I never saw the hints, the danger that was lurking just outside my periphery. As such I was very much blind until I was so caught up in it that there was no turning back. I may have said this before but don’t view myself as a particularly good man, then again I have never viewed myself as evil before this either.

While the visit from the other royal couple had been fun they had left the very next day to return to their home in The Crystal Empire. Even though the pink alicorn, Cadance, had hogged Tia for most of the night after she had recovered from her fainting spell. I had no idea what was said between the two but given the looks and an exclamation from Cadance were she shouted “40 minutes!” I had my suspicions what most of the topics being discussed were about. That was a few weeks ago by now though, weeks that had passed at a quick pace at first. But after a while it had slowed down to a crawl and now I found myself just two days from Hearth’s warming eve.

Allow me to elaborate a bit, at first I had been filled with a seemingly endless supply of energy as I believed that the books and texts that Cadence and Shining had brought with them held the key to solving my storm problem. Yet despite my best efforts and the combined help from Twilight, Luna and Tia all I had managed so far was to make myself even more sensitive to passing storms. No perhaps sensitive wasn’t the right way to describe it, it was more like the time spent spacing out lasted longer as if I was mesmerized by a siren’s song. The bottom line was that the lack of progress had made me quite irritable, frustrated even. I had expected a quick fix and now I was experiencing the backlash for having thought so, all while Murphy cackled at my hubris.

My mood had started to affect those around me too, but I felt as I couldn’t just drop it. I ended up forcing myself to read and re-read more of the material pertaining to The Paragons but found nothing new. It didn’t help that I was dependent on Twilight’s help to translate the damn texts either, for while I could read the modern Equestrian rune I couldn’t understand the old pegasus hieroglyphs most of the texts were written in. The only thing that had kept me from turning into a complete grump during last week was Pinkie, although she wasn’t in Ponyville at the moment. She had left yesterday with Applejack and her family, since they apparently had planned to celebrate Hearth’s warning together at the rock farm where Pinkie grew up. And as such I was left to my own brooding and without any real plans on how I would spend the holiday.

Well that wasn’t entirely true, I had received confirmation from both Luna and Tia that they would be coming over to pick me up sometime during Hearth’s warming eve so that I could spend the day at the castle with the two of them. Despite my situation I found myself looking forward to the chance to spend some quality time with the two sisters. Not that I didn’t meet them often already it was just rare to have a chance to talk to the two of them at the same time.

With a sigh I turned from the window I had been staring out of and took a sip from the mug of coffee I held in my hand. I was going to head to work in less than ten minutes and needed to start getting dressed properly, the weather team had scheduled snowfall starting this afternoon and until tomorrow morning, reaching all the way from here to the Canterlot region. Something to do with extra fluffy snow before Heath’s warming Rainbow had tried to explain to me last evening at one of our regular training sessions. I didn’t quite understand it, in fact I felt that there was already enough snow to make getting from one place to another on foot a hassle so more was just a dumb idea.

This of course meant that I was forced to fly almost everywhere I wanted to go, and flying with all the extra layers that made up my winter clothing was a clumsy affair at best. But seeing how I had little choice I started to don the specially designed clothes I had bought from Rarity. The two reasons I call them specially designed were the fact that they all had some sort of slits for my wings and the obvious fact that I was her only bipedal customer. In other words, everything I bought from her had to be specially designed in some kind of way.

Speaking of Rarity, she had also left Ponyville a few days ago to go spend the holidays with her family and a couple of friends she had in Manehattan. In fact the only ponies of the main six that remained in Ponyville for the holidays were Rainbow, Fluttershy and Twilight. All in all the town felt rather empty without half the ponies that usually attracted attention. Thinking about it ain’t gonna change anything at this point though. I thought to myself as I finished putting on my warmer jacket. Pushing open the door I stepped outside into the blinding light caused by the morning sun reflecting of the snowy winter land. As my eyes slowly got used to the brightness I pulled out the scarf I had gotten from the Rustfeathers before carefully wrapping it around my neck and lower face to shield myself form the cold wind when I flew. Once I was happy with my preparations I unfolded the wings from my back and took to the skies.

“… so you see Cloud according to those facts I should be given free rein to examine every tooth in that exotic mouth of yours,” Minuette told me with a smile as she finished telling me her latest reasons for why I should surrender my mouth and its contents to her.

I held up a finger in front her muzzle. “First off, no. Secondly are you going to actually order something Minny or should I go talk to the other guests?” I shot down her latest attempt to invade my oral privacy.

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Fiiine, give me some mashed potatoes and a glass of apple cider,”

I grabbed a glass from behind the counter. “Aight, one glass of apple cider coming right up,” I said, presenting the glass to her once it had been filled with the sparkling amber liquid. “Give me a moment to go check on how long a serving of mash will take,” I excused myself before heading into the kitchen area.

I knew that Berry’s husband, Grand Buffet, had mashed potatoes ready for anypony who wanted to order it during the days leading up to the holiday but it didn’t hurt to check just in case. What was more was the fact that every little interaction between me, Berry’s family and the rest of the staff slowly helped wash away the shame from my past blunder. The truth of the matter though was that they more or less had forgiven me and I was still beating myself up about it.

I found Grand working on some sort of Hearth’s warming pie as I entered the kitchen, but he must’ve heard me enter as he turned to face me. “You need something Cloud?”

“Minuette ordered a serving of mash,” I answered the stallion, cursing myself for how stiff my reply felt.

Grand gave me an understanding look. “One serving of mash coming right up,” He said finally, turning to prepare the order.

A moment later I was leaving the kitchen with Minuette’s food in one hand and a clean glass water I had grabbed for myself. Try as I might, but I couldn’t help but sigh to myself at how awkward my interaction with Grand had been. Although as I pushed open the door to leave the kitchen I pushed back any lingering thoughts on awkwardness to face the waiting patrons with a smile once more.

I put my own glass behind the bar before heading over with the order. “Here you go Minny, one serving of mashed potatoes. Do you want anything else?” I said to the blue unicorn as I set her down in front of her.

She looked up at me with a smile. “Thanks Cloud and no I’m fine,” she replied happily before digging in.

I didn’t have time to stay any longer beside Minuette though as another party further down the bar was vying to get my attention. So set on doing my job I headed over to the new arrivals who happened to be the flower trio, namely Roseluck, Lily and Daisy.

“Hello ladies, what can I get for you three today?”

Lily smiled. “Hello to you too Cloud, the three of us thought we could go for some hot cocoa this cold winter day,”

“Sounds like a great idea, do you want anything to go with it?” I asked but the three of them shook their heads. “I’ll be right back with your order then,” I concluded before walking over to pour their cocoa into three large mugs.

The speed which the flower trio had come to accept me had surprised me at first, seeing how the three were known as some of the most skittish ponies in town. However after having seen me on my many walks around town with Pinkie the three had warmed up to me quicker than most other ponies. Rose had even admitted to me at one point during our first introduction that the three of them had pretty much made a habit out of panicking over the years and as such I shouldn’t take it personally. Back then I hadn’t really had many allies in Ponyville so I had been quick to reassure her that I hadn’t taken any of it personally. Not that I wouldn’t have done so if my situation had been any different but at the time my priorities had been quite different.

Leaving my reminiscing behind I grabbed the now filled cups and brought them back over to the flower trio’s table. “Here you go girls, should I put it on your tab or do you want to pay now?”

This time it was Daisy who answered me. “If you’d be so kind to put on our shared tab we’d be grateful,”

“Aight, I’ll do just that and a happy Hearth’s warming to you three if I don’t see you again before the holiday,” I told them as I moved back over to the bar.

My work day kept the same pace throughout the remaining hours I had left on my shift and as I stepped outside the diner to make my way back home I found that the weather team had covered the skies with grey clouds. The flight back home was fairly quick but by the time I reached my door the scheduled snow had begun to fall lightly from the grey skies. Happy to have made it before it got any worse I hung my winter jacket on a hanger and untied my winter boots before releasing a relaxed sigh. I had finished my last shift before Hearth’s warming and now I could do whatever I pleased until I went up to Canterlot to spend the holiday with Tia and Luna.

I walked into my kitchen to grab a small snack before dinner as I idly entertained myself with thinking of what the two sisters had planned for the holiday. The snack consisted of a simple sandwich and a glass of milk, I didn’t feel the need for anything more substantial as I would start dinner soon anyway. After putting the milk back into the fridge I walked over to my living room and sat down, shuffling my wings slightly so that I could lean back more comfortably.

As fate would have it though I barely had time to reach for my sandwich before someone started hammering incessantly on my door. My jaw clenched slightly in frustration as I leaned forward to rest my head in my palms. This act only lasted a few seconds though as whoever was at the door seemed to be determined to knock my poor door down if I didn’t answer it. With a groan I dragged myself to feet and went back over to my door, pulling it open to reveal a clearly frantic Lyra.

Memories of our last encounter flashed through my mind and as such my greeting was curt at best. “What do you want Lyra?”

“I- Cloud- look I can’t find her anywhere Cloud and I don’t know who else to ask to help me find her,” she blurted out, stumbling over her own words.

I raised an eyebrow. “Find who? If it’s Bonbon you’re talking about she’s not here. You two made it perfectly clear last time that you wanted nothing to do with me,” I said evenly.

A pained expression played over Lyra’s features. “I know what I said, but I need your help even if I don’t deserve it right now. She’s been missing since yesterday,” she pleaded.

That caught my attention slightly. My expression softened somewhat as I felt a bit of concern enter my thoughts. “What exactly do you mean by missing? She can’t have just gone up in smoke,”

Lyra seemed to collect herself a little bit before she answered. “Well she wasn’t home when I got back from work yesterday and she didn’t return for the entire evening. I just thought she went to spend the night at a friend’s house or something. But then she didn’t return throughout today so I went around and asked all the ponies I could think of and nopony said that they had seen her since the day before yesterday,” She rattled off quickly.

Part of me really didn’t want to have to deal with this problem but it would go against my basic personality to ignore it and hold onto a grudge instead. So with a slightly annoyed huff I finally spoke. “Fine, I’ll help you look. Start heading back to your place well start searching from there, and don’t worry I’ll catch up,” I said before turning back into my home to grab my scarf, jacket and boots.

Lyra wasted little time, giving me a quick nod before she rushed off into the snowfall and the increasing darkness that told a tale of fast approaching night.

Once I had put on my winter clothing again I turned off the lights and took flight through the falling snow, heading straight for Lyra and Bonbon’s home. Since I took the straight path I arrived before Lyra did and as such I contemplated if I should wait for her to arrive or not. After a moment of silent debating with myself I decided that I would start by checking if Bonbon had somehow returned before Lyra arrived, with a bit of luck this would prove to be a big misunderstanding. Even if Bonbon probably will yell at me for suddenly entering her home. I thought before knocking loudly on the door.

I waited a few seconds before calling out. “Is anyone home?!”

When only silence met me I tried knocking on the door again before ultimately trying to open the door, only to find it to be unlocked. That’s odd? I thought as I carefully pushed the door open to look inside the dark house. Either Lyra had forgotten to lock the door when she ran around trying to find Bonbon or there was a possibility that someone was inside. With that in mind I cautiously bent down so that I could enter the pony sized door. The inside was rather cramped for someone of my height and I couldn’t stand up straight without my head hitting the ceiling, despite this I let my gaze sweep over the room I had entered finding nothing out of place. Not that I would now if anything was out of place to begin with though as I had never actually been in Lyra and Bonbon’s home before.

I closed the door behind me before slowly moving further into the first room, finding that on my left was a staircase leading to the second floor and to my right was an open doorway leading to a kitchen. A kitchen that was just as dark as the room I currently stood in. Walking over to the doorway to my right first I threw a quick glance into the kitchen but quickly came to the conclusion that there was no possibility of anyone hiding in there. A creak from the floor above caused me to freeze in the middle of turning around. I held my breath as I waited for any more sounds but when nothing more was heard I exhaled softly, although I didn’t relax. On quick but silent feet I made my way back through the room and to the base of the staircase. Peering up said staircase I was met with an area even darker the room I was in. I quickly pondered whether I should wait for Lyra before proceeding further but my urge to be done with this whole affair reared its head once more and so I started to ascend the stairs.

I made a point of not stepping in the middle of any steps to minimize the risk of any creaking boards in the staircase, and managed to reach the top without making much noise. But despite my best efforts to stealthily ascend the stairs my only reward was a dark corridor with three doors, all of which were closed. Carefully opening the closest door that was just in front of me revealed a small linen closet and as such it was closed again before I advanced down the corridor to the next door.

As the second door was pushed open just as carefully I found myself looking into a bedroom that more than likely belonged to Bonbon if the wallpapers were anything to go by. The dark room however appeared to be empty and since I had no desire to mess up whatever dark vision I had acquired to this point I didn’t bother with trying to find any light switch. Instead I left the room whilst leaving the door open as I quietly hurried over to the last room. If whatever had caused the creaking was anything I could catch this was the most likely room. Spurred on by that reasoning I threw open the last door, rushing into another bedroom that had to belong to Lyra. The room however was just as empty as the last one, scratching my head slightly I let my gaze carefully wander over the room. My eyes stopped at the window, through which I could see that the snowfall had increased heavily. I made to turn around but froze as my eyes took in another detail regarding the window, it wasn’t latched.

My curiosity peeked I approached slowly, but as got close enough to get a good view out of the window I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I crossed my arms and chewed lightly on the tip of my tongue as I pondered what it could’ve been that caused the noise. I wasn’t quite ready to rule out that sound had been a natural occurrence.

“What are you doing in here?” Lyra’s voice rung out behind me.

I turned to find the mint green unicorn standing in the doorway. “I thought it would be best to look through the house first to see if she had returned or if not search for clues, but I have found nothing of the sort. I only went up here to check on a noise I heard,” I explained.

“Oh, okay then. Come on let’s go downstairs to come up with a plan,” Lyra suggested more calmly than she had sounded before as she stepped to the side to allow me out of the room.

I walked over to her and placed hand on her back giving her comforting pat. “I know you’re worried Lyra you don’t have to put on an act,” I told her as I gave her an understanding smile.

Lyra’s expression fell a bit. “I- uh… sure Cloud,” she said.

I gave her a nod and moved past her, heading towards the staircase. I got about halfway when I suddenly froze mid step. The last time I saw Lyra she was incredibly distraught and was running through the falling snow. Why isn’t her coat wet or cold?

I turned slowly again coming face to face with what at the very least looked like Lyra Heartstrings. “Who are you?” I asked in a steely voice.

“What do you mean Cloud? I’m Lyra,” the mint green pony in front of me claimed in a confused tone.

I tried to subtly get ready to leap at a moment’s notice as I answered with a question of my own. “Why isn’t your coat wet or cold from melted snow?”

“Oh is that all? I used a spell to dry myself of when I came in,” Lyra responded.

It was plausible explanation but I wasn’t quite ready to buy it. “Alright what about-” I began when Lyra’s voice rang out from downstairs.

“Cloud are you in here?!”

I barely had time to throw myself to the side as the now clearly fake Lyra fired off a green energy blast at me as she rushed past.

Scrambling to my feet I cried out to the real Lyra downstairs as I started to give chase. “Lyra, stop it!”

“Stop whaaaaa!?” Lyra’s voice replied as I rushed down the stairs, entering the room bellow just in time to see a surprised Lyra get showed out of the way by her double.

Shit! I cursed mentally as I charged past and after the impostor, behind me I could hear Lyra scramble to her hooves. I got out in the heavy snowfall wildly looking around until I caught a hint movement to my right, causing me to rush in that direction. I was soon joined by Lyra’s thundering hooves as she ran up beside me, easily keeping pace.

“What the hay is that thing Cloud?!” she called out as we chased what was essentially a shadow among the thousands of dancing snowflakes in the air.

“No idea, but my best guess is a changeling!” I called back as our chase led us closer and closer to the edge of Ponyville.

“A changeling!” Lyra exclaimed as we ran past the last few houses marking the city limit. “Do you think it has something to do with Bonbon’s disappearance?!”

“Most likely,” I called back while keeping my eyes on the fleeing form ahead of us.

For a minute or two we ran in silence until a thought entered my mind. “We’re not heading towards the Everfree are we?” I asked Lyra, daring to throw a glance at the mare running beside me.

Lyra shook her head as she answered. “No this direction is towards the White tail woods I think,”

“How far off is the tree line by your estimate?” I asked as a feeling of dread had started to grow in me.

Lyra didn’t answer immediately but when she did her voice was uncertain. “At the pace we’re keeping maybe ten minutes? It’s hard to tell with all the snow,”

Shit… I thought as I pushed myself to increase my pace which was already being hindered by the thick blanket of snow on the ground. “Lyra listen up,” I began, making sure that she was listening before I continued. “We have to catch whatever that thing is before it reaches the tree line otherwise I think we’ll never catch it,” I urged my companion as pushed myself to run faster again.

Lyra didn’t respond but the sound of her hooves impacting the snow covered ground didn’t diminish either so it was safe to assume that she was keeping up. The fact that finding this impostor would become that much harder if it reached the forest was only part of the reason I wanted to catch it before it reached the trees. The second part was the fact that it had deliberately picked this direction to flee in making me suspect that it might have back up waiting for it in the forest. Yet despite the increase in pace by me and Lyra the thing tauntingly kept itself at the same distance from us, remaining an unclear shadow among the falling snow flakes. Something feels wrong about this, but what? I wondered as I had begun to sweat under the warm clothes that I wore. Just as I begun to make out a hint of the approaching White tail woods a thought suddenly struck me, why had it only bothered to run faster once we did… It’s leading us somewhere! I realized as the shadow we had chased so far was swallowed by the now fast approaching tree line.

“Lyra stop!” I cried out as I came to a sliding halt on the white ground.

Lyra, who responded a moment later to my cry shot past me before coming to a sliding stop of her own. “What? We almost had it why stop?” she wondered loudly.

“Continuing further without back up would be foolish at best, we need to-” I began but Lyra cut me off.

“No!” she shouted. “We’re so close and if we go back to get more ponies now it will definitely get away,” she declared with conviction before breaking into a sprint towards the trees.

Impatient fucking unicorn! I cursed as I was left with no choice but to rush after her. Through trees with branches heavy with snow I chased the mint green unicorn as she frantically ran through the forest, hunting for the shadow we had chased before.

“I saw it! This way!” she suddenly cried out, changing direction sharply.

“God damn it Lyra just stop and think about this for a second!” I called after her as I tried to keep up with the sudden alignment change.

Lyra however would have none of it and so over roots and rocks, hidden by the snow, the chase continued. I couldn’t see what Lyra was chasing but I had little doubt that it was indeed whatever we had chased before. What frightened me though was the fact that I now was certain that we were being led somewhere and where this was I could only guess. Yet despite what could turn out to be an incredibly dangerous situation I couldn’t turn back without abandoning Lyra, and that was something my conscience wouldn’t allow. Growling to myself I did the only thing I could and followed my former friend on the wild hunt she was leading until she finally came to a screeching halt on the snowy ground. Having seen her stop I slowed my pace so that I could easily come to stop beside her.

I spent a few seconds to catch my breath before addressing Lyra. “Okay did you finally come to your senses or something?” I asked with more than a hint of venom in my voice.

Lyra snorted in an irritated manner. “I haven’t lost my senses, it ran into there,” she said, raising a hoof to point at something.

I strained my eyes to try and see what Lyra was referring to and was barely able to make out a small wooden cottage in front of us. From what I could see of the dark cottage it was a small affair with a single window and a door that was currently closed. In my peripheral I saw Lyra start moving again but this time I was close enough to get in front of her.

“What the hell do you think that you’re doing?” I hissed at her.

Lyra met my eyes with an angry expression. “I’m going to go inside to find out what the hay is going on,” she all but growled at me before she tried to move around me.

I wouldn’t have any of it though as I moved to block her path again, flaring my wings aggressively while I was at it. “You need cool the fuck down, hasn’t it occurred to you yet that we were deliberately led here!” I shouted in her face as my frustration neared its breaking point.

My sudden shout seemed to jolt Lyra out of her funk and she backpedaled quickly from my open act of aggression. “I- I-” she stammered but I cut her off.

“No I don’t want to hear any damn excuses, at this point it’s too late anyway. But from here on out you listen to what I say, understood?” I ordered as I fixed my gaze on hers.

Lyra swallowed loudly. “Understood,”

I exhaled slowly, letting some of the tension go as I did so. “I understand that you’re worried but if we get caught in a trap there will be no one to help Bonbon,” I berated her in a calmer but still stern voice.

Lyra only nodded so I opted to continue. “Well then now we’re going to examine this cottage but if we don’t find anything we’ll leave and return tomorrow with more back up, are we in agreement?” I questioned.

Lyra nodded again. “Yes,”

“Good, then fall in behind me and watch my back,” I ordered her as I turned to once more face the cottage.

It was just as unassuming that it had been a few moments ago, yet it held an ominous air to it. As if it was hiding some dark secret that was tauntingly obvious if you knew what to look for. Such knowledge wasn’t anything either me or Lyra had as we approached the cottage slowly, finding nothing out of the ordinary except a set of hoofprints leading straight to the door where they cut off. I carefully made my way over to the window and threw a glance inside but all I could make out in the poor light was a table with some sort of lamp on it and a couple of wooden chairs. Creeping back to the door I threw a glance at Lyra, giving her a quick nod to indicate that I was about to open it. I received a quick determined nod from Lyra and as I pushed open the door the two of us rushed in ready to confront whatever we had been chasing. What we found however was not the imposter, instead I saw something that made my eyes widen and my hairs to stand on end.

There in front of us were two pod like things hanging from the ceiling and inside floated the shapes of two severely malnourished ponies. For a moment I couldn’t move as I struggled to comprehend just exactly what it was that I was looking at. A thump to my side caused me to jump slightly, bringing me back to the moment.

I looked down and found Lyra sitting on her haunches a terrified expression plastered on her features. “Lyra!” I called sharply, making her snap her gaze away from the pods.

Now that I had her attention I continued. “Light your horn Lyra we need to see who’s inside the pods,” I told her in the calmest voice I could muster for the moment.

Lyra gulped loudly again before nodding. I closed my eyes just before Lyra’s horn lit up, making it so that I wouldn’t suffer too much of a time delay for my eyes to refocus to the new light level. The sound of Lyra gasping made me open them quickly again though and I had to hold back a gasp of my own. Now illuminated by Lyra’s magical light the occupants of the pods became clear one of them being a maroon earth pony stallion the other being Bonbon both floating in some kind of thick fluid.

“Stand back,” I ordered Lyra as I quickly summoned Imagination, plunging the spear into the thick membrane of the pod containing Bonbon.

The slippery fluid washed over my hands and forearms as I worked quickly to cut a hole into pod while at the same time trying to be careful to not accidentally hurt Bonbon. As soon as I had made a hole large enough I reached in and pulled the still unconscious mare out, handing her over to Lyra’s care before I hurried over to the other pod. As I worked on the second pod I heard Lyra’s attempts to rouse Bonbon from whatever induced slumber she had been subjugated to. As I pulled out the stallion from his pod one thing immediately became apparent to me, he lacked the body heat Bonbon had had when I pulled her out. Refusing to give up yet though I quickly put him down on the floor to check his breathing and pulse but I found neither. I clenched my jaw before looking over to Lyra and found her to looking at me with an unasked question playing across her features. I didn’t answer but shook my head, causing her ears to drop visibly.

“Is Bonbon?” I asked as to which Lyra nodded quickly.

“She has a pulse but her breathing is weak,” she supplied weakly.

A sudden gale rattled the cottage, making me throw a glance towards the window and the dancing slow flakes outside. With Bonbon’s state she’ll never survive transport from here to Ponyville if she has to go through the cold with that liquid clinging to her. I pondered for a moment before quickly stripping off my warm if somewhat sweaty winter jacket, it would be better at shielding her from the elements than nothing. And so with the help of Lyra we quickly wrapped the still unconscious Bonbon in my jacket, grabbing the bundle I stood up and headed for the door Lyra following on quick hooves. Before we even reached the open doorway a second thud sounded behind us making both of us turn around carefully. Behind the now empty pods stood a snarling changeling, its eyes fixed on me and the bundle I carried. I carefully threw a glance towards the ceiling behind the pods and spotted two more changelings that wore the same hateful snarling expression as the on the floor.

“Lyra, grab the Bonbon and go,” I murmured.

Lyra grabbed the bundle with Bonbon in it with her magic but didn’t leave. “I’m not leaving you in this mess Cloud,” she declared in a shaky voice.

“Bonbon needs to get to a doctor as soon as possible there’s no time to argue,” I said through clenched teeth as I slowly but deliberately summoned Imagination again and settled into a ready stance, my eyes never leaving the changelings.

“I can’t-” she began to protest but I cut her off once again during this excursion.

“Just go!” I roared at her, causing her to finally sprint out of the door, the bundle with Bonbon floating away securely in her grip.

The changelings however made no attempt to follow after Lyra but continued to his and snarl at me. “What? Not going meet your end early?” I taunted, but got nothing but snarls as a response.

I began to slowly back out of the cottage when a weirdly distorted voice rang out from within the cottage. “Leaving so soon? My queen would love to talk to you,” It said before a fourth changeling stepped out from behind a fake wall panel.

This one was different in the sense that it had more ponylike eyes instead of the empty blue ones of the other three changelings in the room, that didn’t make them show much more emotion though.

I gave an overly fake smile. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have business elsewhere tonight so I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” I told the changeling, making no attempt to sell the obvious lie.

I began to back out of the cottage slowly once more but was interrupted by the speaking changeling again. “Oh such a shame, I guess we’ll just have to keep the pink one a bit longer then,” It stated almost nonchalantly making me freeze in place.

“Oh didn’t you have business elsewhere?” it asked mockingly as it observed my reaction.

I ground my teeth. “Why should I trust you? What proof do you have that you have her?” I pressed, although inside I was acutely aware that they had me. I just couldn’t take the risk that it was a ruse.

The smirk that appeared on the changeling’s face told me that it knew as well. “What proof do you have that we don’t have her?” it stated smugly.

I glared at it, before forcing myself to adopt a twisted mask of a smile. “Well then it seems that my schedule might allow me to meet with your queen after all,” I said with forced delight.

The mocking smile grew. “I thought that might be the case, after you,” it said making a motion towards the opening behind the fake panel where it had come from.

“Oh, nono after you,” I said motioning with one hand, the other still gripping my weapon tightly.

The mocking expression fell into a flat one. “I’m afraid I’ll have to insist and unsummon your spear too,” it stated in tone that matched its new expression.

I gave a forced polite nod, letting go of Imagination and stepping forward slowly until I had the changelings at my back and the entrance in front of me. What I saw was black staircase leading deep into the ground, lit with the occasional flickering torch.

“Start moving,” the talking changeling ordered, making me slowly and cautiously start to descend down stairs and into the unknown.

I walked in relative silence, the only sound being that of hoofsteps hitting the steps of the stone staircase. Due to the sparsely placed torches the staircase gave of the illusion of going on forever and as the minutes trickled by I began to wonder if it actually did do so. Just as I was about ask my guides how much further this was going to go on the walls and ceiling opened up to reveal a huge underground chamber with hundreds if not thousands of changelings milling about in the flickering torchlight. There was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t leave here unless I was allowed to or perhaps was rescued but given the circumstances I had little choice. So I continued to descend into the strangely organic chamber, the air growing more and more humid with each step until I finally reached the bottom of the staircase.

I looked over my shoulder to the four changelings that were following me. “Were to from here?” I asked in a flatly.

The one with the different eyes spoke again. “Just continue to the end of the chamber,” it said before jabbing at me with its jagged horn, making hop forward and keep moving.

I said nothing more and tried my best to keep my focus ahead of me, thinking that I could see a hint of a throne like structure at the furthermost wall of the chamber. As I walked I took notice of the occasional changeling with more lifelike eyes as the milling sea of changelings parted before me while I walked, but those changelings were at the most one per fiftieth subject. Somewhere halfway down the chamber’s length I could clearly make out a raised dais with a throne like structure upon it, despite the sparse lighting, and after another few minutes of walking I could see the imposing figure of what I assumed was the queen.

Eventually we reached the bottom of the dais from where I could clearly see the queen of these changelings if I turned my head slightly upwards. She bore the a resemblance of an alicorn, sharing their relatively large stature and the fact that she, like the rest of her species, had both a horn and wings not to mention that she had something resembling a mane. That’s where the similarities ended though, like the other changelings in the chamber she had chitin instead of a coat and holes going through the strangest places of her legs. From the superior smile she was giving me I could also tell that she had fangs instead of normal flat pony teeth, seeing no reason to delay my reason for being there I decided to speak first.

“The queen of the changelings I presume?” I said stiffly whilst adopting a forced smile again.

The large changeling smiled smugly down at me. “Yes, I am Chrysalis queen of the changelings and you are Cloud or should I perhaps say Stormcloud?” she stated in that strange distorted voice the other changeling had used, although with a distinct female quality to it.

I recoiled slightly before I could stop myself. Just how much does she know? I wondered. Unfortunately she picked up on the fact that I had reacted much more quickly than I would’ve liked as she stood up from her throne and started to walk down towards me.

“Ah yes, didn’t think I’d know about that?” she asked as her smug smile grew, showing off her sharp fangs.

I remained silent as she started to slowly circle around me. “I know all about you human, who your friends are, the soul weapon you carry, the love of your life, your past,” she boasted as she walked.

“I’m only here for my friend, tell me what you want,” I told her curtly.
“Hmpf, so impatient. You will get to see her in due time my dear human,” Chrysalis remarked teasingly as she completed her circuit.

“How about you show her to me now, so that I know that you’re not lying?” I shot back almost instantly, I was in no mood for her games.

Chrysalis gave an obviously fake sigh as she lit her horn and a green circle of fire appeared on the floor behind her and from said circle ascended the unconscious and battered form of my friend. Just what have they done to her! My mind screeched as I took in the scene. Pinkie’s body and face were bruised, her coat was dirty and in some places stained with dried blood, lastly her mane hung limply and her breathing seemed labored. A heavy scowl formed as I took in the state of Pinkie’s body but before I could put my anger into words Chrysalis spoke again.

“She has herself to blame for the injuries as she tried to escape and since we couldn’t put her in a pod we needed to keep her unconscious…” she commented offhandedly as a malicious smile grew on her muzzle.

“I swear if you hurt her again I’m going to kill you,” I told the queen truthfully. I was surprised at how calm my voice sounded as my insides were churning with an uncontrolled anger.

“Tut, tut Cloud. I’m afraid that I can’t tolerate such threats from you, any more of those and I’ll have to break something,” she berated me as if scolding a naughty child while her magic grabbed the unconscious form of Pinkie to make a point.

I swallowed my anger as best I could, much to Chrysalis’ delight. “Good, I knew you would see reason.” She purred before continuing. “Now onto why I arranged for you to come here, I’d like to offer you a chance to join me,” she said tauntingly.

“And just why the hell should I do that?” I asked incredulously.

“Oh Cloud, I could teach you so much. Take that spear you wield for example did you know that even you were to be killed it wouldn’t bind to anyling else until it has completely recharged? Yes I can see that you understand, simply killing you would be such a waste,” Chrysalis said in a friendly tone that I didn’t trust for a second.

“Why would you tell me this? And you still haven’t given me a good reason to abandon those I call friends and family, are you truly that deluded to think that I’d turn my back on all those I care for?” I questioned

Chrysalis seemed undeterred by my questions though. “Oh but I could offer you so much more than what you have if you would just bow to me,” she purred as she slowly approached.

“Whatever fantasies and desires you have could be reality,” she said with a smirk as flash of green consumed my vision and I was forced blink.

The next thing I knew a pair of lips pressed against mine in a quick kiss. “You’ll join me won’t you, young Cloud?” Luna asked.

I raised a hand to push away the impostor but in another flash of green it was suddenly Tia standing in front of me causing me to freeze. “I can be any mare you’d like me to be,” fake Tia told me in a sultry voice, making me to snap back to reality due to the completely out of character statement. I resumed the motion I had frozen in and shoved the queen away from me.

Or that had been my intention but the queen sidestepped my somewhat clumsy attempt to shove her as she shed her disguise. She looked at me with fake disappointment. “I’m afraid that that attempt is going to cost you,” she stated flatly and before I could react I had been forced down on my knees by the changelings surrounding me as Chrysalis hoisted the unconscious Pinkie in the air with her magic.

She looked down on me with that smug smile of hers as I struggled against the changelings keeping me in place. “A leg I think,” she stated as she studied my face a second later a sickening crack echoed through the chamber followed by the howl of pain from Pinkie as her left forehoof was snapped by Chrysalis’ magic.

It took a moment for my brain to register the surreal situation, Pinkie whimpering on the ground where she had been discarded while Chrysalis observed me with a cruel smile. “You… you… BASTARD!” I shouted at the queen attempting to throw myself at her in my rage but was effectively held down by the changelings.

Chrysalis set her eyes on me. “Calm yourself down before I break something else,” she hissed at me before putting on a fake smile again. “Now, perhaps I didn’t make it clear enough,” she said slowly, stopping to make sure I was listening. “I’m offering you a way to escape any personal suffering out of the kindness in my heart. However, if you continue to refuse my kind offer I’m personally making sure that you’re the first to suffer,” she explained patiently, as if the writing was on the wall.

“What kind of sociopath are you?” I muttered under my breath before I could stop myself.

Chrysalis’ expression instantly soured again. “That’s another leg,” she declared darkly.

My eyes widened. “No, sto-” I tried but was cut off as another crack rung out followed by Pinkie screaming in agony.

As Pinkie again devolved into pained whimpers I looked back at Chrysalis. “Why? Why are you doing this? Why are you so fixated at me?” I demanded loudly.

Chrysalis threw back her head and laughed. “Why? Because breaking you and presenting you as a loyal pet to Celestia would be priceless. Imagine the look of horror on her face when the last thing she sees is you kissing my hoof before she’s forever sealed in a cocoon. That is the only value to keeping you alive,” she explained as mad grin made its way onto her face.

I just stared at her, was she truly this insane? Come on think, how the hell do I get out of here with Pinkie? I had time to think before Chrysalis leaned in right in front of my face.

“So what is your answer going to be? Are you going to swear fealty to me?” she asked sounding almost eager.

I need to get Pinkie out of here. The thought echoed in my mind. “Yes, I’ll swear to be yours,” I answered quickly, hoping that it would give me some breathing room.

However my hope turned to ash when Chrysalis spoke again. “Wonderful,” she cheered as she lit her horn.

“Now to test how much truth there is to that promise,” she continued giddily as jagged stone dagger floated into view. “Kill her,” she ordered, pointing a hoof at Pinkie who seemed to have slipped into unconsciousness once more.

I reached for the dagger with a shaky hand, grasping the uneven surface of the grip tightly. The changelings that had been holding me down backed off slightly allowing me to rise to my feet again. Chrysalis looked at me expectantly as I took a careful step forward, bringing me side by side with the queen.

“Go on, kill her,” she urged again, as my mind was going overdrive trying to figure out a way out of all this.

I need a way out. I need a way out. I need a way out! I chanted as my eyes flicked left and right only finding thick walls of changelings to all sides. Ultimately I saw only one chance for getting out and so I lunged at Chrysalis in the hopes of gaining a hostage of my own only to be caught in her magical aura mid lunge.

“Tsk, tsk, Cloud. I’m very disappointed in your choice but I guess I’ll have to go with original plan after all,” she said condescendingly as I felt her pry the dagger out of my grasp.

“Hold him down and make sure he can’t speak or shout,” she ordered her changelings as she forced me down onto my knees again and a moment later I was tethered to that spot by a mass of changelings.

I glared up at her from my position. “Now now Cloud, I gave you multiple chances so don’t give me that look. Don’t worry though I’m not going to kill you, not in that sense,” she assured me, still holding the stone dagger in her magic.

“I do however know just how good of friend this one is to you, one of your metaphorical rocks one could say. In turn I know just how highly she thinks of you,” she continued with a smirk before becoming wreathed in green flames again and when they died down I saw myself holding the stone dagger.

My felt my eyes widen as her intentions slowly started to become clear in my mind and as she started to walk towards Pinkie I started to thrash against those that held me down to no avail. I tried to scream, to get Pinkie to wake up. Only no sound came no matter how much I attempted to make one.

Chrysalis kneeled down beside Pinkie and gently roused the mare from her unconscious state. “Come on Pinks, wake up,” she said in my voice.

From the sidelines I was forced to watch how Pinkie looked up at the impostor. “Cloud? I want to go home,” she murmured, tears brimming in her eyes.

“It’s alright Pinks, it’s alright. We’re getting out of here right now. Just focus on me,” Fake me told Pinkie as it gave her a comforting smile.

“I- I’d li- like that,” Pinkie hiccupped as she was helped up into a sitting position, a hint of hope starting to shine in her eyes.

I saw how Chrysalis tightened her grip on the dagger and I threw myself into panicked attempt to break free. “Just one thing first Pinks,” she said in calm tone.

“Wha-” Pinkie managed to get out before the dagger found its home in her abdomen.

The utter look of betrayal in on Pinkies face as she looked up into my copy’s face was unbearable to watch just as Chrysalis used my face to grin back at her as her life slowly started to slip away. “Good bye Pinks,” she leaned in to whisper loud enough for me to hear as the last light left Pinkie’s eyes.

I could only stare as my mind refused to accept reality, the fight having left me completely as my arms hung motionless at my sides. I was vaguely aware how Chrysalis changed back into her normal self and started to monologue. “This pit of despair you feel Cloud is what happens when you destroy my carefully laid plans. First you helped destroy those who had all but promised my kind food for the rest of our lives. And then you just had to go and effectively seal the powers of your spear for more than five years, making it so that we can’t use it to fight off Discord. Your actions intentional or not have caused me quite a lot of grief so I’ll do the same to you and take everything you love as compensation,” she cackled madly but barely listened in my shocked state.

When I didn’t respond the queen snorted. “Broken so easily?” she questioned before turning to her swarm. “It is time my children, now we take Canterlot!” she roared triumphantly as a massive flaming hole opened behind the throne.

A deafening buzz filled the cavern as thousands of changelings took to the air at the same time, all of them heading straight for the fiery hole. I wasn’t paying attention to the mass of bodies rushing past me though as I stumbled to my feet, slowly walking over to Pinkies body. No… it’s a trick. It’s just another changeling trick. I tried to reassure myself. But even my own attempts felt empty as I could remember that changelings couldn’t keep their transformation when unconscious and so I had no illusion that death would be any different. Nonono… I refused, as I felt my eyes start to mist up when I looked down at my friends broken form, her face still locked in a state of betrayal while her eyes stared unseeingly into space.

I was barely aware that the buzzing had stopped and I was left alone in the chamber. I- I- I can’t… I tried to form a thought as tears now rolled down my cheeks. Not her. I produced as my legs gave out under me about an arm’s length away from her current resting place. “Please…,” I whispered desperately, as reached out with an arm. When my hand made contact with the still warm and dirty coat, I had to force myself to not pull it away.

“P- Please no…,” I sobbed as I carefully pulled the much smaller body towards me.

I gently cradled her in my arms, not caring about the blood that got onto my clothes and person. “Plea- se you can’t be,” I pleaded as I wept, my tears falling uncontrollably on the already stained coat.

But no answer came, no miracle was there to save the day as I threw my head back and howled out my anguish for the world to hear. I screamed and screamed until my voice turned raw and my tears burned in my eyes, all while rocking her small and lifeless form. Eventually I couldn’t scream anymore and I was left sitting on my knees, my whole body trembling from my sobs. Still cradling her in my left arm I reached up and closed her blind eyes with my right hand, before once more hugging the lifeless body close to me again.

I sat there in the dimly lit chamber for what felt like hours, accompanied only by the echoes of my sobbing. At some point my tears dried up and I found myself just sitting there staring out into space as I desperately refused to let go of the body. My thoughts were a mess as image after image flickered past faster than I could comprehend what they were showing. Yet in that chaotic torrent of images one kept bubbling to the surface, one of Chrysalis’ laughing face. Something slowly started to grow inside me, an ember that begged for fuel. It was her fault.

The embers soon started to push away my sorrow as they grew, causing as my expression hardened. I need to make her pay. I growled in my head as the embers turned into a flame. My jaw clenched painfully as my body trembled, no longer from sadness but from the rapidly growing rage within me. I carefully put Pinkies body down as my features slowly morphed into vicious snarl.

She needed to die. I produced as I stood up from where I had been sitting, my now clenched hands shaking from the mounting fury I felt. Then I felt it, the siren’s song I had battled to ignore in the past once more called out to me. Not with any words understandable by tongues of mortals but a resonance between primal forces. My rage and the raging snowstorm outside of the chamber called out to each other, begged to feed of each other.

Like a seductive whisper in my mind it beckoned, it promised that it would be so easy. To give it all up, to surrender myself and escape from the sorrow that tore at my soul. And so I ceased to be Cloud, I was the storm and the storm was me. The now bloodstained scarf I wore flapped in an ethereal wind ignoring the howling gale that now surrounded me, however I was not aware of this fact. My mind had long since surrendered to a single thought, and so I wasn’t even aware that imagination formed in my now bloodstained hands as lightning tore through roof of the chamber.

A storm was coming and I wasn’t in control…

Author's Notes:

Aight, big chapter finally doneish. There are probably a ton of mistakes in this but those will be ironed out over time. Despite stuff like that I hope you enjoyed this dark turn (though I hated writing it).

Next chapter, The demon of Canterlot...