Apricot could hear hoof-steps in the distance. However, this was not the trotting of regular hooves. Many ponies recognized the sound of changeling hooves upon stone. He turned to his children, who were still playing with their toys on the floor.

"Cream, Cinnamon. Put your toys away and look proper. Someone is at the door" Apricot said as he took a peek through the seeing-eye on the door. He choked back dread as his worries were confirmed; three changelings in shrouds stood before his front door.

Apricot opened his door to greet the mysterious visitors with somewhat feigned happiness mixed with desperation. "Hello, gentlecolts. How may I help you?"

One of the figures closest to the door undid his hood to revealed himself. The figure who presented himself to Apricot made him quake and quiver. "General Verulius Constantine." The stallion in the center bowed in respect to Apricot. "I do not wish to barge in unannounced, but could my friends and I ask you some questions, perhaps?"

Thinking of no other option, Apricot stepped aside from his doorstep to usher the visitors inside. Constantine was unlike most changelings Apricot had seen before. Instead of a feral appearance like most other changelings, he was quite dashing. Whilst his complexion still remained a dark blue like most others, his young features, and charismatic demeanor complemented his extensive general-attire. However, his young body was contradicted by his stark white hair. Strangest of all was the horn atop his head, and this was not the twisted horn of Chrysalis. It was the horn of a common unicorn. Apricot simply gawked at the conundrum that was this mysterious stallion, as he tried to formulate why he had intruded in his house.

"Perhaps you wish for an explanation, my friend." Constantine gestured to Apricot's adjacent dining room chair closest to himself. "Please sit, it is your home after all. I do not wish to make you feel uncomfortable in it."

Reluctantly Apricot sank to his chair; still unsure about the situation he was in. Regardless he turned to his daughter's.

"Put out some apricots, and make some tea for these guests, Cream. Cinnamon, go upstairs to your room." Apricot said with subtle harshness to his voice.

"Very kind of you indeed sir," Constantine said appreciatively. "Now, let's get down to business shall we?"

Apricot nodded his head, and his daughter set out a plat full of fresh apricots on the table.

"Well then, I have come to understand based on my sources that you had sold some fresh fruit to a couple of ponies a few days ago, no?" Constantine crossed his leg in a polite manner.

"You'll have to be more specific General," Apricot suggested as he took a bite from the fresh fruit. "I get all kinds of customers every day."

"Yes, I apologize. They were a stallion and a mare, one was a unicorn whilst the other was a pegasus. The unicorn was clad in armor, and the pegasus was in common clothing." Constantine crossed his arms in deep thought, trying to recollect the information. "Ring any bells?"

"Well, yes. There was a pair like the ones you're describing, I think." Apricot remembered. "They had bought some fresh apricots from my store and then darted away."

"Good, good. Now, was there by any chance... a dragon?" Constantine picked up an apricot and took a small bite.

Apricot did not approve of Constantine's nosiness and had sat silently in response.

"Mmm. You know... Apricot, correct? My mother owned a fresh fruit farm not far from here." Constantine added, taking another bite from his fruit. "I spent most of my childhood with her at that farm."

"Is that so?" Apricot replied with a barely noticeable amount of sarcasm.

"Yes. My father worked far away as a soldier for the changeling army, and my mother tended the farm along with me. We were very happy." Constantine's eyes looked across the room as a wave of nostalgia filled his mind with warm memories.

"That sounds nice." Apricot was listening intently, but this was out of respect rather than interest.

"Yes, it was. Until a group of dragons burnt my farm, my home, and my mother to ashes in their blind rampage. They are reckless animals that do not understand anything else but chaos..." Constantine's relaxed expression quickly melted away to reveal a look of utter disgust. "Do you see now? I must find this dragon before he acquires dangerous items my superiors are interested in. I must know why you are withholding this information from me."

"You have no business asking these questions of me, and you have no business in Equestria, bug. I'm alerting the authorities-..." One of the changelings blocked the door, preventing escape.

"You know sometimes an apricot tree would yield sour fruit. Do you know what we would do when we found diseased branches?" Constantine snapped his finger's, and the two other changelings nabbed Cream and Cinnamon. "We cut them off."

"You sick bastards!" Apricot yelled as the changelings drew their sabers; drawing them closer to the children's necks. He was held back against the living room door by Constantine, who's grip was far stronger than it looked.

"Please! Please don't do this! I'll tell you what you need to know!" Constantine dropped Apricot as he fell to his knees and begged, tears streaming down his face as he did so.

"Good." Constantine hissed.

"There was a dragon visiting the pub near the docks, and I also heard something else, but... this is just a rumor." Apricot desperately blurted out, followed by a curious silence from Constantine. "I had heard that the captain of their ship was another dragon! A thunder dragon!"

"Thank you! Now was that so hard?" Constantine grinned, eyes wide and dripping with malice.

That single expression from Constantine was enough to send chills down Cream and Cinnamon's spine, raising the hairs on their neck's. Constantine's evil demeanor subsided quickly, however, and he started acting like himself again.

"Thank you for your time, my friend." Constantine thanked the shivering stallion as he began to walk out the door, with his troops following not far behind. "Our talk has been... most educational."

Apricot was still in shock from the event and swiftly grabbed his daughters in relief that they remained unscathed. Mere steps from Apricot's door, Constantine grabbed a small orb out of his pocket. The orb glowed a faint green, and a voice echoed from it.

"Have you found the location of Draven?" Chrysalis inquired.

"Yes. It seems our friend has acquired new crew members; a fire dragon and a pegasus that I believe you might have been acquainted with before." Constantine answered her.

The orb heated from Chrysalis' sheer rage. "Those infuriating friends of Twilight Sparkle?! The mare who ruined my plans!?"

"I take it you recognize the names... Now, what shall you have me do, my lady?" Constantine asked.

"I want you to find them! Kill them! Humiliate them! Make them suffer in my name, and let them be examples to our enemies!" Chrysalis was blind in her anger but quickly relaxed as Constantine replied back.

"Now, now, my dear. Let me handle that manner of business. We need to focus on the task at hand; retrieving the Sorcerer's Stones." Constantine insisted. "I have an idea as to how we shall come at this task, but first I need the full force of our army. Do I have your permission?"

"Very well, General, you have my permission. Shall you set sail to the Blacklands soon?" Chrysalis inquired.

"Yes, but first, I must tend to an order of business," Constantine explained. "Which brings me to my next question."

"What is that?" Chrysalis said; somewhat curious.

"Where is Ponyville?" Constantine's lunatic-smile once again returned, this time, more psychotic than ever. "I think I should get to know this Twilight Sparkle more in-depth..."

"I shall give you the location soon, General," Chrysalis promised as Constantine placed the orb back in his pocket.

"Sir, what shall we do with the shopkeeper and his family?" One changeling soldier asked; looking back at the closed door they had exited not long ago.

"They know too much. Kill them all." Constantine answered as he looked back to the soldier, eyes wide with lunacy.

****

Twilight had felt quite guilty over the past few days for angering Spike, for letting Fluttershy go after him alone, and for turning up nothing when she looked for them. She, however, could not function after this much sleep-deprivation, and was far too tired to even be miserable. Yet, sleep evaded Twilight in her restlessness, and never once could she get a full hour of deep sleep in the days passed by.

Before she was angry at Spike for leaving, but now all she wanted was to have him by her side. All she wanted to know that he was okay, and if Fluttershy was with him. Her sadness was cut short, however, by an abrupt knock at the door. She got to her feet quickly, realizing it could be the authorities delivering news about the investigation. Twilight's eagerness dissolved though when she met a group of changelings standing at her doorstep. The taller one near the center pulled up his hood and spoke.

"My name is General Verulius Constantine." The changeling bowed in greetings to Twilight. "Are you by any chance Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

"I am, why?" Twilight remained cautious of the strange changelings at her doorstep.

"Very good." Constantine nodded to the changeling next to him.

The changeling attempted to club Twilight over the head, but she dodged. With her magic, she blew the group back, causing them to fall on their backs; all but Constantine.

"Did you take Spike?! If you wish to abduct me, I won't go down without a fight!" Twilight stated, well aware she was in no mental nor physical shape to battle after days without adequate sleep.Twilight stepped outside and cast a spell, creating twin purple swords of magical energy. The troops attempted to strike at her but were halted by Constantine.

"Stand aside. I shall deal with her myself." Constantine unsheathed a magical saber that glowed a ghostly green energy, and with his sword issued a battle salute to his foe. "I can assure you I have nothing to do with your dragon friend's disappearance. Alas, I will have much to do with his demise, of course..."

In a flash of green and purple light, their blades clashed. Constantine began dodging Twilight's fast and agile strikes directed at his chest, and immediately countered with his saber, swinging high and low to wear her down. However, Constantine withdrew from the frenzy and backed off, taking his time to analyze his foe before attacking once more.

"You are most assuredly worthy of my effort, young-princess!" Constantine complimented. "I admire your spirit, but you are far too tired to retaliate again."

Realizing his words were true, Twilight resorted to magical attack instead, firing off large blasts of arcane fire that scorched the ground in front of her. Constantine took heed and swiftly avoided her barrage, releasing precise shots of searing green energy to counter. Twilight raised a magical shield in response, but it broke under the immense amount of power being hurled at it.

Twilight was blown back and landed on her side. She heaved herself back up in determination but nearly crumpled when Constantine took a swing at her again; causing her to panic and defend with her blades. They were at a stand-still as their blades sparked and crackled when they clashed;,Constantine easily overpowering Twilight with one arm as he broke her blades into pieces. Constantine sheathed his saber and approached Twilight.

"You have amused me, Princess, but now your act has grown tiresome." Constantine crouched down to Twilight, who was kneeling out of exhaustion.

Twilight watched in amazement as Constantine's hand began to decay into a skeleton's appendage, glowing a sickening green color as he began to scratch the bottom of her chin. He smiled then murmured an indecipherable language, causing Twilight to feel far more drowsy than she ever had before.

"What is that magic...?" Twilight fell on her back and fainted.

"Take her to the port and load her on the ship. We shall set sail for the Blacklands at dawn, and pursue the enemy." Constantine ordered his soldiers.

"I have much in store for your new dragon friend, Draven..."

Author's Notes:

This chapter is an introduction to the main antagonist of this series, General Verulius Constantine; the Half-Blood Tyrant