Bayek found Applejack at work, checking the health of the trees on the orchard. The only thing keeping him from immediately walking up to her was the cold focus she had on her work. Having been beaten up once already, he didn’t feel like risking it again, especially since he saw that one kick from her dislodged the apples in one tree.

“What are you doing?” Big Mac said from behind him. Bayek jumped and thrust his left arm towards him. His hidden blade came out of it’s hiding place, but thankfully, Bayek kept it from hitting Mac.

“Don’t scare me like that,” Bayek said in relief. “And to answer your question, I was contemplating how I explain to your sister about a visitor so that she or someone else doesn’t try to shoot said visitor.”

“And you’re reluctant to interrupt her in fear of something similar to what you almost did to me?” Mac asked. Bayek nodded, and he shook his head. “Well, I might as well help. Bear with me for a moment.” He got down on all fours and with a few slight sniffs of his nose, he then took off towards Applejack.

He circled her for a few rotations and barked as he did so. “Big Mac! Why of all times did you choose now to go mutt on me!?” Applejack yelled. With her attention grabbed, Mac galloped(?) back to Bayek and with a tumbling roll, was back upright.

“I only went ‘mutt’ because Bayek wanted to tell you something,” he shot to her as he walked off.

“Oh, for-” She tossed her hat on the ground in frustration. “Mac! How many times do I have to keep rejecting these “suitors” you and Granny keep sending my way!? Getting married isn’t on the top of my To Do list!”

“Who said I was going to propose?” Bayek said, catching Applejack off guard and got Mac bellowing in laughter.

Applejack looked between the two before blushing and stammering. “I, uh, I jumped the gun a little bit, didn’t I?”

“Just a tad,” Bayek answered.

“Well, what do you need to say?” She asked.

---

(Meanwhile, with Yang and John)

As both Yang and John made their ways towards the Everfree. They both remained silent during most of the walk there, which wasn’t surprising especially considering the situation, but it eventually started getting to Yang pretty quickly. “So, John, how long have you been here?”

“As in this world… only two days,” John responded as he continued walking forwards, his hands in his pockets, seemingly gripping onto something inside it. “Why do you ask?”

Yang then put a hand on the back of her head before she explained her reasoning to why she asked. “Well, it’s a bit of a walk, and I just want to talk a bit. Break the silence, you know?”

“I can understand that, but I’m just not that sure what to even ask. It’s not like I’ve got any experience as what we are as a group now.”

“From my experience, you just have to roll with it. It was pretty rough for me starting out, with a whole new body. Thankfully, things didn’t get this interesting this quickly,” Yang responded after realizing that John was referring to being a Displaced.

“By interesting I take it you mean meeting others like us?” John clarified.

“No, I’m talking about having to help with a kidnapping case or something big like that only two days into the Displacement. It was at least a week or two before my first fight. I think.”

“To be honest with you, this kind of stuff isn’t that new to me, kinda had to sort problems like this every once in a while,” John admitted as he pulled out a small badge that had been in his pocket.

As soon as Yang noticed the badge she recognised what it was almost immediately. “Police? Well, thanks for all you do.” She then looked back forwards and saw the edge of the Everfree. “Alright, what’s the plan?”

“I guess the best thing is for us to scour the edge of the forest, maybe we’ll be able to pick up a trail that way, that could help give us some sort of clue.”

“Sounds like a plan. So, you that way, I’ll go this way?”

“If you are okay with that sure,” John responded as he placed his badge back in his pocket and walked into the woods away from Yang.

---

After half an hour, Yang stumbled out in front of John, landing on her face. “Stupid rock,” She muttered from her spot on the ground.

“Are you okay down their Yang?” John asked as he looked down to her.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Let me help you up.” As John helped Yang get to her feet, his hand briefly got caught in her hair, accidentally pulling a couple strands out.

Yang quickly turned on him with an angry glare, grabbing his collar with one hand to make sure John wouldn’t go anywhere. “Watch the hair, bud. I put a lot of effort into it, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” John responded as he quickly held up his hands, letting the gesture and silence calm her down. “Sorry about that. Did you find anything?”

Yang let go and gave him some breathing room. “Well, there were some plants that looked like they’d been walked through, and I followed them, but it only lead me back here, so that’s a dead end. In short, nothing.”

“And they didn’t lead anywhere else? You didn’t hear anything strange?” John asked sceptically. Something about how Yang was acting seeming off to how she’d been when they’d separated earlier.

“Took the trail slow, and I only heard the occasional bird. Sorry.”

“I see,” John responded looking upwards before saying, “well if that is the case we might as well head back to the farm for now, maybe try looking at this from a different angle.”

Yang gave it a moment of thought before nodding in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

”Okay, let’s get moving then,” John responded letting Yang walk ahead of him.

Yang, with only a nod in response, lead the way out of the forest and back to the farm. She decided not to talk during the walk, thinking about something that was on her mind.

---

As Yang and John got back to the farm, Bayek and Applejack were coming back from the orchard. Bayek noticed the former two and called out to them. “Hey, you two! Any luck?!”

“Sadly not,” John responded, “Yang thought she had something but it led her nowhere of any interest.”

“Gosh dang it,” Bayek muttered to himself. “Well, at least we tried. By the way, Yang, where are your boots?”

“Why are you asking about boots?” Applejack asked. “She’s fine with her hooves.”

“And now I need to explain human anatomy to you as compared to pony anatomy,” he responded. “But first…” He pulled out his bow and aimed it at Yang, causing her to stop. “John, do a bit of a look over and do your thing.”

“Oh I have no need,” John responded as he grabbed his gun from his side placing it behind Yang's head before he said, “I was already pretty suspicious but I couldn’t make a claim on my opinion alone, it wasn’t that hard to work it out after following behind her for a few minutes.”

“Lack of feet?” Bayek asked.

“Feet?” Applejack and ‘Yang’ asked in confusion.

“Look at the things sticking out of the bottom of my legs. Those are feet,” Bayek said. “This apparent shapeshifter or illusionist forgot that fine detail in his or her disguise.”

The Yang lookalike looked between his feet and ‘her’ lack thereof. “Horseapples,” ‘she’ said before the disguise melted away in a flash of green flames, leaving an insect like bipedal equine.

“I’d recommend if you don’t want a ton of bullets in you that you get on the floor with your hands on you're head,” John ordered as he pushed his gun against the creatures back to the point it could feel it against it.

“You’ll only get one bullet off, and I’m sure I can survive one shot and flee at the same time,” the changeling retorted, taking one step away.”

John then quickly brought the gun to the side of its wings before firing three times before putting another into its legs as it fell to the ground, “You really want to try again, or will you do as you are told?” John then stood above the Changeling as he placed the barrel of the gun against the Changelings head.

“Okay, you’re more advanced that what our initial intel told us,” the changeling said. “What do you want? Just want to torture the non-pony, eh?”

“Oh trust me, torture is the last thing you need to worry about,” John responded before looking to Applejack and asking, “Do you have a rope so we can move this thing somewhere out of the way? Would hate for someone to see what we have planned for him.”

“Like that matters,” the changeling said. “Everyone in this country is simply xenophobic to an extreme. They see you having me tied up and carried, they practically won’t bat an eye. Just two barbaric non-ponies settling a dispute.”

“Whoever said about anyone that matters seeing you, you see. I think you could very much benefit us and if you help us, let's just say you scratch my back I scratch yours.”

“And what, pray tell, are you gonna do?” The changeling asked. “My employers already guarantee that I’m well fed and ponies won’t persecute me for just being me.”

“Well, we won’t persecute you, and right now, I could ground you for the rest of your life.” John pointed out as he grabbed his sword that was resting against his side before placing it again the base of the Changelings wings.

“Wait a minute, that’s sounds a mite bit-” Applejack tried to interject.

“Fair enough, but aside from not taking my wings or life, what do you have to offer?” the changeling snarked. “Intel tells us that you’ve been here only two days...at most, so you don’t have much to offer.”

“Maybe not now, but given time, we can easily fulfill promises,” Bayek said.

“So it’s a matter of what you desire,” John added.

“And what could you offer that I want? You don’t know anything about me, after all.”

“That’s funny, considering you are a Changeling, a being that feeds off love and all that,” John said calmly before he added with a smirk, “Tell me, how is Chrysalis doing right now?”

The changeling shrugged as he chuckled a bit. “That dusty old moth? How should I know? I haven’t been in her hive for years.”

“Who’s Chrysalis?” Applejack asked.

“A Changeling Queen that thought she could get help from ponies for food, but a force of ponies dressed in Blood Iron attacked before she was barely a month in her rule,” the Changeling said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she is planning some sort of revenge scheme or two as we speak.”

John then stopped taking a breath before he said calmly, “I see your life doesn’t hold much value for you… but what about this precious group you are protecting? I have no doubt that Applejack knows someone very much capable of using magic with the capabilities to make you tell us everything you know. In fact, I bet in a matter of minutes we could get you to sell out everyone you're protecting before we erase the entire group from history, and I’m sure you don’t want to be the one member who betrayed the trust of everyone who trusted you?”

“That ain’t gonna work,” the changeling said nonchalantly. “Twilight is Celestia’s puppet, and Celestia is my employer’s puppet. Give Twilight a task to break into the mind of another, she’ll ask for permission first. What goes around comes around, Bub’s your uncle, Fanny’s your aunt, and my employer’s would know who you are and when to cut their losses.”

“Then maybe it won’t be Twilight we need, but Pinkie instead,” Applejack said.

“Say what?” Bayek said before a pink party pony in a red cloak charged through him, reducing him to a head on a pile of sand.

“Nopony expects the Equish Inquisition!” Pinkie shouted as she posed with a cookbook full of cake recipes. After looking around for a bit, she chuckled in embarrassment. “Heh heh, sorry. I was supposed to save that for later.” After flinging off the red cloak, revealing more normal clothes underneath.

Bayek groaned as an arm slowly rose from the sand pile. “Is it too much to ask to not be reduced to a pile of sand?” He asked.

“Sorry, I didn’t know she would do that,” Applejack admitted. “If anything, I would have expected her to jump out of my hat.”

“Considering this is becoming normal for him, I’m not that surprised anymore,” John responded as he shook his head.

“Anyway, Pinkie,” Applejack said, getting the pink pony’s attention. “Grab three sets of earmuffs from whatever stash you have and get the bug-pony-thing to talk.”

As Pinke dove into a pile of hay, apparently searching for the earmuffs, the changeling scoffed. “That’s your idea to get me to talk? What will she do? Throw me a party?”

“Oh that comes later,” Pinkie said as she distributed the earmuffs to Applejack, John, and Bayek. “For now, well, it’ll be done before you know it.”

Applejack nodded for emphasis as she put on her earmuffs, John and Bayek following suit.

---

---

“I’LL TALK! I’LL TALK! I’LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING, JUST GET HER AWAY FROM ME!” The changeling was quivering under Pinkie’s methods, fruitlessly trying to get away from her.

“Wow, I’m not hearing any of what is going on, but I’m starting to think this wasn’t the best idea,” Bayek said as well as he could to Applejack.

Applejack didn’t hear Bayek, as she was still watching. Only when Pinkie gave a hand signal did she take off her earmuffs. “You’re sure he’ll tell the truth, Pinkie?”

“Don’t worry, Applejack,” Pinkie assured her friend with a pat on the shoulder. “He won’t lead you wrong at all.”

“I don’t think anyone should go through that,” the changeling said as Pinkie readied to depart.

---

---

“What was that!?” One voice said in pure fear.

“What one of my infiltrators warned about...and a rogue didn’t heed that warning,” a second answered. “He paid the price and we got a share of the fear.”

“Yikes!”

---

“So what did you talk to him about, Pinkie?” John asked.

“Baking secrets that are so secret, if you didn’t go mad hearing them, I would have to tie you up and hide you in my Party Planning Cave until you went mad there,” she answered with a giggle and happily bounced off.

The closest one to being unfazed by the revelation was Applejack, who still felt a small shiver go down her spine. “Well, thanks, Pinkie. I’ll bring you some apple tarts later.”

“Thanks, Applejack.” Pinkie left with a spring in her step. After she left, Bayek and John stepped towards the changeling.

“So are you ready to answer our questions?” John asked with a seemingly kind smile as he placed his sword back into its sheath and looked to the Changeling. The Changeling could only gulp in fear.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” John added as he grabbed a pair of handcuffs from his jacket before restraining the Changelings arm behind it before he said, “Applejack, anywhere we can take him to sort everything out without being interrupted?”

“Let’s just take him into the barn,” she said, grabbing the Changeling and hauling him onto her shoulder. “It’ll be private enough to get the job done.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” John responded before walking towards the barn as he placed his pistol back into his holster before the group entered the barn.

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