//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 - Au Revoir, Shoshanna // Story: Magic on Sweet Apple Acres // by Blade Star //------------------------------// “So Lizzie, how’s it been havin’ the place to yourself for a while?” I asked as I sat on the sofa in Fluttershy’s cottage. Lizzie let out a brief laugh. “Bones, it’s only been like a day or so,” she replied. “It isn’t like I have to look after the house and all the animals for a week. Shy’s gonna be back this evening.” I’d taken advantage of a relatively quiet afternoon to go and visit my little sister. While my work may keep me busy, I do my best to touch base with my family whenever I can, visiting my parents at their house, or seeing my little sister over at Fluttershy’s. I actually had a bit of an ulterior motive too. I’d heard from a certain gossip loving unicorn who shall remain nameless, that Lizzie had been talking to Dewdrop about possibly moving in with him. While I didn’t have any objection to that, I was curious to see if it was true or not. “So how’s Dewdrop been these past weeks?” I asked, taking a moment to sip at the tea Lizzie had made for us. Dewdrop was Lizzie’s coltfriend and colleague on the Weather Patrol. They’d met during the last Tornado Day when they sent all the water from the local reservoir up to Cloudsdale. He was a recent transplant from Las Pegasus and almost painfully shy to start with. But while training with him, Lizzie had brought him out of his shell and he’d acquitted himself well during the tornado. The adrenaline high from that resulted in him plucking up the courage to ask Lizzie out on the spot, right in front of me and our parents. If nothing else, that was impressive for its sheer boldness. Like Big Mac, I’d been a little wary at first. But after having met him properly and gotten to know him, I’d found him to be a perfectly stand up guy. Not that I really had any say over who my sister did or didn’t date. Even my darker half isn’t as scary as Lizzie when she’s ticked off with you. They’d grown closer over the last few months, so it made sense they would soon think about living together. “Oh, we’ve been great,” Lizzie said with a smile. “It’s been loads of fun since I got my flight sergeant’s stripes. Now I can get him to call me ma’am when we’re at work.” She paused to giggle. “And hey, don’t tell Mum and Dad this, but we’ve been thinking about moving in together.” I did my best to feign surprise. “Really?” I asked. She seemed to buy it. “Yeah. I’d be moving out to his place if we did,” she explained. “It’s already crowded enough in here as it is between ‘Shy, me and Discord whenever he drops by. Not to mention all the animals. Even with her sanctuary, this place is still pretty much Animal Hospital.” “What’s Fluttershy think of it?” I took another sip of tea as Angel hopped into the room in search of his lunch. He kept his distance from me. He has done ever since I put the frighteners on him after he bit me a couple months back. “Oh, you know how she is,” Lizzie replied, making a point of ignoring Angel’s stamping and angry glares. “She says I can stay as long as I want. But between you and me, I sometimes feel like a third wheel whenever Discord’s around. He’s seriously into her.” I smiled. “You’re preaching to the choir, sis,” I said in agreement. Discord’s crush on Fluttershy was about as secret as Spike’s attraction to Rarity. Although given his ability to bend reality for fun, nopony was fool enough to bring it up when he was around. The conversation then switched to my home life. “It must be nice for Applejack to get to spend some time with her friends,” Lizzie said. “At least, without the risk of the world ending.” I laughed and nodded. AJ, Fluttershy and the rest of the Mane Six were all off the clock today. They’d all worked hard to line up their schedules so they could spend some time together. They’re all good friends, but you can imagine how hard it can be for the six of them all to make free time, particularly with the school and their own commitments to attend to, never mind the odd friendship mission. But they’d managed it, and yesterday they’d headed off on a camping trip. The six of them, minus Spike, who’d been left in charge of the library, had hiked through the Everfree (yes, that Everfree, I’ve no idea what possessed Twilight to do that either) and then camped right by the Tree of Harmony near the old castle, and spent the night there. They were due back sometime this evening. As we continued to chat, Lizzie went over to collect the paper, which was still sitting on the mat where it had landed that morning. She took a moment to flick through it, a puzzled look on her face. “Huh,” she said in mild surprise. I set my drink down. “What’s up, sis?” I asked. “There was supposed to be some article in the paper today about the new school. Fluttershy said they had some photographer pony come into the school yesterday before they headed off on their trip. But I can’t see anything in here. Fluttershy said they all had their pictures taken too.” I frowned. “Maybe it’s going to be one of those feature pieces that take longer to write up?” I suggested. “Ah’m sure it’ll turn up. The place has been in the headlines ever since it opened as an independent school and that varmint Neighsay nearly started World War Three.” Lizzie nodded. “Yeah, probably right,” she agreed as she set the paper down. Angel, still angry at not having been fed his lunch, began angrily stamping his feet again, causing Lizzie to let out an angry sigh. “Alright, alright, you little white rat!” she exclaimed as she got up and headed to the kitchen. “Hold your horses. I’ll feed you now.” I resisted the urge to laugh as Angel eagerly followed her into the kitchen, quickly followed by the sound of him wolfing down rabbit food. As Lizzie was pacifying the evil little rabbit, there was a knock at the door. Fluttershy didn’t get too many visitors as a rule, and Discord rarely bothered knocking; he preferred to just materialise in front of everyone. So who could it be? It was way too late in the day for the post to turn up. Maybe somepony had a patient for Fluttershy to tend to. In any case, I decided to be a helpful guest. “Ah’ll get it,” I called to Lizzie in the kitchen. Getting up, I opened up the front door and was met by somepony I hadn’t seen in a few weeks. It was Jack of all ponies. That in and of itself wasn’t a good sign. While he might be roughly on the side of good, there was a tendency for death and destruction to follow in his wake. If nothing else, this was a stallion that was infamous for hitting on anything with a pulse, so the fact that he’d shown up to see either Fluttershy or Lizzie put my hackles up. Jack however, completely ignored my somewhat hostile glare and greeted me as an old friend. “Oh, hey, Bones!” he said with that overly smug grin of his. “Just the guy I was looking for.” I may not have AJ’s almost empathic ability to discern when somepony is lying, but I suspected something was up. Well, that and Jack mostly lies anyway. “If y’all were lookin’ for me, Captain,” I replied evenly. “Then what brings ya here?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, basic detective work,” he replied, still grinning at me. “I went over to that quaint little farm of yours. You weren’t there, and Big Mac said you were over here visiting your little sister.” And speaking of, Lizzie came back from the kitchen, having heard the two of us talking. She instantly fixed her eyes on Jack, who flashed her a smile and a wink. And just like that, her wings opened with a comically painful pomf. I had to stop myself from laughing a little as she blushed and darted back into the kitchen like a startled deer. Turning back to Jack, I found his eyes still following her. Activating my magic for a moment, I created a brief shower of sparks, not unlike snapping your fingers as a human, to get his attention. “Hey! Hey! Eyes here!” I snapped crossly as he quickly caught himself. “Why were y’all looking for me anyway?” Now Jack’s face became far more serious. Gone was the ridiculous, swashbuckling, bisexual con man, and replaced with the stern, serious face of a commanding officer. “The guys at the castle picked up some screwy magic signals coming from inside the Everfree forest,” he explained. “It first spiked somewhere near that new school Princess Twilight built. We tracked it to pretty much right on top of the castle and were about to investigate it when that Tree of Harmony thing came to life.” That sounded ominous. The Tree of Harmony controlled the Elements, and it knew to only use them at times of serious emergency. Even its own impressive powers were rarely used. After all, it hadn’t done anything to interfere with the changelings that had occupied Twilight’s castle during the second incursion, nor had it directly done anything against Tirek. So for it to suddenly spring to life like that set alarm bells ringing. “Do you know what it did?” I asked, any pretense of annoyance toward the light blue pegasus long gone. Jack shook his head. “That’s the thing,” he replied. “We were about to go out there, but we spotted the princess and her friends camping out there. Everything seemed perfectly normal.” I frowned. “The Tree doesn’t just come to life for no reason,” I said thoughtfully. It was then though that a thought occurred to me. “Hang on. Why are you coming to me with this?” Jack grinned for a moment. “Aside from Twilight, who’s currently trekking back through the forest somewhere, and the princesses, who are way up in Canterlot, nopony knows more about that thing than you, Bones.” I think I blushed at that. “So, any chance you can come take a look, give me and the guys some pointers?” he asked. There was only one answer really. “Alright,” I agreed. After telling Lizzie where I was going, and apologising for having to cut my visit short, I followed Jack out of the house and back over the brook, before turning towards the Everfree. I figured the most sensible thing to do, and Jack agreed, was to check out the campsite Twilight and the others had gone to, since that was where the Tree had surged. I’m not going to lie; I was worried. The whole thing stunk of a potential capture job, maybe even replacement. While it was unconfirmed, a lot of ponies in the Royal Guard suspected that there were still a few odd rogue changelings roaming about, in addition to the dethroned Chrysalis. And that was discounting all the other weird stuff that lives in the Everfree. Seriously, what was Twilight thinking going in there for a camping trip? What’s wrong with Rainbow Falls or Luna Bay? As we walked, Jack brought me up to speed with what they knew so far. “So from what we can tell,” he was saying. “The first high energy burst, something along the lines of a powerful unicorn, appeared not too far from the school, in a small...er...copse I guess you Brits would call it.” “How did ya pick up magic like that anyway?” I asked. I was quite curious myself. I wasn’t actually aware you could even do that. “It’s only in trials at the moment,” Jack explained. “Don’t ask me to explain the science or magic behind it. All I know is that it measures magic in the local environment, accounts for background radiation magic, and throws up a warning whenever something makes it spike. The school was right on the extreme edge of the range. We figured it would be more useful for tracking the dark magic in some of the stuff in the forest, things like large timberwolf packs and cragadiles.” “So can it tell you what made the magic surge then?” I asked. Jack frowned. “Well, sort of,” he replied. “It can tell us how strong it is. I don’t have to tell you that there aren’t many creatures besides unicorns that can produce powerful magic bursts like that. But we do know it’s a step down from an alicorn, but way more than a normal unicorn. And of course, the system gives us a reading on the magic’s aura, including it’s colour. This one showed up as green. But I’m sure you know there are plenty of unicorns out there with green...Bones?” Jack stopped his spiel because I’d stopped dead in my tracks. I had a fierce scowl on my face, and my breathing had suddenly increased in tempo. My anger flashed white hot and I pawed at the ground angrily, snorting and tossing my head in irritation. Jack, slightly weirded out by my sudden equine behaviour paused and turned round to face me. “Er...everything alright there, Bones?” he asked, slightly nervous. “Did ya say the aura was green coloured?” I asked, my voice deathly quiet. Jack nodded. “Yeah,” he replied, still perplexed. “And it was somewhere between unicorn and alicorn?” Again, he nodded. I started off again towards the Everfree, brushing past him as I set a faster pace. Jack quickly followed. “Whoa, hey, Bones!” he called after me as he put on a brisk trot and briefly took flight to catch up. “What is it, what’s going on?” I turned and snarled at him, my anger wanting to lash out at anything nearby. “We have a bug,” I said. I knew it! I just bucking knew it! I seethed to myself. The very day after the incursion, when those last six infiltrators had been flushed out of Twilight’s castle, I warned Luna that exactly this sort of thing would happen. They’d had the chance to capture or kill Chrysalis, but instead, they’d let her get away. And this was the result. As if the Everfree wasn’t dangerous enough. Who knows what a dethroned changeling queen is capable of? Well, whatever it was, Jack and me were going to put a stop to it. Or rather, I was. And this time, there would be no time paradoxes to stand in my way. I was going to track that little bitch down, and take great pleasure in blowing a hole in her head. These were my thoughts as I stalked through the Everfree Forest. I hadn’t said a word since I’d first suspected that we were dealing with Chrysalis herself. I was too mad. Of all of Equestria’s enemies, Chrysalis is the one I despised most. All the others, from Nightmare Moon right up to the Storm King had faced some sort of punishment. But Chrysalis had gotten away from us scot free for her cowardly kidnapping. It’s one of the things I despise about changelings; they never face up to you squarely or fight with any honour. Instead they hide in the shadows, wait until you turn your back, and strike when you’ve almost no chance of defending yourself. They were cowards. Disgusting sub-equine vermin! It was that final thought that brought me up. I caught myself in what I was doing. For a few minutes, I let my anger take over. Half of what you just read isn’t what I honestly think. As for catching Chrysalis, well there was a pipe dream if I ever saw one. The last time I got very, very lucky, and used a dangerous amount of dark magic to boot. Coming to a stop in the middle of a clearing, I did my best to clear my head. Taking several slow, deep breaths, I felt my previously thundering heart rate slow to a more stately pace. My anger cooled. If I was going to at least try and do something, I needed a clear head and not be blinded by anger. Jack soon caught me up. He was still completely perplexed as to what was going on. “Bones!” he barked in a more commanding tone. “Bones, what is it?” Taking one last breath, I turned to face him. “Jack,” I said calmly. “The only thing that matches the description y’all just gave me is a changeling queen. You know about Chrysalis, right?” He nodded. “Sure, the one that got away,” he replied. “What makes you think she’s behind that surge?” “Between the magic signature, and the fact that Twilight and her friends are in here somewhere too, it makes sense. After the attack on Canterlot, security is way too tight, even for a changeling. She has it in for the lot of them, Starlight too, for foiling her plans. Ah don’t know what she’s up to, but if Ah’m right, it ain’t anythin’ good.” “So what, we go play Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday and go track her down?” Jack asked. I nodded. “You still got your revolver, right?” Jack nodded, tapping his coat with a hoof. I heard the metal clink. “Ponies haven’t developed small arms like that, nor have changelings,” I explained. “If nothin’ else, that’ll help us put her down if we have to.” With that, we continued on, heading for the old castle and the Tree of Harmony. Chrysalis had to be pretty stupid if she did try to capture Twilight and the others there. Surely the Tree would protect them now that the Elements were in its branches. And unlike other magical artifacts, the Elements weren’t just something you could use any time you pleased. Only Twilight and the girls could use them, since they represented each element. If Chrysalis thought she could somehow drain their magic or use the Elements herself she was in for a nasty shock. As we continued on, Jack struck up a quiet conversation with me. “You want to tell me what happened back there, Bones?” he asked, as we weaved our way through the trees. “I’ve seen you ticked off before now, but I’ve never seen you like that.” Frowning, I shrugged my shoulders. “Ah had a run in with Chrysalis a couple years back,” I explained. “Back then, Ah used to feel the same way about changelings as our mutual friend feels about Daleks. Long story short, Ah wound up in a time paradox caused by her premature death. Ah’ve made peace with myself and the changelings since then. But Chrysalis...Ah’d very much like to see her horsewhipped.” “Ooh, kinky! I didn’t realise you were into that sort of thing, Bones,” Jack replied flirtatiously, simultaneously breaking any seriousness in my previous statement. “Shut up!” I snapped. “Look, I just want to see if Ah’m right and to make sure Twilight and the others are okay. Let’s get to the castle and see if we can find any clues.” We made good time getting to the castle. While it would have been interesting to see the little base that Jack and his lackeys have set up in some of the subterranean parts of the castle, I was more concerned with proving or disproving my fears that Chrysalis was back and up to something. Heading down into the moat of the castle via the stone staircase, we soon found ourselves at the Tree of Harmony. The tree itself seemed fine; the Elements were still in its branches, it showed no signs of being damaged or corrupted somehow, it looked pretty much the same as it always had. What wasn’t the same was the immediate surroundings. Applejack had told me that they were planning to all camp out near the tree for the night, and the seven of them had apparently set up a campsite too. To my alarm though, the whole place was wrecked. The tents were all smashed and ripped up, supplies were scattered everywhere, it looked like there’d been a pretty serious scuffle. What grabbed my attention though, were the six small pieces of wood that sat directly in front of the Tree of Harmony. They were just small offcuts, six of them to be precise. But they were all coloured. There was a purple one, a pink one, a white one, and orange one, a blue one, and a yellow one. Each one corresponded to one of the girls, although there was nothing to point to Starlight. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to think. Changeling magic was still not well understood. Thanks to Strong Shield and in more recent times, Thorax, we knew quite a bit about their disguise spells. But we knew little of the magic of the queen of a hive. Chrysalis had shown herself to have quite the array of spells, including teleportation, the ability to project her image, never mind that whole magic dampening throne malarkey. So I was just as in the dark as Jack in terms of what she might have done. Heck, for a few brief moments, I feared that these were Twilight and the girls. However, just as were about to take the six pieces into Jack’s base to study, we were startled by a new arrival in the form of Ponyville’s only zebra. “Be at ease, your friends are not here. They saw this display and got themselves clear.” she called out as she trotted down the steps. “Zecora!” I called out in glad greeting. “It’s good to see ya. Do ya know what happened here?” Zecora nodded and gestured off into the afternoon sky. “All is well; the queen’s plans laid waste. In a fit of rage, she left in much haste.” Well, that was one load off my mind. Wait. Was it really. Was this really Zecora? After all, if something was up, wouldn’t it make sense for Chrysalis to mislead any would be rescuers by telling them all was well. Luckily, Zecora and I have known each other for some time. Between her friendship with Apple Bloom and her occasional aid to provide ponies with herbal remedies, I’d become quite friendly with her. We’d even talked about changelings not too long after the last incursion, discussing the idea of countersigns to aid in identification. Let’s see if she remembered. “Zecora, before we go any further, answer me this,” I said. “Who are the Patriots?” Cliche I know, but hey, it worked and was memorable. The zebra smiled. “You think me an imposter, but it is not so. And to answer your question, I say; la li lu lei lo.” I smiled and relaxed. “Sorry, just had to be sure,” I said apologetically. Zecora didn’t seem too put out at any rate. “So what happened then?” Zecora explained. She’d been gathering Poison Joke plants for one of her potions near the castle when she’d heard arguing from deep in the moat. Looking over, she’d seen what appeared to be Twilight and her friends with Chrysalis. And they appeared to be helping her, albeit reluctantly; they all seemed to be falling out. They were trying to remove the Elements from the Tree of Harmony, but as they did so, each Element seemed to activate in some way. Then, magical tendrils came out from the tree, seized each of the girls and turned them into the small pieces of wood we’d found. Zecora explained that she believed it was a form of dangerous cloning magic that changelings used. The copies weren’t perfect, as they were created by Chrysalis’ dark magic, which explained their personalities, which were polar opposites to their true counterparts. The Tree’s actions had left Chrysalis was left with no plan by the looks of things, though what that plan was I can only speculate on. Then, hearing the real Mane Six approaching, she’d flown off into the night. Other than that, Zecora knew little. Still, it was nice to know that Twilight and the others were okay. This would make one hell of a story when we got back. I’d liked to have kept them in the loop, but given that they were still trekking their way home, and Chrysalis’ trail was fading fast, we couldn’t afford to waste the time. Zecora gave us a rough idea of which direction the changeling queen was heading. Still, there was no way to track her really. It’s not like she left a scent as she flew through the sky. However, at that moment, Jack spoke up. “There’s not too much out that way,” he declared. “A couple farms, and not much else; the perfect place for a shapeshifter to hide.” “So what do ya suggest?” I asked curiously. “And anyway, now that we know they’re safe, shouldn’t we double back to Ponyville to warn Twilight ‘bout this?” Jack shook his head. “C’mon, where’s your sense of adventure, Bones?” he asked. “Besides, the more time we give Chrysalis, the greater chance she has of getting away. Twilight and the girls are great at their jobs, but I think it’s time the boys saved the day for once. We can cut through the forest and try and pick up her trail through the farms. Fifty bits says she’s holed up in one of them until she can move on to somewhere more permanent to plan her next move.” Unsure of what to do, I turned to Zecora. While I certainly wouldn’t mind being involved in the capture of Equestria’s most wanted fugitive, I also rather liked the benefits of being alive and not suspended in a cocoon. Like I said before, I got lucky last time, very lucky. And that encounter has stayed with me to this day as a result of my actions. “What do y’all think, Zecora?” I asked. The shaman thought for a moment before replying. “What your friend says is true, but I think many heads are better than two. But if it is Chrysalis you wish to catch, a daring plan you must surely hatch.” Translated, it made sense to go get the girls, but we needed to move fast to catch such a slippery fiend. Trusting in her good judgement, and partly influenced by my own desire to see the changeling queen captured, I agreed with Jack. Zecora stayed behind and collected the remains of the six copies of my friends that Chrysalis had created. I’d been fooled by a changeling infiltrator masquerading as Applejack, but I doubted that this copy would have been half as effective. If nothing else, the cutie marks were apparently entirely inaccurate. Perhaps when we caught up with her, if we caught up with her, I could ask her precisely how she managed to create them. It would make for an interesting paper if nothing else. So Jack and I started on our trek through the forest. It luckily wasn’t too great a trek, and we encountered no serious perils. Before long, we found ourselves out of the woods, and in the rolling hillside of the Prench region of Equestria; their equivalent of France. After scouting around by air, Jack told me he’d found a farmhouse that looked like a good possibility. The two of us quickly began to make our way over. This plan was getting more and more hare-brained by the second. Here we were, a former con man and an apple farmer that dabbled in magic. And we were trying to catch one of Equestria’s most dangerous enemies. I can’t even begin to imagine the number of ways this could go wrong. Still, the two of us pushed on. At least we had a plan I suppose, of sorts. While walking through the forest, we’d come up with our own unique ways of proving to each other that we were who we seemed. Jack would ask me to tell him the airspeed of an unladen swallow. If I replied with anything except the question ‘African or European?’, he knew he wasn’t talking to me. As for myself, well, there was an easy way to check Jack’s credentials; he was rather unique after all. If I ever suspected anything, I just needed to borrow his pistol, and shoot him in the head. Because let’s face it, I’ve been wanting to do that since I met him. We’d need this, since one of us would be going into the house, and the other would stay outside. However, as we were walking over to the farmhouse, an idea popped into my head. “Hey, Jack, hold up a second will ya?” I said, causing the pegasus to stop in his tracks. “What is it, Bones?” he asked. “Ah think Ah’ve got a way of findin’ out if that no good bug is in there or not, without puttin’ either of us at risk.” Jack thought for a second. “Okay, I’ll bite,” he said with a smile. “How?” I explained that I could use the split personalty spell on myself. If there was anypony who had the skills and a vested interest in rooting out a changeling, it was my darker half; Morning Star, as he called himself. He might look like a pony, but he was just a projection of one, and so he couldn’t come to physical harm. If Chrysalis was in there she wouldn’t be able to do much to him. And it would leave both of us free to try and make a grab for her. It still wasn’t a brilliant plan, but it was better than either of us risking our necks. Jack agreed with me. And so, activating my magic, I powered up the spell. This was the first time I’d used it, and the first time, as far as I was aware than anypony had used it on themselves. As previously, my shadow detached itself. It settled itself on a nearby tree, whereupon Morning Star stepped out into the light. “Can I just say, Bones,” he said, with more than a vague hint of disgust. “That this has to be the stupidest thing you’ve done since coming here. Even our little time travelling escapade was less idiotic than this.” “Don’t you want to catch, Chrysalis?” I asked in response. Morning Star smiled a dark smile. “My dear boy, trust me, you don’t want to know half of what I plan on doing to that whore. You’re lucky, I think, that you can’t access your subconscious.” “Will ya help or not?” I asked, getting a little impatient. He nodded. “I will.” As he was a part of me, he was already up to speed on what our little plan was. “I shall go and talk to the aging stallion across the way. If I suspect anything, I will do my best to expose her. Stay close to the house, in case she tries to make a break for it. For all we know, whatever stunt she pulled earlier may have left her weak. If there is a chance, listen for the word ‘Adieu’; fitting since we’re in Prance. Then come bursting in, guns and horns blazing. Understand?” Jack and I nodded. “Good,” he said with a small smile. “Now, if you don’t mind Bones, I think I ought to get into proper costume. Ah, the advantages of being merely a projection of the mind.” With that, his form changed slightly. His coat, mane and tail remained the same, but out of thin air, there materialised a slate grey jacket, and a equally grey officer’s cap on his head, along with a long dark trench coat. I recognised the uniform, the skull and crossbones on the cap, and the dual lightning bolts on the collar; it was the uniform of the Waffen SS, a colonel too. The image left me feeling most unsettled, seeing myself in the uniform of a monster. After taking a moment to make sure all was well, he walked away from us at a steady, measured pace, and headed over to speak to the farmer. Jack and I followed at a distance, but close enough to hear what was said. “Bonjour, Monsieur,” he called out in Prench. I’ve got quite a good grasp of the language since I used to go on Summer holidays there so much. As a part of me, he had the safe benefit. “Bonjour,” the farmer replied. He was a chestnut coated earth pony, with silvery grey mane. “Parles tu anglais?” Morning Star asked, seeing if he spoke Ponish. The farmer looked a little nonplussed. “Er..yes,” he replied. “A little bit.” Morning Star smiled and introduced himself. “My name is Morning Star, sir,” he said, extending a hoof to the farmer. “I am Cherval, Monsieur Star. How can I help you?” My darker half smiled to himself. “I was hoping you could invite me inside your home, so we may have a discussion,” he replied. With that, the two of them headed inside the small farmhouse. Jack and I carefully followed, keeping out of sight and stationing ourselves near the kitchen window. We heard the two stallions step inside the house, as well as another pair of hooves. “Monsieur Star, this is my wife, Cherie.” I saw a beautiful young unicorn, with a cream coloured coat and a light pink mane. Morning Star took her hoof for a moment in gentlemanly greeting. “Madame, please excuse my rude intrusion into your routine,” he said kindly. “Would you perhaps mind joining me and your husband at the table?” The three of them sat down and Morning Star began to speak again. “I am here,” he began, placing his cap on the table. “Because we have reason to believe that a changeling may be hiding in the area. I am checking all the local farms to see if we can’t find this interloper.” “A changeling? Here?” Cherie asked, seemingly horrified. Morning Star nodded. “I am afraid so,” he replied. It was then that I caught it. Cherie activated her magic only for an instant, but it glowed sickly green. The effect on Cherval was brief, but fairly obvious if you knew what you were looking for. He spaced out for a moment, before replying. “Well, I can assure you, sir, there are no changelings here.” Morning Star nodded. “I fear that is not the case, Monsieur,” he replied. “However, before we continue, one little aside. It must be somewhat taxing for you to constantly speak Ponish. I was fortunate to grow up spending a good deal of my childhood among the bocages of Northern Prance. If you have no objection, may we switch back to your mother tongue?” “Of course,” Cherval said with a nod. “Bien,” Morning Star replied, switching to Prench, which to save time, I have translated here. “You may think there are no changelings here, Monsieur, but they are remarkably cunning when it comes to escaping detection. Some are even able to control the minds of their victims, and plant fantasies in their heads. For example, I look around your charming kitchen, and I see not a single photograph of your beautiful wife. It is as if she never existed. Tell me, how did you two lovers first meet?” Cherval thought for a moment, confusion suddenly appeared on his face. “I...I can’t seem to remember,” he said quietly. “But I promise, my wife is not a changeling!” “Perhaps we should test your memory a little more,” my darker half went on. “What family does she come from? How long have you been married? How did you propose to her? What was your first date like?” At each of these questions, Cherval became more and more confused, and perhaps a little frightened. “I...I don’t...I can’t,” he said, his wavering now. Morning Star remained calm, speaking congenially, with a smile on his face. “You can’t remember, Monsieur, because before this morning, you didn’t have a wife.” Cherval’s eyes now flashed in anger. “I think you had best leave now!” he warned sharply. “Is that you talking, or is it the voice in your head. The one you’ve been hearing all day; the one that tells you what to say and do. That’s mind control magic, Monsieur. Allow me to try and help.” I felt his magic activate. As Morning Star was something of an extension of me, I could feel when he was using my magic. And he was using something pretty up there right now. He was trying to help Cherval’s mind break free of the hypnosis. There was no question now that he was sitting just across the table from Chrysalis herself. After a moment, he eased off on the spell, and Cherval seemed to be more lucid, if now a little confused. “Be at ease, Monsieur. You are free of the mind control spell.” “What...what happened?” he asked. Morning Star kept his friendly expression, but locked eyes with the Prench farmer. “Just answer my questions, and I guarantee your safety. Understand?” “Yes...yes. I understand,” he replied. “You’re sheltering an enemy of the state, are you not?” He nodded. “Yes...she made me let her in...protect her.” “And then she took this form and began to masquerade as your wife, correct?” Again, he nodded. “Yes.” Morning Star’s smile broadened and he paused for a moment. “As she has not attempted to kill us, I assume that, while she’s listening to our conversation, she does not speak Prench.” Cherval said nothing, nodding his accent. Morning Star smiled, although it wasn't a nice smile “I’m going to switch back to Ponish now,” he went on as the disguised Chrysalis remained seemingly unaware. “And I’d like to follow my masquerade exactly.” Again, Cherval nodded. “Bien,” he said, and then switched back to Ponish as he got to his feet and replaced his cap. “Well, Monsieur. I think I have all I need here. I appreciate your cooperation.” Morning Star moved to the door, grasping the handle in his magic. It was fairly clear what he wanted to do. He wanted to give Chrysalis the shock of her life. Jack and I stealthily moved around to the front of the house and stationed ourselves on either side of the doorway. Jack had his revolver drawn, and I had charged my magic with stun and dampening spells at the ready. And then, Morning Star threw the switch. “I shall stop by if I need anything further from you. But until then, I bid you...adieu!” He threw open the door as Jack and I burst from cover. However, it seemed that our foe was more wily than we thought. For as soon as he did so, she kicked the table over, giving herself some basic cover from our initial shocking barrage. Jack emptied six shots into it, and I blasted magic all over the place, with the now terrified Cherval, cowering in fright as chaos erupted around him. After a few seconds, Morning Star commanded that we stop, so we halted. The kitchen was now a mess, riddled with bullet holes and burn marks. To our amazement though, we soon learnt our enemy was not yet done in. In an unsettling display, the now undisguised changeling queen crawled out from her cover, up the wall and hung upside down on the ceiling. A moment later, she fixed those horrid green eyes on us. On me in particular. And she said something that I honestly had not been expecting. “Oh, it’s you,” she sneered, palpable hatred in her voice. That was when I truly felt scared. It dawned on me just how truly stupid our plan was. With little warning, the changeling queen sprung off of the ceiling and flew towards the door, knocking Jack down as she flew by and sending his revolver clattering across the floor and leaving him dazed. As dangerous as Chrysalis was though, her main concern seemed to be flight. She didn’t try to capture us or anything else; she just fled out the door and began buzzing across the fields at low altitude. I was too stunned to move, and more than a little terrified at once again encountering Chrysalis at such close quarters. Morning Star however, was not so inclined. If his little display just now was anything to go by, my subconscious was far more ruthless than I was. Seeing Jack unconscious, and me scared stiff, he decided to take matters into his own hooves. I might have made peace with my dislike of changelings, and even Chrysalis, I only wish to see arrested and imprisoned. But he, he still despised her, and now he saw his chance. Activating his magic, he picked up Jack’s revolver and, stepping out onto the threshold, took proper stance and aimed at the escaping changeling. Squinting, he took aim and I saw the trigger tense as his magic began to draw it back. At that last moment though, he smiled slightly and lowered the weapon, before hollering after the retreating former queen: “Au revoir, Chrysalis!” he called, with that same dark smile on his face. ** I was surprised at how things had worked out. Although I suppose, in the long run, this was the best possible outcome that we could reasonably expect. Jack, ever the fixer, had his own people pay a visit to Cherval. One dose of amnestics later, he was none the wiser to his encounter. I too was none the worse for my experience. Although I too was sworn to secrecy about the whole incident. I honestly wonder if even the princesses knew what had happened. It was certainly difficult hiding my relief when I got home and found a slightly concerned Applejack waiting for me. But as I sat around the table with the Apples’, one thing kept bugging me; why Morning Star had held his fire at that last moment. I’m glad he did, but I didn’t know why. His disgust for Chrysalis is obvious to anypony who spends time with him, and he has in the past told me that he had no qualms about killing to protect those he loved. So why had he stepped back from the brink? I decided to ask him myself. That night, as the moon hung high and full in the sky, I headed outside and activated the spell again, once more bringing him out, and giving all my dark impulses form. He seemed unsurprised at the summons. The two of us stood opposite one another in the darkened farmyard before I spoke. “Why didn’t ya kill her?” I asked. “Y’all had an easy shot, and you’ve been wanting to put her in the ground since before we came here. So why let her go?” My darker half looked up to the sky and the full moon that shone down on us. “As our father’s old friends would say; Tiocfaidh ar la,” he replied, in what I think was Gaelic.”Chrysalis will get hers. But as much as it pains me to say it, when the time comes to take her pelt, I won’t be the one who holds the knife. I have no intention of disrupting the intended flow of events. Today was just...a bit of sport.” And with that, he once again vanished into my shadow, enigmatic as ever. I was a little surprised. Sure, I’ve done my best to stay out of the way of the ‘show’ most of the time. But I was surprised that my darker half had shown such restraint. Still, all's well that ends well as they say. Chrysalis’ plan had been foiled and we’d given her something to think about too. When she does eventually come up against Twilight and her friends, something tells me that it will be for the last time.