Chapter 3

I… can feel them…

Pure hearts… are entering that place…

My soul… it cried out for them…

My minions… go there now…!

Stop them… from finding the Power Coins…!

Applejack and Twilight quickly caught up with Pinkie Pie and entered the ruined castle together. The ceiling was still intact for the most part, and Applejack could almost picture how it looked when it was still fresh and new.

“Okay, I had no idea that there was a place like this in Ponyville.” Applejack said looking around.

“There are tons of mysteries about this place,” Pinkie Pie chirped, “No one's ever been able to explore much of the castle though.”

“Why not?” Applejack asked.

“There are rumors of monsters attacking people when they enter.” Pinkie Pie said brightly. While Twilight continued to consult with her book, Applejack turned to Pinkie Pie wide eyed.

“Monsters?! Seriously?!” she asked, “That… hasn't been confirmed, has it?”

“That's why I'm here,” Twilight said, never taking her eyes off her book, “Mommy was an explorer, and she wanted to solve the mystery of this castle.”

“You're crazy,” Applejack said to herself, “Everyone in this town is absolutely crazy.”

“We need to leave this place,” Fluttershy said behind her, Rarity standing next to her with her arms folded, “The rumors are true. The forest is afraid of this old building.”

“What do you mean the forest?” Applejack asked.

“I talk to the forest,” Fluttershy said hugging herself, “It's warned me to be wary of this place.”

“I can't leave yet,” Twilight said walking inside, “I need to solve this place's mystery.”

“Come on Fluttershy, don't be such a stick in the mud,” Pinkie Pie said, “It'll be okay.”

Fluttershy shied away from Pinkie Pie and watched as she skipped ahead after Twilight. Applejack looked at Fluttershy and shrugged.

“Sorry, but I'm goin’ with them,” Applejack said, “Someone's gotta keep an eye on them.”

With that, Applejack walked deeper into the castle. Rarity sighed pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Peer pressure is a real bitch, isn't it?” Rarity said, “Well, let's go then.”

Fluttershy pouted folding her arms, and the two of them followed the rest of the group. After a few minutes they found themselves in what looked like the throne room. It was huge, and there was a big opening in the ceiling which let the moonlight shine through.

“Oh my God…” Rarity said as they all looked around, “It's so beautiful here…”

“This would make a fantastic club house,” Pinkie Pie said, “Or maybe a secret hideout.”

Twilight looked around with her flashlight, still consulting with her book. She stopped on what looked like a raised brick, which had something shining underneath it.

“There's something there,” Twilight said, before running over to the hidden compartment.

Everyone followed her, shocked to see her trying to lift the stone brick.

“Here, let me help,” Applejack said. She and Rarity both picked up the stone and helped Twilight move it, revealing the oddest thing underneath it. Five gemstones, oddly looking newer than anything there. They were circular, and each one was a different color: red, blue, yellow, pink, and black.

“Looks like someone else found these first,” Rarity said, “I wonder why they just left them here?”

“Are these… coins?” Applejack asked, picking the red one up and looking it over, “They don't look natural.”

“There's five of them,” Twilight said, taking the blue one and looking at it in her light, noticing the odd markings shining through them, “They almost look either alien, or ancient.”

“Might be both, ya know?” Applejack asked.

“Hey, why don't we take them?” Pinkie Pie asked, picking up the rest of them, handing the black one to Rarity, the yellow one to Fluttershy, and keeping the pink one herself.

“Why do I get the black one?” Rarity asked.

“I'm picking them based on what we're wearing,” Pinkie Pie said, “You wear black, Fluttershy wears yellow, and pink is my favorite color.”

“I don't want this,” Fluttershy said trying to hand the odd coin back to Pinkie Pie, “I want all of you to leave my sanctuary and never come back.”

“Your sanctuary?” Applejack asked, “Hun, this place don't belong to anyone.”

“Exactly, but unlike you, I have permission from the gods of the forest to be here.” Fluttershy fussed.

“Gods of the forest?” Rarity asked, “What are you-” she was cut off by an odd growl. All five of them stopped moving and listened around, hearing what sounded like footsteps.

“Something's here.” Pinkie Pie whispered.

“We need to get outta here,” Applejack said, “Now.”

“Agreed,” Twilight said immediately. The five of them rose up and slowly walked toward the exit, but stopped when they heard more of those footsteps. They were heavy, and sounded almost like they were made of stone.

“One's in front of us,” Applejack whispered, “They got us boxed in.”

“No… please no…” Fluttershy whimpered trembling, before she started saying something very odd. It sounded like a mantra, but it was in another language or something.

“What are you doing?” Rarity asked Fluttershy.

“Praying to the goddess Isis!” Fluttershy fussed, “She's my patron god, and she always protects me!”

“Shush!” Applejack ordered, “It's getting closer.”

“Hide!” Pinkie Pie cried. The five of them scattered, Pinkie Pie hiding behind a bookshelf, Fluttershy and Rarity both hiding behind pillars, and Applejack and Twilight hiding behind the throne. A few seconds later, three odd creatures walked in. They were large, and looked like golems.

Twilight's eyes widened, and she straightened her glasses, “Oh my God…! Those are actual monsters…!”

“What in tarnation are these things…?” Applejack asked, looking at the red coin again. It looked like the creatures were looking around for something. Just when Applejack was about to ask herself how they were going to get out of this, she saw something else walk into the room. It was a gray and white wolf, it had piercing green eyes, and it looked like it was growling at the creatures.

After a second, it rushed at one of them, jumped up, and attacked it! Fluttershy panicked and ran out of the throne room screaming, alerting one of the golems as it ran after her. Rarity immediately ran after her.

“Damn it!” Applejack swore, “I knew she'd scream! We gotta move!”

Twilight nodded, and the two of them ran out of the throne room as well, Pinkie Pie quickly following. Behind them they heard the wolf and golems fighting, but Applejack didn't turn back to see. She had no idea why it was fighting the monsters, but she didn't have time to worry about it.

“Where are we going?!” Pinkie Pie asked.

“We should head to the car!” Applejack said, “There's enough room for all of us!”

“What about those other two girls?!” Twilight asked, “We can't leave them!”

“I know, I ain't gonna leave em! You two head to the car, an' I'll search for Rarity an' Fluttershy!” Applejack ordered, running down another path.

“Applejack! Applejack!” Twilight cried, “This is a bad time to turn into a hero!”

Even still, Twilight grabbed Pinkie Pie's hand and guided her to the car, thankful that she had an eidetic memory. Otherwise, they'd get so lost.

Fluttershy ran into the forest, and hid behind a tree. She heard the monster stop a bit behind her and look around. Breathing heavily, she looked around nervously trying to figure out a way out safely. She felt someone touch her shoulder, and she would have screamed had they not put their hand over her mouth.

“Shh!” Rarity shushed. Fluttershy immediately nodded, and the two of them slowly walked away from the monster. Sadly, it turned to them and made a loud roar.

“Run!” Rarity shouted. She and Fluttershy ran deeper into the forest, the monster running after them.

“I don't want to die! I don't want to die!” Fluttershy cried. Something hit the monster hard, knocking it down and stopping it. Rarity and Fluttershy looked back to see Applejack with a large stick behind them.

“Follow me!” Applejack ordered, “The car's over here!”

Applejack guided them in the direction of the car, but one of the monsters leaped high in the air and landed right in front of them. Just as it was about to attack them, that wolf rushed into the monster and knocked it aside.

Applejack looked at the wolf curiously, but then continued leading her team to the car, which in the distance looked like it was starting up.

Applejack opened the door to the jeep and ushered Fluttershy and Rarity inside before running to the driver's seat, switching places with Twilight.

“Floor it!” Pinkie Pie cried, “I think I see them coming back!”

Applejack nodded and pushed the gas pedal down hard. The jeep drove off as fast as it could away from the forest, but Rarity looked out to see two of the creatures running out of the forest after them.

“Why can those things run so fast?” Rarity asked.

“I wanna know why they're runnin’ after us period!” Applejack asked.

“My book doesn't say anything about them!” Twilight said consulting her book, “Whatever they are, they're not natural to the forest!”

“We shouldn't have taken those crystals!” Fluttershy fussed, realizing that she still had the yellow one in her skirt pocket, “We've angered the guardians of the forest! We probably were all cursed!”

“Oh my God, would someone shut her up?!” Applejack ordered.

“Applejack, the train!” Pinkie Pie cried pointing forward. They all looked and saw they were approaching the train tracks, and a train was coming.

“We're not going to make it!” Rarity cried.

“If we stop, those monsters will reach us!” Applejack stated, “I'm goin’ for it!”

“Applejack, you are not serious!” Rarity fussed, “This isn't an action movie!”

“We're dead either way!” Applejack said, “Anyone else wanna object?!”

“This is absolutely insane, but I believe that after carefully weighing our options, Applejack raises a valid point!” Twilight exclaimed, “We need to keep going or risk being attacked by those creatures!”

“We shouldn't have even been there in the first place!” Fluttershy cried, “I'm going to die either by train, or monster!”

“Applejack can do it!” Pinkie Pie cheered, “She's a hero! Go on Applejack!”

Applejack took a deep breath, and rode as fast as she could toward the tracks. This was going to be close, but at this speed, they were going to just make-

CRASH!!!!

Applejack woke up with a start. She was back in her room, wearing her pajamas. Did she dream that whole thing? She held her head in confusion, but was startled by someone knocking on her door.

“Y-yeah?” Applejack asked.

“Time to wake up, sugercube.” her grandmother said from outside.

“Right… I'm up,” Applejack said. She sat up and shook her head, resolving to leave it alone, but stopped when she saw the red gem from last night on her dresser.

She didn't dream it…

She was starting to feel a little light headed, but looked up at her reflection in the mirror, shocked by how built she looked all of a sudden. She was noticeably curvier than normal, and she had a little more muscle in her arms. Not super buff to the point of being unattractive, but she could definitely see a difference. Also, her hair looked a little longer and thicker too.

“Did I become an amazon or somethin’ in my sleep…?” Applejack asked as she flexed her new feminine muscles in the mirror.

Rarity had been up for a while and looked at her reflection in the bathroom, still wearing her black sheer nightgown. She had always been gorgeous, but good god something had changed. Her figure filled out a bit more, and it looked like her hair had somehow gotten a little longer, fuller, or even both.

“What in the world…?” Rarity asked turning around to see her altered figure. She went to turn the water on so she could wash her face, but somehow used too much strength and pulled the faucet off the sink.

She gasped in shock and then looked on top of the toilet, seeing the black gem there. Had she brought it inside with her? She thought that she had left it…

Twilight walked into the school, her attention on the blue gemstone that oddly wouldn't leave her alone. No matter where she went, she found it close by, so she decided to just keep it with her. She had noticed a number of differences too. For one, she could tell that she went up a whole full cup size somehow. Her entire figure had changed, making her look a little more like a supermodel. But the biggest change she noticed thus far…

She didn't need her glasses anymore.

As she wasn't paying attention, she bumped into someone, who thankfully caught her.

“Whoa! Careful,” a young man's voice said. Twilight looked up and gasped, her heart racing at who was holding her.

“F-Flash,” Twilight breathed out.

~thump thump~

“Twilight? Is that you?” Flash asked, “Wow, I almost didn't recognize you.”

“You… know my name…?” Twilight asked, feeling her heart racing more and more, and not just because Flash was so close to her and talking to her. It felt like there was something else going on.

~thump thump~

“Well yeah, we have the same History class, right?” Flash asked, “I… never noticed how cute you were up close though. I don't know, did you do something different with your hair?”

“I… woke up like this,” Twilight said honestly, though it seemed like Flash didn't take it in the way she meant it.

“Huh, well whatever you're doing, keep it up, okay? I have to head to my locker. I'll see you in History.”

“O-okay…” Twilight said waving as he ran off. She then held her hand to her chest, still breathing heavily, “He… knew my name…?” immediately Twilight ran to the bathroom and reached into her backpack, pulling out the pink lip gloss she bought months ago, but never had the nerve to wear.

Whatever happened to her, she liked it.

Applejack got out of Macintosh's truck and walked to the school, shocked to see Rarity sitting on the steps. Applejack did a double take when she saw her though, as she somehow looked even better than she did yesterday.

Rarity looked up at Applejack, stood up, and walked over to her.

“Looks like it happened to you too, huh?” Rarity asked Applejack, who nodded.

“Did you notice anythin’ else on your end? Like… bein’ super strong all of a sudden…?” Applejack asked.

“Like, unnaturally so?” Rarity asked, “We have to fix the sink thanks to that. My mom had a fit. Also, my clothes are feeling a little sluttier than usual,” she continued, trying to pull her mini skirt down.

“Yeah… I uh… noticed that myself…” Applejack said, looking down at Rarity's skirt, which somehow seemed shorter than yesterday, “Have ya seen anyone else?”

“Not yet. I wanted to wait for you first,” Rarity said, “Applejack, I'm a little scared. What happened to us last night?”

Applejack shrugged, “We have homeroom with Twilight, so let's track her down and see if anythin’ happened to her too.”

The two of them ran into the school, completely aware of the looks they were getting. Either from being together, from their new gorgeous looks, or probably both.

Twilight finished pulling out her books and looked at herself in her locker's mirror again. She was now wearing a touch of make-up, something that she never did, but for some reason she felt more confident than ever.

After winking at her reflection, she closed her locker and carefully turned the dial to zero. When she turned around though, she met an enraged Sunset Shimmer.

“Bitch!” Sunset shouted. She reared back to slap Twilight, but she reacted immediately and ducked out of the way.

“Um…” Twilight said, looking at Sunset, neither one of them saying anything after that awkward exchange. Eventually Sunset caught herself and tightened her fists.

“I saw you this morning, falling into my man like that! You think you're slick, don't you?!” Sunset seethed.

“That was an accident, Miss Shimmer,” Twilight said shrinking back a bit, “I wasn't trying to-”

“I don't wanna hear it!” Sunset shouted, “I don't know where you get off, trying to be all hot all of a sudden, but it looks like you need a reminder of who's on top here!” Sunset went to grab Twilight, but something odd happened. Twilight caught Sunset's hand, dropped her books, and then flipped Sunset onto the floor.

There was a unified gasp in the room, and Sunset looked up at Twilight wide eyed. Twilight looked terrified and covered her mouth in shock.

“I… am so sorry…!” Twilight said, “I don't know what-”

“You... really are a freak of nature!” Sunset cried, scampering to her feet, “I won't forget this, bitch!”

Sunset ran off, leaving Twilight alone among the crowd of students that gathered around them. Twilight was so afraid of what would happen next. What she didn't expect was for one student to start clapping, followed by another. Soon, the entire crowd was cheering loudly for her.

Twilight looked around, and couldn't hold back her smile. Before, no one knew she even existed. Now though, everyone was looking at her, and they liked her. She pulled out the blue gemstone from her pocket and hugged it tightly.

“Thank you,” she whispered before putting it back in her pocket and putting her attention toward her new fans. She'd never been popular before, so she planned on milking this for all it was worth before she woke up from this dream.

It took a bit to find Twilight, but Applejack and Rarity eventually just went to the homeroom, where they saw Twilight sitting on her desk as a crowd gathered around her, listening intently to whatever she was saying.

“So I saw her getting ready to attack me,” Twilight said, “But this time, something inside of me said “No, I'm not letting this continue”. Thankfully, my Mommy was a black belt in Kung-Fu, so she taught me a few throws. So I grabbed her by the arm,” she demonstrated by grabbing the air, “and then flipped her onto the ground and stood over her, just to let sink in who was now on top.”

“Whoa… you're amazing!” one of the students said, “I didn't know you were so cool, Twilight!”

“You wanna hang out with us sometime?” another girl asked, “I'm having a birthday party this weekend if you wanted to come.”

Before Twilight could answer that, Rarity walked over to Twilight and took her hand, “Twilight, could you come with us for a bit?”

“But… my fans…” Twilight said softly, pointing to the crowd.

“They'll be here when we get back darling, but we need to talk about last night,” Rarity said, pulling Twilight away from the now completely shocked crowd and over to Applejack, who led them toward the girl's bathroom. Once they got inside, they were happy to see it was empty.

“Alright, let's see them,” Rarity said, the black gem out of her purse and putting it on the sink. Both Applejack and Twilight looked at that seriously, and pulled out their gems placing them next to Rarity's.

“So… this means last night happened, right?” Applejack asked.

“It looks like it,” Rarity said, “This is too strange though. What happened to us?”

“I don't know, but,” Twilight looked around with a smile, “Girls, I'm like… super hot now. And strong too.”

“Strong?” Applejack asked, “How strong?”

“Really really strong,” Twilight said, “I flipped Sunset onto the floor today. And get this, Flash Sentry talked to me!” she clapped her hands excitedly, “This is so cool!”

“No, it isn't!” Rarity fussed, “We were hit by that train last night, right? So how are we alive? How did we end up at our houses?”

“None of this makes sense,” Applejack said thoughtfully, “Our looks, our new strength, the fact that we're still alive after bein’ hit by a train; none of it adds up.”

“And what about those monsters?” Rarity asked, “Doesn't this mean those were real too?”

“I… think they're related to the coins,” Twilight said pointing to the three gems, “We still don't know what they are.”

“If that's true, then…” Applejack stopped when she heard the sound of something charging up. The three of them looked at the gems and saw them glowing brightly, energy streaming out of them. All of a sudden, the toilets behind them all exploded. The three girls quickly pocketed the gems and ran out of the bathroom away so one would suspect that it was them.

“What the hell was that?!” Rarity asked.

“It looks like Twilight was onto somethin’,” Applejack said, “Girls, we need to head back to the forest.”

Both Rarity and Twilight looked shocked.

“Hold on, what?!” Rarity asked, “We almost died last night, and you want to go back?!”

“We need to know what happened to us,” Applejack said, “Look, I'm scared too. That's why I wanna know what these things are. Maybe if we go back, we'll find somethin’.”

“Applejack does have a point,” Twilight said, “Also, if we were affected, that means those other two girls were affected too.”

“Ya remember how frantic that Fluttershy girl was. She must be freakin’ out right now,” Applejack said, “We owe it to her to at least figure out what's goin’ on.”

“Mmm…” Rarity moaned folding her arms, “Fine then. Pinkie Pie and I have Math together, so I can tell her to meet up with us too.”

“Perfect. Also, be on the lookout for Fluttershy. I didn't see her at all yesterday, but we might have missed her." Applejack said.

“I doubt it,” Twilight stated, “Fluttershy hasn't been in school since the beginning of the semester. But we might run into her at the Everfree Forest.”

“Right, cause of the whole sanctuary thing,” Applejack said, “Also, the three of us need to trade numbers. That way, we can stay in touch and keep each other updated.”

“Good idea,” Rarity said, pulling out her phone. The three of them traded numbers with each other and started making their way back to homeroom. Sadly they were late, but it was okay. No one knew what happened in the bathroom, which was important.

Still, who knew how much it would have cost to fix that...?