Here we go with the new and improved chapter eight! Like the last two chapters before it, this continues after "Three's a Crowd". When the Changeling's dialogue it italicized, it's his regular speech. When his dialogue is normal, he is disguised as Comet Tail, if it makes sense.

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Part 8: Now or Never

"Wait a minute," said Pinkie, "if you're Comet Tail, then who's this?"

"That Comet Tail is an impostor," said the real Comet Tail, "a Changeling disguised as me!"

The fake Comet Tail gave a sinister chuckle. "You don't actually believe this fool, do you?" he smirked.

"So you're the one who impersonated Vanguard and tried to get information out of me!" remarked Flash.

"Indeed I am," said the impostor smugly. Suddenly, his eyes glowed green, and a circle of green magic surrounded the impostor as he began to change form. His mane turned a dark arctic bluish gray, his coat a sea greenish black, and his eyes a moderate arctic blue. He also had fangs, holes in his legs, and a pair of tattered insectoid wings. He gave an evil laugh; everypony except the real Comet Tail was in shock.

"Surprise!" the Changeling cackled.

"But how?!" gasped Twilight, "You, other Changelings and Queen Chrysalis were blasted away by Cadance's love!"

"I was one of the lucky ones to escape before the blast," said the Changeling, "and now that I'm here, Queen Chrysalis would love to have a word with you, Princess Twilight!"

Flash stepped in front of Twilight. "If you want to harm her, you'll have to get through me," he said firmly.

"Hey, look over there!" the Changeling pointed. While everyone was distracted, a flash of light went off, temporarily blinding everypony. Once the light had faded away, two ponies were missing...

"Where'd that varmint Changeling go?" asked Applejack.

"But more importantly, where's Twilight?" cried Rainbow Dash.

"Darn it!" cried Vanguard, "He got away with the princess!"

"Calm down, Vanguard," said Shining Armor, "but we must catch him and save Twilight! If that Changeling harms so much as one hair, he'll be sorry he ever messed with the wrong stallion!"

"He won't get away with it," said Spike crossly.

"I think I've an idea!" said Comet Tail.

---

Meanwhile, the Changeling was getting away and had Twilight bound in strong magic ropes. He had also used a disabling spell to prevent Twilight from using her magic.

"Let me go!" Twilight shouted as she struggled to get free.

"And let you fly away with your lover-colt?" the Changeling sneered, "not a chance! I tried to reason with you, Princess, but you instead kept forcing me to take extreme measures!"

"I'm not interested in an impostor like you!" snapped Twilight, "Not now, not ever!"

"Big mistake, Princess," said the Changeling, "if I could not have you, why should anypony?"

"I would not hurt her if I was you!"

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a streak of yellow whizzed in front of the Changeling!

"Who's there?" the Changeling demanded. Suddenly, he found himself being circled by the same yellow streak. Twilight and the Changeling were surprised at this. When the streak faded, there glaring at the Changeling was Comet Tail.

"Put her down and nopony gets hurt," he said firmly, horn glowing blue.

"Make me," sneered the Changeling.

While Comet Tail was distracting the Changeling, Flash quietly crept up and took Twilight.

"It's okay," he whispered, "you're safe now." And he flew away with her before the Changeling could notice.

"You!" the Changeling snapped at Comet Tail, "You distracted me!"

"And for the right reasons too," Comet Tail smirked.

The Changeling angrily chased after Flash and Twilight, transforming himself into Comet Tail. The Changeling was about to fire a blast at the two, but was stopped by the real Comet Tail.

"Don't even think about it!" he snapped, "I know what you're trying to do- Aaahh!"

The Changeling angrily shoved Comet Tail out of the way and chased after them.

"Come back here!" he shouted.

"Not on your life," Comet Tail groaned, ruefully rubbing where he'd been hit by the Changeling and chased after him, followed by everypony else who'd witnessed Changeling's transformation.

---

At Fluttershy's cottage, the pale yellow Pegasus was still looking after the sickly Discord.

"I hope you're beginning to feel better, Discord," Fluttershy said sympathetically.

The former spirit of chaos sniffled. "Oh, yes, Fluttershy," he said.

Suddenly, the Changeling burst through the door - literally - almost blowing it to splinters, and then he ran through the window, shattering it to pieces.

"You can fly, but you can't hide, Sentry!" he shouted.

"What was that?!" cried Fluttershy.

Suddenly, the real Comet Tail charged through, much to Fluttershy and Discord's confusion.

"Excuse me!" he said, "Can't stop! Twilight and Flash are in trouble!"

"Trouble?!" gasped Fluttershy.

"No time to explain, Fluttershy," said Spike, "but that other Comet Tail you saw was actually a Changeling!"

"A Changeling?!" squeaked Fluttershy.

"Yes, you heard Spike correctly," said Comet Tail, "no time to lose! We must stop him from harming Twilight and Flash!" And they gave chase once more.

"But I thought they'd all been blown away..." Then Fluttershy had a look of anger on her face that was rarely shown. "How dare that Changeling try to hurt my friends!" After explaining everything to Discord, she joined the others in the pursuit.

"Don't worry about me!" Discord called, "I'll be- be- ATISHOO! …alright," he finished weakly.

---

Meanwhile, Flash and Twilight raced through the streets of Ponyville with the Changeling hot on their tail. Lots of ponyfolk were shocked to see their resident princess being carried by somepony they didn't know, even more when they saw somepony they knew firing at them... or so they thought.

At that moment, the real Comet Tail raced past, much to their confusion.

"Why are there two Comet Tails?" asked a mare named Carrot Top.

"Sorry I can't stop!" the real Comet Tail, "I've an impostor to stop!"

"Keep still, will ya?!" the Changeling shouted.

"You're never setting hoof on her as long as I'm around!" Flash shouted back.

"What's going on here?" asked Thunderlane.

"I'll explain everything!" gasped Comet Tail, "But we got to keep that impostor away from Twilight!"

"We got to keep that impostor away from Twilight!" the Changeling repeated.

Caramel, Time Turner and Thunderlane were surprised by this.

"So that would explain Comet Tail's behavior," said Caramel.

"I think I recall something similar to this last year," remarked Time Turner.

"What do you mean?" asked Thunderlane.

Before Time Turner could explain, Rainbow Dash called out to the three stallions.

"Cut the chit-chat you three!" she called, "We must stop that Changeling from hurting Twilight or possibly worse!"

"RD's right!" added Applejack, "C'mon, boys!"

So the three stallions joined the rescue chase.

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Up the lane, Ficitonary and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were playing with a beachball. Suddenly, Fictionary saw the chase heading straight towards them!

"Look out!" she cried. Quickly, the four fillies dropped their ball and scampered away just in time!

Not too far ahead was Big Macintosh with a cartload of apples.

"Watch out, Big Macintosh!" Twilight shouted, and the big red stallion saw them heading straight towards him!

"Ah! Not again!" he cried, and quickly got out of the way… just in time! Everypony (dragon, in Spike's case) sped past behind his cart, not an apple was spilled.

"Phew," remarked Big Macintosh, "that was a close one. But why are there two Comet Tails?"

"That's what we're thinkin'!" said Apple Bloom.

"Whatever it is," said Scootaloo, "it can't be good."

"Maybe we should follow them," suggested Sweetie Belle.

---

The chase continued on all the way to the Ghastly Gorge, where Rainbow Dash once held a contest to see who would be her pet. Throughout all the enduring chaos, Twilight had managed to slip out of her ropes and the disabling spell the Changeling had put on her had started to wear off.

As they were nearing the edge, Flash began to fly himself and Twilight towards the other side. The Changeling looked back towards Comet Tail and shot a spell from his horn, causing Comet Tail's hooves to get stuck in green goop.

"No!" he cried.

"It's over, Sentry!" the Changeling snarled, "Twilight is MINE!"

"Twilight, be careful!" shouted Comet Tail.

Flash could see the Changeling about to fire at both of them. Fearing for their lives, he knew what to do.

"Twilight," he said, "I'm going to toss you into the air. That way, you won't get hurt."

"Are you sure about this? I mean, what if-"

"Don't worry about me!" insisted Flash. "I'll be fine."

Twilight smiled meekly, and then everything seemed to happen at once…

Just as the Changeling shot a bolt of green magic at them, Flash tossed the light purple alicorn into the air and the bolt hit him on the wing.

"Aaagh!" he cried in pain, and the injury to his wing caused Flash to fall from the sky. At that moment, the pursuers arrive, shocked to see Flash falling from the sky.

"He's falling!" cried Fluttershy.

"Flash! No!" cried Twilight, and flew after the falling royal guard. By this point, she had gained control of her wings.

There was a big splash, and Flash had fallen into the river! The river flowed very fast; Twilight's heart was racing as she flew to save Flash from possibly certain doom. Unfortunately, they were getting closer to a waterfall!

"What is she doin'?!" gasped Apple Bloom, "She might get hurt or worse...!"

"She's following her heart, if you ask me," said Comet Tail, still struggling to get free.

"Oh, I can't bear to watch!" squeaked Sweetie Belle, covering her eyes.

"Twilight!" cried Flash, gasping for breath, "Help me!"

"I'm coming!" the light purple alicorn shouted, and just as Flash was about to fall over the waterfall, Twilight grasped on tightly to his forehooves!

"I got you!"

With all her strength, Twilight carried Flash gently to safety.

"Thanks, Princess," smiled Flash.

"Eh, any time, Lieutenant," said Twilight.

Everypony and Spike cheered loudly, but the Changeling snarled in anger.

"Twily! Thank goodness you're safe!"

Shining Armor was so overwhelmed with joy that his sister was safe he hugged Twilight tightly, crying. He couldn't bear the thought of losing his sister, nor had he been so terrified in his life.

"It's okay now," Twilight smiled with tears running down her face.

"Not for long!" snapped the Changeling. He then charged towards Twilight, trying to attack her again when...

"Get away from my sister-in-law!"

WHAM!

The Changeling was knocked to the ground by none other than...

"Cadance!" cried Twilight in happiness. As she embraced her sister-in-law with a hug, Princess Celestia arrived with a tall dark yellow unicorn stallion only Comet Tail recognized.

"Shooting Star, brother," he exclaimed, "this is a surprise!"

"Comet Tail, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and for impersonating a member of the Royal Guard," said Shooting Star.

"Wait!" cried Twilight, breaking off from the hug, "He didn't do it. It was that Changeling!" And she pointed to the Changeling who was trying to sneak off. Twilight blasted a spell from her horn at the Changeling, revealing his true form.

"Curses!" said the Changeling, "Foiled by a princess!"

"Has anypony noticed a 'change' in me?" asked Comet Tail, "Now, please be honest with me; would I ever go far to try and take somepony as my own, and would I really want to hurt a fly, let alone anypony?"

Everypony thought.

"He's my brother," said Shooting Star, "sure, we may have not spent as much time with him as we should have when we were young, but I still care for him."

Comet Tail's eyes widened. "R-really?" he said softly.

"Yes," said Shooting Star, "I know you'd never act this cruel, and I'm sorry we've been neglecting you, Comet Tail."

Comet Tail gave a small smile at his older brother. The Changeling was soon apprehended and taken away to await his punishment.

"Serves that Changeling right if you ask me," Comet Tail smirked as the Changeling was taken away by Vanguard and another royal guard.

"But Princess Celestia," said Spike, "how did you know about this?"

"I told her."

Suddenly, Vincent van Colt appeared from behind Celestia.

"You're the one who told Princess Celestia what was going on?" asked Rarity.

"Yes I am," replied Vincent.

"You were at Twilight's coronation and made the painting of her, right?" asked Cadance.

"Yes, I have," the yellow Pegasus stallion replied modestly. Then he noticed Flash.

"You must be that Flash Sentry bloke I heard about," said Vincent.

"Indeed I am," said Flash.

"Say, what happened to your wing?" asked Vincent.

"A Changeling impersonated me and fired a blast at his wing," said Comet Tail.

"A Changeling?" Vincent looked closely at Comet Tail. "So you must be the real Comet Tail..."

"Yes I am," said Comet Tail.

"If that's the case, then what had actually happened to you?" asked Vincent.

"Some time after Twilight's coronation," Comet Tail began, "I was lured away by a mysterious pony. But it turned out to be a Changeling; he captured me and turned into me. After he left, I freed myself and tracked him down, and the rest I'm sure you can pretty much guess."

"So all this time," finished Twilight, "a Changeling was disguised as you, and none of us, even me, knew about this?"

"Pretty much."

"What in Equestria is a Changeling?" asked Fictionary.

"They are creatures that have the ability to take the form of anypony it chooses," explained Celestia, "you see, during the Royal Wedding at Canterlot, Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, disguised herself as Cadance so she could feed off Shining Armor's love and weaken him so the Changelings could invade."

"I was the only one to suspect something was off about 'Cadance', quote-unquote," said Twilight, continuing from where her former mentor left off, "but, due to everypony's excitement over the wedding, nopony listened to me, even if I had all my facts together. Then she trapped me in some cave where I found the real Cadance. Together we escaped and confronted the impostor."

"I was among the guests at the wedding when Chrysalis revealed herself," Comet Tail added.

"How do you remember that?" asked Shining Armor.

"Well, I rarely forget a face," said Comet Tail with a shrug, "must be a knack, I suppose."

"But anyway, thanks to Twilight," said Cadance, "Shining Armor and I were able to combine our magic and blast the Changelings away."

"They were made for one another," finished Twilight, "just like me and Flash-" She quickly clammed her mouth shut, realizing what she had blurted out.

"What was that?" asked Shining Armor.

"Should we tell him and Princess Celestia?" Cadance whispered to Twilight.

"I think now's the appropriate time," Twilight agreed. She turned to Shining Armor and Celestia, and then said bravely as she could, "Flash Sentry and I are in love."

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Apologies that it isn't the final chapter, I kinda lied. :P The next chapter, I promise, will determine if Twilight and Flash will finally fall in love, or if it ends in heartbreak. On the plus side, at least the Changeling's going to prison.