Pet Weirdness

Applejack tossed a stick for Winona to fetch. The small dog eagerly chased after it, just dodging Rarity's cat Opal, who hissed fiercely at her. Spike and Twilight Sparkle were setting up the picnic just by the apple tree. Just last week, the ponies all agreed to have a picnic in the Sweet Apple Acres field of apple trees, with all of their pets.

"I'm so glad I could finally come with you guys on a picnic for once!" Spike said cheerfully. Twilight watched Owloysius fly into one of the apple trees then replied to her assistant,

"It sure is! You have been a hard-working assistant, and you deserve a little treat. And what better treat than a picnic?" Twilight continued organizing the food with her levitation, Spike muttered to himself, "A sapphire would've been nice..."

Rarity watched Opal as she snoozed by the tree were the set up was, then asked Applejack,

"Uh, Applejack? Are you sure it is quite alright if the pets climb or fly up into your trees?" Applejack nodded.

"Yup, that's fine by me. As long as they don't have any accidents on the fruit..."Pinkie Pie squealed as soon as she arrived with Gummy.

"Yay! This is going to be so much fun!"She hopped to Twilight, who gingerly got out of the way.

"Hi, Pinkie Pie,"She greeted her hyper friend.

"Hiya, Twilight!"She looked at the food. Naturally, her tongue stuck out and was drooling on the ground. "Wow! The food looks delish!"Completely expectantly, Pinkie Pie stuck her entire face in the chocolate cake that had been placed on the edge of the blanket. Two pegasi flew from the clouds then landed right on the picnic spot.

"Hey, guys!" Rainbow Dash said, placing Tank on the ground. Fluttershy nodded.

"Hello,"Her bunny Angel hopped off her back then ran over to the food.

"Sorry we were late,"Rainbow Dash apologized, "Tank's contraption broke, so I had to carry him."

"Really?!"Pinkie Pie stopped eating the cake. Chocolate icing covered her face, which she quickly licked off. She said, "But I made that! That thing was supposed to be indestructible!"

"Not when you accidentally crash it into a rock,"Rainbow Dash replied.

"Gosh, is Tank alright?" Applejack said, Winona coming over to her master's side.

"Yeah, he's fine, but he's grounded for a few days is all."

"Okay, this get together thing is great, but now can we eat?"Spike said impatiently, "Pinkie Pie and Angel are already half full!"

"Am not!"Pinkie Pie shoved some apples in her mouth. She swallowed them down in one gulp. "Okay, now I am."

Rarity trotted over to the picnic area,

"Sweetie, you really mustn't stuff your face like that,"She tried to teach Pinkie some more lessons on manners, "it's-"The unicorn watched the pink earth pony stuff her face with some more food. She sighed. "Never mind."

"Okay, everypony, let's eat!" Applejack bucked on one of the trees, several apples came crashing to the ground.

"Finally!"Spike snatched an apple then bit into it. He tasted it, then shrugged. "Gems are better, but eh, I'll give it a four."All the ponies laughed (they always laugh at Spike) then continued their meal, unaware of something lurking in the apple trees. However, the ponies' pets almost instantly sensed its presence.

Winona was the first to notice. She barked viciously at seemingly nothing. She barked loudly and uncontrollably.

"Applejack, would you be a dear and quiet your dog down? She's giving me a headache." Applejack gave Rarity a look, but tried to quiet her dog.

"Winona, it's okay, girl, nothing's there."Winona didn't stop barking.

"Winona -"That was when the other pets started reacting as well. Angel looked in Winona's direction then nearly spit the piece of celery he had out. He thumped his foot on Fluttershy's hoof, as he always does to get her attention.

"Oh, are you out of food, Angel?"Angel shook his head viciously.

"Do you want to play?"He shook his head again, then pointed at Winona.

"Is Winona bothering you?" Fluttershy asked. Angel facepalmed himself. He took Fluttershy's neck and pointed as hard as he could at what Winona was barking at. She stared in the direction. Then looked at the other pets. They noticed as well. Tank slowly walked over in the direction, Rainbow Dash not paying attention. Owloysius hooted loudly, flapping his wings. Opal hissed. And all Gummy did was thump his tail on the ground. Fluttershy frowned. Now Rarity and Applejack were having an argument, Twilight was trying to calm her owl down, Rainbow Dash actually didn't pay much attention to the commotion, Spike got sick of the noise, then went over to a different tree. Fluttershy got Angel's hint that there was something bad. She tried to tell the others,

"Um, excuse me, but-"nopony paid attention to her. Fluttershy tried again, "Uh, I'm sorry, but I think that -" Nopony heard her. Just as Fluttershy was about to use her louder voice, another voice rang out.

"STOP!"

Everypony went quiet. No pet made a sound. Pinkie Pie was on her hind legs, panting. She came back down on all fours.

"My Pinkie senses are twitch'en."Everypony's eyes opened wide. Applejack took cover under a tree.
"What is it, Pinkie? Is something going to fall?"The earth pony looked up in the sky nervously.

"No, it's not like any of the other senses I've had."

"What are you talking about, Pinkie?"Twilight asked, "You've memorized every single twitch movement you have. How could this one be different?"Pinkie replied,

"I had a twitch from inside my guts,"she said, pointing at her belly, "a twitch I've never had before. It kinda felt weird, actually -"

"So, can you predict what's gonna happen?"Applejack asked. Pinkie looked around.

"I dunno." Twilight looked at Fluttershy.

"Maybe the animals felt that something was wrong, too. Which was why they all started reacting. Fluttershy, do you know what's wrong?" Fluttershy shook her head.

"No, but I do know that whatever was causing it, came over there."She pointed in the direction where Applejack's dog was barking.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Come on, everypony! Let's go check it out!" Applejack walked over to Winona, then told her,

"Okay, Winona, I need you to go find whatever made you bark."Winona nodded, then tore off into the direction, Applejack running after her.

"Wait, where are we going?"Spike jumped onto Twilight's back, Twilight explaining what happened. Rainbow Dash looked around.

"Tank?"

The rainbow-maned pony looked under a rock. "Tank!"She called. The tortoise came out from behind a tree, slowly making his way to Rainbow.

"Come here, buddy."She lifted her pet onto her back, then ran to catch up with the others. Applejack was ahead of the heard of ponies, but Winona was in front of her. Running very fast, the dog disappeared out of sight.

"Winona! Wait up!"She called for her dog, but she was too far away.

"Owloysius, I need you to go catch up Winona," Twilight asked her owl. He hooted, then flew faster. "Rarity, I need you to -"Twilight blinked.

"Where's Opal?"

"Oh, she's back at the picnic,"Rarity said, "she doesn't like it when I run with her on my back,"
"Okay, then, Fluttershy, where's Angel?"

"Same place as Opal. I think he'd be more safer there."

"Fine. Rainbow Dash!"

"What's up?"Rainbow Dash flew above Twilight's head.

"Check to make sure Owloysius and Winona are alright. Oh, and are you sure it's a good thing to bring Tank?"

"Why not? He's not miss'en any action!"With that, the blue-furred Pegasus flew faster, a trail of rainbow from her mane and tail trailed behind her.

With Tank strapped securely to her back, Rainbow Dash felt that both she and her pet were safe. She paused in her thoughts.

That's weird, she thought, Tank felt a lot lighter last time I carried him...

Suddenly, she spotted both Winona and Owloysius. She called to the others, "I found them!"

She landed gracefully, yet awesome on the ground, walking over to the pets. Owloysius sat on the ground, blinked once, then hooted. Nothing more. Winona also sat upright and still on the ground, wagging her tail.

Applejack came in first, then gasped to her dog,

"Did you find it, girl?"Winona only yapped. Applejack looked puzzled.

"Owloysius, did you find Winona alright?"Twilight got out from behind all the trees, then looked at Owloysius, who immediately flew to her, then hooted. Twilight smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that you did."Spike made room for Owloysius on Twilight's back. However, Owloysius took a little more space than what Spike had given him. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked around, trying to find the source of the disruption. No luck.

"I don't know about you folks, but I just can't find anything here that would be something worth bark'en at," Applejack said, looking at Winona.

"Me neither,"Rainbow Dash agreed. Twilight sighed.

"Well, I guess we'd better head back to the picnic sight,"

"Hey,"Rainbow Dash took a step closer to Twilight, "where's Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity?"

"Pinkie Pie is actually right there,"Twilight pointed up in the tree.

"Hi, there!"Pinkie said, jumping down from the tree.

"Gummy disappeared, so I climbed up in a tree to see if I could spot him from there. But he was in my mane all along!"To prove it, Gummy popped out of Pinkie Pie's curly mane.

"Rarity went to go check Opal after she realized that if she left her pet alone when there is danger, something bad would happen. Fluttershy went with her."Twilight explained the rest.

Applejack looked up at the sky.

"I'd say we'd head back," She said, tightening her cowboy hat that she was wearing.

"Yeah, it's getting pretty dark. I have to get Spike home before something else happens."Twilight said.

"Are you kidding? It's not even seven yet!"Spike complained.

"No, but it will be. It's a long walk from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville."Twilight pointed out.

"But we barely got to have a picnic! And why did you want to have the picnic at four?!"Twilight sighed.

"So many questions that will never be revealed to you, Spike. So many questions..."

When the ponies got back to the picnic site, Fluttershy examined Angel completely. Rarity put Opal back in her carrying bag, worried. Twilight asked them,

"Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, everything is alright, Twilight. I'm just worried that thing might come back is all."Rarity assured them.

"Thing? You mean something attacked you?"Twilight's eyes widened.

"Well, not us, but we saw it grab Angel," Fluttershy said.

"Did you get a clear view of what attacked Angel?" Twilight asked.

Both Rarity and Fluttershy shook their heads.

"No, but it looked really dark,"Rarity said.

"And scary."Fluttershy added.

"Well, I don't know what to tell y'all, but I think it's best for ya just to get on home now."Spike grunted, crossing his arms. Twilight quickly gathered everything up with her magical horn, Applejack watching carefully.

"Well, we're ready to go,"Twilight said to the hovering earth pony. "Remember to keep an eye out, A.J.,"Twilight walked out of the fields, then said behind her, "Bye, girls! Keep your guard up still. I don't know what still could be lurking in Equestria."The ponies waved good-bye to Twilight, going their different routes. Applejack watched all her friends go, waving to them. She glanced at Winona. Usually at this time, her dog would be chasing after them. She frowned.

"Someth'en's not right here..."

Spike eyed Owloysius suspiciously. They had arrived at the library about half an hour ago, and it was getting dark out. The owl that Spike had once despised was acting very strange. He was hopping on Twilight's desk, scattering papers, tossing things away in his mouth.

"Uh, Twilight..?"The little wingless dragon turned to his caretaker,

"Does Owloysius seem, kinda, well, weird?"Twilight looked at Spike, then at Owloysius, who was still scattering papers.

"Well, Owloysius doesn't normally scatter papers..."When Owloysius heard her suspicions, he quickly flapped over to her, then rubbed his feathery head against Twilight. She smiled, then nuzzled him back. "But I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Spike."Owloysius then flew over to his perch, ruffling his feathers, falling asleep. Twilight walked over to her messy desk, then started to clean things up.

"I'm tellen you, Twilight, there's something wrong here. I -"

"Spike. Remember the time when we first got Owloysius? You were very jealous. Then, you were saved by him. Owloysius is just the same as he was then."Twilight reasoned with him.

"Yeah, I was upset and all, but now I really think we should keep an eye on Owloysius. Something bad could happen -"

"Spike, your overreacting. Nothing bad is going to happen."Spike grunted.

"That's what you said when you first heard of Pinkie Pie's senses..."

That night -

Spike snored softly as he slept peacefully in his bed. Twilight lied curled up in her own bed, her breathing clear and soft. Spike rolled over from his belly to his back, tightening his grip on his blanket. Everything in the library/house was silent and asleep.

Well, almost everything.

Something fluttered inside the home. It flew over to Twilight's bed, then stared at her. The moon shined on its appearance. Owloysius smiled darkly at his master. Spike suddenly opened his eyes slightly, spying the long shadow the owl was casting. At first, Spike thought it was nothing, then went back to sleep. However, his green dragon eyes shot open when he heard something crack. He turned to look in the direction of the owl. But there was no owl. Only a dark, haunting figure, right next to Twilight's bed.

"AAAHHH!"Spike screamed. Twilight shot upright, hearing Spike's loud alarm.

"What?! What is it?!"Twilight looked at her right side, then screamed as well.

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle."The dark figure said in a hissing tone, pleasant, yet ugly. "It's been a while. Haven't seen you around since -"She shrugged, "Oh, about since YOU DESTROYED MY CHANCES OF TAKING OVER EQUESTRIA!"

"What?! I didn't do ANYTHING to you..!"Twilight shouted. The figure chuckled.

"Oh, that's right. You can barely see what's in the dark. Well then, let me step into the light."As the tall pony stepped into the moonlight, Twilight's purple eyes grew wide.

"Q-queen Chrysalis?! But how..? We blasted you out of Equestria!"The queen of the Changelings chuckled.

"Indeed you did, but I have returned!"Twilight came up on her legs, her horn ready to shoot a lazar.

"Why? There's no royal marriage, there's nopony to impersonate, and you're weak on power!"Chrysalis laughed.

"Twilight, I'm not here to take over anything. Nor am I going to impersonate anypony, and no, I'm not THAT weak on power." She leaned in Twilight's face. "I'm here for REVENGE!"The changeling's horn glowed green, ready to fire.

"TWILIGHT!"Spike blew feeble green fire at Chrysalis, who didn't pay much attention to the dragon. So instead, Spike jumped on Chrysalis, distracting her concentration to blast Twilight. "NOW, TWILIGHT, NOW!"Spike shouted at her.

"But I can't shoot her with you on!"Twilight pleaded.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, just FIRE ALREADY!"

"ENOUGH OF THIS!"Chrysalis shook Spike off, Spike crashing into the wall. He tried to get back up, but everything blacked out.

Rainbow Dash -

(This is the time when Owloysius flew over to Twilight's bed, only this is what Rainbow Dash was doing, same with everypony)

Rainbow Dash snored slightly, as she slept on her cloud-like bed. Tank watched her carefully. He stepped out of the specially made container, then, surprisingly, walked on the clouds. He walked slowly to Rainbow Dash. When he finally got there, he changed into a changeling. It was Queen Chrysalis's main minion, Morph. Remembering what Chrysalis wanted to do, he commanded his horn to change Rainbow Dash as well. He concentrated long and hard, making green flames evolve around Rainbow Dash. Luckily, she woke up, feeling the heat of the flames.

"Woah, what the -?"Seeing the Changeling, she spread her wings and got right up on her feet. "You! You're supposed to be with your creepy leader, Chrysalis! Hey, what are you doing?!"

The Changeling paid no attention to Rainbow Dash's talking. Instead, he concentrated even harder to get what he was trying to do done. Rainbow Dash stepped back, avoiding getting any fire on her hooves. The Changeling muttered some ancient words, then his eyes went bright green. Rainbow Dash felt a horrible pain all across her body.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Applejack -

Applejack was looking out the window, binoculars on her face. She was trying to see if whatever was causing the animals to go whack came out at night. Her door creaked open. Applejack sighed.

"Applebloom, I'm fine. Just go back to -"Only when the earth pony turned around, her lights flickered out. Her dog wagged her tail, looking mysteriously friendly. Applejack frowned.

"Winona, you're not supposed to be in my room. You're supposed to be downstairs -"However, Applejack was able to witness Winona turn into a changeling. Shocked and confused, Applejack shouted,

"What the-?! You're supposed to be out of Equestria!"

"We know, but our Queen had other plans than to stay banished."With that, the changeling summoned his dark spell, and encased Applejack in a bright green flame (just like Rainbow Dash). Applejack stayed away from the fire, only to accidentally singe the tip of her tail.

"Look, I don't know what you want from me, but -"

"It's not what I want, it's what YOU DESERVE!"Then the Changeling cast the last step of the spell. Applejack was filled with a pain like no other. She hurt everywhere, especially her head.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"She screamed with pain, clutching her head. The Changeling continued to give Applejack pain, until the pony's door burst open.

"What in tarnation is going on here?!" Granny Smith, Big Macintosh and Applebloom were in the room. Applebloom gasped.

"It's that thing we saw at the wedding! It's that Changeling!"She pushed the Changeling over. "Stay away from mah sister!" Applebloom snarled. The Changeling grunted.

"No matter, the transformation is done anyway."He smirked. "Just wait and see what is left of your sister now -"The Changeling was suddenly kicked in the face by Big Macintosh. He crashed outside the window, landing just outside of their house.

He got up, winced a bit on his neck, then flew off. Applebloom walked tenderly towards her aching sister, who was sprawled on the floor.

"...Applejack?"

Rarity -

With her sleep mask over her face, and her covers all thrown over her, Rarity slept like a dream. Opal watched her with a look that could slice through flesh. Rarity rolled onto one side, then to another. She then heard a pop/crack. Rarity awakened to see the Changeling in her face.

She screamed hysterically.

"What do you want from me, you hideous creature?!"The Changeling did not say anything, only began the spell. Rarity, like the others, was surrounded by a green flame, she screamed again. Doing the last part of the transformation, the Changeling's eyes became a bright green, then Rarity felt stabbing swords. She screamed of pain this time, not of fear.

"STOP IT! AHH! AAAAAAAHHHH!"When it was all over, Rarity lay dazed and hurt on the floor.

Fluttershy -

An animal had awakened Fluttershy. Fluttershy had gotten up to feed her hungry bat (the same bat that competed in Rainbow Dash's contest).

"Okay, my little friend, I will give you something to eat." Fluttershy trotted drowsily over to the kitchen. The bat that she constantly fed never actually learned how to hunt on its own, which bothered Fluttershy a lot. However, she continued to feed him anyway. "Well, we've got some fruit, flies and some water."Fluttershy frowned. "On second thought, we've just got fruit and water."Fluttershy took the flies and put them somewhere else. As the bat ate some watermelon, Angel entered the room.

"Oh, hello, Angel!" Fluttershy greeted her bunny. "Oh, did we wake you up? I'm sorry..."Angel looked tired and starving, so Fluttershy asked,

"Um, Angel? Did you come to eat some food? You look... hungry."Unexpectantly, Angel turned into the dreaded Changeling. It was a big Changeling, buff and tough around the edges. Fluttershy's blue eyes widened. The bat screeched and flew in its face, only to be smacked out of the way.

"Hey!"Fluttershy said, her wings spreading, "You do NOT hurt my friends! I repeat, DO NOT hurt my-"But the Changeling was ignoring the Pegasus. He was casting the spell, like his Queen demanded him to.

"W-what are you doing?" Fluttershy said as soon as green fire circled around her. Her wings lowered back onto her shaking body, and her ears fell flat against her head. Like the other ponies, the dark changeling summoned his spell, and Fluttershy felt true pain. Hearing her scream made the animals wake up with the surprise, and they dashed over into the kitchen, to find the Changeling gone, and Fluttershy lying painfully on the floor.

Pinkie Pie -

Pinkie Pie snored as she was fast asleep. But she jumped right up and dashed to the window.

"Pinkie Senses are tingling! Pinkie Senses are tingling!"She said as she stared out the window. "I know SOMETHING'S happening out there! I just KNOW IT!"She headed towards her door to the outside, only Gummy stood in her way.

"Oh, hi Gummy! Say - I thought I left you in your bed -"Gummy changed into the changeling before Pinkie could finish her sentence.

"HOLY BALONEY! GUMMY'S A CHANGELING!"

"I am not Gummy!" The Changeling hissed. "I've been impersonating him this entire time!"

"You have?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Because why?"

"Because I can't tell you!"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to!"

"Why don't you?"

"Because -"The changeling stomped his hooves in frustration.

"SHUT UP!"He quickly cast his spell, and to his joy, the fire swirled around the happy-go-lucky earth pony.
"Oooh! Are we having a camp in?"Pinkie Pie asked.

"No! I'm changing you... NOW!"As the other changelings did with the other ponies, his eyes turned bright green and dangerous. Pinkie Pie was filled with a pain that she never felt before. Only,

She wasn't feeling any pain.

"Ahahaha! That tickles!"She said with joy.

"What?!"The Changeling was shocked. Pinkie Pie snorted with laughter. "No! It's supposed to give you pain!"He insisted. Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Weeell, it's not! This is fun!"

"No! It's NOT fun! It's madness!"The Changeling shouted, still keeping his concentration (surprisingly). Pinkie Pie snorted with laughter again, her rolling on the floor.

"MADNESS!"She shouted with joy. The Changeling growled with frustration. When the transformation was done, Pinkie Pie paused, then went to sleep on the floor.

"What a weird pony..." Was the Changeling's last thoughts before taking off.

– –

Now that all the ponies had their, uh, experiences, they all slept soundly and painfully (except Pinkie Pie) until the dawn had arisen. That, it was then when they realized what happened.