Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter was so short, but I had recently written a rather lengthy chapter, so I didn't feel like making another long one so soon.

“We’re here miss.” The stallion said as the two earth ponies pulling the carriage stopped, causing the carriage to stop where it was.

“Already? Huh, thought Ponyville was farther.” Pinkamena said as she glanced at the stallion driving the carriage, turning back to the items before her. Her green backpack sat empty to her right. She was unable to get back to sleep, though she honestly didn't want to. And since Sylia was remaining quiet, and she really didn’t want to talk to The Voice right now. So, out of boredom more than anything, she decided to take inventory of everything in her backpack.

Two hundred and seventy-three bits, about a month's worth of food, a first aid kit, some clothes, a bottle of rum, a lantern, a box of matches and a couple of pastries as snacks. She hadn’t intended to be gone longer than a week, but there was no harm in prepping for longer. She especially didn’t plan to be going to her family’s house when she was packing this, so some of this will end up being unnecessary.

She quickly put the items back into the backpack, which she then put on. She jumped off the carriage, trying to avoid any rocks, those were not pleasant to step on.

“Thanks again,” Pinkamena said as she turned towards him, as he already turned the carriage around and was starting to go back the way they came. He only nodded to her as he drove away, beginning to pick up his pace, and was soon out of her sight.

She turned back around, facing the farm. It was still the middle of the night, so it was fairly dark out. But thanks to her long ride on the carriage, her eyes had more or less adapted, and she could now vaguely see into the dark. She could make things out pretty well around her, but everything far away was more shapes than anything. About a half mile away, she could see the farm. She could see the fence around the farm, the silo she threw her first party at, the windmill beside it, and she could see her old house. She could feel nostalgia as she looked at the farm, most memories of this place weren’t good, but it had its highlights.

As Pinkamena began to walk forward, her right hoof hit a rock, causing her to hiss in sudden pain. She held her hoof up as she looked down, noticing that unlike what she remembered, the rocks weren’t organized at all. They were just in random clumps, not put in order or anything like they should be, which was weird. Igneous was always organized, rarely doing anything outside of schedule.

“Dad must be getting lazy in his old age or something, can’t think of why else he’d let the farm go like this.”

*Yeah...you could say that.*Sylia said, her voice sounding just as weak and strained as before.

“Welcome back couch potato, how are you feeling?” Pinkamena asked jokingly as she looked at the ground, trying to be careful and watch her every step.

*Exhausted...but more tired of sleeping...you?*

Pinkamena scowled as she heard that, something was wrong, she was sure of it. And The Voice was behind, It was behind it, that was the only thing that made sense. But, if The Voice was behind it, that made it next to impossible to find out the truth. She definitely couldn’t help while she was trying to solve her own problems, best she can do is act normal, at least until she has things figured out.

“Honestly? I’m feeling more or less okay right now. Which is weird, because I can’t remember the last time I was. But, right now, I am a bit concerned. The Voice seemed...persistent in getting me to come here, and I trust their intentions about as well as I can touch them. I’d ask you if you knew anything, But I’m almost positive that The Voice is monitoring our conversations, and that they’ll stop you if you try to say anything incriminating. Am I right?”

Pinkamena asked as she walked up to the door of her house, glad the rocks seemed to be more scarce once she got inside the fence.

*Sorry…* Sylia whispered as she began to fade, Pinkamena felt her presence slowly vanish.

“Yeah...that’s what I figured,” Pinkamena said as she sighed, realizing that the next few months were probably going to be very frustrating.

She walked up to the door, noticing that none of the lights were on in the house, which wasn’t that unusual considering how late it was. She went up to one of the windows, wiping some of the dust off of it and trying to peer through. But it was no use, the window was far too dusty on both sides to see in. And even if they weren’t, it was probably too dark to see anyway.

She walked back to the door, lifting her hoof up and preparing to knock on it. But then she was suddenly filled with fear and dread, and she didn’t know whether it was hers. She quickly turned around, as if she felt a presence behind her. But there was nothing, just darkness. She peered into the darkness, as if expecting something to walk out of it. But nothing did, despite this feeling in her gut that something was there. Hesitantly, she turned back around facing the door.

Once again, she hovered her hoof just in front of the door, something telling her not to knock. There was this feeling of dread, like something terrible was about to happen, and she couldn’t shake it! She knocked on the door, suddenly noticing how fast her heartbeat was, and how dry her mouth was. She knocked on it once, twice, then three times. Then she waited, expecting to hear hoofsteps or see the lights come on, or anything! But no, nothing happened, everything was just as silent before.

“Ok...that’s really weird, nopony in my family is a heavy sleeper, I’m starting to get somewhat worried.”

Pinkamena knocked on the door once more, louder and more firm this time. Waiting and hoping to hear something, anything to indicate there was life in the house. But, there was nothing.

She couldn’t wait anymore, she slowly pushed on the door, which did more than just open. The door fell off its hinge, falling forward and landing flat on the ground in front of the house, dust from the door and the floor going into the air.

“Something is wrong here, really wrong!” She said as she slowly walked into the house, barely able to see anything. The inside of the house was darker than outside, since there was no light source anywhere. There was a little bit of light coming from the window, a bit more coming from the frame where the door was. This allowed her to see a foot or two in front of her, but anything past that was pitch black.

Pinkamena slowly took her backpack off and set it beside the door frame, not taking her gaze away from the darkness. She unzipped the backpack and reached in, pulling out the lantern. She sat it beside the backpack, opening it to allow access to the candle within. She reached back in to find the box of matches, which took longer than she liked. She opened the box, but she didn’t realize how much she was shaking. She was terrified, and she didn’t know why! She ended up spilling the box, causing matches to fall on the floor.

She quickly reached down and grabbed one of the matches, striking it against the outside of the lantern until it lit. She quickly put the match in the lantern, lighting the candle within and quickly shutting it after putting the match out. She then picked up the lantern in her mouth by the handle, swinging into the darkness in front of her.

But, there was nothing in the darkness, despite her irrational fears. What she did see, was pictures on the wall to her right, one particular picture catching her interest. She walked to the wall, setting the lantern down beside her. She reached forward, grabbing the picture off the wall as she smiled at it, her fear being temporarily forgotten.

It was a picture of her first party, the one that changed everything. She was on top of a table with a pink covering, dancing her heart out with a wide smile on her face, balloons and streamers everywhere in the background. Inkie and Blinkie behind her were doing the same with wide smiles on their faces. To her left was her mother, Cloudy Quartz. She was laughing, her eyes closed and a hoof held against her chest. Her father, Igneous Pie, was to the right of her. He too was laughing with a wide smile on her face, watching his children dance and laugh in happiness. It was the first, and last, time she made her family happy.

A frown came to her face as she looked at Igneous, or more precisely, the spot to the left of him. There was no one there, it was just an empty space. And as much as Pinkamena tried, she didn’t remember anyone being there. But she just had this feeling, this feeling that she was forgetting someone.

Someone important.

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Ponyville was a quiet and desolate place, the once lively town sat still, all of its residents have left due to the threat of changelings. All of the buildings were dark, none of the lights were on. The only sign of life was the occasional group of guards on patrol, the town was completely abandoned.

Except for one building.

Sugarcube corner was vibrant, it was the only building in the entire town with the lights in it on, making it seem almost like a beacon. The lights shined brightly, illuminating the area around it. Revealing Rainbow Dash who had been standing in front of Sugarcube Corner, as if waiting for someone. She had cleaned herself up, her face no longer stained with tears, she now looked as normal as always. Though right now she had a bored expression on her face as she played with some rocks, though knowing Rainbow Dash, that didn’t really mean she had been there long.

Suddenly, there was the chatter of voices, female voices. A group of mares came out of the darkness towards Sugarcube Corner, causing Rainbow Dash to suddenly jump up with a smile on her face.

“Are you quite sure this is safe? This place is so dark and ghastly! And I think we only saw one group of guards on the way here!” Rarity asked Twilight with a panicked tone in her voice, though Twilight only rolled her eyes in response.

“Yes Rarity, for the seventh time, I’m sure. There are four groups of guards patrolling this place at all time, plus all of us here, who’ve had experience fighting changelings. Besides, it’s not like they’d have a full-on attack on this place! They said a scouting unit or something first, they send a small group to secure, and then move more here as time goes on. We’re perfectly safe.” Twilight’s voice was monotone, as if she’d explained it multiple times. Rarity didn’t seem satisfied, she was clearly distressed.

Fluttershy was pressed against Applejack, her wings stretched out and her pupils constricted in fear as she tried to stay out of the darkness.

“Well howdy, Rainbow! How are ya?” Applejack asked enthusiastically, waving her hoof at Rainbow Dash.

“Great now that you guys are here, I was so bored! It took me like, ten minutes to set this party up, so come on in!”

Rainbow said as she gestured them inside, which they did. They all walked inside Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash walking in behind them and shutting the door behind her. A few moments later, dubstep music began playing from Sugarcube Corner.

A few feet away from Sugarcube Corner, a group of three guards walked outside of the darkness. As they saw the mane five walk into Sugarcube Corner, malicious smiles stretched on their faces. Their skins began to burn with a bright green fire, their skin and armor beginning to burn away. In seconds their illusions were gone, revealing the changelings beneath.

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About a mile away from the rock farm, the stallion and his carriage had stopped beside a particularly large boulder. He reached down to the side of the carriage, rapping on it three times. A few seconds later, three changelings came out from behind the boulder, getting into the back of the carriage.

At the same time, the two ponies attached to the carriage burst into a green flame, their disguises burning away, revealing they too were changelings. The stallion rapped on the carriage again, causing the two changelings to turn around and head back to the rock farm. A glint of green in his eye and a smile on his face.