When the other Ponyville mares returned to their home, I went with them. The whole ordeal in Canterlot had worn me out, and I just wanted to rest.
With that in mind, a few days after my return, I accompanied Bon Bon to her place of business, a candy shop. It served a two-fold purpose, first, so that I could relax while also not being stuck at home, and two, I made a pretty good door greeter, chatting with the various ponies that came in.
However, in the early afternoon, Bon Bon and I heard a commotion coming in the direction of the town market. It could have been anything, really. As it was, we soon found the answer when Flitter and Cloudchaser suddenly burst in the door. The twin pegasi were out of breath and seemed very scared.
"What's going on out there," Bon Bon asked the two.
"Lyra...," Flitter panted, "she's...gone...loco."
"What do you mean by that," I asked.
"She was beating ponies up in the middle of the market," Cloudchaser answered, "But that wasn't the weirdest part, she kept yelling, asking where the human was. It didn't make any sense."
I looked out the front window of the shop for a moment.
"Bon Bon," I ordered, "take the twins with you to your house. Lyra is probably there and injured. I'll take care of the imposter."
"Imposter," Bon Bon shrieked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," I answered simply, running out of the shop and toward the market."
I made a mad dash, searching for the fake Lyra. Many ponies were running in the opposite direction. Eventually, I reached my target, who was currently going toe-to-toe with Applejack.
"Hey changeling," I yelled, "your human's here!"
The fake Lyra's horn began glowing, firing a close-range shot at AJ, who was blasted through her Apple cart. The imposter then turned its horn on me, firing another shot. I simply held up a hand to block the attack.
"What the--," it said in Lyra's voice. It fired another volley. This time, I sidestepped, catching the blast like a baseball, and, cradling it in my hand, throwing the blast back at it underhanded. However, it was able to evade my counter.
"I'm immune to magic," I explained, "You better have something better."
Taking my suggestion, the changeling started charging me. As it ran, its head was slightly dipped, aiming the horn as a weapon. I quickly sidestepped, using my hand to push its head away. I may not have any formal training, but I knew how to keep the sharp pointy thing away from me.
Giving up on the horn, my foe began attacking hand-to-hand throwing various punches, all of which I either blocked or dodged. Something told me its weak, starving, state was helping me. After a couple of flurries, it backed off a step.
"Not bad," it said, "You're a much better fighter than the unicorn I copied."
I was right that Lyra had been attacked, and that made me angry. Throwing all pretext of skill or style away, I lunged at my foe, tackling it to the ground. After a brief struggle for dominance, I gained the upper hand, straddling its stomach and raining down punches.
At first, it was able to block the full power of my blows, but then I thought of something. I reached up, grabbed its horn, and pulled it toward me like a lever. This caused it to bring its hands up and away from its face, which finally allowed me to get in a solid punch. Its head whip-lashed, bouncing off the ground. I grabbed its horn again, but this time, I saw its wrists get covered in a purple aura. The aura pulled its arms off and away from its face, leaving it completely exposed. I turned my head to see Twilight, horn aglow, along with AJ and Rainbow.
"Don't hurt me," the changeling beneath me pleaded, "I'm defenseless."
"You attacked a defenseless mare. I'll do whatever the hell I please.
With that, I delivered another solid strike, once again allowing its head to bounce on the ground before grabbing its horn again.
"Now listen, if you don't tell me what I want to know, I'm going to sic two ponies on you that actually know how to fight," I looked back again to see AJ cracking her knuckles and Rainbow spread her wings, "So why are you after me?"
"Just as Stone Chin was our target in Canterlot, you are my target here."
"So you were there in Canterlot?"
"Yes, me and two others."
"Well you should know that your brother who impersonated Stone Chin was captured and executed. And I did the executing."
"Don't kill me," the changeling quivered, "I can give you information."
"You're going to give me information one way or another. Now tell me what Chrysalis' plan is!"
"Chrysalis doesn't plan on attacking Princess Celestia, or anypony for that matter."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You, human, are the target. You have been the whole time."
"So Chrysalis wants to kill me?"
"No. The queen wants to capture you and use you to feed her children."
"Why me?"
"I cannot say for certain. All I know is that the queen said that you, in the right circumstances, could produce more food for us than the whole city of Canterlot put together."
"That's impossible. As I've observed, these ponies are full to bursting with love for one another. Humans are mostly evil, diabolical, insane, uncontrollable, monsters."
"Like I said, I do not know for sure."
I paused for a second before remembering something important, "You said there were three of you. Where is the third?"
"On his way home, to update Chrysalis with our progress."
I rose off of the changeling, who immediately reverted back to its true form. Deciding not to take any chances with this one, I brought my shoe down on its horn, cleaning breaking it in half. The changeling let out a cry of pain, and then began breathing very quickly, as if it had been shot.
"Girls," I said calmly, turning to Twilight, AJ, and Rainbow, "do with it whatever you want."
I began walking off before Twilight called to me, "Jack, where are you going?"
"To see Lyra."
*--*--*--*--*
Bon Bon, Flitter, and Cloudchaser had found Lyra and taken her to Ponyville Hospital. When I got there, Nurse Redheart immediately took me to where they were. Lyra was in a bed, surrounded by the other mares. Her wounds were mostly superficial, only requiring some bandages and a dose of painkillers, but she was also there for precautionary reasons. Bon Bon quickly gave me a hug.
"What happened," she asked in fear.
"A changeling attacked Lyra," I answered calmly, "copied her, raised trouble in town, and I put it down, simple as that."
"You killed it," Flitter gasped.
"No, but I did break its horn in half. And I left it in the hands of AJ and Rainbow. Celestia knows, after those two are done with it, it may wish for death."
"Are you OK," Cloudchaser asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm more worried about Lyra," I turned my attention to the minty green unicorn in the bed, "How are you doing, Lyra?"
"I'll be fine," she replied, reaching her arms up. Knowing what she wanted, I stepped over to the side of the bed and leaned down, giving my friend a hug.
"Doctor said they want to keep her overnight," Bon Bon explained, "Everything will be fine in the morning."
We all stayed awhile longer. Eventually, Flitter and Cloudchaser left, as it was getting late. Bon Bon opted to stay in the hospital with Lyra, which left me to go home to an empty house.
The light of the full moon guided me back. This day had gone from normal to anything but, and I just wanted to rest.
Imagine my surprise then, when I opened the door to find Princess Luna sitting on the fold-out bed.
"Pr-Princess Luna," I stammered, "What are you doing here?"
"Twilight Sparkle sent a letter to our sister about today's events, and when We heard about it, We decided to come and congratulate you personally."
"You didn't have to travel all this way," I said as I made my way to the kitchen, "Something to drink?"
"Well We wanted to. Twilight said that thou put on quite a display of fighting ability. And something to drink would be nice."
I chuckled, "Like I said, I'm not a fighter. I just know that I don't want to get hit."
"Defense is the best offense. Or is that the other way around?"
This made me outright laugh, "Either way, it worked. Another changeling captured, and more of the plot is unfolding."
"Oh? How so?"
"According to the changeling, I am Queen Chrysalis' target," I explained, bringing over two tall glasses of water, "She wants to capture me and use me as a food source, or something like that."
"Odd," Luna mused, magically bringing her glass up for a sip.
"That's what I said," I took a sip of my own, "Any one pony has to be a better food source than me, right?"
"Perhaps not. Perhaps Chrysalis knows something about you that even you don't know."
"Yeah, cause that makes sense," I sighed, sitting down beside Luna, "Actually, none of this makes sense."
"We have always found that, in due time, everything is explained."
"Unless it's the plotline of a bad FPS, am I right?"
Luna laughed at my joke, but then suddenly stopped, "Jack, We just had a thought. About this whole changeling business, there is one pony who could prove most useful. Princess Cadance."
"Oh yeah, Twilight told me about her. Princess of Love, married to Shining Armor, rules the Crystal Empire. You think she would know something about this plot?"
"Well, she does have experience with the changelings, and matters of love are her specialty. It could be worth a shot."
"Isn't the Crystal Empire a little out of my way?"
"It wouldn't have to be a long visit. And on your way back, you could stop in Canterlot."
"What for?"
"To see us, of course. You promised to show us how to reach the secret level in Biotrot 2."
I smiled, "That I did."
"It's settled then. Just have Twilight alert Princess Cadance to your arrival."
Luna got up and took a few steps away from the bed.
"Wait, you're leaving?"
"Unfortunately, We must," Luna answered, turning back around, "We still have to be on guard for nightmares."
"I understand," I nodded, "Until next time, Luna."
"Until next time," she said, which was followed by a hug. However, as we were breaking the hug, she stopped and gave me a very light kiss on the cheek.
Luna smiled at me. I could feel my whole face going red. Throwing me a wink, Luna teleported away.
I flopped back down onto the bed, still not exactly sure what had happened. I reached up to touch the spot Luna had kissed. It felt cool like the crisp night air, which was in contrast to the heat of the rest of my face. Breathing a long sigh, I fell onto my back, smiling like a fool, and threw my arms up into the sky in silent celebration.