Rabbits, timberwolves, and even bears scattered as a particularly long, mean looking snake slithered its way through the Everfree Forest, wrapping itself gracefully around a tree to gaze at the setting sun. It watched in silence as the silhouettes of two alicorns performed their magic, finishing the sunset and raising the moon. As one of them turned to leave, the snake made its move.

As the snake left the tree, it silently sprouted limbs to resemble a lizard, crawling towards the edge of the forest at a rapid pace. Its limbs elongated until the lizard was at the height of a very large dog and its tail receded into its body. Its scales smoothed out, becoming fuzzier, a light brown coat of a well-kept pony’s to match its already-transforming face. All of these supernatural changes flowed so smoothly, so silently that anypony not strictly observing the snake would have noticed nothing out of the ordinary. And such was the case for a brown stallion heading home from a long, hard day of work when a stranger approached him in the dark.

“Bit late for a walk outside,” a soft, playful voice sounded behind Davenport. He turned around, spotting a beautiful green mare with a mane made of snow-white wisps that seemed to dance in the moonlight.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’ve seen you around, miss…” Davenport said, gulping audibly as the mare came close. He could feel her warm breath on his chest.

“Summer Moon,” the mare said. “I’m just passing through.”

“Well, uh… Miss Moon. I’d love to stay and chat, but I really must be getting home. As you mentioned, it’s late out and I have work in the morning,” he said, turning to leave. Something about this pony was making the back of his mane stand on end, and not in a good way. Summer swiftly walked to reposition herself by his side.

“Work? What kind of work does a strong looking stallion like you do?” she asked. Davenport coughed. Was that… a look of hunger she had given him?

“Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Davenport. I sell Quills and Sofas at my store, Quills and Sofas,” he said, walking a little faster. He was almost home.

“I heard what you said the first time,” Summer said, smiling in a way that made Davenport sweat.

“No, I mean… the store is called Quills and Sofas- and I sell Quills and…” he sputtered as Summer placed a hoof against his mouth.

“I know, I just wanted to mess with you,” she laughed a little. Something about her touch made Davenport feel instantly at ease, as if his previous air of caution had simply blown away. He slowed his walk a little.

“Your wife and children must be lonely, waiting for their father to come back from work for so long,” Summer said.

“Oh, no, I don’t have a wife, I’m just a store owner. Doesn’t mean I don’t want one, though. It’s just, well… I tried,” Davenport said. “I mean, nopony would really take a love interest in a retail salespony when they’re looking for their knight in shining armor. Maybe someday.” He blinked, as an owl hooted, clearing his mind. Why was he being so open with a stranger he had only just met?

“I can think of one pony,” Summer leaned over and whispered in his ear, giving it a gently nip. Davenport felt his muscles relax a bit, dismissing his previous suspicious as Summer’s scent drifted over, tickling his nose.

“I… really?” he asked. He stopped walking when he realized they had approached his home. “You’re just passing through, right? Have you found a place to stay?” He asked, perhaps a bit too hopefully.

Summer flashed him a playful smile, glancing at him with knowing eyes. “Is that an offer?”

Davenport went to the door, fumbling with his keys and dropping them on the welcome mat. He chuckled nervously as he retrieved them, opening the door wide and turning on the lights. “My home is your home,” he said, going inside. “You can sleep on the sofa. I mean- don’t think of it as a sofa, it’s like I’m offering you a bed. But I don’t have a bed, I mean I sleep in a sofa, too, you know, since…yeah.” He ended awkwardly.

Summer giggled, walking into Davenport’s home. In the bright light, her cutie mark of five fireflies caught his eye. “Interesting cutie mark. You know, I’ve told you all about myself, but you’ve never told me what you do.” Summer glanced at her cutie mark and turned back with an odd look on her face. “Is something wrong? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen your cutie mark before,” Davenport said, smiling.

“I’m just a little tired right now,” Summer said, yawning softly. “Is it alright if we just go to bed?” Davenport nodded.

“Yeah, I could do with some sleep too,” he said. “See you in the morning.” He turned and began to head upstairs. “Just pick a sofa, any of them will do. I recommend the Canterlot Castle Ultra Plush Deluxe.”

Summer sighed and walked over to the stairs, placing her forelegs on Davenport’s shoulders. “When I said to go to bed, I didn’t mean to sleep,” she said. Davenport felt a very deep blush sweep across his face.

“I… uh… Sure! Let me get cleaned up first!” he mumbled, heading upstairs into a bathroom.

Chrysalis heaved a sigh and sprawled out onto the sofa. “Summer Moon… I really need to think of a better name than whatever’s currently above my head.” She looked upstairs in disgust at bathroom currently occupied by the lonely middle-aged retail pony. There was no way his emotions would be any more than a morsel. Still, this one would be very easy prey, and she was starving. Stallions seemed to have so much energy when mating that they never noticed when she took a bit of it for herself.

She gazed across the room as she waited for Davenport to come back. It was rather large, but space felt cramped as most of it was taken up by large, expensive looking sofas. In fact, the only other piece of furniture was a piano on the far side of the room, surprisingly well-maintained in sharp contrast to the dusty floorboards.

Chrysalis stared into her reflection against the polished piano surface, once again taking note of her cutie mark. Oddly enough, she didn’t remember choosing that particular mark, and never would, either: it would be too reminiscent of her true identity, the leader of the swarm, and nudge her into more easily breaking character, no matter how slight. Besides, fireflies were difficult to explain. “Why did that fool have to notice it? Now there’s no changing the ugly thing,” Chrysalis said to herself, glancing upstairs. The stallion was taking his time.

“It’s not polite to keep a lady waiting,” she called upstairs in her gentlest voice, barely containing a tone of impatience.

“Just one moment, darling!” Davenport called back. Chrysalis heard shower curtains being drawn.

She sighed and sank into the sofa. It was a lovely sofa, as soft as the nest where she bore new changelings, and barely distracted her from her hunger. As she stared into the ceiling, she felt herself change.

Chrysalis rolled over, checking out her reflection in the piano. The change was an unconscious motion and had grown her ears by four inches. She raised an eyebrow, slightly amused but mostly annoyed as she willed her ears back to their normal form. They didn’t change.

The upstairs door opened and Davenport strolled out with a freshly washed coat and mane. “Ready, darling?” he called, stepping downstairs. Chrysalis shot across the room, hitting the light switch as a massive pair of antlers sprouted from the top of her head. “Lights out, huh? I like the way you think,” Davenport said.

“It’s a good thing this one’s desperate AND stupid,” Chrysalis muttered as she gracefully guided him onto a sofa, aided by her natural night vision. “I’ll have to make him fall asleep,” she muttered under her breath. “Can’t really try to explain my appearance after this. I swear, if I find who’s doing this to me… I will destroy you.” She sprouted a second tail as she joined Davenport on the sofa.

“Ready when you are, dear,” Davenport said as the lights flickered on. “Wha-wha…whatttttt?” he asked. Chrysalis glared towards the light switch, but whatever had touched it was long gone.

"Great. Another meal gone,” she grumbled as she left for the door. The foolish pony would probably be too scared to report her to any sort of authority for a while. She would have a couple days’ head start.

“Whoa, where you going, beautiful? I thought we were gonna get it on!” Davenport said, grabbing her hoof and turning her around. Chrysalis shrieked in fear, backpedaling furiously. Where Davenport once stood was an antlered, two-tailed salespony with ears five inches above his head. His eyes floated out of their sockets and circled her, blinking. "Whoopsie, sorry. That tends to happen. But you'd know, being of my species, wouldn't you?" he asked as his tails whirled in a helicopter-sort of way.

“What are you?!” Chrysalis shouted, running out the door and taking off into the sky. Davenport smirked as his body shimmered, lengthening and changing into that of a draconequus.

“Score one for Discord,” he said, leaving Davenport’s home.

One hour later, Davenport woke up on the floor of his bathroom and headed downstairs. His potential love interest was nowhere to be found. “Darnit! Not again!” he screamed in frustration.

Next Chapter: Time Tricks Estimated time remaining: 31 Minutes