THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: 6

Twilight took a few trots forward, shaking her head in the process. "T-That can't be true...."

Rainbow Dash called out to Twilight. "Twilight! That's the alicorn isn't it!?"

Applejack worriedly trotted forward then, extending a hoof out towards the still encroaching Twilight. "Twi!? What're you doin!? You heard her! She's trying ta banish the princesses! Not to mention she's all weird in the head! Don't go just trottin up to her!"

Rarity motioned the mare back over as well, "Yes Twilight, get back over here darling!"

But Twilight couldn't help herself. She just continued to trot forward as she shook her head, unable to accept the idea that this filly was calling Queen Chrysalis her mother of all things. "Why? Why're you saying such things? Why're you even here?"

Princess Yucca just regarded Twilight with a wide and bright smile. "Because I love her silly! She's my Momma, she took care of me. But you don't look okay? Are you sick?" Princess Yucca then disappeared in a flash before reappearing beside Twilight, glancing up at her as she trailed around the mare, inspecting her with wide eyes. "Yea yoooou don't look so good! Maybe a cupcake will help!?" Yucca disappeared yet again as she fluttered, flapping her wings and reappearing in front of Twilight's face as she was now holding a plate with a cupcake. "I went and grabbed it! Fast right!? I'm very very very very fast!" She shook her head as she whimpered. "Oh no no no!! We all still have to play a game!" She placed a hoof on her muzzle, "But you can't play tag if you're sick. Sweets always made me feel better! They have been embedded with sugary goodness!" She then shoved the cupcake into Twilight's muzzle immediately causing it to splatter and the remnants to drip onto the marble floor as she pressed her nose against Twilight's. "Good right!?"

Twilight immediately swiped her hoof in a reaction to the filly as it caused Princess Yucca to immediately stagger back, avoiding what appeared to be a light assault. Twilight wore a pained expression, one of sorrow as she regarded the alicorn bitterly. As Twilight stared into her eyes and gazed upon her, she gritted her teeth for a moment, wearing now an angered look before falling to the floor and slumping her head down, appearing appalled. She just shook her head as she covered her face with her hoof.

This caused Yucca to blink a bit as she just cocked her head to the right. "Eh?..." She pointed a hoof at Twilight as she just made a troubled expression and puckered her lower lip, looking at the others towards the castle entrance. "Your friend is acting funny!"

Rainbow Dash only cupped her muzzle, yelling at Twilight. "Twilight! Get up! We need to stop this before she does anything funny! Or worse, she ends up using one of those banishment spells on us! Snap out of it!"

But Twilight gave the pegasus no reply. She just remained there in silence with her eyes closed.

This caused Rainbow to only become more flustered. "T-Twilight? What's wrong!?" She immediately glanced back to all her friends. "It looks like Twilight's freezing up again. It has to be that alicorn! Ever since Twilight's gotten wind of her, she's been stuck like that!"

Applejack just regarded Princess Yucca with a blank stare as she peered across the throne room. "Well, yea, that alicorn sure is a strange one. I can probably see why Princess Celestia is worried about her. She is a little, uuuh, I can't find a word for it?"

Princess Yucca was trailing around Twilight with her muzzle on the ground and her front half lowered, prowling around the fellow alicorn like a dog and sniffing. As she found a leftover piece of the cupcake, she leaped at it before snatching it up with her mouth. "ARF!" She spun her tail and propelled it like a helicopter, rising into the air before continually poking at Twilight from all directions while munching on the sweet delicacy. "Hey hey hey hey hey  hey hey hey! You have a purple coat! Or is that lavender? Violet? Grape flavored?" She licked Twilight's cheek to where the mare didn't react. Immediately Princess Yucca lowered herself, scraping off her tongue. "Eeeeeew!" She then stared at her own hoof and gasped. "Oh my gosh! I'm a grape to! How exciting!" She twirled in circles before poofing away then grabbing a book and flipping the pages and shoving it in Twilight's face. "Maybe we're sisters! It's a reasonable theory!"

Rarity frowned heavily. "She's a wild little thing, isn't she? It's no wonder she's worrisome. But what's with Twilight? I still don't get it."

Pinkie Pie gasped wildly. "That alicorn must have some amazing powers! She did make a cupcake appear out of thin air!"

Fluttershy blinked a bit before raising a brow herself and muttering. "I-It's a little like Discord..."

Rainbow Dash readied herself as she glared at the filly. "Well either way, whatever's going on she's obviously the one making Twilight act all weird. She's also the alicorn the princesses are looking for! And she admitted to Queen Chrysalis being her mom and trying to banish the princesses! I think we lucked out seeing that she just admitted to everything for us! Now might be our only chance."

Applejack glanced over at Rainbow Dash with a chuckle. "How hard can it be to catch a little filly like that? Especially one who doesn't even seem to know what the heck is goin on, I mean just look at her." Applejack motioned a hoof over in the direction of Yucca who just continued to talk to a Twilight who didn't even acknowledge her presence. "Let's just snatch her up and bring her back to Canterlot."

Fluttershy immediately cut in with an objection, raising her hooves and waving them. "WAAAAAAAIT!!!!" She then placed a hoof in front of her muzzle as she lowered her volume. "W-Well if you all don't mind that is." And as the rest of them just continued to give her their attention then, she smiled. "W-Why don't we just ask her to come with us? I mean, she looks like she's so so nice and erhm, well, maybe she isn't dangerous at all. I mean look, she's so sweet and adorable." They all then looked back over at Yucca who then was pulling on Twilight's cheeks, complaining about the fact Twilight still didn't seem to acknowledge her even being there. "Maybe we can just tell her to follow and she'll listen. L-Let me try at least, pretty please. I just want to know."

Rarity shook her head. "Absolutely not Fluttershy! Just look at what's happened to Twilight darling! You might end up the same!"

Rainbow Dash nodded her head in agreement. "Yea, it's way too risky. You heard her yourself Fluttershy! She's coocoo!" Rainbow then started doing a twirling hoof motion at the side of her head with her own hoof. "She may be acting confused now but it could all still be a trick to lure us in! We still gotta be careful! All we're saying is she's probably underestimating us is all."

Fluttershy lowered her own head with a whimper then. "B-But...."

Rarity raised a hoof. "No buts darling, our safety is what's most important."

Fluttershy remained silent then as she just faced towards throne room doors with a sigh. "Okay...."

Rainbow Dash returned the sigh as she continued to flutter as she crossed her forehooves with half closed eyes.

Applejack frowned in regards to Fluttershy. "Ya think we were a little too harsh?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Naw, that's just Fluttershy being Fluttershy." She sighed before flexing a hoof and smirking before looking back in the filly's direction. "Besides, we've got to remain concentrated, one false move and we can end up-" but as Rainbow looked back to where Twilight was, Rainbow's eyes widened as she muttered. "W-Wha? Where'd she go?" The filly was gone.

Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie then followed Rainbow's gaze, taking notice of the fact that the filly had disappeared.

"Here I am!"

They all froze, looking between one another as sitting in the middle of their group would be the alicorn filly. The tiny purple alicorn sat there, just simply looking at each of them with wide fascinated eyes. She clapped her hooves. "Sorry! The other one doesn't want to acknowledge me so I came over here! And this was WAY more interesting! You all want to talk with me right!?" She chuckled before lifting herself into the air by pushing off the surface with her forehooves and doing a quick twirl with her wings, as she glanced around at each and every one of them. "The princesses are also looking for me!? Wow this feels so awesome! And if they sent you here to look for me then that means they're gonna help me with Momma to!? Hehe oh my gosh oh my gosh! This is all so amazing! Are you all their secret agents!? I read stories about super cool secret agents sometimes! They were really cool, there was this one time-"

And suddenly lunging towards the filly with spread hooves would be Rainbow Dash with a determined expression.

"WHOOP!" Princess Yucca did a twirl in the air before dodging the mare as she clung then onto Rainbow's back and chuckled, nuzzling her mane. "Your mane is so pretty! And you're really fast to move that quick like that! I don't think I can outrun you if we both tried."

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she also did a spin in the air, sending the filly flying off her back as she herself touched upon the ground with her hind legs and then leaped back in the filly's direction, now reattempting to grab hold of her again.

Princess Yucca came to a sudden halt midair as she giggled playfully. "Whee!" Before she touched upon the marble floor, practically shaking with excitement as she bounced. She looked at Rainbow the entire time as the mare approached, before her ears twitched and she smiled playfully, "Oh there's another!?" And she poofed out of the way with telekinetic magic, causing both Rainbow Dash and unknowingly a pursuing Applejack to crash head on into one another. Princess Yucca blinked a bit as she hopped upon the ground once again and looked at the two dazed mares as they barely had a clue what was even happening anymore.

Yucca placed her hooves upon her cheeks in adoration at them. "Oh gosh! You two are very good! Momma usually never tries to coordinate with the guards to get me like that! It's so amazing! You're all so amazing!" She then blinked before turning around and catching sight of a sudden Pinkie Pie who just stood there smiling in the filly's face. The two just stared at one another.

Pinkie then yelled out, "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!"

Yucca repeated in her Canterlot Voice.

"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Pinkie gasped, before glaring at the filly angrily. "IS THAT A CHALLENGE!? STARING CONTEST!"

Princess Yucca clapped her hooves as she stared into Pinkie's eyes with a wide smile and super wide eyes. "OKAY!"

The two just sat there staring at one another. It seemed like the seconds drew on for hours, as eventually Princess Yucca's brow twitched and tears started to swell in the alicorns eyes. She gulped as Pinkie smirked soon enough.

Yucca twitched her wing then, and suddenly Pinkie blinked reactively and sneezed as well. "ATCHOO!"

Princess Yucca hopped on hind legs. "I WIN I WIN!"

Pinkie gasped before swiping a hoof, "NO, YOU CHEATED!"

Yucca immediately sat, biting her lower lip as she suspiciously shifted her gaze from left to right.

Applejack called out to Pinkie, "Yeeeeeep! She's lyin!"

Pinkie blinked a bit, "How do you know?"

Applejack cupped her muzzle. "Just trust me on this one!"

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie backed away towards the throne room doors slowly as Yucca approached them. They all gulped as both Rarity and Fluttershy were already huddling next to one another as they trembled.

Rainbow Dash frowned heavily. "W-We can't catch her without a better plan guys..."

Applejack frowned. "I-I agree Rainbow! She's pretty reactive, that's for sure."

Rarity looked to the both of them. "Well we've gotta do something girls!"

Princess Yucca chuckled as she trotted closer and closer. "Shall I capture you all now?"

"Do you really not remember me? How long will you continue to play around?"

All their eyes immediately widened as the mane six focused back in Twilight's direction.

Princess Yucca as well, turned to glance back at the mare who'd finally spoken again with wide curious eyes. ".........?"

Twilight rose sluggishly as she still bore a heavy frown. She turned to face the filly baring sad eyes accompanied with that frown as she squinted at the filly. "It's only been a year. And you were taken in by Queen Chrysalis of all creatures. How frustrating, and sad..."

Princess Yucca chuckled a bit, appearing a little nervous as she didn't enjoy Twilight's tone of voice. "I-I'm not sad, I'm-"

Twilight approached the filly slowly, unfaltering. "You are sad. There's no way you could've been happy with her."

Princess Yucca pouted as she lowered her head, whimpering in complaint. "N-No. She loves me. Momma is just a little angry is all, but once I capture the Princesses of Equestria, she'll be happier than ever!" Yucca spread her hooves in a grand gesture. "And we'll-"

Twilight squinted a bit, as if annoyed by the filly's defense of Queen Chrysalis. "How? How can you defend her!? You think she truly loves anypony besides the changelings? If anything, she's only just using your love to sustain herself. She's a monster at heart, and will do anything to manipulate you!" Twilight lowered her head, placing a hoof over her forehead. "This has all gotten out of hoof. If only I wasn't so careless that night, none of this would be going on. But I've got to fix my mistakes, there's no more running away this time."

The rest of the mane six all regarded Twilight with worry, each of them coming to a faint realization regarding her words. Applejack however wanted to confirm, she still felt Twilight was being too broad with what she was saying. "T-Twilight? What're you sayin?"

Princess Yucca was awfully silent as well as she looked upon Twilight with a worried glance.

Twilight looked to each of her friends guiltily before frowning, glancing to the lower right. She then looked back to Yucca, "You think Chrysalis is the one who really protected you? Who really did anything?" She closed her eyes with a sigh and an almost amused smile. "Honestly, it hurts a little to hear you speak of her so highly. And to realize that you probably don't even remember who I am, I mean y-you were originally-" Twilight paused hesitantly, then flashed her an affectionate yet nostalgic smile, before her brows furrowed in discomfort. "Despite how things turned out, I'm glad we ran into each other again. But you've grown into the complete opposite of what I'd hoped you'd become, but I guess your traits aren't too alien to me." She took a few trots closer towards the filly, still obviously upset with her. "But regardless little one, it looks like Princess Celestia was right. Being the daughter of Queen Chrysalis, and I being a Princess of Equestria, we can't just ignore what you said." She frowned. "I will correct the mistake I made."

Rainbow Dash shook her head, puzzled. "Y-You're the one who created her Twilight? But wouldn't that mean-"

Twilight groaned as she lowered her head guiltily. "Yes, I'm the one who took the Tome of Transmutation...."

This caused Yucca's eyes to widen exponentially as she just looked at Twilight, almost in anticipation, anxiety, all in one. She was waiting for one confirmation, one more little piece of information for Twilight to provide in that moment. "....."

Twilight continued. "And I'm the one who created her, the alicorn."

And as Yucca heard those words, her entire demeanor changed. She looked upon the mare, and imagined the shape of the cloak around the fellow alicorn's body, now taking notice of the fact that she did indeed mirror the pony from that day. "M-Momma?" And despite being a bundle of usual energy, she appeared fearful of Twilight who only regarded her with a piercing, disappointed glare. As she backed away from Twilight, the rest of the mane six steadily kept their gaze upon both the alicorns cautiously, worriedly, as they watched with confusion. Yucca however backed against the throne room door trembling, before putting on a nervous smile.

Twilight's glare persisted as she trotted forward slowly, "No. That's Queen Chrysalis, remember?" And a light purple magical aura began to surround the alicorn as magic radiated from her very being and her horn started to glow. "I'd hoped this moment would never come honestly. For so long I respected the magical rules and regulations Princess Celestia made clear to me. But that night was just...different, I couldn't help myself from believing in the faint hope that maybe, there was this other route to irrefutable peace in Equestria." Twilight frowned yet again in regards to Yucca. "How wrong I was." She glanced to each of her friends before back at Yucca tiredly. "But despite what's happened, I still wish to help you in some way. So I will give you an easy choice, here and now."

They all remained silent, especially Yucca whom was still thrown off by the fact Twilight was this mare from so long ago.

Twilight stopped before Yucca before stating asking simply. "You're a pony, so come back with us."

Yucca glanced up at her hesitantly, only staring in silence. "H-Huh?"

Twilight continued with a now hopeful smile, "You're not a changeling. It's only logical isn't it? Come back to our side."

As Twilight loomed over the filly, her trembling became more and more apparent. "P-Princess? of Equestria?..." Princess Yucca chuckled nervously as her voice was shaky. She glanced to the lower right as she turned red in the face. "Y-You see uhm, I don't really want to play anymore. I've, um, I've got somewhere I need to be! T-This was highly against my calculation of possibly logical outcomes you see! E-Erhm..I...I...I have to go um. F-FEED! Yes, feed my, er, kittens! And, bake sweets! And, well uuuuh, I've got much things that need to be knitted for the coming play. You knooow, magical palpitations and all, things can get a little bad when, em...when, I don't do my stuff!" She twiddled her hooves as she began pacing heavily, and Twilight only looked upon her as if it was expected. "B-BYE!" She then disappeared in a flash, leaving only a cloud of pink and purple smoke in her wake as all of the mane six coughed.

As they finished coughing and the smoke cleared, Twilight took a moment to exhale as her sudden scarier demeanor disappeared as she smiled softly then looked to her friends happily. "Good, it worked...well, for now. But she'll be back."

They all blinked a bit, looking at Twilight in confusion.

Twilight chuckled as she continued, trotting back towards the middle of the throne room. "That alicorn had more than enough capability to outplay me if she tried, I'm sure of it. Actually, she had more than enough capability to capture all of us, I had to find a way to temporarily diminish that confidence of hers'. She'll probably go off for a bit but I doubt she'll hurt anypony, we can deal with that after we're done here." Twilight paused as she closed her eyes halfway, "Meanwhile, we gotta work on finding out just what sort of banishment spell she was trying to setup here, dismantle it, and then ensure everypony is safe. Fear is a trait I'm well aware she has." Twilight glanced back particularly at Fluttershy before frowning heavily. "I'm sorry you guys had to find out this way, I guess it was bound to happen eventually."

The rest of the mane six were still awfully silent.

Rainbow Dash proceeded forward, "S-So it's true Twilight? You're the one who took the tome? Why?"

Twilight suddenly appeared troubled yet again, hesitant to share. "I-It's...It's a long story."

Rarity gulped before proceeding, "Well, as much as I'd like to know as the rest of you why Twilight felt it was necessary to experiment with such magic, time is not on our side. We still must ensure the banishment spells are not already setup in place around the castle, as well as find out where the alicorn ran off to girls. We can't just sit here and gossip about what happened, there's a time for that."

Twilight flashed Rarity a thankful smile.

Rarity returned the smile in earnest as she nodded to the mare.

Rainbow Dash glanced down at Rarity as she sighed. "I guess."

But Fluttershy still seemed a little bit upset, "W-Why were you acting like that Twilight?.."

Twilight shook her head. "She had to get a clear picture and know I was serious. That alicorn is a lot more complicated to deal with than even now you guys might believe. She probably wouldn't take me seriously unless I was extremely convincing. Which I was. The fact she's been adopted by Queen Chrysalis only complicates things more. We gotta show our dominance despite how capable her magic is. It's perhaps the only way we'll be able to ensure we make it through this, because in the end, she's still just a young pony, but she's also still a very powerful alicorn, made-up of some very uuuuh, special, objects."

Applejack squinted a bit at Twilight in suspicion, "For some reason Twi. I have a feeling a lot of what you said, wasn't entirely false."

Twilight remained silent to that comment for a moment, before stating, "Let's just hurry and find out what she did here." Her eyes remained half closed, dazed, as she still appeared to be considering or contemplating something in particular. "Hm..."

Princess Yucca currently trekked hurriedly through the Everfree Forest, rushing through the shrubbery before stopping on a dirt path and placing a hoof upon a tree. She was silent as she huffed and huffed with her head lowered, gasping for breath as she'd managed to put as much distance from herself and the castle in that short amount of time. But she felt stuck, as if she could no longer progress, no longer turn from the path she chose to follow. She felt as if she were sinking in that moment, and it'd the first time she'd ever felt such a way in her entire life. She recalled Princess Twilight's words first. And I being a Princess of Equestria.... Then she recalled Queen Chrysalis's faintly. Now because of her I may have Celestia on my doorstep in the coming days! And as she thought about such things, she rose her head, revealing wide eyes and dilated pupils and only an entirely lost expression, as emerging in the corner of each eye would be a tiny buildup of liquid moisture. And as she hadn't even noticed, she thought of Twilight's sudden offer.

You're not a changeling. It's only logical isn't it? Please, come back to our side.

What did that question even mean? She didn't understand any of it. Yet for some reason it left her feeling so distressed, and as she sat there and thought about such important words, she uttered. "T-This was not in my logically calculated possibilities of awesomeness. I-I am now a sad cookie, for I have no cupcakes left, and I have captured no princesses. I am sorry Momma..." And she lowered her head and sniffled. "I am sorry.." She pushed her hooves into her face and let off an annoyed grunt before weeping. "WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" As she'd let off childishly so many times in front of Queen Chrysalis. She sobbed yet again, unsure why she felt in such a way.

And the frustration the alicorn felt was the first time in her life she'd had such annoyance. She certainly needed some sweets.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna each flapped their wings as trailing behind them would be a band of both Celestial and Lunar guards. Both princesses wore determined expressions as they continued to push forward through the desert winds in pursuit of the alicorn who'd captured Queen Chrysalis. Princess Celestia squinted a bit as she glanced over at her sister and muttered, "Careful Sister, whatever happens we must remember we're dealing with potentially two extremely dangerous adversaries. But our top priority is to find the alicorn, and ensure she is placed under our care. I wish to see her capabilities for myself." And Princess Luna nodded to her afterwords in understanding, as the two along with their guards continued to push forward against the violent gusts of wind.

And watching the alicorn sisters approach from all directions would be changelings camouflaged as sand colored ponies atop the rocky peaks which made up the Badlands. Their eyes remained focused, as deep within their circular iris's, another shared their view.

Sitting and waiting patiently within her throne room as she let off a light chuckle would be Queen Chrysalis herself as her horn sparked with all the colors of the rainbow, and her very subjects trembled as they were hesitant to approach the hive Queen. Queen Chrysalis just continued to snicker to herself however as she leaned atop her hoof as she pressed it into her cheek and scoffed. "Oh do hurry up, I grow tired of waiting. Besides, what harm is there in coming to see little old me dearest Celestia? I only wish to strike a deal." Next Chapter: The Final Countdown: 5 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 38 Minutes