Chapter 10:
"Oh come now Apple Jack, you were talking with your brother in the barn when we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and you saw how he reacted around her, you really think this is such a huge surprise?" Rarity said trying to calm things down a little.
"Well…. Yes.. I mean no… gha! I just don't know! We don't have any hard proof that she is a changeling only suspicions and I know that my brother actually cares for this mare and I have yet to ever see him care for one like this. I just don't want to mess it up if we are wrong." Apple Jack replied.
"We need to confront her and get to the bottom of this." Rainbow Dash said.
"How can we do that?" Fluttershy asked while shacking nervously as she was not comfortable with the idea of confrontations with what otherwise seems like such a nice mare.
"I can use the same spell on her as I did in Canterlot that caused the changelings to return to their normal appearances. Apple Jack you remember when I used it on you and you just said "Real me, real me"? That spell did not harm you one bit since you were not a real changeling." Twilight said.
"Yes… but even if she is not a changeling, won't she try running away when she sees you trying to perform some spell on her? That would make anypony nervous not knowing exactly what is going to happen." Apple Jack replied.
"Yes dear, we don't want to give her a fright and come off the wrong way if we are somehow wrong." Rarity said.
"What choice do we have? If the princesses are being brainwashed by this changeling then we cannot confront them since they will either not know what is really going on or they will attack us to stop us, and we have no chance in standing up with the princesses if it comes to that." Twilight said.
The other girls all exchanged very uneasy glances between each other as they thought this over. If this really was a changeling that wanted to start a new hive and use Apple Jack's brother as an unwitting pawn, they had to do something. The girls then all began to nod their heads when Apple Jack spoke up.
"Let's do it, I might not like it but we have no other choice."
Twilight beamed a little happy that everyone believed her this time remembering how none of her friends or even the princess believed her when she said Cadence was evil. Twilight's horn began to glow and they were all teleported to Ocean Blue's home. When they arrive Apple Jack again has to shake her head to clear her mind and she gave Twilight a stern look. Twilight realized what the look was about and began rubbing the back of her neck.
"Sorry Apple Jack, I will let you know the next time I am about to do that again."
While this was happening Rarity knocked on Ocean Blue's door. They waited a few seconds before hoof steps could be heard from the other side. Ocean Blue opened the door slightly to let her head out. When she saw who it was she smiled and opened the door further.
"My, what brings all of you here so soon? We only just finished putting everything away." Ocean Blue said.
Ocean Blue then looked around and noticed a rather stern look on Twilight and otherwise sorrowful looks on the other's faces as they were still worried how this was all going to play out.
"Ocean Blue, may we talk inside?" Twilight asked.
"I… well of course…" Ocean Blue said nervously.
The girls all proceed inside the house and close the door behind them. Once inside Ocean Blue went to the kitchen to get some drinks for everypony. When she comes back into the main living space, she sees all of the girls shoulder to shoulder forming a semicircle and stops walking nervously.
"So… what did you all want to talk about?" Ocean blue said while shacking a little as it was made more obvious from her holding the tray of drinks. She then sets it down on her small coffee table in the living room and looks back up to the girls waiting for a response.
No one was quite certain how to proceed until Twilight spoke up.
"We know what you are!"
"Wh-what are you t-talking about?" Ocean Blue said while stuttering a little and ever so slightly backing up back towards the kitchen.
"We know you are a changeling! And we know what you did to the princesses!" Twilight said coldly.
When twilight said the first part a small sense of relief came over Ocean Blue as she wanted so badly to tell more ponies the truth about her as she did not want to keep lying to them, but her heart sank and her throat went dry when she heard the last part. She was unable to speak frozen while contemplating what Twilight had just said.
"What I have done to the princesses? What does she mean by…" her thoughts were interrupted when a realization struck her. She realized now that the way the princesses have been helping her must not be as normal as it was made to seem to her. "Do they think I made the princesses do all of these things for me? They were just helping me! Oh no! They think I am like all of the other changelings!" she began to scream in her own mind as panic began to creep in.
"Yo-you have it… all… wrong." Ocean Blue tried to say but her throat was too dry to talk normally.
"Do we now? Well, there is one way to find out. I have a spell that will let us know the truth." Twilight said almost evilly seeing the state of pure shock and terror on Ocean Blue's face and actually enjoying this.
"No… please… don't… I have not done anything… the princesses are just…" Ocean Blue stammered but was having difficulty in maintaining coherent thought. This was not how she wanted things to turn out. She could not let them expose her like this. They would never believe her like the princesses did and who knows what they might do to her if they thought she was evil. She had to run!
"The princesses just what?! Are brainwashed by a changeling queen!" Twilight roared. "Now hold still, this will only take a moment." Twilight said in a much more normal voice but one still filled with a heavy dose of venom.
Twilight's horn began to glow and Ocean Blue knew what was about to happen. Just as a bean of purple light was about to strike her she dodged to the left entering the kitchen and sprinting to the back door while the spell truck the back dining room window shattering it. She had to hide until all of this blew over until the princesses could make things right again.
"She's getting away!" Rainbow dash said as she began to fly fast into the kitchen to try stopping her.
Ocean blue was already outside the house running as fast as she could. The girls all began to run after her. After she made her way around a corner down an alleyway between two small shops she knew what she had to do. She looked around and saw several ponies walking around and using different traits from each of them she changed her disguise. In a quick flash of green light a new pony stood where Ocean Blue once was. She was still a she. Her coat was now an olive green with a light sky blue mane and tale. Her eyes were a deep emerald green and her cutie mark was one of vegetables including tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce. She was still trying to catch her breath and while looking around again she saw a small saddle bag and took it, swinging it over her back and entered the main street.
Ocean blue walked as normal and calmly as possible to try blending in better. She could hear a bunch of hooves running at full speed towards her general direction. She continued walking and stopped at a small stand selling some cherries with several other ponies looking at what was available. The mane six all went by quickly with Rainbow dash in the air getting a good aerial view trying to find her.
"She went this way! Hurry!" she heard one of them say though in her current state of mind she did not pay attention to who it was exactly.
Ocean blue let out a huff when she realized they were passing right by her without a second glance and she calmed down considerably. The merchant of the cherry stand then asked.
"May I help you miss?"
This slightly startled Ocean Blue but she managed to not show it.
"Oh, no, sorry, I am fine."
The merchant gave her a quick look over not quite recognizing this mare, and with a raise of an eyebrow he shrugged and left her be. Ocean Blue let out another puff and sighed as she felt she successfully got away.
She began to walk through town without a destination in mind as she just needed time to think. She was so deep in her thoughts that she failed to notice she was heading right for Sweet Apple Acres.