Product of Friendship (My Little Pony)

5 Mom? (3/6)

"So it's as I feared," Twilight sighed as she loomed over the mare on a stretcher. Just when Twilight concluded her meeting with Mayor Pipsqueak, news of an incident at a market was addressed to the two of them.

Twilight was anxious about what she might find and to her dismay, it turned out to be her worst-case scenario.

"Diamond," Silver Spoon rushed to Diamond Tiara's side. "Please tell me you're going to be alright?"

Diamond managed to halfway open her eyes as she tried to give her friend an assuring smile. "It's okay...I'm...tired." Her eyes shut again and she appeared to have fallen asleep.

"What happened to her?" Silver Spoon asked the Princess.

"Princess Twilight," Gallus approached the Princess. "We both realize whose work this may have been, right?"

"Some creature did this to Diamond!?" Silver Spoon was alarmed. "Who was it? That creature is going to get a mouthful out of me!"

"Calm yourself Silver," Twilight placed a hoof on Silver's shoulder. "Your place should be with Diamond. Don't worry, her condition is not severe in any sort. She's just fatigued, that is all."

Silver looked back to her sleeping friend and then nodded at the Princess, "You're right Princess. It's just such a shame. We had plans with Twist to discuss the opening of her candy store. Today was supposed to be its opening event, and now we have to postpone it because of this."

"I'm sorry for this inconvenience," Twilight said. "When this issue has been resolved, I promise that the perpetrator and I will do our best to make this up to you."

"Are you saying you plan to endorse Twist's candy store?" Silver widened her eyes. "That is guaranteed to attract customers. Diamond might think of this as a good enough tradeoff."

"Well before any of that, how about seeing to your friend's recovery."

"Yes Princess," Silver bowed and then left with a group of ponies that escorted Diamond to the hospital.

Mayor Pipsqueak, who was observing from the sideline, then approached the Princess. "She's here, isn't she?"

"There's no other way to explain this," Twilight said. "There hasn't been any other creature that shares this kind of M.O. since Chrysalis had led the hive."

"What do we do?" Mayor Pipsqueak asked in a lower tone, cautious of the neighboring ponies that viewed the incident from afar. "Increasing the number of guards even more than you suggested earlier would no doubt cause concerns. It would likely get this changeling to leave town."

"Not to worry," Twilight assured. "Since we now know she's here, this is a great opportunity to try out this artifact that I had Moondancer to personally craft for me."

Twilight withdrew a green string from her saddlebag.

"That's an artifact?" Mayor Pipsqueak wondered.

"I know it's not all that impressive, but this string should lead me to her with the remnant of magic she left upon her previous victims. She appears to be adept at inserting emotions into others. Terrifying as that might be, it does take time for that spell to dissipate. More than enough time for me to extract."

"Princess," Gallus voiced. "If that is the case, then why haven't you been using it?"

"This tool is a rush job on Moondancer's part. She guarantees that it will work, but she also said that it's so fragile that it will shatter after an hour of use. Plus, its range is not particularly great. So, I only get one chance until Moondancer can make another.

"Then I will believe you will find this Wisteria." Mayor Pipsqueak concluded. "But going by what you said about your encounter with her, my mind would be in a lot more ease if another alicorn was here."

"Luna was a great teacher to you in the matters of politics and leadership, but we should be understanding that she no longer holds that obligation to be wary anymore."

"I know Princess, but she still visits Ponyville quite often. I just wished it was conventionally at this time."

"If we're done talking about your favorite Princess," Gallus voiced. "We have a dangerous changeling on the loose that we should take care of."

"You are right," Twilight nodded. "The threat has to be contained before anything else. Mayor Pipsqueak, I suggest you have creatures return to their homes, but don't tell them the true reason as to why."

"Or else Wisteria catches wind and will escape," Mayor Pipsqueak said. "Got it." The stallion headed to the group of creatures watching from the sideline and spoke to them.

Princess Twilight held one end of the string and walked about until she could get a reaction from the string. A few yards away from Diamond's market, the green string glinted and perked towards a direction.

"Got a hit?" Gallus asked.

"I do," Twilight confirmed. "Let's hurry before the string dies. I don't want Wisteria to complicate things more than she already has."