sponsored Rainbow Dash's Obstacle Course of Terror

[NeoExlucky]

Gadget looked down at Flash as he passed out, then up to the pony with the strange accent. On the one hoof, if he stayed then there could be issues, but if he left than something could happen to the pony before him. He needed to pick sides, but where would he go?

"Right." Gadget told the mare, moving to her side. "You lead, and I'll follow." He knew that anything could happen while he tried to work with her, but if he did nothing, than nothing would change.

[Mojo]

As Haywire continued her 'rock barrage', she suddenly heard somepony calling her name nearby. It was Pyro and she had nearly clocked him with one of her rapid fire rocks.

"Oh hi Pyro! Powerful surry bout nearly hittin' ya with a rock. When I overheard that thar false Rainbow Dash, I hid out till I could think of somethin' ta do, and this here's it!" the devil costumed filly neighed as she launched a few more rocks with her slingshot. "Them ones I hit usually turn back inta changlings, but I think I might've knocked out one of them Royal Guards fer real. HAY OVER THAR! I'M SURRY! Shoot! He can't hear me cause I knocked'm out. Reckon I gotta make a note ta apologize ta that goomer later."

Then Haywire heard another voice behind her, and some barking as Colby started bounding around her.

"COLBY! SHADOWE? Whoa, you don't look too good," Haywire said as she moved towards him, using a barrage of launched rocks to 'cover' her movements. "I wish I had time ta give ya first aide, but I gotta keep pitchin' rocks er them crazy changling thingies is gonna git us! All I got ta give ya ta git yur energy back up is a bag of red hot chili peppers I was gonna use fer a prank later on tonight. Maybe if ya eat'm, it'll git ya movin' agin."

As Haywire fished the bag of peppers from one of her many pockets and gave them to Shadowe, three changlings landed nearby, all three of them instantly transformed in exact replicas of the blank flank filly.

"Oh NO ya don't! I'm the only me thar is and y'all ain't ME!" Haywire screamed, rapidly firing off rocks that battered the three dopplegangers until they fell unconscious, returning to their original form. One of her off target rocks hit Pyro's armor as he was fighting with some changlings.

"OOPS! SURRY BOUT THAT, PYRO! THIS time I'll hit them one's that's fightin ya!" the determined filly shouted as she sent another rock barrage at Pyro's attackers, making several direct hits on them. "That'll learn'm ta mess with mah friends!"

Stopping briefly to grab more rocks to toss into her saddlebags, Haywire turned to Shadowe.

"Shadowe, if'n ya wanna help and yur feelin' up ta it, see if'n ya kin find some more rocks around ya. If'n ya wanna do more, I might have a few things on me y'all kin use, but that'll have ta wait till I bonk me some more of these dark galoots first!" the devil costumed filly shouted as she launched yet another rock barrage. She had to hold her ground now in order to protect Shadowe and Colby.

[Duskfall]

"But Cloudchaser! That's a changeling! You wouldn't trust some traitor changeling over me, would you? I love you!"

Dusfall retorted back, "Okay, if you're not a changeling, then how do you know that I'm a trai- Wait, 'I love. . ."

Then Duskfall saw Cloudchaser and the changeling's eyes flash green, the changeling oogling at the love he was undeniably getting from Cloudchaser.

Duskfall hesitated. He really did not want to hurt the Cloudchaser: she wasn't the enemy. Duskfall's eyes darted left and right, trying to find an angle at which he could engage the changeling without attacking Cloudchaser. Unfortunately, he found none. His eyes fell back to the opposing pair, and he stared for just a moment. Then an idea struck him. It was a crazy idea, but it might just work. Determined, Duskfall broke into a sprint, charging at the pair.

[PyroBlaze]

"That's fine, it's not like you were aiming for me. Actually, it doesn't look like you're doing much aiming at all." Pyro said to Haywire before the blind colt had started talking to him about knowing Haywire. "Sort of. We met today. What do you mean not as bad as you thought I was? I'm trying to protect you and everypony else at the same time!" Pyro said to the blind colt, turning at the sound of a bark. Pyro nodded and made a slight noise of confirmation as the colt introduced his dog. Pyro turned back to the changelings, making sure none of them approached him. Pyro thought about using the dog as it started growling at the cave. 'Is he sniffing out the changelings? That could be useful.' Pyro thought while he looked at Colby, one eyebrow raised at the growling dog. Then the dog went to greet Haywire, and Pyro kept a lookout while the two young ponies talked. Pyro glanced back at the two as Haywire stood near to Shadowe and Colby, apparently protecting them. Pyro looked around the cave, but he still couldn't be sure that anypony he saw in there was the real deal, so he decided to stay with the two young ones that were near him. "At least I know these ones aren't changelings, since Colby is fine with them." Pyro said quietly before positioning himself where he wouldn't be in the way of Haywire's rocks as they flew. Pyro helped Haywire ward off the changelings with a combination of bouts of flame and rocks that he launched with his magic. "What do you two think we should do? I mean, we can't exactly just leave the others in there, but I'm not sure how we're supposed to know they're not changelings without hurting them." Pyro said to the two young ponies, just loud enough for them to hear.

[Pretzelparty]

Flying Brick let go of his head, and started holding her own, breathing heavily. "Sorry comrades, not feeling well, but cannot spare any time for argument! We must act now, cannot wait for others, some run away and escape already! One I know we need to get, and we get her! Then we go, come back for others with reinforcements. Stick together, and remember that changelings don't bruise when hit! Now please," There were actual tears welling in her eyes as she pleaded with these inertia-ridden ponies; standing still was always more of a strain for her than moving, and the circumstances didn't make it any better for her. "Let's GO!"

Presteza could see that this mare was getting exasperated with them to get to work freeing the element of loyalty. Trotting over to the mare from Stalliongrad she laid a hoof on her shoulder to show she at least had one pony who would listen to her.

"Well... while I may be a lo' more helpful with my paintbrush, I suppose an all out brawl with these things wouldn't be the most productive... I can help out with you and anypony else who goes to save Rainbow Dash, or I can get my brush back and provide a distraction fer ya ta keep some o' 'em off yer backs" The mare glanced around as she noticed more of the menacing drones approaching them, although she managed to miss one who leapt at her and bit into her right hindleg. The mare paused and looked back at first giving a look mixed with shock and a look that said,"Who... does that?" before yelling in pain and bucking the changeling back into the horde.

"Aww... of all the darn luck..." she whimpered.

[Blueblood]

As frustrating as the evening was proving for Flying Brick, it really did not take a lot for her to get her hooves on a more positive emotional role. When a previously ignored Gadget came up to her and offered to join her team, she started to beam from ear to ear. "Very good, we are having team now!" And she reached a strong hoof around to grab him into a comradely hug.

She nodded as her other team member, Presteza, outlined a plan of approach. "Very good, can use diversion to bet to Rainbow, and then when you recover brush, can provide rear support while we make exit. Excellent, we have plan! Prepare yourselves comrades.... Now!"

She sprang forth out of their nook, careful not to lose sight of the real Gadget among the plethora of impostors. Not a moment too soon, either, as the fire support from Haywire had ceased, since the filly was more concerned with targets closer to her. The changelings had been about to swamp their hideout now that they could poke their heads around corners without them being hit.

As Brick had predicted, there was a lesser changeling presence on the way back to the cages, because there was no way out in that direction. The cocoon was in sight of the cages, though naturally there were more guards surrounding it. For now, the ponies had the drop on them, and Brick was aiming to exploit the surprise as much as possible. "Eat Iron!" She shouted, as she bucked the remains of the cage straight into the face of the nearest changeling.

[Bellosh]

“Nggh… Nggggggggghhhhhhhh…” As he started coming to, Flash Sentry realized he suffered from the largest migraine he ever experienced in his life. His short-term memory also took a severe blow, his memory of what led to being trapped in the changeling cage largely scrambled. But he did remember that one Daring Do fan from before; Trailblazer. Seeing the ex-army stallion standing there, Flash mumbled; “Ugggh, what’s happening?”

Flash more than anything wanted to do his part and protect the civilians around him from further harm. But with all the injuries inflicted on him, the PFC lamented being too ineffectual to do anything at all. When he signed up for the Army, Flash expected that he’d be in a position to do major good for Equestria. But here he was, the most helpless of all the captives. Not feeling particularly useful at all, and feeling aches all through his body, PFC Sentry wouldn’t bother getting up unless he needed to move out.....

[RarityDash]

"Oh, thank you for rescuing me, love! You are... the catalyst to ... my reaction! Tell me you love me!"

"Awww, you're the best, Flit. Y'know I love you! Your my... uh... cattle list too..." Chaser started, sweet and sincere.

She wasn't sure what Flitter was talking about exactly. She wasn't very good with sciencey stuff, and even when Flitter tried to explain it to her it still didn't tend to stick with her. It was like Flitter to stick some biology words into conversation like this though. They were biology words right? Sounded like it. Plants and animals definitely reacted to stuff after all, and she wasn't sure what the other thing was but by the name she supposed it could just be some list regarding cows. It made sense. Maybe.

"That's why I won't let any of these horrible changelings get to you!" she started confidently, though for some reason she was starting to feel kind of drained. had the obstacle course taken more out of her than she had thought?

As she was saying this, the changeling who had tried to trick her, started rushing right at them! Ha, so that was his decision, huh? Well, even if she was feeling suddenly weaker, she wasn't gonna let any no-good changelings lay a hoof on her Flitter. She gave a growl and a stern nod and then braced herself to fight off the charging changeling.

​

[Lilia]

Shadowe smiled at Pyro, shaking his head. He understood that now, but first impressions were what he had to go off of.

"I know that now, but not when you...y'know. If you want, you can take Colby with you. I think he'd be good at sorting out real ponies from changelings..." He said, turning his attention to Haywire.

"I'll pass on the peppers, Haywire. I'll need a real doctor if we're not captured. Oh, I know! Pyro, when you're inside the cave, I'll set up a wall of light here...Haywire, any rocks you send through the light wall will become all sorts of bright and distracting for the Changelings...." He stated, nodding to himself. It would work. The changelings could be blinded by the light, allowing any other trapped ponies to be guided out by Pyro and Colby.

[Bramble Rose]

Flitter gave a low, eager smile as Cloudchaser confessed her love, both their eyes giving a green flash again ... oh, yes. This was exactly what she needed - she could feel the power flooding her. She'd be able to take care of that blasted fire-unicorn no problem, feeding off of this love like this! She stepped around behind Cloudchaser, glad to let the pony defend her. "Yes, darling!" she cried merrily, an unmistakable note of triumph in her voice! "Protect me!"

How ironic.... a changeling traitor trying to protect ponies ... and a pony trying to protect a changeling. She had to relish the thought! Now this was art! But she had no time to enjoy this performance piece... she had other ponies to defeat. She turned her attention away from the two about to do battle in her name, and looked out over the rest of the battlefield.

Ugh... what a useless bunch of changelings. Still, they were keeping them busy, at least. The fire unicorn was the next that had to go ... and he seemed fond of the foal with the slingshot, who also was friends with the blind one. The dog would be a problem... she rubbed at her chin as she thought carefully, eyes narrowed.

​

[brianblackberry]

Flitter was late to the Nightmare Night celebration, very late, but it couldn't be helped! Her original plan was to meet Cloudchaser early on at the obstacle course her mare friend raved about. Unfortunately Flitter couldn't get her original costume idea, that of an amoeba to actually stay on, so we went with with retro fashion instead: Poofed up mane held back in a ponytail with her bow, huge golden hoop rings in her ears, a neon pink neck scarf, baby blue leg warmers on her hind legs, while her front legs were covered in a variety of neon colored bracelets. Certainly the costume made Flitter look much cooler, in a retro sort of way that is.

Of course by the time the lavender pegasus arrived at the celebration, the place had become a nightmare! Changelings ran amuck through the fairgrounds, causing all sorts of havoc. Normally Flitter's first instinct was to fly away as fast as she could, but that meant leaving Cloudchaser behind, which was "totally bogus" if she remembered the lingo that went with the costume correctly. It took some time and not a few sneaking behind bushes and booths but Flitter finally managed to get into the obstacle course sight unseen.

What Flitter found shocked her, well shocked her more, she was already pretty freaked out by all that was going on. Still, she didn't expect to see a mimic of… herself! Worse this mimic appeared to have Cloudchaser under its no doubt evil spell! It was time to act and play the heroine!

Of course Flitter never played the part of heroine in her life, so she had no grandiose plan although that was what all heroes typically had. Instead, she went for the swoop down and landing right in front of the impostor version of her, and with a yell of "Allon-sy!", Flitter lifted both of her hind legs and gave the mimic a good hard kick!

Wait, was she supposed to say "Allon-sy" during the kick, or the fly down? And it was "Allon-sy" right? Eh, close enough! The point is the kick was good! "Hey Cloudchaser, wake up! It's me! The real me! C'mon snap out of it, I totally need your help here!"

[Mojo]

As Haywire continued launching rocks at their foes, she listened to both Pyro and Shadowe.

"Hay! That's a great idear, Shadowe! How about it, Pyro, kin ya set it up? If'n you kin make it happen, I kin shoot mah rocks through it! We ain't licked yet!"

Shadowe's ideas gave the devil costumed filly new hope. So far, some of their pony friends were holding their own against the invaders. In the long run, there's no possible way they could hold out, but for now, there was still a shimmer of hope for their cause. Finally, Haywire's talent with her slingshot was now put to GOOD use, for a change!

[PyroBlaze]

Pyro mulled over Shadowe's idea for a while, still helping keep the changelings back as he did so. "Wouldn't I be blinded by the light too? Otherwise, your plan sounds fine Shadowe." Pyro said after Haywire had spoken. Pyro glanced at Colby, then around the cave, planning out how he would do it. Pyro finished looking around the cave and nodded, making an approving noise as he did for Shadowe's sake. "Alright, I suppose it'll work. Ready whenever you are, Shadowe." Pyro said, positioning himself near Colby so that he could grab the dog if he needed to. Despite his doubts about the plan, Pyro decided to go along with it. "C'mon Colby, let's go sniff out some changelings." Pyro said to the dog, beckoning it after him as he went into the cave. Pyro looked around before a couple more changelings attacked him. Pyro kicked one away, but the other knocked him onto the ground once again. "Really? Again?" Pyro said to himself before pushing the changeling off and standing up. "And stay off, stupid changeling." Pyro muttered as he kicked the changeling away from him. "Any time now, Shadowe. I'm waiting on you." Pyro said to himself as he waited for the colt to create his wall of light, starting the plan off.

[Duskfall]

Duskfall dug his hooves into the ground just as what appeared to be the real Flitter jump kicking the imposter. Luckily for him, identifying the real one wasn't an issue. The fake one was wearing some ridiculous amoeba costume, while the real Flitter was wearing some sort of retrostyle outfit. No need though, as the real Flitter seemed to have caught the changeling by surprise. As Flitter ran to Cloudchaser to try to snap her out of the changeling's control, Duskfall passed over the two and ran to the fallen changeling. "Good idea, whoever you are. I just hope you sure as Tartarus know how to get ponies out of mind control spell. I sure don't!"

[RarityDash]

"Yes, darling! Protect me!"

Cloudchaser smiled brightly, happy to oblige her fillyfriend. She stood tall, ready to intercept the awful changelings. She'd make good and sure her and Flitter got through this okay. Nothing was going to stop her now.

​

"Allon-sy! Hey Cloudchaser, wake up! It's me! The real me! C'mon snap out of it, I totally need your help here!"

Then, suddenly Cloudchaser had to step back. She shook her head vigorously as her eyes went wide. Just what was happening here?!

"Two Cloudchasers?! Am I seeing things?" she started aloud, completely dumbfounded. "Maybe this is all a dream. I've had some like this before..." she murmured before slapping herself in the face in an attempt to wake herself up. When this didn't work, she took another step back and looked from the attacking Flitter to the attacked.

"No... that's not it... One of you has to be a changeling! But which one?" she started, not really sure. They both looked like Flitter. As far as she knew Flitter was going as an amoeba for her costume like the one she had been kicking, but she hadn't actually seen Flitter in the finished costume yet. The other Flitter's costume did look like it was made up of old stuff Flitter owned.

​

"Good idea, whoever you are. I just hope you sure as Tartarus know how to get ponies out of mind control spell. I sure don't!"

There was also this changeling. Cloudchaser still couldn't see why a changeling would go after another changeling. There weren't any good changelings, right? Chaser didn't really know much about them, but she sure had never heard about anything like that. That meant the second Flitter had to be a fake brought into further confuse Cloudchaser into giving up the real Flitter, right? It seemed plausible for the evil changelings, but then again... something about the second Flitter just seemed somehow more natural. Thinking about it all just made Cloudchaser completely and totally confused.

"I just don't know anymore!" she exclaimed suddenly as she braced her head with her hooves. "Who do I believe?" she added feebly, wishing we just a little smarter.

​

[Lilia]

Shadowe shook his head in response to Pyro's question, hoping that when the lights burst he would understand. Light didn't have to be very bright to affect the buggy creatures, did it? He sighed and began to focus after giving time to Pyro and Colby to get inside. With a few moments of concentration, a wall had come up between Haywire and himself and the entrance to the cave. It was glowing faintly, the way nightlights were supposed to.

"Go on, Haywire! It should work now!" He beamed, proud that he could sense the magic radiating off of the walls.

Colby ran alongside Pyro, barking madly at the Changelings as they approached. He spied a fake Shadowe and growled low, ready to launch himself at the imitation of his master before the imitation could attack them.

[Bramble Rose]

Flitter shook her head and tried to clear her vision. What had just happened?! Everything was going perfectly! What the ...

As everything stopped swirling around her, she found herself looking at the real flitter, standing there in ... an entirely different costume, glaring her. Aw, loveless rats. Where did she come from?! And since when did that little egghead kick like that?!

Yes, that was the ticket. "No! It's a trick, they're both changelings!" she cried, "Since when am I all violent like that?!" She started to say more, but that's when the other changeling pounced her. "Ack! See?! Th' *erk* changelings are *ack!* after me!" She struggled with the little traitor, stuck having to fight him off - for now - without all the extra strength that Cloudchaser's love had given her. There was more to be tapped from that well, she was sure! Especially if she could beat out the real Flitter for it!

​

[Pretzelparty]

"Very good, can use diversion to bet to Rainbow, and then when you recover brush, can provide rear support while we make exit. Excellent, we have plan! Prepare yourselves comrades.... Now!"

The trotted alongside the oddly accented mare,"Right now that Fiery unicorn over there is doin' a pretty good job distractin' the horde with 'is friends... I could definitely help them out ta make a bigger scene but that's require my magic. " The mare thought to herself and sighed in her mind,"It's been a loooooong time since I've actually wanted to use magic this bad" So far everypony was doing pretty good against the horde... and there was even what appeared to be one changeling trying to help another pair of ponies. For now she seemed to have picked a good group to stick with though and after witnessing the gymnast pony kick the remains of the cage into an unfortunate drones face.

The mare grinned and after taking some of the scraps of the cage in hoof and tossing them into the air she managed to kick a few more into the rest of the drones before them's faces,"Y'know, Miss uh... wotever yer name is I like how ya think!"

[brianblackberry]

Flitter's exhilaration quickly became confusion as she saw the Changeling version of herself indeed be assaulted by another Changeling! What the hay… That didn't make any sense! Still Flitter knew which, er Flitter was real.. Herself of course!

How to prove that to a very confused Cloudchaser though! Wait… Flitter remembered reading about this sort of scenario in one of the old Daring Do books when she was a foal. The answer was always to reveal some personal moment between you and the other pony so they knew it was really you! Classic! Thanks Daring Do!

Flitter struck a pose, as heroines always struck a pose, right? "Ha! Objection!! This Changeling is trying to trick you Cloudy by using one of its.. umm, brethren to mock attack it! I shall prove I'm like, the real Flitter!" Without a shadow of a doubt; just like in those Phoenix Write Stallion drama anthologies she would read!

"Remember secondary school Cloudy? That one day when you were hanging around those other sports ponies when they suddenly knocked my books out of my saddlebag just because I was nerdy? You were so uncomfortable being there with them at that moment but didn't do anything about it when it happened". It was during that last year of secondary school when Flitter was helping Cloudchaser with some tutoring so her then spiky maned friend could graduate. They had grown close as friends and felt a mutual interest in each other during those sessions but were unable to bring themselves around to actually admitting it at the time. "After they left, you hung back and helped me pick my books up, feeling so guilty about what happened."

She didn't like bringing up moments Cloudchaser would feel bad about, but this was important! "I was pretty sullen at the time, telling you that I thought you cared more about being part of the in-crowed then our friendship; I remember that accusation really hurt you." Flitter began to blush as she continued, "you started to stammer, trying to say something to reassure me it wasn't true, but not knowing how to best apologize and say how you really felt, you suddenly just kissed me! It was out first kiss. Now what Changeling would know *that* story!?"

Hopefully regaling that moment was enough to convince Cloudchaser who was her real partner and friend!

[Blueblood]

Well, it seemed that a lot of ponies were making a contribution! The storm cloud pony and... another changeling, for some unknown reason, were doing their best to tangle up the leader, who was disguised as the cloud's marefriend. Which one exactly was the disguised and which was the real one, Brick didn't know, and didn't need to. They were doing their job. In fact, now that the ponies had split into small groups, the hive was having a very hard time coordinating its efforts.

"Ha! See what I tell you; small groups is best plan!" The Stalliongrad mare was rather glad that she had all three team members with her when she arrived at the cocoon; the last group of guards were proving tenacious. Fortunately, they tended not to get up in a hurry when hit with an iron bar.

In a few minutes, they had opened their way to the cocoon holding what looked to be Rainbow Dash, though they still had to fend off drones and disguised changelings. "Name is Flying Brick, sorry if I not say so before. Now, we need open cocoon. Might not be easy." Truer words were never spoken, a quick buck from the brick-red mare only slightly dented it. It was probably reinforced, given the importance of the prisoner inside.

[NeoExlucky]

Gadget looked around the area. Trying to find something to break the cocoon open. The area had tons of items that were around, the cages were the most interesting. "If we break one of the bars of the cage, I can bend it so that it can be a crowbar. I can do more damage that way." He muttered to Flying Brick. "Pyro, can use fire on this thing?" He called to the red and white Unicorn.

[Mojo]

"Go on, Haywire! It should work now!"

Those were the words Haywire was waiting to hear. The devil suited filly had managed to amass a large stockpile of rocks and now that she heard the word from Pyro and Shadowe, it was time for yet another slingshot rock barrage.

"ALRIGHT YA BUNCHA WINGED SIDEWINDERS! I'M GONNA ROCK Y'ALL ASLEEP WITH REAL ROCKS!" Haywire shouted as she launched more rocks in rapid fire fashion. As her friends had calculated the image the launched stones had through the fire field DID look menacing. The blank flank filly was still shooting blindly, unable to see much through the haze. All those years of using her trusty slingshot had come in handy during this adventure. Looked like their plan was working, but how much longer could they keep this up?

[PyroBlaze]

Pyro glanced back at the wall of light that Shadowe had made. "Hm, not as bright as I thought it would be. Oh well, that's probably a good thing." Pyro mumbled, turning his attention back to the ones inside the cave. Pyro avoided or knocked away any pony that Colby barked at, searching for a real pony to direct to the exit. Pyro soon noticed Haywire's rock barrage flying past, the rocks glowing from passing through the light wall. Pyro kept searching for ponies to save, stopping only when he heard Colby start growling behind him. Pyro turned and saw what looked to be Shadowe, but obviously wasn't due to Colby's reaction and the fact that Shadowe was outside the cave. Pyro kicked the changeling away before continuing along. "C'mon Colby, we've still got to find some ponies to save." Pyro said to the dog. Pyro looked over at the source of the voice that had said his name. It was a pony, at least he assumed so right then, with a piece of the cage in his hooves. "Fire on that? Sure, but why?" Pyro called back in response before making his way over to Gadget, who was trying to free Rainbow Dash from the cocoon. "Umm, if you're trying to shape that, you may want to think it through a bit more. When it becomes hot enough to shape, it becomes way to hot to hold, and I don't have any way to cool it down enough to hold." Pyro said, a little skeptical of what he assumed was Gadget's plan for his fire.

[NeoExlucky]

Gadget gave Pryo and odd look. It was part insaned, part excited, part nervous, and part sincere. "I know that, I don't want it to cool down. I need you to trust me on this. Heat the bar till the ends are red." He told him. His skimmed the area again for more help, what else could he do? There were some rocks, more cages, some clay, and a very small pool of water that may only fit a corner of the bar. On him was his costume, and that was it. Of course his costume did have some interesting characteristics about it. After all, Time Spinner suggested that the material be made with a certain material that the blue flier had used in one of his comics, Time actually said something much smarter but Gadget didn't really understand all of it. It was something an egghead would say. He took the clay and began to roll it around, making it look like a bowl, he took a few loose rocks and began to put them into the clay. He smashed the clay into a pancake, and threw more rocks into the mix, then once the clay was a rocky-clay mix, he covered the bottom of his front left hoof with it. From what he understood in inventing, this would make an excellent conductor. Which would be useful in his small plan.

[RarityDash]

"No! It's a trick, they're both changelings!" she cried, "Since when am I all violent like that?! Ack! See?! Th' *erk* changelings are *ack!* after me!"

Cloudchaser nodded. This was an apparent contradiction. Flitter was the nicest, sweetest mare in the world. She wouldn't get all violent, would she? Cloudchaser wasn't sure she had ever seen Flitter like that at least. Then again, she had never really seen how Flitter would act in the middle of a changeling attack. it was really hard to say... though it did remain a good point.

"That is true..." she said as she looked toward the other Flitter expectantly. This one would have to go big to prove she was the real deal.

​

"Ha! Objection!! This Changeling is trying to trick you Cloudy by using one of its.. umm, brethren to mock attack it! I shall prove I'm like, the real Flitter! Remember secondary school Cloudy? That one day when you were hanging around those other sports ponies when they suddenly knocked my books out of my saddlebag just because I was nerdy? You were so uncomfortable being there with them at that moment but didn't do anything about it when it happenedAfter they left, you hung back and helped me pick my books up, feeling so guilty about what happened.I was pretty sullen at the time, telling you that I thought you cared more about being part of the in-crowed then our friendship; I remember that accusation really hurt you. you started to stammer, trying to say something to reassure me it wasn't true, but not knowing how to best apologize and say how you really felt, you suddenly just kissed me! It was out first kiss. Now what Changeling would know *that* story!?"

That, as it were, is exactly what happened. Cloudchaser smiled affectionately as the story was related. She could remember it well. She had spent a couple of her secondary school years in Cloudsdale, because she had decided early on to try and become a weather mare and had wanted to be taught in the best environment for it. She had come to the school from Las Pegasus as a transfer student in her third year, and not knowing anypony there had done her best to try and fit in. This hadn't been so hard. She was an easygoing mare who got along with others well, had exciting stories of back home, and was good at athletics. It wasn't long before she had been accepted by most the ponies there both in the so called "in crowd" and not, but as she was she found her attention going to a certain mare who had been one of the first friends she made when she was new. There was something special and something engaging about Flitter from the start, but she didn't appreciate how some of the others treated her. It wasn't until that day that she became entirely sure what to do and what she ultimately wanted. That moment changed everything, and it ultimately is what lead to her and Flitter coming to Ponyville together.

Cloudchaser was completely convinced. She left the side of the first Flitter without even looking back and stood with her Flitter, the real Flitter. There were still things she was confused about. Not everything added up. She wasn't sure what to make of it all. At the same time, there was no doubt about what was the truth now. She didn't have to even say anything more. Only her Flitter would know this story. Now that she knew who the real Flitter was, she'd protect her with everything.

"You have some nerve, changeling, making yourself look like Flitter to trick me like that," she said, stomping her hooves. "It's unforgivable."

"C'mon Flitter, let's do our best to stop them!" Cloudchaser started with a nod back at her fillyfriend.

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