Moondancer yawned, her vision going fuzzy for a moment. Her eyes refocused and returned to staring at the back of Lyra’s head.
It was now the dead of night. Hours had faded away as they searched the dark forest. Moondancer could only see her partner thanks to the flashlights; the canopy of the forest completely blocked out the sky.
Although Lyra still seemed very alert, Moondancer had become extremely tired. She could still feel a bit of the initial dread from walking into the forest, but it had almost completely subsided. It would have been easier to be afraid if she wasn’t so groggy. I could probably sleep under that tree. Just for a moment, that wouldn’t hurt…
The sound of a branch cracking caught her ear. She turned around and pointed her flashlight up into the trees. The beam of light revealed an owl perched up on a branch. It turned its head away from the light.
“Mmpf,” said Moondancer, yawning and turning back around to follow her partner.
“Was that anything?” Lyra cocked her head back slightly to address Moondancer.
“Jus’ another owl. That makes…forty-two for me n’ twenty-three fer you.”
Lyra turned around and gave her partner an odd look.
“Dancer, you’re getting weird. You usually don’t stay up very late, do you?”
“Yer just mad because I’m winnin’ owls.” Moondancer lowered her head and snorted with laughter.
“Yea, alright Dancer.”
After walking for a short while, Lyra stopped in her tracks. Moondancer, not paying attention, bumped directly into her. She shook her head and looked around.
“Whaz goin’ on?” asked the tired agent.
Lyra reached back and put a hoof over her mouth, shushing her. Moondancer stood still and kept quiet. She could now make out a sound coming from a ways ahead of them in the forest. It sounded like a gargling moan. She looked to Lyra, who nodded and took her hoof off of her mouth.
Lyra began following the noise, moving more carefully now. Moondancer stayed on her tail. Both agents kept their flashlights low. As they got closer the noise became clearer.
After a short time, the agents emerged in a small clearing. It housed a cave that seemed to have a faint blue glow permeating from its entrance.
Moondancer felt her fatigue fade away as adrenaline pulsed through her. The agents stepped up to the mouth of the cave and heard the sound grow louder. It was a pained groan now, sounding like a variety of ponies and other animals crying out in distress.
The blue glow of the cave felt otherworldly to Moondancer. As she listened to the disorted groan she felt her shakes return.
She felt a nudge on her shoulder and looked over to see Lyra with her hoof extended and a determined look on her face. Moondancer took a deep breath and tapped her own hoof against her partners.
The two agents slowly crept into the cave.
The inside was steadily lit with the blue aura. The cave was smaller than the agents had anticipated, and they found themselves staring down the source of the noise.
The creature was at least twice the size of a grown pony, but its size would waver in pulses. It looked like a combination of a griffon and a dragon, with dark black scales and similarly colored talons. Its head rested on the cave floor, its eyes shut tight. A blue, smoky substance was pouring upwards from its nostrils.
Moondancer’s heart began racing. She had never seen anything like this monstrosity. It shouldn’t exist…it couldn’t exist. Her legs began to shake more violently. She went to take a step backward, but her body betrayed her. She fell back onto her haunches.
The monster’s eye shot open.
It lifted its head up and roared. The roar sounded painful, and the same blue smoke poured out of the monster’s maw. The roar became more distorted, and the monster’s size started fluctuating faster. Its form devolved into an amalgam of faces and limbs, all belonging to different creatures. All the while a piercing blue glow poured out of the monster.
Moondancer cried out and jumped behind Lyra, but her partner stood firm.
Lyra’s horn flared to life with magic. Her bag flew open and she magically drew her spray bottle as if it were a six-shooter.
Moondancer ducked her head down and covered her eyes. She could barely hear her own thoughts over the monster’s roars.
Suddenly, the roar seemed to thin out. It no longer sounded like a cacophony of different creatures, but rather an off-key quintet of ponies.
Then it was a trio.
Then a duet.
Then a single voice, which had ceased screaming entirely. It was now just panting and coughing.
Moondancer opened her eyes and peered around her partner. In place of the large monstrosity was now an average sized changeling, laying on the ground and coughing. Dancer was frozen in disbelief.
Lyra approached the changeling, smiling and offering a hoof.
“You alright bud?” she asked, helping the creature to his feet.
“I think so,” replied the changeling, “thank you.”
Moondancer shook her head, breaking out of her trance. She walked up to her partner.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“Well, you had suggested a changeling earlier,” said Lyra, “but it didn’t seem like the most plausible solution. That is, until we discovered the poison joke. Pinke said that the plant plays jokes on you by changing your body, right?”
Moondancer nodded.
“Well, I got to thinking,” Lyra continued, examining her spray bottle, “How would that work if the victim had the ability to change form into anything? I figured the only way the plant could still play its joke would be to make it so a changeling couldn’t change at all, or…”
“…make it so they couldn’t STOP changing!” Moondancer finished, slapping herself in the forehead.
Lyra smiled and nodded.
“It was like having your brain in a blender,” said the changeling, holding his head. “I think I, oh…”
The changeling turned around and emptied the contents of his stomach. He moaned in pain as he heaved. Lyra rubbed his back with a solemn look on her face. Moondancer backed up a bit, feeling squeamish.
“Yea, you’ve been through a lot today buddy,” said Lyra, patting the sick changeling’s back. “Oh, what is your name? Didn’t even think to ask.”
“It’s Atrax,” he managed to say through his dry heaves.
Lyra looked down and noticed some bits of blue petals among the mess. She gave Atrax a concerned look.
“Buddy, uh…Atrax,” she said, raising her eyebrow, “did you eat some blue flowers?”
Atrax lifted his head, finally having ceased heaving. He managed to nod “yes” to Lyra’s question.
“Helloooooooo?” said a voice coming from the entrance of the cave. Moondancer turned around to see Pinkie trotting up to her, Lyra, and Atrax.
“Pinkie!” said Moondancer. “What in the world are you doing here?!”
“Pinkie Sense!” said the pink pony. “I was just about to fall asleep when I sneezed FIVE TIMES in a row! And you know what that means!”
Moondancer tilted her head, confused.
“Um, your bedroom is really dusty?”
“No, silly! Five sneezes in a row means that a pony is in a cave in the forest in the middle of the night with a tummy ache! Duh!” Pinkie booped Moondancer on the nose.
While Moondancer struggled to comprehend the statement she had just heard, Pinkie bounced over to Lyra and Atrax.
“Wow, my Pinkie Sense must be off,” she said, “it wasn’t a pony, it was a changeling! Hey Atrax!”
“Hey Pinkie,” said Atrax, mustering up a smile.
“You two know each other?” asked Moondancer.
“I know eeeeeeeeveryone!” replied Pinkie in a sing-song voice.
She reached into her mane and pulled out a small brown bottle. She offered it to Atrax.
“This should make you feel better!”
Atrax took the bottle. He popped the cap off and took a sip. It only took a moment before he was standing up straight and looking much better in general. He smiled and handed the bottle back to Pinkie.
“You okay to move now bud?” asked Lyra.
Atrax nodded and stepped forward.
“Alright good, because I think there’s a certain pegasus that you owe an apology.”
Atrax winced. “Oh no, I totally forgot about that yellow pony. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” replied Moondancer, “I’m sure if you go and explain what happened she will understand.”
“Okay, I’m ready to go,” said Atrax with an earnest smile.
“That’s the spirit, now let’s…” Moondancer began before letting out a long yawn. She shook her head, feeling her fatigue return.
“I think you had better head back and get some sleep, Dancer,” said Lyra, nudging her partner. “Pinkie, do you mind walking her back?”
“Sure thing!” said Pinkie with a smile.
“You got everything from here, Lyra?” asked Moondancer.
“Yup, I’ll walk Atrax over to Fluttershy’s and Pinkie can take you back to town.”
“Alright, I’ll see if I can grab a room at an inn in town.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” said Pinkie, “we have an extra room at Sugarcube Corner! You can stay there tonight!”
Moondancer smiled and waved her hoof dismissively.
“Thank you very much, but I don’t want to impose,” she began, before being interrupted by Pinkie once again booping her muzzle.
“Don’t even drip, chocolate chip! I’ve got you covered, I insist!” sang Pinkie.
“You better go along with this Dancer, for your own safety,” said Lyra, chuckling.
“Alright, alright!” said Moondancer, laughing as well.
Everyone walked out of the cave and got into their two separate groups. Lyra gave a cheerful wave to her partner before disappearing into the forest with Atrax tagging along behind her. Moondancer followed Pinkie down a separate path. She followed close behind, watching Pinkie bounce down the trail.
“Hey Pinkie?”
“Yeeeeeeees?”
“What does six sneezes in a row mean?”
Pinkie turned around, bouncing backwards.
“It means that wherever I am is really dusty!”
Moondancer smiled and shook her head as they continued through the forest.