James couldn’t help but scream on the inside as he stared into Cadance’s dark purple eyes. As he stared into them he was sure that he saw a flash of green. Through his struggles James was able to break free of her hold and jumped out of the bed. James tried to use his magic but he couldn’t feel the power surge through him. He looked at his right arm to see a drop of blood form. He looked over at Cadance and she was holding a syringe. She grinned at James as she got off the bed and walked towards him. James slowly backed away trying to reach the drawer with his daggers.

He was a few steps away so he tried to run for them. He was stopped when a magic blast him in the side and sent him flying. He crashed into the wall leaving an indention of his body. James groaned in pain as he tried to get back to his feet. He was grabbed by the collar of his shirt as Cadance glowered at him. James tried to grab her hand so he could pry her off but was slammed back into the wall. With all the noise that was being made James hoped that somepony would hear what was going on and check on him. There seemed to be no pony coming to check on him and as he thought about it he couldn’t hear anything from the outside.

“Who are you and what have you done?” James asked as he kept his eyes on the princess.

“My dear James I am Cadance and I just put up a soundproof bubble so our fun isn’t disturbed.” Cadance grinned maliciously as her eyes burned a green flame.

“I know that you aren’t Cadance. Cadance is supposed to be a kind pony that helps those that are in love. I can see that you are just an imposter filled with lust. Also what did you to do my mares?” James retorted trying to break free.

“My you are the perceptive one aren’t you. Dante was right when he said that you could figure out trouble. I guess there is no point in hiding my true form from you. As for your mares they are safe in their own rooms unaware of anything.” Cadance smirked as a green flame enveloped her body.

When the green flame died down James was impressed with what he saw. Standing in front of him was a creature made of black chitin. She had a jagged horn on her head with insect like wings. Her eyes were a forest green and she had fangs for teeth. Her mane and tail was a swampy green color and there were holes in her body. James couldn’t help but stare in awe at the creature. He had never seen anything like it and it was truly fascinating.

“My name is Queen Chrysalis of the changelings and you my dear James are going to help me.” Before James could say anything they were surrounded by green flames and teleported somewhere.

When the flames died down Chrysalis threw James into a rock wall. James groaned as his back made impact with the rock. James brought himself to his feet so that he could get in his surroundings. James looked around to see that he was in some type of cave filled with crystals. James looked back over at Chrysalis and she was still smirking at him. James felt the fire inside of him burn as he charged at the changeling. James was about to give her a good punch before she transformed into Fluttershy. James stopped not wanting to hurt the shy pegasus.

Chrysalis smirked that James stopped his attack. She moved quickly as she grabbed James by the throat and slammed him to the ground. James could feel the wind knocked from his lungs as he stared up at Fluttershy. She changed back to her true form and James could only stare at her in disgust. James struggled to break free of her grasp but he couldn’t do anything. He could feel the strength being sapped from his body the more that she held onto him.

“What are you doing to me you monster?” James screamed spitting in Chrysalis’ face. Chrysalis wiped her face off before punching James in the gut.

“I’m just feeding off your emotions my dear James.”

“What do you mean feeding of my emotions?”

“My dear James changelings require a different diet to survive. We can eat food like ponies but our true nutrition comes from emotions. The most delicious of those emotions is love and you James are filled with it.” Chrysalis picked James up and flew him into the wall.

As James hit the wall he noticed that there were other changelings in the cave with them. They were just floating around like mindless drones. James looked back at Chrysalis as she snapped her fingers. Several drones came flying down to her side. James looked back at Chrysalis as she began to speak.

“You see James your love is more than anything that I have ever tasted. I want to take over Equestria but I can’t do that without some help. So I have this offer that you can think about. You can either die here in this cave or you can help me take out the princesses and rule Equestria at my side. I can give you anything you want James. I can even give you a bigger harem of your mares. They can all change to any mare of your desire and as many of you want of that mare.” Chrysalis said as she got closer to James’ face.

James watched as the changelings changed from the different mares. They got their forms perfect and even sounded like them. Everything was right with them except for one thing. They weren’t the original that he fell in love with. James started to laugh hysterically and Chrysalis could only look at him in confusion. James leaned in close to her ear so only she could hear his response.

“As tempting as that sounds I am going to have to decline your offer. Also trust me when I say that I won’t be dying in this cave anytime soon.” Chrysalis pulled back with rage in her eyes.

Chrysalis growled at James as she threw him over her shoulder. James was expecting to hit the ground or another wall but felt nothing. James opened his eyes to see that there were drones holding onto him. They all turned into his mares as they took him away. The last thing that James heard was Chrysalis laughing as she left the cave. James struggled to break free of their hold but he lost too much strength. He tried to use his magic again only for it to fizzle out. James screamed in anger as he was taken into another part of the cave system.

James was expecting to be beaten and torn limb from limb from these imposters. Instead they were taking good care of him and making him feel nice. James could see a light green glow from them and could only guess what that meant. They were making him comfortable so they could feed off his love. James wanted to fight back but couldn’t find the strength. They weren’t his mares but he couldn’t bring himself to do harm to them. James tried to break free but they kept him in place. James closed his eyes and prayed that his mares would be okay until he got out.

Spitfire

Spitfire woke up as the morning sun was rising into the air. She yawned as she stretched out her back. She looked around to see that she was alone in her own room. She was certain that she was sleeping with James last night. She shrugged her shoulders thinking that James might have put her here to keep her safe. She headed over to her shower to get cleaned up for morning practice with everypony. She finished her shower and got into her flight suit. It felt weird being in the flight suit after being out of it for so long.

Spitfire could only smile since she didn’t mind that she hasn’t flown in such a long time. She walked out of her room to check on James. She opened his door to see that he wasn’t there. She looked around his room trying to find any evidence of him. She couldn’t find him anywhere in his room. She looked over at the nightstand and saw the brown bag with a note. She walked over to it and read the note. She looked inside the bag and stared at the other necklaces that were in there. Spitfire couldn’t help but laugh at the romantic gesture James made.

Spitfire opened her flight suit and stuck the back inside one of the pockets. Once the bag was secured she looked at her own necklace and smiled. She walked out of his room to run into everypony else as they were getting ready. They all smiled at each other as they waited around for the day to truly begin. The sun was fully in the sky so everypony went their separate ways to get ready for the wedding. The mares were walking down the hall when they ran into Cadance. They all bowed respectfully to the princess. She told them that they didn’t need to bow to her. The ponies all stood up but Spitfire had a question for the princess.

“Excuse me Cadance I was wondering if you knew where James was?”

“Oh I saw James heading out with some guards to check on some things. He should be back before the wedding gets started.” Spitfire smiled as she gave a quick bow to the princess.

Twilight

Twilight was going around the castle and checking on her friends to see how things were going. All her friends were doing fine but Cadance seemed to have a problem with everything that they were doing. Twilight watched as she threw away the food, insulted Rarity’s dresses, and even yelled at Fluttershy’s animals. This wasn’t the Cadance that she remembered. Twilight was with her friends drinking tea. They were all talking about how nice it was that they could help with the wedding.

“How can any of you say that? That is clearly not the same Cadance that I looked up to. There is something wrong with her.” Twilight blurted at her friends.

“Now calm down there sugar cube. I am certain that Cadance is just nervous for her wedding. Heck I was nervous as hell for my own wedding. She just wants everything to be perfect and I can respect that.” AJ replied and everypony else nodded their heads in agreement.

“No it isn’t. She was rude to every one of you and you don’t seem to care. Also where is James? She said that he would be back but he is nowhere to be seen. I’m going to have a talk with Cadance about this.” Twilight got up from her seat and left. Before anypony could stop her she teleported away.

Twilight arrived at her brother’s house and knocked on the door. Shining answered the door and gave his sister a huge hug. Twilight returned the hug as she entered the house. Twilight looked at her brother and asked what was wrong with Cadance. He answered the same way that her friends did. Twilight could only stare at shock at how dense her brother was being. He was there when Cadance watched over her so he should know when something isn’t right. Twilight was about to argue with her brother when Cadance appeared.

She didn’t seem happy that Twilight was visiting so she pulled her brother away. The two of them entered the study so they could talk privately. Twilight quietly walked over to the door to listen in on their conversation. Cadance wasn’t happy with her brother having her over. As they talked Shining grabbed his head in pain. Twilight watched as Cadance’s horn glowed green and zapped her brother. She stared in horror as her brother’s eyes spun around. She ran out of the house before she saw anything more. Her brother was being brainwashed and she needed to warn the others.

Twilight arrived at the castle to warn her friends but they were all asleep. Deciding that it would be best to let them sleep she went to her own room. She was going to wait for the practice ceremony to call out Cadance for being evil. It may not be the best thing to do but it was the right thing to do. Twilight cried a little since James wasn’t around. If there was anypony that would hear her out it would have been James. James proved himself to listen to a problem and try his best to help whether if it turned out to be real or not. One of the best lessons that he taught her that nopony could ever be wrong in what they say until proven otherwise. Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she dozed off clutching her stomach.

James

James could feel that his strength was low and he couldn’t fight back anymore. He just laid back in the chair that he was sitting on and gave in to the desires. If they came to feed him grapes he would open his mouth and eat them. If they gave him a massage then he would moan at the pleasure. If they snuggled up to him then he would wrap his arms around them and make them feel safe. His mind started to get cloudy as they continued to feed off of him. The only thing that allowed him to hold on was the memories of the mares.

With his mares running through his head it gave him enough strength to hold out. If he could hold out long enough then they might be able to find him. It seemed that it was becoming nighttime because the imposters were going to sleep. They didn’t let James go as their magic continued to flow. As they slept they continued to feed off James but being careful not to kill him. James looked bleary eyed over to where there was a flash of green flame. Chrysalis walked over to him and smiled down at James.

“So how are you doing my lovely?” Chrysalis cooed making James hack a little.

“Why don’t you fuck off you damn bug.” James retorted in between breaths. Chrysalis’ smile turned into a frown as she slapped James.

“Why must you resist? I gave you two simple choices and you act like that they would destroy something.” Chrysalis couldn’t help but laugh. James just growled at her.

“Although one of your harem mates is starting to become a little troublesome. Twilight Sparkle I believe her name is. If she doesn’t stop putting her nose where it doesn’t belong then she might get hurt.” Chrysalis emphasized her point with her glowing hand.

“You could never beat Twilight if you tried. Your magic is compared to that of a baby timberwolf. Also if you even hurt a single strand on her head then I will be the one coming after you. I will hunt you down if I have to so that they all remain safe.”

“I know very well of what you are capable of James. I also know that your mares are pregnant and that you wouldn’t want anything to happen to them. So I will make you a new deal. If you help me take over Equestria then you can keep you little harem plus more if you want. If you still refuse then I can’t guarantee their safety.” James started to laugh and this threw Chrysalis back a bit.

“I would say that your guaranteed safety wouldn’t mean anything. They could easily defeat you if they needed to. That is why you hide from everypony. You fear their strength because you can’t do anything to stop it.” Chrysalis had enough of James’ back talk and slapped him across the face.

When James turned his head around Chrysalis grabbed him by the sides and made him look at her. She stared into his eyes for a bit before pressing her lips against his. James gagged as he felt her tongue enter his mouth and explore. Chrysalis pulled back after a few seconds with ragged breathing. She smirked as she saw James couch from the intrusion of his mouth.

“I will enjoy breaking that spirit of yours James. You will become my slave of love and my food source for the entire hive. Say goodbye to everything James because this time you lose.” Chrysalis walked away and disappeared in her green fire.

James looked up at the ceiling as he screamed at the top of his lungs. James kept screaming as much as he could trying to rid himself of his anger. James started to slowly calm down as he looked at all the crystals. James closed his eyes to get some sleep since he was going to be stuck down here for a while.

Dream Realm

James was in his own dream world with no sign of Luna. James guessed that there was something keeping Luna from entering his dreams. James walked around and ended up at the castle gardens. James took a seat at the table and drank the tea that was there. As James drank his tea the shadow foals appeared all around and walked up to him. James jumped back a bit since he thought that only Luna was able to create them. The shadow foals wrapped around his legs as the spoke in unison.

“Don’t worry daddy. Mommy will be able to find you and help you.” James smiled down at the little foals as he brought them into a hug.

James couldn’t explain it but they were right. He needed to just keep a level head and wait for them to rescue him. They trusted him with their lives so now it was time that he trusted them with his own. James could understand that these shadow foals represented his children and he was glad for them. They all smiled at each other as they moved to James’ old house. They all went inside to play games and watch movies as they waited for the upcoming help. James was glad for his children and couldn’t wait to finally meet them when they came into the world.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the help on this chapter.