Gala watched as her caretaker continued grinding plants, sometimes averting her orbs to look at the sunset swallowtail as it crawled about her body. After a good forty or so minutes, her attention was grabbed by the sound of wood hitting wood, and she turned to Zecora to find that she put down the mortar and pestle. Zecora made to stand, being careful to avoid knocking the mix of herbs and such over. She rushed past Crimson and picked up a small pouch and put it in her saddlebag, before she turned to her and sighed.

"I need just one last thing for the brew. I'm going out to Ponyville; I should be back soon," Zecora stated, looking at Gala with a straight face. Gala nodded, giggling as the butterfly crawled to rest on the tip of her left ear. With that, she watched as her caretaker trotted out of the hut, making sure to leave the door firmly closed behind her on the way out. Zecora started trotting through the foliage, eyes and ears once again peeled and on lookout for any sight or sound that could've belonged to any of the Everfree's other residents.

And yet, as she sloshed through wet ground and half-soggy bushes that dried out a bit, the only sounds she could detect were her hooves as they snapped twigs and kicked rocks out of the way. Not even the birds or the insects sang throughout the canopy; the forest had gone deathly silent. Her heart began thundering in her chest, and instincts screamed at her to head back to the hut and barricade the door.

She ignored those things, though; she had a much more important task ahead of her. Zecora pushed onward, wading through the undergrowth for a few minutes before finding herself on the split between the forest, complete with a worn dirt path. She veered right, letting off a small nicker before wandering into the nearby town. As soon as she set hoof in town, she noticed the residents already trotting through the streets and already starting their day.

Among them, three little fillies bustled about alongside Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. The foals had colorful saddlebags laden on their backs, and they trotted ahead of the mares that accompanied them. They all stopped in front of Zecora, grinning innocently. Zecora nodded to them and looked to one of the fillies in particular, a yellow-coated foal with vibrant gold eyes and a maroon mane with a pink bow resting on the back of her head.

"Apple Bloom, how are you this morn?" She paused, noticing a little yellow nugget of something in the foal's mane. "Why, is that a bit of corn?" she asked, gesturing with a hoof at the bit of yellow. She turned to Applejack when she spoke up.

"Naw, that's a bit of hay. Apple Bloom tripped on her way out of the barn," Applejack replied with a sigh. "Good thing she landed on the hay, though; otherwise she'd have gotten a nasty scrape, I reckon."

Zecora nodded in understanding. "Shall I accompany you, then? I have a place I must visit, again," she stated, turning to Rainbow Dash.

"Eh, sure," Rainbow Dash agreed with a nod. "After I help Applejack and Rares drop off Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at school, we gotta hit Twilight's library anyway."

Zecora donned a smirk. "That's where I was going at morning's first rays; that, I hadn't expected you to say. Very well, lead the way. We mustn't stall all day."

One of the other fillies, a light grey unicorn with green eyes and a swirled purple-pink mane, piped up as they started trotting again. "Sis, why're you gonna visit Twilight?"

Rarity answered as the group turned a sharp left onto another street, "It's… a long story."

The third filly, an orange pegasus with a magenta mane and lilac eyes, jumped up and down a bit. "Is it another dress design? Can me, Sweetie, and Apple Bloom help?" she asked.

Rarity shuddered, and her eyes went wide. She turned to the small pegasus and said, "But won't you have homework to do later today, Scootaloo? Why, you wouldn't find the time to make a dress, not when you have assignments that are due the next day. And besides, you need to learn all sorts of other things before you can make a dress."

"Unfortunately, she is right," Zecora chimed in, just as Scootaloo groaned in annoyance. "You can't just make a dress overnight."

"But," Rarity began again, garnering the attention of the fillies as they rounded another bend. "If you do well in school this week, and this goes for all three of you, I'm willing to let you help me with some of my designs. Am I understood?"

"You can count on me, sis," Sweetie piped up, a grin on her face.

"I wonder what kinda dress we'll make after we do good in school!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, eyes widening and sparkling.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Dressmakers!" Scootaloo cried, at this point beaming. The other two fillies chimed in and all three chanted "Cutie Mark Crusaders Dressmakers!" as a reddish-violet barn-esque building came into view, one adorned with a bell tower atop the roof and a playground stationed nearby. They sprung into a gallop and rushed to the barn-like construct, where a bunch of other foals with saddlebags had already begun to congregate.

"Be good, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called just before the foals could move into the building. She sighed and slumped, watching as Sweetie and the others vanished into the building, though the little unicorn filly she addressed waved a hoof as she went inside. She sighed, prior to glancing at Zecora and addressing her, "So, if you'll pardon my forwardness, may I ask why you are accompanying us?"

"Twilight Sparkle promised me she'd help with something. For us both, it's… rather unbecoming," Zecora answered, a rear leg twitching for a moment. The group began trotting again, this time at a slower gait. "Tell me, why are you three also seeking her out? Judging by your expressions, you seem to have some sort of bout."

"You're right about that," Applejack groaned. When she turned to Zecora and found that the zebra raised an eyebrow, she elaborated, "Long story short, we're expecting the Fantasians who dropped by to show up in town today. We just don't know when, so we wanted to ask Twi if she knew."

"You sound like you know them, dearest Applejack," Zecora noted, blinking as her other brow rose to meet with its companion. "What are they like; do they give any flak?"

Rainbow took in a deep breath, wings briefly flaring as she answered, "Well, one's a general, and he kinda brought a small hoofful of his troops here, plus a few who weren't drafted into his army."

Zecora's eyes widened. "A general, did you just say? Twilight told me a little about him yesterday."

"Did she tell you anything else about him?" Rarity asked with a huff.

"Not much, aside from his changelings and gryphons. When she spoke of him, she partially stiffened," Zecora sighed, shaking her head.

"Then let us fill you in on all of the missing details…" Rainbow began, closing her wings with a near-soundless grunt punctuating her response.

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

Twilight groaned in exasperation, her head being the only thing sticking out of a pile of books that embraced her form. Her mane was even more frazzled at this rate, looking like nothing more than a clump of unkempt tangles. A book levitated in front of her for a moment before it was flung aside, bouncing off of a wall and plopping to the floor. The shelves in the room around her were barren, and she began grinding her teeth as another groan climbed out of her throat.

The table nearby had been lifted up by both Shining and Matt's magic, revealing another staircase that wound down into another room. Spike and Alexander came rushing up and weaved around the horse head bust, shoulders sagging and wings flaring when they saw Twilight apparently being devoured by a mass of books.

Spike sighed and rushed up to her and scaled the mound, careful to avoid stepping on leather-bound stacks of parchment that protruded from the pile significantly. "Nothing in the basement had anything about Faust or Godcat," he said.

His remark elicited nothing more than another agitated groan. Twilight ground her teeth harder, shuddering at the sensation when Fluttershy came in from upstairs, with NoLegs perched on her head. "I didn't find anything either—not in the books, anyway," she sighed.

"Does NoLegs happen to know anything?" Alexander asked, turning around to make eye contact with the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy shook her head. "Next to nothing, or so he told me," she said. The cat shook his head as well, frowning when Twilight groaned for the upteenth time. The cat mewed, and Fluttershy immediately translated, "Aside from something Sarah already told him about."

Twilight howled out, eyes narrowing as she began fidgeting and squirming in place. For the first few seconds, the books held her to the spot, prior to shuddering and tumbling down to the foot of the pile. Then she jumped out of the mound, her horn glowing and her magic grasping her to hover her body a few good inches above the pile, though she remained well beneath the ceiling.

Fire erupted around her, coalescing into a sphere before dissipating, revealing a pony whose only feature remotely resembling Twilight's was that of her starburst cutie mark. Her coat turned so pale an orange it looked to be white, and her eyes went bright ruby red while her mane and tail exploded into roiling flame on the spot. Everyone flinched back at the display, eyes widening when the now-ablaze mare let off another shriek, this one more deafening and unnatural.

Fortunately, the abrupt transformation didn't last no more than a second or two. Another sphere surrounded Twilight briefly before vanishing, revealing the same purple hues she had before, albeit now littered with scorch marks. She landed ungracefully into the pile of books, sending a lot of them everywhere in the process, and sighed dejectedly. "There are other libraries in Equestria… no use to get frustrated yet," she mumbled.

"Yet," Lance emphasized for her. He watched as Shining's horn briefly stopped glowing. He immediately cantered over and lifted Twilight out of the mess of books with magic and levitated her to him, wrapping his forelegs around her in a hug and letting the aura dissipate. Twilight returned the hug with another sigh, her horn still glowing. Her magic lifted the books and haphazardly threw them into their shelves, though they circled around the room first prior to finding a crevasse.

As the last book slid into a shelf and flopped on its cover, a series of knocks came into the room from the door. Spike jostled past Shining and Twilight and opened the door, eyes widening when he saw Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Zecora standing just behind the obstruction. "Uh, hang on for a second, girls," he stated in an uneasy tone, with an equally nervous grin to accompany his words.

The quartet of mares nodded, and Spike gently closed the door before whirling around and rushing over to Twilight. "Rainbow, Rares, Applejack, and Zecora are here," he groaned, causing Twilight to jump with enough force to slide out of Shining's grasp.

Twilight turned to Matt, noticing the table was still levitating thanks to his magic. "Um, put the table down," she murmured. Matt nodded back and gently set the table down behind the horse head bust, neatly covering up the hole and staircase going further down. She whirled around and trotted over to the door, paying no heed to the Fantasians as they started mumbling about the second batch of guests, and opened the obstruction again.

As soon as they saw her, four sets of eyes widened. "Twilight Sparkle, what happened to you? You look like you escaped becoming stew!" Zecora exclaimed, taking in the scorch marks littering the lavender mare's body.

"Um… kinda exploded in fire," Twilight replied with a sigh, her remark eliciting a cringe from Applejack. "No, nothing else was burned. I'm going to apply ointment."

"Then where's the ointment?" Applejack asked, her brows rising.

"Um, upstairs. Oh, and…" Twilight trailed off, eyes darting between the mares assembled at her front door.

"'And' what?" Rainbow implored, eyes narrowing slightly as one brow shot higher than the other.

"The Fantasians and my brother are here," Twilight answered simply, earning an alarmed gasp from Rarity.

"Here? Already?" Rarity tersely asked, her voice an octave higher. She made to speak further when Shining trotted up to stand behind Twilight.

"That would be affirmative. Celestia's entrusted me with watching them, and making sure they don't do anything fishy," he answered in a flat tone. He wrapped a front leg around Twilight's midsection and sighed. "You might as well get that ointment now, sis."

Twilight nodded and disentangled herself from Shining's grip, and both turned to trot back in the house, though he paused to beckon the next batch of guests inside with a hoof. The quartet followed him and his half-burned sister, and Rainbow let out a huff when she saw a bunch of pairs of eyes turn to her and the others. "So, what happened?" she asked.

Fluttershy trotted over with a frown on her face. She opened her mouth, but a sharp inhale of air from Zecora cut her off. "Over there, is that a wraith I see? Right there, standing with you three?" she asked, looking pointedly at Twilight, Shining, and Spike as they made for the stairs—with Katie not even three feet away from the trio in question.

Katie instantly turned to Zecora, orbs going wide. Her wings flared, jaw soundlessly opening and shuddering as Zecora's gaze fell onto her. "Yes, that's a wraith—a Fantasian one. Don't prod at her too much, she's not the kind that likes being touched," Shining answered, sighing as he turned to Katie. "You doing okay?"

"She's staring at me…" Katie mumbled, eyes locked in a staring contest with Zecora. Shining simply nodded and continued to escort Twilight up the stairs, soon leaving the first group and second to themselves.

Rarity leaned in so that the end of her muzzle barely brushed against Zecora's ear. "She has a disdain that stems from merely being stared at," she whispered.

Zecora nodded, and broke eye contact with Katie, gaze sweeping across the rest of the Fantasians. When she spotted Lance, her muscles tensed and her ears fell back. Taking in his features—or, rather, what she could see that wasn't obstructed by his uniform—proved difficult as his crimson eyes locked with hers, almost daring her to do something ill-advised. She suppressed a shudder and gulped before deciding to venture with words, "Are you the Fantasian general I have heard of? Did you happen to—"

"I take it somepony told you?" Lance retorted, cutting Zecora off. At her rather apprehensive nod, he sighed. "Yes, I am he. And I'm in a foul mood; last night was hectic, to the point I came close to strangling something bare-hoofed."

"Tell me there was at least a rhyme or reason behind it," Rarity mumbled under her breath. Fluttershy went to her and cupped a hoof over one of her ears, leaning in and whispering something into it. Rarity went wide-eyed as her friend continued to mutter into her ear canal, waiting for her to retract before mumbling, "Oh, dear… that's dreadful."

Maria bustled over and rose onto her back legs when she found herself in front of Zecora. "What's that?" she asked, using a claw to prod at one of her golden accessories which hung on her left foreleg.

Zecora turned to gaze at the foal for a moment. "A stack of gold bracelets, little filly. Please stop touching them, lest they catch your villi," she sighed.

"Okay," Maria murmured, pulling her claw away.

Zecora looked up and sat on her haunches. She turned her attention back to Katie, who stiffened again. The two eyed one another for a few moments, scanning her from head to hoof, before she realized that Katie was mostly intact. "Miss, I must make a request of you. It is very urgent; one only you can do," she intoned.

"G-guh?" Katie murmured, ears standing up and twitching. "W-what?"

"May I take some strands of your mane? I simply wish to use them, and not in disdain," Zecora replied, frowning when the wraith's wings buzzed for a moment.

Katie considered this for a moment. On one hoof, Zecora was being very cryptic, and the desire to have some of the crimson strands attached to her head and tail had been more than enough cause for her to mentally note this. "It's odd—out of all the things to ask me for, she wants my hair?" she thought, ears twitching.

On the other hoof, all she required was some strands, and that was it—nothing more, nothing less. She spent a few moments thinking this through before trotting over, ignoring the niggling feeling that there was likely something she still didn't get, and stopped in front of Zecora. "Only a few strands, no more than five. I ain't got much left," she said.

Zecora raised a hoof and grabbed a lock of hair, using her other one to separate four from the rest and deftly tugged them loose so fast Katie didn't feel any pain from the action. She reached into her saddlebag and procured the pouch, stashing the hairs carefully in it before returning it to the leather holding compartment. "Thank you kindly for your hairs. I'll ensure they remain in good care."

"You're… uh, welcome," Katie mumbled, backpedaling away from Zecora and bumping into the base of the horse bust rump-first.

"Um, pray tell, why do you need the strands of hair?" Alexander piped up, garnering a look from Zecora. He waited for an answer, which didn't take long for her to articulate, though the resulting utterance left him raising a brow.

"I am a salve and potion maker, one who uses plants and herbs and other such things. A strand of mane from anypony makes for a good ingredient, and such good things ingredients bring," Zecora replied, pausing to consider the remark she'd just uttered. Her eyes swept over the lot again, and she added, "May I have some more strands of mane and a few feathers, please? I'd like to try making more potions with them, and it should be a breeze."

Her remark caused Anna, Sarah, and Maria to cringe. Lance spoke up as Anna shifted closer to him, "Don't tug too hard, and you can't take feathers from either of the hippogryphs present. One needs to regrow her set entirely, and the other has a broken wing."

"I could make a potion to help the filly regrow her feathers, though a trade-off of a feather or two must be made," Zecora argued, using a hoof to gesture to Maria for emphasis. She went on, voice rising as she stomped a hoof, "I've done it with a chipped tooth before, and if a new coat of feathers needs growing, my opinion cannot be swayed."

Lance shared a look with Maria, and she shrugged back at him. He contemplated this for a moment before turning back to Zecora and sighing. "Take two feathers, and prove to us you can help her regrow her coat. And only strands of mane from the other hippogryph, alright?"

Zecora donned a smile. "That, I can agree to. Now, I need to make do," she said cryptically. She stood up and began trotting around, taking feathers and strands of mane, being careful to take a small amount from each pony and non. When she got to Armin, he conjured a wad of chitil with a brief flash of magic and hoofed it to her. Anna flinched when she came to collect some of her hairs, shifting even closer to Lance—to the point she damn near crashed into his side.

"What's wrong?" Applejack asked, trotting over to Anna. "All she wants is some hairs."

"I… had my mane tugged… a lot," Anna replied, her tone low and quivering. "A f-few weeks back… when we went to the hotel."

"A few weeks when you we—" Applejack stopped mid-sentence as the memory of the news article surfaced in her mind. Instantly, she realized what Anna had indirectly referred to, and collected herself before speaking, "If Zecora tugs, I'll stop her, alright?" Anna weakly nodded and flinched as Zecora selected a few strands of mane and broke them free from the lock, getting close enough to start using her teeth to sever them at a decent length without having to pull at the roots.

She stashed the feathers and hairs and chitil in her saddlebag, being careful to avoid dropping anything. She trotted back to Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who both looked at her incredulously. The latter shrugged and found Sarah looking at her, and it was then that Dash noticed the busted wing. She flinched and asked, "What happened to you?"

"Some unicorn started a riot last night and fought me with a guitar before snapping every bone in my wing with his bare hooves. And before you ask, I kicked him in the gonads," Sarah replied with a huff and roll of her eyes.

"I'm a witness," Katie chimed in as Rainbow turned to look at her, one of her pale forelegs raised as she spoke.

NoLegs gave a mew, and that was promptly translated by Fluttershy, "'I saw him and he started the riot. When he confronted me and my friends, I tried stopping him, and he kicked me.'"

"It went downhill fast enough that even the cat had to get involved?" Rarity asked, gaping as she turned to Fluttershy. "Surely, that's one of the worst possible things I've ever heard of!"

NoLegs mewed again, and Fluttershy glumly nodded. "He said he had to use his sword and armor," she replied. "The riot got bad enough the ponies of Canterlot started throwing vases."

Rarity gasped. "I don't believe it; I'm starting to think the cat exaggerates," she mumbled.

"No, he… isn't. I'm a victim of the vases," Anna murmured. "The riot just happened so damn quickly, and…" she trailed off as another pony cleared his throat in a masculine cough. Everyone turned to see two ponies trotting down the flight of stairs.

"And it got bad enough that I had to get involved as well, with all of the royal guards. In fact, our guests made a request to get out of Canterlot last night, and I was too eager to get them out since things came to a head," Shining Armor finished for Anna as he finished the flight, his remark causing Fluttershy and Rarity's eyes to widen. Not three feet behind him was Twilight Sparkle, who still had scorch marks on her body, in addition to an oily substance coating said marks. "You could say I had a field day last night."

"And Princess Celestia came this morning, and told me and Shining to watch them," Twilight added, using a hoof to gesture around the room, making sure to point at each Fantasian in doing so.

"But what about the ponies who managed the hotel? Those ruffians need a due punishment!" Rarity exclaimed, face hardening within seconds. She stomped her front hooves, attempting to make new holes in the floor before Shining rose one hoof up. She stopped immediately, though she still maintained her fiery glare.

"The Fantasians have already testified against them, and the guards keep finding more evidence against the hotel staff. It'll be a while before Celestia even decides what to do with them, since more and more of their shady activities have been coming to light in the past few weeks," Shining answered, watching as Rarity's expression eased a bit. "At any rate, those guys aren't going to get out anytime soon."

Rarity bristled for a moment, groaning in anger before taking in some deep breaths in order to calm down and think. She considered Shining's reply before nodding to herself and sitting on her haunches. "Alright, that I can understand. Still, my point stands."

"With all due respect, those guys will get their just desserts. We just need to wait for the evidence to stop mounting up and up before further action can be taken," Shining retorted, a frown on his face.

Spike, who had decided to sit at the table while the fervor of conversation went on, finally put in his two bits, "Hey, I'd rather deal with the general and his troops than stallions who run a shoddy hotel. Those ponies were really lucky." At his remark, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity all nodded in agreement.

"Doubly so, since I was in the same room with them when Shining showed up," Matt stated with a firm nod. "I had to resist the urge to pound them into the pavement right then and there."

"Why were you in the room with the perpetrators, though?" Spike asked, a brow raised.

"Maria screamed and basically led me and everyone else to it," Matt huffed, gesturing to the filly.

"I made bad ponies pay," Maria angrily hissed in a low voice, her claws balling into fists.

"I can confirm that. She made them scream like they were babies and those assholes curled up on the floor," Lance added with a nod.

Spike's brow shot higher, before lowering. "I think I'd rather not ask how she'd pulled that off," he murmured.

"Same here," Applejack piped up, turning to Lance. "Can I ask you something?"

"Be my guest," Lance replied in a flat tone, rolling his eyes. "It's not like I'm jamming a hoof into your mouth."

"Well, I'm gonna need help making apple cider next week, and it's a four-pony job," Applejack began. She had a back leg shifting in a manner that made it look like she drew invisible circles into the wood floor with it.

"Four-pony job? Cider?" Lance went wide-eyed, turning to Applejack as if silently asking something else.

"Yeah. But, we also have special apples that need to be picked right as they ripen, and I think they're gonna ripen next week! What's worse is that me and my family can't do that and make cider in the same nick o' time!" Applejack exclaimed, worry flickering in her eyes. "I was wondering if I could… borrow some of your troops for the job next week, to help me pick the special apples?"

"... which troops, exactly, do you have in mind for this task?" Lance inquired, blinking as a frown creased his brow.

"None in particular, but… I kinda shot my mouth off and told my brother about your wraith, and now he wants to see her," Applejack answered, her legs starting to shake.

Lance put a hoof to his chin, eyes darting between his fellow Fantasians as he began contemplating. A few minutes passed before a smile spread on his lips as he noticed the ivy that was part of Anna's cutie mark, in addition to a few other things. "And… what if I find out you're lying, in a week's time?" he asked Applejack, his eyes still darting around.

"I assure you, I wouldn't lie about something like this. I really need the help," Applejack retorted in a sincere tone.

Lance nodded, and contemplated some more. Applejack did have potential to lie, and that may have been true, but then again she had just as similar a chance to be telling the truth. And he had to admit, she had guts to be asking him, of all ponies, for aid in the form of lending a few extra sets of helping hooves. He settled on a decision and nodded to himself before his lips parted. "Bladerune, Starcovert, Windwood," he began, and instantly the three turned to him and stiffened like planks. "You three are helping…" he trailed off, mentally smacking himself before muttering under his breath, "Gah, I can't remember her flippin' name…"

Applejack heard his murmur. "Applejack," she sighed, punctuating it with a groan.

"Yes, Applejack, with these… special apples. We might be staying for a while anyway; so, you lot follow her orders until the task is complete. Understood?" Lance finished, his smile widening when the trio of ponies he addressed nodded in unison. He turned his attention and gaze back to Applejack and stated, "Would it be too much trouble to let us… sample the cider in return?"

Applejack smiled, nodding. "What can I say? You got yourself a deal," she chirped.

Anna, Natalie, and Matt exchanged looks with one another, blinking as their general's command echoed in their minds for a bit. They didn't have time to contemplate the order, because Rarity decided to chime in. "Oh, relax—take a breather. It's not even evening yet, no need to get tense," she stated.

Zecora took another look at Maria, and decided to speak up. "Little one, how did you get so bald? Did your old coat get a very bad scald?" she inquired.

Maria tensed, lowering her head. "Bad hippogryphs," she muttered.

Zecora raised a brow. "And what did these 'bad hippogryphs' do? Tell me, what happened, and by whom?"

"I wanted my cutie mark, and they… they killed mommy and daddy, and said it was my fault that they died…" Maria glumly answered, still avoiding eye contact with the zebra.

Shining strode over to Zecora in a heartbeat, raising a hoof and putting it under her chin to close her mouth before she could speak further. "Please, don't ask her any more about it," he said firmly, though gently. "She's… told me all about it in the past few weeks, and frankly, I'd rather dunk my head in bleach than to remember it."

Rarity leaned in to Zecora's ear again. She whispered lowly, and harshly, "I've seen terrible things happen to that foal. Now isn't really the time to ask her about it." Zecora merely nodded when the two unicorns retracted their muzzle and hoof, shuddering as her mind began painting several unpleasant scenes the foal could've been involved in that included the loss of her feathers.

She didn't have time to dwell on it, for Sarah spoke up. "Can we not speak any more about this, please? At least, not yet?"

Armin decided to interject, looking at Shining with a frown marring his features. "Is it alright if I shapeshifted? I don't want the locals of this town flipping their tops into orbit if they saw me in my undisguised form," he sighed.

Shining shook his head. "Not unless you could somehow do the same for her," he replied, using a hoof to gesture to Katie. "She can't cast magic on her own, most likely. You'll need to address that first and foremost."

Armin's frown turned upside-down in that moment. "I think I can work something out, with a helping hoof," he replied coolly. He turned to Matt, giving him the same smirk. Matt nodded, his horn briefly glowing with a gold aura which also embraced Katie.

"The hell are you doing?" Katie shrieked as an orb of golden sparks flickered to life around her, and when it faded a moment later, the Mythonians gaped. She noticed the faces of Spike, the Mythonian mares, and the Captain morphing into wide-eyed looks. "The hell are you guys looking at?"

Rarity mutely answered by letting her horn glow and conjuring a large mirror from a flash of magic, setting it in front of the wraith. Katie took a good, hard look at herself in the mirror. She immediately gasped, finding that she now appeared to be a small grey foal with a stringy red mane, regular blue eyes with actual white sclera, and a horn that looked rather short. She looked a little on the thin side, but nowhere near the level of emaciation she had prior to whatever spell Matt had bewitched her with.

Katie whirled around and shot a glare at Matt, and she spluttered out, "W-wha-what did you d-do?"

"I know basic illusion magic. I sorta shapeshifted you for you," Matt replied, a smirk on his face. "And only I or another unicorn can break it. At least, unless you decide to use your wings while under the spell's effects."

"Hrmm… that is actually impressive, I must admit," Fenrir chimed in, nodding to himself. He noticed a green flash, one of a sickly shade, burst in the corner of his eye. Instantly, he turned to the source to find a pale lilac stallion with pegasus wings and a light scarlet mane where Armin had once stood. "I take it the perks of a changeling are getting the best of you?" he asked.

The pale lilac stallion nodded, grinning wide enough to show a fanged maw. For a moment, his teal eyes flickered, revealing insectoid eyes for the barest of instants before changing back. "And the best part? The locals won't yell our ears off!" he cheered, thrusting a front hoof into the air like he was at a party.

"May I request that you two only use the forms you have currently, if you do decide to shapeshift again while in Equestria?" Shining asked, shooting a glance at Matt and the two now-disguised changelings. The three nodded eagerly, exchanging more glances with one another afterwards. Katie still shot glares at Matt, who merely chortled in her direction.

"Mayhaps these illusions might come in handy…" Fenrir muttered under his breath, his gaze turning to Matt languidly. He rubbed his chin with a paw, a half-frown on his visage as he mused to himself in the back of his head, "And… how does Matt know illusory spells? Whence did he obtain such an arcane art? Could that be why he dispatched the…" His thought process halted abruptly, eyes widening substantially as something seemed to click in his brain.

"I must know just how far the extent of his magical knowledge goes. If he's able to shapeshift a magically-deficit changeling wraith, conjure barriers, and break mirages with a simple spell… perhaps this is why Lance recruited him?" his inner voice finished, the gears starting to turn in his head as he assumed a complacent look on his face and lowered his paw. He noticed Rarity gushing over Katie's disguise, raising a brow as the ivory mare who conjured the mirror giggled happily.

"My, she simply looks divine now! And adorably so!" Rarity cooed, trotting over to Katie and putting her front hooves on the disguised changeling's cheeks.

"Help! I don't wanna be touched! Stop!" Katie cried with narrowed eyes, scowling as she began flailing desperately to no avail. Fortunately for her, Rarity pulled back after composing herself.

"Sorry, darling, it's just that… oh sweet Celestia, you have undergone such a makeover I could say your new look is quite the gorgeous one," Rarity stated, beaming at this point. At her smile, and a gleam in the ivory mare's eyes, the wraith cringed with a whimper.