//------------------------------// // XIII. Changing Tones // Story: Uniformity // by adcoon //------------------------------// My dear Rainbow, I wish I could say I knew what was going on around here, but nothing seems to make any sense lately. I had a meeting with Luna earlier tonight to talk about Scootaloo’s behaviour, among other things. It would be an understatement to say that what Luna had to tell me was a surprise. Apparently Scootaloo’s dreams revealed that she was suppressing the whole visit to Fluttershy out of fear. When we went to see Fluttershy, she fled through a back window before we got a chance to speak to her. It would seem I owe Scootaloo an apology. I can only assume that Fluttershy made her tear out the drawing and never speak of it again. You know how persuasive she can get sometimes, when she really wants to be, though I cannot begin to imagine why she would do something like that to Scootaloo. She’s normally too afraid to get tough with anyone, even Angel who actually deserves it sometimes. Alas, both the drawing and Fluttershy are now missing. I just came back from our search of the Whitetail Woods, it’s late, and I don’t think we have much hope of finding Fluttershy if she doesn’t want to be found. She knows those woods better than anypony, and all the critters sure aren’t helping the situation any. She’s pretty much fortified herself in the forest behind bastions of burly bears and brawny badgers. My best guess right now is that whatever drove Lightning Dust and Trixie mad must have found Fluttershy as well, though at this point I don’t know what to believe. She seemed just fine days ago, and now this? Luna will try to find her dreams and have a talk with her. I just hope Luna doesn’t frighten her; the princess can be a little intimidating sometimes. Luna also put Scootaloo in charge of watching over Bonbon’s dreams, in case your suspicions prove true. Hopefully some sense will be made of all of this mess soon. Until then, please take care. ♥ Your Princess, Twilight Sparkle. *          *          * Bonbon watched the fireflies dancing among the leaves and boughs of the trees, a wide grin plastered across her face. She probably looked goofy as she lay there, but that didn’t matter, and she didn’t care. What mattered was that she was lying here under the leaves and the stars with the one mare that she loved, cuddled up next to each other on the soft layer of moss. Nothing else mattered. Not a thing. The air was warm and pleasant, scented by sweet exotic flowers. It reminded her of the candy she used to make back in Ponyville. Lyra always loved the candy she brought with her to their meetings in the park. It was a shame she didn’t have anything to offer Lyra now. Her smile faded a little at the thought, but only for a moment before Lyra’s bright smiling face appeared in her field of vision, lying halfway across Bonbon’s chest. “Heya,” Lyra said, her half-lidded eyes gleaming with playful delight. How could Bonbon worry about something as silly and unimportant as candy when she had the sweetest thing in the world right here? “Hey,” Bonbon replied to the playful mare with the eyes of molten gold, her brief worry evaporating into thin air. Lyra looked expectantly at her, her smile wide and showing her teeth. “Is that all you wish to say? Isn’t there something else you’d like to add?” Bonbon rubbed her nose against Lyra’s and smiled. “You already know that I love you,” she said. Lyra giggled as a shiver ran through her body. “And you know I love to hear you say it.” She gave Bonbon a predatory grin and crawled all the way on top of her. “Tell me how much. I want to hear all about how much you love me.” “With all my heart,” Bonbon said without hesitating. Lyra’s reaction was adorable, the way she seemed to drink it all in, and her giggles sounded like music, almost like strings … “Would you play me a song, Lyra?” she surprised herself by asking, the thought appearing out of the blue. “Like the songs you used to play for me in the park.” The smile Lyra was wearing froze, and for a second her eyes seemed to gaze right through Bonbon. “Why … don’t you sing me a song instead?” she said after a moment’s hesitation, her smile unfreezing and eyes refocusing in an instant. Bonbon smiled. Why hadn’t she thought of that? The thought that she wasn’t exactly known for her excellent singing voice, and that she’d much rather listen to Lyra playing the lyre was quickly pushed deep into the back of her mind. Lyra’s idea was much better, like all of Lyra’s ideas. And how could she deny the mare of her heart? With an unexpected pluck of strings, the gentle tones of the lyre swam through the air and made Bonbon sigh. The smile on Lyra’s face vanished as her head snapped towards the source of the sweet music. Bonbon turned her head to watch Lyra sitting comfortably against a nearby tree, eyes closed and a smile on her face as she strummed the instrument in her hooves. “What are you doing?” Lyra hissed and stood up with her front hooves on Bonbon’s shoulders. Bonbon smiled blissfully at the melody, swaying her head back and forth in sync with the rhythm, lost to everything but how much she loved that sound and the sweet, beautiful mare who was its source. Positively nothing could ruin such sweetness. “Thought you could have her all to yourself while the rest of us starve our flanks off, did you?” Lyra said and caressed the golden body of the instrument. Bonbon stared at her, mesmerized by the gentle strokes of her hoof against the frame of the lyre. “Find your own pony!” Lyra cried and rolled off of Bonbon, getting swiftly back on her hooves. “This one’s mine!” Bonbon hummed along with the melody. “I love this melody, Lyra,” she whispered. “Is it a new one? It’s very lovely.” “Mother wants us to share,” Lyra said and flashed Bonbon a golden smile. Bonbon sat up and nearly swooned. “You knew that. You also knew we’re all starving. You know what mother does to those of her children who become greedy, don’t you?” “I’ll starve you!” Lyra shouted and charged at Lyra, a fire in her eyes. The music stopped abruptly as Lyra rolled across the glade with Lyra on top, exchanging blows. Bonbon blinked and a frown crossed her face, replacing the bliss that had filled her a moment before. “Don’t fight over me, Lyra.” “Don’t worry about them,” Lyra said as she snuck up behind Bonbon and stole a kiss on her cheek. Bonbon relaxed and turned her head to return the kiss. “Did you like the song?” “Mhmm,” Bonbon hummed as the memory of the song replayed in her mind. “I loved it.” “And what else do you love?” Lyra whispered in her other ear as she snuck up beside her and stole a kiss on her other cheek. Bonbon turned her head and smiled at Lyra. “Lyra, you know that I love you,” she said and returned the kiss, oblivious to the repeated sounds of hooves hitting a face not so far away. “More than anything.” “That’s good,” Lyra whispered and turned Bonbon’s head with a gentle hoof. “Because we have all night ahead of us. All night for you to love us all.” “Bonbon!” Somepony called out to her in the distance, far away beyond the green glade and further still beyond the marshes. Lyra stepped up behind her and sat down, hind hooves on either side of her and front hooves gently stroking her back and shoulders. “Just relax and let us take away all your worries.” Lyra picked up the lyre and strummed it gently as she turned and trotted around Bonbon. “We’re all ears, you know,” she whispered as she sat down in front of Bonbon, playing the instrument with her hooves. “What the hay is—” the voice called out somewhere, still far away. “Bonbon! Can you hear me?” Lyra walked up to her and wiped the green blood off her face before she sat down beside Bonbon, smiling. “We’ll listen to your every word,” she said and caressed Bonbon’s cheek. “We’re here for you, and only you.” “Ew! It’s all pink and lovey-dovey in here … Bonbon!” “All for you,” Lyra said as she snuck up behind Bonbon and offered her a flower, carrying the sweet scent of candy. She gently placed it in Bonbon’s mane and nuzzled her cheek. Bonbon smiled as she looked up into the many eyes of Lyra, the scent of flowers in her nose and the soft sound of the lyre in her ears. Once more she repeated the mantra, “I love you, Lyra.” She sighed as hooves caressed and massaged her tired body. “I’m so glad I can finally share it with you. I thought I’d never get to see this day.” “That’s it,” Lyra said and kissed her. “Give us all your love.” “Just close your eyes and let us take care of you,” Lyra whispered in her ear. “We’ll take good care of you,” Lyra said as she picked the strings, melting Bonbon’s heart with the soft tones. “Just close your eyes and forget everything else.” Bonbon did. She closed her eyes and smiled as she gave herself over to Lyra’s caring hooves and soothing melodies. Somewhere in the pink mists of her mind an orange and purple filly called out to her but was soon drowned out. She wasn’t important, after all. Bonbon sighed again, feeling utterly drained but content. *          *          * She had slept, but she couldn’t tell for how long. When she woke, it was not to the light of day or the refreshed feeling of a restful night; it was to darkness and exhaustion so deep she couldn’t even get herself to worry that she might in fact have turned to stone in her sleep. Her petrified stare gazed blankly at the cover of leaves above her, now bereft of the soft green glow. Even remembering was too much effort. She would have gladly lain here until the sun burned out and the last of the stars flickered and gave up the spark of life, but Lyra had different plans for her. Bonbon lowered her eyes an inch as Lyra’s bright face appeared in her field of vision. Lyra studied Bonbon curiously for a time. “She’s fine,” she declared before poking Bonbon in the ribs and giving her a grin. “Get up, sweetie! We’re going for a little walk today.” Bonbon groaned and tried to bend her legs and roll over. Lyra watched her impassively as she struggled to her legs, taking several minutes before she was finally up and standing. She had never felt so utterly drained in all her life. She tried to lift her head as well, but soon gave up all hope of keeping it from falling limply back down. She sighed and closed her eyes. Her saddlebags—which felt to her like they had gained a few rocks overnight—were dropped on her back, nearly making her legs bend at the knees. “Giddy up girl,” Lyra said and wrapped a hoof around Bonbon’s shoulders to lead her forwards. “Just walk straight ahead, one hoof in front of the other—that’s right—that’s all you gotta worry about.” “Thank you, Lyra,” Bonbon whispered and managed a feeble smile, though it was mostly directed at the ground under her hooves as she pulled herself forward one shaking step at a time. “My, she’s a real live one,” Lyra laughed beside Bonbon, and behind her Lyra laughed along with her. Bonbon thought Lyra sounded like a whole crowd and smiled, glad that Lyra had found her old happy self again. The thought made it a little easier to walk, as she dragged her hooves over the soft, mossy ground with Lyra as her guide. She didn’t look where they were going, too tired to lift her head and walk at the same time, and she didn’t think she would see much except darkness anyway. The trees grew steadily denser, rising up on both sides of them to form a long, winding passage roofed over by leaves and branches. Not a ray of light seemed to pierce the veil to reach them here as they wandered in the dark tunnels, led only by the cold green light from Lyra’s horn. Bonbon had no sense of time, she just kept walking even though she would have long ago stopped and collapsed if Lyra didn’t constantly urge her to keep walking. The roots of the trees stuck out of the ground and tangled together, like a web for her hooves to get caught in. She stubbed her hooves and stumbled, trying to balance on the roots with her tired legs shaking underneath the weight of her body and bags. Lyra pulled her back up and led her on, never saying a word except to spur her on. One time, Bonbon looked behind her and saw Lyra following her, and Lyra following her, and Lyra following her … She laughed; it seemed absurd, somehow, but she couldn’t tell why that was. The laugh sounded hollow, and after a while of sadly gazing at the trees, thinking she saw something among the trunks far behind them, she turned back again and resigned herself to walking. Rocks jutted out among the old roots now, as if the earth itself had sent its soldiers to fight the wooden intruders. A stream of water ran through the middle of the path they walked, trickling in and out among roots and rocks. The gurgle and splashing of water against stone and roots made her thirsty and reminded her that her lips were dry. She reached out her tongue and lowered her head to lap up a few mouthfuls of clear water. It tasted of stone and old bark. The air felt heavy and seemed to press against her ears, much like it did the few times she had been in Canterlot, far above the clouds. But there were still trees growing everywhere, and if she listened she could hear the pitter-patter of a gentle rain falling on the canopy above them. She made a face to try and get her ears to pop, but no amount of strange faces helped. She laughed again. The sound echoed among the trees and stones and only came back to mock her. She stopped making the faces and hung her head, ears drooping and tail dragging along in the water behind her. Lyra stopped and placed a hoof on her back for her to stop as well. Bonbon sighed as she stopped and stared at a puddle in front of her. Still so thirsty, she leaned down to dip her muzzle in the water. It tasted like stones and mossy wood too. A murmur echoed through the darkness around her as Lyra turned around. Bonbon had no energy to care about it and drink at the same time, so she drank and left Lyra to murmur with herself. The water was cold and felt like a rock in her empty stomach, but it was good to drink. A strange bubbling, crackling sound made her ears perk up and her head turn around to see. Her ears fell flat against her head once more, and her eyes widened as a bolt of black lightning streaked past her and struck Lyra in the chest, throwing the unicorn across the path and into a tree with a resounding crack of thunder. Bonbon’s mouth fell open, and her knees nearly collapsed under her as she stumbled towards the smoking body of her marefriend. “Lyra!” She collapsed by Lyra’s side, feebly shaking the blackened and lifeless form. “Lyra!” she cried again, tears making their way down her cheeks as she turned and stared in horror behind her. Black sparks ran among the dense trees and under their boughs, transforming the wood from green and brown to a mirror-sheen obsidian. It changed the air from clear to a billowing cloud of darkness, filling Bonbon with a fear she had never felt before. It ran through her veins like water running off a glacier and froze her body in place. Something crept out of the darkness at the end of the path behind them, its eyes burning with a green and purple fire. Bonbon stared in open-mouthed shock as Lyra threw herself with a hiss at the figure and straight into the heart of darkness. The figure reared up on two legs, spinning around, and the darkness swallowed them both, leaving only silence. “Ly—” Bonbon croaked helplessly as Lyra backed away from the cloud of fear, her ears laid back flat against her head and teeth bared like an animal. The darkness parted again, and the figure stepped back out, flexing its hands and baring its teeth, dripping with green in the burning light of its eyes. Bonbon found her voice as Lyra threw herself at the figure again, a figure Bonbon had seen in her dreams and once cradled in her own hooves. “Humble! No!” she cried and scrambled to get up, fighting against her flailing legs. The human paid her no heed, lost in her blind rage. She grabbed Lyra and fell backwards with the force of the incoming unicorn, bringing her legs up to kick her in the gut and send the pony flying backwards into the darkness, disappearing with a wail of despair. Bonbon scrambled to her legs and fell to her knees, crying as she tried to stop the massacre and save Lyra, but her body barely responded to her will. Again and again, Lyra threw herself at the human. Humble responded with silent rage and deadly black lightning as she dodged and clawed at Lyra. Repeatedly, Bonbon watched Lyra swallowed by the blackness, never to return, or thrown against the trees with shattering claps of thunder. The ground shook, and the obsidian trunks began to crack and splinter as she got to her legs. She stood and stared as Lyra circled the human. She couldn’t take it, watching and crying, utterly helpless to do anything. It was a nightmare. It just had to be! “P-please …” she cried and reached out towards them. She nearly fell again and quickly brought her hoof back down to support herself. Lyra barreled into Humble and sent them both crashing to the ground. As Lyra snapped at her, Humble grabbed the unicorn’s horn, and her hands crackled with lightning. Lyra screamed, and kept screaming in a high and agonizing pitch which cut through the forest and Bonbon’s bones like a spear. Bonbon could still hear the screams boring through her head long after she had spun around and stumbled away from it all, running as fast as her feeble legs could support her. She scrambled to throw off the heavy saddlebags slung over her shoulders, finally dropping them behind her as she fought her way desperately through the pitch-black tunnels of trees and rocks. She had to get away, as fast and as far as she could go. Branches tore at her flanks, and roots and rocks stubbed her hooves and scratched her legs, but she paid it all no heed. She had no sense of how long or how far she had gone when, crawling through bushes, she found an old hollow log hidden away among the trees. Utterly exhausted and terrified, she crawled into the narrow tube and collapsed, rolling into a tight ball to cry herself into oblivion. *          *          * Thousands of wings fluttered in the vast canopies above her, circling like a wind-less hurricane. Bonbon pushed herself deeper into the hollow log, feeling the old wood grind against her body and fill her nose with the stench of mold. She pressed herself as hard against it as she could, as if she could become one with the wood itself. She couldn’t see the swarms, and that was good, she tried to tell herself. If she could see them, so could they, and she didn’t want them to see her. She wanted nothing but to become a tree, to be forgotten and left alone in the vast forest. Cold drops of water seeped through cracks in the wood, running down the inside to soak her body as her tears soaked her face. Trees too could cry, she thought and hugged herself, since no one else would hug her. She heard small hooves tapping against the roots in the distance, short bursts of movement followed by tense silence, then another burst. She had no idea how long it had been going on, or how close they were. It didn’t matter. Maybe sooner or later they would find her, or her bones. The human skull Lyra had found in the ruins gazed back at her in the dark. She reached out to touch it. Where had it come from? All her own stuff was lost when she dropped her bags during her flight, and Lyra’s … Her hoof hovered over the dead face for a moment before dropping to the ground beside it. Its empty eyes stared at her apologetically, possessing no more answers than herself. “Bonbon?” a voice whispered outside. Bonbon stared at her hoof next to the skull. “Bonbon,” the voice persisted, and a small purple-haired filly peeked into the hollow log, eyes searching the dark until they found Bonbon lying there. “Oh, good,” she sighed and slipped all the way inside, looking back over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t spotted. “I thought I’d never find you.” Small pieces of wood stuck to Bonbon’s face as she lifted it from the ground and looked at the filly. “Scootaloo?” she tried to say, though it took her a moment to find her voice. “What are you doing here?” Scootaloo turned around and grabbed Bonbon’s head, holding it so she couldn’t look away as the filly fixed her with a gaze. “Bonbon! Your mind’s been poisoned. You have to fight it!” “She killed Lyra,” Bonbon said, giving voice to the only thing on her mind. “Again and again.” Scootaloo shook her. “Lyra is a changeling, Bonbon. You can’t trust her! You can’t trust anything you see or hear while the poison is in your blood. Are you even listening to me?” “I saw her kill Lyra,” Bonbon repeated. “I guess not.” Scootaloo groaned and looked over her shoulder. “Feathers!” she exclaimed and let go of Bonbon before darting out of the hollow, disappearing behind a nearby large rock. Her little tail still stuck out from behind it. Bonbon slumped back to the ground and stared blankly at the skull in front of her face. Scootaloo pulled her tail behind the rock and out of sight a second before Lyra trotted into view in the forest outside. She turned and lowered her head to look at Bonbon, a grin on her face. “Gotcha!” Lyra grinned and raised her head again to look around. “Thought I heard talking a moment ago.” “Lyra!” Bonbon hurried out from hiding and stumbled to her legs in a frantic scramble towards the unicorn, throwing her hooves around her neck a moment before her legs collapsed. She buried her head in Lyra’s mane and cried, holding the mare tightly. “Thought I wouldn’t find you here, did you?” Lyra said and chuckled, brushing Bonbon’s mane. “Silly pony. You can’t hide from me.” “Thought you were dead,” Bonbon sniffled. “Shh, my dear,” Lyra hushed her. “There is no need for you to concern yourself anymore. Tell me who you were talking to before I found you.” “Scootaloo,” Bonbon whispered. “I think you scared her. She’s hiding behind the rock over there,” she said and turned her head to look at the rock where the filly had hid herself. Lyra smiled. “Good girl.” She gently but insistently released herself from Bonbon’s grip and trotted up to the rock. “You can come out now, little spy. I have sensed you creeping around for quite some time.” Her horn lit up, and the light encased the rock. It crumbled into dust, revealing nothing but the dark forest beyond. Lyra frowned. “A rank coward, skulking through dreams.” She turned around to face Bonbon again, smiling as she reached out a hoof to lift her chin. “She is but a foal. Disregard anything she tells you.” Bonbon looked up into the eyes of Lyra and nodded. She was so much taller than Bonbon, so much more majestic and beautiful. Bonbon smiled, lost in those golden eyes she thought she had lost forever. “Just a foal,” she repeated and felt the chuckles bubbling up from deep within her chest. She couldn’t stop herself, she just wanted to laugh, so happy she was. “Hmm,” Lyra hummed and caressed her cheek. “You are very lovely.” “I am but a simple earth pony,” Bonbon said, the words flowing from some distant memory and out of her mouth, “while you are as a princess to me.” Lyra’s smile lit up the darkness, fangs gleaming like needle-thin diamonds. She leaned forward and whispered in Bonbon’s ear, “I’ll show you that I am much more than that,” she said and kissed her cheek. “And to you I am certainly everything.” “Yes,” Bonbon whispered. “You are everything to me.” “Then sleep,” Lyra said and gently guided her to lay down on the soft forest floor. “Sleep now, and when you wake again, come find me.” “Aren’t you going to stay here with me?” Bonbon asked even as her eyes closed, as if by Lyra’s command. Lyra nuzzled her gently. “No, my dear. But when you wake again, you will come find me. Just follow your heart, and it will lead you to me.” “I love you, Lyra,” Bonbon whispered before sleep erased the world around her. She smiled as she felt one last caress of a hoof against her cheek and a whisper in her ear. “Come find me …” *          *          * My dear Rainbow, please write back the moment you read this! Bonbon has been taken by changelings, and Luna still can’t find any of Lyra or Lightning Dust’s dreams. We have to assume that Lyra has secretly been a changeling for some time, and that the one who claims to be Lightning Dust is deceiving you as I write this. Do not listen to her! I am terribly worried for you. Please respond, and please be careful whatever you do. I am going to meet you in a dream as soon as I am able. We are doing everything we can from here. ♥ Your princess, Twilight Sparkle. *          *          * “Don’t listen …” Her head felt heavy and her mind hazy as she blinked awake and sat up, bumping her head against the roof of the hollow she had been squeezing herself into. Bonbon groaned and rubbed her sore head, then sat for a moment to clear her mind before letting it all out with a sigh. She rubbed her eyes and muzzle, then crawled out of the old log to take in her surroundings. Aside from a few faintly glowing flowers, all was dark. It was a shame she had dropped her bags, with all her carefully packaged stuff. She took a moment to mourn their loss before slowly making her way out into a bit of open forest. She looked around, taking in the winding paths through the dense trees and glowing bushes. They all led away in directions she could only begin to guess at without a compass or the stars to guide her. She gazed up briefly to confirm that the canopy completely blocked sight of the sky. Once again, pegasi had it so easy. The silent dripping of water from the leaves of the trees was the only sound she heard. She waited another minute in perfect silence, turning her head from side to side to look down each path, stretching her tired legs and neck as she considered her options. Sleeping on a bare floor of half-rotten wood was no luxury, and her entire body still felt exhausted. Last night—if indeed it had been last night and not several nights ago—felt like a hazy dream. Bonbon wasn’t sure what had been actual dream, and what had been real. She hoped desperately that certain things had been a dream, at least, and decided to cling to that hope. Some of the cloud seemed to have cleared from her mind, and she tried to wrack her memory for what might have happened, or where she or her friends might have ended up. “You can’t trust her.” A young voice echoed in her mind, giving her warning. She tried to remember. “That must have been a dream,” she whispered to herself. “Scootaloo is all the way back in Ponyville, so she obviously couldn’t have been talking to me here.” “Follow your heart … come find me.” Bonbon nodded absently at the thought, or was it a memory? “Why wouldn’t I trust Lyra?” she argued still with herself. “I love Lyra. I would follow her to the end of the world.” She turned back to the paths ahead of her. “Follow my heart …” she muttered as her eyes shifted from one to the other. Her eyes lingered on a narrow path disappearing into darkness and took a step towards it. It felt right, somehow. “Your mind’s been poisoned, you can’t trust anything.” Bonbon hesitated, a hoof hovering over the path ahead. She turned her head and looked back down another passage. “Wait a moment. I never trusted Lyra,” she muttered and narrowed her eyes, her brow furrowing. “So why would I trust her now? I love her, but I surely never trusted her.” Nothing but silence surrounded her, and her hoof still hung undecided in the air while her gaze lingered on the path behind her. “But I always did trust my heart!” she said and set her hoof down, striding down the path ahead. *          *          * A trickling stream of foul-smelling water wound its way along the path she was walking. Bonbon walked slowly next to it, occasionally stepping over where it crossed the path, careful not to slip and step in the water. She let out a snort and looked around at the slime-stained roots gleaming in the faint light of the glowing flowers and bushes nestled among the trees. Something darted past her in the dark, disappearing with a flutter of wings into the gloomy treetops. It was not the first time, but it never failed to get a startled jump from her. From time to time she could hear things flying through the winding paths of the forest in the distance, hundreds of wings echoing through the stale air, but she never saw them. When the echoes of wings didn’t reach her, it was eerily quiet, only her own hoofsteps tapping quietly against the roots and stones. Sometimes she got the feeling that something was watching her, and now and then she thought she saw eyes quickly disappear in the darkness behind her when she turned to look. She picked up her pace as much as she dared to not slip on the sleek and twisting roots. She was sure it had been at least an hour or more already, and her surroundings had not changed in all that time. The paths wound their way endlessly in and out, leading her deeper into this maze of flittering shapes and slimy trees. Yet her heart kept telling her she had to carry on, even though her legs were aching and her mind felt dull. Her stomach growled, but she dared not eat any of the plants here, or drink the water. She could only hope that she would soon find a place with fresh grass or leaves, anything that didn’t glow or look covered in slime. The path she was walking along came to a stop, the trickle of water dropping over the edge of a small cliff into a lake below. Bonbon stopped and looked out over the small glade at the foot of the cliff. Looking down, a narrow ledge led down the side of the cliff into the glade where the water gathered before overflowing down another path. Bonbon looked behind her briefly before carefully edging her way down the ledge. She was halfway down the slope when her hoof slipped on the edge. Bonbon let out a cry as she fell on her face and rolled over the edge and into the pond of green water. She waved her hooves frantically and sputtered as her head came back up to the surface. “Ugh!” She spat out a mouthful of water and struggled up to the edge of the pond, slowly dragging herself back onto the ground. She spat out some more and stuck out her tongue, trying and failing to get the rotten taste out of her mouth. Water sprayed across the forest floor as she stood up and shook herself. Bonbon looked herself over and let out a sigh at the sight. Her mane and tail were in ruins, her coat was scratched and beaten, and now she smelled like a compost heap full of rotten apples. And her saddlebags, with her bottles of clean water, were lost and probably ruined too. Bonbon stomped her hoof to let out the frustration, then turned to look down the overflown path. Looking at it, it didn’t tell her anything, so Bonbon decided to abandon the trail of water and continue the other way down a third path. She couldn’t say she was sad to leave the stream of water behind. She had walked for a few minutes when the path began to widen. The trees seemed to have been planted in evenly spaced rows, slightly offset to create strange angular corridors on both sides of the main path. The forest floor was flat and dry here, giving off a faint glow from fallen needles which drove the darkness and shadows upwards into the crowns, gathering there like a ceiling of gloom. Bonbon’s mouth felt dry as she turned her head every which way, walking low as if something might swoop out of the darkness above at any moment. She walked down a flight of wide steps layered with flat stones and came out into a large grove. Here the trees gleamed with a thousand flickering points of light in their crowns, though they provided almost no illumination. A sense of majesty and wonder filled her as she stepped out into the grove and craned her neck to look up and around. She couldn’t see the ceiling or the sky, nor the far wall of trees. The silence seemed to stall the air in her lungs as her mouth hung open at the sight. She slowly crossed the space of the grove, turning around herself to take in as much of it as she could as she neared the center. Bonbon picked up a hoof full of glowing needles from the ground and tried to hold them up high, to light up more of the space around her, but it only barely lit up a small circle around herself. She lowered her hoof again and stepped on a piece of rock, which sent it rattling across the ground. Bonbon stopped and turned as another sound followed shortly after. She looked down as a small rock rolled up in front of her and stopped. Bonbon blinked at the rock and looked at where it had come from. As she turned, something dropped out of the air and landed behind her. Bonbon spun around and stumbled backwards with a shriek as the black pony-like creature grinned at her, revealing a pair of sharp fangs. Its insectile wings buzzed as it advanced upon her, its solid blue eyes twinkling with malice. Bonbon had heard of the changelings who invaded the royal wedding; now she wished she had never seen one of the bug monsters for real. As she backed away, her haunches collided with something else, and a pair of black hooves wrapped around her. “Gotcha!” Bonbon screamed and bucked at the one holding her, feeling her hind hooves connect with the gut of the monster. It let go of her and rolled across the ground with a groan of pain. She didn’t wait to see if it got back up, but spun around and galloped towards the trees as fast as she could. Two more changelings dropped down in front of her, and as she desperately tried to avoid them, a third and fourth dropped out of the shadows and grabbed her before she could pick up speed again. “Let me go!” she yelled and tried to wrestle herself free of their grip. Wings fluttered in the dark all around her. Bonbon could hear them swarm in around her, and she could already tell that there were a hundred of them if not more, just from the sound of their wings. The whole grove shivered with the buzzing wings and hooves as they landed all around her. She struggled and kicked off the changelings holding her, spinning around herself in a panic to keep all the changelings around her in sight. They were everywhere around her, slowly circling in and grinning, their eyes and fangs gleaming in the darkness. Bonbon realized that the only escape was through the wall of changelings. Even if she managed to push her way through a few, she would be quickly overwhelmed. They could easily have done so already, she knew, but they seemed to want to prolong their fun. Bonbon gritted her teeth and charged at the horde in front of her. “I won’t play along, you bug-eyed little monsters!” she shouted as she shoved a changeling aside with her shoulder. The changelings chittered in amusement as she muscled aside another and fell face-first into the ground when a leg tripped her. There was a sound like a whip cracking, and all the changelings stopped to look around. Bonbon quickly scrambled to her legs and tried to slip through the distracted horde. Darkness descended over the dimly lit grove, a cloying miasma of blackness seeping in to fill the cavernous glade. Bonbon gasped and threw herself to the ground as a black-scaled head the size of a large cart burst out of the trees and through the ranks of changelings. It came to a stop in the grove, its serpentine jaws closing around two changelings. Bonbon watched as they disappeared completely into the maw. The black snake whipped around, throwing a group of changelings aside with its tail. A green fire filled the eyes of the monster, escaping in trails of purple smoke as it lunged and snatched a changeling out of the air, throwing it into a tree with tremendous force. The changelings forgot all about Bonbon as they swarmed the monstrous snake, trying to pierce its shadowy scales with their fangs. Bonbon scrambled towards the wall of trees surrounding the carnage, feeling her way with her hooves as she watched the snake whip its tail and snatch changelings out of the air to swallow whole. It reminded her of something. Her mind drifted back to the dream she had back in the mines, and the dark snake. “Humble,” she whispered the name, and wondered if this too was a dream. It seemed all too real, but she had never seen anything like it in her waking life. The snake reared up its head, spun around and slammed its body back down, crushing several changelings beneath its weight. It rose up to strike once more, but froze as a flash of bright light ran through the crowns of the trees hanging over the grove. The whole glade lit up brighter than day, the canopy glowing a pure white like a miniature sun. Bonbon shut her eyes and covered her ears as the snake let out a shriek that shook the forest around them. The shriek slowly transformed into a vulnerable wail of pain and agony. Bonbon cracked her eyes open and shielded them with a hoof. Through the sea of white light, she saw the swarms of changelings surround a fragile human shape crouched on the ground, grabbing her head with her hands and wailing in the searing light. “No!” Bonbon stumbled to her legs, closing her eyes again, and let out a shout. She galloped towards them but tripped over her own legs and fell to the ground again. The light dimmed around her and focused on the crying shape of Humble, held down against the ground by the changelings. Bonbon watched in horror as the human was left helpless. A slow tapping off hooves behind her made Bonbon turn around and open her eyes. She stared at a pair of black legs riddled with holes, then craned her neck and looked up into the smirking face of a gaunt changeling, as tall or even taller than Princess Celestia herself. By her side, two guards were holding another changeling in heavy chains. She might have stood almost as tall as the other, had she been able to stand at all. Bruises and broken pieces of black carapace covered her tortured body. She seemed only half conscious. The standing queen—Bonbon could not imagine she was anything less to these monsters—looked past Bonbon at the captured human. “Wrap her up and put her in my personal collection,” she ordered. “Do not let her out of the light at any time, or I will take personal pleasure in making sure you never displease me again.” The changelings all saluted and began wrapping the crying human inside a sticky, green cocoon embedded with bright gems. Bonbon watched in horror how the light filled the cocoon, bathing the pained creature inside in a constant, blinding light. “You’re hurting her!” she cried and scrambled to her legs to face the queen. Before she could get up, one of the guards kicked her back down hard and lifted a hoof to warn her about trying again. Bonbon groaned and stayed down. The queen continued to watch the human getting dragged away, ignoring Bonbon entirely until the cocoon was well out of the glade and all the other changelings had followed. At last she turned her head down and smirked. “A very fine dowry you brought me, my dear,” she said. “You have my thanks for it.” Her horn glowed with a deep emerald hue as a book floated out from behind her. Bonbon stared at Rainbow Dash’s journal. There was no mistaking the royal seal on the front. “Perhaps you would like to offer me a little more?”