twilightpony | Changeling Of Plans

I wasn't the last pony to get to the Ponyville train station. That would be Rainbow Dash. She hates waiting. But then, from my perspective, Pinkie had arrived after Dash. She had been at the station before I got there, but she had brought her cake cannon and Applejack had told her, repeatedly, that we're not the ones throwing the party, we're guests. No ifs, ands or buts. So no cake cannon. She'd gone back to Sugar Cube Corner to put it away. The door to our car opened and we got on, sans Pinkie.

Pinkie got back at the last moment and hopped onto the train to join us. The conductor closed the doors and we were off! To discover life anew and frontier civilization. To boldly hoe where none of us had hoed before! Meanwhile I nudged Pinkie to start the great camping debate. Before the rattling train car rocked Rainbow Dash asleep.

Eventually the train rolled into Appleloosa. Nopony was in sight which meant everypony must be at the hoe down. Applejack lead the way with Pinkie practically pushing her from behind. We didn't want to miss the fun and Pinkie least of all. We burst in, all set to party and looking for Braeburn. Instead, at that moment, a bunch of changelings materialized right there in the room.

Fortunately there were only three of them and the six of us were able to catch and contain them quickly. They were experiencing a feeding frenzy or a sensory overload of some nature, apparently because several ponies were exchanging love letters at the same time. Regardless, they didn't see us coming until it was too late. Pinkie had packed her party canon and I saw her give Applejack an 'I told you so' look before knocking a changeling out of the air with a cloud of confetti. The rest of us rounded up, snagged and hog tied the three of them together before they could come to their senses. Nopony saw any others.

Since Spike wasn't with us, Rainbow dashed off to get the royal guard. Rarity and I took turns containing the changelings in another room and Pinkie and Fluttershy helped Braeburn get the hoe down restarted. They kept watch in case more changelings appeared.

By the time the royal guard arrived it was hours later and the hoe down was pretty much over. All that was left of the party were a few groups of ponies chatting and laughing over drinks and snacks. We handed over custody of the changelings and Applejack went off and found Braeburn. I was dead tired by then so the bed rooms Braeburn ushered us to were very welcome.

Then they got us up at the crack of dawn. Breakfast was hearty oats, apples and hay. Applejack stayed for the day to help in the orchard, but the rest of us caught the morning train back to Ponyville.

As for the camping trip, we've chosen a time and place. There's a spot called Hotwater Falls in the Blue Hills of the Unicorn Range. Rainbow Dash said she's flown over it a few times and it's very pretty. Rarity had heard that there is a natural mineral bath in the pools below the falls and Fluttershy says that it's a known overwintering destination for empress butterflies. It sounds like a winner! We set out in four days time.