The sun quietly hid behind the vast western horizon, a mere tip could be seen as it readied to cast all of itself into darkness. The spire from the castle over Ponyville shimmered as the dying light gleamed off of it's surface. The streets of Ponyville continued to be quiet after the huge scene made at the hotel just beneath the castle's shadow.

A multitude of ponies continued to look at the multitude of guards pacing back and forth to restrict access to a crime scene. Shining Armor directed the flow of the guard, changing the shift every fifteen minutes as a forensics team moved in to bag the lifeless body of the hotel staffer. The stallion formerly known as Call Bell was ceremoniously placed in a black body bag, while his mother continued to look from behind the restriction tape. She screamed in agony and despair as she watched the armored guards zip the bag closed, hiding the body of her son. A somber gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane held the weeping mother while giving her a much-needed hug.

Rainbow Dash groaned as she watched the scene unfold, feeling a bit uncomfortable from having to watch such raw emotions spill out in front of everyone. "Hey, Shining." She called out informally. "I'm gonna scout the skies for anything unusual. They couldn't have gotten very far from the time they took off."

Shining nodded. "If you find anything, come back and let me know. Be careful up there."

Spreading her wings, she took to the skies and hovered high above the clouds. She began to cruise over the town, catching a glimpse of everything that took place around the way. One such sight was a group of ponies speaking just in front of their kiosks in the marketplace. Another one was a stallion doing all he could to keep his twin foals from crying as he kept them tightly secured in a stroller. Another thing she saw was a pony quietly moping in a cloud towards the far east. But what caught her attention was the sight of a single pony walking down the path that lead to the Everfree forest.

Upon closer observation, she noticed that the pony would look back and forth suspiciously, even checking behind themselves on occasion. She grew suspicious and elected to give chase to the jittery pony. Just as they disappeared into the thick, vine-coated woods, she took a careful dive into the green canopy below. After she wrestled through many trees, she caught the image of the pony transforming into a changeling, bowing before none other than Queen Chrysalis herself.

The queen waved her hoof as she spoke in a regal tone. "Status report."

The changeling that bowed to her raised his head as he responded. "Love is in the air, sweetening the smell. Yet the fear persists, contaminating our senses."

The two carried on with their conversation as they began to walk further into the forest. "It will not be so easy to claim this, not without our plan falling into motion."

Rainbow Dash continued to carefully travel from branch to branch as she heard the conversation take place. "Do you think that the intel was correct about the possibility of being more?"

"We only summoned one, there are no others." Chrysalis answered dismissively.

"I do not believe it to be so either. The amount of magic it took to summon just one was enough to starve our hive of magic for weeks. Plus we have no sources that support those claims. It could be that we─" The changeling found himself cut short by his queen.

"And even with the combined magic of the princesses, they would not be so reckless as to risk their duties to bring forth yet another."

Rainbow then saw the queen turning back, almost discovering her. In an attempt to avoid the changeling's gaze, she carefully hid herself behind one of the larger trees that deviated a bit from the path. Chrysalis, who saw nothing, turned back around as her informant continued to speak. "So it's fair to say that the stragglers from Guto's group are not to be trusted?"

"Trust is reserved for the worthy, those who serve the hive first and self second. Guto's little insurgency are to be punished swiftly and immediately for their dishonorable conduct. Those who serve themselves do not serve the hive, and they serve me no longer."

"That is a bit extreme."

"Sometimes a mother has to be tough on her offspring, should she wish for them to grow and make the right decisions. But they are under no circumstances to be killed."

Rainbow carefully made her move as she moved from the tree and back down to the path, her hooves quietly walking the path just behind the two collaborators. "We are currently siphoning their magic back into the hive's circulation. Soon, they will fall to forced hibernation for a period of thirteen months. Upon awakening, we would see to it that they are to be reprogrammed via memory wiping and rigorous reconditioning. Would that be acceptable?"

"That is fine. Now find the others and welcome them back accordingly."

After the subordinate nodded, he quickly left the city and made his way towards the feeding hut further down the road. Rainbow continued to fox her way towards the changeling queen, when suddenly...

"Your stalking methods have always been far too impressive for one of your standing, Pupa."

The rainbow maned pony groaned with disappointment. "Aww... Just when things were starting to get fun."

"Your transformation's wonderful, dear child. Now rid yourself of that disgusting image."

The rainbow maned pony rolled her eyes as she complied with Chrysalis' demands. A bright green flame shot around her and quickly engulfed the pony, revealing a changeling with a bob-cut mane. "That fight was a pretty close call. I had to ditch the scene afterwards or else I was going to find myself a victim of that crystalline death trap they call a castle. I had to scream into that thing to get them to come out of it. But at least you won't find too many problems roaming inside."

The queen smiled as she turned her attention to the large castle looming over the distant town. "That turned out to be a fun little excursion, didn't it? Though I couldn't bare to see you risk yourself getting too close to the opposing party."

"My queen, the role was too easy to play. The only thing I had to do was pose as the rainbow one after I tied up loose ends."

"And you did make sure that Rainbow Dash was kept busy?"

"Did I? I practically made her question herself on whether she actually loved the guy or not. And from what I sniffed out in the lobby... well let's just say that she has... aspirations."

The queen's ears flicked as the statement resonated throughout her mind, her interest piqued. "Romantic?"

"She didn't give off that kind of scent, unfortunately. But she did show strong emotions when asked about him. She makes it very hard to sniff out, but she's easy to read. Could be that she's festering some feelings for the creature."

"I see... I also took notice of a strong emotional response from the Princess of Friendship. It could be possible that their feelings all intersect with this creature, so using him would probably be to our benefit. He could prove to be very useful after all." Chrysalis said before giving a light chuckle.

"So... what's our next move?" Pupa asked.

"You will continue to have our spies monitor him from within the town. We have perhaps two changelings in close proximity to that castle who could pose as weather ponies and pinpoint this creature..." Chrysalis paused for a moment as she corrected herself. "No, this human. I remember Zecora mentioning something pertaining to that name and him in the same sentence."

"What am I to do, your highness?"

"I'm going to make my move there later tomorrow. You may feed tonight, and then you and the others will hide in the brush until I give you the signal to come out. I intend for you to keep our esteemed guest company throughout the course of the day. From there, you will have a scout search the paths for any undesirable elements. Should one be found, have our guest transported to another location of the forest. If things goes as planned, I might not have to use you for much."

Pupa's ears fell as she heard those words leave her superior's mouth. "Those words seem quite discouraging, my queen. Are we of no use to you?"

"Far from it. Let's just say you are a hoof I much rather play to trump my opponent should things take a turn for the unexpected."

"And how will you know he will decide to go along with us?" The smaller changeling asked quizzically.

"I made sure to verbalize certain key words to cause him regret. If he finds out what we're offering, then he would reconsider joining us. Given my time with him, I am sure that the guilt would take a toll on his mind."

"Do you think he'd give himself so easily?"

"I know he will. And his turn against Equestria could prove to be too great of a loss to the naive princess, the fool formally known as Twilight Sparkle. Oh, how I long to see her writhe in despair when she sees that he becomes her enemy."

Pupa gave herself a moment to reflect on the possibilities that were to take place if they had the assistance of the human at their disposal. "The deadliest creature from the failed summoning, now joining us?"

"You're beginning to visualize the conditions for our victory."

The smaller changeling started to liven as she spoke. "If he is as what the stragglers claim he is, then we could quickly tilt the scales in our favor."

"And unlike the Canterlot fiasco, we'll claim our victory long after it has taken place." The queen hissed with a low tone, remembering a past error that costed her a chance to claim Equestria. Pupa cringed to herself as she saw the expression on the queen's face. The smaller changeling left her to stare back at the castle in the distance as she walked off in hopes of finding the hut that her fellow changeling had ventured off to.

"The wisest choice, your highness."

"GAH!"

Zecora breathed heavily as she lied on the ground. Her eyes looked back towards a changeling who rose from behind her, smiling as he stepped away. Between his hind legs dripped a trail of fluids, her own nethers ached as the same fluids slowly drained from within her. She wanted to reach back to hide herself, but was prevented from doing so by a thick slime that glued her hooves down to the ground. Even her tail was hiked to the side as to permanently reveal her swollen passage.

She became increasingly shamed for being in such a compromising situation, embarrassed from the aching that took place in her abdomen. Yet the constant floods she received seemed to douse the unwelcome flame of estrus, a fire that was initiated by the inhalation of many drakeseed spores. A sizable changeling stood guard over the breathless zebra. "She's starting to turn. At this rate, she won't last throughout tomorrow evening." He stated.

Pupa approached her from behind giving the zebra a glance. "Not that it matters, everyone has had twice their fill by now... Everyone save myself, I had a pitiful feeding back in Ponyville. But she seems to be a wonderful vessel, makes me question on how she was capable of sharing so much of what she apparently 'didn't have'."

"Well they say that friendship and love comes hoof in hoof. And being that she cares deeply for anypony she calls her friends, I'd see just how she was able to last so long." Said the changeling who just finished with the zebra, cleaning himself while watching Pupa transform into Shining Armor.

"That and her resilience to not succumb to us, that could also feed into the equation." The faux Shining stated as he gave Zecora a light grope, causing the mare to cringe with pain and unwanted pleasure.

"Just as long as anyone remembers that she is not to be physically harmed, they can do whatever they'd like to her." The large brute stated as he walked to the other side of the room, eager to watch what would happen next.

"In speaking of which, I believe that it is time for me to indulge myself." Shining said as he crouched down over the immobilized mare.

"...No...please..." Zecora barely mouthed, her voice grown tired from screaming.

"My dear stripes, is there really a reason to resist?" He questioned as he sniffed her disheveled mane. "After all, you're in heat. This is what you've been longing for, is it not?"

"No...stop it...please." She whispered as the impostor sank himself into her.

He ignored her cries and whispered quietly into her ears. His foreleg wrapped around her neck and pulled he head up to face him. "I am infatuated with your moans, the little grunts you make are sublime to my ears. If I had to make a choice on whether or not you'd be up for barter, I'd keep you for myself. But that would be unfair to the others, as we serve hive first over self. So I would have to apologize in sharing you with the multitude of others."

"...Get...out...of me...please..."

As a show of defiance, he pulled out as to where he was just barely within her and viciously slammed his hips into her backside, the ripples of his impact travelling across her body. Zecora gasped loudly without voice, causing the fake prince to smile at her. Slowly, he worked himself in and out as he melted with pleasure. The zebra shook violently as she could do nothing but accept him with increasing despair. Her glassed eyes tried to steer away from the visage of the crystal prince as he whispered to her.

"Those rings on your neck really were a pain to remove. And then to add to the long list of issues I have to deal with, we'll be moving you elsewhere. So now we have to not only keep you alive, which is more trouble than it's worth, we also have to keep you mobile until the queen deems it necessary to have you at a standstill. I expect recompense for my troubles. After all, I have yet to have my turn with you."

"...You're...disgusting..." She mouthed before being dropped. The stallion above eyed the nape of her neck and bit into her. As he pulled up, he quipped back to his victim.

"As are you in your current state. But you don't see me complaining about it."

"Why am I even thinking about this?"

Just on the far eastern reaches of the town, Rainbow Dash lied lazily in a cloud, mumbling to herself as she tuned out the world to focus on the dilemma that seemed to have gained traction with her. The one that made fun of her for being shy had managed to stir the thoughts she kept in the back of her mind. Ultimately, she wallowed in frustration over herself and her inability to present Nondis with a gift basket that everyone contributed to. She knew that something simple like that should've been easy for her to pull off, but she simply failed in doing it.

Those words didn't stop floating around her as she tried to brush them away. The tone of the pony's voice seemed to play back like a scratched record, playing the same groove loop over and over again. Finally, she erupted with anger.

"This is so stupid! I don't even like him! And me with him... ugh! I don't even wanna go near that thing he's hiding in his pants! What's so fucking important or so secretive that he has to cover himself up every single day!?"

"Now you're asking the important questions." A voice called out from a cloud nearby.

Rainbow jumped as she heard the familiar raspy voice speaking out to her. She turned to see who it was that talked to her, only to find out that it was none other than the captain of the Wonderbolts. "Oh... Hey Spitfire... What are you doing here?" She asked in bewilderment.

"Well, a little birdie told me that Nondis might've invited two more of his friends from the other world. And from last I remember, one of them might include a brother of the elusive human himself."

The cyan pegasus drew back in confusion. "Huh? Who told you that?"

"You blurted it out loud while we were back in Cloudsdale, remember? Everypony in the city's trying to make a quick visit to Ponyville in hopes of catching a glimpse of the human's sibling."

The rainbow-maned mare was left scratching her head as she tried to figure out when she said anything about his siblings to her. "I didn't blurt it out─"

"You nearly told him about your being a pegasus, which in turn prompted... fill in the blank."

At that point, she started to fill in the blanks. By the time she finished, she remembered that Spitfire was walking right beside them at the time. The prismatic pony's ears flopped as her cheeks reddened a little from embarrassment. "Oh...right."

"So, what's got you so sappy?"

Her cheeks grew even redder as she heard the word sappy being used to describe her. She angrily responded. "Nothing! It doesn't matter what's got me in what mood! I'm just thinking to myself! Key word here: MYSELF!"

"About what reason he has in wearing clothes?"

At that point, her ears even started to show hints of red. "You dropped in at a bad part!"

"I've been hearing you from several clicks away, you've been moaning and groaning about some hotel attendant giving you flak. Now spill." She demanded.

Rainbow knew that not saying anything would only lead to Spitfire persisting. Despite her reputation for being free-spirited, she didn't like when associates, acquaintances, or friends were dealing with problems that could be resolved by talking through them. She took on a softer tone as she buried her head into the cloud she rested on. "Maybe I wanna drink this one in, you ever thought about that?"

The yellow pegasus quickly flew over to Rainbow, tapping her on the back. "You're not one to let things keep you down. How about we fly over this one?"

Rainbow Dash wasn't going to refuse a moment of some free flying, but knew that there was a reason for it being called free-flying. In most situations, she would take to the air and leave her problems on the ground. It was her way of venting, as opposed to letting it all boil over. She wasn't going to be able to keep silent if she took flight. "...Okay, but I'm not going any further than what I'm comfortable with."

"Might not have to worry about that." Mumbled Spitfire, knowing that Rainbow would be telling everything there is.

The two mares took to the air, hovering just above the clouds as their shadows eclipsed the land below. Rainbow looked around at the ponies who walked the ground. Spitfire began to corkscrew around the rainbow-maned pony as she waited for her to speak. Lethargically, Rainbow turned to her back and flew as if she was swimming on water. Finally, she broke the silence between them. "...So, I was accused of having a crush on Nondis."

Spitfire stopped in her tracks as she tried to stop herself from laughing. Inevitably, she failed to do so and let herself go after a few seconds. "That's it!? You let a little something like that get you down!? I mean who doesn't want to get with the guy? He's been hot topic since the trial your friend had. Him getting into the ranks was just a bonus."

"I don't wanna hurt his feelings, but it's just that he and I are WAY too different. I don't see how Twilight was able to look past the human part."

"Maybe you're being too close-minded." She suggested coldly. "Have you ever thought about giving it a chance?"

"Well... no... maybe... no..." Rainbow wasn't getting any breaks from Spitfire, who stared back at her unimpressed. Finally, she confessed. "Yes. That's why I was trying to push the whole 'friendship' agenda on him so that I could see what makes him so... him. If Twilight is willing to get into some trouble with him and get into fights about who he spends his time with, then there's gotta be a reason. What makes him so nice to keep around?"

"Maybe you haven't been paying attention." Spitfire said, her words going mostly in and out of Rainbow's ears.

"I know what he does for everypony else, and they're his friends. But what's the thing that made Twilight look past his being different?"

"I dunno, maybe his determination to prove to the world that he's in love with her?"

Rainbow grumbled and dismissed Spitfire's argument. "Yeah, but seriously, why give that a chance?"

"You haven't been around the royals long enough, have you?" The yellow pegasus questioned.

"What about it?"

Spitfire's hoof quickly found it's way to her face as she shook her head with disbelief. "Guards and staff tremble whenever a prince or princess mentions them in a conversation about dating. You mean to tell me that you haven't gotten that memo yet?"

Rainbow shrugged as she spoke. "Well of course there's that stupid law Twilight's always blabbering about. But she wouldn't be that desperate... would she?"

"She plays for keeps around the guy. She even went so far as to kissing him in my face while telling me to 'no touching'. And that was after his little bout with Shining Armor."

Rainbow got off of her back and proceeded to fly normally. "It can't be because he stood up to him, is it?"

"You really can't be this cloud-minded."

The cyan pegasus sent forth a dejected sigh. "Okay, so what is it?"

"If you saw him in the image of being a stallion, what would you think of him?"

Rainbow hesitated to answer, knowing that she didn't want to say it. "But he's not a stallion."

"But if he was? Hypothetical question, Dash." Spitfire deadpanned.

The rainbow-maned pegasus rolled her eyes as she realized that there was no working around it. She finally stated what was on her mind. "Well, I guess... if he's... you know?"

Spitfire rolled her hoof as she motioned for Rainbow to finish. "What?"

"I don't know. But I wanna find out what makes him so... appealing. And I don't wanna do it in a way where it compromises their relationship. I just wanna see him for who he is outside of what he is."

"And in the name of friendship, you intend to do just that?"

Rainbow felt her stomach grow ticklish as she tried to hide her face. "Well of course─"

A voice called out loudly to the colorful flier as she and the Wonderbolt captain both scanned the skies for anything that might've resembled anything calling out to her. Instead, it was another yellow pegasus who jettisoned from the ground below. In a blur of yellow and pink, the pony rose to the skies above, meeting the two surprised pegasi.

"Is that Fluttershy? Wow, I didn't know she could holler like that. Bitch got some pipes." Spitfire joked, earning a bit of a glare from Rainbow.

"Fluttershy, what's going on?" She questioned.

"Is it true?" Fluttershy asked, quickly gliding over and grabbing the cyan mare.

"Wha-huh? What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked, seeming a bit blindsided by her friend.

"The changelings. When Princess Cadance brought Nondis in, she said something about him nearly being abducted by changelings. His eyes were so pale!"

Rainbow threw Fluttershy's hooves off of her as she erupted into panic. "WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WAS TAKEN IN BY THE CHANGELINGS!?"

Taken aback by the sudden display of ignorance, Fluttershy tried to explain herself. "But Cadance said you─"

"Nevermind that, dear Fluttershy. It's apparent that she wasn't even there to recall anything that happened." Answered a disembodied voice. One of the nearby clouds then turned pink, growing a head and tail. After he grew himself, Discord reshaped his body to it's more draconian form. "Of course it would be easy to deduce the reason for that being so."

"But Twilight just told me that Rainbow told her about the pony at the counter started acting really suspicious." Fluttershy stated.

"Probably an insider, another changeling who probably impersonated Rainbow Dash." Discord replied, taking the form of a pony with Rainbow's head and a changeling's body. "Guess that means we'd have to be particularly careful."

Spitfire was quick to call herself into action. She took initiative and started to make her way to the northwest. "Changelings are serious business. I'll get the others from Cloudsdale and do a quick flyover to see if there are any ponies acting suspicious. You guys stay safe, and don't let anyone you don't know get too close to you."

Spitfire darted off in a blaze of fiery orange. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was left wallowing in confusion as well as regret. "...I left him alone."

"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy tried to comfort her friend.

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault."

"Dashie, look at me."

"I totally screwed up! I left him to get hurt! I should've just delivered them to his room instead of just fussing and screaming like I did."

Quietly, Fluttershy picked up her friend's head as she spoke softly to her. "But that's not the bad news."

Rainbow grew quiet, almost biting her tongue as she thought about how anything could be worse than nearly being carted off by changelings. She finally faced her friend head on as she put on a brave face.

"...Please tell me he's okay."

"YAAAARGH! GAAAAHHH!"

Loud and erratic screams filled the halls of the castle as I could do nothing but listen just outside of his room. I closed my eyes with each moment his voice cracked, trying to hold back the tears I wanted to shed. I was somewhat successful at my attempts, but not everyone else was so strong. Fluttershy seemed quite bothered with him sounding so panicked. Rarity covered her ears as she tried to block out the sounds of his voice ringing loudly through the halls. Applejack buried her face into her hat, a means of trying not to show her broken-hearted expression. Shining was stoic enough to look like it didn't bother him, but Cadance was visibly disturbed on both his and her behalf.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash stood in front of the door, almost seeming as if she was embracing the maddening yelps from within the room. She appeared to be distant as she stood motionless. "...I totally left him alone..."

Applejack continued to hide behind her hat. "This ain't your fault, sugar cube. We all had the wool pulled over our eyes on this one."

Rarity pulled her hooves off of her ears as she slammed them into the floor with a scream. Her eyes started to let the tears flow freely from her eyes, causing her mascara to run. "Poor Nondis... I can't believe they would go to such extremes as to putting him in this state! Those brutes!"

I was still in shock over what nearly took place. I was so grateful to have him come back safe, but was so mortified when I heard him as he started screaming. "I can't believe this happened. Changelings in the town itself? I can't believe we had such a security lapse, and it all happened on his day off."

"...The others are not going to like this once they get wind of it." Fluttershy said as she walked up to Rarity in an attempt to comfort her.

What she said had me think for a while about how I would break this to Melanie and the others. A whole array of scenarios ran through my head as I tried to fathom their emotional response to this. I couldn't even begin to visualize just how angry Alex would be in knowing that his younger brother was nearly taken in by the changelings and rendered in such a state where his only response is a blood-curdling scream. As the moments went by, I could already hear the long stream of words spilling from his mouth about how we failed in protecting him.

The worst scenario that played out was that they deemed us ponies incompetent and carry him home to be treated, never to be returned, to be seen or heard from again. I was just a breath short of a panic attack as I made a hasty decision. "They aren't getting wind of anything right now."

The others looked at me with shock as they tried to reason with me. Fluttershy being the first to object. "Twilight─"

"Until we know what happened, until he snaps out of it, we're not going to stress him out even more by giving him more things to worry about. And I'm certain that he wouldn't want his brothers or his friends to see him in the way he's in now." I've been with him long enough to know that he doesn't like others to see him when he's down. Even when he was hurt, he wanted to prove his point and make himself look like an indestructible beast that wouldn't know the meaning of a loss.

"Twily, that's not our choice." My brother argued.

Honestly, I know what I'm doing is considered as wrong. But I don't care. I know what Nondis would do and how he would act. And in his mind, he's probably wanting to hide everything he's going through. If he was so quick to hide our existence from his friends, then this would probably be no different. I am not going to make any decision on his behalf that he would disagree with. So with a firm resolve, I stood my ground against my brother's argument. "Well as princess, I'm going to make that decision. This is not to be released to any of the other humans until Nondis heals. No further questions. Not a word, or even so much as a peep."

Cadance was quick to side with Shining. "Twilight, this is─"

"My responsibility. I was designated as his caretaker since his discovery, so I'll be the one responsible. Chrysalis should've never had access to him. So if they hear that Nondis was nearly taken away, do you think for one second that they wouldn't take him back to his world, possibly never to return for the betterment of his health? I'm not taking that risk!"

Again, I'm being selfish. But I'm not gonna let him leave here if he doesn't decide to do so on his own.

"Twilight, they may be able to help!" Shining argued.

I shook my head with denial. "They will only make things difficult for now. Let's just find some way to get him talking rather than screaming."

And just on cue, another scream came piercing into the castle halls. My ears folded back as his voice alone was enough to cause me pain. And it seemed that I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"What in Equestria is going on?"

"Surely that couldn't be... him... could it?"

I quickly trotted to the two ponies who entered into the castle, finding some sort of relief from the immense amount of despair we were feeling. "Celestia, Luna, thank goodness you're here."

The two elder princesses galloped towards me as Luna spoke. "You sent me a letter of the utmost urgency. What is it that you need?"

Applejack straightened herself out and pulled the hat from over her face. "Nondis was contacted by Queen Chrysalis. Whatever they did to him messed him up somethin' fierce."

"Chrysalis was here? How!?" Celestia questioned, she appeared not only in shock, but also angry.

"That's something that only Nondis can tell us. But he won't stop screaming." Fluttershy added.

With a quick bow, I hurried with my request. "Princess Luna, we need you to enter his mind and fend off whatever's haunting him. I know that he's been dealing with some recent issues in regards to his nightmares, and there was the report of a changeling taking advantage of that. It feels like they triggered something in his brain that causes that image to pop up every so often."

"Are you sure?" Luna inquired as she looked to the door.

"I think there's more to it. If Chrysalis contacted him, then perhaps she told him the truth of how he got here." Shining stated.

"Oh for pony's sake, he was dumped in a wagon with a dead body next to him! Don't y'all think that would be a slight bit unsettling to deal with?" Applejack asked, throwing her hat to the ground out of a fit of anger.

"Is he restrained?" Celestia questioned.

"He's infested with changeling venom, restraint is the least of our worries." Cadance noted as Nondis screamed once more, causing all of us to feel uncomfortable.

Rainbow Dash stopped appearing to be a motionless statue as she finally turned to me and the others with watery eyes. "This is all my fault... I shouldn't have left him."

I felt myself wanting to rush over to her and shake her out of her self-blame. Instead, I politely made my way to her and placed my hoof on her head, causing her to give me her full attention. "You look at me, Rainbow Dash. Do you honestly want to bear that guilt, because I don't think you do. You just got played like the rest of us. You don't carry any responsibility in this except for the fact that you were probably told that he wasn't there. And if that's the case, then how were you to know otherwise?"

"I should've just went down the hall and gave him that stupid gift basket. None of this would've happened."

She seemed really insistent in taking the blame. But I wasn't going to let her take it. "You would've been just as much as a victim, darling! If you barged down that hall and waited for Chrysalis to show up, then you would've been taken in along with him. You did all you could in getting us."

Finally, she exploded as she snapped her wings open and screamed to the top of her lungs. "THAT WASN'T ME!"

Everyone froze as those words continued to echo through the halls, even powering over Nondis' screams. I felt myself become cold as I realized that she wasn't screaming this for no reason. Rarity tried to speak to her as Fluttershy rushed over to comfort her as well. "But you─"

"I wasn't anywhere near the castle! I was so damn frustrated that I just flew off! If I hadn't ran away, he'd be safe! He'd probably holed up in his room still, but he'd be safe!" She kept repeating those final three words until she couldn't get through them without her voice breaking. She covered her face with her wings as a means to hide herself from the shame she felt. As she went on, I felt myself succumbing to the same sense of shame and regret as I couldn't distinguish the difference.

I was fooled too, Rainbow. But I couldn't help but to take appreciation in the fact that we had gotten Nondis back throughout this whole ordeal. The only problem is that the situation left me with more questions that I didn't know the answer to. Why would a changeling, who works under Chrysalis, call for us and tell us that they were going to take him away? They would've succeeded had no one said anything.

"A changeling impersonating Rainbow Dash? Seems Chrysalis wanted to keep her bases covered." Shining said as he started to pace back and forth.

Cadance also threw out her thoughts on the matter. "But that's just it. Why would a changeling go through all the trouble of telling us that they were taking him? We didn't find ourselves in the midst of some deadly trap, so there's little reward for it other than being thwarted."

Shining continued to brainstorm. "The 'Rainbow Dash' I encountered said that she would scout the skies for anything unusual. And being that the real one is here, then the other one could've sent out a sit-rep in terms of our security and his location."

"That's it!" I shouted, realizing that this would play into our advantage. "The castle has a magical barrier placed around it that disables most of the changelings. If we keep him here, then we'd be keeping him from any future changeling attack."

"Hold on." Shining interjected. "The last time I erected a barrier to keep the changelings out, Chrysalis was still able to get in. If anything, we should still be cautious."

Applejack didn't seem to agree with Shining's intuition. "As if she'd ever get her grubby hooves set on one single tile! Not to discredit ya or anything, but this castle is powered by the Tree of Harmony itself!"

Cadance continued to side with her husband, offering a stern warning. "If there is any magic that is capable of triumphing over any obstacle, it's love magic. And Chrysalis is a practitioner of love magic, in spite of her primary purpose in feeding from it. It's best we'd be careful."

"But for her to break past a barrier, it would require an immense amount of love magic to be absorbed." Celestia surmised.

When she said that, my mind flashed back to that very moment Applejack kicked over that cart. And as Nondis fell out from within, I could very well see the lifeless expression that settled over his face and the hazy film that coated his eyes. The truth had been obvious from the start. "...She fed on Nondis."

A moment of pause came and went as it sunk in for all of us. Luna, however, wouldn't let it stay that way for very long. "Wait for me. Do not be alarmed when the screaming suddenly ceases."

Luna quickly marched over and opened the door to Nondis' room. He continued to let out more screams as the moonlight princess entered into the room. She closed the door behind her, leaving us to only speculate. The cracks around the door started to glow, gradually getting brighter by the second. A high pitched whirring sound was then followed by a bright flash.

"YAAAAAAAAGH─"

At last, silence. But that bit of silence was all it took to unnerve the rest of us. It was as if his voice was just simply snuffed out. To say that it was jarring would be an understatement.

"...Did anypony else felt a chill down their spine?" Rarity questioned.

The rest of us merely looked at one another and remained silent as we waited for Luna to finish with Nondis' treatment. Luna then walked out of the room and whispered to us as she glanced back to the sleeping human.

"It's going to be a long night. I should be done by two in the morning. I'll extract everything I need and give you a head's up on what I find out."

Let's hope we find out exactly what happened.

I felt my consciousness fade in and out for a few seconds before I saw everything around me come into focus. To my misfortune, I was not where I was last placed. Instead, I found myself locked away in the same tower we rescued cheese from. All around my legs were these heavy chains that coiled around me as if I was standing in a pit of boa constrictors. My arms were chained to the ceiling as I watched the doors open before me. They opened to reveal a familiar face, her emerald-colored eyes gazed upon me greedily as she smiled and strutted towards me. I responded by trying to yank my arms free and pulling myself out of my bonds.

Strangely, I was somehow aware that this was a dream, yet I couldn't force my will upon it. Even the space around me distorted as I tried to free myself. But much like my chances of saving Counter Bell, I couldn't break myself out of here. The changeling queen flicked her wings as she stood motionless before me. For a second, we only stared at each other, just before she jumped up and hovered to meet with me face-to-face.

"Well aren't you as fiery as ever?" She cooed seductively.

"You again?" I answered, feeling very annoyed.

She covered my mouth as she slithered against me and whispered into my ear. "Now now, I can't have you screaming this early in the morning. There are others who are sleeping. It would be rude to disturb them. So a simple mind-entry would suffice for now."

Mind entry!? She's in my fucking head now!? "What do you want from me!?"

"Oh nothing much. But while we're here, I'd like you to look at a beautiful little creature we came across not so long ago." She said as she pointed towards the door, her horn glowing a sickly bright green. The doorway then turned into a weird deformed archway covered in changeling goo. And in place of it's doors was a window showing the face of the zebra she once presented herself to be.

"ZECORA!" I shouted loudly, trying to call out to her.

Eventually I realized that I wasn't going to get through to her as I watched a pair of hole-infested hooves wander up and down her body, touching her in the most intimate of places. Her face grew angry and red with embarrassment while the changeling queen continued to molest her. Eventually, Zecora screamed loudly as she was forced into climax. Shortly after her ascent, she was slammed into the ground face down, her tail being violently pulled towards Chrysalis. The forelegs then pinned themselves just less than an inch from zebra's upper half, the view closing in on the leaf-covered mane of the zebra. From there, it faded into nothingness.

"A little sneak peek into my memories, this gift... I give to you."

I don't think I've ever felt myself become so angry of what I saw. I lunged at the insect queen and barked at her. "WHAT DID YOU DO!? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO HER!?"

She simply laughed as she taunted me. "Such language, so much vulgarity, the stains on your lips are so vile and disgusting. I'm surprised I haven't tasted it earlier."

"ZECORA, NOW!" You fucking bitch, if there was a Caramel beating on your ass, I'd pay to watch.

"Oh no... I can't let that happen just yet. You'll have to wait to see her when your body becomes active again."

A low growl was birthed from the hatred I felt at the moment. "I want you and all who serves you to die." I said, shaking with rage.

"Killing me would not bring Zecora back. It would only seal her fate. But you can still save her." She said, trying to sound as coy and seductive as ever.

"Cut the bullshit! You probably already killed her."

"No, but should she remain in my custody for more than twenty-four hours, she might find that holding on would become quite a chore. And I wouldn't blame her if she were to close her eyes and embrace a much needed rest. Why I can imagine the somber look she'd wear in knowing that all has come to her miserable demise. But that's only after my changelings finish feeding from her. I even have quite a few who took it upon themselves to help quench her heat. I was even so gracious as to lend her a helping hoof to start."

All of my hate, you deserve every fucking last drop of it. If I could drop nukes, I'd purge every last one of you changelings from existence. I would love to see each and every one of you scream and squeal from the burns as your loved ones' shadows are permanently seared into the ground. "You are FUCKING Satanic!"

The bug queen seemed surprised at my insult and pursed her lips, seeming impressed. "Well that's a new one. I'll keep that one noted for all the names I was called in all of my years of life."

"Where is she?" I hissed.

"I can tell you where she will be. But only for a promise..." She said as she summoned a small black box from seemingly nowhere. It was full of puzzle pieces of various sizes and colors. She immediately began to rummage through every piece.

"I can't make promises with backstabbers, and for good reason." Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

"Then I'll take it that you'd leave the zebra to die?" She asked as she removed one small gray piece and waved it around for a bit.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

She continued to run her hooves through the small black box as she pulled out a few other pieces. "You see, Luna isn't the only one to jump from mind to mind. I do it to subjugate my victims and slowly bend them to my will. Of course, I won't have to do it so much with you. You'll decide her fate for yourself. And I'd say that you'd be ready to make your way out in... about twelve hours, from what I'm grabbing from your brain."

While my eyes were staring at that black box, she started to pull out a lavender piece with a indigo stripe on it. I took notice of several other pieces surrounding it, resembling the colors of each of the girls. That means the one she was going to pick up was... "STOP READING MY MIND, YOU SWISS-CHEESE COCKROACH-LOOKING BITCH!"

She stopped herself short of pulling it out of the box and instead slammed in onto the ground. Suddenly, I felt an extreme jolt of pain as she slowly lifted her hoof and began to press onto the box. At that point, it started to feel like something was trying to cave my skull in. I grimaced and groaned as the changeling queen made her point very clear. "Remember where we are. Remember that it is you who are still asleep, I'm just standing above you. I could end your life in one fell shock!"

When her hoof pulled off of the box, I felt my entire body collapse for a few seconds before regaining the strength to stand on my own. And I knew that I couldn't save anyone if I was dead myself. If anything, that would probably be very problematic, considering that my brothers would probably be hunting for blood. And knowing the others, they'd join in just for the satisfaction of seeing ends meet. I decided that I needed to calm down and rethink my approach. Perhaps I could work something out with this bitch. "...Tell me where she is. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her alive. Just stop hurting her. She didn't deserve any of this."

She grabbed the black box from the ground and toyed with the gray piece she dug out from earlier. As she toyed around with it, it started to glow green as she put it back inside. "Come to the outskirts of town by sunset. Come alone and come quietly. Should you inform any others of our deal, you would find that Zecora will make her way to you, but not in the way you'd wish it to be."

I wanted to break out of these chains so that I could strangle this insane bitch with my own two hands, but I wasn't going to find the strength considering that she's running the show. It only made me angrier to know that she had this much power over me. "There's a special place in Hell for you, and a napalm snuggy for you to wear."

She gently placed the box down to the floor, causing everything to shake a little before she walked out of the doorway. She turned around and smiled as her horn began to glow. Before she closed the door, she giggled while imitating Twilight's voice.

"...You will remember our promise, won't you?"

My eyes expanded as she slammed the door shut, causing everything to turn pitch black.

"Ah!"

I woke up in a panic. I felt my body to see if I was still chained up somehow or if I was latched to anything that resembled anything that would cause bondage. Thankfully, I was free of any physical presence that restricted body movement. My arms were a little heavy and my chest still felt like I was being sat on, but at least I knew that I was moving a little better than I was last night. My legs, however, were very much unresponsive. I suppose walking around is not an option available to me for the time being.

"Nondis, you're awake!"

I turned my head to see who was at the door, seeing none other than Twilight and her brother. Shining was somewhat relieved to see that I had woken up, while Twilight was all the more exuberant. Though I can't help but to feel like my head got pulled into a vice and squeezed like a melon. Any more of it and I'd swear that I was the final act of a Gallagher skit. "Yeah... I swear yesterday was a bad dream."

"I know. And I'm sorry." She said, seeming a bit sad.

"Ugh... don't be. My head hurts like shit." All I could do was wince for the time being. Even the light from the outside caused me a great deal of pain.

"Migraines?" Shining questioned.

Let's see, aching head, unrelenting throbbing, light beating the shit out of my senses, guess we have a winner. "Feels like one."

Shining kissed his teeth and marched to the door. As soon as it opened, Cadance was standing in the doorway. He sounded rather frustrated as he spoke. "...She was here."

"Dammit, already!?" Cadance shouted as Shining walked out of the room, leaving me and Twilight alone.

She wasn't too pleased with herself. "Again, I can't believe I let her get you... again."

"Twilight, I'm fine. I just need some time to get myself together." As I said that, I tried to get myself to sit up out of the bed. But when I started to apply some pressure to my arms, it felt like there were a millions ants crawling all over my arms, a few of them biting. Anything from my waist on down to my upper thighs were ten times worse. The word annoying would be the accurate word to properly describe how all of this feels to me.

"You shouldn't be so casual! Don't you understand what this means for you!? You're a target, she will be trying to claim you for─"

"She's the one who brought me here in the first place, and I respond by cutting down her lackeys. Of course I'd be her target." That's unlikely to change. For someone who gambled their weekly savings on a poker game and folded their hand when the dealer called 'all-in', I'd be trying to swipe some sort of consolation off of my potential gains too.

"...She wasn't supposed to be the one to tell you."

Okay... now I'm officially lost. "...What?"

Twilight paused for a moment as she sat next to the bed, grabbing my hand as she tried to explain herself. "Celestia wanted to ease you into it. She wanted you to know, but she didn't know how to bring it up. You were just so busy, and you kept bringing your friends from the other world so it was easy to get distracted."

"Hold on." So I'm just wandering around here like it's absolutely nothing wrong with my being here, and these fuckers happen to be the ones who dropped me off at your doorstep? But even with that being the case, YOU FAILED TO LET ME IN ON IT!? "You mean to tell me that you knew this from the start?"

"No! We didn't find out until after your first trip to the castle ruins. And even then..." She paused for a moment as she started to rub my arm. "I didn't want you to know. All of this, it's all my -responsibility. If you had known from the start, then maybe none of this would've happened."

"It was gonna happen regardless." Considering who the fuck we're dealing with, I'd call it completely unavoidable. "But what I'm angry about is that you knew and you wouldn't tell me."

"How was I supposed to tell you?" Twilight asked, seeming as if she was a breathing exercise away from a panic attack.

"Just sit me down, take me for ice cream or some shit, I don't know." I answered with sarcasm.

"I was scared. I didn't know what you would do!"

By the time she said that, I had instinctively removed my arm from the touch of her hoof. I understood that her response was a bit sudden and frantic, but it still registered strongly with me. "You didn't know what I would do?" I questioned incredulously. "You thought I was gonna just say 'Oops, I was brought here by changelings. Might as well jump fence. See you guys at the end of my sword or something.' And yet you..."

Twilight's panicked response didn't come without it's apology. "Nondis, I'm sorry."

"You know, for being the Princess of Friendship, you seem to have a lot of trust issues." I answered despondently.

Twilight backed away from me, seemingly offended. "How do I have trust issues!?"

"You withheld this information. If you would've said from the start 'I know how you got here' then I would've been all ears. But you took a chance in thinking that if I knew the truth, I would just shift sides on you or lose my mind somehow. I've already made my decision on who I served, but obviously you weren't convinced."

Twilight used her magic to yank my head around to face her directly. A livid glare sat in her eyes as she made her argument. "I honestly do place my trust in you! You think that I'd let you stay here without it!?"

By that point, I started to realize that this wasn't any fake show of conviction she was trying to impose. Rather, she was being completely serious with me. Instead of letting me believe in what my anger would've pressed me to believe, she shut me down and made me see that I was in the wrong for assuming that of her. She at least trusted me enough to take many of her firsts and become her greatest tribulation. Yeah, I think it's best that I'd apologize and explain myself. "Twilight... I can't help but to feel like everything's turned against me right now. I wanna say that I can be strong, but there are things that keep poking at me. And I want to be able to do something about it, but I know that my options are limited. I'm sorry that I seem so weak-minded right now."

"Look at me." She didn't take my apology with smiles, rather with a stern frown. "You have friends here. That's all you need."

And for some odd reason, the haunting thought of Chrysalis hiding under my bed like I'm trying to hide from the boogeyman was more overbearing than my desire to accept the comfort she offered. "...I'm afraid that friends aren't going to be able to help me with this one. I'll be hurting you more than anything."

Not long after our short debate, Shining and Cadance returned with both Celestia and Luna following them. The eldest princess was the first to break the freshening silence. "So he's awake?"

"Shining and Cadance has informed us that Chrysalis has frequented you." Luna said as she walked up to me with a intense stare, looking as if she was examining my appearance.

"I don't know. It just feels like a simple migraine to me."

She didn't seem convinced by my words and lit her horn with her magic. "Please hold still."

From previous experience, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax on the bed, almost as if I was going to let sleep take me. She softly hummed to herself as I heard Twilight break the question. "Do you see anything?"

"Just...a little...more." Luna said, seemingly straining an awful lot.

I guess wondering through someone else's mind can become a bit tiresome. Even stressful. Probably a bit painful. Very painful. It could feel like someone is using a champagne cork remover, slowly twisting and turning, churning away at the skull into the gray matter like it was waiting for something to spill out or go pop. And instead of that pop, you get what feels like a pencil being inserted into your brain, eraser-end first, just casually and haphazardly shoving everything around. Migraine has now become completely unbearable. "...AAAAAUGH!"

Luna quickly separated herself from me as she deactivated her spell. Both she and I were left panting, I was more writhing in agony over what had happened. I couldn't help but to clench my eyes shut and rock myself until the pain subsided. "What's wrong!?" Cadance questioned.

"This is her work alright. She's placed a block on his mind. I cannot delve too far in, my reason being obvious."

"That shit really hurt like hell." I confessed while still trying to rock away the pain.

"I know. And I'm sorry, but I can't go any further in helping you. To do so would cause you irreparable damage to your brain, and I won't do that to you." So not only does my head feel like I had an amateur lombotomist dig through it with a rusted fork covered in hot sauce, but I can't get anymore help from the main one who actually has the ability to alleviate my circumstances. Great, as if I didn't have enough problems to write a fifty-chapter book over. This sense of hopelessness while knowing that your primary pain reliever is going to be considered as ineffective, I wonder if this is how it feels like to have AIDS.

It didn't take them long to come to a consensus on how things were going to pan out... thankfully. "Okay then. We'll have to wait this one out. If she doesn't cast her spell on him any time soon, he'll probably be back to normal. Then we can focus on his security." Cadance stated as she turned to Shining.

"I agree." Concurred the blue-maned prince. "The main thing we should worry about now is the possibility of Chrysalis holding Zecora."

Okay, that sounds like a good idea, but with only one question clouding my mind. "...What's going on?"

"Zecora. I saw in your mind that you fell victim to a ruse by Chrysalis, who disguised herself as Zecora. Do you not recall?" Luna inquired.

"Who's Zecora?" I asked.

The whole room stared back at me as I remained somewhat flabbergasted from their incredulous response. I guess I must've missed something important. "Zecora... you don't remember her?" Twilight questioned. "You saw her just yesterday."

As far as what I remember from yesterday, I can remember that I was visited by someone who knew me. And in that first meeting, there were talks of my nightmares and something about fixes. Then there was my time on the apple farm and then I slowly made my way back to the lodge room, where I met up with the pony at approximately six in the evening. From there on, I was paralyzed and nearly taken in by Chrysalis. But as far as the face of the one who wronged me, I can't seem to get past this unusual grey blob plastered all over their face. The sound of their voice, I can't even remember what it sounded like. If only I knew who this 'Zecora' person was, that might help me out a bit. But the only thing that resonated with me was the shocked expressions worn on everyone's face.

"So... Am I gonna get an answer from this or no?"

To be continued...