"Whew!" Applejack sighed out loud, as she brought up a very large load of freshly-bucked apples in the cart she was carrying, the summer sun shining off it. Taking her hat off, she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. There was a large smile on her face.

"Apples... are... collected!" she cheered again.

"Good job, sis," Big McIntosh complimented, as he walked up to his sister, a long strand of barley in his mouth. "I can take it from here. You should get yourself inside, there's a piece of apple-blueberry crisp with your name on it."

"You got it for now, big brother?" ahe asked the large, red stallion, taking the harness off herself one the cart was on stable ground.

"Eeyup," he replied, as the twisted the barley stalk around in his mouth.

"Alright then. See ya in a few minutes!" she said, waving her hoof at him, before heading to the house.

After a few seconds of trotting, she reached the building. Opening the door, she went in, and saw Granny Smith, sitting on the chair, knitting happily, and humming to herself.

"Hey, Granny," Applejack greeted.

"Hello, sweetie," she replied. "You finished your chores?"

"Sure did," she responded, as she took her hat off, and dusted it, before putting it back on. "Is there any more of that desert left?"

"Why, yes there is, dearie," Granny spoke. "Well, you'd better get it while it's hot. I baked 'em with love."

"And that's just what I plan on doing," she said, with a smile.

Approaching the table, she saw a metal casing covering a plate. Opening it, her expectations of what the delicious, baked food would look like, were replaced with a frown. The plate was empty, save for a few crumbs.

"What?" she groaned in confusion.

"Oh, heh, sorry deary," the aged mare apologized, looking up from her activity. "I guess I forgot to mention that Apple Bloom said she was bringing it out to you."

"She said what?" she asked again, turning back to her elder.

"That she was bringing it out to you, of course."

"Oh, she did, did she?" Appljack said, rolling her eyes. "I see what's going on... I should'a known she'd get me back for me eating her last sugar-coated caramel apple last week."

"Hmmhmmhmm... Well, you should go get it back before it's too late" Granny chuckled. "This ain't no everyday caramel apple. This is a one-of-a-kind apple-blueberry crisp. If I were you, I'd try to at least get a nibble out of it before it disappears."

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack shouted at the top of her lungs.

Apple Bloom, a pack over her back, quietly entered the barn, taking care to shut the doors as silently as possible. When they were closed, she walked to the ladder, and, with some effort, began to scale it.

"Nopony comes up here," she thought to herself, reassuringly, as she finished climbing up the ladder. Creeping over the edge, she clambered into the hay bail-filled loft, and sat down, panting from the effort. It was silent, and dark, but there was enough light shining from the slits in the ceiling and walls for her to see just about everything.

"Now, to look over the spoils," she laughed, as she gently took the tinfoil-covered pie-plate from her backpack, and rested it on one of the multiple wooden boards that made up the ground of the loft. Taking the tinfoil off, and packing it away, she put her nose to the pastry, and sighed in pleasure of its irresistibly delicious smell. She lowered it again, ready to take a large bite.

A sudden, chittering noise, reminiscent of an insect, only at a louder volume, suddenly caught her attention. Forgetting about the dessert, she lifted her head, turned her view behind herself, and to the back of the attic-like environment. At first thinking it was nothing, she was about to return her attention to the scrumptious meal, when she heard it again, unmistakable in its form.

"What is that noise?" she asked herself. Standing up, Apple Bloom, having practically forgotten the food, walked further through the loft, moving the jungle of hay bails, and old equipment out of the way as she searched. When she fully got to the back of the building's tier, she moved one more hay bail aside, and saw something completely, and utterly unexpected. The very sight of it made her cringe in surprised disgust.

Laying in the back corner of the loft, laid a large, ovular, solid object. It appeared blackish-green in color, and looked as if it was attached to the barn's side, with a sticky, mucus-like substance keeping it steady.

"What the... What is that?" she gasped. Before she could approach it, it suddenly bulged, indicating movement inside of it. Squeaking in fear, she dove behind one of the bails, and, after collecting herself, peeked her head out again. Looking, from where she hid, she saw the object move more, like a caterpillar trying to emerge from its chrysalis, only a much larger, and twisted-looking version of it, of course. More of the same, twittering noises continued to be heard, and the filly easily traced it back to the alien object.

Suddenly, a horn, or at least some spiky, thorn-like projection, burst out of it, causing Apple Bloom to flinch. As she watched further, the object sliced through the thin, membranous, organic shell, in a vertical fashion, from up, to down, in a manner akin to a hot knife going through butter. As soon as it pulled back in, a green fluid wept out of the rift, and Apple Bloom watched, in great fear, as a piercing, blue, monochromatic eye stared through it, at her, like a burning coal. To her, it felt as though it was singeing her soul.

Wishing not to see what creature was about to come out, the filly let out a scream of terror, and made a mad dash from her hiding place, to the ladder. While still being careful enough to descend from it safely, but still scared out of her wits, she screamed the whole way down the ladder, and ran out of the barn.

The sac that contained the changeling finally split open as Apple Bloom left, releasing the creature, and a wave of the green liquid, onto the wooden boards of the loft. Coughing, Thoraxis lifted his head, taking in as deep of breaths as he could, as the slime fell from his body.

I'm... Awake? he thought, while he gulped in another deep breath of the summer air. He looked around, his eyesight still not adjusted. Everything looked dizzy and fuzzy, but one thing was clear to him: Something nearby reeked of love.

He started to regain his senses, and took in another deep breath, this time with his nostrils, catching a large hint of the smell. It was definitely love.

"Where could that... scent be... coming from?" he asked himself, as he shakily got onto his holed hooves. When he was fully standing, his head looked in every direction, eyes wide open, trying to find the source of the aroma. The now healed wings on his back began vibrating in excitement. He sniffed it again, and drooled. He had been hibernating for too long to pass up an opportunity to feed.

Stumbling around, Thoraxis finally found what he was looking for. Laying near the edge of the loft, next to where the ladder sat, was what appeared to be a piece of pony-made food. A pie, he thought.

He lifted his head over it, somewhat off-put by its fruity odor, but not enough to keep him away. Without even thinking, the starved changeling started to voraciously eat the apple-blueberry crisp, his fanged jaws snapping open and shut as he greedily devoured it. Most of the food may have tasted bitter to him, due to his kind's sense of taste, but the sheer amount of love in it drove him to finish the meal. By the time he was done, all that was left was the tin pie-plating, licked clean.

I don't know what that was... Thoraxis thought, happily, as he licked his lips. He already felt very rejuvenated from the food. ...But it sure was nourishing.

Stretching his transparent wings out, he let them flutter about, until they were flapping as rapidly as an insect's, letting out a buzzing noise as they became a blur. He quickly rose into the air, and flew down to the ground of the barn.

I need to find out where I am. I Need to find out what to do next... he thought to himself again, making mental notes as he cautiously opening the barn door, and poked his head out.

After looking for any potential witnesses, Thoraxis's jagged ears twitched, and he soon buzzed into the sky, passing into the clouds after but a few seconds.

"Just what in tarnation d'you think that thing is, Twilight?" Applejack asked the princess, as she and her friends stood in the loft, each of them examining the now broken-open, slime-covered object in its back corner. The earth pony had called her friends over a dozen minutes before, unsure of what her sister saw. "As I said before, Applebloom said she saw it when she was sneak'n her treat up here, and she said something was... alive in it. Whatever it was, it was unnerving enough to scare her into leaving without one of her favorite desserts."

"Well, that would explain this," Rainbow Dash said, a hint of disgust in her voice, as she lifted a slightly bent metal pie-plate with her hooves, a green, saliva-like substance oozing from it.

"I know what it is, but I've never seen one in real life before... only vague descriptions in books," Twilight Sparkle replied, a hint of worry in her tone. "This "cocoon" belongs to... a changeling."

They each gasped in surprise, save for Pinkie Pie, who instead wore a confused expression, and started to speak.

"Wait... Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... a changeling?" she started. "You mean like the ones we fought at Princess Cadence's wedding a few months back? Those bug-things with legs that look like Swiss cheese changelings? The things that can morph into whoever they want changelings? Those changelings?"

"Yes," Twilight confirmed. "They make them if they're too weak to fend for themselves, in hopes of something revitalizing will pass by. If one is loose in Ponyville, it could be masquerading as any pony right now."

"Didn't you say they feed off of love?" Applejack asked. "'Cause last I checked, we got a surplus of that here."

"They do..." she sighed. "They drain you of it, and if they get the chance to suck all of it out of you, your heart will turn as black as theirs."

"Goodness... do you know what this means?" Rarity asked.

"Umm... No?" Fluttershy whispered, in a hopeful tone.

"Oh yeah, I know what it means..." Rainbow Dash said in an intense tone, a smirk on her face, as she clapped her two hooves together. "Let's go catch us a changeling!"

"Now, hold your horses, sugar cube. You're forgett'n something," Applejack spoke. "That thing could be disguised as anyone. We can't just go and charge into the place demanding the changeling appear."

"Yes, it will most likely cause quite an uproar," Rarity agreed. "I'd rather not deal with such a creature with a witch hunt going about. Those never seem to end well."

"We should go back to my place," Twilight spoke again. "I'm pretty sure I've got a few books about how to deal with changelings."

"You have books of everything, don't you, Twi?" Rainbow Dash laughed.

"Ooh... What kinds of stuff do you know about changelings right now Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked, in her usual hyperactive voice.

"All I really know is that they're bug-like, can shape-shift, feed off love, and all seem to know how to use balefire magic" the purple-colored alicorn replied. "What we really need to find out is their weaknesses, and how to get one in the open."

A sudden smirk came onto her face.

"...And I think I know just where to start."