text is old. Princess, after all this insanity is done, can I keep this?” Luna shook her head, smiling.

“We apologize, Twilight. It would be unwise to keep a national artifact in a small-town library. You certainly will get credit, though. Your name will be on the plaque at the very least. Fancy certificates, and the such-like.”

“I understand.”

“Now, do you know what we must do?” Said Luna, grimly.

“Trap Blaze in the sphere?”

“You truly are a wise unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. This will take some work, however. Do you have rainbow pools anywhere near?”

“At Rainbow’s house, yeah.”

“Well, first, we have to get out of here.”

“Hey guys!” Pinkie popped out from behind the altar.

“GAAAAAH! How- what- how could- WHAT?!”

“There’s no way out going up. I talked to Applebloom through the door. She tried bucking it, but she didn’t do anything. Then she kinda disappeared.” Pinkie said, rapid-fire.

“Well, I guess that means we go down. I really need to get a bulkhead for my basement.” Said Twilight. She looked at all the stairs and sighed. As they began to walk down, Twilight realized that however long this had been here, it had always been a library. On each floor were at least twelve bookshelves, all the books in amazing repair for how long they had been there. Twilight assumed that magic had been used in keeping them in shape. On some of the floors, glass cases with paintings inside had plain white stones illuminating them, eliminating the influence of other colors on the picture. One had an oil painting, depicting a snow-framed stone tower, which Twilight recognized as the meeting place from the Hearth’s Warming Eve play. The plaque below read in a rather archaic Equestrain dialect, but Twilight was familiar with it. This portrait was donated to the Equestrian History Museum and Library in 1450, AC, from the personal collection of Night Sparkle, popular historian, scribe, and librarian.

Another was a strange drawing, with a canine back-to-back with Discord, an odd creature in front of them with a pair of lobster arms and a pair of polar bear arms, with a dragon head, three ponies in front.... one of which looked like Daring Do, and Ahuizotl on the right. From Daring Do. Twilight scratched her head at this painting, due to its complete strangeness. The plaque below read, Found in the North Equestrian rainforest; Anonymous ‘Stupidyou3’ reads in the corner, probably the painter. Thought to be art related to a work of fiction; i.e. cover art, illustration. Related to Discord, Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos. Further studies inconclusive. Another painting was of a obsidian black dragon, breathing out blue wisps of flame. Hate, spirit of Enmity. Then, the changeling called out. They all hurried down to where he was. Before him was an animated figure of a pony, looking at him silently.

Chapter 3

He stared at the figure, a distressed look on his face.

“Does.... anypony happen to know what this is?”

“Question registered. I am Centurion.” The figure said, with no visible change of shape.

“Okay Centurion.... What are you?” Said Twilight.

“Question registered. I am a construction animated through magical means and granted intelligence. I am the custodian of this library and museum.”

“Museum? What of?” Said Luna, intrigued.

“Equestrian Museum of Natural History.”

“Hmm. Is there anyone else here?”

“Question regist-”

“You don’t have to say question registered.” Said Rainbow.

“Command regis-”

“RGHH!”

“I am the only one here. I tend to the books and displays. You have brought a changeling here.” The ponies looked at the changeling.

“Yeah.... what about it?”

“The Heart of Whiteshell is here.” The changeling gasped.

“What is it doing here?” He said with a look of disbelief.

“What is that?” Asked Twilight.

“The changelings were once a race that did not have to leech the love from other ponies. Queen Whiteshell’s heart was the only changeling that could emit real, pure love for the entire horde. When she passed on, her heart was bound to a crystal, that could always radiate the love forever. When the Omegas got greedy, we had to lock it away. Apparently, we locked it here.”

“If you are no longer in a state of war, then I have been set with a standing order to return it to the changelings.”

“We are in a state of war. My loyalties.... recently shifted.”

“With whom? I may be able to provide advice.”

“Umm. ponykind. I’m no longer a part of it.”

“You threaten public safety?” The aura of the figure reddened slightly.

“No! No! Please don’t kill me!”

They were guided through the museum. The figure walked with a mechanical gait, regularly putting one hoof in front of the other. Twilight was poking her head around the form, considering it. She took notes. It was fascinating magic, a long dead art. She tried probing it, but every time she reached out with magic, sparks rained from chinks of its form. It shuddered.

“Don’t do that.”

“Where are you taking us?”

“You’ll see.”

“What do you know, you’re talking normal!” Said Rainbow.

“Comment registered.”

“.... *sigh*”

The figure lead them on. He stopped at a door. It had flowing designs, and inscriptions all around it. They did not seem to have any meaning. Centurion inserted his horn into a hole in the door. The carvings glowed, and the door opened. Centurion’s horn had become a complex key system, gears and other mechanisms working. The shells closed, and his horn went back to normal. Apparently, he was a clockwork of sorts. Twilight scribbled down a note in the book she summoned from upstairs. He faced them.

“Follow me.”

He stepped through the door, darkness enveloping him. They followed.

Apparently, a magical shroud covered the contents of the room. As they cleared the darkness, a large chamber opened up. A large pentagon with a sixth point in the middle had strange gemstones at each point. They were large, rotating orbs of varying colors. Each one had a blue aura.

“What.... is that?” Said Twilight, awed.

“The Crystal Calendar.” Each orb was rotating slowly, magic working like a clockwork, elegant metal wisps identifying dates, star formations, phases of the moon, meteor showers, and various other information.

“This was made as a gift from the Crystal Empire long ago. It was near the time of the Intrusion.”

“The Intrusion?”

“Information not found.” The aura around the automaton flickered spasmodically.

“What do you mean?”

“Question not understood.”

“Huh?” Centurion seemed to be glitching. Twilight decided to leave it alone. But, this ‘Intrusion’ interested her. She took a note.

“Most ponies recognize it only as a calendar. However, its true purpose is much different.”

He sprouted a pair of mechanical wings, and flew up to the center. He pressed a hoof to it. The metal wisps moved to one place, and pieces of iron moved around. A ring formed, and energy coalesced in the middle. The crystals glowed, and energy jumped from the center to the crystals. Gems set in a circle glowed as energy filled them. The whole thing became a disk of swirling energy. The energy swirled as the parts moved about. As the metal moved around, shredded images could be seen. They stopped. The image cleared. The Crystal Empire sprawled out in front of them. It was black and miserable. The empire seemed to recently have been invaded by Sombra, and he stood in front of the portal. He did not notice the swirling vortex at his back.

“Well, Crystal ponies, you have been defeated!” He said triumphantly, strutting around a raised podium.

“This is when Sombra conquered the Crystal empire. Soon, Celestia and Luna will come and thwart him.”

“Is it just me, or is this a time machine?” Said Twilight.

“Sharp mare. Starswirl the Bearded was involved with this. He was one of the best sorcerers ever. While nopony knows where he came from, he came during the Intrusion.” When he said that, he flickered and spasmed.

“The Intrusion again.” Said Twilight. The mere mention of the Intrusion, whatever that was, seemed to be messing with him.

“You may need this if you are to defeat Discord.” Go back, and stop him from escaping. Suddenly, a voice sounded from the vortex.

“Bad idea!” And a blue blur flicked across the portal.

“That happens every once in a while. Sometimes, I hear another pony with him. I can imitate her.” He was silent for a moment, and then said in a different voice, “Doctor! What’s going on?” Twilight was surprised, for this was the voice of Ditzy Doo. She shook her head. This was the most maddening day of her life. The other ponies were also surprised by this. They all ignored it.

“I take it he means that is not the best course of action. He seems to be an intelligent, yet eccentric, pony. Every time he says something, it’s usually true. Now I think on it, if we do that, ponies that died in the past would be alive in the future, and that would cause a paradox.”

“That may be a coincidence, you know. Said Twilight. The other ponies agreed.

“He’s alway’s right.”

Centurion moved the indicators around. A golden figure, not a pony, was vaguely visible, but no details could be made out. Suddenly, the indicators snapped to a different place of their own accord.

“That period is time-blocked.” Centurion stated. “I’ve worked at it for a while now. I was thinking I may need a real pony here to figure out the puzzle- I’m only an automaton.”

“I couldn’t do anything. I’m sorry. Luna?” Said Twilight.

“This magic is long before our time. The other princesses before us were the ones that would be involved. We have no idea.”

“Well, isn’t that a shame?” Said the changeling. His voice was suddenly different.

“Twilight, I need you to know something.” He turned to her. “There are things I didn’t tell you.”

Chapter 4

The changeling pushed Centurion aside. Luna tried to restrain him. He shook her, and went up to the calendar. He changed it. He stood in front of the visage. Chrysalis had her back to the vortex. Rainbow light fell upon his face, but it didn’t strip any image away. It really was the pony.

“So, Turquoise, you think you can stop me?” Her voice was different. When she turned her head, looking at her hoof nonchalantly, Twilight could see it was a different queen. Turquoise growled, and dug his hooves into the ground. His horn glowed blue. His mane was ratty. Instead of swept straight back, it was a tangle of white-tipped hair. It hung in locks. The changeling queen fired a bolt of magic lazily at him. He was pushed back, and green magic enveloped him. He stood. His hooves were ringed in poisonous green energy. It began to move up his legs.

“What have you done?”

“Well, you’re a smart pony. I could use you in the swarm.”

Turquoise looked at himself, a tear falling from his cheek. he watched himself turn into a changeling. He sat in front of the vortex.

“Twilight.... No.... He gritted his teeth. The energy had gone halfway up his legs. They had been replaced with changeling legs. “I’ll die first!” His horn glowed. He fired bolts at the queen.

“You can’t stop me from going through the portal. To my destiny.” The queen turned to the portal. The changeling stuck his head through.

“Nice try.” His horn glowed. The queen looked at him, shocked. She looked behind her.

“How-”

“Time. It’s a tricky thing.” She backed up. The changeling stepped through. as the rainbow light fell on him, a slate gray shell was visible. It was halfway hardened. He fired bolts at the queen. His changeling magic intercepted her passive shield, making it useless. The queen began to fall over from the assault. She became a steaming form on the ground. He ran over to his past self, and used his horn to take off the conversion spell. As this happened, he began to become a normal pony. The changeling magic balanced.

“He’s caused a paradox. He’s combatting the time flux.” Said Luna. Pinkie sat with a bag of popcorn, intently staring at the vortex. Twilight walked over, smacked the bag out of her hooves, and stared at her sternly. Suddenly, the events began to rewind. Then they went back forward. “Time is warping.” The past version of Turquoise began to glow. He disappeared. Turquoise stood.

“I’m.... back to normal.” He rushed towards Twilight. When he reached the wall, however, he was blocked.

“The paradox has caused the portal to malfunction.” Said Centurion. Turquoise backed away.

“I’ll see you again, Twilight. He put his hoof to the portal. Twilight did the same.

“Why didn’t you say, Turquoise?” She said.

“I didn’t know how to say. Time is fluctuating. I wont be able to stay a normal pony. Time will want to mend itself. This is a little pocket of time where something was changed. We’re in a little bubble outside the normal time stream. Bubbles pop. We’ll be back to normal soon. Time is rewinding. We’re not noticing. Goodbye, Twilight.”

The changeling looked at the visage. Why didn’t I realize that would happen? I’m such an idiot sometimes! He remembered the event. He also remembered the time flux. He was the center of it, so he could remember it easily. Twilight looked at it. She was open-mouthed. When the conversion was finished, he was a changeling.

“I’ll never serve you. You can’t make me. I will rebel.” Said Turquoise.

“Well, you aren’t rebelling here. Go meet my great-grandspawn!” She grasped him in her hooves, and tossed him through the portal. He was xeroxed as he went through, his front half going to a different part of time. His whole body went through. Pinkie stuck her tongue out, sickened by the visible guts. Turquoise said,

“Now I come in.” He went through the portal, and looked at the queen.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Turquoise. You just threw me through that portal. I waited. And now I’m back, and ready to get rid of you.”

He came back through the portal. “This time, time stays in place. I am supposed to be a pony, but she turned me into a changeling. Joke’s on her.”

“You really are Turquoise?” said Twilight.

“Yes. Yes I am.”

“Can you prove it?”

“When you were six years old, I came along with Cadence while she was juggling us together. I spilled apple juice in your mane, and it took exactly two hours to wash it out. I also got my cutie mark in ice sculpturing, and made you a giant snowflake.”

“It really is you.” Twilight said. No, no it’s not. I’m your little brother. Of course I am. He thought to himself.

“There has to be a way to reverse the process.”

“Not that I know of. I looked, believe me.”

“The portal must be kept closed. If Discord gets to it, then he can stop himself from ever being imprisoned in the first place.” Said Centurion. “That, or it must be destroyed. That is a dangerous course of action, however. It could fluctuate time’s order.”

“We have to get out of here.” Said Luna. “We can’t do anything as long as we’re stuck in here.”

“Agreed.” Said Twilight.

“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Said Pinkie. The changeling just nodded. “It’ll be faster if we use this.” Said Pinkie. She ran out of the room, and smacked her party cannon down in the middle of the place. “Everypony get in!” She said, waving. She lowered her hoof. “No? Okay!” She mashed the button, and flew upward in a shower of confetti and fireworks. She flew upward, and Twilight winced as she heard a sharp crack. Pinkie fell back down, as a pink ball, bounced, and said, “Well that didn’t work.” Twilight facehoofed.

“Of course it didn’t work, Pinkie. How could it?”

“You never know!”

“Except I do.”

“Pffft!”

“Anyways, we have a long walk.”

“No you don’t. We have elevators.” All the ponies looked at Centurion.

“What?” They said in unison.

Chapter 5

“So, you’re saying we had to walk all the way down here when we could have just taken the elevator?”

“Affirmative.”

“Ughh...” Twilight groaned. She facehoofed.

“They’re over here.” Said Centurion, pointing to a door on the opposite wall. They walked over to it. He pushed a button with his hoof, and the door opened. A clean white light shone inside. A wooden latticework covered the shaft, pulleys and levers sitting inert. The floor was an even square, with a simple pattern etched into the wood. They all filed in. Centurion stood outside, and said, “I wish you luck, ponies. May the plains sway your way. Hold- correction. Erroneous use of expression. Celestia smile upon your quest.” Twilight smiled at his systematic operation, so simple, but effective.

Da da do da di.... Music played in the elevator, on a scratchy old gramophone hidden from sight. The ponies stood in silence, Pinkie bobbing her head to the music, tapping her hoof. The ride took a while, old pulleys squeaking as it pulled the four ponies up.

“So, that weather?” Said Turquoise, trying to make conversation, but failing to pierce the awkward silence that hung over them. Twilight scuffed her hoof at the floor. Pinkie took out a stick of confetti, pulled a string on the bottom, and confetti showered over them. Somehow, this still failed to pierce the uncomfortable lack of speech. Pinkie sat facedown, and started thudding her head on the floor slowly. Twilight’s ear twitched. The elevator was either really old, or just plain slow. It seemed to drag on for an hour. Twilight almost wanted Discord to come just to make it interesting. Almost.

When the elevator finally reached the top, they had almost fallen asleep from sheer boredom. Twilight almost fell over, because her foreleg had fallen asleep. They went to the place where the stairs had been. Twilight levitated up. She alighted on the floor upstairs. Turquoise lighted down beside her. Luna appeared, and Pinkie bounced up, and inflated, landing with a springing noise. Applejack stood at attention as they landed. The guards were sitting at a small table, playing cards. One of them frowned, considering his hand. When they saw Princess Luna, they scrambled to get the cards out of view. They stood at attention. One of them stood on one card, and slid it back. They smiled. Apparently, they were normal ponies at heart.

“You can play a game of cards every now and then. We don’t mind.” Said Luna. The guards nodded mechanically. “They were so much more trusting before.” She sighed.

“Princess, nothing has happened up here at the moment. No activity from outside either. The foal outside seems to have disappeared.”

“Oh, what’s that filly doing now?” Said Applejack. Suddenly, an engine sounded on the other side of the door.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CHAINSAW! YAY!” Applejack’s eyelid twitched, and she gulped. Applebloom’s voice sounded not quite as cheery as the rest.

“Ch-chainsaw?” RAWWWWRRRR! The chainsaw blade went through the door, sawdust spraying everywhere. The blade went through the wood easily, but it stuck at the bottom of the door. The Crusaders tried to maneuver it into place, but it wouldn’t fit. Applejack shouted, “CLEAR OUT!” The fillies could be heard scrambling out of the way. Applejack went to the outline of the door. She bucked it at full force.

The wood fibers cracked and splintered. The door was bucked down, and it hit the floor, somersaulting across the room. It thudded against the opposite wall, and cracked in half. Applebloom was standing right next to the path of the door. She said,

“Hey.”

“Where did you get that chainsaw?”

“Hey, that’s mine!” Said Pinkie Pie.

“What?” Said AJ.

“It came out of her basement.” Said Sweetie Belle.

“It’s part of my cupcake recipe!” Applejack shook her head, and looked at Pinkie, jaw agape. She held up a hoof, and just facehoofed. Cause sometimes, calling ponies stupid just doesn’t work. Twilight came out. It was daytime at the moment, but the sun was low in the sky. Luna followed after. Pinkie Pie jumped out of Twilight’s mane. Applebloom was rather sulky. Sweetie Belle was cowering in a corner. Scootaloo was hovering above the hole where the door had been. Her wings began to fail, and she plummeted to the ground.

“I’m glad none of you got hurt.” Said AJ.

“Sure you are.” Mumbled Applebloom. Sweetie Belle lightly kicked her shin. She drew back, scowling. “That’s enough, ah’m out of here.” She left. Applejack cocked her head at her strange behavior. She shrugged it off. She looked at the other Crusaders.

“Why don’t y’all go talk to her?” She said, quietly. The two fillies nodded, and trotted off.

“We have to take this to the castle.” Said Luna, holding up the sphere. “But first, Blaze must be captured.” Luna put her horn to Twilight’s, and red light pierced the air around the convergence. Blaze’s form was visible, clipping out of Twilight’s. She was suddenly sucked into a single point. Luna fired her at the crystal, red beams of energy crackling off. The orb glowed, and a red glow appeared in the center. It was visibly banging up against the wall. It settled in the bottom, sulkily. “We bid you good fortune, Twilight Sparkle.” She teleported away.

Celestia came shortly after. Twilight had summoned Rainbow and Rarity. Fluttershy had been forgotten, and had stayed upstairs.

“So, what’s going on?” Said Rainbow.

“Who is your, friend, Twilight?” Said Rarity, winking at Turquoise.

“Sorry. Twilight is all the mare I need.” Rarity drew back. He leaned against Twilight, and she found herself not hating it. Finding out he was the real Turquoise Frost had changed her view of him completely. They had been good friend back at Canterlot- one of her first true friends after her brother. A fellow studious young pony, interested with magic, and also in Advanced Magic Studies. A kindred spirit, you might say.

“So, really, who is it?” Said Rarity.

“My name is Turquoise Frost. I remember seeing you at Canterlot recently. You were at a high-society party, were you not?”

“Why, yes.... Yes I was.”

“Yes. I made an ice sculpture. I one a store in Canterlot- great base of operations, and I make plenty of bits on the side.”

“Base of operations?” Rarity asked. As an answer, he enveloped in green fire. His chitin had fully hardened by now. His blue stripes shone with a cerulean luster. Rarity gasped.

“I really hate being a changeling. Molting is a ridiculous pain in the plot.”

Rainbow charged him. She was suddenly stopped in a green aura. He looked at his hooves casually. “Oh, really now. All too predictable. Your voice makes you sound like someone who acts tough, signifying an underlying aggression, and pressure from a fellow peer group to act tough. You want to please, and you’re all to ready to jump into a fight without even knowing who you’re dealing with. A charge is only too easy.” He stood. “Furthermore, the fact that you act tough means you like to fancy yourself as it. But, I can see the impressions in your back. You sleep a lot. you have a lazy streak, but when given a challenge, you become irked, and you just can’t lode it, can you? Therefore, you likley resort to cheating on occasion, but it is not above you keeping your image to read a book every once in a while. Six, seven hundred pages? Your elbows have fabric imprints on them, so I imagine you lay in bed, reading to your heart’s delight. That, or you sleep on a giant pillow, but that’s kind what a bed is. You have a rivalry with Applejack here, I assume? But still friends. Let’s take a look at you, shall we?”

He whirled around to face Applejack. As he deduced, Rainbow was so stunned by her emotional dissection that she just thudded down to the floor. “You aren’t one for making anything fancy. You work on an apple farm, judging by the wear on your hooves and your calf muscles, and you don’t always think everything quite through. You’re practical, yet not above competition. You’ve been to a couple rodeos, judging by your competitive spirit, and won yourself a couple ribbons. You have indents on the back of your neck.” Applejack reached back and rubbed her neck, where the weight of ribbons had left a mark in her fur. “You get in arguments with this one here, due to your practical nature, while she fusses the details. She would try and clean the mess made from a broken dam, even before it’s been fixed. She wouldn’t be able to stand the mess. She has a keen eye for fashion, from the coiled mane, and you really can’t go outside without looking absolutely perfect.” He was looking at Rarity now.

“You fancy yourself as a high-society fashion designer. Your hooves are polished and filed, you horn is sanded, and you wear false lashes.” Rarity was stunned by the sudden opening of her psyche. He smiled smugly. “Like a bawss.”

Chapter 6

“Oh, and you.” Said Turquoise. He approached Fluttershy. She shyly lowered her head. “You are an animal lover. You have grass in your mane, and you smell like the woods. Aside from that, actually, I can’t tell much about you. You aren’t completed or detracted from by anypony.” He said softly, lowering his face. “Thou art an enigma, milady.” He said, archaically. She went even lower into the ground, if that was possible. He was studying her closely. He couldn’t find anything. This filly was a mystery. He scratched his head, lifted her up, combed through her mane and tail, even looked in between her flanks discreetly, but this pony was a complete and utter mystery. “That’s the first time I haven’t been able to dissect a pony’s personality completely.” He stated, flummoxed. “And let’s keep it that way, shall we?” Said Fluttershy, sticking her nose up. Twilight looked at her, confused. In the mirror, he could see her eyelid twitch. Got a bit close there, didn’t I?

“But of course, how could I forget you?” Said Turquoise. He turned to the princess. He gave her a short look-over. “Ruling a nation and teaching students is hard work.” He said, scrutinizing her face. “Gotta cover up those dark circles, or people will know you’re tired. Excellent makeup work.” He circled quickly around her. “Silk pillows, I see. Just about anything else would cause a good bit of chafing for a pony of your size and stature. With those horseshoes, I can’t see your hooves, but they are filed to fit, aren’t they?” He looked her up and down. He looked at her eyes again, squinting. “Contacts?” He looked a bit surprised.

“Shall we get back on track, now?” She said, slightly irate. “While I find your deduction and observation impressive, it can make a pony uncomfortable. The fate of Equestria is at stake. Not just Equestria, even the lands beyond. The world is at stake.”

“Right. I just like knowing who I’m dealing with.”

“I’m the princess. How do you not know me?”

“Good point.”

“Twilight, Discord said he was acquiring allies, correct?”

“Yes, Princess. We met one downstairs.”

“Where is it?”

“Umm... I incinerated it.” The princess’ eyes widened, and she knit her brow.

“Okay... is anything left?” She held up her hoof, and shook her head, eyes closed. “So, you incinerated it?”

“Yes....” Twilight poked at the floor, awkwardly. “The bones are still there.”

“Then I would like to see it. We must know who it is.”

They went downstairs. “This one is familiar.” She said, considering it. “He is gathering spirits together, correct? What color was its aura?”

“Poisonous green.”

“Green, scaly?”

“Yep.” Said Twilight.

“This was Revulsion, spirit of Rot and Fear. She’s not dead. She is a wisp-based spirit, who is not organic. She is truly a spirit, an embodiment of a soul in the shape of mist. She’s probably in this room.” She paused, took a deep breath, and said, “Waiting for me.”

Suddenly, the door was again replaced with a solid wall of wood, with thorns coming out. The thorns were twitching. The black wood began to spread, thorns sprouting from everywhere. “She’s replacing your tree with thornwood.” Twilight gasped. A nodule grew out of the center of the room. Black vines waved in the air. Eyes opened in the vines, blinking at the two ponies. Sap leaked from the eyes like tears. The tree was sentient. The vines twirled together, went into the ground, and were replaced with a pony figure. It was entirely black. It was a real pony, covered in the green sap. It had a broken horn. Revulsion was a fallen unicorn. “SSSSSelesstia.” She hissed.

“Vineleaf.”

“Don’t call me that. You know who I am. Who you made me into.”

“You made yourself when you tried to kill me.”

“For the good of the foresssssst. You would kill my chiiiiildren, my precious garden.”

“You turned ponies into timberwolves. You were obsessed with toxin and insects, death and rot.”

“For the foresssts. They could not sssurvive on there own. I taught them how. How to kill their killersss.”

“We needed that hospital. Ponies were dying by the hundreds from the toxic plants you created.” She looked at the circle of oakwood left around her. “And you’re using one of your creations against us, I see. A sentient tree, capable of moving and breathing. You used its life to give some to yourself. Not only did you sap the life of ponies, now you sap life from your own... children, as you call them.”

“They gladly give it to me, there own mother! They love me like no pony ever could. With my broken horn, I was always the odd one out. Until I found a fallen tree. It was dying. A tree without roots. A unicorn with no horn. The plants, they fell to lumberjack’s axe. My horn fell to the industry of thisss.... ‘perfect’ world.”

“Vine, you must give this up! You have twisted beauty into disease. Lush leaves into spiteful thorns.”

“I turned weakness into power. The plants, they thanked me! I heard their voissses, their pleas, and anssswered them.”

“You loved nature for its beauty. You took it away.”

“You of all poniesss know there is a prissse to pay for power. They were happy to pay it.”

“Only after they were twisted into your slaves.”

“They were not my ssslaves! My children were happy to kill the ponies who took their chiiildren away, and took them down!” She growled, her brow furrowing in anger. Her yellow eyes burned with anger. Her cutie mark was blurred. A flowering plant was vaguely visible, but above it, in sharp detail, was a razor thorn, piercing through a pony. Twilight was horrified by it. Past the shape, the thorn was red. She had begun to dry off. She was revealed to be dark green, with a spiked mane. It was red with green at the roots. Her hooves were stained with tar-like sap. Her eyes were cruel and hard.

“You are poisoned, Vine. You of all ponies knows poison when they see it.”

“I am not poisoned! I am empowered!”

“This is poison of the soul. Let go of your hate. Come to peace with the world. Understand that while it changes, not all change is for the worse.”

“I was crippled by this change. My children were killed by it.” The stump of her horn was crackling. Magic aura extended beyond the horn, flickering in the vague shape of one. Magic flowed in a spiral, trying to follow the path a horn made, but without it, the magic was shapeless and volatile. The spiral ribbon began to collapse. It retracted back into stump. She growled.

She forced magic through the stump again. The cuticle of her horn began to bleed. Suddenly, the magic flashed into a perfect spiral, and Turquoise was suddenly there in a green flash. She held him in vines, and walked up to him.

“Vine?” He said, surprised. “What happened to you?” He said, looking at her stump.

“The industry you always loved. You helped make this happen, you will fix it.” She said, looking at his horn. She stroked it with a hoof. She lifted it up, and his eyes widened.

“No! Please! Don’t do it!” He was shaking. She brought her hoof down hard.

A piercing scream was heard, as his horn snapped. The turquoise stump was leaking green magic. Blood seeped from the edge. He was whimpering, lying on the ground, clutching his forehead. Revulsion took the horn in hoof. A vine came up to her stump of a horn, and filed it smooth. The same thing happened with Turquoise’s horn, and she put the shattered horn to her own. She tried to use magic. As she began to focus her unicorn magic, the horn flashed green. It was back to a changeling horn. Turquoise stood shakily and grinned. “There are some things you don’t know about me since we last met.” From his horn, green magic bubbled like acid. His shell was revealed. She widened her eyes. Looking up at the horn, she was shocked. However, the process she started was beyond the point of return. The horn had begun to bind. She attempted to stop it, but to no avail. It began to take over her horn. Two magics clashed, and began to struggle. The horn began to glow. Magic tried to follow the horn. As it met the changeling horn, it began crackle out. The green turned into white. It exploded.

Colors. Green and white. A burst of blazing light emanated from the junction, burning wood and singing coats. Twilight held her hoof to her eyes. Rot was a silhouette in the center of the explosion. Suddenly, it stopped. She stood, panting. The horn had successfully attached. Celestia gasped.

“How?”

“Ressearch of... organic components... prosthetics... rebinding lost horns... returning to... unicornhood...” She suddenly widened her eyes. “But... not the effects of it.” She looked at the plants, horrified.

“You... have been restored?” Said Celestia, in wonder.

“Yes. And now I have to put this right. Her horn lit up. The wood turned back into oak. Her coat turned into a beautiful velvet green, and her mane became a mop, falling down on both sides. Her yellow eyes softened to amber. Her horn was bubbling. The changeling half wanted to take over. She used the horn, melding the changeling half. She was an absolute expert when it came to organic reshaping. Turquoise’s horn had started to regrow.

“You have the ability to regrow limbs.” Said Vine, looking at the growing stump. “You were not born changeling.” She said. “I can restore you, but it will take time.”

“Vine!” Said Celestia sharply. She snapped to attention, fear piercing her soft amber eyes. “You have killed hundreds of ponies. You must pay your dues, Vine.”

“You want to save Equestria. What if I could help?”

“Keep your promise, and I will gladly release you. If you betray us, you will pay.”

“I understand, Princess.” She said, bowing.

Chapter 8 (Warning: Feels galore)

Chapter 8

Discord stood there, still cackling. Suddenly, he paused, held up a claw, and said,

“Hold on a minute...” He put a paw on each side of his head, and with a popping noise, we twisted it upside-down. He turned it two times the other way, and let go, allowing his head to spin back in place. “Tea is simply ghastly. I need....” He held up his hands to the air, and shouted, “CHOCOLATE MIIIIIIIIIILK!” Familiar pink clouds shrouded the sky, and brown droplets fell lazily, quickly coming down harder and harder with each volley. He summoned a glass, holding it upside down. A cloud was below it, and chocolate milk cam out of it, floating up into the glass. When he flipped it right side up, the chocolate remained, but the glass floated upwards as a liquid. “Oh, I hate when I spill my chocolate milk of glass.” He threw the milk down, where it shattered. “You know, that tree needed that. It’s looking better all ready!” The whole tree was currently turning into a massive candy cane, and the leaves turned into hard candies of varying flavor. Slowly, the whole tree became a giant lollipop with a candy cane instead of a stick, and a giant ball of chocolate with pieces of hard candy throughout. He suddenly saw Vine. “You... seem familiar... Then he saw Turquoise.

“But you! I know who you are! Alpha changeling operative number 12, designation Turquoise Frost, the famous convert! I see you betrayed us! Oh, my, this is a truly delicious plot twist! A twist that must be straightened out!” His eyes flashed red. He flew through the air, and grabbed him by the throat. He snapped his eagle claw. All the ponies’ wings and horns disappeared. Vine stood up.

“Do you think you can do this? To the forests? The world?” Said Vine menacingly.

“I think I can do whatever I want.” He said, smugly, and made Turquoise float in a bubble of chewing gum, and spun in the air, pumping his head back and forth, arms waving in the air. He stopped, his neck spinning as if on a loose pivot. “I seem to be leaning towards cranial gags today. Oh well.”

“Because you can’t. I will always be a child of the forest. I don’t need a horn to work my real magic. Because while this tree has become seventy six point thirty eight sugar, it’s still a plant.” She put a hoof firmly into the chocolate shell, shaving off a swirl of thick dark chocolate, slipping into the ground. She righted herself. “I don’t know how this is a living plant, but the forest obeys me... over you.” The tattoo on her left hoof glowed, and a verdant aura surrounded it. “I was raised by timberwolves, taught the ways of the forest. The wood was my womb, the leaves were my roof.”

The tree swirled out, growing and expanding. Candy cane branches slowly turned back into oak wood as she manipulated them. Pinkie Pie had woken back up, and was happily eating chocolate from the tree. “Don’t eat that, Pinkie Pie, it’s hollow.” Suddenly, a cracking noise was heard, and Pinkie floated in midair for a second, looked down, and fell down. She could be heard sliding down the inside, pieces of candy breaking off the inside. Twilight shook her head.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s fine. Somehow.”

The vines began to curl around Discord’s midsection, and snapped his fingers. He smugly lifted his chin, not seeing the vines still wrapping around him. They cinched tight, and he was squeezed. He began to struggle, panicking. He tried to teleport out, but the vines were too close to do it properly.

“It doesn’t matter if you kill me! Armies are behind me! If I cannot be there, then they will still finish the job!”

“That’s very unlike you, Discord. I remember you being very cool under such pressure.” Said Twilight.

“I underestimated you once. That is a mistake I won’t repeat. This is me with the gloves off!” He grasped the woody vines grasping him, and began to break them apart. Wood splintered, and he was free. “This is the time of reckoning! My armies shall march soon, and there is nothing you can do about it!” He teleported in a yellow flash.

“Well, now we go to Canterlot. This is a large development.” Said Vine

“How will we get there? Discord still has our horns and wings.” Twilight.

“And I am still a child of the forest.” The tree began to become smaller, turning back into a real tree. They were dumped at the bottom.

“Fluttershy, you are a friend of the forest. I recognized it in your heart. Speak with the animals, gather allies. The forest will take us to Canterlot. I have an old friend to visit, and a debt to collect.” She ran off into the forest, roots lifting themselves out of the ground in her path to let her through.

Vine walked through the cave, her tattoo casting pale green light on her surroundings. Bats chirped in the darkness.She put a hoof down.

“This should be the right cave.... It’s so different now.” She said out loud, voice echoing through the cavern. She was scanning the ground, looking for something. She heard a slither in the shadows. A glowing dot appeared in the darkness, and she galloped towards it. “Father!” The light hardened, and disappeared, powerful gusts tearing through the cave. “Are you weak? Your wings are softer.”

“Who are you?”

“You raised me. You took me in as a foal, taught me to speak, the ways of the forest, eveything!”

“I taught you nothing. If I taught you anything, I would have taught you to never approach a dragon when you can’t see it!” Suddenly, she was grasped in a powerful claw, and lifted into the air. Two green jets of fire illuminated a scaled face, hard yellow eyes glowing in the darkness.

“Sodra, she is a friend. Release her.” An old, gravely dragon voice rumbled in the darkness. Slow, heavy steps echoed through the cave, a form of shimmering beads materializing in the darkness.

“Father!”

“Insane pony, he could never be your father.”

“Yes. Not by blood. She is your foster sister. You were too young to remember her.” thundering, cracking noise sounded throughout the cavern. Glowing cracks appeared in the walls, illuminating the cavern. A ancient dragon with scales missing stood there, the same tattoo on her hoof spiraling around his forefoot.

“What....” Said Sodra under his breath, in the fiery tongue of dragons. Much could be told about a dragon by the fire of their voice. His was sharp and hot, biting out at anything it could. He was a fierce, quick dragon.

Vine was worried about her foster father. She had always loved his name- Silverwing. But, his voice was that of a smoldering fire, ready to be snuffed out by the smallest gust of wind. But at the same time, ready to leap at the smallest bit of kindling and became a joyous bonfire once more.

In other words, he was sick.

“Father, you need sleep. Those fine diamonds we got won’t do any good if you don’t.” A dragon’s voice was an open door- they were incapable of lying. And Sodra was very, very concerned. Their language was straight from the heart, a meaningful wave of crackling fire speaking for them. They had mastered other languages, but the older a dragon became, the harder it was to speak Equestrian.

“Joy is the best cure for disease, I believe. And this is a very joyous occasion indeed.” He lumbered up to Vine, and locked her in his soft blue gaze. His eyelid were sunken, and several of his scales had begun to work loose. “You have returned.”

“I have.” She loved the release of speaking like a dragon- so natural, so profound. No words, just a breath of fire communicating your deepest thoughts.

“Your sickness has been cured. Sadly, mine remains.”

“What is wrong, Father?”

“I am old and weak. My horde has lost it finest gems in an attempt to tame my sickness. I fear I have not long left.”

“Time is shorter for us ponies. You have a hundred years left, at least.”

“Maybe. But I have seen the rise and fall of empires, coming and going of plagues, and each day only feels like a minute to one as old as I. I had a hundred years left ninety years ago. The sickness you created in your time of disease has returned to haunt me.”

“This is... my fault?” Vine said, voice wavering.

“If you wish to see it that way... yes. But I do not blame you. I remember you as I wished, and that was as a happy young filly I taught, and who taught me so much.”

Vine touched her head to his, and shed a tear.

Chapter 9

As Vine and Silverwing stood there in silence, she shed several more tears.

“You say it was my fault you are sick?” She said, voice suddenly hard.

“Yes.”

“Then it’s going to be my fault you’re healthy. What did it come from?”

“I... can’t quite remember....”

“You are a dragon. You can.”

“Umm... It was a red vine... purple flowers... blue thorns...”

“Yes, yes....”

“And...”

“What do you remember about the flowers?”

“...”

“Well?”

“Three petals.”

Vine leapt into the air, joyous.

“That’s the easiest one! Horn filings and pegasus feathers boiled, strained, and than inhaled!” Vine’s horn glowed, and a misty bird flew out of the cave. “A pegasus is on the way. A fast one, too.”

Seconds later, Rainbow zoomed into the mouth of the cave, and skidded to stop. As she caught her breath, she leaped into the air, seeing the two dragons. She promptly proceeded to zoom out, but was suddenly enveloped in Vine’s magic. A feather detached from her right wing, with a small plink.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, we need that.” Vine made a single vine come from the roof of the cave, above a small depression in the stone. Her magic lit around the depression, and a smooth stone bowl came out the rock. The feather went in, and Vine filed shavings from her horn with a rough stone. Water dripped rapidly from the vine. Vine held the bowl above her horn, and a jet of fire erupted from her horn. The water quickly boiled. Holes appeared in the bottom, and the liquid came through the bottom. The feather had turned deathly pale, with green edging the tips. The liquid itself had turned into a sinking gas.

“Breath it in. The toxin sets in the lungs, and this is going to null it. It’s composed of hooks and toxins. The pollen has died by now, but the toxins are still at work. Breath it.”

Silverwing breathed in the mist, and his eyes widened.

“Arggggh! What is that?!”

“Right... I didn’t mention that. It kinda burns.” she said sheepishly.

“Umm... are you breathing fire?” Said Rainbow.

“Yes, yes I am. Dragonspeech.”

“How do you know a dragon? Like really, how does that happen?”

“He found in the forest between Canterlot and Ponyville. He took me in and raised me.”

“Wow, this stuff is crazy. Vine, you are a wonder. We were just about to convene the shamans for reselecting the Forest Shaman.”

“There can only be one Shaman at a time. Are you talking a marehunt?”

“Yes. You were corrupted, but with no pony representative for the Forest, our order was weakened.”

“Well, call the other Shamans! I haven’t met them, the ones I did know...” She blinked, suddenly realizing something. “They’re all dead now.”

“All but one.” Said an old, grave voice at the front of the cave. A hooded pony stood there.

“Who are you?” Vine said.

“I am Snowmane the Frozen. It’s good to see you again, Vine, but I fear my days are numbered.”

“So, then I was all like, ‘We won’ and then she metaphorically spat at my feet! Something about her friends being in danger, but no harm done. And then Spitfire tore of my badge!” Rainbow’s eyelid twitched.

“Please tell me that’s not who I think it is.”

“The Shamans are uniting. There are several ponies it could be.” Suddenly, a yellow trail accompanied by a gust of wind flew into the cave, swooped backward, just skimming along the wall. It stooped at the ground, and Rainbow was not happy to see who it was.

“Rainbow Dash?” She said, surprised. “What are you, the Shaman of Lameness?” Lighting had become notably more hostile to Rainbow after the Academy incident.

“I don’t know what all this Shaman stuff is about, but I do know you shouldn’t be one.” Rainbow turned to Silverwing, and said, “Who made her a shaman?”

“Shockscale the Quick. Dragon of Lightning.” To prove her point, Lightning showed the tattoo of lightning spiraling around her hoof. She pointed it at Rainbow, and a small arc of static leaped into her nose. Rainbow backed up, wiggling her nose.

A large winged form came in the mouth of the cave, sporting a matching tattoo. He landed. He long and lithe, three horns jutting from his jaw, and spikes at each joint. The horns on his head were jagged like lightning bolts.

“Lightning, you need to take more care. You almost put a crack in the wall.” A large white dragon came in the mouth of the cave. Silver wing leaned towards Rainbow, and muttered, “Frostjaw the Blackened. Don’t mention the jaw to him.” Frostjaw had clearly earned his name. The lower-left of his face was stripped of scales, scars deep into the flesh. The whole patch was black. The whole cave had become quiet. The dragons lowered into a bow, along with the other ponies. Rainbow figured she should follow along.

“There is returning member to our group, I see. The Young Elder.”

“Frostjaw. Your perception as always is impeccable. Vine has been released from her corruption, and returns to grace us with her presence.” Said Silverwing. Rainbow was confused with the dragonish exchange.

“And a new pony. Not a member. What is she doing here?” Said Frostjaw, hostilely.

“I’m just here. I don’t know what’s going on.” Said Rainbow. A younger white dragon followed tentatively behind him. A lithe face with strikingly blue eyes and sky blue horns peered out from behind Frostjaw. The dragon shyly slunk backward.

“Snowmane. Your days are few- is she proper material?”

Snowmane suddenly melted seemingly out of nowhere, and began to stare into Rainbow’s eyes.

“No. She is not the pony for the Snow Shaman. She knows one who could, though. Name of Turquoise Frost.” His sharp, wise eyes were a stunning white, and his coat was an amalgam of white and gray. His mane was thin, and scraggly hairs whisked backwards. His horn had a crack down the edge of it, blueish light seeping from the crevice. A seal of some sort was in place, keeping it controlled. “His magic is strong, and his heart is good. He shall be a good replacement.” He began coughing, racked with spasms. “I’m alright.” He said, weak.

“You know you aren’t.”

“True. But I’m still kicking.”

“He is coming. I have called him here, to be inducted. He shall be a great shaman, I know it. He won’t even need training.”

“So, why is this cave full of dragons and why did I suddenly want to come to said cave?”

Chapter 10

“No, really, why? I would like to know. Coincidence? I think not!”

“Turquoise Frost!” Shouted Snowmane, hoarsely.

“Who are you?” He said, confused.

“I am Snowmane the Frozen. My days are numbered, and you are a fitting replacement as Snow Shaman. Your magic is that of a biting wind, a winter gale. As the Shaman, you will not fail.”

“Is that an intentional rhyme?”

“No.”

“So, Shamanness and stuff? Is that like a brotherhood of ancient secrets and deep mysteries?” He said, standing on his back hooves, waving them in the air.

“You could say it that way. However, I can do without the sarcasm. Come here.” Turquoise walked up to Snowmane. “Hold up your hoof.” Turquoise complied. Snowmane smacked his hoof into his, and the tattoo sprang up on Turquoise’s leg, glowing brightly. The white tattoo faded, and became a normal tattoo.

“That’s it? Seriously?”

“Nopony said it had to be complicated. At the same time, however, I am no longer a Shaman. And you won’t be a changeling much longer.”

Suddenly, the tattoo glowed fiercely. His pony form was torn away, and his carapace was stripped away, and he became a glowing form. Suddenly, he was no longer a changeling. He used his magic, and instead of a toxic green, it was a liquid cerulean.

“I’m.... me again.” He grinned. “I’M ME!” He shouted, leaping into the air. Unfamiliar with the powers of a Shaman, however, he fired a giant swath of frost into the top of the cave, freezing the roots at the ceiling, causing them to come crashing down. He sheepishly scooted away from the shattered remains of the vines, looking at them, confused. “Is that supposed to happen?”

“That can happen... but no.” Snowmane breathed in, feeling his age.

“You need to learn.”

“So, it’s like using my horn, except it’s my leg?”

“In a way, yes.” Snowmane lifted his hoof, and firmly set it on the ground. Despite his age, lean muscles were visible under the old coat. Frost spread over the ground, ice crystals forming slowly. The frost went under his hooves, and lifted off the ground. Frost began to curl around his form. He slowly became an ice sculpture, perfectly forming his shape. Turquoise poked it. The ice was hollow. Suddenly, creaking noises sounded. The joints all cracked, and a ice suit now wrapped around him. “This is a great trick for illusion.” Said Snowmane from behind. Turquoise whirled around, and now Snowmane was standing there casually. “I may be old, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun. After all, who made that a rule?”

“You really haven’t changed much, have you, Snowy?”

“You’re one to talk, Vine. You haven’t even aged.”

“True. Show him the thing with the thing.”

“Ah, the thing. Yes, I believe that would be appropriate.”

“The thing with the thing? What is this thing?”

“This thing!” Said Snowmane. His frost tattoo glowed violently. Ice began to form in the air. The other Shamans did the same. Lighting Dust threw a bolt of electricity into the mix. Vine’s addition seemed to hold the entire thing together. Bubbles formed in the ice, filling with green liquid. These pockets were beginning to glow as metal wove into the mix, from the Earth Shaman. The entire thing grew and grew, metal encasing it, vines forming bonds, frost seeping from holes. Eventually, the whole ensemble formed a patchwork dragon of sorts, fire seeping from holes, large ice crystals forming jagged spikes. Suddenly, a final Shaman appeared from the shadow. His tattoo was of a green double-helix, and at last a bolt flew into a receptacle on the front. It was a sentient machine. Turquoise gaped in awe. He closed his mouth, wetting the inside, and said,

“That is made of epic win.” A symbol was on its forehead, a pony head curved in with that of a dragon, probably the symbol of the Shamans. It looked around, and spoke in a metallic manner.

“Intruder.” Its eye sockets were focused towards Rainbow. Each eye was a lens, several minute servos acting.

Where did those come from? Thought Turquoise. Then he noticed a small pile of assorted spare parts in a niche at the center of the cave. Oh. Turquoise noted the patchwork nature of the machine. Had it been a part of something larger?

“It’s not supposed to act like this. Enemies have to be assigned first.” Murmured Lighting, confused. A small latch opened on its neck, steam spilling out. The surrounding metal began to glow. Glowing metallic and organic parts were at work within. As its neck turned, several ratchets stopped, reversed, raised, latched together, and split apart. Cogs turned in tandem, some of them substituted for wood. Electric sparks flicked through the entire shape, powering mechanical synapses. Turquoise recognized them from his time in the Vortex Runners. This was technology of the future.

“It came to us through a hole in space. Hidden in a cavern. Have you seen a space-hole?” Said Vine.

“I’ve gone through those holes. And this was a time and space hole. This came from the future.” Turquoise paused, and said gravely, “Where Discord wins. It was designed to kill spirits- Hate, Rebellion, Rot, Discord- you name it. Look’s like its gone haywire. Probably has something to do with replacing Corulium with wood. And Lorunium with ice.”

“I don’t know those words.”

“You probably shouldn’t. A paradox probably just opened in this spot in the future. But we don’t have to worry about it. Yet.”

The large dragon’s jaw opened, gears and pistons rotating and extending. Fire began brewing in its throat, and a large gust of fire erupted out. Rainbow quickly dodged out of the way. She flew up to its head, and bucked it forcefully. Two dents appeared in the metal. Gears crunched, pistons groaned, and the two dents were popped back out. The large construct went over to the niche were the spare parts were.

“Proper replacement parts detected. Begin assimilation.” The dragon’s maw opened wide, and the two parts of the jaw split apart, oscillated, and picked parts out of the hole, collecting them through its throat. The machine quickly gathered the parts, and some of the wood was pushed out and replaced with a freshly smelted armor plate, still red-hot. Piping came out, and doused the the hot metal with a gaseous solution.

“This is a full science lab. It engineered liquid nitrogen. However, liquid nitrogen may not be the best idea. Especially not with Corulium.”

Turquoise leaped over to the dragon, heading for the frosted plate. Suddenly, the plate opened, disappearing into the inner mechanism. A cloud of steam rushed from the hole, another colorless gas just visible in the cloud as a bubble. As Turquoise breathed it in, he exclaimed, “Chloroform?!” And he passed out on the floor. The bottom of the dragon opened, and crashed onto Turquoise. Rainbow flew under it, trying to push it up. One of its ribs bent back, suddenly a tentacle of sorts, and wrapped around her. “Rainbow... It’s out of gas... This is your chance.” Said Turquoise, slumping over as a mask enclosed his face, and a strange mechanism closed over his horn. Several needles pierced into his skin, various fluids injected into his blood stream.

“Power conduit connected. Living organism is acting source. Initiate life support systems.”

“That can’t be good.” Murmured Vine.

Chapter 11

What.... what’s going on? Oh, foolish machine. He brought me inside. What’s this? Neurodepressant... Crap. What’s this mask? Turquoise was lying bound inside the mechanical dragon, breathing in the sedative gas, the neurodepressants flowing through his blood stream. It’s tapped into my horn. I’m a living battery now. Has it.... Yes. Magic dampeners. I am so full of drugs right now, this is almost ridiculous. At least it knows what it’s doing. Needles, tubes, nutrients, everything needed for sedated life support. This is really quite impressive. Has my mind sped up now that it can’t do anything else? I seem to be thinking at a magnified rate... sixty four divided by thirty-two multiplied by fourteen to the third power. Twenty-one thousand nine hundred and fifty two. Full sedation resulting in a synapse burst, caused by electrical impulses backed up in the nervous system, causing recoil and thus resulting in a stimulation of said synapses. Or, chemical induced meditation. Wow, I could find the square root of zero in this state. Why do I always come up with the greatest ideas while locked in a robot? I seem to be thinking a lot... This will be fun. Can I open my eyes?

You are a smart organism. However, such a state could only be induced chemically. Steel and oil shall rule.

Am I mistaken, or is a machine talking inside my head?

The correct term is autonomous mechanism powered via a burst of arcane power-

I don’t care. So, why am I a battery? As a rule, automatons are incapable of magical conduction and control. True, it can be channeled through a machine, but not by one.

That is true, organic. Unicorn ivory has been worked into....

Problem?

The programming at play has induced an involuntary release of classified information. Said programming has been confused by heightened neural activity.

So.... I can take you over.

....

Well?

Theoretically.

Intentional use of vague language. You just let something quite consequential slip. It’s a rule of advanced thought processes. When you drop the ball, you’ve forgotten quite how to pick it up, haven’t you? Besides, you’re damaged. I imagine a couple wires are crossed.

All systems are running properly.

And yet, you’re half wood and ice. That does not sound proper.

Adaptive systems run at full capacity under extreme circumstances.

Say that all you want. Does there happen to be an in-flight movie?

I can emulate your death inside your mind.

I’ll take that as a no.

Turquoise tried to squirm around a bit. While his muscles had become inert, his nerves were still working, and his legs had begun to fall asleep. He faintly heard commotion from outside, but he was itching to be involved with the conflict. He was thinking at a heightened level, and he was able to picture the whole scene in his head. Rainbow charging at the mecha, unless she had been incapacitated, in which case she was probably bucking the sides at full strength. Or she had been chloroformed. It was uncomfortably hot inside the machine. Apparently, involuntary functions were still in order, because he was sweating. Vine was probably trying to tie it down, which may not work at all. This thing had several razors on its surface, after all. The only thing that would do a terrible amount of good was to freeze the surface, Corulium was very brittle under sub-zero conditions. However, Snowmane didn’t know that, so that may not help. But then... Frostjaw. As an Arctica Reptilus, he breathed a blast of frost. That would weaken the metal a good bit. Unless whatever was wrong with his jaw impaired his breath weapon. Silverwing.... recovering from sickness. He would be a target, unfortunately. His breath weapon.... Probably a phosphoric acid. That was a common type for forest dragons. Lightning Dust, probably taking a giant risk, from the idle banter from Rainbow. Something along the lines of trying to break its horns off. That would not work. At all. The Dragon Shaman accompanying her, probably running shock through its system. A lightning weapon would be right. Thankfully, he was safe inside, as a

life-support chamber would be insulated.

Later, Turquoise was feeling extra squirmy. He had been still far too long, and he couldn’t feel anything.

Except his bladder. He couldn’t really focus on much else. Twilight was right, he shouldn’t have drank all that cider, and now he was realizing that. Women always had to be right, didn’t they?

Hello? Giant scary mechanical dragon?

What?

You seem to have forgotten something about living organisms.

Wha-a-a-a-at KKKKSSSSSH could tha-a-at be?

Waste.

W-whaaaaaaaaaaat do you mean?

There is something wrong with you, by the way. Digestion. We eat food, it stays for a while, then we have to get rid of it.

...

Oh. Either way, you’re on life support. What waste?

Waste from the meal I had an hour ago. Were you expecting it to sit there forever? ‘Cause I wasn’t. You had to know, either way. I imagine if you can engineer liquid nitrogen, then you at least have an x-ray system.

That system is currently non-functional. Either way, the waste must be removed. Somehow. You’re not getting out.

Why doesn’t that surprise me? Where are we, by the way? The commotion ended an hour ago.

Ten minutes.

Oh. But still, where?

Navigational systems are intact. Retrieving location.

I can’t wait all day, where?

Edge of the Everfree forest. Nearing northern mountains. Anomalies detected. Keep that inside for the time remaining.

Not sure that’s an option.

I didn’t give you one.

“So, he is currently inside?’ Said Twilight.

“Yes. Several injections were administered. I don’t know what, but something did happen with his horn.” Said Vine, gathered with the Shamans.

“Probably a siphon of sorts. We can’t know until it gets here.” Suddenly, the dragon took a steep dive. “What’s it doing?” Said Twilight, panicked.

Emergency! Hazardous material detected!

I told you! But you didn’t listen, did you?!

This could destroy both of us!

How do you think I feel? I’m the one with the nerves! I don’t like my secretions splashing all over me!

They’re splashing inside of me! Do you know how much trouble would happen from a short circuit?!

Lots! You should have let me out!

Descent pattern analyzed. Safety of cargo is lower priority. Ejection initiated.

What?! The siphon on his horn detached, and all of the needles slipped from his skin. Trickles of blood leaked from the unoccupied holes. Suddenly, air whistled through pressurization hatches, the filtered air leaving, and clean, fresh air came through. The bonds released, and he fell to the outer shell, the cold metal shocking him. His muscles began to respond to his commands. He tried standing up, but was trap in the small confines. He flipped himself over, holding on to the bonds, wind whipping his mane around. Turquoise looked up. A spherical mechanism with a glass shell had oscillating pistons working inside, pumping chemicals through tubes. circuitry was visible inside, several components made out of place. The sphere had been pieced back together with a wooden frame. Four wires split of from the circuit board, two of them splitting off in two directions. One of the pistons in the central mechanism had trapped a wire, each oscillation of the cylinder tearing another copper thread. Each time, a small arc of electricity jumped into the cylinder, causing the piston to shudder, staggering the flow of coolant. That explained the heat. Liquid leaked from the container, dripping into the mechanism. They didn’t seem to be shorting the circuit board, but it couldn’t be helping. Turquoise tried to use his magic, but nothing happened. He let go with one hoof, and felt his horn. A brace of sorts was attached to his horn. When he looked up, he saw a black mechanism, blue lights flashing. A small hatch opened, small crystals falling out. Each one was the same color as his magic. Petrified magic. He fired up his horn a second time. He continued to force magic through the mechanism, but it just added power to the mechanism, increasing its function speed. He activated a destruction spell. Still nothing. He looked down. He saw the ribs of the machine turning inward and flexing, intending to extricate him. One last try. He looked at the inside of the mechanism. A set of wires and a small port was open in the siphon. He put his horn back in the niche, and the device reattached. He twisted his head, the siphon twisting and warping. It brokw with a metallic clang, and fell to the ground far below. He used his magic, and pulled the wire out of the piston.

Chapter 12

FZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

“That doesn’t sound good.” Muttered Turquoise. The machine powered down completely. Formerly glowing circuitry had turned dark, and only one piston was still moving, slowing down rapidly. Suddenly, a small screen lit up in the mechanism.

“Rebooting.” A circular icon appeared, and began to pulsate in a circle.

“Loading?! Really?!” A percentage rapidly ticked down below the icon, indicating fifty-one percent. It had stuck there. The dragon rapidly fell, the ground nearing at an alrming rate.

“What’s going on?” Gasped Twilight, horrified by the circumstance.

“The dragon has been shut down. Wait, no, it’s starting back up!”

“YES! Button mashing WORKS!” Said Turquoise. “Now this thing better work...”

“Error: File X834.WRT/76 is missing. Please reinstall operating system.”

“WHAT?!”

“Please reboot the operating system.”

“I’LL REBOOT YOU WITH A BOOT!”

“Command unrecognized. Voice input of binary code is optional.”

“10010 11100 00110 11100 10101 01101 01011 10101 01111 00001 10101 01101 01010 10110 01011 01010 11110 00110 11001 01110 00011 11000 10101!”

“Code input: Processing.... Code accepted. Installing code....” The icon appeared again, the percentage rapidly ticking up.

“Wait... that worked? WHAT?”

“Code installed. Patching system.... Complete.”

Twilight watched, confused by the list of numbers ringing through the valley. Suddenly, the dragon began to spin around, wings flapping rapidly. Its neck let out copious amounts of steam, concealing it in a giant cloud. It cleared quickly, and Turquoise had somehow managed to get on its neck. “HELP!” The dragon began to open up, flares rocketing out of the sides. A large gust of fire rocketed from its maw. Suddenly, it stopped, blue light seeping from the cracks over its shell.

Its wings began to beat steadily, keeping it in the sky.

“Patching complete. All systems operating smoothly at 100% capacity. Bare wires detected.”

A small mechanism closed over the stripped wire, and laid down plastic insulation.

“Impressive.”

“Interfering organism detected. Unicorn male. Identify yourself.”

“Turquoise Frost.”

“State your purpose.”

“SAVIOR OF EQUESTRIA!” Turquoise shouted grandly.

“That is rather presumptuous.”

“Well, I’m not the only one. Them, over there, they’re helping. I’m just along for the show. And I might stay late for the late-night showing, too. And then I’ll come back to the theater for the twelve o’clock.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Robots don’t appreciate good comedy.”

“Locked onto hostile signals. Open negotiations.”

“Twilight, this is Coalhoof, the grandson of the mechanic who originally found the dragon. He knows how it works, and should be able to help us with it.” His hooves were stained black with motor grease, and oil stained his otherwise alabaster coat. His mane was held back with a black and blue headband, and his mane was spiky and blue. He wore a pair of black welding goggles, propped on his brow above his crimson eyes.

“You look familiar. Do I know you?” Said Twilight, scratching her head.

“My sister is quite popular among the hipsters.” Said Coalhoof. He put his goggle over his eyes, and looked at a wristwatch of sorts.

“Opened communication channel. Distance: One mile. State your name.”

“My name is Coalhoof. I believe you have a friend of ours?”

“Here! The dragon’s fixed! A wire was caught in the coolant distributer piston.”

“The wire’s been re-insulated?” Asked Coalhoof.

“Yep. Apparently, this thing has a supply of liquid plastic on board.”

“I guess my grandfather's diagrams weren’t all-inclusive. I don’t remember that. Hold up...” Coalhoof opened up a design blueprint, apparently of the dragon. “Nope. Guess he didn’t dig quite deep enough. He had a good amount of the metal from the thing, it’s probably still in his workshop.”

“The metal? The metal from my original frame?”

“Yeah.”

“Main priority is acquisition of the alloy.”

“Well, now you’ve been fixed, that can be arranged.”

They stood in front of a house in Canterlot. The dragon was currently in the cave where he had been, and was waiting there for the materials.

“HELLO? ARE YOU IN THERE?” Shouted Coalhoof, stepping back and looking in the window.

“Why are we coming here?”

“I thought I had the key to his workshop. My sister lives here, and she should have one.” Spasmodic lights pulsed behind a soundproof curtain, and bass faintly vibrated through the concrete. “HEY! GET AWAY FROM THE RECORDS AND TALK TO YOUR BROTHER!” Shouted Coalhoof, banging on the door violently. The lights in the window stopped, and the bass ceased. The curtain was pulled aside, and none other than Vinyl Scratch poked her head out the window.

“Coalhoof? What do you want?”

“I need to get into grandpa’s shop! Do you have a key?”

“What? I can’t hear you over the sound of artistic progress!”

“Vinyl, you can hear them and you know it.” Spoke a high-society Canterlot pony behind them.

“Octavia! Did you get the stuff?”

Octavia held up a bag laden with celery, apples, flour, and milk.

“Did you get the cider?”

“You have plenty. Now come down here and talk to your visitors.”

“Fine....” Various thudding noises sounded inside the house. “Ow...” Vinyl cracked the the door, her signature purple shades hiding her eyes. “You aren’t here about the rent, are you?”

“No.” The chain keeping the door closed was pulled back, and she spread her forelegs out invitingly.

“Come inside!”

A relatively clean living room with black and blue swirls painted on the walls. A large cushy couch sat in front of a simple oak table, and a somewhat dusty window let light in. Various papers were laid out on the table, different logos and names printed on each.

“You still haven’t organized those contracts?” Said Octavia, disappointed.

“I have to make the records before I can market them. You should know that by now.”

“You don’t have to leave them scattered over the table.”

“Vinyl, Octavia, you can argue later. But now, I need the key to grandpa’s shop.”

“I don’t have it. What made you think I would?”

“You don’t? Vinyl, what happened to it?”

“I never had one.”

“Yes you did.” Clearly uncomfortable, Vinyl poked at the floor.

“What if it happened to have gotten lost at club at which I may have been slightly inebriated so that I can no longer remember the name and location of said establishment?”

“Then I may have to facebuck you.” Said Coalhoof, poorly disguised frustration in his voice.

“Please don’t. Your hooves are covered in grease.”

“I washed them! It’s nothing but a pigment!”

“Keep saying that.”

“No, really, it is. This is exactly why I had to kick you out!”

“No, it’s why I’m more successful than you.”

Suddenly, a pair of light gray hooves connected with Vinyl’s face.

Chapter 13

“Ow....” Vinyl rubbed her snout, a slight trickle of blood leaking from one nostril. “That hurt.”

“Just tell him where the key is. Looks like we’ll be retracing your steps. With you, this will be difficult.” Said Octavia.

“I’ll try a finding spell. That may shave off a good bit of time.” Said Twilight.  “Good idea. We don’t have that much time to spare.”

“Wait, what’s going on here? What do you mean, time to spare? Does this have anything to do with the barricades at the gardens?” Said Vinyl.

“Barricades?” Said Twilight, concerned. “Oh, by the way...” Twilight cast a spell, and a purple flash above her horn materialized into a bronze key. “It was under the contracts.” Octavia elbowed Vinyl in the ribs meaningfully.

“No unauthorized personnel permitted.” Read Twilight, looking at a sign on a barb-wire fence. Two royal guards flanked the fence, two others strategically placed in concealment. Another two patrolled the edge, and a large tarp was draped over the entrance to the gardens. Suddenly, Celestia came out of the tarp, levitating a clipboard, a quill madly scratching over the surface.

“Go check the western wing. Make sure Sorrow is still there.” She looked up, and saw Twilight, Vine, Vinyl, Coalhoof, and Octavia.

“Oh! Twilight! Come here!” Twilight was promptly surrounded in a golden aura, and brought through the tarp.

“What.... happened.... to the... What?”

The garden was completely empty of statues. Every single one had disappeared, except for one in the center, the statue of Victory. But it wasn’t a statue anymore. The statue of victory had become a pony, holding its flag, confused.

“Where am I? What’s going on?”

“You have been a statue for a millennia. Don’t panic.” Said a pony with a black mane and horn rimmed glasses tending to the shocked pony. Clearly, the spectacled pony was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

“How does that work? Don’t panic? Haha, who’s panicking? I’m just in a future world were nothing is the same anywhere except maybe some obscure cave in the woods? Why should I panic? Huh? Everything’s changed, and nothing is sacred anymore!” The pony curled into a ball on the ground, giggling hysterically. The pony tending to her gave her a solid smack on the head. “I needed that.”

Twilight gaped at the gardens, bare without the statues. Several of them had stayed around, as they were confused and disoriented. One of them had a large golden staff, also sitting confused.

“What happened? Where am I?”

“What did happen?” Asked Twilight.

“All of the statues have become flesh and blood. Some of them not friendly. I’m guessing it has something to do with Discord.”

“You think?” Said Twilight as a large stone-gray bird was brought past her.

“Several of them are neutral. Some of them are, however, a bit violent.” She said as they walked past an area in the hedge where a griffin was struggling against several ropes and guards. Twilight could have sworn she knew her, but could not recall from where.

“So, where will we go with this? Are there any patterns, or....” Twilight had begun to get her words back, after seeing the garden so empty.

“No. Everything has come to life. And some have turned to stone.” Celestia said, as they walked past an area with petrified ponies lined up in rows.

“Discord wouldn’t do that. He plays with his prey.” Said Twilight. She frowned, tapping her chin. “I have an idea. Do you have any photographs of this place?”

“Twilight, if you’re thinking of a cockatrice, I just confirmed that theory.” Said Vine, crouching at a set of footprints.

“Those are chicken footprints.”

“No they aren’t. A cockatrice is half snake, remember? As such, its feet carry some of those properties. Look at the toes.”

Twilight looked at them. She noticed that the prints were curved slightly, incongruent with a chicken. She looked up, and saw a chicken’s head poking over the hedge. As it looked at her, she felt a jolt in her heart. Those red eyes had clearly imprinted themselves in her memory after her first encounter with one. After that, she remembered nothing.

Vine turned around, startled by chicken head. Seeing it there, she quickly ducked her eyes. As she hazarded a glance back, it was gone.

“Time to catch this thing.” She said, resolute. She planted a hoof in the greenery. She shut her eyes, and the tattoo glowed. From the other side of the clearing, a raucous squawk sounded out. The cockatrice was unceremoniously dumped into the dust from the hedgerow. A loop of vines were wrapped around its eyes, keeping it from turning anything into stone. “Let’s turn it back into a statue.” She said, and placed a hoof on it. The tattoo flashed, and it was suddenly stone. Twilight looked at her.

“Don’t you love wildlife? Why turn it back?”

“It’s not wildlife. It’s the result of a sick joke. It’s not supposed to be alive.” Twilight supposed she understood.

“What- Darn it, no! I’ve been needing cockatrice feathers for ever now!” Said Coalhoof, thudding his head on the ground.

“There’s plenty of feathers on the ground right there. You can use those.”

“Oh. I can.”

“This is not a large emergency. Just another prank of Discord’s.” Said Vine.

“No... He wanted more pieces on the board. He wanted to confuse us. Make us trip up, focus on too many pieces at once.” Said Coalhoof.

“Of course... Well, they’re mostly neutral, so they shouldn’t be much problem. We could just give them houses in the city. There are only six.” Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin, thinking.

“Six, huh?”

“Each of you will be with one of these six ponies. We don’t know who yet, but you will.”

“I have one question.” said the Spirit of Victory, holding her flag. “Will there be a place I can put this?”

Chapter 14

CHIGA-CHIGA-CHIGA-THUD.

Twilight ran through the library, franticly searching for the source of the sound. As she walked past the bathroom, she skidded to a stop, and backed up quickly. The Spirit of Study was sitting in the bathtub, the shower head sitting on the floor broken as the hose spewed water in the bathtub, suds bubbling out over the rim.

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work, is it?”

“Umm... no, it isn’t.”

The Spirit of Study had been paired with Twilight for the time being. Applejack was with Perseverance, Rainbow with Victroy, Rarity with Grace, Fluttershy with Quiet, and Pinkie with Festivity. All fitting pairs. The other statues were staying at Canterlot, under observation of two guards at a time. Applejack had noticed that Applebloom’s behavior had changed a good amount, but was too busy orienting Perserverance to the changes of the world. Applebloom had begun to return to normal behavior, but it was slow.

You.... deny the generous offer we pose?

Mah sister may be protective at times, but ah still love her. I would’t betray her.

But... the knowledge of who you are. A concrete truth, stamped on your bottom for the world to see.

Who knows, ah met get one for being stubborn. Forget about it.

She doesn’t let you do anything. You want to do things, but she wouldn’t let you.

She just wants me be safe!

Applebloom lay in her bed, tossing in her sleep as the internal conflict was fought. Rebellion’s spell had begun to fade, and now she was back in control. She was guilty of leaving her sister inside a giant tree, and just walked off to the barn. She wanted to get rid of the thing, but Rebellion wouldn’t let her. He refused to release his hold, not risking the slightest lapse to secure his hold. She was a pair of eyes on the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. She could not be lost. She was a spirited young pony, and she was fighting back. She would go see Zecora tomorrow.

“You have been possessed, but the dark has been put to rest.”

“Yeah. Whatever it is, it won’t go away, even though ah keep telling it to!”

I can hear you.

Ah know.

“I can relieve the shadow on your heart, but only in part. You shall drive it away, leave it for another day.”

“How?”

“You have done this already, but you must keep your will steady. If not, you’ll surely lose, trapped forever by your blues.” The zebra walked over to her cabinet, her strangely quiet bangles shifting on her leg. She opened it, and pulled out a vibrant white flower in a pot. It resembled a bird’s face, nectar leaking out of its ‘eyes’.

“The Weeping Falcon is this flower, brings the user great power. If the potion should go awry, the victim shall surely die. Are you sure of this, taking such a risk?”

“If it means ah can finally be rid of this thing, then yes.” Applebloom said firmly, apprehension tugging at her mind. She felt Rebellion attempting to take advantage of this, but she knew that she could not let him back in. Zecora pulled a small dish out of the cabinet, the clear yellow nectar filling it. She carefully poured the nectar in her cauldron, suddenly cutting it off as a single extra drop threatened to escape. She started the fire underneath. The zebra went to another cabinet, and pulled out a sprig of the flower Heart’s Desire. She pulled the petals off and tossed them in. She rapidly rifled through several other cabinets. As she opened the last one, she gasped. “No... This is urgent! I do not posses the final ingredient!” She looked through a couple more shelves, frantic. “A timberwolf’s bark, to set the final spark!”

She ran out the door, her voice trailing behind.

“Applebloom! Search the other rooms!” She complied. She had seen the giant timberwolf, and knew what the bark looked like. She hurried through the rooms, but not before glancing back at the cauldron. Liquid had begun to creep over the edges.

Applebloom ran through the cabin, sorting through cabinets. She opened one in which a red box with golden trimming sat, griffins engraved into the wood surface. She ignored it, and continued through the rest of the shelves.

“I can’t believe it! She’s escaping?! How did you let this happen?” Said Discord, venom in his voice as he looked at the black coiled snake in the mirror.

“Thissss has never happened before. But I bring newsss that shall surely offssset this.” The image of Rebellion was replaced with the red box.

“That.... The Griffin Gem?”

“It is certainly the correct design. If the zebra has it, then we know where it is.”

“Twilight!”

“Yes, Discord?”

The speaker was a shadowy form, clearly a unicorn. Chains came off it, bound to nonexistent hooks in the air. It was a shell of Twilight Sparkle.

“Go look something up for me. The Griffin Gem.”

“That won’t work.”

“What do you mean?” Said Discord, pushing the mirror off to the side.

“The magical bindings are failing. The reverse energy cortex has begun to degrade, and my form is fluxing.” As she said this, she rippled like water, and then scattered temporarily. Her voice warped. Suddenly, she faded, leaving a skeleton in its place. Inside the ribcage, a purple gem was set in a metal chassis.

“Two weeks... The longest yet.” Murmured Discord, gathering the heap of bones. “Progress has been made.” Discord walked through his fortress, and deposited them in a cave of medium size. He walked out to a balcony of stone. A large cavern was lain out, changeling buzzin through the air, manticores sleeping on rocks, and two hydras looming over it all.

“Harmony.... A discordant harmony.” He said, thinking. “Looks like I’m not all chaos.”

“I have returned! Let us hope the mixture has not burned!” Said Zecora, managing to rhyme even under the circumstance. She tossed several strips of the bark into the cauldron, opening a partially healed cut on her shoulder. Apparently, she had had to wrestle a timberwolf for it. Suddenly, she stopped. “I took six wolves’ worth of bark, and yet the supply goes dark.”

“What do you mean, Zecora?”

“Somepony pilfered my supply, in the dark, on the sly.” She looked at Applebloom.

“Someone wants me gone?”

“Indeed they do, why I wish I knew.”

“Left... Down.... Grab that scaffolding!” The stallion wearing the artificial fiber suit quickly leapt up to a line of scaffold, as a thick spiky vine shot out of a vent, nearly enveloping him. The vine twitched around for several seconds, as if searching, and then retracted into the vent. The bars across the tunnel were warped. “Now, move your left back hoof back.... let go.” The stallion took a safe footing on the pipe. Vine let out a large breath, and them clamped a hoof over her mouth upon seeing the flowers below her. Her breath drifted down in a cloud in the frigid maintenance tunnel. The mist settled on the flowers, and they each opened, releasing puffs of cotton. She balanced on her back hooves, batting away the feathery seeds. When she was sure they had dissipated, she breathed in shallowly. They were in the Canterlot Waste Management Facility, rooting out all the toxic plants that had survived incineration. After a hundred years, they had bloomed profusely. The angled her horn at the flowers, and let out a jet of fire. The petals smoldered, and the flowers died. Her tattoo lit, and they dissolved.

“These plants are rudimentarily sentient. They are susceptible to reasoning. Use that against them.”

“Thanks for telling us.” Echoes came through the vents, several voices echoing through tunnels. “We already knew, though. We’ve become smart. Smart enough to realize- Why do we hate the world? Why do we continue our toxic ways?”

“So, wait, you’re willing to help?”

“In exchange for returning us to our our proper forms, and give us safe haven. A pair of eyes glowed in a vent to Vine’s right. “We are adapting to the cold in these tunnels, but that doesn’t mean we like it.”

The green form of a unicorn came from the tunnel. Its horn was a twig, and its mane was composed of vines. Two leaves formed ears, and the hooves were rough wood. “We speak for all the abominations you created in your rage. We want freedom. We want to be rid of the poison.” As it spoke, its teeth were revealed to be thorns. Its body was a membrane of leaves, woody vines visible through the cracks. Spores grew in several places, glowing ghostly blue. “We are connected to a tree growing within this facility. We are the result of a twig falling from it, and this twig rooted in deceased body of a unicorn. I am that unicorn, born of the unstable magic in the plants. I do not know where this is, but if we can get to it, we can also communicate with all the other plants. Since you were cut off from them, they lost their drive to kill. There leader was gone, and the tree proved to be the host of the consciousness.”

Vine smiled. “I know exactly where it is.” She yelled at the stallion, currently balancing on the pipe. “You there! Follow me!” He clambered back up, and followed her through.

Chapter 7

Vine stood straight up. Now that she had been freed of her internal corruption, her true cutie mark was fully visible. A blooming tiger lily, with dewdrops on it. Her front left leg had a curling tattoo of a vine, yellow flowers sprouting from it. The opposite hoof had faint marking on it, that looked like teeth.

“You know, you are just lucky I can grow this back.” Said Turquoise, pointing at his horn.

“Apologies, old friend. I... was not myself. But when I’m done with you, you’ll be a proper pony again.”

“I would very much like that. But remember, if you go back on your word, then my being a changeling has not changed my special talent.” He said, making a thorn out of frost, holding it in the air. He forced it down, causing it to shatter, but the tip was still there, stuck straight up in the wood.

Vine gasped.

“Don’t do that!” She said, horrified. Turquoise melted the ice, and sent it back into the air as vapor. “You know how I feel about plants!”

“Wait, Turquoise, I don’t understand. These ponies are from the distant past, how did you know them? You were a changeling before Chrysalis even came about, but Chrysalis is at least seventy!”

“How do you know how old she is?”

“Changelings weren’t always an evil race. Look, that’s beside the point. When did you go back in time?”

“My god, that is a ton of insanity. A story for another time.”

“Why not now?”

“Discord will take over the world before I finish.”

“Oh.”

“I will tell you it was shortly after I opened my sculpture store. I was nineteen at the time. It’s a great yarn, but not now.”

“Time travel was considered a classified spell group.” Said Celestia. “You are about twenty-five right now. If you were nineteen, then it was illegal at the time.”

“Oh... yeah, I’m a pony of many talents, one of them espionage, so I got involved in some shady details.”

“Why do I not know of this?”

“Well, you do know about the organization, but there are restrictions on the information.”

He whispered in her ear, and she nodded.

“Okay. Vine, we need your knowledge of plants and organisms on this mission. You were the Prime Ecologist of the board before the incident. Turning changeling matter into pony matter is proof of your experience. We need to know about these things if we want to go into the Badlands. I am familiar with some of the research you have carried out on foreign soil, for terraforming and colonizing. If you can turn Badlands soil into fertile loam, and make a lily grow without water, than you can do this. Your freedom is at stake, remember.”

“Yes, Princess. Are my laboratories still functioning?”

“You’ve been out for a while. We’ve saved some of your research, but all your experiments expired quite a while ago. Most of them were highly toxic anyways. We burned some of the more dangerous ones.”

“Wait, you burned them? Please don’t tell me you burned the one in the yellow pot.”

“Yellow pot?”

“That was Ironseed. Until they germinate, those seeds are practically invincible. Even if you burned them, then they are still alive.”

“Umm... recently, crimson flowers have been blooming in the waste management facility. They have-”

“Six golden pistils, thorns, and nine curved petals?”

“Yes.”

“That Ironseed was a genetically altered strain. Those pistils produce acidic pollen, which if inhaled, will burn the inner tissues. We need to clear out the waste facility immediately.”

“Celestia, teleport to Canterlot immediately. Lock down the facility, and bring in Hazardous Material squads. Tell them to bring masks. They won’t burn the coat, but if they get in...” She drew her hoof across her throat. “The fume vents will let them out. Close them up. Any way for air to get out, close it. The pollen is not as tough as the seeds, but it’s not weak either. The fumes from the waste will kill of a lot of it, but there’s more than one vent without fumes. Those pollen won’t grow new flowers, but they an reproduce in the facility. These plants are genetically unstable. They’ve probably changed a lot, and I won’t know everything. The were unfinished. I was working on spreading seeds in the wind... to spread pollen over Equestria... and... kill everypony.”

Celestia disappeared in a flash. Shortly after, a carriage arrived for the eight ponies and baby dragon. It was a large carriage. Vine was given strange looks by the guards. Vine, twilight, and the other ponies discussed plans in low voices. Suddenly, Twilight noticed that both the guard’s ears were angled sharply backward, listening into their conversation.

“Hey! Twilight said. She went to the front of the carriage, causing the airborne carriage to wobble in the air. When she looked toward Canterlot, it was far on her left. They were heading South. Towards the Badlands. “What are you doing?” She demanded of the four guards.

“Well, time to bail!” Each of the guards flashed in green fire, and were revealed to be changelings. One leaned there head back, causing the whole thing to tilt. He leered at them, and fired bolts at Fluttershy and Rainbow, tying their wings together. They all pulled back, and the carriage was turned over. They all fell into space. Turquoise went into changeling form, and his wings began buzzing. His horn glowed, and each one of the ponies was held in the air. He struggled to hold them up, his magic flickering. He closed his eyes in concentration. His eyelids screwed up tight, and his wings beat furiously. His magic began to fail. Vine fired a bolt of magic downward. A tree began to twist and spiral. She fired up her horn, holding up all the other ponies. Twilight did the same, and Rarity joined in. They floated in limbo, auras mixing together.The tree below them grew to meet them, and a large plateau of leaves held them up. They all sat atop it. Twilight grasped the carriage in her magic, and it was drawn toward them. Pinkie Pie had pulled a full teacup with a saucer out of absolutely nowhere.

“We’re getting near a thousand hundred words. This chapter is going to end soon.” Twilight looked at her, baffled.

The changelings all floated, struggling to get out of Twilight’s grasp.

“You have been caught in the act. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Also, there will be cupcakes.” Pinkie took a sip of tea. The teacup was drained instead of the liquid. She threw it over her shoulder. The tea exploded.

“Familiar, anypony?” said Pinkie. She stood on her hindhoofs. Suddenly, a bridle appeared around her mouth, and Discord stood beside her. He tugged the rope off her muzzle, and she slumped down.

“SURPRISE!” Discord said. He cackled.